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Previewing the 2009-10 West Coast Conference

Zach B — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:50:23 -0000

Brandon Johnson may have been the most exciting player in the WCC two years ago. Can he return to form after a terrible Achilles injury?

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As the lone West Coast Conference blog on SB Nation, we've taken it upon ourselves to do our best to publicize the WCC as much as we can. If you read the site last year, you know that we love to cover the conference as much as we can without alienating the Gonzaga faithful. Schools like St. Mary's and San Diego have had national success in recent years and the University of Portland appears to be destined for a breakout season. All these teams make the conference fun to watch especially when you combine that with the fact that all the schools in the bottom half of the conference at least appear to be headed in the right direction. San Francisco and Santa Clara are both proud programs that seem to be on the rise. Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount have really struggled the past few years but are still getting decent talent and should be able to compete in the conference.

The West Coast Conference has often been ridiculed by the national media for being a weak conference and that definitely holds some water. Gonzaga feels compelled to play, and travel to, a bunch of big time schools just to boost their RPI because once conference play hits, the odds are that Gonzaga's RPI will fall off a bit. This season, however, Gonzaga will probably get its greatest challenge for the regular season conference crown in recent memory. The Pilots of Portland under head coach Eric Reveno return 12 players from last season's team and are everyone's choice to give Gonzaga the most trouble. St. Mary's is always a challenging foe for the Zags and a great rivalry has kicked up between the two schools in the past few years. San Francisco, Santa Clara, and San Diego are also all fully capable of putting together nice seasons as they each have some very exciting, veteran players leading their teams into 2009-10.

After the jump we'll take a more detailed look at each of the teams in the conference (except Gonzaga) and outline where we think they are headed this season.

Portland Pilots

Last Season: The Pilots had an outstanding season a year ago under Eric Reveno. They went 19-13 and made their first post season tournament since 1996 when they were selected to play in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. Portland was bolstered by a group of veterans led by Nik Raivio but the biggest key may have been transfer T.J. Campbell. Campbell arrived at Portland and made an immediate impact at point guard, averaging 11 points and 5 assists a game.

Player to Watch: Everyone knows the talent that Portland brings back this season. The big question is whether all of that talent has enough upside to show great improvement from last season to this season. For this reason, the key player for the Pilots is T.J. Campbell. Campbell brought so much to the team in his first season that expectations are very high for this final year in Portland. He's a very heady guard with great penetration abilities who will be the key if UP hopes to knock off Gonzaga in 2009-10.

Season Outlook: The Pilots kick off their season with Eastern Washington on the 14th of this month and face a pretty tough nonconference schedule. Games against Oregon, at UCLA, and at Washington will test Eric Reveno's team and will give them great preparation for WCC play. Fittingly, Gonzaga and Portland open up the West Coast Conference schedule against one another in Portland on January 9th. Overall, Coach Reveno did an outstanding creating a schedule not full of insane traveling that should give his team good rest while playing a respectable batch of games. I wouldn't be surprised if the Pilots took 2/3 from their Pac-10 foes.

St. Mary's Gaels

Last Season: It was a banner year in Moraga a season ago as the Gaels brought home a school record 28 wins in 2008-09. Led by the now departed Patty Mills and Diamon Simpson, St. Mary's was selected to participate in the NIT Tournament and they were a game away from heading off to New York for the semifinals before San Diego State upended them. A weak nonconference schedule and being routed by Gonzaga in the WCC Tournament championship gave away any hope for the Gaels being an NCAA Tournament team.

Player to Watch: St. Mary's is sort of going through a Gonzaga-lite experience this season. The Gaels have seven freshmen this season, five true and two redshirt. With all this youth for St. Mary's, a veteran has to be looked upon to pick up the slack and that guy is Mickey McConnell. Mickey was very inconsistent a season ago but returns for his junior year with some great experience after filling in for Patty Mills when he was hurt. The show is McConnell's now and he'll have to step up his output if St. Mary's is going to stay in the West Coast Conference race.

Season Outlook: St. Mary's will get two outstanding early season tests at the McKeon Pavilion in Moraga. San Diego State and Vanderbilt will make the trip to take on the Gaels on their homecourt and it will give St. Mary's a great idea of where they are at. Vanderbilt is a popular pick to be a top tier SEC team and San Diego State will challenge in the Mountain West. St. Mary's will also take on Oregon in Eugene and Utah State in Ogden to give them two nice road tests. Their hardest stretch of WCC games will be in mid-February as they take on Gonzaga, Portland, and San Diego all on the road in a seven day stretch.

San Francisco Dons

Last Season: It was a difficult year a season ago for the Dons. After not really playing anyone of note in their nonconference slate, San Francisco was greeted with some harsh reality and lost their first six games in conference play. The finally got off the hook with a win over Loyola Marymount but the season didn't really look up from their. The Dons would go on to win two more games in WCC play and were eliminated from the conference tournament by Pepperdine in their first game. The final tally for the Dons was an 11-19 record with three of them coming in conference.

Player to Watch: When I think about San Francisco, I actually feel happy that I won't have to watch Gonzaga take them on in person anymore. Not because it was such an awful game, but because I always feel terrible for Dior Lowhorn. Lowhorn is a combination of size and ability that even Gonzaga has trouble defending. He's been the leading scorer in the conference twice and averaged a little over 20 points a game last season. He has outstanding NBA potential and it is really hard to say where San Francisco would be without him on their roster...I'd wager somewhere near LMU.

Season Outlook: USF will be challenging itself this season with three very difficult road test in nonconfernece play. The Dons will face off with Arizona State, BYU, and Washington this season all away from their home court. They'll also make a trip to the Mountain time zone to take on Colorado and Colorado State. It's clear that Rex Walters is hoping to test his new, young nucleus of players with some road game that are winnable but will take a nice effort.

Santa Clara Broncos

Last Season: Santa Clara went 8-9 in their nonconference schedule a year ago with games against Georgia, FAU, UAB, Arizona, UNLV, Pacific, Stanford, Harvard, and New Hampshire all resulting in losses. They were able to defeat UTEP in a thrilling effort but aside from that, there wasn't a whole lot of quality wins on the schedule. A 7-7 record in the conference is what head coach Kerry Keating led his team to. Their only real surprising victory last season was their last game of the year when they took down Portland. They were led by John Bryant who is now graduated from the university and his shoes will be tough to fill.

Player to Watch: This is probably the easiest player to watch in the conference, save maybe for Pepperdine. Kevin Foster returns to Santa Clara for his sophomore season and will be expected to make a big jump from a season ago. The WCC's co-newcomer of the year with T.J. Campbell, Foster was also a Freshman All-American having averaged 15 points per game. The guard from Katy, Texas is an outstanding outside shooting threat as he broke Steve Nash's single season SCU record for three-pointers made. If SCU is going to be able to cope with the loss of John Bryant, it'll have to be Foster that puts in most of the work.

Season Outlook: Not a whole lot of beef in the nonconference schedule for the Broncos. San Diego State and UNLV will be two tough Mountain West opponents and Santa Clara will also be looking to avenge losses against New Hampshire and Harvard from last year.

San Diego Toreros

Last Season: San Diego's magical run a few years ago when the defeated Gonzaga in the conference championship and beat Connecticut in the NCAA Tournament feels like an eternity ago after a disappointing year last season. It got off to an awful start as senior Brandon Johnson tore his Achilles tendon after eight games. The Toreros wound up finishing with a 16-16 record and losing in the second round of the WCC Tournament to Santa Clara.

Player to Watch: Brandon Johnson was granted a fifth year of eligibility by the NCAA after his horrific injury. His return to the Toreros is enormous because without him, they might have challenge LMU for the spot in the cellar. Having also lost Gyno Pomare (graduation) and Rob Jones (transfer), Johnson will have to return to his old form and guide this team. There is a little experience with Johnson in the backcourt but the frontcourt will have sever growing pains for Bill Grier's squad.

Season Outlook: Games against Stanford, Oklahoma, San Diego State, and Mississippi State will give Bill Grier and the Toreros all they can handle in the nonconference slate. It appears that San Diego State has decided to schedule nearly ever WCC game, Oklahoma is a power in the Big 12, and Mississippi State could be a dangerous squad in the SEC. Stanford's basketball program is probably still a few years away but they still are Stanford and it will be a nice Pac-10 test right off the bat.

Pepperdine Waves

Last Season: Tom Asbury's return to coaching came with some mixed results in Malibu. They dropped 13 of their first 16 games including losses to Arizona State, USC, and Georgia Tech. Their only wins out of conference came against Western Oregon, Cal State-Monterey Bay, and Coppin State. They added five regular season conference wins and actually played inspired basketball. Wins over Santa Clara and San Diego were nice for Pepperdine but they were never able to challenge the heavy hitters and finished with a 9-23 record.

Player to Watch: Easily my favorite player not in a Gonzaga uniform is Keion Bell. The high-flying sophomore guard was one of the lone bright spots on the Pepperdine roster. Bell average about 13 points a game last year and brought some flare to the program. Keion is a very reckless player on the court however. He averaged about four turnovers a game last year and only dished out two assists. That will have to change in a big way for the Waves to show any signs of improvement.

Season Outlook: UCLA, Utah, Georgia, and Miami will all test Pepperdine in their nonconference schedule. The good thing is that they get Utah and Miami on their home court in Malibu. The rest of the schedule is anyone's best guess. Pepperdine will suffer some head-scratching losses but the key is for their veteran core to show some improvement and get some quality wins.

Loyola Marymount Lions

Last Season: You kind of have to give LMU a pass for their play a season ago. All summer and fall leading up to the season, we talked about LMU being the next program to challenge the top dogs. Bill Bayno was in charge and recruiting well but that all changed when Bayno took a leave of absence and eventually left the program. Max Good stepped in at the embattled program and led them to a historic 3-28 record. Wins over Bakersfield, San Diego, and San Francisco were all this team could muster.

Player to Watch: Believe it or not, the Lions do have some talent. They have two outstanding transfers who will be making an impact this season and one of them is former Oregon Duck Drew Viney. A 6'5'' sophomore forward, Viney left the Ducks after a short stint there due to injuries. He was a Scout top 100 recruit when he came out and will be called on to not only start immediately but be a leader on the team.

Season Outlook: In all honesty, every game for LMU will test them this season. With such a rough past few seasons, the program is still searching for an identity to build upon. Hopefully the new young players and transfers can build this program back into a proud on. Games against USC and Notre Dame stand out on the schedule for the Lions this season

ZB's Preseason Power Rankings
1. Gonzaga
2. Portland
3. St. Mary's
4. Santa Clara
5. Pepperdine
6. San Francisco
7. San Diego
8. LMU

Top 10 Players Not in Gonzaga uniforms:
Dior Lowhorn, USF
Kevin Foster, SCU
Keion Bell, Pepp
Mark Trasolini, SCU
Omar Samhan, SMC
TJ Campbell, Port
Nik Raivio, Port
Jared DuBois, LMU
Drew Viney, LMU
Brandon Johnson, USD

Poll

Outside of Gonzaga, St. Mary's, and Portland, which WCC team has the best shot for a breakout year in 2009-10?

San Diego

152 votes

San Francisco

30 votes

Pepperdine

18 votes

Santa Clara

51 votes

251 votes | Poll has closed

Thursday Zags Around the Web - Exhibitions Proving Difficult

Zach B — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:26:20 -0000

More photos » by Matt Slocum - AP

Steven Gray gets changed after Gonzaga's loss to North Carolina in last season's Sweet Sixteen. Gonzaga will rely heavily on Steven this season and we're still wondering how he'll react. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

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In the world of Twitter and ESPN having five television channels, there is rarely an event in the sporting world that goes unnoticed. Case in point, Syracuse's loss two nights ago to the LeMoyne Dolphins (I swear if it was a different name it wouldn't be a big deal) was treated as ESPN's lead in story all day long, was discussed on every daytime show such as PTI and will stick in the sides of the Orange until they get a big win in the Big East. A good thing that came from this was that most players for big time programs were noticing the Syracuse loss and you can bet that it motivated them not to have the same thing happen to them. With that in mind, I was stunned when I heard the news that UCLA barely, and I mean barely escaped an upset bid from another school that can't even award athletic scholarships! We'll get more into that a little later. For now, here is some Gonzaga news to get you through this Thursday...

Bainbridge's Gray Changing in Many Ways at Gonzaga : College Sports : Kitsap Sun

In a very, very well done piece by Howie Stalwick, we get an in depth look into easily the most dynamic personality on the Gonzaga roster. Steven Gray has often been criticized for his relaxed on-court attitude and the perception that he doesn't play at 100% and this article kind of speaks to that. In the article, Stalwick notes how Gray views basketball in his mind, whether or not we can expect an increased leadership role from him, and what else is he involved with besides basketball. It is pretty obvious that Mark Few will always be wanting more leadership from Steven if this article is any indicator. I honestly didn't know how to react after reading this piece in the Kitsap Sun and it will be very interesting to see how Coach Few deals with Steven if he strugles.

Gonzaga hoops has new look this season

Surprise, surprise! Gonzaga will have some new faces this season. Not much in this AP story put out by the Seattle PI. Some nice quotes from the guys and Coach Few but other than that, it is a pretty standard season preview.

Local News | Gonzaga-Love & Hate | Seattle Times Newspaper

Interesting/weird little list done by the Associated Press and put out in the Seattle Times. Not sure why people would have the fact that Gonzaga must win four more WCC titles in a row to match UCLA's record of 13. I'd put that in the love. A fun little fluff piece to read.

Detroit Pistons vs. Toronto Raptors - Box Score - November 04, 2009 - ESPN

Austin Daye played by far his most minutes of the season, 17, in the Detroit Pistons loss last night against the Toronto Raptors. Daye accumulated five points, three rebounds, and two blocks during his time on the court but also picked up a familiar five fouls. Good to see him getting more minutes on the court, however. Hopefully he settles in as a regular contributor.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL: UCLA squeaks by lowly Concordia, 62-61 - Whittier Daily News

It's always interesting to watch how these big time programs come out of the gates in their exhibition matchups and if this early season is any indication, it is going to be an interesting year in college basketball. Syracuse goes down two nights ago and last night UCLA needed a three-point basket with 16 seconds left to beat NAIA opponent Concordia.

Ultimate Rankings Countdown: 101-51 - Mid-Major Madness

Eric Reveno's Portland Pilot's checked in at #70 in our SB Nation partner Mid-Major Madness' Ultimate Rankings. Here is what they had to say about Portland:

70. Portland: This season, the Pilots will be Gonzaga's main challenger in the conference. Coach Eric Reveno is building quickly and has the Pilots poised to battle it out with Gonzaga in his fourth season. Last year's JUCO sensation, 5-9 sniper T.J. Campbell (53 percent shooting on 3-pointers), joins Nik Raivio (16.0 ppg) in the league's best backcourt. There's quality size, too, in 6-10 senior Robin Smeulders and 6-8 Luke Sikma, the son of former NBA star Jack Sikma.

Have a great Thursday, Gonzaga fans. We'll keep you posted if anything else comes to light the rest of the day. As always you can follow our updates on Twitter: @slipperstillfit

Gonzaga sits atop West Coast Conference Preseason Poll

Zach B — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:26:00 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Roberson - AP

Matt Bouldin and the Gonzaga Bulldogs were recently voted #1 in the conference by the coaches in the WCC's preseason poll. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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With seven newcomers and only one returning starter from a season ago, 2009-10 is expected to be a season where the conference championship could really be up for grabs. Today, the coaches of the West Coast Conference gathered to vote on the preseason poll and all-conference team. Many Gonzaga fans anticipated a new team sitting atop the rankings. The Portland Pilots are loaded with veteran leadership and return 12 players from their remarkably successful season a year ago including the best point guard in the conference, TJ Campbell. With that being said, the coaches decided that Portland's veteran team wasn't enough to put them ahead of Gonzaga and their nine consecutive regular season titles. Here is a look at how the coaches voted (first places votes in parentheses):

2009-10 WCC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Gonzaga - 48 (6)
2. Portland - 44 (2)
3. Saint Mary's - 34
4. San Francisco - 26
Santa Clara - 26
6. San Diego - 21
7. Pepperdine - 13
8. Loyola Marymount - 12

Two coaches voted Portland as the number one team in the conference, one of which was obviously Gonzaga coach Mark Few as coaches can't vote for their own team. Saint Mary's is definitely a solid choice at #3. They have one of the best big men in the conference in Omar Samhan and Wayne Hunter is a very solid WCC player. Four through six is basically anyone's game. Each team has one outstanding player they base their teams around. USF has probably the best player in the league, Dior Lowhorn, Santa Clara has Kevin Foster, and San Diego has Brandon Johnson who returns from injury. Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount both are pretty solidly locked in at seven and eight although Pepperdine does have my favorite non-Gonzaga player in the conference, Keion Bell.

The coaches also got together to vote on a preseason all-conference team and here's what they came up with:

2009-10 WCC Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference
Keion Bell, PEP
Matt Bouldin, GON
T.J. Campbell, POR
Jared DuBois, LMU
Kevin Foster, SCU
Steven Gray, GON
Brandon Johnson, USD
Dior Lowhorn, USF
Nik Raivio, POR
Omar Samhan, SMC

No real surprises here. It's cool that every team in the conference has at least one representative. Gonzaga and Portland are the only two programs with two representatives. The conference player of the year will probably come from the regular season champion so I'd put money that it is either Matt Bouldin or TJ Campbell.

BtB 2009-10 West Coast Conference Preview

Chris Dobbertean — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:18:44 -0000

The theme of the 2009-10 season in the West Coast Conference's is rebuilding. While Gonzaga ended 2008-09 in the Sweet Sixteen, where they lost to North Carolina, and St. Mary's ended a season that began with so much promise in the NIT quarterfinals, both these teams suffered significant losses that will result in tempered expectations this time around. And the changes aren't limited to the teams who finished at the top of the standings, as Loyola Marymount begins their first full season under Max Good, their fifth coach in this century.

With just about everyone going through some changes, the WCC race should be more competitive than last year's, when the Bulldogs ran the table and swept through the league tournament. The big question is how will a more even, and potentially bruising, league race impact the conference's chances at multiple bids. Las Vegas will serve as the neutral host for the conference tournament for the second straight year. With the Zags dominance last season, this will really be the first year we get to see if a neutral-site event will impact the conference's postseason fortunes, if at all. More on the eight WCC members after the jump.

Let's first take a look at last season's WCC standings.

West Coast Conference Standings

(updated 3.28.2009 at 12:54 AM EDT)

	Conf		Overall
	W	L	W	L
Gonzaga Bulldogs	14	0	28	6
St. Mary's, Calif. Gaels	10	4	28	7
Portland Pilots	9	5	19	13
Santa Clara Broncos	7	7	16	17
San Diego Toreros	6	8	16	16
Pepperdine Waves	5	9	9	23
San Francisco Dons	3	11	11	19
Loyola Marymount Lions	2	12	3	28

Now, here are my WCC picks for 2009-10, presented in reverse order.

Loyola Marymount (last NCAA: 1990) This March, 20 years will have passed since the Lions made their electrifying, emotional run to the Elite Eight. To me, it seems like only yesterday that Bo Kimble shot his free throws left-handed to honor his late friend Hank Gathers. For fans of LMU, the story of Alexander the Great must seem more recent. In those two decades, the Lions have become the WCC's perennial bottom feeders, averaging 20 losses a season during the new millenium. Head coach Max Good will attempt to improve on last year's 28-loss campaign with the help of five freshmen, Seton Hall transfer Larry Davis, a 6-4 guard, and Oregon transfer Drew Viney, a 6-7 forward.

San Francisco (last NCAA: 1998) The Dons are another program that's fallen on hard times. (Remember the dismissal of Jessie Evans and ill-fated interim tenure of Eddie Sutton back in '07-'08?) Rex Walters begins his second season by the Bay looking to climb up the standings. He'll get a lot of help from Dior Lawhorn (20.1 ppg), who's somehow managed to win the WCC's scoring title twice despite the presence of the high-flying Zags, and Manhattan transfer Rashad Green, brother of Danny, who just won a national title in Chapel Hill. USF will also feature an international frontcourt, as Walters secured the services of three European players, 7-foot C Tomas Bruha, 6-10 C Moustapha Diarra, and 6-8 F Nikola Stojiljkovic. The big question for Walters is who will run the offense now that Manny Quezada has graduated.

Santa Clara (last NCAA: 1996) Kerry Keating's third season at the helm of the Broncos could be a rough one. Santa Clara finished just under .500 at 16-17, and that was with WCC Player of the Year John Bryant on the roster. Keating will have to find a way to replace his 18 points and 14 boards a game. Sophomore forward Marc Trasolini will really have to step up to match those numbers, though he did average 6.8 points and 4.8 boards in limited action last season. Expect the Broncos to be more guard oriented this season, with 6-2 sophomore Kevin Foster (14.9 ppg, 2.5 apg) taking a bigger role in the offense.

Pepperdine (last NCAA: 2002) Tom Asbury begins the second year of his second stint on the sidelines in Malibu with a lot of hope. In a league where just about everyone is going through significant changes, the Waves actually return all five starters and most of their bench contributors. However, these returnees will have to, well, play A LOT better to move up the standings. The Waves simply didn't take good enough care of the ball or score enough to be very competitive. Point guard Keion Bell was the only player on the team to average in double figures (12.9 ppg), but he turned the ball over nearly 4 times a game. Comparatively, he dished out just a bit more than 2 assists per contest. The Waves will need more from their frontcourt this season to be a force. Mychel Thompson can improve on his scoring average of just under 10 points per game and Taylor Darby needs to make sure his scoring and rebounding averages aren't mirror images of one another (6.1 of each per game).

San Diego (last NCAA: 2008) The biggest moment for the Toreros in a 16-16 campaign was their upset win over Mississippi State in Starkville late last December. Point guard Brandon Johnson, who lost most of last season to a ruptured Achilles, was granted a fifth year of eligibility and will be back running the offense. The importance of Johnson's return can't be understated, as he averaged almost 17 points and 3.5 assists per game during his junior season. San Diego will have some frontcourt issues as F/C Gyno Pomare, who averaged almost 14 points and 6 boards a game, graduated, and Rob Jones, who averaged nearly 10 points and 5.5 boards left the program. Coach Bill Grier hopes 6-9 Brazilian junior college transfer Rafael Crescensio and 6-9 holdover Roberto Mafra (5.0 ppg. 2.5 rpg) can make an impact inside.

Saint Mary's (last NCAA: 2008) Everyone knows that the Gaels lost Patty Mills to the NBA Draft, but he wasn't the only significant player to leave Moraga after a 28-win campaign. Saint Mary's lost three other starters, most notably F Diamon Simpson (13.8 ppg, 10.8 rpg). Center Omar Samhan (14.1 ppg, 9.4 pg) is back, however, as is Mickey McConnell, who gained valuable experience running Randy Bennett's offense when Mills was out with a broken hand. Wayne Hunter will also see some time at the point, and watch for 6-1 Jorden Page, who played on Australia's team at the U19 Worlds this summer. He's seen by many as the natural successor to Mills. Bennett will need more from players like F Clint Steindl (2.7 ppg) and C Ben Allen (2.2 ppg) for the Gaels to stay high in the standings.

Portland (last NCAA: 1996) The Pilots won 19 games in 2008-09 and nearly pipped St. Mary's to second, falling a game short in the standings. Now, Portland, boasting five returning starters (four of them seniors) has rebuilding Gonzaga in its sights. The backcourt is a dangerous one. T.J, Campbell runs the offense efficiently (11.1 ppg, 4.8 apg, 53.1% 3 point shooting), while Nik Raivio (16 ppg) and Jared Stohl (11.2 ppg, 45.6 % from beyond the arc) can really score. The forward corps, featuring the 6-10 Robin Smeulders (10.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg), 6-9 Kramer Knutson (6.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg), and 6-8 Luke Sikma (6.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg) should do pretty well against most of the teams they meet in conference play. If the Pilots can do some damage in the non-conference portion of their schedule, which features three games at the loaded 76 Classic in Anaheim, a home game against Oregon, and trips to Nevada and Washington, an at-large bid is a definite possibility.

Gonzaga (last NCAA: 2009) Sure the Bulldogs lost a lot after last season, but write them off at your peril. Mark Few simply doesn't rebuild, even after losing four starters. While Gonzaga lost Austin Daye, Micah Downs, Josh Heytvelt, and Jeremy Pargo, who combined to average 47-plus points per game last season, there are plenty of players who are able to step up. Matt Bouldin (13.6 ppg, 3.4 apg) is the only returning starter, but he'll be joined in the backcourt by the talented Steven Gray (9.1 ppg) and Demetri Goodson (3.8 ppg, 1.6 apg). If Goodson can consistently play like he did against Western Kentucky in the 2nd round of the NCAAs last season, the Zags offense will be in good hands. The Bulldogs' two BIG men, 7-footer Robert Sacre and 7-5 Will Foster, will have to produce more than the average of 4 points and 5 boards they combined to contribute last year. The real inside scoring will probably have to come from a crop of newcomers that includes 6-9 Sam Dower, 6-7 Elias Harris, 6-10 Kelly Olynyk, 6-11 Andy Poling and most intriguing of all, 6-7 Bol Kong. Kong, born in the Sudan, comes to Spokane after a stay in Vancouver. This looks like a lot of question marks for a team picked to finish first in its conference, but it's Gonzaga. They seem to provide good answers consistently.

So, the Bulldogs are, yet again, the preseason pick for the WCC's auto bid. You'll see them in my 2009-10 Final Preseason Bracket on November 9. To wrap up this preview, here is my preseason All-WCC team, featuring the best returning players from last season.

Preseason All-WCC Team

Player of the Year: Matt Bouldin, 6-5 G, Sr. (Gonzaga)

Remainder of the Team
T.J. Campbell, 5-9 G, Sr. (Portland)
Dior Lawhorn, 6-7 F, Sr. (San Francisco)
Nik Raivio, 6-4 G, Sr. (Portland)
Omar Samhan, 6-11 C, Sr. (Saint Mary's)

Poll

Who is your pick to win the WCC this season?

Gonzaga

242 votes

Loyola Marymount

2 votes

Pepperdine

2 votes

Portland

29 votes

Saint Mary's

3 votes

San Diego

3 votes

San Francisco

2 votes

Santa Clara

2 votes

285 votes | Poll has closed

Zags Host Pilots to Open West Coast Conference Play

Zach B — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 13:00:07 -0000

Portland Pilots (9-6) at a glance
Stat Leaders	Games of Note	All-time Series
Nik Raivio (16.2 ppg)	W vs. Washington (80-74)	Zags 46-14 (since 1980)
Luke Sikma (6.4 rpg)	W vs. Nevada (63-61)	Zags have won last ten
T.J. Campbell (5.1 apg)	L @ Portland State (81-76)	Last Portland win was in 2003

The murderous non conference schedule for the Gonzaga Bulldogs is all but over. The Zags will take on two more non conference opponents before the season is over; the Memphis Tigers and the powerhouse that is the South Carolina Upstate Spartans. The next step for the Bulldogs is the West Coast Conference. The Portland Pilots open up Gonzaga's conference schedule as they travel to Spokane to take on the Zags on Saturday at 5 P.M. PST.

The Pilots have been one of the few bright spots in this conference thus far. Coach Eric Reveno's team has been accustomed to battling to stay out of the cellar in the conference but this year Portland finds itself sitting at third in the WCC, right behind St. Mary's and Gonzaga. Reveno, who is now in his third year as the Portland head man, seems to be turning this program around and has this team above .500 heading into conference play for the first time in his tenure.

continue reading more about the Pilots and Zags match up after the jump...

Portland's 9-6 record is especially impressive considering some of the teams they have chosen to play against. In their first 15 games, they played against Washington, Portland State, Nevada, Oregon, BYU, Air Force, and California. This is a very impressive list of teams, especially when you consider the schedules that some major conference teams are putting together. There two major wins came against Washington (haha) and Nevada. It's always great to see Washington lose, especially when it comes at the hands of a WCC team. Portland has also played some teams very tough. They lost to Portland State by five and took Oregon to overtime. Because of their inexperience they had some tough losses, falling to Northern Colorado and Eastern Washington.

The Pilots are led by a name that should be very familiar to Gonzaga fans; Nik Raivio. Nik is the younger brother of former Gonzaga star Derek Raivio and has been holding up the family name very well. Nik is averaging 16 points a game and nearly six rebounds. He's also got the size that Derek never had at 6'4'', 200 lbs. Raivio does not shoot the three-point shot the way his brother did but few have that ability. He makes up for it with his ability to get to the hoop and make plays using his size. The Pilots have some nice role players to help Raivio. Robin Smeulders and Luke Sikma are two very solid WCC forwards and have the ability to score at will in the post and Smeulders has been one of the surprise players this season. The Pilots will get more help in the paint as they hope to welcome back Kramer Knutson to the team. Knutson, a 6'9'' center suffered a concussion two weeks ago but should be ready to go Saturday. He attempted to come back against Seattle but suffered a migraine and could not play. Look for him to be the primary defender of Josh Heytvelt as he is by far the Pilots best post defender. Point guard T.J. Campbell is a very serviceable distributor of the ball for Portland. Campbell was a Junior College All-American a season ago and is averaging 10 points and five assist a game for UP. He has proved to be a real steal for this Portland team.

For Gonzaga, the West Coast Conference schedule could not come at any better time. The non conference schedule battered and bruised this team but they were able to end it on a high note with a huge win against Tennessee in Knoxville. The Zags sit at a disappointing 9-4 but luckily the schedule sets up so they won't have a tough test until the end of January when St. Mary's comes to Spokane. They should be able to build on the momentum from the Tennessee win with this sort of schedule.

While I do have a lot of respect for what Reveno is doing with the Portland Pilots, I don't expect the Zags to be challenged by the Pilots. As mediocre as Gonzaga has been this season rebounding the ball, Portland has been worse. They are only pulling down 35 rebounds a game. Sikma is their leading rebounder but he is only averaging six rebounds a game. Knutson returning should be able to help out the Pilots in this regard but look for them to struggle against the length of Gonzaga. The Pilots have also struggled on the defensively. They are allowing their opponents to shoot 47% from the field which is ten percentage points more than what Gonzaga is allowing their opponents to shoot. This is due in large part to Portland's inability to defend in the paint. Knutson should be able to help with this but Heytvelt should be able to have a field day against the Pilots. Hopefully he will avoid floating out around the perimeter and pound the Pilots in the post. It is definitely Josh Heytvelt's game to dominate if he chooses so. Austin Daye should be a match up nightmare for the entire WCC, especially for the Pilots who really have nothing to go against his length.

The one area of concern this season for Gonzaga has been perimeter defense and allowing players to go off on them from beyond the arc. We saw this happen against Arizona and Connecticut in doses and it really exploded with Jeremiah Dominguez and Portland State. The Pilots have three players that could light up Gonzaga if the perimeter defense is slacking. T.J. Campbell, Ethan Niedermeyer, and Jared Stohl all shoot over forty percent from deep. Stohl, who shoots 41% from three, is the Pilots primary deep threat and has shot the most (96). Campbell and Niedermeyer both shoot at a higher percentage but have not attempted as many. This is definitely a source of concern for Mark Few's team. I really see this as the only way that Portland will be able to keep in close on Saturday in the McCarthey Athletic Center.

Coming off the Tennessee victory, Gonzaga should be filled with confidence and I expect that to carry over on Saturday. Look for Gonzaga to put up a bunch of points due to Portland's below average defense. This should be another game where Heytvelt and Daye dominate the boards and will hopefully increase their confidence in the paint. Gonzaga should also be boosted by the home crowd and the return of the students. My prediction has the Bulldogs getting on the Pilots early and often led by they play of Mr. Heytvelt. Zags win 91-69, with plenty of alley-oop dunks and crowd pleasing plays.

Live Game Thread opens up at 4:30 PST. Stick around and chat basketball while you watch the Zags!

Poll

What happens on Saturday night?

Zags Dominate; Win by 20 or more

54 votes

Zags Struggle but Win Close

25 votes

Pilots stun Gonzaga; Complete Portland's sweep of Spokane

3 votes

82 votes | Poll has closed