Pacific @ Pilots Thursday @ 7 on ROOT

With the Pilots on a three game losing streak, I've not heard much excitement around campus or in print for the Tigers vs. Pilots game Thursday night.  

Both teams are 2-5 in WCC play, and Pacific seems to have had the Pilots number recently, winning four out of the last five games between the two schools. Last year the two teams split their series with each team winning at home.  The Pilots loss at UOP was the last game of the regular season and the fourth of five in a row as the Pilots struggled without injured KB and Alec.

Of possible interest to Sonics and Pilots fans, Luke's dad Jack Sikma will be joining Tom Glasgow in calling the action for ROOT sports.  Of course the game will also be available on Sports 910 with Bill Johnson, with video and stats at PortlandPilots.com.

Coming off a two point win over USD, UOP is led by Stockton native T.J. Wallace (13.3) and Oakland native and City College of San Francisco transfer Dulani Robinson (10.0).  The two guards are the only Tigers averaging in double figures this year.

Of interest to me are Tigers freshmen Jacob Lampkin (nephew of UP grad and former major leaguer, Tom Lampkin) and Kaleb Warner....two fine players from Washington who were recruited by the Pilots but surprised most everyone by heading to Stockton. Frankly, I'll put the Pilots freshman up against the other WCC freshmen anytime!!

For what it's worth....UP is favored by 8 points.

DoubleDipper wrote:With the Pilots on a three game losing streak, I've not heard much excitement around campus or in print for the Tigers vs. Pilots game Thursday night.

Sorry for the cynicism, but is there ever much excitement around campus or in print for any UP basketball game (other than Gonzaga), regardless of records? Lack of interest seems to be the status quo, not something notable.

Last season I got to campus about an hour before the final home game of the season, Senior Day against Pepperdine. I walked around campus and got coffee in the dining hall. It was full of students, but none of them were wearing UP gear or heading to the game. There seemed to be zero recognition that anything was happening on campus that day. I count that as a failure on the part of the athletic department, and on the part of the students.

Here's hoping that some of the students actually turn out for these next two games. A home-court advantage would be nice.

DoubleDipper wrote:Of interest to me are Tigers freshmen Jacob Lampkin...

And you'll probably see him more than his usual ~10 minutes tonight. Pacific's 7-footer Sami Eleraky is out with a knee injury, so they'll probably start Gabriel Aguirre at the 5 with Eric Thompson at the 4, and have Lampkin used quite heavily off the bench.

Pacific has been foul-prone in WCC play so far...Thompson has the second worst fouls committed per minutes played ratio in the conference, behind only BYU's Kaufusi. Backup guard Alec Kobre has the third worst, and Aguirre has the sixth worst. Don't see anyone else on Pacific's roster over 6-5 so not a ton of depth there...if Thompson and/or Aguirre get into foul trouble like they've done recently and with Eleraky unavailable, you'll probably see Pacific go small with 6-5 Ray Bowles moved to the 4.

NoPoNeighbor wrote:Sorry for the cynicism, but is there ever much excitement around campus or in print for any UP basketball game (other than Gonzaga), regardless of records? Lack of interest seems to be the status quo, not something notable.

Here's hoping that some of the students actually turn out for these next two games. A home-court advantage would be nice.

Remember, tonight is Las Vegas Neon Night - Wear your brightest colors to the game.  One lucky fan will be entered in to a drawing with nine other fans from the WCC schools to win a grand prize trip to Las Vegas.

And there will be a Las Vegas Photo Booth at the Student Entrance.  Probably less expensive than actually going to Las Vegas.....

How is anyone supposed to know about these "promotions"? (Can't really call it a promotion if you don't promote it)

NoPoNeighbor wrote:How is anyone supposed to know about these "promotions"? (Can't really call it a promotion if you don't promote it)

I absolutely agree. I feel that I am pretty connected to, and aware of, what is going on with the basketball team, and this is the first I have heard of the neon thing. Maybe it is only for students?

The game notes release only mentions that it is Coaches vs. Cancer week... I havent seem much fanfare over that, either.

PilotNut wrote:I absolutely agree.  I feel that I am pretty connected to, and aware of, what is going on with the basketball team, and this is the first I have heard of the neon thing.  Maybe it is only for students?

The game notes release only mentions that it is Coaches vs. Cancer week...  I havent seem much fanfare over that, either.  

Yeah, I think the promotions are pretty much for the students....I know the couple of students I talked to on Tuesday were aware of the chance to win a trip to Las Vegas.

As far as Coaches vs. Cancer....well, yeah, that is for the coaches.  They will be wearing their "sneakers" again this year.

OK....heads up for Saturday:  It's Blackout the Chiles Center night.  Everyone is supposed to wear black to the Chiles Center to help blackout the stands.

It will also be Black Rally Towel Giveaway night as the Athletics Marketing and Promotions Department will be passing out black rally towels at the game.  I saw the towels at the Women's PU game last week.....they're sweet!

Also, the Kids Zone will again be on the upper mezzanine of the Chiles Center.  I found out last year that kids of all ages, even those with white hair, can play on the inflatables and join in other activities.

Remember....this is all on Saturday night vs. St. Mary's!!

(Looking ahead....Saturday February 28th will be the All About Hawaii paper airplane toss and it will be "senior night" Although I've been a senior for a number of years now, the athletic department seems to always honor college kids and their parents/guardians/relatives, instead of old people.)  

I would really like to see the Pilots play as a team tonight. I really like KB, but since his return the team has looked out of sorts. He scored 28 points against Pepperdine, but there were no other players in double figures. We will have better success if we can get balanced scoring.

I don't understand why we look timid to shoot the ball. The guys need to be aggressive. Don't be afraid to go to the basket and get hit. Don't avoid contact. Take advantage of it and get to the foul line. In the last 3 games our opponents have made more free throws than we have attempted.

I still have a positive outlook. The last month has been a battle of injuries. We are for the most part healthy. I like to think we have gone through the rough stretch and can finish strong for the year.

Bobby Sharp - 5 points in the last 3 games....need to get him going.

DoubleDipper wrote:
Also, the Kids Zone will again be on the upper mezzanine of the Chiles Center.  I found out last year that kids of all ages, even those with white hair, can play on the inflatables and join in other activities.

I'm not allowed within 50' of the kid's zone, but that's a whole other story.

They didn't have the kids zone during the last day game, but they will have it at the 7:00 games?  My nieces were pretty disappointed they didn't have it last game, and this Saturday's game is past their bedtime.  It makes me wonder who makes the decisions.

NoPoNeighbor wrote:How is anyone supposed to know about these "promotions"? (Can't really call it a promotion if you don't promote it)

Sorry, I meant to answer this earlier.

I believe the students learn of the promotions through social media and word of mouth in the various dorms in organizations.  As for the rest of us, I go here: http://www.portlandpilots.com/sports/2014/11/4/GEN_1104144500.aspx

But I certainly agree that marketing has a long way to go to in their advertising of promotions and their time-out entertainment.  As I'm generally in the Pilot Club at halftime, I have no idea what the arena entertainment is during those short 15 minutes....but I would stick around for the Blazers Dancers...

blacksheep wrote:They didn't have the kids zone during the last day game, but they will have it at the 7:00 games?  My nieces were pretty disappointed they didn't have it last game, and this Saturday's game is past their bedtime.  It makes me wonder who makes the decisions.

Well, according the Athletic Department website, it could be:

Jonathon Brooks
Manager of Athletics Marketing & Promotions
Phone: 503-943-7431
Email: brooksj@up.edu

Hey DirecTV, thanks for blacking out this game on both Root and Comcast Bay Area.

What a frigging joke.

Great Neon Night promotion here at Chiles. the only ones participating are the Pacific Tigers. major blunder by the athletic dept.

NoPoNeighbor wrote:Great Neon Night promotion here at Chiles. the only ones participating are the Pacific Tigers. major blunder by the athletic dept.

What made it worse was the announcer berating the students that did show up.

Geezaldinho wrote:What made it worse was the announcer berating the students that did show up.

<Begin Rant>
While we all want to say that to the students in attendance, that was inappropriate to do on the PA system... I really dont know what the game ops folks are thinking this year.  The time outs are boring, there is zero atmosphere during games (although much better tonight when UoP was shooting freethrows).  Come to think of it, I can't recall anything that happened during timeouts tonight other than the dance team??  The video screens locked up and rebooted no fewer than 4 times that I noticed...  and it is the same 10 or so images that pop up all game; no new/fresh/interactive/exciting content.  If the students aren't going to show up and participate, then I think the music should appeal to a wider audience.  Listen to the music played at other venues during timeouts... they play a mix of new, old, classics--fast paced songs with something to appeal to just about anyone.

I pick up great ideas when simply watching other games on TV.  Does no one in game ops do that?  

<End rant>

On a positive note, the band continues to be first class, and the dance team is great!

Oh, and we won the game, in spite of another lackluster performance and inability to put a team away.  

On the other hand, this was good.

A win is a win....???  

Yeah, that's true, and I'm happy the Pilots won...but the team has a long, long way to go if it's to be competitive the remainder of the season....and I'm quite sure the team and staff know that.

I give credit to the Tigers for coming back from about 11 down to momentarily take the lead late, but the Pilots really came close to shooting themselves in the foot with poor free-throw shooting and allowing so many offensive rebounds.

Good to see Thomas playing so well on offense, but why the heck did he keep going up top on defense necessitating chasing the guards off the ball screen and eventually fouling out.  It made no sense to me; most of us noticed Voldy did NOT do the same when he was in the game.

Sometimes it seems the Pilots are so locked-in to following the game plan they give up opportunities to just play and take advantage of what their opponent is giving them.

Not a good game for Alec, yet he scores something like 7 of the last 9 Pilots points of the game including the buzzer beater to win it.  Player of the game down the stretch may go to Voldy who pulled down offensive rebound after rebound allowing Alec to bring the Pilots back to a WIN!

Geezaldinho wrote:

NoPoNeighbor wrote:Great Neon Night promotion here at Chiles. the only ones participating are the Pacific Tigers. major blunder by the athletic dept.

What made it worse was the announcer berating the students that did show up.

I missed that....what was said?

But to be honest, I miss almost everything the PA guys says...partly because my hearing is not what it was 30 years ago, but also because the PA guy runs so many boring messages together I'm not sure when I should actually be listening.

There was a controversial foul on Phillip at one point that had the refs at the monitor for at least 3 minutes....it would have been of great help if we had heard an explanations from the PA guy instead waiting to watch the replay from the DVR at home.

If anyone has an explanation for what took so long on that Hartwich foul I'd love to hear it.

Seems like they were reviewing what was a borderline normal foul, for a flagrant??

they had to find a reason it was a foul.

The funny thing is I heard the PA announcement clear as day in the restroom, but when I made a comment about it when back in my seat, no one else around heard it either.

The PA annoucer said something along the lines that they werent going to give out the prize, since no one showed up in costume. (If he would have left it at that, it would have been fine...) Then he continued rambling a bit and then said something along the lines of "Way to go Students... NOT!!" (and it was not said in a joking way--it was pointed... and who uses that phrasing anymore?!).

PilotNut wrote:The PA annoucer said something along the lines that they werent going to give out the prize, since no one showed up in costume. (If he would have left it at that, it would have been fine...) Then he continued rambling a bit and then said something along the lines of "Way to go Students... NOT!!" (and it was not said in a joking way--it was pointed...  and who uses that phrasing anymore?!).  

Hmm, maybe if the PA guy had said, "Way to go UP Athletic Department Marketing" I would have nodded my approval (if I could have heard him).

Best part of this game was seeing Nancy Barker sitting with Riley behind the bench. To take the time and effort to drive down from Vancouver BC despite her son not being able to play speaks volumes for the Barker family and the commitment to the program. Kudos

Yeah, I never heard any announcement, but I may have been buying my ice cream bar when it occurred.

Really liked Thomas' energy tonight; he was aggressive on
both ends, and had no cheap blocks of his shots. Hope he didn't hurt his hand punching the standard. Voldy had 8 rebounds, and they were all offensive.

On the post-game show, Bill Johnson pressed Coach Jackson, and he agreed that the team was still not playing the way they need to, not putting away Pacific when they had them down 11 in the 2nd half. He pointed to free throws and offensive rebounds as areas were improvement is needed. The team shot 53% FTs tonight, after coming in at 75% on the season. If they'd have shot their average, they would have beat the spread. Pacific only shot 60%, but amazingly that improved their season average of 58%.

pilotdad1 wrote:Best part of this game was seeing Nancy Barker sitting with Riley behind the bench. To take the time and effort to drive down from Vancouver BC despite her son not being able to play speaks volumes for the Barker family and the commitment to the program. Kudos

Well said, pilotdad1.....Riley's dad will be in Portland Saturday morning.

Did you happen to notice who was sitting on Riley's right?  It was his knee surgeon! Man, that Canadian health care system is wonderful....