Which 6 teams will qualify for post season?

[lv2hoop]

Here are my 6, in no particular order:

WWU, CWU, MSU-B, UAA, St. Martin's, and SPU.

Looks like parity will rule the GNAC, with no team is running away with it so far. All six of the teams that I've listed could fall out and not qualify for the conference tourney.

The GNAC does not appear to have a team with enough horsepower to make noise at the regional or national level. I guess anything could happen though and Western or Billings or even UAA or St. Martin's could catch fire and reel off 18 straight wins and make it to the Finals but the first 2 months of the season indicate otherwise.

Happy New Year!!!

P.S. My dark horse to win the league is St. Martin's since they host the tourney and that would be a nice advantage. However, they are missing a key guard, Rhett Baerlocher, who earlier in the season was a backcourt star and I didn't see him when they came to Alaska. I'm assuming he's hurt??

[CWU Wildcat Nation]

Re: Which 6 teams will qualify for post season?

I have a feeling there will be a giant race for the last couple of seeds for the tournament. I think it will be pretty close and come down to tiebreaker scenarios. GNAC will beat each other up this season

[tsull]

Re: Which 6 teams will qualify for post season?

Here are my 6, in no particular order:

WWU, CWU, MSU-B, UAA, St. Martin's, and SPU.

Looks like parity will rule the GNAC, with no team is running away with it so far. All six of the teams that I've listed could fall out and not qualify for the conference tourney.

The GNAC does not appear to have a team with enough horsepower to make noise at the regional or national level. I guess anything could happen though and Western or Billings or even UAA or St. Martin's could catch fire and reel off 18 straight wins and make it to the Finals but the first 2 months of the season indicate otherwise.

Happy New Year!!!

P.S. My dark horse to win the league is St. Martin's since they host the tourney and that would be a nice advantage. However, they are missing a key guard, Rhett Baerlocher, who earlier in the season was a backcourt star and I didn't see him when they came to Alaska. I'm assuming he's hurt??

I pretty much agree with those picks. I've seen NNU play twice this year -- both wins -- and they're a team that could sneak in there. It's also a team that's capable of not playing well, but they do have talent and I think they're well-coached. I plan on going to the NNU-St. Martin's game in a couple weeks, should be exciting.

[lv2hoop]

Re: Which 6 teams will qualify for post season?

Tsull--I left WOU out of my top 6 based on your postings that usually speak to their lack of shooting ability. The only guy they have on their roster that I remember from last year is Omlid, but I'm sure they have others that are dangerous if they can find their shooting stroke. It wouldn't surprise me a bit to see them make a run at the top 6 here in the next 8 weekends of conference play.

[tsull]

Re: Which 6 teams will qualify for post season?

Tsull--I left WOU out of my top 6 based on your postings that usually speak to their lack of shooting ability. The only guy they have on their roster that I remember from last year is Omlid, but I'm sure they have others that are dangerous if they can find their shooting stroke. It wouldn't surprise me a bit to see them make a run at the top 6 here in the next 8 weekends of conference play.

I just don't see it with this WOU team. Not to bash them -- I've done enough of that -- but all these great JC shooters and former D-1 transfers/shooters, can't seem to put it together on the floor. As I've noted, their best outside shooter last year -- Alex Roth -- is out with a season-ending injury. That was a blow bigger than I possibly imagined. Guys like Berg, Trammell, F-Bey, have had their moments and they came in as heralded shooters. But they're not doing it on a consistent basis. Maybe they'll catch fire, but I'm not counting on it. I'm hoping next year these guys can find their stroke, and I really hope Alex Roth returns last year. He's never been a bricklayer.

[northernGNAChoopfan]

Re: Which 6 teams will qualify for post season?

In no particular order, but kinda a little, here's what I think:

UAA has been playing good ball as of late. Since they lost to NNU they haven't let anybody over 50 points. Yeah, their bench hasn't been as productive as a deep team needs it, but I honestly think they were trying to figure out as many things as any other team the last weeks and Fulp and Parrish have shown they can be productive from past seasons and Parrish does a lot of things that don't show up on the stat sheet. There is time for them to figure their bench out and find the right rotations. I see a rewarding night for them on Saturday in Bellingham if they can keep coach Oz in the game.

WWU. What to say. They still looked really shakey to me tonight. They killed UAF on the boards and yet they did not close that game out till the last minute. With the talent they have, they really shoulda killed UAF on more than the boards tonight. Last week MSUB and SFU played the WWU game in putting up a lotta points and in MSUB's case, they beat them at their own game and SFU came close. They left a lot of doors open for UAF tonight and it was a real different game in that UAF wasn't looking to get to 100 to keep it close. The WWU bigs were quiet and UAF is teeny this year. Hmmmm. Still smelling problems for the Vikings, but in such a crazy mess of a GNAC unit this year, they might still finish high. What a turn around from their UCSD win.

SMU - Rhett Baerlocher is back in action and the Saints do host the GNAC tourney this year, which might be a huge advantage for the Saint's, finally! Pribble has them playing really well.

CWU - They are in. Nice win in Billings tonight and nice write up and coach Sparling comments too. http://www.wildcatsports.com/news/20...d-victory.aspx

WOU. Don't count the out yet, and don't base your picks on what Tsull says. Tsull has been totally spoiled rotten the last few years in terms of expectations and he's said himself that patience is not his strong suit. Omlid is the only guy who played real minutes last season on the roster this year, so it's bound to be a rollercoaster. If it comes down to the last night though, Omlid alone could get the Wolves into the tourney, IMO.

MSUB - definitely playing better this year. They need a big win on Saturday over NNU to show everyone last week was not just an anomaly though!

SPU - They are dealing with injuries, they are young, they have a new coach. It's up and down and all over the place and yet they are still pretty good. I really like Wooten and Miller and the future is bright, but I'm a little wondering if they will be the odd men out this year.

NNU, CU, SFU are all playing better this year I think. Not sure it will be enough. We're all eyeballing NNU, wondering if they are going to make something of it. Hard to say this year, but just like everybody else, they need more than the sporadic win to get some momentum.

UAF. It stinks losing. I don't like it at all. Not much fun. All is not lost, I can see that, but it's not going to get any easier to find wins for the rest of the season, every single night.

[tsull]

Re: Which 6 teams will qualify for post season?

Well, I like the WOU win last night, but I'm not sold on the team just yet. They shot 50% last night and that was a miracle to me. Omlid was lights-out from long range, that's usually not a common occurrence. He's usually a slasher, but if he's developed his jumper, more power to him. The season stats show that the team is not a good shooting squad and pretty poor from beyond the 3-point line. Decent defensive team, which I like. But if you can't shoot it well consistently, you won't win.

If WOU beats St. Martin's tomorrow, I'll be more sold.