The Really Big One.. Zags

Rochin54 wrote:Well, the last 8pm start time had me up until 2am to watch us squeak out the double OT victory. I would be thrilled to do the same tonight.....

onetouchfutbol wrote:we can do this

jees, I hope we don't get embarrassed badly

onetouchfutbol wrote:67-64 loss... Definitely a team loss: shot selection, turnovers, missed layups...and then those missed free throws by Sikma and Mitrovic toward the end were painful among other things. The guys played hard though, and the fans definitely did their part. How many more close losses can we have to these guys? Something has got to give...

adoptedzag wrote:

onetouchfutbol wrote:67-64 loss... Definitely a team loss: shot selection, turnovers, missed layups...and then those missed free throws by Sikma and Mitrovic toward the end were painful among other things. The guys played hard though, and the fans definitely did their part. How many more close losses can we have to these guys? Something has got to give...

plus 1

Tough loss tonight, but your team played well. I think the energy expended in the first half explosion really was tough to maintain. I told my wife that I'm glad you had that explosion in the first half rather than the second like you did against SMC. The zags wouldn't have been able to recover in time. It took over 20 minutes to recover from.

DaTruRochin wrote:Stomping on the P after the game is a pretty low brow, classless move. You've won 10 straight titles? Act like it.

Poor form Z***, poor form.

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:

DaTruRochin wrote:Stomping on the P after the game is a pretty low brow, classless move. You've won 10 straight titles? Act like it.

Poor form Z***, poor form.

Must not be a very good season if beating a mid-table team is cause for jumping around like you won the conference.

ShipstadPilot11 wrote:The students section is aggravating to me. We are reactionary.

The Pilots score and we get jacked up. That isn't the way it should be.

We should ALWAYS be loud, ESPECIALLY when the Pilots aren't scoring. We need to will THEM to win!!!

GAHHH!

The Gonzaga Bulldogs continued their domination of the Portland Pilots Thursday night at the Chiles Center.

Robert Sacre scored a game-high 17 points and Steve Gray added 15, leading the Bulldogs to a 67-64 West Coast Conference victory over the Pilots before a sellout crowd of 4,852.

David Stockton finished with 12 points and six assists, helping pace the Bulldogs (15-8, 5-3 WCC) to their 16th consecutive win over the Pilots and 15th in a row at the Chiles Center.

“It should hurt a little bit,” Pilots coach Eric Reveno said. “And it’s not because Gonzaga is Gonzaga or the record is what it is now, but it’s because we’re in a conference race and trying to compete.

“It’s disappointing, because I feel we could have made a few plays here or there and managed it a little better and got the win.”

The loss was especially tough for Luke Sikma and Portland’s other seniors to swallow, knowing that their only hope to ever beat Gonzaga during their careers is if they meet up again in next month's WCC Tournament in Las Vegas.

“This one definitely stinks,” said Sikma, who finished with 14 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. “If we want to get where we want to get, we’re likely to see them again. So, we’ve got to turn the page on this one, as tough as that might be.”

There was obviously a big-game atmosphere with the building being sold out for the first time this season, ESPN2 in the house, and an animated student section clad in "This Is Our House" t-shirts and Waving "We Zig (Not Zag)" sign cards.

The Pilots gave the crowd plenty to cheer about early, going 6 for 10 from the field, including 5 for 5 from three-point range, and jumping in front 14-7 after the first six minutes.

After Portland’s initial outburst, the game turned physical, which seemed to suit the Bulldogs more than it did the Pilots.

At one point, the Pilots turned the ball over five times in eight possessions and the Bulldogs went on a 14-3 run to pull within a point, 25—24, on Sacre’s turnaround jumper with 3:13 left in the half.

The Pilots never lost the lead and went to halftime leading 34-28 led by Jared Stohl’s 11 points and Sikma’s 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Sacre had 10 points to lead the Bulldogs, whose biggest issue coming out of the break was that reserves Marquise and Kelly Olynyk had three fouls each.

Aside from that, Gonzaga had a 22-8 advantage in points in the paint and had surrendered only one other three-pointer after the Pilots’ initial flurry. So although the Bulldogs trailed at the break, there was a sense that the momentum was swinging their direction.

“There were a bunch of balls we didn’t get to in the first half,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “So we went with guys that had shown they were going to go get the ball.”

Portland’s lead was 39-35 when Jasonn Hannibal made one of two free throws with 15:26 remaining. But then the Pilots scored only one basket over the next six minutes and the Bulldogs went on a 16-2 run to seize control.

Near the end of the run, the Pilots committed five turnovers over five consecutive possessions and saw Gonzaga’s lead go from 44-41 to 51-41 with 9:30 to play.

“We were stuck at 41 for a couple minutes there,” Sikma said. “We’ve got to find a way to take care of the ball even when we’re not scoring and make sure we get defensive stops. Those kind of go hand in hand -– if you take care of the ball, they can’t get out on the run and get easy baskets.”

Tim Douglas hit a three-pointer to pull the Pilots within 60-56 with 2:03 remaining, and then scored on a lay-in that made it 63-61 with 12 seconds play, but Gray answered with four consecutive free throws to putt the game out of reach.

“It was a game of swings where we got up early and we didn’t manage that lead well,” Reveno said. “People will talk about, ‘Oh, that’s the night you could have had Gonzaga.’ But we lost to them by three (81-78) here last year, too.

“This team is pretty good, and I think we were a play or two away, and that was disappointing. Give Gonzaga credit, too. They changed how they played a little bit and got physical, and they really tried to go at us inside.”

Stohl finished with 16 points and moved up to ninth place among Portland’s all-time scorers with 1,274 points, passing Floyd Banks (1,262) and Quentin Braxton (1,266).

Notes: Senior center Kramer Knutson made his 112th career start for the Pilots Thursday, tying the all-time career mark first set by Dionn Holton (1994-98). … Former Pilots golf coach and sports information director Mauro Potestio, who was recognized during Sunday’s 2010 Oregon Sports Awards with the first Ultimate Fan Award, missed Thursday’s game because of illness, ending his string of 898 consecutive home games.

Purplegeezer wrote:I remember when a zag team with Adam Morrison (gasp) went to mid court and applauded the Pilots fans. I think it was Rev's first year. That was classy, even if it was Morrison.

This bunch of jerks is not.

DJ Sherman wrote:Much of the above is true: opportunities were blown, the student section disorganization and the proliferation of "tourists" made the students less effective on key possessions, and the many zag players lack class.

However, I feel like the only person not rooting for the Zags who is not crushed by what happened on the floor. Sure, all those things have happened before, but they did what they did not do in spokanne the last two years: rally from a 10-point deficit. They cut the deficit to 2 with less than a minute left. They did not give up until the final whistle. This is a game I will remember for many bad reasons but also for the great examples of greatness tonight from the flash mob to the rally to little Quinn's Dougieing to making Jared smile a little after the game after telling him how proud I was of them for the rally.
A loss was expected; we were privileged to see an incredible game against a still physical team that preserved the status quo. Let's see how this goes in Vegas.
This season is far from over, there are three more weeks to finish strong. Neither is this fight against the Zags. They guys remained classy in defeat and have plenty of experience to rebound and rally over the rest of conference play. The conference season has lead to a large deficit; I trust the team to fight on even though an extra day of practice in Vegas seems in jeopardy.

Hopefully the students can show up in force for USF and Santa Clara, the guys will need all they can get!

The only thing I am not pleased with was Mauro Potestio's health. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. 898 games is an testament to fanhood. Think about all he has seen in those 61 seasons. To honor him and Clive, let's embrace the good that happened and have an awesome Saturday as the guys take on Seattle!

Pilots 'Til I Die!

MesaPilot1 wrote: in my PROTESTANT prayers!

Purplegeezer wrote:If it helps Mauro, I promise to go downtowm to Beth-Israel and participate in a Birkhat Ha‑Gomel.