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05-03-2023, 11:01 PM
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#52 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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vs Cal Poly 3-7 (0-1)
Like us, an extremely talented backcourt in Willy Hung and Nazario Moreno. The Mustangs are very good defensively, and I'm a little surprised their record is as poor as it is. I smell L. We're never really in this one as expected. 21 point loss. @ Hawaii 8-4 (0-1) The Rainbow Warriors' post defense is as incredible as their perimeter defense is ass. Winning this one is going to require our guards to get hot, which I'm not exactly hopeful for. Another 21 point loss and we've been exactly as bad in the Big West as I thought we'd be. I won't be fired because the AD loves my work from last season, but we'll be lucky to avoid last place. Especially when Geoffrey Blodgett gets hurt and misses our game against UC-Davis. 3 point heartbreaker loss in a game we should have been able to eke out. We steal a late 60-56 road win over Long Beach State on 12-11-12 from Frank Gilmore, the Butterfly Man, and Gregory Lau. 8 boards and a steal tacked on gives Gilmore PotG, while Papillion swipes 2. I'd like to be able to say that kickstarted a win streak, but two straight 3 point home losses, to UC-Irvine and CSU-Fullerton follow instead. Then we nearly blow a 10 point lead but beat UC-SB Code:
Any win feels like a box score at this point because of how bad we are. We have faint hopes of beating Pacific to at least stay out of the basement and we do, riding Butterfly Man's PotG 29 points and steal, and 10 points, 2 steals by Geoffrey Blodgett in a comfortable victory. Shoutout to Dennis Luther with 7 steals himself. Our international class continues with our second recruit: Code:
Looks more like a 4 than a 5 due to size, but we'll see what comes of it. He'll definitely have an opportunity to earn starting minutes his freshman year since Frank Gilmore is graduating and Truman Crain has largely disappointed after his hot start to the season.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-03-2023, 11:02 PM
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#53 | |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Quote:
Yep the conference movements get pretty hilarious when they're automated.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-03-2023, 11:41 PM
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#54 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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17 points, a block, and a steal from PotG Truman Crain carries us to a win over UC-Davis. Guess he read the press blasting him and decided to step up. This gives us our fifth straight season of 10+ wins. In real-life, the Matadors had that streak from 1996-97 to 2010-11 - including two first round NCAA tournament appearances (one with the Big Sky and one with the Big West), so it's not like it was a huge accomplishment or anything.
Beating Hawaii would get us back to .500 overall on the year and Butterfly Man's 23 points and a steal in a comeback victory gets us exactly that. 8 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks for Frank Gilmore and 10 points, 2 steals from Dennis Luther help carry us in the 3 point victory. With a shot at .500 in the Big West at home against Long Beach State, we fall flat on our faces and lose in OT in a game we led most of the way. A couple injuries happen which are annoying, but not ones that prevent anyone missing any time at least. Fullerton reminds us we still suck in a blowout loss and a barnburner finish goes the Anteaters' way to put us on the brink of being unable to reach even .500 in the Big West for the season. We may be bad but we're not Pacific bad as Dennis Luther scores 24 with 3 steals as PotG, Butterfly Man has 16-5-5, and Geoffrey Blodgett scores 12 with a pair of steals in a comfortable Tigers taming. But then the Gauchos beat us by 32 to end our faint even steven dreams. With nothing left to play for in the regular season, we drop our last two - including blowing a lead to UC-Riverside late. Why was there nothing left to play for? Code:
Yeah. We were shut out of the conference tournament no matter what. So the postseason involves us sitting at home and ignoring everything. Cal Poly upsets by winning the whole Big West tournament and bows out as a 16 seed. UC-Riverside is a 7 seed in the NIT and makes the deepest NIT run by a Big West team in a long time, maybe ever. They make it to the NIT Final Four, where it's a Highlanders vs Aggies matchup. Yep, UC-Davis drew a 2 seed due to their RPI and embarrass the Highlanders on national TV, 70-36, before they play UCLA in the championship. Only Xavier was not from California of the NIT Final Four. UC-Davis brings home an NIT championship to the Big West, routing the Bruins 82-60 despite UCLA having 3 Blue and 2 Green starters while the Aggies have not a single Green player on their roster. Yeah, basketball is DUMB sometimes. No injuries either. Conversely the NCAA Final Four was an All-Big 10 in one half - Ohio State and Iowa - and All-Big 12 in the other - Oklahoma and Baylor. 3 seed Buckeyes vs 2 seed Bears in a national championship that was clearly in the key of B. Bears 89, Buckeyes 65 in a matching rout. Congratulations to Baylor on their second championship - the first since Year 1. And they're 2-1 in national title games. Code:
One of our scrub bigs gets an All-Freshman award despite not averaging 2 in any category that often has double digits, or 0.5 in any category that usually has at least one whole number. Laugh. What a weird flipping year. Seniors up next.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-03-2023, 11:48 PM
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#55 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
Walked on at Delaware and transferred here to become a bit player. Who cares? Transfers suck. Code:
He was part of a rush of great PG recruits we had for a while there and was a 1* find by the colors. Never reached his potential though did finish 6th in school assists and 8th in school history in steals. Code:
Our first All-State player. Only started his senior year. Finished 10th in school history in rebounds and offensive rebounds, 8th in school blocks. One of many, many 7+, 300 lb+ bigs who flamed out in our system. So we're not really missing a lot next season. And who cares about these guys' post-Matador lives? They weren't significant enough to matter.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-06-2023, 01:50 PM
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#56 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
Our best class since the Thomas Hadden year (#161) and the first time since Year 1 we've landed two 3* players. We got a 2* PG from the Czech Republic as a very late add, but only Gonchar looks authentically good of our all-internationals class. Speaking of, time to update!  We ranged further afield this cycle of four years, with only three LA-area recruits, and a lot more digging into the Mountain West. Not that it's landed us good players or anything.  We also recruited far more heavily abroad, due largely to the most recent class netting us three of these. 3*: 4 2*: 3 1*: 6 200-300: 1 (#294 Geoffrey Blodgett - our highest ranked recruit) 301-400: 2 401-500: 1 501-600: 2 601-700: 1 1000+: 5 All-State: 2 (Both 1*) Mr. Basketball: 1 (Montana 1* - Truman Crain Grim, grim picture for sure. Especially with our big men class completely bombing that one year. It's setting us way back. Gonzaga moves to the Pac-12; Washington State to the WCC. As expected, really. Kenneth Connolly somehow lucks in to the Northern Arizona job despite 100-145 career record with CSU-Fullerton, though he did turn the Titans into a mid-pack Big West team and an NCAA tournament appearance a few years ago (winning the conference tournament in a 15-19 (9-9) year). The Titans hire Don Slagle, a 53 year old assistant with stops in Boston, Portland, and Fresno, moving with his mentor to each new destination. Average all-around coach with pretty good offensive coaching ability. Decent hire. 1 for 2 in recruiting, losing a big man to CSU-Bakersfield. Code:
Probably better suited as a smallball 3 or 4 due to lack of perimeter defense, but hey, we fared okay with Joseph Velarde as a PG. Honestly, I didn't intend to offer him if I caught that poor perimeter D, but whatever.  I overruled my assistants to start Muhammed Owen at PF over Brian Lowry, who is a poor system fit. If you squint, the freshman British Muslim looks a bit like the Chevalier Knight. Impressive camp by Truman Crain, who now qualifies as an exceptional blocker. Our perimeter defense looks amazing this year and there's a lot of ballthieves. Here's to hoping this is a good year. AD still wants Big Dance. @ Utah Valley The Wolverines have great post defense, but that's about all they have. They were a decent Great West team from 2016-18 but have fallen back on hard times the last couple years. And sometimes that's good enough, as they hold a 26-22 lead at halftime. We're really struggling with our shooting. It gets worse in the second half as we lose by 14 in a truly terrible night. @ North Carolina Central I accidentally missed this game, but we won 72-68 despite Muhammed Owen going out after 10 minutes. Dennis Luther scores 18 with 4 steals to win Player of the Game. Geoffrey Blodgett adds 14 and 2 steals, Truman Crain scores 16 with 2 steals, and the Butterfly Man flits in with 11 points, 1 steal. Butterfly Man scores 18 in a 57 point loss to Maryland, Truman Crain 11 in a blowout defeat to Baylor, and Butterfly Man 21, Dennis Luther 15, and a 9, 8, 1, 4 line for Owen in a surprisingly competive loss to #2 Ohio State. We suffer a shock recruit loss to UC-Santa Barbara, but we in turn steal a big man from UC-Santa Barbara. Code:
If the scouting is accurate, I feel like this is a pretty good steal. Definitely a position of need at any rate, even if he's only Red/Yellow.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-06-2023, 07:33 PM
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#57 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Sep 2022
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I've been enjoying the story, even if I haven't stopped by to comment very often. Time to catch up.
I'm intrigued by your all-internationals recruiting class. I've only signed two overseas players, one of whom is currently a first year player with a lot of promise. The success I had with the Good King ought to have inspired me to take a few more chances with international recruiting, and I don't know why I haven't. Has Coach Jestor leveled up yet? I commend you for the ambition you showed in starting with a Level 0 neophyte. I've never had any success with FBCB when I started that low. My rank beginner coaches have always been fired before I had a chance to improve. |
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05-10-2023, 01:07 AM
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#58 | |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Quote:
Thanks! Haven't leveled up yet - I thought hitting 100 career wins last season might have done it, but nope. I'm not sure what the mechanisms are for all the leveling up. I know if I make the NCAA Tournament like my irrational AD wants I would in fact level up. Going after international recruits early can feel a bit gamey. Then again, Hawaii goes all international and hasn't yet turned into a powerhouse despite solid recruiting rankings so it's hard to say.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-10-2023, 02:00 AM
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#59 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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vs CSU-Bakersfield (1-4)
The Roadrunners are a similar team to us - far too talent to have the poor record we do, and I suspect it'll be a close one. Ultimately it is, but we prevail 62-55 as Geoffrey Blodgett takes top honors with 17 points and 2 steals. Great game overall by Muhammed Owen - 9 points, 16 rebounds, and 3 steals. The Butterfly Man scores 11 with 2 blocks and 2 steals, Dennis Luther with 10 points and 2 steals. Props to Truman Crain for rejecting 5 himself. vs Mount Saint Mary's (1-5) Terrible defense has doomed the Mountaineers to this record, so we should be able to pile on and move one step closer to .500. Should being the operative word. And of course, this is the game their defense is suddenly magically fantastic and we're down 14 at the half. It ends up a rout of almost 20 points as our depth gets exposed when the refs decide to call every bleeping foul on us. Let's move on. vs Bryant (1-6) Seems like we have a loss every year that absolutely tanks our RPI and the Mountaineers was it, going from Green (60) all the way to 148 (Orange) by the time we face the Bulldogs. I hold no hope of beating anyone. Tied at 38-all at the half. I still laugh that the AD is convinced we're a tournament team. The Butterfly Man wakes up in the second half to finish with 16 points and a steal as we eke out a 78-72 victory. 10 points, a block, and 4 steals for Dennis Luther, 13 and 9 for Muhammed Owen, 10 points for Truman Crain. vs Radford (0-9) The Highlanders have gone winless because they have trouble scoring, but you know we're exactly the opponent to reward terrible teams with free wins even when we're much better on paper. Sure enough, they shoot over 60% in the first half and we're down by 9 on a buzzer-beater. You can't make this shit up. But then we get hot late in the second half and win 78-65 on a flattering to deceive scoreline. Butterfly Man wins his second straight PotG with 31 points and 2 steals, Dennis Luther scores 12 with 5 assists and 4 steals, Geoffrey Blodgett scores 11 with 8 rebounds and a block, and Muhammed Owen just misses a double-double with 9 points, 10 boards. vs Northern Colorado (2-7) We have a shot of getting to .500 if we can beat the Bears, who are a Big Sky bottom-feeder. I feel like they're a little better than their record, but the caveat of us not being great applies. We're down 14-40 at the half. LOL. What an absolute farce. [b]vs High Point (2-8) Doesn't matter what we do here. For the first time in a long time, we're guaranteed to finish under .500 in non-conference play. The Panthers pounce on us and we're down by 8 at the break, as our shooting continues to desert us. We try to rally back, but our shooting turns to ice late in the second half, resulting in a 3 point loss. Pathetic. Code:
I have no idea how UC-Davis is 7-2. They don't look that good. CSU-Fullerton is definitely looking like the class of the Big West in what appears to be a down year for the conference. vs Hawaii (4-5) We'll just see what happens. Neither team can shoot and we're down by 4 at the half. I don't know why we suddenly can't make anything. It's damn frustrating, but no clue how to fix it. Bogdan Gonchar has his best game yet - 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 steals off the bench to secure the comeback 66-64 win we honestly didn't really deserve. 10 points and a steal for Geoffrey Blodgett, 15 for the Butterfly Man.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-10-2023, 02:54 AM
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#60 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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vs UC-Riverside 2-8 (0-1)
The Highlanders are in a shockingly poor state. Yes, their perimeter defense is terrible, but they still should be doing far better than this. They'll likely match up well against us and win pretty handily. Their shooting ice cold helps and we're surprisingly up by 16 when the first 20 minutes end. No lead is safe, yada yada. And yet we win easily. I'm not sure why Dennis Luther's 11 points and 4 steals are PotG. Seems to me it should have gone to Truman Crain's 16 points, 4 blocks, and a steal. Muhammed Owen records 10 points, 11 rebounds, 1 steal double-double. I really like the British Muslim's promise. @ UC-Irvine 3-8 (0-2) On the other hand, the Anteaters are well and truly as bad as their record suggests. Their post defense in particular is a joke, which probably bodes well for us to finally get back to .500 on the season. And we're up 41-32 at the break. Our post players haven't dominated the way I'd anticipated, but I'm still taking the lead. It's a blowout. 24 points and a steal/block for PotG Papillion Faulvarque, 19 points in as many minutes off the bench for Bogdan Gonchar, and 16 points with a block for Truman Crain. @ Cal Poly 7-5 (3-0) Two freshman starters are the only reason why the Mustangs haven't put up a dominating non-conference record, because the rest of their lineup is really, really good, and this will be a fun early-season matchup between two teams that are surprising in early Big West play. And by fun I mean their beating us by like 40. Imagine my shock when we jump out to a 10-0 lead and find ourselves on the positive end of a 39-25 line after the first half. Will it hold? Probably not! But this is still quite the thing to watch. 16 points, a block, and 2 steals by Bogdan Gonchar results in our crown jewel Russian freshman getting his first PotG win as we withstand an early second half surge and then grind them out. 11 points and 2 steals for the Butterfly Man in a victory where we score 75 by getting contributions from pretty much everyone. vs UC-Davis 11-2 (3-0) The Aggies, I'd like to remind everyone, were the NIT Champions last season and despite my surprise at their record, appear to be bona fide for their record after a close examination. Why? Because they shoot the hell out of the ball and have just enough solid defense in the right spots to get wins. It's a matchup of the only two unbeaten Big West squads, and you know I don't have any hope of pulling the upset. We're shooting terribly (33.3%) but are only down 27-28 when Dennis Luther converts the jumper as the buzzer goes off at the half. I fully expect us to be run roughshod in the second half, but we're showing some surprising chops to even hold our own - and that's after we opened down 0-7. All we can do is briefly tie it up, as their superiority does indeed win out in the second and we lose handily. vs CSU-Fullerton 9-6 (3-1) Recall how I said the Titans were the class of the Big West on paper? That's still true, and their only loss in conference has been in single digits to the Aggies. Squash match incoming. Down by 2 at the half, but it feels very much a lucky thing to even be close. That'll settle down in the second half, much like it did in the previous game. Yep. Pretty much the exact same script. @ UC-Santa Barbara 3-13 (1-4) The mirage that we're a Big West contender was fun while it lasted and the paper tiger status should again get exposed here. The Gauchos are way too talented to be bottom-feeders. Yep. Blowout loss by 28. @ Long Beach State 4-12 (3-3) At least we can quit pretending we're more than a team who got hot early now. And yet we eke out the 74-70 win on the Butterfly Man's 20 points and a steal and Truman Crain contributing 18 points, 2 blocks, and a steal. Our stars don't often align but when they do, they do. @ Pacific 2-17 (1-7) The Tigers always play us tough, records be damned. And they have a chance to spoil our hopes of finishing the front half of Big West season at .500 overall. I'm sure they'll take full advantage. We piss away a 10 point lead and have to fight to get it back to 6 by the time the first buzzer goes off. It's all grind from there on out to an ugly 55-45 win that we get on Truman Crain's 16 points, 7 rebounds, a block, and a steal, with Dennis Luther adding a 10-5-4-1 line. Our 6th straight season of 10+ wins is secured (and if injuries hadn't doomed us to 9 wins in 2015, we'd have double-digit victories in every season but the first). We're back to .500 and have already equaled last season's conference wins total with 6. It's been a better season than I expected so far for sure, but I still don't see a path to the tournament. Not with the Aggies and Titans totally dominating the Big West this year (9-0 and 8-1 respectively).
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-10-2023, 10:10 PM
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#61 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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vs Cal Poly 8-10 (4-5)
I still found it surprising we beat the Mustangs at their place - they're still more talented a squad than we are. I fully expect a revenge loss here. It's 6 minutes before we score and we're down by 9 at the half when they score a buzzer-beater trey. It's playing out exactly how I expected. We get no closer than 3 and are blown out by 20. vs UC-Irvine 5-15 (2-8) We should annihilate the Anteaters. They're a bad team and one of their best players is out injured to boot. A 4-point halftime lead ends in a 26 point rout. Dennis Luther leads the murder with 23 points and 4 steals, Butterfly Man scores 16 with 5 assists and a steal, and Truman Crain puts up 14 points, 2 blocks. @ CSU-Fullerton 16-6 (10-1) The Titans' only Big West loss is still to the Aggies, so dial up another loss. Yep. Every time we get within a single possession, they rip off a bunch of points and we lose by 10. @ #25 UC-Davis 20-2 (12-0) Yep, you read that right. For the first time in this universe, the Big West has a Top 25 team. We won't be the spoilers here. We're tied at 57-all with 2 minutes to go. And then we don't score the rest of the game. Par for the course. vs Long Beach State 6-17 (4-8) Can we get a win and finally start turning around what has been a terrible February? F in the chat says no. We try our hardest to blow a 12 point second half lead, but make our FTs down the stretch to win by 10 in our most balanced victory all season. Code:
vs UC-Santa Barbara 7-17 (5-8) The Gauchos were only our other loss other than the Big Two in the first half of the conference season. Here's to hoping we get revenge but more realistically they sweep us. Yep. 36.7% shooting as a team won't do it. vs Pacific 2-24 (1-14) We really, really need this win. It'd lock up .500 in Big West season play (still far short of the Big Dance ticket the AD wants) and would be a salve on how disappointing things have gone in the back half. We're on the back foot almost the entire game but just barely manage to come back before almost blowing a 10 point lead. 4 win as Truman Crain goes off for 20 points, 4 blocks, and 2 steals, but it's Bogdan Gonchar's 17 points - including the last shot made all game, that secures the victory (Crain won PotG). An inefficient 13 points by Butterfly Man Recruiting finishes out. Code:
Is this going to help our shooting woes? No. But if it's accurate, we reload our guard spots with another stellar stealer. @ Hawaii 16-11 (10-6) The Aggies got hit with the injury rashes we typically do and lost 3 straight games, so it's the Titans who have won the Big West title as I predicted in preseason that they'd do. We have a very outside shot of maybe sneaking up to 3rd, but to get there we'll need to win out - including topping the Rainbow Warriors in paradise. We implode in the second half. Whatever. Let's look at .500, collect our first round loss and move on. Only Truman Crain takes out his frustrations on UC-Riverside with a 17-7-3 blocks line and Bogdan Gonchar adds 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals as we rock Riverside 62-47 to continue our recent trend of winning Big West season/trash season/winning Big West season/trash season/winning Big West season. Big West Conference Tournament @ Cal Poly What an unkind draw. We're in the Titans' half of the bracket, so a loss is guaranteed even if we somehow advanced, but I really wanted the first round win to get to .500 overall on the season. The game wasn't even close. A complete rout as we shoot 34% as a team and Dennis Luther got hurt anyway. CSU-Fullerton wins 93-88 over UC-Davis in a great game that the conference deserved. NCAA Tournament CSU-Fullerton draws the Big West's highest-ever seeding at 9. UC-Davis is snubbed by the committee but gets to defend their title in the NIT as a 2 seed. CSU-Fullerton gets the first Big West Big Dance win, upsetting Florida 75-72. They're promptly annihilated by Florida State in the second round, but so what? The Aggies repeat as NIT champions, routing 8 seed Temple 73-48 in the final. Nobody ever really looked like challenging them much either. Big West: where NIT champions are born. 1 seed Florida State vs 10 seed Texas 1 seed Vanderbilt vs 2 seed Ohio State The 1 seeds go chalk and the Seminoles savage the Commodores by a ton to take the title. And Florida State won with a red player in the starting lineup. Just goes to show that the colors are only a rough overall guide and it's the whole team fit that matters. Code:
Typical year for us. Snore. Seniors up next.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-10-2023, 10:24 PM
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#62 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
Played better than a 1* should. Still never lived up to his potential. Did finish 4th in school history in blocks, but that's not saying much. He got accepted to USC, where he'll be pursuing a master's degree in Physical Therapy and eventually become a specialist in sports therapy, I'm sure. Code:
Three-year starter that somehow never became as good as he could have been in terms of impact. Very inconsistent player. Still, that many years allows him to accumulate the stats that puts him 8th in school history in points and #1 in assists (286) and #1 in steals (279) - including taking over as the Big West's leading stealer in history, returning the record to Northridge that Nazario Moreno stole from Joseph Velarde. He winds up going into the seminary, where he'll become a Catholic priest. Guess his mind was on other things than playing dominant basketball. Code:
Highest-ranked recruit in school history (ahead of yes, even Thomas Hadden, who is still playing pro ball overseas in France) and formed one half of the most talented backcourt on paper in Matadors universe history. But that didn't pan out. 9th in points, 10th in offensive rebounds, 3rd in assists, 3rd in steals (6th all-time in the Big West). He heads back to Etna, where he'll work in his dad's gas station and presumably take over when his father retires.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-11-2023, 11:48 PM
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#63 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Almost forgot before the switchover.
Code:
Decent showing. As a result of having lasted 9 years, I suppose, my coaching level is officially upgraded to 1. Where we've succeeded is my ability not to recruit studs, but in coaching up players' defensive skills, and bar one really bad recruiting season when I completely whiffed on what I thought a bunch of 1* bigs would be, we've been successful at scouting. But I want to win. All 20 points go into defense. Making me a 50/10/10/50 coach. Code:
In a normal year, three 2* would be cause for some excitement. Not this season. Teams are bringing in 3* by the truckload now, though ask four-time Big West recruiting champion CSU-Fullerton what that has meant outside of last year's dream season. Portland State moves to the WCC, while Portland moves to the Big Sky in a neat swap of schools in the same city. There's a lot of coaching movement in the Big West this year. I'm not one of them, of course. Cal Poly We see Terry Heywood retire and Eusbio Lo, a 38 year old Laotian-American who traveled with his mentor to a lot of places - most recently Stanford, before getting the call. Great recruiter, great scout, good defensive coach. Strong hire. UC-Riverside Gerald Yarbrough was given the Retire or Be Fired option after last year's abysmal year with the Highlanders and he chose the former. 41 year old Ulysses Dunne is the first head coach to be snapped up. In 9 years at Southern, the Xs and Os-minded coach (86 Offense, 62 Defense) has 3 NIT appearances and 2 Big Dance tickets, the most recent advancing to the second round last season which finally got him the call. His teams won the SWAC titles in 2013, 2017, and 2020. Can't recruit, though. Just coaches guys up. UC-Davis Three years is all the longer the Coaching God Carl Robertson lasted. Two NIT titles and he's taking his Xs and Os expertise to Florida Atlantic, a mid-tier Sun Belt team whose only postseason appearance has been a 2017 NIT 2nd round exit despite two 20+ win seasons. To replace him, the Aggies tapped 58 year old Lloyd Hernandez, who is a master-class defensive coach (100), decent offensively (56), but can't scout or recruit. Hernandez has spent the last 9 years coaching at Berkeley, so it's another Cali assistant tap. I'm not thrilled to see all this actual coaching talent come into the league. Especially on the defensive side of the ball, which is where I'm trying to make my own bones. So our prestige inched up to 30 after staying static a year. Weirdly enough, despite two blanks on NCAA tournament aspirations, the AD isn't even beginning to talk about replacing me.  Fantastic camp by Muhammed Owen and once again I over-ruled the assistants by starting a freshman over Brian Lowry. I think Tim Grey looks a lot better than the colors suggest. Our post defense is going to rely heavily on Owen, but our perimeter defense is looking pretty good. We're switching to a 2-3 zone this year and it's the first time in many years we're not going full press (7). We're definitely weaker at point guard and center, but I feel like Bogdan Gonchar will be great at SF. Our offense is focused solely on the Butterfly Man. @ McNeese State From 2015-18 the Cowboys had a streak of four seasons where they were one and done in the NCAA Tournament and the NIT. They've fallen off to a mid-table Southland side since. I think they're beatable. We don't score for the last 3:30 of the first half and our huge lead gets slashed to 4. Not a great feeling but hopefully we've gotten the ice out of the way and are ready to heat up again. 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 steals by the Butterfly Man as we do just enough to stay in front and come out 72-64 winners in a game far closer than the score appears. Supporting our French PotG is Bogdan Gonchar (16 points), Muhammed Owen (17 rebounds and a steal), Tim Grey (10 boards, a block, and a steal in his collegiate debut), and 10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals by Kevin McKenzie off the bench. @ Morgan State In 2015 and 2016, the Bears had first round exits in the Big Dance and NIT. But since those great days, they've had a couple sitting home 20 win seasons and won just 5 games last year. They look lousy - probably the worst team I've ever seen around this prestige level (23). And of course we play right down to their level, actually going into the locker room down by 2 because we can't make our fing FTs and they're hitting treys at an absurd rate. 44-6 FTA deficit. Yeah if that's not bullshit I don't know what is. That's the sole reason we lose this one. Serious, serious homecooking and bias by the refs. Unbelievable. We play that game 10 times, we win 9 of them. So, so stupid. And the Butterfly Man was ruled out after 11 minutes. He'll be playable for the gauntlet, but such bullroar.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-12-2023, 09:39 PM
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#64 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Our annual gauntlet run goes as you might expect against Florida State, Baylor, and Maryland this year.
We set a new high record in recruit ranking with our first commit: Code:
Ranked #264 at the time of the commitment, the Tropical King looks like a raw but exciting player (Red/Blue) who should supercharge our point guard position, which has looked pretty ordinary since the graduations of Joseph Velarde and Geoffrey Blodgett in terms of pure talent. vs Stony Brook (2-2) The Seawolves look like a solid, yet unremarkable team. This one could go either way, because I feel like this year's Matadors fit that same description. Yeah. It's a rout. We shoot 30% in the first half and our recovery is losing by 13. Austin Soukop is out 2 weeks but he's from the trash class of bigs so no loss there. vs Bucknell (1-5) Great post defense, terrible perimeter defense. We should win but I'm holding out no hope for anything. Yep. Another 30% first half shooting en route to a 20 point loss. Think I'm gonna fire my assistant after this year. That's if I survive. We get annihilated by Albany, giving the Danes their first win of the season, and need a comeback with OT heroics to get a win against Radford: Code:
NJIT hasn't won a game all year and we barf up a stinker against them, then get thumped by Idaho. We've never had a 2-9 non-conference campaign. Even in our shithouse first year we've never gone 2-9. I rightfully deserve to be fired after this year. But then the Butterfly Man scores 19 with a block and 3 steals as we stun UC-Davis 72-70 at their place to open the Big West. Bogdan Gonchar scores 12 with a steal, and Muhammed Owen racks 10 boards, a block, and a steal. Not to worry: CSU-Fullerton reminds us of who we are two days later. We complete recruiting with yet another talented looking PG who slates as Red/Blue: Code:
His shooting numbers look a little worrying, but maybe he'll grow into his upside. Love the defensive rebounding for a guy that small if this is accurate. Could we end up going smallball at some point in the future? It'll probably be for another coach, though.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-13-2023, 12:36 AM
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#65 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
I'm calling Fullerton as the class of the Big West again this season, and early results seem to verify that. My guess is we end up around .500. Our entire starting lineup gets shut down against UC-Santa Barbara and we go 12 minutes without scoring in the second half, but eke out the 67-64 win as Kevin McKenzie scores 14 with a block and Jeromy Harrington puts up 11 with 2 steals. But it's Austin Soukop's 10 points, 5 rebounds, and a steal that wins PotG. Weird win but we'll take it. 17-4-4 and a steal by Kevin McKenzie wins him a PotG award as we handle UC-Riverside pretty easily. 16 points, 12 rebounds, and a steal should have given Tim Grey the nod, though. Bogdan Gonchar scores 12 with 5 boards and a block, and the Butterfly Man equals him in scoring. It's been a surprising 3-1 conference start so I'm not all surprised when Cal Poly waxes us and our offense dies down the stretch in a loss to Long Beach State. We sputter out against Pacific, too, suffering a humiliating defeat. Tim Grey goes down against Hawaii and is out 2 weeks, leading to Austin Soukop in the lineup and a blowout loss to UC-Irvine to finish the first half. We're now in the danger zone of missing the Big West conference tournament as three teams sit at the bottom at 3-6. Bogdan Gonchar scores 15 with 4 rebounds, 6 assists, and a steal to win PotG in a critical victory over the Gauchos, with 13 and 5 by Kevin McKenzie off the bench, and 10 points, 9 rebounds for Austin Soukop to just miss the double-double. Bogdan Gonchar has his most complete game with 21 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 steals as we maul the Mustangs at their place. 13/9/1 block for Tim Grey in his return to the lineup and Butterfly Man adds 13 with a block and steal. UC-Riverside reminds us we suck, Pacific pummels us by 20, and we don't score in the last 3 minutes to piss away the lead against Long Beach State. UC-Irvine ends our faint .500 homes and I'm reminded that on the Good Year/Bad Year cycle, we were due for a bad year. Said as I watch Hawaii own OT and we lose another game we should have won. It's the first year since 2015 we won't sniff 10 wins and it's our worst record since the very first season, when we were 7-23 (5-13). We match the wins and conference record. Yeah, I'm so getting fired. Consequently I skip the postseason entirely. Code:
Tim Grey must have been classed as a CE because otherwise he got robbed. [code] #53 SG Papillion Faulvarque - Cal State Northridge - Senior -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Height: 6-6 Weight: 215 High School: Hometown: Aubagne, France Attributes: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Type INS JPS FTS 3PS HND PAS ORB DRB PSD PRD STL BLK QKN STR JMP STA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Current: 35 75 51 66 37 47 30 13 36 7 66 54 68 64 78 66 2021: 35 74 50 63 34 42 29 12 34 7 61 51 67 60 78 56 2020: 34 71 48 60 32 38 28 12 31 6 54 46 65 57 76 47 2019: 33 68 46 57 30 35 27 12 30 5 49 43 64 53 75 37 2018: 32 66 45 55 29 33 26 12 29 5 46 42 62 49 74 27 2017: 30 62 43 51 27 31 24 12 27 5 42 40 60 41 69 7 Potential: D B C B C C D D C F B C Health: Good Scholarship: Yes Status: Active Roster Academics: 92 Stat Averages: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season G GS MIN PTS ORE REB AST TO A/T STL BLK PF -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2019 29 11 15.9 5.9 0.8 1.8 0.6 1.8 0.33 0.4 0.1 1.2 2020 29 29 28.8 13.1 1.3 3.0 2.0 3.1 0.63 1.0 0.2 2.4 2021 30 30 26.3 14.0 1.0 3.0 1.7 2.4 0.69 1.1 0.4 2.2 2022 29 29 23.0 10.4 1.1 2.9 1.7 2.2 0.78 0.9 0.3 1.6 Career 117 99 23.5 10.9 1.1 2.7 1.5 2.4 0.78 0.9 0.2 1.8 Shooting Averages: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season FGM FGA FG% FTM FTA FT% 3PM 3PA 3P% PPS +/- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2019 2.0 5.2 .393 1.0 1.6 .667 0.8 2.4 .338 1.15 -1.76 2020 4.4 10.8 .412 2.4 3.5 .676 1.9 5.8 .323 1.22 -2.52 2021 4.6 10.8 .429 2.7 3.6 .757 2.1 5.6 .371 1.30 -1.33 2022 3.6 8.6 .416 1.7 2.5 .685 1.5 4.3 .349 1.21 -5.45 Career 3.7 8.9 .416 2.0 2.8 .703 1.6 4.5 .347 1.23 -2.75 Stat Totals: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season G GS MIN PTS OREB REB AST TO STL BLK PF -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2019 29 11 460 172 22 52 17 51 12 2 36 2020 29 29 834 381 38 86 57 90 28 6 69 2021 30 30 788 421 30 91 50 72 34 12 66 2022 29 29 667 302 33 83 50 64 26 9 45 Career 117 99 2749 1276 123 312 174 277 100 29 216 Shooting Totals -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season FGM FGA FTM FTA 3PM 3PA +/- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2019 59 150 30 45 24 71 -51 2020 129 313 69 102 54 167 -73 2021 139 324 81 107 62 167 -40 2022 104 250 50 73 44 126 -158 Career 431 1037 230 327 184 531 -322 Career Highs: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Type Pts OReb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO FGM FGA FTM FTA 3PM 3PA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season 21 5 7 5 3 2 9 9 13 6 7 4 10 Career 31 5 9 5 4 3 9 10 21 9 11 5 14 Awards & Acheivements: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season Award -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All Player of the Game: 9 2017 High School: Rated ** and #511 overall by the FBCB scouting service.[/b] The Butterfly Man finishes #3 in school history in points, #6 in assists, and #7 in steals. Oh, and tied for 7th in blocks. Solid career, but he's forever going to be tagged as the guy who couldn't carry the offense in his final season and led us to a horrible finish. No worries for him, though. He's gotten a job with Proctor Gamble, working in their marketing department as a copywriter for the Francophone market and doing translation work. The Butterfly in the Machine for sure. Code:
My assistants loved him. Fuck this guy. The waste during the year when we had only one scholarship. He's not invited to the reunion parties. Code:
Our highest ranked class by FAR. Oh and one of our scrub centers finally got angry enough to transfer. Cool. I don't care. Be pretty funny if I got fired after I landed our best recruiting class ever. The AD is unhappy enough to do it. For the first time, no conference movement. I survive and hire Jason Dillman, a 44 year old assistant who is 68/16 Offense/Defense and represents an upgrade in both categories over my old assistant. Dillman's a long-time assistant at Houston Baptist before he resigned to look for more money. Had one year at St. Louis, got fired. One year at William & Mary, and the whole staff got canned. No team he's been an assistant for has ever made a postseason. We have a transfer spot open but everyone is butt, so we pass on it.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-14-2023, 11:44 PM
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#66 |
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Dark Cloud
Join Date: Apr 2001
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Good luck seeing if that class produces!
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05-16-2023, 10:35 PM
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#67 | |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Quote:
If I'm even around to see it. Firing is a real possibility 
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-16-2023, 11:51 PM
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#68 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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We land a player who looks like an absolute banger - a pure stud in the making that I'd love to be around to coach:
Code:
Red/Blue and at #273 if that holds, he'd be our highest ranked player since just inked freshman PG Eutropio Rey (who was #264). But I'm on the hotseat so it's tough. Our stud potential Red/Blue PG Ned Fraser is willing to redshirt and I'm more than happy to give it to him with Jakub Sedlacek, Paul Mattson and Rey already on board.  This is the first time in a long time that we've not fielded a single Green player in the starting lineup. And yet, as a composite 1-5 this is probably the most complete defensive squad we've ever fielded. We're not running pressure a ton (5) but we're fast paced (7) with Kevin McKenzie and Bogdan Gonchar as the key players following the Butterfly Man's graduation, and both those guys showed flashes of ability in last year's trainwreck season. Also of note: All three of the Internationals Class are now in the lineup, and none of the 1* Big Class ever had a full-time starting gig. One of them, Anastasio Damato, transferred out last year and played his final season in Division II after getting no D-I offers. @ McNeese State Interesting all-junior lineup for the Cowboys this year. Let's see how we do. I get the sense this is going to be a close contest. 7 point half-time lead and neither team is shooting well. Our defensive work is definitely showing, and they have some decent guys who can play D, too. So it's an interesting game. 7 is our final victory margin, too. 20 points, 3 steals for Bogdan Gonchar in the 66-59 triumph, 16 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals for Kevin McKenzie, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks for Muhammed Owen, but it's Tim Grey who gets the surprise game ball - 8 points, 9 rebounds, a block, a steal, and it's a really weird choice. I'll take it, though. @ Seattle (1-0) The Redhawks are absolutely garbage despite their season-opening win. Senior PG Dan Martin scored 31 and he's the only one who is even decent on this dumpster fire. This should be a blowout if we can slow Martin down. We're down by 3 at the half because we can't hit anything (36%). We shot 37.7% in our opener, so our shooting is a ginormous problem this season apparently. Frustrating - we should be destroying these dudes. We go scoreless the last 4:05 of the game and it's enough to lose us a game that should have been a cakewalk.  San Diego State, UConn, and Baylor hang expected giant Ls on us. Muhammed Owen is out over a month after the Bears bash him. vs Arkansas-Pine Bluff (2-1) Welp, it's revenge of the 1* Bigs as Albert Ragsdale finds himself inserted in the lineup for this month. I'm guessing the Golden Lions gash us to hell and back. Lead most of the half, fall apart at the end and go down by 2. Sounds really familiar. We just give up in the second 20 minutes. vs Utah State (1-4) In a normal world, the Aggies would be an easy win. We're not in a normal world. Blink and you'll miss the 3 seconds we held a lead late in the first half, only to go down by 5. We get close a couple times in the second half, but L #6 in a row. vs Coastal Carolina (4-4) I don't remember scheduling these guys. Not that it matters. L incoming. 21 point L. Let's cut to the chase, shall we? We lose by 1 at home to Bucknell (a rout against Nevada-Reno is coming later in the campaign), blow a sizable lead at CSU-Bakersfield to close out our non-conference slate. 13 points a piece from Bogdan Gonchar and Jakub Sedlacek get us a comeback 2 point win over Pacific after blowing a 10 point lead, Gonchar getting PotG by adding 3 steals in the 69-62 win that was actually a nipper. Muhammed Owen demands to come back early and we get hot in the second half to spank Cal Poly 76-61, as stud recruit (comparatively) Eutropio Rey goes off for 20 points to win PotG. 10 points, 5 rebounds from Kevin McKenzie, 13 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals from Bogdan Gonchar. Suddenly we're 2-0 to start Big West play and everyone is wondering if we're going to be the surprise team of the year that no one saw coming. Oh, and we land our second and final recruit of the year. For some reason the transfer scholarship didn't roll over. Code:
Solid all-around player who looks like a slasher with maybe some 3 point shooting potential. Pretty darn good get if you ask me and we've had some decent luck the last couple recruiting classes. But it might be too late to save my bacon.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-17-2023, 12:27 AM
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#69 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
So we haven't exactly played the cream of the conference crop so far. UC-Riverside looks like the best squad in my opinion and I think 4th place is probably our best hope. It's kind of a weird year for the conference. Muhammed Owen turns in a flawless 6/6 shooting night for 12 points and 15 rebounds to take the top player honors in a 72-60 beat of Long Beach State. 17 points, 11 rebounds for Kevin McKenzie, and Jeromy Harrington, who was a surprise All-Freshman Big West selection last year, scores 10 points with 2 steals. The expected bubble burst happens when we flatline in the second half vs Hawaii. We then upset CSU-Fullerton 84-82 as Eutropio Rey scores 20 with 2 steals, Kevin McKenzie puts up 18/7/1 steal, Bogdan Gonchar is 16/9/1/2 steals, and Muhammed Owen is the best player with 13 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocks. 21 points and 2 steals from Kevin McKenzie (PotG), holding our opponents to 29.6% shooting later, we've upset UC-Davis 59-44. 14 points, 6 rebounds, and a steal from Bogdan Gonchar too as we've already equaled our 5 Big West wins from last season. I'm just gonna post this real quick because we'll probably never see it again: Code:
The funniest part? We're 1-6 at home. Yeah, like I said, really, really weird year. As expected, UC-Riverside reminds us the Highlanders are the class of the conference, whipping us by 26 points. We have the single greatest game of my career since the upset of #1 Stanford a few years back when we come back from down 15 to UC-Irvine to... well... Code:
Absolutely amazing. That's also a school record for single game assists, by the way. And of course that's followed up by heartbreak when UC-Santa Barbara hits a 3 point buzzer-beater to steal a win that belonged to us. That means 2-7 home record. We're in 2nd place, a game behind the Highlanders. We should be tied with them. Ugh. Stupid Gauchos.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-17-2023, 01:04 AM
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#70 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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The Gauchos' stunner over us leads to Hawaii rolling us up easily and the funk continues with a second half surrender to Long Beach State. From 6-2 to 6-5. Then 6-6 when our home rally against UC-Davis falls short.
Wild one against Fullerton: Code:
Been a minute since we've seen a game like that. Nevada-Reno pistolwhips us as anticipated, setting up a need to finish .500 in the Big West if we want 10 wins this year. UC-Riverside sends us to exactly that by beating us, and we promptly score 19 points in the first half by playing scared against UCSB. Second half collapse against UC-Irvine and now we need to win out. Remember when we were 5-1 in Big West play? Pepperidge Farm remembers. 20/6/2 from Kevin McKenzie as Best Guy, 15/5/2 from Bogdan Gonchar, 14 bench points from Eutropio Rey, and 10/8 with a steal from Muhammed Owen survives us 71-66 over Cal Poly. We're locked into the #7 seed for the Big West tournament no matter what happens, so bring it, Pacific. They do, beating us by 3. ...Fucking hell. Big West Conference Tournament We draw 2 seed UC-Davis and don't even try, meekly bowing out 54-75. Time to skip the postseason again. I'm demoralized. UC-Davis wins the whole thing and is a 13 seed against Florida State. You can guess how that ended. UC-Riverside is snubbed by the committee and promptly runs to the NIT championship game, where they're blitzed by almost 30 by 5 seed Bradley, preventing the third straight year the NIT was taken by a Big West team. Still, that's three straight NIT championships that have featured one of our teams. 7 seed Maryland beats 3 seed DePaul in one of the Final Four, 3 seed Oklahoma beating 9 seed Notre Dame in the other one. Bad Final Four for Catholic schools. Congrats, terpkirstin, as the Terrapins stun the Sooners 96-89 for the first national title (they made the Final Four the first season, too). Code:
Yep. Neither senior deserves a send-off, as combined they only started 8 games in the four years and lived up to their bust reputation. Code:
The good news: Major Ramirez indeed looks like the best player I've ever recruited. The bad news: Our prestige drops a second year in a row - from 28 to 27 and I'm in Danger. Do I get fired?.... Illinois State moves to the Big 12 and Texas Tech gets sent to the Missouri Valley. LOL. Do I get fired?... Nope! One.more.year. to try and save my job. In a year where most of the All-Big West players are seniors. Good luck, me.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-18-2023, 12:40 AM
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#71 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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We have a whopping 6 scholarships available, and of course we go 0-4 on every position that's not PG or SG, where we land two.
Code:
Really more of a 2, but he's a solid get who should be able to contribute right away even with our stacked backcourt. Red/Blue by initial scouting. Code:
With those awful handles, all-around defensive ability, and size, he projects as a SF. I'm honestly more excited for him than I am Serra, despite the lower Red/Green floor. Major Ramirez is willing to redshirt, but he projects as the starting PF right away and... yeah I have to be in as a true freshman. We need wins to keep the AD happy. We'll worry about this long-term instead.  You have to go back to the Velarde/Luther/Gem Rodriguez/Winston Reyes/Thomas Hadden senior season to find a lineup this out and out talented. That 2019 squad finished 19-12 (11-7) ranked #90, the only time in universe history the Matadors have finished in the Top 100. And yes, that's Major Ramirez at Yellow/Green as a true freshman, *and* he's one of our Key Players alongside Kevin McKenzie and Bogdan Gonchar. 72 Inside/83 Defense.. and paired with Muhammed Owen's 69 Defense/Blocking, this is our best defensive pair in the paint ever. It's a down year for the Big West at first glance, so I might actually get us to the Big Dance and save my job. @ NJIT The Highlanders are still an absolute joke of a team and this should be a cakewalk tuneup. Annnnd they go up 34-19 at the half, shooting 50% to our 30.8%. Unbelievable. We fight back and with 15 seconds left, Eutropio Rey sinks the jump shot to put us up. They miss the 3 pointer that would have taken the win. Box score is sorta crazy: Code:
So.much.foul.trouble. for our starting bigs. If that trend continues, we're in deep water, as Tim Grey is our only reliable bench big. @ Brown The Bears have profiled similarly to us - a mid-tier to below-average team in their conference, having a rough spot the last couple seasons. This should be a win but after nearly losing to NJIT, I take nothing for granted. Shooting continues to be a problem. We're down 1 at the half because we're shooting just 26.1% as a team. 28.8% for the game. Fuck this. We give up 135 points to UConn. Yeah. It's that kind of year. I'm already in quick summary mode. We wallop Eastern Kentucky after The Gauntlet, turning 22 points and 3 steals from PotG Kevin McKenzie, 12/8/4/4/3 from Tim Grey, 12 points and 2 steals from Bogdan Gonchar, and 11 points from Major Ramirez into an 84-67 victory. Major Ramirez has a coming out party of 20 points to go with Kevin McKenzie's 10 points and 3 steals as we come back to beat Kennesaw State 54-51 in a heartstopper, but then we lose Eutropio Rey for over a month. Not cool, but typical for our luck. Still, it's our first time in a few years we've actually gotten some wins in the non-conference slate. And we get back to .500 on the year with the most amazing game we've had in literal ages. Code:
Then it's this universe's Lafayette Leopards. No Graham Sims so their only postseason appearance is a first round NIT exit a few years ago. And they've been on a major downslide recently. Naturally they beat us when our offense completely dies. Beat Stony Brook 87-65 on 21 points from Kevin McKenzie, 18 points and 2 steals from Jakub Sedlacek, 14 points and a steal from Jeromy Harrington, and 10 points, a steal from Muhammed Owen. Top it off by losing Ned Fraser for 24 days and Tim Grey for a little over a week. Yes, we're back to the bullshit injuries parade. 16 points, 8 rebounds from Kevin McKenzie, 15 points, 2 steals from Bogdan Gonchar, and PotG Tim Grey's 12 points, 8 rebounds, 1 steal as he plays injured grinds out a 73-67 victory to give us an actual winning non-conference record. Oh, and 15 rebounds and a block from Muhammed Owen, who hasn't put up the stud boarding numbers I expected this year. We steal a 3* big man recruit. More excitement. Code:
Raw as hell, but whatever. We need bodies in the paint. Oh and Bogdan Gonchar's year is done. He got hit with an academic suspension at the worst possible time.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-19-2023, 04:08 AM
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#72 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
Losing Gonchar for the year pretty much kills our title hopes, I think. But we'll see. Jeromy Harrington steps in as the new starting SF, with raw freshman Jeffrey Aponte as his backup. It's an ugly one, but we eke out a 64-62 road win over UC-Irvine as Muhammed Owen puts up 16 points, 14 rebounds, and a block, Kevin McKenzie scores 15 with a block and a steal, and none other than Jeromy Harrington is PotG by going 11/12 from the line for 13 points, 4 assists, and 2 blocks to secure the victory. Exceptional defense and 21 points, a block, and a steal from Kevin McKenzie carries us to a comfortable 65-50 win over Pacific. We also get 13 rebounds, a block, and 4 steals from Muhammad Owen in the surprising rout over a bad team we usually play down to. Eutropio Rey and Ned Fraser are both back to playable in our next game vs Cal Poly, but will see limited if any minutes. Naturally we immediately fail to score in the last 3 minutes and blow another game we should have won. Getting real tired of that shit happening. And of course Kevin McKenzie is D2D injured on top of it when we have another game in two days. Getting real tired of the bullshit injuries too. 20 point blowout loss to UC-Riverside as expected due to all the suspensions and injuries. Then with everyone healthy, we abandon our press almost entirely on the advice of my assistants and get: Code:
Maybe it's what I should have done to begin with, I don't know. 20 points and 3 steals by PotG Jakub Sedlacek, Muhammad Owen with 12 points and 10 rebounds, 18 points, 2 blocks, a steal by Kevin McKenzie, and 12 and 11 bench points from Eutropio Rey and Jeromy Harrington, and we've got a huge road rout over UC-Davis that's critical for early season positioning in the Big West. Fucking HORSESHIT BUZZER-BEATER LOSS vs Hawaii in a game we owned. It's also bullshit that we even have to go to OT against the Gauchos, who are one of the conference's worst teams this year. But at least... Code:
We pick up recruit #4 on the year. He's trash by our scouting, but I'm betting on his Red/Red being a misfire. Code:
Yep, we finally add Australia to our list. Was bound to happen sooner or later.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-25-2023, 09:40 PM
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#73 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
Huge win, but we lose Kevin McKenzie for two weeks because of it. Jeromy Harrington back in the lineup and I forgot to mention Eutropio Rey shifted over to starting PG at some point during the morass of injuries. He, Harrington, and Major Ramirez are our three go-tos while McKenzie is out. UC-Riverside pulls away in the second half to blow us out, but then we do the same to Cal Poly on Jeromy Harrington's PotG 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 steals. Adding 12 points, 6 assists, 2 steals is Eutropio Rey, while Muhammed Owen bangs 13 boards and a blocked shot. Our defense collapses in the closing minutes vs UC-Davis, effectively ending our faint title hopes, though we do follow it up with this exciting win over CSU-Fullerton: Code:
One more win will lock in .500 for the conference and, at 15 overall wins, our best season since that 2019 dream year. We get it in a thrilling triumph in Hawaii that was a nail-biter to the end. Maybe our most complete offensive game of the year: Code:
Even a total losing out and a flameout in the first round of the Big West conference tournament would guarantee us a .500 overall season BULLSHIT 19 SECOND 3 POINTER IN OT COSTS US A WIN AGAINST LONG BEACH STATE AND THE TITLE!!!! UGH!! WE WERE RIGHT FUCKING BACK IN THE RACE TOO!!!! So pissed. So fucking PISSED! We were 9-5, the two teams above us at 10-5 as we'd climbed our way back in. Code:
Not great, and I expect the Red/Orange is accurate. Can't steal the ball, so doesn't meet our expectations or scheme there. But I like his defensive upside.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-26-2023, 12:03 AM
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#74 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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For the first time in school history, six players reach double-digit figures in a game. It's another close one:
Code:
You know the story by now of what happens when we're having a good season and we play Pacific. We lose, falling apart in OT. We keep losing in OT to bad teams and that's cost us our title. Muhammad Owen gets hurt, but he'll suck it up and play in our final game of the regular season, because it's so tightly packed behind regular season champion UC-Riverside, we could end up anywhere from 2nd to 5th. Our offense dies in the second half and we blow a 20 point lead at home to UC-Irvine, so it's... Code:
Imagine how much different this looks if Bogdan Gonchar doesn't get suspended for the conference season. Anyway, it's a rematch with UC-Irvine and we score 2 points in the first 10 minutes. We lose by 21. Code:
Probably trash. Whatever. We filled all six scholarships and I'm likely fired anyway. UC-Irvine proved they were the goods by winning the whole thing, beating Winthrop in the 16 seed play-in game, then getting slaughtered by top seed Maryland. UC-Riverside got a harsh draw in the NIT as a 7 seed and were bounced in the first round. Like I said, down year for the Big West. NIT Champion: New Mexico (1 seed) NCAA Champion: Kentucky over Stanford (4 seed who also knocked off Maryland in the Final Four. Louisville was the other FF entry) Code:
No surprises here. Major Ramirez had a case for being on the All-Freshman team, but I can see why they went Eck in the voting.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Last edited by Izulde : 05-26-2023 at 12:04 AM. |
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05-26-2023, 12:05 AM
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#75 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
Good player, but not as good as Thomas Hadden, whom I still consider the greatest one ever to put on a Matadors uniform. Ranked #1 in CSU-Northridge career rebounds and offensive rebounds and is #5 in both categories in the Big West career records. More the benefit of a fast-paced system and four years than anything else. He's headed to Cambridge for grad school. Code:
5th all-time in school history scoring. Got accepted into a doctoral program at USC, where he'll pursue his PhD in astrophysics. Code:
Limited talent and barely graduated. Never quite grew into his potential and he'll head back to the Czech Republic, joining the workforce and probably never coming back. Code:
What a waste. Was supposed to be the crown jewel of the Internationals class and instead... yeah. He goes back to Russia rather than stay to finish his degree. Fucking Gonchar. Code:
He peaked in high school. Half the time I forgot he even had a scholarship. Going back home to work on the family farm.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-26-2023, 12:20 AM
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#76 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
It figures. We put together our first Top 100 class in school history... and it's in a year where the Big West has *5* Top 100 classes - the most in any year (the previous record was 4 all the way back in 2014). The Highlanders' 58th ranked class is 5th all-time, and they own most of the Top 5. Long Beach State had the #38 class in 2019 and CSU-Fullerton had #43 in 2017 for the non-Highlander classes. Our prestige climbs back up to 29 after two years of sliding back. At #226, Brian Klingensmith is our highest rated recruited in school history, but I think Robert Serra, who continues our long line of quality point guard recruits, might end up having the best career of anyone. In fact, I think he's a Day One starter as a SG. I'd do a recruiting map, but I'm waiting to see if I get fired first. I do not! Map later.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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