PSU vs. Idaho State Live Blog

The Vanguard will be liveblogging tonights Big Sky matchup between the Vikings and the Bengals from the Stott Center.

Notes:

Junior forward Phil Nelson is wearing a Rip Hamiltonish mask covering his face. Not sure if he was dinged up in the waning moments of the Weber State game or at practice on Friday or if he just wants to change up his style after playing so poorly at home. He is averaging just seven points during home games this season and shooting just 18 percent from beyond the arc.

Idaho State is out in their trademark orange jerseys with black trim. Let me just say this: yours truly is not a fan.

Big Sky Conference blogger extraordinaire Kellis Robinett is here live blogging for the Idaho State Journal. I am a big fan of his work and you should check it out.

The Stott Center was pretty packed for Thrusday night's game against Weber State but at least one school official was not pleased with how quiet the crowd was. He remarked that this should be the most intimidating place for opposing teams in the Big Sky because of the setup of the gym.

Vikings return home: Will the Stott be stuffed?

Thursday night not only marks the end of a pretty dang good college football season with the BCS Championship in Miami, but also will be the night in which the Vikings make their triumphant return to the Stott Center.

Since Thanksgiving the men have played three games at home: Seattle, Lewis and Clark and Montana. The Seattle and Lewis and Clark games were under-attended and the squad didn't seem too focused despite posting victories over the Pioneers and the Redbirds.

The 72-45 victory over Montana on Dec. 20 was a terrific win for the club to open the conference season, but because it came in the middle of one of the worst snow storms in the history of the Rose City, was only attended by 415.

I am interested in seeing if fans respond to this team in an appropriate fashion this weekend. Weber State and Idaho State are two of the top four teams in the conference and I think that they, along with the Vikings and Northern Colorado, will be the four teams in the Big Sky Tournament.

Fans also will have an opportunity to watch the ever-improving Vikings following a long and exhaustive road trip. By my count the team has traveled over 14,000 miles since Thanksgiving, putting your holiday trip to the parents that you complained about in perspective.

And let's remember that this team isn't traveling in one of these:

The team and small traveling party don't roll around in a custom jet. When they fly, they fly coach. The buses are not built for people of basketball height. Trust me, I am 6'5 and I don't fit on them well. When the team stays in a hotel, they usually don't stay in a Marriott but a Holiday Inn.

Hopefully fans can get a sense of the things that the squad has already overcome. By all accounts they really had every reason to lose against Northern Arizona on Sunday but overcame the odds and eventually took the Lumberjacks down.

I think head coach Ken Bone and the rest of the team are hoping that the squad gets a boost from the hometown crowd as they continue on into Big Sky play.

Vikings suffer first home loss of season

For just the second time in two seasons the women's basketball team stumbled at the Stott Center. The Vikings were defeated by Utah Valley University 102-92 in a overtime game.

The Vikings trailed for nearly the entire game and fell behind by eight points with just 1:30 to play before a three-point play by senior forward Kelsey Kahle cut the lead to just five.

Missed free throws by the Wolverines, offensive rebounds, and some timely shooting from freshman guard Eryn Jones gave the Vikings an opportunity to tie trailing 82-79 with under a minute to play.

After a busted play, sophomore post Courtney Cremer found herself with the ball at the top of the circle and launched a desperation three-pointer from well behind the men's arc. It was just her fourth attempt of the season but Cremer's prayer banked in (although judging from her reaction, it wasn't called).

A shot by the aforementioned Asumi Nakayama was off and the teams headed to overtime.

Despite blowing the lead in the waning moments of regulation the Wolverines regrouped and dominated the overtime period outscoring the Vikings 20-10. The victory improved Utah Valley's record to 4-7 and dropped Portland State to 8-4. Two of the Vikings losses have come in overtime.

It was Portland State's final tune-up before the Big Sky season play begins later this week, but the team looked anything but well-oiled in their non-conference finale. Point guard Claire Faucher struggled all game and finished with just five points on two for 10 shooting.

It was unclear if Sherri Murrell was experimenting with a different lineup, giving some of her starters some rest before the conference stretch run or reacting to lackluster performances from some of her starters but the head coach went with an unconventional strategy down the stretch. 10 Portland State players played more than 10 minutes.

With Faucher out of the game the Vikings would have struggled mightily were it not for the performance of Kahle. She finished the game with 30 points which included a 12 for 12 performance from the charity stripe. She also had four rebounds, four assists and three steals.

The Vikings certainly were lucky to find themselves even in the game after committing 13 costly turnovers and shooting 36 percent from the field and 27 percent from the three point arc.

Even more discouraging for Viking fans is the fact that this team, again, gave up more than 100 points to Utah State. The Vikings will likely face far more talented teams in Big Sky opponents Montana, Montana State and Northern Colorado.

In Monday's game the Vikings inability to get stops on the defensive end forced them into playing a fast-tempo shooting match with the Wolverines. Normally with Faucher at the helm this would seem like a winning idea. But the honorable mention All-American player was on the bench.

With inexperienced, and often tired-looking players, on the court, the Vikings looked like a team that still has some growing pains to experience.

Portland State will face Sacramento State and Northern Arizona this weekend.

PSU women trail Utah Valley at the half

With the men's squad out of town tonight, no good bowl games to watch I decided to watch the Vikings take on Utah Valley in the Stott Center.

The result so far: unimpressive.

Taking on a squad that they gave up 104 points to in a game last season in Orem, Utah, the Vikings have yet to play solid defense on two consecutive Wolverine possessions.


Utah Valley is in their final year of transitioning to become a full-fledged member of Division I. They seem to be making a good go of it. I know they have fielded competitive men's and women's basketball squads this season. This comes less than 10 years after serving as a junior college feeder school to BYU, Utah and Utah State.

Back to the game-

Attendance is pretty scarce. I am not going to bail out the students on this one. It seems weird sitting on press row and being able to hear every cheer, complaint and comment from either bench. I guess I have been attending to many men's games.

Freshman point guard Eryn Jones started her third consecutive game and has played well although I have not quite figured out the logic to head coach Sherri Murrell's rotation yet. She seems to be favoring her bench heavily and point guard Claire Faucher and wing Katia Hadj-Hamou have yet to look comfortable on the floor.

It has been interesting to watch the development of former walk-on Kate DePaepe. After a solid career at Tualatin High and playing sparingly in nine games last season the southpaw is serving as one of the more consistent performers coming off the bench this year replacing some of the scholarship players that she played behind last season.

The Vikings have kept the game close thanks in large part to Kelsey Kahle's 14 points but have hindered their own ability to come back by missing several close-range layups. they have also committed dozens of turnovers. (I do not know the actual number but I do know they have been very careless with the ball)

I am not sure if it's the post-Christmas spirit kicking in but the dainty crowd is all over the referee's here. The zebra's aren't helping themselves either, missing a few painfully obvious calls.

One fashion note for you uniform heads... I know that this is small college women's basketball but Utah Vally looks more like a high-school team than any I have ever seen. Maybe it's the font on their jerseys... They are also all wearing some sort of black knee-pads. Not quite as big as the ones that Patrick Ewing used to wear but nonetheless interesting.

The Wolverines aslo feature a 5-4 point guard from Saitama, Japan. Reading from her bio she isn't some exchange student or someone who prepped in the United States, (a la Donotas Visockis) she is actually from Japan and led her team to the National Championship in high school.

I point this out because the player, Asumi Nakayama, is wearing the first pair of Asics basketball shoes I have ever seen. Besides being pretty unique they stick out like a sore thumb in contrast to the rest of hte players Nike's and Addidas'.

PSU athletic department takes down the Vanguard

As we reported on our blog several weeks ago, the athletic department took on the Vanguard sports staff in a friendly game of roundball. The results were not good....

Not good if you root for the Vanguard I mean.

To be honest, the sports staff was without one of their finest players and took the court with a lineup of a couple of solid players that had never really played together.

We also featured one Vanguard vagabond, a former arts and culture editor, who admittedly had not strapped up his high-tops in three years.

The athletic department staff... well they certainly had their numbers. Beyond Torre Chisholm and Zack Wallace (pictured) the staff also brought assistant athletic trainer Duane Dewey, sports information bigman Ryan Borde and head equipment man Rick McReynolds to the game.

Their depth eventually took its toll on the beleaguered Vanguard staff. We couldn't hit a shot, couldn't play good defense and probably were doubled up in the rebound department.

The game certainly had its intense moments, (although it probably wasn't as bad as this) but all in all, sportsmanship and camaraderie were the key themes.

The athletic department also brought in a ringer- well kind of. Jeff Boone who is the student leader of the fan group "The Horde" also played. I play with Jeff on the same intramural team and was worried he might be a difference maker. He was.

We should have known there was trouble brewing when at the last moment Chisholm moved the game from the main gym in the Stott Center to the smaller and more dimly lit small gym downstairs and eliminated the main scoreboard one of the big-game elements he had promised us...

There will likely be a rematch at some point, so I don't want to give away the scouting report although I will give you one little tidbit.

Torre Chisholm= not half bad.

The man known in the Vanguard newsroom as "T-Chis" can scrap down low in the paint. This despite his affinity for wearing some unusually short shorts.

Certainly not as short as Washington tight end Chris Cooley, who sported these during Redskins' training camp, thankfully, but short nonetheless. I even heard one of his teammates wondering under the breath if the athletic director was just playing in his boxer shorts.

Anyhow be sure to stay tuned to the blog for more Portland State sports news...

Gonzaga who? Vikings take down #7 ranked Bulldogs

Sad to admit this, and I feel like the current weather situation is one of the few excuses that would keep the sports staff at the Vanguard from doing their job, but we were not able to make it to Spokane for the huge game on Tuesday.

Nevertheless, the Vikings earned their first victory over Gonzaga in 31 years and Portland State's biggest victory since joining the Division I ranks.

The Vikings battled the odds and made Gonzaga look ordinary on Tuesday night. Senior point guard Jeremiah Dominguez looked as good as anybody that has ever played on The Kennel court and somehow head coach Ken Bone and co. motivated the troops to a huge victory.

Some Notes:
--The Vikings won without playing a perfect game. While Dominguez was terrific and Nelson, Waters and Murray were solid, Jamie Jones did not have his best game and continues to struggle against bigger opponents.

Kyle Coston was a non-factor as was his replacement Tyrell Mara. On the other side of the coin, Julius Thomas played great with a ton of energy and the performances of the four perimeter players was enough to overcome.

--Coming into the game and thus far this season much had been said about the depth of the Bulldogs and rightfully so. Gonzaga has at least six players on the roster that could play somewhere professionally and a couple with a good chance to end up in the league.

But somehow the Vikings mitigated that strength tonight. While I often question Bone's frequent substitution pattern, it looked terrific. The fresh bodies seemed to confuse Gonzaga or at least slow their powerful offense down.

-- Everyone is talking about how easy it would have been for Bone to ask Gonzaga coach Mark Few to reschedule the game or just cancel it based on the travel difficulties. But Bone knew that if they were to reschedule, it would likely be when Gonzaga school was in session, meaning that the Gonzaga students would be making their presence felt.

I don't think that the Vikings would have gotten blown out because of the crowd, but the game would have certainly had a different vibe.

--I know that the game was only televised on Fox Sports Northwest and there probably were not a lot of Portland State fans who even made time for the game, let alone your average Joe plumber...

But please, please, can we get some professional announcers to call games. Is it Fox Sports Northwest or Fox Sports Washington/Gonzaga.

Honestly, I can handle the homerism.

But what is hard to take is the constant mispronunciation of names: calling Jeremiah Dominguez Jr Dominguez, mistaking Tyrell Mara for Phil Nelson on occasion and there were surely other announcer goof-ups.

--Portland State looked ultra sharp in their green jerseys. The Vikings got all new basketball jerseys this year and have white, black and green to choose from. I have been waiting for the squad to bust the green's out as it seems like the school's main color has been bypassed by Glanville's preference for black. I could not find a picture of the green jersey's but they are similar in shade and style to Michigan State which you can see here.

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto

Tough to say anything about the weather that hasn't been said already but Snowmageddon 2008/Arctic Blast/ The End of the World... seems to be here to stay and it is sure having a dramatic impact on the Rose City sports scene.

Editor-in-chief- Nathan Hellman and I were planning on making the six hour drive to Spokane tomorrow to watch the Vikings take on Gonzaga in what should be a very entertaining ball game. But given this, it doesn't look promising that we, or the basketball team, will make it.

Hopefully the squad travels safely if they do decide to go, and if they don't, lets all hope that the game can be rescheduled.

Meanwhile, the Vikings kicked off their Big Sky season on Saturday in front of just 415 at the Stott Center on Saturday. The squad seemed to handle Montana with some ease although there are still some causes for concern with this squad.

The dynamic perimeter trio of Jeremiah Dominguez, Andre Murray and Phil Nelson have yet to click together for an entire game.

Murray has been the clubs most consistent player averaging better than 11 points per game. Dominguez and Nelson have both battled a slow start.

Dominguez missed several games with a finger injury but seems recovered. Nelson played his best game against Montana. But Nelson still does not seem completely comfortable within the framework of Ken Bone's roll-the-ball-out offense and Dominguez seems a bit hesitant to take over games the same way he did so frequently for the Vikings last season.

The Vikings are also getting little or no production from either of their power forwards, Kyle Coston and Tyrell Mara. Both have struggled, forcing shots, making errant passes and failing to provide a strong rebounding prescence that the Vikings desperately need.

Unfortunately, with their lack of size and depth, Bone is forced to continue playing one of the two.

Stay posted to the blog. If the weather clears up, which looks highly unlikely at this point, we may still try to brave the elements and head for Spokane. If not we will be watching the game on FSN Northwest (if it happens) and listening to the homer call. Don't forget that Craig Ehlo handles the commentary.


Yes, that Craig Ehlo.

Bowling with the Blazers: A Comparative Analysis

While Friday is a big day in the Big Sky Conference with Montana taking on Richmond for the FCS National Championship, this weekend also marks the beginning of the 20ish days of the college football postseason.

We all know that the bowls suck, everybody wants a playoff and that there are too many teams.

We also all think we can correctly predict the winners of each game, silently hoping that our predictions will give verification to the hours we spent each Saturday this fall glued to the television.

But let's be serious: Who here really knows if Florida Atlantic has what it takes to knock off Central Michigan in the Motor City Bowl? (Quite the ironic title in this one, as it looks like the Motor City may be no more in a few months.)

The 68 bowl teams have been broken down into several categories based (loosely) on the players of everybody's favorite team in the Rose City- the Portland Trail Blazers. Have at it.

The Ike Diogu Bowl Teams

Diogu, like most of these bowl-bound teams, has no business playing in the big leagues. He might have had his time and place--he thrived while in college at Arizona State-- but looks outclassed and out of place on the court.

Sure he has his loyal fan following just like these teams but the group is small and even the faithful know that the result of their game does not matter.


Texas Bowl- Western Michigan vs. Rice
The best part of this matchup is that it takes place on the same night as the Holiday Bowl, widely regarded as one of the best bowl games outside of the BCS contests. How bad does it feel to be a Michigan Wolverine fan and have to watch not only Michigan State play in a bowl game, but also Central and Western Michigan go bowling while you sit in frigid Ann Arbor. Ouch.

Humanitarian Bowl- Maryland vs. Nevada
Outside of ESPN Sportscenter anchor Scott Van Pelt, I don't think there will be too many people in Boise to see this instant classic take place on the smurf turf. The Humanitarian bowl also goes down on Dec. 30, the same day as the aforementioned Texas and Holiday Bowls.

The Joel Przybilla Bowls
The White Gorilla, as Blazers fans know him, is certainly not one of the most attractive players in the league and his talents are limited to dunking the ball and playing solid defense.

But despite his limitations, Przybilla is an important piece of the Blazers rotation and fills in nicely when Greg Oden is struggling or is in the locker room replacing his dentures.

These bowl games should be just as watchable as the Prz'. You wouldn't want to reschedule your wedding to watch these games but if they help you get out of some obligatory time with the family, take advantage.

Eagle Bank Bowl- Wake Forest vs. Navy
Despite having matched up earlier this season, these two squads will face each other again in D.C. to open the Bowl Season. Both teams are disciplined and run the ball effectively.

Sun Bowl- Oregon State vs. Pittsburgh
Despite the fact that the Beavers got throttled in the Civil War and the likelihood that PAC-10 Offensive Player of the Year Jacquizz Rodgers could miss the game, Oregon State coach Mike Riley always seems to get the Beavers ready to play in Bowl Games.

Pitt came on strong to close the season. Both squads are physical and play with a chip on their shoulder- just like Przybilla. He's not from El Paso is he?

The Rudy Fernandez Bowls
Heading into the season anticipation was high for Fernandez and while he hasn't exactly dissapointed there have surely been moments of frustration for Blazers fans.

As brilliant as the Spaniard has been with his breathtaking alley-oops and streaky shooting from beyond the arc, he needs to develop one skill just like all the bowl bound squads in this division: consistency.

Chik-fil-a Bowl- LSU vs. Georgia Tech
Two good squads that struggled for moments but also had moments in the spotlight. Georgia Tech seems to be on their way up as one of the best teams in the ACC while LSU will most certainly be back in the National Title picture next season.

Holiday Bowl- Oklahoma State vs. Oregon
This one won't be pretty to watch, given the Ducks penchant for wearing hideous jersey combinations and the Cowboys' orange tradition that seems unavoidable at this point, but it should be good football.

The Ducks are coming into their own and barring a mental setback should run over Oklahoma State the same way they ran over Oregon State. The Cowboys three losses came to Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech, not a bad trio of defeats.

Las Vegas Bowl- BYU vs. Arizona
I know, BYU is a bit overrated and Arizona stinks but these two teams have a brief history of intensity: they play each other often and they recruit the same kids from the same area.

Both teams should get up for this game despite some struggles this season. BYU could struggle to contain the speed and athleticism of Arizona but the Wildcats will likely shoot themselves in the foot at some point during the game.

The Brandon Roy Bowls

You probably saw these coming, but BRoy is playing out of his mind lately and seems poised to solidify himself as an NBA All-Star again this season. He offers can't miss basketball every time he steps on the court and these three bowl games should be identified likewise.

Rose Bowl- USC vs. Penn State
Classic uniforms, great defenses, best bowl atmosphere in college football.

Poinsettia Bowl- Boise State vs. TCU
Not exactly a sleeper pick, but should be quality football and two better teams than you might think.

National Championship- Oklahoma vs. Florida
Watch Tebow run wild one last time before he starts wearing a much higher number and only running the ball on third and short.

Andy Schantz: Third Team All-American

After a stellar senior season, inside linebacker Andy Schantz was named to the Associated Press All-America Third Team on Wednesday. The recognition cemented Schantz as one of the top 10 linebackers in the nation and one of the finest in Portland State history.

Schantz, who came to Portland State after transferring from San Diego State, started and served as a Portland State captain in every game this season. He finished the season with 115 tackles, 31 more than the next closest player. His 15 tackles for loss also led the Vikings this season.

When the Big Sky All-Conference teams were released several weeks ago and Schantz's name did not find its way onto the first team, there were a few surprised people in Portland. He finished the season averaging 10.5 tackles per game, good for second place in the conference.

Schantz was unquestionably the leader of the entire Vikings' team on and off the field. He rarely made the highlight play, but made all the plays a middle linebacker is supposed to. While KJ McCrae and Ryan Pedersen often stole the spotlight, it was Schantz who anchored the defense.

Yet, Schantz was ousted from the first team by Sacramento State senior linebacker Cyrus Mulitalo who had a fine year but his 96 tackles ranks clearly behind Schantz.

Schantz was joined on the All-American teams by Northern Arizona cornerback K.J. Gerrard, punter/kicker Robbie Dehaze (from Sherwood), Montana seniors Colin Dow and Colt Anderson, Eastern Washington senior defensive end Greg Peach, Weber State junior running back Trevyn Smith and sophomore quarterback Cameron Higgins.

Vanguard takes on the PSU Athletic Department- Who ya got?

I hesitated to announce this to anyone, and although this blog's readership could be aptly described as scarce, here goes.

This Friday the Vanguard staff will be taking on the Portland State Athletic Department staff in a friendly game of basketball at the Stott Center.

The game, brought up by Vanguard editor-in-chief Nathan Hellman, yours truly and athletic director Torre Chisholm, will pit two teams with similar resumes against each other on Friday afternoon in the main gym of the Stott.

As per our request, Chisholm is said to have arranged the operation of the scoreboard for the game and at last check was still working on securing an announcer to call the action over the public address system.

I hesitate to talk any trash before the game partly because the Vanguard doesn't exactly have an all-star basketball lineup. Good writers we may be but outside of Hellman and former editor-in-chief David Holley who will hopefully be suiting up, we could be hardpressed for athletes.

The athletic department? They might be no better. We all know that Chisholm's is pretty skilled at improving the Vikings image, raising money and winning conference championships but the man who spends some of his spare time playing online video games may struggle on the big stage.

We may check in with a scouting report of the two squads later in the week but remember this. Both of these entities have come a long way towards improving themselves over the past 10 years.

For the Vanguard its been increased coverage of Portland State events and improving writing quality and for the athletic department its been upgrading facilities, bringing in Jerry Glanville and preparing to remake the Stott Center and PGE Park.

Two up-and-coming "squads" face off in the Stott Center... This one should be good.