MBB: Conference of New England

[CCC Talk]

Hope the offseason has treated everyone well! Most of the league now has their rosters up and I've been able to do some digging with my ccc sources. I think this may be the weakest the league has been in a decade.

Without further ado. My picks.

10. UNE they sold their soul a few years ago and won the league with a lot of guys who were not there very long. Still feeling the effects. Fenner should be able to score some points but the Easters will be hurting.

9. WNEU They are now a university. That might be the highlight of the year. They don't bring back much and don't bring in much.

8.Nichols Ryan Sheehan returns from a pretty awful team. If they can get some contributions from newcomers they could make some noise.

7. Eastern Naz Ezigbo is healthy and Barbosa and Johnson are now very experienced, however John Flakes is not listed on the roster. If this is an eligibility situation and he returns at the break look for enc to move up.

6. Gordon No team will benefit from the smaller league more. They lost a solid inside scorer in Walker but return one in Dempsey. They also brought in some well regarded freshman. However their guard play was very bad last year and looks to be the same cast of characters this year.

5. RWU They return their big front line and a few shooters. Always something of a middle of the pack team. If they can get some solid perimeter scoring they could be ok.

4.Salve Regina The champs return Birrell and a lot of guys who won it last year in supporting roles. The loss of Hinkson and to a lesser degree Royce will hurt them. Sean Foster always has his guys playing hard.

3. Wentworth they lost the big man which will hurt them. They return all of their perimeter scoring and add a well regarded freshman from ct. Should be tough.

2. Curry last years they were picked to win the league and were hurt by injuries and personality issues. They have a lot of talent and some solid newcomers look for them to bounce back big.

1. Endicott should take a big step forward this year. Green should be the best player in the league. They didn't lose anyone and they brought in 3 big time recruits. I got the gulls.

[NEWMACJACK]

is anna maria still in the ccc?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

is anna maria still in the ccc?

Nope.

[NEWMACJACK]

funny how they were one of the teams that the others felt "were not good enough" yet they won the regular season last year....

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

funny how they were one of the teams that the others felt "were not good enough" yet they won the regular season last year....

It's not about the teams, but the school in general.  They don't have the same kind of endowment or expansion plans.

[high flyer 21]

Curry[/b] last years they were picked to win the league and were hurt by injuries and personality issues. They have a lot of talent and some solid newcomers look for them to bounce back big.

If it's appropriate to ask, what exactly happened with Curry's "personality issues" last year?  Their roster is up and Sedale Jones is playing, but Jarrell Jackson, who is supposed to be a senior this year, is missing...

[hopefan]

New England College schedule does not ID who is playing in their Tourney on Nov 18/19.... I know one of the other teams is Lesley... anybody know the other two teams and matchups?    thanks....

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

New England College schedule does not ID who is playing in their Tourney on Nov 18/19.... I know one of the other teams is Lesley... anybody know the other two teams and matchups?    thanks....

They're not in this conference anymore.  Also, NEC is notoriously terrible about reporting any sort of information.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Curry[/b] last years they were picked to win the league and were hurt by injuries and personality issues. They have a lot of talent and some solid newcomers look for them to bounce back big.

If it's appropriate to ask, what exactly happened with Curry's "personality issues" last year?  Their roster is up and Sedale Jones is playing, but Jarrell Jackson, who is supposed to be a senior this year, is missing...

It's Curry - they like to surprise everyone with their roster when you show up.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Full slate of games this evening to open the season:

Salve @ Wheaton (MA)
RWU @ Johnson & Wales
ENC hosts Suffolk
Nichols hosts Worcester St
WNEC @ Lyndon St
WIT hosts Wheelock
EC hosts St Joe's (VT)
UNE hosts Southern Maine
Curry hosts #10 MIT
Gordon hosts Babson

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Salve and RWU both lost close games on the road tonight.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Salve and RWU both lost close games on the road tonight.

Ok, so Salve lost by 19; not quite close.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Nichols and WNEC each won by a single point.  Wentworth topped Wheelock by 9.

[high flyer 21]

Ryan Birrell shot 3-14 for Salve.  Fellow RI native Brendan Degnan scored 27 points in 24 minutes for Wheaton.  Combine those facts and the reigning CCC champs lost by 19 in their first game.

[high flyer 21]

Pat Flanagan dropped 41 points for RWU. WTH?  Lamonte Thomas, the nation's leading scorer for all NCAA divisions last year, (averaged 30.3 points leading America) picked up where he left off scoring 33 for the JWU win.