MBB: NESCAC

[walzy31]

Will Ryan O'Keefe reach 1000 career points this season?

Yes -130
No -110

Walzy "Behind The Line":
Since Tufts will beat Williams he has at least 2 games to get there. I think Tufts loses in semis, but O'Keefe has a 50/50 chance of putting up an average of 18 in two playoff games.
The odds are worse for the "Yes" because if Tufts does move on, he will assuredly average 12 over the Jumbos three NESCAC Tourney games.

Thanks for coming to the source.

[old_hooper]

Here is a link to an article in Tufts newspaper on Olson and Cousy Award nomination

http://media.www.tuftsdaily.com/media/storage/paper856/news/2007/02/14/Sports/Inside.The.Nescac.Always.A.Thorn.In.The.Jumbos.Side.Olson.Garners.Nomination-2718666.shtml

[whoarewebobcats]

One thing about that list of 20: Maybe the numbers say it, but Stockwell isn't any more important than Zak to Bates, and in fact, this year as the team has fallen apart around him, Zak is the only player who has consistently shown up. I think he only had one really poor game that I can remember (granted, I'm saying this based on box scores, but other than Red I don't think anyone on this board saw the team more than once, maybe twice), and through this stretch where Wholey, Halloran, and even Rob continue to disappoint, Zak has been putting up big numbers and carrying the team. I certainly don't think it's fair to characterize it as a "down year" for him, but something happened to this team certainly, at least from a mental standpoint. I refuse to blame Zak for this--while he does run the team, I've been around him enough to know what kind of leader he is and how important he is to the team's accomplishments, and his mental toughness is too strong. But the rest of the team folded, and has been a big disappointment in what should have been a historic year for Bates basketball (this should have been the boys' equivalent of the girls' 05 team).

I'll throw out predictions of my own: Amherst 87-64, Trinity 76-63, Williams 87-83, Middlebury 61-52.

[eclinchy]

Amherst 80-69, Trinity 79-73, Tufts 86-80, Colby 84-77.

In other news, JumboCast IS traveling to Williamstown for the Tufts away game.  I'm making my debut as an in-game commentator (not just the halftime show, actually doing color for the game this time).  So I need to do some quick pronunciation checks... can someone help me out?

go-HEE-gan?  guh-HAY-gan?
WISE-brot?  wise-BRO?

edit: And one more.  Tommas = pronounced like "Thomas," or "Tomas?"  And is it go-LEE-uh or GALL-i-a?

[nescac hoops]

whoarewebobcats,
bates has obviously had a dissapointing year but i don't think amherst can take them too lightly. they are probably the most talented 8th seed i have ever seen even though they haven't seemed to put it all together in conference play. that being said, i expect seniors stockwell and ray to come out tough. amherst and their seniors will still make the tourny regardless of the outcome on saturday. for the bates seniors, it's a do or die situation and i think the jeffs will be in for a real battle. every team has seniors but none who are as "high profile" that have had such a disappointing season in terms of their team's record as ray and stockwell. i think amherst will be prepared but i suspect bates (ray and stockwell) will give amherst all they have and i predict a much closer amherst victory. ray and stockwell are too talented for a blowout their last game.

eclinchy....go-HEE-gun and WISE-brot.

[nescac hoops]

tommas is pronounced like the traditional "Thomas" and his last name like "go-LEE-uh"
chris rose is pronounced like the traditional "Chris" and "Rose" as in the flower and "for three" as in the range from where he takes over half his shots.

[mrmike88]

I know that Bates certainly has more to lose in the sense that their season is likely over with a loss, but another thing to think about is that an opening-round NESCAC loss for Amherst may kill their chances to host NCAA regionals.  So while their presence in the NCAAs is just about assured, there is still a lot to play for on Saturday for the Lord Jeffs (that and I can't picture the Amherst guys looking ahead when they have their sights set on a conference title).

[nescac hoops]

good point, mrmike. but i still think bates will be playing with a sense of urgency that amherst doesn't quite have given the two team's seasons. we'll see. are you calling the game again on the radio? i think i'm going to williamstown to catch the games up there this weekend along with vanillia ice performing on campus (no joke) but would like to hear the end of the amherst-bates game...the williams men's game starts earlier than all the other games b/c the women's game follows. williams is the only team that has both teams hosting this weekend....weird year in the nescac.

[formerbant10]

Does anyone think that maybe the Amherst guys won't take Bates lightly because they want to win???  I don't think they really care about hosting and seeding right now...I'm sure those guys want to win another Conference Championship.

[nescac hoops]

formerbant,
my point wasn't so much about how amherst will treat the game...

amherst will be prepared but i suspect bates (ray and stockwell) will give amherst all they have and i predict a much closer amherst victory. ray and stockwell are too talented for a blowout their last game.

...but more about how i think bates/ray & stockell will be approaching the game.

[mrmike88]

http://www.nescac.com/2006-07/sports/basketball(m)/championship.htm#021607

Three of the four games will be webcast, and the fourth (Trinity-Bowdoin) has live stats, according to the NESCAC website.  We'll have the Amherst-Bates game on WAMH, Midd's radio station will have their game vs. Colby, and as eclinchy mentioned, Jumbocast will have the Williams-Tufts game.

Formerbant, don't get me wrong, I think the Jeffs simply want to win this one.  I was just pointing out that it isn't exactly a "meaningless" game for Amherst.

[formerbant10]

mrmike, I wasn't singling you out with my post.  It just seems to me that a few people are expecting the Jeffs to simply overlook Bates because they are already in the NCAA's.  I'm sure you'd know better than most the feelings of the Amherst players.  I'm just looking at it from a player's perspective.  I don't think the players on either team are going to take this game lightly.

I don't think any of the players will be mailing this game in.

[BooBallsCasRay]

My prediction for Amherst Bates game:

Bates comes out firing on all cylinders, and stays within 5 at the half...Amherst comes out hard at half-time going on a 10-2 run. Dejected by the momentum of the game and the Amherst fans chanting, "We have hockey clap-clap clapclapclap", Bates packs  it in. Amherst purposely wins 88-68, honoring both Eric Lindros and Jaromir Jagr.

In other news, who do you think would win in a tag-team cage match?

Fernando Valenzuela and Rich 'El Guapo' Garces vs. Khalid El-Amin and Jake Weitzen?

[walzy31]

FBant10, MrMike, NescacHoops, etc,

No one enjoys losing.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Can we get a few more posts here and push that ridiculously long link off the board?