Portland 2009 CIT Tournament Preview

Portland Pilots (19-12, 9-5) - West Coast Conference

RPI: 120

Big Wins: 11/15 Washington (80-74), 11/29 Nevada (63-61), 1/31 St. Mary’s (84-66)

Bad Losses: 12/3 Eastern Washington (58-63), 12/16 at Northern Colorado (73-76), 2/28 at Santa Clara (65-67)

Coach: Eric Renevo

Probable Portland Starters:

• T.J. Campbell, Junior, Guard, 11.0 ppg, 4.8 apg

• Nik Raivio, Junior, Guard, 15.7 ppg, 2.3 apg, 6.6 rpg

• B.J. Porter, Sophomore, Guard, 2.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg

• Robin Smeulders, Junior, Forward, 10.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg

• Kramer Knutson, Sophomore, Forward, 6.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg

Key Portland Roleplayers:

• Luke Sikma, Sophomore, Forward, 5.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg

• Jared Stohl, Sophomore, Guard, 11.3 ppg, 1.6 apg

Why Portland Can Surprise:

Portland ranks second in the entire nation in three-point field-goal percentage. The team hits 41.8 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc. That is a superb number any way you look at it, but in this case it is even more impressive since the Pilots take quite a few three-pointers. T.J. Campbell hits an amazing 54.5 percent of his 4.3 attempts per contest. He actually shoots better from beyond the arc than he does inside of it. Campebll is also the ball handler and dishes out 4.8 assists per contest.

A majority of those assists go to Nik Raivio and Jared Stohl. Stohl is pretty much a catch and shoot player and just about all of his shots will come from beyond the arc. Raivio is the more dynamic scoring threat. Not only does he lead the team in scoring with 15.7 points per game, but he also grabs a team high 6.6 rebounds and dishes out 2.3 assists per game.

Why The Pilots Can Disappoint:
Amazingly, the Pilots are a bad free-throw shooting team. Somehow they hit three-pointers very well, but they cannot make their free-throws. To be fair, Stohl and Campbell are good free-throw shooters, but the rest of the team drags down the percentage a lot. The other concern in Portland is the defense. The lack of a major shot blocking threat makes it really easy for the opposition to get easy buckets in the paint.

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Who To Watch:
The high scoring guards will get most of the credit, but forwards Robin Smeulders and Kramer Knutson need to have big games if the Pilots hope to win a contest or two. Smeulders puts up the big numbers, averaging 10.7 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. The 6-10 junior has a decent mid-range jumper, but he tends to extend his range a little too far some of the time. If he sticks to the paint and mixes in the occasional 15-foot jumper, he would be an even better scorer. Knutson does the dirty work around the basket. At 6-9 he is shorter than Smeulders, but Knutson is the guy who will hang around the paint and bang bodies with the opposing center. He will not score much or even grab that many rebounds, but Knutson is a decent defender who will work hard on both ends of the floor.

Portland By the Numbers:

Scoring Offense: 70.1 (134th in nation, 3rd in conference)

Scoring Defense: 66.8 (148, 5)

Field-Goal Percentage: 46.4 (55, 2)

Field-Goal Defense: 43.3 (171, 5)

Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 8.0 (35, 1)

Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 41.8 (2, 1)

Free-Throw Percentage: 66.7 (241, 8)

Rebound Margin: 2.3 (101, 4)

Assists Per Game: 15.3 (46, 1)

Turnovers Per Game: 14.2 (198, 5)

By Joel Welser
CollegeSports-fans.com Senior Basketball Writer

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