2/23 GNAC games/results/discussion...

[northernGNAChoopfan]

SMU @ SFU -

CWU @ UAF -

NNU @ UAA -

MSUB @ CUP -

*Last night SPU came back from being 19 down in the 2nd half to end up in a position to intentionally miss a second FT, they got the rebound and put up the buzzer beater, but it didn't go and they lost by 2. Great matchup between Dickson and Miller in the 2nd half. WWU missed 3 FTs in a row to let SPU sneak to within a possession late. That means WWU has the regular season title in the GNAC and that they almost gave that one away to a team in the bottom 3 in the GNAC...

Not even going to put out ideas about tonight's games. It's just not a year in which you can really tell what's going to go on... SMU has been playing like they want to go to the GNAC tourney, but every other team in a game tonight whether they are in or out or hanging in the balance is a big question mark. Hopefully it's a fun night!

[tsull]

Re: 2/23 GNAC games/results/discussion...

SMU @ SFU -

CWU @ UAF -

NNU @ UAA -

MSUB @ CUP -

*Last night SPU came back from being 19 down in the 2nd half to end up in a position to intentionally miss a second FT, they got the rebound and put up the buzzer beater, but it didn't go and they lost by 2. Great matchup between Dickson and Miller in the 2nd half. WWU missed 3 FTs in a row to let SPU sneak to within a possession late. That means WWU has the regular season title in the GNAC and that they almost gave that one away to a team in the bottom 3 in the GNAC...

Not even going to put out ideas about tonight's games. It's just not a year in which you can really tell what's going to go on... SMU has been playing like they want to go to the GNAC tourney, but every other team in a game tonight whether they are in or out or hanging in the balance is a big question mark. Hopefully it's a fun night!

Thanks for the SPU-WWU report, forgot about that game. Dang, almost a great upset in Bellingham. My main man Miller goes for 29 points, awesome player for the Falcons. WWU sizzles the nets from the field and 3-point land, over 50% in each. Great job by coach Leep this year, they had tons of injuries, have some great youngsters in which to build.

[tsull]

Re: 2/23 GNAC games/results/discussion...

Concordia wins a close one again, by 2 over MSU-B. In their last 5 wins (in six games) they've won by a total of 8 points. Wow! That's called playing well under pressure.

[northernGNAChoopfan]

Re: 2/23 GNAC games/results/discussion...

SMU 102 over SFU 78.

CWU 74 over UAF 67 - CWU rebounded well and the Nooks just couldn't get the momentum for more than a few minutes at a time. Their season will be over on Saturday.

UAA 81 over NNU 73 - Ummmm. UAA rebounded twice as good as NNU! Wow.

CUP 79 over MSUB 77 - Ummm. More last second heroics by Concordia. At this point, maybe the coaches will with do a co-COTY with WWU and CUP?

So, as near as I can tell, SMU, CUP, CWU, NNU, MSUB, and SPU are all still alive for the GNAC tourney. SPU would need CWU, NNU, and MSUB to lose on Saturday to get into a tie for 6th, but I think they're still alive. All I can say is that the GNAC tiebreaker procedures are going to get some major use in about 48 hours.

CWU (9-10) @ UAA
SPU (8-11) @ SFU
NNU (9-10) @ UAF
MSUB (9-10) @ WOU
SMU (10-9) @ WWU

Concordia is done for league play at 10-10.

Should be an interesting night...

[Rob_AK]

Re: 2/23 GNAC games/results/discussion...

If expectations hold, we have WWU, UAA and WOU in. With SMU and Concordia at 10-10, and then MSUB, NNU, SPU and CWU at 9-11. If one of MSUB, NNU or CWU should win, then they would be the 6th team. If we have 4 end at 9-11, I don't have any idea where the tiebreaker would leave us, and I am not going to worry about it as it would probably take me until the games are over to figure it out and then something else would happen. This has been a really great year in the GNAC with all but one team in the hunt for a tourney berth until the last week. Sorry it didn't work out for the Nanooks northerngnachoopfan, but you are still going to have a say in who goes to Lacy in the Friday game.

Hopefully someone beats WWU in the tourney to insure we get a second team in the dance - would like UAA to be that team but would still be happy if another team made it.

[tsull]

Re: 2/23 GNAC games/results/discussion...

If expectations hold, we have WWU, UAA and WOU in. With SMU and Concordia at 10-10, and then MSUB, NNU, SPU and CWU at 9-11. If one of MSUB, NNU or CWU should win, then they would be the 6th team. If we have 4 end at 9-11, I don't have any idea where the tiebreaker would leave us, and I am not going to worry about it as it would probably take me until the games are over to figure it out and then something else would happen. This has been a really great year in the GNAC with all but one team in the hunt for a tourney berth until the last week. Sorry it didn't work out for the Nanooks northerngnachoopfan, but you are still going to have a say in who goes to Lacy in the Friday game.

Hopefully someone beats WWU in the tourney to insure we get a second team in the dance - would like UAA to be that team but would still be happy if another team made it.

Getting WWU and UAA in the regionals would be great. WWU needs to get beat and they've been beaten this year by both Alaska schools and almost beat by SPU the other night. Of course I want WOU to get to the regionals, I don't see it with this team. Their lack of urgency down the stretch was stunning to me.

[Rob_AK]

Re: 2/23 GNAC games/results/discussion...

If the GNAC tourney was at UAA this year instead of next I think UAA would be close to a lock, having went unbeaten there by D2 teams this year. UAA has struggled with offense this year. While they are 2nd in the nation in rebound margin, Hammell and Devine have not produced a lot of offense. That leaves Wiggs, Mitchell and Svejcar to carry the load. UAA's defense has generally been very good but if you the other team stops one of those three, it is going to be a close game. In fact, it seems that Svejcar is the key If he has a good game, UAA usually wins. Not really a formula for a deep tourney run as it is likely some team will match up well with UAA defensively at some point and hold their guards down in scoring.

WOU looked pretty urgent the other night against the Seawolves. I just think that is the nature of the GNAC this year. Unlike the Pac West where the better teams only have maybe one tough game a week, in the GNAC they are all tough games. You have to be prepared and focused every game - that is hard to do over a 20 game conference season. Reminds me of how it was 10 or more years ago when only 5 or 6 losses - mostly on the road - was considered a pretty good year and might even get you an at large bid in the tourney.

[tsull]

Re: 2/23 GNAC games/results/discussion...

WOU looked pretty urgent the other night against the Seawolves.

No, they just hit a bunch of 3's, including some long prayers with the shot clock running down. While it's nice to do that, season stats show they're not a great shooting team.

This is the problem people had figuring out last year's Wolves team. They weren't super high flyers -- Omlid had 90 percent of their dunks last year and they didn't have many dunks. They could win games even if they weren't shooting well. They weren't the best rebounding team, but they could really lock people up on defense and hit free throws down the stretch. A lot of people were just scratching their heads on how they could win. The answer is they were playing team basketball. This year's WOU team would beat last year's in a track meet or decathlon. They're more athletic. Last year's team would kill this year's team in a b-a-s-k-e-t-b-a-l-l game. A real game.

WOU bricked their shots vs. SFU and Concordia, thus two bad losses. Urgency isn't jacking and hitting shots. That's getting hot one night and that's how this team lives and dies. Hoping for a different formula next year.