UOP - Thursday 2/16 @ 7

On December 29th the Pilots committed only 2 turnovers and Alec drove the Tigers nuts with his twisting and turning baskets to score 26 points while four of his teammates also scored in double figures....including Ray Barreno in "beast mode" pulling down 9 boards while scoring 12 in 25 minutes.  The Pilots beat Pacific, 80-76.

With UP coming off the LMU game and 30 turnovers, it stands to reason UOP will play a long bench and turn up the pressure on the Pilots who are without Alec and are on a 12 game losing streak. And this time the Tigers have a couple of players available to them that did not play in December while the Pilots are without Alec and Joseph.

How will the Pilots respond?  Well, based upon what we saw last Saturday, the response better be a lot more minutes for Xavier.  He may not start, but he'll certainly be in the rotation. I also think we'll see Coach Porter play a longer bench while looking for some offense.  Players like Rashad and Chier and Jazz should be able to use their speed and athleticism to get by the UOP defenders or shoot from the perimeter while Gabe and Ray work the inside.  

Hard to say how it will turn out, but it could be a fun contest if the Pilots can limit the turnovers and also control the boards, something they did not do in Stockton.



.

You're going to laugh, but. Pilots win 58-52.

Game Day strategy:

1. Play half-court defense by dropping five back instead of four on the release and not really have anyone around for an offensive rebound. This will "shorten" the game and put a lot less pressure on the defenders during the transition from offense to defense.

2. Run a motion offense instead of going for quick shots that can lead to easy baskets for the opponents.....and use the clock more with fewer possessions so the players are less tired toward the end of the second half and on Saturday.

The last few games have shown the Pilots have gotten much better in their half-court defense, but still need to prevent turnovers while hitting key shots and free-throws and taking the defensive pressure off Jazz.   Oh, and if Jazz is doubled, it means someone is unguarded, so good spacing and quick and good decisions should result in scoring opportunities.

The turnovers kept the Pilots from beating LMU, but the upside of that game was the last 6:43 when they played without turning the ball over and almost pulled out the road victory.

Don't expect Xavier to start, but his calm "veteran" demeanor really relaxed everyone at LMU....I'm sure we'll see him in the rotation.

Win or lose, the team cannot be criticized for their competing and getting better as a team in recent weeks as they adjust to life without Alec, but each individual must step-up their game if they are have a chance during the last 4 WCC games of the regular season.

Unfortunately, the student section probably doesn't remember Damon Stoudamire as a Portland Trailblazer, but I hope to see at least one yellow hummer reference tonight. Maybe they can get the PA Announcer to say that there's a yellow hummer with its lights on right before they announce the starting lineups!

Game Day strategy:

1. Get the ball across half court without throwing it to the other team.

2. When a decent shot presents itself, take it.

3. Block out on defensive rebounding, and be in good position, not under the basket.

blacksheep wrote:Unfortunately, the student section probably doesn't remember Damon Stoudamire as a Portland Trailblazer, but I hope to see at least one yellow hummer reference tonight.  Maybe they can get the PA Announcer to say that there's a yellow hummer with its lights on right before they announce the starting lineups!

Having never been a Blazer fan, I had no idea what you were writing about until looking it up.

Seems pretty minor by most NBA headlines today, but it must have been caused quite a stir back in 2002 when marijuana was not legal and was considered the "gateway" to all kinds of drugs and behavior.

Is this where the saying, "when they go low, we go high" got its start?

Wow! That was a bad performance. Half court offense is horrific.

up7587 wrote:Game Day strategy:

1. Get the ball across half court without throwing it to the other team.

2. When a decent shot presents itself, take it.

3. Block out on defensive rebounding, and be in good position, not under the basket.

Results:
#1. Only threw it directly to a Tiger one time in back court. Box score states 17 TOs; the coaches' goal was 15. Felt like more, but that was mostly a success. UOP has 15 TOs.

#2. UOP got off 14 more shots than the Pilots, and had a better percentage. They shot the same % form 3Pt as from 2Pt, 35%. I thought there were times a player was open for a 3P shot and passed on it. I think they are still not finding open players like Alec could; there was an obvious opportunity to an Xavier in the lane one time. And the poor 2Pt percentage was due to at least a half dozen shot right at the rim that did not go down; need to finish those. I'd say this point was a fail.

#3. UOP outrebounded UP 43-29, and got 12 offensive rebounds (Pilots got 7). Townes, a 6'-6" player averaging 6 RPG got 16. I thought UP looked better in this area, but stats say this was a fail.

Given that UOP was missing their PG and another key player, this was a poor loss. UOP had role players step up: Vuko averages 3.4 PPG, got 12; Haynes averages 0.7 PPG, got 7. No Pilots stepped up. Tyson only got 2 FTs. Barreno, who had a big game in Stockton, was shut out. Jazz got 23 pts, mostly when the game was out of reach.

Pilots were the only home team in WCC to lose tonight. Only positive I can glean is that the losing margin of 11 points was the smallest in the league. USD lost by 12. LMU lost by 33. USF lost by 35. and PU lost by 51. But everyone else was playing a top 4 team, not the #9 team.

1. UOP is a much improved team from when I saw them in Stockton in late December.

2. Not a surprise that Townes gave the Pilots fits....he is extremely athletic and was a thorn in the side of the Pilots when the two teams met earlier.

3. UOP is much more athletic than UP.  Coaches don't develop athleticism, they recruit it.

4. Not surprised that Andre did not play, but why was Chier on the bench?

Two players, Chier and Jarrel bring athleticism and wingspan to the court, but Jarrel played only sparingly (15 minutes) while still scoring 9 points and being effective on defense.  Chier was in for one defensive series at the end of the first half....and that was it!

No one could finish at the rim last night, and a couple of the players were totally ineffective throughout. It would seem Chier's athleticism and ability to go to the rim and bang the boards should have been at least given him a chance to compete.

I've heard it said that Chier doesn't yet understand the offensive schemes, but after last night, it would seem he'd have to stand in line with others with the same problem.  Give him a chance!!

Not a lot of positives from last night's game, but offhand I can think of two:

1. Xavier competed well and kept the Pilots in the game early.  I think he had something like 10 points before any scholarship player made a field goal.

2. Coach Cantu was not at the game.  Why is that a positive you ask?  Because he was out recruiting!!

I'm not sure about this, but Maker is listed as redshirt on the program and it's possible he can't play any more games without losing that status. Don't know why Ferguson wouldn't have played, not sure if he's hurt or something else is going on. Other than the X man he's the only good ball handler.

bobtcat2 wrote:I'm not sure about this, but Maker is listed as redshirt on the program and it's possible he can't play any more games without losing that status.

A player cannot play any games while redshirting.  Chier has used his redshirt year and is eligible to play as many games as the coaches want him to play.  

Next year he will be listed as a RSo, as will Franklin Porter who is redshirting this season.   Malcolm Porter is currently listed as a Fr.....next season, after sitting out this season, he will be listed as a RFr.

bobtcat2 wrote: Don't know why Ferguson wouldn't have played, not sure if he's hurt or something else is going on.  Other than the X man he's the only good ball handler.

Something about his confidence being stripped away after his performance in front of family and friends against LMU.  

Zero points and four turnovers in 13 minutes will do that to a player.

I think I was confused about the redshirt rule or perhaps it changed. I thought years ago that a player could play minimally and not lose the status, but I see that you're correct and he cannot play at all without losing the status.

Given that, I am very surprised he didn't play.

I hope Ferguson gets his confidence back as he has everything needed to be a really solid player. Especially if he develops an outside shot.


Hard to see a miracle happening tonight, but yes they need to avoid half-court sets at all cost.