As difficult as it is to project the Northeast Conference (NEC) in the preseason, it’s nearly as difficult to break down a small sample of games within the first week of the season. How exactly do you decipher what is and isn’t meaningful? Continue reading “NEC Weekly Recap – Getting Through the Guarentee Games”
Category: Wagner
NYC Preseason All-City Teams
Even though NYC Buckets often looks beyond the five boroughs, there is a lot of basketball being played right in New York City. Continue reading “NYC Preseason All-City Teams”
Notes/Observations from NEC Social Media Day
I’m officially six for six in attending the NEC Social Media Day at the Barclays Center. There’s a reason I’m always there in attendance – it’s a great event that’s well run by the league office and unique in that there’s exclusive access to all ten head coaches. There’s no other event that comes close to acquiring as much information in the league as this one.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak candidly with nine of the leauge’s 10 coaches (sorry, Derek Kellogg) and get their reactions to how their respective preseasons have gone. While some coaches like to play it close to the vest, others will give you something if you ask the right questions. Continue reading “Notes/Observations from NEC Social Media Day”
34 Team in 34 Days: Wagner
Wagner
Outlook: A revamped frontcourt combined with an experienced backcourt, should be enough to keep the Seahawks in the hunt in the NEC. Continue reading “34 Team in 34 Days: Wagner”
NEC Winners and Losers of the Offseason
As we move deep into the summer, I have begun my annual exercise of interviewing NEC coaches for the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. Now that I have a stronger understanding of who’ll be rostered come November, I decided to offer my opinion on who the winners and losers of this offseason were. Continue reading “NEC Winners and Losers of the Offseason”
Realignment Conferences 23 Through 18
These conferences, in terms of average strength, are probably about where the current MAAC or Horizon League are down to the Patriot League. Continue reading “Realignment Conferences 23 Through 18”
Projecting the Best NEC Players of the 2017-18 Season
I apologize in advance for quoting one of my favorite bands from my college days, but “I wish you would step back from that ledge, my friend.” Continue reading “Projecting the Best NEC Players of the 2017-18 Season”
Wagner, St. Francis Classic Leaves Everyone Winners
All Bashir Mason could do was smile. What else was there to do?
Keith Braxton faked, got stuck, and self-admittedly threw the ball at the basket, and it subsquently made one revolution around the rim and dropped, giving Saint Francis University a 71-70 victory in the NEC semifinals Saturday afternoon. As the ball finally finished its circuituous journey to the bottom of the net, it simultaneously stunned the home crowd at the Spiro Center and set off wild celebrations among the Red Flash and their faithful, as it marks the first time since 1991 they will be in the NEC final, well before anyone in uniform Saturday was born.
“Welcome to March Madness,” Mason said. “What else can you say?”
Continue reading “Wagner, St. Francis Classic Leaves Everyone Winners”
Thoughts From the Crazy NEC Tourney Quarterfinals
In our NEC tournament preview, I noted that the conference had the second highest rate of close games in the regular season – 30% of them ended within 4 points or were decided in overtime. We enjoyed more of the same in the NEC quarterfinals, as the league office couldn’t have asked for better drama, both on television and on NEC Front Row when Sacred Heart made a run at history. Continue reading “Thoughts From the Crazy NEC Tourney Quarterfinals”
The 2017 NEC Tournament Preview
In what many believed was a rebuilding year for the Northeast Conference as a whole, the season played out along those lines. Graduations, transfers and unexpected defections led to a youth movement throughout the conference – a movement that was necessary for the league to move up the conference RPI charts in the near future. Continue reading “The 2017 NEC Tournament Preview”
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