Part 2…WCC scores, news, and more...

NoPoNeighbor wrote:Clark could have been providing more leadership on the bench for this team throughout the season, potentially making a transition to on-court leadership more smooth when the time comes, but at every home game he is sitting by himself 10 feet behind the bench in the regular stands, looking bored or playing with his phone. Any idea why he's not on the bench with his teammates?

Yup, that's an easy one.  

Until recently, Crisshawn's lower leg was in a cast and he was getting around on a scooter.

The cast was recently removed, the scooter has been returned to the medical supply store, and Crisshawn was cleared for limited practice just prior to the Florida A&M game.

Prior to that, both the scooter and Crisshawn were considered "immovable objects" that if smashed into by one of the on-court players (or referees) could have caused injury to both Crisshawn and the other sprawled player.

(I believe Crisshawn was to be cleared for "contact" drills beginning this week.)

DoubleDipper wrote:

NoPoNeighbor wrote:Clark could have been providing more leadership on the bench for this team throughout the season, potentially making a transition to on-court leadership more smooth when the time comes, but at every home game he is sitting by himself 10 feet behind the bench in the regular stands, looking bored or playing with his phone. Any idea why he's not on the bench with his teammates?

Yup, that's an easy one.  

Until recently, Crisshawn's lower leg was in a cast and he was getting around on a scooter.

The cast was recently removed, the scooter has been returned to the medical supply store, and Crisshawn was cleared for limited practice just prior to the Florida A&M game.

Prior to that, both the scooter and Crisshawn were considered "immovable objects" that if smashed into by one of the on-court players (or referees) could have caused injury to both Crisshawn and the other sprawled player.

(I believe Crisshawn was to be cleared for "contact" drills beginning this week.)

I forget... after all of his travels and travails, has Clark ever actually played in a regular season DI game?

NoPoNeighbor wrote:I forget... after all of his travels and travails, has Clark ever actually played in a regular season DI game?

Nope, not a one, just the 2014-15 full season at Canada College in California....

…. followed by a medical redshirt year at Canada, then injured in a preseason game at Pitt he got another medical redshirt, and then while transfer redshirting and rehabbing at UP he was injured again just prior to the current season.

Crisshawn graduates in May, and only he knows what he wants to do after that, but conceivably he could play this season and two more before running out of eligibility.  He graduated from high school in 2014, and with enough NCAA waivers could play until the end of the 2020-21 season.

Talk about senior leadership, Crisshawn will turn 26 years-old during his final year of eligibility...

USF got a road win at PU, 72-69.
GU opened at home with a 91-48 win over SCU.

Nevada and Jazz Johnson lost their first game tonight, at New Mexico 85-58. UNM did not have a good pre-conference, going 7-6, but got a huge win in conference.

In the late games,
SMC beat BYU 88-66
USD beat UOP 69-57

USF was the only WCC road team to win today. For the opening weekend on WCC play, home teams went 7-2.

NoPoNeighbor wrote:I forget... after all of his travels and travails, has Clark ever actually played in a regular season DI game?

Claiming he's not nervous about his first-ever D1 game, Crisshawn expects to be cleared to play prior to the BYU game on Thursday, and may "get in a few minutes" of action.  

Far from being in "game shape," it will be nice if he can get up a few shots or make a steal or even commit a foul, just so he can feel a part of the team again like he did before his preseason ankle injury and surgery.

I have yet to find a way to listen to the "Terry Porter Show" without listening to it live, but in the estimation of many, Coach Bob Cantu is always a very good interview and tells it like it is....

In this interview from last Friday, on "Marching to Madness," Coach Cantu gives his assessment of the Pilots and the WCC, and talks a little about Theo, Crisshawn, and Jacob.

http://collegehoopswatch.com/2019/01/08/marching-to-madness-episode-338-portland-assistant-bob-cantu/

Thanks for the interview, DD. Unsurprisingly, Cantu feels that losing both Clark & Tryon for extended periods of time has really hampered this team. The next few games will be very interesting to evaluate with Tryon now healthy and as Crisshawn (hopefully) gets into game shape.

I thought I heard him say at one point that Crisshawn was actually cleared for the LMU game? I might have misheard though.

Dean Murdoch wrote:I thought I heard him say at one point that Crisshawn was actually cleared for the LMU game? I might have misheard though.

Yeah, I guess he was in uniform at LMU as part of his "getting back into the game," but apparently there was never any plans for him to actually play...

He'll get some minutes in Provo!

The Marriott Center is quite a venue to make one's DI debut! It will be great to see him take the floor.

It was a thriller at Santa Clara tonight as the Broncos downed PU, 67-64, after a PU player fouled a SCU player taking a wild 3-point shot with 1.5 seconds left and the game tied.  All three free throws were made and PU put up a 65 footer that bounced off the rim...game over.

GU smothered UOP in Spokane, 67-36, but UOP played very aggressive defense that held the Zags well below their season average of 92 ppg.

Today is a sorting day. All games feature teams with similar WCC records.
PU @ USD, both are 1-1
SCU @ BYU, both are 2-1
GU @ USF, both are 2-0, 7pm PT, ESPN2
SMC @LMU, both are 1-1, statement opportunity for LMU
UOP at UP, 0-3 vs 0-2.

Also, home teams went 3-0 Thursday, now 10-2 for season.

In the early game, PU won at USD 76-71. USD Sr. guard Isaiah Wright is out with an injury since 12/23. USD was 11-4 pre-conference, now 1-2 in WCC play.

GU won the 2nd half at USF to win 96-83.
BYU held court over SCU 80-74.
SMC won at LMU 71-60.

Road teams went 4-1 today. Home teams are now 11-6 for the season.

up7587 wrote:GU won the 2nd half at USF to win 96-83.

Excellent 37 minutes of back-and-forth basketball...GU knows how to close-out a game!

Shame on USF fans for not filling War Memorial for their excellent Dons team.  Way too many in-your-face GU fans chanting, We - Are - GU, over and over.  I can understand why the Chiles Center may be inundated by GU fans, but USF is a very good team worthy of a home court advantage.

Forgot to look for this.  Here are the power rankings heading into this weeks' games.  wcc-power-rankings.

There won't be much change this coming week.

The WCC Power Rankings are out: wcc-power-rankings

If you don't care to read about the good things other teams are doing, here's the report on the Pilots:

The least efficient offense, most turnover prone offense, worst offensive rebounding team and worst free-throw shooting team in conference play? The Portland Pilots.
Is it better on the defensive end? Kind of. Portland’s not the least efficient defensive team in the WCC. They’re the second-least efficient defensive team.

No need to say where we stand in the rankings.

up7587 wrote:

DoubleDipper wrote:UP nemesis and two-time All-WCC selection, senior point guard KJ Feagin of Santa Clara, is out for the remainder of the season due to a foot injury.

Feagin, who has played only two games this season after injuring his wrist earlier, had surgery on his foot two days ago.

Feagin only played in their first two games, both bad losses.  They have won their last five, including two Pac-12 teams, without him.  I think they'll be OK.

KJ Feagin either sees the writing on the wall or is just looking for a better team (at a school with an excellent graduate program   ), as he has decided to grad-transfer for next season....I, for one, am confident he'll go to a high-major.

Catching up on conference games:
On Thursday,
GU beat LMU 73-55
USF won at UOP 53-52
BYU won at PU 87-76
SMC beat SCU 75-55
On Saturday,
LMU beat PU 74-70
SMC beat USD 76-59
SCU beat UOP 69-57
USF beat BYU 82-63

Home teams went 5-5 this week, now 16-11 this year.

After three weeks, four teams are above .500: GU 5-0, USF & SMC 4-1, BYU 4-2.  SCU is even at 3-3.  LMU and USD are 2-3. PU is 2-4, and UOP is 1-5. Pilots of course are 0-5.

The Pilots have played two of the top four teams, GU and BYU.  And victories over the Pilots make up 3 of the 5 total wins for LMU, USD and UOP.  After already losing at home to two bottom four teams, I think we need to prepare for at best one conference win.

Read 'em and weep:
wcc-power-rankings

With games at USF and UOP this week, it doesn't get any easier for the Pilots. Pacific nearly beat USF last week.

up7587 wrote:With games at USF and UOP this week, it doesn't get any easier for the Pilots.  Pacific nearly beat USF last week.

I disagree. Gonzaga, San Francisco, Pacific, then home to Pepperdine...in terms of chances to win, the schedule is quite literally getting progressively easier!

USD expanded a 1 point halftime lead to a 71-58 win over LMU.
GU scored the first 14 points at SCU, and currently lead by 42 points with 15 minutes remaining.
BYU had a 7 point lead at half over SMC, in the most competitive game tonight.

Gonzaga wins 98-39 over Santa Clara.

I predict SCU takes out fewer newspaper ads in Spokane publications next year. Hashtag “don’t poke the bear”