By Jeff Faraudo
#WCChoops columnist | ARCHIVES
 
Even for teams with continuity, the upheaval caused by COVID-19 is a challenge no one has previously encountered.
 
But for the Portland Pilots, the assignment is especially daunting. Coach Terry Porter has nine new players — including his entire starting lineup and six of the team’s top seven scorers.
 
“I didn’t know anybody,” senior transfer Ahmed Ali said, recalling the first few days of practice.
 
Lots of moving parts? The Pilots are a jigsaw puzzle with the pieces still looking for a comfortable fit.
 
Because of health restrictions, Portland’s early practice opportunities were limited. “We were playing 5-on-zero, and that doesn’t help team chemistry because no one’s guarding you,” Ali said. “We couldn’t have team gatherings. It was tough.”
 
There’s a long way to go, but the Pilots are 3-1, albeit with two victories over non-Division I opponents. A 12-point loss in the season opener against Seattle wasn’t a confidence builder, but Ali said players have found a way to connect that he believes is creating some unity.
 
“We play Call of Duty,” he said of the popular online game that has involved about a half-dozen players on the team. “It’s fun and it makes everybody come together. You have to help each other, tell people where the opponents are in the game.”
 
Call of Duty shouldn’t get too much credit for the Pilots’ win over cross-town rival Portland State last Saturday. Ali, who has been the team’s leading scorer in the past three games, posted a career-high 28 points against the Vikings and fellow newcomer Latrell Jones contributed 17 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Portland will find out a bit more about itself Thursday night with a road test against Oregon State. Ali should be familiar with the Beavers, having played the 2018-19 season at Pac-12 rival Washington State.
 
The 5-foot-11 guard from Toronto, Canada, was recruited by Porter to provide scoring and leadership.
 
“He can shoot it, he’s really good on pick and rolls. He’s a good leader, a good voice,” Porter said recently. “He’s going to give us a lift point guard and scoring punch from that position. That was an area we had to get more scoring potential from last year.”
 
Ali spent the 2019-20 season at Hawaii but did not play due to health issues. He landed on the Islands after questioning his place on the team the year before at WSU when the Cougars made a coaching change, replacing Ernie Kent with ex-USF coach Kyle Smith.
 
So why Portland? Ali was familiar with the landscape, knew the Pilots have struggled the past several years. They were picked to finish last again by the WCC coaches.
 
But he was eager to play for Porter, a former 17-year NBA standout.
 
“He’s one of the main reasons,” Ali said “I always wanted to learn from an NBA point guard. He’s an underrated teacher. The way he teaches the game is amazing.”
 
Ali said he’s fine with being one of the voices on this team, especially after returning senior forward Tahirou Diabate — the team’s most experienced player — opted out last month, shortly after becoming a father.
 
“He didn’t want to put his kid in danger,” Ali said. “It was very reasonable. We all supported his decision.”
 
As a result, the starting five through four games has consisted of all newcomers: 
 
* Senior point guard Ahmed Ali (20.3 points, 3.3 assists) 
* Junior forward Eddie Davis (11.3 points, 4.5 rebounds)
* Junior guard Isiah Dasher (9.0 points)
* Junior guard Latrell Jones (8.8 points, 4.8 rebounds)
* Graduate transfer forward Michael Henn (7.3 points, 4.8 rebounds)
 
First off the bench are junior guard and JC transfer Clythus Griffith Jr. (6.5 points) along with returnee Chase Adams (7.8 points, 3.5 assists).
 
Ali, Henn and Adams, who started 30 games last season as a freshman, have become the leaders. “I love this group of guys,” Ali said.
 
Providing scoring the Pilots need from him is the easy part. Ali reached double digits 10 times in his one season at WSU and he made 230 three-pointers during two JC seasons at Eastern Florida State College.
 
Growing up in Toronto and playing at a small high school, Ali didn’t get a lot of attention for his basketball achievements. But he burst into the mainstream hoops consciousness when he scored 103 points in a game — yes, 103! - as a senior in 2015.
 
He made 23 3-point baskets in the game and scored all of his team’s second-half points in a 111-76 victory. Ali became just the second Canadian high schooler to score 100 points in a game, following Denham Brown, who put up 111 in a game in 2002 then played collegiately at UConn.
 
Ali recalls the game as “unreal,” acknowledging, “I threw up some shots that didn’t even deserve to hit the rim and they went in.” But he says the experience provided him with the enduring lesson that anything is possible.
 
“It actually changed my life,” he said. “I learned that any day could be your day, and you have to have that confidence wherever you go.”
 
The Pilots will want to harness some of that confidence as they go forward this season.
 
RARE CHANCE: Malibu is a beautiful destination but Pepperdine has had very little success convincing Pac-12 teams play at Firestone Fieldhouse. Cal’s visit Wednesday night was a first by a Pac-12 team since Washington State showed up in November 2012.
 
The Waves played 10 games against seven different Pac-12 foes in the eight years since, all the road. And all losses. But the Waves beat Cal 76-62, which will probably only further convince Pac-12 programs to go elsewhere.
 
ZAG REINFORCEMENTS: Not that the Gonzaga women need any more firepower, but they have added 6-foot senior wing Abby O’Connor, a transfer from Loyola-Chicago, who recently received clearance from the NCAA to play this season.
 
O’Connor was a 1,000-point scorer for the Ramblers and led the team in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots the past two seasons. She made her Gonzaga debut on Tuesday against Wyoming, coming off the bench to score nine points on 3-for-4 from the 3-point arc in 11 minutes.
 
“Abby will make our team better,” coach Lisa Fortier said. “She can do a little bit of everything.”
 
MISSING MYAH: San Diego played its first two games without All-WCC senior guard Myah Pace, who is sidelined by what is described as a minor knee injury. Mostly, she is just resting the knee and the Toreros hope to have her back within a couple weeks.
 
Pace led USD in scoring last season at 11.9 points per game and was second in the WCC with a school-record 92 steals. The Toreros are 1-1 without her.