North Bay Pre Season Rankings 2017-2018

[DonniePeckerwood]

Well, it looks like the league title is on the line tonight at the Viking Dome. Who do the experts have in this one!? (Kiddman - if you need a ride up there, give me a buzz!)

Ok fine, I'll kick things off! Montgomery is going to be all kinds of fired up, with an opportunity to clinch a league title! They've had a tremendous season so far and are a very strong and deep team! But not so fast my friends..... I got the Jags in another OT heartbreaking classic tonight! Both teams played tremendous defense in the first outing, it was a real grind and slugfest. Expect both coaching staffs to make some adjustments offensively and for this game to be a bit more of an unexpected shootout, with big time players stepping up and making big time plays!

Damim posted an article in the PD above, here is the quote that really stuck out to me:

“We had a good first quarter for sure. We shot it well and defensively we had good focus,” Windsor coach Travis Taylor said.

I really like the way Windsor FOCUSES on the details and does the little things right! Looks like that Carrillo game wasn't closer than the scoreboard indicated!

 

[UncleYacht]

Wow - it looks like the Vikings really took pride in their defense and paid attention to the details! Newman is a very talented team! Very talented!

I don't think this is the last time these two very solid teams will meet.

Very surprised how this game turned out. Newman at home is one of the toughest wins to earn in the entire section. Hopefully get to see these well coached, and hard playing teams face off again soon.

Shoutout to my guy @northbaybbguru I turned an ankle at the Ukiah game coming down the bleachers, if it weren't for the hand rail I might have had to jump over the bench too.

 

[larry legend33]

I think Monty is going to win the NBL. They are in the driver seat. Newman certainly could bounce them in the playoffs but regular season it certainly looks like the Vikings are the team in the north bay this season.

 

[DonniePeckerwood]

I think Monty is going to win the NBL. They are in the driver seat. Newman certainly could bounce them in the playoffs but regular season it certainly looks like the Vikings are the team in the north bay this season.

Interesting..... most of the preseason experts did not foresee this, correct? Is suggesting that Newman and Windsor have more talented rosters fair? I'm still taking the Jags in Double OT tonight, I'm a man of my word. Really like what Coach Taylor had to say in the papers the other day. He doesn't throw his kids under the bus in the tabloids by questioning their effort and energy level!

After the Jags win tonight in Triple overtime, I got Newman making a statement and beating Windsor by about 35 next week at home(assuming they play hard). 3 way log jam for the NBL title!

 

[missing.link]

Interesting..... most of the preseason experts did not foresee this, correct? Is suggesting that Newman and Windsor have more talented rosters fair? I'm still taking the Jags in Double OT tonight, I'm a man of my word. Really like what Coach Taylor had to say in the papers the other day. He doesn't throw his kids under the bus in the tabloids by questioning their effort and energy level!

After the Jags win tonight in Triple overtime, I got Newman making a statement and beating Windsor by about 35 next week at home(assuming they play hard). 3 way log jam for the NBL title!

Hard to beat someone by 35 when you can't score 35...

 

[larry legend33]

No i think most people thought Montgomery was the team to beat in the redwood empire. They returned more key players than anybody. (actually maybe not windsor) Newman lost Wallace and Baker from last year and a big man who combined for 40 PPG. Its hard to replace those guys with a bunch of role players.

 

[SonomaGuy]

Big win for the jags 47 to 44, not many people on this board gave them a chance tonight. Solid win, they now control there own destiny. Win @ newman for the ship, lose and there is a 3 way tie.

 

[DonniePeckerwood]

Great game tonight. I coulda swore it was gonna go triple OT. Spoiler alert, it ended in regulation. I got newman wire to wire by about 40 next week in a game that is never in doubt. 3 way tie for first in the NBL when the dust settles. Three very strong teams that Las lomas is more than capable of melting down against in ncs division 2 playoffs! They've been fairly warned! Hope kiddman will make the drive up for the NBL playoffs!

 

[larry legend33]

I didn't think windsor would beat Monty. But I keep forgetting about those 6"7 twins. The race is still wide open. Crazy. Well at least its exciting up in the wine country this year. Agree that any of these teams will be tough to knock off on any given night in NCS D2.

 

[damim]

I watched those 6'7" twins in middle school and their first year in HS at Fort Bragg. 2 baby giraffe's falling all over the place! Now they are dominant! I'm happy for them!

 

[DonniePeckerwood]

Another huge battle up in the NBL tonight. Windsor at Cardinal Newman. Two very STRONG basketball teams. Who does everybody got?

Ok fine, I'll kick things off. I got Cardinal Newman in a blowout. Maybe by like 20? As good as Windsor is, this is a tough match up for them, especially at the guard position. Newman just keeps sending in waves of superior athletes at them in the back court, to both pressure and expose them all game long. A lot of size and depth. Classic case of rock paper scissors in the NBL. Newman can't beat Montgomery, Montgomery can't beat Windsor, and Windsor can't beat Newman. And marillo carillo..... well, marrillo carillo can't beat any of them!

 

[DonniePeckerwood]

Windsor needs to be careful and not look past Maria Carillo. They are pretty well rounded and can beat anybody in that league on any given night.

That's the thing I love about the marillo carillo pumaaaazzzzz. They CAN beat anyone(the contenders) on any given night, but they never DO

 

[SonomaGuy]

Jags beat newman and claim the nbl crown.

 

[SonomaGuy]

Final score jags 50 newman 44

 

[DonniePeckerwood]

Well... what do you know!? Another big night in the NBL. Who does everyone got?

Ok fine... I'll start things off! I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the marillo carillo pummmaaaazzzz have NO chance against Windsor tonight. Yeah sure, you could tell me that the pumaz could beat anyone on any given night, but I would respond by telling you that they never do!

Here's the fun one. Round 3 of Montgomery and Cardinal Newman. Hey Kiddman, you need a ride to the game? Kind of ironic that these two teams are playing on V-day right!? No love lost here boys!

Despite the results, if you told me that the Cardinal Newman Cardinals were the strongest and deepest team in the NBL this year, I would not call you crazy. Very disappointing losses to Monty and Windsor down the stretch. On the one hand, if Newman threw in the towel and didn't compete at a high level tonight after the very disappointing 2nd half of league, I wouldn't be shocked....... but....... it's always difficult beating a team THREE times, especially in a rivalry game! Especially when Coach Tom Bonfigli has pages and pages of hand written notes on the Vikes and has hundreds of hours in the film room! Watch out for Newman to play loose and like a team that has nothing to lose. They will be sharp and focused and will not throw in the towel.

Now, if you were to remind me that most all of my NBL predictions were wrong this year, I would say fair point! But pencil me in tonight for a quadruple overtime thriller in which the Cardinals prove to be the ultimate heartbreaker on this Valentine's day special!

 

[DonniePeckerwood]

Well, now that the dust has settled and all of our favorite NBL teams have been home for close to a month now..... who are the favorites for next year!? NCS D2 was loaded this year, tough break. O' Dowd, Las Lomas, and Alameda all playing tomorrow!

Back on topic, I like Cardinal Newman as the early favorite next year. Who does everybody else have? Is Piner coming back to the NBL? I have a hard time following all the league changes. They should be the best they've been in a long while. Big fan of Coach Erickson. @UncleYacht @northbaybbguru @SonomaGuy @larry legend33 @damim @winetot @NorCalSportsMom

 

[damim]

Here's the new league alignments for next year if I'm not mistaken. This is from a Sonomawest article from last fall:

NBL:
Windsor, Analy, El Molino, Newman, Elsie Allen, Healdsburg, Maria Carillo, Montgomery, Piner, Rancho Cotate, Santa Rosa and Ukiah.
They will be split into 2 6 team divisions which will vary by sport based on competitive equity and it will change every 2 years.

New Southern Sonoma/Napa League:
Casa Grande, Sonoma Valley, Petaluma, American Canyon, Justin Siena, Napa, and Vintage.

That NBL is very top heavy with Windsor, Newman and Monty and I don't see much changing although throwing Healdsburg into the mix could make things interesting. It will be interesting to see how Windsor responds after losing the twin towers, but I assume their solid coaching will keep them near the top.

I don't know much about the Napa teams, but that league appears somewhat mediocre.

As for the smaller schools up north in D4 and D5 Cloverdale and Clear Lake probably have the best groups returning. From what I recall they both played a lot of juniors and both had extremely strong JV programs over the last couple of years.

 

[larry legend33]

Newman is pretty loaded next year. They have 6 or 7 kids that return that all can play and Leberthon was hurt all year. Otherwise he was a starter. Windsor and Monty lost a good deal but Windsor lost by far the most. Not even close. Monty has some good pieces back and is always tough. I would say Piner could sneak into the 3rd spot. (Newman, Monty, Piner). Piner returns a lot of good guards but they need a few bigs.

In the end Newman ended on a disappointing note but keep this in mind. They lost by 7 to a 30-3 LL team playing for the D1 finals and they got a tough seed against Alameda who is playing for the D2 title. Would like to see them play in a tough NC tourney. Even if they go 1-2 or 0-3 it still builds character.

 

[DonniePeckerwood]

Here's a little sleeper prediction for next year. I'm not going to name any names, but Windsor's got a kid that'll be a junior next year that's going to be 1st team all NBL. Kid can flat out shoot!