Team Preview: Portland Pilots

Eric Reveno took over a Portland team in 2006 that had consistently been a doormat in the WCC with only one conference title coming in 1996.  In his first two years, he produced two 9 win seasons, but looked to be developing a solid group of young players as he had two consecutive 3^rd place WCC finishes in his third and fourth seasons.  In the 2009-2010 season, Portland saw their highest success in recent memory, especially in the preseason.   They came into the 76 Classic with an undefeated record and a win already over the University of Oregon.  They went on to defeat UCLA and Minnesota in the 76 Classic, only to lose a close game against a highly ranked West Virginia team in the championship.   Portland went on to see decent success the rest of the season, but even with a 3^rd place finish in the WCC, their season ended with a first round loss to Northern Colorado in the opening round of the CIT.

Portland has seemed to drop off since this productive season in Reveno’s 4^th year.  They had another 20 win year in 2010-2011 with a 5^th place WCC standing, but last season fell back to 8^th place in the WCC.   Maybe successful Eric Reveno teams come in waves as he develops young players into seasoned upper classmen who can compete.  If this is to be true, Portland will need to have a better showing than 8^th place in the WCC this year.  With Portland voted to finish 8^th again this year in the WCC, and with the talent level in the WCC consistently growing, this could be a year where we see Eric Reveno sitting on the hot seat if he continues to regress in his 7^th season.

Last Season's Results:

Overall: 7-24

Conference:  3-13

Returning Statistical Leaders:

      Ryan Nicholas (left) fighting for a ball 

      against Robert Sacre

Points:

Ryan Nicholas

11.5 Points/Game

Rebounds:

Ryan Nicholas

7.6 Rebounds/Game

Assists:

Derek Rodgers

1.8 Assists/Game

Notable Outgoing Players:

Tim Douglas

The Pilots lose Tim Douglas this season as he has opted to transfer to Portland State.  Tim Douglas was the team’s leading assist leader last year with 3.0 Assists/Game.   In his Portland career, he had 24 starts at point guard where he also averaged 8.1 points, shot .411 from the field and .792 at the free throw line.  The best game of his Portland career came his freshmen year against the team he is transferring to, Portland State, where he recorded 27 points.

Notable Incoming Players:

Bryce Pressley (6-4, 190) averaged 14.1 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 2.4 blocked shots and 2.0 steals per game during his senior season at Jesuit HS out of Sacramento California.

Oskars Reinfelds (6-4, 205) comes out of Oakley College (Spain) and Canarias Basketball Academy where current Pilots center Thomas van der Mars attended.  While playing for the Latvian U-18 team last summer in the European National Championships, Oskars averaged 6.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.6 steals over eight games.

Schedule:

The notable non-conference matchups on Portland’s schedule include New Mexico, UNLV, Kentucky, WSU, and Northern Colorado.  With the exception of unproven WSU, these are all quality teams that made it into the NCAA tournament last season.  If Portland can win any of these games, it will be noted as a benchmark win going into conference play.

    Head Coach: Eric Reveno

Expectations:

There isn’t much to be excited about this year in regards to the University of Portland basketball team.  On the upside, the team is fairly young and they have an emerging player who has potential to make some noise in the WCC this year in Junior returning scorer and rebounder Ryan Nicholas (fun-fact: from Spokane, WA/Gonzaga Prep).  Also, if you are a fan of WCC teams performing well in the preseason and knocking off some upset wins to improve the integrity of the conference and Gonzaga’s RPI when we beat them in conference play, then feel free to root for the underdog Portland when it plays teams such as Kentucky, New Mexico, and UNLV.  Other than that, Eric Reveno will have to rely on developing this young team into a gritty, hardworking team that plays well together in order to make up for the lack of talent on the squad.