MBB: NESCAC

La Verdad · September 18, 2007, 05:32:28 PM

It did happen. The Greek kid (Mano?) is here, but I'm not sure he's as good as people made him out to be. He's at least 6'7, but he's very slender. I won't jump to any conclusions on his game, but from what I've seen, he hasn't really gotten used to the style of play over here. I'm also not positive that he is 100% sure he wants to play. There are already 16 guys on the team, a handful of upperclassmen that are planning on trying out, and one or two other freshman who are thinking about trying to walk on, so who knows what will happen with all that competition.

I'm hearing good things about the 3 freshmen that are definitely playing. Kurt Bennett is the big man that was getting a lot of hype on this board last season, and it sounds like much of that was well deserved. Connor Meehan is a G from texas who surprised a lot of people with how well he played right away; usually, the freshmen are overwhelmed by the size and skill of the older guys the first few times they play pickup. Billy Butler, the shooter from poly prep, is just that...a shooter. The kid has some serious range. I actually heard a rumor that he played with Steve Nash over the summer and dropped like 15 on him. All that being said, don't expect to much of these guys once the conference schedule starts. I don't see Hixon changing his philosophy on frosh any time soon.

nescac1 · September 18, 2007, 06:03:22 PM

Thanks for the info. Unless these guys are Div-I ready, I am sure they won't get meaningful playing time with Amherst returning seven rotation guys (the six seniors plus Baskauskas) and a bunch of rising Sophs and Juniors who have been waiting for their chance. Those three guys will all be in the mix next year though, after Amherst's ridiculous senior class finally graduates and opens up a ton of PT, much to the relief of the rest of the conference.

To hoopjunkie: yeah, the Williams schedule is not power-packed. I wonder if Tufts will have such a brutal schedule again this year -- the Jumbos didn't do themselves any favors last season (Brandeis, Keene, RIC, Stevens, all legit tourney teams).

hoopjunkie · September 19, 2007, 12:21:48 AM

Yeah Tufts always has a very tough non league schedule . They are playing Brandeis & Keene st. as always , but not RIC . I did see on RIC schedule they are playing Trinity & Amherst . I wish the NESCAC schools would post their schedules . Great article on Tufts center 6'9" Pat Sullivan on the Tufts athletic department website . He is also a star on our golf team . In his interview he give us an update on the basketball team .

ephwatcher1 · September 20, 2007, 02:35:16 PM

Here is a hot plate of Williams truth for all you NESCAC fanatics. Served Cold. I just had a long talk with my source that is close with members of the team (he has even dropped in on some pickup games). He says that aside from the big guys, what stands out is how good Spider Snyder has looked. All I have to say is I told you so.

And as far as the Crotty article, I have a few thoughts.

1- That is awesome. He is and always will be an absolute barbaric warrior.

2- Ephs will take no prisoners. Uh oh!

3- Nobody should take shots at legends. Nobody cared if Michael Jordan gambled. Nobody said anything badly about it either. Let the man live his life.

fpc85 · September 20, 2007, 11:12:33 PM

which class is better Williams '04 or amherst '08?

frank uible · September 20, 2007, 11:44:23 PM

Ditka is better.

nescac1 · September 21, 2007, 07:30:50 AM

Hey Walzy, what were you saying about Williams' bake sale schedule? And laughing about how they might play Southern Vermont twice? Hmmm ....

https://cms.amherst.edu/athletics/teams/winter/basketball-m/schedule

Both teams have lots of cream puffs on the schedule, and if you look at the top six non-conference opponents (Williams: Keene, Hamilton, Lasell, Ursinus, Springfield, Drew) (Amherst: Brandeis, RIC, Lasell, MIT, Babson, ??) it is essentially even. Amherst isn't exactly challenging itself with games against Mitchell, S.VT. (possibly twice), Emmanuel, Westfield State, WNEC, Hunter ...

As for 2004 v. 2007, you have to give the edge to Amherst only because they have six guys who play in the rotation, and the Ephs only had three. The top three (Crotty, Coffin, Abba vs. Olson, Hopkins, pick any of the rest) clearly favors Williams, but not so much that you would say 3 > 6.

Who knows, if the big guys develop, the class of 2010 for Williams may someday provide a better comparison ... six guys most of whom have great size, two of whom will be four year starters and most likely all-leaguers sooner rather than later, and at least two more from that group will be solid contributors starting this year and definitely next year.

JeffRookie2 · September 21, 2007, 09:31:50 AM

wow, hitting the boards at 7:30 am... impressive.

Amherst's schedule does look pretty light. I'm surprised that Keene St isnt scheduled. That said, im also surprised to see a road game with brandeis. the trip to RIC last year was an adventure, im sure brandeis will be interesting as well. DeLuca is a beast.

nescac hoops · September 21, 2007, 03:23:06 PM

Quote from: JeffRookie2 on September 21, 2007, 09:31:50 AM
wow, hitting the boards at 7:30 am... impressive.

jeffrookie,
9:30 on a friday morning as a college student is pretty impressive as well!

walzy,
next time wait until your own schedule comes out before you make stupid comments, especially when you call a team out for playing a weak team...a weak team the jeffs may have TWICE this year. idiot. see you at the bake sales!

mrmike88 · September 22, 2007, 11:32:46 AM

The Jeffs go to Brandeis because the two teams have played each other every year recently, alternating the home venue. If you remember, Brandeis played Amherst very tough at home last year, and now it's our turn to go there.

walzy31 · September 24, 2007, 09:55:47 PM

WHERE'D YOU GET AMHERST'S SCHEDULE??!?!??!

Quote from: walzy31 on August 15, 2007, 03:47:46 PM
Amherst taking their winter trip to play Florida Memorial University in Miami. They are D2 NAIA and won the Florida Sun Conference last season, giving them an AQ into the D2 NCAA tournament. Last year FMU won 8 of their last 10 games.

Amherst doesn't have the strongest schedule in the country. True.
My point is that for the past two or three years Williams talked smack about how bad Amherst's schedule was, and now, with Williams schedule weaker than Amherst's, it's the same old Williams psycho babel that wreaks of jealousy and doesn't make sense. Let the head to head games this season do the talking.

"Ours is new-er clap clap clapclapclap."

nescac hoops · September 25, 2007, 07:54:55 AM

walzy,

wow. no williams fan is going to argue that we have had a team that was as good as we were from 2002-2004. but when we were that good - the current amherst team is drawing comparisons - are schedule was very tough. obviously, with the team he has had in the past 3-4 years paulsen is not going to try to call up the globetrotters with past nba players or holy cross for a game, b/c they would get smacked, hc probably wouldn't even want to play a half decent d3 team, and they probably wouldn't even risk a game against a d3 team after what happened in '03 when williams went in and beat them. now that amherst is at that level, they don't have a lot to show for it on their schedule. with the exception of a trip to florida to play a bootleg collegiate conference team with an AQ in the tournament - which is NOT THE NCAA TOURNAMENT like you said, it's the NAIA tournament - the jeffs scheule is quite similar to williams in terms of difficulty. I'm guessing the jeffs will win by 15-20pts. as would any other top 10 D3 team to this NAIA team that DOES NOT play in the NCAA tourny. b/c you clearly don't know what the naia is... http://fscsports.com/News/mbball/2007/2/28/naiadIInationals.asp?path=mbball

as for jealousy....ahahhahaha. we would only be jealous if we didn't have our own national championship and if we weren't the #1 liberal arts school in the nation and the best D3 athletics in the nation for the past 9 years in a row.

JeffRookie2 · September 26, 2007, 03:35:35 PM

Quote from: nescac hoops on September 25, 2007, 07:54:55 AM
as for jealousy....ahahhahaha. we would only be jealous if we didn't have our own national championship and if we weren't the #1 liberal arts school in the nation and the best D3 athletics in the nation for the past 9 years in a row.

Thou doth protest too much.

hopefan · September 27, 2007, 08:08:47 AM

Enjoyed reading the Rick Rielly article in Sports Illustrated about the Middlebury kids helping a local individual who is handicapped get to all the Football and Basketball games - great stuff, and it is obviously what has kept that individual happy for many years...

BornBalla · September 27, 2007, 08:53:27 AM

As far as Amherst's schedule goes, do you think they have problems getting other top teams to play them year in and year out? I would think other top programs might shy away because they are looking to pad their win/loss record. Many times the lower level or middle level New England D3's are probably saying hey we'll play them because it's a no lose scenario and we get to use this game when recruiting. It would seem to me that Amherst would not be afraid to play anyone. I saw them at the NCAA's at their place last year and on CSTV in National Championship Game. They were nasty! I would not put all the blame on the program as far the schedule. I think they may have a tough time getting games. Maybe the same issue for other top programs too.