2023 Offseason

Urika wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-wEu8K6QfM

A Legans interview starting around 12 minute mark

In Zack Farmer's podcast, he mentions the top teams: GU, SMC, USF, SCU, and LMU, which is certainly justifiable based on their previous performances and roster changes, but Bart Torvik is looking for the Pilots to finish ahead of LMU and SCU...and a lot of that must be based upon coaching because he rates the Pilots talent very low in comparison to other teams in the WCC.

https://barttorvik.com/trankpre.php?conlimit=WCC&state=All&year=2023&sort=

Urika wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-wEu8K6QfM

A Legans interview starting around 12 minute mark

Thanks for posting this. Hard not to get fired up every time I see Coach Legans chatting about the upcoming season.

I love how he speaks knowledgably about every other team on campus. Not every coach in the country cares enough about what's going on around the department to be able to do that.

Go Pilots

DoubleDipper wrote:I do not have the details, but I have been told WCC Men's Basketball will be streamed on ESPN+ this coming season.

Okay, I may have been too hasty here.

I've been paying $200/yr for NHL Centre Ice here so I can watch the Canucks **** the bed 82 times between September and April. But apparently ESPN+ houses all NHL games, so I can watch NHL and college hoops for $10/month as long as I can find a reliable VPN that works here?

Dean Murdoch wrote:…. so I can watch NHL and college hoops for $10/month as long as I can find a reliable VPN that works here?

Do it soon. ESPN+ announced a $1 a month price increase effective October 12.

Topics of discussion include:

Playing through tough challenges
Tyler Robertson’s prep as a leader plus his skills
Creation of a solid three-point game in the offensive structure
The building of team defense                                                

I am not going to read a lot into this...but still, it should raise a few eyebrows.

Reunion week for Gloria Nevarez?

DoubleDipper wrote:I am not going to read a lot into this...but still, it should raise a few eyebrows.

I choose to read a lot into this.

WCC/MWC challenge??

Any good Pilot basketball Twitter accounts to follow beyond the official one? Any beat writers?

bruiserINT wrote:Any good Pilot basketball Twitter accounts to follow beyond the official one?  Any beat writers?

I can say with some certainty that the best place to go for UP men's and women's basketball public and "behind the scenes" information is right here on PilotNation.

I've been a lifelong fan of Pilots basketball and was continually frustrated by the lack of information available about the teams until I enrolled at UP and discovered this site.

Admittedly, there are only a few who contribute here and keep PilotNation viable and informative, but they seem to be a dedicated few who miss very little and are able to add insight not available elsewhere.

I used to be a contributor here, but now that I live close to 4,000 miles from Portland, I have become a frequent reader instead. And I am not the only one...I have communicated with a number of my former classmates and others who come here to get the latest UP sports info without contributing anything toward keeping the site going or adding to the content.  

For the most part, even those who started this site have moved on in life and rarely contribute, which is a shame. I hope you and others will contribute and help PilotNation grow beyond just the current readers/lurkers.

Pilots picked to finish 6th and Tyler Robertson selected to the All-WCC Preseason Team.

https://portlandpilots.com/news/2023/10/12/mens-basketball-robertson-garners-preseason-all-wcc-recognition.aspx

2023-24 WCC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
Team (first-place votes) points

1. Saint Mary's – (5) 61
2. Gonzaga – (4) 60
3. San Francisco - 45
4. LMU - 42
5. Santa Clara - 41
6. Portland - 27
7. Pepperdine - 22
8. Pacific - 16
9. San Diego - 10

Quite a gap between the top 5 and the bottom 4.

From WCC Commissioner Stu Jackson at yesterday's media day:

“We have nine teams, and that makes us vulnerable. We need more members. That’s an everyday focus for us… And basketball performance is a chief focus for anyone we’d consider....or at least the prospect of basketball performance.”

In my conversation with Jackson, the "prospect of basketball performance" is a direct reference to the U. of Denver.

Although I did not hear it at media day, besides "basketball performance," the other two primary points of emphasis on any prospective university joining the WCC are 1. Level of academic rigor and performance, and 2. Potential media exposure based upon the school's location.

Academics (and being a "for profit" institution) at Grand Canyon is a concern for a number of WCC presidents.

In no particular order, these are the schools that continue to be mentioned as potential additions to the WCC:

Seattle U.
Denver
Cal Baptist
UC Irvine
UC Santa Barbara
Grand Canyon

Anyone hear how the scrimmage with Seattle went?

Portland lost by 8 points

Maske wrote:Portland lost by 8 points

Anyone able to get their hands on a discarded box score?

Seattle U's preseason ranking on KenPom is 124, 36 points better than UP's.  

Trying to avoid overreacting like: