MBB: NESCAC

blacklordjeff · August 26, 2005, 02:44:52 PM

I'd have to go with the class of 04 over 02. I believe that the backcourts of 04 were better. Posting the scoring averages of Tabb and Jones dont tell the whole story. They were "the men" on there teams and had to score that much. If Adam would have been the only scorer on his senior Amherst team his averages would have been much higher. Plus, Adam, Crotty, and Abba (I can't believe I'm about to give a williams guy a compliment) were much better defensive players than Jones or Tabb. Tabb was average on defense and Leo was good for a block a game, and maybe a steal, but you're talking defensive player of the year in Adam (who by the way as a soph played leo better than anyone in the league, not that he stopped him completely, but he gave him problems) and one of the most pesky guards I've ever played against in Crotty. not to mention the national championship appearances (one victory) for a crotty led Williams team and a final four appearance by the 04 Amherst squad. Now to the big men, Dion was a good player but nowhere near Coffin or Kanem in my opinion. I've said before that Coffin was the toughest post player that I've ever had to defend, and Kanem johnson was great as well, maybe one of the most athletic players in the NESCAC when he played. . They were both versatile and played on both ends of the floor. Now that Tim Jones character, well, won't say too much about him, but I heard that he also played in a BALANCED offensive scheme (which would explain his few touc.. I mean points per game) and was pretty good on D too. All jokes aside, I'm a bit biased, but having been on the court with all of the guys in question, I'd have to go with the 04 class.

formerbant10 · August 26, 2005, 03:03:42 PM

BLJ- I agree with the big men of 04 being better than 02, but even with Crotty I still can't give the backcourt edge to 04. Don't get me wrong, Abba and Harper gave trouble to tons of perimeter players, but Matt Jones probably played Leo Jones the best that year......mostly for insurance purposes with Tabb and the scoring crown. The wins that the 04 teams had is huge and I think would help them in a situation, but I've never seen a clutch player like Tabb. Triple OT against Amherst and he clinches the game from 25 feet out. Down 3 to Wesleyan, he hits an off balanced three with two guys in his face to tie. Then forced his man to take a bad shot which lead to the game winner.
As for Tim Jones, I thought he was the biggest difference in the Amherst teams over the past few years. A very selfless player who seemed to care more about winning than touc...I mean points per game. Always willing to do whatever he had to do to win.

baller i b · August 26, 2005, 10:38:04 PM

I've seen a lotta discussion about the nescac of old, but what about the future of the nescac, particularly the 05-06 season. Everyone on the nescac postup seems to be very concerned about the reloading and revamping of the Amherst and Williams squads with a dabble of T.Rhot Bantams here and there. But, as we all know the nescac is a very deep conference and there are defintely other threats in the league, especially the new look polar bears. Gone are the slow down and mundane days of old, this team will be very exciting and dangerous, lead by arguably the best and most consisent and most well-rounded player in the league Kyle Petrie. With many offensive weapons around him, namely Kevin Bradley and Andrew Hippert, the bears will have a great season. But maybe Im biast.

formerbant10 · August 27, 2005, 10:28:08 AM

Baller- To say the NESCAC has been a deep conference the last few years is a lil inaccurate. Either Williams or Amherst has played in the championship game since they started it in 2001, with Trinity in there a few times and last year Bates making its debut. Only the "big 3" have been to the NCAA's in the last 5 years. Maybe it will be more balanced now b/c the former superpowers are not quite as impressive as they have been. Personally I'm waiting for all the young talent at Conn to develop and win a few games.

baller i b · August 27, 2005, 11:47:18 AM

bant10 or Halas, whichever you prefer, my statements were meant to be interpreted as this, there has always been quality teams in the nescac and consquently very good games, in which a possession change the outcome. By your rationale the ACC isnt a deep conference because Duke is always in the championship game. And the argument used for the ACC is applicable to the nescac, teams in our conference are better the a number of teams the makes it to the ncaa's, de facto, mainly due to the fact that night in and night out the play great competition. Im sure you would agree there are no cake walks in the conference. And yes, this logic will hold true this season. Once again, I think Bowdoin has all the the necessary parts for great season. But maybe, Im a biast. (yes its a theme)

formerbant10 · August 27, 2005, 05:29:48 PM

Baller-- I prefer formerbant, b/c thats what I am now.... In my years, the cakewalks changed from season to season.....but there were not many. Bowdoin played very well at the end of the year, from what I heard they could've beaten Amherst in the 1st round. I think that two years ago, the NESCAC was at its strongest point in a long time with 3 teams making the NCAA's and Bates being right up there with those 3. Last year, after Amherst a lot of the teams were very close in terms of performance. It's gonna be a very interesting year and I hope that Bowdoin steps up and challenges the top teams. Petrie certainly has the ability to change games, and the rookie guard last year has very good potential. I think it would be more exciting if teams like Bowdoin and Colby can step up to the level that Amherst and Williams have been at recently.

blacklordjeff · August 30, 2005, 01:28:15 PM

Just a quick note, On Roy S. Johnson's Pass the Word article today on SI.com, both Amherst and Williams were mentioned as schools that should redo their nicknames. While I'm a proud former Lord Jeff, that got me thinking, we really as a whole, have some HORRIBLE mascots in the NESCAC, I wont call them out, but think about it. Sorry to disrupt basketball talk, but its an interesting thought...

formerbant10 · August 31, 2005, 10:08:14 AM

BLJ- I love being a Bantam, I usually have to explain to people what it is.....but we always have some great shirts for homecoming b/c we are the Bantams.

ephoops · September 06, 2005, 09:23:52 PM

Any early reports from campus on scrimmages?
Any Freshmen making impressions?
How about the new freshmen at Williams and Amherst?

formerbant10 · September 09, 2005, 04:21:29 PM

The word from Hartford is that the incoming freshman are as talented as any in recent history, and much bigger and more athletic. Very long swingmen with great potential. Transfer Pat Martin and All American Tyler Rhoten should be the best 1-2 combo in the NESCAC.

senatorfrost · September 09, 2005, 10:06:49 PM

Rhoten and Martin #1 duo? Probably so. However, I think John Bedford and Adolphe Coulibaly (Transfer from Brown) will be second best at worst. I thought Trinity had most talent last year and the same is probably true this year. Even with Coulibaly Amherst has depth questions in my opinion. Hopefully some of the the Sophs or frosh can 'step up'.
Bowdoin looked very good at the end of last year. If anyone other than these three finishes first and/or wins the Conference Title, I will be VERY surprised.

nescac1 · September 10, 2005, 07:43:53 AM

Senator, is the Brown transfer the 6'5 guy who can run, jump and rebound you mentioned earlier? In any event, wow, that is bad news for the rest of the league -- a guy like that (who got PT as a frosh at a decent Div I program) should be an improvement on Russell Lee in terms of talent, and Schiel, though a great player, is replaceable as Amherst has 5-6 quality 6'6 plus guys on the roster. The only real hole was a swingman. At this point, they are looking like they will dominate the northeast yet again, with Trinity also very strong. Williams, Bates, Bowdoin and Tufts will probably be battling it out for third and fourth, but it is hard to imagine how they can consistently compete with the top two. Outside of Nescac, only WPI looks to be a true New England contender. Brandeis is still a year or two away.

formerbant10 · September 10, 2005, 01:03:52 PM

I think Bates has a decent shot as well, Zak Ray has improved his game every year and I would expect something big from him and Stockwell this year. Does Colby have any guards to go along with Drew Cohen, last season's most underrated player?

senatorfrost · September 10, 2005, 06:13:02 PM

I did not know his name (Coulibaly) when I posted back when, but yes, he is the player I was told about last July. I have not seen him.
This year, if we are talking about proven talent in reasonably TOUGH !!! games, Amherst will be very thin. On the other hand there is every reason to believe that at least some year's Sophs (besides Olson) will turn out to be of real value this year.
As far as Bowdoin is concerned, they lose very little from last year, and people who saw them take Amherst down to the final buzzer AT AMHERST have to put them in the top four for this year. (In my opinion) Last year they were 3W 6L in conference, but I thought they looked better than Bates or Tufts in the NESCACS. Maybe they had issues and put them aside for the playoffs???

formerbant10 · September 10, 2005, 07:49:42 PM

I saw Adolphe play the summer going into his senior year and he is a very athletic player, but was raw at the time. Definitely has the ability to make an impact in the NESCAC with is athleticism alone. Similar player to Robert Taylor, maybe a little smoother. If his skills kept improving and can match his physical abilities, watch out.