MBB: Northwest Conference

[blackhawks4]

What???!!!!  Who are you?!!  Where did you come from??!  Bearcats I think I ruffled somebody's feathers!  That can't be right.  Me??? Upsetting somebody on the board?  Is this your first post ever? 

Please tell me I didn't upset someone so much that they went and created a new account to threaten my manhood??  I'm kinda hurt.   Can I at least hear your allegiance?

I mean, because I never "say what I really mean" on this board.  I never go out on a limb or make a prediction. I try cheer each team on equally. I'm always happy for all the players and coaches that get awards.  They all deserve 'em.  I've never been known to talk badly about any team or anybody.  I think they're all great!

I was simply questioning, I wonder who will get POTW?? Can't wait 'til tomorrow when its announced because I think the Loggers got a good shot at it.

[blackhawks4]

You know what Bearcats, I KNOW who pinecove is!!!  I've narrowed it down.  It's either Coach Molitor, Aaaron Schmick, or JOHN OLINGER!!!!

They're mad at me because of what I've been saying on the board.  Because you know, our opinions, bearcat, like you said, are very respected.  I know its one of them!

Allright listen, Skip, if it's you, I'm sorry I put you on blast.  Now will you stop questioning my manhood?

Aaron if it's you, I gotta ask you a question.  Do you still put 3 fingers up after you make a 3 even when you're losing?  Or when you're only .500 in league and not gonna make the postseason?

And John, if it's you...I'm sorry, you're a good player. And I need an autograph.  I'll be the one storming the court (like willamette did to ups 2 years ago) when the loggers run you guys by 30 in tacoma...again.   

[pineconefan]

That's pretty typical BH, you get called on your cheap swipe (at who, the conference SID?) and back off pretty quickly.  Pretty churlish considering you were chosen as POTW a fair number in times during your career.

And I don't have anything to prove to you about my membership on this board.  When the two boards merged, I had to chose one username.  I went with the one that fit both (Pineconefan), rather than the one that was originally for basketball (Westhoop).  Of course I had registered long before you (UPS fans were never heard from until that first league title), and I remeber welcoming you to the board after your first post.  I continue to check in every once in a while, but haven't posted on basketball yet this winter.  Don't need your permission either.

As for allegiance, I've been watching Whitworth play since the early 80's.

[bearcatsfan3]

BHawks:

#1-Pecht had an excellent week, and deservedly got POW for it...

#2-Curtiss was 3-12 for 9 points on Saturday...not exactly "Wow" numbers or POW like stats...

#3-There has been exactly 1 Whitworth player chosen as POW, while there have been 3 UPS players chosen...I don't see the bias you're alluding to on this one...perhaps you're barking up the wrong tree here...

#4-I doubt John Olinger, or any other current player, is on this board...and if UPS is as great as you've claimed they've been (and 30-2 is definately worth shouting about), why wouldn't WU storm the court after an upset win over a ranked opponent? (Oh, and UPS by 30 in Tacoma??? After losing by 9 in Salem? That would be quite the tank job by a quality Willamette team...)

I do agree, however, that this weekend is enormous for the Bearcats (perhaps bigger than the UPS/GFox weekend)...Whitworth and Whitman, in Salem, with both of those teams fighting for a playoff spot (although Whitman's loss to GFox had to be damaging, as it put them at 5 league losses, 2 back of Whitworth)...as it stands now, UPS and WU are 2 games up on the Pirates, but a win in Cone would give Whitworth a big lift...Coach James and his staff have their work cut out for them this week...

UPS also has a big rivalry game Tuesday(??) against PLU, and will be at a desperate GFox team on Friday...the race is heating up!

Pinecone:  Any thoughts on the WU/Whitw showdown??

[blackhawks4]

Wow, you're pretty upset.

I don't even know what churlish means.

You should at least be happy that we brought the conference tournament back so that you guys and the other mediocre teams have a chance at the postseason.
By the way, what are the chances of Curtiss getting a hand shake from your coach after the game (win or lose)--very classy.  Funny, now seems whitworth fans are pretty quiet these days.  I would be too.

Bearcats, POTW didn't come out yet this week, not 'til tonight.  I'm placing a big bet right now that a player from UPS will get it.

"Quite the tank job" huh...see (03-04 and 04-05 seasons).  I'm wrong I guess after beating ups by 8, you only lost by 28 in tacoma.  And lets not even get into 05.

OK, pinecove...why don't you tell me who does choose POTW???  And I'm sure it is chosen from a completely unbiased source, right?  Is the "committe" (or is it a committe) who chooses it linked with any schools??!! 

Loggers still have wu at home, and (youre right a desperate) fox, ww, wmn on road.  As confident as I may try to sound, that schedule is scary.

[pineconefan]

Pinecone:  Any thoughts on the WU/Whitw showdown??

Bearcats - This matchup has seen many great games over the last three or four years.  I think Whitworth caught Willamette a little by surprise with a trapping zone in the first meeting this year.  I don't think Whitworth will be able to surprise Willamette again.  From what I've seen of Coach James' teams over these many years, there won't be much surprise in store for Whitworth.  They just execute, execute, execute.  Should be a great one.

[pineconefan]

BH - in response to your ramblings:

"Wow, you're pretty upset."
Nope.  Just stating facts.  And questioning weak assertions.  No reason to get upset at what some folks on these boards write, because most of us know that the security of anonimity gives the writers a freedom to say things he wouldn't have the nuggets to say in real life.  Some people converse.  Some people trash.

"I don't even know what churlish means."
Why am I not surprised?

"You should at least be happy that we brought the conference tournament back so that you guys and the other mediocre teams have a chance at the postseason."
UPS was responsible for bringing the conference tournament back?  Interesting, didn't know that.  And a long way to go in the season still.

"By the way, what are the chances of Curtiss getting a hand shake from your coach after the game (win or lose)--very classy."
I don't know the answer to that.  I do know its hard for a coach to shake Curtiss' hand when that player has been tossed from the game for slugging the opposing point guard.

"OK, pinecove...why don't you tell me who does choose POTW???"
Do some homework.

[ds0097]

And the board heats up...

pineconfan: using big and/or obscure words to try and prove your superior intelligence is definitely uncool.

blackhawks4: before you question somebody about a word at least look it up in a dictionary. Churlish is a word and was entirely fitting in the context.

For the POTY week voting goes, as far as I know it is done by the NWC SIDs, and as long as they pay attention to the entire league that's fine.

bearcatsfan3: you asked about academic standards, and I got bored and didn't want to do reading so I did a little research on the NWC school websites. It turns out that UPS, Willamette, Whitworth, Whitman and Lewis & Clark all have average SATs in the 1200s, while the rest have averages in the 1100s. Whitman has the highest yearly total cost at about $37,000, with UPS and Linfield coming in at about $32,000. The rest are about $28,000. And as for undergraduate enrollment, UPS, Lewis & Clark, Pacific, PLU, Whitworth and Willamette all have enrollments between 2,000 and 3,000. The rest are around 1,500. So it seems if any team has the advantage from these stats it should be George Fox since it has one of the lowest average SAT scores, is one of the cheapest schools and is in Portland. Of course UPS was able to take AWill from Portland, I guess he didn't want to go to a Quaker school. Maybe that's a recruiting advantage, not being religiously affiliated, which UPS hasn't been since 1988 (I think that was the year, in the late eighties for sure). Of course it still took them 15 years to become competitive.

[ds0097]

Oh, and all this recruiting talk reminds me of my favorite Bridgeland recruiting story:

Bridge is hosting a recruit from somewhere in Eastern Washington, and is showing the kid around school. He shows him the athletic facilities, the dorms, the academic buildings, and finally gets to the student union. So he brings the kid inside and goes over to the info desk because he sees one of the sportswriters for the school paper working. Turns out she's wearing a Whitworth basketball t-shirt that one of her friends from Whitworth had sent her. So Bridge comments on the shirt, giving her a hard time for supporting a rival and then turns to the kid and says, "you don't want to go there anyways, all they have is apple orchards and snow anyways." Without missing a beat the kid looks at him and says, "my parents own an apple orchard." To which Bridge replies, "that's great, I hope you had a great visit, if you have any questions call me, and have a great time at Whitworth." He never heard from the kid again and he enrolled at either Whitman or Whitworth. That was the last time he brought up apple orchards on a recruiting visit...

[blackhawks4]

And the POTW goes to.....

Come'on pinecone, like we both don't know who and where the POTW comes from, very unbiased, huh...I thought it would be better if you said it, but turns out someone else doesn't wanna "be a man" and say where it come from...

And as for "churlish," pinetree...you really don't want to get into a battle of academic standards, do you??  We both know that answer too.

"You should at least be happy that we brought the conference tournament back," I was referring to the NWC.  Come'on pinesol, why would UPS bring the tourney back??? We win league! It was teams like your own that are tired of having nothing to play for.  I don't blame them.  You guys have no shot at the title!

"I do know its hard for a coach to shake Curtiss' hand when that player has been tossed from the game for slugging the opposing point guard."

First of all, did you even see the play? It was a loose ball.

Secondly, pineapple, if it was (which it wasn't) slugging the opposing point guard," nobody respects the "I'm mad at you, I'm not gonna shake your hand."  Handle the situation with some pride and be a man about it.  I can tell you this much, if someone took a shot at UPS's top dog, or especially their point guard, something would have gone down.  It's a mentality.  Why do baseball pitchers throw at a batter! And save the " You guys are thugs, and fighting or retaliation would get whitworth suspended, etc."  If someone takes a shot at your guy, it's time to step up, and I'm sorry your coach doesn't instill that mentality in your guys.

Bearcats, I'm beginning to think you're right in regards to the "slip" out East.  Whitworth and Whitman back to back is the toughest road trip of the year.  A split isn't too bad.  Anybody know what happens if UPS and Willamette both go 14-2, split, and both lose to Whitworth?

And by the way, I do take offense to being called "(adj. 1. a rude illbred-person, 2. Rustic, and 3. a medieval peasant-Webster, 2006).  Especially the last one.  Thanks for the advice ds0097.  It's allright though, especially coming from a hyperinsullapotuitous individual!
 

[Pat Coleman]

Being a conference SID is a thankless job, even more thankless than being a school's SID, as your axe-grinding has proven. Let the man do his job.

[ds0097]

Good point Pat, being an SID is a thankless job and from what I've seen the ones in the NWC do a good job overall. From what I've seen over  the last 4 1/2 years they do a good job of keeping the websites up to date and get the recaps posted quickly. I know that if it weren't for their work, we would have had a much tougher job at the UPS newspaper writing the stories for away games that we couldn't attend. Unlike the players and some sids from other conferences they remain pretty unbiased in their writeups.

[pineconefan]

Thanks Pat for saying it best.

Although BH, it is interesting how you conveniently ignore the information provided by DS0097 and Bearcatsfan.  Never let the facts get in the way of a good theory.  I see you like truthiness compared to truth, lots of folks do.

And I was truly impressed.  In the space of a few sentences, you went from UPS winning "a battle of academic standards" to "something would have gone down."  I think you created a new category!  Move over "Student-Athlete" and make room for "Gangster-Scholar".  Yep, players with Cred tough enough for the street, yet brainy enough for the Ivy-covered walls of academia!  After laughing about that for a half hour or so, I realized what a coup that is for you guys.  While its certainly a small recruiting pool, if UPS is the rightful home to Gangster-Scholars, than that is a true recruiting advantage.

You know, that description kind of fits with the rumor that went around the league during the holidays.  Word from another NWC coach who was scouting the game is that your guys wanted to throw down with Illinois Wesleyan after getting clubbed in Santa Barbara.  Is that true?  Who knows... but it does seem to fit with your new Category, and it makes a great story, so why not believe it.  You know what, I kind of like this "Truthiness" thing too!

Ready to talk actual basketball yet?

[pineconefan]

Bearcatsfan,

What are your thoughts on Friday's game?  Any individual match-ups you see going one way or another?  Does playing Whitworth first, followed by Whitman work in Willamette's favor, or against it?  Just curious what you think and I am ready to move on to real basketball conversation.

Pine

[bearcatsfan3]

Pinecone:

I don't feel comfortable "claiming"  or deadpanning about Whitworth too much, as I haven't seen them enough...however, from Willamette's end (and based on what I've read about the Pirates and seen in the stats...and what I saw in the game at WU last year) here's what I see for Friday:

1. I think the strength of Willamette lies in the fact that it is shooting the heck out of the basketball right now...between stuvland, olinger, and miller, they're percentages our way above average, and obviously, that will need to continue against the Pirates.
2. Rebounding could be a major advantage for Whitworth, as the Bearcats (who actually lead the league for awhile) have struggled rebounding of late (although some of that can be attributed to the fact there aren't a lot of missed shots on their end)...
3. Defensively, WU is very strong, as their bigs (contrary to what  a Pirate fan said on this board earlier) are active, and their guards seem to have the freedom to switch match-ups and guard a number of different types of players (fife and erickson off the bench are both very good players, coupled with the three starters)...however, Whitworth's Pecht, and Tucker and Hasenfus both statistically are aggressive scorers and rebounders, so that could sway the game (which inside group wins out)
4.  I think (and Bhawks would agree with this) that Cone Fieldhouse is a tough place to play, and the crowds I've seen that last few home games have been very good, loud, and (although late arriving) involved in the game...the home court should help the Bearcats (especially if Young has as much trouble shooting as Curtiss did for UPS)...

5.  I like WU, obviously, but see a 65-61 type game that probably won't be decided till late...

I absolutely am dreading the Whitman game...the Born kid has been putting up great numbers, and the Kelly kid is the league's scoring leader...that's a dangerous combo, especially after a huge Friday game, and the fact that Whitman probably needs to win out to make the postseason...I still like the Bearcats, but would not want to be Coach James and his staff trying to prepare for two good teams back to back...