2021-22 Season

Good analysis, bdaddy.  Yeah, I think Shantay wanted to beat his one-time mentor, and there is no way Hayford was going to let that happen...so, game on!

Good first Seattle U. game for Houston transfer Cameron Tyson with his older brother, D'Marques, now an assistant at Seattle U., but I think the UP staff was most encouraged by UP holding All-WAC first team guard Damon Trammell to 11 points (he scored over 30 more than once last season). On the other hand, All-WAC second team G/F 6-6 Ryan Grigsby was able to hit from inside and out for 29 points before fouling out, and I am sure assistant coach T.J. Lipold cannot be happy with that.

I think we got a good look at the projected rotation with the exception of Moses Wood who should be back in action against Lewis & Clark a week from today after suffering an injury in practice...and I would expect more minutes from 6-8 freshman G/F Matija Svetozarevic as his game matures through the season.

Shantay Legans’ rebuild in Portland is just beginning...

With all this coming in, Portland might be in its best shape since the early Eric Reveno days.

https://www.midmajormadness.com/2021/10/26/22745106/shantay-legans-portland-pilots-basketball-preview-2022

DoubleDipper wrote:Shantay Legans’ rebuild in Portland is just beginning...

With all this coming in, Portland might be in its best shape since the early Eric Reveno days.

https://www.midmajormadness.com/2021/10/26/22745106/shantay-legans-portland-pilots-basketball-preview-2022

Can we take anything from knowing that Clythus Griffith played in every game last year, never started but got 7th most minutes, so first or second man off the bench, and didn't play in the recent secret scrimmage? Was he available?

Just read the article.  The comment

with the middle of the WCC being the weakest it has been in a while

seems at odds with other reports about the WCC being stronger then ever.

up7587 wrote:Just read the article.  The comment

with the middle of the WCC being the weakest it has been in a while

seems at odds with other reports about the WCC being stronger then ever.

Came here to say the exact same thing.

A well-written article otherwise, but you are right. That one line doesn't seem to line up with every other metric that suggests a run-of-the-mill NIT team would be in a battle just to finish in the top half of the WCC this year.

Should we do individual game threads on here or one giant one for the season?

Dean Murdoch wrote:Should we do individual game threads on here or one giant one for the season?

Suggest we do one thread for non-conference games, then decide about conf. games later.

up7587 wrote:Suggest we do one thread for non-conference games, then decide about conf. games later.

But that's not a mandate, right?

I know some will find it difficult to restrain themselves from starting threads for a number of the games, especially if Pilots are competitive.

StudentPilot wrote:

up7587 wrote:Suggest we do one thread for non-conference games, then decide about conf. games later.

But that's not a mandate, right?

I know some will find it difficult to restrain themselves from starting threads for a number of the games, especially if Pilots are competitive.

Nope, feel free to thread away.  Just suggesting a bit of a wait and see approach.

up7587 wrote:Nope, feel free to thread away...

For me, preseason game threads are even more interesting than those for WCC games because most of us know far less about those opponents than we do about the teams UP plays every year.  

Without putting undue pressure on Dean Murdoch, his past thread starts have been excellent jumping-off points for discussion, and it has only been the abysmal performance of the recent teams that have caused one-time PN posters to abandon ship.

No need to start a thread for Lewis & Clark or Willamette, but for those who have the time and/or inclination to be a thread-starter, I say go for it!

DoubleDipper wrote:it has only been the abysmal performance of the recent teams that have caused one-time PN posters to abandon ship.

Hence my wait and see thoughts. Fool me once . . .

But individual team threads are fine, too.

I prefer individual team threads, but they didn't make sense when everyone was following the "if you don't have anything nice to say..." rule

I wouldn't mind if we tried one for the ASU opener. It's been a long while since I've approached a Pilots season with anticipation rather than utter dread and/or complete apathy.

What I miss were the single game threads for women's soccer in addition to men's basketball. Those would get 3-4 pages deep each!

I understand that tonight is an exhibition game, but I am disappointed to not have a live stream option (I imagine Dean might be in the same boat here). Wanted to get my first taste of the new era of Pilot basketball! Looking forward to the regular season and everyone's thoughts from tonight.

My thought
is if we keep shooting 50% from the field, 55% from threes, and 100% at the line we’ll be ok.

Okay, a 26-point win over a D3 team. Someone tell me how to feel.

Dean Murdoch wrote:Okay, a 26-point win over a D3 team. Someone tell me how to feel.

A few too many turnovers, more time should help to get in sync. The starting big Moses Wood did not play because of a hiccup in his grad transfer paperwork, but Legans said he would play against ASU. Frosh big Vucinic from Montenegro is an athletic player who will be exciting to watch.

I have never seen a bench as into a game as this team. Yelling, cheering, arm waving. Managers standing behind the bench and cheering. Definitely a unique team spirit. A world of change from the surly attitudes of some players the last few years.

QED

https://twitter.com/i/status/1455362579950301184

My takeaways from the game tonight:
1. The team was having A LOT more fun. At one point, on a defensive baseline out of bounds play, the whole bench was standing with their hands up in a defensive position as if they were denying the ball. The refs actually had to tell them to sit down.
2. Meadows is the primary ball handler. I had assumed it would be Perry, but Meadows brought the ball down the court the majority of the time.
3. Austin WILL BE this team’s leading scorer. That kid can score at every level.
4. Tyler Robertson is going to be my favorite player. The guy does a little bit of everything. He is probably the best passer on the team, he can shoot, and he has a pretty well developed post game when he has a smaller defender on him. He has triple double potential. The fact that he does it all with what I would consider “limited athleticism” just makes it all the more fun to watch.
5. Matija Svetozarevic (I’m going to need a nickname going forward) showed some flashes tonight. The dude is an athlete with what appears to be a pretty good shooting stroke. I believe he’ll get some major minutes this year.

Overall a very fun night and happy to be back in the Chile’s Center watching some basketball again.

Dean Murdoch wrote:Okay, a 26-point win over a D3 team. Someone tell me how to feel.

You should probably feel good because the team hit Coach Legans' goals.

He said the team wanted to win by 25...and they won by 26.
He said he wanted in excess of 15 assists...and the team had 20.
He said he wanted to cut down on the number of turnovers...the team had 10 in the first half and 0 in the second.
He also talked about getting everyone some playing time...and everyone available played.
Someone said they heard him say they wanted 15 3-pointers (that is an awful lot)...and the team was 12-26.

I too really like Matija Svetozarevic.  He is what I would call "smooth" in his approach and style...not flashy, but very efficient.  He may not start because he has established players ahead of him, but his game will just get better and better as the season progresses.

up7587 wrote:I have never seen a bench as into a game as this team.  Yelling, cheering, arm waving.  Managers standing behind the bench and cheering.  Definitely a unique team spirit.  A world of change from the surly attitudes of some players the last few years.

bdaddy wrote:1. The team was having A LOT more fun. At one point, on a defensive baseline out of bounds play, the whole bench was standing with their hands up in a defensive position as if they were denying the ball. The refs actually had to tell them to sit down.

What college hoops is supposed to be all about. I believe this is what is called a "culture change"

Looking at stats, I was a little concerned about the 58% FTs, but the sample size is small, 7 of 12. And the two guards, Austin and Meadows, had 3 of the 5 misses. But looking at their stats last year, Austin was 81% and Meadows was 89%, so they should be OK. The best looking FT stroke was the big man Matheus Silveira, who made his two FTs with no problem.

Meadows scored 19 points on 8 of 9 shooting from 2P range, and 0 of 4 from 3P range. He "only" made 37% on 3P attempts last year, but he is not a 'jack it up' player, taking the 7th most 3P attempts while playing the 2nd most minutes for EWU.

https://www.si.com/college/2021/11/02/ncaa-basketball-rankings-every-team-daily-cover

Portland (No. 286) has one(!) total WCC win the last three seasons, which earned Terry Porter’s February firing. Shantay Legans arrives from Eastern Washington facing a massive rebuild, and he starts it with a brand-new roster built, in a large way, from the portal.

"Shooting for Smiles..."

Coach Legans wrote:"We try to keep them who they were throughout their eighth-grade, ninth-grade, 10th-grade, 11th-grade and 12th-grade years," he said. "That's how you get guys better, because they become who they want to be, not who the coach wants them to be."

https://pamplinmedia.com/pt/12-sports/526996-420556-shooting-for-smiles

DoubleDipper wrote:Good analysis, bdaddy.  Yeah, I think Shantay wanted to beat his one-time mentor, and there is no way Hayford was going to let that happen...so, game on!

Coach Hayford was placed on administrative leave yesterday...meaning their 'secret scrimmage might have been the first and last time the two coach's teams will compete on a D1 basketball court....especially if Hayford's players are refusing to play for him.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/32571083/seattle-university-puts-men-basketball-coach-jim-hayford-administrative-leave