MBB: Northwest Conference

[HoopsCoachG]

Does anyone know why kenny love didn't play the last two games?

He got poked in the eye in practice. He was kept out as a precaution.

[Pat Coleman]

This is off subject but does anyone know who a person speaks to about problems with this site?

As a long time senior level IT professional, I have to say this site has serious problems.  It has literally taken 5 years for me to even get an account because the account creation logic is so badly flawed it almost invariably throws an error that says something like "Sorry, we are not accepting spam at this time." 

I have spoken with several other people who have had similar experiences in trying to create an account and have just plain given up.  It's pretty safe to assume this frustration has something to do with the lack of activity on this board and the limited number of users posting. 

Today's experience while checking the board from my phone as takes the cake. Here is the message I received:

"Sorry PirateDaddy, you are banned from using this forum! simply(sic) changing your name doesn't make it all better(sic) This ban is not set to expire."

Not only is this message "banning" me bogus and absurd, if any of my staff ever were to program a message as juvenile and insulting as this their job would be in jeopardy.

This lack of professionalism is disappointing to say the least and far below what D3hooops deserves.  Who can I speak to about this?

Hi, PirateDaddy -- send me your info and we can figure out which spam filter or previous member ban you are getting hung up in.

Those who want to use free email to register for the board are doing the same thing the spammers are doing, and so some time ago we blocked off most of the free email providers from registering. I have no doubt that does keep some legitimate posters from registering but many people have other email addresses, too, that they can use. Also, real people sometimes send email if they're having trouble registering and I then attempt to make sure they are indeed actual people and not spammers.

So I don't know what email addresses you might have used before but when you registered now with a .edu, I approved you right away. Never have had a problem with a .edu. But gmail? About 98% spam.

[Pat Coleman]

Since you included the text, actually, it was easy for me to determine which ban was hanging you up. There's a board troll who used that IP address to access the board once in the past -- since I'm sure you know better than I how mobile IPs are dynamically assigned, that means you got stuck in that person's mess. I've taken care of it, although of course there's no guarantee you'll get assigned that IP again.

[D O.C.]

..... and daddy, this is a very professional site.
Good look.

[A Buc Forever]

Interesting story on Appleton from LC
http://portlandtribune.com/pt/12-sports/274194-148821-appletons-amazing-turnaround

[blackhawks4]

PLU is getting national votes?  Well Whitworth is #2, so why not, right?  The NWC is officially the most overrated conference in the country.

WW: The only thing not overrated about Whitwoth is Logie's sweet new hipster haircut.  High and tight on the sides, hard part and everything.  I wonder if he wears skinny jeans?  Side notes, 1) I actually kinda like WW's point guard.  And 2) as I mentioned last year, their video production puts everybody else to shame.

WMN: It's halftime and Whitman looks absolutely miserable.  Hard to watch.  One of those games that I've already turned off and will just check the box score later for the W.  It's that PAINFUL.

LIN: Big strides for Linfield, but they're still not good.  Their coach looks to be doing some good things in his 2nd year of a rebuilding project.  Lots of CA kids on the roster.  Thank god they're still holding hands during their introductions.  I always thought that was adorable.




 

[A Buc Forever]

Blackhawks,

WM woke up in the second half--as did WW.  Looks like another long season for LF. BTW this is LF's coach's third year.

Time will tell whether WW is overrated or not. All I can say is that WW is VERY quick and deep. Love that new kid from Marin.

Playball--you out there?  My youngest is going to WW to play football. Will you root for him against LF?

[playball]

Blackhawks.

Playball--you out there?  My youngest is going to WW to play football. Will you root for him against LF?

No.  And I can't believe Linfield is winning at any kind of rate right now.  They have a roster full of 6-0 to 6-3ers on the team and are being led by a 6-3 post player. Are the teams they played really that bad or are we that good so far?

Buc, what is David up to now?

And back to the football stuff, I'll root for them even though they are bastards who are taking advantage of a lopsided fundraising/administration situation.  I can't say I wouldn't do the same. 

[A Buc Forever]

David is coaching at Eastern Washington. They had a great year last year. Up and down this year. If they get their act together they could make some noise again.

What are you up to?

[playball]

Just got my academy date to become a correctional officer here in CA.  Not an extremely satisfying job but it pays the bills!

And congrats to him!  That's fantastic!

Also, Linfield football moves on after beating UMHB with a FG as time expires.  Good day to be a cat

[A Buc Forever]

Playball,
Congratulations to LF's football team.  Except for the first quarter of that last game they have pretty much dominated their opponents all year. But back for basketball. I wish WW  would dominate the games like LF's football team.  That said, they are finding a way to win comfortably.

Does anybody know when Kenny love is coming back?

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

PLU is getting national votes?  Well Whitworth is #2, so why not, right?  The NWC is officially the most overrated conference in the country.

WW: The only thing not overrated about Whitwoth is Logie's sweet new hipster haircut.  High and tight on the sides, hard part and everything.  I wonder if he wears skinny jeans?  Side notes, 1) I actually kinda like WW's point guard.  And 2) as I mentioned last year, their video production puts everybody else to shame.

WMN: It's halftime and Whitman looks absolutely miserable.  Hard to watch.  One of those games that I've already turned off and will just check the box score later for the W.  It's that PAINFUL.

LIN: Big strides for Linfield, but they're still not good.  Their coach looks to be doing some good things in his 2nd year of a rebuilding project.  Lots of CA kids on the roster.  Thank god they're still holding hands during their introductions.  I always thought that was adorable.

I'm confused... in one moment you say "The NWC is officially the most overrated conference in the country" and then follow that up with:
- "The only thing not overrated about Whitworth is Logie's sweet new hipster haircut."
   So Whitworth, ranked #2, is overrated?
- Per WMN: " It's halftime and Whitman looks absolutely miserable.  Hard to watch.  One of those games that I've already turned off and will just check the box score later for the W.  It's that PAINFUL."
   Seems like this is a bad indication of what Whitman is like. Maybe you weren't refering to them, but since it started with "WMN" that's how I read it. Yet, they are undefeated, getting national votes, etc.
- "Big strides for Linfield, but they're still not good."
   Another knock on a NWC team. Again, confusing.

So you say underrated and then spend time pointing out three knocks on conference teams. Thus really proving the NWC may not be as good as you tried to claim in the first place. Most people would have added to their point about being underrated, not countered.

[blackhawks4]

McHugh, this board has been a little flat this year, and you know right where to go to rile things up. If I were a better man, I wouldn't take this bait...but unfortunately, I am weak.

Youre not possibly going to argue that WW deserves a #2 ranking? They don't have a leg to stand on. They haven't even made it out of the sweet 16 in the past 10 years. A team in the NWC should not be ranked in the Top 15. We haven't proved we belong.

PLU receiving votes is just laughable. Therefore, between them and WW, NWC=overrated. Logie's cut, not overrated.

WMN ended up winning by 40, so seeing them being tied at halftime, was indeed, painful. WMN and WW are top 20-25 in the country.

Did you know that if you type whitworth into an iPhone it tries to autocorrect it to "whiny worth."

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

First off, I truly am not trying to rile things up... that has never been by MO... I truly was confused...

Which gets me to this, let me retract my question... apparently the sleep derivation has really gotten to me, because when I read "PLU is geting national votes? Well Whitworth is #2, so why not, right? The NWC is officially the most overrated conference in the country," I kept seeing "underrated." I have no idea how I did that. I read that statement of yours at least a dozen times before I decided to reply ... and while I was replying. I kept trying to understand why you would say they are underrated and the contradict that they are overrated. I was very, very confused... and apparently it was all done in my head. Didn't see "overrated" until just now. Unbelievable on my part.

Now that being said... I wouldn't read much into the ORV section of the Top 25 right now. There is so much parity in Division III and with voters across the entire country there are plenty of opinions on who are the best 25 teams in the country right now. It is very difficult to narrow it down, so there are plenty of voters voting on plenty of teams. Just because teams are getting votes doesn't make the conference over or underrated.

Some of us voters will get a chance to see Pacific Lutheran in person, soon... that is at least what I am waiting for before I judge them. Their win over Texas Lutheran is noteworthy and their close loss to Chicago is also noteworthy. Not going to dismiss those results.

As for Whitman, my jury is still out. I have seen that team start hot before and then implode later in the season... so I am waiting.

As for Whitworth, they aren't overrated at all. Clearly you aren't a fan, but I suspect there is a lot of bias there. What I have seen online is good and I have had a few coaches reach out to me independently and talk very, very well about Whitworth. I wouldn't dismiss them right now at all... especially with so much parity around the country.

Now, you argue they haven't made it out of the Sweet 16 in the last ten years, but it isn't like the tournament is balanced in a fair manner for them. It could be argued that teams in the Northeast have an easier road to get to and possibly out of the Sweet 16 than any teams west of (or near) the Mississippi River have. It can understand that argument since NWC teams have to a) travel great distances, usually, for that round of the tournament and b) are usually lined up with very difficult opponents at that point in the tournament.

For comparison purposes:
2015: Whitworth lost to Emory in the second round AT Emory (Atlanta - cross-country trip in the first weekend). Whitworth went in #13/Emory #11. Emory lost to eventual national champs UWSP next round and finished ranked #7/Whitworth finished #15. I'm not going to ding Whitworth for that - they would have lost the next round anyway.

2014: Whitworth lost to UT-Dallas in the second round AT UT-Dallas (Dallas - halfway across the country in the first weekend). Whitworth went in #12/UTD #16. UTD lost to eventual national champs UWW and finished ranked #13/Whitworth finished #20/. I'm not going to ding Whitworth for that - they would have lost the next round anyway.

2013: #6 Whitworth beat ORV Emory in the second round AT HOME. They then hosted ORV UMHB and lost in the Sweet 16. OMHB shocked EVERYONE and made it to the championship game in Atlanta where they lost to UWSP. Whitworth finished #11 / UMHB #2. Again, not going to ding Whitworth. It took a comeback of all comebacks for UMHB to win - and UMHB made the same comeback in the next two games to get to the championship (beating #11 St. Mary's [Md.] and #1 St. Thomas to do it).

2012: #7 Whitworth advanced to the Sweet 16 and faced #6 Virginia Wesleyan in Whitewater, Wisconsin (half-way across the country). They lost to VWC who then lost in the Elite 8 to eventual national champions #8 UW-Whitewater. Whitworth finished ranked #10, Vir. Wesleyan #5. Again... not going to ding Whitworth as they would have had to beat a higher-ranked team before losing to the eventual champs.

2011: #1 Whitworth got a first round bye and beat Chapman to advance to the Sweet 16... where they BEAT #11 Marietta (in Wooster, Ohio - 3/4s of the way across the country) to advance to the Elite 8 (oops, that means they advanced past the Sweet 16 which you have noted they have not done). Whitworth then lost to #5 (and receiving a first place vote) Wooster on Wooster's home court. Wooster would win the semifinal over #4 Williams, but would lose in the championship game to #8 St. Thomas. Again... not a ding here as they got to the Elite 8 before losing to another national runner up. Whitworth finished #5, Wooster #2.

2010: #4 Whitworth had a first round bye and beat Chapman to advance to the Sweet 16 where they lost to #10 Eastern Mennonite on EMU's HOME floor (Harrisonburg, Virginia - cross-country trip). EMU would go on to lose to #3 Guilford in the next round. Guilford would lose to #2 Williams in the semis and Willions would lose to #5 UW-Stevens Point in the title game. Whitworth would finished ranked #7, EMU finished #4 with all three eventual teams finishing in the top three in the national rankings. Not sure I can ding Whitworth here either: cross-country trip followed by a loss to the home team and three incredibly difficult teams to follow.

2009: #21 Whitworth beat CMS in the first round before losing to #7 Puget Sound at Puget Sound in the second round. Puget would eventually lose to St. Thomas who got beat by eventual national champs Wash U in the Elite 8. Whitworth absolutely was in the toughest side of this bracket by far... and finished ranked #24 while Puget finished #9. Do you really want me to slight them for this result?!

2008: UNRANKED Whitworth (who only had two points in the Top 25) got a first round bye and beat Occidental to advance to the Sweet 16. There they faced also unranked Wheaton (IL) in a game played at Hope (Michigan - 2/3s-3/4s of the way across the country). Wheaton would eventually lose to Hope who would end up losing in the semis to eventual national championship WashU. This was probably the second hardest bracket that year. Whitworth finished unranked (47 points) and Wheaton jumped up to #11 (Hope was #3). Not sure we can't actually give Whitworth credit for this tournament run.

2007: #11 Whitworth had to travel to Wash U for the first weekend (half-way across the country) where they beat DePauw (unranked, but receiving votes) in the first round and then lost to #8 Wash U 63-61(!) in the second round. Wash U would get to the final four where they would lost to defending champs #4 Virginia Wesleyan who lost to #6 Amherst in the title game. Whitworth finished ranked #9, DePauw remained unranked. Not sure we should slight Whitworth here, either.

2006: NOT IN THE TOURNAMENT.

So in the ten years you say they haven't performed, they were in the tournament the last nine-straight and got to the Sweet 16 five times and to the Elite 8 once. They lost to a team who got beat by the eventual champs each of the last two years and lost to a team who got to the championship game twice as well. They also had the eventual champions in their bracket five times (four in their immediate quadrant, once in their half). Whitworth also played at home in the second weekend ONCE and that was the odd 2013 season when it was actually the third weekend.

Now that all being said... the Top 25 poll right now... has less to do with the last ten years of tournament success or failure and more to do with maybe the end of last season and the start to this one. Whitworth has a chance to be in front of a few voters in a few weeks, just like PacLu... so let's let the polls settle a bit before you state they are overrated.

[blackhawks4]

McHugh, I haven't read a novel that long without pictures in it for at least 10 years.  That was 19 paragraphs of excuses, "the long travel, the tough bracket  ....Can't Ding Them For That!"  But the fact is, in 10 years, WW has made it out of the sweet 16 once (to be eliminated in the field of 8).  And now you think they're the #2 ranked team in the country?  When historically speaking, the NWC hasn't been able to hang with the top D3 conferences.  Coleman, will you talk some sense into him? Look, I want the NWC to have the #2 ranking, just think we need to prove it first.

Some of us voters will get a chance to see Pacific Lutheran in person, soon... that is at least what I am waiting for before I judge them.

Okay, the rest of us will wait for you to figure it out.