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

[studbucket]

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

Oh, a rematch of the 2016 NCAA final, does Roy Williams get his revenge?

And a 4v9 finals matchup! Not sure if that's ever happened.

[studbucket]

2020 NCAA Basketball Season Recap

Your 2019-20 NCAA tournament has come to a close, with the North Carolina Tar Heels winning the title game 97-71 over the Villanova Wildcats. The Tar Heels scored 60 points in the first half and never really gave the Wildcats a chance. 6 players were in double digits and Jarek Kickert finished with 23 and 11 and went 9-11 from the foul line. Brandin Collucci had 26 points for Villanova, but it was on 7-17 shooting.



The Champions finished 30-10 this season, and were only 9-7 in the ACC. They will be losing PG Jarrett Pressley and PF Jarek Kicert to the NBA and will need to rely heavily on sophomore SG Willie Shelton and junior SF Prosper Konryn as they defend their title.

National Player of the Year: Jarek Kickert, PF, North Carolina
The talented junior was the talk of this college basketball season and won this award and the national title by averaging 26.3 points and 8 rebounds a game, though his assists (0.2), steals (0.9), and blocks (0.3). Kickert also won the “Big Man of the Year” award.


Mid-Major Player of the Year: Zakee Roberson, PF, Rider
The big man was outstanding for Rider all year and edged out Gilson Mulholland and Dana Bright for this award. Roberson averaged 25 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game for the Broncs.


National Coach of the Year: Roy Williams, North Carolina
This is what winning a national title as an overqualified 4 seed gets you: coach of the year. There were likely several more deserving candidates, but kudos to Roy Williams all the same, as he’s had an amazing career.


Defensive Player of the Year: Alejandro Floyd, PF, Memphis
Floyd’s solid defensive play was a big reason why Memphis held the #1 spot for the last month of the season, as the intelligent power forward anchored their defense and added 2 steals and 2 blocks per game.


Freshman of the Year: Jerry Sparks, PF, Kansas State
The Wildcats had 2 standout freshman (see the Freshman All-American team below), and it was 6’10” PF Jerry Sparks who won this award. The freshman is already averaging 20 points and 9.5 rebounds a game (and adding a few assists, steals, and blocks as well). It would not be surprising if he goes pro after his sophomore season.


First Team All-American
PG: Robby Laudato, Senior, Virginia
SG: Gilson Mulholland, Senior, New Orleans
SF: Raitis Engle, Senior, Texas Tech
PF: Jarek Kickert, Junior, North Carolina
C: Nikola Pattrick, Junior, Utah

Second Team All-American
PG: Rai Nagata, Junior, Marquette
SG: Vytas Kowalczuk, Senior, Tennessee
SF: Gordon Cousinard, Sophomore, Syracuse
PF: Zakee Roberson, Senior, Rider
C: Stephen Bathie, Senior, Nebraska

Freshman All-American
PG: Elmer Okpalobi, Memphis
SG: Rod Douglas, Indiana
SF: Jameer Trammell, Kansas State
PF: Jerry Sparks, Kansas State
C: Stewart Mobley, UCLA

[Careless Whisper]

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

You're using the original 2K8 rosters with generated names, correct? If so, the NPOY and ROY awards make sense - Tyler Hansbrough and Michael Beasley were monsters in that game and seemed to win it every first season when I played.

Love how in depth you're getting outside of the two teams, by the way. Congrats on getting Northern Colorado to the tournament, looking forward to next season!

[studbucket]

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

You're using the original 2K8 rosters with generated names, correct? If so, the NPOY and ROY awards make sense - Tyler Hansbrough and Michael Beasley were monsters in that game and seemed to win it every first season when I played.

Love how in depth you're getting outside of the two teams, by the way. Congrats on getting Northern Colorado to the tournament, looking forward to next season!

You got it I was trying to abstract it as much as I could, but with 2Kshare down and no other rosters saved, this was the best I could do.

Thanks for the encouragement. The offseason got a bit weird, so next season is going to be quite interesting for reasons I don't think we all expected.

[studbucket]

Dragomirov Conference Recap

We’ve gone over how all the national awards went, but what about Oggy and Dinko’s neighborhoods? How did the coaches do in their first year and who had performances of note in their conferences?

Big Sky
It was a competitive season out West, with 3 teams ending up at the top of the conference (Northern Arizona, Portland State, and Montana), and a different team winning the conference tourney. It was almost entirely seniors who made the all-conference teams, which means the Big Sky will likely look very different next season.

Award	Winner
Regular Season Champions	Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (12-4 conference record)
Conference Tournament Champions	Northern Colorado Bears
Coach of the Year	Barret Peery, Portland State
Player of the Year	Ko Bailey, PF, Northern Arizona 14.5 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 0.4 apg, 0.8 spg, 0.3 bpg
Freshman of the Year	Gilbert Long, C, Montana State 7.6 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 0.2 apg, 0.7 spg, 1.5 bpg
1st Team All-Conference	PG: K. Lloyd, Northern Arizona SG: S. Platt, Portland State SF: G. Barlett, Eastern Washington PF: K. Bailey, Northern Arizona C: D. Mascoll, Northern Colorado
2nd Team All-Conference	PG: A. Randall, Weber State SG: D. Jahnke, Northern Colorado SF: A. Blankenship, Idaho State PF: P. Stelmach, Weber State C: M. Pinkalla, Portland State
Freshman All-Conference	PG: W. Proffitt, Sacramento State SG: H. Frisby, Eastern Washington SF: L. Giles, Montana PF: J. Eppenhimer, Eastern Washington C: G. Long, Montana State

Northeast Conference
In contrast to the Big Sky, the Northeast is a conference dominated by underclassmen, with 4 freshman and a few sophomores on the all-conference teams, which means the conference may be even stronger next year.

Award	Winner
Regular Season Champions	Sacred Heart Pioneers (13-5 conference record)
Conference Tournament Champions	Robert Morris Colonials
Coach of the Year	Anthony Latina, Sacred Heart
Player of the Year	Armond See, PG, Central Connecticut State 19.9 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 5.1 apg, 1.6 spg, 0.3 bpg
Freshman of the Year	Toree Arnold, PF, Fairleigh Dickinson 8.8 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 0.6 apg, 1.5 spg, 1.7 bpg
1st Team All-Conference	PG: A. See, Central Connecticut SG: H. Kilgore, Quinnipiac SF: M. Payne, St. Francis (PA) PF: B. Leadbetter, Sacred Heart C: J. Bush, Quinnipiac
2nd Team All-Conference	PG: J. Blizzard, Wagner SG: G. Attaway, Robert Morris SF: A. Crenshaw, Central Connecticut PF: T. Arnold, Fairleigh Dickinson C: T. Ryan, Wagner
Freshman All-Conference	PG: P. Pjevcevic, Monmouth SG: G. Cranford, Quinnipiac SF: A. Crenshaw, Central Connecticut PF: T. Arnold, Fairleigh Dickinson C: J. Bush, Quinnipiac

[trekfan]

Re: Dragomirov Conference Recap

Happy Kansas didn't win it all, though I am disappointed the Tar Heels added yet another one to their trophy case. Oh well.


Can't believe Oggy didn't win coach of the year -- his team made the dance! That award must have been voted on before the conference tournament.

[studbucket]

NBA Draft Prospect Update

March Madness is over and the NBA playoffs are about to begin, which means we know our lottery teams. Who are the top prospects and how did they perform this March?

Point Guards

Player	School	Age	Rank	Tourney Performance	NBA Player Comps
Trevor Merchant	Mississippi State	20	2	[NIT] 22 ppg, 5 apg, 5 rpg. Made it to NIT semifinals.	Steve Nash, Jose Calderon
Freie Holt	Kansas	18	6	Made Final 4. 12 ppg, 5 apg, 2.5 steals per game	Robert Pack, Langston Galloway
Jarrett Pressley	North Carolina	19	8	National champs. Up and down in tourney, but impacted all areas of game. Stuffed stat sheet.	Jose Calderon, Raymond Felton
Jake Gamble	Georgia	22	10	Lost to Cal (89-87) in round 1. 3 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals.	George Hill, John Lucas
Iker Glover	Kentucky	21	11	Lost in round 2 to Stanford (73-67). 15 ppg, 6 apg.	Eric Bledsoe, Langston Galloway

Shooting Guards

Player	School	Age	Rank	Tourney Performance	NBA Player Comps
Ernesto Parkinson	Kansas	20	1	Made final 4. Averaging about 15 ppg, 4 rpg, 3 apg	Dale Ellis, Lance Stephenson
Dor Pettyjohn	Tennessee	23	7	Lost in Sweet 16. 12 ppg.	Peja Stojakovic, Randy Foye
Vytas Kowalczuk	Tennessee	21	12	Lost in Sweet 16. 22 ppg, good for 2-4 rebs, asts, and steals per game.	Danny Green, Gerald Henderson
LaForest Mance	Washington State	23	16	Lost in round 2 to Providence. Stuff the stat sheet, even on bad shooting night will get assists, steals, rebounds, and blocks.	Bryant Stith, Kevin Lynch
Ulf Enqvist	Sweden	23	19	N/A	Gerald Green

Small Forwards

Player	School	Age	Rank	Tourney Performance	NBA Player Comps
Raitis Engle	Texas Tech	23	22	N/A	George Lynch, Dante Cunningham
Oleksandr Kozlov	Ukraine	21	28	N/A	Monty Williams, Anthony Brown
Ervin Zamore	UAB	20	N/A	Lost in Kansas in Sweet 16. 14 ppg, a bit above season average.	Dante Cunningham
Kelvin Ingram	Rhode Island	22	N/A	Lost to in-state rival Providence in round 1. 13 points, 4 rebounds, 4 turnovers.	Devean George, Anthony Brown
Darryl Mitchell	Temple	22	N/A	N/A	P.J. Tucker, Dante Cunningham

Power Forwards

Player	School	Age	Rank	Tourney Performance	NBA Player Comps
Jarek Kickert	North Carolina	21	3	National champ and national player of the year. Averaged about 22 and 10 in the tournament.	Kenneth Faried, Jared Dudley
Shaddean Christopher	Fordham	20	4	Lost to Mich State in round 2. 12 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks per game.	Brian Grant, Corie Blount
Dana Bright	UNC Greensboro	24	9	[NIT] Lost in round 2. 28 ppg, 12 rpg.	Horace Grant, John Salley
Christophe Perben	France	21	18	N/A	Charles Oakley, Kris Humphries
Clint Wheless	Texas A&M	20	26	[NIT] Lost in round 2. 20 points, 10 rebounds per game.	Tyrone Hill, Kris Humphries

Centers

Player	School	Age	Rank	Tourney Performance	NBA Player Comps
Juan King	Georgetown	23	5	Lost in Sweet 16. 22 ppg, 10 rpg.	Gheorge Muresan, Ian Mahinmi
Zakee Roberson	Rider	21	14	N/A	Manute Bol, Will Perdue
Quentin Stallworth	California	24	20	Lost in round 2 to UNC. 5 blocks per game, 17 ppg.	Dewayne Dedmon, Will Perdue
Stephen Bathie	Nebraska	22	25	N/A	Mike Muscala, Spencer Hawes
Sarunas Dabanovic	Lithuania	22	N/A	N/A	Spencer Hawes

[studbucket]

Around the NBA: 2019-20 Regular Season Recap

The 2019-2020 NBA season has wrapped up and we’re ready to start the playoffs. A few notable things changed in April since our last update, and let’s review them before getting to the awards and playoff matchups.

• In mid-March, Damian Lillard tore his ACL, which was a huge blow for the Blazers. They went 5-8 in that timeframe and dropped from the 5 seed to the 8 seed, meaning they have to face off against the Lakers instead of the Nuggets.
• The Heat have been bad since the Blake Griffin trade, but that’s primarily because Jimmy Butler was injured twice. It’s disappointing that Griffin and Adebayo couldn’t carry them, but they are all healthy now and find themselves as the 7 seed after a 5-3 April.
• Kyle Lowry has spent the last few games as the Raptors’ 6^th man, with Fred VanVleet as their starting PG. We’ll see if this helps them in the playoffs.
• Milwaukee has lost Dante DiVincenzo for 2 months with a torn calf. The young shooting guard had started 76/79 games for the Bucks this year.
• Joel Embiid and Steph Curry won Player of the Month for March, while Giannis Antetokounmpo and Anthony Davis won the awards for April.
• Rui Hachimura and Ja Morant were the Rookies of the Month in March and that was followed up by Darius Garland and Zion Williamson in April.

Standings

Awards

It was a bounce-back year for one of the best players of all time, as he led the Lakers to a league-best record.

As always, Kawhi played stifling defense and was solid on offense.

Some would argue with Frank Vogel's nomination here given he has LeBron and the 'Brow, but there is no arguing with the impact that Morant, Adebayo, and Schroder had on their teams.


All-NBA Teams

1st Team	2nd Team	3rd Team
James Harden, Rockets	D’Angelo Russell, Timberwolves	Russell Westbrook, Rockets
Kyrie Irving, Nets	Luka Doncic, Mavericks	Stephen Curry, Warriors
LeBron James, Lakers	Anthony Davis, Lakers	DeMar DeRozan, Spurs
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks	Kawhi Leonard, Clippers	Zion Williamson, Pelicans
Karl-Anthony Towns, Timberwolves	Joel Embiid, 76ers	Kristaps Porzingis, Mavericks

All-Defensive Teams

1st Team	2nd Team
Paul George, Clippers	Ben Simmons, 76ers
Jimmy Butler, Heat	Eric Bledsoe, Bucks
Kawhi Leonard, Clippers	Anthony Davis, Lakers
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks	LeBron James, Lakers
Rudy Gobert, Jazz	Andre Drummond, Cavaliers

All-Rookie Teams

1st Team	2nd Team
Ja Morant, Grizzlies	Rui Hachimura, Wizards
Zion Williamson, Pelicans	R.J. Barrett, Knicks
Brandon Clarke, Grizzlies	De’Andre Hunter, Hawks
Darius Garland, Cavaliers	Daniel Gafford, Bulls
Michael Porter Jr, Nuggets	Nicolas Claxton, Nets

Playoff Matchups

Since we last checked in at the end of March, we’ve seen a few changes in the standings and playoff matchups, all of which were in the Western conference as the East remained static.

• The Clippers and Jazz are still matched up, but at 3v6, not 1v8 as the Jazz rose 2 spots and the Clips fell.
• The Lakers moved up to the #1 spot.
• The Mavericks moved up to the #2 spot.
• Portland tumbled from #5 to #8.
• Houston moved up 1 spot to #5.

Here’s a brief preview of each playoff matchup.

Milwaukee owned this season series, going 4-0 and should have little trouble with the Pacers. Prediction: Bucks in 5.

These two teams haven’t played since before the All-Star break, but fully won 2 out of 3 matchups this season. Miami has an intriguing team, but the length and defense of Philadelphia should keep this from being too interesting. Prediction: 76ers in 5.

Cleveland won the season series 2-1 and have been the surprise team of the season. They could keep that up, but I don’t think they’ll make it out of this round. Prediction: Raptors in 7.

With Kemba Walker out for 1-2 more weeks with a broken toe, this series got a lot more interesting. The Celtics were 1-2 against the Magic this season, and in a recent game against them looked a bit lost and lacking creativity without Walker running things. Prediction: Magic in 7.

Los Angeles is on fire, with 12 straight victories, and that may be 16 by the time this series is over. Prediction: Lakers in 4.

Both teams finished the season 6-4 and all 3 games were relatively close this season, with the Mavs holding a 2-1 advantage but Minnesota won the most recent game. Big KAT has had a great season, but I think the Mavs are just a better team. Prediction: Mavericks in 6.

The Jazz have been good lately and came from way out of the playoff picture to finish 6 games above .500 and in the 6^th seed. They are 8-2 in their last 10 and taking on a Clippers team that is just 5-5 in their last 10. The Jazz went 1-2 against LAC, but both losses were in the 1^st month of the season and they won the matchup just 2 weeks ago. LA lost Marcus Morris for the season and Patrick Beverly is struggling with an ankle sprain. LA is the more talented team, but all this is setting up for a possible upset. Prediction: Jazz in 7.


The season series is 2-2, but the Nuggets have been the far more consistent team all season. Jamal Murray is just coming back from an ankle sprain, but if he plays this should be the Nuggets series. Prediction: Denver in 6.

[RolePlayer]

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

Ah classic Hornets, miss the playoffs by 1-3 games to ensure you get a late lotto pick

[studbucket]

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

Ah classic Hornets, miss the playoffs by 1-3 games to ensure you get a late lotto pick

And they pretty much sat there all season. They weren't ever interesting in terms of being bad or good. Pretty unremarkable...probably also like the Hornets.

Cross your fingers that one of the twins gets that HC job in 10 years

[RolePlayer]

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

And they pretty much sat there all season. They weren't ever interesting in terms of being bad or good. Pretty unremarkable...probably also like the Hornets.

Cross your fingers that one of the twins gets that HC job in 10 years

Hopefully one of the twins can get MJ to lay off the draft picks

[studbucket]

NCAA Coach Carousel

With the NCAA tournament done, many teams took the time to evaluate their staffing situation and a few decided it was time to move on. There were 14 teams that changed head coaches, with 2 retirements and 5 firings, while the rest were replacements for the 7 coaches who left to take those jobs.

Here are some of the key changes.

• After making it out of the 1^st round once in the last 5 years, Sean Miller “retired” from the University of Arizona. He’s been replaced by Gonzaga’s Mark Few.
• Shocked by Few’s leaving, Gonzaga had to scramble and hired Morgan State’s head coach, Kevin Broadus.
• Northwestern, tired of dwelling at the bottom of the Big 10, is trying something new with Davidson’s head coach Bob McKillop.
• Oregon State fired Wayne Tinkle and grabbed Bryan Mullins from Southern Illinois.
• Other schools who had to find new coaches included Valparaiso, Northwestern State, Hartford, San Diego State, Tennessee-Martin, and Elon.

For St. Francis, they did make one change. Jevon Allison moved away to take another job nearer to family, and Dinko took the opportunity to find someone who could help him where he was weak: recruiting. He hired veteran Idannis Webber to help out in that department and teach him the ropes of calling and visiting recruits.

As a bonus note, here’s the transfers from around the NCAA and an overview of who graduated for the Dragomirov twins (Dinko had nobody graduate).

[studbucket]

2020 NBA Playoffs Round 1 Update

Here’s how the 1^st round turned out, going through each series from least to most competitive. It was a very chalk first round.

Los Angeles Clippers (4) vs Utah Jazz (0)
I was way off with this one, as the Jazz lost by 33, 28, 30, and 16 to the Clippers.

Milwaukee Bucks (4) vs Indiana Pacers (0)
Game 2 was a 1 point win, but outside of that it was a great team effort for Milwaukee as much of the roster enjoyed double-digit scoring performances in the easy win.

Dallas Mavericks (4) vs Minnesota Timberwolves (0)
Dallas completely took care of business here. KAT was good each game, but Porzingis was better each game and D’Angelo Russel’s 50 points in game 2 only resulted in a 30 point loss for Minnesota.

Toronto Raptors (4) vs Cleveland Cavaliers (2)
Cleveland had a great regular season and tied the series up after a thrilling double-OT game at home. Collin Sexton had an awesome series (29.5 ppg), but Toronto took games 5 and 6 to advance to the next round.

Boston Celtics (4) vs Orlando Magic (2)
After Boston went up 2-0, Orlando DNP – Coach’s decision’d Carmelo Anthony and the Magic ended up winning game 3. ‘Melo came back in and the Magic also won game 4, but Boston won the last two games (as ‘Melo sat the 5^th and only played 14 minutes in game 6). The Anthony experiment is likely done in Orlando, but it was a season to build on for the Magic who just need 1 more piece to be a player in the East.

Philadelphia 76ers (4) vs Miami Heat (2)
Miami took a 2-1 series lead as Blake Griffin led the Heat in scoring. However, a double-OT loss to Philadelphia seemed to tire out the Heat, especially Griffin, as the PF only scored 7 points in the last two games of the series. After a good start, it was a whimpering finish for the Heat who only scored 70 points in game 5.

Los Angeles Lakers (4) vs Portland Trail Blazers (2)
Portland was up 2-1, but Anthony Davis and LeBron James took the series over, even scoring a combined 93 points in game 5, and the scrappy Trail Blazers should be happy with the 2 wins they got without Damian Lillard.

Houston Rockets (4) vs Denver Nuggets (3)
After being down 2-0, James Harden decided to make the series his. He had several monster games, and scored over 100 points across games 6 and 7 as Houston won both despite being on the brink of elimination. He will need to up those heroics if they are to beat the Lakers.


Round 2 Preview

James Harden and Russell Westbrook were scoring machines in round 1, but they face a tough task in the Lakers. However, it came out recently that Anthony Davis suffered a broken ankle in the last game against the Blazers and will be out for the rest of the season. LeBron only averaged 10 points per game in the first round and will need to carry the team on his back if they are to make it out of this round. Prediction: Lakers in 7.

It’s a rematch of last years 2^nd round matchup that had Kawhi’s miracle shot go in. There’s no Kawhi this year, and the Raptors only went 1-3 against the 76ers this year, as Simmons and Embiid provide a tough matchup for the scrappy Raptors. Prediction: 76ers in 5.

Led by a surprising Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (23 ppg off the bench) the Mavs swept the T-Wolves, but face off against another team coming off of a sweep: the Kawhi and PG13 led Clippers. The Mavericks won the season series 2-1, but are not proven in the playoffs despite the amazing season that Luka and Kristaps had. Will Los Angeles’ superior defense be able to shut down Dallas? Prediction: Clippers in 7.

The Celtics did beat the Bucks this year, but it was in the 1^st week of the season and the Bucks won both games in March and April. Boston has a very strong roster, but may struggle with the Bucks size as they start Capela, Antetokounmpo, and Middleton in the frontcourt and bring both Lopez brothers off the bench. Prediction: Bucks in 5.

[RolePlayer]

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

Did the C's trade Kemba or is he injured?

[studbucket]

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

Did the C's trade Kemba or is he injured?

Injured - broken toe. Will probably come back in the middle of this series though.