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

[studbucket]

Re: Introduction

Congrats on a pair of huge wins! What a night from Payne, thanks excited to see what he does in the tourney

Thanks! I am excited too. Post coming soon on the brothers' first round matchup.

[studbucket]

2022 Selection Sunday

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

After winning the SEC tournament, Florida deservedly gets the top overall seed. They are joined by fellow #1 seeds Tennessee, Maryland, and Duke. It’s an all-SEC and ACC top of the brackets. Maryland didn’t make the tournament last year, so grabbing a #1 seed is a huge turnaround for the Terrapins. This is the 2^nd straight 1 seed for Tennessee.

USC, the #8 team in the country will be very disappointed to be a 4 seed, but maybe this is the motivation they need to make it to their 2^nd straight Final Four. Their cross-town mercurial rivals, UCLA, ended up as a very dangerous 8^th seed. Led by Stewart Mobley, one of the NBA draft’s top prospects, they are on a lot of radars to possibly upset Tennessee in round 2. On the other hand, Louisville was gifted a 2^nd seed despite being 23-10.

Kentucky vs Notre Dame makes a very interesting 7v10 first round match matchup in the South bracket. Kentucky is a better team, but Notre Dame has reigning National Player of the Year, and likely favorite for this year’s award, Sidney Dunnington. In the Midwest bracket, Jacksonville ended up with an 11 seed despite losing the Atlantic Sun championship game. They play 6^th seeded Alabama in a game that’s a big deal for the Atlantic Sun conference.




For the Dragomirov brothers, both ended up with 13 seeds. Oggy faces off against the aforementioned USC Trojans. USC was 23-7 and the best regular season Pac-10 team. Their starting lineup is all juniors and seniors and they are returning from their run to the national title game last year. Their dominant frontcourt will be very hard for Scott, Baynes, and Pocius to handle:

• 6’8” SF Bryan Wade (13.8 ppg, 7.4 rpg)
• 6’9” PF Brandon Wilcox (16.9 ppg, 6.8 rpg)
• 7’1” C Raynell Ere (15.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg)

Dinko and St. Francis end up playing perennial New England powerhouse UConn. This is a more favorable matchup than what Oggy got. UConn was 23-10 in the regular season, finishing 3^rd in a very tough and competitive Big East. The Huskies start two freshman at the 3 and 5 spots, but are led by senior SG Darryl Sparrow. The NBA hopeful is extremely smart and is scoring 23.8 points per game. He also has a wealth of shooters around him to knock down shots, though there isn’t much height on the Huskies. If Dinko wants to win this game, he’s going to need to play great perimeter defense, get every rebound possible, and be efficient on offense.

An absolutely astounding 12 teams from the Big East made the tournament, a full 18.5% of the tourney field is from that conference. Last year the top conferences only sent 7 teams to the Big Dance, so this is a remarkable achievement.

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

• Archie Holbrook, PF, Clemson – The 21^st ranked prospect (3^rd ranked PF) will not be going to the postseason this year, despite making the Final Four last year. The 14-15 Tigers were not good this season, but Holbrook scored 17 points per game and added 8 rebounds and over 2 blocks. As an undersized PF who can’t shoot, his NBA future is unclear.
• Freiedrich Diarra, SF/SG, Oklahoma State – The 6’6” wing is a solid shooter and a great dunker, but national audiences won’t get to see that this year. The Cowboys just missed out on the tournament as one of the teams on the wrong side of the bubble. He’ll bring his 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists per game to the NIT, where he faces Long Beach State in round 1.
• Milos Jeffers, SG/PG, Davidson – Jeffers is a divisive prospect. Is he a one-trick pony who only succeeded because he played in the Southern conference, or is he a top talent that is going to be drafted far lower than he should? Unfortunately for him, he’s not in the post-season this year and so the next time we’ll see him is in the pre-draft workouts. He averaged 26.5 ppg on 40% from three.
• Regis Hobbs, SG, Arizona – The Wildcats were disappointingly bad this year, which hurts Hobbs’ draft stock, though it’s also hurt by his shooting 34% from three.
• Louis Zaharias, SF, Stanford – The 7-footer was the best player on a mediocre Stanford team. His size is fantastic, but his rebounding and value in the NBA is in question.

[studbucket]

March 18, 2022 - 13 Stetson vs 4 USC [NCAA Tournament]

Oggy had been here before, but he was no less nervous than the first time. He was playing with house money having exceeded all expectations in his first season at Stetson, quieting many of the doubters who thought he was crazy to leave Northern Colorado in what was seen as a lateral move, especially after he had brought in a solid recruiting class to Greeley.

USC presents a very tough matchup for the Hatters, though Oggy knew it was no more difficult than his matchup against Kansas two years ago. That team started three first round draft picks and was far more than he could handle. This USC team is good and experienced, but don’t have the raw talent of that Jayhawks teams. Additionally, this year’s Hatters team had more talent than that Northern Colorado team, though he did miss coaching Delvon Jahnke and Donovin Mascoll.

This was a game that many pundits were picking as a first round lock, and Oggy could understand why. In order to win, he was going to need to find open looks, take good shots, and slow the game down. This is much easier said than done.

Right after the game tipped off at McKale Memorial Center in Tucson, Jerimie Scott got things started with a dunk and the Hatters grabbed an early 7-3 lead. That was about the extent of the excitement the fans would get that evening, as Oggy had his team slow down the game greatly. In general, Stetson wouldn’t start their offense until there was 10 seconds left on the shot clock: they would pass the ball to Brendon Pocius, who would dribble near the time line for 15-20 seconds, and then would set up a drive or pass to a big man. Some of the crowd began booing this approach, but Oggy knew this was coming and told his team to expect it.

Stetson’s approach to limited USC’s possession was very effective. With 3:25 left in the half, the score was only 16-16 and Stetson even had a possession drain 90 seconds off the clock thanks to some USC fouls. The game went 2.5 minutes without another basket, before there was a “flurry” of 8 points in the final minute. It was a 21-18 USC lead and halftime, and this was dreary, dire basketball. It was slow, full of bad shots and turnovers. Atila Kann led all shooters with 8 points for Stetson.

To start the second half, Atila Kann showed up in a big way for the Hatters, nailed a couple threes and giving Stetson a 24-23 lead. However, it was short lived and USC’s talent began to show up and stretched the lead to 5.

Scoring slowed down for several minutes and with 4 minutes left, USC was leading 35-31. Rex Fischer made his first three of the game to cut the lead to 35-34 and Andy Enfield called a timeout for the Trojans. They came out of the timeout more composed and extended the game to what could be a commanding 43-36 with less than two minutes left.

However, Stetson gave USC one last scare as two straight baskets cut the game to 43-40 and the neutrals began hoping for a buzzer beater and upset, but USC held on to win the game, 45-40.

Reactions to the game were split, with some feeling like Stetson played awful basketball and they hope that this isn’t a template for other teams going forward, while others were more complimentary of the team’s discipline and approach.

Stetson largely executed their gameplan well, though they didn’t manage to get to the free throw line a single time during the game. Atila Kann had 19 points, shooting 5-9 from three, but his backcourt partner Rex Fischer shot 1-6 from deep. If any of those shots go in, this may be a different game.

For USC, they were led by Bryan Wade with 13 points and starting PG Devonne Shakur had 6 steals.

[studbucket]

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

Ha, I found a bug in 2K8. The image they imported for SFU has a spelling error. It says "univeristy" instead of "university".

[RolePlayer]

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

No shame in losing to USC by only five. Oggy has to be proud of the season he had after so many doubted Stetson. It’ll be tough to replace Kahn who gave it all in his final game.

I’m curious why the score was so low though. Were both teams using up the shot clock, did you change the minutes? Because your field goal percentage is decent and not a ton of turnovers.

[studbucket]

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

No shame in losing to USC by only five. Oggy has to be proud of the season he had after so many doubted Stetson. It’ll be tough to replace Kahn who gave it all in his final game.

I’m curious why the score was so low though. Were both teams using up the shot clock, did you change the minutes? Because your field goal percentage is decent and not a ton of turnovers.

Primarily because both teams used up all the shot clock. Oggy literally had his team dribble the ball by the timeline for 20 seconds, then pass it to Brendon Pocius to instigate the offense with 10 seconds left on the shot clock.

With Pocius driving or getting the ball to Scott, they'd often get fouled or get an offensive rebound and reset the shot clock. So Stetson would have 60-90 second possessions on a somewhat regular basis.

Then Stetson played good defense, made USC use up the shot clock, and wasn't afraid to foul instead of giving USC a good look.

So the shooting % was good, but the number of possessions was probably 60% of what you'd see in a normal game.

Minutes were the same (I play with 12 minute halves).

[marshdaddy]

Re: Introduction

That’s really the best approach for overmatched teams, limit the number of possessions. Tough way to go but at least you were competitive.

[studbucket]

March 19, 2022 – 13 St. Francis vs 4 UConn [NCAA Tournament]

Dinko spent yesterday afternoon allowing himself to be distracted by Oggy’s game against USC. He knew his brother was going to try something different, but he couldn’t help but cackle as the boos rained down from the stands as he “set basketball back a decade” with his cynical gameplan. It didn’t ultimately work, but it showed a flexibility and coaching acumen that not everyone was willing to admit that Ognyan had.

His approach would be a bit different. He didn’t think his best chance to win involved slowing the game down. Instead, he would focus on Darryl Sparrow. Could he keep the Nashua, New Hampshire native under 20 points and with less than 8 assists? It wasn’t a guarantee for a win, but it was the strategy he was going to take: guard him closely, double on drives, and put the taller Vern Quick on him. On offense, he would be looking to get Mo Payne into mismatches, especially ones that involved him posting up guards. The more he thought about it, the more he started to drift toward the idea of putting Mo at 2-guard, switching Quick to the three, and seeing if he could force Sparrow to guard Payne perhaps getting into foul trouble.

As he prepared to step on to the court, Dinko found himself wondering “if I am in the Eastern bracket, why is this game on Oklahoma City?” He shook his head and turned his focus to the matchup against 19^th ranked Connecticut.

Spoiler: it turned out that everyone very quickly forgot about Oggy’s performance, as the Red Flash and Huskies played in an all-time classic double overtime first round matchup, but first, let’s start from the beginning:

Gerardo Bethel opened scored with a three, only to immediately see UConn’s superstar, Darryl Sparrow, answer with a three of his own. The Huskies started hitting their shots, got up 10-7 and momentum definitely felt like it was swinging strongly to the 4 seed. However, Vern Quick said “nonsense” to that and drained a three that put them up 12-10.

The Red Flash had to persevere through some adversity early in the first half as Bethel picked up 2 fouls and had to sit, while backup PG Djordjevic immediately turned the ball over in a moment that would foreshadow his impact later in the game. Fortunately for St. Francis, UConn struggled to make their free throws and couldn’t make the Red Flash pay for their sloppy play. Because of this, the game started to turn in the underdog’s favor. Some fast-paced play, offensive rebounds, and Vern Quick on fire from three extended the lead to 27-18.

It wasn’t much better at halftime as St. Francis had a 40-32 lead and was up by as much as 13 points at one point. The Red Flash were shooting 64% as they were effectively only taking layups and open threes. UConn was letting the Red Flash get whatever shot they wanted and on offense they were far too conservative, not getting their guys open looks.

Dinko couldn’t help but think back to the 15-2 upset of Providence last year. Could his team hold on and engineer a 13-4 upset, perhaps setting up for a Cinderella run?

The second half started out sloppy. Even though his team was still up by 7, Kostadin called a timeout and switched up his lineup. He put Markovic at point and wanted Bethel and Quick to get open looks at three from the wings. Unfortunately, it didn’t help as Connecticut had adjusted defensively and there were far fewer open looks from three for the Red Flash. Slowly and methodically, the Huskies were cutting into the underdog’s lead.

With Vern Quick on the bench, Dinko decided to switch to a taller lineup with Doss and Felder, but was unable to get any baskets inside as the Huskies’ big men were much stronger. After UConn drains a contested three, they were now within 1 point of the Red Flash: 53-52.

Two possessions later, the few traveling Red Flash fans began to worry as they saw their lead disappear and UConn take a 56-55 lead. Was the Huskies’ talent finally going to shine through and see them take the lead for good? Not if Gerardo Bethel had anything to say about it. The well-rounded guard stole the inbound pass and threw down a flashy 180 dunk on the other end, as the crowd exploded.

Bethel shows that he values both form and function as his splashy finish gives St. Francis a 1 point lead.

As the second half neared its conclusion, everyone was feeling nervous, but especially UConn fans. After the favorites missed a few bunnies, St. Francis had a 60-56 lead and a win in their sights with just a few minutes left. UConn was at the line and missed both free throws, on the other end Vern Quick made a three that took a Kawhi Leonard-esque 4 bounces before going in. That was his first three of the second half and felt like a dagger in the hearts of UConn fans.

It felt even worse for the Connecticut faithful after Stephane Diakite stole a pass and slammed it home. With a 9 point lead, most of the neutrals were going crazy…but it wasn’t to last. With 37 seconds left, the game was 65-61 after a Darryl Sparrow three. Dinko knew that UConn would need to start fouling, so he put in his best free throw shooters: Djordjevic, Bethel, Quick, Payne, and Diakite. Unfortunately, this would be a decision that he would come to regret.

Djordjevic immediately threw the ball away and the game was now 65-63. Mo Payne then hit two free throws, but Bigelow nailed a deep three to make the game 67-66 with 13 seconds left. Djordjevic then made his final mistake of the game, as he missed the front end of the 1-and-1 and Dinko pulled him and put his entire starting lineup back in. Darryl Sparrow made it to the free throw line with just a few seconds left, but only made 1-2 shots. After Vern Quick misses a deep three, we finish regulation with the game tied at 67 and are headed to overtime.

It was Mo Payne time, even if UConn didn’t know it yet.

The opening minutes of overtime saw Connecticut grab a lead and St. Francis keep it close. Geary Doss was the early hero with 4 points and a key rebound. Halfway into the period, SFU found themselves down 78-75 and in need of a few big plays. They got just what they needed. In addition to stout defense, Mo Payne stepped up. First, he had a wonderful drive and kick to make the game 81-79 with 35 seconds left. Then, after Bigelow missed 2 free throws, Payne made one of the ugliest, yet most important, shots of his career. With 5 seconds left, he took an awkward, double-teamed, 10 foot jumper that tied the game at 81. After UConn missed a long three, the game is headed to double overtime.

Everyone, including the players, was exhausted and full of adrenaline, but it was the Red Flash who kept it together in the final overtime. After a Doss bucket, back-to-back Mo Payne And-1s, St. Francis was up 7 points and would never look back.

Petie Murray fouled out for the Huskies, then Payne hit Gerardo Bethel for a three and gave the Red Flash an 8 point lead. No matter who the TV crew chooses, Payne was clearly the MVP of this game, stepping up when most needed to ensure the Red Flash advanced to the next year.

Dinko exhorts his team as they have a 10 point lead and need to hold on.

The Red Flash eventually extended their lead to 13 points, which is where it would finish: 101-88. The final score wasn’t close, but the game sure was. A classic and easily the best game and most significant upset of the year, Kostadin was fast becoming a media darling and someone big programs were hoping to lure their way.

Free throw shooting was the clear difference in this game. The game was extremely even everywhere else. However, St. Francis shot 15-22 (68.2%) from the line, much better than Connecticut’s 14-26 (53.8%).

Mo Payne was only 4-15, but still had a huge impact on the game which is partially shown by his 17 point, 6 rebound, and 6 assist game. Gear Doss added 13 rebounds and was very efficient on the offense end, while Gerardo Bethel notably had 5 steals and Vern Quick was deadly from three.

UConn’s Darryl Sparrow scored 26 points, but probably should have been greedier. Bigelow with 11 assists, but had some very key misses from the free throw line.

Note: as exciting as this game was, it still felt too easy for me. I am upping the difficulty and tendencies again. I made the biggest change to the tendencies, as I want the CPU to drive and take threes far more often.

[studbucket]

2022 March Madness: Round of 64 Update

Upset Watch

• #13 St. Francis (PA) 101 - #4 UConn 88 – In the only true upset of the entire first round, we were given an absolute treat of a game, as the Red Flash took UConn to double overtime, then managed to beat the Huskies. This is the 2^nd straight year that Kostadin Dragomirov has upset a highly ranked team in round 1 and we can imagine that many schools will come knocking on his door soon.
• #10 Gonzaga 64 - #7 Charlotte 59 – This is only tenuously an upset given the participants, but we’ll count it for the sake of this column. The Bulldogs built a 9 point halftime lead and held on for the victory in what was an inefficient game for both teams, especially in the 2^nd half where they combined for 44 points.

Key Performances

• In a losing effort, Iowa State’s B.B. Falknor (6’11” PF) scored 26 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and had 5 blocks.
• No Jerry Sparks, no problem for Kansas State’s Jameer Trammell (6’6” SF) as he scored 28 points to lead the Wildcats to a round 1 victory.
• Clayton Laudato (6’6” SF) came off the bench for Marquette and was huge. The senior scored 25 points, including 3-5 from three, and grabbed 12 rebounds.
• Round 1 blowouts are great for stuffing the stat sheet, and Louisville’s Claude Shehan (6’9” PF) was happy to do so, scoring 34 points.
• Prospective #1 overall pick Adrian Stewart (6’9” PF) balled out for the Jayhawks, scoring 30 points against Albany.
• Teammate Arnold McNurlin might get all the plaudits, but Rakim Danley (6’9” PF) led the Vols in their win with 31 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks.
• UCLA only beat NC State by 1 point, needing every single of Stewart Mobley’s 29 points.
• Notre Dame’s entire starting frontcourt only scored 9 total points, all of them by superstar Sidney Dunnington. Credit goes to Kentucky’s Nicholas Zavackas (6’7” SF), Horace Wolfe (6’10” PF), and Donte Owen (6’9” PF) for completely shutting them down. Owen primarily guarded Dunnington, while Wolfe had 27 points and 10 rebounds.
• The Maryland Terrapins scored an insane 124 points in their win over Hampton. Samuel Pilgrim (6’5” SG) scored 37 points off the bench, including shooting 8-10 from three and adding 5 rebounds and 4 blocks.
• NBA-bound PG Brandon Collucci (6’1” PG) scored 31 to lead Villanova to a win over Montana State.

NIT Update

• Rhode Island won their first game over Texas-Pan American thanks to sophomore Romain Pilgrim’s (6’2” PG) 28 points, 5 assists, and 2 steals.
• North Carolina is overqualified to be in the NIT and had 7 players get double digit points or rebounds in their easy win over UT Arlington. The Tar Heels were up 64-31 at halftime.
• Pepperdine held Colorado to 46 total points and no Buffaloes starter had double digit points.
• Oklahoma State beat Long Beach State 65-63, no thanks to Freiedrich Diarra who scored 5 points on 1-6 shooting.
• Baylor’s backcourt duo of Dusty Phelps (5’10” PG) and Jarred Hope (6’4” SG) saved them in a 78-77 victory against High Point. The pair combined for 52 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists, and 3 steals.
• Boston University spanked Texas Tech 98-79, led by J.R. Douby’s (6’2” PG) 36 points. The senior shot 10-16 from three to get most of his points.

[marshdaddy]

Re: Introduction

What a game, I think it’s pretty clear who the best brother is in terms of coaching and winning things. Nice work

[RolePlayer]

Re: Introduction

Man what a game for Dinko and that's another tourney upset under his belt. He's gonna be getting some offers again this year but it's probably for the best he stays pat since he'll only be losing one starter. That will be a big loss though, is Payne your highest overall player?

What a game, I think it’s pretty clear who the best brother is in terms of coaching and winning things. Nice work

Eh, you have gotta give Oggy credit he was able to nearly beat USC which is an accomplishment on it's own. Plus he took a Stetson team that wasn't expected to do much this year to the tourney. Dinko's squad was already expected to make some noise.

[studbucket]

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

What a game, I think it’s pretty clear who the best brother is in terms of coaching and winning things. Nice work

Man what a game for Dinko and that's another tourney upset under his belt. He's gonna be getting some offers again this year but it's probably for the best he stays pat since he'll only be losing one starter. That will be a big loss though, is Payne your highest overall player?

Eh, you have gotta give Oggy credit he was able to nearly beat USC which is an accomplishment on it's own. Plus he took a Stetson team that wasn't expected to do much this year to the tourney. Dinko's squad was already expected to make some noise.

Yes, it was an absolute classic and he's certainly developing a reputation as a coach and there will be quite a few suitors that come calling for him. However, he's really principled and it would take something very specific to get him away from St. Francis. Southern Miss won't be surprised by this Red Flash team or by Dinko.

Payne is definitely their best player, by a lot, was consistent, and is clearly their leader. The team is going to be very young next year and Dinko will be bringing in 4-5 new players as well. If it's as good as last year's class, this could be a very exciting - albeit inconsistent - team. Dinko would benefit from a true point guard as well as a much stronger frontcourt.

Oggy's achievements this season were probably more impressive than Dinko's, but Dinko is 3-0 against him and has 2 huge tournament upsets. On both counts, Oggy loses and those are things that win the hearts and minds of the nation.


Oggy will have his UConn transfer in the starting lineup next to Scott and Pocius next season, making this the best frontcourt either brother has ever coached. If he can replace Fischer and Kann effectively, Stetson should be a very dangerous team in the Atlantic Sun.

I think their recruiting classes will have a big impact on what we think of their prospects next year, and Oggy is the home team for the Drago Derby. Maybe he can finally get a win?

[studbucket]

March 21, 2022 - 13 St. Francis vs 5 Southern Miss [NCAA Tournament]

After spending the night and the following day with his team, Oggy sent them back to Florida with his assistants and he grabbed a short flight from Tucson to Oklahoma City to join his brother. Oggy couldn’t believe that Dinko had managed to get another round 1 upset and was feeling a mix of emotions: pride for his brother and envy that no matter what he seems to do, Oggy’s achievements fall just short of Dinko’s. With Oggy out of the tournament and in a completely different conference, he was welcomed into team and coaches’ meetings for St. Francis where he mostly observed, but periodically joined the conversation. Where he added the most value was in practice, where he spent time with Von Felder, Geary Doss, and Muhamed Payne on their post play, providing a very stout and muscled opponent in practice to toughen them up.

Dinko was glad to have his brother with him. The media circus had ramped up, but at least he wasn’t alone. Not only were the twins both coaching in March Madness, but they had two vastly different first round games and there was no shortage of human interest stories to be told about their life in Bulgaria, their path to Pittsburgh, their time in college, or what life is like now. With Oggy around, Dinko didn’t have to be the center of every interview, but could instead have his brother fill in, or have both brothers attend together.

Kostadin couldn’t let the circus get to him as he had to focus on Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles are led by Jay Ladner and are in the tournament for the first time since 2012. The finished the season ranked 18^th in the country, went 23-4 on the season, and were competing with Memphis all season long for the Conference USA crown. Unfortunately, they lost the tiebreaker to Memphis for the regular season crown and were knocked out in the conference semifinals by Marshall.

Southern Miss is led by senior 2 guard Jaison Brower. He led the conference in scoring with 23 points per game and excels at making shots from everywhere on the floor. The Golden Eagles defeated Western Kentucky in round 1 96-81. PG Vitor Snowden, SG Jaison Brower, and SF Iman Bolton combined for 64 points in the win.

They are a good shooting team and coach Jay Ladner is well regarded across the country. Dinko will need to limit their shooting as much as possible and try to win the rebounding battle as the Red Flash have a slight height advantage. St. Francis pulled a rabbit out of their hat against a stronger UConn team and many people are excited to see what they can do in today’s game.

The winner of this game will likely face SEC Champ and 1 seed Florida who is playing St. John’s later that day in Davidson, North Carolina.

In the first 90 seconds, St. Francis managed to draw three fouls but was struggling to stop Southern Miss from driving to the hoop on the other end. The game was fast paced back and forth, but not efficient from either team. Down 14-11, Vern Quick stole the ball and ooped it to Stephane Diakite, who made the basket and was fouled. However, that 14-13 score couldn’t be built upon as the Golden Eagles were able to stay slightly ahead for most of the first half.

The score was 20-15 with a third of the half left when St. Francis went on a small run that was capped by back-to-back Diakite and Bethel combinations:

1. First, Diakite tips an inbound pass and Bethel recovers it and throws down a reverse slam to pull within 1 point.
2. Then the two combine again to steal the ball and get an easy bucket to pull ahead with a 26-25 lead.

At halftime, the Golden Eagles had recovered their lead and were up 31-28. They were shooting 9% better from the field but hadn’t made a three pointer so far. Brower had 8 points and Bolton had 9 for Southern Miss. Geary Doss led the Red Flash with 7 points as both teams saw scoring relatively well distributed across their starters.

The three point drought immediately ended for Southern Miss as they drained two of them in the first two minutes of the second half. The Red Flash started trying to slow the game down a bit and get the Golden Eagles into foul trouble – with some success. Both of favorite’s PFs, Chuck Melvin and Dominik Ma, got into foul trouble and had to be subbed out. However, the Eagles managed to stretch their lead to 7 early in the 2^nd half. For much of the half, it hovered between a 3 and 7 point game, with the Golden Eagles not able to pull away and the Red Flash unable to tie it up.

With three minutes left, the score was 60-54 in the favor of Southern Miss, but it slowly got bigger from there, extending to 64-56 before finishing at 72-63. It was a good effort from the underdogs, but the Golden Eagles were just a bit too much for St. Francis.

Brower had 20 points for the Golden Eagles and Vitor Snowden added 7 assists.

St. Francis was poor from three, shooting just 3-12 and Mo Payne had a disappointing 13 points in his final game for the Red Flash. There were hugs, tears, and waves to the fans after this game as the fans, players, and staff spent a few moments appreciating the senior wing.

As a small side note, deep on Southern Miss’s bench was PG Franco Agudio, one of the players Dinko tried to recruit this past season – though Dinko is likely much happier with the players he ended up with, like Gerardo Bethel.

[RolePlayer]

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

Never fun to get bowed out of the tournament but the Red Flash showed a lot of heart and are certainly getting more attention nationally these days than when Dinko first showed up.

Looking at the box score, there isn't much you guys could have done better. You could nitpick a few things but at the end of the day, the more talented team won.

[studbucket]

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

Never fun to get bowed out of the tournament but the Red Flash showed a lot of heart and are certainly getting more attention nationally these days than when Dinko first showed up.

Looking at the box score, there isn't much you guys could have done better. You could nitpick a few things but at the end of the day, the more talented team won.

Absolutely. Maybe get Payne the ball more (but they played good defense) or have Quick make more threes (but these kind of days happen).

Now it's time to see who will win the title this year as the brothers focus on their recruiting.