Men's Basketball Jeff Faraudo, #WCChoops Columnist

Faraudo: Porter Preaching Poise & Patience at Portland

Pilots off to a 4-1 start

By Jeff Faraudo
#WCChoops Columnist | FARAUDO ARCHIVES

Terry Porter had his eyes wide open when he took the head coaching job at Portland four years ago. He played his first 10 NBA seasons with the Trail Blazers so he was familiar with the Pilots’ uneven basketball history.

He also was smart enough to realize he didn’t know it all. “I think every job is always more challenging than you expect,” Porter explained, “because you don’t know everything that’s under the hood, so to speak.”

The ride so far often has been bumpy. Portland was 28-69 in Porter’s first three seasons.

But things may be changing for the better. Portland is off to a 4-1 start for the first time in five seasons after beating cross-town rival Portland State 82-75 on Wednesday night.

“We’ve been close, but it’s a team we haven’t beaten,” Porter noted.

Porter, 56, has the perspective of a man who created success against a backdrop of doubt. He was not a ready-made star out of high school, landing at tiny Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where he improved each year to the point where the Blazers made him a first-round NBA draft pick in 1985.

Then he merely became a 16-year pro and two-time All-Star.

“The (Pilots’) storyline is my storyline,” he said. “Nobody ever thought I’d be able to make it to the NBA from where I started. It’s about the ability to have a mindset to continue to work at it.”

His players must embrace those qualities of patience and determination because nothing will come easily.

Porter likes this team, its makeup, its growing experience and its emerging toughness. He is beginning to see hints of confidence, not an easy thing for a team that was 7-25 last season.

He saw tangible signs of that belief during a two-game road trip to California. At USC, a team featuring a top-10 freshman recruiting class, Portland competed well before absorbing a 76-65 loss. Two days later, the Pilots posted a 72-57 win at San Jose State. 

“Our guys responded well. It was a good mental challenge to play a high major like (USC), then come down off that and have a good bounce-back type of victory,” Porter said. 

There was more to like in the win over Portland State. 

Two of Porter’s goals are to create more of an inside-outside scoring balance after relying heavily on the perimeter last season, and to generate easy points off their defense.

Against PSU, the Pilots scored 40 points in the paint and 17 off 14 turnovers. The Portland bench contributed 27 points, indicative of improving depth.

The roster is a mix of returnees and newcomers, veterans and young players.

JoJo Walker, the team’s top returning scorer, remains the leader. Porter has tried to lighten his load by moving him from point guard to a wing. Walker, who has scored in double digits every game so far, is joined in the backcourt by returnee Malcolm Porter (the coach’s son) and two key newcomers.

Freshman Chase Adams runs the point, and the 5-foot-7 150-pound Chicago native is averaging 5.8 assists per game, including nine in the Portland State win.

“He’s a tough kid who know hows to play that position,” Porter said. “He  does a great job of setting the tone at both ends of the floor.”

Completing what currently is a four-man backcourt is grad transfer Isaiah White, the team’s leading scorer at 15 points per game.

White has the rare distinction as a player who transferred from Portland (ME) to Portland (OR). And get this: the Pilots hosted Maine last weekend. The home team won, but it was a difficult outing for White, who scored a season-low four points.

“I don’t know if we would have got him if he knew he was going to have to play against his boys,” Porter joked. “I’ve been in that position. It’s just hard. Now we’re ready for him to come back and play the way he had been.”

Well, how about 21 points and eight assists the next time out vs. Portland State?

The lonely big man in the starting lineup is Tahirou Diabate, known simply as “D” to his coaches and teammates. The 6-9 junior was born in Mali, but also has lived in France, the Canary Islands and Japan. He speaks five languages, and showed growing fluency as an offensive player when he scored 18 points against Maine.

The Pilots’ remaining non-conference schedule features a challenging trip to the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii, but also a series of home games that could help build the confidence Porter hopes to see.

His roots on this campus extend back to when then-Pilots coach Larry Steele — an ex-Blazers guard — would let the local NBA team occasionally practice in his gym. 

“The history of this program is not been one that's always successful. They’ve had pockets of success,” Porter said. “It’s a work in progress, but we want to try to have some sustainability.”

The Pilots will take their next step Saturday at home against UC Davis.