SMC pre-game discussion

What do you expect from SMC without Patty Mills? I thought they looked surgically efficient against USD. I only saw the second half of their game with GU, but they struggled without him. Seems to me that Diamon Simpson always kills us, so I look for their offense to come through him. If we can pressure their guards without getting beat out top, we may be able to disrupt their game.

This now becomes the next HUGE game, and a chance to seize second place alone halfway through conference play. Let's hope for a large crowd and an energized student section!

We can beat this team when they do not have Mills. It's as big or bigger of a loss than Brandon Johnson was to USD. He was seriously having the game of his life against Gonzaga. He looked like he could have torched them for 30-40 points if he had kept playing the game. Mills just has tremendous quickness, and he was even able to drive on some surprised members of the US Redeem Team last Summer like Kobe when the Australian Team played the US somewhat closely, losing by only 12 points.

Without him, the difference is night and day. Diamon Simpson is an exceptional player, but, Mills is the glue of that team. Without him on the floor, TJ actually has an advantage instead of a really tough matchup.

Coach Jackson was on the postgame show Thursday. He talked about how the staff has told the players the team must prove itself every night and that they must show St. Mary's they do belong in the top tier of the conference.

If they have the same attitude they brought to the USD game, who knows what will happen.

I'm confident the Pilots will be ready. I can't wait.

REMINDER: Tip is at 6 pm. Adjust pregame *ahem* "routine" accordingly.

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:REMINDER: Tip is at 6 pm. Adjust pregame *ahem* "routine" accordingly...

Yes, the T-Room should be busy tomorrow afternoon... Nothing wrong with a T-Burger for lunch...

Great minds think alike.

I'll be warming up the Plasma on my fav station prior to the Comcast Telecast . Man, I love this Direct-TV I even have ability to instant replay at my leisure. Stretchnet TV is a terrible alternative .

Now if I could only find an function on Direct-TV to change "Bad Call" Libbey's decision making process during Pilot game's......Hmm

Maybe the Administration could offer free open-book pop quizzes for their classes as an incentive for the student body to show up,lol ??? Pizza and T-Shirts don't seem to have much affect. We all really know what would get them there, but.......


MesaPilot

Mesa, do you get the Comcast NW station through DirecTV? Do you get it through the sports package? Last I checked I was able to get pretty much every Comcast channel but the NW one. Not that it will help me this year since I am not home, but at least I will get to watch next year...

PPT...you COULD just bring it with you...

Although I would be really interested to know how we would fare against SMC at full strength, that's obviously not the case, so we play whoever shows up tonight. With that said, this is clearly a very winnable game without Mills. The question is, how much does the inevitable "compensating for the loss of a great player by playing out of your mind effect" offset the loss of such a great player? I have no doubt that the SMC players will really pick it up tonight. But I think this game is there for the taking. It really is more about how the Pilots play than anything. If we play like we did Thursday, we'll win. If we shoot like we did against SCU and it's another ugly game, we likely lose. UP needs to take advantage of SMC's "situation", because you can bet the other teams in the WCC race will do just that.

I like our chances tonight if we shoot the ball half way decent and take care of the basketball. The defense has been pretty much a constant, so I'm not too worried about defense with this team.

IMO it's a winnable game, however, we'll be trading baskets in the beginning and it will be very close. From what saw of the second half of the SMC vs. Gonzaga game, TJ definitely has an advantage over the SMC pointguard now. Raivio is just having a great season, so I think our backcourt has an advantage. If we play tough and physical defensively against their frontcourt, I like our chances. It will take another team effort. Sikma had an awesome efficiency rating in the last game. Let's hope for more of the same.