College Hoops 2k8: A New Challenge

[Eaglesfan27]

Florida Atlantic is a much more talented team than I expected them to be and they will be a tough matchup. I wouldn't be surprised if I end up getting blown out, particularly since we are at their place. Their PF Carlos Monroe is very good and should be a tough player to guard for us.

We hung tough in the 1st half, but had to gamble and trap some to do it. We are down 37-30. We are shooting 33% while they are shooting 41%.

Bathie and Payne each lead our team with 7.


We were just overmatched. We pressed, but they broke it. We tried man up defense and they were too good. We tried zones and they busted them. They win 80-70.

They shot 47% to our 45%. They outrebounded us 36-31. They had 12 fast break points to our 2.

Paul Graham, III was the player of the game. He had 17 points and 2 boards for them. Monroe, their star PF had 11 points, 7 boards, 6 assists, and 2 blocks.

Verner had 16 for us on 6 of 13 shooting. Payne had 14 points and 4 assists thanks to 7 of 8 from the line along with 3 of 6 from the floor. Bathie had 13 points on 5 of 15 shooting.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dec 1, 2008 -

The first day possible, Dante Newton signs with us. He is a 6'5 193 pound SF from McAllen, TX. He is rated 708th overall and 156th among SF's. I wanted him because he is a good outside shooterHe also is a decent defender and has decent mobilty. He has poor potential and probably won't get much better, but I expect him to be a good enough shooter to either start at SG/SF or at least give some big minutes off the bench.


Dec 6, 2008 -

We play at 2-6 NJIT. As expected, we win 77-62. Bathie led the team with 14 points and 7 boards. Verner had 13 and Lloyd added 10 points, 6 boards, and 2 blocks.


Dec 8 -

The early signing period is over. We almost got another SF, but we couldn't quite wrap him up. Still, we are his leading school.

We are now 4-4. Our next game is hosting 5-2 Middle Tennessee.

[vex]

No more?

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by vex

No more?

Just been sidetracked by NCAA Football. I'll still be updating this, although I'm trying to wait for the patch before I get into next season. However, with 5 days off (and only visiting family on one of them) this upcoming weekend, this will certainly be getting updated along with my NCAA Football dynasty.

[rjolley]

Has the patch been confirmed? I haven't seen it on Operation Sports yet.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by rjolley

Has the patch been confirmed? I haven't seen it on Operation Sports yet.

A developer on OS has said one is "coming soon" but that was about 2 weeks ago. I'm guessing it will be out within the next 2-4 weeks. The only bug they have specifically said it will fix is the Ivy League Glitch, but from past 2ksports patches, I would guess it will fix many things. I'm hopeful it will lead to the CPU reaching in more to attempt to steal.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola -

The developer on OS said today that the patch should be out in 10 days max as long as there are no unforseen troubles.

[rjolley]

Thanks EF27, just read the thread. Now to wait for the fix list....

[Eaglesfan27]

Middle Tennessee has quite a bit more talent, but we are at home and have better team unity so I think we have a shot. Their PG, Kevin Kanaskie, will be our toughest challenge to slow down.

Lloyd played well for the first few minutes, but with 14 minutes to go in the first half, he picks up his 2nd foul and I go to Friend off the bench.


We are down 36-29 at Kanaskie is hurting us from outside. They are shooting 54% as a team, but we are forcing turnovers and getting some rebounds to keep us in it.

Kanaskie has 11 points at the half. Bathie leads us with 8 but he is 2 of 7 from the floor.

They took control early in the 2nd half and never gave it back. 81-61 win. Kanaskie was the player of the game with 18 points, 5 assists, and 3 boards. He shot 6 of 11 from the floor, 4 of 7 behind the arc, and 2 of 3 from the line. Demetrius Green, their SG chipped in 16 points on 6 of 11 shooting and Josh Sain their SF had 14 points on 6 of 9 shooting. We did well inside, but those 3 were too much.

Bathie disappointed as he was 4 of 18 from the floor. He finished with 12 points, 2 boards, and 2 assists. Lloyd had 13 points and 9 boards including 5 offensive boards which he mostly put back in. He shot 4 of 6 from the floor and 5 of 10 from the line. Boyce added 11 points and 5 boards. Verner and Payne each had 6 points. Paige was our leading scorer off the bench with 7.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dec 13, 2008 -

Our simulated game is at 3-10 Utah Valley State. We win 71-52 as Verner led the way with 19 points, 5 boards, and 4 steals. He shot 7 of 16 and 5 of 9 from the arc. Bathie chipped in 16. Lloyd had 6 points, 7 boards, and 2 blocks.

We are now 5-5. Our next game is at 5-4 North Carolina State which is a much better team than we are. As a result, I'm going to sim that one, too. After this game, we will get Johnson back which will greatly aid our bench depth.

As expected, we get blown out 105-70. Ben McCauley led them with 23 points and 12 boards. Verner led us with 15 points and 2 boards. Dominic Friend broke his wrist during the game and will miss 4-6 weeks.

Our next game is hosting a 3-7 Princeton squad. We are slightly more talented, but we have better team unity and we are at home. I expect a comfortable win, particularly since we have Johnson available off the bench again. He'll play some 3, 4, and 5 for us this game.

[Eaglesfan27]

I expected a comfortable win, but I certainly didn't expect to jump to a 20-3 lead. Verner came out on fire and I fed him the ball. Meanwhile, Strittmater seems to be their only consistent outside shooter in the starting lineup.


That type of dominance didn't last, but the early burst kept us comfortably in the lead throughout the 1st half. 43-27 at the half. Johnson has 13 points and is the player of the half. He is dominating their 2nd string. He played mostly SF and PF during 10 minutes off the bench. He shot 4 of 5 and 4 of 4 from the line. Verner cooled off after the hot start and is now 3 of 9 from the floor. He has 9 points at the half and Bathie has 8.

An easy win, 84-54.

Verner was the player of the game. He finished with 20 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, and a steal. He shot 6 of 14, 6 of 10, and 2 of 2.

Joshua Johnson had 18 points, 3 boards, and 2 steals off the bench. He shot 6 of 11, 1 of 1, and 5 of 6. Bathie added 13, Boyce 11, and Lloyd 8. Lloyd also had 4 boards, 2 assists, and 3 steals for one of his more well rounded games. If we can keep our starting 5, Johnson, and Czepil healthy, I think this team can do some damage in conference play.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our next game is hosting a 6-8 CSU Bakersfield team that is slightly more talented than we our. We beat them 67-65. Bathie had 15 points. Joshua Johnson had 7 points and 13 boards off the bench. Boyce fouled out in 8 minutes which led to Johnson and Lloyd sharing a lot of the duties at C when Paige wasn't playing there. Paige finished with 7 ponts, 3 boards, and 2 blocks in 21 minutes.

Our next game is against 4-7 Stetson which I'll play later this week.

[Galaxy]

Sounds like your a year or two away.

Is the patch out? I hope to pick up the game after the new year (yes, I got the 360 along with two games, one Marvel game (which I'll trade in) and Forza Motorsports 2. Another blow to Missouri B-ball fan.

[vex]

Nope, no patch out yet.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by vex

Nope, no patch out yet.

Any word when it will come out?

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

Any word when it will come out?

On December 20th, the developers said it should be out within 10 days unless an unforseen problem comes up. I'm guessing this Thursday.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

Sounds like your a year or two away.

Is the patch out? I hope to pick up the game after the new year (yes, I got the 360 along with two games, one Marvel game (which I'll trade in) and Forza Motorsports 2. Another blow to Missouri B-ball fan.

I think next year we'll probably drop off with Bathie and Verner's shooting being gone from the team and Payne's speed and penetration missing. None of the 3 guys I'm recruiting are likely to be good shooters off the bat, I'm just hoping they can develop into good shooter. Now, in 2 years with a fully mature Lloyd and Johnson down low, I like our chances if we can surround them with some shooters.

[rjolley]

Speaking of developing players, how hard is it to do?

I know in NBA, I could draft a solid player, then train him to become the player I wanted/needed. If I needed a shooter, draft a decent shooter, then train him like crazy and he'd become a very good one by the end of the first season. After he got too expensive and I needed to cut salary, trade for a high draft pick, wash, rinse, repeat.

Have you imported a class into NBA yet? Did they fix the bug where the colleges didn't import correctly, or was that just on the XBox in 2K7?

[Eaglesfan27]

I haven't imported any classes yet, but from Ironhead's work which I respect, I'm sure that the import process still has flaws.

College Hoops has the hardest drill training system that I've seen. With the exception of the passing drill and the rebounding drill, I can't complete hardly any of them with my guys. I imagine it might be easier if I had a stud, but the higher a guy's rating is in a category, the less of an improvement he gets from completing a drill. For example, my 61 passer gets 3/10's of a passing point if he completes the passing drill but my 80 rated passer only gets 1/10 or something like that. The shooting drills are very hard to complete as you need to be nearly perfect to get them done in time and with a high enough score. It's gotten to the point where I don't even try them often. However, the new scheme for dictating what each guy practices seems to be effective. The guards that I have told to focus on shooting seem to be doing nicely at improving their outside shots.

[Radii]

You're at exactly the same point I am with the drills. I haven't messed with them at all this season. I took my best 3 point shooter(rated 80) and ran the 3 point shooting drill about 20 times in my first season and a half, and completed it maybe 3 times.

I haven't messed with the practice scheme though, I'll have to check that out next time I play. do you see any negatives from it when you tell a guy to neglect one area in favor of another?

[rjolley]

What import flaws have you heard about? Something minor like hairstyle and college attended (annoying, but still minor), or something major like ratings glitches?

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Radii

You're at exactly the same point I am with the drills. I haven't messed with them at all this season. I took my best 3 point shooter(rated 80) and ran the 3 point shooting drill about 20 times in my first season and a half, and completed it maybe 3 times.

I haven't messed with the practice scheme though, I'll have to check that out next time I play. do you see any negatives from it when you tell a guy to neglect one area in favor of another?

I haven't looked at it in depth, but it appears that other areas improve more slowly if you focus on one area, however, it isn't drastic. With low quality guys, which is what I mostly have, they'll gain about 2-3 points in the areas I tell them to focus on while the guys that I have stick to a general plan will gain about a point in all areas. Maybe, I'll notice a more drastic difference when I get higher quality players.

Originally Posted by rjolley

What import flaws have you heard about? Something minor like hairstyle and college attended (annoying, but still minor), or something major like ratings glitches?

If I recall correctly, players were importing with low ratings (like the created players in NBA 2k8) with things such as quickness and speed being too low for guards, dunking too low for some players, etc. Also, in latter years, any created players in College Hoops who went into an NBA 2k8 career wouldn't have any shooting tendencies. This wasn't a problem with the original athletes that ship with the game. I'm hoping the patch might address some of these things, but I'm not counting on it.

[vex]

The only drills that I can complete are the attack basket, passing,stealing, and rebounding. I would have no problem completing the shooting drills if it wasn't for the stupid time limit. I just don't see why there should be a time limit.

[Eaglesfan27]

Stetson is slightly less talented than we our, but they have better team unity. Being at home, I expect us to pull out a win here. We have to stop their SG Kris thomas who is a talented senior.

It was a sedate first half until about 9 minutes left when they started pressing and running. As a result, we both jacked up our offensive tempo and it became a high scoring half. Verner and Czepil took over down the stretch of the 1st half and pushed us to a 45-41 lead.

Czepil is the player of the half. He has 13 points on 4 of 4 shooting, 3 of 3 behind the arc, and 2 of 2 from the line. Verner and Bathie each have 8.


A crazy ending to this game. We were up 80-76 with 55 seconds to go, but a careless pass led to a turnover and a quick 3 with 42 seconds left.

We worked the ball around the court until 2 seconds left on our next possession, but Bathie missed a 3. That gave them the ball with 7 seconds and they raced down the court, threw a cross court pass into the right corner and their star SG drilled the 3 for the win as the buzzer expired. 82-80 loss

Thomas hit the game winner and was the player of the game. He finished with 25 points as he was only 3 of 9 from the arc but 10 of 19 overall. He was aided by PG Brandon Williams who had 16 points, 5 assists, and 2 steals.

We wasted a masterful performance by Czepil off the bench who had 27 points, 3 boards, and 2 assists on 9 of 12 shooting including 7 of 8 behind the arc in just 22 minutes.

Verner had 15, Bathie 10, and Johnson 7 to round out our top scorers.

That loss drops us to 7-7.

[Eaglesfan27]

The top 10 in the media poll heading into the 2009:

1. Duke 13-1
2. Providence 13-0
3. Texas 12-1
4. Michigan State 13-2
5. UNC 9-2
6. Louisville 13-1
7. UCLA 11-2
8. Auburn 13-1
9. Memphis 7-2
10. Stanford 12-2




Jan 8, 2009 -

We open our Conference play with a game at home against 3-6 McNeese State. We blow them out 98-67. Verner had 20 points, Boyce had 19, Johnson had 15, and Lloyd added 8 points and 10 boards.

Our next game is at 4-6 Northwestern State. I'll play that later tonight or tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

Northwestern State is slightly more talented than we are, but they have horrible team chemistry. Their freshman center, Darren Admundson is a 6'10 290 pound beast who is talented and should be dominant in this conference including against us.

A hard fought 1st half has us down 35-29. They have held us to 24% shooting while shooting 40%. We are getting to the FT line a large amount which is keeping us in it. Lloyd is our leading scorer with 7 points including 3 of 3 from the line. Bathie and Verner each have 5. Their SF Chris Clark has 13 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, and a steal. We got Admundson into foul trouble early and he only played 5 minutes in the first half during which he had 2 points and 2 boards.

It became very ugly in the 2nd half, as we stopped drawing fouls and they started getting clean blocks. They cruised to a 78-57 win.

We shot 27% while they shot 43%. C.J. Clark led them with 17 points, 8 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals.

Verner was our leading scorer with 14 points. Lloyd had 9 points, 8 boards, and 2 blocks.


I've heard people raving about this slider set on OS and despite getting my butt handed to me on Starter, I'm going to give Heelfans's sliders a shot with a few slight modifications that I believe will allow them to work well with full 20 minute halves like I like. I'm also continuing my downward tweak to ball handling and blocking which he leaves at default.

[Eaglesfan27]

Jan 15, 2009 -

We win at Texas State 90-76 but suffer a costly injury as Mitch Boyce will miss 4-6 weeks with a broken wrist. His shooting touch from the outside was a big part of our offense, but we'll go to a more traditional look with Paige moving into the starting lineup.

Verner was our leading scorer with 17 points while Czepil had 15.

Our next game s at Central Arkansas. They are 7-6. They are about equal in talent with a worse offense than us but a better defense. Their SF Mitch Rueter is one of their best players but he isn't as good as most of the top players we've faced lately.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

I've heard people raving about this slider set on OS and despite getting my butt handed to me on Starter, I'm going to give Heelfans's sliders a shot with a few slight modifications that I believe will allow them to work well with full 20 minute halves like I like. I'm also continuing my downward tweak to ball handling and blocking which he leaves at default.

I'd be curious to see what else you've modified in addition to his sliders. I saw your post on operationsports, I've been ranting a bit on team defense in my dynasty, it sounds like this might be a good change to make.

[Eaglesfan27]

Well I've enjoyed the first half of this game much more than I have lately. We actually played defense with these sliders. Up 34-18 at the half as Bathie and Verner have both been on fire. Also with these sliders, the CPU is actually getting some steals, although it is mostly (entirely?) from playing the passing lanes. Still, definitely more enjoyable. Also, they are working it into their center more. The last team didn't use their star center enough. Their center is their leading scorer with 8 points and 5 boards.

Bathie leads us with 11 points on 4 of 7 shooting. Verner has 8 points on 4 of 6 shooting. We've held them to 30% shooting while shooting just under 50% ourselves.

They play better in the 2nd half as their defense toughens up, but Bathie kept drilling shots and led us to the 56-44 victory.

Their center, who is their 2nd best player, had 10 points and 10 boards to lead their team.

Bathie was the player of the game. He finished with 26 points, 4 boards, and 3 assists. He shot 10 of 19 including 6 of 14 behind the arc.

Verner and Czepil each had 12. Lloyd finished with 2 points, 8 boards, and a block.

That win raised our record to 10-8. We are currently listd as 1st in the Southland, although we are 2nd in conference record.

1. Nicholls St. 3-1/10-8
2. Northwestern State 3-0/6-6
3. Texas State 2-2/7-5
4. TXAM-CC 2-0/7-8
5. SE Louisiana 2-1/5-6
6. Central Arkansas 2-2/7-7
7. Sam Houston State 2-1/4-8
8. UT-Arlington 1-3/2-12
9. McNeese State 1-2/4-8
10. Lamar 1-1/5-6
11. Stephen F. Austin 0-4/3-10
12. UTSA 0-2/2-10

Jan 19, 2009 -

Dominic Friend is back from his injury and adds some needed depth with Boyce out.


We beat a weaker Stephen F. Austin team 93-61. Johnson led the way with 20 points and 10 boards off the bench. Verner and Czepil each added 15 points. Payne had 11 points and 9 assists.


Our next game is at UT-Arlington who have dropped to 3-13. I'll play that later tonight if the Colts ends up being non-competitive.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Radii

I'd be curious to see what else you've modified in addition to his sliders. I saw your post on operationsports, I've been ranting a bit on team defense in my dynasty, it sounds like this might be a good change to make.

Only one game but here is what I used and really enjoyed. It only has a few mods from his:

Skill: All-Conference
Half Length: 20 (he has it at 16)
Simmed: 20
Game speed put at 50 as opposed to his which had it at 60 (to allow 20 minute halves not to give highly inflated stats)

Player Speed dropped to 40 (he has it at 50) to keep roughly the ratio he has. This allows for more fast breaks I think as the ball moves faster in relation to the players than default settings. It also leads to lower scores since players can't race down the court as fast.

He has fouls lower, but I think there aren't enough even with what I have now:

Charging 100
Blocking: 70
Reaching: 60
Shooting: 60
Loose Ball: 100

Everything else is at default except as noted below:

Human Defensive Awareness at 70. This is the key to his sliders I think. It's amazing how much better my guys play defense now. Of course, the CPU shooting sliders that he has helps too.

Human Dunk at 55.

I turned ball handling down to 35 for both sides in my set and I like that. It leads to a few more turnovers even if they are sometimes due to the stupid fall down animation.

I upped rebounding to 55 for the human, both offensive and defensive, as I think the CPU gives a bit of a boost at AC level.

I lowered block to 40 for both sides as default has too many blocks.

Human Steal at 55 as in his.

I upped Human Speed to 51 and dropped CPU speed to 49 as I've read and noticed that on AC it is harder to get fast breaks. That helps compensate for the slight delay I have when I steal the ball.

I lowered Team Unity to 50 as he does for both sides.

Everything he did is the same on this screen:

Steal Success, Help Defense, and Help Recovery to 55 for both sides.

From my previous sliders, I kept Injury Frequency and Effects at 60 for both sides. Injuries are still rare and usually not serious (many more when I sim games.)

I used his shooting sliders exactly:

Inside Success, Mid Range, and 3 pointer lowered to 45 for the CPU. Mid Range Tendency at 55 for the CPU, 3 point tendency at 45 for the CPU. Everything at default for the human.

I've only played 1 game, but it felt more fun and a bit easier than my previous sliders as my guys actually defended. Lots of guys over there have praised them, so I'm going to stick with this slightly modded version of them for the rest of this season unless the patch makes it necessary to modify them.

[Eaglesfan27]

Time to get the UT-Arlington game in. Anthony Vereen, their SR PF, will be a tough machup for Lloyd. Their outside shooters don't worry me too much.

They play tough defense in the first half and we end up playing very even. We are both shooting 36% after the first half. We are up 28-27. Verner is the player of the half with 10 points. He is shooting 4 of 7 and 1 of 3 behind the arc.

With 4:03 to go, Bathie drills an open 3 to tie it at 59 in an exciting 2nd half. After we get a stop, Bathie hits another 3 on our next possession! Their SG misses a shot at the buzzer and we get on the break which Lloyd finishes with a monstrous dunk! 64-59! We get another stop as their SG misses a 3 and Czepil hits a 18 footer to make it a 7 point lead. He is now 2 of 10 for the game, but a big shot there. We exchange missed shots and they have to start intentionally fouling with 45 seconds left. We get it to Verner for the FT's. He misses the FT but gets a steal after they rebound it. They make a basket after we miss the Ft to make it a 5 point game. Payne hits both FT's to put it away.

Final score: 70-61, we win.

Bthie won player of the game with 20 points, 1 board, and 1 steal. He shot 7 of 17 and 6 of 12 behind the arc.

We held them to 39% shooting while shooting 45% ourselves. We were 10 of 25 behind the arc. They were 4 of 18. We each had 34 boards. We each had 6 turnovers. They had 8 fast break points to our 4.

Verner was our 2nd leading scorer with 18 points on 7 of 14 shooting, 3 of 6 behind the arc. He also had 2 boards and an assist. Payne had 3 points and 3 assists. Lloyd finished with 10 points, 9 boards, and 2 blocks. Paige had 8 points, 7 boards, 4 assists, and a block. Johnson had 6 points and 8 boards off the bench. Czepil had 5 points, 4 boards, and 2 assists.



Jan 31 -

We host Sam Houston State and lose a heartbreaker 64-63. Verner had 15 points, 5 boards, 3 assista, and 4 steals. He shot 4 of 10 including 4 of 9 behind the arc. Lloyd and Paige each had 10 points. Czepil had 14 points but shot 3 of 15.

Our next game is hosting Lamar who are now 8-7.

[Eaglesfan27]

Lamar has a slightly better offense and slightly better defense, but their team unity is much worse and we are at home. Lawrence Nwevo, their senior PF, is a tough player who should be a good matchup for Lloyd. They also have good shooting guards.

They played a very high temp first half and it didn't work well early as we were up by 16 at one point, but our best 7 tired late in the half and they caught up a bit. 46-37, we lead at the half.

Bathie is the player of the half with 17 points, 2 boards, and 1 assist. He is 7 of 10 from the floor and 3 of 4 behind the arc. Verner and Czepil each have 8 points scored.

They tied it up at 64 with 8 minutes to go, but then our rested starters came back in and led us on a 13-0 run for the next 5 minutes. We used that momentum from the crowd to cruise to an easy victory in the last 3 minutes. 82-71 win.


Bathie was the player of the game with 22 points, 4 boards, and 4 assists. He shot 9 of 17, 3 of 6 from the arc, and 1 of 2.

Czepil added 21 points off the bench on 8 of 12 shooting including 5 of 9 behind the arc. Verner chipped in 15 points, 6 assists, 3 boards, and 2 steals as he shot 6 of 7. Payne had 5 points and 5 assists.

We shot 56% as a team today and held them to 39%.


Feb 7, 2009 -

We lose a game to 3-14 (now 4-14) UTSA 73-70 . Bathie had 21 points on 7 of 13 shooting, 6 of 10 behind the arc. However, Verner was 3 of 15 and only had 8 points. Paige fouled out in just 14 minutes.

Our next game is on the 12th against TXAM-CC.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Human Defensive Awareness at 70. This is the key to his sliders I think. It's amazing how much better my guys play defense now. Of course, the CPU shooting sliders that he has helps too.

Does this mean that CPU Defensive awareness is at 50 at this level? I had it at 60 for both sides on starter difficulty.

[Eaglesfan27]

Yes, he kept it at 50. I've won my first few games but we have a lot of good shooters. If I start beating teams that I don't think we should, I might bump the CPU Defensive Awareness to 60.

[Galaxy]

So, what exactly is the change in your settings/sliders from the first post?

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

So, what exactly is the change in your settings/sliders from the first post?

Most of them are different. I'll post a clean set of what I'm using the next time I play (possibly this weekend - depending upon what my wife has planned for my birthday.)

[Eaglesfan27]

Ok, I tweaked the OS sliders just slightly more (by raising CPU shooting 1 and decreasing human shooting 1 as well raising CPU Defensive Awareness by 5) to reduce the human advantage as I was winning some games a bit too comfortably. Here is the most recent set:

All-Conference Difficulty
Simulation
Game Speed: 50
Player Speed: 40
FT Difficulty: 55
Real Player FT%: On


Fouls:

Charging at 100
Blocking at 70
Reaching at 60
Shooting at 60
Loose Ball at 100


Human/CPU

Inside Shooting: 47/45
Mid Range Shooting: 49/46
3 point range shooting: 49/46

Midrange Tendency: 50/55
3 point tendency: 50/45

All others on that screen at default.

Attributes:

Offensive Awareness: 50/50
Def Awareness: 70/55
Dunk: 55/50
Ball Handling: 35/35
Offensive Rebounding: 45/45
Defensive Rebounding: 50/50
Block: 40/40
Steal: 50/50
Speed: 51/49

Gameplay:

Steal Success, Help Defense, and Help Recovery at 55 for both. All else default.

Fitness:

Injury Frequency and Injury Effects at 60 for both. All else at default.


Now, onto TXAM-CC which is a more talented team but we are home and they have struggled on the road.

[Eaglesfan27]

Lloyd gets into early foul trouble with 2 in the first 3 minutes. We put Johnson in at PF.

Balanced offense from us as Lloyd came back strong in the last 10 minutes with 10 points on 5 of 5 shooting while our outside shooters are shooting reasonably well. Up 35-24 at the half.

We've held them to 37% shooting while shooting 40% ourselves and we are outrebounding them 19-12.

We win 63-54 as Verner and Bathie hit big shots down the stretch.

Verner ends up winning player of the game with 17 points, 5 boards, and a steal. He shot 5 of 10 including 5 of 8 from the arc. He was 2 of 2 from the line.

Bathie had 13 points, Lloyd finished with 15 points, 10 boards, and 1 block. Czepil added 8 off the bench.

We each shot 37%.

[Eaglesfan27]

Feb 14, 2009 -

We win our simualted game 82-76 aainst a 8-9 SE Louisina Squad. However, Chris Paige breaks his wrist and we are now down our starting and backup center. Johnson is an explosive player but is undersized to play Center. We'll move Lloyd to center and Johnson will go into the starting lineup as a small PF. However, we now are hurting for big man depth. Fortunately, Boyce will be back in 5 days and our next game isn't for a week. So, forget that. Boyce will start at C, Lloyd at PF and Johnson will provide high energy off the bench.

In the game against SE Louisiana, Verner led the way with 15 points and 4 steals. Lloyd had 9 points, 11 boards, and 5 blocks!

We are now 15-10. Our next game is at 6-14 Stephen F. Austin. I'll play that later tonight or tomorrow. Once the patch is out, I'm planning on playing much more. I just don't want to finish this season until the patch is out.

[Eaglesfan27]

Stephen F. Austin matches up closely talent wise, but they don't have the outside shooters that we do. Jason Rogers, their SG, is their only dangerous outside shooter.

We started off with a 11-0 run as we held them scoreless for the first 7 minutes, but then they started trapping and pressing and it got them right back into the game as we turned it over several times. 30-26, we lead at the half. Verner leads our team with 9 points.

Lloyd with a huge second half as he was on fire down low and started drawing double teams and kicking it out for my perimeter guys. Thanks to their shooting and his play, we cruise to a relatively easy victory. 71-62 win.

Verner was the player of the game with 20 points, 4 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 8 of 11, 3 of 3, and 1 of 1. He also held their star SG to just 11 points on 4 of 10 shooting, 3 of 6 behind the arc.

Lloyd had 14 points, 11 boads, 4 assists, and a block. He shot 7 of 10 (despite me lowering our inside shooting slider to 45.) Bathie chipped in 13 points and 7 boards. Johnson had 6 points and 13 boards off the bench while Boyce had 10 points and 5 boards in his first start back from his injury.



Feb 26, 2009 -

We lose our simulated game at UT-Arlington 74-65 as their star PF Anthony Vereen put on a clinic against Lloyd. He had 20 points,10 boards, and 3 blocks as he shot 8 of 17. Lloyd finished with 9 points, 6 boars, 3 assists, and a block. Verner led our tema with 16 points on 6 of 10 shooting, but everyone else shot poorly including Bathie who was 1 of 13.

We are now 16-11. Our next game is at 10-13 Sam Houston State on the 28th. They are a team with poor shooting that we should be able to beat.

[Eaglesfan27]

I really wanted to wait for the patch, but I'm jonesing to play after watching college basketball all day yesterday. So, now we face Sam Houston State. They are slightly more talented than we are, but their team unity is worse. However, they are dangerous at their arena. Lebron Ruffin is a talented SF that we will have to guard carefully.

In my perpetual tweaking of sliders, I bumped defensive awareness down a bit for both sides as we were actually defending too well since we are a very poor defensive team ratings wise.


A high tempo first half has us down 42-41. We are shooting 60% while they are shooting 48%. Verner is leading the way for us with 12 points. Ruffin has 13 for them.

Verner with a 3 with 1:03 left to cut it to 5. Then, after forcing a quick turnover, Verner with a strong drive into the lane hits the shot and the foul! He hits the foul to pull us within 2 with 44 seconds to go!

Their center hits a little 4 foot turnaround jumper in the lane to make it a 4 point lead with 24 seconds to go. Verner with a bad play in which he steps on the line to turn it over. We intentionally foul, but they hit their FT's. Verner misses a 3 and the game is over, but we foul anyway.

74-68 loss.


Ruffin wins player of the game with 11 points, 8 boards, an 2 assists. He shot 4 of 11, 2 of 6, an 1 of 2. They outrebounded us 35-29 which was the difference in this game. We shot 45% to their 43%.

Verner led our team with 18 points on 5 of 11 shooting, 1 of 4 from the arc, 7 of 7 from the line. Bathie had 16 points on 5 of 10 shooting, 1 of 6 from the arc, 5 of 6 from the line. Lloyd had 6 points and 7 boards. Czepil had 11 points off the bench.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm going to play the next game rather than sim it as I'm anxious to see how it plays post-patch. Today, we play at Lamar, a team that is slightly more talented. They are small at the guard positions though and I'm hoping we can take advantage.

A strong first half in which our guards shot very well while providing solid defense. Bathie and Verner are leading the way as we are shooting 60% as a team. We are up 41-29 at the half.

On a side note, it is great to see the CPU players reaching in and trying to steal the ball. It makes the game more realistic playing.

We cruised through the 2nd half as Bathie was torrid in this game. Verner was very good as well. We played subs most of the last 6 minutes as it was well within hand. 85-70 win.

Bathie was the player of the game with 32 points on 13 of 19 shooting including 6 of 8 behind the arc.

We shot 60% for the game while holding them to 45%. We had 22 assists to their 20. We each had 4 steals (I'll probably turn the steal success slider up now that the CPU will attempt them. Before it felt like cheating as only I would attempt them.)

Verner added 16 points on 6 of 10 shooting. Boyce had 9 points an 11 boards. Payne had 6 points and 7 assists as his driving into the lane was much more effective post patch.


Our next game is the last game of the regular season before the conference tourney. That is against 8-17 UTSA.

[Eaglesfan27]

Against UTSA, well be facing a strong PF in Antoine Dade who is 6'8 241 and is a crafty senior which should be a good matchup for Lloyd. Everywhere else, we outmatch them.

We were playing very well, but a very cold last 5 minutes of the half allows them to go on a 14-2 run that leads to being down 47-35 at the end of the half. Boyce is in foul trouble with 3 at the half.

Our cold streak continued early in the 2nd half and we ended up getting into a hole we could never climb out of. Very disappointing as we enter into the conference tourney. 86-69 loss. They had 11 steals to our 3 this game which was a big factor as well as the shooting.

Bathie was our only consistent scorer. He had 26 points on 8 of 15 shooting, 3 of 6 from the arc, 7 of 9 from the line. Verner only had 8 points. Lloyd ha 7 points and 6 boars but he shot 2 of 9.

We end the regular season at 17-13.

We face TXAM-CC in the 1st rond of the Conference Tourney. We beat them 63-54 back on Feb 12th.

[Eaglesfan27]

A tense first 10 minutes with Justin Payne getting into early foul trouble. Bakari Lewis might be our starter next year, and he is going to get the chance to step up big here tonight.

A hard fought first half with both team having guys in foul trouble. We are down 31-28.

Bathie is leading our team with 9 points on 3 of 10 shooting. Verner has 7 points and 3 assists. He is shooting 2 of 4.


They start off the half with a 8-0 run, but after a timeout we respond with a 11-0 run led by Verner and Bathie. During the run, Payne got his 4th foul but Bakari Lewis is playing well.

Unfortunately, they get another mini-run and are up 56-53 with 10 minutes to go as Bathie has to leave the game due to fatigue. He was our main scorer during that run, so hopefully we can keep up.

With 6 minutes to go, we are down 65-62. Czepil misses a basket and Verner misses one while they get a slam and a basket to make it 69-62. Czepil finally draws a foul but misses the first FT. He hits the 2nd, but we have to get Bathie back in. Verner is getting tired so he might not make it through the stretch run..

Bathie misses a 3 and then we have an errant pass on a fast break slam... we are throwing this game away

Bathie misses another good looking 3 and they get a good drive for a layup to make it a 10 point lead with 2:40 to go...

I use another timeout to calm the guys down, but it is doing no good. The team is unnerved and we are falling apart. We can't hit a shot for anything. This talented team is going to fail to go the dance. With 1:27 Bathie finally hits a 3, but it is too late. We are still down by 11.

We lose 79-69

Bathie finished with 30 points on 11 of 26 sooting including 8 of 19 from the arc. Verner had 13 points and 6 assists. He shot 4 of 14 including 3 of 6 from the arc.

[Eaglesfan27]

The 4 #1 seeds are UCLA, Duke, Providence, and Texas. TXAM-CC ended up winning our conference. At least, I lost to the eventual champs I guess.

The Final 4 are:

#3 UConn which beat UCLA 67-57. #2 Washington which beat #5 UNLV 79-75. #3 Villanova which beat #5 Oklahoma State 73-71. Finally, #3 Michigan State which beat #8 Georgia 83-79.

Washington beats Georgia 85-72 to win the National Championship Game.



Ryan Bathie won Southland First Team All-Conference with an average of 14.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg, and 1.5 apg. Verner was 2nd team all conference with an average of 14.6 ppg and 3.4 rpg. Lloyd was on the Freshman All-Conference Team with an average of 7.5 ppg and 7.2 rpg.

[Eaglesfan27]

Off Season:

Justin Payne, Gil Verner, an Ryan Bathie all graduated. Reggie Shanks a junior guard who I planned on starting this year quit the team due to lack of PT.

My job security is igh right now as we finished the year 17-14 and my career record here is 33-29.

Belmont offers me their head coaching job, but that seems like a lateral move at this point although they do have a very talented team for a small conference. Still, I pass. I'll leave, but only when it is to go to a bigger conference. I get offered multiple other jobs at small schools and pass them all up including Chattanooga and Boston University.


Now, it's time to recruit. The good news is that with Shanks leaving, I have an extra scholarship. I want to try to get a difference maker at C as far as size goes or a truly big SF to play some shut down defense.

[Eaglesfan27]

The first day recruits can sign, we get our second recruit to sign.

Van Plavich signs. He is a 6'5 211 pound SF from New Orleans, LA. He is a 2 star SF. He is a decent shooter who has good athleticism according to our scouts. Post patch this could be better than I expected as driving is much more viable. Still, he is nothing to write home about and will hopefully only be a starter for a year or so until I can get a better player in to replace him as a starter. Next year, we'll be setting our aim higher. He is ranked 699th overall and 150th among SF's in the nation.

A reminder of the early recruit we got to sign:

Dante Newton is a 6'5 193 pound SF from McAllen, TX. He is ranked 708th overall and 156th among SF's. He is a 2 star player. Our staff believes he is a good shooter particularly from midrange.


After a week of recruiting, we get the other player we've been working on all year. PG Ted Swoger is ranked 616th overall and 142nd among PG's. He is a 2 star player from Houston, TX. He is a decent shooter with good ball handling skills and decent defensive skills according to our staff.

As I expected, the talented C from Austin TX that I was pursuing chose to sign with LSU. So, I decide to go after a C with some size with that extra scholarship rather than focusing on the most talented player. Damarcus Weatherspoon is a 7'0 250 pound C from Overland Park, KS who is a 1 star Center who is unranked. Only WIU is pursuing him and they haven't offered a scholarship.


In the 2nd to last week of recruiting, we get Damarcus to sign with us.
Our staff thinks he is slow, can't shoot, doesn't play defense well, but he can rebound, block the ball decently, and he can dunk it decently.

[Eaglesfan27]

A look at the roster in the new year:

SO PF Michael Lloyd - Rated 68 overall and our undisputed star of the team with the graduation of our outside shooters. We are going to have to be a grind it out team and Lloyd will be a big part of that. He is now 6'11 236 pounds and we'll pound it inside to him. He has the ability to be a 16-10 guy this year at least.

JR PF Joshua Johnson - Rated 65 overall. I'm tempted to play him as an athletic big SF. He has the quickness to pull it off despite being listed as a PF. However, that would really weaken our bench as he is explosive as a quick PF that most PF's can't guard. He'll likely stay as our main guy off the bench playing both PF and SF, but if our other guys fail to step up, he'll slide into the starting lineup.


SR SG Michael Czepil - Rated 64 overall. He isn't the shooter that either Bathie or Verner was, however, he is a streaky player and when hot he can be dangerous. He is also a better passer than Bathie which helps, but doesn't have either of their size at just 6'2 189. Still, he'll get a chance to be our starting SG and will likely do so for the year.

JR PG Bakari Lewis - Rated 61 overall. He will be the starting PG by default. The true freshman, Swoger isn't ready and may never be ready to start. Bakari is the best option on te team but he isn't anything special.

RS SO SG Anatoly Bose - Rated 60 overall. He might get a chance to be the starting SF due to his long frame. He is 6'7 206 pounds. He doesn't have very good athleticism at SG but would have good athleticism at SF. He isn't a very good shooter and would be more of a slasher.

JR SG Ben Martin - Rated 60 overall. 6'4 177 and he doesn't do anything particularly well. Ok shooter.

FR SF Dante Newton - Rated 58 overall. As expected, the freshman SF is a good mid range shooter. He doesnt do much else well, but he can drill the mid range jumper. In fact, he might be the best on the team at it. Therefore, I'm considering making him the starter at SF. It's between him and Bose. One factor working against him is that our staff doesn't believe he is going to blossom much more..

RS SR C Mitch Boyce - The center is rated 57 now and has gotten bigger and is now 6'10 276. He is still a very good mid range shooter and with the departure of Verner and Bathie, he'll become a primary scoring option. I'm expecting him to put up at least 14 points a night. He'll definitely start at C this year.

RS SR PF Dominic Friend - The PF is rated 57 now and is 6'7 265. He is a good mid range shooter and I wish I had used him more last year. With the lack of stars this year, he'll get more time this year.

Van Plavich - Rated 54 overall. I'll redshirt him this year to see if he can develop some.

SR C Chris Paige - Rated 54 overall. He was hurt during the tourney and I think we missed him. 6'9 220 and he is another decent inside presence for us.

FR PG Ted Swoger - 6'0 176 pounds. Rated 54 overall. He'll be our backup PG this year. He is an ok passer and is about what I expected, except maybe not as good of a shooter as I thought he would be.


FR C Damarcus Weatherspoon - Now 7'1 260 pounds! He is rated 48 overall. We'll redshirt him this year since we have Paige, Boyce, and Friend to man the inside. I might as well give him some time to develop and see if he can become a useful player next year.

[Eaglesfan27]

The season is underway and we are aggressively pursuing 4 3-star players. If we get 2 of them, it should be the start of a successful recruiting class.

Meawhile, we kept a slightly tougher out of conference schedule this year. I'll be playing 1, simming 1 again. Our first game is against Jackson State which is 0-1. We are hosting them and they are equal in talent to us which should enable us to win at home.

I've decided to give Dante Newton the start at SF. Two reasons. I want to have a freshman of the year in the conference and with him being one of our few outside shooters, he could do it. Secondly, I want Bose's versatility off the bench.

[rjolley]

What's your feel on the game with the patch?

Do you control your subs or let the computer handle that? Is there a way to set your sub rotation if the computer handles it?