Front Office Football Central - View Single Post

nol · 08-15-2014, 01:46 AM

We're one win away from clinching a winning conference record, and that's gonna be the minimum we'll need to make it to the big dance.

Florida State is our last road game of the season, and luckily for us their starting SG and C are out with injuries. Their starting PG picks up an injury 7 minutes in but remains on the court. We begin to build a lead, which is good because FSU is way too depleted to be competitive at this point. With 2 minutes left in the half, we lead 38-22. Doss and Jones have 12 each. We lead 43-24 at the first half buzzer, and from here we're just hoping FSU's injury bug isn't contagious.

The lead stays around 20 for most of the 2nd half until a half-dozen turnovers in the last 5 minutes allow them to pull within 11. We make a garbage time 3 to set the final margin at 78-64. Doss had 25 and 7 boards (4 offensive) and Duley put up a stat line reminiscent of his early-season work: 17, 8 dimes, and 7 boards on 7-10 shooting. Jones scored 0 in the 2nd half thanks to some self-inflicted foul trouble (picked up a technical for taunting after his second three-pointer in the first half).

We're entrenched as the 6th place team in the ACC with our 17-11 (9-6) record. The 5 teams above us all have a shot at the regular season title depending on how the tiebreaker shakes up. Senior night gives us the chance to knock off #12 Virginia Tech, whic has arguably the most talented team in the nation with 5 projected first-rounders. The fickle bubble watch has us as the last team IN the tournament right now; but the motivation is more visceral for our seniors (Doss, Duley, and walk-on Chet White) who after experiencing such lows now get to play their last home game in front of a raucous crowd that truly appreciates their role in this season's turnaround.

Early on, it looks like a repeat of our first matchup with the Hokies. They grab an early double-digit lead, but we get back within 25-19 with 6:25 to play thanks to some inspired play by our freshman SG Lloyd Hintz. He scores 5 straight points and dishes an assist in our 7-0 run. My decision to move him ahead of Quesada in the rotation is looking good, and in any event this should be valuable experience for Hintz going in to next year. Lindsey Jones hits a three with 1:25 left to put us within 6. Jones and Kratzer have 10 each, and Kratzer has 3 blocks in the first half. We trail 45-38 at halftime.

Virginia Tech's lead yo-yos between 4 and 10; whenever we get close, one of their blue-chip guards hits a three. With 7 minutes left, Duley misses a three to tie that would have torn the roof off; he's struggling with only 5 points. He then loses his man for a three-pointer. A pair of Hintz free throws and a Doss steal and breakaway bring us within 2 with 3:13 to play. We foul them three times on the ensuing possession, but luckily we're not in the bonus and they eventually miss. Jones draws a foul on a strong attack to the rim and knots it up at the line. Virginia Tech calls a timeout with 1:04 remaining. Kratzner gets what looks like a clean steal, but it's called a foul. Diaz fouls their PF 20 feet from the basket, and we're down two after he makes both ends of the one-and-one. With 27 seconds left, Duley rifles a pass in to Quesada (in at PF) and he evens the score again. On their last possession, Doss hounds their SG Sweeney (a potential top-three pick) enough to make him give it up, and their jumper rims out.

Both teams score on their first two overtime possessions, but we're having to earn our buckets while Virginia Tech goes 4-4 from the line. With 2:24 left, Kratzer turns it over and fouls out preventing the ensuing fast break. They go 2-2, and after Hintz misses a three for the lead, they're fouled again and this time get three points out of the ordeal thanks to an offensive rebound. With Duley (7 points, 3-14 shooting)and Kratzer already fouled out, that pretty much sinks our chances and we lose 88-83. Kratzer's player of the game in a losing effort with 24 points (6-7 from the field and 12-13 from the line), 8 boards, and 4 blocks. 2-20 on threes isn't the prettiest stat to look at after an overtime loss.

In the conference tournament, we draw North Carolina in the opening round, definitely the team I least want to face out of everyone ranked 7th-12th. We're not even listed on the bubble watch now, so every game's a must win. We're playing UNC in man from the start because I don't want to allow them to tee off from distance. Their leading scorer Richard Lehr has 13 points in the first 4 minutes despite high defensive pressure and constant double teams, so I'm not too sure what to do other than try to sneak a sixth guy on the court over the media timeout. We're scoring on them as well, so it's not getting too out of hand. Duley hits a triple to tie the game at 26 with 9:25 left in the half, and his second one two possessions later puts us up 3. A brief flurry of baskets from Hintz puts us up by as much as 8, but some more ridiculous threes from Lehr and two shot clock violations and a five second violation from our offense puts UNC up 50-46 at halftime. Lehr has 23 and 6 at the half.

We do our best to stay in the game, but UNC has the "Richard Lehr makes a three-pointer regardless of the amount of defensive attention" cheat code activated. He hits a three (I've lost count of how many) to give them a 74-69 lead with 7:27 left, his 41st point. We miss a golden opportunity to take control of the game with Lehr out and instead get scored on 4 straight possessions. Duley throws one down with 3 1/2 minutes left to bring us back within 2. We can't get stops and don't get as close again until a 3 by Hintz with 1 second left. We flame out 92-90, courtesy of Lehr somehow getting free to shoot 9-13 on threes despite orders for max defensive pressure and manual double teams. Awesome to get sent to the NIT on something like that.

08-15-2014, 01:46 AM	#15
nol Banned Join Date: Oct 2003	We're one win away from clinching a winning conference record, and that's gonna be the minimum we'll need to make it to the big dance. Florida State is our last road game of the season, and luckily for us their starting SG and C are out with injuries. Their starting PG picks up an injury 7 minutes in but remains on the court. We begin to build a lead, which is good because FSU is way too depleted to be competitive at this point. With 2 minutes left in the half, we lead 38-22. Doss and Jones have 12 each. We lead 43-24 at the first half buzzer, and from here we're just hoping FSU's injury bug isn't contagious. The lead stays around 20 for most of the 2nd half until a half-dozen turnovers in the last 5 minutes allow them to pull within 11. We make a garbage time 3 to set the final margin at 78-64. Doss had 25 and 7 boards (4 offensive) and Duley put up a stat line reminiscent of his early-season work: 17, 8 dimes, and 7 boards on 7-10 shooting. Jones scored 0 in the 2nd half thanks to some self-inflicted foul trouble (picked up a technical for taunting after his second three-pointer in the first half). We're entrenched as the 6th place team in the ACC with our 17-11 (9-6) record. The 5 teams above us all have a shot at the regular season title depending on how the tiebreaker shakes up. Senior night gives us the chance to knock off #12 Virginia Tech, whic has arguably the most talented team in the nation with 5 projected first-rounders. The fickle bubble watch has us as the last team IN the tournament right now; but the motivation is more visceral for our seniors (Doss, Duley, and walk-on Chet White) who after experiencing such lows now get to play their last home game in front of a raucous crowd that truly appreciates their role in this season's turnaround. Early on, it looks like a repeat of our first matchup with the Hokies. They grab an early double-digit lead, but we get back within 25-19 with 6:25 to play thanks to some inspired play by our freshman SG Lloyd Hintz. He scores 5 straight points and dishes an assist in our 7-0 run. My decision to move him ahead of Quesada in the rotation is looking good, and in any event this should be valuable experience for Hintz going in to next year. Lindsey Jones hits a three with 1:25 left to put us within 6. Jones and Kratzer have 10 each, and Kratzer has 3 blocks in the first half. We trail 45-38 at halftime. Virginia Tech's lead yo-yos between 4 and 10; whenever we get close, one of their blue-chip guards hits a three. With 7 minutes left, Duley misses a three to tie that would have torn the roof off; he's struggling with only 5 points. He then loses his man for a three-pointer. A pair of Hintz free throws and a Doss steal and breakaway bring us within 2 with 3:13 to play. We foul them three times on the ensuing possession, but luckily we're not in the bonus and they eventually miss. Jones draws a foul on a strong attack to the rim and knots it up at the line. Virginia Tech calls a timeout with 1:04 remaining. Kratzner gets what looks like a clean steal, but it's called a foul. Diaz fouls their PF 20 feet from the basket, and we're down two after he makes both ends of the one-and-one. With 27 seconds left, Duley rifles a pass in to Quesada (in at PF) and he evens the score again. On their last possession, Doss hounds their SG Sweeney (a potential top-three pick) enough to make him give it up, and their jumper rims out. Both teams score on their first two overtime possessions, but we're having to earn our buckets while Virginia Tech goes 4-4 from the line. With 2:24 left, Kratzer turns it over and fouls out preventing the ensuing fast break. They go 2-2, and after Hintz misses a three for the lead, they're fouled again and this time get three points out of the ordeal thanks to an offensive rebound. With Duley (7 points, 3-14 shooting)and Kratzer already fouled out, that pretty much sinks our chances and we lose 88-83. Kratzer's player of the game in a losing effort with 24 points (6-7 from the field and 12-13 from the line), 8 boards, and 4 blocks. 2-20 on threes isn't the prettiest stat to look at after an overtime loss. In the conference tournament, we draw North Carolina in the opening round, definitely the team I least want to face out of everyone ranked 7th-12th. We're not even listed on the bubble watch now, so every game's a must win. We're playing UNC in man from the start because I don't want to allow them to tee off from distance. Their leading scorer Richard Lehr has 13 points in the first 4 minutes despite high defensive pressure and constant double teams, so I'm not too sure what to do other than try to sneak a sixth guy on the court over the media timeout. We're scoring on them as well, so it's not getting too out of hand. Duley hits a triple to tie the game at 26 with 9:25 left in the half, and his second one two possessions later puts us up 3. A brief flurry of baskets from Hintz puts us up by as much as 8, but some more ridiculous threes from Lehr and two shot clock violations and a five second violation from our offense puts UNC up 50-46 at halftime. Lehr has 23 and 6 at the half. We do our best to stay in the game, but UNC has the "Richard Lehr makes a three-pointer regardless of the amount of defensive attention" cheat code activated. He hits a three (I've lost count of how many) to give them a 74-69 lead with 7:27 left, his 41st point. We miss a golden opportunity to take control of the game with Lehr out and instead get scored on 4 straight possessions. Duley throws one down with 3 1/2 minutes left to bring us back within 2. We can't get stops and don't get as close again until a 3 by Hintz with 1 second left. We flame out 92-90, courtesy of Lehr somehow getting free to shoot 9-13 on threes despite orders for max defensive pressure and manual double teams. Awesome to get sent to the NIT on something like that.