Pilots @ Vikings 7pm Tuesday 11/23 (TV)

up7587 wrote:Oh, and Coach needs some throat lozenges.

You have to wonder if he’ll make it through the season.

Pilots fans this morning after laying the smack down on Portland State on the road

1. Silveira was a stud. He’s been one of the quiet surprises all season. He is very skilled, has great touch around the basket (with his left hand) and he’s probably the best rim protector on the team. My impression before the season was that he’d be a project big man, but he is a legitimate hooper right now. I’ve also been impressed with Legans’ willingness to ride the hot hand in a game. It was pretty obvious that Silveira was the better matchup early on and so he assumed the starter minutes the rest of the way.
2. I’m hoping the Perry injury isn’t serious. That would suck for the kid and the team.
3. That’s a fun place to watch a game. PSU did a really good job with that arena. I can imagine it would be pretty loud in there if they get a decent crowd. It appeared the rivalry was kicked off nicely among the new coaching staffs. The PSU coach was fuming during a timeout in the second half. He came out to mid court and was yelling to the refs that the Pilot sideline was talking too much. It was a pretty fun display.

FloridaPilot wrote:I’m going to need someone to elaborate on three things:

1) Perry’s injury
2) the WWE belt in the locker room
3) the cereal in the locker room

Fun times right now across men’s and women’s basketball!

1) Not that it says much, but you can see Perry on the far left of the dressing room video on Twitter. I think he's just sitting on one of the tables, not celebrating with the group. Hoping for some good news in the next couple of days but it certainly didn't sound good on the radio broadcast.

2) No clue and I don't even recognize the Pilot who was wearing it, which somehow makes it even funnier.

3) Between that and the "we eat breakfast on The Bluff" reference on Pilots Twitter... I think they're having some fun with PSU's coach here, who apparently doesn't eat breakfast or have AC in his car.

Dean Murdoch wrote:
Pilots fans this morning after laying the smack down on Portland State on the road

Maybe, but I was still very nervous with 10 minutes to go and an 18 point lead.  The life of a Pilot fan.

Hope Jack Perry is not seriously injured.

Dean Murdoch wrote:

FloridaPilot wrote:I’m going to need someone to elaborate on three things:

1) Perry’s injury
2) the WWE belt in the locker room
3) the cereal in the locker room

2) No clue and I don't even recognize the Pilot who was wearing it, which somehow makes it even funnier.

That would be Coleman Lemke, a freshman walk-on from Las Vegas. He got the bench T for complaining to the ref the previous game. He's also the most animated player on the bench with arm waving, etc. The WWE belt I don't know about. I assume you can buy them, but it's got custom Pilot side plates.

up7587 wrote:Pilots were outscored 13-2 in the final four minutes.  They need to learn how to finish a game, be more efficient, force the opponent to foul.  They won't always have a large enough cushion to hang onto leads.

Yeah, Legs was futilely attempting to tear his hair out during that time, but he needed to get Matija, Kristian, Yaru, and Vasilije into the game to get some game-time experience before heading to San Antonio for 3 games where the bench will be so important.

It seems to me UP was up by 24 or 26 at the time, and it was obvious the game was just moving too fast for the subs when they came in, but to put a positive spin on it, it showed how well the defense had been working up until that point.  And I think the only two successful PSU 3-point shots come during this period...

Coach Legans keeps telling us this team can shoot the long ball. How big a blowout victory could this have been if they'd shot better than 5 of 20 on 3Pt attempts, and better than 4 of 10 on FTs?

For the season they are 31% from 3Pt range. Subtracting Jack Perry, they are 28.8%. Big opportunity for improvement there.

up7587 wrote:Coach Legans keeps telling us this team can shoot the long ball.  How big a blowout victory could this have been if they'd shot better than 5 of 20 on 3Pt attempts, and better than 4 of 10 on FTs?  

For the season they are 31% from 3Pt range.  Subtracting Jack Perry, they are 28.8%.  Big opportunity for improvement there.

Also not to personally diss on Sjolund or the coaching staff, but you reminded me that the play-by-play commentators (both Pilots and non-Pilots) seem to bring up the Legans "Sjolund is the best shooter he's every coached" snippet a lot, yet I don't think I've seen much action from him.

Great win last night, and nice to see it rewarded in the Kenpom rankings with a significant jump up to #307.

For those with a paid account, how is Kenpom projecting the three upcoming games in San Antonio? Montana State is 176, SEMO is 278, and IW is 352. If we manage to beat MSU, that would be our best win to-date based solely on Kenpom ranking (not factoring in home/away).

NoPoNeighbor wrote:Great win last night, and nice to see it rewarded in the Kenpom rankings with a significant jump up to #307.

Makes a guy wonder how much the jump would have been if the margin of victory had stayed at 25 points instead of the late run bringing it down to 15!

NoPoNeighbor wrote:For those with a paid account, how is Kenpom projecting the three upcoming games in San Antonio? Montana State is 176, SEMO is 278, and IW is 352. If we manage to beat MSU, that would be our best win to-date based solely on Kenpom ranking (not factoring in home/away).

Kenpom: MSU by 7, SEMO by 2, PORT by 4 over UIW
Barttorvik: MSU by 2, tossup with SEMO, PORT by 1 over UIW

Torvik's ratings has Montana State at 206, SEMO and Portland back-to-back at 248 & 249, then UIW at 327. Much higher on Portland than Kenpom, similar-ish for the others.

My strongest memory of the game is not the high-flying dunks or great put-backs under the basket, but when Jack was hurt, and Coach Legans knelt next to him while talking to him and putting his hands on his shoulder and head before helping him off the floor and to the locker room...Meanwhile, the team huddled with the assistant coaches and Legs returned to the floor just as play was resuming.

Coach Legans’ reaction while looking toward the Pilot fans when Chris finally hit a 3-point shot after several misses over the last couple of games…

The Viking Pavilion is an excellent venue and is fan friendly with plenty of tables and counter space between the upper and lower section where fans can drink wine and beer and eats lots of food while still enjoying very good views of the game…even in the end zones.

What is not good, especially for those of us who have had their hearing damaged over the years, is the acoustics.  With an exposed metal ceiling and seemingly nothing to absorb the sound, it was difficult to have a conversation without shouting.  On the other hand, the Pavilion is great for creating lots of noise for the home team.

Think the leg room is tight in the Chiles Center?  Glad I had an aisle seat, 'cause it ain't any better in the Viking Pavilion.    



Along the wall on the left side of the picture are the names of Vikings in the PSU Hall of Fame...

DoubleDipper wrote:My strongest memory of the game is not the high-flying dunks or great put-backs under the basket, but when Jack was hurt, and Coach Legans knelt next to him while talking to him and putting his hands on his shoulder and head before helping him off the floor and to the locker room...Meanwhile, the team huddled with the assistant coaches and Legs returned to the floor just as play was resuming.

I have a similarly strong memory of Coach Reveno running the length of the court to provide comfort and support to Riley Barker, who had collapsed to the floor under the basket after tearing his ACL. That was right at the start of the WCC schedule in January 2015. I remember that Barker's play had really been on an up swing in the weeks leading up to that injury. My recollection is that that was the season when the Pilots had the Triple Towers lineup of Thomas van der Mars, Riley Barker, and Voldy Gerun. I think they were all three in the starting lineup when the Pilots played at UNLV earlier that same season.

https://portlandpilots.com/news/2015/1/9/MBB_0109155730.aspx

FloridaPilot wrote:I’m going to need someone to elaborate on three things:
1) Perry’s injury
2) the WWE belt in the locker room
3) the cereal in the locker room

1. The very good news is it would appear that Jack has no structural damage to his knee.  He is with the team enroute to San Antonio, and the secondary concern now is the swelling that will increase during hours of air travel.   “Day-to-day” best describes his situation at this point...but the coaches are much more optimistic today than they were last evening.

2. Part of the loose/fun/sometime riotous atmosphere created by the coaches/support staff/players is the belt.  I think the belt, festooned with the Pilot logo, can best be described as an award that goes to the “Toughest MFer of the Week!”  Why it was awarded to Coleman is probably best left in the locker room.

3. The cereal is likely from the “Breakfast Club.”  While others are sleeping, the MBB team is up having its breakfast by practicing hard.  You may have to zoom your screen to see the picture of a bowl of cereal on the t-shirts that are inscribed...“Breakfast Club.”

Has any other MBB staff at UP done anything close to this for engaging players and creating a special atmosphere?

Great to hear some good news about Jack Perry’s knee. Certainly didn’t sound good on the radio broadcast.

Dean Murdoch wrote:Great to hear some good news about Jack Perry’s knee. Certainly didn’t sound good on the radio broadcast.

Unfortunately, the news is not so good today.  

We'll just have to wait and see...

Noticed that PSU upset Southern Utah in the Big Sky semifinals, and went back to this thread.  Lots changed over the season:
- discussion of Pilots winning at least one WCC game (7 + 1)
- talk of Silviera being a stud player (not so much)
- hope that Jack Perry was not too injured (last game for him)
- concern about Sjolund's shooting ability (no longer an issue)
- concern about the team's ability to shoot free throws (#3 in D-1, 79.5%)
- celebrating jumping to #307 KenPom (currently #176)

What ever happened to the WWE belt?

Oh, yeah, congrats to PSU after finishing 7th to make the semis.  I hear we play them twice next year.

up7587 wrote:I hear we play them twice next year.

Yup, home and home just like in the olden days against quite a few non-conference opponents.

UP women will play PSU only once…in the Chiles Center.

Sorry end to a great game by both teams but damn we should have won this one.
Our man in “the middle” is awesome!
I suppose their defense plated a role but “feed the man”