College Hoops 2k8: A New Challenge

[Eaglesfan27]

UNLV starts the game off with 10-0 run. Their defense is trapping, pressing, and creating turnovers. They are shooting 3's with great skill and working us inside.

I call a timeout to try to calm my team down.

It's 4 minutes into the game before we score as Everett finds Santos alone on the wing for a 16 footer. 12-2.

After that burst, we play them even for the next 8 minutes or so, but it is taking everything we have to do that.

Our guards and Andres come out exhausted with 8:26 to go. We are down 23-14.

Well, it's not the blowout that I feared so far. We are down 35-27 at the half.

Ernie Waller is the player of the half. The athletic SF has 9 points, 6 boards, and 2 steals at the half.


Hodari leads our team with 7 points and 3 boards. Andres has 4, Santos 6, and Everett 5.


Wow. We have a great run to start the half, including blocks by Santos and Andres. With 16:20 to go, we tie it at 37!

They miss a 3 and we get another fast break going.. Hodari is fouled! He hits both FT's to give us the lead!

Hodari with a block of their next shot and a fast break dunk by Hodari! They take a timeout to try to end our run.

After a missed 3, we get the ball. Hodari uses a baseline screen from Santos to hit an open 14 footer!

After they score a basket, Andres draws a 3rd foul on Sykes on our next possession.

A few seconds later, Andres draws a 3rd foul on Fox!

They start pulling close a few minutes later, when Everett beats their full court press setting up Santos with a run at the basket with 1 defender under it.. he dunks over the defender and gets the foul! He makes the FT. 47-43 with 12 minutes to go, we lead!

We are feeding off the crowd, and no one is tired.

They foul Pait on our next possession, and we are in the bonus. He misses the FT.

The crowd was starting to die down, but our next possession, Andres spins off his man and has a powerful dunk!

They are missing their 3's now. Hodari is doing a great job of defending their SG's. They miss yet another.. We fastbreak off the rebound.. Andres is fouled.

With just over 9 minutes to go, they tie it at 50.

After a miss by Andres, Fox hits a 3 to give them the lead and their crowd is going wild.

We call a timeout and our starters still look good stamina wise.

Andres fakes a 3, dribbles past his man who rushed out to guard it and slams it home. He now has 11.

With 6:33 to go, Andres hits the 2nd of 2 3's in a row. This one gives us a 60-58 lead!

Billings with a 16 footer to tie it up.

After a miss by Andres, Farrell has a fast break slam. We come right back down and Pait is fouled. That is a 4th on Sykes. Pait makes the 2nd. 62-61.

With 5 minutes left, Andres is tired. He'll get a very brief breather.

They miss a 3. We call a timeout to give Andres the breather. Everyone else is going to go the distance I think, unless we need 3 pointers in which case Snow will come/stay on for someone else.

Snow misses a 3. He fouls their shooter at the other end who hits 1 of 2. 63-61, they lead.

Our next possession Snow hits 1 of 2 FT's. After they miss an interior shot, we get it back. Everett passes it to Santos down low.. they double him.. he kicks it out, it is swung around to Everett in the corner.. he drills the 3! 65-63 lead!

Billings with a very quick jumper to tie it at 65.

They trap Everett and force him to pass to Snow who is trapped and turns it over. However, we recover defensively and force them to go their halfcourt set. They miss a 3.

We call a timeout and get Andres back into the game with 2:45 to go.

Hodari misses a 3, but Pait gets an offensive board! He kicks it out to Everett who is fouled while shooting a 3!

Everett makes 2 of 3. They get a good drive to the hoop on their next possession, but he tries a reverse layup and blows it! Pait was in the area.

Santos passes to Andres for a decent look at a 3 but he misses it.

Pait with a block of a drive by Sanders, their PG. They get the ball back. 1:23 to go...

Sykes with a layup. Tied at 67.

A little over 1 minute left.

We work it down to 8 seconds.. Everett passes to Andres.. he shoots over their SF and drills the 3!!! 70-67.


Everett steals it from their PG!!! They intentionally foul him! He hits both FT's.

They miss a 3, but get the board. Sanders hits a 3. 72-70. 8 seconds left. Everett is fouled with 6 seconds left. The freshman hits both FT's!!!

They miss the last second 3 and we win it!!!! 74-70



Andres is the player of the game. 20 points, 6 boards, 2 steals, and 3 blocks He also had 4 turnovers. He shot 8 of 16, 2 of 6, and 2 of 4.

Everett had 14 points, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 3 turnovers. He shot 2 of 5, 1 of 3, and 9 of 10.

Hodari had 14 ponts, 6 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block. He shot 5 of 12, 1 of 6, and 3 of 6.

Santos had 17 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 3 blocks. He shot 7 of 13, 1 of 2, and 2 of 2. He played 37 minutes.

Pait had 3 points, 9 boards, 2 assists, and 2 blocks.

Snow had 6 points on 2 of 4 shooting, 1 of 2, and 1 of 2.




I can't believe we made it to the Sweet 16 after drawing the #1 seed in the 2nd round :)


Our 3rd opponent is funny. Remember the NIT from last year. We face the team that knocked us out of it: Pittsburgh. They are the 4 seed in this bracket and they are 25-9 this year. They are an even better team than we faced last year. Rated 90 in overall talent, but no one scares me after we just won that last game. If our starting 5 are on, they can play with anyone.

Pitt doesn't have the depth of the team we just face, but they do have a very strong starting 5:

PF Rwehabura Jordan is 6'10 225 pounds and he is rated 87 overall. He is a great rebounder, very good shot blocker, and a great inside scorer.

PF/C Antwawn Mulligan is a senior who can hit the 3, score inside, rebound, and block shots. Rated 87 overall.

SR SG Grant Lee is a senior who can do everything well and is a great defender. Rated 87 overall.

PF Magnus Jackett is 6'10 250 and he is rated 72 overall. Great 3 point shooter for a big man, shot blocker, fast player for a big man, and good defender. Played SF last year against us and was a tough player for Andres to stop.

A new face: Freshman center Adrian Rhodes is 7'0 255 pounds. Rated 77 overall. He is a classic center, a bit slow, but a solid defender, post player, and rebounder. Very good shot blocker. Decent interior scorer.

Another new face: PG Freshman Lebo Shepard is 6'3 185 pounds. He is very fast, great dribbler, great defender, and a good shooter.


Our goals will be to get their stars into foul trouble.

Their bench is ordinary beyond these guys.

[Eaglesfan27]

We are up 8-7 at the 15 minute mark.

At the 10 minute mark, Andres and Everett are exhausted. They are playing tight M2M defense. They are up 14-10.

With 9 minutes to go, Hodari cuts into the lane and draws a 2nd foul on Rhodes.

Down 19-15 with 5 minutes to go in the half.

A minute later, Snow hits a 3 and the foul to tie it up at 19.

Suddenly, a flurry of scoring starts...

Snow with a 3.. Andres with a 3.. Snow with a 3.

We are up 30-26 at the half.


Snow is the player of the half. He has 12 points on 4 of 5 shooting, 3 of 4 from the arc.

Andres has had a great half as well: 8 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals, and a block.

Santos is in foul trouble with 2.

Rhodes is their only player we got into foul trouble with 2.


Mulligan leads their team with 6, Jackette has 5.





We have a 5 point lead for most of the early part of the 2nd half, but around the 13 minute mark, our shooting goes cold. They close within 2 on a 3 by Jackett. Hodari makes a nice move to get into the lane and get a foul but he misses both FT's.

Lee who is heating up for them as well, hits a jumper to tie it at 42 with 12:14 left in the game.

Mulligan with 2 3's in a row to give them a 48-44 lead.


Andres and Everett are tired and need rest. Hendriks on his first touch fakes out his man with crossover dribble and drives into the lane and gets an open 12 foot jumper. 48-46.

Jackett with a 2. Snow with a 3. 50-49.

Jackett misses a 3.. Pait with the board passes to Santos who passes to Snow who beat Jackett down the court.. slam dunk! 51-50.

Cruz their backup PG hits a 14 footer on a feed by Jackett. 52-51.

Hendriks gets fouled by Cruz after beating him on the dribble into the lane. He misses his FT.

Two defensive stops on each side before Snow hits a 14 footer. 53-52.

Mulligan with an offensive tip back of a missed Jackett shot. 54-53.

Snow's 3 attempt is blocked by Jackett. Jackett misses a 3.

Snow fakes a 3, gets his man to bite, and drives into the lane for a floater. 55-54.

Rhodes draws a foul on Pait in the paint. He hits both FT's. 56-55. 3:50 left in the game.

Jackett steals a pass of Hendriks. He hits a corner jumper at the other end. 58-55.

I call a timeout and get Everett and Andres back into the game. All of our starters will go the distance on adrenaline.

Santos has a 3 rim out. They work the clock a bit and then feed it to Mulligan in the post.. he uses a nice double move and scores down low. 60-55.

Andres with a drive to the hoop.. collapsing defense, he passes to Pait who is fouled on a dunk attempt. Pait hits both FT's.

Jackett with a quick basket. Andres responds with a quick 14 foot jumper. 62-59. 1:44 to go.

They work the clock to 10 seconds but miss the 3. We get a fastbreak going and Everett finds Andres in the lane for an easy layup. 62-61!

Lee misses a 3 pointer. Mulligan gets the board but misses the quick putback. Pait gets the board!

With 28 seconds left, Everett finds Andres open in the corner.. he shoots... and misses. Jackett gets the board. We have to foul.

He hits both FT's. 64-61.

I don't know if they did it intentionally, but they just did something that could have been brilliant.. They fouled Everett before I could get a 3 point play setup. He goes to the line for 2.

Everett hits both of them. We foul their point guard. He misses the FT's. We get off a quick 3 by Santos who is open.. he misses it!

Jackett gets the board. We foul him. He hits 1 of 2. We get the ball back and get it across midcourt. Timeout. Down 65-63. 4 seconds left...

We sub Snow in for Hodari...

Inbound to Andres.. he is double teamed.. he passes to Snow who is open for a look.. man running at him.. he shoots.. it's no good.


We lose 65-63.

Mulligan was the player of the game for Pitt. He had 19 points, 9 boards, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.

Jackett had 15 points 12 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals, and a block.


Snow led us with 21 points. He shot 8 of 11 and 4 of 6 from the arc. He was 1 of 2 from the line.

Andres had 17 points, 3 assists, 3 boards, 4 steals, and a block. He shot 8 of 18, 1 of 8, and 0 of 0. A great career comes to an end.

Everett had 3 points and 6 assists.

Godari had 6 points and 3 assists.

Santos had 8 points and 6 boards. He was 4 of 14.

Pait had 4 points, 12 boards, and 2 blocks.



Now, the heart of my team graduates as all 4 senior starters go and I have to decide if I should leave the school while my stock is at all time high, assuming I get offers.

[Eaglesfan27]

Pitt went on to beat #2 seed Kansas 72-68 in the Elite 8 and advance to the Final 4.

They faced 4 seed Texas who beat 3 seed Louisville 88-85 in the South Regional.

Texas beat Pittsburgh 93-82 to advance to the National Championship Game.

The other side of the Final 4 featured UNC who cruised past LSU 110-82 in the Elite 8.

They faced 8 seed Arizona who beat #2 Georgetown 78-71.

UNC beat Arizona 102-77.


Texas upset UNC in the National Championship Game, 80-78. SR PG Bienvenu Stehly led the way with 19 points and 7 assists.













Maury Gomez, a senior center from George Washington, won National Player of the year. He averaged 24.3 ppg, 8.7 rpg, and 2.5 bpg.

Rashard Osimani of Youngstown won Mid-Major Player of the Year over Andres. The SR PF scored 17.9 ppg and had 10.1 rpg along with 2.8 bpg.

Roy Williams of UNC won Coach of the Yar.

Gervais Korakic, a SR PF won defensive player of the year. He averaged 3.1 bpg.

Gomez won Big Man of the Year.

Brennon Norris of Duke won Freshman of the Year. A PF he averaged 8 ppg and 6.2 rpg. He is expected to be 1 and done. He was a former #1 player in HS.


I won Metro Atlantic Coach of the Year.

Willie Andres won Metro Atlantic Player of the Year. He finished with 19.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.7 spg, and 0.2 bpg.

Everett Huffman won Metro Atlantic Freshman of the Year. He averaged 8.8 ppg, 6.0 apg, 1.5 spg.

Andres was our only player to make All Conference 1st team.

Huffman made 2nd team all conference.

Snow and Huffman made Metro Atlantic All Freshman team. Snow averaged 12.2 ppg and 1.3 apg.









Several BIG jobs are open. Boeheim and Roy williams both retired. Neither school has me anywhere on their short list.

North Carolina hires Nevada's coach. Syracuse hires Creighton's coach.


However, I do have many mid-major programs pursuing me. Misouri State is very interested. However, their 3 best players are leaving and I don't see the MVC being a huge upgrade from the MAAC.

Niagara just extended my deal for 3 more years and I decide to pass on this offer as it just doesn't offer anything that I want.

None of the other offers appeal to me either and I decide to stay put for another year even though I know this could be a rebuilding year.

[Eaglesfan27]

Week 1 of Recruiting:

As expecting, Deshaun Simon signed with me on the first day of recruiting. He will give us a big body in the middle that we haven't had the last 2 years. Our staff also thinks he has the potential to become a skilled player.

We are still in the hunt for SG Donny Grove, but we are far behind #1 choice Michigan State. If we steal him, I'll be VERY happy I stayed here. This kid would be a superstar scorer in the MAAC.

We are Friedrich Collins first choice. He is a bit small for a SF, but I love his shooting touch on the tape.


At the end of week 1, Michigan State finally offers Grove a scholarship. He accepts immediately :(

Oh well. At least, Friedrich was very happy with his visit to the campus. He'll probably sign in the next week or so.

I decide to use Grove's scholarship slot to go after another big name, although one I haven't seen. Nate Graves is a star guard from California who is currently only considering UNLV and Florida but is reportedly unhappy with both. I decide to see if he I can persuade the 4 star SG who still doesn't have a scholarship offer from either school.


Week 2:

Friedrich Collins signs his LOI with us. He is 6'4 220 and is a great midrange shooter. He is a 3 star player who is ranked 340th overall and 64th among SF's. He is also very fast for a SF.


Week 3:

The battle for Graves is heating up which is bad news for us. Now, Kansas and Tulsa are interested. However, we are the only team to offer him a schoalarship so far and he has us moving up his list rapidly...


Week 4 of recruiting:

We are still the only team to offer Graves a scholarship. He is a 4 star player. He is a bit small at SG at 6'3 179, but he is a scorer on tape and he put 15 per game at the ABL. He also has high potential. He is ranked 58th overall in his class and 24th among SG's. We are now #1 on his list! KU is a close 2nd. I think if they don't offer him a scholarship by this week, we'll get him to sign this upcoming weekend....


Week 5 of recruiting:

We got Nate Graves!!! His ranking is about the same as Andres was! Hopefully, he can be a big time scorer for us. That is my first 4 star recruit :)



An overview of the class based on rankings before they get to school:

SG Nate Graves 4 stars, 6'3 179 from Apple Valley, CA. Ranked 58 overall, 24th among SG's. ABL Stats: 15ppg, 6.2 rpg, 4.4 apg, 2.6 spg, 1.2 bpg.

SF Friedrich Collins 3 stars, 6'4 219 from Toronto, Canda. Ranked 340 overall, 64th among SF's. Didn't play in the ABL.

SF Reyshawn Ortiz, 3 stars, 6'5 184 from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Ranked 367 overall and 73rd among SF's. 8.1ppg, 5.9 rpg in the ABL.

C Jerome Adams 3 stars, 6'9 228 from Brooklyn, NY. Ranked 404th overall, 21st among centers. 8.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, and 1.5 bpg in the ABL. Will probably play PF for us.

C Deshaun Simon 2 stars, 7'0 277 from Winston-Salem, NC. Ranked 486th, 27th among centers. 8.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, and 1.5 bpg in the ABL.

Not a bad rebuilding class :)


In the final week of recruiting, we'll start working on the local juniors for next year.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our class ranked 39th in recruiting - not bad at all :)

Top 5 classes:

Kansas, UCLA, LSU, Duke, UNLV.



I don't adjust the schedule that our AD gives us at all, despite several tough games being on there, including at Memphis.


A look at the roster now that we actually have the kids on campus:

PG's:

Everett Huffman - Nice improvement in the offseason. Now rated 70 overall. Gained an inch in height - now 5'10 186. Still has excellent speed and solid defense.

J.B. Bridgewater - Rated 49 overall. Will never play.


SG's:

Nate Graves is everything we thought we saw on video. With the significantly diminished talent on this team (our overall team talent rating dropped from 81 at the end of last year to 75 now), he is the undisputed best player on this team. He is rated 75 overall. The bad news is that our staff doesn't think his potential is as great as initially forecast. However, he is already very fast for a SG with his size. He is now 6'4 185. He has very sticky hands and is a good ball defender. He is a good passer. He isn't a great shooter, but is a solid shooter who uses his athleticism to drive to the lane more than spot up and shoot.


Donte Snow is now rated 73 overall. He is 6'5 225 now. He is the best 3 point shooter on our team. Does everything else fairly well. Because of his weaker defense, he might be our bench offense again with Graves starting. Correction, there is no doubt Graves is starting.. the only question is whether Snow starts at SF or Collins starts at SF....

Ike Hendriks is 6'2 215 and is now a senior. He'll play backup PG. Decent backup. Rated 66 overall. Best attribute is speed and 3 point shooting.

Douglas Peciukas is rated 58 overall. Now a senior. Has good speed, but not much else. Won't see the floor much.

Laurie Beachem is a 6'5 205 pound SO walk-on who is rated 54 overall. Ok 3 point shooter. Won't see the floor much due to so many other deficiencies.


SF's:

Friedrich Collins is better than expected. He is 6'5 230 now. Great speed for his size with a very quick first step. Good dribling ability. Good defender. Great midrange shooter as expected. Only negative is that our staff doesn't expect him to get much better than this over the years. He is just decent from outside the arc.

Reyshawn Ortiz is only rated 67 overall, but our staff thinks he has better potential then Friedrich. He is already a better 3 point shooter which will assure him some playing time. He isn't as athletic or as good in any other area. He is a bit light as well at 6'5 186.

W.B. Meeking is rated 67 overall and might continue to see some duty as a backup SF who can occasionally hit the 3 when he is feeling it.


PF's:

Sergio Owensworth is now a senior and might get to start as a result. I'm undecided on this one. He is 6'8 235. He is ok at most aspects of the game but doesn't thrive in any area.

Jerome Adams is listed as a center but he is either starting at PF or playing off the bench there. He is 6'9 230. I think since this is a rebuilding year and I'm going to start at least 2, possibly 4 freshman, I might as well start him and let him build some chemistry... He is good post defender. He is a solid shot blocker. Not as good of a rebounder as I'd like. Decent midrange shooter for a big man. He is a bit slow.

Centers:

The best surprise of this class: Deshaun Simon can play well! He is rated 70 overall already which is better than Pait ever was :) With his size he should be a tough matchup for most of the centers in the Metro Atlantic. He is now 7'1 277. He is limited offensively but can certainly dunk it. He is a very good rebounder and should be in double digits most games. He is particularly good on the offensive boards. He is a good shot blocker. He has good mobility (better than Jerome Adams) and he is a very high energy hustle type guy. I love him.

Jerel Bogans is now a junior. He is rated 66 overall. He is 6'8 224. He'll play as our backup center. He is a good rebounder for his size.

[Eaglesfan27]

After I set my starting lineup, our overall talent rating rises to 78.

Our first game is at Northeastern in the Colonial. They are rated 74 in overall talent.

Our Starting 5:

PG Everett
SG Graves
SF Collins
PF Adams
C Simon

They have the advantage at SF with SR Tank Jimenez who is 6'8 230 pounds and is an all around good player. Their center is rated 74 overall but he is only 6'9 and 205 pounds. It will be interesting to see how Simon pushes him around. We have a talent and size advantage at every other starting position.

[rjolley]

Looks like Collins is so good, he can play SF and PF at the same time.

Is this the Dean Houston of College Hoops 2K8?

[Eaglesfan27]

Crud. I accidently hit the wrong button and simulated the first game. I wasn't planning on simulating any games as I'm just going to play out every game since there aren't future versions of College Hoops coming out. The exception being if I feel I'm stuck in a lost season, I might start doing play 1, sim 1. Anyway, despite our talent advantage, our youth hurt us. We lost 67-54.

Everett led the starters with 15 points. Snow had 17 points off the bench in 29 minutes. Graves was 0 of 7 from the floor in his first start. Collings had 5 points and 5 boards. Simon was 1 of 5 for 3 points and 5 boards. I imagine that would have gone differently if I played. Oh well.


Our next game is the NIT Pre-Season Tourney. Our first opponent is St. John's. They are rated 82 in overall talent and have an advantage in talent at every position in the starting 5. Their center is massive as well at 7'3 288 pounds. Should be a good matchup. Their best player is SF Mario Brand who is 6'7 220. He is a great defender and a solid offensive player.

[Eaglesfan27]

Looks like Collins is so good, he can play SF and PF at the same time.

Is this the Dean Houston of College Hoops 2K8?

Oops. I meant Adams as our starting PF. Editing that now :)

[Eaglesfan27]

Everett looks like our best scoring option early. No one else is hitting their shots. We are down 12-10 with 12 minutes to go as I start working the bench guys into the game, including Snow.

I miss the firepower that we used to have, particularly the dunking ability of Andres.

Down 21-14 at the 8 minute mark.


We are down 34-28 at the half.

Their SG, Mulholland, is working us right now. 12 points and 3 assists.

Everett leads our team in scoring with 6. Graves has 5 points and 3 assists. Simon has 4 points and 3 boards. Snow has 5 points in 12 minutes. Without the shooting of Andres and Santos, he is getting a huge amount of attention when he is on the floor.


We are down 53-39 with 10 minutes to go. Without the big bodies on the wing, our defense isn't nearly as good and they are hitting 3's well.


We never could close the gap. We lose 65-49.

Mulholland had 20 points, 3 assists, 3 boards, 2 steals, and a block to be the player of the game.

Graves led our scoring with 15 points. He also led our in assists with 3. He had 3 boards and a steal. He shot 6 of 10, 2 of 3, and 1 of 2.

Everett had 10 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 3 turnovers. He shot 3 of 12, 2 of 5, and 2 of 2.

Collins was 2 of 9 for 4 points including 0 of 5 from the arc.

Simon had 5 points and 12 boards.

Adams had 2 points, 4 boards, and an assist.

Snow finished with 5 points on 2 of 8 shooting.

Ortiz had 6 points in 15 minutes.



I think this is going to be a rough year.

Our next game is against UMass in the Pre-Season NIT. They have a huge talent advantage. I decide to sim that game.


We lose the game 85-60. Snow led us with 24 points on 9 of 19 shooting, 5 of 9 from the arc. No one else broke double digits.


I missed one other tough game on the schedule. Oregon at our place which is our next game. They are 2-0 and are ranked 9th in the media poll. They have a 92 overall team talent. They should blow us out, but I'll play it (and sim to the end if it gets to be too bad of a blowout) later today or more likely tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

Oregon comes out early pressuring us, but Everett and Graves are handling that well. During most of the 1st half, they are killing us with the 3 ball.

Down at the 10 minute mark: 21-14.

At the 5 minute mark, Everett has helped lead a little run to close the gap, 28-24.

We go into the half, down 41-34.


In the 2nd half, we start Snow as he is our only player who can consistenly hit the 3. He heats up and is our main source of offense on a 12-0 run that gets us the lead.

It's back and forth for the next 12 minutes, but before he tires we have a 6 point led, 66-60 with 6 minutes to go.

Down the stretch, we work the clock and pound it into to Simon who has a size advantage on his man. When they double him, he kicks it out and we work it around for an open shot. However, they are hitting 3's and closing the gap.

1:40 to go and we are only 69-67.

Their SG, Brice Lewis with a 3 attempt, but Graves blocks it! We go the other way and Graves with the slam! 71-67.

The next possession their SF shoots right over Collins for a 3. 71-70.

We work the clock down to 5 seconds before Jerome shoots in the post. He is fouled. He makes 1 of 2.

They go for a quick 2, but Collins fouls their SF. He makes 1 of 2. 72-71, we lead with 45 seconds to go.

Snow back into the game for offense. He gets it on the wing, fakes a 3, beats his man and gets the layup. 74-71 with 12 seconds left.

They attempt a quick 3 that misses. They get the offensive board.. another 3. it rims out!!! We upset Oregon! Wow. After this terrible start, I wasn't expecting this win :)

Snow is the player of the game. 21 points, 3 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnovers. He shot 7 of 14, 3 of 4, and 4 of 5.

Everett had 9 points, 7 assists, 4 boards, 2 steals, and 4 turnovers. He shot 3 of 4, 1 of 1, and 2 of 5.

Graves had 11 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block.

Collins with 2 points and 3 boards.

Adamas with 8 points and 5 boards.

Simon with 10 points, 4 boards, and 2 blocks.



Our next game is at Harvard. That should be a MUCH easier game. Their overall talent is 68.

[Eaglesfan27]

We are tied at 19 at the 10 minute mark. Graves has been on fire. His 3 is falling today and he has been unstoppable as a result. Of course, it might help that the guard covering him is 3 inches smaller and much slower.

However, our 3 defense is suffering again.

That is our main problem as we enter the half down 38-35.

We are allowing them to shoot 6 of 13 from the arc!

Davis, their SG, is the player of the half. He has 14 points and an assist. He is 4 of 6 from the arc.

Graves leads our team with 17 points and 2 boards. He is 5 of 7 from the arc and 5 of 10 overall.

Snow has 8 points in 8 minutes but will start the 2nd half as Collins isn't doing anything.

Down 53-51 with 10 minutes left and all of my starters besides Simon need to rest. He appears to be the best conditioned which is interesting.

The bad thing about Snow playing with the starters - our offense goes cold with the 2nd unit. We are down 60-53 with 6:30 to go when I have to force the starters back in early.


They are doubling Graves down the stretch.

Despite that, he hits a 3 and then a 14 footer to bring us back within 3. However, on our next possession, Everett misses the 3 that would have tied it. Only 1:14 left. They get a 3 to make it a 6 point game again. 66-60.

Graves is tired and he misses his next 2 3's. We have to foul after we fail to get the offensive board.


We lose 69-60.

The inconsistency of freshman. We manage to beat Oregon, but we lose to Harvard. It's going to be a long season :(


Slater is the player of the game. Their small center outhustled and outplayed Simon. He had 13 points, 12 boards, 4 assists, and a block.

Davis finished with 20 points on 8 of 14 shooting, 4 of 7 from the arc for them.

Graves led our team with 28 points, 8 boards, and 1 turnover. He shot 10 of 24, 6 of 11, and 2 of 2.

Everett had 5 points and 7 assists.

Collins had 2 points and a board.

Adamas had 4 points and 4 boards.

Simon had 2 points, 6 boards, 2 assists, and 3 blocks.

Snow had 11 points, 2 boards, and an assist.

Ortiz had 4 points and 2 boards.


Our next game is hosting Maryland-Baltimore County. They are rated 71 in overall talent and are a poor shooting team. It should be a very winnable game...

[Eaglesfan27]

We are up 8-5 at the 15 minute mark. I'm working on tweaking the rotations. We'll get Snow in this time at the 14 minute mark for Graves who burns energy quickly.

They start a run after that, and we are down 17-9 with 10 minutes to go when I get Graves back in. I'll play him and Snow alongside each other for the next few minutes.

We are down 19-15 with 5 minutes to go when Snow tires.


We go into halftime down 27-24.

We are 1 of 16 from the arc. Fortunately, they are 2 of 14.


We pulled within 1 when Laksa hit a 3 to make it 47-43. 5 minutes left.

That starts a 7-0 run that Snow ends with a 3. 51-46. 3:25 left.

They make a basket, but then Snow hits a 2, steals it, and hits a 3. 53-51!


We get a defensive stop and then on the other end after working it around, we get Everett an open shot at the top of the circle... he buries the 3! 54-53.

They miss a shot and then the putback. Simon gets the rebound.

Everett comes off a screen and drives into the lane drawing a foul. He hits both FT's. 56-53 lead. 1:21 left.

Everett with the steal, 3 on 1 breakaway.. he passes it to Graves who lays it in. 58-53.

They miss a 3, we work the clock down to 10. Everett to Graves.. he buries the 3!

Everett with a steal to finish it of. They foul, but this one is over.


We win the game 66-56.


Graves wins player of the game. 23 points. He shot 10 of 20, 2 of 7, and 1 of 2. No rebounds, assists, steals, or anything but points.

Everett had 10 points, 5 assists, and 4 steals. He shot 2 of 6, 1 of 3, and 5 of 6.

Collins had 0 points, 1 board, and 1 steal. He shot 0 of 5.

Adams had 4 points, 5 boards, and 3 assists.

Simon had 4 points, 13 boards, and 2 assists.

Snow had 15 points, 2 boards, and an assist. He shot 4 of 12, 3 of 9, and 4 of 5.

Ortiz had 7 points and 4 boards in only 10 minutes earning more PT over Collins who has looked like a bit of a bust early.


Now, we enter into the early recruit signing period as well as the first few conference games. I'm aiming VERY high on most of my recruits (I have 4 scholarships) and I don't expect any early recruits, but we'll see.

[Eaglesfan27]

I get a surprise as Gus Walters tells me he is very close to signing with us..

Gus is a 3 star PG from Bloomington, IL. He is ranked 111th overall and 44th among PG's. He is only 5'9 159 but he has few weaknesses according to our scouts: They feel he is a solid shooter, a great passer, a great ball handler, a great defender, wth terrific athleticism, and very good potential. He'd provide our first quality backup PG in years as well as the eventual successor to Everett and he has surprised us by advancing us past Indiana State and Western Kentucky which haven't offered him Scholarships yet. He might sign with us this upcoming week. He averaged 9 ppg, 8.3 apg, and 1.9 spg in the ABL.

Whitney Cornette is also a bit of a surprise. He is a 6'8 225 pound PF (who I might play at SF) from Queens, NY. He is a 3 star player who ranked 164 overall and 26th among PF's. He is a guy who our scouts think has very good potential, is already a good shooter including the ability to shoot the 3, he is athletic with the ability to dunk, he is a good perimerter defender, and a decent passer. We are in a tight race for him with Marist and UConn is also considering him but they haven't offered a scholarship. We are in the lead, and there is a small chance he might sign early with us. He averaged 12.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg, and 2.1 bpg in the ABL.

The other 2 players we aimed even higher for.. 4 star T.J Hannan is a SF from Allentown, PA. He has told us we are his fall back option. His top choices are Syracuse, Rutgers, and UNC.

Finally, 5 star SG Sylvester Myers is from Toronto. Since we have the pipeline to Toronto, I'm taking a shot at him, but I know we have little chance to get him. That being said... we are currently in the lead for him!!! However, Pitt, Seteon Hall, and Syracuse are all in the running and he has told us there is no chance he will sign early. Therefore, I doubt I'll be able to land him when it is all said and done.



Our next game is at Canisus in the conference opener. They are 4-3 but they are less talented than we are. Their overall talent rating is 74. Their strength is senior center Jermaine Wierzba.

I'll play that later today or later this week.

[Eaglesfan27]

This may not be smart, but I'm playing a game slightly under the influence. I had a root canal today and I'm still feeling the aftermath of the oral sedation and pain killer, but I really want to get a game in and I've been sleeping most of the day.

Anyway, we'll start out playing them straight up but I'll double down on Wierzba if needed as the game progresses.


At the 13:40 mark, we are up 10-7 but Simon picks up his 2nd foul and we sit him.

It's a back and forth 1st half, but we go into halftime up 35-31.


We are winning the battle on the boards 16-11.

Graves is the player of the half: 11 points, 2 boards, and an assist. He has shot 3 of 11, 1 of 5, and 4 of 4.

Snow has 8 points, Everett and Collins each have 5.


The first 3 minutes of the 2nd half, we build a 9 point lead, but they quickly respond. At the 15 minute mark, we are up 42-40.

We rest Graves for a few minutes, but maintain the lead. 52-50 lead with 8 minutes to go.

His first possession back into the game, Graves hurts his ankle on a drive :(

We go down 57-56 with 4 minutes to go and we have a makeshift lineup on the floor as Everett and Snow are resting and Graves is still hurt.


With 2:45 to go, the medical staff clears Graves to come back into the game. He just has a sprained ankle. Everett also comes back into the game. We are down 59-58.

Graves with a steal, finds Everett on the break who lays it in! 60-59.

Graves with another steal! We slow it down and work the clock..

Finally, with 13 seconds left, Everett runs off a screen, penetrates in the lane.. collapsing coverage, he kicks it out to Graves who drills the 3! 63-59.

Collins with a foul on a steal attempt. They go to the line for 2 which they make.

They trap and press and force a turnover by Collins. They get the ball back with 1:34.

Liberty, their PG gets a good screen at the top of the key and uses the room to hit the 3. 64-63 :(

They steal the ball from Adams in the post.. they come running the other way.. they slow it down. They miss a shot with 10 seconds left.

We get out on the break.. Graves drives into the lane and gets a tear drop shot to fall! 65-64. 28 seconds left.

They go down low to Wierzba, we collapse on him.. they kick it out.. work it around, and hit the 3 :( 67-65. 5 seconds left.

We advance it past halfcourt and call timeout with 4 seconds left...

Inbound pass to Graves who comes off the pick, he drives into the lane and shoots the 12 footer.. it's no good but he was fouled! It's at their place, the arena is rocking and the pressure gets to him... he clangs the first one off the rim. :(

He intentionally misses the 2nd one, but we fail to get the offensive tip in. They get the ball and it's game over.


Wierzba was the player of the game. 20 points, 7 boards, 2 blocks. He shot 8 of 14, 1 of 1, and 3 of 4.

Graves led us with 19 points, 2 boards, and 1 steal. He shot 6 of 15, 3 of 7, and 4 of 6.

Everett had 7 points and 3 assists.

Colins had 7 points and 5 assists in his best game of the year.

Adamas had 0 points and 2 boards.

Simon had 8 points, 11 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.

Snow had 10 points, 2 boards, and an assist.


We fall to 2-5. Our next game is at home vs a good Iona team that should challenge us. I'll play that tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

We take an early lead 12-6 in the first 5 minutes against Iona.

Our offense continues to fire for the next 5 minutes. Up 24-20 at the 10 minute mark.

Our 2nd string offense hits a cold spell as Snow's shot if off. They take a 34-26 lead at the 5 minute mark.

We feed the ball more into Simon down the stretch and he keeps us in it. We go into halftime down 44-41.

Everett leads the team with 8 points. Simon has 7 and Collins has 7.


We are down 64-60 with 10 minutes to go as the defense has tightened up. Simon is our leading scorer with 12.

Their PG, Martinez, hits 2 3's to rebuild their lead to 10. We eventually close the gap, but never get closer than 4.

We lose 79-75.


Simon led the team with 16 points, 6 boards, and a block.

Graves was 3 of 10 on his bad ankle and only had 8 points.

Everett had 11 points and 8 assists.

Collins had 12 points, 7 boards, and 3 assists.

Adams had 4 points, 2 boards, and 2 blocks.

Snow had 3 points on 1 of 9 shooting.

[Eaglesfan27]

We are now 2-6, but we get some good news as the early signing period ends:

Gus Walters signs with us! The 3 star PG from Bloomington, IL is ranked 44th among PG's 111th overall. He is a 3 star player who is 5'9 159 pounds. Our staff love his potential, athleticism, defense, and passing abilities. He'll be a great bench contributor and eventual replacement for Everett.

We almost convinced Whitney Cornette to sign in the early period, but he has decided to wait. We are his #1 choice right now.


Our next game is at home vs 6-2 Colgate. They are less talented than we are with an overall rating of 72. They are a poor shooting team whose biggest strength is their interior play and rebounding.

[Eaglesfan27]

A solid start at both ends of the floor. We are up 9-1 5 minutes into the game.

Our shooting goes very cold as we don't hit any more shots for 9 minutes. Down 16-9 until we hit a 3 with 6 minutes to go.

A 5 point burst in the last 10 seconds after a 3 by Graves, a steal by Graves, and a 2 by Graves gives us a 25-20 lead at halftime.

Graves is the player of the half: 7 points, 2 boards, 1 turnover. He shot 3 of 8 in the first half.

Up 43-33 with 10 minutes to go as I rest my starters for a few minutes.

Our reserves lead a 10-0 run. 53-33 with 6:30 to go!


Great defense down the stretch. 63-38 win!

Simon is the player of the game. The big man had 15 points, 13 boards, 2 assists, and 2 blocks. He shot 6 of 10, 0 of 0, and 3 of 3.

Everett had 9 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 4 turnovers.

Graves had 14 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, and 2 turnovers. He shot 5 of 17.

Collins had 8 points and a board.

Adams had 6 points and 6 boards.

Snow had 3 points and 3 boards as he was 1 of 8 with 2 of his shots being blocked.



Our next game is against a UMass team that should destroy us. I decide to sim it. We lose the game 81-70. Worse yet, we lose 2 guys to injuries. Jerome Adams tears his ACL! His season is done and he may miss part of next year. Owensworth breaks his wrist and will miss 4-5 weeks. We are suddenly very thin inside.

Snow led the team in scoring with 14 points and 6 boards. Simon had 13 points and 7 boards. Graves had 10 points, 6 boards, and 3 assists.


We have 2 more non-conference games left. Our next one is at home vs a poor Cornell team. Even with the injuries, we are heavily favored against them.

As far as our new lineup, our coaches want us to go with an intesting mix, and I'm going to give it a try. 4 guards and a center - Collins will play PF with Snow starting at SF. We'll certainly be much faster than most teams..

[Eaglesfan27]

We start out very even with a 8-8 score at the 15 minute mark.

Around the 10 minute mark, the offenses go cold, but we have a 22-18 lead with 6:30 to go. Then we put together a run that gives us a 28-18 lead. However, they come back with a 10-0 run.

We go into halftime up 32-30.

Simon is the player of the half with 8 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, and 2 blocks.

Down 55-46 with 10 minutes to go, but a rested Simon is coming back into the game.

Down 65-55 with 5 minutes to go. This team just isn't playing well together right now.

A sudden burst with 1:16 to go to get us within 4, thanks to a 3 by Graves, but they respond with a 3.

Graves with another 3 to make it 68-64 with 59 seconds to go.

We get a quick steal.. set up the 3... Snow misses it!

We intentionally foul. They miss the FT's. Quick shot by Snow. He misses it but he was fouled.

He makes both FT's. 68-66. 37 seconds left.

We intentionally foul again. They miss the FT's!! They are a bad FT shooting team. With 20 seconds left, Everett breaks his man on a crossover and dribbles into the lane for a 12 footer! Tied game.

Our arena is going crazy.

With 1 second left, their SG hits a 3 :(

We call a timeout.. get the ball to Graves for a deep 3.. he shoots, it rims in and out.

We lose 71-68. This is looking like it might be a lost year.

Naymick, their SG, was the player of the game. 23 points on 5 of 9 shooting from the arc.


Everett had 13 points and 4 assists.

Graves had 16 points, 4 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 6 of 11.

Snow had 5 points, 2 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 1 of 12. He just can't find any room for his shot.

Collins had 5 points and 2 boards.

Simon had 10 points, 10 boards, 3 assists, and 2 blocks.

Bogans had 2 points and 8 boards off the bench.




I sim our game at Memphis who is expected to blow us out. As expected, we lose 94-64. Snow led us in scoring with 14 points. Graves had 4 points, 6 boards, 2 assists, 4 steals, and 5 turnovers. He shot 2 of 9. Simon had 5 points and 4 boards in 15 minutes before fouling out.


We are now 3-9 heading into the heart of conference play. I hope we can pull it together and last year's tourney run brought enough good will to survive this disappointing season...


In recruiting news, the 5 star guard from Toronto amazingly has us as his #1 choice. However, Syracuse is in hard pursuit and I don't expect it to last.

Our next game is at home against a 6-6 Loyola team that is more talented than we are.

[Eaglesfan27]

The first 10 minutes is track meet offense starring Graves who has 20 points already! When he's on, the kid is a scoring machine. However, he is exhausted 12 minutes into the game and we are down 26-24.

We are up 49-40 at the half. Our defense is terrible, but our offense is at least flowing with this high tempo attack.

Crosswhite, their PG is the player of the half. He has 12 points and 4 assists.

Graves has 20 points, 1 assist, and 1 board.


They start off the 2nd half with a 10-0 run and it turns into a blowout.

We lose 86-62.

I'm fighting the urge to sim past this season as it looks like it is going to be even rougher than I expected.

Crosswhite is the player of the game. 20 points, 5 assists, 2 boards. He shot 7 of 11, 6 of 7 from the arc.


Graves never got it going again, but he finished with 25 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 7 of 16, 5 of 8, and 6 of 6.

Everett had 8 points and 3 assists.

Snow had 4 points on 2 of 10 shooting.

Collins had 8 points and 2 boards.

Simon had 5 points, 8 boards, and a block.



We are now 3-10. I am going to play 1, sim 1 for the rest of this season.

We play Canisus next who is slightly less talented than we are. We win 66-60. Simon led the team with 13 points, 15 boards, 1 steal, and 1 block.

Graves had 12 points, 6 steals, 3 boards, and 4 assists.

Everett had 11 points and 2 assists.

Snow had 6 points and 3 boards.

Collins had 10 points and 6 boards.


We are now 4-10.

Our next game is at 5-8 Marist. They have become a good team and are slightly more talented than we are. I'll play that later today or tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

I decided to get another game in after all. It's time to stop trying to play M2M defense, as our defenders are too small. We'll switch it up to a few different zones and see how that goes.

Also, I'm installing a new offense as the motion offense isn't working well for this squad. We'll go with a more conventional attack down low and using the post to set things up for our guards.


The new defense is doing great so far. The 1-3-1 is forcing some turnovers, some bad shots, and we are capitalizing with easy transition baskets. More importantly, the traditional low post offense is working great as Collins is finding much more room to operate and so is Graves. Up 26-13 at the 10 minute mark.

Unfortunately, they quickly figure out the zone.. we go into halftime down 44-42.

Fuller, their center, is the player of the half. He has 11 points and 10 boards.

Graves has 16 points to lead our team.


At the 10 minute mark, we are down 59-55 and every starter but Simon needs rest.

After our starters leave, they go on a 14-0 run that continues even after we bring the starters back into the game.

We never can come back from the hole that creates. We lose the game 82-68.

Fuller, their massive center, was the player of the game with 22 points, 20 boards, 3 blocks, and a steal.


Graves led us with 27 points, 2 assists, 1 board, and 1 steal.

Everett had 5 points and 6 assists.

Snow had 16 points and 2 assists.

Collins had 6 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and a block.

Simon had 7 points, 21 boards, 2 assists, and a block. Huge game for the big man.



Fairfield is better than us and we are playing at their place. They are 9-4. Despite that, we pull off the upset in a simmed game! 56-49 win. Everett led the team with 19 points and 4 assists. Graves had 5 points, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Snow had 6 points and 7 boards. Simon had 8 points, 17 boards, and a block in the win.


Bad news on the recruiting front, Syracuse has offered Sylvester Myers, the 5 star guard from Toronto, a scholarship and he now lists them #1 on his list ahead of Niagara. I knew he was a LONG shot, but I was holding out hope...


Our next game is against 14-2 Siena which is a powerhouse team with the best overall rating in the conference, 84. We are at home, but I feel like we have little chance. I decide to sim it. We lose 68-59.

Snow led us with 22 points on 5 of 16 shooting. Graves had 6 points, 9 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Simon had 9 points, 8 boards, and 3 blocks.

Our next game is at home vs 9-7 Fairfield. I'll play that later tonight or tomorrow.

[Galaxy]

As a fellow Niagara grad, great job so far.

Seems like it's a rebuilding year. The talent you brought in looks like it has a lot of promise, but it just needs time to develop and get experience. A solid recruiting class this year should see the Eagles back to compete for MAAC championships and post-season dances in a year or two.

[Eaglesfan27]

Thanks. I definitely think we have some talent. It's just rough going from being able to do anything we wanted with Andres and Santos to having to work for every basket. However, I do think Graves will be a great player by his senior year and this recruiting class is looking very promising even though we are probably going to lose out on that 5 star player. Part of me wants to sim through this season, just because I'm anxious to see this talent mature and meld with next year's class. However, I'm going to keep playing 1 and simming 1, going for a freshman of the year award for Graves.

[Galaxy]

Thanks. I definitely think we have some talent. It's just rough going from being able to do anything we wanted with Andres and Santos to having to work for every basket. However, I do think Graves will be a great player by his senior year and this recruiting class is looking very promising even though we are probably going to lose out on that 5 star player. Part of me wants to sim through this season, just because I'm anxious to see this talent mature and meld with next year's class. However, I'm going to keep playing 1 and simming 1, going for a freshman of the year award for Graves.

I know the lure of a bigger program is your goal, but I hope you can stick around two or three more years and grow with this team. Just keep the cross-town rivals (well, they are in Buffalo, but close enough; a 20-25 minute car ride away) Golden Griffins below us.

What's it like to be a Purple Eagle? :)

[Eaglesfan27]

It's cold. ;)


Actually, I've visited the area before and really enjoy it. As far as this career, with that last class and the early looks of this incoming class, I won't be moving for another mid-major. The only way I'll move on is if I'm offered a major conference job.

[MizzouRah]

EF, seems like you really love playing this game. :)

Great dynasty as usual!

[Eaglesfan27]

With the UCLA-Xavier game becoming a blowout, it's time to get another game in before UNC-Louisville.

With the home crowd supporting us, I'm going to try to outrun and gun Fairfield.



We are down 16-14 at the 10 minute mark when all of my starters except Simon leave the game to rest.


At halftime, we are up 28-27 thanks to balanced scoring.

Graves has 9, Snow has 9, and Simon has 6.

Graves is the player of the half with 9 points, 2 assists, 1 board. He has shot 3 of 9 all of them 3 pointers.

The 1st minute of the 2nd half, Graves gets a 3rd on Aladi, their star center.

From the 16 to 12 minute mark, we go ice cold. They build a 44-35 lead.


Our subs can't close the gap and it ust gets worse. We fall behind 49-35.

That margin continues throughout the game. We lose 69-54.

Ubaka, their SG, was the player of the game with 14 points, 4 boards, and 3 assists.

Everett had 3 points, 2 boards, 7 assists, and 5 steals, along with 4 turnovers. He shot 1 of 8.

Graves had 17 points, 2 assists, 2 boards, and 2 steals, and a block. He shot 6 of 17.

Snow had 12 points on 4 of 14 shooting.

Simon had 7 points, 17 boards, 1 assist, and 2 blocks.

Collins had 2 points, 4 boards, and 2 steals.



Bad news on the recruiting front. A PF that would have been a huge player for us, Whitney Cornette, is now being pursued by UConn :( I don't like our chances against them. We came so close to getting him to sign early, too.

Our other scholarship offer, T.J. Hannan a 6'7 SF with skills is now favoring Rutgers over us :(



In our simulated game, we upset 13-6 Rider! We win 82-67! Snow led the way with 19 points and 3 assists. Simon had 12 points, 8 boards, and 2 blocks. Everett had 9 points, 3 assists, and a steal. Graves had 8 points, 8 boards, 6 assists, and 2 steals. Collins had 3 points and 6 boards.

Our next game is at 7-14 Iona. I'll play that later tonight.

[Eaglesfan27]

EF, seems like you really love playing this game. :)

Great dynasty as usual!

I do. Even with this horrid losing spell, I'm having a blast. This game is an all-time great post-patch for me. :)

[Galaxy]

It's cold. ;)


Actually, I've visited the area before and really enjoy it. As far as this career, with that last class and the early looks of this incoming class, I won't be moving for another mid-major. The only way I'll move on is if I'm offered a major conference job.

It's not a bad area to visit. I kind of can't wait to relocate however (hopefully by the end of the year) out of the Northeast.

What do you consider a "major conference"? I've heard that it takes one more step to reach a power conference on your current path. Of course, the MAAC might be high enough in prestige to overcome in that. Just bleed purple (of course, the purple could be too much for some). Your success into minding the recruiting fields of Canada seem to reflect the large percentage of Canadian students, and even some of the professors, that the school has. :)

[Eaglesfan27]

It's not a bad area to visit. I kind of can't wait to relocate however (hopefully by the end of the year) out of the Northeast.

What do you consider a "major conference"? I've heard that it takes one more step to reach a power conference on your current path. Of course, the MAAC might be high enough in prestige to overcome in that. Just bleed purple (of course, the purple could be too much for some). :)

Obviously any of the classic power conferences. I'll also consider any conferences that are rated 10th or higher in the in-game power ratings.

[Eaglesfan27]

Iona is one of the few teams weaker than us in overall rating. We are favored even on the road.


Not a good start as we are down 20-10 at the 10 minute mark.

At halftime, we are down 37-22.

Collins leads our team with 8 points. Cassler, their star SF, has 14 points, 5 boards, and 2 assists.


We get down early in the 2nd half by 20 and we never close the gap. 74-55 loss.

Cassler led them with 33 points and 9 boards. The 6'9 250 pound SF was just too much for us to handle.

Collins led my team with 15 points.

Simon had 12 boards along with 2 points.

Everett had 6 points and 4 assists.

Graves had 10 points on 3 of 14 shooting.

Snow had 9 points on 2 of 11 shooting.

[Eaglesfan27]

Feb 1, 2014 -

We lose our simulated gaime to Saint Peter's 82-58. They advance to 13-8.

Snow led our team with 20 points and 3 boards.

Graves had 6 points, 4 boards, 7 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.

Everett had 8 points and 2 assists.

Collins with 7 points and 3 boards.

Simon with 8 points, 3 boards, and 2 blocks.


Our next two games is against the worst team in the conference, Manhattan. We play them at home first. I'll play that tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

Owensworth is back from his broken bone and will start at PF for us moving Collins back to SF and Snow back to the bench where he seems to thrive.

We are up 15-13 at the 10 minute mark, and our superior athleticism is starting to show.

A 10-0 run with Graves and Everett on the bench has us up 25-13! Snow does so much better against 2nd stringers coming off the bench.

Finally, our team is performing. Graves tops off a great half with a steal at the end of the half followed by a smooth breakaway dunk. 41-21.

Graves is the player of the half. He has 13 points, 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 turnover.

Snow has 11 and Everett has 5 at the half.

12 minutes left: They've closed within 12, but we are in the bonus thanks to Simon who has been great down low.

8 minutes left: Graves and Everett have helped make it a 59-41 lead. Now, we are going to our entire bench except for Simon who has been resting for the last 4 minutes and is ready to come back into the game.

4 minutes left: Up 69-47 with Simon in control of this game, but everyone is contributing. Everett and Graves aren't even going to come back into this one.

It feels very good to get a win in a game that I played out. Hopefully, this can be the start of a win streak to end the year, but this was the worst team in the conference. Then again, the fact that I got contributions from many different players encourages me..


We win it 82-53.

Snow is the player of the game. 19 points, 5 steals (the 1-3-1 finally worked really well for creating turnovers this game), 2 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 5 of 9, 2 of 5, and 7 of 8.

Everett had 7 points, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 5 turnovers.

Graves had 17 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 5 of 16. I guess he is a bit worse as a shooter than I thought he was, but when he is on, he is great.

Collins with 3 points, 2 boards, and a steal.

Owensworth with 0 points, 5 boards, 1 assist, and 2 steals, as well as good defense.

Simon with 12 points, 14 boards, 2 assists, and a block.

Most surprisingly, Ortiz had 14 points, 2 boards, 1 steal, and a block. He shot 5 of 9, 2 of 3 (big surprise), and 2 of 2.

Bogans also added a nice game from the bench with 8 points, 7 boards, 3 steals, and 2 assists.


In the simulated game which is a rematch at their place, we also win, this time 75-66. Graves led the team in scoring with 15 points, 2 boards, 4 assists, and 2 steals. He was 9 of 10 from the line which was his primary source of scoring.

Owensworth had 14 points and 7 boards. Simon had 10 points and 9 boards. Snow had 10 points and 6 assists. Ortiz had 8 points and 6 boards in very limited minutes. That is a team that can't match us athletically.


Our next game is at Saint Peter's. They are 13-9 and are evenly matched with us in overall rating now that we have Owensworth back.

[Eaglesfan27]

Graves was on fire early and everyone else is contributing. Up 21-13 at the 12 minute mark at which point Graves needs a breather.

I didn't change any settings between the horrible losing streak and now, but my team is playing like a different team. Collins drilling his midrange jumpers (finally), Snow is finally getting some decent looks and drilling his 3's, and our inside game is clicking. Maybe Owensworth's senior presence is helping stabilize the kids?

Or maybe I spoke too soon. A 12-0 run gives them a 36-33 lead with 6 minutes to go. I get Everett and Graves back into the game.


At halftime, we are down 50-43. They are shooting 3's in the weak spots of the zone defense. Channing, their SG, has 14 points, 3 boards, and 3 steals and is the player of the half.

Graves leads our team with 14 points. Collins has 9, Ortiz 8, Snow 6, Simon 4, and Owensworth 4.


With 11 mintues left and a close game 68-62, we are down, Simon hurts his ankle :(

2 minutes later he comes back into the game. We are now down 72-62. Our staff thinks he just has a slight sprain.

We are down by 12 with 6 minutes to go when Everett and Graves come back in. 77-65.


We get Graves a great look in the corner, but he misses the 3. They come down on the other end and drill a 3.

We execute offensively down the stretch, but our defense can't stop them. We lose 86-76. I'm still happy to see that our offense is finally showing up.

Jerrell Quick, their SR star SF, had 25 points, 5 boards, and 5 assists.

Graves led us with 22 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers. He shot 10 of 16, 1 of 5, and 1 of 2.

Everett had 0 points and 4 assists.

Collins ahd 13 points, 1 board, 3 assists, and 3 steals.

Owensworth had 6 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals.

Simon had 8 points, 12 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. He shot 3 of 12.

Snow had 12 points and Ortiz had 14.



In our simulated game, we pull off the upset against a good Rider team. We beat them 65-62.

Everett led the team with 13 points and 4 assists.

Graves had 6 points, 4 boards, 6 assists, and 3 steals.

Collins had 4 points and 6 boards.

Owensworth had 12 points and 5 boards.

Simon had 11 points, 6 boards, and 2 blocks.

Snow had 11 points.


I have 3 games left in the regular season so I decide to sim the next one and then play the 2nd to last and sim the final game. The next game is against powerhouse Siena. They are 22-3 and the undisputed most powerful team in the conference. They beat us 68-61 at our place earlier in the year. Now, we are playing them at their place.

We lose to Siena 85-75.

Snow led the team in scoring with 17.

Everett had 13 points and 2 asssits.

Graves had 8 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, and 2 blocks.

Simon had 7 points and 10 boards. Meeking had 10 points.


We are now 9-17 and the AD is starting to become displeased. I don't think I'm in any danger of being fired this year, but we better turn it around next year.

Our next game is hosting Marist. They are 14-11. They are slightly more talented than we are, but they are one of the best shooting teams in the conference.

[Eaglesfan27]

18-18 at the 10 minute mark.

At the 5 minute mark: We are up 28-26.

Then, Everett and Graves start a 12-0 run. We go into halftime up 40-28.

Everett is the player of the half. He's hitting his midrange jumper finally, and it's opening up everything. He has 11 points and 2 assists. Graves also has 11 points.


We are faster than almost everyone and I haven't been running enough. This game, I'm telling our guys to constantly run. At the 12 minute mark, we are up 57-40.

With 10 minutes left, Everett hurts his knee :(

Our staff thinks it is just a slight sprain and that he can come back into the game if needed. Right now, Graves is playing the point and doing so well.

We are up 64-51 with 7 minutes to go.

It's 65-57 with 5 minutes to go. We get Everett back into the game.

During the next 4 minutes we go on a 12-0 run to finish it off. At the end of the run, Graves draws a foul and goes to the line. He hits both FT's (he is a great FT shooter) to give himself 30 points which is a new career high :)


We win the game 77-57.

Graves is the player of the game. 30 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 9 of 23, 7 of 15, and 5 of 5.

Everett had 14 points, 4 assists, 1 board, and 1 steal.

Collins had 11 points and 3 boards.

Owensworth who has made the 1-3-1 work with his length had 3 points, 9 boards, 3 assists, and 5 steals.

Simon had 8 points, 18 boards, 2 assists, and a career high 4 blocks.

Snow had 6 points. Bogans had 9 boards.



In our final regular game of the year, we surprise Loyola at their place, 69-59.

Everett led our team with 15 points and 6 assists. Graves had 14 points, 4 boards, and an assist. Snow had 13 points, 7 boards, and 3 assists.


We end the regular season with a 11-17 record and are currently 7th in the conference standings. That means we play a 1st round MAAC game against 10th seed Manhattan who we should be able to beat. In fact, I'm liking our chances to advance fairly far into the tourney. Our 2nd round opponent will be Saint Peter's. We aren't in the same bracket as Siena and won't have to play them until the Finals if they make it there. I'll start the tourney run either later today or later this week. My wife is going out of town for 4 days from Tuesday to Saturday with her mother to see her brother graduate basic training in Oklahoma, so I should get some time in this week.

[Eaglesfan27]

Here is a list of conferences that I might consider moving to as a stepping stone to a power conference:

Atlantic 10 (actually a better rank right now in the game than the Big Ten), Conference USA, Mountain West (strong rating of 8th best conference.) Other than that, it has to be one of the power conferences to get me to leave this job.

[Eaglesfan27]

Some stats from the MAAC:

Siena's center Johnny Lampley leads the league in scoring and is 2nd in rebounding at 23.9 ppg and 8.6 rpg. His 2.4 bpg is 2nd in the conference.

The 2nd leading scorer is only averaging 14.5 ppg.

Graves leads all freshman in the conference with 13.7 ppg. His 6 rpg is highest by a guard. Graves 1.7 spg leads all players in the conference. I think he has the conference freshman of the year wrapped up.

DeShaun Simon leads the league in rebounding at 9.9 per game.

Everett Huffman has dropped almost 3 assists per game with the departure of the 4 seniors around him. In fact, his stats this year are all lower than last year except for his shooting percentage which is slightly better at 38%.

Ira Starkey of Siena once again leads the league in assists at 5.4 per game.

Geoffrey Gates, a 6'7 PF for Marist leads the league in blocks with 2.4 per game.

Snow has the 3rd most attempted 3's in the conference. Trace Galbreath of Saint Peter's has the most with 167. Trace is only shooting 28% from the arc. Snow is shooting 32% from the arc.

Graves is 4th in 3 pointers attempted. He is shooting 36% which is 2nd highest among the top 10 attempters.

Charlie Walsh of Loyola leads the league in 3 point average among those attempting at least 100 on the year. He is shooting 41% from the arc.

Graves leads the league in FT shooting at 84%. Our staff believes he will become a 90% FT shooter in the future.

Other interesting tidbits from this season:

Our staff believes Snow has showed the most improvement this year, mostly in his defensive abilities.

Ortiz is the 2nd most improved player, mainly in his 3 point shooting.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Great dynasty, EF. I hadn't followed it for a while, but I started back at the beginning of the previous page and read about your final run with those seniors. Now I've just finished reading about your struggles with the freshmen. Good luck in the conference tournament. Maybe you can squeeze out the automatic bid and get your guys a little more experience. :)

[Galaxy]

Have you given consideration to the idea of recruiting a JUCO player next season to come in and give you an impact player who can lead your these two recruiting classes.

[Eaglesfan27]

Time to play against Manhattan. Their best player is their point guard Luther Sood who isn't as fast or as skilled as Everett.


At the 15 minute mark: We are down 9-6. No one's shot is falling for us yet. All of our points are from the FT line.

The next 5 minutes both teams run a lot. We are down 20-19 at the 10 minute mark. At this point, we go to our bench except for Simon.

Simon scores our next 4 points to give us the 23-20 lead with 7:45 to go. But, they get the next 7 points to take the lead back.

Hendriks ends the run with a drive into the lane that draws a foul.

With 5 minutes to go: They have a 28-25 lead.

Graves hits a 3 at the buzzer to make it 35-32, they lead. We had a 8-0 run in the last 2 minutes of the half, highlighted by a huge Simon slam dunk on a putback and Graves' 3 at the buzzer.


Sood is the player of the half. Their PG has 8 points, 3 assists, and 1 board.

Simon leads the way for our team with 10 points, 8 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal. Graves also had a good half despite shooting 2 of 8. He has 9 points, 1 board, 1 assist, and 1 block.


Again, our shooting is going cold. We are down 45-37 at the 15 minute mark.

Kragel, their 7'3 center, is scoring well against us as well. He puts in his 14th points to give them a 12 point lead with 12 minutes to go.

A minute later, he gets an offensive board and the putback to give them a 14 point lead. Snow can't get us out of our shooting funk and we are missing everything.

Snow misses another 3 attempt and they push the lead to 16 and then 18 on the next possession :(

Ortiz finally makes a cut to the basket and Hendriks passes it to him perfectly for an easy layup. 58-42.

Stefanov their SF hits 2 3's in a row to extend the lead to 64-42. I'm trying everyone and no one can hit a shot right now.

Simon finally hits another inside hook to end the run.

We close the gap slightly to 65-50 with 6:45 to go.

Graves comes back into the game fully rested and is scoring, but they are too. Porter, their backup SG hits a 3 to extend their lead back to 15.

With 4:40 to go, Graves drives into the lane, collides with their 7'3 center and hurts his knee :(

Our trainer tells us Graves is done. So are we. They go another run and we are down by 20 again. The kids just weren't ready for the pressure of the tournament :(

Sheesh their shooters are on fire, hitting 3's from all over.

We lose 89-66. A very disappointing ending to a disappointing year. I ust that Graves isn't hurt badly.

Kragel, their 7'3 center had 20 points, 13 boards, 3 blocks, and 2 assists to win player of the game.

Simon led our team with 18 points, 13 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 2 blocks.

Graves had 15 points, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 boards. He shot 5 of 15.

Everett had 9 points, 3 assists, and 7 turnovers as they pressured him effectively.

Collins had 9 points.

Owensworth had 9 boards.


We end the year 11-18.


Now, to look at the NCAA Tournament and finish up the season.

[Eaglesfan27]

Have you given consideration to the idea of recruiting a JUCO player next season to come in and give you an impact player who can lead your these two recruiting classes.

If I don't land on these 3 big recruits I'm going after all (and I have a bad feeling I'm going to miss on all 3) then a JUCO player or two is definitely in the plans.

[Eaglesfan27]

Manhattan was crushed by Saint Peter's 79-45.

Saint Peter's advanced to the Finals where they were destroyed by Siena 107-68. Siena is ranked 19th in the Media Poll!


I wonder what seed they will get?


Interesting Bubble Teams: Michigan (23-8), Indiana (21-11), UCLA (18-15), and USC (20-12.)

Now the #1's:

Syracuse (30-2), Temple (28-3), Texas A&M (29-4), Florida (27-5)

Interesting East Matchups:

#8 Tennessee vs #9 West Virginia
#4 UNLV (not as dominant as last year, this time 24-7) vs #13 Creighton
#6 Dayton vs #11 Missouri
#3 UConn vs #14 Central Connecticut

UCLA is in the East as a #10 seed.
Maryland is the #2 seed in the East.


Interesting South Matchups:

#5 Siena vs #12 Troy. Not bad for the MAAC :)
#4 Texas vs #13 TXAM-CC
#7 Okalhoma vs #10 USC

Miami is the #2 seed in the South.


Intersting Midwest Games:

#8 LSU vs #9 Clemson
#4 Mississippi State vs #13 Butler
#7 California vs #10 Wisconsin

Louisville is the #2 seed in the Midwest

Interesting Matchups in the West:

#8 Washington vs #9 Vanderbilt
#6 Oregon vs #11 Michigan State
#3 Stanford vs #14 Davidson
#7 Xavier vs #10 Michigan

Duke is the #2 seed in the West.

Indiana was the most prominent bubble team to be left out.

[Eaglesfan27]

The Sweet 16 Matchups:

East:

#1 Syracuse vs #5 Saint Joseph's
#3 UConn vs #7 Florida State

West:

#8 Washington which beat #1 Florida 76-75 vs #4 Georgia Tech
#6 Oregon vs #15 SD State which beat #2 Duke 77-72 in the opening game and then beat Xavier 68-64.

South:

#1 Temple vs #4 Texas
#2 Miami vs #6 Arizona

Midwest:

#1 Texas A&M vs #4 Mississippi State
#6 Nevada vs #7 California

In the East:

Syracuse beat Saint Joseph's 66-48.
UConn beat Florida State 84-81.

#1 Syracuse beat #3 UConn 84-53 to advance to the Final 4.

In the West:

Washington upset Georgia Tech 94-84.
Oregon ended the dream run by beating SD State 89-65.

#8 Washington beat #6 Oregon 102-76 to advance to the Final 4 where they will play Syracuse.

In the South:

Temple beat Texas 91-86.
Miami beat Arizona 89-83.

#2 Miami beat #1 Temple 79-77 to advance to the Final 4.

In the Midwest:

Mississippi State upset Texas A&M 85-77.
Nevada beat Cal 87-84.

#4 Mississippi State beat #6 Nevada 98-90 to advance to the Final 4. They will face Miami.


In the Final 4:

#1 Syracuse beat #8 Washington 83-66.
#4 Mississippi State beat #2 Miami 74-64.

In the National Championship


#4 Mississipi State beat Syracuse 84-78. Mississippi State was led by their senior center Arminus Hudson who had 32 points, 12 boards, and 3 blocks. They also got 15 points from their SG Erroyl Bean and 14 from their SF Chris Robins.

[Eaglesfan27]

Clemson's Dinky Hooper was the player of the year. The 6'10 240 pound center averaged 22.6 ppg, 8.2 rpg, and 1.8 bpg.

Siena's Johnny Lampley was the Mid-Major Player of the Year. After the tournament his averaged raised to 23.5 ppg.

Syracuse's coach won Coach of the Year.

Barry Pleiness a PF from Florida won defensive player of the year. The junior averaged 1.9 bpg and 1.4 spg.

Hooper won Big Man of the Year.

Reynold Hull a 88 rated freshman(!) won Freshman of the Year for USC. The SG averaged 12.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg, and 3.4 apg.

The All American Team:

PG Wendell Meeking, Tem 19.4 ppg and 5.3 apg.
SG Michael Edwin, Mizz 20.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg.
SF Stephan Sommerville, Marq 19.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg.
PF Rudolph Gill, Miami 20.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg.
C Dinky Hooper, Clemson

Lampley made 2nd team All-American.

Wow. DeShaun Simon was named to the All-Freshman National Team! He finished with 7.7 ppg and 10 rpg.

He also won MAAC Freshman of the Year over Graves.

Graves was 2nd team all-MAAC.

Graves, Collins, and Simon were all First Team on the MAAC Freshman Team.


We lose two contribturos and two pieces of deadweight this year:

Graduating: Owensworth, Hendriks, Peclukas, and Brigewater.



Job Search:

Duke's Coach K has retired. I'm not even anywhere on the short list after that horrible season. LOL. They hire Belmont's Coach! Ironic.

I don't get offered any of the top jobs. The best job I get offered is Northern Iowa in the Missouri Valley. They are a team devoid of talent, and it is an easy decision to stay put.

I turn down 5 more jobs including UNO which was slightly tempting as they have a talented team and I have some affection for the team.

[Eaglesfan27]

Unfortunately, we do not get any transfers.


Day 1 of Recruiting:

We get some GREAT news as well as some bad but expected news:

5 star Toronto based SG Sylvester Myles has signed with Syracuse, turning us down.

I thought we were going to lose Whitney Cornette to UConn, but they never offered him a scholarship and I guess he got tired of waiting! He signed with us! Whitney is a 3 star PF from Queens, NY. He is 6'8 222 pounds. He is ranked 164th overall and 26th among PF's. He is a player who isn't the most athletic, but he can bang inside and most importantly he can shoot. In fact, our staff believes he will become one of our top shooters. He has 3 point range as well as a good midrange shot. Our staff also believes he has a very high potential and good rebounding as well the potential to be a very good defender.

Other good news is that we didn't lose out on another PF that I wanted but didn't want to offer a scholarship until Sylvester turned his down. Alfonso Bowers is a 6'7 224 pound PF who is a VERY good 3 point shooter according to our scouts. He does everything else well and I could see him providing size for us at SF. We offer him our open scholarship right away now that Sylvester has turned us down.

The other good news is that I thought I was going to lose out on SF T.J Hannan who was considering Rutgers, but they have dropped their pursuit of him and we are now his #1 choice again!


At the end of week 1, Alfonso Bowers signs with us! The complete rundown: 6'7 222 pounds. He is a 3 star PF from St. Louis, MO. He is ranked 317 overall and 44th among PF's. Our staff likes his potential and loves his 3 point shooting. He has decent athleticism and could play SF. I see him as a potential Santos type of player! We got a lot of good smaller players last year. Now, we are adding some size this year.

One scholarship left open at the end of week 1.

T.J. Hannan is close to signing with us. He'll be the prize recruit of this class. I'll recap him completely if he signs at the end of week 2...

We get Hannan at the end of week 2! T.J. is the highest ranked recruit in our class at 109th overall and 20th among SF's. He is 6'7 225 pounds. He is a 3 star player but is on the verge of 4 stars IMHO. Our staff believes he has the most potential of any player I've signed since I've been here and think he has true NBA potential. He has tremendous athleticism for a SF, he is a solid defender, and a good shooter, but his range needs work. They think that he won't be very talented coming in but that he should blossom quickly.

So, we've got 4 scholarships.

A quick summary of the class:

PG Gus Walters 111/44th. Excellent speed. 5'9 159 so a bit small. Averaged 8.9 ppg and 7.3 apg in the ABL. He is from Bloomington, IL.

SF T.J. Hannan 6'7 225. 109/20. Excellent strength. Didn't participate in the ABL, but our staff loves his potential. He is from Allentown, PA.

PF Whitney Cornette 6'8 222. 164/26. Excellent shooter, quick hands. Excellent potential. Averaged 12.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.1 bpg in the ABL. Shot 36% from the arc in the ABL. He is from Queens, NY.

PF Alfonso Bowers. 6'7 222. 317/44. 3 point specialist who can develop in other areas. Excellent potential. Didn't play in the ABL. He is from St. Louis, MO.


With all of our scholarships filled, I get to work on the juniors. There are several great local JR's I've been working on for months, but most of them have 10 or more schools interested in them.

I also keep working on one SG who I think might walk on at Niagara. He is a solid 3 star SG who isn't a good shooter, but is a good defender. No one seems to be recruiting him, and he likes us, so I continue to pursue him.

Raitis Garrett is his name and he is from San Marcos, TX.



The top 5 Recruiting Classes:

1. Michigan State.
2. Louisville
3. Kansas
4. Stanford
5. Arizona

Siena had an amazing class in the MAAC. They got 1 4 star and 6 3 star players!

We had the next best class in the MAAC.

[Galaxy]

Duke's Coach K has retired. I'm not even anywhere on the short list after that horrible season. LOL. They hire Belmont's Coach! Ironic.

I don't get offered any of the top jobs. The best job I get offered is Northern Iowa in the Missouri Valley. They are a team devoid of talent, and it is an easy decision to stay put.

I turn down 5 more jobs including UNO which was slightly tempting as they have a talented team and I have some affection for the team.

Duke hired the head coach from Belmont?

[Eaglesfan27]

A look at our roster after fall training:

PG

Everett Huffman: He's added another 7-8 pounds. Now 5'10 193, but still has his great quickness. Now a junior, he's really improved his ball handling and 3 point shooting. Rated 72 overall.

Gus Walters: The true freshman will push Everett. He's 5'10 now, but only 159 pounds. Still, he's lightning quick with better moves than Everett. However, he isn't as good of a shooter. He is a better defender. We finally have a quality backup PG who I'll feel good about turning the team over to in 2 years. Rated 71 overall.

SG's:

Graves has worked on his game during the offseason. He didn't improve much, but he has become a slightly better shooter. Now rated 76. He's put on a bit of weight, now 6'4 193 and a sophomore.

Snow is 6'5 235 and has become a better shooter. Still not very athletic but his shooting has him up to a 76 in overall rating. If he didn't have such a bad release point, he'd be a dominant scorer I think. Now a junior.

Laurie Beachem is 6'5 215. Rated 55 overall. Will never see the court.

SF's:

Friedrich Collins has improved the most during the offseason. He's become an extremely good midrange shooter, but I think he suffers too much when a defender is near him. However, he'll hit the open 12-16 footer. He's also very quick for a SF, particularly for his size as he is now 6'5 235. Rated 74 overall. Now a sophomore.

I'm tempted to list Cornette here, but I won't for now as I'm thinking he might start at PF with Adams being something of a bust last year, not to mention T.J Hannan and Ortiz will be pressing for time...

T.J. Hannan is 6'8 228 now. The best news of all.. even after making it to campus our staff LOVES the potential of this true freshman and thinks he could be an NBA talent! Right now, he doesn't do anything great, but he is solid in most areas. He can hit the open 3, jump shot. He is a solid defender and solid rebounder. Rated 70 overall, so he needs to really grow if our staff is going to be right.

Reyshawn Ortiz is 6'5 185 and showed a lot of hustle last year. Unfortunately, he didn't improve much during the offseason. He's a solid contributor who doesn't thrive in any area. Rated 69 overall. Now a sophomore.

W.B. Meeking was a lost man last year and I feel bad about that. He can bury the open 3 on occasion. He's now a senior and might get some PT as a result. Rated 67 overall.

Branden Jenkins is a 2 star SF who walked onto the team. He's rated 53 overall and has a long way to go. I'm not sure why he chose us to walk-on as I hardly recruited him, only calling him a few times as a backup plan. He is 6'7 200 pounds and I liked his height.

PF's:

Whitney Cornette will start at PF unless I decide he fits in more at SF. He is 6'9 225 pounds now. Our staff has soured on his potential a bit, but they think he'll be a solid player. As it is, he is already a great finisher around the rim and a decent midrange-long range shooter. He is also a shot blocker which is nice. Rated 73 overall.

Alsfonso Bowers is a bit of a disappointment, but I knew he was primarily a 3 point specialist. He doesn't do much else well although he can block shots fairly well. He is 6'7 233 pounds. He is rated 66 overall. He doesn't have the speed to play SF, so he will play backup PF.

C's:

DeShaun Simon hit the Buffet Circuit during the offseason. He gained 15 pounds and is now 7'1 292. However, he also worked on his game. He's still not a consistent inside scorer, but he's improved. He's really working hard on his rebounding and now is rated as an excellent rebounder which combined with his size should continue to see him lead the league. Rated 71 overall. The sophomore should get lots of boards as we'll be running and gunning this year.

Jerome Adams is a sophomore who is recovered from his injury, but hasn't improved much. He's a player who doesn't excel in any area but is solid in most areas. He's now 6'10 230 and with his size will get time at backup center. He's rated 69 overall.

Jerel Bogans played a lot last year due to the injuries and I like him so he'll get some PT again this year. However, he is down on the depth chart. He is 6'8 226 and is now a senior. Has a decent midrange shot and is a good rebounder for his size. Rated 67 overall.

My staff wants to redshirt Bowers, but I'm not doing that. We might need his 3 point shooting since we struggled with cold spells last year and I think this team can compete for a title even though we are young.


My plan for the starting 5:

PG Everett
SG Graves
SF Hannan (While Collins is better, I think the best way to develop Hannan's potential is to play him. I also like his size on defense.)
PF Cornette
C Simon

Main Bench Contributors:

SG Snow
PG Walters
SF Collins

Depending upon the situation, Bowers or Bogans will get minutes at backup PF and Adams at backup center.

The rest will depend upon the situation. Sadly, as I make my plans, I realize that I'll have to put someone I like on the reserve list - Meeking will not play unless we have injuries.

[Eaglesfan27]

Duke hired the head coach from Belmont?

Yes, I thought that was ironic considering this year's real life tourney. :)

[Ironhead]

Much like Pumpy just catching up on this over the weekend. Your dedication to the dynasty is impressive and as always it is a good read. Best of luck in the coming season.

[Eaglesfan27]

Some thoughts after a few practices:

I LOVE Hannan's shooting stroke. A pure shot style, reminds me of Andres. He doesn't have Andres' dunking ability or athleticism, but I think he could be an even better shooter if he really improves like our staff thinks he will.

There is no doubt that Bowers will get at least a few minutes in every game. At 6'7, he elevates well and is an excellent 3 point shooter. Probably the 2nd best on my team behind Snow.


I really wasn't planning on playing another game tonight, as I should get to bed in a bit, but I'm dying to try out the new team.

Our first opponent is Northeastern of the CAA. They are rated 75 in overall talent while we are rated 80 now.

[Eaglesfan27]

Awesome. The announcers highlight Hannan as the player to watch this game. Of course with two freshman in the lineup, our team unity has taken another dive...

First play of the game, Everett finds Hannan in the corner.. he fakes the 3, his man jumps.. he drives past his man and pulls up for a 12 footer which he drills! 2-0.

Second play - after a defensive stop, we push it up the court, Hannan is alone for the fast break.. slam dunk! 4-0.

After a Graves basket, Everett finds Hannan in the corner.. This time he takes and makes the 3! 9-2.

Hannan misses his next 3, but I'm already having visions of dominance for this kid and he's going to make Graves so much better.

Hannan hits his next 3 and he already has 10.

Hannan sets up Everett for a 3 and then another 3. At the 15 minute mark, we are up 20-10!

Our shooting cools off for a bit, but Graves drives into the lane for a foul to end their 6-0 run.

Hannan is tired at the 11 minute mark. We lead 26-16, but I love offense. I decide to put Bowers in at SF and see if I'm wrong about his foot speed, especially since I'm sticking with our zone defense.

Bowers misses his first 3, but drills his 2nd.

Cornette hits an open 16 footer, followed by another Bowers 3. Everett's assist totals are going to skyrocket this year...

With 6 minutes to go in the half, we go to all backups as Waters sees his first court action. We are up 40-26.

Hannan may not have great speed, but he has a great first step. He's blown by his man twice with crossover dribbles! This kid is playing better than our staff thought he'd be able to at this point..

Hannan backs down his man, hits a fadeaway and gets the foul!

This is an inferior team, but I feel like Hannan plus my backups are going to be a good combo for the stretches where I need to rest my starters. We maintain our lead.

Halftime: 53-40, we lead.

Hannan is the player of the half. He has 24 points, 4 boards, 1 assist, and a steal at the half.

Everett has 9 points and 7 assists at the half.

Graves has 6 points, 2 boards, and an assist.

Simon has 9 boards already.

Bowers has 6 points on 2 of 4 shooting.



With 17 minutes to go, Cornette gets a 4th foul. We put Adams into the game at PF.

We are up 68-57 at the 12 minute mark. Hannan needs some rest. I decide to give Collins a few minutes of PT.

He buries a 3 on his first touch. Maybe his range is improving. :)

With 9:30 to go, we go to all bench players except for Simon. We are up 73-63.

We are only up by 11 with 6 minutes to go, so Hannan comes back into the game.

First touch he drills a 3!

Cornette is consistently hitting open 12-16 footers, particularly around FT line. That is a welcome change from my PF.

They pull within 8 with 2 minutes to go, and then Hannan just blows by his man and lays it in and gets the foul.

With 44 seconds to go, they hit a 3 and pull within 6. 89-83. We get it to Hannan who they intentionally foul. He nails both FT's. 91-83.

We wrap it up with an Everett FT. 92-83 win. The defense was a bit of a letdown, but that offense was fun to run.

Hannan is the player of the game: 37 points, 5 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. Nice debut for the Frosh. He only turned it over 1 time. He shot 12 of 22, 5 of 11 from the arc, and 8 of 12 from the line.

Everett finished with 16 points, 8 assists, 2 steals, and a board. He shot 5 of 15.

Graves had 10 points, 5 boards, and 4 assists. He shot 4 of 10.

Cornette had 8 points, 8 boards, 2 assists, and a steal. Every point came on a midrange jumper.

Simon had 4 points, 19 boards, 1 assist, and 2 blocks.

Ortiz had 6 points. Bowers had 6 points on 2 of 4 from the arc.

Waters had 4 assists, 2 steals, and a board in 15 minutes. He shot 0 of 3.

Snow was 0 of 5. He didn't have any points, boards, or assists.


Nice first game for this squad. Our next game should be much more challenging. We play against ND in the NIT Preseason Tourney. However, we matchup well with ND whose overall talent rating is only 3 points higher at 83. I'll play that Tuesday.

Edit: Wife and Mother-In-Law just decided to start watching 2nd chick flick. I'll play ND tonight as I want to see what Hannan can do against that defense and I'm not tired yet.

[Eaglesfan27]

This time the announcers highlight Everett.

First play of the game, Everett passes to Hannan who fakes right, dribbles to his left and slashes to the rim on a spin move for a nice layup. He may not throw down big dunks, but he can finish around the rim.

Hannan has his 2nd shot blocked.

Their defense is quick and they block Graves shot as well. We are up 8-7 at the 15 minute mark. Hannan has 4 points.

This team is good.. no nerves at the Carrier dome. Cornette is the one stepping up with both interior and perimenter scoring early..

At the 12 minute mark: We are up 22-15.

At the 10 minute mark: We are up 24-17 and Hannan needs some rest.

They go on a 9-0 run before Cornette scors for us.

We are down 34-31 at the 5 minute mark, but a rested Hannan is about to come back into the game.

Ortiz with 2 3's in a row to give us a 37-34 lead.

Hannan with 6 straight points before he misses a jumper on the fast break but a trailing Simon slams it home. 43-34.

We go into halftime up 45-38. Unlike last game where we were chucking up the 3's, we've only shot 6 this game.

Cornette is the player of the half. He has 11 points, 4 boards, 1 steal, and 1 block.

Hannan has 10 points, 2 boards, 3 assists, and a steal.

Simon has 8 points, 7 boards, and 2 blocks.

Ortiz is moving ahead of Collins as the primary backup SG/SF.

12 minute mark: Up 61-54. Everett, Graves, and Hannan are all tired.

At the 10 minute mark: We are up 66-55 after a nice alley-oop slam on the fast break from Waters to Ortiz.

A minute later, Cornette gets a fast break slam.

A quick burst of turnovers and scoring gets them back within 6. 7 minutes left. 73-67, we lead. I get Hannan, Graves, and Everett back into the game.

Hannan goes on a personal 10-0 scoring run.

Then, he sets up Graves for 2 easy 3's in a row.

We cruise to the 93-76 win over ND.


Hannan is the player of the game. 23 points, 6 assists, 3 boards, 1 block, and 1 steal. He shot 9 of 16, 1 of 4, and 4 of 6.

I wonder - I might post this in the general thread, but I wonder if guys with high potential (Hannan's is an A) play above their "current ratings" sort of like FOF? In any case, Hannan is playing great early and he reminds me of Andres in his ability to score almost at will if he is rested.

Everett had 6 points and 6 assists.

Graves had 18 points, 2 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 6 of 11, 5 of 7, and 1 of 2.

Cornette finished with 15 points, 6 boards, 1 assist, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. He shot 5 of 11 and 5 of 6 from the line.

Simon finished with 10 points, 20 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.

Ortiz had 12 points.

Bowers had 9 points, 5 boards, 1 assist, and 2 steals. He shot 3 of 5 all from the arc.

Snow was 0 of 2 in just 5 minutes.


Our next game in the pre-season tourney is against George Washington. They are rated 82 in overall talent but unlike ND, they have a very high shooting rating of 89. Then again, so do we at 85. ;)

[RPI-Fan]

Picked up this game Saturday thanks to your thread. Pretty damn addicting game. Some questions if you have the time:

1) What half length are you using?
2) What are your sliders like (don't need details, just general info -- which things are bumped way up or way down) -- especially for fouls?
3) More details if you can please on this one -- what's your recruiting strategy? I'm pretty lost and sucking in my first season of recruiting with Northern Colorado (closed legacy). Got a couple bigs that I should win but they're not very good at all. What's your strategy for the ABL and then afterward? I'm clueless in this regard...

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm playing 20 minute halves and I just posted a detailed slider set in the main game thread yesterday or the day before when Todd asked for some sliders.

3. First of all, I maxed out Charisma as soon as possible as I got attribute gains. Maybe this makes the game a bit too easy, but after getting fired in my first dynasty I wasn't taking any chances. For the starter school at a small conference, I wouldn't target anyone higher than 2 stars unless they were in the same city and had being close to home as a priority.

Once you get to a mid-major team you can start going for 3 star guys and the occasional 4 star player (although you'll probably lose them all.)

I'll start recruiting promising local and regional guys in their freshman year of H.S. You can't do much until their junior year, but I think they respond slightly to just being contacted. I generally stay local for at least half of my recruits and try to go after guys who want to be close to home.

If a player isn't up to at least 60% interest by his senior year and preferably 70 or higher, I give up pursuit of them. The only exception to that general guideline is if no schools are pursuing the player and I think they'll fill a role for me (usually just at my initial school) or they are being pursued by a bunch of schools that I think I compare favorably to and they are low interest in ALL of the other schools as well. For example, Hannan was only at about 55% when I started recruiting him, but he had low interest in all of the schools pursuing him and we were his #1 school for most of the early process.

The fact is that first year or two at the first school in a closed legacy with your coach who has baseline crappy attributes, you aren't going to get many good players, but I just looked for role players and guys with size.


Now, my attributes are much better so I can get much better players. I'll post my coach's attribute ratings the next time I get to play which might be in a bit as my mother-in-law and wife look like they might be settling in to watch a Barbara Streisand movie *shudder*.

[korme]

I don't know if you consider it a cheat or not, but you can pretty much get *** foreigners from the first team you take. The catch there is that you can't scout them very well and more often that stateboys is that they come out worse than advertised.

[Eaglesfan27]

I don't know if you consider it a cheat or not, but you can pretty much get *** foreigners from the first team you take. The catch there is that you can't scout them very well and more often that stateboys is that they come out worse than advertised.

Yeah, personally, I'm avoiding recruiting foreigners until I become a well known coach with the exception of Canada since it makes sense for Niagara to recruit that region.

[Eaglesfan27]

A look at my coach's attributes and record:

Overall: B
Offense: B-
Defense: C
Teaching: B-
Scouting: B
Charisma: A+
Discipline: B-

My record is 130-86.

Goals that might be obtainable in the near future:

- Assemble a Top 20 class.
- Sign a 5 star player (very unlikely, but you never know.)
- Coach a Player of the Year Award (Hannan might have a shot in a year or two)
- Coach a 2k sports Award Winner
- Have a player drafted into the NBA
- Win a Non-conference Tournament (this Preseason NIT looks possible)
- Coach a team into the top 25.
- Accumulate 200 career wins (I should hit that in 4-6 years.)

Ok, all of those probably are a few years away, but some are even further away like signing the #1 overall recruit or having the best class in the nation.


However, I love our chances to win a non-conference tourney. Our next game is at the Carrier Dome against George Washington in the Pre-Season NIT A Tournament. George Washington is a good team that is slightly more talented than we are, but our starting 5 are overflowing with confidence right now.

[korme]

I'm probably going to disappoint you when I tell you this, but I don't think you can win player of the year at your school's size. I had a player at Wright State put up 33 & 14 - ungodly numbers for a college student, and all he won as mid-major player of the year, though he led the nation in ppg, rpg, and bpg.

[Eaglesfan27]

Again the announcers highlight Hannan as the player to watch. :)

Hannan's shot isn't falling early, but Everett's is. Also, Simon has 4 inches and 70 pounds on his man and he is completely dominating the boards early.

Up 8-4 at the 15 minute mark.

With 13 minutes to go, Hannan and Graves need a quick breather. We are tied at 10.

We are down 18-17 at the 10 minute mark.

We are up 26-24 with 6:13 left when I get Graves and Hannan back into the game.

After shooting poorly most of the half, both teams heat up from outside the arc in the last 5 minutes.

Included in that barrage is 2 3's by Hannan.

We are up 46-40 at the half.

Hannan is the player of the half. 12 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and a block.

Everett and Graves each added 9. Simon has 10 boards already including 4 offensive boards.


1st play of the 2nd half, Simon ignites the break with a board and quick outlet pass to Everett who finds Graves.. Graves and Hannan with a 2 on 1 break.. Graves to Hannan for an Alley-oop!

An explosive first 5 minutes of the 2nd half. Everyone is drilling 3's including Cornette. We are up 59-53 at the 15 minute mark.

With 13 minutes to go, Hannan gets a breather. We are up 62-53.

With 11 minutes to go, they take the lead 63-62. They take a 66-62 lead on yet another 3 before Collins hits a 3 to end the run.

A few plays later, Simon with a long pass to a breaking Waters who shows some huge ups with a slam dunk! 69-68 lead on that play.

With 6 minutes left, we have a 74-71 lead and we are getting Graves and Hannan fully rested back into the game.

Hannan drills his first shot, a little 14 footer.

With 4:21 and a 76-75 lead, we get Everett and Cornette back into the game and will finish it out with our starters..

Graves drills a 3 to stretch the lead back to 4.

Everett with a steal.. he finds Hannan on the wing, he spins past his man and lays it into the basket. 81-75. 3:31 left.

We exchange baskets to make it 83-77. After a defensive stop, Everett passes to Hannan in the block.. he draws a double team... he kicks it out to Cornette at the FT line who nails the shot! 85-77. 2 minutes left.

They make a basket. We work it down to 10.. pass to Hannan on the wing.. he draws a double team and throws a beautiful pass to Graves who drills a 3 before they can rotate to him! 88-79.

We defend their next 2 shots and that is the final margin. 88-79 win.


Hannan is the player of the game. 21 points, 5 boards, 5 assists, and a block. He started off 0 of 4, but he really picked it up after that. He shot 8 of 14, 3 of 9, and 2 of 3.

Everett had 9 points, 6 assists, and 2 steals along with 2 turnovers. He shot 3 of 10.

Graves had 19 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, and a block. He played great defense on their SG who had 21 points but was 8 of 22.

Cornette had 13 points, 7 boards, and an assist. He shot 6 of 8 and 1 of 1 from the arc.

Simon had 6 points, 22 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.

Waters had 5 points and 2 assists in 10 minutes.

Collins had 6 points that were key as they broke a run. He shot 2 of 3 all from the arc.

Bowers had 6 points as well as he shot 2 of 5 from the arc.


Ahh, I forgot how the pre-season NIT works. We did just win the Region A Final, not the final of the tournament. We'll play Washington in the Final 4 of the tournament next week. They are a daunting team. They are 6th in the media poll and 8th in the coaches poll. They are 2-0. They beat Wyoming 90-62 in their regional final. They are rated 92 in overall talent with no weaknesses.

However, before we play them we have another tough opponent: Arizona is our next preason opponent as somehow our AD convinced them to come to our school. They are 3-0 and 4th in both polls. They are rated 91 in overall talent, but aren't particularly good at rebounding or inside play in general. However, they have 5 terrific guards on their team including superstar Hilton Gennie. He is a 6'7 240 pound SG who is rated 89 overall. He isn't a very good shooter but he is a physically dominating player who is incredibly fast for his size. I'll play that Arizona game tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm probably going to disappoint you when I tell you this, but I don't think you can win player of the year at your school's size. I had a player at Wright State put up 33 & 14 - ungodly numbers for a college student, and all he won as mid-major player of the year, though he led the nation in ppg, rpg, and bpg.

That is disappointing but not surprising. I remember people complaining in past versions that too many mid-major players won awards, so they may have adjusted it to be much harder or even impossible for them to win the big awards. I guess I'll find out.

[Eaglesfan27]

I know it's only 3 games, but here are Hannan's stats so far and how they stack up vs everyone:

- 27.3 ppg is good for 5th. USC's PG Spencer Acker leads the nation with 30 per game. Spencer is the best 3 point shooter I've seen in this game with a 98 rating!

- 4.0 rebounds per game isn't even in the top 100.

- 5.3 assists per game is just outside the top 50.

Simon leads the NCAA in rebounding at 20.3 per game right now. A 7 foot center from Northeastern is 2nd with 18.3 per game.

Compared to the MAAC:

Hannan leads the league in scoring. 2nd best so far is 24.0 ppg from Manhattan's center. He is 5th in assists. Everett is 2nd in assists at 6 per game.

[rjolley]

Are the top scorers still mostly PFs and Cs?

[Eaglesfan27]

Are the top scorers still mostly PFs and Cs?

I'll take a closer look tomorrow as I just shut down the 360, however, in most years of this dynasty the top 10 scorers have been mostly big men with a few guards sprinkled in. At this very early part of the season, the top 10 was mostly guards if I am remembering correctly. USC's guard should continue to score huge points this year I'd imagine. Besides a 98 in 3 point shooting, he had a 93 in midrange shooting which makes him the best shooter I've ever seen in this game by a fair margin. Only thing working against him is he is only 5'10".

[korme]

That is disappointing but not surprising. I remember people complaining in past versions that too many mid-major players won awards, so they may have adjusted it to be much harder or even impossible for them to win the big awards. I guess I'll find out.

Yes, it wouldn't have been a big deal if it was just a dominant performer on an average team, but I had taken them (despite their "mid-major" label" to something like 30-2 and nationally ranked in the top 5 and a final four. Under those circumstances, the game should be able to figure out that a PotY canidate is valid.

[Eaglesfan27]

We start off slowly against Arizona and they jump out to a 7-0 lead, but 2 3's by Everett quickly get us back into it. It's clear that their SF can physically matchup with Hannan and this is the first time he's faced a player who can do that.

15 minute mark: We are down 11-9.

10 minute mark: All of our starters are starting to heat up. Simon has 3 inches and 40 pounds on his man and he has been huge with 7 points on putbacks. We are up 22-15. The home crowd is sustaining us on this run.

Thanks to the crowd and adrenaline, my starters played until the 4 minute run and they had a 16-0 run. We are up 36-24 when they finally leave for a breather. The only one who will stay in for the whole first half is Simon who is amazingly conditioned for a big man.

Our zone defense has been attacking their outside shooters well today.

Bowers hits a few 3's to keep our lead somewhat intact. We go into halftime up 42-34.

Everett was the star of the half. He had 14 points (4 of 5 on 3's attempted), 4 assists, and a steal.

Hannan had 8 points, 1 board, and 1 steal.

Graves had 7 points, 3 boards, and 2 assists.

Cornette had 6 points and 2 assists. He is 0 of 4 from the floor.

Simon has 7 points, 6 boards, 3 assists, and a steal.


We've held Gennie to 1 of 7 shooting and 4 points and 3 assists. However, Hanson another of their super SG's has 14 points on 5 of 5 shooting including 4 of 4 from the arc.


First two plays of the 2nd half us for are a 14 footer by Hannan and an NBA 3 by Hannan. He's heating up.

Another 2 and then another 3 by him. He's got 18 and he's starting to draw a double team. He finds Everett for an open 3 and then Cornette for an open 2. They are hitting some 3's and keeping within striking range. 15 minute mark. We are up 59-45.

12 minute mark: They've cooled Hannan off with double teams but he has 3 assists because of it. Now he is tired, so he'll get a breather as we get Bowers' 3 point shooting in the game. Simon will also get a short breather. We are up 62-50.

With 9 minutes to go, they close to 64-59. Everett has been our primary scorer the last few minutes but he needs a break. Waters, Ortiz, and Snow come into the game. Hannan is almost ready to come back.

Gennie has been heating up and he hits his 2nd 3 in a row to make it 64-62.

We get Snow another decent look but he misses it. Gennie hits a 2 to tie it. We call timeout and get Hannan and Simon back into the game. 7:28 to go.

Hannan gets a screen from Bowers and he drills a 3!

After a defensive board by Simon he throws a long pass to Ortiz who throws it to Hannan who beats everyone down the court and he slams it home! 23 points and the lead is extended to 5 again.

After they make a quick jumper, we come down the other end.. Hannan off a double screen.. he hits the 14 footer. 71-66.

Gennie with 2 baskets over taller defenders. He suddenly has 17. 73-70. 4 minutes to go.

We get our starters all back into the game.

Hannan misses his next 2 shots and they close within 1. 73-72. 2:30 left.

Hannan gets it on the block.. backs down his man.. and hits a fadeaway jumper. 75-72.

With 53 seconds left, Gennie hits another 14 footer. 75-74. Gennie now has 21.

With 24 seconds left, Hannan is doubled.. he passes to Graves who has an open look.. he shooters from the corner... and misses.

With 5 seconds left, Faust, one of their plethora of guards, hits a 3. 77-75 they lead.

We call our last timeout to setup a play.

Everett off a screen gets an open look at a 3.. he misses it.


We lose 77-75.




Gennie is the player of the game. 21 points, 6 assists, 4 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 8 of 15, 2 of 5, and 3 of 4.


They had 3 other guards with 14 points each.

Hannan led our team with 27 points, 4 assists, 2 boards, and a steal. He shot 11 of 20, 5 of 10, and 0 of 0.

Everett had 21 points, 5 assists, 1 board, and 1 steal. He turned it over 3 times. He shot 8 of 11 and 5 of 7 from the arc.

Graves had 10 points, 5 boards and 3 assists. He shot 4 of 10.

Cornette had 2 points, 9 boards, and 3 assists.

Simon had 7 points, 11 boards, 5 assists, 3 steals, and a block.

Bowers had 6 points. He was 2 of 6 from the arc.

Waters had 2 points and an assist in just 9 minutes.



A tough loss at home, but I'm happy with how my team played against such a good opponent. Of course, we won't have the home crowd to help us in our next game against Washington which should be equally tough.



Hannan didn't get player of the week :( Kilgore from Dartmouth did.



3 recruits want to come to the campus this weekend. I think that is a record for the most that wanted to come at one time for me.








Washington should be a tougher opponent than Arizona was. They have a better overall rating and they are a more balanced team with stars at every position:

PG WC Elder is 6'4 200 pounds and rated 84 overall. He is a 3 point specialist with great speed.

SG Hall Ruffin who probably will come off the bench is arated 86 overall. He is 6'5 205 pounds and is well balanced.

SF Isaac Richardson is 6'5 220 pounds and rated 88 overall. He is an incredibly dynamic dunker. Hopefully, our 1-3-1 can keep him out of the middle. He is a great defender as well. I think he'll start at SG. He also has a very solid mid range jumper.

SF Lennox Myers is 6'7 230 and is rated 90 overall. He is a senior who is a excellent in multiple areas: dunking, defense, shooting from any range, passing, and rebounding. I'd imagine he'll start at SF.

PF Rashod Leadbitter is 6'8 250 pounds and is rated 83 overall. He is a dominant shot blocker with a 92 rating in that area. Also a very solid rebounder and a very athletic player. Interestingly, it looks like they are going small quite a bit as he is only averaging 16 mpg.

C Daon Blue is 6'10 240. He is rated 84 overall. He is a good rebounder who is a very effective post scorer. Excellent passer for a big man who doesn't have many weaknesses. I do think Simon should be able to outmuscle him.

It'll be interesting to see how much they go to their "backup" center who is "only" rated 78 but is much bigger at 7'0 275.

They also have a backup PF who is 6'11 265 and rated 76. In fact their entire bench is rated 75 or better in overall rating.

I'll play that game tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

Yes, it wouldn't have been a big deal if it was just a dominant performer on an average team, but I had taken them (despite their "mid-major" label" to something like 30-2 and nationally ranked in the top 5 and a final four. Under those circumstances, the game should be able to figure out that a PotY canidate is valid.

I can imagine how annoying that was for you and how annoying it will be for me if it happens. I really think that is how this team is going to play out. I doubt any of our conference opponents are going to beat us. As far as our out of conference schedule, the only other tough games we have after Washington are George Washington who was on our schedule outside of this tourney,


Here is a look at our schedule with overall team rating as of this moment:

Nov 19th Washington 92
Nov 23rd AT Princeton 72
Nov 29th New Hampshire 65
Dec 5th AT Siena 81 (1st of 2 conference games)
Dec 7th Marist 81
Dec 20th Bucknell 75
Dec 26th GW 82
Dec 29th Columbia 78
Jan 1st AT UCSB 79
Jan 4th Rider 79 (start of the rest of conference schedule)
Jan 6th Siena 81
Jan 9th at Loyola 80
Jan 11th at Saint Peter's 79
Jan 15th Manhattan 76
Jan 19th Saint Peter's 79
Jan 22nd at Canisus 76
Jan 25th at Marist 81
Jan 31st Iona 76
Feb 2nd Fairfield 81
Feb 6th at Fairfield 81
Feb 8th at Iona 76
Feb 14th Canisus 76
Feb 16 at Manhattan 76

I'll be disappointed if this team goes into the tourney with more than 5 losses. I expect us to finish with a record around 24-3 at the end of the regular season before the conference tourney and hopefully be ranked somewhere in the top 25. This team has played too well these first 3 games to expect anything less now :)

[Eaglesfan27]

Are the top scorers still mostly PFs and Cs?

Obviously it's early, but here are the top 10 scorers 3 or 4 games into it:

USC G Spencer Acker who is now up to 31 ppg.
SCU PF Jean Al-Sayyad who is averaging 27.3 ppg.
Niagara SF T.J. Hannan with 27 ppg
SMU SG Marques McKnight with 27 ppg
GWU Center Donnell Gastel with 26.3 ppg
La Salle C Derrick Amerson with 26 ppg
Georgia Tech C Jon Paul Timba with 26 ppg
Texas Tech SG Andry Teague with 25.7 ppg
Northeastern SG Seth Gansey with 25 ppg
Baylor PG Mose Andrews with 24.7 ppg

3 centers, 1 PF, 1 SF, 5 guards. Not too bad of a split. Certainly better than previous versions.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm expecting Washington to blow us out. Besides their insane talent level, they have a 76 team unity!

First play of the game, Hannan draws a foul on their star SF. A minute later Hannan hits an NBA 3.

However, they score the next 10 points including stripping Hannan once and Everett once.

At the 15 minute mark: We are down 10-5.

Right after that, Hannan with a steal and a breakaway slam dunk. 10-7.

Hannan is starting to dunk more! He dunks again 2 possessions later on another breakaway. They respond with a 6-0 run.

12 minute mark: 19-13, they lead.

With 11 minutes to go, Hannan hurts his knee trying to block a shot :(


Down 24-16 with 10 minutes to go.


A few minutes our doctors clear Hannan to return to the game.. whew! :)

With 6 minutes to go, they have a 34-22 lead. Hannan still isn't quite ready to return and all of my starters are on the bench except for Simon.

With 5 minutes to go, we get all of our starters back into the game.

Hannan is moving noticably slower with the sore knee. He misses his first 2 3's.

Myers is also hitting even more shots as we are slower to get to him.

Hannan picks up his 2nd foul and hasn't scored at all in the last 4 minutes or made any positive plays since coming back into the game.

Finally in the last minute of the half, Hannan pulls off an explosive move off a screen and draws a foul. He misses both FT's.


We go into halftime down 54-33.

Myers is the player of the half with 20 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block.

Hannan was doing well before his injury. All of these stats were in his first 9 minutes before the injury: 9 points, 3 boards, 2 steals, and an assist. He was 4 of 9 before the injury. Now, he is 4 of 13 and 1 of 8 from the arc and 0 of 2 from the line. Still, he leads our team in scoring.

I'll see if he can get it going for a few minutes in the 2nd half, but otherwise we'll go to non-injured players to see if they can do better.


We are failing to make any progress on this lead as they continue to score at an impressive clip. 74-51 with 12 minutes to go and I'm taking my starters out possibly for good.

Due to fatigue among my reserves, I put my starters (except for Hannan) back in with 4 minutes to go. We are down 89-66.


We lose the game 95-76.

Meyers was the player of the game. 26 points, 8 boards, 5 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals.


Everett led us with 14 points, 7 assists, 1 board, and 0 turnovers. He shot 5 of 10, 2 of 5, and 2 of 2.

Graves had 14 points, 2 assists, and a steal. hE shot 5 of 12.

Hannan had 11 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 5 of 16, 1 of 10, and 0 of 2.

Cornette had 2 points and 5 boards.

Simon had 12 points, 6 boards, and a block.

Collins had 9 points off the bench on 3 of 3 shooting, 1 of 1 from the arc, and 2 of 2 from the line.


Now, we have to play a consolation game against Youngstown State which was the other final 4 team. Why couldn't we have drawn them and made it to the final? They are rated 67 overall in team talent and should be easy to blowout.

Hannan has a mildly sprained knee. He'll be able to play but he'll be less than 100% for 1-2 weeks. Fortunately, I don't think this game has exacerabation of existing injuries.

I probably won't play that game until Friday.

[rjolley]

Obviously it's early, but here are the top 10 scorers 3 or 4 games into it:

USC G Spencer Acker who is now up to 31 ppg.
SCU PF Jean Al-Sayyad who is averaging 27.3 ppg.
Niagara SF T.J. Hannan with 27 ppg
SMU SG Marques McKnight with 27 ppg
GWU Center Donnell Gastel with 26.3 ppg
La Salle C Derrick Amerson with 26 ppg
Georgia Tech C Jon Paul Timba with 26 ppg
Texas Tech SG Andry Teague with 25.7 ppg
Northeastern SG Seth Gansey with 25 ppg
Baylor PG Mose Andrews with 24.7 ppg

3 centers, 1 PF, 1 SF, 5 guards. Not too bad of a split. Certainly better than previous versions.Thanks for the info. Definitely better than previous version. Usually, my SG or SF would be the only non-big in the Top 15.

[Eaglesfan27]

We are expected to blow out the Youngstown State Penguins today. Today, we'll be trying out our 3-2 defense that we have been working on the last few weeks.

A slow start early and we are down 4-2 in the first 3 minutes.

At the 15 minute mark, we are down 9-6.

Up 15-14 at the 10 minute mark.

Down 25-21 at the 5 minute mark!

Down 33-31 at the half. They are shooting the 3 ball remarkably well, at least their SG is.

We are 0 of 9 from the arc as a team.

Feeney, their SG, is the player of the half with 12 points all on 3's. He is 4 of 8 from the arc.

Cornette leads our team in scoring with 7. Simon has 12 boards at the half.



Tied at 40 with 15 minutes to go. So much for our blowout.

Down 49-47 with 10 minutes to go.

We tie it at 52 with 7:20 to go, but Freeney hits a 3. A minute later we tie it at 55.

With 6:20 to go, a rested but hobbled Hannan and a rested Graves come back into the game to try to finish this off. They will play with our subs.

After a Hannan rebound, Waters comes off a pick and roll drives into the lane and finds an open Bogans for a 12 foot jumper which he makes! 57-55.

They score an interior basket, and then Graves responds with a driving layup. 59-57. Feeney with a 16 footer to tie it. A few misses. Tied at 59 with 2:40 to go and we get our starters back into the game.

After a miss by Graves, Feeney hits a 3 at the other end. 62-59. 2 minutes left.

Simon with a miss of an easy dunk and they get a layup at the other end.

Hannan has it stolen, but we steal it back and Graves hits a quick 3 in the corner. 64-62. 56 seconds left.

Feeney shoots a quick 3 and swishes it. 67-62.

Graves misses a 3. We have to foul.

They hit their 1st, miss the 2nd, but get the offensive board. They make the next 2 FT's to make it 70-62.

Everett misses a 3 and we foul, but I know it is over. Very disappointing loss.

We lose 71-62.


Feeney is the player of the game with 30 points, 6 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. The 6'5 sophomore guard was highlighted as a player to watch, but he was a 63 overall and I didn't think he could do that kind of damage. He is a good 3 point shooter with a 75 rating and he killed us outside the arc tonight. He was 8 of 13 from the arc and 10 of 15 overall.

Graves led us with 17 points, 2 boards, and 1 steal. He felt the pressure of being the main scorer and only shot 6 of 18, 3 of 8, and 2 of 2.

Everett had 6 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals. He shot 2 of 8.

Hannan had 4 points, 6 boards, and 2 assists. He turned it over 3 times. He isn't the same player without his explosive first step and speed.

Cornette had 12 points, 10 boards, and 1 steal.

Simon had 3 points on 1 of 9 shooting. He also had 15 boards, 4 assists, and 2 blocks.


Our next game is at Princeton in what should be an easy win, but after this game, I'm not so sure. We are going to go back to a M2M defense and see if that works for mostly inferior opponents the rest of the way. Princeton is 1-2. I'll play that tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

We are thriving playing M2M defense against this slower, smaller team. 12-4 at the 15 minute mark.

Hannan is struggling, but Everett and Graves are playing great. Up 20-10 at the 10 minute mark.

During the first 3 minutes our subs are out there, they go on a 9-0 run to make it 20-19.

Bowers with a breakaway layup to end the run.

Up 25-21 at the 5 minute mark.


We enter halftime up 31-29. Apparently, our offense needs a healthy Hannan to really click, or our offense was a fluke those first few games...


We are shooting 35% so far.

Everett is the player of the half. He has 11 points, 2 assists, 1 board, 1 steal. He is shooting 4 of 6, 2 of 4 from the arc. Graves has 8 on 3 of 11 shooting.


Simon picks up an early 3rd foul.

3 minutes into the 2nd half, Simon picks up a 4th. We'll bring in Adams for a few minutes at least.


Up 43-37 at the 15 minute mark.

An 18-0 run ends with us having a 57-39 lead.

We are up 60-45 with 5 minutes to go.

We get Simon back into the game to try to end the run they are on.

3:20 left, they close within 60-49, we get our other starters back into the game.



A quick scoring burst finishes it off. 73-53, we win.




Graves is the player of the game.

29 points, 3 assists, 2 boards, 2 steals. He shot 11 of 21, 5 of 11, and 2 of 3.

Everett had 19 points, 5 assists, 2 boards, and a steal. He had 1 turnover. He shot 7 of 12, 4 of 9, and 1 of 2.

Hannan had 5 points, 7 assists, and 1 board. He shot 2 of 12 including 1 of 7 from the arc. No lift on his shots right now and no explosion. At least he should be healthy in a week or so.

Cornette with 6 points, 7 boards, and 3 steals.

Simon with 2 points, 16 boards, and 2 assists in just 25 minutes.

Adams with 5 points and 5 boards in his 17 minutes off the bench.

Bowers was 0 of 4 from the arc and 1 of 6 overall. He had 2 points.





Our next team is a 1-5 New Hampshire squad that has an overall team talent level of 65. I expect a blowout, especially at home, but I've been surprised recently..

[Eaglesfan27]

Hannan is almost 100% and maybe it is helping his offense, or maybe it's just dumb luck, but he is finally making some shots. Or maybe, it is the home crowd and that is helping his confidence..


We are up 14-8 at the 12 minute mark. Graves, Hannan, and Cornette are all tired and leave the game.

Collins drills his first 3 off the bench.. I think it is the home crowd. Collins with a steal and powerful breakaway slam dunk.

Bowers who was ice cold the last few games, drills his first 3.

Up 31-13 with 5:30 to go in the game.

We are up 44-21 at the half.

The entire team is shooting much better at home.

Hannan is the player of the half. 11 points, 3 boards, and 2 assists despite his injury which makes me wonder if he is going to be bad on the road once he is healthy. He is shooting 4 of 8, 2 of 4 from the arc.

Simon with 10 points and 7 boards! That is his best shooting percentage ever. I've been telling him to work on his inside scoring and if he could develop any kind of touch around the basket, he'd be incredible.

Incredible defense to start the 2nd half. We hold them scoreless for the first 10 minutes with our starters in the game. 60-21 at the 10 minute mark. I pull my starters at that point.

They score immediately against my bench players.

We win the game 80-36.

Graves is the player of the game. 16 points and 5 boards. He shot 5 of 13, 2 of 6, and 4 of 4.

Everett with 2 points, 6 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 1 of 2.

Hannan finished with 11 points, 4 boards, 3 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 4 of 12, 2 of 6, and 1 of 2.

Cornette with 2 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block.

Simon with 14 points, 18 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 7 of 10.

Waters with 11 points and 4 assists in 16 minutes.

Collins with 12 points in 19 minutes. He shot 5 of 10.

Bowers with 10 points and 4 boards. He shot 4 of 6, 2 of 4 from the arc. He played 17 minutes.


The early signing period has started and apparently I aimed too high. I went after a local 4 star SF from Ithaca NY. However, he has signed with Pitt. I also went after a 4 star SG from Niagara Falls who I thought we had a legitimate shot at. However, he signed with Arkansas.


Worse, my 3rd target who was abackup from Toronto, a very good shooting 3 star SG signed with Virginia Tech.


My best lead is a guy I was pursuing as long shot - Lee Lidzius is a 4 star PG from Connecticut who is a Mr. Basketball for the state. Recruiting a Mr. Basketball from a state is a goal that I didn't list because I didn't think it was possible anytime soon, however, we are 1st on his list right now! 2nd is Villanova. Maryland and Duke are also on his list but far behind us at the moment. We immediately offer him a scholarship and a visit to the campus...


Our next game is at Siena, in our first of those 2 early conference games. They are 3-4. They are rated 81 in overall talent and should be a good challenge on the road. Still, with Hannan healthy, I like our chances.

[Eaglesfan27]

Hannan has his explosion back! He easily beats his man with a spin move on his first touch and drives to the hole for a foul. He hasn't done that since the injury.

Up 15-11 at the 10 minute mark. Hannan has 8. Graves, Hannan, and Cornette need a break. We go to Ortiz, Collins, and Bowers.

We are down 31-27 at the half.

Hannan is our only player who is consistently scoring. Hannan has 12, 2 boards, 2 assists, and a steal. I can tell he is back. His shot just looks better.

However, Graves is 0 of 4. Everett is 0 of 3. Cornette is 1 of 6. Simon is 2 of 4 and we'll go to him more in the 2nd half.


Larson, their SF, is the player of the half. He has 9 points, 2 boards, and an assist.


Down 41-40 with 12 minutes to go. All of my starters except Simon need a break.

Down 51-46 with 6:40 left. I get all of my starters except for Hannan back into the game. He is still a bit tired and Collins is on fire from the arc right now..

Collins with another 3 to make it 51-49. Collins has 12 points.

After they hit a 2, Collins with another 3! 53-52.

With 3:37 left, Collins is tired and has missed his last 2 3's. We bring Hannan back into the game. We are up 59-55 thanks to a Graves' 3.

Hannan comes in and drills a 3! 62-57.

A 3 by Graves and then a steal and layup by Everett gives us a 67-57 lead.

We exchange baskets and we are up 69-59 with 1:30 left.

With us leading 72-64, they start intentionally fouling.

We end up winning 78-69. Nice road victory.


Hannan was the player of the game. 21 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 8 of 10, 4 of 6, and 1 of 2. I guess it was the injury holding him back as he just had his best shooting game of his career on the road :)

Everett had 8 points, 5 assists, and 2 steals.

Graves had 18 points, 3 boards, 3 asssits, and a steal. He shot 5 of 10, 2 of 5, and 6 of 6.

Cornette had 2 points, 8 boards, 2 assists, and a blocks.

Simon had 7 points, 14 boards, 4 assists. He shot 3 of 8.

Collins had 17 points off the bench. He shot 5 of 9 from the arc. He also hit 2 of 2 free throws.

Our next game is at home against the strongest team in the conference ratings wise. Marist is rated 82 in overall talent. They are 7-1 and shooting an impressive 42% as a team behind the arc. Their overall shooting ability is rated at a 90!

I'll play that later tonight if I'm not too tired after the Final 4 or tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

An update on the statistical leaders on our team:

That long spell of injury plagued low scoring brought Hannan's scoring average down to 17.8 which is now not even in the top 50 overall. It's 2nd in the MAAC behind Mark Hazel of Manhattan. The center is scoring 19.4 per game.

Graves is 5th in the MAAC at 16.8 per game.

Simon is 1st in the MAAC in rebounding by a huge margin at 15.7 per game. That is also good for 1st in the NCAA. 2nd is SIU's center who is averaging 13.2 per game.

Everett is 4th in assists in the MAAC at 5.4 per game.

Manhattan's Zack Holman is 1st at 6.5.

Simon's 1.4 blocks per game is 5th in the MAAC.

Simon's 32.3 mpg is 2nd in the MAAC.

Collins is 9th in the MAAC in 3 point percentage at 41%.

[Eaglesfan27]

We are 6-3 and we host 7-1 Marist. In what should be a very good matchup, their star is their SF Glenn Christian. He is 6'6 and only 212 so Hannan will have some size on him. However, Glenn is a highly skilled player with an 80 overall rating. He is very fast and is a good defender who should be able to keep in front of Hannan. However, will he be able to match his strength? He is very fast and is a tremendous dunker and finisher. He is also a very good shooter.

They also have a PG with elite speed that will be a tough matchup in Jacob Shavies. Shavies is a senior who I will be glad to not have to face in the future. Besides being incredibly fast, he is a great passer and a good shooter.

Freshman PF Dustin Sweeney is undersized at 6'8 200 pounds but he is a good shooter who can scorer inside or out. However, Cornette and Simon should push him around inside. Their center is undersized at 6'9 220 and I expect Simon to take advantage of that.

[Eaglesfan27]

Up 12-9 at the 15 minute mark. Graves has been providing almost all of our early scoring.

13:29 and Graves is exhausted. He has scored 10 already. Ortiz comes in for him.

Hannan hits our next 3 shots in a row - all 3's.

Hannan is double teamed, he sets up Cornette for a 3. Hannan with another 3 off a screen. However, they are keeping pace. 32-26.

Hannan is on fire. He is tired, but he is hitting every shot, so we keep him in the game..


We are up 42-36 with 5 minutes left in the half.


We enter halftime up 48-44.

Hannan is the player of the half with 21 points and 1 assist. He is 7 of 11, 5 of 7, and 2 of 3 so far.

Graves has 11, Cornette and Simon each have 6.




Everett gets an early 3rd foul on Shavies.


Tied at 56 at the 15 minute mark. Hannan is resting already after playing the entire 1st half. Graves is leading our scoring while Hannan is resting.

At the 12 minute mark, we are up 70-59 after a 12-0 run. Hannan comes back into the game well rested.

Up 77-68 with 6 minutes to go. My starters except for Hannan get a breather.

They close within 6, but then Hannan hits a 3 with 4 minutes left to make the lead 80-71.

Graves and Hannan were both scoring on every possession down the stretch. They took turns with Everett setting them both up.



We win 94-77.




Hannan was the player of the game. 35 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 stealls. He shot 12 of 19, 8 of 12, and 3 of 5.

Graves had 26 points, 5 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 10 of 19, 5 of 10, and 1 of 2.

Everett had 4 points, 3 boards, 10 assists, and 3 steals. He did turn it over 6 times. He shot 1 of 5 including 1 of 4 from the arc.

Cornette had 10 points, 10 boards, 5 assists, 3 steals, and a block. He shot 2 of 6, 2 of 4 from the arc, and 4 of 4 from the line.

Simon had 8 points, 15 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 3 turnovers. He shot 4 of 6.

Collins had 7 points on 3 of 5 shooting.




We are now 7-3.


The early signing period is over. We aren't even close to getting Lee Lidzius to signing with us, but we are his favorite school right now. Maryland is his 2nd school, Syracuse is 3rd, and Duke is 4th. We are the only school to offer a scholarship so far.


A week later and Syracuse and Maryland have both offered him a scholarship.. it will be tough to hold them off. I doubt I will remain his #1 choice all year long.



Our next game is against 5-3 Bucknell. They are close to us in talent, but at home I think we should win comfortably. I'll play that tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

Hannan is again the highlighted player to watch by the announcers.

Simon has 5 inches and 60 pounds on Bucknell's starting center.


We are tied at 8 at the 15 minute mark, but we are getting them into early foul trouble, particularly Simon.

At the 13 minute mark, Hannan gets a 2nd foul on their star SF.

At 11 minute mark, we are up 18-12. Hannan, Everett, and Cornette need a few minutes of rest. We put in Collins, Waters, and Bowers.

For the next 6 minutes, that group continues our long great defensive run. We have them on a 14-0 run. 27-12.

At 5:45 Graves leaves and the rest of the starters come back into the game.

With 4:39 to go, they end the run. 27-14.


At the half, we are up 36-23.

Hannan is the player of the half with 11 points, 1 rebound, and 1 stea. He has shot 3 of 6, 0 of 3, and 5 of 7.


Up 45-31 at the 15 minute mark.


12 minutes left: Graves, Hannan, and Simon all need a break. We bring in Collins, Bowers, and Adams. We are up 55-39.

We are up 64-49 with 5 minutes to go.


We are getting sloppy... 3:36 to go and they have closed within 10, 66-56.

Graves comes off a double screen and makes a strong drive to the hoop.. he gets crushed by their center and he is hurt!

Hannan takes care of it by scoring a few baskets down the stretch and we win 74-61.


Hannan is the player of the game. 21 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 3 turnovers. He shot 7 of 13, 0 of 5, and 7 of 10.

Everett had 13 points, 7 assists, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers. He shot 5 of 8.

Graves had 11 points, 2 boards, and an assist. He shot 4 of 12.

Cornette had 4 points and 3 boards. He shot 2 of 8.

Simon had 6 points, 22 boards, and a block.

Snow had 4 points.

Collins had 5 points and 2 assiss.

Bowers had 7 points and 3 boards. He shot 3 of 6 and 1 of 3 from the arc.


After the game, we get the news on Graves, he has suffered a pulled Quad, but he can continue to play. He'll be less than 100% for about 2-3 weeks.



We aren't even in the Mid-Major Poll, yet.


Time to look at some leader's in the NCAA now that we are about a 1/3 of the way through the season:

[Eaglesfan27]

Scoring Leaders:

1. C Henry Jefferson, SMU 28.1 ppg
2. SG Andry Teague, Texas Tech 25.9 ppg
3. PG Spencer Acker, USC 25.8 ppg
4. C Chip Carbaugh, Columbia (who we play soon) 25.6 ppg
5. C Ted Vega, Iowa 25.1 ppg
6. C Trent Redick, CCSU 24 ppg
7. C Laforest Ali, Texas 23.6 ppg
8. C Jonas Minoff, Cleveland State 23.4 ppg
9. C Derrick Amerson, La Salle 23.3 ppg
10. SF Chris Haywood, Cal 22.9 ppg

Looks like the centers are starting to dominate the top 10. Also, most of the next 10 are centers with only 2 SG's thrown in.

Hannan is 32nd in the nation at 19.6 ppg.



Rebounders:

1. C Deshaun Simon 16.2
2. SF Cordero Havens, Tenn Tech 13.8
3. PF Bud Burnett, SIU 11.2
4. C Aaron Bradley, Illinois State 11
5. PF Neil Prillman, Western Carolina 10.9

Assists:

1. Acie Poole, Idaho 7.2
2. Nehemiah Krager, Cal 6.9
3. Gus Schneider, Florida A&M 6.7
4. Brice Lewis, Oregon 6.5
5. 5 tied at 6.4


Everett is 18th at 6 even.


Steals:

1. PG Dwyane Swain, Okst 2.9
2. PG Jacques Batte, Ind 2.7
3. PG Hilton Bouldin, CofC 2.6
4. SG Ervin Perry, Chat 2.5
5. 5 tied at 2.4 including a player from Nicholls State

Blocks:

1. SG Reynold Hull, USC 3.1 (former #1 overall H.S. player is 6'8 and has 85 rating in blocks) Probably won't stay past this year which is his sophomore year.
2. C Darrian Owen, Western Kentucky 2.9
3. C Henry Jefferson, SMU 2.9
4. PF W.B. Barrett 2.8
5. 5 Tied at 2.7


Our next opponent is George Washington at home. They have fallen to 5-4. We beat them in the Pre-Season NIT but that was when we were at full strength. I think they will be tough with a hobbled Graves. Everyone else will have to step up. Graves will start despite the injury, but I'll pull him early if he is ineffective.

[Eaglesfan27]

Snow is really upset about his PT. Graves is ineffective without his speed or his lift on his shot. We are up 9-7 at the 15 minute mark thanks to Hannan but Graves is giving us nothing. I bring in Snow for him.

It was close until Hannan and Cornette combined on a few effective traps from our full court press to create 3 turnovers in a row which each led to Hannan dunks.

12 minute mark: 21-11.

Hannan needs a break 9 minutes into the game. He's played brilliantly though and we have a 23-13 lead.

Up 38-25 with 6 minutes to go. Everett has been our main scorer but he needs a break now. Hannan is ready to come back though.


At the half, we are up 49-40.

Hannan is the player of the half with 19 points, 2 boards, and a steal.

Cornette has 3 steals with Hannan's help on those traps.

Everett has 13 points at the half along with 3 assists.


Graves has only played 6 minutes and is 0 of 5. I think that he'll sit most of the 2nd half and probably won't play in any further games until he is healed. Without his speed and explosiveness, he isn't a very effective player and we have so much depth at the position that I'll probably start Collins and use Snow more off the bench.



No! Hannan hurts his knee in a collision within the 1st minute of the 2nd half :(

Whew. 5 minutes later, he is cleared. Just a minor injury.

We are up 54-42 at the 14 minute mark, when he comes back. Let's see if he can still be effective. Graves was in when Hannan was out and Graves missed every shot..

Hannan's shot is off now, but he still seems to have good speed.

Up 59-49 at the 10 minute mark. We bring in our subs as our starters need a breather.

They cut the lead to 2 with a 8-0 run before Snow hits a 3.

When they cut it back to 3, Bowers drills a 3.

We are up 66-61 with 5 minutes left. With a 68-61 lead, and 4 minutes to go, we get our starters back into the game.

With 1:28 to go, they hit a 3 to make it 69-66, we lead.


They steal a pass into the post and come down to the other end and hit another 3 to tie it.

Everett comes off a quick screen and drives into the lane and gets fouled. He hits both FT's. 71-69. 50 seconds left.


Simon fouls their PF down in the post. He makes both FT's to tie it.


We run our play that calls for Hannan to get it in the post.. they double him and he kicks it out to Everett who hits a 3 before his man can get to him. 74-71. 25 seconds left.

Simon steals an interior pass. They foul him. He isn't a good FT shooter, but he makes the 1st.. and misses the 2nd. Hannan steals their pass!

They foul him immediately. Hannan is also a poor FT shooter and he misses them both.

They quickly pass it up the court.. shoot a quick 3 which they miss. Cornette with the board. He dribbles past a man and runs out the last few seconds. We win 75-71!


Hannan is the player of the game, but I would have given it to Everett for that last shot as well as his overall game.

Hannan finished with 22 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 3 steals. He shot 8 of 22, 0 of 8, and 6 of 11 with the majority of his misses coming post injury. Do I try to rest him like I want to rest Graves?

Everett had 20 points, 5 assists, 2 boards, 2 steals, and 1 turnover. Everett was 6 of 8, 4 of 5 from the arc, and 4 of 5 from the line.

Graves has 0 points, 0 boards, and 1 steal. He was 0 of 7.

Cornette had 6 points, 9 boards, 4 assists, 4 steals, and 2 blocks.

Simon had 5 points, 14 boards, 2 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block.

Snow finished with 12 points on 4 of 9 shooting, all from behind the arc.

Waters had 3 assists.

Colins had 7 points.

Adams had 5 boards and a block.

Bowers had 3 points and 3 boards. He was 1 of 4.



After the game, the doctors give me excellent news! Hannan's injury is really just a mild bruise! He should be 100% within 2 days which is before our next game!

Graves will miss about 7-10 days more with his pulled quad and we have 3 games next week that I'll have him sit on the bench and will only play him if other guys get injured or are completely ineffective..


We are now 9-3. Our next opponent is 6-6 Columbia. They have become the class of the Ivy league and have an overall talent level that is equal to ours. Their strength is their forwards and center. Chip Carbaugh is a senior 6'11 250 pound center who is rated 81 overall who should be a big challenge for Simon. He is averaging 25.4 ppg and he can score with a variety of post moves.

Felipe Bernard is their next best player. The 6'7 225 pound SF will be a good matchup for Hannan as he is also fast and strong. He is rated 78 overall. He is a weak defender though, so I expect Hannan to have a big game.

PF Ike Holt is rated 76 overall and he is their main 3 point threat. He is 6'9 230 and he can shoot the 3 as well as anyone on my team outside of Snow.

Their guards are weak, slow, and can't shoot, so we should have a huge advantage at those positions. I'll play this game a bit later today.

[Ironhead]

Can't believe I didn't follow this all along. Great read. I just wish the controls in CH were the same as NBA.

[Eaglesfan27]

We are up 9-5 at the 15 minute mark. Hannan has 7 of our points on a 3 and 2 midrange jump shots. Carbaugh has all of their points.

Tied at 11 at the 10 minute mark. Collins and Hannan need a break. Snow and Bowers will come in for them.


I accidently put Graves in with 2:30 to go in the half.. he makes a basket on fastbreak and has a rebound in the limited PT so I might use him a bit more in the 2nd half.

We are up 29-27 at the half.


Hannan is the player of the half. He has 13 points, 1 board, 1 steal, and 1 turnover. He is shooting 5 of 13, 2 of 4, and 1 of 2.

A 14-0 run from the 12 minute to 8 minute mark gives them a 52-43 lead before Snow hits a 2 to end it. 52-45 with 7:45 to go.

They pounded it inside to Carbaugh during that run.

Down 56-47 with 6:15 to go, I get Hannan back into the game.

First touch he draws a foul and goes to the line. Unfortunately, he misses the first but hits the second.

They hit 2 3's to stretch the lead further. Hannan misses a 3 as does Bower.

With 3:11 to go, Bowers with a 2 to cut it to 61-52.

After a Bowers block, Everett sets Snow up for a clean shot.. unfortunately his foot was on the line. 61-54.

Everett with a steal and the home crowd is going wild, but he passes to Snow who has shot blocked..

After they hit a quick 2. We come down the other end.. Hannan with a quick 3.. which is blocked! First time someone has blocked one of his shots this year.

Hannan comes off a screen our next possession to get a layup. 63-56. We intentionally foul their center who misses both FT's.

Collins misses a good open 3. They get the rebound and we have to foul. They make them both.

Hannan hits a quick 3. 65-59. 38 seconds left. We foul immediately.

Hannan misses a 3 and it is over. An unexpected and disappointing loss.

They end up winning 72-59.


Carbaugh their star center was the player of the game. He had 24 points, 15 boards, 3 assists, and 3 blocks. He shot 7 of 17, 1 of 1, and 9 of 10.

Bernard, their star SF, wasn't slowed down by Hannan. He had 24 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and a block. Bernard was 9 of 14 and 6 of 8 from the arc.



Hannan led us with 26 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 10 of 25, 3 of 11, and 3 of 7.

Everett had 3 points and 3 assists.

Collins had 2 points and 3 boards as he seemed to struggle in the starting role..

Cornette had 2 points, 3 boards, and 3 assists. He was 1 of 6.

Simon had 8 points, 18 boards, and 1 block.

Snow had 14 points off the bench.




Our next game is against a banged up UCSB who has their best 2 players dinged up a bit. They are a guard heavy team with great speed. They will be one of the more athletic teams that we will face all year long and one of the few that can run with us. I'll play that later this week.

[Eaglesfan27]

Can't believe I didn't follow this all along. Great read. I just wish the controls in CH were the same as NBA.

Thanks. There is an alternate control scheme for College Hoops that makes the control scheme very similar to NBA 2k8. However, I agree that I'd prefer the default controls be similar as I never used the maximum passing and I prefer the NBA control scheme.

[Eaglesfan27]

UCSB jumps to a big lead. 14-7 at the 15 minute mark.

21-7 at the 12 minute mark as they are on a 12-0 run.

We get in our subs. I also tell our guys to slow down our pace on both ends.. try to play much more deliberate. They run too well to play this uptempo pace.

Bowers hits 2 3's to end their run and then we begin pounding it inside to Simon. Better defense on their 3 point shooters, and we are working our way back into it..

They are up 28-24 with 6:45 to go.


From the 5 minute mark to the 3 minute mark, Hannan with a personal 6-0 run to tie it at 33.


We go into halftime down 40-39.


Ramlow, their SG, is the player of the half with 12 points, all on 3's.

Simon leads us with 11. Hannan has 10.



Hannan comes out on fire in the 2nd half. He hits a 3.. and another. He hits a 2, he blocks a shot, he has a breakaway dunk. He builds a 10 point lead. They start doubling him and he cools off, but we continue to have the 10 point lead throughout the 2nd half.

10 minutes left. We lead 62-52. Our starters all get a breather.

With 6:04 to go, they tie it at 65. Our starters are still a bit tired, particularly Hannan, but we get them back in.

Everett with a blocked shot that starts a Hannan breakaway.. he is fouled but still muscles it in! He converts the FT for 3.

Hannan off a screen draws a foul on a 15 foot fadeaway jumper.. this doesn't go in, but he gets 2 FT's. He makes them both.

They make the next 2 baskets to make it 70-69.

We go down inside to Cornette who draws a foul in the post. He hits 1 of 2. They get an interior basket to tie it at 71.

Everett is fouled on the perimenter and he goes to the line for 2. He makes them both.

Hannan fouls their SF on a 3 point attempt :( Fortunately, he misses 1 of 3. Tied at 73. 2 minutes left.


Everett finds Hannan alone in the corner after he comes off a screen.. Hannan drills the 3! 76-73.

A Simon block sets up the fast break.. Collins and Hannan with a 2 on 1 fast break.. Collins to Hannan for a dunk!

They come down and get a quick 2. 78-75. 53 seconds left.

Collins misses the shot with 2 seconds left on the shot clock, but Cornette with an offensive board. He quickly passes it to Hannan who is fouled.

Hannan makes both FT's to make it 80-75 with 14 seconds left.



They miss a 3, they foul the rebounder, Hannan, who makes 1 more FT, and we win it 81-75.



Hannan is the player of the game with 37 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and a block. He shot 11 of 19, 6 of 11, and 9 of 10.


Everett had 6 points, 3 assists, and 3 steals. He also had 4 turnovers. He shot 2 of 7.

Collins had 15 points and an assist.

Cornette had 3 points, 6 boards, 3 assists, and 3 steals.

Simon had 11 points, 6 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.

Bowers had 9 points on 3 of 4 shooting from the arc.



Our next game is hosting 8-5 Rider who is an even match for us without Graves. This will be our last game before Graves should be 100%. They are a defensively oriented team now with skill inside. I'll play that later this week.

[Eaglesfan27]

Rider's best player over the last few weeks has been their PF and he is the highlighted player. Bennet Nicholas 6'10 245 and skilled. He'll be a tough matchup for Cornette.


Not a good start as their SF hits 2 3's and they start off the game 8-0.

However, we slowly chip away at the lead. Hannan, Everett, and Simon help us close the gap. At the 12 minute mark, we are down 16-15.


Down 29-23 at the 5 minute mark as they had a 9-0 run.

We enter halftime down 35-27. A bad last 7 minutes.

Lawrence, their SF, is the player of the half with 10 points.


Hannan leads our team with 7 points and 2 boards. He needs to be much more active in the 2nd half.


With 11:56 to go, Hannan hits 2 FT's to tie the game at 41. A big run by our team, but now our starters are tiring.

Hannan will get a breather while the rest of the starters try to keep this surge going, we are on a 8-0 run right now.

Our next possession, Cornette with a jump hook in the post to give us the lead!

Our next possession, Everett has it knocked away from him with 4 seconds left.. he recovers with 2 seconds left and heaves a desperation 3 from way outside the arc that rattles in! 46-41!

With 7:22 to go, they score a basket to end our run and on their next possession a 3 ties it at 46.

I get Everett a quick rest and bring Hannan back into the game.


Hannan misses his first layup, but he hits his next two. We are tied at 50 with 3 minutes to go. I get Everett back into the game and bring in Snow for some spot up 3 point shooting..

Hannan with a ball fake and he spins into the lane and hits a little 6 footer. 52-50.

Hannan with good defense on their SF who misses a 3.

Everett with a 3 off a screen. 55-50.

They miss a 3 from their SG.

Hannan down in the post.. he passes to Cornette who passes it to Everett in the corner.. Everett drills the 3! 58-50.

They hit a 3. Everett to Hannan for a 12 footer. 60-53. 1 minute left.

They miss a quick 3. Now, they are intentionally fouling. Everett hits both FT's. They miss a 3. They let the clock run out.


We win 62-53.

Hannan is the player of the game. 21 points, 3 boards, and 1 assist. 9 of 17, 1 of 3, and 2 of 5 shooting.

Everett finished with 18 points, 4 assists, 1 board, and 1 steal. He shot 6 of 13, 4 of 10, and 2 of 2.

Collins had 5 points and 4 boards. He was 1 of 6.

Cornette had 6 points, 11 boards, and 2 assists.

After a slow first half, Simon finished with 6 points, 16 boards, and a block.

Waters, Adams, and Bowers each had 2 points.




After the game, Jerome Adams (who is getting about 12 minutes per game) and Reyshawn Ortiz (5-10 minutes per game) tell me they are unhappy with their lack of PT. Snow is also unhappy :(


Graves is completely healthy and will immediately return to the starting lineup.

Our next opponent is Siena. They are 6-7, but they are a talented team with an overall rating of 81 now that they have guys back healthy.

I'll play that game tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

The announcers highlight Everett as the player to watch this game. I expect a big game with all of his weapons back to pass the ball to.

We are up 10-6 at the 15 minute mark. Graves has come back on FIRE! 8 points so far.

At the 11 minute mark, we are up 16-12. Graves and Hannan need a quick rest. We get Collins and Bowers into the game.

At the 9 minute mark, Simon picks up his 3rd foul of the game. He'll sit the rest of the 1st half as we'll turn to Adams.

With 7:20 to go, and against all of my subs, they hit a 3 that gives them a 22-20 lead.

With 6 minutes to go, we get Hannan back into the game. We are down 24-20.

Hannan misses a dunk and then his man comes down and hits a 3.

Their 18-0 run continues as they go up 32-20. We get all of our starters except for Simon back into the game.. 3 minutes left in the half.

After a missed basket, Hannan sets up Graves in the corner for a 3. 34-23.

We go into halftime down 41-31.

Kennedy gets named player of the half since their team is leading. The backup SF, has 10 points, 2 boards, and 2 assists. He is 3 of 3 from the arc.

Graves leads our team with 19 points and 1 offensive board which was a putback dunk. He is 7 of 9 from the field and 5 of 5 from the arc.. he needs a huge 2nd half to help pull us back into this..

Hannan is off today.. he is 1 of 8 and has 2 points, 2 assists, and 2 steals.




Simon gets an early 4th foul. We put in Adams.

They start building a huge lead by pounding us inside. It gets to 15. I put Simon back into the game with 16 minutes to go.


With 13 minutes to go, Simon fouls out :(

We are down 58-47.


Graves is ice cold now. Everett, Graves, and Hannan are all exhausted. 10 minutes to go and we are bringing in our subs to try to pull off a comeback.. down 61-49.

Ortiz proves to me why he should be getting more PT, and Snow also provides a few big baskets and they close the gap to 69-65 with 3 minutes to go, but it is time to get our starters back into the game...

Graves misses a wide open 14 footer and I wonder if I should have left Ortiz in the game.

They also put their starters back into the game and they are playing much better. They steal it from Hannan and get a breakaway dunk.

They block an Everett shot and get a breakaway dunk.

Everett misses an open 3 and they get a basket at the other end. With a minute left, we start scoring quickly, but I think it is too late. Still, we foul down the stretch..


We lose 79-70.


Larson, their SF, was player of the game with 19 points, 6 boards, and 3 assists.


Graves went completely cold and had 0 2nd half points. He finished with 19 points, 2 boards, and 4 steals. He shot 7 of 19, 5 of 10 from the arc.

Everett had 11 points, 6 assists, and 5 turnovers.

Hannan had 10 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and 4 steals. He shot 3 of 12, 1 of 4, and 3 of 3.

Cornette had 5 points and 10 boards.

Simon who only played 13 minutes before fouling out had 2 points, 2 boards, and 1 assist.

Ortiz had 8 points, 3 boards, and 1 assist in just 12 minutes.

Bowers had 6 points and 2 boards in 14 minutes.

Snow had 6 points in 7 minutes.


That loss drops us to 11-5.

Our next game is at 4-9 Loyola (MD.) They are rated 81 in overall talent as well. They are a great 3 point shooting team.

[Eaglesfan27]

The announcers highlight Hannan as the player to watch and I want him to re-assert himself.

I doubt it is programmed into the game, but my team seems to be fired up after that unexpected home loss.. we are blocking more shots, playing better defense, shooting better, executing better in every phase of the game. In particular, Simon seems to be playing his best ball game ever - almost like he is making up for fouling out early. I know it's just my imagination, but that is cool that this game can realistically immerse me.

We are up 17-2 at the 12 minute mark. Simon already has 6 points, 9 boards, and a block. He also dived for a loose ball.

Up 26-17 at the 5 minue mark as once they ended the run they started scoring prolifically on 3 pointers mostly.


At the half, we are up 36-26.


Simon is the player of the half. 9 points, 14 boards, and a block.

Graves and Hannan also each have 9 points.


With 11:23 to go, we are up 62-48. Everett and Hannan will get a 3-5 minute break depending upon how well we are holding onto our lead.

With 6 minutes to go, we get Everett and Hannan back into the game. We are up 68-54.

40 seconds later, Simon fouls out, but he has had a monster game this time and is a huge reason we have a 16 point lead.


We are able to sustain that lead as Hannan is scoring well down the stretch. 84-69 win.



Hannan is the player of the game: 29 points, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 13 of 19, 3 of 6, and 0 of 0.

Everett had 10 points, 4 assists, and a steal. He shot 4 of 7.

Graves had 15 points, 5 assists, 3 boards, and a block. He shot 6 of 11, 3 of 5, and 0 of 0.

Cornette had 2 points, 5 boards, and an assist.

Simon had 13 points, 21 boards, 1 assist, and 1 block. He shot 6 of 11 and 1 of 3 from the line.

Waters had 1 point and 3 assists.

Adamas had 3 points and 3 boards.

Bowers had 6 points and 2 boards in 12 minutes.

Ortiz had 3 points and 3 boards in 12 minutes.

Collins had 2 points and 2 boards in 12 minutes.



Our next game is at 9-4 Saint Peter's. They are rated 79 in overall talent. I'll play that later today.

[Eaglesfan27]

I just accidently deleted a long post summarizing my game against Saint Peter's.

We lost 69-63 as Hannan and Graves were both very cold down the stretch. We went 4 minutes without scoring and I think that I should have kept in backup Collins who had 13 points during a stretch that helped keep us in the game.

Cornette led our team in scoring with 15 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, and a block. He shot 6 of 12, 2 of 3, and 1 of 2.

Everett had 6 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals.

Graves had 9 points, 2 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 2 of 12.

Hannan had 9 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals, and a block. He shot 4 of 13, 1 of 5, and 0 of 0.

Simon scored 6 points, 17 boards, 3 assists, and a block.

Collins had 13 points in 16 minutes.

Adams had 4 points and 2 boards in 8 minutes.

Ortiz had 0 points and 1 assist in 14 minutes.



So much for this team racking up 25 wins and dominating conference play. Maybe with a year or two more of seasoning, when all of these kids should be dominant..


We are now 12-6. Our next opponent is at home against 9-7 Manhattan. They are rated 76 overall and should be an easier matchup. I'll play that tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

Quick pace to start the game against Manhattan, but both sides are missing most of their shots. We are up 7-5 at the 15 minute mark.

We are up 12-11 at the 10 minute mark.

We just aren't hititng shots. We are up 15-14 at the 5 minute mark.


We go into halftime up 19-18. I think this is the worst offensive half I've ever been involved in.. or the best defensive half...


Hannan is the player of the half. He has 9 points, 3 boards, 1 assist, and 1 block. He is shooting 4 of 9, 1 of 3.



The 2nd half, Graves and Hannan are heating up, but so are their shooters.

15 minute mark: 28-26, we lead.

Hannan and Graves are both on fire now! They have the crowd roaring which is feeding back energy to them. We are up 44-36 at the 10 minute mark.

They both finally tire and go cold. Manhattan with a 5-0 run to close within 3, before I get subs in there. Bowers comes off the bench and drills a 3 to make it 47-41. 6 minutes left.


With 4 minutes left and a 47-43 lead, I get my starters back into the game.

Hannan with a spin move into the lane to draw the foul. He hits both FT's to make it 49-45. 2:53 to go.

With 51-47 lead, Cornette hits his first basket of the game, a shot from just inside the arc from the corner. 53-47.

Hannan with a steal. 1:30 left. We miss our shot, but we worked the clock down to 3 seconds.

They miss their shots and we hit our FT's. We win 56-47.


Hannan is the player of the game. 24 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 8 of 16, 4 of 7 from the arc, and 4 of 4 from the line.

Graves had 21 points, 4 boards, and 1 assist. He shot 7 of 11, 5 of 8, and 2 of 4.

Everett had 5 points, 7 assists, and 4 steals.

Cornette had 2 points, 3 boards, and 2 steals.

Simon had 0 points (0 of 5 shooting), 16 boards, and 2 blocks.


Bowers had 3 points in 8 minutes.

Waters had 1 point and 1 assist in 8 minutes.


Our next game is a rematch with Saint Peter's, this time on our home court.

[Eaglesfan27]

Graves is highlighted as the player to watch this game.


A strong opening 5 minutes. Graves is leading the way. We are up 13-7.


Simon picks up a 2nd foul at the 13 minute mark. They are on a 6-0 run and it is tied at 13.

Tied at 20 at the 10 minute mark.

Tied at 30 at the 5 minute mark.

We ar up 40-38 at the half. The last 10 minutes was our best offense all year. Very balanced contributions.


Everett is the player of the half. 10 points, 3 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 4 of 4 including 1 of 1 from the arc.

Graves also has 10, Hannan and Simon each have 7.


The fast pace continues in the second half. All of my starters except Simon are very tired with 10 minutes to go. We are tied at 64.

Snow. Bowers, and Simon keep our team scoring while the starters rest. With 6 minutes to go, we are tied at 75 and the home crowd is urging us on..

I get my starters back into the game as they are ready with the crowd pumping them up.

With 5 minutes to go, we are up 81-79.

After good defense forces a miss, Everett with a breakaway forcing a foul. He hits both FT's.

The defensive intensity vastly improves in the last 5 minutes..

With 3 minutes left, Everett hits a 3 despite a defender rushing towards him. 86-79.

With 1:26 to go, they hit a 3 to make it 86-82. Very good defense otherwise from both sides the last 5 minutes.

After Graves misses a decent look, we force a turnover. 53 seconds left.

With 31 seconds left, they steal it from Hannan and get a breakaway dunk.

They intentionally foul, but we got it to Graves out best FT shooter..

He makes them both to make it 88-84.

They make a quick 2, and we get it to Graves again who they foul.

He hits them both. Our trap enables Cornette to get a steal. He quickly passes to Everett who is fouled and misses 1 of 2 FT's.

They get another quick 2. 91-88, we lead.

We barely get it to Graves before a 5 second call. He hits both FT's.


They set up a quick 3 and make it. 93-91. 5 seconds left now.

We run Graves off a screen to get him the inbounds. He hits both FT's. 95-91. 3 seconds left.


We win 95-91.


Graves is the player of the game.

24 points, 2 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He shot 6 of 10, 3 of 6, and 9 of 9.

Balanced scoring:

Everett had 18 points, 5 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 6 of 9, 2 of 4 from the arc, 4 of 6 from the line.

Hannan only had 11 points. He also had 5 boards, 1 assist, and 4 steals. He shot 4 of 13, 1 of 7, and 2 of 3.

Cornette with 14 points, 4 boards, and 3 steals.

Simon with 13 points, 6 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.


Waters had 5 points and 2 assists in 11 minutes.

Bowers had 5 points on 2 of 3 shooting in 5 minutes.

[Eaglesfan27]

Bad news on the recruiting front, but not unexpected news. We have lost our favorite status on Lee Lidzius list. I didn't think I'd be able to get the Mr. Basketball from Connecticut. He has been ofered a scholarship from Duke and they are now his #1 choice with Maryland #2. We are #3 just slightly ahead of Syracuse. Still, I've seen crazy things happen, so I'll continue to pursue him. If he doesn't sign, I might just keep 1 of our 2 scholarships open in hopes of getting a great transfer to come play with our kids when they are all juniors and seniors.


We are now 14-6. Our next game is at 6-13 Canisus. They are rated 76 in overall talent. Their defense is very weak and I expect a big game from our stars. They are undersized and lack talent. Their top player is a 70 rated SG. They do have a good 3 point shooter or two, but I expect a blowout even on their floor. I'll play that a bit later.

[CamEdwards]

I doubt it is programmed into the game, but my team seems to be fired up after that unexpected home loss.. we are blocking more shots, playing better defense, shooting better, executing better in every phase of the game. In particular, Simon seems to be playing his best ball game ever - almost like he is making up for fouling out early. I know it's just my imagination, but that is cool that this game can realistically immerse me.


I've had something similar happen, and I agree it helps the immersion factor immensely. It doesn't happen after every loss, but clearly your team can come out on fire at times.

[Eaglesfan27]

Time to get that game against Canisus in after watching over 10 hours of Basketball today.

Graves is the highlighted player before the game.

DeShaun has over 90 pounds and 7 inches on their starting center.

With 13 minutes to go, Hannan picks up a 2nd foul. We've been dominating so far. We are up 18-7.

At the 10 minute mark, we are up 22-10.

A scoring burst by them against our scrubs has it at 29-21 at the 5 minute mark. We get our starters in. First minute back, Hannan picks up a 3rd foul. He'll sit again :(

A near perfect last 5 minutes after that. We are up 43-24 at the half.


Graves is the player of the half. He has 12 points, 3 assists, and 2 boards.


With 15 minutes to go, we are up 49-29.


With 12 minutes to go, Hannan picks up his 4th foul, but we are up 57-34 and are contemplating when to pull our starters for good.

We end up pulling our starters for good with a 28 point lead and 6 minutes to go. 70-42.


We win the game 76-49 win.



Hannan was the player of the game. 19 points, 5 boards, 2 ssists, and a steal. He shot 7 of 12, 0 of 3, and 5 of 5.

Graves had 18 points, 5 assists, 2 boards, and a steal. He shot 8 of 15, 2 of 7, and 0 of 0.

Everett had 9 points, 5 assists, and 2 steals. He didn't turn it over any times.

Cornette had 4 points, 5 boards, and 4 assists.

Simon had 10 points, 10 boards, and 3 blocks.

Collins had 5 points and 3 boards in 15 minutes.

Bowers had 6 points on 2 of 4 shooting from the arc in 9 minutes (all garbage time.)



We are now 15-6. Our next game is at 15-6 Marist. They are banged up with their top two stars having minor injuries that won't stop them from playing but should slow them up. Their top freshman is completely out of the game with his injury. I'll probably play that game tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

At the 12 minute mark, we are up 16-13. Our starters, except for Simon, are all tired.

We are up 24-20 at the 6 minute mark when we get our starters back in.

A fast paced last 6 minutes ends with us going into halftime up 37-26.


Hannan is the player of the half. He has 10 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He has shot 4 of 8, 2 of 6.



At the 13 minute mark, we are up 50-35. Graves has been diving all over and is tired, so Collins comes in for him.


We are up 65-51 with just under 6 minutes to go.


We finish it out and win 81-63.


Graves is the player of the game. 25 points, 4 boards, 4 steals, and 3 assists. He also had 2 turnovers. He shot 10 of 22, 5 of 12 from the arc, and 0 of 0 from the line.

Hannan had 23 points, 5 boards, 4 stels, and 2 assists. He also had 2 turnovers. He shot 9 of 17, 5 of 12, and 0 of 0.

Everett had 9 points, 6 assists, and 1 turnover. He shot 3 of 6 all from the arc.

Cornette had 4 points, 12 boards, and a block.

Simon had 14 points, 11 boards, and 4 assists. He was 6 of 8 from the field.


Our next game is hosting 8-12 Iona who we should beat easily.

I'll play that later this week or next weekend.

[RPI-Fan]

So I'm finally starting to get into the rhythm of this game (in my fourth season). Got myself a nasty power forward (unfortunately he only really dominates when I play the games because he has very low shot tendencies) and some other role players that have improved the team.

Questions:

1) Do shot tendencies change over time?
2) Do you do anything with training?
3) Do you do anything with the ABL?
4) How do you decide which recruits to go after?
5) How many recruits do you recruit at one time?
6) How do you run your offense? Do you call plays or just move the ball via passes?
7) What kind of defense do you run? I have massive problems forcing turnovers.
8) Any tips on offensive rebounding?
9) Any tips on defending in the post without fouling?

That's all I can think of for now. Any answers (doesn't have to be all of them!) would be greatly appreciated!

[Eaglesfan27]

1. I'm not sure. I think they do, but I haven't payed very close attention. I do know that players tend to shoot more as they gain overall ratings and maybe as they get to be upper classmen. However, that is part of why I started playing out every game.

2. For some players I do. For example, Bowers is a 3 point specialist who is decent at rebounding and poor at everything else. I could try to round him out, but instead I've decided to emphasize his strengths. I've altered his training to focus on 3 point shooting and a bit of rebounding. He's improved a fair bit on his 3 point shot. For someone like Graves who excels in every area, I keep it all balanced, although most of my SG's I have set to focus on the outside shot.

3. I don't. I'm just not patient enough to watch a lot of games. Actually, I do a very little bit with the ABL, I might watch a few minutes of 1 or 2 games of a few recruits to see if I like their shot motion. That is mainly started since I got Snow whose shot motion hurts his production.

4. For me, it depends upon what the team needs obviously. In my early years, I was just looking for anyone who had a shred of talent. Now, that I'm starting to build a program I can be a bit more selective.

I think for my center, size is a must. Look at how such Simon is dominating the boards. Of course, I LUCKED out on him as his rebounding is up to 90 in each category! For, my PF, I'm looking for a player with decent size who can hopefully shoot a bit, play good post defense (at least a B rating in the category) and if they can rebound that is a plus.

For SF, I was looking for a good overall player with size.

For SG, I wanted a really athletic player who could run since Hodari Chatman really did well in that role for me when I first took over the team. Graves 91 speed and 90 quickness might be the best 10 in the nation. His shooting touch coming around is a big bonus. I just wish he could dunk better, but he usually makes his layups.

For PG, I'll want size when I get to a bigger program, but for now, I just want speed, passing, and outside shooting. I lucked out with Everett being from Niagara and having all 3 of those.

Other than that, I want size as much as possible in my guys, and versatility. Santos and Andres could play the 2, 3 or 4, and while I don't have that with this team, I'm looking for guys who could do it.


5. I always fill my target list of 15, but I usually only really focus on 5 or so with the heavy focus being on whoever I offered scholarships to. I offer early. Usually by the middle of October or whenever they allow you to first offer. If I have a lot of scholarships, I might save one until November to offer at that point. I scout as soon as possible and try to get my list narrowed quickly. I may change that strategy when I get to a big school.

6. I call plays. I usually alternate about 4-6 set plays per game that I call and I also use a few quick plays per game, but I limit myself to only calling them to 2-3 times per game. Sometimes, usually when I get a big lead, I turn autoplaycalling on, and just run whatever it calls for me. I have the floor diagrams on.

7. I switch it up frequently. However, after experimenting with the 1-3-1 which generated a high number of turnovers, but gave up too many 3's, I'm back to playing M2M primarily with some 3-2 mixed in. I full court trap after every made basket and that generates the vast majority of my steals. We have some length and speed and usually that creates some steals if they try to pass it over the trap.

8. None, except try to get some guys with high ratings. We were horrible at it until I got Simon. His 7'1 height and 90 rating in offensive rebounding usually gets him 3-5 offensive boards a game.

9. Don't jump! Every time I jump in the post I get a foul. Instead, I use the lockdown defense button and the defender will try to stay in front of his man and will even smartly try to block on his own depending upon his defensive awareness rating.


One thing that I haven't posted in this thread, I don't think. I got this idea from a guy on OS.. to make the game more interesting and challenging, I don't switch on defense. Whoever shoots the ball (or turns it over) is who I control throughout the next defensive possession. It makes me play more realistic defense and really be careful about when I gamble for the steal.

[RPI-Fan]

Thanks for the help!! Your recruiting strategy is pretty much what I've been doing. I'm getting at least 1 good (70+) player per year and my supporting players seem to be better each year so I guess I'm on the right track.

Which button is the lockdown button???

I kind of do what that guy says on defense. I pick one guy and stay with them for a while. I like to pick guys that I don't mind fouling with. With that said I don't switch off of them to steal etc. I like picking bigs because I seem to have a decent knack for rebounding.

Sounds like I'm doing a lot of the same things as you in general. My team isn't good enough to full court press. I run the high pick-and-roll (quick play) a LOT but I think that's Ok because while sometimes it works great it frequently ends up in a turnover. So I have to use it selectively (when I can get a good matchup, or when I have good hands guys in).

Do you know if you can use created plays in legacy mode? I couldn't figure out how to load my set.

[Eaglesfan27]

Hmmm. I just hit the buttons without thinking about, but I think the lockdown defense button is the left trigger.

You can use created plays in legacy mode, but I forget how you do so. Maybe someone else can answer that one, or I'll try to remember how I set it up after the playoffs are done today. I have some plays that I created for Andres that I now use for Hannan.

I do get burnt occasionally with the full court press, but as long as Simon get back, it is usually worth it.

[RPI-Fan]

Thanks for all the advice! I'm finally getting the hang of things, I think. Played out my previous 3 games and won all 3, the last two by double-digits. Not even doing it with my dominating PF, either, as he really doesn't like to get into position to take shots. Still puts up 20-8 type numbers, but when he's getting into position he gets 30-12 and makes it look easy. Averaging 3 guys in double-figures which is awesome.

Now that my whole team is almost all guys that I recruited (save for 2 of them) it's a lot easier to get attached to the game. Even the scrubs that come off the bench have certain things that they do well.

The last two games the team I played had one dominating player and nobody else scoring in double-figures so I decided to tight double them always and simply take them out of the game. It was awesome how it works, but the CPU still was finding the open man. Fortunately my strategy went just as planned and those scrubs missed their open shots (and we cleaned up on the glass). One thing that has made a big difference for me this year is having a SF (listed as a PF, but only 6'-5") that can rebound (he doesn't dominate the glass, but gets to all the ones that he is supposed to). Also love having a couple 6'-10"+ bigs that regularly fill in off the bench to just bang down low.

Can't wait until next season when my best recruit ever comes in (a 6'-4", 200lb dribble-drive point guard... should be a man amongst boys in my weak Big Sky conference) and my whole team has more experience. But, we're 3-1 in the conference this year and I want to see if I can't make a run at things so plan on playing out the rest of the games.

I like how recruiting works in this game. You're given few enough points that you can't just "max" everybody out. Also, you can't come out of nowhere to steal a guy. On the other hand, if you work them hard for a long time you can get someone out of your league. But you do it at the expense of some of your other non-reach players. Good balance, it seems (with a slant toward allowing the user to get good players... nothing wrong with that IMO, especially for closed legacy). Also like how in my small Big Sky conference the teams are very regionally-based (with some notable exceptions).

What's the best method, that you've found, for driving to the basket? (it seems like that is what Hannan's game is built around?)

[Eaglesfan27]

Hannan is an interesting guy. Right now, he is either a 3 point shooter or a drive to the hoops guy. He doesn't have good 3 point ratings, but he seems to get very hot at times and drill the open 3.

As far as my method for driving, I tend to use the triple threat and explode out of it in either direction. More rarely, I can beat someone with a jab step, hesitation move. Hannan has a high quickness rating, that really seems to allow him to explode out the triple threat.. same for Graves. Other than that, I come off screens to drive into the hole, but I find they usually close and I play a lot of drive and kick it out which is how the majority of my 3's come about with Everett doing most of the driving.


I agree that the recruiting is very well done. I love the balance for a closed legacy. I've found that inside guys can dominate a bit too easy on the default settings (I don't remember if you have posted what sliders you are using or not) but I love dominating with an inside guy when I've earned it. I have inside success at 43 for the user, and I feel like I really earn my points on the inside when I get them. It is nice to see Simon starting to score and develop an inside game despite these settings. :)

[Groundhog]

One thing that I haven't posted in this thread, I don't think. I got this idea from a guy on OS.. to make the game more interesting and challenging, I don't switch on defense. Whoever shoots the ball (or turns it over) is who I control throughout the next defensive possession. It makes me play more realistic defense and really be careful about when I gamble for the steal.

Hmmm... That is a great idea. I've found that I either control the PG or PF, but the problem with doing that is that either my PG picks up no fouls, or my PF gets most the rebounds because I'm more aggressive with boxing out than the AI. But this is a great suggestion - I'll be giving this a shot tonight.

[RPI-Fan]

How does the "triple threat" work? The only moves I really know are the behind-the-back, spin move, and basic crossover. I feel like I'm missing some other major feature?

Not sure what my inside success is, though I do use adjusted sliders. I just looked at the ones I downloaded from OS and it was set to 45 for humans, and I'm pretty sure I didn't tweak that, so it looks like that's what I'm at. It seems just about right, to me.

My star PF is so confusing. He is PERFECT PF size (6'-9", 250lb) but really has a confusing offensive game. He has a very good 3 point shot (and has a FAST release -- do you have anyone with that wicked quick release?), but doesn't like to try to get open behind the 3-point line. That's why I was asking about the play-designer being used in legacy mode. Any info you find on that would be greatly appreciated. But while he's a great 3-pt shooter he's open so little that he usually only hits a couple a game (and can't get on a hot streak because he doesn't take enough of them). He doesn't move that well so I can't just give him the ball on the outside and let him drive. I have to either set him up for the jumper or lay it off deep in the post area; nothing in between. It's a nice challenge though. I think when I get the big, strong PG for next year who can get into the lane my PF will really explode. He is awesome on the defensive glass despite relatively modest height.

What kind of ratings bumps do you typically see over guys' careers? I get the sense that at my Northern Colorado (closed legacy) team guys with C or better potential are really valuable. Is that the case or am I too optimistic?

I appreciate all the info, let me know at any time if I'm asking too many questions!

What year are you in in your dynasty?

[Groundhog]

Do you know if you can use created plays in legacy mode? I couldn't figure out how to load my set.

You can. It's a bit of a hassle. What you need to do is load the playbook prior to loading your legacy and put it in either slot 1 or 2. Then when you go to play your game and are at the screen where you assign your controller to either team you go in to the option screen (I believe it's the triangle button on the PS3, on the 360 It's probably the top most button on the front face of the controller - can't recall which symbol that uses). There you can change the playbook for either team, so scroll through your own playbook until you get to custom 1 or whatever it's called.

You have to do this prior to every game, because you can't assign the custom playbook to your coach settings.

[Eaglesfan27]

Hmmm... That is a great idea. I've found that I either control the PG or PF, but the problem with doing that is that either my PG picks up no fouls, or my PF gets most the rebounds because I'm more aggressive with boxing out than the AI. But this is a great suggestion - I'll be giving this a shot tonight.

Yeah, that is where I appreciate it the most. I have guys get into foul trouble and since I stick to this rule, I can't protect them. If this Celtics game turns into too much more of a blowout, I might get in a game tonight. Talking about the game has given me the urge to play another game :)

[Eaglesfan27]

How does the "triple threat" work? The only moves I really know are the behind-the-back, spin move, and basic crossover. I feel like I'm missing some other major feature?

Not sure what my inside success is, though I do use adjusted sliders. I just looked at the ones I downloaded from OS and it was set to 45 for humans, and I'm pretty sure I didn't tweak that, so it looks like that's what I'm at. It seems just about right, to me.

My star PF is so confusing. He is PERFECT PF size (6'-9", 250lb) but really has a confusing offensive game. He has a very good 3 point shot (and has a FAST release -- do you have anyone with that wicked quick release?), but doesn't like to try to get open behind the 3-point line. That's why I was asking about the play-designer being used in legacy mode. Any info you find on that would be greatly appreciated. But while he's a great 3-pt shooter he's open so little that he usually only hits a couple a game (and can't get on a hot streak because he doesn't take enough of them). He doesn't move that well so I can't just give him the ball on the outside and let him drive. I have to either set him up for the jumper or lay it off deep in the post area; nothing in between. It's a nice challenge though. I think when I get the big, strong PG for next year who can get into the lane my PF will really explode. He is awesome on the defensive glass despite relatively modest height.

What kind of ratings bumps do you typically see over guys' careers? I get the sense that at my Northern Colorado (closed legacy) team guys with C or better potential are really valuable. Is that the case or am I too optimistic?

I appreciate all the info, let me know at any time if I'm asking too many questions!

What year are you in in your dynasty?

45 isn't bad for inside success. A touch high for my taste, but much better than default of 50. As far as the triple threat move, I think there quickness and handle rating are a big factor on how successful it is, but if you release it just right, they can really explode in whatever direction they dribble in. That is the main thing I do.

I've found the Motion offense was really good at getting my PF some decent 3 point looks if you don't want to do custom plays. That is what I used and Santos got quite a few looks. I also like some plays in the high post offense to get the PF some 3 point looks. Cornette is too inconsistent to run those plays much.

I know what you mean about that quick release - Andres had it! I loved his release. Hannan's is similar, but just a bit longer. However, Hannan has such great elevation on his shot that it looks perfect.

The scouting error makes it hard to predict how guys will develop. Hannan and his A potential has gained very slowly this year while Graves has picked up 2 overall points. A few of my other guys have picked up 1 overall points. I expect most guys to gain between 1 and 2 overall points in the course of a year, post-patch (it was much higher pre-patch.)

Now, once I get better coaches with higher teaching abilities and I raise my own teaching ability higher, I'll expect that to go up. I'll also expect that to go up when I get true A potential guys which I'm starting to suspect Hannan isn't really.


While I've typed this, the Hawks have come back, but I still want to get in a game. I'll watch the 2nd and 3rd quarter quickly on DVR and catch up on the 4th quarter after I play our next opponent.

[Groundhog]

The scouting error makes it hard to predict how guys will develop. Hannan and his A potential has gained very slowly this year while Graves has picked up 2 overall points. A few of my other guys have picked up 1 overall points. I expect most guys to gain between 1 and 2 overall points in the course of a year, post-patch (it was much higher pre-patch.)


I've found that with C/C+ guys you can probably expect 1 to 2 points per season. B and A potential guys sometimes only improve 1 to 2, but sometimes they jump by more than that. It seems to me that the higher the potential the greater the "boom" chances are, but yeah, maybe scouting error plays a hand in that too. Bonus drills help of course. You can usually add at least 1 additional rating if you work on the same two guys every week for the length of the season, depending on the rating you target. I usually devote these soley to my freshmen for that year, redshirts especially.

[RPI-Fan]

Thanks for all the answers!! Still confused on the "triple threat" -- not even sure how to "activate" it?

[Groundhog]

Thanks for all the answers!! Still confused on the "triple threat" -- not even sure how to "activate" it?

Before your player has dribbled (or after he's picked up his dribble - but it wouldn't do you much good then ;) ) hold down the RT & LT. Now pushing towards the basket with the left analog stick will make your guy jab step forward, pushing away will make him hold the ball away from the defender.

[Eaglesfan27]

Heh. Simon was the featured player before this game against Iona. He has 3 inches and 60 pounds on his guy.


We are up 10-6 at the 15 minute mark.

At the 14 minute mark, Everett picks up his 2nd foul on a cheap reach in.

A minute later, he picks up a 3rd, and I bring in Waters for him. :(

At the 10 minute mark, we are up 18-12.

With 8 minutes to go, we are up 21-15. All of our starters are out of he game to get a rest.

Our bench had built a 10 point lead, but they tire. 28-23 with 3:40 to go when I get my starters back into the game including Everett with his 3 fouls.


At the half, we are up 32-24.


Hannan is the player of the half. 8 points, 2 boards, and a steal. He is finishing on the break which has been the source of all of his points.


With 15 minutes to go in the game, Hannan gets his 3rd foul.


A 8-0 run by them to close it to 44-40 is ended by a Hannan drive to the hoop that draws a foul. He makes 1 of 2 FT's.

45-40 with 11 minutes to go.

With 8 minutes to go, Simon gets his 4th foul.

49-44 as he sits. All of my other starters were already resting.

Our bench with a huge run including 2 3's by Collins. We get a 58-44 lead, before they hit a 3 to end the run.

Snow also with some big points down the stretch. I have so many bench players who can do different things that he has become a forgotten man, and he doesn't like that. I need to keep him happy as he can be a dangerous scorer at times..

61-47 with 4:40 left when I get my starters back into the game to finish it off.

With 2:12 to go, Simon fouls out, but we have the game in hand as Hannan is playing great down the stretch.


We win 79-56.


Hannan is the player of the game. He finishes with 28 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 3 turnovers. He shot 11 of 15, 2 of 5, and 4 of 8.

Everett had 0 points (0 of 6 shooting), 5 assists, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers.

Graves had 13 points, 4 assists, 4 steals, and 1 turnover. He shot 5 of 14.

Cornette had 9 points, 17 boards, 1 assist, and a steal. He shot 4 of 8.

Simon had 6 points, 13 boards, and a block. He shot 1 of 8 and 4 of 7 from the line.

Collins had 8 points in 12 minutes.

Snow had 9 points in 12 minutes.

Waters had 6 points and 3 assists in 15 minutes.

Adams had 4 boards in 14 minutes at center.



We are now 17-6. Our next opponent is 10-13 Faifield. Our RPI thanks to that early pre-season tourney is 21. We are 3rd in the Mid-Major Poll behind #1 Cal Poly who are 18-2 and #2 Boise State who are 15-6.

[Eaglesfan27]

Now that we are 2/3 of the way through the season, time to look at some stats leaders among our team:

Hannan is averaging 20.7 ppg. This is 1st in the MAAC. It's 25th in the NCAA.

Simon is averaging 14.2 rpg which is 1st in the nation.

Everett is averaging 4.9 apg which is 3rd in the MAAC and is outside of the top 50 in the NCAA.

Everett leads our team with 1.7 spg which is 4th in the MAAC.

Simon's 1.5 bpg is tied for 7th in the MAAC.



Non-leader's on my team, but notable:

Graves is 5th in the MAAC at 15.9 ppg.

Hannan is 14th in the MAAC in assists at 2.5 per game.

Hannan is 6th in the MAAC in steals at 1.6 per game.

Cornette is tied with him.

Simon leads the conference in MPG at 31.5.

[Eaglesfan27]

A new Mid Major Poll just came out this week and we are now #1 in the Mid Major Poll.

Speaking of player development, here are the players who have gained the most in development this year so far:

Snow, Graves, Simon, Ortiz, Meeking, Bogans, and Robinson have each gained 1 point. JR Walkon SG Laurie Beachem has gained 2 points, but is still a long way from playing.

[RPI-Fan]

Done playing for the night (and with my schedule this week... probably done for the week). Finally got my settings where I can be comfortable, I think. Inside/Mid/3pt at 43/45/45 seemed pretty solid. Got a couple of plays for my awesome PF and now that I know how to use them in legacy can make them whenever I want so that's all good. All I have to do now is play the games. :-)

This game is awesome!

[Eaglesfan27]

Wow. That 3 point setting is going to be tough. I have mine at 48. I do have midrange at 45 which I think is perfect. Glad that you have them where you like them :)

I agree, it is an awesome game. I'm going to be playing this for years assuming that the series doesn't somehow get resurrected.

My next game probably won't be until next weekend either.

[RPI-Fan]

Wow. That 3 point setting is going to be tough. I have mine at 48. I do have midrange at 45 which I think is perfect. Glad that you have them where you like them :)

I agree, it is an awesome game. I'm going to be playing this for years assuming that the series doesn't somehow get resurrected.

My next game probably won't be until next weekend either.

Ok I'll adjust to 48 for 3pter. It's so hard to get these right, because it takes so long ot get a meaningful sample size. Also a bit weird how sensitve they are (that 45 is substantially diff than 48)

[Eaglesfan27]

Yeah, I love that sensitivity though. Unlike games such as NCAA Football, you can tell that these sliders really do something :)


As far as the sample size, I agree that it is tough. I've been tempted to go back up to 49 at times or even 50. You'll have really cold spells and some really hot spells, but I definitely wouldn't go lower than 48 unless you want frustratingly low 3 point percentages. Although, I do have CPU defensive awareness tweaked up to provide a good defensive challenge. I also have the human defensive awareness tweaked up.

[GobBluth]

"3. I don't. I'm just not patient enough to watch a lot of games. Actually, I do a very little bit with the ABL, I might watch a few minutes of 1 or 2 games of a few recruits to see if I like their shot motion. That is mainly started since I got Snow whose shot motion hurts his production."



Just curious but what is Snow's shot motion number? I'm still new to the game and haven't really seen any real unorthodox styles.

[Groundhog]

I have mine at 46, but I have a backcourt with an 85 and an 86 3pt shooter, and I was knocking down an insane amount when I had it at 48 and it became too easy, especially against the zone. With 46 I have cold spells (esp. on the road), but I also have games where I shoot 11/17, and had one guy hit 9/11 on his own in a freakish display. They both shoot in the high 30s or low 40s on about 5 or 6 attempts a game, so that slider seems OK for my style of play, but if my best shooter was in the 70s it'd probably frustrate the hell out of me. :)

[Groundhog]

I've never even watched or played a single ABL game. I just sim straight through it. Maybe I'll check it out at some point, but I'm always too keen to get on with the regular season.

If you edit a player and look at the various shot types, there are a lot of weird shot types, especially under the generic(or basic?) types. It can be frustrating when you get a big guy who can shoot because I find their standard shot animations sometimes make it tough to get off a shot because they don't leave the ground. I usually randomly pick out one of the generic shot types to make it look a little more realistic than having a 6'10 guy with a wussy little hop step slingshot style shot when he is rated in the high 70s for mid-range jumpers.

[Eaglesfan27]

"3. I don't. I'm just not patient enough to watch a lot of games. Actually, I do a very little bit with the ABL, I might watch a few minutes of 1 or 2 games of a few recruits to see if I like their shot motion. That is mainly started since I got Snow whose shot motion hurts his production."



Just curious but what is Snow's shot motion number? I'm still new to the game and haven't really seen any real unorthodox styles.

He barely elevates and he has a slightly delayed ideal release. It is very easy to block. He is a 88 3 point shooter, but as a result of that shot motion, I either have to release early and miss as a result of it not being his ideal release point, or I risk getting a lot of his shots blocked (which happens quite more with him than my other players combined when he was playing regularly.)

[Groundhog]

I have mine at 46, but I have a backcourt with an 85 and an 86 3pt shooter, and I was knocking down an insane amount when I had it at 48 and it became too easy, especially against the zone. With 46 I have cold spells (esp. on the road), but I also have games where I shoot 11/17, and had one guy hit 9/11 on his own in a freakish display. They both shoot in the high 30s or low 40s on about 5 or 6 attempts a game, so that slider seems OK for my style of play, but if my best shooter was in the 70s it'd probably frustrate the hell out of me. :)

I take this back. I thought I had it at 46, but it is indeed 48.

[Eaglesfan27]

Next up is Fairfiled at home.


The announcers highlight Hannan as the player to watch and I'm counting on a big game from him. Raymond Macura is a good SF that will be matching up against him. I've been reading some things on OS, and am going to shorten my times on the floor before I sub out slightly..


We are up 6-5 at the 15 minute mark.

At the 14 minute mark, Hannan comes out to get a short rest.

We quickly work each of our bench players in and out of the game. With 9 minutes to go, Hannan is the first to come back. At that point, we are up 21-14.

All of my starters are on their 3rd rotation into the game with 4 minutes left and they are all refreshed. We are tied at 30.


We are tied at 36 at the half.


Both star SF's have 15 points and 2 boards.


Graves is the player of the half. He has 16 points, 2 boards, and a turnover. He is shooting 6 of 9.


In the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half, we build up a 10 point lead. 54-44 with 10 minutes to go.

With 3:12 to go, Cornette fouls out, but we have the game in hand. We are up 72-57.


We win the game 75-66.


Graves is the player of the game with 29 points, 3 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He shot 8 of 15, 4 of 10, and 9 of 9.


Hannan had 25 points, 2 boards, and 2 turnovers. He shot 11 of 20, 2 of 9, and 1 of 2.

Everett had 2 points, 9 assists, and a board. He had 0 turnovers. He shot 1 of 6.

Cornette had 2 points, 10 boards, and a block.

Simon had 10 points, 18 boards, 1 assist and a block. He shot 4 of 10 and 2 of 2 from the line.

Collins led the bench with 5 points.


We are now 18-6. Our next opponent is on the road against this Fairfield team which is now 10-14. I'll play that tomorrow.

[RPI-Fan]

I recruited two dribble-drive guards and now I am seeing what a difference it can make to have a guy that can get to the rim (and consequently the line) almost at will. I have my shooting fouls setting a lot lower than yours (mine is like 55) so my penetrating guards might not be quite as effective as your's. However, I like the way the game gets called on this setting -- if there is a lot of contact it almost always gets called, but gets let go every so often. Most of the ticky-tack stuff isn't called, which I like.

So my lineup is basically: dribble-drive backcourt (who can also hit threes, but not great at them), a good-defending SF, a physically-imposing 3-point shooting PF, and a banger down low (nowhere near the dominance of Simon though). Plus I bring a couple bangers off the bench, and a SF/PF who moves really well.

By far the best team I've had in my tenure, hoping to finally break the .500 mark! I'm going to play every game this year, I think; only simming when down by 20+ in the second half. It is nice being somewhat confident in every guy on the floor. In the past I've never had it to where I could be content with any of the 5 players on the floor. Now, even with some subs in, I like my entire lineup.

[TonyR]

I've never even watched or played a single ABL game. I just sim straight through it. Maybe I'll check it out at some point, but I'm always too keen to get on with the regular season.

The only thing I found about the ABL games, is if you watch them out, you get bonus recruiting points. 40 per game I think. But you have to watch the whole game.

[Eaglesfan27]

In our rematch against Fairfield, we come out strong quickly with Hannan hitting 3 quick shots.

We are up 11-7 at the 15 minute mark.

The pace slows down after that, at the 10 minute mark, we are up 16-13.

At the 5 minute mark, we are down 24-22.

A strong last 5 minutes by Hannan particularly. We are up 35-29 at the half.


Hannan is the player of the half. He has 14 points. He is 6 of 10 from the floor, 1 of 3 from the arc. He is getting to the hoop with some regularity this game.



Tied at 41 at the 15 minute mark. We've come out cold and they are shooting well to start the 2nd half. Their home crowd is fired up.


Simon with a few big baskets. We are up 50-46 with 10 minutes to go.


With 5 minutes left, we have a 8 point lead, 62-54.

With 3 minutes left, they have closed within 6 to make it 67-61.

Macura with a rare block of a Hannan shot and he takes it to the end end for a slam dunk. 67-63.


They get a 3 second call on Simon in the post.

Bogans who is in for Cornette with a block.. he starts the fast break.. Everett to Hannan who is fouled.

He makes the 2nd after missing the first. 68-63.


They hit a quick 12 footer. 68-65. 1:39 left.


We work it down to about 15 seconds until a play frees Graves at the FT line, he spins away from his defender and slams it home left handed! 70-65.

An offensive putback by their PF makes it 70-67. 55 seconds left.

With 33 seconds left, Macura reaches in on Hannan. He hits both FT's.

They attempt a very quick 3 which they miss. Simon gets the board and is fouled. He hits both FT's.

We hit 7 of 10 FT's down the stretch and win the game, 77-72.


Hannan is the player of the game. He had 24 points, 2 boards, and an assist. He shot 8 of 16, 1 of 5, and 7 of 10.

Everett had 7 points, 4 assists, and 4 steals. He also had 3 turnovers. He shot 2 of 8.

Graves had 9 points, 2 assists, and a board. He shot 3 of 9.

Cornette had 4 points, 10 boards, and an assist.

Simon had 13 points, 13 boards, and an assist. He shot 4 of 5 and 5 of 6 from the line.

Snow led the bench with 9 points, Waters had 7 points and 2 assists.



Our next game is at Iona. They are 8-14. We beat them last week at home 79-54. I expect another win this week.

[rjolley]

I like playing the ABL games. Just this past offseason, I played the games with some of my recruits and found a C that fits perfectly in my system. Good inside player, rebounds well, and good potential. If it wasn't for the ABL, I wouldn't have found him.

Also, it helps to play with a recruit a bit to see if I feel they'd be successful with me. Sometimes, the rankings look good, but actually controlling them doesn't have the right feel.

Basically, I use the ABL the same way that I used the camps in CH2k7 when playing 3 on 2, 2 on 1: play with recruits and see who can shoot, who is quick and fast, and see who doesn't live up to the hype.

[Eaglesfan27]

Tough defense early. We are up 6-2 at the 15 minute mark.

At the 12 minute mark, Simon hurts his ankle :( :(


Adams comes in for Simon and starts dominating like he has never done before! First a slam off a pick and roll. Then a 12 footer, then a hook in the post. Before, I know it, he has 9 points. We are up 21-13 at the 8 minute mark.

With 6 minutes to go, Simon has been cleared to return as his ankle isjust slightly twisted and Adams is tiring. Our other starters return as well.

5 minute mark: We are up 26-18.


We enter halftime up 36-25.

Balanced scoring this game for us. Simon, Adams, Hannan, and Graves each have at least 7 points.

Simon is the player of the half. He has 7 points and 6 boards.


Up 44-30 at the 15 minute mark. Hannan's midrange game is heating up.


We are up 48-38 at the 10 minute mark.

With 6 minutes to go, they have closed the lead to 53-49. We get all of ou starters back into the game.


With 4:30 to go, they hit a 3 to take a 54-53 lead.

Hannan hits a 3 to end the run.

Simon with a block that starts a fastbreak that ends with a Hannan dunk!

They get a quick layup, but Hannan nails a 14 footer. 60-56.

Graves with a steal, passes to Everett who throws a perfect alley-oop to Hannan! 62-56.

Everett with a steal, throws it ahead to Graves who beats everyone down the court for a slamdunk.

With 1:30 left, they make it 64-58. We miss our next shot but they miss a 3. They have to start fouling.


We miss half our FT's, but they miss all of their 3's. We win 67-58.


Hannan is the player of the game. 24 points, 4 boards, 2 steals, and 1 turnover. He shot 8 of 17, 3 of 8, and 5 of 6.

Everett had 0 points, 5 assists, and 4 steals. He had 0 turnovers. He shot 0 of 3.

Graves had 10 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 4 of 10.

Cornette had 3 points and 9 boards.

Simon had 11 points, 11 boards, 2 assists, and a block. He shot 4 of 9.


Adams led the bench with 9 points.


That win cracks the 20 win mark! :)


We are now 20-6. We have 4 more regular season games left. Depending upon how interesting the draft is, I might get in our next game later today. We play Canisus at our place next. They are 7-18. We beat them 76-50 at their place a few weeks ago and I expect an easy win.

[Eaglesfan27]

I like playing the ABL games. Just this past offseason, I played the games with some of my recruits and found a C that fits perfectly in my system. Good inside player, rebounds well, and good potential. If it wasn't for the ABL, I wouldn't have found him.

Also, it helps to play with a recruit a bit to see if I feel they'd be successful with me. Sometimes, the rankings look good, but actually controlling them doesn't have the right feel.

Basically, I use the ABL the same way that I used the camps in CH2k7 when playing 3 on 2, 2 on 1: play with recruits and see who can shoot, who is quick and fast, and see who doesn't live up to the hype.

I agree that it is very useful for that. I'm just not as patient for it as I should be.. I'm too anxious to see my most recent recruits play. :)

[Eaglesfan27]

We start out down 9-8 at the 15 minute mark.


Down 18-16 at the 10 minute mark.

Down 28-26 with 5 minutes to go. Hannan and Graves have been our main scorers and they are now returning with good energy.


We go into the half, down 42-37.

Luber, their center, is the player of the half. He has 9 points, 5 boards, and 4 assists.

Hannan leads our team with 19 points, 2 boards, and 2 assists at the half.


We are down 55-50 with 10 minutes to go in the game. All of my starters are now needing to rest.


Down 65-56 with 5 minutes to go. This could be our most shocking loss of the year...

Everett, Graves, and Hannan are coming back onto the floor but Simon needs some rest.

I tried everything on defense, but we just couldn't stop their 3 point shooters.

They win the game 78-68.


Carter, their SG, is the player of the game with 21 points. He shot 3 of 8 from the arc and 8 of 15 overall.

Hannan was our leading scorer with 29 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 1 steal. He shot 10 of 16, 1 of 4, and 8 of 12.

Everett had 0 points and 4 assists.

Graves had 12 points, 3 assists, and 3 boards. He shot 4 of 14.

Cornette had 4 points, 10 boards, and 4 steals.

A hobbled Simon had 8 points, 8 boards, and an assist. He shot 4 of 10.


Collins led our bench with 6 points.


Our next game is at Manhattan who we beat at home earlier in the year, 56-47. They are now 13-12.

I'll play that tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

This game against Manhattan starts out very fast paced, we are up 14-12 at the 15 minute mark. Graves is on fire early, but their 3 point shooters are doing well.

At the 10 minute mark, we are up 24-18. Graves has 12 points already, but needs a rest. He has been on fire and I don't want to take him out.

At the 5 minute mark, we are up 33-21. Bowers came off the bench and hit 2 big 3's. Snow also hit a 3 during the stretch.


We enter halftime up 44-29.


Graves is the player of the half. He has 15 points, 1 board, and 1 steal.



At the 15 minute mark, we are up 54-39. Graves is still shooting very well. Hannan is having one of his worst games shooting, so we are relying on Graves.

At the 12 minute mark, Graves is exhausted. We turn to Snow off the bench. He hits his first 3 shots when we get him some open looks.

At the 10 minute mark, we are up 65-52.


At the 5 minute mark, we are up 80-64. Bowers hit 2 more 3's and Snow hit another 3.

We cruise to the victory 90-76.


Graves was the player of the game. 30 points, 3 boards, 2 steals. He had 3 turnovers. He sjpt 11 of 17, 6 of 10, and 2 of 3.

Everett had 3 points and 3 assists. He shot 1 of 1 from the arc.

Hannan had 9 points, 4 assists, 2 boards, and 2 turnovers. He shot 3 of 14, 1 of 5, and 2 of 4.

Cornette had 0 points, 3 boards, and 3 assists.

Simon had 9 points, 6 boards, and 1 block. He should be recovered from his ankle injury by our next game which is next week.


Snow led the bench with 14. Bowers had 12 all on 3's.


Our next game is hosting a dangerous Loyola team which has a strong overall talent level despite being 11-14.

[Eaglesfan27]

Cornette is the highlighted player before the game. I have so many talented players in my starting 5 right now :)


We are tied at 10 at the 15 minute mark.

At the 13 minute mark, Graves twists his ankle. Hopefully, it isn't serious :(

At the 12 minute mark, Hannan hurts his knee!

We are down 21-16 at the 10 minute mark.


With 7 minutes to go, Graves is cleared to return. It is a minor injury.

With 5:15 to go, Hannan is cleared to return. His is also a minor injury. :)


We are up 26-25 with 5 minutes left in the half.


Hannan's injury is not slowing him down much as he is having an explosive outburst in the last 5 minutes.. first a 3, then a dunk, then a steal and a dunk, then a 12 foot jumper.



We enter the half up 41-28.


Simon is the player of the half with 11 points and 7 boards.


We are up 47-30 at the 15 minute mark. Our defense has been suffocating them. :)

We are up 55-35 at the 10 minute mark.

With 5 minutes to go, we are up 63-43.


Once the injuries occurred, Simon took over the game. We win 76-55.

Simon is the player of the game with 23 points, 19 boards, 2 assists, 1 stela, and 2 blocks. He also had 4turnovers. The 23 points is a new career high. He shot 9 of 14 and 5 of 6 from the line.

Everett had 9 points, 5 assists, 3 steals and 0 turnovers. He shot 3 of 4.

Graves had 2 points, 6 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 1 of 11.

Hannan had 16 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and a steal. He shot 7 of 18, 1 of 5, and 1 of 5.

Cornette had 6 points, 13 boards, 4 assists, and a block. He shot 2 of 3.


Collins had 7 points off the bench. Bowers had 6.



We are now 22-7. Our next game is our final regular season, a game at Rider. They are 16-10. We beat them 62-53 at home earlier in the year.

[Eaglesfan27]

Hannan and Graves are both starting off cold. Maybe their minor injuries are effecting them more now. We are tied at 6 at the 15 minute mark with Simon scoring all 6 of our points (4 on putbacks and 2 on a designed play.)


With 10 minutes left, we are up 16-15.


We are down 25-24 with 5 minutes to go in the half. We get all of our starters back into the game with 4:55 to go.


At the half, we are up 36-32.


Simon is the player of the half with 10 points and 8 boards.


Tied at 40 with 15 minutes to go .

They work our backups during the 12-10 minute mark. We are down 53-47 with 10 minutes to go.

Down 55-49 with 7 minutes left, I get Graves and Hannan back into the game.

We are down 62-56 with 5 minutes to go when I get the rest of my starters back into the game.


Everything goes wrong in the last 5 minutes: Simon can't hit his shots. He gets an offensive interference for a putback slam. Graves seems to be missings shots due to his injury. He has another bad game. Hannan looks slow with his injury and he is missing his shots.

We lose 70-58 as they finish us off with a 16-2 run.


Barnett, their SG, was the player of the game. He had 23 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and 3 steals. He shot 8 of 16.


Simon led us with 12 points, 11 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 6 of 13.

Graves and Hannan each had 11 points. Graves was 4 of 16, Hannan was 4 of 12.

Everett had 5 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals.

Cornette had 6 points, 7 boards, and 2 assists.


Collins had 6 points and Ortiz had 5 to lead the bench.



We end the regular season 22-8 and the MAAC regular season champions!

Time for a look at the stat leaders.

[Eaglesfan27]

MAAC PPG Leaders:

1. Hannan 20.4 ppg
2. C P. Channing, Saint Peter's 17.8
3. C J. Melvin, Ion 17.4
4. C Mark Hazel, Manhattan 17.3
5. C Maury Kragel, Manhattan 17.2

I guess centers still are dominating scoring. Let's look nationally.

National Scoring Leaders:

1. C Quinton McDaniel, Davidson 24.6 ppg
2. C Henry Jefferson, Southern Methodist 24.5 ppg
3. C Andy Diagne, West Virginia 24.3 ppg
4. PF Orien Varem, Northwestern 23.5
5. PF Attarrius Fontenet, Sacred Heart 23.4

14 of the top 15 are PF's or Center with 1 SG in there. :( Oh well, it is still a great game.

Hannan's 20.4 ranks him 21st in the nation.

USC's guard that started off the year strong dropped down to 18.9 ppg.


National Rebounds per game:

1. Simon 13.6
2. PF Dameon Zamore, Gardner-Webb 10.8
3. C Francis Bozovic, Austin Peay 10.1
4. C Daron Marsh, Monmouth 10. (also has great scoring numbers.. I wonder if he'll take the Mid Major award away from Hannan)
5. C Phil Lawson, Oakland 10


Assists:

1. Zack Holman, Manhattan (nice to see another MAAC player doing well nationally) 7.3
2. Ahmet Morgan, Memphis 6
3. Fabrice Alford, Arkansas 6
4. Nic Moody, Cleveland State 6
5. 5 tied at 5.9


Team Starter's Complete Stats:

Everett finishes the year with an average of 8.6 ppg (his lowest year yet), 4.7 apg (up 1.1 from last year, but down 1.3 from when he had Andres and Santos), 1.8 spg (a career high), and 0.8 rpg.

Graves finished the regular season averaging 15.6 ppg (up 2.4 ppg from last year), 2.4 rpg, 1.6 apg, and 1.3 spg.

Hannan finishes the regular season averaging 20.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.3 apg, and 1.4, and 0.4 bpg in 27.2 mpg.

Cornette finishes the regular season averaging 5.7 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.8 spg, and 0.9 bpg.

Simon finishes the year averaging 8.6 ppg, 13.6 rpg, 2.2 apg, 0.9 spg, and 1.4 bpg.


Collins led the bench with 6 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 0.5 apg, and 0.5 spg. He played the most minutes off the bench averaging just under 14 mpg.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our first MAAC Tourney opponent is Fairfield. We beat them 75-66 and 77-72 earlier in the year. They beat Canisus 62-61 to advance to play us after we got our 1st round bye. If we beat them, we'll play either Marist or Saint Peter's. We have Graves completely healthy for this game, but Hannan's knee is still bothering him.

I'll play the game either later today or next weekend.

[Eaglesfan27]

Mrs. E has a headache, so I have the time to get a game in tonight now that the playoff games that I want to see are over.

Time to play Fairfield in the 2nd round of the MAAC Tourney.

We are likely getting into the Big Dance no matter what we do in the MAAC, but our team is taking nothing for granted. Despite Hannan's injury, we play our best basketball in the first 5 minutes that we have played all year.

At the 15 minute mark, we are up 11-0 with Everett, Graves, and Hannan leading the way offensively.


10:51 left, we are up 18-8 and all of my starters are getting a breather.


Our subs play SO well that they get to stay in until there are only 4 minutes left. We are now up 39-16! Collins had 15 points during the 7 minutes.


We enter halftime with a 47-20 lead! :)

We are doing everything well.


Collins is the player of the half. He has 15 points, 2 boards, and a steal in just 7 minutes. He shot 5 of 7, 2 of 5, and 3 of 3 in the first half.

Hannan has 13, Graves and Everett each have 7. Everett also has 5 assists in the 1st half.


In the 2nd half, our defense is much less intense and the team is making careless mistakes, but the offense is still hitting shots. We are up 70-45 with 10 minutes to go. I pull all of my starters except for Simon. If our bench does well again, the starters won't come back into the game.


Our offense has gone ice cold and they are getting too close for comfort. 72-56 with 4 minutes to go, so I get our starters back into the game.

Hannan hits a 15 footer to end their 8-0 run. After a defensive stop, he hit a 12 footer to extend the lead back to 20.


We win the game 79-59.

Hannan is the player of the game. 27 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. He shot 10 of 15, 4 of 6, and 3 of 7.


Everett had 12 points, 10 assists, 3 steals, 1 board, and 2 turnovers. He shot 5 of 8.

Graves had 17 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and a turnover. He shot 6 of 14, 5 of 12, and 0 of 0.

Cornette had 0 points and 5 boards.

Simon had 2 points, 15 boards, and 2 blocks.


Collins had 15 points. He ended up shooting 5 of 13.

Waters had 5 points and 4 assists in 13 minutes off the bench.



Saint Peter's beat Marist 82-63 to advance to the Conference Semi-Final.

Rider and Loyola will be playing in the other semi-final.


Before the game, Donte Snow, Reyshawn Ortiz, and Bogans come into my office to tell me they are unhappy with their lack of PT. Talk about poor timing. I've had to give Snow 5 pep talks this year as he really hates not getting more PT. I have a feeling he is going to transfer after the season.


I'll play Saint Peter's later this week (assuming I can tear myself away from GTA IV for a bit. I think I can, but only because I enjoy this game so much ;))

[Eaglesfan27]

Player Development Update:

I'm not sure if it is the tourney, or if it was just time, but a bunch of guys have improved their game. Overall improvement:

Everett is now plus 1 and at 73 overall.

Graves is now plus 2 (was plus 1) and a 78 overall.

Hannan finally gained a plus 1.. I wonder if he will hit that potential. He went up in a whole bunch of areas including a point in 3 point shooting. He is now a 71 overall.

Simon has gained plus 1 and is now a 72 overall.

Snow is a plus 1 and is now a 77 overall.

Waters is a plus 1 and is now a 72 overall.

Ortiz is a plus 1 and is now a 70 overall.

Adams is now a plus 1 and is 70 overall.

Bogans is plus 1 and 68 overall.

Boiwers is plus and 67 overall.

Meeking is plus 2 and 69 overall.

Beachem is plus 2 and 57 overall.

[Eaglesfan27]

Graves is the featured player against Saint Peter's according to the announcers.

Despite this, it is Chatman, their SG, that scores the first 7 points of the game.

We respond with 4 points before they go on another 8-0 run. They have a much higher team unity, and I can't help but wonder if it is helping them right now.


We are down 18-9 at the 10 minute mark.


Our subs are doing a great job of getting us into the game. 25-22 at the 5 mintue mark, all powered by our subs.


With 1:23 to go, Everett to Hannan in the lane for 2 and the foul for a chance to tie it at 33, but Hannan misses the FT.


We are down 38-32 at the half.


Channing, their SF, is the player of the half. He has 11 points, 3 steals, 1 assist, and 1 board.


Hannan leads our team with 6 points and 6 boards.

Snow and Huffman each have 5.


Our offense starts the 2nd half ice cold as our 2 big stars just aren't making shots :(


We are down 54-38 at the 10 minute mark.


Down 60-46 with 5 minutes to go. My starters are coming back to try to pull off the big comeback.

We can't close the gap. We lose 66-52.


A disappointing loss. I think we should make the tourney, but now we need to sweat it out.

Everett had 7 points and 2 assists. He shot 3 of 8.

Graves had 5 points and 2 boards. He shot 2 of 14.

Hannan had 8 points and 8 boards. He shot 4 of 14.

Cornette had 1 point and 4 boards. He shot 1 of 6.

Simon had 6 points, 13 boards, and a block. He shot 3 of 10.


Collins led the bench with 8. Snow had 5.

[Eaglesfan27]

Time for Selection Sunday:


We are listed as being on the bubble during the listing of the top 10 bubble teams :(


Other bubble teams:

Nebraska (22-11)
Niagara (23-9)
Missouri (19-12)

Among a few other big names.


The #1's


Florida (30-4), Temple (30-2), Oklahoma State (26-6), and Georgetown (28-6).


East Regional Interesting Matchups:


#8 Xavier (24-8) vs #9 Stanford (21-10)
#6 Pitt (21-11) vs #11 Cal Poly (23-7)
#7 Memphis (22-9) vs #10 Nebraska (22-11)


Interesting South Matchups:

#8 Rutgers (20-10) vs #9 Texas Tech (20-10)
#5 LSU (22-11) vs #12 George Mason (21-13)
#4 Louisville (25-10) vs #13 Ball State (25-6)
#7 Oregon (20-11) vs #10 Missouri (19-12)


Interesting Midwest Matchups:

#8 Duke (20-10) vs #9 Virginia (19-11)
#5 USC (22-9) vs BYU (19-13)

WE ARE IN!!! We play #7 Seton Hall (20-11) as we got a 10 seed!


Interesting West Matchups:

#8 Miami (20-11) vs #9 Utah (23-10)
#5 Mississippi State (24-10) vs #12 Rider (21-10)
#6 Tennessee (21-10) vs #11 Arizona State (19-15)
#7 Michigan (22-9) vs #10 Saint Louis (22-9)



I'll play our game vs Seton Hall later today.

[Eaglesfan27]

Hannan is now completely healthy which should help us against Seton Hall. In fact, our entire roster is healthy.


Seton Hall has a talented team lead by star SG Louis Erickson. The 6'5 215 pound player is a dynamic slasher who can also reliably hit the 3 or midrange jumper. Hugh Santos, a 6'8 210 pound SF, is their other primary star. He is an all-around player who excels at defense. Arnold Byerson is a very good PF, and Rudolph Dearmon is an exceedingly fast PG who can outrace Everett. Their only weakness is at center where we have a clear advantage. Besides having the talent advantage at 4 out of 5 starting positions, they have insane chemistry. Their team unity is a 96 (highest I've ever seen.)

[Eaglesfan27]

Tied at 10 at the 15 minute mark.


At the 10:18 mark, Hannan draws a 2nd foul on Byrson.


Down 20-17 at the 10 minute mark. My starters need a rest.


While my subs are in, they take a huge lead. Their bench is much better than ours is. 38-25 with 4 minutes left when I finally get the starters back into the game.


Turnovers are killing us today as their length and quickness is generating a ton of steals.

Hannan with a dunk and the foul to end the half. We are down 48-35.


Hannan is the only player scoring consistently for us. He has 18 points. No one else has more than 5. Santos leads them with 14.


We've turned it over 10 times at the half. They have only turned it over 4 times.

10 minute mark, they are up 76-54. They are just shooting too well.

They are red hot in the 2nd half, and we just cannot keep up. They win 96-72.

Dearmon had 12 points and 10 assists for them. Erickson had 21 points, Santos finished with 22 points, and Amous off the bench had 14.

Hannan led us with 21 points, 5 boards, and a block. He shot 5 of 13, 2 of 4, and 9 of 11.

Everett had 14 points, 4 assists.

Graves had 4 points, 3 boards, and 3 assists. He was 1 of 12. Bad time for him to go into a shooting slump.

Cornette had 10 points and 10 boards as did Simon.

[Eaglesfan27]

Sweet 16 Matchups:

East:

#1 Florida vs #5 Iowa State
#3 Ohio State vs #7 Memphis

West:

#8 Miami vs #12 Rider (go MAAC!)
#6 Tenn vs #2 Washington

South:

#1 Temple vs #4 Louisville
#2 Marlyand vs #3 UNLV


Midwest:

#1 Oklahoma State vs #4 Florida State
#2 Arizona vs #3 Michigan State

After beating us, Seton Hall lost to Arizona 100-82 in the 2nd game.

[Eaglesfan27]

Florida beat Iowa State 90-64.
Memphis beat Ohio State 84-78.

#1 Florida beat Memphis 68-64 to advance to the Final Four.


Miami beat Rider 80-57.
Tennessee beat Washington 100-96.

#8 Miami beat Tennessee 78-77 to advance to the Final Four.


Louisville beat Temple 82-80.
Maryland beat UNLV 82-72.

#2 Maryland beat Louisville 84-69 to advance to the Final Four.


Oklahoma State beat Florida State 76-66.
Michigan State beat Arizona 68-64.

#1 Oklahoma State beat Michigan State 85-73 to advance to the Final Four.



In the Final Four:

Florida beat Miami 99-73.
Maryland beat Oklahoma State 71-67.

In the National Championship Game:

#1 Florida beat #2 Maryland 95-76. Florida was led by 32 points from their junior star PF. They also got 20 from their SG and 18 from their SF.

[Eaglesfan27]

Andy Diagne, A Center for WVU, won the Player of the Year. He is rated 90 overall. He averaged 25.4 ppg and 7.2 rpg along with 1.7 bpg.

Jean Al-Sayyad from Santa Clara took the Mid-Major Player Award from Hannan :( He averaged 22.1 ppg and 5.7 rpg.

WOW! In a shock to me, DeShaun Simon is named the national defensive player of the year. I guess the formula heavily factors defensive boards into the equation. His averages were 8.3 ppg, 13.5 rpg, 0.9 spg, and 1.4 bpg.

[Eaglesfan27]

T.J. Hannan was named the National Freshman of the Year!!! He finished with an average of 20.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.2 apg, and 1.4 spg.

He was on the All-American Freshman Team.


Hannan was also named the MAAC Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year.

Hannan and Simon were 1st team all-MAAC.

Graves was 2nd team all-MAAC.

Hannan and Cornette were both All-Freshman MAAC team.

[Eaglesfan27]

Now onto departures:

Snow has left the team via transfer :(

I expected Snow to do so. Much worse is the unexpected departure as C Jerome Adams has also chosen to leave the team via transfer :(

Bogans has graduated and this leaves my depth at center and inside precariously thin again :(

Meeking has also graduated.




As far as job openings:


North Carolina is available as they have fired their coach! However, I'm not even on their short list. They hire the coach from Ohio State.


The best job I get offered is San Diego which is in the WCC. Even with the departures, there is too much talent on this team to leave for essentially a lateral move. I pass it up.


Despite having scholarships available, no one wants to transfer to our team :(

Snow chose to transfer to SD State.

Adams went to the CAA and Delaware.




We do get some good news as Gilson Willis has chosen to sign with Niagara! Gilson is a 6'7 207 pound PF (who will probably play SF for us) who is ranked 106 overall and 12th among PF's. He is a 3 star player from Toledo, OH. He is reportedly a good shooter with some athleticism. He reportedly has excellent potential.

[Eaglesfan27]

In week 2 of offseason recruiting, Mr. Basketball in Maryland signs with Maryland. Not surprising that we lost him. I'm now pursuing a JC C to provide some depth down low as well as a SG that might fit in better as a backup shooter.


In week 3, we sign a reach player who I'm hoping we get lucky on since we didn't get any transfer players...

Vitor Ziri is a 6'8 234 pound JC PF with some athleticism who can rebound. He is from Philly. He is a 3 star unranked player.


I miss out on on the 2 SG's I wanted as a replacement for Snow, so we turn very far away.. to China. I'm scouting a 6'3 SG from China now and trying to convince him to come to Niagara. This is a risky move as well, but if he doesn't pan out, we have more than enough depth to not play him.


In week 4 of offseason recruiting, we get Mamery Clifford from Chicago to sign with Niagara. He is a 6'10 250 pound (quite a bit bigger than Adams) JC FR C who is a 3 star player. His strengths are his post defense and shot blocking.


In the last week of recruiting, we get Chen Li from China to sign with us. We don't know a lot about him. I can't wait to get him on campus and see what he can do. The scouting report we have compiled so far from the limited video tape suggests that he is athletic and a skilled offensive player. He is 6'3 192 pounds.

That completes our recruiting class which was 2 players bigger than expected due to those transfers.

[Eaglesfan27]

Top 10 recruiting classes:

1. Maryland
2. Duke
3. Florida
4. Oregon
5. USC (Darn, I need them to eventually have a fall if I'm going to get the job.)
6. Arizona
7. Florida State
8. Stanford
9. Auburn
10. California

[Eaglesfan27]

A brief roster summary after the offseason:

PG Everett Huffman is now a senior. He gained another point during the offseason and is now rated 74 overall. Should be a reliable 3 point shooter. He is now 5'10 200 pounds but still very quick.

PG Gus Waters didn't gain at all during the summer, but he did gain some size. He is now 5'10 160. He is rated 72 overall.

SG Nate Graves didn't improve at all during the offseason. However, he is the best player overall on the team with an overall of 78. A streaky shooter with poor consistency who is more of a slasher.

SG Chen Li isn't as good as I hoped upon arriving, but he isn't terrible. He is rated 66 overall. He is afair 3 point shooter and a good passer for an offguard, but is a mess defensively. I'll probably redshirt him.

SG Laurie Beachem is now rated 58 overall. Won't play this year.

SF Friedrich Collins is interesting. He put on another 12 pounds and is now 6'5 247. Despite that weight, he is a quick player with a good midrange shot. Streaky from outside the arc. Fair defender. Gained another point of overall and is now rated 75 overall.

Hannan remained the same size, but he gained 2 points of overall talent and improved every part of his game. In particular, he focused on his defense which has really improved. He is now rated 73 overall.

Reyshawn Ortiz is now 6'5 188 and he gained a point of overall talent. The junior becomes the #1 backup option at SG with Snow gone.

Stephen Robinson - Walkon Senior who won't play. Rated 58 overall.


Whitney Cornette has gained some height and worked on his game. The sophomore is now 6'10 225. He has gained 2 points of overall talent. His 3 point shooting in particular has improved as has shot blocking and rebounding.

True Freshman Gilson Willis is a solid player who should contribute some right away with Bogans having graduated, he will be the #1 option at backup PF. Willis is rated 70 overall. He is now 6'8 215. His 3 point shooting and rebounding are both better than expected according to our staff. He also is an accomplished dunker.

Alfonso Bowers is now 6'8 245. He gained a point of overall and is now 68 overall. His strength remains his 3 point shooting. Will mostly play SF unless foul trouble pushes him into the PF spot.

Vitor Ziri is 6'8 240 and is rated 67 overall. His rebounding is much weaker than expected, but his shooting, particularly his 3 point shooting is better than expected. He is also a great dunker.


Deshaun Simon is now a junior and he continues to pack on the weight. He has gained 15 more pounds! He is now 7'1 306 pounds! He also gained a point of overall talent. His rebounding is off the charts, particularly his offensive board wr. His shot blocking improved the most during the offseason.

Mamery Clifford is now 6'11 259 pounds. He'll be the #1 backup center. The sophomore is a better offensive inside scorer than Simon so that may get him some minutes when we are struggling to score. He is also a VERY good shot blocker according to our staff as well as an above average rebounder! :) He is rated 68 overall with his weaknesses behind that he can't shoot outside of 4 feet, he tends to foul out quickly, and he has poor stamina, and speed.


Everett Huffman and 2 walkons are the only seniors, so I only have 1 scholarship available to recruit with this year.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our first game is at James Madison of the CAA. We are favored against them even on the road. I'll probably play that later tonight. If not, I'll play it tomorrow.

During the early recruiting, I'm focusing on a 5 star SG (who I think could play the PG position as well) who I know we probably have no chance at all, but he is a considered to be a very local kid as he lives in Toronto, so I'm taking a chance on him. He is the 17th overall rated player and 5th among SG's. He is 6'6 210 pounds with great ball handlings skills and a terrific shot. Kurt Songcuacy has us as his #1 school right now, but I just doubt that will last...

Other schools competing for him include: Maryland, WVU, UConn, Pitt, and UVA. His top 3 priorities: Feeling wanted, playing at a big program :(, and getting good coaching.

[Eaglesfan27]

Thoughts as we enter the first game:

- Team unity took a small hit with those defections, but should be getting high by the end of the year. It's starting much higher than it did last year.

- I think Adams leaving is a blessing in disguise. This backup center is a shot blocker unlike any I've ever had at Niagara. He looks great at sending it back in practice.

- Hannan looks more dangerous than ever in practice. He seems to be even faster and his shot is falling more consistently. I expect him to up last year's numbers.

- I need to keep my bench players more happy. Our bench guys are good. They'll get a few more minutes on average each game this year - particularly if we are winning easily. I guess they might drive down Hannan's numbers a bit.

We should easily beat James Madison whose best player is their power forward. I'm expecting Cornette to play well against him.

[RPI-Fan]

What do you have your defensive & offensive awareness #'s at for CPU and human? Most of my settings seem pretty similar to your's, now, but I tried going 60/60 and 50/50 (human/CPU) for defensive awareness & offensive awareness and jsut coudln't handle it. I'm at 70/50 and 50/50 now and it seems a lot better, but I wonder if that's "cheating"?

[Eaglesfan27]

I don't think it's "cheating." Everyone has to find what works for them. I have offensive awareness at 50 for both sides and for the past season or so, I've gone with 70 for human defensive awareness and 60 for CPU defensive awareness. I find that I have to be really carefully around ballhawks (that is a big part of what killed me early against Seton Hall.)

[Eaglesfan27]

We start out with a very high pace and both sides raining 3's. 15-12, we lead at the 15 minute mark.


We are up 24-18 with 12:45 to go, when we sub out Hannan who has 14 already. Willis also gets his first court time of his career and promptly gets a steal within his first minute.

A minute later we get Clifford into the game as well as Waters so that our entire our 2nd team is out there. We are up 26-20.


When we get our starters back into the game, we are up 32-28. 5:33 to go in the half.


We are up 46-36 at the half.


Hannan is the player of the half. He has 15 points.

Up 56-43 at the 15 minute mark.


We are up 70-53 with 10 minutes to go. My starters sit down to rest, possibly for the rest of the game...


Our bench finishes out the game as Collins provides consistent scoring down the stretch to maintain our lead.


We win the game 82-70.


Hannan is the player of the game. Despite only playing 22 minutes, he had 30 points and 2 boards. He shot 10 of 17, 7 of 10 from the arc, and 3 of 4 from the line.

In 24 minutes, Everett had 18 points and 8 assists. If he can become a consistent 2nd option, that would make us so much more dangerous come tourney time. I think he is ready to do that since he is a senior.. He shot 5 of 7 all from the arc.

Graves had 6 points, 2 assists, 2 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 3 of 9.

Cornette had 3 points and 5 boards.

In 24 minutes, Simon had 6 points, 8 boards, and 2 assists.


In 18 minutes off the bench, Collins had 15 points and 2 boards.

Willis was the star of the true freshman group with 7 boards, 3 assists, and a steal.

Clifford played 16 minutes, but he didn't block any shots. He had 2 points and 2 boards.

Our next game is at home against Princeton (this was the autogenerated schedule that I didn't touch at all this year.) We should blow Princeton out. I'll play that tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

A very strong start as we are dominating Princeton on both ends. 13-2 at the 15 minute mark.


At the 10 minute mark, we are up 24-9. I get my starters a break.


We put our starters back in with 3 minutes to go in the half. We are up 31-15.


We're up 33-19 at the half.

Hannan is the player of the half with 9 points and 1 assist.


A huge first 5 minutes as both sides are they are trying a full court press which Everett is usually breaking for easy quick baskets. 50-26 at the 15 minute mark.


Up 67-38, I pull my starters with 10 minutes left. We did a good job of spreading the scoring around this game.



We win the game 77-51.


Hannan is the player of the game. 16 points, 3 boards, 2 steals, and 2 assists. He shot 6 of 11, 2 of 4, and 2 of 3.


Nice balanced scoring:

14 points for Everett along with 6 assists and 2 steals. He shot 7 of 9.

Graves had 14 points, 3 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 4 of 12.

Simon had 12 points, 9 boards, and 3 steals. He shot 4 of 6 and 4 of 5 from the line

Cornette had 4 points, 10 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, and a block.

Waters had 8 points and 2 boards from the bench in 16 minutes.

Clifford was the other bench leader with 6 points and 7 boards. Still no blocked shots, but he did contribute to multiple misses inside.


Our next game is at home vs Navy. They are a weak team that we should destroy.

[Eaglesfan27]

Graves is the highlighted player this pre-game.

Simon has 7 inches and 100 pounds on their starting center!


Navy is hanging with us early. 11-10 at the 15 minute mark, we lead.


With 9:24 left in the half, we are up 22-13. I give my starters a rest.

I wish this game had a server to upload videos. I just had an amazing steal fastbreak 2-on-1 alley-oop in which Waters laid it up for Ortiz who threw it down so gracefully yet powerfully. Great play. Our home crowd is going wild. We are up 26-13.


We are up 32-15 with 4 minutes to go when our starters return.



We are leading 36-18 at the half.


Hannan is the player of the half with 13 points, 3 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal.


Once I get my final starter into double digits, I decide to pull my starters. We are up 67-26 with 9:46 to go.


We win the game 81-37.


Hannan is the player of the game. He finishes with 17 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 5 of 15, 1 of 5, and 6 of 9.


I'm now very happy that Adams left. Clifford had a great put back slam and he got his first block. He is clearly a more dynamic player than Adams with more height and bulk and I think he makes us immediately better.

All of our starters played 25 minutes.

Everett had 11 points, 3 boards, 4 assists, and 6 steals. He shot 3 of 10.

Graves had 9 points, 5 assists, 2 boards, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 4 of 8. Oops, I guess I didn't get all of my starters into double digits after all.

Cornette had 10 points, 13 boards, and a block. He shot 4 of 7.

Simon had 10 points, 11 boards, and a steal. He shot 5 of 10.

Willis, the most touted of my recruits, had 12 points, 7 boards, and an assist in just 15 minutes. He shot 5 of 7 including 2 of 3 from the arc. He also had a great dunk.

Clifford had 6 points, 5 boards, and a block as the other leader off the bench.



We are now 3-0. Our next game is at home against Albany. That is another game that we should easily win. I'll play that later today.


Early Development Update:


Graves, Waters, and Clifford have all gained a point overall already. Graves is now a 79, Waters a 73, and Clifford is a 69.

[Eaglesfan27]

Simon was the featured player in the pre-game show. He has 5 inches and 70 pounds on his man.

At the 15 minute mark, we are up 7-2.

We are up 9-4 when I sub out our starters with 12:20 to go in the half.


The bench plays great. We are up 22-10 with 5 minutes to go when my starters come back into the game.


We are up 36-22 at the half.


Hannan is the player of the half with 8 points and 5 boards.


We couldn't get Cornette into double digits as he missed his shots, but everyone else leaves the game with double digits and a big lead. Up 73-44 with 10 minutes to go.



We win the game 98-55 as the subs were great in finishing it out. Willis is the real deal. The kid can shoot the ball very well and will be a big part of the 2nd string offense this year.

Hannan was the player of the game. He had 15 points, 7 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He shot 4 of 11, 1 of 4, and 6 of 7.

Everett had 14 points and 5 assists. He shot 5 of 6.

Graves had 14 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 6 of 11.

Cornette had 3 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, and 1 block. He shot 1 of 7.

Simon had 14 points, 12 boards, 2 assists, and a steal. He shot 7 of 10.


Collins led the bench in scoring with 14 points, but Willis was the star. Willis had 12 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 5 of 7, 1 of 2, and 1 of 3.

Ortiz also played well with 5 points, 5 boards, and 4 assists.

Clifford played 17 minutes and had 6 points, 4 boards, and a block.


I like our automatic generated schedule. Nice irony now as we travel to play Seton Hall ;) Of course, they aren't nearly as good as they were last year. They've lost several seniors and their unity is lower and their talent level is lower. In fact, we are close to their equal in overall team talent rating.

[Eaglesfan27]

Today, we play at Seton Hall. They aren't much more talented than we are and their team chemistry is horrible as they are starting 4 freshman who have only played 2 games together.


Down 11-4 at the 15 minute mark, but we quickly have a 7-0 run to make it 11-11 by the 12 minute mark.


Once my starters leave, their subs overpower us. We are down 31-23 with 6:20 to go when I get some starters back into the game.

Disappointing first half. We are down 50-35 as they trapped the last 10 minutes of the first half turning it into a turnover fest as well as a fastbreak fest.


Gourde, their PG, is the player of the half with 11 points and 5 assists.


Hannan leads our team with 9 points, 3 boards, and 3 turnovers.


In the 2nd half it gets very ugly.

We get blown out 101-72.


Hannan led the team with 18 points, 3 boards, and 5 turnovers. He shot 7 of 17.

Everett had 3 points, 4 assists, and 2 turnovers. He shot 1 of 6.

Graves had 14 points on 5 of 15 shooting. He also had 1 board, 1 assist, and 1 steal.

Cornette had 4 points, 5 boards, and a block.

Simon had 10 points, 13 boards, and a block.


Collins had 7 points off the bench.

Willis had 6 points and a board off the bench.

Clifford had 5 points and 3 boards.



We are now 4-1. Our next game is in a tourney, the Liberty Bell Classic. Our first game in the tourney is against Coppin State who we are expected to blow out.

[Eaglesfan27]

A much better start against this weak team. Up 8-0 at the 15 minute mark.

We are up 20-5 at the 10 minute mark.


Up 27-15 with 5 minutes to go when we get our starters back into the game.



We go into halftime up 38-17.


Hannan is the player of the half. Great defense by him today and he has 18 points, 2 boards, and 2 steals.


We did have a 28 point lead at one point, but sloppy play lets them close it to within 56-37 with 8 minutes to go. I've pulled my starters planning on them to stay out, but if they get it within 15, the starters will come back in once they are rested.


They do eventually close within 15, but it is with 33 seconds left.


We win the game 61-47.


Hannan is the player of the game with 24 points, 5 boards, 2 steals, and 2 assists. He shot 9 of 23, 4 of 13, 2 of 2.

Everett had 0 points and 6 assists. He shot 0 of 8.

Graves had 10 points and 2 assists. He shot 4 of 15.

Corentte had 4 points and 16 boards.

Simon had 8 points, 17 boards, and 3 assists.


Willis and Clifford each had 5 points and 5 boards off the bench.



Our next opponent in the Liberty Bell Classic is St. Francis, NY. Assuming that we beat them, we'll be playing the winner of Duke-Seton Hall in the Tourney Final.

I'll play that game later today or tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

Not the start I expected against St. Francis, NY. We are only up 6-5 at the 15 minute mark.

However, we start making shots and quickly pull ahead 16-6 by the 11 minute mark when I give my starters a break.

They started to close the gap, but Ortiz responded with 5 straight points and we are up 25-15 with 5 minutes to go.


At the half, we are up 33-23. Our shooters aren't making too many shots, but our defense has been superb.

Hannan is the player of the half with 7 points, 3 assists, 1 board, 1 steal, and a block.


A brilliant second half by Hannan as he comes out on fire in the first 10 minutes.. he is setting up baskets, making baskets, and playing great defense. We pull our starters with 7 minutes left and a 67-36 lead.


We win the game 79-41. We were expected to blow them out and did so.

Hannan was the player of the game. 23 points, 6 boards, 5 assists, 3 steals, and a block. He shot 10 of 21, 1 of 8, and 2 of 2.

Everett had 4 points and 6 assists.

Graves had 16 points, 2 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 7 of 18.

Coprnette had 8 points and 12 boards.

Simon had 6 points, 15 boards, and 2 blocks.


Ortiz led the bench with 9 points.

Willis had 6 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals in just 15 minutes.


I thought I played the winner of the other Liberty Bell Classic bracket, but it doesn't appear to be the case. Oh well. Duke beat Seton Hall 86-60, so if I do play the winner at some point, it will be them.


Our next game is a previously scheduled game at Saint Francis, PA. We are expected to blow them out as well. They are 1-3. We are now 6-1. I'll play that tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

Hannan and Graves have been excellent the first 9 minutes. Up 19-9 over St. Francis, PA.


Up 28-18 at the 5 minute mark as our subs did well.


We enter halftime up 41-28.


Hannan is the player of the half: 16 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and 2 steals.


Up 61-40 at the 10 minute mark.


Up 66-44 with 5 minutes to go and all subs finishing it out.


We win the game 74-54.


Hannan is the player of the game: 26 points, 6 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 9 of 15, 1 of 4, and 7 of 9.

Everett had 10 points, 4 assists, and 1 turnover. He shot 4 of 5.

Graves had 10 points, 1 board, and 1 assist. He shot 3 of 9.

Cornette had 6 points and 6 boards.

Simon had 4 points, 12 boards, and a block.


waters had 6 points in 15 minutes.

Ortiz had 5 points.

Willis had 4 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block in just 17 minutes. I think he is going to be a great player when he becomes a starter despite being undersized. If he grows an inch or two and puts on a bit of weight and keeps his shooting touch, he'll definitely be a great player.


The early signing period has just started. We have no chance of getting our 5 star Toronto kid to sign early, but we are in the lead for him!


Our next game is our first league game. It is at 5-2 Manhattan. Their record has been inflated by pushovers and they are one of the weakest teams in the league talentwise. We should beat them without much trouble.

[Eaglesfan27]

Up 9-7 over Manhattan at the 15 minute mark as Graves has been our early leader.

Hannan scores the next 5 points to make it 14-7.

Up 23-14 at the 10 minute mark. Graves and Hannan have been great.


Our bench is crushing them. At the 5 minute mark, it is 34-18.


We go into halftime up 46-23.


Hannan is the player of the half with 11 points, 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block.

Graves also has 11 points.


With a 68-34 lead at the 10 minute mark, I pull my starters.


Bowers is great in garbage time, earning himself more PT in the regular rotation. 90-51 win.


Hannan is the player of the game: 21 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 7 of 13, 1 of 2, and 6 of 8.

Everett had 5 poiints, 3 asssist, and 4 turnovers. He shot 1 of 3. He also had 1 steal and 1 block.

Graves had 15 points, 4 boards, and an assist. He shot 4 of 11.

Cornetted had 6 points, 5 boards, and 3 steals.

Simon had 8 points, 17 boards, 2 assists, and 2 blocks.


Waters with 7 points and 4 assists in 17 minutes.

Ortiz with 6 points and 5 boards in 17 minutes.

Clifford with 2 points and 9 boards in 15 minutes.

Bowers with 18 points and 2 boards in 16 minutes. He shot 6 of 7 including 3 of 4 from the arc. He hadn't played in our last 3 games, but he will be the primary backup SF now..



We are now 8-1. Our next game is at home against 4-3 Marist. They are a very talented team that is equal to us in overall talent level.

[Eaglesfan27]

Time to get back to this :)


Our team looks ready and the announcers think Everett is going to have a big game.

Chey Noel will be a tough matchup for Everett.


Up 8-2 at the 15 minute mark with Hannan doing all of our early scoring.

We are up 16-13 at the 10 minute mark. My starters get a break. Hannan has 14 points so far.


Tied at 24 with 4 minutes to go when I get my starters back into the game.


At the half, we are up 32-26. They are shooting much better overall, but we are 8 of 14 from the arc with Hannan, Graves, and Everett all contributing from outside the arc.

Hannan with 14 points at the half is the player of the half. He also has 1 assist.


Up 46-44 with 12 minutes to go and my starters are tired.


Up 53-50 with 6:30 to go as I get my starters back in for the stretch run except for Simon who needs a rest now


Up 59-58 with 1:28 to go and Graves draws a foul in the lane. He hits both FT's. The crowd is going crazy.

Everett with a steal, but Graves misses an open 3. They get a fastbreak and we have to foul. They make both FT's to make it 61-60.

We work it down to 3 and Everett shots a 16 footer which he misses.

14 seconds left... they work it down the court.. a 14 foot jumper with Hannan in the man's face with 3 seconds left.. it clanks off the rim! Cornette with the board as time expires :)


We win 61-60.


Hannan was the player of the game even though he had a cold 2nd half. He finioshed with 18 points, 2 assists, and a board. He shot 5 of 13, 4 of 10, and 4 of 4.

Graves had 16 points, 1 board, 1 steal, and 1 block. He shot 5 of 10.

Everett had 4 points, 7 assists, and 3 steals.

Cornette had 5 points, 10 boards, and a block which is exactly what Simon had.

Collins led the bench with 7 points and Bowers had 5.


Our next game is a non-conference game against 20th ranked St. Louis. They have a significant talent advantage over us. They are 6-2 on the year so far.

[Eaglesfan27]

I just lost a long post due to my clumsy fingers on the keyboard which somehow deleted it before I could hit post reply.

Anyway, St. Louis just was too good defensively and had too much firepower. Hannan scored well down the stretch, but we couldn't stop them from scoring. We did close to 69-63 at one point with 1:30 to go, but they win it 76-66.


Hannan finished with 19 points, 6 boards, 1 ssist, 1 steal, and 2 turnovers. He shot 7 of 12, 3 of 3, and 2 of 2.

Everett had 5 points, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 4 turnovers. He shot 0 of 2.

Graves had 17 points on 5 of 12 shooting, 2 of 6, and 5 of 6.

orentte had 4 points and 7 boards.

Simon had 3 points and 9 boards.


Also, I posted that before the game, I decided to change fatigue slightly as most slider sets on OS have it upped a bit and I noticed that 4 of my guys are on pace to lead the conference in minutes despite 3 of them having average stamina at best. I just upped it to 53.


Ortiz led our bench with 8 points.

Their PG, SG, and C each had 15 points to lead their team in scoring.


We are now 9-2. Our next game is another tough road non-conference game as we travel to play Wisconsin who is 6-4. They aren't nearly as talented as St. Louis and we actually match up well with them. I'll play that tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

Wisconsin with good defense, but our offense is running plays well right now. Up 10-6 at the 15 minute mark.

We are up 16-14 at the 10 minute mark.


Up 20-18 at the 5 minute mark. Both benches are struggling to score.


We are up 33-28 at the half.

Hannan is the player of the half with 11 points, 2 boards, and 2 steals. He has shot 4 of 7 in the first half.


We are up 45-35 with 15 minutes to go in the game. We are starting to break down Wisconsin's defense, particularly Everett off of screens and pick-and-rolls.

We did build a big lead, but a 12-0 run cuts it to 52-50 with 9 minutes to go.


Up 58-52 with 4 minutes to go after a Clifford slam dunk on the fast break!


Up 61-56 with 2:40 to go.

After a missed basket by us, they draw a foul. 61-57 with 1:45 to go.

Everett with a perfect pass to Graves off a screen who hits the 3 from the top of the key!


We win the game 68-60.


Graves was the player of the game. 20 points, 2 assists, 2 boards, and a steal. He shot 7 of 9, 2 of 3, and 4 of 4 as we played a very smart game and worked very hard to create good looks for our guys and avoided dumb shots.

Hannan had 18 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 7 of 13, 2 of 4, and 2 of 2.

Everett had 4 points, 3 boards, 7 assists, and 4 steals, along with 4 turnovers. He shot 0 of 3.

Cornette had 7 points and 5 boards.

Interestingly, Simon only had 5 points and 5 boards along with 2 blocks. With the adjusted fatigue, he played 29 minutes as he is my best conditioned player.

Clifford with 5 points, 3 boards, and a block off the bench. Collins also had 5 points and surprisingly a block.


Wierd schedule from our AD this year, we still have 2 non-conference games sprinkled into our schedule later in the year. However, next up is Iona who are less talented than we are, but they are 10-2. We play them at home.



Bad (but not unexpected) news on the recruiting front. Superstar SG Kurt Songcuacy has now been offered a scholarship by WVU and that is apparently close enough to Toronto for him to be very interested. We've dropped to a distant 2nd on his list of schools. I still will keep pursuing him for now.

[Eaglesfan27]

We are up 9-8 at the 12 minute mark when Hannan, Graves, and Cornette sub out.

We get our starters back with 3:25 to go. We are up 21-17.


We are up 23-20 at the half.

Collins is the player of the half with 6 points.


We are up 36-33 with 10 minutes to go as we sub out Hannan, Graves, and Cornette.


Hmm. This may be the most defensive oriented game I've ever played. I like it. Up 44-37 with 3:25 to go as I get my starters back into the game.


We win the game 50-41.


Graves is the player of the game with 10 points, 3 boards, 1 assist and 1 steal. He shot 4 of 10, 0 of 1, and 2 of 2.

Everett with 0 points, 4 assists, 1 steal, and a turnover. He shot 0 of 4.

Hannan with 9 points, 3 board, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 4 of 16, 1 of 6, and 0 of 0.

Cornette with 6 points, 9 boards, and 2 blocks.

Simon with 8 points, 12 boards, and a block.

Collins led the bench with 9 points. Clifford had 2 points and 5 boards which led the bench players in rebounding.


Our next opponent is 11-4 Manhattan who we are more talented than. We play at home and should beat them easily. I'll play that later today.

[Eaglesfan27]

Against Manhattan, we come out strong early and jump to a 10-4 lead in the first 5 minutes.

By the 10 minute mark, we are up 18-8.

Our bench continues our strong play, and we are up 25-13 at the 5 minute mark.


We enter halftime up 37-21.


Hannan is the player of the half with 11 points, 2 boards, and a steal.


In the 2nd half, we continue to widen the gap during the first 10 minutes. When I rest my starters, we are up 62-38. I pull my starters for the rest of the game.


We win the game 78-55.


Hannan was the player of the game wih 17 points, 5 boards, 3 steals, and an assist. He shot 7 of 18, 2 of 8, and 1 of 3.

Everett had 4 points and 8 assists vs 2 turnovers.

Graves had 12 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and a block.

Cornette had 5 points, 4 boards, 3 steals, and a block.

Simon had 15 points and 5 boards.



Waters had 5 points and 4 assists off the bench.

Collins led the bench in scoring with 8 points, but Willis also had 6.



Our next game is at Oklahoma State. They are 20th in the nation in ranking (heh, St. Louis was 20th when we played them too) and they are 9-3. They have a very talented team and should be a very tough matchup for us.

[Eaglesfan27]

Tied at 9 at the 15 minute mark. Hannan has been doing almost of the scoring, primarily from posting up his man.


Down 32-25 at the 5 minute mark.


Down 44-34 at the half. They are shooting 62% against us :(


Hannan leads our team with 11 points.


Oklahoma starts blowing me out and they quickly are up by 25 with 12 minutes to go. I decide to sim to the end.

Heh. Without me controlling them, our team almost came back. We lose 92-86.

Hannan finished with a game high 27 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 9 of 15, 2 of 4, and 7 of 7. 10 of those points came during the sim to end.

Everett with 5 points, 6 assists, and 2 steals.

Graves with 16 points on 3 of 13 shooting. He was 8 of 9 from the line.

Cornette iwth 8 points and 4 boards.

Simon with 8 points, 7 boards, and 3 blocks (1 of them during the sim to end.)


Ortiz and Willis led the bench with 8 each.


Our next game is at Iona.

[Eaglesfan27]

GTA IV is frustrating me with a tough mission, so time to get in a game at Iona before I catchup on the playoff game:


Tied at 6 at the 15 minute mark, but then we go on a 8-0 run. 14-6 at the 10 minute mark.


Up 25-9 when I bring my starters back with 5 minutes to go in the half.


Up 38-18 at the half.


Hannan is the player of the half. He has 15 points, 2 boards, and a steal.


A quick paced next 5 minutes. Up 48-29 with 15 minutes to go in the game.


With a 62-35 lead and 10 minutes left, I pull my starters.


We win the game 75-46.

Hannan is the player of the game. 23 points, 2 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 11 of 13, 1 of 1, and 0 of 0. His midrange shooting is now up to 80 and he's becoming very dangerous on that 12-14 footer :)

Everett with 0 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals. He shot 0 of 2.

Graves with 7 points and 2 assists. He shot 3 of 9.

Cornette with 12 points, 3 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 2 of 8 but was 7 of 8 from the line.

Simon with 10 points, 15 boards, and a block.


Clifford led the bench with 8 points and 15 boards in just 18 minutes.


Our next game is at a very weak Rider club. They are 6-7 and we have a significant talent advantage against them.

[Eaglesfan27]

Up 11-7 at the 11:40 mark, when I bring in subs for everyone but Simon.


Willis just destroyed their backup PF. 28-17 with 5:30 to go. Willis has 10 on outside jumpers, a 3, and a dunk in which he faked out his man.

Up 38-22 at the half.


Willis is the player of the half despite only playing 6 minutes. He has 10 points and 2 boards.

Graves and Hannan each have 6 points.


With 10 minutes to go, we have a 68-36 lead. I pull my starters.


We win the game 79-41. :)


Graves is the player of the ame ith 21 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and a steal. He shot 8 of 11, 2 of 4, and 3 of 3.

Everett had 4 points, 9 assists, 2 steals, and 3 turnovers. He shot 2 of 5.

Hannan had 12 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals, and a block. He shot 6 of 7.

Cornette had 8 points, 10 boards, 3 assists, and a block.

Simon had 4 points, 6 boards, and 2 assists.


Willis finished with 10 points, 4 boards, and 2 steals.

In 20 minutes, Clifford had 4 points, 9 boards, and a steal.



We are now 14-3 and 3rd in the Mid Major Poll behind Troy who are 15-0 and Towson who are 14-2.


Our next opponent is 9-9 Siena at home. They are one of the most talented teams in the conference and should be a close matchup for us, although their defense is a bit suspect.

[Eaglesfan27]

The crowd is going crazy the whole first half and our guys are feeding off it. I don't sub anyone out until 5 minutes are left in the half. We are up 27-11. Simon has been playing great using his power inside.


Up 38-25 at the half.

Simon is the player of the half with 8 points and 8 board.


Up 69-45 with 9 minutes to go, so I pull my starters likely for the rest of the game.


80-58 win. Our superior team unity was a deciding factor, I think.


Hannan is the player of the game. He had 24 points, 3 steals, 1 board, and 1 assist. He shot 11 of 20, 0 of 7, and 2 of 4.

Everett with 7 points, 7 assists, 4 steals, and 2 turnovers. He shot 3 of 7.

Graves with 6 points, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 board. He shot 3 of 12.

Cornette with 7 points, 17 boards, 3 steals, and a block. He shot 3 of 4.

Simon with 14 points, 11 boads, 2 assists, and a steal. He shot 7 of 11 but 0 of 6 from the FT line.

Bowers led the bench with 8 points. Clifford had 10 board in 16 minutes.



Our next game is at Fairfield. They are 11-5 and close to us in talent level. I'll play that later today.

[Eaglesfan27]

Player Development Update. Note this is from the beginning of the year:


Graves has gained a point and is a 79 overall. His stealing ability has really improved this year to elite levels as has his on ball defense.

Everett has gained a point and is now a 75 overall. His 3 point shooting has improved more this year, but he seems to missing the majority of them. I think that is in part because his shooting in traffic rating is low. He has to be wide open to hit them.

Simon has gained a point of overall. His inside scoring is now in the "B" Range and he is scoring better as a result. His shot blocking has really improved this year as well. He is now rated 74 overall.

Hannan has gained a point and is now a 74 overall as well. His midrange jump shot has gained 2 points this year.

Gus Walters, the heir apparent at PG, has gained a point overall and is now a 73. His onball defense has improved to elite levels

Reyshawn Ortiz has gained a point and is now a 72. His jump shot is improving nicely.

Clifford has gained a point and is now a 69 overall. His shot blocking is improving the most.

Chen Li, who is redshirting, has gained a point of overall and is now a 67. His 3 point shot has improved the most.


We are 15-3 (7-0) and have a 3 game lead in the conference standings.



Hannan is again leading the MAAC in scoring at 19.8 ppg (down 0.5 from last year), His assist total is down at 1.4, but his rebounding, stealing, and blocked shots are all up.

Graves is 7th in the MAAC in scoring at 12.9 ppg. That is down 2 points from last year.

Simon is 27th in the MAAC at 8.2 ppg which is the same as last year so far. He leads the MAAC in rebounding at 10.4 which is down 3 from last year.

Cornette is 6th in rebounding at 7.9 which is up 0.6 from last year. He has increased all of his stats from last year with almost a point per game more scoring.

Everett leads the MAAC in assists with 5.6 per game. He is also 2nd in steals at 2.1 His scoring average is down almost 3 points from last year.


Willis leads all of our freshman with 5.3 ppg and 3.4 rpg.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our defense is playing terrific basketball. Up 14-5 at the 11:20 mark when I bring in my subs.

Up 32-20 when I get my starters back in with 3 minutes to go.

Our starters finish it strong. 42-22 at the half. Everett has 6 steals already including 2 in the last 3 minutes.

Hannan is the player of the half with 9 points, 2 boards, and a steal.



We lead 59-36 with 10 minutes to go in the game. I pull my starters, likely for the rest of the game.


We win the game 70-56. :)


Hannan is the player of the game with 17 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and a steal. He shot 7 of 14, 1 of 3, and 2 of 2.

Everett had 7 points, 6 assists, and 8 steals which is a new career high for him. He shot 3 of 5.

Graves had 8 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals.

Cornette had 9 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals.

Simon had 0 points, 8 boards, and a steal. All 5 of my starters only played 22 minutes.

Clifford led the bench in scoring and rebounding with 10 points and 5 boards in 18 minutes. He also had an assist and a block.

Waters had 8 points and 4 assists.



We are now 16-3. We are in the top 25 of both polls for the first time (that got me another coaching point.)

We are 16th in the media poll and 24th in the Coaches' poll.

We are 2nd in the mid major poll behind 17-0 Troy (who is also in both polls.)

Our RPI is 6th best!



Our next opponent is at home vs Loyola (10-8) who are slightly less talented than we are. Our team unity is now up to 63 and that seems to be really helping our offense and defense.

[Eaglesfan27]

We are up 18-15 with 9:30 left in the half when we go to our bench.


The bench plays so well that they stay until they are tired. With 1:45 to go, we bring in our starters. We are up 31-21.


At the half, we are up 36-24.


Graves is the player of the half with 8 points, 3 assists, and a board.

Cornette has 7 points and Hannan has 6.



Bad defense by our starters and we are now only up 47-45 with 10 minutes to go. Hopefully, our bench can dominate like they did in the 1st half.


Darn, we got sloppy and now we are in trouble. Down 62-56 with 4 minutes to go, I get my starters back into the game.


Terrible loss. So much for our top 25 ranking. We lose 72-58 as we just went ice cold the last 6 minutes.


Everett with 3 points, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 1 of 5.

Graves with 10 points, 3 boards, and 3 assists. He shot 4 of 11.

Hannan wioth 7 points, 3 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 2 of 12.

Cornette with 11 points and 6 boards. He shot 5 of 11.

Simon with 6 points and 12 boards.

Willis led the bench with 7 points on 3 of 6 shooting. Ortiz had 6 points.



Next up is a game against a talented Marist squad that is floundering a bit at 11-7.

[Eaglesfan27]

They have been shooting very well early in the game. They are up 22-19 at the 10 minute mark.


We got caught up in trying to outrun them for the next 10 minutes.. and it didn't work well. We are down 52-42 at the half.


Hannan lead our team with 8. 3 guys have 6.


We both keep running.. I've got them in foul trouble, so I'm trying to push that by getting them into more. We are down 73-63 with 11 minutes to go as I bring in our subs.

Our bench extends our defense to guard better against the 3 where they are killing us.. With 6:10 to go, Collins makes a 3 to tie it at 81.

With 5:10 to go, Clifford hits a FT to put us ahead by 1, 82-81.

We bring back our starters and keep up the pressure defensively.

After they hit a basket to take the lead, Hannan misses a slam dunk :(

However, Everett steals it from their PG and breaks away for a big slam dunk!

They take the lead back 85-84. 2 missed baskets on either side, before Cornette hits a baseline jumper to put us ahead 86-85 with 52 seconds left. Hannan made the assist to set him up.


They miss a 3 with 28 seconds left and Simon gets the board but is immediately fouled.

Simon is a poor FT shooter, but he makes the first! And the 2nd! 88-85.

Everett steals the ball again and they foul him. He hits both FT's.

They attempt a quick 3 which they miss and Hannan gets the board. He hits both FT's to finish it off.


92-85 win. :)

Hannan is the player of the game with 15 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, and 3 steals.

He shot 4 of 10, 1 of 3, and 6 of 6.


Everett with 12 points, 2 assists, and 4 steals. He shot 3 of 7.

Graves with 10 points, 2 assist, 1 board, and 1 steal. He shot 2 of 4 and 6 of 6 from the line.

Cornette with 11 points, 3 vboards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block.

Simon with 12 points, 9 boards, and a block.


Clifford had 9 points off the bench along with 3 boards.

Waters had 7 points, 3 assists, and 2 steals.


I've decided to tone down the steal slider success slightly.



Despite the loss, we remain in the media poll. We are now 19th. We dropped out of the coaches' poll.


Our next game is our last non-conference game and it is against Chicago State. They have a team overall rating of 59! Ours is now 83. I think I'll go ahead and sim that game...


Wow. In our simulated game, we beat them 118-51! That is the most lopsided score I've ever seen. Most of my starters only played about 20 minutes.

Everett finished with 18 points, 3 boards, and 4 assists.

Graves had 26 points, 5 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. He shot 9 of 14.

Hannan had 12 points, 4 assists, and 2 boards. He shot 4 of 14.

ornette had 12 points, 4 boards, and 1 block.

Simon had 8 points, 6 board, and a block in just 12 minutes.


Ortiz led the bench with 16 points, Collins had 13, and Waters had 10 points along with 8 assists.


Our next game is at a weak Saint Peter's squad that is 9-10.

[Eaglesfan27]

We start off strong. Up 17-9 at the 10:33 mark when I bring in subs for everyone but Simon.

Up 31-20 with 3:25 to go as I get my starters back into the game.


Up 39-28 at the half.


Hannan is the player of the half with 12 points, 2 boards, and 2 assists.


We are up 47-41 with 10 minutes to go in the game.


Up 54-52 with 4 minutes to go when I get my starters back into the game. Time for Hannan to put this one away..


They hit a 3 to take the lead after Hannan had missed a 3. Cornette responds with a 12 foot jumper. 56-55. 2:40 to go.

Cornette forces a miss. Hannan draws the double in the post..he passes out to Cornette who hits a 12 foot baseline jumper. Next trip, Hannan takes it to the hole. 60-55.

Hannan misses his next shot, but our defense is clamped down on them.

We've forced misses on the last 5 trips. They finally hit a 3, but only 14 seconds left.


We finish it off. 64-58 win.

Hannan is the player of the game with 19 points, 4 boards, and 3 assists. He shot 7 of 11, 2 of 5, and 3 of 6.


Everett with 6 points and 1 assist.

Graves with 3 points, 2 assist, 1 board, and 1 steal. He shot 0 of 7.

Cornette with 11 points, 3 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 4 of 10.

Simon with 0 points, 13 boards, and a block.

Clifford led the bench with 8 points and 3 boards. Waters with 6 points and 6 assists in 14 minutes. It will be interesting to see how he does against starters next year.


Our next game is at 5-14 Canisus. They are the weakest team in the conference with an overall talent rating of 69. I'll play that later this week or next weekend.

[Eaglesfan27]

Besides their weak talent, Canisus has poor unity. I expect a blowout. We have a huge size advantage at C with a 7 inch 90 pound advantage.


Up 15-10 at the 10 minute mark. Sloppy play has prevented us from taking a bigger lead. We've turned it over 4 times to their 1.


Up 26-14 at the 3 minute mark as we bring our starters back into the game.

As we took better care of the ball, the blowout started happening. Up 36-16 at the half.

Hannan is the player of the half. He has 11 points, 1 board, and 1 steal.

Graves and Simon each have 8 points.


We lead 60-26 with 10 minutes to go. I pull my starters.


We win the game 71-36.


Hannan was the player of the game with 20 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 8 of 16, 2 of 4, and 2 of 5.

Everett had 4 assists, 3 steals, and 3 turnovers.

Graves had 8 points, 3 boards, and 2 assists.

Cornette had 8 points, 11 boards, and 4 blocks (a career high.)

Simon had 15 points, 11 boards, and a block.


Bowers led the bench with 9 points, 4 boards, and a block. Clifford had 9 boards in 16 minutes.


Despite the wins, we drop to 20th in the media poll. We are now 20-4.



Our next game is at home vs Fairfield. They are 13-9. I beat them earlier this year 70-56.

[Eaglesfan27]

Up 18-14 at the 10 minute mark.


The bench played so well that they stayed in until 2 minutes were left and they were tired. We are up 36-20.


We lead 44-20 at the half.

Graves is the player of the half with 10 points and 3 boards.

Hannan has 9 and Ortiz has 12 off the bench.


Up 61-31 with 10 minutes to go.


We win the game 85-40. I think Water's on ball defense is a huge key to our bench's success.


Hannan is the player of the game with 23 points and 3 steals.

Everett finished with 4 points, 6 assists, and 3 turnovers. He shot 2 of 8.

Graves with 12 points, 4 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He shot 4 of 11.

Cornette with 1 point, 5 boards, and 2 blocks.

Simon with 5 points and 12 boards.


Ortiz led the bench with 20 points and 2 steals. Waters with 4 points, 5 assists, and 2 steals.


Our next game is at home vs Saint Peter's. We beat them 64-58 a few games ago.

[Tellistto]

Looks like you've become a real power in your conference. How is the recruiting going now? I know you dropped on that 5 star players list a bit, do you have a backup plan of any consequence lined up as well?

Still enjoying this, hope you find enjoyment with it for a long time to come.

Tell

[Eaglesfan27]

Looks like you've become a real power in your conference. How is the recruiting going now? I know you dropped on that 5 star players list a bit, do you have a backup plan of any consequence lined up as well?

Still enjoying this, hope you find enjoyment with it for a long time to come.

Tell


I think I will enjoy it for a long time. I've made a few slight tweaks to my sliders that have made the CPU more challenging (hence the loss when I got sloppy a few games ago.) Against powerhouses, it should be very tough for this team to win.


I thought about trying my luck for a transfer (by not going after anyone if I don't get the 5 star player) and then I realized that several of our key players will be seniors next year, so I need to scrap that plan. I'm now pursuing several 3 star PG's who could be a reliable backup to Waters who will almost certainly move into the starting role next year.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola -

I've become attached to this team. I keep asking myself what am I going to do if I get a power team offering me a job? Before my plan was always to bolt for the first one that opened up.. now I kind of want to stay until the end of Hannan's career.

[Eaglesfan27]

Up 18-14 at the 10 minute mark.


The bench played so well that they stayed in until 2 minutes were left and they were tired. We are up 36-20.


We lead 44-20 at the half.

Graves is the player of the half with 10 points and 3 boards.

Hannan has 9 and Ortiz has 12 off the bench.


Up 61-31 with 10 minutes to go.


We win the game 85-40. I think Water's on ball defense is a huge key to our bench's success.


Hannan is the player of the game with 23 points and 3 steals.

Everett finished with 4 points, 6 assists, and 3 turnovers. He shot 2 of 8.

Graves with 12 points, 4 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He shot 4 of 11.

Cornette with 1 point, 5 boards, and 2 blocks.

Simon with 5 points and 12 boards.


Ortiz led the bench with 20 points and 2 steals. Waters with 4 points, 5 assists, and 2 steals.


Our next game is at home vs Saint Peter's. We beat them 64-58 a few games ago.


Heh. I actually played this yesterday and forgot to hit the post button.

[Eaglesfan27]

This year, we've sold out every home game which is a big increase from previous years. Now to play Saint Peter's.


We are tied at 20 with 10 minutes to go in the half.


We lead 41-34 at the half. We are shooting just over 60%.

Graves is the player of the half with 9 points, 2 boards, 1assist, and a steal.


We lead 55-49 with 10 minutes to go in the game.


We lead 65-58 with 4 minutes to go as I bring my starters back into the game.

They close within 6 but Hannan responds by drawing the foul on a shot in the lane.

However, he misses both FT's and they get a quick basket to cut it 68-64. 1:38 left.


With 10 seconds left on the clock, Everett drives into the lane, kicks it out to Everett who hits a 16 footer. 70-64.

They hit a quick 3 to make it 70-67.


They go for the defensive stop, but with 8 seconds left on the play clock, Everett draws a foul in the lane.

He misses the first FT... but makes the second! 4 point game. 71-67. 20 seconds left.

They fake a 3 and drive into the lane and draw a foul. They make the first but miss the 2nd. Simon with the board and he is immediately fouled.

He misses the 1st.. but makes the 2nd!! 4 point game. 7 seconds left.

A quick 2 and the foul inside to make it 72-70 with 3 seconds left... he misses the FT.. they get the offensive board!

Inside putback attempt.. Simon blocks it!!

Ball game. 72-70 win. :)

Graves is the player of the game with 16 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 7 of 12, 1 of 5, and 1 of 2.


Everett with 10 points, 5 assists, and a steal. He shot 4 of 4 :)

Hannan with 12 points, 3 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He shot 5 of 14.

Cornette with 6 points, 5 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, and a block.

Simon with 5 points, 9 boards, and 1 huge block.


Ortiz and Bowers each had 9 points off the bench.

[Eaglesfan27]

A look at a few of our backup recruiting options:


Ledell Sorenson is a 6'2 185 pound PG from Canton, OH. He is ranked 380th overall and 114th among PG's. I figured it would be nice to have a bigger guard for a change of looks. Sorenson averaged 12.3 ppg and 7.9 assists per game in the ABL. Niagara is 1st on his list despite the lack of scholarship offer. Our staff believes his strengths to be his ability to shoot off the dribble and his passing ability.


Ricky Jameson is a 6'2 192 pound SG who I think could play the point. He is also a 3 star player from Brooklyn, NY. His strengths are his 3 points hooting, stealing, and ball handling. We are a close 2nd on his list behind Drexel.

Leighton Gibson is a smaller quicker point guard from Coral Springs, Florida. He is 5'10 160 pounds and is a 3 star player ranked 99th among PG's. His strengths are speed, passing, and quickness. Florida and Clemson are going after him, so we are a distant 3rd.

[Eaglesfan27]

Today we play at Loyola, MD. They are 13-11 but are close to us in talent level and could upset us at their place.


They have an advantage at SG, and Graves defense will be critical.


Down 15-12 with 11 minutes to go.

Down 26-19 when my starters come back with 4:40 to go.


Our shots aren't falling and their star SG is KILLING us. He has 17 in the first half and they are up 37-23.


We closed within 2, but a 12-0 run gives them a big lead as I get ready to rest my starters. We are down 54-42 with 11:42 to go.

With 4:30 to go, Willis fouls out. I bring my starters back in to try to make one last run.. we are currently down 70-54.


Simon fouls out with 3:20 to go. Their driving has gotten them to the FT line a lot. That and their SG performance is the key to them beating us today.


We lose the game 80-65. Hannan finally started scoring in the last few minutes, but it wasn't enough.


Belser, their star SG, had 29 pooints, 7 boards, and 3 assists to win player of the game. He shot 10 of 17, 5 of 9, and 4 of 4.


Everett had 9 points, 5 assists, and a steal. He shot 3 of 8.

Graves had 8 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and 3steals. He shot 4 of 10.


Hannan had 16 points and 1 assist. He shot 6 of 16.

Corentte had 10 points, 9 boards, and 2 assists.

Simon had 6 points, 4 boards, and a block.


Collins led the bench with 6 points but he was 2 of 8.


Loyola beat us earlier at home 72-58 and it is apparent that we have a matchup problem against them. Hopefully, we don't face them in the conference tourney.


Our next game is at home vs a weak Rider team that we beat 79-41 earlier in the year. They are 8-15. I decide to go ahead and sim it.


We beat them 75-65. Everett with 6 points and an assist.

Graves with 9 points, 6 boards, and 7 assists.

Hannan with 16 points, 3 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 8 of 15.

Cornette with 10 points and 4 boards.

Simon with 12 points and 5 boards.


Ortiz led the bench with 7 points and 6 boards.



Our next game is hosting an even weaker Canisus team. I beat them 71-36 on the road the last time I played them. I'll play that out as I want to get a win tonight and we should beat them easily.

[Eaglesfan27]

We are up 17-8 with 10 minutes to go.


We lead 34-17 at the half, but Graves is in foul trouble. I'll let him play early in the 2nd half anyway.

Hannan is the player of the half. He has 14 points, 1 board, and 1 assist.


With 10 minutes to go, we are up 56-33. Graves and Hannan have been providing almost all of the scoring. We pull our starters.


We win the game 72-46 as Bowers provided most of our scoring down the stretch.


Hannan was the player of the game with 22 points, 2 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 9 of 15, 2 of 4, and 2 of 2.

Everett had 2 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 0 of 5.

Graves with 17 points, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He shot 6 of 10.

Cornette with 4 points, 10 boards, and 3 assists.

Simon with 6 points, 8 boards, and 1 block. He shot 3 of 3.


Bowers led the bench with 10 points. Clifford had 9 boards and 2 blocks in just 16 minutes.



We are now 24-5. Our next game is our final regular season game and it is at Siena. They are 13-15 and they have a solid club as they have gotten 2 starters back from injury. I beat them earlier in the year 80-58, but that was without 2 starters.


I'll play the final regular season game tomorrow as well as start the conference tourney.

[Eaglesfan27]

Down 16-13 with 11 minutes to go. Hannan is my only player scoring, he has 10.

Down 29-27 when I bring my starters back with 4 minutes to go. Bowers was the main scorer with a few 3's.


Down 37-31 at the half.

Hannan is our leading scorer with 12


Down 52-47 with 10:34 left.


With 6:03 to go, Bowers hits a 3 to give us our first lead in a long tme. 58-57.

With 4 minutes to go, my starters come back into the game. We are tied at 60.

Cornette with a 3 to give us a 65-62 lead with 2:23 to go.

Cornette with a block at the other end. We get Simon 1-1 in the post and he is fouled. He misses them both, but Hannan gets the offensive board!

Strong drive by Hannan into the lane, the defense collapses, he kicks it out to Graves for a 2. 67-62.

We get another stop. Work the clock down to 5 and Everett finds Hannan alone just inside the arc.. he hits the shot! 69-62. Under a minute left.


Simon blocks a 3 attempt and we get the ball back.


We win the game 72-62.


Hannan is the player of the game with 19 poiints, 3 boards, 3 assists, and a steal. He shot 7 of 14, 2 of 4, and 3 of 5.

Everett with 3 points, 5 assists, and 3 turnovers. He shot 0 of 3.

Graves with 8 points, 4 boards, and 3 assists. He shot 3 of 6.

Cornette with 9 points, 3 boards, and a block.

Simon with 6 points, 10 boards, and 2 blocks.


Bowers led the bench with 13 points. Clifford had 6 points and 8 boards off the bench.


We finish the regular season at 25-5. We are 21st in the media poll. We are 2nd in the Mid Major Poll behind Saint Mary's who finished the year 24-6. We win the regular season MAAC title with a 16-2 record. Marist was 2nd with a 12-6 record in the MAAC.


Stat Leaders:


Again the scoring is dominated by big men with a PG at 7th.

1. PF Maynard McKenzie, Tenn 28.5
2. C Quinton McDaniel, Davidson 26.3
3. PF Piotr Owen, CSU 25.9
4. C Mike McGrain, Mass 23.7
5. C Wallace Dennis, Lips 23.6

PG Paul Graham with 23 ppg for Vanderbilt


Hannan is 50th in the NCAA with his 18.5 ppg average which is down 2 points from last year. He is 2nd in the MAAC behind SR C Maury Kragel of Manhattan who averaged 20.2 ppg.


Rebound leaders:

1. C Elliah Walker, IPFW 11.3
2. C Timothy Smith, Southern Ill 10.5
3. C DeShaun Simon, Niagara 9.7
4. PF Jerome Wolfe, Iona 9.6
5. 5 tied with 9.5


Assists:

1. Poncho Dantoni, Southern 7.2
2. Wes Baynes, Morgan State 6.9
3. Churhil Kahrimanovic, Miss 6.5
4 Berry Guy, Colgate 6.4
5. 5 tied with 6.3

Huffman was 2nd in the MAAC with 4.8 per game.


Our first MAAC tourney game is against Saint Peter's. They finished the year 14-14. They played us very close both times. We beat them 64-58 and 72-70. Hopefully, we handle them easier this time.

[Eaglesfan27]

We are up 13-8 at the 10 minute mark. Balanced scoring so far.


The bench plays so well that I keep them in until they tire with 1:30 to go. We are up 38-17.


At the half, we are up 42-21.

Bowers is the player of the half. He has 9 points, 2 boards, and a block.


Up 54-37 with 9 minutes to go. Our starters are missing most of their shots.


Our bench finishes it off. We win the game 65-54.

Bowers is the player of the game with 12 points, 3 boards, 1 block, and 1 steal. He shot 3 of 5, 2 of 4, and 4 of 4.


Everett had 2 points, 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 1 turnover.

Graves with 3 points, 1 board, 2 assists, and 2 turnovers. He shot 1 of 5.

Hannan with 10 points, 2 boards, 1 steal. He shot 4 of 13.

Cornette with 9 points, 3 boards and 3 steals. He shot 4 of 5.

Simon with 5 points, 8 boards, and 3 blocks.



Willis was our 2nd leading scorer off the bench with 11 points. He also had 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our next game is against Manhattan. They are 19-12. I beat them earlier in the year 78-55 and 90-51. We have significant more talent with their main strength being on the inside. I'll play that later today.

[Eaglesfan27]

We are up 19-12 with 10 minutes to go as Hannan has been doing it all early. He has 9 points, 3 boards, and 2 assists.

Up 32-22 with 3 minutes left as my starters return.


We are up 35-24 at the half.


Hannan is the player of the half with 9 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and 2 steals.

With 9:51 to go, we are up 59-43. Hannan has been leading the charge and has 18 points now.


Up 64-54 with 4 minutes to go when I bring in my starters again.


We win the game 73-63. Hannan is the player of the game with 20 points, 4 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 9 of 17, 1 of 1, and 1 of 2.

Everett with 8 points, 2 assists, and 2 steals.

Graves with 12 points, 3 assists, 1 board, and 1 steal. He shot 6 of 7.

Cornette with 2 points, 12 boards, and 1 block.

Simon with 14 points and 11 boards.


Waters led the bench with 8 points and 2 assists in 14 minutes.



The MAAC Tourney Final will feature us vs Marist. Marist is 19-11. We beat them earlier in the year, 61-60 and 92-85.

[Eaglesfan27]

Down 18-16 with 9:50 to go. Hannan is again our leading scorer with 8.


Down 35-26 with 3 minutes to go as my starters return.


My starters can't end this run which turns into a 19-0 run before we finally score with 35 seconds left.


At the half, we are down 46-31 as we score the last 5 points of the half. Big deficit to come back from, but I think this team can do it..


They are shooting 52% while we are shooting 33% from the field.

We had closed the gap to 4, but they had another run. Down 62-48 with 11 minutes to go as my subs come into the game.


The bench closes the gap. Down 72-65 with 3:48 to go when I get my starters back into the game.


After a stop, Cornette hits a 2. After another stop, Everett drives into the lane is fouled and hits the shot! He makes the FT to make it 72-70.. 2 minutes left.


Everett steals an errant pass and he is fouled before he can fastbreak. He makes both FT's to tie it!

After Simon blocks a shot, Everett and Hannan with a 2-1 fast break.. Everett to Hannan for a powerful alley-oop! 74-72.

Their PG gets a 2 to tie at 74. We work the clock down to 5 seconds before Everett finds Hannan in the corner for a 2. 76-74 with 35 seconds to go.

They shoot a 2 with 14 seconds left and miss. Simon with the board. Somehow, he gets it to Everett who runs around for 6 seconds before he is fouled!

Everett buries both FT's!!! 4 point game :)


They miss the quick 3 and that ends the game.


We win the game 78-74 with the huge comeback. :)


Hannan is the player of the game with 21 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and a steal. He shot 9 of 16, 0 of 3, and 3 of 5.

Everett finishes with 9 points, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 3 turnovers.

Graves with 8 points, 4 boards, 5 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 3 of 11.

Cornette with 10 points, 10 boards, 1 assist, and 1 block.

Simon with 9 points, 10- boards, 3 assists, and a block.


Collins and Bowers each had 7 points off the bench.


We are now 28-5 and ranked 17th in the media poll. We are unranked in the coaches' poll and are now 1st in the Mid Major poll. Time to watch the selection show and see what seed we get and who are our first opponent will be.

[Ironhead]

Awesome comeback. Good luck to the gang the rest of the way.

[Eaglesfan27]

The #1 seeds: Louisville (29-5), Washington (28-4), Temple (29-6), and UNLV (26-5.)


Interesting East Matchups:

We are the #4 seed! We'll face #13 William & Mary in the 1st round. :)

#5 Iowa (23-8) vs #12 SF (24-6)
#6 Texas Tech vs West Virginia.
#7 Saint Mary's (24-8) vs #10 Stanfrd (19-12)


Interesting South Matchups:

#5 Duke (22-10) vs #12 Akron (24-9)
#4 Maryland (23-9) vs #13 Long Beach State (22-10)
#6 Florida State (20-10) vs #11 Tennessee (21-10)
#3 Memphis vs #14 Valpraiso

Interesting Midwest matchups:

#5 LSU (22-8) vs #12 Columbia (21-8)
#6 Virginia Tech (24-10) vs #11 Georgia Tech (18-14)

Interesting West Matchups:

#8 Arizona State (20-11) vs #9 Boston College (17-13)
#5 Arizona (22-10) vs #12 Illinois (21-13)
#6 Kansas (23-8) vs #11 Colorado State (18-11)
#7 DePaul (24-8) vs #10 Indianda (20-11)


Bubble teams that didn't make it:

USC (21-11)
Virginia (19-13)
Nevada (24-9)
Towson (23-7)
East Carolina (20-10)


I'll start the tourney either later tonight or more likely tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

A Preview of the Matchup:

William & Mary have an overall team rating of 81 compared to our new rating of 83. Their defense is their weakest rating at 79. Rebounding is their biggest strength at 84. They finished the year 20-10 and 13-5 in their conference.

We average 75.5 ppg, they average 69.3 ppg. We shoot a higher precentage from the arc 33 to 32% and from the field (45 to 42%.)


They are led by star SR PG Pregrag Guiang. He is rated 80 overall. He is 5'10 185 and is as fast as any of my guys including Everett and Waters. He is one of the best passers in the game with a 92 rating in that category. He is also a decent shooter and defender.

PF Dreike Kim is their 2nd best player. He is rated 79 overall and is 6'10 235. He is a strong rebounder, fair shooter, and good shot blocker.

Guard Demario Liberty is their 3rd best player. He rated 75 overall with his biggest strengh in defense.

The rest of their players are rated 70 or lower and they don't have any great shooters.

[Eaglesfan27]

W&M's center gets 2 quick fouls on Simon in the first minute :(

I decide to leave him in.

At the 15 minute mark, we are up 12-6 thanks to 7 by Graves. We are on a 8-0 run.

At 10:05, we are up 16-15. Graves has been our only consistent scorer. He has 10. We go to the bench.

Up 19-18 with 5 minutes to go. I keep my bench in because I like their defense, and my starters still need a bit more rest.

Down 24-20 when I go to my starters with 2:48 to go.


At halftime, we are down 28-26.


We are shooting 32% to their 40%.

Graves is our leading scorer with 10 points. He also has an assist.

Everett and Hannan each have 5. Simon has 6 boards.


With 18 minutes to go, Hannan with a fast break slam dunk and the foul to give us a 3 point lead, 31-28.

Simon with his 3rd foul a minute later.


Up 38-33 with 15 minutes to go, but Hannan just picked up his 3rd foul.

A minute later, Hannan hits a 3 to give us a 41-33 lead as momentum is building for us..


We are up 49-38 with 9:45 to go, as I rest my starters.


With 3:34 my starters return to finish this off. We are up 55-43. Excellent defense by the bench.


We win the game 62-48.


Graves is the player of the game with 18 points, 2 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 6 of 9, 4 of 7, and 2 of 2.

Everett came up big with 7 points, 6 assists, 4 steals, and 0 turnovers. He shot 2 of 6.

Hannan with 18 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 turnovers. He shot 6 of 16, 2 of 7, and 4 of 4.

Cornette with 4 points, 10 boards, 3 steals, and 2 blocks.

Simon with 5 points, 9 boardds, 2 steals, and a block.


Willis and Waters led the bench with 4 points each.


Our next opponent will either be 5 seed Iowa or 12 seed San Francisco. Iowa beats SF 84-69 to advance to play us.


Iowa finished the year at 24-8. They are a very talented team with an overall rating of 92. Their strength is their defense which is rated 94. Their biggest "weakness" is their rebounding which is still a 89.

They average more points per game than we do at 77 ppg. Their shoot better from 3 at a 37% clip. Their shoot the same from the field, 45%. They have more blocks per game and commit fewer turnovers than we do.

One thing we have going for us is their star Center Taquan Reese is injured. However, they have a ton of talent among their top 3 guardsand their backup center is talented.

SR PG Zeljko Hancock is rated 86 overall. He is a master marksman from midrange. He also has an incredible handle and passing skills.

Backup PG Elliah Thomasson has one of the quickest first steps we've ever seen and is rated 86 overall as well.

SR SG Tim Garrett is 6'8 240 pounds and is a great 3 point shooter as well as a great shot blocker. He is rated 85 overall.

SR SF Donovan Traylor is 6'8 235 pounds and is a terrific scorer. He can hit shots from anywhere on the court and has great slashing ability as well as the abilityt to finish. He is rated 85 overall.

Backup SR center Courtney Sola is 6'9 230 pounds and talented. He has great speed for a big man and will be tough for Simon to keep up with. He has a refined post game and is a good passer out of the post. He is rated 83 overall.

Sophomore PF Jaret Guzman is a 6'10 250 pound player who is a great rebounder as well as a shot blocker. He is a good interior scorer. He is rated 82 overall.


This will be a very difficult game to win, I think. I'm going to try to slow it down and cut down the number of possessions.

[Eaglesfan27]

Down 6-2 at the 15 minute mark. Their defense has been suffocating and even when I get the rare open look, my guys have missed.


Down 12-7 at the 11 minute mark and Hannan has picked up his 3rd foul trying to guard Traylor :(


With 9:08 to go, I have to go the bench. We are down 13-9.

We are down 21-17 with 5 minutes left as our bench is doing a great job of creating shots.. I keep them in for another minute or two.

We are down 23-21 with 3:20 to go as I go back to my starters.


We are down 30-24 at the half.

We are shooting 35% to their 45%.


Graves leads our team with 8 points.

Backup SF Hudson is the player of the half for them with 8 points and 2 boards.


With 16:45 to go, Hannan with a layup to tie it at 33.


We are down 35-33 with 15 minutes to go.


A minute later, Hannan hits a 3 to give us the 36-35 lead, our first lead of the game.

Traylor hits a 3 at the other end to give them the lead back.

Everett with a 3 and then after a steal, Hannan with a dunk! 41-38.


They are missing their 3's and that is critical for us right now.

10 minute mark: We are up 45-42.


A minute later, Garrett hits a 3 to tie it at 45. I go to my bench as my starters are very tired..


Traylor blows by Bowers and gets a powerful dunk and the foul. They are up 48-45.

They are up 50-45 with 6 minutes to go, when Waters gets into the lane and gets fouled.

He hits 1 of 2. With 5:45 to go, we bring back our starters.

Hannan fakes out Traylor and drives to the lane for a dunk. Traylor off a screen responds with a 3.

Hannan misses a 12 footer and Traylor gets a 3 on the other end. Down 56-48.

Hannan misses the front end of a 1 and 1 after drawing the foul on the perimeter.

Traylor to Hancock for a 12 footer. 60-50 with 3:20 to go.

Simon has it stolen from him :(

He responds at the other end with a steal. That sets up a Hannan fast break but he is fouled before he can finish. He misses both FT's :(

Traylor fakes Hannan out on the perimeter and drives into the lane drawing a foul.

Their defense is clamping down, no room for a good shot, Graves misses a 3.


We lose the game 65-54.

Traylor is the player of the game with 19 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 5 of 13, 3 of 9, and 4 of 5.

Hannan led our team with 15 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, and 4 steals. He shot 6 of 16, 2 of 8, and 1 of 3. He also had 2 turnovers.

Everett with 5 points, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 1 turnover in the final game of his career.

Graves with 11 points, 2 assists, 1 board, and 1 steal. He shot 3 of 11, 2 of 7, and 3 of 4. He also had 1 turnover.

Cornette with 6 points, 7 boards, 1 steal, a block, and 2 turnovers. He shot 2 of 8.

Simon with 6 points, 11 boards, 1 steal, and 2 turnovers.


Waters led the bench with 5 points. No one else on the bench had more than 2.

[Ironhead]

Tough loss man. I have a feeling you will be faced with a difficult "stay or go" decision pretty soon.

[Eaglesfan27]

I lost a long post describing the rest of the tourney, but here is the brief summary:

Iowa lost the next game to Louisville.

The Final Four:

Georgetown (who beat Louisville 59-53), Temple, UNLV, and Washington as 3 of the 4 #1 seeds made it.

UNLV and Washington advanced to the National Championship.

Washington won it 85-71 behind 24 points, 9 boards, 4 blocks, 1 assist, and 1 steal from their SR C Dion Blue.


SR PF Maynard McKenzie of Tennessee won Player of the Year with an average of 26.8 ppg, 8.0 rpg, and 1.7 bpg.

SR C Jordi Geli Higgins was the Mid Major Player of the Year. He averaged 24.3 ppg, 8.1 rpg, and 2.8 bpg for Northern Illinois.

Rashod Leadbetter of Washington, a SR Pf, was the defensive player of the year. He averaged 15.1 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.2 spg, and 2.2 bpg.

McKenzie was Big Man of the Year.

Duke's SG Mensa Bland was the Freshman of the Year. He averaged 12.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.2 apg, and 1.2 spg.


All American Team:

PG Paul Graham, Vanderbilt. He averaged 23.0 ppg, 5 rpg, and 4.4 apg.

SG Reynold Hull, USC. He averaged 20.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg, and 4.2 apg.

SF Josiah Fordham, Michigan State. He averaged 15.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg, and 2.8 apg.

PF McKenzie, Tenn

C Mike McGrain, Mass. 23.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg, and 1.8 bpg.



I won MAAC Coach of the Year.

Maury Kragel of Manhattan won MAAC Player of the Year. The SR C averaged 20 ppg, 6.7 rpg, and 1.3 bpg.

Robby Neal of Siena won Freshman of the Year. The PF is already rated 77 overall! He averaged 7.3 ppg and 7.1 rpg.


Hannan was our only player to make 1st team MAAC. He finished with an average of 18.1 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.6 apg, and 1.3 spg. All of those are down from his freshman year.

Gravesmade the 2nd team MAAC. He averaged 12 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 2.1 apg, and 1.0 spg. Everything was down except for his assist average.




Niagara gave me a 5 year extension.


Everett Huffman and 2 walkons are the only players who graduated. No one transferred.

[Eaglesfan27]

Tough loss man. I have a feeling you will be faced with a difficult "stay or go" decision pretty soon.


I get that same feeling. Not sure what I will do.. depends on the job offer.

[Eaglesfan27]

Coaching Carousel:

The top job available is Oregon State - I'm not even on the short list.

They hire the head coach from Long Beach State.


The next job available is Wake Forest. They hire the coach from Valpariso.


No other big jobs available. San Diego State doesn't even have me on their short list.. wierd.


Next up is Duquesne. The A-10 would be a step up.. but I'm not their top choice. I am 2nd on their list. Instead, they hire the head coach from ETSU.


The next job is the 1st I'm offered, Valpariso... It's a strong conference, but not really the huge step up from the MAAC. They did go 19-14 last year and have a great returning PF. However, I turn it down.

Canisus is the next best school to offer me their job. I turn them all down.


In another tough decision, I decide to change both of my assistants They have been with me for 5 years, but their are better men who are interested in the job..


I hire William Deleon. He isn't the best recruiter or scouter, but he is a master teacher. Let's see if he can help Hannan and company reach their potential better.

We also hire Duncan Ortiz. He isn't good with discipling players, but he is average in most other areas, and is a great scout. He'll be in charge of breaking down game film. He is also an above average recruiter who will help in that area.

[Eaglesfan27]

Week 1 of recruiting:

Star SG Kurt Sngcuacy signed with WVU.


I'm not thrilled with the backup options. I decide to look at PG Christiano Bitee from Cameroon. He is small at 5'8 173, but he is a 4 star player who my scouts think is a dynamic defensive player...

I'm the only team still pursuing Ledell Sorenson, so he is the backup if I don't like what I see when we look closer at Bitee.



Week 2: I like what I see of Bitee, I decide to offer him a scholarship, but I'll continue to pursue backup plans stateside.


One of the backup plans that I really liked, Leighton Gibson just signed with FSU :( He was from Florida and was a longshot for us anyway.


Week 3:

Tennessee drops out of their pursuit of Bitee. We move way up on his list! I haven't been able to visit him in person, so this is definitely a risky move..

Week 4:

Decision time. Other teams are honing in our backup plans including my new favorite backup, Lynwood Sarchet. He is a 6'1 180 pound PG from Houston who is a good shooter and good passer but isn't a good defender..

I invite Sarchet to campus, but do not switch my scholarship offer.


Christiano Bitee signs with us at the end of week 4. Hopefully, the kid has really earned his 4 star rating ;)



In the final week of recruiting, we start working on a large group of soon to be seniors.



Top 10 Classes:

1. Texas A&M with 3 5 star players and 1 4 star player.
2. Louisville with 2 5 stars and 1 4 star.
3. Florida with 2 5's and a 3.
4 LSU with 2 5's and a 3.
5. Washington State with 2 5's and a 3.
6. Boston College with 2 5's.
7. UCLA with 1 5 and 1 4.
8. Auburn with 1 5 and 2 3's.
9. Stanford with 1 5 and a 1 3.
10. Maryland with 3 4's.

[Eaglesfan27]

I don't touch the schedule that our AD gave us.. looks easy with only 1 or 2 tough non-conference games. Our toughest probably will be George Washington.


Player Progression During the Offseason: Graves didn't gain any more points. Cornette, Collins, Hannan, Waters, Ortiz, Willis, Clifford, and Ziri each gained a point.


An overview of the roster:


PG:

Junior Gus Waters. He is now 5'10 170. He is the fastest guy on the team. Isn't a great passer for a point guard, but is good enough. He has become a good shooter. He is a great defender. I think he'll help us play better defense with my starters. He is the clear starter. Overall is now a 75.

Freshman Christiano Bitee is not the great player I was hoping for as a 4 star player, but he is a solid player. He is a better 3 point shooter than Gus. He isn't as fast, but has a better first step, something that has been lacking in our point guards. He is a bad passer for a point guard, but has great dribbling ability to penetrate the lane. He is an above average defender. Our staff thinks he has the potential to improve significantly. His 3 point shooting makes him the clear backup PG. His size will be a difficult issue for him, potentially. He is only 5'8 175.


SG's:

Senior Nate Graves is ready to have a big year. While his overall didn't go up at all from the end of last year, his 3 point shooting did improve. He is extremely fast with a great first step. Very good on ball defender. His biggest weakness is his poor consistency. Rated 80 overall. 6'4 205 now.

Senior Reyshawn Ortiz is technically listed at SF, but he played SG all year last year. He is 6'5 188. Doesn't excel in any area, but can make a few shots when he is feeling it. Rated 73 overall.

Redshirt Freshman Chen Li is now 6'3 200 pounds. Doesn't excel in any area and will probably be a backup who will only play in blowouts. He is rated 67 overall.

SF's:

Junior T.J. Hannan is now rated 76 overall. He improved his shooting another point in every area and is now rated very good in midrange jump shooting as well as post play. Is an excellent shooter in traffic. Has improved his first step. Now 6'8 240 pounds.

SR Friedrich Collins is becoming huge.. now 6'5 260! He is still a very good midrange shooter, but doesn't do well in traffic. Best attributes besides his shot is his handlin ability and strength. Rated 76 overall mainly due to his 84 midrange shooting. Will backup at SG and SF.


PF's:

Whitney Cornette is now 6'10 226. He improved quite a bit during the last season and is now a 77 overall. He has become a very good post scorer, and we'll probably go to him there more this year. Very good passer out of the post. His shot blocking and rebounding are both drastically improved from his freshman year.

We got a surprising walk-on. Marko Cox is from Australia. I didn't pursue him at all. He is a 6'4 211 pound "PF" who is an efficient post scorer, a great dunker, and has quick hands. His vertical is off the charts. He also is a great hustle player. He'll likely play some backup SF/PF for us in some games. He is rated 73 overall.

Sophomore Gilson Willis has improved his 3 point shooting and should be very good out there for a PF. He is a solid rebounder and a decent defender. He is now 6'8 225.

JR Alphonso Bowers is now 6'8 255. He is now the best 3 point shooter on my team and he will get more PT than he did last year, either at PF or SF. He is a good shot blocker and a much better defender than 2 years ago. Rated 69 overall.

Vitor Ziri is the odd man out with the new walkon and my determination to get Bowers more PT. He probably won't play much. The 6'9 250 pound JR is rated 68 overall.

Redshirt Freshman Walkon Jeffrey McClinton is rated 60 overall. He won't play for us this year.


C's:

SR DeShaun Simon gained 12 more pounds and is now 7'1 318 pounds. He also has gained some strength and should be pushing people around in the post even more. He isn't that refined in the post, but he is much better than his first 2 years. I expect to go to him more this year. Rated 74 overall as he seems to be maxing out on his potential.

JR Mamery Clifford is now an excellent shot blocker. He is 6'11 265 and is also a good post scorer. However, he lets himself get pushed around in the post a bit too much. Rated 70 overall. He'll be our backup center.


We have 4 scholarship players graduating this year: Collins, Ortiz, Simon, and Graves. I'll be looking to recruit a center, 1-2 SG's, and either a SF or PG.

[Eaglesfan27]

Early Recruiting Target:

PG Nicholas Lindeman is from NYC. He is a 4 star player rated 36th overall. There are a huge number of schools recruiting him, but most are from further away and he likes us quite a bit. I'll go after him as he has it all: Size, shooting ability, and athleticism.

We are going to aim high as I'll probably be bolting soon if I don't get some upper caliber talent...

SF Andres Devance is from Elizabeth, NJ. He is 6'7 222 pounds and is a 4 star SF who is rated 49th overall. He has a high enough interest in us that I'll pursue him.

PG Isreal Simmons is another high caliber player I'll pursue. He is a 6'1 PG from NYC who is a 4 star player ranked 37th overall. I've been pursuing him since last year, so he already likes us a fair bit. However, Duke is considering him...


I also pursue about 10 3 star players.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our first game of the year is at home against Bucknell. Our overall rating is now a 84 while theirs is a 63. Their team unity is also horrible.


We are up 28-15 with 6 minutes to go. Feeding off the home court energy, our starters are just now tired.

Bitee will get his first time on the court to run the team.


We lead 34-20 at the half. Bitee is able to penetrate at will against this PG, but he has some trouble with passing it out to shooters. Still, he had 4 points in the 6 minutes and an assist.


Cornette is the player of the half with 10 points, 4 boards, 1 block, and 1 steal.


Not the huge blowout I expected, but we are up 60-39 with 9 minutes to go as I pull my staters.


We win the game 69-47.

Graves is the player of the game with 22 points, 3 assists, and a steal. He shot 8 of 14, 3 of 4, and 3 of 3.

Waters with 2 points, 7 assists, 2 steals, and a turnover. He shot 1 of 1.

Hannan with 18 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 8 of 16, 2 of 6, and 0 of 0.

Cornette with 10 points, 5 boards, 1 steal, and 1 block. He shot 4 of 4 on the night and 2 of 2 from the arc.

Simon with 2 points, 9 boards, 3 assists, and 2 blocks.


Bitee led the bench with 9 points, 2 boards, and an assist. He shot 4 of 6 mostly on layups after he beat the defense, but he also hit one 16 footer.

Clifford with 7 boards in 14 minutes.



Our next game is at Lehigh. They are 3-1, but their overall talent is only 67. I probably won't play that until later in the week.

[Eaglesfan27]

As expected, we come out strong against Lehigh. Graves has 12 of our first 19 points. We are up 19-8 at the 10 minute mark.

With 3 minutes to go, we get our starters back into the game. We are up 30-12.


At the half, we lead 35-17. Graves is the player of the half with 14 points and a board.

I was blowing thm out, but a 12-0 run gets them back into it. I rest my starters with 9:54 to go. We are up 50-37.

My bench is getting tired and they are letting the gap close quickly again. With 2:59 to go, I put back in the starters. Up 62-48.


We win the game 70-49.

Graves is the player of the game with 23 points, 1 board, and 1 steal. He shot 10 of 17, 3 of 5, and 0 of 0.

Waters with a great game: 6 points, 11 assists, and 4 steals with only 1 turnover. He shot 2 of 3 and 2 of 2 from the line.

Hannan wth 9 points, 3 boards, 1 assist, and a steal. He shot 4 of 8 and 0 of 4 from the arc.

Cornette with 0 points, 2 boards, 1 assist, 3 steals, and a block.

Simon with 7 points, 10 boards, 2 assists, and 2 blocks.

Bitee with 4 points and 2 assists.

Bowers had 12 points, 1 board, 1 assist, and 1 steal.

Clifford with 2 blocks in 15 minutes.


Our next game is at Quinnipiac who are rated 58 in overall talent! Sheesh, the AD gave us an easy schedule to start.


I decide to go ahead and sim that as it should be a blowout:


It's closer than expected, but we win 85-67.

Hannan was the player of the game with 29 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 12 of 20, 2 of 4, and 3 of 4.

Wayers with 9 points, 7 assists, and 2 steals.

Graves with 3 points, 3 boards, 7 assists, and 2 blocks.

Cornette with 11 points, 5 bords, and a block.

Simon fouled out in 20 minutes. He had 5 points, 2 boards, and a block.



Clifford hurt his knee in the game. He'll be hurt for about a week, but will be able to play through it.

5 bench players with 5 points each.


Our next opponent is much better. We'll play Central Michigan. They are 1-4 with an overall talent rating of 75. I'll play that later today.



The new coaching staff seems to be producing quicker results in training. The following players have gone up a point of overall rating:

Graves (81), Hannan (77), Simon (75), Ortiz (74), Willis (72), Clifford (71), Bowers (70), and Ziri (69).

We are currently leding all schools in the pursuit of SR 4 star PG Israel Simmons from NYC. Duke and Maryland are our closest competitors, but they are being slow in pursuing him and haven't offered an early scholarship. He is rated 37th overall in the country and would be a huge coup if we can get him to sign early, but that looks like a long shot.

We are 2nd behind BC and Pitt on our other 4 star players that we are pursuing.

[Eaglesfan27]

Hannan is missing everything early against the Chippewas. We are tied at 13 with 10 minutes to go in the 1st half.

Up 28-24 with 4:19 to go as our starters return.

A great outburst of offense from our starters to end the half. We are up 42-31 at the half.

Hannan ends up being the player of the half thanks to his scoring in the last 4 minutes in which he stopped settling for 3's and drove it to the hoop.

He has 10 points.


We are up 62-51 with 9 minutes to go as we bring in the 2nd rotation.


Our bench finishes it off. 86-71. Bitee's first step is faster than any of our point guards and he was lethal with drives and kickouts to Bowers.


Hannan is the player of the game with 18 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 7 of 17, 1 of 7, and 3 of 7.

Waters with 7 points, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 3 turnovers. He shot 2 of 8.

Graves with 10 points, 2 boards, 4 assists, and only 1 turnover. He shot 2 of 5 from the field, and 5 of 5 from the line.

Cornette with 4 points, 6 boards, and 2 blocks.

Simon with 8 points, 11 boards, and a block.


Bowers led the bench with 18 points, 6 boards, and 1 assist. He shot 6 of 7, 4 of 5 (all wide open 3's), and 2 of 2.

Bitee with 8 points, 6 assists, 1 board, and 1 steal. He had 2 turnovers. He shot 3 of 6.

Ortiz also had 8 points off the bench.



Our next game is one of the few difficult games on the schedule as we will travel to play George Washington. They are 6-0 and 21st in the media poll. However, they aren't that much more talented than we are and an upset is possible. Their biggest strength is ridiculous 3 point shooting ability.

[Eaglesfan27]

George Washington starts out drilling 3's and playing excellent defense. We don't score for the first 4 minutes by which time they have a 10-0 lead.

Down 17-7 at the 10:55 mark.

Down 39-23 with 3:45 to go when we get our starters back into the game.


Down 45-25 at the half. Their defense is better than expected and their shooting rating (96) is clearly well earned.


They keep control of the game throughout. They win 93-65.

Waters with 5 points, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 turnover. He shot 2 of 5.

Graves with 15 points, 2 assists, 2 steals. He shot 4 of 13.

Hannan with 4 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 1 of 11, 0 of 5 from the arc.

Cornette with 7 points, 8 boards and a steal.

Simon with 2 points, 8 boards, and a block.


Bitee led the bench with 11 points and an assist.

Willis with 8, Collins with 7, and Bowers with 6 points.



Now the early signing period has started...


8 of the players I was pursuing including 2 who I offered scholarships to have signed on the first day with other teams:

SF Andreas Devance a 4 star SF from Elizabeth, NJ has signed with Pitt. I thought we had a chance to steal him.

4 star PG Nicholas Lindeman from NYC has signed with BC. He would have been a huge addition for us.



Isreal Simmons, a 4 star PG from NYC, still has us 1st on his list, but he doesn't look likely to make an early decision and Maryland and Duke are 2nd and 3rd on his list..

Tamal Gill, a 3 star SG from Gary, Indiana is likely to sign with us next week. He is ranked 260th overall and 60th among SG's. He is 6'5 189 with very good potential according to our staff. His strengths right now are his defense, particularly his shot blocking. He needs to work on his shot.


Our next game is hosting our first conference foe, Canisus. They are rated 71 in overall talent which is one of the worst ratings in the conference. This should be an easy win.

[Eaglesfan27]

A brilliant first 10 minutes of basketball with Hannan and Waters leading the way on offense. Up 28-11 with 9:47 to go.


Up 40-22 with 3:44 to go as I get my starters back into the game.


We are up 40-26 at the half.


Hannan is the player of the half with 17 points, 2 assits, and 2 steals. He shot 7 of 12 so far including 3 of 5 from the arc.

Waters has 6 points and 4 assists at the half.



Up 60-50 with 9 minutes to go. Hannan is slowing down, but Simon has picked up some of the slack.

Up 70-56 with 3 minutes left as my starters come back in to finish this one.


We win the game 82-60.


Hannan is the player of the game with 29 points, 2 boards 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 11 of 17, 3 of 6, and 4 of 4.

Waters with 9 points, 6 assists, 1 board, 2 steals, and a turnover. He shot 3 of 7.

Graves with 9 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 assist. He shot 2 of 8.

Cornette with 2 points, 6 boards, and 2 assists.

Simon with 9 points and 6 boards.


Bowers led the bench with 12 points. He shot 4 of 5 and 2 of 3 from the arc.

Bitee with 8 points and 2 assists.


Our next game is hosting Saint Peter's. They are another weak team in the conference with an overall rating of 72.

[Eaglesfan27]

We started off with a 11-2 lead, but a 8-0 run has it at 13-12 now with 9 minutes to go.

Down 26-23 when we get our starters back into the game with 3 minutes to go.


Down 30-29 at the half. I expect a much better second half from the team. Hanavan, their SG is the player of the half with 11 points and 2 assists.


Graves explodes in the 2nd half. He is hugely responsible for our 57-42 lead with 9:44 to go.

Up 65-50 with 3 minutes to go, as I put my starters back into the game.


We win the game 72-57.


Graves is the player of the game. 23 points, 2 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 8 of 14, 1 of 1, and 6 of 7.

Waters with 7 points, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 2 turnovers. He shot 2 of 2.

Hannan with 14 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 5 of 11.

Cornette with 4 points, 6 boards, 4 assists, and 3 steals.

Simon with 6 points, 8 boards, and 2 assists.


Collins and Willis each had 7 points off the bench. Bitee with 4 points, 2 assists, and 3 steals off the bench.




The Early Signing period ends with Tamar Gill signing with us.



Our next game is hosting the 1-5 High Point Panthers. They have a team overall rating of 67.

[Eaglesfan27]

Against High Point, we start off with a 12-0 run before they score 4 straight points. At the 10 minute mark, we are up 20-8.

Our bench lets them get a bit closer by the 4 minute mark, it is 30-20.


We end the half up 40-28.


Graves is the player of the half with 10 points, 2 boards, and 2 assists.


In the 2nd half, Cornette has a great start. We are up 56-36 when I get my subs in with 12 minutes to go.

Our bench gets sloppy and it is 66-52 with 5 minutes to go. I put my starters back in to finish it.


We win the game 80-60.

Cornette is the player of the game with 10 points, 17 boards, 1 steal, and 2 blocks. He shot 5 of 7.

Waters with 9 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and a turnover.

Graves with 13 points, 5 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks.

Hannan shot poorly. 10 points, 4 boards, and 3 assists. He shot 4 of 16.

Simon with 10 points, 6 boards, and a block.


Clifford led the bench with 10 points.



Our next game is against Saint Francis of PA. They are only ranked 62 in overall talent. Since it should be a boring blowout, I sim it:


We win the game 97-61. Hannan led scoring with 20 points. He also had 5 points, 2 assists and 2 steals.

Waters with 6 points and 6 assists.

Graves with 17 points, 5 boards, and 5 assists.

Cornette with 6 points and 4 boards.

Simon with 7 points and 2 boards.

Collins led the bench with 19 points and 5 boards.

Clifford with 2 points and 7 boards.


Our next game should be an easy win, but will be at least semi-competitive. We play Utah Valley State. They have an overall talent of 71. They are 4-10. We are now 8-1.

[Eaglesfan27]

A great first 10 minutes from my team. Up 27-7 with Graves and Hannan leading the way.

We lead 38-17 with 3 minutes to go in the half when my starters return.


At the half, we are up 46-19.


Graves is the player of the half with 13 points and 3 assists. Hannan has 11 points and 2 assists.



We've attacked the basket this game more than any other game in my last season or 2 - it's making a huge difference. Graves is dominating by using his slashing ability. We are up 77-41 with 10:30 to go as I pull my starters.


We win the game 90-64.


Graves is the player of the game with 31 points, 6 assists, 1 board, 1 block, and 1 steal. He shot 10 of 14, 3 of 5, and 8 of 8.

Waters with 4 points, 7 assists, 3 steals, and 1 turnover.

Hannan iwth 16 points, 1 board, and 2 assists. He shot 6 of 9, 2 of 3, and 2 of 4.

Cornette with 8 points, 10 boards, and a block.

Simon with 7 points, 8 boards, 3 assists, and a block.


Willis led the bench with 8 points. Bowers and Clifford each had 6.



After the win, we are 9-1 and we are now 19th in the media poll. We are 1st in the Mid Major Poll.


Our next game is at home vs Vermont. They are 5-7 with a 75 overall team rating.

[Eaglesfan27]

Tied at 20 with 8 minutes to go when we bring in our subs.

Up 33-29 with 2 minutes to go as our starters return.

A burst in the last minute has up 39-29 at the half.


Hannan is the player of the half with 10 points and 3 steals.


Up 67-47 with 8 minutes to go. Very balanced scoring from my team tonight.

We win the game 85-68.

Hannan is the player of the game with 16 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and 5 steals. He shot 5 of 12, 0 of 2, and 6 of 6.

Graves had 18 points, 4 boards, 3 assists, and 1 steal. He shot 7 of 13, 2 of 4, and 2 of 2.

Waters with 0 points, 7 assists, and 2 steals. He only turned it over 1 time.

Cornette with 9 points, 5 boards, 3 steals, and a block.

Simon with 12 points, 8 boards, 3 assists, and a block.


Willis led the bench with 13 points and 5 boards.


Our next game is at Marist. They are 4-8, but are rated a competive 81 in ovedrall talent with their strengh being shooting.

[Eaglesfan27]

Down 16-12 with 11 minutes to go as I give my starters a rest.


We are up 25-24 when our starters return with 4 minutes to go. Bowers was great during that stretch.


Up 35-32 at the half. We aren't shooting well from the field, but we are getting to the line and are 14 of 14 from the line!


Graves is the player of the half with 10 points, 2 boards, 1 assist, and 3 steals. He is 8 of 8 from the line.


Up 48-44 with 10:30 left. Hannan has been the main scorer this half after scoring 0 in the 1st half.

Down 56-55 with 3:41 left when our starters return.


After a turnover by Cornette on a 3 second call, Graves has a steal at the other end which leads to a fast break layup by Waters.

They get an interior basket, but Hannan responds with a nice drive into the lane to draw a foul.. he misses the first in the tough environment.. he misses the 2nd as well :(


He makes up for it with a block as the clock is expiring, but Graves misses an open 12 footer at the other end.

They draw a foul to have a chance to go up by 3 with 1:40 to go. Their PG hits both FT's to make it 60-57.

Hannan is fouled on the wing just before he shoots a 3, but we only get awarded 2 FT's as his foot was on the line. He makes the 1st but misses the 2nd.

We force a miss and get it back with 57 seconds left..


Graves misses a layup, but we get the board. Graves misses a wide open 3.

Simon fouls their PF and we send them to the line. He hits both FT's to make it a 4 point game. 23 seconds left.

Hannan misses an open 3. They hit their FT's and put it away. A disappointing road loss :(

64-58 loss.


Waters with 4 points, 4 assists, and 4 turnovers.

Graves with 12 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and 5 steals. He shot 2 of 14 from the field and 8 of 8 from the line.

Hannan with 12 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. He shot 5 of 15, 1 of 5, and 1 of 8 from the line.

Cornette with 2 points, 11 boards, and 3 assists.

Simon with with 8 points, 12 boards, and a block.


Bowers led the bench with 12 points and 3 boards. Clifford had 6 points and 8 boards.



Our next game is at Saint Peter's which should be a much easier road game. Their overall rating is 73.

[Ironhead]

Tough night from the line for Hannan. Just have him take his frustration out on the next team.

Just curious, what do the conference standings look like? I am getting the feeling that despite your regular season success you will need to get past the 1st round of the big dance to get offered a good job in the offseason.

[Eaglesfan27]

Tough night from the line for Hannan. Just have him take his frustration out on the next team.

Just curious, what do the conference standings look like? I am getting the feeling that despite your regular season success you will need to get past the 1st round of the big dance to get offered a good job in the offseason.

Yeah, I expect Hannan to have a big game against Saint Peter's which I'm about to play.


Conference Standings:

Fairfield 2-0, 8-4
Niagara 2-1, 10-2
Rider 2-1, 7-5
Marist 2-1, 5-8
Siena 1-1, 9-3
Loyola 1-1, 6-6
Canisus 1-1, 4-10
Manhattan 1-2, 8-7
Iona 0-2, 4-8
Saint Peter's 0-2, 3-8


I agree that we must do more in the tourney this year, particularly with a few stars graduating. I need to make an impression this year in the tourney with at least a sweet 16 appearance.

[Eaglesfan27]

Unexpected slow start even though we are on the road, we are down 10-8 with 12 minutes to go. I decide to give the bench an early go.

Tied at 21 with 5 minutes to go as we get our starters back into the game.


We did have a 29-21 lead, but a 8-0 run in the last 2 minutes has us going into halftime tied at 29. I'm disappointed with our offense and defense.

Hannan is the player of the half with 6 points, 2 boards, and 2 assists.


Up 46-39 as we go to our bench with 10 minutes to go.

Not the expected blowout, but we are up 52-46 with 4:28 to go as I get my starters back into the game.

After Hannan misses a shot, they hit a 3 and their home crowd is going crazy. Hannan drives to the hoop and is fouled... he makes both FT's. :)

Hannan with a defensive stop and then he drills a 3! 57-49 with 2:30 to go.

Our next possession, Simon draws a double team.. kicks it out to Hannan who nails another 3!


We win the game 66-54.

Hannan is the player of the game with 22 points, 4 boards, 3 assists, and 1 block. He shot 8 of 18, 2 of 4, and 4 of 6 from the line.

Waters with 7 points, 2 assists, and 3 steals. Their 6'6 PG really bothered him this game, when I thought he'd be able to dribble circles around him.

Graves with 8 points, 3 assists, 3 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 3 of 12 and 2 of 3 from the line.

Cornette with 4 points and 7 boards.

Simon with 6 points, 12 boards, and 4 blocks as he was spectacular defensively.

Bowers and Collins each had 6 points off the bench.



The loss this week dropped us out of the top 25 in the media poll.


Our next game is against 8-6 Loyola at home.

[Eaglesfan27]

Loyola has a talented team with an overall rating only 1 point lower at 83.

About 4 minutes into the game, Hannan hurts his ankle :(

By the 12 minute mark, Hannan is cleared to return, it's just a sprain (worried cause I turned injury severity.)

Graves has been dominant with Hannan out and has really set up Collins for some nice open jump shots which he has nailed.


We are up 19-11 with 10 minutes to go as I go to my bench with Hannan at SF.

Up 36-27 when we bring our starters back with 3:30 to go.


A strong finish. We are up 45-32 at the half. Great shooting this half for us as everyone was hitting shots.

Collins is the player of the half with 13 points and 2 assists. He shot 4 of 6, 1 of 2, and 4 of 4 in the first half. I've been playing him at backup SG all year, but his speed at SF is a real matchup issue for the opposition.


We did have a big lead, but they are on a 12-0 run and have pulled within 3. 55-52, we lead as we go to our bench with 11:43 to go. Hannan did well with the starters even with his bad ankle.

I'm playing Collins as backup SF since he did so well there with the starters. Bowers will slide to PF.

Up 71-64 with 4 minutes left, we bring back our starters. Collins was very good in that stretch as was most of our bench players.


I ask our guys to play close shut down defense, and Waters quickly picks up a 4th foul.

They are shutting us down and getting fastbreak baskets.. they tie it at 71 with 2 minutes to go.

20 seconds later, they steal a Waters pass and make it 73-71 on the fastbreak layup.


Simon responds with a strong post move which he dunks it and gets the foul! Even though he is a poor FT shooter, he hits the foul (I have Real FT% on.)

They miss a 3, but get the offensive board... good defense makes them work the clock.. they shoot.. Simon intimidates them.. a miss! Graves gets the board.

We work the clock down to 5 seconds and then Graves drives, but his shot is blocked!

18 seconds left.. good defense by our guys.. Graves doesn't get the block but he was right in their star SG's face when he shoots.. a miss! Cornette with the rebound. They immediately foul. 4 seconds left. We are still up 74-73. He makes both FT's! 76-73.

Cornette blocks the desperation 3 attempt! We win 76-73.


Collins is the player of the game, but Cornette was the player of the last 2 minutes. Collins with 19 points and 3 assists. He shot 6 of 10, 1 of 2, and 6 of 7.

Waters with 2 points, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 2 turnovers. He shot 1 of 3.

Graes with 11 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 1 steal. He shot 4 of 14.

Hannan with 9 points, 3 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 3 of 11.

Cornette with 6 points, 6 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. He shot 2 of 2 and 2 of 2 from the line.

Simon with 11 points, 8 boards, 3 assists, and a block.


Clifford had 6 points and 10 boards off the bench. Bowers with 6 points and 5 boards.


Our next game is at home against Fairfield. They are 10-5 and have an overall rting of 81. Their strenght is their frontcourt and rebounding.


Update on player progress since the start of the season (team overall is now an 85):

Chen Li has gained 2 points of overall and is now becoming a credible 3 point shooter. He is now rated 69.

Bowers has gained 2 points of overall and is now a 71. His 3 point shooting is up to 79 which is highest on the team.

The following have all gained 1 point of overall: Graves (81), Cornette (78), Hannan (77), Waters (76), Simon (75), Ortiz (74), Willis (72), Bitee (71), Clifford (71), and Vitor Ziri (69).


Hannan should be 100% in 3 days, but we play Fairfield in 2 days. He'll still start, but if he is struggling we'll go to Collins early.

[Eaglesfan27]

Horrible start as we go down 8-0, but Cornette hit 2 FT's and then we went on a 12-0 run largely thanks to Cornette who is playing his best basketball.

Up 23-14 with 10 minutes left as we go to the bench.


Willis might be a star for my team at some point, but this new backup lineup is going to keep him from getting as much time this year. With Bitee at PG, Ortiz at SG, and Collins at SF, we are generating tremendous mismatches. Bowers is bigger than Willis and he is doing a good job of rebounding and even has a blocked shot during this stretch.

With 3 minutes to go, we are up 34-18.


We are up 43-25 at the half.

Cornette is the player of the half with 10 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and a block. Hannan also has 10.


We did have a 25 point lead at one point, but they narrow it to 17 before I go to my bench. Up 65-47.


Normally with a big lead, I let up and slow things down, but I wanted to see if this bench group is as good as they looked in the 1st half... they played great in this final stretch as well. Destroying their competition.


We win the game 98-59.

Hannan is the player of the game with 18 points, 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 block, and 1 steal. He shot 6 of 14, 2 of 4, and 4 of 5 from the line.


Great games from everyone:

Wates with 10 points, 8 assists, 3 steals, and 2 turnovers. He shot 3 of 5 from the field and 2 of 4 from the arc.

Graves with 10 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 4 of 7.

Cornette with 12 points, 8 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. He shot 5 of 7.

Simon with 4 points, 9 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block.


Collins with 15 points, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 6 of 8, 2 of 3, and 1 of 2.

Ortiz with 10 points, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 board. He shot 3 of 5, 2 of 3, and 2 of 2.

Clifford with 6 points, 13 boards, 3 assists, and a steal.

Bowers with 12 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and 4 steals. He was much faster than his counterpart and besides the many steals, he went to the line 8 times. He was 8 of 8 from the line and 2 of 4 from the field with no 3 point attempts.


That decisive win has us back in the Media Poll at #25.

After the game, Dexter Buggs tells us that we are his #1 choice and he has moved us ahead of Cornell! Dexter is a 6'10 252 pound 3 star center from Toronto. He is ranked 314th overall and 16th among centers. Our staff feels he has excellent potential for growth and is already strong at dunking and ball handling. He is also a good passer for his position. He isn't really bad in any area except speed.


Heh. I just realized I never posted this. This is from 2 days ago, but just posting now.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our next game is hosting 8-7 Rider. They have an overall talent of 78 and should be an easy win for us at home.


Our starters are running at will against them and playing shut down defense. We are up 25-7 with 11 minutes to go as we bring in the bench.


Up 44-20 with 3 minutes to go in the half as my starters return.


At halftime, we are up 52-26. Everyone except Hannan is playing extremely well.

Graves is the player of the half with 14 points, 1 board, 1 assist, and 1 steal.


With 11 minutes to go, we go the bench probably for the rest of the game. We lead 70-39.

We win the game 85-55.


Graves is the player of the game with 22 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 100% today in all areas! 6 of 6 from the field, 1 of 1 from the arc, and 9 of 9 from the line. :)


Waters with 6 points, 5 assists, 4 steals, and 1 turnover.

Hannan with 18 points, 9 boards, 1 assists, and 1 steal. He shot 6 of 19, 1 of 2, and 5 of 9.

Cornette with 9 points, 10 boards, 1 steal.

Simon with 3 points, 9 boards, 1 assist, and 1 block.


Bowers led the bench with 7 points and 9 boards. Clifford had 6 points and 10 boards.


Our next game is against Fairfield again, but at their place. I still expect a blowout after that huge win against them.

[Eaglesfan27]

Since we beat them by such a large margin at home, I decide to sim the Fairfield game. We win 95-67.

Hannan was the player of the game with 35 points, 5 boards, 5 assists, and 2 steals in 27 minutes. He shot 13 of 19, 5 of 6, and 4 of 5.

Waters and Graves each had 11 points and 6 assists. Graves also had a block.

Simon had 12 points and 6 boards. Cornette with 8 points, 4 boards, and a block.

Collins, Ortiz, and Bitee each had 5 points off the bench.

Iona is another weak team with an overall rating of 70 and a record of 6-12, but I decided to play that game on the road.

[Eaglesfan27]

We are up 27-12 with 10:30 to go. Everyone has moved the ball so well. Hannan and Graves are doing a great job of finishing.

With 3:11 to go, we bring back our starters. We are up 38-17.


At the half, we are up 48-24.


Graves is the plyer of the half with 18 points, 2 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He has shot 7 of 8 from the field including 2 of 2 from the arc.



Our offense just isn't clicking in the 2nd half like they did in the 1st and we are only up 58-46 with 10 minutes to go as I rest my starters.


Ortiz with a 3 followed by a Collins 3 to end our dry spell.


It still close, so I bring my starters back in with 5 minutes to go. We are up 73-61. 30 seconds later, Waters foul out. Bitee has been playing well, so I'm not too worried.


The starters finish it it off. 88-67 win.


Graves is the player of the game. 29 points, 3 assists, 2 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 11 of 15, 5 of 5, and 2 of 2.

Waters with 2 points and 4 assists.

Bitee off the bench in a little over half the time with 5 points, 6 assists, and both had 1 turnover.

Hannan with 18 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals. He shot 5 of 13, 1 of 6, and 7 of 13.

Coirnette with 2 points and 10 boards. He was 1 of 5 from the field.

Simon with 11 points, 11 boards, and 3 blocks.


Collins led the bench in scoring with 6.


Our next game is at Canisus. They are 5-16. We beat the 82-61 at home earlier in the year.

[Eaglesfan27]

Gilson Willis lets me know that he is unhappy with his lack of PT. I'll make an effort to get him into the game more today.


We are up 28-17 with 10 minutes left when I go to the bench.


We are up 42-31 with 5 minutes to go as my starters return.


Up 57-40 at the half.

Graves is playing incredible basketball. He has 19 points, 5 assists, and 3 boards this half.


Incredible game from Graves. Hannan and company are all playing well. If we play like this in the tourney, we'll go far. Of course, that is still over a month away...


We are up 88-46 with 11 minutes to go. I pull my starters for good.

The main thing I'm doing different the last few games is running more than ever, like I did with Andres and Santos. It's working as Graves has such athleticism.

I slowed it down for the stretch, but we still scored 20 more. We win the game 108-76.


Graves is the player of the game with 34 points, 6 assists, 4 boards, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 12 of 17, 3 of 6, and 7 of 8.

Waters with 13 points, 7 assists, and 4 steals.

Hannan with 18 points, 9 boards, 5 assists, 5 steals, and 3 turnovers. He shot 7 of 16, 0 of 5, and 4 of 6.

Cornettewith 2 points and 9 boards.

Simon with 5 points, 7 boards, and 3 blocks.


Bitee with 13 points and 7 assists in just 16 minutes (compared to 24 for Waters) Biteehas a funky low release and he is short, but his release is quick. He was 3 of 4 from the field including 2 of 2 from the arc. He was 5 of 6 from the line.

Ortiz with 9 points all on 3's and Clifford with 7 points and 5 boards.

Willis played 16 minutes and finished with 5 points, 3 boards, and a block.

[Eaglesfan27]

I expect another blowout against Iona, so I sim it. We win 82-56.

Waters with 5 points, 5 assists, and 4 steals.

Graves with 12 points, 7 boards, and 6 assists. He shot 1 of 8 from the field but 10 of 10 from the line.

Hannan with 19 points, 8 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 5 of 11, 2 of 6, and 7 of 11.

Cornette with 10 points and 7 boards.

Simon with 8 points, 4 boards, and a block.


Collins and Clifford with 9 off the bench. Ortiz with 8.



We are now 18-2. Our next game is at home vs a very good Siena squad. They are 17-6 on the year. They have an overall talent rating of 83. I'll play that later today or tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

One big advantage we have over Siena - our team unity is up to 72 now. Theirs is 47.


Great start to the game as Hannan is on fire. We are up 26-10 with 9:35 to go.

Up 32-16 with 4 minutes to go in the half.

We get sloppy down the stretch and a few turnovers leads to a 10-0 run for them. We are up 39-29 at halftime.

Simon has almost 100 pounds on his man and we've been pounding it down low. He is the player of the half with 13 points, 6 boards, 2 assists, and a block.

Hannan has 12 points, 2 boards, 1 assist, and 2 steals.



It's become a game after our hot start. We are up 54-46 with 9:45 to go.


We are up 60-55 with 4 minutes to go.


Back and forth baskets. 64-60 with 2 minutes to go.


Hannan misses an open 3 which he had been hitting today. Simon gets the board, but misses the putback which he had been making. They get a 3 on the other end. 64-63 with 1:10 left.


Graves gets it with 5 seconds left.. puts up a contested 12 footer.. he misses.. Cornette with the board, but they steal it from him before he can do anything.


They draw a foul with 21 seconds left, but we aren't in the penalty, yet.


With 7.5 seconds left, they hit a 3.

Rather than call a timeout, I decide to have Waters rush it up the court.. he drives.. kicks it to Cornette who goes for the dunk.. he is fouled and misses the dunk. He misses the 1st FT :(

He intentionally misses the 2nd, but they get the board. Terrible loss at home. We had this game in hand and let it slipped away. :(

66-64 loss.


Logie their SF who hit the game winning 3 was the player of the game. He had 15 points and 10 boards.


For us, Waters had 2 points, 4 assists, and a steal.

Graves had 12 points, 4 assists, 1 board, and 1 steal. He shot 4 of 14.

Hannan had 21 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and 4 steals. He shot 8 of 16, 3 of 6, and 2 of 3.

Cornette had 2 points and 12 boards.

Simon finished with 15 points, 16 boards, 3 assists, and a block.


Bitee and Clifford led the bench with 4 points each.


Our next game is against 10-14 (3-9) Manhattan. They are rated 71 in overall talent.

[Eaglesfan27]

We are on the road, and it's been tougher than expected. We are up 21-18 with a little over 10 minutes to go.


We are leading 30-24 with 4 minutes to go.


We are up 39-28 at the half. We are killing them at the line where we are 14 of 17. Waters is driving into the lane at will and creating fouls (for himself and others as they try to rotate to cover.)


Waters is the player of the half with 8 points, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 1 turnover.


61-51 lead with 11 minutes to go. Hannan has been dominating from the inside the last 5 minutes.


Up 71-61 with 5 minutes to go as our starters return to finish this out.


We finish off very strong. 86-66 win.


Hannan is the player of the game with 26 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and 1 steal. He shot 8 of 13, 1 of 4, and 9 of 12.

Waters with 13 points, 4 assists, and a steal. He was 9 of 14 from the FT line.

Graves with 11 points and 3 assists. He was 3 of 8, 0 of 1, and 5 of 6.

Cornette with 4 points, 8 boards, and a block.

Simon with 15 points, 15 boards, an assist, and a block.


Cox with 6 points led the bench.


Our next game is at Loyola. They are 12-11 (7-6) and are an 81 in overall talent. I probably won't play that until next weekend, and if I fall in love with NCAA Football 09, it might be 2 weeks.


Before I end for today, a quick look at the seniors on our team and how they are doing in the last year of their storied careers:

Simon: 7.9 ppg (2nd highest total) and 7.9 rpg (lowest total) with 1.5 apg and 1.0 bpg.

Collins: 6.7 ppg (career high), 1.8 rpg, and 0.8 spg (career high.)

Graves: 16.1 ppg (career high by over a point), 2.1 rpg, 3.2 apg (career high), and 1.5 spg.

Ortiz: 4.9 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 0.2 apg, and 0.6 spg.



We will be losing a lot of scoring next year. None of them are projected to be drafted at this point.

[Eaglesfan27]

Not a long write-up for Loyola because of computer problems that prevented me from writing during the 1st half, but we crushed them 93-57 and that is with our starters resting the last 14 minutes.


Despite the shortened game time, Hannan was the player of the game with 28 points, 5 assists, and 2 boards. He shot 8 of 12, 3 of 4, and 9 of 12.

Graves had 21 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 1 turnover. He shot 8 of 10, 2 of 2 and 3 of 3. Waters was also on top of his game with 12 points, 7 assists, and 3 steals. He shot 4 of 6, 1 of 1, and 3 of 3.

Cornette had 0 points and 13 boards.

Simon had 8 points, 9 boards, 2 assists, and a block.

Ortiz led the bench with 7 points and 2 assists.


Our next game is at Marist who are 13-11 but have a talented squad with an overall rating of 82.

[Eaglesfan27]

After a long hiatus, I'm back to playing this game. Unfortunately, I didn't take good notes as I wanted to be sure that it would stick before starting to write again. I'm using a new slider set that lowers help defense and help recovery which generates more of an open floor for slashers, and I'm loving the game again. Therefore, I'm back to writing. During the past few weeks, I finished up last season which will just get a brief synopsis now:

We finished the regular season 25-5 and lost in the Conference Final Game to Siena. This new slider set has made the CPU much more dangerous offensively, and they hammered us down low to the tune of 40 plus points from their PF and C. We got an 11 seed in the Tourney, but Oregon blew us out 85-61. They were much better rated (95 to our 85) and I had fun trying to hang with them.

Graves was on the conference first team, but is not expected to be drafted - not surprisingly. Neither is the massive DeShaun Simon despite his dominating rebounding performances. We also lost backup guard/small forwards Collins and Ortiz to graduation.

The recruiting is what got my excited about writing in this dynasty again. I stayed at Niagara when Florida State and every big school passed me over, but my continued development as a coach helped us land an unexpected potential star player:

PG Israel Simmons is a 6'1 170 pound PG from New York City. He is the 37th player overall in his senior class. He is a 4 star player. He is rated A- or better in his overall shooting rating, his skill level (ball handling/passing), defense, athleticism, and potential. I'll have to see how good he looks when he actually gets on the court, but I expect he'll unseat Gus Waters (who played very well down the stretch) as the starter.

The other recruits to replace our 4 graduating players:

Tamal Gill is a 6'5 189 pound SG who is from Gary, IN. He is rated 260th overall and is a 3 star player. He is rated A- in athleticism and B or B+ in Shot, skill, defense, and potential.

Raul Lisinic is a 6'6 205 pound SF from Memphis, TN. He is rated 388th overall. He is a 3 star player. He is a poor defensive player, but is rated at a B in shooting, athleticism, rebounding, and potential.

We lost out on our top 2 choices at center and settled for Gary Outlaw, a JC Freshman. He is 6'10 210. We don't know a lot about him yet except he is supposed to be a good shot blocker.

Overall, our class is ranked 38th in the nation, which I believe is my best mark yet.


Now, onto an overview of the team roster...

[Eaglesfan27]

Also, I decided to leave our OOC schedule completely alone which includes some tough opponents such as UCLA coming to visit us and a pre-season tourney.

[rjolley]

Glad to see you're back to this. I've been playing pretty regularly. Right now, I'm in the middle of a season playing every game as Wake Forest. Hoped to go undefeated, and after a first game blowout, figured it would be pretty easy.

So, what happens? I lose the next 2. I'm riding a 13 game winning streak right now with the best PG and C in the ACC, and contenders for POY. The PG is averaging 8 ppg and 10 apg, while the C is going for 17.5 ppg and 7.5 rpg.

Good luck on next season.

[gi]

Welcome back, looking forward to reading this again.

[Eaglesfan27]

The roster doesn't leave me quite as excited as I thought I'd be, but it is still fairly good:

PG (Solid position in terms of depth)

PG Israel Simmons just isn't as good as I hoped out of the gate in his overall ratings, but his 3 point rating does excite me at 81 which leads the team. His offensive skills are great with an excellent handle, solid passing skills, and even some good inside ability. His midrange jumper is less solid than advertised as is his defensive prowess. However, he is lightning quick and even with an overall rating a few points lower than Gus, I think he'll start. Overall rating of 73. He is now 6'2 180.

SR PG Gus Waters has a better mid range jumper and is a much better defender than the young freshman. He also has top speed and should play a lot whether he starts or comes off the bench. He averaged 12 ppg in the last 3 that I kept track of. He is rated 77 overall. His height has always been a bit of a liability - now 5'10 170.

Sophomore PG Christiano Bitee is the loser with our big acquisition. He'll play some with his excellent speed and good defensive prowess, but his time will go way down. Has the weakest jump shot of the 3, but isn' terrible in that area. He is 5'9 180 and is rated 73 overall.

SG (this position takes a huge hit with Graves gone):

Chen Li didn't see the court in his first 2 years, but he should get playing time this year. At 6'3 204 pounds, he has good solid foot speed and can shoot the 3 passably. His defense and finishing ability are liabilities. Rated 71 overall.

True Freshman Tamal Gill will see the court and might even win the starting job. He is 6'6 195 and has speed comparable to Li's. His defense is a bit better, but he is a more unrefined shooter, although he is a decent post shooter.


SF (our best starter, but depth is a question)

Hannan was our biggest star recruit of my era before the young PG signed this year. Hannan was only a 3 star and was only 109th overall in his class. He is now rated 80 overall and is a solid 6'8 250 pounds. His midrange jumper has become very solid and he does everything well. I'd like to see more consistency off the dribble. Shoots very well in traffic.

SF Raul Lisinic is a disappointment in his first weeks on campus. He is 6'7 205 but lacks athleticism. His foot speed is poor, his shooting is even poorer. Rated 67 overall which would have been good when I first arrived here, but now it doesn't cut it. I'll probably redshirt him.

SR Walkon Branden Jenkins will never see the court. Overall of 57.


PF (Our next best starter and best depth):

SR Whitney Cornette is 6'10 240 now. He has a very good post game now and will get to use that more than ever. He also is a decent midrange shooter. Good defender. Rated 80 overall.

JR Gilson Willis is 6'9 233. He is a good 3 point shooter for his size and has a decent post game. He is rated 74 overall.

Sophomore "PF" Marko Cox is 6'5 219 and doesn't do a lot very good, but he is fair in most areas. Rated 74 overall.

Alfonso Bowers could be our #1 SF option off the bench again this year. He is 6'8 258 and is the 2nd best 3 point shooter on the team behind our freshman PG. He has just enough foot speed to play SF and is a decent passer. The SR is rated 72 overall.

SR Vitor Ziri hasn't seen the floor much this year, but he will probably get time as our backup Center this year. He is 6'9 250 and specializes in rebounding. He is rated 70 overall.

C (our weakest position)

Mamery Clifford will get the start this year with Simon gone. He is 6'11 266 and is a good post scorer at times and will add something there. However, he isn't as good at rebounding. On the plus side, he is a better shot blocker with more mobility.

Gary Outlaw isn't bad for a blind reach. Our coaches think the kid is a decent rebounder despite being rail thin. He also has some ability to shot a bit away from the rim. However, he neds to gain weight and strength. He'll redshirt this year.

[Eaglesfan27]

A look at early recruiting needs:

We have 6 guys graduating and this class will be huge to determine what kind of weapons we can get around Israel. We have our best 3 players leaving in Gus Waters, Hannan, and Cornette. We also have a starter in Clifford leaving and a very important bench player in Bowers. Finally, Ziri will be gone. With all of those players going, we'll have no one that I can count on at PF or C next year. We'll also be potentially thin at SF, so those will be the top 3 priorities with SG being a close 4th. I think Bitee will be a fine backup to Simmons next year, so we won't focus too much on PG.


The two recruits that are the most interested in me are both potential key guys for us:

3 star PF Elliah Halsch is from Akron, OH. He is 6'7 241 and is rated 186th overall. We'll be fighting Duq, Canisus, and Kent for him. We've already had extensive contact with him and he'll visit us ASAP.

3 star SF Daon Wentt is a 6'4 215 pound player from Toronto who is very interested in us. Supposed to be a smooth shooter. Penn State and SBU are our big competition for him.

All of the big centers with any talent at all have a ton of teams interested in them. So, I'm going after Andy Matera. He is a 6'8 240 pound center from Burlington, VT. He is ranked 329th overall. UConn is interested early, and if they stay interested, we have no chance.

Jack Zamore is a 6'8 215 pound center who can reportedly really shoot the 3. We'll go after him as a backup plan and go back to more of how we used to play when we didn't have a true center.


Karron Acker is a 4 star SF from New Haven, CT, who I'd love to have. However, i think he is a pipe dream even though he is rated a bit lower than our recent signing. He is rated 66th, but is a Mr. Basketball for his state and has drawn a lot of attention from UVA and BC.

[Eaglesfan27]

I don't have time today to play a full game with the new team even though I'd really like to do so. However, after running some practice plays and seeing how guys perform the decision regarding PG is easy. Israel Simmons has a very good shoot off the dribble rating, and my last guy to have that was Andres. It's amazing how he has performed in practice and at least in practice, he finishes much stronger than any PG I've ever had. With his combination of passing, dunking, shooting, and speed he will be our starter from day 1.

Our starting lineup for our 1st game:

PG Simmons
SG Gill (his length wins the day as well as slightly better quickness)
SF Hannan
PF Cornette
C Clifford

I won't hesitate to go to a smaller lineup if our offense is faltering. In that case, Waters would be at the point and Simmons at the SG spot, but I think that having Waters off the bench will make our 2nd team explosive while our 1st string will have more than enough scoring with Simmons, Hannan, and Cornette as the top 3 options.

[Eaglesfan27]

I get to unexpectedly play today!


November 3, 2017 -

Our first game is at VCU. They are a solid team that is close to us in talent. However, their team unity is even worse than ours which is only 38 with the 2 freshman in the lineup. Their strength is their PF, Luther Kole. He is a massive 7 foot player who has some strong offensive skills. Also, Earnest Douthit, their 6'9 Center is a skilled 3 point shooter and a good shot blocker. Their guards are a relative weakness.

[Eaglesfan27]

A strong first 8 minutes has us up 17-13. Everyone rests except for Hannan who has taken a back seat early. Simmons already has 2 points and 5 assists as he has been penetrating at will and kicking out to Cornette for a 3 and 2 midrange jumpers as well as setting Gill up for 2 easy 6 footers.

With 7 minutes left, they hit a 3 to take the lead. We bring in all of our starters except for Hannan who sits for the first time. Bowers 3 point shooting should be deadly if Simmons can get him some open looks.


Simmons takes his first 3 of the game on his first possession back, as he passed to Bowers who faked the 3 dribbled inside and kicked it out. Simmons nails the open shot.

Gill with a surprising 3 as Simmons found him wide open on the wing. Next possession, Simmons fakes the 3 drives inside and passes it out to an open Bowers who drills another 3. 34-28.

With 2:16 to go, their big PF gets a 3rd foul on Cornette. We are up 39-35.

At the end of the half, we are up 39-36. We are 5 of 6 from behind the arc. Gill is surprisingly our leading scorer with 9 points, 6 of them in the paint. Simmons has 5 points and 7 assists vs 2 turnovers at the half. Hannan has 6 points, 2 boards, and a steal.

Kole leads the opposition with 8 points, 5 boards, and a block at the half. Douthit has 7 points and 3 boards.


Within the 1st minute, Kole gets a 4th foul on Cornette who is subbed out for Ziri. We'll start doubling Kole in the paint.

2 minutes later they get a 3rd and then 4th foul on Clifford. I'm going to keep him in anyway.

Guys are missing open 3's in the 2nd half especially Hannan. With 12 minutes to go, we are down 53-49. Simmons, Clifford, and Ziri all need rest.

Waters and Cornette with baskets to tie it at 53. A minute later, Waters with a beautiful drive and pass to Cornette who slams it in to give us a 57-55 lead.

A few FT's by Hannan has us up 64-59 with 7 minutes to go. He is getting exhausted so we get Bowers in for a few.

With 5 minuts to go, Bowers hits a 3 to put us 70-64.

We go to our scoring lineup to try to finish this out:

PG Waters
SG Simmons
SF Bowers
PF Cornette
C Clifford

Once Hannan is rested, he'll come back in.

After a few missed shots, Simmons drives to the hole and draws a foul. He isn't a great FT shooter, but he makes them both to put us 72-67.

On their next possession, Cornette fouls out. I decide to continue to go with scoring potential and move Bowers to PF and put in Hannan at SF.

Hannan finds Simmons in the corner, and he makes the 3 to put us up by 7 with 2 minutes to go.

Hannan misses an open 12 footer, and they close with 5. 77-72. We each miss baskets down the stretch and Simmons gets a long board and is fouled since only 29 seconds remain. He makes 1 of 2.

Clifford fouls out with 1.5 seconds left, but we win the game 81-72.


Hannan was the plauyer of the game with 19 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot a relatively efficient 5 of 9, 0 of 2, and 9 of 10 from the line.

Every starter except Clifford was in double digits. Simmons finished with 14 points, 7 assists, 1 board, 1 steal, and 5 turnovers. He shot 4 of 11, 2 of 5, and 4 of 6.

Gill finished with 13 points, 4 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 5 of 6, 1 of 1, and 2 of 2.

Cornette had 12 points, 4 boards, 1 steal, and 2 blocks. He shot 5 of 9, 1 of 1, and 1 of 2.

Clifford had 1 point, 13 boards, 1 assist, and 3 blocks. He shot 0 of 2 and 1 of 2 from the line.

Wayers led the bench with 9 points, 2 assists, and a steal in 17 minutes.

Bowers had 9 points on 3 of 7 shooting (3 of 4 from the arc) in just 12 minutes.

Willis with 4 points and 5 boards off the bench. Ziri played 16 minutes and only had 2 boards. He played poorly defensively as well.

Chen Li only ended up with 8 minutes played. He was 0 of 3 and had 0 points, 0 boards, 0 steals, and only 1 assist.

Cox and Bitee did not play this game.



For the opposition, Kole and Douthit both had 14 points to lead their team. Lathum, their SF had 13 and no one else had more than 5.

[Eaglesfan27]

In our preseason NIT tourney, our next game is against Rutgers. They are slightly more talented than we are. We are in the Carrier Dome today. Their SF Fab Gatling is a great gunner who had 16 points in his 1st game of the season. They have solid talent at every position, although their PG and center are both undersized. Their starting center is only 6'7 215 pounds. We'll try to pound them inside early.

[Eaglesfan27]

An absolutely incredible start for Simmons and Hannan. Simmons is working his way into the lane at will and Hannan is drilling every open 3. By the 10 minute mark, Hannan has 21 and they are starting to double him whenever he touches the ball. As a result, Simmons is finding even more room to operate and is scoring as well as passing it off to Cornette and other guys for easy baskets. I don't want to rest Simmons or Hannan with them both playing so incredible, but with 6 minutes to go, I rest them for the first time in the half. We are up 41-28.

With 2 minutes to go, we get our starters back into the game. We are up 48-32 as we've taken complete control of the game. Maybe I spoke too soon, Hannan misses a 3 and they close the gap to 48-36 before the end of the half.


Still, Hannan has had the most incredible 1st half of any of my players ever. He did it all - made 3's, even beat a few double teams (I've never seen guys split double teams with any regularity, but he did it twice.) He also had several nice layups and 1 nice dunk. As a result, Hannan is the player of the half with 28 points! He shot 11 of 13 and 6 of 8 from the arc. He also had 4 steals as he dominated the smaller Gatling. Simmons also with a nice first half had 9 points and 9 assists (mostly to Hannan but also 1 to Cornette and Clifford each.)


Hannan is being slowed down by constant double teams and our offense just isn't clicking at the same level. With 8:52 to go, we are up 64-54 as I rest my starters.

Our bench with some solid transition baskets off Waters' steals and we build the lead to 15. Since they never get closer than 13, I let the bench finish it off. 83-70 win :)


Hannan was the player of the game with 35 points, 4 boards, and 4 steals. He shot 13 of 19, 6 of 10, and 3 of 6. They double teamed him the entire second half. He also held Gatling to 11 points on 5 of 15 shooting.

Simmons finished with 11 points, 11 assists, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers. He shot 5 of 8, 0 of 2 from the arc, and 1 of 2 from the line.

Gill with 5 points and 4 boards on 2 of 7 shooting.

Cornette with 4 points, 4 boards, 2 steals, a block. He only shot 2 of 5 as we never got to pounding it inside with Hannan being so hot in the first half.

Clifford with 2 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, and a block.


Bowers and Chen Li scored most of our points down the stretch. Bowers had 9 on 3 of 7 shooting and Li had 8 on 2 of 6 shooting, 1 of 4, and 3 of 4 from the line. In just 14 minutes, Waters had 3 points, 4 assists, and 4 steals as he harassed their slower point guard.

[Eaglesfan27]

As a result of that win, we'll play the #20 team in the nation, Saint Joseph's, in the next round of the tourney. They are significantly more talented with an overall rating of 90. They are extremely good shooters with 3 guys who can hit the 3 with great regularity. I'll play that game tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

We have another frenetic 1st 9-10 minutes of the game against St. Joseph's. We can't stop them from scoring, but they aren't stopping us either. 25-25 with 11 minutes to go as my starters rest. Hannan already has 11. However, they have Clifford in serious foul trouble.

Their bench dominates our bench over the next 6 minutes. Down 42-29.

Simmons responds with 2 3's in a row to cut it to 42-35 before they work it inside to draw a foul on Hannan. Simmons scores our next 3 points on a 12 foot jumper and a foul in the paint.

We end up being down 46-38 at the half. They are shooting an astonishing 62%, the highest any team has shot on us this year.

Their SF is abusing Hannan and is the leading scorer. He has hit jumpers, driven inside a few times, and had 2 monstrous dunks with the foul. Bowden has 15 points on 5 of 6 shooting and 5 of 6 from the line.

Simmons is leading our team in scoring with 12 points and in assists with 6 at the half. He is shooting 4 of 6, 3 of 4 from the arc, and 1 of 2 from the line. Hannan is ice cold after a quick start. He still has 11 points.

Our starters cut it to 60-54 but they exhaust themselves in the process. 10:40 to go in the game.


Great effort by our bench has us within 3 with 6 minutes to go! 70-67. Waters and Bowers were both excellent during that stretch.

Gill with a fastbreak dunk on a long rebound followed by another rebound.. a quick long pass from Simmons to Gill for a layup and the foul!!!

Gill makes the FT to put us up 72-70 :)

We hit a FT on our next possession, but then they hit a 3 to tie it at 73.

Our next possession, Simmons blows by his man and gets fouled in the lane. He makes both FT's. 3:44 left.


After they hit a 3 to give them a 1 point lead, we go to Cornette in the post who hits a 5 foot fadeaway. 77-76, we lead. They miss the 3, and Cornette with a long pass to Gill who spins past his man and gets the breakaway dunk!

We exchange missed shots, but on the rebound, Cornette finds Simmons whose crossover around midcourt fakes out his man.. he drives into the lane and draws Hannan's defender and passes it to Hannan for a perfect alley-oop dunk! 81-76.

They miss a 3. 1:25 to go. Hannan misses a 3, but we used over 30 seconds. They miss a quick 3 as Hannan had good defense on their SF. Cornette gets the board, is fouled, and makes both FT's.

They make a quick 3, and then Simmons only makes 1 of 2 FT's. They miss the next quick 3, but get a putback tip. 84-81 with 24 seconds left.

Crud! They get a 10 second violation as I kept expecting the foul and never broke their traps quick enough.

They miss the 3 and Simmons goes way up for the board on the inside! This time he makes both FT's to give us the 5 point lead.

They hit another quick 3 to keep it alive. Simmons misses the first FT.. but makes the 2nd. 87-84 with 2.2 seconds left.


They miss the 3 from half court. We pull off the upset!! :)

Simmons is the player of the game with 23 points, 11 assists, 2 boards, 1 steal, and only 3 turnovers. He shot 6 of 11, 4 of 6, and 7 of 10.

Gill with 13 points, 4 assists, and a steal.

Hannan with 19 points, 3 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He shot 7 of 16, 4 of 11, and 1 of 2.

Cornette with 11 points, 9 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 4 of 5, 1 of 1, and 2 of 2.

Clifford with 2 points and 9 boards.


Waters with 6 points and 3 assists. Bowers with 8 points.


Once we started doubling their star SF he only had 6 more points. He finished with 21 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, and 1 steal to lead their team. Simmons held their smaller PG to 5 of 18 shooting which was the key in our victory, as he was one of the top 3 point shooters in the country coming into the game.


They ended up shooting exactly 50% from the field for the game. We shot 48% from the field.

[Eaglesfan27]

As a result of that win, we'll play our next game in the pre-season Tourney vs Arizona, but before that, we have an OOC game hosting UCLA. UCLA has fallen on hard times with several players leaving early and is actually a bit less talented than the Saint Joseph's team that we just beat, but they are still a bit more talented than we are. They are relying on mostly freshman this year. They are running an uptempo offense now and are scoring a high clip. Their star player is their SF D.J. Gatson who is their only returning starter. They are relying on a 6'8 230 pound center who we'll try to abuse inside a bit.

[Eaglesfan27]

Clifford scores our first basket on a simple post move. Cornette with a spin move away from his man for a dunk our next possession.

Gill with our next 6 points, first on a 3 off a Simmons assist, and then a dunk plus the foul off a turnover generated by our full court trap. Our full court trap leads to 2 other easy baskets in the next 3 minutes and we are suddenly up by 10! The home crowd is going wild.

With 12 minutes to go in the half, we have them in the penalty.

Not sure how it happened, but we are up by 17 with 10 minutes to go as I rest my starters. 32-15.

With 3 minutes left, I'm up 47-26 and wondering if it is finally time to up the difficulty level (I believe I was considering going up a level when I last played this dynasty before the long break.) I think I read that the slider set this is based off will work well with the next difficulty level as well. Anyway, I bring back in my starters to finish off the half.


At the half, we are up 53-31. We have balanced scoring with Hannan leading the way with 11, Cornette with 10, and Clifford with 8. Simmons has 6 points and 2 assists as he actually has a very fast physical point guard on him.

I normally hate switching difficulty or sliders mid season much less mid game, but I just don't think I should be dominating this UCLA team like this even though they are starting 4 freshman. I've always believed All-Conference gives the best fair style of play, so I'm going to stick with that, but I'm going to give the CPU a slight boost in shooting while decreasing 3 point shooting slightly for the human.


To start the 2nd half, Simmons comes off a screen.. drives into the lane and is fouled for 2 FT's. Next possession he drives into the lane, hits a tear drop shot and gets fouled. He converts the 3 point play. With his high shoot in traffic ability, the kid is just a great scorer.

Up 66-48 with 10:30 to go as my starters get a few minutes to rest.

My 2nd team responds in a big way, thanks in large part to Bowers who shot several 3's over the smaller defender. We are up 76-52 (the bench played great defense too led by Waters) with 4:40 to go.


We win the game 82-65. My team might just be more perfectly constructed than I ever imagined. Everyone is filling a role well. Cornette is a 94 rated inside player and is becoming more of a scoring option with that ability. Clifford is a solid defender/rebounder/blocker. Hannan and Simmons can do it all. Gills is an athletic defender who can shoot a bit. Waters is instant offense and a 93 rated perimeter defender. Bowers is a great 3 point shooter off the bench.

In any case, I'll just keep enjoying the success :)

Hannan was the player of the game, although that award could have gone to a few different guys. Hannan had 16 points, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 boards, and 2 turnovers. He shot 5 of 7, 1 of 3, and 5 of 5.

Simmons had 13 points, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 5 turnovers. He shot 3 of 8, 0 of 0, and 7 of 9.

Gill had 12 points, 2 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 3 of 5, 1 of 2, and 5 of 8.

Cornette with 14 points, 6 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.

Cliford with 10 points, 8 boards, and a block.

Waters with 6 points and 3 assists.

Bowers with 13 points off the bench including 3 of 3 from the arc.

[Eaglesfan27]

Wow. I rarely successfully complete the various training drills as I find most of them quite challenging (particularly the shooting ones).. Simmons just had a perfect 15 of 15 on the 3 point drill to get the highest score I've ever seen in that drill.


Next up in the pre-season NIT is Arizona. They are the #1 team in the country right now. They are a perfect 4-0 just like we are. They are rated 93 in overall talent, 10 points higher than my team. They have great shooters all over the floor, particularly at the guard spots.

[Eaglesfan27]

Simmons draws 2 quick fouls on their starting PG who leaves the game with 18:34 to go in the 1st half.

Our starters played brilliant for the next 13 minutes and didn't seem to tire until about the 5 minute mark when they gave up a 6-0 run. We are down 28-24 with 4:54 to go in the half and our starters take a break for the first time. Simmons has been great so far as has Cornette.


Li, Bowers, and Waters all score well to keep us tied up even with their scoring in the last 5 minutes. Tied at 37 at the half.

Simmons is the player of the half with 11 points, 3 assists, and 3 turnovers. He has shot 3 of 5, 1 of 2, and 4 of 6.


Down 56-51 with 11:15 left as my starters sit for a few minutes.

Things are going our way again.. first Bowers with a 3. Then, Waters with a steal and a pullup 3 on the break. Then, after a defensive stop, Ziri hits a 10 footer at the buzzer. We are up 59-56 with 8:03 to go.

Waters with a steal and a pass to Willis for a breakaway dunk. They finally hit a 14 footer to end our run. 61-58. After they get a steal and breakaway dunk, we respond with a 3 by Bowers to get our fans back into it. 64-60.

After they hit a 3, Waters responds with a 3. 67-64 with 4:30 to go as we get our starters back into the game.

Simmons scored the next 6 points (12 foot jumper, shot from just inside the arc, and a layup on a drive) and then assisted on our last 2 baskets as we finished in style. 79-64 win!

Simmons was the player of the game with 18 points, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 4 turnovers. He shot 5 of 11, 2 of 6, and 6 of 8.

Gill had 5 points and 4 boards. He generally played solid defense as their SG was 5 of 13 from the floor.

Hannan had 11 points, 2 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He shot 5 of 13, 1 of 4, and 0 of 0.

Cornette with 14 points, 11 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. He shot 5 of 7, 1 of 1, and 3 of 3. Except for his 3, all of his points were in the paint and he had 2 dunks.

Clifford had 2 points, 9 boards, and a steal.


Waters with 11 points and 5 assists in just 12 minutes.

Bowers with 9 points and Li with 5 in that same time period.

[Eaglesfan27]

I believe we are now in the Championship Game of the NIT Season Tip-Off Tourney. We'll face Baylor who is rated slightly worse than we are in overall talent. Furthermore, their best player SF Solomon Fleming is out for the game with an injury. Billy Brazzle is another SF on their team who is 6'7 but only 205 pounds. He is their 2nd leading scorer at 16 ppg and their leading rebounder at 8.8 per game. No one else on their team has more than 10 ppg. Their PG should have a tough time matching up with Simmons or Waters. However, their center is one of the best we've faced this year and should provide a tough matchup for Clifford. I'll play that game tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

I've made a few slight tweaks to give the CPU a bit of a boost. That being said, Baylor has horrific team unity and I'm expecting a win with their injuries and other issues. This is the Championship Game of the Preseason NIT Tourney.

5 minutes into the game, Hannan and Simmons are dominating them. Simmons has drawn 2 fouls on their starting PG and a slower backup is now in. We are up 12-4.

We are up 26-13 with 10 minutes to go. Hannan, Gill, and Simmons are our main scorers. Gill is a much better finisher around the rim than I expected earlier in the year.


We are up 30-18 with 4 minutes to go as our starters return.


We are up 37-22 at the half. Hannan is the player of the half with 13 points and a board.

Early in the 2nd half, Gill gets a 3rd foul on Brazzle on the break. Their best player sat most of the 1st half as well.


With 9:42 to go, we are up 68-30 and my starters leave the floor. They probably won't be back this game.


We win the game 85-51.

Hannan is the player of the game with 26 points, 2 assists, 1 board, and 1 steal. He shot 9 of 14, 1 of 5, and 7 of 7.


Simmons with 12 points, 6 assists, 5 steals, and 2 turnovers. He shot 4 of 11, 1 of 4, and 3 of 4.

Gill with 13 points, 5 boards, and 5 assists. He shot 4 of 9, 1 of 2, and 4 of 4.

Cornette with 8 points, 9 boards, 2 assists, and a block.

Clifford with 6 points, 12 boards, 2 assists, and a block.


Waters with 8 points and 4 assists off the bench.

Bowers with 3 points.



I think it is time to try out an All-American Slider Set. I was getting really good at the game before I took the long break. Then, I lost a few with this slider set as I got used to the game now, but I don't think I should be blowing out closely rated teams and winning every game against 3 consecutive opponents who all had a significant talent advantage. I'll try out a popular set from OS and see how it plays in exhibition, but I'll probably implement it. Our next game is at a weak Dartmouth team, so that might be a good game to test it with as well. I should blow them out, or at least win comfortably.

[Eaglesfan27]

Playing Dartmouth with the new All-American Sliders. They are very small at center, but have a PF who is 6'8 280!

We are down 19-15 at the 10 minute mark as our bench comes in. Their guards are drilling 3's to give them the lead.

Waters with great defense and some good outside shots sparks our 2nd team. We are up 31-27 with 4:20 to go as our starters return.

41-31 at the half. Simmons is doing a good job of breaking down their zone. Hannan is the player of the half with 12 points.


We are up 59-44 with 9:32 to go as our starters rest. They keep sagging way off Gill and while he has missed some wide open 3's, he has also hit a few.

Our 2nd unit plays so well that they get to finish the game.

We win it 71-50.

Hannan is the player of the game with 21 points, 2 boards, 1 steal. He shot 8 of 12, 2 of 4, and 3 of 4.

Simmons with 1 points, 9 assists, 2 steals, 2 boards, and 5 turnovers. He shot 0 of 6, 0 of 1, and 1 of 4.

Gill with 13 points on 5 of 11 shooting including 3 of 7 from the arc.

Cornette with 6 points, 9 boards, 1 assist, and 3 steals.

Clifford with 2 points and 10 boards.

Bowers had 9 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block in just 15 minutes.

Waters and Willis each also had 9 points.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our next game is hosting Maryland-Baltimore County, by far the worst team we've faced all year. Also, we could get some recruits committing to us as early as this upcoming weekend. We have the inside track on 1 and are very close to getting another:

Daon Wentt has us #1 by a large margin. He is the 6'4 215 pound SF who is graded out as a B+ in shooting, defense, athleticism, and IQ. He is a 3 star from Toronto who is ranked 361st overall.

We are in a battle with Duquesne for Elliah Halsch, the 6'7 241 pound PF from Akron Ohio who is rated 186th overall. He is rated an A in rebounding, a B in defense, athleticism, IQ, and potential. He is rated a C in skill and shooting.

At this point, it looks like we have little chance to get the 2 4 star players we are pursuing.

[Tellistto]

Good luck, glad to see you back to writing about this dynasty.

Tell

[Eaglesfan27]

Thanks Tellisto, gi, and rjolley. Glad to know that people are enjoying it. I'm having fun picking this up again and looking forward to playing more tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

After falling to a 5-0 deficit, our team scores the next 8 with 2 midrange jumpers from Hannan.


We are down 14-13 with 10:32 to go as our starters rest.


Our bench plays so well, that they play until only 2:28 is left. We are up 32-25. Bowers has 12 points, 6 on layups and 6 on 3 pointers.


At the half, we are up 39-25. Bowers is player of the half with 12 points and 2 boards. He has shot 5 of 7, 2 of 4, and 0 of 0.

Simmons with a quiet first half with only 4 points and 2 assists. He is 1 of 5 from the floor early.

With 8:57 to go, we pull our starters for good. We are up 61-32 as our defense was incredible for the last 11 minutes. Always in their man's face, great help work when they got beat. Gill even got a 5 second call against his guy.


We win the game 79-38. Bowers was the player of the game with 20 points and 3 boards. He shot 8 of 12, 4 of 7, and 0 of 0.

Li had 12 points and 3 boards on 3 of 7 shooting, 2 of 6, and 4 of 4.

Waters had 0 points and 7 assists as our bench played spectacularly.


Simmons with 9 points, 4 assists,1 steal, and 1 turnover. He shot 3 of 8, 0 of 2, and 3 of 6.

Gill with 8 points and 2 assists.

Hannan with 13 points, 5 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 6 of 13, 0 of 1, and 1 of 2.

Cornette with 10 poins, 7 boards, 1 assist, and 2 blocks.

Clifford with 2 points, 11 boards, and a block.

[Eaglesfan27]

We get a surprise announcement as the 1st day possible Elliah Halsch announces that he is coming to Niagara! I thought for sure Duqesne was going to get him from us.

Wentt hasn't signed with us yet, but almost certainly will by next weekend. They will be our only 2 early signees.


We are now 8-0 as we start conference play and we start off with a game against one of the other conference powerhouses this year, Marist. They are 7-1 and feature a dynamic PG in Chey Noel and a talented PF in Dustin Sweeney who has won Conference Player of the Year last year. They are averaging 74.5 ppg and shooting 44% from the floor. Sweeney and Noel are each averaging 15 ppg. Their SF Augustine is averaging 13.3 ppg. Nowl is averaging just over 5 assists per game and 2 steals per game. Noel is a dangerous 3 point shooter. They tend to shoot a lot of 3's. They tend to run a 3-2 zone defense.

I'll play them later today, most likely.

[Galaxy]

Go Purple Eagles! (my alma mater)

I'm starting to get back into this game (best sports game, I think).

I'm guessing you should start getting some bigger programs interested in your services at the end of this season.

[Eaglesfan27]

Go Purple Eagles! (my alum mater)

I'm starting to get back into this game (best sports game, I think).

I'm guessing you should start getting some bigger programs interested in your services at the end of this season.

Only way I'm leaving Simmons and this team is if I get an offer to go to a Power Conference team.