MBB: Northwest Conference

[Greek Tragedy]

Any word on Lester? He's been out the last two games.

[89Pirate]

Lester has an MRI today on his knee...hopefully nothing major.

[wildcat11]

Linfield played pretty well in an exhibition (for them) at CWU. They held the hosts scoreless for over 10 minutes in the second half.

http://wildcatsports.com/boxscore.aspx?path=mbball&id=5319

Been a long break for the the 'Cats.  Hope they can get it rolling tonight with Willamette. Should be a good one.

[(509)Rat]

Lester has an MRI today on his knee...hopefully nothing major.

Hopefully. I don't think they can beat Whitman in Walla Walla with him, let alone at home without him. Roach can take over a game against the rest of the NWC but there aren't many other consistently reliable players on the court at any given time without Lester.

I think Whitworth should go small for 10-12 min a game instead of trying to spell Bishop with Reed Brown. I know he's a freshman...but he's been awful almost every chance he's gotten. Brown is only 6-6, there has to be a couple guys that are more athletic (they can't shoot any worse).

[A Buc Forever]

Interesting article about UPS, Lunt, and "the system."

http://portlandtribune.com/pt/12-sports/382910-268880-buzz-about-the-buzzsaw


They talk about Portland State in the article. They don't play "the system" but they are up tempo and press the whole game--even after misses. Portland State gave some big programs a tough time but they are 1-2 in the Big Sky right now. UPS is 8-3 but 1-2 in the the NWC (granted those 2 were the Whits). Will be interesting to see if it will work in league games when people have time to prepare for it. 

[blackhawks4]

I went to google machine tonight and typed in "things that take less than 10 seconds."  Here's the results:

Fold your shirt like a ninja.
Peel Garlic the Super Fast & Easy Way.
Tie Your Shoelace.
Solve a Rubiks Cube (In Just 2 Moves…)
Fill & Tie 100 Water Balloons.
Multiply Using a Simple Hand Trick.
Deseed a Pomegranate.
Tie a Tie.

Now some of these (for example "Solve a Rubiks Cube" and "Deseed a Pomegranate")....I'm not so sure can be done in just 10 seconds. 

But what I am sure of is that I could do all of these things, combined, before Whitworth could get the ball over half court. 

Seriously I haven't seen that many 10 second violations in all of the basketball that I have ever watched in my entire life.  I found myself wondering if they knew it was a rule.

A lot of you guys on the board might be too young to remember, but Whitman/Whitworth used to be a big game.  Used to look forward to it.  Used to be a rivalry. 

And speaking of WW, how are coaches ranking them #3 in the country?  It defies logic.  I've been saying this for how many years?  They haven't made it into the sweet 16 in eternity.  Never proven themselves better than anybody nationally other than the SCIAC's best team. And they are worse this year than they have been in a decade.  I think Occidental is better than WW this year.

They did come to play the 1st half of the game though.  Looked well prepared.

That Roach kid can play--he's on my first team.  College is a 2nd teamer.

Kenny Love was wearing the best uniform I've ever seen on him.  A suit...as a coach...on the bench...not able to torment me in my dreams anymore.

Austin Butler will take the ball from you and then he will go down the court and dunk it.

Howell, Hewitt, and Trevor Osborne had nice games.  So did Cedric Jacobs Jones.

Playoff teams are WMN, UPS, WW, and Linfield.

That top 25 is starting to resemble top 25's of the past.  Teams like Williams, Augustana, Wisconsin schools, Wash U. interest me--havent seen them play this year

[deiscanton]

I wanted to watch the Whitworth-Whitman game on-line last night, but I live on the East Coast and was very sleepy last night.  Forgot to set the alarm clock for just before 11 PM Eastern.  By the time I woke up, it was just after 1 AM Eastern, and the game was already over.  I wanted to see a full replay through the on-demand function this morning, but Whitman is now password-protecting their archived Northwest Conference games now that conference play is underway.  I guess that I am stuck reading the box score and play by play.😢

Would the game have been closer if Jordan Lester of Whitworth had been able to play last night?  Just wondering.... 

[(509)Rat]

Didn't stay up to watch the game. Whitworth still without their best player, I'm not sure anyone is surprised by the outcome. Without Lester they don't have a chance of beating Whitman at home but they are still better than the rest of the conference.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Didn't stay up to watch the game. Whitworth still without their best player, I'm not sure anyone is surprised by the outcome. Without Lester they don't have a chance of beating Whitman at home but they are still better than the rest of the conference.

Lester would've improved Whitworth's turnover numbers, but I don't think it would've changed the outcome.  Whitman shot so poorly in the first half and only had a six point deficit - the outcome wasn't really ever in doubt.  I could see a full-strength Whitworth team beating Whitman under the right circumstances, but Lester is out for the year, so we won't get the chance to see it.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I could see Whitworth beating Whitman at Whitworth... but it would be a nail-biter. I agree with Ryan that I never sense Whitworth had what it took to win last night and Lester I don't think would have made that big a difference.

[blackhawks4]

Whitworth doesn’t have the talent this year. They played as perfect of a half as they could have, and then lost by 17.

Agree with both of you that they could knock WMN off at WW. 20% chance I say.

Unfortunate that Lester is hurt—feel bad for anyone in that situation. All these kids put a lot in to get here. You only get a few years to play college hoops and with the cost of these schools, even those who take a medical redshirt (not Lester scenario obviously) can’t hang around for another year.

Let’s not forget that Whitman has 2 starters who were huge pieces last year, out for the entire year with injuries- Jase Harrison and Jojo Wiggins. So if we’re going to play “could they win with this guy,“ we need to consider both sides. One thing that Bridge and Airy have done through recruiting efforts is be deep enough to withstand those huge losses of starters and still put 4 all conference guards in the starting lineup

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

It is already the midway point of January. In a month's time, we will be looking at conference tournaments and discussing who has a chance to make the NCAA tournaments. However, there is still a lot of basketball to be played and many teams are starting to take the turn into the second half of conference play.

On Thursday's edition of Hoopsville, Dave will chat with a number of guests to get a landscape of where things are in Division III. The conversation will include checking in at the NCAA Convention where legislation will be voted on by DIII members and conferences on whether to start the season a week earlier.

Dave then talks to some of the hotter teams in the country. Two women's programs (ranked and unranked) who are leading their respective conferences and looking to build on recent success. Also two men's programs one of which is not in the spotlight as much as they traditionally are along with a program we haven't talked to in a number of years.

This week's WBCA Center Court will feature a women's coach who is doing what she can to spread the word about women's basketball including giving more of her time to make sure her colleagues are taken care of and heard.

Hoopsville is presented by D3hoops.com and airs from the WBCA/NABC Studio. You can watch the show LIVE starting at 7:00 p.m. ET here: http://bit.ly/2DmSR9D

You can also send your questions to the show and have them featured on the Hoopsville Mailbag segment. Email them to hoopsville@d3hoops.com.

Guests include (in order of appearance):
- James Wagner, CSAC Assistant Commissioner
- Bobby Hurley, Stevens men's coach
- Kris Huffman, No. 9 DePauw women's coach
- Polly Thomason, Texas-Dallas women's coach (WBCA Center Court)
- Matt Logie, No. 7 Whitworth men's coach
- Ashlee Rogers, Marymount women's coach

You can also tune into the podcast(s) after the show has aired:
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Don't forget you can always interact with us:
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[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Whitworth doesn't have the talent this year. They played as perfect of a half as they could have, and then lost by 17.

Agree with both of you that they could knock WMN off at WW. 20% chance I say.

Unfortunate that Lester is hurt—feel bad for anyone in that situation. All these kids put a lot in to get here. You only get a few years to play college hoops and with the cost of these schools, even those who take a medical redshirt (not Lester scenario obviously) can't hang around for another year.

Let's not forget that Whitman has 2 starters who were huge pieces last year, out for the entire year with injuries- Jase Harrison and Jojo Wiggins. So if we're going to play "could they win with this guy," we need to consider both sides. One thing that Bridge and Airy have done through recruiting efforts is be deep enough to withstand those huge losses of starters and still put 4 all conference guards in the starting lineup

Logie said on Hoopsville they were hoping for a medical redshirt for Lester.  I guess we'll have to see.

[wildcat11]

Great effort by the 'Cats tonight but the Blues are just too much at the end. Fun game.

[blackhawks4]

Great effort by the 'Cats tonight but the Blues are just too much at the end. Fun game.

Linfield played well.  They have significantly improved over the past few years--since that coach arrived. If Trevor Osborne doesn't go 6-6 from 3, and instead goes 4-6, Linfield wins by 2.  I'm curious to see their program develop over the next 2 years--think they will keep getting better.

Just got done listening to the most one-sided broadcast in history in Willamette.  Apparently the officials are to blame for the 20 point loss.  Willamette was actually a decent team--should challenge for the payoffs.  They've got 2-3 quick guards and a taller wing #0--who can play a little bit.  Looks like most are seniors though.

Another nice game from Trevor Osborne--can flat out shoot it.