MBB: NEWMAC

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Ok that was rash.  I was more referring to the EC game.  I shouldn't have grouped those together.  I meant to say that neither team is a pushover and EC was dominated.

[newmacnewcommer]

Last nights game at Umass-Boston was a very big win for WPI. I felt a loss could carry over and make the up coming games more difficult. But lets be honest, WPI was up 15 in the first half and couldn't extend it. The second half they lost by 10 thus overtime. In overtime Umass had 3 bad turnovers in tennis they call it unforced errors. umass handed them the game in the end. If thats not lucky what is?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

We can call them unforced errors in basketball too.

[sixer]

newmacnewcomer,
From what I head it sounded like the last few minutes were pretty ugly.  You think they were definately UMass Boston unforced errors and not caused  by pressure from tough D on WPI's part?

[newmacnewcommer]

Sixer, The UMB passes to the invisable man and the player dribbling
the ball off his knee were unforced (with 15 seconds left down 2 ). Seriously, I bet half of the TO's were unforced. WPI plays the best defense in the league but they got a lot of help from UMB that night.

[hugenerd]

Sixer, The UMB passes to the invisable man and the player dribbling
the ball off his knee were unforced (with 15 seconds left down 2 ). Seriously, I bet half of the TO's were unforced. WPI plays the best defense in the league but they got a lot of help from UMB that night.

Just a quick question, when you say WPI plays the best D in the league what are you basing that on? Scoring Defense? Field Goal Percentage Defense? Because WPI is 3rd and 4th in those categories.  They are also 4th in opponents rebounds per game and rebound margin.  They may be the most balanced (offense and defense) and the team that plays best in close games, but you cannot tell me they are the best defensive team in the NEWMAC. If you were saying that they would be the best defensive team in the Little East, then that is a different story.

[newmacnewcommer]

Hugenerd,

I knew when I made that posting someone would qoute those stats.
I wish the stats had just in conference games included. That would give a better indication of where any one team is relative to another.
However, my comment is really based on my observation that WPI is the team that I would least like to play against if I were the opposing coach.

[d3bballinboston]

mit beat newbury by only 8 last night

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I don't know what to make of that.  Newbury was the worst team in the country to start the year, but there have been games when they looked good.  They know how to score and if they happen to hit a good night on the defensive end they can be quite pesky.  Still, MIT probably should have dispatched them with more ease.

[TheFence]

I've seem WPI 3 times and I agree with Hoopsfan when he says they don't stack up nationally.  The just don't have enough inside and the other power teams from strong conferences will be able to match thier intensity and their firepower from the perimeter.

Unfortunately the way the tourney works they will be lumped in a group with the winners from the CCC, MASCAC, Little East, GNAC and will probably win 2 games or so.  They'll falter after that as they will be forced to  play any elite team.  They'll end up 22-3 or something on the year but with just  a single bigtime win (over Williams on 12/3).  I guess you can only beat who you play which they have certainly done this year.

[hugenerd]

A few comments about making a big deal about an 8 point win.

Exhibit A:  WPI wins everyone of their games by 5 or less and they are ranked top 15 nationally.

Exhibit B: Newbury lost to Clark by 3, WPI lost to Clark and beat them by 2 the second time they played. Newbury also lost to Salem State by only 3.

Exhibit C: MIT only shot 4-10 from the FT line in the last 3 minutes, thus making the game look closer than it truly was.

Exhibit D: MIT's starting backcourt shot a combined 4-19, players are going to have bad nights and making a big deal about an 8 point win is ridiculous.

and finally...

Exhibit E: Newbury has a very young and explosive team, as well as a really hard gym to play in, look for them to be good in the coming years as their young players mature.

mit beat newbury by only 8 last night

In my opinion, this was just an unnecessary comment, but I understand that MIT is one of the most hated on teams just because nobody wants to lose to a bunch of nerds (huge nerds if you ask me!).

[sixer]

So we all know that WPI likes to keep their games interesting, but I returned from a long weekend to see that they brought it down to 0.2 seconds this time!!!!  Once again Coleman was the demise of MIT.  Musta been a hell of a game...

Makes me nervous for tonight's game @ Wheaton...judging by the stats (assits, steals) it looks like they have a decent guard in Sean Kelly.  How does he match up against WPI's guards?

[hugenerd]

What no one tells you is the no call that took place with about 1.8 s left.  Coleman was standing by himself at the free throw line because his teammate steam rolled the player guarding him who had left him to take a charge.

[hugenerd]

As for matchups, Coleman is the best defending guard in the league and he will probably guard Zukowski with Cain guarding Kelley.  In my opinion, WPI is very weak inside.  They only have one player, Borque, who can do anything inside and the only other player over 6'4" who plays is his backup.  Even the guys who are 6'4" on WPI, who play power forward, dont really postup or look for anything inside, they are drivers and shooters.  I think they will have alot of trouble playing with a team who's focus is scoring inside, not that Wheaton is, but looking ahead to the NCAA tourney they will not match up against alot of teams.  As for the game with Wheaton, it will probably go down to the wire as usual because WPI cannot put away anybody, they may get upset, but they will probably win by 5 points or less.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

The post play is what wins tournament games.  You have to have solid post defenders and big time rebounders to win.  I'm not making any comment on WPI, because I haven't seen enough to do that reasonably, but it is a critique I've heard a lot from others.

Fortunately, WPI's record will probably get them a first round game that they can dominate without the post and they might sneak past the seecond round because they'll probably be hosting.  However, the sectional matchup is where things get tricky.  They aren't 100% to make it to the third round, but if they do, that's where it gets real and any weakness they have will be exposed.

Of course, if they lose in the conference tourny and have to get in on Pool C, that all changes and they may have a tough match-up right away.