SCU @ Portland, Saturday, 7pm

WCC play continues... the game will again be televised on Comcast SportsNet NW (and probably in the Bay Area as well) at 7pm.

SCU got completely flattened at Gonzaga, losing 95-53... so they could come out with something to prove... As big man Bryant goes, so goes SCU. If Kramer and Jasonn can keep him under control, and we continue to shoot well, I like our odds...

This is another "must win" game for us in terms of seeding and grabbing a first round bye in the WCC tourney...

GO PORTLAND! BUCK THE BRONCOS!

I seem to remember it being "Buck the Froncos."

I was going for the PG rating...

I've heard of Fuskies, but Froncos??

Unfortunately when you do it for the Zags, the flip is just as, if not more offensive than the original...

Rob's Jacket wrote:I seem to remember it being "Buck the Froncos."

It was on the giant banner the students once unveiled.

Incidentally, it was at an SCU game that the students got the leftover hot dogs from the concession stand one year. Then some hot dogs ended up on the court during a free throw. No more free hot dogs.

DaTruRochin wrote:Unfortunately when you do it for the Zags, the flip is just as, if not more offensive than the original...

Also with the Ducks...

(and we digress...)

So I'll start by saying it's nice that we can come here and say, "boy, that should not have been that close," instead of, "ugh, that one got away." Still, it was a double digit second half lead...

Good play tonight from the guards and smaller forwards. T.J., Nik, and Jared all made some great plays. The big guys all seemed to have problems with their shooting touch around the basket. Probably big John and the other SCU post players had something to do with it.

Another good showing by the students; the postgame desserts and dancing is a good way to keep them there for the whole game. So does the score being closer than it should be.

I can't say too much bad about Libby, since he did compliment the band tonight. That crew does earn the distinction of getting the entire Chiles Center crowd to boo through a timeout, though. I want to get a Libby poster for my wall like I know MesaPilot has!

Libby almost took the game from the players - on both sides. The game becomes about him. I'd like to see him ref a game where nobody knows he was there.

It was nice to win a close one after what seems like several years of losing those kinds of games.. I don't think we managed the middle of the second half of the game. That has to improve. This team looks like it could put together a legitimate winning record after a long drought, but they have to play smarter.

Forgot to add that I got a laugh out of SCU's embarrassing dive at the end of the game. If the Pilots had made some FTs earlier in the game it might not have happened.

Tonights game reminds me of a line I heard on a replay of The West Wing recently:

"There are 2 things that you never want to see how they are made: sausages and laws..."

Well, we can add a 3rd: our win tonight over SCU.

Did anyone notice the look at the TV monitor at the end of the game by the Referee's on the Santa Clara player's 3 ptr.? It was clearly a three.... My sarcastic thought was that Libby and crew hadn't had enough "face time" on Comcast so they had to get a little more......

I am pondering the thought of getting a Libby mask and wear a referee's outfit for my appearence at the LMT,Pepperdine. At least you guy's would recognize me during my Portland visit this spring.

I believe it was a Providence fan that walked on the court yesterday. I am going to be on my best behavior so I don't end up on the Post Office wall and get a lifetime Chile's center ban .


MesaPilot


PS-I am in love with Direct TV

MesaPilot1 wrote:I am pondering the thought of getting a Libby mask and wear a referee's outfit for my appearence at the LMT,Pepperdine. At least you guy's would recognize me during my Portland visit this spring.

YES!!!!

MesaPilot1 wrote:I am pondering the thought of getting a Libby mask and wear a referee's outfit for my appearence at the LMT,Pepperdine. At least you guy's would recognize me during my Portland visit this spring.

Hmmm, you might get mobbed if you do that....

After sleeping on it, I guess I am just happy with yet another gut check win... we do find a way to win the close games this year. In conference play, a W is a W.... and like they said on the post-game radio show, all the Wins count the same...

The Pilot's win counted the same in WCC standings as St Mary's or Gonzaga's large margin of victory on Saturday. IMO possibly more, because Santa Clara was a tougher opponent than their two opponent's. Another win for the Pilot's which they would have lost in the past,yepee.


MesaPilot1

Not to mention already 11 wins, if progress comes in wins and losses, I definitely think this would go down as progress....

Here's hoping we can scratch and claw and take 2 more in probably the most winnable road trip of the year!!

I've thought for a long time one of the signs of progress is winning games you probably would not have a year before. The Pilots have had a bunch of those this season.

I don't want to take any conference games for granted, but if there was a road weekend the Pilots "should" sweep this would be it.

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:I've thought for a long time one of the signs of progress is winning games you probably would not have a year before. The Pilots have had a bunch of those this season.

I don't want to take any conference games for granted, but if there was a road weekend the Pilots "should" sweep this would be it.

Unfortunately in the past, these kind of weekends have tended to be the trips where we've been swept.

What is our record now without Ethan? Just curious.

These were two huge wins this week for multiple reasons:

* USF and SCU are in that "middle of the pack race" with us for the 4-5-6 slots. The way the conference breaks down, as I see it, is GU and St. Marys clearly at the top, USD with their fast start, has the jump start on the #3 slot (although we can have a lot to say about that in our games with them), while us, SCU, and USF are all trying to get in the 4th slot at worst so we have a first round by in the WCC tournament.

* two wins at home. I want to go no worse than 5-2 in conference at the EACC. I think an upset of St. Marys and/or GU is not out of the question if we shoot well and take care of the basketball. We must protect this house!!

* a much needed fast start in conference play to build confidence and momentum.

* We won an ugly, close game. These are the types of games we would have lost last year and the years before. Winning when we don't shoot well is a sign of a team that is maturing. Limit the unforced turnovers and continue to play excellent D, and we'll be in most games, even when we don't shoot well. This is VERY, VERY important, as many conference games come down to the last two minutes.

We seem to be very consistent defensively, which will keep us close when we struggle offensively. Last night was a perfect example. The USF game is a good example of what is possible when we combine good D with hot shooting. Man, Jared Stohl, was lights out against USF. NINE threes?? Are you kiddin' me??

Also, does TJC have just one year of eligibility after this year? He's listed as a junior so I'm assuming that's the case.

Yes, Campbell only has one year after this... Definitely a "quick fix" for the position, but I'm not complaining at this point and trusting they are already recruiting his replacement (On top of grooming players on the roster...)

Returned to town (the coast was beautiful Saturday), and just watched the tape of the game (can I still say "tape" if it's a DVR?). Wild finish. The SCU guy throws a forearm shiver into the pilot defender and takes a falling down shot. No foul! Then Bryant grabs the rebound (Pilots let him get inside position) and gets grabbed just before he lays it in. Could have been a continuation foul, even if they don't exist in college ball. I guess the refs wanted to let the players decide the outcome.

Anyway, agree it was a necessary win. Have to defend home court. This positions us in the 4 place slot, with three teams yet to win a game. Two road wins this week would be fantastic, but may be tough if Ethan is not available or at full strength.

A sweep of the weekend series with USF and SCU. Great job Pilots. Keep it going.

OK... finally going to write down some thoughts about the Santa Clara game.

1) Nik Raivio was the reason we won. He made the big shots throughout and was awesome on the boards (nine rebounds!). Yeah, I know we went totally dead in the second half, but still... he was huge for us.

2) Luke Sikma had a terrific first half. He became our offensive focus near the end of the half, and he delivered big time - jumper from the top of the key, the huge alleyoop (which was sweet!), and that contested layup. Also pulled down some boards and blocked a shot too. Would love to see him do that more often with the scoring. But really... his play of the game was pulling down that HUGE offensive rebound in the final minute. That was so freaking clutch.

3) TJ was solid down the stretch at the line. Love to see that.

4) Kramer and Robin couldn't get anything done against Bryant. Bryant is really freaking good. We were lucky to get any points in the paint at all. (Only 12 for the game.) But I thought they were terrific on defense. Bryant had to fight tooth and nail for everything he got, and most of what he did was just put backs, which is frustrating but not much we can do when he can just use his height and pull the ball out of the air. I was extremely impressed with our interior defense.

5) I was impressed with Jared creating some mid-range shots. Santa Clara had a player draped all over him all game (Stohl better get used to fighting through that), and it was good to see him create a little bit on his own. Chances are he'll have to do more of that as opposing teams really key in on him.

Beating Santa Clara was no joke. They nearly beat both USD and SMC, and even though they got creamed by Gonzaga, they are a good team. We are very fortunate that we were able to pull out the win despite hitting one field goal for the final 12 minutes of the game. I mean really... that's incredible really, and thank God Nik had it going earlier to help give us that big lead.

We held serve at home against two "middle of the pack" teams, which was huge. Now the worst we can do is get a split, and to be honest I think we "should" beat USF down there. Our chances of going at least 7-7 in WCC play just got a lot stronger.

But this weekend's games, to me, are the most crucial. We really really need to buckle down and take care of business. LMU might have Vernon Teel (their leading scorer) back, so that's something to keep an eye on. They have been playing better lately... they aren't getting blown out by any stretch. They'll be dangerous. More dangerous than Pepperdine, I think. But that's just me being nervous.

For me... these are the games we need. I feel confident enough in our improvement this year to expect the wins. We are better than those two teams, and we need to go out and take care of business.

BUT... missing Ethan would really suck. It's not like he's super duper talented, but he brings an element to our team that it lacks - toughness, hustle, hard-nosed play. Plus he can knock down shots and is versatile on defense. We definitely miss what he brings, and I sincerely hope he'll be back. At the chalk talk, Coach Sobotka said that the injury wasn't as serious as his previous one... more of a "tweak" than a sprain. So hopefully that's encouraging news.

If we can get ourselves to 4-1, that would be so monumental... Saint Mary's is playing San Diego next week, so we'll be tied with one of them if we can indeed get there. And USF and SCU are going head-to-head, so one of them will be at 0-5. Even throwing schedules out the window, if we're at 4-1 and SCU/USF are 1-4/0-5... we'll be looking really strong for a first-round bye in the WCC tournament.

For the SCU game: Highlight Link