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05-01-2023, 03:06 PM
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#51 | ||
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Dark Cloud
Join Date: Apr 2001
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WIU in the SWAC, you love to see it.
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Current Dynasty:The Zenith of Professional Basketball Careers (FBPB/FBCB) FBCB / FPB3 Mods |
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05-03-2023, 11:01 PM
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#52 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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vs Cal Poly 3-7 (0-1)
Like us, an extremely talented backcourt in Willy Hung and Nazario Moreno. The Mustangs are very good defensively, and I'm a little surprised their record is as poor as it is. I smell L. We're never really in this one as expected. 21 point loss. @ Hawaii 8-4 (0-1) The Rainbow Warriors' post defense is as incredible as their perimeter defense is ass. Winning this one is going to require our guards to get hot, which I'm not exactly hopeful for. Another 21 point loss and we've been exactly as bad in the Big West as I thought we'd be. I won't be fired because the AD loves my work from last season, but we'll be lucky to avoid last place. Especially when Geoffrey Blodgett gets hurt and misses our game against UC-Davis. 3 point heartbreaker loss in a game we should have been able to eke out. We steal a late 60-56 road win over Long Beach State on 12-11-12 from Frank Gilmore, the Butterfly Man, and Gregory Lau. 8 boards and a steal tacked on gives Gilmore PotG, while Papillion swipes 2. I'd like to be able to say that kickstarted a win streak, but two straight 3 point home losses, to UC-Irvine and CSU-Fullerton follow instead. Then we nearly blow a 10 point lead but beat UC-SB Code:
Any win feels like a box score at this point because of how bad we are. We have faint hopes of beating Pacific to at least stay out of the basement and we do, riding Butterfly Man's PotG 29 points and steal, and 10 points, 2 steals by Geoffrey Blodgett in a comfortable victory. Shoutout to Dennis Luther with 7 steals himself. Our international class continues with our second recruit: Code:
Looks more like a 4 than a 5 due to size, but we'll see what comes of it. He'll definitely have an opportunity to earn starting minutes his freshman year since Frank Gilmore is graduating and Truman Crain has largely disappointed after his hot start to the season.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-03-2023, 11:02 PM
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#53 | |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Quote:
Yep the conference movements get pretty hilarious when they're automated.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-03-2023, 11:41 PM
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#54 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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17 points, a block, and a steal from PotG Truman Crain carries us to a win over UC-Davis. Guess he read the press blasting him and decided to step up. This gives us our fifth straight season of 10+ wins. In real-life, the Matadors had that streak from 1996-97 to 2010-11 - including two first round NCAA tournament appearances (one with the Big Sky and one with the Big West), so it's not like it was a huge accomplishment or anything.
Beating Hawaii would get us back to .500 overall on the year and Butterfly Man's 23 points and a steal in a comeback victory gets us exactly that. 8 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks for Frank Gilmore and 10 points, 2 steals from Dennis Luther help carry us in the 3 point victory. With a shot at .500 in the Big West at home against Long Beach State, we fall flat on our faces and lose in OT in a game we led most of the way. A couple injuries happen which are annoying, but not ones that prevent anyone missing any time at least. Fullerton reminds us we still suck in a blowout loss and a barnburner finish goes the Anteaters' way to put us on the brink of being unable to reach even .500 in the Big West for the season. We may be bad but we're not Pacific bad as Dennis Luther scores 24 with 3 steals as PotG, Butterfly Man has 16-5-5, and Geoffrey Blodgett scores 12 with a pair of steals in a comfortable Tigers taming. But then the Gauchos beat us by 32 to end our faint even steven dreams. With nothing left to play for in the regular season, we drop our last two - including blowing a lead to UC-Riverside late. Why was there nothing left to play for? Code:
Yeah. We were shut out of the conference tournament no matter what. So the postseason involves us sitting at home and ignoring everything. Cal Poly upsets by winning the whole Big West tournament and bows out as a 16 seed. UC-Riverside is a 7 seed in the NIT and makes the deepest NIT run by a Big West team in a long time, maybe ever. They make it to the NIT Final Four, where it's a Highlanders vs Aggies matchup. Yep, UC-Davis drew a 2 seed due to their RPI and embarrass the Highlanders on national TV, 70-36, before they play UCLA in the championship. Only Xavier was not from California of the NIT Final Four. UC-Davis brings home an NIT championship to the Big West, routing the Bruins 82-60 despite UCLA having 3 Blue and 2 Green starters while the Aggies have not a single Green player on their roster. Yeah, basketball is DUMB sometimes. No injuries either. Conversely the NCAA Final Four was an All-Big 10 in one half - Ohio State and Iowa - and All-Big 12 in the other - Oklahoma and Baylor. 3 seed Buckeyes vs 2 seed Bears in a national championship that was clearly in the key of B. Bears 89, Buckeyes 65 in a matching rout. Congratulations to Baylor on their second championship - the first since Year 1. And they're 2-1 in national title games. Code:
One of our scrub bigs gets an All-Freshman award despite not averaging 2 in any category that often has double digits, or 0.5 in any category that usually has at least one whole number. Laugh. What a weird flipping year. Seniors up next.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-03-2023, 11:48 PM
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#55 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
Walked on at Delaware and transferred here to become a bit player. Who cares? Transfers suck. Code:
He was part of a rush of great PG recruits we had for a while there and was a 1* find by the colors. Never reached his potential though did finish 6th in school assists and 8th in school history in steals. Code:
Our first All-State player. Only started his senior year. Finished 10th in school history in rebounds and offensive rebounds, 8th in school blocks. One of many, many 7+, 300 lb+ bigs who flamed out in our system. So we're not really missing a lot next season. And who cares about these guys' post-Matador lives? They weren't significant enough to matter.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-06-2023, 01:50 PM
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#56 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
Our best class since the Thomas Hadden year (#161) and the first time since Year 1 we've landed two 3* players. We got a 2* PG from the Czech Republic as a very late add, but only Gonchar looks authentically good of our all-internationals class. Speaking of, time to update!  We ranged further afield this cycle of four years, with only three LA-area recruits, and a lot more digging into the Mountain West. Not that it's landed us good players or anything.  We also recruited far more heavily abroad, due largely to the most recent class netting us three of these. 3*: 4 2*: 3 1*: 6 200-300: 1 (#294 Geoffrey Blodgett - our highest ranked recruit) 301-400: 2 401-500: 1 501-600: 2 601-700: 1 1000+: 5 All-State: 2 (Both 1*) Mr. Basketball: 1 (Montana 1* - Truman Crain Grim, grim picture for sure. Especially with our big men class completely bombing that one year. It's setting us way back. Gonzaga moves to the Pac-12; Washington State to the WCC. As expected, really. Kenneth Connolly somehow lucks in to the Northern Arizona job despite 100-145 career record with CSU-Fullerton, though he did turn the Titans into a mid-pack Big West team and an NCAA tournament appearance a few years ago (winning the conference tournament in a 15-19 (9-9) year). The Titans hire Don Slagle, a 53 year old assistant with stops in Boston, Portland, and Fresno, moving with his mentor to each new destination. Average all-around coach with pretty good offensive coaching ability. Decent hire. 1 for 2 in recruiting, losing a big man to CSU-Bakersfield. Code:
Probably better suited as a smallball 3 or 4 due to lack of perimeter defense, but hey, we fared okay with Joseph Velarde as a PG. Honestly, I didn't intend to offer him if I caught that poor perimeter D, but whatever.  I overruled my assistants to start Muhammed Owen at PF over Brian Lowry, who is a poor system fit. If you squint, the freshman British Muslim looks a bit like the Chevalier Knight. Impressive camp by Truman Crain, who now qualifies as an exceptional blocker. Our perimeter defense looks amazing this year and there's a lot of ballthieves. Here's to hoping this is a good year. AD still wants Big Dance. @ Utah Valley The Wolverines have great post defense, but that's about all they have. They were a decent Great West team from 2016-18 but have fallen back on hard times the last couple years. And sometimes that's good enough, as they hold a 26-22 lead at halftime. We're really struggling with our shooting. It gets worse in the second half as we lose by 14 in a truly terrible night. @ North Carolina Central I accidentally missed this game, but we won 72-68 despite Muhammed Owen going out after 10 minutes. Dennis Luther scores 18 with 4 steals to win Player of the Game. Geoffrey Blodgett adds 14 and 2 steals, Truman Crain scores 16 with 2 steals, and the Butterfly Man flits in with 11 points, 1 steal. Butterfly Man scores 18 in a 57 point loss to Maryland, Truman Crain 11 in a blowout defeat to Baylor, and Butterfly Man 21, Dennis Luther 15, and a 9, 8, 1, 4 line for Owen in a surprisingly competive loss to #2 Ohio State. We suffer a shock recruit loss to UC-Santa Barbara, but we in turn steal a big man from UC-Santa Barbara. Code:
If the scouting is accurate, I feel like this is a pretty good steal. Definitely a position of need at any rate, even if he's only Red/Yellow.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-06-2023, 07:33 PM
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#57 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Sep 2022
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I've been enjoying the story, even if I haven't stopped by to comment very often. Time to catch up.
I'm intrigued by your all-internationals recruiting class. I've only signed two overseas players, one of whom is currently a first year player with a lot of promise. The success I had with the Good King ought to have inspired me to take a few more chances with international recruiting, and I don't know why I haven't. Has Coach Jestor leveled up yet? I commend you for the ambition you showed in starting with a Level 0 neophyte. I've never had any success with FBCB when I started that low. My rank beginner coaches have always been fired before I had a chance to improve. |
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05-10-2023, 01:07 AM
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#58 | |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Quote:
Thanks! Haven't leveled up yet - I thought hitting 100 career wins last season might have done it, but nope. I'm not sure what the mechanisms are for all the leveling up. I know if I make the NCAA Tournament like my irrational AD wants I would in fact level up. Going after international recruits early can feel a bit gamey. Then again, Hawaii goes all international and hasn't yet turned into a powerhouse despite solid recruiting rankings so it's hard to say.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-10-2023, 02:00 AM
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#59 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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vs CSU-Bakersfield (1-4)
The Roadrunners are a similar team to us - far too talent to have the poor record we do, and I suspect it'll be a close one. Ultimately it is, but we prevail 62-55 as Geoffrey Blodgett takes top honors with 17 points and 2 steals. Great game overall by Muhammed Owen - 9 points, 16 rebounds, and 3 steals. The Butterfly Man scores 11 with 2 blocks and 2 steals, Dennis Luther with 10 points and 2 steals. Props to Truman Crain for rejecting 5 himself. vs Mount Saint Mary's (1-5) Terrible defense has doomed the Mountaineers to this record, so we should be able to pile on and move one step closer to .500. Should being the operative word. And of course, this is the game their defense is suddenly magically fantastic and we're down 14 at the half. It ends up a rout of almost 20 points as our depth gets exposed when the refs decide to call every bleeping foul on us. Let's move on. vs Bryant (1-6) Seems like we have a loss every year that absolutely tanks our RPI and the Mountaineers was it, going from Green (60) all the way to 148 (Orange) by the time we face the Bulldogs. I hold no hope of beating anyone. Tied at 38-all at the half. I still laugh that the AD is convinced we're a tournament team. The Butterfly Man wakes up in the second half to finish with 16 points and a steal as we eke out a 78-72 victory. 10 points, a block, and 4 steals for Dennis Luther, 13 and 9 for Muhammed Owen, 10 points for Truman Crain. vs Radford (0-9) The Highlanders have gone winless because they have trouble scoring, but you know we're exactly the opponent to reward terrible teams with free wins even when we're much better on paper. Sure enough, they shoot over 60% in the first half and we're down by 9 on a buzzer-beater. You can't make this shit up. But then we get hot late in the second half and win 78-65 on a flattering to deceive scoreline. Butterfly Man wins his second straight PotG with 31 points and 2 steals, Dennis Luther scores 12 with 5 assists and 4 steals, Geoffrey Blodgett scores 11 with 8 rebounds and a block, and Muhammed Owen just misses a double-double with 9 points, 10 boards. vs Northern Colorado (2-7) We have a shot of getting to .500 if we can beat the Bears, who are a Big Sky bottom-feeder. I feel like they're a little better than their record, but the caveat of us not being great applies. We're down 14-40 at the half. LOL. What an absolute farce. [b]vs High Point (2-8) Doesn't matter what we do here. For the first time in a long time, we're guaranteed to finish under .500 in non-conference play. The Panthers pounce on us and we're down by 8 at the break, as our shooting continues to desert us. We try to rally back, but our shooting turns to ice late in the second half, resulting in a 3 point loss. Pathetic. Code:
I have no idea how UC-Davis is 7-2. They don't look that good. CSU-Fullerton is definitely looking like the class of the Big West in what appears to be a down year for the conference. vs Hawaii (4-5) We'll just see what happens. Neither team can shoot and we're down by 4 at the half. I don't know why we suddenly can't make anything. It's damn frustrating, but no clue how to fix it. Bogdan Gonchar has his best game yet - 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 steals off the bench to secure the comeback 66-64 win we honestly didn't really deserve. 10 points and a steal for Geoffrey Blodgett, 15 for the Butterfly Man.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-10-2023, 02:54 AM
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#60 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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vs UC-Riverside 2-8 (0-1)
The Highlanders are in a shockingly poor state. Yes, their perimeter defense is terrible, but they still should be doing far better than this. They'll likely match up well against us and win pretty handily. Their shooting ice cold helps and we're surprisingly up by 16 when the first 20 minutes end. No lead is safe, yada yada. And yet we win easily. I'm not sure why Dennis Luther's 11 points and 4 steals are PotG. Seems to me it should have gone to Truman Crain's 16 points, 4 blocks, and a steal. Muhammed Owen records 10 points, 11 rebounds, 1 steal double-double. I really like the British Muslim's promise. @ UC-Irvine 3-8 (0-2) On the other hand, the Anteaters are well and truly as bad as their record suggests. Their post defense in particular is a joke, which probably bodes well for us to finally get back to .500 on the season. And we're up 41-32 at the break. Our post players haven't dominated the way I'd anticipated, but I'm still taking the lead. It's a blowout. 24 points and a steal/block for PotG Papillion Faulvarque, 19 points in as many minutes off the bench for Bogdan Gonchar, and 16 points with a block for Truman Crain. @ Cal Poly 7-5 (3-0) Two freshman starters are the only reason why the Mustangs haven't put up a dominating non-conference record, because the rest of their lineup is really, really good, and this will be a fun early-season matchup between two teams that are surprising in early Big West play. And by fun I mean their beating us by like 40. Imagine my shock when we jump out to a 10-0 lead and find ourselves on the positive end of a 39-25 line after the first half. Will it hold? Probably not! But this is still quite the thing to watch. 16 points, a block, and 2 steals by Bogdan Gonchar results in our crown jewel Russian freshman getting his first PotG win as we withstand an early second half surge and then grind them out. 11 points and 2 steals for the Butterfly Man in a victory where we score 75 by getting contributions from pretty much everyone. vs UC-Davis 11-2 (3-0) The Aggies, I'd like to remind everyone, were the NIT Champions last season and despite my surprise at their record, appear to be bona fide for their record after a close examination. Why? Because they shoot the hell out of the ball and have just enough solid defense in the right spots to get wins. It's a matchup of the only two unbeaten Big West squads, and you know I don't have any hope of pulling the upset. We're shooting terribly (33.3%) but are only down 27-28 when Dennis Luther converts the jumper as the buzzer goes off at the half. I fully expect us to be run roughshod in the second half, but we're showing some surprising chops to even hold our own - and that's after we opened down 0-7. All we can do is briefly tie it up, as their superiority does indeed win out in the second and we lose handily. vs CSU-Fullerton 9-6 (3-1) Recall how I said the Titans were the class of the Big West on paper? That's still true, and their only loss in conference has been in single digits to the Aggies. Squash match incoming. Down by 2 at the half, but it feels very much a lucky thing to even be close. That'll settle down in the second half, much like it did in the previous game. Yep. Pretty much the exact same script. @ UC-Santa Barbara 3-13 (1-4) The mirage that we're a Big West contender was fun while it lasted and the paper tiger status should again get exposed here. The Gauchos are way too talented to be bottom-feeders. Yep. Blowout loss by 28. @ Long Beach State 4-12 (3-3) At least we can quit pretending we're more than a team who got hot early now. And yet we eke out the 74-70 win on the Butterfly Man's 20 points and a steal and Truman Crain contributing 18 points, 2 blocks, and a steal. Our stars don't often align but when they do, they do. @ Pacific 2-17 (1-7) The Tigers always play us tough, records be damned. And they have a chance to spoil our hopes of finishing the front half of Big West season at .500 overall. I'm sure they'll take full advantage. We piss away a 10 point lead and have to fight to get it back to 6 by the time the first buzzer goes off. It's all grind from there on out to an ugly 55-45 win that we get on Truman Crain's 16 points, 7 rebounds, a block, and a steal, with Dennis Luther adding a 10-5-4-1 line. Our 6th straight season of 10+ wins is secured (and if injuries hadn't doomed us to 9 wins in 2015, we'd have double-digit victories in every season but the first). We're back to .500 and have already equaled last season's conference wins total with 6. It's been a better season than I expected so far for sure, but I still don't see a path to the tournament. Not with the Aggies and Titans totally dominating the Big West this year (9-0 and 8-1 respectively).
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-10-2023, 10:10 PM
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#61 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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vs Cal Poly 8-10 (4-5)
I still found it surprising we beat the Mustangs at their place - they're still more talented a squad than we are. I fully expect a revenge loss here. It's 6 minutes before we score and we're down by 9 at the half when they score a buzzer-beater trey. It's playing out exactly how I expected. We get no closer than 3 and are blown out by 20. vs UC-Irvine 5-15 (2-8) We should annihilate the Anteaters. They're a bad team and one of their best players is out injured to boot. A 4-point halftime lead ends in a 26 point rout. Dennis Luther leads the murder with 23 points and 4 steals, Butterfly Man scores 16 with 5 assists and a steal, and Truman Crain puts up 14 points, 2 blocks. @ CSU-Fullerton 16-6 (10-1) The Titans' only Big West loss is still to the Aggies, so dial up another loss. Yep. Every time we get within a single possession, they rip off a bunch of points and we lose by 10. @ #25 UC-Davis 20-2 (12-0) Yep, you read that right. For the first time in this universe, the Big West has a Top 25 team. We won't be the spoilers here. We're tied at 57-all with 2 minutes to go. And then we don't score the rest of the game. Par for the course. vs Long Beach State 6-17 (4-8) Can we get a win and finally start turning around what has been a terrible February? F in the chat says no. We try our hardest to blow a 12 point second half lead, but make our FTs down the stretch to win by 10 in our most balanced victory all season. Code:
vs UC-Santa Barbara 7-17 (5-8) The Gauchos were only our other loss other than the Big Two in the first half of the conference season. Here's to hoping we get revenge but more realistically they sweep us. Yep. 36.7% shooting as a team won't do it. vs Pacific 2-24 (1-14) We really, really need this win. It'd lock up .500 in Big West season play (still far short of the Big Dance ticket the AD wants) and would be a salve on how disappointing things have gone in the back half. We're on the back foot almost the entire game but just barely manage to come back before almost blowing a 10 point lead. 4 win as Truman Crain goes off for 20 points, 4 blocks, and 2 steals, but it's Bogdan Gonchar's 17 points - including the last shot made all game, that secures the victory (Crain won PotG). An inefficient 13 points by Butterfly Man Recruiting finishes out. Code:
Is this going to help our shooting woes? No. But if it's accurate, we reload our guard spots with another stellar stealer. @ Hawaii 16-11 (10-6) The Aggies got hit with the injury rashes we typically do and lost 3 straight games, so it's the Titans who have won the Big West title as I predicted in preseason that they'd do. We have a very outside shot of maybe sneaking up to 3rd, but to get there we'll need to win out - including topping the Rainbow Warriors in paradise. We implode in the second half. Whatever. Let's look at .500, collect our first round loss and move on. Only Truman Crain takes out his frustrations on UC-Riverside with a 17-7-3 blocks line and Bogdan Gonchar adds 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals as we rock Riverside 62-47 to continue our recent trend of winning Big West season/trash season/winning Big West season/trash season/winning Big West season. Big West Conference Tournament @ Cal Poly What an unkind draw. We're in the Titans' half of the bracket, so a loss is guaranteed even if we somehow advanced, but I really wanted the first round win to get to .500 overall on the season. The game wasn't even close. A complete rout as we shoot 34% as a team and Dennis Luther got hurt anyway. CSU-Fullerton wins 93-88 over UC-Davis in a great game that the conference deserved. NCAA Tournament CSU-Fullerton draws the Big West's highest-ever seeding at 9. UC-Davis is snubbed by the committee but gets to defend their title in the NIT as a 2 seed. CSU-Fullerton gets the first Big West Big Dance win, upsetting Florida 75-72. They're promptly annihilated by Florida State in the second round, but so what? The Aggies repeat as NIT champions, routing 8 seed Temple 73-48 in the final. Nobody ever really looked like challenging them much either. Big West: where NIT champions are born. 1 seed Florida State vs 10 seed Texas 1 seed Vanderbilt vs 2 seed Ohio State The 1 seeds go chalk and the Seminoles savage the Commodores by a ton to take the title. And Florida State won with a red player in the starting lineup. Just goes to show that the colors are only a rough overall guide and it's the whole team fit that matters. Code:
Typical year for us. Snore. Seniors up next.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-10-2023, 10:24 PM
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#62 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
Played better than a 1* should. Still never lived up to his potential. Did finish 4th in school history in blocks, but that's not saying much. He got accepted to USC, where he'll be pursuing a master's degree in Physical Therapy and eventually become a specialist in sports therapy, I'm sure. Code:
Three-year starter that somehow never became as good as he could have been in terms of impact. Very inconsistent player. Still, that many years allows him to accumulate the stats that puts him 8th in school history in points and #1 in assists (286) and #1 in steals (279) - including taking over as the Big West's leading stealer in history, returning the record to Northridge that Nazario Moreno stole from Joseph Velarde. He winds up going into the seminary, where he'll become a Catholic priest. Guess his mind was on other things than playing dominant basketball. Code:
Highest-ranked recruit in school history (ahead of yes, even Thomas Hadden, who is still playing pro ball overseas in France) and formed one half of the most talented backcourt on paper in Matadors universe history. But that didn't pan out. 9th in points, 10th in offensive rebounds, 3rd in assists, 3rd in steals (6th all-time in the Big West). He heads back to Etna, where he'll work in his dad's gas station and presumably take over when his father retires.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-11-2023, 11:48 PM
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#63 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Almost forgot before the switchover.
Code:
Decent showing. As a result of having lasted 9 years, I suppose, my coaching level is officially upgraded to 1. Where we've succeeded is my ability not to recruit studs, but in coaching up players' defensive skills, and bar one really bad recruiting season when I completely whiffed on what I thought a bunch of 1* bigs would be, we've been successful at scouting. But I want to win. All 20 points go into defense. Making me a 50/10/10/50 coach. Code:
In a normal year, three 2* would be cause for some excitement. Not this season. Teams are bringing in 3* by the truckload now, though ask four-time Big West recruiting champion CSU-Fullerton what that has meant outside of last year's dream season. Portland State moves to the WCC, while Portland moves to the Big Sky in a neat swap of schools in the same city. There's a lot of coaching movement in the Big West this year. I'm not one of them, of course. Cal Poly We see Terry Heywood retire and Eusbio Lo, a 38 year old Laotian-American who traveled with his mentor to a lot of places - most recently Stanford, before getting the call. Great recruiter, great scout, good defensive coach. Strong hire. UC-Riverside Gerald Yarbrough was given the Retire or Be Fired option after last year's abysmal year with the Highlanders and he chose the former. 41 year old Ulysses Dunne is the first head coach to be snapped up. In 9 years at Southern, the Xs and Os-minded coach (86 Offense, 62 Defense) has 3 NIT appearances and 2 Big Dance tickets, the most recent advancing to the second round last season which finally got him the call. His teams won the SWAC titles in 2013, 2017, and 2020. Can't recruit, though. Just coaches guys up. UC-Davis Three years is all the longer the Coaching God Carl Robertson lasted. Two NIT titles and he's taking his Xs and Os expertise to Florida Atlantic, a mid-tier Sun Belt team whose only postseason appearance has been a 2017 NIT 2nd round exit despite two 20+ win seasons. To replace him, the Aggies tapped 58 year old Lloyd Hernandez, who is a master-class defensive coach (100), decent offensively (56), but can't scout or recruit. Hernandez has spent the last 9 years coaching at Berkeley, so it's another Cali assistant tap. I'm not thrilled to see all this actual coaching talent come into the league. Especially on the defensive side of the ball, which is where I'm trying to make my own bones. So our prestige inched up to 30 after staying static a year. Weirdly enough, despite two blanks on NCAA tournament aspirations, the AD isn't even beginning to talk about replacing me.  Fantastic camp by Muhammed Owen and once again I over-ruled the assistants by starting a freshman over Brian Lowry. I think Tim Grey looks a lot better than the colors suggest. Our post defense is going to rely heavily on Owen, but our perimeter defense is looking pretty good. We're switching to a 2-3 zone this year and it's the first time in many years we're not going full press (7). We're definitely weaker at point guard and center, but I feel like Bogdan Gonchar will be great at SF. Our offense is focused solely on the Butterfly Man. @ McNeese State From 2015-18 the Cowboys had a streak of four seasons where they were one and done in the NCAA Tournament and the NIT. They've fallen off to a mid-table Southland side since. I think they're beatable. We don't score for the last 3:30 of the first half and our huge lead gets slashed to 4. Not a great feeling but hopefully we've gotten the ice out of the way and are ready to heat up again. 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 steals by the Butterfly Man as we do just enough to stay in front and come out 72-64 winners in a game far closer than the score appears. Supporting our French PotG is Bogdan Gonchar (16 points), Muhammed Owen (17 rebounds and a steal), Tim Grey (10 boards, a block, and a steal in his collegiate debut), and 10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals by Kevin McKenzie off the bench. @ Morgan State In 2015 and 2016, the Bears had first round exits in the Big Dance and NIT. But since those great days, they've had a couple sitting home 20 win seasons and won just 5 games last year. They look lousy - probably the worst team I've ever seen around this prestige level (23). And of course we play right down to their level, actually going into the locker room down by 2 because we can't make our fing FTs and they're hitting treys at an absurd rate. 44-6 FTA deficit. Yeah if that's not bullshit I don't know what is. That's the sole reason we lose this one. Serious, serious homecooking and bias by the refs. Unbelievable. We play that game 10 times, we win 9 of them. So, so stupid. And the Butterfly Man was ruled out after 11 minutes. He'll be playable for the gauntlet, but such bullroar.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-12-2023, 09:39 PM
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#64 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Our annual gauntlet run goes as you might expect against Florida State, Baylor, and Maryland this year.
We set a new high record in recruit ranking with our first commit: Code:
Ranked #264 at the time of the commitment, the Tropical King looks like a raw but exciting player (Red/Blue) who should supercharge our point guard position, which has looked pretty ordinary since the graduations of Joseph Velarde and Geoffrey Blodgett in terms of pure talent. vs Stony Brook (2-2) The Seawolves look like a solid, yet unremarkable team. This one could go either way, because I feel like this year's Matadors fit that same description. Yeah. It's a rout. We shoot 30% in the first half and our recovery is losing by 13. Austin Soukop is out 2 weeks but he's from the trash class of bigs so no loss there. vs Bucknell (1-5) Great post defense, terrible perimeter defense. We should win but I'm holding out no hope for anything. Yep. Another 30% first half shooting en route to a 20 point loss. Think I'm gonna fire my assistant after this year. That's if I survive. We get annihilated by Albany, giving the Danes their first win of the season, and need a comeback with OT heroics to get a win against Radford: Code:
NJIT hasn't won a game all year and we barf up a stinker against them, then get thumped by Idaho. We've never had a 2-9 non-conference campaign. Even in our shithouse first year we've never gone 2-9. I rightfully deserve to be fired after this year. But then the Butterfly Man scores 19 with a block and 3 steals as we stun UC-Davis 72-70 at their place to open the Big West. Bogdan Gonchar scores 12 with a steal, and Muhammed Owen racks 10 boards, a block, and a steal. Not to worry: CSU-Fullerton reminds us of who we are two days later. We complete recruiting with yet another talented looking PG who slates as Red/Blue: Code:
His shooting numbers look a little worrying, but maybe he'll grow into his upside. Love the defensive rebounding for a guy that small if this is accurate. Could we end up going smallball at some point in the future? It'll probably be for another coach, though.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-13-2023, 12:36 AM
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#65 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
I'm calling Fullerton as the class of the Big West again this season, and early results seem to verify that. My guess is we end up around .500. Our entire starting lineup gets shut down against UC-Santa Barbara and we go 12 minutes without scoring in the second half, but eke out the 67-64 win as Kevin McKenzie scores 14 with a block and Jeromy Harrington puts up 11 with 2 steals. But it's Austin Soukop's 10 points, 5 rebounds, and a steal that wins PotG. Weird win but we'll take it. 17-4-4 and a steal by Kevin McKenzie wins him a PotG award as we handle UC-Riverside pretty easily. 16 points, 12 rebounds, and a steal should have given Tim Grey the nod, though. Bogdan Gonchar scores 12 with 5 boards and a block, and the Butterfly Man equals him in scoring. It's been a surprising 3-1 conference start so I'm not all surprised when Cal Poly waxes us and our offense dies down the stretch in a loss to Long Beach State. We sputter out against Pacific, too, suffering a humiliating defeat. Tim Grey goes down against Hawaii and is out 2 weeks, leading to Austin Soukop in the lineup and a blowout loss to UC-Irvine to finish the first half. We're now in the danger zone of missing the Big West conference tournament as three teams sit at the bottom at 3-6. Bogdan Gonchar scores 15 with 4 rebounds, 6 assists, and a steal to win PotG in a critical victory over the Gauchos, with 13 and 5 by Kevin McKenzie off the bench, and 10 points, 9 rebounds for Austin Soukop to just miss the double-double. Bogdan Gonchar has his most complete game with 21 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 steals as we maul the Mustangs at their place. 13/9/1 block for Tim Grey in his return to the lineup and Butterfly Man adds 13 with a block and steal. UC-Riverside reminds us we suck, Pacific pummels us by 20, and we don't score in the last 3 minutes to piss away the lead against Long Beach State. UC-Irvine ends our faint .500 homes and I'm reminded that on the Good Year/Bad Year cycle, we were due for a bad year. Said as I watch Hawaii own OT and we lose another game we should have won. It's the first year since 2015 we won't sniff 10 wins and it's our worst record since the very first season, when we were 7-23 (5-13). We match the wins and conference record. Yeah, I'm so getting fired. Consequently I skip the postseason entirely. Code:
Tim Grey must have been classed as a CE because otherwise he got robbed. [code] #53 SG Papillion Faulvarque - Cal State Northridge - Senior -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Height: 6-6 Weight: 215 High School: Hometown: Aubagne, France Attributes: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Type INS JPS FTS 3PS HND PAS ORB DRB PSD PRD STL BLK QKN STR JMP STA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Current: 35 75 51 66 37 47 30 13 36 7 66 54 68 64 78 66 2021: 35 74 50 63 34 42 29 12 34 7 61 51 67 60 78 56 2020: 34 71 48 60 32 38 28 12 31 6 54 46 65 57 76 47 2019: 33 68 46 57 30 35 27 12 30 5 49 43 64 53 75 37 2018: 32 66 45 55 29 33 26 12 29 5 46 42 62 49 74 27 2017: 30 62 43 51 27 31 24 12 27 5 42 40 60 41 69 7 Potential: D B C B C C D D C F B C Health: Good Scholarship: Yes Status: Active Roster Academics: 92 Stat Averages: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season G GS MIN PTS ORE REB AST TO A/T STL BLK PF -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2019 29 11 15.9 5.9 0.8 1.8 0.6 1.8 0.33 0.4 0.1 1.2 2020 29 29 28.8 13.1 1.3 3.0 2.0 3.1 0.63 1.0 0.2 2.4 2021 30 30 26.3 14.0 1.0 3.0 1.7 2.4 0.69 1.1 0.4 2.2 2022 29 29 23.0 10.4 1.1 2.9 1.7 2.2 0.78 0.9 0.3 1.6 Career 117 99 23.5 10.9 1.1 2.7 1.5 2.4 0.78 0.9 0.2 1.8 Shooting Averages: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season FGM FGA FG% FTM FTA FT% 3PM 3PA 3P% PPS +/- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2019 2.0 5.2 .393 1.0 1.6 .667 0.8 2.4 .338 1.15 -1.76 2020 4.4 10.8 .412 2.4 3.5 .676 1.9 5.8 .323 1.22 -2.52 2021 4.6 10.8 .429 2.7 3.6 .757 2.1 5.6 .371 1.30 -1.33 2022 3.6 8.6 .416 1.7 2.5 .685 1.5 4.3 .349 1.21 -5.45 Career 3.7 8.9 .416 2.0 2.8 .703 1.6 4.5 .347 1.23 -2.75 Stat Totals: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season G GS MIN PTS OREB REB AST TO STL BLK PF -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2019 29 11 460 172 22 52 17 51 12 2 36 2020 29 29 834 381 38 86 57 90 28 6 69 2021 30 30 788 421 30 91 50 72 34 12 66 2022 29 29 667 302 33 83 50 64 26 9 45 Career 117 99 2749 1276 123 312 174 277 100 29 216 Shooting Totals -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season FGM FGA FTM FTA 3PM 3PA +/- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2019 59 150 30 45 24 71 -51 2020 129 313 69 102 54 167 -73 2021 139 324 81 107 62 167 -40 2022 104 250 50 73 44 126 -158 Career 431 1037 230 327 184 531 -322 Career Highs: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Type Pts OReb Reb Ast Stl Blk TO FGM FGA FTM FTA 3PM 3PA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season 21 5 7 5 3 2 9 9 13 6 7 4 10 Career 31 5 9 5 4 3 9 10 21 9 11 5 14 Awards & Acheivements: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season Award -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All Player of the Game: 9 2017 High School: Rated ** and #511 overall by the FBCB scouting service.[/b] The Butterfly Man finishes #3 in school history in points, #6 in assists, and #7 in steals. Oh, and tied for 7th in blocks. Solid career, but he's forever going to be tagged as the guy who couldn't carry the offense in his final season and led us to a horrible finish. No worries for him, though. He's gotten a job with Proctor Gamble, working in their marketing department as a copywriter for the Francophone market and doing translation work. The Butterfly in the Machine for sure. Code:
My assistants loved him. Fuck this guy. The waste during the year when we had only one scholarship. He's not invited to the reunion parties. Code:
Our highest ranked class by FAR. Oh and one of our scrub centers finally got angry enough to transfer. Cool. I don't care. Be pretty funny if I got fired after I landed our best recruiting class ever. The AD is unhappy enough to do it. For the first time, no conference movement. I survive and hire Jason Dillman, a 44 year old assistant who is 68/16 Offense/Defense and represents an upgrade in both categories over my old assistant. Dillman's a long-time assistant at Houston Baptist before he resigned to look for more money. Had one year at St. Louis, got fired. One year at William & Mary, and the whole staff got canned. No team he's been an assistant for has ever made a postseason. We have a transfer spot open but everyone is butt, so we pass on it.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-14-2023, 11:44 PM
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#66 |
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Dark Cloud
Join Date: Apr 2001
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Good luck seeing if that class produces!
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05-16-2023, 10:35 PM
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#67 | |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Quote:
If I'm even around to see it. Firing is a real possibility 
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-16-2023, 11:51 PM
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#68 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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We land a player who looks like an absolute banger - a pure stud in the making that I'd love to be around to coach:
Code:
Red/Blue and at #273 if that holds, he'd be our highest ranked player since just inked freshman PG Eutropio Rey (who was #264). But I'm on the hotseat so it's tough. Our stud potential Red/Blue PG Ned Fraser is willing to redshirt and I'm more than happy to give it to him with Jakub Sedlacek, Paul Mattson and Rey already on board.  This is the first time in a long time that we've not fielded a single Green player in the starting lineup. And yet, as a composite 1-5 this is probably the most complete defensive squad we've ever fielded. We're not running pressure a ton (5) but we're fast paced (7) with Kevin McKenzie and Bogdan Gonchar as the key players following the Butterfly Man's graduation, and both those guys showed flashes of ability in last year's trainwreck season. Also of note: All three of the Internationals Class are now in the lineup, and none of the 1* Big Class ever had a full-time starting gig. One of them, Anastasio Damato, transferred out last year and played his final season in Division II after getting no D-I offers. @ McNeese State Interesting all-junior lineup for the Cowboys this year. Let's see how we do. I get the sense this is going to be a close contest. 7 point half-time lead and neither team is shooting well. Our defensive work is definitely showing, and they have some decent guys who can play D, too. So it's an interesting game. 7 is our final victory margin, too. 20 points, 3 steals for Bogdan Gonchar in the 66-59 triumph, 16 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals for Kevin McKenzie, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks for Muhammed Owen, but it's Tim Grey who gets the surprise game ball - 8 points, 9 rebounds, a block, a steal, and it's a really weird choice. I'll take it, though. @ Seattle (1-0) The Redhawks are absolutely garbage despite their season-opening win. Senior PG Dan Martin scored 31 and he's the only one who is even decent on this dumpster fire. This should be a blowout if we can slow Martin down. We're down by 3 at the half because we can't hit anything (36%). We shot 37.7% in our opener, so our shooting is a ginormous problem this season apparently. Frustrating - we should be destroying these dudes. We go scoreless the last 4:05 of the game and it's enough to lose us a game that should have been a cakewalk.  San Diego State, UConn, and Baylor hang expected giant Ls on us. Muhammed Owen is out over a month after the Bears bash him. vs Arkansas-Pine Bluff (2-1) Welp, it's revenge of the 1* Bigs as Albert Ragsdale finds himself inserted in the lineup for this month. I'm guessing the Golden Lions gash us to hell and back. Lead most of the half, fall apart at the end and go down by 2. Sounds really familiar. We just give up in the second 20 minutes. vs Utah State (1-4) In a normal world, the Aggies would be an easy win. We're not in a normal world. Blink and you'll miss the 3 seconds we held a lead late in the first half, only to go down by 5. We get close a couple times in the second half, but L #6 in a row. vs Coastal Carolina (4-4) I don't remember scheduling these guys. Not that it matters. L incoming. 21 point L. Let's cut to the chase, shall we? We lose by 1 at home to Bucknell (a rout against Nevada-Reno is coming later in the campaign), blow a sizable lead at CSU-Bakersfield to close out our non-conference slate. 13 points a piece from Bogdan Gonchar and Jakub Sedlacek get us a comeback 2 point win over Pacific after blowing a 10 point lead, Gonchar getting PotG by adding 3 steals in the 69-62 win that was actually a nipper. Muhammed Owen demands to come back early and we get hot in the second half to spank Cal Poly 76-61, as stud recruit (comparatively) Eutropio Rey goes off for 20 points to win PotG. 10 points, 5 rebounds from Kevin McKenzie, 13 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals from Bogdan Gonchar. Suddenly we're 2-0 to start Big West play and everyone is wondering if we're going to be the surprise team of the year that no one saw coming. Oh, and we land our second and final recruit of the year. For some reason the transfer scholarship didn't roll over. Code:
Solid all-around player who looks like a slasher with maybe some 3 point shooting potential. Pretty darn good get if you ask me and we've had some decent luck the last couple recruiting classes. But it might be too late to save my bacon.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-17-2023, 12:27 AM
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#69 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
So we haven't exactly played the cream of the conference crop so far. UC-Riverside looks like the best squad in my opinion and I think 4th place is probably our best hope. It's kind of a weird year for the conference. Muhammed Owen turns in a flawless 6/6 shooting night for 12 points and 15 rebounds to take the top player honors in a 72-60 beat of Long Beach State. 17 points, 11 rebounds for Kevin McKenzie, and Jeromy Harrington, who was a surprise All-Freshman Big West selection last year, scores 10 points with 2 steals. The expected bubble burst happens when we flatline in the second half vs Hawaii. We then upset CSU-Fullerton 84-82 as Eutropio Rey scores 20 with 2 steals, Kevin McKenzie puts up 18/7/1 steal, Bogdan Gonchar is 16/9/1/2 steals, and Muhammed Owen is the best player with 13 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocks. 21 points and 2 steals from Kevin McKenzie (PotG), holding our opponents to 29.6% shooting later, we've upset UC-Davis 59-44. 14 points, 6 rebounds, and a steal from Bogdan Gonchar too as we've already equaled our 5 Big West wins from last season. I'm just gonna post this real quick because we'll probably never see it again: Code:
The funniest part? We're 1-6 at home. Yeah, like I said, really, really weird year. As expected, UC-Riverside reminds us the Highlanders are the class of the conference, whipping us by 26 points. We have the single greatest game of my career since the upset of #1 Stanford a few years back when we come back from down 15 to UC-Irvine to... well... Code:
Absolutely amazing. That's also a school record for single game assists, by the way. And of course that's followed up by heartbreak when UC-Santa Barbara hits a 3 point buzzer-beater to steal a win that belonged to us. That means 2-7 home record. We're in 2nd place, a game behind the Highlanders. We should be tied with them. Ugh. Stupid Gauchos.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-17-2023, 01:04 AM
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#70 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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The Gauchos' stunner over us leads to Hawaii rolling us up easily and the funk continues with a second half surrender to Long Beach State. From 6-2 to 6-5. Then 6-6 when our home rally against UC-Davis falls short.
Wild one against Fullerton: Code:
Been a minute since we've seen a game like that. Nevada-Reno pistolwhips us as anticipated, setting up a need to finish .500 in the Big West if we want 10 wins this year. UC-Riverside sends us to exactly that by beating us, and we promptly score 19 points in the first half by playing scared against UCSB. Second half collapse against UC-Irvine and now we need to win out. Remember when we were 5-1 in Big West play? Pepperidge Farm remembers. 20/6/2 from Kevin McKenzie as Best Guy, 15/5/2 from Bogdan Gonchar, 14 bench points from Eutropio Rey, and 10/8 with a steal from Muhammed Owen survives us 71-66 over Cal Poly. We're locked into the #7 seed for the Big West tournament no matter what happens, so bring it, Pacific. They do, beating us by 3. ...Fucking hell. Big West Conference Tournament We draw 2 seed UC-Davis and don't even try, meekly bowing out 54-75. Time to skip the postseason again. I'm demoralized. UC-Davis wins the whole thing and is a 13 seed against Florida State. You can guess how that ended. UC-Riverside is snubbed by the committee and promptly runs to the NIT championship game, where they're blitzed by almost 30 by 5 seed Bradley, preventing the third straight year the NIT was taken by a Big West team. Still, that's three straight NIT championships that have featured one of our teams. 7 seed Maryland beats 3 seed DePaul in one of the Final Four, 3 seed Oklahoma beating 9 seed Notre Dame in the other one. Bad Final Four for Catholic schools. Congrats, terpkirstin, as the Terrapins stun the Sooners 96-89 for the first national title (they made the Final Four the first season, too). Code:
Yep. Neither senior deserves a send-off, as combined they only started 8 games in the four years and lived up to their bust reputation. Code:
The good news: Major Ramirez indeed looks like the best player I've ever recruited. The bad news: Our prestige drops a second year in a row - from 28 to 27 and I'm in Danger. Do I get fired?.... Illinois State moves to the Big 12 and Texas Tech gets sent to the Missouri Valley. LOL. Do I get fired?... Nope! One.more.year. to try and save my job. In a year where most of the All-Big West players are seniors. Good luck, me.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-18-2023, 12:40 AM
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#71 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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We have a whopping 6 scholarships available, and of course we go 0-4 on every position that's not PG or SG, where we land two.
Code:
Really more of a 2, but he's a solid get who should be able to contribute right away even with our stacked backcourt. Red/Blue by initial scouting. Code:
With those awful handles, all-around defensive ability, and size, he projects as a SF. I'm honestly more excited for him than I am Serra, despite the lower Red/Green floor. Major Ramirez is willing to redshirt, but he projects as the starting PF right away and... yeah I have to be in as a true freshman. We need wins to keep the AD happy. We'll worry about this long-term instead.  You have to go back to the Velarde/Luther/Gem Rodriguez/Winston Reyes/Thomas Hadden senior season to find a lineup this out and out talented. That 2019 squad finished 19-12 (11-7) ranked #90, the only time in universe history the Matadors have finished in the Top 100. And yes, that's Major Ramirez at Yellow/Green as a true freshman, *and* he's one of our Key Players alongside Kevin McKenzie and Bogdan Gonchar. 72 Inside/83 Defense.. and paired with Muhammed Owen's 69 Defense/Blocking, this is our best defensive pair in the paint ever. It's a down year for the Big West at first glance, so I might actually get us to the Big Dance and save my job. @ NJIT The Highlanders are still an absolute joke of a team and this should be a cakewalk tuneup. Annnnd they go up 34-19 at the half, shooting 50% to our 30.8%. Unbelievable. We fight back and with 15 seconds left, Eutropio Rey sinks the jump shot to put us up. They miss the 3 pointer that would have taken the win. Box score is sorta crazy: Code:
So.much.foul.trouble. for our starting bigs. If that trend continues, we're in deep water, as Tim Grey is our only reliable bench big. @ Brown The Bears have profiled similarly to us - a mid-tier to below-average team in their conference, having a rough spot the last couple seasons. This should be a win but after nearly losing to NJIT, I take nothing for granted. Shooting continues to be a problem. We're down 1 at the half because we're shooting just 26.1% as a team. 28.8% for the game. Fuck this. We give up 135 points to UConn. Yeah. It's that kind of year. I'm already in quick summary mode. We wallop Eastern Kentucky after The Gauntlet, turning 22 points and 3 steals from PotG Kevin McKenzie, 12/8/4/4/3 from Tim Grey, 12 points and 2 steals from Bogdan Gonchar, and 11 points from Major Ramirez into an 84-67 victory. Major Ramirez has a coming out party of 20 points to go with Kevin McKenzie's 10 points and 3 steals as we come back to beat Kennesaw State 54-51 in a heartstopper, but then we lose Eutropio Rey for over a month. Not cool, but typical for our luck. Still, it's our first time in a few years we've actually gotten some wins in the non-conference slate. And we get back to .500 on the year with the most amazing game we've had in literal ages. Code:
Then it's this universe's Lafayette Leopards. No Graham Sims so their only postseason appearance is a first round NIT exit a few years ago. And they've been on a major downslide recently. Naturally they beat us when our offense completely dies. Beat Stony Brook 87-65 on 21 points from Kevin McKenzie, 18 points and 2 steals from Jakub Sedlacek, 14 points and a steal from Jeromy Harrington, and 10 points, a steal from Muhammed Owen. Top it off by losing Ned Fraser for 24 days and Tim Grey for a little over a week. Yes, we're back to the bullshit injuries parade. 16 points, 8 rebounds from Kevin McKenzie, 15 points, 2 steals from Bogdan Gonchar, and PotG Tim Grey's 12 points, 8 rebounds, 1 steal as he plays injured grinds out a 73-67 victory to give us an actual winning non-conference record. Oh, and 15 rebounds and a block from Muhammed Owen, who hasn't put up the stud boarding numbers I expected this year. We steal a 3* big man recruit. More excitement. Code:
Raw as hell, but whatever. We need bodies in the paint. Oh and Bogdan Gonchar's year is done. He got hit with an academic suspension at the worst possible time.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-19-2023, 04:08 AM
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#72 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
Losing Gonchar for the year pretty much kills our title hopes, I think. But we'll see. Jeromy Harrington steps in as the new starting SF, with raw freshman Jeffrey Aponte as his backup. It's an ugly one, but we eke out a 64-62 road win over UC-Irvine as Muhammed Owen puts up 16 points, 14 rebounds, and a block, Kevin McKenzie scores 15 with a block and a steal, and none other than Jeromy Harrington is PotG by going 11/12 from the line for 13 points, 4 assists, and 2 blocks to secure the victory. Exceptional defense and 21 points, a block, and a steal from Kevin McKenzie carries us to a comfortable 65-50 win over Pacific. We also get 13 rebounds, a block, and 4 steals from Muhammad Owen in the surprising rout over a bad team we usually play down to. Eutropio Rey and Ned Fraser are both back to playable in our next game vs Cal Poly, but will see limited if any minutes. Naturally we immediately fail to score in the last 3 minutes and blow another game we should have won. Getting real tired of that shit happening. And of course Kevin McKenzie is D2D injured on top of it when we have another game in two days. Getting real tired of the bullshit injuries too. 20 point blowout loss to UC-Riverside as expected due to all the suspensions and injuries. Then with everyone healthy, we abandon our press almost entirely on the advice of my assistants and get: Code:
Maybe it's what I should have done to begin with, I don't know. 20 points and 3 steals by PotG Jakub Sedlacek, Muhammad Owen with 12 points and 10 rebounds, 18 points, 2 blocks, a steal by Kevin McKenzie, and 12 and 11 bench points from Eutropio Rey and Jeromy Harrington, and we've got a huge road rout over UC-Davis that's critical for early season positioning in the Big West. Fucking HORSESHIT BUZZER-BEATER LOSS vs Hawaii in a game we owned. It's also bullshit that we even have to go to OT against the Gauchos, who are one of the conference's worst teams this year. But at least... Code:
We pick up recruit #4 on the year. He's trash by our scouting, but I'm betting on his Red/Red being a misfire. Code:
Yep, we finally add Australia to our list. Was bound to happen sooner or later.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-25-2023, 09:40 PM
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#73 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
Huge win, but we lose Kevin McKenzie for two weeks because of it. Jeromy Harrington back in the lineup and I forgot to mention Eutropio Rey shifted over to starting PG at some point during the morass of injuries. He, Harrington, and Major Ramirez are our three go-tos while McKenzie is out. UC-Riverside pulls away in the second half to blow us out, but then we do the same to Cal Poly on Jeromy Harrington's PotG 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 steals. Adding 12 points, 6 assists, 2 steals is Eutropio Rey, while Muhammed Owen bangs 13 boards and a blocked shot. Our defense collapses in the closing minutes vs UC-Davis, effectively ending our faint title hopes, though we do follow it up with this exciting win over CSU-Fullerton: Code:
One more win will lock in .500 for the conference and, at 15 overall wins, our best season since that 2019 dream year. We get it in a thrilling triumph in Hawaii that was a nail-biter to the end. Maybe our most complete offensive game of the year: Code:
Even a total losing out and a flameout in the first round of the Big West conference tournament would guarantee us a .500 overall season BULLSHIT 19 SECOND 3 POINTER IN OT COSTS US A WIN AGAINST LONG BEACH STATE AND THE TITLE!!!! UGH!! WE WERE RIGHT FUCKING BACK IN THE RACE TOO!!!! So pissed. So fucking PISSED! We were 9-5, the two teams above us at 10-5 as we'd climbed our way back in. Code:
Not great, and I expect the Red/Orange is accurate. Can't steal the ball, so doesn't meet our expectations or scheme there. But I like his defensive upside.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-26-2023, 12:03 AM
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#74 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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For the first time in school history, six players reach double-digit figures in a game. It's another close one:
Code:
You know the story by now of what happens when we're having a good season and we play Pacific. We lose, falling apart in OT. We keep losing in OT to bad teams and that's cost us our title. Muhammad Owen gets hurt, but he'll suck it up and play in our final game of the regular season, because it's so tightly packed behind regular season champion UC-Riverside, we could end up anywhere from 2nd to 5th. Our offense dies in the second half and we blow a 20 point lead at home to UC-Irvine, so it's... Code:
Imagine how much different this looks if Bogdan Gonchar doesn't get suspended for the conference season. Anyway, it's a rematch with UC-Irvine and we score 2 points in the first 10 minutes. We lose by 21. Code:
Probably trash. Whatever. We filled all six scholarships and I'm likely fired anyway. UC-Irvine proved they were the goods by winning the whole thing, beating Winthrop in the 16 seed play-in game, then getting slaughtered by top seed Maryland. UC-Riverside got a harsh draw in the NIT as a 7 seed and were bounced in the first round. Like I said, down year for the Big West. NIT Champion: New Mexico (1 seed) NCAA Champion: Kentucky over Stanford (4 seed who also knocked off Maryland in the Final Four. Louisville was the other FF entry) Code:
No surprises here. Major Ramirez had a case for being on the All-Freshman team, but I can see why they went Eck in the voting.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Last edited by Izulde : 05-26-2023 at 12:04 AM. |
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05-26-2023, 12:05 AM
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#75 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
Good player, but not as good as Thomas Hadden, whom I still consider the greatest one ever to put on a Matadors uniform. Ranked #1 in CSU-Northridge career rebounds and offensive rebounds and is #5 in both categories in the Big West career records. More the benefit of a fast-paced system and four years than anything else. He's headed to Cambridge for grad school. Code:
5th all-time in school history scoring. Got accepted into a doctoral program at USC, where he'll pursue his PhD in astrophysics. Code:
Limited talent and barely graduated. Never quite grew into his potential and he'll head back to the Czech Republic, joining the workforce and probably never coming back. Code:
What a waste. Was supposed to be the crown jewel of the Internationals class and instead... yeah. He goes back to Russia rather than stay to finish his degree. Fucking Gonchar. Code:
He peaked in high school. Half the time I forgot he even had a scholarship. Going back home to work on the family farm.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-26-2023, 12:20 AM
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#76 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
It figures. We put together our first Top 100 class in school history... and it's in a year where the Big West has *5* Top 100 classes - the most in any year (the previous record was 4 all the way back in 2014). The Highlanders' 58th ranked class is 5th all-time, and they own most of the Top 5. Long Beach State had the #38 class in 2019 and CSU-Fullerton had #43 in 2017 for the non-Highlander classes. Our prestige climbs back up to 29 after two years of sliding back. At #226, Brian Klingensmith is our highest rated recruited in school history, but I think Robert Serra, who continues our long line of quality point guard recruits, might end up having the best career of anyone. In fact, I think he's a Day One starter as a SG. I'd do a recruiting map, but I'm waiting to see if I get fired first. I do not! Map later.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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05-30-2023, 01:26 PM
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#77 | |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Madison, WI
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Quote:
IIRC, the game mechanic in play here is that there's a 15-man roster limit in addition to a 13-scholarship limit. When you carry an open scholarship into a new season, you get an extra walk-on to fill that seat. You'd have to cut a walk-on before training camp to get the scholarship+roster space back. |
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05-31-2023, 07:59 PM
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#78 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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  Not pictured: Our freshman Australian since 1. he's an outlier and 2. at Red/Red he's unlikely to see any playing time. As you can see, we've recruited almost exclusively from California this cycle (Dark Blue) and in particular have hit the local area more than any other cycle combined (7 to 6 total the first two cycles). 3*: 5 2*: 6 1*: 1 200-300: 2 300-400: 1 400-500: 3 500-600: 1 600-700: 2 1500+: 1 #264 (Eutropio Rey) and #273 (Major Ramirez) would both beat the last two cycles' top players in terms of ranking. All told, this is the most successful recruiting cycle we've ever had. But it hasn't yet translated into sustained success, last year's best campaign since 2019 aside. We go 1 of 2 in our first round of recruiting efforts, and I'd rather have the big man we got because post players are at a premium in this world: Code:
Feels good to beat out all those other Big West schools for a guy who looks raw, but promising. Major Ramirez is again willing to redshirt, but we need wins and he's our best player, so no, dude. I appreciate you, though.  On paper, the color dropoff doesn't look that big from last season, and our overall depth is probably the strongest it's ever been. But I have questions about our starting lineup's perimeter defense. Robert Serra is indeed a gem of a find and looks to be a key part of our scheme. No pressure this year in terms of generating turnovers and I'm fine with that, since we're running an up-tempo, slashing system. Eutropio Rey is PotG with 21 points and a steal in our 76-43 rout of Seattle. 12 points, 5 rebounds, a steal from Robert Serra in his collegiate debut. Major Ramirez and Tim Grey score 13 points and grab 13 boards respectively, adding a steal and 2 blocks, 1 steal a piece. Bullshit 80-82 loss to South Dakota where we led the entire game pretty much. Hate that when the game goes lol we're going to give you a crap loss out of nowhere
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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06-09-2023, 03:23 PM
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#79 | |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Quote:
That was it, thanks. 
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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06-09-2023, 03:56 PM
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#80 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
Great looking defender out the jump if this is accurate. Has the size and skillset to honestly say he's probably a 2 or even a 3 rather than a 1. He'd have the best jumper on our team right now if this is accurate - that tends to be a rating I ignore (probably to my detriment). Anyway, the gauntlet goes as you might expect. Defense and Major Ramirez (17 points, 11 rebounds, a steal, PotG) are the keys to a 9-point win over Kennesaw State. Supporting our star big is Eutropio Rey and Jeromy Harrington with 15 points and 13 points, 1 block respectively, while Tim Grey hits the glass for 12 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal. Man Middaugh of Stony Brook almost single-handedly defeats us with 38 points, 6 assists, and 5 steals, but we comeback to steal a win over the Seawolves due to Eutropio Rey's school-record setting 21 points, 12 assists, and 7 rebounds. First time we've had a double-double involving assists. Jeromy Harrington also scores 21 and adds a block and a steal. Robert Serra scores 17 with a steal, Tim Grey puts up 13 points and a block, and Major Ramirez's shot isn't falling, so he settles for 11 rebounds instead. And then we go 7 minutes without scoring a single point in the second half vs Oakland, ruining another comeback bid and tanking our RPI. We further blow it up by handing IPFW their first win of the season, letting the Mastadons shoot and make whatever they feel like. The good feelings that we might have a decent season are quickly evaporating. Turnovers kill us in a shootout against Mount St. Mary's and only Eutropio Rey's wonderful 15 point/8 assist/7 rebound/2 steal PotG line, Major Ramirez's inefficien5 18 points, and Jeromy Harrington's 13 points and a block against Wright State on Christmas Eve stem the bleeding to make it a half-ass respectable 4-7 nonconference finish. And then we get some pretty damn big news. Code:
At #253, Hardie is the highest ranked recruit we've ever had. Let's hope his high school stats aren't a barometer of what he'll produce in college, though. Those are some pretty ugly looking numbers. Oh, and Jeffrey Aponte is our first scholarship player to get mad about PT. Sorry, Jeffy, but Jeromy Harrington is simply playing way better than you. Jeromy graduates this year, so you'll get your shot next season, whether I'm still here or not (probably not).
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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06-14-2023, 08:22 PM
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#81 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
This feels like the most wide open the Big West has ever been. My gut is any number of teams taking the title wouldn't surprise me. UC-Santa Barbara has a star player in Virgil Hudgins, but the Gauchos are garbage outside of that. Not even a lot of green guys in the league right now. We nearly blow a 20+ point second half lead, but Eutropio Rey carries us to an 80-72 win over UC-Irvine with 29 points. [b]Major Ramirez[/b just misses the double-double with 14 points, 9 boards, Jeromy Harrington scores 10 with 7 rebounds, and Robert Serra chips in 12. And of course Tim Grey gets hurt and is out 18 days. Then we lose to CSU-Fullerton when our offense dies in the second half and Paul Mattson is out 20 days. It always happens like this. Just when we finally look like we're going to have a potential breakthrough season, injuries start devastating us. 29 points, 8 rebounds by Jeromy Harrington and 10 points, a block by Major Ramirez allow us to grind out a 64-60 win over Cal Poly. And then we hand UC-Riverside their first conference loss of the year, 79-71 at their place on Major Ramirez's 23 points and a steal. Jeromy Harrington scores 14 with 6 assists and a block, and Eutropio Rey, who is probably my favorite player to put on a Matador uniform, adds in 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists. The junior has really come into his own this season and might just surpass Dennis Luther as the greatest guard in school universe history. Tim Grey is a game-time decision to come back against Hawaii with our first crack in a while at .500 overall. The Rainbow Warriors throw all 13 players in at one point or other, but we escape with 72-68 win as Jeromy Harrington goes off for 31 points, 2 blocks, and a steal, Major Ramirez scores 11, and Eutropio Rey gets 15 points and 2 steals. Paul Mattson could play against UC-Davis, but I opt to keep him out as he's only at 85%. End result? Code:
Right choice, as it turns out. I'm nervous playing against Virgil Hudgins and I'm right, as he torches us for 35 points and our win streak is snapped against the Gauchos. All the starters except Eutropio Rey scores 10+ points in a blowout win over Pacific, with walk-on sophomore big man Conrad Magee scoring 10 bench points. There's a shot to have one of our best, if not -the- best first Big West half in school history vs. Long Beach State, so of course we shoot 32.4% and piss that opportunity away in a 6-point loss. Code:
Nice first half. But we're still the only team to have beaten the Highlanders, so they'll probably walk away with the title with ease, barring injuries.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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06-14-2023, 09:38 PM
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#82 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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On the bright side, we get our second game against UC-Riverside out of the way right away. On the even brighter side?
Code:
But of course, Eutropio Rey gets injured and will play limited minutes our next game. We promptly go out and shoot 18.8% in the first half with just 8 points to lose to Cal Poly, which should have been a gimme. Hilariously, Paul Dyer gets hurt and is out 56 days. All five starters score 12+ points in a comeback win against UC-Davis, headlined by Tim Grey's 16 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Eutropio Rey scores 18 with 2 steals in a road rout of Hawaii. We also see 17, 14, and 10 points from Major Ramirez, Jeromy Harrington (also a block and a steal), and Ned Fraser respectively, while Tim Grey just misses a double-double with 8 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal. Unfortunately, Paul Mattson is hurt for the second time this season and is out 32 days. The injury rate this year has been ridiculous. Still, it feels good to have .500 in conference play wrapped up this early. It's the first time we've gone at least .500 in the Big West for two straight seasons. And of course fucking Pacific beats us at our own fucking home on a fucki;;ng B ULLSHIT BUZZER BEATER!!!! FUCK THAT!!!!! And then we blow a 10 point fucking lead to the Gauchos to also lose at home in OT. Horse fucking shit. God fucking damn it. This happens every fucking time we actually look like having a fucking good season shit fucking MELTS DOWN Major Ramirez and Jeromy Harrington get sick of the losing and combine for 37 points and a steal each as we punch Long Beach State in the mouth at their place. Tim Grey adds 10 points, 3 blocks, and a steal, as we clinch a winning Big West season for two straight years for the first time in this universe. It's a hollow accomplishment. Those bullshit losses cost us our shot at the title. Now our best hope is probably third place. Congratulations to Robert Serra: Code:
Our first freshman to win a Player of the Game award in a long time, and it's our third OT game this year. We've gone 2-1 in them. We've also clinched 11-7 in Big West play, which is what we had in 2017 and 2019, our two best seasons to date. I *believe* third place is sewn up with the tiebreaker edge over Hawaii and no shot at taking UC-Santa Barbara for second due to the same reasons. UC-Riverside has already clinched the championship of course. Eutropio Rey scores 16 in our blowout of CSU-Fullerton, with Major Ramirez and Jeromy Harrington each scoring 10 - Harrington had 2 steals, too. And then LOL. Ned Fraser is out 26 days and Robert Serra is day-to-day. I continue to be completely FUCKED by the injury bug whenever we're going well. Anyway, we've posted a guaranteed winning record for two straight seasons, another universe history first. Big West Conference Tournament We're the 3 seed against UC-Davis with a slew of injuries. Robert Serra still isn't back to full health, and Paul Mattson is only back to DTD. The Aggies are pounding our asses but we fight back to get into the game, going ahead with just under 4 minutes to play. They take the lead and then we get it back. 10 seconds left. Major Ramirez fouls out. Aggies hit 1 of 2 and it's tied 67-all. Brian Klingensmith, the true freshman big I wanted to redshirt drives. He goes up for the shot at the left baseline with 1 second left and is fouled. Misses the first. Hits the second! And we advance to the second round of the Big West tournament for only the second or maybe third time in universe school history. It's Klingensmith's only point of the game. But it was Eutropio Rey who carried the team on his back. 21 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal. Supporting him: Tim Grey with a big 15 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal of his own. Long Beach State upset Hawaii 70-68, but otherwise it's all chalk, which means UC-Santa Barbara and Virgil Hudgins again. And then a beautiful thing happens. Virgil Hudgins gets in foul trouble and goes 2-11 besides, and we're going to the Big West title game!!!!!. 70-60 win anchored by Major Ramirez's PotG 16 point, 12 rebound, and a steal effort, Eutropio Rey's 19 points, block, and steal, and Jeromy Harrington's 12 points. Long Beach State shocked UC-Riverside 65-54 and we have a very, very real shot at finally getting to the Big Dance. But it won't be easy. The Beach plays nasty, tough defense, and they've already beaten us once this season. And in the series split, both games were single-digit decisions. But then Jeromy Harrington got pissed off. Code:
It's a blowout win and we're going to the NCAA Tournament!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOLY HELL, FINALLY! AT LAST, AT LAST WE'RE GOING TO THE BIG DANCE!!! PROBABLY AS A 16 SEED PLAY-IN BUT I DON'T EVEN CARE!!!!!!
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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06-15-2023, 01:03 AM
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#83 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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 The Iowa Hawkeyes are the #13 team in the country. They've made the Big Dance every year except 2017, when they were shut out. And they still had a winning record that season. Lost in the NCAA Championship in 2016 and made the Final Four in 2020. 95 prestige. Looking at their roster, I feel like their starting lineup isn't fantastic. The issue is they go 8 deep in green, 11 deep in yellow, and 13 deep in orange. The team also boasts the #4 recruit in the country, C Arthur Lake, whom despite playing off the bench already has 2 Player of the Game nods to his credit. The #5 recruit, PF Robert Dunning is averaging just under 10 minutes a game. Their roster is absolutely stacked with Mr. Basketballs from the Midwest, including the last two years Missouri Mr. Basketballs. 3 of these Hawkeyes have been 5* recruits, though none of them has cracked the lineup yet. Definitely a team on the ascendant the next few years. UC-Riverside is a 4 seed in the NIT; UC-Santa Barbara a 7 seed - both in the West region. Hawaii is a 6 seed in the South. Really surprised the Rainbow Warriors made it in - nothing in their profile said NIT team to me. The Gauchos if you squint I can kinda see. We take a 4 point halftime lead and a lot of TVs on turned on to the game, but their depth takes over in the second half when Major Ramirez and Eutropio Rey have major foul trouble. Very proud of these boys - they threw a scare into a far more talented team and nearly broke open some brackets. Code:
Hell of a game by Paul Mattson, too, stepping in for Rey. He was thankfully back to full health by the game, so he was able to keep the show running. UC-Riverside knocked off Southern Miss, and Virgil Hudgins led the Gauchos to a stunning blowout of Holy Cross. As expected, Hawaii was a first-round bounce. Not all surprised when Iowa got bounced by 7 seed DePaul in the next round. Like I said, the Hawkeyes' starting lineup didn't impress me. UC-Riverside falls to top seed Lipscomb in the next round, but UC-Santa Barbara keeps the train rolling to the NIT Final Four, where they're ousted by 2 seed West Virgina, the Mountaineers then losing by 39 to top-seed Auburn in the championship. Over in the Big Dance it's: 1 seed Oklahoma vs 8 seed Michigan State 2 seed Tennessee vs 3 seed Georgia Sooners-Volunteers final and Oklahoma trounces Tennessee 81-45 for the Sooners' first title after they lost in the championship two years ago. Code:
You have to go back to that 2019 team to find the last time we were this decorated a squad. Reinaldo "Gem" Gonzalez and Winston Reyes were all 1st Team All-Big West; the incomparable Thomas "Block Gawd" Hadden and Joseph Velarde as 2nd Team All-Big West. That was also the year I won Big West Coach of the Year. All four of those were seniors. Eutropio "Trop King" Rey and Major Ramirez are a junior and sophomore respectively. Like I said, Ramirez is probably the greatest player ever to be a Matador, with apologies to Hadden and the Trop King. Code:
A lot of these stats are down to the 9 Pace we ran most of the season. The FTs surprises me, as I've continued to ignore that in recruiting. Not surprising - our steals/blocks numbers being so bad. I quit recruiting that the last few years and started focusing more on just straight up defense in the relevant positions. We didn't press at all this year and had our best showing yet. I'm looking forward to the bar fights in Northridge over which team was better - 2019 or 2025. You can make a case for either one. So we know I won't be fired. But will other schools come calling? And will I take the offers? Seniors first.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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06-15-2023, 01:50 AM
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#84 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
I always thought he was a better player than my assistants gave him credit for and forced him into the lineup. Ended up a three-year starter, taking a back seat last season to Muhammed Owen. Finished 4th in Matador career rebounds, behind the Fish Knight, 2nd in offensive rebounds behind only Owen, and well-solidly in 2nd place in blocks behind the Block Gawd. He wasn't the flashiest player but he maximized his talent, and I would consider him the second-best center of my tenure behind Hadden. He gets a job working construction in Northridge after graduation because the money's just too good and will definitely be a part of the reunion parties. Code:
It was last season when he started some games with injuries that I realized Jeromy is one of those all-around players who doesn't necessarily stand out in anything, but quite simply makes the guys around him better. Didn't start until his senior year, but what a hell of a year it was. One of only four players in Matador history to have a 30+ point game. The others were Joseph Velarde, Gem Gonzalez, and The Butterfly Man. He finishes 6th all-time in Matador scoring, 8th in rebounds, 10th in assists, and tied for 9th in blocks. Fitting for the type of do-everything glue-guy persona he embodied. Jeromy got a job offer from Los Angeles Senior High School to teach English and coach the basketball team, so maybe we'll see one of his recruits join us at some point. Code:
And then there's Mattson. He was supposed to be one of the next good point guards but he just never developed into his potential and ended up a rotation piece. After graduation, he's going into a sales job at one of the tech companies in the area.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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06-15-2023, 03:49 AM
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#85 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
One of our better recruiting classes on paper, due largely to Hardie. Demetrius Delozier and Cesar Wisdom look like incredible players - especially Delozier. I bump up to Level 2 as a result of our tournament appearance. Last time I split 10/10 between Offense and Defense, but our recruiting has gotten better, so that improves 2 points. Offense has really powered our two winning seasons, so that gets 14 points, with the other 4 going to Defense, which is still my calling card. Recruiting: 52 Scouting: 10 Offense: 24 Defense: 54 Still haven't necessarily hit on finding gems - I've just managed to be able to coach guys up to their level - especially defensively. Our prestige increases 5 points to 34, and the AD is so thrilled he found money both for a budget increase *and* a facilities improvement (at 10 rated, it's still the worst digs right now in the Big West, though Pacific is only just ahead at 11. #1? UC-Santa Barbara at 53 rated facilities). Another year with no conference movement. $21,780 goes into the recruiting budget, giving us just short of more than $4,000 a month to play with than we had last season. AD wants a repeat NCAA appearance, though that might be a tough sell with Grey and Harrington both graduated. I get my first job offer! The Idaho State Bengals, at 57 prestige, are the top team in the Big Sky, a 3 prestige conference that frankly doesn't deserve it by the color ratings of the rosters. They were also a first round NCAA exit last year, winning 22 games. The Bengals also made the Big Dance in 2017, and made the NIT in 2016, 2022, and 2024. All but 2022 (second round NIT showing) were one and done. 33 rated facilities, 4th in the Big Sky. Truthfully, the conference should be a 2 prestige, so I might need to turn on Prestige Changes. The kicker? There's the expectation to win a conference title right off the bat - something that I've never done. Ultimately, I turn down the offer. I just don't want that kind of pressure. Similar offers come from Texas-San Antonio and Middle Tennessee State (The Blue Raiders expect a Sweet 16!) And then there's a huge flood of offers. Throwing out the Win the conference or play in the Big Dance... North Dakota State I hear PilotMan laughing from here. The Bison want a .500 record in the Summit. Never made the postseason, 33 prestige team (though like us, they've had winning seasons the last two years), 15 rated facilities are 7th in the conference. 5 seniors and a couple raw, but promising underclassmen. I'd have a chance to remake this roster in my image in a hurry. The downside? The talent gap between them and the rest of the conference looks huge. I'm honestly not sure this is a better situation than the one I'm in other than the lower pressure. Wyoming I went there for a semester IRL, but I'm not playing against UNLV every year, as much as I enjoyed Laramie. Hard pass. Hi, Young Drachma! That said, they've got a couple good seniors and a really nice looking freshman class, so this would otherwise be tempting - especially since I'm only expected to *compete* for the Mountain West title. 58 prestige, though the Cowboys haven't been to a postseason since 2018 (2 Big Dance tickets - both first round exits - and an NIT 2nd round appearance in the first year of the universe). Wagner .500 conference record and this one looks a lot more doable. Made the NIT last year - only their second postseason appearance (also NIT). The Northeast isn't a great conference. 44 Prestige, though at 9 rated, their facilities are even worse than ours. Problem is, I took Wagner in my women's basketball dynasty, and I don't like going back to the same well. Colorado "Avoid last place in the conference." Sure. In the Pac-12. Where I'm even more outclassed as a coach than the Big West. As tempting as it is, I'm nowhere near ready for that jump. UL-Lafayette The Ragin' Cajuns only want a .500 record. 46 prestige. 7 scholarship freshmen with PG Daniel Merchant looking a potential house if he can get past the fact that he's stupid. Back-to-back one and done appearances in 2021-22 in the NCAA tournament and that's been the highlight. 12 Facilities, which is worst in the Sun Belt. This is a tempting offer. But I hate the logo, so no. NDSU is a no, too, after further thought. Sorry, PM. I don't want the pressure of trying to build the Bison into something and disappointing you if I fail. I'll save the file, though, in case you want me to send it to you, or for me to start an Alternative Universe. A couple more Win the conference from Montana State, Army and Cleveland State which are easy passes. And so we're back for another year of Matadors basketball!  This is the greatest defensive team I've ever assembled. The Big West looks up this year, but I feel like we'll be in the thick of things. But only if we can avoid injury to our big men. Levi Ulrich getting suspended hurts our already really, really weak post depth. Bryant makes it scary, but we pull off the 81-73 win on the Trop King's 19 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Major Ramirez and Robert Serra both put up 15 points and 9 rebounds, with Serra getting a steal to boot. Jeremiah Hardie has 10/5/1 steal in his collegiate debut and shoutout also to Ned Fraser for his 8 points and 4 steals off the bench. And of course we start off with a Brian Klingensmith injury. He's DTD by our next game against Austin Peay but he has to play. 16-7-5-1-1 by PotG Eutropio Rey, 12 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists by Robert Serra, Jeremiah Hardie with 12 points, a block, and a steal, and 15 points, 9 rebounds from Major Ramirez later, we've put away the pesky Governors 71-62. Very nice start to the season. Gauntlet is up next, and of course it's probably all downhill from here, but, you know. It is what it is. So far, I'm feeling good about my decision to stick around for the Trop King's senior season.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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06-15-2023, 11:34 AM
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#86 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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The gauntlet goes as expected. Blowout losses.
We only had one recruit this year, and you all remember how the Brian Lowry disaster went the last time we were in this situation. But have no fear because this time... Code:
At #215, we have a new record for the highest ranked recruit landed in universe history. Red/Blue and I'm absolutely agog with how good this guy looks. We were battling the Mustangs for his services all year long and stole The Butler out from underneath them. They're absolutely fuming at this defeat. Robert Serra has 29 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals to win Player of the Game in an 88-82 victory over Longwood that saw us endure two cold stretches where we couldn't hit anything. Eutropio Rey adds 27 points and 3 steals of his own and Brian Klingensmith adds 11 points and a steal. Our stars outperformed the Lancers' balance. That sends our RPI up to a Blue 40, the highest it's ever been this late in the season. We damn near blow an 18 point lead against Houston Baptist but come out 89-81 wins when the Trop King scores 25 with 6 rebounds and 7 assists. Robert Serra and Jeremiah Hardie each score 16 with our surprise freshman sensation adding 6 rebounds and a block besides. Perennial in the wings guard Ned Fraser scores 11 with 2 steals. 33 RPI! as we face off vs Radford and they down us 75-84 in a game that was never actually that close. I'm not upset by the loss - we were due to finally drop one against a non-Gauntlet side, and the Highlanders look like they have their best team in years. Our offense really struggles in the early going vs High Point but we claw back for a thriller 76-71 win that flatters us. Robert Serra takes PotG with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and a steal, Eutropio Rey scores 20, and Major Ramirez has his first great game in a while with 15 points, 10 rebounds. A win in either of our final two games gives us a winning record in non-conference play and we get it by going box-to-wire in a 97-80 triumph vs Savannah State. The Tigers are declawed by PotG Jeremiah Hardie's 22 points, 5 rebounds, with Major Ramirez beasting for a 19 point, 14 rebound double-double, Robert Serra scoring 19, Eutropio "Trop King" Rey having a bad shooting night but still posting 10-7-7-1 block line, and Conrad Magee with 8 points, 12 rebounds, and a steal off the bench. Our best walk-on since Rickie Burns. Despite the victory our RPI drops to 113 because who have we really beaten? Nor is Utah State a powerhouse team, as we wipe the floor with the Aggies, with every starter but Eutropio Rey scoring 11 or more. Jeremiah Hardie scores 19 with a steal, but it's Major Ramirez's 18 points and a steal that wins PotG in the 85-68 win. Shoutout also to Robert Serra's 15 points, 7 rebounds, and a steal. And then we get horrible, awful, bad no-good news. Eutropio "Trop King" Rey out 49 days Never.fucking.fails. Code:
And this is the best we've looked, too, heading into the conference season. Before the injury. I'm just sick. UC-Riverside is going to stroll to a repeat conference title. Heartbreaking 70-76 loss to Hawaii. I'm so pissed I want to cry and scream. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!!!! EVERY SINGLE DAMN TIME! We just look totally lost without our star point guard.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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06-15-2023, 12:32 PM
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#87 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Major Ramirez scores 18 with 10 rebounds and a steal as we blow a lead to Long Beach State and need Cesar Wisdom to foul out before we can escape with a 74-66 win. Wisdom had 18 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals, and shut down Robert Serra. I'm totally bailing after this season, I swear. Anywhere Jeremiah Hardie is our lead scorer with 19 points and a steal.
We're just hoping to limit the damage as much as possible until the Trop King returns. Instead, it's blowout loss to UC-Santa Barbara, heartbreak 3 point loss to UC-Riverside, before an ugly 65-50 win over UC-Irvine, where Major Ramirez has 15 and 11 with 2 steals for PotG, Ned Fraser scores 14 with 5 rebounds and 3 steals, and Robert Serra puts up 13 with 4 steals. I'm still feeling glum, but a tiny bit better after Major Ramirez produces a second straight double-double of 20 points, 12 rebounds and PotG award as we narrowly avoid blowing a lead in a 76-72 win over UC-Davis. Also helping is Robert Serra (17 points, 11 rebounds), Ned Fraser (13 points, 6 rebounds, a steal), and a rare 11 point, 2 steal bench showing by Rene Abbott. Things get out of hand early against CSU-Fullerton and we have to come back to make it a single digit loss. Thrilling game against Pacific and we win 67-66 when Ned Fraser scores the go-ahead bucket with 5 seconds left and the Tigers' shot clangs off the rim. Fraser had 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals, but it's Major Ramirez's 18 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 steals that's PotG before he fouls out. Brian Klingensmith just misses the double with 9 points, 12 rebounds, and a block, while Rene Abbott has 10 points, 5 rebounds, and a block - showing a little bit of life off the bench during this horror run. Cal Poly is absolutely itching to knock us off after we stole The Butler from them, but Major Ramirez's 14 points, 13 rebounds, and block say no in an ugly 50-48 win. I said when he came in that the Major is the best player we've ever landed and it's shown that this month, as we close out the first half with a 5-4 Big West mark despite no Trop King. Code:
Okay, so we're basically playing for third place again. I'm okay with that. How did the Gauchos fall so far in prestige? From 2019-2024, they were a mediocre to terrible team, crashing from 47 to 30 before they got back on the upswing last year. We survived the first half due to defense, defense, defense, because our offense is not it without [b]Eutropio Rey[/b's comparatively wizardly passing at the helm running it. To say nothing of his explosive scoring.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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06-15-2023, 01:59 PM
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#88 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Eutropio Rey is at 82% in a key game against UC-Santa Barbara and will dress as the 6th man. What follows is one of the most thrilling games of my coaching career. When the whistle blows?
Code:
UC-Santa Barbara's first conference loss of the year as everyone was utterly inspired by the Trop King's return. What an absolutely beautiful, important win. Our RPI skyrockets to 127 following that victory and Eutropio Rey resumes his throne. He scores 24 points with a steal in a 73-59 win over UC-Irvine, but it's Major Ramirez's 19 points, steal, and 3 blocks that gets PotG. Robert Serra has 10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals. We look like a totally different team now. Until UC-Riverside crushes us by almost 30. Just one of those games where literally nothing was going in the basket for us. The Highlanders have pretty much sewn up the title with that one, I think. CSU-Fullerton matches up very well against us, and it takes every one of Robert Serra's 28 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, block, and 5 steals to emerge 78-75 winners. The Trop King scores 18 with 5 rebounds as we survive an awful shooting night from Major Ramirez, who does still finish with 12 rebounds. Utter HORESHIT 1 POINT LOSS VS UC-DAVIS! Fucking bullshit buzzer-beater 3 pointers!!!! And then we don't score for the final 3 minutes against Cal Poly, the Mustangs getting their revenge finally. Everyone's pissed and we beat Pacific's ass 91-54 with Major Ramirez (PotG, 9 rebounds, a steal) and Eutropio Rey (6 assists) each scoring 20, Jeremiah Hardie with 13/5/2 steals, and Ned Fraser 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals off the bench. That clinches .500 in Big West for the third straight season. Weird game vs Hawaii. We escape with the 68-67 win when Rene Abbott tips in Eutropio Rey's miss and there isn't enough time for the Rainbow Warriors to set up a desperation heave that works. Hawaii left 12 points at the charity stripe and we were fortunate to win. Abbott scored 11 off the bench, but it's Major Ramirez's 14 points, 9 rebounds, and steal that is Player of the Game, even though it should have gone to Hawaii's 20 point scorer. Eutropio Rey scores 12 as we clinch our third straight season of a winning Big West record and long ago nailed our third straight overall winning season. A second consecutive third place finish is locked in, so there's really nothing to play for against Cesar Wisdom. We blow out The Beach anyway, 89-58. Every starter but Brian Klingensmith scores at least 12 points, with Robert Serra the best player on the court due to his 28 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal. Major Ramirez chimes in with 17 points and a steal. Big West Tournament As the 3 seed, we get the absolutely worst possible matchup for us in Hawaii as the 6 seed. They should have swept us in the season series and I'm not feeling good about this one AT ALL. It's a back and forth game and a really, really strange box score and Player of the Game decision. Here's the tape: Code:
That's a really flattering score for us. We could have just as easily lost this one, but we pounded out the win. Everything goes chalk, though Cal Poly threw a scare into UC-Davis in the 4-5 matchup, only losing by 2. So we draw UC-Santa Barbara and the Gauchos are going to demand satisfaction. For our part, a win gets us our first 20 win campaign of my coaching career. You know that sinking feeling when your team pisses away an 18 point second half lead? I do, and I watched and nearly broke a clipboard as I watched the Gauchos march right back. This is not what I taught them! 27 seconds left on the clock and it's tied...  God bless Major Ramirez. The team mobs him after he sinks both free throws to make it a 75-71 final. No question he was Player of the Game - 20 points, 13 rebounds, and that oh so vital steal. Eutropio Rey scores 15 points with 11 assists, 7 rebounds, and a steal of his own, making him the first player in Matadors history to have back-to-back double-doubles with assists, and Ned Fraser is a perfect 4/4 for 10 bench points. UC-Davis nearly does us the favor of upsetting UC-Riverside, but that dream scenario doesn't happen, as the Aggies fall 80-82. Conrad Magee is DTD, so he moves down the depth chart and my assistant draws up a balls to the wall, 10 pace special scheme to use against the Highlanders. We don't have much chance against UC-R, but damned if we won't give it everything. Down by 3 at the half.. and then in the second 20 minutes, we suddenly can't miss a single shot. It's the most beautiful display of Matadors basketball I've ever seen in my entire life and I'm just awestruck. Shot after shot after shot drops and we force them to go deep into their bench as we rack up the fouls against them. I'm crying tears of joy when I look at the final box score: Code:
CSU-Northridge. Big West Conference Tournament Champions. Again. For the second straight season, the Matadors are going dancing. Every sense that we were a title contender, that this year's team was even better than last season's comparatively storied squad, has been vindicated. And we did it overcoming a major injury to Eutropio "Trop King" Rey, my favorite player (even though Major Ramirez is still the best player, even over Thomas "Block Gawd" Hadden.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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06-15-2023, 07:59 PM
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#89 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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 Once again we're in the West region, this time as a #13 seed. UC-Riverside makes the Big Dance as an At-Large team, the first time we've had two Big West teams in the tournament I think. They're an 8 seed in the East, so not only the first time we've had an at-large bid, but the first time one of the conference is favored. And the Big West is still searching for its first NCAA win. Also for the first time ever, the Big West is nowhere to be found in the NIT. Feels like UC-Santa Barbara got snubbed here - the Gauchos had a 120 RPI and deserved consideration. Louisville is the #10 ranked team. Their post players are only decent, and the Cardinals as a whole suffer from really post defense. Perimeter defense is absolutely phenomenal, though, and their backcourt is excellent. Likely a loss here, but they're also not as deep as last year's Iowa opponent. We were actually within 2, 42-44, at one point in the second half, but Major Ramirez fouled out with just 18 minutes played. And without our one potential outside shot at an upset on the court, they won going away. Code:
Zero shame in this loss. The Cardinals are just a really good team, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them in the Final Four. Louisville loses by 8 in the next round to LSU. But we have our first Big West Big Dance win as UC-Riverside tops 9 seed Syracuse 63-57 in front of a partisan Orangemen crowd! They get steamrolled by tk's top seed Terrapins the next round, but Maryland mauls everyone on their way to the Final Four, where they face 3 seed defending champion Oklahoma. Over on the other side, it's 1 seed Stanford vs 3 seed Florida State. Cardinal-Terrapins final and Stanford wins their second title with ease, 82-63. Missed opportunity for the Terps to win their third title, though they did go back-to-back in 2022 and 2023. Code:
Code:
What an absolutely banner year from an awards standpoint. No disagreements with not getting Coach of the Year. It's the second time we've had the Big West Freshman of the Year and very first time we've had a Big West Player of the Year, and I'm totally thrilled. Fantastic way for the Trop King to go out. More on his career next.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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06-15-2023, 08:46 PM
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#90 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
The most decorated player in Matador universe history by far. He finishes 2nd all-time in school history scoring, and were it not for his major injury senior year, he would have ranked 1st and finally dethroned Angel Moore. Where he is the undisputed king - 445 assists, demolishing Dennis Luther's old record of 286. That's also good for 4th all-time in Big West assists, behind three CSU-Fullerton players who have 490, 491, and 491. But he also finished 10th in school rebounding and tied for 9th in offensive rebounding as a point guard, which is just incredible. He put his name in for the draft. If he isn't selected, I've offered him the position of my coaching assistant with an eye to making him an assistant coach in a couple years' time. He said he'll take that.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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06-16-2023, 01:37 AM
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#91 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
Expected ranking when you only have one player. No surprise that Beadle isn't nearly as good as scouted - it's rare that I've underscouted a player. Most times it's overscouting. Basically, he looks a lot like the big man version of Jeromy Harrington, only a little bit better. AD wants a Big West regular season title. Does he think Eutropio Rey is still playing? Our facilities have bumped to 17, which is good for 8th in the conference. Our prestige increased another 5 points, now at 39. We're now the third-most prestigious team in the conference behind UC-Riverside and UC-Davis. But I think it's time for me to go. Andrew Morgan is wanting a raise and I'm not that inclined to give it to him. He's been a pretty bad scout, even though the raise is only $10,000 and we have plenty of room in the budget to afford it. I just feel like everything is tallying up for me to jump ship - we're going to take a massive step backwards this year and the pipeline is looking pretty grim because a lot of the bench guys haven't developed as expected due to lack of significant PT. My name is a hot commodity on the coaching market now. I have 10 offers in the first round, including UCLA! Also appearing: Graham Sims's Lafayette squad. Obviously we won't be going to either one - Bruins want a Sweet 16, and I'm not interested in going somewhere that's already been covered. Most hilarious takes: 10 win Army with the #206 recruiting class and 6 win Sacred Heart with the #175 recruiting class both demanding conference championships. Dream on, fellas. Two offers stand out: Idaho Prestige: 33 Facilities: 24 (6th in conference) Goal: .500 in the WAC Budget: $324,187 Notable History: NCAA first round exit in 2016, NIT first round exit in 2017, two other winning seasons, the most recent of which is 2023 Roster Notes: 3 decent looking seniors and a sophomore PG with great passing, but the cupboard is bare after that. Not much for defense. Coach Departure: Daryl Vargas was in Moscow for 9 years after 5 years as a Nebraska assistant coach. Boise State alum who was hated because of that and with one fluke winning season, two years of .500 or better WAC play, he was out on his ass. Offensive genius and decent defensive coach. Couldn't recruit to save his life, though. St Peters Prestige: 41 Facilities: 17 (worst in conference) Goal: .500 in MAAC Budget: $352,200 Notable History: NCAA Play-in Game loss last year, 2021 NCAA first round exit - the only two winning seasons in Peacocks history Roster Notes: A lot of raw, raw, raw players with particular attention on defense and 3 point shooting in recruiting it looks like [u]Coach Departure[/b]: Michael Gamble retired I think we can safely eliminate the Vandals from consideration. They've got the juice to compete for a year and then be on that struggle bus. St. Peter's is really interesting - they have fat money and their roster seems decently built for the type of game our squads seemed to have flourished with. As for the rest of the coaches in the MAAC, lot of talented recruiters and decent scouts. Only one defensive coaching wizard - if they're Xs and Os guys at all, it's on the offensive side of the ball. I feel like there's a real chance here to carve out an identity as a tough, defense-first squad. Very good recruiter, pretty good scout, and a coaching assistant I'd fire and try to bring in someone else. Everyone wants raises. The recruiter is worth the money, the scout I'm not so sure about. But the more I look at it, the more I'm hesitant. The facilities worry me, and I don't like the idea of taking a team that just made it to the Big Dance. The fans will expect more tournament appearances quickly, especially with my track record. So I put a pin in it and wait to see what the next round offers. They quickly find someone to fill it. There's a couple Avoid last place offers, but they're from teams in 4 prestige conferences, and that's too big a jump for me at this point in my career. There's a few P5 teams recruiting me too, and Xavier, who has the expectation of reaching the Final Four. Ultimately, none of the job offers on hand were quite what I was looking for, so to my surprise, we're back for Major Ramirez's senior year. I go ahead and give Andrew Morgan the raise he wants because why mess with what's working? Suddenly, 23 academically qualified 3* players across the country want to talk to us, including 4 players in the Top 130. Conversations I'm hearing are all, "Yeah, man, saw you guys playing tough two years in a row on TV. I wanna go dancing, too." We actually spend almost all our budget just on scouting in the first month, which I typically never do. That number craters to like one, and it's not even a guy we like, after the first month. We recklessly shoot for the moon anyway and go 0 for 2, but have the advantage on a guy who I think would be an absolute steal for us if we landed him. I'm presently not planning on being here next year, so eff it.  That's the second time Brian Klingensmith has gotten himself suspended I think. It's too bad, because he would have been the first big off the bench, or I might even have kept him in his starting spot. Now Alfred Beadle (a dumbass in his own right) has every opportunity to make the job his. My staff wanted Conrad Magee, but I told them to shut it. We're going to be a team that lives and dies by a lot of 3 pointers this year due to all three of our perimeter starters and Rene Abbott having a very good longball. 27 points by Major Ramirez, 20 points and 3 steals by PotG Ned Fraser, and we blow out Chicago State 84-64 to open the season. But living and dying by the 3 ball means we get games like the 73-82 loss to Savannah State because our outside shots aren't dropping. It's why I prefer to bang it inside. Gauntlet will do gauntlet things, I'm sure. Even though this roster might well overall be deeper and more talented than last year's, I'm still not sold on this squad.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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06-16-2023, 06:57 PM
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#92 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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We almost upset Baylor, losing by 3 points in an absolutely thriller of a contest. Ned Fraser gets banged up in that one. But he'll play regardless.
92-65 thrashing of Wright State as we take out our anger at losing yet another recruiting target. Robert Serra joins the 30 point Club with 31 points and 7 rebounds, and Major Ramirez doubles for 17 and 10. Our offense falls apart in the second half in a bad loss to Northern Colorado. Then Jeremiah Hardie kicks off for 19 points, 8 rebounds, a block, and a steal in winning PotG in a victory over IUPUI. We have Ned Fraser with 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals, Robert Serra scores 14, Major Ramirez with 12/10, and The Butler snags 12 rebounds. Major Ramirez proves we can still win a grinder, 61-54 over South Alabama, with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Robert Serra scores 11 with 2 steals, and it's another 10 boards for The Butler. Colorado State is the worst P5 team in the country and we prove it by whipping them 74-58. Major Ramirez goes off for 23 points and 3 steals, with usual suspect Robert Serra scoring 16 with a steal, and Ned Fraser having his first great game in a win in a while - 17 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals. A much closer game than it looks sees us secure a winning non-conference record for the second straight season. Major Ramirez's 23 points, 8 rebounds get him PotG in the 70-61 win, while Robert Serra scores 22 with 6 boards, a block, and a steal. The Butler takes in 12 rebounds. Code:
At a glance, we're in conversation for the title. I think Long Beach State and Cal Poly will be up there, too. This is not looking good. We lose the conference home opener against UC-Davis, which looks like one of the weakest teams in the Big West. On the bright side, we land our first recruit: Code:
It was a hard fight, but we just reeled in the #198 recruit in the country, setting a new record. If you squint, he almost looks like he could be a smallball 4, which would shift The Butler to CE, because neither Brian Klingensmith nor Levi Ullrich have developed as expected
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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06-17-2023, 04:01 PM
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#93 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Sep 2022
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Eutropio Ray was a boss. I'm glad he got the opportunity to play in the NCAA tournament. I'm also glad you stuck around for Major Ramirez's senior season.
You're putting together a nice run out in Cali, and with a roster that has eight players with Green potential or better--plus a potential impact recruit in Richard Larrabee--you could sustain that success for a while...if you decide to stay in Northridge. I've enjoyed following the story. |
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06-18-2023, 11:02 PM
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#94 | |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Quote:
Yeah it was exciting to have two straight NCAA tournament appearances for the Trop King. It'll be interesting to see how Larrabee does, but we'll see how he actually looks once he's on campus.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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06-18-2023, 11:50 PM
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#95 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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It isn't until the second half that we finally break open the game against Pacific, winning 101-82. Ned Fraser posts a near triple-double of 17 points, 8 assists, and 7 steals in a performance that even Eutropio
Rey was impressed by. Robert Serra had a splendid game in his own right - 13 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists, and 2 steals. Jeremiah Hardie and Major Ramirez added 17 and 21 points respectively. Conrad Magee is dinged up, but he plays next game anyway in the most balanced, impressive game we've had this year: Code:
We've struggled on the road this year, but grind out a 59-46 over CSU-Fullerton as Robert Serra (2 steals) and Jeremiah Hardie each score 13, but it's Ned Fraser's 9 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal that gets Player of the Game for clutch plays. Jeremiah Hardie takes PotG with 23 points in a comfortable 81-73 win over Hawaii. Ned Fraser scores 12 with 2 steals and Major Ramirez puts up 11. It's the fastest we've ever gotten to 10 wins, and I'm quietly amazed. A hot end of the first half and shutdown defense down the stretch in the second and we're 95-73 victors over Long Beach State, but trust when I say the game was in doubt for most of it before we caught fire and the Beach got cold. All five starters except Alfred Beadle score 11 points, headlined by Robert Serra's top 24 points, 7 rebounds, and a steal, and Major Ramirez's 22 points, steal, and block. And of course our streak ends on a buzzer beater three pointer to UC-Riverside, 77-79. Terrible loss. And another DTD injury for Conrad Magee. We overcome awful shooting by Jeremiah Hardie (17 points) and Major Ramirez (16 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals), when Rene Abbott wins PotG with 11 points, 9 rebounds in a clutch performance as we top UC-Irvine 62-55 to hand the Anteaters just their second Big West loss of the season. Defense carries us again in a 75-61 win against UC-Santa Barbara as every starter but The Butler scores at least 10, the star Major Ramirez with 17 points and 12 rebounds, with Rene Abbott scoring 10 bench points. Code:
My scouts weren't impressed with him (Red/Yellow), but he has some interesting upside if this is accurate. Quite raw player and hopefully he redshirts. He was the Midwestern kid who dreamed of getting the hell out of Iowa and really wanted to go to the coast, the only one who still really wanted to be here after the first month of scouting. Even though he wanted to get away, it's a sign of our growing reputation that we've now poached two 3* kids out of region in the same recruiting class.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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06-19-2023, 12:46 AM
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#96 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
Now you see why that loss to the Highlanders was so bad and why the victory over the Anteaters was so critical. What a dogfight of a year the conference is having. Context for what an amazing first half of the season we've had - those 13 wins pre-our current run? That would rank 4th-best, behind only the 2019 squad, the 17-win Rabbithead/Angel Moore senior season, and the 2021 team. Brian Klingensmith is back from suspension. Actually he was probably back last month, and I somehow missed it. Oops. We still did well without him. Might have cost us the win against Riverside, though. He's back in the lineup now. All starters except Klingensmith score 12+ points in a 94-71 blowout of Cal Poly, with Robert Serra's 19 points, 7 rebounds, and a steal PotG, Major Ramirez scoring 21. Major Ramirez is out with injury 9 minutes into the game against Pacific, but is fortunately only out 9 days and will be DTD in our next game. 79-66 win even though we were up by 22 at the half. Robert Serra scores 21, and Ned Fraser and Brian Klingensmith each score 11 in a surprisingly gritty win. I start Major Ramirez anyway at 92%, and he scores 21 with a steal and PotG honors in a defense-first 70-53 win over Hawaii. His running mate is Robert Serra with 20 points of his own. That victory also clinches our fourth straight winning season, both overall and in terms of the Big West. Easy-breezy 73-54 win over CSU-Fullerton keyed by Ned Fraser's 19 points and 3 steals and Major Ramirez's 13 points and 2 steals. It's fun how much better our defense is with Brian Klingensmith in the lineup. And then UC-Riverside demolishes us to pretty much wrap up the Big West title, barring something unexpected happening. Fair play to the Highlanders - they're just continuing to demonstrate why they're the class of the conference. Jeremiah Hardie's 22 points and a steal carry us to a 77-55 win over Long Beach State after Major Ramirez was limited to 14 points in 18 minutes due to foul trouble. 34% shooting translates into a bad blowout loss to UC-Santa Barbara that murders whatever faint title hopes we had and drops us from the bubble consideration we were building. Fuck. 82-85 OT loss to UC-Irvine, and our brilliant season has gone up in smoke. Another game where we shot cold - 36.1%. Teams have adapted to us. Heading into the final game of the regular season, we could finish anywhere from 2nd to 4th. Beating UC-Davis clinches at least third - if we lose to the Aggies, things get really messy with tiebreakers. And of course we lose by 2 to make things messy. For the third year in a row, we finish 3rd, losing to the Aggies on tiebreakers. So dumb. Big West Conference Tournament It's an ugly, workmanlike game, but we beat Pacific in the first round, 73-62, as Jeremiah Hardie scores 21, Major Ramirez 19. Cal Poly upset UC-Irvine and, in the biggest scalp, UC-Santa Barbara stuns UC-Davis. If we can beat Cal Poly, we'll have our second straight 20-win season. Lose, and we're probably out of the postseason, Major Ramirez's career ending on a sad note. Our defense takes over in the second half, gritting out a 78-62 victory that was closer than it appeared. Every starter except Robert Serra (who had a big fat 0) scores 12+ points, Rene Abbott making up for Serra with 10 points and a block off the bench. PotG was again Jeremiah Hardie with 16 points and 3 steals. Last year's Big West Freshman of the Year is slowly building a following and living up to his ranking hype before Larrabee crushed his record. So we're once again on to the Big West championship game, where we'll face UC-Riverside, who escaped a Gauchos scare, 71-68. I have a funny feeling we lose this one. We're playing behind most of the game. 1:45 left - Ned Fraser is fouled on the shot and makes both free throws to put us up 66-65. Ned Fraser gets a steal on the next possession and breaks away for a dunk! 68-65! Turnovers happen. They make two free throws to cut the lead to 68-67. Then with 1:02 left, Major Ramirez is fouled and sinks both free throws, 70-67. 0:53 left - They make a basket. 70-69. Brian Klingensmith is called for an illegal screen with 35 seconds, an absolutely trash call that has our fans screaming in rage. They beat the press, but can't find an opening due to Klingensmith and Ramirez clogging up the paint. Finally, it's a UC-Riverside three attempt because we're closing them off. Ball clangs off the rim. Fittingly, Ned Fraser gets the rebound as time expires. 70-69. CSU-Northridge, for the third straight year, finish third in the regular season and Matador march right out to claim the auto-bid, winning the conference tournament!!!!! Code:
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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06-19-2023, 01:34 AM
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#97 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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 ...Are you kidding me? A 31-1 team? What an absolute shithouse draw. UC-Riverside got snubbed from the Big Dance and are a 4 seed in the NIT East region. The Dukes' only loss this year was in the CAA championship tournament final to Old Dominion. Their team defense is amazing - probably the best composite D I've ever seen, and they have a star backcourt that includes a JUCO transfer at point guard who is the weakest defensively and still would be a pretty good defender at most schools. I don't see any chance for us to win this game (and neither did anyone else but the Monarchs). And then it happens... we're by 2 at the half. Suddenly, our 3 point shooters can't miss. They're bombing treys and hitting every single one of them. The crowd is going absolutely insane, the national TV audience is screaming about OMG OMG bracketbuster!!!!! They close the gap and are down by 2 with 4:18 left in the game. I'm thinking that's all she wrote and what an absolutely amazing run. The Butler steals the ball and finishes with a layup in the 2-on-1 break, to put us up by 4. Then Ned Fraser steals the ball a second time and lays it up himself on the breakaway. Up by 6. Their next two treys clang off the rim and Richard McCowan nails a three-pointer with 3:11 left to make it 9. 2:57 left and it's 6 after they call a timeout and make the trey. Robert Serra responds right back with a 3 point dart of his own. 9. 2:17 - they hit another 3. 6 point lead. And they don't score the rest of the game and we go to free throws and the odd three pointer, as their own desperation treys suddenly start misfiring. 99-83. One of the biggest upsets in tournament history! And just the second time the Big West has taken a win in the Big Dance. Code:
But that wasn't the only major upset. Two #2 seeds went down to #15s, another #14 beat a #3, and there were a couple of #11 seed upsets, including Old Dominion, who advanced to the Sweet 16 by the time our next game comes up. Still, it's the second time we've beaten a ranked team (That #1 ranked Stanford win in nonconference play years ago, and now knocking off the #12 team in the country here).  The Cavaliers are an offensive tour de force, with an average defense. They're also deep in Greens and have two Blues, so this looks like another game where a miracle will be needed to pull off the upset. One of their starters, their elite rebounding C, is out with injury, but his replacement is a much better defender, so it might balance out. Robert Serra gets hurt towards the end of the game, and we just never could fully close the single-digit gap, though we battled hard. Major Ramirez is Player of the Game with his 24 points and his 11 rebounds. They were 10/30 from 3 point range, we were 4/17. That's the story of the game right there. So damn close to pulling off the upset again and Cinderellaing our way to the Sweet 16. But what a fantastic season. Capped off by landing three 3* for the first time in school history. Code:
What a fantastic name. What an incredible year - the best season yet, even though last year's team still gets my vote as the best in school history.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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06-19-2023, 09:34 AM
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#98 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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UC-Riverside was less successful. They dropped their first round NIT game to Bradley, who advanced to the smaller Final Four and lost to UNC-Charlotte, who in turn lost the NIT championship to Illinois.
The NCAA Final Four featured top seed Rutgers against 8 seed USC while the other half had top seed Stanford against 3 seed UConn. It was the Scarlet Knights' second Final Four and first since the inaugural season, while the Trojans were here for the first time. The Cardinal were the defending champions of course, and one of the storied programs, their sixth trip to the Final Four, while the Huskies were here for the fourth time and had two titles in their trophy case. Rutgers vs Stanford in the final - the newcomers vs the blue bloods. And in a thrilling, back and forth championship worthy of the top two teams in the country, the Scarlet Knights took home their first title, 75-74. A single point. The loss dropped the Cardinal to 2-3 in title games. Want more proof our upset was so stunning? John Chao of James Madison took home the National Coach of the Year award, while senior Duke Terrance Persaud was a 2nd Team All-American. Wow! Hell of a first season for my colleague in Harrisonburg. The 42 year old started his career in 2018 as an assistant with UNC, then spent four years at Stetson where he had one NCAA first round exit and four straight winning seasons. Code:
My second Big West Coach of the Year award, our second straight PG to make the All-Big West 1st Team, Major Ramirez finally got 1st team All-Conference distinction, and Robert Serra was again honored. Code:
Simply put, we were one of the best in the country at winning the turnover battle, giving ourselves second chance points, and having reliable 3 point shooting, even though our defensive fundamentals were not that great. Fascinating squad to be sure.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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06-19-2023, 09:49 AM
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#99 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
One of our most decorated players in school history. Not even the great Eutropio Rey had all four seasons as a non-negative +/-. While to some extent that's team-dependent, that's nonetheless an impressive feat, and one of my main arguments as to why the Major is the greatest Matador ever. Ironically, he wasn't that great a shooter by big man standards until his senior year. He broke Angel Moore's school scoring record by almost 300 points, was 2nd in school rebounds to Muhammad Owen and 1st in offensive rebounds over Owen by a wide margin. The Major is also 1st all-time in Big West offensive rebounds and tied for 39th all-time, period. He also ranks 12th all-time in conference scoring (Moore, by comparison, is still just barely hanging around on the first page at 24th). Ramirez's next step is to work full-time for a couple years somewhere until he's eligible to apply to join the FBI. I have no doubt he'll make it - just a steady, dedicated and talented person.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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06-19-2023, 10:08 AM
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#100 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Code:
Our first (and still only) original Blue potential player, Ned never reached those heights. In fact, he didn't even make Green until the start of his senior year, his lone one as a full-time starter. He stepped in capably during Eutropio Rey's major injury the Trop King's senior year, and was a brilliant passer - he ranks 4th in school history in assists (though he'll drop to 5th on Robert Serra's first assist of the next season. He also tied Rabbithead for 5th in school steals (both one behind Jakub Sedlacek of the disappointing Internationals class). Ned will stick around the LA area, operating a lawncare business, which he worked during summers and enjoyed more than going to class or honing his basketball skills. Code:
Jeffrey was never really happy in Northridge and gave serious consideration to transferring. Never got to start and never even came close to reaching his potentials. Personally it was really frustrating, as I saw a kid who could have been another Tim Grey - underrated player who absolutely sparkled. But he never became that - just a guy who would get on the court for 5 minutes a game and that was it. Where he applied himself was in the classroom. He's going to Florida State for grad school, where he got accepted into the PhD program for math. I wish him the best of luck in his new journey. He said he doesn't ever see himself coming back to California much, and his parents are thinking of retiring there.
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2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) |
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