Adding to the tv and radio commercials, the Portland Pilots have erected a billboard showcasing their best player and three-point chucker, Jared Stohl. Pretty sweet, I guess…if it was true and made sense.  The billboard reads, “Guess Who Led The Nation In Threes Last Year.” With a picture of Stohl shooting.

The problem is Stohl DIDN’T “lead the nation in threes last year.” In fact, he wasn’t even in the top 20 with made threes. Maybe they (whoever approved the ad) are just idiots, and were referring to three point percentage. Well, even then they would still be wrong because Stohl was third in that category. Who really cares though. The Pilots aren’t worth watching, at least not on a whim after seeing some billboard.

Bravo Pilot Nation.

Ankney and Burnside

Every once in awhile an athlete can capture a moment on the big stage that nobody will ever forget.  And sometimes that moment can be overwhelmingly dripping with emotion, so much so, that everyone watching is pulling for — that athlete — at that moment.

I’m referring to 4 moments during the 1990 NCAA basketball tournament.  The four times Loyola Marymount’s Bo Kimble shot his first free-throw with his left hand, when he usually shoots with his right.

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March 4, 1990 … the day LMU’s star forward (and potential NBA lottery pick) Hank Gathers collapsed on the court in the midst of a game in the WCC conference tournament.  Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful and he was later pronounced dead at the hospital he was rushed to.

Loyola Marymount was awarded an NCAA tourney berth by winning their conference in the regular season after the WCC tournament was canceled because of Hank’s death.  They were given an #11 seed.

The LMU Lions were the highest scoring team in the nation.  Only 3 games during their regular season in 1990 did they score under 100 (remember this is NCAA, only 40 mins of play).  They were the epitome of run-and-gun basketball.  They played a non-stop full-court press to entice frantic turnovers from opposing guards, they’d jack up threes with reckless abandon (the 3-point line was adopted nationally by the NCAA in 1986, but it took quite awhile for some teams to use it, not the Lions … they would abuse it).  Watching one of their games was like watching a track meet on meth.  They beat teams by wearing them out, literally.  But without Hank, one of the nation’s leading scorers and rebounders, everyone believed they had no shot of going anywhere in the big dance.

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Gathers was a terrible free throw shooter.  So in ’89 he decided to try something different for his senior season, he’d shoot his free throws left-handed.

LMU vs UC Santa Barbara (12/9/1989) … Gathers drops to the court after attempting a shot from the line.  He recovers and it is found that he has an enlarged heart that will require him to take medicine if he wants to continue playing.  The drugs would alter his game and make him feel sluggish.  I remember this to being a bit controversial, letting a guy play with an irregular heart beat while on meds (years after, reggie lewis and cuttino mobley would be diagnosed with the same condition).

Portland vs LMU (3/4/1990) … Gathers drops to the court again, this time after completing an alley-oop dunk from PG Terrell Lowery .  This time, he does not get back up.

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1990 NCAA Tournament

Bo Kimble, Hank’s high-scoring teammate and friend, decides that he will honor his late friend by shooting his first free-throw of each NCAA tournament game with his left-hand.  At the time, it was a nice story because nobody saw LMU getting past round one.  But an unbelievable ride was to ensue, a ride that would capture everyone’s heart … and we’d all pull for the underdog of all underdogs.

Game 1 — #11 LMU defeats #6 New Mexico St 111-92.  Kimble hits his first free-throw.

Game 2 — The #11 Lions destroy the 89 champion #3 Wolverines 149-115 (the highest score in a NCAA tournament game, Jeff Fryar goes unconscious with 11-15 shooting from 3-land, incomprehensible in 90, and still a record).  Kimble is good on first free-throw.

Game 3 (sweet 16) — A Robert Horry led #7 Alabama squad would slow the game down against the Lions.  But to no avail (big-shot rob, missed the big shot at the end of this game).  LMU 62-60.  Bo is now 3-3 with his free-throw tributes.

The Lions are on a dream final four run.  People that could care less about college hoops are now behind the little school that possibly can.

But one last gigantic obstacle is in their path … #1 UNLV.

Game 4 (elite eight) — With a heroic effort, Kimble drops 42 points on the eventual champion Rebels of UNLV.  The Rebels were not gonna lose to anyone with pros like Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony, and Stacey Augmon (and would later embarrass Duke in the finals).  UNLV 131-101.  And yes, Kimble hits his first free-throw.

With each victory the Lions achieved, the more America had to watch Kimble’s first free throw.  Any guy with a heart, even an opposing fan, had to be pulling for Bo to just make that first shot from the stripe.  For that first shot wasn’t about winning the game, it was about remembering a fallen friend.  Surely, we all can relate to that kind of loyalty.

Hank Gathers wore #44.

Being a former east coast guy living in Portland –for a year and half now– I don’t really have a history/loyalty to the PAC-10 yet (it is growing, just takes time, patience please fellow Duck fans, colleagues). But with the Ducks and PAC-10 being so ($#!@*) awful, I turned my lonely eyes to North Portland. Where solid college hoops was being played.

November 21 –> Pilots defeat Ducks 88-81

Whoa. These ballers in Portland can play some. Or maybe the Ducks are just having a down year.

November 26 –> Pilots embarrass the Bruins in the 76 Classic tournament.

Wow. Are the Pilots that good? Or are the Bruins that bad? How can this be? I watched many Pitt games when Ben Howland was coach (yeah, I love the Big East), how could he field such a terrible squad? Or are the Pilots that good?

November 27 –> Pilots win another by beating an overrated Gophers (led by Tubby Smith no less) team in the 76 Classic.

At the time, this was a huge win for the kids at Portland. Beating a ranked squad from the Big-10 meant national status. Now, not so much. Only because Minnesota has turned out to be a middle of the road Big-10 squad.

(while on the BIG-10, I will divulge a secret, always take Wisconsin to go at least 1 round, usually two … I’m here to help … maybe my buddy Kevin will actually learn from my knowledge some day so I don’t have to call him Mr. Origami anymore … because his NCAA pool usually is only good for folding up into flamingos)

(if you are reading this … then by now you know I watch more NCAA hoops than Joe Smith … not the NBA guy … the hypothetical/average guy … which means … take some notes dude.)

November 29 –> Pilots get smoked by the Mountaineers. Makes perfect sense. West Virginia is real good. Pilots can not match up against their defensive ferocity and quickness. Portland’s scrappy PG TJ Campbell just does not have the same effectiveness against a team that can keep him from dissecting the interior, which leads to an offensive-ineffectiveness trickle down. Simply put, the Pilots are slow and weak.

(okay, I’m really nice … Bob Huggins teams are known for defense and offensive rebounding)

After that ego-buster in the 76 Classic Final. The Pilots dropped the next four outta six games. Reality set-back-in for the small school from Bridgetown.

January 9 –> Redemption night fell short when the Pilots lost a thriller to the visiting Zags in a game I would have loved to been at (the game sold out in like 5 mins online). I’m sure the boys of North Portland left everything on the floor that night at the Chiles Center. But the Zags are ranked as high as they are for a reason, they are that good.

(yeah, I put that last statement in bold for a reason, G Matt Bouldin could be the reason the Zags finally make the final four)

Dare I say he’s the next Steve Nash? Nope, I’m not that drunk!

(yes, i have had a couple alcoholic beverages since beginning this post … you should feel privileged … i write better when the BAL is over .08)

February 4 –> The Pilots travel up to Spokane to hopefully steal one from the Zags. No way. Zags have reached a whole new level at this point in the season and wipe the floor with the Pilots. Again, it is evident that if you shut down TJ Campbell, you cut the head off the Pilots. Also, the Zags just have too many weapons to deal with. Portland is pretty good at taking away a team’s strength, but Gonzaga can kill you multiple ways. Zags are in the NCAA elite eight at least, mark my words, if they don’t, well, I must have been smokin somethin. And I don’t smoke.

February 13 –> The Gaels roll into Portland after they just got a thorough drag thru Drubtown by, guess who, the Zags. St. Mary’s was #1 in the WCC before the ego-thrash in Spokane, seems like many a team has gotten the same treatment. So now it’s #2 vs #3 in Portland. Stud Gael C Omar Samhan (18pts) was destroying Portland early, so the Pilots adjusted and made Omar a less-factor (whatever that means, just made it up). I was impressed with the patience and passing with both squads. This game would be decided by guard play. Pilots PG TJ Campbell dropped 24, while Gaels PG Mickey McConnell scored 25 (by the way, Mickey McConell sounds like some old Irish folk song, if not, it should be one). Oh yeah, super-sniper Jared Stohl had 16 of his own. But this dude Luke Sikma came off the bench and just about stole the show by gathering 11 boards and registering 12 points. Nice work Luke, I guess the force was with you (yes, that is cheesy, like Doritos cool-ranch cheesy). In case you’re wondering, yes, he is the son of Jack. Alright, to make a long story short … big man Samhan fouled out in OT giving Portland a big sigh of relief. Gaels coach Randy Bennett went crazy-guy on a couple questionable calls. And home-court advantage eventually got the win against a never-say-die St. Mary’s team. Which evened the season series at 1-1.

February 14 –> The Pilots sit at 16-8. Four wins away from the 20 mark.

20 wins is usually good enough for a NCAA tourney berth. But what if the Pilots don’t look so good in their WCC tournament? Will the traditionally better PAC-10 get a squad in over Portland and lock them out? Don’t think so this year. 2010 is a wake up call to the PAC-10 to not have many down seasons, or they will be left outside pumping the keg for the rest of the party. I can see ASU and Cal rep’n the PAC, but nobody else. Zags are a lock, and the Gaels and Pilots should be in the tourney as well … barring complete collapse.

Maybe I’m seeing the best season ever from the WCC and the absolute worst year for the PAC-10. Doesn’t matter. The WCC made major headway with recruits this year because of the extra exposure. ESPN’s Doug Gotlieb even said … “Honestly, why bother staying up (remember, Doug lives in Connecticut) to watch PAC-10 games”. I’m sure a lot of analysts, east of the Rockies, felt the same way. I did, I don’t even have to stay up. And no! Shockingly, I’m not an analyst!

Alright, this post is effin long, so I gotta wrap up.

I’m not delusional into thinking the Pilots are this Rocky Balboa team that will make this deep run in the NCAA tournament. I’m merely saying these kids play good basketball. They pass, they shoot (and hit) from deep, and they play alright team defense. And from what I can tell, are coached pretty good. I like watching these guys. But once they run up against some squad that can shut down guard play, they are done.

So maaaaayy-be some Duck fans (fellow colleagues of this site), who are desperate for good NCAA hoops play, might show some love for these kids in purple. But only after they each put Mr. Kent on Blast one more time.

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Funny thing is … I began this post as simply just a way to display this video of a kid (that apparently does this at every Pilots home game) performing his best Michael Jackson routine. I taped this at halftime of the Gaels @ Pilots game with the wife’s (Mrs. Meerkat’s camera.)

Know this … I am not Steven Spielberg, there were people walking in front of me —I am no expert working my wife’s camera.

Why did I tape this kid’s performance you say? Because my nephew (TJ) has some serious MJ skills as well. Had to let my bro/sil (aka sis-in-law) know that the kid (TJ) has some comp here in Rip City and needed to practice up if he was to ever visit out here. Oh yeah, when you click the link it might take a minute … it’s 42.7 M to download.

And now to the video —> Pilots halftime MJ kid

(and yes, that is me sayin .. “sit down dude” … if he didn’t … i would have gone ‘Jersey Shore Ronnie’ on him … old man would have been sleepin face down …)

(okay, side note #2 … the wife and I had a pre-valentine moment when we were both fist-pumpin guido style to the song sandstorm (by darude) during a break in the game … yeah … good times … shake your head even more because we weren’t even drunk … punks don’t sell alcohol at NCAA games!)

Yes, this is the Sports Brewery! If you don’t like … then get out.

Portland 49 … #13 Gonzaga 76

When I sat down to watch this game I was hoping for a scrappy shoot-out between two top WCC teams.  What occurred was not what I had hoped.

Because Gonzaga lost on Saturday (San Francisco) I’m sure the squad had to listen to coach Few a whole lot this week.  Thus, resulting in a very determined and focused Zag squad.  Which is not what the visiting Portland Pilots wanted … not one bit.  Especially when they had to face the Zags this time on their home floor with out leading scorer Nik Raivio (14.1 ppg).

After watching the first 5 minutes I thought to myself … how in the world did the game in Portland end up so close? The Bulldog defense was stifling.  Pilot PG TJ Campbell was dribblin all around to no avail.  He had no way of getting around his defender and in lanes to loosen up the Gonzaga interior.  Portland needed to get the ball to their big men on the blocks.  When they did, it just seemed they were swarmed by Bulldogs immediately, every time.  Nothing was easy.  SG Jared Stohl of Portland hit a couple early threes to keep it close … but when the team began missin bunnies … the game quickly got out of hand.  Gonzaga was not missing any opportunity to bury the visitors.

Zags Matt Bouldin did what he wanted, when he wanted, where he wanted, against a leaky Portland defense.  The play-making senior was the maestro for the symphony-of-beat-down being played in the McCarthy Athletic Center.  It didn’t help the Pilots cause that Gonzaga looked to be a step faster after loose balls and rebounds all game long.  TJ Campbell’s terrible night showed in the turnover margin with 7 gifts for the Zags.  He pretty much looked like the rabbit-being-chased-by-the-fox all game long.

Let’s see if Portland can lick their wounds and prep up (with Raivio) for another run at the Zags in the conference tournament.  But from what I saw, Gonzaga is the best team left of the Rockies.  Period.

And the Zags got bigger dreams … like a NCAA run.