Linfield faces grueling NWC schedule
By
Rusty Rae of the McMinnville N-R/News-Register 1/24/2020
Although I didn’t vote for the man,
I agreed with H. Ross Perot on this: “When you see a snake, just kill it –
don’t appoint a committee on snakes.”
However, the NWC commissioner,
Kimberly Wenger and school presidents and athletic directors have done exactly
the opposite with respect to the horribly backward-thinking NWC basketball
schedule, which favors schools from Washington (specifically basketball powers
Whitman and Whitworth) while at the same time, and most importantly, placing
students athletes at risk.
To be fair, with an uneven number of
teams in the league, assembling a balanced schedule requires the wisdom of
Saint John (Wooden). Wenger and conference administrators, however, chose a
check-the-box approach, hiring a consulting firm to produce the NWC basketball
schedule. Press the button and here’s your schedule, which this year puts
Linfield in the lone wolf position, fails to consider the impact it may have on
student athletes, let alone equity between teams.
Now, there’s apparently a conference
committee researching a fix for the schedule, though there has been no formal
public announcement by the NWC.
Calls to Wenger were unreturned by
Thursday’s 5 p.m. press deadline.
The current schedule gives the two
Whits and, to a certain extent, PLU and UPS, an easier travel schedule than the
teams from Oregon. This weekend, Linfield’s undefeated conference men’s
basketball team (12-3, 6-0) and women’s team (10-5, 4-2) run the gauntlet from
McMinnville-Spokane-Walla-Walla-McMinnville to battle Whitworth and Whitman
Friday and Saturday.
Wenger’s schedule pitted the two
Whits against each other Tuesday (Whitman won both contests), while Linfield is
singled out to play Whitworth on Friday and Whitman on Saturday. This means
powerhouse Whitman take on Linfield on fresh legs.
The ‘Cats, conversely, play Whitman
Saturday after a contest against a robust Whitworth squad Friday, and then
brave the weather and roads to drive to Walla Walla for the Saturday contest.
Sure, a nine-team league makes it
difficult to develop a balanced schedule. But this itinerary is (and has been)
detrimental to student-athletes. First, there is barely enough recovery time
between the two games. The general rule of thumb of physiology requires 24
hours to fully recover from exercise – longer for an aerobic activity like
basketball.
DIII and the NWC focus on STUDENT-athletes.
While play happens on the weekend, these back-to-back games aren’t conducive to
health or learning. The simple solution is for teams in this scenario to play a
Friday-Sunday schedule (or even Thursday-Saturday) but apparently that is too difficult
for a computer to gauge.
Student welfare must come first.
It’s time to kill this snake and
move the NWC basketball schedule into a position beneficial for student
athletes and promotes competitive basketball.
So much for my rant, let’s talk some
Linfield b-ball.
Linfield’s two basketball teams have
run the table over the last two weeks. The men are undefeated in conference
play and the women, after stubbing their toes in the opening weekend with a
pair of losses, have rebounded, playing with grit and tenacity. Needless to
say, this is a major weekend for the ‘Cat b-ballers.
Despite their undefeated start to
the conference season, Rosenberg has been frustrated, at times, with what
appears to be a lack of killer instinct by his charges. Take, for example, last
weekend’s 111-98 win over a 1-13 Willamette team.
After leading by 20 by the half, the
‘Cats couldn’t find a way to put Willamette away. They went up by an 82-57
margin six minutes into the second period on a sweet three-point rainbow from
Aaron Baune. But then went soft on defense, and let Willamette creep back into
contention. By comparison, the Bearcats lost by 40 points to Whitworth and 41
to Whitman on the road.
Linfield needs at minimum a split
over the weekend to remain contenders for the NWC title. They’ll not only have
to overcome the disparate schedule, but a pair of talented teams, while also
changing the recent history by winning in Eastern Washington. The Wildcats last
won at Whitworth in 2000 and at Whitman in 2010.
Rosenberg’s ‘Cats are more than
capable of sweeping both schools.
Austin Hilton’s play sparkles at
center. He adds power rebounding, has a deft passing game and regularly drops
in 10-foot jumpers.
Dempsey Roggenbuck leads the team in
most categories and can do just about anything with a basketball.
Against Willamette, the junior guard
eclipsed 1,000 career points, of which he said, “It was always a goal, but it
doesn’t take away from the grand scheme of things we’re trying to accomplish.”
Former McMinnville Grizzly Tanner Autencio,
along with Grant Gibb and Will Burghardt, supply steadfast support and are all
capable scorers.
These two games this weekend won’t
make or break the season for Linfield; however, a pair of wins puts the ‘Cats
in the catbird seat for a run at the NWC title. Rosenberg and the ‘Cats would
love to snare one of the top two spots in the conference and host at least one
first-round playoff game.
Casey Bunn-Wilson’s Wildcats (10-5,
4-2) returned to winning after losses to Pacific and George Fox in the opening
week of the conference season.
Last weekend, the women’s team
dropped Lewis & Clark with a strong second half performance, and then took
a lead into the final stanza, holding off Willamette, 61-56.
Linfield is led by seniors Molly
Danielson and Kory Oleson, both accomplishing a little of everything – but
carry Linfield with their scoring. The dynamic duo is one-two in NWC scoring
and Danielson is second in rebounding.
Bunn-Wilson’s ‘Cats have a legion of
supporting players (last season they played with seven), who on a given night
step up, gave the team a spark.
The challenge for the women’s team
has been closing out games. Against George Fox, on Linfield’s home court, the
‘Cats led by eight points early in the third quarter. When GFU made its run,
Linfield rushed its game, losing rhythm and ultimately falling by a 10-spot.
“We have learned to play our game
regardless of the circumstances. The loss to Fox was disappointing, but also
something the team took to heart,” Bunn-Wilson said.
“Controlling game tempo, a lesson
that hopefully we have learned, will be key in this series,” Bunn-Wilson added.
Snakes be damned, both Wildcat
squads must focus on their strengths to return with victories.
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