Pilots @ Yale 1/2/07

The Pilots take on the Yale Bulldogs in New Haven, CT Wednesday night.

Yale is 3-7 on the year. Their results are here: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/teams/yaa. Yale's last game was @ #3 Kansas, losing 86-53.

Yale also lost @ UCLA 81-47 and @ Stanford 72-61 earlier this year.

Yale's simulated RPI per [url]Kenpom.com[/url] is 158. Portland is 235. (Coincedentially, Army, our Saturday road opponent, is #236).

This game and the Army game will be great barometers going into WCC play next week.

Discuss.

http://www.portlandpilots.com/sports/mbball/release.asp?release_id=4739

looks like the game will have free video through Yale's web site. Yale has a worse record than Army, but appears to be the tougher opponent. Glad we have them first on this road trip. Looks like we should dominate the boards.

I think we have to get off to a good start and pad a halftime lead. We seem to start off strong and fade down the stretch. If we can have an 8-10 point lead at the half, I like our chances.

Go Pilots!

Oh my goodness gracious I have been away from the forum here for far too long!!! Hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Years.

I'm definitely curious to see how the guys do on the road today. They actually have played OK on the road so far this year (win at Montana, good showing against UW, wins at neutral sites over Liberty and Idaho State) but also laid stinkers down against Eastern Washington and Oregon State. I think these games could tell us how they might fare heading into the WCC season... I think Yale is probably in the same ballpark as teams like LMU, USF and Pep.

One thing that concerns me is the play of Taishi. He's been very solid on defense and doing a good job of running the offense, but his scoring has pretty much disappeared, which is a bit troubling. With Smuelders not scoring as a expected him too, I think Taishi is going to need to pick up some slack unless Stohl's role continues to grow. I know Taishi has been through a lot this year and I don't mean this as a criticism... really I think the law of averages will play out and his shots will start to fall.

Couple of other notes: it's been quiet, but I think Kramer has been playing really well lately. He doesn't fill up the stat sheet like Sikma does, but he's been darn good on the defensive end and is our only big who actually can bang down low. Also, he cut his hair and looks way different now - he used to be impossible to tell him and Robin apart without seeing the jersey number, but now you can.

Also, it was a small crowd against Cascade, so those who missed it... Dr. C made his return to the Chiles Center, and everyone gave him a nice standing ovation. He had on his purple suit and wig and seemed to be in good spirits sitting next to the band. Prayers and best wishes to him for a recovery!

Jeesh... there's lots more to say, but that's a start.

GO PILOTS!!!

Quick update... there is free video available from Yale's website:

http://yalebulldogs.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/sched/yale-m-baskbl-sched.html

Just click watch on the right-hand navigation bar thing. Also, this is taken from Yale's release about the game:

Yale and Portland are playing for the first time. The two teams are scheduled to meet again next season in Oregon.

Cool... so I'm guessing that means we've got at least one home game set for next year!

Ugh... not a great start to this game... down by 14 already ten minutes into the game. Lots of fouls too... rats.

Well, it's 40-28 at the half. Smeulders is having a great game, but everyone else seems to be in a funk. Still, if we start hitting some shots and tighten up the post defense I think we can be right back in it... I wasn't really that impressed with Yale.

Come on Pilots!!!

Yale shoots better from 3 pt line then Pilots do from the field. Turnovers seem better though. Robin the "Flying Dutchman" was on fire with those European moves. At least the Pilot's have another scoring option other than Ravio, hopefully. I could only watch the Live Stat's , is Sikma getting alot of attention from the oppositions defense now. He seemed to get off many more shot's earlier in the year.
Beat Army!!! (Anybody know of broadcast's via internet?)

Ugh... bummer of a game. Yale was hot from the outside for sure and seemed to just do what they wanted. Rats.

With a team this young I expect some road struggles, but I would have liked to see us put up more of a fight than that. Oh well... Army is waiting!

Ugh is right... not a pretty game.

Sikma was off big time, but was good to see Smeulders step up. We just need some of the other guys to step up more consistently.

Lets take it to Army.

So much for a fast start... We continue to struggle in the second half of games. Army should be a winnable game, doesn't look like they have played a very tough schedule. 6-9 heading into WCC play doesn't look too bad for such a young team. 5-10 would be a bit disappointing.