MBB: Little East

formerbant10 · November 30, 2005, 12:11:23 AM

With all due respect, I don't believe the Little East is the best conference in the Northeast. While the gap may be closing, in recent years the class of the Northeast has been the NESCAC.

And if this Hall kid is so good, how come he's only playing 17 minutes in a game??? And it's not quite accurate to simply multiply a players stats by 2 to see what he would do if he played a full game.....but it was a nice try.

umbfan05 · November 30, 2005, 12:31:19 AM

Hall doesn't play alot minutes because the coach and his relationship, very bitter,But the coach does understand that he needs him to win games.

broke_ya_ankles · December 03, 2005, 06:08:17 PM

well i had made a post earlier about keene state and their tough schedule out of the gates, but here they are now 5 games into the season with an impressive 5-0 rocord. With solid wins over Endicott, Husson (don't let their record deceive you), Colby-Sawyer, and RIC. A 13 point win at RIC today is a big win, as RIC is one of the top teams in the LEC. Their next 3 games come against Southern Vermont, Tufts, and UMD, all winable games. Keene is looking very impressive early on in the season and if they can continue their play over the conference schedule they could be going for that NCAA Bid this year...

also a nice side note is Plymouth State starting 5-0 as well, not quite as solid of wins with only 2 being really imressive (Salem State and WCSU) nonetheless they are 5-0 and appear to have life after pelotte afterall

another side note, Congrats to Andreas Pope of PSU for scoring his 1,000th career point today

umbfan05 · December 04, 2005, 12:19:05 AM

umass-boston have just beat east.conn,but i don't know how good this team really is,there next game should be really tough one against salem state.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · December 05, 2005, 11:12:15 AM

Keene's for real right now, but I'm not sure whether they have improved over last year. All the teams you listed went backwards, nevertheless, KSC has beaten them all. Good outlook for the season.

tjcummingsfan · December 06, 2005, 08:22:24 AM

So I just saw my first East Coast basketball game last night... Keene State vs Southern Vermont. After watching 4 years of pretty darn good basketball in the CCIW (despite my Vikings always being at the bottom), I must say I was a little disappointed in what I saw last night.

Keene State looked flat out terrible the first half, or at least the first 15 minutes of it. They were launching 3's like they didn't know how to do anything else. I don't think I saw a 3 go in until about halfway through the 2nd half (and maybe one or two did, and I just don't remember, but still, the 3pt-fg% must have been in the teens). At one point there were down 14 to a Southern Vermont team that had 9 players I think, and only 6 of whom actually rotated into the game. In the program they had listed 2 forwards, 2! You'd think KSC would be smart and pound the ball down low to draw some fouls, and possibly get one, or both of the SVC big men out. Amazingly enough they didn't, at least not until the second half, and even then it was only a mediocre attempt, they still launched an absurd amount of 3's. The only thing that kept KSC in the game in the first half, after being down 14 at one point was the full-court pressure they put on SVC. Unfortunately for the Mountaineers they just couldn't break it, and KSC clawed their way back to tie the game at 33 at the half.

The second half belonged entirely to the Owls, mostly because the 6 SVC players who saw the floor were just flat out exhausted. They didn't have the energy to continue playing at the level they needed to.

You give Southern Vermont 3 more players who can hold their own on the floor, and another guard who can handle the ball, and they win this game.

I can't say that there was anyone from KSC who really stuck out in my mind as playing very well. Sontag didn't impress me like I thought he would (from the little bit of hype in here), he played with alot of intensity which I like, but it also almost got him in big trouble. At one point he had 2 refs dragging him away from a pile where it looked like punches, or kicks or something were thrown. It seems to me that he needs to mature a bit before he'll be anything special. If he really is that important to the team he should know to just walk away, and pull his teammates away. Sullivan looked okay in the second half, hitting a couple threes and a couple other fgs, but nothing amazing. Besides those two, I can't say anyone else even stuck out in my head enough to mention.

It was nice to finally see some more DIII basketball, and have something to compare the midwest to.

Oh, and someone has to tell the KSC freshman (I'm assuming, and hoping) that when you have an 18 point lead, it isn't good sportsmanship to shoot again when there are only 3 seconds left.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · December 06, 2005, 09:27:40 AM

You're not going to see the same kind of ball you got in the CCIW; it just doesn't happen in New England. Sure we have some good teams that can compete, but most are not forced to play with the kind of consistency necessary for Midwest success. Keene has already played above their abilities early to get the good record and the QOWI points they need. Half their conference has no chance of beating them and 2/3rds of their non-con are pushovers.

They can get things together by the end of the year, but this is about what you can expect in NE ball. You have to make sure when you go to a game that its important for both sides, or else you are really in danger of seeing painful basketball.

If you were to head over to the North Shore tonight for Gordon and Endicott, for example, you could be guaranteed a game. KSC vs PSC or KSC vs CSC are both games of that mnagnitude. The NESCAC provides pretty consistent good play as well.

broke_ya_ankles · December 06, 2005, 03:22:26 PM

I'm not suprised to hear keene stumbled vs a weaker opp. they have had the same problem for the past few years of playing down a level and just squeeking out wins, given a 20 point win isnt a squeek out one but nonetheless they obviously played way down in the first half.

and tjcummingsfan-
the thing with keene is they typically dont have the all-american type players but a coulpe scorers and some outstanding players who know their role, thats whats made them so successful...just a thought

broke_ya_ankles · December 07, 2005, 09:47:22 AM

Keene State's starting Center for the past 3 years was injured in the RIC game and will be out 4-6 weeks. hes not necessarily a big stat stuffer but he does provide them with many of the intangibles which shows as this is his 3rd year as a starter...
it will be interesting to see how those 25-30 minutes get distributed now...

umbfan05 · December 27, 2005, 05:14:38 PM

little east fans, umb has met there goal. There over .500 going into january. other then there game in florida,there next three game are tough if they can win 2 of the 3, they are going to make a push to win the conference and they have the talent to do this.

tjcummingsfan · December 29, 2005, 03:27:52 PM

just out of curiosity umbfan, who set this goal? did they meet their own goal, or is this just a goal you set for them?

eminabe53 · January 11, 2006, 10:22:35 AM

Does anyone know why PSU's Andreas Pope hasn't played since the seventh game of the season? Is he injured? Academically ineligible? Off the team?

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · January 11, 2006, 11:08:05 AM

Is it ok to say Plymouth is back to Earth yet? Although, Keene seems to be holding their own.

broke_ya_ankles · January 11, 2006, 09:26:07 PM

Plymouth is down to earth....without Pope, it appears hes academically ineligible which i had heard he would be for 2nd semester even before the season started from a reliable source. without Pope, plymouth is ok at best, with pope their a contender, hes THAT good.

Keene at 100% will remain out of this world until they run into consistant big boys like amherst come big time NCAA time... Keenes freshmen are peaking at the right time a Kathan and Anderson are getting big time minutes and producing. that makes keene a physically BIG team and very talented and well coached they could dance back to the elite 8 like they did 2 years ago..

umbfan05 · January 14, 2006, 08:36:59 PM

Where doesn't umb stand in this conference,and will they make it to the tournament. Their record is currently (8-5,4-1) Beating Everybody in the conference but keene and S.Maine.They Play S.maine in the Pretty Soon and I like their chances. A Team that was pick to finish 6th in the conference is currently 2nd. This is the sleeper that i was talking about.