MBB: Northwest Conference

[logshock101]

Great win by the Loggers last night!  They really rolled Pac up.

Yeah, but what's with my favorite NWC player Robert Krauel going 0-for-4 from the FT line and only hitting 59% for the season? No one leaves practice until they make 70 out of 100 free throws.

OxyBob

in his defense robert has been sick with the flu, not that it justifies 59% on the season, but ive never found FTs to be his strongest attribute

[TryMeTeam]

Okay, okay, Doc.  Let me get going on this slow Saturday morning.  Great win by Linfield.  PLU needs Dressler back badly (when? I was told he would be back by now), but even with him, Linfield wins that game.   I didn't think Linfield could go up there and win by 15, but there you go.  Kudos!

What is with this league?  Matchups seem to be everything this year except for UPS which just keeps on winning.  LC folds in the second half Monday and then comes out slow only to surge past WW last night.  Fox  beats Wil in a game nobody gave them a chance in.  Wil will most probably end up the first half of the season at 4-4, shooting for two last second wins against Linfield and WW that could have them 6-2.  Fox starts out winless and beats Linfield and Wil back to back, the second one in Salem.  Linfield beating WW and losing to Fox, and on and on.  Picking 50% of the wins on a gvien Fri or Sat night is looking pretty good right now.

Back to LC.  I got to finally see them play.  They played like everyone on the board said in the first half, dying as Pio would say (live or die by the 3) by the 3.  WW was effective in their offense and hit about every shot in roaring to 17-2 and 19-4 leads.  There defense was stifling.  LC was looking like a JV team against the Var for much of the first half, but crept back into it, down only 6 at the half.  Then Kollash and Hollins got hot, and the rest of the team followed with Berggren hitting 2 of 3 from the 3.  The defense shut down Nakamura and had a hand in Riley's face all night.  Jurich was a beast inside and was like almost perfect from the field.

I guess you would expect this from a team that plays 4 freshmen and a sophmore big minutes with only 2 seniors playing regularly.  That probably explains the Jekkyl and Hyde routine.

Great, no good, night for the OR teams against WA, going 2-1.  Pac could have made it a great night, but UPS is just too good. 

Will UPS run the table?  Probably not, but who is going to get them?  LC or Lin at home, Fox or WW at UPS, Wil at either place?  It will be tough for all of these teams to stop them!

[Pio20]

Back to LC.  I got to finally see them play.  They played like everyone on the board said in the first half, dying as Pio would say (live or die by the 3) by the 3. 

They will live and die by the three. But if you look at what really got them back in the game, it was their defense. Whitworth had four turnovers in the first two minutes of the second half. Hitting your shots helps too of course, but the only way to outscore a team by 18 points in one half is to force turnovers. LC scored 17 points off turnovers to WW's 6. That's the difference in the game right there. If the Pios can keep up that defense they can stay in second place.

[Pio20]

Will UPS run the table?  Probably not, but who is going to get them?  LC or Lin at home, Fox or WW at UPS, Wil at either place?  It will be tough for all of these teams to stop them!

Has a team ever gone undefeated in the NWC? Going back to 2000, the best I saw were one loss teams.

[bbaddict]

Pacific was he only conference team the Loggers blew out a home last year.  I have a good feeling about the Pacific game, but I have a very, very bad feeling about Willamette.  They've stood up to the pressure very well the past few years...

Hope you're right about that "bad feeling" because the Bearcats really need a win after losing to Fox!  And, isn't it TIME for UPS to lose one?  They don't want their 1st loss this year to be in the first game of the newly constructed four team tournament.

Whitman @ LC -- Whitman was scouting at LC last night, so they'll probably win.  LC will be hung over from the party after beating Whitworth!
GFU @ PLU--Anybody's guess-- I'd say Fox over PLU
Linfield @ Pacific--Boxers will win unless they turn the lights up or Linfield practiced in the dark this week.
Willamette @ UPS--Tough, mean & ugly (Triple OT, anyone?)  It's UPS's turn to lose.  WIL in a close one.


LC could win tonight if #23 is on fire like last night & if #30 didn't get too banged up.  That was a rough, ugly game.  There's been a lot of blood & technicals at L&C lately!

[bbaddict]

Will UPS run the table?  Probably not, but who is going to get them?  LC or Lin at home, Fox or WW at UPS, Wil at either place?  It will be tough for all of these teams to stop them!

Has a team ever gone undefeated in the NWC? Going back to 2000, the best I saw were one loss teams.

Don't think so, Pio.  Usually the top team has one or two conference losses.  Probably because they all have to play each other twice.  Last year 3rd & 4th place had 7 losses each, so it's too early to count anyone out!  After this weekend, it's a NEW season again!

[NWCer]

Will UPS run the table?  Probably not, but who is going to get them?  LC or Lin at home, Fox or WW at UPS, Wil at either place?  It will be tough for all of these teams to stop them!

Has a team ever gone undefeated in the NWC? Going back to 2000, the best I saw were one loss teams.

Don't think so, Pio.  Usually the top team has one or two conference losses.  Probably because they all have to play each other twice.  Last year 3rd & 4th place had 7 losses each, so it's too early to count anyone out!  After this weekend, it's a NEW season again!

There was no 4th place team last year.  There were four 3rd place teams last year (Willamette, Pacific, Linfield, and Lewis and Clark, Willamette won the tiebreaker to go to the post season tournament, the same way Whitworth won the tiebreaker over LC 2 years ago for the 1st seed, yet they were both 1st place and league champs). 

"Linfield @ Pacific--Boxers will win unless they turn the lights up or Linfield practiced in the dark this week."

Haha, hopefully my Boxers will dim the lights even more!

[Bearcat Press]

Tonights Games:

Willamette @ UPS

There's eight minutes left, and my well-coached team with decent players is down by 34.  Count me a believer in UPS.

[bbaddict]

Tonights Games:

Willamette @ UPS

There's eight minutes left, and my well-coached team with decent players is down by 34.  Count me a believer in UPS.

Did the Bearcats show up for the 2nd half?  I'm listening to it, but it sounds to me like UPS doesn't have to beat them, because they're doing it to themselves!

[Bearcat Press]

Tonights Games:

Willamette @ UPS

There's eight minutes left, and my well-coached team with decent players is down by 34.  Count me a believer in UPS.

Did the Bearcats show up for the 2nd half?  I'm listening to it, but it sounds to me like UPS doesn't have to beat them, because they're doing it to themselves!

I think it was a combination of both.  Willamette has looked bad - I mean bad the last two games.  To shoot 38.5% on free throws against GFU and then 39.3% against UPS is unacceptable.  Our perimeter defense was poor against Fox, and it seems like our entire defense was out of whack against the Loggers.

The Bearcats have exactly two days to get their heads on straight before they face a very dangerous Linfield team.

[Pio20]

From the UPS website: The 11th-ranked Puget Sound Loggers became the first team in Northwest Conference history to start 8-0...that answers my question if any team has gone undefeated in conference..no team has done better than 7-1 in conference! I think the more UPS wins the more confident they get. They are starting to sound more and more like a top ten team to me.

[LogShow]

Another great weekend by the Loggers...8-0. First team ever!  Great job guys! 8)

[pineconefan]

According to the men's basketball history on the NWC website, Willamette finished 10-0 in the NWC in 1987-88.   So UPS is not the first school to go 8-0.  But the first in 21 years is still pretty impressive.

[TryMeTeam]

Truly an accomplishment for the Loggers!  And what prize do they get?  Another matchup with the Pios at their place!  Should/could be a good matchup.  LC's coach is very good at getting his team up for a big game, especially at home.  Lets hope for a good game!

Whitman gave LC all they could handle last night.  UPS will still have some talent next year, but I see Whitman taking their place when Bridgeland gets a full year of recruiting under his belt.  UPS could fall to the middle of the pack next year while the eastern WA trip now becomes a nightmare. 

WW with 3 losses and in 3rd place at the turn.  When was the last time that happened?  I think they will be a very dangerous team in the second half.  Circle 2/13 at UPS and the last game of the regular season vs LC at Spokane.  Big games for the pirates.

I see Dressler is back at PLU.  He will help them down the stretch, and they are only 1 game out of the 4 seed. 

They bottom 4 teams with 2 wins (one will have 3 after Tues) are probably the best bottom 4 in league history.  Whit, PLU, Fox and Pac are capable of, and have, beating any of the top teams, and will play a big role in the playoff positioning.  Although there will probably be fewer upsets in the second half, there will be some.  Makes for a lot of interest in the last month of the season.

Somebody get the Loggers and make this a more interesting finish to the season (sorry Logger fans, but a walk away is no fun).   

[pineconefan]

T-M-T,

Hare to argue with any of your points.  The second half is shaping up as a battle for second place and a first round home game in the playoffs.

Question for you and Pio20 - Could this season be Gaillard's blaze of glory?  Last season was a disaster.  With so many players back from the previous season's co-title, and the influx of new talent, L&C seemed torn apart from inside.

But Gaillard has clearly cleaned out whatever was dragging down the team.  Addition by subtraction.  Is this season his last?  Like I said, his chance to go out on a blaze of glory?  Maybe that is an added motivation (officially stated or not) for this group of players...