MBB: NESCAC

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Hoopjunkie, I'm a holy man. Anger is not in my nature. I just have little tolerance for foolishess...

If you were a holy man, it's more likely you would admit that anger is in your nature, but that you work to limit the outbursts of such.

[hoopjunkie]

Thanks CCalive -

Friar sorry you don`t understand english , but how many times do
have to tell you Amherst is a very good team ? I just think
like anyone else they can GOD FORBID lose a game !!

[formerbant10]

Clinchy,

If you do read all the box scores...then go over the Trinity ones again.  You are judging their players on what you saw in Medford, which from what I hear from some of the players was their worst game of the year on many accounts.

But we all are entitled to our own opinions...so we shouldn't lose too much sleep over this.

[La Verdad]

It is obviously possible that Amherst could lose a game.  But is it probable?  Not if the Jeffs play up to their potential; on paper they are better than any team on their schedule.  But there is a reason they play the games, so we'll just have to wait and see.

[nescac hoops]

eclinchy,
williams is never in the lead after the fall season. they typically take it over in the winter with mens' and women's swimming always finishing in the top 4 in the nation, wrestling, and basketball (now just the women's team earning points). in the spring they break it open with track and field and crew. however, last year women's xc won the national championship and didn't this year and women's swimming lost a girl who is currently trying out for the olympics, so we'll see if they can do it again.

friar,
actually i was the one who originated the "fluff section" that i used to describe the posts/details of games with such teams as nycc, elms, etc. i used it back in november. walzy uses it to mock me now...i think. where is walzy? i hope he is ok.
as for olson, i have nothing but respect for him and have said NUMEROUS times that he deserves POY honors. that being said, i don't think that the 15 assists against elms should be at the top of his resume for this honor and that's what i have been saying all along. i am more impressed with his ability to do whatever his teams needs in big games (which sometimes doesn't show up in the stats) - hit "the shot" against tufts, score 24 pts. against tufts (scoring this many is not a typical olson game but his team needed him to score that game....and he did), and keeping his team organized against tough teams/defense, etc. stats in a game like elms are almost negligable to me. yes, 15 assists is quite the feat. but, perhaps we ought to be giving more credit to the amhert shooters who converted on more than 60% of their 3pt. attempts. did olson merely pass the ball to open men, who happened to be shooting really well that night? i could do that. had amherst shooters not been as hot, he may have only had 8 assists. had amherst played against better defense and maybe not have had as many open looks, would they have been as "hot" from beyond the arc to allow olson to have 15 assists? who knows? there are too many unknowns against teams like that. however, in a competitive game against tufts on the road, a game against bates on the road, in a sweet 16 game with the clock ticking down, and always keeping his team running like a well tuned machine......that is proof of his "worthy" and the games i am most impressed by. however, i don't feel like jeffrookie, fcp, and alike see it that way and are more consumed by his "tangible statistics". i bet if you were to ask the man himself what was a tougher task: keeping ray from picking his pocket this weekend in front of a tough bates crowd where the fans are practically on the court with him or dishing out 15 assists against elms college to his teammates who were "draining it" all night? i think he'd choose the former. that's all. however, kudos to olson for his performance....probably won't happen this weekend, though.

[fpc85]

however, in a competitive game against tufts on the road, a game against bates on the road, in a sweet 16 game with the clock ticking down, and always keeping his team running like a well tuned machine......that is proof of his "worthy" and the games i am most impressed by. however, i don't feel like jeffrookie, fcp, and alike see it that way and are more consumed by his "tangible statistics". i bet if you were to ask the man himself what was a tougher task: keeping ray from picking his pocket this weekend in front of a tough bates crowd where the fans are practically on the court with him or dishing out 15 assists against elms college to his teammates who were "draining it" all night? i think he'd choose the former. that's all. however, kudos to olson for his performance....probably won't happen this weekend, though.

My last post I mentioned some of the guys and how they performed THAT NIGHT. I am not consumed by tangible statistics...except wins!! Andrew would agree that numbers are not a big part of what he brings every game.  I have seen him play at least 30 games and he has always given what is needed for his team on that day.

You and anyone else can knock the Jeffs on the schedule, or there inability to beat a so called quality opponent in an "impressive" fashion. Well, they will take an ugly hard fought win and let you and all the other folks deem the WIN unimpressive. 

Jeffs just keep winning!

[fpc85]

Some thoughts on other topics:

Who is better Crotty or Olson? I am not talking stats. I am talking about ability, leadership etc. If you had to choose a pg which one would you choose? Why?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

To quote Jesse Jackson when he played himself in a sketch on Saturday Night Live, "That question is moot."


To really compare PGs like that, you have to ask yourself what would be different if one took the place of the other.  Given the situations they faced and the teammates they had around them, could you honestly see either one performing vastly differently from the other?  Both are phenomenal guards with good floor vision and basketball sense.  I just don't see enough differences between them to make any sort of distinction.  I don't think either team would be better or worse off with either one, especially if you're comparing them as juniors.  If we're looking at Olson now and Crotty upon graduation, I'd take Crotty for the extra year of experience, but that would be my only determining factor.

[nescac hoops]

Quote from: fpc85 on Today at 01:31:12 pm
You and anyone else can knock the Jeffs on the schedule, or there inability to beat a so called quality opponent in an "impressive" fashion. Well, they will take an ugly hard fought win and let you and all the other folks deem the WIN unimpressive.  

what are you talking about? "You and anyone else can knock the Jeffs on the schedule, or their inablilty to beat a so called quality opponent in an "impressive" fashion?" - that's EXACTLY what i am most impressed by with amherst/olson. i am most impressed with olson in his performance against "so called quality opponents". i never said these were unimpressive wins/performances against quality teams - i said the EXACT opposite. i am not AS impressed, however, with performances against less quality teams. furthermore, i never said that their wins against bates and tufts this weekend were ugly. i think you are arguing with the wrong man. stay in school.

as for crotty/olson....crotty led his team to a national championship his junior year and led them to the final game his senior year. i think, for the most part, they have the same level of talent around them so let's wait to see what olson/amherst do in these next two years, and then ill make my decision on their ability and leadership.

[Friar T]

Hoops Fan, who made you the Pope? Kidding, great call...

Hoopsjunkie, how dare you speak of the Lord in capital letters...

Nescac Hoops, it seems we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one. I still think that to post a total that is tied for third in the history of the conference is pretty impressive. Of course all the right things have to happen in order for such a feat! It's part of what makes it impressive. Something tells me not too many of them posted their marks in NCAA Tournament games... I could be wrong...

I should be excluded from the Olson vs. Crotty debate based on bias. However, I'd give Olson the edge due to style and lack-of-looking-like Gollum...

[nescac hoops]

Nescac Hoops, it seems we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one. I still think that to post a total that is tied for third in the history of the conference is pretty impressive. Of course all the right things have to happen in order for such a feat! It's part of what makes it impressive. Something tells me not too many of them posted their marks in NCAA Tournament games... I could be wrong...

mike crotty had 13 and 12 assists down in salem the year that the ephs won. he had 12 against the lord jeffs in salem the following year. it's not quite 15, but i think you and i can agree it's more impressive given the circumstances.

olson/crotty - i find crotty to be slightly obnoxious ( i won't add to the arrogance debate that went on earlier in the week) but think olson looks like the little kid from lord of the rings and his hair was in a "bowl cut" at williams last time. i hope it has grown out for this weekend so he looks like a "retro" steve nash both in appearance and skill. mvp. as for who is better, i think we will only find out when olson is done and what his teams can accomplish.

[fpc85]

NESCAC,
I was talking about general comments from the posters...

[nescac hoops]

Well, they will take an ugly hard fought win and let you and all the other folks deem the WIN unimpressive. 

"...let YOU and all the other folks...."  considering you addressed my qoute and bashed the points i made, yeah, i guess i thought that meant me.

[La Verdad]

Ugly or not, a win's a win.  There was some football team down in gainesville that had quite a few ugly wins during their regular season which led people to doubt them.  I think they ended up being pretty good.

[nescac hoops]

Ugly or not, a win's a win. 

thanks for your novel insight, verdad.