MBB: Conference of New England

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Tuesday's penultimate conference matchups:

RWU @ WNEC
NC @ SRU
WIT @ GC
ENC @ CC
UNE @ EC

A Salve win secures them a #1 spot (two up with two to go).
A win for WIT secures them #2.

Again, this is assuming all the tiebreakers are the same.  The "new" conference website doesn't have them listed anywhere I can find.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I got confirmation of the tiebreakers, so I'll be ready to post the possible outcomes after the games this evening.

[CCC Talk]

TCCC  History Post

Was looking at the past year's standings on the CCC page and decided to throw this together for your enjoyment, maybe only Hoops Fan will remember any of this. From the 2005-2006 season to the present, all members that have been in the league for those years have played 100 league games. I've thrown WNEC in because they are still in the league, I have omitted Colby-Sawyer, Regis, NEC and Anna Maria as they are no longer in the league.


Regular Season CCC Records Since 05-06
1. Gordon 72-28 (.720)  (7/7 playoff births, 1 title)
2. Endicott 62-38 (.620) (6/7 playoff births, 1 title)
3. Roger Williams 61-39 (.610) (6/7 playoff births, 0 titles)
4. Wentworth 60-40 (.600) (7/7 playoff births, 1 title)
5. Curry 58-42 (.580) (5/7 playoff births, 1 title)
6. Salve Regina 54-46 (.540) (5/7 playoff births, 1 title)
7. Nichols 49-51 (.490) (5/7 playoff births, 0 titles)
8. UNE 46-54 (.460) (3 or 4/7 playoff births, 1 title)
9. WNEU 31-37 (.456) (3 or 4 out of a possible 5 playoff births, 0 titles)
10. ENC 23/77 (.230) (0/7 playoff births, 0 titles)

So what does this all tell us?

There have been no repeat champions in the last 6 years.

Only WIT and Gordon have made the playoffs every year.

Only ENC has not made the playoffs in that time.

ENC is interesting they have had 3 coaches over that time, haven't won more than 5 league games in a season (although that was in a 13 game year) and show no signs of repairing this situation.

Gordon is basically the Atlanta Braves, regular season dominance with very little post season return.

RWU has the best record without a title.

5 out of 10 teams have had the same coach this entire time period (RWU, WIT, NC, SRU, CC)

Player Of The Year:

2005-2006 Andrew St Clair Colby-Sawyer
2006-2007 Sherrad Prezzie-Blue Wentworth
2007-2008 Geoff Barranger Roger Williams
2008-2009 Todd Doyle Wentworth
2009-2010 Aaron Trigg Gordon
2010-2011 Anthony Click AMC
I would imagine this year would be Birrell

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Yeah, these past seven years or so have been interesting.  I started following the league in 1999.  Back then I'd say a majority of the schools didn't consider athletics a focal point.  They were fielding competitive teams, but there was a divide between those schools with a focus on athletic success and those who sponsored athletics to round out an education.

I think, in general, the schools in the CCC have embraced both ideals more thoroughly over the past decade.  You don't see the same kind of open athletic recruiting in spite of academic performance that was once the norm at the top of the standings.  You also see most teams making real and concerted efforts at recruiting and aggressive staffing.

Perhaps you could say that the CCC has entered the main stream of college basketball.  People actually, once in a while, try to poach our coaches.

As for ENC, it's been a tough stretch.  My time as a student started with former players as head coach, followed by a string of guys who were angling for other jobs from day one (and often hindered the long term success of the program for short term gains) to simple incompetence.

I've gotten to talk with Coach Aller a bit.  He's a real coach, who seems committed to making as much of a difference as he can at ENC, but there's very little to work with.  He inherited what was, at the time, the absolute worst team in d3, with a rather lengthy history of losing.  That makes it a bit difficult to recruit well.

When I was a student, the basketball team was well integrated into the student body - that doesn't seem to have been the case over the past five years or so (with a few notable exceptions).

At this point I believe that ENC is the smallest, poorest school in the conference - which is also going to be a problem for recruiting.  I continue to support the program and wish it the best, but it's a tough uphill climb from here.  They'll be losing much of the nucleus of the current team next season.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Curry beats ENC barely 72-68.  Jones had 24 in the win.  Ezeigbo was in foul trouble, finished with 12 points in 18 minutes.  Mike McCoy had 20 to lead ENC.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

WNEC missed out on a much needed home win, losing to RWU 58-60.  Shaw had 15.  Flanagan managed only 9 and 11.  Henry and Palumbo had 13 a piece.

Salve over Nichols 85-72.  Sheehan had 21, but all five Salve starters got into double figures and ran away with the game.

EC big over UNE 68-57.  Fenner had 21 for UNE.  Callo looked strong, going for 17 and 12.  I think he's locked up a first team, all-conference spot.  Henault added 16.

Gordon with a huge win over Wentworth 80-57.  WIT played lots of bench guys because most of the starters couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.  Therriault had 16 and 7; Dombrowski had 12.  Gordon was led by 18 from Park Thomas; Dempsey had 12.  I'm guessing it was senior night since a lot of guys i've never heard of started.  GC shot 60% from the floor.  That's a recipe for a win.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

So, Saturday:

GC @ NC
SRU @ RWU
CC @ WIT
EC @ ENC
WNEC @ UNE

Salve has the #1 seed.

WIT and EC are tied for second at 11-6, WIT has the tiebreaker.  They will be #2 and #3 in some order.

NC, CC, and RWU are all 9-8; we'll get into scenarios here later on.

Gordon is sitting at 8-9 - they could get into the mix with the other three under the right circumstances.

WNEC and UNE play each other - winner gets the #8 spot (WNEC wins the tiebreaker).

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Possibilities for seeds 4-7:

NC at 10-8, RWU and CC at 9-9, GC at 8-10.  Curry gets the #5.

NC and RWU @ 10-8, CC at 9-9, GC at 8-10.  RWU gets the #4.

NC and CC at 10-8, RWU at 9-9, GC at 8-10.  Curry gets the #4.

NC, CC, and RWU at 10-8, GC at 8-10.  Curry gets the #4, RWU gets the #5, Nichols gets the #6.

RWU at 10-8, NC, CC, and GC at 9-9.  Curry gets the #5, (if WIT is #2, Gordon gets the #6, if EC is #2, Nichols gets the #6).

CC at 10-8, NC, RWU, and GC at 9-9.  RWU gets the #5, (if WIT is #2, Gordon gets the #6, if EC is #2, Nichols gets the #6).

CC and RWU at 10-8, GC and NC at 9-9.  Curry gets the #4, (if WIT is #2, Gordon gets the #6, if EC is #2, Nichols gets the #6).

CC, RWU, NC, and GC are tied at 9-9.  Curry gets the #4, RWU gets the #5, (if WIT is #2, Gordon gets the #6, if EC is #2, Nichols gets the #6).

[7express]

Hey hoops fan, you know any reason why Wentworth & Southern Maine scheduled a game against each other 2 days before the regular season ends and when each team only has 1 conference game left??  Makes absolutely no sense to me why they'd schedule that game for when they did.

[Gordonhoops123]

Gordon had a strong showing last night. Not to be a homer but they have all the weapons they need and they lost a lot of games by only a few points after having big leads. They have a chance to beat anyone. Should be a great playoffs.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Hey hoops fan, you know any reason why Wentworth & Southern Maine scheduled a game against each other 2 days before the regular season ends and when each team only has 1 conference game left??  Makes absolutely no sense to me why they'd schedule that game for when they did.

I mentioned that earlier in the year.  I think, perhaps, some of the teams had trouble adjusting to the changed schedule when the league suddenly reformed last spring.  That's my only thought - they needed one more game and this is when someone was able to fit it in.

[uconn05]

After all that we have seen this year, I wouldn't be surprised if any of the top seven teams wins the conference tourney. The top seeds, of course, all have a legitimate shot. And the bottom teams have their own reasons for optimism. NC has had a good three weeks, even leading by double digits in several losses. RWU has beaten SRU, EC, and WIT. GC has one of the top frontlines in the league and their guards can shoot.

Should be a fun week.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Gordon and Nichols are neck and neck with three minutes to go.  Sheehan and Dempsey are pacing each side.  Nichols has only 8 turnovers, but their typically poor fg defense is keeping Gordon in it.  Should be a good one.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Park Thomas fouled out with two minutes to go and Langedas hit a few clutch buckets.  Nichols by 4 with 23 seconds remaining.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Gordon was up by as much as 14, but it came down to a battle in the final seconds.  Nichols hit enough FTs to win, 77-73.  Sheehan and Dempsey each had 28.

Salve has the #1 seed and Gordon has the #7 seed.  The rest to be determined over the next hour.