Coaching Blog of Kevin McKenna (CH2K8)

[Balldog]

Coach: Kevin McKenna
Rosters: DKrause Final Version
Sliders: Heelsfan + JUnits + All American

Starting School: Indiana State

[Balldog]

Recruiting: ABL

I spent a couple weeks in the Summer at the University of Loyola-Chicago campus watch some ABL games of some potential recruits here in the Midwest. There were some really talented players from the Chicago area but I stayed at task and stuck to the Indiana boys that I wanted to get to know. We only have three scholarships available, it only took a couple games to narrow down our candidates.

The first game I was at, I was able to see Desmond Sheppard from Indianapolis in action, boy is he raw but he's got great size and good hands for a big guy. He's listed at 6'10" 220 lbs. Rivals.com has him listed as the #432 recruit in the Nation, #27 at Center. The good news is the only other team looking at him is Morehead State and we've got a good lead on them. He averaged 9.8 pts, 7.4 rpg and shot 54% from the field.

The next game I was able to catch Desmon Mendez from West Lafayette, he's a 5'10" 162 lbs point gaurd. I was really impressed with his ability to get to the rim and finish. I think he'll be an impact player as a freshman. The only competition for him is Morehead State and IPFW but we are in the lead. Rivals.com has him listed as the #202 player in the Nation overall, #63 point guard. He was coming off the bench behind some PG that looked like he was going to Ohio State or Wisconsin but he managed to average 5.3 pts and 1.9 apg in 16.1 minutes per game.

Up next was Smush Caton from Hammond, he's a 6'6" 188 lbs SF. He is very athletic, I think someday he could be a terrific defender and he's also got a decent shot from behind the arc. Rivals.com has him listed as the #184 recruit overall, #41 small forward. As of now our only competition is Eastern Illinois but we are in the lead. He averaged 12 pts, 9.6 reb and shot 35% from 3P.

[Balldog]

Lets take a look at our schedule for the 2007-2008 season.

11/14 @ Butler
11/17 @ North Texas
11/20 vs N Illinois
11/24 vs IPFW
12/01 at Purdue
12/04 at Miami (OH)
12/08 vs Ball State
12/17 at Tulane
12/22 vs Bowling Green
12/29 at Evansville
01/02 vs Creighton
01/05 vs N Iowa
01/09 at Drake
01/12 vs S Illinois
01/15 at Missouri State
01/19 at Creighton
01/23 vs Evansville
01/27 at Illinois State
01/30 at Bradley
02/02 vs Drake
02/05 at S Illinois
02/09 at Wichita State
02/12 vs Bradley
02/16 vs Illinois State
02/19 vs Wichita State
02/27 at N Iowa
03/01 vs Missouri State

[Balldog]

Lets take a look at our roster.

Point Gaurds
Gabriel Moore, Sr., 6'1" 190 lbs - 73 OVR
- He doesn't really do anything real great but he's going to have to lead this team because he is our best player overall.

Cole Holmstrom, So., 5'10" 170 lbs - 61 OVR
- He has a good 3pt stroke but other than that he doesn't have much to offer. He'll have to play a little to give Moore a breather.

Lamar Lee, Fr., 5'10" 165 lbs - 59 OVR
- Once he learns the system and develops, hopefully by conference play, he'll be the backup point gaurd. He's pretty quick.

Shooting Gaurds
Marico Stinson, So., 6'3" 195 lbs - 68 OVR
- 2nd best player overall, a very good 3pt shot and decent quickness. He'll probably be our go to guy.

Harry Marshall, So., 6'0" 185 lbs - 61 OVR
- He's got decent quickness but not much else, a horrible shooter.

Jordan Printy, Fr., 6'4" 180 lbs - 60 OVR
- He's got a good stroke from deep and he's a decent defender, he'll like get most of the minutes off the bench at both SG and SF.

Aaron Carter, Fr., 6'4" 185 lbs - 56 OVR
- Decent defender, just not very athletic.

Small Forwards
Todd McCoy, Sr., 6'4" 200 lbs - 65 OVR
- He's a good athlete with an average jumper. Probably our best defender.

Power Forwards
Adam Arnold, Jr., 6'6" 219 lbs - 65 OVR
- He's undersized but he's a good shooter and a great rebounder.

Isiah Martin, Fr., 6'8" 210 lbs - 60 OVR
- Very good athlete, but very raw game. Could be a good one in a couple years. Should get plenty of PT this year.

Centers
Jay Tunnell, Jr., 6'8" 255 lbs - 64 OVR
- Big strong guy with a nice jumper, struggles with his back to the basket.

Mick Yelovich, Sr., 6'10" 265 lbs - 64 OVR
- A clone of Tunnell but a little bit bigger, pretty good shot blocker.

Brant Leitnaker, So., 6'10" 235 lbs - 59 OVR
- He could become a good player, best with his back to the basket.

[Balldog]

Missouri Valley Conference Preview
Best Overall Player - Daniel Ruffin, PG - Bradley (84 OVR)
Best Freshman - P'Allen Stinnett, SG - Creighton (72 OVR)
Best Shooter - Jeremy Crouch, SG - Bradley (94 3Pt)
Best Playmaker - Daniel Ruffin, PG - Bradley
Best NBA Prospect - Eric Coleman, PF - N. Iowa (82 OVR)
Best Defender - Randal Falker, PF - S. Illinois (83 OVR)

Drake and Southern Illinois are the favorites.

[Balldog]

Preseason Development and Training
Lamar Lee has worked on his passing and improved.
Isiah Martin has worked on his low post offense and doesn't seem to be getting any better.

Lee is going to be focusing on his shooting and skills during the preseason. Martin will be working all areas of his post game. Moore will be spending a lot of time on conditioning, he might be playing 40 minutes a night.

[Balldog]

10/29 - 11/04

Recruiting

We offer scholarships to Sheppard, Mendez, and Caton.

Sheppard tells us that his priorities is getting playing time and playing at a big time program, bad news Illinois State must have gotten a look at him during ABL and liked what they saw - they are now in the lead for his services by a hair but have not offered a scholarship yet.

Mendez wants to play at a big time program and he wants attention. Evansville has appeared on his radar but he still has us #1. We'll work hard to keep it that way.

Caton seems to be getting a lot of attention, Iowa State jumps to the top of his list but they are not far ahead of us - we are staying on board.

Development
Lee is struggling in dribbling drills. Martin is getting better in rebounding drills.

[Balldog]

11/05 - 11/11

Recruiting
Bad news, Illinois State has offered Sheppard a scholarship and taken a sizable lead on us. We are going to ride it out and hope we can change his mind. We still have the lead on Mendez and appear to be pulling away from Evansville. We have leaped Iowa State on Caton'sboard, probably because they have yet to offer a scholarship.

Mendez will be coming to Campus on the 11th, hopefully we can get him.

Development
Lee is finally getting the dribbling drills down but he's got a lot of room for improvement. Martin seems to be attacking the basket better.

[Balldog]

11/12 - 11/13

Recruiting
It appears Sheppard is falling in love with Illinois State, they are pulling away but I think he is the one guy we can afford to lose on. Mendez finally got an offer from Evansville, they've narrowed the gap quite a bit. We are still the only offer Caton has, hopefully it stays that way - I fear if we don't get him during the early signing period we are probably going to lose him.

Sheppard is at least coming in for a Campus Visit, Caton is coming along as well.

Development
Lee is showing slight improvement in his mid range jumper but still needs work. Martin continues to struggle with low post defense.

[Balldog]

Game Preview: at Butler
Butler is lead but a pair of excellent gaurds, Mike Green and AJ Graves. They key will be contesting their shots. Graves scored 22 in their opener against Ball State and Green had 8 rebounds and 4 assists. They shoot 48% of their shots from 3 pt land. They play a VERY SLOW offense and rarely crash the boards. They will primarily play a man-to-man defense.

We are going to try to pressure their gaurds and force them to drive.

[Balldog]

Game 1: at Butler

They've got the advantage in every area, its going to take a great performance to knock them off.

Butler jumps out to a quick 8-0 lead, with baskets by four different players. Halfway through the first half and Butler leads 14-6, we are struggling to get any open looks and we are 2 of 6 from the free throw line.

We trail at halftime 32-18, as we are shooting 23% from the field lead by Moore with 7 points. Prinity has 4 points in 1 minute, he needs more PT in the 2nd half. Butler has a balanced attack lead by Green with 4 pts, 5 ast, 2 reb, 2 stl. They've had 8 players score.

Its hard to imagine but we are even colder to start the 2nd half, we trail 46-27 at the halfway point. We pretty much exchange points the rest of the way, we lose 71-49.

	Game 1	
	BUTL	INST
Pts	71	49
FGM	26	14
FGA	55	51
FG%	47.3%	27.5%
3PM	5	5
3PA	14	15
3P%	35.7%	33.3%
FTM	14	16
FTA	15	25
FT%	93.3%	64.0%
Fouls	19	14
Rebs	35	31
Asts	17	6
Blocks	4	2
Steals	11	8
Turnovers	10	12

Moore scored 13 pts as he sat out the last 5 minutes of the game to give way to Lee, who had a decent game with 6 pts and 1 ast in 7 minutes. He gave Green fits with his quickness. Prinity came off the bench and added 10 pts in 10 minutes. Arnold lived up to the hype with 13 rebounds. Stinson and McCoy combined went 2 for 15 for 8 points. Prinity may work his way into the lineup soon. Everyone got playing time but Carter, he's probably the odd man out unless we get smoked even worse in the future.

Graves ended up with 14. Green had 8 pts, 9 ast and 4 steals for Butler.

Note to self: There is a lot of slowdown/lag on Butler's court. Sim it next time.

[Balldog]

Game Preview: at North Texas

North Texas likes to play an uptempo style, lead by their PG White who scored 25 in their opener, a 78-75 loss to Oklahoma State. They'll put a lot of pressure on us to rebound, they love to crash the boards. They also prefer a lot of one on one, putting the ball on the floor and getting to the hoop. It should be a good game, hopefully we can shoot better.

[Balldog]

Game 2: at North Texas

We trail at the halfway point in the first half 11-9 as both teams are struggling from the floor, we are forcing them to shoot jumpers and they can't hit anything.

At the half we trail 33-32, both teams started heating up but we are still 0-6 from 3pt land Tunnell is having a big game with 8 pts and 7 reb. McCoy for UNT is leading the scoring with 10 pts off the bench. Lee came in for 2 minutes and sparked a run, collecting 3 assists. We need to work on the glass, they have 11 second chance points off of 5 offensive rebounds.

Arnold gets an and one and we tie it up at 43-43 halfway through the 2nd half. Both teams are struggling to take care of the ball, with 6 turnovers a piece already in the 2nd half. We are now 0-10 from 3pt land.

We take our first lead with 7:05 remaining.

Tunnell gets a huge offensive rebound and put back with 3:41 remaining to tie it at 47-47. Unfortunately they do the same to take the lead 51-49 with 2:07 remaining.

White drills a 3 with 1:00 remaining to give UNT a 54-50 lead. We answer with a drive and dish by Moore finished by Tunnell, 54-52 UNT. They miss a bunny and Moore gets fould with 0:27 left. Makes the first, makes the second. Tied at 54. We have one foul to give.

Thompson drills a 3 with 3.3 remaining to give UNT a 57-54 lead. We get the ball to halfcourt and take a timeout with 2.9 remaining. We'll be looking to get Prinity a look. We have yet to make a 3.

And......Prinity drills a 3 at the buzzer, we are going to OT tied at 57!

They lead 59-57 with 2:39 and Tunnell is going to the line shooting 2. Missing the first, makes the second - 59-58 UNT.

And Moore finally makes his first FG of the game, a 3 pt to give us the lead 61-59 with 2:07 to play but they hurry back and make 3 of their own to take the lead back 62-61 UNT. Arnold makes 1 of 2 free throws to tie it at 62 with 1:49 left.

Prinity hits a runner to tie it at 64 with 59.4 left. We force a miss with 0:23 to play and take a timeout. We are going to try to get it into Tunnell. We fail to get a good look and end up missing a 19 footer by Arnold, we are headed to 2 OT.

McCoy hits a 3 on our first possession and we jump out 67-64.

We lead 71-70 with 1:00 to play and its our ball, we'll look to use up some clock and get to the hoop through Moore. And Moore gets it done 73-70 with 0:50 to play, a little quicker shot than we wanted but we'll take it.

We force a turnover and Arnold is going to the line with 32 seconds to play, misses the first, makes the second. 74-70 INST.

A couple more free throws by Arnold gives us a hard fought 76-70 win.

Tunnell ended up with 17 pts and 16 rebs. Moore had 17 pts, going 12-12 from the line. Arnold ended up with 14 pts and 8 rebs.

For UNT their big man Wooden had 17 pts and 11 reb. Their SF Thompson had 14 pts. We held White in check he had 8 pts, 4 asts and 7 TOs.

A great win!

	Game 2	
	UNT	INST
Pts	70	76
FGM	27	24
FGA	80	63
FG%	33.8%	38.1%
3PM	6	3
3PA	22	15
3P%	27.3%	20.0%
FTM	10	25
FTA	12	32
FT%	83.3%	78.1%
Fouls	19	9
Rebs	44	44
Asts	14	13
Blocks	4	1
Steals	12	12
Turnovers	13	14

[Balldog]

Week 5

Recruiting
Illinois State is still leading for Sheppard's signing but we are catching them. Unfortunately for us he isn't concerned with being close to home.

Evansville has taken the lead for Mendez, we are really going to have to make sure we don't lose him - especially to a conference foe.

Luckily we have a commanding lead on Caton, we seem to be pulling away from Iowa State but I have feeling if they offer a scholarship that will change.

I'm going to take a road trip to see Thomas Ellerbee a 5'10" 164 PG from Indianapolis, Rival's has him as #519 overall and #128 at PG. We saw him play over the summer and he looked OK, I want to see him again. He has a lot of schools interested but no offers yet.

Development
Stinson continues to struggle shooting and is getting down on himself, I think its time for a pep talk. I'm getting more confident in Prinity, so if Stinson can't turn it around he may get benched.

We are really working with Lee on his passing skills and its starting to pay off.

[Johnny93g]

How are the rosters you are using? I havent downloaded any new rosters in a while. I think i want to start a new dynasty, but i want the best rosters.

[Balldog]

Originally Posted by Johnny93g

How are the rosters you are using? I havent downloaded any new rosters in a while. I think i want to start a new dynasty, but i want the best rosters.

I like them, he's done over 1000 changes to ratings, appearances, etc. I cannot imagine there is a better set out there.

[korme]

Originally Posted by Balldog

I like them, he's done over 1000 changes to ratings, appearances, etc. I cannot imagine there is a better set out there.

That sounds insane. Indiana State also sounds like a fun start, being Bird's school and all

[korme]

Originally Posted by Balldog

I like them, he's done over 1000 changes to ratings, appearances, etc. I cannot imagine there is a better set out there.

That sounds insane. Indiana State also sounds like a fun start, being Bird's school and all

[Balldog]

Originally Posted by Shorty3281

That sounds insane. Indiana State also sounds like a fun start, being Bird's school and all

I'm having fun, just need to find the next Larry Bird.

[Balldog]

Game Preview: vs. Northern Illinois (1-3)

Their are led in scoring by their freshman shooting guard Anderson, who is averaging 11.0 ppg. They try to play an up tempo but they do not run fast breaks very often. They like to get to the rim as much as possible. Defensively they play primarily man to man. We have the advantage talent wise, we just need to shoot the ball better.

[Balldog]

Game 3: vs Northern Illinois

Stinson comes out and scores the team's first 4 points but the rest of the team is ice cold again. Luckily we continue to play great team defense and have a 15-12 lead halfway through the first half after a Printy 3.

Yelovich and Tunnell both have 2 fouls and we are going to have to go with Leitnacker the rest of the way. They are killing us on the offensive glass. We trail 17-15 with 6:12 and take a timeout to emphasis rebounding.

At the half we trail 30-17, we can't buy a bucket - scoring just 2 points in the final 9 minutes. Fouls are completely one sided, 13 to 3 in their favor. We've been getting mugged on shots too but we need to adjust. We also have 11 turnovers in the first half. Yuck.

Printy is starting to catch fire but we still trail at the halfway point 44-36. He's 3 for 3 from 3 point land and has 13 pts in the game. We are still getting jobbed on the fouls but we are trying to pound it inside more.

With 4:24 to play we trail 56-51, behind several NIU turnovers that lead to fast breaks. Tunnell now has 10 pts in the 2nd half and he is starting to dominate the glass again.

With 2:43 remaining we trail 58-56 after a 3 by Printy and a jumper by Arnold. NIU takes a timeout to settle their team. They get a hook shot from Grafel but Printy answers with another 3, he now has 19 pts in the game. They answer with a 3 by Pancratz, he now has 20 pts.

Arnold answers with a nice jumper, 63-61 NIU with 1:16 to play. Pancratz misses a quick 3 and we get possession and take a timeout with 1:00 remaining.

Moore takes it to the hole and gets fouled. Misses the first, makes the second. 63-62.

Printy commits a stupid foul and sends Pancratz to the line, he's 4-4 today. He makes them both 65-62 NIU with 46.5 to play. Moore turns it over and it leads to a fastbreak bucket by Anderson, 67-62 NIU.

Good news, they foul Stinson and he makes both free throws. 67-64 with 30 seconds left. After a pair of free throws and a jam by Moore its 69-66 with 11.5 to play and Anderson is on the line. He misses the first. He misses the second but Printy is fouled out.

Stinson burries a 3 with 0.7 left!!!! Oh my!!!!

With 41.6 left we lead 79-75 and McCoy hits one of two free throws, to give us an 80-75 lead. After Arnold gets fould and hits one of two free throws. Paradise comes down and burries a 3 for NIU, we still lead 81-78 with 20.3 to play.

Stinson sinks both free throws but Pancratz gets to the line and sinks 2 free throws 83-80 with 12.3 to play.

Moore hits 1 FT and Arnold his 1 FT, we win 85-80!!

Moore had 20 pts, 5 assists and 4 steals, he played all but 2 minutes. Printy ended up with 19 pts, 5/5 from 3. Tunnell had 10 pts, 10 reb. Arnold had 17 reb.

For NIU, Pancratz ended up with 28 pts. Anderson had 16 pts and 7 asts. Grafel had 14 pts, 9 reb.

Fouls really ended up evening out.

	Game 3	
	INST	NIU
Pts	85	80
FGM	24	22
FGA	56	64
FG%	42.9%	34.4%
3PM	6	4
3PA	14	21
3P%	42.9%	19.0%
FTM	31	32
FTA	41	39
FT%	75.6%	82.1%
Fouls	25	22
Rebs	41	35
Asts	14	16
Blocks	1	4
Steals	11	16
Turnovers	18	12

[Balldog]

I'm going to start playing 1 and simming one to speed things up. Next game is vs. IPFW who is 1-1. We are slightly better.

We get the win 78-69 behind a strong first half which we outscored them 47-32. Moore had 14 pts, 8 assists. Stinson had 10 pts, 5 reb. Arnold had 9 pts, 6 reb, 3 ast. Tunnell had 9 pts, 7 reb. Yelovich had 12 pts, 5 reb.

We are now 3-1.

[Balldog]

Week 6

Recruiting

Sheppard appears to be headed to Illinois State but he isn't maxed out yet so we are still hoping to persuade him otherwise.

Mendez appears to be torn between us and Evansville, but he has us as his favorite for now.

Caton appears to be a lock, Iowa State has stopped recruiting him but Western Michigan has started. Looks like it is too late for them though, we hope to sign him next week.

For the heck of it I'm going to go visit Roy Boyette, he's being recruited by Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Mississippi State and others but no one has offered a scholarship. He's a 6'9" 228 lbs small forward from Evansville. He would likely move to PF for us. Rivals.com has him listed as #361 overall and #77 at SF. He's a 3 star recruit, like the others we are offering.

Development
Lee is continuing to develop his dribbling skills.

[Balldog]

Originally Posted by Shorty3281

That sounds insane. Indiana State also sounds like a fun start, being Bird's school and all

Funny you said something, as the announcers talked about that team that Bird was on last night during my game.

[Balldog]

Game 5: at Purdue (1-3)

The Boilermakers have been struggling but they are very talented, they are coming off a 91-61 loss at Clemson so they are hungry. Moore leads them in scoring with 12.0 ppg, he also leads in rebounding wit 7.5 rbp. They want to speed the game up but they are only averaging 57.0 ppg due to shooting just 34% on the season. He are underdogs but I think we can play with them.

Halfway through the first half and we trail 17-7 after an 8-0 run by Purdue. Hummell is giving us fits and their press is causing a few mistakes, mostly during the 8-0 run.

We were hanging tough and then Hummel decided to score 5 unanswered points to end the half, Purdue leads 40-25. Yelovich leads us in scoring with 6, while Moore has 5 pts and 2 asts. Purdue's bigs are killing us, Hummel has 12 pts, 4 reb and Calasan has 10 pts, 7 reb. We might have to switch to a zone.

At the midpoint in the 2nd half the Boilermakers are taking control and lead 59-38. We switched a zone a couple possessions but they promptly drilled a couple threes to take us out of the zone.

At the 4 minute mark we pull the starters trailing 73-46. They win 85-58.

Their bigs combined for 42 pts, 22 reb. We had zero players in double figures, but McCoy lead us with 8 pts. Tunnell had 7 pts, 7 reb and Yelovich had 6 pts, 5 reb.

[Balldog]

I'm going to make the switch to Coach Mode with these guys, I just have more fun coaching for some reason

[Balldog]

Week 7

Recruiting
Sheppard decides to head to Illinois State which is disappointing but we saw it coming. We did get two players to sign during the early signing period, Mendez and Caton both chose to play for the Sycamores.

With Sheppard opting for Illinois State we are going to focus on Boyette, he still has no offers on the table. We are offering immediately.

Development
Martin's rebounding skills are improving.

Our next game is a sim game at Miami Ohio who is 4-2 on the season. We match almost exactly the same according to all the ratings, it should be a great one.

We lose 50-44, Tim Pollitz (a local kid from the Findlay area) had 24 pts to lead the Redhawks. His twin Eric had 9 pts. Tunnell lead us with 13 pts and 10 rebs. We shot 14/47 from the field.

[Balldog]

Up next we take on another MAC school, Ball State who is 3-4 on the season. They've played Georgetown and Butler tough so far this season. They are lead by Anthony Newell, PF who is averaging 13.7 ppg and 11.1 rpg.

Their SF Preston Stovall is giving us all kinds of trouble, he has 4 pts and 3 asts in the first 8 minutes, we bring in Marshall to try to contain him. Yelovich and Tunnell are dominating the paint on defense.

We lead halfway through the first half 17-15 but they are in the bonus already. Moore has 6 pts, 4 asts. McCoy has a hip pointer but he is trying to play through it.

McCoy picks up his 2nd foul so he'll end up geting some needed rest.

Their press is getting to us at times but their 2-3/3-2 zones are really slowing things down. We lead at the half 31-30. Both teams are 10/24 from the field but we are 3/4 from 3's they are 0/3. Stinson leads us in scoring with 8 pts, he's 2/2 from 3. Arnold has 5 pts, 4 reb. Bringing in Marshall has helped slow down Stovall, he only had 1 more point the rest of the half.

McCoy is really struggling with his hip and Stovall is having his way with him, we are going to sit him the rest of the game, we have the lead 41-37 with 14:21 to play.

We lead 53-48 at the halfway point, Printy is having one of those nights - he's 3 for 3 from 3 pt land. Bad news, Moore has picked up his 4th foul and Lee is going to come in.

Lee is super quick but he is so not ready to play, he forced a bad shot and threw a horrible pass - now Ball State leads 54-53 with 7:21 to play. We are going to give Holmstrom a shot.

Stinson is on fire and drills a three to give us a 66-61 lead with 4:00 remaining and Moore is back in the game.

With a minute left we lead 73-66 after a Tunnell jumper. Moore gets fouled, makes the first, misses the second but Tunnell gets the rebound and fouled. He makes them both, we are now up 76-68 and should put this one away.

We win 78-68.

Stinson had a career day with 22 pts on 3/4 from 3pt range. Moore finished with 16 pts and 6 asts. Arnold had 10 pts and 10 reb. Tunnell had 6 pts, 11 rebs, and 5 asts. Printy had 10 pts off the bench.

Stovall lead Ball State with 16 pts and 4 asts.

This game confirmed my move to coach mode, I just enjoy watching players play to their attributes. Guys like Lee and Marshall are so quick but really don't offer much else and it shows. While Printy is a great shooter but a horrible defender and he was abused a couple times.

[Balldog]

Week 8

Recruiting

A lot of schools have dropped off of Boyette's list but Southern Miss has now offered a scholarship and they have a big lead on us and UAB. We need to get this guy, he looks like a star in the making.

[Balldog]

Week 9

Recruiting

We've passed UAB on Boyette's list after he comes for his official campus visit but we still have a lot of work to do to catch USM.

We are going to look at a few JUCOs in case Boyette ends up going elseswhere.

[Balldog]

Up next is Tulane (3-4) who is rated slightly better than us, they don't shoot well but play good defense. Their PF David Gomez is averaging 15.5 pts and 7.1 rebounds per game, we will be doubling him. It should be a decent game.

----

We had a frigid cold shooting night, we only scored 16 pts in the first half. Printy showed he was human and was 0-6 in the 1st half. They built an 11 point lead and we could never recover though we got within 3 in the last 30 seconds but Printy stepped on the OB line coming off a screen for an open 3.

For the Sycamores, Stinson had 14 pts but was 4/15 from the field. Tunnell had 10 pts and 8 rebs while shooting 4/4. Printy had 10 pts off the bench but shot 3/11 from the field. Martin had 8 pts and 5 rebs off the bench, he also shot 4/4. Moore did not score but had 9 assists.

For the Green Wave, Gomez had 13 pts and 9 rebs. Richard had 10 pts off the bench. Stith had 4 pts and 11 rebs off the bench.

	TUL	INST
Pts	54	48
FGM	11	16
FGA	36	46
FG%	30.6%	34.8%
3PM	4	4
3PA	12	16
3P%	33.3%	25.0%
FTM	28	12
FTA	45	18
FT%	62.2%	66.7%
Fouls	16	26
Rebs	34	31
Asts	8	12
Blocks	1	0
Steals	6	5
Turnovers	6	8

[Balldog]

Bowling Green (3-4) is up next on the schedule. We have a slight advantage in almost every category, given the game is at home we should cruise. They do have a pair of seniors that could give us trouble in Nate Miller, SF and Ryne Hamblet, PG.

----

We finally get off to a decent start and race out to a 35-27 lead at the half. The 2nd half is a different story however, we fail to score until halfway through the half and BGSU takes a 38-35 lead. During that stretch we were 0-11 from the field and 0-6 from the FT line. Luckily we recover and pull out a 64-60 win.

Stinson had 16 pts on 6/11 shooting. Printy had 12 pts, including 3/7 from 3pt land. Moore had 7 pts and 5 asts despite missing most of the 1st half with foul trouble.

For BGSU Hamblet had 13 pts and 3 asts. Their freshman SG Joe Jakubowski had 12 pts. McCoy was able to shutdown Miller, he had 2 pts and 3 asts.

	INST	BGSU
Pts	64	60
FGM	18	21
FGA	43	48
FG%	41.9%	43.8%
3PM	5	6
3PA	15	11
3P%	33.3%	54.5%
FTM	23	12
FTA	34	16
FT%	67.6%	75.0%
Fouls	14	24
Rebs	24	27
Asts	14	13
Blocks	3	1
Steals	5	2
Turnovers	1	7

[Balldog]

Week 10

Recruiting

Boyette is still our main focus, we are slowly gaining on USM but we've got time to convince him to stay close to home.

Development

Lee continues to develop his passing skills but he is still well below average for PGs.

[Balldog]

Missouri Valley Conference Preview

1. #5 Southern Illinois (9-0)
The Salukis are off to a magnificant start, they are lead by player of the year candidate Randal Falker who is averaging 14.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg, and 1.8 bpg. Junior PG Bryan Mullins is average 9.6 ppg and 8.4 apg. SIU is allowing a league best 56.2 ppg.

2. Bradley (10-2)
The Braves are off to one of the best starts in school history lead by junior SF Theron Wilson who is averaging 11.1 ppg and 7.6 rpg. Bradley leads the league in scoring offense with 72.8 ppg.

3. Illinois State (7-3)
ISU is lead by senior C Levi Dyer who is average 14.8 ppg and senior PG Dominitrix Johnson who is averaging 11.6 ppg and 5.1 apg. They are shooting 45% from 3pt land as a team!

4. Northern Iowa (6-4)
The Panthers are lead by senior PF Eric Coleman, he is averaging 10.6 ppg and 7.1 rpg.

5. Drake (5-4)
The Bulldogs are lead by junior PF Jonathon Cox who is averaging 12.3 ppg and 6.6 rpg.

6. Indiana State (5-4)
The Sycamores are lead by senior PG Gabriel Moore who is averaging 10.9 ppg and 4.8 apg.

7. Missouri State (6-5)
MSU is lead by player of the year candidate Deven Mitchell who is averaging 15.6 ppg and 9.5 rpg.

8. Creighton (4-4)
The Jays are getting a balanced attack lead by junior PG Josh Dotzler, who is averaging 10.6 ppg.

9. Wichita State (6-6)
WSU is lead by senior SF PJ Couisnard, who is averaging just 8.9 ppg and 5.2 rpg. The Shockers are allowing a league worse 70.3 ppg.

10. Evansville (4-5)
Junior PG Jason Holsinger is leading the Aces with 11.7 ppg and 3.6 apg. Evansville is last in the league in scoring, averaging just 56.7 ppg.

[Balldog]

We head down the highway to face off against Evansville (4-5, 0-0) who is struggling to put points on the board, this is a good matchup for us. We have the advantage across the board.

----

Moore gets in foul trouble again and the Aces take control of the game, they raced out to a 10 point lead. We were able to cut the lead to as little as 3 pts but their gaurds were unstoppable. Both teams shot lights out from 3.

Printy lead the Sycamores with 29 points, 10/20 from the field and 7/13 from 3pt land. Stinson had 17 pts, 5/15 from the field and 4/7 from 3. Other than those two nobody did much of anything . Lee had his moments when he took over for Moore, he had 2 pts and 5 asts but 3 tos.

Granger lead the Aces with 18 pts, 6/11 from the field and 4/7 from 3. Holsinger had 17 pts, 5 asts. Their bigs combined for 22 pts, 22 reb vs our 9 pts, 21 reb.

	EVAN	INST
Pts	68	61
FGM	23	21
FGA	48	55
FG%	47.9%	38.2%
3PM	6	11
3PA	11	20
3P%	54.5%	55.0%
FTM	16	8
FTA	23	10
FT%	69.6%	80.0%
Fouls	8	21
Rebs	29	26
Asts	16	20
Blocks	3	1
Steals	4	4
Turnovers	5	5

[Balldog]

Week 11

Recruiting

We gained quite a bit of ground in the chase for Boyette.

Development

Lee is showing more improvement as a passer.

[Balldog]

We have a home game against Creighton (5-4, 1-0) up next, we need this win. We must win at home in conference play because it doesn't look like we'll be winning many on the road. Creighton is a better team than us in every area and they have a great coach. We might be in for a long night.

----

We flirted with near perfection in a group effort to knock off the Jays 75-58. We raced out to a 32-22 lead at halftime and never looked back. Our defense held the Jays to 28% shooting in the first half.

Stinson lead the Sycamores with 14 pts, 5/10 shooting. McCoy and Printy both had 13 pts. Moore had 10 pts, 9 asts.

For the Jays, Watts had 16 pts and 13 rebs. While Millard had 17 pts and 5 reb.

	INST	CRE
Pts	75	58
FGM	28	21
FGA	55	57
FG%	50.9%	36.8%
3PM	5	3
3PA	9	12
3P%	55.6%	25.0%
FTM	14	13
FTA	23	20
FT%	60.9%	65.0%
Fouls	14	17
Rebs	36	33
Asts	14	15
Blocks	2	2
Steals	3	1
Turnovers	1	3

[Balldog]

We have another home conference game, this time against Northern Iowa (8-4, 2-0). They are lead by PF Eric Coleman, he could give us quite a bit of trouble. We are going to have to double down on Coleman in the paint. They are slightly better overall but we should have a chance since we are at home.

---

Coleman scores 8 of their first 13 points, giving them an early 13-2 advantage but we are able to cut the lead to 4 at halftime after a buzz beating three by Tunnell.

We start the 2nd half off cold, just like the first and they pull out to a 10 point lead but we are able to cut the lead to 1 at the halfway point. They again stretch the lead to 10. Stinson has been horrible and we give Marshall some more PT, as he has the ability to attack their zone instead of jacking up threes.

The strategy pays off and we are able to take the lead with 2 minutes left, and not look back. Sycamores win 62-58!

Sycamores were lead by Stinson with 15 pts on 5/18 shooting. Tunnell finished with 9 pts and 13 reb. Moore finished with 5 pts and 10 asts.

For the Panthers, Coleman had 17 pts and 13 reb.

	INST	UNI
Pts	62	58
FGM	21	20
FGA	56	50
FG%	37.5%	40.0%
3PM	4	2
3PA	20	11
3P%	20.0%	18.2%
FTM	16	16
FTA	24	22
FT%	66.7%	72.7%
Fouls	16	18
Rebs	37	35
Asts	17	8
Blocks	1	1
Steals	6	2
Turnovers	2	6

[Balldog]

Week 12

Recruiting

Boyette is still favoring USM but we are catching them slowly.

Development

Lee continues to work on his passing skills. Martin improves at attacking the basket.

Upcoming Games

At Drake (7-5, 2-1)
Drake is a lot better than us, they are on par with Purdue and Butler who both blew us out earlier in the year. They are lead by SG Josh Young (13.1 ppg), SG L. Houston (11.5 ppg) and PF Jon Cox (11.3 ppg, 7.4 rpg).

Vs #3 Southern Illinois (13-0, 3-0)
SIU is a very good team, they have a great defense and they are a great rebounding team. They are lead by PF Randal Falker (14.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg) and PG Bryan Mullins (9.6 ppg, 6.6 apg).