2017-2018 Conference Schedule

USF coach: Smith > Walters x5. They run a moneyball system, where they only take layups or threes. Pilots' plan was to stop their threes and backdoor cuts. Since they put up 42 threes, I'd say that didn't work out so good. They played nine guys, and every one of them put up at least one three point shot. Their 6'-11" guy put up six of them, out of his ten shots. Their percentage was OK not great, at 36%, but the high volume aided by 16 offensive rebounds was all they needed.

NoPoNeighbor wrote:Yikes. This team is falling apart. Bad, bad play. Zero effort. Bad attitudes. Train wreck.

Sadly, cannot disagree with this assessment. Really surprised to see them so flat for the conference opener.

I was in general admission behind the basket so close to SF bench and fans- seemed like they were really up for this one.

It's possible this team won't win more than 4 games in conference and maybe not even that many. Figure among Pepperdine Santa Clara and Pacific there are some wins in there but the 10 games against the top 5 teams are not looking good.

Recorded the radio stream's post game interview with Kramer.

https://vocaroo.com/i/s0IF1k7nTkb0

Great to have @ohio_shawn [Crisshawn Clark] and Taki Fahrensohn cleared to begin practicing with the team.  They will play a big part in the 2018-19 season. Crisshawn transferred from University of Pittsburgh and Taki is a young freshman talent from NZ...

https://twitter.com/coachbobcantu/status/947383594284064768

I would think they would already be doing this, but then again I've never been to a practice, and my definition of "practicing with the team" is probably different than the NCAA's.

I don't have much to add that hasn't been already said...  a disappointing showing for sure.  

I found our lack of post play to be quite worrisome... USF didn't have to defend it, so they could camp out and force long 3s or double/triple team when a guard would drive the lane.  Compare that to USF driving the lane and kicking out to wide open 3-point shooters.  I don't recall seeing much if any of that from the Pilots last night, and if we can't figure that out, it is going to be (yet another) long season.

Coach Smith is also in his 2nd season at USF, a program that also dealt with huge roster churn.  They would appear to be many steps ahead of us in the rebuilding process...  we have a lot of work to do.

As mentioned, we need another post player with Phil sometimes....The Pilots can still play small ball much of the game.

PilotNut wrote:I found our lack of post play to be quite worrisome... USF didn't have to defend it, so they could camp out and force long 3s or double/triple team when a guard would drive the lane.  Compare that to USF driving the lane and kicking out to wide open 3-point shooters.  

Coach Smith is also in his 2nd season at USF, a program that also dealt with huge roster churn.  They would appear to be many steps ahead of us in the rebuilding process...  we have a lot of work to do.

Good perspective, UP's lack of an inside game is glaring, and except for Tahirou (13 minutes), there is really no one on the bench who can compete with the quicker, more athletic inside players in the WCC.

It's easy to second guess the coaching staff (it's just part of the job), and I am no exception at second guessing. Outrebounded 51-23, it seemed obvious that Phil (27 minutes) just wasn't getting it done and a change should have been made sooner and longer.  One player, Rashaad, didn't even play, but he's a very good rebounder, and as the best defender and most athletic player on the team he could have at least stayed with USF's #0.  

I haven't seen all of UP's games since I started watching in 1962, and I have seen them lose by greater margins, but last night's performance was one of the most disjointed, disappointing, and hapless performances I've witnessed.  In no way do I lay the blame on one individual or coach....everyone shares in this together.

I'm sure the coaching staff and players are equally disappointed and embarrassed by their performance, but now what?  Is it a train wreck of a team?  I don't think so, but with the lack of a classes and other students to divert their minds, it could become very ugly very quickly in the locker room and on the court without very strong leadership.  

Certainly TP is a strong leader and mentor, but what about team leadership?  I haven't seen that yet.  Having Xavier back will help with locker room atmosphere, it's probably what he does best, but as there are so many new team members who don't know him well, and because he won't be playing in games, his effectiveness may be minimal.  

It seems awfully early to be looking forward to next year (November 9th, 2018), but without a 180 degree turn in the direction this team is going, it could be our only solace.

Three questions for you statistics/numbers people:
1. The Dons converted 15 3-point attempts, is that a Chiles Center record for 3-pointers made?
2. Is USF's 35 attempted 3-point shots a Chiles Center record for 3-point attempts?
2. USF freshman Souley Boum scored 26 points, is that a Chiles Center record for points by a freshman?

NoPoNeighbor wrote:Safe to assume that Austin Stone is no longer on the team? I know he didn’t ever play much anyway, but man, our lack of depth in the front court is glaring.

There's really no doubt now that Austin was suspended for a transgression of team rules, but I expect he'll be back from South Carolina and on the bench for Thursday night's game against USD.  

I doubt he'll play, having missed so much practice time, but he should be available.

NoPoNeighbor wrote:No Hoagland on the bench either. Is he off the team, too?

There are four redshirts on the squad, and all except Hugh stayed in the local area during the holiday break.  If they too had gone out of town or home to visit family, they too would probably still be there.

Hey, who wouldn't like to stay as long as possible in Hawaii at Christmas!  

I expect we'll see Hugh back at practice on Wednesday and sitting next the Crisshawn and Taki on the bench on Thursday.  I noticed Xavier opted for the seats behind the bench during last night's game.

Sound Voltex wrote:

Great to have @ohio_shawn [Crisshawn Clark] and Taki Fahrensohn cleared to begin practicing with the team.  They will play a big part in the 2018-19 season. Crisshawn transferred from University of Pittsburgh and Taki is a young freshman talent from NZ...

I would think they would already be doing this, but then again I've never been to a practice, and my definition of "practicing with the team" is probably different than the NCAA's.

Both Crisshawn and Taki are recovering from knee injuries (multiple knee injuries in Crisshawn's case), and they are just now being cleared to begin practicing full-speed-ahead with the team by UP's training and medical staff.

Prior to this they have worked on skills and drills to some extent, but have focused on rehabilitation, not on practice...nothing to do with NCAA rules, but all about their health and safety.

I'm confused:
1.  I don't understand why Diabate and Smoyer aren't playing  half of every game.  Phil will be gone next year, we're not winning that many games.  Shouldn't we be grooming these guys?
2.  I don't understand why Jackson isn't playing more.  As mentioned, he's probably the most athletic player on the team.  I understand he has turnovers and fouls, but I suspect they'd diminish considerably if he had some assurance of minutes.
3.  And while I'm on the subject, I don't understand the point of what seems to be a 6 or 7 man rotation.  Seems like that's just a message to the balance of the roster to start looking for a place to play next year.  
4.  I don't understand how we end up playing so flat so often.  Seems like we have two or three plays in a row with quick ball and player movement, followed by five minutes of slow passes and/or one player or another looking for a move and a shot.
5.  I don't understand why we didn't adjust to get more rebounds.  USF had 16 offensive rebounds last night (to our 2), and many of them were simply tips and slapping the ball out to another USF player.
6.  I don't understand why we didn't adjust our defense so that USF wouldn't get as many 3 point attempts in the second half as the first.
7.  I don't understand how we have so many talented coaches but persist in a style of play that isn't working.  I get that Terry hasn't coached at the college level before, but Cantu and Johnson have great experience and credentials.  Do they all agree on this offense and defense?

I'm not giving up on the Pilots.  As I just said, we have talented coaches, and while our players are young, they are all talented with great potential.  I'm just confused about what's going on.

Confused is a good descriptor--and a good list of questions, bullwinkle. It is unfortunate that there is no Coach's show this week (due to the holiday) to hear from Porter on some of these things.

USD is pretty good this year. 11-3 and almost top 100 in kenpom. Better bring a much better effort. Most likely this game will actually be closer than the USF game, but hard to see a win coming out of it.

It seemed to me that the Pilots hadn't won at home against USF in a while, so I looked it up. February 25, 2010, is UP's last home victory over the Dons. Jared Stohl and Nemanja Mitrovic combined for 42 points and 11-19 on three-pointers.

That win moved the Pilots to 9-4 in conference play. They beat Santa Clara two days later to finish 10-4, in third place. That was our last season over .500 in the conference. Since then we've lost to USF at home 8 straight years, and are on our way to our 8th straight non-winning record in the WCC.

I guess the good news is that USF is our longest home-court losing streak, at 8 years. Here's the last time we beat each WCC opponent at the Chiles Center (we have a chance to end a 4-year home losing streak to USD tomorrow night):

17-18 ???
16-17 Pepp
15-16 Pac, BYU, LMU
14-15 SCU
13-14 GU
12-13 USD
11-12
10-11 SMC
09-10 USF

Brief Coach Porter USF debrief/USD preview on Rip City Radio:

https://vocaroo.com/i/s1ccGCRNKHkO

[quote="NoPoNeighbor"]I guess the good news is that USF is our longest home-court losing streak, at 8 years. Here's the last time we beat each WCC opponent at the Chiles Center (we have a chance to end a 4-year home losing streak to USD tomorrow night):


I'm looking forward to this one. I expect the effort will be much, much better and this game will be competitive. Maybe not a win since USD is a good team this year, but expecting to be within single digits with under 10 minutes to go.

Question: Is Austin back?
Answer from coach: He's back, but won't be on the bench as we work through some issues.

(Expect to see both Diabate and Hartwich start tonight).

USD leads the WCC in 3-point defense...expect to see some head fakes on the outside and then some passes to the inside or some dribble drives.

love the lineup tonight,...Diabate and Smoyers getting some minutes... good experience for the underclassmen and the Pilots future big men... 10 man rotation seems to be good so far in the first half....Defense and Press are doing good ...

Overtime....close but no cigar!

I enjoyed the game much more than the previous two conference games

PUT SHAVER BACK IN

JOSH MCSWIGGAN YOU DA REAL MVP

Sucks we couldn't execute in OT, but USD has the seniority and recent losing in OT experience.

Staying in the paint the whole game/two big people strategy nearly worked out, but missed clutch time FTs haunted us......again.

Much better effort and aggressiveness than last game. Hopefully that will carry over to Santa Clara on the road, they already beat 2 of the bottom WCC (LMU tonight) so they got some momentum.

Coach Cantu's radio post-game thoughts and an interesting perspective into their itinerary for Saturday's game:

https://vocaroo.com/i/s03AfdDHlk38

Guess we aren't a 3Pt shooting team anymore. 1 of 9, 11%.

Actually, I thought the coaches put together a good strategy and game plan, and the players worked hard to execute it. For once, another team was reacting to the Pilot line-up and subs, instead of the Pilots always reacting. Once it reached overtime, the Pilots' inexperience showed, as they struggled to score. USD is a veteran team, starting 4 Jrs and a Sr, and only playing one Fr.

Other highlights:
Franklin has abandoned the rolled up shorts.
Diabate showed he's a low post scorer; 13 points in 20 minutes.
Refs called 30 fouls on UP. At least 10% were very soft or non-existent.
Pilots also forced the action with drives down the lane, resulting in many USD fouls, and fouling out two key guys.
Smoyer sighting: 5 points in 19 minutes. Some good stuff, but a few mistakes on defense, leaving open shooters in the corner.
Need to finish at the rim; too many misses in the paint.

With continued effort like tonight, they may just win a few games in conference.

Will Maupin @WillsWCCblog wrote:Still marveling at Portland's game plan against San Diego. It takes up the bulk of my #WCChoops thoughts piece, which you can read Friday AM on @mid_madness.

https://twitter.com/WillsWCCblog/status/949185934641123328