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10-05-2005, 10:58 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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FBCB: Storming Back
2004, Jamaica, Queens, NY
It was a national powerhouse. It was a packed Garden. It was Chris Mullin. It was Mark Jackson. It was 526. It was Lou Carnesecca. It was those lucky sweaters. It was Malik Sealy! It was the St. John's RedMen! Now, it's a different story. It is last place. It is Fran Fraschilla. It is Mike Jarvis. It is Felipe Lopez. It is Omar Cooke. It is Jayson Williams. It is Ron Artest. It is Erick Barkley. It is not even qualifying for the league tounament held on their own floor. It is scandal and strip clubs. It is the St. John's Red Storm. I was born and raised in the city and have lived here every day of my life. I think you have to in order to really love and understand St. John's basketball. Mike Jarvis never got it. He has the biggest group of talented players to choose from in the city, but no, he wanted to do it his own way. He wanted to recruit nationally. He wanted to go up against Duke and Arizona and Kentucky. It was insane. Jarvis didn't go to the NYC gyms or camps. St. John's lived off of getting the local kid who wanted to stay home to play for the Storm. Maybe he refused to suck up to the local high school coaches. The thing that killed him though was the fact he saw St. John's as a stepping stone to a bigger and better job. What he failed to realize is that if you were a real New York guy, there was no better job than head coach of St. John's. I know the landscape. I love the landscape, and I love St. John's athletics. I grew up down the street from Tom Konchalski. They say Tom knows everything about every city baller age 15 and older. My dad was friends with Bob Oliva, coach of Christ the King. It was in my blood, I grew up with it. St. John's was the mecca. I tried to play ball, but I was too short and too slow and had an awkward jump shot. Instead, I learned everything I could and finally found a job as a JV coach, then eventually a head coach in some rinky dink town named Saugerties, outside of Albany. I proved myself there and following the dismissal of Jarvis, I was hired as the head coach of St. John's University. Only 35 years old, but they must have known I had what it takes. I had that desire to bring the Johnnies back to the top of the nation. It can be done. They say we should go to the MAAC. They say without D1 football we cannot compete. Reverand Harrington knowns better and more importantly, I know better. |
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10-05-2005, 11:08 PM
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#2 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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Author's notes: As the title says, this is a dynasty using the text sim FBCB. I finally feel I understand the nuances of the game and I am ready to take it to the public.
 The story is fictional, obviously, but the names and the backround of the program are as real and close to reality as I can manage. Somebody released a 2004-2005 roster set for the game, so we will go with that, be damned the real 2004 season. Who wanted to see the Tarheels win it anyway? The only problem with these rosters is that nobody on any team is on scholarship. It makes for all out recruiting hell the first few seasons. I'll deal with it since The Johhnies have a higher prestige than they should in this game. The difficulty in recruiting should level it out to make this a challenge, but not an excercise in futility. Hope you, the reader, enjoys. |
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10-06-2005, 06:53 PM
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#3 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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Top Priorities
The first thing I need to do is put together a coaching staff. Top priority is a guy who can help me regain control of recruiting the top players in the city. The school has given me a big budget for my staff, but I am going to spend it very careful, putting most of the resources into a recruiter. I land a young hot-shot recruiter, Garfield Steele, 25 years old. He is rated 72 in recruiting. I paud nearly $200,000 for him and he was only my second choice, but I hope his skills will grow with some experience out on the streets and in the high school gyms. My scout is 56 year old Von Morris. He has seen it all in his 30 plus years being involved in college basketball. He is rated 65 in scouting and should help me get a solid grip on what our players are capable of. Harvey Burnette is my right hand man on the bench and in practice. He will help me design our game plans. He is a defensive guru, rated 71, but still can help us on the offensive side, rated 41. He is 37 years old and I see us working together for a while and building this program up. Next up is putting together a schedule. The plan is to play a bunch of area schools and set up about 4 home and home series with some marqee names in other conferences. We get to work contacting lots of schools and put together the following schedule: Code:
UNLV, Georgia, Penn State and NC State are the four home and home series we set up. We also got a big time home game with Maryland in late February. The rest of the schedule our of conference is mostly weak division 1 schools. Our Big East schedule should provide plenty of challenge. |
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10-06-2005, 11:25 PM
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#4 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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Off Season Recruiting Period
We hit the state of New York hard, targeting the top 14 players from the state, but we received little positive reaction from them. Most of them fell off our list by early August, so we had to turn our attention elsewhere if we wanted to bring in a nice class with our 3 scholarships. While getting shut out of New York is going to hurt, I know we are building towards the future there. We do land a nice pair of players though, a center and a PG. Code:
Carter is putting up 20 ppg right now along with 7 rebounds. His defense is a concern, obviously, but we really like what he can bring to the floor on offense. Code:
We pick up a somewhat local recruit from neighboring Connecticut. We feel Marty can be a vwery versatile offensive weapon for us. His defense should be solid. He may end up playing the SG spot for us if he developes as expected. |
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10-06-2005, 11:33 PM
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#5 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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2004-2005 Preseason Poll
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Breaking down some of the top teams in the country this year. 1)North Carolina. They deserve the top preseason ranking. Felton, McCants, Williams, May...the list goes on and on. If they don't make the Final Four, at least, it will be a huge disappointment for the Tarheels. 2)Uconn. They will match up with anyone in the paint with Josh Boone and Charlie Villanueva. Super-frosh Rudy Gay may be the key to the Huskies season. 3)Maryland. Caner-Medley and John Gilchrist will have to carry this team offensively if they are going to live up to the preseason hype. 4)Iowa. A surprise in the top 5, but a great inside-outside combination of Greg Brunner and Adam Haluska can be dangerous. Throw in Jeff Horner and this team can make some noise. 5)Michigan State. Paul Davis is the key to this team having success this year. 6)Wake Forest. Chris Paul is the leader of this ACC team with high hopes of reaching the Final Four. We'll check out the top 5 in the future polls and break down the teams in more detail. |
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10-06-2005, 11:58 PM
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#6 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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Article from The Torch, St. John's Student Newspaper
The 2004-2005 Men's Basketball season is just around the corner and the team has a new look this year. New head coach, Dek, has taken over the reigns of our Red Storm. Last year was a disappointment, but the new coach has fans of the team talking abou the future of this program. Mike Jarvis did not leave the cupboard empty and Dek will have some good players to work with this year. Here is a look at the roster and our expected lineup. C Mohammed Diakite, Senior. Diakite is the only true center on the team. His skills are limited, but he is a hard worker in the paint. He provides the Storm with a legitimate shot blocker. He can help out on offense, but if he averages 10 points a game, the coaches will be pleasantly surprised. PF Lamont Hamilton, Sophomore. A local kid who is going to be counted on to carry this team most of the season. Training camp reports say that Lamont has really stepped up his game as he transitions to his second year. This is a kid who can play with the best PF's in the Big East. Coach Dek needs him to play focused each and every night. PF Ryan Williams, Junior. Another hometown kid, right from Queens. Expect a three man roation in the paint between Diakite, Hamilton and Williams. He is a little short at 6'5”, but he is going to have to step up in order for the Storm to stay competative in the paint. SF Rodney Epperson, Junior. Epperson is a key player on this year's team. He provides a pretty good threat on the wing. If he could learnt to step back and hit the three ball, he would be a big threat. SF Phil Missere, Senior. Phil plays more like a PF instead of a true wing player. Phil should see some time off the bench, but if he has to be counted on for a lot of minutes, the team could be in trouble. SG Leshard Duran, Senior. Duran might be used to give the starters a blow here and there, but for the most part he should be watching from the bench. PG Daryl Hill, Junior. Another kid from Queens, he is going to have to carry the scoring load for this team in addition to Hamilton. A point guard in name only, he looks to shoot first and pass second, if at all. PG Eugene Lawrence, Freshman. Eugene steps in as a freshman and will immediately be needed to help run this team from the point. He has the talent, but we don't know how developed it is yet. PG Devin Mayo, Sophomore. Devin can be matched up with the other teams best guard and be expected to limit his success, but he doesn't bring much else to the table to warrant much playing time. PG Nygel Roach, Junior. Nygel is a similar player to Mayo, both of which will see a few minutes, but should not be counted on for much. Probable starting lineup: C Mohammed Diakite PF Lamont Hamilton SF Rodney Epperson SG Daryll Hill PG Eugene Lawrence |
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10-07-2005, 12:27 AM
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#7 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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Coach's Report
Midnight madness is long gone. Long days of practice are over. My nerves are on edge as I prepare to take the court for the first time as the Head Coach of St. John's. Wow, it sounds strange just saying that. We scheduled 4 home games to open our season and I fully expect to go 4-0 to open things up. This will give our guys confidence and hopefully give our fans something to talk about. Binghampton, LIU, Colgate and Buffalo, those are our first 4 opponents. Lamont Hamilton, just a sophomore, but mature beyond his years was made our team captain. We have just 1 senior in the starting lineup and we are putting a true freshman into the starting point guard spot. There will be growing pains, but I am hoping this move will pay off in the next 4 years. Binghamton (0-0) at St. John's (0-0) We don't know anything about these guys yet, it is the first game for them as well. Defensively, they look decent on the perimeter, but Hamilton should really be able to do some damage in the paint. Their PG, Andre Heard might be their biggest threat, but I have confidence in Eugene to come through, despite this being his very first collegiate game. Code:
Well, I am 1-0 in my coaching career. Feels great, but I am happy for my guys. They won pretty easily today. As expected, Andre Heard gave us some problems, but we had too much fire power for Binghamton to handle. Four of our players scored in double figures, led by our fabulous freshman, Eugene Lawrence. He was named the game's MVP. Hamilton was very solid, scoring 15 and hauling in 11 rebounds. I'll take those numbers from him each and every game. |
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10-07-2005, 07:09 PM
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#8 |
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Mascot
Join Date: Sep 2005
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November 19, 2004
Long Island University (0-0) at St. John's Red Storm (1-0) I don't see much on their roster to concern myself with. They have a couple decent players for a Northeast Conference team, but if we play even an aveage game, we should beat them by at least 10. Code:
They hung somewhat close in the first half, but we just wore them down in the second half and ran away with the victory. Hill and Hamilton really shone through, scoring 26 points each. Lawrence struggled in his second game, only recording 2 points and 4 assists and going 0 for 6 from the floor. He did have 6 steals though, in a nice defensive effort. |
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10-07-2005, 07:20 PM
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#9 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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November 24, 2004
Colgate (0-3) at St. John's Red Storm (2-0) Colgate has given up 322 points in just 3 games. Their defense is non-existant. Their PG, Jon Simon is their biggest threat it seems, as he is averaging 22 points per game early on in the season. Lawrence should be able to handle him though and I expect big games out of Hill and Hamilton again. Code:
Well, 93 points is the lowest they allowed this year and Jon Simon did increase his scoring average by pouring in 25, but we had little problems, even though our 2 guards were in foul trouble for most of the game. Hamilton carried us with 22 points and Epperson helped out with 16 of his own. |
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10-07-2005, 10:49 PM
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#10 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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November 28, 2004
Buffalo (4-0) at St. John's (3-0) Buffalo has had a nice start to their season, but their record is a bit deceiving. Their opponents combined record is 1-8. Their offense is very balanced though, with 5 players averaging over 10 points a game and another 2 players over 9 points. Their perimeter defense looks pretty good, which means that Hamilton will be counted on to eat them up in the paint. Code:
Hamilton did not play his best game out there and was held to only 9 points through 33 minutes. Lawrence and Epperson stepped up against the good perimeter defense of Buffalo and combined for 48 of our points though. Hill added in 18 and we run our record to 4-0 before we hit the meat of our OOC schedule. |
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10-08-2005, 11:36 PM
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#11 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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It looks like our quick 4-0 start convinced one more recruit to sign on the dotted line. PG Reginald Glover is from Lancaster, NY. We are really loaded up on guards for the next couple of seasons. Although most of them are point guards by name, a couple, at least, are capable of playing the 2 guard spot. We will focus our recruiting towards the bigger guys next season.
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10-08-2005, 11:43 PM
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#12 |
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Mascot
Join Date: Sep 2005
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December 2, 2004
St. John's (4-0) at UNLV (3-1) The Rebels are the first big challenge of the season for us, and to make matters worse, it is on the road. UNLV has a great PF by the name of Odartey Blankson. He is averaging 23 points per game and is going to match up with Hamilton. This should be a huge battle and could determine the outcome of the game. I would have to give the edge here to the Senior from UNLV. Romel Beck is a very good SG for the Rebels as well and he is averaging 16.8 ppg. Their defense has some cracks in the armor, particularly on the perimeter. Code:
UNLV threw us for a loop and put Blankson in as the starting SF instead of his natural position of PF. He burned us for a game high 27 points. Hamilton was able to dominate on the inside with the weaker defender on him and he scored 24, but we fell short after playing to a tie game at the half. The difference was our freshman point guard scoring only 2 points and limited to 22 minutes with foul problems before he finally fouled out of the game. |
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10-09-2005, 12:09 AM
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#13 |
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Mascot
Join Date: Sep 2005
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December 6, 2004
St. John's (4-1) at #24 Georgia (3-0) It is tough to win on the road against a team from a power conference, but I think we have a shot today. If we are to pull out the win, it won't be from the outside, as their perimeter defense is top notch. Their weakness is their defense in the paint. That means Hamilton needs to have a huge game, and our guards cannot give the game away. Their PG, Levi Stukes is leading the team with a 21.0 ppg average. Their C, Dave Bliss, a true freshman is at 17.7 ppg and has 7.7 rpg to go along with that. Code:
We fell behind early, tried to make up some ground, but just let it get out of hand in the last 10 minutes. Hamilton was in foul trouble all night, and although he played 33 minutes, he was tentative on most possessions. Their starting guards torched us for a combined 47 points and that is the whole story. |
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10-09-2005, 12:15 AM
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#14 |
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Mascot
Join Date: Sep 2005
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December 10, 2004
#19 North Carolina State (5-0) at St. John's (4-2) NC State is similar to Georgia, but with better athletes, I think. Their defense in the paint is a weakness that I feel we can exploit, but we didn't get it done against Georgia. This one being at home should help us. Julius Hodge is their main man, and his is averaging a team high 18 points per game. PF Andrew Brackman is close behind at 17.2. They have 2 other players averaging around 11 a game. If Hamilton can play his A game, this could be the marquee OOC win we need. Code:
Now that is what I am talking about! Hamilton was the man out there today with 18 points and 12 big rebounds. Epperson and Hill used their experience and played under control. Lawrence put up too many shots that didn't go in but it didn't kill us tonight. We limited Hodge and shut down Brackman to take the big win over a very good ACC team. |
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10-09-2005, 02:26 PM
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#15 |
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Mascot
Join Date: Sep 2005
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December 14, 2004
Penn State (5-2) at. St. John's (5-2) Penn State is coming off a 4 point win against former #1, and currently #2 Maryland. PG Travis Parker, wjho we expect to play the SF position, is leading their team with 22.4 ppg, so trying to slow him down will be our top priority. Aaron Johnson will probably match up with Hamilton and he is a good defender. Hamilton is going to have to work for his points. In all honesty, this is not a great matchup for us, but with the game being played on our home court and a solid game from our guards, we can pull this one out. Code:
I have to say that this was our best single game performance to date. Johnson and Parker got their points, but Eugene Lawrence, our freshman was unstoppable tonight. He went 8 for 9 from the field, only missing on one of his 4 three point attempts. He led all scorers with 25 points, and our entire starting 5 cracked double digits in scoring. Lawrence also dished out 8 assists to go along with his 25 points. |
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10-09-2005, 02:32 PM
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#16 |
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Mascot
Join Date: Sep 2005
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December 18, 2004
St. John's (6-2) at Fairleigh Dickinson (5-3) Despite their record, this should be an easy win for us, even on the road. Their only legit player is PF Gordon Klaiber, but Hamilton should be able to have his way with him. They only beat 1 team with a winning record and that was Monmouth. Code:
This team stuck around and stuck around and finally tied the game with 19 seconds left to play. With the score knotted 90-90, we take possession. With time running down, we feed the ball to Epperson who drives baseline, hangs a floater as time expires and watches it go in for the 92-90 victory. A very tough game and I have to give FDU all the credit in the world, but I am proud of my guys for grinding this one out. |
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10-09-2005, 02:37 PM
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#17 |
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Mascot
Join Date: Sep 2005
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December 22, 2004
Hartford (5-5) at St. John's (7-2) Hartford runs a 4 guard set and has one good one in Aaron Cook, who is averaging 26.5 points per game. Still, he has played very bad competition and I have all the confidence in the world in our guards being able to hold him in check. Epperson, and Hamilton should be able to eat this team up. Code:
The game was over at the half, where we took a 52-21 lead into the lockerrooms. Hill and Epperson led our team with 20 and 19 points respectively. We totally outclassed and outmanned Hartford, which we should be doing year in and year out. |
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10-09-2005, 02:43 PM
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#18 |
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Mascot
Join Date: Sep 2005
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December 27, 2004
Niagara (7-1) at St. John's (8-2) This Niagara team can play. Their only loss comes to Maryland. They have a senior PF by the name of Juan Mendez who can flat out play with anyone in the country. He is averaging 29.4 points per game along with 11.5 rebounds. Hamilton vs. Mendez should be quite the matchup. They also have a couple of nice shooters from the outside, but overall their defense is pretty weak. Playing at home, we should be able to explot their defense and win this game. Code:
Mendez vs. Hamilton was everything we expected and more. While Mendez outscored Hamilton, he also went 12 for 21 while Hamilton was a much more productive 11 for 13. The difference, obviously, is that Niagara had nobody else who could put the ball int eh bucket. Epperson, Hill and Lawrence all scored in double figures and we were able to come back from a 2 point halftime defecit to wear them down and take the 26 point victory. |
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10-09-2005, 02:46 PM
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#19 |
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Mascot
Join Date: Sep 2005
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December 31, 2004
Albany (6-6) at St. John's (9-2) This is our final game beore our Big East schedule begins, and we should go to 10-2 after today. There is nobody on their team who can match up with any of our players. This should be a blowout. Code:
As expected, this was little more than a warm up game for our guys. All of our starters scored in double figures and we have good confidence going for the Big East teams who we will start facing starting next week. |
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10-09-2005, 08:21 PM
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#20 |
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Pro Rookie
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Macomb, MI
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Good read, you are making me want to start up a dynasty of my own using real players.
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10-09-2005, 11:46 PM
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#21 | |
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Mascot
Join Date: Sep 2005
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Quote:
Thanks for reading along. The real rosters that are out there have some issues, but they are decent enough to use. |
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10-09-2005, 11:58 PM
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#22 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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January 5, 2005
West Virginia (9-2) at St. John's (10-2) A couple of days before this game we were informed that our back PF, Ryan Williams was suspended for a month due to academic problems. This hurts the team as he is the only other PF or C on the team besides our starters. He was our bench for the post positions. Senior SF Phil Messere will have to fill the role as best he can and our starters will have to play lots of minutes. As for the Mountaineers, they have a real solid club, but they did not challenge themselves in the earyl season. The toughest team they played was Penn State. They alos have losses to Southern Utah and Kent State. They play solid defense though and Kevin Pittsnogle is a matchup nightmare. The guy is 7 feet tall and plays like a SG. He is their leading scorer at 19 points per game. D'or Fischer and Mike Gansey are both averaging over 10 per game as well. Code:
We controlled the game for the most part, and held Pittsnogle in check for the most part. He got his points, but we didn't let him go off on us, and the rest of their players were not capable of carrying the team. Hill was our leading scorer with 19 and you have to admire the work Hamilton does in the paint, as he recorded a double double. |
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10-11-2005, 12:13 AM
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#23 |
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Mascot
Join Date: Sep 2005
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January 8, 2005
St. John's (11-2) at #10 Syracuse (13-1) We travel up to the Carrier Dome for a big showdown to see who is the best basketball team in the state of New York. The Orange still have a few leftovers from their Title run a few years back, namely Hakim Warrick. Warrick is averaging 23.7 points per game. They also have Gerry McNamara as an outside threat. Add to the mix outstanding 'glue-guy' Josh Pace and we are in for a huge challenge on the road. Code:
Totally outclassed here today, and really not much of a surprise. There is still a huge gap between the top Big East teams and us. Hamilton showed he can play with the best of them and just about matched Hakim Warrick, but Syracuse just has way too many weapons. |
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10-11-2005, 12:19 AM
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#24 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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Current Top 25 Poll
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I think you have to be a little surprised at some of the teams in the top 10. 1)Maryland. They are taking on everyone and coming away winners this year. Already they have beaten BC, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Indiana, Illinois, Uconn and Wake Forest. Their defense is just stellar, they are ranked 16th in the nation. They are 2nd in blocks and 9th in steals. Offensively, they just don't really scare you though. Nik Caner-Medley is their leading scorer at 18.0 per game. Chris McCray is at 16.9 and John Gilchrist is at 13.4. 2)Notre Dame. They have not played the most challenging schedule, but they are getting the job done. They are ranked in the top 20 in total offense and defense. Sophomore SG Colin Falls is lighting it up with a 23.5 ppg average. Chris Quinn, Torin Francis and Chris Thomas all are averaging over 10 points per game. |
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10-12-2005, 12:17 AM
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#25 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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Continue to look at the top teams in the nation in early January.
3)Kentucky. Kentucky is always top 5, aren't they? This toried program is havinga nother great year. They are ranked #2 in the nation in scoring defense. Kelenna Azubuike leads the team in scoring with 23.5 points per game. Patrick Sparks, chuck Hayes and Rajon Rondo are all in double figures as well. 4)Syracuse. We know this team all to well. Hakim Warrick, Gerry McNamara and The Carrier Dome. They are going to have a fun season up there this year. 5)Cincinnati. They have the #7 scoring defense in the nation. They beat Wake Forest and Kentucky on back to back games, then went into Cameron and beat Duke on their home floor this year. 4 players are averaging double digits in scoring, led by Jason Maxiell with 16.4 and Eric Hicks at 15.9. 6)Arkansas. This is a little deceiving. The best teams they have played account for all their losses. I don't think we will see them up here in a month from now. They have 3 guys on academic suspension this month and will be playing 8 guys total for the next month. Ronnie Brewer is leading this team with a 20.8 scoring average. 7)Florida. They have back to back wins over Illinois and North Carolina as of late, which propels them into the top 10. Anthony Roberson and Matt Walsh are both averaging just over 19 points a game. Their defense is ranked 24th in the nation. 8)Wake Forest. They have a top 6 defense. They have a great center in Eric Williams, who is averaging 23.3 ppg and 8 rebounds. They have a stellar PG in Chris Paul. Junior Justin Gray can stroke it from the outside as well. Despite the #8 ranking, you have to have this team going to the Final Four this year. 9)North Carolina. Defensively, they struggle a bit, ranked only 57 in the nation. Offensively they are also not clicking yet. The team has loads of talent though. Sean May and Rashad McCants are both averaging over 20 per game. You know the cast by now: Williams, Williams, Felton and Scott along with McCants and May. You have to expect them to get it together and make a big run this year. 10)Michigan State. A solid defense and anice one-two punch with Alan Anderson and Paul Davis. Maurice Ager is also a lethal scorer. |
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10-12-2005, 12:20 AM
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#26 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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January 12, 2005
St. John's (11-3) at #2 Notre Dame (16-1) The Big East league offices sure didn't do us any favors, scheduling Syracuse and Notre Dame, back to back and both on the road. See above for a team breakdown on them. We have little chance at pulling the big time upset. Code:
This is embarrasing. Diakite and Hamilton put up goose-eggs. Colin Falls goes off for 34 points. End of story. |
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10-12-2005, 12:25 AM
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#27 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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January 15, 2005
St. John's (11-4) at Virginia Tech (8-4) Here are the games on the road that we have to win to start gaining some respect around this league. These guys plays a pretty strong perimeter defense and they play a 4 guard lineup. It is in the paint where we should gain an advantage. Look for Hamilton to come back strong from his oh-fer night. We need him tonight. Code:
Early in the second half, Tech took the lead and never looked back. We couldn't stop their PG, Jamon Gordon. Every time he touched the ball the refs blew the whistle. He had more free throw attempts than our entire team. The refs really gave Tech a nice home job. I wonder what the payoff was. Really, just look at the free throw differential. |
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10-12-2005, 11:48 PM
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#28 |
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Mascot
Join Date: Sep 2005
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January 19, 2005
St. John's (11-5) at #11 Miami (13-4) The schedule is not getting any easier yet. We are in real danger of slipping to 1-4 in conference play, unless we can somehow find a way to win here tonight. Miami seems to run out an interesting lineup of 3 power forwards and 2 point guards, but they obviously are getting the job done. Anthony King might be the best defender in the nation and he will be all over Hamilton like a blanket. Guillermo Diaz is leading the team with over 20 points per game and Robert Hite is at 19.7. Trying to limit those 2 guys are the key to this game for us. Code:
We hung in there after leading by 2 at the half, but couldn't close the deal. We did a nice job on Hite, but Diaz got his 22 points. Hamilton did a nice job scoring 19, but they were just a little too good on this night and it was on their home court. We may take them on our home court in a couple of weeks. |
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10-16-2005, 01:06 AM
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#29 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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January 26, 2005
St. John's (11-6) at Providence (12-5) The Friar's just might have the best offensive player in the Big East, in Ryan Gomes. He is averaging almost 26 points per game this year as well as 7.1 rebounds per game. Their perimeter defense is excellent and what Gomes lacks in defense in the post, center Randall Hanke makes up for it with his shot blocking and overall excellent defensive skills. Being on the road, this is going to be another tough one. In addition to Gomes, they have 3 other players averaging in double digits. Code:
I think my guys are losing faith in me as our losing streak hits 5 games now and we fall to 1-5 in the Big East. Gomes was unstoppable today. Outside of Hill, our offense was nowhere to be found. Hamilton fouled out after just 22 minutes and our team really revolves around him. Add to that the 9 turnovers by our freshman PG and it was a very long, frustrating night. |
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10-16-2005, 01:11 AM
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#30 |
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Mascot
Join Date: Sep 2005
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January 29, 2005
#6 Miami (16-4) at St. John's (11-7) We lost by only 8 to these guys on the road just a week or two ago. We get one more shot, at home this time, to knock off a top 10 team and we know we can play with them. We are in desperate need of a big win right now. Code:
This was a tough loss to swallow. Our two main guys played every bit as good as theirs, and with their lack of depth, we should have taken this one, but turnovers killed us in the end. We had 19 turnovers to their 12. Another key stat was blocked shots. They had 7 to our 2 and our guys were intimidated after getting so many shots sent back. Another lost opportunity tonight. This miserable month of January is over for us though. |
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10-16-2005, 01:27 AM
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#31 |
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Mascot
Join Date: Sep 2005
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February Top 25
It is late enough in the season to seperate the pretenders from the contenders. The first top 25 poll for February has been released. Code:
The Torch, St. John's Student Newspaper breaks down their picks for the Final Four at this stage in the season. Wake Forest – They lost their top scorer, Eric Williams for the month of February due to academic problems, but they should still get a good seed in the tourney and will have him back by then. With Justin Gray and Chris Paul in the backcourt, this team has 3 great weapons. Oh, did I mention they have the #4 ranked defense in the country? Kansas – Wayne Simien is at 25 points per game. Giddens, Miles and Langford are all above 12 points per game. They are a little thin after that, but that is one star studded lineup. Louisville – A top 10 defense, coupled with a top 20 offense makes for a formidble team. Larry O'Bannon and Fransico Garcia are both averaging 19 points per game. Maryland – All 5 starters are averaging in double figures. A balanced scoring attack like that is tough to defend. They also have a top 10 defense. OK, so what might stop these teams from reaching the Final Four? Each team has a weakness for sure. Maryland is turning the ball over 16 times per game. Their team defense is great, but they can be exploted in the paint. Louisville has a ton of trouble rebounding the ball. 264 teams grab more boards per game than they do. One of them is NOT Kansas, who rebounds even worst. They also turn the ball over 17 times per game. Very sloppy. Wake Forest is the worst rebounding team of all of these teams. They also get into foul trouble quite often. Dark Horse Teams. If these four teams don't make it, then who will? And dark horse, means outside the top 10, so.... Kentucky – Top rated defense in the country. Kelenna Azubuike. Cincinnati – Top 10 defense. Four players averaging double figures with another 2 players over 9 per game. Above average, natioanlly, in most important statistics. Syracuse – Championship experience, great inside-outside attack with Warrick and McNamara. 9-3 vs the top 50 teams in the nation. Seton Hall – They are averaging over 90 points per game in a tough conference. If they get hot at the right time, they can shoot themselves right into the final four. |
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10-16-2005, 01:28 AM
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#32 |
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Mascot
Join Date: Sep 2005
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Early February Big East Standings
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10-16-2005, 01:36 AM
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#33 |
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Mascot
Join Date: Sep 2005
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February 2, 2005
Virginia Tech (9-9) at St. John's (11-8) Their top scorer, Jamon Gordon, is out for academic reasons. Carlos Dixon and Zabian Dowdell, both listed as SG's are their top scorers who will play. Offensively this team is pretty bad. If we get out on the shooters we should be OK tonight. With 7 of our next 8 games being at home, this would be a perfect time to start a little winning streak. Code:
A close game at the half turned into a double digit win for us thanks to excellent guard play. We also shot 7 for 14 from long range and only committed 10 turnovers, compared to forcing 24 on them. Hill and Lawrence were hitting their shots and Hamilton put up a double double, with 14 rebounds! |
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