MBB: NESCAC

lefrakenstein · May 01, 2009, 08:21:55 AM

I remember coming into '05 a lot of people thought amherst would be down after losing Harper, Donovan and Jones. When Corrigan went down for the season early in the year and the Jeffs had to hand their offense over to a freshman point guard, people figured they were in big trouble.

Instead they went 14-0 in the NESCAC (if you include the 2 out of conference Little Three games) and only lost two games all year.

Not sure if exceeding expectations of being pretty good by being really good is in the spirit of the question.

Also, what about Trinity winning the NESCAC title two years ago? I didnt see that one coming.

ac08 · May 02, 2009, 01:14:52 PM

that team certainly had the talent to play in Salem but dead legs got them good...dead legs and man-eating post players.

Marty Peretz · May 03, 2009, 04:21:14 PM

ac08, welcome to UAA basketball. Might have been avoided if Hix would travel and play a team outside of region that isn't a cupcake from California. Not that I can blame him, of course. Just saying that one or two match-ups with an out of region UAA or CCIW squad could go a long toward helping the Jeffs down the stretch particularly during seasons where they are weaker in the post. And no, a hundred mile drive to Waltham isn't the same thing.

nescac1 · May 07, 2009, 05:48:54 AM

Former Eph all-american Matt Hunt named Durham teacher of the year:

http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/durham/4-1152601.cfm

(requires registration)

walzy31 · May 07, 2009, 06:32:53 PM

Amherst Recruiting Alert:

Allen Williamson - 6'3'' guard from Pingree School. Scored 1,000+ pts his senior year and finished with over 2,000 for his career. Reportedly also had interest in Brandeis.

Monster recruiting year for the NESCAC. Should prove to be an exciting Winter.

nescac1 · May 08, 2009, 07:50:58 AM

Wow, that is two very large recruiting classes in back-to-back years for Hixon. There will be some real battles for playing time among those guys.

Speaking of battles, there are going to be such great battles over the next four years among all the talented guards/swingmen that Williams (Robertson, Klemm, plus 2-3 others who will play the 2/3), Amherst (the Edwards, Workman, and now Williamson), Trinity (Polanco and Distasio), and Wesleyan (Beresford, St. Jean, Sha and Ameer Brown) are bringing in this year.

lefrakenstein · May 08, 2009, 12:35:45 PM

Quote from: walzy31 on May 07, 2009, 06:32:53 PM
Amherst Recruiting Alert:

Is there any way I can get these on Twitter?

NESCAC2 · May 10, 2009, 11:37:30 PM

yawn

BankShotCharlie · May 11, 2009, 11:44:22 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on May 08, 2009, 07:50:58 AM
Speaking of battles, there are going to be such great battles over the next four years among all the talented guards/swingmen that Williams (Robertson, Klemm, plus 2-3 others who will play the 2/3)

I'm pretty sure that Robertson is a PG and will have to compete with Rubin and Wang [pause].

I'd also like to point out the fact that I went to the Williams website for the first time in my life to check out who else might compete for the PG spot and I was welcomed to a group shot of Williams players celebrating right next to the score of their last game...

Ephs 74
Amherst 86

Its the little things in life.

toad22 · May 12, 2009, 04:58:07 PM

Rubin is not a PG. He is a shooting guard. The Williams offense could quite easily be played with 2 PGs. If Robertson has the talent, he will play next year, regardless of position labels.

ac08 · May 13, 2009, 11:16:17 AM

Quote from: Marty Peretz on May 03, 2009, 04:21:14 PM
ac08, welcome to UAA basketball. Might have been avoided if Hix would travel and play a team outside of region that isn't a cupcake from California. Not that I can blame him, of course. Just saying that one or two match-ups with an out of region UAA or CCIW squad could go a long toward helping the Jeffs down the stretch particularly during seasons where they are weaker in the post. And no, a hundred mile drive to Waltham isn't the same thing.

Even though I don't think a UAA/CCIW game is the vaccine against power post play, you've got a valid point.

lefrakenstein · May 21, 2009, 11:12:18 AM

I hate to be the guy who always brings up non-basketball stuff, but the amherst and williams women's tennis squads will be competing this afternoon for a national championship, the second time in the history of this storied rivalry that the Ephs and Jeffs have met in a national title game. (The other was also a women's tennis match, won by Amherst)

Amherst is 2-0 against Williams this year.

Amherst men's tennis also competing for national title this afternoon.

lefrakenstein · May 21, 2009, 01:27:41 PM

Various Amherst basketball alums:

What would say the personnel requirements of Hixon's system are? The one I would identify is a big who is comfortable coming up to the top of the key and passing from that position.

How rigid would you say he is around holding people to their position? Specifically letting traditional post players play power forward. Everyone who has played the 4 for Hix in recent memory was a pretty good shooter. Do you think he would ever let a player like Jeff Holmes play that spot?

jumpshot · May 21, 2009, 04:00:04 PM

Williams women defeated Amherst 5-2 to win Division III national tennis championship this afternoon.

nescac1 · May 21, 2009, 04:06:01 PM

Williams beats Amherst for the national title, 5-2. One minor correction: Amherst won the regular season series 2-1. But I doubt either side care after today.

Outside of the NESCAC semifinal game (which still smarts ...) pretty solid year for Ephs in the big games vs. Amherst: winning fourth straight in football, winning the 150th anniversary baseball game and ending Amherst's season in the process, and now taking the national title showdown. Amherst and Williams are in an EXTREMELY close battle for the Director's Cup; Amherst has a slight lead, but Willams has more possible point-earners still to perform. You know that Amherst would love to end Williams' streak of Director's Cup wins ... but today's win will help Williams.

Back to basketball, Williams recruiting class finalized at six guys, perimeter players Robertson, Klemm, Hicks and Divietri, all previously reported here, plus two forwards from out West (neither of whom are likely to be instant impact guys). I also heard about another guy who is primarily a football recruit and may try to play, but that rarely ends up happening. No New England players. Seems like a stellar recruiting year for NESCAC, in particular for the Little Three, which should be very fun to watch in future years. Trinity also seems to have done really well.