Tournament Thread WCC Tournament

[ericd7633]

Friday, March 4th
First Round:

#8 Loyola Marymount vs. #9 San Diego - 9:00 -- BYUtv/theW.tv

Saturday, March 5th
Quarterfinals:

#3 BYU vs. #6 Santa Clara - 4:00 -- TWC SN/CSN BA/BYUtv/theW.tv
#4 Pepperdine vs. #5 San Francisco - 6:30 -- TWC/CSN/BYUtv/theW.tv
#1 St. Mary's vs. #8 Loyola Marymount/#9 San Diego -10:00 -- ESPN2
#2 Gonzaga vs. #7 Portland - 12:30 -- ESPN2

Monday, March 7th
Semifinals:

#1 St. Mary's/#8 Loyola Marymount/#9 San Diego vs. #4 Pepperdine/#5 San Francisco - 9:00 -- ESPN
#2 Gonzaga/#7 Portland vs. #3 BYU/#6 Santa Clara - 11:30 ESPN2

Tuesday, March 8th
Championship Game - 9:00 -- ESPN

* Pacific will not be participating in the WCC Tournament as they self imposed a postseason ban for this season.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

It's absolutely amazing that Gonzaga may have to win this thing to get in the tournament

 

[SFGRTB]

Saint Mary's loses all 5 starters from a 22 win program, and has a better season this year. A big part of that is one of the better coaches in the NCAA, Randy Bennett.

 

[Cave_Johnson]

It's absolutely amazing that Gonzaga may have to win this thing to get in the tournament

Considering all the talent on that team? Yeah, pretty crazy. I'd think they absolutely have to win to get in. But even if they somehow get the WCC auto-birth they'll just get bounced in the first or second round like pretty much every other year ( last year was kind of an anomaly).

 

[ericd7633]

One of my favorite tourney's every season. Gonzaga hasn't had this much on the line in the conference tournament since 2001.

 

[SFGRTB]

This tournament should be as competitive as ever, since pretty much every team needs to win to get in.

 

[rmilia1]

I like Pepperdine vs BYU for the title

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Considering all the talent on that team? Yeah, pretty crazy. I'd think they absolutely have to win to get in. But even if they somehow get the WCC auto-birth they'll just get bounced in the first or second round like pretty much every other year ( last year was kind of an anomaly).

Part of last year's run was because they had a very talented team, this team probably will get bounced early, I don't know what's wrong with them this year.

 

[Anointed One]

Considering all the talent on that team? Yeah, pretty crazy. I'd think they absolutely have to win to get in. But even if they somehow get the WCC auto-birth they'll just get bounced in the first or second round like pretty much every other year ( last year was kind of an anomaly).

Everything changed when Karnowski couldn't play w/ his back injury... Sabonis having to play the Center position while getting double teamed like no tomorrow... Wiltger having to play the PF spot instead of exposing the mismatches at the SF position... It changed the dynamic of the team... Those 3 were supposed to be able to take some of the pressure off of the young backcourt...

Instead of having the starters:
C: Karnowski
PF: Sabonis
SF: Wiltjer
SG: McClellan
PG: Perkins

They had to start:
C: Sabonis
PF: Wiltjer
SF: Dranginis (Who is a guard)
SG: McClellan
PG: Perkins

Having the Big 3 down low would've made them that much better but instead having to go with 2 bigs and 3 guards to start each game really changed the dynamic of their team... Wiltjer is not that good playing PF... He's slow and does not play defense... He's been struggling from behind the arc this year, which doesn't help his cause... I wish we could've seen what it would've been like this year to have those 3 playing together...

 

[Anointed One]

Tomorrow night we have,

Semifinals:

#1 St. Mary's vs #4 Pepperdine - 9:00 -- ESPN
#2 Gonzaga vs. #3 BYU - 11:30 ESPN2

Pepperdine swept Saint Mary's this year so that should be an interesting matchup... Pepp won by 6 and 3...

Zags/Cougs split their series with each one of them winning on the road against one another... Zags won by 3 and lost by 1...

 

[Cave_Johnson]

Everything changed when Karnowski couldn't play w/ his back injury... Sabonis having to play the Center position while getting double teamed like no tomorrow... Wiltger having to play the PF spot instead of exposing the mismatches at the SF position... It changed the dynamic of the team... Those 3 were supposed to be able to take some of the pressure off of the young backcourt...

Instead of having the starters:
C: Karnowski
PF: Sabonis
SF: Wiltjer
SG: McClellan
PG: Perkins

They had to start:
C: Sabonis
PF: Wiltjer
SF: Dranginis (Who is a guard)
SG: McClellan
PG: Perkins

Having the Big 3 down low would've made them that much better but instead having to go with 2 bigs and 3 guards to start each game really changed the dynamic of their team... Wiltjer is not that good playing PF... He's slow and does not play defense... He's been struggling from behind the arc this year, which doesn't help his cause... I wish we could've seen what it would've been like this year to have those 3 playing together...

Karnowski's injury definitely had an effect on the team, but even before he went out they were struggling a lot more than I thought they would this season. They had a healthy team when they lost to UCLA at home.

Personally though I think it's pretty hilarious that they might not even make the tourny this year. I used to root for the Zags but now that they're refusing to play either WSU or Idaho (especially after how much they whined about UW cancelling their series) I just can't do it. The huge number of bandwagon fans and dickheads working in their athletic department also doesn't help my opinion of them.

I have nothing against their players however. Wiltjer is a blast to watch and it would probably be a more entertaining tournament if they get in.

 

[SFGRTB]

Gonzaga came out firing against Portland and blew them out, but the rest of the games were pretty close, with BYU and Saint Mary's having to pull away late.

 

[Anointed One]

Karnowski's injury definitely had an effect on the team, but even before he went out they were struggling a lot more than I thought they would this season. They had a healthy team when they lost to UCLA at home.

I tribute that to the inexperience from the guards, mainly Perkins...

 

[SFGRTB]

Saint Mary's handles Pepperdine rather easily. That was one of their biggest blemishes on their resume.

 

[SFGRTB]

Gonzaga wins a heck of a game over BYU.

Saint Mary's and Gonzaga will meet in the Championship game once again.

 

[rmilia1]

Gonzaga wins a heck of a game over BYU.

Saint Mary's and Gonzaga will meet in the Championship game once again.

Lame. I waa hoping for some new blood

 

[uncfan103]

Considering all the talent on that team? Yeah, pretty crazy. I'd think they absolutely have to win to get in. But even if they somehow get the WCC auto-birth they'll just get bounced in the first or second round like pretty much every other year ( last year was kind of an anomaly).

Is the polish guy back, or will he be back for the tournament? Pzemic Karnowski?

 

[Anointed One]

Is the polish guy back, or will he be back for the tournament? Pzemic Karnowski?

No... He's been done for the year for most of the season...

 

[Anointed One]

Gonzaga wins a heck of a game over BYU.

Saint Mary's and Gonzaga will meet in the Championship game once again.

Yeah, that was a great game... In fact, all 3 games between the two of them this season were great...

 

[uncfan103]

No... He's been done for the year for most of the season...

I know he hasn't played since Christmas. But, I thought at one point I heard he might be back. That could've been before he had surgery though.