North Bay BB is terrible

[northbaybbguru]

as I have stated in previous threads...

the quality of boys basketball in the North Bay League (NBL) this year is at an all time low(in this viewers lifetime)

In the past week Healdsburg (NBL2) has claimed bragging rights with wins over 2 of the 3 NBL1 favorites(Piner and CN) and CN has a H2H vs the 3rd (Monty).

When a Division 4 PUBLIC SCHOOL is the best team in the area you have issues. Especially when the area is full of D2, D3 and private schools.

Worst boys ball I've seen in 40+yrs of watching basketball in the area.

***and honestly Healdsburg is not bad (and they have an excellent coach) and they should do damage in D4 sections but they shouldn't be the "top dog" in ANY year.

What has happened to boys basketball in the NBL???

YIKES!!!!!

 

[damim]

It really is odd. You have small D4 and smaller D5 public schools regularly competing with these D2 and D3 teams on a regular basis. It's not even shocking anymore when the Lake county and Mendo county schools beat the Sonoma county schools. This was almost unheard of in the past and this is NOT saying that these schools have upped their games, but just the opposite. Sonoma teams are definitely down. First of all they wouldn't even schedule these smaller schools or let them into their tournaments in the past. Now they are playing each other regularly. I do remember when Paige Dumont and Tony Bussard(both Sonoma State hall of famers if I'm not mistaken) and Clear Lake in the late 90's I believe, went in and won the Newman tournament. That wasn't appreciated too much at the time! And then of course Cloverdale always had their powerhouses over the years. Maybe it's just a sign that the better players gravitate at younger ages to areas where the play is better. Not sure what to think of it.

 

[BBClayman]

Hmmm? I don't remember Clear Lake ever winning the CN tourney. Maybe RVC in the late 90's?

Those Cloverdale teams were unbelievable and represented the county so well.

I think the basketball is fine around the North Bay... it's always easy for us old-timers to look back at the past era as better, but that's not always accurate. I think Montgomery is very good this year and I would predict that Monty, CN, Piner and Healdsburg all can win a play-off game in NCS and two or three of those teams can make it to NorCals.

 

[damim]

Hmmm? I don't remember Clear Lake ever winning the CN tourney. Maybe RVC in the late 90's?

Those Cloverdale teams were unbelievable and represented the county so well.

I think the basketball is fine around here... it's always easy for us old-timers to look back at the past era as better, but that's not always accurate. I think Montgomery is very good this year and I would predict that Monty, CN, Piner and Healdsburg all can win a play-off game in NCS and two or three of those teams can make it to NorCals.

I could be wrong. That was a while ago. Maybe it was just a game at Newman. I'm too lazy to do the research!

 

[Run TMC]

Interesting take on this..............if I’m not mistaken Windsor beat Healdsburg as well. Game to game results in HS vary, take a look at the entire body of work as we near mid-February. As I said before, Montgomery, Piner, Cardinal Newman and Healdsburg are the top four in the NB - and historically speaking these are not bad teams whatsoever. All four of these teams will have a chance to get wins in NCS; remember that CN just beat a very good Redwood team by 20 a week and a half ago. You have a few good teams in the NB, you should sit back and enjoy them.

 

[ayalar09]

I actually think Branson is really good, and they have a very solid chance of winning the D4 NCS Championship.

Can't mention North Bay Basketball without mentioning the quiet powerhouse from the NORTH BAY

 

[larry legend33]

Overall I think its a fair statement. Baseball has gotten a lot better in sonoma county over the past 15-20 years and mens hoops seems to be on the downward slide. This area is producing some top notch D1 baseball players. Can't say that for hoops. I mean Fortuna might be the best team north of branson? They are 11-0 and have beaten Monty, Piner, and Healdsburg. What is going on up in those parts? They could legitimately run the table.

I think when Newman is healthy and at full strength they can beat some good teams. They proved that against a good redwood team. But there guard play isn't strong which will be there achilles heal. They are a true PG away from being a very good team.

Monty seems to have found their stride. I think they beat PIner by double digits tnite. 55-45.

 

[UncleYacht]

MHS held Piner to 21 through 3 quarters. Piner made some late 3's. Final score 43-39. Neither team shot well. This game had some pretty good defense. CN, Piner and MHS are all going to be tough at home. Really good crowd size for a December game right after finals.

 

[larry legend33]

Nice win for Monty and I wouldn't doubt with a healthy Harvey R. they are the team to beat because defensively they get after you. Newman struggled to get buy a 3-7 Analy team. Seemed to be in a funk. That is a team they should beat by 20+. Newman has a decent non league game against Alameda who just beat St Joes on 1-5. They need to win that game. Alameda lost a lot off norcal champ team last year but is still solid squad.

 

[northbaybbguru]

MHS held Piner to 21 through 3 quarters. Piner made some late 3's. Final score 43-39. Neither team shot well. This game had some pretty good defense. CN, Piner and MHS are all going to be tough at home. Really good crowd size for a December game right after finals.

I thought the defense was pretty solid both ways at last nights game.

Thru the 1st 3 qtrs Piner kept driving to the basket and passing up open looks. Every defender on Monty was a head taller than the Piner players. NOT a good idea as Piner couldn't buy a bucket inside the key. Finally Piner started shooting the open looks(and making a few) and they made a run in the 4th. There are no monsters in the NBL this yr.. I think SR can beat anybody on any given night also as they are just loosy goosy enough (and talented enough) to give somebody trouble. The first team to win on the road at Piner, Monty or CN will win the league. GOT TO hold serve at home. The league is wide open.

 

[Run TMC]

I thought Monty had decent control of the game until Piner hit those late 3's to make the final score a bit closer than it should've been. With such a low scoring game, a lead of 6-8pts is much larger than it looks. When Monty shoots well, they are dangerous... and they can always rely on their very good defense. I agree the NBL is up for grabs, I give the edge in coaching to Monty and Piner, with SR right behind. CN has the best 5 starters in the league (not much depth though) but seem to play a very restricted brand of basketball. They always grind it out on offense, I'd like to see them play a faster pace as I think they have the talent/athletes to do so.

I no longer have a horse in the race, so I just root for all of these local programs to do well. I'll stay with my original statement that we'll definitely see some wins in NCS from teams like Piner, Monty, CN, Healdsburg, and maybe even SR.

Happy Holidays All!

 

[larry legend33]

Anybody have the classic brackets? Think it starts up tomorrow.

Tiedeman and Erickson are two very good coaches. In terms of the NCS depends on a lot of things. Match ups for one. Piner goes into D3 last year 21-7 and gets beat by a 12-15 Hayward team at home. Newman is a D4 team playing in D2 because several years ago they opted up and now are "stuck". As a D4 team they make some legit noise this year. As a D2 team they could lose in the 1st or 2nd.