Gonzaga at Portland, Saturday 7:00 PM

Tough loss, good effort though, just didn't have some of the lucky shots and or bounces when the game would get close after a run by the Pilots. Surprisingly close game considering Nik didn't have to carry the team on his back either. I was impressed with TJ's moves it reminded me of him during the Anaheim Classic. What great passing, I would like to see that continue against better WCC teams.

Good job Pilots! even though the loss is tough to swallow


MesaPilot1


PS -As director of officiating for the WCC I was OK if Big Game Dave was there grading his guys. Just so he doesnt put a striped shirt on.

Well, in the 81-78 loss to Gonzaga we did play well enough to still be considered a good second place WCC team. We were in it until the very end when Stohl's three point attempt that rattled out of the rim easily could have forced an overtime period. On the positive note, we were very resilient and almost forced overtime. We scrapped, competed, and battled. Our defense really dropped their shooting percentage a lot by the end of the game. GU shot 70% in the first half, but, only 49% for the game. If you're a glass half full person, there is a lot to build on here.

However, it's tough not to get frustrated by our 55% free throw shooting. In a close 3 point game, that could have made all the difference. I'm sorry but 11 for 20 at the line is just awful and inexcusable for a senior-laden team playing at home. Though we competed, this isn't really a rivalry until we win one.

One of the cool moments of the game for me was when the announcers mentioned Luke Sikma doing "the Sikma move" like his Dad where he undercut the defender with a sweeping motion with his hands and faded away for a jump shot. I liked that. Frustrating but still an entertaining game for me.

Come on, Pilots...

That game came down to 7 letters... B-o-l K-o-n-g... He did a little bit of everything in that second half keeping his team in front nailing timely shots to doing a great job on Jered, that kid's gonna be a huge factor in WCC play, especially when guys like Sacre and Gray decide they don't want to play. Aside from our continued woes from the FT line I think the big difference was the second chance points, GU was ALL over their own misses and a high percentage of them were put backs for easy buckets.

That said, the guys put forth a solid effort, TJ has some phenomenal passes (12 ast, 0 TO?!?), and I can't say enough about Robin's work in the paint, he out played every player they put on him. I've been waiting for a breakout game from him and this was a good start in conference play for him. Jared's ability to threaten from DEEP is really going to start opening up the defense a little bit, just look what it did for Robin!

This was a winnable game that was let slip away at the FT line. Ethan, Nik and TJ going 1 of 10 from three range also didn't help the cause. Pilots made two more baskets, one 2 and one 3, than GU, but 8 fewer FT's.

On a positive note, much better showing by Pilot fans than previous years. The 'red' sections were noticeably smaller. I'm sure it was a great game for TV, with surges by both teams at various points in the game. For sure nobody left early. And I really enjoyed the two times a GU shooter got stuffed by our guys. And only 4 total TO's for UP, and only 11 in the game combined!

The next game is the most important game of the season!

up7587 wrote:The next game is the most important game of the season!

Yep. And yes, it was a very watchable game on TV (even if I did have to deal with the Z team announcers)

I hate moral victories. After the "statement" talk on the Zag board, the only statement they made is that they are beatable.

We get two more chances at them. The next will be pretty tough, but the last time we beat them was in Spokane.

We just needed to shoot a little better, or hit our free throws.

On to the next one. Good effort.

Also, nice job by the marketing department to get a filled arena that wasn't a zag crowd. I'm sure they could have sold out to Zag fans with less effort, but they didn't. Now if we can just have the other games be like that.

Of course I'm disappointed in the loss, but they had a chance at the end. Earlier today I was wondering if they could just keep it close. If they could have made a few FTs, grabbed some more rebounds that turned into Gonzaga offensive rebounds, made some more shots, etc...

Sobotka was on the postgame show and said the feeling among the team was of a game that got away. I like that attitude from them.

There was no statement by the Zag fans at the end, that's for sure. They were too happy to leave with the win to start chanting about whose house it was.

Now some other random observations:

If you're wondering about Ryan Schaefer, he and Cody were working out (and I mean working) with Coach Jackson before the game. He had a knee brace on but was moving fine. It's amazing to me how much attention these coaches pay to the little details of something as basic as a pick-and-roll. It was cool seeing it dissected like that.

I already knew Pew was the biggest whiner of a coach in the NW, but he also has a set of ASSistants that get up and do some of the crying for him. To me his antics make him just plain unlikable and irritating. Contrast that with Rev, who was telling his bench to settle down a couple times when they didn't like a call.

Great job by the student section to show up the weekend before school starts. Now maybe they will keep coming after this game. I could do without the guys sitting behind me, though. All night all they could do was pick apart what the Pilots were doing wrong and talk about how Gonzaga was doing things better. Well no crud, geniuses, that's because Gonzaga is a good team. Maybe you should address your concerns to Rev since you have such basketball knowledge. Or just STHU.

And what is the deal with the students going nuts over "Party In The USA" One of life's little mysteries...

That's about it for me. USD is 5 days away. Back to work.

DaTruRochin wrote: That game came down to 7 letters... B-o-l K-o-n-g... He did a little bit of everything in that second half keeping his team in front nailing timely shots to doing a great job on Jered, that kid's gonna be a huge factor in WCC play, especially when guys like Sacre and Gray decide they don't want to play. Aside from our continued woes from the FT line I think the big difference was the second chance points, GU was ALL over their own misses and a high percentage of them were put backs for easy buckets.

That said, the guys put forth a solid effort, TJ has some phenomenal passes (12 ast, 0 TO?!?), and I can't say enough about Robin's work in the paint, he out played every player they put on him. I've been waiting for a breakout game from him and this was a good start in conference play for him. Jared's ability to threaten from DEEP is really going to start opening up the defense a little bit, just look what it did for Robin!

What he said. And only 4 TO total for the Pilots. Amazing.

I loved watching Robin work tonight. He's got a nice array of moves down low.

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:And what is the deal with the students going nuts over "Party In The USA" One of life's little mysteries...

HAAHAHAHAHAHA... One of my friends was at a TT at the T-room a few months ago and had a similar experience... Kids these days have zero taste. Although I'm sure The Geez has similar sentiments about us...

Not much to add, other than what has been said. A solid very performance by TJ and Robin... missed FT's and GU's 2nd chance points were the story here.

Jared also played a great game... hitting his shots and some nice passes.

Great job by the ticket folks.... very much a UP crowd tonight.

I think we showed tonight that we are still very much a challenger for a top-2 finish in conference.

Not too much to add here either. I wanted to sleep on it before I commented. I really thought Stohl was going to hit that Sean Elliot "Memorial Day Miracle" three to tie it up. What a great shooter. How many times did we let them go on an 8-0, 10-2ish run? Seemed like everytime we got within 4, about 30 seconds later we were down double digits. Robin had a great performance, I really didn't realize how many points he scored until I checked the boxscore at the end of the game. 4 Turnovers, we gotta win that game.

Also, what was with Tim McCormick? He has the biggest man-crush on Matt Bouldin ever.

I will say this - that's the quietest I've ever heard a Zags crowd (and there still were a good number of them; more than most visitors bring) at the end of one of these games.

That's a start.

Ultimately, I think the misses from the line hurt...but it's OK. If Rev and the boys can take what happened and learn from it and use it to their advantage, I like our odds!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that. It sounded on TV as though Pilot fans might have actually outnumbered Bulldog fans. Also, the announcers made a comment about how many Gonzaga fans made the trip for the game. Actually guys, about 15 of them "made the trip," the rest of them live in Portland because it is 1,000% better than Spokane.

mattywizz wrote:Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that. It sounded on TV as though Pilot fans might have actually outnumbered Bulldog fans. Also, the announcers made a comment about how many Gonzaga fans made the trip for the game. Actually guys, about 15 of them "made the trip," the rest of them live in Portland because it is 1,000% better than Spokane.

We didn't even need to pull out the "You live in Spokane" chant.

If the play by play guy announced him as "former Michigan Wolverine" Tim McCormick one more time... No but seriously, his Bouldin crush could get any worse, I'd suggest Matt get a restraining order.

Bouldin does a great job playing against guys he's physically bigger than (as he did last night), I'll give him that... But "most complete guard in the nation, top lottery pick, etc., etc." pump the hyperbole brakes there Timmy boy...

Better yet, maybe Matt should go pro right now, today!

And what is the deal with the students going nuts over "Party In The USA" confused Question One of life's little mysteries...

And what was the deal with the 'name that tune' contestants that couldn't get "Back in Black"?

up7587 wrote:Better yet, maybe Matt should go pro right now, today!

And what is the deal with the students going nuts over "Party In The USA" confused Question One of life's little mysteries...

And what was the deal with the 'name that tune' contestants that couldn't get "Back in Black"?

The only reason they knew "Fear the Reaper" was because it was the centerpiece of a Saturday Night Live sketch. Fact.

Glad to know ESPN's GU hype machine is in good working order. I'll be watching the DVR with the sound turned down, then...

up7587 wrote:And what was the deal with the 'name that tune' contestants that couldn't get "Back in Black"?

To be fair, the contestants weren't born when Back in Black was released, but that had to be the worst timeout entertainment ever. Painful to watch

What, you liked the two year old Michael Jackson imitator better?!

up7587 wrote:What, you liked the two year old Michael Jackson imitator better?!

...Oscar the Grouch did...

That kid was the best timeout entertainment of the game!

PilotNut wrote:That kid was the best timeout entertainment of the game!

Looked like Public Safety begged to differ. Was pretty damn funny, so that's too bad!

DaTruRochin wrote:If the play by play guy announced him as "former Michigan Wolverine" Tim McCormick one more time... No but seriously, his Bouldin crush could get any worse, I'd suggest Matt get a restraining order.

Bouldin does a great job playing against guys he's physically bigger than (as he did last night), I'll give him that... But "most complete guard in the nation, top lottery pick, etc., etc." pump the hyperbole brakes there Timmy boy...

Seriously. The quote of him being the best player to come out of Colorado since Chancey Billups was ridiculous. But, honestly if our team had defended better and kept Bouldin from making all of those assists on backdoor shots that allowed Gonzaga to shoot 70% from the field, we wouldn't have had to listen to all of that bleep.

PilotDrummer wrote:

up7587 wrote:What, you liked the two year old Michael Jackson imitator better?!

...Oscar the Grouch did...

I liked the Count with his "Count on Campbell" sign. Get it?

"Vun! Vun no-look behind-the-back pass, ah ah ah."

I had a great blazers advertising campaign designed while in college involving the count and Juan Dixon...

The count is WAY underutilized...