UP vs. West Virginia 11/29 7 pm PST ESPN 2

Two out of three was not a bad weekend. You have to be pretty good to baat the Pilots. Bring on the Vikings.

TJ made the all tournament team. I though I heard them mention Jared, too.

Blah... would have loved to have kept it closer at the end (I'll admit to getting very fired up when we made our little run and Jared had that open look in the corner that would have cut it to , but tonight was an example of running into a team that is just flat out better. West Virginia really impressed me - great shooting, great rebounding, really tough defense with their tall guards... we just really didn't have an answer. And Butler was awesome... that guy is a pro for sure. I bet WVU stays in the Top 10 for much of the year.

As for the Pilots... love how we showed no quit and kept scratching and clawing to get back in it. No quit in them, which I love. Kramer had a nice game, TJ had to fight really hard for what he got, Nik had some moments... but overall we were just fighting to keep our heads above water. But no shame in that - West Virginia was just too much to handle.

Despite tonight, you can't look at this weekend as anything but a smashing success. We put ourselves on the map and in the national consciousness. People are starting to get to know who the Portland Pilots are... and we put ourselves in a position to, if we take care of business where we need to, be in the bubble conversation. AMAZING.

We were simply not the better team tonight.... lets not let this take away from a great weekend of basketball for the Pilots. WVU was a VERY solid team tonight, and it would have taken a perfect game to beat them, which we were far from having... and our shots were not falling (not to mention getting severely out-rebounded).

I wish we could have kept the final score closer, but.... none the less, I am VERY proud of our Pilots so far this season... Let's take it to PSU on Wednesday.

Let's all be thankful for this weekend , remember those recent 9-22 seasons. MOST IMPORTANLY , LETS REMEMBER WE JUST HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO PLAY THE NUMBER 8 TEAM IN THE NATION.


pILOTS ARE GOING PLACES...NCAA'S HERE WE COME, YES

2nd place in this tourney, with these teams.... nothing to be ashamed of.

I am soooooo impressed with our coaches and team to get us to this point... We have elevated ourselves to be in the national conciousness, and hopefully in "the conversation" come March should we not get the WCC auto-bid.

We have a great season ahead of us, and let us now focus on taking it to PSU on Wednesday!

I'm with Mesa on this. I just don't see anybody else we play as being as good as WVA. This team can still really shine. and it will get better along the way.

First of all congratulations to the Pilots for a great weekend and the start of what will be a successful season.
What I liked about tonights game despite the score not favoring us at the end was our composure compared to the last two nights. We didint have nearly as many turnovers and looked more composed than at the start of the UCLA and Minnesota game. I also loved our tenacity until the very end, the kids dont have "quit" in their vocabulary.
What was glaringly evident was WVU ability to outrebound us. That was the difference in the game, not our cold shooting but our giving up second and third shots. The good news it is fixable and no doubt will be a point of emphasis in the next practice.
Keep up the great work Pilots we are rooting for you!

Giving up 2nd and 3rd shots so consistently is a symptom of not only the height differential, and probably more so staying in a zone defense and double teaming in the corners the whole game.

I loved the 40 minute effort of the pilots, but as has been noted, the Mountaineers are just damn good, and that Huggins guy isn't too shabby himself.

Moving forward, best weekend in Pilot basketball I've ever seen, time to take the lessons learned, and take out the Viks and Vandals!!

ESPNs college basketball section headline:

The Pilots finally landed. West Virginia led nearly the entire game
en route to a 76 Classic title, easily beating Portland 84-66

Wow, we must have been doing something really wrong if we had a boat out of the water.... Haha maybe we should have stuck with the good ol wheel on the logo...

Oh man... even the Oregonian's stringer from LA made the same mistake:

"Pilots fall from sky, can't keep up in final"

http://www.oregonlive.com/pilots/index.ssf/2009/11/no_8_west_virginia_84_portland.html

I realize when you hear the word "Pilot" you don't automatically think riverboats, but really... shouldn't someone at the O know that we aren't fighter pilots? Hrumph. If that shows up in the print edition I will be very annoyed.

i might have to create a log-in name just to leave a snide comment about seeing a riverboat fall from the sky.

I am a little disappointed we lost last night...but seriously, we are not on the level of WVU. They are legit, would not be surprised if by the end of the season they are in the number one seed argument.

Our three point shooting was down, a big reason was that we didn't get the open looks we normally do. They had very good pressure defense.

Rebounding was a little bit of an issue. They outrebounded us by 12. But if I remember correctly they were up bu about 10 boards in the first 6 minutes. Also, they had at least 6 "long" offensive rebounds that bounced before being corraled. Those are somewhat hard-luck rebounds. Although, they were also bigger and more athletic than us.

Turnovers were much better last night. Only 13, but there were a few bad ones. I really like Luke Sikma, but man, sometimes he turns the ball over making really bad decisions.

Who was that guy in the grey sweatpants behind the Pilot bench? Why do I have the feeling he is related to MESAPILOT?

Overall though, I am pleased with the performance. I think the score was somewhat indicative of the game. I love that we made a run to cut the lead to exactly 10 with a few minutes left. Then we started fouling...they made FT and we missed FG. I think if we had not resorted to that tactic, we could have finished in the 8-14 point defecit range (not that that matters all that much). Definitely love the fight that the guys put up. Realistically, that would have been a HUGE upset last night.

It's nice that we are losing to a top 10 team and accepting it because they are a better team than doing so against a lower division team. Thanks coach Rev and the guys for giving us such an entertaining 3 game tourney to watch!!

I can't help but think that that types of guys Rev has signed for next year could help us in a game like that, which is a good sign for the program.

NO shame in losing to WVU.

Bob Huggins, did watch and listen to him. You would have thought the Mountaineers were down by 10-20. He demands every play, minute and effort 100%.

Very few wide open 3's to launch. Like SMC historically, live and die by the 3 ball. When the 3 ball is going in the round thing, UP capable of at-large consideration. Just waiting on the Polls to see the Press and Coaches validation of UP and GU after a fantastic week.

Tho we lost to WVU I was really happy to see the grit and determination our guys were showing. Especially, I might add, Kramer's showing in the paint. He finishe very well. He is giving a very good prescence in the middle and improving game to game.

oops

Purplegeezer wrote:TJ made the all tournament team. I though I heard them mention Jared, too.

I missed it when they briefly talked about it, and I don't see anything on the tournament web site.

WVU would challenge any top 10 team in the nation. Despite the loss, the Pilots are on the national scene now and ranked. You guys should be might proud.

mattywizz wrote: Who was that guy in the grey sweatpants behind the Pilot bench? Why do I have the feeling he is related to MESAPILOT?

Mesa said a bunch of Kramer's people were there and Kramer's brother will be coming to Chiles for the LMU/Pepperdine weekend.

Knutson family gatherings must be really...interesting....

You referring to the guy with the basketball on his head?

I recall seeing him with the Knutson gang in Vegas last year...

So 2 teams from the field of the 76 Classic are in the Final Four...

I'd say that makes it a pretty decent tournament. Who was the second-place team?!?!