GNAC play

[Anchorage]

That opening game for UAA vs Billings was brutal. Gave away yet another game down the stretch. This team and putting teams away is rough but man Rusty deserves a lot of the blame for this one. Played small and shortened his rotation the entire second half which ran everyone out of steam by the end. Then made very questionable substitutions the final play of regulations and in the overtime. I watched the only big man he basically played (37 minutes!) out of exhaustion just lose his man multiple occasions, not run the floor (when he would have been in great position to be a trailer on the break) which ended up in the guard trying a tough layup that missed. It was just poorly thought out rotations tonight and it bit them in the butt big time. Kudos to Billings, tough defensive team that makes you pay for mistakes. They made UAA pay.

[CWU Wildcat Nation]

Welp. Setback year for CWU. Certainly got going to either of the WWU games this year unless CWU can turn things around.

[Anchorage]

I hear you. UAA another close loss, this is a rough season. I realize I’m starting to sound like a broken record but man. They just play too small, I don’t think they are a threat this year. Teams brutalize them near the rim and on the boards most nights which causes UAA to have to double a ton and leave shooters open all night. UAA gave up 55% from the floor and 38% from 3 against MSU-B and SPU this weekend at home. That’s not going to cut it. They have a couple bigs that they need to get in the game. Right now they don’t play anyone over 6’7 consistently, next biggest is 6’5 and a cadre of guards while these other teams are playing waves of 6’6, 6’7, 6’8, 6’9 and 6’10 with multiples on the floor at the same time. Too many mismatches.

[tsull]

WOU just lost to an underachieving (but talented) NNU team; and did get past a bad CWU team ... barely. I hope this is not another jackal and Hyde team like last year. Not sure why the 2nd best player, Benzel, didn't play. Things are pretty top secret at WOU so I don't expect to get an answer.

[northernGNAChoopfan]

Saw the Nooks play in both games last week and it seems like they had vastly improved their cohesion from non-con games. I enjoyed watching them and think they have a bit of potential; no, they won't win the GNAC this year, but fun can be had with competitive games like they played last week. I thought SPU had an awful night here and probably suffered from just not getting off the plane in a good space, but UAF also seized on that and made it hard for them to get anything going. Really starting to like a few of the Nooks as defenders this year. MSUB seems like a talented team to me. I think their high pre-season ranking by the coaches is accurate; iI think it's notable for a team to make it through their Alaska trip with 2 wins. Mick does a really good job of getting his teams to switch defense and play really effective zone defense and to get everyone on the same sheet of music to do that this early in the season says something. I haven't seen enough teams play this year yet to say so, but I think MSUB will be tough for everyone. My only gripe with the Nooks thus far is the amount of whining they do with the refs; it's pitiful and I hope they realize quickly that it's not an effective tactic.