MBB: Northwest Conference

[nwhoops1903]

Tonight's results

Pac BEATS Whitman 59-55 (send your fellow Oregonians a thank you card, trymeteam)
GF beats linfield 76-61
PLU hangs on to beat Willamette 90-87
LC struggles with UPS but nips em in OT 89-85

I smell some parity.  Whitman blows all the good from Tuesday and their chance at getting some votes btw with the loss Friday.  It was a fluke win but now it's even more flukier?!   

[Pat Coleman]

Mr. Coleman, what took you so long!  We were wondering how many double digit, 20+ average point wins it would take for you to jump on the wagon!

It took 10. Remember I've been voting for them No. 1 for seven weeks. Hoopsville watchers already know this, of course.

And what's the odds they will remain in your top 4 assuming they win tonight Pirate style (20+)?

100%

[TryMeTeam]

You can't outfox a fox!  Er, can you?  I got to see the Pac-WC game last night, and a couple of things were real evident.  I think Cleary is going to be a very good coach in this league.  Lowry left the cabinet bare when he left (I think Bailey and a few freshman are the only new faces.  Sorry, but that ain't much).  PacU has no depth and not a whole lot of talent, and their record shows that.  What I really liked about last night's game and the game against LC was that Cleary was willing to scrap his early season style to do what it took to make his team a little more successful.  They slowed down the pace to a crawl, gave their core players a chance to stay on the floor more, and got a split against two of the top three teams in the league.  I thought Bridgeland was outcoached last night, and that is a compliment to Cleary, not a knock on B.  And he gave Gaillard a real battle.

I have never been much of a Gordie fan although he has had good success at Wil.  Gordie ran a system no matter what his personnel.  Gaillard seems to match his offense around his players.  When he had the bigs, he went inside.  When bigs got real hard to recruit and the league focused on the press (thanks to Bridgeland and UPS), he went with more guards.  I like an adaptive coach, and I see some of that in Cleary.  I don't think he is over his head, I think he has nothing to work with and bandaged a win last night.  If he can recruit, I may become a PacU fan, especially with Gaillard gone (me and NWCer).

I have been a Wil and Ione fan all season, and I think Ione could be another good one in this league.  Wil is a good school, and if Ione can recruit too, they will be an upper tier team in the near future.

New coaches at Pac and Wil, Gaillard gone and another at LC, OR teams could be on the upswing in a few years with some fresh new faces that are eager and capable of winning.

You are the man, Mr. Coleman!

[(509)Rat]

bbaddict,
looks like option 1-3 were defended on that last play. It was either ran incorrectly or just a poor set. Couldn't tell you which. As for the video streaming. Whitworth has been doing it for awhile now, free, football and basketball. It started back in 06 I believe for football (it's always been free) and I think they tinkered with it that bball season and have been pretty much full go every season since. As far as I knew Whitworth was the first NWC program to stream both sports for free.

I'd be surprised if Whitworth fell past #3. Pat's seen them in Vegas so maybe he can comment. Augustana's record is not as impressive as a 1 loss team from the CCIW would have been in years past. The conference is a little down. Williams lost to Amherst, who Middlebury beat, but Middlebury lost to Williams...no way to evaluate 4, 1-loss teams without seeing them all play. Which nobody (other than maybe Pat) has done.

Who cares though, Whitworth will get sent all the way across the country to play a top 10 team, who is playing 3 hours away from their own campus. And then if they win they'll be matched up with a top 3 team playing on their home court...I blame the SCIAC for not being good enough and only having 1 tournament worthy team every year.

[bbaddict]

TMT +K to you for being encouraging.  It's been a tough year for the Bearcat BBX, but I'm looking towards the long term!

Rat -- don't give up so soon!   Whitworth could host unless someone screwed up on the paperwork or something!!   First, they have to win the AQ spot for the NWC and that means the 4 team playoff.   There's no way we get two teams into the tournament, so they just better win & win big.    Should be easy to do in the Field House.

[(509)Rat]

Oh, Whitworth will host...just not as many rounds as they deserve to.

[nwhoops1903]

Whitworth tips against Pacific in conference closeout game.  Pacific FINALLY wins a close game after going 1-10 in games decided by less than 7 points.  I expect a good game and a Whitworth victory.  Looking forward to next weekend in Spokane.  

LC can clinch the 1st round home game with a win over Willamette tonight.  If they lose, both teams finish 11-5 in conf. and split home and away then Whitman wins it with the victory Tuesday giving them the #2 tiebreaker nod.  Whitman's loss last night cost them huge.  I don't see LC losing tonight but you know Willamette will make it interesting.

[(509)Rat]

Tourney is set

1. Whitworth
2. Whitman
3. Lewis and Clark
4. PLU

10 more posts...

[Bearcat Press]

 

Boom goes the dynamite ... on L&C's chance to host a playoff game.

What a way for Robbie Kunke to finish his career: almost a triple-double with 11 points, 10 boards, and 8 assists!

[bbaddict]

Tourney is set

1. Whitworth
2. Whitman
3. Lewis and Clark
4. PLU

10 more posts...

So, the bummer about WU winning over L&C is that all the playoff games are in Washington this week.   Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they won so we could be 2nd from the bottom of the NWC instead of the total bottom, but . . .

So, Rat, would Whitworth rather face Whitman or L&C in the 2nd round, because I don't think PLU has enough stuff to win in the Field House??

BTW, nwhoops, if I was a betting man, which I'm not, I sure wouldn't ask for your advice.

[nwhoops1903]

BTW, nwhoops, if I was a betting man, which I'm not, I sure wouldn't ask for your advice.

If only I would stop taking my advice.  I am down $'s for sure this year.   Although, I am 24-1 on Whitworth this year.

[bbaddict]

BTW, nwhoops, if I was a betting man, which I'm not, I sure wouldn't ask for your advice.

If only I would stop taking my advice.  I am down $'s for sure this year.   Although, I am 24-1 on Whitworth this year.

Yeah, and I don't think anyone saw that one coming . . . except maybe, Bridgeland.    The coach at WU said he was in the stands at the WU game tonight.  Scouting L&C, no doubt.

[(509)Rat]

The politically correct answer is that Whitworth doesn't care who they play...

I would bet the players want to beat the hell out of Whitman after the Missionaries gave them a loss...

If it were me, I'd rather play the team who will have bused for over 10 hours the last 2 days, haven't slept in their own beds for awhile, and just got done with a track meet in Walla Walla. Not to mention they've struggled since starting off the second half of the NWC shedule with a loss to Whitworth. So LC...of course I'd love to see them beat the hell out of Whitman too!

[playball]

I would also rather play LC if I were Whitworth.  Besides being on the road for so long and not sleeping in their own beds like Rat said, I also think that LC's style of play stands no chance of winning against Whitworth.  If you look at both teams player by player, WW has the advantage at every position.  LC relies a lot on the three as more than half of their shots are 3's.  I think this is where the game will be won or lost for either side.

I would defend LC this way...
Edwards: I would have a rotation of guards on Edwards all game who were just focused on shutting him down.  With Edwards, you have to be on your A game defensively since he can do both shoot and drive quite well.  Very Athletic.  Don't let him get to the free throw line and get his feel going.  Will most likely score his points, but you have to make it hard for him.  He WILL FORCE shots.

PJ Taylor:  How many Taylors are in this league?!  Can't let him get shots off as he has shown that he can make multiple threes in a game.  Be in him on the catch with heavy pressure.  When he drives, he looks to pass off to a cutter to the hoop or a spot up guy.  Not that great of a finisher.  Face guard him with one of the Gebbers.

Perconti:  Has really come into his own in the conference season.  A wild card.  Looks to spot up more than anything but isn't terrible off the dribble. Same as wells, play these two straight up and be ready for anything.

Meeuwson:  Nice kid to almost a default.  Can and will shoot the three however not on a consistent basis.  Tough kid.  Felix on him obviously.

[John Gleich]

Oh, Whitworth will host...just not as many rounds as they deserve to.

It might be a stretch... but there's potentially a similar "perfect storm" situation like there was in 03-04...

Should Stevens Point get to the Sweet 16, their women are actually having a better season, so likely would get the nod in terms of hosting the sectional.  That means that they'd have to travel... and it would just depend on who else is still in.