Pilots get a mention on ESPN.com

Hey everyone,

Just poking through ESPN.com and noticed a little comment by Andy Katz in his Weekly Watch.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/notebook?page=notebook/weeklywatch0914

Check out the "What to do with..." section under St. Marys. There is a little line where it seems Andy Katz may be edging at the fact we have a better resume than the Gaels. Does this mean we should get an at-large? Or am I being too hopeful? Lol. The fact that there is even an inkling of a thought this may happen is a sign of how far the Pilots have come.

Its nice to know people do actually notice what's going on up on the Bluff. Oh how things have changed...

Great catch, jacks.

Do we have a better resume? I dont think so. But as you say, to even be getting these mentions.... what a difference the last 4 months makes...

Haha the mention was the most begrudged backhanded praise possible... Probably to not offend his bosom buddy from Spokane...

We may not have a better resume due to wins/losses but I think we had a much tougher schedule than St. Marys. Look at their major non-conf games: Oregon, Providence, Utah State, San Diego State, Kent State.

Look at ours: Washington, Oregon, BYU, Cal, Nevada (looks good on paper now they are 2nd in WAC)

You would have to say we had a tougher schedule. We did lose some games we should have won but overall we stack up pretty well against the Gaels. Especially considering we have a chance of finishing higher than them in conference. I'm not saying we will get in with the resume we have but i think we are worth a quick look. Which is a welcome change from the years past.

And i think we'll take any praise we can from those guys. But we know who gets preference in the WCC.

Although I doubt it will be taken into consideration: Consider what our record could be if Ethan had been healthy all year.

I'd guess we might have won against Northern Colorado, Oregon, and EWU. THAT would make our record considerably better (21-6).

That record plus a conf. tourney win would be close to a bid. That would have left us at about 24-7 (?) at the season end. You would have to think about us for post-season then. What a crazy thought.

At least i think we have a shot at the NIT this year. Especially if we finish with 20 wins and 2nd in the WCC. Probably even more of a shot if we get to the conf. tourney final.

No matter what, this year has to be considered a foundation for next year! We will be watched at the start of the season, and if we have continued success, we will be watched all next year.

up7587 wrote:No matter what, this year has to be considered a foundation for next year! We will be watched at the start of the season, and if we have continued success, we will be watched all next year.

ABSOLUTELY! The beauty of this is that we are graduating nobody and although I don't want to get ahead of myself and lose the excitement of this season's end, I am very excited to see what we are able to do next season.

Speaking of next season: I haven't heard too much about potential recruits. Has anybody heard anything about recruits?

I think we are all surprised at how fast the Pilots have risen. I feel like we all thought it could be another year or two away. Its a credit to Coach Rev and everyone involved.

cjacks14 wrote:I think we are all surprised at how fast the Pilots have risen. I feel like we all thought it could be another year or two away. Its a credit to Coach Rev and everyone involved.

That and the addition of a certain JUCO point guard...

Thank god for the 3-point line... lol

And I am very interested to see that this fast rise is not followed by a fall. Sustained success is based on strong stable coaching and good recruiting. With TJ and Nik both being Jrs., adding more shooters is a recruiting priority. Anybody know where the next Jared is coming from?

Surely they can find another skinny, white guy to bomb 3-balls all day! (No disrespect to Jared!)

Sorry, Jareds don't grow on trees. Not only is his shooting talent exceptional, but I appreciate how hard he is working to become a better defender so he can stay on the floor longer. A shooter does no good if the opponents outscore him at the other end, and Jared is contributing at both ends (at least to my amateur eye). It was kind of funny to watch him match up on Teel last night. He definitely is skinny!

He hasn't really gotten a chance to show it yet, but I remember hearing that the coaches were super impressed with Nemanja Mitrovic's shooting ability, saying he was one of the best shooters they saw while out recruiting. Perhaps our next great shooter is already on our bench!

I really hope so because its a huge plus to have shooters that can change the game so quickly.

Personally I'd look to the who the next PG is... Waterford has shown improvement, but after next year, he's the only one on the roster...