MBB: NESCAC

toad22 · April 04, 2007, 08:18:03 PM

I think the comparison should be Williams '03 vs. Amherst '07 -- Nat'l champs vs nat'l champs. Williams was quite a bit deeper in '03 than the next year, with 3 really fine players -Drew DeMuth, Sumant Bhat and Tim Folan. Two 1,000 pt scorers and a great 6'8'' backup center in addition to the 2004 roster. That 2003 Williams team was really deep and talented. The 2nd half they played vs. Amherst in the elite 8 game goes down as the best half of basketball I have ever seen in 50 years of watching basketball. Drew DeMuth was just a brutal player underneath, Sumant was a fine low post player, and Tim Folan was a totally clutch shooter. He loved to take the big shot in the big game. By January of that year Ben Coffin had become the player we remember now, and Crotty and Abba were also at their best. They had Jaris Cole for defense and Michael Graham for his all around good game. In addition Tucker Cain was available to shoot the 3 ball when needed. That team and the current version at Amherst would have quite a game.
Next year's Amherst team resembles the 2004 Williams team a little more in that the depth will be diminished somewhat, just like the 2004 Williams team.

old_hooper · April 04, 2007, 08:47:31 PM

toad, the Amherst depth chart is probably going to be better next year. Goldsmith who would have been a starter this year had he not broke his leg is back. Coulibaliy will be back and was a starter before he left the team for family reasons. Steven Wheeler has been said to be a better shooter then his big brother. Bennett the incoming 6'8 frosh looks like he is the real deal and he maybe the frosh exception that will see decent minutes for the Jeffs. Carciera (not sure of the spelling) will be a defensive force and in his limited PT this year proved he can take it to the hole and score. When you add the others, Walters, Jones, Hopkins, Olsen and Basko in all that, if they play defense like they did this year they will be a force to deal with. That is 10 mentioned and probably a couple others on the roster that will challenge for PT.

toad22 · April 04, 2007, 10:07:06 PM

Old Hooper- I'm not suggesting that Amherst will be worse next year, just that they lost 4 major contributors. All of the players you mentioned may very well be leaders next year, but that is by no means certain. I personally hope that Goldsmith can make it all the way back next year. He was a player that I loved to watch before he got hurt.

ephoops · April 05, 2007, 07:06:34 AM

Dman / Pat:

I'd love to see a team like Wash U or Brockport fill one of the spots in Amherst's home tournament next year.

Pat - Can you reach out to the coaches at the projected top 5 teams next year and alert them to the fact that Amherst is looking to fill a spot.

walzy31 · April 07, 2007, 07:25:36 AM

Quote from: ephoops on April 05, 2007, 07:06:34 AM
Dman / Pat:

I'd love to see a team like Wash U or Brockport fill one of the spots in Amherst's home tournament next year.

Pat - Can you reach out to the coaches at the projected top 5 teams next year and alert them to the fact that Amherst is looking to fill a spot.

Amherst will schedule Wash U & Brockport at the Ken Wright as soon as Williams schedules Stevens Point and Brandeis for their first two games of the season.

nescac hoops · April 07, 2007, 08:46:58 AM

walzy,
i belive ephoops said "a team like Wash U or Brockport"....he just wants to see Amherst play a contender. The year Williams won they came back and played Holy Cross the following year. Is it so much to ask Hixon to try and get a half way decent team in his cupcake tourny?

Amherst95 · April 07, 2007, 08:07:07 PM

Last season Amherst played Endicott in that tourney. Endicott had made the NCAA field the previous season and did so again last year. They were certainly at the least a "halfway decent" team.

It also bears emphasis that Amherst has repeatedly included the region's stronger teams on its schedule -- Brandeis, R.I.C., Clark and Springfield in past years, Lasell, etc. etc. etc. (Yes I know our region lacks the depth of others, but we can't move the school to Wisconsin.) And we've travelled outside our region to face historically strong schools as well -- Trinity TX, Occidental, Pomona-Pitzer, and College of NJ most recently.

I'm less familiar with Williams' scheduling, but they deserve a lot of credit. They didn't have to play Holy Cross or invite Wheaton IL to their own tourney.

Pat Coleman · April 07, 2007, 08:09:27 PM

Endicott was ranked No. 207 of 403 teams this season in the Massey Ratings.

Amherst95 · April 07, 2007, 08:11:06 PM

We didn't play them this season . . . I referred to last season and the previous one.

Pat Coleman · April 07, 2007, 08:15:59 PM

Endicott was No. 152 out of 396 in 2005-06. Massey doesn't have 2004-05 online anymore.

Amherst95 · April 07, 2007, 08:21:52 PM

Too bad, as the '04-'05 rankings would have been the latest when the game was scheduled. I do remember Endicott got pulverized by Tufts in the first round last ('05-'06) season.

I was at the Amherst-Endicott game . . . only the second game of the '05-'06 season but they hung with us all the way.

Amherst95 · April 07, 2007, 08:23:10 PM

How do I edit? Obviously '05-'05 s/b '05-'06.

nescac hoops · April 08, 2007, 12:18:07 AM

amherst 95,
Pat's point is that just b/c a team makes the ncaa tourny doesn't mean they are any good. From the sounds of it (their ranking), a lot of nescac teams could have won their conference and winning one's conference, especially in the northeast, does not mean a team is necessarily all that good. that being said, scheduling is obviously a two way street and both coaches/teams have to agree to a game that fits both of their schedules. while this can sometimes be problematic, paulsen really seemed to beef up his schedule when he had his strongest teams and hixon, so far, has not done so for whatever reason be it a personal decision, unwillingness of other coaches, or the inability to find a time/place that works for another team. either way, i expect the jeffs to come into conference play undefeated given the talent they have returning and the scheduling of so many home tournaments with teams like nycct.

diehardfan · April 08, 2007, 12:26:44 AM

Quote from: Amherst95 on April 07, 2007, 08:23:10 PM
How do I edit? Obviously '05-'05 s/b '05-'06.

I fixed it.... I don't know what Pat's rules are exactly, since I already had a billion posts when he transfered to this board... but I think that when you have more posts, you will get the "modify" button that most of us have.

Pat Coleman · April 08, 2007, 12:54:45 AM

I feel like this is a good time to mention that scheduling is definitely a two-way street.