College Hoops 2k8: A New Challenge

[Eaglesfan27]

We start out with a very high pace and both sides raining 3's. 15-12, we lead at the 15 minute mark.


We are up 24-18 with 12:45 to go, when we sub out Hannan who has 14 already. Willis also gets his first court time of his career and promptly gets a steal within his first minute.

A minute later we get Clifford into the game as well as Waters so that our entire our 2nd team is out there. We are up 26-20.


When we get our starters back into the game, we are up 32-28. 5:33 to go in the half.


We are up 46-36 at the half.


Hannan is the player of the half. He has 15 points.

Up 56-43 at the 15 minute mark.


We are up 70-53 with 10 minutes to go. My starters sit down to rest, possibly for the rest of the game...


Our bench finishes out the game as Collins provides consistent scoring down the stretch to maintain our lead.


We win the game 82-70.


Hannan is the player of the game. Despite only playing 22 minutes, he had 30 points and 2 boards. He shot 10 of 17, 7 of 10 from the arc, and 3 of 4 from the line.

In 24 minutes, Everett had 18 points and 8 assists. If he can become a consistent 2nd option, that would make us so much more dangerous come tourney time. I think he is ready to do that since he is a senior.. He shot 5 of 7 all from the arc.

Graves had 6 points, 2 assists, 2 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 3 of 9.

Cornette had 3 points and 5 boards.

In 24 minutes, Simon had 6 points, 8 boards, and 2 assists.


In 18 minutes off the bench, Collins had 15 points and 2 boards.

Willis was the star of the true freshman group with 7 boards, 3 assists, and a steal.

Clifford played 16 minutes, but he didn't block any shots. He had 2 points and 2 boards.

Our next game is at home against Princeton (this was the autogenerated schedule that I didn't touch at all this year.) We should blow Princeton out. I'll play that tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

A very strong start as we are dominating Princeton on both ends. 13-2 at the 15 minute mark.


At the 10 minute mark, we are up 24-9. I get my starters a break.


We put our starters back in with 3 minutes to go in the half. We are up 31-15.


We're up 33-19 at the half.

Hannan is the player of the half with 9 points and 1 assist.


A huge first 5 minutes as both sides are they are trying a full court press which Everett is usually breaking for easy quick baskets. 50-26 at the 15 minute mark.


Up 67-38, I pull my starters with 10 minutes left. We did a good job of spreading the scoring around this game.



We win the game 77-51.


Hannan is the player of the game. 16 points, 3 boards, 2 steals, and 2 assists. He shot 6 of 11, 2 of 4, and 2 of 3.


Nice balanced scoring:

14 points for Everett along with 6 assists and 2 steals. He shot 7 of 9.

Graves had 14 points, 3 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 4 of 12.

Simon had 12 points, 9 boards, and 3 steals. He shot 4 of 6 and 4 of 5 from the line

Cornette had 4 points, 10 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, and a block.

Waters had 8 points and 2 boards from the bench in 16 minutes.

Clifford was the other bench leader with 6 points and 7 boards. Still no blocked shots, but he did contribute to multiple misses inside.


Our next game is at home vs Navy. They are a weak team that we should destroy.

[Eaglesfan27]

Graves is the highlighted player this pre-game.

Simon has 7 inches and 100 pounds on their starting center!


Navy is hanging with us early. 11-10 at the 15 minute mark, we lead.


With 9:24 left in the half, we are up 22-13. I give my starters a rest.

I wish this game had a server to upload videos. I just had an amazing steal fastbreak 2-on-1 alley-oop in which Waters laid it up for Ortiz who threw it down so gracefully yet powerfully. Great play. Our home crowd is going wild. We are up 26-13.


We are up 32-15 with 4 minutes to go when our starters return.



We are leading 36-18 at the half.


Hannan is the player of the half with 13 points, 3 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal.


Once I get my final starter into double digits, I decide to pull my starters. We are up 67-26 with 9:46 to go.


We win the game 81-37.


Hannan is the player of the game. He finishes with 17 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 5 of 15, 1 of 5, and 6 of 9.


I'm now very happy that Adams left. Clifford had a great put back slam and he got his first block. He is clearly a more dynamic player than Adams with more height and bulk and I think he makes us immediately better.

All of our starters played 25 minutes.

Everett had 11 points, 3 boards, 4 assists, and 6 steals. He shot 3 of 10.

Graves had 9 points, 5 assists, 2 boards, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 4 of 8. Oops, I guess I didn't get all of my starters into double digits after all.

Cornette had 10 points, 13 boards, and a block. He shot 4 of 7.

Simon had 10 points, 11 boards, and a steal. He shot 5 of 10.

Willis, the most touted of my recruits, had 12 points, 7 boards, and an assist in just 15 minutes. He shot 5 of 7 including 2 of 3 from the arc. He also had a great dunk.

Clifford had 6 points, 5 boards, and a block as the other leader off the bench.



We are now 3-0. Our next game is at home against Albany. That is another game that we should easily win. I'll play that later today.


Early Development Update:


Graves, Waters, and Clifford have all gained a point overall already. Graves is now a 79, Waters a 73, and Clifford is a 69.

[Eaglesfan27]

Simon was the featured player in the pre-game show. He has 5 inches and 70 pounds on his man.

At the 15 minute mark, we are up 7-2.

We are up 9-4 when I sub out our starters with 12:20 to go in the half.


The bench plays great. We are up 22-10 with 5 minutes to go when my starters come back into the game.


We are up 36-22 at the half.


Hannan is the player of the half with 8 points and 5 boards.


We couldn't get Cornette into double digits as he missed his shots, but everyone else leaves the game with double digits and a big lead. Up 73-44 with 10 minutes to go.



We win the game 98-55 as the subs were great in finishing it out. Willis is the real deal. The kid can shoot the ball very well and will be a big part of the 2nd string offense this year.

Hannan was the player of the game. He had 15 points, 7 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He shot 4 of 11, 1 of 4, and 6 of 7.

Everett had 14 points and 5 assists. He shot 5 of 6.

Graves had 14 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 6 of 11.

Cornette had 3 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, and 1 block. He shot 1 of 7.

Simon had 14 points, 12 boards, 2 assists, and a steal. He shot 7 of 10.


Collins led the bench in scoring with 14 points, but Willis was the star. Willis had 12 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 5 of 7, 1 of 2, and 1 of 3.

Ortiz also played well with 5 points, 5 boards, and 4 assists.

Clifford played 17 minutes and had 6 points, 4 boards, and a block.


I like our automatic generated schedule. Nice irony now as we travel to play Seton Hall Of course, they aren't nearly as good as they were last year. They've lost several seniors and their unity is lower and their talent level is lower. In fact, we are close to their equal in overall team talent rating.

[Eaglesfan27]

Today, we play at Seton Hall. They aren't much more talented than we are and their team chemistry is horrible as they are starting 4 freshman who have only played 2 games together.


Down 11-4 at the 15 minute mark, but we quickly have a 7-0 run to make it 11-11 by the 12 minute mark.


Once my starters leave, their subs overpower us. We are down 31-23 with 6:20 to go when I get some starters back into the game.

Disappointing first half. We are down 50-35 as they trapped the last 10 minutes of the first half turning it into a turnover fest as well as a fastbreak fest.


Gourde, their PG, is the player of the half with 11 points and 5 assists.


Hannan leads our team with 9 points, 3 boards, and 3 turnovers.


In the 2nd half it gets very ugly.

We get blown out 101-72.


Hannan led the team with 18 points, 3 boards, and 5 turnovers. He shot 7 of 17.

Everett had 3 points, 4 assists, and 2 turnovers. He shot 1 of 6.

Graves had 14 points on 5 of 15 shooting. He also had 1 board, 1 assist, and 1 steal.

Cornette had 4 points, 5 boards, and a block.

Simon had 10 points, 13 boards, and a block.


Collins had 7 points off the bench.

Willis had 6 points and a board off the bench.

Clifford had 5 points and 3 boards.



We are now 4-1. Our next game is in a tourney, the Liberty Bell Classic. Our first game in the tourney is against Coppin State who we are expected to blow out.

[Eaglesfan27]

A much better start against this weak team. Up 8-0 at the 15 minute mark.

We are up 20-5 at the 10 minute mark.


Up 27-15 with 5 minutes to go when we get our starters back into the game.



We go into halftime up 38-17.


Hannan is the player of the half. Great defense by him today and he has 18 points, 2 boards, and 2 steals.


We did have a 28 point lead at one point, but sloppy play lets them close it to within 56-37 with 8 minutes to go. I've pulled my starters planning on them to stay out, but if they get it within 15, the starters will come back in once they are rested.


They do eventually close within 15, but it is with 33 seconds left.


We win the game 61-47.


Hannan is the player of the game with 24 points, 5 boards, 2 steals, and 2 assists. He shot 9 of 23, 4 of 13, 2 of 2.

Everett had 0 points and 6 assists. He shot 0 of 8.

Graves had 10 points and 2 assists. He shot 4 of 15.

Corentte had 4 points and 16 boards.

Simon had 8 points, 17 boards, and 3 assists.


Willis and Clifford each had 5 points and 5 boards off the bench.



Our next opponent in the Liberty Bell Classic is St. Francis, NY. Assuming that we beat them, we'll be playing the winner of Duke-Seton Hall in the Tourney Final.

I'll play that game later today or tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

Not the start I expected against St. Francis, NY. We are only up 6-5 at the 15 minute mark.

However, we start making shots and quickly pull ahead 16-6 by the 11 minute mark when I give my starters a break.

They started to close the gap, but Ortiz responded with 5 straight points and we are up 25-15 with 5 minutes to go.


At the half, we are up 33-23. Our shooters aren't making too many shots, but our defense has been superb.

Hannan is the player of the half with 7 points, 3 assists, 1 board, 1 steal, and a block.


A brilliant second half by Hannan as he comes out on fire in the first 10 minutes.. he is setting up baskets, making baskets, and playing great defense. We pull our starters with 7 minutes left and a 67-36 lead.


We win the game 79-41. We were expected to blow them out and did so.

Hannan was the player of the game. 23 points, 6 boards, 5 assists, 3 steals, and a block. He shot 10 of 21, 1 of 8, and 2 of 2.

Everett had 4 points and 6 assists.

Graves had 16 points, 2 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 7 of 18.

Coprnette had 8 points and 12 boards.

Simon had 6 points, 15 boards, and 2 blocks.


Ortiz led the bench with 9 points.

Willis had 6 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals in just 15 minutes.


I thought I played the winner of the other Liberty Bell Classic bracket, but it doesn't appear to be the case. Oh well. Duke beat Seton Hall 86-60, so if I do play the winner at some point, it will be them.


Our next game is a previously scheduled game at Saint Francis, PA. We are expected to blow them out as well. They are 1-3. We are now 6-1. I'll play that tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

Hannan and Graves have been excellent the first 9 minutes. Up 19-9 over St. Francis, PA.


Up 28-18 at the 5 minute mark as our subs did well.


We enter halftime up 41-28.


Hannan is the player of the half: 16 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and 2 steals.


Up 61-40 at the 10 minute mark.


Up 66-44 with 5 minutes to go and all subs finishing it out.


We win the game 74-54.


Hannan is the player of the game: 26 points, 6 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 9 of 15, 1 of 4, and 7 of 9.

Everett had 10 points, 4 assists, and 1 turnover. He shot 4 of 5.

Graves had 10 points, 1 board, and 1 assist. He shot 3 of 9.

Cornette had 6 points and 6 boards.

Simon had 4 points, 12 boards, and a block.


waters had 6 points in 15 minutes.

Ortiz had 5 points.

Willis had 4 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block in just 17 minutes. I think he is going to be a great player when he becomes a starter despite being undersized. If he grows an inch or two and puts on a bit of weight and keeps his shooting touch, he'll definitely be a great player.


The early signing period has just started. We have no chance of getting our 5 star Toronto kid to sign early, but we are in the lead for him!


Our next game is our first league game. It is at 5-2 Manhattan. Their record has been inflated by pushovers and they are one of the weakest teams in the league talentwise. We should beat them without much trouble.

[Eaglesfan27]

Up 9-7 over Manhattan at the 15 minute mark as Graves has been our early leader.

Hannan scores the next 5 points to make it 14-7.

Up 23-14 at the 10 minute mark. Graves and Hannan have been great.


Our bench is crushing them. At the 5 minute mark, it is 34-18.


We go into halftime up 46-23.


Hannan is the player of the half with 11 points, 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block.

Graves also has 11 points.


With a 68-34 lead at the 10 minute mark, I pull my starters.


Bowers is great in garbage time, earning himself more PT in the regular rotation. 90-51 win.


Hannan is the player of the game: 21 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 7 of 13, 1 of 2, and 6 of 8.

Everett had 5 poiints, 3 asssist, and 4 turnovers. He shot 1 of 3. He also had 1 steal and 1 block.

Graves had 15 points, 4 boards, and an assist. He shot 4 of 11.

Cornetted had 6 points, 5 boards, and 3 steals.

Simon had 8 points, 17 boards, 2 assists, and 2 blocks.


Waters with 7 points and 4 assists in 17 minutes.

Ortiz with 6 points and 5 boards in 17 minutes.

Clifford with 2 points and 9 boards in 15 minutes.

Bowers with 18 points and 2 boards in 16 minutes. He shot 6 of 7 including 3 of 4 from the arc. He hadn't played in our last 3 games, but he will be the primary backup SF now..



We are now 8-1. Our next game is at home against 4-3 Marist. They are a very talented team that is equal to us in overall talent level.

[Eaglesfan27]

Time to get back to this


Our team looks ready and the announcers think Everett is going to have a big game.

Chey Noel will be a tough matchup for Everett.


Up 8-2 at the 15 minute mark with Hannan doing all of our early scoring.

We are up 16-13 at the 10 minute mark. My starters get a break. Hannan has 14 points so far.


Tied at 24 with 4 minutes to go when I get my starters back into the game.


At the half, we are up 32-26. They are shooting much better overall, but we are 8 of 14 from the arc with Hannan, Graves, and Everett all contributing from outside the arc.

Hannan with 14 points at the half is the player of the half. He also has 1 assist.


Up 46-44 with 12 minutes to go and my starters are tired.


Up 53-50 with 6:30 to go as I get my starters back in for the stretch run except for Simon who needs a rest now


Up 59-58 with 1:28 to go and Graves draws a foul in the lane. He hits both FT's. The crowd is going crazy.

Everett with a steal, but Graves misses an open 3. They get a fastbreak and we have to foul. They make both FT's to make it 61-60.

We work it down to 3 and Everett shots a 16 footer which he misses.

14 seconds left... they work it down the court.. a 14 foot jumper with Hannan in the man's face with 3 seconds left.. it clanks off the rim! Cornette with the board as time expires


We win 61-60.


Hannan was the player of the game even though he had a cold 2nd half. He finioshed with 18 points, 2 assists, and a board. He shot 5 of 13, 4 of 10, and 4 of 4.

Graves had 16 points, 1 board, 1 steal, and 1 block. He shot 5 of 10.

Everett had 4 points, 7 assists, and 3 steals.

Cornette had 5 points, 10 boards, and a block which is exactly what Simon had.

Collins led the bench with 7 points and Bowers had 5.


Our next game is a non-conference game against 20th ranked St. Louis. They have a significant talent advantage over us. They are 6-2 on the year so far.

[Eaglesfan27]

I just lost a long post due to my clumsy fingers on the keyboard which somehow deleted it before I could hit post reply.

Anyway, St. Louis just was too good defensively and had too much firepower. Hannan scored well down the stretch, but we couldn't stop them from scoring. We did close to 69-63 at one point with 1:30 to go, but they win it 76-66.


Hannan finished with 19 points, 6 boards, 1 ssist, 1 steal, and 2 turnovers. He shot 7 of 12, 3 of 3, and 2 of 2.

Everett had 5 points, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 4 turnovers. He shot 0 of 2.

Graves had 17 points on 5 of 12 shooting, 2 of 6, and 5 of 6.

orentte had 4 points and 7 boards.

Simon had 3 points and 9 boards.


Also, I posted that before the game, I decided to change fatigue slightly as most slider sets on OS have it upped a bit and I noticed that 4 of my guys are on pace to lead the conference in minutes despite 3 of them having average stamina at best. I just upped it to 53.


Ortiz led our bench with 8 points.

Their PG, SG, and C each had 15 points to lead their team in scoring.


We are now 9-2. Our next game is another tough road non-conference game as we travel to play Wisconsin who is 6-4. They aren't nearly as talented as St. Louis and we actually match up well with them. I'll play that tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

Wisconsin with good defense, but our offense is running plays well right now. Up 10-6 at the 15 minute mark.

We are up 16-14 at the 10 minute mark.


Up 20-18 at the 5 minute mark. Both benches are struggling to score.


We are up 33-28 at the half.

Hannan is the player of the half with 11 points, 2 boards, and 2 steals. He has shot 4 of 7 in the first half.


We are up 45-35 with 15 minutes to go in the game. We are starting to break down Wisconsin's defense, particularly Everett off of screens and pick-and-rolls.

We did build a big lead, but a 12-0 run cuts it to 52-50 with 9 minutes to go.


Up 58-52 with 4 minutes to go after a Clifford slam dunk on the fast break!


Up 61-56 with 2:40 to go.

After a missed basket by us, they draw a foul. 61-57 with 1:45 to go.

Everett with a perfect pass to Graves off a screen who hits the 3 from the top of the key!


We win the game 68-60.


Graves was the player of the game. 20 points, 2 assists, 2 boards, and a steal. He shot 7 of 9, 2 of 3, and 4 of 4 as we played a very smart game and worked very hard to create good looks for our guys and avoided dumb shots.

Hannan had 18 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 7 of 13, 2 of 4, and 2 of 2.

Everett had 4 points, 3 boards, 7 assists, and 4 steals, along with 4 turnovers. He shot 0 of 3.

Cornette had 7 points and 5 boards.

Interestingly, Simon only had 5 points and 5 boards along with 2 blocks. With the adjusted fatigue, he played 29 minutes as he is my best conditioned player.

Clifford with 5 points, 3 boards, and a block off the bench. Collins also had 5 points and surprisingly a block.


Wierd schedule from our AD this year, we still have 2 non-conference games sprinkled into our schedule later in the year. However, next up is Iona who are less talented than we are, but they are 10-2. We play them at home.



Bad (but not unexpected) news on the recruiting front. Superstar SG Kurt Songcuacy has now been offered a scholarship by WVU and that is apparently close enough to Toronto for him to be very interested. We've dropped to a distant 2nd on his list of schools. I still will keep pursuing him for now.

[Eaglesfan27]

We are up 9-8 at the 12 minute mark when Hannan, Graves, and Cornette sub out.

We get our starters back with 3:25 to go. We are up 21-17.


We are up 23-20 at the half.

Collins is the player of the half with 6 points.


We are up 36-33 with 10 minutes to go as we sub out Hannan, Graves, and Cornette.


Hmm. This may be the most defensive oriented game I've ever played. I like it. Up 44-37 with 3:25 to go as I get my starters back into the game.


We win the game 50-41.


Graves is the player of the game with 10 points, 3 boards, 1 assist and 1 steal. He shot 4 of 10, 0 of 1, and 2 of 2.

Everett with 0 points, 4 assists, 1 steal, and a turnover. He shot 0 of 4.

Hannan with 9 points, 3 board, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 4 of 16, 1 of 6, and 0 of 0.

Cornette with 6 points, 9 boards, and 2 blocks.

Simon with 8 points, 12 boards, and a block.

Collins led the bench with 9 points. Clifford had 2 points and 5 boards which led the bench players in rebounding.


Our next opponent is 11-4 Manhattan who we are more talented than. We play at home and should beat them easily. I'll play that later today.

[Eaglesfan27]

Against Manhattan, we come out strong early and jump to a 10-4 lead in the first 5 minutes.

By the 10 minute mark, we are up 18-8.

Our bench continues our strong play, and we are up 25-13 at the 5 minute mark.


We enter halftime up 37-21.


Hannan is the player of the half with 11 points, 2 boards, and a steal.


In the 2nd half, we continue to widen the gap during the first 10 minutes. When I rest my starters, we are up 62-38. I pull my starters for the rest of the game.


We win the game 78-55.


Hannan was the player of the game wih 17 points, 5 boards, 3 steals, and an assist. He shot 7 of 18, 2 of 8, and 1 of 3.

Everett had 4 points and 8 assists vs 2 turnovers.

Graves had 12 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and a block.

Cornette had 5 points, 4 boards, 3 steals, and a block.

Simon had 15 points and 5 boards.



Waters had 5 points and 4 assists off the bench.

Collins led the bench in scoring with 8 points, but Willis also had 6.



Our next game is at Oklahoma State. They are 20th in the nation in ranking (heh, St. Louis was 20th when we played them too) and they are 9-3. They have a very talented team and should be a very tough matchup for us.

[Eaglesfan27]

Tied at 9 at the 15 minute mark. Hannan has been doing almost of the scoring, primarily from posting up his man.


Down 32-25 at the 5 minute mark.


Down 44-34 at the half. They are shooting 62% against us


Hannan leads our team with 11 points.


Oklahoma starts blowing me out and they quickly are up by 25 with 12 minutes to go. I decide to sim to the end.

Heh. Without me controlling them, our team almost came back. We lose 92-86.

Hannan finished with a game high 27 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 9 of 15, 2 of 4, and 7 of 7. 10 of those points came during the sim to end.

Everett with 5 points, 6 assists, and 2 steals.

Graves with 16 points on 3 of 13 shooting. He was 8 of 9 from the line.

Cornette iwth 8 points and 4 boards.

Simon with 8 points, 7 boards, and 3 blocks (1 of them during the sim to end.)


Ortiz and Willis led the bench with 8 each.


Our next game is at Iona.

[Eaglesfan27]

GTA IV is frustrating me with a tough mission, so time to get in a game at Iona before I catchup on the playoff game:


Tied at 6 at the 15 minute mark, but then we go on a 8-0 run. 14-6 at the 10 minute mark.


Up 25-9 when I bring my starters back with 5 minutes to go in the half.


Up 38-18 at the half.


Hannan is the player of the half. He has 15 points, 2 boards, and a steal.


A quick paced next 5 minutes. Up 48-29 with 15 minutes to go in the game.


With a 62-35 lead and 10 minutes left, I pull my starters.


We win the game 75-46.

Hannan is the player of the game. 23 points, 2 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 11 of 13, 1 of 1, and 0 of 0. His midrange shooting is now up to 80 and he's becoming very dangerous on that 12-14 footer

Everett with 0 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals. He shot 0 of 2.

Graves with 7 points and 2 assists. He shot 3 of 9.

Cornette with 12 points, 3 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 2 of 8 but was 7 of 8 from the line.

Simon with 10 points, 15 boards, and a block.


Clifford led the bench with 8 points and 15 boards in just 18 minutes.


Our next game is at a very weak Rider club. They are 6-7 and we have a significant talent advantage against them.

[Eaglesfan27]

Up 11-7 at the 11:40 mark, when I bring in subs for everyone but Simon.


Willis just destroyed their backup PF. 28-17 with 5:30 to go. Willis has 10 on outside jumpers, a 3, and a dunk in which he faked out his man.

Up 38-22 at the half.


Willis is the player of the half despite only playing 6 minutes. He has 10 points and 2 boards.

Graves and Hannan each have 6 points.


With 10 minutes to go, we have a 68-36 lead. I pull my starters.


We win the game 79-41.


Graves is the player of the ame ith 21 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and a steal. He shot 8 of 11, 2 of 4, and 3 of 3.

Everett had 4 points, 9 assists, 2 steals, and 3 turnovers. He shot 2 of 5.

Hannan had 12 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals, and a block. He shot 6 of 7.

Cornette had 8 points, 10 boards, 3 assists, and a block.

Simon had 4 points, 6 boards, and 2 assists.


Willis finished with 10 points, 4 boards, and 2 steals.

In 20 minutes, Clifford had 4 points, 9 boards, and a steal.



We are now 14-3 and 3rd in the Mid Major Poll behind Troy who are 15-0 and Towson who are 14-2.


Our next opponent is 9-9 Siena at home. They are one of the most talented teams in the conference and should be a close matchup for us, although their defense is a bit suspect.

[Eaglesfan27]

The crowd is going crazy the whole first half and our guys are feeding off it. I don't sub anyone out until 5 minutes are left in the half. We are up 27-11. Simon has been playing great using his power inside.


Up 38-25 at the half.

Simon is the player of the half with 8 points and 8 board.


Up 69-45 with 9 minutes to go, so I pull my starters likely for the rest of the game.


80-58 win. Our superior team unity was a deciding factor, I think.


Hannan is the player of the game. He had 24 points, 3 steals, 1 board, and 1 assist. He shot 11 of 20, 0 of 7, and 2 of 4.

Everett with 7 points, 7 assists, 4 steals, and 2 turnovers. He shot 3 of 7.

Graves with 6 points, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 board. He shot 3 of 12.

Cornette with 7 points, 17 boards, 3 steals, and a block. He shot 3 of 4.

Simon with 14 points, 11 boads, 2 assists, and a steal. He shot 7 of 11 but 0 of 6 from the FT line.

Bowers led the bench with 8 points. Clifford had 10 board in 16 minutes.



Our next game is at Fairfield. They are 11-5 and close to us in talent level. I'll play that later today.

[Eaglesfan27]

Player Development Update. Note this is from the beginning of the year:


Graves has gained a point and is a 79 overall. His stealing ability has really improved this year to elite levels as has his on ball defense.

Everett has gained a point and is now a 75 overall. His 3 point shooting has improved more this year, but he seems to missing the majority of them. I think that is in part because his shooting in traffic rating is low. He has to be wide open to hit them.

Simon has gained a point of overall. His inside scoring is now in the "B" Range and he is scoring better as a result. His shot blocking has really improved this year as well. He is now rated 74 overall.

Hannan has gained a point and is now a 74 overall as well. His midrange jump shot has gained 2 points this year.

Gus Walters, the heir apparent at PG, has gained a point overall and is now a 73. His onball defense has improved to elite levels

Reyshawn Ortiz has gained a point and is now a 72. His jump shot is improving nicely.

Clifford has gained a point and is now a 69 overall. His shot blocking is improving the most.

Chen Li, who is redshirting, has gained a point of overall and is now a 67. His 3 point shot has improved the most.


We are 15-3 (7-0) and have a 3 game lead in the conference standings.



Hannan is again leading the MAAC in scoring at 19.8 ppg (down 0.5 from last year), His assist total is down at 1.4, but his rebounding, stealing, and blocked shots are all up.

Graves is 7th in the MAAC in scoring at 12.9 ppg. That is down 2 points from last year.

Simon is 27th in the MAAC at 8.2 ppg which is the same as last year so far. He leads the MAAC in rebounding at 10.4 which is down 3 from last year.

Cornette is 6th in rebounding at 7.9 which is up 0.6 from last year. He has increased all of his stats from last year with almost a point per game more scoring.

Everett leads the MAAC in assists with 5.6 per game. He is also 2nd in steals at 2.1 His scoring average is down almost 3 points from last year.


Willis leads all of our freshman with 5.3 ppg and 3.4 rpg.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our defense is playing terrific basketball. Up 14-5 at the 11:20 mark when I bring in my subs.

Up 32-20 when I get my starters back in with 3 minutes to go.

Our starters finish it strong. 42-22 at the half. Everett has 6 steals already including 2 in the last 3 minutes.

Hannan is the player of the half with 9 points, 2 boards, and a steal.



We lead 59-36 with 10 minutes to go in the game. I pull my starters, likely for the rest of the game.


We win the game 70-56.


Hannan is the player of the game with 17 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and a steal. He shot 7 of 14, 1 of 3, and 2 of 2.

Everett had 7 points, 6 assists, and 8 steals which is a new career high for him. He shot 3 of 5.

Graves had 8 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals.

Cornette had 9 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals.

Simon had 0 points, 8 boards, and a steal. All 5 of my starters only played 22 minutes.

Clifford led the bench in scoring and rebounding with 10 points and 5 boards in 18 minutes. He also had an assist and a block.

Waters had 8 points and 4 assists.



We are now 16-3. We are in the top 25 of both polls for the first time (that got me another coaching point.)

We are 16th in the media poll and 24th in the Coaches' poll.

We are 2nd in the mid major poll behind 17-0 Troy (who is also in both polls.)

Our RPI is 6th best!



Our next opponent is at home vs Loyola (10-8) who are slightly less talented than we are. Our team unity is now up to 63 and that seems to be really helping our offense and defense.

[Eaglesfan27]

We are up 18-15 with 9:30 left in the half when we go to our bench.


The bench plays so well that they stay until they are tired. With 1:45 to go, we bring in our starters. We are up 31-21.


At the half, we are up 36-24.


Graves is the player of the half with 8 points, 3 assists, and a board.

Cornette has 7 points and Hannan has 6.



Bad defense by our starters and we are now only up 47-45 with 10 minutes to go. Hopefully, our bench can dominate like they did in the 1st half.


Darn, we got sloppy and now we are in trouble. Down 62-56 with 4 minutes to go, I get my starters back into the game.


Terrible loss. So much for our top 25 ranking. We lose 72-58 as we just went ice cold the last 6 minutes.


Everett with 3 points, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 1 of 5.

Graves with 10 points, 3 boards, and 3 assists. He shot 4 of 11.

Hannan wioth 7 points, 3 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 2 of 12.

Cornette with 11 points and 6 boards. He shot 5 of 11.

Simon with 6 points and 12 boards.

Willis led the bench with 7 points on 3 of 6 shooting. Ortiz had 6 points.



Next up is a game against a talented Marist squad that is floundering a bit at 11-7.

[Eaglesfan27]

They have been shooting very well early in the game. They are up 22-19 at the 10 minute mark.


We got caught up in trying to outrun them for the next 10 minutes.. and it didn't work well. We are down 52-42 at the half.


Hannan lead our team with 8. 3 guys have 6.


We both keep running.. I've got them in foul trouble, so I'm trying to push that by getting them into more. We are down 73-63 with 11 minutes to go as I bring in our subs.

Our bench extends our defense to guard better against the 3 where they are killing us.. With 6:10 to go, Collins makes a 3 to tie it at 81.

With 5:10 to go, Clifford hits a FT to put us ahead by 1, 82-81.

We bring back our starters and keep up the pressure defensively.

After they hit a basket to take the lead, Hannan misses a slam dunk

However, Everett steals it from their PG and breaks away for a big slam dunk!

They take the lead back 85-84. 2 missed baskets on either side, before Cornette hits a baseline jumper to put us ahead 86-85 with 52 seconds left. Hannan made the assist to set him up.


They miss a 3 with 28 seconds left and Simon gets the board but is immediately fouled.

Simon is a poor FT shooter, but he makes the first! And the 2nd! 88-85.

Everett steals the ball again and they foul him. He hits both FT's.

They attempt a quick 3 which they miss and Hannan gets the board. He hits both FT's to finish it off.


92-85 win.

Hannan is the player of the game with 15 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, and 3 steals.

He shot 4 of 10, 1 of 3, and 6 of 6.


Everett with 12 points, 2 assists, and 4 steals. He shot 3 of 7.

Graves with 10 points, 2 assist, 1 board, and 1 steal. He shot 2 of 4 and 6 of 6 from the line.

Cornette with 11 points, 3 vboards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block.

Simon with 12 points, 9 boards, and a block.


Clifford had 9 points off the bench along with 3 boards.

Waters had 7 points, 3 assists, and 2 steals.


I've decided to tone down the steal slider success slightly.



Despite the loss, we remain in the media poll. We are now 19th. We dropped out of the coaches' poll.


Our next game is our last non-conference game and it is against Chicago State. They have a team overall rating of 59! Ours is now 83. I think I'll go ahead and sim that game...


Wow. In our simulated game, we beat them 118-51! That is the most lopsided score I've ever seen. Most of my starters only played about 20 minutes.

Everett finished with 18 points, 3 boards, and 4 assists.

Graves had 26 points, 5 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. He shot 9 of 14.

Hannan had 12 points, 4 assists, and 2 boards. He shot 4 of 14.

ornette had 12 points, 4 boards, and 1 block.

Simon had 8 points, 6 board, and a block in just 12 minutes.


Ortiz led the bench with 16 points, Collins had 13, and Waters had 10 points along with 8 assists.


Our next game is at a weak Saint Peter's squad that is 9-10.

[Eaglesfan27]

We start off strong. Up 17-9 at the 10:33 mark when I bring in subs for everyone but Simon.

Up 31-20 with 3:25 to go as I get my starters back into the game.


Up 39-28 at the half.


Hannan is the player of the half with 12 points, 2 boards, and 2 assists.


We are up 47-41 with 10 minutes to go in the game.


Up 54-52 with 4 minutes to go when I get my starters back into the game. Time for Hannan to put this one away..


They hit a 3 to take the lead after Hannan had missed a 3. Cornette responds with a 12 foot jumper. 56-55. 2:40 to go.

Cornette forces a miss. Hannan draws the double in the post..he passes out to Cornette who hits a 12 foot baseline jumper. Next trip, Hannan takes it to the hole. 60-55.

Hannan misses his next shot, but our defense is clamped down on them.

We've forced misses on the last 5 trips. They finally hit a 3, but only 14 seconds left.


We finish it off. 64-58 win.

Hannan is the player of the game with 19 points, 4 boards, and 3 assists. He shot 7 of 11, 2 of 5, and 3 of 6.


Everett with 6 points and 1 assist.

Graves with 3 points, 2 assist, 1 board, and 1 steal. He shot 0 of 7.

Cornette with 11 points, 3 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 4 of 10.

Simon with 0 points, 13 boards, and a block.

Clifford led the bench with 8 points and 3 boards. Waters with 6 points and 6 assists in 14 minutes. It will be interesting to see how he does against starters next year.


Our next game is at 5-14 Canisus. They are the weakest team in the conference with an overall talent rating of 69. I'll play that later this week or next weekend.

[Eaglesfan27]

Besides their weak talent, Canisus has poor unity. I expect a blowout. We have a huge size advantage at C with a 7 inch 90 pound advantage.


Up 15-10 at the 10 minute mark. Sloppy play has prevented us from taking a bigger lead. We've turned it over 4 times to their 1.


Up 26-14 at the 3 minute mark as we bring our starters back into the game.

As we took better care of the ball, the blowout started happening. Up 36-16 at the half.

Hannan is the player of the half. He has 11 points, 1 board, and 1 steal.

Graves and Simon each have 8 points.


We lead 60-26 with 10 minutes to go. I pull my starters.


We win the game 71-36.


Hannan was the player of the game with 20 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 8 of 16, 2 of 4, and 2 of 5.

Everett had 4 assists, 3 steals, and 3 turnovers.

Graves had 8 points, 3 boards, and 2 assists.

Cornette had 8 points, 11 boards, and 4 blocks (a career high.)

Simon had 15 points, 11 boards, and a block.


Bowers led the bench with 9 points, 4 boards, and a block. Clifford had 9 boards in 16 minutes.


Despite the wins, we drop to 20th in the media poll. We are now 20-4.



Our next game is at home vs Fairfield. They are 13-9. I beat them earlier this year 70-56.

[Eaglesfan27]

Up 18-14 at the 10 minute mark.


The bench played so well that they stayed in until 2 minutes were left and they were tired. We are up 36-20.


We lead 44-20 at the half.

Graves is the player of the half with 10 points and 3 boards.

Hannan has 9 and Ortiz has 12 off the bench.


Up 61-31 with 10 minutes to go.


We win the game 85-40. I think Water's on ball defense is a huge key to our bench's success.


Hannan is the player of the game with 23 points and 3 steals.

Everett finished with 4 points, 6 assists, and 3 turnovers. He shot 2 of 8.

Graves with 12 points, 4 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He shot 4 of 11.

Cornette with 1 point, 5 boards, and 2 blocks.

Simon with 5 points and 12 boards.


Ortiz led the bench with 20 points and 2 steals. Waters with 4 points, 5 assists, and 2 steals.


Our next game is at home vs Saint Peter's. We beat them 64-58 a few games ago.

[Tellistto]

Looks like you've become a real power in your conference. How is the recruiting going now? I know you dropped on that 5 star players list a bit, do you have a backup plan of any consequence lined up as well?

Still enjoying this, hope you find enjoyment with it for a long time to come.

Tell

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Tellistto

Looks like you've become a real power in your conference. How is the recruiting going now? I know you dropped on that 5 star players list a bit, do you have a backup plan of any consequence lined up as well?

Still enjoying this, hope you find enjoyment with it for a long time to come.

Tell

I think I will enjoy it for a long time. I've made a few slight tweaks to my sliders that have made the CPU more challenging (hence the loss when I got sloppy a few games ago.) Against powerhouses, it should be very tough for this team to win.


I thought about trying my luck for a transfer (by not going after anyone if I don't get the 5 star player) and then I realized that several of our key players will be seniors next year, so I need to scrap that plan. I'm now pursuing several 3 star PG's who could be a reliable backup to Waters who will almost certainly move into the starting role next year.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola -

I've become attached to this team. I keep asking myself what am I going to do if I get a power team offering me a job? Before my plan was always to bolt for the first one that opened up.. now I kind of want to stay until the end of Hannan's career.

[Eaglesfan27]

Up 18-14 at the 10 minute mark.


The bench played so well that they stayed in until 2 minutes were left and they were tired. We are up 36-20.


We lead 44-20 at the half.

Graves is the player of the half with 10 points and 3 boards.

Hannan has 9 and Ortiz has 12 off the bench.


Up 61-31 with 10 minutes to go.


We win the game 85-40. I think Water's on ball defense is a huge key to our bench's success.


Hannan is the player of the game with 23 points and 3 steals.

Everett finished with 4 points, 6 assists, and 3 turnovers. He shot 2 of 8.

Graves with 12 points, 4 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He shot 4 of 11.

Cornette with 1 point, 5 boards, and 2 blocks.

Simon with 5 points and 12 boards.


Ortiz led the bench with 20 points and 2 steals. Waters with 4 points, 5 assists, and 2 steals.


Our next game is at home vs Saint Peter's. We beat them 64-58 a few games ago.


Heh. I actually played this yesterday and forgot to hit the post button.

[Eaglesfan27]

This year, we've sold out every home game which is a big increase from previous years. Now to play Saint Peter's.


We are tied at 20 with 10 minutes to go in the half.


We lead 41-34 at the half. We are shooting just over 60%.

Graves is the player of the half with 9 points, 2 boards, 1assist, and a steal.


We lead 55-49 with 10 minutes to go in the game.


We lead 65-58 with 4 minutes to go as I bring my starters back into the game.

They close within 6 but Hannan responds by drawing the foul on a shot in the lane.

However, he misses both FT's and they get a quick basket to cut it 68-64. 1:38 left.


With 10 seconds left on the clock, Everett drives into the lane, kicks it out to Everett who hits a 16 footer. 70-64.

They hit a quick 3 to make it 70-67.


They go for the defensive stop, but with 8 seconds left on the play clock, Everett draws a foul in the lane.

He misses the first FT... but makes the second! 4 point game. 71-67. 20 seconds left.

They fake a 3 and drive into the lane and draw a foul. They make the first but miss the 2nd. Simon with the board and he is immediately fouled.

He misses the 1st.. but makes the 2nd!! 4 point game. 7 seconds left.

A quick 2 and the foul inside to make it 72-70 with 3 seconds left... he misses the FT.. they get the offensive board!

Inside putback attempt.. Simon blocks it!!

Ball game. 72-70 win.

Graves is the player of the game with 16 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 7 of 12, 1 of 5, and 1 of 2.


Everett with 10 points, 5 assists, and a steal. He shot 4 of 4

Hannan with 12 points, 3 boards, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He shot 5 of 14.

Cornette with 6 points, 5 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, and a block.

Simon with 5 points, 9 boards, and 1 huge block.


Ortiz and Bowers each had 9 points off the bench.

[Eaglesfan27]

A look at a few of our backup recruiting options:


Ledell Sorenson is a 6'2 185 pound PG from Canton, OH. He is ranked 380th overall and 114th among PG's. I figured it would be nice to have a bigger guard for a change of looks. Sorenson averaged 12.3 ppg and 7.9 assists per game in the ABL. Niagara is 1st on his list despite the lack of scholarship offer. Our staff believes his strengths to be his ability to shoot off the dribble and his passing ability.


Ricky Jameson is a 6'2 192 pound SG who I think could play the point. He is also a 3 star player from Brooklyn, NY. His strengths are his 3 points hooting, stealing, and ball handling. We are a close 2nd on his list behind Drexel.

Leighton Gibson is a smaller quicker point guard from Coral Springs, Florida. He is 5'10 160 pounds and is a 3 star player ranked 99th among PG's. His strengths are speed, passing, and quickness. Florida and Clemson are going after him, so we are a distant 3rd.

[Eaglesfan27]

Today we play at Loyola, MD. They are 13-11 but are close to us in talent level and could upset us at their place.


They have an advantage at SG, and Graves defense will be critical.


Down 15-12 with 11 minutes to go.

Down 26-19 when my starters come back with 4:40 to go.


Our shots aren't falling and their star SG is KILLING us. He has 17 in the first half and they are up 37-23.


We closed within 2, but a 12-0 run gives them a big lead as I get ready to rest my starters. We are down 54-42 with 11:42 to go.

With 4:30 to go, Willis fouls out. I bring my starters back in to try to make one last run.. we are currently down 70-54.


Simon fouls out with 3:20 to go. Their driving has gotten them to the FT line a lot. That and their SG performance is the key to them beating us today.


We lose the game 80-65. Hannan finally started scoring in the last few minutes, but it wasn't enough.


Belser, their star SG, had 29 pooints, 7 boards, and 3 assists to win player of the game. He shot 10 of 17, 5 of 9, and 4 of 4.


Everett had 9 points, 5 assists, and a steal. He shot 3 of 8.

Graves had 8 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and 3steals. He shot 4 of 10.


Hannan had 16 points and 1 assist. He shot 6 of 16.

Corentte had 10 points, 9 boards, and 2 assists.

Simon had 6 points, 4 boards, and a block.


Collins led the bench with 6 points but he was 2 of 8.


Loyola beat us earlier at home 72-58 and it is apparent that we have a matchup problem against them. Hopefully, we don't face them in the conference tourney.


Our next game is at home vs a weak Rider team that we beat 79-41 earlier in the year. They are 8-15. I decide to go ahead and sim it.


We beat them 75-65. Everett with 6 points and an assist.

Graves with 9 points, 6 boards, and 7 assists.

Hannan with 16 points, 3 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 8 of 15.

Cornette with 10 points and 4 boards.

Simon with 12 points and 5 boards.


Ortiz led the bench with 7 points and 6 boards.



Our next game is hosting an even weaker Canisus team. I beat them 71-36 on the road the last time I played them. I'll play that out as I want to get a win tonight and we should beat them easily.

[Eaglesfan27]

We are up 17-8 with 10 minutes to go.


We lead 34-17 at the half, but Graves is in foul trouble. I'll let him play early in the 2nd half anyway.

Hannan is the player of the half. He has 14 points, 1 board, and 1 assist.


With 10 minutes to go, we are up 56-33. Graves and Hannan have been providing almost all of the scoring. We pull our starters.


We win the game 72-46 as Bowers provided most of our scoring down the stretch.


Hannan was the player of the game with 22 points, 2 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 9 of 15, 2 of 4, and 2 of 2.

Everett had 2 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 0 of 5.

Graves with 17 points, 1 assist, and 1 steal. He shot 6 of 10.

Cornette with 4 points, 10 boards, and 3 assists.

Simon with 6 points, 8 boards, and 1 block. He shot 3 of 3.


Bowers led the bench with 10 points. Clifford had 9 boards and 2 blocks in just 16 minutes.



We are now 24-5. Our next game is our final regular season game and it is at Siena. They are 13-15 and they have a solid club as they have gotten 2 starters back from injury. I beat them earlier in the year 80-58, but that was without 2 starters.


I'll play the final regular season game tomorrow as well as start the conference tourney.

[Eaglesfan27]

Down 16-13 with 11 minutes to go. Hannan is my only player scoring, he has 10.

Down 29-27 when I bring my starters back with 4 minutes to go. Bowers was the main scorer with a few 3's.


Down 37-31 at the half.

Hannan is our leading scorer with 12


Down 52-47 with 10:34 left.


With 6:03 to go, Bowers hits a 3 to give us our first lead in a long tme. 58-57.

With 4 minutes to go, my starters come back into the game. We are tied at 60.

Cornette with a 3 to give us a 65-62 lead with 2:23 to go.

Cornette with a block at the other end. We get Simon 1-1 in the post and he is fouled. He misses them both, but Hannan gets the offensive board!

Strong drive by Hannan into the lane, the defense collapses, he kicks it out to Graves for a 2. 67-62.

We get another stop. Work the clock down to 5 and Everett finds Hannan alone just inside the arc.. he hits the shot! 69-62. Under a minute left.


Simon blocks a 3 attempt and we get the ball back.


We win the game 72-62.


Hannan is the player of the game with 19 poiints, 3 boards, 3 assists, and a steal. He shot 7 of 14, 2 of 4, and 3 of 5.

Everett with 3 points, 5 assists, and 3 turnovers. He shot 0 of 3.

Graves with 8 points, 4 boards, and 3 assists. He shot 3 of 6.

Cornette with 9 points, 3 boards, and a block.

Simon with 6 points, 10 boards, and 2 blocks.


Bowers led the bench with 13 points. Clifford had 6 points and 8 boards off the bench.


We finish the regular season at 25-5. We are 21st in the media poll. We are 2nd in the Mid Major Poll behind Saint Mary's who finished the year 24-6. We win the regular season MAAC title with a 16-2 record. Marist was 2nd with a 12-6 record in the MAAC.


Stat Leaders:


Again the scoring is dominated by big men with a PG at 7th.

1. PF Maynard McKenzie, Tenn 28.5
2. C Quinton McDaniel, Davidson 26.3
3. PF Piotr Owen, CSU 25.9
4. C Mike McGrain, Mass 23.7
5. C Wallace Dennis, Lips 23.6

PG Paul Graham with 23 ppg for Vanderbilt


Hannan is 50th in the NCAA with his 18.5 ppg average which is down 2 points from last year. He is 2nd in the MAAC behind SR C Maury Kragel of Manhattan who averaged 20.2 ppg.


Rebound leaders:

1. C Elliah Walker, IPFW 11.3
2. C Timothy Smith, Southern Ill 10.5
3. C DeShaun Simon, Niagara 9.7
4. PF Jerome Wolfe, Iona 9.6
5. 5 tied with 9.5


Assists:

1. Poncho Dantoni, Southern 7.2
2. Wes Baynes, Morgan State 6.9
3. Churhil Kahrimanovic, Miss 6.5
4 Berry Guy, Colgate 6.4
5. 5 tied with 6.3

Huffman was 2nd in the MAAC with 4.8 per game.


Our first MAAC tourney game is against Saint Peter's. They finished the year 14-14. They played us very close both times. We beat them 64-58 and 72-70. Hopefully, we handle them easier this time.

[Eaglesfan27]

We are up 13-8 at the 10 minute mark. Balanced scoring so far.


The bench plays so well that I keep them in until they tire with 1:30 to go. We are up 38-17.


At the half, we are up 42-21.

Bowers is the player of the half. He has 9 points, 2 boards, and a block.


Up 54-37 with 9 minutes to go. Our starters are missing most of their shots.


Our bench finishes it off. We win the game 65-54.

Bowers is the player of the game with 12 points, 3 boards, 1 block, and 1 steal. He shot 3 of 5, 2 of 4, and 4 of 4.


Everett had 2 points, 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 1 turnover.

Graves with 3 points, 1 board, 2 assists, and 2 turnovers. He shot 1 of 5.

Hannan with 10 points, 2 boards, 1 steal. He shot 4 of 13.

Cornette with 9 points, 3 boards and 3 steals. He shot 4 of 5.

Simon with 5 points, 8 boards, and 3 blocks.



Willis was our 2nd leading scorer off the bench with 11 points. He also had 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our next game is against Manhattan. They are 19-12. I beat them earlier in the year 78-55 and 90-51. We have significant more talent with their main strength being on the inside. I'll play that later today.

[Eaglesfan27]

We are up 19-12 with 10 minutes to go as Hannan has been doing it all early. He has 9 points, 3 boards, and 2 assists.

Up 32-22 with 3 minutes left as my starters return.


We are up 35-24 at the half.


Hannan is the player of the half with 9 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and 2 steals.

With 9:51 to go, we are up 59-43. Hannan has been leading the charge and has 18 points now.


Up 64-54 with 4 minutes to go when I bring in my starters again.


We win the game 73-63. Hannan is the player of the game with 20 points, 4 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 9 of 17, 1 of 1, and 1 of 2.

Everett with 8 points, 2 assists, and 2 steals.

Graves with 12 points, 3 assists, 1 board, and 1 steal. He shot 6 of 7.

Cornette with 2 points, 12 boards, and 1 block.

Simon with 14 points and 11 boards.


Waters led the bench with 8 points and 2 assists in 14 minutes.



The MAAC Tourney Final will feature us vs Marist. Marist is 19-11. We beat them earlier in the year, 61-60 and 92-85.

[Eaglesfan27]

Down 18-16 with 9:50 to go. Hannan is again our leading scorer with 8.


Down 35-26 with 3 minutes to go as my starters return.


My starters can't end this run which turns into a 19-0 run before we finally score with 35 seconds left.


At the half, we are down 46-31 as we score the last 5 points of the half. Big deficit to come back from, but I think this team can do it..


They are shooting 52% while we are shooting 33% from the field.

We had closed the gap to 4, but they had another run. Down 62-48 with 11 minutes to go as my subs come into the game.


The bench closes the gap. Down 72-65 with 3:48 to go when I get my starters back into the game.


After a stop, Cornette hits a 2. After another stop, Everett drives into the lane is fouled and hits the shot! He makes the FT to make it 72-70.. 2 minutes left.


Everett steals an errant pass and he is fouled before he can fastbreak. He makes both FT's to tie it!

After Simon blocks a shot, Everett and Hannan with a 2-1 fast break.. Everett to Hannan for a powerful alley-oop! 74-72.

Their PG gets a 2 to tie at 74. We work the clock down to 5 seconds before Everett finds Hannan in the corner for a 2. 76-74 with 35 seconds to go.

They shoot a 2 with 14 seconds left and miss. Simon with the board. Somehow, he gets it to Everett who runs around for 6 seconds before he is fouled!

Everett buries both FT's!!! 4 point game


They miss the quick 3 and that ends the game.


We win the game 78-74 with the huge comeback.


Hannan is the player of the game with 21 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and a steal. He shot 9 of 16, 0 of 3, and 3 of 5.

Everett finishes with 9 points, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 3 turnovers.

Graves with 8 points, 4 boards, 5 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 3 of 11.

Cornette with 10 points, 10 boards, 1 assist, and 1 block.

Simon with 9 points, 10- boards, 3 assists, and a block.


Collins and Bowers each had 7 points off the bench.


We are now 28-5 and ranked 17th in the media poll. We are unranked in the coaches' poll and are now 1st in the Mid Major poll. Time to watch the selection show and see what seed we get and who are our first opponent will be.

[Ironhead]

Awesome comeback. Good luck to the gang the rest of the way.

[Eaglesfan27]

The #1 seeds: Louisville (29-5), Washington (28-4), Temple (29-6), and UNLV (26-5.)


Interesting East Matchups:

We are the #4 seed! We'll face #13 William & Mary in the 1st round.

#5 Iowa (23-8) vs #12 SF (24-6)
#6 Texas Tech vs West Virginia.
#7 Saint Mary's (24-8) vs #10 Stanfrd (19-12)


Interesting South Matchups:

#5 Duke (22-10) vs #12 Akron (24-9)
#4 Maryland (23-9) vs #13 Long Beach State (22-10)
#6 Florida State (20-10) vs #11 Tennessee (21-10)
#3 Memphis vs #14 Valpraiso

Interesting Midwest matchups:

#5 LSU (22-8) vs #12 Columbia (21-8)
#6 Virginia Tech (24-10) vs #11 Georgia Tech (18-14)

Interesting West Matchups:

#8 Arizona State (20-11) vs #9 Boston College (17-13)
#5 Arizona (22-10) vs #12 Illinois (21-13)
#6 Kansas (23-8) vs #11 Colorado State (18-11)
#7 DePaul (24-8) vs #10 Indianda (20-11)


Bubble teams that didn't make it:

USC (21-11)
Virginia (19-13)
Nevada (24-9)
Towson (23-7)
East Carolina (20-10)


I'll start the tourney either later tonight or more likely tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

A Preview of the Matchup:

William & Mary have an overall team rating of 81 compared to our new rating of 83. Their defense is their weakest rating at 79. Rebounding is their biggest strength at 84. They finished the year 20-10 and 13-5 in their conference.

We average 75.5 ppg, they average 69.3 ppg. We shoot a higher precentage from the arc 33 to 32% and from the field (45 to 42%.)


They are led by star SR PG Pregrag Guiang. He is rated 80 overall. He is 5'10 185 and is as fast as any of my guys including Everett and Waters. He is one of the best passers in the game with a 92 rating in that category. He is also a decent shooter and defender.

PF Dreike Kim is their 2nd best player. He is rated 79 overall and is 6'10 235. He is a strong rebounder, fair shooter, and good shot blocker.

Guard Demario Liberty is their 3rd best player. He rated 75 overall with his biggest strengh in defense.

The rest of their players are rated 70 or lower and they don't have any great shooters.

[Eaglesfan27]

W&M's center gets 2 quick fouls on Simon in the first minute

I decide to leave him in.

At the 15 minute mark, we are up 12-6 thanks to 7 by Graves. We are on a 8-0 run.

At 10:05, we are up 16-15. Graves has been our only consistent scorer. He has 10. We go to the bench.

Up 19-18 with 5 minutes to go. I keep my bench in because I like their defense, and my starters still need a bit more rest.

Down 24-20 when I go to my starters with 2:48 to go.


At halftime, we are down 28-26.


We are shooting 32% to their 40%.

Graves is our leading scorer with 10 points. He also has an assist.

Everett and Hannan each have 5. Simon has 6 boards.


With 18 minutes to go, Hannan with a fast break slam dunk and the foul to give us a 3 point lead, 31-28.

Simon with his 3rd foul a minute later.


Up 38-33 with 15 minutes to go, but Hannan just picked up his 3rd foul.

A minute later, Hannan hits a 3 to give us a 41-33 lead as momentum is building for us..


We are up 49-38 with 9:45 to go, as I rest my starters.


With 3:34 my starters return to finish this off. We are up 55-43. Excellent defense by the bench.


We win the game 62-48.


Graves is the player of the game with 18 points, 2 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 6 of 9, 4 of 7, and 2 of 2.

Everett came up big with 7 points, 6 assists, 4 steals, and 0 turnovers. He shot 2 of 6.

Hannan with 18 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 turnovers. He shot 6 of 16, 2 of 7, and 4 of 4.

Cornette with 4 points, 10 boards, 3 steals, and 2 blocks.

Simon with 5 points, 9 boardds, 2 steals, and a block.


Willis and Waters led the bench with 4 points each.


Our next opponent will either be 5 seed Iowa or 12 seed San Francisco. Iowa beats SF 84-69 to advance to play us.


Iowa finished the year at 24-8. They are a very talented team with an overall rating of 92. Their strength is their defense which is rated 94. Their biggest "weakness" is their rebounding which is still a 89.

They average more points per game than we do at 77 ppg. Their shoot better from 3 at a 37% clip. Their shoot the same from the field, 45%. They have more blocks per game and commit fewer turnovers than we do.

One thing we have going for us is their star Center Taquan Reese is injured. However, they have a ton of talent among their top 3 guardsand their backup center is talented.

SR PG Zeljko Hancock is rated 86 overall. He is a master marksman from midrange. He also has an incredible handle and passing skills.

Backup PG Elliah Thomasson has one of the quickest first steps we've ever seen and is rated 86 overall as well.

SR SG Tim Garrett is 6'8 240 pounds and is a great 3 point shooter as well as a great shot blocker. He is rated 85 overall.

SR SF Donovan Traylor is 6'8 235 pounds and is a terrific scorer. He can hit shots from anywhere on the court and has great slashing ability as well as the abilityt to finish. He is rated 85 overall.

Backup SR center Courtney Sola is 6'9 230 pounds and talented. He has great speed for a big man and will be tough for Simon to keep up with. He has a refined post game and is a good passer out of the post. He is rated 83 overall.

Sophomore PF Jaret Guzman is a 6'10 250 pound player who is a great rebounder as well as a shot blocker. He is a good interior scorer. He is rated 82 overall.


This will be a very difficult game to win, I think. I'm going to try to slow it down and cut down the number of possessions.

[Eaglesfan27]

Down 6-2 at the 15 minute mark. Their defense has been suffocating and even when I get the rare open look, my guys have missed.


Down 12-7 at the 11 minute mark and Hannan has picked up his 3rd foul trying to guard Traylor


With 9:08 to go, I have to go the bench. We are down 13-9.

We are down 21-17 with 5 minutes left as our bench is doing a great job of creating shots.. I keep them in for another minute or two.

We are down 23-21 with 3:20 to go as I go back to my starters.


We are down 30-24 at the half.

We are shooting 35% to their 45%.


Graves leads our team with 8 points.

Backup SF Hudson is the player of the half for them with 8 points and 2 boards.


With 16:45 to go, Hannan with a layup to tie it at 33.


We are down 35-33 with 15 minutes to go.


A minute later, Hannan hits a 3 to give us the 36-35 lead, our first lead of the game.

Traylor hits a 3 at the other end to give them the lead back.

Everett with a 3 and then after a steal, Hannan with a dunk! 41-38.


They are missing their 3's and that is critical for us right now.

10 minute mark: We are up 45-42.


A minute later, Garrett hits a 3 to tie it at 45. I go to my bench as my starters are very tired..


Traylor blows by Bowers and gets a powerful dunk and the foul. They are up 48-45.

They are up 50-45 with 6 minutes to go, when Waters gets into the lane and gets fouled.

He hits 1 of 2. With 5:45 to go, we bring back our starters.

Hannan fakes out Traylor and drives to the lane for a dunk. Traylor off a screen responds with a 3.

Hannan misses a 12 footer and Traylor gets a 3 on the other end. Down 56-48.

Hannan misses the front end of a 1 and 1 after drawing the foul on the perimeter.

Traylor to Hancock for a 12 footer. 60-50 with 3:20 to go.

Simon has it stolen from him

He responds at the other end with a steal. That sets up a Hannan fast break but he is fouled before he can finish. He misses both FT's

Traylor fakes Hannan out on the perimeter and drives into the lane drawing a foul.

Their defense is clamping down, no room for a good shot, Graves misses a 3.


We lose the game 65-54.

Traylor is the player of the game with 19 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 5 of 13, 3 of 9, and 4 of 5.

Hannan led our team with 15 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, and 4 steals. He shot 6 of 16, 2 of 8, and 1 of 3. He also had 2 turnovers.

Everett with 5 points, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 1 turnover in the final game of his career.

Graves with 11 points, 2 assists, 1 board, and 1 steal. He shot 3 of 11, 2 of 7, and 3 of 4. He also had 1 turnover.

Cornette with 6 points, 7 boards, 1 steal, a block, and 2 turnovers. He shot 2 of 8.

Simon with 6 points, 11 boards, 1 steal, and 2 turnovers.


Waters led the bench with 5 points. No one else on the bench had more than 2.

[Ironhead]

Tough loss man. I have a feeling you will be faced with a difficult "stay or go" decision pretty soon.

[Eaglesfan27]

I lost a long post describing the rest of the tourney, but here is the brief summary:

Iowa lost the next game to Louisville.

The Final Four:

Georgetown (who beat Louisville 59-53), Temple, UNLV, and Washington as 3 of the 4 #1 seeds made it.

UNLV and Washington advanced to the National Championship.

Washington won it 85-71 behind 24 points, 9 boards, 4 blocks, 1 assist, and 1 steal from their SR C Dion Blue.


SR PF Maynard McKenzie of Tennessee won Player of the Year with an average of 26.8 ppg, 8.0 rpg, and 1.7 bpg.

SR C Jordi Geli Higgins was the Mid Major Player of the Year. He averaged 24.3 ppg, 8.1 rpg, and 2.8 bpg for Northern Illinois.

Rashod Leadbetter of Washington, a SR Pf, was the defensive player of the year. He averaged 15.1 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.2 spg, and 2.2 bpg.

McKenzie was Big Man of the Year.

Duke's SG Mensa Bland was the Freshman of the Year. He averaged 12.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.2 apg, and 1.2 spg.


All American Team:

PG Paul Graham, Vanderbilt. He averaged 23.0 ppg, 5 rpg, and 4.4 apg.

SG Reynold Hull, USC. He averaged 20.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg, and 4.2 apg.

SF Josiah Fordham, Michigan State. He averaged 15.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg, and 2.8 apg.

PF McKenzie, Tenn

C Mike McGrain, Mass. 23.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg, and 1.8 bpg.



I won MAAC Coach of the Year.

Maury Kragel of Manhattan won MAAC Player of the Year. The SR C averaged 20 ppg, 6.7 rpg, and 1.3 bpg.

Robby Neal of Siena won Freshman of the Year. The PF is already rated 77 overall! He averaged 7.3 ppg and 7.1 rpg.


Hannan was our only player to make 1st team MAAC. He finished with an average of 18.1 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.6 apg, and 1.3 spg. All of those are down from his freshman year.

Gravesmade the 2nd team MAAC. He averaged 12 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 2.1 apg, and 1.0 spg. Everything was down except for his assist average.




Niagara gave me a 5 year extension.


Everett Huffman and 2 walkons are the only players who graduated. No one transferred.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Ironhead

Tough loss man. I have a feeling you will be faced with a difficult "stay or go" decision pretty soon.

I get that same feeling. Not sure what I will do.. depends on the job offer.

[Eaglesfan27]

Coaching Carousel:

The top job available is Oregon State - I'm not even on the short list.

They hire the head coach from Long Beach State.


The next job available is Wake Forest. They hire the coach from Valpariso.


No other big jobs available. San Diego State doesn't even have me on their short list.. wierd.


Next up is Duquesne. The A-10 would be a step up.. but I'm not their top choice. I am 2nd on their list. Instead, they hire the head coach from ETSU.


The next job is the 1st I'm offered, Valpariso... It's a strong conference, but not really the huge step up from the MAAC. They did go 19-14 last year and have a great returning PF. However, I turn it down.

Canisus is the next best school to offer me their job. I turn them all down.


In another tough decision, I decide to change both of my assistants They have been with me for 5 years, but their are better men who are interested in the job..


I hire William Deleon. He isn't the best recruiter or scouter, but he is a master teacher. Let's see if he can help Hannan and company reach their potential better.

We also hire Duncan Ortiz. He isn't good with discipling players, but he is average in most other areas, and is a great scout. He'll be in charge of breaking down game film. He is also an above average recruiter who will help in that area.

[Eaglesfan27]

Week 1 of recruiting:

Star SG Kurt Sngcuacy signed with WVU.


I'm not thrilled with the backup options. I decide to look at PG Christiano Bitee from Cameroon. He is small at 5'8 173, but he is a 4 star player who my scouts think is a dynamic defensive player...

I'm the only team still pursuing Ledell Sorenson, so he is the backup if I don't like what I see when we look closer at Bitee.



Week 2: I like what I see of Bitee, I decide to offer him a scholarship, but I'll continue to pursue backup plans stateside.


One of the backup plans that I really liked, Leighton Gibson just signed with FSU He was from Florida and was a longshot for us anyway.


Week 3:

Tennessee drops out of their pursuit of Bitee. We move way up on his list! I haven't been able to visit him in person, so this is definitely a risky move..

Week 4:

Decision time. Other teams are honing in our backup plans including my new favorite backup, Lynwood Sarchet. He is a 6'1 180 pound PG from Houston who is a good shooter and good passer but isn't a good defender..

I invite Sarchet to campus, but do not switch my scholarship offer.


Christiano Bitee signs with us at the end of week 4. Hopefully, the kid has really earned his 4 star rating



In the final week of recruiting, we start working on a large group of soon to be seniors.



Top 10 Classes:

1. Texas A&M with 3 5 star players and 1 4 star player.
2. Louisville with 2 5 stars and 1 4 star.
3. Florida with 2 5's and a 3.
4 LSU with 2 5's and a 3.
5. Washington State with 2 5's and a 3.
6. Boston College with 2 5's.
7. UCLA with 1 5 and 1 4.
8. Auburn with 1 5 and 2 3's.
9. Stanford with 1 5 and a 1 3.
10. Maryland with 3 4's.

[Eaglesfan27]

I don't touch the schedule that our AD gave us.. looks easy with only 1 or 2 tough non-conference games. Our toughest probably will be George Washington.


Player Progression During the Offseason: Graves didn't gain any more points. Cornette, Collins, Hannan, Waters, Ortiz, Willis, Clifford, and Ziri each gained a point.


An overview of the roster:


PG:

Junior Gus Waters. He is now 5'10 170. He is the fastest guy on the team. Isn't a great passer for a point guard, but is good enough. He has become a good shooter. He is a great defender. I think he'll help us play better defense with my starters. He is the clear starter. Overall is now a 75.

Freshman Christiano Bitee is not the great player I was hoping for as a 4 star player, but he is a solid player. He is a better 3 point shooter than Gus. He isn't as fast, but has a better first step, something that has been lacking in our point guards. He is a bad passer for a point guard, but has great dribbling ability to penetrate the lane. He is an above average defender. Our staff thinks he has the potential to improve significantly. His 3 point shooting makes him the clear backup PG. His size will be a difficult issue for him, potentially. He is only 5'8 175.


SG's:

Senior Nate Graves is ready to have a big year. While his overall didn't go up at all from the end of last year, his 3 point shooting did improve. He is extremely fast with a great first step. Very good on ball defender. His biggest weakness is his poor consistency. Rated 80 overall. 6'4 205 now.

Senior Reyshawn Ortiz is technically listed at SF, but he played SG all year last year. He is 6'5 188. Doesn't excel in any area, but can make a few shots when he is feeling it. Rated 73 overall.

Redshirt Freshman Chen Li is now 6'3 200 pounds. Doesn't excel in any area and will probably be a backup who will only play in blowouts. He is rated 67 overall.

SF's:

Junior T.J. Hannan is now rated 76 overall. He improved his shooting another point in every area and is now rated very good in midrange jump shooting as well as post play. Is an excellent shooter in traffic. Has improved his first step. Now 6'8 240 pounds.

SR Friedrich Collins is becoming huge.. now 6'5 260! He is still a very good midrange shooter, but doesn't do well in traffic. Best attributes besides his shot is his handlin ability and strength. Rated 76 overall mainly due to his 84 midrange shooting. Will backup at SG and SF.


PF's:

Whitney Cornette is now 6'10 226. He improved quite a bit during the last season and is now a 77 overall. He has become a very good post scorer, and we'll probably go to him there more this year. Very good passer out of the post. His shot blocking and rebounding are both drastically improved from his freshman year.

We got a surprising walk-on. Marko Cox is from Australia. I didn't pursue him at all. He is a 6'4 211 pound "PF" who is an efficient post scorer, a great dunker, and has quick hands. His vertical is off the charts. He also is a great hustle player. He'll likely play some backup SF/PF for us in some games. He is rated 73 overall.

Sophomore Gilson Willis has improved his 3 point shooting and should be very good out there for a PF. He is a solid rebounder and a decent defender. He is now 6'8 225.

JR Alphonso Bowers is now 6'8 255. He is now the best 3 point shooter on my team and he will get more PT than he did last year, either at PF or SF. He is a good shot blocker and a much better defender than 2 years ago. Rated 69 overall.

Vitor Ziri is the odd man out with the new walkon and my determination to get Bowers more PT. He probably won't play much. The 6'9 250 pound JR is rated 68 overall.

Redshirt Freshman Walkon Jeffrey McClinton is rated 60 overall. He won't play for us this year.


C's:

SR DeShaun Simon gained 12 more pounds and is now 7'1 318 pounds. He also has gained some strength and should be pushing people around in the post even more. He isn't that refined in the post, but he is much better than his first 2 years. I expect to go to him more this year. Rated 74 overall as he seems to be maxing out on his potential.

JR Mamery Clifford is now an excellent shot blocker. He is 6'11 265 and is also a good post scorer. However, he lets himself get pushed around in the post a bit too much. Rated 70 overall. He'll be our backup center.


We have 4 scholarship players graduating this year: Collins, Ortiz, Simon, and Graves. I'll be looking to recruit a center, 1-2 SG's, and either a SF or PG.

[Eaglesfan27]

Early Recruiting Target:

PG Nicholas Lindeman is from NYC. He is a 4 star player rated 36th overall. There are a huge number of schools recruiting him, but most are from further away and he likes us quite a bit. I'll go after him as he has it all: Size, shooting ability, and athleticism.

We are going to aim high as I'll probably be bolting soon if I don't get some upper caliber talent...

SF Andres Devance is from Elizabeth, NJ. He is 6'7 222 pounds and is a 4 star SF who is rated 49th overall. He has a high enough interest in us that I'll pursue him.

PG Isreal Simmons is another high caliber player I'll pursue. He is a 6'1 PG from NYC who is a 4 star player ranked 37th overall. I've been pursuing him since last year, so he already likes us a fair bit. However, Duke is considering him...


I also pursue about 10 3 star players.