MBB: Northwest Conference

NWCer · December 30, 2009, 12:52:26 AM

Great win Whitworth..... Great effort Whitman last night, I'm sure taking Whitewater to the brink surely helped the Pirates tonight....

Dissapointing effort by Fox for the conference, hasn't the Wisconsin school they were down FOURTY-SEVEN to tonight been at the very bottom of their respective conference for the last 3 seasons?, and that's after the whoopin' they took to Augsburg last night....

Another tough close one for LC, something tells me they'll be fine however when conference starts...

Last I heard UPS was up 58-54 at UPS, interesting to see how that one turns out.....

No score yet on PLU at Simon Frasier....

That only leaves Willamette tonight at PSU, which was delayed because of the weather, not much question on how this one will turn out....

Lookng forward to the start of conference, everyone is 0-0....

NWCer · December 30, 2009, 01:07:01 AM

UPS 71, Portland Bible 68.... Who are these guys? (Portland Bible)... Pac beats them at home on a tip in, they're up on Whitman like 30-10 before losing, and they get LC in OT - be it without their players because of the suspension... I'd never heard of them... You seem to be the knowledgeable one TMT, inform us....

pineconefan · December 30, 2009, 11:43:14 AM

As good a performance by the Pirate team in the Fieldhouse as I've seen in many years. The win over WW is big.

WW had as imposing a front line as any DIII team I've seen come to Whitworth. But the Pirate big guys gave them all they could handle.

The difference was Beal at point guard. Only three turnovers all game for Whitworth, and none by Beal.

TryMeTeam · December 30, 2009, 12:20:21 PM

NWCer:

I watched them play Whitman on the internet early in the season.

There is no boxscore on this one yet, so I can't really tell anything from the score. But they have a very good big man who is tall, skinny and very athletic (Cooper, I think, about 6'9"), and two very quick, small guards that I imagine could handle the UPS press given how they handled Whitman's. Other than that, they are pretty average and only have 7 or 8 players. One of the guards and the big man got national honors, I think, from last year, so they are real good.

PSU by 7 over Wil who scored 90 points on them? Great job, but that doesn't make any sense.

LC is taking hits down in AZ, but I don't think they will be fine. There are some glaring problems, mostly from the post position. Their starting center has scored almost no points this season, and has almost no rebounds. Meusususususen, er Mewson, is pretty good, but not big enough to handle other big men. They can't hit big FT or 3's when they need them. I am off work this week, so I listened to both of their games on the internet, and they played well enough to win, and then couldn't finish the job.

Watching WW play last night, they should have no trouble with LC and the problems they are having now, much as it pains me to say that. Even worse, Whitm will probably beat them too. Starting the pre-league 1-6 is no problem. Starting the league at 0-2 with two home losses will be huge.

Like I said, I need mulligans, maybe 5 now.

NWCer · December 31, 2009, 02:11:46 AM

Too early for predictions for the opening weekend games? Here's a stab..

The Whits seem to be playing well, I see them both sweeping the Willamette-LC swing... LC playing 3 games in the last 3 days, along with the concerns TMT brought up, travel Thursday, one day prep for Whitman and their press on Friday and then hit the floor Saturday, not very easy.... I also see UPS sweeping their Fox-Linfield swing.. I see PLU, although they've been playing well it seems, getting swept on their Linfield-Pacific trip, which then lastly leaves my Boxers getting Fox at Fox on Monday night... I think that's everyone...

So how does that sound?

After the 1st weekend....

Whitworth 2-0
Whitman 2-0
Pacific 2-0
UPS 2-0
Linfield 1-1
LC 0-2
Willamette 0-2
George Fox 0-2
PLU 0-2

What does the board think?

nwhoops1903 · December 31, 2009, 10:56:26 AM

Whitworth 2-0
Linfield 2-0
Whitman 1-1
Pacific 1-1
UPS 1-1
LC 1-1
PLU 1-1
Willamette 0-2
George Fox 0-2

oh and I will see at least 3 games....HNY!!

TryMeTeam · December 31, 2009, 04:41:07 PM

I am going to steal from both of you.

Whitworth 2-0
UPS 2-0
Pacific 2-0
LC 1-1
Whitman 1-1
Linfield 1-1
Wil 0-2
Fox 0-2
PLU 0-2

I might get 4 games in this weekend. These staggered starting times and all games in OR allow for some double headers if my Honda doesn't break down. Basketball junkies heaven!

nwhoops1903 · January 03, 2010, 02:11:17 AM

Whitworth plays a game on the road that they never trailed. Montgomery controls the inside, Riley goes 2nd half bonkers from outside. WW wins by 19, the only road team to win tonight.

That means...yes UPS loses at Fox. Not gonna be a 16-0 season in Loggerville.
LC beats Whitman in OT after a crazy, determined Missionary comeback from 11 down with 3:21 to go. Linfield plays solid and takes care of business at home over PLU.

If LC can show up tomorrow with some energy and fight, WW will be tested. Pirates want a victory at LC and a road sweep. Two hard things to accomplish early in the NWC. WH should find WIL to be easier to take down than there last 2 opponents. UPS needs answers or they start 0fer. Pac gets it started at home vs PLU and I like there chances.

So early thoughts....WW is the real deal and so is Linfield. LC and Whitman are evenly matched with 10 guards on the court. UPS is looking in the mirror. FOX likes the bubble they momentarily sit on. WIL and PLU are searching. Pacific sits back and watches the madness that is the NWC.

TryMeTeam · January 03, 2010, 02:53:47 AM

NW1903:

I agree with everything except Linfield being the real deal. Beating the coach's poll last place team by a lot doesn't make them the real deal. But if they take down UPS, I might have to jump sides of the fence with you.

I got to see the LC-Whitm game, and like you said, a lot of guards on the court at once. But that is what you need to get a win from a pressing team. UPS will see that out of LC when they meet too. It looked like LC tried to slow it down too early and nearly paid the price with a loss.

Sounds like Whitw is playing at a top level. I don't see how LC can stay with them with their bigs doing so little. Monty and the other big should have a field day on Sunday. I would like to see a LC win, but not expecting it. Except the UPS upset, I am right on with my predictions for the weekend. I don't think any of us saw that coming.

PSfan · January 03, 2010, 06:04:07 PM

Loggers appear to have been hurt badly by the absence of Heyman for the second straight game--unclear why he's out, but his absence is huge for this particular Loggers team. He has played extremely well of late, and it's no disrespect to anybody to say that after him there's a big dropoff at the point--Heyman's really good. I watched the great Fox broadcast of the game, and the Logs were just awful offensively in the second half. As always they were getting to the rack at will, but couldn't finish. At the end, they looked like UPS opponents in recent years--no legs left, lots of shots going short.
I don't see how they beat Linfield if Heyman remains out--it'll be a struggle if he's in the game. The team doesn't shoot well and it doesn't appear to be deep enough to bring the pressure they've thrived on....

NWCer · January 04, 2010, 01:35:44 AM

Wow, I was way off on my picks, good thing I don't go to Vegas much! UPS dropped 2 I thought they'd get. Whitman dropped one at LC I thought they'd get... My Boxers give up leads to PLU and lose another one I picked, and I picked them to beat Fox tomorrow, but with my track record I may have jinxed them... Willamette loses by 27 at home to Whitman? Whitman pretty good or is Willamette pretty bad?

TryMeTeam · January 04, 2010, 05:44:37 AM

If Pac comes back and beats Fox tonight, NWHoops is one game off from having a perfect prediction for the weekend. Nice job, Hoops.

I am either 6-3 or 5-4 depending on who wins tonight. Respectable, but not impressive.

NWCer trails the pack. You will rebound. Whitman is pretty good. They almost got LC after LC was up 15+ in the second half. Having seen both presses (UPS and Whitm), Whitm's is better.

Having seen both Whitw and Lin play, the battle is for second through fourth place. Whitw is that good! They could run the table. Linf at LC Friday will be the early leader for 2nd. UPS has a huge uphill battle. They get 23 TO's against Lin but shoot 5% from 3 and 38% from the field for the game. Those may be the worst % in the NWC for years if not longer.

It just goes to show, pre-league games mean little when predicting the NWC race, except to NWHoops, I guess.

nwhoops1903 · January 04, 2010, 11:56:04 AM

Thanks TryMeTeam, glad I got something right, lol. I do expect Pac to come back from a bad loss and play better.

random thoughts:

Fox's upset over UPS will be redefined if they win tonight from upset to good home win...WIL is down and must fix whatevers wrong after dropping 2 at home and never being in those games...LC is a good team and I think they will battle LF for the 2nd spot all year...Whitman is dangerous and they have to believe they are right there near the top 3...PLU will be as unpredictable as ever and will score. They could finish higher than UPS and that might be their trophy this year. Loggers are missing a good player, whats up with that?

WW is big and physical and can score from outside, I think this team can climb a tall mountain this year if they focus and play smart. Winning on the road is huge and never easy and they had complete control of both games they played. Lots of confidence in Spokane and yet they should know from preconference how bad they can play. If Pirates post some 30+ point victories this year at home, I will not be surprised. I get the feeling that the conference might be down the same year WW is actually UP a level. Its early...

pineconefan · January 04, 2010, 01:43:32 PM

T-M-T - did you get to four games this weekend afterall? I don't remember the last time every game in a conference weekend was played in Oregon. Tonight's game can still count?

It was an impressive start for the Pirates. Never threatened in either game. Bob Castle was going nuts about Montgomery's performance at Willamette, fun to listen to.

The silver lining about the season-opening blowout by Stevens Point is that the Pirate coaches can use that all season to keep the team from getting overconfident.

I would guess Whitworth will be back in the top 25 this week.

TryMeTeam · January 04, 2010, 07:03:20 PM

Pinecone:

No I only made it to 3. I had a party to go to on Sat. night. And I missed a good one because I was going to go to Fox to watch UPS trounce them, oops.

I saw LC beat Whitman, LC get beat by Whitw, and Linfield trounce UPS. But you're right, I could make it 4 by going tonight. Hummmmm. I'll have to see if I can make that one.

Linfield was pretty good beating UPS, but UPS was pretty bad. Their press is the same, but the athleticism difference is huge and that renders the press ineffective. Linfield still had 23 turnovers, but very few came bring the ball up past half court. Linf looked much better than they did in the pre-league. Maybe it was getting Wiser back or maybe it was just UPS. Friday at LC will tell more.