MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[woo91]

I've compiled information for Wooster students/faculty about the Final Four. You may access it here: http://bit.ly/woofinalfour.

Is there any other information I should add? I've applied for press credentials for the game(s), as I'm only about four hours away from Salem.

[ScotsFan]

Great work woo91!  I didn't make it to Wooster's first two appearances in Salem.  I'm not going to pass up this opportunity though.  Made my hotel reservations last night!   

As far as purchasing tickets, do they stick the Wooster fans together if you buy your tickets through the college?

We should start some sort of a roll call of posters making the trip and have a gathering before the game on Friday.

[nuscottsfan]

woo91 please keep us updated on the College's efforts on tickets. I just went to the Salem Civic Center website and tried, via TicketMaster, to buy tickets-the site said none available. TicketMaster 1-800 #....same thing, no tickets and they said call the Civic Center's box office. It is closed. Anybody have any other ideas or help? Thanks!

[David Collinge]

As far as purchasing tickets, do they stick the Wooster fans together if you buy your tickets through the college?

Yes.  And I believe that you can purchase tickets directly from the Civic Center, and either specify which school's section you want to sit in, or specify none.

Everybody who can figure out a way to get there needs to go.  It is a BLAST.  You won't regret it. 

[ScotsFan]

Thanks David!

[seinfeld]

Interesting post from a NESCAC poster in the Div. III Tournament board. Apparently Mike Taylor and Whitworth are now chopped liver.

Couldn't disagree more.

Williams had the most difficult draw of the weekend--Va Wes and Amherst. Both of those teams are better than any that played at Wooster.

And Middlebury had to play on Rochester's home court, in front of their home crowd, followed by a very good St. Mary's squad, which dispatched the ODAC's RMC the week prior.

If Troy Whittington is not 100 percent in Salem, then Wooster gets a HUGE break and the Final Four is robbed of the nation's most dynamic player not being at full strength.

Midd-St. Thomas should be a great match-up. Of course, I'm with the Panthers. 

[woo91]

Video on Youtube I found of Whittington. Listed at 6-6, huh? Kids got ups.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7h-5bIP0Hg

[woosterbooster]

Is that a highlight film of Whittington or a lowlight film of teams that don't help out on D?  Even Oberlin switches better than that in defending the pick-and-roll. 

[nescac1]

While I didn't make that comment (another NESCAC poster did), I don't think Whitworth is chopped liver.  But neither are Amherst and Virginia Wesleyan, believe me!  Whitworth is better than Amherst, but I think Virginia Wesleyan is better than Cabrini by a wider margin, than Whitworth is better than Amherst.  In all events, both Wooster and Williams had tough paths to the Final Four -- as did all four Final Four teams this year.  All deserve to be there, and I think it's fair to say that the four best teams in the country, or at least the four teams PLAYING the best right now, are in Salem.  

Troy is not 6'6, no doubt.  I'd say he is more like 6'4 (he was listed at 6'5 until this year, but suddenly gained an inch, without visibly growing ).  But he has super long arms, a high release point, ridiculous ups, and is also super strong and extremely quick.  

I am not sure how healthy he will be, but believe me, if you take anything away from those highlights besides, a healthy Troy can not be guarded one-on-one by anyone in D-3, you aren't seeing what Eph fans have seen all year.  Or what Stevens Point fans saw in last year's Final Four.  Or what Trinity or Virginia Wesleyan fans saw in recent weeks (the only two teams who left Troy on an island in that time frame, and he ate them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner).  Or what Midd fans saw when he came back from ten staples in his head mid-game to give Middlebury its only loss of the year.  I don't think anyone in the Final Four, including Wooster, will make that mistake, unless he simply can't grip a basketball.  But believe me, I'd love it if you tried ... I'll gladly rest my hopes on a guy who shoots 72 percent despite being the primary focus of every defense he faces ... even at less than 100 percent.   And trust me, no one in the country plays better defense than Middlebury (best D-3 defensive team I've ever watched, and I've seen Williams in several Final Fours now), so it's not as if Troy hasn't played against tough competition this year.  

(And remember, btw, the other half of that pick and roll features James Wang, an all-American himself ... the Wang/Whittington duo can make a lot of good teams look very bad on D). 

Williams is younger and from the look of things not quite as deep as Wooster, but no one in the country has a better 1-2-3 punch than Whittington/Wang/Robertson.  Unfortunately, there have been very few games this season when all three have been 100 percent at the same time, including, it looks like, at Salem.  Even still, I think this game will be a toss-up.   

[ScotsFan]

And trust me, no one in the country plays better defense than Middlebury (best D-3 defensive team I've ever watched, and I've seen Williams in several Final Fours now), so it's not as if Troy hasn't played against tough competition this year.  

I'm not going to argue about Midd's defense as their numbers are quite impressive.  But Wooster can play some pretty good defense themselves.  They held a very good offensive team in Whitworth to 18 points below their season average and held the Pirates to under 70 points for the first time all season.  And they also held a good Manchester team to under 50 and 27 points below their season average.

BTW, it can't be a coincidence that the top 3 teams in defensive fg% are playing in Salem this weekend.  Midd is #1, Williams #2 and Wooster is tied for 3rd!  They don't say defense wins championships for nothing!

[woo91]

E-mail excerpt sent to all Wooster students this morning:

"Students: The college is chartering a bus and offering a special discounted package -- to COW students only -- that includes round trip bus transportation, tickets to Wooster's first round game Friday and the national championship game on Saturday, hotel accommodations for both nights, and a commemorative t-shirt, all for just $30 per person if you stay four to a room, or $60 per person if you stay two to a room. Interested? See Krista Martin in the Dean of Students' office. You can pay for the trip with your COW card, or have it charged directly to your student account. BUT THERE ARE ONLY 45 SEATS AVAILABLE ON THE BUS, SO ACT QUICKLY!

Everyone: The college has a block of tickets reserved in the section directly across from our team's bench. All seats are reserved and must be bought in a two-game package (Wooster's semi-final game, plus the championship game on Saturday). The price is $25 for adults, $12.50 for students. These reserved seats will go on sale in the PEC lobby on Tuesday, March 15, from noon to 2 p.m., and again from 4 to 7 p.m. CASH SALES ONLY."

For those that were wondering...

[ScotsFan]

Congrats go out to Ian Franks on being named the Great Lakes Region POY! 

Joining Franks on the GL Region 1st team from the NCAC are Wes Smith from Wabash and Chris Sullivan from Witt.

Also, Kodey Haddox of Kenyon and Clayton Black of Witt made 3rd team All-Region!

The NCAC had the most representation on the All-GL team with 5.  The OAC had 4 and the MIAA had 3 while the PrAC had 2 and the AMCC had 1.  Congrats to all the NCAC representatives on the All-Region team. 

[ScotsFan]

Well, I went to purchase tickets at the COW today as they were supposed to be on sale from noon to 2pm today.  Got there at noon and there were probably already over 100 people in line.  By ten after, Wooster's allotment of nearly 400 tickets was sold out and there was still over 100 people in line.      So, in 10 minutes Wooster sold nearly 400 tickets and that didn't even count the 100 or so people waiting in line that will now be buying their tickets directly from the Salem Civic Center as I just did. 

I think it's safe to assume that Wooster will be well represented in Salem!     

[woo91]

Well, I went to purchase tickets at the COW today as they were supposed to be on sale from noon to 2pm today.  Got there at noon and there were probably already over 100 people in line.  By ten after, Wooster's allotment of nearly 400 tickets was sold out and there was still over 100 people in line.      So, in 10 minutes Wooster sold nearly 400 tickets and that didn't even count the 100 or so people waiting in line that will now be buying their tickets directly from the Salem Civic Center as I just did. 

I think it's safe to assume that Wooster will be well represented in Salem!     

That's incredible. Anyone know if Williams is bringing a lot of fans? Their website isn't actually too helpful...

[nuscottsfan]

Thanks woo91! Bought my 2 and it sounds like I'll be seeing a lot of the Scots faithful in Salem!!