MBB: NESCAC

Mr. Ypsi · January 21, 2009, 09:11:33 PM

The religious rivalry mentioned for Hope/Calvin is that they are both from VERY similar ancestries who split, and both draw many students (including athletes) from the same cluster of religious schools (hence, many bballers have played with or against one another for many years).

You DO win on the fball rivalry, however, since Calvin has never fielded a fball team (or, as they might phrase it, they are undefeated forever!) For top fball rivalry you'll have to fight it out with Wabash/DePauw!

fpc85 · January 21, 2009, 09:43:06 PM

someone told me that a dunk from the amherst/brandeis game was #1 on sportcenter for top ten plays. any truth to this rumor?

Hugenerd · January 21, 2009, 10:33:14 PM

Quote from: fpc85 on January 21, 2009, 09:43:06 PM
someone told me that a dunk from the amherst/brandeis game was #1 on sportcenter for top ten plays. any truth to this rumor?

I am not 100% sure, but I thought the #1 play from yesterday was a play from a d2 game (Anderson, SC) where a player for Anderson nearly jumped over a defender and dunked the ball.

walzy31 · January 22, 2009, 04:23:17 AM

Quote from: fpc85 on January 21, 2009, 09:43:06 PM
someone told me that a dunk from the amherst/brandeis game was #1 on sportcenter for top ten plays. any truth to this rumor?

Haha the only dunk I saw was a Baskauskas breakaway two-handed dunk. No chance that was #1 play. For a D3 regular season basketball game to have the play of the day, someone would have to hit the game-winning, full court, 80 footer at the buzzer or break the backboard with a dunk.

fpc85 · January 22, 2009, 09:29:31 AM

Thanks. One of my chem students told me before the mid year exam....must be looking for extra points on the exam.

nescac1 · January 22, 2009, 10:10:24 AM

Here is that play. Nasty:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Small-college-player-embarrasses-hapless-defende?urn=ncaab,135848

Ethelred the Unready · January 22, 2009, 10:44:06 AM

Quote from: walzy31 on January 22, 2009, 04:23:17 AM
Quote from: fpc85 on January 21, 2009, 09:43:06 PM
someone told me that a dunk from the amherst/brandeis game was #1 on sportcenter for top ten plays. any truth to this rumor?

Haha the only dunk I saw was a Baskauskas breakaway two-handed dunk. No chance that was #1 play. For a D3 regular season basketball game to have the play of the day, someone would have to hit the game-winning, full court, 80 footer at the buzzer or break the backboard with a dunk.

Or you could do this and be in ESPN's Top Ten plays of the year at #5.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01bmLDAX7N4 about 2 minutes in.

NY Hoopster · January 22, 2009, 04:48:55 PM

Nescac hoops;

I saw the Elms play Colby in the Colby Invitational last year. They came in unbeaten in the first eight games of their season and lost a close and intense game to Colby. The Elms ended their season with 14 straight wins.

They were undersized, but a very good and well coached team. Their guards penetrated and ran a great break. I thought they were capable of beating any one of the Nescac teams except Amherst on any given Saturday. I am not shocked that they are ranked 16 based upon what I saw.

Just some thoughts on the all Nescac picks; as we get deeper into the season, I think it might be worth making some comparisons of players based upon how they have played head to head either last season or this season. Sometimes, as in politics, I think people get caught up with name recognition and the success of a program rather than the merits of the players. And no, I will not name names.

Hugenerd · January 22, 2009, 07:54:45 PM

Quote from: NY Hoopster on January 22, 2009, 04:48:55 PM
I think people get caught up with name recognition and the success of a program rather than the merits of the players. And no, I will not name names.

+k

Finally, someone on the NESCAC board that I can agreee with

nescac hoops · January 22, 2009, 09:37:36 PM

NY Hoopster,

Thanks for the report on Elms. I admit I still find it hard to believe that they are the 16th best team in the country but I'll take your word for it. You are right that they are well coached. I would love to see them go up against some better competition but I realize that the weak teams in their conference is not their fault. It will be interesting to see how far they can go in the NCAAs.

I somewhat agree with your assessment about NESCAC selections. For instance, having seen both Jon Pierce (Tufts) and Kevin Snyder (Williams) play, there are many players in the league I would take over them despite their strong stats and the teams they play for.

toad22 · January 22, 2009, 10:56:01 PM

I think most of the people on this board are missing central fact of the the Williams-Amherst rivalry. It is Cain and Abel. When the President of Williams enticed many professors and half the students to leave Williams and start a new college in Amherst, his plan was to kill Williams and get all of the professors and students. It was a case of attempted murder. The plot failed because of a determined board of trustees and the loyal alumni who came together to form the first alumni society in the Americas. Together they saved Williams and the rivalry was born. To this day most Williams grads hate most everything about Amherst.

BornBalla · January 23, 2009, 11:06:32 AM

Seems strange to talk about Elms on NESCAC board but I would agree about Elms. Good team because of their guard play. last year they had no real production from their posts. This year they have one guy who has put up good numbers. I think he was a transfer because he wasn't there last year. They turn people over a great deal & score alot. I saw them play last year & loved watching their defensive intensity.That is their thing. Last year they gave Amherst a great game(Brandeis too I think). Their non-conf schedule is not so great though so you wonder what they are really made of. Guess we'll see...Can they pull a George Mason?

ephoops · January 23, 2009, 01:07:59 PM

Quote from: toad22 on January 22, 2009, 10:56:01 PM
I think most of the people on this board are missing central fact of the the Williams-Amherst rivalry. It is Cain and Abel. When the President of Williams enticed many professors and half the students to leave Williams and start a new college in Amherst, his plan was to kill Williams and get all of the professors and students. It was a case of attempted murder. The plot failed because of a determined board of trustees and the loyal alumni who came together to form the first alumni society in the Americas. Together they saved Williams and the rivalry was born. To this day most Williams grads hate most everything about Amherst.

AMEN...

ac08 · January 23, 2009, 04:18:31 PM

Elm's did play Amherst tough last year. Most of the game was relatively even. The game changer was an and 1 dunk by Fletcher Walters over Juan Galdon. Andrew Olson also scored his 1,000 point that game.
https://www.amherst.edu/athletics/teams/winter/basketball-m/articles/2007_08/0115_elms

nescac hoops · January 23, 2009, 07:47:22 PM

Quote from: BornBalla on January 23, 2009, 11:06:32 AM
Seems strange to talk about Elms on NESCAC board but I would agree about Elms.

My interest in Elms stems from the fact that the other top NE teams (Amherst, UMass Dartmouth, Midd, and most likely Brandeis now that they are healthy) all have tough conference schedule games (Umass Darthmouth just lost to RIC this week). Unlike the other top NE teams, Elms could easily go undefeated the rest of the way given their weak conference schedule, making it hard to deny them the top seed. I was just wondering if they were really that good. Certainly, Amherst or Midd could go undefeated the rest of the way (I suspect neither team will) and there is no way Brandeis can in the UAA playing each team twice.