MBB: Northwest Conference

[A Buc Forever]

Buc, I'm starting to think you have a vendetta against Linfield.

Sibling rivalry

I agree with Playball about the lack of good big men in the league lately.  The Whits probably have the best big men--probably shouldn't bet against Whitman to finish 2nd--the coaches aren't dumb.

I heard from the new Linfield coach's friend that the new coach is looking at success the football and baseball programs have and that he should be able to replicate that.  We will see if he can do it.  I hope WW can replicate their basketball success on the football field.  They are looking for a new coach now.

[(509)Rat]

Whitworth won 86-74

Kenny Love had 24 to lead the Pirates. Don't worry NWC folks, you only have to put up with him for 4 years...

Sounds like Old Westbury has a stud or two and made a nice little run later in the 2nd half to pull within 6, but Whitworth was just a little too much (and had the always reliable Fieldhouse Advantage).

Logie is one of, if not the best coach in the NWC already. They are more talented than the rest of the league (still). They have plenty of experience to not get rattled when the opponent makes a run. Good luck to the rest of the conference knocking Whitworth from the top. Can't see it happening any time soon and I'm perfectly ok with that   

[A Buc Forever]

I've only seen Kenny Love's high school highlight tape, but he must be the real deal.  We will see how he responds when he's scouted, etc., but we may have a strong player for four years--awesome.

[A Buc Forever]

Watched WW lose to Colorado College online while watching Oregon State lose to UW on TV.  My youngest sprained his ankle in basketball practice to boot.  Depressing day. 

Liked WW's defense, but they didn't shoot well. 

On another note--is Cal Tech for real?  Stayed close to Linfield.  Willamette stayed closed to CSM.  Maybe Cal Tech are at the level of being consistently competitive.   That would be great to see.  Cal Tech and MIT are probably the most academically rigorous schools in the nation. Getting in is near impossible and the academic expectations are unbelievable.  Those guys being competitive on the court is inspiring. 

[Pinecone_Curtain]

If tonight's offensive struggle vs. Colorado College is any indication, this could be an interesting year for the Bucs. After being spoiled for so long, I still think we're the class of the league, but the gap is shrinking. One problem, to me, seems to be that after years of having a go-to post when the team is struggling shooting like they were tonight (21-58 from the floor, 5-23 from 3 and 68% from the FT line), we don't have that post anymore. It seems that Logie is very good at developing guards, but with the way it seems Farnsworth is currently playing, I'm curious if he can develop posts like Hayford could (Montgomery, Friedt, etc.). The other thing is that, despite basically playing four guards and a post, they too often settle down into half court sets and not running in transition.

A lighthearted moment at the game was when SUNY-Old Westbury's team joined the Bucs' student section, taking pictures and videos, and doing the chants with the students. It seemed they had never seen that kind of support before and wanted to join in! They even got the students to do the "left, right, left, right" foul out chant for them as they walked out of the Fieldhouse at halftime. SUNY-OW was a fun team to watch because of their length and athleticism, which hurt UPS down the stretch tonight. Best of luck to them the rest of their season.

[formercat]

For those who have been asking questions about Coach Rosenberg at Linfield, I'll tell you that I have talked to him several times and I like him and his coaching philosophy and Linfield should be competitive.  I would anticipate that Linfield will be in most conference games with a chance to win.  That said, money supporting the program is going to continue to be an obstacle for him and one that I hope he can over come.  Found out a week ago from another NWC coach that Linfield basketball officially has the smallest budget in the conference, at the NWC coaches meeting they showed the budgets for all the schools.  Whitman, Willamette, and Whitworth on top, Linfield on the bottom.  The coach found it shocking and comical at how small our budget was and he isn't even a coach of one of those top 3 teams. 

[WoostAr]

On another note--is Cal Tech for real?  Stayed close to Linfield.  Willamette stayed closed to CSM.  Maybe Cal Tech are at the level of being consistently competitive.   That would be great to see.  Cal Tech and MIT are probably the most academically rigorous schools in the nation. Getting in is near impossible and the academic expectations are unbelievable.  Those guys being competitive on the court is inspiring.

Caltech got a great freshman class with some junior leadership (no seniors) -- only 3 returning players on the team.  They are still learning to play together and turn the ball over a bit too much, but there is a lot of hope around Caltech that this team could be competitive in the near future.  They play Whitman on Wednesday.

[Andy Jamison - Walla Walla Wildcat]

I'm not so concerned about how small the budget is for men's basketball at Linfeld right now. Keep in mind that there was obviously a highly toxic relationship between the AD and the prior coach... For whatever reason.. And it had been in existence for a long, long time. That had to heavily weigh in any funding decisions.  There are other ways to generate revenue with the mst likely being summer camps. The football program has to make a ton of money from their camps... Men's basketball should be able to have some success there.

I would say that funding will come with success.  There are many more well heeled alumni who have waited out the prior staff and will be willing to contribute as long as the new coach is committed and patient.

[D O.C.]

Busy with football, but I might even take in LINFIELD down in Las Vegas.

[Bearcat Press]

Found out a week ago from another NWC coach that Linfield basketball officially has the smallest budget in the conference, at the NWC coaches meeting they showed the budgets for all the schools.  Whitman, Willamette, and Whitworth on top

Hmm ...  

[playball]

Found out a week ago from another NWC coach that Linfield basketball officially has the smallest budget in the conference, at the NWC coaches meeting they showed the budgets for all the schools.  Whitman, Willamette, and Whitworth on top

Hmm ...  

Bearcat, were you trying to say that Linfield is the biggest baddest shoe compared to the other average shoes? Because if so, you are right!

Walla Walla Wildcat, why would "well heeled alumni wait out the prior staff"?  To me, that doesn't make much sense.  To me, I was hoping the prior staff would wait out the demise of the bitterness of an old man that governs over the athletic department. 

[formercat]

There are many more well heeled alumni who have waited out the prior staff and will be willing to contribute as long as the new coach is committed and patient.

Well I hope they stop holding back their donation money when they are winnning because extra money was not coming Coach Doty's way after he won two conference championships.  Although, stop holding out your donation money regardless of wins and losses, the more money Rosenberg has to work with the more successful he can be.

[Bearcat Press]

Well I hope they stop holding back their donation money when they are winnning because extra money was not coming Coach Doty's way after he won two conference championships.  Although, stop holding out your donation money regardless of wins and losses, the more money Rosenberg has to work with the more successful he can be.

There's generally - but not always - a correlation between spending money on the program and success.  Willamette over the last several years proves that.

I bet if someone were to do a cost per wins analysis for each program over the last three years (i.e. amount of money spent divided by the number of wins), Willamette would come out with the highest amount spent per win.

[Andy Jamison - Walla Walla Wildcat]

I've read several vague and not so vague references to a "bitter old man" in relation to Linfield Athletics.  If the person referred to as a "bitter old man" is Ad Rutschman then someone needs to seriously sober up.  If Coach Rutschman has/had an issue with a person it was most likely highly deserved.  I do not know of many alumni of Linfield, both students and football players, who after having dealings with Coach have nothing but respect and admiration for him.  I do not believe that the same can be said for the prior head coach of Linfield's men's basketball.  The prior coach carried himself with an arrogance which while well deserved as an athlete was never earned as a basketball coach.

In the NWC Linfield stands alone in the ability to get athletes into school.  It is one of the less expensive NWC schools.  It has a higher admission rate.  It views potential students as more than their GPA and SAT score.  And it has a proud history of highly successful football, basketball, and baseball programs that date back forever.  When all of these factors are combined there is no reason why the men's basketball program shouldn't be in the Top 3 in the NWC and Top 25 in the nation every year.  We do it in football and baseball and if people think that the only reason why we aren't successful in basketball is because of funding then I'd suggest rethinking that as an excuse.

I fully expect the new coach to have Linfield's men's program turned around in short order.  With that said, if he is unable to turn around the program I'd be more willing to listen to criticism regarding the athletic department and its support for basketball. 

[(509)Rat]

In the NWC Linfield stands alone in the ability to get athletes into school.  It is one of the less expensive NWC schools.  It has a higher admission rate.  It views potential students as more than their GPA and SAT score.

Read: not as rigorous academically as the rest of the conference or easier to get into for the average high school student or has very little to offer the non-athlete therefore less total applicants than the rest of the NWC