San Diego @ Pilots 1/17 @ 7pm

Last season the Pilots lost at home to the Toreros in OT, 81-74, as Olin Carter and Isaiah Wright combined for 46 points, and then the Pilots won at San Diego, 55-49, despite the 26 points from PSU transfer Isaiah Pineiro.  In that win, the UP rotation consisted of seven players, five of whom are generally starting this year, plus graduates Tyson and Hartwich.

This week it is unknown if Carter or Wright will start or even play as they are both recovering from injuries. Regardless, Pineiro is averaging over 20 points and 9 rebounds per game while 6-10/280 sophomore forward Yauhen Massalski (he's from Belarus), is swatting and redirecting shots inside.

KenPom give the Pilots a 22% chance of winning this game, which may seem slim, but it's much better than the 1% and 3% chance the Pilots are given in their upcoming games against GU and USF....

DoubleDipper wrote:This week it is unknown if Carter or Wright will start or even play as they are both recovering from injuries.

A USD fan tells me Wright, who missed four games in a row with a wrist injury, will return to the lineup against the Pilots.  During a nine-game stretch from Nov 24 - Dec 23, just before his injury, Wright was shooting 46 percent from the field, 35 percent from 3-point range, and averaging 15.4 points, 5.2 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.4 steals.

There is still no word on Carter playing, but he's apparently considered "day-to-day."

NoPoNeighbor wrote:On Thursday night against USD, pay attention to this as you watch our half-court offense.

From another thread. I think it’s Darren Cooper on colour, he just called the Pilots offence “windshield wiper motion” that’s not really putting pressure on the defence. Astute.

A new low. Just terrible. Porter has got to go, sad to say as I really like him. But this level of effort and execution is unacceptable. Such poor technique in man to man defense, not moving feet, jumping too early when you have inside position for the board, just everything. This is not working.

Hey, Coach Geving told us before the game the goal was to limit Pineiro to 14 points...and the Pilots did that!!!  

If I'm going to stay positive, that's all I've got...

I was trying to think of the positives about the game as well.  I came up with the end of the first half, Marcus Shaver Jr is back to form, and McSwiggen's block of Pineiro's first shot.   The other positive was admiring San Diego's play (which I did several times when we were down 20 plus).  

I love Darren Cooper's analogy of a windshield wiper offense - so true.  The other thing that just bugs the hell out of me is watching two or three Pilots on a break-away without a single pass and the end result is a missed lay-up.  It should be an automatic benching when that happens.

bullwinkle wrote:I love Darren Cooper's analogy of a windshield wiper offense - so true.

Had a nice chat with Darren before the game.  This was his first game back in Portland after spending several months in Southern California trying to break into the sports announcer market there.  

Still staying positive after some career setbacks, he's looking to get better at his craft while working WCC games for WCC TV.

Our defence still seems basically fine to me. If we had a reasonable offense that scored 70-75 a game we'd won a decent number of games with the defence we've been playing imo. Not blowouts, but some solid w's. Probably still below .500 in this years wcc.

dholcombe wrote:Our defence still seems basically fine to me. If we had a reasonable offense that scored 70-75 a game we'd won a decent number of games with the defence we've been playing imo. Not blowouts, but some solid w's. Probably still below .500 in this years wcc.

I don't see it. I wish I had kept track of how many layups USD made practically uncontested. I know the Pilots had zero.

On offense, it is a disaster. The coaches still believe in Tryon; he scored 0 points in 18 minutes (0-5). McSwiggan scored 2 points (1-7) in 29 minutes. Franklin scored 3 points (1-6) in 26 minutes. Walker scored 4 points (1-7, 2 FTs) in 27 minutes.
0-5). That four starters getting 9 points. USD started a freshman guard averaging 2.5 ppg to replace an injured player; he scored 13 points on 5-8 shooting. Other than Shaver, the only Pilot to make more than two baskets was Malcolm (3-5), and two of those were at the end of the game.

Clark was a wild 2 for 9 in his 16 minutes of play. Jacob Tryon is hurt still: he favors his injured foot, is limited in his mobility; he grimaces occasionally from the pain. Whether the injury is affecting his shooting is anyone's guess. Walker should not be shooting threes unless wide open and then with some reluctance. Thought Diabate showed well last night: appears to be our best on the boards. McSwiggan did have a nice block and appeared engaged.

The somewhat unchallenged collective wisdom here is that we have the talent to win games in the WCC. I do not claim to be an expert, but outside of Shaver, I am not sure that we field players who match up with, but certainly are not better than, the players on other WCC teams.

I wonder as to the fate of the team come season and school year end. I hope that Shaver remains. I hope the assistants stay, but I am concerned.

Clark was a wild 2 for 9 in his 16 minutes of play. Jacob Tryon is hurt still: he favors his injured foot, is limited in his mobility; he grimaces occasionally from the pain. Whether the injury is affecting his shooting is anyone's guess. Walker should not be shooting threes unless wide open and then with some reluctance. Thought Diabate showed well last night: appears to be our best on the boards. McSwiggan did have a nice block and appeared engaged.

The somewhat unchallenged collective wisdom here is that we have the talent to win games in the WCC. I do not claim to be an expert, but outside of Shaver, I am not sure that we field players who match up with, but certainly are not better than, the players on other WCC teams.

I wonder as to the fate of the team come season and school year end. I hope that Shaver remains. I hope the assistants stay, but I am concerned.

It's hard to watch this train wreck from a far and compare notes from exactly 10 years ago. The crazy thing is that we know it can be done. But the formula involves hiring an up-and-coming power 5 assistant not a former Trailblazer.

wrv wrote:Clark was a wild 2 for 9 in his 16 minutes of play. Jacob Tryon is hurt still: he favors his injured foot, is limited in his mobility; he grimaces occasionally from the pain. Whether the injury is affecting his shooting is anyone's guess. Walker should not be shooting threes unless wide open and then with some reluctance. Thought Diabate showed well last night: appears to be our best on the boards. McSwiggan did have a nice block and appeared engaged.

I agree with much of your post, but JoJo's three-point shooting ability is not an issue. 38% last year, 38% this year. He might not be D'Marques but he still shoots well above D1 average from three.

(Hmm, though as I check further numbers his 3PT shooting did fall to 32% in WCC play last year and is sitting at 28% through four games this year - wonder if due to smaller sample size and this can be expected to trend up, or if a result of opposing conference teams knowing to key on him)

Dean Murdoch wrote:

wrv wrote:Clark was a wild 2 for 9 in his 16 minutes of play. Jacob Tryon is hurt still: he favors his injured foot, is limited in his mobility; he grimaces occasionally from the pain. Whether the injury is affecting his shooting is anyone's guess. Walker should not be shooting threes unless wide open and then with some reluctance. Thought Diabate showed well last night: appears to be our best on the boards. McSwiggan did have a nice block and appeared engaged.

I agree with much of your post, but JoJo's three-point shooting ability is not an issue. 38% last year, 38% this year. He might not be D'Marques but he still shoots well above D1 average from three.

(Hmm, though as I check further numbers his 3PT shooting did fall to 32% in WCC play last year and is sitting at 28% through four games this year - wonder if due to smaller sample size and this can be expected to trend up, or if a result of opposing conference teams knowing to key on him)

In the last few games his shot selection has become noticeably worse, leading to lower shooting %.

NoPoNeighbor wrote:In the last few games his shot selection has become noticeably worse, leading to lower shooting %.

Very fair. But that's an entirely different animal than the suggestion by another poster that JoJo should start passing up open threes!