MBB: Northwest Conference

[Bearcat Press]

The Bearcats had a tough loss to Redlands in overtime two days ago, but recovered for a nice comeback win over Chapman.  Dart has really taken his game to a different level so far this year, and while I don't think this Willamette team is top-four caliber, I don't think they'll be in the basement this year, either.

Also, it's nice to have a former WU student anchoring SportsCenter:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=661533769136&set=vb.225271707572245&type=2&theater

[dahlby]

Bearcat:
I watched both of Willamette's games down at Chapman. You are right, they are not the top team in your conference, but, I
would not under-sell them
They are a solid team that will win their share of games. The Redland's game could have gone either way, and they earned their win over Chapman by continuing to come back when CU would extend the lead to 5 -9 points.  They played the last couple of minutes as good as anyone could have played. They really impressed me during that time. (Actually, they frustrated me because I thought we had the win.)
Good luck to your guys. It will be interesting to see how many W's they pick up against other NWC teams. I will be following
them. By the way, I was told that one of your guards is a running back on the football team. He is very athletic, and handles the ball very well.

[Keandre]

Pacific was strong in their weak non-conference schedule last year and finished in the bottom of the NWC, what makes people think this will be different this season? Love Colin Wester and Charles Mosley though. Not sure why Cleary is getting so much love and he has not won AT ALL in the NWC.

[TryMeTeam]

Keandre:

It is because he is an experience, non-promoted coach!   

Because I live closest to PacU I have seen several of their games over the last 3 years.  The first year he had an all-star and a future in Webster, and nothing else.  They struggled.  The next he brought in some talent, but was extremely hard hit with injuries.  This year he brought in an all-state guard, and a very good JC transfer and has almost everyone back. 

IMO (I guess I need to use this more), that is a positive progression and he is rebuilding what I foresee to be the best OR team in the near future if not this year. 

FC:

I have never been a fan of Bridgeland's style, so I never saw why Lunt would want to copy it.  But Bridgeland took a perennial losing, lower tier team (Whitman) to the top tier remarkably quickly, so I have to give him credit for his results if not his style.   I was not around when he took over at UPS so I don't know what improvement he did there.  But the Whitman turnaround is a WOW.  Money works (Playball said it first).

[Keandre]

TMT, I have been following the NWC for years and Pacific was in the top 3 in Lowery's 3rd year which was I think 2007-2008, had a very good team coming back and very good recruit in Garold Howe. The next 2 promising years for Pacific, they were hit with injuries in both Bartlett brothers. No one said anything about that. Then, in 2008-2009, they were very good again almost beating Hawaii Pacific and taking 2 from Cal Lu and Whittier who were picked to finish 1-2 in the SCIAC, but they lost 2 important players to injury as well. All I am saying is that if we are going to say he lost games due to injury, then we can't say Lowery left the program with nothing because he had to deal with injuries as well which made it seem he left them with nothing. In actuality, he left them with Wester, Bartlett, Anglin, and Mosely with a promising Beatty coming in from Skagit. THAT IS NOT LEAVING A PROGRAM WITH NOTHING. As a matter of fact, Lowery had more wins his last year in the NWC with the "nothing" people say he left Cleary with and when Cleary took over with those same guys, he couldn't win anything. So someone please tell me what is so different between the program then and now? Besides a former D1 coach. Pacific was never left with nothing accept 3 all conference players and a future all conference player., It was injuries that stunted progress. By the way, what talent did he bring in his first year? It was Colin and Mosley who ran the show, Lowery's recruits and this is still the case today. 

[Keandre]

I am not saying Pacific will not be good this year, next year, or any year for that matter, all I am saying is people in this blog are saying Cleary was left with nothing, that is not true. He had Bartlett, Wester, Mosley, LeMar Anglin, and Beatty coming in from Skagit. That is a pretty good five. But yes, injuries plagued them, just like they did with Lowery.

By the way, GO LOGGERS! They got 3 in a row in Cali. People say they will struggle but from the box score, they didn't have Rex Holmes, their starting guard who killed Whitman last year in the press, and they didn't have him against Whitworth which was huge too. Once they get healthy, lookout. They have size, speed, and the talent to get wins in the NWC. Lots of young guys getting many minutes too so lookout for them in the future as well. I love the NWC!!!!

[A Buc Forever]

Great article on Logie:

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/dec/20/whits-logie-learned-about-life-hoops-from/

With regard to all this talk about coaches, I'm not sure there is much worth arguing about.  It really doesn't matter whether coaches have been promoted or brought in from the outside it's hard to predict how they will do.  What I can say is that I have enjoyed almost every NWC game I have watched in the last 10 years.  The overall coaching, teamwork, sportsmanship, execution etc. has been at the highest level of any conference I've seen. Some teams have underachieved, but not to the degree you see in other conferences (e.g. the whole Pac-12 last year).  That said, Pacific has not been as competitive as they should be the last 3 years or so and it would be nice to see them win a few more league games this year (just not against Whitworth). 

[(509)Rat]

If Pacific can stay healthy they could easily be a playoff team this year. Willamette might surprise some people too...if they weren't so darn inconsistent...

[playball]

Batuik with 38 on 14-23 shooting.  I've been telling you guys to quit sleeping on him!

[TryMeTeam]

Sorry for beating a dead horse, but...

Keandre:  Yes he was!  You cannot mix years.  Wester and Mosley were sophmores and Mosley was nothing.  Wester could only shoot if he was wide open.  Hardly the players they are today.  Anglin was a great talent, but very soft.  I have never seen a player take himself out of games as much as he did.  Sometimes he was good, most times just tried to look good.  Bartlett was good, but coming off an injury, not his best self.  Beatty was Cleary's recruit, and not one of the best point guards in the league any means as a junior.  And they had literally no bench to count on.  Trust me, he as dealt a losing hand.

They could finish low again this year, but I don't think they will.  They are up and down this year, getting some good wins and losing to Walla Walla.  I am done with this!

If UPS is on the upswing, it may be 3 of the 4 playoff teams are from WA.  Sorry, don't want that.  You have to go with the 2 Whit's but the other 2 are tough to call.  I think it will be a real dogfight for 3 and 4 between UPS, LC, PacU, and Fox, maybe PLU.  And if Linfield gets hot,...  Wilamette is probably the only team that hasn't shown signs of being in the mix.  Quite the prediction, huh?

Playball:  You know I am a Batuik fan.  I think I even said he was better than another all-league big from Linfield that I really liked.  Now what he needs to do is finish the year solid.

[A Buc Forever]

Why is Whitman not ranked or even receiving votes.  They essentially have the same record as WW. Earlier they were at least getting some votes.  The NWC does not get much attention from the rest of the country. It seems like the only way we will ever get two teams in the tourney is to have the one team they rank get beat in our tournament like WW did a few years ago when UPS had that top 10 team.

[madzillagd]

They essentially have the same record as WW.

I found this statement endlessly entertaining.

Whether they should or shouldn't be ranked, January 8 their fate is in their own hands. Win the 3 games leading up to and then beat WW, they'll be a lock for a spot.

[TryMeTeam]

I was at a party last night and talked to a friend of a parent of one of the LC players.  It sounds like Hollins' return will be soon, maybe the first game after Christmas.  No word on why it has taken so long.  That would be a big plus for the Pios if he can play well after 2 ACL injuries. 

[playball]

I was at a party last night and talked to a friend of a parent of one of the LC players.  It sounds like Hollins' return will be soon, maybe the first game after Christmas.  No word on why it has taken so long.  That would be a big plus for the Pios if he can play well after 2 ACL injuries.

While he would help with rebounding, I think that he would really need to grow about 5 or 6 inches in order to really help LC.  They don't seem to have any bigs contributing!  As for the validity of his comeback, I think Ive heard this for a while now...

[Pat Coleman]

Why is Whitman not ranked or even receiving votes.  They essentially have the same record as WW. Earlier they were at least getting some votes.  The NWC does not get much attention from the rest of the country. It seems like the only way we will ever get two teams in the tourney is to have the one team they rank get beat in our tournament like WW did a few years ago when UPS had that top 10 team.

They had been getting votes but dropped off of a couple ballots. I expect they'll be back when we vote again after Jan. 1.