USF - Saturday 2/18 @ 7 on CSNNW

A very young USF team is playing surprisingly well under their first year coach despite back-to-back losses to BYU and GU. At 8-7 they are behind SCU by only 1 game for 4th place in the conference while being favored to win their remaining WCC games.

USF is "officially" favored by 6 or 7 against the Pilots tonight, which considering their respective performances and records is surprisingly close, but most figure the Dons will win by 20.

As UP's offense is now officially last in the WCC in most all categories, and as their half-court offense against UOP was a disaster, the Pilots might as well just get out and run tonight and get some shots up before the USF defense has time to set up.  The down side of that strategy is of course fatigue, as the Dons play a 10 man rotation with all 10 getting double-digit minutes on the court.

USF plays at a medium pace, but if the Pilots can hit some shots and grab some rebounds while playing up-tempo, there's always a chance....

I agree with DD, go with an athletic lineup that includes Jarrel, Chier, Rashad, and Jazz, and see what happens....I doubt it can be a worse result than the last 13 games.

StudentPilot wrote:I agree with DD, go with an athletic lineup that includes Jarrel, Chier, Rashad, and Jazz, and see what happens....I doubt it can be a worse result than the last 13 games.

Well, you got 3/4 of your wishes there.

For positives, I really liked the hustle from X this game. Hartwich had a strong influence this game. Wished that energy from the start of the game held throughout the whole game.

As for negatives, pretty much everything that's been said before. Near 20 turnovers. Offensive lulls. Oddly enough, not a good FT night, though I'm guessing it's because they didn't go to the line until the second half. Not a good night for Taylor either, only 1 FT point.

I think it's late enough in the season that a little blasphemy is in order.
I'm putting this loss and Pacific (and others) on the coaches.
We got no offense - well that's not true, but what we do have was figured out by every team in the league long ago. While it's nice of the broadcasters to all show pictures of Alec and talk about his incredible talent, the fact is the rest of the conference figured out how to shut down our offense long before Alec went out for the season. I'm tired of watching us play all these teams and every game thinking, "wow, wish we had an offense like that." One that flows and moves and is aggressive and quick. Instead, we look slow and predictable. Probably 2/3 of USF's three point shots were open and they had several uncontested lay-ins. On the other hand, we were lucky to get a three point shot off and you can't really call most of our attempts to make a basket in the paint "shots," because they looked a lot more like prayers (and considering we're a good faithful catholic school, we should expect more of them to have been answered). I certainly think everybody is playing hard, but they don't look like they're having much fun. Instead of hand slaps after turnovers, all I see is frustrated exchanges. This season is over. So why is Jazz playing so much? Why isn't Maker playing more? Why has Ferguson been permanently benched? Why don't we see Monson (look what Xavier has done with his chance)? I hate to see comments about how many "legitimate" D1 players we have. They're kids. They're doing the best they can. They have feelings. Maybe all they need is an offense that maximizes their potential. The only team is this conference that gets by on pure talent is Gonzaga. Everybody else has to work. Our coaches need to step up and show they've got a repertoire that fits the team we have. Hell, even if we just played the entire game like there was two minutes left and we were behind, it would be more fun to watch than this.

I gotta go..........Bless me father for I have

SoundVoltex wrote:

StudentPilot wrote:I agree with DD, go with an athletic lineup that includes Jarrel, Chier, Rashad, and Jazz, and see what happens....I doubt it can be a worse result than the last 13 games.

Well, you got 3/4 of your wishes there.

Before the game an assistant coach was asked if Chier would get some good playing time against USF.  The answer was, "yes definitely, his length and athleticism worked well against USF in the first game."

Guess Coach Porter didn't get the word.

bullwinkle wrote:   I'm putting this loss and Pacific (and others) on the coaches.   

While not totally in agreement with that statement, I share your frustration that Andre, Chier, and Alec M. did not leave the bench again tonight.

I also agree that WCC opponents had adjusted their defenses to stop the Pilots prior to Alec W. going down, but UP seems not to have adjusted to counter those defenses.

I've heard the coaches state the players are playing too "individually" much of the time and do not move the ball side-to-side enough to find the open shooter or cutter, but you'd think that in the midst of a 14 game losing streak with only two WCC regular season games remaining, the coaches would have been better able to adjust their game plan to fit the personnel on the court.

I still believe the coaches know a lot more than 99.999% of us when comes to success on the court, but tonight I admit to yelling at the coaches to bring in Andre, Chier, and Alec M to see if they could do better.....my yells we're obviously, and quite rightly, ignored.

DoubleDipper wrote:I've heard the coaches state the players are playing too "individually" much of the time and do not move the ball side-to-side enough to find the open shooter or cutter.....

This after tonight's game:

The Beacon wrote:(Talking about Xavier), “Personally, I wish more of the scholarships guys had his attitude and his desire and his toughness (on the floor),” assistant coach Ben Johnson said. “That’s something they can all learn from.”  

DoubleDipper wrote: tonight I admit to yelling at the coaches to bring in Andre, Chier, and Alec M to see if they could do better.....my yells we're obviously, and quite rightly, ignored.

Too bad there was no one sitting near you to tell you to "pipe down".  

The University should manufacture more crowds like last night's with additional special events that include a home basketball game. Alumni weekends, North Portland Neighborhood Carnival, Archdiocese Family Fest... The energy in the building (at least for the first 10 minutes of the game) was the best it's been this season due to all the extra folks in the seats.

Can someone that knows more about the Xs and Os of basketball than myself tell me why/how Gabe Taylor was limited to ONE shot attempt last night?

bullwinkle wrote:I think it's late enough in the season that a little blasphemy is in order.  
I  I certainly think everybody is playing hard, but they don't look like they're having much fun.  Instead of hand slaps after turnovers, all I see is frustrated exchanges.  This season is over.  So why is Jazz playing so much?  Why isn't Maker playing more?  Why has Ferguson been permanently benched?  Why don't we see Monson (look what Xavier has done with his chance)?   I hate to see comments about how many "legitimate" D1 players we have.  They're kids.  They're doing the best they can.  They have feelings.  Maybe all they need is an offense that maximizes their potential.  The only team is this conference that gets by on pure talent is Gonzaga.  Everybody else has to work.  Our coaches need to step up and show they've got a repertoire that fits the team we have.  Hell, even if we just played the entire game like there was two minutes left and we were behind, it would be more fun to watch than this.  

Talent plays a part in execution as well. Our offensive talent, such that it is, is confined to few players and hence the defense can concentrate on those players: Jazz Johnson, perhaps Gabe Taylor, among them. It is not particularly hard to determine around who our offense is run. Let’s not give opposing coaches too much credit.

I think it a testament to the coaches that the players are playing hard.

The suggestion that this season is over rings true to me but risks placing you with those who think the talent level is not good enough.

Might I suggest an occasional paragraph break.

Dean Murdoch wrote:Can someone that knows more about the Xs and Os of basketball than myself tell me why/how Gabe Taylor was limited to ONE shot attempt last night?

I've been waiting for someone who knows something about Xs and Os to answer your question, Deaner, but I'll go ahead and give my impression after watching last night's game.

Gabe played with no aggressiveness and the Don's gave him absolutely no room to work because in the game in San Francisco he was the high scorer and rebounder.  On the few occasions his teammates got him the ball in a good position to shoot or drive, he simply passed up the opportunity.

Gabe has looked very tired over the latter part of the season, but cumulative minutes and 14 straight losses can have that affect.....

Walla Walla may be the worst opponent in Pilots history. Lost by 60 to Portland State. So this will be a win, and the rest are losses. I'm not sure if Walla Walla will count as an official win or not since they're NAIA. This season can't end soon enough.