MBB: Northwest Conference

[nwhoops1903]

Michael Taylor is great, but hard to rank those guys.  A lot of people would put Beal at the top, I'd put Taylor at the top if his assist to turnover ratio was half of what Ross' was. Nobody on the list got their hand on the ball as much as Williams.   It all comes down to what you value in a guard.  In Hayford's system, hard to beat Ross IMHO.

Love talking WW hoops.  I agree that this years schedule is not what WW thought it could be but I suspect that 4 or 5 teams we have played will be playing for berths in late Feb.  I think Victor Bull at PLU is a good post and WW will need to prepare for that game at PLU as it's next biggest test.

Guards....B Williams, 4 year starter the bar is set by him.  Eric Avery, very good intense.  Ross N., super poised but 2 years. Eric B., solid 1 year.  M Taylor, BEST 1 year player hands down.  J. Young, 4 years and could score big,  David Riley, best pure scorer and 4 year player.  I like em all but I think Wade Gebbers might be at the top of this list after 2013.

[(509)Rat]

It's tricky ranking em all with the way Hayford gets guys for 1-2 years, gets everything humanly possible out of them, and then simply replaces them with another AA caliber player.

Taylor isn't a true pg. But the eyeball test tells me if you could pick any one player (like a draft), I take him first and find a solid pg (ie one of the Gebbers) to complement him. Maybe I'm just a big fan of his height and the way they play defense with him and the Gebbers boys in there.

The nice thing about being a Pirate fan is that you can have this kind of debate and still have 3-4 equally deserving players.

[nwhoops1903]

It's tricky ranking em all with the way Hayford gets guys for 1-2 years, gets everything humanly possible out of them, and then simply replaces them with another AA caliber player.

Taylor isn't a true pg. But the eyeball test tells me if you could pick any one player (like a draft), I take him first and find a solid pg (ie one of the Gebbers) to complement him. Maybe I'm just a big fan of his height and the way they play defense with him and the Gebbers boys in there.

The nice thing about being a Pirate fan is that you can have this kind of debate and still have 3-4 equally deserving players.

If Ross, Riley, M. Taylor, Depew and Montgomery played on the same team....with Symes, Peche, G Tucker, Loffburrow and B Williams off the bench...  i would take that fantasy team against any other D3 program over the last 10 years.

[CalCat]

Just got home from the Whitworth Claremont game.  Claremont without Blees hung in there and fought hard but the Bucs just had too much for them.  Game started out with W Gebbers hitting three 3's in the first 4 minutes and I thought I would see a blowout.  About mid way in the first half Whitworth had about seven possessions that they didn't get a shot letting the scrappy Stags back in it for a close 39 to 35 first half.  Stags hit a dry spell mid second half and Whitworth was able to get the separation needed .  Riley and Friedt were solid whole game.  Taylor had a slow first half but got it going better in the second.  Bucs are as advertised but Stags without Blees were impressive and determined to make a good game of it.

[etule]

I think the Claremont game gave the NW conference teams some hope. Claremont always plays hard and are well coached. They(Claremont) did get beat by Santa Cruz who lost to Cal Tech and Whitworh shot very well in the Claremont  game.
It is probably going to take an off night but a Whitworth loss or two could happen this year in the NWC which has several good teams!

[Keandre]

Looks like UPS got a new big. 6'9 and very athletic, got skills around the rim and protects the paint like a monster. Teams better watch out, this kid just elevated a team that was already going to make some noise in conference. After beating Bethany last night, time to get ready for San Jose State, tough game for the loggers but expect them to play hard in a fun environment. Go loggers!

[TryMeTeam]

Whoa, Kea!  Don't get to far ahead of yourself.  The kid played 10 minutes, scored 2 points, had 1 rebound, 2 blocked shots and 3 fouls.  He might develop into something great, but those are less than stellar stats for his first outing, and against a winless 0-12 team.

But that could/would be a nice front line if UPS slowed it down some, maybe a zone defense.  Shelton, Riggs and Gittens would be a strong, tall line in a zone defense.  But I don't think Lunt is built that way.  Riggs and Shelton seem to play in tandem instead of together.

LC seems to be dealing with injuries again this year.  They lost their 2nd game of the season with McCullough back, but Hollins out with a minor back injury.  McCullough would have helped against Whitworth, but probably not enought to make the difference.  It will be interesting to see how they do in Spokane.

Pacific is playing better than a last place team, going into overtime against Corbin and Evergreen St in the last 3 games.  They are on the right track, maybe not this year, but in the near future.

PLU, loses to Pac U, beats GF and St Martins.  Above .500 now after winning 4 in a row.  Still a possible playoff team.

Linfield should be there too, but they are a tough read.  5-4 at this stage is probably not sitting with them too well.  They have a tough trip after Christmas against some good to very good teams.  Could finish the pre-league 5-7 (1-1 in league).

Wil is my disappointment so far.  I just think they are a better team than their 3-6 record indicates (two last second shots away from being 1-8).  Maybe they will blossom like last year and finish the middle and end of season strong.

Have a great Holiday this weekend and be safe!

Go NWC!

[A Buc Forever]

Had better things to do, but procrastination got the better of me and I calculated the winning percentages of the NWC non-league games in the 2006-07 season versus this year and they were 54% vs 53%.  So if we are scheduling the same kind of games, the conference seems about as strong compared to other conferences now as it was 3 or so years ago when all the teams seemed pretty equal (except for a couple bringing up the back of the pack). Maybe the league is not down right now and WW's strong wins over LC and Linfield means they are pretty good.  Hopefully, they can get better from here and be one of Hayford's better teams.

[Keandre]

Not trying to get ahead of anything but his size and athletic ability will help even if he has not practiced all year. Now he is getting in shape, I just say keep an eye on UPS cause they can do somethings with the new edition. Him and shelton will play well together.

[TryMeTeam]

Kea:

Fair enough.  So where do you see UPS finishing this year?

[Keandre]

I have seen each team play in the league and I think that the loggers can finish top 3. That is if they can stay healthy just like any team. 

[89Pirate]

Viva Las Vegas - I am on a jet plane in 6 hours!  Off to see the Pirates take on more foes and make them walk the plank!  (sorry, I couldn't resist that one..)

A Buc Forever - are you coming over too?  Should be fun and exciting...may even try to meet Pat C and the rest of the D3 gang.

[nwhoops1903]

Should be a good game tonight.  I am looking forward to the broadcast and watching the Pirates take their game to the next level.  Great to see David Riley on the front page.  Great shooter and potential POTY in conf. this season.

[(509)Rat]

Looks like it's going to take a VERY bad game from Whitworth for the rest of the NWC to get a win against the Pirates. 2 games in Vegas, 2 monkey stomps

[John Gleich]

Any idea why Wiser isn't playing for Linfield?  He didn't play against Immaculata on Tuesday and didn't again today against Stevens Point.