Rise of the Arcadias: A Zeroed Out DDS:CB Story

[Izulde]

November 17, 2018

It's been a month now since Grandpa Gabriel died.

I still feel that pang of pain some days, but it's getting better. He was taken from us far too early and I miss him terribly, but everybody says he just wasn't the same after Grandma Natalie died. Seems like he just couldn't live without her, which I can understand. She was an awesome person.

When I was going through the things in Grandpa's attic with Sam Middlebrook, the guy Grandpa spent a lot of his last few years talking to about his NBA GM days, a few weeks after Granda passed away, we came across a lot of diaries and paper clippings that were over a century old.

And they were all about the Arcadias and their basketball successes. There's a lot to go through and Sam and I are still sorting through all the information. He said he wants to write a book about my family and their basketball success. There's a biography about Grandpa written a couple years ago that alludes to it, but nothing fully fleshed out.

Here's a quote from the book:

"Every dynasty has its beginnings and the truth of the matter is, the Arcadia dynasty did not begin with Gabriel Arcadia's multiple world championships as the Minnesota Timberwolves GM. It began in the early 1900s, in the first years of the NCAA, with an ancestor named Thaddeus."

But from the reading I've been doing, it goes back even further than that. Back to the year 1900, the first year of NCAA basketball competition. And it begins not with Thaddeus Arcadia or even an Arcadia at all.

It begins with a giant of a man, appropriately named Jumbo Thrasher.

-Ricardo Arcadia

Originally Posted by OOC Note

I've set all school prestiges to 0, with a start date of 1900. What happened was all conference prestiges were set to 1, with school prestiges set to 2, with the exception of the university Jumbo was hired at, presumably because of his level.

In this alternate history, all 50 states are assumed to have been admitted into the US by 1900 and all modern-day universities have been established. It's a necessary evil, given the nightmare it'd be to try and edit otherwise.

I apologize for the rough start, but I'm still experimenting with the format I'm going to be using for this dynasty and so it may take a few posts before I get into a rhythm.

[Izulde]

November 18, 2018

When Thaddeus Arcadia was 25, he fell in love with the new sport of basketball in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's gymnasium. He had just graduated the past spring and was working for an insurance company downtown. From what his diaries, it seemed that he hated the job and longed for a way out of it, to find some new career path that would snap him out of a growing depression.

As he later put it in one of his diaries:

"That warm, sunny May morning one year to the day after the completion of my studies saw me not outside, gamboling with pretty girls or even inside at my cramped desk, for I had pleaded sick from work.

No, that blessed hour found me wandering my alma mater and it was there, in the gymnasium, that I found my life's calling and the man who would be my guide down its path."

That man was Jumbo Thrasher, a hefty man, 46 years old and prone to outbursts. He demanded absolute compliance from his players and believed that the taller the player, the better and that the key to success was in rebounding, rebounding, rebounding.

My ancestor knew absolutely nothing of the sport at the time, but he found something mesmerizing in that orange ball and the swish that sounded whenever a basket was made.

Jumbo, seeing Thaddeus's interest, immediately offered him a spot as one of his assistants.

He told my ancestor, "I'll warn you now, son, you'll be the lowest of the lowest, the bottom of the bottom for quite a few years. But stick with me, learn the game and some day you'll move on up in this world, enough so that you won't have to do that fool's work in that insurance business."

Thaddeus, overjoyed, accepted without reservation. Although the pay was minimal and not enough for him to quit his desk job at the insurance agency, it was a start, a foot in the door.

He was by far the youngest coach on the staff, as the other assistants were old men in their 50s, retirees who were devoting themselves to spending their golden years enjoying the new game.

As for the team itself, on paper, it looked pretty good, the staff thought, but this was the first year of NCAA play and nobody really knew up from down.

I'm including in this journal a copy of the roster and Jumbo Thrasher's notes. It's a photocopy, as the original couldn't be taken out of the museum it's in.

Roster Notes 1900 - University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers

PG Maurice Murray - Sophomore
Hard worker and a likeable young man. Excellent outside shooting, but he does not have very good skill with keeping or passing the basketball. Also will ruin the free chances he gets.

PG Craig Smith - Freshman
Short compared to the rest of the boys. Could become one of our best players, despite his height handicap, but for now, he will wear a Red Shirt.

PG Ricardo Hayes - Senior
Our best handler and passing man and the starter at PG. Gifted outside shooter and superb with the free chances.

SG William Jeffries - Freshman
Almost as short as Smith and I see no potential in him. Release from the team posthaste.

SG Whitney Howell - Sophomore
Another short player and a lazy man who has no talent to speak of. However, his professors tell me he is extremely bright, so I will let him stay so that he may get his education.

SG Archie Jackson - Junior
The best outside shooter we have, with a knack for stealing the ball. Lacks the mentality needed to be a great scorer, but he will start.

SF Chico Williams - Freshman
Of pleasing height and potential for his position, but like Smith, is raw and will receive our other Red Shirt.

SF Ron Gesham - Sophomore
A very likeable young man, but absent of talent. I despair of this team's 2nd and 3rd players.

SF Lloyd Brant - Junior
Fair all-around skills, but nothing special to be sure.

SF Jeremy Erickson - Senior
One of our most polished players and the starter at the 3rd position. I will need to find more young men here who are capable of taking his place, for he will be gone next season.

PF Will Crane - Senior
Can not score in the least, but has some talent in turning shots away and is a semi-respectable rebounder from the look of it.

PF Brian Forbes - Freshman
The single best player on this entire team. I will greatly enjoy his four years here, for I believe he will be our leading scorer and rebounder this season and perhaps in the remaining years as well. My only regret is that he can't rebound worth a damn.

PF Ronnie Carnell - Senior
Breathtaking inside shot, but he has not the instinct to score as much as he should. Good handling for a big man.

C Brandon Fisher - Freshman
A project, but a fairly developed one. Although he has something of a scoring bent and good handling, he is a black spot on defense and is still raw in other areas.

C Lavoris Stoudamire - Junior
A giant of a young man at 7 feet, 1 inches tall. He will start on that basis alone.

Starters
PG Ricardo Hayes (SR)
SG Archie Jackson (JR)
SF Jeremy Erickson (SR)
PF Brian Forbes (FR)
C Lavoris Stoudamire (JR)

One of the most curious decisions Jumbo Thrasher made was to install an offense heavily based on what we call today the triangle, with a little bit of motion and flex mixed in, despite the fact that only Brandon Fisher knew anything about the triangle.

As he apparently told Thaddeus, "The boys will learn my game or they won't play at all. This offense plays to our strengths."

Although no one knew just how things were going to shake out, what people in the Milwaukee area did know was that the Panthers were going to have an interesting team with a fiery head coach.

-Ricardo Arcadia

[Izulde]

Excerpt from Black and Gold Pride: A History of UW-Milwaukee Panthers Mens' Basketball

Head coach Jumbo Thrasher's love of tall men and great rebounders was well-known by his staff and university insiders, so it was no surprise that his first four scholarship offers went out to relatively tall players for their positions.

What is interesting to note and this would be a philosophy that Thrasher would hold to for his entire career, is that he paid no attention to rankings lists, calling them, "Silly ordering by silly men in silly suits and hats."

And as the long, hot Midwest summer of 1900 wore on, he was to be vindicated, as his first four targets rose with the temperatures into higher and higher levels. Unfortunately for Thrasher, this also prompted more attention from other schools and interest in his program started waning. SG Albert Felton, an Ohio senior, was the first to have his scholarship offer revoked, after he clearly expressed disinterest in attending Milwaukee.

He also lost out on SF Jason Keating, who, despite having a father who was a UW-M alum, had no interest in following in the family tradition. SF Bishop DeWitt, a secondary target after Keating, also spurned the Panthers, as did SF Jarod Carter and SF Robert Jackson.

Despite his frustrations at trying to find a small forward, Jumbo was much more successful in the backcourt, where he got early verbal commitments and letter of intent signings from PG Tim Watkins and SG Damon Green, both 5-star prospects who, despite their high status, were curiously ranked lower at the time of their verbals than the 5 stars might indicate.

Watkins looked like a brilliant passer with good athleticism and some scoring instincts, a definite candidate to be in the mix as a true freshman. Green appeared to have a nice scorer's touch, with passable defense, good athleticism and a good outside shot. Although Green showed no rebounding instincts, at the time Thrasher considered him the more important of the two for his scoring talents.

November 1900 Season - Ricardo's Notes
It was difficult to predict how things would shake out in that first season of college basketball, but the cottage industry of so-called experts predicted that UW-Milwaukee would finish fourth in the Horizon League in 1900, with Valparaiso the consensus favorites to win the conference. Of course, these very same experts had a different starting lineup in mind than the one Thrasher devised.

The Panthers were invited to the Preseason NIT, a tournament designed to showcase and pump up interest in college basketball around the country. Jumbo led Milwaukee to a 64-58 win against Villanova in the program's first-ever game. Ricardo Hayes proved the difference-maker in the tight game, with 10 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals. It was a case of two halves as UW-M looked flat in the first half and then came out strong in the second to come from behind.

Their first half struggles continued in the Preseason NIT quarterfinal, but the Panthers scored 49 points in the second half to crush North Florida and advance to the championship. This time, it was Jeremy Erickson who stepped up with 12 points, 3 assists, 8 rebounds, a block and a steal. Freshman phenom Brian Forbes scored 10 points and Archie Jackson and Lloyd Bryant also broke double-digits with 13 and 12 points respectively.

Jumbo's second half magic ran out in the Preseason NIT semifinal against the Richmond Spiders and the Panthers lost a heartbreaking 68-65 contest despite Jeremy Erickson and Whitney Howell scoring 15 and 10 respectively.

Although it was early in the season, the Panthers nonetheless pulled off a stunner in upsetting #3 Jacksonville State, who were 3-0 at the time, in their next game. Even more impressive was the 86-64 final line, with Jeremy Erickson abusing the Gamecocks for 27 points. Lloyd Bryant and Ronnie Carnell contributed 11 a piece from the bench.

Jeremy Erickson's hot hand continued with 22 points against Baylor in a 24 point whalloping of the Bears, Ricardo Hayes the secondary contributor with 11 points. The senior small forward's brilliant start took everyone by surprise, except for perhaps Jumbo, who was said to have smugly told my ancestor Thaddeus, "Those bastards in the silly hats didn't even have me picking Erickson as one of our first five. Goes to show what -they- know!"

Unfortunately for Jumbo, Erickson went cold the next game and the Panthers fell 73-67 to Lafayette to close out the month of November. Maurice Murray scored 24 off the bench as UW-M's guards got in major foul trouble and Lloyd Bryant and Ricardo Hayes chipped in 11 a piece, but it just wasn't enough to overcome the Leopards.

Still, the Panthers went a very respectable 4-2 in their first month of play and Jeremy Erickson had the team's first small trophy in winning Horizon League Player of the Week during the early going.

More importantly, Thaddeus was watching and learning from the mighty Jumbo. Although my ancestor's scouting reports, for Thaddeus was put in charge of the scouting, were pretty worthless, Mr. Thrasher was patient with him and pointed out his errors, teaching him with a kindness that nobody who knew the public image of the giant man would've expected.

[Izulde]

December 1900 - Ricardo's Notes
Despite the pleasant start in November, the Panthers had their first ever losing streak when they fell 81-53 to then-winless Texas A&M Corpus-Christi. The offense disappeared the entire game, with only Archie Jackson breaking double-digits with 11 points.

Jumbo lit into the whole team following that performance and they rebounded with a 95-82 stomping of the Rainbow Warriors of Hawaii, with Jeremy Erickson, Ricardo Hayes, Lavoris Stoudamire, Archie Jackson, Maurice Murray, Ronnie Cornell and Lloyd Bryant all hitting 10+ points, Murray the lead scorer with 13. It was the most complete performance by the Panthers in the young season.

No such balance was found in the next game, a win over Alcorn State, as Ricardo Hayes lit up the gymnasium for 25 points, Jeremy Erickson the secondary contributor with 10 in a 72-68 win that saw UW-M in control from the opening tipoff.

The Panthers got their second upset of a Top 25 team as they knocked off #14 Holy Cross 73-64. Ricardo Hayes was Player of the Game with 12 points, 5 rebounds and an astounding 3 blocks as PG and the other main scorers on the team, Jeremy Erickson and Archie Jackson had 12 and 13 points respectively.

The win streak continued with an 80-58 thrashing of the Radford Highlanders. Ricardo Hayes came extremely close to the school's first double-double with 12 points and 9 assists and Archie Jackson and Jeremy Erickson scored 12 and 13 a piece.

By the start of the conference season in the last game of the month, a clear scoring triumvirate had emerged between Jeremy Erickson, Ricardo Hayes and Archie Jackson. Lloyd Bryant was the offensive sparkplug off the bench. Ricardo Hayes also had a very pleasant 4.5/2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio. The weak spot of the team was ironically Jumbo's favorite stat: Rebounding. Only freshman Brian Forbes had even close to 5 rebounds per game, with an average of 5.5.

And it was Brian Forbes who erupted to lead the way in the Horizon opener against cross-state rivals UW-Green Bay, scorching the Phoenix for 15 points. Archie Jackson put up 11 points himself as the Panthers out-rebounded the Phoenix 43-31, much to Jumbo's pleasure.

Jumbo's joy deflated on the last day of the month, as UW-M inexplicably fell 89-81 to the Cleveland State Vikings in OT to drop to .500 in the conference. Archie Jackson had 23 points, with Jeremy Erickson putting up 16 and Lavoris Stoudamire scoring 10, but all of the Vikings' starting five scored double-digits.

Thrasher reamed out his team in the locker room following the game, for Cleveland State, like Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, was a school that Jumbo felt his Panthers had no business losing to.

But then, it should be noted, everyone else in the Horizon was 1-1 in conference play after two.

[Izulde]

January 1900 - Ricardo's Notes
Much to Jumbo's agitation, the Panthers endured a second straight conference loss, falling 69-64 to Wright State, in which UW-M, contrary to their out of conference habits, collapsed in the second half, ruining double-digit scoring by Jeremy Erickson (11), Brian Forbes (10), Lavoris Stoudamire (13), and Archie Jackson (12).

The problems continued to mount with a 75-54 blowout at the hands of Illinois-Chicago, Jeremy Erickson and Lavoris Stoudamire the team's high scorers with 10 points a piece. Suddenly, a Panthers squad that looked nearly invincible in pre-conference play was floundering and badly.

As the losing skid hit four with a dropped 78-65 decision against pre-season Horizon favorites Valparaiso, Jeremy Erickson putting up 13, Archie Jackson 10, Jumbo became more and more furious. His team was consistently melting down in the second half and all semblance of scoring and defense had gone out the window, to say nothing of a complete inability to rebound the ball.

Four became five as Detroit punched out Milwaukee 80-67. Lavoris Stoudamire had the first 10 rebound performance in school history, and the backcourt play was good with Archie Jackson and Ricardo Hayes putting up 13 and 14 points respectively, along with Brian Forbes contributing 10, but the Panthers were quickly becoming noted for being defensive sieves with poor shot selection.

On the verge of dropping to .500 overall on the season, Jumbo's boys finally broke through in a 86-71 win over Butler to put out the fire, at least temporarily. Jeremy Erickson rescued the Panthers with 26 points and Archie Jackson had 11. The defense was still terrible, but at least the Panthers had a victory in hand at last.

The flush of victory was short-lived as Youngstown State topped UW-M 79-75 in OT despite Jeremy Erickson's 17 points and Ricardo Hayes's 10. It was becoming clear that while Erickson was the team's star, he didn't have the supporting cast needed to balance him, especially not with a team that couldn't defend.

Faced with the prospect of .500 again, the Panthers couldn't avoid the spectre in the next game, giving up the ghost in a 65-48 loss to Loyola-Chicago where Archie Jackson scored 10 and the Ramblers hounded Jeremy Erickson all night long, condemning him to 3-13 shooting.

The final humiliation occurred when UW-M lost to UW-Green Bay 60-59 in a rematch of the conference opener. Lavoris Stoudamire had 12 points and Ricardo Hayes 10 and for once, the Panthers played great defense, limiting the Phoenix to 35.1% shooting, but it just wasn't enough.

Now, with a 2-8 conference mark, UW-Milwaukee stood dead last in the Horizon League. On top, Loyola-Chicago, Detroit, and Wright State were in a dogfight for the lead at 7-3.

The one bright spot was, of course, Jeremy Erickson, whose 12.3 point per game average ranked him 6th in the Horizon League, but even that happy thought was diminished by his status as a senior and the general slump the Panthers were in.

[Izulde]

February 1900 - Ricardo's Notes
Winter's chilled breath continue to ravage the Midwest with ice and snow, but February began with a heart-warming 87-64 victory for the Panthers over Cleveland State. Maurice Murray exploded off the bench for 25 points after Ricardo Hayes got in foul trouble and steady Jeremy Erickson had 14 to be second fiddle.

The triumph not only sent UW-M to .500 but provided the energy and momentum for the Panthers to knock off Wright State 70-62. Ricardo Hayes paved the way with 15 points, Maurice Murray had his second straight double-digit game with 10 points and Brian Forbes continued to show signs of growing offensive awareness with 12 points.

The Flames of Illinois-Chicago were quick to douse the growing fire however, cooling Milwaukee in a 75-67 decision as everyone but Archie Jackson with 11 points and Jeremy Erickson with 15 freezing up on offense.

An injury to Brian Forbes that kept him out of the starting lineup was largely blamed for UW-M's 80-70 loss at the hands of Valparaiso, even if Brandon Fisher did score 10 in his absence. Archie Jackson came close to the school's first double-double with 11 points and 9 rebounds and Ricardo Hayes and Jeremy Erickson also scored in double-digits with 11 and 19 respectively.

.500 became Panthers territory again following a 85-75 win over the Detroit Titans as Jeremy Erickson dazzled with 25 points and Brandon Fisher played brilliantly with 17 points and 8 points. Will Crane put in 11 from the bench and Jumbo's team could feel a little more festive.

Brandon Fisher's strong performances in the wake of Brian Forbes's absence convinced Jumbo Thrasher to go against his love for all players over 7 feet and install Fisher as the starting C for at least the next few games.

Unfortunately, there was no instant success in a 71-60 loss to Butler as Fisher scored just 4 points with 4 rebounds, negating Archie Jackson and Brian Forbes's 16 and 10 respective points.

Points became even more scarce in an embarrassing 54-44 loss to Youngstown State in which Archie Jackson (12 points) and Brandon Fisher (8 points) were the only Panthers with more than 5 on the scoresheet.

Archie Jackson and Brian Forbes were the team's leaders scorers in the next contest with 13 and 10 respectively, but it wasn't enough to prevent #24 Loyola-Chicago from winning their magical 20th game of the year 69-56 in the month's last contest.

Now a mediocre 13-15 overall and a woeful 5-13 for dead last in the Horizon League, the heat grew on Jumbo Thrasher's coaching seat. Many questioned his decision to go with the triangle offense, an offense that none of his players had familiarity with, at the start of the season and still more thought the Brandon Fisher experiment was a failure and called for Lavoris Stoudamire to be restored as the starting center.

Meanwhile, Loyola-Chicago not only held the #24 ranking, they reigned supreme in the Horizon with a 20-8 (13-5) record. Preseason conference favorites Valparaiso were two games off the pace at 11-7.