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.

Montana- The Cream is Rising

As most of you probably watched on ESPN2 Friday night, the Montana Grizzlies knocked off James Madison to earn a spot in the FCS Championship next weekend.

The Grizzlies managed to force four turnovers from the Dukes and got efficient and timely performances from junior running back Chase Reynolds and senior Cole Bergquist.

Reynolds had 123 yards and two touchdowns and Bergquist threw for three scores. Their performances were impressive enough, but the story of the game was the dominant play of the Grizzlies offensive line and defense. The big guys up front pounded the Dukes all night long and while Montana's defense gave up a few yards they tackled well and kept James Madison out of the end zone most of the night.

Portland State fans will recall that the Vikings played the Grizzlies pretty tough back in November. The Vikings had a bit of momentum after stopping Montana before they converted a fake field goal for a first down towards the end of the third quarter.

I for one think that that game was a great indicator of the progress that Glanville is making and although the result was disappointing for the team and fans alike, the fact that the Vikings competed fairly well with a squad that is going to play for the national title has to be promising.

Montana will play the winner of the Northern Iowa vs. Richmond game next Friday.

Jason Quick takes heat for honesty

As most of you know, Portland is a pretty small and tight sports media market. But recent comments on Blazers center Greg Oden by The Oregonian's Jason Quick, who covers the Blazers, have drawn the ire of Blazer fans and some local and national media.

Quick's comments, which can be heard here, have really upset some of the Rose City faithful and caused some strong reaction on national blogs like The Big Lead and Deadspin, as well as dominate the local, and obviously slow, sports media scene. Even Kornheiser and Wilbon brought the story up today on Pardon the Interruption.

I do not know Jason Quick, although his work is has been praised by everyone I know who consistently label him as "the best NBA beat writer in the nation".

What fans do not realize in situations like this, is that Jason Quick does not work for the Portland Trail Blazers. Although this market is small, and friendly it does not mean that there is only going to be one voice about every issue.

Sometimes it is tough to separate all of the media entities here. You have Mike Barrett being interviewed on Canzano's radio show, Dwight Jaynes doing post-game shows for Comcast, and Quick doing his thing every gameday on the 1080 the fan show.

Sometimes, especially when the Blazers are doing well on and off the court, the voices all sound unified and I think that confuses fans who might assume that all the media want the same thing the average Blazer fan does.

Jason Quick, just like Canzano, should not write or say what Blazer fans want to hear. He should be honest, ethical and fair.

In this incident, he might have chosen his words more carefully but what he said was honest and even the most die-hard Blazer fans know it.

Watch Oden on the court. He plays without passion and enthusiasm. When he does get an opportunity to dunk the ball, which is about the only good thing he is doing on offense right now, he takes his frustration out on the rim.

I do not know what the future holds for Oden.

But my suspicion is, at some point he will receive much harsher criticism than Quick's recent comments. If the Blazers continue to improve Oden will be spotlighted by national media either for the good or for the bad.

If he fizzles out with an injury or other problems the criticism will only get worse. Do you think Sam Bowie goes anywhere without people reminding him about his shortcomings?

I applaud Quick for giving an honest answer about a difficult subject. Furthermore Blazer fans should be grateful to have someone covering the team that does a good job reporting because if there was ever a need for someone to keep the organization accountable, it would be Jason Quick who would do it first.

PSU leads 63-51 with 7:57 to play

It certainly hasn't been pretty, but the Vikings have managed to extend their seven point lead a bit more and a patient offense mixed with Lewis and Clark's inability beyond the arc (29 percent) I think that Portland State should avoid the upset here.

Seniors Mickey Polis and Andre Murray have taken control of the game for the Vikings with 14 points apiece. Jamie Jones, despite a mediocre shooting performance from the field--fifty percent, which is low for him--now has 12 points and eight rebounds.

PSU leads at halftime 37-30

After a dismal start that saw the Vikings trail by as many as eight points early on, Portland State has regained their focus and lead the Pioneers by seven heading into halftime.

Were it not for the performance of two backups, senior Mickey Polis and junior Julius Thomas, the first half could have been a disaster for the Vikings. Through the first twenty minutes the squad has 10 turnovers and has struggled to make consistent shots or defend the ball well.

Thomas, filling in for the struggling Jamie Jones has eight points and five rebounds but it was three three-pointers from Polis that gave the Vikings the lead at 17-16.

If Viking fans were worried about the team looking a little sluggish, they were right. Despite boasting a height advantage at nearly every position, the squad has struggled to score in the paint. Worse yet, the Pioneers quickness and versatility on offense is posing problems for the Viking defense.

Juniors Kyle Coston and Tyrell Mara are a combined one for eight shooting with three turnovers between them. Phil Nelson looks out of sync on offense and Jones' struggles in the paint have kept the Pioneers close.

Thankfully, Coston and Mara have done a good job containing Lewis and Clark's leading scorer heading into the game, holding the senior to just two points. The Pioneers are bombing the ball from deep with mixed results: think air ball, three pointer, air ball...

Despite the ragged start, I expect head coach Ken Bone to whip the troops into shape for twenty minutes of solid basketball.

Notes: Not sure what makes me more sad: Seeing former Viking point guard Brian Curtis participating in the halftime halfcourt shot for a free pizza, and bragging that he made it, or watching former Viking wide receiver Reggie Joseph mop the floor down during the break in front of athletic director Torre Chisholm and offensive coordinator Mouse Davis. Talk about awkward...

Funniest moment of the first half: after a solid colision that saw Pioneer guard James Hollins level the tiny Mickey Polis, one of the spandex clad student section tracksters shouted out, "You should try out for the football team... Maybe they would win a game... Maybe."

The reference was not lost on yours truly. The Pioneers are awful in football after reinstating their program three or four years ago.

Portland State vs. Lewis and Clark- Pregame

For the first time in eight games, the Portland State Vikings may finally have an opponent that they carry a height advantage against.

The Vikings head into tonight's game with a win loss record of 6-1, one of their best starts in school history. But in every game, Portland State has had to rely on their quickness and perimeter game as the squad is vertically, and often physically, overmatched inside. But not tonight.

Of course, the Vikings had to descend to the ranks of Lewis & Clark, a Division III team, to do so.

This game should be an easy win for the Vikings. Although the Pioneers were a decent squad last season, and boast a 4-1 record of their own, Portland State should have enough talent to simply overwhelm the Pioneers.

However, the same thing could have been said for this matchup last season. If you recall that game, Lewis and Clark gave Portland State everything they could handle and more. In the end, the Vikings escaped the Rose Garden with just a one-point victory.

Lewis and Clark is led by senior wing Tyson Papenfuss, a solid player with all-around skills. The Clackamas product comes into the game averaging 18.6 points per game.

Viking fans are hoping that the combination of finals week, playing an inferior opponent and the looming game at Seattle this Sunday will not distract the team too much.

Notes: While the Vikings warm up at one end of the court, the injured duo of senior point guard Jeremiah Dominguez and junior Paul Guede are shooting at the other end. In my opinion, and based on what I have heard, Dominguez looked well enough to play tonight but was kept out so that he would be fresh for the Washington game.

Transfer Donatas Visockis, the only player with any legitimate height, is nowhere to be found. He was ruled ineligible earlier this week and will miss the entire season.

Check back later.

Live Blog: Portland State at Oregon State- End of Game 58-24 Beavers

So the second half treated the Vikings a tad better than their six-point first-half output, however, when you slapped the two less-than-stellar 20-minute performances together the result is far from a masterpiece.

Portland State was outplayed, outschemed and outhustled in Corvallis Sunday afternoon. But you can hardly point the finger at the Beavers and blame them for the 58-24 beating the Vikings endured atop Ralph Miller Court inside Gill Coliseum.

It was the Vikings who deserve the blame for this one.

Lets hope head coach Sheri Murrell makes it clear in the post-game address to her squad that the Vikings, not the Beavers, are the reason Portland State scored a meager six points before halftime.

Lets hope Murrell tells her team they were the reason the Vikings chucked up low-percentage shot after low-percentage shot throughout the game.

And let hope Murrell explains that while the Beavers' defense was fierce, the Vikings could have done a much better job penetrating and attacking the basket.

The fundamentals were simply nonexistent for Portland State as the Vikings suffered easily their worst defeat of the season to the Beavers Sunday afternoon. It was completely unexpected that a team that had played Syracuse tough in a narrow road loss only a few weeks ago would have trouble executing the basics, such as moving the ball and dribbling through traffic without turning it over. But it happened.

The fact of the matter is the Vikings were the team that beat Portland State Sunday--and it happened at the hands of turnovers, poor shot selection and a complete lack of offensive cohesiveness.