College Hoops 2k8: 2009 Edition - Page 22

Radii · 06-17-2009, 01:42 AM

March 15, 2024 – ACC Quarterfinals

#22 Florida State (22-8, 8-8 ACC) vs #25 Wake Forest (23-7, 11-5 ACC)

TEAM: FSU|WF
OVR: 93|88
OFF: 92|87
DEF: 92|87
SHT: 94|89
REB: 92|91
COA: 91|85

Both times this year we played Wake close for a half, they get a little hot and a little ahead in the 2^nd half and we can't really get anything going. They play a 2-3 zone and double inside fast. Its frustrating to play against, I don't like shooting a ton of 3's unless we're just hot from 3, but going inside is exceedingly tough here.

PG Diakite is still hurt, so that's always good, but Patrick hit a few 3's on us last game.

Scouting

PG Bobby Patrick – FR – 76 OVR – 88 speed/83 quickness. 85 defense/76 steals. 89 hands/80 passing. All are ok, good on ball defense actually. 76 close/75 med/80 3/84 off the dribble. Poor awareness overall, 66 off/71 def. Not a bad freshman, but out of place as a starter. 5 ppg.

SG Tre Almanson – SO – 84 OVR – Solid looking as a soph, he's going to have a couple more very strong years. 89 speed/83 quickness. 88 defense/77 steals. 88 close/74 med/85 3/80 off the dribble/83 in traffic. 81 off awareness/77 def awareness. 10 points/game.

SF Boo Gregory – SO – 82 OVR – 6'7” SF – 85 speed/83 quickness. 73 defense/70 steals. 82 close/81 med/84 3/84 in traffic. Poor on the boards, poor in the post which will matter in a 2-3, but he can score much better here. 7.8 ppg this year.

PF Floyd Callans – SR – 81 OVR – 6'7” natural SF – 65 orb/76 drb. 74 post off/79 post def. 60 blocks, 86 close/84 in traffic. Out of place but he's not nearly the offensive talent Gregory is so putting him inside helps them anyway. 9.4 ppg.

C Bracey Boddie – JR – 77 OVR – 7'0” C – 81 orb/79 drb. 81 post off/77 post def. Poor shot blocker. 84 close/88 in traffic. Great strength, 73 off awareness/76 def awareness.

Half	Time	FSU	WFU	Notes
1	13:30	10	9	McClurkin finally hits a 3 for us. We're trying to run an offense but just really struggling to drive or shoot inside. But Wake isn't really scoring a lot and we get Mayer a couple buckets in transition. We're 4-9 from the floor after a 1-5 start. But, backups are in.
1	11:35	15	11	Wake takes a timeout after we take a massive 4 point lead. Modica 3, Black a layup inside.
1	5:50	28	22	Dearman has huge potential, he scores 11 here, 3-3 from 3, just great. We lead by 6 as the starters come back in.
1	4:55	34	24	Mayer is fouled shooting a 3, makes 2, misses the 3^rd, McCants with the board/putback, then we get a transition bucket by Mayer, and we take a 10 point lead, timeout Wake. We've led a bit before and lose it, we need to capatalize here.
1	1:50	41	28	We keep on our roll and lead by 13! I don't think we've led Wake by this much this year.
	HALF	46	32	We actually score 5 more straight and go up 46-28, Wake scores the last 4 but we're still up 14. Wake is shooting 50%, 15-30, 1-3 from 3, 1-2 at the line. Their Center, Boddie has 8 points/7 boards. SG Almanson has 7. We're shooting great. We're 17-26. We're also 6-12 from 3, and 6-10 from the line. Mayer scores 13, 5-6, mostly in transition. Dearman is 3-3 from 3 with 11 points. McClurkin has 8, 2-3 from 3, and McCants is 2-4 inside. This is the first time we've led Wake by more than 2 at the half, so hopefully we can keep this up, there is definitely a very different feel here.
2	15:00	57	39	Timeout Wake, things could not possibly be going any better. We're getting offensive boards when we miss 3's, and doing outstanding in transition.
2	13:20	58	45	6-1 run for them and I get a timeout to get my backups in. We went real cold there real fast.
2	10:40	60	50	I call a timeout, they're on an 11-3 run and I don't want to let this continue heh.
2	10:15	60	54	We turnit over, they get a 3 point play chance, miss the FT, get the board and put it back in for 4 instead of just 3... ugh!
2	7:45	65	56	They cut it down to 4 before Dearman gets a big bucket inside and Porter hits an open 3 and we push the lead back up to 9, key stretch there.
2	6:05	71	59	They hit a 3, but we come back with another one from Porter and yet another by Modica, 12 point lead! Timeout Wake, starters back in.
2	4:37	71	66	Holy hell. Day misses an open 3, then commits a foul on a 20 foot jumper that goes in, allowing a 3 point play. Wake scores 7 straight and only trails by 5. I bring Porter in for Day, as Porter is making shots, while Day is just hurting us on both ends.
2	4:03	74	66	Good lord I love Roberto Mayer. Porter has a 3 pointer blocked and we're totally out of position to do anything with about 5 seconds left on the shot clock. I fire it to Mayer in the corner, he burns his man and is fouled by their center as he streaks in, finishing a great layup. 3 point play!!!
2	2:50	77	68	They cut the lead back down to 6, Porter hits a 3 for us to put it back up to 9. Brilliant coaching move putting him in for Day IMO
2	1:50	77	68	We both miss which works for me, we've got the ball up 9.
2	1:10	80	71	Porter with a pretty pump fake, side step, open 3. How confident was I in Porter making that shot? I broke out of a play that was going to get the ball to Mayer, fairly isolated on the wing one on one, to take that 3. Reminds me of my PG of the last 4 years, Damion Forte, who I miss dearly heh. They hit a 3 on their end right back but now its a 9 point game with 1:10 left.

WINNER! We end it easily from there.

#22 Florida State 80
#25 Wake Forest 71

Wake shoots over 50%, ending up 5-11 from 3, 32-57 from the floor. They get a great game form SG Almanson, who goes 9-13 for 22 points. But he has no real help. PF Callans is 3-10 inside, no one else in double figures for them.

McClurkin: 8 points/3 assists
Day: 3 points (1-7 from 3)
Mayer: 20 points (7-10 FG/6-9 FT)
Millar: 4 points/8 boards
McCants: 8 points/8 boards

Dearman: 13 points
Porter: 12 points
Modica: 10 points

Dearman/Porter/Modica shot a combined 9-15 from 3, the backups really won this game for us today. McCants went 2-6 from the line, he really should have hit double figures.

On to the semifinals! Hopefully we have helped our NCAA Seeding today no matter what happens tomorrow.

Radii · 06-17-2009, 01:45 AM

ACC Quarterfinal Results

1. Maryland 81
9. Miami 77

4. North Carolina 78
5. Virginia Tech 64

6. Florida State 80
3. Wake Forest 71

2. Georgia Tech 73
10. Boston College 57

ACC Semifinals

1. Maryland
4. North Carolina

2. Georgia Tech
6. Florida State

Georgia Tech crushed us in Atlanta, we crushed them in Tallahassee. Should set up an interesting semifinal. Well, it may well set up another blowout but who knows in which direction!

Radii · 06-17-2009, 01:49 AM

Boston College is back on the bubble with their first round upset win. Northwestern and Indiana out of the Big 10 are bubble teams at the moment too.

Current Bracketology:

1. Maryland
2. Georgia Tech
3. North Carolina
5. Virginia Tech
6. Wake Forest
6. Florida State
7. NC State
8. Clemson
11. Boston College

Over in the big 10, Michigan (7 seed) demolished the 2 seed Illinois by 20 in the quarterfinals. Illinois is still listed as a 9 seed so they look to be firmly in regardless.

DeToxRox · 06-17-2009, 12:07 PM

Damn right Michigan demolished Illinois.

Radii · 06-17-2009, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Damn right Michigan demolished Illinois.

Hah, well, Illinois fans can rest easy knowing they still have more postseason basketball to play. Michigan needs a couple more upsets still!

DeToxRox · 06-17-2009, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Radii

Hah, well, Illinois fans can rest easy knowing they still have more postseason basketball to play. Michigan needs a couple more upsets still!

STFU

hoopsguy · 06-17-2009, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Damn right Michigan demolished Illinois.

Getting demolished by a weak Michigan team does not speak well for the Illini title hopes. Oh well, at least the boys are back in the dance after what has been a somewhat dark period for the team and conference lately.

Radii · 06-17-2009, 07:32 PM

March 16, 2024 – ACC Semifinals

#22 Florida State (23-8, 8-8 ACC) vs #7 Georgia Tech (26-7, 12-4 ACC)

TEAM: FSU|GT
OVR: 93|94
OFF: 92|94
DEF: 92|93
SHT: 94|97
REB: 92|93
COA: 91|96

So we played Tech twice this year, and both times the game was essentially over at halftime, with the home team holding a 20 point margin after just 20 minutes. The difference seemed almost entirely random... whether or not we drew fouls when we attacked the rim. In Atlanta, we didn't, turning the ball over a lot. In Tallahassee we drew about a billion fouls.

We'll be trying to run and attack when they miss, and we'll see how it goes. Hitting some 3's will be critical too, from somewhere, McClurkin/Day/Modica/Porter/Dearman, one or two of those guys needs to give us 3+ 3's today I think. Not going to force it but I'll be actively looking for a hot hand.

Scouting

PG Koki Humphrey – SR – 86 OVR – 94 speed/88 quickness, 87 defense/75 steals. 92 hands/84 passing. 86 close/86 med/70 3/86 off the dribble. 7.2 ppg/4.8 apg.

SG Femi Shavies – SR – 90 OVR – 89 speed/91 quickness. 82 defense/84 steals. 91 close/81 med/88 3/83 off the dribble/83 in traffic. Good athlete, 79 off awareness/80 def awareness. Has always scored well against us and this year leads the nation in scoring, 25/game. A very serious player of the year candidate.

SF Goran Ravello – JR – 87 OVR – 6'6”, actually a SG. 89 speed/85 quickness. 87 defense/81 steals. 87 close/84 med/83 3/87 off the dribble/83 in traffic. Poor strength and if Mayer can get him in the paint Mayer will have a huge edge. Ravello has the edge when Tech has the ball though. 13.9 ppg, 2^nd on the team.

PF Reginald Franklin – FR – 81 OVR – 6'8” PF – 79 orb/85 drb. 82 post off/74 post def. Poor shot blocker. 88 close/82 in trafic. Another guy who will be very good, but is not all the way there yet. A very solid freshman though. Was the top big last year, #13 overall. I tried briefly to go after Franklin but had no shot as he was from Atlanta. 7.4 ppg/4.4 rpg.

C Clifford McClaren – SR – 84 OVR – 6'7” PF – 92 orb/83 drb. 90 post off/72 post defense. 87 blocks. 85 close/92 in traffic. Serious weakness on defense, and tiny. Decent strength but I need(NEED) to re-focus my efforts in the post today. 7.3 ppg/4.7 rpg.

Half	Time	FSU	GT	Notes
1	17:45	6	2	The fans are out today, Mayer has all 6 points, all in transition. We win the tip, but turn it over and they score easily first. We turn it over again but this time get a stop, and the last 3 trips have been Tech miss, we run and score, 6^th man boost for us!
1	13:40	14	4	Tech is really lucky that they are great in transition defense. They stop us 3 times in a row, it really could be 24-4 right now very very easily. McCants is 0-2, McClurkin missed a runner in transition he should have made. Mayer has 8, McClurkin and Day each have a 3. Timeout Tech.
1	11:30	16	12	Their SF, Ravello, heats up and has 8 total now, as they have quickly cut the lead down to 4. Backups are in for us after I get a timeout.
1	8:38	24	16	We pull back ahead with 3's from Porter and Modica, and a putback by Dearman. Timeout Ga Tech.
1	6:25	26	23	Our turn to take the next timeout. Ravello 10, Shavies 9 for them. Our starters are back in.
1	3:00	34	30	Shavies tied it up with a 3 at one point and he has 12. Mayer has answered though, Mayer with 14 and we lead by 4.
	HALF	43	34	Very strong finish to the half for the Seminoles. We're shooting 57%, holding Ga Tech to 48% from the field. Shavies has 14, Ravello 12 for Tech. Shavies is 4-4, 2-2 from 3, 4-4 at the line, perfect but not shooting enough heh. They are 4-9 from 3, 6-8 from the line as a team, only 5 fouls committed, so no issues there. Mayer is again our superstar, 18 points in the half, 7-9 from the field/4-4 at the line. McClurkin has 6, Day has 5. McCants is struggling, he's 1-5 from the floor and only has 4 points. I could use more out of him to make life easier, not that I'm complaining about a 9 point lead mind you. We're 5-9 from 3. McClurkin has 2, Day, Modica, Porter each with 1. Day has 2 fouls.
2	19:50	43	34	Day with his 3^rd foul right away.
2	15:50	47	40	Still up 7, but Tech has scored 4 straight and Day just picked up foul #4 on a charge. McCants is 0-3 this half and is just dying out there.
2	14:40	47	42	I get a timeout to get Day out of there, Porter is in.
2	12:45	49	44	Backups are in, we're struggling pretty badly to get good shots right now.
2	10:35	49	49	Ravello with a 3, he's got 15, and its tied up. We are really really not getting good looks at all.
2	10:10	52	49	Dearman with a 3 point play running off a screen and catching a pass cutting to the hoop, we're up 3 again.
2	9:35	54	49	Porter with a dunk in transition, 6^th man boost for us, timeout Tech, whew, I didn't want them to get back ahead, we needed that.
2	7:45	54	53	I get a timeout to get the starters back in, including Day. They cut it back down to 1. I have 2 timeouts left. Black missed two good looks inside, we're just not scoring in the post with anyone today it seems.
2	5:50	60	55	Well, McCants can't hit a hook or a turnaround today but he gets two offensive boards, a putback and then draws a foul on the next one, 4 straight for McCants. Day with a pretty move to the hoop, chance at a 3 point play but he misses the FT. We lead by 5 with under 6 left.
2	5:00	60	58	Shavies hits a 3, he's got 21 and Tech gets a 6^th man boost.
2	3:35	62	63	Mayer scores his 22^nd and puts us back up by 4. They score 5 straight though, the last 3 coming on another open 3 by Shavies, 24 for him. Another 6^th man boost for Tech, and we trail for the first time all game.
2	3:20	62	65	McClurkin throws the ball away in the backcourt, Shavies ends up with a layup, maxxing their 6^th man out again. I get a timeout. Just one left.
2	2:50	64	65	Mayer misses a very tough runner in the lane, but he pulls the defense out of position and McCants is free to tip the miss back in. McCants has 12 despite 3-9 shooting today. Timeout Ga Tech.
2	1:20	64	67	They go back up 3. We get a miss by Day, then a miss by Millar and we trail 3, their ball, 1:20 left.
2	0:50	64	69	They turn it over trying to run after our last miss, and we outlet to Mayer. Anyone but him and I probably pull the ball out, but I thought he had a fair shot at scoring, but Tech's transition defense comes up huge. They get a good post look on the other end and we trail by 5.
2	0:22	64	71	Tight defense by Tech makes is incredibly hard for us to get a good look. We end up missing a bad shot and have to foul when they rebound. Humphrey makes two at the line that likely seals it.

I didn't expect an ACC Championship this year but its tough having a shot to advance to the finals and falling short. Tech was better all year though, hard to complain.

#7 Georgia Tech 73
#22 Florida State 64

Mayer only scored 4 in the second half, he went 2-9 after starting the game 7-9. The shots we were getting all half were just so much worse than in the first. We struggled on almost every possession, only managing 21 points all half. After shooting 57% in the first, we finish 24-55 for the game, well below 50%. We go 0-7 from 3 in the second half, rarely seeing a good look and not making anything at all.

Shavies leads all scorers with 24. SF Ravello 17, backup SG Day 14. Shavies ends up 8-9, 4-4 from 3, 4-4 at the line, a great day for him.

McClurkin: 6 points
Day: 9 points
Mayer: 22 points/2 boards/3 assists
Millar: 0 points/4 boards
McCants: 12 points/10 boards (3-10 FG)

Porter: 5 points
Dearman: 5 points

Radii · 06-17-2009, 07:35 PM

ACC Semifinals

1. Maryland 91
4. North Carolina 90

2. Georgia Tech 73
6. Florida State 64

ACC Finals

2. Georgia Tech 92
1. Maryland 76

Georgia Tech has not been regular season ACC Champs in the last decade, but this is their 3rd ACC Tournament title in a row, and the 4th in the last 7 years.

Over in the Big 10, their tournamant might just have allowed them to get a 4th team into the big dance. Northwestern upsets the top team, Michigan State. Indiana beats Michigan, and Northwestern, the 4 seed in the Big 10 and a bubble team, wins the Big 10 Tournament. Indiana, Michigan State and Illinois all seem very likely to get in, w/ no chance of anyone else I believe.

Radii · 06-17-2009, 07:52 PM

NCAA Selection Show

We're #24 in the final poll of the season. Alabama is #1 with 3 losses, Maryland is 2nd still.

Bubble Teams:

Indiana, Boston College are the two most notable. Jacksonville is 26-6, a small conference team here.

1 Seeds

EAST: Alabama (#1 Overall)
SOUTH: Maryland
MIDWEST: Georgia Tech
WEST: Oregon

Two ACC teams, along with our final four opponent last year in Oregon.

EAST

1. Alabama

Northwestern is the 9 seed here, getting 8 seed Utah.

Indiana is the 11 seed, facing 6 seeded Temple in round 1.

2 seed here is defending national champs Oklahoma State

SOUTH

1. Maryland
16. Furman

4. Virginia Tech
13. Mississippi Valley State

5 seed here is Oregon State

6. Wake Forest
11. Jacksonville <-- one of the notable bubble teams.

2 seed here is Michigan State. It seems like Ga Tech winning the ACC and Michigan State getting upset might have decided the 1/2 seed.

MIDWEST

1. Georgia Tech
16. North Dakota State

heh, hate this:

8. NC State
9. Clemson

3 conference teams out of 4 teams there.

Heh.

Florida State is the 6 seed in the Midwest

And, stupid conference rules fail us again. Boston College is the 11 seed.

LaSalle is the 3 seed here and our likely second round opponent if we can grab a win.

Ohio is the 7 seed, 26-4, looks like they lost their conference tournament.

2. Arizona

WEST

1. Oregon

Illinois is in as the 9 seed here, they'll play East Carolina in round 1.

4. North Carolina
13. Yale

Kentucky is the 5 seed here.

Texas Tech is the 2 seed.

Conference Breakdown

ACC - 9
Big 12 - 6
SEC 5
Pac 10, Big 10, A-10 4 each

Big East 3

The A-Sun got 2 teams in, impressive.

ACC Seeds:

1. Maryland
1. Georgia Tech
4. North Carolina
4. Virginia Tech
6. Wake Forest
6. Florida State
8. NC State
9. Clemson
11. Boston College

9 teams in, though thanks to the pairings there's no way to avoid 2 going out in round 1 and another in the 2nd round.

We played Boston College just once this season and handled them easily, winning by 19.

The 3 seed, Lasalle, is rated strongly, 91 OVR. The 14 they get to play, Montana State,is rated 76 OVR and is 19-12 out of the Big Sky.

It seems a decent draw for me really, I'm hopeful we can make a solid run here.

Radii · 06-18-2009, 01:00 AM

March 21, 2024 – NCAA First Round

(6) Florida State (23-9) vs (11) Boston College (19-13)

TEAM: FSU|BC
OVR: 93|91
OFF: 92|91
DEF: 92|91
SHT: 94|94
REB: 92|87
COA: 91|93

An odd meeting for the first round of the NCAA Tournament for sure, but the familiarity should help us. Mayer went nuts in the first meeting, McCants was doing well too but wasn't used much in the second half and only had 10 points in the game.

Their SG Hoyer and SF Goss were their leading scorers in the first game. We'll try to push the ball, and try to go Mayer/McCants like we did in the first meeting and hope for a similar result.

We're playing these first two rounds in Greensboro, NC, so neither of us had to travel too far from Charlotte after the ACC Tournament.

Scouting

PG Duane Bowden – SR – 87 OVR – 95 speed/84 quickness. 88 defense/89 steals. 89 hands/85 passing. 85 close/80 med/87 3/81 off the dribble. A very solid player all the way around. Good awareness, 77 off/74 def, not great but solid. He leads the team with 17.6 points/game.

SG Zack Hoyer – JR – 84 OVR – 89 speed/85 quickness. 84 defense/79 steals. 90 close/73 med/82 3/87 off the dribble/84 in traffic. Slightly above average awareness, 75 off/76 def. Great at creating his own shot, and an outstanding ball handler. Only averaging 9.9 ppg which is a little surprising, this seems like a guy that can shoot the 3 and navigate really well inside.

SF Delbert Goss – SR – 82 OVR – 6'7” SF – 86 speed/79 quickness. 81 defense/71 steals. Great rebounder for a SF, 87 drb. 81 close/79 med/73 3/77 in traffic. 77 off awareness/77 def awareness, solid strength, solid leaper... 10 ppg/4.6 rpg.

PF Dotun Obrzut – SR- 81 OVR – 6'7” PF – 75 orb/86 drb. 77 post off/80 post def. 91 close/88 in traffic. 5.9 ppg/4.1 rpg.

C Egeman Wofford – FR – 82 OVR – 6'8” PF – 80 orb/90 drb. 85 post off/79 post def. 85 close/78 med/81 3/94 in traffic. Jesus. Awareness is bad, 76 off/65 def, but those rebound and post numbers are amazing for a freshman big, and he can go out and shot the 3 too. This guy is awesome. Just 6ppg/6.6 rpg, as his shooting tendencies develop he's going to be amazing I bet.

Backup PG Otis Bradford is their second best player, rated 84 OVR, and averaging 14 points/game.

Half	Time	FSU	BC	Notes
1	15:45	11	8	BC scores the first 5, then we get going. Mayer has 9, McCants 2. Timeout BC as McCants hits a turnaround.
1	14:15	15	10	Another timeout by BC. Not a lot of fouls either way, but their SF Goss does have 2. He is terrible on defense as far as trying to keep Mayer in front of him.
1	5:45	25	17	Chatting with my sister so kinda on auto-pilot over the last few minutes, but the backups are in(probably for another minute or so, they came in real late) and we're winning by 8 fairly easily.
1	4:20	25	17	I take my first timeout to get the starters back in.
	HALF	38	23	Mayer scores 9 of our last 11, just like he scored 9 of our first 11, and we take a solid 15 point lead at the half. This is one of those teams that is incapable of even slowing down Mayer, much less stopping him. BC shoots 9-25, their leading scorer has 5. PG Bowden is 2-7 for 4 points. We're shooting 60%,15-25, just 2-8 from 3, 6-6 at the line. Not a lot of fouls on either end. Mayer is just dominating the entire game, he has 23. McCants has 6.
2	14:55	45	29	Mayer with 4 more, Day with a 3 and we're up 16 as BC takes the first timeout of the second half.
2	12:10	50	35	Heh, Mayer with our next 5, he has 32 and is having possibly the best game I've seen from an individual. Backups are in.
2	10:20	50	41	6 straight for BC and this one clearly isn't over yet, we need to keep the pressure on.
2	9:45	50	44	Wow, Porter has missed 3 open shots here and they just hit a 3 to make it a 6 point game. I call a timeout.
2	8:05	52	48	Black gets a bucket for us but they get 4 more and its a 4 point game. I take another timeout, and get all starters but Mayer back in. Mayer needs another minute to rest.
2	5:40	57	50	McClurkin with a 3 and then a layup in transition and we are up 7 again. Both teams get the 6^th man going as we get close to the stretch of a close game. Mayer comes back for us after we commit a foul.
2	3:30	61	55	Day and Mayer each get buckets and we lead by 6 with 3 ½ left and the ball.
2	2:40	63	55	Mayer misses a turnaround in the post, they have a shot to score but McCants with a great block, and Day gets a layup in transition. BC timeout. Big swing there, they could have had it down to 4, its 8 instead.
2	1:30	66	55	Mayer with a ridiculously acrobatic shot in transition,putting us up 11 and likely icing the game for us.

It wasn't as easy as it was the first time around but we were firmly in control almost the entire way through here.

(6) Florida State 66
(11) Boston College 55

A great individual effort today, showing again what Mayer can do when the other team doesn't have the quickness to slow his penetration or the strength inside to keep him from getting to the rim.

They get 12 from their PG Bowden, 7 or 8 from the rest of their starters. They shoot 23-55 from the field, 4-16 from 3.

McClurkin: 5 points
Day: 7 points
Mayer: 37 points (13-19 shooting)
Millar: 2 points/10 boards
McCants: 6 points/10 boards

We actually were terrible from 3 today, 5-22. They came back and made it close during a stretch where they were playing a 2-3 zone and not missing a lot, so we weren't getting any transition looks and were just missing a lot of 3's over the zone.

On to see who we get in round 2!

Radii · 06-18-2009, 01:06 AM

Round 1 Results:

1. Maryland - Beat Furman 70-64, faces 9. Loyola Marymount
1. Georgia Tech - Beat ND State 96-43. Faces 8. NC State
4. North Carolina - Beat Yale 86-57. Faces 5. Kentucky
4. Virginia Tech - Beat Miss. Valley St 79-58. Faces 5. Oregon State
6. Wake Forest - Beat Jacksonville 90-52. Faces 3. Missouri
6. Florida State - Beat Boston College 66-55. Faces 3. LaSalle
8. NC State - Beat 9. Clemson 96-83. Faces 1. Georgia Tech
9. Clemson - Lost to NC State 96-83
11. Boston College - Lost to Florida State 66-55

Solid first round showing.

Ohio is upset in the first round by the 10 seed Florida.

9. Northwestern beat Utah 81-75 and gets the #1 overall seed, Alabama next.

6. Temple crushes the 11 seed, Indiana, 72-46.

9. Illinois beats East Carolina 88-82, they get the 1 seed Oregon next.

2. Michigan State beats Loyola Illinois 90-78 and faces the 10 seed LSU next.

Other than a couple 10 vs 7 seed wins, there were no upsets, no 11/12/13/14 seeds winning in the first round.

LaSalle next!

Should we beat LaSalle, looking ahead to the sweet 16 we're looking at the 2 seed Arizona(rated 97 OVR!!) or the 10 seed Florida (rated 92 OVR w/ a 100 rated coach in Billy Donovan).

hoopsguy · 06-18-2009, 07:53 AM

What happens to Michigan in the NCAA tournament? Oh, that's right. Never mind.

Good luck against LaSalle.

Radii · 06-19-2009, 04:36 AM

March 23, 2024 – NCAA Second Round

(6) Florida State (24-9) vs (3) LaSalle (28-4)

TEAM: FSU|LA
OVR: 93|91
OFF: 92|90
DEF: 92|92
SHT: 94|91
REB: 92|92
COA: 91|92

Lasalle is 28-4, they went 14-2 in the A-10 but got upset in the A-10 finals by Charlotte(who is a 7 seed). I get some bad news in scouting. LaSalle runs a 2-3 defense primarily with a 1-2-2 zone as their secondary D. We do not play well against zones.

LaSalle beat NC State, Saint Joe's (10 seed), Temple (6 seed). They lost to Charlotte(7 seed) in the regular season and the A-10 tourney. They otherwise have what looks like an awful strength of schedule. But they did go 28-4 against it.

Scouting

PG Freddy Mance – SO – 82 OVR – 91 speed/86 quickness. 88 defense/82 steals. Exceptional PG, 91 hands/91 passing. 88 close/74 med/78 3/83 off the dribble. Mance looks like a huge asset, great defense, great passing ability. 8.3 ppg/5.1 apg.

SG Lester Osimani – SR – 87 OVR – 88 speed/89 quickness. 81 defense/83 steals. 81 close/74 med/80 3/82 off the dribble. Incredible awareness, 85 off/85 def. 83 vert/77 hustle. The awareness is great, he's fast,he's a good but not great shooter, but he scores. He leads the team with 17.6 points/game, also pulling in 4.4 rpg/3.0 apg. Clearly a huge threat.

SF Eliz Eldridge – SR – 83 OVR – actually a SG. 93 speed/90 quickness. 81 defense/85 steals. 89 close/76 med/76 3/84 in traffic. Good offensive awareness, average defensive awareness(72). 8 ppg.

PF Andres Havens – SR – 85 OVR – 6'8” PF - 86 orb/86 drb. 85 post off/77 post def. 86 blocks, exceptional. 88 close/91 in traffic. 80 midrange shot, not bad at all there either. 74 str(B). Awareness is good, 78 off/80 def. 15.3 ppg/6.5 rpg. Second leading scorer and a very good rebounder and post player.

C Engin Saunders – FR – 79 OVR – 6'7” PF – 88 orb/84 drb. 82 post off/75 post def. 81 block rating. 92 close/84 in traffic. Only 68 strength, 89 hustle(B+). Not bad for a freshman but he's tiny, probably not a big impact player. 7.1 ppg/5.2 rpg.

They have a 6'9” PF backup. Their backups are ok but not great, PG rated 80 OVR(Davenport). Backup SG Barnett can shoot the 3, but they're going to have some guys rated 73 OVR getting into the game.

Half	Time	FSU	LAS	Notes
1	16:00	8	7	They're not doubleteaming inside as fast as Wake Forest, so we can move around a little here. But so far its Day going 2-3 from 3, McCants has a nice dunk inside as well.
1	12:20	16	14	Neither team is doing anything exceptional right now, just working our offenses and feeling things out. Mayer hits a 3 and gets a 3 point play inside, he has 6. Our backups come in.
1	11:20	21	14	Dearman gets a 3 point play inside and Porter gets a dunk in transition, LaSalle takes a timeout.
1	9:30	24	18	They cut it down to 3, Porter hits a 3 to push it back up to 6, and LaSalle calls another timeout.
1	6:55	26	23	A little run for LaSalle and its backdown to 2. I call a timeout and get the starters back in.
2	4:00	30	29	Still ahead, we haven't fallen behind yet, we've got a good even back and forth going here. Mayer is leading us I'm sure but no one on either side is really standing out right now.
2	2:45	32	33	We miss an open 3 and they get a layup in transition and LaSalle leads.
2	1:25	32	39	Oof. We miss two shots in a row, they drain a 3, and then get a 3 point play. We're down 7 very quickly and get a timeout.
	HALF	35	39	McClurkin hits a 3 and we get it back to 4 before the half. So it turns out we're not playing defense. 61% shooting for LaSalle. 16-26, 3-10 from 3 which means 13-16 inside the 3 point line. They're not missing anything in transition or when they attack the rim. We have to do something about that. Their scoring is balanced amongst the starters mostly. 9 for SF Eldridge, 7 from PG Mance and SG Osimani. The bigs aren't doing as much. We're shooting 12-27, 5-13 from 3. Mayer leads us with 10. McCants, Day have 6. Porter and Dearman have 5. McCants is 3-6 inside. They have a 14-8 rebound edge, mainly due to the shooting % differences. I was surprised to see LaSalle shooting so well, we got some solid transition buckets, so I assumed they missed a lot more. I guess the long rebounds on those missed 3's generated it. Mayer might be able to explode on their defense and score a bunch, but we need some defense here.
2	15:30	45	47	We cut the lead down to 2, Mayer has 12 now, just 2 this half, but his dunk on our last play gets us a 6^th man boost and we have it down to 2 for the first time this half.
2	12:00	51	54	We get it down to 1 and Mayer has the chance to take the lead but misses a tough shot in transition. They score and go back up 3. I get a timeout to pull Mayer, he's exhausted. The other starters are still good. Mayer up to 16 to lead us.
2	11:33	54	54	Day hits a 3 from the left corner, wide open, tie game!
2	11:00	56	54	Incredible defense, two blocked shots and we pull the ball down after the second one, Mcclurkin is out on the run and we're ahead!!
2	10:30	57	54	McCants gets 1 of 2 at the line after another LaSalle miss. I get the rest of my backups in.
2	9:15	57	58	They go back ahead,we get a miss by Black and a turnover and they get 4 straight.
2	6:15	61	60	They go up 3 on their next trip and get a 6^th man boost. I've got 3 timeouts left but don't really want to burn them yet,so I slow the game down a little to kill off the 6^th man. Jolly and Black come up with post shots on back to back trips and we take the lead back.
2	6:00	61	63	They hit a 3, and its time for our starters to come back in. Now I call a timeout, 2 left.
2	5:30	64	63	And Day with an open 3 from the wing to put us back ahead. 4 starters in double figures for me now(Millar scoreless, poor guy)
2	5:00	67	63	They miss a 3, we get a 6^th man boost as McCants grabs the board. I try to run but have to pull back. We go into a play that I like that will get Mayer a good look in the post, but along the way Day gets his man into the air and side steps and hits the open 3, 4 point lead!
2	4:40	69	63	They throw a poor pass, Mayer picks it up, outlets to Day who has our last 8 points! Timeout LaSalle!!
2	3:30	71	65	We each score once, they miss a jumper, both teams get a 6^th man boost as we come closer to the end of a close game, but I've got the ball with a 6 point lead.
2	2:40	74	65	Each team whiffs on one possession, then we get McClurkin a good look from three, GOOD! Huge, huge shot for us. Timeout LaSalle.
2	1:40	74	68	They get a good look inside and score. We burn the clock and McCants misses a hook shot. They draw a foul, #4 on Mayer which could matter, making one of two at the line. Our ball.
2	0:25	76	68	Each team misses once. We get Mayer to the line, drawing a foul attacking the rim, where he makes both, likely sealing the win.

Those free throws did indeed seal the win, Florida State is going back to the sweet 16!!!

(6) Florida State 78
(3) LaSalle 70

LaSalle remains cold from 3 all game, ending 6-22 from 3. Their overall shooting drops below 50%, 26-53. SF Eldridge scores 21, but is just 2-7 from 3. Saunders(Center) has 12, while their best player Osimani ends the day 4-10 from the field for only 10 points.

McClurkin: 16 points/3 assists (4-6 from 3)
Day: 17 points (5-7 from 3)
Mayer: 20 points/2 boards/4 assists
Millar: 0 points/2 boards
McCants: 11 points/7 boards

Porter: 5 points
Dearman: 5 points

While we were successful attacking and getting some good looks in the post a times, our 3 point shooting really carried us today. 11-23 from 3 as a team, with Day and McClurkin going 9-13. I worked harder to get the ball inside and to look for other shots before taking the 3 in most cases, something that was easier here than against say Wake Forest.

Woohoo sweet 16! Time to go relax and root for Florida to upset the 2 seed(Arizona).

Radii · 06-19-2009, 04:50 AM

Second Round Results

Most importantly, Arizona beats Florida by 15. So we get the 2 seed Wildcats next round. Their worst trait is their rebounding, which grades out at 96 in their roster strength profile. Everything else is 97+.

The ACC has incredible sucess in round 2:

1. Maryland - Beat (9) Loyola Marymount 80-70
1. Georgia Tech - Loses to (8) NC State 83-79
4. North Carolina - Beat (5) Kentucky 86-71
4. Virginia Tech - Beat (5) Oregon State 70-62
6. Florida State - Beat (3) LaSalle 78-70
6. Wake Forest - Beat (3) Missouri 89-75
8. NC State - Beat (1) Georgia Tech 83-79

6 of the sweet 16 are from the ACC. The only losses for the conference so far are in those unfortunate pairings where two teams played each other.

2 seed Michigan State advances out of the Big 10, beating 10 seed LSU by 3. They are the only Big 10 team left, as top seed Albama beats 9 seed Northwestern by 27,and 1 seed Oregon takes out 9 seed Illinois by 22.

Sweet 16 Pairings

1. Alabama
4. Texas

2. Oklahoma State
3. Vanderbilt

1. Oregon
4. North Carolina

3. UCLA
2. Texas Tech

1. Maryland
4. Virginia Tech

6. Wake Forest
2. Michigan State

8. NC State
4. Texas A&M

6. Florida State
2. Arizona

Arizona is 25-7, going 6-4 against tournament teams in the regular season. They lost to a bad Cal team in the semis of the Pac 10 tournament however, and do have a couple inexplicable losses to bad teams.

Arizona is *special*, with 5 players who are potential lottery picks. They have size, speed, shooters, and legitimate depth at all 5 positions, including a 7 foot backup center behind their 7 foot starting center who has a 90 post defense rating. They've lost 7 times, so there are obviously some imperfections, and we'll get to try to find them.

I have a little history with Arizona as well, they were one of the teams that Ohio defeated during that miracle Elite 8 run before I took the Florida State job.

rjolley · 06-19-2009, 04:26 PM

Good luck, Radii.

Radii · 06-20-2009, 02:20 AM

March 28, 2024 – NCAA Sweet 16

(6) Florida State (25-9) vs (2) Arizona (25-7)

TEAM: FSU|UA
OVR: 93|97
OFF: 92|97
DEF: 92|98
SHT: 94|98
REB: 92|96
COA: 91|99

We're in the RCA Dome in Indianapolis for the next two rounds.

When you see their lineup, you'll be just as impressed as you are with those numbers heh. 4 lottery selections in the starting lineup and another coming off the bench. Mark Few remains the coach of the Wildcats, he's got 660 wins in his career now, with only 204 losses.

Arizona has won 12 of their last 13 games, their only loss in that span coming against Cal, a bad team, in the 2^nd round of the Pac 10 tourney. They've got wins over 3 seed UCLA, 5 seed Oregon State, and a road win over 1 seed Oregon in that stretch. Arizona is #5 in the Media Poll, but #1 in the coaches poll. They're 5-4 vs RPI top 50, and 6-2 vs 51-100.

Scouting

PG Issa McBride – SR - 90 OVR – 92 speed/90 quickness. 89 defense/95 steals. 93 hands/90 passing. 87 close/75 med/82 3/88 off the dribble. Coach on the floor. 78 off/84 def. 11.7 ppg/4.4 apg. Lottery pick, former #11 recruit.

SG Nate Alexander – JR – 91 OVR – 93 speed/88 quickness. 87 defense/89 steals. 89 close/83 med/81 3/81 off the dribble/83 in traffic. Very good athlete, coach on the floor(81 off/80 def). Just 9 points/game, 3 boards and 3 assists on this team full of stars. Potential top pick in the draft, former #1 overall recruit.

SF Daren Dobbins – SR – 89 OVR – 6'5” SF – 89 speed/80 quickness. 87 defense/77 steals. 94 close/86 med/76 3/88 in traffic. 81 off/80 def awarenses. Coach on the floor. Lottery selection. Former #19 recruit. 8.3 ppg/4.8 rpg.

PF Elijah Marsh – SR – 86 OVR – 6'8” PF – 85 orb/88 drb. 87 post off/80 post def. 80 blocks/81 steals. 87 close/85 in traffic, also, 87 from 3, an incredible 3 point shooter. 85 off awareness, only 77 on defense. 15.4 ppg/5.9 rpg.

C Stacey Gatling – SR – 88 OVR – 7'0” C – 86 orb/88 drb. 82 post off/90 post def. 96 blocks(A+). 91 close/89 in traffic. 87 str(A). 80 off awareness/80 def awareness. Incredible big man. Leads the team with 17.7 points/game, 6.3 rebounds/game. Great dunker, great athlete overall. Lottery pick. Former #54 OVR recruit.

backup PG Tahric Floyd is only a sophomore. He's rated 88 OVR and is a lottery selection if he goes pro too. Just 6.5 ppg, more of a threat to drive than shoot the three. 93 defense/87 steals, best on ball defender on the team.

Backup SG Errek Boticki is rated 86 OVR and is an outstanding shooter. He's their worst on ball defender at 82 defense.

Backup PF Landon Arenas is the best rebounder on the team, but not as good in the post.

Backup Center Rod Gates is 7 feet tall and 80 post off/82 post def. There's no letdown on this team anywhere.

Looks like they have a choice of a few 82 rated SG types to back up their SF.

There's no weakness anywhere here. We'll have to hope we're hitting 3's, and that Mayer can draw some fouls and have some success attacking. We'll be trying to slow the game down unless we spot a hole that isn't apparent by the numbers. Our starters might be able to hang with them really, McCants is about as good as Gatling, with the exception of that ridiculous post defense. But he and Millar will fight hard on the boards. Their guys are slightly better all around at every spot though, and their backups just own our backups like crazy.

They have a 91/82 unity edge.

Half	Time	FSU	UA	Notes
1	18:15	2	0	We get on the board first with a dunk by McCants as McClurkin beats his man and forces their center to help. Arizona runs off the rebound, FAST. I change my settings to crash the boards a lot less and get the hell back on D. On our first miss Mayer makes a great defensive play in transition forcing a really difficult shot. On the second they make a bad pass.
1	17:50	2	0	UGH. In one possession we commit 3 reach in fouls... Mayer 1, Mcclurkin 2. I guess I'm keeing McClurkin in for now...
1	15:00	5	4	Mayer is able to attack twice and draws fouls on Dobbins both times, he sits. 3-4 at the line and we lead by 1.
1	11:55	5	12	They hit two threes and score 8 straight, McCants and Mayer both miss good looks in the post. We're down 7 and have to get the backups in, I call a timeout to do that.
1	10:30	8	14	They score again and go up 9, Dearman hits a 3 to end the run.
1	6:05	15	22	Modica hits a 3, Black 2 at the line, Porter drives to the rim, we cut the lead to 3 and 18-14 before they get 4 straight. The ball is not bouncing our way right now. Every time they tip a pass its a turnover. We got 3 tipped passes + their PG falling over in the backcourt against the backups, and they recovered every time, twice with our defense out of position for easy scores. I take a timeout and get the starters back in.
1	4:15	21	24	They score to go up 9, and we get 6 straight from Mayer, two fouls(4-4 at the line) and a thunderous dunk in transition.
1	3:11	25	24	They miss a wide open 3, we outlet to Day for the layup. They throw a bad inbounds pass that we pick up and get McCants a good look inside, 10-0 run, one point lead!! Timeout Arizona!
	HALF	27	27	They hit a 3, and we have 3 chances to take the lead back but can't. Still, tied at the half,we're happy with that. Arizona shoots 11-25, 4-10 from 3. PF Marsh with 7, C Gatling 6(3-6 shooting), PG McBride 6, SG Alexander 5. We only shoot 8-20, 2-5 from 3, but Mayer gets us to the line over and over when he attacks. We're 9-11 from the line. Mayer has 11, 2-5 from the floor/7-9 from the line. McCants has 4, Modica and dearman have 3, and a few others have 2. Day is 1-4, 0-1 from 3. McClurkin also missed a wide open 3. McClurkin for us and their SF Dobbins have 2 fouls each, that's the only foul trouble. I don't really see anything big to adjust. Transition is working fairly well when they miss. We need to shoot better obviously.
2	19:30	27	29	I don't see why running your offense and hitting an 18 foot jumper on the first play of the 2^nd half is good for a 6^th man boost, but that's exactly what Arizona gets here.
2	17:00	35	32	McClurkin rarely goes on scoring spurts, so seeing him run off 8 in a row is a really good feeling here. They hit a 3 and take a 5 point lead. McClurkin answers with a 3. Then there's a steal by McCants and McClurkin gets the layin in transiton. Then a block by McCants. No fast break this time but a pump fake sends their PG flying, and McClurkin drains a second three. We get a 6^th man boost in the process.
2	15:00	35	38	Arizona answers with 6 in a row to go back ahead by 3. Their SF, Dobbins, has 7, making up for the time he missed with fouls in the first half.
2	13:40	41	38	6 straight for FSU right back. McCants gets deep in the post and hits a short hook shot. Day and Millar score 2 each after that, another 6^th man boost for us.
2	13:13	43	38	They miss a jumper, Mayer gets two and Arizona with a timeout!
2	11:55	45	40	Huh. We trade baskets and Arizona takes another timeout. Ah, this one is to sub Dobbins and Gatling back in, they both rested briefly.
2	10:00	45	45	Their center, Gatling, with an insane block on Mayer. When the animation started I thought Mayer had huge open space and was going to get a big time dunk, instead Gatling comes over and just smoothly swats the ball out of Mayers hands heh. 5-0 Arizona run. I get a timeout right at the 10 minute mark to get the backups in.
2	8:30	53	45	PORTER!! I can't find any sort of shot and Porter takes a 3 with 1 second on the shot clock with a hand in his face. Its good. They miss, our next play gets porter isolated on the wing and I hope that last 3 is a sign that he's hot. One on one move , not enough to get a layup but it gets his defender a few steps away. Porter steps back and pops another 3. Their PG falls over trying to get it upcourt against Modica, Modica finds porter streaking to the basket for a dunk. 8 straight!!! Timeout Arizona.
2	6:35	56	45	They miss a 3,we run and Porter is fouled. He makes 1 of 2 at the line. A couple empty trips for both teams pass before we get Black a good look inside that goes in. 11 point lead!!!! Another timeout for arizona. They have 1 left.
2	5:55	56	45	Starters are back in, except the hot hand at SG stays in. Porter is 4/6 with 11 points, Day is 1/5 for 4 points. Porter gets to finish the game off.
2	5:00	56	47	They score to cut it to 9. We're definitely continuing to burn clock here, even kicking it out after an offensive board.
2	4:30	59	47	PORTER FOR THREE!!!! Another 3 as time is running out on the shot clock, 12 point lead with 4 ½ to go.
2	3:45	62	49	AGAIN! They score, on our end Mayer kicks to Porter who has a huge mismatch with their center on him. He pump fakes, gets Gatling in the air, moves over and hits an open 3.
2	2:40	62	51	Porter misses a 3 here but Mayer with the offensive board. We can run the clock down to almost 2 minutes with a 11 point lead.
2	1:15	64	51	Mayer with the last word here, each team misses twice in a row, after their second miss we go to Mayer in transition, he burns his man and throws down a great looking dunk, sending the Florida State fans into a frenzy and its clear that we're going to the Elite 8 for the second straight season!!!

Arizona is unable to score again. They miss a 3 with 30 seconds left, McCants pulls down the rebound and we run the clock out. Thrilling win!!!!

(6) Florida State 66
(2) Arizona 51

Our defense remains strong throughout the second half, we hold Arizona to 21-47 from the field,6-17 from three. Their Center, Gatling scores 14 and pulls in 7 boards. PG McBride 13. Marsh 9, Dobbins 7, Alexander 5 to round out their starters. They only had 3 bench points.

We shoot just under 50%, but go 8-17 from 3, Porter is obviously huge with 4-7 and we're 18-21 at the line (11-13 from Mayer) as we pull off the upset!

McClurkin: 8 points/2 assists (2-3 from 3)
Day: 4 points (1-5)
Mayer: 19 points/2 boards (4-11, 11-13 FT)
Millar: 2 points/5 boards/3 steals
McCants: 6 points/8 boards/4 steals

Porter: 17 points (4-7 from 3)

All the steals from the big men come primarily as they throw bad passes into the lane or trying to go from one side to the other. McCants is a giant inside and its very hard to get the ball around/by/through him, so there's a lot of tipped passes that those guys pick up.

Radii · 06-20-2009, 02:32 AM

Sweet 16 Results

Sweet 16 Pairings

4. Texas 74
1. Alabama 70

2. Oklahoma State 89
3. Vanderbilt 86

4. North Carolina 74
1. Oregon 69

3. UCLA 81
2. Texas Tech 64

4. Virginia Tech 89
1. Maryland 75

2. Michigan State 84
6. Wake Forest 72

4. Texas A&M 91
8. NC State 76

6. Florida State 66
2. Arizona 51

All one seeds are gone.

Elite Eight Pairings

4. Texas
2. Oklahoma State

4. North Carolina
3. UCLA

4. Virginia Tech
2. Michigan State

4. Texas A&M
6. Florida State

Three ACC teams remain, though all three are lower seeds in this upcoming round.

Texas A&M has a higher roster strength than we do as well, and are in fact rated higher in every area, with a 100 rebounding rating as a team.

Like Arizona, they have very highly rated players at every position, with 4 of 5 starters rated 88+. Their starting SG has an average awareness of 90(90 off/91 def). Their depth mirrors ours a lot more than Arizona's did, solid but not nearly as good as the Wildcats were.

I haven't reviewed our own development in awhile. All 5 of our starters are rated 84+ right now. Mayer, Day, Black and Porter have gained 2 points to their OVR ratings throughout the season.

Our lineup:

McClurkin: 86 OVR
Day: 84 OVR
Mayer: 87 OVR
Milar: 84 OVR
McCants: 87 OVR

Modica: 78 OVR
Porter: 79 OVR
Dearman: 78 OVR
Jolly: 80 OVR
Black: 82 OVR

Black,if you'll remember, is a redshirt freshman with B potential. He's our best shot at this point of seeing a player reach the 90 OVR marker(barring Mayer turning down the lottery for another year of basketball and FSU coeds ala Matt Leinart)

Radii · 06-20-2009, 02:35 AM

Additionally, as often as I mentioned Theo Porter in that last game, I didn't come close to giving him enough credit for that victory. The score was tied 45-45 when the backups came into the game with 10 minutes left. We outscored Arizona 21-6 over that final 10 minute stretch, and Porter scored 15 of those 21 points. Without adjustments for confidence he's rated 89 from 3, so that potential is always there, but boy was that the perfect time for him to get insanely hot.

Radii · 06-20-2009, 04:15 AM

March 30, 2024 – NCAA Elite 8

(6) Florida State (25-9) vs (4) Texas A&M (27-7)

TEAM: FSU|TAMU
OVR: 93|95
OFF: 92|96
DEF: 92|95
SHT: 94|98
REB: 92|100
COA: 91|95

And we're still in the RCA Dome in Indianapolis to see who gets to go to the final four..

TexasA&M lost an early season contest to 2 seed Michigan State, their only non-conference game vs a tournament team. In the Big 12, Missouri once, and Okahoma State once. Their only two wins vs Tourney teams all year. They lost 5 others during conference play. The middle of the Big 12 was much better than the middle of the Pac 10, however. Arizona only went 5-4 vs RPI top 50 teams, Texas A&M went 8-6, and 3-0 vs 51-100.

A&M is listed as running at a slow pace,and they don't pres much. They play man defense with some 2-3 mixed in. They have no one scoring more than 12/game, getting balanced output and scoring 77 points/game.

Scouting

PG Gary Eppenhimer – SR – 88 OVR – 90 speed/86 quickness. 90 defense/83 steals. 94 hands/84 passing. 88 close/86 med/83 3/87 off the dribble. Only 72 off awareness, but 80 on defense. 9.3 ppg/3.6 apg. With all the great Pgs generated in recruiting, we expect to be up against star level PG's always at this point in the tournament.

SG Kaylen Wisniewski – SR – 92 OVR – 88 speed/87 quickness. 85 defense/83 steals. 91 close/88 med/83 3/83 off the dribble. Best Awareness Ever. 90 off/91 def. Decent athlete, center level strength(79/B+). 11.5 ppg to lead the team.

SF Brayden Pleick – JR – 91 OVR – A SG. 92 speed/88 quickness. 86 defense/93 steals. 92 close/87 med/84 3/83 off the dribble. Looks like a scoring machine potentially. 83 off awareness/77 def awareness. 11.4 ppg, just slightly behind Wisniewski. #3 recruit a few years ago, potential #1 pick.

PF Kenny Bruthelieus – JR – 89 OVR – H'ere s a potential mismatch, on both sides heh. 6'6 SF. 86 orb/78 drb. 74 post off/73 post def. 92 close/86 in traffic. We seem to have an edge posting this guy up. But he's an awesome looking SF. 92 close/86 med/86 3/86 in traffic. Awareness both over 80, 81 off/84 def. B vert/B str/B hustlle. We'll try to abuse him inside. 9.3 ppg/5.1 rpg. Also, incredible on ball defense. 89/A-.

C Elton Butler – SO – 85 OVR – 6'11” PF – 89 orb/92 drb. 88 post off/76 post def. 93 close/86 in trafffic. Solid strength. Poor awareness though, 73 off/71 def. 10.7 ppg.

There are some interesting matchups here. Mayer having a natural SG on him is always interesting. Sometimes that means he can't drive, sometimes it means he can just overpower his man. The SF at the 4 spot could work out in their favor if they get him looks on the perimeter, and I'm not at all in the habit of going to Millar, but I probably need to more often here.

Their inside depth is very bad. 73 and 72 rated backup PF's. Otherwise its all SF's. If we can get butler in foul trouble, we could dominate them in the paint. This goes as much for driving to the rim as it does post play. With poor inside defenders we can attack hard.

Half	Time	FSU	TAMU	Notes
1	16:20	8	1	Great start for us. Millar in the post, McCants with two dunks in transition, and Mayer in the post, posting up the SG on him. They finally hit a free throw to get on the board but the Aggies are ice cold.
1	15:45	10	1	A hook for McCants, he's got 6, timeout Texas A&M
1	15:00	12	3	Their center scores from 12 feet out, the first field goal of the game for Texas A&M
1	13:55	14	5	We trade baskets and A&M takes their second timeout. Millar gets a second look in the post and everything is coming inside so far.
1	13:45	14	7	Hmm. Millar and McClurkin both have 2 early fouls
1	12:50	14	9	UGH. Millar with foul #3. I go ahead and get all the backups in. Black is going to get a lot of minutes today.
1	9:30	20	13	Is Porter going to do it again today? He's got 2 threes early as we continue to lead, by 7 now. Modica, Dearman and Black have all missed shots.
1	8:58	23	13	Hah, Porter with another 3, they drop back into their 2-3 zone, of course I'm firing away with the hot hand. Texas A&M uses their 3^rd timeout.
1	6:15	28	17	Starters are back in. Jolly at PF first. Porter went 4-6 from 3 in that stretch, he's got 12 and leads all scorers obviously. Black hit a hook shot in the lane for the only other bucket by the backups.
1	2:45	33	25	I take my first timeout to get Black in, Jolly is exhausted. Mayer has our last 5 points for the starters, McCants has two misses, McClurkin and Day aren't taking any shots at all so far heh.
	HALF	43	32	Outstanding half, we're in control for the entire 20 minutes. We're shooting almost 60% from the field, having a lot of success in transition, in the post, and from 3. They are 10-24 from the field, just 2-6 from 3. We committed 10 fouls this half, allowing them to keep in range from the line, 10-13 FTs. They're led, duh, by one of the 73 rated backup PF's, PF Sparrow has 9 points, including a three pointer. 9 points/5 boards in 10 minutes. PG Eppenhimer has 7, C Butler with 5. Its basically a 3 man show for us. Mayer really took over when the starters returned for the end of the 1^st half. He leads us with 14. He's 4-6 from the field and 6-7 at the line. That's all our free throw attempts, btw. Porter has 12, going 4-6 from 3. McCants has 8 points/7 boards, going 4-6 inside. There is foul trouble that could hurt if the fouls don't slow in the 2^nd half. Millar has 3. McClurkin, McCants have 2, and Black and Jolly have 1(not in trouble but if the big men continue to pile up fouls...).
2	19:15	45	34	McClurkin picks up a reach in for foul #3.
2	15:25	51	38	They cut it down to 7 before we score 6 in a row to push our lead to 13, as big as its been I believe. Mayer has 18 now. Timeout A&M
2	14:35	53	42	McCants with his 3^rd, we've got 3 guys with 3 fouls all on the court.
2	13:00	58	43	A 3 from Day(he's got 8), another two from Mayer and we lead by 15, backups are in.
2	9:15	67	46	We sat on a 19 point lead for a while before dearman gets a dunk in traffic to put us up by more than 20 for the first time this game!!! Timeout A&M. No chatter about what a win means is allowed just yet, just stay focused and put this team away.
2	6:35	70	54	Its down to 16 as they go on a 8-3 run out of their last timeout. We have 6 players with 3 fouls now, and we have 10 fouls on the 2^nd half already, so they do shoot Free throws the rest of the game. Starters are back in.
2	5:00	73	59	Mayer hits a 3 but they get a quick 5 points to make it a 14 point game with 5 left.
2	4:03	73	62	Errm. McCants misses a hook inside, they get a 3 and a 6^th man boost. I get an immediate timeout.
2	3:30	75	62	Mayer answers with a jumper from about 15 feet out on the baseline.
2	2:30	77	64	Our ball with a 13 point lead after a bad A&M pass.

They hit a 3 to make it 10 but that's with 1:30 to go. Mayer scores for us and its game over.

(6) Florida State 84
(4) Texas A&M 67

After we got out to such a fast start it was never really close at all. McCants was great early, Porter was great in the middle of the first half, and Mayer carried us the rest of the way on offense.

They get 13 from Bruthelieus, their SF playing the 4 spot. 12 from SF Pleick, and 11 from Center Butler, but they're way too cold today. 22-54 from the field, 6-18 from 3. All our fouls helped them, as they went 17-23 from the line. But their two guards, Eppenhimer and Wisniewski combined for 3-18 from the floor/0-7 from 3.

McClurkin: 3 points
Day: 8 points/3 steals
Mayer: 31 points/4 assists (10-13 FG, 1-2 3, 10-12 FT)
Millar: 6 points/4 boards
McCants: 10 points/12 boards

Porter: 12 points
Dearman: 8 points
Black: 4 points/7 boards

We shoot nearly 60%, 29-49, 9-19 from 3. We outrebound them by 2, force 3 more turnovers than we commit and generally beat them in every facet of the game.

FINAL FOUR!!!!!!!!!!!!

Radii · 06-20-2009, 04:38 AM

Elite Eight Pairings

4. Texas 79
2. Oklahoma State 65

4. North Carolina 89
3. UCLA 86

4. Virginia Tech 83
2. Michigan State 76

6. Florida State 86
4. Texas A&M 67

FINAL FOUR

4. Texas
4. North Carolina

4. Virginia Tech
6. Florida State

Three ACC teams in the final four!! I don't have the CH2K8 history up in front of me, but this may be the first time since 1985 that one conference has gotten 3 teams into the final four.

Virginia Tech beat us by 9 January 7th at their house, and we beat them by 7 February 11th on our floor. We know them well, they have a very talented PG in Darren Richard, and a very talented Center in Tommie Graves. They're rated 95 OVR and have no weakness in their starting lineup, but Graves and Richard are the big concerns for us.

Texas is rated 90 OVR but looks like a serious weak link in the bunch. They have a starting center rated under 80 OVR, while the rest of us dont' start a single player worse than 84 OVR. They might not have a single player that would start for North Carolina. And damn will I be rooting for them. North Carolina beat us twice and I am extremely uncomfortable playing against them when they have this much talent and that annoying as shit 3-2 defense. But, Virginia Tech first.

Radii · 06-20-2009, 04:44 AM

After we lost so many players from last year's team, I would have never thought that this Florida State squad had a chance in hell at reaching the final four. I knew the starting lineup was talented and I expected to make the tournament, but I didn't think we had a run like this in us. Of course, that was the thinking before the season started. Roberto Mayer was obviously a huge x factor. There was no way in hell to know that he would be capable of the kind of offensive output he's given me this year.

But even with Mayer's offensive ability and the talent in the starting lineup, remember that not a single person on our bench had ever played in a college game before the season started. Last year our bench was a huge help for us, I always expected our bench to be better than our opponent's and was confident with them. This year, Black showed us some ability, Modica has been a nice surprise at PG, and Porter has obviously come up huge for us in the tournament a couple times.

This run with this team has been so much more satisfying than what last year's team did, very, very satisfying. Still two more games to win though!

Radii · 06-21-2009, 12:01 AM

April 6, 2024 – NCAA Final Four

(6) Florida State (27-9) vs (4) Virginia Tech (24-10)

TEAM: FSU|VT
OVR: 93|95
OFF: 92|95
DEF: 92|92
SHT: 94|95
REB: 92|95
COA: 91|94

Final Four time! There isn't a lot of hype or learning about the other team needed here. Virginia Tech is a strong, solid team with 5 good starters, though one is a freshman and a little less experienced than the others(SG cuffee). As mentioned above, we lost to them in Blacksburg and beat them in Tallahassee. This will be our 3^rd meeting of the year.

The difference in the first two meetings were the fouls. In the first game whenever we drove into the lane, they just knocked us over, forced a miss, or took the ball away. In the second game, when we drove inot the lane we went to the free throw line. That will likely be a big deciding factor here as well. Mayer has matured a bit throughout the season so maybe he gets the calls today and opens things up for everyone else?

The big names to watch for Va Tech are Darren Richard and Tommie Graves.

Scouting

PG Darren Richard – JR – 88 OVR – first year starter – 95 speed/92 quickness. 88 defense/79 steals. A great PG with 90 handling/93 passing. 82 close/82 med/86 3/89 off the dribble/83in traffic. Only an average athlete, but he can score from anywhere and can create his own shot. 7.1 ppg/3.4 apg

SG Patrick Cuffee – FR – 84 OVR – 90 speed/87 quickness. 92 defense/76 steals. 84 close/84 med/69 3/84 off the dribble. 8.9 ppg.

SF Reece Plummer – JR – 86 OVR – 6'7” SF – 87 speed/83 quickness. 88 close/84 med/72 3/84 in traffic. A good defender, 82 defense/71 steals. He's a very good rebounder for a SF, not much in the post. Just 6.1 ppg.

PF Garry Sherman – JR – 85 OVR – first year starter, 6'8” PF – 90 orb/80 drb. 88 post off/75 post def. 81 blocks. 90 close/87 in traffic. A good leaper(78, great dunker too). Average strength. 86 off awareness/77 def awareness, not enough experience to be a coach on the floor yet, he will be next time we see them though. 8.9 ppg/3.6 rpg

C Tommie Graves – SR- 89 OVR – 6'10” C – 92 orb/83 drb. 90 post off/92 post def. 76 blocks (B-), 74 steals(A- for a C). 93 close/88 in traffic. Great athleticism for a guy his size, 81str. Coach on the floor, 84 off awaeness/79 def awareness. He's scoring 15.9 ppg,6.3 rebounds/game.

Backup SF Cameron Aguko is the main backup to watch, he scores 13/game off the bench. They are loaded with talent though, backup guards all in the 85 OVR range. They are unlikely to bring anyone on the floor at all rated under 82 OVR.

Half	Time	FSU	VT	Notes
1	18:25	3	0	Huh, Richard with 2 fouls early, both of them doubling down on McCants and reaching in into the post. He sits. Their backup PG, Lavender, is quite good, so don't get too excited.
1	15:45	8	9	McClurkin with two three's, Day with a layup. Mayer ineffective so far.
1	14:00	8	13	3 offensive boards early for the hokies, and a 6^th man boost that we just stalled off.
1	12:05	12	19	I call a timeout to get the backups in. McClurkin 6, Day 4, McCants 2, Mayer a noticible zero. Their PF Sherman has 9, SG Cuffee has 8. They're 7-11 so far, we're 5-8 so we're shooting fine. But we have 3 turnovers to their 1 early, and they have 6 rebounds(3 offensive) to our ONE rebound.
1	9:40	14	25	I have to call my second timeout to prevent this game from getting out of control early. Their SF Plummer just flew through the lane and caught a rebound off a 3 and jammed it home on the way down... their 4^th offensive board, a 6^th man boost, and an 11 point lead. Ugh.
1	7:15	17	31	Modica hits a 3, then they score 6 straight, 2 more turnovers for us. 5 turnovers for us, 1 for them. 9 boards/4 offensive boards for them, 2 total/0 offensive for us. I have to call my third timeout, only 3 left for the rest of the entiregame. Starters are back in.
1	5:30	19	35	Two more turnovers, that's 7 total, and we're down 16. This is demoralizing.
1	5:10	19	38	Day with a bad pass, they pull up and hit a 3 in transition after turnover number 8. This is more than I usually have in a game. Every pump fake they are swatting at and getting. The RNG is killing me in that sense, I'm trying to adjust. 6^th man boost for Va Tech but we sure can't burn a timeout now. Cuffee has 14 for them heh.
1	3:35	24	43	They get the lead over 20 twice, we get it back below right away each time. Mayer just got his first points, two at the line.
1	2:45	26	45	Mayer with another bucket after they get it back over 20 yet again. Va Tech gets a timeout for some reason.
	HALF	28	53	I'm not going to ever replay a game obviously, and I refuse to quicksim a final four game... but this blows. This isn't fun. Heh. WOW. This is Roberto Mayer's sendoff to the NBA? Virginia Tech is shooting 23-32. They're 3-5 from 3. SG Cuffee with 17, PF sherman 13, 3^rd string PG Robbins 9. Cuffee is 7-8, mostly layups after turnovers. Va Tech: 13 rebounds, 2 turnovers Florida State: 3 rebounds, 8 turnovers. Listen, Virginia Tech missed 9 shots in the half, and we only managed 3 rebounds? Seriously? Unbelievable. We shoot 10-20, not bad really. But because of the rebounds and turnovers, Va Tech makes more field goals than we attempt. McClurkin 9, he's 3-3 from 3. Day has 8, he's 0-3 from 3 but gets to the rim a few times. Mayer 4. I'm obviously going to try my hardest, there's no worry about injury risk or anything else, but we're down 25 freaking points.
2	15:15	40	59	They're playing their second string because the lead is so big, and it takes us some time but we have shaved enough poitns off the lead to get it under 20. Day just drained a 3. Mayer and McCants have the rest of our points this half I believe.
2	14:40	42	61	They bring their starters back in.
2	13:05	46	64	We've had to work crazy hard to get this deficit down to 18 like you see here, so its time for the backups to come in Mayer has missed two free throws or it could be 16, that always frustrates me when we give away free points, but momentum has definitely swung a bit, we're getitng some turnovers and rebounding better. We'll just have to see if the backups can do anything. Sure could use one of those 4-6 spurts from 3 by porter, huh?
2	10:00	52	73	When they get an offensive board and putback on their first play against our backups, we can guess that the momentum isn't with us nearly as much as we need it to be. Its feeling like a half where we just aren't going to be able to do anything but stay even with them. 21 w/ 10 minutes left.
2	8:15	54	81	Heh. Too late to matter now but I get a timeout and get the starters back in. Va Tech isn't missing anything, zero open shots are being missed. They are now shooting 73% for the game, 59% from 3 (7/12)
2	8:00	57	81	McClurkin with an amazing 3 point play... and he's injured. Modica in.
2	5:00	63	87	We officially give up, by which I mean i'm not trying hard to score anymore, I'm trying to run clock to make this end.

(4) Virginia Tech 95
(6) Florida State 63

After we lost to Memphis by about 500 points in the tournament a few seasons ago, I was really upset, actually thought about quitting the dynasty, not as a sore loser or anything, but because the game felt so unnatural, and like something that could never, ever happen in the real world.

That isn't the case here. This feels like UNC/Kansas in the final four a couple years ago. For whatever reason, we played our worst half of the season, and they played their best. They beat us down, but it still felt like a basketball game... just worst case scenario. Just wanted to make that clear since I mentioned the RNG above heh, that was more in the sense of “well shit we need a break to go our way” as opposed to “the game has decided to cheat.”

The score got out of hand as I was just trying to burn clock, but Va Tech was still running and pressing at every opportunity. We'll remember that next year

Virginia Tech shot 40-59 on the day. 8-16 from 3. They got 26 total rebounds to our 15. They forced 5 more turnovers than they committed, and they held us under 50%. We got owned in every possible way.

McClurkin: 11 points
Day: 11 points
Mayer: 12 points
Millar: 0 points/ 4 boards
McCants: 12 points/8 boards

Modica: 7 points
Black: 6 points

Porter was 0-5 from 3, 1-6 overall for 2 points.

We'll look back proudly at this team for making its final four run, a memorable season and a memorable group of players for me. But no one is very happy right now.

Radii · 06-21-2009, 12:04 AM

FINAL FOUR

4. Texas 55
4. North Carolina 51

4. Virginia Tech 95
6. Florida State 63

National Championship

4. Texas 60
4. Virginia Tech 55

How embarrassing for the league!

Radii · 06-21-2009, 12:07 AM

Year	National Champ	Runner Up	Final Four	Final Four	My Record	My Postseason
2008	North Carolina	Louisville	Arkansas	Indiana	10-16 (NCAT)	None
2009	Illinois	Gonzaga	Stanford	Louisville	14-15	None
2010	Mississippi St.	Wisconsin	Pittsburgh	Tennessee	17-14	None
2011	Florida	Mississippi St.	Syracuse	Maryland	24-8 (OHIO)	NCAA 1^st
2012	Tennessee	Michigan St.	Missouri	UCLA	13-18	None
2013	Texas Tech	North Carolina	Notre Dame	Providence	17-14	None
2014	Kansas	Wisconsin	UL Lafayette	Arizona	23-8	NIT 1^st
2015	Baylor	Wisconsin	Oklahoma St	Arizona	22-9	NIT 1^st
2016	North Carolina	Michigan St.	Rhode Island	NC State	24-8	NCAA 2^nd
2017	Arizona	Duke	Florida	Louisville	29-5	NCAA 1^st
2018	Florida	Kansas	Kentucky	UNLV	32-5	NCAA E8
2019	Oklahoma St.	Pittsburgh	Ohio State	Arizona	22-7 (FSU)	NCAA 2^nd
2020	Villanova	Arizona	Kansas	Clemson	10-18	None
2021	Villanova	Arizona St.	Ohio State	Florida	21-11	NCAA 2^nd
2022	North Carolina	Arizona	Vanderbilt	Nevada	22-9	NCAA 1^st
2023	Oklahoma St	Florida State	Vanderbilt	Oregon	30-7	NCAA Finals
2024	Texas	Virginia Tech	North Carolina	Florida State	27-10	NCAA F. Four

National Titles:

3 North Carolina
2 Villanova
2 Florida
2 Oklahoma State
1 Illinois
1 Mississippi State
1 Tennessee
1 Texas Tech
1 Kansas
1 Baylor
1 Arizona
1 Texas

Final Four Appearances:

6 Arizona
5 North Carolina
4 Florida
3 Kansas
3 Louisville
3 Wisconsin
3 Oklahoma State
2 Florida State
2 Michigan State
2 Mississippi State
2 Ohio State
2 Pittsburgh
2 Tennessee
2 Vanderbilt
2 Villanova
Arizona State
Arkansas
Baylor
Clemson
Duke
Gonzaga
Indiana
Illinois
Kentucky
UL Lafayette
Maryland
Missouri
NC State
Nevada
Notre Dame
Oregon
Providence
Rhode Island
Stanford
Syracuse
Texas
Texas Tech
Virginia Tech
UCLA
UNLV

National Titles (By Conference)

6 Big 12
4 SEC
3 ACC
2 Big East
1 Big 10
1 PAC 10

Final Fours (By Conference)

12 ACC
12 SEC
10 Big East
10 Big 12
10 PAC 10
9 Big 10
1 A-10
1 Mountain West
1 Sun Belt
1 WAC
1 WCC

Radii · 06-21-2009, 12:09 AM

We become the 15th team to reach 2 final fours during the course of this dynasty. Texas makes its first final four, and wins its first title. This was the first final four appearance for Virginia Tech as well. UNC is the most experienced team there, making their 5th appearance, and they can still be happy to lead the nation in national titles with 3, even though they came up short this time.

But the Big 12 gets their 2nd title in a row, and their 6th over the course of the dynasty, 2 more than any other league.

Radii · 06-21-2009, 12:27 AM

2024 Graduating Seniors

C Florentino McCants - 7'1" 241 lbs - 87 OVR

McCants was a 4 year starter, something that is going to become an extreme rarity for me as i've established some consistency in recruiting at Florida State. McCants on another team might have scored 20/game and been a player of the year candidate, but I obviously enjoy playing a slashing style where the guards and SF make the most noise. Nevertheless, McCants was very good, and I could not have made two final fours in a row without him in the middle.

Senior Season: 11.7 ppg/8.2 rpg - 53% FG - 68% FT

Career Averages: 8.8 ppg/7.3 rpg - 50.7% FG - 70.5% FT

I don't have a way to track these numbers, but McCants might be one of my first 4 year players to score 1000 points and pull down 1000 rebounds. 1202 points/1004 rebounds for his career.

McCants was a freshman all-american his first year, and was second team all conference as a sophomore. We have yet to see if he wins any awards this year. He is projected as a first round draft pick.

PG Pearson McClurkin - 6'0" 190 lbs - 87 OVR

McClurkin redshirt one year, and is the last remaining player from that giant recruiting class I brought in during my first season at FSU. He was a 3 year backup before starting every game his senior season. The PG I will remember from this era will always be Damion Forte, but McClurkin was solid in his own right.

Senior Season: 8.2 ppg/2.2 apg - 47.9% FG - 44.6% 3P (62-139) - 81.5% FT

Career: 5.6 ppg/1.5 apg - 42.5% FG - 40.2% 3P - 83.1 % FT

McClurkin is actually projected to go in the first round of the draft, not bad at all for a recruit outside the top 100 (115 OVR) who only started one year in college.

Next year's projected lineup, with their current ratings:

PG Modica (78 OVR)
SG Day (84 OVR)
SF Dearman (78 OVR)
PF Millar (84 OVR)
C Black (82 OVR)

Not a bad lineup, espicially with some offseason improvement. I don't think I'll ever miss the tournament again really, so that's not a big concern. Day, Millar and Modica(a JC recruit, remember) will be seniors next year. I suspect Day could have scored a lot more for me this year if he wasn't deferring to Mayer so often. I don't see him as a 20/game guy, but I bet he puts up 15/game with ease and has a few 30 point games. He isn't as strong or composed as Mayer but he has a great first step to drive in addition to an incredible 3 point shot.

Radii · 06-21-2009, 12:34 AM

2024 Team Stats

Points

SF Mayer - 20.6
C McCants - 11.7
SG Day - 11.1
PG McClurkin - 8.2
SG Porter - 6.8
SF Dearman - 5.3

My other starter not mentioned here, Millar, scored 4.0 ppg. I'm not sure what to expect out of him next year, we may lean on Black more and Millar will just be in there for defense/rebounding, or we may balance out the post looks more.

Rebounds

C McCants - 8.2
PF Millar - 5.4
C Black - 4.4
C Jolly - 2.6
SF Mayer - 2.4

Black has outstanding ratings on the boards (84 off/91 def) and he and Millar will be a very formidable front line on the glass, I'm not worried about replacing McCants rebounds at all.

Assits

PG McClurkin - 2.2
SG Day - 1.6
SF Mayer - 1.6

Useless stat in this game/the way i play

Field Goal %

C McCants - 53.8%
SF Mayer - 53.7%
SG Porter - 48.5%
PG McClurkin - 47.9%
PF Millar - 47.4%

I'm real surprised to see Porter on this list, impressive.

3 Point FG %

PG McClurkin - 44.6% (62-139)
SF Dearman - 42.0% (29-69)
SG Porter - 41.2% (54-131)
PG Modica - 38.8% (33-85)
SG Day - 37.7% (79-209)

Day shooting almost 38% taking as many 3's as he did is great.

Free Throw %

PG McClurkin - 81.5%
SF Dearman - 77.4%
C Jolly - 75.8%
C Black - 75.5%
SG Day - 74.3%

Radii · 06-21-2009, 12:37 AM

I skip over the awards, honestly by accident, I was going to be patient and report on them as always, but I pressed the wrong button to cycle through them. And my jaw hits the floor.

SF ROBERTO MAYER IS NOT LEAVING COLLEGE EARLY TO ENTER THE NBA DRAFT

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Radii · 06-21-2009, 12:44 AM

You definitely see more juniors leaving than anyone else in this game, though I've seen Freshman and soph's leave before. But I really haven't paid exceptionally close attention to it. Georgia Tech's SG Femi Shavies stayed all four years despite being a lottery pick as a junior, and as long as its the same for every team then I'm perfectly cool with it. Mayer returning next year changes the entire complexion of the team.

ACC Seniors Drafted

PG Pearson McClurkin - 87 OVR - Florida State
PG Koki Humphrey - 86 OVR - Georgia Tech
PG Micah Williams - 86 OVR - Maryland
PG Daryl Troester - 89 OVR - North Carolina
PG Joey Cousnard - 86 OVR - NC State
PG Preston Diakite - 85 OVR - Wake Forest
SG Femi Shavies - 90 OVR - Georgia Tech
SF Nigel Coombs - 89 OVR - North Carolina
PF Adama Sogdazi - 88 OVR - Maryland
C Florentino McCants - 87 OVR - Florida State
C Tommie Graves - 89 OVR - Virginia Tech

ACC Underclassmen Drafted

PG Mark Trammell - 90 OVR - Clemson

11 seniors and 1 underclassman to the NBA. Last year the ACC sent 22 players to the NBA, so I guess this is a "down" year.

Radii · 06-21-2009, 12:47 AM

We had a chance to beat a #1 team and didn't(though we beat Arizona in the NCAA Tournament, they were #1 in the coaches poll... I guess it only counts the media poll?), and we assumed an underclasman was leaving, he didn't.

No coaching points for me as a result.

I'm now 49 years old, with a career record of 357-183.

Offense: B+
Defense: A+
Teaching: A+
Scouting: C-
Charisma: A+
Discipline: B+

Radii · 06-21-2009, 12:49 AM

Major conference jobs opening:

Michigan State
Syracuse
Indiana
Missouri

Also, LaSalle and St Joes in the A-10, San Diego State in the Mountain West.

Congrats big 10 people, Kelvin Sampson is gone! Looks like Tom Izzo is too. Both retired, as did Mike Anderson at Missouri.

Replacements came from Buffalo, UC Santa Barbara, Cleveland State, George Mason, but we've had a ton of turnover at all these schools, no names are recognizable.

Radii · 06-21-2009, 12:51 AM

I make no changes to my assistants.

Radii · 06-21-2009, 01:01 AM

2024 Awards

PF Dedric Erwin out of Oregon is the national player of the year. 22.8 ppg/7.1 rpg for this 90 OVR senior forward.

Texas' Andy Kennedy is the national coach of the year. Win a title, win an award, usually.

First Team All American

PG Paulius Gabler - SR - 88 OVR - Seton Hall - 22.9 ppg/4.6 rpg/3.7 apg
SG Marko Hancock - SR - 88 OVR - Maryland - 23.8 ppg/5.4 rpg
SF Roberto Mayer - SO - 87 OVR - Florida State - 20.6 ppg/2.6 rpg
PF Dedric Erwin - SR - 90 OVR - Oregon - 22.8 ppg/7.1 rpg
C Darrian Walton - SR - 89 OVR - Kentucky - 21.0 ppg/4.8 rpg

Holy crap Mayer was a 1st team all american!!! I really thought with his low rebound totals that was impossible.

Georgia Tech's Femi Shavies was a 2nd team all american with 22 points/game and 4.9 rebounds/game for a SG.

ACC Awards

Maryland's Zach Lowe is the ACC Coach of the year, coaching the conference's best team this year.

Maryland's Marko Hancock is the ACC Player of the year, the other ACC player on the 1st team all american list.

Clemson's SF Bruce Filipovic, 86 OVR, is the freshman of the year.

First Team All-ACC

PG Duane Bowden - 87 OVR - SR - Boston College - 16.4 ppg/3.4 rpg/4.3 apg
SG Marko Hancock - SR - 88 OVR - Maryland - 23.8 ppg/5.4 rpg
SF Roberto Mayer - SO - 87 OVR - Florida State - 20.6 ppg/2.6 rpg
PF PJ Bennett - JR - 79 OVR - Virginia - 15.1 ppg/6.7 rpg
C Tommie Graves - SR - 89 OVR - Virginia Tech - 15.4 ppg/6.1 rpg

Second Team All-ACC

PG Garland Munns - SR - 85 OVR - NC State - 16.1 ppg/4.1 apg
SG Femi Shavies - SR - 90 OVR - Georgia Tech - 22.0 ppg/4.9 rpg
SF Garrison Bragg - SR - 86 OVR - Duke - 16.5 ppg/5.3 rpg
PF Shagari Andres - JR - 87 OVR - North Carolina - 13.6 ppg/6.3 rpg
C Florentino McCants - SR - 87 OVR - Florida State - 11.7 ppg/8.2 rpg

ACC All-Freshman team

PG Jesse Lavender - 86 OVR - Virginia Tech - 5.7 ppg/3.1 apg
SG Patrick Cuffee - 84 OVR - Virginia Tech - 9.3 ppg
SF Bruce Filipovic - 86 OVR - Clemson - 8.8 ppg/4.8 rpg
PF Egeman Wofford - 82 OVR - Boston College - 6.0 ppg/6.1 rpg
C Maynard Black - 82 OVR - Florida State - 4.4 ppg/4.4 rpg

A solid awards season for us.

Radii · 06-21-2009, 01:07 AM

With Mayer staying we have already filled our scholarships. This is purely a cut and paste of an earlier post to refresh everyone on our recruiting class:

5* SG Gregg Maye - 6'2" 182 lbs - Baton Rouge, LA - #16 OVR/#7 SG

One of the things that excited me the most is that Maye is one of the best scorers I've ever seen in the ABL. He averaged 20.2 points/game in the ABL, shooting over 42% from the floor, 38.6% from 3.

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

C+ speed/C- quickness, a little slow(great, lets start off with a negative). B- close/C+ med/B+ 3/C+ off the dribble/C+ in traffic. Looks like a guy who could be a scorer the second he arrives in Tallahassee, and certainly the potential to develop into a dominant scorer. B- defense/B- steals, none of this 78 defense crap that we're getting from Porter. B- off awareness/B- def awareness. I don't expect many guys to be coaches on the floor the second they have enough experience to qualify, but I don't want recruits that come in with both awareness ratings under 70 if I can help it. Like Carlisle, his stamina an durability are low. But there is a LOT here that exites me. He doesn't care about playing time, I might even be able to get away with a redshirt if I want and have him step straight into the starting lineup when Day graduates. Or if he looks good enough he can back up Day next year and be a 3 year starter. I really think I've got a great looking player here.

5* PG D'or Devonish - 5'11" 168 lbs - Staten Island, NY - #15 OVR/#8 PG

12.3 ppg/4.1 rpg/7.6 apg in the ABL. Lots of turnovers too, but a 1.8:1 assist/turnover ratio.

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

A- Speed/C quickness. C+ defense/C+ steals. B close/b med/C+ 3/B+ off the dribble. B- hands/B passing. C off awareness/B def awareness. I think I'm looking at an above average defender, a guy who can score a little and will develop into a bigger scoring threat down the road, and a very, very good ball handler and passer right out of the gate. The quickness is always a concern, and the offensive awareness might be a little low with a C rating, but on defense he should be set. I'm more exited about Maye than I am this guy, but I'm not really exited about the PG's on my roster right now after McClurkin leaves, so having another option is going to be a good thing.

It will be interesting to see if there is room for either of these guys next year. Remember that I redshirted the 5* PG I pulled in last year who came in as a disappointment, and I redshirted a JC SF I pulled in and a PF.

We'll spend the offseason looking at juniors for next year.

Radii · 06-21-2009, 01:15 AM

The last thing we do before flipping to next year is see how the ACC did in recruiting:

Boston College: #40, #76, #113 (2 4*, 1 3*)
Clemson: No recruits
Duke: 4* JC, #74
Florida State: #15, #16 (both 5* HS All-Americans)
Georgia Tech: #4, #6, #17, #19 (all 5* HS All-Americans)
Maryland: #7, #12, #20, #29, #32 (first 3 are 5* HS All Americans)
Miami: #121
North Carolina: #25, #27, #34
NC State: #13, #36, #39, #82 (#13 is 5* HS All American)
Virginia: #241
Virginia Tech: #5 (HS AA)
Wake Forest: #28, #35, #54

Georgia Tech lands two PG and two SG.
Maryland lands 5 guys in the top 32, 2 PG, 2 SF, 1 PF

Wake Forest lands 3 top 100 recruits, a big turnaround for them and maybe they're on their way back up. Georgia Tech, Maryland, Virginia Tech consistently appear to be the class of the league in recruiting.

Radii · 06-21-2009, 01:17 AM

I give a quick look to the big 10 to see how they're stacking up:

Illinois, only one recruit, #393 overall. they may be having issues rebuilding.

Michigan pulls in a top 50 recruit, #42 OVR SG, but two 3* guys past that.

Michigan State lands a top 50 PG

Purdue lands the #80 OVR guy, a PG.

Its bad, I don't know if recruit generation or something causes this, but any team recruiting like that consistently in the ACC would find themselves at the bottom with Miami and Virginia in very short order. The loss of Izzo and Sampson(scumbag tho he may be) can't help any. I wonder if the conferences always trend this way.

Radii · 06-21-2009, 01:20 AM

Incoming Recruiting Class Rankings

1. Georgia Tech
2. Maryland
3. Oregon
4. NC Sate
5. LaSalle
6. North Carolina
7. Florida
8. Vanderbilt
9. Oklahoma
10. Wake Forest
...
13. Duke (??????)
14. Florida State
20. Boston College

The other 4 teams in the league aren't in the top 50.

Radii · 06-21-2009, 01:24 AM

I schedule a creampuff non-conference schedule. The ACC has been so strong in recent years that I am really perfectly fine with scheduling a bunch of nobodies in the early season.

There are two games against major conference opponents early on that I leave on the schedule, just to get a couple games in. I'll be playing at Vanderbilt and hosting Georgetown. But until i have a team that I think is national title caliber again, I don't see a big benefit in tough schedules. Plus, as far as playing out my games, I simmed almost all my non-conference games last year, but played out my entire ACC schedule. I like that.

Radii · 06-21-2009, 01:31 AM

There are no initial surprises with my squad. The AI suggests a lineup of Modica, Day, Mayer, Millar and Black, exactly what I would have expected.

Preseason Media Poll

1. Virginia Tech
2. Clemson
3. Pittsburgh
4. North Carolina
5. Texas
...
8. Florida State
11. NC State
13. Maryland
23. Georgia Tech

7 ACC teams int he preseason top 25. I'm surprised to see NC State this high, they lost a lot last year. Georgia Tech lost some key players but I'm surprised to see them that low honestly.

There are two big ten teams in the preseason top 25:

17. Illinois
24. Iowa

ACC Preseason Roster Ratings

1. Virginia Tech 95 OVR
2. Clemson 94 OVR
3. North Carolina 93 OVR
4. Florida State 92 OVR
5. Maryland 91 OVR
6. NC State 90 OVR
7. Georgia Tech 89 OVR
8. Boston College 89 OVR
9. Wake Forest 88 OVR
10. Duke 84 OVR
11. Miami 83 OVR
12. Virginia 83 OVR

As always, its tight at the top. someone up there at 90+ OVR will struggle to go 8-8 in the league, hell someone may finish below. We were one of those teams last year, barely making it to 8-8 despite one of the top rosters. We're higher up on the list this year.

Looking quickly through the starting lineups, Clemson and Virginia Tech have no holes. They have star quality talent at all 5 positions.

Modica starts the year at 79 OVR for us at PG. Georgia Tech has a 73 OVR PF, North Carolina has a weaker PG than usual. Clemson and Va Tech look like clear, strong favorites to me.

Radii · 06-21-2009, 01:34 AM

ACC Preseason Accolades

Best Player: SG Darren Bookout, SR, Clemson, 90 OVR
Best Freshman: SF Bryant Peavy, Maryland, 83 OVR
Best Shooter: PG Dominik Meade, SR, Clemson, 88 OVR
Best Playmaker: PG Darren Richard, SR, Virginia Tech, 89 OVR
Best Pro Prospect: PG Jesse Lavender, SO, Virginia Tech, 88 OVR
Best Defender: PF Shagari Andres, SR, North Carolina, 88 OVR

Best Pro Prospect is a soph PG? Jesse Lavender is a top pick consideration. So is SF Roberto Mayer for Florida State. I assume he leaves this year for real, heh.

Radii · 06-21-2009, 01:42 AM

Incoming Freshmen

Neither of the freshman are in our top 9 rated players, I was hoping one of them would come in rated really highly, but that's ok.

SG Gregg Maye - 6'3" 191 lbs - 78 OVR

I like what I see for the most part. B- potential, not great but I will certainly take it. His awareness is good for an incoming freshman, 77 off/74 def. He's got ok speed, ok defense(82 def/74 steals). His ball handling and ability to create his own shot leave a little something to be desired.

But, he can shoot. He'll be a nice followup to Day and Porter i think. 83 close/79 med/87 3. Very high clutch rating, might be nice once he's a starter down the road. Maye will almost certainly redshirt. Day/Porter at SG this year, Porter/Maye at SG the next couple years after that.

PG D'or Devonish - 5'11" 168 lbs - 76 OVR

Last year I brought in a highly rated PG that came in 73 OVR. Devonish is a highly rated PG rated 76 OVR. He's still rated higher than the guy I brought in last year unfortunately(redshirt PG Carlisle, not talking about Modica here).

solid speed, but poor quickness(just like Carlisle). Average defense (82 def/75 steals). Good hands and passing which is nice. 80 close/80 med/75 3. Forte looked a lot like that, but Forte looked better in other spots to go along with the average shooting. Only 65 offensive awareness, but 77 on defense. I'm not too excited to be honest. I'll have to look at Carlisle again, but I think redshirting both of these new recruits is likely the way to go.

Radii · 06-21-2009, 01:47 AM

I'll do the full roster review later on, but Mayer and Day have a lot of work ahead of them if this team is to have any chance at reaching a 3rd straight final four.

This team has only 6 players rated 80+ coming into things. Modica, Dearman and redshirted SF Naymick are at 79, but top to bottom this is the worst team i've had overall in about 4 seasons. Mayer remains the x factor. If he had gone pro I don't think we're a top 25 team. I think Day could have carried us to the tournament, but this is a very noticeable dropoff.

I'll do the full roster review tomorrow and get things setup for the new season.

As we break for tonight, there's one question to ask:

Should I play out more(most) of my non-conference games in an effort to get Roberto Mayer the national player of the year award? he might score a lot more in CPU games anyway, but he'd score 20 a half against most of the bad teams I've got lined up. I think the answer to this is no... but its something to think about.

hoopsguy · 06-21-2009, 10:15 AM

Does the NPOTY award get you a coaching point? Because right now you are still giving an edge to a lot of teams in that department, so if you could find a way to get extra points then I would probably go for it.

Congrats on a great run in the postseason last year. Never would have expected that based on the conference play.

What kind of a foul shooter is Mayer? I would have thought he just sucked at the line early in the year but he seemed to post better numbers down the stretch (based on your game recaps).

Radii · 06-21-2009, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

Does the NPOTY award get you a coaching point? Because right now you are still giving an edge to a lot of teams in that department, so if you could find a way to get extra points then I would probably go for it.

I believe it would. Its something like "Win a 2K Sports Award" which I assume to mean player of the year/defensive player of the year/big man of the year, though I am not 100% sure on that. That's the only reason I'm considering it, otherwise individual numbers are fun but not worth changing my style of play for.

Quote:

What kind of a foul shooter is Mayer? I would have thought he just sucked at the line early in the year but he seemed to post better numbers down the stretch (based on your game recaps).

I'll check his ratings next time I'm in the game, but I think there was a point earlier in the year where he was shooting 65% or so from the line. That's really not bad in the real world today but FT %'s in the game are higher, 65% is a noticeably low. But he did shoot better later in the year and ended up slightly over 70% on the season.

Thanks for the comments as always!

Radii · 06-24-2009, 04:49 PM

2024-25 Florida State Roster

Point Guards

PG Dedric Modica - SR - 5'11" 166 lbs - 79 OVR (+3)

92 speed/89 quickness. 82 defense/78 steals. 87 hands/84 passing. 86 close/72 med/83 3/82 off the dribble. Average awareness (74 off/72 def). Average athlete at best. Modica's job on this team will mainly be to not get in the way, and hit a 3 pointer every so often. He's not bad but after Forte/McClurkin this is a really big dropoff at the position. I would be a lot happier if his on ball defense was 3-4 points better.

PG Alando Carlisle - RS FR - 6'5" 195 lbs - 76 OVR (+3)

90 speed/76 quickness. 87 defense/68 steals. 82 hands/82 passing. 77 close/72 med/83 3/82 off the dribble. Average awareness(74 off/74 def), slightly above average athlete(82 vert/66 str/76 hustle, all B-). Carlisle gained 3 points to his overall ratings during his redshirt year. I've never seen him on the court so we'll see how his shot looks and how effective a 3 point shooter he is. His job this year is just to get some experience and, like Modica, hit some 3's and not screw anything up.

PG D'or Devonish - FR - 5'11" 168 lbs - 76 OVR - REDSHIRTING

93 speed/79 quickness. 82 defense/75 steals. 87 hands/85 passing. 80 close/80 med/75 3/80 off the dribble. 65 off awareness(C)/77 def awareness(B). C+ potential. With Devonish and Carlisle we've got too PG's who will probably be good by the time they are upper classmen but are not ever expected to be special players. They look pretty similar, which could lead to some interesting competitions for the starting PG job down the road. Carlisle has a big edge due to on ball defense, though in the end something like 3 point stroke animation could decide who starts.

Shooting Guards

SG Prosper Day - RS SR - 6'3" 220 lbs - 85 OVR (+3)

88 speed/86 quickness. 84 defense/84 steals. 93 close/80 med/91 3/88 off the dribble. Awareness is severely lacking, espicially for a senior. 69 off/73 def. Very good athlete (84 vert/78 str/88 hustle... B/B+/B+). On a team without Roberto Mayer, Day would be a huge go to guy who might score 20/game. He is an incredible shooter, and will take more 3 pointers than anyone on the team this year, probably by a lot. He's streaky, though he shot 37.7% from 3 last year in 209 attempts, that's pretty damn good. He's good when he attacks the rim too, just not as good as Mayer, so he does so less often. The option is always there though. 11 ppg last year, I expect anywhere from 10-14 ppg this year out of him.

SG Theo Porter - RS SO - 6'6" 226 lbs - 84 OVR (+4)

87 speed/91 quickness. 80 defense/72 steals. 91 close/82 med/89 3/81 off the dribble. Great leaper(94/A vert), good strength for a guard (70/B), doesn't hustle much though. Poor off awareness/good def awareness(66/78). Porter will likely spend the year training defense and awareness. He's not very good attacking the rim at all (just 80 handling ability, pretty poor for a guard, which seems to factor a lot in the ability to blow by defenders, despite his great quickness). This means he's pretty much a jump shooter, but he's a great jump shooter. 41% from 3 last year, he has the potential to carry the team from the 3 point line any time he's on the floor. He needs to add to his defensive ability before he becomes a starter though. 6.8 ppg last year, maybe he gets more this year as Modica/Black graduate up to the starting lineup.

SG Gregg Maye - FR - 6'3" 191 lbs - 78 OVR - REDSHIRTING

85 speed/81 quickness. 82 defense/74 steals. 83 close/79 med/87 3/78 off the dribble. Not much of an athlete at all (C+ vert/B- str/C hustle), but his awareness is better than our other two SG's. 77 off/74 def. He is pretty raw really. His ball handling needs work(79/C), and he doesn't create his own shot off the dribble as well as our other guards. But he comes in with solid awareness and a 3 point stroke, B- potential as well, so I expect him to be rated over 80 OVR as a freshman next year and to contribute solidly for 4 years.

Small Forwards

SF Roberto Mayer - RS JR - 6'7" 245 lbs - 88 OVR (+3)

Mayer coming back instead of going to the draft takes this team from 'fighting for a tournament bid' to 'final four contender'. 88 speed/77 quickness. 85 defense/70 steals. 92 close/81 med/83 3/80 off the dribble/89 in traffic. 80 vert/68 str/98 hustle. 81 off awareness/75 def awareness. Great dunker, very good clutch scorer. Rebounds, posts up, and blocks shots as well as some bigs (80 orb/77 drb, not great but solid SF numbers). Mayer does everything well. Against lesser opposition 30 points/game is almost guarenteed, and against great teams he almost always finds a way to get 20 and has at times carried us nearly singlehandedly no matter how good the team on the other side is. Averaged 20.6 ppg as a soph, will get more this year.

SF Patricio Dearman - SO - 6'7" 215 lbs - 79 OVR(+2)

81 speed/82 quickness. 87 defense/71 steals. 85 close/77 med/75 3/81 in traffic. Solid athlete, solid but not spectacular awareness(76 off/73 def). I really like Dearman, but I'm glad he won't be starting quite yet. He's a big guy who can shoot the 3 when left open, and he can be devastating near the basket and in transition at times. But he's not nearly as consistent as I'd like him to be yet. Another year of development and he should be a very solid 2 year starter for us.

SF Ashton Naymick - RS SO - 6'7" 201 lbs - 79 OVR (+3)

Naymick is he first guy I look at and have no idea what to do with him. 82 speed/79 quickness. 77 defense/72 steals. 84 close/85 med/75 3/82 in traffic. Ok athlete, C+ vert/B str/C+ hustle. poor in the post. 68 off awareness/74 def awareness. His offensive numbers are intriguing and I'll try to find time for him here and there just to scope him out, but Dearman is a proven entity. Also Dearman's on ball defense is 87, Naymick's is 77. Naymick would have to be some kind of offensive stud to overcome that difference.

Power Forwards

PF Haminn Millar - SR - 6'9" 238 lbs - 85 OVR (+2)

87 orb/88 drb. 76 blocks. 85 post off/76 post def. 86 close/91 in traffic. Very good str(82), good leaper and hustle too. Great dunker, very very good in the clutch(79/B+). 85 off awareness/76 def awareness, giving us a coach on the floor. Millar has been in the lineup for his rebound numbers more than anything, but this year we're going to look to him on offense a little more often. Last season,if I wanted to go into the post I *always* wanted to find McCants. This year I expect a more even mix and more scoring out of Millar. Just 4 poitns/game last year(and 6 rebounds). Expect both of those to go up.

PF Trace Devonish - RS FR - 6'7" 246 lbs - 76 OVR(+2)

78 orb/80 drb. 79 post off/76 post def. 86 blocks. 91 close/85 in raffic. Good athlete (81 vert/76 str/77 hustle). Terrible, terrible awareness. 66 off/61 def. A- potential so hopefully now that he'll be getting on the court he can improve more, but I fear the possibility that Devonish ever is forced into the starting lineup. his rebound numbers and post skills are truly subpar for this level.

Centers

C Maynard Black - RS SO - 6'10" 244 lbs - 83 OVR (+3)

85 orb/93 drb. 85 post off/85 post def. 84 blocks/77 steals. 95 close/87 in traffic. Great athlete (70 vert/82 str/75 hustle... A-/A-/B-). His stamina is noticibly terrible, only 73, that's the lowest on the entire team. 74 off awareness/66 def awareness. His rebound and post numbers look great, he should be an offensive threat for me and should make the loss of McCants easier to bear, but, his awareness and stamina are huge glaring problems. B potential, so hopefully if I work on conditioning it will help a lot.

C Samuel Jolly - SO - 6'7" 231 lbs - 81 OVR(+2)

80 orb/85 drb. 89 post off/78 post def. 78 blocks. 84 close/88 in traffic. 87 str(huge A), 78 off awareness/81 def awareness. Jolly has a lot going for him, but he's small compared to what I want at center. He'll be the backup this year and very likely start at PF next year when Millar leaves.

Starting Lineup

PG Modica
SG Day
SF Mayer
PF Millar
C Black

Backups

PG Carlisle
SG Porter
SF Dearman
PF Devonish
C Jolly

The starters look a little worse than last year, mainly because Modica is such a huge, huge Dropoff from McClurkin. But we've got Day and Mayer back so the starting 5 is formidable.

The backups continue to slide, and my worries about this team are the same that i had last year. I don't really have a big time defensive stopper in the starting 5, though Mayer is a solid on ball defender. And the backups, I worry about them getting run over and costing us in close games against good teams. Though this wasn't as big a problem last year as I feared. Porter and Dearman both have some explosiveness to them and in most games one of them will come up with some key plays for me.

Radii · 06-24-2009, 05:18 PM

As I lament a little about talent dropoffs I should also point out that this team is pretty young. We have 3 seniors, 1 junior, 5 soph's and 4 freshmen. And with those 5 soph's we still have a bit of a logjam where one recruiting class is going to get uncomfortably big every 4 years. That's what I get for redshirting one of the JC players I had brought in to balance out the classes though, oh well!

Recruiting Preview

Graduating Seniors:

PG Modica
PF Millar
SG Day

I have depth at PG and SG, with an underclassman backup in place and a redshirting freshman.

Of course, I also need to operate on the assumption that I'm losing Mayer again this year. But again, Dearman and Naymick at SF... its not a major need regardless.

I think this year I *must* recruit two bigs. I need to replace Millar,and honestly Trace Devonish doesn't fit with the rest of the team, unless he develops like a madman in key areas, he's just not FSU material.

After the two bigs, I will just go best available. If I can get a stud PG to leapfrog Carlisle/D. Devonish, great.

...

After poking around, I think my 3 initial scholarship offers are no brainers:

PG Hiram Northern - #12 OVR/#6 PG - Sarasota, FL. A local kid who likes me as much as anyone else. Good defense, decent speed and shooting. A natural fit even with 2 PG's on the roster already, since neither of those PG's are blowing me away.

PF Boyd Caporn - #17 OVR/#1 PF - Aurora, IL. The only 5* big man in the recruiting class. He has Virginia Tech/Wake/Florida State in his top 5. Only 6'7".

PF Conor Hedges - #41 OVR/#2 PF - Kenosha, WI. Nearly a double/double in the ABL, seems to like me, though based on his top 5 schools I suspect he might want to stay near home and could end up at Wisconsin. Only 6'8".

Also, we could pass on one of those PF's and go for size:

C Garfield Collum - #112 OVR/#1 C - Boston, MA - 7'1" 253 lbs. Another kid who seems to want to stay local, though he has a very high level of interest in me as well.

---------------------------------

After the first week of visits and scouting game tape I offer the PG. I'm at 84% with the offer and in the lead on him. Clemson is the only serious competition early on.

The 3* Center, Collum, becomes another easy choice. I've got him at 94% already, he's going to sign early somewhere. It looks like if Boston College wants him they can probably get him(he is from Boston), but we're going to make a run at him too.

The leaves teh #1 and #2 PF's in teh nation. I end up going with the #2 guy, Conor Hedges out of Wisconsin. A couple reasons... hedges has me at 90% with the scholarship offer. He might go to Wisconsin, though we have a decent lead over them early. The #1 guy, Caporn, is playing hard to get. I'm in the lead for him too, but only at 69%. He likely won't sign anywhere during the early signing period. Also, my guy Hedges scouts out With B- off awareness/B def awareness. Caporn is worse in both areas.

So I'm on those 3 guys until something tells me taht i can't land them, or until the early signing period hits, which ever comes first.

----------------------------

I've decided I'm going to play more of my non-conference games in an effort to gain a coaching point/major award for Mayer... but I only have 4 games before teh early signing period. I can afford to sim those and then play out the rest.

November 8th, 2024

#8 Florida State 71
Niagara 59

Hey, maybe the CPU learned how to use Mayer after all. 23 points/7 boards. Black 8, Millar 7.

Radii · 06-24-2009, 05:45 PM

More Early Season Recruiting

On November 11th, we have 3 more weeks of recruiting before the early signing period. My 3 scholarship targets have all come to campus for a visit and I've used 2 of 3 home visits for each guy.

PF Conor Hedges, the 6'8" #2 PF out of Wisconsin, has us at 100%. He looks like a guy who will have rebound numbers in the low 80s to start. A good post offense, post defense that needs some work, and average scoring ability inside. That is, he doesn't look like a stud, but he has good athletic ability and good awareness

C Garfield Collum, the 7'1" Center ot of Boston, has us at 98%. He loves, and I mean LOVES, Boston College. So all we can do is pray they don't go after him. If BC offers, they get him. If they don't, we get him. It's basically that simple. Collum looks like a superstar rebounder, B orb/B- drb to go with 7'1" height. C+ post ratings and average awareness.

PG Hiram Northern - The #12 overall guy/#6 PG out of Sarasota, FL. Average shooter, can create his own shot. Good speed, above average hands/passing, and good defense. We are in the lead but only at 91%. With one more visit to go and a couple weeks of calls, I'm not sure we can get him to 100% before the early signing period starts. Clemson is #2, but has not made an offer. Virginia Tech is #3, and they have made an offer.

We don't really have backup targets for any of these guys, at least as far as early recruiting goes. We either get some of these 3, or we re-focus for the rest of the season. If Boston College offers on the Center, there is no one waiting in the wings that I can land in 3 weeks time, etc.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2 weeks to go:

PF Hedges remains at 100%, Wisconsin and Marquette close behind but neither has made an offer yet.

C Collum is 100%, BC still right there but no offer.

PG Northern is at 95% - Maybe we can land him at the END of the early signing week... but not likely at the beginning.

November 22, 2024

#8 Florida State 92
Delaware State 61

Mayer 26, Day 21, Porter 13. Mayer's lines look a fair bit like they do when I play, 9-14 FG/6-8 FT. He gets to the line a good bit.

------------------

Start of the last week of recruiting before the signing period:

PF Hedges - no change. Marquette or Wisconsin might land him w/ a scholarship, unsure.

C Collum - no change. Actually, Providence is creeping up there on him. I'm hoping Providence and BC are fighting over 4* and 5* guys and leaving this guy for me.

PG Northern - up to 97%. Can we get 3% in a week with a phone call/e-mail/scouting trip(which I understand has small, but more than zero, value)? Also two non-conference wins, if they have an impact, i forget if they do. Clemson has not offered, they are likely after top 10 guys of course. And we still lead Va Tech considerably.

November 26, 2024

#8 Florida State 93
Pacific 54

Mayer 30, Day 17, Dearman 12. Mayer is 2nd in the nation in scoring behind a UAB Center early on heh.

November 30, 2024

#8 Florida State 89
Gardner-Webb 58

Millar 15, Porter 15, Mayer 12, Day 11, Carlisle 11. Balanced scoring here.

And that was the final day before the early signing period:

Early Signing Period - First Signing Day

I put first signing day because players can sign at the beginning of the week, and at the end.

PF Conor Hedges Signs with FLORIDA STATE

C Garfield Colllum signs with FLORIDA STATE

WOOHOO! 2 out of 3 ain't bad, I say.

PG Hiram Northern sits at 99% starting this final week. I have two games this week though, Campbell and Vanderbilt. I want to play Campbell as a practice game to get used to my new players and lineups. And Vanderbilt is rated 88 OVR, so I definitely want to play that one out as well.

4* PF Conor Hedges - 6'8" 229 lbs - Kenosha, WI - #41 OVR/#2 PF

12.0 ppg/9.4 rpg in the ABL. Just 44% shooting from the field in those games.

Shooting: B
Skills: B
Defense: B+
Athleticism: B
Rebounding: A-
Intellighence: A
Potential: B+
Size: B+

C+ orb/C+ drb. B post offense/C+ post defense. B- blocks. C+ close/C in traffic. B- off awareness/B def awareness. B+ vert/B str/B hustle. Also, B med/B- 3. He looks like the type of smaller power forward that can shoot a jumper a little.

Hedges doesn't look like a guy that I'm going to fall in love with. But he looks like a guy that can hopefully send PF Devonish packing.

3* Garfield Collum - 7'1" 253 lbs - Boston, MA - #112 OVR/#1 C

14.2 ppg/12.6 rpg in the ABL. Also a 43% shooter.

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

B orb/B- drb. C+ post off/C+ post def. C+ close/C in traffic. B+ str. C off awareness/B- def awareness. B- blocks/B+ steals.

Collum looks like the type of guy I am very likely to fall in love with. He looks like the type of guy who could very possibly start at center for four years. Black PF/Collum C, with Hedges/Jolly off the bench. But assuming that is getting a bit hasty

6'10" PF/7'1 C excites me a hell of a lot more than a 6'8" PF and a 6'10" center though, other factors depending obviously.

Radii · 06-24-2009, 05:55 PM

Maybe its the extra practice time due to not playing many games early in the year... maybe its something else, I dunno. But 9 players on my team have already gained 1 point to their OVR ratings.

Roberto Mayer is now the first 89 OVR player I've ever had on my team. Millar 86, Day 86, Black 84, Porte 82. Modica, Naymick and Dearman all hit 80 OVR, and PF Devonish up to 77 OVR.

Day, Porter, and Modica all gain 1 point on their 3 point shot! Day up to 92, Porter 90, Modica 84.

The early season polls have started updating as well:

1. Virginia Tech
2. Clemson
3. Villanova
4. North Carolina
5. UCLA
6. Florida State
...
9. Georgia Tech
12. Maryland
23. NC State

The ACC seems likely to be the #1 conference again this year. With all the recruiting the league does, it seems like it will stay that way. The big 12 has 3 teams in the top 15. Big East has a couple.

Illinois is off to a 6-1 start and is #18.

Radii · 06-26-2009, 01:51 AM

December 4, 2024

Campbell (3-6) at #6 Florida State (4-0)

TEAM: FSU|CU
OVR: 92|66
OFF: 92|69
DEF: 91|67
SHT: 95|72
REB: 91|67
COA: 91|77

Scouting

Campell has a 68 rated freshman PG named Magnum Cox, which is one of the greatest names I've ever seen anywhere. Their PF is rated 70 VR. Their SF and Center are rated under 60. Obviously not doing heavy duty scouting for what should be a warmup game.

We have a 68-33 unity edge.

Half	Time	FSU	CU	Notes
1	17:30	8	0	Yeah. Mayer goes down with an injury the first time he gets fouled. I'll check on his injury in 3-4 minutes.
1	15:50	11	2	Timeout Campbell.
1	13:30	19	6	Backups are in. Mayer has a sore knee. Should be fine.
1	6:45	31	18	Carlisle is interesting. He has huge elevation on the drive. He has a kinda jerky jump shot animation but he elevates well and shoots farily quickly. I like it. Carlisle shoots a bunch and comes up with 7 points. Starters are back in.
	HALF	46	27	We roll up to a 20 point lead before the half. We shoot 6-15 from 3, after starting 5-11. Campbell's SG, Freije, scores 11. They have a backup guard who scores 7. We shoot 16-28 overall. Mayer leads us with 10. Derman 8, Carlisle 7. Millar, Modica, Day all have 6 each. Millar is 3-3 in the post.
1	15:40	52	31	Timeout Campbell. They play a tight pressure half court defense that is making it hard for us to fluidly run our offense.
1	13:40	56	35	Backups are in. Mayer only has 11. He's slowed by the injury so he's not getting out and running well in transition. Modica is playing great with 13.
1	6:45	73	51	Still up 22, Carlise is having a hell of a game, 15 points! Starters back.

We roll the rest of the way.

#6 Florida State 92
Campbell 58

Modica: 13 points
Day: 8 points
Mayer: 24 points
Millar: 10 points/10 boards
Black: 4 points/11 boards

Carlisle: 15 points
Dearman: 8 points
Porter: 7 points

Very impressed with Carlisle. I'm also pleased with Millar, though it was against awful competition.

06-17-2009, 07:52 PM	#1060
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	NCAA Selection Show We're #24 in the final poll of the season. Alabama is #1 with 3 losses, Maryland is 2nd still. Bubble Teams: Indiana, Boston College are the two most notable. Jacksonville is 26-6, a small conference team here. 1 Seeds EAST: Alabama (#1 Overall) SOUTH: Maryland MIDWEST: Georgia Tech WEST: Oregon Two ACC teams, along with our final four opponent last year in Oregon. EAST 1. Alabama Northwestern is the 9 seed here, getting 8 seed Utah. Indiana is the 11 seed, facing 6 seeded Temple in round 1. 2 seed here is defending national champs Oklahoma State SOUTH 1. Maryland 16. Furman 4. Virginia Tech 13. Mississippi Valley State 5 seed here is Oregon State 6. Wake Forest 11. Jacksonville <-- one of the notable bubble teams. 2 seed here is Michigan State. It seems like Ga Tech winning the ACC and Michigan State getting upset might have decided the 1/2 seed. MIDWEST 1. Georgia Tech 16. North Dakota State heh, hate this: 8. NC State 9. Clemson 3 conference teams out of 4 teams there. Heh. Florida State is the 6 seed in the Midwest And, stupid conference rules fail us again. Boston College is the 11 seed. LaSalle is the 3 seed here and our likely second round opponent if we can grab a win. Ohio is the 7 seed, 26-4, looks like they lost their conference tournament. 2. Arizona WEST 1. Oregon Illinois is in as the 9 seed here, they'll play East Carolina in round 1. 4. North Carolina 13. Yale Kentucky is the 5 seed here. Texas Tech is the 2 seed. Conference Breakdown ACC - 9 Big 12 - 6 SEC 5 Pac 10, Big 10, A-10 4 each Big East 3 The A-Sun got 2 teams in, impressive. ACC Seeds: 1. Maryland 1. Georgia Tech 4. North Carolina 4. Virginia Tech 6. Wake Forest 6. Florida State 8. NC State 9. Clemson 11. Boston College 9 teams in, though thanks to the pairings there's no way to avoid 2 going out in round 1 and another in the 2nd round. We played Boston College just once this season and handled them easily, winning by 19. The 3 seed, Lasalle, is rated strongly, 91 OVR. The 14 they get to play, Montana State,is rated 76 OVR and is 19-12 out of the Big Sky. It seems a decent draw for me really, I'm hopeful we can make a solid run here. Last edited by Radii : 06-17-2009 at 07:54 PM.

06-21-2009, 12:27 AM	#1077
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	2024 Graduating Seniors C Florentino McCants - 7'1" 241 lbs - 87 OVR McCants was a 4 year starter, something that is going to become an extreme rarity for me as i've established some consistency in recruiting at Florida State. McCants on another team might have scored 20/game and been a player of the year candidate, but I obviously enjoy playing a slashing style where the guards and SF make the most noise. Nevertheless, McCants was very good, and I could not have made two final fours in a row without him in the middle. Senior Season: 11.7 ppg/8.2 rpg - 53% FG - 68% FT Career Averages: 8.8 ppg/7.3 rpg - 50.7% FG - 70.5% FT I don't have a way to track these numbers, but McCants might be one of my first 4 year players to score 1000 points and pull down 1000 rebounds. 1202 points/1004 rebounds for his career. McCants was a freshman all-american his first year, and was second team all conference as a sophomore. We have yet to see if he wins any awards this year. He is projected as a first round draft pick. PG Pearson McClurkin - 6'0" 190 lbs - 87 OVR McClurkin redshirt one year, and is the last remaining player from that giant recruiting class I brought in during my first season at FSU. He was a 3 year backup before starting every game his senior season. The PG I will remember from this era will always be Damion Forte, but McClurkin was solid in his own right. Senior Season: 8.2 ppg/2.2 apg - 47.9% FG - 44.6% 3P (62-139) - 81.5% FT Career: 5.6 ppg/1.5 apg - 42.5% FG - 40.2% 3P - 83.1 % FT McClurkin is actually projected to go in the first round of the draft, not bad at all for a recruit outside the top 100 (115 OVR) who only started one year in college. Next year's projected lineup, with their current ratings: PG Modica (78 OVR) SG Day (84 OVR) SF Dearman (78 OVR) PF Millar (84 OVR) C Black (82 OVR) Not a bad lineup, espicially with some offseason improvement. I don't think I'll ever miss the tournament again really, so that's not a big concern. Day, Millar and Modica(a JC recruit, remember) will be seniors next year. I suspect Day could have scored a lot more for me this year if he wasn't deferring to Mayer so often. I don't see him as a 20/game guy, but I bet he puts up 15/game with ease and has a few 30 point games. He isn't as strong or composed as Mayer but he has a great first step to drive in addition to an incredible 3 point shot. Last edited by Radii : 06-21-2009 at 12:36 AM.

06-17-2009, 01:45 AM	#1052
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	ACC Quarterfinal Results 1. Maryland 81 9. Miami 77 4. North Carolina 78 5. Virginia Tech 64 6. Florida State 80 3. Wake Forest 71 2. Georgia Tech 73 10. Boston College 57 ACC Semifinals 1. Maryland 4. North Carolina 2. Georgia Tech 6. Florida State Georgia Tech crushed us in Atlanta, we crushed them in Tallahassee. Should set up an interesting semifinal. Well, it may well set up another blowout but who knows in which direction!

06-17-2009, 01:49 AM	#1053
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	Boston College is back on the bubble with their first round upset win. Northwestern and Indiana out of the Big 10 are bubble teams at the moment too. Current Bracketology: 1. Maryland 2. Georgia Tech 3. North Carolina 5. Virginia Tech 6. Wake Forest 6. Florida State 7. NC State 8. Clemson 11. Boston College Over in the big 10, Michigan (7 seed) demolished the 2 seed Illinois by 20 in the quarterfinals. Illinois is still listed as a 9 seed so they look to be firmly in regardless.

06-17-2009, 12:07 PM	#1054
DeToxRox Head Coach Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Michigan	Damn right Michigan demolished Illinois.

06-17-2009, 07:35 PM	#1059
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	ACC Semifinals 1. Maryland 91 4. North Carolina 90 2. Georgia Tech 73 6. Florida State 64 ACC Finals 2. Georgia Tech 92 1. Maryland 76 Georgia Tech has not been regular season ACC Champs in the last decade, but this is their 3rd ACC Tournament title in a row, and the 4th in the last 7 years. Over in the Big 10, their tournamant might just have allowed them to get a 4th team into the big dance. Northwestern upsets the top team, Michigan State. Indiana beats Michigan, and Northwestern, the 4 seed in the Big 10 and a bubble team, wins the Big 10 Tournament. Indiana, Michigan State and Illinois all seem very likely to get in, w/ no chance of anyone else I believe.

06-18-2009, 01:06 AM	#1062
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	Round 1 Results: 1. Maryland - Beat Furman 70-64, faces 9. Loyola Marymount 1. Georgia Tech - Beat ND State 96-43. Faces 8. NC State 4. North Carolina - Beat Yale 86-57. Faces 5. Kentucky 4. Virginia Tech - Beat Miss. Valley St 79-58. Faces 5. Oregon State 6. Wake Forest - Beat Jacksonville 90-52. Faces 3. Missouri 6. Florida State - Beat Boston College 66-55. Faces 3. LaSalle 8. NC State - Beat 9. Clemson 96-83. Faces 1. Georgia Tech 9. Clemson - Lost to NC State 96-83 11. Boston College - Lost to Florida State 66-55 Solid first round showing. Ohio is upset in the first round by the 10 seed Florida. 9. Northwestern beat Utah 81-75 and gets the #1 overall seed, Alabama next. 6. Temple crushes the 11 seed, Indiana, 72-46. 9. Illinois beats East Carolina 88-82, they get the 1 seed Oregon next. 2. Michigan State beats Loyola Illinois 90-78 and faces the 10 seed LSU next. Other than a couple 10 vs 7 seed wins, there were no upsets, no 11/12/13/14 seeds winning in the first round. LaSalle next! Should we beat LaSalle, looking ahead to the sweet 16 we're looking at the 2 seed Arizona(rated 97 OVR!!) or the 10 seed Florida (rated 92 OVR w/ a 100 rated coach in Billy Donovan).

06-18-2009, 07:53 AM	#1063
hoopsguy General Manager Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Chicago	What happens to Michigan in the NCAA tournament? Oh, that's right. Never mind. Good luck against LaSalle.

06-19-2009, 04:50 AM	#1065
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	Second Round Results Most importantly, Arizona beats Florida by 15. So we get the 2 seed Wildcats next round. Their worst trait is their rebounding, which grades out at 96 in their roster strength profile. Everything else is 97+. The ACC has incredible sucess in round 2: 1. Maryland - Beat (9) Loyola Marymount 80-70 1. Georgia Tech - Loses to (8) NC State 83-79 4. North Carolina - Beat (5) Kentucky 86-71 4. Virginia Tech - Beat (5) Oregon State 70-62 6. Florida State - Beat (3) LaSalle 78-70 6. Wake Forest - Beat (3) Missouri 89-75 8. NC State - Beat (1) Georgia Tech 83-79 6 of the sweet 16 are from the ACC. The only losses for the conference so far are in those unfortunate pairings where two teams played each other. 2 seed Michigan State advances out of the Big 10, beating 10 seed LSU by 3. They are the only Big 10 team left, as top seed Albama beats 9 seed Northwestern by 27,and 1 seed Oregon takes out 9 seed Illinois by 22. Sweet 16 Pairings 1. Alabama 4. Texas 2. Oklahoma State 3. Vanderbilt 1. Oregon 4. North Carolina 3. UCLA 2. Texas Tech 1. Maryland 4. Virginia Tech 6. Wake Forest 2. Michigan State 8. NC State 4. Texas A&M 6. Florida State 2. Arizona Arizona is 25-7, going 6-4 against tournament teams in the regular season. They lost to a bad Cal team in the semis of the Pac 10 tournament however, and do have a couple inexplicable losses to bad teams. Arizona is special, with 5 players who are potential lottery picks. They have size, speed, shooters, and legitimate depth at all 5 positions, including a 7 foot backup center behind their 7 foot starting center who has a 90 post defense rating. They've lost 7 times, so there are obviously some imperfections, and we'll get to try to find them. I have a little history with Arizona as well, they were one of the teams that Ohio defeated during that miracle Elite 8 run before I took the Florida State job.

06-19-2009, 04:26 PM	#1066
rjolley College Starter Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Roseville, CA	Good luck, Radii.

06-20-2009, 02:32 AM	#1068
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	Sweet 16 Results Sweet 16 Pairings 4. Texas 74 1. Alabama 70 2. Oklahoma State 89 3. Vanderbilt 86 4. North Carolina 74 1. Oregon 69 3. UCLA 81 2. Texas Tech 64 4. Virginia Tech 89 1. Maryland 75 2. Michigan State 84 6. Wake Forest 72 4. Texas A&M 91 8. NC State 76 6. Florida State 66 2. Arizona 51 All one seeds are gone. Elite Eight Pairings 4. Texas 2. Oklahoma State 4. North Carolina 3. UCLA 4. Virginia Tech 2. Michigan State 4. Texas A&M 6. Florida State Three ACC teams remain, though all three are lower seeds in this upcoming round. Texas A&M has a higher roster strength than we do as well, and are in fact rated higher in every area, with a 100 rebounding rating as a team. Like Arizona, they have very highly rated players at every position, with 4 of 5 starters rated 88+. Their starting SG has an average awareness of 90(90 off/91 def). Their depth mirrors ours a lot more than Arizona's did, solid but not nearly as good as the Wildcats were. I haven't reviewed our own development in awhile. All 5 of our starters are rated 84+ right now. Mayer, Day, Black and Porter have gained 2 points to their OVR ratings throughout the season. Our lineup: McClurkin: 86 OVR Day: 84 OVR Mayer: 87 OVR Milar: 84 OVR McCants: 87 OVR Modica: 78 OVR Porter: 79 OVR Dearman: 78 OVR Jolly: 80 OVR Black: 82 OVR Black,if you'll remember, is a redshirt freshman with B potential. He's our best shot at this point of seeing a player reach the 90 OVR marker(barring Mayer turning down the lottery for another year of basketball and FSU coeds ala Matt Leinart)

06-20-2009, 02:35 AM	#1069
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	Additionally, as often as I mentioned Theo Porter in that last game, I didn't come close to giving him enough credit for that victory. The score was tied 45-45 when the backups came into the game with 10 minutes left. We outscored Arizona 21-6 over that final 10 minute stretch, and Porter scored 15 of those 21 points. Without adjustments for confidence he's rated 89 from 3, so that potential is always there, but boy was that the perfect time for him to get insanely hot.

06-20-2009, 04:38 AM	#1071
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	Elite Eight Pairings 4. Texas 79 2. Oklahoma State 65 4. North Carolina 89 3. UCLA 86 4. Virginia Tech 83 2. Michigan State 76 6. Florida State 86 4. Texas A&M 67 FINAL FOUR 4. Texas 4. North Carolina 4. Virginia Tech 6. Florida State Three ACC teams in the final four!! I don't have the CH2K8 history up in front of me, but this may be the first time since 1985 that one conference has gotten 3 teams into the final four. Virginia Tech beat us by 9 January 7th at their house, and we beat them by 7 February 11th on our floor. We know them well, they have a very talented PG in Darren Richard, and a very talented Center in Tommie Graves. They're rated 95 OVR and have no weakness in their starting lineup, but Graves and Richard are the big concerns for us. Texas is rated 90 OVR but looks like a serious weak link in the bunch. They have a starting center rated under 80 OVR, while the rest of us dont' start a single player worse than 84 OVR. They might not have a single player that would start for North Carolina. And damn will I be rooting for them. North Carolina beat us twice and I am extremely uncomfortable playing against them when they have this much talent and that annoying as shit 3-2 defense. But, Virginia Tech first.

06-20-2009, 04:44 AM	#1072
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	After we lost so many players from last year's team, I would have never thought that this Florida State squad had a chance in hell at reaching the final four. I knew the starting lineup was talented and I expected to make the tournament, but I didn't think we had a run like this in us. Of course, that was the thinking before the season started. Roberto Mayer was obviously a huge x factor. There was no way in hell to know that he would be capable of the kind of offensive output he's given me this year. But even with Mayer's offensive ability and the talent in the starting lineup, remember that not a single person on our bench had ever played in a college game before the season started. Last year our bench was a huge help for us, I always expected our bench to be better than our opponent's and was confident with them. This year, Black showed us some ability, Modica has been a nice surprise at PG, and Porter has obviously come up huge for us in the tournament a couple times. This run with this team has been so much more satisfying than what last year's team did, very, very satisfying. Still two more games to win though!

06-21-2009, 12:04 AM	#1074
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	FINAL FOUR 4. Texas 55 4. North Carolina 51 4. Virginia Tech 95 6. Florida State 63 National Championship 4. Texas 60 4. Virginia Tech 55 How embarrassing for the league!

06-21-2009, 12:09 AM	#1076
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	We become the 15th team to reach 2 final fours during the course of this dynasty. Texas makes its first final four, and wins its first title. This was the first final four appearance for Virginia Tech as well. UNC is the most experienced team there, making their 5th appearance, and they can still be happy to lead the nation in national titles with 3, even though they came up short this time. But the Big 12 gets their 2nd title in a row, and their 6th over the course of the dynasty, 2 more than any other league.

06-21-2009, 12:34 AM	#1078
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	2024 Team Stats Points SF Mayer - 20.6 C McCants - 11.7 SG Day - 11.1 PG McClurkin - 8.2 SG Porter - 6.8 SF Dearman - 5.3 My other starter not mentioned here, Millar, scored 4.0 ppg. I'm not sure what to expect out of him next year, we may lean on Black more and Millar will just be in there for defense/rebounding, or we may balance out the post looks more. Rebounds C McCants - 8.2 PF Millar - 5.4 C Black - 4.4 C Jolly - 2.6 SF Mayer - 2.4 Black has outstanding ratings on the boards (84 off/91 def) and he and Millar will be a very formidable front line on the glass, I'm not worried about replacing McCants rebounds at all. Assits PG McClurkin - 2.2 SG Day - 1.6 SF Mayer - 1.6 Useless stat in this game/the way i play Field Goal % C McCants - 53.8% SF Mayer - 53.7% SG Porter - 48.5% PG McClurkin - 47.9% PF Millar - 47.4% I'm real surprised to see Porter on this list, impressive. 3 Point FG % PG McClurkin - 44.6% (62-139) SF Dearman - 42.0% (29-69) SG Porter - 41.2% (54-131) PG Modica - 38.8% (33-85) SG Day - 37.7% (79-209) Day shooting almost 38% taking as many 3's as he did is great. Free Throw % PG McClurkin - 81.5% SF Dearman - 77.4% C Jolly - 75.8% C Black - 75.5% SG Day - 74.3%

06-21-2009, 12:37 AM	#1079
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	I skip over the awards, honestly by accident, I was going to be patient and report on them as always, but I pressed the wrong button to cycle through them. And my jaw hits the floor. SF ROBERTO MAYER IS NOT LEAVING COLLEGE EARLY TO ENTER THE NBA DRAFT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

06-21-2009, 12:44 AM	#1080
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	You definitely see more juniors leaving than anyone else in this game, though I've seen Freshman and soph's leave before. But I really haven't paid exceptionally close attention to it. Georgia Tech's SG Femi Shavies stayed all four years despite being a lottery pick as a junior, and as long as its the same for every team then I'm perfectly cool with it. Mayer returning next year changes the entire complexion of the team. ACC Seniors Drafted PG Pearson McClurkin - 87 OVR - Florida State PG Koki Humphrey - 86 OVR - Georgia Tech PG Micah Williams - 86 OVR - Maryland PG Daryl Troester - 89 OVR - North Carolina PG Joey Cousnard - 86 OVR - NC State PG Preston Diakite - 85 OVR - Wake Forest SG Femi Shavies - 90 OVR - Georgia Tech SF Nigel Coombs - 89 OVR - North Carolina PF Adama Sogdazi - 88 OVR - Maryland C Florentino McCants - 87 OVR - Florida State C Tommie Graves - 89 OVR - Virginia Tech ACC Underclassmen Drafted PG Mark Trammell - 90 OVR - Clemson 11 seniors and 1 underclassman to the NBA. Last year the ACC sent 22 players to the NBA, so I guess this is a "down" year.

06-21-2009, 12:47 AM	#1081
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	We had a chance to beat a #1 team and didn't(though we beat Arizona in the NCAA Tournament, they were #1 in the coaches poll... I guess it only counts the media poll?), and we assumed an underclasman was leaving, he didn't. No coaching points for me as a result. I'm now 49 years old, with a career record of 357-183. Offense: B+ Defense: A+ Teaching: A+ Scouting: C- Charisma: A+ Discipline: B+

06-21-2009, 12:49 AM	#1082
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	Major conference jobs opening: Michigan State Syracuse Indiana Missouri Also, LaSalle and St Joes in the A-10, San Diego State in the Mountain West. Congrats big 10 people, Kelvin Sampson is gone! Looks like Tom Izzo is too. Both retired, as did Mike Anderson at Missouri. Replacements came from Buffalo, UC Santa Barbara, Cleveland State, George Mason, but we've had a ton of turnover at all these schools, no names are recognizable.

06-21-2009, 12:51 AM	#1083
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	I make no changes to my assistants.

06-21-2009, 01:01 AM	#1084
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	2024 Awards PF Dedric Erwin out of Oregon is the national player of the year. 22.8 ppg/7.1 rpg for this 90 OVR senior forward. Texas' Andy Kennedy is the national coach of the year. Win a title, win an award, usually. First Team All American PG Paulius Gabler - SR - 88 OVR - Seton Hall - 22.9 ppg/4.6 rpg/3.7 apg SG Marko Hancock - SR - 88 OVR - Maryland - 23.8 ppg/5.4 rpg SF Roberto Mayer - SO - 87 OVR - Florida State - 20.6 ppg/2.6 rpg PF Dedric Erwin - SR - 90 OVR - Oregon - 22.8 ppg/7.1 rpg C Darrian Walton - SR - 89 OVR - Kentucky - 21.0 ppg/4.8 rpg Holy crap Mayer was a 1st team all american!!! I really thought with his low rebound totals that was impossible. Georgia Tech's Femi Shavies was a 2nd team all american with 22 points/game and 4.9 rebounds/game for a SG. ACC Awards Maryland's Zach Lowe is the ACC Coach of the year, coaching the conference's best team this year. Maryland's Marko Hancock is the ACC Player of the year, the other ACC player on the 1st team all american list. Clemson's SF Bruce Filipovic, 86 OVR, is the freshman of the year. First Team All-ACC PG Duane Bowden - 87 OVR - SR - Boston College - 16.4 ppg/3.4 rpg/4.3 apg SG Marko Hancock - SR - 88 OVR - Maryland - 23.8 ppg/5.4 rpg SF Roberto Mayer - SO - 87 OVR - Florida State - 20.6 ppg/2.6 rpg PF PJ Bennett - JR - 79 OVR - Virginia - 15.1 ppg/6.7 rpg C Tommie Graves - SR - 89 OVR - Virginia Tech - 15.4 ppg/6.1 rpg Second Team All-ACC PG Garland Munns - SR - 85 OVR - NC State - 16.1 ppg/4.1 apg SG Femi Shavies - SR - 90 OVR - Georgia Tech - 22.0 ppg/4.9 rpg SF Garrison Bragg - SR - 86 OVR - Duke - 16.5 ppg/5.3 rpg PF Shagari Andres - JR - 87 OVR - North Carolina - 13.6 ppg/6.3 rpg C Florentino McCants - SR - 87 OVR - Florida State - 11.7 ppg/8.2 rpg ACC All-Freshman team PG Jesse Lavender - 86 OVR - Virginia Tech - 5.7 ppg/3.1 apg SG Patrick Cuffee - 84 OVR - Virginia Tech - 9.3 ppg SF Bruce Filipovic - 86 OVR - Clemson - 8.8 ppg/4.8 rpg PF Egeman Wofford - 82 OVR - Boston College - 6.0 ppg/6.1 rpg C Maynard Black - 82 OVR - Florida State - 4.4 ppg/4.4 rpg A solid awards season for us.

06-21-2009, 01:07 AM	#1085
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	With Mayer staying we have already filled our scholarships. This is purely a cut and paste of an earlier post to refresh everyone on our recruiting class: *5 SG Gregg Maye - 6'2" 182 lbs - Baton Rouge, LA - #16 OVR/#7 SG One of the things that excited me the most is that Maye is one of the best scorers I've ever seen in the ABL. He averaged 20.2 points/game in the ABL, shooting over 42% from the floor, 38.6% from 3. Shooting: A Skills: B+ Defense: B+ Athleticism: B+ Rebounding: B- Intelligence: A Potential: A- Size: C+ C+ speed/C- quickness, a little slow(great, lets start off with a negative). B- close/C+ med/B+ 3/C+ off the dribble/C+ in traffic. Looks like a guy who could be a scorer the second he arrives in Tallahassee, and certainly the potential to develop into a dominant scorer. B- defense/B- steals, none of this 78 defense crap that we're getting from Porter. B- off awareness/B- def awareness. I don't expect many guys to be coaches on the floor the second they have enough experience to qualify, but I don't want recruits that come in with both awareness ratings under 70 if I can help it. Like Carlisle, his stamina an durability are low. But there is a LOT here that exites me. He doesn't care about playing time, I might even be able to get away with a redshirt if I want and have him step straight into the starting lineup when Day graduates. Or if he looks good enough he can back up Day next year and be a 3 year starter. I really think I've got a great looking player here. 5* PG D'or Devonish - 5'11" 168 lbs - Staten Island, NY - #15 OVR/#8 PG** 12.3 ppg/4.1 rpg/7.6 apg in the ABL. Lots of turnovers too, but a 1.8:1 assist/turnover ratio. Shooting: A- Skills: A+ Defense: A- Athleticism: A Rebounding: C+ Intelligence: B+ Potential: B+ Size: C A- Speed/C quickness. C+ defense/C+ steals. B close/b med/C+ 3/B+ off the dribble. B- hands/B passing. C off awareness/B def awareness. I think I'm looking at an above average defender, a guy who can score a little and will develop into a bigger scoring threat down the road, and a very, very good ball handler and passer right out of the gate. The quickness is always a concern, and the offensive awareness might be a little low with a C rating, but on defense he should be set. I'm more exited about Maye than I am this guy, but I'm not really exited about the PG's on my roster right now after McClurkin leaves, so having another option is going to be a good thing. It will be interesting to see if there is room for either of these guys next year. Remember that I redshirted the 5* PG I pulled in last year who came in as a disappointment, and I redshirted a JC SF I pulled in and a PF. We'll spend the offseason looking at juniors for next year.

06-21-2009, 01:15 AM	#1086
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	The last thing we do before flipping to next year is see how the ACC did in recruiting: Boston College: #40, #76, #113 (2 4, 1 3) Clemson: No recruits Duke: 4* JC, #74 Florida State: #15, #16 (both 5* HS All-Americans) Georgia Tech: #4, #6, #17, #19 (all 5* HS All-Americans) Maryland: #7, #12, #20, #29, #32 (first 3 are 5* HS All Americans) Miami: #121 North Carolina: #25, #27, #34 NC State: #13, #36, #39, #82 (#13 is 5* HS All American) Virginia: #241 Virginia Tech: #5 (HS AA) Wake Forest: #28, #35, #54 Georgia Tech lands two PG and two SG. Maryland lands 5 guys in the top 32, 2 PG, 2 SF, 1 PF Wake Forest lands 3 top 100 recruits, a big turnaround for them and maybe they're on their way back up. Georgia Tech, Maryland, Virginia Tech consistently appear to be the class of the league in recruiting.

06-21-2009, 01:17 AM	#1087
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	I give a quick look to the big 10 to see how they're stacking up: Illinois, only one recruit, #393 overall. they may be having issues rebuilding. Michigan pulls in a top 50 recruit, #42 OVR SG, but two 3* guys past that. Michigan State lands a top 50 PG Purdue lands the #80 OVR guy, a PG. Its bad, I don't know if recruit generation or something causes this, but any team recruiting like that consistently in the ACC would find themselves at the bottom with Miami and Virginia in very short order. The loss of Izzo and Sampson(scumbag tho he may be) can't help any. I wonder if the conferences always trend this way.

06-21-2009, 01:20 AM	#1088
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	Incoming Recruiting Class Rankings 1. Georgia Tech 2. Maryland 3. Oregon 4. NC Sate 5. LaSalle 6. North Carolina 7. Florida 8. Vanderbilt 9. Oklahoma 10. Wake Forest ... 13. Duke (??????) 14. Florida State 20. Boston College The other 4 teams in the league aren't in the top 50.

06-21-2009, 01:24 AM	#1089
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	I schedule a creampuff non-conference schedule. The ACC has been so strong in recent years that I am really perfectly fine with scheduling a bunch of nobodies in the early season. There are two games against major conference opponents early on that I leave on the schedule, just to get a couple games in. I'll be playing at Vanderbilt and hosting Georgetown. But until i have a team that I think is national title caliber again, I don't see a big benefit in tough schedules. Plus, as far as playing out my games, I simmed almost all my non-conference games last year, but played out my entire ACC schedule. I like that.

06-21-2009, 01:31 AM	#1090
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	There are no initial surprises with my squad. The AI suggests a lineup of Modica, Day, Mayer, Millar and Black, exactly what I would have expected. Preseason Media Poll 1. Virginia Tech 2. Clemson 3. Pittsburgh 4. North Carolina 5. Texas ... 8. Florida State 11. NC State 13. Maryland 23. Georgia Tech 7 ACC teams int he preseason top 25. I'm surprised to see NC State this high, they lost a lot last year. Georgia Tech lost some key players but I'm surprised to see them that low honestly. There are two big ten teams in the preseason top 25: 17. Illinois 24. Iowa ACC Preseason Roster Ratings 1. Virginia Tech 95 OVR 2. Clemson 94 OVR 3. North Carolina 93 OVR 4. Florida State 92 OVR 5. Maryland 91 OVR 6. NC State 90 OVR 7. Georgia Tech 89 OVR 8. Boston College 89 OVR 9. Wake Forest 88 OVR 10. Duke 84 OVR 11. Miami 83 OVR 12. Virginia 83 OVR As always, its tight at the top. someone up there at 90+ OVR will struggle to go 8-8 in the league, hell someone may finish below. We were one of those teams last year, barely making it to 8-8 despite one of the top rosters. We're higher up on the list this year. Looking quickly through the starting lineups, Clemson and Virginia Tech have no holes. They have star quality talent at all 5 positions. Modica starts the year at 79 OVR for us at PG. Georgia Tech has a 73 OVR PF, North Carolina has a weaker PG than usual. Clemson and Va Tech look like clear, strong favorites to me.

06-21-2009, 01:34 AM	#1091
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	ACC Preseason Accolades Best Player: SG Darren Bookout, SR, Clemson, 90 OVR Best Freshman: SF Bryant Peavy, Maryland, 83 OVR Best Shooter: PG Dominik Meade, SR, Clemson, 88 OVR Best Playmaker: PG Darren Richard, SR, Virginia Tech, 89 OVR Best Pro Prospect: PG Jesse Lavender, SO, Virginia Tech, 88 OVR Best Defender: PF Shagari Andres, SR, North Carolina, 88 OVR Best Pro Prospect is a soph PG? Jesse Lavender is a top pick consideration. So is SF Roberto Mayer for Florida State. I assume he leaves this year for real, heh.

06-21-2009, 01:42 AM	#1092
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	Incoming Freshmen Neither of the freshman are in our top 9 rated players, I was hoping one of them would come in rated really highly, but that's ok. SG Gregg Maye - 6'3" 191 lbs - 78 OVR I like what I see for the most part. B- potential, not great but I will certainly take it. His awareness is good for an incoming freshman, 77 off/74 def. He's got ok speed, ok defense(82 def/74 steals). His ball handling and ability to create his own shot leave a little something to be desired. But, he can shoot. He'll be a nice followup to Day and Porter i think. 83 close/79 med/87 3. Very high clutch rating, might be nice once he's a starter down the road. Maye will almost certainly redshirt. Day/Porter at SG this year, Porter/Maye at SG the next couple years after that. PG D'or Devonish - 5'11" 168 lbs - 76 OVR Last year I brought in a highly rated PG that came in 73 OVR. Devonish is a highly rated PG rated 76 OVR. He's still rated higher than the guy I brought in last year unfortunately(redshirt PG Carlisle, not talking about Modica here). solid speed, but poor quickness(just like Carlisle). Average defense (82 def/75 steals). Good hands and passing which is nice. 80 close/80 med/75 3. Forte looked a lot like that, but Forte looked better in other spots to go along with the average shooting. Only 65 offensive awareness, but 77 on defense. I'm not too excited to be honest. I'll have to look at Carlisle again, but I think redshirting both of these new recruits is likely the way to go.

06-21-2009, 01:47 AM	#1093
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	I'll do the full roster review later on, but Mayer and Day have a lot of work ahead of them if this team is to have any chance at reaching a 3rd straight final four. This team has only 6 players rated 80+ coming into things. Modica, Dearman and redshirted SF Naymick are at 79, but top to bottom this is the worst team i've had overall in about 4 seasons. Mayer remains the x factor. If he had gone pro I don't think we're a top 25 team. I think Day could have carried us to the tournament, but this is a very noticeable dropoff. I'll do the full roster review tomorrow and get things setup for the new season. As we break for tonight, there's one question to ask: Should I play out more(most) of my non-conference games in an effort to get Roberto Mayer the national player of the year award? he might score a lot more in CPU games anyway, but he'd score 20 a half against most of the bad teams I've got lined up. I think the answer to this is no... but its something to think about.