MBB: Conference of New England

[cccc-fanatic]

WOW...just in from ECAC
#8 UNE beats Emerson in overtime
Way to Go

[Bill Gorman]

i took a look at the ECAC bid information yesterday...
only four teams declared themselves eligible for the ECACs from TCCC...

Endicott, UNE, NEC, and i believe the last one was CSC...

I know that the talent level of the ECACs has decreased significantly over the years since the NESCAC teams began being eligible for the national tourney...

And I think I could come up with a few other reasons why TCCC teams wouldn't participate in the ECACS, but are there any official reasons why teams like Roger Williams, Gordon, etc. would not participate in the ECACs?

Wentworth did declare for the ECAC's, but was not selected.  Colby-Sawyer withdrew itself from consideration prior to the deadline of last Friday.  Endicott and NEC (I am not sure if they even declared) were ineligible, as they were under .500.

Different schools have different reasons for declaring or not.  As has been stated, it's a pay as you go tournament with no reimbursement, so obviously money plays a huge factor.  From our standpoint (in all sports), we're pretty sure that the stars and planets have to be perfectly aligned for us to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA's.  Therefore we view the ECAC's as another opportunity for our kids to compete and our coaches are on board with wanting to.  The first time a team from Wentworth ever went to the ECAC's was in baseball in 1995.  They were seeded eighth and beat top-seeded Amherst (obviously this was when the NESCAC schools competed in it).  This past year our men's soccer team lost in TCCC finals, was the #3 seed in the ECAC's and made it to the finals before losing 2-1 to a very good Norwich team.

I personally don't think they are "meaningless" games but clearly the ECAC Tournament definitely is not what it used to be.  But you can't force a team to declare and compete in it.  

[Bill Gorman]

WOW...just in from ECAC
#8 UNE beats Emerson in overtime
Way to Go

104-99

Emerson hit a 30-foot three with six seconds left to force OT.

Jefferson had 41.

[Put_It_On_My_Tab]

UNE with a huge win!  Tried to make it known that they were for real on this board.
It is too bad that the game doesn't matter to anyone though....according to an earlier post. 

Great win UNE!

Jefferson scored 43 points in the game.

Putskies on tabble.

[witfan]

Other than UNE I believe WIT was the only other TCCC to declare for the ECAC's.  Too bad they weren't selected I would have loved to see a tie breaker WIT/UNE matchup.  But I can't complain since I'm sure WIT's early loss to Husson, the 1pt loss to Newbury and the lower ranking to UNE were determining factors.  It appears to me that the selection spread the wealth to numerous local conferences, as it should.

My opinion is that the ECAC's are not only meaningful but also useful.  Meaningful in the sense of local bragging rights similar to the Beanpot Tourney.  What the ECAC tournament needs is some better marketing and better NE support from quality teams.  Useful in the respect that bubble teams get some late season tournament experience.  There is no other way to teach late season, big game, single elimination performance.  Hopefully, this experience would translate into better NCAA success from a Cinderella.

UNE and Curry are representing TCCC very well and I for one think that Curry has the talent to compete in the NCAA's and they definitely have the potential to get past an erratic (and overconfident?) Bowdoin.

UNE should win the ECAC.  I bet this tournament is meaningful to them since otherwise their season was over on a negative note (game where Jerfferson sat).  ECAC Champions might even sway a recruit?  My vote...Meaningful.

The only downside to TCCC tournament wins...reading more bad Tab jokes.  Come back Jim Rome!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Come back Jim Rome!

Oh God no.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

There is no other way to teach late season, big game, single elimination performance.  Hopefully, this experience would translate into better NCAA success from a Cinderella.

Which is why Senior laden teams don't see much value in it.  Honestly, if the ECAC wants to have an impact, let them organize one of those "unofficial" summer leagues.

[witfan]

My only argument to the "senior laden" reasoning to not attend a EOY tournament is that a coach could use the experience to educate the younger players and hopefully honor the Seniors by giving them one more chance to excel.  Wonder why CSC dropped out, no seniors on the team!

And a good younger player would see how to, or how not to, prepare for a big game.  More ball is good ball!


As an aside I heard about an airline some folks on this site (or other related sites) might be interested in.  It is called Sky Bus, it flys out of the old Pease Air Force Base in New Hampshire (Newington).  The flights are cheap.  Why might some ballers be interested?  Because they fly into Greensboro, NC which is looks to be less  than a 2 hour drive from Salem, VA the site of the NCAA divIII finals.  The rates were really low a few weeks ago ($40 one-way) I'm not sure what they are now, may be too late?  This is not an endorsement, I haven't tried this service yet but it seems intriguing. find it at   skybus.com 

[bballfan48]

I wouldn't sleep on this curry team.... This team is one of the most under rated teams ive seen...... People have doubted this team all year and they always seem to prove people wrong

They have all the pieces to make noise in the big dance....Bowers is the best big man in the TCCC by far and got robbed of the player of the year.... and the back court of Jones and mastrulo is a deadily combo....... I think Curry is going to make some noise in this tourney and If im wrong I'm wrong but I have faith

[gullfan]

  Not for nothing, but could the reason Bowers is the best big man in TCCC be at least partially because he graduated from High school in 2k? Most seniors were class of '04. With a body like his - 4 years really canm make the difference between "men against boys"!!! I like his game, but that seems like quite an advantage.
  I wish Curry luck, I want the TCCC to do well. I'll be following it from out here in the land of alfalfa sprouts! Gawd, could somebody please fed ex some wings and a "Nick's RB"!!!!! Don't think the Dodgers will fix my jonesing for the Sox either! Keep in touch all you posters.  Miss ya already!

[Jim Rome Of The CCC]

*welcome to the jungle*

Clones what is up....back on the air for the year in review CCC breakdown....ERRRRRR the TCCC breakdown.

Maclom Wynn finally racks himself a TCCC championship....good to see. They straight up layed the wood to the Hawks in the finals and were the best team in the league down the stretch- best of luck to them tonight  against the polar bears.....I'm not seeing it.

Secondly the ECAC- not sure beating a disappointed Emerson team makes you "legit" generally "legit" teams don't have their leading scorer suspended for playoff games...it's good to see a comptetive team in Maine but if you're going to get bounced out of games....and forfeit wins (see link) http://athletics.une.edu/schedules.asp?path=mbball The I'm not sure you are in fact "legit" ...enjoy the warm season August 5th and 6th.

As for the ECAC in general. Sure it's the northeast version of the NIT but why not play more basketball if you can. Then again the all mighty dollar does rule much of collegiate athletics even our cute little conference here.

...In other news Hoops Fan apparently is not a fan of Van Smack. Which is too bad, I'd like to extend an olive branch to the old sage of the board... Even with his far less frequent posts this year I will take 100 Hoops Fan's recaps over bad Tab puns and 15 random newly registered Curry posters that want to talk about Mark Mastrullo....Hoops Fan keep on trucking and we'll agree to disagree about my relative  merits as a poster.....rack it.

As for WITFAN....don't think your patronizing request means I'm going to go easy on the Leopards...They underachieved   big time this year and with SPB heading out the door they are going to need to figure something out pronto if they want to be back in the TCCC Tournament come next year.....

...Gordon is also pillaged by graduation. All of their viable post players are gone as is their quarterback for the last 4 years. I'm sure they'll bring in some guys, but you don't just lose a 4 year starting point guard and not have a drop off.

....RWU loses its post prescense as well with Barranger and Gumb checking out.

Colby-Sawyer has to be the early favorite looking ahead to 08-09 they have literally everyone on their roster back and were a tough out this year.

Lastly a heartfelt "late" to one of the better senior classes I've seen in this league. Jones, Blue, Barranger, Gumb, Jaziri, Vallee, and Lammare in particular had solid careers in this league and will be missed down the road.

We'll be back after the break with an interview with Nejmanja Markinovic....

out

[Put_It_On_My_Tab]

Why did someone ask that guy to post?  If a breakdown of the league is to be made it should come from only people who have actually played organized basketball before......you know, the kind with officials and uniforms. 

That was also nice of him to leave Isaac Stickney off of his senior list.  This is par for the course.....the kid has been a hard nosed player who has competed and at times out played all of the names wannabe rome listed. 

Rome Diggity

[broke_ya_ankles]

i dont see how colby-sawyer would be the favorite, after sczeliga (sorry about spelling) the team doesnt really have the 2nd or 3rd options needed to be considered a favorite in my opinion, Now I'm far from a UNE bandwagon guy, I started talking about them very early in the season (go back and look) with Simpson and Jefferson back and the coach more than likely bringing in a couple solid new guys who will be ready to contribute right away, they very well could be the favorites, also I fully expect Endicott to bounce back, they arent losing anything thats overly difficult to replace production wise....they just need to find that consistency they had a few years back

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Clones what is up....back on the air for the year in review CCC breakdown....ERRRRRR the TCCC breakdown. 

The 'T' stands for "the," so using a "the" before "TCCC" is just redundant.  Thanks for the support, but the Tab is kinda growing on me.  By the way, it's nothing personal with you, I just abhor the real Jim Rome, so you picked a bad pseudonym from my perspective.

Here's my wild prediction for 2008-2009: IF (and it's a big if) they keep the players from the current roster, AMC sneaks into TCCC playoffs.

[cccc-fanatic]

For Jim Rome
Check out this site for a good explanation for why a legit coach puts winning aside for more important reasons
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=174081&ac=PHspt