The 2013 Offseason

DeanMurdoch wrote:So as this is my first offseason as a posting member of Pilot Nation, I've gotta ask...with the schedule not released until mid-summer and all scholarship slots accounted for, what in the world are you all gonna talk about for the next three months?

pilotram wrote:2013 transfer list.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/blog/eye-on-college-basketball/22007798/2013-transfer-list-first-edition

It seems that many, not all, of our current threads about recruiting and offseason activities have about run their course, so I've decided to add a new thread as a catch-all for miscellaneous basketball stuff....

First up today:

I went through the transfer list looking for a “nugget” that a small D-1 school such as UP might attract from a big-time program….and one name caught my attention…….6-10 240 power forward Volodymyr Gerun from the Ukraine, transferring after playing a total of 33 minutes in his one season at West Virginia.

Why do I mention him….because he played at Canarius with Thomas and he’s looking for a place to transfer and develop during a redshirt year. Gerun was required to sit out the first six games this past season because the NCAA determined he played three games on a professional team in the Ukraine during the 2011 season, but I can’t determine why he is listed as a sophomore, not a freshman….unless it’s the Robin Smeulders rule….which I thought had been changed.

Gerun has the credentials to be a big time player, but he was stuck behind four other players at the beginning of the season at WVU who were able to play when he couldn’t and had been with the team all summer or last year. Gerun didn’t arrive at WVU until late August and showed up without sufficient West Virginia/English skills to keep up with everything the coaches were saying at the beginning of the season and he fell even further behind.

He graduated from high school in 2011, and in 2011-12, the year before he arrived at WVU, Gerun led his Ukrainian team in scoring (18.2 ppg.), rebounding (11.1 rpg.) and blocks (2.1 bpg.) at the under-18 European Championships, including a 29-point, 14-rebound performance against the Italian National Team. He also had 23 points and 14 rebounds against Finland and 25 points and 10 rebounds against the Czech Republic. Prior to that, he was named MVP of the Under-16 European Championships after averaging 17.3 points per game during the tournament.

Nope, there are no scholarships currently available at UP, but A.) You just never know…one could still pop up, and B.) Maybe he can wait a year just so he can have the benefit of Rev’s coaching.

Oskars has been spotted in Toronto, Paris, and now in Spain. He’s back in the gym playing ball and working out….but that’s all I know.....

I understand he will be allowed to come back to UP in June 2014 after meeting some “conditions.” The ball is in his court….so to speak.

This offseason is an important one. Going to Spain hopefully will help bring this team together a little and hopefully some big steps can be made. As Rev said in a Tweet from March 5:

Looking forward to foreign tour in Aug and 24 sec clock. Give great focus on skill development of playing faster. Were 6th fastest in WCC.

This is something I think we all hope translates over to next season to take advantage of Kevin and Korey's athleticism. Plus I've heard rumors of college basketball switching over to the 24 sec shot clock which will be nice

35-second shot clock = too slow (in my opinion)
24-second shot clock = too fast (in my opinion)

Wish they would just settle for the middle temperature oatmeal and go with the 30-second shot clock.

29.5 second would be my preference.

I loved the four corners days...

PurpleGeezer wrote:I loved the four corners days...

It seemed like many times Jack Avina would go to the four corners after getting a lead, and it would always take the team out of their rhythm, and they would blow the lead. Just my feeble memories.

A highly coveted player recruited by UP looks like he’s finally going to make a decision about his college basketball career.

As discovered by Deaner some time back, Jordan Tebbutt, an excellent player who transferred from Horizon Christian School in Tualatin to Oak Hill Academy in Virginia and graduated in 2012, has been just a regular student at Kansas and not playing ball this past year.

Now, I’m told he’s in the best shape of his life has put on 10 pounds of muscle and will transfer from Kansas…….but it doesn’t look good for UP even though he favors playing on the left coast; Tebbutt is getting a lot of offers from high-major schools……not just mid-majors!

up7587 wrote:

It seemed like many times Jack Avina would go to the four corners after getting a lead, and it would always take the team out of their rhythm, and they would blow the lead. Just my feeble memories..

Under Avina it was not the four corners (ala Carolina), but "The Claw" and the Cooper, Raivio, Slaughter crew ran it wonderfully.

OldePilot wrote:Under Avina it was not the four corners (ala Carolina), but "The Claw" and the Cooper, Raivio, Slaughter crew ran it wonderfully.

Hmmm. I've heard of Darren and Nik, but who's this Slaughter guy?

DeanMurdoch wrote:

OldePilot wrote:Under Avina it was not the four corners (ala Carolina), but "The Claw" and the Cooper, Raivio, Slaughter crew ran it wonderfully.

Hmmm. I've heard of Darren and Nik, but who's this Slaughter guy?

Ha-ha, youngster!!

Need a little college basketball to keep you going and start your weekend off right?

Here are the Top 25 Buzzer Beaters (plus 2) this past season from NBC Sports…..I personally would swap the positions of #3 and #1, but it’s a good compilation.

If you want to go full screen, here’s the URL on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DmrZwaUH8Bg

4. Drexel -Hofstra gets my vote.

Ridiculous.

DeanMurdoch wrote:

OldePilot wrote:Under Avina it was not the four corners (ala Carolina), but "The Claw" and the Cooper, Raivio, Slaughter crew ran it wonderfully.

Hmmm. I've heard of Darren and Nik, but who's this Slaughter guy?

I think Jack Avina's crew was Cook, (not Cooper), Raivio, and Slaughter; as in Darwin, Rick, and Jose.

6-8 PF Tanner Lancona decommitted from Wazzu on Thursday. Cue the recruiting efforts from, well, likely every coach in the WCC.

And the Cougars are still over their scholarship limit? http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2013/apr/11/cougars-hoops-recruit-decommits/

NLI period starts on Wednesday.

Suppose there won't be much in the way of surprise for Pilots followers as you'd think that we'll hear that Bobby Sharp and Aitor Zubizarreta have signed NLIs quite early on in the period, maybe even the first day as we saw with Wintering.

Although I've yet to see anywhere besides PN that Zubizarreta has indeed committed...

What? It looks pretty clear to me from his tweets...

Leno enauk akordaure in ta... bueno esperoiat ndo pasadekela!

what more do you need?

DeanMurdoch wrote:6-8 PF Tanner Lancona decommitted from Wazzu on Thursday. Cue the recruiting efforts from, well, likely every coach in the WCC.

"Come to Portland. It sucks a lot less than Pullman."

pilotram wrote:"Come to Portland. It sucks a lot less than Pullman."

Haha. Given the Pilots' alleged scholarship situation, it'd be more like "Come to Portland and walk on" - how could you turn down an offer like that?

@juan_cobos wrote:Aitor Zubizarreta ('95), a 6-3 PG/SG playing at Iraurgi (Azpeitia, Spain), has signed a LOI to play basketball with the Portland Pilots

Twitter link

Well, there you have it. Zubizarreta will join the likes of Jamie Langenbrunner, Al Alburquerque, and Nomar Garciaparra as players with last names so long that they run down the sleeves on the back of their jerseys.

Now I have to go find my Basque dictionary.

DeanMurdoch wrote:

@juan_cobos wrote:Aitor Zubizarreta ('95), a 6-3 PG/SG playing at Iraurgi (Azpeitia, Spain), has signed a LOI to play basketball with the Portland Pilots

Twitter link

Well, there you have it. Zubizarreta will join the likes of Jamie Langenbrunner, Al Alburquerque, and Nomar Garciaparra as players with last names so long that they run down the sleeves on the back of their jerseys.

Also Jarrod Saltalamacchia and William Van Landingham.

Ummmmm. I'm going to go ahead and assume that the No. 1 prospect in the 2013 class simply means that he's visiting the city of Portland, and hasn't actually committed to the Pilots.

Wiggins tweet

Hey, a guy can dream.

DeanMurdoch wrote:Ummmmm. I'm going to go ahead and assume that the No. 1 prospect in the 2013 class simply means that he's visiting the city of Portland, and hasn't actually committed to the Pilots.

Wiggins tweet

Hey, a guy can dream.

There is the Nike Hoop Summit, a US vs World high school all-star game, Saturday at the Rose Garden.

Good looking out though. We can always hope.