Needless to say, the opportunity to host a weekend-long tournament is significant. It eliminates travel time, a serious and sometimes performance-altering inconvenience. It guarantees optimal home fan attendance. And it likely affords the home team a psychological advantage.
So, NESCAC officials made a critical determination Saturday morning when they cancelled the game against Williams on account of heavy rain. Forget the regular season finale, they said. Since Williams has the better record entering the game, just give them the bye and allow them to host.
Far be it from me to suggest that rain didn't render our home field unplayable. But the NESCAC should have scheduled the final regular season game sufficiently in advance of the postseason tournament to allow room for a weather-induced makeup finale. There was no ostensible need to schedule the last regular season game-which people should have known might well be a critical showdown with major implications for the tournament-24 hours before the tournament's start.
As it turned out, we topped feisty underdog Tufts in a thrilling comeback shootout victory in heavy winds Sunday afternoon. Our men never complained. They just kept to their business and went to work on a cold, windswept day while Williams rested. The NESCAC made a bad mistake with the scheduling, and committed a worse mistake with the cancellation.
NBA Western Conference Preview
Dallas Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, Josh Howard and Jerry Stackhouse form a potent scoring unit, and Avery Johnson has them playing tough helping defense. It remains to be seen whether the loss of Marquis Daniels will prove substantial. Anthony Johnson will back up Terry ably and the loss of Keith Van Horn is addition by subtraction. This team is hungry after having Miami on the ropes in the Finals and then letting them back in the series to win it in six.
Phoenix Suns: Amare Stoudemire will never fully recover from microfracture knee surgery, but Steve Nash can rely on Shawn Marion and Boris Diaw to carry the offensive load. Any help Stoudemire offers will be gravy. An interesting question is whether Kurt Thomas' plodding style will prove at all helpful in a high-octane offense. No reason to think they won't dominate in the regular season. Do they have enough size for the playoffs' half-court slowdown, or can they maintain their hybrid strategy in May?
Los Angeles Clippers: This season they will join the West's ultra elite. The Clips have all the markings of a potential Finals berth. Tim Thomas, swingman and stellar veteran playoff performer, is a great pickup. Championship contenders need a point guard leader (Cassell), terrific bigs (Brand, Kaman), a legitimate wing threat (Mobley) and a formidable bench (Thomas, Livingston).
San Antonio Spurs: I'm alone in believing that the Spurs are on the decline. Duncan's plantar fasciitis lingers and Michael Finley is aging. To be sure, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili form as outstanding a postseason backcourt tandem as any, but the Spurs are thin up front. Eric Williams will fill that void partially, but they need more help. Dare I say that the Spurs era of dominance is over?
Houston Rockets: I am not enamored with the Rockets, an opinion which seems popular these days. The Rockets are the best of the mediocre. I doubt Tracy McGrady's health and his capacity to lead a team in bad times, I doubt Yao Ming's toughness, and I hate the idea of trading away young potential in Rudy Gay for the offensively sub-average supposed defensive stopper Shane Battier. Bonzi Wells is a nice pick-up, but can he play defense, pass and win late in the playoffs? Until further notice, the Rockets will be an entertaining regular season wonder with little playoff promise.
Los Angeles Lakers: Vladimir Radmanovic, the Lakers' premier off-season acquisition, is a good shooter and nothing more. The rest of the roster remains unchanged, which means that apart from Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom (barely), it is a pathetic excuse for a collection of people who earn money to play basketball. Nonetheless, Kobe is without question the best player in basketball. But will we see the Kobe who showed up for the first three games of the Phoenix series: unselfish, seeking the best shot, willing to take over when necessary? Or will we see the bipolar Kobe: either hyper-selfish or ultra-modest, unwilling to strike the proper middle ground?
Denver Nuggets: Nene is healthy and J.R. Smith is on board, but will Kenyon Martin and George Karl get along? Can Carmelo Anthony prove incorrect the theory that he is simply not in the same class as LeBron James and Dwyane Wade? Are Anthony and Marcus Camby really winners rather than perennial first-round prey?
New Orleans Hornets: Bobby Jackson is a superb backup point guard to rising star Chris Paul, but please don't get excited about Hilton Armstrong or, even worse, Peja Stojakovic, who is hampered by injury and on the downslide even if healthy. Paul and Desmond Mason may be enough to carry the Hornets into the playoffs, but the roster is thin and Byron Scott is strategically clueless.
On the cusp: Utah, Sacramento, Golden State
Not happening: Memphis, Minnesota, Seattle
Uniquely horrible: Portland