Bombs Away: PSU's 12 threes helps Vikings take 58-35 lead into the break

In one of the more exciting games that this author has ever been privy to witness, the Vikings are playing perhaps as good as they possibly could and leading Boise State convincingly at halftime.

Just about everybody on the roster has hit at least one three pointer. Jeremiah Dominguez has three triples and Phil Nelson, Andre Murray and Kyle Coston each have two three pointers.

The Vikings got off to a scorching start, scoring on 12 of their first 17 possessions, including eight three pointers. Simply put, this is the team that Portland State fans have been waiting to see the entire season.

The Broncos have looked steady at times but unsure of themselves and without a strong offensive presence outside of junior guard Jamar Greene who has penetrated at will and hit shots from the perimeter with ease en route to 12 first half points.

As a team, the Vikings are 12 for 21 from three point land in the first half and shooting a scorching 65 percent from the field. More impressively, they have won the rebounding battle and have 16 team assists. The Vikings have also forced the Broncos into 13 turnovers leading to 23 points.

Quite the atmosphere here in the Stott Center if I may say so myself. Not only is the team playing superbly but the fans are cheering as if they know what they are doing... Its a good day to be involved in Portland State athletics. I can see Torre Chisholm beaming from here.

Oh yeah and one more topper: Greg Oden just walked in.

I don't think we're at Taco Bell Arena anymore...

I decided to get to the Stott Center early and its a good thing I did... On Thursday night there were nearly 500 announced open seats here for a conference game with Northern Colorado.

Today, at 4 p.m., one half hour before tip off, the arena is alive and jumping with a brand of energy that may not have ever been here.

You can attribute it to ESPN's presence, Boise State's natural proxemic rivalry or some other things. But any way you look at it, the celebrities are out, the alumni are here and the student section is packed with more spandex than I have seen since the Big Sky Volleyball Tournament. Should be an exciting couple of hours. If you're not here yet, get here quick.

The big talk before the game was about PSU's chances to possibly claim a decent seed should they somehow snap out of the funk that they're in and run the table. This would include a big win today and taking the other two conference games as well as trounicng their opponents in the Big Sky Tournament.

My gut feeling is that if the Vikings could do that- run the table and win the rest of their games they maybe could claim a No. 15 seed. Obviously they have some other things to worry about. Check back for more updates.

Vikings need to find identity starting tonight

The Portland State men’s basketball team entered this season with high and expected expectations. And it seemed that all those expectations were going to be true to form for instance when the team beat Gonzaga on the road and got off to a 6-1 Big Sky conference start. However the Vikings have lost 4 out of their last 6 and getting to March Madness for a second year in a row seems doubtful.



All year the team has been clinging to the words of energy and effort. I believe that more times than not both of those ingredients have been there for the Vikings. However what is missing for this team is consistency and an identity.

The team has struggled to find a dominant scorer to rely on day in and day out. Phil Nelson is defiantly not that scorer; he has not scored in double digits in the last four games.

It seems that Jeremiah Dominguez senses this lack of consistency and is putting the team’s performance on his shoulders. But there is too much talent on this team for one player to carry. Jamie Jones can score in the paint, and Andre Murray can be an aggressive scorer only when he wants to be.

Fact of the matter is that that Vikings are in a rare position to build an established identity this late into a season. I think coach Bone believes it and is banking on the fact that his team can build momentum into the conference tournament. Only problem is that the result of trying to prove something this late can either work out brilliantly or fail miserably.

Tonight against Northern Colorado will be the first chance for PSU start playing with consistency and a changed identity.

Posted by Tom Sedun, Vanguard staff

Blazers should stand pat

Apparently with not much time left in the NBA trade deadline your Portland Trail Blazers will not shake things up and acquire a big name player in hopes for an earlier than expected championship run.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love to see a player like Richard Jefferson from Milwaukee or Gerald Wallace of Charlotte in a Trail Blazer uniform; however I am already more than satisfied with the current progression of the team and the small deals that puts money in the Blazers pocket.

The ‘Zers are fourth in the west and will mostly likely only have to beat out one other team in order to reach the playoffs, which was the only goal for this year.

Pulling a deal before the deadline is a HUGE risk. For instance Phoenix changed the entire face of their franchise by acquiring Shaquille O’Neal at the deadline last year in a desperate attempt for a championship. Where did that lead them you ask? It ended with a first round exit by the Spurs, two different coaching changes, and the eighth highest payroll in the league.

What I am getting at is that the Blazers should not become desperate for a championship. Portland is the second youngest team in the league and has improved by strides with the talent that they have. Now I’m not saying that Blazers should not go after and get a player that can help this franchise.

There is a time and a place for everything. The time to make a move is this summer in the offseason. Kevin Pritchard and the rest of his brain trust crew should spend the rest of this season and evaluate the players we have carefully and then target one player this summer and go after him with force.

Posted by Tom Sedun, Vanguard staff

Vikings defeat Sac St, 59-42

It surely wasn't pretty, but the Vikings defended their home court, and picked up a victory to keep pace in the race for Big Sky Conference supremacy by defeating Sacramento State, 59-42.

The victory, which came without junior center Jamie Jones, was one of the slowest paced games that the Vikings have played in all season. Sac. State head coach Brian Katz deployed a slow paced game and deliberated on each play call as if he were a Supreme Court judge.

The talk of the game was how the Vikings responded without Jones, the man who had started at center every game and provided much of the interior scoring for the squad this year.

Julius Thomas filled in nicely with a double-double while Kyle Coston and Tyrell Mara each had their best interior game since conference play began, each grabbing six rebounds. The trio combined to score 27 points and 22 rebounds.

It was interesting to watch Katz attempt to thwart the high powered offense by forcing his team to waste the majority of the shot clock on each posession by dribbling around near mid court. He then would methodically signal in a play that his team would run, usually with only a moderate amount of success.

It was an usual strategy, especially for a first year coach that has a roster of entirely new faces that each are in their first year since transferring from a junior college. Most people would have probably suggested that the Hornets try to beat the Vikings at their own game, out scoring the home squad.

But Sac St opted to slow the game down and despite the low scoring output from both teams, nobody at the game, including the Hornet players, looked like they thought it would work.

It was interesting to see and hear the television announcers call the game from the sideline. Former Portland State player Rashad Floyd was on the commentary and while he occasionally bumbled through information, a la Woody Paige on Around the Horn, they did a decent job, although the final word may come tonight when the broadcast actually airs.

The Vikings are going to have to get standout performances from Dominguez, Waters, Murray and Nelson if they are to have a shot to beat Weber State on Saturday. The Idaho State game is no cakewalk either, although it looks like the Bengals may be without conference leading scorer Amarrow Morgan who is with an ailing family member.

I will leave you with the aforementioned Floyd's highlight video... good stuff...

PSU and Sac. State gridlocked at 8-8

After playing more than eight minutes in the first half, its clear that the Hornets game plan is to keep the ball away from the Portland State offense.

Sacramento State is holding the ball near half court the majority of the shot clock before initializing their play, and usually being successful at that play.

The Vikings are struggling on offense, committing several turnovers and missing most of the shots that they typically would make. Word is trickling down slowly about the injury of Jamie Jones who suffered some sort of foot injury (more on that later) and may be out the rest of the regular season.

Obviously Jones' absence could be devastating for the Vikings chances in the Big Sky.

Vikings take on Sac. St pregame

Here in the unusually empty Stott Center, there is an usually large media sighting...

The Altitude Network is making their only appearance in the Stott Center this year and the two announcers are sitting next to yours truly. It's a good thing I shaved today...

In other news---

The Stott is unusually empty. My guess is that Ken Bone would have rather played this game on a Saturday night.

Jamie Jones is out with a collection of injuries to his ankle and wrist. The junior will miss his first game of the year despite being hampered by the wrist injury for quite some time. Julius Thomas will get the start in his stead.

Slacker post of the week....

For those of you who hang on this blog's every word, and there aren't likely too many that don't have the last name of Archibald, I must first apologize for not posting at all this week.

Between the GRE's, extra classwork and a bunch of other busy things going on I haven't posted but wanted to get this up before Super Bowl Sunday.

I also had tickets to the Blazers game tonight and the Rose City's finest put on a great show. Even with the disappointing outing from Greg Oden, Brandon Roy, Rudy Fernandez and LaMarcus Aldridge were enough to get buy a pretty crippled Jazz team.


I was most impressed with point guard Sergio Rodriguez who seems to be finding his own during this Steve Blake injury. Tonight he did a pretty good job controlling the tempo of the game, making good decisions with the ball and hitting a couple of shots. He also set up Przybilla at least a couple of times and hit Fernandez for a couple of highlight reel dunks.

Still think that the Blazers are better off standing pat, or making a move for a legit starting small forward/point guard/backup power forward if they are going to do anything over the next few weeks.

I still think Richard Jefferson would be a great get for the Blazers but at this point it seems unlikely that that big of a deal would go down. I also wouldn't mind seeing a push for Rudy Gay, although it would take a ton, or David Lee.

On to Super Bowl news....

A couple of years ago, my twin little sisters were pretty good basketball players at Seaside High School and their basketball team made it to the state playoffs. I traveled with my parents to watch them play in their first round game at Junction City High School, which they won.

Then, by some OSAA scheduling miracle, the Gulls had to travel back down the I5 corridor to Roseburg to play Douglas High School.

Most of you probably know that Douglas, a small school about five miles from Roseburg, is the alma mater of Troy Polamalu, the now safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

While at the game, I couldn't help but notice the insane amount of Polamalu jerseys being worn by students at the game and the similar hairstyles displayed by some of the young men.

Thru a friend I was introduced to the Douglas High School Athletic Director who was relating a story about Polamalu.

Apparently, every off-season Polamalu makes a trip back to Southern Oregon and always stops by the high school. He doesn't come to be recognized at an all-school assembly or even to make an appearance to speak to an athletic team.

He always requests that nobody in the media know about his visit and often doesn't even warn the school when he is coming. When he gets to the school, Polomalu heads straight to the Special Education classroom where he spends the day working with the high schoolers with some sort of disability. The athletic director said that he is the most gentle and caring volunteer that the school has.

Now, some of this may be urban myth, or a high school athletic director exaggerating the truth a bit. But from everything I have seen or heard of Polomalu, it could just as well be true.

My point in sharing this is that the guy, despite his big hits and aggressive nature on the field is a pretty good guy. I will be rooting for him as much as anything else on Sunday. Maybe you should too.

PSU kicks it into gear in the second half, 70-47

After a sporadic first half in which the home squad scored just 32 points, the Vikings have exploded for 38 points after just 12 minutes of second half play.

The ginormous offensive surge was prompted by 15 second half points by junior guard Phil Nelson and some terrific perimeter defense by Nelson, Dominguez and Andre Murray.

Murray, now with 15 points, has totally shutdown Benny Valentine and Eastern Washington looks close to throwing in the towel here at the Stott Center.

Nelson, meanwhile, has been all over the court, scoring at will and looking like the player that most thought he would be when the smooth electrician, and yes I coined that nickname, transferred from Washington.

With under six minutes to play, I think its safe to say that the Vikings likely have this one in the bag and it was an impressive showing no doubt about it.

PSU trails at the half, 33-32

After the Stott Center Scuffle two weeks ago that saw the Vikings and Idaho State Bengals carry their fierce play into the locker room tunnel, Stott Center game management did a great job making sure that the teams exited the half separately avoiding any fights.

It has been an entertaining game thus far. It doesn't seem like the Vikings are playing their best basketball and head coach Ken Bone has deployed a number of defensive strategies to slow down a pretty strong Eastern Washington offense led by Benny Valentine.

Valentine has 10 points as does junior forward Mark Dunn. For the Vikings its more of the same story from their last game as senior guard Andre Murray has eight points and junior forward Julius Thomas has six points.

The Vikings are shooting 50 percent from the field but have connected on just four of their 14 three-point attempts.

It seems like a pretty even matchup thus far and the score indicates that as well. Not completely positive on this but it seems like the Vikings will have a tough time getting a victory tonight if Jeremiah Dominguez does not step up a little more.

I was surprised when it was Murray who drew the Valentine matchup on the defensive end of the court and not Dominguez. Usually Dominguez would check Valentine--both small and explosive point guards--but he isn't, and it may be affecting his offensive game as well as he heads into the second half with just three points and one assist.