MBB: Little East

[LECFAN32]

like the enthusiasm for usm, however the level of defensive pressure coming from ric is not even comparable to boston, who despite their run/jump abilities had reverted back to mailing it in, losing by 20, and generally looking like an aau team.

usm has a distinct advantage at home as im sure many of us can confirm, therefore look like a much different team, very difficult to have that amount of travel for the away teams, followed by an early morning and game. legs just arent there, therefore shooters have the space to get shots off in their friendly confines. ric however relies on their defense so that off day imo would be more due to ric's pressure comparably to the usual away team. 

huskies are talented this year however, and the kee kid was very impressive, usm must be very sharp with their sets in order to get him open an the space to keep them in the game. ric will no doubt throw multiple defenders at him, smaller guys like ethan gaye, to long athletes like chris burton. whatever happens, good year, but it makes me  wonder why hendrickson recruits like he does having guys all over the country on his roster, sure some are talented, but not special, and hasnt translated to wins. why not recruit new england harder and focus on player development?

as far as those statistics go.. its all circumstantial really

example- phil starks boxing out from the perimeter and most likely while basket hanging didnt effect westerns ability to protect the glass

joe groski OBVIOUSLY does not speed up the game for his team. however struggled defending the ball screen so i believe the opponent ppg.

other notes-

robitaille post ups are extremely efficient-

alex kee should be attacked defensively clearly

chris burton has an enormous impact on both sides of the ball, and its not even close.. future star

[DMJSports]

Hello ECSUalum,

Thanks for the kind greetings.  It is a patent-pending algorithm which measures an individual's impact on a measurable team objective and adapted to basketball.  IMHO, far more insightful (and pertinent) than individual stats.  Coaches find the information helpful in surfacing trends which may not be intuitively obvious.

Leo Cohen
DMJ Sports

[ECSUalum]

DMJ,

+1 for your efforts.

BTW Hundley is out for tonights game with Keene, which will hamper their rebounding.  Garrow will really need to step up on the boards tonight, together with Robitaille and Yarborough.  Fazio is back, which is huge for Keene.

[DMJSports]

Thanks for the karma ECSUalum.

LECFAN32, I'll attempt to address a couple of your comments.  You can look at what I posted in two ways.  The first part measured individual impacts on outscoring the opposition -- the real objective of a basketball game.  The second part was more of a list of fun facts as to what the analysis revealed about stats which are not the primary objective of a basketball team. 

From that perspective, lets look at Joe Groski.  Groski played, on average, about 22 minutes per game and is averaging a modest 7ppg.  Western Connecticut, on average, was outscored by almost 9ppg this season.  The analysis highlights that when you compare the team's point differential difference (mouthful :->) with Groski in versus out of the lineup it is a significant 11.8ppg.  You cannot determine this information by looking at the box score, and based on your comments, not intuitively obvious.  Now, the analysis also shows that with Groski in the lineup, Western Connecticut is still outscored by an average margin of almost 2ppg (trend would indicate, on average, a 73-75 loss when Groski is in for 40 minutes, shooting percentage increases by 5.5%, 3.5 more made shots per game, and 2.3 more rebounds per game).  If this was based on one or two games, dismissing as circumstantial may be the right approach, but if this trend continues, as a coach, I would like to explore it further.  Now, let me be clear, I have never seen Groski play, but based on crunching season-long Western Connecticut game data, Groski made Western Connecticut more competitive when he was on the floor.  I would leave it up to the coaches to explain why, but the analysis does its job, highlights a trend based on objective, game data.

The stat on Phil Starks reducing offensive rebounds by the opposition is more of a fun fact than one that really matters in determining the outcome of a basketball game.  Having said that, the season-long data does show that, for whatever reason, the difference between opposition offensive rebounds with Starks in and out of the lineup is the largest in the Little East Conference at an average of 4.7 offensive rebounds per game.  Other players that were right behind Starks were Brian Clarke (Mass-Boston) at 4.6 and Mark MacGregor (Plymouth State) at 4.4.  Again, just fun trivia.

[warriorcat]

The loss of Hundley hurts Eastern in a number of ways.  Eastern is smaller with Yarborough (6'5" vs 6'3") and the rotation is shortened. Yarborough is a high energy player well suited to come in and provide Eastern with hustle and defensive intensity.  Being a starter and playing extended minutes (probably 30+), he will probably not be able to have the same impact.  Offensively, he is limited to putbacks off offensive rebounds and layups off passes from teammates where Hundley has at times shown the ability to stretch the defense with an outside shot or two.   Keene will have an overwhelming size advantage tonight and with Fazio back they have three quality big men to throw at Robitaille.  For Eastern to win, they can not have an off night from any of their top four scorers. 

[7express]

Was at women's game, but looks like the final is RIC vs Keene.

[7express]

I will take RIC 65-62.  Keene exercised their demons vs Eastern, hopefully they do same vs RIC.  As I've said since October, Keene is the most talented team in league and WHEN they decide to show up, not a team that can beat then.  Bubble teams (MIT, Stout, Brandeis) better be rooting for RIC as RIC is a lock and LEC is 1 bid league with a RIC win.  Regular season matchup in Providence was 3, but RIC creamed them in Keene last Sat

[ECSUalum]

Congrats to Keene St on their victory over Eastern last night, they pretty much dominated the whole game and deserve the victory. Except for Robitaille, the Warriors looked tired last night, maybe due to loss of two senior players and a thin bench.  BYW Last night, Ryan Martin showed why is is one of the best guards in New England if not the country.
Also congrats to Chris Robitaille and Joe Ives for an amazing careers at Eastern, and to seniors Tyler Hundley his journeymens work ethic.
Eastern will have an excellent foundation of players next year to build on for another excellent season with Preston, Yarborough, Salzillo, Lumene and Best, however Coach Geitner will have to recruit a good bunch of players to provide the starters with some backup.  It seemed that between injuries and players that left the team, we did not have much of a bench to support the starters, which was a huge advantage for Keene and especially RIC this year.  The Warriors played gased most of the season, tribute to their excellent conditioning and the quality of the players.

7,
I hope Coach Campbell can rebuild the Colonials back up next year, because frankly w/o Western in the thick of things , it is not an exciting LEC and ECSU/WCSU rivalry 

Finally, IF KEENE CAN SHOOT LIKE THEY DID VS EASTERN  LAST NIGHT THEY WILL GET THE SLOT TO THE 2013 NCAA TOURNAMENT!!!

[warrior]

Wow, it has been a while since I've had time to sit down and write a reply, but I ALWAYS enjoy following the posts! 

My wife and I enjoyed the road trip last night, but, needless to say, not the result!   Still, I am happy for guys like Martin, Wright and Fazio who had their hearts torn out two years in a row!  I was especially relieved that Fazio was back, even though that meant a tough night for us.  I was very worried about his concussion and felt bad that his 1,000 point night was ruined by his injury (not to mention some rude fans of ours that I wish would cheer our team on rather than taunt our opponents). It was also fun to see 'oldtimers' like Nick Nedwick and Mason Choice and talk about the wars they fought with and against Jamie and his teammates.

As for the game - Robo was of course a beast, but after him, I thought Yarbs was our MVP.  I always thought that offensive rebounds turn games around and Yarbs had 3 or 4 that saved us when all looked lost. 

Hopefully we'll get a chance to end on a good note in the ECAC tournament!

As for today's game - Martin definitely deserves to go out on top, so, although I never thought I'd hear myself saying this, "Go Owls!" 

PS Jamie says hi to all!  He is having a great season in England's top league (still ranked #1 in player efficiency w/ 20 pts/11 rebs averages). In fact, in a few hours his team will be playing in the National Trophy Final, so there is still a chance for a Warrior championship this year! 

[ECSUalum]

Warrior,

Great Post, Glad that Jamie continues to do well, he was a wonderful recruit for Eastern both from the acedemic and athletic standpoint.

I was wondering what Nick was doing, I hope well as he with Jamie was the heart of the team last year. 

BTW a shout out to Nick Aconfora and John Cabral/others and  DCTV/LECTV crew for a wonderful broadcast last night.  Also for Nick et al for the Eastern Sports Weekly broadcast fom the Murray Center which was excellent!!!

I hope Coach Geitner can start attracting some of the Connecticut players now going to Keene St and RIC.

[7express]

Hopefully Keene can pull this out.  IMO they got screwed out of a bid last season.  They did choke at the end, but 2/3 were on the road, all 3 were against the team in first OR tied for second AND they were first team to beat Middlebury during the season.  It's not like Keene ended the year losing to USM, Boston, and Plymouth at home.  A lot of teams would have had trouble the last 3 games if they played Keenes closing sched

[ECSUalum]

Congrats to Coach Walsh and the Anchormen on their 2012-13 LEC Championship.  I don't think I have ever seen a more tenacious defense then the 2012-13 RIC Anchormen.  Every LEC coach should use this year's Anchormen games as training on how to play D!!!!!

[amh63]

ECSU.....Thanks for the encouragement of the Amherst team.  Hope to make another trip to Salem Va.  Will not go to Georgia if the team makes it to the finals...Amherst has the talent and team makeup to get there this year.   
Did you watch any of the game in LeFrak?   There is a short video of Allen Williamson's dunk and game saving block on the Amherst website....found on the writeup.  Video highlights to come.

[ECSUalum]

ECSU.....Thanks for the encouragement of the Amherst team.  Hope to make another trip to Salem Va.  Will not go to Georgia if the team makes it to the finals...Amherst has the talent and team makeup to get there this year.   
Did you watch any of the game in LeFrak?   There is a short video of Allen Williamson's dunk and game saving block on the Amherst website....found on the writeup.  Video highlights to come.

Amh63,

No I did not watch the Amherst Williams game this time, but when I watched thier last matchup @ LeFrak, Williamson seemed to be one of the standouts!!  Ilike this guy and think he will come out big for the Lord Jeffs in the tournament.  Good Luck, and bring home the Bronze and Walnut!!!
I think we will be turning to LEC baseball now , but will be rooting for another RIC/Amherst matchup!

[7express]

Missed half of the show, but someone just sent me a message on twitter that RIC is hosting Liberty League champ Hobart.  Not sure who else is in their half.