MBB: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[LogShow]

Oxy had a good season.  They have done very well down there in the SCIAC and have represented that conference well.

[tigersports]

And if you want to be extra geeky, you can look at the live stats as you listen.  Sometimes the LS get ahead of the announcer, so there must be a delay.  (It's the dog sled thing, I think!)

Castle's a pro.   Good announcer!

Yeah, but not THAT good, right?   

[tigersports]

Too bad for the Tigers.  Was hoping to travel to  next weekend.  Random thoughts:

That loss to CMS was key as it probably cost Oxy home court and possible this game.  Not having Anderson didn't help.  Not taking away from Whitworth, which has finished strong and should represent the WC well.

That said, the problem tonight did not appear to be scoring.  My sense is that Oxy plays good D but when they step up in competition, those teams can knock down shots that a Pomona or CMS can't. 

My very limited sample of NWC hoops is that it's more up-tempo than SCIAC with not as many coaches emphasizing D like the top dogs in the SCIAC (Newhall,Kats,Scali) do.  Would like the NWC folks to chime in on that one.

I was thinking before the game that in response to the NWC guys asking how to stop Whitman, the answer was to put someone on him at all time and hope for a post-Shaq/Pre-Pau Kobe like 7-20 night. 

Congrats to Oxy and their staff on another good season.

[Gray Fox]

I had to make a special trip to Spokane to get a repair on an upper extremity before I could push the keys on my keyboard. 

Otherwise, I would have made a comment on the vastness of the arena distorting the shooting background. 

Don't forget to "spring ahead" tonight. 

[bbaddict]

Too bad for the Tigers.  Was hoping to travel to  next weekend.  Random thoughts:

That loss to CMS was key as it probably cost Oxy home court and possible this game.  Not having Anderson didn't help.  Not taking away from Whitworth, which has finished strong and should represent the WC well.

That said, the problem tonight did not appear to be scoring.  My sense is that Oxy plays good D but when they step up in competition, those teams can knock down shots that a Pomona or CMS can't. 

My very limited sample of NWC hoops is that it's more up-tempo than SCIAC with not as many coaches emphasizing D like the top dogs in the SCIAC (Newhall,Kats,Scali) do.  Would like the NWC folks to chime in on that one.

I was thinking before the game that in response to the NWC guys asking how to stop Whitman, the answer was to put someone on him at all time and hope for a post-Shaq/Pre-Pau Kobe like 7-20 night. 

Congrats to Oxy and their staff on another good season.

Whitworth and UPS play a similar style run & gun offense.   
 
The WU Bearcats play pretty strong defense and they beat Whitworth in their house this year.  I was wondering how tonight would go when SCIAC fans were talking about how strong your teams are defensively.   NWC teams with good defense have beat Whitworth this year.   

Whitworth had a stellar night.  100% FT shooting.  Their 3 pt. FG's in the first half were about 71%  -- they had a great night and Oxy still was up on them at the half.  I really thought it could go either way, right down to the wire.  Don't know if you listened to the broadcast, but Castle waited until the last 15 seconds to say it was a win.  Your team played well -- it's just tough to win in that fieldhouse with the screaming, crazy fans!   And, from the sounds of it, it was a standing room only crowd.

I listened to the webcast and watched the live stats and that was a great game, but someone had to win and Whitworth did that.  Oxy played well, though!

[nwhoops1903]

Congrats to Whitworth on their second half push to best Oxy, 83-75. Can't imagine that Oxy faced a better shooting team all year; from both the field and the foul line, the Pirates were lights out...

Conti shot the ball better than anyone else on the floor and kept his team close.  Very impressive.  Whitman is also a remarkable shooter.  Oxy basically ran an offense for him as option 1 and done.  I think that was the real difference tonight as Whitworth had more weapons to go to.  If not for Conti, WW would have cruised by 20.  Good game and fun to watch.  It was definitely capacity with lots of people standing and a real good group traveling for Oxy.

[pineconefan]

Congratulation Oxy on another terrific year.  I was very impressed with the Tigers:  sound and well-coached. 

Connor Whitman is the real deal.  He hit some threes from very deep, pull up and knock it down.  When the rest of the team was a little overwhelmed at the beginning of the game, Whitman almost singlehandedly kept his team in it until the rest of the group could settle down.

His shooting percentage wasn't great at the end of the game because he had to try to force some things to try to keep the Tigers going when Whitworth was making its big second half run.  But he did make the pass of the night, penetrating into the key, drawing defenders and shooting a no-look to a wide open teammate for a lay up.

[pineconefan]

From this morning's Spokane Spokesman-Review:

"They've got a heady team," Occidental coach Brian Newhall said of the Pirates, who shot 51 percent (26 of 51) from the field and made 11 of 22 3-pointers. "Look at all five of their players that played the majority of minutes – they're all good, smart, efficient players, which makes for a fun, sound team.

"We played one of our best halves of the season in the first half, and it still wasn't enough to beat them."

That second sentance matches with what I saw last night.  Occidental played a very good game, but came up just short.

[NWCer]

Too bad for the Tigers.  Was hoping to travel to  next weekend.  Random thoughts:

That loss to CMS was key as it probably cost Oxy home court and possible this game.  Not having Anderson didn't help.  Not taking away from Whitworth, which has finished strong and should represent the WC well.

That said, the problem tonight did not appear to be scoring.  My sense is that Oxy plays good D but when they step up in competition, those teams can knock down shots that a Pomona or CMS can't. 

My very limited sample of NWC hoops is that it's more up-tempo than SCIAC with not as many coaches emphasizing D like the top dogs in the SCIAC (Newhall,Kats,Scali) do.  Would like the NWC folks to chime in on that one.

I was thinking before the game that in response to the NWC guys asking how to stop Whitman, the answer was to put someone on him at all time and hope for a post-Shaq/Pre-Pau Kobe like 7-20 night. 

Congrats to Oxy and their staff on another good season.

Tigersports, I think it's accurate to say Pacific, Whitworth, and probably Willamette are the top 3 defensive teams in the NWC, and all seem to place an emphasis on defense.  UPS's style offers a different type of scenario, but I think its safe, looking at the stats and seeing all the teams play several times in previous years, that the others don't emphasize defense nearly as much as those three I listed.  PLU, Linfield, and LC are running and shooting 3's, Whitman is just bad, and George Fox's defense isn't impressive.  I think that Pacific and Whitworth are the grind em out teams, everyone else probably favors the uptempo like you pictured.

[Gray Fox]

The announcer kept referring to the students and their umbrellas when it was "raining threes".

I couldn't quite visualize that.  I know it rains a lot in Spokane, but do they actually open them inside the arena or to they keep them closed?  Opening them up doesn't make sense for sight and safety purposes.  One eyed Pirates might be very common.

Please add a little explanation. 

It sounded like a great game.  I wish I could have been there.

[LogShow]

Pretty good analysis NWCer! 8) I would have to agree.  There is quite a mix of gunning 3's, grinding out the defense, and uptempo

[LogShow]

The announcer kept referring to the students and their umbrellas when it was "raining threes".

I couldn't quite visualize that.  I know it rains a lot in Spokane, but do they actually open them inside the arena or to they keep them closed?  Opening them up doesn't make sense for sight and safety purposes.  One eyed Pirates might be very common.

Please add a little explanation. 

Their eye patches provide all the protection they need

[sciac_is_fun]

the SCIAC, by contrast, is definitely one of the most methodical, physical brands of basketball that I've experienced.  for the most part, the teams that have been successful over the years are the teams that played the best defense combined with 2-3 good scoring options (or one dominating scoring presence, like Whitman or Avedian). 

it seems to me that SCIAC coaches preach shot selection, perhaps to a fault at times.  We always have a couple teams among the DIII leaders in FG%, in spite of what is in all honesty a relatively low level of offensive talent.  certainly this style makes sense given the state of the talent, but it doesn't do much for developing the talent you do have. 

[nwhoops1903]

"They've got a heady team," Occidental coach Brian Newhall said of the Pirates, who shot 51 percent (26 of 51) from the field and made 11 of 22 3-pointers. "Look at all five of their players that played the majority of minutes – they're all good, smart, efficient players, which makes for a fun, sound team.

"We played one of our best halves of the season in the first half, and it still wasn't enough to beat them."

Classy guy.  It was interesting to see how Newhall coached his bench.  Very animated and seemed to be willing and encouraging his players to believe they could accomplish a very difficult task.  I was impressed with his passion and poise.  Obviously, loves coaching. 

[Browneagle64]

Congrats to the Pirates for their big win last night. Best of luck representing the West coast and your school during the next round of this crazy dance.

To the Men in orange and black, all the Seniors, Coach Newhall and his staff, thank you very much for another exciting season.