MBB: Northwest Conference

pineconefan · January 31, 2006, 05:40:57 PM

Thanks for the insights Bearcat, appreciate it.

Willamette has been unconscious from outside, but that is a credit to their ability to work the ball for open looks. The shot very poorly, especially in the second half, in Spokane. So it will be interesting to see if that shooting night was the result of Whitworth's defense or the travel. Stuvland was off to a strong start in that game, but struggled in the second half.

I have been to a couple of games at Cone. Once the place was really rocking. The other time it was kind of dead and only half of the bleachers were pulled. I'm sure this year's game will be rocking simply because the Bearcats are playing well and are tied for first place.

Unfortunately I will have to rely on Bob Castle on the radio, rather than be there this year.

blackhawks4 · January 31, 2006, 05:59:23 PM

Pinecove... what have I said that hasn't been the truth? Academic standards? The princeton review calls UPS the best in the west. Whitman and willamette were there, i tried to find ww but my scroller broke. Thanks now I need a new mouse.

Yeah, I love it when Pat jumps in and everyone gets a nice spot to put their nose for a second. No offense to him, this wouldn't be here without him. And I think Whitworth SID does a great job! Nice guy too, posts here and is informative. For the most part Whitworths SID does good picking POTW. But I didn't know I was stopping him from doing his job by questioning his choices for POTW. Come'on.

I think Curtiss should have got a piece as the Loggers climb back into a tie for first place. And this isn't the first time I felt a UPS player was overlooked. But I realize, UPS is 24-2 in NWC the past 2 years. That's a lot of 2 win weeks that Logger players could get POTW. I realize they can't get them all, but at times it's worth questioning. You don't think I know Pecht's stats were a little better (not much mind you)this week? But I thought the significance of the wins (UPS being back on top) might carry some wieght.

Yeah, and gangsters...That's whats at UPS. I didn't know standing up for a teammate was "gangster." Lets whine and complain, not shake hands, and demand a suspension! A man's way to settle it. Right, you like to question manhood don't ya? Settle it on the court! All I said was if a UPS player "gets slugged" it's dealt with on the court at that moment (no not cheapshots); standing up for yourself and your teammates. If it was as bad as you say, Hayford should have been upset with his guys for leaving their pg hanging, not crying to the league.

Yeah, UPS is physical and competitive. I don't know what happened in santa barbara, wasn't there. Wouldnt doubt something happened. Sorry, I guess as of late not used to losing...you guys must be getting used to it though.

And yes... Now I am ready to talk ball.

Bearcats, you should dread the Whitman game...I'm dreading that trip. If UPS doesn't put it together, they're in trouble at gf, wmn and ww. Could get ugly fast! UPS has always struggled at whitman. Agree, at wu sucks, but ww has seemed to do ok in past.

blackhawks4 · January 31, 2006, 06:17:41 PM

Bearcats...breathe easy...pinecove and i settled our differences in private and it's over. We agreed...if we were in grade school, ups would be the kid fighting, and whitworth would be the one telling the teacher.

Loggers @ PLU tonight...in rivalries you can throw the records out.

steveflegel · February 01, 2006, 07:42:13 PM

I am happy to share the selection process for NWC Athletes of the Week to anyone. Just send me an e-mail.

steveflegel · February 01, 2006, 07:44:39 PM

sflegel@whitworth.edu

formercat · February 02, 2006, 10:14:44 AM

Just stopped in to throw in my two cents for the POTY and COTY awards. Would have to give the COTY to Gordie James because he has put the bearcats in a position to win the conference title, doing so with less talent than Bridgeland. I don't think COTY always goes to the coach of the number 1 team, but I do think POTY should in most all cases. Last year i thought Cross or Curtiss should have been the POTY and not Gayman. If UPS wins it should go to Curtiss. If WU grabs it then got to go with Olinger. Curtiss can really play, he has to be one of the smartest players, if not the smartest player, in the conference and he is one tough SOB. Having played against him it can be fustrating because he gets a lot of cheap calls that go his way, but that is because he is so intelligent enough to put himself in position to fool the refs. I love McVey and would want him on my team, but you can't be POTY and be in foul trouble every game. Believe me blackhawk, I know about picking up cheap fouls because you are the biggest player in the conference, but I managed to do it so I am sure he can too.
That being said, overall I think the talent is down in the NWC from previous years. The top team UPS is not as good as previous years and I think there is a real lack of dominant posts, the best being McVey. Scott Szalay is tough at the defense of end, but he doesn't have much offense other than finishing around the hoop. Honestly, I am sure he is a hard worker, but I do not understand how Kyle Born gets those numbers. He is not big and strong like Szalay or the athlete that McVey is. Having played against him it makes me wonder who is letting this guy score?!
Blackhawk I would like you to tell me how the 4 out 1 in offense isn't a great offense for a post? If you have shooters that can spread the floor it has to be the best offense for a post.

PS. I think that Tacoma, as far as cities to recruit guys too, other than portland is way better than the towns of any of the other schools. Maybe I am just being biased being from the area.

BVHawk · February 02, 2006, 10:49:28 AM

I have a feeling the Loggers will still take the conference.

blackhawks4 · February 02, 2006, 01:59:56 PM

BVHawk: good post...very nice to hear somebody other than me say something good about curtiss. with him its not even about stats as much as confidence, intelligence, leadership, and you hit the nail on the head with toughness. agree with you on mcvey.

I also like 4 out 1 in, especially if you're playing small ball. How it hurts Mcvey is that he constantly has the baseline official staring at him. And you know being a post, refs LOVE to blow the whistle and "clean up" play down there. Mcvey is honestly very, very good with his hands down there (arms are always up, elbows out) and positioning and sealing. But he's stronger than everybody and with the flopping he gets whisteld at least once a game. Watch him on the block if you get a chance, his fundamentals w/o the ball are very good.

The PLU posts were disgusting. Flopping on Mcvey twice for offensive fouls (bad too). We all know the difference between a flop in the post and a charge, but refs love it. Always excited to play Fox (Szalay hopefully wont flop), wu and ww so they guard him standing up.

Talked way too much about COTY...I stay the same, don't think doing more with less talent justifies COTY...go get talent. if james wins conference he deserves coty.

I'm as puzzled with born as you are... but please, kyle, dont get us for 81 and 40 again when we play you...

Disagree with you on Tacoma, or as the rest of the board likes to call tacompton. I think whitworth and linfield have it best. LC, pac, plu, fox, will, and ups about even. fox, wmn slight disadvantage.

i got ups over fox, lc over whitman, pac over lin, will over ww...big friday night

saturday...wmn over will!!!, ww over lc, lin over plu, fox over pac

BV...what is going wrong down in mcminville???

bearcatsfan3 · February 02, 2006, 04:33:50 PM

1. Question: Do they do Regional Rankings anymore? If so, when do they come out, or where are they posted to look at?

2. I've got Bearcats 69, Pirates 64 on Friday, with UPS over Fox, Whitman over LC, and Linfield over Pacific (I, like BHawks, am wondering how Linfield's football team can be so dominant, yet Basketball has fallen on hard times)...

3. Saturday, Willamette over Whitman 70-62, despite the double double Born will probably put up...

Pinecone, I'm assuming you got the Pirates winning friday, but give us some insight...BHawks, tell you're boys to be careful in Newberg, Fox can't afford anymore losses...

formercat · February 02, 2006, 06:09:20 PM

Blackhawk, thanks for the good response, but it wasnt BVHawk who wrote that stuff it was me! I do feel for McVey though, the NWC is a guards conference and they get most of the calls and it can get fustrating. Biggest problem I had with the refs is not the baseline ref, but the one out at half court blowing the wistle on happenings in the key, when you know damn well he couldn't see what happend.
After living in McMinnville for 3 years I can tell you this, Linfield has a great campus and I am happy I went there, but McMinnville is a bit boring. Not really much there. Whitworth, my former roommate/ teammate who was from there used to always refer to Spokane as Spocompton. Like I said though maybe I am just being biased because I am from the Tacoma area.
As for Linfield they are having a real down year, they lost a ton of production to graduation. I read an article earlier in the year before the season started that said Chris Lewis, Blake Shelton, and Kreiger; myself, made up something like 70% of the team's rebounding, scoring and 3 point shooting and all of the shotblocking. Thats just a lot to make up considering the starting point guard graduated too. They lost the recruiting battle to Pacific over Ross Bartlett, a very good frosh post, because of an error by the Linfield finanicial aid department. Last, the player that would have done the scoring in the post this year for Linfield suffered a season ending injury before official practice even kicked off the season.

piofan · February 03, 2006, 09:19:58 AM

Blackhawk-
Great point about the post play in the NWC. The refs do and have loved to make the call on the post for the purpose of "cleaning" it up since my days in the 90's. All it takes is one small bump from McVey and if the defender flops, the defender will get that call. It is really sad in my opinion.

I am up in the air about the recruiting advantages and disadvantages. I think UPS has a great location in Tacoma (compared to PLU). Whitworth seems like it would be nice during the spring when most recruits visit, but I always thought it was dreadful up there in the heart of winter. Linfield has a campus that is one of the best in the conference and with a great sports school. LC has a great campus and location, but our student body is a whole different story (and when you visit and see it, you can easily be drawn away)!! Pacific and Fox I was never a real fan of either, along with Whitman. UPS and Linfield should be winning most recruiting wars based on location and campus environments.

Gregory Sager · February 04, 2006, 11:04:02 AM

Quote from: bearcatsfan3 on February 02, 2006, 04:33:50 PM
1. Question: Do they do Regional Rankings anymore? If so, when do they come out, or where are they posted to look at?

The first regional ranking will be released this coming Wednesday. The second will be released on Wed., Feb. 15, and the third will be released on Wed., Feb. 22.

Pat will post them here on the site, as usual.

blackhawks4 · February 04, 2006, 01:40:09 PM

Brightside is you still control your own destiny bearcatsfan...You guys still win league if you win out. But you gotta win all of 'em (still very possible).

What you got going for you bearcats is you lost last night, and I really don't see you losing two in a row, especially to whitman, a team that is dangerous, but you should beat.

Salvage the split this weekend and you got two gimme's next weekend. Then you have an absolute war in tacoma. Then you gotta win at fox on senior night, which could get interesting.

Bad news bearcatsfan, you win tonight and the loggers clinch a spot in the NWC tourney. You also gave Loggers a little breathing room out east. They can split; take care of you guys at home and win league.

You also lost your tie breaker to ww and may have to travel for first nwc tourney game. Regardless, can ww really beat you guys three times this year? My money says no..wherever its played.

This will make things a little more interesting when loggers go to spokane...Game to watch tonight is LC/Whitworth...I got LC, Gailard's always got something crazy...My money also says you'll see the Logger coaching staff up there scouting that one.

Either way, I'm lookin forward to cuttin' them nets down february 17th after the wu game...a little later than expected, but a lot more exciting...and we still got the tourney.

pineconefan · February 04, 2006, 04:10:02 PM

It was a big win for the Pirates last night. So far Willamette's two worst shooting nights have come against Whitworth. One time might be accidental, but twice indicates a trend. However, I DO agree with BlackHawk, I don't know if a team ever wants to try and beat another good team three times in one year.

And BH is also right, but Bucs need to be careful about a letdown at Pioland tonight. And the fact that its always so dead in that gym can make it harder.

Interesting that Whitman and Willamette are playing the 4:00 game today. Will anyone be there to watch?

bearcatsfan3 · February 07, 2006, 10:38:59 AM

Between the Pirates beating WU, and then the 'Hawks handing over the Super Bowl, it was a tough weekend, and I just now have the ability to post anything worthwhile...

1. Whitworth put itself right back in the thick of things by beating the Bearcats from start to finish in Salem...While pinecone is correct that shooting so poorly twice against the same team is an indication of the whitworth defense, I was at the game, and WU just missed tons of open looks. You could say Whitworth is in their heads perhaps, but half the missed shots came against a soft zone...

2. Whitworth does present some difficult matchups for willamette, as olinger was in foul trouble all night trying to guard pecht/tucker...

3. The whitman win (coming back from a halftime deficit using a 15-0 run) was a big win for the Bearcats, as it kept them in front of the Pirates (who now own the tiebreaker) and only a game back of the loggers (as Bhawks stated)

4. Gotta believe the whitworth/ups game is the biggest of the season to date, as a logger win puts whitworth two back of willamette, and virtually guarantees them being on the road in the nwc playoffs...but a Pirate win puts them just one game out of first, and forces WU to have to win out to avoid being on the road in the playoffs...(I hope to see some breakdown of this game by both Bhawks and Pinecone this week)...

5. Bearcats, while playing two teams with less than stellar records, still must guard against any complacency, as both teams have shown ability this season...Willamette cannot afford any slipups the rest of the way...

6. This is shaping up as a great finish to a great season (aren't you glad you didn't sleep throughout it all Bhawks?)