MBB: Little East

[ECSUalum]

One thing you can say about Coach Walsh and the RIC mens BB program is thay are transparent and open about the program.  In the video, Walsh describes his new recruits and even some issues with leadership at early practice sessions.  In addition, I think they are the first team to publish their 2011/12 roster.
Again, It looks like RIC will be the team to beat if you want to see NCAA Tourney post season play.

[hoopdreams101]

Umass Dartmouth has to have one of the top recruiting classes in the country. It looks like six scholarship caliber players join the team this year including Jansy Cruz(division one point guard) and Jeffery Cannon(New Haven) After speaking with coach Baptiste last weekend and reading local newspaper articles he credits his ast coach Sean Floyd for recruiting this talented class.

Here is one of the articles I have found regarding this recruiting class Enjoy!

http://www.umasstorch.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=543%3Afresh-faces-in-the-crowd-umassd-welcomes-new-recruits-this-season&Itemid=262

[LECFAN32]

agree with the preseason rankings above.. was surprised western didnt get into the top 25 to start with 4 starters returning plus some strong bench players (although gates and payton are ineligible for the first semester due to academics) and for the first time in years a wealth of experience and leadership as well as coming off a 22-6 season where they were ranked a fair amount of the season.

they did not get the gibbs kid who was at mt. ida last year and formerly of umass however did get back mike jensen who averaged close to 10 ppg as a frosh in 2008, as well as some nice size in incoming freshman and transfers.. and thankfully brooks was never seriously going to go anywhere else, because this could be building up to a special year if the guys who are ineligible can come back in mid season form, and they can get some production (rebounding) from the newcomers up front.

[CCC Talk]

Umass Dartmouth has to have one of the top recruiting classes in the country. It looks like six scholarship caliber players join the team this year including Jansy Cruz(division one point guard) and Jeffery Cannon(New Haven) After speaking with coach Baptiste last weekend and reading local newspaper articles he credits his ast coach Sean Floyd for recruiting this talented class.

Here is one of the articles I have found regarding this recruiting class Enjoy!

http://www.umasstorch.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=543%3Afresh-faces-in-the-crowd-umassd-welcomes-new-recruits-this-season&Itemid=262

thanks for posting coach floyd

[7express]

agree with the preseason rankings above.. was surprised western didnt get into the top 25 to start with 4 starters returning plus some strong bench players (although gates and payton are ineligible for the first semester due to academics) and for the first time in years a wealth of experience and leadership as well as coming off a 22-6 season where they were ranked a fair amount of the season.

they did not get the gibbs kid who was at mt. ida last year and formerly of umass however did get back mike jensen who averaged close to 10 ppg as a frosh in 2008, as well as some nice size in incoming freshman and transfers.. and thankfully brooks was never seriously going to go anywhere else, because this could be building up to a special year if the guys who are ineligible can come back in mid season form, and they can get some production (rebounding) from the newcomers up front.

Payton & Gates are suspended the first semester??  Also wonder if we'll get Teaushawn Jackson back this year, and that kid from Kolbe Cathedral in Bridgeport.

[LECFAN32]

yes they are hoping to get them back for the second semester in december.. coach campbell notoriously loads most of the games to after new years for this very reason..jackson and underwood are not back.. which is a shame both had alot of potential. still guards will be a strong point and they should get a nice test early with their home tournament.

interested to see if umass dartmouth newcomers will gel early much like ric does year in and year out. eastern seems like they will be a very tough out night in and night out as well with the experience and toughness of kohn and newick.

[7express]

That tournament will be good, weird set up though as there's only 1 game per day.   Looking forward to the game against J&W and Lamonte Thomas.

[warrior]

Eastern will get started this Saturday w/ a home scrimmage vs. Roger Williams @ 11am.  I can hardly wait!  Let it begin!!! 

[7express]

Eastern will get started this Saturday w/ a home scrimmage vs. Roger Williams @ 11am.  I can hardly wait!  Let it begin!!!

West Conn women start on Saturday @ Post University.  Still trying to find a scrimmage/exhibition for the men to no avail.

[LECFAN32]

Looks like they couldnt find a 4th team to complete the field, at one time that was going to be purchase college but they had dropped out to play williams in another tournament sometime this fall..two good games early can only help their national profile. Stockton is a team that went to the final four in the last 3 years and plays a very tough kind of ball. j n w is a team that likes to get up and down n score obviously, but I hope that it doesnt turn into a 1 on 1 game with brooks and thomas, because the rest of the team forgets how to play defense at that time (see albertus magnus games), and the game becomes closer then it should be with a team from a lesser conference.

usually westconn scrimmages wnec and springfield, one home and one away beginning in the start of november.

[warrior]

Well, our first scrimmage is behind us, and as always, at this point in the season, there's a lot of work to be done!  The good news is, we came out ahead of a pretty good Roger Williams team and their 6'9"/6'7" front line.  That's especially good news for us, considering that we played without a center (hand injury)! It was a good team effort featuring some excellent passing and tough defense - the two things we'll need to bring every night to survive in the LEC this year!  Next week we have another scrimmage at Coast Guard then our Tip-Off Tournament on the 19th and 20th.   How did the other scrimmages go?  Did anyone catch any?  On another note, the preseason poll should be coming out pretty soon.  Is it possible to pick a 5-way tie for first (ECSU,RIC,WESTERN,KEENE,DARTMOUTH) and 3-way tie for second (Plymouth, Boston, Maine)?   

[ECSUalum]

From RIC website:

November 4, 2011
CARTER & KING LEAD ANCHORMEN IN PRESEASON OPENER
Div. I Rhody Tops RIC, 79-63

Kingston, R.I.-Sophomore guard Avery King (Pawtucket, RI) led the Rhode Island College men's basketball team with a game-high 16 points, while junior guard Tahrike Carter (Brooklyn, NY) posted nine points and a team-high eight rebounds, as the Anchormen fell to the University of Rhode Island Rams, 79-63, in preseason action played at the Ryan Center.

King, a transfer from Lyndon State, kept RIC in the game in the early going with a handful of clutch baskets, which included four three-pointers. Carter, who played a game-high 34 minutes, displayed versatility on both ends of the floor and just missed out on a double-double. The junior captain chipped in with four assists as well, while the team's other captain, senior forward Mason Choice (Newport, RI), dished out a team-high seven assists in the loss.

[7express]

I was debating going to that last night.  Decided to go the D-2 Adelphi vs. D-1 Long Island University exhibition game instead since I went up to SUNY-Delhi to see an ex-Colonial today.

[7express]

In honor of exhibition games kicking off, here's the 8 teams, and the game to watch this year, starting with my projected order of finish from first to last:

Western Connecticut: Nov 22 @ Albertus Magnus.  WCSU has some challenging  games (Medgar Evers, J&W, Richard Stockton, WPI), but nothing stands out more then this.  I think the Albertus gym fits like 500 people, assuming the AMC students don't leave for Thanksgiving break early and stay for the games, this could be one of the best games of November.  Gotta play some defense this year, if Askew can get 36 points again, I doubt we come away with a win.
Eastern Connecticut: Dec 10 vs. RIC.  Eastern has a chance to get a leg up on the compeitition (and their rival), by ending 6 years of frusteration.  Last year they were close in 2 regular season meetings, but couldn't quite get over the hump.  Can they do it this year??
RIC: November 17 @ Becker.  A challenging early season road game against an NCAA tournament team.  Also have games within the first month against tournament teams Bridgewater state (road) and WPI (home).  With how top heavy the LEC is, it would be advised winning at least 1, probably 2 of these games.
Keene state: February 18 @ RIC.  If they get off to a good start (5 of their first 6 LEC games are at home with only road game being at Boston), this could be a potential matchup to avoid the play-in game on Tuesday and or avoid a possible Tuesday night matchup against a #5 seed who could possible end up being the best #5 seed the conference has seen
Dartmouth: Dec 3 @ Keene state.  4 of first 6 are on the road (Plymouth & Eastern at home).  They were 2-1 against Keene last year (2-0 in the regular season) in a leg up for what probably is the home game in the 4 vs. 5 game Tuesday.
Boston: Feb 7 @ Southern Maine.  If they win this game they would pass last year's total for amount of wins in February (0).  If they win their next game, Feb 11 @ Plymouth state they would double it.  Those 0 wins in February were a big reason they failed to make the postseason.
Southern Maine: November 15 @ University of New England.  UNE finished with 4 wins last year, and USM won't be winning many LEC games, so they better get the OOC wins where they can get them, and UNE certainly qualifies as one.
Plymouth state: January 24 vs. Southern Maine.  Quite possibly could be their only LEC win of the year.

[7express]

Apparantly West Conn beat WNEC by 1 in their scrimmage this afternoon, I think they have another one next week.