MBB: Northwest Conference

[playball]

3 FREE THROWS for LINFIELD?!  YOU SERIOUS!?  This is a little... ok, VERY skewed!  Unreal.... 
OK, now for actual stat reading and my two cents.  RAT, Batiuk will be the best player to come through Linfield in a long time.  The way he shoots the ball is fantastic and he will only get better at creating his own shot.  Look for him to be an All American in the next couple years, not yet though as his rebound numbers need to come up.  Good passer too. 
For your perimeter defense comment I say "Where is this years Bo Gregg when you need him to guard whoever is hot for the other team?!"  There always seems to be one, maybe two guys that step up defensively for the Pirates.  I think this is when Loofburrow is truly missed since he matches up better with a 4 man where Felix the 5.  3 free throws though? Wow.

I like to see the progress this team has made and I think it starts with the leadership exhibited by some of the players who are new to that kind of role.  Dotes makes the right calls for players who are on the floor and what sets they run, its dependent on thee players to execute.  Great job by Doty and the program yesterday, 3 fts... wow

Now onto other teams...
George Fox upsets UPS.  As you said Rat, Gittens got his against a very small team.  However, what happened to Shelton?!  Fouled out with only 3 fga's?  Hmm, kid seems in a funk.  Gittens with only one block, 3 fouls. Either Fox stayed away from the drive, were able to float em up there and make some, or he just isnt going for them anymore.  The last idea is nonsense!  The guy is always going to go for swats!  Good for Fox though, Im shocked they did it.

LC beats Willamette
Mounts finally put together a good game.  A very solid player who has been playing frustrated this year, its nice to see him back on track with 21 and 9 boards.  The main thing with Willamette that just doesn't make any sense to me is why isn't Sean Dart getting more than 7 shots a game?  He shoots a very high percentage and Willamette needs his inside scoring.
For the LC side of things....Where is LCPIO26?  5-14 for Holliins, I know Im kind of a hater, but goodness.  And knowing his game, majority of those are difficult shots.  Main reason why he gets away with these shots and they win is their ability to get offensive rebounds.  16 of them last night.  I dont think this will be a season long trend however.

Whitman "flattens" Pacific
A day after going beserk on Linfield, the whitman big Ben Eisenhardt gets held to 8 and 5 by a SMALL pacific team. Frustrating to see.  Whitman is a tough squad but I think that if you play them man to man tight with no help off of Clark, they will be in trouble.  A lot of drive and kick to create for them.  Not invincible by any means.  Another night where 15 guys play and no David Michaels, any info anyone?   Shaw playing very few minutes, I never would have seen that coming these last few years.
Pacific...continues to be small. And that doesn't bode well in this conference as of this moment.

PLU has the night off, good for them.

3free throws... at least the valley schools get hosed in the valley too whereas Whitworth and Whitman(more so Whitworth) gets help at home

[playball]

And since you called out Keandre Rat, I think he won't make any excuses except for the team all suffering from the long trip from Tacoma...and maybe possible paper cuts!   

[Pinecone_Curtain]

3 FREE THROWS for LINFIELD?!  YOU SERIOUS!?  This is a little... ok, VERY skewed!  Unreal.... 
OK, now for actual stat reading and my two cents.  RAT, Batiuk will be the best player to come through Linfield in a long time.  The way he shoots the ball is fantastic and he will only get better at creating his own shot.  Look for him to be an All American in the next couple years, not yet though as his rebound numbers need to come up.  Good passer too. 
For your perimeter defense comment I say "Where is this years Bo Gregg when you need him to guard whoever is hot for the other team?!"  There always seems to be one, maybe two guys that step up defensively for the Pirates.  I think this is when Loofburrow is truly missed since he matches up better with a 4 man where Felix the 5.  3 free throws though? Wow.

Playball, the numbers were skewed (Linfield had 7 fouls to Whitworth's 0 at one point in the second half) but I didn't think that was necessarily wrong. Batiuk took a majority of the shots during that stretch in the second half, and most were from 8-20 feet out. Linfield was hot from outside, so the jumpers led to few fouls being called on WW. With that said, WW decided to drive every possession to begin the second half (mostly Lasisi, who can get to the rim against anyone in this league) and when they did, they were fouled. So while it looks like homer calls on the stat sheet, it was really style of play that led to those numbers.

The "Bo Gregg" on this team: his name is Mack Larkin, but he has been out lately with injury. Once Felix got in foul trouble, Logie substituted Felix in on offense and Michael Taylor (NTMT) on defense to blanket Batiuk. Mack would have helped greatly.

My general thoughts from the game:
I was really impressed with Linfield, in particular Batiuk who came to play. Whitworth was still without Jack, Zach and Mack (hopefully at least Jack will be back for Whitman on Tuesday), so it's a little easier to focus the defense on "the big three" in Gebbers, Friedt, and Lasisi.

Lasisi needs to stop taking so many jumpers. Like I said earlier, Lasisi can get to the hoop against ANYONE in this league, so I hope Logie spreads it out and lets him drive more often. If the defense collapses like Linfield did late in the second half, he can kick it to a shooter, or make Felix's defender choose. Wade has been in a bit of slump lately, which has led to teams focusing on Felix (Linfield double-or-triple teamed him every time he touched the ball) who will still get at least double-digit points/rebounds every game. That means the role players like McConnell, McCargar, and Taylor will have to step up. We've seen McConnell and Taylor do it a few times such as last night when McConnell hit some HUGE shots, still waiting for McCargar. McCargar is really hit or miss: he will sometimes nail a huge shot, and then miss badly on a wide-open look.

Big game Tuesday vs. Whitman. I'm not sure Whitworth has the depth to run with the Missionaries, much less the offensive firepower, without Jack and Mack. Even though it's Jan Term and most students are studying abroad, I hope the students that are in Spokane come out in droves and are loud. The Bucs will need every ounce of energy.

[A Buc Forever]

3 FREE THROWS for LINFIELD?!  YOU SERIOUS!?  This is a little... ok, VERY skewed!  Unreal.... 

3free throws... at least the valley schools get hosed in the valley too whereas Whitworth and Whitman(more so Whitworth) gets help at home

Fun reading about the games.  The NWC is as wild as ever.  WW still winning, but less of a margin.  Should be a fun year.  I do have to comment on Playball's comments on the refs. My family and friends have had a lot of experience coaching and playing in the NWC and never has anyone from a Willamette Valley team had the audacity to complain about the refs anywhere else.  When my brother was coaching at Linfield he even said he didn't like playing up in Spokane because the refs were bad, but even handed and that we got screwed badly when we came to the Valley.  Even more telling was standing next to Hugh Campbell when he was coaching at Whitworth and we were playing Willamette.  He called the ref who was 5 feet from him a cheating bastard.  The ref didn't throw a flag, kick him out or anything.  I turned to my teammate and asked why the ref didn't do something and he said, "He can't throw a flag when coach is just stating facts."

[etule]

The comment about the ref not giving a tech to the coach because he was statiung facts reminds me of Jim Valvano of NC State asking the ref if he could T him up for what he was thinking! Ref said no so he said" I think you stink" you all know whats happenned! LOL

League is balanced this year much more than it has been in the last few years. WW is definately missing Taylor! Lasisi is very good but he does not create for his teamates like Taylor! I thought Whitman would be more dominant than they have but very dangerous team!

That big kid for Lindfield is going to be a beast! Had a chance to win the game on a last second 3! Like to see a 6'11" kid get busy down low to tie the game! Fun game to watch! WW always seem to hit the big shots down the stretch! Good team!

UPS is a total mystery to me! Don't know whats up there! Shelton does seem bored!Crazy!

[Bearcat Press]

Re: the L&C/Willamette game, I think Taylor Mounts might have drawn some inspiration from Cam Mitchell, who was in attendance Saturday night.  He showed more decisiveness in driving to the bucket rather than settling for mid-range jumpers and threes.  Definitely good to see.

I agree that the Bearcats need to feature Sean Dart more, and there have been multiple times over the last few games where I've seen him calling for the ball and the point guards - Malley and Bos, I'm looking at you - just don't send it to him.  In the staff's defense though, I think Dart might be on limited minutes: he missed the first few games of the season with an Achilles injury that was originally projected to sideline him for the entire season.

[playball]

Playball, the numbers were skewed (Linfield had 7 fouls to Whitworth's 0 at one point in the second half) but I didn't think that was necessarily wrong. Batiuk took a majority of the shots during that stretch in the second half, and most were from 8-20 feet out. Linfield was hot from outside, so the jumpers led to few fouls being called on WW. With that said, WW decided to drive every possession to begin the second half (mostly Lasisi, who can get to the rim against anyone in this league) and when they did, they were fouled. So while it looks like homer calls on the stat sheet, it was really style of play that led to those numbers.

Ok, I talked to some of the guys and they said they needed to stop settling for midrange as well.  However, you bring up the point that at one point it was 7-0 in the second half and STILL ONLY 3 free throws?!  No hand checks, no anything?  Still, a little hard to think that is possible.

[playball]

And Im happy this board is starting to heat up a little bit!

[(509)Rat]

However, you bring up the point that at one point it was 7-0 in the second half and STILL ONLY 3 free throws?!

I assure you the refs did everything they could to even it out. In the last 4 minutes or so the refs called every ticky tack thing you could think of on the Pirates, and let Felix get molested under the hoop while he was on offense. They simply ran out of time.

If you've ever heard a Bob Castle broadcast you'd know he doesn't criticize officials and will agree and disagree with calls made against both teams. He is an official himself and is very fair to the one's working the basketball games. That being said, he was borderline upset near the end of the game as Whitworth was given just about 6 fouls on 6 consecutive possessions.

Had Linfield been a little more aggressive going to the hoop, they would have got the calls. But why do that and take FT's when you can't miss from 15 feet and out??? 

[Keandre]

UPS is fine, they lost some games to teams who are playing well right now. It is tough to win a league game on the road. Great job by Fox who shot the 3 well Saturday which proved to be too much for UPS to come back from. They did make it a game after they got into a rhythm. No excuses for the loss except they have to play better from the jump and not let teams get hot early. UPS is struggling right now but there is a lot of time to get well, especially with 4 home games coming up.

[Keandre]

And since you called out Keandre Rat, I think he won't make any excuses except for the team all suffering from the long trip from Tacoma...and maybe possible paper cuts!   

This was actually pretty funny to me. Not often there is a quality joke on this board. Great work lol.

[etule]

I agree that UPS can get well in a hurry! Something is haywire however! Not sure whats up! Dangerous team! I think tonights game ww vs whit should be good. I think WW handles them easily!

[D O.C.]

When you combine a good program with a name that the d3.com games recognize and a soft schedule like you alluded to, you get a top 25 ranking.

PC not gonna like that.

[Bearcat Press]

When you combine a good program with a name that the d3.com games recognize and a soft schedule like you alluded to, you get a top 25 ranking.

PC not gonna like that.

That's why I own a Mac.

[D O.C.]

Good one!
Tried to + but I did recently.