OSU @ Portland, 12/6, 7pm

PORTLAND PILOTS (6-1) vs. OREGON STATE BEAVERS (4-2)
Date: Dec. 6, 2014
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Portland, Ore.  
Arena: Chiles Center (4,852)
Radio: Sports 910 (KMTT)
Video/Audio/Stats: PortlandPilots.com

The Beavers beat up on Mississippi Valley State on Wednesday, winning 74-50. OSU was lead by Gary Payton (24, 16) in both scoring and rebounding.

This will be the Beavers' second-toughest game so far, per the KenPom rankings. (OSU=175, Portland=122). It will also be OSU's first true road game. The Beavers' results so far are below, with KenPom rankings.

W vs Rice (308)
W vs Corban (NAIA)
W vs Oral Roberts (200)
L vs Oklahoma St (15) @ Las Vegas
L vs Auburn (148) @ Las Vegas
W vs Miss Valley (349)
? at Portland (122)

Aren't we taking a serious risk by having a new guy start the game thread?  

I've been told by an old guy in the row below me to tone it down next game.  I wonder if I keep it up if I can get him to move

During the PSU game, it is possible that I yelled a few carefully crafted words that the parents in front of me, with their small impressionable children, wish I wouldn't have... so feel free to come over to my row and help make people uncomfortable...

Please don't tone it down! As DD said in the PSU game thread, almost no one cheers at all. We need to turn up the noise and fan involvement, not down. Other fans need to realize that they are not at home on their couches watching the game on TV. They are at a live, in-person college basketball game!

Even with only 1,500 fans in the building, that's enough to create a real home-court advantage for our team. But that will never happen if the fans treat the game like a tennis match, polite clapping and shushing those of us who actually get involved.

It would be nice if they were watching and cheering! They were having a frat party back there! All chatter and no cheering.

PilotNut wrote:During the PSU game, it is possible that I yelled a few carefully crafted words that the parents in front of me, with their small impressionable children, wish I wouldn't have...  so feel free to come over to my row and help make people uncomfortable...

I've bben doing that for years to get the people in front to move.

Doesn't work.

blacksheep wrote:I've been told by an old guy in the row below me to tone it down next game.  I wonder if I keep it if I can get him to move  

I'm afraid the "old guy" in front of you loudly used two bad words to describe PSU's #3 on Wednesday, so he will banish himself to another part of the arena for the OSU game.

Look in the end zone next to the Pilots' bench....he'll be there with 18 guests...some of whom will be in blue fraternity shirts, some of whom will be quite old, but all of whom will be quite loud.  The plan is to root for the good guys, not boo the bad guys (anymore).

DoubleDipper wrote:I'm afraid the "old guy" in front of you loudly used two bad words to describe PSU's #3 on Wednesday, so he will banish himself to another part of the arena for the OSU game.

I think that was actually one word!

I hate to post an actual video of myself...but here's how you politely and properly heckle someone, Dean Murdoch style -

OSU's 16-man roster includes 10 scholarship players and six walk-ons.

OSU is second in the Pac-12 in scoring defense (57.5) and steals (8.3) ... The Beavers are third in the conference in field goal percentage (.362) and have held two opponents below 30 percent.

Gary Payton II is first among guards in the Pac-12 in rebounding (9.2, fourth overall) and field goal percentage (.586, 11th overall) ... Payton II is averaging 22.0 points and 14.0 rebounds over the past two games, while shooting 69.6 percent (16-for-23) from the field and 71.4 percent (7-for-11) from beyond the arc.

Daniel Gomis got his first start of the season against Mississippi Valley State and scored a career-high 11 points and tied a career best with five blocked shots ... Seven returners have set career-high scoring games this season: Malcolm Duvivier (17), Jarmal Reid (17), Langston Morris-Walker (16), Victor Robbins (16), Olaf Schaftenaar (13), Daniel Gomis (11) and Cheikh N’diaye (8.

The Beavers have more assists than their opponents in all six games.

DeanMurdoch wrote:

DoubleDipper wrote:I'm afraid the "old guy" in front of you loudly used two bad words to describe PSU's #3 on Wednesday, so he will banish himself to another part of the arena for the OSU game.

I think that was actually one word!

Doug and Bob McKenzie would have used one word......HOSER!

But I definitely used two words to describe a certain part of one's anatomy.  

Actually, I'm glad we've evolved to that....in high school it would have been much more physical with 1.5 seconds left on the clock.

From the Oregonian today - "At question is Portland's leading scorer Kevin Bailey, who suffered a left foot injury against Portland State. Bailey's status is a game-time decision."

Game-time decision = "we know exactly whether or not he'll play. We just don't want them to know."

DoubleDipper wrote:Doug and Bob McKenzie would have used one word......HOSER!

Their Christmas song came on the radio today. My wife was in shock....."What is this?!??"

OSU's 16-man roster includes 10 scholarship players and six walk-ons.

Really? They have empty scholarships and didn't give them to kids for the season who are busting their tails for the program?

All-Time Oregon State-Portland Games at the Chiles Center:

Nov. 22, 1985 -- Portland 58, Oregon State 57
Dec. 5, 1987 -- Oregon State 74, Portland 62
Dec. 3, 1994 -- Portland 74, Oregon State 71
Nov. 30, 1995 -- Portland 61, Oregon State 50
Dec. 7, 2002 -- Oregon State 71, Portland 64
Dec. 10, 2005 -- Portland 76, Oregon State 62

The teams met for the first time in six years last season, with the Beavers coming out on top, 79-73, at Gill Coliseum. Bobby Sharp led the Pilots with 18 points, and Ryan Nicholas added a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Geezaldinho wrote:

OSU's 16-man roster includes 10 scholarship players and six walk-ons.

Really? They have  empty scholarships and didn't give them to kids for the season who are busting their tails for the program?

Yep, that would appear to be the case from the bit of research I did....

Former walk-on, Junior Justin Stangel, 6-10/220 from LaSalle Catholic Prep, earned a scholarship this season, but that makes the total scholarships 10.

From the "for whatever it's worth" file:

Sagarin:
UP -132
OSU - 119

KenPom:
UP - 124
OSU - 174

RPI:
UP - 133
OSU - 252

Odds:
Las Vegas - UP by 6.5
KenPom - UP by 5

However, the All-Time All-Timer was played at the Coliseum December 14, 1979. One of OSU's best squads under Ralph Miller upended by the Pilots.

Bailey is in street clothes, no boot.

Why was Gerun out for most of the 2nd half? 27℅ shooting for the game? Sharp, Presley et al...what's with that?

The video kept pausing and wouldn't start again until the page was refreshed. It was very frustrating. Is there any way to fix it?

pilotfan4life wrote:The video kept pausing and wouldn't start again until the page was refreshed. It was very frustrating. Is there any way to fix it?

To fill you in,

We shot 27% and got out rebounded.

Wow. Terrible shooting all around, by everyone, from everywhere on the floor. With the way we played defense tonight, that should have been and EASY win. Put that in the missed opportunity column.

Looks like the famous UP senior year 3-point shooter jinx has officially fallen on Bobby Sharp (and somehow also rubbed off on Pressley and Tyson!). Sharp is shooting .267 on the year from the behind the arc.

Gah!!!

It is setting in with me that we just really are not that good.  I had high hopes for this year, but we have yet to really live up to the billing.

OSU wanted to play physical, and they did just that...  we couldn't respond, with finishing at the rim again being an issue (along with poor shooting everywhere else... 27%?!).  We just lost to a likely bottom-tier Pac 12 team at home.  OSU has only 7 returning players from last year.  

I'm not amused or encouraged by this season so far.

PilotNut wrote:It is setting in with me that we just really are not that good.  I had high hopes for this year, but we have yet to really live up to the billing.

And sadly we're not going to be good for the foreseeable future. We keep doing the same thing and hoping for different results. We knew after the Sikma left that we needed a presence in the post. Ryan Nicholas was a decent stand in but without any help inside he was usually outmatched. I'll just say what I know we're all thinking.... Our bigs just aren't WCC level bigs. Thomas has one go to move that every team in our conference will take away. Too many 50/50 balls slip through his fingers. Most of our turnovers come from trying to get him the ball. Barker and Gerun are playing well this season but only by our lowly UP standards. They're not close to being comparable to other 7 footers in the conference. We haven't seen enough of Hartwich to know for sure but my sense is he's cut from the same cloth as our other bigs. Back in the days we used to call them non-contact bigs. The kind of bigs that disappear quickly when the game gets physical.

Here's the crazy part. We have very good guards. Bailey is one of the best slashing wings in the conference. Bryce is better attacking the rim than he is from outside. I watched Tyson a lot in HS and while he does have a hell of an outside shot he's also very good when putting the ball on the floor and getting to the rim, and he's super athletic as well. I rarely see us open driving lanes for our guards to get easy layups. We almost never run them off double screens to get them easy looks, with the exception of Bobby Sharp. Dribble down the clock while trying to get the ball inside. Pass out with 8-10 seconds on the shot clock and hope Bailey or Pressley or Wintering can make a play. We shot 27% from the field yesterday because every shot our guards took was highly contested. All OSU did was pressure our 3 point shooters in the second half and that took away all of our offense. Speaking of shooters, can someone explain why after a hot start Tyson saw limited minutes down the stretch?

Perhaps after another dismal season we'll do what we should've done 2 years ago and evaluate the entire program, top to bottom.