Portland Pilots Preview

by rencito on Nov 27, 2009 2:35 AM CST Comment 14 comments

If you were out celebrating Thanksgiving and/or the Gophers triumph over Butler, you probably assumed our next opponent would be UCLA. That assumption was vanquished by the Portland Pilots in exclamatory fashion. 74-47 was the final score as the Pilots ran UCLA out of the gym.

Introducing the Portland Pilots

So who are these guys? First of all, they play in the West Coast Conference (WCC) and are picked to finish second in the conference to Gonzaga (who won the Maui classic, by the way). Last year, some wondered if Pat Mills and St Mary's might make a legitimate case for an at large bid out of the WCC. That wasn't in the cards, but Portland could make a case this year with wins already over UCLA and Oregon. They also play at #14 Washington next month.

The Players

The Pilots return nine (!) upperclassmen, so this clearly seems to be their year to prove something. They are led by 6'4" senior guard Nik Raivio who averaged 16 points a game and 6.5 boards last year and is on a similar pace so far this year.

Raivio's supporting cast includes fellow senior guard TJ Campbell. Campbell averaged 11 points last year and 17 a contest so far this year. The Pilots three guard attack also includes Jared Stohl who also averaged 11 points a game last year and contributed 15 against UCLA on 5-5 shooting from downtown.

Portland's game seems to focus on guard play and outside shooting. They were 11-19 from behind the arc against the Bruins which is no surprise since the Pilots were second in the nation in three-point shooting last year, converting at nearly a 42% clip from three. Other key players are 6'6" forward Ethan Niedermeyer, who also can shoot the long ball (41% last year). On the inside, 6'10" senior Robin Smeulders averaged nearly 11 points a game to go along with 6 boards.

What to Expect

Portland was able to beat UCLA because they out shot them from inside the arc, outside the arc, and the free throw line. But the biggest factor was probably Portland's ability to win the battle of rebounds. Interior play is not the Pilots strength, so any time they can win that battle they will probably win the game because of their strong guard play. The Pilots have the recipe for mid major success: senior leadership and strong guard play, so they should not be taken too lightly. We better not be looking past them to the championship game, or we'll never get there.

This should be an interesting matchup for the Gophers. The Pilots will stretch the floor in the half court to get their jump shots. Rebounding will be a key. We must limit the number of second chances for their guards. Perimeter defense will need to be strong. I am wondering if we might see a press to test Portland's ball handling.

Sampson and Iverson give us an advantage over this team. Perimeter defense is imperative from Nolen, Westbrook, and DJ. If we let them shoot the long ball, they are capable of making a lot of them. We also have more depth than the Pilots, so when their best players are off the floor, we need to outscore them.

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Thanks

for the scouting report. I wish the game wasn’t on so late (by my standards). I saw more positives than negatives last night. Biggest concern is lack of on-court leadership and what I would call a “field general.”

by Texas Gopher on Nov 27, 2009 8:43 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Other thoughts

The Gophers still turned the ball over way too much. Too many bad passes and bad decisions. Honestly, they seemed a bit undisciplined. Good three point shooting (a good change from last year’s inconsistency) and Butler turning the ball over more than us made the difference last night. We need to play better the next few days.

As far as field general, I actually felt like I saw DJ emerge as an on the floor leader. Hopefully we see more of that. Perhaps PJS can let us know if what I saw on TV was consistent with what he saw in DJ’s leadership last night.

by rencito on Nov 27, 2009 12:35 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Rencito

my use of “field general” was referring to the PG position. Joseph is a natural #2 and did fill in admirably last night at the PG spot. Nolan looks improved from last year, and I think Cobbs is going to be a good ball player also. But I still think that PG is the weak link in this outfit.

by Texas Gopher on Nov 27, 2009 5:09 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Offensively, yes

by rencito on Nov 27, 2009 8:01 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Good stuff Rencito. ...

Portland looked far superior to UCLA last night, though that’s not too surprising. UCLA is awful. I didn’t take in all of the game last night but noticed the Pilots played a good bit of a 2-3 zone. That means the Gophers will need to hit the outside shot and find a way to get the ball into the paint.

By the way, it was pretty clear Minnesota had the most fans of any team in the evening session last night. Butler was a close second. UCLA’s gathering was very weak, though their cheerleaders were outstanding.

One more thought …. I hope the refs aren’t as miserable as they were yesterday. There were some calls that were absolutely abysmal. Did the ESPN announcers say what conference they were from? THe Big West I assume as the host conference?

Maroon and Gold Headquarters: The Daily Gopher

by PJS on Nov 27, 2009 11:18 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

UCLA

I didn’t realize how bad UCLA was before last night. I was surprised to find that they were unranked at the beginning of the season. After last night it is easy to see why. They lost pretty much everything from last year and the returning players they do have are banged up.

by rencito on Nov 27, 2009 1:17 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

UCLA Chearleaders

I was working the Final Four two years ago and the Bruin chearleaders came into our shop, they truly are outstanding.

what you say here can, and will, be used against you

by GopherNation on Nov 27, 2009 4:25 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Refs

Yes, they were terrible. And Lavin was consistently critical of them saying they seemed to be set on calling as many things as possible. It was hard to disagree with him. 81 free throws? That is ridiculous. Until Butler was forced to foul, the Bulldogs had a pretty lopsided advantage from the line. With 2:30 left to go, the tally was 39:20 in favor of Butler. I think the general argument stating that fouls need to be called evenly is terribly flawed, but something did seem amiss. The Bulldogs actually had very nearly as many FT attempts as FG attempts (45:48).

Here is what I found on last night’s refs via statsheet.com.

Gerry Pollard: Missouri Valley/Big 12; his fouls per game are up about 14% from last year.

Bill Kennedy: Pac10/CUSA: His fouls per game are right where they were last year. He worked about half as many games as Pollard last year and is on a similar pace this year.

Don Daily: Missouri Valley/Big 12; he works more games than Kennedy, but less than Pollard. His fouls per game are also up; to the tune of over 20%.

It looks like the tournament is using referees from conferences unrelated to any of the teams. There were four different groups of refs used for all four tournament games. Hopefully, we won’t be seeing these guys again.

by rencito on Nov 27, 2009 1:08 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

at the wva / txam game now

It looks like the same refs. And if so they are bad but not as bad as last night.

Really impressed with txams guards and inside play. Wvas defense has been suspect especially early.

Maroon and Gold Headquarters: The Daily Gopher

by PJS on Nov 27, 2009 2:21 PM CST via mobile reply actions 0 recs

Just watching

the final minutes. A&M isn’t giving up, but WVA is just too much. Man, I sure hope we win tonight so we get the chance to face the Mountaineers. It will certainly help our strength of schedule and give us another opportunity to set the tone of the season on the right foot.

by rencito on Nov 27, 2009 3:47 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

The Minnesota D

One thing that was absent in the Butler victory was the use of the full court press. Tubby chose not to implement this tactic. I am looking forward to it tonight against Portland….a ton of defensive pressure to make their half court offense more frantic. Just sitting back in the half court and allowing them to set up and work open long range shots will be a mistake the Gophers cant allow to happen.

by DallasGopher on Nov 27, 2009 3:52 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

they said during the game

that Tubby wants to press but isn’t sure he has the depth with the three suspended players. That may or may not be true, but I too would love to see more pressing especially with Williams playing the SF spot and DJ at the PF.

what you say here can, and will, be used against you

by GopherNation on Nov 27, 2009 4:27 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Remember how...

last year they would press inferior opponents, but not even attempt it in conference play? That was maddening. He said the same thing last year about lack of depth being a key reason why he wouldn’t press. I want to see it at least at the beginning.

by rencito on Nov 27, 2009 4:31 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

What is the story

on this Lockett (sp?) ASU freshman out of Minnetonka. I was real impressed with him agst. both Duke and LSU. I don’t remember hearing any talk about him (or maybe my memory is shot).

by Texas Gopher on Nov 27, 2009 5:12 PM CST reply actions 0 recs