Congrats to UPS, they came up big when it mattered most. Kind of a shame Whitworth didn't get a bid.  I think they deserved one. Just goes to show that there isn't too much respect for the NWC at this point in time. Aside from UPS, Whitworth, and WU (I guess GFU is a decent team) the conference was very poor. It's just too bad they couldn't sqeeze at least 2 in there.

blackhawk, I think everyone on this board would agree that Curtiss is a streaky shooter.  Im not trying to put the guy down, its just the truth. The definition of "streaky" is someone who will shoot really well for a streak of time, then he will go cold and shoot really awful for a time. A guy who personified streaky shooting was John Starks.  Some games that Curtiss has had this year: 4-20 and 0-10 from 3 in a win over riverside; 4-18 in a loss to WU; and 7-23 in a win over PLU. He has also had some very good games like 10-17 for 27 in a win at LC and 8-13 at PU.  He is a very solid player who is as tough as they come and any coach would love to have a player like him on his team. His natural talent though, doesn't measure up to a guy like Jeremy Cross or Williams, but he gets the most out of what he has.  ALSO, did I ever say that UPS was BAD? All I said is that there wasn't much difference between them and WW/WU.  All 3 are well-coached and very good.

Excuses keep coming about the way Puget is playing.  Oh and bbaddict, "pulling a Himjay", you mean being right.  I stated before how Whitworth was just, if not more talented than UPS. UPS is a well-coached team with some scrappy players that play hard every night but they are really not that talented.  McVey is a talented big man and williams is skilled, especially for a freshman. Curtiss is a streaky shooter who is also fairly talented. The rest are all solid role players that play each game like it is their last. Whitworth showed that they are every bit as good as UPS and dominated from start to finish. I think it just took them awhile to hit their stride. UPS is a good team though and I think all 3 (UPS, WU, WW) could beat each other on any given night.  As for the rest of the league:

George Fox-A little bit disappointing this year but trying to finish up on a good note.

Whitman- Improved team but they don't play much in the way of defense.

LC- Ineligible players and injuries hurt, but I think it might be time for their coach to hang it up.

PLU/Linfield/Pacific- Rebuilding

Very good writeup about Willamette . Good to see the NWC getting some attention. I agree with most of the first and second teams posted so far.  Also, I saw PLU play twice early in the season and based on that I thought they had NO shot at beating anyone in the top-half of the league. Obviously, they improved a bit since then and I ended up eating my words. As for coach of the year, if Willamette wins of even gets second, James deserves it, especially based on what happened last year. When a team is picked for fifth and gets first or second, that reflects on the coach getting everything that he has from his team.  Should be a great finish this year and I look forward to the playoffs!

I'm going to agree to disagree. Other freshman standouts include David Berggren at LC (14 ppg), Josh Dressler at PLU (14 ppg, 18 ppg in league) and Chris Faidley at Whitman (10 ppg).  Willamette is a typical bearcat team this year. They have aggressive, fundamentel players that all run james' offense well. They have a few big bodies with Mansfield, Luchterhand, and Garrelts who can crash the boards and finish around the rim. They are not very athletic though, and they don't have a lot of quickness.

Wow, I'm just stunned at this point.  The only thing I can say would be that Whitworth is a team that plays to the level of the competition. Also, I guess I discounted PLU a little bit.  This does, however, back up my theory that anyone can beat anyone in this league on any given night.  I still have to dissagree with you about how UPS would win 9 or 10 times.  They are deeper, as you stated, but Whitworths top five is more talented then UPS' . Talent, however, does not necessarily win you games and UPS just plays better team ball.

Quick observations:

Whitworth has shown, especially after friday's game, that they are a strong #2 in the league and most games between them and UPS would be a toss-up.

GFU is really struggling and will have to get hot if they want a chance at the third seed.

Most teams (PLU the exception) are all matched somewhat evenly as far as talent goes, giving anyone a chance for an upset on any given night.

Player of the year looks like a battle between Curtiss, McVey, Pecht, and Olinger at this point, with the slight edge going to McVey.

Good post Bearcats, it's nice to see someone posting about the goings-on in the league at this point. I think there has been a little too much talk about UPS and not enough about the rest of the league. The Fox-UPS game should be a great one though. It will be interesting to see if the Fox guards can get hot from outside. If they do, and Szalay and Parker can rebound the ball, then I think they can pull the upset. That's a big "if" though, especially in Tacoma.  Also, if the bearcats can sweep the Washington trip, that would be big and it would set up 2 HUGE games at home vs. UPS and Fox on the 20th and 21st. Should be fun to watch!

Sorry for not being more specific, he's not on the team.  Also, Lowery doing a great job so far up there with very little to work with.

Nope

Great question. Your right, despite the cascade having those few big name players, I would take the NWC overall. The teams are much better coached and seem to play together much better them some of the cascade teams.   I have been to roughly 10 games with either NWC or CCC teams in them this year and overall intensity of the games seems to be much higher in the Northwest. Despite the Loggers loss, I would still take them, Whitworth, and Willamette over any Cascade squad this year.

Speaking of UPS, they lost last night at home to Warner Pacific. Not quite the start people thought they would get off to. From their first two games they look very vulnerable this year.

After these first few games, here are some thoughts on how the league looks this year. I know its very early but here are some observations.

1- The league looks to be a lot more balanced this year. Whitman and Linfield both started the season with wins against decent competition.  I think every team will be able to come up with at least 6-7 conference wins excluding Pacific and maybe PLU.

2-George Fox looked really good. They have plenty of talented guards to go with a solid big man in Szalay. They could be a major threat to UPS.

3-Some really big scoring games early on from players. Heu-Weller putting up 32 in 33 min and Olinger going off for 29.

4-Puget Sound beatable.... Only time will tell if they are deserving of such a high ranking

From what I see, it should be a long year as well. Once teams just start daring them to take it inside or the three isn't falling, just like at OSU, they really don't have much of a chance. Also, the 5 in, 5 out formula works for Grinnell and Redlands, but if you only have a few guys who can hit outside shots like LC, it doesn't make much sense.

Season officially starting tomorrow.  Some games that could be interesting:

PLU @ Eastern Washington

L&C vs. Colorado-Pueblo (D2)

Pacific vs. Southern Oregon

Should be VERY hard for any of these three to pull of an upset.