Untitled Document
Brown Columbia Cornell Dartmouth Harvard Penn Princeton Yale



 Page 1 of 3 ALL123
Username Post: Amaker Still Loves the Palestra for the Tournament        (Topic#21336)
palestra38 
Professor
Posts: 32685

Reg: 11-21-04
03-12-18 09:35 AM - Post#252285    

"“It’s a great environment here; a big showcase for our league,” said Amaker, whose club shot 41.8 percent from the floor and a perfect 12-for-12 at the line. “It’s considered one of the crown jewels of college basketball and it’s in our league.

“That’s a wonderful thing for us to stay attached to if possible. But what an opportunity we had (yesterday). To win here would’ve been special.”

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/college/colleg e...

 
Go Green 
PhD Student
Posts: 1124

Age: 52
Reg: 04-22-10
03-12-18 09:37 AM - Post#252286    
    In response to palestra38

These sentiments are pretty consistent with what he's been saying all along regarding the current tournament format.

Classy comments. Hope they can make a good run in the NIT!

 
HARVARDDADGRAD 
Postdoc
Posts: 2685

Loc: New Jersey
Reg: 01-21-14
Amaker Still Loves the Palestra for the Tournament
03-12-18 09:43 AM - Post#252290    
    In response to Go Green

Don't expect him to say anything different to the media. Tommy's a professional.

Edited by HARVARDDADGRAD on 03-12-18 09:43 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

 
palestra38 
Professor
Posts: 32685

Reg: 11-21-04
03-12-18 09:43 AM - Post#252291    
    In response to Go Green

The entire Harvard team was classy, both during the game and in their comments afterwards. I hope they beat Marquette.

 
Go Green 
PhD Student
Posts: 1124

Age: 52
Reg: 04-22-10
Re: Amaker Still Loves the Palestra for the Tournament
03-12-18 09:46 AM - Post#252294    
    In response to HARVARDDADGRAD

  • HARVARDDADGRAD Said:
Don't expect him to say anything different to the media. Tommy's a professional.



And I presume that you think that Banghart (by far the most vocal tourney critic among coaches) is not a professional.



 
TheLine 
Professor
Posts: 5597

Age: 60
Reg: 07-07-09
Re: Amaker Still Loves the Palestra for the Tournament
03-12-18 10:23 AM - Post#252316    
    In response to HARVARDDADGRAD

  • HARVARDDADGRAD Said:
Don't expect him to say anything different to the media. Tommy's a professional.


If professional = understanding of the big picture then yes. Amaker has had experience in 3 major conferences and that has given him a different perspective than most of us.

If you also mean that Amaker is too professional to vent about The Palestra being a home field advantage for Penn then point taken. It has been 10 years since The Palestra was that loud.

There's no perfect answer for a tourney site. The Palestra is the only available venue that's going to deliver an atmosphere like Sunday's but it sure felt like an advantage for Penn. The problem for the league is that all the alternatives suck.


 
PennFan10 
Postdoc
Posts: 3580

Reg: 02-15-15
03-12-18 11:48 AM - Post#252350    
    In response to TheLine

Amaker promotes the Palestra not because he is biting his tongue and being "professional", that's ridiculous. He is promoting the Palestra because he actually believes it's the best location for the league.

If he didn't want it there he wouldn't promote it. Every other coach has been asked the same questions repeatedly and no one else is promoting it (Mitch Henderson last year was being "professional" in his comments certainly).

Saying Tommy has some other agenda behind closed doors and his comments are somehow not genuine seems preposterous.

 
Go Green 
PhD Student
Posts: 1124

Age: 52
Reg: 04-22-10
03-12-18 11:54 AM - Post#252357    
    In response to PennFan10

  • PennFan10 Said:


If he didn't want it there he wouldn't promote it. Every other coach has been asked the same questions repeatedly and no one else is promoting it (Mitch Henderson last year was being "professional" in his comments certainly).




The Dartmouth women's coach has shown similar favorable enthusiasm for having the tournament at the Palestra.

Now if she could only actually get there...

 
T.P.F.K.A.D.W. 
PhD Student
Posts: 1169

Loc: Our Nation's Capital
Reg: 01-18-05
Re: Amaker Still Loves the Palestra for the Tournament
03-12-18 12:17 PM - Post#252373    
    In response to palestra38

Is there a link somewhere to the postgame pressers? Nothing on YouTube that I can find.

 
Silver Maple 
Postdoc
Posts: 3765

Loc: Westfield, New Jersey
Reg: 11-23-04
Amaker Still Loves the Palestra for the Tournament
03-12-18 02:22 PM - Post#252444    
    In response to T.P.F.K.A.D.W.

Tommy Amaker, regardless of what he actually thinks, has absolutely nothing (NOTHING!) to gain by criticizing the choice of the Palestra in public. What he might or might not be saying in private is anybody's guess. So, because he's a smart, diplomatic guy, he's going to say the smart, diplomatic thing.

Courtney Banghart, OTOH, while clearly a very good coach, has a tendency to run her mouth without thinking.


 
Silver Maple 
Postdoc
Posts: 3765

Loc: Westfield, New Jersey
Reg: 11-23-04
03-12-18 02:28 PM - Post#252447    
    In response to Silver Maple

As to the question of holding the tournament at the Palestra moving forward, I'm torn. On one hand, from the standpoint of entertainment value, the Palestra is currently, by far, the best choice. Being that college basketball in general, and the IL Tournament in particular, is an entertainment product, this is a crucial consideration. However, there's no denying that holding this thing every year on Penn's home court isn't 'fair.' Over time, I fear that this lack of equity will compromise the entertainment value of the product. So, even if the Powers That Be choose to stay in Philadelphia for another year, I really think that they need to find a viable alternative for this entertainment product they've created. I'm skeptical that some shittty little neutral arena in Connecticut is the solution.

 
palestra38 
Professor
Posts: 32685

Reg: 11-21-04
03-12-18 02:32 PM - Post#252449    
    In response to Silver Maple

Simple, have each school have a contest to create their own special version of a Palestra and then build it, funded by the rich alumni of each school, who could get naming rights. With each school possessing a Palestra, the games could always be played at a (if not the) Palestra. There, "fairness" problem solved.

 
Go Green 
PhD Student
Posts: 1124

Age: 52
Reg: 04-22-10
03-12-18 02:44 PM - Post#252458    
    In response to palestra38

  • palestra38 Said:
Simple, have each school have a contest to create their own special version of a Palestra and then build it, funded by the rich alumni of each school, who could get naming rights. With each school possessing a Palestra, the games could always be played at a (if not the) Palestra. There, "fairness" problem solved.



Wouldn't it be cheaper to just give the higher seeds a three-point lead at tipoff when they play Penn?

Again, "fairness" problem solved.

 
palestra38 
Professor
Posts: 32685

Reg: 11-21-04
03-12-18 02:49 PM - Post#252461    
    In response to Go Green

Not according to CU fan Chet Forte---he proclaimed Penn had a 6 point advantage. You'll never satisfy some people with your solution. Mine is foolproof.

 
Silver Maple 
Postdoc
Posts: 3765

Loc: Westfield, New Jersey
Reg: 11-23-04
03-12-18 02:58 PM - Post#252464    
    In response to palestra38

How about this: keep it at the Palestra, but put a piece of duct tape over each Penn fan's mouth. They'd still be able to clap their hands and stamp their feet and hold up snarky rollouts, but the place would be a lot quieter.

Duct tape to the rescue, yet again.

 
Quakers03 
Professor
Posts: 12480

Reg: 12-07-04
03-12-18 03:01 PM - Post#252466    
    In response to Silver Maple

Maybe if any other team had fans that care as much as Penn fans, this wouldn't be such an issue.

 
rbg 
Postdoc
Posts: 3044

Reg: 10-20-14
03-12-18 03:31 PM - Post#252481    
    In response to Quakers03

T.P.F.K.A.D.W - You should be able to see all the commentary, including the press conferences, at the Ivy League Network links

Friday Shootarounds - https://www.ivyleaguenetwork.com/ivyleague/game/li...

Saturday Semifinals - https://www.ivyleaguenetwork.com/ivyleague/game/li...

Sunday Finals - https://www.ivyleaguenetwork.com/ivyleague/game/li...

 
HARVARDDADGRAD 
Postdoc
Posts: 2685

Loc: New Jersey
Reg: 01-21-14
03-12-18 03:53 PM - Post#252493    
    In response to rbg

First, diplomatic is a better word to describe Amaker's position, and - I believe - his public position on the Palestra.

There is no question that providing one participant home court advantage can affect outcomes. Also, there is no question that providing one set of students and fans the convenience of walking/traveling to their home arena is a great benefit to those fans and an inconvenience to all others. Such an inconvenience, that many students neither have the time nor the resources to attend.

There are numerous reasons not to play at the Palestra. How about we rotate, and come back to the Palestra in 15 years. Sound fair to Penn fans and residents of University City? Of course not.



 
Quakers03 
Professor
Posts: 12480

Reg: 12-07-04
Amaker Still Loves the Palestra for the Tournament
03-12-18 04:08 PM - Post#252496    
    In response to HARVARDDADGRAD

You make it seem like Penn fans are beating our chests about keeping this thing in Philly. I don't think you'll find a Quaker fan on this site who disagrees that it's unfair. The question is, how do we fix it and not turn it into an emotionally empty event like most of the others. Maybe if you had a real arena, we wouldn't be here.

 
palestra38 
Professor
Posts: 32685

Reg: 11-21-04
03-12-18 04:09 PM - Post#252497    
    In response to HARVARDDADGRAD

WE all understand that playing all the time in one team's home court is not "fair." We also all understand that only one other Ivy team has an arena that can host an event like this and that one is 45 miles from the Palestra.

Is Harvard willing to finance the cost of renting Bridgeport or another similar arena, since I see no likelihood that many others will be so willing. What do you then suggest?

 
 Page 1 of 3 ALL123
Icon Legend Permissions Topic Options
Report Post

Quote Post

Quick Reply

Print Topic

Email Topic

5493 Views




Copyright © 2004-2012 Basketball U. Terms of Use for our Site and Privacy Policy are applicable to you. All rights reserved.
Basketball U. and its subsidiaries are not affiliated in any way with any NCAA athletic conference or member institution.
FusionBB™ Version 2.1 | ©2003-2007 InteractivePHP, Inc.
Execution time: 0.255 seconds.   Total Queries: 16   Zlib Compression is on.
All times are (GMT -0500) Eastern. Current time is 06:59 PM
Top