Seattle U @ Portland, Tuesday, 7pm

MesaPilot1 wrote: Oregon has this frosh that is very good, Ernie Kent just rav's about him to no end

He's not better than Garcia. As far as raw athleticism, there hasn't been anyone in the Chiles center that good in a while.

Adult beverages?! Dont mind if I do!

Atmosphere is getting better. Students are there, but obviously need to learn how to make more noise (except the first couple rows--those guys are great!)

Unfortunately, its going to take a few marquee wins to dramatically increase attendance. A win over Oregon will help, and certainly UCLA. The more press we get the better. Seeing us play on ESPN over Thanksgiving will also help. Unfortunately, potential and good press doesnt instantly put butts in seats... we have both of those, but now just need to deliver in the W department... I expect it will take until about conference time (assuming we do well until then) before there is a dramatic increase in attendance...

Mesa, I dont know what you will be wearing when you come to town; you haven't ordered your PN t-shirts yet!

I was surprised by some of the stats. Pilots made more free throws than I thought; I guess I just remember the misses by Nik and TJ. 25 of 31 is pretty good. Weird that the six misses came from our two senior guards.

When Seattle pressed in the 2nd half, I thought they rattled the Pilots for a bit, but eventually it seemed to get them out of their rhythm more than it affected us.

Seattle Times write-up by Bob Condotta.

Video highlights are up!

Click Here For the Highlights!

Thanks Coky. Those were great.

They included T.J's circus shot, but left out another one by Robin. I almost don't like to see those go in, because I fear they'll keep trying to put up crazy shots. But last night they were falling.

If OregonLive were on top of things I would link Jim Beseda's game story that appeared in the print version of the O today. I will say I agreed with his impressions.

The Pilots actually were all right on offense in the first half and we could have had a nice lead if not for a lot of missed short range shots. I liked Robin's defense as well as his scoring last night.

Martell Webster was with Roy last night. Seattle boys running together. When some of the women soccer players went up to him Brandon probably was all, "OMG, the Pilot soccer team! Great to meet you, I'm such a big fan. You're sooooo awesome!"

Or something like that.

OK... game report time!

Lots has been said already... our offense was very patient and efficient. It was a fast-paced game, but it didn't feel like a wild and out-of-control game where we were just throwing up shots and somehow managed to get up to 98. No, it was disciplined and came through tons of good open looks and nice individual moves by Smeulders and Campbell.

MVPs are Smeulders in the first half (he kept us in it when Garcia was going off) and Campbell in the second half (he put the team on his back and just took over). TJ was very, very impressive... I would love to see him that aggressive every game. He dominated that one stretch of the game midway through the second half so thoroughly it was a sight to behold - driving to the hoop and finishing, setting up teammates, good defense... damn he's a great player. What a difference maker.

And what can you say about Smeulders? He stepped up huge last night and really showed some great moves in the paint. Two consecutive games we've had different big guys come through - Sikma against EWU and Smeulders against Seattle. To reach the heights we want to reach, we need that. I love seeing it.

Raivio is so solid... it's almost as though we forget about what he does. 9 boards last game, 10 boards last night... plus double-digit scoring and consistent outside shooting... the guy is a stud.

Nice to see Stohl do what he does - he's just so automatic it's ridiculous. I'm shocked when he misses.

Waterford struggled in his brief appearance... would be nice to get him on-line because I do like his athleticism off the bench.

Still no word on BJ... Coach Wolf spoke at Captain Wally's and said that he was given a leave of absense to take care of some family issues. He said there was no time-table for his return. Here's hoping that it's nothing too serious and that he'll be back with the Pilots very soon!

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:If OregonLive were on top of things I would link Jim Beseda's game story that appeared in the print version of the O today. I will say I agreed with his impressions.

Here it is: LINK

I would insert a word for Sikma, great rebounding in second half as well as being the main obstacle in Garcia's path holding him to nine pts in that period and just wearing Garcia out mostly. A great team effort as well.

Combined starting backcourt stats for Campbell/Raivio:

38 pts, 10 rebounds 13 assists...and only 6 turnovers. Aww...yeah.

http://www.portlandpilots.com/custompages/Basketball-M/2009-10/pormbb02.htm

SU bounces back to beat Fresno St. @ Key Arena, 85-84.

Andy Katz had Fresno State as one of 10 teams primed to rise this season...

Fresno State
2008-09 season: 3-13 WAC, 13-21 overall

Reason for optimism: Paul George. Can I say it again? Paul George. He is a star and one of the NEXT athletes ESPN has been pushing. The Bulldogs under Steve Cleveland have been all over the place, but there is a sense that things should settle down in a league that doesn't have an intimidating team. Sure, Utah State is the favorite in the WAC, and Nevada has Luke Babbitt, but it's not as if Fresno State can't climb from three wins to at least eight in the league.

What could happen: The Bulldogs should be in the mix, at least in the middle of the pack.

What's likely to happen: Expect Fresno State to affect the WAC race but fall short of a postseason berth.

Paul George... who initially declared to Santa Clara, then was poached by Vance Walberg of Pepperdine, and then ended up at Fresno State after the Walberg situation blew up. Funny how things work out.

I don't know if Seattle counts for our RPI or anything (since they aren't technically D1, though they're playin an all-D1 schedule) but they've been playing well and have even got some attention from Andy Katz

@ESPNAndyKatz This is no joke now. Cameron Dollar and Seattle followed wins over Weber and Fresno by winning at Utah. Charles Garcia avg. 24 ppg. about 5 hours ago

This certainly can't be bad for us!

Charles Garcia is a monster. One of the better one-man shows I have seen in the Chiles Center.

ShipstadPilot11 wrote:I don't know if Seattle counts for our RPI or anything (since they aren't technically D1, though they're playin an all-D1 schedule) but they've been playing well and have even got some attention from Andy Katz

@ESPNAndyKatz This is no joke now. Cameron Dollar and Seattle followed wins over Weber and Fresno by winning at Utah. Charles Garcia avg. 24 ppg. about 5 hours ago

This certainly can't be bad for us!

They are D1. Last year they played a mixed schedule, this year it is all D1. They will be tournament eligible next year.

They beat Utah last night, BTW.

I put the odds of them joining the WCC within the next 5 years at nearly 100%, but then I am an optimist. The question in my mind is not whether the Redhawks will join the league, it's whether they will bring someone along--is it still likely that Pacific U would want to join? Denver? I appreciate that the league then has to split its share of playoff/television revenue more thinly, but this expansion is hard to refuse, I assume.

Pacific would need to get on the road to becoming D1 if they want to join, right?

ShipstadPilot11 wrote:Pacific would need to get on the road to becoming D1 if they want to join, right?

The Pacific in Stockton, CA... not Forest Grove, OR.

Seattle (the City) is a perfect addition to the conference, geography and potential population/market wise... Pacific is a close second, as it would bring Sacramento into the fold. I think a solid hoops program he next couple years (even if their other sports lag behind) will go a long way towards polishing their resume to join, but they still have significant "facility" concerns (and few easy fixes--the SU campus is somewhat land-locked, with little room to expand). Pacific is already there, obviously. Rumor has it that Denver wants in really bad, and is willing to do whatever it take$.

wrv I recently watched Denver lose to Montana. I was impressed with their squad and their coach appeared to be a bright young coach like Rev. They did blow a 15+ point lead in the 2nd half. But, it was against a fair Montana team that surprised Oregon the other night.

From what I've heard it is an excellent academic institution and Colorado is just a short plane ride down from the Northwest.

I'm bringing back this thread to note SU is up 14 on OSU at halftime in Corvallis. They did it mostly without Charles Garcia, who played only 6 minutes with foul trouble. SU is outrebounding the Beavers on both ends, is playing tough D in the post, and nailing 3s.

Yep, they're up 60-49 the last I heard. This continues to be one of our best RPI victories of the season. Garcia is a beast now. How did we stop him?

Though SU's RPI is in the 200s, I would agree that the win over them was very good, especially to do so in the first official game of the year and in a runaway.

Looking back at the boxscore Garcia got 30, so we didn't stop him, but only one other player was in double figures with 12, so we stopped everyone else well enough.

SU is up 50 with about 2 minutes to play. Not much of an OSU effort.