Finally, it’s basketball season on the Bluff!

COACH AND PROGRAM
Scheduling conflict became a point of contention last season for Portland.

The Pilots set sail on rough seas with unproven point guards and a green crew, and eventually sank nearly to the bottom of the West Coast Conference.

Portland's opponents included national champion Kentucky, which gave Portland a two-for-one so Terrence Jones could play in the Rose Garden. Ohio went to the Sweet 16, where it lost to North Carolina in overtime. Saint Louis won an NCAA tournament game. Montana went to the NCAA tournament. Nevada and Washington went to NIT. Washington State finished runner-up in the CBI. UC Santa Barbara won 20 games and also went to the CIT.

By the time the young Pilots had absorbed nine double-digit losses, it was time for the rattled rookie-laden squad to open league play at Gonzaga. The 90-51 loss in Spokane was a good indicator of the 3-13 league record that ensued.

Coach Eric Reveno was coming off consecutive 20-win seasons, and wonders if he didn't take heavy scheduling a little lightly.

"Some young guys and too tough a schedule," Reveno said. "I felt like we lost our confidence and that really hurt us. I felt like we were never able to get back on track...."Kids wanna play those programs. So you don't need to fight that. But you also need to find some balance & whether it's travel wise, style of opponent, strength of opponent. I put a huge amount of pressure on our two seniors to have to produce all the time and our freshmen were kind of up and down like freshmen are."

Tim Douglas never settled in as a sophomore point guard last season, and transferred to Portland State after finishing the season with 92 assists and 95 turnovers.

Portland is left with the unnerving prospect of "point guard by committee," although Reveno doesn't see anywhere to go but up for the Pilots. Their 483 turnovers were 122 more than opponents committed last season, not that Reveno saw Douglas as the sole provider.

"We turned it over at an alarming rate, to say the least," Reveno said. "We turned it over in transition. We turned it over in the half-court. We turned it over all different ways."

The frontrunner at point guard is 6-1 senior Derrick Rodgers (3.8 ppg, 1.6 rpg). Sophomore 6-3 guard David Carr (3.7 ppg, 1.3 rpg) will also get opportunities to run the offense, as could 6-4 freshman Oskars Reinfelds, a Latvian combo guard from the Canarias Basketball Academy.

Reveno likes where Rodgers is mentally entering his senior season, and said Carr had an encouraging offseason. Reinfelds' transition looks like one of the keys to Portland's potential.

"He's a versatile guard," Reveno said. "He's a skilled offensive player. He's aggressive. He makes others better. He's got the ability to get to the paint, find somebody, and he's a pretty good shooter as well."

Reinfelds is reuniting with former CBA teammate Thomas van der Mars (7.7 ppg, 5.4 rpg). The 6-11, 225-pounder settled in nicely and blocked 28 shots while starting as a freshman last season.

"You talk about a guy that was thrown to the fire and probably heartened by it, he was one," Reveno said. "He probably showed better than anyone as a freshman, just sort of consistently night in and night out giving you some solid numbers and shooting a high percentage. And defensively, giving you a presence. He was not off the charts, but very good."

Reveno, the former Stanford post, likes how the frontcourt is shaping up with 6-7, 235-pound junior Ryan Nicholas (11.5 ppg, 7.6 rpg), 6-7 sophomore Dorian Cason (4.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg) and 6-10, 225-pound sophomore Riley Barker (2.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg).

Nicholas' high-motor mode might have less style than substance, but he doesn't have to score via hustle points. He showed an ability to shoot the 3-pointer (8 of 22, .363), albeit in a limited sampling.

"He's kind of tweener & not really a back-to-the-basket post guy and not a lightning-quick perimeter guy," Reveno said. "But he's got the skill set that he can do some things. He kept getting better and really took on a leadership role as the year progressed."

Barker was averaging 15.3 minutes through seven games as a freshman when what was first thought to be a relatively minor meniscus injury ended his season. But he has since returned to full go. Barker and van der Mars probably won't be on the floor together often because of defensive matchup issues, but both run the floor pretty well and can score from mid-range or with a jump-hook.

"They're pretty solid," Reveno said. "We're pretty excited there in terms of some stability. And then there's Ryan Nicholas at the four spot getting the bulk of the minutes."

Another freshman who started last season is 6-5 guard Kevin Bailey (9.5 ppg, 2.1 rpg). He shot 35.3 percent en route to 24 3-pointers, and he and Carr might've had the two most productive off-seasons on the team.

Tanner Riley (6.2 ppg, 1.1 rpg), a 6-3 junior, is a perimeter threat, too. He made 35 treys in 2011-12 while shooting 34.3 percent.

The frontcourt includes 6-8 redshirt sophomore John Bailey (1.1 ppg, 1.0 rpg) and 6-7 freshman Jake Ehlers, who had his moments this summer but is likely to redshirt because of frontcourt depth.

Other freshmen in the class are 6-4 Bryce Pressley (14.1 ppg, 8.0 rpg), the son of former Villanova standout Harold Pressley, and 6-0 David Ahern (21.1 ppg, 3.4 apg, 3.1 rpg). Ahern is out of Marin Catholic in Novato, Calif. Pressley played at Sacramento's Jesuit.

"He's been a really nice surprise this off-season, because you recruit these guys and you don't really have a feel for how they learn, little things," Reveno said of Pressley. "He's got great hands defensively. He's got a great natural feel. And he can shoot the ball a little bit. He's a good learner. He reminds me a little of when we had Luke Sikma, Jack Sikma's son. These former players' sons have that feel for the game."

BLUE RIBBON ANALYSIS
BACKCOURT: C+
BENCH/DEPTH: B
FRONTCOURT: B+
INTANGIBLES: B+

Portland should be improved this season, but an already-tough WCC is expected to be better from top to bottom. And the Pilots have obvious concerns at point guard, although Reveno anticipates improvement.

"It'll be interesting as we go into the fall here to see if someone will emerge at point guard," he said. "We've identified the biggest area we need to improve on the offensive end, which will help us defensively, and that's to take better care of the basketball."

Minimizing turnovers will probably be a group effort, as was the flipside last season while playing so many freshmen.

"When you are thrown to the fire early in your career like that, it really is something that sticks with you when you're putting in those long hours in the weight room and the gym in the offseason," Reveno said. "You can understand what you're working for much better than coaches showing you on video or talking about it."
Witnessing the offseason dedication of players such as Kevin Bailey and Carr after their fiery baptisms gives Reveno faith the Pilots will begin to turn the corner this season.

9. San Francisco---Too many off season defections. Rex Walters is a good coach, but no coach in America can comeback rapidly from losing six players due to transferring. San Francisco will be back, but not this year.

8. Portland---Excellent coach in Eric Reveno, but still his team in my mind does not have horsepower to jump over the teams they need to, in advancing up the ladder. Watch out for the Pilots in 2013-14, very good chance they will be one of the top three teams in the league during that season.

7. Pepperdine----Remember this coaching name, Marty Wilson. No one ever talks about him, but he is slowly bringing The Waves basketball program back after a long absence of success. Still not enough depth to move to upper tier, but they will be dangerous at home.

6. San Diego----Toughest team to project in the WCC. It has taken Billy Grier a long time to get the program moving, last year there were some shining moments. This is a team that realistically could wind up in 9th or 3rd, come end of the year.

5. Loyola---Max Good is entertaining, a fun interview, but the guy can also coach. There is a good chance the Lions will win 20 games this season, just not enough league games to move up to the top three. Fun team to watch, a team that never takes a play off.

4. St. Mary's----Great coach in Randy Bennett, but every once in awhile a school that has been good is going to drop. This is the year it appears the Gaels might not be in the top three teams in the conference during the regular season.

3. Santa Clara---Kerry Keating will have the Broncos back this year, as a matter of fact he has his whole team back and has in my opinion the possibly the WCC player of the year in Kevin Foster. Look below to find out how the Broncos will really do this season.

2. BYU---Iconic basketball program and school, never will have a bad basketball team. Actually will someday win the NCAA championship, ability to recruit nationally obviously a big factor. Still not enough to overcome the team from Spokane.

1. Gonzaga---Really went out on limb with this one. Potential Final Four team, Mark Few is a solid coach, but until he gets to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament, he can never be considered a great coach. Gonzaga in the last 15 years, probably has the best regular season success of any team in all of sports, but when it comes to postseason, only can be described as DISASTER.

Now, for the WCC tournament. Semifinals, Santa Clara over St. Mary's and Gonzaga over Loyola. And the automatic berth in the NCAA tournament goes to Santa Clara, as they upset the Zags in the final.

DoubleDipper wrote:For those of you hoping to drink beer and/or wine at the men's basketball games this year, your wishes have been answered....but not until the first "real" home game of the season against Idaho State on November 15.

This year the Pilot Club hospitality area will swap locations with the Bon Appétit food area.....the Pilot Club will now be located on the north mezzanine, opposite of where it has been in the past. Beer and wine will once again be available for purchase. The VIP hospitality suite will again be located in the Hall of Fame room.

If you are interested in joining or rejoining the Pilot Club, all the necessary information (and a rousing video) is on the UP Athletics website. http://www.portlandpilots.com/sports/2008/7/31/GEN_0731082758.aspx

U of Portland---PROS

1. About as good of an arena as it gets for watching basketball.

2. Free parking, with a one minute walk into the arena and great concession stands

3. No matter how you want to analyze the team, the play is so much better under head coach Eric Reveno, than it has been the under the coaches before Reveno.

CONS

1. Beating the drum again, where is the marketing plan. Very good media relations, but it stops there. Cheesy advertising, which just does not cut it.

2. Quit worrying about just the Gonzaga game, focus on selling out this year as an example, UNLV, St. Mary's, Santa Clara and how about the entire WCC home schedule. It can be done.

3. Back to marketing, Pilots you play in one of the best and most competitive basketball leagues in the country, but you never seem to take advantage of that fact.

THE FIX:

I have complete confidence that new athletic director Scott Leykam, gets it. And he will turn the long suffering issues of Pilot basketball around.

Now, what are your thoughts as a reader and basketball fan. Do you go to games at the Stott Center and Chiles Center? What has been your experience? If you do not go, why not? Any other thoughts welcome, but fire away please.

Going to beat the heck out of our posts today in practice. Really. And it literally will hurt me more than it hurts them. #and1

Basketball recruiting brings in future pros

Assistant men’s basketball coach Michael Wolf describes UP and head coach Eric Reveno’s strategy to recruit athletes.

Every fall the campus experiences a giant change, literally. This change usually involves three to four new students who serve as significant outliers on the curve of campus height. These are the most recent basketball recruits.

How do we get these towering athletes to University of Portland instead of them choosing schools in southern California? This is the beauty of recruiting.

Assistant men’s basketball coach Michael Wolf believes UP’s advantages in recruiting stem from their approach, the allure of going to a good school with a nice campus and the achieved brand of Pilot basketball from the success of past players.

Unlike many schools, which designate specific people exclusively for recruiting, UP takes a more hands-on approach.

“We all take an active and equal role in the recruiting process. All three coaches have significant roles in recruiting,” Wolf said. “We all cross-pollinate our evaluations on players and have an ongoing dialogue about them.”

Players agree that getting to know the actual coaches in the recruiting process plays a big part in the draw of going to UP.