MBB: Northwest Conference

[wildcat11]

Go 'Cats!

[(509)Rat]

The NWC has had more than its fair share of surprising results this season.

Just gonna go ahead and quote myself in regards to Linfield beating GF....

[A Buc Forever]

Congrats to Linfield.  Great win and hopefully this bodes well for the program in the future. 

GF is up and down!!!  They beat the top team in the conference and lost to the bottom team.

[Keandre]

Anything can happen when you lace'em up!!!

[A Buc Forever]

Great weekend for the Bucs!!!!  Since the loss to GF they have played great basketball.  Hopefully they can keep it going next week in the always challenging Tacoma trip. 

[blackhawks4]

Oh hey, by the way, the best player in the conference came back this weekend. 

I sure hope Whitworth doesn't stumble in T-town either...

[Keandre]

Big weekend for UPS, getting wins on the road in the NWC is not easy. They will beat one of the Whits this weekend, regardless if the best player in the league is back. I wouldn't be surprised if UPS gets both, they are grinding out some pretty good wins. I hope to see some of you out in Tacoma this weekend.

[Keandre]

What is going on with Duckworth from Whitman? Seems like as soon as I gave him praise, he was never in box score.

[(509)Rat]

Whitworth has been playing very good basketball as of late. They steamrolled L&C and Pacific after beating Whitman on the road. I don't thimk there is any way UPS wins both games this weekend. In fact, I think I'd be more surprised with UPS knocking off either Whitman or Whitworth than seeing them drop both games to the Whits. That's not because anything UPS has done lately, rather Whitworth is finally inspiring some confidence and Whitman gets their best player back.

Since I said all that and nobody has any idea what is going on most nights in the conference this year, UPS will win both and move up to 2nd place in the conference... 

[A Buc Forever]

Rat,

The board has been a little quiet lately. Is everyone bored with WW winning?  It has been an amazing run.  You have to go back to the 04-05 season to see WW drop below 2nd in the league.  Including this year, WW has lost a total of 5 league games in 5 years (3 of those losses were to Whitman). However, it's not just WW winning, I think it is the lackluster play of traditionally strong teams like Willamette and Linfield and the inconsistent play of the rest of the Oregon and Tacoma teams that is making the league a little less interesting.  Not much for those fans to post about.  I'm enjoying the run, but I do think the league has been down the last couple years.  I hope the Oregon and the Tacoma teams can raise their level of play and make the league interesting again.

[blackhawks4]

Thanks A Buc Forever for making a very subtle but true point. Is it fair to make the following argument (And I would love to hear Pat Coleman's insight)...

Is Bridgeland the top D3 coach in the country?

Check the resume. UC Santa Cruz, to UPS, to Whitman?  Whitman?! Whitman?! We're talking about Whitman? Whitman?

If Whitman goes Final 4 this year, can we agree?

By now can't we all see that theyre going dancing this year while WW is sitting at home in their tux without a prom date?

Correct me if I'm wrong, is this Logie's first true WW class?

And there is no reason for WW or Linfield not to win this conference every year.

[blackhawks4]

I wouldn't be surprised if UPS gets both, they are grinding out some pretty good wins

From a credibility standpoint, I thought this was worth reposting.

[madzillagd]

Is Bridgeland the top D3 coach in the country?
Check the resume. UC Santa Cruz, to UPS, to Whitman?  Whitman?! Whitman?! We're talking about Whitman? Whitman?
If Whitman goes Final 4 this year, can we agree?
By now can't we all see that theyre going dancing this year while WW is sitting at home in their tux without a prom date?
Correct me if I'm wrong, is this Logie's first true WW class?
And there is no reason for WW or Linfield not to win this conference every year.

Obviously a very subjective question and I think there are a lot of potential correct answers.  However, I have a hard time saying Bridgeland is a better coach than Hixon @ Amherst, Moore @ Wooster, Maker @ Williams, or Bob Semling at UWSP.  You can't really go wrong with any of those five guys obviously but if you are going to look at teams going all the way to Final Fours & Championships Bridgeland does get edged out there. 

[wildcat11]

Looks like the 'Cats picked up a 6' 5" player from 1A Horizon Christian.

http://highschoolsports.oregonlive.com/news/article/-7045266311322824964/columbia-christian-an-inevitable-1a-state-champion-horizon-christian-coach-says-were-going-to-beat-them/

They have a 6-foot-5 post in Matt Totaro who has signed at Linfield, and other solid contributors such as guard Jared Davis and forward Mason Bloomster.

not going to roll my eyes at the "signed" thing because I've given up on papers getting that right at the d3 level.

[(509)Rat]

Rat,

The board has been a little quiet lately. Is everyone bored with WW winning? 

I'm not 

And I don't think the winning ought to be considered a "run". Only in the sense that "run" generally implies that it cannot be sustained. The only intelligent thing that came out of blackhawk's post was that there is no reason Whitworth should not win the conference every year. I agree with that. In a competitive conference you are bound to have a season here and there where somebody knocks you off, especially in basketball with a conference tournament. But I see no reason why Whitworth cannot be one of the most talented teams in the league (if not the most talented) year in and year out. You have an administration that is easy to work with and very supportive of athletics. Cost of attendance is very competitive compared to the rest of the conference. You have a tradition of winning and can practically guarantee a kid he'll get to play in the national tourney. You have the best home crowd in the entire Western United States as far as d3 basketball is concerned (sorry WIAC, you are not "Western"). You fly to almost every away game...

Someday Whitman will actually beat Whitworth when it counts. Someday.