2015-16 Preseason

I guess with the start of official practices four days ago and with just a month and a day until the exhibition game against CU-Irvine, it's not the offseason anymore!

Anyone seen any practices?

Terry Cahill wrote:I guess with the start of official practices four days ago and with just a month and a day until the exhibition game against CU-Irvine, it's not the offseason anymore!

Anyone seen any practices?

Well, I've seen them practicing, but only for about 10 minutes.....and I only saw the guards/wings running through some defensive drills and transition offense.

One notable student-athlete who is unable to practice with the team at all is of course Chier Maker, who does not currently meet NCAA academic standards because of his incomplete educational background while fleeing from South Sudan.  I believe Chier can take part in individual drills with coaches, but he is not allowed to participate in any TEAM events.  The soonest we could see Chier in an actual game at UP is the 2016-17 season, but if he is able to reach a certain GPA (2.5?) in his first semester classes he may be allowed to practice with the team beginning in mid-December.  

Three things I noticed during my very short time observing practice:
1. Stopping the ball, protecting the rim, and defensive chatter/communication seem to be priorities.
2. Alec is really stepping up as a verbal leader, and it would seem, the "clubhouse" leader.
3. Wonderful athleticism on the team, probably more than I've seen in 53 years of following Pilots basketball.

Should we speculate on a starting 5? Why not, it is the interwebs, after all.  Which new guys will stand out? 

C - height or girth?  My guess is Philipp starts over Ray B.
PF - Since I know nothing about Colin Russell except he's a freshman, I think Gabe Taylor starts.
SF - I think Jarrel Marshall starts over Jason Todd, but Todd plays a lot. Maybe Todd is the back-up PF, too.
SG - I have to think Bryce starts over D'Marques, but I'd sure like to see consistent strong scoring from both. 
PG - Has to be Alec, but with Jazz there Bryce won't be getting the back-up PG minutes.

Any redshirts? Russell or Rashad Jackson? 

Max Livingston play this year?  Crowded positions at SG/SF.

Guess away!

Thanks for the update, Dipper!

My guess on starters - Wintering, Pressley, Marshall, Todd, Barreno.

Terry Cahill wrote:My guess on starters - Wintering, Pressley, Marshall, Todd, Barreno.

Agreed, but maybe in slightly different positions for Marshall and Todd.....

As you say, up7587, it is all a guess, and a fun discussion to get into before the season starts.

C - I have to go with Ray....but if UP plays ultra up-tempo, then Phillip is probably the man to get more minutes.
PF - Jarrel if he's the "stretch four" we think he could be....but I think we'll see Gabe at PF quite a bit too.  If he doesn't redshirt, Colin could play some important minutes.
SF - Jarrel belongs here if he's not at PF, otherwise Jason brings toughness and tenacity to this position and would be the starter.
SG - Bryce for sure, but Rashad is the best athlete (maybe in the WCC) and could really push Bryce if he can play defense.
PG - Alec is the team leader, but Jazz is a big, strong, and capable PG, and should do very well when giving Alec a breather.

We all know D'Marques can shoot, but is his overall game improved enough to get him in the lineup?  Bobby really struggled last year, but it was thought he was less a liability on defense than D'Marques.....so he must show strong overall improvement or shoot at a high percentage to beat out Rashad.

I really don't see Xavier Hallinan and Max Livingston playing any meaningful minutes, but all teams have "practice players' who are meant to help the TEAM improve.  On most teams only seven players get significant minutes, but if the Pilots play pressing, in-your-face defense and quick transition offense, nine or 10 players could easily get an opportunity to contribute on any given night, and barring injury, I think the Pilots have the depth to do that.

Alright! Finally some chatter on this board! The exhibition game is a month away! Any word on a "secret scrimmage" before that?

My guess for the starting five:
Barreno, Marshall, Todd, Pressley, Wintering

First three off the bench:
Taylor, Hartwich, Johnson

We can play with a lot of different kinds of line-ups this year, with Marshall able to play the 3 or 4; Russell at the 4 or 5.

And I wouldn't be surprised to see Wintering and Johnson on the floor together. That would be exciting to have two solid point guards (who can also score in bunches) playing together. I imagine that would really challenge a lot of the opposing defenses we will face.

The redshirt discussion is always interesting. Maker is the first Pilot in several seasons to take a redshirt for a non-medical reason (since John Bailey?). From a class-balance perspective, there is not a compelling reason for anyone else to redshirt. Here's how things stand right now:

2017 seniors: Wintering, Marshall, Barreno
2018 seniors: Tyson, Todd, Taylor, Hartwich
2019 seniors: Jackson, Russell, Johnson
2020 seniors: Monson, Smoyer, Maker

DoubleDipper wrote:

Terry Cahill wrote:My guess on starters - Wintering, Pressley, Marshall, Todd, Barreno.

Agreed, but maybe in slightly different positions for Marshall and Todd.....

Positions? What positions? I listed them in alphabetical order! (Alec, Bryce, Jarrel, Jason, Ray)

DoubleDipper wrote:Rashad is the best athlete (maybe in the WCC)

Uhh..Dipper, you kind of buried this nugget but this is my biggest takeaway from your post. Seems like you think the Pilots have a gem in Rashad Jackson??

Terry Cahill wrote:

DoubleDipper wrote:

Terry Cahill wrote:My guess on starters - Wintering, Pressley, Marshall, Todd, Barreno.

Agreed, but maybe in slightly different positions for Marshall and Todd.....

Positions? What positions? I listed them in alphabetical order! (Alec, Bryce, Jarrel, Jason, Ray)

Um, oh, I thought you were listing them by position....1,2,3,4,5.

Terry Cahill wrote:

DoubleDipper wrote:Rashad is the best athlete (maybe in the WCC)

Uhh..Dipper, you kind of buried this nugget but this is my biggest takeaway from your post. Seems like you think the Pilots have a gem in Rashad Jackson??

Just based upon what I've seen during summer shoot-a-rounds and gym-rat sessions, it does seem strange Rashad was apparently not more highly recruited.  Hard to say how well that uber-athleticism will translate into on-court contributions at UP, but yeah, I don't see how he's not one of the top newcomers in the WCC this year.....if he can get some playing time.  

DoubleDipper wrote:

Terry Cahill wrote:

DoubleDipper wrote:

Terry Cahill wrote:My guess on starters - Wintering, Pressley, Marshall, Todd, Barreno.

Agreed, but maybe in slightly different positions for Marshall and Todd.....

Positions? What positions? I listed them in alphabetical order! (Alec, Bryce, Jarrel, Jason, Ray)

Um, oh, I thought you were listing them by position....1,2,3,4,5.

Nah, you got me. I didn't realize Jarrel was a "stretch 4" - I thought he was more of a 3 that can play the 4 in a pinch.

According to wikipedia the phrase “stretch four” is not entirely related to size, undersized in this case, but to shooting ability. Hence:

A stretch four is a player that is of power forward size but has superior shooting skills (especially three-point jump shots). While using these skills on offense, the player retains the ability to defend the opposing power forward.

Stretch fours are tactically employed in this way to "stretch" the opponent's defense. The ability to score a high-percentage of catch-and-shoot three-point shots from distance (the distinct feature of a stretch four[4]) causes defensive problems for the opposing team, as it pulls the opposing (and crucially, defending) power forward out of the low post area, opening up driving lanes for guards to exploit (these can be running lanes or passing lanes) and results in more post space and potentially scoring and rebounding opportunities for the center player.

The word stretch may well apply to Marshall’s attempts to defend some of the larger PFs in the WCC. But, it is not clear to me that Marshall actually has the kind of shooting ability to stretch the defense. Hmmn?

I think I saw a pretty good example of a Stretch 4 once.

^
/
/
/
This

If Marshall can shoot in a manner similar to Nicholas.  . .well then . . .he is a stretch four and likely a significant contributor for the Pilots. In the end Marshall appears to be good and how he contributes is less relevant than that he does.

Jason Quick has left The Oregonian to work for CSN Northwest. This is a major blow for The Oregonian sports department, but also a blow for UP basketball. At the end of last season Quick wrote a series of excellent articles about the Pilots and Coach Reveno, and actually covered the WCC tournament, in person, in Vegas.

Those few articles amounted to the best local media coverage of the Pilots for at least the last 4 seasons. With Quick gone, I suppose the Oregonian's coverage will return to simply re-posting UP's press releases.

With respect, I do not think Quick was going to cover much Pilot basketball even if he remained with the Oregonian. His departure reflects a continuing diminution of local newspapers, the really sad part. The coverage of local sports is devolving to the participating schools, families, friends, participants and occasional small websites. Some think the quality of coverage is improving when considered as a whole.

Here are a couple preseason reports on the WCC, with mentions of UP:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/five-minute-season-preview--west-coast-conference-165105728.html

http://www.midmajormadness.com/2015/10/8/9468607/2015-west-coast-conference-preview-wcc-saint-marys-santa-clara-portland-pacific

From the Yahoo WCC preview:

Coach on the hot seat: Portland's Eric Reveno. The coach who's probably the most uneasy entering the season is Reveno, who enjoyed success early in his tenure at Portland but hasn't finished higher than sixth in the league the past four years. Aiding Reveno's cause is a strong recruiting class, a history of consistently graduating players and good relationship with athletic director Scott Leykam. Nonetheless, Reveno doesn't have much proven frontcourt talent and he doesn't appear to be getting any closer to elevating the Pilots into the league's upper tier.

Not sure how Rex Walters could be safer in his job than Rev.

This year will be interesting, as the staff has traded many years of collegiate experience (Wolf and Brown) for youth and enthusiasm (Johnson and Knutson).

wrv wrote:  (Quick's) departure reflects a continuing diminution of local newspapers, the really sad part. The coverage of local sports is devolving to the participating schools, families, friends, participants and occasional small websites. Some think the quality of coverage is improving when considered as a whole.

I think Jason Quick said it all:

 "At The Oregonian, we both agreed that I was not a good fit.  It breaks my heart. I put a lot of myself into that company. But I think we can all see that it's not the same place."    

They're slowly dying everywhere.

Not immune here either - was just announced this week that our local daily will now be printed in a city about 150 miles away and trucked down.

Terry Cahill wrote:Not immune here either - was just announced this week that our local daily will now be printed in a city about 150 miles away and trucked down.

The Beacon, UP's newspaper since 1935 will go 100% digital beginning in the 2016-2017 academic year....but it makes sense.

In addition to saving about $22,000 annually on printing costs, more and more students (and others) are turning to the mobile app and redesigned website for their reading.  Although The Beacon distributes 1,750 print copies each week (this semester the page count dropped from 16 to 12), more than 215,000 people viewed The Beacon digitally over the past year.

Over the years the purpose of The Beacon has been to inform, but it has also been a student training ground.  In the 21st Century it is probably more important for the students to focus on the digital skills and a mindset that will help them in their careers after graduation than it is working late night hours on design and layout.....although I recall those as fun nights that included a little beer at the T-Room afterwards.

I personally enjoy picking up and reading a copy of The Beacon each week, but there is now even more content to be read on the newspapers website:  http://www.upbeacon.com/.


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We're #1 (80) !

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/25331040/cbs-sports-2015-16-ranking-of-every-college-basketball-team-from-1-351

Terry Cahill wrote:We're #1 (80) !

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/25331040/cbs-sports-2015-16-ranking-of-every-college-basketball-team-from-1-351

I've been waiting for NPN to break down and analyze UP's pre-season schedule from the CBS list, but while we are waiting I will offer this:  

10 – GU
37 – BYU
91 – PU
100 – SMC
159 – USF
171 – SCU
180 – UP
202 – UOP
207 – LMU
227 – USD

The CBS Sports’ predictions sound reasonable to me (even if I don’t agree with them saying, Rex Walters is one of the better coaches in the West).

GU could easily be a better team than last year given that Sabonis and Wiltjer are now in their second year and the back court should not miss a beat even with the graduation of Pangos.

BYU is always such a mystery because of all the guys transferring in and coming off missions…..but yeah, a top 50 no doubt.

Based upon last year, PU should give BYU a run for second place…..but this is this year!

After that, spots 4-8 are up for grabs, and the question for UP is, how will the graduation of the big guys from last year’s squad impact this young team?  Will the Pilots be able to run-run-run with their improved athleticism and play lock-down defense?

I hope the staff and players see that a national news/sports organization has picked them to finish outside the top six forcing them into a “play-in” game in Las Vegas in March…..something to put on the locker room wall as a reminder…..

The word at Jack and Dans and around town is that GU will be better than last year. The backcourt is more athletic and the bigs are another year older and of course have last years experience under their belts.

BYU will be solid, Collinsworth is a stud and if he can grab another dozen triple doubles will lead his team to the top 4 in the conference.

Pepperdine is all the medias WCC darling this year and should give St Marys a run for the one of the top 4 spots in the conference.

If Rev can create an up tempo offense I think the Pilots can compete against most of the teams in the league. Alec and Bryce along with Todd and some of the newcomers provide an athletic and quick group. Lets see how "freelance" Rev allows the team to be. Throw in some defense and who knows, the boys could very well find themselves in the 5 slot.