MBB: Conference of New England

[CCC Talk]

Yearly Preview!

14. New England College
Off to a quick start against poor comp. I think it will be a similar year in Henniker to recent ones.

13. University of New England
No one was hit harder by graduation/transfer/player movement

12. Nichols
Got hit very hard by graduation and player movement. Ryan Sheehan could be a good one though.

11. Salve Regina
Should be better than last year by a lot. Great young talent.

10. Eastern Nazarene
Coming off a big win against Wheaton. Not sure they will have enough to sustain.

9. Colby-Sawyer
Lost a lot of guys. Willis and the rookies will have to carry.

8. Anna Maria
Not a typo. Anna Maria in the playoffs.

7. Gordon
The returning champs are all over the map out of the gate.

6. Regis
Veteran group. Ready to take a step.

5.WNEC
Bring back some firepower with Shaw and Thomka. But can they stop anyone?

4. Endicott
A lot of talented rookies. A good coach. Should be much improved.

3. Roger Williams
Last year was a minor blip on the radar. They have a lot back.

2. Wentworth
Well coached, always better at the end than the beginning and still have the big guy.

1. Curry
Too much firepower in a watered down CCC.


Preseason POTY: Jarell Jackson, Curry
Preseason COTY: Nate Hager Regis
Preseason All League First Team:

G- Jackson Curry
G- Derek Neal Regis
G- Lance Green Endicott
C- Sam Herrick WIT
F- Greg Walker Gordon

2nd team:
G- Junior De La Hoz Anna Maria
G- Corey Fava RWU
F- Dan Royce Salve Regina
F- Brad Thomka WNEC
F- Chima Ezigbo ENC

ROY Candidates:
Robbie Burke CSC, Lachlan Magee Endicott, Ryan Sheehan Nichols, Derek Mayo Endicott, Alex Larose SRU

[scout]

Yearly Preview!

14. New England College
Off to a quick start against poor comp. I think it will be a similar year in Henniker to recent ones.

13. University of New England
No one was hit harder by graduation/transfer/player movement

12. Nichols
Got hit very hard by graduation and player movement. Ryan Sheehan could be a good one though.

11. Salve Regina
Should be better than last year by a lot. Great young talent.

10. Eastern Nazarene
Coming off a big win against Wheaton. Not sure they will have enough to sustain.

9. Colby-Sawyer
Lost a lot of guys. Willis and the rookies will have to carry.

8. Anna Maria
Not a typo. Anna Maria in the playoffs.

7. Gordon
The returning champs are all over the map out of the gate.

6. Regis
Veteran group. Ready to take a step.

5.WNEC
Bring back some firepower with Shaw and Thomka. But can they stop anyone?

4. Endicott
A lot of talented rookies. A good coach. Should be much improved.

3. Roger Williams
Last year was a minor blip on the radar. They have a lot back.

2. Wentworth
Well coached, always better at the end than the beginning and still have the big guy.

1. Curry
Too much firepower in a watered down CCC.


Preseason POTY: Jarell Jackson, Curry
Preseason COTY: Nate Hager Regis
Preseason All League First Team:

G- Jackson Curry
G- Derek Neal Regis
G- Lance Green Endicott
C- Sam Herrick WIT
F- Greg Walker Gordon

2nd team:
G- Junior De La Hoz Anna Maria
G- Corey Fava RWU
F- Dan Royce Salve Regina
F- Brad Thomka WNEC
F- Chima Ezigbo ENC

ROY Candidates:
Robbie Burke CSC, Lachlan Magee Endicott, Ryan Sheehan Nichols, Derek Mayo Endicott, Alex Larose SRU

Just a few gut reactions. You're entitled to your own prognostications, and so are the rest of us.

I think, to be honest, you may have Anna Maria a little low. I wouldn't be surprised to see them get a five or six seed in the tourney this year.

Endicott will be a MUCH better team come second semester than they are now. Such a young team that has proven early they can play efficiently. The Gulls are my early pick to meet Curry in the championship.

I'd move Gordon up one or two spots and move Roger Williams down one or two. I think the early game against Husson was an outlier. I think Gordon would still lose the game eight out of ten times played, but I think this team is still in the process of finding their identity after losing such leadership from last year. RWU will always be a tough team to beat in Rhode Island, but I think they take a step down this season. Just a gut feeling on that one.

I'd switch Greg Walker on the First Team with David Dempsey. Nothing more than I think Dempsey will be more involved on the offense than Walker. Two solid players, nonetheless.

Anyway, just a few thoughts on your thoughts.

[tcccfan2010]

I would agree with moving walker to Dempsey, I am willing to bet Dempsey is the player of the year not Jackson.

[high flyer 21]

After mocking Gordon and their recruited freshman class after the Husson loss, I can say with confidence this team will have a pretty strong season after that win at Endicott.  All the hype over David Dempsey is well deserved too, kid had no turnovers on a 25 pts, 15 rbs, 6 ast, 3 stls, 2 blks stat line playing with a half-injured knee.

Anyone know what happened to Endicott's center Justin Martin by the way?  He's supposed to be a senior this year and isn't on the team anymore.

[tcccfan2010]

I wouldn't get too ahead of yourself yet. I think Gordon is still going to have a difficult road this year. There non conference schedule  is challenging and I think Endicott is going to be a force when they get their act together. Gordon has the chance to with 12-14 games barring any injuries from Walker or Dempsey. It is fun to see Freshman Luke Hamilton lighting it up right now but I am not sure that can continue with any consistency.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Nichols lost to Worcester State tonight.  Sheehan had 31.

[WITball]

CCCtalk....

Agree with the predictions, well done...However Derek Mayo plays for WIT not Endicott

Also the only way Curry wins this year is if Jackson plays well...He has trouble at times finishing near the hoop with big guys around, but he is capable of 30+ on any given night...

[tcccfan2010]

Salem State gave Gordon a good whooping tonight. Gordon pulled within single digits at one point but Salem State was just too much in the paint for Gordon to handle. Dempsey was sick and still favoring the knee even though he put up some decent numbers. Thank goodness Luke Hamilton continues to shoot the ball well. Gordon has a major schedule coming up. I don't see them winning a game anytime soon.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

So I'm assuming Jarrell Jackson hurt himself last night.  The box score lists him as playing only four minutes in Curry's loss to WPI (56-76).  CC got crushed on the boards, committed a ton of turnovers and sent WPI to the FT line 39 times!

ENC lost to Drew 80-94.  Ezigbo and Flakes both had 17.  DeAngelo Alston did not play at all.  I know he was coming back off an injury; I wonder if he also hurt himself.  Aaron Johnson had 9 boards, 11 points, and 7 assists.  Drew shot 54% from the floor, including 42% from deep.

UNE lost to Colby 58-71.  Marcus Winn had 14; Chas Rentrope had 18 off the bench.  They got very few rebounds and shot only 4 foul shots.

Gordon lost to Babson 61-71.  Greg Walker went for 21 and 7.  Dempsey had 14.  They hit the boards well as a team, but 20 turnovers was too much to overcome (not to mention Babson going 16-16 from the line).

Salve beat Wheaton 80-66.  Wheaton looks to be terrible this year.  Ryan Birrell had 14 with 7 assists.  Dan Royce only played 18 minutes; he had 4 fouls, so maybe there was foul trouble.  Maybe the game was just out of hand; the bench got a good amount of minutes.

WNEC lost to Elms 70-84.  Thomka had 16 and 10; Lomas had 12 and 10.  WNEC had 33 tunrovers, which negated an otherwise good shooting night.  Very poor from the FT line.

Colby-Sawyer beat St. Joe's of VT 65-58.  Robbie Burke had 17 points.  No box score.

Becker beat AMC 81-76.  Two perennial bad teams who may both be feisty this season.  Click went for 21 and 9 with 4 assists.  Pinnsoneault had 17.  It looks like they shut De La Hoz down; he just didn't get that many shots off.  Rajai Leggett had 21 rebounds for Becker which led to 12 extra shots and probably the difference.

WIT over Coast Guard 61-48.  Big Sam did very little (9 and 8); Therriault took the most shots and scored 15.  Dombrowski seems to be getting back into the swing of things, scoring 11.

Nichols beat Fitchburg 63-49.  Sheehan had an off night, scoring only 7.  Fitchburg took a ton of free throws, won the rebounding battle and turned NC over 27 times, but still lost miserably due to poor shooting.

NEC beat Newbury 67-66.  Farragher went 10-13.  Mohamed had 10 off the bench, but it looks like he got the ball a lot in crunch time.

[WITball]

Sinking Ships

WIT beats a very weak Coast Guard team 61-48.  Coast Guard used to be very solid with Big men Jeff Prebeck (Spelling?)  and Craig Johnson holding down the front court and a very good guard by the name of Sowers (Younger brother is now on the team but didnt play due to injury last night).  However they are just not that team, they dont have any standout players. Devonte Weems (#15 on USCG) was very quick and could get to the hoop at will but could not finish a layup at all.

Sam Herrick had 9pts-8rebs...should of had 20-20 but im just saying...
Corey T. dropped 15pts to go with 4rebs and 3stls...
Adam Dombrowski is looking good after coming off an ankle injury early on to score 11 on the night...
Keenan Burke Pitts (Hoopsfans favorite player)  Looked great.  Scored only 5pts but got other guys good looks to the tune of 8ast and only 2TO....What should he do hoops?  Should he admit he played bad when you watched? Should he accept his role as the "vocal" leader? Should he tell you hes done this before? Should he just sell shoes? Should he tell you hes a championship chaser? Should he try acting? Or should he just read you a soulful Poem?
My name may be Burke-Pitts,
But I tell you I will Not Quit,
you put me down with your words Hoops,
lets get on the court and I will run loops,
around you until you fall,
but in the end I dont even care what you say at all

What Should he Do?

[WITball]

No disrespect meant hoops...just backing my guys while taking shots at Lebron!!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

No problem.  I was informed of the behind the scenes issues going on before the game I saw.  I do still believe Burke-Pitts is the ideal sixth man, but he has been putting up better numbers at the point lately.

Obviously Sam is in d3 for a reason.  Guys that size don't end up in d3 if they're quick.  I do think they have all the pieces to win the conference - we'll see if they get it together.

[gogordon11]

Gordon got destroyed tonight, 85-37.
Dempsey and Walker couldn't get any help; Gordon gave up 32 turnovers, and fouls were trouble, too.

[tcccfan2010]

Looks like turnovers will plague Gordon all year long.  Gordon has their banner raising ceremony tomorrow when they play MIT.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

In addition to the Gordon crushing,

Regis lost to Trinity 48-57.  Alibrandi had 11, but fouled out, Neal had 10, Edwards, 14.  Regis hasn't played a pushover yet.  They're showing strong play early on.  This could be interesting if they keep it together.  They don't have much margin for error.

Roger Williams over Wheaton 64-60.  13 for Petruccelli.  They continue to underwhelm.

EC lost to Wheelock 68-73.  21 from Magee; 13 and 15 from Erik Callo off the bench.  They dominated the boards, but shot 7-33(!!) from deep.  Milan Drecun played 20 minutes and went 1-14, 1-13 from three.  This seems like a poor game plan, especially when you're within five points.