MBB: Conference of New England

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

EC went out strong tonight.  Obviously the pressure got to them in the end, but it was an admirable performance against a strong opponent.  Callo had a great game to end his career.

EC is losing just three seniors from this team and only two who get big minutes.  They'll be quite strong next season and have some pressure playoff experience under their belts.

Until next year, my friends...

[D3Fan4255]

Endicott is going to get crushed.  Oswego matches up better at nearly every position.  Bad draw for EC.

So much for that idea.  Great effort by a team that everyone thought would get crushed.  Showed their youth in their defeat, but have to commend the Gulls for the way they played last night, and at the end of the year when it looked like they were dead in the water.  Can't wait to see them back on the court next year.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Endicott is going to get crushed.  Oswego matches up better at nearly every position.  Bad draw for EC.

So much for that idea.  Great effort by a team that everyone thought would get crushed.  Showed their youth in their defeat, but have to commend the Gulls for the way they played last night, and at the end of the year when it looked like they were dead in the water.  Can't wait to see them back on the court next year.

EC made huge leaps, from the beginning of conference play to the end, then again in the conference tournament, then again last night.

I do think Oswego was looking past them, which accounted for the start of the game.

EC played really well.  I just didn't expect they would, or even could, step up to the level they played last night.

It's good news for the conference.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Congrats to Ryan Birrell on being named to the all-region second team - Andre Shaw made the fourth team.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

ENC has announced seven new recruits so far who are coming to school in the fall.  It looks like 6 of them are guards, so height may still be an issue.  Lots of scorers though - could be an interesting bunch if the coach can get them to meld together.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Some schedules are starting to come out:

ENC, with a team comprised largely of freshman managed to schedule about the easiest non-conference opponents possible - suffolk, wheelock, daniel webster, thomas, and UMPI - there's also a "New England Tournament" to open the season.  If that's NEC we're looking at the easiest schedule in d3.  A great move for ENC!

Curry is the exact opposite.  They're opening with the Amherst tournament, followed by games at WPI and at MIT.  They've also got Williams, Wesleyan, and UMASS-D on the docket before Christmas.  They're loading up before conference play starts.

EC has Framingham to open the year at the Rivier tournament.  Also Wheelock, Clark, Emmanuel, Lesley, and Salem State.  A decent schedule for a team adjusting to some new starters.

Nichols has Lasell, MCLA, Fitchburg, Clark, EConn, Worcester, and Westfield.  They're not losing too much, so this could work out ok for them.

SRU opens with J&W and then the Babson tournament.  They've also got RIC, Wheaton, ConnColl, and Coast Guard.  Unless their incoming class is very strong, this could be a challenge for them.

UNE has Thomas, Farmington, Mt Ida, the UMASS-Boston tournament, Bates and Southern ME - a pretty typical schedule for them.

WIT will also be at the Babson tournament (Colby and Babson are the other two schools), so we could get a non-conference CCC matchup there.  They've also got ConnColl, Wheelock, Newbury and the NYU holiday tournament (with Clark and Widener).

GC, RWU, and WNEC have yet to release schedules.

[7express]

They've also got Williams, Wesleyan, and UMASS-D on the docket before Christmas.  They're loading up before conference play starts.
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I don't think Dartmouth will be any good this year.  They dissapointed last year (finished 5th in the LEC) and graduate their 3 best players off that team.  Of course the top of that conference has gotten worse overall from last year, especially WConn, so who really knows

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Rosters are beginning to go up.  ENC's roster features 10 freshmen and 3 transfers - along with Chima Ezeigbo, who apparently has one more year of eligibility left (a couple other key contributors return as well).  Not sure if you can ever fully recover from the kind of injury he had, but he'll be almost two years out from surgery when the season starts, so I guess we'll find out.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

The Preseason Top 25 is out: http://www.d3hoops.com/top25/men/2012-13/preseason

[dwebbs]

Hello again d3boards.com,

I was wondering if there was anyone who is in the loop at my former school, Gordon College, who could say a little something about the team's prospects this year. I saw where they were kind of a middle of the conference team last year, but wonder how they've looked since practices started earlier this week.

Maybe it's too early to tell, and I need to wait a few weeks. But there used to be quite a bit of Gordon posters on this board. I'm hoping there still are.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Curry has a roster up, but without freshmen.

Gordon added three freshman, one big guy from Vermont.  They graduated five, but most of the core returns.

ENC's had a few changes since they first loaded a roster.  All the old faces are there and a bunch of new ones.  They're going to be short, though.  Outside of Ezeigbo, they only have on other player taller than 6'2".

EC has only 8 names on the roster right now.  All returners, all the guys we expect.  We'll see who they add.

Nichols added six freshmen, mostly little guys.  Kuntz and Sheehan are there - all the big parts from last year.

RWU is lacking a roster at this time.

Salve has everybody back who didn't graduate (ie Burrell).  Hopefully the other guys learned something.  Seven freshman, a couple guards, a couple big guys.  Could be interesting.

UNE has a lot of seniors, but to be honest I didn't remember much of who they had last year.  A couple freshmen on the list.

WIT is bringing back a lot.  They're also adding a couple of transfers and someone who appears to be Therriault's little brother.  Could be interesting.

WNEC obviously lost Shaw, a big loss.  They picked up six freshmen with decent size, a couple from HSs with good teams.  Could be some surprises here.

Lots can happen, but I'm thinking WIT and EC are the favorites going in.  I like Sheehan and Nichols, even if they under-performed in recent years.  A couple squads could be real surprises, depending on how recruiting went.  Should be a fun season.

[Chantastic]

Hello again d3boards.com,

I was wondering if there was anyone who is in the loop at my former school, Gordon College, who could say a little something about the team's prospects this year. I saw where they were kind of a middle of the conference team last year, but wonder how they've looked since practices started earlier this week.

Maybe it's too early to tell, and I need to wait a few weeks. But there used to be quite a bit of Gordon posters on this board. I'm hoping there still are.

Gordon is probably still to inefficient on offense to take a big step up.  They will be improved, but I don't think they have solved their backcourt problems.

Dempsey will be a PoY candidate ... I know this has been going on since his sophomore year, but I think it is because when Dempsey is hot he scores more easily than anyone in the league.  He has never seemed to have the consistency/toughness/discipline to maintain that dominant level for whole games at a time.  I would also expect younger brother Jason to make a big impact.

Alex Carnes (starting 3-man) is ineligible for the fall and the freshman big guy from VT is not going to be a factor.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

ENC is going to NJIT on Tuesday night for a game (exhibition for ENC, real for NJIT).

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Pre-season poll:

Endicott    97 (8)
Wentworth    76 (1)
Salve Regina    68
Curry    64 (1)
Gordon    62
Nichols    61
Roger Williams    53
Western New England    29
University of New England    21
Eastern Nazarene    19

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Halftime for ENC at NJIT.  ENC is down 5 at the half, but they had some significant leads in the first period.  Ezeigbo seems to be all the way back; he's much more aggressive on the offensive end and looks very comfortable on the court - something we didn't see last year.

They're playing the freshmen liberally, with some good contributions.  11 guys saw minutes in the first half, five of them freshmen.  Tough to see just who will be contributing during the season, but ENC will have plenty of depth.  These guys hustle.  Ballhandling looks like it won't be an issue this year either.

ENC hasn't clicked well on defense and they're making a lot of bad decision on the offensive end as well (lots of quick threes), but they're hanging around.

I have to think this team will not be finishing last, as the pre-season poll has them.  Could be feisty if they manage to find some discipline and a get the line-up nailed down.