MBB: NESCAC

[David Collinge]

Well, in that vein, I think the Port/Cooper combo is a pretty good one.  You'd have a hard time shutting both of them down, and you get some of every skill from one or the other (or both.)  Port does pretty much everything at least reasonably well (shoot, drive, rebound, guard, steal, etc.) and has become a real on-court leader.  Cooper does some things at a very high level (create a shot, hit the jumper) and others not so much (both his defense and ballhandling could be improved, but are better than last year, when he was an All-American). 

Whether I'd take them over Freeman/Amelianovich or Coffin/Crotty I don't know, maybe not.  I confess I don't recall much about the Williams tandem.  But both IWU last year and Wooster this year have many more elements than just these two.  IWU had a first-team All-American point guard in Adam Dauskas, and a number of big bangers to supplement Freemen.  Wooster has a very good point guard, a good but undersized center, and good role players, and everyone knows and accepts his role, which means they play as a team very well.  I believe that describes Amherst as well, and it may well describe any team that can get this far with just 2 or 3 losses.

[senatorfrost]

 I was aware of the first team pg. He had two off games in Salem as I remember. I remember asking myself how could they have lost A game with Amelianovich, Freeman and the first team pg? They had some others who weren't bad also, it's just that Freeman and Amelianovich caught my eye. The pg must have had a lot of good games during the year.
Talent laden.

[formerbant10]

If I had to pick out of those combos, I'd have to go with the Williams guys.  I've never seen the IWU guys, but saw Wooster play last weekend and those 2 are pretty good.  Port is the real deal.  Great athlete, great passer, very good off the ball defender (quite a few weakside blocked shots against JCU) and has a great feel for the game.  Cooper is similar to Kino Clarke.  A little bit bigger, not as quick...but very effective on the offensive end.  Great mid-range game.  Didn't see his 34 point game, but heard it was quite the performance.  They are very tough to handle.

But if I'm starting a team, I'd like a good point guard and a good post scorer.  Crotty and Coffin are more than adequate in those respects. 

[The Historian]

Crotty and Coffin are more than adequate in those respects. 

Plus, Crotty dressed up as an elf to wish us all happy holidays.

[nescac1]

One other recent duo that deserves mentioning is Kalsow and Bennett from Stevens-Point.  Led the team to two titles, Kalsow is one of the best all around D-III players I've ever seen and I think actually was underrated, and Bennett was just an amazing shooter w/ good size.

re: the Sears Cup, the new standings just came out and Williams is back in first with a 150 point lead over Amherst.  And of course that doesn't reflect Williams' dominant football team, which wasn't permitted to play in NCAA. 

Even with Tom Parker, Dman, I don't see Amherst surpassing Williams anytime soon in overall athletic excellence -- I don't get the sense that Tony Marx (Amherst pres) is a huge sports lover, and his priorities aren't really compatible with building an athletic powerhouse. 

[JeffRookie2]

I think next year you might see Olson and Hopkins come close to those other tandems. Once Hopkins starts playing 30+ a night, he's going to be a lot to handle. And Olson is Olson.

[BooBallsCasRay]

One other recent duo that deserves mentioning is Kalsow and Bennett from Stevens-Point.  Led the team to two titles, Kalsow is one of the best all around D-III players I've ever seen and I think actually was underrated, and Bennett was just an amazing shooter w/ good size.

re: the Sears Cup, the new standings just came out and Williams is back in first with a 150 point lead over Amherst.  And of course that doesn't reflect Williams' dominant football team, which wasn't permitted to play in NCAA. 

Even with Tom Parker, Dman, I don't see Amherst surpassing Williams anytime soon in overall athletic excellence -- I don't get the sense that Tony Marx (Amherst pres) is a huge sports lover, and his priorities aren't really compatible with building an athletic powerhouse. 

Good point - In my opinion, Tony Marx will have, if anything, a very negative impact on athletics at Amherst.

[frank uible]

But he is partial to Animal Crackers and Duck Soup!

[lemonjello]

and socioeconomic diversity.

[mrmike88]

Sitting here courtside at Salem, prepping for the radio broadcast...

http://wamh.amherst.edu/ - We're going on the air around 5:30!

[formerbant10]

Big FT's by Hopkins and Olson down the stretch.  Congrats to the Jeffs!  Hope they finish it off.

[dman]

congrats to amherst....

[ScotsFan]

Congrats to Amherst on the big win tonight!  They got off to a torrid start for the game and they were able to turn  away Wooster's comeback attempt with some clutch free throw shooting down the stretch.  I thought once Wooster made the comeback and went up 3, it was all over, but to the Jeff's credit, they didn't quit and made the plays when they needed them.  Given Wooster's recent run of making come from behind wins, I thought this game was all but over when Wooster erased that 14 point halftime deficit, but Amherst deserves the credit for regaining their composure when it counted.

Good luck tomorrow to the Jeffs in the championship game tomorrow!

[senatorfrost]

 I hope more people are begining to appreciate Tim McLaughlin.
Does anyone know how many starters WV has back from last year? I think it's four or five. Vanderwaart had a nice night and I would wager that VW is hoping Adair can have one tomorrow. He had a pretty good night tonight.
Too bad McLaughlin can't guard Adair.

[YoungSnukes]

besidesw barry bonds aka god, is there a man on this planet who makes it more epic than herst hoops yadadadada snukes?