MBB: Conference of New England

[Chantastic]

Lindgren in way over his head- given a high powered car and just had to not crash it. Instead you got tire tracks a bent guardrail and Gordon in the NCAAs

The kid took over a garbage program in Dudley, Mass. and he went 22-6.

He wasn't "given" a high powered car. Have you seen Nichols play the last five years?

[CCC Talk]

He took over a team that already had Sheehan (the best scorer in the league), Horning, Langadas, Gallant, Michaud, Bennett, etc there and Koumare, Horton, Eggleston and Hurst coming in. Granted he gets some credit for being an assistant when those guys were recruited but the program was trending upward. You could argue they underachieved last year with largely the same group and then to not get out of the tourny this year in the weakest CCC tournament in recent memory is a total fail.

I'm sure Nichols will spin the ECAC as something good because they usually aren't in it, but everyone knows the ECAC is a silly event

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

GC goes to Nichols and wins the NCAA bid.  Almost no chance Nichols gets in.  I was concerned with how boisterously the NC faithful celebrated their semi-final win.  Never a good idea to go nuts over getting to a game you were supposed to get to.

At 17-10, Gordon is going to have one of the worst records in the tournament.  I would not be surprised to see them at Amherst or Williams next Thursday.  They're going to be the de facto 15 or 16 seed.

I would not bet on either team, but Gordon will have a better shot than Nichols at competing and winning in round 1.

1. They have an elite shot blocking center.
2. They have a veteran coach.
3. They have not lost a road game since December.

Usually when there's an upset in the tourney, especially in New England, it's because a perimeter player goes for 40 and puts his team on his back.  Miersma is a great player, but he's not going to be scoring the points.  Gordon can win, but they're going to have to grind it out with defense - and that's more difficult to do in the tournament, as an underdog.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Gordon gets a highly favorable draw against Babson at Williams.  That's a winnable game.

[warriorcat]

The D3 Scoreboard page has three games involving CCC teams scheduled for Wednesday.  I assume that these are ECAC quarterfinals.

Plymouth State at Nichols

Lasell at Salve Regina

Endicott at Castleton State


Nice to see four teams involved in post season play

[warriorcat]

ECAC New England 

Wednesday - March 5

Quarterfinals

#8 Plymouth State @ #1 Nichols
#7 Elms @ #2 Johnson and Wales
#6 Endicott @ #3 Castleton State
#5 Lasell @ #4 Salve Regina

Saturday - March 8

Semi Finals

Sunday - March 9

Final

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

The D3 Scoreboard page has three games involving CCC teams scheduled for Wednesday.  I assume that these are ECAC quarterfinals.

Plymouth State at Nichols

Lasell at Salve Regina

Endicott at Castleton State


Nice to see four teams involved in post season play

And I know the ENC players voted not to participate in the ECAC or they likely would have been chosen as well.  It is good representation for the conference.  It wasn't too long ago when we would have been happy to get any team into the ECACs.

[Chantastic]

Gordon gets a highly favorable draw against Babson at Williams.  That's a winnable game.

I am sure there are hundreds of anecdotes like this, but honestly how does this happen?

Five years ago, Gordon was ranked regionally and had gone 24-4 with a Jostens Finalist (Trigg). They were rewarded by being sent to Middlebury who was ranked top ten nationally.

Now they go 17-10 and get a neutral site game with Babson?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Gordon gets a highly favorable draw against Babson at Williams.  That's a winnable game.

I am sure there are hundreds of anecdotes like this, but honestly how does this happen?

Five years ago, Gordon was ranked regionally and had gone 24-4 with a Jostens Finalist (Trigg). They were rewarded by being sent to Middlebury who was ranked top ten nationally.

Now they go 17-10 and get a neutral site game with Babson?

That's about #314 on the list of problems with this bracket.

[Chantastic]

Agreed, Nichols seemed way too excited about their semi-final win. The fact that Salve took them to overtime in their house should've been concerning not something to celebrate. Didn't get the chance to see today's game but it's really a shame that Nichols did lose. Not a huge Lindgren fan, I think he needs to be an assistant for a few more years to mature but he can coach. But Nichols and Sheenan were really the conferences best chance to get a win in the tournament. They probably would've gotten a decent draw and gone against a East Conn-Springfield type team and would've had a chance to win. Instead we're going to have Gordon sent to either Amherst or Trinity where they will get blown out.

Gordon defeats Babson 76-68 and shoots 58% from the field, 91% from the line.

Any conference historians know the last time a CCC team won in the NCAAs?

[GC Oldtimer]

Anna Maria back in the early 1990s...maybe 1993?  One of those years they went to the Sweet 16.  For about two or three years, had to watch Gordon lose to Anna Maria in the conference final each year. 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

The CCC didn't have an automatic bid until the 1999-2000 season.  I know ENC had a couple teams in the 90's that were probably deserving and could have won games, but didn't get the chance.

Anna Maria won two games in the 1996 national tournament.

Tonight is the only other win a CCC school has ever had in the NCAA Tournament (at least on the men's side).

Congratulations to Gordon.  They benefited from a very good draw and some tough defense to get this win.

Williams struggled a bit tonight and won only on the back of their big center Mayer.  He's a big dude with great footwork, but he's not overpowering or aggressive.  A strong night from Miersma on the defensive end could make things interesting.  He's a good enough defensive player to make Mayer work.  The big question in my mind is the size and speed of the Williams guards.  I'm not sure Gordon's defense is quick enough to lock down the perimeter as they're want to do.

[Bill Gorman]

The CCC didn't have an automatic bid until the 1999-2000 season.  I know ENC had a couple teams in the 90's that were probably deserving and could have won games, but didn't get the chance.

The CCC had auto bids in 1995 (Salve Regina), 1996 (Anna Maria), and 1997 (Wentworth). The league didn't have one in 1998 (Wentworth won) or 1999 (Colby-Sawyer won) but has had one since 2000.

[GC Oldtimer]

The CCC didn't have an automatic bid until the 1999-2000 season.  I know ENC had a couple teams in the 90's that were probably deserving and could have won games, but didn't get the chance.

The CCC had auto bids in 1995 (Salve Regina), 1996 (Anna Maria), and 1997 (Wentworth). The league didn't have one in 1998 (Wentworth won) or 1999 (Colby-Sawyer won) but has had one since 2000.

Why did the CCC lose it's auto bid in 1998 & 1999?

[Bill Gorman]

The CCC didn't have an automatic bid until the 1999-2000 season.  I know ENC had a couple teams in the 90's that were probably deserving and could have won games, but didn't get the chance.

The CCC had auto bids in 1995 (Salve Regina), 1996 (Anna Maria), and 1997 (Wentworth). The league didn't have one in 1998 (Wentworth won) or 1999 (Colby-Sawyer won) but has had one since 2000.

Why did the CCC lose it's auto bid in 1998 & 1999?

I honestly don't remember. It was lost on the men's side but kept on the women's side.