MBB: Great Northeast Athletic Conference

[Sir Charles]

If I may do so, I'd like to chime in on the Emerson Lions and the teams they have played.  Granted Babson, Umass Boston and Mt. Ida are not good teams, but the other teams they have played have been challenging.  The combined record of the other 4 teams they have played are 26-7 (3 combine for 20-3 with only losses to the Lions).  Does anyone question the greatness of the Patriots because 6 of their games are against the Bills, Dolphins and Jets?  Furthermore, they have been winning a portion of these games without Shannon and Messanger, which makes this 7-0 even more impressive, not to mention how scary it makes them when those guys return.
Now I'm about to put myself out for critisicm here because I know it was only a scrimmage and those don't count for much, but I think it should be noted that the Lions didn't lose to Brandies (8-1, 2nd best team in the country) when they scrimmaged them @ Brandies.  At least that's an indication that these Lions can play with the big dogs, and I definately think they should be in the top 25.  Undefeated is undefeated, plain and simple, especially when they didn't just play duds.    

[goldenpipes]

Sir Charles,

I would have to disagree with your statement that Babson is not a good team. Babson's record may be 3-6 but look at their schedule -

Losses:

Trinity by 7, Conn College by 2, Brandeis by 15, Tufts by 17, Washington U by 2, and Emerson by 13. For those who were at Emerson for that game know that the Lions were ahead by 25 with 3/4 minutes to play.

Babson defeated Bates, Lasell, and Claremont....quite a tough schedule for them early on, and they should be very competitive in NEWMAC play.

Ranked or not, Emerson is very strong this year and will let their play do the talking. I'm sure if you asked Coach Smith if he rather be ranked in the Top 25 or make it to the NCAA Tournament, I think the answer is clear, one that nearly every coach would give. The publicity of potentially being ranked is certainly gratifying, but the eyes are on the prize.

[hoopjunkie]

goldenpipes ,
I would agree with you . Babson is a tough team . I saw them against Tufts & they quite frankly scared me . Bush is very good scored 20 against us & they are an aggressive athletic team.However  they don`t have alot of size , but they have a few players who get up & their point guard slam dunked against Tufts .
They will beat alot of schools , that I can tell you .

[Sir Charles]

Look my statements on Babson were purely based on their record, focussing primarily just on Emerson's strength of schedule.  As for that "comeback" for Babson in the final minutes against Emerson, I assume the Lions had the huge lead and put in the 3rd string.  Therefore, the final score may be what it was, but we know what it really means.  I also agree with you that the major goal of the team is to win, not to get rankings.  I'm sure winning the GNAC and doing some damage in the NCAA's are most important above all else.  However, as Emerson hasn't been known as a sports school, the wonderful opportunity for the program with this kind of attention that is WELL DESERVED is just icing on the cake.    The hard work and effort of the players, not just those of this year's team but of year's past, should be acknowledged and rewarded by seeing themselves listed as among the best.   

[goldenpipes]

I understand that your statements regarding Babson were based solely on their record, but I think Babson is much better than their record - and yes, Emerson was ahead by about 25, put their 3rd team in and Babson pressed and cut the lead down and that's why Emerson won by a dozen instead of 20+

I think that makes the Lions performance against Babson stand out a bit more - look how tough the Beavers played a number of high quality teams...

I'm a double Emersonian and would agree that the attention is well deserved - they have been a tough opponent for many years, especially considering they had no gym until last season. If they stay healthy, they should have a very strong second half and can hopefully get into the tournament.

[t33white]

not to change the subject about emerson.  they are a good team.  i had many great games games playing against them.   i was at the daniel webster vs dartmouth game on saturday.  it was not a good game to watch.  daniel webster was just too small.   their gaurds could not get it through their heads that they would not be able to take inside on them.  they got blocked 12 times.  they shot poorly.  too much dribbling not enough moving the ball around.  the second half was a little better but not much.    anyways  just thought i would write something about it.   good luck to all gnac teams.  miss the games

[Worse than Alex Tse]

7 votes.......for emerson in the top 25??? Are you serious? Who votes on this?? Really?? Honestly? UMASS Boston got 8? Reallllly? Serious??

[Pat Coleman]

Nah, those UMB votes are someone missing UMD on the drop-down menu. It's been fixed. Breathe deeply.

[All-around]

How does it work with Emerson beating MIT and then losing votes.

Got some more work to do I guess.

[SouthernBFIB]

As a guest visiting the GNAC from the ATL and noting all the comments from previous posts it looks like Emerson has put in enough work to at least get more votes. They played Brandeis(preseason) to a virtual tie and pretty much ran over the others, it hard to see how they lost votes much less not break into the TOP 25. Looks like the committee has work to do.

[CCCalum2]

7 votes.......for emerson in the top 25??? Are you serious? Who votes on this?? Really?? Honestly? UMASS Boston got 8? Reallllly? Serious??

Dude, you seriously need to relax.  7-0 is worthy of some votes, i'll agree.  I'll also agree that you shouldn't have dropped in the amount of votes that you got last week after beating MIT.  Haven't you players learned to conceal your real names when you register for this site?  I don't mind seeing Emerson or the GNAC get a little recognition, but I just don't want to hear the campaign from a member of the team, although it seems you have the best seat in the house.

[Pat Coleman]

One voter accounted for the vast majority of Emerson's points in the Week 3 poll. Apparently he looked a little more closely at Emerson and changed his mind.

Support for Emerson is actually very soft. If only a couple of people are voting for you then you will see fluctuations at the bottom end of the poll.

[Peddler]

One voter accounted for the vast majority of Emerson's points in the Week 3 poll. Apparently he looked a little more closely at Emerson and changed his mind.

Support for Emerson is actually very soft. If only a couple of people are voting for you then you will see fluctuations at the bottom end of the poll.

Wow...D3hoops Top 25 Poll is quickly losing credibility. Of course, the voters might have been influenced by your attempts to discredit Emerson's opponents in earlier posts.

I guess Emerson stands ZERO chance of making the top 25 now. Even if the run the table from here out, it will be against GNAC teams and will get no respect from royal voters.

New England is the toughest D3 region in the country. MIT would be one of the top two teams in just about any other conference in America outside the NESCAC and a few others.

Pat, I have been reading your website for a long time and appreciate the time you take to promote D3 athletics, but your voters got this one wrong.

[Pat Coleman]

One voter accounted for the vast majority of Emerson's points in the Week 3 poll. Apparently he looked a little more closely at Emerson and changed his mind.

Support for Emerson is actually very soft. If only a couple of people are voting for you then you will see fluctuations at the bottom end of the poll.

Wow...D3hoops Top 25 Poll is quickly losing credibility. Of course, the voters might have been influenced by your attempts to discredit Emerson's opponents in earlier posts.

I guess Emerson stands ZERO chance of making the top 25 now. Even if the run the table from here out, it will be against GNAC teams and will get no respect from royal voters.

New England is the toughest D3 region in the country. MIT would be one of the top two teams in just about any other conference in America outside the NESCAC and a few others.

Pat, I have been reading your website for a long time and appreciate the time you take to promote D3 athletics, but your voters got this one wrong.

I highly doubt the voter in question reads the GNAC board when he's not busy coaching his team in the Midwest Region. Fairly certain there are more important things for him to do.

Early in the season voters constantly re-evaluate their ballots.

The Northeast is the largest region, but other regions are tougher. There is a lot of chaff in this region for teams to fatten up on.

[Pat Coleman]

Though, I guess I don't know if chaff is fattening.