The Bulgarian Brothers – A College Hoops 2K8 & NBA 2K20 Dynasty

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Here’s some pictures I got from the Drago Derby that I couldn’t fit into the previous post.

Oggy yells instructions.

Akindele towers over the Lions for a slam.

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The Inside Scoop is based on TheDominator273's awesome spreadsheet to add random events to your MyLeague.

Jarrett Allen, now a “Senior”
Thanks to the birth of his first child, the Thunder center has changed his name to Jarrett Allen Sr. and seems invigorated by this life change. Teammates have joked that he now has “dad strength” and he seems to be even better and pushing people around down low and getting the shot he wants next to the basket.


Ervin Zamore realizes his time is running out
Zamore is in his 5^th season in the league and has never really lived up to his first round potential in either Sacramento or Utah. As he’s sat out the last few weeks with a sore knee, reports are that he started to realize his NBA mortality and has begun working with a fire never seen in him before. The Jazz are hoping that this continues and pays off for them.


Henrik Johansson needs scoped
The 24 year old from Sweden has had knee issues for a while now and the club convinced him to get them taken care of sooner rather than later. He’ll miss about 2 months with the surgery and recovery.

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Just 2 days after the big win over his brother, the Red Flash found themselves in Lincoln, NE to take on the Cornhuskers. This is St. Francis’ last big non-conference game before NEC play begins in earnest, though they do have 1 more non-con game against Virginia on January 7.

Nebraska is a solid team this year. They play very defensively and slow-paced, averaging 12 fewer points per game than the Red Flash. They are a very experienced team without a single freshman on their roster and their entire starting 5 is seniors and juniors.

They are a well-rounded team with no glaring weaknesses and see scoring come from all over, though their leading scorer is Darian Minard (PG, 78 ovr) at 11 ppg. He and Ismail Ball (SG, 76 ovr) are the team’s best outside shooters, though there isn’t really a bad shooter on the roster. Dinko and the boys will have their work cut out for them this game, and it should be a good matchup.

Right away, St. Francis jumped out to a 5-0 lead and had 2 steals and 2 blocks in the first minute, but Nebraska woke up and went on a 6-0 run to take the lead. It continued in a similar fashion for a while before the Red Flash went on a run to get ahead 17-10. Their defense had been key so far, making it hard for Nebraska to score, especially 5’7” backup guard Torris Heard.

During a timeout Oggy was praising his team’s defense and telling them to keep it up. If St. Francis wins it will be because of their defense. Aim to hold Nebraska under 50!

Predictably, Nebraska goes on an 11-3 run after the timeout, making the game 21-20 and forcing Dinko to call timeout and settle his team. So far, three pointers had been working best for the Red Flash as they struggled to score on the interior against Nebraska’s strong 2-3 defense.

As we hit halftime, the score was 32-32 with neither team able to take control of the game despite runs. St. Francis had 7 turnovers and only 7 rebounds in that first half, which is not a recipe for success. Chris Thompson had 10 points and Darian Minard had 14 points for the Cornhuskers.

Early in the second, St. Francis finds themselves up 40-39. They’ve had a number of chances to pull ahead by 5 or more, but haven’t been able to make the shots and get the bigger lead. They have been slightly in control the entire game, but can’t pull away.

Nebraska made them pay for that inability to pull ahead. They hit 2 straight threes and made the game 45-40, which was a deficit that the Red Flash would never recover from. Eventually they were down 9 with 4 minutes left and would need to hit some threes and play great defense to get back into this.

They did a solid job clawing back into the game were only down 55-58 with 1:30 left. From there, it was an interesting set of events:

1. Nobody scored for nearly a minute.
2. Minard made a layup to make the game 60-55.
3. Akindele made a hook shot to make it 60-57.
4. St. Francis intentionally fouled. Nebraska made both shots. 62-57.
5. Bobby Valdez made a three pointer to cut it to 62-60.
6. But Nebraska made both free throws and with just a few seconds left, there wasn’t much St. Francis could do.

Nebraska seals the win 64-60 and the Red Flash have to feel that they gave this game away in what could have been a great win for them on the road over a much bigger program.

Darius Minard had had 22 points and 5 steals for Nebraska and the Red Flash lost the turnover battle 11-4 in what was largely the difference in this game.

Vern Quick had 15 points, Chris Thompson had 14, and Bobby Valdez was only 3-10 from deep.

Around the NCAA

• Loyola Marymount won at home, beating Oggy’s alma mater Robert Morris in LA, 85-56. LMU was down 1 at halftime but outscored the Colonials 50-20 in the second half to win. Imanuel Kahrimanovic got hot with 21 points and was 5-5 from three. Reid Christensen had 18 and Skip Salow had 14.
• #1 Villanova beat frisky San Francisco 72-58. Diamond Barisic (PF, 88 ovr) had 22 points and 8 rebounds while the Dons’ Joshua Berrelleca (SF, 81 ovr) fouled out and only scored 4 points.
• #4 Texas Tech is one of the few unbeaten teams remaining and have climbed their way up the polls. It will be exciting to see them match up against #5 Texas during the Big 12 regular season.

[JoshNormanMane]

Tough loss for SFU but to push a veteran team down the stretch without making key shots until the last minute is a good sign.

I've become a big stan for the SFU Big 3 of Quick, Thompson, and Akindele but it seems that only 2/3 are capable of popping off for a game lol. I'll be excited to see what they do in Conference action!

[studbucket]

Quote: Originally Posted by JoshNormanMane

Tough loss for SFU but to push a veteran team down the stretch without making key shots until the last minute is a good sign. I've become a big stan for the SFU Big 3 of Quick, Thompson, and Akindele but it seems that only 2/3 are capable of popping off for a game lol. I'll be excited to see what they do in Conference action!

The game was nothing to be ashamed of, but they gotta feel they let that one go.

Those 3 players are not just the best scorers, but they are all 6'8" and taller. It's a heck of a lineup with those guys, 6'5" PG Willingham and Stephane Diakite (who is arguably an undersized PF) at the 3.

And yeah, offensively the Red Flash have not been as consistent as last year. We need a game with all 3 of them showing up, and it's just not happening.

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It’s the new year which brings fresh hope for some teams, but a sobering reality for others. We’re over 2 months into the season and teams have played over a third of their games. This gives us enough data to be able to see who the contenders and pretenders might be, and which teams desperately need to make some changes. Here are some of the top stories from December.

Cleveland rocks?
The Cavaliers weren’t supposed to be good. Even their front office wasn’t planning on success this year. When they traded away Andre Drummond last year and had a fire sale, the fanbase was deeply unsatisfied. However, they have now won 15 straight games and find themselves just a half game out of first place in the East. Taquan St. Fort (C, 82 ovr), Darius Garland (PG, 88 ovr), and Kevin Porter Jr (SG, 80 ovr) are playing beyond their years and this team is routinely beating teams that are supposedly better than them.

Right now their scoring is very well distributed with Garland being the only player scoring more than 20 ppg. However, Porter Jr, St. Fort, Jaxson Hayes (PF, 81 ovr), Norman Powell (SF, 77 ovr), and Kadeem Allen (PG, 84 ovr) are all averaging double digits. They have the third best defense and averaging more bench points per game (45.7) than any other team in the league. Will they look to make a move at the deadline to help out their offense or make their bench deeper? Or is this a good thing and they can keep this group together, see what happens, and make a move over the next 18 months to make them a true contender?

Toronto is on the brink of a total teardown
The Toronto Raptors are 15-22 and sitting at 12^th place in the East despite being one of the healthier teams in the league. After their miserable start, they have managed to play about .500 – but .500 is terrible for a team with a huge payroll that boasts Kawhi Leonard (SF, 87 ovr), Pascal Siakam (PF, 88 ovr), and a talented and well-rounded supporting cast. However, they have the 6^th worst offense in the NBA and have struggled to consistently generate offense.

The Raptors do not have their first round pick this year unless it is in the top 3 as it was sent to the Clippers as part of the Kawhi Leonard trade a few years ago. The Raptors need to either succeed or decide to fail miserably. Because of this and the frustration of the last few seasons, there’s rumors that ownership is looking to blow the entire thing up: front office, coach Nick Nurse, and their stars. Nobody is safe and after seeing how well the Cavaliers, Honu, and Heat are doing, word is that Toronto’s ownership is deeply unhappy about the lack of success given how deep into the luxury tax they are.

It's likely a decision will be made in the coming weeks.


Jokic or not, Denver has figured it out
After a rough start that involved the league’s worst defense by a long shot, the Nuggets have recovered in a huge way. Despite being without Jokic for much of the last 2 months, they won 19 straight games before finally losing to Portland on New Year’s Eve. After starting 8-8, they now find themselves 27-9 and fully healthy. They now are scoring the second most points per game in the league, and their defensive rating has risen all the way to 17^th as they’ve completely turned things around.

How have they done it? Outside of settling in defensively and not allowing so many easy buckets, they boast the league’s best three point shooting percentage, the 5^th most steals, the 4^th most blocks, and the 3^rd most points off of turnovers.

Nikola Jokic has only played 11 games, but is averaging 29 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 9.5 assists. Bradley Beal is scoring nearly 27 points per game, Jamal Murray is scoring nearly 21 per game, and Bol Bol, Malik Monk, and Jonathan Isaac are all contributing between 10-15 points each game. They are a very well-rounded team and are looking very dangerous sitting atop the West.

The Clippers may have a draft for the ages
The clippers have 3 first round picks: theirs, NewYork’s, and Toronto’s (top 3 protected). Right now that would get them the 2^nd, 4^th, and 10^th picks in the draft. We’re too early to know for sure, but going by Draft Express’s big board, that could net them Georgia wing Jack Millage, Tennessee PG Jasko Bowman, and Pittsburgh wing T.J. Reid. They could also use 1 or more of those picks to pick up an available player from around the league, giving them a lot of flexibility.


Standings

1. The Hawaii Honu are still going strong, just 1 game out of second place in the West and showing that their start likely isn’t a fluke.
2. Ever since Bam Adebayo has returned, Phoenix has played well and find themselves 6 games above .500 in a tough Western Conference.
3. The Oklahoma City Thunder are struggling. At 16-16, they are performing well below expectations and to a man, their players acknowledge that the current record is not acceptable.
4. Minnesota, Houston, and Los Angeles all sit below .500, which is a big drop from where they were last season and what is expected of them. We’ll see if the trade deadline brings activity for any of these teams.
5. Brooklyn lost a few games without Zach Lavine, but has rebounded well and sits in fourth place, ahead of the 76ers. However, they’ve lost Stewart Mobley and T.J. Warren to injury for the next few months, so we’ll see how that impacts them.
6. Detroit and Charlotte are struggling to get and stay above .500 and fans are getting restless as these teams are exiting their “fun teams with a young star” phase and are expected to become contenders.
7. The Heat have fallen off, all the way to 9^th place as they struggle without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Notable signings and injuries

1. After a 2-21 start, the Kings fired Aiden Anderson. The replaced him with Stephen Silas, who hopes to up the tempo and get some energy into this team.
2. The Knicks followed suit shortly afterward, firing Scott Brooks 1 week later after a 5-21 start. They hired Monty Williams to replace him.
3. Brooklyn’s starting center Stewart Mobley (81 ovr) is out for over a month with a broken hand. As is Dallas’ Andre Drummond (C, 87 ovr).
4. Chicago’s Mitchell Robison (C, 83 ovr) will miss most, if not all, of the rest of the regular season with a broken leg.
5. In a huge blow for the Miami Heat, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (PG, 88 ovr) has broken his left ankle and will miss 1-2 months of the season.
6. The Nets will be without T.J. Warren (PF, 83 ovr) for up to 2 months due to a right calf injury.
7. San Antonio’s second year big man Horace Wolfe (PF, 81 ovr) will miss 2 months due to a torn calf.

Standout performances

1. Matt Mooney (SG, 75 ovr) scored a career-high 43 points to lead the Magic to victory over Toronto. Mooney shot 15-23 and only took 3 free throws.
2. In a thrilling overtime game, LeBron James (SF, 87 ovr) turned back the clock to score 32 points and dish out 10 assists as the Thunder won 137-132 over the Pelicans. Zion Williamson (PF, 92 ovr) had 37 points and 16 rebounds in the loss. Devin Booker (SG, 92 ovr) was 3-19 in the game.
3. Reigning RotM D.J. Chambers (PG, 77 ovr) set career highs in points (40) and three pointers made (10) in a big win for the Spurs over the Grizzlies.
4. The SuperSonics may have lost, but Bobby Drake (SF, 79 ovr) scored a new career high 42 points in the loss. He dropped 40 more the next night in a loss to New Orleans.
5. Luka Doncic (SG, 94 ovr) had 44, 12, 15 in a win over the Timberwolves.
6. With Zach Lavine injured, Kyrie Irving (PG, 89 ovr) had to be magnificent for the Nets to beat the Celtics. He was marvelous, but his 53 points were not quite enough as the Nets fell 136-133 thanks to Jason Tatum’s (PF, 90 ovr) 56 points!
7. In their first game under new coach Stephen Silas, the Kings at least showed a dead cat bounce, with a nice 114-110 win over the Pistons.
8. Luka Doncic was brilliant again, with 40, 11, 14 including a clutch game winner in 119-118 win over GSW
9. Damian Lillard (PG, 89 ovr) scored 43 points in only 27 minutes off the bench, and on 15-18 shooting, as the Celtics beat the Wizards 137-136.
10. Trevor Merchant (PG, 90 ovr) led the Pistons to a win over Atlanta thanks to his 43 points, 14 assists, and 7 rebounds.
11. Kordel Cleaves (PF, 79 ovr) got the first triple-double of his young career for the Knicks as he had 13 points, 11 rebounds, and 14 assists in a win at Los Angeles.
12. Donovan Mitchell (SG, 91 ovr) had a great game, scoring 48 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, and dishing out 7 assists. However, the Jazz fell in overtime to the Nuggets 137-127 as Jamal Murray (PG, 87 ovr) had 34 points and Nikola Jokic (C, 93 ovr) had a 33-13-14 triple-double.
13. Trae Young (PG, 93 ovr) scored 46 points and 10 assists in a 1 point win over the Raptors. The win puts the Hawks 3 games below .500 and need all the wins they can get.
14. Luka (SG, 94 ovr) and Giannis (PF, 97 ovr) had a big-time showdown with the Bucks barely winning, 121-119. Giannis had a 36, 10, and 12 triple-double, outdueling Luka’s 46, 8, and 8.
15. Donovan Mitchell’s (SG, 91 ovr) season of doing-it-all-himself season continues as his 50 points and 10 assists defeats the Celtics 141-124.
16. On Christmas day, the Celtics hosted the Bucks and showed they are the class of the East this season, whooping the visitors 140-114. Jason Tatum (PF, 90 ovr) had 47 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists.
17. Michael Porter Jr (SF, 82 ovr) was a perfect 15-15 from the field, 10-10 from three, and 2-2 from the FT line as he scored a career-high 42 points to lead the Spurs to a win over the Rockets.
18. Luka Doncic (SG, 94 ovr) dished out 21 assists and scored 46 points in a close win over the Wizards.
19. Trevor Merchant (PG, 90 ovr) had 43, 7, and 9 in an important win over the Grizzlies.
20. Zion Williamson (PF, 92 ovr) and Devin Booker (SG, 92 ovr) welcome KD and LeBron to their home by showing them who the true power duo in the league is as they combined for 90 points, 21 rebounds, and 9 assists. Combined, the two only missed 10 shots out of the 49 they took.
21. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic won the Player of the Month award for December.
22. Cleveland’s Taquan St. Fort and Dallas' Damond Conklin (PG, 78 ovr) won the December Rookie of the Month awards. Conklin is a second round pick this year out of Marquette and has started 21 games this season due to injuries. He’s averaging 8.4 points and 7.6 assists per game.

Enjoy some selected highlights from players across the NBA.

[ChosenOne58]

Looks like the Drago Derby was a classic.

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It is KDKA Channel 2’s distinct privilege to present Coaches’ Corner with Pittsburgh’s adopted son, Ognyan Dragomirov. Live from Los Angeles, California, here is the head coach of Loyola Marymount University.

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Oggy:
Welcome and ‘zdraveyte’ to another episode of Coaches Corner with the brothers Dragomirov. It’s a new year, and that means new questions from all of our lovers and haters. Are you excited little brother?

Dinko:
Not as excited as I was to see the whole family in LA for Christmas and then to beat you on the 28^th.

Oggy:
And that’s enough of that. Today’s episode is full of viewer questions. The first one is a 2-parter from Olivia in Portland, Maine. Part 1 is for me: “Oggy, what are your realistic expectations for this season at Loyola? Do you envision this being a team that contends for a conference title in your first year, or do you see it more as a building season?”

Well Olivia, thanks for the question. This Lions team won 4 games last season and only had 1 new player added to the roster: transfer Immanuel Kahrimanovic. Unless one of these players is a Decepticon and can transform into a whole new player overnight, this is definitely a building season. I would love to shock the world and see if we can finish top 3 in the WCC. However, I think a successful season is to triple our wins from last season: getting 12. I’ll be ecstatic if we can finish .500 this year.

Dinko:
I love the job you took here in LMU and really hope you can bring the Lions back to the tournament in a couple seasons. These fans haven’t tasted glory in 35 years, and it’s a program that holds a special place in the hearts of many NCAA fans.

Oggy:
Thanks Dinko, I agree. Your reward for that is the second part of the question from Olivia! “Dinko, you’ve knocked on the door a few times in the NCAA tournament, what will it take for this team to be a consistent contender to grab opening weekend wins in March?”

Dinko:
It’s been a lot of fun to make the tourney 3 times in 5 years, and I’ll never forget our double overtime win against 4^th seeded UConn back in 2022. I think that we’re getting close to being the kind of team that can get 1-2 wins in the opening weekend of the tournament. We were unfortunate not to make the tournament last year, and this season we have wins and close games against big time programs like Virginia.

To help us consistently compete and get a higher seed, I probably need to nail a couple of recruiting classes. I’ve had some great players, but I’ll need to find a diamond-in-the-rough that ends up being an NBA prospect. That kind of talent will help us get to the Sweet 16.

Oggy:
So true, and unfortunately Loretto, PA isn’t exactly a destination for recruits. But I believe in you ‘malkiyat brat’, and so do the fans, which is why this next question is also for you and from Ethan in Savannah, Georgia.

“Dinko, do you have any funny recruiting stories to share from your time at St. Francis?”

Dinko:
Sure, there are two I can think of. The first one involves Gerardo Bethel, who had 2 great years for us as a stat-stuffing guard. I believe he’s the only player I’ve ever coached to get a triple-double. He was a sophomore at Cuyahoga Community College in Ohio and I was set to meet him at his home he was renting with some roommates, and then we’d walk over to the local gym.

I knocked on the door and one of his roommates answered the door and I introduced myself. After that, he turned and yelled “G! There’s a Russian monster at the door.” That’s not the first time I’ve been called a monster, but it was the first time I was called Russian.

The second is a bit more colorful. I was visiting a recruit in the Midwest – I’ll refrain from mentioning his name – and when I visited his home I was getting ready to knock on the door. Before I could open the door, an elderly woman wearing nothing but a baggy t-shirt opened the door and starting yelling at me. “Oi, ‘oo are ya?! Are ya here ta take muh dog, cause you can’t have im!”

The rest of the family quick came and hurried her away. It turns out his elderly grandma was living with the family and her memory was failing. She was more quirky than anything, but it was the wildest welcome I’d had to someone’s home.

Oggy:
I’m not sure how you kept your composure for either of those, but you’ve always been a bit better at that than I.

Dinko:
For better or worse, that’s true. Speaking of emotions, here’s our final question of the day and it comes to us from Sophia in Boulder, CO.

Oggy, I’m a Nebraska fan and I kind of hate Colorado and all the media attention they get, but I do like Matt Rhule and his personality. With that said, I see a little bit of Deion in you and Rhule in your brother. What do you think of that comparison?

Oggy:
Wow. Not sure what to think of this. Am I supposed to be flattered or insulted? I suppose there are some surface-level similarities here: I am more outspoken, Dinko generally lets his team’s play do the talking.

I guess where I think I am different than Deion is that he seems to be a bit more focused on getting headlines than on winning. I certainly will get something out there, but try to ensure I’m being outspoken from a place of competence and a bit of authority based on some winning. I didn’t come into Loyola and proclaim we were going to take over the WCC – but maybe I’ll be saying that in 2 years.

With that said, I think comparing Dinko to Rhule is very flattering, and even though Dinko has changed teams far left, like Rhule, he has a strong sense of “calling” that guides what he does.

Dinko:
I do agree that the comparison is flattering, but I appreciate the creative question. This is definitely outside the realm of what we usually get.

Oggy:
Absolutely, there might just be a few dozen of you that watch this, but know that you are all great and wonderful and we wouldn’t have a show if you weren’t. Have a great evening, and this is the brothers Dragomirov signing off from this edition of Coaches’ Corner.