That 'Tall Tree' that we all saw falling in the d3 forest was The Panthers. As one of the last three in the land, Midd couldn't escape the whacks of Mayer and Robertson down on Spring Street, coming up short by a point in a key nescac encounter with Williams. Just when it looked like 'TheBoys' were in position (up 8, 5:21 left) to take the nescac by the throat, it didn't happen. Although Nolan's trey stemmed the tide temporarily, Williams fought on, inching up the ladder towards victory. With the lead late and the control-factor that our G. rotation has exhibited when the clock is inside ten minutes, maybe the neophytes thought 'TheBoys' had snatched the 'W'. The battle-hardened knew we still had to make a couple of more plays to close them out. On the road against a high-quality team, it didn't quite get done. The Chandler Crazies, having been traumatized into silence by Midd's run in the first half, finally found their lungs in the last five minutes to fire up Maker's troops. It might not have gotten to this point if Lynch hadn't been saddled with fouls early, middle and late. Pedro pretty much had his way (16 pts.) with Williams' Bigs and would've done a lot more damage if he been available for more than 16 minutes. And regardless of that foul trouble, if he'd been around for the last 1:10, his presence down low would have created inside options on 'O', which might have been the difference. Without him, Williams was able to defend more tenaciously on the perimeter, and Midd couldn't find the stroke from outside (and we really hadn't all game with 3 good shooters going 4 for 25) to put that last nail in, and give us that big enchilada, the win.
But take heart, because in coming up short, there were big positives to build on. Nolan once again showed that there are few if any, in the land, with his defensive ability. Epley, coming in at 19.5 ppg, only took six shots (made one), and knows that he will have to face Nolan again. By the way, Nolan went for an encore performance Tuesday against Martin (some preseason polls had him 3rd team AA) of KeeneSt., by not allowing a bucket from him for the first 26 minutes. When he finally got on the board TheBoys were cruising at 49-27. Jensen continues to impress with his strength against bigger guys. He was a major reason that Pelleschi (at Tufts) stopped killing us, and he came in and started fronting Mayer, which greatly slowed his point production. Despite his early problems with Mayer, we noted, and liked the fact that LongJack is starting to realize that at 6'8, he's the big kid on the block and can be more assertive without offending anyone. To be successful in Maine this weekend, and to beat Amherst, Midd's chances will be improved with him continuing to grow in this area. Actually if he could be nastier that would be better.
So The Panther Express is off to visit 'ThePolarBearNation' tonight. Bowdoin is a solid middle of the road team. In their building they could cause a problem. Like at Williams, a good start is one of the keys to reducing the effectiveness of the home crowd. They get solid production from Madlinger and Pieri. It says here Nolan takes Madlinger and if he can put the handcuffs on him, ThePolarBears are going to come up more than a few buckets short. Also look for Pedro to do battle with Pieri. It is fairly certain that Lynch is more advanced in his skills than the soph, but the concern is that he doesn't get into a physical battle down low where he picks up a couple of cheap-o fouls which will have repercussions on our 'O' production. As for Joey and Jake, we know that Joey can control the game when need be, and should handle Hurley, their PG, and that Jake, when he's not finding the open man, will get his 1,000th point somewhere on this trip. One further point to note is that TheBoys came out with 'intent' at Williams. Not starting slow gave us a chance to make a really good run in the first half, and if Pedro hadn't been slowed by fouls, his presence then might've lead to us cracking them when we almost had the chance to do so. That carried over to KeeneSt., where TheBoys opened strong, and after a timeout, went on an 11-0 run that blew the game open at 28-11. We've got enough athletes to play that way, up the tempo and open the floor, and maybe that's a new signature for this team that's just now realizing they can do this. Tonight's a good test of this theory and if TheBoys put their foot on the gas, Bowdoin might not want to be in that kind of higher-paced game. Even with the credit for their home-cooking, and our shortened bench due to injuries, it says here Midd doesn't get tracked down by a Polar Bear like we were the last fat man on an ice floe. 'TheBoys' should take their road show up to Waterville, without the need for any lamaze therapists and come away with #18.
Although Colby is the back end of this trip, my take is that we should have no excuses. They are rebuilding, and still undermanned although they've got a big (6'8) frosh named Lugnut, who's been doing some damage to their foes. His supporting cast is still being assembled, and cannot imagine our backcourt not being able to take full advantage of that. Also have to like the fact that Williams should give them a pretty good going over tonight, so they just can't focus on Midd coming to town. TheBoys should be able to them close out with a strong first half, and give them a dose of the reality that any magical endings will have to be postponed to another time. If all that comes to pass we can start thinking about where next weekend might lead, but one game at a time.
Remember: 'Off the Pine Room keg, down the Alibi stairs, past Bud Farrell's Men's Shop, over the scorer's table, nothin' but net!" Be well. Clubbo.
Panther Nation... take note.
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