Pilots vs Weber St & Cal St Fullerton, in Far West Classic

The Pilots join OSU in bringing back a version of the Far West Classic this year, Dec. 18 and 19 at the Moda Center.  Pilots play the early games, 5:30pm both nights.  Not looking forward to the Friday commuter traffic; may have to use MAX   . 

Weber St is 5-4, pending their game at Denver today.  A Big Sky school, they've lost at BYU and to Utah St.  They also lost on the road to So. Dakata St and Utah Valley.  But they've beat Cent. Michigan, Drake and Murray St 3 nights in a row in a tournament.  So hard to predict what to expect from them.  Two players are averaging 35 minutes and 21 and 18 points respectively. Jeremy Senglin is a 6'2" Jr G; Joel Bolomboy is a 6'9" Sr.  Everyone else is under 7 pts/gm.

Cal St Fullerton is 6-3, from the Big West conference.  They've lost to LMU twice, and at U-Dub. They won at Pacific by 1, and beat USD at home. They also beat Nevada and Seattle U.  The Titans are more balanced; they have 4 players averaging double figures; and no one averaging 30 mins/game.  They are led by Trey Coggins, a 6'2" Jr G.  They are a very small team; their tallest major contributor is only 6'5".  Their two big guys average a combined 5 pts/game.

So, looks like some opportunities for the Pilots.  With their depth, they can tire out Weber St.  Then, they can look to take advantage of their size on offense against Fullerton, if they can defend well.  Sure hope with the early start there will be some fans at the games rooting for the home town team.  I expect the OSU fans to be arriving later.

DD, where will the Pilot Club functions be? I can't afford the concession prices at the Moda Center, and I doubt they'll take my coupons! 

up7587 wrote:DD, where will the Pilot Club functions be? I can't afford the concession prices at the Moda Center, and I doubt they'll take my coupons! 

Nothing on Friday afternoon just because very few would be able to attend, but on Saturday at 4PM there will be a pregame party in the Rose Room in the Moda Center.

Admission is FREE for Pilot Club members and $5 for non-members.

I just scouted Weber State in their 1 point loss to Denver in Denver.  The guy UP's defenders will have to watch is #30 Jeremy Senglin....he didn't score a lot in today's game until late, but he can really drill his shots from all over.

After watching today's game, it would appear the best way for UP to beat the Cougars will be for the Pilots to play the game they are most familiar with.....up tempo running on offense while playing very quick and scrappy defense with UP's bigs controlling and disrupting the inside.  Denver succeeded by playing a spread out "Princeton Offense," but I doubt that can be UP's style after watching their slow play against ISU.

Weber St. does not rush up and down the court, but instead relies upon an under control steady pace.  UP's depth can possibly be an advantage in terms of stamina, but my experience at living at altitude (5800') was that coming to sea level made you feel as though you could run forever due to all those extra little red blood cells.  Weber State is at approximately 4300', so their legs won't get all that weary.

As UP has not been good at getting to the free-throw line for the last couple of years, it was interesting that Denver did not go to the free-throw line even once until there was under one minute to play in the game. But when they did go to the line the final free throw won the game for the Pioneers.

Weber St. is currently favored by 2 points over a Pilots team that will be just finishing final exams in what is predicted to be a much more up-tempo game than the Cougars are accustomed to playing, so we'll just have to see......

up7587 wrote:
DD, where will the Pilot Club functions be? I can't afford the concession prices at the Moda Center, and I doubt they'll take my coupons! 

B'dubs will take your coupons and is walking distance to the MODA.

As mentioned, there will be a pregame function in the Moda Center Rose Room on Saturday @ 4PM....Free for Pilot Club members and $5 for all others.

We've been asked to RSVP for this event so the hosts can plan accordingly....

RSVP to Dave Taylor, taylord@up.edu or at 503-943-8619.

Directions to Rose Room:
From Box Office: if you are looking at the Moda Center head north to the main entrance to the building (Next to Blazers Fan shop). You will see some glass doors with a red LED sign above them. Enter there then take the stairs or Elevator to Level P4, Lexus Club Level entrance, Rose Room will be on your right.

DoubleDipper wrote:I just scouted Weber State in their 1 point loss to Denver in Denver.  The guy UP's defenders will have to watch is #30 Jeremy Senglin....he didn't score a lot in today's game until late, but he can really drill his shots from all over.

The other guy to watch is #24 C Joel Bolomboy.  He's a beast, and will probably be the best post player UP will face this season except maybe Karnowski at GU. Bolomboy is not huge, 6-9/235, but he can do it all, including getting to the free-throw line a lot and blocking or disrupting opponents' shots.

Not counting this season's numbers, #24 is already Weber State's all-time shot blocker, is 3rd all-time in rebounds (he's reached double figures in rebounds 48 times) and he's already scored over 1,000 points in his career.

The Pilots better hit their shots and stay out of foul trouble against #24......because he's probably going to grab the rebound..

Sadly, we need to review this data again: kenpom.com: yet_another_study_about_fouling_when_up_3

You are supposed to win 93% or 94% either way. The study assumes the OT has a 50/50 result. However, given that Weber St had been the better team most of the game, and given the Pilots FT deficiencies, there was no way I wanted to see an OT.  I'd have fouled at halfcourt and taken my chances on rebounding a deliberate missed FT, or another ELOB play.  Neither of those is a particularly attractive option either, now that I think about them.


p.s. it's too bad the players put Coach in this situation. He can't shoot the FTs for them.

Free throws, hell. They started the game 1 for 9 (11%). At ten minutes in, they were shooting 14% and still within 5 points. At that half, I think they got it to 32%

Rev didn't miss any of those shots.

I thought it was a miracle we were tied at the buzzer.

On a different note, the building inspectors for the Moda center should be criminally prosecuted.

The building code says the risers on flight of stairs can vary no more than 1/4" for all the treads in a run. No two treads next to each other can vary more than 1/8"

The flight down to our section were off 2" from one riser to another. After the first time down, I knew they were there and still stumbled.

Their solution was to put white spray paint AFTER the bad risers.

IMO Rev should not have called a timeout between Alec's two free-throws with 15 seconds left....he made the first and missed the second after being "iced" by his own coach.

If, after all the practices to this point in the season, the coach needs to call a timeout to tell his team what to do, they've either had poor strategy sessions or the players are being over-coached at critical junctures.

It was pretty obvious that Weber State was going to inbound the ball to #30 with 8 seconds left with UP leading by 3.  But the coaches apparently made the decision to not disrupt the inbound or attempt to trap #30, but they also made the decision to not foul #30 before he even got over the mid-court line.  

We've had this situation/discussion before, and it's my recollection that last time it happened (against USF, as I recall) Rev second-guessed himself on his radio show.....just saying.

I know, just because many of the fans are yelling, "foul him, foul him," doesn't mean we'd be good coaches, but come on, no one wanted #30 to take that shot with .6 seconds left......

For what it's worth, I wouldn't have fouled. 324th in the nation in free throw shooting and the other guys had a 17-rebound guy in the low post.

It was just such a Pilot-ish way to lose a game. This team doesn't just lose games, they tend to do so in devastating fashion.

On the bright side, let's be real. These games are absolutely mean-nothing contests with WCC play starting on Monday. Play everyone 16 minutes tomorrow and get ready to hit the reset button in time for the LMU game.

Terry Cahill wrote:On the bright side, let's be real. These games are absolutely mean-nothing contests with WCC play starting on Monday

While I can't really disagree with your point... at some point, though, if this program is ever going to turn around, expect people to pay to come to games, etc., we need to win games like this.  It's getting really old having to justify losses every year.

If you stayed to watch the OSU game, you saw a program that was recently in the dumps (sound familiar?) but has been brought back to life, more athletic and more entertaining with a cultural program change last year.  Hmmm.

PilotNut wrote:If you stayed to watch the OSU game, you saw a program that was recently in the dumps (sound familiar?) but has been brought back to life, more athletic and more entertaining with a cultural program change last year.  Hmmm.

OK, who's got a scouting report on tonight's opponent, Cal State Fullerton?

Las Vegas is favoring UP by 2 with an U/O over 150.5.....

Well, that was a classic Pilots' loss. But the terrible free throw shooting is a fun new twist this year.

The starting guards' (veterans, team captains) combined stats:

11-37 shooting
1-8 three-point shooting
14-22 free throws

And that last play in regulation... Watch the "highlight" video on the UP website. They didn't even guard #30 as he brought the ball up the court, let alone immediately foul him. Wintering and Pressley looked confused as to who was supposed to be guarding who. Totally unprepared for the situation.

Poor play + bad coaching = loss.

PilotNut wrote:If you stayed to watch the OSU game, you saw a program that was recently in the dumps (sound familiar?) but has been brought back to life, more athletic and more entertaining with a cultural program change last year.  Hmmm.

Easy to see why Eubanks picked OSU over UP. Also easy to see why both programs wanted him so badly. He was impressive last night. OSU has some GREAT true freshmen.

Maybe it's the "Holy Cross Curse."

Indiana just went on a 16-2 run at the end of the game against Notre Dame that included some Irish missed free-throws, and the Hoosiers came from 16 points behind to win 80-73.

Once again we started the game shooting 11% for the first 9 shots. This time we were shooting about 27.5% at the half, and amazingly, winning at the break.

But we closed out a little better shooting 45% in the second half and getting to 36% for the game, even if we missed free throws, so their 3 at the buzzer didn't matter.

We must hate the rims at the moda center.


Cardiac kids.

Yup, another buzzer beating 3-pointer by the opposition to end the game, but this time, because the Pilots won the battle at the free-throw line, 18-9, UP got the much needed win as they make the quick turnaround to begin WCC play on Monday.

CS-Fullerton's big guys were very impressive on the inside disrupting UP's shooting and put-backs, but in the end, CSF only prevailed by two points in the paint, 32-30.

There were definitely some freshman mistakes tonight, but I for one, really enjoy the energy and pace of play when Coin, Rashad, and Jazz are on the court....I think all three will be important contributors during WCC play.

Finally, the bench is much shorter without Jason Todd, but it is my understanding he will finally see some limited minutes beginning Monday as he recovers from a concussion and a broken nose sustained 7 days ago.

This may have been an important win for the team, but it was an even more important win for Pilots' fans....

Does the athletic department have a sports psychologist on speed dial?  Need to address free throws in the final minutes ASAP.

Luckily, CSF was horrible at the FT line, 9 of 21, 43%.

up7587 wrote:Does the athletic department have a sports psychologist on speed dial?  Need to address free throws in the final minutes ASAP.

You're absolutely correct, at this point in the season, the brain has to be getting in the way of the shooting mechanics.

Regarding the psychologist....yes, I believe we do have one on speed dial.  The young woman who is a student-trainer with the men's team is a double major: Biology and Psychology.....and she's also a member of UP's rowing team. But the team had better act fast, she's off to medical school or physician assistant school upon graduation in May.

One person's perspective on the Far West Classic reboot:

http://portlandtribune.com/pt/12-sports/286179-161870-the-far-west-classic-it-wasnt-but-tourney-idea-has-potential