MBB: Northwest Conference

playball · January 13, 2013, 04:08:03 PM

Oh man, Rat found GIFs...

I've never understood Fox so I won't act like I might attempt to now.

A Buc Forever · January 13, 2013, 04:52:53 PM

Who will be 2, 3, and 4? My guesses (and boy are they guesses):

2. Whitman--Still the best team after Whitworth.

3. Pacific--They beat the teams they should beat.

4. LC--There are plenty of teams in the conference without a strong inside game so LC can get enough wins to make it to #4. Plus, I'm betting on Hollins to win a game or two for them.

Most Likely To Beat Out One Of The Teams Above: Fox--They've got the talent to beat LC.

John Gleich · January 13, 2013, 07:26:20 PM

Quote from: (509)Rat on January 13, 2013, 12:08:36 AM
Fox beat Whitman...

LOL. And I officially have no idea what's going on in the NWC...

(509)Rat · January 14, 2013, 07:32:44 PM

Whitworth moves up to #4. This team isn't playing like the 4th best team in the country, but with as bad as the NWC is this year, I don't know if they'll lose again...

If you can turn the ball over 20 times and give the other team 14 more shots and still don't lose??? Maybe The Belt^TM has chosen....

We'll see if the pollsters are paying attention if St. Thomas loses. I'm guessing they fall behind Whitworth even with the road victory over the Pirates. Seems to be the way most polls work, very what have you done for me lately.

playball · January 15, 2013, 04:57:09 AM

Quote from: A Buc Forever on January 13, 2013, 04:52:53 PM
Who will be 2, 3, and 4? My guesses (and boy are they guesses):

2. Whitman--Still the best team after Whitworth.

3. Pacific--They beat the teams they should beat.

4. LC--There are plenty of teams in the conference without a strong inside game so LC can get enough wins to make it to #4. Plus, I'm betting on Hollins to win a game or two for them.

Most Likely To Beat Out One Of The Teams Above: Fox--They've got the talent to beat LC.

I dont know why but I think Willamette finish in the top 4. I'd probably have them over LC. I only say that because I still think Willamette is playing ok but have a lot left in the tank in terms of figuring out how to use Dart and Babcock-Krenk. Once these two guys are getting looks (Malley is nice, but not 20 Shots/game nice.) I think they will be very tough. Always a tough game down in Salem, fun atmosphere. But Fox could also upend any of these teams. What a crazy year of parity so far. Anyone's ballgame from here on out

Pat Coleman · January 15, 2013, 11:47:06 AM

Quote from: (509)Rat on January 14, 2013, 07:32:44 PM
Whitworth moves up to #4. This team isn't playing like the 4th best team in the country, but with as bad as the NWC is this year, I don't know if they'll lose again...

If you can turn the ball over 20 times and give the other team 14 more shots and still don't lose??? Maybe The Belt^TM has chosen....

We'll see if the pollsters are paying attention if St. Thomas loses. I'm guessing they fall behind Whitworth even with the road victory over the Pirates. Seems to be the way most polls work, very what have you done for me lately.

True -- and that game is now a long time ago. If St. Thomas loses a conference game it will be to someone who is significantly lower down the pecking order than UST is, so that would have to have some sort of impact.

playball · January 17, 2013, 04:52:28 PM

My picks for the weekend. Good luck to everyone else doing this also....

WW over Willamette. Gebbers shuts down Malley, which may be good for the overall team growth of Willamette since Dart and Co. will get more looks, but it wont help them this game. WW by 14

GFU over UPS. Fox is up and down, but I think they take it to UPS who is mostly just down this year. GF by 8

L&C over PLU. Hollins is on a good little streak and L&C is looking like they are starting to put it together. LC by 7

Whitman gets upset by Lin.... I just can't write it. Whitman wins at home with Batuik having his 22 and 8. The Whitman guards are more polished than Linfield's and it shows in this game. I can't stand Whitman, but what Bridgeland has done up there and in the little time it has taken him to do so is impressive. Whitman by 18

A Buc Forever · January 17, 2013, 07:27:55 PM

Playball,

I like your picks. The one most likely to be wrong is GF over PLU. PLU could come up big and win that one, but I'd still bet on GF.

I'd like to see WW win by 14, but they seem to be letting teams stick around. Probably won't be double digits.

Pacific is my team of destiny and they should have had LC Tuesday night. Their freshman didn't shoot well. I guess it was time for a subpar performance from him. If he can consistently play like he did in the wins, Pacific could be #2 in the conference at the end of the year.

One question for Playball--What's wrong with Linfield?

(509)Rat · January 17, 2013, 09:03:01 PM

I'm really confused as to what post A Buc read...anyways, my picks for Friday

Whitworth finally gets a little rest and shows up ready to play. Willamette is better than their record would indicate but I'm with playball. This will be the game where they finally beat someone like they're supposed to. Whit by 12

UPS beats GF, because this is the NWC and it's exactly what shouldn't happen in this game. UPS squeeks one out on the road by 3.

L&C is playing better than I thought, PLU is playing worse. Gonna go with LC as well. Another close game, LC by 2

Whitman isn't as good as they were last year. But like playball, I don't trust the guard play of Linfield. Which means the press will be effective and the Missionaries will dictate the pace. Whitman by 16. For what its worth, I hope I'm wrong about this one...

A Buc Forever · January 17, 2013, 11:23:58 PM

Sorry Rat. Meant LC not GF. Could see LC losing to PLU.

playball · January 18, 2013, 03:46:56 AM

Inconsistent guard play is what is wrong with Linfield. I don't mean to sound like I'm reminiscing but when we made playoffs and nearly did my freshman year (tie-breaker, damn) we had very good guard play. Steve Taylor, who was lights out, Brian Murphy, Cody Tesoro, Drew Schroeder who was like Bo Gregg with a little less on offense, and Erik Olson to name a few. In the few years since, Linfield hasn't really had that.

Granted, being a post player type, I'm going to be biased.

Also, forgot to give credit where credit is due. Great game by Hollins last week. Scored 36 and it looked efficient on the box score.

A Buc Forever · January 19, 2013, 01:12:27 AM

Good picks Playball. You were 100% right. Saturday night games:

Whitworth over Linfield
George Fox over PLU--toughest pick
Pacific over Puget Sound--Let's see if Pacific is for real.
Whitman over Willamette

Watched the WW game tonight. Liking this team more and more every time I watch them. Willamette has some good looking athletes, but there are some unorthodox looking shots on that team.

playball · January 19, 2013, 05:09:11 AM

Thanks Buc.

Tonight I am going with:

WW over Linfield. Whitworth has the home-cooking officials to put them over the edge to win this one.
Fox over PLU. PLU won't be able to stop their descent down towards the bottom of the conference. I look to see AJ Grant step up and have a big game. He is due for one.
Pacific over UPS. Brakenbush (sp?) will have a good game and UPS will continue to not.
Whitman over Willamette. With holding Batuik to 5 points, maybe the Whitman interior defense learned not to front at the high post. Dumbest game plan I have ever seen. But I digress. Whitman plays good D, Willamette takes bad shots, Whitman scores 80+ tonight.

(509)Rat · January 19, 2013, 11:29:02 AM

Whitworth - it will be closer than the previous night's games for both teams
Fox - time to stop doubting 'em I guess
UPS - I've gotten so used to chaos, this whole "favorites" winning their games-thing that happened last night still doesn't feel real. So Im picking UPS one more time
Whitman - Malley is good but he got flustered and turned the ball over too easily last night. They won't have the nearly 20 TO's in the first half that Linfield did, but Whitman will have their way with the Bearkitties.

A Buc Forever · January 20, 2013, 11:10:43 AM

Halfway through the league schedule (almost) and there's some clarity. UPS, PLU, and Linfield are now very long shots for the playoffs. Pacific still has two games to finish out the first half. Win both and they are right in the mix. Willamette has a shot but they don't look consistent enough to get up in the standings with LC, Fox, and Whitman.

I'm surprised Whitman isn't a clear second and impressed with Fox. I like how LC has gotten this far without a big. Nice to see Pacific coming up. The big question left is whether the Bucs can do the double of an undefeated league schedule and win the conference tournament. I like this team. I'm betting on them to do it.