The Legacy of Coach Nolan (ch2k8)

[nolan887]

KNIGHTS MAKES SURE THE SCOREBOARD CAN GO TO TRIPLE DIGITS, BLOW OUT MOREHEAD STATE

University of Central Florida (5-1) vs. Morehead State University (1-4)
UCF Arena
Orlando, FL
November 30, 2013

Orlando, FL -The newest trick in Coach Nolan's bag of treats is showing the fans that the scoreboard can go to triple digits. The Knight's student section is sponsored by local resteraunt Baja Fresh, who provides two free tacos to any student who attends a UCF game in which the Knights score over 100 points. It was right after halftime when the students started chanting "We want tacos" to make sure Coach Nolan knew how to please them. The Knights came out on fire, scoring 53 points in the first half, and going into halftime with an eighteen point lead. The dominance of UCF's big men was shown again, sending four MSU players to the bench with two fouls each in the first twelve minutes of the game. The second half was more of the same; Morehead State could not hit their shots, and UCF made them pay.

An ecstatic Coach Nolan was interviewed after the big win. "We were able to correct all of our mistakes from our previous game against UIC and capitalize on almost every Eagles misstep. Our lead was pretty big, so I pulled Kody and Pearson, but Armando [Ross] and Eddie [Carlson] were playing out of their minds as well. When you have four big men all scoring over 15 points a piece, its not that hard a game to coach. When we can get their big men in foul trouble early, it really opens up the paint for everyone. Now all we need to do is start hitting some of the outside shots, and we will be a very hard team to beat."

Kody Kleinzweig and Pearson Shannon both had big nights, as per normal. The surprise of the game is that Armando Ross, Kleinzweig's replacement next year, came off the bench to score 20 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 steals. Alongside Ross was Eddie Carlson who contributed 19 points and 5 rebounds. With only three graduating seniors on the team this year and solid performances from his younger players, Nolan looks to be set for the next couple of seasons.

The Knights have looked very good thus far this season, but perhaps their competition has not been as stiff as it will be come conference play. With the in-season recruitment week coming up, Nolan and the Knights hope to land four star shooting guard Joey Black. Black says he is "100% interested" in attending UCF, but is also looking closely at Florida Atlantic University. The only other recruit that could potentially sign this week is three star shooting guard Greg Logie. The Knights will only be two starters to graduation after this season, so it would not be shocking to see Nolan save his scholarships and go after some younger players for recruitment next year. While in-season signing is going on, the Knights will visit Kennesaw State who seeks vengeance for the Knights 29 point victory just two weeks ago.

Moorehead State University (1-4) at University of Central Florida (5-1)
November 30, 2013 1 2 F Moorehead State University 35 32 67 University of Central Florida 53 48 101 Top Performers Moorehead State University - Stats Willis Curtis - 18 Pts, 3 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Stl University of Central Florida - Stats Pearson Shannon - 23 Pts, 6 Reb, 2 Stl, 1 Blk Kody Kleinzweig - 16 Pts, 3 Reb	Team Stat Comparison UCF MSU FG Made-Attempted 36-73 27-81 3P Made-Attempted 0-4 2-25 FT Made-Attempted 29-40 11-21 Rebounds 53 44 Assists 25 17 Steals 11 10 Blocks 1 3 Turnovers 11 16

[nolan887]

SAME TEAM, SAME RESULT - UCF WINS BIG AGAINST KENNESAW STATE

University of Central Florida (6-1) at Kennesaw State University (2-4)
KSU Convocation Center
Kennesaw, GA
December 3, 2013

Kennesaw, GA - The University of Central Florida Knights have pushed their winning streak up to five games under Coach Nolan. Going into Kenessaw, Nolan thought his players might be headed into a trap game seeing as how his Knights squad crushed the Fighting Owls by 29 points just two weeks before. Coach Nolan could not have been more wrong. After scoring 101 points in their last game, the Knights were still on fire. Dominik Hill, the senior shooting guard, heated up throughout the game contributing 23 points, and shooting 5 for 5 from three point land. Kody Kleinzweig also put up 21 points and 7 rebounds. Pearson Shannon had a decent game, but was on the bench for most of the game in foul trouble. On the other side, Randal Miles of KSU was seemingly the only Fighting Owls player to show up. Miles recorded a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds. This game was interesting in the fact that the two starting seniors were UCF's best producers.

"Dom[inik] got really hot today. We aren't much of an outside shooting team, but his contributions tonight were unbelievable," Coach Nolan commented. "Pearson has been an animal this season, but the Owls went right after him in the beginning of the game and forced him into foul trouble. One thing we are working on as a team is staying out of foul trouble, securing the ball, and rebounding better. Although we won the game, we had fifteen turnovers against Kennesaw's eleven. This has been an issue all season and once we start playing some better talented teams, we might be in some trouble if we don't fix it."

The Knights had twenty less shot attempts, but when you are making every shot, it doesn't really matter. UCF shot 56% from the floor and 71% from three point range. Turnovers are seemingly overlooked in these earlier games against weaker competition, but if nothing is done the Knights will be in some serious trouble come conference play.

University of Central Florida (6-1) at Kennesaw State University (2-4)
December 3, 2013 1 2 F University of Central Florida 51 40 91 Kennesaw State University 32 44 76 Top Performers University of Central Florida - Stats Dominik Hill - 23 Pts (5-5 3pt), 3 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 Stl Kody Kleinzweig - 21 Pts, 7 Reb, 3 Stl Kennesaw State University - Stats Randal Miles - 24 Pts, 11 Reb, 1 Stl, 1 Blk Happy Ramos - 18 Pts, 1 Reb, 2 Ast, 6 Stl	Team Stat Comparison UCF KSU FG Made-Attempted 29-52 31-72 3P Made-Attempted 5-7 4-22 FT Made-Attempted 28-42 10-20 Rebounds 42 34 Assists 21 16 Steals 6 13 Blocks 1 2 Turnovers 15 11

[Deuce2223]

Do you just use the computer generated schedule or do you make your own. I would love to see a tougher schedule with you playing South Florida, Miami, Florida, Florida State,maybe throw in a North Florida matchup to see what Cubsfan thinks.


Good luck turning the Knights into a CUSA powerhouse. I have never played in the conference in all my legacies but would like to someday. I have my sights on Houston or SMU.

[nolan887]

Quote: Originally Posted by Deuce2223

Do you just use the computer generated schedule or do you make your own. I would love to see a tougher schedule with you playing South Florida, Miami, Florida, Florida State,maybe throw in a North Florida matchup to see what Cubsfan thinks.

Since it's my first season, I just used the generated schedule. I do have a game against USF in the middle of my conference play. I'm also planning on adding teams to my schedule who other people's legacy I follow or follow mine play as. For example, I will schedule a game against Coach Frizzel's San Francisco Dons and your UC-Davis Aggies. I'm thinking about scheduling more games against more local teams to build up some good rivalries. Overall, I wanted to get a feel on my team this year, so I let the easy schedule slide. I think I am going to lose a bunch of conference games too, my overall is lower than all but 1 or 2 conference teams.

[nolan887]

SIGNING WEEK LEAVES NOLAN, KNIGHTS, DISSAPOINTED

Orlando, FL - With two seniors on the starting roster, Nolan has much faith that their roles will be filled with one of the plethora of bench players he has at his disposal next year. Dominik Hill, the Knights' only outside shooting threat, and Kody Kleinzweig, a key contributor to both offense and defense are both schedule to graduate after this season.

Coach Nolan announced pre-season that he was targeting a few guards to hopefully replace Dominik Hill, but winded up being very disappointed. Joey Black, a four star shooting guard from Popano Beach, Florida, seemed to be all but on the team, saying he was 100% interested in joining the Knights next season. Nolan was aware that Florida Atlantic was on Black's short list, but Black assured UCF that he was going to become a Knight next year. In the twenty fifth hour, Joey Black changed his mind and is not enrolled to attend FAU next season. Although this came as a shock and a dissapointment to the university, Nolan managed to rope Gilbert Logie. Logie is a 6'-5", 184 pound shooting guard out of Charleston, South Carolina. Rivals.com rated Logie as a 3 star recruit, the 117 overall shooting guard, and the 413 overall ranked player.

Coach Nolan was available for a quick phone interview to talk about recruiting. "We were shocked when Joey [Black] decided not go to FAU... really none of us saw that one coming. We did manage to sign Gilbert Logie, and we hope he can step up and become a key contributor on both offense and defense. As you can see by our box scores, shutting down opposition guard play has been something we have struggled with all season. We will probably keep J.J. Bone at point, move either Simmons or Logie to starting shooting guard, and we'll see if Armando Ross or Eddie Carlson comes in to replace Kleinzweig next season. Since our bench is so deep, we feel as a staff that we don't need a bunch of Freshman coming in next year, so we are going to focus on targeting some high school sophomores and juniors and hopefully be able to make a splash in the recruiting pool next season."

[nolan887]

KNIGHTS DON'T LOOK SO GOLDEN, DROP GAME TO PIRATES

University of Central Florida (6-2) at Seton Hall (7-2)
Prudential Center
Newark, NJ
December 17, 2013

Orlando, FL - For the second time this season, the University of Central Florida Knights have played a superior team and went to the locker room with the lead. Also, for the second time this season, the Knights have given up that lead and sputtered down the stretch. In the latest incident, Nolan's squad went into halftime with an eight point lead, and came out only to let the Seton Hall Pirates score 65 second half points. Turnovers still continue to be a big issue for this UCF team, as well as rebounding. With two big men in Kleinzweig and Shannon standing at 7'-0" and 6'-9" respectively, rebounding should not be an issue, but continues to be.

An irate Nolan tried to compose himself after the game to comment on the end of the Knights' five game winning streak. "We went out there in the first half and did everything we wanted to do," Nolan said. "We got an early lead, got their big men in some foul trouble, and Pearson and Kody were doing their thing in the paint. Then in the second half all of our problems came up to bite us in the ***. Its like whenever we have a halftime lead we come out flat, forget how to rebound, forget how to pass, forget how to play the game entirely. Dom going down didn't help us going down the stretch either. You have to credit the Pirates, when we started fouling to elongate that last minute, they hit every shot. It was a disappointing loss, but it hammers home what I've been saying all year. The turnovers and rebounds are killing us, and we are going nowhere fast if we cant change that."

The Knights were out-rebounded 40-29 and had 16 turnovers, 11 coming in the second half of the game. Shannon and Kleinzweig both had great offensive games, but again struggled to hit the boards. Shannon had 33 points and 5 rebounds and Kleinzweig had 28 points and 5 rebounds. When Seton Hall finally took the lead with four minutes left in the game, it did not help that Dominik Hill, who had 23 points and went 5 for 5 from downtown last game, left the game with a knee injury. The team doctors report he should be out for about a week and is listed as day-to-day. Coach Nolan will likely sit Hill for their upcoming game against Cornell at home and bring him back to play Nolan's old school the USC Upstate Spartans in Orlando.

University of Central Florida (6-2) at Seton Hall (7-2)
December 17, 2013 1 2 F University of Central Florida 49 47 96 Seton Hall 41 65 106 Top Performers University of Central Florida - Stats Pearson Shannon - 33 Pts, 5 Reb, 1 Stl, 1 Blk Kody Kleinzweig - 28 Pts, 5 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk Seton Hall - Stats Jackson Augustine - 27 Pts, 4 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl Mamadou Riddle - 17 Pts, 2 Reb, 4 Ast, 3 Stl, 1 Blk	Team Stat Comparison UCF SHU FG Made-Attempted 40-76 36-71 3P Made-Attempted 0-5 6-16 FT Made-Attempted 16-25 28-33 Rebounds 29 40 Assists 32 20 Steals 12 13 Blocks 2 4 Turnovers 14 16 Fastbreak Points 16 12

[nolan887]

KNIGHTS SLOW DOWN THEIR OFFENSE, BOUNCE BACK FROM LOSS

UCF Knights (7-2) vs. Cornell Big Red (3-8)
UCF Arena
Orlando, FL
December 21, 2013

Orlando, FL - The Knights again were able to quickly bounce back from their last loss, this time against perennial Ivy League winner Cornell Big Red. While Cornell is having a down year this year, holding a 3-8 record currently, the Knights were able to easy gain their seventh win of the season. Coming out of halftime with a fourteen point lead, Coach Nolan played mostly his bench players the second half. The Knights finally were able to cut down on turnovers this game, only coughing the ball up eight times. The bench players changed UCF's current style of run and gun and tried to set up some plays, and really milk the clock in the second half. Kleinzweig, 20 points, 15 rebounds, and Shannon, 14 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, both had big first halves, and earned their rest in preparation for the USCU Spartans.

"Kody and Pearson put up some great first half numbers, and we were able to rest them for most of the second half," Nolan explained after the game. "Dom is still out with that groin injury, so it was nice to let him rest and not need him on the floor for a close game. As you can see from the scorecard, we shot 0-4 from deep, and as I have said all season we really need to find some more outside scoring threats. The starters and bench players were all great today and I am very proud of all of my guys. We are now focusing on my old team in USC Upstate. It's not that big of a deal to play them as part of the reason I accepted this job at UCF is because eight players graduated last year from the Spartans' Final Four team. The freshman that I recruited there will more than likely want to show me what I am missing out on, and I am certainly up to the challenge."

The game against USC Upstate should be interesting indeed. The Spartans have zero returning starters from their Final Four team last year, and it will only be their thirteenth game under their new head coach. It will certainly be an interesting match up and we are all looking forward to seeing how USCU's freshman play in an attempt to show up their would-be head coach. If UCF can keep their turnovers down and keep playing defense like they did tonight, they should be able to come out with another victory. The Knights held Cornell to 28% from the field tonight, only allowing 48 points which is their lowest allowed all season.

Cornell University (3-8) at University of Central Florida (7-2)
December 21, 2013 1 2 F Cornell University 23 25 48 University of Central Florida 37 23 60 Top Performers Cornell University - Stats Demon Badu - 13 Pts, 8 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 3 Blk Hecktor Kelley - 9 Pts, 3 Reb, 2 Ast, 2 Blk University of Central Florida - Stats Kody Kleinzweig - 20 Pts, 15 Reb, 1 Stl, 1 Blk Pearson Shannon - 14 Pts, 5 Reb, 1 Stl, 2 Blk	Team Stat Comparison CU UCF FG Made-Attempted 19-67 23-66 3P Made-Attempted 2-20 0-4 FT Made-Attempted 8-11 14-21 Rebounds 29 49 Assists 14 15 Steals 8 8 Blocks 14 6 Turnovers 11 8

[nolan887]

NOLAN'S OLD SCHOOL STRUGGLES, KNIGHTS WIN BIG

UCF Knights (8-2) vs. USCU SPARTANS (4-9)
UCF Arena
Orlando, FL
December 21, 2013

Orlando, FL - One of the deciding factors of Nolan leaving the USCU Spartans after a trip to the Final Four was because all five of his starters and three of his bench players were graduating seniors. With an inexperience team and a new coach, Upstate is looking in a state of disarray. Kody Kleinzweig continues to produce for the Knights, recording another double-double with 23 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Pearson Shannon had a lousy game due to a continuing problem with fouls. If Shannon wants to see his points per game continue to help his team win, he will need to find a way to play smarter on defense. Eddie Carlson came off the bench as Shannon's replacement and was able to put up a respectable 14 points. With Dominik Hill still recovering from a groin injury, the Knights went 0-2 from deep. Luckily it was not a close game again, and the Knights did not miss his presence too much as the bench players recorded a lot of playing time and spent the second half mostly running plays and slowing the ball down to ensure the Spartans would not get enough touches to spur a comeback.

Coach Nolan was very happy with another big win headed towards conference play. "We had a second great game in a row. We were able to get it going down low in the first half and rest our starters most of the second half. Kody was great as usual, and Eddie was very good coming off the bench. Pearson is still struggling with staying out of foul trouble, but it is something we are working on. Dom is feeling better and is a game time decision to play against the [Loyal Marymount] Lions and will definitely be back to play against the [Radford] Highlanders next week. Eddie Stiles had a pretty good game for the Spartans despite our stout defense and I had a chance to talk to him after the game. He is obviously disappointed that I am not coaching him this year, but he said there are no hard feelings, and wished me the best at UCF. It is great to see such a young kid have such a grown up attitude. For now, we are looking forward to playing a tough Loyola Marymount team, and then Radford at home before we start our Conference USA schedule."

The Knights struggled again from deep, going 0-2, but were able to get to the line for 33 foul shots and cashed in on 20 of those shots. Armando Ross, Kody Kleinzweig, Pearson Shannon, and Eddie Carlson also came up big in helping UCF win the rebounding battle 43-30. For the second straight game, the Knights were able to keep their turnovers in single digits. It looks like Nolan's preaching of rebounding and ball control are really starting to show. If the Knights can keep Shannon out of foul trouble and keep a handle on the ball, they should be able to make a strong push to win the conference this season. Loyal Marymount is evenly matched with the Knights in all aspects of the game, and it looks like this is one that might come down to the wire.

University of South Carolina Upstate (4-9) at University of Central Florida (8-2)
December 28, 2013 1 2 F University of South Carolina Upstate 32 20 52 University of Central Florida 46 30 76 Top Performers University of South Carolina Upstate - Stats Eddie Stiles - 21 Pts, 3 Reb, 2 Ast Younes Klatsky - 10 Pts, 1 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Blk University of Central Florida - Stats Kody Kleinzweig - 23 Pts, 13 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 Block Eddie Carlson - 14 Pts, 4 Reb	Team Stat Comparison USCU UCF FG Made-Attempted 21-57 28-54 3P Made-Attempted 3-16 0-2 FT Made-Attempted 7-8 20-33 Rebounds 30 43 Assists 13 21 Steals 6 12 Blocks 3 3 Turnovers 18 9