Connor Green – Page 3 – Nothing But NESCAC

(Some) League Games to Watch in 2016

Conn guard Tyler Rowe '19 and all NESCAC winter athletes will welcome the end of barren grandstands that come along with winter break. (Courtesy of Conn College/David Pizzuto) — Conn guard Tyler Rowe ’19 and all NESCAC winter athletes will welcome the end of barren grandstands that come along with winter break. (Courtesy of Conn College/David Pizzuto)

For many NESCAC college students, this time of year holds a lot of conflict. On the one hand you’ve got winter break winding down, with the glittery allure of Christmas, Hannukah, Qwanza and the Solstice in our rear view mirrors. But on the other hand, many students will have finally remembered the things that made them want to leave home in the first place and are quite excited to return to school. Here at NbN we understand the stress that this dissonance can create, so allow us to relax you by looking ahead to this coming weekend and beyond, into the depths of NESCAC basketball league play. Here are four carefully chosen league games to soften the end of the holidays and give you one more reason to return to school (other than that cutie in the third row of your Chem lecture).

Williams at Amherst, January 8

League play starts with a bang during this upcoming first weekend, with the historic rivalry matchup sitting as the crown jewel. Amherst is predictably loaded this season, with many intelligent, kind and reasonably attractive experts (us) projecting them to finish comfortably at the top of the league. However, Williams’ stellar freshman class has made an immediate impact this season, particularly forward Kyle Scadlock ’19, who is making a strong case for Freshman of the Year with a 12.4/6.7/53.8% line. Williams is young and energetic, and will be hungry to make an early splash, both in the 2015-2016 season and in the annals of the Williams-Amherst rivalry.

Middlebury at Connecticut College, January 9

Based on the early returns this season, every league game will be crucial for the Panthers if they hope to avoid missing the tournament for the second straight season. The same will be true for Connecticut College if they want to level up in the stratified NESCAC universe. The Camels have been a surprise this season, with a balanced attack leading them to a 7-3 record, with seven wins in their last eight games to boot. Middlebury wasn’t able to overcome a difficult early season schedule and sits at 6-6, a disappointing beginning to the year for the perennial league powers (is this still true…?). The Panthers will be coming off a major win at home over Southern Vermont, but have yet to prove themselves in any road tests. League play in general will be crucial to these teams for different reasons, making this a fascinating matchup.

Wesleyan at Amherst, January 15

This is David George '17. Good luck stopping him. (Courtesy of Peter Connolly '18/Amherst College, Office of Communications) — This is David George ’17. Good luck stopping him. That dude behind him couldn’t. (Courtesy of Peter Connolly ’18/Amherst College, Office of Communications)

Everybody loves a finals rematch, especially when both teams have done nothing but improve since the championship. Wesleyan kept all of their starters from their championship run last season, and sits at 10-1 this season. They dropped their first game to Lyndon State, but have won 10 in a row since. Point guard BJ Davis ’16 has emerged as a First Team candidate, averaging 19.0 points per game with a game winning shot in a non-league matchup against Williams (and, as I’m legally required to do whenever I mention BJ Davis, here is his absolutely wretched tip slam against Middlebury from last season). Amherst has started off at 9-1, with guards Johnny McCarthy ’18 and Jayde Dawson ’18 joining David George ’17 and Connor Green ’16 to form a formidable lineup. The Lord Jeffs suffered their first loss January 3 at Rhodes, but still combine with Wesleyan to form the top tier of NESCAC basketball. These teams will be jostling for the top spot in the league throughout the year, and this game will have crucial implications for seeding come tournament time. It will also most likely be a fantastic game, something that should never be overlooked when thinking about arcane measures like standings and seeding.

Bowdoin and Trinity, January 23

Coming into this season, it looked like a safe bet that Bowdoin would take a step back. After all, there was a seven-foot hole in the middle of their team that can’t be filled by anyone in NESCAC, except for maybe two Mike Greenmans in a trench coat. However, rumors of the Polar Bears’ death were greatly exaggerated, thanks in large part to Lucas Hausman ’16. Averaging 23.6 points per game, Hausman carried Bowdoin to a signature win over 10th-ranked Babson. Newcomer Jack Simonds ’19 been able to carry some of Hausman’s Atlas-like load, with 17.6 points per game, giving the 6-3 Polar Bears the ability to go further than just as far as Hausman drags them. Trinity picked up at the start of the season where they left off at the end of last year, with tremendous defensive intensity and timely scoring taking them to a 4-1 record. However, in their last six games they are 3-3, including a loss at home to an undermanned Plattsburgh State team. The Bantams once rounded out the top tier of NESCAC, and this matchup will offer the Bantams a chance to return and Bowdoin a chance to knock off a top dog. Watching Hausman take on that challenge is something I don’t intend to miss.

When writing this article, I tried to choose four games that I thought would be close matchups, with good teams proving themselves against other good teams and league standings looming over all. However, we simply don’t know which games will be the most exciting yet because the league is so deep. Remember that last season Middlebury and Hamilton combined to go 19-2 in games prior to the NESCAC season opener. Neither squad made the NESCAC playoffs, which goes to show that right now we know nothing about how this season will play out. It’s entirely possible that Middlebury versus Hamilton will be an all-time classic, or Bates-Tufts, or Williams-Colby. That’s the beauty of NESCAC basketball; the only way to really know what happens is to watch.

Four Way Way Too Early Thoughts on NESCAC Basketball

F Matt Palecki '16 and the Polar Bears shocked #11 Babson earlier this season. (Courtesy of Brian Beard - CIP/Bowdoin Athletics) — F Matt Palecki ’16 and the Polar Bears shocked #11 Babson earlier this season. (Courtesy of Brian Beard – CIP/Bowdoin Athletics)

We are only a few weeks into the season, and March is still further away than the beginning of the academic year last September. So let’s jump to conclusions! All these come with the enormous caveat that we are not even 1/6 through the season yet.

1. The NESCAC is not as good as we thought: Only two undefeated teams remain: Amherst and Williams. Six teams have multiple loses. That’s a lot of losses. Pretty much every team can overcome the early losses and still make the NCAA tournament as an at-large given they finish near the top of the NESCAC. The only team that is already in deep trouble is Middlebury with their four losses, but at least they’ve lost to good competition in teams with a combined record of 15-7. So it’s not like a death sentence for anybody, really. What it is though, is a disappointing start for a league that annually preforms very well out of conference.

Will it affect the NESCAC overall come March? We were somewhat doom and gloom early on last year about the NESCAC getting at-large bids because of non-conference losses, and the league was still able to get four bids pretty easily. And that the league did well in the NCAA tournament last year, which might help give a little more goodwill with the committee, even if officially it doesn’t matter. Let’s just hope that everyone starts playing a little bit better.

2. Bowdoin beating Babson is the best game of the year so far: There is not a lot of competition for this one, though Colby can lay claim to best ending with Ryan Jann’s three pointer to beat Regis. In terms of significance, Bowdoin beating Babson, the #11 team in the country per D3Hoops.com, is much bigger. I was lucky enough to be there, and the game was a showcase for the individual offensive talents of forward Jack Simonds ’19 and guard Lucas Hausman ’16. The two combined for 62 of Bowdoin’s 88 points, and many of those points came off of isolation plays run for one of them. Hausman continues to be a marvel averaging just below 30.0 ppg so far, and Simonds is already a full-fledged Robin to Hausman’s Batman averaging 16.8 ppg. In the game Sunday, Bowdoin took advantage of a somewhat sleepy Babson team to control the first two thirds of the game. Bowdoin had a 17-point lead with 14:54 left in the second half, but Babson chipped away at the lead the rest of the way. In overtime, Simonds and Hausman scored the first 14 points for the Bears, most of them at the foul line.

The game did raise worries about the Bears’ ability against certain opponents. Babson absolutely dominated inside, out-rebounding Bowdoin 54-32 and out-scoring them in the paint 54-30. Many of those buckets came in transition with Bowdoin allowing Babson forward Bradley Jacks to beat them down the floor and get position for a lot of easy buckets. That transition defense can be cleaned up, but the rebounding margin is a harder task. Without John Swords ’15, the Polar Bears lack a true center who can control the paint. Another worry for Bowdoin is that they had just FOUR assists against Babson. As a team! Sure, some assists might have gone uncounted, but the fact remains that the Polar Bears are relying on the individual brilliance of Hausman and Simonds to dangerous levels.

3. Connor Green ’16 is in for a weird year: We noted in our Amherst preview that Green ended last season on a cold streak, and the struggles have carried over to this year with Green shooting 38.0 percent overall and 29.6 percent from deep. There is a reason to believe this might be more than just a shooting slump though. Green is a volume shooter who requires a lot of shots to get into a good rhythm. Even two years ago with National POY Aaron Toomey ’14 on the roster, Green lead the Jeffs in shots per game with 13.9. Last year he shot 14.0 shots per game but actually saw his ppg slip from 17.9 to 16.0 because of a drop in shooting percentage.

This year he is scoring 13.0 PPG on 12.5 shots per game. Some of that is because his minutes are down since Amherst is blowing teams out so far, but even once games get closer, will it make sense for Green to shoot it much more than 10 times per game? With the continued development of other players like Eric Conklin ’17 and Jeff Racy ’17, players who can score more efficiently than Green though not at the same volume, Amherst has so many options on offense that it might not make sense for Green to shoot all that much. The most decorated player on the Amherst roster could hypothetically end up being the one who gets the most in the way of their success. At the same time, Green just scored 21 points last night against Westfield State, albeit on 20 shots.

4. If you can, watch Wesleyan vs. Williams Saturday at 7:00 PM

The Ephs are a surprising 5-0 despite losing their three top scorers from last year. Dan Aronowitz ’17, your most recent NESCAC POTW, is leading the way with 19.4 ppg. The next two highest scorers are freshmen: forward Kyle Scadlock ’19 and guard Bobby Casey ’19. The real story is the improved defense for the Ephs as they are allowing 63.0 ppg, 8.8 ppg less than last year. Neither of Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 or Ryan Kilcullen ’15 was a good defensive player, and I’m guessing having another year with Coach Kevin App is paying dividends, too. Still, I do need to include the requisite caveat that it is just four games against teams we don’t know too much about.

Wesleyan began the season with a loss to Lyndon State, a team usually not very strong (they did also beat Endicott who is decent so who knows), and they’ve needed to hold off a couple of other teams for close wins. Part of the problem is early season injuries to Jack Mackey ’16 and Joe Edmonds ’16. You can’t blame guard BJ Davis ’16 though because he is averaging 21.4 PPG on 58.2 percent shooting with 3.0 APG to boot. The game last year in December went to overtime, and this one will be a great opportunity to see just how well the Ephs are playing.

The Rich Get Richer: Amherst Season Preview

Connor Green '16 is the key to Amherst's season. (Courtesy of Amherst Athletics) — Connor Green ’16 is the key to Amherst’s season. (Courtesy of Amherst Athletics)

I was considering just copying and pasting last year’s preview since Amherst’s roster is pretty much identical to last season’s, but I decided they deserved a write-up. Seriously though, Amherst lost nothing. They only graduated one senior and the main rotation is completely intact. This is one of the situations where Amherst’s biggest strength is also its weakness – depth. The coaches don’t anticipate many players (if any) playing 32-35 minutes, but rather most will play 18-24 minutes. It can be tough on a player’s psyche if he’s not allowed to get into a rhythm. It’s critical that the squad gets used to playing as a team and not as individuals if they want to be successful this year.

The returning Lord Jeffs had the opportunity to travel to Italy as a team this summer, giving them a chance to gel together and get a head start on learning how to play with such depth. Amherst won’t be the quickest team in the league, but they have an experienced, mature group, and their basketball IQ will carry them throughout the season.

2014-15 Record:

21-8 overall; 6-4 NESCAC (t-5th); lost NESCAC Final to Wesleyan 74-70; Lost Second Round of NCAA Tournament to St. John Fisher, 87-70

Coach: Dave Hixon, 38th year, 741-265 (.737)

Starters returning: Five

PG Reid Berman ’17 (4.5 ppg, 5.4 apg, 2.9 A/TO, 47.9% FG)
G/F Connor Green ’16 (16.0 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 37.3% 3PT)
G/F Johnny McCarthy ’18 (11.0 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.7 spg, 0.9 bpg)
F Jacob Nabatoff ’17 (6.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 38.2% 3PT)
F David George ’17 (10.6 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 1.9 bpg)

The entire rotation is back, and that includes alternate point man Jayde Dawson ’18. Dawson began the year as the Jeffs’ point man, but halfway through the season he and Berman switched roles, and both men played better basketball. Dawson came down from D-I Fairleigh-Dickinson, but it looked like he was pressing too much last season. He has the physical ability to be one of the league’s best guards. He just might have to do so off of the bench this season, unless he can wrestle the starting gig back from Berman…

Projected Starting Five:

PG Jayde Dawson

Point guard was the toughest position to predict, because Jayde Dawson is so evenly matched with fellow point guard Reid Berman. At the end of the day, however, I feel that Dawson’s physical attributes are more enticing out of a starting point guard (Dawson is 6’2” 190 lbs. while Berman is 6’0” 175 lbs). However, this year the coaches are stressing the fact that their starting lineup doesn’t really matter. Berman and Dawson will get their minutes determined by how each is playing. Where Dawson needs to improve this year is his focus on taking care of the ball; he averaged 1.8 turnovers per game last year and just 2.0 apg. I don’t doubt that these numbers will improve in Dawson’s second year at Amherst. As one of the very few exceptionally quick players on Amherst, Dawson’s athleticism will allow him to play at a high level against teams that are more athletic than Amherst overall.

SG Johnny McCarthy

Reigning NESCAC ROY Johnny McCarthy now has some experience under his belt, and he will lead this team from the shooting guard position this season. McCarthy asserted himself as the defensive MVP of this Lord Jeffs squad last year, guarding the best player on every team last year (as long as he was under about 6’6”), and his team leading 32.2 mpg forced him to get all the freshman year jitters out early. It’s hard to say anything bad about this kid – he was second in scoring, rebounding, assists, blocks and assist/turnover ratio last year, while leading the team in steals per game – AS A FRESHMAN. McCarthy will definitely be in the running for All-NESCAC honors this year, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s in the talks for Player of the Year when the end of the season nears.

SF Connor Green

If you’re not familiar with the name Connor Green at this point, you probably haven’t watched an Amherst College basketball game in the last three years. Green has been the center point of this squad’s offense for a couple years now, leading the Lord Jeffs in scoring last year, and taking a back seat only to D-III POY Aaron Toomey ’14 the year before. What makes Green so difficult to guard is a combination of two factors: his lightning fast release and his willingness to shoot from anywhere on the court. No matter what the situation, Green isn’t afraid to shoot, and his quick trigger often allows him to get shots off before the defense is ready to contest his shot. Defenses are aware of this, but they have trouble stopping it because of how well he gets to the hoop. He’s a matchup nightmare because he also has the ability to back down smaller defenders. There is a huge elephant in the room, though – his frighteningly cold play down the stretch last season. Between the NESCAC Semis and the Second Round of the NCAAs, Green shot 13-54 (24.1%) over four games, a shocking departure from the guy who lit up Middlebury and Tufts the two games before that for 29 points a piece. This team needs Green playing well to succeed. Hopefully the senior is back on track, and if he is, Green should lead Amherst in scoring again.

F Jacob Nabatoff

Jacob Nabatoff is an interesting player because he doesn’t light up any statistical category in particular; he’s just pretty solid across the board. At 6’8”, 215 lbs, Nabatoff is a big body that requires a lot of attention from opposing players on the boards. Though he was just fourth on the team with 4.7 rpg, his aggressiveness and toughness down low opened up rebounding opportunities for smaller players like Green and McCarthy, and those boards came in just 20.8 mpg. I don’t expect Nabatoff to have a very different year than last season, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing – he’s a smart player that seems to understand his role, and if he continues to stay within himself and buy into the team concept, his time on the floor will be very significant.

F David George

David George is one of those guys who doesn’t need plays drawn up for him. He’s active on the boards and on defense, and just makes plays happen. Though McCarthy is the best one-on-one defender on the Amherst roster, George is truly the anchor of this defense because of his shot blocking ability. George’s knack for protecting the rim allows his teammates to play more aggressively both on and off the ball since they know that he has their back if they get beat. I expect a similar year offensively for George, but defensively I expect him to take off.

Breakout Player:

G Jeff Racy ’17 (10.0 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 42.3% 3PT)

Jeff Racy didn’t start a game last year for the Lord Jeffs, but he still averaged the fourth most minutes and points on the team. Racy is listed as a guard, but his 6’5” 210 lbs. frame makes him a swing man. His game is shooting the three, bottom line. The Amherst coaches are excited about how Racy has improved his jumper over the offseason, and his ability to shoot consistently from the arc pays huge dividends for this offense.

Everything else:

The other important pieces for Amherst this year are Eric Conklin ’17 and Michael Riopel ’18 (in no particular order). Conklin, who transferred to Amherst from Arizona last year, is maybe a bit undersized in height, but makes up for that with his physique. At 6’6”, 235 lbs., Conklin will be the primary backup for George down low, and will be expected to both bring energy to the boards and bang around in the post. Plagued by injury on and off last year, Conklin struggled to get into a rhythm, which is why his minutes weren’t quite as high as we expected them to be, but those numbers should increase this season. Conklin finally realized that D-I potential towards the end of the season, going off for 37 points on 18-20 (90%) shooting in the NESCAC Final and NCAA First Round game. Finally, Michael Riopel is a player to watch off the bench this year. It’s scary to think that this kid is somewhere between eight and 10 off the bench, but that’s just a testament to how deep this Amherst roster really is. Last year Riopel measures in at 6’5” 200 lbs., and the coaches say he has made big gains in the weight room during the offseason, and his improved strength and size will surely increase his effectiveness. Finally, don’t sleep on 6’10” first-year center Joe Schneider ’19 either. At that height, Schneider will immediately become the tallest center in the league.

With the amount of outside shooting Amherst has this year between Green, McCarthy, and Racy driving lanes should open up for Berman, Dawson and Riopel. The main thing to watch out for in Amherst this year will be their ability to play together. With so many weapons, it is certainly conceivable that they could struggle with finding the right mix, but the coaches are insistent that the players are buying into the team attitude, and if that’s true, this squad has as good a shot as any to win the league title.

Fun Facts from This Weekend’s NCAA Action

It was a shame to see the season end for the NESCAC Champ Wesleyan Cardinals and Amherst, but all NESCAC fans will have something to watch this Friday night when Trinity and Bates play for a shot at the Elite Eight and, potentially, a date with top-five Sectional host Babson. More on that to come, but right now here’s a couple quick hitters from a wild weekend of NCAA basketball for the NESCAC.

– Amherst’s Connor Green ’16 struggled offensively down the stretch, but he did manage to sink two trey balls in the Jeffs’ season-ending loss, giving him 78 on the season. That’s the highest total in the NESCAC this season, and one more than teammate Jeff Racy ’17 and Jack Mackey ’16 had on the year. The Jeff scoring leader also finished with 464 points on the season, third in the NESCAC and 73 behind scoring champ Lucas Hausman ’16.

– Mike Boornazian ’16 hit three free throws with 2:58 left in the second half last night to give him 17 points on the game and 1,000 in his career. With that make he joined teammate Graham Safford ’15, Williams’ Dan Wohl ’15 and Green as the players who shot their way into the 1,000 point club this season. On the list of departing seniors who got close are Dylan Sinnickson ’15 (884, and he didn’t play his sophomore season), John Swords ’15 (923), Hunter Merryman ’15 (948, just 51 in his freshman year), and, in gut-wrenching fashion, Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15, who scored 999 points in the midst of an injury-riddled career.

– Bates and Trinity are meeting in the Sweet 16 this Friday night. Two NESCAC teams haven’t met that deep into the NCAA Tournament since … oh yeah, last year’s Final Four, when Williams dominated Amherst in the semifinal, avenging three regular season losses to the Jeffs.

– More Bates news! The victory on Saturday was the Bobcats’ 21st of the year, a new program record. The previous high was 20, achieved in 2005-06 under current Wesleyan Head Coach Joe Reilly.

– Speaking of wins records and Wesleyan, the Cards finished the season at 19-9, one win shy of tying the program record set in 2011-12 when Wesleyan went 20-6.

– Friday was the first time that Amherst had played an NCAA First Round game since 2011. The Jeffs received a bye and hosted a Regional for three years from 2012-2014. The loss also stops a run of two straight Final Four appearances for Amherst. The Jeffs are now 37-17 all time in the NCAA Tournament.

– The Bantams hadn’t won an NCAA Tournament First Round game since 2004 when they beat Lasell but lost in the Second Round. The last Elite Eight trip for Trinity came in 1999, and the last Final Four in 1995. Trinity is now 10-8 all time in the NCAA Tournament.

Hope you enjoyed these fun facts. Let us know if we missed any historic events this weekend!

NCAA First Round Preview: Amherst College vs. The Sage Colleges

Game Information: Amherst (20-7) vs. Sage (23-4)

Friday, March 6, 5:30 PM

Manning and Napier Varsity Gym at St. John Fisher College, Rochester, NY

Live Stats Video

If you were wondering, “What is Sage?”, you’re not alone. As a matter of fact, the Sage Colleges basketball program is in just its sixth season and has never made the NCAA Tournament before. The conference from which Sage hails, the Skyline Conference, is in its 25th season of operation. Compare those credentials to Amherst, which has been to back-to-back Final Fours, won two national championships, travelled to 17 NCAA Tournaments and compiled a .679 (36-16) winning percentage in the tournament, and you might think that Sage doesn’t have any place on the court in this game. But don’t expect Sage to be timid in this one. Last year’s Skyline Conference champion, SUNY-Purchase, won its NCAA opening round game. And like many teams in the NCAA field, Sage needed to win its conference tournament to get into the big dance, so the Sage Gators are riding high.

The Sage players are following Coach Barnes’ example of shooting for greatness. As Skyline Conference Player of the Year Kai Deans ’15 said, “Coach told us from the get-go, nothing less than a championship is what we’re trying to achieve.”

Kai Deans '15 will present a unique challenge for Amherst's David George '17. But the opposite applies as well. (Courtesy of The Sage Colleges) — Kai Deans ’15 will present a unique challenge for Amherst’s David George ’17. But the opposite applies as well. (Courtesy of The Sage Colleges)

In a way, both head coaches are synonymous with their programs. David Hixon, an Amherst alum, has an unmatched pedigree, and in his previous 37 years at the helm twice won the National Association of Basketball Coaches National Coach of the Year Award. On the flip side, Brian Barnes has been the head coach of the Gators since the program’s inception in 2009-10, when the team went an abysmal 5-18. Now both coaches are on even footing as they get set to clash in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Three Storylines to Watch

1. Which version of the D-I transfers shows up for Amherst?

Okay, a bit of a double dip here (see our Amherst X-Factors below), but there’s really no telling what kind of performance the Jeffs are going to get from Jayde Dawson ’18 and Eric Conklin ’17. Without those two, the only real scoring threats are All-NESCAC First Teamer Connor Green ’16 and NESCAC ROY Johnny McCarthy ’18, followed by the inconsistency of David George ’17 and sharpshooter Jeff Racy ’17. With Dawson and Conklin in the mix, Dave Hixon can put five players on the floor who can all do damage offensively. And on defense, Dawson creates more havoc than Berman, while another big body down low could be critical in slowing down Deans and forward Melvin Ford ’15.

2. How legit is Sage’s defense?

The Sage Colleges led all of D-III in field goal percentage defense, but in reality they played one of the weakest schedules in the country (.455 SOS as of February 25), and the Skyline Conference didn’t feature a lot of great three-point shooting teams. Expect the Gators’ post presence to be strong. Center Jacob Sopchak ’15 plays just 14.7 minutes per game yet blocks 2.1 shots per contest. But if Amherst can make some three point shots early they could open up a gap for good. Six-four swingman Travis Gill ’16 might be tasked with shutting down Green. Gill was honored as the Skyline Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. Green’s main advantage over the Brooklyn native, as usual, will be his size. Gill checks in at 180 lbs. while Green is comfortably over two bills.

3. The head coaching matchup

We mentioned it briefly in the intro, but David Hixon and Brian Barnes are basically on opposite ends of the head coaching spectrum. Hixon has the accolades, Barnes has the hunger. And yet, some criticized Hixon in Amherst’s NESCAC Championship game loss to Wesleyan, especially the decision to keep Green on the bench for the majority of the second half, presumably because the junior was hurting the flow of the Jeffs’ offense with bad shots. It will be interesting to see whether Barnes can throw something at Amherst that will catch Hixon off guard. When you’ve coached over 1,000 games at this level, not much surprises you.

HixonCutsNets — David Hixon’s Stoic expression is no coincidence. The Amherst coach has done this plenty of times before. (Courtesy of Amherst Athletics)

Amherst X-Factors: PF Eric Conklin ’17 and PG Jayde Dawson ’18

Conklin and Dawson had been, quite frankly, disappointments until the NESCAC Tournament rolled around. Then Conklin went 9-9 from the field in the NESCAC Championship (only his third game in double figures all season) and Dawson scored 35 points on 12-26 (46.2 percent) shooting in the final two games of the Tournament, and played 20 and 30 minutes after not seeing more than 16 minutes of action since January 17 against Bates. Sage has two very prolific big men (more on that later), but almost no front court depth, so if Conklin can play like he did against Wesleyan it will be a huge boost for the Jeffs. Not to knock Reid Berman ’17, who is a great distributor and has been playing solid basketball for Coach David Hixon, Dawson is one of the more talented point guards in the NESCAC. He has great athleticism and the ability (often unrealized this season) to score the ball in multiple ways, as well as a good sense of when to interrupt the passing lane on defense.

Sage X-Factor: Physicality

The Sage front court is not deep, but it’s strong. The Gators out-rebounded their opponents by more than 10 boards a game and are adept at getting opposing big men into foul trouble. George can’t get frustrated and start hacking away. If he gets into foul trouble early and Conklin doesn’t play like the Championship game version of himself then the Gators will have Amherst right where they want them.

What to Expect

Stopping Skyline Conference Player of the Year Deans (17.3 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 1.3 BPG) might be George’s toughest assignment of the season. George can match the Florida import’s height, but he gives up probably 40 pounds to Deans. The front court of Deans and Ford is probably on par or better than a healthy Sabety-Palleschi combination or the Delpeche duo. And both are very much interior players. Defensively the pair was a big reason why Sage led the country in field goal percentage defense. As we learned from watching Bowdoin this year, when you can’t get into the paint, it’s hard to score.

David George '17 is known for his defense (4.9 DRPG, 2.0 BPG), and he will need to be at his best against Sage (Courtesy of Rob Mattson/The Amherst Student) — David George ’17 is known for his defense (4.9 DRPG, 2.0 BPG), and he will need to be at his best against Sage (Courtesy of Rob Mattson/The Amherst Student)

I would never predict a blowout in a Division-III NCAA Tournament game, but I think Amherst has to be the heavy favorite in this one. Amherst’s strength on offense, three-point shooting, is Sage’s defensive weakness (or lesser of its defensive strengths). The Jeffs don’t need to go up against Deans, Ford and Sopchak. Instead they can work it around the outside and get open looks. Of course, relying on the three ball makes one susceptible to cold streaks, and Deans and Ford will certainly be going at George and whomever else Coach Hixon decides to throw down there with him, so I could foresee some foul trouble for the Jeffs’ big men that could accentuate the Gators’ front court advantage. The Gators attempted 28.7 foul shots per game, 7.3 of those coming from Deans. Trinity led the NESCAC with 16.7 foul shots attempted per game. Amherst could be surprised a little bit by the Gators’ physicality, and if they don’t rebound quickly from the first blow then Sage might pull away with the upset. The Gators will want to push the pace as well, but Amherst should be used to that, as a lot of teams in the NESCAC play the same style, and the Jeffs themselves are a fast-paced team. Andre Robinson ’16, among others, will be the one forcing the ball up the court for the Gators. Robinson not only makes plays for the big men, but can score himself. The junior guard was named the Skyline Championship Most Outstanding Player with 17 points, 12 boards, five assists and two steals in the championship game.

Prediction

For all of the reasons above, this game makes me a bit nervous. Nonetheless, Coach Hixon and his players have been through this before, now in their fourth straight NCAA Tournament, so they ought to be prepared for anything. That’s why I think the skill and depth of Amherst outweighs the tough interior play of Sage, and the Jeffs roll on to Saturday.

Amherst 80 – Sage 66

All-NESCAC Team

The 2014-15 NESCAC men’s basketball season was marked by parity and unpredictability. But through it all, a few players played exceptionally well all season long. As Wesleyan showed in their title run, the five best individual players do not always make up the best team (not a dig at Wesleyan, who is filled with talented and hard-nosed basketball players), but I think any team in Division-III would be hard-pressed to compete with this NESCAC All-Star squad.

NbN Player of the Year: G Lucas Hausman ’16

Lucas Hausman '16 rose above the rest down the stretch this season. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics/CIPhotography.com) — Lucas Hausman ’16 rose above the rest down the stretch this season. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics/CIPhotography.com)

NbN Defensive Player of the Year: C John Swords ’15

John Swords '15 had this kind of height advantage in every game he played this season. It's tough to beat a team when you can't get a clean look inside the paint. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics/CIPhotography.com) — John Swords ’15 had this kind of height advantage in every game he played this season. It’s tough to beat a team when you can’t get a clean look inside the paint. (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics/CIPhotography.com)

NbN Rookie of the Year: G Johnny McCarthy ’18

Johnny McCarthy '18 showed that he has the tools to be a complete player in the NESCAC, scoring 10.7 PPG, shooting 35.5 percent from deep, snagging 6.7 RPG, dishing out 2.4 APG and swiping 1.8 SPG. (Courtesy of Amherst Athletics) — Johnny McCarthy ’18 showed that he has the tools to be a complete player in the NESCAC, scoring 10.7 PPG, shooting 35.5 percent from deep, snagging 6.7 RPG, dishing out 2.4 APG and swiping 1.8 SPG. (Courtesy of Amherst Athletics)

NbN Coach of the Year: Joe Reilly, Wesleyan

Coach Joe Reilly out-coached his competitors on the way to earning Wesleyan University's first-ever NESCAC Championship. (Courtesy of NESCAC.com) — Coach Joe Reilly out-coached his competitors on the way to earning Wesleyan University’s first-ever NESCAC Championship. (Courtesy of NESCAC.com)

NbN First Team All-NESCAC

Graham Safford '15 (Courtesy of Bates Athletics) — Graham Safford ’15 (Courtesy of Bates Athletics)

G Graham Safford ’15

Safford gets the nod over some other deserving point guards for his durability and leadership of a Bates team that will be playing in the NCAA Tournament. It’s the age old debate – should Most Valuable Player (or All-Conference) awards go to the best overall player or the best player on the best team? In this case, Safford does get a little benefit of the doubt for his team’s success, but no one else played close to the minutes that Safford played, and the senior leader kept up the intensity on both ends of the court all season long, leading the Bobcats to the second-most wins in school history (20 in 2005-06 under, you guessed it, Wesleyan head coach Joe Reilly) and the second NCAA Tournament in school history (Bates played in the 1961 NCAA Men’s College Division Tournament, now Division-II).

Lucas Hausman '16 (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics) — Lucas Hausman ’16 (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)

G Lucas Hausman ’16

Hausman went from solid upstart to our NESCAC Player of the Year in a short period of time. While winning three straight NESCAC Player of the Week awards, the first time that feat has been accomplished in NESCAC history, Hausman averaged 27.8 points per game while shooting 57.3 percent (63-110) from the field and maintaining near perfection from the charity stripe (83.3 percent, 30-36). Hausman has a unique ability to draw contact in the lane and finish shots off balance. Hausman finished the season as the scoring champion by a wide margin in conference games, and did it while shooting nearly 50 percent overall, helping carry a squad that suffered some critical injuries all the way to the Pool C bubble. Unfortunately, Bowdoin missed out on the NCAA Tournament. Fortunately, though, the NESCAC has one more year to enjoy watching Hausman play. Or unfortunately, if you’re an opposing coach.

Dan Wohl '15 (Courtesy of Williams Athletics) — Dan Wohl ’15 (Courtesy of Williams Athletics)

F Dan Wohl ’15

Wohl was the POY favorite before Hausman caught fire, but nonetheless the senior put up a great campaign. Wohl was the fourth-leading scorer on the NCAA runner-up squad a year ago, but took on a lot more responsibility this season and responded incredibly well. As a case study of Wohl’s versatility – Wohl had a tough day from the field in the Ephs’ Quarterfinal loss to Bowdoin, yet the senior racked up 10 boards and seven assists against just a single turnover. Wohl also rebounded the ball extremely well and presented one of the toughest defensive challenges for opposing players in the league. His athleticism and length allowed Wohl to shutdown opposing team’s 2-4’s. For example, Wohl shut down Second-Teamer Dylan Sinnickson ’15 in Williams’ matchup with the Panthers to the tune of a 3-11 FG performance and 0-4 from deep. It may be even tougher for Williams to replace this year’s class of Wohl, Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 and Ryan Kilcullen ’15 than last year’s, if that’s even imaginable.

Connor Green (Courtesy of Amherst Athletics)

F Connor Green ’16

Green came into the NESCAC’s final weekend as possibly hotter than Hausman, but hit a serious road block against Bowdoin and Wesleyan. Give those teams credit for forcing Green into tough shots and long threes, attempts that at other times Green seemed to hit as easily as lay ups. When you talk about guys that can score in different ways, Green is tops on the list. He handles the ball like a point guard, though he stands 6′ 4″, and his 200+ lbs. frame means that he can bully most defenders and is unaffected by contact inside. Not to mention his 48.2 three-point percentage in NESCAC games. Green is already comfortably a part of Amherst’s 1,000 point club, and if he stays healthy could find himself as the second-highest scorer in Amherst history by the time his career ends.

John Swords '15 (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics) — John Swords ’15 (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)

C John Swords ’15

Swords was the only member of the 2014 All-NESCAC First Team to return to the league this season, and his play warrants another nomination to the All-NESCAC team. We were concerned by the health of Swords’ knees when the season began, and even though he was less than 100 percent all season long, Swords played more than 30 minutes per game and discouraged teams from entering the paint all year. Swords grabbed 9.8 rebounds and tossed 2.1 blocks per game while putting up productive, if unspectacular numbers from the field. Swords scored “only” 12.9 points per game, but he did do it on 69.0 percent shooting, the fourth-highest mark in the NCAA as of March 1 among qualified players.

NbN Second Team All-NESCAC

Joseph Lin (Courtesy of Hamilton Athletics)

G Joseph Lin ’15

If we were giving out the award, Lin would easily be the NESCAC’s Most Improved Player. Despite a late season injury that cut his campaign short, Lin was among the best distributors in the league on a team that we didn’t expect would have a ton of great shooters. Lin was in the top-ten nationally in assists per game, slightly ahead of Safford and Middlebury’s Jake Brown ’17, while also shooting for a better percentage from the field than either player.

Luke Westman '16 (Courtesy of Colby Athletics) — Luke Westman ’16 (Courtesy of Colby Athletics)

G Luke Westman ’16

Two point guards make our All-NESCAC Second Team, but there should be no complaining as Westman was equally as impressive as Lin. Westman’s 73.2 percent from the field is basically unheard of from a guard, even though he just barely missed the cut to qualify for NCAA statistics (five made field goals per game). Westman is one of the most athletic guards in the NESCAC. He will return next year to lead inarguably the most talented class of rising seniors in the league.

Dylan Sinnickson (Courtesy of Middlebury Athletics)

F Dylan Sinnickson ’15

Sinnickson looked like a lock for All-NESCAC First Team consideration for much of the season, but his scoring took a major hit in conference games. Nonetheless his ability to grab rebounds (10.5 per game) was a difference-maker for a Middlebury team that lacked any consistency from its big men. Remember the name, because Sinnickson has one more year of NCAA eligibility, and there’s a better than 50-50 chance that the athletic swingman will be on the court for another NCAA college next season.

Tom Palleschi '17 (Courtesy of Tufts Athletics) — Tom Palleschi ’17 (Courtesy of Tufts Athletics)

F Tom Palleschi ’17

Palleschi was a wild card coming into this season after missing all of 2013-14, but the reclassified sophomore didn’t miss a beat and improved on his statistics from his freshman year campaign, averaging 12.0 PPG and 6.1 RPG. Most impressively, once Hunter Sabety ’17 went down with a knee injury, Palleschi stepped up his game and became Tufts’ most important player, scoring double figures in seven of nine contests counting forward from the first game without Sabety. What’s more, Palleschi was a force defensively, rejecting 2.4 shots per game, 0.3 more than the seven-footer Swords. If anyone can challenge Green for most-diversified offensive game, it’s Palleschi, who can play with his back to the basket or face up from 15 feet away.

Zuri Pavlin '17 (Courtesy of Conn. College Athletics) — Zuri Pavlin ’17 (Courtesy of Conn. College Athletics)

F Zuri Pavlin ’17

Amidst a disappointing season for the Camels, Pavlin shined once again, surpassing the Conn. College single-season rebounding record that he set last year as a freshman and leading the team in scoring with 13.7 points per game. Pavlin doesn’t have amazing height (6′ 5″) or strength, but he has an incredible knack for using his body to get rebounds. Watch out next year, as one more year under the belts of Pavlin and front court mate Isaiah Robinson ’18, a bruiser in his own right, could make for a fearsome front line.

The Slipper Fits the Cardinals: Stock Report 3/2

NESCAC CHAMPS! pic.twitter.com/rtynXXduvb

— Wesleyan Basketball (@WesleyanHoops) March 1, 2015

Raise your hand if at the beginning of the season you had Wesleyan winning the NESCAC championship. Heck, raise your hand if you had them winning it going into this weekend. Sure, we picked Wesleyan to upset Trinity and make the finals before the weekend began, but we didn’t think they would be able to overcome the Jeffs on Sunday.

It was only 16 days ago that Wesleyan was 3-5 in the NESCAC. They had also just lost to Amherst by 17 points. BUT IT DIDN'T MATTER TODAY.

— Nothing But NESCAC (@CACSportsBlog) March 1, 2015

Throughout the season a lot of different teams could claim to look like the best team in the NESCAC. First it was Bates, then briefly Middlebury, then Trinity for a long time, and finally Wesleyan. Of course, the Cardinals were the ones who were the best at the end when it really mattered.

And that is an important thing to point out. The Cardinals were the best team this weekend. They won two very close competitive games against Amherst and Trinity, but they were winning for the majority of both games. The Jeffs and Bantams had to really fight just come back and make it a game in the final minutes. The Cardinals were the team that looked the most confident in the biggest moments. They were the only team this weekend that was capable of both making outside shots and getting interior points with Joseph Kuo ’17 and Rashid Epps ’16. Their defense was masterful for most of the game against Trinity. The Wesleyan team probably felt like they were on their homecourt because of the multitude of Wesleyan students who came out to support them.

The formula for the Cardinals has changed slightly in terms of ingredients from the beginning of the season, but the final result of solid defense and rebounding combined with balanced scoring has been the same all year. We say the formula has changed because some players like BJ Davis ’16, Joe Edmonds ’16 and Jack Mackey ’16 stepped up their play as the season went along. The wonderful thing about how Wesleyan plays is that they recognize very well which players are feeling it for a particular game. For example, Edmonds was the hero against Bates in the quarterfinal scoring 22 points. Then he struggled with foul trouble and didn’t make his first couple of shots against Trinity so Coach Joe Reilly played him only 16 minutes. Instead, Reilly was able to play Harry Rafferty ’17 and PJ Reed ’17 for more minutes, and the two sophomores did a great job of stepping up.

Though Wesleyan’s win is certainly surprising, we knew going into the weekend that anyone could win the championship. No team stood out as especially dominating, even though Trinity went 9-1 in conference play. As Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle pointed out, Wesleyan was the hottest team going into the weekend, something that mattered more this season than in years past. The Cardinals have been routinely discounted by us and others when talking about NESCAC contenders. The title of our season preview for Wesleyan was “Overlooked Cardinals Return Everyone.” After this weekend, it is hard to overlook Wesleyan anymore.

Stock Up

Wesleyan Fans

As mentioned above, the Wesleyan student fans were exceptional in turning out to help root on their team. Obviously it is a short drive from Middletown to Hartford, but it still takes a good level more commitment than simply walking out the door and into the gym. The semifinal atmosphere was awesome with Wesleyan and Trinity fans dueling it out in the stands while the two teams played it out on the floor as well. The Cardinal faithful were loud and boisterous, something that does not always happen at NESCAC games. In the finals, Wesleyan students far outnumbered Amherst students who could not be bothered to make the trip south from Massachusetts. Wesleyan has been in the news for the wrong reasons recently, and though it was obviously just a couple of basketball games, Wesleyan students were able to concentrate on something positive associated with their school. As somebody wrote on the Wesleyan Yik Yak, “After a tough week, thank you to Wesleyan basketball for giving us something to smile about.”

Point Guard Jayde Dawson ’18 and Forward Eric Conklin ’17 (Amherst)

A big reason for the buzz surrounding Amherst entering the season was Dawson and Conklin, two transfers from Division One schools. Both struggled to adjust to the NESCAC, and ended up being near the end of the rotation down the stretch. Then this weekend both were huge almost out of nowhere. For Dawson, the ability has always been there, but he struggled to fit into the Amherst system and took too many bad shots. Then, suddenly against Bowdoin he looked calmer and more in control. He was able to get to the basket consistently and scored 21 points, the only time this season he has scored more than 20. He was a little more erratic in the finals going 6-15 and turning the ball over four times, but he still scored 14 points and handed out five assists.

Conklin meanwhile found it hard to get playing time with David George ’17 firmly planted in the starting position. Then yesterday he just started hitting shots and didn’t stop. Nearly all of his points were simple shots from the block because Conklin did such a good job winning deep position. He finished the game with 19 points on 9-9 shooting. Both Conklin and Dawson were on the court during the final stretch, something they have not done all season. No other NESCAC team can claim two D1 transfers, much less two that usually don’t even play that often.

Parity

So all season we have been a little negative about how the NESCAC being so even this year could end up hurting the league for NCAA bids. Instead, that parity ended up helping the league as four teams got in. Amherst, Bates, Trinity and Wesleyan are all going dancing. Wesleyan would not have made the NCAA Tournament without their run to win the NESCAC tournament, and the other three teams got at-large bids. Bates and Amherst got their bids in large part because of some of their non-conference victories. For Bates their win over Babson was huge while Amherst boasted one of the best records against regionally ranked opponents. Trinity got their bid because of their 9-1 conference record. Four teams making the tournament from the NESCAC is rare. The last time it happened was in 2008 when Amherst, Bowdoin, Middlebury and Trinity made it. Usually the NESCAC will get two or three teams into the tournament. So why did the NESCAC end up doing better than it usually does in terms of bids? Well things broke almost perfectly for the NESCAC in a couple of ways. First, as said above, Wesleyan only made the tournament because they won the automatic bid. Then, around the country there were not too many upsets in conference tournaments which kept a lot more at-large bids open. Finally, teams that scheduled aggressively out of conference like Bates and Amherst get rewarded by the NCAA which uses Strength of Schedule extensively in their selections.

Stock Down

Forward Connor Green ’16 (Amherst)

We don’t know if something was wrong with the junior scorer this weekend physically, but he looked out of sorts in both games. His 3-14 outing against Bowdoin obviously didn’t matter because the Jeffs still won by 20, but Amherst really could have used some more offense from him yesterday. Instead, Green went 2-11 from the field and finished with eight points in 26 minutes, taking a lot of bad shots and deep, contested three pointers. Coach Dave Hixon benched him for much of the second half and overtime going instead with Jeff Racy ’17 for most of the game. Green is known as a streaky shooter, but his struggles this weekend went beyond just not being able to shoot well. He failed to adjust to his poor shooting and rarely looked to attack the basket finishing the weekend with only three foul shots. What makes this weekend all the more curious is that Green came in scorching hot and had an outside shot at resting away NESCAC Player of the Year honors from Lucas Hausman ’16. He needs to get back on track if Amherst wants to make a deep tournament run.

Trinity and Bowdoin Benches

Maybe the craziest stat from this weekend is that the non-starters for Trinity and Bowdoin, the two semifinal losers, had two points combined. Two points! The only scoring came on a jumper from Ed Ogundeko ’17 early in the first half of the Trinity-Wesleyan game. Now the lack of scoring from the Bowdoin bench is not shocking because the Polar Bears have leaned heavily on their starters all season. However, for Trinity getting only two points from their bench is almost unheard of. In their quarterfinal game, Trinity’s bench nearly outscored the starters 34-32. Guys like Ogundeko, Rick Naylor ’16 and Chris Turnbull ’17 usually offer a good amount of scoring punch for the Bantams. On Saturday for some reason all of them failed to get going and Coach Jim Cosgrove was forced to adjust. Andrew Hurd ’16 did play a lot down the stretch over Jaquann Starks ’16, but Hurd did not look to score much, though he did distribute the ball well. One of their calling cards all year has been their depth, so it was surprising to see Trinity’s bench fail to show up this weekend.

NESCAC All-Tournament Team

In case you hadn’t heard, March Madness has already begun. If you missed any of this past week’s NESCAC Tournament you missed some incredibly dramatic basketball games. You almost couldn’t script it any better. Wesleyan, a team that squeaked into the playoffs in the final weekend, sixth seed in a field of eight, had to travel to in-state rival Trinity and play on hostile territory. Not only did they defeat the host Bantams and cause a rare road team court storming, but they then shocked the NESCAC world for the second day in a row and knocked off the thrice-defending NESCAC Champion Amherst Lord Jeffs for the program’s first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Amidst all of this, there were some impressive individual performances, and not just from the eventual champions. Two Bowdoin players made our squad, even though the Polar Bears got bounced emphatically in the Semifinals. There weren’t too many big men that put up great stat lines during the Tournament, contributing to the decision to put the Bowdoin big man on the team. As for Wesleyan, it really was a team effort from the Cardinals, but one player made it onto our All-Tournament team. Read on to see who joined him.

First Team All-Tournament

Jayde Dawson-Gordon (Courtesy of Amherst Athletics)

PG Jayde Dawson ’18

Now that’s the player that we thought Dawson was going to be when he transferred from Division-I Fairleigh-Dickinson. Dawson has often made these pages for his disappointing play this season, but there is nothing negative to say about the transfer guard today. Dawson played a limited role in the Jeffs’ Quarterfinal matchup with Tufts, but exploded in the Semis and Finals for 35 points, seven assists and five boards. He showed off his athleticism on defense by disrupting passing lines and getting out in transition. We’ll find out later today if Amherst will be in the NCAA Tournament field. If they are, expect Dawson to take on a larger role, even if he continues to come off of the bench.

Jack Mackey '16 (Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics) — Jack Mackey ’16 (Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics)

Guard Jack Mackey ’16

Mackey’s numbers weren’t the prettiest over the course of the whole tournament, especially a 2-10 performance in the Semis, but Mackey was clutch for the Cards, and provided the highlight of the Tournament when he chucked a bounce pass through Malcolm Delpeche’s ’17 legs to Joseph Kuo ’17 for a monster slam dunk. Mackey also banged home a big-time three to open the scoring in overtime against Amherst. As we know, Mackey, BJ Davis ’16 and Harry Rafferty ’17 are all capable of handling the basketball, but from watching the Cards this weekend it just feels like Mackey is the emotional leader among the group, and he earns this nomination in part for that intangible factor.

Guard Lucas Hausman ’16

This was about as easy of a choice as exists in this business. On Twitter, we praised Johnny McCarthy ’18 for handling Hausman well at halftime in the teams’ Semifinal game. Hausman ended up with 21 points on 8-16 shooting, this after he torched Williams for 37 on 11-20 shooting in the Quarters. Hausman is really good. He won three-straight Player of the Week awards this season, the first time that has happened in NESCAC history. And he’s on the shortlist (a very, very short list), for NESCAC Player of the Year.

Shay Ajayi '16 (Courtesy of Trinity Athletics) — Shay Ajayi ’16 (Courtesy of Trinity Athletics)

Forward Shay Ajayi ’16

Ajayi had an all-around solid tournament. He drew some favorable matchups and took advantage. Against Colby, a team known for its lack of height, Ajayi posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards. The junior then tallied another 10 points and added six boards against eventual champion Wesleyan. Trinity will likely be playing some more basketball in March, so look for Ajayi to build on his performance in the NESCAC Tournament.

Center John Swords ’15

As always, Swords’ impact doesn’t translate completely to the box score. When Swords is in the paint there are no easy shots for the opposition. That being said, Swords’ numbers were pretty good over the course of Bowdoin’s two games. Swords tallied 37 points on 17-25 shooting (10-10 in the Quarterfinals), 20 boards and six blocks. The only knock on Swords this weekend is that opposing big men, namely Ryan Kilcullen ’15 and David George ’17, actually had pretty solid offensive games. Nonetheless, Swords was the most valuable center in the NESCAC all season.

Honorable Mentions:

Guard Connor Green ’15, Forward Sam Willson ’16, Guard Hayden Rooke Ley’15, Center Joseph Kuo ’17 and Guard Hart Gliedman ’15

Think we missed somebody? Let us know. And good luck to all of the Pool C bubble teams today as the NCAA Tournament field is decided.

#2 Bowdoin vs. #5 Amherst: NESCAC Semifinal Preview

While Connor Green is in the forefront of our minds, the battle between David George and John Swords also looms large. (Courtesy of Amherst Athletics) — While Connor Green ’16 is in the forefront of our minds, the battle between David George ’17 and John Swords ’15 also looms large. (Courtesy of Amherst Athletics)

The late game Saturday pits two teams in Bowdoin and Amherst that played some of their best basketball of the season in the quarterfinals. The Polar Bears overcame the hot shooting of Hayden Rooke-Ley ’15 because of great games from both John Swords ’15 and Lucas Hausman ’16. Meanwhile, the Lord Jeffs’ second game against Tufts was the exact opposite of the first one with Amherst routing the Jumbos in Medford. Connor Green ’16 is absolutely on fire scoring the ball averaging 28.2 PPG in his last five games against NESCAC opponents.

Last time they played: 81-66 Amherst

These two met the first time in Amherst on Saturday, January 31. The Lord Jeffs held a double-digit lead for part of the first half, but the Polar Bears fought back to make it only a three point deficit at halftime. Hausman kept Bowdoin in the game with 15 points, but Green was even better with 17 first half points. Early in the second, Green took over for Amherst and scored 15 points in the first 7:22 of the half to push the Amherst lead up to 14 points. Bowdoin would never truly threaten again with the Amherst lead never getting below nine, and the Jeffs were able to coast to a comfortable victory. Hausman also scored only four second half points. Johnny McCarthy ’18 deserves credit for slowing down Hausman, and the freshman had a pretty good game besides just his defense, finishing with 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Both teams shot awfully from the free throw line as the Jeffs were a putrid 10-23 (43.5 percent) and Bowdoin shot 10-18 (55.6 percent).

Keep in mind that Bowdoin was coming off of an overtime game against Trinity the night before and was playing on the road. That might have contributed to them shooting only 2-15 from three. Still, Amherst matches up very well with Bowdoin because their two best defensive players, McCarthy and David George ’17, correspond perfectly with Bowdoin’s two biggest weapons, Swords and Hausman. Both teams have gone 5-1 since their first game and seem to have figured out exactly how to play with each other.

Bryan Hurley '15 (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics) — Bryan Hurley ’15 (Courtesy of Bowdoin Athletics)

Bowdoin X-factor: Point Guard Bryan Hurley ’15

Swords and Hausman are definitely Bowdoin’s two most important players, but Hurley is a very close third. The Watertown, MA native does a little bit of everything for Bowdoin, but he is most effective when he is put into pick-and-roll situations. Hurley is particularly adept at getting the ball to Swords up high where the big man can throw down easy dunks. In conference play his assist-to-turnover ratio was 3.1. After putting a slow start to the season behind him, Hurley now is confident about getting into the lane and absorbing contact. Amherst is unlikely to let Hausman win the game by himself so Hurley will have to shoot the ball well from both beyond the arc and at the rim. Though he is a mostly pass-first point guard, Hurley tends to pick his spots to attack. He is never afraid to shoot from deep and will often take contested jump shots if he is ‘feeling it.’

Johnny McCarthy '18 (Courtesy of Amherst Athletics) — Johnny McCarthy ’18 (Courtesy of Amherst Athletics)

Amherst X-factor: Shooting Guard Johnny McCarthy ’18

The presumed NESCAC Rookie of the Year will guard Hausman, the clear leader right now for NESCAC Player of the Year. This will be a fun battle to watch all afternoon. McCarthy tied for the league lead in steals because of his outstanding length. He has exceptional timing as a defender and his quickness allows him to guard anyone from point guards to small forwards. The freshman is no defensive specialist though. He finished third on the team in scoring with 10.6 PPG, but his offensive game slipped later in the season. He shot only 33.3 percent from the field in conference games. His offensive game is predicated on rhythm which is one of the reasons why he struggles from the free throw line despite being a confident shooter. Despite his struggles, McCarthy led the Jeffs in minutes despite there being a bevy of talented perimeter players on the roster.

Three Questions

1. Can David George ’17 guard John Swords ’15 one-on-one?

Swords had his best offensive game of the season last week going 10-10 from the field, but George will present much more of a challenge. In their two match-ups so far, George has done a good job of pushing Swords out of the paint. The sophomore has gained a lot of strength though he still gives up a good deal of weight to Swords. The best way to defend Swords is to keep him from getting the ball in a deep position. If Swords gets the ball close to the basket, it is virtually impossible to stop him. Even though George has the length and ability to block Swords, the 7’0″ footer is too patient with the ball. The Amherst big man doesn’t need to stop Swords completely. George just has to limit him and make other players on Bowdoin beat the Jeffs.

2. Is Connor Green ’16 unguardable against a zone defense?

Last week we broke down how Bowdoin’s zone works with players scrambling on the perimeter. It works for the most part, but as Rooke-Ley showed in the first half, a knockdown shooter can neuter the effectiveness of it. In the second half Bowdoin adjusted and made sure to communicate so that somebody was always on Rooke-Ley. Though Rooke-Ley is a better pure shooter, Green might be an even harder task to guard because he shoots his three pointers from so freaking far away. Honestly, he regularly pulls the trigger from a couple of feet beyond the NBA three point line. When he gets into the zone, literally everything he throws up goes in, even if he needs to bank in a three. Zones, even ones as flexible as Bowdoin’s, do not account for someone stretching the floor like Green does. Expect Green to get and take some open looks from way out early.

Jake Donnelly '16 gets Connor Green '16 and Johnny McCarthy '18 in the air. (Courtesy of Amherst Athletics) — Jake Donnelly ’16 gets Connor Green ’16 and Johnny McCarthy ’18 in the air. (Courtesy of Amherst Athletics)

3. Which role player will step up?

Even though both team’s rely on their stars heavily for scoring, secondary players will have to make shots as well. For Amherst those plaers are Jeff Racy ’17 and Jayde Dawson ’18. Racy is a straight shooter who made the second most threes per game in conference play. He gets a lot of open looks because of all the attention given to McCarthy and Green. Dawson meanwhile has never really figured out how to play within the Amherst system, but he is still so talented that he can go on short stretches where he looks like one of the best players on the floor. Meanwhile the two guys to keep an eye on for Bowdoin are Matt Palecki ’16 and Liam Farley ’18. A big part of Palecki’s improved play this season is his ability to hit threes as the power forward. Farley is a talented freshman who can force bad shots and have careless turnovers but also represents Bowdoin’s best scoring option off the bench. The stars will dominate most of the game, but how those players fill in the shadows is also important.

What to Expect

Amherst just looked incredible last weekend in blowing out Tufts. There is no question that they are the more talented team top-to-bottom. Yet you could easily argue that Bowdoin has the better point guard, better center and better pure scorer. The thing is that all three of Hurley, Swords and Hausman will have to play well for Bowdoin to win. The Jeffs certainly need Green to have a good performance, but they can survive any other player struggling because there are so many others capable of stepping up. Expect a game of runs with one team jabbing and the other answering back.

We have alluded to Hausman heavily throughout the preview but haven’t talked much about him specifically. He was special against Williams throwing up a relatively quiet 37. The Jeffs have to work to keep him off of the free throw line and out of transition because he is pretty much automatic in those situations. Point guard Reid Berman ’17 has to use his size and strength advantage over Hurley to force his way into the lane and make Swords guard him. That will draw in the defense and leave Racy or Green open on the perimeter. Nobody shot or made as many as threes as the Jeffs did in NESCAC play. With Swords in the middle of the Bowdon defense, they are likely to bomb away early and often.

Dave Hixon and Tim Gilbride are the two best in-game coaches in the NESCAC. The game might come down to who makes the better halftime adjustment. Hixon has been to tons of NESCAC semifinals, but he has rarely had a team this young. The veteran Polar Bears have never made it this far in the tournament. The recent Bowdoin success has come mostly at home and they haven’t played a NESCAC opponent away from Brunswick since they last met Amherst. This game is close to a toss-up. We give the slightest of edges to Bowdoin because Swords is such a difference maker in the middle.

Prediction: Bowdoin 82 – Amherst 78

Fantasy Basketball Is Like Little League, Everybody Wins: Fantasy Report 2/24

We are pretty late with the final fantasy roundup of the season, so just to be clear – these statistics are from the final regular season weekend of conference play. The Quarterfinals that took place on Saturday had no impact on our fantasy matchup.

Heading into last weekend, I held a 5-3 advantage over Adam, but many of those leads were by the slimmest of margins. For instance, I was up just 19 assists, 1.1 percent from the stripe, 1.9 percent from the field and a measly one rebound.

Thinking that I would be able to hold onto my percentage advantages on the strength of Luke Westman ’16 and Lucas Hausman ’16, in addition to a couple of efficient big men, I threw all my efforts into the rebounding category believing that it would make the ultimate difference.

Also, with Joseph Lin ’15 unfortunately suffering a season-ending injury, I had to drop my team’s namesake, and in Lin’s place I slotted in Ryan Jann ’16, a good rebounding guard who could also hit some threes for me. I decided to roll with the resurgent Matt Daley ’16, double-double machine that he is. It killed me to sit Connor Green ’16, but he only had one game this weekend. It turned out to be a great performance, but I had to give the nod to the two Mules guards and Hausman.

Position	Lord of the ‘CAC (Adam)	Lin and Tonic (Joe)
G	H. Rooke-Ley	L. Westman
G	G. Safford	R. Jann
G	J. Brown	L. Hausman
F	J. Swords	Mal. Delpeche
F	Mar. Delpeche	M. Daley
F	T. Palleschi	D. George
F	J. Kuo	Z. Pavlin
Bench	J. McCarthy	H. Merryman
Bench	D. Wohl	C. Green
Bench	A. Santos	J. Starks

I was able to lock up rebounds, the only category that I thought I was in danger of losing, thanks to 20+ rebounds from Daley, David George ’16 and Zuri Pavlin ’17. I had a shot at steals being down just seven, but Adam beat me in that category this week. What I didn’t anticipate was the abysmal performance my team put together from the line. Those same three big men combined to go 21-36 (58.3 percent) from the stripe. So what appeared to be my strength ended up costing me big time.

Week Five

Category	Lord of the ‘CAC	Lin and Tonic	Leader
Points	148	221	Joe
Assists	34	32	Adam
Rebounds	72	105	Joe
Steals	13	11	Adam
Blocks	17	14	Adam
FT%	75.5% (37/49)	68.0% (51/75)	Adam
FG%	40.9% (52/127)	52.9% (31/153)	Joe
3PT Made	7	8	Joe

As you will see below, Adam edged me out in free throw percentage. And there you have it. A rotten 4-4 tie. This leaves a worse taste in my mouth than the Graham Safford ’15 jumper at the end of the game that put the nail in the Middlebury coffin in 2014. I guess there’s nothing to do about it now, though. I suppose we now have to turn out attention to the so-called “real” basketball games coming up this weekend.

Category	Lord of the ‘CAC	Lin and Tonic	Leader
Points	977	1120	Joe
Assists	159	176	Joe
Rebounds	490	524	Joe
Steals	82	73	Adam
Blocks	82	62	Adam
FT%	74.3% (231/311)	73.9% (317/429)	Adam
FG%	44.9% (340/758)	48.5% (399/823)	Joe
3PT Made	85	48	Adam

Final: Tie 4-4