Pilots vs. Pepperdine, Saturday at 1:00 pm, on Root Sports

by Guest Fri Feb 08, 2013 1:56 pm

Another big opportunity for the boys on Saturday. Pepperdine has lost 7 of 8 since beating us at their place, only beating @LMU by 3. They got blasted by the Zags last night (who hasn't), but they did play BYU tough a week ago in a 2 point loss. They will be a tougher challenge than the Lions, I think.

I would love to see continued good shooting, opening up the inside-outside game, and better patience on breakaway opportunites. Wild long passes and missed lay-up chances won't cut it against the Waves.

I'd talk about the Wave players, but I looked at their roster and frankly don't recognize any names. They don't rely on a star, just several players who all contribute. For the season, they are shooting 37% from 3pt, and taking 30% of their shots from long range. Defending the perimeter and rebounding misses will be key. LMU was able to generate some 2nd chances from long rebounds last night.

And of course, the biggest key will be not giving up easy points off of turnovers. Beating a Dead Horse

by **PilotNut** Fri Feb 08, 2013 7:25 pm

Pilots Host Pepperdine in WCC Game of the Week Saturday Afternoon

Portland Pilots (9-16, 2-8 ) vs. Pepperdine Waves (10-13, 2-8 )
Date: Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013
Tip-off: 1:00 p.m. (PST)
Location: Portland, Ore.
Arena: Chiles Center (4,852)
Television: ROOT Sports NW, CSN-California, Time Warner Cable SportsNet
Radio: 800 AM
Overall Series: 33-55
At UP: 18-23
At PEP: 13-27
At Neutral: 2-5
Last: PEP 54, POR 47 (Jan. 5, 2013 at Pepperdine)

GAME INFORMATION
• Portland hosts the Pepperdine Waves on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Chiles Center.
• The Pilots will look for a home sweep after defeating LMU 69-60 on Thursday.
• Saturday’s game is Military Appreciation Day as the 204th Army Band will be on hand. All active and retired military personnel will receive free admission to the game. There will also be a Kids Zone with inflatables and other activities. The team will also have a post-game autograph zone for fans.
• Tickets are still available by calling the Pilot Box Office at (503) 943-7525.

GAME COVERAGE
• Saturday’s game is the WCC Game of the Week and will air live on ROOT Sports Northwest, Comcast SportsNet California and Time Warner Cable SportsNet. The game will be preceded by a 30-minute WCC Pregame Show. Ari Wolfe and Dan Belluomini will provide the commentary.
• All Portland basketball games will be on the radio live on True Talk 800 AM with Bill Johnson calling the play-by-play and a 30-minute pregame show.

ABOUT PEPPERDINE
• The Waves (10-13, 2-8 WCC) dropped an 82-56 road decision to No. 6 Gonzaga on Thursday and have lost four in a row.
• Pepperdine and Portland are tied for seventh in the league standings.
• Senior G Loren Jackson, who redshirted last season with a knee injury, leads Pepperdine in scoring at 14.1 points per game, while sophomore G Jordan Baker (11.2) and freshman F Stacy Davis (11.0) also are in double figures.
• Marty Wilson is in his second season as head coach after previously serving as an assistant under Tom Asbury .
• Wilson and the Waves were picked to finish last in the WCC by the league’s head coaches in the preseason poll.

by DoubleDipper Fri Feb 08, 2013 8:00 pm

PilotNut wrote:
• Saturday’s game is Military Appreciation Day as the 204th Army Band will be on hand. All active and retired military personnel will receive free admission to the game. There will also be a Kids Zone with inflatables and other activities. The team will also have a post-game autograph zone for fans.

Bring a vet and/or a kid; they'll enjoy the experience! Basketball

by DoubleDipper Fri Feb 08, 2013 8:18 pm

up7587 wrote:I'd talk about the Wave players, but I looked at their roster and frankly don't recognize any names. They don't rely on a star, just several players who all contribute. For the season, they are shooting 37% from 3pt, and taking 30% of their shots from long range.

WCC Stats only......Jordan Baker is tied for 12th in scoring (13.1) and 11th in assists (2.7) ... Lorne Jackson is tied for 12th in scoring (13.1), second in steals (2.1) and 10th in assists (3.3) ... Stacy Davis is 22nd in scoring (10.5) and tied for second in rebounding (8.1) ... Moriba De Freitas is 19th in rebounding (4.5) and ninth in blocked shots (0.9) ... Nikolas Skouen is tied for 30th in scoring (7.9), fifth in three-point percentage (.514) and eighth in three-pointers made (1.9).

The Waves' depth, which took a hit in early January, continues to be an issue. Caleb Willis, a two-year starter and a senior who was leading the team in assists, became academically ineligible at the start of the spring semester. Also, Malte Kramer is out indefinitely with mononucleosis. The Waves have only nine scholarship players on the court at the moment, and the 11 available players consist of one senior, two juniors, four sophomores and four freshmen.

Back on Jan. 5 in Malibu ... Stacy Davis posted a double-double and Austin Mills sparked a big second-half comeback as the Waves rallied to beat Portland, 54-47. The Waves trailed by 12 on three occasions in the second half, last at 39-27 with 13:16 left. Mills then scored the first seven points of a 12-0 run that tied the score, and the Waves later broke a 43-43 tie with a 5-0 run to help put the Pilots away. Davis had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Mills scored eight points. The Waves committed a season-low six turnovers, had a season-best +9 turnover margin and had a 17-8 edge in points off turnovers. The Waves won despite their worst shooting night of the season (35.7%) and matched what was then their season low for points scored, but held Portland to 33.3% shooting (the Pilots made one of their final 11 attempts).

by Guest Sat Feb 09, 2013 10:49 am

Of note....45 WCC games played to this point and 12 have been blowouts (winning margins of 20+)....the highest blowout rate of any of the 32 D-1 conferences.

by DoubleDipper Sat Feb 09, 2013 11:00 am

DeanMurdoch wrote:Of note....45 WCC games played to this point and 12 have been blowouts (winning margins of 20+)....the highest blowout rate of any of the 32 D-1 conferences.

Probably shouldn't start chanting, "We're number one." Razz

by dholcombe Sat Feb 09, 2013 11:09 am

The bottom of the conference has some catching up to do....

by oldtimer Sat Feb 09, 2013 1:30 pm

Rough first 12 minutes. Might want to play to your strengths

by oldtimer Sat Feb 09, 2013 1:51 pm

That shot was out of his hand. I cant believe the WCC puts such a weak official contingent together. At $1000.00 a game one would thing there might be a better talent pool.

by onetouchfutbol Sat Feb 09, 2013 3:52 pm

dholcombe wrote:The bottom of the conference has some catching up to do....

That´s putting it nicely. There are some just plain awful teams in the WCC this year, and unfortunately, we are probably one of them. If you are friendly to the coaches, you could say that these teams are underachieving. But, look at a team like LMU´s roster, for example. They average 6 foot 3, and I believe I heard a commentator state that it is one of the shortest (if not the shortest) average of a starting 5 in Division I. How can that team be expected to rebound consistently or win games?

Quite frankly, the teams at the bottom of the conference are no match for the teams at the top...and are no barometer to measure how good the best teams are.

by Guest Sat Feb 09, 2013 4:34 pm

onetouchfutbol wrote:
dholcombe wrote:The bottom of the conference has some catching up to do....

That´s putting it nicely. There are some just plain awful teams in the WCC this year, and unfortunately, we are ~~probably~~ one of them.

FYP

by **PilotNut** Sat Feb 09, 2013 4:45 pm

Agreed, 7587... we are just not good. We looked better this weekend, because we were playing other bad teams. We were lucky to beat LMU because of the 3... if we shoot less than 11-16 in that game, we lose... ugh. I wish I felt better after this weekend, but I don't.

by PurplePrideTrumpet Sat Feb 09, 2013 5:09 pm

Did we ever take some bad shots today. I was hoping it wasn't just luck against LMU but no.

by Guest Sat Feb 09, 2013 5:21 pm

It was sad to see Thomas tripled teamed time after time because the perimeter players would not shoot. The only perimeter player they even tried to defend was Tanner, and today he was 0-6 (really 1-7).

by newpilotfan Sat Feb 09, 2013 6:32 pm

I hate to say it but I'm starting to question whether this coaching staff can get it done. Ryan bailed us out (yet again) with a heroic shot to send it to OT, but what was the actual play? Coaches seemed as hopefully as the fans that something good came out of that last possession. That's not WCC coaching. We should be expected to win games against teams with losing records.

by DoubleDipper Sat Feb 09, 2013 6:40 pm

Yes, I agree, UP was outplayed and out-coached today.

PU was picked to finish last in the WCC; if I'm a PU fan, I'm very happy with the job Marty Wilson has done....he certainly made better moves down the stretch today than Rev did. Evil or Very Mad

by oldtimer Sat Feb 09, 2013 7:24 pm

I think it stings more to lose to a Pepperdine in OT than to get trucked by GU or St Marys.
I will say this, it looked like the team played a pretty good game. Five players in double digits, rebounded the heck out of the ball, didnt even turn the ball over that much.

IMHO the players did their job today.

by Geezaldinho Sat Feb 09, 2013 7:48 pm

oldtimer wrote:
I will say this, it looked like the team played a pretty good game. Five players in double digits, rebounded the heck out of the ball, didnt even turn the ball over that much.

IMHO the players did their job today.

If you call shooting 33% from the field doing their job, then, yeah.

They did hustle and rebound, and the effort was there. But execution?

Coaching decisions don't sink shots.

by DoubleDipper Sat Feb 09, 2013 7:57 pm

PurpleGeezer wrote:Coaching decisions don't sink shots.

True, but coaching decisions can put the right players in the right position to have a better chance of sinking shots.....

by Geezaldinho Sat Feb 09, 2013 8:09 pm

There were players wide open on the perimeter all night. They just aren't doing the job. It's time for them to figure out how to become better shooters.

by Guest Sat Feb 09, 2013 9:25 pm

Plus, there where some simply horrendous turnovers at at the end. Turnovers you absolutely can not afford. They did a good job in the first half of taking care of the ball, but under pressure, they can not afford to just lose control and give up a run out lay-up the other way.

by newpilotfan Sat Feb 09, 2013 9:32 pm

PurpleGeezer wrote:There were players wide open on the perimeter all night. They just aren't doing the job. It's time for them to figure out how to become better shooters.

Give players a better chance at making those shots by moving the freaking ball, running our guards off screens and not being so freaking predictable. Having guys standing around the perimeter while one of the guards tries, unsuccessfully, to dump it inside isn't an offense. The reason our guys are shooting a low percentage is they aren't Jared Stohl caliber, spot up shooters. That's not what Rev and his staff recruited. They brought in guards that were known as slashers and mid-range jump shooters... Scorers. Put them in a position to score. Our bigs should be rebounding and scoring off second chance opportunities. They should be beneficiaries of lobs because the help defender came out to stop the guard penetration. Instead our guards are forced to shoot flat footed jumpers, late in the shot clock after the telegraphed, "dump it in" offense breaks down. Our guards can't get into any type of rhythm and that hurts the offense overall.

by Geezaldinho Sat Feb 09, 2013 9:41 pm

It had nothing to do with moving the ball. Barker had about five seconds to shoot in ovetime, and if Dicau or Stohl had the time Derek had on the perimeter they would have lit up the place for 50

by PurplePrideTrumpet Sat Feb 09, 2013 11:09 pm

I know we got all five starters in double figures. You can do that when you take a lot of shots. It doesn't mean it was that great of a performance. We had 78 possessions today, our second-highest total this season. Our points per possession today was 0.87, and that happens to be the same as our season pts/poss number. That's good enough for 322nd in Division I.

Short answer: The offense was not nearly good enough to win today. Whether you want to put that on the coaches or the players is up to you.

by newpilotfan Sun Feb 10, 2013 11:00 am

PurpleGeezer wrote:It had nothing to do with moving the ball. Barker had about five seconds to shoot in ovetime, and if Dicau or Stohl had the time Derek had on the perimeter they would have lit up the place for 50

Again, Stohl was a spot up shooter. He couldn't put the ball on the floor and attack the rim. He would run off screens, get open and knock down the three. He was special. Criticizing our guys for not being Stohl is absurd. They're not the same type players. Which is why it doesnt make sense that we would run the same type of offense.

Except for David Carr, which of these guys was considered a great shooter in HS? That's not what the coaches recruited. Watch Gonzaga, SDU or SCU... They move the ball. They run guards off screens and make the defense chase them around. There's no standing around. Everyone is moving without the ball. Our offense is stale, predictable and clearly what the coaches want to run. You can't put that on the players. They're giving coach what he wants. It just doesn't work. It's embarrassing.

Pilots vs. Pepperdine, Saturday at 1:00 pm, on Root Sports

Pilots vs. Pepperdine, Saturday at 1:00 pm, on Root Sports

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