WCC League Play Begins

"I'd better hustle into the arc so I can draw a charge"

FYI: For those of you in the Northwest that want a scouting report on our next opponents, set your DVRs to CSN (Comcast Sports Northwest) for USF at St. Mary's at 1AM Tuesday morning. For MesaPilot, PPTrumpet, me, and on occasion, Geez, that's simply early Monday night.

In San Francisco for the 49ers game, and just back from a pregame party at Fior d'Italia -- no one knew or cared about the Pilots/Dons game Thursday night. I mentioned being bummed by the result. Being a SF crowd, they reminded me of Afghanistan, Iran, and homelessness. I didn’t feel better, but I’m reminded of the BIG PICTURE.

So, just a few notes about Saturdays WCC games:

Surprise, St. Mary’s is favored over UP by 28 points with a confidence of 98%! (I don’t think I’ve seen odds like that before); game at 8pm, delayed TV on CSN @ 9.

BYU favored by 25 over SCU on ESPNU @ 5pm; GU over LMU by 11; delayed TV @ 9:30 on ROOT; and USF over PU by 10 on CSN @ 1:30 (all times PST).

Turnovers.


We made the over/under with room to spare. Considering what they did to the Zags and what the dogs did to us.....

It gives one hope that the return match could be madame if we take care of the ball better. So far it marches the last several years.



It still seems like we are seeing both ethe good and bad of a young team with talent. I sure hope we crest the hill...

Back from SF where, as a 49er fan since the Y.A. Tittle days, I saw the most exciting 49er game ever.

Due to the extended celebration, showed up late for the Pilots game at St. Mary’s, and only saw the second half, but I really liked what I saw except for one glaring weakness – TURNOVERS!!!!! I bet we had a 30 point turnaround on turnovers alone.

I know, I know, Tim had a bunch of assists, but we need to be a lot stronger at the PG position. I don’t have a solution, but we’ve got to be stronger on the dribble, the passing, and we need to play strong enough going to the hoop to either score or draw fouls. I like everything else I saw. Thomas and Ryan played huge!

How’d Rev let Stephen Holt leave Portland for St. Mary’s?

Opponent preview: you can see our next opponent, San Diego, at home tomorrow against BYU on BYUtv at 7pm. BYU is favored by 19 with a 93% probability. UPSET ALERT: San Diego beat Santa Clara 75-62 on the road three days ago, and looked good doing it.

DoubleDipper wrote:Opponent preview: you can see our next opponent, San Diego, at home tomorrow against BYU on BYUtv at 7pm. BYU is favored by 19 with a 93% probability. UPSET ALERT: San Diego beat Santa Clara 75-62 on the road three days ago, and looked good doing it.

San Diego looks to be a critical game. At 2-3, Pilots are still in 5th place in the league. There is quite a divide between haves and have nots: SMC, GU and BYU combined are 14-2, while USD, Pepp and SCU combined are 2-12. With the next three games at home, a couple wins would place us strongly in the middle tier.

up7587 wrote:

DoubleDipper wrote:Opponent preview: you can see our next opponent, San Diego, at home tomorrow against BYU on BYUtv at 7pm. BYU is favored by 19 with a 93% probability. UPSET ALERT: San Diego beat Santa Clara 75-62 on the road three days ago, and looked good doing it.

San Diego looks to be a critical game. At 2-3, Pilots are still in 5th place in the league. There is quite a divide between haves and have nots: SMC, GU and BYU combined are 14-2, while USD, Pepp and SCU combined are 2-12. With the next three games at home, a couple wins would place us strongly in the middle tier.

I wouldn't count on USD upsetting BYU at all. BYU's program is just at a different level than USD right now, and I don't think beating SCU is a good baromoter of anything at this point. They just beat a bad team by 13 points.

Right now, St. Mary's is the team in the driver's seat in the WCC though with home wins over both BYU and Gonzaga. At home at least, they have been very, very tough. If they split against BYU and Gonzaga on the road and hold their own against the rest of the teams, they will be sitting pretty. I think it will all depend on their ability to play defense on the road...as they have sometimes followed up big home wins with road losses in recent years (For example, beating Gonzaga and later losing to us last year)...

onetouchfutbol wrote:I wouldn't count on USD upsetting BYU at all. BYU's program is just at a different level than USD right now, and I don't think beating SCU is a good baromoter of anything at this point. They just beat a bad team by 13 points.

You were correct, BYU beat USD 82-63. I was actually writing of USD's chances against the Pilots when I wrote of a possible upset, but sometimes English as my first language isn't the best.

The Pilots are currently favored in only one game for the remainder of their season; it is the game Thursday, at home, against USD. When I spoke of an upset it was meant to be shorthand for, "we can't overlook USD," they are apparently improving as the season progresses.

After losing by 36 at BYU to open WCC play, they then lost to SMC by 6, LMU by 11, and then beat SCU on the road before losing to BYU again, this time at home by 19. They are improving.

However, I do not think SCU is "bad team," nor do others. After a little looking around, I note most polls favor SCU in 4 of their remaining regular season WCC games; 3 more than the Pilots.