College Hoops 2k8: 2009 Edition

[Radii]

College Basketball has always been my favorite sport, but I've really struggled with the last couple versions of this game. 2K7 froze constantly and I never really got to play it much, while 2k8 I simply sucked at and got frustrated. But with EF27's dynasty up and moving again, and with any other games I was playing dying off a bit, I've decided to give this another shot.

When I say I suck at this game, I mean that I first loaded up the latest slider set that people seem to be happy with, put UNC in the NCAA Tournament as a 1 seed, and lost to Oral Roberts by 25 in my first game. I played a bunch more and have improved quite a bit before starting this up.

I haven't played a legacy in a long time, so I won't be suprised if I struggle with recruiting out of the gate and get fired, we'll see :) I do expect my results on the court to be a bit better than in previous dynasties.


With that, I take over the North Carolina A&T Aggies in the MEAC and get to work.

[Radii]

Head Coach

As I've tried to do in the past, I max out Charisma with my initial coaching points:

Offense: C-
Defense: C-
Teaching: C-
Scouting: C-
Charisma: B+
Disclipline: C-

I hope going to such an extreme early will not kill me as far as offense/defense/player progression is concerned.

Assistant Coaches

Akil Beckwith is a 39 year old 1st year assistant. He is adequate everywhere but charisma:

Offense: C
Defense: C+
Teaching: C-
Scouting: C-
Charisma: F
Disclipline: C-

This is to offset the fact that my other assistant, Dave Klien, is little more than a recruiting assistant:

Offense: D
Defense: C
Teaching: D
Scouting: F
Charisma: C+
Disclipline: C-

He had the highest charisma of any coach that was willing to work with me.


Scheduling

I end up changing every game on my schedule. I want to try to find at least a couple winnable non-conference games, and I want to play a number of in state opposition. I intend to try to schedule both Duke and North Carolina every year, and I do that this year, in fact I'll be traveling to Durham to open my season.

Other games I end up with:

vs Binghamton
at North Texas
vs Portland State
vs Savannah State
at Campbell
vs Elon


Hopefully i can find a couple wins somewhere in there.

[Radii]

NC A&T Roster

Projected Starters

PG Austin Ewing - 63 OVR - Soph - 5'11" - Ewing has above average ball handling and speed(both in the low 80s), as well as a decent jump shot.

SG Steven Rush - 70 OVR - Senior - 5'11" - The highest rated guy on the team, Rush is a very good shooter(92 3PT/86 MED) with a lot of speed(87 SPD and QCK). He's an acceptable defender and has good stamina, he'll be on the court as much as possible.

SF Ed Jones - 61 OVR - Junior - 6'7" 215 lbs - Jones seems to pretty much be a warm body until I can find better. Not a single rating above 80, and all of his shooting skills except close range are below 70.

PF Jason Willis - 68 OVR - Senior - 6'6" 208 lbs - Undersized, but he has a good close range shot and very good low post offensive skills. Willis is the 2nd highest rated player on the team.

C Thomas Coleman - 61 OVR - Freshman - 6'9" 220 - So we're a small team, not unusual in these small conferences. Coleman is the best rebounder we have, and he's not great(79 DRB). He's also our best low post defender but only rated 70 there. He'll hopefully develop quite a bit on the court this season.


Off the Bench

SG Glenn Nelson - 60 OVR - Senior - 6'3" 185 lbs - An average backup, he won't be shooting any 3 pointers but has an ok midrange shot, and is an acceptable ball handler. He'll actually be backing up Ewing at PG.

SF Nicholas Wilson - 58 OVR - Junior - 6'5" 210 lbs - SF is a really, really weak position for us.

SF Trahern Chaplin - 57 OVR - Senior - 6'6" 200 lbs - SF is a really, really, really weak position for us. This guy will be getting a lot of his minutes at the 4 slot too which is even worse. He does stand out as a great hustler, but I'm not sure what that rating does for you if your skills elsewhere stink.

SG Angelo Hernandez - 57 OVR - Junior - 6'3" 185 lbs - medium and 3 point ratings in the 50s, this guy is a walkon, slated to see some minuts in a 10 man rotation, and he does have a 78 defensive rating which may be the only thing to make his time on the court acceptable.

PF Kam Sheperd - 57 OVR - Freshman - 6'8" 215 lbs - Pretty lean for a 6'8 guy and it shows. Shepherd has terrible strength, he's an okay rebounder but otherwise looks like a very weak post player. If he had a better midrange jumper I'd be tempted to say he'd be a more natural athletic SF. On this team though,he's a backup center.


I play around with the minutes to try to make this more of an 8 man rotation, and I'll see if we have the stamina for that early in the year.

[Radii]

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Preview

Listed in order of OVR Rating

1. Hampton - 70 OVR - 73 rated SR SG
2. Morgan State - 70 OVR
3. NC A&T - 69 OVR
4. Coppin State - 68 OVR - 75 rated SR PG
5. Florida A&M - 68 OVR
6. Winston Salem State - 68 OVR
7. South Carolina State - 67 OVR
8. Norfolk State - 66 OVR
9. Bethune-Cookman - 66 OVR
10. Delaware State - 65 OVR - 74 rated SR SF
11. Howard - 62 OVR
12. MD-Eastern Shore - 58 OVR - only one starter rated over 60

With the top 9 teams all rated between 66 and 70, there appears to be huge parity at the top, although a few of those teams have star players that might take them a bit further than their ratings might suggest.

[Radii]

2007-08 Recruiting Preview

We've got 5 scholarships, but we don't have a ton of resources, so its going to be hard to fill 5 spots. With my two most talented players graduating and nothing special coming up behind them, we're really looking for talent anywhere we can find it.

Priorities:

1) Size - We need a big man that can clog the middle and get some rebounds.

2) Shooting - I seem to remember this being super hard to get at this level. We need a good shooter. I'd love an athletic playmaker to fall through the cracks, but I'd settle for a shooter that I can work like hell to get open shots.

3) Floor General - at this level this is probably just going to mean a good ball handler and passer. I'm very thin at PG. Hell, the guy slated to start at the point this year is a natural SG. It'd be nice to bring in a PG and move Ewing over to his natural spot the rest of his career.


I target a couple 3* players, and a lot of 2* players in North Carolina. There's two 1* big men who are local that have decent interest already, and there's a couple HS underclassmen who are local that I feel I need to work on.

More on this as we start offering scholarships in a little while.

[Radii]

November 9th, 2007

NC A&T (0-0) at #10 Duke (0-0)


We aren't exactly opening up with a winnable game, but I want my guys to get the chance to see what good players play like and hopefully they'll learn something.


17:30 1st - We pull out to a 4-0 lead early, we're taking our time on every posession, hoping to get Rush or Willis a look pretty much every time down.

11:00 1st - The expected Duke run occurs, as Duke goes on a 14-2 run and takes a 14-6 lead.

9:00 1st - Rush sinks two threes in a row and we only trail 14-12.

4:00 1st - Duke manhandles our reserves and takes a 22-12 lead.

We get our starters back in to end the half but it doesn't help any.

Duke leads 30-14 at the half. We only shoot 24%, getting 8 points from Rush, and 2 from a few other players. We did a decent job slowing Duke down, they only shot 40% themselves.


12:00 2nd - Duke continues to pull away and we won't be doing anything to stop it. 43-19 now and I'm resting my starters in the hopes that they can go the final 8 minutes or so.

7:00 2nd - Our backups just get owned. And really, while Willis is my best post player and should be a beast vs the MEAC, he can't go inside against Duke's big men. Rush is the only guy I can count on to score. It's 52-21 when I bring my starters back in, presumably for the rest of the game.

6:30 2nd - I forgot, my center, Coleman, had 4 fouls. He fouls out.


We pick up the pace in the final 5 minutes and score a bit more but allow a ton at the end.

#10 Duke 68
NC A&T 30

Duke improved in the 2nd half and shot 49.1% while we shot 24% for the game. We were 2/13 from 3 with 24 turnovers to only 6 for Duke.

Rush scored 13 points, but shot 4-13 overall(3-3 from the line).

PG Ewing scored 5, as did our backup PF Shepherd.

Our 2nd best player, Jason Willis, was completely helpless inside against Duke. He went 0-8 from the floor, scoring 2 points only when he got to the free throw line.


Of course this was expected, and we have a good run of games against teams not nearly this good to get comfortable before conference play.

[Radii]

Scholarship Offers

3* C Lonny Garza is my 'reach' target this year. He's 6'10" and would give some much needed size to the team. He's from Raleigh, and his top two priorities are staying near home and getting playing time.

2* JC Freshman C Scotty Hayes gets my second scholarship offer. He's from High Point and wants to feel wanted and get playing time. He's a 7 footer. We currently have a big lead on him.

2* SG Najeeb Burnett gets my 3rd offer. There aren't any guards that we've built up solid interest with yet, and I'm mainly hoping that the fact that this kid is local gives me a chance.

I've got two more offers and will probably make both of them to guards, but I don't have a great feeling early on about my chances.

[Radii]

November 10th, 2007

Binghamton (0-0) at NC A&T(0-1)


This is a team we match up well against. Both of us are rated 69 overall. We shoot better and are a better offensive team, while they have a defensive edge on us.

Binghamton has an experienced senior PG, Mike Gordon, that will be my biggest worry. Their inside game appears to be a bit lacking.

17:00 1st - Binghamton runs out to a quick 7-0 lead.

13:00 1st - Rush hits 2 threes, Willis gets a couple buckets in the post, and the offense starts clicking like I expect it to vs equal caliber teams. We tie the game up at 13.


10:00 1st - Rush makes his 3rd 3, but we're giving up offensive boards and trail 21-18 as our reserves come onto the floor.

4:30 1st - The starters come back in, trailing 24-23. I think any time the reserves don't give the game away I'll be happy.

Halftime:

Binghamton 29
NC A&T 28

Rush has 12 points, Coleman 5, Willis 4. Coleman has 4 boards. Binghamton has shot 14 3 pointers, and is only 3-14... we need to stay out on their guards if we're going to win.


12:00 2nd - We trail 40-36 as our reserves come onto the floor. Some stupid turnovers are the difference between being ahead and behind at this point.

4:00 2nd - we've had a little rotation going but have everyone rested now for the final 4 minutes. We've tied it up a couple times but just can't seemt o take the lead. At present we trail 50-46.

We quickly fall behind by 7 as we commit a stupid turnover, Binghamton runs the shot clock down and drains a 3 as time expires. I remember one of my big problems in the past being closing in the final minutes of a game, and it seems I'll still need to improve here. After falling behind by 9 with 1:30 to go, we get the lead down to 3, thanks mainly to the fact that their PF and C couldn't make a single free throw, but can't get closer.

Binghamton 68
NC A&T 62

The big stat? Binghamton 12 offensive boards, leading to 12 second chance points. A huge problem there.

Steven Rush scored most of our points as we were desparately trying to come back in the final minute, pumping his point total up to 25.

Willis scored 10 points today and added 6 boards.

Our center, Coleman is showing himself to be a solid rebounder, scoring 6 and pulling down 10 boards.

We've got some work to do, but we'll get there. I'm not too unhappy with the performance today.

[Radii]

November 24th, 2007

NC A&T(0-2) at North Texas (0-3)

Rated similar to us, the standout difference is rebounding, where North Texas rates 75 and we only rate 61. Getting these big men I'm recruiting is going to be critical.


11:00 1st - Tied up at 12 as the reserves come in on both sides.

6:00 1st - an 11-2 run by North Texas has us trailing 23-14 when I call a time out and get my starters back in.

After cutting the lead to 6 (28-22), North Texas goes on another big run and takes an 11 point lead into the locker room, 37-26.

Rush has scored 11 points and is the only one able to consistantly make anything today. Coleman has 5, Willis 4.

coleman and Willis both also have 2 fouls, hurting our already weak inside game. North Texas pulled down 9(!!!) offensive boards in the first half to our 0.


And there really isn't much to report for the second half. We never fall behind by more than 14 and never get closer than 7.

Offensive Rebounds:

North Texas 15
NC A&T 1

North Texas 85
NC A&T 75

A flurry of points in the final 3 minutes allows everyone bigger numbers, but doesn't change anything.

Rush scores 26, going 9-14 from the field, 5-8 from 3. He had a stellar game.

Coleman was big inside, with 15 points and 11 boards.

Willis is struggling, I need to figure out how to best use him. He scored 8 points today, but was only 2-8 from the field.

[Radii]

November 26 2007

Portland State (1-4) at NC A&T(0-3)

Rated slightly better than us overall(73 vs 69) the big concern here is the same as our last game... rebounding. They're significantly better than us on defense as well.

I made a couple changes going into this game, my coach settings were heavily geared towards the fast break, I changed defensive rebounding so that we always crash the boards and never push the ball. On offense I have us crashing the boards a bit more, but not 100%, still being mindful of transition defense.

14:00 1st - We trail 11-9 but I'm happier with our play early here. Our PG, Ewing, picked up two early fouls and has to sit, but I'm happier with our rebounding after the changes made. Portland State's SG has made 3 3-pointers and is killing us so far.


7:00 1st - Coleman picks up his 2nd foul as we trail 22-19. All our starters except Ewing and Coleman(foul trouble) are back in the game.

Gah... after being tied 25-25 with about 5 minutes left, we just fall apart to end the first half. I have 3 posessions in a row where we don't get a shot off and they get fast break points. We end the half trailing 45-35.

Most of our offense has come from our two best players, Rush with 12 points, Willis with 11. We're doing alright but need to cut down on the turnovers, 7 of them in the first half.

16:00 2nd - A horribly ugly start to the 2nd half. We trail 49-35 now and are 0-7 in the half so far from the floor.

12:30 2nd - we score. 54-37.

Just terrible. Terrible!

Portland State 83
NC A&T 55

The rebound situation was better. They had 10 offensive boards to our 6, and only outrebounded us 34-30 overall. They shot 50% to our 38%, and we let them get to the line 25 times which hurt pretty bad.

Rush ended up with 19 points, Willis 15(and 9 boards, solid game there).

It seems I have not improved at this game nearly as much as I thought i had :) Until I get down by 15+ though I'm having fun playing the games, so I am going to keep plugging away, working mainly on avoiding silly turnovers which give the other team free runs.

[Radii]

December 1, 2007

NC A&T(0-4) at Norfolk State (2-2)

Its the random early December conference game a month before any other conference games take place.

Norfolk State is rated 66 OVR, and they are only better than us in one category, you'll never guess which one. They have a SG rated 72 who looks to be their only threatening player.

13:00 1st - 12-11 Norfolk State leads. Ewing picks up foul #2 and sits, and the rest of the starters take a breather.

7:00 1st - Its 17-15 Norfolk State as we start bringing our starters back in.

Rush drains a 3 as the buzzer sounds to end the first half, and we trail 31-28 at the half. We're playing pretty well, but giving up too many easy baskets.

Ewing is our leading scorer at the half with 7 points. Reserve guard Alston has 6, Rush 5. Coleman and Willis have 4 each inside.


12:00 2nd - After tying the game at 37, Norfolk State scores 7 straight to take a 44-37 lead.


7:00 2nd - 57-49 as I start working my starters back into the game for the stretch run. At this point I'm scoring pretty well, but my big problem is that Norfolk State isn't missing anything inside. They're just repeatedly working the ball down low, sometimes to a cutting guard/SF, sometimes a big man, and every shot is going in.

3:30 - We trail 63-57 and are looking to make a comeback here after scoring a quick 6 points. I'm still having massive problems inside(Coleman is 3-11 from the paint) but I've got as much speed on the court as I'm capable of and have gotten a few layups out of my guards.

2:15 - Well, Ewing misses an open three and they score. Then Willis misses a point blank layup, gets his rebound, has his follow blocked, and they score. *sigh* 67-57.

Norfolk State 75
NC A&T 62

Key Stat:

NC A&T 33% Field Goal Shooting. Norfolk State 52%.

I did improve on some things this game that I'm very happy with. We only turned it over 10 times, while forcing 14 turnovers. We got outrebounded 33-26 though, and Norfolk State scored 44 points int he paint to only 24 for us.


Reserve guard(but future starting PG, more on that momentarily) Tavarus Alston scored 15 points today to lead the team. Willis scored 11 in the paint, while backup guard Glenn Nelson put up 10.

The biggest problem I had today was that Steven Rush couldn't get anything to fall. He went 2-14 on the day for only 9 points. If he shoots a little better down the stretch we're only down 1 posession in the final 2 minutes.

[Radii]

Early Signing Period

Two of our targets are ready to commit right away.

The first is not a huge suprise, but a bit of a disappointment. 3* C Lonny Garza is going to Longwood, not NC A&T. We had him up to 99% interest but no luck.

Good news though! 7'0 249 pound JC Freshman Center Scott Hayes is coming to NC A&T! Hayes has B- potential and B strength, he scouts average pretty much everywhere for us, but we have crappy scouts so we'll see when he arrives. But he's 7 feet tall, so he's an immediate impact no matter what.


At the end of the signing week we lose 1* Center Stuart Eldridge to Longwood as well. That one was a bit of a suprise, a 1* C who seemed to really like us.


We end the week with 3 offers outstanding. 2* PG Dante Michaud from Atlanta looks to have narrowed it down to Wofford and us. 2* SG Najeeb Burnett is looking at Campbell along with us, and 1* PF George Cohen is looking at Radford along with us.

[Radii]

I'm making a pretty big lineup change.

PG Tavarus Alston is only rated 55 OVR and I really barely looked at him when initially reviewing the roster. But it turns out he has good speed and quickness(the same as Ewing), and is the best passer on the team. I'm moving him to starting point guard in place of Ewing. Ewing is going to move to SF for now and i'm going to run a 3 guard offense. I may change that up again if Ewing's lack of size hurts my defense too badly, but for now, that's where we're going.

[Radii]

December 17th, 2007

Savannah State (4-6) at NC A&T (0-5)

Time to win a game! Savannah State is the worst team as far as overall rating goes that we have played yet, rated 65 overall, and we're at home, with our new speedy good shooting lineup in effect.


13:00 1st - We open up 7-2, then Savannah State goes on a 10-1 run to go up 12-8. Now we're on a 7-0 run ourselves and lead 15-12. Ewing and Alston both have buckets where they've blown by their man in the open court for a dunk, some easy shots have helped a ton.

9:45 1st - We lead 19-16 as our starters come off the court for the first time.

7:00 1st - A 3 point play, a steal and a layup give us the biggest lead we've had over anyone all season, 26-18.


3:30 1st - We still lead 30-26 as the starters come back on to finish out the half.

Just like the last game, Rush hits a 3 pointer on our last possession, and this one takes us into the locker room with a 6 point lead, 40-34.

Willis is the player of the half with 10 points, 6 of them at the line. Rush has 8, Ewing 5.


18:00 2nd - We score the first 5 points of the second half and take a 45-34 lead! Willis got inside and got fouled on our first posession, then after a miss, Alston got out ahead of the defense and got an easy basket.

14:00 2nd - We lead 52-38 as we give our starters a rest. Alston has 3 fouls when he sits down.


11:30 2nd - two savannah state timeouts help our starters rest back up, they're back in for now and can probably go 8 of the last 11 or so, if they need to. We've pushed the lead up to 19 now, 59-40.


I don't know how much credit my little lineup change gets here, we just dominated these guys in every facet.

NC A&T 73
Savannah State 47

Stat of the game:

NC A&T 42 rebounds
Savannah State 23 rebounds

The extra speed and the superior play down low got me to the line a lot. We shot 29 free throws today, going 21/29 from the line.

Coleman and Willis were both monsters, Coleman scored 13 and grabbed 16 boards(!!!). Willis scored 13 and grabbed 11 boards.

Rush scored 11, Ewing 9. Glenn Nelson was solid off the bench again today, scoring 10.

I'm pretty damn pleased to have finally gotten a win, heh.

[hoopsguy]

Congrats on getting the first win under your belt.

[Radii]

Thanks, hopefully I'll get it together enough to not get my ass fired in season 1 :D

[Radii]

December 19th, 2007

NC A&T(1-5) at Campbell (3-5)

Campbell is rated 71, slightly betterthan us. They have a good defense and a good rebounding team. Our team unity is slowly starting to rise. It's up to 31, was 28 at the start of the season.


14:00 1st - An evenly matched game early, a Rush 3 just gave us a 14-9 lead. Each team has committed 4 fouls in the early going and there are going to be a lot of free throws if this keeps up.

13:25 1st - Rush picks up his 2nd foul and sits for awhile. 14-11.

11:30 1st - We lead 20-15 as we rotate our backups into the game.

5:30 1st - We're hanging on to a 31-27 lead as the starters(minus Rush and his foul trouble) come back in.


We get in a bit of a rush toward the end of the half and let our turnover count get too high, and as a result, we trail 38-37 at halftime.

We've got 3 players with 7 points at halftime(Nelson, Coleman and Willis). Rush scored 5 in only 7 minutes of play before picking up 2 fouls.

13:30 2nd - We've fallen behind by 7, 52-45, we've been missing some open shots and they've drained a couple 3s on us, we're working to get the momentum back.


10:30 2nd - 59-51 as we're still struggling to stop them on a consistant basis. Our reserves are all in now.


6:30 2nd - We brought our starters aack in at the 8 minute mark after falling down by 15. We've got it back to 11 but not looking good here.


We get it down to 75-65 with 2:00 to go, and then fail to get the ball over midcourt on 3 straight possessions. That's the story of the game as we had long stretches where we played very well but had flurries of turnovers that hurt us bad.

At some point I mentioned that they weren't missing any shots... we did nothing to stop their two SG's. Their starter scored 24 points and backup scored 15. They murdered us with open jumper after open jumper.

On our side Rush scored 15 but he only went 4-15 from the field, *most* of those looks were good ones too. Ewing was terrible as well, going 0-6 from the floor on the day.

Coleman scored 13 and Willis 11, each with 8 boards.


Campbell 84
NC A&T 65

[Radii]

I was going to play every game but I am doingn poorly enough vs teams my level, I go ahead and sim out our game at North Carolina, they win 92-64.

[Radii]

December 28, 2007

Elon (4-6) at NC A&T (1-7)

Elon is rated 68 overall, they are better on defense and we're better on offense but overall we're fairly similar.


13:30 - Rush and Ewing both have hit a 3 and look to be shooting better than last game. We trail 16-15 as we start bringing in subs.

6:45 - Our backups pull off a 7-0 run and allow us to slow things down a bit and let the starters get rested. Elon goes on a little run and takes the lead back, 28-26, but our starters are back in and good for the rest of the half so I'm happy.

And by the half I'm not happy at all anymore. Elon is shooting 57% from the floor. Rush has 14 and is on fire but we're down 7, 45-38.


16:30 - Elon is running a half court trap which is allowing me to get open jumpers every time down. Rush has hit 3 straight 3s in the second half and we now only trail 51-49.


13:00 - After a couple turnovers allow Elon to roll back out to a 59-51 lead, we clamp down and go on an 8-0 run, tying the game up at 59.


8:45 - We miss 3 straight tries to take the lead, including an open 3 that Rush misses and an offensive board by Coleman but a miss on the followup. Our defense holds strong though and finally we get Coleman in the post for a layin to take a 63-61 lead!


5:00 2nd - Nelson drains an open 3 to give us a 71-69 lead as the starters come back out on the floor for the remainder of the game.


At the 3 minute mark, Coleman misses what I thought was going to be an easy dunk(ended up going up weak and dinking it off the rim), and Elon ties it up at 71. We come back though and Elon is back in its half court trap defense, and we find Rush for yet another 3, and he drains it like a pro. 74-71 Aggies.

Elon scores and goes into a fullcourt press. I handle it ok, but as I'm passing over the top to get it past halfcourt, Ewing makes an errant pass that sails out of bounds and it goes back to Elon...


We go back up by 3 and get a big stop with about 1:50 left. We try to work the ball inside on our next possession but can't get a good shot. Ewing rotates the ball to Alston to Rush who gets a fair look from 3 as the shot clock expires... GOOD! 79-73 NC A&T with 1:13 left.

We press and Elon throws the inbounds pass away!!! At this point I run the clock, they make a couple shots but don't have enough time to try to finish a comeback, despite my PG missing the front end of a 1-and-1 late.

NC A&T 81
Elon 78

The story of the game is absolutely the fact that Elon ran a half court trap for a solid 40% of the game, giving me open looks from 3 whenever I wanted them. As long as Rush remained hot, I continued to take them. And boy, did Rush remain hot.

Rush scored 36 points, including 10-14 from 3 point land. Coleman pulled down 11 boards, and Alston had 12 assists, thanks to feeding people out of the trap for much of the game.

[Radii]

We're heading into conference play next. Our next 8 games are against conference opponents that currently have losing records, so this will be an important stretch for us. I'm not expecting greatness or anything but there are some very bad teams in this conference and hopefully we can put up a better than .500 record the rest of the way.

[Radii]

January 12th, 2008

Morgan State (4-9, 0-1) at NC A&T (2-7, 0-1 MEAC)

One thing that stood out is that Morgan State's coach is rated 85, way higher than any coach I'd expect to see in the MEAC(I'm rated 65), I checked out their team, they're coached by former Cal coach Todd Bozeman. Apparently this is his second chance at coaching after NCAA Violations at Cal.

They're rated 68 OVR and we look to be evenly matched.

19:00 1st - Ewing picks up two fouls defending the fast break as we miss a 3 on our first possession and Alston falls over trying to beat the press. 7-0 Morgan State. Nice start guys.

16:45 1st - Rush hits a 3 and we're finally on the board... 11-3 Morgan State.

11:45 1st - Jesus. I bring the reserves in, maybe I should have earlier... its 23-6. Morgan State is 10-12 from the field.


7:50 1st - I am able to get to the line... scoring for the first time in about 7 minutes. 33-7.

That's the worst half I've seen. Early in the half they were gettig a lot of fast breaks off defensive rebounds, they have 3 guys quicker than anyone on my team. I adjusted at around the 13 minute mark to stop crashing the glass entirely and the fast break points stopped, they only got 6 before I figured it out.

FG Shooting in the first half:

Alston 0-2
Ewing 0-3
Willis 0-2
Coleman 1-5

Rush was 3-6 including 3-4 from three and he has 9 points.

Oh yeah, we trail 43-17. Morgan State is shooting 56%, way down from the first 10 minutes, but, we're shooting 4 for 26 from the floor.


18:15 2nd - We open the 2nd half on a quick 8-0 run and trail 43-25. We've now made as many field goals in the first 1:45 of the 2nd half as we did the entire first half.

Yeah, i forgot that 20 points is where the CPU puts all its bench players in. Once we cut it under 20 the starters are back. We get the lead down to 16 with 8 minutes left but no closer.

Morgan State 80
NC A&T 61

We shot 29% for the game. That's really all you need to know to know how bad this one was.

14 from Rush, 10 from Alston. Coleman led us in rebounds with 6.

[Radii]

January 14th, 2008

Coppin State(2-11, 1-1 MEAC) at NC A&T (2-8, 0-2 MEAC)

A second straight home conference game. Coppin State is rated similar to us again, slightly better rebounding and coaching, but we've got better shooting an offense.

coppin State is senior led with a team unity of 57, compared to 33 for us, so that could be problematic.


13:00 1st - Its tied at 11, but we should be ahead by a few... a couple bad turnovers on my part haven't helped.


5:15 1st - Our starters get back into the game to finish out the half, but 3 more bad turnovers on our part, 2 3 pointers, and a 4 point play(ugh) have coppin state out in front 29-17.


And an incredibly frustrating first half ends with us trailing 40-29. Turnovers end up about even in teh end, so do rebounds, the difference is simply shooting. They're at 51% to our 37%, though our turnovers hurt us a lot more. Coppin State has 8 fast break points to our 0.


13:30 2nd - We've had the lead as low as 7 but as we bring our reserves back in we trail by 9, 52-43.


9:26 2nd - The backups redeem themselves! I'm able to get SF Ed Jones a couple dunks and we defend and rebound well. Coppin State takes a timeout only up 3, 55-52.


8:15 2nd - Following two straight turnovers and a bucket by backup SF Chaplin, NC A&T leads 56-55!

6:45 2nd - the starters are all back out on the floor. We gave up a 3 pointer and trail 58-56.

4:15 2nd - We get the lead down to 1 before rush loses the ball on a pump fake and Coleman can't convert in the post, 4 straight for Coppin State to go up 65-60.


2:00 2nd - After a 4 point run by us, we give up 2 more to fall behind 67-64. Alston makes 1 free throw to cut it to 67-65, we rebound a missed jumper on their end, and on our next possession Willis goes up in traffic and hits a little 8 footer! 67-67.


1:22 left - We get a quick steal, run a play that has Rush either taking a 3 or feeding the ball into Willis in the post. Rush can't get the open look he wants, dumps it into willis who hits a hook shot with 2 seconds left on the shot clock!! 69-67 NC A&T

0:25 left - We get another big stop on defense, getting the ball back with about 45 seconds to go. We run some clock and are getting into a play to give us a shot as the shot clock expires when Coppin State's PG reaches in with 8 seconds left on the shot clock. That's their 7th foul, and Rush goes to the line where he makes both free throws. 71-67.


I'm thrilled to see Coppin State go down the court and rush a three. I'm even more thrilled when it doesn't go in and we get the rebound! Unfortunately, Willis is my worst free throw shooter and misses the front end. They brick anotehr three, Willis gets another board and this time he makes his free throws.

NC A&T 73
Coppin State 67


Definitely one of the most exciting games I've played. Usually if I fall behind like that there's no coming back. I'm pleased both with my stick play and the play of my backups getting us back into the game in the second half.

Coppin State only managed 2 fast break points in the 2nd half. We got 44 points in the paint to their 22, and once their jump shots stopped falling, we were right in the mix.

21 points from Rush today, 10 from both Ewing and Willis. Coleman led us in rebounding as usual with 8 boards. Rush was 0-2 from three and I had trouble getting off any open 3s this game. What that meant though was that it was a lot easier to drive to the basket, and Rush was able to get by his man and draw a number of fouls, shooting 9/10 from the line.

[Balldog]

2K7 froze constantly and I never really got to play it much...

Had the same problem with 2K7 but found out if you opened the tray when turning on the 360 the problem went away. It only happened when I just left the disk in there, at least for me anyway.

Hopefully you can turn these boys around!

[Radii]

Had the same problem with 2K7 but found out if you opened the tray when turning on the 360 the problem went away. It only happened when I just left the disk in there, at least for me anyway.

Yeah, I forget when I learned about that trick, but I start my 360 that way every time now, and have for quite some time, definitely something I'd recommend to anyone as well.

[Radii]

January 19th, 2008

NC A&T (3-8, 1-2 MEAC) at MD-Eastern Shore (6-11,1-2 MEAC)

Despite their superior overall record, this is one of the lowest rated teams we'll face all season. 59 OVR, with only their rebounding rated above ours, and we're used to that by now.

Our team unity continues to slowly rise, up to 35 now.


12:30 1st - Ugh, another slow start here. We've only made 1 field goal and trail 14-5. both teams got off to slow starts but MD-Eastern Shore has heated up in the last couple minutes. I've got my backups in and hope the starters can heat it up a bit when they come back in.

7:30 1st - The reserves, mainly our backup C Shepard, are able to shave a point off the lead, its 22-14 when the starters are rushed back onto the court, hopefully shooting a little better than before.


4:30 1st - 3's by Ewing and Rush cut the lead to 4, 24-20.

3:00 1st - FTs from Ewing and Alston, combined with the Shorehawks(MD-Eastern Shore's nickname apparently...) going cold from the floor, and we've got a tie game, 24-24.


Halftime rolls around and we trail by 2, 28-26. After the cold start I'm happy with that.

Rush and Shepherd(backup C) lead the team with 7 points each. As a team we've turned it over 7 times and only forced 1 turnover. That needs to change.

14:00 2nd - We take our first lead of the game, 35-33 as Willis hits a hook shot off the backboard in the post!

12:30 2nd - We lead 39-37 as our backups come into the game.


5:50 2nd - We fall behind 51-47 before getting our starters back in to finish things out.

3:30 2nd - We trail 53-48, our defense has held up well but we've been unable to score.

1:00 2nd - Its not looking good as we trail 62-57 and havent really stopped them down the stretch

:50 2nd - A 2 shot foul for MD-Eastern Shore.. they make the first, msis the second, and get the offensive board and a putback. That makes it 65-57 and all but kills us.

Yeah, not happening.

MD-Eastern Shore 67
NC A&T 57

In the last 3 minutes they went to their star SG over and over and we couldn't stop him. Their star, Ed Tyson, scored 23 on the day, 8 of those in the final 5 minutes.

We were led by backup C Kam Shepherd who went 5-6 from the floor and 3-4 from the line for 13 points. Ewing scored 11, Willis 9. Rush was ice cold again today, 1-10 from the floor and 1-6 from 3, only scoring 5 points.

[Radii]

January 21, 2008

NC A&T (3-9, 1-3 MEAC) at Delaware State (4-12, 3-1 MEAC)

I'm a bit disappointed to have lost to an inferior team last week, but it was a road conference game... and here's another one, against 65 rated Delaware State.

Delaware State appears to have one threat, SF Matthew Washington. He leads them in scoring, rebounding, FG %, 3P %, and FT %. This is a terrible 3 point shooting team, and is actually a team with worse team unity than us.

15:00 1st - A slow start, but we roll off a quick 4 points to take a 9-4 lead.

11:00 1st - We're tied at 12 as we bring our backups in.

4:00 1st - Gah, so frustrating, I can't get a shot to go from anywhere on the court, and they're draining 3s, cutting to the basket for layups, getting offensive boards... we trail 29-18 as the starters come in to finish off the half(it was 22-18 a minute ago...)


We completely come apart and trail 42-22 at the half. The first play after our starters came back in Ewing threw a layup into the front rim, they rebound, we tip a pass into the interior but can't get the steal, it falls to their other post guy instead, he shoots, we block his shot, but we can't recover, it falls to their SF who lays it in. I dunno what to do different here.

Their SG, Johnson, is 3-3 from 3, hasn't missed from anywhere on the floor and has 13 points. We've only turned it over 3 times, which is usually what kills us here... oh, REBOUNDING. they lead 22-11 on the boards. Yeah, we have 11 boards at the half. They have 5 offensive boards and have scored after every one... 10 second chance points.


After falling behind even further early in the 2nd half I quick sim this one out, just too frustrating.

Delaware State 86
NC A&T 56

[Radii]

i haven't given up on this yet, though I do get frustrated on occasion as these sliders give great results but that I sometimes don't seem to have the stick skills, or patience, or whatever... to hang with teams my level. But with no more 2k games coming out, I'm set on getting good at this one :P

I played a game last week that I didn't update for some reason, another close loss, 79-75 vs Winston Salem State.


January 28th, 2008

South Carolina State (7-13, 3-3 MEAC) at NC A&T (3-11, 1-5 MEAC)

Another team we're rated very similar to. 68 vs 67 OVR. Their coach is better, our offense is better, their rebounding is better.

Our team unity is up to 37, SC State's is 32. This may be the first game ever where my team unity is higher.


12:30 1st - We trail 14-11 as our subs come into the game. Rush has missed two wide open looks from 3 and I've missed a few FT's. I'm reasonably pleased with the defense so far.

5:45 1st - I'm extremely happy with the play of the reserves, we hung even with them and led for a short while, its 22-21 SC State right now though.

Halftime: 35-30 SC State. This is one of those games where Rush is just cold. I got him a couple more great looks and he isn't making his shots. If he's shooting like usual we're ahead. I'll need to get my big men going or keep Ewing as my main option if this keeps up.


12:30 2nd - A great run on our part ties the game up. Rush gets a couple early baskets before SC State pushes ahead to an 8 point lead, 44-36. A few inside baskets by Coleman, a great drive and dish giving Willis a dunk, and a midrange jumper by Rush give us an 8-0 run and its 44-44 as SC State calls a time out!

10:30 2nd - Thanks to 2 missed FTs by SC State and a couple buckets by Ewing and Hernandez(backup PG) we push ahead 48-44 before SC State finally ends our run at 12 straight points... 48-46,all our backups are in except Ewing is still in at SF(he has more endurance than most of our other starters).


5:15 2nd - After going up 50-46, SC State scores 5 straight, and its 51-50 SC State as our starters come back into the game for the stretch run.

4:50 - Rush drains a midrange jumper to give us the lead back.

3:45 - Its back and forth as SC State takes the lead again, 55-54, but Rush comes up huge for us, Coleman has a shot blocked inside, he pulls the loose ball out of the scrum and hits Rush for a wide open 3 to go up 57-55!


I get Ewing a couple shots that he can't make, and commit a stupid turnover and all of a sudden I'm giving another game away late, 61-57 with 45 seconds to go. SC State misses a shot and I get Rush an open jumper that he makes. 61-59 with 25 seconds left. We foul and they miss the front end of the 1-and-1. With 7.5 seconds left I get Coleman the ball inside, and he banks a shot off the backboard to tie it up!


SC State misses a shot at the buzzer and we're goign to OVERTIME.

3:00 OT - They score first, and I sit Rush for the first couple minutes to rest up. Ewing drains a 3 pointer to give us a 64-63 lead, and SC State throws away the inbounds pass. Our ball, and Rush is back in so our starters are out there for the duration now.

1:50 OT - They score to take the lead, but we beat their press for an easy bucket and go right back up, 66-65. SC State calls a time out.

We score again to go up by 3 points, but a 3 by SC State ties it up. After each team fails to score, we get the ball with the shot clock off. I hold it for the last shot but don't really get a good one, Rush(who else?) ends up taking a contested 3 pointer that doesn't go in.

DOUBLE OVERTIME - 68-68

4:40 2OT - Willis has a shot blocked but Coleman is there for the putback. We score first and SC State uses a timeout. I love seeing them take timeouts, as it rests up my guys so i don't have to worry about subbing.

2:00 2OT - a bit of back and forth continues. Rush drains an open 3, to give us a 3 point lead. SC State scores the next 4 points before Rush drains another open 3 and we are up by 2 points.

1:15 2OT - SC State uses the entire shot clock and can only manage a bad shot over a doubleteam. We get the rebound and I go to the hot hand, and Rush drains his 3rd 3 pointer of the 2nd OT to give us a 5 point advantage!!

After another solid defensive sequence, we run the shot clock down and get a much better shot this time around, who else, our OT Scoring machine Rush drains a 17 footer and we win in a classic.


NC A&T 83
South Carolina State 74

2 OT

After complaining about his poor first half(Rush had 6 points on 2-8 shooting at the half), Rush took over the game, only missing 3 FGs between the 2nd half and both OT's. He ends up with 32 points on 12-23 shooting, 4-6 from three and 4 free throws. He also has 6 assists to lead the team.

Ewing had a big first half and made a couple clutch shots in the 2nd half, he finishes with 15.

Coleman scores 14 and grabs 13 boards, a huge day for our center, while Willis scores 10 with 7 boards.

A big win for us, especially given the close 2nd half. These games I have been giving away too often with stupid stick mistakes.

[Radii]

February 2nd, 2008

Howard (6-13, 2-4 MEAC) at NC A&T (4-11, 2-5 MEAC)

Howard is one of the worst teams in the league, rated 63 OVR and not really good anywhere. Our team unity rises to 39 while theirs is only 26. A 2 game winning streak would certainly be a step in the right direction.

10:30 1st - I can't seem to get my offense going against these guys. Set plays aren't working out well and Im not getting good looks out of an open offense... its 19-10 as I call on my backups to do something different.

4:30 1st - Ugh, just not good. We fall down 34-20 as we can't seem to stop them from getting open looks in the paint.

We make a small run to end the half and trail 38-27 after 1. Howard is shooting 60% from the floor, and I'm going to switch to a 2-3 zone to start the second half as they are just eating us up inside with interior passing, I want to make sure we have guys down low at all times.

17:30 2nd - Well I look like a genius after switching to the zone. We've opened the 2nd half on a 9-2 run and only trail 40-36 now.

14:30 2nd - We are absolutely on fire. Its a 22-2 run since the second half started and we have a 49-40 lead.


11:45 2nd - 35-6 run for us in the 2nd half now and we lead 62-44. The backups come in and the starters are cheered heavily as they come off the floor.


I pretty much stalled the rest of the way, both to hang on to the big lead and also to maek sure I got done before the Clemson/UNC game started :D

NC A&T 81
Howard 55

Rush scores 24 points, 8-14 from the floor, 4-7 from 3 with 4 free throws.

Ewing scores 20, 7-13 from the field, 3-8 from 3, and 3 free throws. Just a great second half today, a GREAT second half.

[Radii]

February 4th, 2008

Hampton (11-7, 6-1 MEAC) at NC A&T (5-11, 3-5 MEAC)

Hampton is rated 70 OVR with a better offense than the teams we've faced lately. They play much better defense than we do and are much better on the boards.


12:30 1st - We trail 20-16 as the backups come in. I was trying to set up a little rotation to keep Ewing and Willis both in the game along with the reserves but there was no dead ball from the 16:30 mark to here, so no dice on that.


8:00 1st - We trail 28-20 as they get out on the break much better than we do and have broken our press for a couple layups and every steal turns into an easy 2 for Hampton. Our starters come back in, they may not be able to go the entire rest of the half but they're back for now.

We cut the lead to 5, they push it back up to 10, we cut it to 7 with 5 seconds to go and they hit a 3 pointer from half court :P

42-32 Hampton at the half. The big problem is that their PG is mega fast and out on the break after every rebound and steal. He has 19 points and is killing us.


13:00 2nd - We're lucky to be down 12... Hampton starts the second half on a 12-2 run and we find ourselves down 20. Two 3 pointers by Ewing and a basket by Willis get it back down to 12.

9:30 2nd - I'm simply stunned with the speed Hampton scores here... We cut the lead down to 9, and in a 2 minute stretch we don't even make it past half court 3 straight posessions, Alston gets us past half court but falls down trying to get by his man, and Jones has an inside shot blocked... every turnover leads to an instant Hampton basket and we trail by 21...

And yeah that second half was just embarrassing.

Hampton 87
NC A&T 60

Hampton scored 28 fast break points... I just couldn't stop them from getting out on the break.

I got 10 from Alston, 13 from Rush, 11 from Ewing, 10 from Willis today. Their SG Rashad West scored 26, most of them on layups.

[Radii]

February 9th, 2008

NC A&T (5-12, 3-6 MEAC) at Florida A&M (11-7, 6-2 MEAC)

Florida A&M is rated 68 OVR, equal with us. Their offense is worse than ours but defense and rebounding are much better.

After 5 straight home games we're going to have some road stretches coming up, it'll be key to see if we can pull off some road wins to stay out of the MEAC cellar.

Team Unity up to 40 now, A&M's is up to 41. Their SG, Leslie Robinson, is a major scoring threat with great shooting ratings, including 91 from 3. He's averaging 22 ppg and our main goal is to slow him down.

12:00 1st - We trail 13-8 as our subs come in, which is fine by me as we were down 8-0 and then 11-3 early.

5:00 1st - Falling apart early here, its 34-18 as we call a timeout and get our starters back on the court. Robinson has 11 for Florida A&M already, 3 3's.

Really its the perfect ending to the half... trailing by 16, Florida A&M can hold til the last shot, Robinson takes a 3, Rush fouls him, and the 3 is good. 4 point play and we trail by 20.

There's 3 problems with this half:

1) Their star, Robinson has 17 points.

2) They have a 24-15 rebounding edge, including 10 second chance points.

3) Rush is 2-7 for me.


16:00 2nd - We've gotten the ball inside for some easy baskets, and have gotten a couple fast break layups, the lead is down to 14.


9:30 2nd - Another little run and the score is 58-48 Florida A&M. I dunno if we can win this but we're busting our asses to get back in it.

8:30 2nd - So much for that. 3 point play opportunity for A&M, they miss the FT though, get an offensive board, and get another 3 point play opportunity that they convert. Another basket and its now 67-50 A&M.


We made that run early in the 2nd half to try to get back in it but got shut down to end the game.

Florida A&M 85
NC A&T 67

Rush was 5-17 on the day, Ewing 4-12. We're not going to win many games with our best shooters doing that.

[Radii]

February 11, 2008

NC A&T (5-13, 3-7 MEAC) at Bethune-Cookman (6-14, 2-8 MEAC)

An important game as far as staying as far out of the cellar as possible. These guys ar rated 66 OVR, only 66 on offense(compared to our 73) and barely better than us on defense. they look to be a good rebounding team though. All in all we shoudl have the edge.

Their team unity is horrendous, 28, another hopeful advantage for us.


14:00 1st - We trail 13-12 with the ball as we start to rotate out some of our starters. Ewing is 2-2 from 3 and off to a good start.

7:30 1st - Down 26-20 as all our starters get back on out on the floor. We've really struggled to score with our reserves in this one so far.

3:30 1st - Bethune-Cookman burns their first timeout as they had gone up by 10 and we've now cut it to 3... its 33-30. Ewing has hit 2 more big threes and is the star of the half for sure.


We briefly take the lead but they score the last bucket of the half. It's 39-38, Bethune Cookman leads. We've got 14 from Ewing and 8 from Rush, their SG has 16.


15:00 2nd - Our biggest lead... 3, its 50-47 as Bethune-Cookman burns another TO. This game has been entirely about guard play so far. The big men aren't really scoring a whole lot.

9:45 2nd - We had a 59-54 lead before 6 straight gave Bethune-Cookman the lead back. 2 Rush free throws give us a 61-60 lead as our backups are in for a short time.

5:00 1st - The backups score some points which is good, but its their defense which is spectacular. 5 minutes with no points for Bethune-Cookman, and our starters come back in for the stretch run with a 9 point lead, 69-60.

We burn a lot of clock whenever we have the ball, and we let them cut the lead down to 4, 71-67, with 45 seconds to go. But they are forced to start fouling at that point and we're good from the line, and we hang on for a big road win!

NC A&T 76
Bethune-Cookman 67


The stat of the day is that Bethune-Cookman was only 5-27 from 3 point land, hit a few more of those and its a very different game.

Rush finished the game today with 20 points, while Ewing finished with 17. Ewing was 5-8 from behind the arc today and hit 4 very key three pointers in the first half when Rush was having trouble getting open looks.

Willis had a double-double, 10 points/11 boards, our 3rd player in double figures today.

The win moves us to 4-7 in conference play, which is nothing to write home about, but our next few games are winnable and we still have hopes of a middle of the pack finish in conference play.

[Radii]

February 16, 2008

MD-Eastern Shore (9-17, 4-7 MEAC) at NC A&T (6-13, 4-7 MEAC)

This is our first rematch. MD-Eastern Shore is the worst rated team in the conference but beat us by 10 at their place. Rush only scored 5 in that game and their SG burned us for 23 points. We expect a win here today obviously.

18:45 1st - Willis hurts his leg going up for a bucket with two guys surrounding him. Not sure how bad yet, but our front court depth is already non-existant, we don't really want to be playing without Willis for any period of time. 4-0 NC A&T.

15:15 1st - Willis has been "cleared to return if necessary" - We've got a 13-5 lead and hope to blow these guys out, in which case I'm not going to risk further injury.

7:00 1st - We lead 24-17 as our starters get back out onto the floor. We had an 11 point lead before a couple quick baskets.

HALFTIME: NC A&T 40, MD-Eastern Shore 27

We're only shooting 44% from the floor but we've drawn 12 fouls and gone to the free throw line 18 times. We're rebounding well and playing good defense as well. Our backup C, Shepherd, has 9 points, Rush 8, Ewing 7, Coleman 6.

15:30 2nd - We push our lead up to 18, its 53-35. Rush has 6 quick points in the 2nd half, with the rest of our points coming inside.

9:00 2nd - We lead 66-47 as our backups finally see some second half action. I was ready to bring them in at the 13 minute mark but there were no dead balls and I was content to keep going w/ the tiring starters.


The backups play the rest of the way and the lead only gets bigger and bigger.

NC A&T 81
Maryland-Eastern Shore 52

Rush scored 25 today, 17 in the 2nd half. He was 3-3 from 3 point land and 10-10 from the free throw line, he was able to drive and draw fouls very well today.

backup SG Nelson scored 15, hitting 3 3-pointers, a suprise since he's not really a good 3 point shooter. Shepherd and Coleman both score 11, Coleman grabs a double double with 11 rebounds.

[Radii]

MEAC Standings

1. Florida A&M 11-2
2. Hampton 1-1
3. Winston Salem State 8-5
4. Norfolk State 7-5
5. Delaware State 6-6
6. Coppin State 6-7
7. Morgan State 6-7
8. North Carolina A&T 5-7
9. South Carolina State 5-8
10. Howard 4-8
11. MD-Eastern Shore 4-8
12. Bethune-Cookman 2-11


There's a pretty big bunch up in the middle.

Our remaining schedule:

vs Delaware State
at Winston Salem State
at SC State
at Howard
at Hampton
vs Norfolk State

Hampton may well be a lost cause for us, but all of the others are winnable. Of course, 4 of the final 6 are on the road. Any finish for us from 4th to 10th in the conference would not really suprise me. I think a reasonable goal is a 4-2 finish, winning our two home games, beating Howard and stealing one from Winston-Salem or SC State.

[Radii]

Award Watch

Our only realistic shot at meeting one of my goals for coaching skill improvements this year is to place someone on the all-conference team. Steven Rush is the most obvious candidate to make the team.

Florida A&M SG Leslie Robinson leads the league in scoring with 22.0 ppg. He also has 1.5 rpg, 0.9 apg, 1.1 spg.

Our own Steven Rush is #2 in scoring with 19.0 ppg. 1.2 rpg, 2.2 apg, 0.9 spg and fewer turnovers give him a solid shot at making all-conference.



We do have two guys on the leaderboard for rebounding:

PF Thomas Coleman leads the MEAC in rebounding with 9.1 rebounds per game. He's also putting up 7.3 points per game and 1.2 blocks per game.

PF Jason Willis scores more than Coleman with 9.2 ppg, and is 7th in the league in rebounds with 7.3.

[Radii]

I was interrupted while playing my last game, I went ahead and simulated to the end, i had a 10 point lead over Delaware State with 5 minutes left in the first half. We ended up winning in the sim 70-45.

[Radii]

February 23rd, 2008

NC A&T(8-13, 6-7 MEAC) at Winston Salem State (11-11, 8-5 MEAC)

We're rated the same, we have very slim offensive edges, they have slim defensive edge, and they have a big rebounding edge as far as the ratings go. This is another team we played close the first time through, losing 79-75 despite a huge effort from Rush(29 points). Their SG, Brian Fisher, put up 26 on us despite fairly pedestrian ratings.

Winston-Salem State has one of the highest team unities we've seen, at 60. We're sitting at 41 now.

17:45 1st - Alston picks up 2 quick(and stupid) fouls and sits.

11:30 1st - We trail 24-15 as our subs come into the game. We're struggling a bit with their full court press, a few poor passes and turnovers have not helped us. We're also struggling inside on defense. They're getting more than their fair share of easy buckets inside.

8:30 1st - We are falling way behind and don't seem to have any answers... 33-17 now.


4:00 1st - WOW, 42-23... we're just getting destroyed. We had it down to 12, 35-23, and they're on a 7-0 run.

Winston Salem State shoots 65% from the floor in the first half, including 5-11 from 3, on their way to a crushing 54-31 lead. They're outrebounding us 18-9(9!!), they have 8 steals, many coming out of their full court press... its just bad. When they're not taking it from me in the backcourt, they're putting back their own misses. 7 offensive boards leading to 9 second chance points for WS State.

Rush has 15 points for me, no one else is doing anything at all.


The closest we got in the 2nd half was 21....

Winston Salem State 101
NC A&T 73

Our starters couldn't even gain any ground on their reserves in the second half.

I see why Rush scored so many in our first contest... the only buckets we could manage most of the game were when we broke their press and had Rush 1-on-1 against their big man. Between that and just finding Rush for a desperation shot when we coudln't run our offense well, he had a huge day... 34 points on 11-26 shooting, only 4-13 from 3.

Ewing scored 9 and a couple guys scored 7. Just an awful, awful game.

With 4 games left in the season, we're 6-8 in conference play. It would take winning two road games but I still have hopes for a 3-1 finish and a 9-9 conference record.

[Radii]

If we're going to make a run at a .500 conference record, it must begin today.

February 25th, 2008

NC A&T (8-14, 6-8 MEAC) at South Carolina State (10-18, 6-8 MEAC)

A critical road game, we're rated slightly better overall, we're better on offense, even on defense, and the only edge they have is the usual, rebounding.

Our home game earlier in the year vs SC State was the game the pulled our season out of the gutter, a gritty 83-74 double overtime win.

12:30 1st - After getting out to a quick 5-2 lead, SC State goes on a 13-2 run and leads 15-7. We're rebounding ok, but not executing well on offense at all.

7:30 1st - Backup SG Nelson gives us a couple huge minutes, getting two fast break layups and an excellent assist to a cutting Kam Shepherd for a dunk in traffic. Our starters get back out on the floor and we're only trailing by 1, 22-21.


We go on a run to take a 29-24 lead and they come right back. Its back and forth for the final five minutes and SC State leads 42-41 as we go into the locker room.

We got excellent play from both Ewing and Rush in the first half, Rush has 12, Ewing 10. A number of other guys have 4.


16:00 2nd - we get off to a GREAT 2nd half run. SC State hits a free throw to end a 12-0 run on our part. Its 53-44 NC A&T

11:45 2nd - Both teams go a bit cold, and its 55-46 as SC State calls a time out.


7:45 2nd - We lead 58-50 as our reserves come in for a couple final minutes before our starters finish the game out.

5:00 2nd - We call a timeout to get our starters back in fully rested. They're just going to be milking clock for the most part though, we've got a 64-50 lead.

With the help of some offensive boards we easily run the clock out.

NC A&T 67
South Carolina State 52

Remember the halftime score? SC State 42, NC A&T 41. We outscored SC State 25-10 in the second half, easily our best defensive half of the season.

Rush was terribly cold today, scoring 15 but going 1-10 from the 3 point line. Ewing led all scorers with 15, and backup SF Ed Jones scored 10.


We're now 7-8 in conference play, at Howard, at Hampton, vs Norfolk State remaining. Hampton leads the conference and is an unlikely win on the road, but Howard is in the cellar and Norfolk State is just above us, both winnable.

[Radii]

March 1, 2008

NC A&T (9-14, 7-8 MEAC) at Howard (9-19, 5-10 MEAC)

We crushed Howard at home earlier in the year, 81-55. Rush and Ewing both had monster games for us, each of them broke 20. Howard really has no offensive threats to speak of and will hopefully struggle to score as much at their place as they did at ours.

13:00 1st - Its been a fast paced first half, our guards are blowing by their defenders for lots of easy buckets, while they're getting it inside for lots of easy layups over our smaller defenders. When we can keep them out of the lane they aren't making jump shots though, and we've got an 18-12 lead.

5:00 1st - Our reserves do a great job out there, extending our lead by 3, its 29-20 when the starters come back out onto the floor.


Rush heats up BIG TIME in the final 3 minutes. He hits 4 straight 3 pointers, all wide open from different parts of the floor, all perfect. We go on an 18-7 run in the final 5 minutes as a result.

NC A&T 47, Howard 27 halfway through.

Rush has 17, Ewing 7 and we look to be well on our way.


12:45 2nd - The lead has gone as low as 14, right now its 16, 53-37. Rush, not surprisingly, started the 2nd half ice cold. Also not surprisingly, I have continued to try to force him to heat back up and taken some bad shots.

7:45 2nd - Our starters come back in, leading 61-42, just long enough to spell our 2nd string so that they can finish out the game. No need risking any injuries here.


We finish off the rest of the 2nd half for an easy win.

NC A&T 73
Howard 56

25 from Rush including 5-9 from 3 point land. Ewing contributed 13 and the rest of the scoring was evenly spread out. Coleman continues to be a beast on the boards with 11 rebounds.

[Radii]

March 3, 2008

NC A&T (10-14, 8-8 MEAC) at Hampton(18-9, 13-3 MEAC)

Hampton is nearly as strong on offense as we are, and much better on defense and on the boards. They beat us by 27 the first time we played, getting 26 points from their star SG Rashad West.

Our team unity has risen to 43, much higher than the first time we played, but theirs is 53 and on the road we don't feel great about this one.


11:15 1st - We fell behind 10-2 and clawed back to within 2, then fell back again behind by 9, trailing now 23-15 as our reserves are all coming into the game. Their star, West, has 9 points already and I don't see what I could have done differently so far...

9:00 1st - We're fighting hard, and trail 29-22 now. My feeling though is basically that we're playing as well as we're going to at this point and we're going to get run out of the gym at any point now. I could try to slow the game down but all of my recent success has come from getting comfortable with my players and getting them in fast break or one on one situations where my guards can go up against slower guys and get to the basket. If someone else is better than me at that, so be it.

5:15 1st - We're down 33-26, we had a couple chances to cut the lead down a bit further but Ewing missed two open shots in a row. The starters(minus Ewing who I rotated in with the reserves for some more offense) are back on the floor for the rest of the half.


We keep it around 7 most of the half but they run off the final four points. 46-35 Hampton. Sadly, i feel I've played about as well as I'm going to play. These guys get out on the break well, defend the break well, and run their half court sets to open shots and easy baskets consistantly.

I've got 11 from Rush, 7 from Coleman, and 4 from Ewing and Willis each.

Their star West has 14 and it kinda surprises me that its not more.

13:45 2nd - We fall down by 14 before Rush sinks a couple 3s to get us back under double digits. I had Ewing wide open from 3 with a chance to cut the lead to 6 but he missed... our backups come into the game down by 7, 58-51.

7:00 2nd - We're down 72-59 as our starters return.

4:00 2nd - We get the lead down under 10, 77-68. Its unlikely but we do have some explosive scoring ability and we're still fighting.


3:00 2nd - Heh, explosive scoring... they have it too. 83-68. Doh.

hahaha well then. Hampton ends the game on a 21-0 run in the final four minutes. Just ridiculous. We had 4 straight possessions where we failed to cross half court before turning it over. Oof.

Hampton 98
NC A&T 68

It wasn't as bad as the final score indicated by far, but we were never really in it either. Rush scored 19, Ewing 12, and Coleman had perhaps his best game of the year with 13 points/12 rebounds, including 6 offensive boards.

We expected to lose this one, and I'm very happy with how hard we fought for the first 36 minutes, putting ourselves one good run away from having a chance at the end. The ending was a bit embarrassing though.

One more game left in the regular season, I expect to get it in tonight.

[Radii]

March 6, 2008

Norfolk State (14-12, 11-6 MEAC) at NC A&T (10-15, 8-9 MEAC)

We lost at Norfolk State 75-62 in our first conference game back in early December. We're a totally different team now though and I expect a win in our final regular season contest. I may be expecting quite a bit though as the teams that have had winning records in the MEAC usually play well above their ratings and Norfolk State has managed an 11-6 record. Their numbers don't look that good though...


14:30 1st - We fall behind 11-4 early, not shooting well at all and we've given the ball away a couple times in stupid spots.


12:45 1st - Wow what the hell is wrong with us today, Norfolk State isn't that good... we trail 18-4.


Well, at the 3 minute mark we get the lead down to 10 for the first time in forever. Norfolk State goes ice cold and we finally stop turning it over... we end up cutting 4 more points off the lead and its a close enough game at the half that we're in it just fine.

39-33 Norfolk State. Ewing has 9, Rush 6, Shepherd 6. We're only 1-7 from 3 in the half though, and all of those 3's were wide open.


15:30 2nd - It often happens when Rush has a bad first half... he's already hit 4 open 3 pointers in the 2nd half, 4-4. Its not enough to push us out into the lead, but we've clawed back to a tie game, 49-49.

11:30 2nd - Rush is now 6-6 from 3 in this half. Unfortunately our defense has just not been good enough. We trail 58-55 as most of our backups go onto the floor.

7:45 2nd - 66-64 NC A&T leads! We fell behind 62-57 and have finally started locking down on defense a bit. Ewing hit an open 3 and Rush hit two layups and we've got the lead!

5:45 2nd - 73-64 NC A&T! Norfolk State throws away two inbounds passes in a row, calls a timeout, comes down and misses a shot and we score again, we're now on a 16-2 run.


3:00 2nd - 77-70 NC A&T as all 5 starters are finally back out on the court together.

We seemingly have the game wrapped up, but we're eating clock and not scoring and we let them back into it. Its 79-76 with 10 seconds to go in the game. Willis misses a 10 footer as the shot clock expires, they get the ball and Rush commits a foul to keep them from shooting a 3. They make the first free throw, then disaster strikes. They miss the second, get an offensive board, get fouled on the putback and the shot goes in! There's 1 second left and its tied at 79. Thankfully, they brick the FT and we're going to overtime.


3:00 OT - We fall behind by 4, Coleman scores to make it 85-83 and norfolk state uses a timeout.

0:52 OT - Again we fall behind by 4, but Alston goes 1-2 from the line, we get a stop, and Willis gets fouled and makes both his free throws... 89-88 Norfolk State, they have the ball.

0:43 OT - They come down and drain a quick 3... 92-88.

0:32 OT - Rush has their center on him for some reason, he drives by him easily and draws a foul. Both free throws are good... 92-90.

0:20 OT - we foul their SG, he hits both, Rush gets an open 3 on our end but misses.

We hit a late 3 and foul again, only trailing 93-91 with 8 seconds left. They miss the front end of the 1 and 1 but get the offensive board(infuriating way to lose IMO). They hit the free throws the second time around and we lose.

Norfolk State 95
NC A&T 91

1 OT

I *REALLY* blew this one at the end of regulation. I thought i had the game in hand, and really did, but one sloppy pass let them score a very quick 2, then things went to shit and we let them back into it to force overtime.

Rush had what may have been his best game of the year, scoring 34 points on 12-24 shooting(6-11 from 3). Ewing put in 18, and we got 5-7 points from a number of other players.

[Radii]

2008/09 MEAC Final standings

1. Hampton 15-3 (20-9 OVR)
2. Florida A&M 13-5 (18-10)
3. Norfolk State 12-6 (15-12)
4. Winston Salem State 10-8 (13-14)
5. S. Carolina State 9-9 (13-19)
6. Coppin State 9-9 (10-19)
7. Morgan State 9-9 (13-17)
8. Delaware State 9-9 (10-20)
9. NC A&T 8-10 (10-16)
10. MD-Eastern Shore 6-12 (11-22)
11. Howard 5-13 (9-22)
12. Bethune-Cookman 3-15 (7-21)


We play Delaware State in the first round of the conference tournament. We came so close to the 9-9 conference finish, who knows where we would have been seeded then. Really though after the 3-10 start overall, I'm happy to have finished 10-16. If I can recruit decently enough I may just be able to avoid getting canned in the next season or two and maybe this will take off.

[Radii]

Well this is going to be an anticlimactic end to my first season. I lost my writeup about 80% through. I played Delaware State in the first round of the MEAC tournament, and played a near perfect first half. We led 45-30, Ewing had 20, Coleman 10, Rush 0(!!) but the offense was executing brilliantly. Delaware State slowly chipped the lead down but still trailed by 10 with 8 minutes left. At that point everything fell completely apart, we couldn't find the bucket and they couldn't miss. We ended up down 4 with 3 minutes to go and it jsut got worse from there as we didn't make a single shot in the final 2 minutes.

Delaware State beats us 82-71 to end our season.

[Radii]

Hmm, the offseason may be hit or miss too as I might have simmed a bit far ahead, lets see how much of this stuff is lost once I'm done with all the offseason steps before recruiting starts.

Coaching Skill Increase
I'm informed that Center Thomas Coleman makes the conference All-Freshman team, which accomplishes one of my goals. I have 3 attribute points to spend and I put them all in Charisma, making me C- everywhere except charisma where I'm an A+. Obviously we'll need to start to balance that out next year :)

National Champions
I'm also informed that North Carolina wins the national title, woohoo! I assume I can go back ad check the bracket shortly.


Graduating Seniors

Star SG Steven Rush is the big loss of course. Starting PF Jason Willis graduated too and he played well for us this year but I believe we're pulling in some much needed size that is going to change the complexion of our front court. Backup SG Glenn Nelson is our 3rd graduating senior, he put in some decent minutes as well but hopefully isn't going to be a huge loss.

Hopefully I can get more on the roster before recruiting starts.


Assistant Coach Changes

I fire my recruiting assistant, as there's a new guy available who has a B- in Charisma, better than I had before.

[Radii]

Ok here we go, I just didn't remember how much data was available after the end of the tournament.

Season Stats

Starters

PG Tavarus Alston 4.7 ppg, 2.7 apg, 0.8 spg - I'd like it if Alston could become a greater scoring threat, but for now he is speedy and takes care of the ball.

SG Steven Rush - 19.4 ppg - Rush was my star, and at times I relied on him too much. When he had a good game i almost always won. If he wasn't hitting his shots I struggled mightly to find other ways to score.

SF Austin Ewing - 10.2 ppg - Ewing was a 2 guard playing the 3 this year in a 3 guard offense. With Rush graduating he'll move over into the SG role and will be my main scoring threat next season.

PF Jason Willis - 8.4 ppg/6.8 rpg - On a bigger team Willis could have been a 3, he was only 6'6 and a bit undersized vs some teams. He was my 2nd most talented player though and had a number of good games for me.

C Thomas Coleman - 7.3 ppg/8.9 rpg. Coleman was only a freshman so I expect better and better things out of him. As we're bringing in a 7 footer Coleman, who is 6'9" will be moving to the PF starting role next year most likely.

Reserves

PF Kam Shepherd - 5.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg - a 6'8 freshman, Shepherd will likely be a backup big man throughout his career here. He has some decent post moves and I like having him off the bench.

SG Glenn Nelson - 4.7 ppg, 1.1 apg - Nelson averaged 13 minutes per game and was at times my only shooter in the game off the bench. He couldn't hit the 3 point shot which frustrated me but if i could get him open mid-range looks he would score.

SF Ed Jones - 2.9 ppg, 2.3 rpg - Jones is the type of player I struggle a lot with. I like athletic small forwards who can score. Jones feels like a post player stuck out on the wing when he's in the game.

No one else averaged more than 2 points per game for me.

[Radii]

Conference Awards

Delaware State's Greg Jackson, for reasons unknown, is the coach of the year with an 11-21 record...

The player of the year is Florida A&M's Leslie Robinson, a SG who averaged 21.1 points per game and led the league in scoring.

Our very own Thomas Coleman was the Freshman of the Year with his 7.3 points and 8.9 rebounds per game as our starting Center.


SG Steven Rush was 2nd team SG(Player of the Year Robinson was 1st team) while Thomas Coleman was the 2nd team PF. He played Center all year but he's listed as a PF so I guess that is where they stick him.

[Radii]

NCAA Tournament Recap

Tennessee, Louisville, North Carolina, and Georgetown earn the 1 seeds in the tournament.

Norfolk State pulled a couple upsets to win the MEAC and earned a 16 seed, getting throttled by Tennessee 111-57 in the first round.


All the 1 seeds made the Elite 8. North Carolina beat 2 seed Duke(god I hope that game never happens in the real world) to make the final four. Louisville beats 6 seed Alabama. 7 seed Indiana upsets 1 seed Tennessee, and 3 seed Arkansas beats 1 seed Georgetown.

1 seed Louisville beats 7 seed Indiana 78-60 in one semifinal.

1 seed North Carolina beats 3 seed Arkansas 81-76 in the other.


North Carolina beats Louisville 96-85 to win the national title.


Tyler Hansbrough earns player of the year honors.

[Radii]

Offseason Recruiting

I've already landed 2* JC Freshman Center Scott Hayes, a 7 footer from High Point, NC.

As recruiting starts I am in some trouble. I've got 4 other scholarships available and my top target immediately signs elsewhere(I had him up to 95%, didn't quite get there).

My other two top targets look unlikely to sign. I go find a couple guys who have reasonable interest in me and no other offers and hope that I can latch onto them.

In week #2 of recruiting I lose another scholarship target, expected but concerning.

In week #4 I land one of my late pickup targets, a 6'8 SF who I know very little about. He scouts as having B- shooting and B- Athleticism though which for a 2* guy interested in NC A&T might be ok.

Going into the last week all my other tagets have signed elsewhere. I'm pretty desparate to land a guard and go for the highest rated 2* guard i can find with no scholarship offers that has any sort of reasonable interest in me. Basically, I'm begging the kid to come and praying he doesn't suck. Always a sound recruiting strategy.

My brilliant strategy works as I do land my target SG.


Incoming Recruiting Class

All of my recruits are 2* guys.

C Scott Hayes, 7'0, JC FR - Hayes scouts out prety well really. B- potential, B rebounding, B- skills and B- defense, with C shooting and C+ Athleticism. I think that's ok for a guy with a ton of size coming in.

SF Lucious Gooding - 6'8 Ranked #583 overall: B- shooting, B- Athleticism, C+ Defense.

SG Johnny Colter - 6'5 - ranked #560 overall: B- skills, B- defense, B- athleticism. This is our desparation guy, we actually dont know how his shooting scouts out.


With that we move on to next season to see how these guys stack up.

[Radii]

Washington State brings in the best recruiting class in the nation.

Texas Tech, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Marquette, and Tennessee follow behind.

I'm happy to see that I have to scroll a long way down before finding anyone in the MEAC. Winston-Salem State appears to have snagged 2 3* players. That is light years ahead of anyone else inthe MEAC. I am very, very pleased to see North Carolina A&T as the second MEAC team that shows up on the list.

[Radii]

Incoming Recruits

We went 1 for 3 basically with our new recruits:

C Scott Hayes - 65 OVR - Hayes is going to be a 3 year starter at center and its really not even close. Hayes and Coleman could give us one of the better inside games in the league.

SG Johnny Colter - 53 OVR - Turns out he's not much of a shooter, we were going blind after him here so I can't say I'm suprised.

SF Lucious Gooding - 51 OVR - Another big disappointment. Not much of an athlete at al, though he has a decent mid-range jump shot that we can make use of.


Colter and Gooding will both redshirt as I can't imagine them getting any valuable time this year.

[Radii]

2008-09 Lineups/Roster

Starters

PG Tavarus Alston - Junior - 55 OVR - Like last year, Alston is our best ball handler and passer and has good speed. He's not going to score a ton but we're a better team when he's on the floor.

SG Austin Ewing - Junior - 64 OVR - Ewing takes over the role Rush played last year, though hopefully with our improved inside game we won't rely on Ewing as much. He is our best shooter and is as fast as Alston, so he is a good threat to shoot the jumper or drive past his man as the situation calls for it.

SF Ed Jones - Senior - 62 OVR - As I mentioned elsewhere, Jones is a bit out of place for me. I like more athletic SF's, this guy is more of a mini-PF.

PF Thomas Coleman - Soph - 62 OVR - Coleman is the returning conference Freshman of the year, and at 6'10" he'll be great as our power forward. He's a very good rebounder and should be able to dominate smaller teams.

C Scott Hayes - Soph - 65 OVR - 7'1" 247 lbs. Hayes comes in not only with size but with decent skills for this level. Great close range shooting, well above average ability to shoot in traffic, and a decent rebounder(Coleman's rebounding ratings are higher though). I'm really excited about having Coleman and Hayes on the floor at the same time.


Bench

PF Kam Shepherd - Soph - 58 OVR - Shepherd is a nice post player off the bench, he did a decent job last year and was our leading bench scorer. I expect the same this year.

SF Nicholas Wilson - Senior - 58 OVR - Wilson is a bit like Ed Jones. He is a guy that I dont really have a good place for in my ideal rotation, but on this team he will be on the floor a lot. He has an average mid-range jumper and acceptable speed and ball handling.

SG Angelo Hernandez - Senior - 58 OVR - Hernandez doesn't really do much well besides handle the ball and play defense. As such, he's a good backup PG.

SF Robert Johnson - Junior - 54 OVR - He'll see some minutes by default.

C Cato Cruz - Freshman - 52 OVR - Cruz is a walkon who will also see some minutes by default. He has a good inside shot and Cruz and Shepherd will make an acceptable front court combo against small/weak inside teams.


Ratings wise the team is worse than last year, and the loss of Rush obviously is going to hurt us. But I'm hoping we can improve a bit this year and pound the ball inside and hurt a lot of the smaller teams in the league. I'm also hoping that my A+ Charisma leads to an increase in talent to go along with this roster that only has 1 senior starting.

[Radii]

MEAC Ratings

A quick look at the overall league picture.

1. Winston-Salem State - 70 OVR
2. Florida A&M - 68 OVR
3. Hampton - 68 OVR
4. Morgan State - 67 OVR
5. North Carolina A&T - 67 OVR
6. S. Carolina State - 67 OVR
7. Bethune-Cookman - 66 OVR
8. Coppin State - 66 OVR
9. Delaware State - 66 OVR
10. Howard - 65 OVR
11. Norfolk State - 64 OVR
12. MD-Eastern Shore - 62 OVR


There is not a single player in the entire league rated above 70, so our dropoff in talent from losing Rush and Willis is pretty much what everyone else has too.

Some notes:

Winston-Salem State is probably a bigger favorite than the ratings would indicate. They have good talent at every single position, no superstars, but no weak spots.

3 teams - Norfolk State, South Carolina State, and Hampton - Start 3 seniors and two juniors(SC State actually starts 4 seniors) and will have a huge head start in team unity over the rest of the league.

[Radii]

Season Schedule Notes

i didn't work as hard to play so many teams in the state of north carolina this year. Probably because it was late last night when I did the schedule and wanted to see my recruits and then go to bed :)

I have a pretty balanced schedule though, almost all my games are against teams that are rated around my level. Matchups obviously dictate a lot in this game but we're only going to play a few teams rated 70+ this year. I think given my stick skill improvements during the last season, and the dominance our inside game should have against some smaller teams, we have a reasonable shot at a winning season this year.

[Radii]

Recruiting Notes

We have 4 scholarships this year. Our needs are primarily in the back court. Between Hayes, Coleman and Shepherd we have 3 sophomores inside that I really like.

We have 5 underclassmen targets that we worked on some last year. Since I had 4 scholarships open deep into the recruiting season i didn't get to focus on them as much as i'd hoped. I do have a local PG up over 70%, and 3 other guys over 60%. I really hope to see much better results this year with my maxxed out Charisma.


I add a full target list worth of PGs and SGs, a few I've already scouted out as B- shooters, which is about the best I'm seeing in the 2* arena. A few 3* guys have 60%+ interest in me but they are all virtually locked up elsewhere.

At the top of my target list are a local and municipal pair of PGs, one with B shooting, one with C+. After that are a group of SG's all with B- shooting, but they're regional and will take more points to go after.

With my limited number of points each week i have a really hard time deciding how to handle my visits. The two local guys at the top of my list have me listed 5th or 6th but have another local team higher up where it seems like if that team wants them I have no chance. The regional guys all like me a lot(top 3 or 4 with no one significantly higher in interest) but will take a lot out of me to go recruit.

[Radii]

November 8th, 2008

Maine (1-0) at NC A&T (0-0)

Maine looks almost identical to us as far as overall rating goes. They're 67 OVR jsut like us. 70 on offense, we're 69, 64 on defense, we're 63. 70 shooting, we're 73.

By the way, rebounding was our worst rated skill last year at 61, we're rated 71 in rebounding now, and its our second highest skill behind shooting. we're still considered a very good shooting team which makes me happy.

Ouch. What doesn't make me happy is seeing our initial Team Unity rating is at 22. We return 3 starters from last year, though 2 of them played different positions, and of course our big man is getting his first ever action with us.


Hahah, we go to the opening tipoff and I failed to even look at Maine's starters sizes, but Hayes looks to be about 6 inches taller than the guy he's jumping against... hilarious.

Maine is SMALL. Their center is 6'8, PF is 6'7.

14:45 1st - Well we get off to a slow start, falling behind 7-0 almost immediately. I start to get a rhythm though around the 16 minute mark. Ewing drives to the bucket once and gets fouled, getting a trip to the line. After that Hayes has scored 8 straight points just laying the ball up over his man, and we trail 16-10.

14:30 1st - Hayes picks up foul #2 and sits. coleman has 1.


12:50 1st - We trail 24-13 as our reserves come in. We're playing awful on defense, giving up lots of easy buckets to men cutting to the basket.

10:15 1st - We're down 28-13 and Maine is in the bonus. I'm having a hard time getting points out of my reserves.

6:15 1st - We're down 20, 41-21 as our starters get back out onto the floor. Ouch.


Well, its 53-35 Maine at the half. We're just getting KILLED on defense. They're shooting 68% from the floor, cutting to the basket for easy layups over and over. But if I sag in to try to stop that they're not missing from 3 either.

We've got a 13-8 edge on the boards which would be great if there were more missed shots to go get. Hayes has 8 in only 5 minutes(foul trouble). Ewing and Alston both have 6.


19:00 2nd - Hayes gets foul #3, heh.

14:30 2nd - Its 62-49 as our backups come in. We're fighting hard and have it back down to 12, but I'm not hopeful about continuing to come back with our reserves off the floor.


11:00 2nd - Its 76-62 as we start to rotate some of our starters back in, trying to keep scoring options on the floor at all times. I'm just so unhappy with our defense here.

6:25 2nd - We trail 88-73 and Hayes picks up foul #4.


We cut the deficit to the lowest we're able to get in the final minute:

Main 99
NC A&T 88


Now, I like taking my first good shot, and I like using Alston and Ewing to try to blow by their men at times after breaking the press. I scored 70 ppg last year when most teams in the league scored 55-58, and I like that. But this is a bit ridiculous.


For the game, Maine shot 61%. They hit 6 3 pointers and were 15/21 from the line.

There was some good here though. We put up 60 points in the paint. We did indeed score at will inside at times.

The problem though?

Maine SF Troy Barnies: 9-11 FG, 2-3 3pt, 2-3 FT - 22 points.

9 for 11... They had 4 different guys make 3 pointers, which is why I never tried to change my defense to prevent their inside scoring. They were not missing open 3 pointers.

On our end:

Hayes: 18 points, 8-10 FG, 2-2 FT. 19 minutes played due to foul trouble.
Ewing: 18 points
Alston: 12 points
Coleman: 11 points
Shepherd: 10 points
Cruz: 7 points

Cruz missed some easy baskets and shows why he's a walkon, but he has a lot of size over Maine's reserves.

[Radii]

Some notes on my play style and how it might change this season.

-- No more full court press. With Alston, Rush and Ewing on the floor last year we forced a lot of turnovers. This year I want to conserve my starter's energy, plus Jones at SF is a liability in the press. As is Hayes potential foul trouble if they beat the press and go to the hoop.

-- Hayes is goingn to be a BEAST if I can keep him out of foul trouble. He was just laying the ball in like no one was there all game.

-- Despite the size, I may need to run more 2-3 zone and less man to man this season. Alston, Ewing and Jones have defensive ratings in the low-mid 70s. Coleman and Hayes are in the low 60s. I might need to clog the lane even against teams that have a 3 point shooter. Ewing and Alston are fast and will just have to close down on the jump shooters.

I really like where this team can go with the inside game. If Rush hadn't graduated, a lineup of Alston, Rush, Ewing, Coleman and Hayes would win this conference *easily*. And if I can recruit a couple scoring threats this year I might be able to put something similar out there before the rest of these guys graduate.

[Radii]

November 11th, 2008

NC A&T (0-1) at Utah Valley State (2-1)

Another game that looks to be fairly evenly matched. Utah Valley State does have a slight edge in all spots though and has a great coach, rated 84.

Both teams have terrible team unity, 27 for them, 25 for us.

They have a SG rated 77 OVR, one of the best shooters I'll see at this level, 89 medium/87 from 3 point land. This guy is going to kill us.

14:45 1st - Well this is a nice contrast to our last game. Its 6-6, Toolson(their star SG) isn't hurting us yet. We have a size edge but not nearly as drastic as the last game.

11:30 1st - Our backups come in, we trail 12-8.

8:30 1st - Down 19-10 now as our backups are once again struggling mightly to score.

6:45 1st - My big men starters come back in as i am *really* struggling with Cruz today. He has gotten the ball in great position 3 or 4 times now and not been able to get the ball in the hole. 21-14 now.

4:30 1st - We trail 25-15 as the rest of our starters come bcak in. The lack of a jump shooter on the floor is hurting me a bit. Coleman has missed a couple inside shots and someone needs to heat up here.


Man, what a half, a total contrast to our last game, though the result is pretty much the same. Its 32-20 Utah Valley State.

We're shooting 21% from the floor. End of Story.

Coleman is 0-4, Hayes 2-7, Shepherd 0-2, Cruz 1-4, and Ewing 2-10 on the outside. Just nasty.

14:00 2nd - Toolson is starting to heat up for them, and we're still struggling to make even point blank shots. 43-31 Utah Valley State.

12:00 2nd - 47-35 as our reserves are all in now.

8;45 2nd - Cruz gets going a little bit with 6 points in this stretch out on the court, helping us cut the lead below 10, 52-43.


6:15 2nd - A couple good shots by us, a few bad posessions for Utah Valley and we've made it a game... 54-50.

6:00 2nd - As Utah Valley St calls a time out we get our starters back in for the duration.

4:00 2nd - UGH. We cut the lead to 1 on a 3 point play by Alston. The next 3 possessions in a row we fail to score, and they make open 3 point shots... its VERY quickly 63-53, 10 point game.

3:15 2nd - We finally score but this has gotten out of hand. 66-55.


What an embarrassing ending. They finish the game on a 23-4 run and crush us 77-57.

Utah Valley State 77
NC A&T 57

Utah Valley State was 5/22 from 3 point land in the game. All 5 of those came in the final 6 minutes. We were 2/15 ourselves.

Ewing scored 13 but it was on a ridiculous 6-21 shooting. Hayes scored 9 and got 8 rebounds but it was on 4-12 shooting. Coleman scored 4 on 2-7 shooting.

We simply could not put the ball in the basket all game. We improved to 33% from the floor.

Despite all that, we were only down 1 in the final 6 minutes. Sure they pulled away and made it look bad, but I'm pretty happy with the way we hung in there despite the poor shooting.

[Radii]

Recruiting Update

We're still 2 weeks away from the early signing period, but we do already have one player up to 100% interest. PG Bracey Tafo has us #1 on his list. High Point and Winston-Salem State have a shot at him if they come in and offer scholarships in the next week but I'm hopeful we'll snag him in the early period. He's a 6'0 PG, C+ shooting/B skills/B- defense, B Athleticism, B- potential. He's the worst shooter of the guys we're hoping for but we'd love to land a guard early nonetheless.

SG Boomer Shiloh, a 6'1" PG from Charlotte, is the best shooter we're looking at, scouted at a B in shooting. We're the only one who has offered so far, but we only have him up to 86%. We've already visited all 3 times, so it seems unlikely we'll snag him early.

The other two guys we've offered are likely to go elsewhere. Dominic Hipsher has very high interest in.. RMU(Randolph Macon? Er is that a division 1 college?). We're #2 but a long ways back.

SG Rodney Irvin from Virginia looks likely to attend Longwood over us, but its not a done deal by any stretch.


If I could land two guys in the early signing period I'd have a huge leg up this year. One does seem the most likely outcome though.

[rjolley]

RMU may be Robert Morris University out of Pennsylvania.

Good luck. I'm thinking about starting a new dynasty. With EF27's tweaks to the sliders and the custom playbooks, the CPU actually plays very well now. I've even put in a couple of my favorite plays from college and they work well.

Tell me again why they didn't make a sequel to this...

[Radii]

there you go, robert morris for sure.

You should start up a new dynasty, more for me to read and learn from, I'm still not very good at this yet :)

[Radii]

November 18, 2008

Eastern Illinois (1-1) at NC A&T (0-2)

E. Illinois is rated 71 OVR, they look to be a very good shooting team and a decent defensive team.

Yea this team looks way better than us. They have a 7 foot center and a star SG that we may struggle to stop.


12:45 1st - We get out to an 18-12 lead, and are playing pretty darn well. Alston has 8 points early thanks to a couple fast break buckets and couple drives to the basket. Our backups come in and I am hoping Cruz and Shepherd can keep us going.

6:15 1st - After some solid play by our reserves, the starters head back out onto the floor with a 29-20 lead.

3:15 1st - A 10-2 run and we're pulling away, we now lead 39-22. They're crashing the offensive glass with 4 guys, and their PG back in defense is nowhere near as fast as either Ewing or Alston, we're burning them for layups on a number of their missed jump shots.


10:00 2nd - A lack of updates here as i was chatting w/ my sister while playing. We led by 18 or so for awhile. Eastern Illinois has gone on a run and cut the lead to 10. Our backups just came in and we lead 64-54.

8:00 2nd - E. Illinois' run continues an we now only lead 66-59.


4:45 2nd - We really come alive in the last couple minutes here and take a 76-64 lead. Cruz is huge, getting a couple offensive boards and putbacks, and allowing us to work the clock for awhile. All of our starters but Alston are back into the game, Alston gets another minute on the bench to rest.

3:30 2nd - A quick 5 points from E. illinois, including a complete bullshit goaltending call on Hayes, and its 76-69. Alston is back on the floor so our entire starting 5 is back.

2:00 2nd - We lead 80-73, Alston has gotten ahead for two dunks and now has 20 points, almost certainly a career high.

1:22 2nd - We can't score, and E. Illinois gets a bucket, 80-75.

0:40 2nd - Ewing misses a 3, E. Illinois rebounds.

0:20 2nd - E. Illinois misses a 3, gets the board, but misses another one and alston pulls down the board.

We make a couple free throws which ices the game.

NC A&T 82
Eastern Illinois 78

I love looking at the stats and seeing that we have a +7 rebound margin.

Alston had the game of his career, 8-10 from the floor, 6-6 from the line for 22 points. Hayes had 16 points/7 boards. Ewing had 13 points, and Cruz(backup C) had 10 points/5 boards off the bench.

Its nice to get our first win of the year.

[Radii]

I've got time to get in a game before UNC/NC State today, and I'm really itching to get to the early signing period to see how I do.


November 24th, 2008

NC A&T(1-2) at Alcorn State (0-3)

Alcorn State is possibly the worst team on our schedule this year, rated 57 OVR, far worse than us in all categories. In 3 games this year Alcorn State is averaging 44 points per game and is shooting 28% from the floor, 52% from the line, and 12% from 3.

Our team unity has risen from 22 to 29 in only 3 games so far, probably a factor of having most of our guys returning players and just integrating Hayes into the starting lineup?

Alcorn State starts 6'8 men at center and power forward. Teehee.

19:30 1st - Hayes picks up his first foul :P

18:00 1st - Hayes picks up foul #2. We lead 7-2.

16:30 1st - Hayes picks up foul #3 and is done for awhile. Looks like I'm going to need to figure out how to protect him vs smaller teams.

15:30 1st - Alcorn State takes a time out as we lead 11-3.

10;30 1st - We lead 21-14 as our backups come in. They've got 2 fouls on our backup center Cruz so the 3rd stringer is in.

4:30 1st - With Cruz out of the game at center, and no other viable scoring options on our 2nd string squad, the previous 6 minutes became the Kam Shepherd show, and what a show it was. Shepherd makes his first 6 field goals including two monster dunks, and adds a free throw for 13 points. We lead 36-24 as our starters return.

We let Alcorn State get within 5 before closing the half strong to lead 47-37.

13 points from Shepherd leads all scorers, while we've also gotten 10 from Alston and 8 from Ewing.


13:00 2nd - After allowing Alcorn State to cut the lead back to 5 again, Ewing and Cruz take the game over, pushing us out to a 68-50 lead as our reserves start to rotate into the game.


We get a 20 point lead with 6 minutes to go and go totally into the tank. We let them end the game on a 15-2 run but 6 of those were in the final minute, it was never in question.

NC A&T 80
Alcorn State 73

Cruz, Alston, and Ewing all 3 lead us with 14 points today. Shepherd doesn't score in the 2nd half and finishes with 13. Hayes gets 6 points in 13 minutes, would have liked to see him playing more without fouls in the first half.

[Radii]

November 29th, 2008

MD-Eastern Shore (1-3, 0-0 MEAC) at NC A&T(2-2, 0-0 MEAC)

This is our random "WTF conference game in November???" game this year. It should be a good start for us, MD-Eastern Shore is the weakest team in the conference.

Our team unity rises to 31, which I'm thinking is a good sign, it seems to be going up faster this year than it did last year.


Again we've got a huge height advantage here, lets see if I can keep Hayes out of foul trouble. I decide to try out the 1-3-1 that balldog suggested, and to make the 2-3 my 2nd defense.

11:30 1st - Its 15-15 as our reserves are all brought out onto the court. The 1-3-1 is working fairly well, if they can make open 3's we'll have to get out of it. But Hayes doesn't have any fouls. We struggle some on offense and had a pretty cold stretch, I think we're in good shape here.

5:45 1st - We trail 27-25 as our starters get back in there. We're missing a lot of inside shots that seem like shots we usually make.

HALFTIME: We lead 42-40. One little problem though... the 1-3-1 protected Hayes but I was totally not paying attention to anyone else's fouls. Coleman had 3 fouls with 3 minutes left, I noticed it, went to sub him out, but didn't call a timeout to get him out of there, and he picked up foul #4 before the next dead ball. Whoops. We'll be seeing lots of Shepherd in the 2nd half.

Hayes has 12 points... on 6-13 shooting. As I'd mentioned, lots of easy shots missed. He also has 9 boards, almost a double double already. Coleman has 8, Jones 6, Ewing 6.

15:00 2nd - We lead 51-47 as we start to rotate in some bench players.

12:30 2nd - We build the lead up into double digits, MD-Eastern Shore burns a timeout as we lead 63-51 now mainly on the heels of Alston and Ewing fast break chances following missed baskets.

7:30 2nd - I had brought Coleman back in, and he fouls out with 7:30 to go. We're playing real well and winning 78-65 though.

We cruise the rest of the way, leading by 13 with 2:30 to go we sit on the clock.

NC A&T 88
MD-Eastern Shore 77


Hayes shows us today what he can do vs smaller teams if he stays out of foul trouble: 25 points, 15 boards.

Alston assisted on many of Hayes buckets: 6 points, 11 assists. I am 99% sure that is a career high for Alston on assists.

Ewing scored 17, and the other post guys contributed as well, Coleman and Shepherd both had 8 points, Cruz had 7.

A solid win to put us above .500 for the first time in my coaching career, and also making us 1-0 in conference play which always helps.

[Radii]

Recruiting - Early Signing Period

Pretty much as expected. SG Bracey Tafo signs with us. He's rated #662 in the country overall, out of Winston Salem, NC. We show him as a C+ shooter, with B skills and Athleticism, B- Offense and Potential. For a 2* guy wiling to sign early with us, that seems pretty good.

We lost one of our scholarship targets as Dominic Hipsher signs with RMU, which is indeed Robert Morris.


A look at our other 3 scholarship offers:

PG Boomer Shiloh - #536 overall, out of charlotte. B shooting, B+ skills, B defense, b+ Athleticism. We are his only offer so far and we've gotten him up to 86% interest.

SG Rooney Irvin - unranked, out of Richmond. He has an offer from Longwood and from us. We scout him as a B- shooter. He's got slightly better interest in longwood but we've got him at 85% and haven't used all our visits yet.

PG Leandro Works - #611 overall, a kid out of Charlotte. We just offered him this week, replacing the scholarship that opened up when Hipshir signed with Robert Morris. We've got him up to 78% and are his only offer so far.


Outside of these guys we have a couple other targets we're continuing to call every week. I'm also working a little harder on the Juniors this year, hoping to get more interest in some guys that I want going into next season.

[Radii]

December 8, 2008

NC A&T (3-2) at Central Connecticut State(1-5)

Similarly rated teams here, one worry though is that Central Conn State is a great shooting team, at 78, higher than anyone I've played.

Cent Conn State runs a... 5 guard offense? Nah I guess 3 guards, but their two forwards are both 6'6". Their only serious 3 point threat is a backup PG, but they do have 2 guys that can hit it if left open.

We're going to start in man to man here but we're willing to give up the 3 and go to a zone to protect Hayes if we have to.

18:30 1st - Hayes picks up foul #1 and I immediately go zone

14:00 1st - Hayes and Coleman are 1-7 combined. We trail 13-4.

10:30 1st - We trail 24-17 in what looks like is going to be a very high scoring game early. Our subs are in though and we usually slow it down here.

8:30 1st - slowdown what? After allowing a 3 and falling behind 27-17, we go on an 8-0 run with two Hernandez dunks in transition and two quick looks to Cruz cutting towards the basket.

7:00 1st - I'm pretty sure the Cent Conn State crowd is booing, I'm not 100% sure on that and i'm not sure if i've ever heard that before haha. We're on a 12-0 run now and lead 29-27.

5:00 1st - Our starters are back in, 33-33 tie game.


3:45 1st - A Central Conn. run has them up by 5, 42-37, as we call a time out.


We cut it to 45-42 and then another Cent Conn State run gives them a strong lead at the half.

53-42.

Our problem is pretty much what I expected. I can't seem to defend the 3 point line and protect my big men at the same time. They're 7-16 from 3 which is killing us. They have two guards in double figures with 14 and 13 points.

Ewing has 11 for us but no one else has more thna 6. Hayes is 2-9 from the floor, almost certainly the difference between us winning and losing at this point.

13:30 2nd - We'd cut it to 8 or 9 a couple times but they'd always drain a big 3 on us whenever we got momentum... finally a small run and the score is 64-59.

11:30 2nd - Ugh, another run on their end, 71-59 now as our backups are in.


7:00 2nd - We get our starters back in early as we're on the verge of gettig blown out. We're down 83-67, primarily due to an inability to play defense.

2:00 2nd - After falling down by as much as 18, we've scored 8 in a row and trail 92-82.


We get the lead down to 8 and have the ball with 45 seconds left to try to cut it even closer. We go cold here though and cannot complete the comeback.

Central Connecticut State 98
NC A&T 88


We like to run so I'm fine with a game in the upper 80s, but we allowed way too many 3 pointers in this one. They hit 11 of them, were even in the rebound battle(unacceptable for a small team) and our big men were not as dominant as they need to be vs a team like this.

We end up with 23 from Ewing but that's on 8-20 shooting. Hayes scores 13 on 5-15 shooting, and Alston scores 13. Shepherd and Coleman had 8 and 7.

[Radii]

December 11, 2008

NC A&T(3-3) at Campbell (2-4)

They're rated a little better than us overall, and their big edge is defense. They appear to be one of the very few teams we'll see this year in lower level play that like to run as much as we do... they average 75 points per game(we, by comparison, average 80). As a team they're shooting 40% from 3, so we are up against another team that can kill us from deep.

WOW. They have a SF, Jon Rodriguez, rated 81 OVR. Great from medium range and inside, and athletic as all hell... we're going to seriously struggle with him.

15:00 1st - Its a very hectic start. Their PG is *FAST*, 86 speed/88 quickness or something like that, he's blown by alston twice for easy layups already. Hayes picks up foul #2 and has to sit. He's fine in half court D but a couple times they pushed the ball up the court and we didn't get set in time and their athletic SF took it right at Hayes. We trail 16-11.

11:00 1st - Wow this is crazy. We trail 26-19 as our reserves come in. Their stud, SF Rodriguez, has 16 points already. We drop back into a zone to try to force Rodriguez to beat us from the outside. We can't keep him away from the basket in a man defense.

8:15 1st - There's the run our backups seem uncanny at making lately. Its 30-27 as Campbell burns a timeout.

5:45 1st - Ugh, we get 3 straight decent looks, miss them all and Rodriguez scores on their end all 3 times... he might singlehandedly outscore us. Its 37-29 as the starters are back.


Heh wow. Campbell leads 54-39 at the half. We've got 10 turnovers to their 2, and they've got Jon Rodriguez. Pretty much end of story right there. Rodriguez has an incredible 26 points at the half... We've got 11 from Ewing, 7 from Alston and 7 from Coleman. I may quick sim some of the 2nd half if we can't close this lead down. This team is much, much stronger than us.


Campbell scores on their first 6 possessions in a row in the 2nd half and I quick sim it out.

Campbell 104
NC A&T 72

This campbell team was not rated much higher than us as a team, but had one unstoppable superstar and 3 point shooters off the bench and speed at PG that created nightmares for us.

Rodriguez ends up with 35 points for them.

Ewing leads us with 22 points, Coleman scores 13.

[Radii]

December 16, 2008

Stetson (5-3) at NC A&T (3-4)

Stetson is a team that can shoot. We're matched up ok with them but they have 3 3-point shooters. It should definitely be our inside game vs their outside game. Their SF, Blair, is rated 75 OVR and is someone that can hurt us.

12:15 1st - Its been close so far, we lead 20-19 as our backups come into the game.

7:15 1st - We trail 28-25, our backups struggling to get it going today. Alston is back out on the court, no other starters yet though.

4:50 1st - We score 7 straight and lead 32-28 as the starters come back in.


Stetson hits a last second 3 but we still hold on to a 42-37 lead.

Rebounding! We have a massive 24-13 edge on the boards. Alston has 8 first half assists and is having a great game, while Hayes has 11 points, Coleman 9, and Shepherd 8. Truly inside dominance today. Ewing has 8 as well.

14:00 2nd - Not much defense being played in the 2nd half so far. We still lead by 5, 57-52. Hayes already has 10 second half points, for 21 total.

12:15 2nd - A quick 6-0 stetson run and they lead 58-57. Our reserves come in.

6:00 2nd - The game has remained incredibly close. We trail 67-65 as our starters come back out onto the floor. We're looking for Hayes to get us the win here.

4:00 2nd - Two free throws by Ewing tie the game up at 69 apiece.

3:15 2nd - We trail 72-71 now, its Stetson's ball. They've used two timeouts in the last minute which makes me happy as it rests my starters who are wearing a bit.

1:51 2nd - They take a 76-73 lead and get a steal on the press... they go up 78-73 after that steal and we're ina bit of trouble.

0:36 2nd - following a dagger by Stetson, a 3 to give them an 81-73 lead, we get a quick 2 by Hayes, a stop on defense, and a 3 by Ewing. We now trail 81-78, stetson has the ball.

0:23 2nd - We foul, they miss the front end, and we get the ball downcourt to an open Ed Jones in the lane for 2. Its now 81-80 Stetson.

We are unable to score on our next possession and that pretty much finishes us off.

Stetson 86
NC A&T 82

I'm happy with our play today, they had one small run in the final two minutes that really killed us.


Hayes was a beast today. 29 points, 8 boards on 13-18 shooting. Our other big men were all solid too. 11 from Shepherd, 9 from Coleman and 6 from Cruz. Ewing was our second leading scorer with 18 points including a solid 4-9 from 3. Alston was great with the rock, 12 assists to 2 turnovers.

[Radii]

So I'm a big North Carolina fan. I didn't specifically intend to try to play like North Carolina does, but that's really what has happened so far this season. After my opponent scores I push the ball as fast as I can. After most defensive rebounds I go for the deep outlet to either Alston or Ewing, whichever one has taken off on the break. If I don't' score in the first 5 seconds I'm either looking to get Ewing and open 3, or Coleman/Hayes a close look, and I'll take that shot as soon as I have it.

Sadly, this team isn't exactly loaded with Ty Lawson's and Tyler Hansbrough's, and I'm not Roy Williams, so I find myself falling behind early a lot against teams with equal talent.

New thing to remember whenever I have the ball on offense:

Try to get the bucket within 5 seconds, but if Alston/Ewing can't get that easy layup or an immediate pass into Hayes for an easy look, pull it out and cool off and run some offense and stop pushing.

I'm definitely running the type of offense I want to run with this team, but I'm going to try to refine it a bit and be a bit more efficient when the easy look isn't there.

[Radii]

I decide to sim my last two non-conference games to get moving with the conference season:

December 20, 2008:

NC A&T 59
Drake 54

Jones - 11 points
Coleman 10 points/7 boards



December 27, 2008:

New Orleans 82
NC A&T 67

Shepherd - 21 points/9 boards
Jones - 12 points



Two weeks off, one game on a saturday, then two games a week the rest of the season.

[Radii]

January 10th, 2009

Florida A&M (1-11, 0-1 MEAC) at NC A&T (4-6, 1-0 MEAC)


There's one big glaring problem going into this game. Austin Ewing got hurt in my first CPU simmed game for 27 days. He's still got 6 more days before he can return, so he'll miss two conference games for us.

Florida A&M has much better team unity than us, espicially given Ewing being out, and is rated 67 overall, not really as bad as a 1-11 record looks. They are one of the teams I highlighted in the season preview as a team that starts 5 seniors. All of them look ok, but no standout superstars.


13:00 1st - What starts as a very slow, methodical game on both ends picks up a bit. We trailed 11-8 at the 15 minute mark but ran off 8 fairly quick points before giving up a basket. We lead 16-13. Alston has 8 already and is picking up some of the slack left by Ewing's abscence.


12:00 1st - We still lead 16-13 as the reserves come in.

4:30 1st - Our reserves push the lead up to 6, its 28-22 as the starters return for the rest of the half.


We lead 32-30 at the half.

So what does our offense look like without Ewing on the floor?

We are 0-2 from 3 point land. One of those attempts was an accident, I was trying to just pump fake and the guy went up for the shot. The other one I honestly don't even remember.

Alston has 8 points/3 assists. Coleman 6 points/2 boards. Hayes is only shooting 2-7 and I need him to get going to extend this lead.


12:30 2nd - Our offense is playing better, Alston has been able to find Hayes and/or Coleman inside a number of times, but we also got bit by the turnover bug a little. End result is that the game remains incredibly close, its 47-47 as the backups come in.

9:30 2nd - We trail 53-51. Our backups are having a really hard time getting anything going. They have switched to a 1-3-1 defense and we seem to not be getting very many good looks against it.

6:00 2nd - We trail 61-57 as the starters get back into the game for the duration. The backups put together one good stretch to keep this from getting away, but I really need alston/Coleman/Hayes to win this for me.


3:30 2nd - We've cut the lead to 1, its 63-62. We get Hernandez in at SG since we don't need him to back up Alston at PG anymore and get a little more athletic.

2:45 2nd - They score and we fail to, giving them the ball with a 65-62 lead.


2:00 2nd - We cut it to 1 after a steal, and have a chance to take the lead after a missed basket, but Alston forces the drive and cannot hit a tough shot in the lane. A&M's ball, leading 65-64.


1:45 2nd - Another miss by A&M and we again force it up with Alston, but this time he puts it in the basket! 66-65 Aggies.


UGGGGGGGGh. We get a stop but turn the ball over feeding it into the paint. With about 45 seconds left A&M gets a bucket to take a 1 point lead. We get a decent look inside to Coleman but his bank shot rolls off the rim. We start fouling with 25 seconds left to put them on the line.


We get what we wanted... they only make the front end. We rebound after they miss the 2nd and can try to tie the game. We get what seemed like a good pass inside to Hayes. I go up for a shot as soon as Hayes catches the ball and his defender swats at it and doesn't even let him start into his shooting motion. It's a steal and they make their FTs this time.

Florida A&M 73
NC A&T 66


We fought hard but without Ewing in the lineup we are *very* one dimensional.

Alston scored 15 and did a good job on the break by himself. He also had 7 assists.

Hayes had a double-double, 13 points/10 boards. 12 for Coleman, 10 for Shepherd. All solid games and if we had the threat that Ewing can provide we surely win this.

[Radii]

I go ahead and sim our last game without Ewing:

Coppin State 73
NC A&T 59

10 from Jones, 9 from Coleman, 9 from Hernandez, 7 from Alston and Hayes each. Bleh!

[Radii]

January 17th, 2009

NC A&T (4-8, 1-2 MEAC) at Norfolk State (2-13, 1-2 MEAC)

One of the lower rated teams, this is a team with some senior leadership but not a whole lot of talent.


13:30 1st - We lead 14-12, feels like we should be ahead more but you know about our lack of defense at times.

11:15 1st - We lead 15-12 as our backups come in. We'd be up more if Hayes could make a damn free throw.

5:45 1st - Norfolk State takes a time out as we go up by 5 and are exerting some dominance inside with Cruz and Shepherd.

4:15 1st - 26-22 NC A&T as all our starters are back out now.


We finish the half very strong and extend our lead to 10 points, 40-30.

Coleman, Ewing and Cruz all score 9 in the first half. Norfolk State's PF is a very poor defender so I'm trying to focus a bit more on Coleman specifically when I can.

Both teams ended up in the double bonus by the end of the half, but we have the edge as far as foul problems as almost all their fouls were big men as we drove inside or got them out of position with Coleman/Hayes. They have 5 guys with 2 fouls each, I believe all fowards and centers.

In fact we made it to the line an incredible 22 times in the first half. We missed 9, which I alluded to earlier. Hayes is 2-6 from the line so far.

15:30 2nd - We're hanging on to a 10 point lead and have gotten foul #3 on two fo their guys. Hayes picked up his 3rd as well.

15:15 2nd - Heh, I shouldn't have mentioned it. HAyes picks up foul #4. The annoying thing is that 2 of them have been shitty reaching in fouls nowhere near the basket. Cruz is in for awhile.

10:00 2nd - We get our backups in, leading 59-50. ewing got hot and is up to 23 points now and I tried to ride that streak for as long as possible. I called a timeout and got the starters out of there as soon as he missed a couple shots.

4:15 2nd - We're looking really good here, up 70-57 as our starters come back.

We get a couple stops and its enough for us to feel ok just burning clock.

NC A&T 73
Norfolk State 61


That's 3 games in a row where the winner scored 73.

Ewing was great in his return from injury. 23 points and 5 assists.

Coleman put up a double double, 10 points and 13 boards, while Cruz had 13 points and 9 boards.

A good win to get us back to .500 in conference play. The goal this year obviously is to finish better than last season, and really we're looking for better than .500 in conference.

[hoopsguy]

How is your job security looking - is this going to be a concern if you do not win 50% of your conference games?

[Radii]

How is your job security looking - is this going to be a concern if you do not win 50% of your conference games?

It looks to be in the 25-35% range, which is higher than it was when I was 3-10 and struggling like hell early last year, and about the same as it was at the end of last season. Hopefully a winning record in conference play would make it go up?

Also, I actually don't know how likely that means I am to get fired. Does the bar have to empty completely or does it remaining low mean there is a random chance at the end of the year?

[Radii]

January 19th, 2009

NC A&T (5-8, 2-2 MEAC) at Delaware State (6-12, 3-1 MEAC)

We've got a lot of games like this one ahead. We're rated the same, few discernable differences, but we are on the road. They're only averaging 50 points a game and shooting 38% from the floor so if we can force an up tempo game effectively I like our chances.

14:45 1st - Wow, I don't know if I've ever struggled this much to score... we trail 8-2 heh. So much for pushing the tempo early.

11:15 1st - We get our second field goal of the game. Seriously. Its 12-6, and 2 of our points came at the line. Our backups come in the game after a Delaware St timeout.


7:30 1st - This is ridiculous. We're missingopen layups, cuts to the basket where i have a guy with 4 inches of height on his man just donking the ball into the rim, etc. Its 23-8... We're shooting 2/18 from the floor, we've only taken 2 3-pointers, these are all shots I don't really hate that much at worst, and 100% expect ot make at best.

6:45 1st - We get our 10th point. Seriously, Shepherd got a good look cutting to the basket and missed. Wilson got the rebound, put it up and missed. Finally Cruz auto-tips it in... this is unbelievable.

4:30 1st - We hit an open 3 pointer and later get a 3 point play opportunity. We miss the free throw and they're scoring omre now too so it doesn't help any... we're down 30-15 as our starters try to end the half on a positive note.

2:30 1st - We're able to manage a 6-0 run to give us a little bit of life. Its 30-21.

We're able to shave 1 more point off the lead and the first half doesn't look that bad by the time its done. Delaware State leads 36-28. We're up to shooting 31% as a team.

Alston has 8, Coleman 6, and Hayes 5. Coleman and Hayes are combined 5-14 from the floor.

12:30 2nd - Trading baskets, never closer than 6 or further behind than 10... its 48-40 as we bring our reserves in.

7:00 2nd - Same old story, we trail 55-47 as the starters get back out on the floor. Its either all offense or all defense, we can't seem to get stops and score.

5:50 2nd - Finally some luck/defense. We score to make it 55-49. Ewing misses an open 3 that would have cut the lead to 3 after a stop. We commit a foul on the other end but they miss both free throws. Ewing is able to get to the line on our end where he makes 1, misses the other, Hayes gets a rebound and a putback, and the lead is down to 3, 55-52.

3:15 2nd After 4 straight by delaware state, we're now cycling between a 5 and 7 point lead... right now its 61-56 and its their ball after a timeout.

1:00 2nd - Same thing happening here... now its 66-60 and their ball, we just need one run.

DAMMIT. they make 1 FT, but a turnover on our end all but ends the game.


Winning on the road, especially when down late, is damn hard.

Delaware State 73
NC A&T 63

We end up getting 15 from Alston, 15 from Hayes and 10 from Coleman. 9 boards for Coleman and 7 from Hayes help too. We just got so far behind early and shot so horrendously early on that we were clawing the entire way.

[Radii]

January 24, 2009

Howard (8-11, 2-3 MEAC) at NC A&T (5-9, 2-3 MEAC)

Howard was the worst team in the league last year, they look quite improved. They're a fairly small team, with a talented SF in Eugene Myatt, he's scoring 19.5 ppg this year so far, and he's definitely the guy we have to worry about.

He's not much of a 3 point shooter though so we're going to start out in a zone to try to keep him from driving on us.


11:30 1st - Ugh, its a very fast paced game with little defense, we hang tight til its 18-17 Howard then they go on a tear and score 9 straight. our backups come in facing a 9 point deficit. Myatt scored the first 7 points for Howard, then as we went out of our way to shut him down, others have been left open and aren't missing much.

6:15 1st - We cut the lead down to 5, 32-27, then they explode for 9 straight... 41-27 as some of our starters are ready to come back.

haha, defense? no, no defense. This is easily the highest scoring half I've ever played.

Howard 59, NC A&T 50.

And here's the problem:

Howard: 70% FG shooting

70%!! Myatt has 17 points, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block in the first half.

Ewing, Coleman and Alston are all in double figures, with Hayes and Shepherd at 8 points each. We're shooting 57% ourselves, just a fast paced half with very little defense.


15:00 2nd - Howard is forced to call a timeout after an Alston 3 point play makes the score 65-62. We've been rotating some players around due to fatigue(Ewing) and foul trouble(Hayes) and will probably have an odd rotation going most of the half.

10:00 2nd - We've been hanging around with a 3 point deficit for awhile now, finally a break as a Hayes bucket cuts the lead to 1, we get a rebound on defense and a kickout on our next possession gives Ewing an open 3 which he drains! We lead 73-71.

7:50 2nd - We lead 75-74, I put all my backups in and will bring all 5 starters back out for the final 5 or 6 minutes or so...

6:15 2nd - Ugh, That didn't work well. It's 80-75 Howard as Alston and Coleman come back in. The rest of the starters need another minute.

5:00 2nd - We trail 85-81 as our starters come back in.

1:30 2nd - DAMMIT. Trailling 88-85, we play great defense and force a bad shot... but they get the rebound and work it around for a 3 pointer which goes in. REBOUND PEOPLE. 91-85.

We miss another shot and they go up 8 and we completely blow it in the clutch once again.

Howard 93
NC A&T 90

We obviously have two huge flow issues here. We keep falling behind early, and we keep losing close games late.

ewing kept us in it today, he scored 26 and was huge for us. Alston scored 15, Coleman 13(with 10 boards) and Hayes had 12. Just a very disappointing home loss.

[Radii]

I started my next game, a home game vs Bethune-Cookman, and was winning 31-20 with about 4 minutes left in the first half. i got interrupted and just simulated to the end and kept the result, a 64-57 win. I was running my offense pretty well in this game and hopefully that's something I'll continue doing.


Alston scored 13, Coleman 12, Ewing 9, and Hayes 7 in this game. 14 boards for Coleman and 11 from Hayes. Onwards and hopefully upwards.

[Radii]

January 31, 2009

Morgan State (4-12, 2-3 MEAC) at NC A&T(6-10, 3-4 MEAC)

Another evenly matched game on paper, and we must win these games, especially at home. Morgan State has one player that we have to try to stop. SG Reggie Holmes is a great 3 point shooter and scorer, averaging 15.5 points a game for a team only averaging 60 total.


13:15 1st - We lead 13-9 as I am settling in a bit more than in recent games and running through an offense. Also they're missing their shots but seemingly have 17 offensive rebounds by now to extend some possessions FOREVER(I think they have 5 offensive rebounds, but it seems like 17). Anyway, some backups coming in.

8:45 1st - This game is excruciating. Its 16-16 and I think that some of my defenders are literally taking naps out on the court when Morgan State has the ball. They're holding it til the final 5 seconds of the shot clock almost every possession. They're also running a 2-3 zone which, with no shooters at all on the court, is making our offense very difficult.

5:45 2nd - We lead 18-16 as our starters get back out onto the floor for the rest of the half. That's right, our backups only managed 5 points in 8 minutes... and we're winning.


3:45 2nd - We've scored 4 more and lead 22-16. Morgan State hasn't scored at all for 5 minutes now. Easily the best defensive stretch I've had all season.

2:48 2nd - Morgan State scores, and its now 24-18. That was a damn long drought on their end.


We lead at the half 26-21. We're on pace to barely score 50. This must be what it feels like to be in the Big 10. ;)

Ewing has 8, 2 3 pointers. Alston has 6, all 6 of them fast break points after rebounds. No one else has more than 3. Coleman has 6 boards. The big first half success, and big second half concern, is that their scoring star, Holmes, is 0-7 from 3 and 2-11 from the field overall. If we can hold him down in the second half he wins. If he starts making his shots we're in trouble.

Also, 17 offensive rebounds was only a minor exaggeration. They have 9 at the half.

17:15 2nd - We've already scored 7 points in the second half! But even better news than that... Holmes is 0-4 in the first 3 minutes and Morgan State has scored 0. We lead 33-21.

15:25 2nd - Morgan State burns its first 2nd half timeout. We've built up a 40-25 lead and things are looking pretty good.


9:15 2nd - It takes forever for the next clock stoppage, and since everything is going our way I'm happy to let my starters get a bit tired out there. We lead 53-36 as our subs come out for the first time in the half.


We only score 6 more points but that's because we pretty much drained the clock the rest of the way. The margin was only 8 but again we were killing clock for the final 9 minutes and they only cut it under 10 in the final 30 seconds.

NC A&T 59
Morgan State 51

Ewing with a monster day, espicially given the lower score. He had 20 points including 4-8 from 3. Alston put in 12, Hayes 8, and Coleman 6. Coleman also pulled down 12 boards.

A solid win and once again we are .500 in conference play.

[Radii]

February 2, 2009

SC State (11-9, 4-3 MEAC) at NC A&T (7-10, 4-4 MEAC)

Another game where we appear evenly matched and need to grab the win at home. One difference between this and the last couple games is that SC State looks to be a pretty good shooting team.

They've got two big threats. SG Carrio Bennett is a great outside shooter and averaging 13.3 points per game. SF Everett Spencer is a great athlete, ball handler and defender, averaging a bit less at 10.8 ppg, but we're more worried about him going in. They're small and their PF and C have little ability.

9:30 1st - We've gotten out to a really great start, slowing things down just a little on offense seems to have really gotten me into a groove. We're up 21-10 and all our backups are in the game.

2:45 1st - A pretty slow run for our backups and we lead 25-17 as our starters get out for one last run before the half.


We finish strong and lead 30-19 at the break. And for once I said before the game that we have a huge size edge inside and we actually use it. Hayes has 12 points/5 boards at the half and is easily our leading scorer. No one else has more than 5.

15:00 2nd - We get off to a great start to the 2nd half, leading 42-23 as SC State burns a timeout.

12:00 2nd - Its 50-25 as our 2nd string comes in. They can't make a shot at all it seems.


5:00 2nd - 61-31!


NC A&T 76
SC State 48

3 big home wins in a row for us now.

Hayes ended up with 18 points/10 boards. Ewing scored 15(and had 6 assists), and Alston scored 13. We got 8 points/7 boards out of SF Jones, and 7 points/8 boards out of Coleman. Just a great game from everyone really.

Their "star" SF Spencer only took 2 shots, and I don't really understand why, he seems so much more talented than anyone else that they have. he didn't score. Their other threat, SG Bennett, scored 17 but 6 of those were in the final 2 minutes, and we held him to 7-20 from the field/3-13 from 3. We'll take that out of the opponent's best player any game.

[Radii]

Much like last year there is a giant bunch up from about 3rd to 10th in the conference where a ton of teams have 3, 4, or 5 conference losses and all matchup pretty evenly.

Last year we were in the bottom two or three of that group all year. This win puts us a little closer to the top than we ever were last year

(conference record only)

1. Hampton 8-0
2. Winston Salem State 6-4
3. Howard 6-4
4. NC A&T 5-4
5. SC STate 5-4
6. Delaware State 5-5
7. Morgan State 4-5
8. Bethune-Cookman 4-6
9. Coppin State 4-6
10. MD-Eastern Shore 4-6
11. Florida A&M 3-7
12. Norfolk State 3-7


Problem #1 for us: Our next two games are road games vs the two top teams in the conference, Hampton and Winston Salem State.

Problem #2 for us: 7 of our final 9 games are on the road, including our final 5 in a row.

If we can snag some road wins though, there is some potential here. We have an outside shot at a .500 overall record, and a totally reasonable shot at a record greater than .500 in conference play.

[Radii]

February 7, 2009

NC A&T (8-10, 5-4 MEAC) at Hampton (15-4, 8-0 MEAC)

Hampton is rated a little higher than us in most areas, but I think it is worse than it looks. Their only weakness might be at SF and that's not really a place where I shine. Their guards are way faster than ours and they have a very talented power forward.


12:15 1st - We're trailing 20-19, this is going to be interesting. I'm completely unable to stop them, but our offense is working really well. I'm trying to work Ed Jones a bit, he is much more athletic than his defender. But I'm really worried that i can't keep up with them for long. Speaking of keeping up with them... my backups just came in.

5:00 1st - They lead 27-24. A perfectly acceptable result as our backups only gave up 2 more points than they scored over 7 minutes. Starters are back out for the duration.

3:00 1st - Alston picks up foul #3 and sits.


GREAT half. 36-36 tie game. We had 3 shots in the final 30 seconds to go into the locker room with the lead and couldn't finish, but we'll take the tie.


So one disturbing piece of info is that we've held Hampton to 39% shooting, are shooting 53% ourselves and are still tied. Their SG, Simpson, is kILLING us. He's scored half of their points... 18, on 7-11 shooting(3-4 from 3). Everyone else on their team is ice cold.

We've got 9 points from Jones, 8 from Hayes and Ewing. Jones has gotten by his man a couple times and hit a couple midrange jumpers, I'm very happy with his play obviously.


16:00 2nd - Its tied at 42 as I start rotating some players around. I started Hernandez at PG to keep Alston from picking up foul 4 too fast and now I have a rotation where either Alston or Ewing are always out there so i have some speed.


14:30 2nd - Its alston and 4 backups as we give up 5 straight points after a couple bad turnovers... 48-43 hampton.


11:10 2nd - We're really struggling to keep this close at all. It's 58-50 Hampton.


10:30 2nd - Alston picks up foul #4. Ugh.

8:15 2nd - dammit. I had a chance to cut the lead to 4 and blew it, I thought Ewing was by his man on a drive but his shot is blocked. Then Hampton gets incredibly lucky with a couple bounces that could have been turnovers for us but end up in the hands of one of their guys for a basket instead. We trail 64-54. I bring in 4 backups and Ed Jones, its just how the rotation is set right now. So I've got good inside play but no guard play. I'm hoping I can getAlston and Ewing out there for the last 5minutes.


4:30 2nd- We trail 73-62 as our starters come back out for the duration. It seems a long shot, we are simply not as talented as these guys.

4:15 2nd - It definitely helps that right out of the timeout we get Ewing an open 3 that he drains. 73-65.

2:05 2nd - It's taken a lot more work than that first 3 pointer, but we're now on a 7-0 run. It's 73-69, Hampton ball.

We trade 2 for 1 the wrong way... they get a FG, we go 1 for 2 from the line, and we blow our next possession and cannot get any closer. Some fouls/free throws at the end push the margin up slightly.

Hampton 79
NC A&T 71

This was a tough road game, and I'm really happy that we were able to stay in it most of the way, but this team is now 9-0 in conference play, so we have nothing to be ashamed of here.


Ewing scores 15, Hayes 12 points/11 boards, and Jones puts up 12. Alston's 4 fouls hurt us quite a bit, he was on the court about 7 minutes less than most of our starters.

[Radii]

February 9th, 2009

NC A&T (8-11, 5-5 MEAC) at Winston-Salem State (11-9, 6-4 MEAC)


Trying a bit more scouting pre-game to spice things up a bit here and make sure i'm reviewing the other team enough pre-game.

Scouting

PG Brian Fisher - 70 OVR - 10.6 ppg, a good 3 point shooter, is as fast as Alston. Above average defender.

SG Darius Floyd - 68 OVR - Even better from 3 than Fisher. Even faster than Fisher. A slightly worse defender, seems a bigger offensive threat for sure. Averaging 12 ppg. Shooting 41% from 3 on the year.

SF Spanky Schmidt - 70 OVR - huh-huh, spanky. Good speed for a bigger guy, decent hands for a bigger guy, not an outside shooting threat but athletic. 8ppg. Freshman - 3 star recruit - no big deal now but will haunt the league 3 years down the road.

PF Clayton Tsagarakis - Great inside, only 6'5" so really a SF. Other than his close range shot he doesn't really worry us much. 6.9 ppg.

C Jamal Durham - weak link. 6'6", 62 OVR, poor defense, poor post defense, not a scorer, not fast or a good ball handler. He is averaging 8.9 ppg anyway, presumably from being the only inside threat.

Its our inside game vs their outside game.

15:45 1st - They open in a 2-3 zone and we get it inside to Hayes on our first possession. Then we stop scoring entirely... its a slow game so far, we trail 5-2. They're letting ewing take open 3's so far, and he's missing them. Hayes is having more trouble than expected dropping the ball in teh basket over a guy 7 inches shoter than him :P

12:45 1st - After a stupid 3 point play, we trail 15-8, some backups start to come in. Ewing is ice cold but Hayes now has 6 points and is starting to score a bit more.

8:50 1st - We had the lead down to 3, but trail 25-19 now as all our backups are finally in the game.. Alston and Coleman hadn't sat at all yet and are a bit gassed. Cruz and Shepherd are fine inside if my guards can keep them from going crazy.

6:55 1st - Our defense is holding up quite well... and their top shooters are resting too. We've got the lead back down to 3, 25-22. Ewing and Hayes are going to come back in the next time there is a stoppage in play.

6:15 1st - Ewing drains a 3 his first play back in and we're tied up at 25 each.

5:30 1st - Fisher, their PG, sinks a 3 over Hernandez to make it 28-25. Ewing makes his 2nd straight 3 on our next possession and its 28-28!


5:15 1st - Our starters are all back out there

HALFTIME: Winston-Salem State 40, NC A&T 37

Every time we got the lead down to 1 or 2 they would hit a 3 pointer. They hit lots of 3 pointers.

Their two big guns at the guard spots are 5-9 from 3, and as a team they're 8-15. That's really hurting us and we're playing their guards tight with Ewing and Alston so we can't really improve upon that, just need them to go cold.

On our end, it turns out our biggest weapon isn't our big men, its Ewing and Alston destroying their crappy full court press. Ewing has 16 points on 6-10 shooting. Hayes does have 6 points/5 boards and Cruz has 6 points as well. We continue going inside in the half court set but their press is just not that good and I keep getting Ewing in one on one situations.

16:30 2nd - Well, we cut the lead to one and they failed to score on 4 straight possessions. Unfortunatley, so did we... no lead for us. We now trail 44-41.


15:00 2nd - FINALLY. 45-44 NC A&T! Defense is playing great, and they're finally missing their 3's(ok, more likley they're just going cold than great defense...). Nice two hand jam by Hayes to give us the lead with authority.

14:00 2nd - 47-44 as we bring in our backups. Perhaps I shouldn't bring my guys off the court in the midst of a 5-0 run like this but they're pretty tired still after playing more minutes than usual in the 1st half.

9:45 2nd - We trail 54-53 but feel a bit out of control. Our backups had worked it up to a 51-44 lead and then WS State came roaring back and are now on a 10-2 run themselves. I bring Alston back in to settle things down.

6:50 2nd - We trail 57-55 and bring all our starters back in, but Alston sits for a minute or two to rest back up for the stretch run.

5:57 2nd - Alston is back in now, still 57-55.

5:39 2nd - Ewing misses a wide open 3 after his man fell down on a screen. Coleman gets the offensive board and is fouled oging back up. Both free throws are good and its 57-57.

3:30 2nd - We miss 4 shots that could have broken the tie over 3 possessions. They finally go 1 for 2 from the FT line to break the tie after we foul them on a fast break... 58-57 WS State.

2:59 2nd - Their crowd is really into it and i need a play to calm things down... I get it as Hayes makes a nice little interior pass to Coleman who sinks a 5 footer. 59-58 A&T leads.

2:28 2nd - Floyd drains a huge 3 for them with Ewing a step behind after a cut through the lane... 61-59 WS State. I call a timeout to calm the crowd and give our guys a short break. Oh yeah, and to get them out of their press.

1:59 2nd - We miss a 3 and they get a basket to go up 63-59. We get an outstanding athletic play by Jones who makes a running shot about 10 feet out while getting fouled. He hits the FT and we trail 63-62.

1:05 2nd - They use the entire shot clock before taking a bad shot... they miss and we rebound. We get the ball inside to Coleman who misses a little shot a few feet from the basket... their ball.

0:45 2nd - We allow their PG to get into the lane and he makes a layup. Ewing draws a foul on our end but can only make 1 of 2 free throws. We trail 65-63 with 45 seconds left.

0:25 2nd - I intended to intentionally foul the second a foward touched the ball. I jumped the gun a bit and fouled their sharpshooting SG, Floyd. Still, we get lucky and he misses the front end of a 1 and 1! We have the ball, down 2, shot clock off.

0:05 2nd - I get the shot I want, running a play to get Coleman a good shot, but he misses :(

We foul them immediately, they make 1 of 2, and Ewing misses a 3 at the buzzer that could have tied it.

Another close loss, but again we played pretty well on the road. Hopefully playing the best teams in the conference so well is a good indicator that we can beat the lower ranked teams on the road to finish our season.

Winston-Salem State 66
NC A&T 63


Their two guards did indeed lead them. Floyd with 19, Fisher with 15 for them, 7-18 from 3 between the 2. As a team they went 12-29 from 3.

On our end:

Alston - 4 points
Ewing - 21 points, only 2-10 from 3, most of them wide open in the flow of our offense(a couple ill-advised ones, still open but no rebounders available)
Jones - 5 points/5 boards
Coleman - 9 points/14 boards
Hayes - 10 points/9 boards

Cruz and Wilson both had 7 off the bench.

This is a tough loss, a win here would have put us in outstanding shape to finish .500 overall down the stretch, after this loss that is nearly impossible and we need to play wellon the road in some upcoming games to get back over .500 in conference play.

[Radii]

February 14, 2009

Norfolk State (4-19, 3-9 MEAC) at NC A&T(8-12, 5-6 MEAC)

This is the first team that we're playing for a second time this year. We beat Norfolk State solidly 73-61 at their place earlier in the year, getting huge games from Ewing, Coleman and Cruz. Sounds like a good recipe to repeat at home.


14:00 1st - we ran out to a 12-4 lead but let them right back in it, mainly through stupid turnovers. We lead 17-14 as our backups come in.

11:30 1st - so yeah, we're playing like complete shit. 20-17 Norfolk State.

10:45 1st - Trailing 24-17, we bring all our starters back out, rested or no.

6:10 1st - We're on an 8-0 run with our starters but our starters have been out there way too long now. Its 25-24 NC A&T, our backups have instructions not to screw up like last time.

2:30 1st - All our starters are back. We lead 36-34, we just had a 34-27 lead but blew it a bit...


We lead 40-37 at the half. i'm happy to be ahead but we really are much better than these guys and should be winning by more. We've allowed them to shoot 53% while we're only managing 37%, so yeah, nice to be ahead! We drew 14 fouls in the ahlf and went to the line 20 times and hit a crazy 16-20 from the line.

We have 8 from Jones, 6 from Hayes and Ewing.

12:30 2nd - We slowly push the lead back up to 7 and then in the last minute run off 6 straight and are starting to put this one away. It's 59-46, our backups are in again.

6:30 2nd - A great stretch by our 2nd string... we lead 69-55 as our starters comein to finish things.

I may have piled on a little at the end... Norfolk State will be out to get me next year for sure. Oops :)

NC A&T 94
Norfolk State 61

Alston - 10 points, 10 assists - double double!
Ewing - 16 points, 5 rebounds - 3-8 from 3
Jones - 16 points, 5 rebounds
Coleman - 8 points, 14 rebounds
Hayes - 17 points, 12 rebounds

Shepherd had 9 off the bench.

back up to .500 in conference play with 6 games to go. The next one is a huge must win at home, because the final 5 are all on the road.

[Radii]

I'm getting close enough to the end of the season that I'm getting the urge to knock out the rest of these games and see how I look going into next year.

February 16, 2009

Delaware State (9-18, 6-6 MEAC) at NC A&T (9-12, 6-6 MEAC)

I remember my first game against these guys. They score in the 50s and I wanted to try to outscore them. It took me 13 minutes to score my first 10 points. Ewing went 0-14 on the game. And yet we only lost 73-63 in the end. I expect Ewing to make a jump shot this game, and that should be enough to get us the win at home :P


16:15 1st - So much for this being any different than the last game. We just scored our first points. We trail 5-2. We're 1-5 from the field.

15:50 1st - oh yeah, its raining points now! We score again, less than 30 seconds after our first bucket ;) 5-4 Delaware State.

14:00 1st - Delaware State calls a timeout as we're on a 9-0 run and lead 9-5.

12:25 1st - We now lead 11-7 as our backups come in.

7:30 1st - All our starters come back... its tied at 17.

3:50 1st - We get out to the biggest lead either team has had today. It's 29-21.

We end up going into the locker room up 33-26. We played a good half but we missed a few chances towards the end of the half to stretch the lead out to 12+ and couldn't.

Alston has 8, Ewing 7 and Hayes 7 at the half. Coleman is turning into a true monster on the boards, he has 10 rebounds and its only halftime.

15:00 2nd - We went up by 9, 41-32, but Delaware State is on a 9-0 run and has tied the game up as our backups come in.

10:45 2nd - WOW, we are cold. 50-41 Delaware State. This is now an 18-0 run for them.

10:30 2nd - Jones gets to the FT line and hits 2, making it 50-43 and ending our long scoreless streak. Still its been a long time since we've hit a FG.

8;15 2nd - Starters back out on the floor. 60-45 Delaware state lead. 29-4 run. I'm pretty pissed.

7:30 2nd - Delaware State gets THREE offensive rebounds in one possession before scoring. They press and force a turnover in the backcourt. Frustration setting in as Alston hammers the guy that stole the ball from him(ok he tried to just steal it back repeatedly til a foul was called, but in my mind he levelled the guy ;) )

7:10 2nd - We force them to miss and Ewing gets a 3 point play out on the break. After the FT we're down 62-48.

6:30 2nd - BOOM. After a steal Alston gets a layup. After a missed shot we run a quick play that sets up Ewing for an open 3 which he hits. Its 62-53. We're down 9.

6:10 2nd - Erm. Their PF hits a 3. 65-53, yeah...

1:25 2nd - It's been a 10ish point lead the rest of the way so far, but we just got two fairly quick buckets in a row to make the score 72-66, so perhaps we have a shot yet.

And we give up a shot and miss on our end, no way this happens.

Delaware State 78
NC A&T 72

Just a horrible, horrible run in the 2nd half where they went on a ridiculous 29-4 run. VERY frustrating home loss against a team that I feel I'm better than.

This makes us 6-7 in conference play with 5 straight road games to end the year. This was a critical game and we couldn't win it.


Alston - 14 points/5 assists
Ewing - 25 points
Jones - 9 points
Coleman - 5 points/15 rebounds
Hayes - 11 points/9 boards.

I'm really loving Coleman's rebounding. He's putting up a lot of double digit rebound games lately.

[Radii]

Ugh, I screwed up one of my coaching goals, to not have an unhappy player all season. I'd used up some of my pep talks trying to make sure I didn't get a warning about an unhappy player, as I could definitely use the extra coaching skill early on, but after my last game I got a warning about my 3rd string center. Whoops.

[Radii]

February 21, 2009

NC A&T(9-13, 6-7 MEAC) at Howard(15-12, 9-4 MEAC)

Our home game vs Howard is one of our big regrets, a 94-90 loss at home. They the likely conference player of the year in SF Eugene Myatt, only rated 66 OVR but an outstanding athlete and outstanding scorer. Myatt is averaging 20.1 ppg this year and scored 17 in the first half against us last time.

Slowing them down on defense is the key, we allowed them to shoot 70% in the first half last time through.

15:00 1st - We get out to an early 8-2 lead in the first 3 minutes and continue to lead, 12-6 now. Hayes has 8. Myatt has 4 for them.

12:00 1st - Tied at 12 now, Myatt also has 8. And all our backups are now in the game.

10:15 1st - Down 18-12, they're on a 10-0 run, ugh.

9:35 1st - We finally score again and now trail 21-14.

8:15 1st - We now trail 25-14 and burn another time out. They are getting easy layups every play and we cannot make a damn thing. These runs we're allowing are getting frustrating.

7:1st 1st - Our starters come back in. Still down 25-14.

6:00 1st - Ewing drains a 3 and we've finally scored again... 29-17 though.

Damn. After leading 12-6, we let them go on a 31-9 run. This is almost as bad as the bullshit we pulled in the Delaware State game. We trail 37-22 at the half, shooting 35% while they shoot 55%, and we only got to the line 6 times, and missed 3 of those 6...

Hayes has 11, Ewing 5, and that's pretty much all our points. Myatt has 10 for them.

16:30 2nd - We trail 41-29 as some subs start to rotate in(starters played a lot in the 1st half)

14:30 2nd - 44-31 as all our backups are in. This one is feeling pretty hopeless.

10:15 2nd - 55-42 as our starters are back out there. We'd fallen behind by 17 again and got Hayes on the court at the 13 minute mark where he scored 6 straight points for us.

8:30 2nd - Down 59-46, Coleman now has 4 fouls and Howard is in the bonus, shooting FT's on every foul.

6:45 2nd - Ewing's 3rd 3 pointer of the night makes it 61-51, the closest we've been all half. I pull my starters for one final breather before the stretch run. They'll be on the floor again at the 5 minute mark at the latest.

4:45 2nd - 3 straight stops by the backups and we did manage one score. It's 61-53 Howard as our starters come back into the game. We have the ball.

4:30 2nd - Hayes puts back his own miss and we trail 61-55.

2:30 2nd - After giving up a 3 to fall back down by 9, we trade 2 pointers a couple times, and finally at the 2:30 mark get a stop and a bucket. Its 66-61, we trail by 5 now.

2:03 2nd - Myatt drains an open 18 footer on their end. Ewing drains an open 3 pointer on our end. 68-64.

0:50 2nd - We get a turnover and have a chance to cut the lead to 2. Instead a bad pass inside to Hayes results in a fast break. A quick shot by Ewing is missed leading to another quick 2 for them. Luckily we're able to follow it up with an equally quick 4-0 run on our part. We now trail 72-68 with 45 seconds left.

We begin to foul. They go 4-6 from the line over the next 3 trips, and we score 2 point buckets or free throws on all three possessions. With 17 seconds left we trail 76-74.

We foul one last time, and once again they only make 1 of 2 free throws. 15 seconds left, 77-74 Howard.

We run a play that runs Ewing off a screen for a 3 pointer. He's got a step on his man but not wide open. But he comes up CLUTCH and drains the 3 pointer!!! With 4 seconds left Howard gets the ball to half court, calls a time out and ends up with a 30 foot 3 pointer as time expires. It rolls all the way around the rim but spins out.

OVERTIME!!!!

Their PG has 4 fouls and their center has fouled out. Perhaps we have a small edge as a result in the OT. On our end Coleman has 4 fouls and a ton of guys have 1 or 2.


Unfortunately our guys are exhausted. I don't know if this is a good idea or not but I bring in my backups and attempt to make it a 2 minute game after a bit of a rest.

4:30 OT - Before the backups come in(I had the starters in for the jump ball and first possessioin) Coleman gets an offensive board and gets fouled, making both free throws. 79-77 NC A&T.

4:10 OT - Myatt misses an open jumper early in the shot clock for them. We rebound.

3:40 OT - We hold the ball for awhile and call for Cruz and Shepherd to post up. We find Cruz for a little lay in! 81-77.

3:00 OT - They burn the entire shot clock and end up taking a bad 3.

We burn the shot clock but cannot score. howard takes a fairly quick shot and misses again.

2:10 OT - We lead 81-77, use our last time out, and get the starters back into the game to finish this off.

1:45 OT - Ewing misses a 3, Hayes comes up with the rebound and is fouled on the putback. Hayes is injured on the putback and subbed out. Coleman goes to the line instead. Coleman makes one, misses the 2nd but Shepherd gets the board!!!

1:00 OT - Jones misses a jumper and they come down and score pretty quickly. We lead 82-79 with the ball.

0:25 OT - Shepherd misses a shot inside, they rebound.

0:11 OT - They miss a 2 point jumper, Shepherd rebounds and is fouled. He makes 1 of 2 and we lead 83-79.


Howard makes a 3 with 0.1 left, but it doesn't matter.

NC A&T 83
Howard 82

1 OT


WOW. On the road, falling behind by as many as 17, we come back, hit clutch shots repeatedly in the final minute including a 3 by Ewing with a man close by to tie it with 4 seconds left. Just not something we're used to seeing at all, espicially on the road.

Hayes had the best game of his career, and other than 1 rebound it was all in regulation:

Alston - 4 points/5 assists
Ewing - 21 points (5/13 from 3)
Jones - 0 points/4 boards (0/7, missed a lot of 15-18 foot jumpers)
Coleman - 13 points/11 rebounds
Hayes - 31 points/8 boards

Just a monster game from Hayes. He really kept us in it when we looked like we were about to get blown out with about 12 minutes left in regulation.


For their end, SG Timothy had 22 points and SF Myatt had 20. They killed us in the first game too.

[Radii]

With 4 games remaining we're now 7-7 in conference play. This is currently good for a tie for 4th/5th with Delaware State/ Howard has a 2 game lead on us for 3rd so that seems unlikely, but I really want to finish strong and earn the 4 seed in the conference tournament.

Our final 4 games are all against teams in the 5-8 or 6-8 range, which happens to be pretty much everyone behind us. Everyone in the league has at least 5 conference wins. In theory we could still finish as one of the worst2 or 3 teams if we were to lose out.

[Radii]

February 23, 2009

NC A&T(10-13, 7-7 MEAC) at Bethune-Cookman(10-13, 6-8 MEAC)

We were beating these guys easily at home but had to sim the second half the first time we played. We endedup winning 64-57, I was winning by 11 in the 1st half when simming it out though. It looks like they have 3 or 4 guys that do their scoring but none seem espicially deadly.

Hayes is day to day with an ankle injury, we're starting him and we'll see if he suffers any. Its a short term injury, he'll be fully healthy by our next game.

14:15 1st - Heh, quick start. We lead 22-11. They have 3 3-pointers. We have 6 dunks and 22 points in the paint. We're destroying them on the break after defensive rebounds.

10:00 1st - We lead 36-20 as our backups come in. All our points are in the paint or at the FT line. We just got the "10 dunks in one game" credit reward, so we have as many points on dunks as they do in total. I'm planning on slowing things down with the reserves.

4:30 1st - We lead 44-27 as the starters come back on to finish things off.


One of our best halves ever. We lead 58-34 at the half, shooting 63% to their 33%.

They seem willing to shoot 3's every possession despite not having good 3 point shooters. They are 4-20 from 3 and 14-42 overall.

We have gotten to the line 17 times which is what happens when you're scoring from 5 feet away every time down, a lot of fouls for them. Hayes has 12, Coleman has 12, Alston has 11.

We have 58 total points. 46 in the paint, 12 from the FT line.

16:15 2nd - Ewing makes a 3 pointer. Our first field goal in the game not in the paint(he's 1-4 from 3 now, so its not like i wasn't taking any jump shots).


With a 72-41 lead and about 12 minutes left I simulate the rest of the game out.

NC A&T 95
Bethune-Cookman 68

Hayes has his second straight monster game for us. Coleman with a career high rebound total.

Alston - 11 points/10 assists
Ewing - 11 points
Jones - 12 points/8 rebounds
Coleman - 14 points/17 rebounds
Hayes - 27 points/13 rebounds

[Radii]

A lot changes in the MEAC this week. The worst we can possibly do now is a 7th place finish. Even better, Howard has now lost 3 games in a row. We're 8-7 in conference play and they are only 9-7(they were 9-4 when we beat them).

Our last 3 games, while all road challenges, are very winnable. In fact, all 3 are against teams that we have already beaten at home.

[Radii]

I should also point out that I won 10 games last year, going 10-17 overall. So 11 wins is my new record, whee!

February 28th, 2009

NC A&T(11-13, 8-7 MEAC at Morgan State(8-18, 6-9 MEAC)

We beat these guys 59-51 in the first game. They slow it down BIG TIME and we had trouble getting open shots in the first half vs them last time. It was a very slow paced game. In the end I got 20 points out of Ewing and put them away early in the 2nd half. Their star is SG Reggie Holmes, averaging 15 points per game. We held him to 8 points on 3-20 shooting in the first meeting.

16:00 1st - After Morgan State scores first, we run off 11 straight points. Its now 13-5 as Jones hurts his ankle going up for a layup. He's subbed out.

13:00 1st - After going up 18-8, Morgan State rolls off 9 straight points and we lead by 1.

11:15 - After falling behind 19-18, we get 6 quick points, a 3 pointer from Ewing(his 3rd, he's playing well today) and a 3 point play from Coleman. Our backups come in after coleman's FT makes it 24-19 Aggies. Jones is fine and comes back in at full strength with the backups.

7:30 1st - Our backups are doing well, we've extended the lead to 8 points, 29-21, as Morgan State takes a timeout.

5:30 1st - We lead 31-23 as our starters come back out.

We finish the half strong and lead by 11 at the break. Its 42-31.

Just like at home, we're holding their star, Holmes down quite a bit. He's only 3-10 from the field for 7 points. Their SF Ali has 10.

Ewing has been on fire today, 6-8 from the field including 3-3 from 3. He has 15 points. Alston has 7 more. Hayes, after two dominant inside games, has no points at the half.

16:30 2nd - I pull Ewing as he's a bit more tired than everyone else. We're leading 51-39.

12:45 2nd - The rest of our backups come in as we now lead by 13, 56-43.

9:55 2nd - A Shepherd layin ends a 5-0 run from Morgan State. we're up 58-48 now, ewing comes back in.

7:00 2nd - After a 2 point basket, Morgan State makes 3 pointers on 3 straight possessions. Ewing has hit one three for us in that stretch and we got a couple other buckets but they've cut into the lead big time. Its now 65-59.

6:15 2nd - Another 3 from ewing on our end, and he's having a monster game with 26 points. We get a stop on defense and call a time out. I bring the rest of my starters back, and sit Ewing for a short break. He'll be back at the 4:30 mark or so to finish out the game as well. Our lead is back up to 9, 68-59.

4:15 2nd - We struggle to score without Ewing out there, not even getting any good looks from our big men. They're not catching up real fast either though, and its 68-62 as Ewing gets back on the floor for the duration.

4:03 2nd - Teehee. Nothing more fun than a 3 point shooter who just isn't missing any open shots. We run Ewing off a screen, he gives a pump fake and takes a step to the side before draining his 29th point of the game. 71-62 Aggies.

3:40 2nd - After a missed shot by Morgan State we get Alston a dunk in transition, its 73-62.

1:30 2nd - After trading baskets we get another fast break dunk out of Alston. That gives us a 77-64 lead and pretty much puts the game away.

NC A&T 79
Morgan State 65

three road wins in a row! Not at all what I expected to see, I'm pretty thrilled here.

Alston - 13 points
Ewing - 31 points (7-9 from 3!)
Jones - 5 points
Coleman - 11 points/15 rebounds
Hayes - 2 points/7 boards

Ewing just couldn't miss, an outstanding performance. Hayes only took 5 shots, Morgan State has a 6'11" center who shadowed Hayes well most of the game, so when I got it inside it was to coleman.

[hoopsguy]

Looks like you are closing strong for the second straight season, this time working against an unfavorable schedule.

Do you think that you are playing better in the games, that your team is improving over the course of the season relative to the competition, or that some other factor is at work here?

[Radii]

Looks like you are closing strong for the second straight season, this time working against an unfavorable schedule.

Do you think that you are playing better in the games, that your team is improving over the course of the season relative to the competition, or that some other factor is at work here?

I think the fact that I'm playing better is the #1 explanation. It was 10 games in before I really settled down and got in a groove. I was trying way too hard to push the ball in marginal situations, leading to some of the scores in the upper 80s and 90s earlier in the season. I'm still running whenever possible but have gotten better at recognizing when to slow down. I know in my last couple games I had a number of situations where Alston couldn't beat his man one on one and instead of taking a bad shot, i was either pulling the ball out or hitting someone coming down on the secondary break.

Short answer: I think I'm playing a much more sound game of basketball now than I was when I started this dynasty, and when I started this season.


I'm hoping to win a game in my conference tournament this year. Now that I've played everyone i don't think there's a team I can't beat in the conference, but it would take quite a run to win the tournament. Next year will be big though, as I'm returning 4 starters, and Ewing and Alston will be seniors. Unless my recruits this year come in as superstars, I'm going to need to accomplish some things next year so that I can improve my coach and start developing players.

[Radii]

March 2, 2009

NC A&T(12-13, 9-7 MEAC) at South Carolina State(13-16, 6-10 MEAC)

We beat these guys easily at home about a month ago. We crushed them and had some big time dominance inside over them. They have a good scorer in SG Carrio Bennett. He put up 17 on us in the first game and will be our main focus here as well.

This is the first team in awhile to have a noticible team unity edge over us, still not huge but they are at 56, we're up to 47 now.

15:45 1st - We felt pretty out of sorts on our first couple offensive sets, falling behind 4-0, but we get it together and score the next 8. SC State takes a timeout trailing 8-4. We've found Coleman inside twice and Alston and Ewing both have fast break buckets.

11:00 1st - We lead 14-9 as our backups come in. We seem to have a good edge on the boards, and Coleman has 6 points to lead us.

7:20 1st - Hello Kam Shepherd. Our backup PF has 9 points and we have a 23-12 lead.

5:00 1st - we lead 27-15 as our starters come back out. We got 11 from Shepherd and 2 from Cruz in that stretch. Awesome play out of my backups.

We go ahead by 20, 35-15, but SC State ends the half on a 9-2 run and closes the gap a bit. 37-24 halftime.

Their star scorer, Bennett, has 12 and scored 5 in that final run to end the half. We want to keep him from going off for 25+ if we can.

On our end, its all about the PF position. Coleman has 11 points/6 boards, and Shepherd has 11 points. We have 5 blocked shots on the day, 3 from Hayes, he's doing great inside on defense.

18:00 2nd - Bennett hits a 3 for them to open the half, but we answer with the next 5 points, including Ewing's first 3 of the game.

16:30 2nd - Bennett goes ice cold for them, missing 3 straight shots. We get out on the break a bit and are on an 11-1 run since their first 3 pointer. It's 48-28 and this is playing out almost exactly like the first time we played these guys.

12:30 2nd - We lead 56-30 now as our defense is just stifling(or they can't shoot for crap today). Our backups are in.

This is the second game that we've gotten to sim out to the end recently. We pushed the lead up to 30 points, 60-30 and simmed to the end.


NC A&T 72
SC State 40

Defense and rebounding today... they shot 26% from the floor for the game, and we had a 40-28 edge on the boards as a result. Bennett ended up scoring only 16 points for SC State on 5-17 shooting.

On our end, Coleman is the player of the game, and Shepherd was awesome off the bench:

Alston - 15 points/3 assists
Ewing - 10 points/3 assists
Jones - 1 point/3 boards
Coleman - 19 points/14 boards
Hayes - 6 points/9 boards

Shepherd - 13 points/6 boards.

We've now guarenteed ourselves a winning record in conference play!! If we can win our final regular season game we can actually finish with a winning record.

[Radii]

Two good storylines going into the last day of the regular season:

Winston-Salem State and Hampton are tied at 13-4 in conference play. They play each other today, at Winston-Salem State I believe. Winner wins the regular season title in the MEAC.


Our final game is at MD-Eastern Shore. Here is how 3/4/5 currently look:

3: North Carolina A&T - 10-7
4: Howard 10-8
5: MD-Eastern Shore - 9-8

If we win our final game we're the 3 seed in the conference tournament. If we lose there's a 3-way tie for 3rd, and I have no idea where we end up.

[Radii]

March 5th, 2009

NC A&T(13-13, 10-7 MEAC) at MD-Eastern Shore(10-15, 9-8 MEAC)

We beat these guys 88-77 last time we played. It was a tight contest for about 25 minutes before we pulled away a little bit. It was also a breakout game for Hayes, he scored 26 and pulled in 15 boards in the first meeting. They're a balanced team and don't have any major individual threats.

16:00 1st - Ewing is cold and our offense is a bit out of sync. We trail 7-4 early on a jumper by jones and a shot by Coleman

11:30 1st - We're tied up at 13. Ewing is COLD. 1-5 from 3. He's getting completely wide open looks so I keep taking them. We've gotten Hayes and Coleman a couple buckets and Ewing has 5. Backups are in and will be keeping this game moving at a slow pace. We're not having much luck getting out in transition.


5:30 1st - Both teams are playing a pretty slow offense but we're scoring every possession. It's 26-24 MD-Eastern Shore. We've got 4 from shepherd, a 3 point play from backup SF Johnson helping our scoring out. Starters are back in.


Our starters really don't play very well, Jones takes 3 bad shots in a row as I have trouble getting good open shots in my offense. They drain a couple 3's and lead by 7 at one point. We close back down before the half though.

We only trail 34-32 at halftime. Theyr SG, Tyson, has 13, including 3-5 from 3. Alston has 8, Hayes 7 for us. Ewing is 1-9 from the floor and has 4 points. Coleman is scoreless.

15:45 2nd - We remain cold. Ewing cannot make anything, and they've drained a couple 3's on us. We trail 46-38.

15:00 2nd - Down 49-39 now as Tyson amkes another 3 for them. He has 19 and is really hurting us. We take a time out. I rest Ewing even though he's not really tired yet. Maybe he'll figure out why he can't make any shots before he comes back in.

12:30 2nd - the rest of our backups are in. Our timeout seemed to slow their shooting down a bit and we were able to get out on the break for a couple easy buckets. Alston also sank a 3 which was probably ill-advised, but it went in so its all good. 53-46 as our backups come in.

11:15 2nd - 1-2 from the line, and a layup the next time down and cruz has 3 points in a row and has helped cut the lead back down to 4. 53-49 as UMES burns a timeout.

8:45 2nd - 5 straight points for Tyson(who has 26 now) and we trail 60-51. We call a timeout and get our starters back into the game.

8:30 2nd - I give Ewing another try from 3(they're pretty much leaving him open every time he touches the ball), and he sinks his 2nd 3. 60-54.

8:00 2nd - Following a miss on the other end, Alston and Jones get out on the break, and Jones jams the ball home and draws a foul, his 3 point play makes it 60-57.

5:00 2nd - UGH. Tyson tyson tyson. A 3, two fast break buckets for Tyson and a 3 by their PG b/c I went crazy trying to guard Tyson so he wouldn't get another open 3 and its 72-59. Tyson has 34 i think. he's killing me.

4:00 2nd - Dunks by Jones and Hayes and a layup by alston all in transition have UMES burning a time out. We trail 72-65 now.

1:40 2nd - A Tyson 3 makes it 75-65. We then get a couple stops on defense and are able to manage 6 straight points... 75-71 we trail.

0:45 2nd - They burn the entire shot clock and Tyson sinks a 15 foot jumper. On our end Ewing misses another wide open 3. We start fouling.

0:40 2nd - They throw away an inbounds pass and we get a quick layup by Hayes off our own inbounds play. 77-73.

They make 1 of 2, and we get a 2 on 2 fast break on the other end. How badly did Ewing play today? He falls down making a move around his man and we turn it over. That never happens to him.

MD-Eastern Shore 85
NC A&T 72

There's little doubt about why this game ended up like it did:

SG Ed Tyson: 15-24 FG, 8-12 3 pointer - 39 points

SG Austin Ewing: 3-21 FG, 2-13 3 pointer, 3-4 FT - 11 points.

Wehn their star makes 8 3's and ours shoots 16%, we just can't win.


Alston: 17 points/6 assists
Ewing: 11 points
Jones: 9 points/5 boards
Coleman: 2 points/10 boards (1-8 shooting, way off today too)
Hayes: 18 points/8 boards

[Radii]

Final Regular Season MEAC Standings

1. Hampton 14-4 (20-8 OVR)
2. Winston-Salem State 13-5 (18-10)
3. Howard 10-8 (18-10)
4. NC A&T 10-8 (13-14)
5. MD-Eastern Shore 10-8 (11-15)
6. Delaware State 8-10 (11-22)
7. Coppin State 8-10 (10-20)
8. Florida A&M 8-10 (9-20)
9. SC State 7-11 (14-17)
10. Bethune-Cookman 7-11 (11-16)
11. Norfolk State 7-11 (8-22)
12. Morgan State 6-12 (8-21)



Some of those seeds for all the tied teams may be off, the main standings page doesn't list them all correctly. 4 and 5 are right for sure though. After allowing Ed Tyson to score 39 points on us, we get a rematch with MD-Eastern Shore 5 days later.

The winner of our game almost certainly faces the #1 seed Hampton.

[Radii]

MEAC First Round Games

8. Florida A&M 63
9. SC State 56

6. Coppin State 66
11. Norfolk State 56

10. Bethune-Cookman 67
7. Delaware State 51


MEAC Quarterfinals

1. Hampton
8. Florida A&M

4. MD-Eastern Shore
5. NC A&T

3. Howard
6. Coppin State

2. Winston-Salem State
10. Bethune-Cookman

[Radii]

I failed to notice this last year... the MEAC has 12 teams, but only 11 make the conference tournament. Normally the 5 seed would play the 12 seed and the 4 seed gets a bye. But Morgan State is not in the tournament at all and the 4/5 game was locked in before the tourney started.

That's quite odd.

[Radii]

March 10, 2009 - MEAC Quarterfinals

NC A&T(13-14, 10-8 MEAC) at MD-Eastern Shore(11-15, 10-8 MEAC)

It says its a road game but in reality we're at the RBC Center in Raleigh, NC State's home arena, for the conference tournament.

So we pretty much have one goal for tonight. Stop Ed Tyson.

16:45 1st - We pull out to an early 9-3 lead, it could be more but they have played some good transition defense. Tyson has 2 points. ewing has 5, he's 1-1 from 3.


12:30 1st - Our backups come in, we're leading 15-11. Hayes is having a strong game inside with 8 points already.

6:30 1st - We lead 25-20 as our starters come back in. 5 points from Shepherd led our backups.

3:30 1st - We lead 29-28 now as Tyson has scored 4 quick points for UMES. He has 10. Our points both came on second chance shots from Coleman.

We go up 32-28 but then give up the final 5 points of the half and trail 33-32.

The first half looks pretty similar to our first half last week. The big difference and the reason I'm not real worried right now is that Ewing is making some shots. He's not shooting lights out or anything but when he's cold I feel like I have zero outside shooting and it totally changes my game.

Tyson scored those final 5 points... so he has 15 int he first half for them and that's a bit disconcerting.

Ewing has 7, Hayes 8, Coleman already has 10 boards.

15:30 2nd - Back and fort we go, a 3 point play from Alston gives us a 43-40 lead. Tyson is doing most of their scoring stil and he has 20 now.

13:15 2nd - A 9-1 run by MD-Eastern Shore has us trailing 49-44 all of a sudden. A couple fast break baskets for them, mostly inside stuff, while we've turned it over twice.

11:05 2nd - Ugh, 56-46 UMES now. Our backups come in as we burn another time out. They're getting out on the break against us way too often now, after turnovers and missed shots, we're just not getting back fast enough.

6:45 2nd - We fall behind 60-47 and are worried about getting blown out. We get 6 points from the FT line though and start to get some of their guys in foul trouble. Then a 3 point play opportunity from Hernandez, and then we steal an ill advised baseball pass on an inbounds play and come down and score... Our backup SG, Wilson who is only an average shooter, will occasionally take a wide open 3, and I let him do it here and he drains it. We're on a 13-2 run with our backups. 62-60 UMES.

6:15 2nd - Our starters get back into the game.

4:45 2nd - We trail 66-64 after a basket by Hayes and another by Coleman.

4:20 2nd - Alston gets his man in the air at the top of the key and slashes to the basket for a layup! 66-66.

3:00 2nd - After trading baskets we force a bad shot on their end, and Ewing and Alston run the break to perfection, Ewing finds Alston for a dunk and we lead 70-68.

1:09 2nd - They burn some clock, miss a shot, get the rebound and miss another jump shot. We come down and Ewing misses a wide open 3. Coleman gets the board and misses the putback. They get their SF, Sato, out on the break and he pulls up for 3 in transition, which is no good. I end up getting an open 17 foot jumper for Alston which he drains! Alston rarely takes jump shots but I like his mid-range jumper if I can get him open. 72-68 A&T.

0:45 2nd - Tyson takes a contested 3 in the conrer and misses. Hayes rebounds and gets fouled. He makes 1 of 2.

They get a layup from Tyson but we make our free throws and they're unable to make it a 1 possession game again.


NC A&T 78
MD-Eastern Shore 70

They got a great game from Tyson but nothing like our last meeting. Ewing couldn't do anything in the 2nd half but Alston came up big and our big men were good. Tyson scored 24 for them.

Alston: 17 points
Ewing: 9 points/4 assists
Jones: 4 points
Coleman: 5 points/17 rebounds
Hayes: 19 points/12 rebounds

Shepherd: 9 points

Coleman is just a monster rebounder, 17!!

[Radii]

MEAC Quarterfinal Results

1. Hampton 91
8. Florida A&M 69

4. MD-Eastern Shore 70
5. NC A&T 78

3. Howard 77
6. Coppin State 69

2. Winston-Salem State 52
10. Bethune-Cookman 54


MEAC Semifinals

1. Hampton
5. NC A&T

3. Howard
10. Bethune-Cookman


Hampton is 21-8 and the best team in the conference. We played hard against them in the first meeting, but they have 2 solid guards that we couldn't keep up with and we lost 80-71.

[Radii]

Trying a new format here, let me know if this makes it more readable, better to follow for those that are reading. Also I don't use the WYSIWYG editor often so I'm not sure if this will show up cleanly/the same for everyone


March 13, 2009 – MEAC Semifinals


NC A&T (14-14, 10-8 MEAC) vs Hampton (21-8, 14-4 MEAC)


Hampton is unquestionably the best team in the conference. They don't have any superstars but they have decent players at all 5 positions. Their starting SF is their weak spot defensively. Hampton has a big team unity edge, 60 for them, 49 for us.


<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="16"> <col width="177"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="6%"> HAM
</td> <td width="69%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 7
</td> <td width="6%"> 17
</td> <td width="69%"> They start out 8-0, we score 7 straight, now they've scored 9 straight... time for our next run IMO
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 9
</td> <td width="6%"> 23
</td> <td width="69%"> Ugh, another time out for us. This is getting out of hand. They're fast and get out on the break very well. We're struggling to get open shots and not making them when we do.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 10:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 11
</td> <td width="6%"> 25
</td> <td width="69%"> Backups are in
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 17
</td> <td width="6%"> 33
</td> <td width="69%"> Cruz and Shepherd have managed some points, but no defense. Shepherd just went out with an injury.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 19
</td> <td width="6%"> 33
</td> <td width="69%"> Starters are back in. Cruz scored 6 in that stretch for us. We need to get some production from Hayes and Coleman too.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">

</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 28
</td> <td width="6%"> 41
</td> <td width="69%"> The lead stayed between 10-15 the rest of the way. We're shooting 37%, they are at 52%


Coleman, Cruz and Alston all have 6 for me. Ewing is still struggling, he has 2, 1-8 from the field. Their PG, Tunnell, has 12, mostly on the break.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 18:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 32
</td> <td width="6%"> 43
</td> <td width="69%"> With aggressive play we've drawn 3 fouls on them in the first 1:30. Unfortunately, we're 2-6 from the FT line and its not helping a damn bit.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 38
</td> <td width="6%"> 54
</td> <td width="69%"> Our biggest deficit. We're shooting horridly. Cannot seem to make anything at all. They've made 3 pointers their last two times down to extend the lead out. Our backups come in and we need a spark from somewhere. None of our starters are giving us anything.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 8:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 42
</td> <td width="6%"> 64
</td> <td width="69%"> Ugh. Not getting better. Our starters are back in and we need to go on an incredible run pretty quickly if we have any hope at all.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>



They score the next 5 points in a row and I go ahead and decide that its time to get to the offseason already.


Hampton 83
NC A&T 54


We shoot 35% on the game.


Ewing and Coleman score 10. Alston and Hayes score 8. Coleman has 9 boards. Season over. On to recruiting!

[Radii]

I simmed to the end of the NCAA tournament again this year so some of this is going to occur out of order heh.

Coaching Carousel

Some major conference jobs opened up this year. Mark Few going to Arizona is really the only notable thing that happened though.

There were a LOT of changes this year and after 20 or so my name started popping up. My team will be the best its ever been next year so I have no intention of leaving, but I do go through it slowly to see who might be interested in me.

UT-Arlington, High Point, E. Washington, Chicago State, Centenary, New Hampshire all offer me jobs in conferences a notable step up from ours. The MEAC has been ranked 30th out of 32 conferences the last two years. The A-Sun or Southern Conference would both be a step up. But as I said, I think better things are to come for me here.

[Radii]

Assistant Coach Hiring

I fire my assistant that was average everywhere and bring on a guy who is a scout and a teacher:

Kueth Dupre (Kueth, not Kieth, yup) - C- Offense, F defense, but B teaching and C+ Scouting. The teaching will help me with development which I need pretty badly.

I keep my other coach, Eryk Newton, who is primarily a secondary recruit(B- Charisma).

[Radii]

Coaching Skill Upgrades

I did not meet any goals this year and thus earn no additional points to improve my coaching abilities.

Postseason Play

Hampton beat Howard to win the MEAC Tournament, they earned the 14 seed in the South, to face 3 seed Alabama.

1 seeds were: Gonzaga, Memphis, Illinois, and Stanford.

The final four consisted of 3 1 seeds, and a 7 seed.

Gonzaga beat Stanford 87-82 in one semifinal.

Illinois beat 7 seed Louisville in the other semifinal.

In the national title game, Illinois beat Gonzaga 67-60.


Awards

Notre Dame's Luke Harangody was the player of the year, averaging 27.7 ppg.

Gonzaga's Josh Heytvelt was the mid-major player of the year.

Illinois' Bruce Weber won coach of the year.


First Team All Americans:

PG Eugene Harvey - Seton Hall
SG Stephen Curry - Davidson
SF Jonathan Rodriguez - Campbell
PF Josh Heytvelt - Gonzaga
C Luke Harangody - Notre Dame


MEAC Awards

Howard's SF Eugene Myatt was the player of the year, averaging 20.3 ppg.

SF Spanky Schmidt of winston salem State was the freshman of the year, 7.8 ppg/6.7 rpg.

First Team All MEAC:

PG Joe Ballard - Florida A&M - 7.3 ppg/5.4 apg
SG Austin Ewing - NC A&T - 16.3 ppg
SF Eugene Myatt - Howard - 20.3 ppg
PF Michael Freeman - Hampton - 14.7 ppg/7.8 rpg
C Scott Hayes - NC A&T - 13.0 ppg/7.9 rpg

Second Team All MEAC

PG Joey Woods - Bethune-Cookman - 13.0 ppg
SG Ed Tyson - MD-Eastern Shore - 15.5 ppg
SF #10 (no name) - Florida A&M - 10.9 ppg
PF Thomas Coleman - NC A&T - 9.1 ppg/9.8 rpg
C Joseph Dorsett-Jeffreys - Norfolk State - 8.5 ppg/4.8 rpg


We did pretty well in the conference award arena.

[Radii]

2008-09 NC A&T Team Stats(players in bold graduating)

SG Austin Ewing - 16.3 ppg/2.8 apg
C Scott Hayes - 13.0 ppg/7.9 rpg
PG Tavarus Alston - 10.8 ppg/4.2 apg
PF Thomas Coleman - 9.1 ppg/9.8 rpg
PF Kam Shepherd - 6.7 ppg/4.2 rpg
C Cato Cruz - 6.1 ppg/3.8 rpg
SF Ed Jones - 5.8 ppg/3.7 rpg
SF Robert Johnson - 2.9 ppg
SF Nicholas Wilson - 2.5 ppg
SG Angelo Hernandez - 2.4 ppg


Jones was a starter, and Hernandez was my backup PG, so those losses will have some effect, but on the whole, we're returning the heart of our team and expect to be very good next year.

[Radii]

Offseason Recruiting

As we get back into recruiting, we've landed 1 scholarship player already. We have 3 more open offers:

PG Leandro Works - #611 OVR - Charlotte,NC - We have works at 100%. Wofford does also but we are the only school to have made an offer to him. I hope to land him immediately.

SG Rodney Irvin - NR -Richmond, VA - Longwood has him at 100% and we only have him at 95%. We suspect he'll sign with Longwood right away, but we can make a play for himi if he doesn't for some reason.

PG Boomer Shiloh - #536 OVR - Charlotte, NC - We only have him at 88% or so, but no one else has offered him. Campbell and Wofford are far behind us on his list, if one of them gives him a scholarship offer perhaps we lose, but we hope to still have a legit shot here.


Past those 3 scholarship offers we have a couple other seniors we've been working on but we don't exactly have extra points to spend every week, so we probably will be looking at filler players the rest of the way.


Recruiting Week 1

The expected happens in both places that I'd listed above.

We sign PG Leandro Works on day 1!

SG Rodney Irvin ends up at Longwood.

Recruiting Week 2

The fallback guys I was working on sign elsewhere. I go after a 2* World recruit, entirely for the coaching point. A bit hokey perhaps but I cannot resist.

Recruiting Week 3

PG Boomer Shilogh signs with NC A&T! Ranked #536 OVR, we scout him as a B shooter, so we're pretty excited about him.


Our World Recruit never signs, we got him up to 95% but never 100%. Oh well.


Incoming Recruiting class

PG Boomer Shilogh - 6'1 - Charlotte, NC - #536 OVR - B Shooting, B+ Skills, B defense, B+ Athleticism. C+ Potential.

PG Bracey Tafo - 6'0" - Winston Salem, NC - #662 OVR - C+ shooting, B Skills, B- Defense, B Athleticism, B- Potential

PG Leandro Works - 6'1" - Charlotte, NC - #611 OVR - C+ Shooting, B Skills, C+ Defense, B Athleticism, B+ Intelligence, C+ Potential


We'll see how they look after the season flip.

[Radii]

Recruiting Class Rankings

1. Stanford
2. Pittsburgh
3. Duke
4. UConn
5. Texas Tech
6. Michigan State
7. UCLA
8. North Carolina
9. Marquette
10. Washington State


Florida A&M has the best MEAC class, around #150, with 1 3* player and 2 2* players.

NC A&T has the #2 MEAC Class, in the 165 range, with our 3 3* players.

Bethune-Cookman is about 30 spots below us.

[Radii]

Scheduling

Neato, since I get this random november conference game, the game won't let me add additional non-conference games in December. "You cannot have more than 2 non-conference games once your conference schedule begins" ... I've been playing 25-27 games while some teams play 30-32 in the regular season. I wanted to add a couple. I am playing in the "Deep Dish Challenge" this year which will hopefully add a game or two.

I have tried to schedule fairly easy for the most part, but I also added some of the in-state teams that are a step or three above me. We're playing UNC-wilmington, UNC, and Duke this year.

[Radii]

2009/10 North Carolina A&T Roster

STARTERS

PG Tavarus Alston - SR - 57 OVR - Speed, Quickness, and ball handling is what we get out of Alston. Good stamina too. He is an average shooter who gets 90% of his points from the free throw line or in transition.

SG Austin Ewing - SR - 66 OVR - Our best midrange and 3 point shooter, he can also handle the ball and is very quick. Average defender.

SF Robert Johnson - SR - 56 OVR - I may end up going with a 3 guard lineup at some point but for now Johnson is my man here. He does nothing of note well, average defender, below average mid-range jumper, poor passer, average speed... yeah.

PF Thomas Coleman - JR - 63 OVR - A beast on the boards, I'd like to elevate him to double/double averages on the season. Good inside, but not a great defender.

C Scott Hayes - JR - 67 OVR - Our best close range shooter, a poor defender and only an average rebounder, he is 7'1" and eats up space with the best of them.


Bench

PG Leandro Works - FR - 60 OVR - I'm thrilled by the rating, but he doesn't look like a guy who will do a lot for me. He is an average defender so that will help the 2nd string quite a bit, and he is a better passer than everyone but alston, not as good a ball handler though. He is FAST. 92 SPD/83 QCK (alston/ewing are in the 83-85 SPD range).

PG Boomer Shiloh - FR - 63 OVR - A better shooter than Works, but not a good shooter. He is the best defender on the team(DEF 81, most of our guys are in the low-mid 70s). His defense MIGHT make us a case for Alston/Shiloh/Ewing starting if I can handle going that small. He is also very fast and a decent ball handler.

SG Johnny Colter - FR (RS) - 53 OVR - An above average defender and a fast player, also he's 6'5" which is the only non-post player with any notable size in our reserves, so he seems to be my SF by default. A very poor shooter though.

PF Kam Shepherd - JR - 60 OVR - Shepherd is a better post defender than Coleman but is not a guy that looks like he can score a ton. Of course we've seen him be a spark off the bench many times before and hope he can continue to do that for us.

C Cato Cruz - SO - 53 OVR - Another guy with bad ratings but he's a warm body inside. He can give us an edge over smaller teams and he eats up some space.


Other players of note that we will have to deal with:

PG Bracey Tafo - 51 OVR - FR - My 3rd recruit this year in addition to Shiloh and Works. This guy is a dud. Redshirting this year. Poor speed, he is an average defender and will probably come off the bench since we're losing Alston/Ewing after this season.

SF Luicious Gooding - 52 OVR - FR - Gooding was in my recruiting class last year and redshirted. I usually stick with a 10 man rotation and cannot imagine Gooding seeing a lot of time on the floor. He can't shoot, can't defend and can't handle the ball.



I like my recruiting class this year quite a bit compared to last season's where we really only got Hayes and 2 duds. This year we got two guys that are going to contribute immediately. We won't have a 3 point threat when Ewing leaves but we'll have some speedy guards to take over at least.

[Radii]

2009/10 Recruiting Overview

We've got 5 scholarships to fill but are really only looking to sign 3 guys. I don't think we have enough recruiting points to go after 5 guys honestly. I have 4 guys I had been going after as underclassmen who all have more than 60% interest in me. Only one is at 70% though.

I go through and add about 8 guys that I will try to guage early interest in before I offer scholarships. I also add a few juniors to my list this year to try to work on for next season.


I end up targeting two 3* SG's, hopefully not going too big here, but these guys are the two targets I'm dumping everything I can into until I see reason not to. I get both over 80% very quickly.

3 weeks from the early signing period, SG Edmund Axton, a 3* SG from Annapolis, MD (ranked #144 OVR) has already visited campus and we've got him up to 91%. I've got one more visit I can use, and no one else has offered him yet. We're making a huge push here.

SG Romeo Fitzgerald, #337 overall from Baltimore, MD is a bit more of a long shot. We have him at 84% and no one has offered him either, but it feels more likely that we won't be able to get him where we need to to land him.


We offer our other 3 scholarships as well to 2* guys but we don't have enough time to put into them before the early signing period to have a chance.

[Radii]

2009/10 MEAC Preview

Based on overall rating:

1. Hampton 70 OVR
2. Winston-Salem State 70 OVR
3. Howard 67 OVR
4. Morgan State 67 OVR
5. NC A&T 67 OVR
6. SC State 67 OVR
7. Coppin State 67 OVR
8. Bethune-Cookman 66 OVR
9. Delaware State 65 OVR
10. Florida A&M 63 OVR
11. MD-Eastern Shore 62 OVR
12. Norfolk State 62 OVR


Some of the teams at the bottom are starting to fall and, while there's no giant separation at the top, Hampton and Winston-Salem State seem the teams to beat still.

[Radii]

<meta http-equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><title></title><meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 2.4 (Win32)"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } TD P { margin-bottom: 0in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style> November 15, 2009


Kennesaw State (1-1) at NC A&T(0-0)


I'll go ahead and knock out my first game tonight. Kennesaw State is rated 70 OVR. Hey, senior leadership! Our team unity starts the year at 39. K-State is at 31. It took me into January to get team unity that high last year.


They have decent talent all over, including a SG who can shoot 3's pretty well.


<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="16"> <col width="177"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="6%"> KEN
</td> <td width="69%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 16:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 2
</td> <td width="6%"> 7
</td> <td width="69%"> These guys are fast, and they play a pressure defense in the half court set i'm not used to seeing. We've got 3 turnovers already and their baskets are all layups.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 9
</td> <td width="6%"> 11
</td> <td width="69%"> Some improved defense and Ewing hitting a 3 for me on our last possession and it appears we've settled down a bit.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 9
</td> <td width="6%"> 14
</td> <td width="69%"> Backups are in
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 11
</td> <td width="6%"> 21
</td> <td width="69%"> Ugh, big run on their part, 10-2. It'll take me a few games to get used to my new backup rotation but right now they're just draining shots.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 8:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 18
</td> <td width="6%"> 30
</td> <td width="69%"> Starters back in. I can see the potential in this speed out of our 2^nd team but not against Kennesaw State. The defense they're playing is really hurting me.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 29
</td> <td width="6%"> 33
</td> <td width="69%"> A big run by the starters. They're not going to be able to go the whole way though. The backups come back in for a couple more minutes. Defense is the key here. If they miss shots they can't get in their press and we can run. We have to keep them from scoring a ton.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 3:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 34
</td> <td width="6%"> 33
</td> <td width="69%"> Huge run! Its almost all the speedy guards either getting past the defense or drawing a foul in transition and making free throws. The starters are back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">

</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 40
</td> <td width="6%"> 48
</td> <td width="69%"> They're 5-8 from 3. 3 of those came in the final 3 minutes.


We have 8 from Ewing, 6 from Alston and Coleman, 5 from Shiloh and 5 from Cruz. Their SG, Baldwin, has 17 points including 4-5 from 3. I decide to bring Shiloh in the first chance I get, I'll run a 3 guard offense and have Shiloh shadow Baldwin.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 59
</td> <td width="6%"> 66
</td> <td width="69%"> We're still down by basically the same that we were at halftime, but its been interesting. We had the lead down to 2 a couple times but they go on little runs. I really like the 3 guard lineup if I can swing it consistantly.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 64
</td> <td width="6%"> 70
</td> <td width="69%"> The lead is down to 6 after a Ewing 3. our backups come into the game.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 74
</td> <td width="6%"> 83
</td> <td width="69%"> We can't seem to keep the lead down below 7 for any period of time. Its up to the starters the rest of the way.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>



Ewing was unconscious from 3 in the final 2 minutes, helping to cut a 12 point lead down to 3 but we didn't really have a chance to win. The final 3 came with 3 seconds left.


Kennesaw State 101
NC A&T 98


This is one of the toughest opponents i've ever played. They had as much speed as me, 4 different guys who could hit the 3, and they rebounded really well. They were 10/24 from 3, had 12 offensive rebounds and 19 second chance points. The fact that we kept it closer than 10 is really impressive to me.


On their side, Baldwin scored 25 total, only 8 in the second half, so maybe Shiloh's defense helped.


On our side:


Alston: 12 points/6 assists
Ewing: 30 points/4 assists
Shiloh: 11 points
Coleman: 9 points/9 rebounds
Hayes: 13 points/9 rebounds


Shepherd had 8 and Cruz 7.

[Radii]

I really like the speed and extra defensive ability I have on the court with Shiloh starting:

PG Alston
SG Ewing
SG Shiloh
PF Coleman
C Hayes
---------
PG Works
SG Colter
SF Johnson
PF Shepherd
C Cruz

Works and Colter at the guard spots give our backups a lot more flexibility than I had last year, while having a defensive stopper(at least for this level...) for the first time should really help me out against teams that have one sharpshooter or one hot scorer that if I can slow down, I win.

[rjolley]

If you don't get the guys you want, think about leaving a scholarship open for a transfer. I've started a new career and had 6 scholarships open. I left one open, partially for the transfer and partially because it was hard to fill that many spots. I ended up getting a good SG as a transfer. Looking forward to having him on the court next season. On the downside, there was a 4* player who must've had offers fall through and was interested in coming to Grambling. Unfortunately, I'd already filled my scholarships by the time I saw him.

[Radii]

If you don't get the guys you want, think about leaving a scholarship open for a transfer. I've started a new career and had 6 scholarships open. I left one open, partially for the transfer and partially because it was hard to fill that many spots. I ended up getting a good SG as a transfer.

Ahh, good tip, transfers happen immediately after the season, correct? So I'd need to have one that wasn't offered by the end of the NCAA tournament?

[rjolley]

Ahh, good tip, transfers happen immediately after the season, correct? So I'd need to have one that wasn't offered by the end of the NCAA tournament?
Yep, they come around after the coach carousel.

[Radii]

November 17, 2009


Savannah State (0-4) at NC A&T (0-1)


Savannah State is rated 70 OVR, a bit higher than us. They have two 6'11” big men starting, both freshmen, and both look pretty decent. Their PG, Monty Brodermann looks to be the only 3 point threat. SG Rod Mitchell is their leading scorer though, so we stick Shiloh on him. He's only averaging 10 ppg though, this doesn't appear to be a team with a big scoring threat anywhere.




<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="16"> <col width="177"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="6%"> SAV
</td> <td width="69%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 17:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 3
</td> <td width="6%"> 3
</td> <td width="69%"> Nothing much so far but I'm worried that their inside guys are going to create foul trouble for us. Hayes, Coleman and Shiloh all have 1 foul each.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 12
</td> <td width="6%"> 14
</td> <td width="69%"> Shiloh has 2 fouls now, Ewing has drained a 3 and Coleman has 6 points to lead us so far.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 16
</td> <td width="6%"> 18
</td> <td width="69%"> Backups are in
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 27
</td> <td width="6%"> 22
</td> <td width="69%"> Nice run for us, Shepherd has our last 5 points. Their big men play really, really poor defense, heh. Shepherd/Coleman/Cruz/Hayes could all have big games here.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 34
</td> <td width="6%"> 24
</td> <td width="69%"> Starters back in. Shepherd scored 7, Cruz 4 and Works got a couple transition buckets for us as our backups give us a nice edge.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">

</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 54
</td> <td width="6%"> 39
</td> <td width="69%"> A buzzer beater from about 25 feet by Alston gives us our biggest lead. The offense is obviously in a groove. 10 from Ewing, 10 from Coleman, 7 from Hayes, 7 from Alston, 7 from Shepherd.


My one disappointment is that Mitchell, their leading scorer, has 16. Shiloh is playing WAY too far off him... tight D once he has the ball but he's being allowed to catch the ball with 4 feet of space in front of him and he's making open shots. That might be a D Awareness thing? Shiloh's is poor.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 64
</td> <td width="6%"> 57
</td> <td width="69%"> We've let them close the gap with some sloppy play in the last minute or two. Mainly we beat the press and then try to get an easy basket and make a stupid pass... backups are coming in to settle things down.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 78
</td> <td width="6%"> 70
</td> <td width="69%"> The backups did the same thing the starters did... solid play to push the lead back up to 14, then sloppy play to let them back in it. Cruz and Shepherd are both having good games off the bench. The starters are back in to put it away.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 85
</td> <td width="6%"> 70
</td> <td width="69%"> A 7-0 run from the starters should effectively seal the game.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

Coleman had what I'm pretty sure is a career high today, as we finish off Savannah State and slow it down at the end.


NC A&T 92
Savannah State 77


Solid game today all around. We outrebounded them 41-28 and got 62 of our 92 points in the paint.


Alston: 15 points/3 assists
Ewing: 15 points/5 assists
Shiloh: 2 points/3 rebounds
Coleman: 22 points/12 rebounds
Hayes: 11 points/8 rebounds


Cruz: 12 points
Shepherd: 10 points

[Radii]

November 20, 2009


Jacksonville State (0-3) vs NC A&T (1-1)


We're rated the same. They have a PG with 94 speed and a good close range shot, a very dangerous guy. SG JJ Wesley is a good 3 point shooter averaging 15 ppg. They have good speed at their first 4 positions and we're going to worry about them on the break. We have a size edge that we'll be trying to use against them.




This is the first round of the 4-team “Deep Dish Challenge” at Depaul's Allstate Arena. The other two teams are Hofstra and Longwood.


<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="16"> <col width="177"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="6%"> JAC
</td> <td width="69%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 16
</td> <td width="6%"> 8
</td> <td width="69%"> After getting out to a 12-2 lead they settle down and start to score a little bit. We're definitely taking advantage of our size. Hayes has 8 points already. Backups are in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 25
</td> <td width="6%"> 18
</td> <td width="69%"> 5 from Cruz, 4 from Shepherd as our backups hold their own. Starters come back in for the rest of the half.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 31
</td> <td width="6%"> 18
</td> <td width="69%"> Shiloh and Ewing each hit a 3 pointer and we push our lead out over double digits.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">

</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 49
</td> <td width="6%"> 27
</td> <td width="69%"> We just kept pouring it on the rest of the half. Alston is 5-5. Hayes is 7-7. We're shooting 70% from the floor. Hayes has 14, Alston 10, Ewing 9, and this is just a rout.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 61
</td> <td width="6%"> 45
</td> <td width="69%"> We had the lead up to 25, but they've gone on a run and cut it down to 16. Some dumb turnovers, as usual, are to blame for my opponent's run. Hayes has 18 now and is having a great game. Backups are in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 8:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 64
</td> <td width="6%"> 55
</td> <td width="69%"> A 3 point play for Jacksonville state and they've cut the lead under 10. Our level of play has fallen quite a bit in the 2^nd half here, allowing lots of easy shots and we're really not taking very good shots the past few minutes. My backups are slowing the game down now, just buying time to rest up the starters, and not trying to push the lead out too hard.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:10
</td> <td width="10%"> 67
</td> <td width="6%"> 61
</td> <td width="69%"> We got the lead back up to 12 on a Shepherd 3 point play, then they hit two three's in a row to cut the lead down to 6. I burn a timeout and get my starters back in for the stretch run.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 72
</td> <td width="6%"> 61
</td> <td width="69%"> BIG momentum shift. Coleman just took over the game pretty much. He goes 1-2 from the line, then gets a layup on our next play after they miss. On Jacksonville State's next possession, their super fast PG gets by his man and drives for a reverse layup. Coleman leaps and comes from the other side of the goal to block the shot. We pick it up, start a fast break and Coleman cuts down the middle, receives a pass and throws it down with 2 hands. 5-0 run since the starters came back in to give us control of the game again.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

After we get back up by 11, we never let them cut the lead below 9 again and pretty much coast to victory.


NC A&T 80
Jacksonville State 71


Rebounding is again today a massive edge for us, 36-20. They went 8-16 from 3 which helped them close the gap after we'd gone up by so much in the first half.


Alston: 16 points/7 assists
Ewing: 11 points
Shiloh: 5 points
Coleman: 15 points/11 boards
Hayes: 18 points/9 boards


Shepherd: 9 points/5 boards

[Radii]

November 21, 2009


NC A&T (2-1) vs Hofstra (3-1)


This is the finals of the Deep Dish Challenge. I don't expect to win, but it would be huge if we could pull the upset, as winning a non-conference tournament is worth a coaching skill point.


Hofstra is rated 78 overall, they have an outstanding offense and are a great shooting team. They only have a team unity of 23, while ours is 43, which will hopefully help us out some in our quest to pull off the upset. They're a small team, their two big men are 6'7” each, giving us some hope of using our size over them.


PG Darren Neverett – a true freshman rated 76 OVR, very fast, a great ball handler, and a good shooter.
SG Daron Penigar – 77 OVR, an above average defender(probably average for the CAA but better than we're used to seeing) and a very good 3 point shooter, averaging 15 ppg so far.
SF Billy Lamkin – a SG playing the 3 spot, a good shooer, great inside and in traffic, also with very very good speed.


Their big men are rated 70 and 66 OVR.


<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="16"> <col width="177"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="6%"> HOF
</td> <td width="69%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 18
</td> <td width="6%"> 17
</td> <td width="69%"> Ewing keeps us close the first 5 minutes, he has hit 2 3's and has 8 points. They're shooting very well and we eventually are able to get a couple good looks inside. We've drawn two fouls on their starting SF, Lamkin which helps. Our backups are in now.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 10:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 23
</td> <td width="6%"> 20
</td> <td width="69%"> I'm really impressed with the backups so far, espicially on defense. Except for one fast break layup i'm trying to be pretty methodical on offense.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 30
</td> <td width="6%"> 20
</td> <td width="69%"> They have gone incredibly cold. Hofstra takes their second time out. I get my starters back in and give the backups a huge hand for their play.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">

</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 42
</td> <td width="6%"> 34
</td> <td width="69%"> They closed the lead down to 5 and we pushed it back up to 8 by halftime. Whether it was our defense or they just couldn't shoot in the final 12 minutes or so, Hofstra's shooting problems are definitely the story here. They are 3-11 from 3 and under 50% overall. Their leading scorer, penigar, only has 9 points which is outstanding for us.


On our end we are getting balanced scoring from everywhere. 8 from Ewing, 7 from Alston, 6 from Hayes, and 7 off the bench from Shepherd.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 55
</td> <td width="6%"> 44
</td> <td width="69%"> The lead has been hovering between 8 and 12. Hayes and Coleman have been coming up very big inside and Ewing has hit another 3 for us. They're obviously scoring some but they haven't heated up and gone on a run which is my main fear.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 65
</td> <td width="6%"> 52
</td> <td width="69%"> We extend the lead out a little more. Penigar has missed a couple wide open 3's that he seemed sure to make, and we've really made an effort to get the ball inside, both Hayes and Coleman have doubled their first half totals or more. Backups coming in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 10:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 65
</td> <td width="6%"> 59
</td> <td width="69%"> There it was. A 3, a steal in the full court press, and a fast break shot off a miss and Hofstra scores 7 unanswered in about a minute. I call a time out to settle my guys.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:35
</td> <td width="10%"> 65
</td> <td width="6%"> 63
</td> <td width="69%"> Hofstra goes on an 11-0 run against our bench. I get our starters back in and try to get control of things again.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 67
</td> <td width="6%"> 66
</td> <td width="69%"> We get two FTs from Coleman, and force a bad shot on their end, but they get the offensive board. Then their PG falls over trying to drive, but their SF picks it up and we foul him going after the loose ball. Peniger ends up draining a 3 and making I a 1 point game.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 71
</td> <td width="6%"> 70
</td> <td width="69%"> We got two FT's from Ewing to go up by 3, and they once again got an offensive board that led to a made basket. We turned it over on our end and a Peniger dunk gave them the lead. Coleman got an easy layin to give us the lead back. Timeout Hofstra.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 3:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 76
</td> <td width="6%"> 72
</td> <td width="69%"> After they score to take the lead we get a 3 point play from Coleman, force a missed shot and Coleman gets a dunk on the other end. Coleman has our last 9 points now and is really becoming a major go to guy for us.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 80
</td> <td width="6%"> 76
</td> <td width="69%"> We trade baskets, getting a bucket from Hayes after an offensive board, then another from Coleman. Their ball. We're matching them score for score which is good b/c they haven't missed in a little while.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:35
</td> <td width="10%"> 82
</td> <td width="6%"> 78
</td> <td width="69%"> They get Lamkin open for a jumper. We get Ewing open for a jumper. Their ball again.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

We finally get a stop, and sink 2 free throws and put the game away!


NC A&T 84
Hofstra 78


We've blown out inferior opponents before and played some close games against teams in our conference, but I think this is probably the best game I've ever played. It's certainly the first time I've beaten a team rated so far above me. The main thing that I like about this game is that we weren't just taking advantage of a slower team for tons of fast break points, which has earned us more than our fair share of wins. Once Hofstra came back late... in the final 7 minutes or so, we weren't out on the break at all. We were matching them basket for basket in the half court set and finding different ways each possession to get good looks. It also comes in the final of a tournament. An early season tournament that doesn't have any marquee names, sure. But for a team that has been a middle of the pack team in one of the worst conferences in the nation, its a big win.


Their two stars come up big for them. Penigar has 23 and Lamkin has 21. They were a combined 5-15 from 3 though.


Alston: 13 points
Ewing: 15 points/6 assists
Shiloh: 7 points/4 assists
Coleman: 21 points/9 boards (17 second half points)
Hayes: 16 points/7 boards

[Radii]

I'm pretty anxious to see how the early signing period goes, so i'm going to sim my next two non-conference games. I've got my random november conference game this week though, against Winston-Salem State, one of the favorites in the league, and I'm not about to sim that.

November 23rd:

Montana State 68
NC A&T 64

We get 17 points out of Hayes and 15 from Ewing. Only 5 from Coleman, but 10 boards. Montana State has a 6'11" center who put up 20 and 12 in the game.

[Radii]

November 28, 2009


Winston-Salem State(1-5) at NC A&T(3-2)

WS State finished 1 game out of first place last year, and had the best recruiting class in the league by far 2 years ago, so its no suprise that their roster strength is at the top of the league.

Scouting

PG Brian Fisher – Scored 10ppg last year, averaging about 9 this year so far. A very good 3 point shooter. Only an average ball handler and below average passer for a point guard.

SG Darius Floyd – 70 OVR rating, which will be one of the best in the league. 86 rated 3 point shooter, which may be the best in the league. He leads the league in scoring at 19 ppg so far.

SF Spanky Schmidt – 72 OVR, last year's freshman of the year in the league. Good defender, good scorer, good size and speed for a 3. 7.5 ppg/7.0 rpg.

PF Clayton Tsagarakis – only 6'5 so undersized at the 4 spot, hopefully setting Coleman up for another big day. A good inside scorer, but a very poor post defender.

C Corey Morris – 62 OVR – not rated very highly, but he's 6'11” and takes up space. Hayes is a better player but the size will help them.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="16"> <col width="177"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="6%"> WSS
</td> <td width="69%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 22
</td> <td width="6%"> 10
</td> <td width="69%"> I've just gotten too good with Coleman to see him matched up against a guy 6 inches shorter than him who plays poor defense. NC A&T took off to a 9-0 lead and has extended that up to 12. Coleman has 11 already.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 26
</td> <td width="6%"> 14
</td> <td width="69%"> Backups are in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 32
</td> <td width="6%"> 24
</td> <td width="69%"> We had pushed out to a 32-16 lead, and WS State has run off 8 straight. I call a timeout and get my starters back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">

</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 44
</td> <td width="6%"> 33
</td> <td width="69%"> They'd cut the lead down to 4 at one point but we pushed it back up. It's a two man effort for A&T. Coleman has 17 points and 8 rebounds at halftime. Shiloh is the other big suprise. He's got 11 points, which might be a career high for him already. Their star, Floyd, has 9 points so far on 4-12 shooting(1-7 from 3). So far so good!
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 16:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 49
</td> <td width="6%"> 46
</td> <td width="69%"> UGH. Floyd has 9 already in the 2^nd half, and we've turned it over twice in the backcourt, helping to facilitate a big run for Winston-Salem State. We call a time out to settle down.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 51
</td> <td width="6%"> 53
</td> <td width="69%"> Their huge run continues, and we now trail for he first time. Floyd has 23 now, 14 second half points already.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 56
</td> <td width="6%"> 57
</td> <td width="69%"> A Shiloh 3 and an Alston layup get us going again a bit. Our backups are in now though and hoping to slow this game down and get Shepherd and/or Cruz going inside. We're struggling in large part to the fact that they're running a 2-3 zone and we aren't making any jump shots.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 59
</td> <td width="6%"> 63
</td> <td width="69%"> Starters come back in, we're only down 4 but it feels like we're trying to desparately salvage the game at this point.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 68
</td> <td width="6%"> 69
</td> <td width="69%"> We've shaved 3 points off the lead and only trail by 1. Hayes has finally gotten some shots to fall, and has scored our last 5 points.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 3:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 71
</td> <td width="6%"> 71
</td> <td width="69%"> They get a field goal, and we come down and Ewing drains a clutch 3 pointer to tie the game up.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 2:05
</td> <td width="10%"> 77
</td> <td width="6%"> 73
</td> <td width="69%"> After a missed shot, Hayes gets a dunk in transition to give us the lead. A 18 foot jumper from ewing gives us a 4 point lead. They score to cut it back to 2, then a monster jam in traffic by Coleman pus us back up 4. He's fouled on the dunk, but misses the free throw. We lead by 4.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

We get a stop and a bucket, they turn it over and we get another bucket and this one is ours!


NC A&T 83
Winston-Salem State 73


I'd rather not be giving up big leads in the 2^nd half, but once they went on their run, we played great ball down the stretch to secure the win. Another monster game from Coleman, this one even bigger than the last two.

Their star, Floyd, finished with 25 points, but we held him to 3-11 from 3.

Alston: 11 points/7 assists
Ewing: 14 points/4 assists
Shiloh: 14 points/3 boards
Coleman: 27 points/18 rebounds (8... EIGHT! Offensive boards)
Hayes: 8 points/3 boards

We're 1-0 in conference play, a solid home win against one of the favorites to win the MEAC.

[Radii]

Early Signing Period

YES!!! We had spotted a highly ranked 3* SG interested in us and gone hard after him, getting him to 100% interest a couple weeks ago. it was just a wait to see if anyone else was going to make him an offer, and when they didn't, to see if he'd sign with us early. We got him, and now we wait til next year to see if he's a huge bust for some reason.

SG Edmund Axton
6'3" 184 lbs
Baltimore, MD
OVERALL: #144
POSITION: #40

Scouting Grades:

Shooting: B+
Skills: B+
Defense: B+
Athleticism: B+
Rebounding: B-
Intelligence: B-
Potential: B
Size: B-

And now you see why I was in a rush to quick sim the Montana State game and would have simmed out my next game were it not a conference game.

With the discussion in the College Hoops 2k8 thread, I'm worried that there's going to be something terribly wrong with Axton since we seemed to land him so easily. But I guess we shall see.


I lose a 2* SF to Longwood during the early signing week, and that's the only other action.


My other offers:

3* SG Romeo Fitzgerald - #337 in the nation, also from Baltimore. I forget if there's pipeline's here... two 3* SG's from Maryland that seem to like me an awful lot. We had him over 90% interest, it dropped some when Axton signed, but he's at 87%. We'll easily get him to 100% by the end of the season, its just a question of if that's enough. He scouts as a B Shooter but C- from 3. I am worried that I'm not going to have a single good long range jump shooter anywhere in sight.

2* SF Ted Montgomery - #718 OVR, a decent shooter with good athleticism and size for the SF position(he's 6'8").

2* PF Dominic Whitehead - This guy is a bit suspect. He's only 6'7", he's not a ranked recruit and all his skills are average. I really need to bring in some big men, given than Coleman, Hayes and Shepherd are all Juniors. This guy is probably not what I'm lookin for.

And my 5th and final scholarship is being left open for a transfer.

I have 5 juniors that I'm working on, including a 3* PG who is scouted as an A- shooter, and a couple other 3* guys. They may be long shots but I do believe I'll be able to get them all up over 70% by the time the next season starts.

[Radii]

I had a game on the Saturday before the signing period ended and simmed it out:

December 5th, 2009

NC A&T 78
Gardner-Webb 72

Wow, overtime.

Ewing scored 22. Coleman had 16 points/11 boards, and Alston scored 11. Hayes put up 8 points/7 boards.

We're currently 5-2, though that will drop a bit before conference play gets in full swing.

We have 5 games left, and two of them are at UNC and at Duke. Both are top 5 in the nation so far. the other 3 are hopefully winnable... or at least games we can compete in.

[Radii]

December 7, 2009


NC A&T (5-2) at #4 North Carolina(8-0)


I don't expect to play even the entire first half here but we'll see how it goes. They're rated 88 OVR.


<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="16"> <col width="177"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="6%"> UNC
</td> <td width="69%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 15
</td> <td width="6%"> 13
</td> <td width="69%"> What? Solid start! We have turned it over against their press 3 times, and Ewing has 3 fouls already and is going to be sitting for quite some time. But we're ahead! Hayes has 6 and has played great inside. Backups are in now, lets see how they do.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 21
</td> <td width="6%"> 26
</td> <td width="69%"> They're starting to shoot a bit better and its going to hurt us real bad to play without Ewing for so long.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 34
</td> <td width="6%"> 31
</td> <td width="69%"> Our big men are just destroying Deon Thompson down low. Cruz has 11 points and is just catching the ball in the post, turning towards the basket and attacking and scoring every time. Starters minus Ewing are back.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">

</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 46
</td> <td width="6%"> 50
</td> <td width="69%"> Hell of a half. We dominated inside and they have some serious jump shooters. Their starting SG, Hoyer, is rated 91 OVR and has 19 points including 4 3 pointers.


On our end its all about the inside game. Hayes has 9, Coleman 5, Cruz 11, and Shepherd 4. Because we go inside so much we have a huge foul edge too, except for Ewing(who was guarding Hoyer for the first 10 minutes). We committed 5 fouls to UNC's 13 in the firs thalf. They have 3 starters with 2 fouls.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 56
</td> <td width="6%"> 61
</td> <td width="69%"> We went a little cold and they pulled out to a 61-51 lead. Since then we've scored 5 straight to keep it close. Our backups are coming in, along with Ewing, I sat him at the start of the half.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 10:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 63
</td> <td width="6%"> 65
</td> <td width="69%"> They score 4 straight to go up by 9, then we run off a quick 7. 5 from Ewing and 2 more from Cruz who is still on fire.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 8:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 65
</td> <td width="6%"> 75
</td> <td width="69%"> And a 10-2 run comes very quickly on their end, a couple 3's,acouple steals and they pull out ahead.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 70
</td> <td width="6%"> 79
</td> <td width="69%"> Still hanging around as our starters come back onto the court for the stretch run.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

Well, we tried, but we never got it below 9 the rest of the way.


North Carolina 96
NC A&T 84


I'm not sure what to make of this game. I'm obviously thrilled to have hung with UNC for much of the game, but it also makes me wonder if I need to be adjusting any sliders, it seems like I shouldn't be able to hang with a team rated so much higher. Eh, we'll see down the road.


Their star, Hoyer, scored 33, going 7-11 from 3. He didn't need much room to get up a good shot and we just couldn't close down fast enough on him.


Alston: 11 points
Ewing: 11 points
Shiloh: 1 point
Coleman: 12 points/8 boards
Hayes: 16 points/11 boards


Cruz: 15 points.

[Balldog]

Congrats on getting Axton!

[Radii]

thanks! I was almost certainly going to jump ship this year since my starting backcourt is graduating. I still might if I accomplish a good number of coaching goals and can improve myself a bit. But having such a highly ranked recruit come in, plus the fact that I have two speedy young guards(not as talented as the two that are leaving but still solid), plus the fact that Hayes and Coleman will be seniors next year and I could get monster years out of both of them... deciding to stay or go after this year at least isn't going to be a super easy decision.

I don't know how they did it, but in looking through the league leaders, Bethune-Cookman landed a 3* SF last season who was ranked in the top 150 overall, he came in as a true freshman rated 76 OVR and is the highest rated player in the conference. The possibility that I might have landed an SG who could show up like that is damn tempting.

[Radii]

December 12, 2009

NC A&T (5-3) at UNC-Wilmington (1-5)

UNC-Wilmington is rated 75 OVR, about 7 points higher than us. They are not really any better on offense than we are but are better on defense and rebounding according to the team ratings.

They have a 6'8” PF and a 7'3” center(!!). The center, Clement Schultz, is rated very highly, is a good defender and is their leading scorer. Hopefully Hayes can hold his own against Schultz. Our other big concern is their SG, Montez Downey, a highly rated 3 point shooter, only averaging 7 points per game but we tend to do poorly against guys like this.
<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="7%"> UNCW
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 14
</td> <td width="7%"> 18
</td> <td width="68%"> I feel lucky to be as close as we are. We're struggling to score inside, though Hayes picked up 5 points when we got good matchups(their 7'3” monster got stuck on Shiloh instead of Hayes). But they are getting good offensive rebounding and playing pretty well. I definitely can sense that this team is better than we are. Backups are in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 16
</td> <td width="7%"> 25
</td> <td width="68%"> Their inside game, espicially on defense,is just very strong. With zero jump shooters, our backups rely entirely on Cruz and Shepherd, and they can't do anything. Starters aren't quite ready to come back yet.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 16
</td> <td width="7%"> 31
</td> <td width="68%"> Starters back in...
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">

</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 27
</td> <td width="7%"> 47
</td> <td width="68%"> Wow. Their backcourt is doing most of their scoring. 15 from Wolf, their PG. 9 from SG Downey and 9 from SF Lacy. . Schultz has 4 points/7 boards for them.


Hayes leads us with 9 points but he's also had 2 shots blocked and is struggling to get open looks. Ewing is cold, and Alston has had no luck on the break, so all of our scoring options have pretty much gone dead at the same time.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 41
</td> <td width="7%"> 54
</td> <td width="68%"> Ewing has hit two three's, Hayes has a 3 point play, and we've drawn two quick fouls on Schultz, which we were totally unable to do in the first half. We've made a run to at least make a game of it.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 49
</td> <td width="7%"> 62
</td> <td width="68%"> Still down 13, Ewing has hit another 3 and he and Hayes are both having very good halves. Moment of truth coming up though, our backups are coming in. This is where we lost it in the first half.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 52
</td> <td width="7%"> 71
</td> <td width="68%"> We got the leaddown to 10, 62-52, then they blew out a 9-0 run and seem to have put the game away. The starters are back in now.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 64
</td> <td width="7%"> 76
</td> <td width="68%"> Hayes and Ewing continue to play well and Alston has gotten a couple outlet passes for easy buckets now, we've got it back down to 12.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 73
</td> <td width="7%"> 78
</td> <td width="68%"> I was about to say that we'd just finally cut the lead under 10, 78-70. A badpass on their end, and Alston gets a 3 point play in transition. We've got it down to 5!
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 73
</td> <td width="7%"> 80
</td> <td width="68%"> Bad move on our part. A poor switch has Alston on Schultz, whoscores easily and Alston commits a dumb foul. Schultz misses the FT though.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:04
</td> <td width="10%"> 76
</td> <td width="7%"> 80
</td> <td width="68%"> It takes longer than I want to get a shot, but when I do its an open 3 from Ewing.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:29
</td> <td width="10%"> 79
</td> <td width="7%"> 82
</td> <td width="68%"> They drain an open mid-range jumper on their end towards the end of the shot clock. We rush the ball up the court and Ewing is clutch again, drains another 3.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:22
</td> <td width="10%"> 79
</td> <td width="7%"> 83
</td> <td width="68%"> UGH. They miss the front end of a 1and 1, but Schultz grabs the offensive board. He makes 1 of 2 to make it a 2 possession game again.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

Ewing misses a mid-range 2 pointer our next time down, they make their free throws and we can't complete the comeback.


UNC-Wilmington 89
NC A&T 82


They outrebounded us today, one of the few times that will happen this season. They scored more points in the paint, again we don't expect that to happen often, and they got 9 offensive boards and we only got 2. They also ended up with 9 blocked shots. Just a very strong performance inside by UNC-W.

On our end, Ewing and Hayes tried to win it for us but just were too far off in the 1^st half, Ewing espicially.

Alston: 11 points/5 assists
Ewing: 29 points
Shiloh: 4 points
Coleman: 11 points/5 boards
Hayes: 20 points/7 boards

7 points from our bench today, one of the worst performances you'll ever see from my backups.

[Radii]

<meta http-equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><title></title><meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 2.4 (Win32)"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } TD P { margin-bottom: 0in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style> I'm going to play my next non-conference game against Binghamton, then sim my last two against Campbell and Duke so that I can get rolling with my conference schedule.


One of my goals this year, in a year when I'm trying to rack up as many coaching points as possible, is to get through the season with no unhappy players. I've used 4 pep talks so far and they seem to work really well since my Charisma is A+. All of my players but one have a confidence of above 50% for now. I just used 3 on guys that were hovering near 30%. I've been trying to rotate my 11^th and 12^th man into the games a little bit more often lately to keep them happy, and that just leaves my 4 inactive guys. I'm hoping I can keep them all happy without too much trouble.


December 18, 2009


NC A&T (5-4) at Binghamton (3-6)


Binghamton is rated a little lower than us and we hope for a good road win here. Our team unity is flying high at 48, about where it has been at the end of the last two seasons. We've got a big edge there as theirs is 31.


Binghamton has a 7'1” center that we will have to worry about. Their PG, Darshan Trammel is rated 69 OVR and is a pretty good scorer. He's not excessively fast or a particularly good defender, so I am not real worried about him. Their SG is a very good defender for this level, again not super fast so we can hopefully get out on the break a bit. He's not a big 3 point threat either, and only averages 8 ppg. The rest of their guys look fairly terrible. The 7'1” C is rated 56 OVR and is a terrible defender. Their 6'7” PF isn't much better. I am going to be looking for Coleman to have a monster game here.


<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="7%"> BING
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 21
</td> <td width="7%"> 19
</td> <td width="68%"> We should blow these guys out and I'm a bit worried that we're not already. We led 12-6 early and looked to be on the verge of running away with it but they fought back to tie itup at 19. Coleman has 10 already. Backups are in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 25
</td> <td width="7%"> 34
</td> <td width="68%"> WOW our backups got owned. They scored layups off every missed shot, every steal(and there were a couple) and when they didn't get fast break buckets they drained open jumpers... starters are coming back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">

</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 33
</td> <td width="7%"> 46
</td> <td width="68%"> Just... wow. I'm stunned. Their SF, McBride, is launching 3's atevery opportunity, and he's only 2-7 but he has a few 2's as well and has 12 points. But really its the rebounding which is blowing my mind. They have a 20-10 edge on the boards. Right, we have 10 boards in the first half. They've missed 15 shots... how do we only have 10 boards as a team.


Coleman has 12 points/6 boards. Hayes has 4 points. Alston has 8.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 16:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 38
</td> <td width="7%"> 57
</td> <td width="68%"> I still look at these two teams and swear I'm way better. I figured I could run away with this game on the break, or inside... and I'm getting blown out badly. Coleman started the second half a little tired and ice cold so I subbed him out early. Ewing a little later... working on a rotation here though it seems like nothing is helping.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 49
</td> <td width="7%"> 63
</td> <td width="68%"> I'm able to run off a few quick points here and cut the lead back down to 14. Alston and Ewing are both sitting now, Coleman and Cruz in the post.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:40
</td> <td width="10%"> 53
</td> <td width="7%"> 67
</td> <td width="68%"> Ewing coming back in. Coleman has just gone insanely cold.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 64
</td> <td width="7%"> 74
</td> <td width="68%"> Alston pretty much single handedly got the lead back down to 10 with all our other starters resting. At the 6 minute mark we burn a time out and get our starters all on the court together.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 3:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 68
</td> <td width="7%"> 80
</td> <td width="68%"> A couple poor possessions and we fall behind by 14. A putback by Coleman makes it 12. Their ball and we're running out of time.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 77
</td> <td width="7%"> 85
</td> <td width="68%"> Just awful luck on the defensive end. We have the lead down to 7, they throw the ball into a crowd of A&T defenders as they try to find a cutter going to the basket, but their guy comes out with the ball and finds an open man for 3. Ewing is fouled on the other end and sinks two free throws to get it back down to 8 again.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

We fall apart in the final two minutes. No chance.


Binghamton 91
NC A&T 77


Seriously looking at the rosters I would have predicted that we would win this game by 20. They just didn't miss,and they defended inside a lot better than I anticipated.


They shot 56%,hit 9 3's(despite only having one player I would have deemed capable of being a good 3 point shooter), and outreboundedus 34-29. Just terrible.


Alston:19 points
Ewing: 12points/4 assists (3-14shooting... awful)
Shiloh: 1 point
Coleman: 23 points/9 boards
Hayes: 15 points/9 boards


Alston was awesome when he was able to get out on the break. He abused his man and scored every time he got the ball. 8-8 from the field. But there was no secondary break on those long rebounds and Ewing was ice cold, forcing us to score inside every time we were in the half court set.

[Radii]

I sim out my last two non-conference games, as I expect to lose them both:

Campbell 101
NC A&T 77

Campbell's Jonathan Rodriguez was an all american last year and he's back for one last year. He's averaging 31 points and 10 boards so far this year. He scored 44 on us. 19 from Coleman, 19 from Hayes, 17 from Ewing.



Duke 82
NC A&T 55

22 from Ewing. Coleman scored 1 point.



That makes us 5-7 entering conference play. Not as good as I'd hoped for. Our last 5 games have all been tough ones, with 3 pretty much guarenteed losses, but I was hoping to have a shot vs UNC-W or Binghamton.

Looking ahead as my main goal this year has been to earn as many coaching points as possible, here are the ones I had set my sights on this season that we have yet to accomplish:

1) Win a non-conference tournament(completed already, hooray!)
2) Sign a world recruit - I will probably make a stronger effort to do this during the offseason
3) Go an entire season with no unhappy players - Should happen as long as I don't forget like last year.
4) Coach a conference player of the year - Ewing and Coleman are both potential candidates. I don't want to risk playing poorly to get them the ball more often than I normally would... but both have a shot.
5) Coach a team to a winning record - We'd need to go 11-7 or better in conference play.
6) Coach a team to 20 wins - We need 15 more. 12-6 + winning the conference tournament, or obviously better than 12-6 in conference play, would get us there.
7) Coach a team to a conference championship - I believe we have the best team in the league this year.
8) Coach a team to an NCAA Tournament bid - If wehave the best team we should be legit contenders to win our conference tourney.

Now, I don't truly expect to make all 8 goals, but I have already earned one and really expect that earning 4 or 5 is not unreasonable. I fully expect this team to go undefeated at home in conference play, and there are some bad teams at the bottom that I expect us to beat, which should allow us to have a winning record and win 20 games, in addition to having no unhappy players and winning the preseason tourney.

[Radii]

<meta http-equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><title></title><meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 2.4 (Win32)"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } TD P { margin-bottom: 0in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style> January 9, 2010


NC A&T (5-7, 1-0 MEAC) at Bethune-Cookman (5-5, 0-1 MEAC)


Scouting


They're rated a little below us, play poor defense and don't shoot quite as well as we do. We have a nice team unity edge as they start a couple young guys and have no seniors on the team.


PG Joey Woods – JR – 63 OVR – Adequate shooter, above average defender, decent speed. 11Ppg, one of their leaders.


SG Churchill Horner – SO – 55 OVR – terrrible 3 point shooter, slow, above average defender. - 6 ppg


SF Horace Trayborn – FR – 58 OVR – Looks to be a weak spot on the team all the way around. 5.5 ppg


PF Henry Walcott – FR – 78 OVR – This is the best player in the league, a 3* recruit Bethune Cookman brought in last year. Solid defender, very good scorer inside, the one good thing is that he's only 6'7” so hopefully that negates his edge a bit. 11.7 ppg/11.3 rpg


C Kyle Cook – JR – 64 OVR – Only 6'7” so they're a bit small, I need to take advantage of that. Decent scorer averaging 7.8 ppg.


<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="7%"> BC
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 12
</td> <td width="7%"> 12
</td> <td width="68%"> They get back on defense and can break a bit after turnovers. Walcott isn't hurting us, but Horner has 6 points all on layups after turnovers. Backups are in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 10:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 17
</td> <td width="7%"> 17
</td> <td width="68%"> Timeout BC. Obviously our points from the backups are coming inside.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 28
</td> <td width="7%"> 25
</td> <td width="68%"> Cruz scores our last 5 to give us the lead. Since the backups were playing so well I didn't bother with a timeout to rush the starters back in. They're back now though.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 2:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 33
</td> <td width="7%"> 35
</td> <td width="68%"> Hayes picks up foul #2. I bring Cruz back in for the rest of the half. They're doing a good job of getting open shots real near the basket.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">

</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 33
</td> <td width="7%"> 40
</td> <td width="68%"> We led 28-23 at one point,and they close the half on a 17-5 run. Our offense faltered badly towards the end of the half. We went cold and committed far too many turnovers.


Their poor SG, Horner, leads them with 9 points. Walcott has 6points/4 boards/2 assists.


Coleman leads us with 7 points/6 boards. Ewing has 5 points but on 2-9 shooting. He missed a lot of open shots late in the half. Coleman and Hayes both have 2 fouls.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:25
</td> <td width="10%"> 48
</td> <td width="7%"> 49
</td> <td width="68%"> After falling behind by 10, we are now in the midst of a 9-0 run and only trail by 1. Solid defense has led us back for the most part. Ewing has a couple easy baskets and Hayes has 6 points this half so far.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 51
</td> <td width="7%"> 49
</td> <td width="68%"> Our run has stretched out to a 12-0 run and we now lead. A free throw(1-2) from Coleman and a layup by Alston after a steal gave us the lead. Hayes and Shiloh now have 3 fouls though.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 10:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 56
</td> <td width="7%"> 54
</td> <td width="68%"> Our run ended at 12-0 as their hot hand, Joey Woods, immediately came back in off the bench and drained a 3 after their last time out. He has 19 and has been on fire.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 58
</td> <td width="7%"> 59
</td> <td width="68%"> Woods drains another 3 to give them the lead again. We finally get our backups in the game. With all the timeouts they were taking during our run, our guys kept getting rested.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 62
</td> <td width="7%"> 61
</td> <td width="68%"> We've got 6 team fouls and since our starters ran for so long I probalby won't be bringing them back in til the 4 minute mark. Trying to stall and get Cruz and Shepherd looks inside.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 62
</td> <td width="7%"> 68
</td> <td width="68%"> So much for slowing it down and keeping up with them inside. A 3 pointer,a fast break layup and a mid-range jumper give them a 6 point lead. I'm down to 1 timeout but I've got my starters ready to come finish the game off.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 2:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 66
</td> <td width="7%"> 72
</td> <td width="68%"> So frustrating... we get a stop and a chance to cut down on the lead, Alston gets fouled driving, and misses both free throws... UGH.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 68
</td> <td width="7%"> 72
</td> <td width="68%"> We foul them(not intentional obviously) and they miss the front end of a 1 and 1. On our end we struggle to get a shot and Ewing ends up taking a marginal jumper. Its no good but Coleman is there for the board and puts it back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:18
</td> <td width="10%"> 70
</td> <td width="7%"> 72
</td> <td width="68%"> They work the ball into Wallcot(fairly quickly), Hayes stuffs his shot!! We come away with it and Alston goes by Woods for a layup.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

We allow Woods an easy layup on the next possession and Alston commits a pretty terrible turnover and we have to start fouling. We get it as close as 3 again, 77-74, but never get a chance to go for a game tying shot. Tough road loss.


Bethune-Cookman 78
NC A&T 74


Their PG, Joey Woods, just got incredibly hot and we couldn't slow him down. He drained 2 threes with hands right in his face and when we tighten up to stop that he gets to the basket for layups. Woods had 26 points. Their rooke stud walcott had 11 points/10 boards/5 assists, quite a fine day.


We had a balanced attack:


Alston: 11 points/5 assists
Ewing: 12 points
Shiloh: 0 points
Coleman: 14 points/13 boards
Hayes: 13 points/7 boards


Off the bench Cruz scored 8, and Shepherd scored 6 with 6 boards. Not the start we wanted to conference play after all those goals we talked about before the game.

[Radii]

January 11, 2010

NC A&T (5-8, 1-1 MEAC) at Delaware State (6-4, 2-0 MEAC)

Scouting

Another team rated a little below us. They also play pretty poor defense, their offense isn't very good either, but they are an outstanding rebounding team.

PG Darrell Mosley – SR – 61 OVR – Below average shooter, average passer, good speed,good defense. 7.4 ppg this year.

SG Marcus Neal – SR – 58 OVR – Below average shooter, really kinda poor all the way around. Obviously this means he is going to torch us. 4.2 ppg

SF Kyle White – SR – 66 OVR – A good inside shooter and decent in traffic. Not a great ball handler or defender. 7 ppg, he's got a nagging injury as well.

PF Robin Boxler – SO – 71 OVR – I remember this guy from last year, which is not a good sign. Very good inside scorer, great post offense, just average defense inside. Good rebounder. 10.3 ppg/8.4 rpg. He's 6'11”.

C Roy Bright – JR – 60 OVR – not anywhere close to the player Boxler is, but he's also 6'11” and a good rebounder. 6.5 ppg/4.6 rpg.
I seem to get burned by even very poor shooters in a zone, so we'll see how this works... I'm going to play a 2-3 zone against these guys at least to start.
<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="7%"> DEL
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 8
</td> <td width="7%"> 10
</td> <td width="68%"> We get out to a quick 8-2 lead and learn what happens if we turn it over. They get layups. Any time we turn it over, they're going to get a layup. Their PG is faster than anyone we have, not by a ton, but enough that we can't catch him on any outlet pass.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 14
</td> <td width="7%"> 14
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are in. Delaware State isn't very good in the half court set. But they do rebound, a couple offensive boards have kept them going.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 14
</td> <td width="7%"> 16
</td> <td width="68%"> Bright, their center, has 2 fouls. His backup is a terrible 6'9 soph. Terrible as in rated 50 OVR.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 20
</td> <td width="7%"> 23
</td> <td width="68%"> Neal, their SG that I said is a pretty terrible offensive player, scores 5 straight including a 3 under some pressure. We get our starters back in, down by 3.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 3:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 24
</td> <td width="7%"> 31
</td> <td width="68%"> Hayes picks up fouls #2 and 3 in quick succession, Cruz is in for him. They hit a couple open 3's with me in the zone to pull out to a 7 point lead.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">

</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 28
</td> <td width="7%"> 34
</td> <td width="68%"> Very frustrating end to the half as Alston misses a dunk on a fast break and then gets hammered on another and doesn't get the call. We should have been down by 2, not 6.


The zone is working for the most part, as Delaware State is launching 3's with reckless abandon. They're 3-14 from deep. Boxler has 6 points/7 boards and is hurting us. Their PG Mosley has 6 points, all on layups in transition.


We have 5 points/8 boards from Coleman. Hayes and Alston have 6, Ewing 5.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 18:55
</td> <td width="10%"> 30
</td> <td width="7%"> 34
</td> <td width="68%"> Our starters played more than usual in the first half, specifically going the final 7:30. I decide to put the backups in and get the starters a little more rest.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 36
</td> <td width="7%"> 44
</td> <td width="68%"> Their inside guys just dominate our inside backups. Not good at all. Starters are back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 44
</td> <td width="7%"> 47
</td> <td width="68%"> Our starters get on a good roll, taking advantage of the long rebounds from missed 3's to get out on the break. Ewing and Alston both score a good bit this way. However, Ewing picks up his 3^rd foul, Hayes picks up his 4^th. I decide to bring the backups in til the 6:30 mark or so and let the starters carry us home.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 10:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 48
</td> <td width="7%"> 48
</td> <td width="68%"> Cruz scores 4 fairly quick points for us and we've tied the game up. They still have Boxler out there but otherwise have backups in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 50
</td> <td width="7%"> 49
</td> <td width="68%"> A basket inside by backup SF Johnson gives us the lead. Our backup PG, Works, hurts himself and has to come out. I pull Shiloh back to the backup squad for now.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 52
</td> <td width="7%"> 52
</td> <td width="68%"> Starters are back in, except Johnson at SF instead of Shiloh for now. We've committed a lot of fouls this half, mostly stupid reaching in at the top of the 2-3 zone. As a result, Delaware State is already shooting free throws.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 58
</td> <td width="7%"> 55
</td> <td width="68%"> Boxler finally has to rest for a bit and we take advantage, getting two buckets from Coleman and one from Hayes inside to take a 3 point lead.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 3:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 60
</td> <td width="7%"> 57
</td> <td width="68%"> Boxler is back in for them, and we take a slim one possession lead into the final 3 minutes.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 2:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 60
</td> <td width="7%"> 62
</td> <td width="68%"> Neal, their terrible 3point shooter, picks a good time to drain one. We come up empty on the other end, and Boxler fouls hayes out of the game on a 3 point play. Just perfect. Boxler does miss the FT so we trail by 2.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 60
</td> <td width="7%"> 63
</td> <td width="68%"> Ewing misses a wide open shot. We foul Neal as he's driving on the other end. He makes 1 of 2.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:36
</td> <td width="10%"> 62
</td> <td width="7%"> 65
</td> <td width="68%"> Coleman tries to go up over Boxler and he just can't score on the guy. They end up scoring on their end. Ewing makes an athletic play to get to the rim on our next possession, and we start to foul.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

We can't score again, and they don't miss.
Delaware State 70
NC A&T 62


We're in a pretty rough patch here after starting out 5-2. We need a win to get us out of this funk, badly.
Their PF Boxler was great for them on defense, and good enough on offense. 18 points, 17 rebounds and he just hurt us badly. 2 blocks and 2 steals too. Our defense did what it was supposed to. They were 6-25 from 3 on the game, and they committed 13 turnovers, many of them on bad passes into the middle of our zone. We just couldnt' quite capitalize enough.

Alston: 10 points
Ewing: 11 points (5/18 shooting, 1-12 from 3, the first 8 of them wideopen. I'm really struggling with him.
Shiloh: 0points
Coleman: 11 points/17 boards
Hayes: 10 points/3 boards

Cruz: 8 points/9 boards.

[Radii]

January 16, 2010

Maryland-Eastern Shore(6-7, 1-2 MEAC) at NC A&T (5-9, 1-2 MEAC)

Scouting

This is the game we need to get out of this slump, in theory. A home game against the worst rated team in the league. UMES is rated 62 overall and is not better than us in any facet of the game, even defense.

PG Marc Davis – 61 OVR – JR - good speed and handling, not a huge scoring threat unless he gets hot, but he is averaging 11 points per game.
SG Roland Dunston – 57 OVR – JR – Like Davis but a bit slower and a bit worse of a shooter. 4 ppg
SF Kerwin Sato – 54 OVR – SO – A pretty awful shooter, but he tends towards shooting the 3, which should be great for us. 7 ppg.
PF Ishmawiyl McFadden – 61 OVR – JR – Yes,that is how they spell is name in game. Good from close range, good strength and rebounding. Decent post defender. 12 ppg/9 rpg.
C Gordon Del Rosario – 56 OVR – C – An ok close range shooter. Awful in the post. Hayes needs to destroy this guy. 5.6 ppg/7.0 rebounds. 6'8”

We may try a zone against these guys too as Davis and Dunston both heavily lean towards driving to the hoop over shooting from outside. Their SF is interesting, as he's 6'10”. Since he seems such a poor player, I'm going to see if our zone can keep him from scoring, while on offense Shiloh can use his speed to get by him.
<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="7%"> UMES
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 18
</td> <td width="7%"> 9
</td> <td width="68%"> If we don't get out to a massive lead and quick sim this I'm going to be annoyed. We're so much better than them at every level.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 22
</td> <td width="7%"> 9
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 8:51
</td> <td width="10%"> 31
</td> <td width="7%"> 11
</td> <td width="68%"> They finally score again. Its been at least 5 ½ minutes, I think quite a bit more than that.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">

</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 55
</td> <td width="7%"> 23
</td> <td width="68%"> Yeah, this is what we needed.


12 from Alston, 11 from Ewing, 6 from Hayes. Coleman has 9 boards, Hayes 8. Cruz scored 9 off the bench.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

Really no reason to waste time in the 2^nd half.


NC A&T 81
Delaware State 49

They shot 27% from the field for the game. Not much else that can be said about that.

Alston: 17 points
Ewing: 16 points
Shiloh: 5 points
Coleman: 10 points/16 rebounds
Hayes: 12 points/15 rebounds

We needed that to end our 7 game losing streak. Back on track hopefully!

[Izulde]

Rough start given the amount of talent you put on the team. Hopefully you can pick it up further down the conference slate.

[Radii]

January 16, 2010

Morgan State (5-9, 3-1 MEAC) at NC A&T (6-9, 2-2 MEAC)

Scouting

Another home game which is good. Morgan State opened the season with a win over Missouri before losing 9 straight. They finished non-conference play with a win at Baylor and now have 3 wins in a row in conference play. Their conference loss is a 62-26 embarrassment at MD-Eastern Shore.


PG Dalron Nance – SR – 56 OVR – actually a SG, and a very poor ball handler, even for a SG. Poor shooter, looks mainly to be a threat to drive. Very slow. Alston may have a field day if he can get out on the break vs Nance. 3.6 ppg, 1.4 apg

SG Reggie Holmes – SR – 69 OVR – 85 rated 3 point shooter, ie deadly at this level. Looks to be the big scoring threat. I think he had a big game against us last year, I remember his name. He's only averaging 9.8 ppg this year, down from 14.5 last season.

SF Ameer Ali – JR – 70 OVR – good ball handler for a 6'6 forward, with great driving ability and the ability to score in traffic. Averaging 9.4 ppg.

PF Kevin Thompson – JR – 64 OVR – 6'8”, decent inside prescence, good leaper and strong. Coleman should beat him out on the boards though. 7.5 ppg/6.0 rpg.

C Rodney Stokes – JR – 61 OVR – 6'10”, looks like a better rebounder than Thompson(and Hayes unfortunately). Good inside shot and a good post defender. 5.4 ppg/5.0 rpg

Scouting reports suggest that we crowd the lane against this team, but I am sure if I run a zone that Holmes will score 40.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="7%"> MSU
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 14
</td> <td width="7%"> 8
</td> <td width="68%"> They play good half court defense which is giving us problems, but any turnover and most missed shots that we get aclean rebound on are translating into layups. Their guards are awful in transition, and Alston and Ewing are very good.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 14
</td> <td width="7%"> 8
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are in. Still 14-8, Alston just missed a dunk, whoops. Hayes has 2 fouls.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 10:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 14
</td> <td width="7%"> 18
</td> <td width="68%"> Oof. Two 3's from Holmes and a couple other easy baskets... damn backups!
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:25
</td> <td width="10%"> 18
</td> <td width="7%"> 22
</td> <td width="68%"> Cruz scores 4 points for us as we slow the game down to rest our starters, who are all back in, minus Hayes with his 2 fouls.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 18
</td> <td width="7%"> 29
</td> <td width="68%"> They score a basket, we miss a shot, they get a 3 point play, and steal the inbounds pass for a layup and a very quick 7-0 run.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">

</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 29
</td> <td width="7%"> 44
</td> <td width="68%"> They hit two threes to finish out the half in horrific fashion for us. They're shooting 60% from the field while we're shooting 34%.


We got 8 out of Alston, 7 from Ewing and 6 from Coleman. Cruz came up big with 7 points as well. We just shot 9-26 from the floor and got most of it from the line(10-15 from the FT line)


Holmes has 12 for them, Ali has 9.


We're going to open the second half in a zone.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 16:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 35
</td> <td width="7%"> 50
</td> <td width="68%"> We've missed 3 shots in transition that I fully expected to make and as a result haven't cut down the lead at all yet.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:35
</td> <td width="10%"> 39
</td> <td width="7%"> 52
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are in. We continue to get to the line well, and continue to make 1of 2 every time we get there.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 44
</td> <td width="7%"> 52
</td> <td width="68%"> 5 straight for PG Leandro Works and we've got the lead back under double digits.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 10:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 50
</td> <td width="7%"> 60
</td> <td width="68%"> Two three pointers for SF Ali push their lead back out, but Works has been a monster driving to the basket, another 3 point play by him and we get the lead back to 10. Starters come back in for another run.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 56
</td> <td width="7%"> 60
</td> <td width="68%"> Their shooters have gone cold and we're killing them on the break.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:55
</td> <td width="10%"> 62
</td> <td width="7%"> 62
</td> <td width="68%"> Ewing drains an open 3 pointer after Holmes hits a mid-range jumper on their end. After a miss Alston manages a 3 point play to tie it up!
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 67
</td> <td width="7%"> 65
</td> <td width="68%"> We continue to push after every miss, and they continue to shoot poorly from 3, but hitting just enough to keep it close. Backups are in for a short time to rest the starters for the stretch run.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 71
</td> <td width="7%"> 73
</td> <td width="68%"> Ali hits two straight 3's for them. If they keep this up I may have to go back to man to man, its kinda a borderline call this game. But the missed 3's are leading to so many easy baskets, I think that makes the difference. Starters are back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 2:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 73
</td> <td width="7%"> 77
</td> <td width="68%"> Alston misses a layup in traffic, and we make a bad pass to turn it over. Down 4, their ball.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:35
</td> <td width="10%"> 76
</td> <td width="7%"> 77
</td> <td width="68%"> We get a steal and Alston is fouledon a drive. He makes 1 of 2. They miss a shot in the post on their next play, we get it out to Alston who makes a great move in traffic for a basket.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:48
</td> <td width="10%"> 78
</td> <td width="7%"> 79
</td> <td width="68%"> Holmes makes two free throws for them. Ewing misses a transition dunk, but we get the rebound and put it back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:14
</td> <td width="10%"> 80
</td> <td width="7%"> 79
</td> <td width="68%"> We play good defense, Ali misses a contested 3, and Alston is out on the break yet again. We lead by 1 and need to play defense for the final 15 seconds.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:05
</td> <td width="10%"> 80
</td> <td width="7%"> 81
</td> <td width="68%"> What... Ewing with a reach on Holmes as he's setting up for the final play. That's our 7^th foul so Holmes goes to the line. He makes both.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

They press, but we're able to get the ball to Ewing down court for a last second shot. He shoots a jumper long off the rim and we fall by 1.

Morgan State 81
NC A&T 80

I cannot believe that Ewing committed that reach in foul for no reason at all with 5 seconds left in the game. Also, I did learn a valuable lesson here. Even if a team has a 3 point threat, the 2-3 zone can be worthwhile. Sure they hit some 3's on us but in the first half they were getting to the basket over and over. I think if I had gone to a zone, like our scouting report suggested, we would have won. Ah well, I'll know better next time.

They got 23 from Ali and 22 from Holmes, but they only shot 6-24 from 3.

Alston: 27 points
Ewing: 14 points
Shiloh: 3 points
Coleman: 11 points/18 rebounds
Hayes: 3 points/7 boards.

Extremely disappointing loss, and one that could have been avoided.

[Radii]

Rough start given the amount of talent you put on the team. Hopefully you can pick it up further down the conference slate.

Yeah, we're definitely suffering from the fact that the only thing I can do as a coach is recruit. That's why I feel like this is such an important year to earn some coaching improvements so that I can start developing my players.

[Radii]

January 23, 2010

NC A&T (6-10, 2-3 MEAC) at Florida A&M (1-14, 1-3 MEAC)

Scouting

A&M is rated very poorly, 63 OVR, this looks a lot like our recent Delaware State game. The scouting report is a bit conflicted here. 41% of their shots are from 3 point range, only 30 inside and 30 midrange. Yet our scout tells us that they like to dribble-drive and we should play a zone to keep them out of the lane.

PG Jarrid Perkins – FR – 70 OVR – Extrodinarily good speed, good quickness, great defense and a decent ball handler. Good inside but only average shooting the 3. I can see why they like to drive now. 8.5 ppg/5.5 rpg

SG Nathan Harper -JR – 65 OVR – Average shooter, good speed and pretty good defense, doesn't look like a great scorer but a decent overall threat. 7.4 ppg/8.3 rpg (8.3 rebounds??)

SF Abraham Songcaucy – SO – 54 OVR Average defender and that's really it. 4.8 ppg

PF DJ Pettway – SO – 55 OVR – Looks like a pretty bad player. Ok shooter in traffic. That's pretty much it. 7.2 ppg/6.8 rpg

C Jonpaul Bowens – SO – 53 OVR – Pretty good post defense and a decent inside shot. Foul rating of 99, the worst possible. Given our tendency to draw a lot of fouls if this guy plays more than 10 minutes with that foul rating I'll be shocked. 6.8 ppg/4 rpg.

I see why the scouts say to zone it up against these guys, and I've learned my lesson about playing man against my scouts recommendation. Zone it is. Team Unity edge is massive here. 51-30 in our favor.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="7%"> FAMU
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 12
</td> <td width="7%"> 9
</td> <td width="68%"> They open up with a 9-4 lead as we take some bad shots inside early. We get it together though and are on an 8-0 run.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 17
</td> <td width="7%"> 15
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are in. Alston has 8, Ewing 4 early in transition.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:40
</td> <td width="10%"> 31
</td> <td width="7%"> 23
</td> <td width="68%"> Cruz scores 8 for us and does very well against their backup big men. Our starters come back out to try to finish off the first half strong.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">

</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 47
</td> <td width="7%"> 33
</td> <td width="68%"> We methodically build our lead. We're shooting 52%, they're shooting 29%. They have a couple shooters that have high tendencies to shoot 3's despite not being very good at it at all. Their SG, Harper, is 1-11 from 3 and they are 2-21 as a team.


On our end we're scoring the same way we did last game, taking advantage of a lot of long rebounds and getting out in transition against poorer defenders. Alston has 15 points. He isn't as dominant as he was vs Morgan State, as FAMU's PG Perkins is a better defender, but he's getting so many more chances to run this game.


Coleman has 6 points/8 boards. Hayes 6 points/5 boards. Ewing 6 points. Cruz has 8.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 51
</td> <td width="7%"> 40
</td> <td width="68%"> We went up 49-33, then they rolled off 7 straight. We finally got a bucket by Coleman to end that run and still lead by 11. They're defending in transition much better so far this half.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 61
</td> <td width="7%"> 48
</td> <td width="68%"> We get Coleman going a bit, he has 6 or 8 this half... can't remember, and get the inside game going which keeps our lead up. Backups are in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 10:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 67
</td> <td width="7%"> 48
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are playing great D. Cruz has all 6 points and is having a hell of a game off the bench.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
We lead by 24, 81-67 with 5 minutes left. I quick sim to the end.

NC A&T 94
Florida A&M 64

Hooray for road wins! A&M was a ridiculous 6/40 from 3.

Alston: 19 points
Ewing: 11 points
Shiloh: 1 points/5 boards
Coleman: 16 points/13 rebounds
Hayes: 11 points/8 boards.

Cruz gets 14 points off the bench.


Incidentally, in reviewing FAMU's roster, they have two transfer's sitting out a year. One is rated 71, and the other 65 OVR. Given that they start 5 underclassmen and have two transfers that would be 2 of the best 3 players on the team, this is a team that will be much better in seasons to come.

[Radii]

January 25, 2010

NC A&T (7-10, 3-3 MEAC) at Norfolk State (6-12, 3-2 MEAC)

Scouting

Norfolk State is rated worse than our last opponent, just 62 OVR, and based on the ratings, their starters look pretty bad. They are3-2 in conference play though.

PG Antoine Perry – SR- 60 OVR – Average. Average speed for a PG. Average ball handling, average defender, average shooter. 12.4 ppg, leading the team.

SG Jeremy Banks – JR – 57 OVR – A little worse than Perry in every way. 6.4 ppg.

SF Cassiano Shropshire – FR – 54 OVR – bad at everything. Too bad I don't make good use of my own SF or this would be my mismatch guy.

PF Brandon Monroe – SR – 56 OVR – 5.4 ppg/6.0 rpg. 6'7”, a pretty good rebounder, average defender. I think Coleman can do well against him. Not an offensive threat at all.

C Joseph Dorsett-Jeffreys – SR – 61 OVR – 6'11” 331 lbs, big dude. 9.4 ppg/5.9 rpg. Good from close range and a pretty good post defender. Extremely strong and a good rebounder.

More 2-3 zone to come.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="7%"> NSU
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 14
</td> <td width="7%"> 6
</td> <td width="68%"> Lots of easy buckets. This team does not seem very good.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:10
</td> <td width="10%"> 30
</td> <td width="7%"> 8
</td> <td width="68%"> Yeah, they definitely are not very good. Hayes has 12,Coleman has 8 or 10, Alston, Ewing and Shiloh split up the rest. Backups are in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 49
</td> <td width="7%"> 14
</td> <td width="68%"> Starters back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">

</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 64
</td> <td width="7%"> 26
</td> <td width="68%"> LOL?
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

I obviously sim out the 2^nd half.

NC A&T 99
Norfolk State 55

We shoot 60%, they shoot 31%

Alston: 14 points/9 assists
Ewing: 15 points
Shiloh: 7 points/8 assists
Coleman: 19 points/13 rebounds
Hayes: 18points/8 boards.

That was fun. Unlike FAMU, this is a team that will just getworse. They do have a transfer coming in that will help, but this is an upper classmen led team. A lot of these guys are graduating with nothing ready to come up behind them.

[Radii]

January 30, 2010

South Carolina State (9-10, 7-0 MEAC) at NC A&T (8-10, 4-3 MEAC)

Scouting

This is obviously a huge game. At home vs the team leading the conference early on. SC State has either been very lucky, or very clutch. They have 4 conference wins by 1 or 2 points.

PG Roland Patton – SO – 56 OVR – terrible quickness, terrible defense, terrible ball handling for a PG. Good sign for Alston. 5.4 ppg/2.7 apg

SG Carrio Bennett- JR – 66 OVR – A leading candidate for player of the year. Great 3 point shooter who likes to take a lot of them. He's 40.5% from 3 and has taken 153 of them already this season. Averaging over 17 points per game.

SF Jason Flagler - SR – 60 OVR – 5.7 ppg/6.1 rpg. Good speed at SF,decend defender, but not a great scorer. Great leaping ability and decent on the drive.

PF Max Bain – FR – 72 OVR- 6'6”, which hopefully will negate him some. Very good low post defender, very good rebounder. 5.4 ppg/7.0 rpg

C Perry Michaud – FR – 55 OVR - 7'2” so he has some good size. Average in the post, good inside shot, but a poor rebounder. 4.7 ppg/2.2 rpg.

We'll start in a zone but we have to be careful of Bennett in this one. Our team unity is up to 53, theirs is 42.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="7%"> SCST
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 21
</td> <td width="7%"> 12
</td> <td width="68%"> No defense in this game! SC State has made 3 3-pointers, Bennett is 2-2. But Hayes is way better than Michaud who has poor defensive skills, and Bain has great skills but just cannot control a good PF like Coleman who has 5 inches on him.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 25
</td> <td width="7%"> 17
</td> <td width="68%"> Another SC State time out. I'm a bit worried about how our backups will do, starters are staying out a bit longer.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 10:35
</td> <td width="10%"> 32
</td> <td width="7%"> 25
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups coming in now. Bennett is 4-4 from 3 and they have 2 other made 3 pointers. Not really sure the zone is the answer here heh.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 37
</td> <td width="7%"> 25
</td> <td width="68%"> Another SC State time out. Shepherd was able to draw Michaud's 2^nd foul so he's out for awhile which has opened things up in the paint for Cruz.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 44
</td> <td width="7%"> 37
</td> <td width="68%"> We allow 6 straight to let SC State back into it, before calling a timeout and getting our starters back out there.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">

</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 61
</td> <td width="7%"> 42
</td> <td width="68%"> We had a 51-42 lead, drew foul #2 on Bain, and they sat bennett. We rolled the rest of the half.


Bennett is 6-7 from 3 for them. He has 18 points. They are 9-21 from 3 which would normally be deadly. They just have no answers for our inside game.


Coleman has 17 points/10 boards. Hayes has 16 points. Alston has 13.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 70
</td> <td width="7%"> 51
</td> <td width="68%"> Coleman continues to score seemingly at will. They had cut it down to 16 thanks to some bad turnovers on our part, but we've got it back up nearer to 20 again.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 78
</td> <td width="7%"> 58
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 83
</td> <td width="7%"> 65
</td> <td width="68%"> They'd had it down to 15 but can't seem to get it any lower than that. They just burned a timeout. Backups arestill in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 85
</td> <td width="7%"> 65
</td> <td width="68%"> All starters but Coleman back out. Coleman is still a bittired.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 88
</td> <td width="7%"> 73
</td> <td width="68%"> Coleman is back in.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

Great win over a previously undefeated team in MEAC play.

NC A&T 100
South Carolina State 82

THOMAS COLEMAN, BITCHES.

They made 15 threes but it just didn't matter. We ran them off the court, 66 points in the paint, 15 free throws. Bennett had a monster game for them with 32 points on 8-16 three pointers, but our guy was better. See below.

Alston: 15 points/8 assists
Ewing: 11 points/7 assists
Shiloh: 2 points
Coleman: 35 points/15 boards
Hayes: 18 points/10 boards

Cruz has 9 points/9 boards off the bench. Coleman's performance was just over the top good. 15-22 from the field, 5-8 from the line.

[Radii]

February 1, 2010

Howard (9-14, 5-3 MEAC) at NC A&T (9-10, 5-3 MEAC)

Scouting

Here's a chance to get back to .500 overall.

PG Julius Hearn – SR – 61 OVR – 9.1 ppg – terrible shooter, but good speed and ball handling abilities, we'll look to stop him from driving.

SG Torrance Timothy – JR – 64 OVR – 11.4 ppg, an average 3 point shooter, average defender, average speed and driving ability. Quite average everywhere heh.

SF Curtis White – SR – 61 OVR – 9.7 ppg – White is their best 3 point shooter.

PF Emanuel Anderson – FR – 66 OVR – Good low post defender, decent offensive skills and pretty good rebounder. 8.1 ppg/7.9 rpg. 6'7” so he gives up a good bit to Coleman.

C Adam Walker – JR – 60 OVR – Good inside, good rebounder, not as good a defender as Anderson.6 ppg/4.4rpg. Only 6'8” so we've got a good height edge.

We seem to be dominating in the 2-3 zone so yeah, easy choice against a team with just one shooter.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="7%"> HOW
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 13
</td> <td width="7%"> 21
</td> <td width="68%"> We're struggling to get out in transition against these guys and struggling in the half court offense too. Backups are in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 27
</td> <td width="7%"> 38
</td> <td width="68%"> Ugh, we had the lead down to 6... their SF White is killing us. He has 20 points and is making us rethink the zone heh. Starters back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">

</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 42
</td> <td width="7%"> 48
</td> <td width="68%"> They're shooting 59%, including 6/14 from 3, White is killing us with 22 points. Coleman leads us with 9.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 55
</td> <td width="7%"> 68
</td> <td width="68%"> Very frustrating,we kept the lead at 6 most of the way so far, but never could get it below. Offensive rebounds arehurting us a lot. Backups are in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 72
</td> <td width="7%"> 81
</td> <td width="68%"> We had it down to 6 again, they just made a 3, and we get our starters back in for the finish.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

We got the lead down to 3, 85-82 and Ewing had a 3 to tie with about 45 seconds left, but he missed and they made their free throws.

Howard 89
NC A&T 82

Tough loss at home coming off a few wins in a row. They had two shooters that were huting us, we switched to man to man for a bit in the second half and they just get the ball inside too easily then, so we ended up just taking our chances with their shooters, who came up big when it counted.

Alston: 17 points/6 assists
Ewing: 9 points
Shiloh: 2 points
Coleman: 13 points/11 boards
Hayes: 15 points/6 boards

Cruz: 12 points
Shepherd: 8 points

A bit lacking in the game description here, as I found out after I started the game that I needed to be ready to go out at 6:30 and had to rush to get this one done in time.

[Radii]

February 6, 2010

Coppin State(7-16, 4-5 MEAC) at NC A&T (9-11, 5-4 MEAC)

Scouting

We have to stop losing home games!

PG Luke Snipes – SO – 66 OVR – Average jump shooter, good speed but poor quickness. Great defender and good driving ability. We'll let him shoot 3's all day. 6.0 ppg.

SG Walt Killingsworth – SO – 66 OVR Pretty good driving ability but justan average shooter. 6 ppg.

SF Ethan Kennedy – SR – 59 OVR - Best 3point shooter on the team by a lot. That's about all he's good for. 4.6 ppg.

PF Eddie Hayden – JR – 57 OVR – 6'7”, 5.5 ppg/5.1 rpg. Not very good at all.

C Ceslovas Kucinskas – JR – 60 OVR – Only 6'8” Poor post defence, slightly above average rebounding. Good inside shot and good strength. 9.6 ppg/8.0 rpg

They pretty much have no depth inside so we hope to run them over with Hayes and Coleman and Cruz and Shepherd. We'll play a zone and hope it works better than it did vs Howard.
<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="7%"> CSU
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:25
</td> <td width="10%"> 12
</td> <td width="7%"> 18
</td> <td width="68%"> They have 4 3's already and then a couple easy baskets inside, two off turnovers. We're doing ok but turning it over a bit too frequently.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 17
</td> <td width="7%"> 24
</td> <td width="68%"> They've hit 6 3's now as our backups come in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 30
</td> <td width="7%"> 36
</td> <td width="68%"> Starters are back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 3:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 39
</td> <td width="7%"> 38
</td> <td width="68%"> Finally we make something good happen. They score to go up 8. Coleman gets a bucket and is fouled down low. He misses the free throw but Shiloh grabs the board, goes back up and gets fouled. He makes both his free throws. They miss a jumper, and we get Ewing for an open 3. They miss another jumper, and we get out on the break after the board and Alston gives us the lead with a dunk in transition!
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 54
</td> <td width="7%"> 45
</td> <td width="68%"> We just went on an absolute tear to finish off the half. We got their big men in foul trouble and they have zero depth so we dominate inside with their bigs sitting. Also as they stopped making every 3 they took we were able to fast break quite a bit more.


Alston, Ewing and Coleman all have 10 points. Hayes has 7. We have a massive 22-10 rebounding edge. They are 7-19 from 3. Kennedy is 3-6 which I expect. The others are 4-13 which is a bit higher percentage than I'd expect.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 16:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 63
</td> <td width="7%"> 48
</td> <td width="68%"> We scored the first 9 points of the 2^nd half and have pulled out to a pretty big lead. They drain a 3 to end our run.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:40
</td> <td width="10%"> 69
</td> <td width="7%"> 50
</td> <td width="68%"> They burn a time out. We are just killing them inside, and to top it off, Ewing is making his open jumpers today, so when they zone it up to try to stop our inside game, Ewing is making his 3's.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 79
</td> <td width="7%"> 59
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are in. Coleman and Hayes are having great games, Ewing and Alston not far behind them.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 8:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 82
</td> <td width="7%"> 68
</td> <td width="68%"> A 3 and a couple open jumpers and Coppin State is trying to make it a game down the stretch. We slow it down so that they can't.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

We push the lead back up to 19 with 5 minutes left and sim it out to the end.

NC A&T 107
Coppin State 92

Heh, we just outran them today. They hit 15 3 pointers but that was out of 45 total and we did a good job running and getting them in foul trouble so that we could manhandle them on the offensive end.

Alston: 12 points/7 assists
Ewing: 25 points (5-9 from 3)
Shiloh: 4 points
Coleman: 21 points/12 boards
Hayes: 18 points/15 boards

[Radii]

We've just passed the halfway point of the conference season. Here's how things look right now:

1. SC State 8-2
2. Hampton 8-2
3. Delaware State 8-3
4. Howard 7-3
5. Morgan State 6-4
6. NC A&T 6-4
7. Norfolk State 4-5
8. Coppin State 4-6
9. Bethune-Cookman 3-7
10. Florida A&M 2-7
11. Winston Salem-State 2-8
12. MD-Eastern Shore 2-9


We're 10-11 overall. I still have a lot of confidence as we've finished very strong each of the last two seasons. We play Hampton next and then our final 7 games are against teams we've already played. Since I don't think any of them really have talent advantages over us, I hope I've learned enough to take advantage of my strengths in any rematches.

Also, I'd run through a rather lofty list of goals for the season. Lets see how we feel about them halfway through the conference schedule:

1) Win a non-conference tournament(completed already, hooray!)
2) Sign a world recruit - No change, depends on recruiting.
3) Go an entire season with no unhappy players - Still doing fine here but we are down to 3 pep talks left. I
4) Coach a conference player of the year - I'm unsure here. Bennett for SC State is putting up 19 points a game and Floyd of Winston-Salem State has 17.7 points per game. Ewing is 4th in the league with 16. Coleman is 5th with 15.8 ppg, and he's also leading the league in rebounds with 11.7 rebounds/game. So it seems like its going to come down to higher raw scoring output, or whether the large number of rebounds + good scoring is enough.

5) Coach a team to a winning record - If we finish 5-3 we'd finish the regular season 15-14. Assuming tournament play counts towards that record/goal, we either need to go 5-3 and win a tournament game, or go 6-2 in the regular season.
6) Coach a team to 20 wins - Highly unlikely as we only have 10 wins with 8 games left. 7-1 finish + winning the conference tournament would do it.
7) Coach a team to a conference championship - I am actually unsure if this is regular season or tournament. I still think we have a decent shot at winning the tournament, despite the fact that we match up poorly against a couple teams.
8) Coach a team to an NCAA Tournament bid - See #7

So really not a lot has changed with these goals, except that the 20 win goal seems pretty damn unlikely.

[Radii]

February 8, 2010

Hampton (10-9, 8-2 MEAC) at NC A&T (10-11, 6-4 MEAC)

Scouting

Hampton has won the MEAC regular season title each of the last two years and won the conference tournament last year. Hampton has the #2 offense in the league behind us, but they also have the #3 defense, where our defense is one of the worst.

PG Brandon Tunnell – JR – 65 OVR – Classic point guard. Good speed, handling and passing, average scoring ability. 9.9 ppg/4.4 apg

SG Vincent Simpson – SR – 64 OVR- I remember this name from last year which is always a bad sign. Not a great shooter but good speed and quickness, good defense and good in transition. 11.8 ppg

SF John Ntoko – SR – 60 OVR – Not someone to worry about in any way. 3.2 ppg.

PF Michael Freeman – SR – 73 OVR – 6'9” - Great low post offense and inside ability. Good rebounder. Will be a tough challenge for Coleman obviously. 15.7ppg/7.8 rpg. Two time 1^st team all-conference performer.

C Milade Lola-Charles – JR – 62 OVR – very strong defensive rebounder and low post defender. Only 4.4 ppg/5.5 rpg, virtually no offensive ability.


This is the first team I've looked at in conference play and said “I think they're better than us.” they like to press and run, and how we handle their press and run with them(we're clearly not going to try to slow it down, if they can outrun us, they win) will dictate the game.

My big edge this year that I have never had before is speed out of my backups. This is a team that my starters can hang with but the backups get destroyed. The speed and ball handling I have out of Works and Colter, and Shiloh if I need to drop him to 2^nd string, should be huge.

Oh yea their team unity is awesome. 62, and again we are much better off there than ever before, we're at 55.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="7%"> HAM
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 16:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 7
</td> <td width="7%"> 5
</td> <td width="68%"> Shiloh commits two stupid reach fouls early and comes out. Tunnell commits one stupid reach and one foul as Alston is driving by him and has to come out. Advantage A&T.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 9
</td> <td width="7%"> 14
</td> <td width="68%"> We commit a couple turnovers against their press and they run their offense to perfection against us, easy baskets.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 17
</td> <td width="7%"> 14
</td> <td width="68%"> We draw foul #2 on Freeman and that seems to open the floodgates for us. A very quick 8-0 run has us back on top.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 17
</td> <td width="7%"> 16
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 27
</td> <td width="7%"> 26
</td> <td width="68%"> They go on a 10-2 run and lead 26-19 mainly because we commit some dumb turnovers , both against the press and out past the 3 point line allowing them to get easy layups. We're able to settle down and go on a 8-0 run ourselves to go back ahead. Game of runs, eh?
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 27
</td> <td width="7%"> 26
</td> <td width="68%"> Starters back in
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 2:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 33
</td> <td width="7%"> 32
</td> <td width="68%"> Our run got up to 14-0 and we led 33-26. Two straight 3's and its down to 33-32. I just had to call a time out with 2 seconds left to get the ball up court. I don't want the turnover to allow them to get on an 8+ point run and get the lead back that way.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">

</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 37
</td> <td width="7%"> 34
</td> <td width="68%"> We have an open 3 from Ewing and then a board by Hayes to try to extend the lead in the final 10 seconds but cannot convert either.


Outstanding first half of basketball. This seems like the type of game where us getting the crowd behind us once or twice in the 2^nd half could give us the edge we need, a very close game.


They are 4-17 from 3 and only 15-39 overall. We're 14-30 from the field but 9-15 from the FT line, where we always seem to end up WAY more than our opponents.


Alston has 11, Hayes 8, Coleman 8. Their SG Simpson, the one I said “oh no I remember his name” has 13 points to lead them.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 16:10
</td> <td width="10%"> 41
</td> <td width="7%"> 40
</td> <td width="68%"> Hayes just came out with an injury. Uhoh.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 54
</td> <td width="7%"> 50
</td> <td width="68%"> Hayes just has a minor injury and can come back in. After a huge 3 from the corner by Ewing to give us a 4 point lead Hampton calls a time out. I get my backups in, except I put Shiloh at SF, his speed will help the backups break the press, and Hayes is in at Center.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:10
</td> <td width="10%"> 56
</td> <td width="7%"> 60
</td> <td width="68%"> They go on a 10-2 run, Hayes is totally ineffective and we just can't manage anything, while they drain 2 threes and seem to score pretty easily. Starters are in for the duration.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 2:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 66
</td> <td width="7%"> 68
</td> <td width="68%"> After some back and forth we finally get a stop and cut the lead down to 2. they had Simpson on the bench, and he's back in now so we'll see if he continues to kill us down the stretch.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 68
</td> <td width="7%"> 73
</td> <td width="68%"> Heh, Simpson drains a 3. We fail to scoreon our end, and Simpson getsan assist on a dunk... great. We get a basket from Cruz to cut it back to 5, their ball.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 68
</td> <td width="7%"> 73
</td> <td width="68%"> We force Ntoko, their worst shooter, to take a 3, and get Hayes an easy look from 2 feet out that he just dinks into the front rim. I guess his injury?
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:35
</td> <td width="10%"> 71
</td> <td width="7%"> 75
</td> <td width="68%"> We foul them, not wanting them to be able to burn clock down under 20 seconds. They make them both. Ewing breaks their press and gets to the hoop, where he's fouledby Simpson and makes his shot! 3 point play! We full court press and they throw a bad pass that sails out of bounds untouched. Our ball!
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:29
</td> <td width="10%"> 73
</td> <td width="7%"> 76
</td> <td width="68%"> Coleman scores right away, and we foul after the inbounds pass. Simpson makes the first, misses the second but their center, Lola-Charles, gets the rebound. We foul him right away. That's still only our 9^th foul so its 1 and 1. They miss the front end and we grab the board.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 73
</td> <td width="7%"> 78
</td> <td width="68%"> UGGGGGGGGGGH. Alston tries to get around his man and create an open shot and he loses control of the ball. Turnover and we have to foul.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:11
</td> <td width="10%"> 76
</td> <td width="7%"> 79
</td> <td width="68%"> Ewing makes a quick 3! Still not over... We foul again. They make the first and miss the second, so we've got one last shot to tie.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
I'm unable to get Ewing open, he takes a heavily contested shot that is off the front rim.

Hampton 79
NC A&T 76

I'm not sure we can play better against these guys. Simpson absolutely destroyed our zone, but, most of the time we played man defense, they got layups. We're simply an average at best defensive team that plays better in a zone I think.

Simpson scored 33 for them, 6-13 from 3 and 12-25 overall.

Alston: 13 points/6 assists
Ewing: 15 points/7 assists
Shiloh: 0 points
Coleman: 14 points/14 rebounds
Hayes: 10 points/9 rebounds

Cruz: 11 points/5 rebounds

Hayes being hurt and ineffective in the final 10 minutes really hurt us. Coleman and Hayes both had 10 points early in the second half and were not able to do much more after Hayes went down.

We're 10-12 with 7 games left now. We need a 5-2 finish to the season. Our next two games are critical, at MD-Eastern Shore and at Morgan State. 5 of our final 7 are on the road, but I think they are all winnable.

[Radii]

February 13, 2010

NC A&T (10-12, 6-5 MEAC) at MD-Eastern Shore (7-14, 2-9 MEAC)

We only played the first half against these guys at home. We had a 55-23 lead and simmed out the rest of the game. Here's hoping for similar results.

I do make one lineup change today. I had been starting Shiloh at SF most of the season, hoping that having 3 speedy guards would help my transition game, and hoping Shiloh could be a defensive stopper with a 81 defense rating. He's crashing the boards so he doesn't help in transition,and his defensive awareness is awful so his defense doesn't seem to help as much as I'd like, espicially now that I've switched to a 2-3 zone. So I move 6'6” Robert Johnson into the starting lineup at SF. He won't do much either but he's a better rebounder and gives me more size in the back of that zone. Shiloh is my backup SG now.
<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="7%"> UMES
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 10
</td> <td width="7%"> 17
</td> <td width="68%"> What a difference home court makes, eh? We fall behind 7-0 and 9-2, cut the lead down to 11-9, then allow 6 straight to fall back by 8 again. Ewing just went 1-2 from the line to make it 17-10. Backups are in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 18
</td> <td width="7%"> 20
</td> <td width="68%"> They make a 3 to go up 20-10 before we get rolling. Blocked shots on UMES' last two offensive sets have led to easy baskets.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 19
</td> <td width="7%"> 24
</td> <td width="68%"> We call a timeout to get the starters back in, as UMES has run off 4 straight and our run is over with the backups.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 2:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 29
</td> <td width="7%"> 28
</td> <td width="68%"> Our first lead of the game. Ewing has hit a 3 and drawn a foul, sending him to the line for a couple. Coleman just got a 3 point play, his free throw giving us the lead.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 33
</td> <td width="7%"> 34
</td> <td width="68%"> We shoot absolutely terribly, but draw a ton of fouls and make our living at the free throw line.


Ewing has 13, Coleman 7. Hayes only has 2 points and seems like he may not be full strength with his injury(he's listed as day to day for another couple days).
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 16:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 41
</td> <td width="7%"> 49
</td> <td width="68%"> They've hit 3 3's already and start out the second half on fire. I sit Ewing who is more tired than anyone else. Shiloh is in for him early.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 47
</td> <td width="7%"> 49
</td> <td width="68%"> 6 straight points from Alston in transition, one bucket off a steal and two off long rebounds, and UMES burns a time out.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:40
</td> <td width="10%"> 53
</td> <td width="7%"> 52
</td> <td width="68%"> We get back out in the lead by 1. Backups are in, plus Ewing at SG. They've cooled off quite a bit to fuel our transition offense.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 10:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 59
</td> <td width="7%"> 56
</td> <td width="68%"> After a 3 by Ewing and a 3 point play by Shepherd UMES burns another timeout. They've picked up a couple buckets themselves and its just a 1 possession game w/ 10 minutes left.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 8:05
</td> <td width="10%"> 59
</td> <td width="7%"> 64
</td> <td width="68%"> Two three's and an easy inside shot and its all of a sudden a 5 point deficit. I sub in Shiloh for Ewing to rest up all my starters for the final 6 minutes or so.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 59
</td> <td width="7%"> 66
</td> <td width="68%"> Starters back in. Ugh.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 63
</td> <td width="7%"> 68
</td> <td width="68%"> We've got it back down to 5 with the ball.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 3:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 70
</td> <td width="7%"> 70
</td> <td width="68%"> Ewing burns his man for a layup. After they score, Ewing hits an open 3 pointer, and after a missed shot we get Hayes a good look inside that he's able to convert on. Tie game!
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 2:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 72
</td> <td width="7%"> 70
</td> <td width="68%"> After another miss, we set up our offense quickly and Ewing burns his man again for a layup. He's having a great day. The fact that UMES has a 6'7 SF on him in man to man doesn't hurt.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 77
</td> <td width="7%"> 71
</td> <td width="68%"> We put them on the line where they go 1-2. we burn most of the shot clock on our possession before getting coleman a 10 foot jumper that he misses. Hayes has position on his man though and auto-tips it in. After a miss, Ewing pump fakes, gets his man in the air, steps to the left and buries an open 3! We go up by 6.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 77
</td> <td width="7%"> 74
</td> <td width="68%"> Davis buries a 3 on their end... back to 3 point game.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 80
</td> <td width="7%"> 74
</td> <td width="68%"> We burn the shot clock a bit, then work an inside out game with Coleman and Ewing. Ewing makes another 3, he is absolutely on fire.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

They make a 2 pointer to make it 80-76. We've only got one great free throw shooter, and its Ewing, so I keep the ball in his hands the rest of the way.

NC A&T 86
MD-Eastern Shore 78

We shot 41 free throws in this game. Ewing shot 17 of them. 8 of those were in the final minute but still...

Ewing had a career day today with 36 points. 5-13 from 3 and 15-17 from the free throw line.

Alston: 13 points/4 assists
Ewing: 36 points
Johnson: 1 point/4 boards
Coleman: 13 points/12 boards
Hayes: 11 points/10 boards

Shepherd: 7 points/5 boards

[Radii]

February 15, 2010

NC A&T (11-12, 7-5 MEAC) at Morgan State(8-14, 6-6 MEAC)

Our first game against Morgan State was an absolute heartbreaker. We trailed by 15 at half, came charging back in the 2^nd half and took a 1 point lead with 15 seconds to go. Just needing to play good defense for 15seconds, Ewing committed a reach in foul against their best player, who made two free throws with 5 seconds left. We lost 81-80.

These guys have two good scorers. SF Ameer Ali scored 22,and SG Reggie Holmes scored 23. Holmes is a big time 3 point threat. We got a lot of points in transition and hope to do the same thing here.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="7%"> MSU
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 14
</td> <td width="7%"> 9
</td> <td width="68%"> Frenzied pace early. Ewing and Alston are flying up and down the court. Its going to be their shooters vs our transition game, even more than usual today. The last time we played these guys we managed 29 first half points. I suspect we will top that today.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 24
</td> <td width="7%"> 22
</td> <td width="68%"> They go on a bit of a run themselves and only trail by 2 as the backups come in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:10
</td> <td width="10%"> 27
</td> <td width="7%"> 27
</td> <td width="68%"> We burn a time out as they've scored 5 straight to tie it up. Works and Shiloh are just not the same as Alston and Ewing, despite the speed. Of course I knew that already, its just amazing how big the difference is sometimes.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:25
</td> <td width="10%"> 32
</td> <td width="7%"> 37
</td> <td width="68%"> They are on fire vs the backups. Their #2 scorer, Ali, not supposed to be a big 3 point threat, is 2-4 and they're shooting quite well. Starters are back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 48
</td> <td width="7%"> 50
</td> <td width="68%"> Crazy, crazy half. They are 5-12 from 3 and shooting 50% overall. We're also shooting 50%.


Ali is just killing us. He has 18 points, 7-11 shooting(3-5 from 3). Holmes, their bigger threat, only has 11points. This is likely due to me shading over on Holmes,leaving Ali open more often.


Ewing is keeping up though, hehas 16, including 2-5 from 3. Coleman has 9 points/8 boards.


Stat of the gamethough: Morgon State -14 second chance points. Rebound guys!! We actually have a nice rebound edge, but they have 8 offensive boards and 14 second chance points that is killing us.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:55
</td> <td width="10%"> 64
</td> <td width="7%"> 56
</td> <td width="68%"> We open the half on a very quick 16-6 run. They don't have any offensive boards yet. Ali has all 6 of their points, no one else is hitting a thing.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 70
</td> <td width="7%"> 59
</td> <td width="68%"> 3 more from Ali for them, but 6 more for us. Another Morgan State time out. We're hoping to build as big a lead as possible before the backups come in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:10
</td> <td width="10%"> 78
</td> <td width="7%"> 66
</td> <td width="68%"> I'll take a 12 point lead for the backups to hang on to. Note to backups: Run lots and lots of clock.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 78
</td> <td width="7%"> 70
</td> <td width="68%"> Nice job burning clock, backups. It was still 78-66 at the 7 minute mark. Morgan State scored on its last two possessions to cut it to 8. Starters are back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 3:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 80
</td> <td width="7%"> 77
</td> <td width="68%"> We've been committing fouls like crazy, and aside from one Ewing layup, doing nothing on offense. They're on an 11-2 run in the last 8 minutes now. We just burned a time out to quiet their crowd after a steal and layup cut it to 3.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 84
</td> <td width="7%"> 82
</td> <td width="68%"> I get Coleman a good look inside after the timeout. They get a Holmes 3. I get Ewing a layup our next time down. They get a Holmes 2. We lead by 2 with the ball.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 84
</td> <td width="7%"> 82
</td> <td width="68%"> I get Coleman another good look inside but he can't hit this one. He does commit a foul going after the rebound. Its our 7^th and they are shooting free throws. They miss the 1^st one and we rebound!
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

The final 1:20 is a bit nerve wracking. We get Ewing a really good mid-range look that he misses, a 18 footer he almost never misses when open. They take their time and get Holmes a midrange look, but Hayes is out helping and blocks it. We get the ball with 45 seconds to go. I run a play out of the motion offense that takes a good bit of time to develop. With 5 seconds left on the shot clock, Hayes gets the ball inside, covered but he's got to shoot... its blocked. Coleman picks it up and puts it up with 2 seconds left on the shot clock. It's blocked as well. They grab the ball before the shot clock expires and push it up court with ~10 seconds left. Alston is tight on Nance, their PG, and Ewing is on Holmes. Nance holds the ball until the 4 second mark, he passes to Holmes, who goes up with Ewing right in his face for a 3 pointer. The shot hits the front iron and is NO GOOD! Time expires before any sort of rebound.

NC A&T 84
Morgan State 82

Our two games with Morgan State have both been decided on the final possession, each team with a shot at the buzzer to win the game. 81-80 and 84-82. I think its safe to say that I do NOT want to see this team in the MEAC tournament.

We end up with a big edge on the boards, 40-29. They only got 2 offensive boards in the 2^nd half.

For Morgan State, Ali has 27, Holmes has 20. They are a combined 6-16 from 3, 20-45 overall.

Alston: 18 points/4 assists
Ewing: 30 points/6 assists
Johnson: 6 points/7 boards
Coleman: 15 points/9 boards
Hayes: 7 points/11 boards

Only 8 points total from the bench. WHEW.

[Radii]

Quick standings update:

1. Hampton 11-2
2. SC State10-3
3. Delaware State 9-4
4. Howard 9-4
5. NC A&T 8-5
6. Morgan State 6-7
7. Coppin State 6-7
8. Bethune-Cookman 5-8
9. Winston-Salem State 5-8
10. Norfolk State 4-8
11. Florida A&M 2-10
12. MD-Eastern Shore 2-11


Our next two games are vs Florida A&M, who is 2-21 overall, and at Norfolk State. We won both easily the first time we played.

First step is obviously to come through and win these two games we're supposed to win. If we do,then we will have 10 conference wins and a couple games with two of the other top teams in the league, SC State and Howard, with a chance to get up pretty close to the top of the standings. We don't play Hampton again and probably can't catch them. But it would be really nice to earn the 2 or 3 seed in the conference tournament so that we don't have to play Hampton til the finals.

[Radii]

February 20, 2010

Florida A&M (2-21, 2-10 MEAC) at NC A&T (12-12, 8-5 MEAC)

We crushed these guys at their place, simming it out with a 25 point lead with 10 minutes to go.

Our overall roster strength has gone up to 68. Also, our team unity is 61, theirs is 35.
<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="7%"> FAMU
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 17:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 5
</td> <td width="7%"> 3
</td> <td width="68%"> Two quick fouls from Hayes. I put Cruz in for him.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 18
</td> <td width="7%"> 13
</td> <td width="68%"> Their average shooting SG, Harper, starts out hot and has 8 points. They burn a timeout when we go on a run that puts us up 5.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 23
</td> <td width="7%"> 17
</td> <td width="68%"> Our backups are in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 31
</td> <td width="7%"> 17
</td> <td width="68%"> They've burned two timeouts as our backups have put up 8 straight. Long rebounds and easy buckets...
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 39
</td> <td width="7%"> 25
</td> <td width="68%"> Starters are back in. Great run by the backups here.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 54
</td> <td width="7%"> 43
</td> <td width="68%"> We committed some stupid turnovers and let them cut the lead under 10, but Coleman and Alston kept us running and we are doing fine at the half.


Harper has 11 for them, 3-5 from 3. The rest of the team is 3-18 from 3.


On our end, Ewing has 14, Coleman 12, Alston 10 for the bulk of our scoring.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
We kept the lead at around 10-13 until it was 63-53. Then we completely took over the game. I had backups ready to come in at the 13 minute mark, and the clock just never stopped. I don't know why they didn't call a timeout until the 9:50 mark but it was just miss, fast break dunk, miss, fast breaklayup, miss, secondary break dunk for coleman... over and over and over. I quick sim it with 9:50 to go in the game and an 87-58 lead.

NC A&T 116
Florida A&M 82

Apparently the CPU when simming shows no mercy and kept piling on.

Alston: 27 points/8 assists
Ewing: 25 points/3 assists
Johnson: 4 points/6 boards
Coleman: 24 points/14 boards
Hayes: 4 points/6 boards (foul problems)

We complete the rather easy season sweep of Florida A&M, and we now have a winning record overall for the first time since we were 5-4.

[Radii]

February 22, 2010

Norfolk State(7-19, 4-9 MEAC) at NC A&T (13-12, 9-5 MEAC)

We beat Norfolk State by 44 on the road after leading 64-26 at halftime and simming the game out.
<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="7%"> NSU
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 23
</td> <td width="7%"> 18
</td> <td width="68%"> Hayes scored 11 of our first 13 points. He came out around the 14 minute mark. The rest of the starters are out now. Alston has 6 in transition and Coleman 4. They have made 4 three pointers already and led 18-15 before we scored the last 8.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 31
</td> <td width="7%"> 25
</td> <td width="68%"> It was 31-21, they've scored the last 4 in a row. Starters come back into the game.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 3:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 43
</td> <td width="7%"> 27
</td> <td width="68%"> Coleman has 2 fouls so I sit him. The starters, especially Hayes, have picked up right where they left off.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 56
</td> <td width="7%"> 38
</td> <td width="68%"> We scored 7 in a row to go up 50-27, then they hit 3 straight 3's on us to keep us from blowing it wide open. We finish strong though and its pretty much over.


Hayes is having a monster game. 9-11 from the floor, 5-5 from the line, he has 23 points already. Ewing has 11 after being scoreless until the final 7 minutes. They are 7-17 from 3 which is the only difference between the 18 point lead we have here and the 40 point lead we had in the first game.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 17:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 58
</td> <td width="7%"> 44
</td> <td width="68%"> They score the first 6 of the half before Hayes gets us on the board with an offensive rebound and a putback.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 79
</td> <td width="7%"> 55
</td> <td width="68%"> They go cold and we get out on the break and blow the game open. Alston and Hayes are both up over 25 points now, if Alston can't get a layup on the break then Hayes can dominate his man inside. Pretty simple!
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
The lead is still 25 with about 9 minutes left. I go ahead and sim it out.

NC A&T 108
Norfolk State 75

Alston: 25 points/8 assists
Ewing: 11 points/4 assists
Johnson: 3 points/5 boards
Coleman: 6 points/11 boards
Hayes: 35 points/12 boards

[Radii]

Update with 1 week left in the season:

1. Hampton 12-3
2. SC State 11-4
3. Howard 11-4
4. NC A&T 10-5
5. Delaware State 9-6
6. Coppin State 8-7
7. Winston-Salem State 7-8
8. Morgan State 7-8
9. Bethune-Cookman 6-9
10. Norfolk State 4-10
11. Florida A&M 2-12
12. MD-Eastern Shore 2-13

Our final 3 games:

at SC State
at Howard
at Winston-Salem State

We beat SC State and Winston Salem State both at home. Howard led pretty much the entire game against us and beat us by 7. We are 14-12 overall now, so we need to win 1 more game to finish the regular season with a winning record. If we could win 2 of them then we finish with a winning record regardless of the postseason. And, shoot for the stars, if we win all 3 and win the conference tournament, we could still get to 20 wins.

Heh, but really, these 3 teams on the road, if we can win 2 I'll be really really happy.

[Radii]

Looks like I've come down with the flu or something like it, which is bad for me but great for my odds of finishing up the 09/10 season today :P

February 25, 2010

NC A&T (14-12, 10-5 MEAC) at SC State (13-14, 11-4 MEAC)

We beat these guys 100-82 at home in a crazy fast paced game... crazy fast paced even for us. They have the likely MEAC player of the year in SG Carrio Bennett, a sharpshooting junior who hit 8 3's and scored 32 against us in the first game. But they had no answer for our transition game and Thomas Coleman had a career 35 point/15 board day.

One of our big advantages is that we got them into foul trouble early. They have a good starting group but absolutely no depth.

I'm a bit worried about trying to outgun this team in their house, but I don't think we really have any other options. Our team unity is now up to 61. Theirs is 46.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="7%"> SCSU
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 15
</td> <td width="7%"> 9
</td> <td width="68%"> Hayes is off to another great start, he has 8 already, 4 on offensive rebounds/2^nd chance opportunities. They have 3 3-pointers.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 20
</td> <td width="7%"> 9
</td> <td width="68%"> They burn another time out. They appear to be cold from 3. We haven't drawn any fouls on them at all this game either which is odd... I felt like I couldn't have won the previous meeting without putting their big men on the bench in foul trouble.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 27
</td> <td width="7%"> 14
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are in. They now have 4 3's and just recently made their first two point field goal. One of their many problems... Ewing is on fire today once again. He has 3 3's already to keep up with SC State's outside shooters.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 31
</td> <td width="7%"> 25
</td> <td width="68%"> They do a pretty good job getting open shots against my backups, making their fair share of them. I get 4 hard-earned points out of Shepherd, all on putbacks. They score 5 straight to get the lead down to 6 and I call a timeout to get the starters back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 33
</td> <td width="7%"> 30
</td> <td width="68%"> Bennett has 19 for them... we burn a timeout to cool him off.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 42
</td> <td width="7%"> 33
</td> <td width="68%"> They cut the lead to 1, 33-32, but we finished strong to retain a 9 point lead going into the locker room.


Bennett is really hurting us. He's 5-9 from 3 and has 20 points. But this isn't unusual when our opponents have good shooters.


Ewing has 15 and had a great half, 3-7 from 3 and 5-11 from the field overall. Hayes already has a double-double, 13 points/13 boards! Coleman has been a non-factor with only 2 points and 1 board.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:10
</td> <td width="10%"> 50
</td> <td width="7%"> 39
</td> <td width="68%"> They started off on a 6-2 run but we've scored 6 straight to keep our lead about the same.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:40
</td> <td width="10%"> 52
</td> <td width="7%"> 41
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 57
</td> <td width="7%"> 45
</td> <td width="68%"> The backups successfully burn clock, play good defense and hang on to the lead as the starters return to finish off the game.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
So this isn't the final you would expect to see in one of my games. But they just stayed cold and on the road I just saw no reason to force the issue late. We ended up outscoring them 7-4 in the final 13 minutes.

NC A&T 59
South Carolina State 45

We shot 38% but held them to a dismal 26%, including 6/40 from 3. They had 6 3's at the half. Bennett ended up with 24.

The final second half tally was NC A&T 17, SC State 12.

Alston: 12 points/2 assists
Ewing: 17 points/3 assists
Johnson: 0 points/9 boards
Coleman: 2 points/8 boards
Hayes: 19 points/19 boards

So close to 20/20 from Hayes.

We've now guaranteed ourselves a winning record in the regular season! If we can pull out one of these last two we guarantee a winning record no matter what happens in the postseason.

[Radii]

We play at Howard next. Top of the standings:

1. Hampton 13-3
2. SC State 12-5
3. Howard 12-4
4. NC A&T 11-5
5. Delaware State 10-6

Depending on how tiebreakers work we could still finish anywhere in the top 5, though first seems extremely unlikely. If we beat Howard then we create a 3 way tie for 2nd with one game to go in the season.

[Radii]

February 27, 2010

NC A&T (15-12, 11-5 MEAC) at Howard(16-15, 12-4 MEAC)

Huge late season game here. They have two guys that hurt us last time we played. SG Torrance Timothy is rated 64 OVR and is a average shooter all around. Unfortunately against our defense, average is enough. He scored 21 on us. The big threat though is SF Curtis White. He went 5-10 from 3 and 13-20 from the field and scored 31 on us.

They have talented, but small big men. We got them in foul trouble last time we played but it wasn't enough.
<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="7%"> HOW
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 7
</td> <td width="7%"> 14
</td> <td width="68%"> Ugh, not a very good start. Ewing has had two shots blocked and we've thrown the ball away twice. They've hit 2 3's and are running their offense well against us. I have a 3 from Ewing and a couple tough inside looks.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:40
</td> <td width="10%"> 13
</td> <td width="7%"> 14
</td> <td width="68%"> Whew, that was nice. We find Coleman inside for a bucket. They miss a shot and we get out on the break. Alston makes a bucket and is fouled. He misses his free throw, but Johnson gets the board and scores. A quick 6 points to keep this from becoming a hole we have to dig out of like last time.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 15
</td> <td width="7%"> 14
</td> <td width="68%"> And Coleman scores inside again and they burn a time out. 8-0 run in 1:30!
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 17
</td> <td width="7%"> 16
</td> <td width="68%"> UGH. Hayes scores in traffic and comes down with an injury. Cruz is in, no word on the injury yet. We need him inside.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 19
</td> <td width="7%"> 26
</td> <td width="68%"> They hit 4 straight jumpers, including 2 3's to go on a quick 10-2 run. Our backups are in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 31
</td> <td width="7%"> 31
</td> <td width="68%"> After howard pushes the lead back out to 8 points, 31-23, our defense tightens up and we have success pounding it inside. Cruz and Shepherd bring us back to even. We just need to get a lead on these guys and stop falling behind all the time. Starters are back in, including Hayes. We'll see how effective Hayes is.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 38
</td> <td width="7%"> 31
</td> <td width="68%"> When you're hot, you're hot. We're on a 15-0 run now. On our last possession Ewing pump faked, got his man up in the airand drove. I thought he had an open lane but another defender closed on him. I had already started to shoot and just hoped to draw a foul. Ewing instead does an incredibly acrobatic up and under move and the ball rolls around the rim and in. Like I said, when you're hot, you're hot. That kind of thing, espicially from Ewing, doesn't normally fall.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 47
</td> <td width="7%"> 52
</td> <td width="68%"> UGH. They go on an absolute tear to finish off the half. 4 3's in the final 5 minutes, plus a number of fast break baskets as we hit another little turnover spree.


They are 9-19 from 3 and 21-41 from the field, just killing us. They have 10 steals already and only 2 turnovers themselves. SG Timothy is 5-7 from 3 and has 21 points.


On our end Coleman has 12 points and Ewing has 10. We haven't succeeded on the break much at all. Also I think Hayes injury is having an effect. I'm going to pull him the rest of the game. I can't visibly tell that he's not elevating fully but he's just laying shots into the front of the rim that are usually very easy baskets for him.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 62
</td> <td width="7%"> 59
</td> <td width="68%"> They start the half with a 3, and take a 59-49 lead. We come roaring back with Alston, Coleman and Cruz all getting big baskets while they go cold temporarily.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 67
</td> <td width="7%"> 63
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are in. We've both cooled and slowed down a bit.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 71
</td> <td width="7%"> 66
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are slowing things down a bit and doing ok so far. A mid-range jumper from Shiloh and a close look from Webster(3^rd string center) have us up 5. Howard burns its next to last timeout.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 72
</td> <td width="7%"> 71
</td> <td width="68%"> We held a 72-68 lead for a number of possessions before White sunk a 3 for Howard,cutting our lead to 1. It is their ball right now, starters are coming back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 3:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 84
</td> <td width="7%"> 76
</td> <td width="68%"> We lead 78-76 after yet another 3 by Howard and they hit another short cold spell. We get Coleman going inside for 6 straight points, he is having a hell of a gamefor us and has helped push the lead up to 8.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 2:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 84
</td> <td width="7%"> 79
</td> <td width="68%"> We're in clock burning mode now. They made a 3, we used up some clock and got Cruz a great look, but he missed it. They come down and get an open jumper but miss, and we've got it back.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 84
</td> <td width="7%"> 81
</td> <td width="68%"> We get an open 15 foot jumper for Johnson but miss. They get out in transition and hit a layup fairly quickly.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:49
</td> <td width="10%"> 86
</td> <td width="7%"> 81
</td> <td width="68%"> Ewing with a pump fake, goes by his man and dumps it in to Cruz, who gets fouled on his shot. Cruz makes both free throws.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:28
</td> <td width="10%"> 86
</td> <td width="7%"> 84
</td> <td width="68%"> They have to work some clock but end up getting a 3. Knowing they'regoing to foul we get the ball to Ewing, our 92 rated FT shooter. He misses the front end.... Howard ball on the rebound.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:06.5
</td> <td width="10%"> 86
</td> <td width="7%"> 87
</td> <td width="68%"> We play man to man defense, willing to risk giving up a 2 to make sure there are no open 3 point shots. And they don't get anopen 3, but Timothy makes a contested 3 anyway. We rush the ball up to half court and call a time out.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:02.5
</td> <td width="10%"> 87
</td> <td width="7%"> 87
</td> <td width="68%"> I inbound to Alston, make a quick move towards the basket, feed Cruz(I'd rather it be Coleman but he was the inbound man at half court) Cruz goes hardto the basket and is fouled by SG Riley. The first free throw is GOOD! Tie game. Second one... no good. They launch a shot from half court that misses. OVERTIME.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> OT
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 87
</td> <td width="7%"> 87
</td> <td width="68%"> Starters are totally gassed. I start the backups in OT and tell them to stall til the 3 minute mark.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> OT
</td> <td width="9%"> 3:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 89
</td> <td width="7%"> 89
</td> <td width="68%"> They get a putback from Timothy who is having the game of a lifetime(37 points). I get a midrange jumper from Colter. A timeout is called and I go ahead and get my starters in. Hayes is in at center.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> OT
</td> <td width="9%"> 2:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 93
</td> <td width="7%"> 95
</td> <td width="68%"> After a couple back and fort possessions, we get a 3 point play from Alston to take the lead. They get an open 3 from Timothy to go right back up by 2.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> OT
</td> <td width="9%"> 2:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 95
</td> <td width="7%"> 95
</td> <td width="68%"> Ewing pump fakes, gets his man in the air and drives, drawing a foul on their center. Both free throws are good and itstied.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> OT
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 97
</td> <td width="7%"> 98
</td> <td width="68%"> After another immediate open 3 from Timothy on their end, we get Ewing a good look on our end and trail by 1.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> OT
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:48
</td> <td width="10%"> 99
</td> <td width="7%"> 101
</td> <td width="68%"> Alston gets a layup after they go 1-2 from the line following a foul. We force a miss on their end and are out in transition trying to take the lead. Johnson misses what seemed to be an easy layin going hard to the basket... they come down and make a jumper on their end and lead by 2. Our ball.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> OT
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:32
</td> <td width="10%"> 101
</td> <td width="7%"> 101
</td> <td width="68%"> Ewing gets a wide open 3 running off a great screen but misses short. Hayes is there for the rebound and the putback. Tie game, their ball.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> OT
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:19
</td> <td width="10%"> 101
</td> <td width="7%"> 101
</td> <td width="68%"> DONT FOUL. Hayes with a STUPID reach in to send them to the line for a 1-and-1. Oh, they miss the front end and we rebound! Good foul buddy.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> OT
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 101
</td> <td width="7%"> 101
</td> <td width="68%"> We get the ball to Coleman for a little 6 footer as time expires. No good. DOUBLE OT
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2OT
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 110
</td> <td width="7%"> 110
</td> <td width="68%"> We've made 4 field goals and had Robert Johnson go 1-2 from the line. They've had a 3 pointer, a 3 point play, a putback and a guy go 1-2 from the line. It ends up even, their ball,still tied.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2OT
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 110
</td> <td width="7%"> 112
</td> <td width="68%"> Ugh, they go up 2 after their SG gets an offensive board and putback. Hayes and Coleman, you two cannot let that happen!!
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2OT
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:57
</td> <td width="10%"> 111
</td> <td width="7%"> 112
</td> <td width="68%"> Alston draws a foul but can only make 1 free throw. Their ball up 1.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2OT
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:35
</td> <td width="10%"> 113
</td> <td width="7%"> 113
</td> <td width="68%"> We commit a dumb reach in,sending them to the line for 2(we're both in the double bonus by now). They make one,miss one, and Alston is out on the run. He's fouled goingto the hoop, ALMOST got a 3 point play opportunity, but does make both his free throws. Tied up, their ball.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 20T
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 114
</td> <td width="7%"> 113
</td> <td width="68%"> They run the shot clock down, Timothy takes a 3 pointer with about 8 seconds left in the game. Its no good and we're off on the run. Alston again drives by his man and gets fouled. That's 3 straight possessions where Riley fouls Alston in transition. He makes the first freethrow, misses the second, but a ¾ court shot is no good. WINNER
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

NC A&T 114
Howard 113

Double Overtime

WHEW. I'm exhausted after that game. After Ewing missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with the chance to put the game away in regulation, I thought we were toast. They made 18 3 pointers on the game, but we shot 55% from the floor on the game and shot 14 more free throws than them(31 vs 17).

They were led by two shooters:

Timothy: 45 points – 10/21 from 3, 17-33 from the field.
Riley: 37 points – 6/15 from 3, 15-27 from the field.

I hadn't even mentioned Riley pregame. He was injured in our first contest, White comes in off the bench for him, so white was a non-factor while Riley tore us up today.

Alston: 26 points/9 assists
Ewing: 20 points/4 assists
Johnson: 11 points/10 boards
Coleman: 20 points/10 boards
Hayes: 6 points/9 boards

Cruz: 14 points/12 boards

Not only was that a really, really exciting game for us, it guarantees that we will finish the year with a winning record, no matter what happens in the MEAC tournament.

[hoopsguy]

Congrats on picking up one of your goals in a really compelling game. Hope you can keep it going the rest of the way this season.

[rjolley]

Congrats on a great game. Love it when you can get an extremely competitive game like that. Just the way basketball should be.

[Radii]

Thanks for the comments guys :) Being able to generate games like that one is definitely one of the big things that makes this such a great console sports game. The intensity down the stretch and the flow of the game totally feels like a real game, its awesome.

[Radii]

Hampton continues to win and we can no longer finish 1^st in the regular season. We can still finish anywhere from 2^nd to 5^th. Since I'm not sure how tiebreakers work here I'm just going to play our last game and see where we end up :)

March 4, 2010

NC A&T (16-12, 12-5 MEAC) at Winston-Salem State(11-18, 7-10 MEAC)

I thought early in the year that WS State was going to challenge for the league title. They have been a disappointment. They have 3 good backcourt players, including the 2^nd leading scorer in the MEAC in Darius Floyd, at 18.7 ppg. He scored 25 against us last time we played.
<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="7%"> WSS
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 19:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 2
</td> <td width="7%"> 12
</td> <td width="68%"> They have 2 3's, and we've turned it over twice against their press already,and 3 times overall... 12 points in the first minute!? Ugh.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 16
</td> <td width="7%"> 19
</td> <td width="68%"> We fight our way back after we settle down and stop giving them easy looks. Fisher is killing us, 3 3's already. Ewing has 8 points though which has helped our run. Backups are in now.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 26
</td> <td width="7%"> 33
</td> <td width="68%"> The backups had a hard time keeping up, I slowed things down but you can't really tell. Floyd and Fisher are unstoppable... at least by me.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 30
</td> <td width="7%"> 42
</td> <td width="68%"> They just aren't missing any shots. This is the team I expected Winston Salem State to be,not some 7-10 team struggling for wins.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 39
</td> <td width="7%"> 60
</td> <td width="68%"> In the final two minutes we had 4 straight turnovers. Fisher has 25 points. 10-18 shooting, 5-11 from 3. Floyd has 16, 2-4 from 3/6-9 overall.


They have 11 steals and only 2 turnovers. As a result they've taken 10 more shots than us, and they're on fire. If we can stop turning the ball over we can play them even, but I don't know if a 21 point comeback is in the works here.


I've got 11 from Ewing and 13 from Hayes.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 54
</td> <td width="7%"> 72
</td> <td width="68%"> We get the lead under 20 for the first time in the 2^nd half.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 59
</td> <td width="7%"> 72
</td> <td width="68%"> They've gone completely cold for the first time this game and we've run off a good amount of points quickly. Still down 13 but we feel like we might be in it again.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 61
</td> <td width="7%"> 76
</td> <td width="68%"> They run off 4 straight and push the lead back up to 16. We've got to get our starters some rest, so the backups are in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 10:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 61
</td> <td width="7%"> 84
</td> <td width="68%"> Our backups haven't gotten the ball up to the rim yet. Two steals and a blocked shot, with two threes and a dunk on the other end.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 69
</td> <td width="7%"> 89
</td> <td width="68%"> We get Cruz some buckets, but its probably a bit much to ask our starters to erase a 20 point deficit in 6 minutes.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
HAH. At the 4 minute mark they go up 25 and I just want it to end :)

Winston-Salem State 107
NC A&T 77

They got 30 from Fisher and 28 from Floyd, their two star players. They had 19 steals and only 5 turnovers.

Alston: 10 points/6 assists
Ewing: 17 points/7 assists
Johnson: 1 point/4 boards
Coleman: 16 points/9 boards
Hayes: 15 points/9 boards

Cruz: 14 points

Letdown game? This is exactly the team I match up the worst against. They have numerous 3 point shooters, including two very good ones, they force turnovers and make it hard for you to run even when they miss 3 pointers. I really have no idea how we beat them the first time around after seeing this performance.

[Radii]

Final MEAC Standings

1. Hampton 14-4
2. Howard 13-5
3. NC A&T 12-6
4. SC State 12-6
5. Delaware State 11-7
6. Coppin State 10-8
7. Morgan State 9-9
8. Bethune-Cookman 8-10
9. Winston-Salem State 8-10
10. Norfolk State 7-11
11. MD-Eastern Shore 2-16
12. Florida A&M 2-16


We face the winner of Coppin State and Maryland-Eastern Shore in the quarterfinals.

[Radii]

MEAC First Round Games

Winston Salem State 65
Bethune-Cookman 62

MD-Eastern Shore 76
Coppin State 64

Morgan State 75
Norfolk State 60

MEAC Quarterfinal Pairings

1. Hampton
9. Winston-Salem State

4. South Carolina State
5. Delaware State

3. North Carolina A&T
11. Maryland-Eastern Shore

2. Howard
7. Morgan State


Howard is who we just played our classic double overtime game against. Morgan State we played two very challenging games against in the regular season, winning by 2, and losing by 1.

Assuming we beat MD-Eastern Shore(shouldn't look ahead, right?) I get Howard or Morgan State.

[Radii]

March 9, 2010 – MEAC Quarterfinals

NC A&T (16-13, 12-6 MEAC) vs MD-Eastern Shore (8-21, 2-16 MEAC)

We beat these guys by 32 at our place, but only won by 8 at their place. PG Marc Davis and backup SG Dan Krleski both proved to be 3 point threats in the second contest.
<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="7%"> UMES
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 4
</td> <td width="7%"> 10
</td> <td width="68%"> We start out extremely sloppy and they take advantage. We call a time out to settle down and get into our offense.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 10:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 16
</td> <td width="7%"> 18
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are in. Our starters stayed out a little longer than I would have liked, we did have one crowd boost in the middle there that helped out. Coleman has 10, Alston 4, Ewing 2.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 8:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 16
</td> <td width="7%"> 25
</td> <td width="68%"> A bad shot and a turnover and its a quick 7-0 UMES run. We're just trying to eat clock here.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 20
</td> <td width="7%"> 33
</td> <td width="68%"> Another bad shot, two very costly turnovers(they just picked Shiloh and Works up at the top of the key and ran in for a layup) and we are falling behind pretty bad here. Starters are back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 27
</td> <td width="7%"> 39
</td> <td width="68%"> Frustrating half. They make 6 3's compared to our zero. But we shouldn't be down by this much, and we shouldn't struggle to score this much. And again its the turnovers. They have 2, we have 12. About half of those came in the 6 minutes the backups were out there. But its just way too many.


Coleman has 12 points, Alston 6. They don't really have anyone dominating on the scoreboard, SF Sato has 9. He really likes to shoot though and he doesn't do it that well so I'm fine with that.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 42
</td> <td width="7%"> 46
</td> <td width="68%"> We had it down to 7, then they scored a couple and took a 46-35 lead. Since then we're on a 7-0 run and have cut the lead down to 4. Seems like we've got control of things again.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 45
</td> <td width="7%"> 46
</td> <td width="68%"> We force a miss and Ewing hits our first 3 pointer of the game on the other end. They call a timeout. The crowd has gone nuts for us, giving us a boost twice this half already.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 52
</td> <td width="7%"> 50
</td> <td width="68%"> Another Ewing 3 gives us our first lead of the game a few minutes later.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 10:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 56
</td> <td width="7%"> 52
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are in, we've cooled a bit but lead by 4. Now to avoid the disaster that occurred with our backups in the first half.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 8:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 59
</td> <td width="7%"> 52
</td> <td width="68%"> A miracle 3 by Shiloh and our defense is playing great. This is more like it.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 60
</td> <td width="7%"> 52
</td> <td width="68%"> Starters back in for the duration.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 62
</td> <td width="7%"> 54
</td> <td width="68%"> They burn a time out. Though i'm not stalling at this point, a couple minutes going by where we each score 2 is fine by me at this stage of the game.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 3:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 68
</td> <td width="7%"> 60
</td> <td width="68%"> They had the lead down to 6 and a chance to cut it down lower. We get a stop and a bucket on our end. Backto 8...
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:55
</td> <td width="10%"> 68
</td> <td width="7%"> 66
</td> <td width="68%"> We ran a little clock but not so much that it was out of our offense. But we turned it over once, and they got a layup off a defensive rebound once, and on our last possession Ewing missed a shot, Hayes got the board but his putback was blocked. They came down and scored and its closer than we'd like now...
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:21
</td> <td width="10%"> 70
</td> <td width="7%"> 66
</td> <td width="68%"> Whew. I run a play to get either Hayes or Coleman open inside, and am able to find Coleman a layin with very little time left on the shot clock.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
We force them into a bad shot, get the rebound, and put it away.

NC A&T 72
MD-Eastern Shore 66

Rebounds: NC A&T 42, MD-Eastern Shore 26
Steals: NC A&T 3, MD-Eastern Shore 13

Sato scored 22 for them.

Alston: 17 points/3 assists
Ewing: 12 points/8 assists
Johnson: 2 point/4 boards
Coleman: 16 points/11 boards
Hayes: 17 points/23 boards

Monster game from Hayes on the boards. On to the semifinals!

[Radii]

MEAC Quarterfinal Results

1. Hampton 78
9. Winston-Salem State 69

4. South Carolina State 67
5. Delaware State 61

3. North Carolina A&T 72
11. Maryland-Eastern Shore 66

2. Howard 76
7. Morgan State 49


MEAC Semifinals

1. Hampton
4. South Carolina State

2. Howard
3. North Carolina A&T


The semifinals are a rematch of our double-overtime thriller vs Howard just 13 days ago. On the other side we are rooting hard for South Carolina State.

[Radii]

March 12, 2010 – MEAC Semifinals

NC A&T (17-13, 12-6 MEAC) vs Howard (18-16, 13-5 MEAC)

So we know what we're up against here. The last time we played SG Timothy scored 45 points and SF Riley scored 37. Of course we were keeping pace the entire time but I expect similar. They have two shooters in their starting lineup(and SG White off the bench who can hit them too) and they're going to go to them repeatedly.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> NC A&T
</td> <td width="7%"> HOW
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 13
</td> <td width="7%"> 20
</td> <td width="68%"> Howard breaks out for 6 straight, extending a normal 14-13 lead up to 7 before we call a timeout and get our backups in the game. We haven't gotten out on the break at all. All our buckets are in the half court set. They have 3 3's I believe.


Coleman has 2 fouls.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 18
</td> <td width="7%"> 29
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups did ok for a short bit, scoring the first 3 and making it 20-16. Now its a 9-2 Howard run and we're down 11.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 8:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 19
</td> <td width="7%"> 29
</td> <td width="68%"> Shiloh is hurt going to the basket into traffic. A little less speed out of the backups now.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 23
</td> <td width="7%"> 41
</td> <td width="68%"> They have Riley, Timothy and White all on the court at the same time. We have no answer at all for this. We call a timeout and get the starters back out there and just pray these guys go cold.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 41
</td> <td width="7%"> 53
</td> <td width="68%"> We go on a run to make the score respectable. They benched a couple of their shooters and have started missing more of their shots, which is letting Alston go nuts on the break.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 43
</td> <td width="7%"> 60
</td> <td width="68%"> They close the half strong and we are in huge trouble. They are 9/18 from 3 and shooting over 60% from the floor...


Timothy has 21 and Riley 19 for them. We just have no prayer of stopping either of them.


On our end Alston has 16, Hayes 8 and Ewing 6. Coleman's two fouls hurt us inside for sure.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 17:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 51
</td> <td width="7%"> 67
</td> <td width="68%"> Alston is exhausted from carrying the team on his back, and Ewing isn't far behind despite doing jack shit today. I start rotating some individual players around.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 16:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 51
</td> <td width="7%"> 70
</td> <td width="68%"> Coleman picks up foul #3 on a 3 point play for them...
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 53
</td> <td width="7%"> 70
</td> <td width="68%"> A timeout by us and some more backups in. This is going so poorly heh.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 61
</td> <td width="7%"> 81
</td> <td width="68%"> Alston back in...
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
They make a 3, we turn itover, they make a 3, we turn it over, they get a 3 point play. It's 90-61 and I say uncle.

Howard 112
NC A&T 93

They made 16 3's. 33 from Riley, 29 from Timothy. We just couldn't score enough to keep up. The stretch in the first half where they had White, Riley and Timothy all out on the court at the same time was completely demoralizing. There is no defense we can play that would keep them from getting open 3's every possession with those 3 guys all out there at once.

Alston: 26 points
Ewing: 11 points
Johnson: 2 points/7 boards
Coleman: 10 points/7 boards
Hayes: 21 points/14 boards

[Radii]

MEAC Semifinals

1. Hampton 58
4. South Carolina State 75

2. Howard 112
3. North Carolina A&T 93

MEAC Finals


4. SC State 74
2. Howard 73


South Carolina State earns a 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

[Radii]

Graduating Seniors

SG Austin Ewing - 67 OVR

07/08 - 10.2 ppg, 1.4 apg, 1.1 steals
08/09 - 16.3 ppg, 2.8 apg, 0.7 steals
09/10 - 17.1 ppg, 3.5 apg, 1.1 steals

One thing I rarely mentioned about Ewing is that his FT rating was over 90. He led the nation in free throw shooting in the 08/09 season. He shot 91.4% from the free throw line for his career.


PG Tavarus Alston - 58 OVR

07/08: 4.7 ppg, 2.7 apg
08/09: 10.8 ppg, 4.2 apg
09/10: 15.0 ppg, 4.7 apg

Alston didn't have a great deal in the way of skills, but he was FAST and he had a very smooth crossover motion that I was able to use like crazy in the fast break. Works and Shiloh don't have this ability and its going to completely change how I play with this team next year, assuming I'm with this team next year.

SF Robert Johnson - 57 OVR

07/08 - 1.5 ppg, 1.3 rpg
08/09 - 2.9 ppg, 1.2 rpg
09/10 - 2.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg

I don't use the SF position well to begin with. Johnson didn't have nearly enough talent to get me to try to incorporate the SF more in my offense.

[Radii]

ergh, I thought I stopped the sim before the national title game but apparently not. So I'm doing this all a bit out of logical order as per usual.

Coaching Skill Increases

I met four of my goals last year!

Win a non-conference tournament. Have a winning record. No unhappy players and... coach a conference player of the year!!! Thomas Coleman won player of the year in the MEAC.

There are two areas that I primarily want to focus on, Defense and Teaching. I need players with better defensive awareness, and I need to be able to begin to develop some of these 3* recruits I'm starting to pull in:

Offense: C-
Defense: C+
Teaching: C+
Scouting: C-
Charisma: A+
Disclipline: C-

[Radii]

Coaching Carousel

I mentioned earlier in the season that I had planned on leaving NC A&T this year with Alston and Ewing graduating. While I'm tempted to stay and shoot for a few more coaching goals before I move up, I did decide that if I got offered a mid-major job this year that I would likely take it.

It looks like Jim Calhoun has retired at UConn. They hire Creighton's head coach.

The South Carolina job opens up as well. They hire Nevada's head coach.

Nevada is up next in the WAC - They don't have me anywhere in their top 6. They hire IUPUI's head coach.

Creighton in the MVC is next, and they hire Hartford's head coach. I'm not on their list either.

Miami-Ohio is next in the MAC. They go after someone else but I am listed #2 for them. Getting close!


Ohio - MAC - the last mid-major that needs a coach. They list me as their #1 option.

Looking at the team's roster strengths, it looks like an upgraded version of NC A&T. Good offense, no defense, great shooting.

The team is rated 71 OVR, 74 OFF, 68 DEF, 80 SHT, 81 REB. They finished 10-20 last year but were 8-8 in conference play. They have a fairly average looking roster, most of the starters are rated in the upper 60's.

Going through this is pretty much a formality, I want to make the jump up to mid-major and this is the place to do it.

I have accepted a 2 year contract to coach Ohio University in the Mid-American Conference

[Radii]

Assistant Coaches

I bring on two new assistants. I decide not to worry about a "recruiting assistant" and focus on player development instead.

Sandy Boylan - age 29

OVR: C
OFF: B+
DEF: D
TEA: C+
SCO: D
CHA: C
DIS: D

Ambition: A

Offense and Teaching are clearly the reasons I wanted this guy. Charisma of 'C' is fine too, as there are no assistants out there with a charsima any higher this year.

Alassane Bannister - Age 32

OVR: C
OFF: C-
DEF: B-
TEA: B
SCO: D
CHA: F
DIS: C

Ambition: A-

And here we've got a guy with some defensive ability and a good overall skills teacher.

[Radii]

Now that we're through with all that we can go review the end of the last season.

NCAA Tournament

1 seeds:

Mississippi State
Tennessee
Arizona
UCLA


South Carolina State was a 16 seed and lost by 30 to Mississippi State.

Final Four

5 seed Wisconsin came out of the East (beating 3 seed UConn)
1 seed Mississippi State beat 10 seed Arizona State in the South
1 seed Tennessee beat 2 seed Duke in the Midwest
3 seed Pittsburgh beat 4 seed Memphis in the West

National Semifinals:

5. Wisconsin 73
3. Pittsburgh 71

1. Mississippi State 94
1. Tennessee 93

Finals:

1. Mississippi State 79
5. Wisconsin 59


Mississippi State wins the national title.


The MAC was represented by Akron in the tournament. Akron earned a 14 seed and lost to 3 seed USC 88-86 in the first round.

[Radii]

NCAA Awards

Kevin Love wins the player of the year award as a junior for UCLA. He scored 27.9 ppg and grabbed 7.7 rebounds a game.

Mississippi State's Rick Stansbury wins national coach of the year.


1st Team All American

PG Derrick Rose - Memphis - 25.3 ppg, 4.8 apg
SG Jerome Dyson - UConn - 20.1 ppg
SF Jonathan Rodriguez - Campbell - 30.6 ppg, 10.0 rpg
PF Blake Griffin - Oklahoma - 24.6 ppg, 6.3 rpg
C Kevin Love - UCLA - 27.9 ppg, 7.7 rpg


MEAC Awards

Hampton's Todd Lickliter wins coach of the year

NC A&T's Thomas Coleman is the player of the year

Bethune Cookman's PF Henry Walcott is freshman of the year.

First Team All-MEAC

PG Tavarus Alston - NC A&T - 15.0 ppg, 4.7 apg
SG Carrio Bennett - SC State - 18.8 ppg
SF Ameer Ali - Morgan State - 12.4 ppg
PF Thomas Coleman - NC A&T - 15.1 ppg, 11.3 rpg
C Scott Hayes - NC A&T - 13.8 ppg, 9.4 rpg

Run up and down enough and score more than everyone and the awards come raining in.

[Radii]

Ohio Recruiting Overview

Ohio only had two scholarships available this year. They've already got one signing and it looks like a good one:

3* PF Daryl Delic

Shooting: B-
Skills: B-
Offense: B-
Athletiism: B+
Rebounding: A-
Intelligence: B
Potential: A-
Size: B

He's only 6'6" which is smaller than I like at PF but he looks like a nicely skilled player.


Our other scholarship is offered to a 2* SG named Gerad Byfield out of Cincinnati. He's ranked #656 overall and doesn't impress me one bit. It also looks like we'll likely lose him to Wright State.

We got a 4* SF p to 100% interest but Wake Forest and Tennessee both have offers out to him, I expect him to pick one of them immediately.

[Radii]

Offseason Recruiting

I was right in that my 2* Scholarship guy went elsewhere, and the 4* I was tailing went to Wake Forest. The only other active target Ohio seems like they could land is a 6'9" 2* Center that doesn't impress me at all.

There's two targets potentially worth having:

3* SG Romeo Fitzgerald - rated #337 overall, I was on this guy at NC A&T, but he hasn't signed with them yet. So I hope he really just wants to play for me, and I make him an offer.

3* JC SF Caron Harrison - No one else seems to have any interest in Harrison and he has reasonable interest in me, so I scout him out. A JC player would be nice here.

And finally the other option is to try to grab a world recruit. I target two of them to see what happens.


Week 2

Both my local 3* targets sign elsewhere. Fitzgerald sticks with NC A&T,good for him, and good for their recruiting class.


Without any options that I like better, I offer the 3* World recruit a scholarship and hope its not too late to land him.


WOOHOO. On the final day of the recruiting season C Arnaud Dahi from the Ivory Coast signs with Ohio:

Dahi is 6'10" 213 lbs. We know little else about him, except that grades out as an A- in rebounding.

Otherwise, we've got our fingers crossed.

[Radii]

Recruiting Class Rankings

1. Duke
2. Arizona
3. Louisville
4. Mississippi State
5. California
6. UConn
7. UCLA
8. USC
9. Kansas
10.West Virginia


Central Michigan looked to have the best MAC class around 90th. NC A&T was ~100th! Ohio looks to be around 140th.

[Radii]

Incoming Recruits

Good news here:

PF Daryl Delic - 6'7" 207 pounds - 73 OVR - B Potential

Good from close range(89), layups(85), shooting in traffic(87), good low post offense(79) and a good rebounder(80/78 offense/defense). 84 Hustle, so a good worker. The B potential has me pretty excited too.

73 OVR means that he comes in as my highest rated player.


C Arnaud Dahi - 6'11" 219 lbs - 67 OVR - C- Potential

For a total unknown, I'll take it.

Close (82), shooting in traffic(79) low post offense(76) and rebounding (76/81 offense/defense) are all pretty good . 76 STR is a solid B+, and he has very good defensive awareness, 72.


And that'll have to do for tonight, roster overview and we'll get rolling in the new season tomorrow.

[Radii]

Time to see what we're looking at here.

Ohio Roster Overview

Starters

PG Wayne Turner - JR - 71 OVR - good skills for a PG, speed(89), quickness(88), Handling(87), decent passer(74), defender(80) and a reasonable shooter(80 close/75 mid/76 3 pointer). Great stamina(90). Turner is a transfer from Southern Miss.

SG Tommy Freeman - SR - 66 OVR - 3 point shooter (84). Average speed(80), handling(74), and defense(75). He's definitely out there to give me a 3 point threat. Averaged 8 points per game last year

SF Devaughn Washington - SR - 65 OVR - 6'8 so he has good size for a small forward. He's a decent rebounder(77 offense/74 defense) with very average skills elsehwere. A good close range shot(85) but not much else. Big surprise, i don't much care for my small forward, I guess some things are unlikely to change.

PF Daryl Delic - FR - 73 OVR - My star recruit, great in close(89) and in traffic(87), very good low post offense(79) but a bit lacking on defense(69). Very good rebounder. He's only 6'7" and we will see how that impacts things as the season goes along. One of the few guys I've seen with an awareness rating over 70, offensive awareness 71.

C Arnaud Dahi - FR - 67 OVR - Good in close(82), and average to above average on the boards(76 Offense/81 defense). Very strong (76) with great defensive awareness(72).


Bench

PG Drake Massey - SO - 68 OVR - decent speed(82) but poor quickness(76). A fine ball handler and passer for a backup(79/79) and a good defender(82). He's a acceptable shooter too(74 med/76 3). The CPU recommended that I start Massey at SG instead of Freeman, but I've chosen to go with the 3 point shooting instead.

SG Mike Harris - SR - 66 OVR - Average all over. Good leaper(84 vertical), all his speed/handling/shooting ratings are C's. Again a perfectly acceptable backup.

PF Marucie Pearson - SR - 67 OVR - 6'10" and a solid rebounder(80 offense/80 defense). Very good inside(89) and an average post defender(72). Seems like a very solid guy to have coming off the bench.

C Kenan Sessoms - FR - 65 OVR - 6'11" walkon. Average rebounder(77 o/74 d), good post defender(78 post d) who has very little stamina and will get in tons of foul trouble(foul 92).

I'm hoping that with Turner's stamina we can make it on a 9 man rotation. We have a SG, Taymon Roller, that is rated 56 OVR and can fill some extra minutes if necessary.

[Radii]

Recruiting Preview

If you look at the roster above, you'll notice 4 seniors in my top 9. And we have 4 scholarships to try to replace those guys.

There is one very exciting development looking at recruiting:

We are #5 in interest at 89% for 4* SG Arzelle Cooper. He's the #63 overall recruit. He's from Ann Arbor and lists Michigan 3rd and Ohio State 2nd, so we might not have much of a shot, but obviously we're going after him and will have to find out.

We're #6 in line for another 4* guard out of Chicago, but this one looks less promising. SG Craig Lidzius only has 63% interest in us, and it seems like he's leaning pretty heavily towards DePaul. This actually looks like quite a lost cause.


I offer all four of my scholarships pretty early on, based mostly on rankings at this point as my scouting abilities are fairly poor:

4* SG Arzelle Cooper - #63 Overall - He came in for a visit in our first week and we have him at 100% already. Toledo, Ohio State, Michigan and Xavier still have to act on him.

3* SF Wendell House - #157 overall - We scout him as a good shooting athletic wingman. We're the first to make an offer to him. It looks like our likely competition is Purdue and Notre Dame here.

3* SG Danny Warsaw - #235 overall - Offered primarily because he scouts as an A- shooter.

3* PG Rickey Butt - #371 overall - A local kid from Euclid, Ohio. We're competing with local schools here, Cleveland State, Akron, Dayton. Offered because we'll need another natural PG once Turner graduates in two years. Additionally, his last name is Butt, huh-huh.


We've got 6 games before the early signing period. I'm probably going to just play out two of them against evenly matched opponents, then sim the other four to get to the early signing period ASAP.

[Radii]

MAC Preview

Predictions based on initial roster strengths:

1. Kent State 80 OVR
2. Ball State 79 OVR
3. Bowling Green 79 OVR
4. Akron 77 OVR
5. Buffalo 76 OVR
6. Ohio 76 OVR
7. Central Michigan 75 OVR
8. Toledo 75 OVR
9. Western Michigan 74 OVR
10. Miami-Ohio 74 OVR
11. Eastern Michigan 73 OVR
12. N. Illinois 73 OVR


Best Overall Player: C Colin Wierzba - 80 OVR - Kent State (sophomore)
Best Freshman: C Rans Lemons - 73 OVR - Central Michigan
Best Shooter: SG Tommy Freeman - 66 OVR - Ohio (senior)
Best Playmaker: PG Joe Jakubowski - 70 OVR - Bowling Green (senior)
Best Pro Prospect: SG Wallace Mason - 79 OVR - Bowling Green (junior)
Best Defender: C Colin Wierzba - 80 OVR - Kent State (sophomore)


No one in the MAC is ranked, and fact the MAC appears down a bit for a mid-major. The MAC was the 20th rated conference based on conference RPI last year, there were a few small conferences rated above them.

[Balldog]

C Kenan Sessoms - FR - 65 OVR - 6'11" walkon. Average rebounder(77 o/74 d), good post defender(78 post d) who has very little stamina and will get in tons of foul trouble(foul 92).


I'm thinking that is an avoid foul rating, but I'm not absolutely positive.

[Radii]

I'm thinking that is an avoid foul rating, but I'm not absolutely positive.

the higher the number, the lower the letter grade(a 92 is an F), which is why I've always assumed higher means foul prone. I think I still have my manual, but I doubt it specifies.

[Radii]

November 5, 2010

Valparaiso (0-0) at Ohio (0-0)

Woohoo, first game! Valpo is rated 76 OVR, same as us. We start in the hole as far as team unity is concerned, at 23. Valpo is at 41.

Scouting

PG Chip Dupree – SO – 68 OVR – Very fast (88 speed) but not as quick(80). Good hands, passing and defense, all right around80. He can hit the 3 and can drive to the basket, this guy looks fairly dangerous.

SG Howard Little – SR – 72 OVR – Good defender(83), average speed/quickness(80/81), average overall shooter(82 close/74 med/74 3)

SF Brant Challed – JR – 69 OVR – above average rebounder, not a big threat to shoot though(63 med/70 3 ratings). Good going to the basket(78 shdr) but not terribly quick.

PF Bryan Bouchie – SR – 72 OVR – 6'11” - good inclose(88), above average on the boards(80 offense/83 defense), and above average in the post(74 offense/76 defense)

C Chase Becker – SR – 69 OVR – 7'0” - They've got a size edge here. Good rebounder(80/83), very good low post offense(80) and good defense(74). Not as great a straight up close range shot though(81). Terrible foul rating, hopefully we can get him into foul trouble

Decent all around team here, they don't seem like a team that's going to murder us from deep, but they have fairly good talent everywhere. The size disadvantage worries me.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> OHIO
</td> <td width="7%"> VAL
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 12
</td> <td width="7%"> 5
</td> <td width="68%"> Oh man I like Freeman's shooting motion. Turner is fast and has the same explosive blowby move that Alston had. Gonna be fun with these two guys.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 20
</td> <td width="7%"> 8
</td> <td width="68%"> Valpo is playing a 2-3 zone. All our guards are rated at least 74 from 3, and I'll take wide open 3's with those guys as long as they're hitting.


One thing is certain early. A 9 man rotation will require a lot more micromanagement as far as substitution patterns go.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:40
</td> <td width="10%"> 28
</td> <td width="7%"> 15
</td> <td width="68%"> Yeah my head is spinning trying to manage substitutions :) It doesn't help that its overriding who I have listed as the starter at SG. It keeps wanting to default it back to Massey even though I've overwritten that everywhere to say Freeman is my starter.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 43
</td> <td width="7%"> 18
</td> <td width="68%"> Wow. They haven't made a shot in a long time.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 52
</td> <td width="7%"> 29
</td> <td width="68%"> Great first half! We shoot 60%, they shoot 27%. We're 6-11 from 3.


Turner leads us with 11 points, Freeman has 9(3-5 from 3), Delic has 6 and Dahi has 6. Dahi has 11 boards.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 62
</td> <td width="7%"> 37
</td> <td width="68%"> A 3 from Turner and another from Freeman keeps us pushing ahead strong.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 76
</td> <td width="7%"> 53
</td> <td width="68%"> We'd almost pushed the lead up to 30 but have cooled slightly.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
I've got a 20 point lead with 5 minutes left and sim to the end.

Ohio 84
Valparaiso 64

Each team made 10 three pointers, but we did it in 22 shots, they took 36 of them. We shot 51% overall and held them to 33% shooting.

Turns out their SF Challad likes to shoot the second he touches it every time down. That's no good for Valpo as he's not really a great shooter. He went 6-23 today.

Turner: 23 points/7 assists (3-6 from 3)
Freeman: 17 points (5-11 from 3)
Washington: 5 points/5 boards
Delic: 9 points/6 boards
Dahi: 10 points/13 boards

I ended up completely mismanaging my subs and rarely had the exact guys on the court that I wanted during the middle of either half. I may go to a 10 man rotation and throw my awful SG into the mix just to keep things simple.

Initial thoughts on these guys: I love Turner and Freeman both, they're going to score a ton for me this year. Delic was up against a very good, very big power forward today and suffered. Hopefully he'll do better vs weaker competition but I'm worried about him. Dahi seems solid and strong inside.

Not everyone is going to spend most of the game in a 2-3 zone against us, the big men should be stronger vs man to man opposition I am sure.

[Radii]

November 10, 2010

Youngstown State (0-0) at Ohio (1-0)

We have another game vs an evenly matched opponent today, then our next few games we either expect to win easily or lose badly, so I'll play this one and then sim some out. Youngstown State is rated 75 OVR.

Scouting

PG Vili Cantrell – SO – 67 OVR – Average... average speed, average handling/passing, average or below shooting. He's a good steals guy and we'll want to protect the ball around him. But he doesn't seem a scoring threat.

SG Vytas Sulskis – SR – 66 OVR – 6'7”, a natural SF. He is a decent shooter(79 med/79 3), but he's a bit slower than most SG's. Freeman is more of a spotup shooter so this is actually not a great matchup for us, but my backup guards could probably take pretty good advantage of this.

SF Ije Kohn – SO – 70 OVR – Decent insidee, not a great overall shooter though(70 med/66 3). Average on the boards and not a guy we're worried about that much. He is 6'8” so he gives them a ton of size.

PF Alloune Hodges – SR – 75 OVR – 6'10”, great inside(93close) and incredibly good outside for a big man (73 med/74 3). Outstanding low post player and rebounder (84 DRB). This guy is a monster.

C Landy Markham – FR – 66 OVR – Only 6'8”. Not as good a scorer or rebounder as Hodges. Good post defender but awful defensive awareness(dawr is 56, I am learning to expect to see over 60 for everyone at this level).

If we can hold our own on the defensive boards, I think we match up pretty well against these guys when I have the ball.
<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> OHIO
</td> <td width="7%"> YSU
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 16:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 12
</td> <td width="7%"> 4
</td> <td width="68%"> We get out to another fast start. The scoring is balanced, no one has more than 4 of our points yet.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 14
</td> <td width="7%"> 16
</td> <td width="68%"> Big run on their part,they are doing a good job running when we miss, and they've hit two threes over our zone. Freeman has 2early fouls and has to sit.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 18
</td> <td width="7%"> 20
</td> <td width="68%"> All backups except for Turner are in now.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 29
</td> <td width="7%"> 30
</td> <td width="68%"> All starters are back in except for Freeman who I don't want to pick up a 3^rd stupid foul. Hodges has 2 fouls for them which is good, he was their leading scorer when he sat a couple minutes ago.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 41
</td> <td width="7%"> 46
</td> <td width="68%"> We've allowed them to shoot 57% for the half, just too high.


Delic and Dahi both have 9 points inside. Freeman was 1-4 from 3 when he came out with foul trouble. Their big SG Sulskis is proving to be a big problem. He has 14 points, 2-3 from outside and 3-4 inside.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 16:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 52
</td> <td width="7%"> 51
</td> <td width="68%"> Defense is playing well, and we're on a 11-3 run after allowing the first bucket of the half. Turner has hit a 3, driven to the hoop and drawn a couple fouls, and has a nice dunk in transition.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 61
</td> <td width="7%"> 62
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are in at all 5 positions.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 67
</td> <td width="7%"> 65
</td> <td width="68%"> Delic and Dahi are back in, guards are still resting. Pearson, my backup PF, scored my last 4 and was solid inside during this stretch.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 73
</td> <td width="7%"> 73
</td> <td width="68%"> I burn a time out and get all my starters back in. Delic and Dahi are playing very strong inside. Sulskis is still killing us and really the only reason the game is close.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 3:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 78
</td> <td width="7%"> 82
</td> <td width="68%"> Mostly back and forth but we have missed two free throws in our last two possessions and have let them go up by 4. I burn my next to last time out just to keep my guys rested.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 2:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 80
</td> <td width="7%"> 82
</td> <td width="68%"> They use a timeout. We got Dahi a good inside look to cut it to 2.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:33
</td> <td width="10%"> 80
</td> <td width="7%"> 84
</td> <td width="68%"> Their ball after they score and we come up empty.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 85
</td> <td width="7%"> 86
</td> <td width="68%"> After they score to go up 6, we get a drive from Turner to cut it to 4. There's about 50 seconds left at this point and I end up playing defense instead of fouling. We force a bad shot(Hodges, contested, from 20 feet) and Freeman hits a pullup 3 in transition! We're going to have to foul, down 1with 15 seconds left.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
They make 1 of 2 free throws when we foul. I push the ball upcourt, Turner drives by his man but Hodges is back there in defense. Turner goes up strong, hoping to draw a foul,but Hodges plays great defense and just forces an awkward shot that is no good. We foul again with 6 seconds left, but they make both FT's this time. I rushed that final shot a bit and could have done better for sure.

Youngstown State 89
Ohio 85

Well,I just lost to a team nicknamed the Penguins. I'm pretty pleased overall though, as we've played two teams rated about the same as us that play two totally different styles of defense, and we were able to hold our own against both. We did struggle against their lead scorer today, Sulskis, but its not every day you run into a 6'8” guy who can shoot the 3 and plays SG adeptly.

Turner: 15 points/4 assists
Freeman: 11 points (3-9 from 3)
Washingon: 4points
Delic: 16 points/8 boards
Dahi: 18 points/11 boards

Pearson: 10 points/4 boards
Massey: 6 points/5 assists

I'm extremely happy with what I've seen out of Dahi so far, and I feel a lot better about Delic this game. He isn't the go-to guy that I can use when I need a basket in any situation, but he's the type of player that if I find with just the slightest bit of space/position, he's going to score.

[Radii]

I'd mentioned that I wanted to play the two games that were even matchups, and then sim a few to get into the early signing period, so here we go with that


November 15, 2010

Binghamton 89
Ohio 72

Hrrm, this is one I kinda thought I'd win. Turner scores 17, Freeman 13, and Harris, backup SG 13.


November 20, 2010

S. Illinois 67
Ohio 53

Yeah, I expected that one. Scores in the 50s make me sad. Washington led us with 8 points. We shot about 20% in this one.

November 23, 2010

Ohio 83
Longwood 76

17 from Washington, 11 orm Freeman, 10 from Pearson and 10 from Massey. Delic and Dahi are doing pretty awful in these simmed games. Delic fouled out in 23 minutes in this one.


November 27, 2010

Ohio 77
Detroit 59

Solid win on the road here. Turner with 16, Freeman 10, Washington 14, Delic 7 points/8 boards.


That makes us 3-3, we have 6 non-conference games to go before conference play starts in early January.

[Radii]

Early Signing Period

WOOHOO, WINNER.

#1 Target SG Arzelle Cooper has signed with OHIO.

#2 Target SF Wendell House has signed with OHIO.

#3 Target SG Danny Warsaw has yet to sign with anyone

#4 Target PG Rickey Butt signs with Cleveland State

That is an absolutely stellar result.

4* SG Arzelle Cooper - #63 OVR/#22 SG

Cooper is the superstar of the class for me. My first 4* recruit, my first top 100 recruit, and we pulled him out of Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Scouting Grades:

Shooting: B+
Skills: B
Defense: A-
Athleticism: B+
Rebounding: B-
Intelligence: B+
Potential: A-
Size: B-

Cooper is 6'4" 184 lbs. He played in the ABL for The Champs. He averaged 14.1 points per game and 5.8 rebounds in 28 minutes. He shot 48% from the field(36-75) and 43% from 3(15-35). I hope those numbers are meaningful, I have actually never really used ABL Stats for anything before.

3* SF Wendell House - #157 OVR/#29 SF

Shooting: B+
Skills: B-
Defense:B
Athleticism: A
Rebounding: B+
Intelligence: B
Potential: C+
Size: B+

House is from Milwaukee. We offered him right away, in the final week before the signing period Milwaukee-Wisconsin offered him a scholarship as well, so I'm very glad to have snagged him in the early signing period before they had a chance to keep him closer to home.


This leaves us with two open scholarships.

One remains offered to SG Danny Warsaw. We had him at 97% but that dropped a little when Cooper accepted our offer. It's still 92% and assuming I can get that back up to 100% we'll stick on him. He's the #235 recruit in the nation and the main interest we have in him is that he grades out as an A- in shooting.

Our last scholarship was going to a PG. At this point I would take a good ball handling PG, or a big man. Unfortunately, I really don't have either left on my target list. I'll scout around and see what I can find, but I'm not desperate for anything right now, and may wait to see if I have any transfer interest before making a 4th offer.


With the World recruit we landed last year, the fact that I got hired to a higher level team, and now the signing of a 4* recruit, I've secured 3 coaching upgrades in the next offseason. To continue to improve past that it'll take success on the court. The next reasonable goals to reach are 20 wins, conference titles, and NCAA Tournament bids. Hopefully Cooper is a big step in the right direction towards those goals.

[Balldog]

the higher the number, the lower the letter grade(a 92 is an F), which is why I've always assumed higher means foul prone. I think I still have my manual, but I doubt it specifies.

Ah cool, learned something new :)

Impressive start with recruiting! There is a thread at OS that talks about ABL Stats - > Ratings, they found that they relate and are a more accurate reading than the scouting ratings.

[rjolley]

the higher the number, the lower the letter grade(a 92 is an F), which is why I've always assumed higher means foul prone. I think I still have my manual, but I doubt it specifies.
I never knew that. I always thought it was avoid fouls as well.

Are you talking about the screen where it has the number grade and the letter grade side-by-side for rating? I thought the letter grade on that screen was how much he had to develop...

[Radii]

I'm not so sure of myself anymore on this foul rating. I did some searching through the OS forums today and couldn't find anything at all.

I'm going to see if there's any change in any of the foul ratings during the season. And, towards the end of the year when some stats have built up, see if there is a more clear correlation between the guys committing the most fouls and the rating. We'll see.

One good thing that came from me perusing the OS forums is that I have now set up a custom balanced playbook that I'm going to start having the CPU opponent use, I'd seen it mentioned in the thread here but didn't really understand the difference it made for people.

[Eaglesfan27]

I always thought it was "avoid fouls" as well and higher was better (and that the letter was backwards.) However, I don't have any conclusive evidence of that. I've been enjoying following along.

[Radii]

December 1, 2010

NC A&T (3-2) at Ohio (3-3)

I had to schedule my old team. They have an overall roster strength of 72, highest in the MEAC.

Scouting

PG Boomer Shiloh – SO – 64 OVR – Shiloh has taken over for Alston. He's very fast and a good defender, not a big scoring threat.

SG Edmund Axton – SG – 72 OVR – Axton came in very strong, he's got a lot of speed(86) but no quickness(76), he's great inside and off the dribble, and an average midrange and outside shooter. Axton has one of the better clutch ratings i've seen(77).

SF Romeo Fitzgerald – FR – 65 OVR – Fitzgerald is the other 3* guy I was recruiting when I left NC A&T. He is a good passer but otherwise just average everywhere, and is actually a below average mid-range and 3 point shooter(70/66).

PF Thomas Coleman – SR – 66 OVR – Good inside, good rebounder, the returning player of the year in the MEAC. Averaging 9 ppg/10 rpg early on for the Aggies.

C Scott Hayes – SR – 68 OVR- Hayes is their leading scorer at 13ppg so far. Outstanding inside(92 close) and a good post offensive player. Not nearly as good a rebounder as coleman.

They've reverted back to a painfully slow offense now that I've left and are averaging 55 points per game so far this year.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> OHIO
</td> <td width="7%"> NCAT
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 9
</td> <td width="7%"> 8
</td> <td width="68%"> Dahi has two fouls so he's done for awhile. I start resting some of my starters as well. NC A&T has two 3 point plays, Coleman has 5 of their 8 points, and their guards are struggling a lot to score.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:40
</td> <td width="10%"> 21
</td> <td width="7%"> 20
</td> <td width="68%"> All our backups are now in. Our post players are doing well against A&T's backup big men.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 25
</td> <td width="7%"> 24
</td> <td width="68%"> Most starters are back in, Turner is still sitting, he was the only guy out there past the 10 minute mark though.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 2:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 36
</td> <td width="7%"> 29
</td> <td width="68%"> We finally start to get some separation. Freeman has 8 points and Turner has gotten out on the break a couple times, but mostly its our inside game doing the scoring here.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 40
</td> <td width="7%"> 33
</td> <td width="68%"> We shoot 50% and hold them to 33% shooting.


Fitzgerald has 11 points forthem, including 2-2 from 3. Coleman has 7 points/7 boards. Standard.


On our end we're getting some nice balanced scoring. Turner and Freeman both have 8. Delic has 8, backup PF Pearson has 6. Dahi had 5 rebounds in 5 minutes but didn't score before he sat with foul trouble.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 51
</td> <td width="7%"> 45
</td> <td width="68%"> Freeman has hit 3 3-pointers this half already but they are matching us pretty well. Hayes has 5 and Coleman 2 early on. Fitzgerald has drained another 3 on us as well.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 57
</td> <td width="7%"> 49
</td> <td width="68%"> Another 3 from Freeman and a good move inside from Delic and we extend our lead backout to 8. Some subs start coming in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 65
</td> <td width="7%"> 54
</td> <td width="68%"> All backups are in now. Hayes and Coleman are both showing some nice post play to score on us, but we seem to be pulling away a little overall. Their jump shooting is just not that good and can't stay hot all game.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 8:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 69
</td> <td width="7%"> 56
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are playing well defensively, though not really scoring all that well. The starters will be ready to go at the 6:30 mark or so.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 69
</td> <td width="7%"> 59
</td> <td width="68%"> Or now. Starters are ready to go now.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 69
</td> <td width="7%"> 64
</td> <td width="68%"> I'm totally unhappy with how my offense is playing right now. After another 3 makes this an 8-0 NC A&T run, I call a timeout and tell my guys to get their shit together.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 2:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 74
</td> <td width="7%"> 71
</td> <td width="68%"> We've got the ball but now only lead by 3 with 2 minutes to go.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:40
</td> <td width="10%"> 77
</td> <td width="7%"> 71
</td> <td width="68%"> After going a little cold, Freeman drains a monster 3 for us, back up by 6.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:44
</td> <td width="10%"> 80
</td> <td width="7%"> 74
</td> <td width="68%"> Dahi with a great block on Hayes, and Freeman makes another 3 to give us a 9 point lead. They answer with a 3 by Axton, and I have a little trouble getting the ball over half court and call a time out.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
We burn the shot clock, can't score,and they make a 3, but there just isn't enough time left for them. Turner goes to the line with 5 seconds left and makes 1 which seals the win.

Ohio 81
NC A&T 77

I'm very pleased with the playbook for the CPU. Instead of mindlessly launching 40 three's they did try to get Hayes a lot of touches. Fitzgerald had the hot hand for A&T today and scored 21. Hayes had a double double for them.

On our end Turner had a great game with a double-double of his own, and Freeman was very good from 3.

Turner: 17 points/10 assists
Freeman: 26 points (8-18 from 3)
Washington: 4 points/7 boards
Delic: 11 points/8 boards
Dahi: 7 points/10 boards

Pearson: 8 points/4 boards

[Radii]

December 4, 2010

Ohio (4-3) at Northern Iowa (5-1)

N. Iowa is rated 74 OVR and their roster ratings look almost identical to mine.

Scouting

PG George Stanley – FR – 67 OVR – Very good speed and defense(83 defense), ok quicks, good vertical for what that's worth. He's an average shooter all the way around, 75 from 3 and the only guy in the lineup we care about defending the 3 against. Averaging 9 ppg.

SG Stetson Detrick – JR – 70 OVR – primarily Detrick looks like a defender(82 DEF) with decent Defensive Awareness(69). A 3 point rating under 70 makes me happy as well as a 72 mid-range rating. Not a great ball handler , decent off the dribble.

SF Scooter Mattox – SO – 69 OVR- Poor defender(70), good inside and from mid-range, not a 3 point threat at all. He's 6'8”, our SF is a bigger guy too so that works out.

PF Lucas O'Rear – SR – 69 OVR – Solid rebounder and post defender. Very good hands for a big man, good inside and ok in traffic. Only 6'6” so that's a pretty awesome matchup with Delic. O'Rear averages 14.2 ppg to lead Northern Iowa.

C Brent Barz – SR -65 OVR – 6'10” - Decent on the boards, decent defender, not much of an offensive game though. He has horrible defensive awareness(58), hopefully that will give Dahi an advantage on him.

They have two noteworthy backups. Walkon PG Drew Lundberg is their best 3 point shooter, rated 82. Backup SG is a good shooter from all over the court,including from 3. The two of them average only 7 points combined, but we need to remember that their backups can be deadly if left open.

O'Rear? Seriously? What I wouldn't have given to be able to have Lucas O'Rear and Rickey Butt starting for me at the same time(seriously, its like a 5 year old in my head,I can't help it).

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> OHIO
</td> <td width="7%"> N. IA
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 8
</td> <td width="7%"> 7
</td> <td width="68%"> Fairly slow start for both of us. Their “poor shooting” SG Detrick has all 7 of their points.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 14
</td> <td width="7%"> 9
</td> <td width="68%"> The only time the clock has stopped so far is for two fouls, both on their center, Barz. With no rest but that so far we go with wholesale subs, all backups are in at the 13:30 mark.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 8:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 21
</td> <td width="7%"> 18
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are struggling to get in a rhythm at all. Pearson and Sessom inside have scored most of our points. Massey and Harris(PG/SG) have missed some wide open shots.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 23
</td> <td width="7%"> 21
</td> <td width="68%"> We get another basket from Pearson and then leave Lundburg WIDEOPEN, one of their very good 3 point shooting backups. So wide open that its worth all caps. I don't' think there was anyone from either team within 10 feet of him when he lined up his 3 pointer. Oh yeah, that was my fault, my guy ran into a screen as he was cutting through the lane :) Starters back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 3:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 32
</td> <td width="7%"> 27
</td> <td width="68%"> After allowing N.Iowa to go up 27-26,we get back to back 3's, one from Freeman, and one from Turner. I burn a timeout to make sure my starters don't tire and can finish out the half.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 39
</td> <td width="7%"> 37
</td> <td width="68%"> Every time they catch up we go on a 5-0 run or so and get out to a small lead. We haven't trailed by more than 1 or 2 but aren't able to pull away either.


Their SG, Detrick(the one with no offensive skills, remember?) has 14 points on 6-8 shooting, 2-4 from 3.


Turner leads us with 10 points. Freeman has 9, Dahi has 7 points/8 boards. Delic is struggling badly, as I suspect he will do anytime the defense crowds the paint like these guys are, in a 2-3 almost the entire time. We drew 8 fouls and got to the line 14 times this half. Turner is 0-2 from the line, Dahi is an awesome 3-8, and we're 6-14 as a team.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 16:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 42
</td> <td width="7%"> 44
</td> <td width="68%"> Slow start to the half, and we're struggling pretty badly here. The crowd is going nuts for N. Iowa, and we just burned a timeout to cool things down a bit.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 49
</td> <td width="7%"> 51
</td> <td width="68%"> After falling behind by 5, 49-44, we finally get a couple things to go our way. Turner gets fouled on the break and makes both his free throws, and Sessoms grabs an offensive board and gets a 3-point play on a putback. Backups are in now.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 8:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 56
</td> <td width="7%"> 53
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups started out with a quick 5-0 run and are playing great defense. If I had Turner on the floor his blowby move would have given us a 10 point lead by now but Massey just doesn't have the same impact. Pearson and Sessoms have had a number of looks down low though and have completely blown it. We really should be up 10 right now.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 58
</td> <td width="7%"> 58
</td> <td width="68%"> Starters are back in. We just committed foul #7 this half and N. Iowa is shooting free throws the rest of the way.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 65
</td> <td width="7%"> 66
</td> <td width="68%"> They've made 2 threes, we've hit one and gotten it inside a couple times. We call a timeout to keep our guys fresh and keep their crowd quiet.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 2:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 74
</td> <td width="7%"> 68
</td> <td width="68%"> Finally, a little breathing room. Leading 69-68, Turner pump fakes, side steps and drains a 3. After Detrick misses a 3 for them, Turner is out on the break and makes a layup and we're up by 6.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 77
</td> <td width="7%"> 72
</td> <td width="68%"> They make a 2, we burn the shot clock and get a big clutch 3 from Freeman. They get an easy look on the other end and have cut one off the lead, but with 1:20 left, its our ball up 5.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
We stall, cannot score but they miss their next shot and have to start fouling. We end up making two free throws while they make a 3 pointer down the stretch. Solid win.

Ohio 79
Northern Iowa 75

This was a really solid game all around. The 6 point lead I had when it was 74-68, and again at 78-72 in the closing seconds was the biggest lead that either team had at any point in the contest. That generated some good intensity in the final 6 minutes, where it seems like either team pulling ahead by a couple possessions would win. Every time we missed a shot it felt like we were under huge pressure to prevent them from going on any sort of run at all.

Detrick scored 18, but he went 0-6 from 3 in the second half and wasn't much of a factor. O'Rear had 16 points and 15 boards. His counterpart, Delic for us, was a total non-factor.

Turner: 24 points/5 assists/3-7 from 3
Freeman: 17 points/2 assists/5-14 from 3
Washington: 2 points/5 boards
Delic: 6 points/3 boards
Dahi: 7 points/13 boards

Pearson: 11 points/4 boards

[Radii]

I always thought it was "avoid fouls" as well and higher was better (and that the letter was backwards.) However, I don't have any conclusive evidence of that. I've been enjoying following along.

Yeah I'm pretty convinced that you guys are right at this point and that the letter grade is just messed up. I'm still hoping to see some proof during the season.

There's a "challenge shot" mini-game that improves block and foul ratings, so I'm trying to complete that to see what happens to the foul rating. The awesome thing about that is that I'm trying it with my 68-73 rated mid-major players, and the offensive guys they put up for me to defend against are all from Duke... N. Smith and K.Singler. Seriously??? I haven't come anywhere close to completing it yet.

[Izulde]

Nice work you're doing with Ohio in your first season. :)

[Radii]

We have a couple interesting situations brewing here.

Maurice Pearson, my backup PF, has a confidence level of 47%. He started for this team last year and was pushed into a backup role when Delic came in. Of course now that I've started Delic I assume it'll piss him off if I swap them. But I'm seriously considering doing it. I think I'll get more consistant play out of Pearson, the 6'10" guy. I need Pearson happy no matter where he is though, because he has been my best bench performer.

Drake Massey started at SG last year. I changed that up this year and moved Freeman to SG to have the deadly 3 point guy getting more minutes. Now, Massey is getting 15 minutes per game, and he is talented. But his confidence level is down to 22%. The problem I have with Massey is that he doesn't have a chance to start. I'm not moving him back over Freeman who is good for 5 or 6 3's many games, and Turner is the better PG. And the reason this is a more serious problem is that Massey is only a sophomore. With my 4* SG recruit coming in, and Turner only being a junior, Massey isn't starting next year either.

I'm going to use my pep talks quite possibly for most of the year on Massey and Pearson. I may well consider starting Pearson. He's a senior though so I just want production out of him. Massey I'm worried about being a transfer risk, and he's too good to just let walk like that.

[Radii]

Nice work you're doing with Ohio in your first season. :)


Thanks :) And thanks to everyone for the comments, the added immersion I feel from writing everything up is worth a ton and I'd probably be doing this if no one were reading, but its nice to know that people are!

[Radii]

December 7, 2010

Howard (3-6) at Ohio (5-3)

Revenge game for the team that knocked me out of the MEAC tournament last year. They're rated 64 and we should crush them.

Scouting

Kyle Riley is the guy that burned NC A&T for 30+ last year in our last game, and he's the only noteworthy guy still on the roster. They were a senior led team.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> OHIO
</td> <td width="7%"> HOW
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 16
</td> <td width="7%"> 11
</td> <td width="68%"> We're pretty much running and gunning here,not playing much of a structured offense at all.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 19
</td> <td width="7%"> 13
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are in. Dahi has 2 fouls. Turner is our leading scorer by far early on.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 31
</td> <td width="7%"> 13
</td> <td width="68%"> Massey scores 7 quick points, a fast break dunk, a 3pointer and a pullup jumper. We're on a roll now. Maybe the scoring will make Massey less pissed off :)
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 44
</td> <td width="7%"> 26
</td> <td width="68%"> Massey has 15 hah. Happy now dude? Starters are back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 52
</td> <td width="7%"> 41
</td> <td width="68%"> Well we gave back quite a bit at the end there. Riley got hot for them(he has 16 points) and we couldn't score at all for a bit at the end.


Turner has 16 for us, and Massey has 15. Freeman is 1-7 from the floor, ice cold.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 66
</td> <td width="7%"> 55
</td> <td width="68%"> We're really not playing great today, we should bear down and win this by 20+ but it doesn't seem to be happening.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 80
</td> <td width="7%"> 65
</td> <td width="68%"> Our backups again play better than the starters,extending the lead out to 14. Starters are back in to finish it off.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
We cruise the rest of the way.

Ohio 95
Howard 75

Freeman was as cold as I've ever seen him. I guess that if he's going to be awful all game, its good that its in a game we win easily regardless.

Turner: 31 points/4 assists
Freeman: 3 points (1-13 shooting)
Washington: 9 points/5 boards
Delic: 6 points/7 boards
Dahi: 8 points/19 boards

Massey: 20 points/3 assists

[Radii]

We've got 3 more games before conference play starts. I'm going to sim through these last 3 games. If you haven't noticed, I want to be successful this year but consider it a bit of a transition year. Dahi is the only guy *I* recruited for this team. Next season I'll have a full recruiting class coming in, unlikely to redshirt, and it'll be more "my team." So I'm rushing a little to get through this transition season.


December 12th:

Ohio 83, at Troy 75

20 from Turner, 11 from Freeman, 9 from Washington, Harris and Massey. Troy was 5-2 and has a roster strength of 79, I didn't expect to win that on the road.


December 15, 2010

at Ohio 72, Cal-Poly 63

Another evenly rated team, things are going pretty well here!

18 points from Turner, 13 from Washington, and 10 from Dahi.


December 27th

at Ohio 72, Southern Utah 63

Turner scored 14, Washington 12, Delic 11, Pearson 11.


I didn't expect to win all 3 of those!

We're going into conference play 9-3.

[Radii]

January 2, 2011

Ohio (9-3, 0-0 MAC) at Northern Illinois (5-7, 0-0 MAC)

So we're unexpectedly 9-3 going into conference play. We're not in the mid-major top 25. Bowling Green is the only MAC team represented there, they are #23. RPI numbers aren't out for this season yet but the MAC expects to be one of the lower ranked mid-majors.

We've made a lineup change, going back to Pearson at PF. Delic is coming off the bench. I want my 6'10” guy out there over my 6'6” skills guy.

Scouting

PG Femi Russell – JR – 69 OVR – 10.1 ppg is essentially tied for the team scoring lead with PF Munir. Decent speed/defense/ball handling. Very good off the dribble(81), good mid-range jumper, average 3(71).

SG TJ Coulibaly – FR – 63 OVR – Quite a good defender for this level(84 DEF), looks like a poor offensive player, midrange and 3 ratings below 70. Given that we expect him to score 30 obviously.

SF Terence Ngounou – JR – 68 OVR – 7.3 ppg/5.5 rpg – good speed for a SF, good inside and ok from mid-range but doesn't seem like a big scoring threat.

PF Brennen Munir – JR – 67 OVR – 6'6” with 10.2 ppg/4.3 rpg. Pretty good awareness but not great raw skills. Poor rebounder(71/71 off/def), poor in close(79). Decent shot blocker and defender. Seems like he is overrated at 67 OVR.

C Christian Watson – FR – 67 OVR – Only 81 close range rating, not good for a center. Average/Above average rebounder. Only 6'9”. 5.3 ppg/6.5 rpg so far this year.

Our team unity is up to 44, starting Pearson helps there. NIU's is 36. Our roster strength drops to 74 without Delic in the starting lineup.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> OHIO
</td> <td width="7%"> NIU
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 17:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 12
</td> <td width="7%"> 2
</td> <td width="68%"> NIU just got to the line for their first points after a 12-0 start for us, mainly on the break after rebounds.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 21
</td> <td width="7%"> 6
</td> <td width="68%"> Timeout NIU.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 28
</td> <td width="7%"> 11
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are in. Turner has 16 I think. He's been devastating out on the break.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 40
</td> <td width="7%"> 25
</td> <td width="68%"> Starters are back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 55
</td> <td width="7%"> 28
</td> <td width="68%"> We've held them to 25% shooting and they continue to launch 3's. Munir has made a couple nice plays inside for them but with our zone and him being 6'6” he can't do much so they end up relying on the outside shot entirely.


So yeah, they keep crashing the boards and I keep firing it to Turner for fast break buckets. I figure at some point I will just stop doing that but its so much fun :P Turner has 27 at the half...
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
We lead by 35 with 14 minutes to go and I quick sim to the end.

Ohio 92
Northern Illinois 53

They shoot 27% for the game.

Turner: 44 points/2 assists
Freeman: 15 points
Washington: 4 points/4 boards
Pearson:5 points/10 boards
Dahi: 6 points/19 boards

Sessoms: 8 points/6 boards

Turner had 33 points when I simmed it out, I stopped fast breaking on them and still built the lead out easily, we're just way better than these guys, or at least we were today.

[Radii]

Now there's a bug I've never seen before. when I exited the game, the score on the calendar shows that I beat NIU 100-60. I go look at the box score and it shows that the game went into overtime where Ohio scored 8 and NIU scored 7. When I look at the individual players stats they still add up to 92-53.

[RPI-Fan]

Now there's a bug I've never seen before. when I exited the game, the score on the calendar shows that I beat NIU 100-60. I go look at the box score and it shows that the game went into overtime where Ohio scored 8 and NIU scored 7. When I look at the individual players stats they still add up to 92-53.

I get this one from time to time...

[Balldog]

I get this one from time to time...

Yeah, me too. It appears to be just cosmetic though.

[Radii]

I sure didn't expect to be 10-3, but I'm sticking to my goal of getting through this transitional season quicker than most to begin playing with a team that I've begun to mold with my own recruits. I'm going to sim 1 out of every 2 games at least for a little while in conference play.


January 9, 2011:

Western Michigan 62, at Ohio 55

Pearson scores 12, Dahi has 9 points/11 boards, and Freeman scores 9. Turner has a terrible game with 0 points and four fouls.


Out of my next two games, the second one is a lot more appealing, so simming the first:

January 12, 2011

at Ohio 63, Eastern Michigan 51

Pearson leads us once again with 15 points. Freeman scores 11, Dahi and Turner both have 6.


This sets us up for a matchup vs the only other team in the MAC also averaging over 70 points/game in Bowling Green.

[Radii]

January 15, 2011

Bowling Green(8-7, 1-2 MAC) at Ohio (11-4, 2-1 MAC)

Bowling Green is, based on roster strength, one of the top teams in the league. But we're all reasonably close that that doesn't count for too much.

Scouting

PG Joe Jakubowski – SR – 71 OVR – Game Experience is maxxed out, not sure i've seen that too often before. Good speed, quicks, handling and passing. Good shooter(82 close/77 med/77 3) and good off the dribble. 6.8 ppg/6.6 apg, leads the league in assists.

SG Wallace Mason – JR – 81 OVR – Wow, this guy is a stud. 89 SPD/87 QCK, 85 DEF, 83 Close, 72 Med, 86 3-pt. Great off the dribble or in traffic, clutch rating of 82. Hell his defensive rebounding is 83! We are in trouble. He's averaging 15.5 ppg.

SF Chris Knight – SR – 71 OVR – 6'8”, another big SF. Good defender, good inside and from mid-range. He's good off the dribble and in traffic. 9.5 ppg.

PF Clif Ahvenniemi – SO – 69 OVR – 6'7”, a little undersized compared to pearson. better rebounder than Minter(79 D), extremely good low post defender(82), but poor post offense. Good clutch rating(74), good vertical and decent strength. 4.5 ppg/3.9 rpg.

C Tarick Minter – JR – 74 OVR – only 6'9”. Not a great rebounder(81 O/74 D). Better post offense than defense(79 O/73 D). ok but not great inside(83 close, 85 shtr). He is very strong and has great awareness. 13.9 ppg/3.6 rpg.

I don't think we can play zone against these shooters. Perhaps we'll play a mix. They take 45% of their shots inside, but still 30% of them from 3. We may just have to take our lumps inside instead of letting them destroy us from 3.

Our team unity is up to 47, it seems that's improving at a better rate at this level. But Bowling Green's unity is 57, Jakubowski and Mason are both very experienced.
<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> OHIO
</td> <td width="7%"> BGU
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 18
</td> <td width="7%"> 14
</td> <td width="68%"> Good start for both teams on offense so far. We have 3 offensive boards that have all led to second chance points. Freeman has 11 points, 3 3's and a good pump fake/drive to an open hoop. They also have 3 3's. We have drawn 1 foul on Mason so far. Backups are in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 20
</td> <td width="7%"> 21
</td> <td width="68%"> Massey scores on a layup to end a 7-0 Bowling Green run. We've committed a couple dumb turnovers and otherwise gone cold here.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 25
</td> <td width="7%"> 25
</td> <td width="68%"> Great(and I mean GREAT) 3 point play by Delic to tie the game up. He got hit coming into the lane and sort of threw up a blind shot with his left hand after he drew the contact that went in.


Starters are back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 3:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 32
</td> <td width="7%"> 32
</td> <td width="68%"> Turner gets mason isolated on the wing, drives past him and draws a foul going up to the basket. Mason now has 2 fouls and has not been as effective as I'd feared so far this half.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 37
</td> <td width="7%"> 43
</td> <td width="68%"> Our defense falters a little towards the end of the half and we go into the locker room down by 6. Both teams have been effective in the half court set, not much running for either of us.


Jakubowski has 13 to lead bowling green, 3-5 from 3. Mason has 7, but is 0-1 from 3. As a team they are 5-13 from behind the arc and are shooting just over 50%


Freeman has 13 for us, Turner has 8, and Pearson has 7. Dahi leads us with 6 boards. We're shooting a bit worse, 13-31. Freeman is 3-6 from 3, Turner is 0-3 which is disappointing, a second deep threat would be real nice to have today.


Overall the rebounding is even, 19-18 their favor, but we have 6 offensive rebounds for 11 second chance points.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 17:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 46
</td> <td width="7%"> 46
</td> <td width="68%"> They get a 3 point play to open the 2^nd half, going up 46-37. We go on a fierce 9-0 run after that poor start, Freeman hits a 3, we get Washington out in transition(our athletic SF) for a monster dunk after their PG got stuck underneath the basket, we've got 3 blocked shots and Dahi and Pearson each have buckets.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 52
</td> <td width="7%"> 51
</td> <td width="68%"> Back and forth again, we had taken a 48-46 lead before they went back up again. Turner just missed a 3, but Washington got the board, missed the 1^st putback, got it back and made it on his 2^nd try. Bowling Green takes a time out as the crowd is going nuts for us for the 2^nd time this half already.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 65
</td> <td width="7%"> 58
</td> <td width="68%"> Hm is this a rivalry game for Ohio? The 6^th man is triggering every other time we score it seems. It has 4 times this half already. Does the game even understand/know about rivalries to do that?


Our offense is really clicking right now. We're getting baskets from everywhere, Freeman has 19 points now, Dahi and Pearson have both come up big inside, and Washington and Turner are contributing as well. The defense is playing great, and were it not for a poor stretch where we turned it over on 3 out of 4 offensive possessions, we could be up double digits right now.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 8:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 72
</td> <td width="7%"> 70
</td> <td width="68%"> Their offense has gotten it in gear, and fast. They've scored the last 5 or 6 times down in a row, including two 3 pointers, and they've cut it right back down to 2. I call a time out and get my backups in. I have only used 1 time out so I'll have a lot of chances to stop the clock late to keep my starters fresh, but they need a little rest.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 77
</td> <td width="7%"> 75
</td> <td width="68%"> Fine play by the backups, Harris hits a big 3 for us, Massey gets an open look but I think his confidence is still shot. Starters come back in to finish off the game.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 79
</td> <td width="7%"> 75
</td> <td width="68%"> Good defense, even after allowing Mason to snag an offensive rebound down low. Freeman hits a wide open 12 footer and they burn a time out.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 3:10
</td> <td width="10%"> 83
</td> <td width="7%"> 77
</td> <td width="68%"> Another timeout by Bowling Green. Pearson is just dominating his man down low and our defense is playing great, up by 6 now!
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 85
</td> <td width="7%"> 79
</td> <td width="68%"> Leading by 6 with 2:15 to go we decide to burn some clock. Freeman misses a 3 as the shot clock winds down, but Dahi gets the offensive board! He kicks it back out and we burn some more clock, again failing to score. They miss a 3 though, and we rebound, leading by 6 now with 1 minute left and the ball.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

They're unable to do anything down the stretch and we snag a good conference win.

Ohio 88
Bowling Green 79

Solid, solid win today. The rebound margin was even in the 1^st half because they were shooting much better than us so there were a lot more defensive rebounds available for them than us. Things evened out in the 2^nd half, and in fact we shot 47% for the game and they shot 46%. The rebound margin ended up being hugely in our favor, 43-29. We pulled down 14 offensive boards and had 17 second chance points.

We did an outstanding job of minimizing their big shooting threats. Jakubowski scored 15 points and had 6 assists, a solid day but not much in the 2^nd half. Mason only scored 10, going 4-14 from the floor, and a cold 1-4 from 3. On our end we had three guys with big numbers, including Pearson, making me very glad I inserted him back in the starting lineup:

Turner: 12 points/8 assists
Freeman: 24 points (6-12 from 3)
Washington: 6 points/6 boards
Pearson: 24 points/7 boards
Dahi: 10 points/20 boards

Pearson dominated his man all day in the low post, Dahi was incredible on the boards, and Freeman was the scorer we needed outside today to keep things spaced out well down low.

[Radii]

Hey look, rankings.

The RPI is now available. We're #69 in the RPI! We've only played 1 top 100 team, and we lost(that was a simmed game vs S. Illinois). We're 6-2 vs teams rated 100-200, and 6-1 vs poor teams at 200+.

The awesome news though is that we've cracked the mid-major top 25, coming in at #24! That's the first time I've sniffed any sort of love from any poll in this dynasty. We're the only MAC team listed.


The #1 team on this list is pretty noteworthy. Virginia Commonwealth of the CAA(which is the 8th ranked conference overall right now), is 16-1 and has the #1 RPI in the nation and a #7 ranking in the media poll. Their only loss is a 1 point loss to George Mason, #5 in the mid major poll and no slouch themselves. They have wins over Texas Tech, Villanova and Penn State, all teams with winning records so far.


The MAC is the #15 ranked conference right now, better than last season, though still towards the lower half of the mid-majors.

[Radii]

January 18, 2011

Ohio (12-4, 3-1 MAC) at Ball State (10-6, 3-1 MAC)

Ball State has the strongest roster in the MAC, 80 OVR. They do have some losses to some poor teams though. They take 44% of their shots from 3 point range, and they run a 3-2 primary defense, which I'm not really used to seeing.

Scouting

PG Melvin Goins – SR – 76 OVR – Goins is the returning MAC player of the year, and he looks better this year. Averaging 18.1 ppg/3.7 rebounds/3.0 assists/1.3 steals. He's a crazy good athlete. 90 speed/92 quickness/99 vertical!!/82 hustle/92 stamina. Good ball handler, decent passer, very good defender(84), good in close and from midrange, only 74 rated 3 point shooter. Outstanding off the dribble and a great dunker for a guard(81 dunk rating, 52 dunk standing). Oh yeah, dude is 5'10”. heh, wow.

SG Jamon Diarra – JR – 69 OVR – 5.7 ppg, easily the worst player in the lineup. Only 69 from 3, not terribly fast, only an average defender. He has a good knack for picking up steals though(83 stl).

SF Vern Pettyjohn – SO – 76 OVR – 6'6”, averaging 5.6 ppg/5.9 rpg this year. Pettyjohn looks a bit more like an inside guy, he's an extremely good rebounder for a SF(83 O/77 D), a good defender, both in the post and on the ball, great blocker, great steals. He is a bit odd in that he is better from outside than midrange(69 med/74 3 point). He's outstanding in traffic and off the dribble.

PF Kelenna Monroe – JR – 71 OVR – Great offefnsive rebounder(86), good in the post(76 O/76 D), and ok inside. 7.8 ppg/3.5 rpg. 6'8”

C Arzelle Schmidt – SR – 73 OVR – average rebounder, very good post player(79 O/78 D, both good for this level). Good in close, and he has a midrange jumper as well(76 midrange). Averaging 7.7 ppg/3.8 rpg. Only 6'8” so we have an edge there.

Goins is by far their biggest scoring threat.

I'm really wondering why they take so many 3's. They seem like a team that isn't that great from deep.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> OHIO
</td> <td width="7%"> BSU
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 6
</td> <td width="7%"> 10
</td> <td width="68%"> Either good defense or crappy offense is keeping the scoring down here.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 9
</td> <td width="7%"> 10
</td> <td width="68%"> Ok, I'm officially blaming shitty offefnse. Dahi with a 3 point play to cut it to one. Our backups come in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 10:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 16
</td> <td width="7%"> 10
</td> <td width="68%"> Hey, some offense! Delic has 4 and Massey just hit an open 3 and we've scored 10 in a row now.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 8:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 16
</td> <td width="7%"> 15
</td> <td width="68%"> We have to burn a timeout to avoid a held ball situation. After a jumper and a 3 point play we only lead by 1 now.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 19
</td> <td width="7%"> 22
</td> <td width="68%"> 5 straight from Ball State, including a 3 by Goins, and we burn a timeout to get our starters back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 2:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 25
</td> <td width="7%"> 35
</td> <td width="68%"> We had it down to 26-25 and they explode on a 9-0 run. We commit 2 turnovers that lead to dunks on their end and allow Goins an open 3. Need to get this offense going!
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 27
</td> <td width="7%"> 40
</td> <td width="68%"> We scored first to cut it to 8 and then they ran off the final 5 points. Not good!


Goins started out slow, only 3 points until the 5:45 mark. But he ended the half with 14. He has 4 steals. Diarra has 13.


All our points are coming inside. We have 8 from Pearson, 7 from Dahi, and 5 from Delic off the bench. That's 20 of our 27 points. Massey's 3 points is the only points we have scored by a guard. Turner and Freeman are both scoreless.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 16:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 29
</td> <td width="7%"> 50
</td> <td width="68%"> The lead hits 20 as they start the 2^nd half on a 10-2 run.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 37
</td> <td width="7%"> 56
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are in, but this is looking pretty bad. They are better at picking off passes and getting straight up steals off the dribble than any team I've ever played it feels like.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 48
</td> <td width="7%"> 68
</td> <td width="68%"> Starters are back in. This is feeling quite hopeless, but obviously there is still time for a run.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 57
</td> <td width="7%"> 72
</td> <td width="68%"> We manage 9 poitns in a minute and cut the lead down to 15. Of course, we hit our first 3 pointer in a long, long time to start this stretch, and they came down and drained one on us immediately. But we forced two turnovers and that helped here.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 61
</td> <td width="7%"> 74
</td> <td width="68%"> Ball State burns a time out as we've got it down to 13. This run feels very, very forced, there's still a lot of sloppy play on our end but they've gone cold. Its just a question of how long they stay cold now.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 61
</td> <td width="7%"> 79
</td> <td width="68%"> There's two steals and two layups in a row for them... ugh.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
We got the lead down to 12 in the final 2 minutes but as soon as we made a threat Goins knocked us out with a 3-ball.

Ball State 86
Ohio 73

I cannot really complain about losing to a very talented Ball State team at their place. I'm unhappy about how we lost though. Ball State forced us into 21 turnovers. That's just outrageous. They only had 10 themselves.

Goins had 23 points and 7 steals for them. Diarra had 18 points.

Turner: 8 points/6 assists
Freeman: 4 points (0-8 from 3)
Washington: 2 points/4 boards
Pearson: 19 points/7 boards
Dahi: 19 points/14 boards

Delic: 11 points/4 boards

Delic had a solid game off the bench today, but I'm still very happy with the decision to start Pearson.

[Radii]

January 22, 2011

Ohio 89, at Toledo 75

We win our next simmed game. Turner scores 20, Pearson 17, and Washington 10. Massey has 9 off the bench. Solid road win after our Ball State loss.

Our next two games are vs Kent State and Akron. Akron is 6-0 in conference play, so I'll play that one.

January 26th, 2011:

Ohio 61, vs Kent State 56

Turner with 10 points/6 assists, Freeman with 12, all from 3. Dahi with 10 points/7 boards.

I'm going to win 20 just from simming games at this rate.

[Radii]

January 29, 2011

Akron (8-10, 6-1 MAC) at Ohio (14-5, 5-2 MAC)

Akron leads the MAC, but we're only 1 game back now that they lost their last contest(at Ball State, incidentally). We have a chance to tie for the conference lead at the halfway point with a win here. Akron has the most efficient offense in the conference. We have the 2^nd most efficient.

Scouting

PG Ronnie Steward – SR – 73 OVR – Incredible speed and quickness(94/94), incredible ball handling(89), and a decent shooter from everywhere(79/76/77 close/med/3). Very good off the dribble(84). 10.5 ppg.

SG Leroy Butler – JR – 78 OVR – Thankfully Butler is just average from 3(72). He's great in close and I guess he gets there a lot. Amazing speed(91), good quicks(83), average defense and only average ball handling. Brilliant in traffic(87, highest I've seen out of a guard ever I think), and clutch(80). Averaging 13 ppg.

SF Leon Mills – JR – 66 OVR – 6'9”, actually listed as a PF. Slow, only worth a damn inside. Terrible defense. I'll see if I can't get washington to use his superior athleticism against Mills in man to man sets. 3.4 ppg.

PF Steve Swiech – SR – 66 OVR – 6'10”, very good rebounder(83 O/82 D), and very good inside(87). Quite strong as well(79). Just 4 points a game here but I expect a lot of rebounding.

C Kirsten Davis – JR – 72 OVR – 7'3”, solid inside, solid post play on both ends, and a solid rebounder. Basically he has average to above average numbers, PLUS he's 7'3”. That's a scary combination. Only 9 ppg/4 rpg somehow.

They run a 2-3 zone and are noted to not try too terribly hard to get back in transition defense. Those two things give me a bit of hope. I just hope we're shooting well today.


<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> OHIO
</td> <td width="7%"> AKR
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 10
</td> <td width="7%"> 14
</td> <td width="68%"> Our backups come in as the starters struggle quite a bit. They have 3 6'9+ guys guarding the paint in a 2-3 zone and we can't make a jump shot to save our lives. Gonna be rough like that.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 14
</td> <td width="7%"> 31
</td> <td width="68%"> Holy shit these guys are abusing our backups like you wouldn't believe. We just cannot buy a bucket. They've hit a couple 3's, we've turned it over 3 times, leading to layups, and other than that we just miss shots and they run their offense well and score lots and lots.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 19
</td> <td width="7%"> 40
</td> <td width="68%"> Starters are back in. Their inside guys got most of those last 9 points, laying the ball in over my 6'6” backup PF with ease.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 28
</td> <td width="7%"> 48
</td> <td width="68%"> Freeman finally heats up from 3 and has our last 9 points, but, we are not slowing them down or cutting into the lead any.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 3:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 32
</td> <td width="7%"> 48
</td> <td width="68%"> We score 4 straight, all from Turner, but Pearson picks up his 3^rd foul and we're in even more trouble inside.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 2:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 33
</td> <td width="7%"> 50
</td> <td width="68%"> Dahi commits his 3^rd foul as well.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 40
</td> <td width="7%"> 61
</td> <td width="68%"> Wow. Akron is shooting 62%. They have no turnovers, we have 7. They have shot 19 free throws, we have shot 5.


Freeman leads us with 15, but that's 5-12 from 3. That's pretty solid actually, but he had a 3-3 stretch and was 2-9 otherwise. Turner has 7 points/7 assists. Pearson has 3, Dahi 2.


They have 4 guys already in double figures, their starting C, backup C, SG, and backup SG.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 18:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 48
</td> <td width="7%"> 63
</td> <td width="68%"> Freeman makes a 3, they miss a shot and Turner is out on the break. They score on an offensive board where their center just jumps over my center to steal a board from him... and then Turner hits a 3. Good start for us.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 17:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 50
</td> <td width="7%"> 65
</td> <td width="68%"> Another offensive rebound and putback for them, but the big news here is that their superspeedy PG, Steward, just picked up foul #3 and has to sit for awhile. Shocker: it was on a charge.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 56
</td> <td width="7%"> 69
</td> <td width="68%"> We had it down to 12 with 2 chances to get it to 10 or under and could not. This pace trying to catch up has worn us out though, and I get my backups in. Actually its my backups in the backcourt and my starters in the front court, since Dahi and Pearson were sitting with 3 fouls. Turner has scored 12 already this half and is on fire, the main reason we caught up some and are in it.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 63
</td> <td width="7%"> 74
</td> <td width="68%"> We had it down to 11 twice, once we got the ball with a chance to cut it under 10 again and were unable. They came down and drained a 3. We answered with a Massey 3 and its still 11 as Akron burns a time out.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 63
</td> <td width="7%"> 80
</td> <td width="68%"> They put their starting big men back in and all of a sudden Dahi misses two shots from point blank range, they get two quick 3's and its 17 again.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 76
</td> <td width="7%"> 95
</td> <td width="68%"> As soon as they brought their big men starters back in they just took the game right back away. Our starters are back in but this is pretty damn hopeless.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
I have never before been dominated like that by a team's inside game.

Akron 106
Ohio 89

Their 7'3” center, Davis, scored 21 points, grabbed 14 boards, and had 4 blocked shots. Their backup center scored 18 and had 8 rebounds.

Their SG, Butler, scored 18, and their backup SG scored 19. The thing is, the only thing I can see doing different to give me a chance to win is “shoot better”. I tried driving into their big man. They just swatted the ball away, no fouls. They got offensive boards over the backs of my big men without trying, and our guys end up in foul trouble trying to defend all the putbacks. This says they only had 10 offensive rebounds. It sure seemed like more. They won the rebounding battle 41-33.

In the end, we shot really well from 3. We were 15/35, 42% from behind the arc. It just wasn't enough.

Turner: 23 points/9 assists (2-6 from 3)
Freeman: 27 points (9/19 from 3)
Washington: 2 points/2 boards
Pearson: 5 points/4 boards
Dahi: 9 points/14 boards

Massey: 13 points (3-4 from 3)
Harris: 5 points (1-6 from 3)

I would rather play Ball State with my job on the line, than have to play this team again.

[Radii]

We're halfway through the conference season now. Ohio is 5-3, 2-2 in games I play out and 3-1 in simmed games.

standings at the halfway point:

1. Akron 7-1
2. Ball State 5-3
3. Ohio 5-3
4. Toledo 5-3
5. Kent State 4-4
6. Miami (OH) 4-4
7. Bowling Green 4-4
8. W. Michigan 4-4
9. Buffalo 3-5
10. E. Michigan 3-5
11. N. Illinois 2-6
12. C. Michigan 2-6

We're in a 3 way tie for 2nd but obviously there's a giant bunch between 2nd and 8th just separated by 1 game.

Looking at our schedule the rest of the way, we do not have to play Akron again. I am thankful for that. We play Ball State in our 2nd to last game. 5 of our 8 remaining games are on the road.

[Radii]

Wow, I figured we were not going to be ranked in the mid-major poll anymore, but we've actually moved up quite a bit.

We're #16 in the mid-major poll, doing well with a 7-3 record in our last 10 games now. We're the only MAC team in the list.

VCU, Nevada and Southern Illinois are the top 3, and they are all ranked in the national polls. VCU is #6 in the nation at 19-2. Nevada is #21 and S. illinois is #25.

[Radii]

This week I'm going to play the easier of my two games, just so I'm (hopefully) not only winning my simmed games ;)

Feb 2, 2011

Ohio 83, at Buffalo 69

Freeman leads the team with 16, Pearson with 15/8 boards, Dahi with 8/10 boards, and Harris with 12 off the bench in a solid win. Buffalo isn't really very good either, they're 3-6 in conference play now.

[Radii]

February 5, 2011

Ohio (15-6, 6-3 MAC) at Central Michigan (9-11, 2-7 MAC)

Scouting

PG Jeremy Allen – SR – 67 OVR – average shooter, average speed, poor passer, but good ball handler. Very average overall. 9.9 ppg.

SG Chase Simon – SR – 73 OVR – solid speed, defense, ball handling and a good scorer off the dribble. He can make jumpers when he's open. 11.2 ppg.

SF Marquise Laws – SO – 71 OVR – 6'10” - another PF playing SF... uhoh. 6 ppg/5 rpg, not really great skills anywhere, good on the offensive glass, pretty ok post offense, good inside but he won' be making any jupmers.

PF Kyle Caskill – SO – 72 OVR – 6'9”, great post offense(84), 90 close range, pretty good on the defensive boards. 10.1 ppg.

C Rans Lemons – FR – 73 OVR – 7'1”, 280 lbs. 83 str, 85 hustle, not a great rebounder, but size will help there. Great post offense(82) that might be a problem. 7.7 ppg.

Hopefully I haven't walked into another nightmare here with 3 big men starting for these guys. They're not quite as big and not nearly as highly rated as the Akron guys.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> OHIO
</td> <td width="7%"> CMU
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 14
</td> <td width="7%"> 20
</td> <td width="68%"> The primary reason for our deficit isn't the play of their big men, but our attempts to rush the ball up the court a bit too much. We've committed some stupid turnovers, which we seem to be doing a lot lately. Our backups come in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 23
</td> <td width="7%"> 23
</td> <td width="68%"> Solid play by the backups. We got Lemons' 2^nd foul(the only two fouls CMU has committed so far) and their 7'1” center is on the bench for awhile. Massey is playing well on offense and we've tied it up.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 28
</td> <td width="7%"> 32
</td> <td width="68%"> Even at 27-27, CMU has pulled ahead just slightly. Starters come back in to fix that though.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 45
</td> <td width="7%"> 44
</td> <td width="68%"> We ended up even at 34, they hit 2 3's to go up 40-34, then they brought in a no guard lineup.. a SF running the point, and 4 PF/C. We ran off 11 in a row against that lineup before they managed the last 4 points of the half.


They have 14 from Allen and 10 from Simon. Their bigs aren't really scoring at all, so our zone is effective. Despite the high scoring and good shooting start, I'm content to force allen and Simon to make outside shots all day.


Freeman leads us with 12. He's 4-5 from 3. Turner has 7 points/7 assists, while Washington has 8 points from the SF spot, a nice suprise.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 16:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 59
</td> <td width="7%"> 51
</td> <td width="68%"> We get out ahead by 8 as 2 dunks in a row in transition by Turner bring the crowd to a frenzy. A Dahi 3 point play on an offensive board gives Lemons his 3^rd foul and he sits some more.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 64
</td> <td width="7%"> 53
</td> <td width="68%"> A 3 from Freeman and a dunk from Washington push our lead up into double digits. Timeout CMU.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 73
</td> <td width="7%"> 66
</td> <td width="68%"> Freeman has 20, Turner I think is up to 17. Backups come in though and we'll need to slow the game down a bit. We've simply been outrunning them this half.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 81
</td> <td width="7%"> 77
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups do a pretty good job keeping the lead. Massey hit a 3 and we got a couple buckets from Delic. Starters are back in to finish it off.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 92
</td> <td width="7%"> 77
</td> <td width="68%"> Dahi gets a putback on our first possession. After that its the Freeman show. 3 straight wide open 3 pointers, the last one in transition, and we just exploded this game out to a 15 point lead.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
After that run to go up 15, I just eat the clock up. We scored the final 20 points of the game.

Ohio 101
Central Michigan 77

14 for 29 from 3 is good, right? :D Their two guards had great days, 24 for Allen, 21 for Simon. No one else managed 10 points and their big men were not effective enough.

Turner: 22 points/15 assists
Freeman: 35 points (11-19 shooting)
Washington: 10 points/5 boards
Pearson: 4 points/6 boards
Dahi: 8 points/21 boards

15 assists for Turner, 35 points for Freeman, 21 boards for Dahi... monster numbers all around.

[Radii]

I always thought it was "avoid fouls" as well and higher was better (and that the letter was backwards.) However, I don't have any conclusive evidence of that. I've been enjoying following along.


I'm beginning to flip flop back on this and take my original position. I searched the league leaders in the NCAA in fouls per game. It pulled up a big group of players who all have 3.4 or 3.5 fouls per game. The vast majority of them had Foul ratings above 80, and a not-insignificant number had foul ratings over 90.


Additionally, I've continued to do the Challenge Shot mini-game. I have almost completed it 3 or 4 times, but have not yet successfully. However, I have seen the foul rating bar creep downward a couple times for these guys. I don't know if that is impacted by confidence or not, but I have without a doubt noticed the bar emptying for the Foul rating, not increasing, in two cases. One of those cases was for my pissed off 4th string center, which is why I mention confidence.

And lastly, now that I have slightly better development, I'm seeing more ratings increases. I have had players make ratings gains in every single stat except for fouls. I am thinking this is because the game isn't showing down arrows, and that it's quite likely that a couple players have lowered this rating during the year.


None of that is conclusive by any stretch. But I am taking back my "I think I was wrong about the fouls rating" comment from earlier ;)

[Radii]

February 9, 2011

Ohio (16-6, 7-3 MAC) at Miami(OH) (9-13, 5-5 MAC)

Miami OH has a roster strength similar to ours. 75 OVR, 76 O/74 D/79 Shooting/86 Rebounding. In fact they are one of only two teams in the league with a higher rebounding rating than us. The other being Akron. Our rebounding rating is 85.

Scouting

PG Jerald Demond – SR – 69 OVR – Demond is their 3 point threat(80). His speed, quickness, handling and defense are all average for a PG, but nothing special. All within a couple points of 80, some above, some below. Our main worry here seems to be the 3 point shooting. He only averages 7.4 ppg, but we expect he'll put up 20 on us.

SG Dragutin Baker – SO – 73 OVR – Great speed(89) but not as quick(81). Above average defender(81) and great inside(83). We're plelased to see a 3 point shooting rating under 70(68). Looks like a guy that needs to drive to the hoop to be dangerous. Averaing 7.2 ppg.

SF Nick Winbush – SR – 72 OVR – 6'8”. Great in close(87) and solid from mid-range(77). Not a great 3 point shooter(70). Good in traffic and off the dribble. Averaging 10.4 ppg.

PF Cristano Blalock – FR – 67 OVR – 6'9”, only average on the boards and in the post. Ok strength, ok inside abilities. Seems like a guy Pearson should match up pretty well against. 5.5 ppg.

C Hashin Friend – JR – 69 OVR – 7'0”. Average on the boards(72 O/79 D), strong(79), good post offense, not as good on d(79/68). With size and strenght we definitely worry about “only average to above average” ratings. He leads the team with 17 ppg. Only 5.8 rebounds though.

I feel like we match up pretty well here if we are able to keep them off the glass.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> OHIO
</td> <td width="7%"> MOH
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 10
</td> <td width="7%"> 15
</td> <td width="68%"> Feels worse than a 4 point deficit. They have 3 or 4 offensive boards, we don't have any. We have 4 turnovers, mostly from trying to rush and force the tempo. Freeman hasn't scored yet, they're playing man to man defense and Baker is keeping him fairly well covered. Backups are in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 14
</td> <td width="7%"> 24
</td> <td width="68%"> A 3 pointer followed by a steal and a 3 point play and we're trailing by 10 now. The problems are the same as in recent games. We're turning it over too much, and giving up way too many offensive rebounds. Their good shooting PG, Demond, just went out with an injury.... whoa, a serious one. Broken ankle – 48 days.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 8:10
</td> <td width="10%"> 19
</td> <td width="7%"> 31
</td> <td width="68%"> Still struggling quite a bit, but we've just drawn foul #2 on Friend, their big man inside. Hopefully that will help our rebounding problems.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:40
</td> <td width="10%"> 23
</td> <td width="7%"> 35
</td> <td width="68%"> Starters are back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 31
</td> <td width="7%"> 40
</td> <td width="68%"> The loss of Demond is really hurting them, as is the foul trouble inside. They've got two guards in the game rated under 60 and we have the size advantage now. Lead is down to 9 and it feels like we have the momentum.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:10
</td> <td width="10%"> 42
</td> <td width="7%"> 44
</td> <td width="68%"> They bring some of their guys in foul trouble back in the game for the final minute of the half.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 48
</td> <td width="7%"> 48
</td> <td width="68%"> Freeman scores our last 6 points and we tie it back up before halftime. So basically the situation is this: They don't run a deep bench. They are the only team I've played this year that when scouted it said that they don't like to use their bench much, only to rest starters when necessary. So the foul situation is fairly even. We committed 10 fouls, they committed 12. But their 12 were primarily with starters on the court, so 4 of their starters end up with 4 fouls. The other starter is their PG Demond who broke his foot and is out for the rest of the season.


Their starters are killing us today but I expect us to outlast them given the foul and injury situation.


Turner really took over the game late, driving by their 58 rated guard at will. He has 17. Delic has 7 for the backups, and Freeman 6. The rest of our points are spread out very evenly. Backup PG Massey has 3 fouls, and SF Washington has 2 for us.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 17:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 53
</td> <td width="7%"> 52
</td> <td width="68%"> We take our first lead in a very long time. We've drawn 2 fouls on them as well. Winbush and Friend are out for now with 3 fouls. Friend is the big one, their big center. We've committed one foul, Dahi's 2^nd.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 59
</td> <td width="7%"> 54
</td> <td width="68%"> We use an offensive rebound of our own... after a missed free throw, to go up 5. Miami OH takes a time out, and things are turning firmly in our direction at this point.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 64
</td> <td width="7%"> 54
</td> <td width="68%"> Freeman drains a 3 in transition, and Turner gets a dunk after a steal, Miami OH calls another time out.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 10:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 72
</td> <td width="7%"> 62
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are in, except for Dahi. I sat Dahi at the 15 minute mark since he was tired earlier than the others, I'm bringing him back in now.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 81
</td> <td width="7%"> 70
</td> <td width="68%"> We're doing well, given that they've got their starters back in. I call a time out to get Dahi off the floor, and to give my starters a bit more rest, hoping to get them back for the final 5 minutes to hold on to this lead. Massey has 4 fouls now, fwiw.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 81
</td> <td width="7%"> 72
</td> <td width="68%"> Starters back in. We're still going to keep things slow, no need to let them get on a run if we turn it over a couple times quickly.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
They hit a 3 pointer with 2:30 to go to make it 81-75. We really sealed the game when we came down on the next play, ran 25 seconds off the clock, and hit a 3 of our own. 6 was the closest that it got until they hit a meaningless 3 as time expired.

Ohio 90
Miami (Ohio) 85

If their PG doesn't go down with an injury in the first half, we probably don't win this game. If we don't get their starters in foul trouble early, we probably don't win.

Turner: 29 points/10 assists
Freeman: 14 points
Washington: 15 points/12 boards
Pearson: 2 points/4 boards
Dahi: 6 points/13 boards

Delic: 9 points

Washington is a lot more athletic than either of my big men. The big men just got their shit blocked if they tried to go inside, Washington hit a few midrange jumpers and drove to the hoop a couple times when he got by his man, drawing fouls.

[Radii]

February 13, 2011

at Ohio 91, N Illinois 77

We win a simmed game against one of the worst teams in the conference, as expected. Turner has 11 points/9 assists, Freemanm has 17 points. Pearson has 12, Dahi 16, and Delic 11 off the bench.


Out of our next two games, the 2nd one is clearly the one we want to play, so we sim the first one:

February 16, 2011

Ohio 86, at W Michigan 63

Turner with 18, Pearson with 12, Dahi with 16 today. Another game we expected to win, but still real nice to lock up regardless.


At this point we have 3 games left in the regular season, and we'll be playing out the next two in a row.


MAC Standings

1. Akron 11-3
2. Ohio 10-3
3. Bowling Green 9-4
4. Ball State 9-5
5. Toledo 9-5
6. Miami OH 7-6
7. Kent State 6-7
8. W. Michigan 6-8
9. E. Michigan 5-9
10. Buffalo 3-10
11. C. Michigan 3-10
12. N. Illinois 3-11


Our final 3 games:

at Bowling Green
vs Ball State
at E. Michigan


We beat Bowling Green at home by 9, but the game was 6 points or closer almost the entire way, one of the most competitive games I've played this season. We lost at Ball State by 13 and felt like they were a much more talented team than us. The final game I expect us to win.


We're 19-6 overall, but our RPI puts us only rated 75th. We've only played 1 top 100 team and lost. So we have zero at large prospects. If we want to go to the NCAA Tournament, we have to win our conference tournament. As long as we can win 1 of our final 4+ games(counting the MAC tourney) we will reach 20 wins. I'd like to knock that out in our next game at Bowling Green just so I dont' have to worry about it :)

[Radii]

February 26, 2011

Ohio (19-6, 10-3 MAC) at Bowling Green (16-9, 9-4 MAC)

Bowling Green has improved and is now rated 80 OVR.

Scouting

PG Joe Jakubowski – SR – 72 OVR – Game Experience is maxxed out, not sure i've seen that too often before. Good speed, quicks, handling and passing. Good shooter(82 close/77 med/77 3) and good off the dribble. 8.2 ppg/6.0 apg

SG Wallace Mason – JR – 81 OVR – Wow, this guy is a stud. 89 SPD/87 QCK, 85 DEF, 83 Close, 72 Med, 86 3-pt. Great off the dribble or in traffic, clutch rating of 82. Hell his defensive rebounding is 83! We are in trouble. He's averaging 15.2 ppg.

SF Anil Akins – SO – 75 OVR – Akins was hurt the first time around, this actually strengthens them quite a bit. Outstanding rebounder for a 6'6” SF(81/80), great steals guy, great midrange shot and good inside. Averaging 9 points per game.

PF Clif Ahvenniemi – SO – 69 OVR – 6'7”, a little undersized compared to pearson. better rebounder than Minter(79 D), extremely good low post defender(82), but poor post offense. Good clutch rating(74), good vertical and decent strength. 4.5 ppg/3.9 rpg.

C Tarick Minter – JR – 75 OVR – only 6'9”. Not a great rebounder(81 O/74 D). Better post offense than defense(79 O/73 D). ok but not great inside(83 close, 85 shtr). He is very strong and has great awareness. 13.9 ppg/4.0rpg.

Finally another team that we have some size over, nice for a change. They are still a solid rebounding team. In our first matchup Pearson and Freeman had very big days for us.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> OHIO
</td> <td width="7%"> BGU
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 26
</td> <td width="7%"> 19
</td> <td width="68%"> We start out in a 2-3, and that worked well for awhile but they have gotten hot from 3 and we're going to have to switch to man defense. Our offense is really clicking. We have maybe 4 fast break points, but we have 4 3's(2 from Turner, 2 from Freeman), Washington has scored 4, and Dahi and Pearson have both gotten some good looks inside. Backups are coming in now, the game has moved at a pretty brisk pace with few whistles, so we're tired out.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 33
</td> <td width="7%"> 35
</td> <td width="68%"> All the shots that they were missing at our place, they are making here. Our backups played well but they have confidence issues at this point, as they all think they should start apparently, so I have to take what I can get out of them. I burn a timeout as they take the lead and the crowd goes nuts. Starters back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:05
</td> <td width="10%"> 36
</td> <td width="7%"> 44
</td> <td width="68%"> Bowling Green just lobbed up an alley oop pass from about 30 feet from the basket, their guy caught it over my PF and dunked it. I called a timeout to ponder what it is that I just witnessed.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">

</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 43
</td> <td width="7%"> 54
</td> <td width="68%"> Turner misses a dunk with 2 seconds left in the half, a fitting end to a very difficult half for us.


Mason has 15 for them. SF Akins has 12, backup SF Knight has 10. They're 10-23 from 3. We just can't compete with that.
We're 6-14 from 3 and pretty pleased about that. Turner has 13, Freeman 10. Massey has 7 off the bench. We didn't do a good job getting the ball inside in the latter part of the half. Need to get Pearson going in the 2^nd half.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 18:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 51
</td> <td width="7%"> 58
</td> <td width="68%"> Two quick 3 point plays cut the lead down to 7. Both in transition, both generate fouls on Mason, his first two fouls. Freeman and Washington were the beneficiaries.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 16:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 51
</td> <td width="7%"> 68
</td> <td width="68%"> Wow, just as quickly, they go on a 10-0 run. Mason has 8 of those points.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 53
</td> <td width="7%"> 74
</td> <td width="68%"> We score a basket. At this point worth noting. That was a 16-0 Bowling Green run, it likely ended the game.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 55
</td> <td width="7%"> 78
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are in.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

At the 10 minute mark we're down 25 and I throw in the towel.

Bowling Green 98
Ohio 81

This is more of what I feared when I saw Mason the first time around. He was a little off that entire game. Not this one. Mason led them with 33 points. Akins scored 21.

Turner: 16 points/6 assists
Freeman: 16 points
Washington: 12 points/7 boards
Pearson: 6 points/13 boards
Dahi: 6 points/7 boards

I tried a bit too hard to keep up with them from 3 point range, when I should have been working the ball inside more. But I think on this day it was unlikely to matter at all.

[Radii]

March 1, 2011

Ball State (16-10, 9-5 MAC) at Ohio (19-7, 10-4 MAC)

I have 4 pep talks remaining and use all four before our upcoming game with Ball State. I want my backups to be as effective as possible.

Scouting

Ball State is led by their great poing guard Melvin Goins. Goins is the returning MAC player of the year and may well win it again this year. Goins is averaging 18.1 points per game and is their best 3 point shooter at 39%, and best free throw shooter at 82%.

After that SG Diarra and PF Monroe average about 10 points each.

We've got a size edge inside and must take advantage today.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> OHIO
</td> <td width="7%"> BSU
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 19
</td> <td width="7%"> 21
</td> <td width="68%"> UGH. We get out to a great start, we're up 19-10, dahi has 8, Turner 6. One turnover, one missed shot, 2 3's by Goins and a couple other quick buckets and Ball State is on an 11-0 run as I call a time out. Backups are in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 10:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 25
</td> <td width="7%"> 26
</td> <td width="68%"> You don't know who my 3^rd string center is, you say? That's because I haven't typed his name a single time this season. Its Hope Meade, a freshman walkon. He's in the game because backup C Sessoms just picked up his 3^rd foul in 2 minutes and 10 seconds of play.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 32
</td> <td width="7%"> 28
</td> <td width="68%"> Great recovery by the backups. Delic has scored 5(or 7... I think 5 though) and has had a solid impact. Harris with 4, and the defense is obvoiusly playing well.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 36
</td> <td width="7%"> 28
</td> <td width="68%"> We get 4 more, a dunk in transition from Delic and a jumper from Massey. Ball State burns another time out. My starters are ready to come back in but as long as the backups are on this roll why change anything?
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 40
</td> <td width="7%"> 30
</td> <td width="68%"> Starters are back in. Outstanding job by the backups to build this lead up.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 2:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 42
</td> <td width="7%"> 40
</td> <td width="68%"> Ugh, 10-2 run by Ball State... UGH!
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 50
</td> <td width="7%"> 43
</td> <td width="68%"> Strong finish to the half. Turner is easily the player of the half, he's hit 3 3 pointers, picked up a 3 point play on our last possession of the half, and has a total of 14 points. Freeman is ice cold, so is Pearson. Dahi has 10 poitns and is playing very well. Delic was great off the bench with 11 points.


They have 12 from Goins, 7 from Diarra. They're 7-21 from 3.


Big stat: 28-17 edge on the boards in our favor. We're killing them on the glass.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 57
</td> <td width="7%"> 51
</td> <td width="68%"> We'd gone up by 12, 57-45, but they've run off 6 in a row, two turnovers on our part help that out. I burn a time out to settle my guys down.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 57
</td> <td width="7%"> 56
</td> <td width="68%"> They're on a 11-0 run now. :(
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 61
</td> <td width="7%"> 56
</td> <td width="68%"> Turner scores 4 in a row to end the run, then we get our backups into the game.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 66
</td> <td width="7%"> 58
</td> <td width="68%"> A little run, and some good defense holding them to 2 points over the last 3 minutes, and we're back up by 8. Ball State calls a time out. They were resting all 5 starters and just brought them back in, so we'll see how things change.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 72
</td> <td width="7%"> 65
</td> <td width="68%"> Massey with a couple nice buckets, Delic with a basket and a foul(but missed the FT), and we hold on to a 7 point lead, starters coming back in for the duration.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 75
</td> <td width="7%"> 65
</td> <td width="68%"> They come out in a 3-2 defense, which they've done a few times. We've had good success with it, either finding the spacing problems and getting open 3's, or getting someone into the middle of the zone and drawing fouls. Here we get Turner an open 3.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 3:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 83
</td> <td width="7%"> 73
</td> <td width="68%"> They've made a few 3's but Turner has really taken over the game for us, and I don't mean just getting fast break layups. Driving to the basket and dishing so Washington can get a bucket, hitting the open 3, driving past Goins for a layup in isolation, popping out of the lane after a cut for a 18 foot jumper... he's been a superstar for us today.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
We still lead by 10 with 1:30 to go and seal up the game by making our free throws.

Ohio 94
Ball State 85

Great win. We've now beaten both Bowling Green and Ball State at home, and gotten crushed by them on the road. That leaves Akron as the only team in the conference that we haven't proven that we can beat.

Total Rebounds: Ohio 55, Ball State 38

Goins scored 16 and Diarra 20 for them, about what we expected, really holding Goins to 16 makes me happy.

Turner: 28 points
Freeman: 11 points
Washington: 7 points/7 boards
Pearson: 4 points/15 boards
Dahi: 12 points/12 boards

Delic: 15 points/6 boards

Turner came up so big today, but Delic deserves mention too. He was huge for our backup squad, getting us a number of key buckets, espicially in the first half when Ball State was on a big run and had taken the lead.

[Radii]

Our win over Ball State gives me 20 wins for the first time in my career! This'll mean a coaching point, but also,its damn satisfying to pump out a 20 win season. It'll feel better down the road to do it with a team mostly made up of my own recruits, but this is outstanding.

We close out the season at Eastern Michigan. I'm not checking the standings b/c I said i'd sim this game and really we *should* win anyway.

March 6th, 2011

Ohio 66, at Eastern Michigan 65

Turner with 15, Washington with 16, and Pearson with 8 in a very close win.


I guess that game mattered, heh. AFter the game, a popup: "Congratulations, you have coached your team to a conference championship!" That's another coaching point, and presumably the 1 seed in the MAC tourney?

Final MAC Standings

1. Ohio 12-4
2. Akron 12-4
3. Bowling Green 11-5
4. Toledo 11-5
5. Ball State 10-6
6. Kent State 8-8
7. Miami (OH) 7-9
8. W. Michigan 6-10
9. E. Michigan 6-10
10. Buffalo 5-11
11. C. Michigan 4-12
12. N. Illinois 4-12


Ok, I'm a little disappointed to see that. We got killed by Akron. Head to head should be the first tiebreaker and they should have won the regular season. They had a murdurous non-conference schedule though and are only 14-13 overall, while we are 21-7. I assume that is the difference?


Going into the MAC tournament we are #13 in the mid-major poll. VCU is still #1, S. Illinois is #2, Nevada has fallen to 5th though(they were ranked earlier in the year in the media poll). Pepperdine and Gonzaga are #3/#4, which should make for an exciting West Coast Conference tournament.

[Radii]

MAC First Round

8. W. Michigan 65
9. E. Michigan 53

5. Ball State 88
12. N. Illinois 36

6. Kent State 72
11. C. Michigan 55

10. Buffalo 83
7. Miami (OH) 73


MAC Quarterfinal Pairings

1. Ohio
8. W. Michigan

4. Toledo
5. Ball State

3. Bowling Green
6. Kent State

2. Akron
10. Buffalo

[Radii]

March 10, 2011 - MAC Quarterfinals

Western Michigan (9-18, 6-10 MAC) vs Ohio (21-7, 12-4 MAC)

We lost to Western Michigan in a simmed game very early in the year. Hopefully that was not a sign of anything to come, other than revenge for us.

Scouting

PG Wilson Parks – JR – 74 OVR – Parks is an outstanding 3 point shooter(84), and outstanding off the dribble(85), very fast and a solid ball handler. He has excellent awareness on both ends of the floor and looks like a serious threat. He doesn't have strong shooting tendenciesthough and only averages 6 points per game.

SG Ian Massie – SR – 67 OVR – Very fast(91), average defender, above average shooter(80 close/66 med/78 3). Also good off the dribble(81). I'm definitely worried about this backcourt.

SF Juston Hairston – SR – 71 OVR – Good all around shooter, 83 close/78 med/76 3. Outstanding leaper(91 verg) and good speed for a 6'6 SF. Looks like another threat. 10 ppg/7.7 rpg.

PF Kellen Rakiecki – SO – 73 OVR – 6'7”, good rebounder, good post skills, great inside shot(93), good leaper. Averaging 9.3 ppg/7.2 rpg.

C Raitis Townsend – SO – 70 OVR – 6'8”, natural PF. Other than the 1 inch in height, Rakiecki looks superior everywhere. 11.0 ppg/4.0 rpg.

They seem to greatly prefer shooting inside, only about 30% of their shots come from 3. I'm going to start in a 2-3 zone at our scout's recommendation but may switch that up.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> OHIO
</td> <td width="7%"> WMU
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 19
</td> <td width="7%"> 9
</td> <td width="68%"> Turner has 10. Freeman has 9. Parks has a horrible shooting motion for them that takes a year. Massie is 5'7”.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 30
</td> <td width="7%"> 19
</td> <td width="68%"> Turner has 16. Freeman has 12. Washington has 2. Backups are in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 39
</td> <td width="7%"> 19
</td> <td width="68%"> With the backups all the points are coming in the paint instead of on jumpers. Delic and Sessoms are doing well here.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 47
</td> <td width="7%"> 23
</td> <td width="68%"> Massey goes out injured after driving and drawing a foul. That won't matter this game but if he is not ok for tomorrow then we will have depth issues the rest of the tournament. Turner is back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 51
</td> <td width="7%"> 25
</td> <td width="68%"> Starters back in. I'm looking to quick sim this at the half.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
Halftime Score: 68-36

Ohio 106
Western Michigan 74

Turner: 43 points/4 assists
Freeman: 17 points
Washington: 7 points/5 boards
Pearson: 2 points/13 boards
Dahi: 4 points/12 boards

Delic: 9 points
Harris: 11 points

so yeah, I guess that first loss was a fluke. Massey just has a sore knee, just day to day for 1 day. He's fine.

[Radii]

MAC Quarterfinal Results

1. Ohio 106
8. W. Michigan 74

4. Toledo 78
5. Ball State 65

3. Bowling Green 76
6. Kent State 94

2. Akron 79
10. Buffalo 70


MAC Semifinal Pairings

1. Ohio
4. Toledo

6. Kent State
2. Akron


So everyone that gave me a tough time this year lost except the team I *really* don't want to see... Akron. Go Kent State! We beat Toledo earlier this year in a simmed game, so I haven't actually seen them yet.

As much as I want to finish the tournament tonight, I have a ton to do tomorrow and can't afford to stay up all night :) I'll finish the season tomorrow evening.

[Radii]

March 11, 2011 – MAC Semifinals

Toledo(18-13, 11-5 MAC) vs Ohio (22-7, 12-4 MAC)

I've never made a conference finals before, so this game represents another chance at a step forward in my coaching career. We beat Toledo 89-75 in a simmed game at their place back in late January.

Scouting

PG Mychal Beckwith – SO – 69 OVR – very good passer(82) but not that good a ball handler for a point guard(77). Solid 3 point shooter(81) and good off the dribble(81). 8 ppg, and the guy is 5'11”

SG Corey Bingham – SR – 71 OVR – Decent speed, decent defense, good ball handling and a solid shooter from all over(81 close/77 med/78 3). 10.1 ppg, horrible awareness on both ends, maybe something we can exploit when we're on offense.

SF Sammy Urbina – SO – 73 OVR – 6'6”. Better rebounder than Works. He doesn't look like much of a scoring threat though, 78 close/71 med/61 3. Average defender at best. 7.9 ppg.

PF Darshan Works – JR – 73 OVR – 6'8”, actually listed at SF. Not a good rebounder for a PF(72 O/73 D), not that great inside, poor post play. This guy looks more like a guard than a forward, other than the size. 6.7 ppg.

C Justin Anyijong – SR – 67 OVR – Solid in close(88), average post skills(74 O/73 D), very good rebounder (83/83). Only 6.9 ppg, and only 6'9”. We've got a small height edge over these guys.

Backup SF Kirby McLeod is their leading scorer at 11 points per game, so we'll have to be wary of him. Their guards don't seem to be that great on defense which hopefully gives us... espicially Turner, a big edge.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> OHIO
</td> <td width="7%"> TOL
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 23
</td> <td width="7%"> 17
</td> <td width="68%"> Very fast start, very little defense being played by anyone. Turner has 2 3's, Freeman 1. We've only drawn 3 fouls on Toledo but 2 are on their center so he's sitting for now. Backups are in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 34
</td> <td width="7%"> 23
</td> <td width="68%"> Massey and Harris have both hit a 3 for us, and Delic has gotten a couple shots to fall down low. We are a very difficult team to beat if people other than Freeman are making 3's.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 40
</td> <td width="7%"> 25
</td> <td width="68%"> Defense is playing outstanding and Toledo is ice cold. Our starters come back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">

</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 55
</td> <td width="7%"> 35
</td> <td width="68%"> Dominant half! They are just trying to launch 3's over our zone, and they're not making them. They are 5-27 from 3. Which isn't to say we aren't launching our own 3's. We're 7-20 from behind the arc. The big difference appears to be from the line, though. We've drawn 9 fouls and gotten to the line 16 times. When we aren't taking 3's we're attacking the basket. They only got to the line twice.


Turner has 16, Freeman 11, Massey 10 off the bench.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 68
</td> <td width="7%"> 50
</td> <td width="68%"> They've gotten the lead down to 15 a couple times and are executing their offense much better. We have 2 3's from Turner and 2 3's from Freeman.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 73
</td> <td width="7%"> 53
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are in.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
Harris hits a 3, Harris gets a couple at the line, and Delic scores 6 straight. At the 8:30 mark its 84-55 and we sim it out.

Ohio 94
Toledo 62

Today was simply all about the outside shooters. They shot 7-41 from 3. 14-41 from 2, not really any better there, for a terrible all around shooting percentage. We launched 33 3's ourselves and were 13-33.

Turner: 28 points/4 assists
Freeman: 22 points
Washington: 8 points/5 boards/5 assists
Pearson: 2 points/15 boards
Dahi: 4 points/17 boards

Massey: 11 points
Harris: 8 points
Delic: 9 points/6 boards

We are on to the MAC finals!

[Radii]

MAC Semifinal Results

1. Ohio 94
4. Toledo 62

6. Kent State 55
2. Akron 70


MAC Finals

1. Ohio
2. Akron

Akron destroyed us the only time we played this season, beating us by 17 at our place. They put up 61 points on us in the first half and seemed unstoppable. It does appear that their 7'3" center, who put up 21 points/14 rebounds on us in the first meeting, is out with an injury.

[Radii]

March 12, 2011 – MAC Championship

Akron (16-13, 12-4 MAC) vs Ohio (22-7, 12-4 MAC)

Rematch! Akron killed us in our place earlier in the year. We were unable to stop their guards from scoring, we got outrebounded badly and were generally outmanned. The big difference this game is that their starting center, Kirsten Davis, a 7'3” monster who put up 21 and 14 in our first game, is hurt and can not play.

Scouting

PG Ronnie Steward – SR – 73 OVR – Incredible speed and quickness(94/94), incredible ball handling(89), and a decent shooter from everywhere(79/76/77 close/med/3). Very good off the dribble(84). 10.5 ppg.

SG Leroy Butler – JR – 78 OVR – Thankfully Butler is just average from 3(72). He's great in close and I guess he gets there a lot. Amazing speed(91), good quicks(83), average defense and only average ball handling. Brilliant in traffic(87, highest I've seen out of a guard ever I think), and clutch(80). Averaging 13 ppg.

SF Rydell Brooks – SR – 71 OVR – A 6'3” SG, they're going with a 3 guard offense today against us. Brooks is very very fast (92 spd/90 quick), strong ball handler(87), average defender. He can't shoot the 3 at all(51!), but is an average midrange and inside shooter.

PF Steve Swiech – SR – 66 OVR – 6'10”, very good rebounder(83 O/82 D), and very good inside(87). Quite strong as well(79). Just 4 points a game here but I expect a lot of rebounding.

C Mike Bardo – SR – 65 OVR – 6'10”, a good rebounder (78/83), a very good low post defender(80), and decent inside scoring(87). He's a major step down from Davis.

This is a totally different team than we played a month ago. Starting Butler at the SF position makes this a much better matchup for us. Their big man at the 3 spot, plus Davis made them impossible to rebound against. They still have a strong front line but it looks much more manageable now.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> OHIO
</td> <td width="7%"> AKR
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 12
</td> <td width="7%"> 14
</td> <td width="68%"> We got out to a 7-2 lead, then they went on a 12-3 run and we've just scored to make it a 2 point game. Akron has 7 second chance points already and the guy with the 51 3 point rating has made one, which is always fun. Backups are in. We got pretty balanced scoring from the starters, Freeman and Turner have each made 1 three, and the guys inside have a couple buckets.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 16
</td> <td width="7%"> 17
</td> <td width="68%"> A 4-0 run, with a blocked shot in the middle, has our crowd pumped up, giving our backups a lift.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 8:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 23
</td> <td width="7%"> 20
</td> <td width="68%"> We trade 3's to make it 20-19 Akron, then another 4-0 run gives us the lead back. Akron burns a timeout. Backup SG Harris is giving us the bulk of our offensive production off the bench so far.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 25
</td> <td width="7%"> 24
</td> <td width="68%"> Lead is down to 1, a couple more second chance points for Akron. Starters are back in for the final 6 minutes.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">

</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 40
</td> <td width="7%"> 42
</td> <td width="68%"> The final 3 minutes turned into Wayne Turner vs Leroy Butler. It was tied 31-31. Turner scored our final 9 points, and Butler scored 8 of Akron's final 11 points.


Butler is killing us, he has 19 points and it 5-8 from 3. No one else has more than 6. We only drew 2 fouls on Akron all half, both were on their PG Steward.


Turner leads us with 12. Dahi has 6 points/5 boards, and Harris off the bench has 7. Freeman has taken 4 wide open 3's, only making 1. He has 3 points at the half and has been a bit of a disappointment.


Akron has 9 second chance points on 5 offensive boards.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:55
</td> <td width="10%"> 55
</td> <td width="7%"> 49
</td> <td width="68%"> Freeman has made his last two 3's which is encouraging. Turner has hit another as well and is up to 17 points total. They burn a timeout as we take the biggest lead of the game for either team... 6 points.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:10
</td> <td width="10%"> 55
</td> <td width="7%"> 55
</td> <td width="68%"> Butler makes a 3, we miss a jumper, Steward makes a 3. We call a timeout as the crowd goes nuts for Akron.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 65
</td> <td width="7%"> 62
</td> <td width="68%"> They ended up on an 11-0 run and took a 60-55 lead. Freeman came through with a jumper, then Turner with 6 straight, then Washington with a dunk. Akron just burned another time out, 3 point game here!
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 8:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 73
</td> <td width="7%"> 70
</td> <td width="68%"> We had gone up by 9, 73-64, had gotten almost constant boosts from the crowd. Freeman missed a 3 that would have put us up by 12, they got a dunk on their end and the momentum swung pretty much instantly. Their last 4 points have been on fast breaks. I finally pull my starters, I don't know that the crowd can carry them the final 9 minutes heh, so I'd rather get them some rest and be safe. Backups in!
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 82
</td> <td width="7%"> 70
</td> <td width="68%"> Massey hits 3 3's in a row! I haven't talked about his shot before I don't think, but he practically has a set shot. Its impossible to block. His confidence issues have just been so great that I haven't had a chance to use it much but he is on fire right now and we have the biggest lead of the game with 7 minutes left!
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 82
</td> <td width="7%"> 76
</td> <td width="68%"> We miss a couple shots, even missing a second chance bucket after a Sessoms rebound that I thought was an easy layin. They've hit 2 3's in a row, and I call a timeout just to stave off any run in advance, and to try to keep the crowd out of it on their end.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 82
</td> <td width="7%"> 79
</td> <td width="68%"> Butler comes back into the game for them and immediately hits a 3. He has 27 now to lead Akron. After a couple dry possessions on both ends, including 2 open 3's that make it apparent that Massey is no longer on fire I call a timeout and get my starters back on the floor.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 3:55
</td> <td width="10%"> 85
</td> <td width="7%"> 79
</td> <td width="68%"> They open in a 2-3 zone, which out of a timeout always means I'm getting Freeman a 3 point attempt. He drains this one and we're up 6. Akron immediately calls timeout.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 2:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 88
</td> <td width="7%"> 82
</td> <td width="68%"> We get a putback from Dahi following a missed mid-range jumper, and 1 free throw on our next possession when Turner is fouled going up for a shot. They get a 3 from Steward. Our ball, up 6.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 2:05
</td> <td width="10%"> 90
</td> <td width="7%"> 82
</td> <td width="68%"> Whos cleaning up the offensive boards now!?! Freeman misses an open 3, but Pearson grabs the board and goes back up strong for 2.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 90
</td> <td width="7%"> 85
</td> <td width="68%"> They miss a 3 from Butler, we run some clock and end up taking a terrible shot, they get a 3 from Butler and trail now by 5, our ball.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:38
</td> <td width="10%"> 90
</td> <td width="7%"> 85
</td> <td width="68%"> We barely manage to get the ball over half court, it ends up in Pearson's hands and he trows it away. Their PG tries to drive but our big men got back in time and he ends up out of control near the basket and cannot get a good shot off, we grab the ball! They begin fouling, and this is where the fact that we've been unable to draw fouls on these guys all day will come in handy. They've only committed 3 team fouls so far.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

It takes them 10 seconds to get the rest of the fouls they need. I'm a bit concerned as we don't have any outstanding FT shooters, and we're only 65% as a team, but Turner makes the first. He misses the second, but we play strong man defense and force a long, heavily contested 3. They miss, we rebound and that puts the game out of reach.

Ohio 94
Akron 85

Akron fans lament the loss of Kirsten Davis and assume that they would have won the MAC title were he not injured. Given that the game was only a 4-6 point game most of the way, they are probably right.

Ohio wins the MAC Tournament and is heading to the NCAA Tournament!!!!!

The big stats: 44-39 rebound edge in our favor
They end up with 9 offensive boards and 11 second chance points... only 2 in the 2^nd half.

Their man Leroy Butler was a beast, scoring 30 points on us today. Their big men struggled inside though and there was no one available to step up and pick up the slack that Davis left.

Wayne Turner was huge again for us today.

Turner: 29 points/8 assists
Freeman: 14 points
Washington: 6 points/4 boards
Pearson: 13 points/12 boards
Dahi: 10 points/14 boards

Massey: 11 points/4 assists
Harris: 7 points

[law90026]

grats on the win, great dynasty

[Radii]

Since we were the 1 seed in the MAC, we'd been showing up in Bracketology for the last week. We were rated a 12 seed, though after winning the tournament the final Bracketology before the selection show makes us for an 11 seed. That would rock as the 6 seeds are all fellow mid-majors. Some of the best mid-majors in the country of course, Southern Illinois, Nevada and Pepperdine.. but still mid-majors.

Wow. Our winning streak actually had moved us into the bubble watch list. We are 4th on that list and our RPI is up to 51st. We probably had an outside shot at an at-large bid had we lost. But the automatic bid is much sweeter heh.

NCAA Tournament Selection

I watch the selection show which i've never done before, so this is kinda cool.

#1 seeds:

Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, Syracuse

heh interesting. Duke was the #1 team in the country in the polls. I guess UNC won the ACC tournament.


First the East:

#1 Florida
play in winner

8. Arizona State
9. Michigan State

5. Georgetown
12. UW Green Bay

4. DePaul
13. Hawaii

6. Temple
11. Ohio


WOOHOOOOO!!!!

3. Michigan (25-6)
14. UC Davis

7. Villanova
10. Ole Miss

2. Vanderbilt
15. McNeese State


... ok yeah getting announced early makes me ready to just skip ahead :D

Other mid-majors up pretty high:

Southern Illinois is the 6 seed in the South, playing St Johns.

EF27's USC Trojans are a 3 seed, finishing 24-8 this year.

Nevada fell to a 7 seed, they're 22-7, playing NC State

VCU is 27-4 and earns a 2 seed. VCU and Nevada were the top two mid-majors for much of the year.

Pepperdine is a 6 seed out west, playing Iowa

The big east places 8 teams in the tourney, SEC 7, ACC 5.


I'll be playing my game against Temple in a little while.

[Radii]

grats on the win, great dynasty

Thanks :)

[Radii]

March 12, 2011 – NCAA First Round

Temple (23-7, 12-4 A10) vs Ohio (24-7, 12-4 MAC)

Temple finished 2^nd in the A-10 in the regular season behind Rhode Island. They had a signature non-conference win on the road at Georgetown in early december, Georgetown earning a 5 seed in the tournament this year. They lost in the quarterfinals of the A-10 tournament to St Bonaventure, who went on to earn an 11 seed in the tourney, primarily by making a run to the A-10 finals it appears.

Temple's roster strength is 82 OVR and they appear to have that balanced between all facets of the game, with ratings over 80 in offense, defense and rebounding. Really that could be a decent sign for us. Sure it'd be an upset if we won, but their rating of 82 is only 6 more than our starting roster strength of 76.

Scouting

PG Roosevelt Leach – SO – 69 OVR – Looks like the type of guard we see in the MAC, ok speed, ok ball handler, average defender and an average shooter. All he has to do is pass it to the other guys though for them to win.

SG Martavis Kee – SR – 76 OVR – 88 from 3. Probably all I need to say. 87 off the dribble, 83 mid-range. Good ball handler and passer, he's going to kill us. Averages 14.4 ppg.

SF Rafael Tate – JR – 84 OVR - Tate will be one of the best players any of my teams have ever seen. Great speed for a 6'6” guy(89), he's an outstanding rebounder(80/86), very good inside and a decent outside shooter as well(86/81/76 close/med/3). He's a shot blocker, and a good steals guy both, great in traffic(88!). He's extremely athletic, with a 90 vertical, 94 hustle and great stamina so he'll be out there a lot. Tate averages 14 points/game and 9 rebounds out of the small forward role. He was a 4* top 100 recruit out of high school and was the A-10 freshman of the year 2 years ago.

PF Randall Pleick – FR – 76 OVR – Only 6'7” which gives us some hope, but he's a very good rebounder(85 O/85 D), and is solid inside(85). A better low post defender than offensive player(70 O/77 D), he's averaging 9 points and 6 rebounds per game.

C Michael Eric – SR – 72 OVR – 6'9”, outstanding rebounder(82 O/89 D), great post defender(80), and solid inside (88 close/84 in traffic). He's actually a backup, it looks like their starter is hurt. Only averages 6 points/4 boards a game. Wow, one last thing I didn't notice right away. BLK: 99 A+. Hah.


We do have a height advantage, but Kee and Tate are going to be our big worries this game.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> OHIO
</td> <td width="7%"> TEM
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 16:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 3
</td> <td width="7%"> 8
</td> <td width="68%"> We get Freeman an open 3 and he drains it. Our first points in 4 minutes. They are really pretty cold too and have missed some shots that would have made this a much bigger lead. We have 2 offensive boards but got owned trying to go back up with the ball.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 7
</td> <td width="7%"> 10
</td> <td width="68%"> Turner and Freeman both have 2 fouls on them early.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 11
</td> <td width="7%"> 12
</td> <td width="68%"> Backups are in. Freeman has 6 so far to lead us. We're hanging close, how long we can do so likely depends on Massey and Harris outside.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 10:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 18
</td> <td width="7%"> 19
</td> <td width="68%"> Tate has scored 5 straight for them, but a 3 from Massey and a 3 from Harris keep us close.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 23
</td> <td width="7%"> 33
</td> <td width="68%"> We've gone cold and they are killing us on the offensive glass. I bring my starters back into the game.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 37
</td> <td width="7%"> 50
</td> <td width="68%"> Temple had gone up by about 16, Turner and Freeman have kept it as close as it is by getting to the basket (Turner) and making 3's (freeman). But we don't seem to have an answer for Tate on defense. That really isn't much of a suprise, heh.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 40
</td> <td width="7%"> 52
</td> <td width="68%"> Freeman misses a 3 at the buzzer that could have cut it back down below 10.


Tate has 14 for them on 5-11 shooting. Kee only has 6, he's 0-3 from 3 so far. Their backup PF Boatner has 8 and their backup PG Walcott has 11.


Temple plays a 2-3 zone and we have 2 guys on the court at all times who can make the 3, so we're trying to shoot over it. We're 7-25 from 3 in the first half though, so that's not working so well at this point. Freeman is 5-14 and has 15 points. Turner has 8. Dahi is 0-6 inside which is hurting us. We actually have 9 offensive boards which is outstanding, but only 2 second chance points. They might let us catch the ball inside, but they're not letting us put it back up down there.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 52
</td> <td width="7%"> 63
</td> <td width="68%"> We fell behind by 15, scored 7 in a row and were only down 60-52 before Tate hit a 3 on us last possession. Turner and Freeman continue to be my only reliable options on offense.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 54
</td> <td width="7%"> 63
</td> <td width="68%"> Ugh. We had 3 straight possessions with chances to cut the lead down to 7... we get a steal, Dahi on the secondary break but he can't finish inside. Another steal, Turner misses a dunk. A missed shot on their end, and we commit a turnover. We call a timeout to get our backups in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 10:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 60
</td> <td width="7%"> 69
</td> <td width="68%"> Temple calls another timeout. Harris is scoring well, and Delic actually scored in the post over one of their big defenders.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 69
</td> <td width="7%"> 81
</td> <td width="68%"> We had it down 9 with a chance to cut it closer, a turnover near half court and a 3 for Temple and its 12 again. We call a time out to get the starters back in. We've done a great job hanging with them this half but we need to make a run soon that gets it down to 5 or less if we want to pull the upser.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:05
</td> <td width="10%"> 71
</td> <td width="7%"> 88
</td> <td width="68%"> Wrong team made the run. They turned up the pressure on their defense, we missed a couple shots, committed a turnover... and all of a sudden they're up 17.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
From that point on its really all we can do to just keep them from breaking 100.

Temple 94
Ohio 75

About what I expected. They're not a great team but they have one very very good player and a solid team around him. We played well and hung with them for decent stretches but in the end just did not have what it takes to pull off the upset.

They got 26 points from Tate, 16 from Kee(their sharpshooting SG), 18 from backup guard Walcott and 10 from backup big man Boatner.

Turner: 21 points/6 assists
Freeman: 20 points
Washington: 2 points
Pearson: 5 points/10 boards
Dahi: 0 points/16 boards

Harris: 10 points
Delic 7 points

This was a game where Delic's ratings and abilities helped him out a little, he was able to use his sound post game to get a few points where Dahi and Pearson struggled mightily.

Turner was 2-11 from 3, Freeman was 6-17.

[Radii]

Before we advance any further, some stats that I'm curious/semi-concerned about

Ohio averaged 81.4 points per game this year. That would be good for 7th in the real world this year. It is 13th in the NCAA in this season of CH2k8.

Ohio took 2009 field goal attempts this season in 32 games. That's an average of 63 per game. In the real world VMI takes 71 per game, while North Carolina takes 67 per game. The # of field goals is in line with the other high scoring teams in the game.

Ohio took 702 3 pointers this season, an average of 22 per game. Many teams took more.

The issue though, is that I simmed half my games this season. Those averages were brought down by the lower scores/pace in the simmed games.

The reason I'm looking at this is that it seems in many of my played games I seem to take a much larger than average number of shots, often 75-80. I attribute this to a couple things:

-- Few teams try to slow the pace on me. Teams that average 60 points a game are universally happy to take the first open shot they see against me. My team is *always* dictating the pace of the game.

-- There seem to be lots of teams with a 'ball hog' who wants to take every open 3 he gets. Since I often run a 2-3 zone, that works out in an unreasonable way in my favor. Terrible 3 point shooters have taken 15 3's against me with some regularity.

-- When i have a guy with a good, quick blowby move, it seems too easy against teams of equal caliber to fast break at times. This wasn't universal, as Turner had many games where he scored 15-25 points in the flow of the offense. But there were also 30 point first halves in some of those simmed games. often times the other team has two men back in defense but one of them slacks off to pick up whoever else is trailing behind instead of helping to stop the ball, and I get an easy 1 on 1 move against a slower PG.

This stuff isn't ridiculously out of line, and I do want to be running this type of offense ideally(any time I have the talent to do so). But the averages of number of shots taken, FG %, points, etc, seems a bit high as a result of this stuff so I'm keeping an eye on it.


At this point I'm only going to make one change next season. I have always controlled my PG on defense. This was due in part to playing a ton back before i had an HDTV.. if I controlled anyone else they ended up off screen in a corner too often :) But also just a lack of skill on my part.

So next season i'm going to start doing what EF27 and a few others have mentioned in the CH2k8 thread. I'm going to control on defense whoever took my last shot on offense. I think this *might*, without any sort of other house rule of style of play change, slow things down a bit. I never, ever cherry pick layups with my PG, I always keep him near the 3 point line when my opponent shoots, but I do position him so that he's in the best possible position to get out on the break, at the best angle to receive a pass, etc. So I'm hoping that controlling other players and leaving Turner in CPU control will slightly decrease the number of fast break points I put up and bring some of these numbers back in line a bit.

I'll review again at the end of next year.

[Radii]

Man that post was chief rum lengthy! (old RWBL joke ;)).

Cliff Notes: I score a lot more, and take a lot more shots in played games than seems reasonable at times. The primary reason I believe is the efficiency with which I can get out on the fast break. I don't want to change my style of play or put on a ton of house rules, but i'm a little concerned.

I'm going to start using the same defensive rule that many have mentioned using elsewhere.. whoever takes my last shot on offense, I control on defense, no exceptions. This will hopefully create fewer ideal fast break opportunities for me and pull some of my numbers back in line next season.

[Radii]

NCAA Tournament

6 seed Temple went on to upset 3 seed michigan to make the sweet 16.

7 seed Villanova took out 2 seed Vandy and 6 vs 7 meet in the East.


in the Midwest, 1 seed North Carolina falls to 8 seed Texas Tech(dammit, Roy). 10 seed NC State upsets 2 seed VCU to make the sweet 16.

No noteworthy upsets in the other two regions.


EAST: 1 seed Florida beats 7 seed Villanova to make the final four.
WEST: 1 seed Syracuse beats 2 seed Duke
SOUTH: 1 seed Maryland destroys 2 seed Arizona, 104-60
MIDWEST 4 seed Mississippi State beats 10 seed NC State to make the final four.

10 seed NC State upset 3 seed Southern Cal in the sweet 16 to get that far.


Florida beats Syracuse 83-64, and 4 seed Mississippi State beats Maryland 98-87 for an all-SEC finals.

Florida beats Mississippi State 101-80 and Florida wins the national championship.

[Radii]

Awards

Texas Tech's Konrad Jones, JR PG, is the player of the year. Jones averages 24.6 points per game for the Red Raiders.

New Mexico State's Herb Pope is the mid-major player of the year, a SR PF averaging 23.3 points and 8.8 boards per game.

Florida's Billy Donovan is the Coach of the year after leading Florida to the title.

Ummmmm.....

Ohio's freshman center Arnaud Dahi is the defensive player of the year. I assume this has to do with the rebounding issues in the game... we average a solid 3 rebonds/game more than any other team in the nation. A problem with simmed games I assume. Dahi averages 11.4 rebounds/game, likely leading the nation.

1st Team All-Americans

PG Konrad Jones - JR - Texas Tech - 90 OVR - 24.6 ppg
SG Hugh Hoyer - JR - North Carolina - 93 OVR - 22.1 ppg
SF Jamelle Horne - SR - Arizona - 89 OVR - 22.6 ppg
PF Jamine Peterson - SR - Providence - 24.6 ppg/5.4 rpg
C JJ Hickson - SR - NC State - 23.5 ppg/6.6 rpg.

Dahi is also a freshman all-american with his 8.6 ppg/11.4 rpg.


MAC Awards

Ball State's Billy Taylor wins the coach of the year award. I was kind of hoping for that this year, but with the other BS coaching points I'm going to get for Dahi being defensive player of the year and freshman all-american will help offset that.

Wayne Turner wins the player of the year award in the MAC! 18.7 ppg and 6.2 assists per game, solid numbers. He's a junior, which is one of the big reasons i'm excited about next season.

Dahi is freshman of the year. In the MAC that's probably deserved even if it wasn't for the BS Rebound stat issues.


First Team All-MAC:

PG Wayne Turner - JR - Ohio - 73 OVR - 18.7 ppg/6.2 apg
SG Leroy Butler - JR - Akron - 78 OVR - 15.9 ppg/6.0 rpg
SF Andy Dupree - JR - Kent State - 73 OVR - 14.2 ppg
PF Marvin Skipper - SR - E. Michigan - 79 OVR - 16.9 ppg/7.8 rpg
C Arnaud Dahi - FR - Ohio - 67 OVR - 8.6 ppg/11.4 rpg


2nd team all-conference

PG Melvin Goins - SR - Ball State - 76 OVR - 18.5 ppg
SG Wallace Mason - JR - Bowling Green - 82 OVR - 16.2 ppg
SF Dan Werner - SR - Buffalo - 9.8 ppg
PF Maurice Pearson - SR - Ohio - 68 OVR - 8.9 ppg/6.6 rpg
C Hashin Friend - JR - Miami (OH) - 69 OVR - 16.6 ppg/6.6 rpg


Freshman All-Conference

PG WB McCoy - E. Michigan - 68 OVR - 7.1 ppg/4.1 apg
SG Ruben Swanson - W. Michigan - 56 OVR - 3.0 ppg
SF Bryan Delgado - Akron - 53 OVR - 1.3 ppg
PF Daryl Delic - Ohio - 74 OVR - 6.5 ppg
C Arnaud Dahi - Ohio - 67 OVR - 8.6 ppg/11.4 rpg

Not a lot of freshman doing anything at all in this conference.

[Radii]

Graduating Seniors

We're losing some key guys to be sure.

SG Tommy Freeman - 67 OVR

Freeman averaged 13.5 points per game this year. He had a career high 35 points earlier in the season. He was 105-269 from 3 point range this year, an outstanding 39%. He didn't make it to the line a ton, just 60 times all year, but he was 78% when he got there.


SF Devaughn Washington - 67 OVR

An athletic 6'8" SF, we made a little more use of him than we usually do this position. he averaged 7.5 points per game and 4.7 rebounds. He was a 47% FG shooter. I didn't take a lot of jumpers with him, allowing his FG % to be pretty high.


PF Maurice Pearson - 68 OVR

Pearson started the year on the bench but became a valuable starter midway through the year, averaging 8.9 ppg/6.6 rpg. He was a 46% FG shooter and was 73% from the line.


SG Mike Harris - 68 OVR

Harris only averaged 5.6 ppg off the bench. He underpeformed due to confidence issues, he seemed to feel he should be a starter on the team, but he wasn't even my best backup guard, so I don't know where that idea came from. He shot 38% from the floor, and was 28-90 from 3, 31.1%.


That's 3 starters and 1 key backup leaving. When Pearson was a backup and I had 2 starters only leaving with Turner and Delic and Dahi coming back I wasn't worried at all. But 4 guys is a lot to effectively replace. I'm hoping our 4* guy comes in awesome and we're better next year, but we'll have to see.

[Radii]

I earned 5 coaching points between the end of last year and this year. Lets see... get hired by a bigger school, land a world recruit, land a 4* recruit, win my conference, make the NCAA Tournament, and I believe I got one for coaching an all american, getting credit for Dahi.

I decide to throw the bulk of my poitns once again into Defense and Teaching, 2 each. I use my last point in Disclipline.

Offense: C-
Defense: B
Teaching: B
Scouting: C-
Charisma: A+
Disclipline: C

My overall coach rating is now B-.

[Radii]

Coaching Carousel

I'm unable to take a job, this being my first year at Ohio.

3 Power conference jobs are open initially: Virginia Tech, Auburn, and Rutgers.

VCU's head coach is the top man for every job, and he takes over at Virginia Tech. Southern Illinois' head coach lands at Auburn, while Northeastern's coach goes to Rutgers.

I of course note that these are all mid-major schools, and wonder how much I can accomplish in the MAC. I know in EF27's dynasty Roy Williams retired fairly early... way too early to have a shot at taking over for him(yeah, I hadn't mentioned it in the dynasty yet but I assume anyone who has ever seen me post knows that my goal would be to coach North Carolina to a national title ;) ), I guess I'll have to decide how much I can improve at Ohio. I'm not considering it mandatory to jump into the A-10 or one of the similar "large" conferences right away if its not a team I like though.


Tommy Amaker leaves Harvard for VCU. Eastern Washington's head coach takes over at Southern Illinois.

Two MAC jobs are open, Buffalo and Northern Illinois. No suprise there, those were the two worst teams in the league and it didn't seem close. Buffalo hires Jacksonville State's head coach, while Northern Illinois hires Tennessee State's head coach.


A duke assistant ends up at Harvard, which is pretty neat following Duke alum Tommy Amaker.

Seth Greenburg, fired by Virginia Tech, ends up at Penn.

Jeff Lebo, fired by Auburn, and one of my all time favorite Tar Heels when I was a kid, takes over for UC Santa Barbara.


Bobby Cremins retired at College of Charleston.

[Radii]

Assistant Hiring

I went all out getting offense/defense/teaching out of my assistants last year, and ended up with no one better than a C- scout. I need to rectify that this year. There is a guy who is a B in defense and B in scouting available. I'm going to hire him.

the only question is who do I fire.

My current guys:

Coach A: B+ Offense/D Defense/C+ Teaching
Coach B: C- Offense/B- Defense/B Teaching

If I fire coach A, I have *no one* who can coach the offense. we'll all be stuck on C-. However, we'd be stacked as far as defense goes, and be extremely solid at teaching as well.

It's kinda tempting to do that, but I assume the balance is more important. I fire coach B.

[Radii]

Transfers

One player is willing to transfer from Utah:

Sophomore PF Eni Danelius, 6'7" 213 lbs.

I'm not thrilled about a 6'7" PF but I've likely got two scholarships open and really very little in the way of leads on them(I haven't discussed recruiting but I think I'm losing one of my targets to Clemson).

Danelius is rated 91 from close range, but only 78 in traffic, I'm not sure what to make of those two ratings combined. He's an average to above average rebounder for this level (79 O/77 D). He has outstanding Defensive Awareness(77) and in the end that is the deciding factor for me, as I'm hoping very much to build a team with high defensive awareness at all positions. I take him.


Eastern Michigan picks up a 73 rated 6'9" center.

Huh, a scholarship player left my team. 55 rated deep bench player(may have played in a simmed game?) Something Diaz left the team. That means I still have 2 scholarships available apparently. That's a nice way to upgrade.

[Radii]

Offseason Recruiting

We had 1 guy offered when we last discussed recruiting:

SG Danny Warsaw, #235 recruit in the nation. He's from Tennessee and appears to want to stay down south though. We've had him at 100% for a long time, but during the season Clemson offered him a scholarship. I expect him to sign with Clemson on day 1.

We have one other guy we've looked at seriously:

PF Cliffone Mikalauskas, he's a JC Sophomore, and he's 6'10". We've only got him up to 84%. South Carolia and... USA(san antonio?) have him at 100% but neither have offered. We're going to be offering him a scholarship as soon as we can.


Warsaw does indeed sign with Clemson on day 1.

Mikalauskas gets a campus invite and scholarship offer from us right away.


Well that was easier than expected. Mikalauskas signs after the first week when I make him his offer and get him a campus visit.

3* Cliffone Mikalauskus - 6'10" JC Sophomore

Shooting: B-
Skills: C+
Defense: C+
Athleticism: B
Rebounding: B+
Intelligence: B
Potential: B
Size: A-


I'd really like to land a guard with my last scholarship, and it looks like I pretty quickly find my guy. He'll just be someone to eat minutes most likely, but there you go.


2* PG Brannon Babcock - 6'3" 188 lbs - #708 OVR/#190 PG

Shooting: C
Skills: B+
Defense: C+
Athleticism: B-
Rebounding: D
Intelligence: C
Potential: C+
Size: B-

nothing special but I don't really need anything special here.

I spend the rest of my time on the juniors I've been looking at. I've got 5 guys up over 70%. Some of them are at the same position(3 PF's actually, a PG and SG actually), but hopefully that will help me start out next season.

And to recap, the other two guys I signed in the early signing period:

3* SF Wendell House - #157 OVR/#29 SF

Shooting: B+
Skills: B-
Defense:B
Athleticism: A
Rebounding: B+
Intelligence: B
Potential: C+
Size: B+


4* SG Arzelle Cooper - #63 OVR/#22 SG

Scouting Grades:

Shooting: B+
Skills: B
Defense: A-
Athleticism: B+
Rebounding: B-
Intelligence: B+
Potential: A-
Size: B-

[Radii]

I earned 5000 legacy points this year. Too bad that didn't trigger when I first eclipsed that mark, but rather waited til the end of the season. Regardless, that's another point next year!

Incoming Recruiting Classes

1. Mississippi State
2. Duke
3. Seton Hall
4. Arizona
5. Stanford
6. Florida
7. Villanova
8. USC
9. Oklahoma State
10. Baylor


Ohio lands the #50 recruiting class in the nation!!!! Some of the A-10 schools are in that range, and Saint Mary's was 58th, but we have the top mid-major class this year.

Wow, Bethune-Cookman out of the MEAC had a top 70 class.

Akron pulled in a class ranked around 90th... 1 3* and 3 2* recruits. The MAC is horrible at recruiting apparently.

Ball State is listed around 140th or so with 3 3* guys. Akron's 3* guy must be a damn good one?



Scheduling

I make a tougher schedule this year. I am hosting Rhode Island out of the A-10, travelling to Virginia Tech and UNC in the ACC, and going to play Cincinnati in the Big East. I'm also hosting VCU, the top mid-major team from last season.

I'm playing in the Orange County Shootout on November 17th. This is actually not a terrible tournament and could be pretty good for us. We'll play New Orleans out of the Sun Belt to open this up. Other mid-major competition includes Southern Illinois, while the tournament is headlined by Arkansas out of the SEC and Pac 10 powerhouse(and preseason #5) UCLA.

[Radii]

The very first thing i notice after the ABL is that I have 5 scholarships available this year. That's going to be fun.

[Radii]

2011/12 Roster

Some solid gains were made during the offseason. Most of our players gained 1 point on top of what they gained during the year last year. Our starting roster strength has increased from a low of 74 last year(it ended the season at 76 thanks to development) to 79 to start out the year this year.

Starting Lineup

PG Wayne Turner - SR - 74 OVR - The returning player of the year in the MAC. 91 speed, 89 quick, 88 ball handling, and an above average shooter from everywhere on the court. I love Turner.

SG Arzelle Cooper - FR - 74 OVR - Our 4* recruit comes in rated 74 OVR! I'm thrilled to see that. He has B- potential, so I'm hoping that he'll turn into a guy rated 80 or above by the end of his college career. He's fast, 89 SPD, good ball handler, and he'll be our best on ball defender(84). He's got an 84 hustle rating, but he's not a great shooter yet. 76 close/73 med/74 3. Assuming he develops well he's going to end up an outstanding defender who is an above average scorer. For now he's a very good defender who is an average scorer. 70 Defensive Awareness.

SF Wendell House - FR - 73 OVR - House comes in pretty solid too. 83 speed, 88 stamina(which might matter heh), he's a decent post player and an above average rebounder(76 O/73 D). He's a good inside scorer, 86 close range, 89 dunk rating, and 83 shooting in traffic. He's average from mid-range and can make the 3, but not that well(71 med/70 3). House is 6'8" and we'll be running a pretty big lineup with him on the floor. Unfortunately, House's potential is only a D. He may not improve a whole lot.

PF Daryl Delic - SO - 75 OVR - Delic has improved 3 points OVR since he came in as a 72 rated freshman, this "B" potential thing is awesome. 79 post offense, 72 offensive awareness, 82 offensive boards/79 defensive boards. 90 close range/88 in traffic. Ohhhh, he grew an inch!!! 6'7" baby. Hah, that made me way more excited than it should have. With our SG being a defensive minded guard and no one to replace Freeman, Delic is likely to be a big part of our offense.

C Arnaud Dahi - SO - 68 OVR Dahi is 6'11". Slightly above average on the boards, 78 O/82 D. He's ok in close but nothing special(82 close/78 traffic/64 dunk). He is very strong(78) and has an imrpoved defensive awareness(72). I obviously like his size quite a bit and that makes him my starting center no matter what.


Bench Players

I've run a 10 man rotation in the past and struggled a lot last year trying to change it to a 9 man rotation. I might set my rotation this year and let the CPU sub and see how it works out for me for a few games as far as generating the minutes played that I want.

PG Drake Massey - JR - 70 OVR - If I can keep him happy, Massey will be an extremely effective backup. Decent speed(83) a decent all around shooter(83 close/74 med/77 3), Massey has an almost set-shot like shooting motion, so he doesn't need as much room as some guys to get an open shot. He's a good defender too, 83 DEF. If I had more depth i might consider a starting lineup of Turner/Massey/Cooper, but I have no one else to run PG for me behind Turner, Massey has to do it.

SG Taymon Roller - SR - 57 OVR - Roller played SF for me last year behind Washington, only because I forced myself into a 10 man rotation. He is terrible and I tried to avoid having him touch the ball last year. 59 mid-range, 69 3 pointer. 81 in close if he gets an open look in close somehow.

SF ???

PF Cliffone Mikalauskas - JR - 68 OVR - Mikalauskas is our JC recruit, he'll give me a decent 2 seasons as a nice 6'10" big man I hope. He's not great, but he doesn't look terrible. 78 o/74 d for rebounds, 72 o/72 d for post play. 80 close range/87 shootin gin traffic. He's a fine backup really.

C Kenan Sessoms - SO - 67 OVR - Much like I expect mikalauskas to be, Sessoms was a fine backup last year and will continue to be for me. He's 6'11" so he gives me some size. His C+ potential means he is developing some. 76 post offense/78 post defense is actually quite nice. 79 o/76 d rebounding is alright too, and he's an acceptable shot blocker(77). Only 80 inside/73 shooting in traffic so he isn't often an option on offense on purpose.


My 4th recruit last year, Brannon Babcock, is a disaster. Rated 50 OVR, 73 on defense, cannot shoot, 75 ball handling/76 passing.

I also have an extra center in reserve, a walkon, 6'10" soph Hope Meade. Meade is rated 67 OVR and really looks a lot like Sessoms. If I cannot run an 8 or 9 man rotation(8 would be ideal,no Roller at SG), I could go with 10 men and go really big with my backups. Mikalauskas at the 3, Sessoms and Meade inside.


I haven't decided what to do here yet, I won't start playing any games til tomorrow. At this point though I'm leaning towards slowing things down, trying to cut the game down into as few possessions as possible to keep my best players on the court, and run an 8 man rotation. After that super long post about how I fear I run too much too :)

[Radii]

Recruiting Preview

So I had about 7 juniors I'd been working on. One was a 4* guy, the rest 3*. I didn't realize that the * ratings could change from year to year. The 4* guy I was going after turned into the #5 recruit in the nation out of Chicago. Unfortunately, he kinda wants to play at a big program and has Tennessee and Cincinnati at the top of his list. We have no shot and I have too many holes to fill to waste my points on him.

A couple targets are obvious early:

PG Shavlik Willie - #147 OVr/#49 PG, he seems to want to stay in the northeast and favors Rhode Island and Boston College over us, but we've got my A+ Charisma going for us, and we're going to go hard after him early. After all, we don't have a whole lot of PG depth.

SF Kaylen Lufkin - #216 OVR/#48 SF - We're #5 on his list, competing with Dayton and Xavier and Townson State. If Dayton or Xavier hit him we may struggle, but he's from Columbus and we'll try hard to keep him close to home.


I go ahead and drop off the PF and C targets I was going after. I need to recruit 4 guards/SF's here, I can pretty much ignore the inside guys for now. And I'm not likely to have a lot of luck with these PF's that want playing time with all the inside depth I have.


After those two top targets a number of guards and a few SF's have pretty high interest in me. A couple SG's ranked in the low #300's seem like good shots, as does a PG out of Washington, DC that seems to like me only a little less than UVA and George Washington.


I have a couple weeks to recruit before games start and i end up offering all 5 scholarships early, all to 3* guys. There's only 1 that it looks likely that I can get to 100% before teh early signing period. The others all have some flaws, they're the best players that are interested in me, but either they want playing time and they see Cooper as a freshman 4* guard, or they want to stay near home and they live in Boston.

More on recruiting as we get closer to the early signing period. It looks like, with the preseason tournament, we'll have 7 games to play by then. I'll probably play 4 of them and sim 3.

[Radii]

I sim my first game, hosting Rhode Island. Game #2 is against Virginia Tech. Both Rhode Island and Va Tech are rated 85 OVR but Tech looks like a team we might matchup better against.

November 11, 2011:

Rhode Island 82
Ohio 63

Cooper scores 2 in his debut... House scores 3. Delic with 8, Dahi with 18, and Massey with 13 off the bench.

[Radii]

Heh, I played out the first half against Virginia Tech but there wasn't a lot to say. Cooper got in foul trouble in the first 5 minutes which meant my already weak backcourt depth was even worse off. We were down 42-20 at the half and I simmed it to the end after falling further behind early in the 2nd half.

Next time I am losing 4 players off my roster I need to remember to schedule some cupcakes early... sort of a disconnect there for me between the roster strength and schedulilng :)

Virginia Tech 83
Ohio 41

Oof!

[Radii]

November 17, 2011 – Orange County Shootout

Ohio (0-2) vs New Orleans (0-2)

New Orleans is rated 71 OVR, 72 Off/73 Def/75 Sht/80 Reb. We should beat them with ease. In theory of course. We do have team unity issues. Ours is 28, theirs is 42.

Scouting

Size is about equal in this game. Their PG is rated 58 OVR and is completely outmanned against us. So is their SG.

Their forwards are actually as good as ours or better. SF Alloway is rated 80 OVR, is an outstanding defender and shooter (90 close/77 med/81 3). PF Minoff is rated 77 OVR and is 93 inside. He's a decent rebounder and post player. Freshman C Elvin Horton is already rated 76 OVR, is a very solid post player(86 O/only 73 D), 88 close range and rebound numbers look solid. He has A- potential and was rated #115 overall last year, the #5 center in a guard dominated recruiting class. He's going to be awesome.

We're obviously packing it in against this team and hoping to control them inside.
<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> OHIO
</td> <td width="7%"> NO
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 14
</td> <td width="7%"> 8
</td> <td width="68%"> We're playing pretty well on offense, working it in to Dahi and Delic and our backup big men a bit once they come in. Defense looks solid, they've hit a couple lucky 3's of course.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 17
</td> <td width="7%"> 17
</td> <td width="68%"> We've gone cold as our guards tire, and their big men are establishing dominance inside on their offensive end.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 31
</td> <td width="7%"> 22
</td> <td width="68%"> Timeout by New Orleans as Turner runs off a quick 5 points, blowing by his man and pulling up for a jumper at the free throw line, and running off a screen to take an open 3.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 35
</td> <td width="7%"> 24
</td> <td width="68%"> Solid close to the half after they had tied it up at 17. Their highly skilled SF, Alloway, has 10 of their 24 points. No one else has more than 4.


We have a huge rebounding edge, 21-12. Turner and Delic lead us, 9 points for turner, 8 for Delic. Delic has been effective down low on offense. House is having a great game at the SF spot, 5 points/10 boards early for him.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 46
</td> <td width="7%"> 41
</td> <td width="68%"> We're matching them shot for shot, but they're hitting a few 3's and we're not.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 46
</td> <td width="7%"> 45
</td> <td width="68%"> Defense is still ok, but we've gone cold and allowed them to cut the lead to 1.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 46
</td> <td width="7%"> 47
</td> <td width="68%"> We have a terrible lineup on the court. Roller at PG, House at SG, Mikalauskus at SF, and two big men inside... ugh. That's about as bad as it gets. We lose the lead with a turnover and a layup going the other way.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 50
</td> <td width="7%"> 49
</td> <td width="68%"> We call a timeout hoping to get Roller off the damn court. House came up with two big buckets for us in that stretch. A pump fake/drive leading to a very nice one hand dunk, and a 12 foot jumper. Cooper and Turner look to be back in.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 3:40
</td> <td width="10%"> 52
</td> <td width="7%"> 56
</td> <td width="68%"> Alloway with their last 7 points. Turner just missed a wide open 3, it rimmed out, would have made it 55-54 Ohio, instead they push it on the rebound and go up 2 possessions.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 3:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 54
</td> <td width="7%"> 58
</td> <td width="68%"> Their ball up 4... I get it in to Dahi in a great position but he gets stripped going up. They get a layup. Turner draws a foul on the other end and makes 2 Fts
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:55
</td> <td width="10%"> 56
</td> <td width="7%"> 58
</td> <td width="68%"> What the hell is wrong with Dahi? Turner finds him streaking to the basket and he misses a layin with no one nearby. We hold on defense and Delic draws a foul and makes his free throws to cut it to two. Crowd starts going crazy for Ohio and they call a time out.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 58
</td> <td width="7%"> 63
</td> <td width="68%"> We tied it up, and they came back down and drained a 3 on us. Forgetting that Freeman had graduated, I see that the white guy at SG is wide open, 3 point shot time! Yeah, Cooper isn't Freeman, he misses, they get the ball and score again. Our ball down 5 with 45 seconds to go.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:32
</td> <td width="10%"> 61
</td> <td width="7%"> 63
</td> <td width="68%"> Turner gets by his man, draws a foul and makes a hard shot!!! He makes the free throw and we trail by 2.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:23
</td> <td width="10%"> 63
</td> <td width="7%"> 63
</td> <td width="68%"> They throw away the inbounds pass! I get an open jumper for Turner after the inbounds play and we tie it up!
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">

</td> <td width="9%"> OT
</td> <td width="10%"> 63
</td> <td width="7%"> 63
</td> <td width="68%"> They stall too long and end up with a bad shot, their PF from about 20 feet away in the corner. Its no good and we're going to overtime.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> OT
</td> <td width="9%"> 2:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 68
</td> <td width="7%"> 69
</td> <td width="68%"> Sloppy on both ends so far. They went up by 3, Turner made a 3 to tie it. Delic fouls them, they get a 3 point play. We score on our end then both teams commit stupid turnovers... its their ball right now, New Orleans just used a timeout.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
Holy crap, their stud, Alloway, took over the game in the final 2 mintes. He hit 3 straight 3 pointers to ice the game.

New Orleans 81
Ohio 74

OT

Well we didn't expect that at all. Alloway killed us with 27 points. He was, by far, the most talented player on the floor and it showed. I think we will be good but it is going to take some time. Running this team is just 100% different than any of the high octane 10 deep teams in the past. Cooper has the same blowby move as Turner and I need to get better at driving and dishing in the half court sets. House has the ability to explode with power to the basket if I can get him the ball at the right times. I suspect this team will play some very average games but come on strong down the stretch like some of my earlier teams.

Turner: 22 points
Cooper: 7 points
House: 12 points/12 boards
Delic: 16 points/2 boards
Dahi: 12 points/13 boards

Massey only scored 3 points today. He's a decent offensive threat and I need more out of him when he's on the floor. He also only got 10 minutes. I've set my depth chart to try to get him closer to 20.

[Radii]

With the loss our next game is against a reasonably evenly matched fellow mid-major in Portland, rated 81 OVR out of the West Coast Conference. I'll play that game, and hopefully get to the early signing period, tomorrow.

[Radii]

November 18, 2011 – Orange County Shootout

Ohio (0-3) vs Portland(2-2)

Portland is rated 81 OVR,slightly higher than us. 82 Off/81 Def/85 Sht/83 reb.

Scouting

PG Ransom Lowe – JR – 70 OVR – very good ball handler and passer, but not a huge scoring threat, med/3 are both under 70. Good on the drive and inside. Just 5.5 ppg.

SG Andrea Sherman – FR – 68 OVR – Also good if he gets in deep but not much of an outside threat. 6.5 ppg.

SF Lamarr Sneed – SR – 78 OVR – 6'6” - A good rebounder(80 drb) and fairly quick. 88 close/69 med/76 3, so he can step out and shoot if left open. A clutch player, and a great dunker. 11.8 ppg.

PF Rasheed Minter – SO – 75 OVR – 6'8” - fairly good in the post (80 O/78 D), a good shot blocker and steals guy(both in the mid 70s). We had issues vs New Orleans of our big men getting picked before they went up for a shot, that is a concern here. 89 Close range shooting, not so good in traffic though. 7.5 ppg.

C Torrin Jensen – SO – 79 OVR – 6'9” - solid on the boards, extremely good in the post(90 O/84 D!!), and 92 close range shot. 85 strength/85 hustle, looks like a serious threat inside. 10.3 ppg so far this year.

Formidable inside game here. They have backups at SF/PF/C that are all rated higher than their starting guards, so they go very deep in the post.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> OHIO
</td> <td width="7%"> POR
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 12
</td> <td width="7%"> 11
</td> <td width="68%"> We've drawn 2 total fouls on them, both are on their center, Jensen, so he sits. This is quite the blessing, as he is manhandling us in the post(note the 90 post offense rating). He has 9 of Portland's 11 points when he sits.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 12
</td> <td width="7%"> 20
</td> <td width="68%"> We give up 9 straight, a 3 point play, a turnover against their full court press, another turnover as dahi is stripped inside... all inside baskets for them.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 12
</td> <td width="7%"> 25
</td> <td width="68%"> Dahi stripped down low, delic gets it, his shot is blocked and seconds later they get a 3 point play...
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 14
</td> <td width="7%"> 27
</td> <td width="68%"> Massey gets his man in the air and gets by him for a layup. ie. Holy crap we scored!
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 10:40
</td> <td width="10%"> 14
</td> <td width="7%"> 30
</td> <td width="68%"> Another 3 point play for Portland. Cooper picks up foul #2 and has to sit.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 30
</td> <td width="7%"> 39
</td> <td width="68%"> Turner gets going a little, hitting a couple midrange jumpers, and we get House off for 4 straight. We get a 2^nd big man of theirs into foul trouble, just a backup, but it seems to have hurt their depth just a bit and is making things a bit easier on us.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 31
</td> <td width="7%"> 44
</td> <td width="68%"> Turner commits his 2^nd foul, allowing Portland their... 4^th? 5^Th? 3 point play of the half.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 38
</td> <td width="7%"> 53
</td> <td width="68%"> The foul trouble to Cooper and Turner really hurt us down the stretch. We end up with 4 forward lineups out there and an exhausted Massey.


For Portland, Jensen scored 9 in 5 minutes. Sneed scored 13(their talented SF) and their PG scored 11, mostly on the fast break.


They have a 17-11 rebound edge, and they have 0 turnovers. We have 10. Many are just our guys getting stripped the second they touch the ball in the paint.


House leads us with 8, Massey and Turner have 7.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 18:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 38
</td> <td width="7%"> 57
</td> <td width="68%"> 3^rd foul on Turner. Delic has been blocked on our first two possessions of the 2^nd half.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
What a difference a year makes. I quick sim it out when they go up 67-40.

Portland 99
Ohio 60

So far we've run into some terrible matchups. Here the turnover margin was 10 for them, 23 for us. They outrebounded us 30-23.

Turner: 7 points
Cooper: 7 points
House: 12 points
Delic: 3 points/5 boards
Dahi: 8 points/5 boards

Massey 9 points/6 assists.

[Radii]

The 7th place game in the Orange County Shootout involves us and the worst rated team in the tournament, The Citadel. Rated 61 overall, I simulate our first win:

Ohio 103
The Citadel 69

Turner scores 17, while Delic and Massey both score 21. House continues to have good numbers in simmed and live played games, 12 points/8 boards. I think I've finally found a SF I like to play with.



I also go ahead and sim my next game:

#3 North Carolina 86
Ohio 70

Massey with 18 today, Dahi with 12, House and Delic with 8.

My next game is vs an evenly rated VCU team which I'll play out. After that its early signing period time.

[Radii]

November 24, 2011

VCU (3-3) at Ohio (1-5)

VCU is rated a little higher than us, 82 OVR (82 off/79 def/84 sht/82 reb). They're #21 in the latest mid-major poll. The poll is still dominated by the CAA with 5 teams ranked in it , including Northeastern #1. Bowling Green is the only MAC team currently ranked, they're #16 right now.

Scouting

PG Serge Merritt – SR – 75 OVR – 92 spd/86 quickness looks pretty solid, above average defender, great passer, and a good mid-range jumper. Not a huge 3 point threat(69 3). Very good off the dribble.. averaging 7.3 ppg/4.5 apg

SG Dale Pope – SO – 75 OVR – Average defense, above average speed, 78 shooting from 3. Good enough to be dangerous as we try to pack it in to stop their big men. 76 defensive awareness is a bit scary too. 7.3 ppg.

SF Bennet Law – JR – 81 OVR – 6'5”, 5.7 ppg, Average most of the way aorund but outstanding from mid-range(85 med shot. In addition he defends the post well which will likely matter since they run a lot of 2-3 defense.

PF Garrett Newby – SR – 86 OVR – 6'8”, 86 post O/82 post D/90 BLK/84 DRB/93 Close... this guy will eat us alive. Averaging 19.3 ppg/9.3 rebounds

C Hal Lettenberger – SO – 67 OVR – 7'0”, decent inside, decent on the boards, also, 7'0”.

Ugh, this is the problem we're seeing with these teams rated in the low 80s, they have a couple outstanding players that we just can't match up against. Dear lord conference play can't get here fast enough.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> OHIO
</td> <td width="7%"> VCU
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 10
</td> <td width="7%"> 15
</td> <td width="68%"> Smooth game with very few stoppages in play. They have 7 points off the offensive glass which is becoming a recurring theme. Merritt is also hurting us with his 92 speed on the break. The big difference with not controlling the PG all the time is my inability to slow down the other team's fast break.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 10:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 18
</td> <td width="7%"> 22
</td> <td width="68%"> Turner and Cooper each hit a 3(a rarity for Cooper) and we make up for a couple poor defensive possesions.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 23
</td> <td width="7%"> 30
</td> <td width="68%"> They go on an 8-2 run to make it 30-20. A Massey 3 cuts into that lead and they burn another time out.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 39
</td> <td width="7%"> 47
</td> <td width="68%"> We got the lead down to 4 once, 35-31, they got it right back up to 10 within a minute. After that the lead has been hovering between 8-10 most of the game.


Newby has 8 for them, Merritt 10 and Pope 8.. the talented big man, the speedy PG, and the shooter at SG. No surprise there. Turnovers are again an issue. They have 0. We have 7.


Massey has been good for us with 13 points on 4-8 shooting. Only 1-5 from 3 though. Turner and Cooper both have 7, House has 6.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 16:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 47
</td> <td width="7%"> 58
</td> <td width="68%"> We get dunks on two possessions in a row by Cooper and House, but they score 5 on the other end and extend the lead up to 11.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 12:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 54
</td> <td width="7%"> 60
</td> <td width="68%"> Cooper hits his 2^nd 3 of the game where they left him open for what seemed like a year and I figured why not. We just need to keep the pressure on and cut this lead the rest of the way down.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 58
</td> <td width="7%"> 65
</td> <td width="68%"> Can't get it closer than 6... we call a timeout as Cooper and Delic are exhausted.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 64
</td> <td width="7%"> 72
</td> <td width="68%"> We had the lead down to 5, and House was charging to the basket for what I assumed would be a dunk... instead he pulled up for a jumper when I went for the shot and it came up short. They hit a 3 and went back up 8 and the best we've been able to do since is keep it at 8.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 66
</td> <td width="7%"> 74
</td> <td width="68%"> We trade buckets and they call a time out.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 68
</td> <td width="7%"> 76
</td> <td width="68%"> Oh so frustrating. Turner got to the basket to cut the lead to 6, we had 3 possessions in a row with a chance to cut it to 4, got a couple open looks, including a wide open 3 from turner who has been clutch late for me many times... no dice. They score finally to go back up 8. That was likely our chance to make it a game in the final minute.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

Down 8 with2 minutes left, Turner misses an open 3, House gets the board and dinks the putback. They score again, we turn it over and they get a 3 and that's that.

VCU 84
Ohio 68

We're playing better. I'm starting to get a feel for the pace this team can reasonably play, and I'm using House and Cooper better, I'm having fun with House's athleticism in a 6'8” body at SF, but its easy to try to force it with him... he really has to get a step to the basket or an open look or he's going to screw up.

Turnovers were a huge story today... 4 for them, 16 for us. We've got to cut down on those.

Turner: 14 points/3 assists
Cooper: 16 points
House: 12 points/7 boards
Delic: 4 points/6 boards
Dahi: 5 points/7 boards

Massey: 13 points

Delic and Dahi combined for 2-10 shooting today.

[Radii]

Early Signing Period

Going into the early signing period, we're only looking at one recruit.

6'4" SG Chuck Lamkin, #363 in the nation out of Jacksonville, NC, has us at 100%. Ugh, Campbell just made him an offer in this last week and may win out due to the location advantage.

We have 3 other recruits over 80% that we hope to have a good shot at later in the year.

WHEW. Huge, HUGE load off my mind. Chuck Lamkin chooses Ohio over Campbell:

3* SG Chuck Lamkin - #363 OVR/#87 SG

Lamkin scored 12 points per game and grabbed 6 boards for his ABL team, the Wizards. He shot 42% from the floor, 37% from 3.

Shooting: B
Skills: B
Defense: B-
Athleticism: B+
Rebounding: C+
Intelligence: B-
Potential: B
Size: B-

With 5 scholarships open and a severe lack of depth at guard that is going to get worse when Turner leaves this year... I'm thrilled to have landed a guard early.


That leaves us with 4 scholarships remaining. We have 5 guys on our radar right now, and all of our other 4 scholarships offered:

3* SG Shawn Garcia - #305 OVR - He's Mr Basketball in Kansas this year, must be a down year in Kansas High Schools. We're his only offer so far. Tulsa has thrown some weight at him but hasn't offered him. We've got him at 93% and hope to snag him as soon as the season ends. B+ Shooting and Defense both are his best traits.

3* PG Shavlik Willie - #147 OVR from Boston, MA. We're at the mercy of Rhode Island and Boston College here. He likes us, and we'll get him to 100% easily, but if Rhode Island or BC offer, its a near certainty he'll go to either of those. If they don't, Ohio is in good shape. A- Skills, B+ Defense and B+ Athleticism have me hoping he comes my way.

3* PG Jeremie Roberson - #142 OVR out of Washington, DC. We have him at 90% currently and could have done better but I threw most of my focus towards Lamkin and Garcia. Roberson likes George Washington and VCU but he likes us a lot more right now, its not 100% clear if a scholarship from VCU would mean that we lose, unlike with Willie. 12 points/5 assists and 38% shooting from 3 all look pretty good in his ABL games. B+ Skills, A Defense, and A- Athleticism.

3* SF Kaylen Lufkin - #216 OVR - We didn't go very hard after Lufkin yet either, his interest in us is only 75% despite the scholarship offer. He seems to like Townson State and Dayton quite a bit as well. Lufkin put up 10 points and 9 boards a game in the ABL. B+ Shooting, B+ Athleticism are his top skills. He's a local kid, from Columbus.

Those are our 4 remaining scholarship offers. We have one big man on our radar too.

3* PF Curtis Watson, 6'9" 231 lbs - #287 OVR out of Toronto. We haven't scouted him out that well yet, we have him as an A rebounder but that's all we've got on him. He has interest from 5 other teams, we're all pretty much at the same level, and no one has made him an offer yet.

[Radii]

We had one game during the signing week that I simmed:

Ohio 56
Northern Iowa 50

Turner scores 11, Delic 10, and House 9 in a game where not many people scored much at all.


Ohio is 2-6 now with 6 more non-conference games to go. The first 5 are games where we should be favored and should expect to win, the last one is at Cincinnati. I'll play them out until I win one myself just to make sure I get a win under my belt before conference play starts. After that I'll probably sim out the rest of my non-conference games, with the intent of playing all my MAC games this year.

[Radii]

Hooray for Daryl Delic and his 'B' potential. He's already gained an point to his overall rating this year, up to 76. He's improving in many areas that i'm pleased to see... his mid-range shooting, low post offense and defense, rebounding and strength have all gone up a point this season so far.

My starting Center, Dahi, is suffering a little lack of confidence due to his poor play against some of the better big men we've been facing. I give him a pep talk to try to get him going.

December 7, 2011

Montana (1-6) at Ohio (2-6)

Montana is only rated 74 OVR. (75 Off/74 Def/77 Sht/81 Reb).

Scouting

Not much to worry about here. They have a 6'8” PF averaging 10 points/game. No one on their team has a 3point shot rated higher than 71, and they look pretty poor overall on the boards.

Our team unity is up to 35, slowly rising.

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> OHIO
</td> <td width="7%"> MON
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 15:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 8
</td> <td width="7%"> 7
</td> <td width="68%"> Cooper picks up a quick 2 fouls... this kills my guard play for the rest of the half pretty much with no depth.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 16
</td> <td width="7%"> 9
</td> <td width="68%"> Massey and Turner each hit a 3, House is making some very athletic moves to the hoop against his man for some early points. Solid start.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 8:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 19
</td> <td width="7%"> 13
</td> <td width="68%"> Another 3 from Massey but our offense has slowed a bit.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 8:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 19
</td> <td width="7%"> !6
</td> <td width="68%"> I call a timeout after they get a 3 point play. 5 Ohio fouls, all 5 on our backcourt. Cooper is the only guy with 2 so far but I'm getting worried.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 2:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 30
</td> <td width="7%"> 29
</td> <td width="68%"> Massey just blew a 100% wide open layup after getting by his man with a pump fake. My entire back court is gassed. Roller has 2 fouls now too. I can't stand Roller but he's sitting too and Massey and House are dying out there. I call a time out.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 32
</td> <td width="7%"> 29
</td> <td width="68%"> Turner picks up his 2^nd foul.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 32
</td> <td width="7%"> 30
</td> <td width="68%"> Foul trouble is obviously the theme of the first half. Turner, Cooper, and Roller have 2 fouls each.


Massey leads us with 9 points at the half, on 3-8 3 point shooting. Dahi scores 8 on 4-4 shooting and is having his first decent game in awhile. House has 4(I thought he had more).


Their PF Morton, the only guy I bothered to mention pregame, has 8 points/5 boards. Their PG has 8 points too, on 3-10 shooting.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 17:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 38
</td> <td width="7%"> 34
</td> <td width="68%"> Cooper gets foul #3 on a stupid reach. We've gotten all our scoring so far in the post this half.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:40
</td> <td width="10%"> 47
</td> <td width="7%"> 39
</td> <td width="68%"> House hits a rare 3, then we get a blocked shot leading to a fast break opportunity for Turner. A quick 5-0 run gives us a little separation, gets the crowd pumped up for us, and forces a Montana timeout. We needed all 3 of those things heh.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 52
</td> <td width="7%"> 42
</td> <td width="68%"> Massey hits an open 3 and House uses a screen to get to the rim for an easy 2. They call another time out.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 58
</td> <td width="7%"> 55
</td> <td width="68%"> I was just about to comment on how we don't seem to have any more foul issues, when we turn it over against their press and Cooper picks up foul #4 trying to stop the man going hard to the basket. They're on a 7-0 run and have cut a 10 point lead down to 3.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 60
</td> <td width="7%"> 55
</td> <td width="68%"> Turner misses an open 3, but House SKIES for the rebound and gets the putback. This is easily the most athletic guy I've ever played with over 6'3” or so, I'm really going to enjoy his career here.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 62
</td> <td width="7%"> 59
</td> <td width="68%"> I call a time out , just to rest my guys primarily.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 3:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 64
</td> <td width="7%"> 64
</td> <td width="68%"> I burn another time out. Cooper is back in for Roller, thank god for that. House and Turner are both at around 75% energy though. Turner has come up short on his last couple open jumpers. I need something out of Cooper and my post men here.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 1:10
</td> <td width="10%"> 66
</td> <td width="7%"> 66
</td> <td width="68%"> Tied at 66 with the ball I burn my next to last time out.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 0:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 66
</td> <td width="7%"> 66
</td> <td width="68%"> Cooper gets by his man and tries an athletic move inside but cannot sink his little up and under shot. Montana has the ball and can hold for the last shot.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
We play good defense but their SF hits a contested jump shot from the left corner with 0.1 left on the clock. We fall by 2.

Montana 68
Ohio 66

We didn't play a bad game today but as is becoming a recurring theme... we only have 5 guys that can play PG/SG/SF, and one of them is rated in the mid 50s and is terrible, so we only have 4 I can count on. When one of them gets foul #2 4 ½ minutes in, foul #3 2 minutes into the 2^nd half and foul #4 with 7 minutes to go... it really hurts. The CPU seemed insistant on having my starting 5 in the game at the end even though Turner was totally gassed and Massey was ready to go. I kind of feel like if I'm going to use the CPU for subs I should stick with what the CPU does, I may override that in late game situations in the future though. It definitely made a big difference here.

Turner: 9 points/4 assists
Cooper: 2 points (only 13 minutes played)
House: 15 points/9 boards
Delic: 6 points/2 boards/4 steals
Dahi: 12 points/9 boards

Massey: 16 points

[Radii]

Man, that was a bad loss to Montana, should never have happened. Here's another one that we really expect to win pretty much every time.

December 10, 2011

Ohio (2-7) at Youngstown State(2-4)

Youngstown State looks similar to Montana based on overall rating(73 OVR/74 Off/73 Def/75 Sht/81 Reb). This one is on the road, so its a bit different.

Scouting

Not much to mention here either. They have a SF, Kohn, who is rated 73 OVR and looks fairly solid but they don't have anyone that stands out in any way.

I lower my coach settings Defensive Pressure from 50 down to 35 in an effort to hopefully foul less.

There's a giant angry Penguin in the center of Youngstown State's home court. I played them last year at my place. After seeing this I don't know how they can be taken seriously. :D
<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> OHIO
</td> <td width="7%"> YSU
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 15
</td> <td width="7%"> 16
</td> <td width="68%"> Well no foul trouble this game, and things have gone much better on offense, though they've hit a few 3's on their end and have led by a couple the whole way. But we have a problem... House just came off the floor with an injury. We'll see how bad it is.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 10:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 19
</td> <td width="7%"> 18
</td> <td width="68%"> We take the lead and they burn a time out.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 10:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 19
</td> <td width="7%"> 20
</td> <td width="68%"> UGH. Disaster. I mentioned after my last game that I had 5 people that could play PG/SG/SF for me and one of them sucks. Well, for the next month I have 4. House has a high ankle sprain and is going to miss about a month's worth of time.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 30
</td> <td width="7%"> 24
</td> <td width="68%"> Its my favorite lineup... Massey, PF Delic and 3 centers. The nice thing about this lineup is that they really pack it in on defense, so if Massey is hot he can shoot 3's all day. He has 5 in a row for us here to extend our lead to 6.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%">
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 32
</td> <td width="7%"> 31
</td> <td width="68%"> They closed out the half on a 7-2 run. Massey really kept us alive with our crappy lineup out there. He scored 11 for us. Turner has 7 and Cooper has 6. No inside game to speak of.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 18:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 34
</td> <td width="7%"> 40
</td> <td width="68%"> We score the opening basket of the second half, then they hit 3 straight 3 pointers. Dahi and Meade down low(meade = 3^rd string center... in there with Delic playing SF for House heh) have both missed decent looks inside.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 38
</td> <td width="7%"> 50
</td> <td width="68%"> We get a lineup that I really like out there... Turner, Massey and Cooper all on the floor at the same time. And we turn it over and give up layup after layup. They're on a 7-0 run and are starting to pull away. I call a time out because... well why the hell not, nothing else is working!
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 38
</td> <td width="7%"> 52
</td> <td width="68%"> Turner picks up foul #3 defending against the fast break after we turn it over yet again on offense.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 43
</td> <td width="7%"> 55
</td> <td width="68%"> We score 5 in a row after falling behind by 17. That's the good news. The bad news is that our lineup is now Roller at PG, and 4 post players.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 54
</td> <td width="7%"> 65
</td> <td width="68%"> We get going a little with Dahi inside. We're committing a lot of fouls this half, centers guarding guards on the perimeter does that I guess. They're already in the double bonus.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 58
</td> <td width="7%"> 68
</td> <td width="68%"> We get it down to 10 as Massey makes 1 of 2 at the line.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 4:10
</td> <td width="10%"> 60
</td> <td width="7%"> 71
</td> <td width="68%"> If we're going to make a run here we need to do it soon.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
We never got the lead below 10..

Youngstown State 83
Ohio 70

Their SF, who has a 70 3 point rating, hit 7 3's today.

Turner: 21 points
Cooper: 10 points
House: 2 points
Delic: 8 points/7 boards
Dahi: 9 points/11 boards

Massey: 14 points

Delic and Dahi combined for 4-17 shooting.

[Radii]

So I had been running a 9 man rotation, but wishing I could get away with 8, as SG Taymon Roller is rated 10 points below my next worst player that sees any minutes.

Now my starting SF, Wendell House, is out for 27 days with a high ankle sprain.

I decide, for better or worse, to start my best 5 players.

PG Turner
SG Massey
SF Cooper
PF Delic
C Dahi

That leaves PF Mikalauskas, C Sessoms, and SG Roller on the bench. What has been a very, very poor start, is about to get much worse for the next month.

I should point out, the only other guard on the entire roster is the 2* PG I recruited at the last minute last season, Brannon Babcock. He's rated 50 OVR and is redshirting. I could remove his redshirt, which really wouldn't hurt him any as he'd likely never see the floor again after this upcoming month. But I don't see myself being any better with him out there as opposed to some of the awful 4 forward lineups that the CPU uses with my current rotation.

It looks like House will miss 5 games, including our conference opener. He'll return Jan 7th for a road contest at Central Michigan.

[Radii]

December 13, 2011

CSU Bakersfield (5-7) at Ohio (2-9)

The competition just gets worse and worse. CSU Bakersfield is rated 67 OVR. Our overall strength stays the same with Massey in the lineup instead of House, 78 OVR.

Scouting

Their PG is rated 55 OVR. Their Center 71 OVR. Their other 3 players in the low 60s.

The center, Ronald Bachmann, is 7 feet tall and could be a problem inside. He's averaging 16 points/9 boards a game. Their 55 rated PG can make the 3 pointer on occasion(rated 74 there)

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="15"> <col width="22"> <col width="26"> <col width="19"> <col width="174"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> Half
</td> <td width="9%"> Time
</td> <td width="10%"> OHIO
</td> <td width="7%"> CSUB
</td> <td width="68%"> Notes
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 13:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 11
</td> <td width="7%"> 11
</td> <td width="68%"> Cooper has 2 fouls. I want to strangle him. Seriously.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 8:50
</td> <td width="10%"> 17
</td> <td width="7%"> 17
</td> <td width="68%"> God such depth problems. Everyone is tired.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> 6:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 19
</td> <td width="7%"> 22
</td> <td width="68%"> Roller commits his 2^nd foul of the half.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 1
</td> <td width="9%"> HALF
</td> <td width="10%"> 30
</td> <td width="7%"> 35
</td> <td width="68%"> After tying the game up at 22, they scored 9 straight to take a 31-22 lead. We were able to feed it inside a few times with some success to dig into that lead a little bit.


We're still relying too much today on the outside game. Turner with 7, Massey with 9. They're in a 2-3 zone pretty much the entire time which just totally eliminates Delic, he doesn't have the size to deal with that. Dahi is 2-4 and I need to get him the ball more.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 19:20
</td> <td width="10%"> 33
</td> <td width="7%"> 35
</td> <td width="68%"> Bachmann, their center who has 10 points/13 boards and is easily CSU's best player, is now sitting with his 3^rd foul.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 17:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 35
</td> <td width="7%"> 44
</td> <td width="68%"> We tie the game up and then they hit 3 straight 3 pointers on us, including one by their SF who is rated 56 from 3.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 14:15
</td> <td width="10%"> 44
</td> <td width="7%"> 55
</td> <td width="68%"> Delic picks up foul #3 as we're getting embarrassed by a much worse team than us.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 11:45
</td> <td width="10%"> 52
</td> <td width="7%"> 58
</td> <td width="68%"> A nice run on our end starting with baskets by Massey and Cooper, and ending with a 4 point possession, Sessoms is fouled and scores, misses the free throw but Dahi gets the putback.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 9:10
</td> <td width="10%"> 56
</td> <td width="7%"> 60
</td> <td width="68%"> We've got it down to 4 after Meade draws a foul and makes 2 free throws. We get a nice lineup on the floor too, we made that little run entirely by going inside to big men, now we've got Massey and Cooper both out there.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 7:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 61
</td> <td width="7%"> 62
</td> <td width="68%"> Cooper finds Delic inside for a layup and we get the lead down to 1. Another timeout for CSU-Bakerfield.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:40
</td> <td width="10%"> 68
</td> <td width="7%"> 67
</td> <td width="68%"> The crowd is going crazy for Ohio as Delic gets an offensive putback to give us the lead!
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 5:00
</td> <td width="10%"> 70
</td> <td width="7%"> 67
</td> <td width="68%"> A dunk in transition by Turner and they burn yet another time out. They took a 4 point lead when Bachmann came back in, but we've since scored 7 straight to take our lead.
</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="6%"> 2
</td> <td width="9%"> 2:30
</td> <td width="10%"> 75
</td> <td width="7%"> 69
</td> <td width="68%"> Bachmann gets his millionth rebound of the game(or 20^th, something like that), Delic gets WAY up there to block his putback though, we get on the break and Delic draws a foul on our end. We've got all the momentum at this point.
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
We get the lead up to 9 with 2 minutes left and are able to successfully kill the clock.

Ohio 82
CSU Bakersfield 71

We shot 43% on the game, but held them to 31%. Their big man, Bachmann, scored 15 and got 21 boards on the day. We never did stop him from getting rebounds but we did keep him from scoring in the last few minutes which helped.

Turner: 11 points/6 assists
Massey: 18 points
Cooper: 7 points/6 boards/4 assists
Delic: 14 points/9 boards
Dahi: 13 points/16 boards

Delic and Dahi were 11-18 today. I didn't do a good job using the inside game in the 1^st half, the 2^nd half was MUCH better.

[Radii]

It took a long time, but we've finally won a game that I played out with this team. The down side is it is against the lowest rated team I'm going to see by quite a bit. The up side is we won without House, so we were a bit handicapped.

I'm going to sim out my last 3 non-conference games as I said I would do when I finally won a game on my own, and get moving in conference play. I'm glad I built up so much love with the AD by getting to the tournament last year, because I'm not sure this is going to improve any once we get into conference play.

December 15th, 2011:

Ohio 89
NC A&T 70

Turner scores 31 and has 9 assists here. Massey has 18 points/8 assists, and Dahi has 14 points on 7-11 shooting. Nice game by the guards in a simmed one here.


December 20th, 2011

Ohio 82
Harvard 60

Turner scores 22, Massey and Cooper 9, Delic 14, and Dahi 13 in this one.


December 24th, 2011

Cincinnati 79
Ohio 67

Turner with 14, Massey 11, Cooper and Dahi 5 as we lose our last non-conference game of the year.

This takes us to 5-9 going into conference play.

[Radii]

MAC Preview

Based on total roster strength

1. Kent State 83 OVR
2. Bowling Green 80 OVR
3. Ball State 79 OVR
4. Ohio 78 OVR
5. Akron 78 OVR
6. Toledo 76 OVR
7. N. Illinois 74 OVR
8. W. Michigan 74 OVR
9. Buffalo 74 OVR
10. Central Michigan 73 OVR
11. E. Michigan 72 OVR
12. Miami-OH 68 OVR


There are a lot of teams with very big holes, freshmen rated in the 50s starting at PF for Eastern michigan, at PG and SG for Miami-OH. I see 3 players rated 80 or better. C Colin Wierzba from Kent State, SG Leroy Butler from Akron, and SG Wallace Mason from Bowling Green. Leroy Butler and Wallace Mason would give me nightmares. Wierzba I don't remember playing.
Wierzba is only a junior...

According to the league page:

Best Overall Player: Wallace Mason, Bowling Green (84 OVR)
Best Freshman: Arzelle Cooper, Ohio (74 OVR)
Best Shooter: Wallace Mason, Bowling Green
Best Playmaker: Wayne Turner, Ohio (74 OVR)
Best Pro Prospect: Wallace Mason, Bowling Green
Best Defender: Michael Murphy, Kent State (78 OVR)

I had some trouble getting Turner to fit into my offense in non-conference play. This isn't because I was forcing myself not to run, by the way. All worries about that went away the second I stopped controlling the PG all the time. Any time the other team runs my defense embarrasses itself. So I have no qualms about running right back. But because of the lack of depth I'm not forcing it so often, I'm only doing it when it looks like I have the clear advantage. Turner can create an awful lot in the half court set though.