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Old 02-10-2009, 11:27 PM   #101
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
I simmed to the end of the NCAA tournament again this year so some of this is going to occur out of order heh.

Coaching Carousel

Some major conference jobs opened up this year. Mark Few going to Arizona is really the only notable thing that happened though.

There were a LOT of changes this year and after 20 or so my name started popping up. My team will be the best its ever been next year so I have no intention of leaving, but I do go through it slowly to see who might be interested in me.

UT-Arlington, High Point, E. Washington, Chicago State, Centenary, New Hampshire all offer me jobs in conferences a notable step up from ours. The MEAC has been ranked 30th out of 32 conferences the last two years. The A-Sun or Southern Conference would both be a step up. But as I said, I think better things are to come for me here.

Last edited by Radii : 02-10-2009 at 11:27 PM.
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Old 02-10-2009, 11:30 PM   #102
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Assistant Coach Hiring

I fire my assistant that was average everywhere and bring on a guy who is a scout and a teacher:

Kueth Dupre (Kueth, not Kieth, yup) - C- Offense, F defense, but B teaching and C+ Scouting. The teaching will help me with development which I need pretty badly.

I keep my other coach, Eryk Newton, who is primarily a secondary recruit(B- Charisma).
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Old 02-10-2009, 11:40 PM   #103
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Coaching Skill Upgrades

I did not meet any goals this year and thus earn no additional points to improve my coaching abilities.

Postseason Play

Hampton beat Howard to win the MEAC Tournament, they earned the 14 seed in the South, to face 3 seed Alabama.

1 seeds were: Gonzaga, Memphis, Illinois, and Stanford.

The final four consisted of 3 1 seeds, and a 7 seed.

Gonzaga beat Stanford 87-82 in one semifinal.

Illinois beat 7 seed Louisville in the other semifinal.

In the national title game, Illinois beat Gonzaga 67-60.


Awards

Notre Dame's Luke Harangody was the player of the year, averaging 27.7 ppg.

Gonzaga's Josh Heytvelt was the mid-major player of the year.

Illinois' Bruce Weber won coach of the year.


First Team All Americans:

PG Eugene Harvey - Seton Hall
SG Stephen Curry - Davidson
SF Jonathan Rodriguez - Campbell
PF Josh Heytvelt - Gonzaga
C Luke Harangody - Notre Dame


MEAC Awards

Howard's SF Eugene Myatt was the player of the year, averaging 20.3 ppg.

SF Spanky Schmidt of winston salem State was the freshman of the year, 7.8 ppg/6.7 rpg.

First Team All MEAC:

PG Joe Ballard - Florida A&M - 7.3 ppg/5.4 apg
SG Austin Ewing - NC A&T - 16.3 ppg
SF Eugene Myatt - Howard - 20.3 ppg
PF Michael Freeman - Hampton - 14.7 ppg/7.8 rpg
C Scott Hayes - NC A&T - 13.0 ppg/7.9 rpg

Second Team All MEAC

PG Joey Woods - Bethune-Cookman - 13.0 ppg
SG Ed Tyson - MD-Eastern Shore - 15.5 ppg
SF #10 (no name) - Florida A&M - 10.9 ppg
PF Thomas Coleman - NC A&T - 9.1 ppg/9.8 rpg
C Joseph Dorsett-Jeffreys - Norfolk State - 8.5 ppg/4.8 rpg


We did pretty well in the conference award arena.
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Old 02-10-2009, 11:43 PM   #104
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
2008-09 NC A&T Team Stats(players in bold graduating)

SG Austin Ewing - 16.3 ppg/2.8 apg
C Scott Hayes - 13.0 ppg/7.9 rpg
PG Tavarus Alston - 10.8 ppg/4.2 apg
PF Thomas Coleman - 9.1 ppg/9.8 rpg
PF Kam Shepherd - 6.7 ppg/4.2 rpg
C Cato Cruz - 6.1 ppg/3.8 rpg
SF Ed Jones - 5.8 ppg/3.7 rpg
SF Robert Johnson - 2.9 ppg
SF Nicholas Wilson - 2.5 ppg
SG Angelo Hernandez - 2.4 ppg


Jones was a starter, and Hernandez was my backup PG, so those losses will have some effect, but on the whole, we're returning the heart of our team and expect to be very good next year.
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Old 02-10-2009, 11:58 PM   #105
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Offseason Recruiting

As we get back into recruiting, we've landed 1 scholarship player already. We have 3 more open offers:

PG Leandro Works - #611 OVR - Charlotte,NC - We have works at 100%. Wofford does also but we are the only school to have made an offer to him. I hope to land him immediately.

SG Rodney Irvin - NR -Richmond, VA - Longwood has him at 100% and we only have him at 95%. We suspect he'll sign with Longwood right away, but we can make a play for himi if he doesn't for some reason.

PG Boomer Shiloh - #536 OVR - Charlotte, NC - We only have him at 88% or so, but no one else has offered him. Campbell and Wofford are far behind us on his list, if one of them gives him a scholarship offer perhaps we lose, but we hope to still have a legit shot here.


Past those 3 scholarship offers we have a couple other seniors we've been working on but we don't exactly have extra points to spend every week, so we probably will be looking at filler players the rest of the way.


Recruiting Week 1

The expected happens in both places that I'd listed above.

We sign PG Leandro Works on day 1!

SG Rodney Irvin ends up at Longwood.

Recruiting Week 2

The fallback guys I was working on sign elsewhere. I go after a 2* World recruit, entirely for the coaching point. A bit hokey perhaps but I cannot resist.

Recruiting Week 3

PG Boomer Shilogh signs with NC A&T! Ranked #536 OVR, we scout him as a B shooter, so we're pretty excited about him.


Our World Recruit never signs, we got him up to 95% but never 100%. Oh well.


Incoming Recruiting class

PG Boomer Shilogh - 6'1 - Charlotte, NC - #536 OVR - B Shooting, B+ Skills, B defense, B+ Athleticism. C+ Potential.

PG Bracey Tafo - 6'0" - Winston Salem, NC - #662 OVR - C+ shooting, B Skills, B- Defense, B Athleticism, B- Potential

PG Leandro Works - 6'1" - Charlotte, NC - #611 OVR - C+ Shooting, B Skills, C+ Defense, B Athleticism, B+ Intelligence, C+ Potential


We'll see how they look after the season flip.
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Old 02-11-2009, 12:02 AM   #106
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Recruiting Class Rankings

1. Stanford
2. Pittsburgh
3. Duke
4. UConn
5. Texas Tech
6. Michigan State
7. UCLA
8. North Carolina
9. Marquette
10. Washington State


Florida A&M has the best MEAC class, around #150, with 1 3* player and 2 2* players.

NC A&T has the #2 MEAC Class, in the 165 range, with our 3 3* players.

Bethune-Cookman is about 30 spots below us.
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Old 02-11-2009, 12:09 AM   #107
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Scheduling

Neato, since I get this random november conference game, the game won't let me add additional non-conference games in December. "You cannot have more than 2 non-conference games once your conference schedule begins" ... I've been playing 25-27 games while some teams play 30-32 in the regular season. I wanted to add a couple. I am playing in the "Deep Dish Challenge" this year which will hopefully add a game or two.

I have tried to schedule fairly easy for the most part, but I also added some of the in-state teams that are a step or three above me. We're playing UNC-wilmington, UNC, and Duke this year.
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Old 02-11-2009, 12:26 AM   #108
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
2009/10 North Carolina A&T Roster

STARTERS

PG Tavarus Alston - SR - 57 OVR - Speed, Quickness, and ball handling is what we get out of Alston. Good stamina too. He is an average shooter who gets 90% of his points from the free throw line or in transition.

SG Austin Ewing - SR - 66 OVR - Our best midrange and 3 point shooter, he can also handle the ball and is very quick. Average defender.

SF Robert Johnson - SR - 56 OVR - I may end up going with a 3 guard lineup at some point but for now Johnson is my man here. He does nothing of note well, average defender, below average mid-range jumper, poor passer, average speed... yeah.

PF Thomas Coleman - JR - 63 OVR - A beast on the boards, I'd like to elevate him to double/double averages on the season. Good inside, but not a great defender.

C Scott Hayes - JR - 67 OVR - Our best close range shooter, a poor defender and only an average rebounder, he is 7'1" and eats up space with the best of them.


Bench

PG Leandro Works - FR - 60 OVR - I'm thrilled by the rating, but he doesn't look like a guy who will do a lot for me. He is an average defender so that will help the 2nd string quite a bit, and he is a better passer than everyone but alston, not as good a ball handler though. He is FAST. 92 SPD/83 QCK (alston/ewing are in the 83-85 SPD range).

PG Boomer Shiloh - FR - 63 OVR - A better shooter than Works, but not a good shooter. He is the best defender on the team(DEF 81, most of our guys are in the low-mid 70s). His defense MIGHT make us a case for Alston/Shiloh/Ewing starting if I can handle going that small. He is also very fast and a decent ball handler.

SG Johnny Colter - FR (RS) - 53 OVR - An above average defender and a fast player, also he's 6'5" which is the only non-post player with any notable size in our reserves, so he seems to be my SF by default. A very poor shooter though.

PF Kam Shepherd - JR - 60 OVR - Shepherd is a better post defender than Coleman but is not a guy that looks like he can score a ton. Of course we've seen him be a spark off the bench many times before and hope he can continue to do that for us.

C Cato Cruz - SO - 53 OVR - Another guy with bad ratings but he's a warm body inside. He can give us an edge over smaller teams and he eats up some space.


Other players of note that we will have to deal with:

PG Bracey Tafo - 51 OVR - FR - My 3rd recruit this year in addition to Shiloh and Works. This guy is a dud. Redshirting this year. Poor speed, he is an average defender and will probably come off the bench since we're losing Alston/Ewing after this season.

SF Luicious Gooding - 52 OVR - FR - Gooding was in my recruiting class last year and redshirted. I usually stick with a 10 man rotation and cannot imagine Gooding seeing a lot of time on the floor. He can't shoot, can't defend and can't handle the ball.



I like my recruiting class this year quite a bit compared to last season's where we really only got Hayes and 2 duds. This year we got two guys that are going to contribute immediately. We won't have a 3 point threat when Ewing leaves but we'll have some speedy guards to take over at least.
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Old 02-11-2009, 12:44 AM   #109
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
2009/10 Recruiting Overview

We've got 5 scholarships to fill but are really only looking to sign 3 guys. I don't think we have enough recruiting points to go after 5 guys honestly. I have 4 guys I had been going after as underclassmen who all have more than 60% interest in me. Only one is at 70% though.

I go through and add about 8 guys that I will try to guage early interest in before I offer scholarships. I also add a few juniors to my list this year to try to work on for next season.


I end up targeting two 3* SG's, hopefully not going too big here, but these guys are the two targets I'm dumping everything I can into until I see reason not to. I get both over 80% very quickly.

3 weeks from the early signing period, SG Edmund Axton, a 3* SG from Annapolis, MD (ranked #144 OVR) has already visited campus and we've got him up to 91%. I've got one more visit I can use, and no one else has offered him yet. We're making a huge push here.

SG Romeo Fitzgerald, #337 overall from Baltimore, MD is a bit more of a long shot. We have him at 84% and no one has offered him either, but it feels more likely that we won't be able to get him where we need to to land him.


We offer our other 3 scholarships as well to 2* guys but we don't have enough time to put into them before the early signing period to have a chance.
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Old 02-11-2009, 12:49 AM   #110
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
2009/10 MEAC Preview

Based on overall rating:

1. Hampton 70 OVR
2. Winston-Salem State 70 OVR
3. Howard 67 OVR
4. Morgan State 67 OVR
5. NC A&T 67 OVR
6. SC State 67 OVR
7. Coppin State 67 OVR
8. Bethune-Cookman 66 OVR
9. Delaware State 65 OVR
10. Florida A&M 63 OVR
11. MD-Eastern Shore 62 OVR
12. Norfolk State 62 OVR


Some of the teams at the bottom are starting to fall and, while there's no giant separation at the top, Hampton and Winston-Salem State seem the teams to beat still.
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Old 02-11-2009, 02:00 AM   #111
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
November 15, 2009


Kennesaw State (1-1) at NC A&T(0-0)


I'll go ahead and knock out my first game tonight. Kennesaw State is rated 70 OVR. Hey, senior leadership! Our team unity starts the year at 39. K-State is at 31. It took me into January to get team unity that high last year.


They have decent talent all over, including a SG who can shoot 3's pretty well.


Half
Time
NC A&T
KEN
Notes
1
16:45
2
7
These guys are fast, and they play a pressure defense in the half court set i'm not used to seeing. We've got 3 turnovers already and their baskets are all layups.
1
13:00
9
11
Some improved defense and Ewing hitting a 3 for me on our last possession and it appears we've settled down a bit.
1
12:30
9
14
Backups are in
1
11:45
11
21
Ugh, big run on their part, 10-2. It'll take me a few games to get used to my new backup rotation but right now they're just draining shots.
1
8:30
18
30
Starters back in. I can see the potential in this speed out of our 2nd team but not against Kennesaw State. The defense they're playing is really hurting me.
1
6:00
29
33
A big run by the starters. They're not going to be able to go the whole way though. The backups come back in for a couple more minutes. Defense is the key here. If they miss shots they can't get in their press and we can run. We have to keep them from scoring a ton.
1
3:30
34
33
Huge run! Its almost all the speedy guards either getting past the defense or drawing a foul in transition and making free throws. The starters are back in.


HALF
40
48
They're 5-8 from 3. 3 of those came in the final 3 minutes.


We have 8 from Ewing, 6 from Alston and Coleman, 5 from Shiloh and 5 from Cruz. Their SG, Baldwin, has 17 points including 4-5 from 3. I decide to bring Shiloh in the first chance I get, I'll run a 3 guard offense and have Shiloh shadow Baldwin.
2
13:00
59
66
We're still down by basically the same that we were at halftime, but its been interesting. We had the lead down to 2 a couple times but they go on little runs. I really like the 3 guard lineup if I can swing it consistantly.
2
11:00
64
70
The lead is down to 6 after a Ewing 3. our backups come into the game.
2
5:00
74
83
We can't seem to keep the lead down below 7 for any period of time. Its up to the starters the rest of the way.




Ewing was unconscious from 3 in the final 2 minutes, helping to cut a 12 point lead down to 3 but we didn't really have a chance to win. The final 3 came with 3 seconds left.


Kennesaw State 101
NC A&T 98


This is one of the toughest opponents i've ever played. They had as much speed as me, 4 different guys who could hit the 3, and they rebounded really well. They were 10/24 from 3, had 12 offensive rebounds and 19 second chance points. The fact that we kept it closer than 10 is really impressive to me.


On their side, Baldwin scored 25 total, only 8 in the second half, so maybe Shiloh's defense helped.


On our side:


Alston: 12 points/6 assists
Ewing: 30 points/4 assists
Shiloh: 11 points
Coleman: 9 points/9 rebounds
Hayes: 13 points/9 rebounds


Shepherd had 8 and Cruz 7.
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Old 02-11-2009, 02:13 AM   #112
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
I really like the speed and extra defensive ability I have on the court with Shiloh starting:

PG Alston
SG Ewing
SG Shiloh
PF Coleman
C Hayes
---------
PG Works
SG Colter
SF Johnson
PF Shepherd
C Cruz

Works and Colter at the guard spots give our backups a lot more flexibility than I had last year, while having a defensive stopper(at least for this level...) for the first time should really help me out against teams that have one sharpshooter or one hot scorer that if I can slow down, I win.
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Old 02-11-2009, 08:45 AM   #113
rjolley
College Starter
 
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Roseville, CA
If you don't get the guys you want, think about leaving a scholarship open for a transfer. I've started a new career and had 6 scholarships open. I left one open, partially for the transfer and partially because it was hard to fill that many spots. I ended up getting a good SG as a transfer. Looking forward to having him on the court next season. On the downside, there was a 4* player who must've had offers fall through and was interested in coming to Grambling. Unfortunately, I'd already filled my scholarships by the time I saw him.
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Old 02-11-2009, 12:01 PM   #114
Radii
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Quote:
Originally Posted by rjolley View Post
If you don't get the guys you want, think about leaving a scholarship open for a transfer. I've started a new career and had 6 scholarships open. I left one open, partially for the transfer and partially because it was hard to fill that many spots. I ended up getting a good SG as a transfer.

Ahh, good tip, transfers happen immediately after the season, correct? So I'd need to have one that wasn't offered by the end of the NCAA tournament?
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Old 02-11-2009, 12:31 PM   #115
rjolley
College Starter
 
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Roseville, CA
Quote:
Originally Posted by Radii View Post
Ahh, good tip, transfers happen immediately after the season, correct? So I'd need to have one that wasn't offered by the end of the NCAA tournament?
Yep, they come around after the coach carousel.
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Old 02-11-2009, 02:51 PM   #116
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
November 17, 2009


Savannah State (0-4) at NC A&T (0-1)


Savannah State is rated 70 OVR, a bit higher than us. They have two 6'11” big men starting, both freshmen, and both look pretty decent. Their PG, Monty Brodermann looks to be the only 3 point threat. SG Rod Mitchell is their leading scorer though, so we stick Shiloh on him. He's only averaging 10 ppg though, this doesn't appear to be a team with a big scoring threat anywhere.




Half
Time
NC A&T
SAV
Notes
1
17:15
3
3
Nothing much so far but I'm worried that their inside guys are going to create foul trouble for us. Hayes, Coleman and Shiloh all have 1 foul each.
1
14:00
12
14
Shiloh has 2 fouls now, Ewing has drained a 3 and Coleman has 6 points to lead us so far.
1
12:15
16
18
Backups are in
1
9:20
27
22
Nice run for us, Shepherd has our last 5 points. Their big men play really, really poor defense, heh. Shepherd/Coleman/Cruz/Hayes could all have big games here.
1
6:30
34
24
Starters back in. Shepherd scored 7, Cruz 4 and Works got a couple transition buckets for us as our backups give us a nice edge.


HALF
54
39
A buzzer beater from about 25 feet by Alston gives us our biggest lead. The offense is obviously in a groove. 10 from Ewing, 10 from Coleman, 7 from Hayes, 7 from Alston, 7 from Shepherd.


My one disappointment is that Mitchell, their leading scorer, has 16. Shiloh is playing WAY too far off him... tight D once he has the ball but he's being allowed to catch the ball with 4 feet of space in front of him and he's making open shots. That might be a D Awareness thing? Shiloh's is poor.
2
13:30
64
57
We've let them close the gap with some sloppy play in the last minute or two. Mainly we beat the press and then try to get an easy basket and make a stupid pass... backups are coming in to settle things down.
2
6:15
78
70
The backups did the same thing the starters did... solid play to push the lead back up to 14, then sloppy play to let them back in it. Cruz and Shepherd are both having good games off the bench. The starters are back in to put it away.
2
4:00
85
70
A 7-0 run from the starters should effectively seal the game.


Coleman had what I'm pretty sure is a career high today, as we finish off Savannah State and slow it down at the end.


NC A&T 92
Savannah State 77


Solid game today all around. We outrebounded them 41-28 and got 62 of our 92 points in the paint.


Alston: 15 points/3 assists
Ewing: 15 points/5 assists
Shiloh: 2 points/3 rebounds
Coleman: 22 points/12 rebounds
Hayes: 11 points/8 rebounds


Cruz: 12 points
Shepherd: 10 points
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Old 02-11-2009, 06:35 PM   #117
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
November 20, 2009


Jacksonville State (0-3) vs NC A&T (1-1)


We're rated the same. They have a PG with 94 speed and a good close range shot, a very dangerous guy. SG JJ Wesley is a good 3 point shooter averaging 15 ppg. They have good speed at their first 4 positions and we're going to worry about them on the break. We have a size edge that we'll be trying to use against them.




This is the first round of the 4-team “Deep Dish Challenge” at Depaul's Allstate Arena. The other two teams are Hofstra and Longwood.


Half
Time
NC A&T
JAC
Notes
1
13:15
16
8
After getting out to a 12-2 lead they settle down and start to score a little bit. We're definitely taking advantage of our size. Hayes has 8 points already. Backups are in.
1
6:45
25
18
5 from Cruz, 4 from Shepherd as our backups hold their own. Starters come back in for the rest of the half.
1
6:00
31
18
Shiloh and Ewing each hit a 3 pointer and we push our lead out over double digits.


HALF
49
27
We just kept pouring it on the rest of the half. Alston is 5-5. Hayes is 7-7. We're shooting 70% from the floor. Hayes has 14, Alston 10, Ewing 9, and this is just a rout.
2
12:00
61
45
We had the lead up to 25, but they've gone on a run and cut it down to 16. Some dumb turnovers, as usual, are to blame for my opponent's run. Hayes has 18 now and is having a great game. Backups are in.
2
8:45
64
55
A 3 point play for Jacksonville state and they've cut the lead under 10. Our level of play has fallen quite a bit in the 2nd half here, allowing lots of easy shots and we're really not taking very good shots the past few minutes. My backups are slowing the game down now, just buying time to rest up the starters, and not trying to push the lead out too hard.
2
6:10
67
61
We got the lead back up to 12 on a Shepherd 3 point play, then they hit two three's in a row to cut the lead down to 6. I burn a timeout and get my starters back in for the stretch run.
2
4:45
72
61
BIG momentum shift. Coleman just took over the game pretty much. He goes 1-2 from the line, then gets a layup on our next play after they miss. On Jacksonville State's next possession, their super fast PG gets by his man and drives for a reverse layup. Coleman leaps and comes from the other side of the goal to block the shot. We pick it up, start a fast break and Coleman cuts down the middle, receives a pass and throws it down with 2 hands. 5-0 run since the starters came back in to give us control of the game again.


After we get back up by 11, we never let them cut the lead below 9 again and pretty much coast to victory.


NC A&T 80
Jacksonville State 71


Rebounding is again today a massive edge for us, 36-20. They went 8-16 from 3 which helped them close the gap after we'd gone up by so much in the first half.


Alston: 16 points/7 assists
Ewing: 11 points
Shiloh: 5 points
Coleman: 15 points/11 boards
Hayes: 18 points/9 boards


Shepherd: 9 points/5 boards
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Old 02-12-2009, 01:08 AM   #118
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
November 21, 2009


NC A&T (2-1) vs Hofstra (3-1)


This is the finals of the Deep Dish Challenge. I don't expect to win, but it would be huge if we could pull the upset, as winning a non-conference tournament is worth a coaching skill point.


Hofstra is rated 78 overall, they have an outstanding offense and are a great shooting team. They only have a team unity of 23, while ours is 43, which will hopefully help us out some in our quest to pull off the upset. They're a small team, their two big men are 6'7” each, giving us some hope of using our size over them.


PG Darren Neverett – a true freshman rated 76 OVR, very fast, a great ball handler, and a good shooter.
SG Daron Penigar – 77 OVR, an above average defender(probably average for the CAA but better than we're used to seeing) and a very good 3 point shooter, averaging 15 ppg so far.
SF Billy Lamkin – a SG playing the 3 spot, a good shooer, great inside and in traffic, also with very very good speed.


Their big men are rated 70 and 66 OVR.


Half
Time
NC A&T
HOF
Notes
1
13:30
18
17
Ewing keeps us close the first 5 minutes, he has hit 2 3's and has 8 points. They're shooting very well and we eventually are able to get a couple good looks inside. We've drawn two fouls on their starting SF, Lamkin which helps. Our backups are in now.
1
10:15
23
20
I'm really impressed with the backups so far, espicially on defense. Except for one fast break layup i'm trying to be pretty methodical on offense.
1
7:00
30
20
They have gone incredibly cold. Hofstra takes their second time out. I get my starters back in and give the backups a huge hand for their play.


HALF
42
34
They closed the lead down to 5 and we pushed it back up to 8 by halftime. Whether it was our defense or they just couldn't shoot in the final 12 minutes or so, Hofstra's shooting problems are definitely the story here. They are 3-11 from 3 and under 50% overall. Their leading scorer, penigar, only has 9 points which is outstanding for us.


On our end we are getting balanced scoring from everywhere. 8 from Ewing, 7 from Alston, 6 from Hayes, and 7 off the bench from Shepherd.
2
15:45
55
44
The lead has been hovering between 8 and 12. Hayes and Coleman have been coming up very big inside and Ewing has hit another 3 for us. They're obviously scoring some but they haven't heated up and gone on a run which is my main fear.
2
11:15
65
52
We extend the lead out a little more. Penigar has missed a couple wide open 3's that he seemed sure to make, and we've really made an effort to get the ball inside, both Hayes and Coleman have doubled their first half totals or more. Backups coming in.
2
10:00
65
59
There it was. A 3, a steal in the full court press, and a fast break shot off a miss and Hofstra scores 7 unanswered in about a minute. I call a time out to settle my guys.
2
6:35
65
63
Hofstra goes on an 11-0 run against our bench. I get our starters back in and try to get control of things again.
2
5:45
67
66
We get two FTs from Coleman, and force a bad shot on their end, but they get the offensive board. Then their PG falls over trying to drive, but their SF picks it up and we foul him going after the loose ball. Peniger ends up draining a 3 and making I a 1 point game.
2
4:15
71
70
We got two FT's from Ewing to go up by 3, and they once again got an offensive board that led to a made basket. We turned it over on our end and a Peniger dunk gave them the lead. Coleman got an easy layin to give us the lead back. Timeout Hofstra.
2
3:00
76
72
After they score to take the lead we get a 3 point play from Coleman, force a missed shot and Coleman gets a dunk on the other end. Coleman has our last 9 points now and is really becoming a major go to guy for us.
2
1:15
80
76
We trade baskets, getting a bucket from Hayes after an offensive board, then another from Coleman. Their ball. We're matching them score for score which is good b/c they haven't missed in a little while.
2
0:35
82
78
They get Lamkin open for a jumper. We get Ewing open for a jumper. Their ball again.


We finally get a stop, and sink 2 free throws and put the game away!


NC A&T 84
Hofstra 78


We've blown out inferior opponents before and played some close games against teams in our conference, but I think this is probably the best game I've ever played. It's certainly the first time I've beaten a team rated so far above me. The main thing that I like about this game is that we weren't just taking advantage of a slower team for tons of fast break points, which has earned us more than our fair share of wins. Once Hofstra came back late... in the final 7 minutes or so, we weren't out on the break at all. We were matching them basket for basket in the half court set and finding different ways each possession to get good looks. It also comes in the final of a tournament. An early season tournament that doesn't have any marquee names, sure. But for a team that has been a middle of the pack team in one of the worst conferences in the nation, its a big win.


Their two stars come up big for them. Penigar has 23 and Lamkin has 21. They were a combined 5-15 from 3 though.


Alston: 13 points
Ewing: 15 points/6 assists
Shiloh: 7 points/4 assists
Coleman: 21 points/9 boards (17 second half points)
Hayes: 16 points/7 boards
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Old 02-12-2009, 01:23 AM   #119
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
I'm pretty anxious to see how the early signing period goes, so i'm going to sim my next two non-conference games. I've got my random november conference game this week though, against Winston-Salem State, one of the favorites in the league, and I'm not about to sim that.

November 23rd:

Montana State 68
NC A&T 64

We get 17 points out of Hayes and 15 from Ewing. Only 5 from Coleman, but 10 boards. Montana State has a 6'11" center who put up 20 and 12 in the game.
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Old 02-12-2009, 02:31 AM   #120
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
November 28, 2009


Winston-Salem State(1-5) at NC A&T(3-2)

WS State finished 1 game out of first place last year, and had the best recruiting class in the league by far 2 years ago, so its no suprise that their roster strength is at the top of the league.

Scouting

PG Brian Fisher – Scored 10ppg last year, averaging about 9 this year so far. A very good 3 point shooter. Only an average ball handler and below average passer for a point guard.

SG Darius Floyd – 70 OVR rating, which will be one of the best in the league. 86 rated 3 point shooter, which may be the best in the league. He leads the league in scoring at 19 ppg so far.

SF Spanky Schmidt – 72 OVR, last year's freshman of the year in the league. Good defender, good scorer, good size and speed for a 3. 7.5 ppg/7.0 rpg.

PF Clayton Tsagarakis – only 6'5 so undersized at the 4 spot, hopefully setting Coleman up for another big day. A good inside scorer, but a very poor post defender.

C Corey Morris – 62 OVR – not rated very highly, but he's 6'11” and takes up space. Hayes is a better player but the size will help them.

Half
Time
NC A&T
WSS
Notes
1
13:30
22
10
I've just gotten too good with Coleman to see him matched up against a guy 6 inches shorter than him who plays poor defense. NC A&T took off to a 9-0 lead and has extended that up to 12. Coleman has 11 already.
1
12:15
26
14
Backups are in.
1
6:00
32
24
We had pushed out to a 32-16 lead, and WS State has run off 8 straight. I call a timeout and get my starters back in.


HALF
44
33
They'd cut the lead down to 4 at one point but we pushed it back up. It's a two man effort for A&T. Coleman has 17 points and 8 rebounds at halftime. Shiloh is the other big suprise. He's got 11 points, which might be a career high for him already. Their star, Floyd, has 9 points so far on 4-12 shooting(1-7 from 3). So far so good!
2
16:20
49
46
UGH. Floyd has 9 already in the 2nd half, and we've turned it over twice in the backcourt, helping to facilitate a big run for Winston-Salem State. We call a time out to settle down.
2
13:45
51
53
Their huge run continues, and we now trail for he first time. Floyd has 23 now, 14 second half points already.
2
11:45
56
57
A Shiloh 3 and an Alston layup get us going again a bit. Our backups are in now though and hoping to slow this game down and get Shepherd and/or Cruz going inside. We're struggling in large part to the fact that they're running a 2-3 zone and we aren't making any jump shots.
2
6:30
59
63
Starters come back in, we're only down 4 but it feels like we're trying to desparately salvage the game at this point.
2
4:30
68
69
We've shaved 3 points off the lead and only trail by 1. Hayes has finally gotten some shots to fall, and has scored our last 5 points.
2
3:50
71
71
They get a field goal, and we come down and Ewing drains a clutch 3 pointer to tie the game up.
2
2:05
77
73
After a missed shot, Hayes gets a dunk in transition to give us the lead. A 18 foot jumper from ewing gives us a 4 point lead. They score to cut it back to 2, then a monster jam in traffic by Coleman pus us back up 4. He's fouled on the dunk, but misses the free throw. We lead by 4.


We get a stop and a bucket, they turn it over and we get another bucket and this one is ours!


NC A&T 83
Winston-Salem State 73


I'd rather not be giving up big leads in the 2nd half, but once they went on their run, we played great ball down the stretch to secure the win. Another monster game from Coleman, this one even bigger than the last two.

Their star, Floyd, finished with 25 points, but we held him to 3-11 from 3.

Alston: 11 points/7 assists
Ewing: 14 points/4 assists
Shiloh: 14 points/3 boards
Coleman: 27 points/18 rebounds (8... EIGHT! Offensive boards)
Hayes: 8 points/3 boards

We're 1-0 in conference play, a solid home win against one of the favorites to win the MEAC.
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Old 02-12-2009, 02:47 AM   #121
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Early Signing Period

YES!!! We had spotted a highly ranked 3* SG interested in us and gone hard after him, getting him to 100% interest a couple weeks ago. it was just a wait to see if anyone else was going to make him an offer, and when they didn't, to see if he'd sign with us early. We got him, and now we wait til next year to see if he's a huge bust for some reason.

SG Edmund Axton
6'3" 184 lbs
Baltimore, MD
OVERALL: #144
POSITION: #40

Scouting Grades:

Shooting: B+
Skills: B+
Defense: B+
Athleticism: B+
Rebounding: B-
Intelligence: B-
Potential: B
Size: B-

And now you see why I was in a rush to quick sim the Montana State game and would have simmed out my next game were it not a conference game.

With the discussion in the College Hoops 2k8 thread, I'm worried that there's going to be something terribly wrong with Axton since we seemed to land him so easily. But I guess we shall see.


I lose a 2* SF to Longwood during the early signing week, and that's the only other action.


My other offers:

3* SG Romeo Fitzgerald - #337 in the nation, also from Baltimore. I forget if there's pipeline's here... two 3* SG's from Maryland that seem to like me an awful lot. We had him over 90% interest, it dropped some when Axton signed, but he's at 87%. We'll easily get him to 100% by the end of the season, its just a question of if that's enough. He scouts as a B Shooter but C- from 3. I am worried that I'm not going to have a single good long range jump shooter anywhere in sight.

2* SF Ted Montgomery - #718 OVR, a decent shooter with good athleticism and size for the SF position(he's 6'8").

2* PF Dominic Whitehead - This guy is a bit suspect. He's only 6'7", he's not a ranked recruit and all his skills are average. I really need to bring in some big men, given than Coleman, Hayes and Shepherd are all Juniors. This guy is probably not what I'm lookin for.

And my 5th and final scholarship is being left open for a transfer.

I have 5 juniors that I'm working on, including a 3* PG who is scouted as an A- shooter, and a couple other 3* guys. They may be long shots but I do believe I'll be able to get them all up over 70% by the time the next season starts.

Last edited by Radii : 02-12-2009 at 02:58 AM.
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Old 02-12-2009, 02:51 AM   #122
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
I had a game on the Saturday before the signing period ended and simmed it out:

December 5th, 2009

NC A&T 78
Gardner-Webb 72

Wow, overtime.

Ewing scored 22. Coleman had 16 points/11 boards, and Alston scored 11. Hayes put up 8 points/7 boards.

We're currently 5-2, though that will drop a bit before conference play gets in full swing.

We have 5 games left, and two of them are at UNC and at Duke. Both are top 5 in the nation so far. the other 3 are hopefully winnable... or at least games we can compete in.
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Old 02-13-2009, 05:31 PM   #123
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
December 7, 2009


NC A&T (5-2) at #4 North Carolina(8-0)


I don't expect to play even the entire first half here but we'll see how it goes. They're rated 88 OVR.


Half
Time
NC A&T
UNC
Notes
1
13:30
15
13
What? Solid start! We have turned it over against their press 3 times, and Ewing has 3 fouls already and is going to be sitting for quite some time. But we're ahead! Hayes has 6 and has played great inside. Backups are in now, lets see how they do.
1
9:15
21
26
They're starting to shoot a bit better and its going to hurt us real bad to play without Ewing for so long.
1
6:15
34
31
Our big men are just destroying Deon Thompson down low. Cruz has 11 points and is just catching the ball in the post, turning towards the basket and attacking and scoring every time. Starters minus Ewing are back.


HALF
46
50
Hell of a half. We dominated inside and they have some serious jump shooters. Their starting SG, Hoyer, is rated 91 OVR and has 19 points including 4 3 pointers.


On our end its all about the inside game. Hayes has 9, Coleman 5, Cruz 11, and Shepherd 4. Because we go inside so much we have a huge foul edge too, except for Ewing(who was guarding Hoyer for the first 10 minutes). We committed 5 fouls to UNC's 13 in the firs thalf. They have 3 starters with 2 fouls.
2
13:00
56
61
We went a little cold and they pulled out to a 61-51 lead. Since then we've scored 5 straight to keep it close. Our backups are coming in, along with Ewing, I sat him at the start of the half.
2
10:45
63
65
They score 4 straight to go up by 9, then we run off a quick 7. 5 from Ewing and 2 more from Cruz who is still on fire.
2
8:45
65
75
And a 10-2 run comes very quickly on their end, a couple 3's,acouple steals and they pull out ahead.
2
6:30
70
79
Still hanging around as our starters come back onto the court for the stretch run.


Well, we tried, but we never got it below 9 the rest of the way.


North Carolina 96
NC A&T 84


I'm not sure what to make of this game. I'm obviously thrilled to have hung with UNC for much of the game, but it also makes me wonder if I need to be adjusting any sliders, it seems like I shouldn't be able to hang with a team rated so much higher. Eh, we'll see down the road.


Their star, Hoyer, scored 33, going 7-11 from 3. He didn't need much room to get up a good shot and we just couldn't close down fast enough on him.


Alston: 11 points
Ewing: 11 points
Shiloh: 1 point
Coleman: 12 points/8 boards
Hayes: 16 points/11 boards


Cruz: 15 points.
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Old 02-13-2009, 06:29 PM   #124
Balldog
Pro Rookie
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Macomb, MI
Congrats on getting Axton!
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Old 02-13-2009, 08:52 PM   #125
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
thanks! I was almost certainly going to jump ship this year since my starting backcourt is graduating. I still might if I accomplish a good number of coaching goals and can improve myself a bit. But having such a highly ranked recruit come in, plus the fact that I have two speedy young guards(not as talented as the two that are leaving but still solid), plus the fact that Hayes and Coleman will be seniors next year and I could get monster years out of both of them... deciding to stay or go after this year at least isn't going to be a super easy decision.

I don't know how they did it, but in looking through the league leaders, Bethune-Cookman landed a 3* SF last season who was ranked in the top 150 overall, he came in as a true freshman rated 76 OVR and is the highest rated player in the conference. The possibility that I might have landed an SG who could show up like that is damn tempting.
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Old 02-14-2009, 12:56 AM   #126
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
December 12, 2009

NC A&T (5-3) at UNC-Wilmington (1-5)

UNC-Wilmington is rated 75 OVR, about 7 points higher than us. They are not really any better on offense than we are but are better on defense and rebounding according to the team ratings.

They have a 6'8” PF and a 7'3” center(!!). The center, Clement Schultz, is rated very highly, is a good defender and is their leading scorer. Hopefully Hayes can hold his own against Schultz. Our other big concern is their SG, Montez Downey, a highly rated 3 point shooter, only averaging 7 points per game but we tend to do poorly against guys like this.
Half
Time
NC A&T
UNCW
Notes
1
12:45
14
18
I feel lucky to be as close as we are. We're struggling to score inside, though Hayes picked up 5 points when we got good matchups(their 7'3” monster got stuck on Shiloh instead of Hayes). But they are getting good offensive rebounding and playing pretty well. I definitely can sense that this team is better than we are. Backups are in.
1
7:30
16
25
Their inside game, espicially on defense,is just very strong. With zero jump shooters, our backups rely entirely on Cruz and Shepherd, and they can't do anything. Starters aren't quite ready to come back yet.
1
6:15
16
31
Starters back in...


HALF
27
47
Wow. Their backcourt is doing most of their scoring. 15 from Wolf, their PG. 9 from SG Downey and 9 from SF Lacy. . Schultz has 4 points/7 boards for them.


Hayes leads us with 9 points but he's also had 2 shots blocked and is struggling to get open looks. Ewing is cold, and Alston has had no luck on the break, so all of our scoring options have pretty much gone dead at the same time.
2
15:45
41
54
Ewing has hit two three's, Hayes has a 3 point play, and we've drawn two quick fouls on Schultz, which we were totally unable to do in the first half. We've made a run to at least make a game of it.
2
12:30
49
62
Still down 13, Ewing has hit another 3 and he and Hayes are both having very good halves. Moment of truth coming up though, our backups are coming in. This is where we lost it in the first half.
2
7:30
52
71
We got the leaddown to 10, 62-52, then they blew out a 9-0 run and seem to have put the game away. The starters are back in now.
2
4:30
64
76
Hayes and Ewing continue to play well and Alston has gotten a couple outlet passes for easy buckets now, we've got it back down to 12.
2
1:45
73
78
I was about to say that we'd just finally cut the lead under 10, 78-70. A badpass on their end, and Alston gets a 3 point play in transition. We've got it down to 5!
2
1:30
73
80
Bad move on our part. A poor switch has Alston on Schultz, whoscores easily and Alston commits a dumb foul. Schultz misses the FT though.
2
1:04
76
80
It takes longer than I want to get a shot, but when I do its an open 3 from Ewing.
2
0:29
79
82
They drain an open mid-range jumper on their end towards the end of the shot clock. We rush the ball up the court and Ewing is clutch again, drains another 3.
2
0:22
79
83
UGH. They miss the front end of a 1and 1, but Schultz grabs the offensive board. He makes 1 of 2 to make it a 2 possession game again.


Ewing misses a mid-range 2 pointer our next time down, they make their free throws and we can't complete the comeback.


UNC-Wilmington 89
NC A&T 82


They outrebounded us today, one of the few times that will happen this season. They scored more points in the paint, again we don't expect that to happen often, and they got 9 offensive boards and we only got 2. They also ended up with 9 blocked shots. Just a very strong performance inside by UNC-W.

On our end, Ewing and Hayes tried to win it for us but just were too far off in the 1st half, Ewing espicially.

Alston: 11 points/5 assists
Ewing: 29 points
Shiloh: 4 points
Coleman: 11 points/5 boards
Hayes: 20 points/7 boards

7 points from our bench today, one of the worst performances you'll ever see from my backups.
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Old 02-14-2009, 02:39 AM   #127
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
I'm going to play my next non-conference game against Binghamton, then sim my last two against Campbell and Duke so that I can get rolling with my conference schedule.


One of my goals this year, in a year when I'm trying to rack up as many coaching points as possible, is to get through the season with no unhappy players. I've used 4 pep talks so far and they seem to work really well since my Charisma is A+. All of my players but one have a confidence of above 50% for now. I just used 3 on guys that were hovering near 30%. I've been trying to rotate my 11th and 12th man into the games a little bit more often lately to keep them happy, and that just leaves my 4 inactive guys. I'm hoping I can keep them all happy without too much trouble.


December 18, 2009


NC A&T (5-4) at Binghamton (3-6)


Binghamton is rated a little lower than us and we hope for a good road win here. Our team unity is flying high at 48, about where it has been at the end of the last two seasons. We've got a big edge there as theirs is 31.


Binghamton has a 7'1” center that we will have to worry about. Their PG, Darshan Trammel is rated 69 OVR and is a pretty good scorer. He's not excessively fast or a particularly good defender, so I am not real worried about him. Their SG is a very good defender for this level, again not super fast so we can hopefully get out on the break a bit. He's not a big 3 point threat either, and only averages 8 ppg. The rest of their guys look fairly terrible. The 7'1” C is rated 56 OVR and is a terrible defender. Their 6'7” PF isn't much better. I am going to be looking for Coleman to have a monster game here.


Half
Time
NC A&T
BING
Notes
1
11:00
21
19
We should blow these guys out and I'm a bit worried that we're not already. We led 12-6 early and looked to be on the verge of running away with it but they fought back to tie itup at 19. Coleman has 10 already. Backups are in.
1
6:00
25
34
WOW our backups got owned. They scored layups off every missed shot, every steal(and there were a couple) and when they didn't get fast break buckets they drained open jumpers... starters are coming back in.


HALF
33
46
Just... wow. I'm stunned. Their SF, McBride, is launching 3's atevery opportunity, and he's only 2-7 but he has a few 2's as well and has 12 points. But really its the rebounding which is blowing my mind. They have a 20-10 edge on the boards. Right, we have 10 boards in the first half. They've missed 15 shots... how do we only have 10 boards as a team.


Coleman has 12 points/6 boards. Hayes has 4 points. Alston has 8.
2
16:00
38
57
I still look at these two teams and swear I'm way better. I figured I could run away with this game on the break, or inside... and I'm getting blown out badly. Coleman started the second half a little tired and ice cold so I subbed him out early. Ewing a little later... working on a rotation here though it seems like nothing is helping.
2
12:15
49
63
I'm able to run off a few quick points here and cut the lead back down to 14. Alston and Ewing are both sitting now, Coleman and Cruz in the post.
2
9:40
53
67
Ewing coming back in. Coleman has just gone insanely cold.
2
6:00
64
74
Alston pretty much single handedly got the lead back down to 10 with all our other starters resting. At the 6 minute mark we burn a time out and get our starters all on the court together.
2
3:30
68
80
A couple poor possessions and we fall behind by 14. A putback by Coleman makes it 12. Their ball and we're running out of time.
2
1:50
77
85
Just awful luck on the defensive end. We have the lead down to 7, they throw the ball into a crowd of A&T defenders as they try to find a cutter going to the basket, but their guy comes out with the ball and finds an open man for 3. Ewing is fouled on the other end and sinks two free throws to get it back down to 8 again.


We fall apart in the final two minutes. No chance.


Binghamton 91
NC A&T 77


Seriously looking at the rosters I would have predicted that we would win this game by 20. They just didn't miss,and they defended inside a lot better than I anticipated.


They shot 56%,hit 9 3's(despite only having one player I would have deemed capable of being a good 3 point shooter), and outreboundedus 34-29. Just terrible.


Alston:19 points
Ewing: 12points/4 assists (3-14shooting... awful)
Shiloh: 1 point
Coleman: 23 points/9 boards
Hayes: 15 points/9 boards


Alston was awesome when he was able to get out on the break. He abused his man and scored every time he got the ball. 8-8 from the field. But there was no secondary break on those long rebounds and Ewing was ice cold, forcing us to score inside every time we were in the half court set.
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Old 02-14-2009, 02:56 AM   #128
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
I sim out my last two non-conference games, as I expect to lose them both:

Campbell 101
NC A&T 77

Campbell's Jonathan Rodriguez was an all american last year and he's back for one last year. He's averaging 31 points and 10 boards so far this year. He scored 44 on us. 19 from Coleman, 19 from Hayes, 17 from Ewing.



Duke 82
NC A&T 55

22 from Ewing. Coleman scored 1 point.



That makes us 5-7 entering conference play. Not as good as I'd hoped for. Our last 5 games have all been tough ones, with 3 pretty much guarenteed losses, but I was hoping to have a shot vs UNC-W or Binghamton.

Looking ahead as my main goal this year has been to earn as many coaching points as possible, here are the ones I had set my sights on this season that we have yet to accomplish:

1) Win a non-conference tournament(completed already, hooray!)
2) Sign a world recruit - I will probably make a stronger effort to do this during the offseason
3) Go an entire season with no unhappy players - Should happen as long as I don't forget like last year.
4) Coach a conference player of the year - Ewing and Coleman are both potential candidates. I don't want to risk playing poorly to get them the ball more often than I normally would... but both have a shot.
5) Coach a team to a winning record - We'd need to go 11-7 or better in conference play.
6) Coach a team to 20 wins - We need 15 more. 12-6 + winning the conference tournament, or obviously better than 12-6 in conference play, would get us there.
7) Coach a team to a conference championship - I believe we have the best team in the league this year.
8) Coach a team to an NCAA Tournament bid - If wehave the best team we should be legit contenders to win our conference tourney.

Now, I don't truly expect to make all 8 goals, but I have already earned one and really expect that earning 4 or 5 is not unreasonable. I fully expect this team to go undefeated at home in conference play, and there are some bad teams at the bottom that I expect us to beat, which should allow us to have a winning record and win 20 games, in addition to having no unhappy players and winning the preseason tourney.
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Old 02-14-2009, 11:51 PM   #129
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
January 9, 2010


NC A&T (5-7, 1-0 MEAC) at Bethune-Cookman (5-5, 0-1 MEAC)


Scouting


They're rated a little below us, play poor defense and don't shoot quite as well as we do. We have a nice team unity edge as they start a couple young guys and have no seniors on the team.


PG Joey Woods – JR – 63 OVR – Adequate shooter, above average defender, decent speed. 11Ppg, one of their leaders.


SG Churchill Horner – SO – 55 OVR – terrrible 3 point shooter, slow, above average defender. - 6 ppg


SF Horace Trayborn – FR – 58 OVR – Looks to be a weak spot on the team all the way around. 5.5 ppg


PF Henry Walcott – FR – 78 OVR – This is the best player in the league, a 3* recruit Bethune Cookman brought in last year. Solid defender, very good scorer inside, the one good thing is that he's only 6'7” so hopefully that negates his edge a bit. 11.7 ppg/11.3 rpg


C Kyle Cook – JR – 64 OVR – Only 6'7” so they're a bit small, I need to take advantage of that. Decent scorer averaging 7.8 ppg.


Half
Time
NC A&T
BC
Notes
1
12:45
12
12
They get back on defense and can break a bit after turnovers. Walcott isn't hurting us, but Horner has 6 points all on layups after turnovers. Backups are in.
1
10:15
17
17
Timeout BC. Obviously our points from the backups are coming inside.
1
5:15
28
25
Cruz scores our last 5 to give us the lead. Since the backups were playing so well I didn't bother with a timeout to rush the starters back in. They're back now though.
1
2:15
33
35
Hayes picks up foul #2. I bring Cruz back in for the rest of the half. They're doing a good job of getting open shots real near the basket.


HALF
33
40
We led 28-23 at one point,and they close the half on a 17-5 run. Our offense faltered badly towards the end of the half. We went cold and committed far too many turnovers.


Their poor SG, Horner, leads them with 9 points. Walcott has 6points/4 boards/2 assists.


Coleman leads us with 7 points/6 boards. Ewing has 5 points but on 2-9 shooting. He missed a lot of open shots late in the half. Coleman and Hayes both have 2 fouls.
2
14:25
48
49
After falling behind by 10, we are now in the midst of a 9-0 run and only trail by 1. Solid defense has led us back for the most part. Ewing has a couple easy baskets and Hayes has 6 points this half so far.
2
13:15
51
49
Our run has stretched out to a 12-0 run and we now lead. A free throw(1-2) from Coleman and a layup by Alston after a steal gave us the lead. Hayes and Shiloh now have 3 fouls though.
2
10:50
56
54
Our run ended at 12-0 as their hot hand, Joey Woods, immediately came back in off the bench and drained a 3 after their last time out. He has 19 and has been on fire.
2
9:00
58
59
Woods drains another 3 to give them the lead again. We finally get our backups in the game. With all the timeouts they were taking during our run, our guys kept getting rested.
2
5:30
62
61
We've got 6 team fouls and since our starters ran for so long I probalby won't be bringing them back in til the 4 minute mark. Trying to stall and get Cruz and Shepherd looks inside.
2
4:00
62
68
So much for slowing it down and keeping up with them inside. A 3 pointer,a fast break layup and a mid-range jumper give them a 6 point lead. I'm down to 1 timeout but I've got my starters ready to come finish the game off.
2
2:30
66
72
So frustrating... we get a stop and a chance to cut down on the lead, Alston gets fouled driving, and misses both free throws... UGH.
2
1:30
68
72
We foul them(not intentional obviously) and they miss the front end of a 1 and 1. On our end we struggle to get a shot and Ewing ends up taking a marginal jumper. Its no good but Coleman is there for the board and puts it back in.
2
1:18
70
72
They work the ball into Wallcot(fairly quickly), Hayes stuffs his shot!! We come away with it and Alston goes by Woods for a layup.


We allow Woods an easy layup on the next possession and Alston commits a pretty terrible turnover and we have to start fouling. We get it as close as 3 again, 77-74, but never get a chance to go for a game tying shot. Tough road loss.


Bethune-Cookman 78
NC A&T 74


Their PG, Joey Woods, just got incredibly hot and we couldn't slow him down. He drained 2 threes with hands right in his face and when we tighten up to stop that he gets to the basket for layups. Woods had 26 points. Their rooke stud walcott had 11 points/10 boards/5 assists, quite a fine day.


We had a balanced attack:


Alston: 11 points/5 assists
Ewing: 12 points
Shiloh: 0 points
Coleman: 14 points/13 boards
Hayes: 13 points/7 boards


Off the bench Cruz scored 8, and Shepherd scored 6 with 6 boards. Not the start we wanted to conference play after all those goals we talked about before the game.
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Old 02-15-2009, 01:11 AM   #130
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
January 11, 2010

NC A&T (5-8, 1-1 MEAC) at Delaware State (6-4, 2-0 MEAC)

Scouting


Another team rated a little below us. They also play pretty poor defense, their offense isn't very good either, but they are an outstanding rebounding team.

PG Darrell Mosley – SR – 61 OVR – Below average shooter, average passer, good speed,good defense. 7.4 ppg this year.

SG Marcus Neal – SR – 58 OVR – Below average shooter, really kinda poor all the way around. Obviously this means he is going to torch us. 4.2 ppg

SF Kyle White – SR – 66 OVR – A good inside shooter and decent in traffic. Not a great ball handler or defender. 7 ppg, he's got a nagging injury as well.

PF Robin Boxler – SO – 71 OVR – I remember this guy from last year, which is not a good sign. Very good inside scorer, great post offense, just average defense inside. Good rebounder. 10.3 ppg/8.4 rpg. He's 6'11”.

C Roy Bright – JR – 60 OVR – not anywhere close to the player Boxler is, but he's also 6'11” and a good rebounder. 6.5 ppg/4.6 rpg.
I seem to get burned by even very poor shooters in a zone, so we'll see how this works... I'm going to play a 2-3 zone against these guys at least to start.
Half
Time
NC A&T
DEL
Notes
1
15:00
8
10
We get out to a quick 8-2 lead and learn what happens if we turn it over. They get layups. Any time we turn it over, they're going to get a layup. Their PG is faster than anyone we have, not by a ton, but enough that we can't catch him on any outlet pass.
1
12:15
14
14
Backups are in. Delaware State isn't very good in the half court set. But they do rebound, a couple offensive boards have kept them going.
1
11:15
14
16
Bright, their center, has 2 fouls. His backup is a terrible 6'9 soph. Terrible as in rated 50 OVR.
1
7:15
20
23
Neal, their SG that I said is a pretty terrible offensive player, scores 5 straight including a 3 under some pressure. We get our starters back in, down by 3.
1
3:15
24
31
Hayes picks up fouls #2 and 3 in quick succession, Cruz is in for him. They hit a couple open 3's with me in the zone to pull out to a 7 point lead.


HALF
28
34
Very frustrating end to the half as Alston misses a dunk on a fast break and then gets hammered on another and doesn't get the call. We should have been down by 2, not 6.


The zone is working for the most part, as Delaware State is launching 3's with reckless abandon. They're 3-14 from deep. Boxler has 6 points/7 boards and is hurting us. Their PG Mosley has 6 points, all on layups in transition.


We have 5 points/8 boards from Coleman. Hayes and Alston have 6, Ewing 5.
2
18:55
30
34
Our starters played more than usual in the first half, specifically going the final 7:30. I decide to put the backups in and get the starters a little more rest.
2
15:00
36
44
Their inside guys just dominate our inside backups. Not good at all. Starters are back in.
2
11:00
44
47
Our starters get on a good roll, taking advantage of the long rebounds from missed 3's to get out on the break. Ewing and Alston both score a good bit this way. However, Ewing picks up his 3rd foul, Hayes picks up his 4th. I decide to bring the backups in til the 6:30 mark or so and let the starters carry us home.
2
10:00
48
48
Cruz scores 4 fairly quick points for us and we've tied the game up. They still have Boxler out there but otherwise have backups in.
2
9:00
50
49
A basket inside by backup SF Johnson gives us the lead. Our backup PG, Works, hurts himself and has to come out. I pull Shiloh back to the backup squad for now.
2
6:45
52
52
Starters are back in, except Johnson at SF instead of Shiloh for now. We've committed a lot of fouls this half, mostly stupid reaching in at the top of the 2-3 zone. As a result, Delaware State is already shooting free throws.
2
4:30
58
55
Boxler finally has to rest for a bit and we take advantage, getting two buckets from Coleman and one from Hayes inside to take a 3 point lead.
2
3:20
60
57
Boxler is back in for them, and we take a slim one possession lead into the final 3 minutes.
2
2:30
60
62
Neal, their terrible 3point shooter, picks a good time to drain one. We come up empty on the other end, and Boxler fouls hayes out of the game on a 3 point play. Just perfect. Boxler does miss the FT so we trail by 2.
2
1:45
60
63
Ewing misses a wide open shot. We foul Neal as he's driving on the other end. He makes 1 of 2.
2
0:36
62
65
Coleman tries to go up over Boxler and he just can't score on the guy. They end up scoring on their end. Ewing makes an athletic play to get to the rim on our next possession, and we start to foul.


We can't score again, and they don't miss.
Delaware State 70
NC A&T 62


We're in a pretty rough patch here after starting out 5-2. We need a win to get us out of this funk, badly.
Their PF Boxler was great for them on defense, and good enough on offense. 18 points, 17 rebounds and he just hurt us badly. 2 blocks and 2 steals too. Our defense did what it was supposed to. They were 6-25 from 3 on the game, and they committed 13 turnovers, many of them on bad passes into the middle of our zone. We just couldnt' quite capitalize enough.

Alston: 10 points
Ewing: 11 points (5/18 shooting, 1-12 from 3, the first 8 of them wideopen. I'm really struggling with him.
Shiloh: 0points
Coleman: 11 points/17 boards
Hayes: 10 points/3 boards

Cruz: 8 points/9 boards.
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Old 02-15-2009, 02:25 AM   #131
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
January 16, 2010

Maryland-Eastern Shore(6-7, 1-2 MEAC) at NC A&T (5-9, 1-2 MEAC)

Scouting

This is the game we need to get out of this slump, in theory. A home game against the worst rated team in the league. UMES is rated 62 overall and is not better than us in any facet of the game, even defense.

PG Marc Davis – 61 OVR – JR - good speed and handling, not a huge scoring threat unless he gets hot, but he is averaging 11 points per game.
SG Roland Dunston – 57 OVR – JR – Like Davis but a bit slower and a bit worse of a shooter. 4 ppg
SF Kerwin Sato – 54 OVR – SO – A pretty awful shooter, but he tends towards shooting the 3, which should be great for us. 7 ppg.
PF Ishmawiyl McFadden – 61 OVR – JR – Yes,that is how they spell is name in game. Good from close range, good strength and rebounding. Decent post defender. 12 ppg/9 rpg.
C Gordon Del Rosario – 56 OVR – C – An ok close range shooter. Awful in the post. Hayes needs to destroy this guy. 5.6 ppg/7.0 rebounds. 6'8”

We may try a zone against these guys too as Davis and Dunston both heavily lean towards driving to the hoop over shooting from outside. Their SF is interesting, as he's 6'10”. Since he seems such a poor player, I'm going to see if our zone can keep him from scoring, while on offense Shiloh can use his speed to get by him.
Half
Time
NC A&T
UMES
Notes
1
14:30
18
9
If we don't get out to a massive lead and quick sim this I'm going to be annoyed. We're so much better than them at every level.
1
13:00
22
9
Backups are in.
1
8:51
31
11
They finally score again. Its been at least 5 ½ minutes, I think quite a bit more than that.


HALF
55
23
Yeah, this is what we needed.


12 from Alston, 11 from Ewing, 6 from Hayes. Coleman has 9 boards, Hayes 8. Cruz scored 9 off the bench.


Really no reason to waste time in the 2nd half.


NC A&T 81
Delaware State 49

They shot 27% from the field for the game. Not much else that can be said about that.

Alston: 17 points
Ewing: 16 points
Shiloh: 5 points
Coleman: 10 points/16 rebounds
Hayes: 12 points/15 rebounds

We needed that to end our 7 game losing streak. Back on track hopefully!
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Old 02-15-2009, 03:21 AM   #132
Izulde
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Rough start given the amount of talent you put on the team. Hopefully you can pick it up further down the conference slate.
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Old 02-15-2009, 07:11 PM   #133
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
January 16, 2010

Morgan State (5-9, 3-1 MEAC) at NC A&T (6-9, 2-2 MEAC)

Scouting

Another home game which is good. Morgan State opened the season with a win over Missouri before losing 9 straight. They finished non-conference play with a win at Baylor and now have 3 wins in a row in conference play. Their conference loss is a 62-26 embarrassment at MD-Eastern Shore.


PG Dalron Nance – SR – 56 OVR – actually a SG, and a very poor ball handler, even for a SG. Poor shooter, looks mainly to be a threat to drive. Very slow. Alston may have a field day if he can get out on the break vs Nance. 3.6 ppg, 1.4 apg

SG Reggie Holmes – SR – 69 OVR – 85 rated 3 point shooter, ie deadly at this level. Looks to be the big scoring threat. I think he had a big game against us last year, I remember his name. He's only averaging 9.8 ppg this year, down from 14.5 last season.

SF Ameer Ali – JR – 70 OVR – good ball handler for a 6'6 forward, with great driving ability and the ability to score in traffic. Averaging 9.4 ppg.

PF Kevin Thompson – JR – 64 OVR – 6'8”, decent inside prescence, good leaper and strong. Coleman should beat him out on the boards though. 7.5 ppg/6.0 rpg.

C Rodney Stokes – JR – 61 OVR – 6'10”, looks like a better rebounder than Thompson(and Hayes unfortunately). Good inside shot and a good post defender. 5.4 ppg/5.0 rpg

Scouting reports suggest that we crowd the lane against this team, but I am sure if I run a zone that Holmes will score 40.

Half
Time
NC A&T
MSU
Notes
1
14:15
14
8
They play good half court defense which is giving us problems, but any turnover and most missed shots that we get aclean rebound on are translating into layups. Their guards are awful in transition, and Alston and Ewing are very good.
1
12:00
14
8
Backups are in. Still 14-8, Alston just missed a dunk, whoops. Hayes has 2 fouls.
1
10:15
14
18
Oof. Two 3's from Holmes and a couple other easy baskets... damn backups!
1
6:25
18
22
Cruz scores 4 points for us as we slow the game down to rest our starters, who are all back in, minus Hayes with his 2 fouls.
1
5:30
18
29
They score a basket, we miss a shot, they get a 3 point play, and steal the inbounds pass for a layup and a very quick 7-0 run.


HALF
29
44
They hit two threes to finish out the half in horrific fashion for us. They're shooting 60% from the field while we're shooting 34%.


We got 8 out of Alston, 7 from Ewing and 6 from Coleman. Cruz came up big with 7 points as well. We just shot 9-26 from the floor and got most of it from the line(10-15 from the FT line)


Holmes has 12 for them, Ali has 9.


We're going to open the second half in a zone.
2
16:30
35
50
We've missed 3 shots in transition that I fully expected to make and as a result haven't cut down the lead at all yet.
2
14:35
39
52
Backups are in. We continue to get to the line well, and continue to make 1of 2 every time we get there.
2
13:45
44
52
5 straight for PG Leandro Works and we've got the lead back under double digits.
2
10:45
50
60
Two three pointers for SF Ali push their lead back out, but Works has been a monster driving to the basket, another 3 point play by him and we get the lead back to 10. Starters come back in for another run.
2
9:00
56
60
Their shooters have gone cold and we're killing them on the break.
2
7:55
62
62
Ewing drains an open 3 pointer after Holmes hits a mid-range jumper on their end. After a miss Alston manages a 3 point play to tie it up!
2
6:00
67
65
We continue to push after every miss, and they continue to shoot poorly from 3, but hitting just enough to keep it close. Backups are in for a short time to rest the starters for the stretch run.
2
4:20
71
73
Ali hits two straight 3's for them. If they keep this up I may have to go back to man to man, its kinda a borderline call this game. But the missed 3's are leading to so many easy baskets, I think that makes the difference. Starters are back in.
2
2:00
73
77
Alston misses a layup in traffic, and we make a bad pass to turn it over. Down 4, their ball.
2
1:35
76
77
We get a steal and Alston is fouledon a drive. He makes 1 of 2. They miss a shot in the post on their next play, we get it out to Alston who makes a great move in traffic for a basket.
2
0:48
78
79
Holmes makes two free throws for them. Ewing misses a transition dunk, but we get the rebound and put it back in.
2
0:14
80
79
We play good defense, Ali misses a contested 3, and Alston is out on the break yet again. We lead by 1 and need to play defense for the final 15 seconds.
2
0:05
80
81
What... Ewing with a reach on Holmes as he's setting up for the final play. That's our 7th foul so Holmes goes to the line. He makes both.


They press, but we're able to get the ball to Ewing down court for a last second shot. He shoots a jumper long off the rim and we fall by 1.

Morgan State 81
NC A&T 80

I cannot believe that Ewing committed that reach in foul for no reason at all with 5 seconds left in the game. Also, I did learn a valuable lesson here. Even if a team has a 3 point threat, the 2-3 zone can be worthwhile. Sure they hit some 3's on us but in the first half they were getting to the basket over and over. I think if I had gone to a zone, like our scouting report suggested, we would have won. Ah well, I'll know better next time.

They got 23 from Ali and 22 from Holmes, but they only shot 6-24 from 3.

Alston: 27 points
Ewing: 14 points
Shiloh: 3 points
Coleman: 11 points/18 rebounds
Hayes: 3 points/7 boards.

Extremely disappointing loss, and one that could have been avoided.
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Old 02-15-2009, 07:14 PM   #134
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Quote:
Originally Posted by Izulde View Post
Rough start given the amount of talent you put on the team. Hopefully you can pick it up further down the conference slate.

Yeah, we're definitely suffering from the fact that the only thing I can do as a coach is recruit. That's why I feel like this is such an important year to earn some coaching improvements so that I can start developing my players.

Last edited by Radii : 02-15-2009 at 07:14 PM.
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Old 02-15-2009, 10:31 PM   #135
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
January 23, 2010

NC A&T (6-10, 2-3 MEAC) at Florida A&M (1-14, 1-3 MEAC)

Scouting

A&M is rated very poorly, 63 OVR, this looks a lot like our recent Delaware State game. The scouting report is a bit conflicted here. 41% of their shots are from 3 point range, only 30 inside and 30 midrange. Yet our scout tells us that they like to dribble-drive and we should play a zone to keep them out of the lane.

PG Jarrid Perkins – FR – 70 OVR – Extrodinarily good speed, good quickness, great defense and a decent ball handler. Good inside but only average shooting the 3. I can see why they like to drive now. 8.5 ppg/5.5 rpg

SG Nathan Harper -JR – 65 OVR – Average shooter, good speed and pretty good defense, doesn't look like a great scorer but a decent overall threat. 7.4 ppg/8.3 rpg (8.3 rebounds??)

SF Abraham Songcaucy – SO – 54 OVR Average defender and that's really it. 4.8 ppg

PF DJ Pettway – SO – 55 OVR – Looks like a pretty bad player. Ok shooter in traffic. That's pretty much it. 7.2 ppg/6.8 rpg

C Jonpaul Bowens – SO – 53 OVR – Pretty good post defense and a decent inside shot. Foul rating of 99, the worst possible. Given our tendency to draw a lot of fouls if this guy plays more than 10 minutes with that foul rating I'll be shocked. 6.8 ppg/4 rpg.

I see why the scouts say to zone it up against these guys, and I've learned my lesson about playing man against my scouts recommendation. Zone it is. Team Unity edge is massive here. 51-30 in our favor.

Half
Time
NC A&T
FAMU
Notes
1
15:15
12
9
They open up with a 9-4 lead as we take some bad shots inside early. We get it together though and are on an 8-0 run.
1
11:45
17
15
Backups are in. Alston has 8, Ewing 4 early in transition.
1
6:40
31
23
Cruz scores 8 for us and does very well against their backup big men. Our starters come back out to try to finish off the first half strong.


HALF
47
33
We methodically build our lead. We're shooting 52%, they're shooting 29%. They have a couple shooters that have high tendencies to shoot 3's despite not being very good at it at all. Their SG, Harper, is 1-11 from 3 and they are 2-21 as a team.


On our end we're scoring the same way we did last game, taking advantage of a lot of long rebounds and getting out in transition against poorer defenders. Alston has 15 points. He isn't as dominant as he was vs Morgan State, as FAMU's PG Perkins is a better defender, but he's getting so many more chances to run this game.


Coleman has 6 points/8 boards. Hayes 6 points/5 boards. Ewing 6 points. Cruz has 8.
2
15:30
51
40
We went up 49-33, then they rolled off 7 straight. We finally got a bucket by Coleman to end that run and still lead by 11. They're defending in transition much better so far this half.
2
12:50
61
48
We get Coleman going a bit, he has 6 or 8 this half... can't remember, and get the inside game going which keeps our lead up. Backups are in.
2
10:00
67
48
Backups are playing great D. Cruz has all 6 points and is having a hell of a game off the bench.

We lead by 24, 81-67 with 5 minutes left. I quick sim to the end.

NC A&T 94
Florida A&M 64

Hooray for road wins! A&M was a ridiculous 6/40 from 3.

Alston: 19 points
Ewing: 11 points
Shiloh: 1 points/5 boards
Coleman: 16 points/13 rebounds
Hayes: 11 points/8 boards.

Cruz gets 14 points off the bench.


Incidentally, in reviewing FAMU's roster, they have two transfer's sitting out a year. One is rated 71, and the other 65 OVR. Given that they start 5 underclassmen and have two transfers that would be 2 of the best 3 players on the team, this is a team that will be much better in seasons to come.

Last edited by Radii : 02-15-2009 at 10:34 PM.
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Old 02-15-2009, 11:12 PM   #136
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
January 25, 2010

NC A&T (7-10, 3-3 MEAC) at Norfolk State (6-12, 3-2 MEAC)

Scouting

Norfolk State is rated worse than our last opponent, just 62 OVR, and based on the ratings, their starters look pretty bad. They are3-2 in conference play though.

PG Antoine Perry – SR- 60 OVR – Average. Average speed for a PG. Average ball handling, average defender, average shooter. 12.4 ppg, leading the team.

SG Jeremy Banks – JR – 57 OVR – A little worse than Perry in every way. 6.4 ppg.

SF Cassiano Shropshire – FR – 54 OVR – bad at everything. Too bad I don't make good use of my own SF or this would be my mismatch guy.

PF Brandon Monroe – SR – 56 OVR – 5.4 ppg/6.0 rpg. 6'7”, a pretty good rebounder, average defender. I think Coleman can do well against him. Not an offensive threat at all.

C Joseph Dorsett-Jeffreys – SR – 61 OVR – 6'11” 331 lbs, big dude. 9.4 ppg/5.9 rpg. Good from close range and a pretty good post defender. Extremely strong and a good rebounder.

More 2-3 zone to come.

Half
Time
NC A&T
NSU
Notes
1
15:15
14
6
Lots of easy buckets. This team does not seem very good.
1
11:10
30
8
Yeah, they definitely are not very good. Hayes has 12,Coleman has 8 or 10, Alston, Ewing and Shiloh split up the rest. Backups are in.
1
4:45
49
14
Starters back in.


HALF
64
26
LOL?


I obviously sim out the 2nd half.

NC A&T 99
Norfolk State 55

We shoot 60%, they shoot 31%

Alston: 14 points/9 assists
Ewing: 15 points
Shiloh: 7 points/8 assists
Coleman: 19 points/13 rebounds
Hayes: 18points/8 boards.

That was fun. Unlike FAMU, this is a team that will just getworse. They do have a transfer coming in that will help, but this is an upper classmen led team. A lot of these guys are graduating with nothing ready to come up behind them.
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Old 02-16-2009, 12:59 AM   #137
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
January 30, 2010

South Carolina State (9-10, 7-0 MEAC) at NC A&T (8-10, 4-3 MEAC)

Scouting

This is obviously a huge game. At home vs the team leading the conference early on. SC State has either been very lucky, or very clutch. They have 4 conference wins by 1 or 2 points.

PG Roland Patton – SO – 56 OVR – terrible quickness, terrible defense, terrible ball handling for a PG. Good sign for Alston. 5.4 ppg/2.7 apg

SG Carrio Bennett- JR – 66 OVR – A leading candidate for player of the year. Great 3 point shooter who likes to take a lot of them. He's 40.5% from 3 and has taken 153 of them already this season. Averaging over 17 points per game.

SF Jason Flagler - SR – 60 OVR – 5.7 ppg/6.1 rpg. Good speed at SF,decend defender, but not a great scorer. Great leaping ability and decent on the drive.

PF Max Bain – FR – 72 OVR- 6'6”, which hopefully will negate him some. Very good low post defender, very good rebounder. 5.4 ppg/7.0 rpg

C Perry Michaud – FR – 55 OVR - 7'2” so he has some good size. Average in the post, good inside shot, but a poor rebounder. 4.7 ppg/2.2 rpg.

We'll start in a zone but we have to be careful of Bennett in this one. Our team unity is up to 53, theirs is 42.

Half
Time
NC A&T
SCST
Notes
1
15:00
21
12
No defense in this game! SC State has made 3 3-pointers, Bennett is 2-2. But Hayes is way better than Michaud who has poor defensive skills, and Bain has great skills but just cannot control a good PF like Coleman who has 5 inches on him.
1
13:00
25
17
Another SC State time out. I'm a bit worried about how our backups will do, starters are staying out a bit longer.
1
10:35
32
25
Backups coming in now. Bennett is 4-4 from 3 and they have 2 other made 3 pointers. Not really sure the zone is the answer here heh.
1
9:30
37
25
Another SC State time out. Shepherd was able to draw Michaud's 2nd foul so he's out for awhile which has opened things up in the paint for Cruz.
1
4:45
44
37
We allow 6 straight to let SC State back into it, before calling a timeout and getting our starters back out there.


HALF
61
42
We had a 51-42 lead, drew foul #2 on Bain, and they sat bennett. We rolled the rest of the half.


Bennett is 6-7 from 3 for them. He has 18 points. They are 9-21 from 3 which would normally be deadly. They just have no answers for our inside game.


Coleman has 17 points/10 boards. Hayes has 16 points. Alston has 13.
2
15:30
70
51
Coleman continues to score seemingly at will. They had cut it down to 16 thanks to some bad turnovers on our part, but we've got it back up nearer to 20 again.
2
12:15
78
58
Backups are in.
2
7:45
83
65
They'd had it down to 15 but can't seem to get it any lower than that. They just burned a timeout. Backups arestill in.
2
7:00
85
65
All starters but Coleman back out. Coleman is still a bittired.
2
4:30
88
73
Coleman is back in.


Great win over a previously undefeated team in MEAC play.

NC A&T 100
South Carolina State 82

THOMAS COLEMAN, BITCHES.

They made 15 threes but it just didn't matter. We ran them off the court, 66 points in the paint, 15 free throws. Bennett had a monster game for them with 32 points on 8-16 three pointers, but our guy was better. See below.

Alston: 15 points/8 assists
Ewing: 11 points/7 assists
Shiloh: 2 points
Coleman: 35 points/15 boards
Hayes: 18 points/10 boards

Cruz has 9 points/9 boards off the bench. Coleman's performance was just over the top good. 15-22 from the field, 5-8 from the line.
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Old 02-16-2009, 05:22 PM   #138
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
February 1, 2010

Howard (9-14, 5-3 MEAC) at NC A&T (9-10, 5-3 MEAC)

Scouting

Here's a chance to get back to .500 overall.

PG Julius Hearn – SR – 61 OVR – 9.1 ppg – terrible shooter, but good speed and ball handling abilities, we'll look to stop him from driving.

SG Torrance Timothy – JR – 64 OVR – 11.4 ppg, an average 3 point shooter, average defender, average speed and driving ability. Quite average everywhere heh.

SF Curtis White – SR – 61 OVR – 9.7 ppg – White is their best 3 point shooter.

PF Emanuel Anderson – FR – 66 OVR – Good low post defender, decent offensive skills and pretty good rebounder. 8.1 ppg/7.9 rpg. 6'7” so he gives up a good bit to Coleman.

C Adam Walker – JR – 60 OVR – Good inside, good rebounder, not as good a defender as Anderson.6 ppg/4.4rpg. Only 6'8” so we've got a good height edge.

We seem to be dominating in the 2-3 zone so yeah, easy choice against a team with just one shooter.

Half
Time
NC A&T
HOW
Notes
1
12:45
13
21
We're struggling to get out in transition against these guys and struggling in the half court offense too. Backups are in.
1
5:30
27
38
Ugh, we had the lead down to 6... their SF White is killing us. He has 20 points and is making us rethink the zone heh. Starters back in.


HALF
42
48
They're shooting 59%, including 6/14 from 3, White is killing us with 22 points. Coleman leads us with 9.
2
11:45
55
68
Very frustrating,we kept the lead at 6 most of the way so far, but never could get it below. Offensive rebounds arehurting us a lot. Backups are in.
2
4:00
72
81
We had it down to 6 again, they just made a 3, and we get our starters back in for the finish.


We got the lead down to 3, 85-82 and Ewing had a 3 to tie with about 45 seconds left, but he missed and they made their free throws.

Howard 89
NC A&T 82

Tough loss at home coming off a few wins in a row. They had two shooters that were huting us, we switched to man to man for a bit in the second half and they just get the ball inside too easily then, so we ended up just taking our chances with their shooters, who came up big when it counted.

Alston: 17 points/6 assists
Ewing: 9 points
Shiloh: 2 points
Coleman: 13 points/11 boards
Hayes: 15 points/6 boards

Cruz: 12 points
Shepherd: 8 points

A bit lacking in the game description here, as I found out after I started the game that I needed to be ready to go out at 6:30 and had to rush to get this one done in time.
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Old 02-16-2009, 11:11 PM   #139
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
February 6, 2010

Coppin State(7-16, 4-5 MEAC) at NC A&T (9-11, 5-4 MEAC)

Scouting

We have to stop losing home games!

PG Luke Snipes – SO – 66 OVR – Average jump shooter, good speed but poor quickness. Great defender and good driving ability. We'll let him shoot 3's all day. 6.0 ppg.

SG Walt Killingsworth – SO – 66 OVR Pretty good driving ability but justan average shooter. 6 ppg.

SF Ethan Kennedy – SR – 59 OVR - Best 3point shooter on the team by a lot. That's about all he's good for. 4.6 ppg.

PF Eddie Hayden – JR – 57 OVR – 6'7”, 5.5 ppg/5.1 rpg. Not very good at all.

C Ceslovas Kucinskas – JR – 60 OVR – Only 6'8” Poor post defence, slightly above average rebounding. Good inside shot and good strength. 9.6 ppg/8.0 rpg

They pretty much have no depth inside so we hope to run them over with Hayes and Coleman and Cruz and Shepherd. We'll play a zone and hope it works better than it did vs Howard.
Half
Time
NC A&T
CSU
Notes
1
14:25
12
18
They have 4 3's already and then a couple easy baskets inside, two off turnovers. We're doing ok but turning it over a bit too frequently.
1
11:30
17
24
They've hit 6 3's now as our backups come in.
1
5:15
30
36
Starters are back in.
1
3:45
39
38
Finally we make something good happen. They score to go up 8. Coleman gets a bucket and is fouled down low. He misses the free throw but Shiloh grabs the board, goes back up and gets fouled. He makes both his free throws. They miss a jumper, and we get Ewing for an open 3. They miss another jumper, and we get out on the break after the board and Alston gives us the lead with a dunk in transition!

HALF
54
45
We just went on an absolute tear to finish off the half. We got their big men in foul trouble and they have zero depth so we dominate inside with their bigs sitting. Also as they stopped making every 3 they took we were able to fast break quite a bit more.


Alston, Ewing and Coleman all have 10 points. Hayes has 7. We have a massive 22-10 rebounding edge. They are 7-19 from 3. Kennedy is 3-6 which I expect. The others are 4-13 which is a bit higher percentage than I'd expect.
2
16:45
63
48
We scored the first 9 points of the 2nd half and have pulled out to a pretty big lead. They drain a 3 to end our run.
2
15:40
69
50
They burn a time out. We are just killing them inside, and to top it off, Ewing is making his open jumpers today, so when they zone it up to try to stop our inside game, Ewing is making his 3's.
2
11:30
79
59
Backups are in. Coleman and Hayes are having great games, Ewing and Alston not far behind them.
2
8:00
82
68
A 3 and a couple open jumpers and Coppin State is trying to make it a game down the stretch. We slow it down so that they can't.


We push the lead back up to 19 with 5 minutes left and sim it out to the end.

NC A&T 107
Coppin State 92

Heh, we just outran them today. They hit 15 3 pointers but that was out of 45 total and we did a good job running and getting them in foul trouble so that we could manhandle them on the offensive end.

Alston: 12 points/7 assists
Ewing: 25 points (5-9 from 3)
Shiloh: 4 points
Coleman: 21 points/12 boards
Hayes: 18 points/15 boards
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Old 02-16-2009, 11:25 PM   #140
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
We've just passed the halfway point of the conference season. Here's how things look right now:

1. SC State 8-2
2. Hampton 8-2
3. Delaware State 8-3
4. Howard 7-3
5. Morgan State 6-4
6. NC A&T 6-4
7. Norfolk State 4-5
8. Coppin State 4-6
9. Bethune-Cookman 3-7
10. Florida A&M 2-7
11. Winston Salem-State 2-8
12. MD-Eastern Shore 2-9


We're 10-11 overall. I still have a lot of confidence as we've finished very strong each of the last two seasons. We play Hampton next and then our final 7 games are against teams we've already played. Since I don't think any of them really have talent advantages over us, I hope I've learned enough to take advantage of my strengths in any rematches.

Also, I'd run through a rather lofty list of goals for the season. Lets see how we feel about them halfway through the conference schedule:

1) Win a non-conference tournament(completed already, hooray!)
2) Sign a world recruit - No change, depends on recruiting.
3) Go an entire season with no unhappy players - Still doing fine here but we are down to 3 pep talks left. I
4) Coach a conference player of the year - I'm unsure here. Bennett for SC State is putting up 19 points a game and Floyd of Winston-Salem State has 17.7 points per game. Ewing is 4th in the league with 16. Coleman is 5th with 15.8 ppg, and he's also leading the league in rebounds with 11.7 rebounds/game. So it seems like its going to come down to higher raw scoring output, or whether the large number of rebounds + good scoring is enough.

5) Coach a team to a winning record - If we finish 5-3 we'd finish the regular season 15-14. Assuming tournament play counts towards that record/goal, we either need to go 5-3 and win a tournament game, or go 6-2 in the regular season.
6) Coach a team to 20 wins - Highly unlikely as we only have 10 wins with 8 games left. 7-1 finish + winning the conference tournament would do it.
7) Coach a team to a conference championship - I am actually unsure if this is regular season or tournament. I still think we have a decent shot at winning the tournament, despite the fact that we match up poorly against a couple teams.
8) Coach a team to an NCAA Tournament bid - See #7

So really not a lot has changed with these goals, except that the 20 win goal seems pretty damn unlikely.
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Old 02-17-2009, 01:10 AM   #141
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
February 8, 2010

Hampton (10-9, 8-2 MEAC) at NC A&T (10-11, 6-4 MEAC)

Scouting

Hampton has won the MEAC regular season title each of the last two years and won the conference tournament last year. Hampton has the #2 offense in the league behind us, but they also have the #3 defense, where our defense is one of the worst.

PG Brandon Tunnell – JR – 65 OVR – Classic point guard. Good speed, handling and passing, average scoring ability. 9.9 ppg/4.4 apg

SG Vincent Simpson – SR – 64 OVR- I remember this name from last year which is always a bad sign. Not a great shooter but good speed and quickness, good defense and good in transition. 11.8 ppg

SF John Ntoko – SR – 60 OVR – Not someone to worry about in any way. 3.2 ppg.

PF Michael Freeman – SR – 73 OVR – 6'9” - Great low post offense and inside ability. Good rebounder. Will be a tough challenge for Coleman obviously. 15.7ppg/7.8 rpg. Two time 1st team all-conference performer.

C Milade Lola-Charles – JR – 62 OVR – very strong defensive rebounder and low post defender. Only 4.4 ppg/5.5 rpg, virtually no offensive ability.


This is the first team I've looked at in conference play and said “I think they're better than us.” they like to press and run, and how we handle their press and run with them(we're clearly not going to try to slow it down, if they can outrun us, they win) will dictate the game.

My big edge this year that I have never had before is speed out of my backups. This is a team that my starters can hang with but the backups get destroyed. The speed and ball handling I have out of Works and Colter, and Shiloh if I need to drop him to 2nd string, should be huge.

Oh yea their team unity is awesome. 62, and again we are much better off there than ever before, we're at 55.

Half
Time
NC A&T
HAM
Notes
1
16:50
7
5
Shiloh commits two stupid reach fouls early and comes out. Tunnell commits one stupid reach and one foul as Alston is driving by him and has to come out. Advantage A&T.
1
14:30
9
14
We commit a couple turnovers against their press and they run their offense to perfection against us, easy baskets.
1
12:20
17
14
We draw foul #2 on Freeman and that seems to open the floodgates for us. A very quick 8-0 run has us back on top.
1
12:00
17
16
Backups are in.
1
6:20
27
26
They go on a 10-2 run and lead 26-19 mainly because we commit some dumb turnovers , both against the press and out past the 3 point line allowing them to get easy layups. We're able to settle down and go on a 8-0 run ourselves to go back ahead. Game of runs, eh?
1
5:30
27
26
Starters back in
1
2:15
33
32
Our run got up to 14-0 and we led 33-26. Two straight 3's and its down to 33-32. I just had to call a time out with 2 seconds left to get the ball up court. I don't want the turnover to allow them to get on an 8+ point run and get the lead back that way.


HALF
37
34
We have an open 3 from Ewing and then a board by Hayes to try to extend the lead in the final 10 seconds but cannot convert either.


Outstanding first half of basketball. This seems like the type of game where us getting the crowd behind us once or twice in the 2nd half could give us the edge we need, a very close game.


They are 4-17 from 3 and only 15-39 overall. We're 14-30 from the field but 9-15 from the FT line, where we always seem to end up WAY more than our opponents.


Alston has 11, Hayes 8, Coleman 8. Their SG Simpson, the one I said “oh no I remember his name” has 13 points to lead them.
2
16:10
41
40
Hayes just came out with an injury. Uhoh.
2
12:15
54
50
Hayes just has a minor injury and can come back in. After a huge 3 from the corner by Ewing to give us a 4 point lead Hampton calls a time out. I get my backups in, except I put Shiloh at SF, his speed will help the backups break the press, and Hayes is in at Center.
2
6:10
56
60
They go on a 10-2 run, Hayes is totally ineffective and we just can't manage anything, while they drain 2 threes and seem to score pretty easily. Starters are in for the duration.
2
2:30
66
68
After some back and forth we finally get a stop and cut the lead down to 2. they had Simpson on the bench, and he's back in now so we'll see if he continues to kill us down the stretch.
2
1:45
68
73
Heh, Simpson drains a 3. We fail to scoreon our end, and Simpson getsan assist on a dunk... great. We get a basket from Cruz to cut it back to 5, their ball.
2
0:50
68
73
We force Ntoko, their worst shooter, to take a 3, and get Hayes an easy look from 2 feet out that he just dinks into the front rim. I guess his injury?
2
0:35
71
75
We foul them, not wanting them to be able to burn clock down under 20 seconds. They make them both. Ewing breaks their press and gets to the hoop, where he's fouledby Simpson and makes his shot! 3 point play! We full court press and they throw a bad pass that sails out of bounds untouched. Our ball!
2
0:29
73
76
Coleman scores right away, and we foul after the inbounds pass. Simpson makes the first, misses the second but their center, Lola-Charles, gets the rebound. We foul him right away. That's still only our 9th foul so its 1 and 1. They miss the front end and we grab the board.
2
0:20
73
78
UGGGGGGGGGGH. Alston tries to get around his man and create an open shot and he loses control of the ball. Turnover and we have to foul.
2
0:11
76
79
Ewing makes a quick 3! Still not over... We foul again. They make the first and miss the second, so we've got one last shot to tie.

I'm unable to get Ewing open, he takes a heavily contested shot that is off the front rim.

Hampton 79
NC A&T 76

I'm not sure we can play better against these guys. Simpson absolutely destroyed our zone, but, most of the time we played man defense, they got layups. We're simply an average at best defensive team that plays better in a zone I think.

Simpson scored 33 for them, 6-13 from 3 and 12-25 overall.

Alston: 13 points/6 assists
Ewing: 15 points/7 assists
Shiloh: 0 points
Coleman: 14 points/14 rebounds
Hayes: 10 points/9 rebounds

Cruz: 11 points/5 rebounds

Hayes being hurt and ineffective in the final 10 minutes really hurt us. Coleman and Hayes both had 10 points early in the second half and were not able to do much more after Hayes went down.

We're 10-12 with 7 games left now. We need a 5-2 finish to the season. Our next two games are critical, at MD-Eastern Shore and at Morgan State. 5 of our final 7 are on the road, but I think they are all winnable.
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Old 02-17-2009, 08:36 PM   #142
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
February 13, 2010

NC A&T (10-12, 6-5 MEAC) at MD-Eastern Shore (7-14, 2-9 MEAC)

We only played the first half against these guys at home. We had a 55-23 lead and simmed out the rest of the game. Here's hoping for similar results.

I do make one lineup change today. I had been starting Shiloh at SF most of the season, hoping that having 3 speedy guards would help my transition game, and hoping Shiloh could be a defensive stopper with a 81 defense rating. He's crashing the boards so he doesn't help in transition,and his defensive awareness is awful so his defense doesn't seem to help as much as I'd like, espicially now that I've switched to a 2-3 zone. So I move 6'6” Robert Johnson into the starting lineup at SF. He won't do much either but he's a better rebounder and gives me more size in the back of that zone. Shiloh is my backup SG now.
Half
Time
NC A&T
UMES
Notes
1
11:50
10
17
What a difference home court makes, eh? We fall behind 7-0 and 9-2, cut the lead down to 11-9, then allow 6 straight to fall back by 8 again. Ewing just went 1-2 from the line to make it 17-10. Backups are in.
1
7:30
18
20
They make a 3 to go up 20-10 before we get rolling. Blocked shots on UMES' last two offensive sets have led to easy baskets.
1
5:20
19
24
We call a timeout to get the starters back in, as UMES has run off 4 straight and our run is over with the backups.
1
2:50
29
28
Our first lead of the game. Ewing has hit a 3 and drawn a foul, sending him to the line for a couple. Coleman just got a 3 point play, his free throw giving us the lead.

HALF
33
34
We shoot absolutely terribly, but draw a ton of fouls and make our living at the free throw line.


Ewing has 13, Coleman 7. Hayes only has 2 points and seems like he may not be full strength with his injury(he's listed as day to day for another couple days).
2
16:30
41
49
They've hit 3 3's already and start out the second half on fire. I sit Ewing who is more tired than anyone else. Shiloh is in for him early.
2
15:15
47
49
6 straight points from Alston in transition, one bucket off a steal and two off long rebounds, and UMES burns a time out.
2
11:40
53
52
We get back out in the lead by 1. Backups are in, plus Ewing at SG. They've cooled off quite a bit to fuel our transition offense.
2
10:00
59
56
After a 3 by Ewing and a 3 point play by Shepherd UMES burns another timeout. They've picked up a couple buckets themselves and its just a 1 possession game w/ 10 minutes left.
2
8:05
59
64
Two three's and an easy inside shot and its all of a sudden a 5 point deficit. I sub in Shiloh for Ewing to rest up all my starters for the final 6 minutes or so.
2
6:45
59
66
Starters back in. Ugh.
2
5:00
63
68
We've got it back down to 5 with the ball.
2
3:20
70
70
Ewing burns his man for a layup. After they score, Ewing hits an open 3 pointer, and after a missed shot we get Hayes a good look inside that he's able to convert on. Tie game!
2
2:50
72
70
After another miss, we set up our offense quickly and Ewing burns his man again for a layup. He's having a great day. The fact that UMES has a 6'7 SF on him in man to man doesn't hurt.
2
1:45
77
71
We put them on the line where they go 1-2. we burn most of the shot clock on our possession before getting coleman a 10 foot jumper that he misses. Hayes has position on his man though and auto-tips it in. After a miss, Ewing pump fakes, gets his man in the air, steps to the left and buries an open 3! We go up by 6.
2
1:30
77
74
Davis buries a 3 on their end... back to 3 point game.
2
0:50
80
74
We burn the shot clock a bit, then work an inside out game with Coleman and Ewing. Ewing makes another 3, he is absolutely on fire.


They make a 2 pointer to make it 80-76. We've only got one great free throw shooter, and its Ewing, so I keep the ball in his hands the rest of the way.

NC A&T 86
MD-Eastern Shore 78

We shot 41 free throws in this game. Ewing shot 17 of them. 8 of those were in the final minute but still...

Ewing had a career day today with 36 points. 5-13 from 3 and 15-17 from the free throw line.

Alston: 13 points/4 assists
Ewing: 36 points
Johnson: 1 point/4 boards
Coleman: 13 points/12 boards
Hayes: 11 points/10 boards

Shepherd: 7 points/5 boards
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Old 02-17-2009, 10:52 PM   #143
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
February 15, 2010

NC A&T (11-12, 7-5 MEAC) at Morgan State(8-14, 6-6 MEAC)

Our first game against Morgan State was an absolute heartbreaker. We trailed by 15 at half, came charging back in the 2nd half and took a 1 point lead with 15 seconds to go. Just needing to play good defense for 15seconds, Ewing committed a reach in foul against their best player, who made two free throws with 5 seconds left. We lost 81-80.

These guys have two good scorers. SF Ameer Ali scored 22,and SG Reggie Holmes scored 23. Holmes is a big time 3 point threat. We got a lot of points in transition and hope to do the same thing here.

Half
Time
NC A&T
MSU
Notes
1
15:45
14
9
Frenzied pace early. Ewing and Alston are flying up and down the court. Its going to be their shooters vs our transition game, even more than usual today. The last time we played these guys we managed 29 first half points. I suspect we will top that today.
1
11:45
24
22
They go on a bit of a run themselves and only trail by 2 as the backups come in.
1
9:10
27
27
We burn a time out as they've scored 5 straight to tie it up. Works and Shiloh are just not the same as Alston and Ewing, despite the speed. Of course I knew that already, its just amazing how big the difference is sometimes.
1
6:25
32
37
They are on fire vs the backups. Their #2 scorer, Ali, not supposed to be a big 3 point threat, is 2-4 and they're shooting quite well. Starters are back in.

HALF
48
50
Crazy, crazy half. They are 5-12 from 3 and shooting 50% overall. We're also shooting 50%.


Ali is just killing us. He has 18 points, 7-11 shooting(3-5 from 3). Holmes, their bigger threat, only has 11points. This is likely due to me shading over on Holmes,leaving Ali open more often.


Ewing is keeping up though, hehas 16, including 2-5 from 3. Coleman has 9 points/8 boards.


Stat of the gamethough: Morgon State -14 second chance points. Rebound guys!! We actually have a nice rebound edge, but they have 8 offensive boards and 14 second chance points that is killing us.
2
15:55
64
56
We open the half on a very quick 16-6 run. They don't have any offensive boards yet. Ali has all 6 of their points, no one else is hitting a thing.
2
14:00
70
59
3 more from Ali for them, but 6 more for us. Another Morgan State time out. We're hoping to build as big a lead as possible before the backups come in.
2
11:10
78
66
I'll take a 12 point lead for the backups to hang on to. Note to backups: Run lots and lots of clock.
2
6:00
78
70
Nice job burning clock, backups. It was still 78-66 at the 7 minute mark. Morgan State scored on its last two possessions to cut it to 8. Starters are back in.
2
3:15
80
77
We've been committing fouls like crazy, and aside from one Ewing layup, doing nothing on offense. They're on an 11-2 run in the last 8 minutes now. We just burned a time out to quiet their crowd after a steal and layup cut it to 3.
2
1:45
84
82
I get Coleman a good look inside after the timeout. They get a Holmes 3. I get Ewing a layup our next time down. They get a Holmes 2. We lead by 2 with the ball.
2
1:20
84
82
I get Coleman another good look inside but he can't hit this one. He does commit a foul going after the rebound. Its our 7th and they are shooting free throws. They miss the 1st one and we rebound!


The final 1:20 is a bit nerve wracking. We get Ewing a really good mid-range look that he misses, a 18 footer he almost never misses when open. They take their time and get Holmes a midrange look, but Hayes is out helping and blocks it. We get the ball with 45 seconds to go. I run a play out of the motion offense that takes a good bit of time to develop. With 5 seconds left on the shot clock, Hayes gets the ball inside, covered but he's got to shoot... its blocked. Coleman picks it up and puts it up with 2 seconds left on the shot clock. It's blocked as well. They grab the ball before the shot clock expires and push it up court with ~10 seconds left. Alston is tight on Nance, their PG, and Ewing is on Holmes. Nance holds the ball until the 4 second mark, he passes to Holmes, who goes up with Ewing right in his face for a 3 pointer. The shot hits the front iron and is NO GOOD! Time expires before any sort of rebound.

NC A&T 84
Morgan State 82

Our two games with Morgan State have both been decided on the final possession, each team with a shot at the buzzer to win the game. 81-80 and 84-82. I think its safe to say that I do NOT want to see this team in the MEAC tournament.

We end up with a big edge on the boards, 40-29. They only got 2 offensive boards in the 2nd half.

For Morgan State, Ali has 27, Holmes has 20. They are a combined 6-16 from 3, 20-45 overall.

Alston: 18 points/4 assists
Ewing: 30 points/6 assists
Johnson: 6 points/7 boards
Coleman: 15 points/9 boards
Hayes: 7 points/11 boards

Only 8 points total from the bench. WHEW.
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Old 02-17-2009, 10:58 PM   #144
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Quick standings update:

1. Hampton 11-2
2. SC State10-3
3. Delaware State 9-4
4. Howard 9-4
5. NC A&T 8-5
6. Morgan State 6-7
7. Coppin State 6-7
8. Bethune-Cookman 5-8
9. Winston-Salem State 5-8
10. Norfolk State 4-8
11. Florida A&M 2-10
12. MD-Eastern Shore 2-11


Our next two games are vs Florida A&M, who is 2-21 overall, and at Norfolk State. We won both easily the first time we played.

First step is obviously to come through and win these two games we're supposed to win. If we do,then we will have 10 conference wins and a couple games with two of the other top teams in the league, SC State and Howard, with a chance to get up pretty close to the top of the standings. We don't play Hampton again and probably can't catch them. But it would be really nice to earn the 2 or 3 seed in the conference tournament so that we don't have to play Hampton til the finals.
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Old 02-18-2009, 12:13 AM   #145
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
February 20, 2010

Florida A&M (2-21, 2-10 MEAC) at NC A&T (12-12, 8-5 MEAC)

We crushed these guys at their place, simming it out with a 25 point lead with 10 minutes to go.

Our overall roster strength has gone up to 68. Also, our team unity is 61, theirs is 35.
Half
Time
NC A&T
FAMU
Notes
1
17:45
5
3
Two quick fouls from Hayes. I put Cruz in for him.
1
13:15
18
13
Their average shooting SG, Harper, starts out hot and has 8 points. They burn a timeout when we go on a run that puts us up 5.
1
12:00
23
17
Our backups are in.
1
9:45
31
17
They've burned two timeouts as our backups have put up 8 straight. Long rebounds and easy buckets...
1
6:30
39
25
Starters are back in. Great run by the backups here.

HALF
54
43
We committed some stupid turnovers and let them cut the lead under 10, but Coleman and Alston kept us running and we are doing fine at the half.


Harper has 11 for them, 3-5 from 3. The rest of the team is 3-18 from 3.


On our end, Ewing has 14, Coleman 12, Alston 10 for the bulk of our scoring.

We kept the lead at around 10-13 until it was 63-53. Then we completely took over the game. I had backups ready to come in at the 13 minute mark, and the clock just never stopped. I don't know why they didn't call a timeout until the 9:50 mark but it was just miss, fast break dunk, miss, fast breaklayup, miss, secondary break dunk for coleman... over and over and over. I quick sim it with 9:50 to go in the game and an 87-58 lead.

NC A&T 116
Florida A&M 82

Apparently the CPU when simming shows no mercy and kept piling on.

Alston: 27 points/8 assists
Ewing: 25 points/3 assists
Johnson: 4 points/6 boards
Coleman: 24 points/14 boards
Hayes: 4 points/6 boards (foul problems)

We complete the rather easy season sweep of Florida A&M, and we now have a winning record overall for the first time since we were 5-4.

Last edited by Radii : 02-18-2009 at 12:20 AM.
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Old 02-18-2009, 01:10 AM   #146
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
February 22, 2010

Norfolk State(7-19, 4-9 MEAC) at NC A&T (13-12, 9-5 MEAC)

We beat Norfolk State by 44 on the road after leading 64-26 at halftime and simming the game out.
Half
Time
NC A&T
NSU
Notes
1
12:15
23
18
Hayes scored 11 of our first 13 points. He came out around the 14 minute mark. The rest of the starters are out now. Alston has 6 in transition and Coleman 4. They have made 4 three pointers already and led 18-15 before we scored the last 8.
1
7:00
31
25
It was 31-21, they've scored the last 4 in a row. Starters come back into the game.
1
3:15
43
27
Coleman has 2 fouls so I sit him. The starters, especially Hayes, have picked up right where they left off.

HALF
56
38
We scored 7 in a row to go up 50-27, then they hit 3 straight 3's on us to keep us from blowing it wide open. We finish strong though and its pretty much over.


Hayes is having a monster game. 9-11 from the floor, 5-5 from the line, he has 23 points already. Ewing has 11 after being scoreless until the final 7 minutes. They are 7-17 from 3 which is the only difference between the 18 point lead we have here and the 40 point lead we had in the first game.
2
17:50
58
44
They score the first 6 of the half before Hayes gets us on the board with an offensive rebound and a putback.
2
11:30
79
55
They go cold and we get out on the break and blow the game open. Alston and Hayes are both up over 25 points now, if Alston can't get a layup on the break then Hayes can dominate his man inside. Pretty simple!

The lead is still 25 with about 9 minutes left. I go ahead and sim it out.

NC A&T 108
Norfolk State 75

Alston: 25 points/8 assists
Ewing: 11 points/4 assists
Johnson: 3 points/5 boards
Coleman: 6 points/11 boards
Hayes: 35 points/12 boards
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Old 02-18-2009, 01:16 AM   #147
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Update with 1 week left in the season:

1. Hampton 12-3
2. SC State 11-4
3. Howard 11-4
4. NC A&T 10-5
5. Delaware State 9-6
6. Coppin State 8-7
7. Winston-Salem State 7-8
8. Morgan State 7-8
9. Bethune-Cookman 6-9
10. Norfolk State 4-10
11. Florida A&M 2-12
12. MD-Eastern Shore 2-13

Our final 3 games:

at SC State
at Howard
at Winston-Salem State

We beat SC State and Winston Salem State both at home. Howard led pretty much the entire game against us and beat us by 7. We are 14-12 overall now, so we need to win 1 more game to finish the regular season with a winning record. If we could win 2 of them then we finish with a winning record regardless of the postseason. And, shoot for the stars, if we win all 3 and win the conference tournament, we could still get to 20 wins.

Heh, but really, these 3 teams on the road, if we can win 2 I'll be really really happy.
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Old 02-18-2009, 10:15 AM   #148
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Looks like I've come down with the flu or something like it, which is bad for me but great for my odds of finishing up the 09/10 season today :P

February 25, 2010

NC A&T (14-12, 10-5 MEAC) at SC State (13-14, 11-4 MEAC)

We beat these guys 100-82 at home in a crazy fast paced game... crazy fast paced even for us. They have the likely MEAC player of the year in SG Carrio Bennett, a sharpshooting junior who hit 8 3's and scored 32 against us in the first game. But they had no answer for our transition game and Thomas Coleman had a career 35 point/15 board day.

One of our big advantages is that we got them into foul trouble early. They have a good starting group but absolutely no depth.

I'm a bit worried about trying to outgun this team in their house, but I don't think we really have any other options. Our team unity is now up to 61. Theirs is 46.

Half
Time
NC A&T
SCSU
Notes
1
15:45
15
9
Hayes is off to another great start, he has 8 already, 4 on offensive rebounds/2nd chance opportunities. They have 3 3-pointers.
1
13:45
20
9
They burn another time out. They appear to be cold from 3. We haven't drawn any fouls on them at all this game either which is odd... I felt like I couldn't have won the previous meeting without putting their big men on the bench in foul trouble.
1
11:15
27
14
Backups are in. They now have 4 3's and just recently made their first two point field goal. One of their many problems... Ewing is on fire today once again. He has 3 3's already to keep up with SC State's outside shooters.
1
6:00
31
25
They do a pretty good job getting open shots against my backups, making their fair share of them. I get 4 hard-earned points out of Shepherd, all on putbacks. They score 5 straight to get the lead down to 6 and I call a timeout to get the starters back in.
1
4:00
33
30
Bennett has 19 for them... we burn a timeout to cool him off.

HALF
42
33
They cut the lead to 1, 33-32, but we finished strong to retain a 9 point lead going into the locker room.


Bennett is really hurting us. He's 5-9 from 3 and has 20 points. But this isn't unusual when our opponents have good shooters.


Ewing has 15 and had a great half, 3-7 from 3 and 5-11 from the field overall. Hayes already has a double-double, 13 points/13 boards! Coleman has been a non-factor with only 2 points and 1 board.
2
14:10
50
39
They started off on a 6-2 run but we've scored 6 straight to keep our lead about the same.
2
12:40
52
41
Backups are in.
2
5:30
57
45
The backups successfully burn clock, play good defense and hang on to the lead as the starters return to finish off the game.

So this isn't the final you would expect to see in one of my games. But they just stayed cold and on the road I just saw no reason to force the issue late. We ended up outscoring them 7-4 in the final 13 minutes.

NC A&T 59
South Carolina State 45

We shot 38% but held them to a dismal 26%, including 6/40 from 3. They had 6 3's at the half. Bennett ended up with 24.

The final second half tally was NC A&T 17, SC State 12.

Alston: 12 points/2 assists
Ewing: 17 points/3 assists
Johnson: 0 points/9 boards
Coleman: 2 points/8 boards
Hayes: 19 points/19 boards

So close to 20/20 from Hayes.

We've now guaranteed ourselves a winning record in the regular season! If we can pull out one of these last two we guarantee a winning record no matter what happens in the postseason.
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Old 02-18-2009, 10:18 AM   #149
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
We play at Howard next. Top of the standings:

1. Hampton 13-3
2. SC State 12-5
3. Howard 12-4
4. NC A&T 11-5
5. Delaware State 10-6

Depending on how tiebreakers work we could still finish anywhere in the top 5, though first seems extremely unlikely. If we beat Howard then we create a 3 way tie for 2nd with one game to go in the season.
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Old 02-18-2009, 07:36 PM   #150
Radii
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
February 27, 2010

NC A&T (15-12, 11-5 MEAC) at Howard(16-15, 12-4 MEAC)

Huge late season game here. They have two guys that hurt us last time we played. SG Torrance Timothy is rated 64 OVR and is a average shooter all around. Unfortunately against our defense, average is enough. He scored 21 on us. The big threat though is SF Curtis White. He went 5-10 from 3 and 13-20 from the field and scored 31 on us.

They have talented, but small big men. We got them in foul trouble last time we played but it wasn't enough.
Half
Time
NC A&T
HOW
Notes
1
15:30
7
14
Ugh, not a very good start. Ewing has had two shots blocked and we've thrown the ball away twice. They've hit 2 3's and are running their offense well against us. I have a 3 from Ewing and a couple tough inside looks.
1
14:40
13
14
Whew, that was nice. We find Coleman inside for a bucket. They miss a shot and we get out on the break. Alston makes a bucket and is fouled. He misses his free throw, but Johnson gets the board and scores. A quick 6 points to keep this from becoming a hole we have to dig out of like last time.
1
14:00
15
14
And Coleman scores inside again and they burn a time out. 8-0 run in 1:30!
1
13:20
17
16
UGH. Hayes scores in traffic and comes down with an injury. Cruz is in, no word on the injury yet. We need him inside.
1
11:15
19
26
They hit 4 straight jumpers, including 2 3's to go on a quick 10-2 run. Our backups are in.
1
6:30
31
31
After howard pushes the lead back out to 8 points, 31-23, our defense tightens up and we have success pounding it inside. Cruz and Shepherd bring us back to even. We just need to get a lead on these guys and stop falling behind all the time. Starters are back in, including Hayes. We'll see how effective Hayes is.
1
5:15
38
31
When you're hot, you're hot. We're on a 15-0 run now. On our last possession Ewing pump faked, got his man up in the airand drove. I thought he had an open lane but another defender closed on him. I had already started to shoot and just hoped to draw a foul. Ewing instead does an incredibly acrobatic up and under move and the ball rolls around the rim and in. Like I said, when you're hot, you're hot. That kind of thing, espicially from Ewing, doesn't normally fall.

HALF
47
52
UGH. They go on an absolute tear to finish off the half. 4 3's in the final 5 minutes, plus a number of fast break baskets as we hit another little turnover spree.


They are 9-19 from 3 and 21-41 from the field, just killing us. They have 10 steals already and only 2 turnovers themselves. SG Timothy is 5-7 from 3 and has 21 points.


On our end Coleman has 12 points and Ewing has 10. We haven't succeeded on the break much at all. Also I think Hayes injury is having an effect. I'm going to pull him the rest of the game. I can't visibly tell that he's not elevating fully but he's just laying shots into the front of the rim that are usually very easy baskets for him.
2
15:45
62
59
They start the half with a 3, and take a 59-49 lead. We come roaring back with Alston, Coleman and Cruz all getting big baskets while they go cold temporarily.
2
12:00
67
63
Backups are in. We've both cooled and slowed down a bit.
2
9:30
71
66
Backups are slowing things down a bit and doing ok so far. A mid-range jumper from Shiloh and a close look from Webster(3rd string center) have us up 5. Howard burns its next to last timeout.
2
5:50
72
71
We held a 72-68 lead for a number of possessions before White sunk a 3 for Howard,cutting our lead to 1. It is their ball right now, starters are coming back in.
2
3:15
84
76
We lead 78-76 after yet another 3 by Howard and they hit another short cold spell. We get Coleman going inside for 6 straight points, he is having a hell of a gamefor us and has helped push the lead up to 8.
2
2:00
84
79
We're in clock burning mode now. They made a 3, we used up some clock and got Cruz a great look, but he missed it. They come down and get an open jumper but miss, and we've got it back.
2
1:15
84
81
We get an open 15 foot jumper for Johnson but miss. They get out in transition and hit a layup fairly quickly.
2
0:49
86
81
Ewing with a pump fake, goes by his man and dumps it in to Cruz, who gets fouled on his shot. Cruz makes both free throws.
2
0:28
86
84
They have to work some clock but end up getting a 3. Knowing they'regoing to foul we get the ball to Ewing, our 92 rated FT shooter. He misses the front end.... Howard ball on the rebound.
2
0:06.5
86
87
We play man to man defense, willing to risk giving up a 2 to make sure there are no open 3 point shots. And they don't get anopen 3, but Timothy makes a contested 3 anyway. We rush the ball up to half court and call a time out.
2
0:02.5
87
87
I inbound to Alston, make a quick move towards the basket, feed Cruz(I'd rather it be Coleman but he was the inbound man at half court) Cruz goes hardto the basket and is fouled by SG Riley. The first free throw is GOOD! Tie game. Second one... no good. They launch a shot from half court that misses. OVERTIME.
OT
5:00
87
87
Starters are totally gassed. I start the backups in OT and tell them to stall til the 3 minute mark.
OT
3:30
89
89
They get a putback from Timothy who is having the game of a lifetime(37 points). I get a midrange jumper from Colter. A timeout is called and I go ahead and get my starters in. Hayes is in at center.
OT
2:30
93
95
After a couple back and fort possessions, we get a 3 point play from Alston to take the lead. They get an open 3 from Timothy to go right back up by 2.
OT
2:00
95
95
Ewing pump fakes, gets his man in the air and drives, drawing a foul on their center. Both free throws are good and itstied.
OT
1:30
97
98
After another immediate open 3 from Timothy on their end, we get Ewing a good look on our end and trail by 1.
OT
0:48
99
101
Alston gets a layup after they go 1-2 from the line following a foul. We force a miss on their end and are out in transition trying to take the lead. Johnson misses what seemed to be an easy layin going hard to the basket... they come down and make a jumper on their end and lead by 2. Our ball.
OT
0:32
101
101
Ewing gets a wide open 3 running off a great screen but misses short. Hayes is there for the rebound and the putback. Tie game, their ball.
OT
0:19
101
101
DONT FOUL. Hayes with a STUPID reach in to send them to the line for a 1-and-1. Oh, they miss the front end and we rebound! Good foul buddy.
OT
0:00
101
101
We get the ball to Coleman for a little 6 footer as time expires. No good. DOUBLE OT
2OT
1:50
110
110
We've made 4 field goals and had Robert Johnson go 1-2 from the line. They've had a 3 pointer, a 3 point play, a putback and a guy go 1-2 from the line. It ends up even, their ball,still tied.
2OT
1:30
110
112
Ugh, they go up 2 after their SG gets an offensive board and putback. Hayes and Coleman, you two cannot let that happen!!
2OT
0:57
111
112
Alston draws a foul but can only make 1 free throw. Their ball up 1.
2OT
0:35
113
113
We commit a dumb reach in,sending them to the line for 2(we're both in the double bonus by now). They make one,miss one, and Alston is out on the run. He's fouled goingto the hoop, ALMOST got a 3 point play opportunity, but does make both his free throws. Tied up, their ball.
20T
0:00
114
113
They run the shot clock down, Timothy takes a 3 pointer with about 8 seconds left in the game. Its no good and we're off on the run. Alston again drives by his man and gets fouled. That's 3 straight possessions where Riley fouls Alston in transition. He makes the first freethrow, misses the second, but a ¾ court shot is no good. WINNER


NC A&T 114
Howard 113

Double Overtime

WHEW. I'm exhausted after that game. After Ewing missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with the chance to put the game away in regulation, I thought we were toast. They made 18 3 pointers on the game, but we shot 55% from the floor on the game and shot 14 more free throws than them(31 vs 17).

They were led by two shooters:

Timothy: 45 points – 10/21 from 3, 17-33 from the field.
Riley: 37 points – 6/15 from 3, 15-27 from the field.

I hadn't even mentioned Riley pregame. He was injured in our first contest, White comes in off the bench for him, so white was a non-factor while Riley tore us up today.

Alston: 26 points/9 assists
Ewing: 20 points/4 assists
Johnson: 11 points/10 boards
Coleman: 20 points/10 boards
Hayes: 6 points/9 boards

Cruz: 14 points/12 boards

Not only was that a really, really exciting game for us, it guarantees that we will finish the year with a winning record, no matter what happens in the MEAC tournament.
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