Season Review from Yahoo Sports

It's a bit sobering, but overall seems to be accurate:

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/news;_ylt=AtXgLfsb0lFhOV09LmHtwOT1rZJ4?slug=teamreports-2008-ncaab-pan&prov=sportsxchange&type=team_report

There are also reviews for each of the WCC teams too.

"Jared Stohl did not score in the final two games, taking only one shot in the process."

Wow. Is that right? I would hope we get him taking more shots next year.

I couldn't agree more with the Yahoo report and it is a bout as complete as it could be. The key statement is " the priority the administration puts on basketball", actually both men's and women's. Thry both are suffering and have been for a long time. W don't have so far a player who can take over a game or make a clutch play to turn a game around. Ravio did both in the Montana game but that was it.
We really need A GOOD POINT GUARD. One who can take charge, set up the scorers, and athletic and physical to a point. A Jeremy Pargo clone in other words. There are a few others in the WCC, but he is thhe best by far.
I am probably dreaming of it happening, but who knows.

This report seems on the money to me, too. Point guard is definitely in need of an upgrade. And a shooting guard who can get his shot off anytime is also needed. I think Jared Stohl's problem was that he needs to get the ball when he is wide open, and opponents figured out to keep on him, and teammates couldn't feed him when he was briefly open. I wonder if Luke Sikma wore down from the long college season. Perhaps another year of conditioning and maturity will help him stay productive all next season. I would really like to see some of our bench players produce. I assume the issue is defense. I perceive that Reveno will not play "good offense, no defense" players over others that are less productive but work hard on defense and rebounding.

As long as we're dreaming of a Jeremy Pargo type, how about a Stephen Curry type scorer (Davidson)?

BTW, the best case scenario of breaking into the top four looks really tough considering GU, SMC, USD and SCU are all looking strong and not dropping off.

I think this article is pretty much right on the money. It hurts... but sometimes the truth does. We can talk all we want about how much the team is improving and that the future is bright - and I'm not saying it's not - but until it is demonstrated in terms of wins and losses and we can do it consistently - it's all just talk.

The article is correct that we did not have and do not have a star player. We may think that Nik can be a star, but he hasn't established it yet. We may think others have potential - which I believe some do like Sikma, Knutson, Smeulders, Stohl - but until they prove it, again, that's all it is - potential.

It's harsh, it's depressing, it's frustrating, but I think it's important that we're honest with ourselves about where we really are as a program. Where we are is that there is hope, there is potential, and there is some reason for optimism. But hope and potential eventually have to produce results.

This is the fourth coach we've had since Jack Avina left. Has it all really been coaching? Some of it. But I really think there is a bigger, much more important question to be answered. Is the University's administration committed to having success in mens basketball? I sure would like to know what our budget is for recruiting relative to other schools in the conference. Remember how optimistic we were when Chavez and Holton first started? I'm not saying Rev is going down the same path, but at some point I think we need to look at things other than coaching - like the administration's committment to having a competitive basketball program.

goldhelmet wrote:This is the fourth coach we've had since Jack Avina left. Has it all really been coaching? Some of it. But I really think there is a bigger, much more important question to be answered. Is the University's administration committed to having success in mens basketball? I sure would like to know what our budget is for recruiting relative to other schools in the conference. Remember how optimistic we were when Chavez and Holton first started? I'm not saying Rev is going down the same path, but at some point I think we need to look at things other than coaching - like the administration's committment to having a competitive basketball program.

Honestly, I think that the current administration is very committed to bringing about success. Just the simple fact that we bought out Holton speaks volumes to that, and from what I undertstand our coaching salaries and recruiting budgets are competitive relative to the WCC.

In terms of the past... I think that Larry Steele wasn't a good coach. From 1977-78 to 1986-67 (Jack Avina's last ten seasons as coach), UP had only three losing seasons and went an overall 150-127. Not amazing, but definitely not bad. Over the next seven seasons under Steele, UP had no winning seasons and went 56-141. Clearly something wasn't right, and in retrospect it's amazing he lasted for seven years. From what I know, he didn't have any coaching experience at any level and was hired mainly for his name as a former Blazer great. I think he was doing color commentary for NBA games at the time of his hire.

Eventually he was able to bring in some talent though, as Chavez showed when he came in and won 20+ games in his first two seasons. But then Chavez' inability to recruit took hold and we had five straight mediocre-to-poor seasons with a combined 53-84. I think Chavez was a decent x's and o's guy, but really... we lost SUCH a good opportunity there in the mid 90's. If you think about it... if we could have capitlalized on those two nice years and the trip to the tournament, maybe we could have landed just a few of the Oregon and SW Washington kids that ended up at Gonzaga (Matt Santengelo, Richie Frahm, Blake Stepp, Dan Dickau) who comprised the core of their great teams in the late 90's/early 00's. And the rest of the conference wasn't great in that late 90's period either. Pepperdine was down, Santa Clara was down, even Gonzaga wasn't great during that brief '96-'98 stretch. Really makes you wonder what we could have done had we had a good recruiter in as coach.

Anyway, Holton came in and quickly showed that he could bring in the talent. I still don't think we're going to see a back court on The Bluff as good as the Pooh, Donald, Cooper backcourt in a very long time, but Holton's weakness was in-game coaching and taking way too many risks in recruiting. Players began dropping like flies due to academic problems, and when the team really fell on its face in Pooh and Donald's senior year, I do think that it was time to make a change and try to build it up using a different strategy, since the high-risk, high-reward method clearly wasn't working.

With Reveno, we have a very dedicated coach who is principled, ethical, and demands a certain amount of responsibility from his players. He emphasizes execution and defense, which makes sense given that those things can help close the gap when we are outclassed in talent. But what we don't know about Reveno yet is if he can bring in the type of player who can really take us to the next level. I think Reveno can and will get us to a place where we can be consistently competitive like the "average year" Brad Holland and Dick Davey teams and have a high graduation rate with no academic problems or otherwise. And maybe once a solid base is built, we'll be able to swing for the fences a bit more in terms of recruiting.

But overall, Goldhelmet is right. Potential and hope are just that... what's ultimately going to matter is performance on the court. Do I think that our team with the current core of guys can be in the mix in the WCC two years from now, when Ito, Raivio, Smeulders and Niedermeyer are seniors and Sikma, Stohl, Knutson, and Hannibal are juniors? Yes I do, especially considering all of the key players other WCC teams will have lost by that year. But do I also see a scenerio where we end up going 11-19 overall and 5-9 in the WCC that year? Yes. The big things will be player development (especially among the guards) and adding in some athleticism in recruiting.

So we'll see... but like I said in the blog, I'm always an optimist. At Palm Sunday mass two weeks ago, during the reading of the Passion I was holding out hope that someone would shout out Jesus' name instead of Barabbas!

Before he set foot on campus, Coach McKillop granted Steph his “shooting license”: “‘If you’re balanced and you’re open, it is a licensed shot.’ It’s nice to have. I know that Coach has confidence in me, and I don’t have to second guess myself. I have confidence to fire it up.”

Curry was passed up by major colleges.
Curry was hot during the tourney and notice how his teammates gave him the first look to see if he was open when they got the ball?

Anyone see any teeth rattling screens being set during the tourney?

UNC ....notice they waste little time in finding the open man upcourt?(of course you really can't compare anyone to UNC basketball)

Check out Pargo's freshman numbers...17mpg...2.7ppg.
Sikma, Stohl and Knutson put up better numbers.
UP has the makings, they have to play smart the whole game.

Pretty Accurate summary of the season and players. Sorry about the late reply on this topic. One thing I believe the Pilots could use this summer is to hit the weights.Not just the big men whom I noticed Hanibal toned up during the season and Knutson put on muscle.It would be nice to see Sikma and especially Robin get in the weight room . As far as I know only Jason,Kramer, B.J., and Ethan were in the weight room after practice.

What I would like to see the most is the guards in there the most, they were so tiny and were pchsically(sp) dominated that NiK was the only one that could play defense. Once their guards dominated us, our big men were left in a two on one situation's

One positive aspect is that Kevin Love and Some of the Trailblazers will be there to play at the open gyms this summer with them again this year

Go Pilot's Basketball