MBB: NESCAC

[ac08]

Congrats to Williams on a great season. Playing days at the 'Herst are still too fresh in my mind to have rooted for the Ephs, (I was indifferent) but I certainly wanted them to represent the 'CAC well. There's no question they did that. Congrats to the '10s on  great careers. *Tips hat*

  A grand total of three players on Amherst's current roster have ever won an NCAA game, one has won an NCAA title as a barely-used bench player, and none have won a NESCAC championship, let alone an NCAA championship. 

Nescac1, are you counting the '10s on the current roster for Amherst? If so, five players have won multiple NCAA tournament games (Wheeler '10, Carcieri '10, Meehan '11, Bennett '11, and Butler '11). All have won in Salem. Two were a part of the championship ('10s). Two were contributors for the runner-up team (Wheeler and Meehan).

[magicman]

D3Hoops announced this year's All American Teams prior to Saturday's National Championship Game.

Blake Schultz of Williams College was named to the First Team

James Wang of Williams College was named to the Fourth Team

Adam Choice of Colby was named to the Fourth Team

No surprise for the Player of the Year honors as junior guard Steve Djurickovic of Carthage College won that award. Good chance he'll win it next year as well.


Here is the link to see the complete list:

http://www.d3hoops.com/all-american/menallam10.htm

[magicman]

nescac1,
Sorry the Ephs didn't get it done but they certainly played great this weekend and have a bright future with a good group of returning players. Wang and Whittington will be downright scary next year even if they don't improve, but you know they will. Robertson will also move into a starting spot and with Dodson back it looks like Williams won't have too many holes to fill. I'm sure there will be recruits and guys on this year's team to plug the gaps. Looks like Williams and Middlebury will be the preseason favorites for next year already.

Plus K to you for the intelligent manner in which you conducted your conversations and posts with other D3 fans on the WIAC board and the ODAC board. So much better than reading some of the useless drivel that comes from small minds. Maybe next year that matchup between Williams and Plattsburgh in the Sweet 16 will happen. (It should have happened this year, but I'm sure you would have won if it did.) Plattsburgh returns just about everybody as well plus I think we're getting a 6'7" forward back that played 2 years ago and took this year off. The Ephs will get my vote as #2 in the Posters Poll that I participate in and I'd be surprised if they don't end up as #2 in the D3Hoops final poll. I had Guilford ranked above Williams all year long but after watching them against the Quakers on Friday they sure changed my mind. Good luck next season.  

[nescac1]

Thanks Magicman, much appreciated.  Great job with the updates, etc.  I think your guys from SUNY-P will easily be a top 20 preseason team next year, maybe even top 10.  There are, however, some absolutely stacked teams returning, starting with Stevens Point, and also EMC, RMC, Illinois Wesleyan, and Carthage, all of whom return most or all of their key contributors from teams that went deep into the tourney.  I think next year's Ephs will be a top-10 preseason team, but probably will fall below that group, at least, due to the tremendous senior class they graduate. 

Congrats to Schultz, Wang and Whittington for their well-deserved individual honors.  Seeing Whittington in person, in particular, this weekend was insane.  He was arguably the best individual player at Salem, made just spectacular play after spectacular play on both ends of the court.  I've never seen d-3 players make plays like him, even many of his rebounds are flat-out spectacular.  You could see at times the fans from other schools were awed / terrified by him.  I thought as great as Schultz, Rubin, and Wang were, he was the Ephs' MVP this weekend.  No one could check him, really, not even Tyler Sanborn.  He has to be a pre-season all-American now that he is finally a full time starter (he basically played starter's minutes in Salem).  I gained even more appreciation for the all-around game Schultz played on Friday night after seeing the all star game.  Henson absolutely went off for 35 points, he is a REALLY tough player, and I believe in addition to leading Williams in scoring on Friday, Schultz had to chase Henson around for most of the game.  Just expended a tremendous amount of energy on both ends of the court, both games, and maybe it finally wore him down when he was uncharacteristically short on a few late threes.  Wang had his ups and downs over the weekend, but of course had his usual array of spectacular plays down the stretch of each game, just an insanely talented and tough guy.  Easy to forget that he is only a sophomore and should get even better ... I don't think his skills need to improve at all, just his decision making at times, against most teams he can score at will driving into the lane with reckless abandon, but not against the likes of WSP.  But without his development, Ephs wouldn't be NESCAC champs, let alone a national finalist, and he certainly had one of the best ever years by an Eph sophomore.  Should be fun to watch him grow as a player.  Alex Rubin also had a fantastic weekend and I wish the Ephs had fed him the ball more on Saturday; he is going to be VERY tough to replace, as is Big Joe.   Robertson didn't have the same impact Saturday that he had Friday, WSP's guards were very, very tough on defense, but his future is still very bright, he played tremendously and easy to forget he is only a freshman. 

Nice to see Choice play in the all-star game.  He definitely belonged out there, had a few nice finishes although JUST missed flushing what would have been a spectacular off the backboard pass from Josh Sharlow (who is an awesome player btw), not sure Choice was really anticipating that. 

AC08, sorry I shortchanged a few of the Amherst guys, forgot Carcieri and Butler.  Amherst of course has a great program with tremendous recent success including the deep tourney runs, and I have no doubt they'll be much better next year, but the sour grapes from your fellow alum just brought out my competitive / rivalry side.  Williams dominated Amherst, NESCAC, and the region this year, and really did it without anyone expecting this type of season.  I am sure the guys will look back on their many accomplishments without any hint of regret, even if the end result hurts incredibly right now.  What is even more amazing is that many of the guys on the team had little big game experience prior to this year, yet were able to raise their games in the Final Four.  Beating a Guilford team that returned virtually everyone from a prior final four run was, in particular, an incredible accomplishment for the Ephs.  WSP also had tons of tourney experience, and it showed late in the game. 

I'm glad, also, that Wesleyan is finally joining the party, there will be some great Little Three match-ups next year.  I've heard Maker (like everyone else) sing Sha Brown's praises in particular.  Folks, it's been a great year to be an Eph fan and I'm already anticipating what next year will bring!  Enjoy the off-season. 

[BankShotCharlie]

Relax Eph Partisan.

This is a forum isn't it?  Please explain how anything said is not in the spirit of the game? 

I'm not allowed to make a prediction now?  I thought this was March! 

What's a parade without a little purple rain?

[dman]

congratulations to the ephs on an outstanding season!!  you gave us some great, great memories and made us all very proud!!

[division3]

nescac 1
the reason you have never seen a DIII player like whittington is because he is a DI player (possibly mid-major, definitely low DI). i used to see him play in new york all the time and he was a superior athlete. it will be (has been) very hard for DIII kids to handle.

[nescac1]

I won't dispute that division3.  He is undersized for a center which is why, I'm sure, he ended up in division3, but other than height each of his attributes is D-1 level, and his long arms, high release point, and jumping ability makes his shot virtually impossible to block, even for guys with 4-5 inches on him. 

Great John Feinstein article on the championship game aftermath:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/20/AR2010032003291.html?sub

[toad22]

From a Williams perspective, I thought it was a great weekend. The second half against a really exceptional Guilford squad will live on in the memories of Eph fans for a very long time. It was basketball of the highest level (both teams). We left our best game on the floor in the semis, but we needed to in order to advance. It would have been too much to ask to have us stay that hot for a second game. As it is, my strong feeling is that had we had another 5 minutes of game time we would have won, but if it had gone on for 10, SP probably would have surged ahead again. It was a battle of two very evenly matched teams. All of the teams deserve great praise for their play --- it truly was a spectacular celebration of D3 basketball. Congratulations to all.

[amh63]

toad22
  Agreed!  Well stated.

[amh63]

nescac1,
  Did you read the long article in the Sunday Wash. Post sports on the Div3 BB championship by national sports writer/guru John Feinstein?  It must be the local Landon School connection of the two Williams players.  Nice write-up with the photo.  I thought it was a good plug for the conference in general.

[nescac1]

Yeah, I posted the Feinstein article a few days ago, I agree, fantastic.  Not only are two seniors from Landon, but John Botti '96 is an assistant coach there. 

Here is a great (and totally random -- Syracuse?) article on James Wang.  His hard work is readily apparent in how much he has already improved on the court, especially in terms of his outside shooting.  Scary for NESCAC to think he has two years left to continue to hone his skills ... clearly the leading returning candidate for next year's NESCAC player of the year, although Conor Meehan, Brian Ellis, Ryan Sharry, Troy Whittingon and maybe even Sha Brown will all be contenders as well.

http://www.dailyorange.com/for-d-iii-star-wang-journey-from-australia-now-complete-1.1278557

[ECSUalum]

Congrats to Williams College for a great season and more to come in 2010/2011!!!

[fpc85]

Congrats to Williams for representing the NESCAC well. As a ardent Amherst fan, I can honestly say I was proud of the way the Ephs competed. It appeared they became a bit unraveled when UWSP made their run and couldn't adjust. Still, great job this year.

Now that the this decade for basketball is over I was wondering which program everyone thought was the program of the decade and why. Obviously, I think it was Amherst but I am sure EPH fans can make a strong case. Dominant from 05-08 and extremely competitive in all the other years. The top 10 teams of the decade in my opinion are

1. Amherst '07- National champs
2. Williams '03- National champs
3. Amherst '08- NCAA runner-up
4. Williams '04- NCAA runner-up
5. Williams '10- NCAA runner-up
6. Amherst '04- Final Four
7. Amherst '06- Final four
8. Tufts '06- Sweet 16
9. Middlebury '09- NESCAC Tournament Champs
10. Trinty '08- NESCAC Tournament Champs

ALL Decade Team
G-Crotty
G- Harper
F-Bedford
F- Rhoten
C Coffin

Player of the Decade- Olson

Thoughts?

[nescac1]

Didn't the 07 and 08 Amherst teams (a) fail to win the NESCAC title and (b) have more losses than the 03, 04, and 10 Williams teams?  Moreover, one of those Amherst teams (the second I think) caught a HUGE break in the Final Four against a Ursinus team that was, I think, down its top player, then got killed in the title game.  And the 04 Williams team beat Holy Cross at Holy Cross, which counts for something.  Hard to rank them above 04 or 10 Williams teams, which lost, barely, to stellar WSP squads after beating great teams in the semis.  Can't think of any principled basis to do so, in fact.

As a result, I'd rank them 03 Williams (first NESCAC team to win a title, dominant all year statistically, only one loss, easily handled a stellar Amherst team for NESCAC title and in Elite 8, beat two very good teams in the Final Four), 07 Amherst, 10 / 04 Williams (tied, each with only two losses, both won NESCAC titles and beat great teams -- including Amherst -- in the national semis), 08 Amherst, 04 Amherst, 06 Amherst ... I think the best Williams teams were better than the best Amherst teams this decade, and that Williams had more truly elite players on those teams. I seriously doubt any of those Amherst teams would have beaten either WSP team that the Ephs lost to.   I'll give Olson player of the decade since he meant SO much to Amherst, he made three final fours, and since Coffin and Crotty were equally important to the Ephs.

I'd say it is a tie Williams / Amherst for team of the decade, Williams had more truly great / memorable moments (three NESCAC titles in which they beat Amherst in the finals including two on Amherst's home floor, the national championship, the elite eight and final four wins over Amherst, the Holy Cross game, beating a stellar Guilford team in the most recent semis, this year's undefeated run through NESCAC) but Amherst was definitely more consistent over the course of the decade, with only one really down year while Williams had a few mediocre years. 

The rest of your list and all decade team looks OK, except of course I'd put Schultz over Bedford -- Schultz easily has a better resume: four year starter, fourth all-time leading scorer at Williams, top ten all-time rebounder, great defender, Josten's, NESCAC POY, first team all-American, two-time first team all-NESCAC.  Schultz' senior year stats were otherworldly ...