MBB: Little East

[7express]

Nick Nedwick was out with a sprained ankle...his first missed game in his career.  I'd sit him Monday as well and make sure he's ready for Wesleyan on Wednesday.  Still not sure why Burns was out for Dartmouth, recap on Dartmouth's website lists no reason he didn't play like Eastern's did for Nedwick, and USM's did for Cochran (she missed Western game due to a family obligation).

[ECSUalum]

7express,

I know how frustrating it can be to go travel long distances to watch your team and they lose to a generally weaker team, but I just try to remember that these are young D-III college kids who are playing college basketball and at the same time trying to get themselves a great education, and that sometimes they will have off days for sometimes unknown reasons.  WCSU has a tremendous BB tradition and the Colonials will make good in the end!!!

Tough loss for the Warriors yesterday at RIC, but I knew Coach Walsh would to gunning for Eastern this time, and of course they missed Nick Nedwick with the ankle injury, (his first missed game in his 3.5 years). It must have occured during practice this week.  Just hope Nick's ankle will heal rapidly and that he will not miss too much action. He is a great team leader and injects a lot of energy into the O and D play

Hamilton Levy stepped up had had a great game offensively yesterday.

To RIC's credit, they really played lock down defense yesterday and Akinrola and Choice did a great job yesterday on the offense.

On a more positive note Jamie Kohn got his 1000th point yesterday.  SID Bob Molta interviewed Jamie after they returned home, (see below).  Jamie Kohn is just a great kid!!!!  He explains why he chose ECSU and what goes into deciding where to play college basketball after high school.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaBdsXYne4o&context=C307ef6cADOEgsToPDskIGH-JRjRzw7TOz0p_ScwHQ

[warrior]

7express - you have often expressed frustration over writing a reply, hitting the 'post' button and having the reply disappear.  I can now join the club!    Where do those replies go, I wonder? Is there a home somewhere for lost, homeless replies?

In the lost reply, I believe I shared thoughts similar to ECSUAlum, namely - in the end, these are just kids who have good days and bad days.  Even pro players and teams have good and bad nights. So what makes for a great player or team - simply fewer bad nights than the other players and teams!  Looking at it that way, both Eastern and Western, despite their tough losses yesterday, must still be considered very good teams.  For us - with a win on Feb. 14 vs. Keene, a league tournament in Willimantic is still possible!
Hopefully, by then, Nick's ankle will have healed and the team will have recovered from the 3-game-weeks that clearly effected them yesterday. (Hopefully coach gives them some rest next week, or Plymouth - 6th game in 2 weeks - could be another nightmare!)

As for Jamie - hopefully the tough loss won't keep him from appreciating his accomplishment.  Sadly, he reached it the same day that his streak of consecutive games played with Nick was broken at 104 - virtually every game played at Eastern since their arrival!  The good news is, in a game or two, another milestone should fall - 800 rebounds.  He is currently 3rd all-time at ECSU and I believe 6th in the history of the LEC.  At the same time, Nick has a shot at ECSUs alltime scoring record while Hamilton MUST be setting a season record for charges taken!  (What a shame that there is no official statistic for charges!)  Needless to say, ECSU will miss those three next year.  I don't think anyone would disagree that those three comprised one of the best recruiting classes in Eastern's history. 

[7express]

Monday prediction:

Eastern 73 @ York 50.
York is 7-13, but has won 5 of their last 9 after starting the season 2-9 with 1 of those wins coming on the road to Medgar Evers.  Not a team you should take lightly (not that you should take any team lightly), but it's a game they should win by 10+ whether they have their full compliment of players or not.  As I said yesterday, I'd sit Nedwick this game as well because they should win with or without him anyways.

[PressBreaker]

Interesting day in the LEC yesterday with WCSU losing to USM and RIC beating ESCU.  Keene continued their win streak and are 1st in the LEC.  Also typical on the D3 round up the "jumble" in the LEC didn't mention KSC.  There is no "jumble" in the LEC, Keene is 1st by two games right now, that may change but for now that's where things stand.  If you really look at KSC, they have 4 losses, 1 game to a DII team, Williams, WCSU, were both ranked, and Springfield isn't a bad team.  They also have two recent wins vs. top 25 teams.  It should be an interesting game with Middlebury headed to Keene Tuesday night.  Keep in mind the LEC also plays twice, you notice the limited NESCAC schedule...they play once. 

Should be fun down the stretch....

[trixiep]

KSC is a "trap" game for Middlebury, especially coming off the emotional Williams win.  This will be a very difficult road game against a strong opponent.  I look for them to drop their first of the season.

[7express]

Middlebury plays Bowdoin on Friday.  Not exactly the "trap game" theory, but I agree that could be a letdown game, however.

[7express]

Eastern finishes the 77-52 win over York.
Eaastern shot 53% from the floor for the game and is lead by Brian Salzillio's 23 points.  Once again Nedwick sat out....his 2nd straight missed game after not missing a game EVER before Saturday.  Hopefully for the Warriors sake his anke is fine for Wednesday's clash @ Wesleyan.  Eastern held York to 35% from the floor and only 11% from 3.

Tuesday schedule (will have predictions in next post), all of them are LEC vs. NESCAC matchups with the exception of Plymouth state/Lesley game.  Wins by Keene & RIC would really help the conference
Middlebury @ Keene
Dartmouth @ Tufts
RIC @ Amherst
Conn College @ Western
Colby @ USM
Lesley @ Plymouth

[7express]

Tuesday predictions:

Middlebury 73 @ Keene 76.
You know Keene state has been thinking about this game for a while, and Spaulding will be absolutely rocking.  That place gets filled against teams like Boston & USM, that will be an absolute zoo tomorrow.  Mid is ranked #1, undefeated and has some great players (Jake Wolfin, Ryan Sherry) but on the road against a team as hot as Keene is, give me Keene for the upset.
Dartmouth 65 @ Tufts 72.
Think Tufts is better, and their at home.
RIC 65 @ Amherst 74.
Think this will be closer than some Amherst fans think it is, but Amherst year in and year out is extremely tough to beat at LeFrak gymnasium, and this RIC team doesn't look as good as some of the teams from 3 or 4 years ago.  This would've been a GREAT matchup last year too bad they couldn't find a day to fit it in, this year won't be as good.
Conn College 56 @ Western 80.
Hopefully we can put together a full 40 minutes or even 35 minutes.  Conn College is 6-13 and has lost 7 of their last 8 games.  Even though we seem to play at the level of our opponent, no reason this shouldn't be any less than a 10 point win.  If Fisher, an NAIA school can beat them by 10, we should be able to beat them by at least the same margin.
Colby 56 @ USM 68.
USM, looking to build off it's comeback victory over Western will look to build off that win, as they host the Colby White Mules.  Colby has not played an LEC team this year come in losers of 5 of their last 7 games; USM is 2-0 against the NESCAC beating both state rivals Bates & Bowdoin at home.  USM lost to St. Joes by 2 earlier, or else they'd be going for the Maine sweep as they also beat Husson, Maine-Farmington, UNE & Maine-Presque Isle.  Only Maine d-3 teams they haven't faced this year are Thomas & Maine-Maritime.  6 of 8 USM wins this season are against teams from Maine (Boston & West Conn being the exceptions), and 7 of their 8 wins have occured in the state of Maine (Boston being the lone game that wasn't won in Maine).
Plymouth 67 @ Lesley 64.
My mistake, this game is @ Lesley, not at Plymouth like I had orginally posted in the last message.  Lesley is 7-10, but have won 4 of their last 7 games.  They are 0-1 against LEC teams losing to Boston earlier this year.  Plymouth is 1-0 against the NECC beating Elms back in the first week of the season, Elms has greatly improved since then.

Massey ratings:
Amherst 69-66 (62%)
Middlebury 77-74 (61%)
Western 78-64 (92%)
Tufts 75-71 (65%)
USM 66-59 (77%)
Plymouth 69-61 (80%)

[warrior]

We hit 13 of 22 3s w/ Salzillo hitting 7 of 11 himself!  Where were those 3s vs. RI?
I hate relying on the 3, but that's really what we need to do while Nick is recuperating - drive and dish and then hit those 3s. (I think Nick might have to sit one more game, but should be back for Plymouth.)
Big games tomorrow.  I'm glad we get to just sit back and watch!
A few wins ought to help the LEC get someone back in the top 25!  (ECSU and RiC dropped out and Keene got only 8 votes!)
Well, after Weslyan it's just LEC the rest of the way.  5 games, 2.5 weeks, to determine a champion!

[7express]

We hit 13 of 22 3s w/ Salzillo hitting 7 of 11 himself!  Where were those 3s vs. RI?
I hate relying on the 3, but that's really what we need to do while Nick is recuperating - drive and dish and then hit those 3s. (I think Nick might have to sit one more game, but should be back for Plymouth.)
Big games tomorrow.  I'm glad we get to just sit back and watch!
A few wins ought to help the LEC get someone back in the top 25!  (ECSU and RiC dropped out and Keene got only 8 votes!)
Well, after Weslyan it's just LEC the rest of the way.  5 games, 2.5 weeks, to determine a champion!

Playing Conn College is basically like sitting back and watching as well anyways.  Glad I'm not a Keene or RIC student/fan, the wait up to tomorrow night's game would be an absolute killer for me.  Hopefully they announce those 2 scores at the Feldman arena tomorrow.  I think there's a few schools that have 1 or even 2 OOC games left after this weekend (I know Boston is 1 of those teams), but for the most part, for most teams after Thursday it's LEC teams only.

[walzy31]

Tuesday January 31st NESCAC Vs. LEC Showdown Spreads

Amherst Vs. Rhode Island College
Amherst -4.0
O/U: 157.5

Keene State Vs. Middlebury
Middlebury -5.5
O/U: 129.5

Tufts Vs. UMass Dartmouth
Tufts -3.0
O/U: 148.5

Western Connecticut Vs. Conn College
Western Conn -15.0
O/U: 132.0

I accept Karma point bets (I will add and subtract from your existing total).
Straight bets pay -110
2 pick parlay pay +320

[amh63]

Nice touch to throw the glove down on this board......Walzy!
The games are on the web.....at 7PM.  One can go to the Amherst athletic side and hit the webcast button there on the right side.
Wonder who will be doing the broadcast?

[littleeastguy]

I know the RIC student broadcast will be there, but I don't know who for Amherst.  I am an alum of the student media and it was on the list of games they sent out.

[7express]

Walzy, I posted mine over on the NESCAC board, no reason to post them here as well though.