MBB: NESCAC

[Old Guy]

I had a good time at the D3 Finals today, despite my petty alter-ego. I got there, the game started, and I found I was actually pulling for the Jeffs. Who knew? Familiarity won out. I watched the whole game. Congratulations to Amherst. They played great!

We walked to the arena with Alex Popp, Middlebury's top assistant. I asked who he rooting for, and he said, "Amherst, of course."

What an atmosphere! The Phillips Arena is beautiful and they went all out. Big-time hoopla: the National Anthem, player introductions, presentations, etc. during TOs. Incidentally, Dave Paulson was recognized, with others, during one break in play (TV timeout) as a D3 coach who has gone on to good things in D1 (Bo Ryan of Wisconsin too). Attendance was announced as 6,284, but I thought it might have been larger (admission was free and there were no turnstiles). The arena in the second-half seemed to us to be about two-thirds full. Having been to Salem two years ago and sitting in a half-empty gym, this was quite a contrast. What a thrill it must have been for players and their families. Amherst fans who considered going and didn't missed out on an extraordinary experience, unprecedented in D3 hoops (I suspect).

Most of you reading this I trust watched the game. Some impressions: Toomey missed most of the first half with two fouls and Amherst didn't miss a beat. Both his ardent fans and his critics will find ammunition in his performance. He scored 16 and controlled the tempo in the crucial final quarter of the game, holding MHB at bay, but he shot a low percentage and the bulk of his points were scored when the outcome was already decided. Workman was the best player on the court, especially in the first half when Amherst established dominance. His versatility is remarkable. Kaasila had trouble with the quickness of the Mary Hardin Baylor frontcourt players but his presence at the hoop, his bulk and energy (yes!), gave the Crusaders trouble early. Killian, the forgotten starter (by me, anyway) had two big threes to get the Jeffs winging off the mark. Williamson, nuf ced. Connor Green is not in the physical mold (lithe, slippery) of Toomey and Workman, but he can play - he has unlimited range and when they picked him up on the arc he went hard to the hoop and scored, keeping the Amherst lead safe. The Jeffs seemed totally unintimidated by the setting - the cockiness of Toomey and Workman that so drives rivals crazy (speaking from experience) certainly a positive factor here.

Congratulations to the Jeffs. Well-done. Well-deserved.

[Vandy74]

Congratulations to the Lord Jeffs on a second national championship.  No doubt who the best team in D3 was this season.  Looked like a very good sized crowd on hand to enjoy it.

[Bucket]

Congrats to Amherst on winning the national championship in dominating fashion.

The Lord Jeffs were head and shoulders the best team on the court, and it was fun to hear such familiar players get very impressed props from the CBS announcers. (Although, either I've been pronouncing Kaasila's name wrong for four years, or the announcers botched it. I fear the former--how is that possible?--because the broadcast was first-rate, otherwise.)

Got a kick out of seeing Walzy in the stands, celebrating. Paused the tivo, snapped a pic with my iPhone, and e-mailed him the result. It was the least this friendly rival Midd fan could do.

I take no small amount of pride and comfort in knowing that Midd and Williams gave Amherst its toughest challenges late in the season. The rest of the country can squawk about the NESCAC, the northeast, etc, but the "Big Three" are just that. Three of the best in the country. Though I must say that this year Amherst stands along, deservedly so--a team for the ages.

[Panthernation]

(Although, either I've been pronouncing Kaasila's name wrong for four years, or the announcers botched it. I fear the former--how is that possible?--because the broadcast was first-rate, otherwise.)

Actually, Pete says its the way the broadcaster announced it. We checked with Bruce Bosely pregame in February and Bruce had checked with Pete. We were all surprised. Pete said everyone gets it wrong. Good homework by the CBS crew.

[P'bearfan]

I had a good time at the D3 Finals today, despite my petty alter-ego. I got there, the game started, and I found I was actually pulling for the Jeffs. Who knew? Familiarity won out. I watched the whole game. Congratulations to Amherst. They played great!

We walked to the arena with Alex Popp, Middlebury's top assistant. I asked who he rooting for, and he said, "Amherst, of course."

What an atmosphere! The Phillips Arena is beautiful and they went all out. Big-time hoopla: the National Anthem, player introductions, presentations, etc. during TOs. Incidentally, Dave Paulson was recognized, with others, during one break in play (TV timeout) as a D3 coach who has gone on to good things in D1 (Bo Ryan of Wisconsin too). Attendance was announced as 6,284, but I thought it might have been larger (admission was free and there were no turnstiles). The arena in the second-half seemed to us to be about two-thirds full. Having been to Salem two years ago and sitting in a half-empty gym, this was quite a contrast. What a thrill it must have been for players and their families. Amherst fans who considered going and didn't missed out on an extraordinary experience, unprecedented in D3 hoops (I suspect).

Most of you reading this I trust watched the game. Some impressions: Toomey missed most of the first half with two fouls and Amherst didn't miss a beat.

Old Guy, glad you enjoyed the atmosphere - agree that it was pretty special.  Also glad our weather improved - on Thursday night it was colder here in Atlanta than in parts of New England.

Have to disagree with you though about the impact of Toomey sitting down for most of the first half.  I was at the game and Amherst really seem to get out of synch offensively with him on the bench.  This is when UMHB started climbing back into the game though they never seriously threatened. 

No doubt that Toomey's a special player and he and Workman form a deadly combination - the defending team has to pick their poison.  It will be interesting to see how Amherst's offense evolves next year without Workman and Kaasila (what a beast).

[grabtherim]

Congrats to the Lord Jeffs. Great team and an equally great season.

[Titan Q]

We do appreciate that none of those European league teams are any better than the first five guys who show on any morning at Rucker Park (or any similar venue), don't we?

Frank,

That may be true, but it's hardly relevant. We don't think Will Hanley or Ryan Sharry or any other NESCAC player for that matter is going to play in the NBA, but it is pretty amazing nonetheless that Hanley is playing with former NBA players and stand outs from the Olympics.

Frank's statement is just not true at all.  In the last 16 years, IWU has had four 1st Team All-Americans play in Europe in different leagues - Bryan Crabtree (1997), Keelan Amelianovich (2006), Adam Dauksas (2006), Zach Freeman (2007) - and listening to them talk about the level of competition there, and who they played with and against, it makes Frank's comment sound kind of silly to me.  That's really good basketball over there in most leagues.

[cardinalpride]

Congrats to Amherst on winning the national championship in dominating fashion.

The Lord Jeffs were head and shoulders the best team on the court, and it was fun to hear such familiar players get very impressed props from the CBS announcers. (Although, either I've been pronouncing Kaasila's name wrong for four years, or the announcers botched it. I fear the former--how is that possible?--because the broadcast was first-rate, otherwise.)

Got a kick out of seeing Walzy in the stands, celebrating. Paused the tivo, snapped a pic with my iPhone, and e-mailed him the result. It was the least this friendly rival Midd fan could do.

I take no small amount of pride and comfort in knowing that Midd and Williams gave Amherst its toughest challenges late in the season. The rest of the country can squawk about the NESCAC, the northeast, etc, but the "Big Three" are just that. Three of the best in the country. Though I must say that this year Amherst stands along, deservedly so--a team for the ages.

Well NCC did the best job on them defensively! If only NCC had made free throws or a couple more threes! By the way, Williams and middlebury should play them tough. They're in the same league for crying out loud!

[daoustian]

Wasn't able to watch the game live, but just finished catching up via DVR.  Very excited, despite the UMHB fan who decided to scream just before every Amherst foul shot at the top of her lungs like she was being stabbed, and the Madonna halftime show causing lighting power problems in the second half.  It's hard to complain too much after winning a national championship, but if that hadn't worked out, we'd be talking about how Amherst was overly reliant on its outside shooting and wondering why they didn't attack the hoop more, particularly in the first half against a much smaller team.  It was great to see Connor Green going to the basket with authority for a change, which gives me hope for the 2013-2014 season before everyone else cedes the league championship to Williams, Midd and Tufts.  Great season, and great season on the message boards.  See everyone next March.

[Panthernation]

Dan Wetzel, one of Yahoo!'s best writers covered the events from Atlanta today. Here's his article: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaab--brilliant-decision-by-ncaa-to-host-division-ii-iii-title-games-in-final-four-city-221424582.html

Unfortunately they confused Aaron Toomey and Willy Workman in the photo, but otherwise the article is good.

[grabtherim]

We do appreciate that none of those European league teams are any better than the first five guys who show on any morning at Rucker Park (or any similar venue), don't we?
[/quote
Hey Frank, please enlighten us on this. I'm sure you can go to any school yard and find a much quicker kid than the one in this story. This little guy saying awesome over and over again is better than your entire body of work and your glib snarky comments. Way to insult every kid who is playing in europe you tool.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9142300/jack-hoffman-7-scores-nebraska-cornhuskers-spring-game

[jayhawk]

nice attack by JohnFeinstein in Washington Post on Willy Workman, Amherst B-Ball
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/willy-stuff-helps-amherst-to-division-iii-national-title/2013/04/07/595e54de-9fc8-11e2-82bc-511538ae90a4_story.html

great atmosphere at game yesterday
Nice balance by Amherst

Connor Green- showed he could shoot the 3 and had athletic ability and strength to drive

saw Jeff Brown congratulated him on his season

[maineman]

Congratulations to Amherst on their NCAA Championship season.  A wonderful accomplishment!

[ECSUalum]

Congrats to amh63 and all the Lord Jeff fans on their 2013 NCAA National Basketball Championship!!!!!  WELL DONE

[lefrakenstein]

So excited after yesterday! It was great to see the team put a cap on a truly unbelievable season. It's really amazing to see how far the players, and Williamson in particular, have improved since the beginning of the season. Have to give a lot of props to UMHB too - even though the game wasn't particularly close it was clear that their team was extremely talented - Amherst could simply not prevent Orr, Allen or Todd from getting to the rack. But the balanced attack from Amherst just overwhelmed them. Pretty much everyone on the team had a strong game, but Williamson, Green and Workman were "on" in particular, and they were the guys who provided the answer for every Cru run. I was particularly impressed with Green. He really showed an ability to get into the lane and finish when defenders play him too tightly. He had a couple of and-ones that were huge momentum changers. Pretty cool to see a freshman play that well in such a big game.

Got back late last night from Atlanta, and I have to say it was an awesome event. I was one of the people who was inclined to think that delaying the dIII tournament to have all the games at once was a really poor decision, but now that I've actually experienced the event, I have to say that I was wrong and that this was a great idea. It's probably not something that can be repeated, but it created a really fun atmosphere. It was almost surreal seeing the team playing in an NBA arena. The only thing that would have made it better is if Amherst had managed to send students down for the game. UMHB had a great student section and Amherst didn't have any students there at all. But other than that, I think it was basically a perfect event. In addition to a few '08 friends who came down for the game, I got to sit with the Workman clan and a professor I had my freshman year who miraculously still remembered me. It was a lot of fun to see how many people follow the team closely from afar; everyone really knew a lot about the players and the team in general.

amh63, the reception after the game was also great. I got to meet a lot of the players as well as Coffey, the AD, and many alumni. Got some inside scoops: the team is definitely still looking to add more recruits for next year. One of the assistants thought it might end up being a very large class. So I'm excited to see who else they add. I got to meet Berman and Nabatoff, who were in attendance with their families. Both seemed like nice kids.

Anyway, sorry for boring everyone else. The board has really made following the team even more fun this year, so thanks to everyone who posts regularly. I'll see you next season.