2021 WCC Games

Dear Scott
Please let him go.  Today's L was a coaching loss on so many levels.  And it's only going to get worse.  I can't think of a reason to keep him on staff any longer...not one.  And there's no downside to letting him go.  It is well past time to get back on track.  Ten games left.  You owe it to the kids, you owe it to the staff/administration, you owe it to the fans, and frankly, you owe it to yourself.  The Pilot Men's Basketball program needs you, Scott.  Make the change.  Start the search today...it's time for a new direction.  What are you waiting for?

The shame of it is this group of players obviously has some talent.

Where is Ali? Hurt?

Dean Murdoch wrote:Where is Ali? Hurt?

Limping noticeably on an ankle he injured in the last minute of the USD game....BEFORE his last two free-throws!

DoubleDipper wrote:

Dean Murdoch wrote:Where is Ali? Hurt?

Limping noticeably on an ankle he injured in the last minute of the USD game.

Right, I completely forgot about that.

Pilots are trying to crawl back into it... boy, giving up those early 25-3 runs is real annoying.

Geezaldinho wrote:The shame of it is this group of players obviously has some talent.

How about Latrell Jones and the run he's been on since conference started? I would imagine one of the first priorities of the new coaching staff will be to re-recruit him, because he will have a lot of options if he hits the transfer portal.

The Pilots haven't had a guy like him since Kevin Bailey.

Santa Clara Athletics wrote: Due to positive cases from COVID-19 testing and related contact tracing, Santa Clara men's basketball has paused all team-related activities.

Thursday's home game against Pacific, along with the following three contests, are postponed. The Broncos were also scheduled to play at Portland on Saturday, at home against Saint Mary's on Thursday, Feb. 4, and on the road vs. Gonzaga on Saturday, Feb. 6.

Currently, the next scheduled games for SCU is at home vs. GU on February 11 and at home vs. the Pilots on February 13th.

The Pilots next game is Thursday (1/28) at SMC at 8pm on ROOT Sports TV.

DoubleDipper wrote:The Pilots next game is Thursday (1/28) at SMC at 8pm on ROOT Sports TV.

WRONG AGAIN!!

Tomorrow night's game at SMC has been postponed/canceled due to "an abundance of caution."

Next men's game is now expected to be next Thursday, 2/4 at 4pm at home vs. BYU.

DoubleDipper wrote:Tomorrow night's game at SMC has been postponed/canceled due to "an abundance of caution."

The "abundance of caution" at SMC has turned into a full-blown pause for the Gaels, as they've now "postponed" four games counting last night's game against UP.

Bay Area teams SMC, USF, and SCU are currently paused due to COVID-19.

With the regular season-ender scheduled for February 27th and the beginning of the WCC Tournament just five days later, it should not be a surprise if some teams don't play all 16 WCC games this season.

What are the chances they even let the Pilots go to Vegas? I could see them wanting to go with a smaller tournament to lessen the amount of teams heading to the site.

Even just going down to an 8-team bracket chops a whole day off. I think it would probably be difficult to go further than that - it's not as easy from a competitive standpoint to move to 6 teams, and you're giving up TV money if you go to 4.

And I can't even begin to fathom the amount of work going on behind the scenes on this stuff, but I was surprised that the WCC didn't send the Pilots down to Moraga the very first weekend of conference play. Both teams were open on Jan 2 thanks to Pacific and Pepperdine pausing.

DoubleDipper wrote:SMC, USF, and SCU are currently paused due to COVID-19.

You can add LMU to that list...for at least the second time.

LMU beat UP a week ago, and has since then been paused due to players or coaches testing positive, resulting in postponement of games against USD, GU, and SMC.  

UP is scheduled to play LMU on the last day of the regular season, February 27.

Knock on wood, but due to the diligence and discipline of the staff and players at BYU and UP, those two teams are the only ones in the WCC that have not had to pause for COVID.

For the third time this season San Diego has paused all activity and will not play again until February 18 against SCU. The Pilots are scheduled to play the Toreros on February 25th.

USD's game against LMU this past Saturday was "postponed" due to LMU's pause, but now USD's next six games are listed as "canceled" as there is apparently no room to reschedule the games before the WCC Tournament.

With only four more regular season WCC games planned, USD will finish the season with only nine WCC games played.

Currently, UP has to reschedule games against SMC and SCU to complete its 16 game schedule.

LMU, SMC, SCU, USF, and USD are currently paused.

DoubleDipper wrote:LMU, SMC, SCU, USF, and USD are currently paused.

IMO, it is only right that the WCC teams that have shown they are winners should be given priority to finish their WCC season having played all 16 games.

In that light, and after their games against LMU and SCU were canceled this weekend, GU will head to Stockton to play UOP on Thursday, and I'm told they will likely rearrange their schedule to play BYU in Provo on Monday.

However, if the BYU game on Monday is played, it will mean their showdown on the last day of the regular season (February 27) won't happen, and the date will be left open play other canceled games. Baylor?? Probably not!

Pepperdine at Portland added for Saturday, apparently.

What a mess!

Dean Murdoch wrote:Pepperdine at Portland added for Saturday, apparently.

What a mess!

Hey, UP had an open date and by moving the game up from later in the month it puts open dates in the bank for make-up games. It's a given there will be more changes to come.

I'm not sure why Scott was so against the game, saying "We worked with the Conference Office to attempt to keep the game on its original date out of respect to our student-athletes and department staff." "We were ultimately required to make the last-minute change."

I'm only speculating, but perhaps the staff is wanting to get Ahmed closer to 100% healthy before playing PU.

DoubleDipper wrote: I'm told they will likely rearrange their schedule to play BYU in Provo on Monday.

GU is playing BYU Monday, and now GU has almost two weeks off before the WCC Tournament...maybe they can get in a game against a Top-10 team.

They two leading candidates to play all 16 WCC games are GU and UP.

Without further cancelations, GU needs to get in two games against LMU to reach the magic 16, and UP needs games against SCU and SMC to make that number.

DoubleDipper wrote:...maybe they can get in a game against a Top-10 team.

Oh boy, apparently Top-10 Houston was given the opportunity to play GU this coming Saturday, but instead will play Our Lady of the Lake.  

And that decision was made before Houston's upset loss yesterday at East Carolina...

DoubleDipper wrote:Oh boy, apparently Top-10 Houston was given the opportunity to play GU this coming Saturday, but instead will play Our Lady of the Lake.

Huge edge to the Cougars here as I assume this game will be played on land.

Wow, first career start for Curtiss? Talk about putting the kid in Haarms way!

Good one, Deaner...you must be stuck inside in Regina.

Unfortunately the Cougars are not paying any attention to Curtiss, who is mostly playing the high post, and are instead giving ALL their attention to Ali.  

Pilots looked decent in the first half until they didn't...and when they didn't they looked awful.

UP being out-rebounded 36-8. Nobody on Portland even tries to rebound....

bullwinkle wrote:While I’m not expecting a win today, I was surprised that as game time approached, it was the first time in over two years I was looking forward to the game.

I thought the team played with much more energy, intensity, and toughness tonight than they have in weeks, and despite PU scoring 91 points, the defensive pressure and rotations to help out were very good…but PU is just too good a shooting team and often shot over the shorter Pilots.

The Pilots looked good when they pushed the ball in transition, but turnovers and terrible shooting from behind the arc (6-26) caused all the comeback attempts to fall short.  Practice, practice, practice!!

Also energized was the coaching staff.  I have enjoyed watching the new LMU coach on the sidelines exhorting his players, and that is what Coach Johnson was doing tonight.  That, and he was working with his entire staff and sharing responsibility, something Porter always seemed loath to do.  

Two observations:
1. Johnson’s substitutions and rotating of players were almost Meek like at times, and his offensive schemes allowed all the players scoring opportunities.
2. It appeared to me that many of the successful plays the Pilots ran were drawn-up in the huddle during timeouts.  Not sure if that means TP did not install many plays, or if Ben had some of his own plays that he was dying to try out.

Today’s game was Ben’s well-deserved first game as a head coach of a D1 team, and the remaining games on the schedule will be a good opportunity to see how he handles being in charge.  I have no idea if he could be a serious candidate to take over permanently, but I like what I saw tonight.

Seems like the Pilots can usually play pretty well for the first half or close to it, so I've been turning off the game after half time when they fall behind by 10-15 points. Watched the whole game last night. Players looked much looser, had some good runs, and the final score didn't reflect the bulk of the game.

I am not sure if I heard Scott Leykam correctly on the halftime interview, but I think he said that he doubts if the Santa Clara game will happen next weekend and the Pilots will be looking at alternative arrangements if that game is postponed/cancelled.

I saw Northridge is looking for a game next weekend. Make it happen, I'd like to see Coach Ben and the gang get as much opportunity as possible now. I had been getting tired of seeing every single team bring more energy and enthusiasm to the barn than the Pilots, but the difference last night was noticeable (the reaction after Taki's dunk off the sweet feed from Henn was fun to watch).

Dean Murdoch wrote:I am not sure if I heard Scott Leykam correctly on the halftime interview, but I think he said that he doubts if the Santa Clara game will happen next weekend and the Pilots will be looking at alternative arrangements if that game is postponed/cancelled.

He did say that, and he probably has "insider" information, but at the outset of SCU's latest pause it was said the Broncos would be back to play GU this coming Thursday and UP on Saturday.

But yes, it would good for Coach Ben to take the team outside the WCC and gain some added exposure as head coach.

Prior to Portland, Ben had plenty of exposure and success as an assistant in his 26 of coaching:
NCAA Tournament, 1st Round:  1995-96, UW-Green Bay (25-4)
NCAA Tournament, 2nd Round:  2006-07, Washington State University (26-8
NCAA Tournament, Sweet 16:  2007-08, Washington State University (26-9)
NIT Tournament, 1st Round:  2008-09, Washington State University (17-16)
NIT Tournament, Final Four:  2010-11, Washington State University (22-13)
CBI Tournament, National Finalists:  2011-12, Washington State University (19-18)