MBB: Northwest Conference

[John Gleich]

UPS/Willamette going to double OT.  Willamette had a 4 pt lead with :34 to go in the OT and Willamette turns it over on its last three possessions.

[cawcdad]

pennstlbu, Notre Dame de Namur is just down the road from Menlo, so he did go back home.

[(509)Rat]

Whitworth held off a tough Pacific team.  The Pirates offense didn't play a great game but the defense held onto the lead against the Pacific Boxer's streaky shooting.  Here's the write up from the Whitworth SID...

http://www.whitworth.edu/Athletics/Teams/Basketball_Men/Releases/06_07/Pac1.htm

[pennstlbu]

pennstlbu, Notre Dame de Namur is just down the road from Menlo, so he did go back home.

OK, that makes sense. I probably just heard wrong that he was going to Menlo and that he was going to a school near Menlo.

[pennstlbu]

Sounded like a crazy game night @ UPS. 140-137 Logger victory in 3OT! Teams combined for about 100 fouls shots and 70+ fouls.

[(509)Rat]

Whitworth starts out NWC by going 2-0.  They beat LC last night 82-73.  This time the D didn't look great.  LC is a good team and made 52% of their shots but too many were easy open looks around the perimeter.  It's a good thing Whitworth shot over 60% from the field (50% from three-point range).  Here's the realease...

http://www.whitworth.edu/Athletics/Teams/Basketball_Men/Releases/06_07/L&C1.htm

[bearcatsfan3]

Tough, tough weekend for the Bearcats...140-137 loss at UPS was amazing to hear on the radio, much less for anyone who was lucky enough to be there I'd imagine...WU had its chances, as it seemed there were at least 3 times they appeared to have won the game...

PLU must be improved, as they are undefeated...can't help but think that the UPS loss cost Willamette two games...

1-5, 0-2 is a big hole...but its a 3 team playoff, and if the 'Cats can rebound and just get in, who knows...they are obviously very capable, considering they went blow for blow with the 3 time champs on their own home floor...

What a game...I was exhausted listening, I don't know how Craig Spivey(?) kept up with the announcing on the radio...

[UPSoundLogs]

The bearcats proved to be much more of a challenge than I thought they would be on Friday night, I figured that without Stuvland they wouldn't put up a good fight...I was way off.  The triple OT was exhausting and at times very painful to watch.  Both teams had several oppurtunities to put the game away but there were many lucky/boneheaded/horrible plays made by both sides that allowed the other team back in.  The crowd was great and I was thankful that for the most part the refs allowed the players to decide the game (meaning there was an equal amount of bad calls for both teams). 

I was impressed by Nugent from WU (freshman I think?), he gave UPS the most trouble for sure he'll be a great player in the NWC over the next few years.  Kraul from UPS also had a great game, he's solid in the post and great on the boards. 

I wasn't able to catch the GFU game at UPS but it sounded like they won with a lot more Breathing room.

Two hard fought NWC wins for the Loggers so far!  Hopefully that's a sign of things to come. 

I also saw that PLU went 2-0 on the weekend I had to look at the scores twice.  Does anyone have an idea of who is playing well for them and how they are undeafeted?  I checked the box scores but was anyone at those games to see who's good, I was pretty suprised to see they beat WU so easily.  Maybe its just that the curse of Harshman is lifted?

[pineconefan]

Initial impressions of the Whitworth team after seeing them in person for the first time -

First - if all the pieces are working at the same time, this is the most talented team since the NAIA finals team of 1995-96.  I only saw glimpses of it this weekend, but it was there.  Hasenfus is strong in the middle, they can shoot the lights out with Jones, Young and Williams, and they have an athletic and creative player in Symes.  Symes is more naturally athletic than anybody I've seen in a Pirate uniform in 20 years.  Willemsen offers a great option off of the bench, and Jurich provides solid bench minutes as well.
Second - The challenge for Hayford is to make all the pieces fit together.  Its still early yet, so not much to be concerned about yet.  I would expect by mid January that the team will be hittin on more cylanders at one time.

[pineconefan]

Quick impressions of the other teams, based on scores to date:

Doing as expected: UPS, Pacific, George Fox, Linfield
Doing better than expected: PLU, L&C
Doing worse than expected: Willamette, Whitman

Still early though.

[UPSoundLogs]

Wow...Whitworth cracked the top ten, that was fast!  For a NWC team to jump to number 8 after only spending two weeks in the rankings is a nice suprise....Congrats WW.  UPS is still holding strong at 21, they are still going through some growing pains.  Being that they are so young means they are very inconsistent from what I've seen so far, but I still think they will be in a great position to make the tournament towards the end of the season. 

[Gilbert McFinnegan]

The worst part is that for the NWC to gain some ground it looks like the rest of the Top 25 will just have to lose.  Neither UPS or WW are playing any teams that could possibly give them a jump in the ranks just on beating them alone.

I apologize for quoting myself, but I wanted to get to it before anyone else did.  So can anyone pass the ketchup?  The foot in my mouth will taste much better that way.

I think I am with UPSoundLogs on this one; the jump by WW into the eight spot is quite surprising.  I did not realize how highly the voters of the d3 poll valued  HOME victories against Walla Walla (2-8), Pacific (2-4), and LC (5-3).  Apparently it is worth 10 spots on the polls.

I am not complaining too much though, I am all for respect for the NWC on the national level even if the logic behind it may seem a little off.

[pineconefan]

Gilbert - I think the jump in the rankings have more to do with the voters having a better understanding of what the win at Wheaton meant.  Since Wheaton went on to beat both Calvin and Hope last week to move into the top 25 themselves.

[bearcatsfan3]

While obviously Willamette's record of 1-5 is NOT where they usually are/should be, I would venture to guess that if Whitworth started this season without Williams, Young, and Jones, or UPS started without Williams, Marsh, and Delong, they would be struggling themselves...

Willamette has played all but 4 minutes of their first 6 games without their projected starters at 1 (Erickson), 2 (Stuvland), and 3 (Fife)...now, I realize eventually you are what you are, but that's a HUGE chunk of your pie missing, and the fact they still battled UPS to a 140-137 decision speaks volumes of what they can/will be capable of...Mansfield has been huge, Nugent is shooting some ridiculously high %, Michael Smith (who I don't know if I've ever seen him before) scored 18 ppg over the weekend, and they've got Michael Plank (a football guy) scoring 17 points at UPS...

Now, the radio made it sound like Erickson is probably done...so they're not getting him back...but Stuvland and Fife, should be soon...add that to this mix, and they're still a legit threat for that 3rd spot...all you have to do is get in...

On a different note Pinecone...how would you compare this new guy to Tucker/Pecht/Depew?

[Pat Coleman]

Gilbert - I think the jump in the rankings have more to do with the voters having a better understanding of what the win at Wheaton meant.  Since Wheaton went on to beat both Calvin and Hope last week to move into the top 25 themselves.

Bingo.