wcc – Rush The Court

WCC Tournament Preview & Season Wrap-Up

rtmsf — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 19:22:28 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the RTC correspondent for the WCC.

Showdown in Las Vegas

So, it’s decided but it’s really not. Saint Mary’s closed out the WCC regular season with a tough 67-60 victory over San Francisco on the road, earning an undisputed conference championship for the first time since the 1989 squad coached by Lynn Nance. The Gaels tied Gonzaga for the regular-season title last year – the Zags’ 11th straight WCC championship – and needed a win over San Francisco to avoid another tie this year. They got it, but not without a dogged fight from the Dons, who closed out [...]

Checking In On… the WCC

rtmsf — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:33:32 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the WCC correspondent for RTC.

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The Final Week

It all comes down to this week, WCC fans: Saint Mary’s, Gonzaga, BYU and Loyola Marymount all have legitimate shots at the conference title and the one and two seeds for next week’s WCC Tournament. In an age where parity is the Holy Grail of organized sports, the WCC has it going on. And, although this season’s nine-team schedule caused some distortions in the first half of the season, no one could have planned a more compelling finale.

Consider:

Saint Mary’s can seize the regular season championship and a number [...]

Checking In On… the WCC

rtmsf — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:22:44 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the West Coast Conference correspondent for RTC.

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Looking Back

Gonzaga roars back into contention, Saint Mary’s faces the specter of repeated collapse and BYU tells anyone who listening, “Don’t count us out.” It was quite a week in the WCC.

The Gonzaga-Saint Mary’s game last Thursday at the McCarthey Athletic Center on the Gonzaga campus was almost a reverse of their earlier encounter in Moraga in January, an 83-62 Saint Mary’s win. The Zags were the aggressors and the Gaels seemed unable to counter with their usual efficiency and defensive poise. The Zags triumphed, 73-59, behind their [...]

Checking In On… the West Coast Conference

rtmsf — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:21:51 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the WCC correspondent for RTC.

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Looking Back

Gonzaga failed in its second big test of the season last Thursday, succumbing to the fast hands of BYU’s defenders and losing 83-73 in Provo. Coming after the Zags’ 21-point pasting by Saint Mary’s in Moraga back in January, the BYU loss cast serious doubts about Gonzaga’s chances to notch its 12th consecutive claim to at least a share of the WCC regular season title. Both Gonzaga and BYU play “fast,” meaning they bring the ball up quickly and go into high-speed motion offenses to catch defenders on their [...]

Checking In On… the WCC

rtmsf — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:27:45 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the WCC correspondent for RTC.

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Looking Back

Saint Mary’s was in the spotlight last week and the Gaels did not shirk from the attention. First came a businesslike, 71-64, win over Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, then an epochal, 80-66, romp over BYU in Provo that seemed to unhinge everyone connected with BYU basketball. It wasn’t only the 22,000-plus rabid fans in the Marriott Center, it wasn’t only normally low-key BYU coach Dave Rose losing his cool, it wasn’t just Noah Hartsock earning a flagrant foul with a blatant forearm shiver to the neck of Gaels’ [...]

Checking In On… the WCC

rtmsf — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:15:34 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the RTC correspondent for the West Coast Conference.

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Looking Back

Suddenly there is a fourth guest at the party. Saint Mary’s, Gonzaga and BYU had dominated WCC play in the pre-season and until the halfway point of the conference race, but last Thursday Loyola Marymount rudely interrupted their revels. An 82-68 thumping of BYU in a half-full Marriott Center in Provo sent notice that Max Good’s squad is healthy and hungry to compete for a top spot with the Big Three. Good is enjoying the benefit of having star forwards Drew Viney (15.9 PPG) and Ashley Hamilton [...]

Checking In On… the WCC

rtmsf — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:43:50 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the West Coast Conference correspondent for RTC.

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Looking Back

Holding serve was the key note last week, as Saint Mary’s slapped down the second of its main competitors for the WCC title, Gonzaga, by a convincing 83-62 margin in Moraga. That followed the Gaels’ first-week trouncing of BYU by 98-82, also at home. Playing the cards dealt to them by an unbalanced conference schedule, the Gaels now have a one-game edge on both rivals before facing them on the road. For Saint Mary’s, the nine-team schedule – reflecting the addition of BYU to the ranks – was [...]

St. Mary’s Is in a Familiar Mid-January Position: Will It Hold Up?

rtmsf — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:08:43 +0000

WCC fans: Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. It’s mid-January, and St. Mary’s is surging. Coming off a pair of weekend victories that included a blowout over bitter rival Gonzaga and a tough-but-expected win over pesky Portland, the Gaels currently sit at 17-2 overall and a pristine 6-0 in the WCC. The national media has taken notice, serving up Randy Bennett‘s team as the #24 team this week in the AP poll and #23 in the Coaches Poll. (Incidentally, SMC is #17 in this week’s RTC rankings.) Once again, things are looking up in Moraga as fans of the [...]

Checking In On… the WCC

rtmsf — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:09:00 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the West Coast Conference correspondent for RTC.

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The Week That Was

Welcome to the wacky world of nine-team scheduling. WCC members knew some changes were coming with the addition of BYU to the league, but it has taken two weeks of conference play to absorb all that was required to make the odd-numbered format work. Here’s what the 2011-12 season has introduced:

Monday night games in addition to the regular Thursday-Saturday format Asymmetrical scheduling, meaning teams play some opponents twice before playing others at all Front-loaded key games for some, delayed timing of key games for others

For whatever reason, [...]

Checking In On… the WCC

rtmsf — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:13:03 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the West Coast Conference correspondent for RTC.

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Looking Back

Along with greater strength at the top through the addition of Brigham Young, the WCC was supposed to exhibit league-wide improvement in 2011-12. At least in the early stages of conference play, that hasn’t happened. In fact, the gap between the haves and the have-nots appears to be widening. Opening games in WCC play found Gonzaga throttling Portland at home by a score of 90-51, Saint Mary’s skunking Pepperdine in Malibu by 74-45 and BYU beating San Diego at home by 88-52. That’s an average beat-down of 35 [...]

Checking In On… the WCC

rtmsf — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:55:28 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the RTC correspondent for the West Coast Conference.

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Looking Back

Kevin Pangos and the Zags Are Ready to Pursue #12

Gonzaga (9-2) completed its pre-WCC season out of conference schedule (still a December 31 game against Xavier in Cincinnati to go) on a roll, dispatching Oral Roberts (67-61), Arizona (71-60), Butler (71-55) and Air Force (70-60) at home, to get ready for an attempt at a 12th straight WCC title beginning on Wednesday against struggling Portland. The Zags have apparently settled on an all-freshman starting backcourt of Kevin Pangos and Gary Bell, Jr., and why [...]

Checking In On… the WCC

rtmsf — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:15:13 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the RTC correspondent for the West Coast Conference.

[Ed. Note — a previous version of this CIO misrepresented several of the author’s thoughts. We have reverted it back to its original format, and for the oversight the editing team apologizes.]

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Looking Back

Who Fears the Pac-12? Not Us: Sunday’s 93-55 beatdown of Santa Clara by Washington State notwithstanding, the WCC has compiled a 5-4 record against Pac-12 teams so far in 2011. Most notable were Loyola Marymount’s season-opening 69-58 upset of then-#17 UCLA at the LA Sports Arena (Pauley Pavilion is being remodeled) before UCLA’s troubles [...]

RTC Conference Primers: #10 – WCC

rtmsf — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 19:30:44 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the RTC correspondent for the West Coast Conference.

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Top Storylines

No. 1. The West Coast Conference has a ready-made top storyline for 2011-12: the addition (and possible subtraction) of Brigham Young University to the league. Initially seen as a coup for highly-regarded WCC Commissioner Jamie Zaninovich, BYU’s status as a WCC member got caught up in the latest craziness involving BCS football conferences. With some sources insisting the Cougars were just waiting for an opportune moment (or invitation) to bolt to the Big 12, much criticism has come down upon the institution for flirting with [...]

WCC Wrap-up and Postseason Primer

Brian Goodman — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 00:52:35 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the RTC correspondent for the West Coast Conference.

Power Rankings and Postseason Outlook

1) Saint Mary’s (24-8, 11-3). The record puts them slightly ahead of Gonzaga, but the Gaels would gladly trade places with the Zags as the NCAA Tournament looms. Without an automatic bid, the Gaels and their mediocre out-of-conference record are at the mercy of the NCAA Selection Committee. Hope for the Big Dance, but consider the NIT a strong possibility.

2) Gonzaga (24-9, 11-3), WCC Tournament Champions, recipient of automatic NCAA bid. How well a rugged out-of-conference schedule will [...]

Checking in on… the WCC

Brian Goodman — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:15:25 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the RTC correspondent for the West Coast Conference

A Look Back

The budding Battle Royale for second place in the conference standings – and the valuable bye to the WCC tournament semifinals that goes with it – was joined last week with San Francisco’s 68-62 win over Santa Clara on the Dons’ court. The win moved San Francisco (6-2) into sole possession of second and dropped the Broncos into a tie for third with Gonzaga at 5-3. It also gave San Francisco a series sweep over Santa Clara, which will [...]