MBB: NESCAC

[P'bearfan]

[applaud][smite]










Re: NESCAC MBB

« Reply #17817 on: March 25, 2014, 03:46:59 pm »

Quote




Quote from: gordonmann on March 24, 2014, 11:59:19 pm



Quote

. . . I bet the non-Williams/Amherst posters LOVE this stuff.



Other than a couple active contributors from Middlebury and outsiders who follow the conversations in several rooms, there haven't been many consistent non-Amherst/Williams posters in this room in years.



Agreed.  Rather disappointing.  I expected P'bearfan in particular to stay active throughout the tournament but he disappeared following Bowdoin's loss in a game I thought they played very well in.  They deserved to be talked up more than they were.

Wasn't being a fair weather fan, I've just been absolutely buried at work for the last several weeks with little end in site. 

[P'bearfan]

I am a Bowdoin student (sophomore) and a huge fan. If any of you came to a Bowdoin game this season I was one of the kids who was at the far end right courtside trying to chirp the opposition all game. Hopefully P'bearfan will get back onto the board soon so Bowdoin can continue to grow in its presence on the boards. Also shoutout to at least the one player on Bowdoin I know of who reads this board way more than he should.

As for next year and Bowdoin's prospects, I am really excited. There are a lot of questions to be answered because the seniors were amazing this season, but in HBC Gilbride we trust.

Belated welcome to the board NothingbutNescac!!  Glad to have another Bowdoin fan active on the board.  Agree with you that next year will be exciting and will try to posts more thoughts later.  Right now I'm looking forward to the year end banquet this weekend.

[P'bearfan]

http://athletics.bowdoin.edu/sports/mbkb/2013-14/releases/20140327xkyk7s

Great to see Swords, Madlnger, Fuller and HBC Gilbride get some well deserved recognition!  Congratulations to the entire team for a terrific seaon!!

[hoya73]

Coach Hixon is enjoying this weekend a little better than last.  Son Michael won the 1 meter and 3 meter championship for Texas at the National Meet.  Not bad for a freshman--oh, and the two divers he beat took bronzes at the Olympics last year.  All the credit goes to Mrs. Hix, of course, but congrats to all!

[AmherstStudent05]

Finally back from my vacation in France. Did I miss anything? Is everyone else excited for the upcoming Final Four weekend in Salem?!

Ok, ok. I know that the d3hoops world did not stand still while I was away (much as I wish it had).  In fact, thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I was able to see the entire Amherst-Williams game (unfortunately, I couldn't get the Whitewater-Williams game, but I have to hand it to the Ephs...win or lose, they do play exciting Championship games -- Amherst has had the opposite experience).

I guess the timing of my vacation wasn't so bad after all.  Spared me an agonizing drive home from Salem (sadly I know this from experience).  To be honest, I was kind of rooting for Williams throughout the tournament -- not that I would have minded had they lost, naturally -- because my Jeffs had established that they were the better team and I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to put an end to our NCAA Tourney woes against Williams.  Sadly, it wasn't to be.

Unsurprisingly, I still consider Amherst to have been the better team this season on account of their 3-1 head-to-head record, NESCAC regular season title and NESCAC Championship, but I must confess that last week's game raises at least some doubt about that proposition (as only such an effort by Williams could have done).

Hard as it otherwise is to do, I have to give Williams credit for a sensational performance.  They really took it to us.  Before the game I believe I mentioned some factors that might allow Williams to upset Amherst: (1) Williams could be on fire from the field, (2) Williams could find a defensive look that at least gave Amherst some trouble on offense, (3) Amherst could have a bad shooting day, or (4) Amherst could be plagued by foul trouble.  Never did I think that ALL four of these possibilities would take place during a single game!  Furthermore, I never even considered the possibility that Aaron Toomey would struggle like he did. 

Credit to Caoch Maker and his guys....they had a great gameplan and they never took their foot off the gas.  That run to start the second half really took the air out of the Salem Civic Center (or at least my hotel room).  Thankfully, the Ephs were more obliging the following day against Whitewater -- managing to represent the NESCAC very while while still falling short of securing that second title!

[AmherstStudent05]

I do also want to take a moment to say a word of thanks and congratulations to this year's Amherst coaches and players.  While the season may most certainly did not end as we would have hoped, it was, by any measure, an immensely suucessful, enjoyable, and gratifying year for Amherst basketball.

Indeed, I think I enjoyed this season more than most.  I always expect the world from Amherst basketball (I blame Coach Hixon for setting such high standards!), but this year, to be honest, it took me a while to appreciate how good this team really was.  In 2007, 2008 and 2013, I was hugely confident in Amherst's abilities throughout the season.  Those teams all returned a great deal of incredibly talented players and I expected those teams to be dominant.  This year, Amherst had many more unanswered questions heading into the season relative to the other powerhouse years.  We had Toomey and we knew Green could score, but beyond that, there weren't a lot of "knowns."  Well, obviously Toomey, Killian and Kalema stepped up in a huge way for us and, bolstered by Green and David George, helped us secure a third straight NESCAC championship, a third straight NESCAC regular season title, three more wins against Williams, another perfect season in LeFrak (three out of four) and a return trip to Salem.  That sure works for me!  Before the Final Four I saw an interview with Coach Maker where he said that this year might have been Coach Hixon's finest coaching job yet.  Coach Maker seems like a wise man, and I think I would have to agree with that assessment.

The Class of 2014 surely must go down as one of the greatest classes in the history of Amherst basketball. The Class of 2014 went 108-13, with a record of 36-3 record in NESCAC play and an unbelievable 64-1 mark at LeFrak.  They were the first team to win three straight NESCAC championships and they won the regular season title three times as well (two of which were undefeated).  They also had a 9-3 career mark against Williams and made two trips to the Final Four.  Most importantly, they were key contributors to our 2013 National Championship team -- the only NESCAC team to win the regular season, conference tournament and national tournament -- a team which I think was clearly the best team of the modern NESCAC era.  While this class might not quite equal the epic Class of 2008 (three Final Four appearances and four straight NESCAC regular season titles -- but "only" two conference titles), I have to agree with my man AncientSon that our seniors this year even surpass the great Williams Class of 2004.

[AmherstStudent05]

Forgive me, but I have been out of pocket for about two weeks and so I have a lot more to say.  This post will be about the greatest player in the history of the Amherst basketball program.

It is probably impossible to quantify all that Aaron Toomey has meant to Amherst basketball over the last four years, but that isn't going to stop me from trying!  In thinking about Aaron's accomplisments, it seems that his achievements can best be broken down into three separate buckets: (1) Team success, (2) Individual stats, and (3) Individual accolades.

TEAM SUCCESS

For the past three years, Aaron has been Amherst's best player, primary ballhander, and leading scorer (during his freshman year he was our sixth man -- and maybe still even then our most talented player).  While Aaron has certainly been fortunate to play with a lot of other extremely talented players over the past four years, he has unquestionably been our most valuable player during our recent four year run -- and, as stated above, what a run it has been. 1 national title(2013), 2 Final Fours (2013-2014), 3 NESCAC Championships (2012-14), 3 regular season NESCAC titles (2012-14), a 108-13 record overall, a 36-3 record in the NESCAC, a 64-1 mark at home, 9-3 against Williams, 7-1 Wesleyan, 6-0 Bates, 4-0 Bowdoin, 5-1 Colby, 4-0 Conn, 4-0 Hamilton, 4-2 Middlebury, 5-0 Trinity, and 5-0 Tufts.

CAREER STATS

Over his career, Aaron amassed 2033 points, 493 rebounds, 582 assists and 195 steals.

On a per game basis, his numbers are as follows: 16.9 ppg; 4.1 rpg; 4.9 apg; 1.6 spg;  44.2 fg%; 39.5 3-point fg%; 89.8 ft% and an assist to turnover ratio of 2.0.

Aaron finishes his career as Amherst's all time leader in points (2033), free throws made (606) and three pointes made (291).

INDIVIDUAL ACCOLADES

NABC Player of the Year (2013)

D3hoops Player of the Year (2014)

2x D3hoops First Team All American (2013, 2014) (received Honorable Mention in 2012)

2x NABC Northeast Player of the Year (2013, 2014)

3x NABC First Team All Northeast Region (2012, 2013, 2014)

2x D3hoops Northeast Region Player of the Year (2013, 2014)

3x D3hoops First Team All Northeast Region (2012, 2013, 2014)

2x NESCAC Player of the Year (2013, 2014)

3x First Team All NESCAC (2012, 2013, 2014)

NESCAC Rookie of the Year (2011)

[AmherstStudent05]

One final post for me tonight, just following up on some things written by nescac1.

First, I want to (belatedly) join nescac1 in giving props to Pat Coleman and the d3hoops team on naming Duncan Robinson rookie of the year.  As I said before, I am in no position to judge whether Duncan was truly superior to all the other first years out there -- I just dont watch a diverse enough mix of d3basketball (though I do find it hard to believe that any first year is as good as him).  I do know however that, for whatever reason, Duncan was deserving of a First Team All NESCAC selection.  I don't know why he didn't get it, but I am glad to see -- or, rather, confirm -- that rather than validating or rubber stamping what the conference coaches had ratified, Pat & Co were willing to take a "sober second look" at DR's true talents and judge him for themselves one way or the other.  I am quite confident that DR was, and will prove to be, a worthy choice.

Finally, I saw that nescac1 included me among a list of Amherst posters who have been reasonable in their comments about Williams.  While I know this was meant as a compliment, I must say that I took it as a bit of an insult!  Why else would I bother posting on these boards if not to boast about Amherst and to take (hopefully somewhat tasteful) pot shots at Williams every chance I get!

[toad22]

The concept of "the best team" is a tricky one. Amherst was certainly the best team during the regular season and the NESCAC playoffs, but they were not the best team in Salem. This just means that teams don't stay the same. It was clear to me that Williams was improving by leaps and bounds during the three weeks of the NCAA tournament. Having had a chance to see Amherst play several of their tourney games, it was clear to me that their were regressing a bit. Toomey was so good that he was effectively carrying the team through some very difficult situations. Thus, the big win by Williams in Salem was not a big surprise. So, who was the best team this year? The team that won 3 of 4, or the team that peaked at the right time? It depends on your point of view.

Having just read AmherstStudent05s review of Aaron Toomey's accomplishments, I am in complete agreement that Toomey is the best player I have ever seen play for Amherst. I am so happy to wish him well on a great future, after college!

[middhoops]

The concept of "the best team" is a tricky one. Amherst was certainly the best team during the regular season and the NESCAC playoffs, but they were not the best team in Salem. This just means that teams don't stay the same. It was clear to me that Williams was improving by leaps and bounds during the three weeks of the NCAA tournament. Having had a chance to see Amherst play several of their tourney games, it was clear to me that their were regressing a bit. Toomey was so good that he was effectively carrying the team through some very difficult situations. Thus, the big win by Williams in Salem was not a big surprise. So, who was the best team this year? The team that won 3 of 4, or the team that peaked at the right time? It depends on your point of view.

Having just read AmherstStudent05s review of Aaron Toomey's accomplishments, I am in complete agreement that Toomey is the best player I have ever seen play for Amherst. I am so happy to wish him well on a great future, after college!

This is a perfect example of what grabtherim alluded to a week or two ago about the rest of us sitting back and observing the Amherst and Williams fans wage an always polite, nuanced intellectual battle for hoops supremacy.
Not sure if I speak for all non western Mass NESCAC fans, but I love it. 
Toomey is a great player, but I can't say I'll miss him.
Robinson is a great player but I can't say I'm looking forward to playing him for 3 more years.
Both teams will reload. 
While I hope that nescac1's prediction of relative parity and a fall off for Amherst will happen next year, I think the more things change, the more they stay the same.
So keep it up, LJ and Eph fans.  It's a long time til November.

[nescac1]

Here's some non-Williams/Amherst specific off-season conversation: the top returning candidates for all-NESCAC.  Despite the graduation of, in my view, the best point guard and best center we've seen in NESCAC in the last 20 years, as well as another all-American in Kizel, NESCAC brings back loads of talent next year -- although doubtful we see another national player of the year, or multiple first-team all-Americans again, this coming season. 

My top five heading into next year would include the four returning all-NESCAC guys, Robinson, Hart, Swords, and Hudnut, and then a very close call between three talented wings for the fifth spot: Wohl, Green, and Sinnickson.  I'll go with Sinnickson (most upside, but also biggest question mark), but basically a toss-up between those three, who all bring very different skills to the table.  Despite the enormous losses to graduation, that is a pretty darn solid NESCAC top seven, and all seven of those guys could challenge for all-American honors depending on how much they improve in the off-season. 

So, first team: Duncan Robinson (preseason POY), John Swords, Chris Hudnut, Dylan Sinnickson, Matt Hart
Second team: Daniel Wohl, Conor Green, Hunter Sabety, Ben Ferris (assuming a full return to health next season), and Mike Boornazian. 
Third team: David George (will need to step up as on offensive force in a big way, but his defense alone warrants inclusion here), Bryan Hurley (depending, again, on health), Luke Westman (needs to shoot the rock more, 65 percent!), Rashid Epps (I foresee a break-out year for him, although playing center in NESCAC is no easy task next year), Graham Safford (if he plays like he did in the first third of last season for an entire year, then he moves way up, but I figure his true level is somewhere in between that level and the level he played at late in the year)

Other guys to keep an eye on: Jacquann Starks, Hayden Rooke-Ley (I think he will have a big year playing at his natural two-guard slot, as a primary scoring option, if only he can finally stay healthy), Jake Brown, George Papadeas (if he can ever stay out of foul trouble), Zuri Pavlin. 

[amh63]

I'm back....been catching up on my reading, watching some Div1 games..women and men and being amused by all the discussions by the BB "experts", coaches, analysts on the prospects of the March Madness favorites.  Much like discussions on this board, me included.
Three things happened that made me post today.

AmhStud05 page long series of posts along with Nescac 1's projections for next season.
An article in the WSJ on the Un of Wisconsin's 7 foot center...a "late" bloomer that is typical of Bo Ryan's  approach to building a title contender vice Kentucky's approach of stocking talented NBA prospects.
An e-mail to me informing me to help welcome Amherst's Class of '18 prospects.  Regular acceptance letters went out this past weekend...receptions are scheduled around the country.

Middhoops has posted that he expects Amherst to reload and be competative in the conference.  I agreed but the term "reload" is misleading, IMO.  To me it implies that new incoming players will make an impact.  I believe that Amherst will rebuild more from the players on hand.  Much like in 2013 after the graduation of of the big class of '12.
Amherst has one talented player coming in and may get a few more in the regular acceptance process....not like Conn College that has at least 5 players in the Class of 2018.  Remember, Amherst's freshmen class has 7 players!  One player, David George has shown his potential.  His PT was in  part due to the loss of Pollack early in the season and late in the season.  Nabatoff, the other front court talent is  similar to the 7 footer for the U of Wisconsin that is key to the badgers' success.  That star had little PT his first year; even his second year...awaiting his time on the bench.  A player that played pg in HS before he started to grow...but retaining his skills.  Nabatoff also grew 4-5 inches in HS and is very long and athletic.  I expect both George and Nabatoff to get bigger and stronger and to develop their offensive games.
  Meanwhile, I also expect the other freshmen to step up next season...all are talented "wing" players with size.  I chatted with one player's father in Salem and asked him if his son could play some PG..knowing his son had ball handling skills.  He smiled and stated that his son will play wherever Coach Hixon puts him.
  In short, I believe that there is talent presently on the Amherst team....enough to challenge again for another conference title.  The key will be the return of Ben Pollack to full strength and full time.  Outside scoring...yes, Racy is a player that can provide that need.  The front court will be strong.  The backcourt has the talent.  the PG.?  Amherst has been most fortunate to have had a series of great PGs that were also big scorers over the past decade.  We may see Coach Hixon build a team that has an offense around PGs that will score less.  I also will not be surprised to see some talented PG join the team to provide depth.

[middhoops]

amh63, by "reload" I mean by some miracle Hixon will have 7 guys who will be shockingly good.  I don't designate where they come from. 
I see you, like my cousin, participate on the lacrosse board.  A D3 sports fan to the nth degree; my kinda guy.  See if you can get Vandy to up his participation on the hoops board next season.

[AmherstStudent05]

Thoughtful stuff as usual, toad.

I watched almost every single Amherst game this season and if you asked me right before tip-off in Salem whether I thought we were "regressing a bit" I would have laughed.  We played perhaps our best game of the season in the NESCAC Championship game against Williams and while we didn't look sharp against York (but still won by 12), we looked great against Plattsburgh (ask magicman) and played well against Morrisville.  Now, the one area where we were clearly "regressing" was in contributions from the bench.  While we never had a deep bench at any point this season, with the injuries to Pollack and Levine and with the pressures of postseason play, our rotation shrunk to as close to our starting 5 as you could possibly get.  Coach Hixon lamented that he wasn't able to develop more depth during the course of the season, but I don't really think he had much of a choice.  The starting 5 were simply head and shoulders above everyone else.

Anyway, I don't think there is any doubt that Amherst was the decided favorite over Williams heading into Salem.  While some Williams boosters may have exaggerated the size of this gap -- I think Frank may have been asking for 10+ points and Coach Maker was describing his team as the "cinderella" of Salem -- Amherst was clearly the favorite.  Still, as a diehard New York Giants fan, I can appreciate that timing is everything and Williams certainly picked the best time to play their best basketball of the season (up until the Championship game, it may have been the most impressive NCAA Tourney run of any NESCAC team).

As for next year's All-NESCAC team, my only prediction for now is this:  No first years, no matter how good they are, will make an All-NESCAC team.  I think Duncan has established himself as the exception that proves the rule that NESCAC coaches will not select freshmen to the all conference teams, almost no matter what.

Speaking of next year, do any Williams fans know if HRL will be playing the entire year season next year?  I only ask because I recall the case of the legend Ray Corrigan (my Amherst classmate from a rival high school).  Ray suffered a terrible season-ending injury in December of his senior year. He completed that semester and then took the next semester off.  Since he only needed one semester of credits to graduate, he also took the Fall of 2005 off as well -- missing the first half of the 06 season.  I am just wondering if HRL faces similar circumstances.

[AmherstStudent05]

A few months ago, there was a lot of talk in NBA circles about who would be on a "Mount Rushmore" of basketball.  I have decided to build my own "Mount Rushmore" of the modern NESCAC era.

The first three are easy for me.  Aaron Toomey is my George Washington, Andrew Olson is Abraham Lincoln -- or Daniel Day-Lewis playing Abraham Lincoln -- and Tyler Rhoten is my Thomas Jefferson.  I just need a TR.

Obviously, as an Amherst fan, I would love to avoid sullying my monument with any Ephs, but that seems hard to do as they have so many good candidates.  The problem with most of the Williams contenders though is that an argument could be made that each of them were never the best player on their own team.  Again, do you prefer Coffin or Crotty; Whittington or Wang? Schultz and Mayer are other serious contenders.

Of course, TR doesn't have to be played by an Eph.  Steve Zieja, John Bedford, Colin Tabb, Ryan Sharry and Joey Kizel all come to mind as plausible alternatives.

I think, however, that the smartest course of action might be to begin construction on the rest of my monument now and leave the TR spot blank for a few more years until Duncan Robinson graduates.

(By the way, Dave Hixon is my Gutzon Borglum).

I think my Amherst only Mount Rushmore would be Toomey, Olson, Zieja and Bedford, though that leaves out a lot of really good players including Schiel, Harper, Workman and the chronically underrated Dan Wheeler and Brian Baskauskas.