MBB: Conference of New England

[24/7/365]

Echoing Maq's points from earlier, GC has two major facets of the game where they struggle.  That is rebounding and low post defense.  These two, seemingly linked to one another, are GC's dreaded arch enemies.  Things go well for GC during games, up until the point the opposing team realizes their mismatched in the paint, and when that connection is finally made, the game is undoubtedly over.  Unfortunately GC can not do much to make up for their void of these two areas, for they lack the necessary height and experience to compensate for them.  Rather, rebounding has to be pure heart, and the low post has to rely on some luck here and there.  These two dilemmas are quickly growing for GC.  Opposing teams, especially ones in the CCC, are going to take notice, and start in the paint immediately during a game, hopefully putting GC away early, and forcing them to shoot themselves out of a hole.  One can only hope that Coach Schauer is going to take these 18 days off and formulate a plan for countering his current situation, and mending this ever growing problem.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

NEC 80 Thomas 85.  Montrod had 23, Onyechi had 25 and 11.  Quinn put in 12.  They let Thomas shoot at will and at a pretty good clip.  UNE beat Thomas pretty good just a couple days ago, not a good loss for NEC.

UNE over ME-Farmington in OT 77-74.  Farmington was decent last year and have been winning most games this season; a good win for UNE.  Farynaz got totally shut down, but Marriot picked him up with a game high 21.  Stikney added 16 and 13, Regis put in 15 and McManus added 13.  UNE did reasonably well without their two best players leading the way... good sign for them.  That North division is sure going to be a lot tougher than last year.

RWU goes down at WPI, no big suprise there, 76-61.  Cormier had 16, Barranger went for 12 and 11.  Cammobrecco had 11 and McGovern had 6 assists.  They kept Cain quiet for WPI, but they got killed on the boards 36-19 and that was all she wrote.

EC loses to Wheaton 71-56.  Not a good showing for EC; their first real hiccup.  Nemanja continues to impress with 15 and 9 and assists.  George also had 15, but 9 turnovers to go with it.  37% shooting from Wheaton was a little higher than EC can afford, couple that with 27 turnovers and losing the FT battle 30-21 and that spells a loss.  Wheaton is a solid squad and this loss shouldn't hurt EC too much.  Everybody's gotta be off sometime, and this isn't a bad team to do it against.  The second half killed them.  I wonder if the shorter bench this season is doing anything to their team.  Maybe they aren't as well conditioned as they should be?  Things to think about anyway.

Conn Coll over Salve 73-65.  Close one for Salve, but probably a winable game for them.  Coming off the good win over RIC, maybe there was a bit of a letdown, although you have to love the scheduling.  The Camels shot 50% from three and 52% from the floor which is an obvious factor in their win.  SRU got 20 from Coute and 17 from Grendal along with 10 from Rego.  They shot 54% from the arc and 42% from the floor, but got beat on rebounds and FT's.  Poor defense lost this game for Salve and a lack of contribution from the bench didn't help any.

WIT over Rensselaer in OT 80-78 in the battle of the smart kids.  Gaine hit a lay-up at the buzzer for the win; he had 10 on the game.  PB&J had 23 and 5 with 5 assists and 5 steals before fouling out in OT.  Frankie Hall went for 18 and 7.  WIT shot lights out despite foul trouble, but FT shooting kept Rensselaer in the game.  Great game; very exciting.

GC goes down to Salem 83-74.  Salem isn't as strong as they have been in recent years and this was GC's time to win.  I guess they are still getting over the EC game.  Their post defense is still struggling, while the perimeter d held strong.  Logan had 18, Kauffman and Marstaller 12 each, Herr had 11 and Volgenzang had 10.  GC got to the line and shot well from deep, but they were beaten on the boards and that was too much to overcome.  All in all it was a decent showing from GC.  They still have to improve in the areas we all knew they needed to improve in.  The post guys have work to do; the game was disappointing, but not horrible.

AMC over Bard in the Bard tourney 68-64.  Loussaint had 27 and 10, McDonald had 17, Sadlowski had 7 assists.  They shot well, rebounded well and overcame a lot of turnovers to avenge their season opening loss to Bard College.  Way to go AMC, get that respect back.

On Sunday, in the championship game, they went down to Newbury 61-86.  No stats.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Tuesday's games:

CSC hosts Brandeis and needs a win to get back on track
UNE hosts S Maine

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

We went 0-2 last night:

UNE 68 SMaine 73; at least it wasn't as bad as the women's game; and I say that without even looking at the women's score.  Stikney had 20, McManus had 18.  They allowed over 50% shooting from the floor again.

CSC went down to Brandeis 79-90.  St Clair had 18 and 10, Spanos had 12, Bray had 10 with 8 assists.  CSC needed this one to get back on track, plus losing at home... not good.  They are definately going to have to win the conference to get in the tournament.  I didn't think they could underacheive more than last year, but they are working hard at it.  Not having Thorpe is tough; he should be back after Christmas.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Thursday's game:

UNE hosts Mt Ida


It's the last one until after Christmas.

[CCC Fan]

Unfortunately there's not much spirit to be found in New London this season.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Ok the big send-off to 2005:

UNE 68 Mt Ida 55

McManus had 25 on 6-9 shooting from deep.  Stickney had 11 and 12.  Mt Ida couldn't hit anything.  UNE didn't play all that well (outside of McManus), Marriott either got hurt or more likely benched after going 0-7 in the first 8 minutes of the game.  Whatever.


Nothing more until after Christmas.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

OK, because I'm bored today, I'm going to grade the teams in the CCC for the pre-Christmas part of the season.  Remember that in the grand scheme of things, this period counts for about 10-15% of the whole season grade and its really January that makes or breaks a team.  These grades are a combination of actual production and how well they met early-season expectations thus far.

North

Colby-Sawyer College (2-0 in the CCC, 4-3 Overall)
With losses to Keene Bowdoin and Brandeis, this was a disappointing start to the Charger's season.  Thorpe going down to mono was a big blow and the total lack of defense didn't help.  They do still have Springfield and then either Bates or Trinity (TX) in the New Year's Tournament to help their QOW rating before conference play begins.  You expect even the best team in the conference to drop an early game or two and the KSC and Bowdoin games were both very close.  Bottom line CSC needed to win at least one, if not both of those. C

Endicott College (1-0, 4-5)
A win over Bates, nearly toppling WPI and a pasting of cross-town rival Gordon make for good stories and high morale at EC, but five losses has to be troubling.  Even though four of them were to teams I would rank top 7 or 8 in the region, it's still too many losses to even be in the running for an at-large bid at the end of the year.  The old addage is true: "You can't win anything in December, but you can sure lose a lot."  That being said, EC has performed above and beyond expectations, sticking with the best teams in the area and learning the new coach's style faster than anyone has thought.  The way they are playing in the early season has to make them the conference favorite at this point. As much as I hate to do it: A

Gordon College (1-1, 5-2)
The Scots started strong with good showing against weak teams, big revenge wins over MIT and Salve Regina, but then followed it up with two sub-par performances against local rivals.  The guards are improved, as is the interior, but post defense is still an issue.  I have to imagine Schauer wanted more from his team. B+

New England College (1-1, 4-3)
Their early season competition, although weak, was better than last year and they performed decently.  Some of those gmaes were much closer than I would have liked to see, but this young team performed well.  New leaders are stepping up and there was some struggle fitting freshmen into the system, but they seem to be playing full tilt as we enter the break.  While they may not win many games this year, there is a marked improvement along the lines the coaching staff was hoping for.  I can't say they've done great, but certainly better than last year and only slightly below expectations. B-

The University of New England (0-2, 4-5)
They have beaten everyone they were supposed to beat, lost to everyone they were supposed to lose to and kept games close with team on their level.  The only downside is that seem to give away close games.  Last year's UNE squad lacked bench play and perimeter defense; this year they have an improved bench, but still give up baskets in bunches to teams with good guard play.  I haven't seen a lot of improvement this year, although there are a few bright spots that could shine if given attention.  C+

Wentworth Institute of Technology (2-0, 6-3)
Sure their spot atop the CCC North is a bit inflated, but this team is playing every bit as well as expected entering the year.  Todd Doyle has disappeared at times, but is very much the quality PG he was touted to be.  Even our old friend Prezzie-Blue is passing the ball and rebounding.  There was a big hole in the middle to fill and a bunch of guys are chipping in to do an admirable job.  The coaching staff has to be quite happy with this squad.  They may not be able to challenge the big three this year, but they will be much more dangerous and are improving every week (especially after that scary loss to Becker).  B

South

Anna Maria College (0-2, 2-7)
AMC apparently lost everybody from last season, which wasn't that great to begin with.  The emergence of Loussaint is a good sign, but this team still struggles to score points and stay in games.  Both teams they have beaten so far (Newbury and Bard) have also returned the favor.  There was a noticible, if small, foundation from last year on which to build which has crumbled in 2005.  They might be slightly more competitive with the bottom of the North this year, but the AMCATS are not where even the most conservative judge would like them to be. D

Curry College (1-0, 3-3)
They knew they would be without Raheim Lamb for the start of the year, but losing Tim Jones was a big blow.  He has consistency, experience and proven talent to lead the team through a rough patch.  However, Malcolm Wynn had his guys ready and exhibited a very much improved team without adding much of anything from last season.  They should have been closer to Springfield, but they beat Trinity, came within two points of the College of New Jersey in NJ and within three points of Christopher Newport in Virginia, all without their two best players.  I'd have to say that despite the circumstances they could not have even hoped for the kind of results they have been getting early in the season.  They are exceeding all expectations; it will be interesting to see how they fit Jones and Lamb into an already very cohesive unit.  A+

Eastern Nazarene College (0-2, 0-9)
ENC, for the second year in a row, lost their best player and team leader to graduation.  This team was going to be led by a lot of young and undersized guys.  Coach Zink brought in some decent transfers and the outlook was good for some improvement from last year's squad.  It turns out that this team is even worse than expected, struggling to score and stop anyone in the paint.  I'm not sure there is a team on their schedule they can beat (although they will get a shot with AMC twice and Newbery still to come).  The offense isn't working, the players seem unhappy and no one is turning up to even watch them anymore.  F

Nichols College (0-1, 3-3)
Nichols played above themselves last year and brought some good feelings into the 2005 campaign.  They played WPI and CSC tough early on, but have fallen short of their expectations.  The sophomore class is not experiencing the slump so many CCC teams suffer through and team leader Casey Butler is more free to play his game.  NC is doing a good job of keeping players together and developing for the future.  I think they have a good base for the rest of the season.  This team isn't getting mentioned at all, but they could be the spoiler this year, not competing for the title, but ruining some hopes come play-off time.  B

Roger Williams University (1-0, 1-6)
The loss of Dan Gumb really seemed to effect then, moving the opposite direction from Curry after the injury.  There is a lot of talent on this squad and expectations have been very high.  They have really disappointed thus far.  The big man has come into his own, but leaders like Parrish and Cormier are only showing glimpses of the ability we've seem in previous seasons.  They have played some good teams thus far, but they have been totally inconsistent.  If I were going to give an incomplete it would be here, but that's just cheesy.  D+/C-

Salve Regina University (1-1, 6-3)
The loss to Gordon hurt, but the rest of the early season has been very good to SRU.  Wins over RIC, J&W and Wheaton have really been impressive.  They are doing the most with their schedule that they can.  The loss to Connecticut College was the only suprise to me.  Grendal is emerging as a real post threat and floor-leader and Coute is shedding his underrated rep.  The only downside is that there is not much room for improvement; we may have already seen the best SRU can offer, for their sake, I hope they can keep it up. A

[roy_williams]

Hoops-

Love your breakdown. you're all heart kid. good stuff.

  A couple thoughts...I think CSC should get a D. Maybe a D+. While the injury to Thorpe hurts, you didn't seem to have any mercy towards RWU. So, I think a D is fair. Bowdoin is not a very good team. While they are a little better than usual this year, still bottom feeders in the NESCAC. Endicott beat the same Bates team, who is down big this year, so that is a terrible loss in my eyes. For a team that came in hyped as a strong at-large bid, so far this season has been nothing but dissapointing, and save for conference play and a chance for a win over Trinity (TX) a near failure.

  I also thought Gordon's grade was too high. Although, I appreciate it. They did beat MIT and SRU (who has been a thorn in the side of the Scots last couple years--although not so much at home), getting rolled by Endicott and collasping against Salem leave much to be desired. This team is too good to be where they are at, let alone the results they have put up against tough competition. I'd say C, C-.

And Wentwoth, overrated. Who have they beat? I would give them a C. They are average. Beat up on all the patsies they scheduled early, and it remains to be seen how they will do against the upper echelon.

I am however, elevating you to Andy Katz of the CCC. 

[d3bballinboston]

I don't think you should get an A unless you are undefeated at this point.. HOw can you have an A if you have more than one loss?  I mean Endciott is 4-5 and they get an A.  What would you have given them if they went 9-0 an A+++++++++.  They deserve a C at best probally a C- afterall they are below .500.  Curry College an A+ at 3-3.  Maybe a C+ because they do have some injuries but not an A+.  A+ would be that they actually won more than 3 of 6 games.  Salve doesnt deserve an A either mabye a B or B-.

Just my two sense.  Don't overrate teams.. Try doing it more truthfully.

[buddy]

Hey fellas . . .  just want to chime in to put my vote in for the top teams in the conference. I think Gordon should be there, followed by Curry , Colby Sawyer, Endicott & Nichols.  As far as Curry goes, don't overlook the fact that they have a lot of depth & another deserving player to be mentioned in the same breath with with Lamb & Jones . . that being Mohrin. He did make All Conference 2nd Team last year.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

To answer the critics and get some more holiday-break chatter going I'll say this:


1.  I mentioned in the report card post that I was grading not just on their performance, but also their performance against what the expectations were coming into the season.  Endicott gets an A because they have a new coach, new PG, new leading scorer a wicked tough schedule and they still have played well.  Out of their five losses, only one (Hamilton) is to a team they should be better than and the book is still out on them.  Amherst, Keene, WPI and Wheaton are all better than EC and certainly better than EC was supposed to be.  I can't penalize them for losing to good teams.  The team I expected to see on the floor would have gotten creamed by Bates and proably lost to Gordon as well.  This team is playing above average and even though their schedule was too tough this year, they are well above expectations and were a shot away from upsetting the #9 team in the country.  That's A material in my book.

2.  Curry gets an A+ because, well did you see them at the start of last year?  They only have four guys and they got smoked.  Essentially they have three guys now, with occasional help from the bench and they are playing far better teams.  I can't possibly imagine, given their injuries how anyone could expect them to be playing any better than they are.  Very few teams come into a season with reasonable expectations of going undefeated.  Curry has beaten Trinity and hung close with Christopher Newport ( a very good South Region squad for you who stick solely to New England, they are a tournament team in a very good conference) and New Jersey.  The Springfield loss is looking worse and worse as time goes on, but they are so far above expectations, it's gotta be an A+.

3.  I'll accept that SRU and GC may be too high, but I didn't give them much credit before the season and both have done admirably in my book. GC is looking a little shakier as time goes on and Salve's schedule has been tougher than expected.  Either way, I won't argue that those grades might have been a little high.

4.  Wentworth might not have been so good, but they were atrocious last year.  They lost DeMercurio who was their only post presence and consistant scorer the whole year, replacing him with a top notch PG, but nothing down low.  I certainly expected them to finish dead last in the North, but they have already gotten a game up on each of their rivals for the #4 seed.  Prezzie-Blue went from Freshman shoot-first PG, to Sophomore assist king 2 guard, very unlikely.  The post players have come through in big spots.  Maybe they could have been a C, but I consider C as meeting expectations and WIT is certainly above them right now.

5.  Colby-Sawyer has been disappointing in that they have not beaten Keene, Bowdoin and Brandeis.  All games they probably should have won.  Even in their victories, the defense has been spotty at best.  They did lose a lot in Thorpe, having really no reliable back-up for the starters.  But, they haven't killed themselves yet.  If they can get on track and win the New Year's tournament, then play their usual 1 or 2 loss CCC season, they will finish with no more than 5 losses and still be in the hunt for a Pool C bid, should they lose the conference final.  Granted, they are below where we'd like them to be, but you can't have expected an undefeated season, one or two losses extra is hardly deserving of a C grade.


I wish you all a relaxing and happy Christmas season.  Have fun.

[broke_ya_ankles]

is there a timetable for Thorpe's return?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I heard January, but its mono so you never really know.  I expect he'll be back in action for some minutes, even if its just ten or twelve after the holiday break.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Hamilton got some votes this week in the Top 25 poll.  Maybe the EC loss to them isn't so bad after all.  Shoot Middlebury may have a legit squad... you never know.




I'm off today for some fourteen days of vacation; it's nice to get out of the office.  I'll post from time to time over the break when I get bored and find a wireless connection.  I hope you all have a good holiday season.