Roundup: Basketball season in full swing

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving. The annual stuff-your-face-with-food holiday was again good to Hat Trick, full of lots of turkey, but sadly no mashed potatoes (a crime, in my opinion).

It’s been a solid two weeks since my last post (my bad…), so there’s a lot to catch up on. First let’s take a look at the football playoff picture. Read more

Division III crowns new crop of champions

Well, I’ve finally escaped the cocoon of laziness and traveling that is spring break. But I guess I had to get back on schedule at some point. Unfortunately, mid March just happens to be one of the busiest times of the year in sports, so let’s quickly recap the past week or so in Division III.

On Saturday night Amherst College won the men’s basketball national title, while Depauw University claimed the women’s basketball national title. Amherst defeated last year’s champion Virginia Wesleyan College 80-67 to pick up the first championship in school history. Depauw made things a little more interesting in their game as they squandered a 13-point lead against Washington University with less than 10 minutes remaining. The Tigers held on to pick up the 55-52 victory and bring home the national title.

Both teams had spectacular seasons, as evidenced by their final records of 31-3 (Depauw) and 30-2 (Amherst), but what separated these two squads from the rest of the country was their ability to come up with big performances against quality opponents. In their respective tournament games, the two teams won each contest by averages of 14.4 (Amherst) and 12.3 (Depauw) points per game. They didn’t just squeak by; they dominated. Congratulations to both Amherst and Depauw on solid seasons.

In semi-related news, the final results of my bracket predictions are in … and I didn’t do so bad. On the men’s side I correctly guessed 34 out of the 62 total games played (55%). For the women’s bracket I got 32 right (52%), so at the very least I was consistent. I had only one correct final four team on each side, and none of the four squads playing in the two championship games. Clearly I didn’t win the d3hoops.com Pick ‘Em Challenge, but hey, I’ll be back next year.

And finally, SUNY-Oswego won the men’s ice hockey national championship earlier today, defeating Middlebury College 4-3 in overtime. Junior goalie Ryan Scott did his part for Oswego, recording a staggering 47 saves. The title is the first ever for the Lakers.

No undefeated season for Amherst

Alright, it’s official - I’m bad luck. Just 12 days after I wrote about how impressive the Amherst College men’s basketball team has been this year, they lose their first game. Yup, they lost their first game of the season in their last regular season matchup. And they weren’t blown out or anything. No, they lost by a three-point dagger at the hands of Trinity College’s Patrick Martin with only four seconds remaining. Andrew Olson’s final shot attempt for Amherst fell short, prompting one of the best scenes in college sports - fans storming the court after an upset win.

This serves as a notice to the rest of the D-III teams across the nation - I’m bad luck. But in all fairness, hats off to Trinity. After the win against Amherst, the team’s record sits at 20-3 overall. And while they aren’t ranked in the top-25 poll (expect that to change now), they still received 10 votes last week. Adding a win over the top team in the country (and previously only remaining undefeated team) will help when the tournament selection begins. Expect Trinity to earn a much higher seed in the tournament now.

As for me, well, I’ll just sit here with my umbrella open, petting my black cat as I watch the reflection in a broken mirror. Too dramatic? Yeah, probably. Besides, Amherst is still 23-1 and still figures to be the top-ranked team in the country. I can only feel so bad about that.

Basketball the way it should be

I grew up playing basketball. It has always been and always will be my favorite sport to play. There is no sport that epitomizes the term ?team? better than Dr. Naismith?s game.

Here?s a quick history lesson for you non-basketball fanatics: Naismith was told by Dr. Luther Halsey Gulick, the head of Physical Education at the School for Christian Workers, to create a new indoor game that the children could play during the frigid New England winters. He ultimately thought of the game basket ball, which is the distant relative to modern-day basketball. In basket ball, players weren?t allowed to run while in possession of the ball (seriously). This meant every player on a team touched the ball on virtually each possession.

Fast forward to contemporary times, where we see 50-point games in the NBA almost weekly, players dribbling out the entire 24-second shot clock without passing to a single teammate, and me-first attitudes everywhere. Naismith would be appalled.

Even college basketball, which is widely acknowledged as a much more team-based form of the game than the NBA, is heading down the dark path of star players dominating the landscape.

But just before we give up all hope on the greatest team game ever conceived, let?s look at the Amherst College men?s basketball team. They sport a 20?0 overall record (6?0 in their conference) with only four regular season games remaining. The kicker? The team?s leading scorer, senior forward Dan Wheeler, is averaging a paltry 12.8 points per game. Three other players average just more than 10 points. Five players average 3.5 rebounds or higher, with the leader averaging a mere 4.5 per game.

No gaudy statistics. No give-me-the-damn-ball-type guys. Just an undefeated record for the Lord Jeffs, and a more-than-realistic shot at winning an NCAA Championship this season. Oh yea, I almost forgot, Amherst racked up 18 of a possible 25 first-place votes in this week?s Division-III Top 25 poll.

They are playing the game like it should be played, and they?re winning ? a lot. Is there any better combination?