MBB: NESCAC

[amh63]

Midhoops...nice personal touch here in your post! Plus K to you.
Does your Cuz know you are pointing out his age? . 
For those who do not follow Lacrosse, Trinity women's team is the runner up to the defending title holder......and Tufts men's team won the National Title.  Go jumbos!  Good conference showings all around.  Tufts' sports programs are coming on strong...softball team is still in the title hunt.
On a basketball note...watched Toomey, Killian, Kalema and Gach graduate yesterday.  Logan Buckner too, but did not walk the stage.  Now this board gets really slow...for me.
Speaking of Tufts...does the Jumbos have any impact guards coming in?  IMO, they will only challenge next season with improved backcourt play.  Same goes for Colby.  Guess that is true for Amherst without the term "improve".

[grabtherim]

This is a great article on Popovich and his time as a DIII coach.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/26/sports/basketball/revered-in-nba-spurs-leader-remembers-his-california-roots.html?ref=sports

[toad22]

Thanks! Great article.

[daoustian]

For example, amH63 points out the men's tennis won this year's Division III national championship without noting the team played 39 matches (36-3) , including three in one day on several occasions. Williams who has won national championships in tennis and is routinely selected for the NCAA tournament played 23 matches, almost half as many.

That will happen if one school advances in postseason play and the other one doesn't.  Most of the multi-match days were over spring break and gave other players on the team a chance to play.  Multi-match days also help give players the endurance needed for nationals, where the singles/doubles tournaments post-team play involve multi-match days.  Too nuanced for the hoops board I realize.

According to amHerst alumni and administrators, this approach has merits, including the "marketing" of the school, avoiding directly competing with Williams' success in the Directors' Cup,

This is hilarious.  It's great that Williams cares about the Director's Cup, but they are the only ones who do.  You rarely hear about the D1 Director's Cup winners being a big deal - it will go to schools who fund a lot of varsity teams, i.e., Stanford or Duke.  A lot of midwest D1 sports powerhouses field a dozen varsity teams at most.  Williams scores points in sports where Amherst doesn't field a varsity team, most notably crew and skiing.  Not that I really care to do this exercise, but subtract those points from Williams' Director's Cup score, or better yet, divide points by total number of varsity sports, and Willams doesn't win however many DCs in a row.  Many midwestern D3 schools are equally screwed by not having varsity field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, etc., let alone crew and skiing.

You can pay for whatever trophy you want -- you agree, but don't say it as crassly.  There's a cost either way.  I'll take football and hoops vs. the Director's Cup 100 times out of 100. 

[Vandy74]

This is a great article on Popovich and his time as a DIII coach.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/26/sports/basketball/revered-in-nba-spurs-leader-remembers-his-california-roots.html?ref=sports

I noticed the headline but had never gotten around to reading the sports section.  Thanks for posting this.   

[jumpshot]

daoustian:

You miss the point entirely regarding the differences in approach to breath of participation. What you do confirm is amHerst's approach of major and minor sports. You may also want to check your arithmetic concerning tennis. You were a fine athlete in the two sports of football and basketball, although a bit self-centered and exclusionary in your post to dismiss the merits of, demand, and popularity for other athletics. Diverting the discussion to Division I is an irrelevant distraction. If the facts are on your side, argue the facts. In this case, you are simply pounding the table.

Williams student/athletes/coaches have received numerous awards for decades, including Directors' Cups which simply are a by-product, not a goal of Williams College's intentional (and cost-effective) approach to the student/athlete experience and process. Frankly, as an investor in numerous colleges and schools, I clearly prefer the sustained broad excellence, rather than more narrow focus.

I am pleased to know that on matters on which we disagree you are still capable of learning.

[nescac1]

amh63, Tufts does have a question at point guard, for sure, but they do bring in Vincent Pace, who I think will eventually be a very good NESCAC player (I am biased as he is from my hometown).  He is a big swingman type.  Tufts is loaded on the wings with Haladyna, Ferris, Spadaford, and Pace all able to play the 2/3.  And if Palleschi is indeed returning and back to his former form, the Palleschi-Sabety combo will be a force to be reckoned with down low, even in a conference that is loaded with returning talent at the five, that duo if used correctly will be nearly unguardable and will also provide tremendous rim protection.  Tarik Smith played well at times as a first-year player and is the likely heir apparent at the point.  If he can be even adequate, Tufts is as talented as just about anyone else in NESCAC, although we've said that before and somehow they haven't made the NCAA in many years. 

Speaking of Tufts, I don't think anyone mentioned the very impressive Spring for Jumbo athletics, winning their second straight national title in softball as well as the national title in men's lacrosse.  Both of those programs have been dominating not only NESCAC, but most of the country, over the last 4-5 years.  Three national titles overall for NESCAC this Spring, with lots of other top-4 finishes.  Not too shabby.

One thing not mentioned in the Popovich article (and Popovich is my favorite coach in all of sports, just a total class act and a brilliant hoops mind): Curt Tong was the AD at Pomona who hired Popovich, and is his friend and mentor.  Tong was the long-time Eph hoops coach, and is a Williamstown resident.  It looks like Popovich may end up retiring to the Williamstown area (and my guess is that he retires along with Duncan / Manu in another year or two, but perhaps he will want to keep coaching). How cool would it be to see him in Chandler during games??  Or better yet, maybe serve as a volunteer assistant coach in his retirement years?  Hey, a guy can dream ...

http://www.benningtonbanner.com/headlines/ci_5815200

[GingerBaker]

According to that article, Curt Tong was actually a Williams College Basketball.  Must have been embarrassing to be repeatedly bounced off the floor by the guys he was supposed to coach.

[amh63]

Nescac 1......interesting article from the Bennington paper.  Maybe he will get involved with the local college bb team...the one that gave Williams such a hard time last season.  Do not think Bennington College has a WBB team?  Just kidding around here.
GingerB....sharp eye...editorial professional?   Plus K to you.
Just read in my local paper...on the sports page about a summer basketball league being filled with many local players.  One of the HS coaches made a statement wrt to one of his players joining the league...that the player can work on his weaknesses during the Summer.  Statement caught my attention.

[ronk]

amh63, Tufts does have a question at point guard, for sure, but they do bring in Vincent Pace, who I think will eventually be a very good NESCAC player (I am biased as he is from my hometown). He is a big swingman type.  Tufts is loaded on the wings with Haladyna, Ferris, Spadaford, and Pace all able to play the 2/3.  And if Palleschi is indeed returning and back to his former form, the Palleschi-Sabety combo will be a force to be reckoned with down low, even in a conference that is loaded with returning talent at the five, that duo if used correctly will be nearly unguardable and will also provide tremendous rim protection.  Tarik Smith played well at times as a first-year player and is the likely heir apparent at the point.  If he can be even adequate, Tufts is as talented as just about anyone else in NESCAC, although we've said that before and somehow they haven't made the NCAA in many years. 

Speaking of Tufts, I don't think anyone mentioned the very impressive Spring for Jumbo athletics, winning their second straight national title in softball as well as the national title in men's lacrosse.  Both of those programs have been dominating not only NESCAC, but most of the country, over the last 4-5 years.  Three national titles overall for NESCAC this Spring, with lots of other top-4 finishes.  Not too shabby.

One thing not mentioned in the Popovich article (and Popovich is my favorite coach in all of sports, just a total class act and a brilliant hoops mind): Curt Tong was the AD at Pomona who hired Popovich, and is his friend and mentor.  Tong was the long-time Eph hoops coach, and is a Williamstown resident.  It looks like Popovich may end up retiring to the Williamstown area (and my guess is that he retires along with Duncan / Manu in another year or two, but perhaps he will want to keep coaching). How cool would it be to see him in Chandler during games??  Or better yet, maybe serve as a volunteer assistant coach in his retirement years?  Hey, a guy can dream ...

http://www.benningtonbanner.com/headlines/ci_5815200

I watched a game video of Vincent Pace because he was considering Scranton also, and I agree that he'll be a good NESCAC 2/3; he also notified the Scranton recruiter when he decided on Tufts - a classy gesture.

[Vandy74]

Speaking of Tufts, I don't think anyone mentioned the very impressive Spring for Jumbo athletics, winning their second straight national title in softball as well as the national title in men's lacrosse.  Both of those programs have been dominating not only NESCAC, but most of the country, over the last 4-5 years.  Three national titles overall for NESCAC this Spring, with lots of other top-4 finishes.  Not too shabby.

Actually I did mention Tufts' recent Lax championship over on the lacrosse board.  Not a lot of chatter over there but amh63, magicman and I have been rooting on our favorite women's teams.  Feel more than welcome to join us over there next spring.  You are correct that Tufts has been the class of the NESCAC for several years now.  Congratulations on another great season.

[P'bearfan]

And if Palleschi is indeed returning and back to his former form, the Palleschi-Sabety combo will be a force to be reckoned with down low, even in a conference that is loaded with returning talent at the five, that duo if used correctly will be nearly unguardable and will also provide tremendous rim protection.

Agree completely.  This is one of the reasons I don't sleep so well......I expect Bowdoin will have a very good front line next year but this potential Tuft's combo could wreak havoc in the conference. 

[amh63]

P'Bear....enjoy the time before November comes around.  Nescac 1 used the phrase "used correctly". I wonder if Tufts' coach will use the talented duo together for any length in a game.  One may still be limited in his floor time and can they work together effectively.  Seen recently where there were two all conference players in the front line  still lose key games against strong opponents....mainly in WBB.  Babson and Colby  both had talented "big" front lines that could not match up with a quicker smaller Amherst front line.
Have watched Tufts big men live...though separately in games.  Seems they both play the same role, as well as the same position on the floor for Tufts.  If Swords makes another step upward in his play, I should not worry on the matter....just sit back and enjoy the contest.
Me...I'm just sticking my head in the sand until the Fall.  Let the Amherst coaches sort out the match ups with the talent on hand.

[middhoops]

The Midd women's lacrosse coach (since the Hoover administration) is retiring.  Yeah, Vandy's sister in law.
In a huge coup, Middlebury is hiring Trinity's national championship coach as an ASSISTANT for next season to wait for Vandy's sister in law to step down after the '15 season. 
amh63 will grasp what this may portend for one NESCAC sport.

[toad22]

Curt Tong was the Williams bball coach for about 10 years, just after Al Shaw, and before Harry Sheehy. He then moved out to the west coast and became a very young Greg Popovich's AD at Pomona. The have had a very close relationship since then. I admire Curt Tong so much for his strong character, and basic decency, that I would like to think that Curt had something to do with what a wonderful coach, and human being Greg Popovich has become. Curt Tong has had a remarkable life, including four years in a Japanese internment camp in the Phillipines as a child. Curt has written a  wonderful book about that ordeal called "Son of War, Child of Angels". After Pomona, Curt moved back to Williamstown, and was an Assistant Men's Tennis Coach for many years. There is more to Curt's story, but I won't go on so long.