1/16/16 vs BYU

by NoPoNeighbor Sat Jan 16, 2016 10:13 am

This afternoon at the Chiles Center is the first of the Pilots' two annual road games at BYU. We always do manage to travel fairly well to this one though, sometimes having as much as 1/3 of the crowd cheering for Portland (though with the Pilots' recent performance, I think a more realistic guess would be that roughly 1/4 of the fans will be pulling for the Purple).

I don't expect much from the Pilots, but it should be a very fast game, with BYU scoring a lot of points.

UP is honoring the 1996 NCAA Tournament team today. This is the latest complete blunder by the athletics marketing folks. (Right up there with the 2014 "neon night" in which the only people in the entire Chiles Center wearing neon were our opponents, the Pacific Tigers, whose jerseys were bright orange.)

Why on earth would we choose this game to have a recognition of our 1996 NCAA Tournament team? First off, this is basically a celebration of the program's ineptitude over the past 20 years. And we are doing this at a game in which at least 2/3 of the fans will be there rooting for our opponent, which has been to the Tournament 11 times SINCE our 1996 appearance. This is an open invitation for 2/3 of the fans in the building to mock our program, and the very players that are being recognized today.

by Guest Sat Jan 16, 2016 11:41 am

I did get a similar vibe when the soccer program celebrated the 10 year anniversary of the women's soccer championship. It highlighted the contrast with the current lack of success.

by Rochin54 Sat Jan 16, 2016 12:01 pm

I think 25% UP fans is best case - it will depend on the student section. I went to buy a few additional tickets for the game, and it looked like nearly all the reserved seats (upper and lower) were sold out, but a good chunk of GAs still available. I spect there be a LOT of BYU fans coming. Ugh.

Man. 20 years.............

by DoubleDipper Sat Jan 16, 2016 12:55 pm

Just like some American Catholics once looked to the Notre Dame football team as "their" team, it would seem the majority of LDS Church members in the US look to BYU as "their" school.

The majority of attendees at all but two UP games per year have some affiliation with the university or live in the North Portland area. Considering the relatively small number of students UP has graduated since its inception in 1901, it is not surprising that BYU fans will outnumber UP fans as they flock to the game in buses and soccer mom vehicles from their various LDS churches around the region. Over 800,000 LDS Church members live in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, and as most are unable to get tickets to games in Spokane, that means today's game will be their one shot to see the BYU basketball team live in a WCC game this year.

As today is a Saturday, yes we can expect a large gathering that will include families with lots of kids just out to have good wholesome fun....I think we should welcome the noise of a good time.

But what I don't welcome is when the BYU fans don't think about the bad impression they leave when their in-unison chants are mistimed to interrupt presentations, timeout activities and UP dance team activities. It is probably not meant to be rude, and I appreciate their enthusiasm, but many should show more respect for their hosts for the day.

by DoubleDipper Sat Jan 16, 2016 12:58 pm

As far as the game goes....BYU is very, very good.

They are deep and they are athletic and long....

The combination of UP's performance against USD and BYU's win over GU, has set the stage for a wonderful Pilots upset this afternoon on live television.

by Rochin54 Sat Jan 16, 2016 1:15 pm

DoubleDipper wrote:As far as the game goes....BYU is very, very good.

They are deep and they are athletic and long....

The combination of UP's performance against USD and BYU's win over GU, has set the stage for a wonderful Pilots upset this afternoon on live television.

After Thursday's performance, i think statistics and averages say we will shoot quite well tonight. So that's positive!

One thing I do appreciate is a large and involved crowd, even though not pro-UP, will naturally up intensity of the game, and thus up the pilots' intensity. Can only be a good thing.

Speaking of the UP of the Midwest, ND just got the nice win against the Dukies. Hopefully we bring it on home for CSC schools and finish off BYU!

by Rochin54 Sat Jan 16, 2016 1:15 pm

I gotta go get get my purple on.

by Guest Sat Jan 16, 2016 5:08 pm

I do not understand and cannot explain college basketball.
Shocked

by ExpatPilot Sat Jan 16, 2016 5:14 pm

Night and day sometimes these Pilots. I will always enjoy a victory over BYU more so than any other team.

by wrv Sat Jan 16, 2016 5:22 pm

up7587 wrote:I do not understand and cannot explain college basketball.

But every once in a while you can enjoy it.

Go Pilots.

by Dean Murdoch Sat Jan 16, 2016 5:30 pm

Well, a split was probably the most likely outcome from these two home games.

Question

by Dean Murdoch Sat Jan 16, 2016 5:38 pm

UGAPilot wrote:Night and day sometimes these Pilots. I will always enjoy a victory over BYU more so than any other team.

I'm currently checking out the BYU board, happily drinking the salty tears of BYU fans crying about officiating (FTs were 29 to 18 for BYU before final four attempts) and having to play in a conference that's beneath them (0 WCC tournament titles, 0 WCC regular season championships).

Congrats to the team for a huge win. A much-needed one for Pilots land!

by Geezaldinho Sat Jan 16, 2016 5:58 pm

DoubleDipper wrote:

The combination of UP's performance against USD and BYU's win over GU, has set the stage for a wonderful Pilots upset this afternoon on live television.

DD calls it!

by **PilotNut** Sat Jan 16, 2016 6:19 pm

NoPoNeighbor wrote:Why on earth would we choose this game to have a recognition of our 1996 NCAA Tournament team? First off, this is basically a celebration of the program's ineptitude over the past 20 years. And we are doing this at a game in which at least 2/3 of the fans will be there rooting for our opponent, which has been to the Tournament 11 times SINCE our 1996 appearance. This is an open invitation for 2/3 of the fans in the building to mock our program, and the very players that are being recognized today.

I couldn't agree with this more. It's tone deaf and laughable.

by Guest Sat Jan 16, 2016 6:54 pm

PilotNut wrote:
NoPoNeighbor wrote:Why on earth would we choose this game to have a recognition of our 1996 NCAA Tournament team? First off, this is basically a celebration of the program's ineptitude over the past 20 years. And we are doing this at a game in which at least 2/3 of the fans will be there rooting for our opponent, which has been to the Tournament 11 times SINCE our 1996 appearance. This is an open invitation for 2/3 of the fans in the building to mock our program, and the very players that are being recognized today.

I couldn't agree with this more. It's tone deaf and laughable.

Maybe it inspired the current team?

by **PilotNut** Sat Jan 16, 2016 6:58 pm

Congrats to the Pilots for coming back from one of the worst losses of the season to win this one.

I look forward to watching a replay of this one, but it sounds like someone finally took the lid off the hoops... if we could just find some positive consistency one of these seasons...

by Geezaldinho Sat Jan 16, 2016 7:49 pm

It wasn't just the lid off the hoops. The team, especially the young guys, really let it all hang out without over committing and playing together. Great team play.

by ExpatPilot Sat Jan 16, 2016 8:00 pm

Terry Cahill wrote:I'm currently checking out the BYU board, happily drinking the salty tears of BYU fans crying about officiating (FTs were 29 to 18 for BYU before final four attempts) and having to play in a conference that's beneath them (0 WCC tournament titles, 0 WCC regular season championships).

This. It's exactly this for me. It would seem that teams other than Gonzaga and Saint Mary's can only beat them with circus shots and poor officiating. Heaven forbid they ever lose to an "inferior school" in this conference.

by Geezaldinho Sat Jan 16, 2016 8:13 pm

UGAPilot wrote:
Terry Cahill wrote:I'm currently checking out the BYU board, happily drinking the salty tears of BYU fans crying about officiating (FTs were 29 to 18 for BYU before final four attempts) and having to play in a conference that's beneath them (0 WCC tournament titles, 0 WCC regular season championships).

This. It's exactly this for me. It would seem that teams other than Gonzaga and Saint Mary's can only beat them with circus shots and poor officiating. Heaven forbid they ever lose to an "inferior school" in this conference.

I dunno. Some folks are a bit more realistic on that board. Some of the boo birds here should read this.

BYU versus Portland 3 10 2
NO DEFENSE – NO DEFENSE – NO DEFENSE

Against Gonzaga BYU played defense and came away with a win. Today they did not play very good defense and the result was a loss. So the question is why?

Very simple. Gonzaga does not have very good guards this year and Portland torched us with better guards. Between Wintering, Pressley and Tyson they accounted for 64 of Portland’s 84 points.

Just looking at the numbers tells us anything we would like to know to answer why BYU lost this game. BYU shot 38% from the field and once again was anemic from the arc shooting 27%. Portland was able to shoot 45% from the field and 38% from the three-point line. Everything else was fairly even but those percentages will equal a loss most of the time. Even further proof was BYU took 71 shots and Portland only took 62. We got more offensive boards (19-8 ) but could not convert the second chances.

Wintering was able to turn the corner on BYU and penetrate when he needed to and that created major problems for BYU. The only BYU defender that could stay in front of him was Chatman. But he was terrible on offense and Rose was forced to go back to slower defenders.

Now lets look at BYU on offense. Against Gonzaga Collinsworth was able to get inside and do a lot of damage. Today he shot 4-17 and when you couple that with Emery going 4-11 it does not give you the production you need. Chase Fischer continued to play well and chipped in 22 points to lead the Cougars. Kyle Davis was the best player for BYU today with 20 points including a three pointer. Austin gave us what he has been giving us with hustle and rebounding. Seljaas was not a factor at all in the game.

I have mentioned several times that BYU is in trouble against small quick guards. Unfortunately there are lots of them in the WCC. We have a lot of talent coming in next season but I don’t think there is a shut down defensive guard. It is great to be a good shooter but if you cannot stop your opponent from getting to the rim and making layups then you are going to be in trouble over the long haul. Rose may be forced to look for a quicker guard just for defensive purposes.

Aytes was once again disappointing. He just cannot elevate and I don’t know if it is his foot injuries or that he just cannot jump. He continues to get his shot blocked under the basket. He may be a difficult decision for Dave Rose at the end of the season. There are a lot of reasons why you don’t want to cut him from the team but he may be better served playing at a lower level.

BYU came out flat and fell behind, only to make a run in the first half and get the game back within range. In the second half they fell behind again but rallied to take a 5 point lead only to watch it evaporate with some forced shots and weak defense on the other side. I love Kyle Collinsworth but he has got to realize that other coaches are scheming to give players help and it is difficult to score when three defenders are collapsing on you in the paint. I know this is blasphemy but if you switched Wintering and Collinsworth BYU would have won by 20 today.

by Guest Sat Jan 16, 2016 8:31 pm

Hard to read that and think it was the same team we watched against USD. Especially with how USD played at GU today (19% from 3P). Coaches must be going nuts. Tyson was 0-3 and zero points the last game; 8-14 for 21 points today.

by Dean Murdoch Sat Jan 16, 2016 8:38 pm

up7587 wrote:Hard to read that and think it was the same team we watched against USD.

Pilots now 2-1 against the top four teams in the WCC. And 1-3 against the bottom five.

I'm so confused.

by Rochin54 Sat Jan 16, 2016 9:30 pm

Great win. Frustrating to have lost some we have, but gosh darn it this was a great win. The team played with great energy and confidence. Lids came off, but we also played strong defense even though the scoring was high. My keys:

- Overall energy - both defense and offense and crowd. Always seems to happen when you've got 4,000 folks vs 1,000 folks in a 5,000 seat house.
- Bryce - showed up. I thought his defense was the most important part. Guarded Collingsworth so so well (4-17 and 5 TOs!). Thought he had more, but his 5 defensive boards were all big boards. His offense was key...though i was surprised to see he was only 2-7 for 3. Inside the arc he was under control and deadly.
- Ray - some struggle offensively near the bucket, but generally good D down low, and certainly strong D rebounding throughout the game with 7 D boards.
- Alec - Leader.
- D'Marques - Offense speaks for itself, but important to note that he was inside the arc often, which was great to see and helped to cause issues for BYU. Perhaps most notable was his defense tonight though. He was guarding Collingsworth for a good chunk, and did a fine job! His D was what allowed his shooting to be on the court for 28 minutes.
- Jarrel - Solid presence on both ends. Couple blocks. Boards. Free throws. 11 points. Fantastic.
- Students - Very solid showing after a great Thursday showing that disappointed. Kudos to the students for coming in numbers and energy. Keep it up!
- Coaching - thought it was quite good tonight on multiple facets.

Anyways - I'm happy after this one! What fun to be at. The crowd was great. I think we exceeded my foretasted 25% UP crowd easily. Awesome to hear the noise at the end of the game! Team responded from a poor performance. I just can't complain right now! Cheers!

by DoubleDipper Sat Jan 16, 2016 10:12 pm

All good points, Rochin54....especially the happy part!!

I couldn't disagree more with those who thought it was dumb/bad/tone deaf/laughable, etc. to honor the '96 team and coaches. The '96 team is a really good bunch of guys who enjoyed the heck out of their weekend on the Bluff with teammates at various events including an evening in the Pilot House drinking adult beverages.

These men and their families are now solid citizens in their communities and once brought enormous pride to UP. Sure, it's been awhile since another MBB team has done that, but shouldn't that be a good reason to honor them and introduce them to this year's student-athletes?

When the '96 team was introduced during a timeout in the first half, they were given a very warm welcome by the Pilots fans and the BYU fans....I was very impressed by that.

For those of us who were closely acquainted with the '96 team, this was an amazing chance to reconnect and in some ways relive the good times the players and fans shared. For the current Pilots it was a good way to learn a little about their predecessors and gain inspiration from their accomplishments....even though over half the current team was not even born when the '96 team went to the Dance!

by NoPoNeighbor Sat Jan 16, 2016 10:13 pm

Great win, Pilots! GREAT win!

by NoPoNeighbor Sat Jan 16, 2016 11:08 pm

Elsewhere I suggested that a winning record in conference (which would be just the 3rd winning WCC record of the Reveno era) would require going 6-3 at home and 4-5 on the road.

We are now 3-1 at home and 0-3 on the road. If we had lost today I would be giving up all hope for a winning record. With today's win there is still a chance, but it is slim. We'll definitely need to win at Pacific on Thursday.

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