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

[studbucket]

2023 In-Season Signing Period Update

Each November, coaches get 1 week to sign players before the offseason. Last year Dinko was able to snag Erwin Willingham during this window and that was a great relief. This year it was not Dinko but Oggy who signed someone during the early window, but at least Dinko lost no recruits and is still in the running for his 4-star from Iowa.

Stetson fans were elated with the news that Oggy was able to sign 6’11” power forward Jasper Boythe. The 3-star recruit was the 29^th ranked power forward and #160 recruit overall. This is a great signing for Oggy - possibly his best yet - and Hatters fans will get the pleasure of cheering for him for the next 4 years.

Here are the players each brother has a remaining scholarship offered to.

Dinko (St. Francis)	Oggy (Stetson)
Jeremy Miller, 6’8” SF, ****, #98 recruit from Oklahoma City, OK	Raitis Carlisle, 6’8” SF, ****, JuCo sophomore from Council Bluffs, IA
Esmond Simmons, 5’10” PG, ****, #165 recruit from Brooklyn, NY	Immanuel Hancock, 6’1” SG, ***, JuCo Sophomore from Jacksonville, FL
	Delbert Scheider, 6’7” PF, ***, #199 recruit from Chicopee, MA

Top 20 Recruits
With the early signing window concluded, only 2 of the top 20 recruits remain unsigned. Of the players who did sign, Ohio State could arguably be the big winners with 3 of the top 20: two point guards and a shooting guard. They may end up with a bit of congestion at the guard spot, but if they can get the rotation worked out, they will certainly have talent.

Prospect Name	Pos	Rank	Hometown	School
Von Randolph	SG	1	Houston, TX	Texas
Kiah Roberts	PG	2	San Antonio, TX	Kansas State
Nelson McCleod	PG	3	Newark, NJ	Duke
Sheldon Rakiecki	PG	4	Detroit, MI	Ohio State
Byron Mbaye	PF	5	Eden Prairie, MN	Michigan State
Curt French	PG	6	Mesa, AZ	Arizona State
Dominik Head	PG	7	Flint, MI
Arnold Garrett	PG	8	Queens, NY
Joel Stoudamire	PG	9	Cedar Rapids, IA	Marquette
Arden Elsey	PG	10	Philadelphia, PA	Duke
Varney Dalgarn	SG	11	Baltimore, MD	Ohio State
Trevor Wheeler	PG	12	Wichita Falls, TX	Kansas
Darrall Larmond	SG	13	Norman, OK	Oklahoma
Gordon Augustine	PG	14	Greensboro, NC	Ohio State
Bob See	PG	15	Seattle, WA	Washington
Andy Konopka	PF	16	Olathe, KS	Kansas
Jairus Bland	SG	17	Queens, NY	Maryland
Nate Curry	SG	18	Savannah, GA	Florida
Benny Jones	PG	19	Boise, ID	Oregon
Isiah Carroto	PG	20	Oakland, CA	Oregon

*Note for others and for this dynasty. Stop caring about the top 20 and instead start doing the ~top 4 five-star recruits so we can get some diversity of positions. CHoops has too much of a focus on PGs for recruits.

[studbucket]

Re: 2023 In-Season Signing Period Update

Yes, I'm something resembling back. Merry Christmas friends!

[studbucket]

Drago Derby #5 - Preview

He might only be 1-3 in this rivalry, but Ognyan Dragomirov is riding a high that his brother is not on. Stetson is 4-2 and has an RPI of 20, he has the most recent victory in the rivalry, just signed a 6’11” PF, is a media darling with his Coaches’ Corner TV show, and now he’s won over the general populace. After seeing Dinko be a fan favorite for several years, the results of this year’s poll represent an inversion of last year: Oggy is clearly the favored brother.

This represents a major change in public sentiment as Oggy has rehabilitated his image after his move to Stetson was initially viewed negatively and his brother Dinko had two straight first round upset victories in March Madness. This is also reflected, perhaps somewhat caused by, public sentiment around his decision to stay in Stetson instead of pursuing the opportunity at San Jose State, with over half of respondents feeling that Oggy’s decision to stay in DeLand was “wise” or “obvious”.

However, despite all this love for Oggy, respondents seem to hold Dinko in higher regard as a coach. Over half of respondents felt Dinko is a better recruiter and nearly two-thirds feel that he is a better in-game coach. This also manifests in fans’ predictions for this game where Dinko is expected to win his fourth Drago Derby at home. As one fan puts it “Both teams are looking great, but I feel Dinko has the better understanding of the game.”

Rounding out our survey questions were two about the brothers’ future prospects. Dinko generally is more trusted to experience near-term success but it’s believed that Oggy’s ambition will result in him experiencing true championship glory before his brother.

Question	Dinko	Oggy
Which brother will be the first to make the sweet 16?	64%	36%
Which brother will be the first to win an NCAA or NBA title?	29%	71%

Moving onto the main event: the game between the brothers. The two teams are very evenly matched and both brothers are bullish on their talent and chances both in this game and this season. The Hatters come into the game with 9 days of rest and an RPI ranking of 20. While there’s almost no chance they remain that high the rest of the season, this is indicative of how well they’ve played so far with wins over major programs like Georgia Tech and USC and a very close loss to Ole Miss.

Stetson seems to have found a successful formula and has seen key players step up each and every game, especially Lennox Evertsen. However, on paper the Red Flash may have the better team and they are at home.

St. Francis will have a size advantage with the 6’7” Willingham and 6’8” Quick as the starting backcourt, while Dahi is just 6’0” and Evertsen is 6’3”. Frontcourt size and skillsets are relatively similar between the two teams, leading me to think this game will be decided by which team’s three-man guard rotation is going to show up in the biggest way. The Hatters have the speed and defense, while the Red Flash have length and shooting – though Evertsen may be the best shooter of the bunch, all three Red Flash guards can hit a deep shot. Dahi and Nevill are a bit more streaky.

With their size and the home court advantage, many are thinking St. Francis are the favorites in this game. If Dinko manages to win again, that will give him a commanding 4-1 edge in Drago Derbies and get his team back on the winning path. A loss here would give St. Francis a losing record on the year and put Oggy just 1 win away from evening out the series.

[Careless Whisper]

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

Sending good thoughts to you and your wife, studbucket - hoping that she heals quickly and fully.

Glad to have this back and just in time for the Drago Derby. Oggy seems to be riding a major wave of momentum with how well Stetson has played and his most recent commitment.

[studbucket]

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

Sending good thoughts to you and your wife, studbucket - hoping that she heals quickly and fully.

Glad to have this back and just in time for the Drago Derby. Oggy seems to be riding a major wave of momentum with how well Stetson has played and his most recent commitment.

Thanks - the healing continues slowly, but it is getting better for sure. It's nice to see. I'm hoping she can start driving a car regularly in mid-late January and start physical therapy in February.

Yeah, I had forgotten that I wrapped things up right before the Derby - which is too bad because I played it 5-6 months ago. Luckily I had the post mostly done, so it wasn't a lot of work.

Been fun to be playing games again, I'm mostly re-integrated with the College Hoops universe, but now I need to ramp back up on the NBA side of things.

[HarkTheSound]

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

This has always been one of my favorite legacies to follow because I love the melding of the Choops and NBA 2K worlds and have always wanted to have a side-by-side association setup of my own with these games.

Glad to see you starting to slowly ramp things back up and so happy to hear about the improvement on the health side of things for your wife.

[studbucket]

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

This has always been one of my favorite legacies to follow because I love the melding of the Choops and NBA 2K worlds and have always wanted to have a side-by-side association setup of my own with these games.

Glad to see you starting to slowly ramp things back up and so happy to hear about the improvement on the health side of things for your wife.

I appreciate it man, thank you for the encouragement. The mixed worlds do make it more interesting for me too.

[studbucket]

Drago Derby #5 – December 1, 2023 at Loretto, PA

For the third time in the Drago Derby, the brothers are facing off in Loretto, PA. The first two games here were dominant victories for the home team, and many are expecting something similar this year. However the brothers’ teams are headed two different directions as of late. Stetson is 4-2 and has fared very well against multiple power conference teams. St. Francis is 4-4 and their last 3 games were a 21 point loss to Xavier, an 11 point win vs Southern, and a 4 point loss to West Virginia. Oggy and the Hatters are freshly rested and haven’t played in 9 days while St. Francis has had 4 games in 7 days. Vern Quick has been leading the team, which is a good sign, but the Red Flash need to step up and show they can win a game that matters.

Heading into the game, an exciting piece of news was revealed: some enterprising students from St. Francis created a special dragon head as a traveling trophy in the Drago Derby. The trophy would be displayed courtside during the game, and the winning team would get to give the trophy to the winning brother and hold onto it until the next meeting between the brothers.

The trophy is an exciting addition to the rivalry and the grassroots nature of the trophy has made it even more well-received. St. Francis team captain Stephane Diakite talked to the student news site, the Troubadour, saying “I didn’t know what to expect, but the trophy is so fantastic. It’s a freaking dragon man. Not some boring bucket or a regular trophy, these guys made a dragon head!”

As we headed to tipoff, the students who made the trophy carried it down to a special stand just behind the scorers table, where it would be visible to all in DeGol Arena.

The game opened up and was exciting from opening tip. Just a minute into the game and we had seen 12 total points (8-4 Stetson lead) and 5 personal fouls. Two of those were by Ray Rowe, who had to go to the bench.

Dinko’s calm demeanor and Oggy’s nervous energy were on full display early on, even with the Hatters up early.

Lennox Evertsen had scored 8 of Stetson’s first 10 points, but St. Francis started warming up and made the game 11-10 after Stephane Diakite scored a layup. Oggy could feel the momentum turning and took a timeout to calm his team. The Lennox Evertsen show continued after the timeout as he nailed a three pointer off of a fantastic one-handed cross-court dime from Arnaud Dahi. Stetson was up 15-13

Lennox Evertsen shows Vern Quick that his 5 inch height advantage doesn’t mean much as he throws down a dunk and gets fouled.

A few minutes later, St. Francis had pulled ahead by 6, 28-22. However, it was only the midway point of the first half. If this pace kept up, there would be a combined 100 points between both teams. It was certainly an exciting game and full of highlight-reel-worthy plays.

Lennox Evertsen goes up and over Floyd Akindele to finish an oop.

However, the game slowed to a halt after that. The crowd saw over two straight minutes of missed shots and turnovers which was finally broken by Bobby Valdez stepping around a screen and draining a three pointer. Then the teams proceeded to go another few minutes with missed shots and good defense.

That ugly stretch seemed to benefit the Red Flash, but after Lennox Evertsen hit 2 straight threes, it was only a 3 point game and Dinko called time to rally the troops.

Stephane Diakite emphatically threw down an alley oop near the end of the first half.

St. Francis recovered and finished the first half up by 7, 37-30. Stetson was only shooting 40% and was outrebounded 21-11 which made their scoring of 30 points relatively remarkable. Lennox Evertsen led all scorers with 14 points and Erwin Willingham had 10 for the Red Flash.

In the second half, what looked like a sure basket ended with Vern Quick meeting Brendon Pocius at the summit and blocking his shot.

A few minutes into the second frame Stetson had cut the game to 1 point after Ray Rowe scored. The home crowd was getting nervous as the tenor of the game had changed entirely.

However, St. Francis quickly got control of the game again, partially thanks to Ray Rowe. The freshman big man missed several bunnies and the Red Flash grabbed the rebound and turned that into a fast break and easy buckets. In almost no time the home team had a 9 point lead and the home crowd was rocking once again.

Oggy was frustrated and called a time out, making a lineup change as he subbed in Marko Nevill, Arnaud Dahi, and Lennox Evertsen for a lineup heavy in shooting and quickness.

Unfortunately, it didn’t slow down the Red Flash at all as St. Francis built up a 56-41 lead. The press was causing issues for Stetson and they were very loose with the ball.

Oggy was at a loss with what to tell his team during a timeout.

The game ended in another double digit win for the Red Flash, their fourth such win in the Drago Derby, as the home team won 71-57. It was a sloppy second half for both teams, but after Stetson made it a 1 point game, the Red Flash outscored them by 13 points and ran away with the game.

For the winners, the scoring was spread out as Willingham had 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Stephane Diakite had 12 points and 7 rebounds, while Chris Thompson had 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 steals.

Stetson only shot 35% and only scored 18 points in the paint compared to the Red Flash’s 42, and were outrebounded by 15. Lennox Evertsen had 17 points for the Hatters, only scoring a single three in the second half after the scorching hot first half.

[Tovarich]

Re: Drago Derby #5 – December 1, 2023 at Loretto, PA

Time for Oggy to start dodging playing his brother? Also time for Dinko to move up in the world.

[studbucket]

Re: Drago Derby #5 – December 1, 2023 at Loretto, PA

Time for Oggy to start dodging playing his brother? Also time for Dinko to move up in the world.

Ha, Oggy would never do that. He may not always make the right PR decision, but he won't run from a challenge. But if he can make the jump to a good team this offseason, maybe he gets the win based on sheer team talent.

I do think Dinko is ready for a bigger challenge, but unless it's a) remarkable or b) still within an hour or so of Pittsburgh, he's probably not making the move.

[Careless Whisper]

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

Oggy may get to the Power 5 level first - and that's due to his priorities - but Dinko shows again that he's the better coach of the two right now. That's an impressive win for SFU and should provide a nice spark heading into NEC play.

The Drago Derby trophy is incredible and I'm glad we have some unique hardware for the brothers to fight for in this rivalry.

[studbucket]

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

Oggy may get to the Power 5 level first - and that's due to his priorities - but Dinko shows again that he's the better coach of the two right now. That's an impressive win for SFU and should provide a nice spark heading into NEC play.

The Drago Derby trophy is incredible and I'm glad we have some unique hardware for the brothers to fight for in this rivalry.

I think you're spot on. The program that Dinko is building is superior to that of his brother's.

The dragon is great, we'll see how good the craftsmanship is and how it holds up.

[kibaxx7]

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

Big win for the Dinko and the Red Flash. What's the record between the brothers now?

[studbucket]

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

Big win for the Dinko and the Red Flash. What's the record between the brothers now?

A very lopsided 4-1 advantage for Dinko. He's definitely got a clear advantage here.

EDIT: updated with record table from the first page.

Date	Context	Kostadin team	score		score	Ognyan team
12/7/2019	2019-20 non-conf	St. Francis	72		56	Northern Colorado
11/26/2020	2020-21 non-conf	St. Francis	81		65	Northern Colorado
11/24/2021	2021-22 non-conf	St. Francis	77		60	Stetson
11/24/2022	2022-23 non-conf	St. Francis	63		71	Stetson
12/1/2023	2023-24 non-conf	St. Francis	71		57	Stetson

[studbucket]

Around the NBA – November 2023 Update

With 3 weeks’ worth of action to recap, we’re going to give November its own post instead of a post-game note.

Awards
Giannis Antetokounmpo (PF, 99 ovr) of the Bucks and Luka Doncic (SG, 97 ovr) of the Dallas Mavericks won the November Player of the Month awards, picking up where they left off last season.

In a surprise to nobody, Boston’s Bruno Radja (PG, 90 ovr) has taken home the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month award. It almost doesn’t seem fair as Radja is 26 years old and an accomplished international player. However, this is his first season in the NBA after being drafted by Boston late in the first round of the 2020 NBA draft. He’s been splitting time with Damian Lillard, sometimes sharing the court, and has performed very well so far for the 2nd place Celtics. He’s 3rd on the Celtics with 17.1 ppg, 4th in rebounds (3.9 rpg), 1st in assists (6.0 apg), and 1st in steals (1.3 spg). On a team with Lillard, Tatum, Smart, and Myles Turner that is impressive.

Out West, Bobby Drake (SF, 77 ovr) might be all the rage, but he didn’t play enough games (only played in 11 out of Seattle’s 19 games), so teammate Sagana Dupree (PF, 78 ovr) won the rookie of the month. The Norwegian was part of the draft two years ago but never saw any time and is finally getting a chance this year in Seattle. The Sonics’ gamble has paid off as Dupree is a reliable starter and scoring 16.5 points and grabbing 8.1 rebounds per game.


Standings
The first takeaway from looking at this year’s standings? The league is very deep. On both sides of the league you can find a number of very disappointed teams with their record, but it’s hard to clearly say they deserve to be ahead of the teams above them in the standings.

Out West, the strength of the conference is clear, with 10 teams above .500 and only 4 below .500. In the East, we have the league’s best team and only 4 teams above .500, with 12 teams owning a losing record.

• Things seem to have finally come together for the Trail Blazers. After the mega trade 2 offseasons ago, it seemed like Portland couldn’t get the chemistry right; the changes were just too much. However, things are going much better this season as the Blazers are 13-5 and atop the West. 6 Trail Blazers are scoring 10+ ppg. All five starters and 6^th man Alec Burks (SG, 80 ovr). 3rd year wing Gordon Cousinard (SF, 81 ovr) is showing he’s more than a defensive stopper as he leads the team with 17.5 points per game and is adding 4.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 2 steals per game. On top of this, they have the second-best defense in the NBA, just behind the Bucks.
• This seems to be the year that the Hornets have taken a step into the realm of contenders. They continue to be a great scoring team, led by Jerry Sparks (PF, 88 ovr) and his 24 ppg, but they are no longer an abysmal defensive team, just average. They also have improved their bench with the growth of Jesus Brand (SF, 78 ovr) and the additions of Larry Nance Jr (PF, 78 ovr) and Sindarius Thornwell (SF, 80 ovr). Unfortunately, Zach LaVine (SG, 83 ovr) is out for 4-6 weeks with a pulled calf muscle. This is after he missed half of last season due to a torn ACL.
• The Honu are more competitive than expected this year, despite all the injuries to their roster. They are 2 games above .500 but have been without Rashad Konare (SF, 79 ovr), who has only played 9 games. Additionally Tyler Herro (SG, 81 ovr) will miss most of December due to a back problem, and Markelle Fultz (PG, 83 ovr) will miss time as well.
• The Pistons are also suffering from injuries. Their talent hasn’t been able to overcome Marvin Bagley (C, 85 ovr) and Kevin Huerter (SG, 80 ovr) missing significant time this year, as they hover just below .500.
• The Seattle SuperSonics expected to be far more competitive than they have been so far this season. Unfortunately, their veteran players have been playing worse than their two rookies as Bobby Drake and Sagana Dupree combine for 37+ points, 13+ rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game. They’ll need more consistent play from 35 year old Derrick Rose (PG, 81 ovr), 37 year old Kyle Lowry (PG, 76 ovr), and 34 year old Hassan Whiteside (C, 80 ovr) to dig out of the hole they are in. Getting Drake to stay healthy will be huge for them, as he’s missed half the season due to injury.
• Several teams will feel they’ve had disappointing starts, including the Nets, Raptors, Grizzlies, Cavaliers, Jazz, Nuggets, and Mavericks.

Stepping Up
Several players have taken steps forward in their career and are contributing in ways they had yet to do so far.

• R.J. Barrett (SG, 84 ovr) has been on 4 different teams in his 5 years in the league, but may have finally found a place to shine in Washington, D.C. The former Blue Devil is doing his best Bradley Beal impersonation by scoring 30.4 points per game for the Wizards. Washington isn’t good this year, but maybe he’s someone they can build around.
• Tyler Herro and Markelle Fultz are flourishing in their newfound leadership and independence in Honolulu. They have good chemistry and complement each other well and it’s showing up as they are both seeing career highs in scoring and assists. Fultz is averaging 25.6 points and 5.1 assists per game, up from 21.6 and 4.9 last year in Utah. Herro is at 23.4 points and 2.3 assists, up from 15.8 and 1.4 in Miami.
• Bam Adebayo (C, 89 ovr) is in his 7th season and has seen his scoring explode from a previous career high of 17 all the way to 24. He also has career highs in rebounds and assists as he and Devin Booker have led the Suns to the third best record in the West.
• Adrian Stewart (PF, 84 ovr) is taking a big step toward being a dangerous frontcourt partner with Zion Williamson. In his second season, he’s increased to 21 points and 8 rebounds per game. He had no double-doubles all last season and has 6 in 18 games already this year.

Key Performances
Here are some noteworthy performances from November.

• Giannis Antetokounmpo dropped 41 points, 24 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 steals, and 2 blocks in a win over Clippers
• Luka Doncic scored 43 and added 11 rebounds, 8 assists, & 7 steals in a loss to Utah.
• Ja Morant (PG, 90 ovr) had 42 points, 13 assists, & 6 rebounds in overtime win vs lakers
• Dallas dropped 167 points on Washington. Jalen Brunson (PG, 81 ovr) had a career high 41 points and Luka Doncic had a 34 point, 14 assist, and 12 rebound triple-double. Kristaps Porzingis (C, 87 ovr) added 24 points and 19 rebounds.
• R.J. Barrett dropped 43 points and notched 11 rebounds and 6 assists in a big win for Washington over Cleveland.
• DeAndre Ayton (C, 90 ovr) scored 44 points, grabbed 18 rebounds, and had 6 blocks in a 122-94 win over Los Angeles. The big Warrior shot 13-13 from the free throw line, though he only shot 1-7 from three, taking multiple shots from deep for some unknown reason.
• Boston beat Miami behind Damian Lillard (PG, 87 ovr) and his 46 points.

Jason Tatum seals the victory with an AND-1 against the Cavaliers.