MBB: Little East

[ECSUalum]

Hey Alum, any idea what happened to Preston??  He's not in the starting lineup tonight

Yeah 7, something fishy has been going on with Tre Preston over the last 4-5 games.  His scoring output has been down, his T/O up, He just does not seem to have his head 100% in the game.  Of course, opposing LEC teams have been pairing, their best defensive players against him.  However, I hope he is physically OK, but I have a funny feeling something is going on between him an Coach Geitner   Just speculation at this time. 

Has anybody tried to watch an ECSU archived game this year?  When I go to the site it wants a password.  Is it new with the new streaming service they are on?  Actually pretty annoying tonight in particular, as the ECSU announcers most likely mentioned why Tre Preston did not play. ( As they did with Salzillo last year),  I did not tune in as we had a family gathering tonight, but I cant even see the replay to determine if Preston was even suited up

Anyone???
I sure hope he is back and straight when the LEC tourney starts, because if not, it could be an interesting LEC Tourney!!!

[7express]

Western has the same thing.  I hate the new setup.  Need a password to watch archived games (at least with West Conn and looks like East Con now too, I'll try Boston, I wanted to watch both of those games anyways), everything prior to this year is no longer available, and I don't think RIC & Plymouth (maybe Dartmouth either) have video anymore.

I.e. Preston: heard the rounds at the gym tonight that he injured his ankle.

[7express]

I'm not sure if I mentioned it earlier but Boston ended up beating Dartmouth.  Not that it matters all that much for the Corsairs anyways as Saturday was the marquee game for them, it's just now with a win they'll still be 1 back with 2 to play and now an Eastern win Saturday gives them the outright title now.

As for Keene's 82-76 loss to Eastern I said most in the previous post, I'll just add some bullet points:
1) How does Nate Howard (the 7 footer) only play 6 second half minutes??  He picked up his 4th foul at 9:39 of the second half, went to bench 69 seconds later at 8:30 still with 4 fouls and never appeared in the game again after that, even in the last couple possessions.  Why??
2) Speaking of stupid Colbert subs, this one really blew me away: So Howard picks up 2 quick fouls in the first 4:45.  He goes to bench around the 15 minute mark with Keene trailing 10-7.  8 minutes later and Keene currently on a 20-8 run to take a 27-18 lead Colbert moronically brings him back into the game......with 8 minutes still to play in the first half!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  With 2 fouls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  WTF are you doing??  Keene was -3 with him on the court, and with him sitting they were at +12.  Anyways, not even 30 seconds he's on the court he picks up his 3rd foul, which was a pretty bad call in his defense, but it doesn't exclude why he's on the court to begin with, with Keene up 11 points and all and on a massive run.
3) Keene had cut a 11 point deficit with 8 minutes to go down to a 1 point deficit before Brandon Yarborough hit a big 3 to put Eastern up 4 points with 33 seconds left.  The shot clock therefore is turned off, and since Yarborough hit a 3 and not a 2, the Owls were down 4 points, 2 possessions.  Eastern put nobody in the backcourt to guard, so theoretically, the Keene player could've rolled it to half court or even longer to preserve prescious seconds since they needed 2 scores.  What do they do??  They walk the ball up the court and get into a set piece before they realize the time and situation and throw up some garbage with 16 seconds left.  THAT play was quessential Colbert.  Maybe he thought they were tied before Yarborough's shot so were only down 3 with the shot clock off.  Maybe he thought Yarborough's shot was only a 2, which would still leave them down 3 with the shot clock off.  In any case it is completely inexcusable no matter the excuse to take that much time in a 2 possession game with the shot clock turned off.  As Bob Walsh always said, everyone has to be aware of time and situation.  Walsh used time and situation scenario's in practice, so his players were aware of those situations in live game action.  Good coaches do that kind of preparation, bad coaches don't.  And at the time I believe Keene still had 2 timeouts left at their disposal so the worst he could've done is called a timeout and sent one his assistants over to the scorers table to: A) check to see whether Yarborough's jumper was a 2 or a 3, and B) see what the score is.  As far as I'm aware if a coach asks the official scorer to check the score the official scorer can't decline. 

[7express]

Has anybody tried to watch an ECSU archived game this year?  When I go to the site it wants a password.  Is it new with the new streaming service they are on?  Actually pretty annoying tonight in particular, as the ECSU announcers most likely mentioned why Tre Preston did not play. ( As they did with Salzillo last year),  I did not tune in as we had a family gathering tonight, but I cant even see the replay to determine if Preston was even suited up

Plymouth, RIC & Dartmouth don't have video capability this year (all had video capability last year, and RICS broadcast was one of the better one's in the conference). 
Eastern and Western both need a password to view archived games, so they may as well not even be available either.
So that leaves Keene, Boston & USM as the only 3 schools that actually have video and don't require a password to view archived games.  Such a disappointment!  What was wrong with the old version of LEC.TV??  It seemed perfectly fine to me    if you have a Lamborghini that runs on a dime but you had a flat tire would you replace the entire engine??  Hell no!   Why fix something that isn't broken??

[ECSUalum]

Has anybody tried to watch an ECSU archived game this year?  When I go to the site it wants a password.  Is it new with the new streaming service they are on?  Actually pretty annoying tonight in particular, as the ECSU announcers most likely mentioned why Tre Preston did not play. ( As they did with Salzillo last year),  I did not tune in as we had a family gathering tonight, but I cant even see the replay to determine if Preston was even suited up

Plymouth, RIC & Dartmouth don't have video capability this year (all had video capability last year, and RICS broadcast was one of the better one's in the conference). 
Eastern and Western both need a password to view archived games, so they may as well not even be available either.
So that leaves Keene, Boston & USM as the only 3 schools that actually have video and don't require a password to view archived games.  Such a disappointment!  What was wrong with the old version of LEC.TV??  It seemed perfectly fine to me    if you have a Lamborghini that runs on a dime but you had a flat tire would you replace the entire engine??  Hell no!   Why fix something that isn't broken??

7,
Agree with you completely .  Eastern needs to get some HD equipment.  I think WCSU, UMB, UMD, Keene and RIC have HD streams, Eastern and the rest
do not!!  I like WCSU play by play the best, then ECSU, then UMD with RIC/UMB close 4/5.  I used to like Keene's play by play but the guy who did most of the Owl broadcasts has left.

Hopefully, Preston's ankle is just a mild sprain.   However Freshman forward Tarchee Brown and guard Colin Jordan have been playing super over the last 3-4 games!!!

[7express]

Saturday schedule:

Plymouth @ Boston
Western @ Keene
USM @ RIC
Eastern @ Dartmouth.  We're all going to be talking about Dartmouth/Eastern for the next 2 days, but Keene/Western is even more important overall.  Both teams currently sit at 6-5 tied for 4th place, and as we all know whoever loses that tiebreaker goes on the road to the other team.  Keene won the first matchup and if they win Sat they'd go 2 up with the tiebreak with 2 games left to play and would need to totally implode to get passed.  Both have tough schedules over the final 2 games as Keene goes on the road to Plymouth & Dartmouth while the Colonials host Eastern before finishing the season in Boston in Charlie Titus's final game as head coach (which now becomes official next Saturday will be the Beacons final home game for Charlie Titus.  Boston can't finish higher than 5th as at least one of Western/Keene will get to 7 conference wins which the Beacons can't).  I can see BOTH Plymouth & Boston pulling off upset wins, so it's entirely possible neither the Owls nor Colonials will win again after Saturday which makes the game even more important.

[7express]

Sat predictions:

Plymouth @ Boston.
Both teams will be opening up on the road.  Too bad the conference takes all 8 teams now, because there would be a pretty good race for the 6 spot.  Eastern has all but won the conference, and a Keene win today would all but set the 4 home quarterfinalists, so there's not many exciting races going on.  Boston is 1 up on Plymouth & USM who are both tied for 7th and won the first matchup in Plymouth.  Beacons are playing well, and have already scored a home victory over Keene, they get it done here.  Oddsmakers have the Beacons as a big 8.5 point favorite.  I don't think it's that big, but I'll still take the Beacons to pull out a 73-65 win.

USM @ RIC.
Don't see how RIC has any trouble with them.   RIC won by 15 in Maine, it's probably worse this time around in Providence.  RIC is a big 19 point favorite, and I'll take the points 73-49

Western @ Keene.
The biggest game of the weekend.  Each team comes in tied with the other for 4th place, but since Keene won the first matchup in Danbury, they currently hold the tiebreaker.  As I said yesterday, both teams have tough closing schedules: Keene has road games @ Plymouth and @ Dartmouth, while the Colonials play Eastern and @ Boston.  Keene/Plymouth is a rivalry game, and the Panthers haven't beaten the Owls in a while, while the Colonials/Beacons game will be the final home game for longtime Boston head coach Charlie Titus, so neither of those games for the 2 teams are gimme W's by any means.  Since Keene currently holds the 1-0 record in the season series the Owls would go basically 2 up with 2 games to play, and would have to totally implode against Plymouth & Dartmouth to relinquish that 4th spot.  If the Colonials win, they go into the drivers seat and would be in control of the 4 seed themselves.  Keene is a 3 point favorite at home in Spaulding gym, but I like the Colonials to come into Keene and steal a win, 89-87

Eastern @ Dartmouth.
Eastern wins the conference outright with a win.  Corsairs still have to play @ RIC and Keene next week, while the Warriors have a free win next Saturday against USM, so even if Eastern loses, they are still in pretty good shape for the outright title.  Eastern is a big 7.5 point favorite, I'll take the upset to at least make the Dartmouth/RIC game semi-interesting; Dartmouth 75-73

[7express]

Dartmouth leads 28-25.  Eastern was leading most of the half before Dartmouth came on late
RIC up 28-23 at half
Western leads by 2 24-22 at the 9 minute mark.  Women's game ran late, so this game started late as a result
Boston up 35-24 with a little over 1 minute remaining in the first
Boston blowing the doors off Plymouth up 41-26.  I'm about to pen them in as a winner
Western leads by 4 at halftime 41-37.  First team to 75 points wins that game, luckily the Colonials are 4 points closer than the Owls are!

[ECSUalum]

Wow this Stretch Internet is really sucking wind today, at least from UM Dartmouth. UNWATCHABLE... I wonder if the LEC switched from EZstream due to cost   Penny wise pound stupid!!

[7express]

Wow this Stretch Internet is really sucking wind today, at least from UM Dartmouth. UNWATCHABEL... I wonder if the LEC switched from EZstream due to cost   Penny wise pound stupid!!

RIC still has EZstream.  Absolutely NO problems watching the women's broadcast.  Didn't freeze, didn't buffer every 6 seconds.  Meanwhile on the other 3 games: Keene/Western and Dartmouth/Eastern games have frozen (though the stats are working though!) and the Plymouth/Dartmouth video goes in and out.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I wonder if Stretch exceeded its bandwidth today.  They usually work well for me.  I've been trying to watch the Dickinson-Johns Hopkins game, it didn't come on at all until a minute before halftime and then the sound dropped out five seconds into the video.

[7express]

RIC wins 65-44
Eastern's up 12 with 2 minutes to play; looks like they'll win the championship
Boston's cruising up 27 with under 6 minutes to go, so let's officially give the Beacons the win, that game is over!
Keene has outscored Western 16-2 to begin the second half, lead by 10 (53-43) with still a lot of time left 14:43 to go
Eastern wins 74-65.  They are the #1 seed in the upcoming LEC tournament and will host every game of the tournament
Boston wins by 24; 86-62
Keene now up 13 67-54.  Time's starting to run out for the Colonials as there are less than 8 minutes remaining.
Keene runs away in the second half, outscoring the Colonials by 22 in the second stanza to win going away by 18.

What this means:
Eastern Connecticut has officially locked up the #1 seed.
RIC & Dartmouth are tied for 2nd.  IF Dartmouth wins @ RIC Tuesday they will be the 2 seed, but Keene and RIC are still both alive for the 2 seed
Keene goes 1 up on Western for the 4 spot.  Since Keene swept the season series 2-0 they clinch no worse than the 4 with either: 1 win OR 1 Western loss.  if Keene & Western finish the season tied which is entirely possible Keene will win the tiebreaker due to the season series sweep.
Boston hasn't officially clinched the 6 seed, but they pretty much will finish 6th.  They can still finish 5th with 2 Western losses, 2 Boston wins AND Dartmouth finishing in front of RIC.  Likewise, Boston can still get passed by USM and finish 7th, but they need to lose twice, and have the Huskies win twice.  USM would win the 6 seed in that scenario based on being 2-0 vs. the Beacons.
Plymouth is going to finish either 7th or 8th: they are 2 back of Boston with 2 to play and got swept by Boston, so it's impossible for the Beacons to get passed by the Panthers.  It's still possible those 3 teams can all finish 4-10, but in that scenario I believe USM would be the first team taken out (they'd have a superior winning percentage against those 2 teams [75% 3-1], Boston would be at .500 (2-2) and Plymouth would have a 25% (1-3).  With USM taken out as the 6 seed, it goes back to head-to-head between Boston & Plymouth for 7th & 8th.

[7express]

Congrats to Eastern Connecticut!  There 74-65 win over Dartmouth officially gave them the LEC title for the 3rd time in the last 4 years.  As the #1 seed, they will play all tourney games at home.  Congrats to ECSUAlum, and all the other Warriors fans, Eastern continuing an excellent run under coach Geitner, I know you guys are proud of the team.  Well deserved!

[ECSUalum]

Congrats to Eastern Connecticut!  There 74-65 win over Dartmouth officially gave them the LEC title for the 3rd time in the last 4 years.  As the #1 seed, they will play all tourney games at home.  Congrats to ECSUAlum, and all the other Warriors fans, Eastern continuing an excellent run under coach Geitner, I know you guys are proud of the team.  Well deserved!

Thanks 7,
The Colonials made some good progress this year!  Hopefully next year they will return to a top 3 LEC team. Maybe with Coach Campbell back for the full season they will improve their D and make the comeback.

Now it is important for Eastern to win the LEC Tournament.  Hopefully Preston is back by the time the tourney starts, but Tarchee Brown and Hugh Lindo carried the team today, Lindo with another double/double and Brown with 32.  Brown is one of these guys who can burn you with his outstanding 3 pt shooting or drive to the basket with his 6-3 in 200lb, (probably more like 220), frame as a result of a lot of mismatches.  I have never seen a guy this strong, (built like a middle linebacker).  I figure the Warriors will end up with RIC or UMD again, but I don't want to jinx them, as everybody will be gunning for them.

[amh63]

ECSU....congrats to your Warriors on getting the top seed in the LEC.   Been keeping an video eye on your Warriors....especially in their comeback win over Keene.  Expect your team to hold serve in the Tourny ahead.
Have noted the recent comments wrt to the video cast recently....notice the recent change in the video.  Did want to point out that I went to the RIC a hive video of the game with Amherst...to check out the play again....did state that I would on the CAC board.  Wanted to state that in the Keene game there were several shots of the injured star guard on the bench..FYI.
Amherst has one more game on Sunday and if they win it, they should be the second seed.  Amherst seems to be playing well recently.
Let us hope our teams will meet somewhere deep in the post season.