Part 2…WCC scores, news, and more...

BYU topped SMC 71-66.

The season finale against Santa Clara will be interesting. Pilots will possibly be 0-15 in conference, though wins against Pepperdine and/or LMU are possible. What a weird environment it would be at 0-15.

Pilots have had their two best performances of the season against the top 2 teams in the WCC, which may not bode well for the 3 home games left against bottom feeders.

Saturday's scores:
USD upset USF 67-63
LMU won at SCU 69-61
and PU beat SMC 84-77 in OT.

Home teams went 6-2 last week, helped by SMC losing two on the road. Home teams are now 22-13 for the year.

So much for thinking PU or LMU are teams we can beat. And GU is now two games ahead of everyone else in the loss column.  GU is 6-0. USF and BYU are 5-2. Half the conference is between 4-3 and 3-5. UOP is solidly in 9th with their two victories over us.

How many years in a row have the Pilots been the #9 or #10 seed? This is getting ridiculous.

PilotNut wrote:How many years in a row have the Pilots been the #9 or #10 seed?  This is getting ridiculous.

In 2017-18, we were 9th seed, and lost to #8 LMU, who we'd beaten twice already.
In 2016-17, we were the 10th seed, and won our first round game over #7 USD. Lost in the quarters to SMC.
In 2015-16, we were 8th, but got the 7th seed and a bye since UOP self-imposed a postseason ban. Drew #2 seed GU.
In 2014-15, we were the 6th seed, and had a bye to Saturday, where we beat SMC, then lost to BYU in the semi-finals. Sweet, sweet relevance.

The Power Rankings are out. Lots of shuffling in positions 2 thru 8.
wcc-power-rankings

The Pilot summary is:

Still winless in conference play. The Pilots are currently No. 316 in KenPom. If the season ended today, this year’s Portland squad would rate as the third-worst WCC team of the KenPom era and the worst since the 2009 Loyola Marymount team that finished at No. 323. It’s bad.

I'm at a loss at this point, honestly. I try to remain positive and see the hope in this program, but I have been saying that for over ten years now. "Maybe next year" is starting to feel like "maybe in another generation." What do our soccer and cross country programs have that basketball does not/could not have?

What do our soccer and cross country programs have that basketball does not/could not have?

Unfortunately, I believe the answer to your question is, a very good coach. We keep trying ex-Blazers players, always with the same result. I just cannot imagine Terry Porter is listening to his assistants. Their collective experience could get us out of this spiral.

SouthCarolinaPilot wrote:What do our soccer and cross country programs have that basketball does not/could not have?

Clive Charles. Rob Conner.

Amazingly, the Pilot's game was the closest game tonight.
GU rolled @BYU 93-63
LMU beat UOP 60-42

The home teams all won tonight.
GU over USD 85-69
SMC over USF 86-80
BYU over LMU 67-49
UOP over PU 66-59

Home teams went 6-2 this week, are now 28-15.

BYU, USF and SMC all have three losses, USD has four losses, and LMU, SCU an PU all have five losses. UOP finally beat someone else, and have six losses. WCC is for sure a one bid league unless someone shocks GU in the conf. tournament, which is less likely now that it is rigged to favor GU.

up7587 wrote:WCC is for sure a one bid league unless someone shocks GU in the conf. tournament, which is less likely now that it is rigged to favor GU.

Ehhhh, I don't mind the format one bit. Puts heavy emphasis on the regular season and I think that's a good thing.

I agree on the format... my beef is how long the tournament takes in the format plus the Sunday break. 6 days?!

If the bottom of the conference (yes that is us) would improve we would have a case to go back to a standard bracket... but we have proved GU's point this year.

Dean Murdoch wrote:

up7587 wrote:WCC is for sure a one bid league unless someone shocks GU in the conf. tournament, which is less likely now that it is rigged to favor GU.

Ehhhh, I don't mind the format one bit. Puts heavy emphasis on the regular season and I think that's a good thing.

But doesn't it make the tournament a lot less interesting because the chances of an upset are almost nil?

And worst of all for UP students, the "game" will now be played on Thursday instead of Friday evening....not much chance of attending classes AND watching the Pilots while enjoying Las Vegas too.

I don't think all 10 teams should be in the tournament. It should be 6 teams or 4. 6 if they really want 3 games. Leave the bottom 4 teams out and really emphasize the season.

dholcombe wrote:I don't think all 10 teams should be in the tournament. It should be 6 teams or 4. 6 if they really want 3 games. Leave the bottom 4 teams out and really emphasize the season.

Heck, just send the conference champ to the NCAA, and skip the tournament altogether.

I am not going to Vegas this year, first miss in several years. Part of it is too many other things going on in early March, and part of it is buying a tourney ticket package and hotel nights for one Pilot game, now on Thursday, and hanging around until Wednesday morning to come home. That drags out way too long. In the future I may book a flight for a Thursday-Sunday trip, buy tickets at the box office, and reschedule only if a miracle happens. Not sure how I'll handle the room booking. It's too bad, because I have several family members who live in Hawaii, Arizona, Colorado, etc., that come to Vegas, usually on Sunday or Monday so they can watch the Zags and visit. But watching the Pilots on Thursday and then waiting until Monday/Tuesday to see everyone is too long.

Halfway point power rankings:
wcc-power-rankings

"The Pilots needed more than 40 minutes to lose a game! That’s progress." What an absolutely sad joke.

Better late than never. On Thursday:
GU rolled over USF 92-62
SCU won at PU 79-71
USD won at LMU 65-63
SMC beat UOP 78-66

Home teams were 2-3.

PU just used missed FTs and offensive rebounding to steal a win over USD.

PU over USD 70-67
GU rolled SMC 94-46
BYU over UOP 69-59
USF over SCU 78-72

The other 4 home teams all prevailed tonight. Home teams are 34-19 on the season.

GU is now destroying everybody. It's a very good thing the Pilots don't play in Spokane this year. Might be 100-2.

USD opened up smoking hot, and led BYU most of the game. BYU caught up late when USD missed several FTs. Up 2 with seconds to go, they let Wright go all the way for a layup. But USD could not get it done in OT, and lost at home 88-82.
USF was down 8 at half at home to PU, but outscored them by 20 in the 2nd half to win 89-77.

LMU played even with GU for 35 minutes, fading late and losing at home 73-60.
SMC went to SCU and won 66-55.

Home teams were 1-3 tonight.

I was able to watch the late-night GU/LMU game in a bar Orlando last night, and although one PN poster in another thread said, "LMU is a real bad team," they looked anything but bad to me.

LMU had a 15-6 edge in offensive rebounds and controlled the inside with a 38-30 edge in points in the paint.  The Lions also had an 18-2 advantage in second chance points.  Sure, that meant they missed some shots (25/66 vs. 23/50), but they are skilled and scrappy.

StudentPilot wrote:I was able to watch the late-night GU/LMU game in a bar Orlando last night, and although one PN poster in another thread said, "LMU is a real bad team," they looked anything but bad to me.

LMU had a 15-6 edge in offensive rebounds and controlled the inside with a 38-30 edge in points in the paint.  The Lions also had an 18-2 advantage in second chance points.  Sure, that meant they missed some shots (25/66 vs. 23/50), but they are skilled and scrappy.

Not terrible by WCC standards maybe but their big guys in particular are terrible. Awful footwork, terrible hands, poor positioning. They would go 0-20 in the Big Ten (but so would the Pilots of course).