MBB: Conference of New England

[dwebbs]

How many people thought Wentworth and Curry would be in the finals last year.?

[Bill Gorman]

(West pulled down 21 boards!, close to a school record?)

Yes.  The record is 22.

[backboard]

How many people thought Wentworth and Curry would be in the finals last year.?

That's a good point.  Although it wasn't as ridiculous as we all thought at the time.  Wentworth has the best backcourt and Curry decided to play defense and rebound towards the end of the year.

[Put_It_On_My_Tab]

I think it is about time that this board started to recognize that UNE is playing some great basketball and are not being given the deserved credit.  All of this talk about player of the year and first team all-conference and not talk about Jakyri Simpson, who is one of the most explosive players that the CCC has ever seen, or Johnnie Jefferson who is at the top of the league in scoring and at the top of the pack in defensive rebounds as well.  They are at the top of the conference at 5-2 and very easily could be 6-1 as they lost to WNEC on the road by 2 in overtime.   

That can be taken and put on my tab.

[broke_ya_ankles]

check the page before this, I had just pointed out UNE's quiet success (they were 5-1 at the time) and I made the pitch for jefferson to get some love as far as individual awards mentioning where he stands amongst the individual leaders in pts and rebounding....

[Put_It_On_My_Tab]

check the page before this, I had just pointed out UNE's quiet success (they were 5-1 at the time) and I made the pitch for jefferson to get some love as far as individual awards mentioning where he stands amongst the individual leaders in pts and rebounding....

Ankles...I had read your post and appreciate the mention of Johnnie and UNE, however, I believe you are the sole poster on this board that has acknowledged the success that UNE has had thus far this season.  Hopefully others will get to see them play over the next couple of weeks and realize that they are a true contender this year, especially when the other pieces outside of Jefferson and Simpson are shooting the ball well.  Thanks for the plug for the Mainers. 

Tab out.

[backboard]

So far UNE has played NEC, Curry, Eastern Naz, Anna Maria, Regis, and WNEC.  They lost to Curry and WNEC and beat the weaker teams.  Good for them, but now it gets tough with Wentworth, RWU, Endicott, CSC, and Gordon still remaining on their schedule.  I'd be surprised if they finish with more than 6 conference wins.

[broke_ya_ankles]

I'll take UNE over wentworth.  I think roger williams will beat them thanks in large part to the 6'10 kid, I think theyll take one from either endicott or csc and lose the other, gordon i think is a sure fire loss, and nichols should be a rather easy win for them.  8-5 i think would be the absolute most success, but ill go out on a limb and say they do it, they really are much better than people give them credit for.

sure the conference wins they have to this point are versus the weaker half of the CCC (I am now boycotting calling it TCCC, the "The" i think is implied) but its not like they are squeezing out wins, they are winning in very convincing fashion, more than we can say for some of the other "top" teams in the CCC

[Put_It_On_My_Tab]

They have played Salve Regina as well and won that game.  I realize that they have a good dose of tough opponents left....I just find it amusing that nobody will give them credit for conference wins in a year where there have been a lot of so called upsets and teams have beaten up on each other.  This team is very well coached and they have an edge to them that keeps them in every game that they play.  A bounce here and whistle there and this team could be 7-0 in the conference.  The Curry game was much closer than the score showed. It was a two possession game the entire game and Curry was only able to stretch the score out in the final 3 minutes.  Teams that sleep on them will get the rude awakening. 

Putskies on tabble

[broke_ya_ankles]

just for the fun of it (since this board is rather dead for the most part) I'll throw out some "Power Rankings" and I fully expected some disagreements:

1.  Gordon-  Most talented team plain and simple
2.  Roger Williams-  The CCC is theirs to win at this point
3.  Curry-  Won 5 of 6 with big loss @ gordon (30 pts), Bowers is a beast, and we all know about Jones...
4.  Endicott- Arguably the hottest team in the CCC right now, could/should win out
5.  Wentworth- Been playing very well as of late, its on Prezzie's shoulder to get it done from here on out
6.  UNE-  Hands down the surprise team, won 4 of 5 incl. OT loss @ WNEC
7.  WNEC- Came in w/a lot of hype, seems like an average team who can win a big game here and there
8.  Colby-Sawyer- Capable of pulling an upset, but look as though they rely on Szeliga too much
9.  Salve Regina- It was a toss up between them and Anna Maria, Salve is playing better as of now
10. Anna Maria-  Looked ok early, has played pretty bad as of late as expected
11. Regis- Talk about a surprise team!! I'm shocked but they are still a ways from being a contender
12. NEC- I know winless, but eventually they will succeed in "outscoring" someone
13. Nichols- Bad team
14. Eastern Nazerene- Worse team

[backboard]

Wentworth will not lose at home to UNE, it's a joke to think otherwise.  The two teams already played once up at UNE and Wentworth won that game.  They have 5 conference wins this year, 5 last year, and 5 the year before that.  It would be nice to see another contender in the league, but they're still far from that.

I generally agree with your power rankings, although I'm not sure if the CCC is Roger Williams' to win.  I wouldn't be surprised to see a rematch of last years finals again.

[Put_It_On_My_Tab]

There is a good chance that UNE will beat Wentworth on the road.  In the first game they played (54-51) UNE played the final 11 minutes without Jakyri Simpson, there playmaker and best defender....he got hit in the head and suffered a minor concussion.  I realize that Doyle did not play in the game either, however, Simpson is the most valuable on the team especially late in the game and UNE showed that these two teams are on the same level this year.  The past is just that...the past...it doesn't matter. You can throw out the last few years conference records all you want, but my point is that this team is talented and able to match up with the so called top teams. 

Check mark

[broke_ya_ankles]

why do people think wentworth is so good, sure they had a nice run last year to win the conference but they were still only went 17-12, 9-7 in the conference, and this year they are only 10-7, and barely over .500 at 4-3 in the conference.  If you havent seen UNE play this year u are likely figuring them on being similar to years past, not the case, they are 100x more athletic this year, new coach, new system, new players.  The two texas kids are legit, very good athletes that can score. 

and the Wentworth/UNE game earlier this year was decided by 3 points...so I think its fair to say an upset is certainly possible, perhaps unlikely, but possible

[backboard]

Wentworth is 'so good' because they have a Player of the Year and a Second Teamer.  Not to mention a very good defensive center and a good supporting cast.

[broke_ya_ankles]

sure prezzie and doyle are a great combo to lead a team but  how come theyve only led their team to a 10-7 record?? great combos arent that hard to find even in the CCC:
gordon- take ur pick, Marstaller, Trigg, Kaufman
Curry- Bowers and Jones
UNE- Simspon and Jefferson
NEC- Jaziri and Onyechi

If wentworth even makes the conference final I'll be quite surprised but I think last year was a good old fashioned fluke and they are really an average team, even a little above average for the conference, they have TWO wins this season against teams above .500 thats against UNE, and WNEC they havent beat anyone at all and with a schedule as weak as theirs they should be at least 12-5 if not 13-4.   theyve got to be one of the most overrated teams out there right now