MBB: Little East

[warrior]

I'm new to the Top 25 polls, so maybe someone can explain how Eastern, 8-1 with a decisive victory over RIC, can receive no votes, while RIC comes in 24th?  It just doesn't make sense, but I guess, with polls, that's par for the course.  The good news is that only the final poll counts, so, like everyone else, we just have to keep winning and good things will happen.  We're a little banged up after the weekend, but everyone (besides Garrow) should be ready to go on Saturday.

[ECSUalum]

D3hoops.com men's Top 25, Week 5
Through games of Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012:

# School (1st votes)         Rec Pts Prev.
1 Middlebury (23)              9-0 623 1
2 Virginia Wesleyan (1)       9-1 571 2
3 Augustana                     10-1 563 3
4 MIT (1)                        12-0 537 4
5 Emory                          10-0 516 5
6 Amherst                       10-1 497 6
7 Williams                        10-1 493 7
8 Franklin and Marshall       9-0 418 9
9 Mary Hardin-Baylor         10-0 410 11
10 UW-Whitewater           11-1 357 16
11 Whitworth                    9-2 327 8
12 Hope                          10-1 317 15
13 UW-Stevens Point        10-2 305 18
14 Cabrini                         9-1 275 10
15 Wooster                       9-2 202 19
16 Puget Sound                10-1 198 12
17 Wabash                       10-1 197 14
18 St. Thomas                    7-2 175 13
19 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps  10-0 151 21
20 Oswego State                 9-1 148 23
21 Buffalo State                 10-1 120 24
22 Birmingham-Southern       10-1 89 22
23 Wheaton (Ill.)                   9-2 80 --
24 Rhode Island College          9-1 75 --
25 Transylvania                    10-1 66 --

Dropped out: No. 17 WPI, No. 20 Marietta, No. 25 Rochester.

Others receiving votes: WPI 61; Rochester 59; Western Connecticut 51; William Paterson 43; Wittenberg 22; Grinnell 21; Marietta 20; Ohio Wesleyan 17; Bethany 16; Hardin-Simmons 13; Hartwick 11; St. Mary's (Md.) 11; Washington U. 11; Catholic 11; Edgewood 10; Gustavus Adolphus 8; Lycoming 8; New Jersey City 7; Lake Forest 5; Illinois Wesleyan 4; Texas-Dallas 3; Farmingdale State 2; Salem State 1.

[Pat Coleman]

I'm new to the Top 25 polls, so maybe someone can explain how Eastern, 8-1 with a decisive victory over RIC, can receive no votes, while RIC comes in 24th?  It just doesn't make sense, but I guess, with polls, that's par for the course.  The good news is that only the final poll counts, so, like everyone else, we just have to keep winning and good things will happen.  We're a little banged up after the weekend, but everyone (besides Garrow) should be ready to go on Saturday.

Actually, technically none of the votes "count."

I can only tell you why I chose not to vote for Eastern Connecticut. The other 24 voters would have other reasons. I don't have RIC or WPI very high on my ballot, so Eastern and Western would be near the bottom of my ballot if I chose to vote for them. Problem for me was a loss to St. Joe's Long Island. I get that they are 8-1 but SJLI and the Skyline Conference are not very strong, so that 8-1 doesn't mean very much to me.

Other voters may have other reasons. For me, every bad loss needs to be balanced by a good win or two. I will be waiting to see how the LEC shakes out, personally, and once some more of those RIC/WCSU/ECSU games have been played that will help me decide who to vote for.

[LECFAN32]

totally agree with express comment about wpi's schedule.. saying that becker and elms who had been good beating up on bad teams the previous year or two makes a schedule strong doesnt say very much, and now they cant even say as much as neither is a very good team.. western 1 loss was ugly and to a team in alesser conference however it was too a VERY talented division 3 team in a tough place to play when its packed (which it was) so hopefully with a couple more conferences wins they will be able to get into the top 25

also in the case of ric and eastern both are good teams with 1 loss and some good wins, while easterns may have been a bad loss.. they have gone head to head which in most tie breakers matters most one would think?

[7express]

Dartmouth getting pounded at the half 54-30 by Northwood
Plymouth not losing by as much at the half, but still trail by double figures 44-30
Not looking good so far, but each team still has 20 minutes to play.

Dartmouth loses 96-72 to Northwood
Plymouth state loses 88-66 to Bowdoin.  The Polar Bears shot 61% from the floor and 56% from 3.

[ECSUalum]

I'm new to the Top 25 polls, so maybe someone can explain how Eastern, 8-1 with a decisive victory over RIC, can receive no votes, while RIC comes in 24th?  It just doesn't make sense, but I guess, with polls, that's par for the course.  The good news is that only the final poll counts, so, like everyone else, we just have to keep winning and good things will happen.  We're a little banged up after the weekend, but everyone (besides Garrow) should be ready to go on Saturday.

Actually, technically none of the votes "count."

I can only tell you why I chose not to vote for Eastern Connecticut. The other 24 voters would have other reasons. I don't have RIC or WPI very high on my ballot, so Eastern and Western would be near the bottom of my ballot if I chose to vote for them. Problem for me was a loss to St. Joe's Long Island. I get that they are 8-1 but SJLI and the Skyline Conference are not very strong, so that 8-1 doesn't mean very much to me.

Other voters may have other reasons. For me, every bad loss needs to be balanced by a good win or two. I will be waiting to see how the LEC shakes out, personally, and once some more of those RIC/WCSU/ECSU games have been played that will help me decide who to vote for.

Pat,

Thanks for coming in and explaining your rational on the LEC teams.

As I have statesd numerous times on these boards, for all sports, Keep winning and the polls will take care of themselves

[7express]

Only 1 game Wednesday and that's Dartmouth @ Warner
Dartmouth 62 @ Warner 86.
Warner has won their last 3 games by an average of 49 points, and guard Malcom Campbell is averging 22.3 ppg in that stretch while Bryce Kachinski is averaging 19.7 off the bench in that time frame.  Overall, those are the 2 leading scorers averaging 18.9 and 16.8 per game respectively.  Warner is outscoring their opponents by 31.7 so far this year.  I have a feeling this won't be a fun trip for the Corsairs on the court, but hopefully they had some fun off it.

[warrior]

Pat - thanks so much for weighing in and sharing your thought process on the voting.  I can't say I agree that a loss to St. Jo's (we had to play that one without a center - broken hand) has to be considered "bad" (their only loss was a 3 pointer to Ramapo who is 10-3 and only lost to Middlebury by 11) or that the loss should weigh heavier than a head to head solid victory vs. RIC, but you definitely earned my respect by publicly sharing your reasoning.  Hopefully, like you say, a few more LEC wins, combined with our #4 national ranking in points allowed (!) should earn us some votes in the future. Until then, it's nice to know that we have definitely earned the respect of the coaches and players of the teams we have played so far.

[AllStar]

Warner leads UMass-Dartmouth 40-35 at the half.  Nice job by UMD to get the score a little more manageable after trailing 32-18 at one point.

[AllStar]

Warner winds up taking control and  beating UMass-Dartmouth, 79-62.  UMD goes 0-2 on their Florida trip.

[7express]

As Allstar has already stated, Dartmouth loses to Warner 79-62.  Lance Greene had 17 to lead the Corsairs, while Malcom Campbell lead the Warner Royals with 26 on 11-13 shooting.   With games coming up against Western (Saturday), Eastern (Tuesday), RIC (the following Tuesday) and Keene state (2 Saturday's), it's looking like rough sledding for the Corsairs.

Lasell 67 @ Keene state 82.
Lasell is 3-6, but started the season with a 91-82 win at Brandeis.  They also beat Anna Maria (won the CCC regular season title last year) and only lost by 3 @ RIC earlier in the year.  Keene state has given up 83+ in 3 of their last 4 games, so they need to tighten it up on the defensive end with conference play resuming Saturday.
RIC 76 @ Wheaton 58.
This is RIC's first game back from break, and first game since they suffered their first loss to Eastern way back on December 10.  Wheaton is 6-4, but got pounded by 17 against Tufts, the best team they've had on the schedule so far/

[ECSUalum]

Watching the Lasell vs Keene St game.  Although there was a little bit of a technical problem early, I think Keene's overall broadcast is THE best LECTV and maybe best of all North East Basketball broadcasts I have seen thus far, very professional!!!  WPI maybe has sliightly better video quality, but Keene's video quality has noticably improved.  Of course I have always enjoyed Christian and Gino's play by play and announcing.  Great Job LEC TV, Marriott Courtyard, and Keene State College!!!!!

[7express]

Keene state was a 90-62 winner over Lasell.  They were only up by 6 at halftime, but outscored the Lasers 45-23 in the 2nd half to run away from the game.  3 of the 5 starters for Lasell combined for 42 points, the other 2 starters combined for 0.  Ryan Martin lead the Owls with 20 in 25 minutes.
RIC 71-53 over Wheaton.  Balanced scoring for the Anchorman: Mike Akrinrola lead all scorers with 18, Ethan Gaye finished with 10, Tahrike Carter with 11, and Mason Choice with 10 all finished in double figures.  Wheaton finished shooting 26% from the floor while RIC shot 47.3%. 

Conference is off tomorrow with LEC games resuming Saturday.  They are:
Eastern @ Plymouth
Keene @ USM
Dartmouth @ Western
Boston @ RIC.  I'll have predictions for all 4 tomorrow.

[7express]

Saturday predictions:
Eastern 67 @ Plymouth 49
Plymouth has played well for the most part this year dealing with what they lost last year, but now their running into a buzzsaw.  Plymouth was 0-2 in December conference games losing to RIC & Dartmouth, while Eastern was 2-0 beating USM & RIC.
Keene 78 @ USM 72.
Last year they nipped RIC at home in early January, and their always a threat to get a top team at home the first couple weeks of the conference season, but I don't see it here.  Keene will give up a lot of points, but they'll score just enough to come down with a closer-than-anticipated win.  USM was 0-2 losing to Eastern & Western, Keene was 2-0 beating Dartmouth and Boston.
Dartmouth 67 @ Western 80
Last time we played them in late January 2011, Western had a double digit lead late in the second half, and watched the Corsairs widdle it down to 3 with 5 seconds to play (curtousy of missed free throws).  Someone from Dartmouth hit a jumper as time expired, but they were a foot inside the arc so instead of forcing OT after trailing by 16 at halftime, they ended up losing by 1.  That game I think started Western's downward spiral to end the 2011 season, as they never really played a good game after that, save for against Salve in the NCAA tournament.  Granted, the Corsairs have played a tough schedule in the early going, but even though they only have a 7-5 record, they have a lot of scorers.  With all do respect to Boston & USM (West Conn's 2 LEC wins), neither of those teams match the talent level that Dartmouth possesses.  Dartmouth lost to Keene, and beat Plymouth
Boston 54 @ RIC 82
On the final day of the regular season last year the RIC men's and women's team combined to win by 60 against Plymouth state.  It could be like this again for RIC against Boston.  RIC beat Plymouth and lost to Eastern; Boston lost to Western and Keene.

[LECFAN32]

anybody have knowledge of whats going on with keene?

in yesterdays game hunter and d'amours did not play and on the athletics they spoke of roster changes, and having peoples roles shifted around, I know this is the norm in this league but its odd to see big pieces of a good team like that being subtracted, and usually never happens at keene.

exciting weekend coming up with the second semester league play getting under way.. dartmouth appears to have loss their starting pg tagger, so the team is put back into paul rose's hands which isnt a bad thing I thought he brought more to the table then tagger anyway. at any rate if western collapses on green and clayton and limits their touches I think they should win by double digits.. if they let them go wild it could be a long night.