MBB: NESCAC

[NY Hoopster]

La Verdad;

Nice to see that you had Adam Choice on your list of possible second team candidates, but I can't let your comment in an earlier post that he looked "one-dimensional" against Amherst pass without comment.

Choice, in Conference games, is the #3 scorer, tied for#7 in rebounds, #7 in steals, and is #6 in blocked shots, at
6'5'' tall. In the game against Amherst, he scored 15, and 11 rebounds, one steal, and only one turnover although he played 30+ minutes. One dimensional?

Let me put this in further perspective for the Amherst faithful. His team was leading yours in the second half, and was down 4 with 1:09 to go. He played the low post against your crew of Hopkins at 6'10'', Walters at 6'8'', Goldsmith at 6'6'', Jones at 6'7'', and Baskauskas at 6'6''. He only had help in down low from starters Planeta at  6'6'' and Russell at 6'4'', who played only 13 minutes due to injury. And he still kept his team in the game.

And I can't refer to that game without crediting the incredible play of Mark Gaudet, listed at 6'0'', who scored 24 points, and went to the rack against your trees.

Every once in a while, youse guys should consider giving credit where credit is due.

[formerbant10]

Every once in a while, youse guys should consider giving credit where credit is due.

2nd Team isn't getting credit?? 

[NY Hoopster]

Former Bant;

La Verdad listed Choice as one of 14 possible second team selections. My reference to credit, in any case, was with respect to his role in keeping Colby close in the Amherst game, and in response to the "one-dimensional"comment.

[jbergman]

Choice is a decent player, but I don't see where he's in the top 15-20 players in NESCAC.  Unless Colby somehow gets into the postseason NESCAC playoffs, the Mules & Choice & Gaudet are relatively inconsequential.  2nd team All-League? No way.  In my opinion, there are too many other excellent players in the league contributing on much stronger teams.  And Choice is only a soph, so there's no sentimental "lifetime achievement award" opportunity yet for him.  If B. Jones or R. Martin or M. Weisbrot were playing for Colby, they'd each be averaging 20/10, so the numbers don't mean that much to me.  After all, somebody's got to score when Colby has the ball.  Can the Mules win twice this weekend to sneak in as an 8 seed?  I don't expect it.  So do they go quietly, probably finishing in 9th place?  I think yes.

[NY Hoopster]

jbergman;

Let me get this straight- most people on this board have Jon Pierce on the first team, but you don't think Choice is in the top 20? Pierce plays for a 1-6 team, is the #2 scorer, #3 in rebounds, and #5 in blocked shots. The Mules also have only one win, and Choice is the #3 scorer, #6 in blocked shots, and #7 in rebounds. He also shows up as a leader in steals(#7), a category in which Pierce is not a league leader. Why would you so heavily discount Choice's numbers? I am not in any way taking anything away from Pierce or arguing  that he is not first team by making these comparisons or referring to Tuft's record.

The comment about "someone has to score when Colby has the ball" I guess means to insinuate that Choice puts up most of Colby's points, or that there is some terrible imbalance that makes it unfair to compare his numbers to the apparent hoard of quality players that you think are better than him, but just don't put up his scoring numbers (or rebounds, blocks, etc.). Lets look at Colby against a quality opponent, like Amherst. Adam had 15, but two guards had 24 and 15 respectively. Colby has two scorers other than Choice that are in the top 20 scorers in conference games. There goes your inflated numbers argument. And by the way, how does a 6'5'' guy inflate his blocked shots and rebounds?

Making a statement that Choice is not in the top 20 robs you of any credibility you may have with respect to not placing him on the second team. 

                                                       

[La Verdad]

La Verdad;

Nice to see that you had Adam Choice on your list of possible second team candidates, but I can't let your comment in an earlier post that he looked "one-dimensional" against Amherst pass without comment.

Choice, in Conference games, is the #3 scorer, tied for#7 in rebounds, #7 in steals, and is #6 in blocked shots, at
6'5'' tall. In the game against Amherst, he scored 15, and 11 rebounds, one steal, and only one turnover although he played 30+ minutes. One dimensional?

Let me put this in further perspective for the Amherst faithful. His team was leading yours in the second half, and was down 4 with 1:09 to go. He played the low post against your crew of Hopkins at 6'10'', Walters at 6'8'', Goldsmith at 6'6'', Jones at 6'7'', and Baskauskas at 6'6''. He only had help in down low from starters Planeta at  6'6'' and Russell at 6'4'', who played only 13 minutes due to injury. And he still kept his team in the game.

And I can't refer to that game without crediting the incredible play of Mark Gaudet, listed at 6'0'', who scored 24 points, and went to the rack against your trees.

Every once in a while, youse guys should consider giving credit where credit is due.

My fault, I didn't say what I meant.  Choice is a good all around player, he plays solid D and contributes on the offensive end.  What I meant is that his offensive game is limited.  He's pretty good off the dribble, but his jumper is average at best.  He did score 15 against  the jeffs, but doing so on 16 shots is far from impressive.  Plain and simple Choice is a slasher (aka one dimensional).  He does get to the line a lot and hits almost 80%, but his fg percentage is only 44%, fourth best among Colby's starters

I'm not sure why you felt compelled to list everyone's heights.     Colby played zone against Amherst, so saying that Choice guarded all the Jeffs bigs in the post  with little to no help seems absurd.  The fact is that Choice would be abused by the bigger, stronger Amherst post players, which is probably why the Mules went with the zone in the first place.  Might as well help keep your guys out of foul trouble and hope the jeffs have an off night shooting. 

And to say Choice kept the team in the game is just silly.  Gaudet and Cutrone were a nightmare to guard.  I've never seen anyone as hot as Gaudet was that night.  He wasn't hitting wide open threes, he was knocking them down with hands in his face.  He kept Colby in it much more than Choice did. 

[magicman]

Could someone tell me where to check out this all decade team that's been the talk of the town? Thank you in advance.

[frank uible]

Polar: Let Colby or for that matter any other college join a new D-4 if it likes. What does it gain it that could not be accomplished by unilateral action of the college through its President to the extent of his political courage?

[atn alum]

Could someone tell me where to check out this all decade team that's been the talk of the town? Thank you in advance.

Front page.

and if not there, daily dose post should have link to it

[Friar T]

All-NESCAC honors have a direct correlation to overall team success. Is this right or wrong? Don't know, but it's a fact nonetheless. To get a player from a 1-6 conference team on the All-NESCAC list means he has to be dominant. Jbergman said it best in mentioning there are several other bigs across the league that would average those types of numbers in Waterville...

Being the best player on a bad team doesn't make one an elite player.

Amen.

[jbergman]

NY Hoopster - You're too hung up on a player's numbers.  In your world, First Team All-League would be the top scorers 1 through 5.  Second Team would be #6 through #10.  Right?  Or maybe it's some combo of numbers (points, assists, rebounds, etc.) to rank each player?  One question - how many of these players have you seen play? I believe that you need to see them play in order to have a valid idea about where they might rank within the league.  The stats don't tell the story.

[CCsalive]

The last time CC played in Williamstown they were stunned at the buzzer by a Chris Rose 3pter, off a screen the screener play in the final seconds. Of course, that was the sophomore Chris Rose...let's hope he doesn't resurface.

On that same trip the Camels won at Middlebury...this year's Camels squad faces a much-welcomed challenge this weekend. A shot at the #5 or #6 and a chance to play Bowdoin or Bates as opposed to Amherst or Trinity.

Ideal Camel Scenerio:
Beat Bates in the 4v5 game
Tufts stuns Amherst in the 1v8 (impossible?)
Conn hosts Tufts and wins.
Conn vs Bowdoin in the Final

[formerbant10]

In your scenario, Conn would only host Tufts in the 2nd round if all the lower seeds won.  Semis and finals are at the highest remaining seed after the 1st round.

[hoopjunkie]

ccalive - I`ll take that senerio all day long being a Tufts fan .
I was just thinking what a remarkable job Joe Reilly has done at Bates this year . After losing 2 superstars with Stockwell & Ray he has taken a team with fairly limited talent & has done a great job . I feel the turning point at least for Tufts was when they were up by 14 at the half vs Bates & wound up losing in OT it was a killer  . Kudos to Joe Reilly also a very nice guy .

[NY Hoopster]

jbergman

I have seen 8 of the ten teams play this year. My opinions are not based on numbers, they are supported by them. I haven't ever said that the1-5 scorers in the league should be the first team, or even the second team, but think that top scorers who are also all-around players (with #s on rebounds, steals, assists, blocks to support this ) must be considered on their own merits. You need a reason to drop a #3 scorer with an all-around game to your "below the top 20 caterory" and that should'nt include idle speculation about what players would score if they switched teams. Lets please deal with real situations, and numbers, even if you don't like them.

Friar T; why don't you ask someone on Amherst, Trinity, Wiliams or Middlebury whether they think Colby is a "bad" team? Losing a string of close games does't = bad.