MBB: Great Northeast Athletic Conference

[pjunito]

I will. I'll try to do that also for GNAC>.. As Emerson is leaving the conference.. not sure if we are adding anyone.

[7express]

Great!  Looking forward to how you see the GNAC shaping up next season.  Also where's Emerson going again, the NEWMAC??

[Pat Coleman]

Correct, Emerson to the NEWMAC.

As a heads-up for those who don't already know, the Bracket Challenge is out! Our friends at d3photography.com manage our official picks contests:

http://d3photography.com/bracket_challenge/

Playing for pride, which means student-athletes and department personnel can participate.

[pjunito]

Thanks Pat... Yea, the NEWMAC.

There has also been talking of Anna Maria leaving as well..

[lildave678]

Yea, those kind of losses stay with you a long time... I still remember dropping a fly ball in the 9th that cost us a win.. You just wanna throw yourself out of a window and then replay the game a 1,00 times in your head.

How do you think West Conn bounces back next year?  Men and Women.

The men really can't do any worse last year.  Have some talent there in Starks & Groski, those 2 got a lot better as the season progressed so there's hope.  Hopefully coach Campbell can go out and recruit some talented kids.  Need a PG though, turnovers killed us last year.  I'd say they'll finish about the 3rd-6th range.  Eastern will be good, RIC as always will be good.  Keene you never know.  Lose a bunch of guys (Rashard Wright, Ryan Martin), have a couple good ones coming back (Eric Fazio, Tom Doyle).  They lack motivation so thats why their a question mark.  Boston & Dartmouth have a lot of young talent.  USM finished 4th they have a bunch of guys returning.  Gonna be wide open.
Women I think can still finish in the upper half.  USM (the conf & tourney winner) loses 3 starters, but they return a talented D-1 transfer who only a sophmore lead the conf in field goal percentage and all second team selection.  They had absolutely no bench, so I think they drop from the pack.  Dartmouth loses the conference player of the year but that's gonna be a very good team, probably my preseason pick.  Western loses 3 starters, and the leading scorer tore her acl in February, so they might start off not so good, but they'll be up there.  Boston, RIC & Eastern all have young and talented teams.  Eastern's roster was pretty much all freshmen & sophmores this year and they still finished tied for 3rd.  RIC was one of the conferences better defensive teams they have 4/5 starters returning, Boston has the last 2 rookie's of the year on their team.  Keene loses their best player, Plymouth will still be terrible, but hopefully they can improve on their 2-40 LEC conference record the last 3 years (and no that is not a typo.  1-13 in 10/11 and 11/12, 0-14 in 12/13), and 1-24 overall record last season.  I'd say Western about 2-4.

Word has it Campbell is recruiting Walter Wright from Wilby who while I don't know the high school landscape as a whole, may be the 3rd best player in the state behind Khalil Dukes and Tyshon Rogers. Also talks he was going to go prep in hopes that he can get to a low/mid D1 like Damian Saunders and Anthony Ireland. I'm hoping for the latter being a Wilby/AMC grad haha. If he realizes he's never going to go pro and just wants to enjoy playing some more basketball he'd INSTANTLY help any D3 program, especially one like Western or even Albertus.

[lildave678]

He's been at the last couple of Wilby home games too, maybe looking at some other NVL talent?

[pjunito]

Coach Campbell doesn't go so many years with a winning record without the ability to recruit. I am sure he will be targeting many good players from Connecticut.. I think they should have a strong class next year.

[7express]

GNAC goes 1-1 against the LEC in ECAC action this evening.

Anna Maria beats Southern Maine 76-62, Johnson & Wales loses to Eastern Connecticut 85-64, getting outscored 50-24 in the second half after leading by 5 at halftime.  Eastern shot 61% from the floor for the game and would have to guess was about 65 to 70% in the second half.
Emerson loses to the 1 seed Westfield state 71-52 I believe.

Anna Maria hosts another LEC school Eastern Connecticut in the semifinals Saturday afternoon at Westfield state @ 3:00 PM.  Tip off of that game is around 3 PM.  Westfiield vs. Castleton state is the first semifinal at 1 PM.

[pjunito]

Thanks for the updates 7.

Good luck to Anna Maria in the second round. Should be a good game between them and Eastern.

[pjunito]

4. Experience: We always hear how a senior led team is tough to knock out in tournament time. Albertus has 2 seniors' starters in Lora and Jackson and they have 3 coming off the bench, Jimm E, Dugas, and Sweeney. The team has been focused during the playoff run and was down as many as 14 to Anna Maria in the championship and didn't panic. Alvernia is a very young team, one senior who has seen 30 seconds of action the last week; mostly juniors and sophomores. Alvernia had a tough semi-final game erasing a 7 point deficit with 5 minutes to play (every point came at the foul line); the coach had to call a time out because he felt they were panicked and the game was over... If Albertus falls behind early, they have the seniors to keep them in the game. Can Alvernia remain under control if that happens to them?

[pjunito]

5. Home court: Alvernia has won its last 5 games at home and is 12-2 on the year. They have a great crowd, lots of energy.  They give up 62.6 points per game at home. They probably feed off their crowd especially defensively. They rebound the ball well for being a small sized team (37 rebounds a game); this means they are well coached and probably understand how important a home game is. Albertus is 9-4 on the road this year; they avg 78.5 pts in their 4 losses; down 7 points from their 85.4 season average. Alvernia will be tough at home; they are Athletic and can play defense, couple that with a loud crowd and Albertus may be in for a long night.

[pjunito]

6. Keys to the game:
a. Foul trouble – Alvernia plays 5 guys for the most part. They bring two guys off the bench but only one has significant playing time the last few games. If Alvernia gets into foul trouble especially with their big two, it might change how they attack defensively. Albertus cannot afford to have Watson in foul trouble. Last year against Midd, he went to the bench with 10 minutes in the first half and sat the rest of the hald with two fouls. Midd was winning 15-11, Albertus was down 12 to start the second half. Watson finished with 0 points in the first half on 0-3 shooting. Watson scored on the first offensive possession in second half, then missed 4 consecutive lay-up opportunities as Midd took him out of the game, blocking shots, forcing bad shots, and altering his shot attempts. Who can keep their stars in the game?
b. Offensive rebounds – the team that wins the offensive rebound battle, in my opinion, will win the game. Both teams will take pride in defense and force the other team into poor possessions. The second and third opportunity points will be huge.
c. the stars – In order to win this game for Albertus, Watson has to play like a star. He is a beast and has the power to get to the rim, he also shoots at a 40% clip from the 3 point arc. He needs to avoid silly offensive fouls... Clark and Parker have led Alvernia during the playoffs, however, they have 4 very good players. One thing they need to do is shot the ball well from the perimeter. Clark and Parker are the leaders, these guys need to shot at a high clip; or get to the line. It won't be a good day for them, if Parker and Clark are having bad games. They have to shoot well to win.

[lildave678]

I definitely think AMC needs to attack from the tip. It seems on the road they tend to settle for long jump shots (especially against the AMCats, hence why they went down double digits early). Probably a trend for most teams but Albertus has the talent to get to the hoop, or get it inside to Chi. Attack the hoop, force them to play in the paint. If we settle for long contested jumpers and they aren't falling, the crowds gonna let the Falcons know about it and it could be over quick.

[lildave678]

a trend for most teams on the road*

[ECHoops03]

I definitely think AMC needs to attack from the tip. It seems on the road they tend to settle for long jump shots (especially against the AMCats, hence why they went down double digits early). Probably a trend for most teams but Albertus has the talent to get to the hoop, or get it inside to Chi. Attack the hoop, force them to play in the paint. If we settle for long contested jumpers and they aren't falling, the crowds gonna let the Falcons know about it and it could be over quick.

During this nice stretch for Magnus of 5 years, they have actually been underrated in some ways offensively. Sure, they get their fair share of points on the break off of turnovers, but what has really set them apart in the GNAC was the ability to get their athletes in great positions to score on a nightly basis. Askew and St. Juste in years past were terrors to keep track of due to a ton of transition and quick hitter screens in the half-court. This is one of the main reasons for Magnus getting to the line so often- they execute so well, so quickly. It is tough to stretch a big lead out on a team that executes well, especially one with athletes like Magnus.