2019 Preseason

I haven't seen the weave yet. Maybe Porter Donnelly learned his lesson as coach. The offense looks much better without the coach trying to force that play all the time...

NoPoNeighbor wrote:I'm glad to see that discussion of last night's game has remained in this 2019 Preseason thread, and I suggest that we return here to discuss the Evergreen State game on Dec. 13. This tread can be Pilot Nation's symbolic protest against playing non-DI teams in the regular season, and a statement that we don't consider the results of these games to count toward the Pilots' regular season record. The Athletic Department is sure to notice and feel properly embarrassed.

Among my favourite posts on this board this year.

So.... Theo Akwuba back tomorrow night?

Dean Murdoch wrote:So.... Theo Akwuba back tomorrow night?

Last I heard, that is the plan...but plans often change.

Regardless, no one on the team has his defensive abilities in the post and the Pilots need a big who can play down low and REBOUND!!

The attendance reflected a pre-season game, hardly anyone in Chiles. With no students on campus, and two opponents from the southeast part of the country that no one will be familiar with, bringing a combined record of 1-15, I doubt there will be many on attendance for next week's games either.

up7587 wrote:The attendance reflected a pre-season game, hardly anyone in Chiles.  With no students on campus, and two opponents from the southeast part of the country that no one will be familiar with, bringing a combined record of 1-15, I doubt there will be many on attendance for next week's games either.

Nice to have the exhibition season finally behind us!

As up7587 notes, attendance will really suffer now that the students are gone. How will the team be able to perform to their highest potential without those two or three dozen folks lackadaisically lounging in the seats playing with their smart phones?

Good to see everyone that was not hurt or redshirting get into the game against Evergreen St...including Theo Akwuba, an inch taller with at least 15 pounds of added muscle compared to his freshman season.

Disturbing though that Taki was out with yet another Pilot concussion sustained during practice shortly after he returned from a hard blow to his sternum during practice that held him out a few games.  JoJo was a last minute scratch from the lineup...hopefully nothing too serious.

As a result of the last three games the Pilots can kiss their amazing 3-pt percentage goodbye after hitting just 20-69 (29%) against CSUN (7-25), Seattle (7-19), and Evergreen (6-25).  According the ESPN's stats, SMC is #1 in the nation with .457%, but UP has dropped to a tie for #29 with Michigan at .385%.

A few of observations from the season to this point:
1. It's become pretty obvious the Pilots realize they are not good at grabbing offensive rebounds, and while still trying to get better during practice, they have decided to quickly get four men back on defense after a missed shot while leaving just one underneath.
2. While Jacob lacks the bulk/muscle to move others out of the way, he's learning to rebound by "high-pointing" the ball by simply using his long wingspan to grab the ball and keep it away from the defenders.
3. Chase has emerged as the vocal on-court leader of the team, while Isaiah is both the locker room leader and on-court calming influence when the going gets tough.
4. D needs to slow down!  It's obvious he's taking to the coaching that Coach Reving is providing all the bigs, but he'll be a lot more effective once he throttles back a little and let the game come to him.

As finals are over, and the grades have been posted by the professors, I give the Pilots a C+ to this point, much better than last year's D grade at the midpoint due to a positive and cohesive culture brought to the team by Isaiah, JoJo, Lavar and Chase.  But that doesn't mean it can't all fall apart when the Pilots come up against three superior teams in Hawaii and then face GU, USF, and BYU in their first three WCC games.

The Pilots could very well go 0-6 during that stretch, and it will interesting to see how this year's team reacts to that possibility after last season's team, and at least one coach, simply hung their head in the face of adversity.