MBB: Great Northeast Athletic Conference

[7express]

A little disrespect on the part of Albertus, imo, coming in 12th in Northeast.  This tells me Albertus has to win the conference tournament to get into the field.  They should definitely be a lot higher.

[pjunito]

Regional Rankings...... Week 1.

Northeast
1 Amherst 18-2 20-2
2 Middlebury 18-1 20-1
3 Rhode Island College 16-4 16-4
4 Western Connecticut 17-4 17-4
5 WPI 16-4 16-4
6 Eastern Connecticut 17-4 17-4
7 MIT 20-1 20-1
8 Keene State 14-3 17-4
9 Wesleyan (Conn.) 17-4 17-5
10 Tufts 16-6 16-6
11 Becker 16-4 16-4
12 Albertus Magnus 20-1 20-1

Maybe the people simply pick out of a hat.  But, there is no way Albertus should be number 12.....

[Mr. Ypsi]

I'm surprised they were placed THAT low, but it was no doubt due to a dreadful SOS: .435.

[pjunito]

The SOS is low; because conference is weak. But, what is the out of conference SOS?? A person cannot over look quality within a region...

1. Beat West Conn by 20 at home
2. Beat Becker by 9 on Road
3. Beat Trinity by 12 on Road

[Mr. Ypsi]

The SOS is low; because conference is weak. But, what is the out of conference SOS?? A person cannot over look quality within a region...

1. Beat West Conn by 20 at home
2. Beat Becker by 9 on Road
3. Beat Trinity by 12 on Road

The committee has not much leeway for 'subjectivity' and follows the published criteria.  I assume that the first rankings probably do not include 'results vs. ranked teams' since, at that point, no one is ranked.  If that is true, the ranking may rise next week because of those wins over (now) ranked teams.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Results vs. Regionally Ranked Opponents is NOT a factor for Week 1... because there are no ranked opponents to compare to until the first regionally rankings are out. From now on, those wins will be part of the conversation and AM could move up. And for the record, counting their conference opponents, AM's opponents record is 165-205... that is weak and we aren't even talking about the OOWP, yet.

[pjunito]

D-Mac;

I respect your basketball opinion because I know you watch a lot of games and are highly interested and involved in division 3 basketball.  I will not deny that Albertus' SOS is low and they have played a weaker scheduled because the conference is weak. However, anyone who has seen them play will know that they are much better than 12 in the region. If they win their next two games before next Wednesday; I'll be interested in seeing where they will be ranked.

[pjunito]

Standings as of 2/8/12

Albertus Magnus      15-0   22-1                              
Saint Joseph's (Me.)    11-4   15-6                              
Johnson & Wales (RI)   10-5   11-11                              
Emmanuel      9-6   10-12                           
Lasell         9-6   10-12                              
Anna Maria       8-7   10-12                              
Mount Ida      5-9   8-13                              
Suffolk         5-11   8-15                     
Norwich         4-11   5-16                           
Emerson         4-12   4-18                              
Rivier         2-11   4-16   

Albertus has clinched the 1 seed and home court through playoffs

top 8 teams make conference tournament; 3 round format (all games played at highest seed remaining) for those who didn't know. There is a fight for the last spot as Emerson, Norwich, and Suffolk are playing for the final spot. The winner gets Albertus.

St. Joe's needs two more wins to wrap up the 2 seed. They play Rivier Tonight and on Saturday.

Potential first round match-up with Anna Maria and JWU; could be very fun! Either team could win that match up and take out the second seeded Monks..                         

[fritzdis]

Albertus' 4 worst games, from a SOS perspective, are games over which they have no scheduling control - the home games against the bottom 4 teams in the conference.  Without those 4 games, I think their SOS would rise from .435 to .481, while their WP would only drop from .952 to .941.

[pjunito]

Albertus won 76-73 yesterday at Lasell. A tough game for Albertus; down as many as 16 in the second half; they use a 16-0 run to tie the game with a little over 8 minutes to play. Askew willed them to a victory as he scores 52. He is now only 81 points away from setting the school records for points.

[pjunito]

Askew had to pick up the scoring as Watson was out with a minor injury. Watson as most of you know is second on the team in scoring and avgs 20 point per game. He also shoots 47% from the 3 point arc. Injury is minor; he would have played if it was playoffs. However, since Albertus has wrapped up the 1st seed, he was held out of the action.

[pjunito]

Albertus defeats JWU 87-73 in Providence. Marshon Brooks was at the game watching two of the best scorers in the GNAC conference. Lamonte Thomas had 39 points to lead JWU and Askew had 35 and 20 rebounds to lead the falcons. The game was close at the half; JWU had a 4 point lead. However, Albertus started the second half on a 10-1 run and streched their lead to 15 with 13 minutes to play in the second. Albertus forced 7 turnovers in that 7 minute stretch and dominated the glass. They had a total of 55 rebounds. Albertus remains undefeated in conference play and has won 18 in a row. They are now 23-1 on the year.

[pjunito]

Albertus finishes the regular season at 24-1 and undefeated in the GNAC (18-0) with a 75-62 win over St. Joes on Saturday. The falcons were losing by 1 with 8 mins left in the game. Ray Askew, who finished with 22 points, had his worst game of the year. He committed his 4th foul at the 7:55 mark in the second half with Albertus holding a 54-53 lead. The supporting cast played excellent when he went to the bench. Keep in mind that Darius Watson was held out of today's action as he continues to rest for the post season while a minor injury. Askew returned with 3:22 mins remaining and Albertus leading 65-54. The falcons used the 11-1 run to put the game away; they were led by Lora who played excellent defense, had 4 rebounds and 5 points while Askew was on the bench. Great year by the falcons! I don't care how weak a conference is, it is hard to go 18-0..

The conference championship goes through New Haven....

Conference preview to follow.

[pjunito]

http://www.thegnac.com/championships/MBBALL2012-Tournament-Brack.jpg

Here is the link to the 2011-12 GNAC playoffs...

Albertus host 8th seeded Emerson.
Emerson played Albertus tough during the regular season in Boston. Albertus hung onto a 2 point win. However, in New Haven, Albertus won by 20. Emerson is on a roll and have a great coach. Will be tougher than normal for a 1 seed.

St. Joe's host 7th seeded Mt. Ida

JWU host 6th seeded Anna Maria
Anna Maria split with JWU in the regular season.. Look for an upset; Anna maria can run with JWU and have long defenders to guard Lamonte Thomas

Lasell host 5th seeded Emmanuel

[FormerGNACplayer]

St. joes played well against Albertus! And then I remember that Albertus was missing 20 points in Watson! Lora played like a 6'8 player! Hard to stop. As Askew went unnoticed going into this year nationally, I think O'brien of st.joes is one heck of a talent! Might be the best complete basketball player in the GNAC, Askew is more athletic, Thomas shoots more Waston is really good, but O'brien shoots,posts, rebs, and dishes in the Princeton offense! That's tough