Flying High - Legacy of Coach Bird [CH 2K8]

[RussellBird]

The Legacy of Russell Bird



Play Mode: Simulation

Difficulty: All-Conference

Half Length: 14 Minutes

Sim Half Length: 20 Minutes

Sliders: mkharsh33 with slight adjustments
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Southeast Missouri State Hires Russell Bird as Head Coach

Cape Girardeau, MO - In the early morning hours, students and fans of Southeast awoke to shocking news. A man with the last name of Bird had been hired to coach their team. In their minds, there was only one bird. Larry Bird was believed to have been the man hired for the job. A quick glance at the newspaper once again made them sigh. It was not Larry Bird who had been hired, but a high school coach from Iowa with the name of Russell Bird. A relative unknown, not many people knew anything about Coach Bird. They were in Missouri. How would they know anything about a man who has spent the entirety of his life in Iowa?

Russell Bird, a graduate of Drake University, was also shocked by the offer. In his first year of coaching high school basketball, the then 24 year old managed to lead his team to their first state championship. One year after that event, and he has suddenly been thrust into a head coaching job at Southeast. At first, Bird believed the call to be a hoax. Especially since he had only briefly heard of the school. "It was about seven in the morning when I received the call. In my current state, my mind wasn't comprehending what the man on the other end was saying. I thought he was talking about selling some some time share in Maine."

Fortunately, Bird realized his mistake and quickly accepted the offer. "Who wouldn't want to coach college basketball? It was my life when I was much younger, though I was never good enough to truly be good. In high school, I learned that I had a decent ability to coach. An occasional game or two was won due to the coach listening to my plans. Never did I expect to be coaching in college. I'm still trying to get over that fact. Still trying to figure out why they were scouting out some high school coach in Iowa, honestly."

Bird answered a few question in a press conference. The most notable being his plans during his stay at Southeast. "I plan to take this team to the tournament. Win some conference titles. You know, everything that any typical coach would want. I believe this group of kids can do anything."

Russell Bird will be replacing 2nd year coach Dickey Nutt. Over his tenure at Southeast, Coach Nutt has acquired an 32-160 record. His best season was last year when he coached the Redhawks to a 15-15 season and a fourth place finish in the conference. They would go on to be knocked out in the quarterfinals for the second year in a row. Southeast Missouri State wishes all the best in Dickey Nutt's future endeavors in the world of coaching.

[RussellBird]

Season One

Spoiler

Russell Bird Coaching Record:
Overall Record: 2-1 (0-0)
Conference Championships:
NIT Tournament Appearances:
NCAA Tournament Appearances:
NCAA Tournament Record:
Final Four Appearances:
National Championships:

Team Record
Southeast Missouri State (2012 - ??) - 2-1 (0-0)

Season-by-Season Record
2012-2013 - Southeast Missouri State: 2-1 (0-0)

[RussellBird]

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE 2012-13 PREVIEW

Southeast Missouri State Redhawks Depth Chart - 2012/13
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
PG	Nick Niemcyk (68)	A.J. Jones (60)
SG	Marland Smith (68)	Corey Wilford (61)
SF	Lucas Nutt (66)	Jacob Tolbert (47)
PF	Tyler Stone (78)	Michael Porter (57)
C	Nino Johnson (64)	Colin Ferguson (55)

Starting Five
PG: JR Nick Niemcyk
SG: SR Marland Smith
SF: JR Lucas Nutt
PF: JR Tyler Stone
C: SO Nino Johnson

First Five Games
11/10 - @ Xavier
11/14 - @ Illinois State
11/20 - Evansville
11/23 - Coppin State [Deep Dish Challenge]
11/28 - @ Louisiana Tech
Italicized denotes neutral arena games

Ohio Valley Preseason Conference Standings
1. Eastern Kentucky
2. Jacksonville State
3. Morehead State
4. Murray State
5. Samford
6. Southeast Missouri State
7. Tennessee-Martin
8. Tennessee State
9. Tennessee Tech
10. Austin Peay
11. Eastern Illinois

[JJ4]

good luck.

[RussellBird]

Redhawks Pull Off Upset with Late Surge, 86-82



@

Cincinnati, OH - Down by nine points with just under four minutes left, Nick Niemczyk took over. Draining three straight 3's, his team was suddenly tied up with Xavier. For a player held to just 6 points in the first, it was an awakening. Xavier failed to stop Niemczyk on almost every possession in the late goings. Unable to defend from the perimeter, Xavier went into desperation mode. Lobbing wayward passes without much thought. Out of their 10 turnovers, 5 were committed late in the game with the score swinging towards the Redhawks' favor. After a surprise missed open shot by Martin, the Musketeers found themselves down by two scores with less than 5 seconds left. Their opening day had been spoiled by the Redhawks.

During an interview leading up to the game, Bird emphasized that it didn't matter how much the other team scored. As long as his team kept scoring, they'd force the other team into mistakes. That philosophy paid off big tonight with a huge win over Xavier. "We forced some big turnovers late. Got hot behind the arc. We did what it takes to win. Xavier played a hell of a game, but we just really wanted to play the spoiler tonight. It's definitely going to be a big game going forward," Bird commented after the game.

Much to the surprise of Redhawks' fans, Lucas Nutt remained in a starting position on the team. With some convincing by his father, Lucas did not leave the team like he originally played. Instead, he plans to finish out his career at Southeast under Bird. It's widely believed that Nutt may have a big role on the team, as he was given a starting spot. After going to the charity stripe nearly nine teams, it's easy to see why Bird wanted him to remain on the team. "He's a tough kid. More than willing to battle with the bigger guys in the paint. Seven points from the line is a testament to that. It's definitely a treat to watch him play out there."

After the upset over Xavier, Southeast continues their road trip as they travel to Normal, Illinois to take on Illinois State. Although not a team on Xavier's level, it'll still take some work to keep the season going in the right direction. With just a few more mistakes in this game, Xavier could have blown out the Redhawks. It'll take a little discipline to rectify any faults the team may still have.

Southeast Missouri State Redhawks at Xavier Musketeers
Nov 10, 2012	1ST	2ND	SCORE
Southeast Missouri State (0-0)	34	52	86
Xavier (0-0)	34	48	82

Southeast Missouri State Redhawks
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Nick Niemczyk	20	6-12	3-4	2-2	1	1	0	0	0	17
Marland Smith	21	4-11	0-4	0-0	2	1	3	0	1	8
Lucas Nutt	18	4-6	0-1	7-9	2	3	1	0	1	15
Tyler Stone	21	5-8	0-0	0-2	8	4	1	0	0	10
Nino Johnson	21	4-8	0-0	6-8	5	0	2	0	0	14
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
A.J. Jones	12	4-6	2-2	2-2	3	1	0	0	0	12
Corey Wilford	10	1-2	0-1	2-2	1	3	1	0	0	4
Michael Porter	9	3-4	0-0	0-0	4	1	1	0	1	6
Colin Ferguson	5	0-0	0-0	0-0	2	0	0	0	0	0
Jacob Tolbert	3	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	1	0
TEAM TOTALS		31-59	5-12	19-25	28	14	9	0	4	86

Xavier Musketeers
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Dee Davis	25	4-4	4-4	0-0	2	10	0	0	3	12
Semaj Christon	25	3-11	0-2	1-2	2	2	2	0	2	7
Justin Martin	24	10-21	4-11	0-0	4	2	1	0	3	24
Isaiah Philmore	23	0-4	0-0	2-2	6	1	0	0	0	2
Travis Taylor	24	5-8	0-0	9-11	8	3	0	2	0	19
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Jeff Robinson	13	4-4	0-0	3-3	4	0	0	1	2	11
Brad Redford	5	3-5	1-3	0-0	0	1	1	0	0	7
TEAM TOTALS		29-57	9-20	15-18	26	19	4	3	10	82

Bird's Nest - Welcome to the first edition of the Bird's Nest. Something I did back at my former job that I'll be continuing here. It'll mostly just serve as a reflections-type thing. Feel free to ask any questions, and I'll be sure to answer them.

First off, I just want to state how happy I am with last night's result. Things went the way I planned. Xavier's a good school, but, with the way the team had been playing in practice, I knew they'd go out there and get the "w". It's a real honor to get to be able and go out there with a good squad in my first year. Means the higher-ups have some confidence in me. Think this'll be a good year.

We implemented by offense and defense perfectly. Xavier only had two people come off the bench in the game, so I made sure to keep the game up tempo. Charging up and down the court and not giving them a moment's rest. It was more evident in the second half, as we really began to score bucket after bucket. We also kept to the full court defense throughout the game. When they got tired, we were able to intercept most of their passes. Really led to some easy scoring.

Nick was definitely our player of the game. His threes late in the game really propelled us back into the game. Thought things were getting out of hand when they went up by nine. Nick stayed calm and focused. After having that disappointing first half, he seemed like he wanted to prove himself. Mission accomplished. Going to be a key player going forward. In the clutch, he can expect the ball in his hand.

That about wraps up the first edition of the Bird's Nest. We head out to Illinois to take on Illinois State. Should be another exciting game, but I'm sure we'll get the job done. Until next time!

Go Southeast!

[RussellBird]

Quote: Originally Posted by JJ4

good luck.

Thanks! I appreciate it!

[pfeifere1]

I like the Bird's Nest idea...clever!

[RussellBird]

Quote: Originally Posted by pfeifere1

I like the Bird's Nest idea...clever!

Thanks! Wanted to add something somewhat unique, haha.