MBB: Little East

[LECFAN32]

thoughts on newcomers/returning newcomers-

Happy with some additions to the roster. Underwood can really put the ball in the hoop, beat out both gates and payton for minutes on a good western team that first semester, and is much more mature two years later, good enough to be a all league player.

Gates- great scorer, heard he was a headache at times. wait and see there.

Seldon- started 5 games for susquehanna university, not a bad league, comes from one of campbells favorite recruiting grounds northwest catholic so he most likely knows the game. has size so will be needed.

washington- I know hes been trying to get eligible for years, and he played a nice role on bridgeport centrals state chip. team a few years ago, as well as at herkimer cc, see stats- http://www.njcaa.org/colleges_college_player_game_by_game.cfm?sid=6&collegeid=1274&category=Roster&slid=2&teamid=106650&athleteid=315816
huge scorer, no, more of a do it all combo guard with nice size and athleticism so comparing to brooks who was small and mostly worried about scoring is apples to oranges. all the same seems like a nice piece to have if he stays eligible.

casseus- played a nice role at nassau cc- about 7 pts and 8 rebs a game, comes from a good uniondale program (li), size and bulk, if he can play, he will.

osafo- http://stats.njcaa.org/sports/mbkb/2012-13/div3/players/ikeosafov324- dont know anything about him but those are his stats at his cc, seems like he can play.

payton- with what they have already, adding him may not be a good thing.


like some of these additions, hopefully they can pick up the system soon enough. if so can be a very athletic team and competitive team.

[7express]

Friday's results.  I'll update this throughout the evening.

Plymouth leads St. Joseph's (LI) (I'll refer to them as SJLI for short from now on) 29-13 at 5:56.  Curtis Arsenault and Logan Kesty each have 9 for the Panthers.  SJLI shooting just 27.8% from the floor.
Eastern leads Worcester 27-22 at 4:07.  Eastern has outscored Worcester 25-10 since Worcester raced out to a 12-2 lead 4:12 into the game.
Eastern up 58-42 with 16:59 left.  Mike Garrow with a game high 17.
Plymouth up 52-35.  Logan Kesty with a team high 11 for the Panthers, Andy Laurent with a game high 17 for SJLI.
First final of the night comes from Westfield, MA as Plymouth knocks off SJLI 58-46.  Teams were about even except in 1 glaring category.  Each team attempted 60 field goals; Plymouth made 27, SJLI 23.  Plymouth had 14 turnovers; SJLI 12.  Plymouth had 17 attempts from the free throw line making 13 of them.  SJLI went to the line 21 times, but only connected on 9 of those free throws, but that wasn't the main reason.  This one was.  Each team attempted 20 three pointers.  Plymouth made 9, SJLI only made 3.  There's your 18 point differential in otherwise relatively close game.  This is likely example 1 of 500 this year on how scores can be deceiving. Alex Burt had 19 for the Panthers; Andy Laurent finished with 19 for SJLI.
Final from Willimantic as the men join the women in winning the conference's first 2 games as Eastern takes out Worcester 90-79.  A highly efficient scoring day for Eastern as they connected on 52.6% from the field overall and 47.6% from behind the arc and were lead with 3 players in double figures paced by Brian Salzillo with 31 and Mike Garrow with 25 who finished 9-10 from the field and when you include his 6-7 he hit from the line he finished the day shooting a robust 15-17.  Trachone Preston also joined Garrow & Salzillo in double figures with 20.   Worcester state also placed 3 guys in double figures lead by Brandon Rios who finished with a team high 22.
In the 2 games that started at 7; Bowdoin leads Western 43-33 at halftime and the Polar Bears are shooting 59% from the field.  Grant White with a game high 15 for the Polar Bears; Spud Gates has 9 to lead Western.  The 5 returning players from last years 5-21 disaster (Luis Briddter, Mark LaPorte, Joe Groski, Derek McIntyre, and Joe Setaro) have combined for 2 first half points.
Husson leads Keene 38-24 with about 3 minutes to play in the first.  Husson shooting 48%, Keene shooting 26%.
Let's get caught up with some finals as I was eating dinner for the second halves (sorry have to take some bit of a break.  The Dartmouth women kicked off at 1 PM this afternoon and I've been blogging since).
Bowdoin finishes the win; 80-55 over Western.  Looks like all 16 guys on Western's roster played.  I know this team was 5-21 last year, but Joe Groski played well when he was in there, and Mark LaPorte was good when he wasn't running the point, but I would think coach Campbell would give them more than 12 & 5 minutes respectively.  I think having 16 kids is way to many.  I know on my soccer team I coach, the team has 17 or 18 kids, but it's a lot easier for me and my brother in law to manage when 3 or 4 miss a game, so we're only working with 3 or 4 subs.  You don't want 7 guys missing because then subbing is a problem, but you also don't want 0 guys missing because than subbing is also a problem.  In the first case, you can only take one person out at a time, that person will likely only come out once a half and will likely only be out for 2 or 3 minutes.  In the second case, you have a lot of subs, but then positions on the field get all messed up.  It's the same with 16 kids on a basketball team.  Now I've never coached even rec league basketball, but I'd have to think my "ideal" number would be 12 or 13.  Enough to conduct full scrimmages in practice, deep depth but not too deep, insurance policies in case a couple people suffer major injuries.  With 16, you only have 5 spots on the floor.  Tough to divvy up time with 11 subs.  Western shot 30 3 pointers; 7 of those from Gates who was the only Colonial in double digits with 13.  Grant White with a game high 20 for the Polar Bears who had 4 scorers in double figures.  Western ends up playing Fitchburg state who was a 85-78 loser to Regis in the first game; Bowdoin plays Regis in the championship.
Husson was a 81-76 winner @ Sapulding against Keene.  Husson had a balanced scoring attack with 5 people in double figures lead by Aaron Willis off the bench who finished with a game high 16 points on 3-7 shooting.  Keene also had 5 guys in double figures lead by Nick Gagliolo and Nate Howard who each had 12.  Interesting lineup for Rob Colbert as 2 of the 3 best returning players (Martell Wolcott and Tre' Tipton) both came off the bench.  Wolcott was a pretty much a non factor (8 rebounds, 4 field goal attempts, 1 assist, 1 block, 4 total points in 14 minutes), while Tre' Tipton had 11 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 11 points on 3-7 shooting in 17 minutes.  Keene shot itself in the foot with free throw shooting (of course Husson did too for that matter).  Husson only finished at 70%, but A) at least they won the game and B) finished above 55%, but still could've done better.  Keene??  Yikes!  17-31 (for 54.5%).  You finished at 70% like Husson does (22-31) your tied going to overtime.  I can live with losing to a totally better team.  I can live with getting outplayed.  I can live with getting outcoached.  The two most important things I can't live with is losing because you are disinterested and don't show, and losing because you can't hit free throws.  Inexcusible to lose a close game like that by missing 14 free throws when all it takes is literally 3 minutes after practice to shoot 10 or 15.  Your a basketball player, it's not like you're going to get kicked out of Spaulding gymnasium for shooting too many free throws after practice.  And as I said earlier and what I said a year and a half ago when Eastern choked on that Brooks to Robinson layup at the O'Neil Center: Even if you shoot 70% (which is still a bad percentage mind you), the worst thing that happens is you go to overtime where anything can happen.
Dartmouth puts up a 100 on Elms, wins 100-83.  Surprising result when this team also finished 5-21 last year and was coming off a NCAA tournament appearance.  Isiah Odunlani was one of 5 Blazers in double figures, and had a team high 20 points.  Kenny Lockett also had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Blazers who finished shooting 39%.  On the Corsairs side, Tucker Bouchard lead the Corsair change with a game high 26 points and also chipped in 6 boards and 3 assists.  Wale Abraham had a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds and Jake Laga just missed a double-double with 17 points and 9 rebounds.  Dartmouth shot 44% from the field and 82% from the line (should have given some of those makes to Keene).
Westfield beats USM 68-60.  Westfield only had 2 in double figures: Joe Crapps with 16, Jordan Santiago with 13.  USM also only placed 2 in double figures: James Odeal (16) and Conor Sullivan (14).  USM lost because: A) they lost the turnover battle 22-14 so that's 8 extra possessions Westfield had that USM didn't and B) FREE THROW SHOOTING!!!!!!!  Westfield shot 13 more times, but of the 26 free throw attemps the Huskies had they only converted 12 of those for a dismal 46.2% which makes the Keene free throw shooting look great.
Skidmore leads RIC 74-68.  Trying to find stats, currently only found the video. 
Last final of the evening from Babson Park, PA: Skidmore over RIC 79-70.  As usual, RIC's dismal offensive shooting ended up doing them in as they hit on only 34.7%  from the floor and 65% from the free throw line.  Erik Sanders lead the Thoroughbreds with 19 points on 7-15 shooting; Alvin Medunjanin had 17 points.  Nyheem Sanders lead RIC with 19 points on 8-15 shooting; Chris Burton added 18 points and 10 boards.  RIC plays Thomas who was demolished by the home standing Babson Beavers 93-44 in the first game.  Skidmore gets Babson in the championship.

3-4 for the LEC, 3-4 for me.

[ECSUalum]

ECSU over Worcester St 90-79, Salzillo with 31 points Garro 24, Preston 20.  Will need to work a bit on the defense, but saw some of the new guys and David Canny swatted a few and looks competent on his one inside score in about 15 min of play.  Darrel Best looked very good with 3 blocks and some good D in limited minutes.

BYW So Vermont , which had horrible records last 2 years beat #3 Williams College tonight 94-89  WOW!!!  Was this a mistake on the scoreboard?

RIC and what looks to be a weak Skidmore team are playing even at half, game in HD on Babson College site

[7express]

FREE THROW SHOOTING!!
FREE THROW SHOOTING!!
FREE THROW SHOOTING!!

2 teams: USM & Keene can point to those 3 words (or 9 in my case) as to why each team suffered close losses tonight and why each team is in a 0-1 hole.
Keene lost 71-66 to Husson hitting only 17-31 from the line (54.2%).
USM lost 68-60 to Westfield and was even worse than Keene from the line hitting on only 12-26 (46.2%).  I've said this before and I'll say it again, there's no excuse for why you can't finish as a team 80% from the line on free throws.  All it takes is 3 minutes after practice to shoot 10, 15, 20 free throws.  Your representing your school on the highest level playing NCAA basketball, it's not like your going to get kicked out of Spaulding Gym in Keene or Hill Gymnasium at USM because you stayed 10 minutes after practice and shot 50 free throws.  Inexcusible to lose close games like that leaving FREE POINTS on the board.

[7express]

Saturday schedule: No updates from me as I have my final soccer game in the morning, than heading up to Eastern in the afternoon for the women's session to catch former RIC player Courtney Burn's first game as assistant coach for J&W, but I'll have a full Saturday update when I return.

RIC 67 vs. Thomas 44 (@ Babson), time TBA
Thomas got destroyed by Babson 93-44; RIC lost a close one to Skidmore 79-70.  Even if RIC struggles on offense again, they shouldn't have trouble with Thomas.
USM 72 vs. SJLI 60 (@ Westfield State), 1 PM
The difference in USM's 8 point loss to Westfield: 22 turnovers and 14 missed free throws.  The difference in SJLI's 18 point loss to Plymouth: 6 missed 3 pointers as pretty much every other statistically category was equal to Plymouth.  USM gets win #1.
Plymouth 67 @ Westfield 74, 3 PM
Plymouth beat SJLI 76-58; Westfield beat USM 68-60.  Westfield also faces Western later on in the year.  I don't think Plymouth has enough offense to keep up.  They'll have to go close to 9-20 from 3 again.
Fitchburg State 73 vs. Western 65 (@ Regis), 5 PM.
Fitchburg lost to Regis 85-78; Western got blitzed in the second half by Bowdoin in losing 80-58.  I can't believe I'm saying this about Western, but.....I think they have to get to 70 points to win this game, because I don't think the defense is good enough....yet, and I don't think the offense is capable of getting to 70 just yet.
Colby 67 @ Dartmouth 76.
Colby defeated Anna Maria 81-63; Dartmouth defeated Elms 100-83.  Dartmouth faces off against old Plymouth coach Damien Strahorn who, in his only year at Plymouth (2010-11) went 1-1 against the Corsairs winning at the Tripp Athletic Center.  Strahorn is now at his alma mater Colby College where he succeeded long time boss Dick Whitmore.  Colby hasn't had much success in his 2 years at the helm in Waterville, ME, going 7-17 in each of his first 2 years overall and a combined 4-16 NESCAC record in that time frame.  Last year the Mules averaged 37.5 rebounds per game and held opponents to a .418 field goal percentage defense.  However, Elms was a better overall team then Colby is, and since they beat Elms, they SHOULD be able to beat Colby.

[AllStar]

FREE THROW SHOOTING!!
FREE THROW SHOOTING!!
FREE THROW SHOOTING!!

2 teams: USM & Keene can point to those 3 words (or 9 in my case) as to why each team suffered close losses tonight and why each team is in a 0-1 hole.
Keene lost 71-66 to Husson hitting only 17-31 from the line (54.2%).
USM lost 68-60 to Westfield and was even worse than Keene from the line hitting on only 12-26 (46.2%).  I've said this before and I'll say it again, there's no excuse for why you can't finish as a team 80% from the line on free throws.  All it takes is 3 minutes after practice to shoot 10, 15, 20 free throws.  Your representing your school on the highest level playing NCAA basketball, it's not like your going to get kicked out of Spaulding Gym in Keene or Hill Gymnasium at USM because you stayed 10 minutes after practice and shot 50 free throws.  Inexcusible to lose close games like that leaving FREE POINTS on the board.

Isn't that the truth!  Very frustrating way to lose.  Free throws become even more important if the referees continue to call the games as tight as they are at the beginning of the season.

[LECFAN32]

After checking box score of western game I didn't want to post until I watched the game.

16 guys is a lot. But, there are a few reasons for this, a) at western with the usual revolving door of the roster, recruiting and carrying more guys makes sense, so in the second semester they don't have to pull guys off the street who aren't in basketball shape, and had no intent of playing, b) quite simply coaches like to have 15 bodies in order to have 3 groups of 5 for practice. C) the majority of these guys are sadly in school just to play basketball, I have seen in the past guys who were recruited to the school and cut, get involved in the wrong stuff and fail out of school because they weren't doing what they were there to do. D) and most importantly. This isn't an atmosphere where anyone is guaranteed anything. Coach Campbell isn't worried about getting everybody in the game, he's worried about being competitive.
if I had to guess grossing and laportes playing time was different because the team was just plain bad last year so it was a necessity, and more importantly it was clear that western was trying to run calipers dribble drive offense, without all of the bells n whistles where the point guard picks a side, passes to the wing, the wing attacks the middle of the floor and reads the defense, can either take the shot, kick to the corner or hands off to the weak side wing, who will then attack the middle, while the guard who passed to him filters through or replaces. This offense is based on spacing, fairly quick shots, and having defenders running at you.
The western point guards were making the mistake of taking pull up 3s without making a pass, and not picking a side. Besides when they get into their traditional 1-4 set, this style of play does not play to groski and laportes strength, as you only need 1 big for the dribble drive, of course the lineup will change throughout the year. They have some promising pieces and some serious athletes, but they need to show more discipline In the dribble drive, or they run into trouble if a time has size even if their very average like Bowdoin.

[ECSUalum]

FREE THROW SHOOTING!!
FREE THROW SHOOTING!!
FREE THROW SHOOTING!!

2 teams: USM & Keene can point to those 3 words (or 9 in my case) as to why each team suffered close losses tonight and why each team is in a 0-1 hole.
Keene lost 71-66 to Husson hitting only 17-31 from the line (54.2%).
USM lost 68-60 to Westfield and was even worse than Keene from the line hitting on only 12-26 (46.2%).  I've said this before and I'll say it again, there's no excuse for why you can't finish as a team 80% from the line on free throws.  All it takes is 3 minutes after practice to shoot 10, 15, 20 free throws.  Your representing your school on the highest level playing NCAA basketball, it's not like your going to get kicked out of Spaulding Gym in Keene or Hill Gymnasium at USM because you stayed 10 minutes after practice and shot 50 free throws.  Inexcusible to lose close games like that leaving FREE POINTS on the board.

7,

YOU ARE SOOO RIGHT ON THIS ONE!!!!  Drives me nuts when a teams cant make free throws.  Just as important as any other fundamental on the court.
Good FT shooting teams are championship winning teams.

[7express]

What also got lost in my previous post is RIC left 7 points on the board in a 9 point loss to Skidmore.  If they only leave 4 points on the board per say, the final 30 seconds where Sanders bricked the 3 because they were down 6 and needed quick points instead of down only 3 with the shot clock off, they can either A) get a quick 2 and extend the game via fouls or B) work the offense, set a screen and get someone like DeCantis, or Sanders open for a 3.  You don't have to take an off-balance one with a defender in your face because you need the points because you choked from the line earlier on.  Not only does missing FT's cause you to lose, it can also drastically change the outcome of the game like in RIC's case last night.

[7express]

ECSUalum were u here for the first game??  I got here at 4:40 thinking maybe I'd see the last 5 minutes and there was still 16:30 left when I came in.

[AllStar]

This post was initially incorrect as the box score totally reversed the two teams stats.  RIC won 76-67.

[ECSUalum]

ECSUalum were u here for the first game??  I got here at 4:40 thinking maybe I'd see the last 5 minutes and there was still 16:30 left when I came in.

.

7,

Watched half the game off the stream on LECTV as I had dinner with relatives in Middletown this afternoon.

Let me know next time your there.  I will probably at the ECSU vs Catholic U in Purchase NY next Friday and of course when ECSU/WCSU play in Feldman.

Nice win for WestConn today, ECSU had trouble with Purchase St as usual

[ECSUalum]

Thomas (who lost by 49 to Babson) beats RIC 76-67.

Is this right!!??  I thought RIC won.
http://www.d3hoops.com/seasons/men/2013-14/contrib/20131116s18gkg

[AllStar]

Thomas (who lost by 49 to Babson) beats RIC 76-67.

Is this right!!??  I thought RIC won.
http://www.d3hoops.com/seasons/men/2013-14/contrib/20131116s18gkg

Score may have been reversed then on the d3hoops website at that time.  RIC did win 76-67.  Must have been an error in the box score that was later fixed.

[7express]

ECSUalum were u here for the first game??  I got here at 4:40 thinking maybe I'd see the last 5 minutes and there was still 16:30 left when I came in.

.

7,

Watched half the game off the stream on LECTV as I had dinner with relatives in Middletown this afternoon.

Let me know next time your there.  I will probably at the ECSU vs Catholic U in Purchase NY next Friday and of course when ECSU/WCSU play in Feldman.

Nice win for WestConn today, ECSU had trouble with Purchase St as usual

Not sure if you'll see this before tomorrow, but I'm likely to head back to Eastern for the women's tournament tomorrow.