Pilots @ Pepperdine - Saturday 1/15 @ 5pm

Dean Murdoch wrote:

Geezaldinho wrote:I bet you are one of those guys who yatters on about the pitcher throwing a no hitter.

Which is the worse party foul - yattering on about a no-hitter, or exhuming a devastating loss from 12 years ago in a win thread?

Both are pretty bad.

There was a time when we'd actually yell/sing, "we're not last, we're not last," but it has been a while.

DoubleDipper wrote:[/url]

There was a time when we'd actually yell/sing, "we're not last, we're not last," but it has been a while.

I remember “ we're number 6”.

Dean Murdoch wrote:Chika has got to get WCC Freshman of the Week, right?

Would've been nice, but competition is going to be tough with Gonzaga's Chet Holmgren dominating this season. At least he got a nomination.

https://wccsports.com/news/2022/1/17/mens-basketball-byu-sweeps-mens-player-of-the-week-honors.aspx

#WCCSPORTS FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK – CHET HOLMGREN, FR., C – GONZAGA
For the fifth time this season, Chet Holmgren took home WCC Freshman of the Week accolades. In Gonzaga's two dominating victories this week, Holmgren tallied 11.5 ppg, 19 rebounds, seven blocks and two steals. His efforts helped the Zags score a combined 225 points in wins over BYU (110-84) on Thursday and Santa Clara (115-83) on Saturday. In Thursday's clash against the Cougars, Holmgren posted 12 points and seven rebounds, and made his presence felt defensively with five blocks and two steals. Against the Broncos on Saturday, Holmgren earned a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Among WCC leaders, Holmgren is the league's leading rebounder (8.5 rpg) and ranks third in field goal percentage (61.1).

Also Nominated: Fousseyni Traore, BYU; Chika Nduka, Portland; Maxwell Lewis, Pepperdine; Augustas Marciulionis, Saint Mary's

I wonder if Holmgren's contributions in 30 point blowouts was more influential than Nduka's effort for the Pilots? Not really, I don't wonder.

That's complete horse ****. Chika was brilliant in both games.

WCC wrote:In Gonzaga's two dominating victories this week, Holmgren tallied 11.5 ppg, 19 rebounds, seven blocks and two steals.

Holmgren
vs BYU: 12pts, 7rb, 1ast
vs SCU: 11pts, 12rb, 1ast
total: 23pts (10% of team's points for the two games), 19rb, 2ast

Nduka
vs USD: 15pts, 7rb, 1ast
vs PU: 14pts, 10rb, 3ast
total: 29pts (20% of team's points for the two games), 17rb , 4ast

Dean Murdoch, speaking for Pilot Nation wrote:That's complete horse ****. Chika was brilliant in both games.

Some late thoughts on the Pepperdine win:

First... a WCC victory! And on the road no less. That is cause for celebration. Go Pilots!

Second... The Pilots played well enough in the first half (and in the closing minutes of the game) to beat teams better than Pepperdine. However, an opponent any better than Pepperdine would have likely stolen the win away from us during the first 10 minutes of the second half. The Pilots' three-point shooting during that stretch was ridiculously bad... both in terms of how many clean looks were missed, and that the coaching staff allowed the players to keep taking those shots without making any attempt to score inside, where the Pilots had been having success. By choice, the offense became entirely one-dimensional and didn't make any adjustments despite the obvious fact that we were performing terribly in that one dimension. We started dominating again once we went back to a more balanced approach in the final minutes.

I think we are lucky we were playing Pepperdine rather than LMU, because that second half performance may not have held up against the Lions or anyone else in the top-7 of the league. Here's hoping we can build on Saturday's win and play a more complete game this afternoon. Going 1-2 on this road trip is already "exciting" (a relative term), but going 2-1 would be quite unexpected and downright thrilling!

Dean Murdoch wrote:That's complete horse ****. Chika was brilliant in both games.

Probably won't be the last we see of these sort of "snubs" since everyone is riding on the Zags hype train high.

Think Coach mentioned it in some post-game interview, but there are some things stat lines don't show. Let the process speak for itself.

The Pilots will look to get to the charity stripe as they currently pace the league and rank fourth in the nation in free throw percentage (.801). Among WCC freshmen in league games, Portland's Chika Nduka trails only Holmgren and [BYU's] Traore in scoring and rebounds.

https://wccsports.com/news/2022/1/26/this-week-in-wcc-mens-basketball-week-4.aspx