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Pilots vs. Dons

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Pilots vs. Dons Empty Pilots vs. Dons

Post by Stonehouse Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:56 pm

Figured I would start up a thread about the game today. I'm looking forward to it for multiple reasons... #1 being that we are way overdue for snapping our eight-game losing streak to them. Ugh... so many painful memories of dropping heartbreakers to USF. I saw a stat that said six of those eight games were decided by five points or less and two went to OT. I don't even want to talk about last year's game... sigh. We need to get this green and gold monkey off our backs.

Beyond that, I'm interested in seeing Dior Lowhorn for the first time... he's leading the WCC in scoring and is up there in rebounds too. He's a sophomore transfer from Texas Tech.

And, of course, Eddie Sutton is coaching them. So strange... still can't really believe that one.

Anyway, I think the Pilots might have an advantage in the paint with Sikma, Smedulers and Knutson, and I'm hoping that we can really outrebound them. Manny Quezada is a really streaky shooter, so hopefully we can disrupt him early and limit his impact. Danny Cavic is leading the WCC in three point percentage, so we should emphasize not letting him get open looks.

On offense, I think Sherrard has an advantage against Cavic (he torched the Dons at USF for like 26 points or so last year) so I wouldn't be surprised to see his number called on offense. And I hope we will look to Sikma and Smeulders down low... only one of them can have Lowhorn on him at any given moment. And - as usual - I'd love to see Stohl see more time. Hopefully Nik and Taishi can bounce back from tough shooting nights against LMU.

Oh, and just a reminder... the game is on Comcast Sports Net (Channel 37), so you can watch at home if you can't make it out to the Chiles Center for some reason.

Gooooo Pilots!!!
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Post by romeaux Sat Jan 19, 2008 2:55 pm

Sikma for freshman of the week?--what a job he did in Malibu!
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Post by PilotNut Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:47 pm

It will be interesting to see how Eddie coaches his team.... but I agree that I dont think I can handle another barn burner vs the Dons.

We really need Sikma and Ito to get their shots back... a home game should help that.

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Post by Rob's Jacket Sat Jan 19, 2008 4:18 pm

I'll take a barn-burner . . .

IF we win.

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Post by Rob's Jacket Sat Jan 19, 2008 7:49 pm

Shocked

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Post by Rob's Jacket Sat Jan 19, 2008 8:36 pm

We're taking way way way way way too many threes.

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Post by Rob's Jacket Sat Jan 19, 2008 8:58 pm

Damn damn damn damn.

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Post by MesaPilot1 Sat Jan 19, 2008 9:02 pm

uggh, another one slips away at the end. I am too bummed out to comment. Sad

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Post by goldhelmet Sat Jan 19, 2008 10:06 pm

Tough, tough loss. The Dons are a completely different team - they are actually playing tough defense, something that definitely has not been their trademark. Eddie Sutton deserves credit for lighting a fire under them. Lowhorn was very impressive - just a load to handle in the paint.

The Pilots are competitive, but somehow need to find a way to win these close games, especially at home. This loss is really dissapointing, because I felt that winning at home was #1 priority this year, and this is a team we should beat at home - although they are much improved on defense. I thought the stretch where we had three consecutive unforced turnovers - all travels - really hurt us. We were starting to roll and it stopped momentum at a critical time. In games like this, you have to take advantage of every possession. Defense looks good for the most part, but offensively, we need to be more consistent, cut down on the unforced turnovers, and hitting the open shots when they're there would have helped as well. We missed a lot of wide open threes - 4 of 21. OUCH. That is not characteristic of a Pilot team that has several players who are normally good three point shooters. 59 points won't win too many games in the WCC.

Another tough one coming up on Monday. USD is one of the top two or three teams in the conference, and we really need to bounce back after this dissapointing loss. Anyway, from a fan perspective, it was a very entertaining game to watch. It was nice to see Rick Raivio doing the commentating for CSN and in the Chiles Center. Hopefully some of the hard feelings between Rick and UP have lessened with Nik being happy here. Rick is one of the best players to ever wear a Pilot uniform, if not the best. Basketball
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Post by MesaPilot1 Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:08 am

After looking at the stats for the game and watching the blurry images through stretchnet TV I have a few questions. Why when Sikma gets the ball at the three point line wide open does he seem to pass to a teamate and not shoot or make a move to the basket like he used to do the first 10 or so games of the year? It seems like the only offense last night was Smuelders,Watson or a 3 pointer. Well at least it was a good comeback to watch even throughout the 3 straight traveling/doubledribble turnovers late. What was up with Thompsons two fouls late in the game? (Especially after he played so well most of his minutes).WAS THAT AN ALL BALL NO BODY BLOCK ON SIKMA'S LAYUP AT THE END?
Oh well, glad to see the student body has something to cheer about this year. One can't complain about the effort of the Pilot players.

sunny Mesapilot1-Getting a headache watching these grainy stretchnet games-I think a trip to Chiles Center may come sooner than thought!

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Post by Rob's Jacket Sun Jan 20, 2008 10:41 am

We seemed to be playing really, really well down low last night (Sikma in particular seemed to have rediscovered his touch around the basket), which is why I was so surprised that we were taking so many threes. It definitely wasn't the game plan, or coaching from the sidelines, because I could hear Rev over the radio yelling a couple of times "ATTACK! ATTACK! Don't just jack it up!"

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Post by PurplePrideTrumpet Sun Jan 20, 2008 11:06 am

Watching on TV I also thought we could have gone inside more often. A few times in the 2d half I saw someone pull up and shoot rather than try to run a play. Another thing that hurt was a scoreless run of 5+ minutes in the 1st half. This year we seem to get into stretches where we don't score and it ends up hurting us. I also noticed USF was active and tough on defense, something probably due to Sutton.
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Post by 89Duck Sun Jan 20, 2008 12:21 pm

At one point during the 2nd half, the Dons had 6-7 team fouls to the Pilots' 1 or 2. This made it especially puzzling that they weren't trying to go inside and draw contact--they squandered a huge advantage there. The bigs need more confidence taking it to the basket, or the guards need to drive the lane more often than they try 3-pointers, in situations like that--the calls are going to go more towards the aggressors. Doesn't help to have your leading player (Raivio) haven't an awful game--only 2 points from your top scorer isn't going to work.

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Post by pilotfan4life Sun Jan 20, 2008 1:51 pm

Ito was 2-2 on field goals. He should shoot more, he should be willing to attempt shots when available. If nothing else, we'll get the rebound and get another chance, or a foul. 2nd half was WAY better than 1st half. I almost got discouraged near the end of the 1st half, but then we came back to start the 2nd half. In previous games it was the other way around, now we need to be continuously good throughout an entire game.
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Post by PurplePrideTrumpet Sun Jan 20, 2008 3:53 pm

A question for you all: do you think Ito is not shooting because he doesn't trust or have confidence in his shot, or does he feel he needs to get other players involved? We've seen him score in the past,
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