2011 Final Four

[fpc85]

I've never seen Amherst play defense like they did yesterday vs. Brandeis.  They are gonna be tough to beat if they bring the same intensity to Salem.

I saw Amherst play Brandeis twice, and they were basically a completely different team in the second half yesterday than the three halves prior.  The official stats said 12 blocks, but trust me it was probably much closer to 20.  It seems to me that it's just an issue of motivation for them. When Amherst brings it's A game, they won't lose.  I think the only thing that could stop them is the fact that the players seem to know that, and as a result at times they just think they can turn it on when they need to and be fine.  If Amherst just goes through the motions for a half, a team could really take it to them if they played an A+ game themselves.  But when the Lord Jeffs do turn it on, watch out.  I think two 17-0 runs in back to back games shows what they can do....when they want to

broadcaster i agree 100%...the jeffs have had so much success, esp. the seniors, that it was hard to stay highly motivated this year. as a group they are pretty motivated but when the seniors have avg. 28 wins the last 3 years it becomes difficult to find new and exciting challenges. brandeis provided that type of challenge. after watching the 1st half, i knew it would take a superior half of basketball to beat them. they are very good.
holsey really came in late in the 1st half and provided a lift with energy and defense. hopkins lifted the jeffs in the 2nd half. his defensive presence was excellent and he attacked the rim with passion. the guys really fed off of him. i thought he jumpstarted the in the 2nd half.

[Dutch_Man]

Does anyone know how many people the Salem Civic Center can hold???

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Does anyone know how many people the Salem Civic Center can hold???

I think it's about 6,800.  I was about to say "they'll be plenty of room," but then I remembered Hope was in it and might bring the entire population of Holland, MI down with them.

[sac]

Does anyone know how many people the Salem Civic Center can hold???

I think it's about 6,800.  I was about to say "they'll be plenty of room," but then I remembered Hope was in it and might bring the entire population of Holland, MI down with them.

I thought it was around 4,500.

The population of Holland proper is 35,000.......there are about 100,000+ living within 15 miles of Hope College.

"We're gonna need a bigger boat."

[Titan Q]

Does anyone know how many people the Salem Civic Center can hold???

I think it's about 6,800.  I was about to say "they'll be plenty of room," but then I remembered Hope was in it and might bring the entire population of Holland, MI down with them.

I'd guess the average attendance for the national championship games in Salem (since 1996) has been less than the average per/game attendance at Hope's DeVos Fieldhouse.  Plenty of room.

IWU has brought 1000 or so to Salem in '96, 97, 01, and 06 - Hope's traveling crew is about the same.

[Hugenerd]

Salem Civic Center
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Salem Civic Center is a 6,820-seat multi-purpose arena in Salem, Virginia. It was built in 1967 and is part of the James E. Taliaferro Sports and Entertainment Complex (named after a former mayor of Salem), which also includes the Salem Football Stadium and the Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium. The Salem Civic Center was originally known as the Salem-Roanoke County Civic Center, but the county withdrew its financial backing in the 1980s.

The civic center was home to the Salem Rebels ice hockey team in the 1970s. The NCAA Division III men's college basketball championship is currently held at the civic center. Boxing, professional wrestling, rodeos, and high school basketball games are typical events.

In addition to sporting events, the Salem Civic Center also hosts concerts, circuses, conventions and trade shows. The annual Roanoke Valley Horse Show and Salem Fair are held at the civic center and the adjacent grounds. It is also currently the largest convention facility in the Roanoke Valley; there is a total of 40,000 square feet (4,000 m²) of space in the main arena, the community room (which can be divided into three smaller rooms) and three other rooms.


In January 2005, Sacha Baron Cohen posed as a Kazakh immigrant grateful to be living in America and persuaded promoters of a rodeo visiting the civic center to allow him to sing The Star Spangled Banner. Cohen delivered Anti-American remarks before singing an altered version of the national anthem which concluded with "home of the grave" in place of "home of the brave." The crowd responded with a mixture of boos and bemusement before Cohen and his film crew were escorted from the arena. The incident is shown in eponymous film Borat. Organizers of the event invited the ambassador of Kazakhstan to the 2007 rodeo, but the invitation was declined.

[Pat Coleman]

That 6,820 must be for concerts -- the basketball configuration is more like 6,000.

[pabegg]

Does anyone know what the quality of the video will be for the Final Four broadcast? I'm thinking of hooking my computer up to our video projector and watching the games in large scale, but I won't bother if the quality won't be good enough.

I wish that I could be in Salem this year after going last year to see WashU play, but I'm still laid up and unable to drive that far.

If I get the video going, anyone who's in northeastern Massachusetts is welcome to join me!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Northeast Mass... sure you aren't in Maine? Most of those who live near my parents in Down East Maine do refer to southern Maine as Northern Mass!

My memory serves that the vide is VERY good. But don't quote me!

[Gregory Sager]

The historical tale of the tape for this year's Final Four:

school	apps	1st app	E8	F4 (years)	1-2-3-4	W-L	pct
Hope	19	1982	4	3 ('96, '98, '08)	0-2-0-0	25-20	.555
Ursinus	7	1980	3	2 ('81, '08)	0-0-1-0	11-7	.611
Washington (MO)	13	1987	4	2 ('07, '08)	0-0-1-0	20-12	.625
Amherst	11	1994	6	4 ('04, '06, '07, '08)	1-0-0-2	23-11	.676

Amherst has accomplished something really special even before it takes the floor next Friday. The Lord Jeffs are only the second program in D3 tournament history to make three consecutive trips to the Final Four. Only North Park's threepeat national champions in '78, '79, and '80 have previously achieved that feat.

There are no Final Four newbies this March, bucking the trend in the D3 tournament. Of the 34 Final Fours, this is only the second that hasn't contained at least one school that had never been to a D3 Final Four before. The only other all-veteran Final Four in D3 tournament history took place in 1992 (Calvin, Rochester, New Jersey City, and UW-Platteville). All four of those programs had made one previous foray into the last weekend of the season.

Amherst's presence signals another trend, that of a school that has already won a national championship appearing in the Final Four. Over two-thirds (23 of 34) of D3's Final Fours have involved at least one school that already owns a copy of the Big Doorstop. And 26 of the 34 have involved at least one school that had previously made it as far as the national championship game.

One other interesting trend to note is that of schools making back-to-back Final Four appearances. Amherst and Washington (MO) become the eighteenth and nineteenth teams in D3 tourney history to make Final Four runs in consecutive seasons. But this is only the third time ever that two schools have accomplished the back-to-back feat in the same Final Four. In March of 1986, Potsdam State and Nebraska Wesleyan returned to Grand Rapids after having finished second and third, respectively, the previous March. And last season, Virginia Wesleyan and Amherst both returned to Salem after having finished first and fourth, respectively, in '06.

Amherst is the tenth Final Four participant to have a shot at repeating a championship. The list:

school	year	finish
Scranton	1977	third
North Park	1979	first
North Park	1980	first
Potsdam State	1982	second
UW-Platteville	1992	third
UW-Platteville	1999	first
Williams	2004	second
UW-Stevens Point	2005	first
Virginia Wesleyan	2007	fourth
Amherst	2008	?

[pabegg]

Northeast Mass... sure you aren't in Maine? Most of those who live near my parents in Down East Maine do refer to southern Maine as Northern Mass!

Well, we can see Maine from here in Gloucester, but we're still part of Massachusetts last time I looked. Still, I have an ex-boss who commutes from southern Maine to Boston, so I can see how the Downeasters think that!

[Titan Q]

A great article by Bryan Burwell from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch yesterday.  It reminded me of this 2001 Dave Kindred piece in Sporting News.

[fpc85]

The historical tale of the tape for this year's Final Four:

school	apps	1st app	E8	F4 (years)	1-2-3-4	W-L	pct
Hope	19	1982	4	3 ('96, '98, '08)	0-2-0-0	25-20	.555
Ursinus	7	1980	3	2 ('81, '08)	0-0-1-0	11-7	.611
Washington (MO)	13	1987	4	2 ('07, '08)	0-0-1-0	20-12	.625
Amherst	11	1994	6	4 ('04, '06, '07, '08)	1-0-0-2	23-11	.676

Amherst is the tenth Final Four participant to have a shot at repeating a championship. The list:

school	year	finish
Scranton	1977	third
North Park	1979	first
North Park	1980	first
Potsdam State	1982	second
UW-Platteville	1992	third
UW-Platteville	1999	first
Williams	2004	second
UW-Stevens Point	2005	first

Virginia Wesleyan

2007

fourth

[/b]

Amherst

2008

?

GS, i think va. wes. finished 2nd.

[BUBeaverFan]

The seating capacity for the Salem Civic Center is listed in some publication as 4,027 permanent seats.  In speaking to the fine folks at the Salem Civic Center, with the addition of portable seats brought in for the tourney, they expect the capacity to be around 5,500 for this weekend's games.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Several Hope fans have reported that the allotment of Hope tickets being sold by the Civic Center in Salem are already gone.  Tomorrow morning at 10am, the Hope ticket office begins selling their part of the allotment (said to be around 700 tickets).