The Legacy of Coach Nolan (ch2k8)

[nolan887]

Re: Update

Congrats on another CUSA Championship.. Excited to see what kind of seeding you get and how far you can make it in the Dance. Then the Question is Does Coach Nolan stay or does he leave for bigger and better opps....

Thanks. I really wasn't planning on leaving after two years, but with some of these jobs opening up when I sim... it is pretty hard to turn them down. We will see how UCF does in the tourney before any decisions are made.

An another note: I again beat Memphis twice and they didn't even make the Tourney, so I BETTER get conference coach of the year this year!

[blakjak12]

Re: Update

I would say take a good job if it's there. If there's a job you really like, you'll probably regret turning it down, especially if you've already had success at your current school.

[nolan887]

Re: Update

I would say take a good job if it's there. If there's a job you really like, you'll probably regret turning it down, especially if you've already had success at your current school.

I've simmed a few times and UNC, FSU, L'Ville, and Cuse have all opened up, but not every time. I'll say again I'm disappointed with the C-USA competition, so I will likely take a power conference job if it opens up. If not I have a 5* AA coming in and 6 seniors.

[nolan887]

2015: First Round

ROUND 1: UCF MOVES ON WITH EASE

#5 UCF Knights vs #12 New Mexico State Aggies

Gallagher-Iba Arena

Stillwater, OK

March 20, 2015

Stillwater, OK - UCF played their normal brand of basketball and closed out this game before it even started. The Knights were up seven point at the half and kept rolling until the end of the game with a fourteen point win in the first round. Pearson Shannon led all in scoring with 20 points and Armando Ross came off the bench to add 10 points of his own. The Knights held a slight edge in all statistical categories and a huge edge in free throw attempts, winning that battle 24-12. UCF has had a knack for getting opposing teams into foul trouble early this season and it has payed off every game. This is the second year in a row that the Knights will advance to the second round of the tournament. This year, the Knights will have to focus on the #4 Cal Bears who come out of the powerhouse Pac-10, but may be a bit overconfident after blowing out a poor Wisconsin Green Bay team in the first round.

"Every win in the post season is great," Coach Nolan commented. "We were pretty confident that we could win this game tonight and we were able to kind of coast through it, but we wont be able to next game. The Pac-10 is always tough and this year is no different. USC won it all last season and they still got six teams in the tourney this year. The conference is just stacked with talent. We definately have our hands full with this one, hopefully we can make it to the second weekend this year."

#12 New Mexico State at #5 Central Florida
March 20, 2015 1 2 F #12 New Mexico State 27 26 53 #5 Central Florida 34 33 67 Top Performers New Mexico State - Stats Majak Carchet - 15 Pts (2-5 3pt), 7 Reb, 1 Ast Clay Myers - 11 Pts, 1 Reb, 1 Stl Central Florida - Stats Pearson Shannon - 20 Pts, 5 Reb, 3 Stl, 2 Blk Armando Ross - 10 Pts, 4 Reb, 1 Stl	Team Stat Comparison NMS UCF FG Made-Attempted 22-52 23-55 3P Made-Attempted 3-12 3-10 FT Made-Attempted 6-8 18-24 Rebounds 30 27 Assists 16 10 Steals 3 10 Blocks 2 3 Turnovers 16 6

In other NCAA news, the East and West brackets had 0 upsets the first weekend, but the South and Midwest are another story. #12 Troy, #11 New Mexico, #12 Pepperdine, #14 Texas A&M Corpus Christi, and #10 Mississippi State all pulled upsets in their opening round games. The two most surprising upsets were #14 Texas A&M-CC over #3 Arizona. Arizona comes from a powerful Pac-10 conference and no doubt overlooked their first opponent thinking they could sleepwalk their way through. Another surprising upset is #11 New Mexico over #6 Rider. Rider has been in and out of the Top 25 all season and ended the season as the #1 Mid-Major team. The Lobos come out of a Mountain West conference that sent three teams to the dance this season, so it was a great matchup to begin with, and New Mexico hopes to fight on.

[nolan887]

2015: Second Round

ROUND 2: UCF BRINGS THE EXCITEMENT WITH BUZZER BEATER FINISH

#5 UCF Knights vs #4 California Golden Bears

Gallagher-Iba Arena

Stillwater, OK

March 22, 2015

Stillwater, OK - In their most exciting game of the season, the UCF Knights knocked off the Cal Bears with a 3 pointer at the buzzer by J.J. Bone. UCF was up early, but Cal clawed back to within two points headed into the half. During the second half there were twelve lead changes and Cal started to pull away in the waning minutes. With 1:30 left to go, the Knights went on a run to pull the game to within one point. After a missed shot by Cal to close out the game, Coach Nolan called a timeout. During this time out he told everyone to get the ball to whoever was open and to take the shot. With the pressure on and only 8 seconds left on the clock Pearson Shannon inbounded the ball to J.J. Bone. Bone looked for Simmons on the outside, but he was guarded too heavily, he looked down to Boyce and Shannon in the paint, but they were locked up, so with 1 second left on the clock Bone took a desperation three from NBA distance with a man in his face and drained the bucket. As the Cal players collapsed in disbelief the stadium erupted and Bone was hoisted onto the shoulders of Shannon and Boyce in shear euphoria.

With this win, UCF moves on to the second weekend of the tourney, the Sweet Sixteen. They will need to quickly celebrate this win because they will be matched up against the overall #1 seed in the Arizona State Sun Devils. Arizona State has crushed both of their first two opponents and has high hopes for a national title with five starting seniors on their lineup. However, if the momentum from tonight carries into next weekend, ASU might have their hands full.

"That was a great game," an excited Coach Nolan commented. "We were up, we were down, we were up, we were down... it was just a fun game to coach. Buzzer beaters are what define the tournament and the video clip of this one will surely be played for years to come. We never let the game get too out of hand and we hit the big shots when we needed to. J.J. will be the local hero for the week back in Orlando, but we will definitely need a good game plan executed to perfection to beat the Sun Devils. We knocked off the #1 team in the nation to start the season, why not do it again?"

#4 California at #5 Central Florida
March 22, 2015 1 2 F #4 California 27 24 51 #5 Central Florida 29 24 53 Top Performers California - Stats Ellis Restrepo - 19 Pts (2-5 3pt), 2 Stl, 1 Blk Mat Yeager - 8 pts, 6 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 Blk Central Florida - Stats Pearson Shannon - 17 Pts, 3 Reb, 1 Stl, 3 Blk J.J. Bone - 10 Pts (2-3 3pt), 3 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 Stl	Team Stat Comparison CAL UCF FG Made-Attempted 19-52 20-48 3P Made-Attempted 4-11 3-8 FT Made-Attempted 9-14 10-13 Rebounds 29 27 Assists 10 12 Steals 9 9 Blocks 4 4 Turnovers 9 9

In other NCAA news, brackets are beginning to be busted, especially in the South where #12 Troy, #11 New Mexico, and #7 TCU have all made it to the Sweet Sixteen. #7 Gonzaga also had a big upset over #2 Indiana, a team that many experts thought would win it all this year. All four #1 seeds are still alive, but NCAA fans are rooting for their downfall so we don't have a repeat of last year where the final four was four #1 seeds.

[nolan887]

2015: Sweet Sixteen

SWEET 16: UCF WINS, OH HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN

Carrier Dome
Syracuse, NY
March 27, 2015

Syracuse, NY - In what many thought would be a sure win for the Sun Devils, Arizona State got absolutely dismantled by the UCF Knights. After a big win over Cal last weekend, the Knights were flying high and firing on all cylinders coming into the Sweet Sixteen. The Knights ran away with this game early headed into the half with a nineteen point lead. The Sun Devils would rally back late in the second half against UCF's bench, but their starters would re-enter the game to shut down any comeback. Kirsten Cassler and Gilbert Logie were on fire all game and ended with 17 points a piece. Logie was left open on the outside quite a bit and hit five of his six three point attempts. Big men Shannon and Boyce had great efforts as well with 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 10 points, 7 rebound respectively. Arizona State had three players shoot in double figures, but points against bench players are very unimpressive. The Knights have now knocked off the pre-season #1 seed and the post-season #1 seed in the same year. This, the same UCF team picked to finish 11th in C-USA play this season. Coach Nolan is on a mission to prove he is one of the best coaches in the NCAA and he is doing a great job so far.

"Everybody doubted us all season," Coach Nolan commented. "They said our schedule was too tough, we were going to run out of gas, we were going to miss our guys from last season. I think our play all season has spoken enough to the critics. They can doubt all they want, but we just beat the #1 seed in the whole entire tournament. If we can beat them, who cant we beat? Nobody thinks of us as a threat, but we should have a target on our back because we are red hot, piping mad, and we are coming to get you. Bring on Seton Hall, nobody can stop us."

#5 Central Florida at #1 Arizona State
March 27, 2015 1 2 F #5 Central Florida 42 29 71 #1 Arizona State 23 37 60 Top Performers Central Florida - Stats Kirsten Cassler - 17 Pts, 6 Reb, 2 Stl Gilbert Logie - 17 Pts (5-6 3pt), 2 Stl Arizona State - Stats Josip Peterson - 13 Pts, 2 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl Cam Smalls - 11 Pts, 2 Reb, 4 Ast, 2 Stl	Team Stat Comparison UCF ASU FG Made-Attempted 22-51 22-42 3P Made-Attempted 5-7 6-14 FT Made-Attempted 22-36 10-11 Rebounds 27 23 Assists 9 15 Steals 14 6 Blocks 1 5 Turnovers 7 17

In other tournament news, the #1 Iowa State cyclones were also knocked out of the tournament by the #4 Maryland Terrapins. #12 Troy saw their Cinderella season come to an end, but #11 New Mexico is still alive and well after a win over #7 TCU. #2 Georgetown was also dumped from the tournament after two unimpressive efforts against bad teams in the first two rounds of the tourney. If your team is out of the tournament, the game to watch this weekend will definitely be #4 Maryland vs #6 Florida. Both teams have high powered offenses and #6 Florida has all five starting seniors from their team last year that made it to the championship game.

[nolan887]

2015: Elite Eight

ELITE EIGHT: UCF BACKS UP TRASH TALK, PUNCHES TICKET TO FINAL FOUR
Carrier Dome
Syracuse, NY
March 29, 2015

Syracuse, NY - Nolan was almost made to eat his words after an unimpressive first half tonight, but he fired up his players at halftime and pulled out a three point win over the Seton Hall Pirates. Freshman Phenom Michael Boyce was a monster in this game racking up a game high 25 points along with 11 rebounds. Pearson Shannon was off to a slow start, but he added 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists of his own. The Knights rallied back late in the second half and held onto their slim lead down the stretch punching their ticket to their first ever Final Four. Seton Hall looked like they had control of the game for the first thirty five minutes, but UCF took over down the stretch and rallied around their big men to eek out the win.

"I stand by what I said last week," Coach Nolan explained. "I called out Seton Hall and they brought it, but exactly what I thought was going to happen happened and that was another UCF victory. I have all the faith in the world in this team and I will not take back a thing I said. The target should be on our backs because we are locked, cocked, and ready to rock. Boyce and Shannon were dominant today, Logie and Cassler tore up last week, Bone drained the game winner against Cal, whenever we need somebody to step up, somebody seems to rise to the occasion. If I were a betting man I would put my money on UCF, Wisconsin is good, but no better than the teams we have already knocked off this year."

#3 Seton Hall at #5 Central Florida
March 29, 2015 1 2 F #3 Seton Hall 34 40 74 #5 Central Florida 29 48 77 Top Performers Seton Hall - Stats Rob Kent - 21 Pts (4-8 3pt), 9 Ast, 1 Blk Johnny Sims - 14 Pts (2-4 3pt), 1 Reb, 3 Stl Central Florida - Stats Michael Boyce - 25 Pts, 11 Reb, 1 Ast Pearson Shannon - 21 Pts, 7 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 Blk	Team Stat Comparison SHU UCF FG Made-Attempted 23-54 28-61 3P Made-Attempted 9-19 3-10 FT Made-Attempted 19-23 18-34 Rebounds 32 29 Assists 13 15 Steals 9 11 Blocks 3 1 Turnovers 13 10

In other tourney news, the shootout between #6 Florida and #4 Maryland ended with 203 total points scored and the Terrapins taking a trip to the Final Four next weekend. #3 Wisconsin was able to pull the upset of the #1 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and the #11 New Mexico Lobos are still in the mix with a huge upset over the #1 Oregon Ducks. With Georgia Tech and Oregon out of the mix, all four of the #1 seeds are out of the tournament. The biggest long shot to win it all are the #11 New Mexico Lobos, followed closely by the UCF Knights. The Maryland Terrapins have been running hot the whole tournament and look to outscore and outlast their opponents on their way to a National Title.

[CalBears]

Re: 2015: Second Round

You beat Cal. No longer following. Way to squeak out a win over Seton Hall.

[nolan887]

Re: 2015: Second Round

You beat Cal. No longer following. Way to squeak out a win over Seton Hall.

hahaha, i figured you would have something to say about that. by far the most fun game i have played to date.

[cloudedskate]

Re: The Legacy of Coach Nolan (ch2k8)

Yes! Maryland is in the Final Four! Oh and congrats on your run. Hopefully you can bring home the Natty.

[nolan887]

Re: The Legacy of Coach Nolan (ch2k8)

Yes! Maryland is in the Final Four! Oh and congrats on your run. Hopefully you can bring home the Natty.

Thanks. Maryland has been running hot and shooting the lights out, they look borderline unstoppable. On the other hand, New Mexico is a bubble team that just refuses to quit. It should be a good match up.

[nolan887]

2015: Final Four

FINAL FOUR: UCF FINALLY KNOCKED OFF IN OVERTIME THRILLER
SEFCU Arena
Albany, NY
April 4, 2015

Albany, NY - After an absolutely terrible first half, the UCF Knights came out of the locker
room and played their hearts out. Wisconsin started off the game on a 16-1 run and were in control for almost the entire game. The Badgers guard play was out of this world, and the Knights struggled to lock them down on the outside. Starting guards Hackstadt and O'Connor scored over twenty points a piece in Wisconsin's winning effort. The Knights shot only 21% from the floor in the first half, but Gilbert Logie strapped the team on his back with his 29 second half points and sunk the game tying three pointer with 2 seconds left in regulation. The Knights came out on a 7-0 run in overtime, but would again go cold from the floor and let Wisconsin score 10 unanswered, including a three pointer with 2.7 seconds left on the clock to seal their victory. Today's game marked the second time Coach Nolan has made the Final Four, and the second time he was sent home wanting. With only one graduating senior, six seniors, and an All-American player coming in next season, Coach Nolan is certainly in place to bring UCF back to the Final Four next season.

"We played one heck of a ball game today," Coach Nolan commented. "Shannon and Boyce were ice cold in the first half and really couldn't get it going all day. We have been up and down all season, but Shannon and Boyce are really our go-to guys this season so it was tough that they couldn't hit any shots. Logie played his heart out today and with him and Boyce playing at this level as freshmen, they look to be solid cornerstones of this team. To speak to rumors: I have no intention of leaving UCF, but if an offer comes in that I cant refuse, I won't rule anything out."

#3 Wisconsin at #5 Central Florida
April 4, 2015 1 2 OT F #3 Wisconsin 38 32 10 80 #5 Central Florida 25 45 7 77 Top Performers Wisconsin - Stats C.C. Hackstadt - 23 Pts (3-7 3pt), 5 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Blk Edwin O'Connor - 21 Pts (3-9 3pt), 3 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 Stl, 1 Blk Central Florida - Stats Gilbert Logie - 29 Pts (7-11 3pt), 2 Reb, 1 Ast, 3 Stl Pearson Shannon - 12 Pts, 6 Reb, 3 Ast, 4 Stl	Team Stat Comparison WISC UCF FG Made-Attempted 33-69 25-64 3P Made-Attempted 10-23 9-18 FT Made-Attempted 4-10 18-30 Rebounds 45 33 Assists 23 17 Steals 6 12 Blocks 4 1 Turnovers 14 6

In other news, New Mexico's Cinderella run was ended by the hot Maryland Terrapins. Maryland has been shooting lights out all season through the tournament and has scored over one hundred points in three of their five games. Wisconsin is also running hot after their upset over #1 Georgia Tech in the Elite Eight and a win over the red hot UCF Knights in overtime. The championship game will be held on Monday, April 6th where the 2014-15 National Champion will be crowned.

[nolan887]

Re: The Legacy of Coach Nolan (ch2k8)

national champ crowned and some big named coaches retire, but i'll keep you guys in suspense and do my updates tomorrow.

[nolan887]

Re: The Legacy of Coach Nolan (ch2k8)

i had no reason to leave UCF with 6 upcoming seniors after a final four run, but **** happens... did i leave or will i bring UCF to national champion glory for the first time ever next season???

[Deuce2223]

Re: The Legacy of Coach Nolan (ch2k8)

Loved see the Pac-10 playing well, and loved see the Broncos in the the NCAA.. Looking forward to tomorrow and next season..