Portland State game on Tuesday

Fellow Pilot fans although we are still stunned by our win last night I feel obligated to start a new thread. This is the "cross-town" rival whom is the defending champion of their conference.

I think maybe a matchup comparison for example --Campbell vrs JD,Robin vrs their overated Huskie Transfer, Jones vrs Knutson, Ravio,Ethan's, matchups. They are a very talented,accomplished team and as Rev has said before these next four games are very important. Call me silly ,but would'nt a PSU win be the same as a ASU win over the Arizona (before Lute started his unfortunate decline).

Give me some ideas and imput for this Pilot Fan from the High desert.Some solid wins in the next few weeks and I will swallow the Koolaid that I drink from the gatorade cooler at the end of bench. Help, I'm thirsty for some PSU-Pilot talk.


MesaPilot1

P.S. I shall not permit any fan letdown this year ....

Rather quick to declare Nelson overrated in my opinion. :-|

The Campbell / JD match up should be fun to watch. I'm curious if you guys will come out in that zone that did so well against UW, or in a man to man defense. I really think that this game will come down to who has the deeper bench.

This should be the best 'Rose City Rivalry' in years with the talent that each squad has.

I think a lot will depend on if UP can take advantage of its size.

Smeulders was a beast on Saturday, but somehow I don't think he's always going to shoot so well with those running one-handed hooks and flips and whatever the heck else he was throwing up there. But the guy is obviously a talented post player with good moves, and when he's fired up he really goes for it.

Knutson also had some huge plays in the second half. When our offense was stalling out a bit, he really did a great job of taking it to the rim. I thought he had a terrific game, and since Portland State doesn't really have a true center (Jamie Jones started at center for Portland State against Rice) he could be in for another. Their tallest guy is 6'8"... they do have a Lithuanian dude who is 6'10", but he didn't play in their first game. With Sikma, Smeulders, Knutson, and Hannibal - UP has four guys bigger than that.

But Portland State has great guard play with Dominguez and their new guy Dominic Waters... he dropped 18 in his first game. A lot will depend on our perimiter guys.

Another thing... last year the Viks killed us with outside shooting. Since they don't really have big guys, I'm sure they will try to spread it out again and shoot us to death and have their guards penetrate in when there aren't open looks. If we can limit them from the outside, I think we'll have an OK chance.

The big thing for me is seeing whether or not we have a let down. If we came out as focused and determined as we did on Saturday, there's no way we aren't going to keep this game competitive. Portland State doesn't have so much of a talent advantage over us that they can just roll us even if we play like we did against Washington. But if we come out sloppy? Start turning it over and taking bad shots? Portland State is definitely good enough to take advantage.

Recipe for success? Start down low. Establish the paint, get the big guys they do have in foul trouble. Once we force their defense to collapse, get Stohl and Niedermeyer out there knocking down threes.

On defense, Campbell needs to keep Dominguez in front of him (I think he can) and we need to make sure we defend the perimiter.

Before the season started, I had this game penciled in as an L on the schedule. After seeing the way we came out and played on Saturday, I erased that L for sure. I think we can definitely win. It will be tough, but we can definitely win.

EDIT TO ADD: Forgot to mention... PSU won 78-74 over Rice on the road in their first game. Rice was picked to finish 11th in the 12-team CUSA.

Stonehouse wrote:
Before the season started, I had this game penciled in as an L on the schedule. After seeing the way we came out and played on Saturday, I erased that L for sure. I think we can definitely win. It will be tough, but we can definitely win.

I suspect you have already worn the eraser on the end of your pencil to a nub.

Let me suggest you go down to the Art supply store and get one of these:




This plastic composition eraser removes all lead traces and doesn't tear the paper like the red pearl ones on the end of your pencils.

No pumice in them.

I'm sorry Marty I think it may have come out the wrong way about your Huskie transfer. We all know that with JD and Jamie it was not for lack of playing time or skill level why they left the Pilots. But, I get sick and tired of some unproven shooter being haled as the next savior like he is the Larry Bird of the Northwest. The kid hasn't really proved himself at D-1 and both Portland transfers have.
I hope he turns out to be a great player ,but you have to admit players like Tyler Smith (Tennesee) ,and the ex-Pilot players who transfered were already Quality proven players. I just have a hard time putting him at their level (JD,Jones) and of course he's nowhere near the Tennesse kids game.

I always enjoy your comments and like Freaks, and Ironlions you are one informed dude when it comes to WCC play and your conference. Let's just hope the Pilots can give the Viking's a good game and the rivalry can be as great as possible.

MesaPilot1

Here's a breakdown from a PSU fan:

http://www.bigskyfans.com/2008/11/16/psu-vs-up

No major disagreements, though I think that Portland's bench is a lot stronger than he thinks.

Anyway, here's their forum as well:

http://psufansforum.bigskyfans.com/index.php

You have to register to be able to see it though. Annoying.

MesaPilot1 wrote:I'm sorry Marty I think it may have come out the wrong way about your Huskie transfer. We all know that with JD and Jamie it was not for lack of playing time or skill level why they left the Pilots. But, I get sick and tired of some unproven shooter being haled as the next savior like he is the Larry Bird of the Northwest. The kid hasn't really proved himself at D-1 and both Portland transfers have.
I hope he turns out to be a great player ,but you have to admit players like Tyler Smith (Tennesee) ,and the ex-Pilot players who transfered were already Quality proven players. I just have a hard time putting him at their level (JD,Jones) and of course he's nowhere near the Tennesse kids game.

I always enjoy your comments and like Freaks, and Ironlions you are one informed dude when it comes to WCC play and your conference. Let's just hope the Pilots can give the Viking's a good game and the rivalry can be as great as possible.

MesaPilot1

No worries. :-) Regarding Nelson, I don't think that his offense will be an issue at all. His ability is very exciting from practice and the one game I saw of him. To me, he needs to prove his worth on the other end of the court to be the player that we've heard and hope he can be. If you put up 25 and give up 30, well, you know where I'm going. ;-)

I sure wish we played this UP/PSU game twice per season. Once on The Bluff, and once on the Park Blocks. Drop our exhibition games and play the first one, then play each other as our last non-conference game. The first game would be an official game, but the 2nd would really gauge how good each team is right before conference play starts. Oh well, one is better than none. :-)

This game is working up to be one of the more exciting games in the series. I agree with Marty that the UP/PSU series should be 2 games per year. The rivalry needs to be nurtured.

Last year's game was very competitive. This year should be just as good.

I hate to quote the dreaded Lakers coach, Pat Riley, but here goes...

"With more success comes greater challenges..."--P.R.

Something like that. I think we've got to try to take it to all of the mid-major teams on our schedule and finish as high as possible in our league now. PSU is probably a much better free throw shooting team than UW and will probably committ less turnovers, however, they shouldn't dominate us on the boards like the Huskies did. On a positive note though, we handled UW in every other area...and our two biggest guys: Big John and Hannibal barely got much playing time...

We can take these guys. A loss would be disappointing...

It's going to be fun watching TJ Campbell take out highly touted pointguards all year long...

I agree that tonight's game may be the most interesting in the series so far, since PSU brought back hoops... I'm looking forward to it.

As far as playing twice a season, I dont like that at all. We aren't conference opponents; once a year is appropriate, IMO. All or nothing in 1 game is how it should be for a "rivalry" game...

PilotNut wrote:I agree that tonight's game may be the most interesting in the series so far, since PSU brought back hoops... I'm looking forward to it.

I totally agree. PSU is looking to make the NCAAs again, UP is improving and coming off a big upset... and when you throw in the whole Dominguez/Jones dynamic, it definitely becomes even more interesting.

For me, this will be a great indicator of if this team is really ready to take that step forward. Portland State is a quality opponent... definitely better than WCC teams like LMU and Pepperdine. This group of Pilots hasn't shown yet that they can win on the road - here is a great opportunity to pick up a good road win. The win over Washington is definitely something to build on, but we need to match the intensity with which we came out.

The game will be a good test, but, I think we can take it. Bringing in Campbell just seems like a more and more brilliant move as I look forward at the season. He battled Isaiah Thomas in the battle of the small guys, and now he gets Dominguez and guys like Brandon Johnson and Pargo as the season progresses...

The WCC is going to have some of the best guard match ups in the country...and the scouting reports say less about our guy than anyone else... Got to love it.

Will be a great game, I hope it goes down to the last shot. Of course we win!!!

Jones is a beast down low, and when your POY of your conference like JD your a proven whiz.

I think if Knutson can neutralize Jones and TJ and Ito play tough on JD the Pilots depth and conditioning will wear PSU down. But ,it's BB and if either team has a player get hot that could be the difference.The Vikings have the HomeCourt so that could affect the outcome.

I'll be watching through my Grainy Pic on Stretchnet

I agree with Stonehouse whats with that signing in to view the PSU site?
I signed up last yr,just to view the site. Oh well, only a few of us select members get to view the board over there.

I hope the Vik's have a good season like last year, ugh when they had to get slaughtered by eventual champ Kansas in first round. If the Pilot's ever made the NCAA's they also would get an easy first round Opponent like UCLA etc...

It would be great to see the day when both Portland and Portland State are winning their respective leagues and going to the NCAAs. Then the PSU/UP annual game would be huge.

The University of Cincinatti vs. Xavier game is huge in that city attracting huge crowds. I'd love to see that here in Portland.

Last year someone proposed matching a Jefferson vs. Grant followed by the UP/PSU game at the Coliseum. I wish the ADs would work that out.

Anybody headed to the game tonight? I love going to UP away games. The interaction with the opposition's fans, the extra support for the team, and of course the revelry.

I think it's safe to say you'll see a lot of Purple there tonight. Even when our prospects were not as good, the crowd at Stott was 50-50.

I'll be there.

Glad to see you posting, Courtside!

Big Sky website says it's free...

That's what I'm hoping KFTC. If I was within a 90 mile drive of Portland I would want to be there in person.

But the bummer is I would have had to leave yesterday at 6 pm to make it to the game or taken a plane at about noon today .

Get out and Support the Pilots in their first away game , not to be reduntant but this is a key game to start the away schedule on a good note.

What is the parking situation at Stott Center? Never been there.

The street, mainly. Meters turn off at 7. Costs $1.25 an hour. The Stott Center is next to the library and practice field.

I'm planning on taking the street car down there... parking can be a pain, and you can't really get that close to the entrance anyway.

By the way... those that are going should get tickets in Section 2. It's behind the UP bench and that's where the Pilot fans are going to be, apparantly.

Gooooooo Pilots!

I just bought a pair of tickets in Section 2 for tonight! Call the box office before 5 pm: 503-725-3307.

Also, parking in the PSU parking structures is hourly, but only charged until 7pm... so you might have to pay a couple bucks, but can park right on campus if street parking isnt available. Check out the map and info here: PSU Parking

Goooooo PILOTS!