1/16/16 vs BYU

I was there in Toso Pavilion for the 1996 WCC Championship game and I rushed the court when we won... I still have a piece of the net from that game.  I ate pizza in the hotel lobby that the U purchased for all the Pilot fans huddled around the TV watching the replay....  it is a great memory.

You know from the tone of my posts this season and last that I am not pleased with the program's short- and long-term results. So take this all with a grain of salt, since I am in fact salty!

I do not mean anything against the guys, some of whom I went to school with....  they are great guys, who made a great run in the WCC tournament (if I recall, we were the 4th seed in the 8-team conference/bracket).  I am glad they were able to get together.  My point is I find it a bit embarrassing that 1996 was the one season in 57 years that we made the dance, especially when we have not come anywhere close since (or in many, many years before that), so we are left with that one run in the WCC tourney as the program's high point, with no sign of moving in that direction now.

I guess there is nothing wrong with recognizing them... but I would not have paraded that fact out on the floor... but I guess the banner hanging from the ceiling already does (please tell me they did not shine a spotlight on it or something!). Maybe some day we will have more than one team from 1996 to parade out on the floor...

Back to the positive: We beat BYU today. That does not suck!

Thoughts from today's game:
• Tyson provided a third scoring threat, which was key. He did it by adding a new dimension to his game, getting into the lane and making some mid-range shots, in addition to solid outside shooting.
• Tyson playing great defense. Keep it up!
• Todd only played 15 minutes. He's not enough of an offensive threat right now to warrant more minutes.
• The rotation at center was really solidified between Barreno and Russell. Neither one can score any points.
• Marshall was an X factor for us. We need more Marshall! Overall, I've been surprised at how little he has contributed this season, after the hoopla of his signing last spring. Taylor was a non-factor.
• We made some terrible turnovers, including a few more bonehead inbounds plays. I'm glad we didn't lose by a possession or two, because those would really stand out.
• Why does UP insist on reporting that the game was a sell-out? There were clearly several hundred empty seats throughout the game. This is standard practice -- happens every year for the GU and BYU games. Are people being turned away who would like to buy a ticket, and being told the game is sold out?
• Behind Tyson, we outscored their bench 32-9!

For my part, I don't have any qualms with honoring the '96 team. I just think it was ill-timed to do it at the BYU game.

A comment from Coach Rev after the game:

@CoachReveno wrote:Team had 42 hour gut check. Last 2 hours of it were the BYU game. Tremendous response to build on.

And some pre-game and post-game coaching:

We've laid more of a groundwork for success than people know. We have a foundation better than our record.

The more I think about it, the less I hate it... I think maybe I just need to shut my yapper for a while and try to focus on the positive.  

First. Hooray!

Second. Agree that timing of celebrating the 20th anniversary team was poor. I saw that on the schedule for the BYU game when looking at the seasons promotions and my immediate though was...wow, what a dumb game to have that celebration. I also would not hold it during the GU game. Against any of the other 7 teams would be fine by me.

Third. Did anybody else get hit up with a tacky email "celebrating" the win almost immediately and asking for $84.81 donation. Seriously....

It's pretty common practice in sport to report the number of tickets sold rather than the number of people who came in the gate. It's how the Miami Marlins report attendance numbers of 25,000 and how the MLS average attendance is greater than 20,000.

I too would appreciate a higher level of success for our basketball program. Only two tournament trips all time and no wins. But, at least we aren't Northwestern -- they have never been.

Great freaking win!!! I always get great satisfaction from beating BYU. That team is actually a pretty favorable matchup for us. Our guards had a big quickness advantage over theirs. This helped to mask our complete lack of an interior offensive threat. I honestly can only think of a couple times we threw the ball into the post in the flow of the offense. It's pretty remarkable that we were so efficient while being SO one dimensional.

I'm going to fight the urge to be frustrated by the inconsistency of this team under Rev. Instead, I'm going to just bask in the glow of this one... For a day or two at least.

They have to report for Oregon's Mormon constituents. The Pilot article was windfall. Things will get back to normal until Gonzaga comes into town, then they will report that game.

I believe this is the first game of the season that the Oregonian has covered.

As for the "sell out" thing with the Gonzaga game. I was unable to buy a ticket last year because it was sold out. Frustrating to buy one from a scalper online and get to the game to find some large sections of empty seats. Seems like they are holding quite a few seats for students, like in the bleachers last night, but the kids just aren't showing up in a large of numbers as they are hoping.

The student crowd was pretty good.


ROOT is replying the game right now. Just started.

There were no tickets held back!

Quite a few empty seats, but they were all SOLD to season ticket holders who were no-shows....

There are a number of season ticket holders who take off for the desert this time of year or just don't want to put up with the overwhelming number of BYU fans.

I personally had 3 tickets to the game, but only used one.  Yes, there were fans outside the Chiles Center who were willing to pay a little extra for tickets, but as they were wearing BYU gear, they didn't have a chance of getting my extra tickets.

Can you imagine how the Pilots fans who surround my season ticket seats would have felt about a couple of BYU fans in their midst!

As a side note, there were a number of BYU fans with general admission tickets that had to be escorted from the upper student section because they would not leave voluntarily to return to their end-zone seating.

Although there have been differing opinions on the appropriateness of honoring the '96 team during the BYU game, I received emails from two players and a coach from that team today, and all mentioned how much they enjoyed the atmosphere of the large crowd.....and the welcome that crowd gave them.

As one mentioned...."I wish we'd had that kind of atmosphere when I played."

And another said, "I know there were more Cougar fans in the crowd than Portland fans, but I thought everyone welcomed us back to campus."

DoubleDipper wrote:I personally had 3 tickets to the game, but only used one.  Yes, there were fans outside the Chiles Center who were willing to pay a little extra for tickets, but as they were wearing BYU gear, they didn't have a chance of getting my extra tickets.

Can you imagine how the Pilots fans who surround my season ticket seats would have felt about a couple of BYU fans in their midst!

I would have hated it, if I had been able to use my ticket.

up7587 wrote:

DoubleDipper wrote:I personally had 3 tickets to the game, but only used one.  Yes, there were fans outside the Chiles Center who were willing to pay a little extra for tickets, but as they were wearing BYU gear, they didn't have a chance of getting my extra tickets.

Can you imagine how the Pilots fans who surround my season ticket seats would have felt about a couple of BYU fans in their midst!

I would have hated it, if I had been able to use my ticket.  

I'm glad DD sat with his frat buddies because there was a group of young, drunk, obnoxious Pilot fans sitting behind his seat. A few fans politely asked them to tone it down to no avail, but DD might have have escalated the situation.

As for the '96 team, How can anyone not cheer a Stonehouse sighting!

Seriously though, keeping former players engaged in the program is a great thing. There should be more of this.

Geezaldinho wrote:ROOT is replying the game right now. Just started.

I shouldn't be nervous watching a replay when I know what happened, should I?

up7587 wrote:

Geezaldinho wrote:ROOT is replying the game right now. Just started.

I shouldn't be nervous watching a replay when I know what happened, should I?  

Nah.

We pulled the game out the second time, too.

This time I got to watch it from the other side of the court.

Boy! Rose can make his face turn really red!

Geezaldinho wrote:Boy! Rose can make his face turn really red!

Even more red than Rev's face on Thursday night against USD??  I've seen him exhort his team before, but that seemed to be at dangerous level.

blacksheep wrote:As for the '96 team, How can anyone not cheer a Stonehouse sighting!  

I've gotta admit that 20 years on, Stoney was the only one of the group I did NOT recognize.

Can someone explain the travel call that their fans are so upset about? I didn't have much of a chance to watch the game, but the Cougar fans seem pretty upset at the no call. Was it Alec being doubled teamed near the end of the game when?