MBB: Northwest Conference

formercat · February 21, 2006, 04:41:18 PM

pineconefan, no doubt pecht is a good player and deserves first team recognition but i am a firm believer that the team who wins the conference should get the POY award. unless, someone carries a team like linfield or pacific had this year to a top 3 spot all by themselves. such was not the case this year like it was not last year.

bbaddict · February 21, 2006, 06:06:25 PM

From: NWC Basketball Bylaws:
5.0 CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP
5.l Determination of Conference Champion
5.1.1 The champion will be the winner of the NWC championship
basketball tournament. (Adopted Spring 2004)
5.2 Dates and Times
5.2.1 #3 seed plays at #2 seed on Thursday prior to NCAA selection
Sunday, and the winner then plays at #1 seed on Saturday prior to
NCAA selection Sunday.

So -- why does everyone keep refering to UPS as the Conference Champs? They finished the regular season in first place, but they still need to earn the title. I think WU & Whitworth still have something to say about that. The "old rules" of he who finishes first, takes the conference is gone!! It's about playoffs. (And #2 & #3 have both beaten #1 this year, so it can happen again!)

And Second:

7.1 All-Conference
7.l.1 Conference coaches will select a Player of the Year and First and
Second All-Conference teams. Both teams consist of five (5)
players. The Player of the Year is the eleventh person. Ties are not
allowed. There is no limit on the number of All-Conference
Honorable Mention. To receive All-Conference Honorable
Mention, at least one vote must be received.
7.1.2 Conference coaches will nominate their own players for
consideration. Nominations are then voted on, but coaches may not
vote for their own players.
7.2 Most Valuable Player/Champion(s)
7.2.1 The Conference Most Valuable Player will be the player in the
men's and in the women's division accumulating the most All-
Conference points as voted upon by the respective coaches.

So formercat -- doesn't matter what you believe -- the POY is picked by the coaches. It has more to do with points along the way, then with how the team finishes. So, theoretically a really great player on a crappy team could become POY -- doesn't usually happen that way, but it could. Might be some truth to the fact that UPS nominated too many & it split the votes, but the coaches don't get to vote for their own players anyway. Guess it encourages truthful assessment. Really, though, the whole All Conference team thing just leaves out some really great players -- it just depends on what position you play.

Thanks for not throwing me under the bus Bearcatsfan -- tough to cheer from there!!

blackhawks4 · February 21, 2006, 06:36:22 PM

I honestly do not see willamette winning in spokane, and i hope they don't. BRING ON WHITWORTH. We all know what happens when willamette comes out here. If wu comes i might just listen to the slaughtering on the radio and save myself a couple bucks.

Curtiss got snubbed, but it was expected...the same thing happened last year. As bearcats said...lots of politics in the process, who likes who and who doesn't. Other hand-- Pecht was very deserving-- however in my opinion not enough to take the POTY from a unbelievably worthy candidate on the regular season champ.

I want to see pecht and curtiss on the same court. The one time i saw pecht he wasn't very impressive. Obviously his numbers were good, but i want to see pecht and curtiss on the same court playing for the conference championship (thank you bball addict -- a quality post...wow...someday ill have one of those).

formercat · February 21, 2006, 07:59:38 PM

will the championship game be played at UPS or is it at a neutral site?

bbaddict · February 21, 2006, 08:24:30 PM

UPS hosts the championship game.

nwhoops1903 · February 22, 2006, 04:55:58 AM

coty and poty are both fine choices...eb and lp both had the stats and wins to back it up. I hope a 6th place team never has a poty and as i said before..reg season champ should be coty....congrats to both men.

thanks for the history lesson and the thanks for the second history lesson backing me up about WU. Difficulty of winning 3 times is overrated and I know Vegas never cares about that myth. If WW chokes at home or WU goes 3pt crazy...you would have a case but....don't think so. Let's just wait and see. I do think it will be close, oh yea..CJ first team..

unreal...only mistake on the whole ballot...Sz or Born were much better and who needs 4 guards anyway. Politics I guess.

I hope to make it to UPS sat regardless of Thu outcome, but who really wants to see another WU annialation. I saw the WW game at UPS earlier this season and it was fun.

Watching Peche and Curtis matchup at UPS would be fun even if curtis won't (can't) guard him....laffin. Problem is WW doesn't have a def stopper for Curtis..maybe they will both score 30 and the real battle will be between BIG Log and BIG Pirate...edge to UPS cause McVey plays 3 inches taller at home.

And yes all 3 teams are playing for League title...no 06 banners hanging in Tacoma just yet.

bearcatsfan3 · February 22, 2006, 10:36:21 AM

Stuvland's numbers speak for themselves (16.0 ppg in conference games, 43% from 3, 33 minutes and 1.6 steals) on a team that went 13-3...

The All-NWC 1st team has included 4 guards 4 out of the last 6 years.

What an "Annihilation" of the voting process...

bbaddict · February 22, 2006, 11:35:06 AM

Yeah -- what's with that anyway? Why does the voting process favor the scorers? A lot of scoring in basketball happens because the big guys make room for the guards or get the rebounds for second (or third) chance points or block the other team's shots!! Coaches should have to nominate people for each of the positions. Let's reward the guy who leads in steals, assists, rebounds, & blocks. Teams aren't just made up of guards/forwards.

nwhoops1903:
Stuvland is a young but awesome player. He's definitely not a mistake on the roster, although I would've liked to have seen another post player. He has another year of eligibility, but he's a senior so I don't know if he'll play next year. You saw WW play at UPS, but did you see them at George Fox ? or Pacific Lutheran? Or did you see UPS at Willamette this year? Those were also some interesting games. The Willamette team that played at UPS last week was not the team that's been winning games. They were timid & unsure and don't expect that team to show up in Spokane. Whitworth & WU have had a strong rivalry for the past 5 years at least -- since Hayford came to Whitworth. Both teams have been in the top 3 spots for 4 out of the last 5 years and the games against each other have almost always been close or OT situations.

It's better for the NWC if UPS doesn't win the title, because then we'd have an automatic bid & everyone knows that UPS would get a Pool C bid because of their record the past 3 years.
Go Bearcats!!

steveflegel · February 22, 2006, 12:51:33 PM

Just a clarification about the NWC procedures that were quoted earlier on this board. There was a mistake in language that was adopted by the NWC Board of ADs last Spring. The current language does state that the winner of the tournament is the NWC Champion, but that will be changed the next time the ADs meet. After consultation in January about this issue between the commissioner, the AD basketball liaison and myself, along with the basketball coaching chairs, it was concluded that the intent of the coaches was to consider the regular season winner as conference champion. The winner of the tournament is awarded the NWC's Pool A bid to the tournament. So Puget Sound will be given the NWC Championship trophy and has been awarded first place points in the All-Sports trophy standings.

Pretty sharp group of fans to catch that mistake, so thanks for keeping us on our toes.

nwhoops1903 · February 22, 2006, 09:32:49 PM

I didnt say CJ was a bad player...just not his team leader...like the big men I mentioned...put him on second team and I say nothing about the kid. Oh, and lets not jump on spelling mistakes guys...much more to point out hopefully than my 6th grade education.

WU will bring a good game to Spokane and It may be close but I just can't see a team that hasn't lost in over a month, lose at home where they are UNDEFEATED this year to a team that has to be saying they missed their chance amongst themselves. The fall from first to third on Friday and then WW getting the job done at the dreaded Pacific Cave before their 8pm tipoff had to have had some negative effect. I am glad they won Sat so that they aren't on some losing skid.

I agree that UPS is a lock for Pool C if they lose but I just wonder if the Sat's loser will get in too, no matter what.
I figure WW makes a good case for finishing second in conference and finishing the season strong. An OT loss or UPS win on a buzzer beater, heck a game like Jan at UPS could say the WW is just a notch below and deserves consideration. I just can't see WU making a similar or strong case unless they win out. No matter what I would love to see to NWC teams in.

Wish they were playing tonight!!

SpooH SreggoL · February 22, 2006, 10:07:51 PM

Regional Rankings are out . . . with UW-Stout #1 and UPS #2 in the West. What are the chances of UPS hosting a regional if they win out and Stout falls? I think UPS finished first in the region last year when they were forced to go on the road after the first round. At the time, I believe that an argument was made that the NCAA doesnt like to allow teams to host on consecutive years (obviously $ is always a consideration as well).

Gregory Sager · February 23, 2006, 04:18:07 AM

Quote from: bbaddict on February 22, 2006, 11:35:06 AMIt's better for the NWC if UPS doesn't win the title, because then we'd have an automatic bid & everyone knows that UPS would get a Pool C bid because of their record the past 3 years.

Puget Sound's record from the past three years wouldn't matter one bit. If they got a Pool C bid it'd be on the basis of how they fared in terms of the criteria this year.

bbaddict · February 23, 2006, 08:20:36 AM

So -- how does that work? They only have two regular season losses - one each to #2 & #3 in their conference -- both with .8 + seasons. Where would that put them regionally, especially if it's a close one? Just humor me.

bbaddict · February 23, 2006, 10:10:30 AM

By the way, according to Steve Flegel, keeper of the NWC site, UPS is the 05-06 Champ in Men's Basketball. Congrats to Bridgeland & his team -- I stand corrected. (Actually they're having it corrected . . .) Enjoy the honor & the points for the All Sports trophy.

That, being said, may I just say "GO BEARCATS" before I hit the long road to Spokane. I believe there may be a few noisy fans there -- it'll be tough to notice because the colors are so similar -- but we'll be the ones loudly cheering at "inappropriate times" if you're the home team.

I'll watch out for buses!

blackhawks4 · February 23, 2006, 04:34:32 PM

Addict why don't you catch the wagon in spokane with whitworth and meet up with the loggers down here in tacoma?

Do we really think the winner of this game (whitworth) is going to play thursday, travel over to tacoma and beat a fresh ups team with 5 seniors at their place where they haven't lost a conference game in 3 years? Not happening.

Boy, what I wouldn't do to see those all conference ballots...maybe have a LoggerGate 2006?

Don't be so sure a UPS loss is better for the conference. I don't like the idea of having the best NWC team hoping for an at large bid.