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

[studbucket]

Quote: Originally Posted by RolePlayer

Man I got a lot to catch up on, but glad to see the brothers are still going strong

I took way too long off, but literally had 2 posts written up (and never posted) and thought about playing again all the time. Life's been crazy, but so glad to get back to this. Having a blast.

[studbucket]

Anticipation has been building and fans have their pencils ready. What will the matchups be?

UConn is the #1 overall seed and has sat atop the rankings for 10 straight weeks. They are joined by Memphis, Texas, and Tennessee as #1 seeds. Texas missed the tournament last year, but has been great this season, and Tennessee has never earned a #1 seed in their history.

One team that was very frustrated by their seeding was 3 seed Michigan State, who finished the year ranked #3 but underperformed in the Big 10 tournament. They saw #13 Indiana grab a 2-seed because they won the Big 10 tournament.

Dinko and the Red Flash get a 15 seed and will play the Big East tournament champions Providence. It’s a tough draw, but probably a bit easier than his brother’s game against Kansas last year.

The Friars boast 3 possible first round prospects: Senior C Martynas Curry, Senior PG Salim Halsch, and Senior SF Cameron Soroye. It’s going to be a very touch challenge for St. Francis.

Among the major conferences, the Big East, ACC, and Pac 10 were very strong, each sending 7 teams to the tournament.

Of the top NBA prospects, there are several who won’t be playing in March Madness, which is likely a blow to their stock.

• Jerry Sparks, PF, Kansas State – Sparks is easily the consensus top prospect and scouts don’t hold the tournament miss against him given the lack of talent on his team.
• Reece Campbell, PG, South Carolina – the 5’9” point guard will need to show some great athleticism during the combine if he wants to stay in the lottery.
• Dyron Frazier, PG, Alabama – Dyron Frazier has size and vision, but will need to show more to break into the lottery.
• Ronni Eppenhimer, PG, Pittsburgh – It was a disappointing year for Pittsburgh who expected to return to the dance. Eppenhimer’s numbers were disappointing, as all of his statistics were down from last year. Points dropped by 3, assists by 0.7, rebounds by 0.6, and steals by 0.5.
• Quinton Boone, PG, Kansas – Loaded up with freshman and sophomores, Kansas was extraordinarily disappointing. Boone was solid, though he never developed an outside shot, which will be needed to succeed as a 5’11” guard in the NBA.
• Ben Long, SF, LSU – The talented SF has struggled with injury and only scored 11 points per game this season. He is considered by many to be the 5^th best prospect in this draft, but is day-to-day with a groin injury and may not be able to play in the NIT.

[marshdaddy]

Without knowing much about his game, Jerry Sparks is giving me major Ben Simmons vibes. Maybe his game is totally different, but they both play the four, are consensus no. 1 overall but still missed the tournament because of their roster. Will be interesting to see it play out. What would you give your chances at beating Providence?

[studbucket]

Quote: Originally Posted by marshdaddy

Without knowing much about his game, Jerry Sparks is giving me major Ben Simmons vibes. Maybe his game is totally different, but they both play the four, are consensus no. 1 overall but still missed the tournament because of their roster. Will be interesting to see it play out. What would you give your chances at beating Providence?

Yeah, you're not wrong. Having played with him (as part of the offseason 2K Hoops Summit), I would say he plays like Ben Simmons crossed with Josh Smith, at least in terms of physical skills. We'll see if he reaches his potential. Ben Long is also like Ben Simmons: LSU, hyper-talented, talented forward, under-performed in college and missed the tourney. I am very interested to follow their NBA careers. I can't control it, but I hope Sparks goes to Portland. Dame has been injured, so they are bad (currently projected to pick #3), but adding Sparks to Dame, CJ, and Nurkic could be a dangerous team.


I would give myself a 5% chance of beating Providence. On paper, they seem less scary than that Kansas team last year, and the Red Flash have really good three point shooting. I will need to limit their shooting and hope to get their big man, Curry, into foul trouble. Gonna be a tough one, but I don't think I'll lose by 20+.

[RolePlayer]

Got a feeling Dinko will give Providence a scare

[studbucket]

Quote: Originally Posted by RolePlayer

Got a feeling Dinko will give Providence a scare

You were right

[studbucket]

Kostadin was in San Diego, but he wasn’t enjoying the beach. His parents, wife, and daughter were back in Pittsburgh, a 6 hour flight away. Instead, it was just him, his team, and his assistant coaches here in sunny San Diego. Actually, that wasn’t totally true:

1. It wasn’t sunny, it was dreary.
2. He was joined by a special guest: “little brother” Ognyan.

It was a blessing to have his brother there, who took a 2 day break from the recruiting trail (and possibly other job opportunities) to help Dinko prepare for the game against Providence. He mostly was providing moral support, but lent his strength and size in practice to simulate what Zygis Keita may have to deal with when guarding NBA prospect Martynas Curry.

Curry has been slowed down lately by a groin injury, but is leading the Friars with 20 points per game, though he’s only managed a paltry 5.2 rebounds per game. However, that is somewhat offset by his impressive 2.2 blocks per game. Providence effectively relies on a 6-man rotation, with the other 5 players including NBA prospects Salim Halsch (13.3 ppg, 5.5 apg) and Cameron Soroye (5.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 4.7 apg). Halsch, SG Bernard Crawford, and SG Anil Maclies are sharpshooters and Providence could run away with this game early if they are allowed open looks.

Strategizing with his coaching team, Dinko is hoping to do 2 things this game:

1. Get Martynas Curry into foul trouble
2. Hit corner threes

He’ll take anything else he can get, but if the Red Flash are to have any hope, the above two things will be the foundation of their approach.

Gearing up for what could be their final game, Kostadin made sure to tell seniors Casey Tyler, Noah Almond, Tobias Roberson, Zygis Keita, and Jairus Cooley to play with freedom. College basketball is special and is meant to be something joyful and fun. They should go out and play this game with freedom and giving it all they had.

Early on, the Red Flash were playing with great energy. Several steals, fast breaks, and dunks later St. Francis found themselves leading 9-4. Dinko wasn’t getting his hopes up, but was happy with how they were playing.

The Red Flash continued to play well, drawing lots of fouls and making good decisions. They could not stop the Friars’ interior scoring, but managed to eek their way to a 17-14 lead which led to Ed Cooley calling his first timeout. It was clear that St. Francis came out with an energy and focus that Providence wasn’t matching.

Wanting to continue providing that energy, Dinko subbed in Von Felder to take advantage of Martynas Curry being subbed off. His energy and size resulted in 2 quick buckets and helped SFU maintain a small lead.

Curry was subbed back in and got to work, cutting the lead to a single point, but Casey Tyler responded with a 23 footer to help the Red Flash stay 2 possessions ahead.

However, that lead wouldn’t last long as Providence grabbed their first lead after a few St. Francis turnovers, but the Red Flash managed to tied it up at halftime: 35-35. It has been a great game so far and Coach Dragomirov’s team has looked far more comfortable than expected against the #8 team in the nation. Casey Tyler had 15 points already, Martynas Curry had 10, and backup point guard Tudeme had surprised with 11 points. Several Friars players already have 2 fouls, but Dinko wants to see them pick up more fouls.

The second half was a back and forth affair that saw SFU take a 41-38 lead. It was low scoring, which is why Dinko chose to keep Mo Payne in the game after he got his 4^th foul with just 5 minutes left.

After being up by 4, a 6-0 run from Providence puts the Red Flash down by two, but Roberson hits a long two that ties the game up at 50. A few possessions later, a Casey Tyler fast break slam puts the small NEC team up 55-52.

From here, the game got very interesting, so we’ll break it down, key moment by key moment:

1. Bernard Crawford hits a three to tie the game up with 3:14 left
2. A Von Felder hookshot with 2:10 remaining makes it 57-55 SFU
3. Salim Halsch responds with a three; 58-57 Providence
4. Casey Tyler gets to the line and goes 1-2; tied at 58
5. Mohamed Payne gets to the line with 1:10 left and makes both shots; 60-58
6. Casey Tyler gets out on a fast break and lays it in for a 62-58 lead with 51 seconds left
7. Martynas Curry hits a post move, 62-60 with 42 seconds left
8. Curry then fouls Felder, who misses both free throws
9. Providence dribbles out the clock, needing a two to tie and a three to win. Salim Halsch misses a three and St Francis gets the rebound
10. Providence begins fouling, but with only 4 seconds left and not being in the bonus, they are in dire straights.
11. On the inbound pass, Providence traps but doesn’t foul. The clock runs out and St. Francis is victorious!

The #15 St. Francis Red Flash have defeated #2 Providence Friars. It’s the first 15-2 upset since Middle Tennessee defeated Michigan State in 2016.

Casey Tyler led the Red Flash with 23 points and Von Felder had a very important 13 points and 8 rebounds off the bench. Mo Payne was relatively quiet on offense, but played great defense and had 3 steals.

Martynas Curry had only 14 points, though that was enough to lead his team. Tudema didn’t score once in the second half after leading the team with 11 first half points. Cameron Soroye had a measly 6 points on 3-8 shooting.

Dinko and his underdogs will be facing off against 7-seed Miami in the round of 32. The Hurricanes beat 10-seed Penn State 78-53 and finished 2^nd in the ACC, but were only 19-11 overall, playing poorly outside of the conference.

[RolePlayer]

You guys did more than just a scare, what a win for Dinko. This win will definitely put his talent as a coach on the map and hopefully lead to job opportunities long term but also a boost in recruiting short term.

Clearly, Oggy's help in practice played dividend as the Red Flash gave Curry some issues.