MBB: Conference of New England

[backboard]

Tuesday's best:  Justin Woodworth, Salve.  29 points (8-15), 6 rebounds, and 3 assists in 37 minutes.

Tuesday's worst:  Brad Bryant, Wentworth.  0 points (0-7), 2 rebounds, and 5 assists in 32 minutes.


I'm basing this only off of box scores, so if you have your opinions, feel free to post them.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Glad to see backboard taking over my recapping duties.  The load is just too much for me these days.

I did check out some box scores and it looks like the CCC is in for a rough year.  Outside of Endicott and Regis teams seem to be starting out below expectations.  Of course Gordon can change that with a big win tonight.  Still there are some bad losses out there early on.

[backboard]

Gordon 77 - MIT 69  OT

Great win by Gordon tonight.  They were down early but continued to play solid and force overtime.  A key foul out by MIT's All-American Jimmy Bartolotta fouled out and they struggled on offense from then on.  Aaron Trigg was huge for the Fighting Scots but Ben Gaskill and Greg Walker contributed in a large way as well.

[scout]

It was a solid win for Gordon. It seems like forever since they've beaten MIT either home or away. As the stats are posted, I'm sure there will be a lot of analysis, but there are a few key things to take away from this one.

- Gordon, even with the loss of Marstaller, Schnack, Kaufman, and Krass... Can still play big when needed. They can win tough games and that is never a bad thing.

- Aaron Trigg is every bit of the player we think he is. If he can come close to playing the way he did tonight in each game looking forward, POY in the CCC is in the bag.

- Ben Gaskill and Greg Walker can pull down boards against anyone. They can alter shots and, in the case of Walker, hit the short range jumpers.

- MIT is a solid, solid team. Bartolotta and Soumare are fantastic players and they literally make or break the game with their presence (or lack thereof).

Finally, and this cannot be understated, Hoops is right. The CCC seems down this year. Not only within the conference but against opponents outside of the conference, it seems as if we'll be seeing fewer and fewer wins. It's still early, but the analysis is valid.

The Gordon win tonight is huge. It proves that the teams at the top of the CCC can contend against solid non-con teams. Congrats to the Fighting Scots.

[yeah buddy]

Gordon actually beat M.I.T. away in 05-06 and at home in 06-07. However, M.I.T. is always tough and anytime you can beat them its a good thing.
Gordon looked impressive last night despite some periods of sloppy play. They clearly miss Justin Kaufman handling the ball but Trigg seems to be doing a good job of distributing as well as looking for his own shot. The big men for Gordon are really coming along. I thought that Gaskill did just what they need him to do - be big, get boards, alter shots and make easy buckets (12 pts last night). Greg Walker could be a stud in this league. He is long and has a high release with a soft touch. Its going to be interesting to watch these guys this year.

[backboard]

Scout, when are you going to learn?  This is the same old act by Gordon year after year.  They have a quality regular season, even beat a few good teams here and there.  Last year was Plattsburgh and this year it's MIT.  But each and every year, they enter the playoffs, win one game only, and then get bounced out.  Their best chance to win was when Mike Herr and Jerry Logan were captains.  Even they were knocked out of the playoffs, albeit by the eventual champions.  Aaron Trigg is a nice player (30 points last night) but I'm far from convinced they will do any better this year than last year, and the year before that.

[backboard]

Wednesday's best:  Aaron Trigg, Gordon:  30 points (8-17, 6-9 3-PT), 5 assists , 2 rebounds in 42 minutes.

Wednesday's worst:  Spencer Marzouk, NEC:  0 points (0-5, 0-2 3-PT), 1 rebound, 2 turnovers in 20 minutes.

[scout]

Backboard... I agree with you. Gordon is an inexperienced team outside of Trigg, Bajema and Gaskill.

I have experienced those quick exits from the CCC tourney and I know where you're coming from. I was merely trying to point out that there is a severe lack of parity in the conference right now. Colby-Sawyer, Gordon and Roger Williams are the class of the CCC at this point and outside of these teams, we'd be hard-pressed to find any confidence in any other team making the tourney at all.

I'm not trying to hype Gordon because they're Gordon. I was attempting to make a case that Gordon has a team that knows how to fight for a win, even with a young squad.

I'm a fan of balance, parity, and utilitarianism in the CCC as much as anyone. (That and the fact that the Gordon-MIT game was the only CCC game of note last night).

[backboard]

I don't think NEC (who earned their first win if the year) or Eastern Naz would apppreciate that, but you're right

[yeah buddy]

i don't think anyone in their right mind would try to make the case that Gordon is going to win the championship and go to the tourney because of this win last night. the moral of the story is that Gordon is a talented team with alot of potential who got a good win last night. nothing more and nothing less.
the ccc as a whole is severely depleted this year with numerous all-conference team staples having graduated. but it will be interesting to see who rises up.

[CCC Talk]

at least there aren't 187 random posts about the UNE-WIT game tonight like the UNE-USM game which was from what I hear the most important basketball game in the history of the state of maine...pick up your free cupon

[Bill Gorman]

at least there aren't 187 random posts about the UNE-WIT game tonight like the UNE-USM game which was from what I hear the most important basketball game in the history of the state of maine...pick up your free cupon

Probably because we won't be offering any free coupons tonight. 

[backboard]

Aw c'mon Bill, I was looking forward to my first Wentworth game this year

[cccc-fanatic]

Just in...UNE 91 WIT 90
6 players for UNE in double figures!

[Hugenerd]

Gordon 77 - MIT 69  OT

Great win by Gordon tonight.  They were down early but continued to play solid and force overtime.  A key foul out by MIT's All-American Jimmy Bartolotta fouled out and they struggled on offense from then on.  Aaron Trigg was huge for the Fighting Scots but Ben Gaskill and Greg Walker contributed in a large way as well.

The key foul out was a key assist by the ref.  A weak call like that in the last minute of the game on a screen away from the ball with no bearing on the play should never be made.  It is even more questionable considering the timing of the call with the home team trailing by a posession and on MIT's best player.  Bartollotta has averaged 36+ minutes per game and only 2.4 fouls per game over the past 3 seasons (over that time he has fouled out in 2 games, one was an OT game, the other was 3OT).  For him to collect 5 in 25 minutes just doesnt seem right to me, especially considering the play that the last foul was called on.  Good win for Gordon, but it would have been a bit more impressive if they had done it playing against MITs actual lineup instead of playing against their freshman for almost half of the game.  Soumare has been foul prone in the past so that is as much of a stretch, but some of the calls against Bartolotta had me scratching my head.  You had the feeling the refs were looking for Bartolotta to do something so they could get a call on him. For example, on that last play where he fouled out, there wasnt anything egregious to draw the refs attention (considering the ball was at the top of the key and the screen was on the week side baseline with the man running off away from the basket), the ref who called it on the sideline would have had to be staring at him to find anything at all because I was watching Bartolotta on the play to see if he would come up to get the ball on such an important posession.  I thought at first it was on the Gordon player for fighting through the screen too agressively but to my (not) surprise, it was called on Bartolotta.