MBB: Conference of New England

[MLamont1214]

Wasn't at the game but heard that Curry beat a tough Endicott squad. I have to give Curry alot of credit even though they blew a huge lead to bring the game into overtime, this is not the same Curry team that lost to SRU or CSC recently....a blowout win against NC and win at EC speaks for itself. I look forward to hearing about the outcome of CC-GC next week.....seems like that last minute Curry streak is in progress and will continue into the post-season.


My Prediction: Curry beats GC and ends their winning streak!

[buddy]

Wow! What a great night it was for CCC basketball. I just wish I could have been at both the GC/NC & the EC/CC games, but with the weather predictions & the proximity of the 2 games, it was a no brainer, I didn't even have to toss a coin. I was at  the EC/CC game and I'm glad I did!
After a nice presentation of the 1,000 pt game balls to both Marinkovic & George, the game began. Curry came out with a real killer pace & with what has to have been their best "in conference" play all year.  Offensively, they could do no wrong . . from any spot they shot, the ball seemed to drop. Defensively , they collected their fair share of the boards. The momentum was all theirs and I thought it was going to carry over the rest of the game, when the beginning of the 2nd half started. But then, what must have felt like a nightmare for Curry happened. It was the momentum shift. It was precipitated by some bogus officiating calls against Curry, which gave the Gulls the feeling they were still in the game. To their credit, they used it to fuel their comeback. With a tenacious trapping , full court press defense, which was well executed ,  and with the now raving fans in the stands, they rattled Curry enough  to turn over the ball several times, which led to EC tying the game at the end of regulation. At that point, it looked like Curry was done. When they came out  for the jump ball at the start of OT,  EC  got a quick 2 points,  things were looking worse for Curry. With time running out & Curry down by 4, it now looked like it was going to be an EC victory for sure. Somehow, the Curry men got together, stood tall, kept their composure, dropped in a 3 & it was once again anyone's ballgame. Somehow Curry got the ball back & got a breakaway 2 & they were now up by 1.  With 3.5 seconds left on the clock & a sideout for EC, you had to think there was still a chance. However, a forced bad in-bounds pass led to a tie up on the floor & time expired. With all that, I have to congratulate the Curry team for hanging tough in a game that should have been won easily.

Can someone who was at the GC/NC game please post some details on how the game was played & some of the highlights.  Thanks.

[24/7/365]

Having talked to a few guys who went, and to some of the players, the GC/NC game and the 3 point victory was not as thrilling as one would perceive it to be.  GC was up 10 at half and the lead dwindled to 7 for the majority of the game.  With about 2 mins to go NC hit back to back shots and cut the lead to 2.  NC apparently thought they needed to foul so GC just hit free throws.  NC never was closer than 3 after cutting it to 2 with 90 seconds left.  From what I'm told, this was a case of GC playing awful and NC playing thier best.  That's a good sign, I guess.

As for the EC/CC game.  It sounds a lot like when EC made the trip to GC.  Big lead cut to a few in the 2nd half.  EC, as of late, is getting a taste of their own medicine.  Being down big early, and having to claw there way back only to come up short.  EC is not carrying a whole lot of Mr. Momentum into CSC or the playoffs for that matter.  Maybe the inexperience/lack of leadership we talked about earlier in the year is finally catching up to them?  We'll just have to see how this final week plays out for them.

Yes CC is doing their late season run.  But they are beating teams that have been struggling.  They throttled NC at home, and beat a very vulnerable EC team as well.  But with all the drama with this team, talent can only take you so far, the team aspect is what puts you over the edge.  So I still like GC, at home.  They're undefeated, and Coach Schauer is going to have his guys raren' and ready to play the big bad boys from CC.

 

[dwebbs]

Nichols had the ball with the shot clock off down by three, but took a pretty bad shot with a defender in their face. Kaufman then hit two FT's to go up by five and seal it.

[Maq Diesel]

Well it was an interesting weekend in the CCC and one where many predictions about this weekend's games came true.  As for the GC v. Nichols game let me say this, Nichols is a scrappy team, with a lot of heart.  Now that that's out of the way, Saturdays game was UGLY, maybe not for Nichols but certainly for GC, and mostly for the officials, who as officials go were horrific.  But as for the teams I am not just saying this but I think Nichols played a good game.  GC on the other hand played as bad as I have seen them play, at least defensively, this entire year.  Nichols is kind of a hard team to match up with because they at most points during the game had four guys 6' 4" or better on the floor.  Still match-ups and all Gordon's Man to Man defense was poor (they defended well in a Zone, but switched in an out), I think 24/7/365 was right about them being a little rusty from their three day break.  On offence I feel like they struggled to find their rhythm and didn't hit many 3's but still scored alright because Nichols defense was a little weak.  To sum it up it was a weird game.  The reffs sucked, and GC just couldn't seem to get anything going.  Without a doubt they are a better team with more talent, and Nichols although feisty and hard working does not scare me as a playoff match-up especially at home in the Bennett center.

A couple thoughts about GC in the playoffs.  Not to sound like a homer but if they can find their rhythm, the one thing I think that separates them from any other team is their ability to score as a team.  What I mean by this is that any night anyone of 7 or 8 guys can lead them in scoring and a couple more can be in double digits.  Now you can say that they don't have a go-to guy per se, but I think at this level having that many guys that can score is dangerous and poses a tough match-up.  Should be an interesting last week of the season with a playoff race in the north up for grabs, seeding up in the air and two very big games in EC @ CSC and CC @ GC should be a great last week

[roy_williams]

the other thing i noticed on offense for gordon was they had more turnovers than assists. and obviously the fg% and 3pt% in the 2nd half was off the charts horrific, but it's a sign of a good team to win without your best, especially on the road. nichols is scrappy like diesel points out, and frankly it's nice to  get a road W when GC played how they did. i think they played a similar game against EC early this year and they got rolled out of the gym. i'm not comparing nichols to EC persay, just noting the fact that i think GC has grown as team and has come together during this win streak, enough to withstand an effort like saturday on the road and still get a W.

found this interesting tidbit on Bartelle....maybe this is why he doesn't fit into a system too well. but kid can sure ball.

http://www.boston.com/sports/articles/2005/08/22/hip_hoops_make_a_hop_into_town/

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

NEC 72 RWU 77 in OT.  No stats that I can find.  Probably not the best game for a RWU team that should dominate in the post against a team whose only post presence isn't playing.

CC 80 EC 79 in OT.  Points to 24/7 for pointing out that EC has been struggling.  This is still a big win for Curry, but I'm not hopping on the bandwagon unless they can put the same hurt on GC.  Still, very nice win.  CC got out to a big lead at halftime and EC battled back.  Just two very talented teams, playing very well.  27 qnd 10 from Marinkovic is huge because he rarely plays that well versus good big men.  Curry has been slacking on the boards this year, but didn't in this game; good showing for Nemanja.  George had 15 with 5 assists and Burton had 11 points for EC.  Curry put five guys in double figures Bartelle with 18 off the bench, Prescod had 17, Lamb had 16, Mohrin had 15 and Largesse had 11.  Curry is going to have to take care of the ball better (19 TOs on 15 EC steals tells me they were trying to be too fancy with the ball).  EC shot 7-28 from three, which didn't help, but they also missed 12 free throws, which could have really helped.  Curry shot over 50% from the floor and 45% from the arc; EC did well to give those numbers up and still keep it close.

UNE 54 SRU 65.  16 for McManus, 16 for Regis, 11  and 11 for Stickney.  UNE had 16 turnovers and not nearly enough rebounds, although their shooting was better than it has been.  Coute scored 24, finally deciding to carry this team, like the all-conference player he is capable of being.  Walsh came up big with 18 and 10 and Grendal chipped in 10 and 11.  Salve is good on the boards, but I've yet to see them come up big against a big team.  The match-up with RWU coming up should be very, very good.

GC 66 NC 63.  A close game like we thought.  GC just couldn't put the nail in the coffin and Nichols showed that they have a very nice future with all that young talent.  Lewis had 21 for NC, Vallee had 20 and 9, Butler put in 11 and Mercer had 5 assists off the bench.  Marstaller had 16 and 10, Logan got 17 and Kauffman had 13.  Gordon got to the FT line a lot and NC missed a bunch of threes, which seemed to be the big failings.  The Nichols squad brings nearly everyone back next year and is showing a lot of improvement here at the end of the season.  They are definately up and coming.

CSC 85 WIT 69.  Word is WIT is another great up and coming squad too.  They are led by young guys and against the senior ladened CSC squad on a mission, were just no match down the stretch when the boys from New London turned it on.  The WIT coaching staff knows what they are doing from a recruiting stand point and the players seem to be developing; good things for them in the future.  21 for Prezzie-Blue with five assists, 10 pts from Hall off the bench.  Doyle got 12 points and 4 assists (making up for the poor performance in his last start).  Gaine also had 10 pts for WIT.  St Clair went for 26 and 9, Kenny had 14 (where has he been all season; he could be very important for the tournament), BRay went for 11 and 7 assists and Thorpe had 11 points as well.  CSC is looking poised for a good run in the conference tourney.  I'd like to see them win it; I think they are rounding into form and could make waves.  CSC still had problems getting to the line, but their shooting is much improved.  WIT shot 1-9 from deep and probably knocked them off their game a little bit.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I'll do a breakdown of the playoff spots as soon as the d3hoops.com individual team pages decide to load again.  They always get slow on Monday mornings.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

OK, I'll give it a try:

RWU control their own destiny in the South.  If they beat Salve they secure a home game for the playoffs, if they beat Salve and Curry, they secure the #1 seed.  The interesting thing comes if they lose out (SRU, CC and EC) its not that unlikely.  Salve only has a game with RWU and then NEC.  If Salve wins out and Roger Williams loses out, Salve gets the tiebreaker because they beat RIC and Wheaton in the non-conference schedule.  Curry has AMC next, then they only have to beat either RWU or Gordon to clinch #1.  A three-way tie will only be possible is Anna Maria beats Curry, so we're counting that out.  A CC-RWU tie for first is possible, but Curry has that tiebreaker already with a sweep of Nichols.  Nichols is the #4 seed in the South, nothing can change that.  The most likely scenario is #1 Curry, #2 RWU, #3 SRU and #4 NC.  RWU and SRU could switch places depending on their head-to-head.

In the North, GC can afford to lose to Curry, but they have to beat UNE and WIT.  CSC gets the #2 seed with a win over EC.  EC has the hardest road with CSC and RWU still on it.  The #4 is very interesting though.  WIT has only GC and EC left, so they are most likely not going to win another game.  That means for a tie, NEC is going to have to lose to CSC, UNE and SRU.  This is not out of the question.  A tie at five wins, gives the #4 seed to WIT, but a tie at 6 wins, also gives the #4 seed to WIT because 6 wins for them means a win over either GC or EC.  NEC's only hope (and most likely scenario) is to beat UNE and hope WIT loses twice.  Most likely #1 Gordon, #2 CSC, #3 Endicott, #4 NEC.  If EC beats Colby-Sawyer, then those seeds will switch.

This would most likely produce Curry-CSC and GC-EC semifinals, which would be awesome.  Things could change, but those seem to be the most likely scenarios right now.

[akirk]

Hey does anyone have any thoughts on Coach of the Year?  I would say it would ahve to be between RW and GC's coaches.

[roy_williams]

thanks for breaking it down hoops. so, it does look like the CC-GC game will be meaningless for the Scots. Is the precedent to (for the most part) rest the regulars going into the game when you have #1 wrapped up, or is it to play a complete game because playoffs start so soon and its your only chance to see Curry? I guess you could make the same arguement the other way, choosing not to show Curry your best for scouting purposes. I dunno, just wondering what the precendent usually is in these cases. My feeling is that Schauer will go with his best for the majority, maybing resting those who have might have some undisclosed nagging injuries.

props to CSC for withstanding the 0-2 start in conference, getting barraged on the road by EC and GC. i guess in the back of our mind we all expected this veteran team to respond, but the fact that thursday's game is for #2 in the North, i give Colby-Sawyer credit for battling back this far.

if Gordon clinches the #1 (even losing to Curry at the end) I would have to say Schauer would lock up the COY. Although, last year Marstaller should have won ROY so who knows?

[akirk]

They only reason why I would out RW's coach in there is due to the huge lose in the beginning of the season.  If I remember correctly they lost one of their best players for the season due to a stress fracture on his tibia?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

The RWU team did a good job rebounding from a tough loss, but it took way too long for me to send a COY that way.  I think it has to go to Shauer, especially if they finish 15-1.  This is a breakthrough year for GC and an unexpected result (I'm not sure even they counted on sweeping CSC this year).

There is no way GC should be resting anyone against CC.  This is not just gearing up for a conference tournament.  This is preparing the team for a national tournament spot.  Even if they lose in the conference tournament, GC has a good enough record to get at at-large bid to the dance.  A regular season loss to Curry could damage those chances.  They need to win.  If they can get out of the first round of the conference tournament with a 22-2 regional record, the other games are no-pressure, which actually makes them easier to win.

[Trueball38]

hey Roy as for what you posted about Bartelle he played with And 1 for the past 2 years, and they are practically begging for him to come and play full time after college on the oppsing team.  He really gave that team a problem and made their little show into a serious game after raining 3's all day on them and dunking on one of their key players, but he has talent, but he needs more discipline as a team player and I promise you if he can start playing within the program he and get his head right could go pro.  Curry is a very good team with a excellent coaching staff I think they could pull it off this year, and not to put him over the team but if you all notice Curry is Undefeated since Bartelle's return(you can't count the Colby-Sawyer game because he didn't play) but when he's on the court scoring the haven't been beating yet that might be a sign of a CCC Championship for Curry.  We just have to wait and see

[akirk]

Hoops,

I agree with you.  Shauer should win but I was more or less wondering if there are any others in the running.  Does GC move up to #2 in the reginoal rankings? And one more thing, will GC get any votes for Top 25 at all?