Looking Ahead After LMU/Portland

In case you missed it, read this.

So, now that we know Loyola Marymount will advance out of the WCC Tournament Opening Round Game by virtue of a 65-54 victory over Portland, what's next? Well, let's start with the Lions because their future is decidedly clearer than the Pilots'.

The Lions will play a second round game against #5 San Francisco on Thursday at 6:00 PM. That game will be their second game in as many days. These game-a-day stretches are rough on any team. From what I saw tonight in the Opening Round Game the Lions are in for at the very least the level of rough that any team would face in their situation. On top of the quick turnaround the Lions have to deal with the fact that their star point guard, the NCAA's 14th leading scorer Anthony Ireland, was attacked all night by the Pilots' defense. For a while in the second half it seemed that every time Ireland attempted to penetrate the defense he ended up laying on his stomach in the paint. He's a tough player, no doubt about it, but all that running into people and falling to the floor won't help his game.

For the Pilots the future is as clear as the Portland sky.
The offseason has begun, only that much is certain. Luckily for the Pilots the offseason brings the clearest skies of the year in Portland. No, I'm not just overdoing a weather metaphor (I probably am) but things will get more clear as the offseason moves along. In the post-game press conference Portland coach Eric Reveno said about the future "Having Ryan Nicholas back as a warrior and a leader... I really feel good about that".

Reveno should feel good. This year's Pilots are very young. Derrick Rodgers is the only senior on the team. Next season a core of to-be-juniors and seniors will return (should return, in the age of transfers nothing is certain) and like he said, that's something to feel good about. Over the past two years Reveno has scheduled an absolutely brutal non-conference slate. The players who were young and unable to cope with it then will now have that experience to help them push forward as upperclassmen. Ryan Nicholas has the look of a preseason all-WCC selection in 2013-14. That, along with the depth the Pilots have and the return of ACL'd David Carr, well... next season should be bright as an August Portland day.