MBB: Little East

[LECFAN32]

ric has had an up and down season and have had bad losses that definitely costs them an at large oppurtunity.. however they are big and talented and can win ncaa tournament games if they get there.

eastern always plays with alot of discipline and as a team I enjoy watching them play but they do not have favorable matchups with western especially with sawyer having to guard on the perimeter when phillips isnt in the game and brooks.. i think western still takes it and sets up a rematch with ric, where there is bad blood between an a near altercation after the game in providence and some online trash talking.

[ECSUalum]

Great analysis 7express, +1 for all your input to this thread!!

ECSU is close again this year to a potential spot in the NCAA, however, even though they have shown great improvement over the last 2 years, and even with the great D they have started to play this year, they lack the offensive punch, or killer instinct, to put teams away.  I have seen it too many times this year, and while last year they pulled out 3 or 4 games over some NESCAC teams in OT, this year they have been plagued by buzzer beaters.  You cannot let teams back into the game when you have double digit leads.

Killer Instinct, that is what Coach Geitner needs to instill in his players! 

Not sure they have the offensive punch this year to take the LEC Tourney over either RIC or WCSU.  However, if Kohn, Nedwick, Sawyer, and Garrow are all clicking offensively in this tournament..... it could very well propel them to their first NCAA in a very LOOONG time.

Now...Next year, with the core of the team returning and some youngsters well seasoned, I really think RIC and WCSU will be in for a real fight for the title, and ECSU WILL NOT lose 4 games to them!!!! 

[7express]

Semifinal Friday is upon us, excited for the matchups today.  The 2/3 games on each side should be really competitive, and the 1/4 games could be close too.  Luckily on the 95 corridor its just rain and wind so it will make travel easier then if it was snow.  Hope everyone enjoys the games today, no matter which site they go too!

[wcsu91]

I am hoping Western pulls it together and plays together/to their potential and gets these next 2 wins and maybe host a first round ncaa tournament game.  I have a feeling Brooks is going to be lighting up the scoreboard tonight.

[wcsu91]

Just finished watching western lose. They looked like dead men walking. Like they didn't even wanna be there. What happen to this team? For the first 20 or so games they looked unstopable. Have seen online posts from some of their players saying they can't wait for this sh*t to be over. Not the right tude to have going into the end of the season. I guess who ever said there were internal issues going on with the team was right. Some much potential and it looks like they are just don't care. At this point who knows if they will even get an at large bid.

[7express]

Just finished watching western lose. They looked like dead men walking. Like they didn't even wanna be there. What happen to this team? For the first 20 or so games they looked unstopable. Have seen online posts from some of their players saying they can't wait for this sh*t to be over. Not the right tude to have going into the end of the season. I guess who ever said there were internal issues going on with the team was right. Some much potential and it looks like they are just don't care. At this point who knows if they will even get an at large bid.

Oswego state (NCAA tournament lock) lost in the SUNYAC semifinals.  Kean and Ramapo, good bets to make the NCAA tournament lost in the NJAC semifinals.  At least 2 of these 3 are guaranteed to lose once the NESCAC starts up again with the semi's: Amherst, Middlebury & Williams are all NCAA locks.  Ithaca, a pool C contender lost in the E-8 semifinals.  Hobart, a pool C contender lost in the LL finals.  Virginia Wesleyan & Randolph-Macon from the ODAC are locks, only 1 of them can win the tournament.  Good news for Colonial fans is that River Falls and Stevens Point made it to the WIAC championship (Stevens Point is a lock, River Falls is all but a lock).  Hopefully, one of those favorites out of the ODAC wins that tournament to minimize pool C bids. 

With all of that said with the way this team is playing, they look like a guaranteed one and done team if they even do make the NCAA's.  Even if the men make the tournament and the stars, moon, earth and sun all alighn and Western hosts a first round pod I may have to travel to go see the women's team play their games; at the women actually care about continuing their season, something the men don't seem to care about.  Will be back in a second for my semifinal review.

[7express]

Semifinal results:

RIC in a double overtime classic over Keene state 102-92.  Even though Keene state failed to score in the second overtime, don't take anything away.  It would've been worth the price of admission to see this game, including RIC hitting the buzzer beater at the end of the first overtime to force the second OT.  Have to wonder how much their gassed though considering the game ended around 8:15, and the final is at 5:00 PM.  Granted their used to playing AAU tournaments playing 2, 3, 4 times in a day, but when your playing for an NCAA bid, its a lot tougher. 
Eastern demolishes Western 94-70.  Could have legitimately ended Western's season and couldn't have come at a worse time.  I go back to wrote about a week ago where I said something like "this team started out so well, and to end like this would be really bad."  Well, its starting to look exactly like that.  What a downer in the crowd after witnessing the double overtime thriiller they had to watch this monstrosity in which Western didn't even look liek they wanted to be there.  If the Colonials didn't want to be there, they should have stayed home to watch the women's game, but maybe thats where they wanted to be Saturday, who knows??  it would have made Eastern's life easier, but from the looks of it it didn't look like Eastern had to put forth too much effort in this one regardless.

Saturday prediction:
I know RIC is at home and their playing well, but comming back in less then 24 hours against a team that didn't have to put forth much of an effort can be tough to come back from.  Eastern has lost two tough games to the Anchormen this year (by 7 in Willmantic, lost on a buzzer beater in Providence in December), so they'll be looking to reverse course.  If you take a look at the tournament so far: Keene over Dartmouth in round 1 (Dartmouth won both regular season meetings, hadn't lost to the Owls in over 2 years), Eastern by 1 over Plymouth (Plymouth was 4-1 in playoff series against Eastern including 3 straight, Eastern won both meeting pretty handily during the year) RIC in overtime over Keene (both meetings won by double digits for RIC during the year) and Eastern blowing out West Conn (both regular season meetings were close Western wins) what has happened during the season and in recent meetings has been reversing course in the tournament, and that concludes with Eastern beating RIC 73-67 after two close regular season matchups and RIC dominance in the series.

Pool C implications for Friday:
With what happened today,definatly knocks RIC off the bubble, their only way of getting entrance into the NCAA's is to win on Saturday.  Ditto for Eastern, winning the LEC is the only way to get win.  Western takes RIC's spot as one of the last few in or first few out depending on how many upsets and which way the committee goes, but this team is a guaranteed first round exit regardless so hopefully they take someone that wants to be there.  LEC, by the day is looking more and more like a 1 bid league, Saturday could make that a reality.

[7express]

Watching part of this now just to see how long the Colonials were in it.  Didn't actually play that bad the first 27 minutes as it was 54-51 with 13 minutes remaining.  Giving up 40 points in 13 minutes is cause for concern, especially when that same team scored only 59 in 40 minutes just 3 days ago.

[warrior]

Firstly, welcome back ECSUalum!  Where have you been? I felt like the last guy left at the alamo with all these Western fans! 

All I can say is, 7express, you might think our guys had it easy, but I'm exhausted and all I did was watch! That game was played at a very fast pace and those kids will definitely need all the sleep they can get before tonight's game!

I know all the Western guys think the blowout was the result of their teams poor play, but, I like to think that our kids deserve some credit for playing a great game, and an INCREDIBLE second half.  Mike G. and Chris R. had GREAT games off the bench; Nick N.,Brodi S., Ham L. and Billy R. did their things as always; Joe I. seals the deal with his free throws, and Jamie K. comes up with another double double while playing the point for the first time since middle school! (A great move on coach Geitner's behalf!) Even those players that only got in a few minutes at the end, were supportive from the bench as always, and did themselves proud at the end of the game. Just an unbelievable effort from a great bunch of kids! 

Unfortunately, we don't have much time to sit back and enjoy that one, as an even tougher one lies ahead!  As far as us being more rested ....  I don't know about that considering the kids got home at about 1 am, but I'm sure both teams will be ready to go. (I'm more worried about me!  I can't take this excitement!)

RIC, at home, playing as well as they have with their tournament experience is no doubt the favorite, but who knows ......  maybe this is our year!

Hope everyone can make it to the big game!  (You'll recognize me.  I'll be the one the medics are giving oxygen to, if this one goes to OT!)

[Argylebballer]

What a game last night. Just when it seemed like Keene had it won RIC game back, Just when it looked like RIC had Keene wouldn't go away.  The shot by Akinrolia for RIC was amazing.  The crowds were great too, great atmosphere for college basketball.

[ECSUalum]

Great analysis 7express, +1 for all your input to this thread!!

ECSU is close again this year to a potential spot in the NCAA, however, even though they have shown great improvement over the last 2 years, and even with the great D they have started to play this year, they lack the offensive punch, or killer instinct, to put teams away.  I have seen it too many times this year, and while last year they pulled out 3 or 4 games over some NESCAC teams in OT, this year they have been plagued by buzzer beaters.  You cannot let teams back into the game when you have double digit leads.

Killer Instinct, that is what Coach Geitner needs to instill in his players! 

Not sure they have the offensive punch this year to take the LEC Tourney over either RIC or WCSU.  However, if Kohn, Nedwick, Sawyer, and Garrow are all clicking offensively in this tournament..... it could very well propel them to their first NCAA in a very LOOONG time.

Now...Next year, with the core of the team returning and some youngsters well seasoned, I really think RIC and WCSU will be in for a real fight for the title, and ECSU WILL NOT lose 4 games to them!!!! 

"However, if Kohn, Nedwick, Sawyer, and Garrow are all clicking offensively in this tournament..... it could very well propel them to their first NCAA in a very LOOONG time."

THATS THE KILLER INSTINCT I WAS TALKING ABOUT!!!!  NICE JOB GUYS!!

[ECSUalum]

from warrior: Unfortunately, we don't have much time to sit back and enjoy that one, as an even tougher one lies ahead!  As far as us being more rested ....  I don't know about that considering the kids got home at about 1 am, but I'm sure both teams will be ready to go. (I'm more worried about me!  I can't take this excitement!)

The guys had to travel back to Willimantic last night???  That's ridiculous!!  I know it's not that far, but the roads were black iced last night.  THEY SHOULD HAVE STAYED IN PROVIDENCE !!!

Warrior, I believe Coach Geitner had 6-5 Kohn, 6-4 Garrow, 6-1 Nedwick, 6-3 Roveto, and 6-5 Robitaille in there last night, ( ie no Ives or Nunez), toward the last quarter of the game with Jamie running the offence!! The rebounding/offense was great with this line up!!  Was this lineup something Coach was experimenting with?

This seemed to be when the boys really started to take charge!!  The Garrow slam dunks were tremendous and also got the boys sparked!!! It was great to see Mike start to play like he did last year as a freshman!!!  Hope this gives him the confidence now to play well.  I have high hopes for him over the next two years

[ECSUalum]

Congrats to Coach Walsh and the Rhode Island College Anchormen for winning the LEC Tournament this afternoon and the automatic bid to the NCAA NE Regional Championships.  

Anchormen played unbelievable D today against Eastern!!!!!  Well deserved win today and we will be rooting for the RIC to go deep again in the NCAA.  Now go, and kick some butts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And of course congrats to the Coach Geitner, and the ECSU Warriors for another exciting season.  Continuous improvement is being seen and I feel 2011/12 could be the year!!!!

[7express]

Elms win over Becker might have been the final nail in Western's coffin since Becker was an NCAA lock.  If WPI (an NCAA lock) loses to WPI/Springfield tomorrow afternoon, that'll do it for the Colonial men.

[warrior]

Well, the better team won today!  I wish RIC great success in the tournament and look forward to our home game on Wednesday in the ECAC tournament.  With luck, we could be seeded first again, and have home games on Friday and Saturday as well if we keep winning!  Last year was great fun and a great way to end the season after the tough loss to WCSU in the tournament.  This year, we did much better in the LEC tournament, and hopefully we can have another run at the title in the ECAC tourny!
(It's always good to play non-conference teams! It gives us a chance to show how tough the LEC is!)

PS  Hopefully you Western fans will get an at-large bid, so you too can end on a more positive note, but if what you heard online is correct, it sounds like the kids just as soon call it a season.

Oh well - congrats to all on another great LEC season and tournament!