I love all the optimism from across the country about WW's chances this weekend, but let's not count our chickens before they hatch. I know, I know, we already beat them, but at this point in the tournament there are no bad teams. Plus it's tough to beat a good team twice. Pride comes before the fall, etc. It doesn't matter to me how much WW wins by, I just hope they win.

On a side note, if what playball says is true about Doty writing a book about the crap he put up with over the years, I hope he does it. I know I'd read it. I'm sure he has some stories to tell.

Quote from: Pinecone_Curtain on March 01, 2013, 01:32:13 pm

Whitworth University (Spokane, Wash.)
24-3 overall, 16-2 conference including tournament
Coach: Matt Logie
Conference: NWC regular and tournament champions (7-straight!)

Usual starters:

PG- Dustin McConnell (5-11, Jr.) 13.6 ppg, 44.2 rpg, 45% from 3, 87% FT
SG- Wade Gebbers (5-11, Sr.) 11.9 ppg, 81.5% FT
SF- George Valle (6-4, Fr.) 12.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg
PF- Mack Larkin (6-5, Sr.) 7.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg
C- Taylor Farnsworth (6-8, So.) 10.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg

Key reserves:

Colton McCargar (6-1 guard, Jr.) 11.9 ppg, 43.8% from 3, 4.1 rpg
Zach Payne (6-6 post, Sr.) 5.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 66.3% FG
Robby Douglas (6-1 guard, Jr.) 4.4 ppg
Hank Aldous (6-5 wing, Fr.) 2.9 ppg

Key wins:
Mary Hardin-Baylor (70-61), @Redlands (70-57), Whitman (93-72)

Key losses:
St. Thomas (70-65), Whitman (93-90 OT), George Fox (89-81)

The skinny:
On paper this is probably the least talented Whitworth team in a decade. They don’t have those one or two stars of the past (a la Taylor, Montgomery, etc.), but this team is more balanced and probably a bit deeper than any of those previous teams. Everyone knows their role and they do it well. They can win any style, whether teams force them into a half-court set or try to run-and-gun because they have a nice rotation of guards who can play either way. They rarely get outcoached and they don’t turn the ball over (fewest per game in the NWC). They’re just a well-oiled machine. The problem? They seem to play to their level of their opponents: they barely lost to St. Thomas, yet they also lost at home to George Fox. They can beat any team in this tournament, but they could also lose to any team in this tournament. Having home games to the Elite 8 should help.

WOW!  Sure glad I've got Dustin on my fantasy team!!

Whoops! Try 4.2. Sorry to disappoint! 

All-Conference teams have been released: http://www.nwcsports.com/sports/mbkb/2012-13/releases/MBB_All_NWC_2013

I actually made up my own before I saw the release and, while I got quite a few right, I missed POY.

My thoughts:
-Not surprised about Sundquist. I think Logie was going to win it until Fox beat WW in Spokane. Then it was Sundquist.
-I think Eisenhardt was the default POY. I don't think he should have gotten it, but I there's nobody who really stood out.
-I thought Gebbers might get POY as sort of a "lifetime achievement" award rather than what he did this year, tho he did make some of WW's most crucial buckets (long 3 @ Fox, almost single-handedly beat WM in Walla Walla).
-If Batiuk plays all season he probably gets POY because he is the best player in the league.
-How did Malley only get HM?!? I had him first team. Granted I basically only watched WW games this season, but he lit us up. He had 30-something last week against us.
-Other than that I was fairly close. I think I had all the players, just had them one level up or down from where they were voted.

Anyone else have thoughts?

Whitworth did play sloppy tonight, but as some of you called a few days ago, it was Gebbers who hit the big shot when they needed it to lift the Bucs. Many of the turnovers were self-inflicted. A stupid travel here. A bad pass there. But credit the Fox defense for a lot of the turnovers. After Whitworth dominated in the paint early (remember they built a 20-5 lead before Fox went on something like a 26-5 run the rest of the first half), Fox made defensive adjustments to collapse on the WW bigs, which, 1) caused some turnovers from the WW bigs, and 2) opened up a lot of kick-out looks for their guards. It's just their guards went cold for about a 10-minute stretch. Like, really cold.

Second half, WW made a comeback, got up 8-ish before Fox made it a game late. Fox led by six with two minutes left or so when Gebbers came up with a HUGE and DEEP 3. Then WW got defensive stops on their next three or four possessions. Getting defensive stops in the clutch (a la WM's last possession in regulation) has become what this team is all about. WW didn't deserve to win tonight, but they found a way, which is what good teams do. Are they the fifth best team in the nation? They don't have #5 in the nation talent (or probably even top 10 talent), but they just find a way to win games and that's all that matters.

The thing about this team: they aren't the most talented WW team. In fact, they probably are the least talented WW team in a decade. But they are tough, gritty, well-coached, can play any number of styles (won shoot-out with WM and won a grind-it-out game with Fox in three days), and can come up with a stop when they need it. And sometimes that's all it takes.

Anyone know the the kind of budget Whitman is able to work with?  Just curious.

They recently got a $3 mil donation and I've heard from multiple people that the men's b-ball program got a pretty nice chunk of that. I've heard different numbers so it's hard to speculate, but I don't think their program is hurting for cash.

http://www.whitman.edu/content/news/EndowWhitAthletics

3 FREE THROWS for LINFIELD?!  YOU SERIOUS!?  This is a little... ok, VERY skewed!  Unreal.... 
OK, now for actual stat reading and my two cents.  RAT, Batiuk will be the best player to come through Linfield in a long time.  The way he shoots the ball is fantastic and he will only get better at creating his own shot.  Look for him to be an All American in the next couple years, not yet though as his rebound numbers need to come up.  Good passer too. 
For your perimeter defense comment I say "Where is this years Bo Gregg when you need him to guard whoever is hot for the other team?!"  There always seems to be one, maybe two guys that step up defensively for the Pirates.  I think this is when Loofburrow is truly missed since he matches up better with a 4 man where Felix the 5.  3 free throws though? Wow.

Playball, the numbers were skewed (Linfield had 7 fouls to Whitworth's 0 at one point in the second half) but I didn't think that was necessarily wrong. Batiuk took a majority of the shots during that stretch in the second half, and most were from 8-20 feet out. Linfield was hot from outside, so the jumpers led to few fouls being called on WW. With that said, WW decided to drive every possession to begin the second half (mostly Lasisi, who can get to the rim against anyone in this league) and when they did, they were fouled. So while it looks like homer calls on the stat sheet, it was really style of play that led to those numbers.

The "Bo Gregg" on this team: his name is Mack Larkin, but he has been out lately with injury. Once Felix got in foul trouble, Logie substituted Felix in on offense and Michael Taylor (NTMT) on defense to blanket Batiuk. Mack would have helped greatly.

My general thoughts from the game:
I was really impressed with Linfield, in particular Batiuk who came to play. Whitworth was still without Jack, Zach and Mack (hopefully at least Jack will be back for Whitman on Tuesday), so it's a little easier to focus the defense on "the big three" in Gebbers, Friedt, and Lasisi.

Lasisi needs to stop taking so many jumpers. Like I said earlier, Lasisi can get to the hoop against ANYONE in this league, so I hope Logie spreads it out and lets him drive more often. If the defense collapses like Linfield did late in the second half, he can kick it to a shooter, or make Felix's defender choose. Wade has been in a bit of slump lately, which has led to teams focusing on Felix (Linfield double-or-triple teamed him every time he touched the ball) who will still get at least double-digit points/rebounds every game. That means the role players like McConnell, McCargar, and Taylor will have to step up. We've seen McConnell and Taylor do it a few times such as last night when McConnell hit some HUGE shots, still waiting for McCargar. McCargar is really hit or miss: he will sometimes nail a huge shot, and then miss badly on a wide-open look.

Big game Tuesday vs. Whitman. I'm not sure Whitworth has the depth to run with the Missionaries, much less the offensive firepower, without Jack and Mack. Even though it's Jan Term and most students are studying abroad, I hope the students that are in Spokane come out in droves and are loud. The Bucs will need every ounce of energy.

Between the economy and the lockout, not many places available. A lot of guys that had been playing over there could not get contracts. Michael Taylor is playing in Germany.  David might go later. What are you doing?
[/quote]

Im playing baseball actually.  I got drafted by the Rangers so Ill see where that takes me.  Missing basketball for sure though.   

Rat, "LCPIO26....lol"  love it
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So if you're in the Rangers organization, will you be playing in Spokane in the next year or two?

Forgive me if someone else posted one for Whitworth, but I looked and had not seen one yet.

Whitworth Pirates

Record: 26-1 (overall), 17-1 (NWC, including playoffs)
Coach: Jim Hayford

Starters:
G- Wade Gebbers (8.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 3.4 apg)
G- Clay Gebbers (6.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.1 apg)
G- Michael Taylor (19.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.5 apg, 53% from 3)
G/F- David Riley (16.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg)
F- Felix Friedt (12.4 ppg, 7 rpg)

Key Reserves:
F- Jack Loofburrow (12.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 46% from 3)
G- Chase Ramey (2.3 ppg)

Key Wins:
Neutral Site vs. Carthage 81-69
@Lewis & Clark 77-60, vs. Lewis & Clark 79-52
@CMS 79-64
Neutral Site vs. Ripon 76-65

Key Loss:
@Whitman 82-79 (Whitworth was up 21 at one point in the 2nd half)

Season Summary/Tournament Outlook:
At this point, pretty much everyone knows everything about the No. 1 seed heading into the tournament. They rely on two scorers: Michael Taylor (Brewster) and David Riley. They have plenty of role players who know and play their roles well: The Defender (Clay Gebbers), The Bruiser (Felix Friedt), The Sparkplug (Wade Gebbers), and The All-Around Guy (Jack Loofburrow). But this team only goes about six-deep, though their bench guys have played well in garbage time against other team’s starters.

The Bucs beat some early season favorites including a preseason top five team (Carthage) and three others receiving votes (Ripon, Loras, CMS), then took out Lewis & Clark on the road who bounced in and out of the top 25. Though they lost one game to Whitman when they let up on the gas in the second half, they have not otherwise been truly tested this year. On paper this team is as talented as any in the country, but an injury or a close game could really test this team. But overall, this team is just plain efficient on both ends of the court.