MBB: NESCAC

[CCsalive]

no you weren't Red...your feelings are even stronger than mine...wait till formerbant gets a look at your post...you guys could talk Amherst into ballgame with Calipari's Memphis squad...note that I chose not to reference Dook.

[JeffRookie2]

I would really like to see Amherst schedule a weak div.I team next year. Dartmouth isnt that far away, and I think that might be a pretty good game.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Yeah, but the d1 schools won't do it.  They might do exhibitions, but there is no incentive for them to schedule a d3 school, especially a good one and especially after what happened to Holy Cross.

[formerbant10]

Hoops is right on that one.  Pretty embarassing loss for the Crusaders.  I know a couple of the players for Holy Cross (grew up with them) and while only one of them was at Holy Cross that year, he was quite disturbed at what happened.  As for Amherst playing in the Ivies, I don't know enough about the Ivies anymore.  I followed them a lot more starting in the late 80's going through till the mid 90's when Dartmouth was just as good as Penn and just below Princeton.  Saw a bunch of Dartmouth games and they were very good, much much better than any all star team the NESCAC could put together this year. 

I'm sure Amherst could play with those guys, but with a full schedule I'm not sure what could happen.  I'd have to take the majority of the Ivy league teams over the 'Herst.

And even Pat Coleman believes Amherst is making it to Salem as seen in his breakdown of the brackets.  The home court is huge, but the weaker bracket is the main reason why they should make it there.

[walzy31]

Formerbant,

Your "unsung hero team" of 5 to beat amherst is trinity with weitzen and stone in place of Westbrooks/Hoar and Rhoten. I wouldn't make those trades. Jared Ashe plays great against Amherst a lot too. I would think about a 3 guard team with Clarke, P. Martin, Ashe, Stone, and Weitzen. EL's finest can wait another year...although his game fits the quintessential NESCAC role player.
Penn and Princeton are now the class of the Ivy League. Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Cornell chasing...and Dartmouth playing the role of Wesleyan (5-20 overall). I dont think we could beat Penn or Princeton...not this year at least.

CCsalive,

Putting Coulibaly on the team that has the best chance to upset Amherst is dumb. Ever play a game of Madden when both teams have Vick and both players scramble with him on every play? Stupid and not realistic. As Formerbant said, what happens if Amherst subs McLauglin out and Adolphe goes in to guard the Coulibaly??? Do you hit the big red "easy button" and hope that a wall erupts from the ground out of no where (pretty sure they advertised that commercial last night during the Duke/FSU game)?
CCsalive...I think I am on to you. You came onto this site with the "Conn" connection, but I think that that was just a cover for you to speak your mind about Amherst without people getting too suspicious or angry. Sure some Amherst fans get upset when they see LittleJeff (falsely) saying Olson is overrated, but at least he is saying it upfront from the point of view of an Amherst fan.
Or are you a Conn fan who is cousins with Adolphe?
Either way...I am on to you.

Amherst @ Memphis fake line would be Amherst+33.5

[formerbant10]

Walzy,

One should think back to the only NESCAC team that beat Amherst this year, after all it was the Bants.  And I don't think any 5 guys could play a whole 40 minutes with the Amherst Army, they just have too many guys.  So I like my 10 and I'm sticking with them.  Westbrooks would be on, but I'm going with experience.  I think he has the most potential of that class to be great.

I like that you picked up on my easy button train of thought.

And I'm gonna take Memphis with that line.

[mariner75]

Didn't think they'd be able to manage it but it looks like the Jumbocast crew is going to broadcast (audio) the Tufts game at Cortland St. tomorrow.  Check out the details on www.jumbocast.com.

[nescacfan33]

CCsalive,

In response to the no posts on Wesleyan and Ashe, it hurt TOO much to post about those Wesleyan Cardinals and their players/coaching. I saw a handful of games and it was painful. After battling through the first half of the season and at least competing through december (6-5), they completely fell apart. EMBARRISINGLY. Ashe was the only one playing at times, with some help from a solid shooter in Jim Shepherd and Peletier. But that is it! No interior presence. NONE. Didnt see a big man post up and finish in the 9 or 10 games I saw. No other contributions, forget the bench. Ashe had to create everything for himself offensively instead of having a postman to free up the team. I heard he might just stick with soccer next year and focus on that. NESCAC champs to no wins in bball. OUCH. Walzy, you are with amherst soccer right, you should talk to him. Hopefully these Cards can reach .500 next year. Doubt it. Oh
and Walzy, please don't encourage Blake Curry anymore. I think your posts make his game worse and worse. I saw him play well at Williams but besides that, he must have made 9 out of 200 shots in the games I was at.

Formerbant, putting your whole Trinity team as the all star squad to TAKE DOWN amherst is petty. I would have Ashe over Martin as of now. Ashe is one of the best all around players in the league. And definitely take Weitzen and Black. Very solid ball players.  Cmon now, without Rhoten, that team is going to have to really really change their makeup and style. Martin and Clarke were great together, but benefited BIG time from the pressure applied to Rhoten. It would be a tough split between Ashe and those two. Different styles. All three are very good ball players. It will be interesting to see the looks Trinity can get with the offense not going through Rhoten. Just looked it up, Ashe finished with 11.5 ppg, 43% fg, 6.5 boards, 4.5 asts (how I don't know), top five in steals. Got to the line 121 times in games, I think that might be the best rate in the conf. Too bad he is as bad as Shaq from the line. Shot 52% ft. Martin with 13 ppg but 37 % fg. That has got to improve. 5 asts, 3 rpg. Not a bad year either. It will be a good match up next year, if Wes can keep it under a 20 point blowout.

I have heard rumors Rob Kelly might be coming back to Middletown. That would change things a bit. He and Cohen would be the best big men in the league. Wes would be competitive again.

GOOD LUCK TO THE JUMBOS AND LORD JEFFS! GREAT SEASONS.

Formerbant, what is Rhoten's next move? NBDL? Chuckle. Is he going overseas?

[walzy31]

nescacfan33,

Yeh I am with the soccer team and am still bitter at Wesleyan. Jared Ashe is a very talented soccer player and I always respected his hoops game as well.
I'm not sure what you mean by "talk to him." I think he should play two sports because he is clearly good enough. And the outcome of the soccer season for Wesleyan wasn't affected this year by him playing basketball...so why should it affect the soccer team next fall? As for Wesleyan hoops being .500 next year, maybe. More than 2 wins in conference? No.

As for Blake. I hope you are joking by saying that you think my posts make him worse and worse. Blake is a great shot blocker and a very streaky shooter...his other decisions on the court are what make him fun to watch to me though. He's capable of 20+ any night...but he is also capable of doing something absolutely absurd. That is why I "encourage" him as much as I do. I appreciate his acts as a fan. It is like pro wrestling.

[Dr E. Spengler]

"but they would never admit that because their actually scared about losing to Hamilton in the second round.

A bye and home-court throughout? Anything less than FINAL FOUR is a BUST."

CC, you continue to post complete nonsense.  You really lost me on that first part..."their actually scared..." 

Egon doesn't respond to either bad grammar or just pointless statements...that's two strikes and I have a feeling here comes the third: 

Final four or bust? Maybe it will be a dissapointment, but to claim that their efforts would be a bust is ridiculous.  Although their road to Salem seems to be the easiest,  there certainly will be tough competition.  So before you continue to make yourself look worse with your posts:  This amherst team is one who hit their stride at the end of the regular season just when they needed to as well as turned themselves from a team with a riduclous amount of talent searching for its identity to a gelling powerhouse.  Sounds like a success already to me...that being said:

Amherst cuts down the nets in Salem: bank on it.

Really good point though...keep it up...at least you can't get any worse.

[formerbant10]

Nescac33,

How would putting an entire Trinity team to take down Amherst be a bad idea......need I remind you that they did that already this year.

Jared Ashe is a great soccer player and a good basketball player.  Is he as good as Pat Martin or Kino Clarke, no.  You can ask Bob "Nice Pants" Sheldon what he thinks about Martin.  I believe Martin hitting his stride in the 2nd semester is what turned it around for Trinity.  His shooting percentages were not good, but most of that I attribute to the first half of the year when he was still rusty.  I've never been a great fan of numbers, I get a much better feel for a player by watching or playing against someone.  I've done both of those with Ashe, Clarke and Martin and there is no way I'd take Ashe on the hardwood.  Put him on the soccer pitch and I'm with you.  That comment (I know it's your opinion and you are entitled to it) is absurd in my opinion. 

I like Jared, he's a great kid as well as being a great athlete and he had to carry Wes Tech on his back this year with little help (save Jimmy Shepherd and of course fan-favorite Blake Curry--who's a good football player by the way).

As for Rhoten's plans.  I hear he's pretty focused on winning an intramural softball championship with the Border Patrol this spring.  He's got a great outfit planned for the Disco Inferno at the Party Barn.  Odds are not good that he'll be streaking at Senior Brunch.  All in all, a nice little Senior Spring planned for Trinity's all time leading scorer and the NESCAC's Player of the Year.  NBDL, doubt it.  Overseas, maybe if the right contract comes along.  Who knows though, he's got some time to figure it out, but he should enjoy this last part of Camp Trin Trin as best he can.

Egon,

I agree that Amherst is not scared about losing to Hamilton, but there may be a butterfly or two floating through LeFrak.  But that's just 'cause it's Tournament Season.  Those are natural feelings.  Final Four or bust does put an immense amount of unwanted pressure on the Jeffs.  I think they can make it there, but even if they do lose before that they have had a memorable season.....AGAIN!  I don't know how many wins those seniors have, but it sure has been a great ride for them.

[ephoops]

I would not get too carried away with the statements that Amherst could beat many of the teams in the Ivy league. 

Amherst's starting guards could hold their own against the guards in the Ivy League.  However, the big advantage that many of the Ivies have over Amherst is on the front line.  The upper half of the Ivy League have front lines that are all bigger and stronger than Amherst.

In fact, if/when Amherst gets to Salem, the reason they will not win the national championship is because the teams in the Midwest are just too big and too strong for Amherst's front line to compete and win. 

When you look back over the years when Williams played in Salem, the X factor in just about all the games was the bigger, stronger and more talented forwards and centers that Williams faced.  Even in Williams championship season, the big guy from Wooster killed them with only one good leg.  The big man from Wisc-SP manhandled big Ben Coffen in the championship game.  Even during the Nogelo years, in their loss to Plattesville, Williams got killed up front.  Nebraska Wesleyan's big men also dominated Williams in the other loss that Nogelo's team suffered in Salem (plus some unreal three point shooting by both Neb Wes and Wisc-Plattesville).

[mrmike88]

Hamilton survives Plattsburgh in overtime.  Any observations?

[All-around]

How come no nescac teams are in the ECAC's?

[formerbant10]

NESCAC goes NCAA or nothing in hoops