Coaching Career of B.J. Hill: Something out of Nothing, Hopefully (CH2K8)

[beast10]

Northern Colorado 2016-17 Schedule

10/20/2016

[sindjilic]

Quote: Originally Posted by beast10

Thanks for the comment! As for the photos, all I do is use my phone lol. It may turn out so good because my tv is high depth I guess.

Hey I found my problem. I too was taking pics with my phone but my problem is that I was looking at them high res. Once I resized my images it looked better. Keep up the good work.

[beast10]

Quote: Originally Posted by sindjilic

Hey I found my problem. I too was taking pics with my phone but my problem is that I was looking at them high res. Once I resized my images it looked better. Keep up the good work.

Cool, by the way i follow and enjoy your dynasty. I like the format

[beast10]

NOVEMBER 8TH, 2017
RECRUITING UPDATE

This year the #1 recruit in the nation is from Colorado’s very own; Colorado Springs. He’s not considering poor Northern Colorado but B.J. Hill is still back at it with his recruiting shenanigans, multiple sources claim he’s chasing after Las Vegas’s four star recruit Kris Wells. Funny thing is Wells was a former teammates of Kendall Jenkins, Hill was given the word about him last year and he hasn’t let up on chasing yet another highly touted prospect… Wells is surprisingly actually considering the small school and honestly I have no clue why, the guard averaged a league high 24 points in the EYBL but because of his reckless and ill-advised play, Wells gets lots of criticism which leads to his #64 national rank. He’s considering big schools such as UCLA, Arizona, UNLV, San Diego State but still gives B.J. time of the day.

Northern Colorado is also rumored to be talking to Happy Ely, a guard from a Modesto based Junior College who’s given the rank of four stars. This kid has always been the star but when things went wrong in high school he ended up at a junior college. He’s been working hard to reach the D-1 level but he still wants to feel wanted and be the star which leads him to consider small schools such as the local San Jose State and the extended Northern Colorado.

Collier Jordan and Armel Kane are also names that pop up on the list. These two point guards are both listed as three star prospects. Out of Yakima, Washington; Collier Jordan pops out as the more intriguing prospect, the guard mulls between offers from Oregon, Gonzaga, and Washington but Hill hasn’t hesitated to persuade him into committing in Greeley. Jordan averaged 13 points and 4 assists in the EYBL. Armel Kane is a three point threat which seems to be a favorite in Hill’s system. Kane shot 45% from three point territory to help boost his averages to 13.3 points with 3.6 assists.

[beast10]

Wow, just saved that over the recap 😑😑

[beast10]

NOVEMBER 14TH, 2017
SEASON UPDATE (PART 1)

Northern Colorado is expected to win the Big Sky conference and they’re not settling for anything less. The Bears have kicked off their 2017-2018 season with three wins and just one loss; they’re now entering the fourth week of this very young college basketball season! Let’s take a look upon how the Bears did in their first four games thus far…

The men from Greeley made a their short upstate travel distance to Colorado Spring’s Clune Arena, home of Air Force, for the Hangar Challenge while being accompanied by three other squads; most notably the number 7th rank basketball team in the nation – UNLV. Everybody predicted UNLV would pick up their hardware and return to Vegas for a simple two win pickup but that’s where the spectators were wrong.

BEARS ADVANCE IN HANGAR CHALLENGE



Starting Five

[PG] - Jordan WIlson
[SG] - Clement Garner
[SF] - Carlton Hurst
[PF] - Chase Drabyn
[C] - Wyatt Ervin


Northern Colorado kicked things off against Big South representative, VMI, who came across the country from Virginia. Last year this team recorded just over a winning record at 14-12 and with a lineup complied of four seniors – this game would be a good one. The first half was one showcasing high scoring and lack of defense, both teams traded leads back and forth to go into halftime with the score at 50-48 – Northern Colorado with the lead.

Both coaches must’ve stressed the missing defensive component in the locker room because both teams were much more poised on that side of the court when they came back out. With that being said, neither team broke away with a large lead; instead the teams traded leads just like the first half – that was until time became less of a factor for both teams. The Bears got themselves a late bucket from Chase Drabyn which put them up by two with just under 12 seconds remaining, VMI pushed the ball up the floor and the obvious last second shooter was bound to be Q.J. Peterson but when his shot fell off the side of the rim, Northern Colorado walked off with the 79-75 victory.

Senior point guard Jordan Wilson led the way going 4-6 from the field with 2 three pointers to end the game with 14 points and 2 assists.

Many players made their debut in the Northern Colorado uniform in this game, the list included; transfer athletes Bradford Jones and Carlton Hurst then there were the c/o 17’ recruits Tyler Manilow, Issac Njoya, and Clement Garner.

Hurst went for 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists. Branford Jones accepted the sixth man mole and scored 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists in 22 minutes of play – I’d say it’s safe to think he’s earned the starting role over Carlton Garner who shot well but made plenty of true freshman mistakes in his debut; the guard had 6 points (2-3 FG, 2-2 3PT), 2 assists but also 3 turnovers in just 17 minutes where he found himself in foul trouble with 4 personals.

Manilow went for 8 points on 3-7 shooting plus an addition of 2 assists. Drew Bender came off the bench for a quick spark of 8 points while Isaac Njoya played a very unique game in just nine minutes – 5 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks, and a three point field goal. Wyatt Ervin ends the list of top performers; the returning starting center had 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks.

Three players for VMI scored in double digits; PG Q.J. Peterson 17 pts, 14 reb, 7 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk, 3 to… SF Trey Chapman 17 pts, 6 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl 7-8 fg… C Carlos Temple 12 pts, 1 reb, stl


BEARS PULL UPSET OVER #7 UNLV



Starting Five

[PG] - Jordan Wilson
[SG] - Branford Jones
[SF] - Carlton Hurst
[PF] - Chase Drabyn
[C] - Wyatt Ervin


Like I said, this tournament was small so with that one win, the Bears proceeded to the championship round the next day against UNLV who had previously beaten Dartmouth 89-61.

This game was nerve wrecking for those who watched their team from Vegas on local sport networks, they couldn’t help but to turn the channel in frustration. I’ll get to the quick amazing stat of this game, Northern Colorado outscored #7 UNLV by 15 points in the first half for a 54-39 lead going into the second half.

The Bears fed off UNLV’s stone cold shooting night and continued what Coach Hill loves to have his player do; shoot the three ball. They aired up 27 three pointers and finished with a 44% success rate for a total of 12 makes from beyond the arc that complimented their complete 48% shooting from the field (29-60). This game however did not finish as the breeze you may have envisioned, UNLV did the best to outwit the unranked Northern Colorado; they finally decided to use their size advantage which really embarks them over our Bears. They started getting to the line consistently and getting the ball down lock to J.D. Kennedy and Goodluck Oknoboh. This would give them great success and the game was back to being winnable but big shots from Jordan Wilson shut it down. The Bears topped UNLV 84-79.

Jordan Wilson had a game high with 4 three pointers for 18 points. Wyatt Ervin was big in the post with 12 points, he pressured the UNLV bigs and was awarded with three strips and a block. Brad Boone showed his previous efficient game against VMI wasn’t a fluke – he had 15 points on 6-11 shooting and 3-5 from three off the bench (17 mins). Carlton Hurst added 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Both Branford Jones and Chase Drabyn scored 6.

UNLV saw three of their players score in double digits. Rashad Vaughn had 13 points on 5-15 shooting. D.J. Northcutt put up a double-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists (2-10 shooting), J.D. Kennedy 12 points, 5 rebounds and Goodluck Okonoboh with 11 points (3-12 shooting).


NORTHERN COLORADO -- RECORD: 3-1 -- CONFERENCE RECORD 0-0

[beast10]

by the way, the games are all simmed with hoopscast. photos come from practice plays

[beast10]

NOVEMBER 14TH, 2017
SEASON UPDATE (PART 2)

BEARS LOSE ON THE ROAD AGAINST PURDUE



Starting Five

[PG] - Jordan WIlson
[SG] - Branford Jones
[SF] - Carlton Hurst
[PF] - Wyatt Ervin
[C] - Isaac Njoya


While they weren’t included in any polls, including Mid-Major, fresh out of the Hangar Challenge with a win over one of the best teams in the country – Northern Colorado felt they were on top of the world. They flew out east to West Lafayette in Indiana to take on Purdue in their first official non-conference match up (not including tournament).

This game would not end up so great as the Bears dropped their first loss of the season against the Boilermakers; the final score was 86-73. After a sluggish first half, Northern Colorado couldn’t find any answers on the road, Vincent Edwards who finished with 18 points, continued to give the home crowd excitement that only made things rougher for us. The first half score was 46-36 and that carried into the final twenty minutes where Purdue used that first half dominance to add on to their once more outscoring half; 40-37. It was just enough for the Boilermakers to move on with a 13 point win.

This game featured yet another change in the lineup after power forward Chase Drabyn went down with a muscle strain during a practice this week. This opened the door for backup freshman Isaac Njoya to make his first start in his early career, Njoya didn’t disappoint as he finished with 9 points and 3 rebounds in 17 minutes. Branford Jones stepped it up with Carlton Hurst to combine for 31 points, both on 6-10 shooting… Hurst in particular did a little bit of everything to try his best to best the team in the game, he had 16 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, a steal and a block. After two straight tremendous games, Jordan Wilson’s heat ran out when he scored just 7 points on 2-9 shooting, he gave in 3 assists.

The biggest story of the game is freshman Tyler Manilow who turned in a great performance off the bench… In just 18 minutes, Tyler shot 4-6 from the field and 2-4 from three for 16 points, 3 rebounds, and a pair of assists.

BEARS KNOCK OFF TROY IN RUNAWAY VICTORY



Starting Five

[PG] - Jordan Wilson
[SG] - Branford Jones
[SF] - Carlton Hurst
[PF] - Wyatt Ervin
[C] - Isaac Njoya


Northern Colorado headed back to Greeley and prepared to take on Troy who had gotten off to the season with struggle. The Bears exposed this and rebounded from the Purdue loss with a 90-65 win over the visiting Trojans.

This game was marquee to the point B.J. Hill remarked so much about, “the team is deep in depth”. With the lead only getting out of hand in the second half, Hill was able to empty his bench. That’s when Clement Garner, Brad Boone, Tyler Manilow, and Drew Bender all stepped in to combine for 35 off the pine.

Bender who started his career off at Northern Colorado with very limited playing time, made his way into the starting five last season before accepting a lessened role for the transfer Carlton Hurst this year. In this game Bender scored 12 points and hit 3 three pointers to push the Bears lead to new heights. Sophomore Brad Boone added 10 while Clement Garner provided 5 points and 4 rebounds.

After his outbreak against Purdue, Tyler Manilow received an increase in minutes and played 25 minutes on Saturday. He turned in 8 points, 5 assists, and 2 rebounds (3-8 FG, 2-6 3PT).

Despite the praise, the bench didn’t quite outshine the starters, who all combined for 55 points. Jordan Wilson picked up from where he left off against UNLV and scored a team high 14 points and provided 2 steals on defense. Wing duo of Branford Jones and Carlton Hurst continued their consistency. Jones had 13 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds. Hurst on the other hand put up 12 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists. Looking at the negative; those two combined for 9 turnovers but that’d only add on to the 11 the rest of the team committed.

Wyatt Ervin had 8 points, 6 rebounds and Isaac Njoya made his second stint in the starting five; this time scoring 8 points and adding 10 rebounds along with a steal and block.

Overall the Bears are putting up some SOLID shooting numbers, in fact they’re shooting 44.4% from three and 46.3% in general; both numbers that stand at least in the top twenty nationwide. Their most noteworthy statistic may be their RPI of 26; it’s early in the season but you know what that means…

Northern Colorado will continue on their home schedule against (4-1) Utah after their bye week. This game comes one day before national signing week – where the Bears aren’t noticeably expected to sign anyone.

NORTHERN COLORADO -- RECORD: 3-1 -- CONFERENCE RECORD 0-0