MBB: Conference of New England

[roy_williams]

after the GC euphoria i caught the second half of EC-CC. game was a blowout when i got there. Curry got it 10 with about 8 left, thanks to three bombs from Bartelle (off the bench again) but that was about it. no real threat. EC looked good, Matty George was unconcious. Nemanja was running alot of point forward as well, helping Ellis advance the ball against the quick Curry guards. Lamb was off in the second half, getting bumped alot inside. Just couldn't get his shot to fall. the "endicott" referee (and i say this as politely as possible but this guy works many EC games and clearly favors the Gulls with his calls) made some spotty calls, but nothing to deter the outcome. CC was beat plain and simple. interesting to hear what coach has to say. sad ending for Lamb---Curry just never lived up to its talent. Although we have said before talent is a dangerous thing. it doesn't always equal success.

PB and J hit a last second shot for WIT 1.2 left. Must have been something in the air tonight.

[akirk]

Well now that GC got that game out o the way, it is time to roll thru the rest of the tournament.  I have to say they couldn't just make it easy.  Let's just hope that they are over the "we haven't won one yet" mentality and play like we all know they can. 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Well, sounds like things were pretty crazy last night.  I'd like to say "I told you so" about the RWU game and apologize to Endicott for doubting.  Also, (and I want answers to this one), do you all believe me that Nichols could be a decent team over the next two years?

[gordon]

Wow, that's awesome for Gordon to pull off a W in last couple seconds of the game, in their own gym.  Congrats.  That W showed some real team composure that you hope for out of a good veteran team.

The North wins and, what, what's that, oh yeah all the teams in the south lost.  My point...the North is usually better and the CCC should be ranked by one conference not the North/South.

Gordon is in a difficult situation.  They are the best team in the league, with the record and W's against solid teams to prove it.  However, the pressure is on them.  CSC is supposed to lose thursday night and Gordon is supposed to win.  Does the "we haven't one yet mentality," pose a problem.  Yes, because they are facing a CSC team that could be possibly finding their chemistry with a couple good players to back it up.  The other harsh fact, if we can handle the truth is,  "if Gordon loses Thursday night, it means they choked".   Are they the better team?  Have they beat good quality teams?  Are they ranked higher?  Yes. Yes. Yes.  Then if they lose.............    However, CSC has choked their share also.  I am just throwing out a point, so after CSC wins at Gordon...Please don't blame it on the refs, or mentality, or whatever...

Gordon is not used to it, sometimes when your number one you get caught up in defending the top spot instead of going on the offensive.  Playing not to lose instead of playing to win. 

Gordon should hopefully still make the NCAA, and that's the only hope for having two CCC teams represent in the tournament.   

Good luck Thursday Night.

My pick is CSC by 5
Endicott by 20

Then CSC by 3 in the championship.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

We got some good reports from Wenham, but not too much from anywhere else.  I'll do a brief rundown:

CSC 63 Salve 48.  St. Clair went for 18 and 9 with 4 assists and 3 steals, Thorpe went for 10 and 9, Fouriner and Bray had ten a piece as well.  CSC got out to a 9 point lead at halftime and just extended it throughout the second half.  Rego led SRU with 13 off the bench; Coute had 10 points and Grendal had 10 rebounds.  Salve needed Coute to step up and CSC shut him down.  Good news for Gordon: Thorpe shot 1-7 from three, but other than that, a good CSC win.

EC 67 CC 49.  Again, as we predicted, Curry couldn't hit the boards and EC dominated.  Lamb had 10; Bartelle had 16 for Curry.  EC was led by George's 30.  EC picked up their defense and limited Curry's shooters.  EC also got to the line and hit free throws.  Now they have to deal with Wentworth for a return trip to the conference finals.

GC 77 NC 76.  We've heard all about this one.  16 for Lewis, 15 and 9 for Butler in his last game, 13 for Sturdhal and 12 for Vallee; Baskerville had 6 assists off the bench.  For GC: 24 for Kaufman, 18 and 10 for Marstaller, 15 for Herr and 10 fro Logan; Vogelzang had 6 assists.  GC didn't hit as many threes as they would have liked, but they got the points when they needed them.  GC scored 50 in the second half.  Nichols showed how good an offensive team they can be.

WIT 68 RWU 67.  PB&J hit a three with 1.4 seconds left to give WIT the win.  Do you realize that every South team lost?  Just crazy!  PB&J hit his three about ten seconds after Parrish hit a three to put RWU up by two.  This one might have been just as exciting as the GC game down the stretch.  You can't ask for much more in the playoffs.  Prezzie-Blue went for 26 and Doyle had 14; Frankie Hall had 7 assists.  For RWU Barranger went for 22 and 7 and Cormier had 18.  Parrish had 5 assists and 4 steals.  Billy Barrett had 7 assists.  RWU only took 6 FTs the whole game.  This was just a crazy one, but I knew it would be.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

So what's the outlook for Thursday?

CSC @ GC.  After last night's game, I have to pick CSC, although it will be closer than last night's games suggest.  Salve played just awful basketball, so CSC's win was not as impressive.  Nichols fought hard, but exposed some GC weaknesses.  You can believe Foti had somebody scouting that game at Gordon and will be ready for it.  I think St. Clair and Thorpe are ready to control Marstaller.  This game will come down to how well the CSC perimeter defense can handle the GC backcourt.  Great game.  I can't wait.

WIT @ EC.  WIT is going to have the big letdown after their upset win.  The wrong RWU team showed up and didn't play defense or pound the ball inside.  EC will do both and do them well.  I can see a 15-20 game.

[TheFence]

From a national perspective I really hope Gordon wins this tourney.  I just couldn't deal with 2 CCC teams in the Big Dance and I think with the flawed system in place Gordon has a chance to get in as a Pool C. I can't be sold that Gordon is one of the top 18 Pool C teams but the committe probably will force it upon us.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

The NCAA has never proposed to get the 18 "best" teams into the tournament.  All they claim to do is get the best teams in each region to the tournament.  It's the equality that comes with d3.  If you do well in your region, you get rewarded.  Yeah it stinks for middle-of-the-road teams in stronger regions, but if a NE team had to go undefeated every year to get in (which Gordon et al) would have to do, what incentive is there to compete in d3?

By the way, if CSC gets in by winning the tournament, there are a lot of schools around here that will be very afraid.  CSC has played even Amherst real tough with the same personnel over the last few years.  Gordon is at least good enough to compete with the Pool A teams from the E and NE.  It's not like Elmhurst would get placed in this bracket anyway, if they got the spot.

D3 is not like d1 and too many people are trying to make it that way.

[24/7/365]

CSC has the best player, EVER, in the CCC, in that of The Saint.  They have one of the most storied programs, EVER, in the CCC. And they were preseason #1.  Yes GC is #1 in the North this year, but this CSC team is a lot like the Pittsburgh Steelers this year.  Even though Pitt was a wildcard, and struggled for most of the year, everyone knew that if they hit on all cylinders, they would be near invincible.  That statement goes for CSC as well.  

The CSC team at the beginning of the year flat out sucked.  They were disgracing their legacy, and were weakening our conference in the eyes of the national eye.  But the current CSC team is the team we all know and fear.  They are a team that can battle anywhere anytime.  Don't say GC choked if they lost, I don't believe anyone would agree with that statement.  The only way GC chokes is if they score 10 points and lose by 96+.  

Thursdays game, though probably not the same as yesterdays, will be phenomenal.  Two powerhouses colliding in the semis.  One has history on their side, the other destiny.  You have to love games like this.  It's almost a toss up.  Vegas would have a very difficult time making a line for this game.  I don't want to give an opinion on the outcome, b/c my ESP is being blocked by my euphoria still from last night.  But I will say this, if RWU were a European soccer team, their locker room would have been firebombed by unruly fans last night, rightfully so.  UNBELIEVABLE!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

CSC has the best player, EVER, in the CCC, in that of The Saint.  They have one of the most storied programs, EVER, in the CCC.

Those might be slight overstatements, but its so hard to compare players from the mid 90's to these guys today.  There were some incredible players and teams back then.  He's certainly the best CCC player in the last 7 years that I've been following the whole conference so closely.  I wasn't to informed on the rest of the conference before that, but I did see quite a few very talented players come through.  St Clair has also been the most dominant over that span.  He has really had no rivals at the top (besides Lamb's one semester last year).

By the way, St. Clair is at 1995 points and 974 rebounds right now for his career.  I sure hope Joe stops the game or at least acknowledges that accomplishment on Thursday night when he goes over 2,000.

[akirk]

It seems kind of odd that GC being the #1 seed has to play the #3 seed in the north and not the #4 seed.  Has this ever happened before? Doesn't it make sense to reseed the second round?  EC gets a huge advantage with playing WIT and not CSC.  I still think the playoff structure is ridiculous.  The top team from the North and South should go 1 and 2 and the rest should be seeded by record and not record + North/South.  What does everyone else think?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I think there is no really fair way to deal with it.  Honestly, GC might complain, but the North sure can't.  THe big reason they went to this format was because the North teams were upset that the divisonal play could limit their ability to compete in the conference tournament.  The current set-up allows for all four teams from one division to make the semi-finals.  I believe this is the first time that has actually happened, but it was well deserved.

[boston ball 56]

Good Morning Guys and good Bye the South has been defeated (again) I want to say that this has been fun.However I agree with the person who stated players and coaches should not be on here. It was brought to my attention that somethings were being posted by someone who had to be an Curry insider. Well we know how that ended. This posting thing can be addictive so I will check in to posting rehab via the recruiting trail. I must go out and get all this talent I was told we have. I salute the teams that are still playing. They are the toast of the CCC. Special kudo's to WIT for winning at RWU and NC for giving the Scots a fight. Hoops email me some time if you know where I can find some rebounders(smile) Take Care, Coach

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I still haven't heard too many opinions on the post-season awards.

It seems were pretty agreed on St. Clair and Schauer, but what about Rookies?  Does anyone have any good rookies ot nominate?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I tried to make a poll, but apparently I don't have that much access on this board.  Anything you can do about that Pat?  I do have the option for a poll at the top.  Do any of the rest of you have that option?

Anyway, here are my candidates, let me know who you vote for:

Ricardo Jean-Noel (ENC)
Bobby Montrod (NEC)
Jah'maine Mercer (NC)
Steve Walsh (SRU)
Todd Doyle (WIT)

That is my rookie team.  Other guys who contributed: the shooters, Deryk Largesse (CC) and Justin Woodworth (SRU) and the 4th big man up north, Duncan Szeliga (CSC).