MBB: MAC Freedom League

[Leo The Lion]

LJK,

I'm pretty sure he was taken out because he made two bad passes in a row, and thus JP needed to cut out the turnovers.  RN is great, may be the best shooter on the team.  When he's making good decisions, he may be the best guy on the court.  Look at the improvement in this season alone.

As for the draw, I'm happy King's still playing.  Can't overlook Widener, but its nice to have one more home game in front of the rabid crowd against a team King's has already seen before.  And as for Amherst, we'll see, they still have to get past Widener first.  Momentum plays a big part in this tournament, it did two years ago.  All I know is the Monarchs are confident and feeling good right now, we'll see how far it can take them.

[ColonelJohn4Life]

Wow, we're in the presence of either Garfield or The Fonz...

King's fans, I give your boys the benefit of the doubt in the Widener game.  Widener did end the regular season with a worse record than Wilkes.  And King's beat Widener by 13 in November.

But that Amherst game?  I defer to ColdCase's analysis.  MAC-F teams get throttled in the NCAAs.  I'll set the spread at 22.5 points.  That's just a bad spot.  WB - you're an idiot on this one.  They don't get by Amherst. 

[Jimmy Mac]

I seem to remember no one giving King's a shot against Ramapo a couple years ago. Lol I'm sure if I searched hard enough I could find what you guys said about it on this thread. Point is, anything can happen in the tournament... what are Amherst's strengths?

[wb1313]

I think the good Colonel has been working too many overnights and slipping a few too many pills!  I did put a very large hypothetical IF.. 

Look at the bracket...if the ghosts of MAC Freedom teams of the past are awakened and King's pulls the miracle, Virginia is a possibility...

If by chance that happens I have quite the head start from Freedom country.

(I did pick Amherst for the finals in the D3hoops pool..but i'm a MAC shill on the women's side...just for the record!)

[bill]

Just wanted to wish the FDU Devils luck as they open the ECAC tournament tonight. They have a rather tough draw, NJAC tournament runner-up New Jersey City at their place....

[cold_case]

But that Amherst game?  I defer to ColdCase's analysis.  MAC-F teams get throttled in the NCAAs.  I'll set the spread at 22.5 points.  That's just a bad spot.  WB - you're an idiot on this one.  They don't get by Amherst. 

I posted last year that the Freedom winner will be blitzed in the NCAA's and they did. I said the same thing this year, but I wasn't aware King's would get a home game versus a 14-12 them they already beat.
The projections had them playing at Lincoln, where I felt they would have gotten handled.

[naismith]

I took a look at Amherst site (looking ahead a bit...yes)----
They don't appear to have any glaring weaknesses.

Thier PG was nominated for the Cousy Award (only 2 DIII nominees).
His assist to turnovers:  200 to 76 with 32 steals and a 10pt scoring average.
He is listed 6' 3" .

Team wise, Amherst shoots over 50% from the field and over 40% from behind the arc. They held  opponents to .375. They average 81.2 versus 59 for opponents.

No big scorer. 13.8 is the highest average. Probably means the bench has played often as Amherst won many lopsided contests.

They outsteal, outrebound, outassist, outshoot etc etc their opponents by wide margins.

Somehow, I think Kings may have to abandon their preferred zone against this squad and hope for the best. (they have 2 3pt. guys that hit over 60%----limited shots but still......) .

On paper, Amherst looks very very tough but that is why they only lost twice. Those 2 losses, however, came in their last 4 games!!. So, one never knows...

First task is Thursday.
What we do know is that we don't know which Kings team will show on Thursday.

Naismith

[bziadie]

In all due respect Nais, I was checking their site yesterday and a few corrections of minor consequence. I am a curious guy as well.

Their 5-10 point guard Andrew Olson is the finalist for the Cousy Award.
http://www.amherst.edu/sports/current/m-bball/0202_olsonbobcousy.html

Their 6-4 small forward Dan Wheeler is a finalist for the Josten's Trophy
http://www.amherst.edu/sports/current/m-bball/0221_wheeler_Josten's.html

Double your trouble with these two. Obviously two very prestigious awards so they are without question top-flight players.  That program has been outstanding as they have been in the D-3 Final four in two of the last three years, not counting this season.

[Pat Coleman]

Thier PG was nominated for the Cousy Award (only 2 DIII nominees).
His assist to turnovers:  200 to 76 with 32 steals and a 10pt scoring average.
He is listed 6' 3" .

Andrew Olson is listed at 5-10 in every Amherst program I have and that is accurate.

[naismith]

twenty lashes....lol

Naismith

[naismith]

Hey BZ,

If the Monarchs win Thurs.,  are there any roadtrippers heading to Mass.?  (achusetts)....

Naismith

[ColonelJohn4Life]

Thier PG was nominated for the Cousy Award (only 2 DIII nominees).
His assist to turnovers:  200 to 76 with 32 steals and a 10pt scoring average.
He is listed 6' 3" .

Andrew Olson is listed at 5-10 in every Amherst program I have and that is accurate.

Great news, because this season, King's is 2-1 against teams with PG's named Olson. (spelling?)

[Jimmy Mac]

Eddie Ohlson. Lol something about Olsons or Ohlsons being small, the Desales version is only 5-8.

[ljk]

Nobody breaks a game down like the Colonel.  (lol).

[bziadie]

For those who may be interested in watching the game but are unable to attend, King's will be videostreaming an on-campus broadcast of the game live on the internet.

The game will videostreamed live on the internet by KCTV LIVE at http://my.kings.edu.  The NCAA's official championship Web site, www.ncaasports.com, shall also provide a link to the event.

If you go to the King's link above, click on KCTV LIVE on the lower right hand side of the page, click on the KCTV LIVE link.