MBB: NESCAC

geronimo · January 31, 2007, 11:44:15 AM

Someone asked earlier what it would take for a NESCAC team to upend the Jeffs. For starters, they would have to recruit the Spife (he's both a spoon and a fork); install the Grinnell offense (but make sure the game doesn't air on ESPN2); lace AO's Gatorade with stool softener (Shaker, WHAT); and borrow that time machine from Napoleon Dynamite, attach it to your unit, travel forward to the year 2020, kidnap Shrek Zieja's first-born and then booby-trap the trophy case at Hopkins Academy. On the other hand, as long as mrmike mans the play-by-play, there's always a chance of Amherst falling victim to an upset.

FriarT, glad to see a fellow female active on the board. Let's do lunch.

geronimo · January 31, 2007, 11:46:39 AM

Quote from: The Historian on January 31, 2007, 11:41:56 AM
Best publicity for this forum that no one probably saw - Karl Lindholm's article in the Addison Independent: http://www.addisonindependent.com/?q=node/15 Yo, Karl, even though I'm just an Amherst "yahoo," I can say that I would be a little embarrassed to have my prof bragging about his blogging in the local paper and participating in juvenile name-calling. Also, just for the record, mrmike is an Amherst partisan, not a Williams one.

The Addison Independent's circulation just dropped to 57 after mentioning mrmike in its article.

Friar T · January 31, 2007, 12:18:31 PM

Old Guy, time for the glue factory...

Don't EVER knock Walzy on here, the man is a legend. Sure he gets one wrong every now and then, but his accuracy is unmatched on the full scale and in the words of one of my collegues, "knows more about D3Hoops than you could ever wish to learn."

WhoAreWe, are you serious? Having a perfect season includes not only an undefeated record, but also a NESCAC title, NESCAC Tournament title and NCAA Tournament title... It means treating every game as it's the most important one you've ever played because your performance on every night is THAT important. Being perfect isn't about stats, it's about winning it all, and that, I can assure you, is the goal of the Jeffs this season.

Hoops Fan, another silly comment to follow... Yeah I'm sure that Tufts would rather have that stepped up and lost by 5 to Amherst in overtime then to have dropped four other games to teams they could've beaten. Good call...

Geronimo, you continue to astound me... I heard that Shrek was dating one of the Sacramento Monarchs... That kid's going to be awesome...

Saw Grinnell beat Monmouth yesterday 127-111, it's never boring to see teams score like that, I wish you could all see it at its best...

eclinchy · January 31, 2007, 12:49:05 PM

Quote from: Hoops Fan on January 31, 2007, 11:05:39 AMIt's better to step up against the good teams like Tufts than to flop like Bates did that weekend.

It's ironic that you say that, given how Tufts flopped against... well, none other than Bates...

I think we should all just admit that Amherst is the only team in the league that isn't incredibly inconsistent this year. End of story.

MeOak21 · January 31, 2007, 01:04:11 PM

For anyone who saw the RIC/Amherst game, how much of a disparity would you say there is between the two teams?

In your least biased opinion, would RIC stand a chance to beat them if they were to play a 2nd time??

nescac hoops · January 31, 2007, 01:11:51 PM

props to old guy. i don't know many professors at nescac schools that would follow/write on a d3 sports forum or care so much about sports in general. i found williams professors to be pretty supportive of athletics but i've heard some say that professors can be brutal towards athletics at other nescac schools. i don't know if old guy's posts are the self proclaimed "beauties" he made them out to be and i did laugh at the "williams and amherst yahoos"....i find self inflicted inferiorty complexes "funny".

tough loss for the ephs last night. that would have been a very big win for them and seems that they were very close to pulling it off. i really feel like the ehps have a good shot of splitting this weekend. i expect there to be a very good crowd - http://www.williams.edu/athletics/news.php?id=10296 - truly sad.

i never really cheer for amherst but i'm glad they won last night. perhaps i'm biased, but i always think the nescac has the best New England has to offer in sports. this year williams took a blow to the nescac's street cred with their loss to framingham st. (that still hurts) and tufts has been a down right non-conference embarassment. kudos to the Herst for beating one of the best NE has to offer outside of the nescac.

walzy31 · January 31, 2007, 01:31:06 PM

Old Guy,

I loved your article and am proud to be mentioned in it. Let the blog world not forget that I have also picked 4 scores almost to the exact number, and 75% of my margins are within 2 baskets. But I was wrong in my prediction of the Midd game. Oh, and I am 21-0 in preciting the outright winner of each Amherst game.

Nescac hoops,

The ephs taketh away the street cred of Midd and then begin to giveth (KSC). 4 Tough games for them left. Could be hosting a quarterfinal game or drop to the 6,7,8 seedings. I got them splitting each weekend, but would love to see them finish the season on a 5 or 6 game losing streak. : )

whoarewebobcats · January 31, 2007, 01:38:38 PM

Friar T-- The part of your post I was responding to was: I'm really hoping the Jeffs don't look past this weekend as both CC and Wes are capable of big efforts. I don't think they will, protecting the perfect season is definitely a high priority...

What you were saying, or at least the way I read it, was that protecting the perfect season was a high priority now, with wins over CC and Wes. A loss to either school does nothing to Amherst's national hopes, and they would still be the overwhelming favorite in the NESCAC tourney. A perfect season is not a priority, and to me puts more pressure on teams the further they go. I simply said that if Amherst players viewed it the same way you do, or at least the way your portrayed in that comment, then they aren't focused on the task at hand. Their task, now that they've proven how head-and-shoulders better they are, is first a NESCAC championship and then a national title. I know you shouldn't look forward in the schedule, but you shouldn't be consumed by the statistical side of your win-loss record, either. A loss before the tourney doesn't hurt Amherst in basically any way, other than being able to claim an undefeated season. My point is, if in one of these games CC or Wes takes them down to the wire and Amherst needs a basket, and their guys are thinking, "Oh god we better not lose for fear of our perfect record being ruined," then I question their mentality.

I too was confused by the Tufts/Bates comment. The teams to be in pretty similar places overall in terms of consistency, and Bates only has three overall losses. Was Tufts 25-point loss to them a sign of stepping up against good teams? I believe Trinity, Tufts, and Bates to be about even, so Bates losing to Trin. at home was a disappointment, and a game they should have won. The Amherst game was not a "flop"--the Jeffs are considerably better than everyone else.

MeOak21 · January 31, 2007, 01:45:55 PM

Quote from: walzy31 on January 31, 2007, 01:31:06 PM

The ephs taketh away the street cred of Midd and then begin to giveth (KSC).

Not to be defensive but wasn't Keene expected to win that game even though they aren't currently playing their best basketball right now.

I believe someone mentioned it before but I'm not sure street cred and nescac belong in the same sentence unless it looks like this.

"...I'm not sure street cred and nescac belong in the same sentence..."

The only positive for Keene after beating the Eph's was that they finally beat Williams who used to be REALLY good and are now just pretty good.

formerbant10 · January 31, 2007, 01:49:01 PM

Old Guy,

Thanks for the kind words. We actually practiced at Middlebury after playing the Frost Heaves....had I known who you were, I would have extended an invitation.

Oak,

Dead on for the street cred comment....I'm sure Walzy was being extremely serious.

Walzy,

Forget about Friday and Saturday, I need your prediction for Sunday.

nescac hoops · January 31, 2007, 01:51:42 PM

ah, kudos to ksc for being able to do something last night that walzy was unable to do....beat williams.

MeOak21 · January 31, 2007, 01:57:38 PM

Quote from: formerbant10 on January 31, 2007, 01:49:01 PM
Oak,
Dead on for the street cred comment....I'm sure Walzy was being extremely serious.

All in fun on the steet cred comment... I know this

formerbant10 · January 31, 2007, 02:06:43 PM

Attending college on the mean streets of Amherst and Williamstown earns a ton of street cred

nescac hoops · January 31, 2007, 02:19:25 PM

formerbant,
in all seriousness, i hear hartford is pretty rough these days. it was never that way when i used to play there but i've heard it's been pretty bad the past few years. i guess the city's crime woes have been publicized a fair amount and there have been a number of violent on-campus incidents at trinity. any truth?

williamstown is obviously pretty crime free but i can't speak for amherst - walzy or other amherst posters would have to tell you about amherst...and neighboring mt. holyoke....who needs soccer, crime free areas, and amherst college when there is a "slamming" incoming freshman at a nearby all women's college. niiiiiiice.

Friar T · January 31, 2007, 02:21:33 PM

Not everyone had the pleasure of attending school in the ghetto of Hardford Bant...

Amherst is a savage, concrete jungle...

WhoAreWe, I'm basically saying that Amherst wants to win every game because they're winners. I wasn't suggesting that a perfect record takes precidence over a conference or national championship in anyone's mind. That would be foolish...

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Winners win.