Replacing a Legend: Coaching Duke

[Eaglesfan27]

After a very successful run at Drexel in which I managed to win the National Championship my final year there, Duke has hired me to replace Coach K who just retired (After a 21-12 season in which my Drexel team knocked them out of the tourney.) I had a very good PG named Klayton Meyers who led that team and you can read about his career here:

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/...ad.php?t=58098



Now, I'm coaching Duke but the pressure is on as they expect me to win now or I'll quickly be gone. I only have a 2 year deal. To up the challenge (after all I did win with Drexel), I've decided to up the difficulty level from All Conference to All-American (the 4th of 5 difficulties.) This gives the CPU a slight edge in player ratings and also makes them play smarter. I'm using some sliders from AuburnAlumni over at Operation Sports with slight modifications (I reduced the effectiveness of offensive post play because I think his sliders allow inside men to be a bit too effective even if they aren't that talented.)


Fortunately, I'll have some quick help as the #2 SG and #7 player overall committed to Duke my first day on campus. I'll be sure to thank Coach K for doing such a good job in recruiting this kid. My career record is 196-95 and I'm considered a B+ overall talent in coaching with my strength being in recruiting. Hopefully, I can hang on here long enough until USC opens which is my ultimate dream job.


Now onto a description of my first recruiting class:

Duke was weak inside last year and I came in late so I had to scramble. We got a 5 star SG that signed before I even started recruiting him. Steven Badu should be a superstar if all of the recruiting services are correct. Badu is the aforementioned #7 player in the nation. He is a 6'3 177 pound SG from Brooklyn, NY. He is already a very good defender. His jump shot is good, but has some signoifcant room for improvement. Our staff things he should improve quickly. He is a terrific dunker, but doesn't have elite speed to get inside. He is a better 3 point shooter than midrange shooter.


My first scramble move was to get some size inside that was talented. So, I went and got Timmy Green (4 star) from Lithuania (wierd name for there.) He is a 6'10 250 pound C who is raw but has potential. His greatest strength right now is good speed for his size (but not as good as Hite my former star C), good passing skills for a big man, and good post moves offensively.

I also had to scramble and take a few 3 star players as most of the stars weren't interested in us:

JC Sophomore Reid Bills is a 7'1 270 pound C from San Francisco. His talent is a question mark, but he should give us some size inside at least. His best strength is his shot blocking. He is a passable rebounder.

Finally, 6'9 210 SF/PF Mickey Garlepp is from Cerritos, CA. He should give us size and quickness at SF or he could put on some weight and become a contributor at PF possibly. His best attribute is good finishing around the basket. I'll probably redshirt him to let him develop this year.


I went after the #1 recruit in the country as soon as I got here, but the PF signed in his state with Oklahoma State. Our recruiting class is considered the 6th best in the nation, not bad. Wisconsin has the top class.


Our non-conference schedule seems really weak, but I decide to go with my AD's wishes.


We'll be playing teams like Drake and UT-Arlington early.


Now for a look at the returning starters:


SR SF Orien Louh is the star of the team. He is a 6'8 212 pound SF who is an excellent shooter from 12-14 feet out. He also is a good ball handler who is a decent passer. He is a very solid defender.


SR PF Delbert Fuller is a superior inside scorer. He is 6'10 280 and besides a potent inside game, he can nail the 10-12 foot jumper. His defense is solidand his only real weakness is his tendency to get into foul trouble.


JR PG Johnny Macklin from Queens, NY is a 6'1 193 pound guard with good penetration ability and superior 3 point shooting.


Sophomore PG Gordon Gosley is pushing Johnny for the starting role and will probably win it. He is 6'3 186. He is a blazing fast PG who is much quicker than Johnny. He isn't quite as good inside the lane, but he is a better jump shooter from midrange and behind the arc. He is also a better handler and he is about equal in passing ability. His bickest weakness is less durability.

PG Cedric Garza is from Cameroon and he is almost as good as the other 2. He is the best 3 point shooter on the roster. We have 3 very solid PG's.


Arturo Kaman is from Cleveland, OH and is the returning starter at SG. He is 6'5 225 poinds and is a sophomore. He is a slasher who is a mediocre shooter for a SG. I think Badu will win the starting job over him, but I might be wrong. He was the 7th rated player nationally a year ago and the 3rd SG and he does many thinks better than Badu, namely getting to the rim and finishing. Our staff also believes he may have a bit more upside..


Archie Outlaw is another former top HS SG (#21 overall, #5 among SG's) who is 6'5 210 from Winston-Salem, NC. He is a defensive specialist who has great offensive potential but isn't there yet.


Kelyn O'Connor is a 6'8 226 pound SF from Philly, PA. He is a decent defender who mostly relies on athleticism.


Clement Begley is a 6'7 201 pound SO PF who is a surprisingly good scorer from inside. However, he doesn't provide anything defensively or on the boards.


Simon Love is a 6'8 220 pound walk-on SF who is completely lacking the talent to play here.

[Eaglesfan27]

North Carolina is #1 in the preseason polls. Of course, they are our biggest rival and will be very tough this year.

We are #6 in the pre-season poll. Reggie Theus is coaching Arizona and they are ranked 10th in the pre-season polls.


Orien Louh (10.7 ppg, 9.3 rpg last year) and Delbert Fuller (10.5 ppg and 9.6 rpg last year) were named to the Pre-Season All American First Team!

Unfortunately, the North Carolina PG and C were also named to the team.

An Oregon Duck SG was the 5th player.


Our first game of the year is hosting UT-Arlington. They are a much weaker team than we are and we have better team unity.


We have a size and talent advantage at every position.

[Eaglesfan27]

Louh twisted his ankle early, but our subs are even stars and better than their players. Louh will play a bit in the 2nd as his ankle isn't that bad.

We are up 45-22. Arturo Kaman is a stud player and he's showing it with 12 points, 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block off the bench. He is 4 of 5.

Badu missed his first 3 shots before heating up. He has 11 points and a steal in the first half. He is 4 of 9 from the field.

Gosley is a terrific penetrator and he has 7 points and 3 assists.

Louh had 5 points and 4 boards before he hurt his ankle.

Fuller has 4 points, 6 boards, and 2 assists.

We held them to 36% shooting while shooting 43%.


With 11 minutes left, I pull my starters including Badu.

We win 82-50.

We shot 46% while holding them to 36%.

Delbert Fuller was our biggest weapon with 16 points, 8 boards, 6 steals, 3 assists, and a block. He shot 8 of 15.

Gosley had 14 points and 5 assists.

Badu had 14 points and 1 steal.

Kaman had 14 points, 4 boards, 3 assists, and 2 steals.

Louh pitched in with 6 points, 6 boards, and 4 steals.

My other big freshman, Timmy Green had 4 points, 9 boards, 3 assists, and 3 blocks.



We win our simulated game against Drake 74-59.

Gosley had 19 points and 3 assists.

Badu had 17 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, and 2 steals.

Louh had 9 points, 5 boards, and 3 assists.

Fuller had 8 points and 9 boards along with 3 blocks.

Green had 5 points and 5 boards.


Our next game will be against a weaker Marshall team.

[Tellistto]

I am onboard, looking forward to more!

Tell

[MrBug708]

Is Floyd still the coach at SC?

[TonyR]

I'm not a Duke fan, but I'm on board rootin' for ya to get to USC EF

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Is Floyd still the coach at SC?

Yes, he's been making the tourney every year. Thanks for reading guys, I hope you continue to enjoy it. I'm about to play Marshall now:

Marshall is a much less talented team than we are except for their C who is 7'0" 240 pounds and skilled. He will be a challenge for Timmy and Reid. We have a huge advantage every other position and our backup G's are better than their starters.

[Eaglesfan27]

About 8 minutes into the game, Fuller shows me he can score from outside too, as he hit a 3 as the buzzer was about to expire! We are 19-12 9 minutes into the game. Their starting C, Santee, has 8 points.

A good shooting night by both teams as we are both approaching 50%. We are up 38-29 thanks to 9 steals as our trap is killing them.

Backup PG Cedric Garza leads the team with 8 points.

Gosley has 7 points and 2 assists along with 3 steals. His speed is amazing (98.)

Badu has 7 points on 3 of 6 shooting.

Fuller has 5 points and 4 assists.


Varney Santee has 14 points, 4 boards, and 2 blocks for them.


With 14 minutes to go, Gosley with a brilliant drive into the lane draws a 3rd foul on Santee that will cause him to sit for a few.


We were in control throughout and win easily 82-71.

Fuller really opened my eyes this game. He is the #1 star of this team unquestionably. He was consistently nailing 17-19 footers and nailed his only 3. He is also a dynamic post scorer.

Fuller finishes with 21 points, 10 boards, and 3 steals. He shot 8 of 11, 1 of 1, and 4 of 5.

Gosley's speed and 3 point shooting led to an 18 point night. He also had 3 assists and 5 steals. He shot 7 of 12, 3 of 5, and 1 of 1.

Orien Louh had 10 points and 3 assists.

Timmy Green had a very solid night: 10 points, 8 boards, and a block.

Badu finishes with 9 points and 3 assists. He shot 4 of 11.


Kaman will probably get more PT next game as Badu took up 29 minutes.







We win our simulated game against North Texas to go 4-0 and give me my 200th career win!

We win 85-56 as besides Timmy all of our starters played great.

Orien led the team with 20 points, 9 boards, and 3 assists.

Badu had 15 points and 5 assists. He shot 6 of 13, 1 of 6, and 2 of 2.

Gosley had 10 points, 5 assists, and 5 boards.

Fuller had 12 points and 10 board along with 3 assists.

Macklin chipped in 12 points off the bench.



Our next game is by our hardest yet. We'll be playing Syracuse at their place. They are currently ranked 20th in the polls. Our staff believes we have a significant overall team advantage.


We have a huge advantage over their freshman PG. We also have a huge advantage at SF. They have a slight advantage in size at PF and a size/talent advantage at C.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Yes, he's been making the tourney every year. Thanks for reading guys, I hope you continue to enjoy it. I'm about to play Marshall now:

Marshall is a much less talented team than we are except for their C who is 7'0" 240 pounds and skilled. He will be a challenge for Timmy and Reid. We have a huge advantage every other position and our backup G's are better than their starters.

So what you are saying is that the LSU job hasn't opened up for him huh?

[Eaglesfan27]

Syracuse is playing the best perimeter defense I've ever seen despite not having great talent.. They are running a nasty 3-2 zone and are shutting down Gosley and all of my perimeter players. Furthermore, they are generating turnovers on the inside and at one point had a 18 point lead. Fortunately, we regrouped and closed it to within 11 during the last 5 minutes. Halftime: Down 36-25.

Green is leading us with 7 points! Mostly on passes from Fuller when he is being double teamed.

Garza has 5 points and Bills has 4 to be our unlikely 3 leading scorers.

Fuller has 2 points, 4 boards, and 3 assists. He is 1 of 8

Badu is 0 of 3. Gosley is 1 of 6.

I think I'm really seeing the effects of the upped difficulty level that I chose. This team is 8 points below us in overall talent but playing great right now.


Brilliant defense and patient offense with Fuller going into the post allow us to get the lead back with 6 minutes to go. 53-52 but Fuller needs to rest a bit now...


Down by 6 with 2:42 to go, I get my starters back in.

Fuller was huge down the stretch despite being tired! He kicked it out for a 3 (by Gosley who is coming up big too) to tie it at 64-64 with a 1:40 left. Then, they hit a quick 2. Green was fouled on our next possession but only hit 1 of 2 FT's. Down by 1, Fuller helped force a stop, get the rebound, and started a fast break which Kaman was fouled on. Kaman hit both FT's to give us the lead. Fuller then forced another miss by his man and grabbed the board! Then, They fouled Fuller and he hit his FT's, but they nailed a 3 with 2.2 seconds left to tie the game! We fail to hit the buzzer beater and we are going into OT with a tired Fuller


69-69 at the start of OT.

Fuller was tired in the OT but contributed a few rebounds and a jump hook for a basket, but Gosley took over. He nailed 2 3's and 2 floaters in the lane for 10 points in the OT. He guided us to an easy 85-77 win in OT!

Gosley finishes with 28 points, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 4 turnovers. He shot 8 of 17, 5 of 10, 7 of 7.

Fuller had 16 points, 13 boards, 4 assists, and 2 blocks. He shot 7 of 16, 0 of 1, and 2 of 2.

Timmy Green had 12 points and 8 boards along with a block.

Badu only had 4 points, 3 boards, and 3 assists on 2 of 7 shooting.

Kaman in much more limited time had 7 points, 2 boards, and an assist. He shot 1 of 1, 1 of 1, and 4 of 4.



Drexel is 5-1 and I see they are 5th in the Mid Major Poll.



The top SF in the nation that I was recruiting and thought I would get chose to sign with BC instead of us!! He is from Virginia Beach, VA and wanted to remain close to home but I would have thought the distance isn't that much different between the two schools...


I also lost out on the other star I wanted who went to Georgia. In fact, 3 of the top 20 players in the nation signed early with Georgia!!!!


The other player I was going after hard from Atlanta signed with UNC.


The good news is that the #1 player in the nation from St. Clair Shores, Michigan has us as his #1 school by a wide margin right now.. I just hope he doesn't change his mind as I doubt I can get him to sign during this early period.. Kenneth Galos is a 6'6 182 pound SG who is rated as a truly great shooter by our shooting staff with top tier potential..



In our simulated game, we lose at Iowa 58-50. Iowa was a good team, but we had a 10 point talent advantage on them and should have won.



Gosley led the team in scoring with 10 points. He was 4 of 20 from the field! Fuller was 3 of 12 and only had 6 points and 9 boards.



Our next game is at a very good Auburn team that is almost as good as we are from a talent standpoint. They are 6-2. That will be our last game before the early signing period ends..



Next week, we have 3 easier OOC games.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

So what you are saying is that the LSU job hasn't opened up for him huh?

Heh, we'll see in real life


As far as the game, Tim has a 430-269 record. He is 5-1 this year and has extremely good job security. The good news is that he is 61, so hopefully he'll retire soon (but not too soon, I don't think the game will let me take a job for at least a year or two after taking this one - at least that is how it was with each previous move.)

[Eaglesfan27]

A very interesting first half. I've never seen the first 10 minutes have such frentic defensive energy. Both sides played great defense and it was 9-8 at the 10 minute mark. But when all of the starters left the game for rest, it opened wide up and stayed somewhat wide open when the starters returned.

We are up 28-27 at the half.


Garza is our leading scorer with 5 points.

Green has 4 points, 6 boards, and 2 blocks.

Fuller has 4 points and 4 boards.

Gosley is 0 of 8 from the field. Badu is 1 of 3.



It was a tight game until their starters tired and left the game while ours were still going strong with about 11 minutes left. We ran off a 15-0 run and that put the game away before our starters left with 7:30 to go.

67-49 win. Great defense from our team today!

We held them to 34% shooting. We shot 41%.

We outrebounded them 40-27.

We had 9 steals. They had 5.

We had 4 blocks. They had 3.

We had 17 second chance points. They had 4.

Luoh led the team with 11 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and great defense. He was 4 of 7 from the field.

Gosley had 10 points, 4 steals, 3 assists, and 2 boards. He was 3 of 12 from the field, 2 of 5 from behind the arc, 2 of 2 from the FT line.

Badu had 10 points on 3 of 9 shooting.

Fuller had 10 points, 13 boards, 2 steals, an assist, and a block. He was 5 of 18 from the field.

Timmy Green had 8 points, 9 boards, 2 blocks.

Reid Bills had 8 points (all on putbacks) and 6 boards.




We did not get any recruits to sign early. The good news is the #2 overall, #1 SG is still favoring us. I just hope he doesn't change his mind during the long season. I could see him starting at SF for us next year.


North Carolina lost to VT 52-50


In our simulated game against Campbell, we win 61-45. Gosled led us with 13 points and 3 assists. He shot 4 of 10.

Timmy Green had 11 points and 10 boards.

Fuller had 8 points and 7 boards on 2 of 9 shooting.



Our next game is at 3-4 Georgia State.

[Eaglesfan27]

Fuller with a GREAT first half. 14 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal. He shot 6 of 8 and just played perfect basketball. No turnovers either. He handled the double team well every time.

Green had 8 points and 8 boards in the first half and is really playing well against smaller men.

Gosley had 5 points and an assist.

Louh had 5 points, 2 assists, and 2 steals.

Badu had 2 points and 2 assists. He is 1 of 4.


We are up 40-25 and a blowout could be the only thing to stop Fuller from having a great Player of the Week type of performance.


How embarassing. I was thinking blowout when we were up by 16 with 10 minutes to go. I sat my starters. Then, they went on a run and their crowd got into it. We went ice cold when I brought my starters back and I lost 72-67 to Georgia State at their place


Their 7'1 270 pound Senior C who gave my Drexel team so much trouble was their main man. He had 22 points, 20 boards and 3 blocks.

Also, their guards nailed their 3's down the stretch.


Fuller finished with 20 points, 12 boards, 2 assists, and a steal but it wasn't good enough and he missed 3 shots down the stretch. He shot 8 of 14.

Badu had 14 points and 3 assists on 5 of 12 shooting but he missed 2 3's down the stretch.

Green finished with 10 points, 10 boards, 3 assists, and a block.

Gosley finished with 5 points, 4 assists, 2 boards. He shot 2 of 10.


We win our simulated game at home against UTSA 76-43.

Gosley had 18 points, 5 boards, and 5 assists. He shot 6 of 12, 1 of 3, and 5 of 6.

Bady had 17 points and 6 boards. He shot 5 of 11.

Luoh had 6 points and 7 boards on 2 of 11 shooting.

Fuller had 12 points and 8 boards.

Timmy fouled out early and only had 3 points and 4 boards.


Our next game is at home against a weak VMI team.

[Eaglesfan27]

We are MUCH better than VMI and it shows early.

With the embarassing loss to Georgia State fresh on our minds, we are going to keep pounding this team. We are up 48-23. I won't call off the attack until we are up by at least 35.

Louh has 8 points, 4 boards, and 4 assists.

Timmy has 8 points and 5 boards.

Macklin has 8 points and a board off the bench.

Gosley has 6 points, 3 assists, and 2 steals.

Badu has 5 points.

Fuller has 5 points, 5 boards, 2 steals, and an asisst at the half. He is 2 of 5 from the field.



With 10 minutes to go, we take a 69-32 lead and I pull my starters. They'll be put back in if they somehow close within 20 which I doubt.

Our end of bench guys get into the game with 3 minutes left. Outlaw surprises me with a good performance in his 3 minutes: 5 points, 2 boards, and a block.

We win 84-56. Their SG who is their best player had 28 of their points on 11 of 22 shooting.

We held them to 34% while shooting 56%.


7 players had double digits for us: Gosley had 12. Badu, Fuller, and Macklin each had 11. Louh, Green, and Kaman each had 10.

Luoh had 5 assists and Gosley had 4.

Fuller and Green each had 9 boards to lead the team.

Gosley had 5 steals.

Green had 2 blocks.

Green was 5 of 5 from the field, mostly putbacks.



We win our simulated game against Liberty 80-53.

Fuller had 22 points and 13 boards on 9 of 21 shooting.

Badu had 12 points, 6 boards, and 5 assists.

Louh had 11 points, 4 boards, and 4 assists.


Our next game will be hosting Marist.

[Eaglesfan27]

Marist is a very good team that could challenge us if we aren't careful. They are 9-1 this year so far.


We had a very rough start, but our 2nd team dominated theirs. Reid Bills had 10 points, 3 boards, and 2 blocks as they had no answer for his bulk inside.

Fuller had 6 points, 4 boards, 1 assist, and a steal in the 1st half.

Thanks to our 2nd team, we are up 37-33 at the half.



We took control of the game early in the 2nd half and were never threatened again. 82-63 win.


Fuller finished with 14 points, 11 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals. He shot 7 of 13.

Gosley had 13 points and 3 assists. He shot 6 of 12.

Louh had 12 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 5 of 8.

Bills had 12 points, 7 boards, and 2 blocks in limited time off the bench - about 15 minutes.

Badu had 8 points, 3 assists, 2 steals. He shot 2 of 8.

Timmy Green had 7 points and 2 boards.



We win our simulated game against South Florida 56-41.

Fuller lead the team with 14 points and 6 boards.

Timmy had 11 points and 7 boards.

Gosley had 7 points and 5 boards.

Badu was 0 of 8 from the field.



We are 12-2 as we head into conference play. We are 9th in the media poll. We are 20th in the coaches' poll.

We are start off with a 12-2 Miami team that is 16th in both polls and is a very talented team. We have a slight talent advantage. With the home court, I expect to win.

[Eaglesfan27]

Again, it is our bench that is coming up strong. Kaman leads the team with 7 points. We are up 31-26 at the half.


We cruise through the 2nd half as our defense comes out very strong. 71-50 win. We held them to 33% shooting.

Badu came alive in the 2nd half and finished with 16 points on 7 of 12 shooting.

Louh had 10 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, and 4 steals and played terrific defense.

Fuller had 10 points, 8 boards, and 4 assists. He shot 4 of 11.

Kaman finished with 9 points.

Gosley had 8 points, 6 assists, 4 steals, and 3 boards. He was 4 of 9 from the field.

Timmy Green had 8 points, 9 boards, and 2 blocks.


We are upset at NC State 61-60. Their star SF had 37 points!

Gosley led us with 14 points and 3 assists. He shot 4 of 13.

Fuller had 10 points and 9 boards but shot 4 of 15.

Badu had 12 points but shot 3 of 11.

Louh was 0 of 8 from the field.


Our next game is at a Florida State team that is as good as we are (and higher ranked in both polls.) They are currently 13-2.

[Eaglesfan27]

Florida State has the biggest C I've played against yet. A 7'6" 250 pound Sophomore who is talented. They also have better talent at PG and SG, but we have the better talent at SF and PF. This is going to be a tough game.

I have to put Bills in early as they get Timmy into foul trouble.

Their C is a monster. He gets 3 fouls on Bills before with 8 minutes to go, I finally get a 2nd foul on him.

Also, our young backups are terrified playing at Florida State and their confidence is in the toilet. It's killing their shooting.


We allowed ourselves to fall into the trap of playing their extreme frenetic pace and we were down by 18 with 5 minutes to go. Then, I slowed it down and we clawdd back. Down 50-43 at the half.


Louh thrived with the fast pace and has 8 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, and 3 steals.

Bills kept us in it with 7 points, 2 boards, and 2 assists.

Gosley also has 8 points on 3 of 3 shooting.


They are killing us on the boards and their 7'6 C has 8 points and 8 boards at the half.


Their superstar Sophomore PG has 15 points and 5 assists.


In the 2nd half, we got their C in foul trouble early and that was a huge difference as we started dominating the boards. Furthermore, our 3 point shooters were lights out.

97-89 win for us.

Gosley led the team with 24 points, 3 assists, 3 steals. He shot 7 of 10, 4 of 4, and 6 of 6.

Badu had 14 points, 3 boards, 3 assists. He shot 5 of 11, 3 of 7, and 1 of 1.

Louh had 14 points, 9 boards, 3 assists, and 3 steals.

Fuller had 10 points, 10 boards, 7 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 2 of 8, 0 of 0, and 5 of 6.

Kaman added 10 points.

Timmy Green had 8 points and 11 boards.



Drexel is 13-3 and #1 in the mid major poll

USC is 11-6 so far this year, but only 3-3 in the Pac-10.


In our simulated game, we win at home against a good Wake Forest team, 72-69.

Gosley had 23 points and 5 assists. He shot 9 of 17, 1 of 4, and 4 of 4.

Bady had 17 points, 5 boards, and 6 assists. He shot 6 of 13, 3 of 6, and 2 of 2.

Fuller was in foul trouble throughout.



Our next game will be hosting #17 Boston College. We are now 15-3 and 7th in the media poll.

[Eaglesfan27]

Boston College has a talent advantage at SG and C, but their C is very undersized at 6'8 220.


We are doing so well at the half, that I actually check to make sure I didn't somehow go back down to the lower difficulty setting.

I think we are dominating them because of their lack of interior size. Reid Bills came in at the 10 minute mark as usual, but his size was such an advantage that he stayed in the rest of the first half...

He finished with 11 points and 5 boards at the half.

Gosley is driving into the lane at will and has 11 points and 1 assist. He is 5 of 5 from the field.

Badu has 9 points and 3 assists.

Fuller has 7 points, 3 assists, 2 boards, and 2 steals.

We are up 48-25 over a good BC team.

I'll be working my end of the bench guys into the rotation throughout the 2nd half. Many of them are severely hurting in the confidence department.


75-51 win as we worked our subs in quite a bit in the 2nd half.


Reid Bills finished with 18 points, 6 boards, 1 assist, and 2 blocks. He shot 8 of 12.

Gosley finished with 17 points, 4 steals, and 2 assists. He shot 8 of 10.

Badu had 13 points, 3 boards, 3 assists.

Fuller had 11 points and boards.



In our simmed game, we lose at Maryland 73-63.

Gosley had 14 points and 3 assists on 5 of 10 shooting.

However, Badu and Louh were both 3 of 12.

Fuller had 9 points and 5 boards.



Our next game is hosting a good Virginia team, but we have the talent advantage at every position except for C.

[Eaglesfan27]

Despite working my end of bench players into the game, we have a 16 point lead at the half. 38-22 thanks to superior play from our big men.

Fuller has 10 points and 4 boards at the half. He is 5 of 8 from the field.

Timmy has 5 points, 6 boards, and a block.

Gosley has 5 points and 2 assists.



We dominated the 2nd half and win 86-63.


Fuller had 23 points, 9 boards, 3 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 11 of 16.

Gosley finished with 16 points, 6 assists, 2 steals, and a board. He shot 7 of 8.

Timmy Green had 12 points, 8 boards, and 4 blocks.

Badu scored 9 and had 4 boards along with 3 steals.

Louh continues to underperform offensively but is a defensive stopper. He had 2 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He was 1 of 6 from the field.



We are now 17-4 and 7th in the media poll.


In our simmed game, we lose 74-73 to Georgia Tech at our place. Badu had 18 points, 5 boards, and 5 assists on 6 of 10 shooting. Fuller had 17 points, 12 boards, and 5 assists. He shot 7 of 17. However, Timmy only had 3 points and 3 boards and was in foul trouble and their interior men punished us offensively.


Our next game is at a good 12-9 Clemson team that we should be able to handle.

[Eaglesfan27]

Against Clemson, we have a significant talent advantage at both Forward positions and a slight advantage at C. They have an excellent PG and SG that are slightly better than ours.

Our starting PG went down to injury, their full court press was killing us which gave them a 20 point lead at one time, but we cut it to 12 at halftime.

Down 46-34.

Fuller has 10 points and 5 boards but is only 3 of 7.

Badu has 9 points.


Their full court press generated at least 10 turnovers and 20 points for them today. The best I've seen yet. They won by 13.

85-72.

Fuller had 16 points, 11 boards, 3 assists. He shot 4 of 11.

Badu had 14 points, 3 assists, 3 steals. He shot 5 of 10.

Kaman had 11 points on 4 of 7 shooting.

Macklin had 10 points.



We win 58-57 in our simmed game at Miami. Fuller led the way with 14 points, 13 boards, and 4 assists.

Badu also had 14 points, 6 boards, and 4 assists.


Our next game is hosting Maryland.

Their best player is their star SG. If we can shut him down, it should be an easy win.

[Eaglesfan27]

Tied 38-38 at the half as we are both playing uptempo.


In the 2nd half, our defense clamped down on their G's and our 3 point shooters started drilling shot.

85-66 win.


Gosley had 15 points and 8 assists. He shot 5 of 8.

Kaman had 13 points on 5 of 10 shooting.

Badu had 11 points on 4 of 13 shooting.

Garza had 11 points and 3 assists. He was 3 of 3 from the field.

Fuller had 9 points, 10 boards, 5 assists, 4 steals. He shot 3 of 6.



We are now 19-6 and 13th in the media poll.

In our simmed game, we host Florida State and crush them 90-60.

Fuller had 11 points, 11 boards, 3 steals, and 3 blocks.

Louh had 13 points, 9 boards, and 7 assists.

Gosley had 13 points and 7 assists.

Badu had 12 points.

Macklin had 12 points and 5 assists.

Garza had 12 points.

Our next game is at an unranked VT team that is struggling this year.

[Eaglesfan27]

We have a talent advantage at every position and this VT team is weaker than my old Drexel team. Should be an easy win at their place.

Great execution of the halfcourt game has up 36-19 at the half.

Louh has 9 points to lead the team.

Gosley has 2 points and 4 assists at the half.


72-43 win. I feel like my team is really improving the as we come down the regular season home stretch.

Fuller led the way with 12 points, 14 boards, 1 steal, and 2 blocks. He shot 6 of 14.

Louh had 14 points, 3 steals, 1 board, and 1 assist. He shot 5 of 10.

Badu had 12 points and 3 steals. He shot 4 of 15.

Gosley had 8 points, 8 assists, 4 boards, and a steal. He had 2 turnovers. He shot 4 of 5.

Timmy had 0 points but he had 8 boards and 3 blocks.


Kenneth Galos has expressed so much interest in our program that all other programs have stopped recruiting him!!!!! Kenneth is a 6'6 182 pound SG who is #2 in the nation and #1 at the position. Our staff believes he is a tremendous slasher with great athleticism, great dunking, as well as an outstanding shot. Our staff believes he has the potential to be one of the all time great Duke players!!!

Unfortunately, our other top recruit the #6 overall and 3rd best C appears to have UNC well ahead of us. The 7'2 280 pound C is very talented and he would be a major piece if we could get him, but it looks unlikely right now.


In our simmed game, we lose at Georgia Tech 74-69. Gosley had 15 points and 8 assists. Fuller had 19 points and 9 boards, but their star PF had 34 points to power their attack.


Our next game will be hosting the #1 team in the nation, North Carolina. Our staff believes they are the most talented team in the nation and they have played like it this year. At least, we are at home.

[Eaglesfan27]

North Carolina has an amazing C named Kris Falls. 7'1 265 and highly skilled. They also have a better PG and SG. We have a slight advantage with out 2 stars at SF and PF.

Despite the home crowd urging us on, they are up 33-26 at the half. Falls has 10 points and 7 boards for them at the half.

It was a back and forth battle down the stretch, but Gosley who had been hot all night missed a 18 footer to tie it at the buzzer. North Carolina wins 68-66.

Gosley finished with 17 points, 5 assists, and a steal. He shot 7 of 11.

Badu had 10 points. Fuller had 10 points, 7 boards, and 3 blocks.

Kaman had 9 points.

Timmy Green had 5 points and 7 boards but was 2 of 7.

Falls finished with 18 points and 10 boards along with 4 blocks.




We win in our simmed game at a very good BC team. 71-59 win.

Gosley had 20 points and 4 assists.

Badu had 8 points, 8 assists, and 5 boards.

Fuller had 16 points, 7 boards, 3 assists, 3 blocks.

We end the regular season with a 22-8 record.


Our first game in the ACC tourney will be against a 12-18 Virginia team.

[Eaglesfan27]

It was a close game with Virginia until their starters left with 12 minutes to go. Then, we went on a 20-4 run and even when they came back, we dominated.

48-23 at the half.

Kaman with 15 points off the bench. He is 6 of 10 from the field, 1 of 1 from behind the arc.

Macklin with 9 points and 2 assists as our bench ran circles around theirs.

Gosley with 7 points and 2 assists at the half.

Reid Bills with 5 points, 5 boards, and a block at the half.



82-53 win. Kaman had a great game off the bench: 21 points, 4 boards, 2 steals. He shot 9 of 15, 1 of 1, 2 of 2.

Fuller had a very good game: 16 points, 10 boards, 4 assists, 4 steals, and 1 block.

Timmy Green had 11 points and 11 boards.

Macklin had 11 points and 3 assists.

Gosley had 7 points and 4 assists.


Our next game is against North Carolina. The winner will play either Florida State or Georgia Tech.

[Eaglesfan27]

Their superstar C is injured for this game!!!

Their superstar SG, Chad Wainright was nailing everything. He has 15 points at the half and they are up 49-40. Their PG Clifford Chavez also chipped in 14.

Gosley and Fuller kept us in it. Gosley has 13 points on 5 of 8 shooting.

Fuller has 10 points, 3 boards, and 3 assists as his inside and outside game are going well. He is 5 of 6 from the field and we'll be feeding him the ball much more in the 2nd half.



Fuller fouled out with 5:40 to go and they crushed us from that point (they were already up by 12.)

103-79 loss.

Their trap and their 3 point shooting was the key. They were 11 of 22 from behind the arc.

They forced 21 turnovers with their trap. We only forced 11.


Chad Wainright finished with 22 points and 8 assists for them.

Chavez had 18 points and 5 assists.

Despite fouling out, Fuller led us with 24 points, 9 boards, and 5 assists. He was 12 of 16 from the field.

Gosley had 13 points and an assist.

Louh had 6 points, 5 boards, and 5 assists.

Badu had 10 points and 1 assist.

Timmy Green was overmatched by their backup C and was killed on the boards. He finished with 6 points and 2 assists.

If we face North Carolina in the Tourney, I'll go to Reid Bills and his size much quicker.







North Carolina finishes the season with both the ACC regular season and tourney title. They are #1 in the media poll. We are 12th.

North Carolina is the top #1 seed. Oregon, Arizona, and Louisville are the other #1 seeds.


We are in North Carolina's bracket We are the #2 seed. We'll face IUPUI first.

North Carolina is the only team in the bracket that scares me.


George Mason won the CAA over Drexel and are an #11 seed.


Drexel didn't make the tourney. Interestingly, neither did USC. I hope they don't fire Tim Floyd this year as I doubt I'll be able to apply for the job after just taking this one..

Drexel finished with a 17-13 record. Kris Azubuike had a great year as I figured he would with 17.4 ppg. Alvin Hite didn't do quite as well as I thought he would. He averaged 11 ppg and 7rpg.

USC finished at the bottom of the Pac 10 with a 14-17 record.


I decide to sim the first game as I'm very confident we'll win and we do, but it is closer than I thought it would be. 69-56 win.

Gosley had 17 points and 6 assists.

Fuller had 12 points and 5 boards. He was 3 of 10.


Our next game is against the 10 seed, Dayton.

Dayton has 2 very good guards that could be a challenge, but they are weak inside..

[Tellistto]

Good luck in the tourney, and hopefully the USC job doesn't come open, or if it does you are able to apply.

Tell

[Eaglesfan27]

We were up by 10 at one point, but they closed the gap and it is 36-30, we lead.

Fuller has 10 points, 7 boards, and 2 assists. He is 5 of 9.

Gosley has 8 points and an assist.

Badu has 6 points on 2 of 5 shooting behind the arc.



Their starting SG finished with 21 points, but we contained the rest of their team. They trapped just as much as North Carolina, but we routinely broke their full court press.

82-61 win.


Fuller had 22 points, 13 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals, and a block. He shot 11 of 17.

Badu had 17 points and 2 assists. Not bad for the freshman. He shot 7 of 11.

Green finished with 10 points, 9 boards, and 2 blocks.

Gosley had 8 points, 5 assists, and 4 steals. He shot 3 of 8.

Louh had 8 points, 4 boards, and 4 assists.

Reid Bills had 7 points and 7 boards in only 18 minutes.

Kaman had 8 points but was 3 of 11 this game.


In the Sweet 16, we'll face UMass. North Carolina is still alive and will face Gonzaga (4th seed) in the other game.

UMass doesn't have any stars and isn't as talented, but they have great team unity.

[Eaglesfan27]

Despite the team unity at UMass, we take control of the game in the 1st half as Louh is having one of his best games. We are up 38-21 at the half. Louh has 12 points and 3 boards at the half.


In the 2nd half, our team continues to dominate. We win easily 76-53!


Louh finished with 24 points, 8 boards, and 2 assists.

Fuller had 15 points, 9 boards, and 4 assists.

Gosley had 9 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals.

Badu had 6 points, 5 boards, and 4 assists.

Timmy had 11 poins, 9 boards, and 3 assists.



Now, we have what will undoubtedly be our biggest obstacle to winning the National Championship. North Carolina. They are a great team, but their starting C is out injured which makes me think we have a chance. Of course, they beat us earlier in a close game despite not having their C at that time, either.

[Eaglesfan27]

A very good first half from Fuller and a solid first half from the rest of the team in which we are causing turnovers has us ahead 37-30 at the half.


Fuller has 12 points, 5 boards, 1 steal, and 1 block. He is 5 of 8 from the field.

Badu has 7 points and an assist, Gosley has 6 points and 2 assists.


Louh has 4 steals at the half!


Chad Wainright, their star G, has 8 points and 2 steals. He is 3 of 8 from the field.

Also, a big factor is that Gosley is handling their full court press perfectly along with his teammates.



They tied it at 57-57 with 5 minutes to go, but thanks to 5 missed shots in a row, we pulled ahead 64-57. A 3 then made it 64-60 with 2 minutes to go.


A missed shot by Badu followed by a Wainright basket makes it 64-62. Gosley has it stolen on a bad pass and they dunk to make it 64-64 with 45 seconds to go.


With 14 seconds to go, Gosley slashes into the lane (thanks to a screen by Fuller), he draws a foul and hits the 8 foot jumper! He nails the FT. 67-64 with 11 seconds to go.


Gosley blocks the 3 point attempt by Chavez!

We win! We WIN!!!

We each shot 41%.

We had 12 turnovers. They had 15.

We were 13 of 14 from the line. They were 12 of 14.

We were outrebounded 36-34.

We blocked 4 shots. They blocked 0.


We had 8 fast break points, they had 12.


Star SF Jared Samabaly had 18 points, 11 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals fo them. He shot 7 of 14.

Wainright finished with 4 of 13 shooting.


Fuller finished with 14 points, 9 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. He shot 6 of 14.

Gosley finished with 12 points, 8 assists, and 1 big block.


Badu had 12 points and 2 assists along with 3 steals. He was 3 of 11.

Louh had 8 points, 9 boards, and 5 steals.

Timmy Green had 8 points and 7 boards.

Bills off the bench had 6 points and 7 boards.



We are the only #2 seed to make it to the final 4. All of the other #1 seeds made it (first time I've seen that in this game.)


We'll be facing Louisville while Oregon and Arizona will be playing in the other game.

[Eaglesfan27]

We have a talent advantage at every position except C. At C, we have the size advantage as their starting C is only 6'9 230.



They pushed the pace all game, and we fell for it. Yet, we are up 43-40 thanks to some great shooting by Kaman off the bench in the last 7 minutes of the half.

Kaman has 11 points on 4 of 5 shooting (3 of 4 behind the arc.)

Gosley has 8 points and 3 assists.

Badu has 8 points and 3 assists.

Fuller has 8 points, 4 boards, and 2 assists.



Our defense was AMAZING the 2nd half, even once I brought in my subs when it is a blowout. 93-56 win!


We shot 58%. They shot 41%.


We shot 9 of 21 behind the arc (43%)

We turned it over 10 times. They did 18 times.


We outrebounded them 32-23.


We had 5 blocks to their 2.

We had 18 fast break points to their 8.


Badu had 20 points, 5 assists, 2 steals, and a block. He shot 7 of 14.

Kaman scored 17 points. He was 7 of 12.

Fuller finished with 16 points, 10 boards, 5 assists, 2 blocks. He shot 8 of 11.

Gosley finished with 8 points, 12 assists, and 3 steals. He shot 3 of 5.

Louh finished with 10 points and 4 boards. He shot 5 of 8.

Timmy had 8 points and 4 boards.


Reid Bills had 4 points and 9 boards off the bench.



Oregon beat Arizona 78-72 to advance to the National Championship Game. I'll play that tomorrow.

[Eaglesfan27]

I was wrong about North Carolina being the most talented team in the tourney. Well, they might have been if they had their starting C, but since they didn't, Oregon is rated even better as a team. They have 3 ridiculous guards who are starting at PG, SG, and SF. They are all excellent players who are great shooters. However, we have a huge advantage at PF where Fuller should be able to abuse a 6'6 200 pound freshman at PF. At C, Oregon has an advantage too with a 6'11 240 pound talented player. Overall, Oregon has a slight team talent advantage with an advantage at 4 of the 5 starting positions.

[Eaglesfan27]

The 1st half was very perimeter oriented as we didn't press our size and talent advantage inside enough. Of course, part of why we didn't do that was our guards, particularly Gosley, were on fire. They are exclusively a perimeter team on offense. Their guards missed shots early which let us build a 8 point lead, but they gradually chipped away. Still, we are up 35-30 at the half.

Gosley has 16 points and 2 assists. He is 7 of 11 from the field, 2 of 5 behind the arc.

Badu is the next leading scorer on our team with 5 points on 2 of 5 shooting.

Timmy Green is the leading rebounder and assist man with 4 boards and 3 assists.


Oregon is being led by one of their star G's, Qavotstaraj Zahn, who has 10 points on 4 of 7 shooting.


During the end of the 1st half, we injured their starting C, but he is expected to be able to return to the game.


We have a 27-2 run to start the 2nd half that puts us in control of the game. We win 78-52!

Gosley led the way with 20 points and 7 assists.

Badu had 20 points, 3 steals, and 2 blocks.

Louh had 5 points, 6 boards, and 4 assists.

Fuller finished with 12 points, 8 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.

Timmy finished with 10 points, 8 boards, and 5 assists.




Baylor's SG Javier Gouard wins Player of the Year.

Oregon's Ernie Kent wins Coach of the Year.

Uwem Pugh of VCU wins the mid major player of the year. He averged 22 ppg.

Delbert Fuller wins the Defefsneive Player of the Year Award!! He averaged 13.6 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 2.4 apg, 2.0 spg, and 1.2 bpg.

Delbert also wins the Pete Newell Big Man of the Year Award!


Delbert made 1st team All American.

I won ACC Coach of the Year.

Delbert won ACC Player of the Year.

Steven Badu won ACC Freshman of the Year. He averaged 11.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.7 apg, and 1.9 spg.


Gosley made 2nd team All-ACC. He averaged 12.9 ppg and 4.2 apg.

Badu and Green made All-ACC Freshman Team. Green averaged 6.3 ppg, 6.9 rpg, and 1.3 bpg.


Louh and Fuller both graduated and entered the draft. My first two players to go pro.

Clement Begley left the team due to lack of PT. The PF would have gotten quite a bit more this year, possibly. He went to play for Long Beach State! He should be a star for them.

Howard Terry, my former Drexel player left the team to go to Texas Southern.

USC lost one of their PG's who went to Wofford.
Simon Love, a walkon, graduated.


North Carolina hired Gonzaga's Coach after Roy Williams retired.

Fortunately, USC is giving Tim Floyd another year!! I'm pretty sure I could leave next year if he is fired.

[Eaglesfan27]

Kenneth Galos signs with us immediately as the off-season begins! He is the #2 player in the nation, #1 SG. He is 6'6 182 and is going to be a great player. We now have 3 elite SG's and 3 very good PG's who are on the border of being elite. I'll need to figure out how to keep them all happy, or at least the best 4 happy.

We lost out on the best C in the nation who chose North Carolina.

A great PF from California chose UCLA over us.


The #1 SF in the nation is still undecided and I shift my attention to him. Jeb N'Diaye, a special SF who is 6'10 220 chose Louisville over us. I guess I shifted attention to him too late.


I turn my attention to a 4 star PF from Venezuela named Curtis Bass (I wish the game had names that matched the nationality) Syracuse is our main competitor but I think we can get him. He is 6'7 222 and is a good shooter as well as a good rebounder.

I'm also trying to get Johwen Nashif from Poland who is a 7'1 236 pound talented 5 star C.

Bass signs with us in the 2nd to last week of being able to do so.


In the last week, we are in the lead for Johwen, but there is a chance he will stay in Poland. Not being able to visit him (maybe not enough points?) is hurting our chances..


Despite not being able to go to Poland, we get the talented C on the last day of recruiting!! Timmy should be able to slide over to be a very good starter at PF and we'll have a formidable front court, at least size wise.

2 5-star recruits and a 4 star. Not a bad class in my first year of full recruiting at Duke.


Louisville had the #1 class over all. They signed 3 All-Americans who are all 5 star athletes as well as a 4 star athlete.

Oregon had the 2nd best class with 3 5-star athletes.

We were 3rd.


USC's class is 34th with 1 4-star and 3-3stars. Tim is losing his touch and I can see that job within my reach.

But for now, it's time to focus on this great team. I'll look at the roster in a second, but the natural inclination with 6 great guards is to have 3 on the court at all times. We'll give up some of the defensive intensity that Louh provided, but we don't have anyone like him on the team now anyway. Timmy and whoever wins the C job should provide some blocking to help with their mistakes.



I go with the schedule that the AD wants. We'll start off with some easy teams before going to to the Tropical Invitational. We do have several tough non-conference games including Michigan at home, a game at LSU and a game hosting Kentucky.

[Eaglesfan27]

The roster:


PG Johnny Macklin (SR 6'1 199, COF) has shown a lot of growth during the offseason and he is now our highest rated player. However, Gosley is right behind him according to our scouts and Gosley is slightly better in a few key areas, but Macklin is a slightly better defender. Overall rating: 91

PG Gordon Gosley (JR 6'3 195, COF) is the better 3 point shooter, he is much quicker, and he is the better passer. If I didn't have 3 excellent SG's, I'd play Gosley at SG and let Macklin start at PG. As it is, I think Gosley will start due at PG due to his size, speed, and shooting advantage and we'll bring Macklin off the bench for his defensive intensity as well as shooting touch. Macklin will certainly be the #1 option off the bench. Overall rating: 90

PG Cedric Garza (JR 5'10 160) is a great small man. He is the 2nd best 3 point shooter behind Gosley. He is an excellent passer (not quite as good as the two preceding players, but he would start on most teams. Overall rating: 86

PG Austin Conklin (So 6'3 182) Walkon is terrible. Will almost certainly be cut. Overall: 52

PG Tyreek Reaser (Redshirt Freshman 5'10 177) Another poor walkon. Will probably be cut. Overall: 57


SG Steven Badu (So 6'4 186) He is a very good midrange shooter and a deadly 3 point shooter. He's improved to be the 3rd best 3 point shooter on the team. However, new arrival Galos will challenge him for the starting job. Galos combines Badu's best qualities with Kaman's. Badu is the best shot blocker among our SG's. He is also the best rebounder among our SG's. However, he is slow and our staff believes he is close to reaching his potential. Overall: 86

SG Kenneth Galos (Fr 6'6 186) Galos is a rare talent. Already as good as Badu on the mid range shot. He is almost as good of a 3 point shooter. He is the best dunker on the team and is a creative player who is the best passer among our SG's. His handle needs some work, but it is best among our SG's. His defense is the best among the SG's, but he isn't as good as Badu or Kaman at blocking or stealing the ball. He is just good at making his man miss. He is the worst rebounder among the 3, but not by much. He is the fastest of the 3 by a wide margin and he is the only guy on the team who might beat Gosley in a foot race. His stamina is questionable. Our staff feels he might already be the best "clutch" guy on the team. They also think that Galos has the best potential on the team. I like Badu, but I think Galos wins the starting job at SG unless I decide to start him at SF. Overall: 85

Arturo Kaman (JR 6'5 229.) Arturo is a great slasher who can get hot and drill 3's but he isn't the shooter consistently that Badu and Galos are. When he gets hot, he can nail anything, but he isn't a consistent mid range shooter either. However, he is the 2nd best guy around the rim and is a terrific dunker. Only Galos is better at that. He also is better than Badu at passing and handling the ball. He is the best blocker of the 3 and is the best at stealing the ball. He is also the best rebounder of the 3. His quickness is better than Badu's. He also has more room to grow than Badu, at least our staff thinks so. I'm leaning towards starting him at SF alongside Galos at SG. Overall: 85


SG Archie Outlaw (JR 6'5 210.) He hardly played last year, but he has taken tremendous strides forward as he continues to work hard. He is actually a better shooter from midrange and 3 point range than Kaman. He is also a better post up player. He handles the ball well and is a good defender. He's also very quick and might be the 4th fastest on the team. Our staff also thinks he has potential. I need to somehow find a bit more time for him this year, perhaps as a primary option at backup SF. Overall: 82


SF Kelyn O'Connor (SO 6'8 234) This scrappy player has good size and is a decent mid range shooter as well as a passable 3 point shooter. He is a very good dunker. His handle is lacking and his passing is poor. Defensively, he is average. He is an excellent rebounder for a 3. He is a bit slow. Our staff thinks he is close to his potental already. I don't see him getting anything but garbage time as a result. Overall: 74

SF Richie Carlisle (Red FR 6'5 225) A player who is a walkon, he lacks talent. No real strengths and no potential. Might be cut. Overall: 55

PF Mickey Garlepp (Red FR 6'10 209) A decent scorer around the hoop. Doesn't do much else well. Has some potential to improve. Probably won't play much. Overall: 69

PF Curtis Bass (Fr 6'7 224) A good scorer around the rim. Poor dunker but has some nifty post moves. Average passer for a 4. Poor rebounder at this point. He is also a bit slow. However, our staff feels he has potential. Will get some time off the bench. Overall: 69

C Johwen Nashif (Fr 7'1 245 [up 9 pounds already!]) He is a very talented big man already. He has a good post game offensively. He can hit some a few feet from the basket. Not a good dunker, but his size will allow him to throw some down. A very good ball handler and passer for a 5. He is an average rebounder right now and has a lot of room to improve in that realm. He is a very good blocker right away. His post defense is solid all around. He also has excellent speed for his size and has quick hands that could steal a lot of passes. In fact, our staff feel his hands are quicker than some of the 3's on our squad. His stamina is an issue, but he has unlimited potential. Our staff feels only Galos has better potential. He will clearly start at C from day 1. Overall: 82


C (PF) Timmy Green (So 6'10 251) This big man will go from starting at C to starting at PF this year. He has a very good touch around the rim and can hit the 8 footer. He won't have Delbert's range, but it will be good enough. He doesn't pass as well as I would like from my 4's, but it's good enough. His post defense is very solid. He is an excellent blocker for a 4. His hands aren't as quick as Nashif's but they are good enough. He was an average rebounder as a 5, but is quite good for a 4. His speed makes me a bit concerned about this move, but I think he'll manage except for against the quicker 4's when I'll sub him out if needed. Overall: 80

Reid Bills (Sr 7'1 272) Reid is a guy who gets by on size, but that makes him very effective. His post defense is also good and he is a decent shot blocker. His rebounding technique isn't great but his size allows him to grab a lot. Lacks speed, but is enough to be an adequate off the bench guy. Will be the primary backup C. Overall: 74

[Eaglesfan27]

After thinking about it for a bit, I decide to redshirt Curtis Bass which will give Garlepp a chance to play some as the backup PF. I do like his height.


Also, I forgot to mention that Nashif is a horrendous FT shooter which is his biggest weakness.


We are #4 in the preseason polls:

1. Florida State.
2. Florida
3. Wisconsin
4. Duke
5. UCLA

North Carolina is #11.

USC isn't in the top 25.


We don't have any pre-season All-Americans. North Carolina's PF is a pre-season All-American.


Macklin is a 2nd team pre-season All-American. North Carolina's SF is also a 2nd teamer


Our first game is hosting a weak Georgia Southern team that we should crush.


My starting 5:

PG Gosley
SG Galos
SF Kaman
C/PF Green
C Nashif


We have a huge talent advantage at every position.

[Eaglesfan27]

Galos with a rough start to his career as he was 2 of 8 in the 1st half (both baskets were dunks on fast breaks) He has 6 points at the half. However, the rest of the team has been brilliant and we are up by 25 at the half. 46-21.


I just can't sit Macklin too quickly and that is going to hurt Gosley's numbers this year as he will get less minutes. Still Gosley had 2 points and 3 assists at the half. He is 1 of 5.

Kaman leads the team with 10 points on 4 of 6 shooting.

Badu has 7 points and 5 board off the bench where he is thriving.

Galos has 6 points and 3 boards and 1 very pretty assist.

Outlaw has 6 points as everyone is playing in the blowout.

Nashif has 5 points, 1 board, and 3 blocks at the half.

Timmy has 2 points and 7 boards.



Complete domination as all of my players played well for the most part. We shot 54%. We held them to 23%. We won 96-38.


We held them to 1 of 29 behind the arc. We were 7 of 18 behind the arc.

We only turned it over 6 times. They turned it over 15 times.

We outrebounded them 43-30.

We had 8 blocks. They had 1.



Kaman was brilliant at the 3. He had 23 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 9 of 16, 5 of 8 behind the arc.


Galos figured it out in the 2nd half as he used a nice blend of bursting by his defender and dunking as well as getting pull up jumpers when they backed off too much. 18 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and 1 steal. He shot 7 of 14, 0 of 1, and 4 of 4. If it wasn't for fatigue issues and needing to share with a lot of stars, I think he would be a 30 ppg type of guy. As it is, I'll be shocked if he doesn't average 15 ppg this year.


Gosley had 12 points, 3 assists, 3 steals, and a block. He shot 6 of 12. He only played 20 minutes as Macklin got plenty of PT.

Macklin scored 8 points, had 3 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block. He shot 4 of 6. He played 20 minutes.

Badu had 10 points, 6 boards, and 2 steals. He played 20 minutes as well.

In 30 minutes, Nashif had 7 points, 9 boards, and 4 blocks.

Timmy had 6 points and 16 boards.


Very solid start to what I think is going to be a spectacular season.

[Eaglesfan27]

In our simulated game against Grambling, we win 96-58.


Gosley had 17 points and 7 assists. He shot 5 of 10.

Galos scored 21 points. He had 3 boards and 3 assists along with a block. He shot 8 of 11, 1 of 2, and 4 of 6.

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

Timmy Green had 5 points and 5 boards.

Nashif had 11 points, 9 boards, 2 assists, and 3 blocks.

Macklin had 21 points, 5 boards, 4 assists, and 2 steals off the bench.



Our next game will be against a weak Northeastern team.

[Tellistto]

Nice way to win the championship, and a solid recruiting class. Looking forward to what Galos can do this season, and seeing how well the rest of the team improves as well. Lot of young guys there, looking solid for at least 3 seasons to come, should you end up staying there that long.

Tell

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Tellistto

Nice way to win the championship, and a solid recruiting class. Looking forward to what Galos can do this season, and seeing how well the rest of the team improves as well. Lot of young guys there, looking solid for at least 3 seasons to come, should you end up staying there that long.

Tell

It'll be interesting. Galos is so good so early, I wonder how long he and some of the other young stars will stay. My wife is going away Thursday night for a 3 day trip with her sister to celebrate her sister's birthday, so I should get plenty of time in this weekend (even with NCAA Football also garnering time.)

[bbgunn]

Good stuff. Keep it up!

[Eaglesfan27]

Today, we host Northeastern. We should blow them out.



An absolutely amazing first half as our offense was hitting everything.


54-22 lead at the half.


Kaman has 12 points.

Galos has 11 points, 3 assists, 2 steals, and a block. He is 4 of 6.

Gosley has 9 points, 5 boards (surprising), and 5 assists. With Kaman and Galos on the wings it is easy for him to get assists.

Badu has 11 points off the bench as he has hit 3 3's. Timmy Green and Nashif are providing stiff interior defense.


We shot 60% in the first half as a team!



With a lead that is almost 50 points, I sit my starters with 10 minutes to go. I only leave in Kaman because he is 1 shy of 30 points and Nashif since he needs the development time.


Kaman has a MUCH harder time getting open looks with Galos and Gosley out there. He misses his first 5 shots before he is fouled and hits a FT to get 30. At that point, I take him out.



106-46 win!


Kaman scored 30, had 4 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 11 of 22.

Gosley scored 21 points. He had 14 assists! He also had 6 boards and 3 steals. He was 9 of 10 from the field.

Galos had 19 points, 8 assists, 5 steals, 2 boards, and a block. He shot 7 of 12.

Badu scored 17 points.

No one else scored more than 5. Nashif had 8 boards and 3 blocks


Timmy had 9 boards and 2 blocks.


We shot 59% from the field for the game. We shot 52% (11 of 21) from behind the arc.

We outrebounded the 42-23. We had 33 assists to their 12.



In our simmed game which is the first game of the Tropical Invitational, we beat Illinois 82-57 but Galos injures his shoulder. He'll be out 2-3 weeks.

He only played 4 minutes before he injured his shoulder but he had 4 points and 2 assists.

Gosley scored 12 points and had 5 assists.

Kaman had 12 points, 9 boards, and 7 assists.

Nashif had 18 points and 9 boards.



Our next game is Kansas State in the Semi-Final of the Tropical Invitational. The other semi-final is Wash St. vs South Carolina.

[Eaglesfan27]

Due to the injury to Galos, we'll start Macklin at PG and Gosley will play SG.


We have a significant talent advantage over Kansas State, but their C is a talented big man and could be a tough matchup for Nashif.


A good first half as we are up 32-24. Gosley leads the team with 11 points, 2 boards, and an assist. He is 5 of 5 from the field.

Kaman has 6 points, 3 boards, and an assist.

Macklin has 4 points and 0 assists despite playing the point.

Nashif has 4 points, 7 boards, and a block at the half.



A tighter game than I expected. They had a chance to tie with 12 seconds left, but we forced a missed shot and got the rebound. Gosley hit the final 2 FT's. 65-61 win.


Gosley: 19 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals. He shot 8 of 10.

Kaman: 14 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals. He shot 5 of 14.

Macklin: 10 points, 1 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal. He shot 5 of 10.

Nashif: 9 points, 10 boards, 4 assists, 4 blocks. He shot 4 of 9.


I decide to go ahead an sim the final of the tourney like any other game I do in the regular season since it is even numbered. We beat Wash St. 44-41.

Gosley had 14 points, 2 boards, and 1 assist along with 4 blocks. He shot 4 of 8, 3 of 5 behind the arc.

Kaman had 11 points, 8 boards, and 2 assists.

Nashif had 10 points, 9 boards, and 3 blocks.



The star PG I was recruiting signs with North Carolina instead of us.


Our 6-0 record has moved us up to #3 in the polls.

[Eaglesfan27]

Next up is a game against Michigan. They have a very good team, but their PG is young and inexperiened as the normal starter is out with an injury. That will hurt them, particularly inside our arena.



Both offenses were jacking up shots quickly and making them at a good clip. However, our defense was a bit better and we rebounded better. As a result, we are up 45-38 at the half.


Gosley has 12 points and 2 assists. He is 5 of 8 from the field.

Nashif has 9 points, 2 boards, 3 assists, and 2 blocks. He is 4 of 4 from the field.

Timmy has 6 points and 5 boards.

Macklin has 2 points and 3 assists.


Kaman is 1 of 6 from the field.



We take control early in the 2nd half and coast as our defense tightens up.


80-63 win.


Gosley had 14 points and 5 assists. He was 5 of 14 from the field.

Kaman scored 13 points and had 3 assists along with 2 boards. He was 5 of 11.

Nashif: 13 points, 11 boards, 3 assists, 4 blocks. He was 6 of 8.

Badu: 9 points and 2 assists.

Green: 8 points 8 boards.

Bills (in much less time but against lesser players): 8 points and 8 boards.



Our next game is hosting UNC with 3 recruits visiting. I'll still sim it since it is time for a sim game.


We lose 65-60 despite great games from Macklin and Nashif.

Macklin scored 24 points and had 3 assists. He was 8 of 14.

Gosley: 8 points 5 assists. He was 1 of 8 from the field.

Nashif: 18 points and 14 boards. He was 8 of 17.



Our next game is at LSU. They have a very high talent level this year.