MBB: Northwest Conference

[SpooH SreggoL]

Good representation of the NWC on the all West Region Team.

1st Team:
Pecht

2nd Team:
Schmick

3rd Team:
Curtiss (3rd?!)
McVey  (3rd?!)

[bearcatsfan3]

Schmick, on 2nd team, All-Region?  Absolute JOKE.

Curtiss and McVey should both be MILES in front of him...

Anyway you argue it (team success...individual stats...postseason CONFERENCE team standings...), this is a fallacy...

Schmick over JOHN OLINGER is a joke, much less over the two guys on the LEAGUE CHAMPS who went to the ELITE EIGHT...

[sciacguru]

I am still trying to figure how Amir from Redlands got 1st team.....5-9 and 9-15 overall.

[skokomish]

Sanity at Pacific Lutheran! 

The one thing the my alma mater has been unwilling to do is run off coaches that are dead weight.  For the few of us who have any pride left, this is good news:

http://www.plu.edu/athletics/mbball/2005-06%20releases/031506harshman.htm

[pgcooz]

This board has been dead.  Any news on UPS recruits?  Is Bridgeland going to be there for awhile?

[blackhawks4]

Congrats to Coach Bridgeland ...now somebody else might have a chance to keep the NWC competitive!  But look out for the Loggers, with Head Coach Justin Lunt runnin' the show...WOW...could be exciting.  Look for UPS to repeat...no...3PEAT...no...4Peat?! in '07.  Can't say this will be my last post, but loyalties lie elsewhere.  Go Waves

[SpooH SreggoL]

BHawks:   

Do you expect Hackett to let Lunt have his shot at running the show?  I know he was named interm coach, but it sounds like the situation is less than certain.  I assume Lunt would continue to run Bridgeland's system, which would keep up the excitement level for fans and hopefully retain most of the current players.  UPS could bring in someone else with more experience, but it would almost certainly be at the expense of 100 point games and 40 mintues of the press.  Ah, this is why athletic directors get paid the big bucks.  Wait, almost forgot that this was D3 for  mintue . . . 

[Loggerville]

SpooH SreggoL:

My two cents on the coaching position:  It is a safe choice for the AD to give Lunt a shot at the job.  It seems reasonable that EB would advocate for him to take over the program, and he does have connections with current players and recruits.  If a new staff is brought in and the program takes a substantial slide backwards, that then falls at the AD's feet.  The logic would be that she made a change when none was needed.  If, on the otherhand, Lunt takes over and doesn't have much success, I'd guess there would be more understanding for giving him a shot before a new staff was hired; not to say that students, alums, and the UPS administration would enjoy a step-back, but if one is to come it is "better" from the AD's perspective I would argue that it happen under Lunt then someone else.  Whoever comes in has a hell of a standard to meet.  I don't think that the program has to fall-off much, although the teams of recent years surly reflected their coaches personality.  A new identity will emerge I am sure, but there is still a lot of talent on that roster and coming in for the 06-07 season.  Logger Nation will be fine going forward.

Congrats to EB on the new position and best wishes at the D1 level.

[bearcatsfan3]

Congrats to Coach B for making the jump to the big time...I'm sure he'll be successful in whatever role he plays on the Pepperdine staff...

Now, in regards to the state of the Loggers, I'd have to say the rest of the league has to be smiling, especially the folks at Whitworth and Willamette...Bridge was dominating the league, and regardless of who the Loggers put at the helm, they WILL NOT BE THE SAME.

a.  EB is gone, and with him, the person who pushed the buttons to get the Logger system to where it is (even if his assistant gets the job, he's NOT EB, and the system they run will be affected)

b.  Curtiss and McVey are gone. HUGE losses

c. EB leaving  will have a huge role in their ability to keep current players, as well as attract future recruits, because as BHawks was fond of saying, EB was killing everyone in the recruiting wars as well...

And on a side note, it probably means we're rid of BHawks on this board...which is, unfortunately, going to seriously dampen conversation around here...

[pineconefan]

Bearcats,

While I agree with you that the rest of the league will have to be smiling at some level, I am sorry that the change at UPS is coming now.  I have to give EB a heckuva lot of credit for upping the bar in this league.  He did a tremendous job at UPS and his effort forced other coaches in the league to either match his effort, or fall by the wayside.  I think we saw Willamette and Whitworth respond this year. 

I am curious about the state of the UPS program, however.  How many of the players are like Blackhawks?  He made clear in his last post that his loyalty lies strickly with EB, and not with any school (as he showed when he transferred in).  How many other current players in the program have no real attachement to UPS?  Will they leave at the first sign of Lunt exerting his own authority in the program? 

[1992]

Recruiting news???

Heard L&C, Whitworth, and Pacific all got very good transfers.  I'm sure Brigde did his thing for the Loggers again prior to leaving.

George Fox, Willamette, Linfield, PLU, Whitman?

[pineconefan]

Props again to the NWC for the performance at the Spokane Hoopfest a couple weeks ago.  For those who don't know, Spokane's Hoopfest is the largest 3 on 3 street basketball tournament in the U.S. 

For the third year in a row, a team made up of three former Pirates (Depew, Bierlink, Chase Williams) and one former Pioneer (Mietus) made the Open Division semifinals.  Actually this group won the whole thing in 2004.  Another example of the quality of basketball in the NWC, especially when you get to see where most of the other teams are made of of former DI players.  This group has outdone every Gonzaga team over the last three years, which says a lot in this town.

[bearcatsfan3]

Now that practices have started for the hoops season, is anyone out there interested in some Preseason Predictions? I'm hoping the loss of Bridgeland at UPS doesn't mean the end of our friend BHawks, but I'm willing to bet it probably does...

As for me, I have high hopes for the WU this year, even though last year ended on such a down note (losses at UPS, then in the tourney at Whitworth) and the graduation of John Olinger and 4 other quality seniors...

The WU brings back CJ Stuvland (all-conference), Josh Erickson, Ian Mansfield, and David Fife, and it sounds like a talented group of new players...

Before making any predictions myself, does anybody have any news on the other contenders (UPS, Whitworth, LC, etc)??

Or maybe the loss of Bhawks really will mean the death of this board as well...

[UPSoundLogs]

Unfortunately bcatsfan I think you're right you may have lost your loyal better half Bhawks.  Although I hope to see him back for another year his loyalties I'm afraid may lie elswhere.  I myself can't promise the same quick wit, daring predictions, and overall lovable qualities as my predecessor but I do hope to have a good time discussing NWC bball and in particular the Dynasty that is... the UPS loggers!

Lets get down to business

Although a change has come about with the loss of a head coach and an All American (Chase Curtiss) don't expect UPS bball to fall from the top of the league.  New head coach Justin Lunt is more than capable of taking over this year, he had two years of experience as assistant and he knows what it takes for this team to win. 

Although the Logs are extremely young they make up for it with talent.  Antoine Williams and Jason Foster speak for themselves, they both had a great Freshman year and are ready to carry a heavier leadership and scoring load this year.  Ryan Delong is back, he will have much more freedom this year and will be a big scoring threat night in and night out (I expect him to be in the hunt for POY at the end of the season).  Taylor Marsh is an animal from behind the three point line and if he plays as well as he has this summer he will be a huge offensive weapon.  Also watch out for Robert Kraul and James Pinkney they are both monsters on the glass and have great athleticism on defense. 

To be honest I don't know much about the new Fresmen but I have heard they are looking good.  Overall, I fully expect UPS to have a great shot at taking home their forth consecutive League championship.

I'm looking forward to hearing about the rest of the teams around the NWC.  I'm still thinking about my preseason all league picks but I will come up with them shortly. 

Bcats I hope we can get a few more people to join us...Good luck this year I can't wait for the season to start!

[bearcatsfan3]

Logs,

Good to hear another voice in this valley of silence...

I have heard that LC will be improved this season, and that Pacific has a ton of new guys...cannot confirm any of this, but if that's true, I think it makes the NWC race very interesting...

I'd say Willamette, Whitworth, UPS, LC, and Pacific would be in the fight for the top 3 playoff spots, with Fox (lost a LOT), Whitman (always average), Linfield (big rebuilding job) and PLU (bigger rebuilding job) kind of falling by the wayside sometime in January...

More exact predictions to come...