MBB: Conference of New England

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · February 18, 2012, 04:02:51 PM

Salve is crushing Roger Williams at the half, 38-19. Isaiah Pringle is already 5-8 from deep (he's single handedly outscored the RWU team 21-19 in that half).

WIT is up 9 on Curry right near haltime and WNEC is ahead of UNE 24-14 at the half.

Endicott leads ENC by 11 with 11 minutes to go.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · February 18, 2012, 04:33:13 PM

Endicott over ENC, they finish at 12-6, but are still waiting on WIT to know their seed (either #2 or #3).

Salve is up 25, WIT up 12, and WNEC up 10, all with ten minutes or less to go. We'll have playoff matchups soon.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · February 18, 2012, 04:39:57 PM

Salve wins easily by 16 over RWU.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · February 18, 2012, 04:41:45 PM

WNEC outlastss UNE and takes the #8 seed on a tiebreaker.

So far:

Salve #1
RWU #6
Gordon #7
WNEC #8

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · February 18, 2012, 04:52:59 PM

Wentworth is up 20 now with under three minutes to play. If this one plays out like it is, then we've got:

1 - Salve
2 - WIT
3 - Endicott
4 - Nichols
5 - Curry
6 - RWU
7 - Gordon
8 - WNEC

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · February 18, 2012, 05:05:09 PM

#8 WNEC @ #1 Salve - SRU is 2-0 against WNEC, but the last victory was by just four points. I don't think Salve will get caught napping again.

#7 Gordon @ #2 WIT - These two teams have become pretty intense rivals of late. They split the season series with Gordon losing by 1 at WIT and then crushing them at home more recently. The teams are comprised very similarly and tend to rely on the three. GC has a better inside presence. I'd give Gordon the betting odds on this one, but a good shooting night from WIT wraps up the win.

#6 RWU @ #3 Endicott - Roger Williams' best advantage is the big man in the middle, Pat Flanagan. Unfortunately the team most capable of shutting him down is EC, with a plethora of big bodies to throw at him. That being said, they did split during the regular season: each team winning at home. RWU's win came with a fantastic shooting night and a large FT disparity. They know what to do, but he odds of them putting such a game together are long.

#5 Curry @ #4 Nichols - Two really up and down squads, each with a strong scorer and streaky second bananas. Neither team is too fond of defense and both like to crash the boards with the guards. The teams split during the regular season, but NC won at Curry most recently - Sheehan went for 37 in that game. A couple of wildcards in this one - the status of NC's Justin Kuntz. He had some injury issues late in the season and has not yet been back on form. Also, I think Curry has the speed and quickness to shut down Sheehan. If CC doesn't focus on defense, I don't think they can score with this talented offensive Nichols team.

Four very interesting games.

CCC Talk · February 20, 2012, 10:24:32 AM

When does David Dempsey get named League Player of the Year....oh that's right

uconn05 · February 20, 2012, 11:54:57 AM

One thing is for sure - Coach of the Year goes to Sean Foster of Salve. They had the best record and did it with average talent. Combine his team's success with the growth of Birrell, sure to be the pick for POY, and there isn't even a contest over who deserves this award. When Birrell was a freshman he was attended Endicott and was cut during try-outs. Now he is the player of the year. He deserves all the credit in the world for his success - as does coach Foster.

high flyer 21 · February 20, 2012, 03:07:57 PM

uconn05, was Birrell actually "cut" from Endicott? Or did he simply choose to not play? I only ask because he played in a summer league prior to leaving for Endicott which was comprised of some division I players, several division II players, and very good division III players from the area (southeast NE), and he played very well. If he was truly cut, that is a remarkable story. The 07-08 season was notoriously filled with overrecruiting in the CCC (hence, down the road, Gordon's 20 member squad starting that season was unethically trimmed by the coaching staff, rumor has it), so it wouldn't suprise me if Chris Millette turned him down, even though that freshman class had no long-term contributors with the exception of Chris Galbraith. There is no question Birrell deserves POY.

uconn05 · February 20, 2012, 03:24:34 PM

He was cut. EC brought in a lot of kids that year, it wasn't as if he was one of only 5 frosh trying out, but it is remarkable that he went from cut to [possibly] POY.

EC had three first year pg's the year that Birrell was a freshman (this is his fifth year of college) to go along with returners Graham Whitelaw and Todd Burton:

Bobby Montrond (transferred in from NEC)
Mike Rhodes
Ben Ford

They also started the year with 15 guys on the roster - but didn't finish with 15.

high flyer 21 · February 20, 2012, 03:59:46 PM

Interesting. I noticed the exact same thing about the overabundancy of point guard's Endicott had on their roster that season (07-08). That clearly had something to do it. I found an article on Birrell from the Newport newspaper (link attached below). In response to his decision to attend Salve, Birrell states "I went to Endicott for a year and didn't play or anything and transferred." He doesn't make any mention of being cut, so I still have doubts that he was, especially considering his talent out of high school. But I'll give you better end of the argument since you insist and seem to know about it.

http://www.newportri.com/features/sports/family-court/article_bf0a64aa-42bb-11e1-a5d3-0019bb2963f4.html

Gordonhoops123 · February 20, 2012, 09:00:29 PM

Quote from: CCC Talk on February 20, 2012, 10:24:32 AM
When does David Dempsey get named League Player of the Year....oh that's right

CCC talk, would you not say he is in the top 5 in the league?? Your a fool if you don't think he is in the top 5.

Gordonhoops123 · February 20, 2012, 09:03:49 PM

Quote from: high flyer 21 on February 20, 2012, 03:07:57 PM
uconn05, was Birrell actually "cut" from Endicott? Or did he simply choose to not play? I only ask because he played in a summer league prior to leaving for Endicott which was comprised of some division I players, several division II players, and very good division III players from the area (southeast NE), and he played very well. If he was truly cut, that is a remarkable story. The 07-08 season was notoriously filled with overrecruiting in the CCC (hence, down the road, Gordon's 20 member squad starting that season was unethically trimmed by the coaching staff, rumor has it), so it wouldn't suprise me if Chris Millette turned him down, even though that freshman class had no long-term contributors with the exception of Chris Galbraith. There is no question Birrell deserves POY.

Do tell about this unethically cutting of the squad??

CCC Talk · February 20, 2012, 10:23:50 PM

If we're drafting up teams I'd take him if I was taking a full roster of 10 or so. Top 5 possibly. He's still not the player of the year, despite your pumping him for it every year.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · February 21, 2012, 08:53:58 AM

Quote from: Gordonhoops123 on February 20, 2012, 09:00:29 PM
Quote from: CCC Talk on February 20, 2012, 10:24:32 AM
When does David Dempsey get named League Player of the Year....oh that's right

CCC talk, would you not say he is in the top 5 in the league?? Your a fool if you don't think he is in the top 5.

I don't know that he's definitely in the top 5 - certainly a case could be made and he's in the top 10 pretty solidly.