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Messages - Title9Fan

#1
Region 1 women's basketball / Re: NESCAC Hoops
January 22, 2011, 08:34:08 AM
Quote from: remsleep on January 21, 2011, 11:22:56 PM
On another point, why is Bowdoin not getting any of the good recruits from Maine?.....recruiting performance in-state for past two classes is poor.  Colby, especially, much better....this will spell trouble for the Polar Bears despite their current good record....

Why does it matter where they're (talented players) from?  These aren't community colleges and the teams ought to reflect their campuses.  Recruiting prowess matters and it needs to be less about geography and more about talent if a NESCAC team is going to take a national champsionship any decade soon.   Pemper and Gear-McBride were both strong recruiters.  Colby's recruits under Gear-McBride were strong and geographically incidental.  "Local" mattered to her only because it improved the likelihood they'd attend if accepted.   Gromacki doesn't care where talented propsects are from and he works his arse off to scout and evaluate them.  (Really impressive level-of-effort throughout the entire process).  I suspect Berube is also a strong recruiter (she "trained" with Geno, after all).    

Great game re-cap, btw Rem!    
#2
Region 1 women's basketball / Re: NESCAC Hoops
January 19, 2011, 10:03:37 AM
Quote from: farmboy on January 12, 2011, 07:45:27 PM
I give Amherst and coach G credit for playing real teams in an effort to better themselves for the final push.  Too many of these "top ranked" teams play lesser teams to pad their appearance.

Absolutely the case.  Good for Gromacki for breaking the mold. 
#3
Region 1 women's basketball / Re: NESCAC Hoops
December 16, 2010, 11:14:16 AM
What the current "just numbers" i.e., strength-of-schedule (for full seasons vs. games played thus far) show is why the first half of the season is so hard to like.   Very few of the wins indicate much about the winning team.  Early season Losses among ranked winners, however,  are hugely informative.

Hey sumfun -- you wanna open up the discussion/number of participants or you wanna write boring/borderline patronizing lectures about how fun everything is?  At least the Amherst discussions have some substance.  Just sayin'....
#4
Region 1 women's basketball / Re: NESCAC Hoops
December 15, 2010, 04:10:03 PM
Strength of Schedule is a pretty straightforward datapoint which is why its used for play-off berths.  It can (like last year) matter.    Anyway-thanks for the link Sumfun.  The only surprise is that for the S.O.S. Full Schedule - Williams has the highest national rank within NESCAC.    

Strength of Full Schedule (FS)
1.  Williams (9th in nation for full schedule)  (116 for games played)
2.  Amherst (10 FS)  (58 GP)
3.  Tufts (34 FS)  (109 GP)
4.  Bates (52 FS)  (240 GP)
5.  Colby (54 FS) (94 GP)
6.  Bowdoin (54 FS)  (108 GP)
7.  Trinity (57 FS)  (139 GP)
8.  Middlebury (97 FS)  (307 GP)
9.  CT College  (196 FS)  (215 GP)

#5
Region 1 women's basketball / Re: NESCAC Hoops
December 15, 2010, 11:11:29 AM
Anyone willing/able to take a stab at strength-of-schedule rankings in NESCAC this season?  Some very weak SOS in some of the top schedules.  Amherst looks strongest of course (Gromacki overlooks nothing) -- at least at a cursory glance.
#6
Region 1 women's basketball / Re: NESCAC Hoops
May 26, 2010, 08:27:32 AM
I completely agree, wbbhoopsfan.  I would only add that I think the administrators need to get over it.  Top talent will always get recruited.  Guess we're in for a long ride on the mediocre train with the lame excuse that smart kids can't play ball.  Tara VanDerveer would disagree, but hey -- only the mediocre are always at their best -- and some administrators prefer that long, smooth ride, only comparing themselves and their teams to other local/regional teams.  The big picture -- shooting for the national title -- seems to not even enter the discussion.  Maybe that's why Amherst is becoming the engine that could and the one that lots of WBB fans throughout the NE want to see win it all.  Because they WANT it!!   
#7
Region 1 women's basketball / Re: NESCAC Hoops
May 19, 2010, 10:50:08 AM
With the exception of Amherst, there wasn't any depth throughout NESCAC last year, and I don't consider Amherst deep either -- they float to the top in terms of depth only by comparison.  Depth is a factor of coaching strength.  Not only in terms of recruiting prowess, but in terms of knowing how to develop players early; design game plans to exploit talent and maximize productivity; and time the season's peak.   Under Gromacki, Amherst is developing depth -- but it takes more than a season or two.  

As for Colby, that "thin" team acheived the best record in Colby history.  They had a few players who came off the bench who have big upsides -- particularly in the back court.  The Asst who is taking over as interim head coach might be able to capitalize on that if she learned anything from McBride.  McBride understands how to acheive depth and the program was on its way to becoming a major D3 program nationally.  

What happened with Colby and Amherst in terms of coaching performance this past year, makes NESCAC women's basketball better.  Anyone who doesn't appreciate that, just doesn't understand the game.

#8
Region 1 women's basketball / Re: NESCAC Hoops
May 17, 2010, 03:17:17 PM
Some will think that what Colby wants in a head coach is  a "very good" opportunity and others will avoid it like the plague.

What I'd like to know is this:

Are NESCAC colleges chasing away some of their best women's basketball coaches (Pemper, McBride in the last couple years) or are they just too good for D3 and they're being targeted for recruitment by D1 programs? 

Does D3 (& NESCAC) value outstanding WBB coaches who truly know the game in-depth and coach it well -- or do D3 ADs prefer an administrator/PR type of coach who could never/would never/will never coach D1.

???
#9
Region 1 women's basketball / Re: NESCAC Hoops
May 15, 2010, 03:01:41 PM
Congratulations to Lori Gear McBride - named Head Coach at University of Vermont!
Best wishes and best of luck - ! 
#10
Region 1 women's basketball / Re: NESCAC Hoops
May 11, 2010, 10:27:48 AM
Thanks for posting the update Rick.  She'd be an outstanding choice for UVM and a big loss for Colby.  
#11
Multi-Regional Topics / Re: Top 25 discussion
April 11, 2010, 01:28:18 PM
Quote from: WUH on April 08, 2010, 02:00:41 PM
[
Having said that, it is possible to compare the top teams of each level.  I am not suggesting that Hope or Washington University could run with Stanford or the University of Connecticut, but the top teams all have a lot of things in common.  In comparing the pressure of Division I title game with a Division III title game, I will defer to someone who has played at that level, but I have to think that many would disagree.  It does seem to me that a packed house of passionate fans is indeed a packed house, whether it is 4,000 or 22,000 fans.  All speculation on my part.


Knowing (and having asked) a few of the players from top teams in both D1 and D3 this year, I am certain that they do not think it's the same at all (playoff games of 4,000 vs. 22,000 fans).  The vast majority of the top D3 players have enormous respect for the difference and don't understand why we'd want to compare the two.  As usual,  I agree with most of your other comments though.

Both are great games to watch, but they are most definitely very different games.     The Wash U players don't want to play UConn any more than George Fox wants to play Stanford.  

Cant' wait for next year's WBB games  - D1 and D3 both!

#12
Multi-Regional Topics / Re: Top 25 discussion
April 08, 2010, 08:41:08 AM
Quote from: sumfun on April 07, 2010, 10:43:48 PM
D3 may not have the height of D1, and I don't even know if I can say D3 is a step slower, but D3 does have great shooters and fun games!!!

While the Final was a definite disappointment, it was just one game and an anomoly for both teams in shooting.  The top D1 and top D3 teams are incomparable.  There are no Maya Moores or Jayne Appels in D3.  As for speed, you were joking, right?  The venue/crowd size and pressure of a national D1 champsionship is just one of a dozen factors that render such comparisons useless.

 
#13
Region 1 women's basketball / Re: NESCAC Hoops
March 26, 2010, 08:25:32 AM
Frost,

I watched Fahey coach and train high school prospects for an entire week at Brandeis the summer before last.  (Much more info than you seem to have, yet you're bashing her).

If the foul as was you say, that's one thing.  (I agree that the midwest style is as you described: much more pushing, shoving and hard fouling in the paint).  But you've confused the whole issue and caused it to digress into a slam against a coach and an entire program based on one 2 second play by 1 player.

Fahey is one of those coaches who players flock to, btw.  She's got a great sense of humor and a contagious love of the game.  That's from personal experience and observations.  

Let's keep some perspective when talking about the game vs. individual people.  This is a fair issue but you've really messed it up big, and that's probably the karma result.  
#14
Region 1 women's basketball / Re: NESCAC Hoops
March 25, 2010, 06:35:47 PM
I'm still looking WUH - will let you know.  Although if I don't find it, Gordon's comment suffices (for me).  
#15
Region 1 women's basketball / Re: NESCAC Hoops
March 25, 2010, 01:00:45 PM
Quote from: senatorfrost on March 24, 2010, 09:11:11 PM
    However, all that counts is winning in some places and student athletes will do what they're told and taught. So congratulations coach Fahey et. al. I wonder which coach is in charge of brutal fouls?

That's certainly true in general but not about Wash U.  Which isn't to say the play didn't happen the way you describe.  You just can't roll it up to those wild statements with any credibility.  It's an outstanding school with a coach who has a good reputation - is both liked and respected - and yes, wins big games.   I'm going to have to watch the archived game to see the play, but Wash U is a great program; one that doesn't deserve to be taken down based on one play.