PNW Basketball

[xjackson8925]

Andy Bender ended up committing to Yale this past week. The RedHawks were in this recruitment but the Northern Kentucky guard opted to go get some more playing time.

The RedHawks staff like Shabazz Bannister’s intangibles and knowledge of the game. They believe he can’t compete at the High Major level with a year of development. This is a name to watch if things go south in the Mott recruitment.

High Point 6’5 Combo Guard Louis Mott is expected to pick between Eastern Illinois and Seattle. Eastern Illinois is another program coming off a great season and tourney berth. The recent track record there has been impressive and there are plenty of shots available in that backcourt. Seattle U has less immediate PT available but is in a more difficult conference. Mott wants some kind of shot to play professionally and does have adequate size to do so. Playing against high major competition is a plus.

We should see a decision soon. He is a definite take for both programs.

[xjackson8925]

Commitment!!

Louis Mott has committed to Seattle U for the 23-24 season (this year) and hopefully beyond. Mott cites Coach Highsmith’s (me) ability the develop talent in the backcourt and as we mentioned, better competition, as the reason for his decision. He acknowledges he will have to compete but is ready to get to work.

The backcourt depth is Aygar, Crispin, Forsythe and Mott with Henderson expected to get minutes at the 2.

[xjackson8925]

I'm back, I did a lot of work setting up this league and have just started the season. I'll be recapping each game from Seattle U and will also be recapping around the league.

[xjackson8925]

Game 1: Seattle U (0-0): 69 @ Purdue (0-0): 89

Stats:
Seattle U: FGs 28-58 (48.3%), 3pt 11-28 (39.3%), FT 2-4 (50%), TOs 12
Purdue: FGs 36-62 (58.1%), 3pt 12-25 (48%), FT 5-13 (38.5%), TOs 9

Quick thoughts:
Tough matchup to open the season but if we want to play in a semi-power conference, we will have to be more competitive in these games. Purdue is a mid-tier Big 10 team but catching them in their home opener was not optimal. We shot well from deep but our bigs were not assertive enough, they were pushed off their spots and forced to take shots farther away from their basket. Purdue is a very lanky and athletic team and when they shoot almost 50% from deep, they will be tough to beat.

Seattle U players:
Antuan Henderson 19 points 7-13 (5-8), 2 Reb, 2 Assists - Really good effort from the army transfer, showed his shotmaking ability from the wing
Ryan Ballard 2 points 1-2 (0-0) 3 Reb, 3 Assists - In foul trouble for a lot of the game, Ballard only tallied 20 unproductive minutes. Ballard needs to play at an all-conference level for Seattle U to be competitive in the PNW conference this season.
Luke Forsythe 11 points 5-14 (1-10), 0 Reb, 3 Assists - In his first career game, Forsythe led the team in FGA. Admire the conference from the youngster but he was not on tonight.
Crispin and Crystal had 12 & 9 respectively, Krueger had 7 off of the bench.

Purdue:
Senior guard Lamont Criddle led the Boilermakers with 23-5-5 and 5-star freshman F Kam Early tacked on 16 of his own (perfect from the field). Seattle was keyed in on stopping point forward Maxi Buccealatto (8-5-4 line) but that led Painter to adjust and allow others to find space offensively. SG Clay Puszla struggled a bit from the field [4-10 (1-5)] but tallied 8 assists. Purdue overall just did a better job of sharing the ball and dictating how they wanted to play offensively.

[xjackson8925]

Game 2: Seattle U (0-1): 72 @ UC San Diego (1-1): 74

Seattle U: FGs 28-48 (58.3%), 3pt 7-13 (53.8%), FT 9-16 (56.3%), TOs 23
UC San Diego: FGs 25-58 (43.1%), 3pt 10-31 (32.3%), FT 14-21 (66.7%), TOs 17

Quick thoughts: UC San Diego is probably the best team in the Big West but this is not a good loss for Seattle U. The Redhawks led the whole game, by as much as 15, until the last two minutes. The shooting numbers were very solid but 23 turnovers will kill you. A few more FTs made would also have helped their cause.

Seattle U: Sophomore F Lane Crystal was on all game for Seattle U as he finished with an efficient 23 points (7-9). Ryan Ballard was better with 11 points (5-7) and 7 boards but we need him to be a bit more assertive. Forsythe had a bounce-back game with 13 points on 6-9 shooting. Aygar, Krueger and Mott had solid contributions off the bench - Aygar specifically hit some big shots down the stretch. A big difference in this game was Antuan Henderson only playing 18 minutes because of foul trouble. When the sets were executed, the team hit shots but they struggled to get any rhythm because of the turnovers.

UC San Diego: Big West 1st team G Brian Harrington took over this game with 30 points (11-26) from the field and hit huge shots down the stretch. Cal Baptist transfer F Clarence Campbell added 15 of his own, working the mid-post area very well. SO G Arthimus Woods hit a couple 3s down the stretch as well. UCSD is a really solid mid-major squad and if they get solid contributions outside of Harrington they could knock off a few more high major teams.

Next game: San Francisco (1-1)
Another decent opponent, the new Pac-12 squad has a solid frontline of former All-WCC F Cade Holloway and SO F Henry Marley (17.0 PPG).

[xjackson8925]

WCC Whiparound
11/13:
Illinois State 59 Oregon 54 - Illinois State is a legit squad but a neutral site loss is not good to start the season
Old Dominion 63 Portland 70 - Hold serve game for UP
Towson 40 2 Gonzaga 88 - Towson is awful but impressive display
11/14:
Washington State 78 Wichita State 68 - The shockers were a tourney team a year ago, WSU gets a good win in the first round of the HOF classic
11/15:
11/16:
Washington State 65 21 Villanova 51 - Another big win for WSU. I think this Nova squad is a bit overrated but nonetheless are a probable tourney team
Eastern Washington 85 Western Kentucky 66 - Good show of strength for a sneaky EWU team
Robert Morris 57 Portland State 69
Rice 75 Portland 91 - 2-0 start for Portland
So Miss 69 Oregon State 77
Quinnipiac 99 Boise State 89 - Possible Quad 4 loss, almost 100 points given up to Quinnipiac isn't an optimal start
Merrimack 55 Washington 76 -
Pacific 37 2 Gonzaga 78 - Another thrashing by Gonzaga versus an old WCC opponent
11/17:
11/18:
Washington State 72 Saint Louis 67 - WSU advances to the tourney final with a win over a possible tourney team in Saint Louis
Colorado State 63 Oregon State 56 - Bad loss for the Beavers, this CSU team isn't that good
11/19:
Eastern Washington 91 Fairfield 90 - Gritty road win for EWU, Fairfield is the MAAC favorite
Portland State 68 Bucknell 84 - Ugly loss here for Portland State
Boise State 62 UTRGV 85 - Putrid start to the year for Boise State. Defense is leaking points
Jackson State 53 Washington 67 - Waiting to see UW against some stiffer competition
Portland 63 New Orleans 81 - Not sure what happened after a solid start from UP
Western Carolina 61 2 Gonzaga 77 - Gonzaga has not played anyone of note yet

[PointGuard]

Like how you're presenting this....keep it going!

[xjackson8925]

Top 25 update:
1 Michigan State (4-0) - Won the 16-team MTE
2 Gonzaga (4-0) - Dominant but haven't played anyone
3 Georgetown (3-1) - Only loss is to MSU
4 Kansas (2-0) - Two blowout wins so far
5 UNC (2-0) - Same as Kansas
6 Kentucky (2-1) - Should be lower in my opinion
7 Temple (4-1) - Had a good run in an MTE
8 UConn (2-0)
9 Texas (2-1)
10 UCLA (4-0)
11 West Virginia (2-0)
12 Washington State (3-0) - Won an MTE
13 Illinois (2-0)
14 East Tennessee State (3-1) - Lost to WSU in MTE final
15 Penn (4-1) - Beat USC in MTE final, have been impressive despite a bad loss
16 Syracuse (2-0)
17 Michigan (2-0)
18 Kansas State (2-0)
19 Arkansas (2-0)
20 Colorado State (3-0)
21 Dixie State (3-0) - Been very impressive, have real tests this week
22 Florida (1-0) - Only played one game but I think this team is really good
23 Seton Hall (2-0) - Some good road wins early
24 Notre Dame (1-1)
25 Saint Mary's (2-0)

PNW in the NET
Washington State - 29
Washington - 86
Portland - 106
Oregon State - 107
Portland State - 110
Seattle - 134
Gonzaga - 135
Eastern Washington -236
Oregon - 333
Boise State - 345

Hopefully these numbers can start to rise or this may be a 2 bid league.

[xjackson8925]

San Francisco 84 @ Seattle U 77

San Francisco: FG 28-48 (58.3%), 3pt 9-20 (45%), FT 19-23 (82.6%), TOs 20
Seattle U: FG 25-55 (45.5%), 3pt 5-14 (35.7%), FT 22-31 (71%), TOs 11

Game Thoughts: This was a disheartening loss to send the Redhawks to 0-3 on the season. They have not lost to a bad team yet but these last two games have been winnable, especially this game at home. Seattle did a lot of things right, they won the turnover battle decisively and shot 31 free throws, but still came away empty-handed in the win department. The difference in the game was the San Francisco was able to place together a 10-0 run deep into the second half and Seattle could never get enough consecutive stops to go on a run of their own. As has been been a theme for Seattle so far, the perimeter defense was very shaky. Every Dons starter made a three-point shot. All Pac-12 caliber F Cade Holloway led the way with 19 on 5-8 shooting and Utah transfer F Henry Marley tacked on 13 of his own (4-6 from the field). The Dons had five other players between 8-10 points in their well-balanced offensive attack. San Fran was also dealing with significant foul trouble, only one starter (PG Earl Wampler) played over 30 minutes.

Lane Crystal came to play today for Seattle U with 19 points. Ballard posted a 13 and 4 line and Louis Mott contributed 10 points off the bench, hitting some big shots down the stretch. Antuan Henderson had 10 points on 3-4 shooting but found himself in heavy foul trouble again. The Army transfer has been productive whilst on the field but has fouled out now two times in three games. Omar Aygar has given good minutes off the bench but the starting backcourt for the Redhawks, Crispin and Forsythe have provided little on the offensive or defensive side of the ball. It might be time to give Aygar some more minutes going forward.

Next game: Wichita State (1-1) 67 in the NET.
This will be another solid opponent for Seattle but a very winnable game. The Shockers are shooting 28.5% so far from 3 but have been a very good rebounding team to this point in the season. Their starting lineup includes two traditional centers, seniors Billy Alford and Tim Hatcher but a lot of the scoring punch comes from junior sharpshooter Cory Chatman and bigger-bodied swingman Itai Conradi. Their PG, Jayce Andrews is a sophomore and has been inconsistent to this point in his career, but the former top 50 recruit has a lot of natural playmaking ability.

[PointGuard]

Minor suggrestion for your FG, 3P, FT, TO line--also include Rebounds.