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05-17-2023, 08:21 PM
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#251 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Sep 2022
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November 14, 2020
@Lafayette 105, Virginia 79 "Small ball" worked well for us tonight, didn't it? Code:
We set a new school record for points in a single game, and we manage to do it with three of our starters battling foul trouble. All the starters do good things while they're in the game, Ben Miele is the Player of the Game in a "sixth starter" role, and Azdrubal Cruz and Jonathan Baldwin both come off the bench to play well. This Virginia team is a sad outfit, coming off a 6-24 season that has its coach, Merrill Moses, on the hottest of hot seats. We didn't help Coach Moses tonight. Record: 1-0. November 19, 2020 Maui Shootout, First Round (5) Lafayette 102, (4) #19 Memphis 69 What's more fun than beating a ranked opponent by 33 points? Doing it in sunny Hawai'i! We score in triple digits again, shooting 57.8% from the floor and draining 14 threes. Tim Hutchinson and Matthew Ackerman score 21 apiece, with Thomas Lucy adding 16 more. Matt Robles, Asdrubal Cruz, and Jonathan Baldwin form a three-headed pivot monster that scores 20 points, claims 16 rebounds, and contributes 4 assists from its Cruz form. I hate turning the ball over, and we do that only 7 times tonight. Well played. Record: 2-0. November 20, 2020 Maui Shootout Semifinal (1) #4 Kansas 87, (5) Lafayette 84 (OT) Today's game is a treat for anyone who likes college basketball. We stand toe-to-toe with one of the sport's premier programs and send the game to overtime when Tim Clutchinson nails a three with four seconds left. Then, we battle for five more minutes before the Jayhawks make two crucial defensive stops to seal their victory. Hutchinson finishes with 22 points, and so does Thomas Lucy. Matthew Ackerman has 15, and Matt Robles 11 (and another 4 fouls). Eight Leopards finish with between 4 and 8 rebounds, and Ackerman has 5 assists. Record: 2-1. November 21, 2020 Maui Shootout, Third Place Game (5) Lafayette 93, (3) #18 Washington 85 We complete our tropical tourney trip with another win over a Top 25 opponent. Matt Robles manages to stay on the floor this time, and he completes a double double with 13 points and as many rebounds. Matt is one of five Leopards starters to score between 12 and 15 points. Right now, Tim Hutchinson, Thomas Lucy, and Matthew Ackerman are all averaging between 16 and 17 per game. Record: 3-1. November 24, 2020 Lafayette 75, @Davidson 72 The Wildcats enjoyed a five-year run early in the 2010s, when they were considered one of the very best mid-major programs in the country. They've fallen from that peak in the last few years, but they're still a very good team, and we have to play well to beat them at their place. This time it's Tim Hutchinson who is limited by foul trouble, so Matthew Ackerman steps up and leads us with 15 points. Matt Robles contributes 14 and 7 rebounds, and Thomas Lucy finishes with 11. Jamie Kelso assembles a points/rebounds/assists line of 7/8/7, and Asdrubal Cruz pairs 8 points with 8 rebounds. Record: 4-1. November 30, 2020 @Mississippi State 72, Lafayette 57 Don't be fooled by that lack of a national ranking. Mississippi State is the defending NCAA champion and the winningest team in this universe's history. Coached first by Douglas Gillum (now at Kansas) and now by James Berube, the Bulldogs simply keep on winning. We didn't play well, but Mississippi State has a way of forcing that upon their opponents. We fire up 34 threes, but make only 7. Tim Hutchinson's 14 points are our game high. Matthew Ackerman and Jamie Kelso pitch in 11 apiece, and Matt Robles snares 12 rebounds. We've done well this month, against a very tough set of opponents. Record: 4-2 (with an RPI of 6). Last edited by MoonlightGraham : 05-18-2023 at 08:17 AM. |
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05-18-2023, 08:28 AM
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#252 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Sep 2022
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December 1, 2020
We complete our recruiting class with the signing of three-star prospect Jeffrey Hampton. The Wausau, Wisconsin product is small for a 5, but he's been a productive scorer and rebounder in high school. I see some sleeper potential for him, because his shooting potentials look good. A Yellow player usually turns out to be a valuable member of our rotation...but then again, Daniel Warnock won at least one of his POY awards while he had a Yellow square. |
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05-18-2023, 12:23 PM
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#253 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Pistol City
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Enjoying this dynasty, Graham!
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05-18-2023, 01:17 PM
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#254 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Sep 2022
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December 3, 2020
@Lafayette 107, Yale 82 After scoring 100 points only twice in eight seasons, this year's Leopards have done so three times. Thomas Lucy contributes 12 of those points, and Matthew Ackerman 16. Tim Hutchinson knocks down 10 of 13 shots and scores 26. Those are all fine performances...and then there's Matt Robles. The freshman center shoots 13-for-16 from the field and 11-for-14 from the line. That's 35 points, friends. He adds 8 rebounds for good measure. We're now the highest-scoring team in the nation, averaging 89.0 points per game. Record: 5-2. December 6, 2020 Lafayette 94, @Creighton 86 We visit another very good team and come away with another victory in a high-scoring contest. We win this one at the free throw line, shooting 58 foul shots (!) and making 45 (!!) of them. Only six times has a team made more in a single game. Tim Hutchinson was a perfect 13-for-13, while Matt Robles accounted for 9 of our 13 misses, shooting 4-for-13. That's a lot of 13s. I hope it's not a bad omen. Robles tied Matthew Ackerman for our scoring honors with 18, and grabbed 9 rebounds. Hutchinson had 17. Thomas Lucy added 13, Jamie Kelso 10. Kelso twisted his ankle again, and he'll be day-to-day for a bit. I won't take chances with his health; Ben Miele is more than ready to step in. Record: 6-2. December 9, 2020 @Lafayette 61, Elon 53 This score looks a bit more like the ones I used to know. Elon isn't anywhere close to the caliber of some of the teams we've played this year, so our lackluster offensive showing surprises me. Tim Hutchinson is the one Leopard who performs up to his usual standard: 15 points, 8 rebounds. A bunch of guys get 6 or 8 rebounds apiece, and Matthew Ackerman dishes out 5 assists. Record: 7-2. December 12, 2020 @Lafayette 98, Maine 74 The Black Bears are off to a rough 1-5 start, and we don't help matters any when they visit the Kirby Center. Thomas Lucy pours in 24 points, the most in his brief career to date, with 9 rebounds. Matt Robles adds 19 more, and Matthew Ackerman contributes 18 with 3 steals. Jamie Kelso returns to the lineup and comes close to a triple double: 8 points, 11, assists, 9 rebounds. Record: 8-2. December 15, 2020 @Lafayette 66, St. John's 65 This game provides the Kirby Center crowd with a finish that sent some blood pressures skyrocketing on both sides. We take a 66-63 lead when Jamie Kelso makes two free throws with 15 seconds remaining. Determined not to allow a game-tying three, we force Kenneth Carreno to drive the lane. Matthew Ackerman gets a piece of him...and Carreno's shot drops. No time remains on the clock as Carreno steps to the line with a chance to send the game into OT. Our student section will claim full credit for Carreno's miss. Ackerman, with his 18 points and 2 blocked shots, thereby retains the hero role. Matt Robles finishes with 14 points and 8 rebounds, Kelso 9 with 5 assists. Carreno had 22 for the Red Storm. The victory is #250 of Graham Sims' career. His record stands at 250-69, and his wins total is 6th all-time. That ranking is fluid, since all the coaches near him in the list are also active. Record: 9-2. December 17, 2020 @Lafayette 86, William & Mary 60 Win #251 is a fairly easy one over the visiting Tribe, who kept it within five points for 20 minutes before we pull away. Matt Robles is making almost 62 percent of his shots this season, and today he makes 8 of 13 en route to a game-high 19 points. Tim Hutchinson (18), Matthew Ackerman (15), and Thomas Lucy (12) follow him in double digits. Jamie Kelso makes only one shot, but hands out 9 assists. Record: 10-2. December 20, 2020 @Pennsylvania 66, Lafayette 57 The Quakers are tough, and they prove it tonight, running their record to 7-1 with a stout defense of their home court. Our .306 shooting percentage, which includes .265 (9 for 34) from three-point distance, does us in. Tim Hutchinson plays well, with 18 points (4-6 from three), but he and Matt Robles (14 points, 9 rebounds) are the only ones who do. Record: 10-3. December 24, 2020 Lafayette 80, @#10 Pittsburgh 72 I would have predicted we'd go 1-1 in a pair of games that included a home date with Penn and an away date with Pitt. Shows you what I know. A return to sound defensive principles and our ability to draw fouls and make our opponent pay for them are the keys to our upset victory. We shoot 29-41 from the line, making 11 more than the Panthers do. That accounts for our margin of victory, plus a few. Tim Hutchinson is Player of the Game, scoring 16 points with 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Credit also goes to Asdrubal Cruz, with his 9 points and 13 rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench, and Thomas Lucy, for his 14 points. Record: 11-3. December 27, 2020 Lafayette 88, @Ohio State 79 All five of our starters reach double digits in scoring, led by Thomas Lucy's 23 and Matthew Ackerman's 19, as we take the measure of the Buckeyes on the road. The "Everybody Rebounds" creed is embraced again tonight; five Leopards grab between 5 and 9, with Asdrubal Cruz and Matt Robles accounting for 9 each. Freshman wing Alexander Schwinghammer plays 14 minutes for Ohio State, scoring two points. I wish I'd spotted him when he was a recruit. I would have tried to sign him for his name alone. (He's actually quite good; he was ranked #151 nationally.) Record: 12-3. |
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05-18-2023, 07:05 PM
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#255 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Sep 2022
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As the new year begans, I think I'm going to try a different writing style for my dynasty. When I started Coach Sims's story, I honestly didn't anticipate it running even as long as it has. I figured one of these things would happen:
Instead, four months or so after I started it, I'm still enjoying Coach Sims' story very much. He's in his early 40s now, and I think I'd like to follow his career until he retires. With any luck, that might be 30 or 35 "game years" from now. With a story of that scope in mind, I'm going to move away from the game-by-game reports for now, and write about each season more concisely. I'll report on recruiting classes when they're completed, and I might use January 1 as a handy point at which to summarize the season to date before I wrap things up at season's end. I like writing the Senior Tributes, so I'll continue with those. Of course, if I discover the new format isn't fun, I'll go back to the old one, or try something completely different. To any of you who are following the story, thanks for reading, and I hope you continue to read along. |
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05-18-2023, 10:08 PM
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#256 | |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Sep 2022
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Quote:
Thanks very much! I hope you'll also like the new format I'm trying. I think the story will move along a bit faster, and readers will have more of a holistic view, rather than a series of closeups. Comments are always welcome, so please feel free to stop back by anytime. |
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05-21-2023, 09:46 AM
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#257 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Sep 2022
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February 1, 2021
Here's how the league fared in pre-conference play. I notice the Patriot League lost its Level 3 status somewhere along the way; we're back to Level 2. Code:
The league needs someone besides Lafayette to make a few NCAA tournament appearances. American and Holy Cross have, at various times, been good enough to win 20 games a year. Perhaps this will be the Crusaders' year. Code:
The month begins with a trip to Nashville and a loss to a Vanderbilt team that might not be quite as good as their recent NCAA finalists, but still a formidable one. Matthew Ackerman twists an ankle during our thrashing of American at home, and he's forced to miss about a month of action. Ben Miele steps into the starting five in his place. That Pyrrhic victory is followed by a tough road loss to Navy that exposes our inability to stop teams from scoring. Thomas Lucy's 23 points spark a bounce-back victory at Colgate that starts a five-game win streak. The highlight of this run is a confident performance against Holy Cross. It's the fourth consecutive game in which center Matt Robles scores in double figures. His emergence is one of the best stories of our season. Late in the month, we play a style of basketball that more closely resembles the one Lafayette fans have become used to seeing, one built around tenacious defense that forces opponents out of their comfort zones. We seem to still be searching for our identity as we head into the second half of the conference season. |
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05-21-2023, 10:06 AM
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#258 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Sep 2022
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March 1, 2021
Code:
The Leopards run the table during February, and end the month as Patriot League champions once again. We get double-doubles from Matt Robles (10p/11r) and Tim Hutchinson (10p/13r) as we avenge our earlier loss to Navy, and Robles pours in 26 to lead us over American. Matt schools James Zimmer, whom we really wanted to sign as a high school senior two years ago. The highlights of our big win at Bucknell are 23 points from Thomas Lucy and the return to action of Matthew Ackerman, who gives us 12 points in 14 minutes off the bench. Colgate nearly spoils Senior Day for Tim Hutchinson and Jamie Kelso. The next week, we fall behind Army, but we storm back and outscore them 40-17 in the second half. Following that victory, we make our first appearance in the national polls. We clinch the Patriot League title at Lehigh, when Asdrubal Cruz tips in a Tim Hutchinson miss with 14 seconds left, and we get a crucial stop at the other end of the floor. That outcome makes the Holy Cross game more of a victory lap. |
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05-21-2023, 10:40 AM
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#259 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Sep 2022
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I'll return to my "old style" reports for the post-season.
March 3, 2021 Patriot League Tournament, First Round (1) #17 Lafayette 66, (8) American 54 We make it three straight over the Eagles with a "vintage" Lafayette performance. Our opponent shoots 4-for-26 from behind the arc and turn the ball over 18 times, while we do enough offensively to win. Tim Hutchinson leads us with 19 points and 9 rebounds. Matthew Ackerman nets 13, Matt Robles 12, and sixth man Ben Miele 11. Record: 26-5. March 7, 2021 Patriot League Tournament Semifinal (4) Navy 64, (1) #17 Lafayette 57 If you want to criticize Graham Sims, you could point out his struggles in the conference tournament. This year, we play terribly against Navy and out we go. We launch 35 threes and make only 10. Matthew Ackerman misfires on 8 of his 10 treys. Thomas Lucy hits only 1 of his 11 attempts from the floor, and misses all four of his threes. Holy Cross goes on to win the tourney, so they'll earn the league's automatic bid. We'll join them with an at-large invitation. Record: 26-6. March 19, 2021 NCAA East Region, First Round (5) #25 Lafayette 76, (12) Winthrop 75 Our opponents, champions of the Big South conference, enter the game with a 25-8 record. They know how to win basketball games. They nearly win this one, too. The Eagles lead after 20 minutes, but we settle down and open up an 8-point lead with 7 minutes to play. Then we allow them to claw their way back into the game and nearly lose it when a shot clock violation allows them one last shot that won't fall. Matt Robles (16 points) and Jamie Kelso (15) lead a group of five in double figures that also includes Asdrubal Cruz (10). Record: 26-7. March 21, 2021 NCAA East Region, Second Round (5) #25 Lafayette 78, (13) Hofstra 70 Do we catch a break when Hofstra routs 4 seed Saint Louis? Perhaps we do. Still, the Pride are tough opponents, led by All-American center Joseph Rosemond. They hold us under 40% shooting, which has happened to us with alarming regularity this season. Rosemond plays like the star he is, scoring 21 points with 16 rebounds. However, we have a senior star, too. Tim Hutchinson puts his team on his back and carries it into the Sweet Sixteen, matching Rosemond's points total and grabbing 17 rebounds of his own. Record: 27-7. March 25, 2021 NCAA East Region Semifinal...the Sweet Sixteen (1) #4 Boston College 84, (5) #25 Lafayette 66 Our season ends at the hands (talons?) of a clearly superior Eagles team. We display the flaws that have plagued us nearly every time we play badly: lousy shot selection (24-for-66) and crappy three-point shooting (an ugly 6-for-28). Matt Robles plays well with 12 points and 12 rebounds. So does Asdrubal Cruz (8p/5r), who has been a key contributor as a reserve big. Record: 27-8. April 5, 2021 Three #1 seeds make the Final Four, and USC wins their second national championship with a thrilling 99-97 victory over Kansas in the final. |
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05-22-2023, 10:20 AM
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#260 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Sep 2022
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April 7, 2021
Lots of good news comes out of the Patriot League awards ceremony. Code:
It's Tim Hutchinson's turn to win the Player of the Year prize. A Lafayette player has been the POY for four consecutive seasons, and for six of the last seven. Hutch joins Todd DeHaven, Daniel Warnock, and James Sanders in this selective fraternity; Warnock and Sanders both won twice. This year's How Did He Not Win Something? award goes to Lehigh freshman Marlon Smith. You may remember how actively we recruited Marlon. I had a feeling he was going to be good, and he is. Marlon led the Patriot League in scoring (17.1 PPG) and led his team to its best record ever, including a 10-4 mark in conference play. However, because Marlon is a SF and a freshman, he goes home emptyhanded, while the prizes go to Tanner Dewey and Thomas Lucy. Personally, I would have chosen Marlon for at least one of those awards. Graham Sims takes home his fifth Patriot League COY award. |
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05-22-2023, 10:32 AM
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#261 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Sep 2022
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April 7, 2021
Code:
Who says leopards can't change their spots? The Lafayette variety certainly have. Within two years, our winning formula has switched from suffocating defense to wide-open offense. No Graham Sims team has scored as many points as this year's did, and none of his teams have allowed as many. Code:
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Our scoring balance made us tough to beat; if one, or even two, guys had a tough night offensively, there was someone to pick them up. Matt Robles was our most productive scorer and rebounder on a per-minute basis. He led the latter category by a comfortable margin. I'll point out some of our seniors' most significant accomplishments in their tributes, which will be up next. |
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05-22-2023, 10:42 AM
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#262 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Sep 2022
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2020/21 Senior Tribute
JAMIE KELSO Jamie turned out to be exactly the player we thought we'd get when we recruited him: an offensive orchestrator who took very good care of the basketball and kept the scorers on his team happy. Code:
In both his seasons as a starter, Jamie was a first team All-Patriot League player. He led the conference in assists this season, after placing second as a junior. It's rare to see active point guards turn the ball over only one time a game, but Jamie came close to that feat. This kind of stability is a key component of winning teams, like the ones Jamie played for throughout his career. The Bordentown, New Jersey native also matured into a secondary scorer to whom opponents needed to pay attention. He struggled to connect from behind the arc this year, but so did most of his teammates. Jamie was one of the best of a long line of excellent student athletes we've produced. He'll graduate next month with a degree in English, and will attend law school at the University of Virginia. Thanks for the memories, Jamie. Last edited by MoonlightGraham : 05-22-2023 at 10:51 AM. |
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05-22-2023, 11:10 AM
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#263 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Sep 2022
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2020/21 Senior Tribute
TIM HUTCHINSON I recruited Tim as the scoring half of a backcourt duo, paired with Jamie Kelso. During his career, we employed Tim as a shooting guard, then as a small forward, and this year, as a power forward. No matter where he played, Tim found ways to make us a better team. What more can you say about a player? Code:
Tim started every game of his career, except when he yielded to an upperclassman on Senior Night. Over his first three years, he evolved into an increasingly dangerous scorer, able to finish at the rim and drive home daggers from behind the arc. Last year, we used Tim as a power forward. He rebounded like a bigger player and, while he shot and scored less than he ever had, he did so many things so well that he was picked as our conference's Player of the Year. No Lafayette player in this universe has been honored as often as Hutch has. He's one of two Leopards (along with Daniel Warnock) to be named to the All-Patriot League first team three times, and he did so while playing three different positions. Tim finishes his career as our second leading all-time scorer and, interestingly, second all time in assists, too. His 690 made field goals ranks first. He also ranks in the top ten in rebounding, steals, and three-point shooting. He's considered the top professional prospect in the Patriot League, and as he awaits Draft Day, he's also actively negotiating with pro teams in Europe. Either way, the versatile baller from the Southern Tier of New York will be playing for a living somewhere next season. Thanks for the memories, Tim. Last edited by MoonlightGraham : 05-22-2023 at 11:11 AM. |
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05-22-2023, 01:10 PM
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#264 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Sep 2022
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May 1, 2021
A new season is upon us, and the first news item of the new year is a good one. Tim Hutchinson's name was called on Draft Day! He was chosen 52nd overall, and he'll report to camp soon. The Patriot League recruiting rankings are interesting. Code:
It's hard to see how Lehigh's class is ranked ahead of ours, unless it's the result of their best player, Brendan Meehan, being ranked higher than Byron Shores. Meehan is in the Top 200, while Shores is #221. I'm still very pleased with our class. All three look like they're at least as good as we thought when we recruited them. Our prestige goes up three more points, to 75. The gap between Lafayette and the rest of the Patriot League continues to widen; Holy Cross (49), American (43), and Colgate (39) are the next highest-rated teams. Our Facilities score (53) is also much higher than those of our conference foes. Holy Cross (31) is second best in this category, too. Graham Sims levels up again this spring! He's now a Level 10 coach, and I again distribute his 20 points evenly across his five categories. Code:
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05-22-2023, 01:27 PM
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#265 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Sep 2022
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May 1, 2021
As expected, Virginia sacks coach Merrill Moses. The Cavaliers offer the job to Coach Sims, and in another universe with another set of rules, I might take it and see if I could bring UVA up from the depths of the ACC. That's a story for another time, though. Temple also offers Graham their job, after Oregon poaches Clayton Mintz. The Owls' prestige is slightly higher, 78-75, and they have a significantly bigger budget. But when I look at Graham's AD page, he receives a job evaluation that says "Your performance is the stuff of legends." I'm not walking away from that level of acclaim for a comparable job. Graham will return to Lafayette for year 10. Recruiting coordinator Gregg Woods wants us to raise his yearly salary from $100,000 to $120,000. It's costing us quite a bit to keep the band together, but I bite the bullet and say "yes." |
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05-22-2023, 01:38 PM
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#266 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Sep 2022
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July 1, 2021
This is the team Graham Sims will lead in his tenth season as head coach at Lafayette: Code:
As usual, we'll take a closer look at them once they graduate from training camp in November. |
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05-22-2023, 04:30 PM
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#267 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Sep 2022
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November 1, 2021
Both of the scholarship seniors on this year's team are shooting guards: Matthew Ackerman and Rob Prendergast. But Ben Miele is the only player listed at PG, and he's honestly the only player on the team who has true point guard skills. My recruiting efforts, therefore, centered on guards, and one of them needed to be a ballhandler and passer. As the season draws near, we receive commitments from two guards who should fill those needs well. The orchestrator is Kamari Stone, a three-star prospect from Somerdale, New Jersey. Code:
Kamari's national ranking won't make the experts gasp; he's #463 nationally. His stats don't leap off the page at you, either. I added him to the call list because he was one of a handful of players who showed Very High interest in playing for Lafayette from the beginning. Once our staff evaluated him, I liked his ratings enough to offer him. He projects as a very reliable ballhandler and a clever passer, as well as an eager and talented defender who will often be the quickest player on the court. Kamari could help us regain our reputation as a difficult team to score against. Our other signee is three-star SG Micah Rodriguez. He's a genuine gunslinger from Dallas...Pennsylvania, up the highway from Wilkes-Barre. Code:
Players usually don't make as many of their shots as Micah does without being genuinely good shooters. He's also quick and a great leaper whose highlights feature a number of viral-quality dunks. Micah also appears to care more about defense than many high scorers (see Lien, Joe). We'll have to watch Micah's academics, but the same was true for Lien, who had an Academics rating of 11 and worse high school grades than Micah has. It's also nice to have our recruiting sorted before the season begins! |
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05-22-2023, 07:10 PM
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#268 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Sep 2022
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Code:
The combination of a skilled coaching staff and improving facilities is allowing Lafayette players to reach more of their potential. That's exciting to see. Three starters return from last year's team, and all three earned some level of All-Conference recognition. Center Matt Robles was one of the best stories to come out of the 2020/21 season. Now a junior, Robles emerged as a productive scorer and rebounder. Robles, a first team selection, is only a fair defensive player. That can't be said about Asdrubal Cruz, who steps into the starting lineup at the four as Graham Sims' lineup takes on a more traditional look this season. Cruz averaged nearly the same number of points and rebounds last season as the first big man off the bench. Thomas Lucy, last season's Freshman of the Year, returns on the wing. He made 35.5% of his three-point attempts last year, but that aspect of his game improved greatly during camp. He was a second team All-Patriot League selection last season. The other wing will be senior Matthew Ackerman, the team's top returning scorer and the third All-Conference returnee. The English import worked hard on his defense during camp, and has matured into a lockdown defender. Sims trusted junior point guard Ben Miele to cover for injured players during his first two years at Lafayette. Miele made 28 starts over that period, demonstrating the ability to make the offense hum and shooting well enough to remain a threat. He is also a good defender. Freshman Byron Shores looks like he'll be a very good player, and he'll get a chance to show what he can do early on. He and senior Rob Prendergast will be integral parts of the rotation, and they have complementary skills: Shores should be a scorer, while Prendergast is more of a facilitator and defensive anchor. Which reserve big men will make a major impact? Will it be junior Jonathan Baldwin, with his defense and rebounding? Will it be freshman Kurt Ritchie, a more promising version of the same kind of player? Or will it be Jeffrey Hampton, another first year, who has more offensive potential? Carlton McFadden and Rodney Lundgren are also available for reserve duty on the wing. Last year's Leopards were successful, winning 28 games, capturing another Patriot League championship, and reaching the Sweet Sixteen. For all its success, however, that team didn't feel like a Graham Sims team. The 2021/22 Leopards should be more formidable defensively, but at the same time, there are proven scorers on the roster, too. Let's see how it turns out, shall we? |
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05-22-2023, 07:14 PM
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#269 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Sep 2022
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One more stats drop before the season begins:
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Strong team + meh conference = top spot on this leader board. It's still pretty cool, though.  |
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05-25-2023, 09:26 AM
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#270 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Sep 2022
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January 5, 2022
Code:
We're off to a winning start this year, facing a schedule that isn't quite as demanding as the one we took on in 2020/21. Code:
I'm sharing the box score from the Wisconsin game. The Badgers were ranked #15 before our visit to Madison. Code:
Byron Shores is fire that day, and it's not the only time the sweet-shooting freshman puts on a show. More on him later. After our victory, we appear in the polls for the first time. We rise as high as #15 before our rather shocking loss to Yale. The biggest story of the season so far has been the emergence of Matthew Ackerman as a big-time scorer. He opens the season with 27 points against Cornell, and follows that performance up with several other big games: 27 against La Salle, 32 against Fairfield, 30 against NJIT, 26 more at North Carolina A&T. The senior leads the Patriot League in scoring and ranks in the top 20 nationwide. The return to a more traditional lineup, one that features two post players, has paid off. Center Matt Robles has picked up where he left off last year, averaging 12.9 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Asdrubal Cruz has seamlessly adjusted to his new role as a starter. He ranks right below Robles with 8.2 RPG, and while he doesn't shoot often, he makes just under half the shots he does take. The other new starter, Ben Miele, is thriving, too. He's third in the Patriot League in assists (4.1 per game) and scores a crazy-good 1.97 points per shot...the product of his otherworldly shot selection. Byron Shores is just plain fun. He's averaging nearly 11 points per game as our sixth man, with a special knack for hitting threes. Byron fires off four per game--in 20 minutes of action--and is making 44.6% of them. One such three-ball with 0:04 remaining on the clock sends Delaware down to defeat. We pull out another victory in the closing minute against a tough Siena team. This time it's Thomas Lucy who does the honors. Lucy is the fourth player who scores in double figures (11.9 PPG). The only loss of the season--at home, to Yale--happens because we turn the ball over too often on a night when our shooting touch abandons us a bit. That night, we make 9 of our 25 three-point attempts; that might not sound bad, but we're hitting 43.2% for the season, third best in the nation. The other piece of bad news arrives when first semester grades are released. Reserve big Jonathan Baldwin is sidelined for the remainder of the season with an academic suspension. Jonathan, a junior, had been a productive member of our rotation, playing 12 minutes a game as our first big man off the bench and shooting 55.6% from the floor. You might have noticed how well he played in our big win at Wisconsin. Baldwin's Academic rating is 72, for Aristotle's sake! Lack of ability is surely not his problem. Freshmen Kurt Ritchie and Jeffrey Hampton will take Baldwin's minutes as we head into conference play. Last edited by MoonlightGraham : 05-25-2023 at 09:28 AM. |
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