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04-23-2010, 08:28 PM
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#51 | ||
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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1947-1948
Preseason Polls Code:
New Hampshire is a new comer to the top 10. They've had very little real success in the past. A couple of tournament bids, but they never did any real damage. They had 3 top 25 recruiting class (#21, 22 and #26) the previosu 3 years and all that talent are upperclassmen now, so they should be good. End of Regular Season Bowling Green once again finished #1 in the country, but with 4 losses and they didn't win their conference tournament. Regular season boredom for them, or some chinks in the armor? Radford finished up 2nd in the nation with a 28-5 record and will try to win their 2nd title in 3 years. New Hampshire did have a great season finishing #7. Lamar and Pine Bluff, the other 2 teams in last year's Final Four are both in the top 10 as wel. Here are the automatic qualifiers to the tournament: Code:
Illinois finished 2nd in the Big10 and lost in the Semi's of the tournament. Riverside and Santa Barbara finished 8th and 9th, and neither did anything in the tournament this year. Brackets West: Air Force, out of the Mountain West, with a 29-5 (15-1) record takes the #1 seed. Their star player, Rodney Cruz is injured and will probably miss the first weekend of the tournament. They will miss his scoring badly, as their whole philosophy is to just outgun their opponent and don't play defense. The #2 seed is Eastern Michigan. Mid-West: Bowling Green, of course, is the #1 seed. A troubling stat for them is how far their defense slipped this year. They are always great on both sides of the ball, but were only ranked #165 in defense this season. The #2 seed is Pine Bluff! South: Radford, out of the Big South with a 28-5 (13-5) record, is the #1 seed. They have a deadly threesome of scorers, all over 15 a game. Their point guard averages 9 with 8 assists! They are the #1 ranked offense, topping 80 points per game. The #2 seed is Ball State. East: Charleston Southern, from the Big South, with a 27-4 (16-2) record grabs the final #1 seed. Their first trip to the tournament was last year when they made the Sweet 16. They made a huge jump up this season. The #2 seed is Stony Brook.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-23-2010, 08:40 PM
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#52 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Rounds 1 & 2
West: What a crazy first weekend in the West! The top seeded Air Force team get a brutal draw in the second round and fall to #8 Akron, 86-78. Akron will get #4 Stephen F Austin. #2 Eastern Michigan, who finally advanced deep in the tournament last year is back to their old ways, getting upset by the #15 seed, Marquette. Marquette moves on all the way to the Sweet 16 to face #3 Lafayette. Mid-West: Mostly chalk in the midwest with Bowling Green winning by 40 and then 30 to advance and face #4 San Diego. #2 Pine Bluff will get #6 Santa Clara. Could we get another Bowling Green/Pine Bluff game? I hope so! South: Again, mostly chalk here as the 1 seed, Radford makes easy work of their first two games. They get #4 Army, no easy task. #2 Ball State will face #6 Virginia. A few BCS teams are making noise this year. East: #1 Charleston Southern makes their regular season look like a total fluke when taking their history into account. They drop to #8 American in the second round, although American is a highly prestigious team, and there is no shame in losing to them. They will get #5 Appalachian State. Also Colorado State and Florida, the 6 and 7 seeds meet in the other half of the bracket. Go BCS! Sweet 16 West: #8 Akron, probably under seeded continues their ride with a 12 point win. 15 seed Marquette's journey comes to an end with a loss to #3 Lafayette. Midwest: As hoped for, we get yet another Bowling Green-Pine Bluff game! Despite their weakened defense stats, Bowling Green is making easy work of their opponents this year and even held San Diego to just 54 points. South: #1 Radford marches on in search of the 2nd title and will get #6 Virginia out of the ACC. East: #8 American, also under seeded due to a strange regular season for them (they usually are in the 2-4 seed area), advances to the Elite 8 with a 81-54 beat down. They will get #6 Colorado State out of the Mountain West. Final Four matchups #3 Lafayette vs #1 Radford #8 Akron couldn't quite finish the job as the 8 seed and Lafayette will make their first Final Four appearance. The furthest they have ever gotten was the Sweet 16. Radford was totally dominate in their 77-43 win over Virginia. At this point, they might be the favorites, even over Bowling Green. #1 Bowling Green vs #8 American Bowling Green's defense is not bad at all. They have held their tournament opponents to scores of: 38, 34, 54, and 58. OK, I guess they should be the favorites over Radford. American plays an excellent defense themselves and will try to get it done as an 8 seed, an unheard of achievment.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-23-2010, 08:47 PM
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#53 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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NIT Champ: Sam Houston State
OK, let's get right to the Final Four games! Game 1: Radford dominated as expected with a 79-58 victory. Their PG, Dominic Otte scored 12 points and had 10 assists while C Hank Redding had 20 points and 8 boards. Not much to say about this game, they led the whole way and it was virtually over at the half. Game 2: Bowling Green had a slightly tougher time with their opponent, but still won comfortable, 73-60. BG's PG, Aldo Bode also had 10 assists to match Radford's point. Big Center, Ben Bythewood had 18 and 11 boards while the best player on Saturday night was their SF John Fast, who put up 25. We have one incredible Finals matchup between Bowling Green and Radford! Title Game This game was tight the whole way and only some free throws at the end made the final score look worse than it ever really was. Radford's George Raad was amazing, scoring 23 points in the game. The deciding factor though was that Bowling Green did a wonderful job shutting everyone else down on Radford. Williams, their SF had 10 and nobody else could hit a bucket. Meanwhile, Bowling Green had 4 players in double digits, led by Senior SG Pat Hedrick with 16. Yes, Bowling Green goes back to back and now have 6 National Titles to their name. They are the most dominant team in sports right now. With the recruits they keep bringing in, there might not be any stopping them.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-23-2010, 08:49 PM
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#54 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Impressive:
Code:
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-23-2010, 08:58 PM
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#55 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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1948-1949 Off Season
Awards Monte Dowling: Senior PF Benito Ashcraft, Colorado State – 3 time winner! 16.6 ppg, 15.9 rpg, 4.1 bpg. Sadly, the team only went 6-4 in the tournament in his 4 seasons. Coach: Elbert Leone, Charleston Southern. Why hasn't Bowling Green's Chris etter won it more than once? Freshman: C Hank Redding, Radford. He was the #7 recruit. Prestige Bowling Green 100 Radford 96 – A true challenger for top dog Binghamton 88 – Quiet in the last couple of years Pine Bluff 86 – They keep losing to Bowling Green American 85 Eastern Michigan 85 – Tournament choke artists Ball State 83 St. Mary's 83 Illinois 37 Riverside 43 SB 39 Top Recruiting Classes Code:
I want to say this recruiting class is wasted on Eastern Michigan, but with3 5* guys, they better break though in the next few seasons. Radford is not going to slow down as they keep up their excellent recruiting. Bowling Green's last couple of classes have been great, but not quite what you might expect. Illinois #142 Santa Barbara #86 Riverside #202 By player Code:
Eastern Michigan with 3 of the top 15 recruits! I'm not in love with any of the top recruits, but #6 Alvin Fifeld looks promising for a big guy. He is going to St. Mary's. Code:
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-23-2010, 09:33 PM
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#56 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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1948-1949 Season
PreSeason Polls Code:
There really is no justifiable reason to put Eastern Michigan, of all teams, #1 over Bowling Green. This is pretty shocking to me. Eastern Michigan are perennial failures in the tournament. Appalachian State makes an appearance way up top in the polls. One of the more interesting regular season's we have had. First of all, Bowling Green had a very down year. They finished 22-10 with a final ranking of 16. I wouldn't say their dynasty is quote over yet, but it might take another year or so before they are back in the Final Four. Eastern Michigan goes wire to wire as the top ranked team in the country. They finish 33-1. Now, can they get it done in the tournament? Pine Bluff finishes #2. are they back to Final Four form? Binghamton finished 3 and will be looking for their second National Title. Here are the automatic qualifiers: Code:
Illinois finished 2nd in the Big 10 and then beat top seeded Indiana! Illinois receives a 14 seed and will play #3 Bowling Green. Riverside finished 7th and Santa Barbara last. Neither did anything in the Big West Tournament. Brackets West: UNC Asheville, out of the Big south, with a 30-4 (14-4) record grabs the top seed in the West. Defense is their strength, but they can score points when they need to. They have a Sweet 16 appearance in 3 trips to the tournament. The #2 seed is Santa Clara. Midwest: Eastern Michigan takes the top seed in the midwest. They are out of the MAC and finished 33-1. They have 5 players scoring in double figures. They have the #1 offense and the #7 defense in the land. Air Force is the #2 seed and Bowling Green grabs the 3rd seed. South: Pine Bluff gets the top seed here. They play in the SWAC and had a 32-2 (17-1) season. They have 2 16 point scorers on their team. They are top 15 in both offense and defense. The #2 seed is Appalachian State. East: Binghamton gets the #1 seed after a 30-3 (15-1) regular season out of the American East conference. They are top 25 in offense and defense. American is the #2 seed in this region while Radford fell to a 5 seed. This is one of the more wide open tournaments we have seen. Bowling Green is still a threat as a 3 seed, but they are not the overwhelming favorites anymore. Eastern Michigan is clearly the best team in the regular season, but now it is time to put up or shut up. There are a few teams that were denied glory by Bowling Green and now is the time for them to get it done.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-23-2010, 09:46 PM
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#57 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Round 1 & 2
West: It is all chalk in the west. #1 UNC Asheville will play #4 Akron. #2 Santa Clara gets #3 BYU and their star JUCO recruit from 2 years ago, Dwayne Almond. He put up 15.5 and 10.2 this year. Midwest: All chalk in this region as well. Eastern Michigan is one third of the way to their goal, although they had a close one in round two, beating Citadel 68-62. they will play #4 San Diego. Also, #2 Air Force gets the very dangerous #3 Bowling Green. BG will not go down without a fight. South: Almost all chalk here as well as #1 Pine Bluff cruises through the first two rounds and will get #5 Cleveland State next. #2 Appalachian State plays #3 New Hampshire, who is finally living up to expectations. East: Other than the 5 seed in the South, all top 4 seeds have advanced in every region. That means #5 Radford fell to #4 Army, and they will get #1 Binghamton, who has one title under their belt already. Also #2 American will get #3 Ball State. Sweet 16 West: The top 2 seeds will face off in what should be a great game between #1 UNC Asheville and #2 Santa Clara. This is Santa Clara's second tournament appearance. They made the Sweet 16 last year. This is asheville's 4th trip to the dance, advancing as far as the Sweet 16 two years ago. Midwest: #1 Eastern Michigan wins by 9 points over San Diego and now must get by a weakened Bowling Green team if they are going to win a title, or even make a Final Four. Bowling Green refuses to die, as they knock off the 2 seed, Air Force, 77-74. South: #1 Pine Bluff beats Cleveland State by 15 to advance and will get #3 New Hampshire. NH has 1 tournament win in 3 previous appearances, but are now 1 win from a Final Four. Pine Bluff is trying to reach their 5th Final Four. They haven't won it all in their previous 4 trips. East: #1 Binghamton gets #2 American. Binghamton won the title back in 1943. American is looking ofr back to back trips to the Final Four and it would be their third trip overall. Final Four matchups #2 Santa Clara vs #1 Pine Bluff In the battle of relative newcomers to the tournament, Santa Clara beats Asheville. Pine Bluff took an 8 point win over New Hampshire. #1 Eastern Michigan vs #2 American Eastern Michigan gets it done over Bowling Green, 62-48. They imposed their will on BG and now have to be the favorites to cut down the nets next Monday night. American got by the top seed Binghamton team 77-75.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-23-2010, 09:51 PM
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#58 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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NIT Champ: Texas State
Final Four Game 1 Pine Bluff's defense got the job done in the first half, effectively taking Santa Clara out of the game. They led 45-29 at the half and never looked back in a 75-60 victory. Junior Shooting Guard John Reinert led the way with 28 points. Game 2 It was a huge second half where they outscored American 42-12 that puts Eastern Michigan in the championship game. Holding a team to 12 points in a half in the Final Four is pretty amazing. This game was the most dominating performance in a Final Four that we have ever seen. The final score was 87-47. Title Game Eastern Michigan had a phenominal season and I think they went a long way in shedding that choker moniker, but they couldn't seal the deal, despite their obviously superior talent. Pine Bluff controlled the boards, took an early lead and kept the pressure on all night long en route to a 71-63 victory. It took many years and 5 trips to the Final Four, but Arkansas Pine Bluff is finally cutting down the nets as champions of college basketball. Great for them!!
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-24-2010, 08:23 AM
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#59 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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I'm glad Bowling Green made it to the Elite 8. I thought they got robbed as a #3 seed. Too bad they couldn't knock off EMU, but at least PB took the Eagles down.
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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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04-24-2010, 01:18 PM
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#60 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Surfside Beach,SC USA
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Enjoying your dynasty Marmel, how are my hometown Marist Red Foxes doing?
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04-24-2010, 01:41 PM
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#61 |
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Dark Cloud
Join Date: Apr 2001
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I love all of the concepts here from the 30 prestige for everyone to starting in the earlier years and building an alternative history. This is great stuff. I'm following and now I have an idea of how to finally get started on my own, as I wasn't sure how I wanted to go.
Good stuff.
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Current Dynasty:The Zenith of Professional Basketball Careers (FBPB/FBCB) FBCB / FPB3 Mods |
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04-24-2010, 07:56 PM
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#62 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Thanks for following along guys. It is always nice to know somebody is interested.
FYI, I plan on adding the 3 point shot at the appropriate time, and then start letting juniors declare, then sophomores, etc... Marist...not so good thus far Code:
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-24-2010, 08:20 PM
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#63 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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1949-1950 Offseason
Awards Monte Dowling: Senior Center Jack Engle, Bowling Green. 19.7 ppg, 11.4 rpg, 3.1 bpg, 2.3 apg Coach: Clyde Swanner, Norfolk State Freshman: Center Joseph Chirey, Pine Bluff - #21 overall recruit Note: The Eastern Michigan coach, after finally reaching the Final Four, has retired. Prestige Bowling Green 100 Radford 98 Pine Bluff 94 Binghamton 93 Eastern Michigan 91 American 89 Ball State 88 St. Mary's 86 Army 84 Air Force 83 Appalachian State 83 Holy Cross 82 Illinois 37 Riverside 40 SB 35 Marist 33 Villanova 10 Washington State 3 Top Ranked Recruiting Classes Code:
Bowling Green had 3 scholarships and slipped all the way to #27 in the rankings. The teams you would probably expect to be near the top, are. The Patriot League having another great recruiting year, landing 3 of the top 7 classes. Illinois #320 SB #195 Riverside #347 – no scholarships given out Marist #97 – best in the MAAC By player Code:
Particularly impressive was both Northern Illinois, grabbing the 5th and 6th best players and St. Mary's landing #3, #7 and #10. PF Quinton Lammers looks like a pretty versatile big man. He should be a great low post scoring presence, great at defense, excellent rebounder, solid hands and a very good passer out of the post. Code:
Let's take a quick look back at the player I highlighted in the recruit rankings each year since 1946, which would make that class Seniors now. 1946 #2 recruit SG Fred Malcolm, Central Florida – From his first game, he was the best scorer on Central Florida. He has averaged: 18.6, 17.4 and 19.4 per game in his three years. His team has been to the tournament once and was out in the first round. Now, compared to the #1 ranked recruit that year, SF Ronald Shell, Cal State Fullerton. Shell has averaged: 12.4, 14.9 and 13.8 per game. His junior year he finally found his place on the boards and grabbed 9.6 rebounds per game. His team has been to the tournament twice and they won one game. 1947 was the JUCO player. The #1 recruit that year was SF Eli Hill from Eastern Kentucky. He has averaged 15.5 per game and 6.7 boards from the SF spot. He has just 2 NIT appearances. 1948 C Alvin Fifield, St. Mary's. He started all 33 games last year but only chipped in with 5.4 ppg and 6.6 rebounds. Fifield actually played out of position at PF because St. Mary's has a total stud at Center who is a senior this year and gets most of the scoring chances down low. The #1 recruit last year was C Brian Withers with Radford. Radford is a strong, deep team and Withers only got 3.1 minutes per game. They have 2 senior centers this year, so Withers will probably be the man in his last two collegiate seasons for a team who is always a threat to reach the Final Four.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-24-2010, 08:24 PM
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#64 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Quick Note: Eastern Michigan hired away UNC Asheville's head coach. 42 year old David Walley has done a nice job building up Asheville, after starting his career as the Arkansas head coach. He brought Asheville to a #1 seed and an Elite 8 appearance last year. Now he has the pressure of finally getting Eastern Michigan a National Title. He comes in with the rep as a top recruiter, but only an above average gameday coach.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-24-2010, 08:50 PM
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#65 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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1949-1950 Season
Preseason Top 25 Code:
The defending champions have the top spot in the preseason poll. They next 4 years are all annual contenders for the title, so it should be no surprise. I have a feeling we have seen the end of the total dominance of the Bowling Green dynasty. Now, I am sure they may win another title, but I don't think they are set up to be the overwhelming favorite each season, nor will they hold the #1 ranking from start to finish each year. Their recruiting has slipped a tiny bit and the other teams now know they are not invincible. End of regular season The reports of Bowling Green's demise may have been a bit premature. They finished the season 32-3 and ranked #1 in the nation. Binghamton, American, Radford and Asheville round out the top 5. By the way, Asheville hired away Loyola-IL's coach, who was good at making the tournament, but never advanced very far, except for one Sweet 16 appearance. The defending champs, Pine Bluff finished #8. Auto bids Code:
Illinois won the Big10 regular season title, but was bounced by the 8 seed in the Big10 tournament. They did get a 4 seed in the NIT. Riverside finished 6th and Santa Barbara 9th in the Big West. Neither did anything in the conf. Tourney. Marist finished 9th in the MAAC and made a run to the tournament semi finals, but fell short. And the rest of the brackets: West: Akron grabs the top seed in the west with a 27-7 (13-3) record out of the powerful MAC conference. Senior SF Wallace Hernandex, a former top 10 recruit led them with over 20 points per game. They are the 3rd ranked offense in the nation, but their defense is only ranked #289. Not good. The #2 seed is Ashville. Midwest: Bowling Green is once again the top seed in the midwest bracket. They had 5 players in double digit scoring, but their versatile SF is out for the entire tournament. They were top 10 in offense and top 30 in defense this year. Santa Clara is the #2 seed. South: American is the #1 seed this year. They are in the Patriot league and finished 28-4 (13-1). Their Junior Center Jacob Hutchinson led the way with 18.9 points a game, 8.4 boards and a very impressive 4.3 blocks. His interior defense propelled them to the 3rd ranked defense in the land. #2 seed is Ball State. East: Binghamton is the final #1 seed. They were 31-3 (14-2) out of the American East Conference. They are top 20 in offense and top 25 in defense. They protect the ball as well as anyone and won't turn it over leading to easy baskets for the opponent. The #2 seed is Radford. Pine Bluff is the 3 seed and Eastern Michigan is the 4 seed in this absolutely loaded region!
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-24-2010, 09:05 PM
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#66 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Rounds 1 & 2
First, a quick note on Illinois. They won the 4/5 matchup vs. New Orleans, but then lost to the #1 seed in the NIT West bracket, Citadel. West: This region goes all chalk. #1 Akron will get a tough 4 seed in Grambling State. #2 Asheville will face #3 San Diego. Midwest: Just a minor upset here in the midwest as #8 Texas State topples powerful Bowling Green in the second round, 73-65. Except for the second season of this dynasty, when they totally missed the tournament, Bowling Green has been to at least the Elite 8 each year. Texas State will get #5 Cal Poly. #2 Santa Clara will face #6 VMI. South: The top seed American advances , although they had a real scare in the first round against #16 Loyola Maryland, 94-91. They get #13 Belmont, who upset the 4 seed St. Mary's and then beat Eastern Kentucky. #2 Ball State face #3 Coastal Carolina. East: In the bracket of doom we have the dream matchups as the top 4 seeds advance. That sets up a great weekend of hoops in the East with #1 Binghamton vs. #4 Eastern Michigan and #2 Radford vs #3 Pine Bluff. This bracket might rival any final four set of teams we have ever had! Sweet 16 West: #1 Akron manages to just get by Grambling State, 76-72, while #3 San Diego blew the doors off of Asheville, 80-56. Midwest: #8 Texas State is for real after beating Bowling Green, they handle #5 Cal Poly and advance to the Elite 8 where they will get #2 Santa Clara. South: The top 2 seeds advance here with #1 American going up against #2 Ball State. East: Eastern Michigan didn't even put up a fight and went down 79-57 to the top seeded Binghamton team. The second game was more competative, but the defending champs from Pine Bluff fell to the 2nd seeded Radford team, 86-76. Final Four matchups #1 Akron vs #1 American Akron didn't have much trouble in their game with San Diego. They advance to their first final 4 after a couple of previous trip to the Elite 8. American also won by a comfortable margin and now advances to their 3rd straight Final 4 and 4th overall. They have yet to even advance to the title game though. #2 Santa Clara vs #2 Radford Texas State couldn't quite finish the job, though they played tough against Santa Clara. Santa Clara is making just their 3rd NCAA tournament appearance, all coming in the last 3 years, but this is already their 2nd straight trip to the final 4. Radford beat one of my favorite teams, Binghamton, 93-77 to advance. Radford is the only team in this year's Final Four who has won a title. They have also lost 2 title games. This is their 4th trip.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-24-2010, 09:13 PM
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#67 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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NIT Champs: Central Michigan
Game 1 American found themselves behind by 8 at the half, but a huge second half by their star center, Jacob Hutchinson (who I actually featured 2 posts back) led back back and eventually on to victory, 82-78. Hutchinson scored 18 points and had 12 rebounds as well as 4 blocks. Game 2 This game was won in the first half by Santa Clara's great defensive effort, holding Radford to just 24 points. It was a low scoring game the whole way, but SC won 63-60. Santa Clara is a real newcomer to the scene but they are on the verge of becoming the kings of college basketball. Code:
Title Game It takes some teams years, or even decades to become an elite program, and at halftime, with Santa Clara leading 54-40, it looked like it might only take 3 years for this team. But American is experienced and would not just give up. They fought all the way back in the second half behind a pair of 20 point performances by their star SF Malik Abernathy (20 points) and SG Israel Phillips (24 points). American was down 1 with just seconds to play. Phillips had the open look from the wing and drained the shot to send American to their first National Title! 94-93 was the final score.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-24-2010, 09:21 PM
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#68 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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1950-1951
Awards Monte Dowling: Junior PF Hank Redding, Radford. 20.1 ppg, 9.1 rpg Coach: Chris Almarez, Santa Clara Freshman: PG George Corn, Texas State – Ranked just #62 Prestige Bowling Green 100 Radford 100 American 96 Binghamton 95 Eastern Michigan 93 Pine Bluff 92 Ball State 91 Akron 88 St. Mary's 88 Santa Clara 76 Illinois 38 Marist 31 Riverside 40 SB 32 Top Recruiting Classes Code:
BYU with the #1 ranked class is a bit of a surprise. San Diego is the only team to land more than one 5* recruit. Bowling Green back into the top 10. Eastern Michigan with their hotshot head coach finished just 19th. Illinois #272 Riverside #153 SB #158 Marist #249 By player Code:
I'm not really in love with any of the top recruits, but this guy, who committed to Citadel, looks like he could score a ton of points one day Code:
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-24-2010, 09:24 PM
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#69 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Penn, a 53 prestige team, hired away Illinois' head coach. They replaced him with a career assistant, Avery Menchaca. He is rated 1 in recruiting. Yes, that is 1 out of 100. He is considered an offensive genius though, but he really looks like he belongs as an assistant coach. Bad hire.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-24-2010, 09:25 PM
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#70 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Addendum to the Illinois coaching position:
To make matters worst, this new coach spends his whole budget on a scout and an assistant who is all about offense as well. Then, he has no money left and hires some bum off the street to be his recruiter. so basically, they will get no good recruits and not teach anybody on their team defense. Ouch.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-24-2010, 09:38 PM
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#71 | |
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General Manager
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Chicago
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Quote:
Hard to believe that the recruiting could get any worse than it has been up to this point. My impression has been that the Illini do pretty well in regular season but come up very small in postseason under the old coach. And that is not a formula for NCAA bids when the Big Ten has been turned into the MEAC, for all intents and purposes. |
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04-24-2010, 09:40 PM
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#72 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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I guess they have to try something, hoopsguy. We'll see how it works out over the next few years.
I like having these random teams to follow, just to see how the AI handles it, what changes work, what doesn't etc...
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-24-2010, 09:56 PM
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#73 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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1950-1951
Preseason Poll Code:
Hmmm, a few surprises here I think. First, American is #1 after winning the title, no isse with that. All traditionally great teams in the top 5. Bowling Green 12! Eastern Michigan down to 15. Asheville all the way down to 24. And hey, Hartford in the top 25, checking in at #22. My favorite non-BCS team! The regular season ends with San Diego as the #1 team after a 30-3 campaign. Radford, St. Mary's, American and Ball State round out the top 5. Bowling Green finished #7. Pine Bluff is #9. Binghamton drops to #15. Santa Clara finished 16-15 with no postseason bid. Eastern Michigan falls to 21-11 (7-9) and an 8 seed. Illinois finished 5th in the Big10, but goes on a huge run and wins the Big10 tournament! They will make their 4th NCAA tournament appearance (with one win in the previous 3) as a 14 seed facing Albany in round 1. Perhaps I was premature in my coaching assessment! Riverside was 6th in the Big West and lost in the semi finals. SB was 9th. Marist was 6th in the MAAC and lost in the title game to Canisius. No postseason bid though. And the rest of the brackets: West: San Diego is the top seed out of the WCC. They made the Elite 8 last year. They are the top ranked offense in college basketball, scoring 81.2 ppg. Their defense is respectable, in the top 50. They share the ball so well, averaging over 21 assists per game! The #2 seed is Bowling Green. Binghamton is the 3 seed. Midwest: Ball State, 27-5 (14-2) out of the MAC is the #1 seed. They have a pair of senior guards, both scoring over 17 per game. They have the 7th ranked offense, but their defense is just outside of the top 100. The #2 seed is St. Mary's. South: Radford grabs the top seed here with a 30-4 (15-3) record out of the Big South. Senior Center Hank Redding is averaging over 20 a game. He was the #7 recruit. They are the #2 offense and their defense is just outside the top 50. The 2 seed is Holy Cross. Hartford grabs the 7 seed. East: American, the defending champs are the final #1 seed. They were 30-6 (10-4) in the Patriot. Most of last year's team is back, so they have a great change to repeat. They are top 10 in offense, top 20 in defense. Probably the most well rounded team in the nation. The 2 seed is Stony Brook and the 3 seed is Pine Bluff.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-24-2010, 10:08 PM
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#74 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Round 1 & 2
West: #1 San Diego scored over 90 points in both of their games and cruised to the Sweet 16 where they will face a Cinderella team in #12 San Diego State. What an exciting time for the city of San Diego! #2 Bowling Green and #3 Binghamton will meet in a heavyweight battle on the other side of the bracket. Midwest: Illinois lost by 11 to Albany, not a bad showing. #3 Albany advances past the weekend to face #2 St. Mary's. #1 Ball State had a squeaker in round 2 but got by Pepperdine. They will face #5 Coastal Carolina. South: #1 Radford gets blasted in the second round, 76-55, by #8 Eastern Michigan. That is one dangerous 8 seed though. Nice to see them actually play above their seeding. They will face #4 Grambling State. Also, #2 Holy Cross gets #3 Northern Illinois. East: Almost all chalk here as #1 American is still alive in their title defense. They play #5 UNC Asheville, a dangerous opponent. #2 Stony Brook plays #3 Pine Bluff. Sweet 16 West: The top 2 seeds both advance, so we have #1 San Diego, who beat crosstown rival SD State, 80-62 and #2 Bowling Green, who is looking to re-establish their dominance. Midwest: #1 Ball State takes care of Coastal, 77-73 and will play #3 Albany for a trip to the Final Four. South: #8 Eastern Michigan fails to capitalize on their big win in the second round, and falls to #4 Grambling State, 71-54. Grambling will get #2 Holy Cross. East: #1 American's quest for a repeat falls short of the Final four. They go down to UNC Asheville, 77-67. Asheville will take on #2 Stony Brook. Final Four matchups #1 San Diego vs #4 Grambling State This is San Diego's 7th consecutive trip to the tournament. They made it to the Elite 8 last year and now they have finally arrived on the big stage, earning their first Final Four trip. Grambling has been to every tournament but 2, but have only made the Sweet 16 three times, and advancing once to the Elite 8. So two first time Final Four teams will play each other. #1 Ball State vs #5 UNC Asheville Ball State has been to the postseason every year, 10 times in the big dance. They did make the Final Four back in 1945. This is the 5th straight appearance for Asheville, and their first Final Four. We will have a first time champion this season.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-24-2010, 10:12 PM
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#75 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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NIT Champ: Gardner Webb
Game 1 San Diego comes in as the #1 team in the final polls and now they will be playing for a National Title on Monday night. A 23 point performance by 5th year senior PF Kent Ferland led the way to a 80-72 victory after the game was tied at the half. Game 2 The other #1 seed, Ball State had an easy time tonight, winning 88-66 behind a 24 point performance by senior SG Clarence Santillan. Ball State only turned the ball over 5 times. Finals When the season ends with the #1 team winning the title, it just goes to show that the tournament is perfect, doesn't it? The best team runs the gauntlet and proves it on the court. This year was no exception. San Diego was totally dominant in their crowning performance. A 99-67 showcase by San Diego has them cutting down the nets. Kent Ferland put a huge stamp on his fine career with a 35 point showing in the title game and was named MOP.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-24-2010, 10:26 PM
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#76 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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1951-1952
Awards Monte Dowling: C Hank Redding, Radford – 20.6 ppg, 10.0 rpg Coach: Donnell Burke, Hampton Freshman: PG Gregory Olin, Samford - #4 recruit Prestige Bowling Green 100 Radford 100 Ball State 97 American 96 Binghamton 95 San Diego 94 Eastern Michigan 93 Pine Bluff 91 Holy Cross 91 St. Mary's 90 Illinois 38 Marist 32 Riverside 38 SB 31 Coaches: Pine Bluff's great coach, Rudolph Fontes has retired as the 2nd winningest coach in history, with a 335-88 record and a national title. Pine Bluff poached Grambling State's Ike Abarca, fresh off of taking his team to the Final 4. Sounds like a good hire. Recruiting, by class Code:
The big story here is the Big South and the American East Conferences hauling in all of the good recruits! Illinois #205 (3rd in the big 10) Riverside #195 SB #206 Marist #231 by player: Code:
I have a huge man-crush on Sam Houston State's newest player, the #3 ranked recruit, Richard Valenzuela from Pleasanton High School in Texas. Code:
He does everything. If he can gain 20 pounds and grow 2 inches, my word!
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-24-2010, 10:34 PM
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#77 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Might as well add UNLV to the teams to follow list.
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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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04-25-2010, 11:22 AM
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#78 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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1951-1952
Preseason polls Code:
Pine Bluff and their brand new head coach are getting a ton of respect. Northern Illinois a surprise visitor to the top 5. Binghamton and Asheville not getting a ton of respect to start up the season. End of Regular Season At the top of the final poll sits American University with a 32-2 record. They split the first place votes almost evenly with the 2nd place team, St. Mary's. Pine Bluff came in 3rd while San Diego and Radford round out the top 5. Bowling Green is next up at #6. Illinois finished 7th in the Big10 and lost their first tournament game. Riverside finished 8th and Santa Barbara 9th, neither winning anything in the tournament. Marist finished 7th in the MAAC and made a run to the semi-finals, but that was all. UNLV finished 7th in the MWC and lost their first game. Auto Bids Code:
Brackets West: St. Mary's gets the #1 seed with a 31-2 (12-2) record out of the WCC. 5 players are averaging double digits on this team. They are a top 10 offensive team and top 20 defensively. The #2 seed is Bowling Green. Midwest: The defending champs, San Diego earn the #1 seed here with a 29-4 (12-2) record out of the WCC as well. Their senior SF (who came in as the #1 ranked recruit as a JUCO) averages 18.6 per game. Their offense has slipped down to 50th best, but their defense is nasty this year, ranked 3rd in the nation at 54.9 ppg. Ball State is the #2 seed. South: Pine Bluff grabs the #1 seed here after a 32-3 (16-2) regular season in the SWAC. Big prblems though for Pine Bluff as two of their starters will be out injured for the tournament. The #2 seed is Holy Cross. East: American went 32-2 (13-1) in the Patriot League to earn the final #1 seed. Junior shooting guard Israel Phillips is scoring over 20 a game for the 3rd best offense in the country. Their defense is just top 100. the #2 seed is surprise team Eastern Kentucky while the 3 seed is Radford.
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-25-2010, 11:32 AM
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#79 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Round 1 & 2
West: The top 2 seeds, St. Mary's and Bowling Green both had an easy time advancing to the Sweet 16. St. Mary's will matchup with #5 Eastern Michigan. You never know what you are going to get out of this team. Bowling Green will meet #6 Appalachian State. Midwest: #3 Albany loses in the first round to #14 North Dakota State, but otherwise all the top seeds advanced in this region. #1 San Diego will play #4 Eastern Illinois while #2 Ball State gets #6 Maryland East Shore. South: #1 Pine Bluff has avoided being upset due to their injury problems and gets a good draw in the Sweet 16 with #12 Lamar. #2 Holy cross gets the 6 seed, Citadel. East: #1 American also advances, so we have all four #1 seeds. They also get a good draw with #13 Dartmouth. #7 Central Michigan took down the 2 seed, Eastern Kentucky and will now face #3 Radford. That is one tough 3 seeded team. Sweet 16: West: The top 2 seeds advance. #1 St. Mary's is a strange team. They have never missed the tournament, but only advanced to the second weekend 3 times before this year with 1 trip to the Final Four, yet I consider them a very strong team for some reason. Bowling Green is not as dominant as years past, but they are always in the mix still. Midwest: The top 2 seeds also advance here with the defending champs from San Diego set to meet #2 Ball State. South: And again, the top 2 seed advance. #1 Pine Bluff doing a terrific job dealing with their injury problems, beat Lamar by 10. #2 Holy Cross made the Elite 8 last year and will try to get back to the Final Four for the second time in their history. East: #1 American ensures that all four top seeds are still alive as they handle Dartmouth easily. They get another good draw with #7 Central Michigan. This is CM's 7th trip to the big dance, with one previous Elite 8 appearance and no other time advancing past the first weekend. Final Four matchups #1 St. Mary's vs #2 Holy Cross St. Mary's took care of business against Bowling Green. BG just can't seem to regain their form where they were almost a lock for the Final Four. Now they can't seem to get back there. Holy Cross took full advantage of Pine Bluff's injuries. #1 San Diego vs #1 American What a terrific matchup pitting the last two National Champs against each other!
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-25-2010, 11:39 AM
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#80 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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NIT Champs: Wright State
Game 1 St. Mary's created some seperation early in the game and took a 9 point halftime lead. They held a working margin throughout the second half. Their PG, Matt Bulter, controlled the game, scoring 8 points and finding the open guy virtually every time and dished out 11 assists. Game 2 San Diego controlled the boards and kept American's shooting in check tonight and earned the 70-63 victory. San Diego is going to try and become only the second team to win multiple titles as well as repeat as champions. Title Game St. Mary's dominated the entire game from start to finish. Despite a brilliant 30 point game from San Diego's Richard Muller, St. Mary's had big contributions from all 5 starters. PG Matt Bulter once again was the most important player on the court, scoring 12 and handing out 12 assists. St. Mary's becomes the 8th difference National Champion. Code:
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-25-2010, 11:50 AM
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#81 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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1952-1953
Awards Monte Dowling: Senior PG George Hibbs, New Hampshire. 11.2 ppg, 9.5 apg Coach: Michael Slaton, NJIT Freshman: C William Davis, Radford – Ranked #1 overall Prestige Bowling Green 100 Ball State 100 Radford 100 San Diego 99 American 98 St. Mary's 97 Holy Cross 95 Binghamton 93 Eastern Michigan 93 Pine Bluff 92 Illinois 33 Marist 31 Riverside 38 Santa Barbara 33 UNLV 47 Coaches UC Riverside fired their coach. They hired San Jose State's Richie McKenzie who has a career 126-125 record. He is a good X&O guy, but not a good recruiter. Recruiting Rankings by class Code:
The Eastern Michigan coach lived up to his hot shot recruiting reputation by pulling in 3 blue chippers. Illinois somehow pulls in the #104 ranked class. Santa Barbara #81 Riverside #207 Marist #332 UNLV #25! by player Code:
The guy I highlighted last year didn't have a big breakout freshman season. He did start all year for Sam Houston State but only averaged 9.3 ppg The #1 recruit this year is probably the best of a bunch of guys who seem to have one serious flaw in their games. Code:
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81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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04-27-2010, 04:03 PM
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#82 |
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College Starter
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Roseville, CA
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What's the story with Penn State? Are they in the Big 10 in this dynasty?
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