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

[R1zzo23]

Re: Introduction

Very hard to see Tatum wearing #30. [emoji13]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[studbucket]

Re: Introduction

Very hard to see Tatum wearing #30. [emoji13]

Oh man, I didn't even notice. Is that because of Lillard or someone else joining? I can get that fixed.

[studbucket]

Re: Introduction

OK yeah, it's because of Dame.


Maybe I give him his high school number: #22?

[kibaxx7]

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

Still hurts to see Dame in another jersey, but at least we have a great record...

[studbucket]

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

Still hurts to see Dame in another jersey, but at least we have a great record...

Yeah, year 1 of the trade was rough, but the lineup of Brogdon, Jaylen Brown, Cousinard (3+D wing), Perben (young French PF), and Sabonis is jelling and looks tough.

I hope the success continues for them.

[studbucket]

Re: Introduction

OK yeah, it's because of Dame.


Maybe I give him his high school number: #22?

22 isn't available. Did the Celtics retire it?

I kept it at 30 as 00 isn't available either.

[studbucket]

December 3, 2023 St. Francis at Central Connecticut State [NEC]

Two days after the Drago Derby, the congested schedule continued for St. Francis as they had a very early conference matchup. They wouldn’t play their second conference game for another month, but today they faced off against rivals Central Connecticut State. Donyell Marshall’s Blue Devils were 4-5 on the season and looking ok despite losing so many talented players.

The Blue Devils’ fans hated the Red Flash but weren’t optimistic about this game, even at home. The hosts had lost 7 of their top 8 players to graduation were now led by junior Russ Ba PF (69 ovr) and freshman Clint Becker (SF, 67 ovr). The team was OK at rebounding, but weak at nearly everything else. Levi Guasco (PG, 59 ovr) is their only deep threat and they were shooting a paltry 29% from three.

Getting a win here would be huge for the Red Flash, starting the conference season off with a road win and hopefully getting that elusive regular season title for Dinko.

Things weren’t easy in the early going for the visiting Red Flash. The Blue Devils crowd in Detrick Gym were loud and St. Francis looked a little unsettled. 4 minutes into the game the visitors already had 4 fouls and were down 9-5. Central Connecticut State was being led by Levi Guasco who was playing well and pulling the strings for the Blue Devils.

St. Francis used their defense to get back into the game and pull ahead 17-14, but Central Connecticut State evened things up quickly. Their 2-3 defense was stymying the creativity of St. Francis and the Red Flash were not making their threes. On top of that, the Blue Devils seemed to be hustling more and grabbing offensive rebounds. No matter the talent difference, hustle like that can be a great equalizer.

With Guasco on the bench, Dinko’s boys went on a small run to go up by 6, but relinquished that lead as the half ended 33-33. The Red Flash could be doing much better and were playing much sloppier than they should be. Bobby Valdez had hit 3 threes to lead the Red Flash with 9 points, but his fellow wing Vern Quick was 1-6 from deep.

Both teams started the second half slowly and the game stayed close the entire time. Erwin Willingham picked up his 4^th foul partway into the second, forcing Tanoris Houston into more playing time.

With 4:45 left, the Red Flash had a 61-57 lead that they extended to 65-59 a minute later. Unfortunately, Dinko watched as his team completely fell apart with a 9-0 CCST run making the score 65-68 with under a minute left.

Despite a bad shooting night, Vern Quick was not shy to pull the trigger and the moment wasn’t too big for him. With 34 seconds left, Quick drained a three to tie the game up. However, this meant that the Blue Devils were going to get the last shot provided they didn’t screw it up.

Donyell didn’t call a timeout and the Red Flash immediately pressed and tried to force a turnover in the backcourt. It didn’t work as the Blue Devils got across half court and set up and waited to tick the clock down.

Dinko didn’t want to play the waiting game and sent a double team at Guasco who threw it away and had the pass intercepted by Vern Quick. He threw it forward to Willingham on the break who was fouled. Erwin Willingham missed his first and made the second to give the Red Flash a 1 point lead.

With 9 seconds left, the Blue Flash broke the press and got the ball to Russ Ba at the free throw line, but Chris Thompson came up huge with a clutch block and time ran out for an SFU victory. While Dinko can’t be happy with how his team performed, his anger was nothing compared to that of the Blue Devil fans who could not believe how they suffered another heartbreaking loss to St. Francis.

Bobby Valdez hit 5 threes en route to 17 points, but the Red Flash only shot 61.5% from the free throw line which needs to get much better in the future.

Clint Becker led all scorers with 23 points on 10-16 shooting.

Around the NCAA

• Oggy played Old Dominion the day after the Drago Derby and rebounded with a big 99-66. He saw 6 players score double digit points: Scott (18), Mobley (17), Pocius (11), Rowe (10), Causey (10), and Mulic (10).
• Can Maldonado (SF, 86 ovr) led Oregon with 36 points in win over New Mexico. The junior is hoping to be picked in the first round of this year’s NBA draft. Shooting 5-8 from three is a great step for the 6’7” wing.
• We had an early season matchup of giants with #2 Michigan State beating #11 Duke 77-73. The win brings the Spartans to 9-0 on the season. Smackey Krayl (PF, 87 ovr) led the Spartans with 22 points. Marcello Barber (PF, 90 ovr) led Duke with 25 points and 12 rebounds. This is Michigan State’s 3^rd win over a currently ranked team with previous victories over #12 Villanova and #17 Kansas State.
• Washington State stunned the #4 Jayhawks in Lawrence, beating them 71-69. The Cougars are only 4-4 on the season, but held NBA prospects V.J. Andres (SF, 90 ovr), Kordel Cleaves (PF, 89 ovr), and Jerel Barnard (SF, 87 ovr) to a combined 31 points. They were led by Lester Campbell’s (PF, 79 ovr) 23 points and 7 rebounds. The victory is even more impressive given it was done without senior Randy Vignale (SG, 87 ovr), who is projected to be selected in next year’s NBA draft.

[kibaxx7]

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

Tough shooting from the line but you made up for it with those threes!

[studbucket]

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

Tough shooting from the line but you made up for it with those threes!

That we did. Valdez and Quick will be very solid most nights, but the rest of the team seemingly can't make FTs. Not something I've focused on in the past, but may need to care about this more when recruting.

[studbucket]

Player Spotlight: Rashad Konare

As I play games, I will take time to periodically spotlight some of the fictional players in my NBA. Today we are learning about Hawaii wing Rashad Konare.

College Career and NBA Draft
Konare was a 4 year contributor at Louisville and saw the Cardinals achieve a #1 seed in the 2020 NCAA Tournament but lost to eventual national champion North Carolina in the Sweet 16. In his final season, the Cardinals started the season ranked #5 and he was a second-team preseason All-American. Louisville was not quite as successful during the regular season, managing a 3 seed. For the first two rounds of the tournament Konare played well, but it all fell apart in round 3. Once again Louisville lost to an eventual national champion (Villanova) and it was in large part due to Konare failing to score a single point and only taking 1 shot.

Early in the draft process Rashad was looking like a possible top 5 pick as the #2 small forward in the 2021 draft (which Jerry Sparks headlined). However as the college season went on, he started to be regarded less and less highly, at one point even dropping out of the list of top 5 small forwards. However, as a number of those players decided to stay in college, he found himself back in the rankings and a projected lottery pick. Unfortunately, despite being compared to Danilo Gallinari and James Jones and being mocked at pick 5 to the Thunder, he fell all the way to Boston at pick 22.


Player Overview

Konare’s rookie season in Boston was effectively a redshirt season: he played a single minute the entire season. However, he found himself as an important rotation player for the Eastern conference finalists, averaging 16.5 minutes and scoring nearly 10 points per game.

In the 2023 offseason, the league expanded to 32 teams and Konare was the first selection of the Hawaii Honu as they went with youth and cheaper talent. This was going to give him a chance to shine, and with the addition of Tyler Herro (SG, 81 ovr) and Markelle Fultz (PG, 83 ovr) he isn’t going to need to carry the entire load and feel that pressure.

Konare’s start has been solid so far this season, but a sprained ankle has limited him to only 9 games so far. Fortunately, the Honu have been successful even with his injury and Hawaiian fans look forward to getting him and his running mates back and healthy.

While a relatively well-rounded player that can finish at all three levels, Konare also doesn’t stand out in any areas and is somewhat unremarkable. He’s OK at hitting the three, when given an open path he can finish at the rim, and he’s serviceable on defense and as a passer. He’s shown the most promise as a finisher at the rim and good dunker, though he has just average athleticism. He has started taking steps at creating his own shots, but really struggles from the free throw line and grabbing rebounds.

NBA Stats

Season	Team	GP	GS	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TOPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	PER
2021-22	BOS	1	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
2022-23	BOS	60	0	9.3	1.4	1.2	0.7	0.0	1.1	.492	.426	.769	0.0
2023-24	HON	9	8	13.1	2.2	1.7	0.3	0.0	1.6	.441	.312	.642	8.9
Total		70	8	9.7	1.5	1.2	0.3	0.0	1.2	.482	.406	.656	N/A

[studbucket]

December 14, 2023 St. Francis vs Duquesne [Non-Conference]

St. Francis is coming off a restful 10 days break which gave them plenty of time to prepare for the nearby Duquesne Dukes. Duquesne was 4-6 on the season, but many of their losses were respectable, with games against the likes of Kentucky, Florida State, and Georgetown.

Among the Pittsburgh media, speculation is growing around what it might mean if Dinko beats Duquesne for the third straight season. The Dukes haven’t made the NCAA tournament since 1977 while coach Dragomirov has led St. Francis to the dance 4 times in 5 years. Many fans in Pittsburgh would love to see Dinko come back to his alma mater and lead them to some sort of success, which has been very hard to find.

The Red Flash are hosts and slight favorites for this game, but it should be a close matchup. Duquesne fans are excited by freshman Trevoy Stepp (PF, 77 ovr), who has been looking like their best player already. He and the country’s best-named shooting guard, Majak McGrath (72 ovr), are both averaging 10 ppg and are supported by Romas Toussaint (SF, 70 ovr) and his 11 ppg. This is a better team than last year. They aren’t great outside shooters, but they have solid size and do well finishing near the basket.

Unlike last game where the 2-3 zone was tough to break down, St. Francis started this one out red hot and was up 12-5 quickly, having made every shot. Every single starter was getting involved and the hosts looked great. However, Duquesne, normally a poor outside shooting team, had gone 3-3 from deep and quickly made the game 14-11.

With the Dukes getting a little momentum, Dinko mixed things up with a small-ball lineup: 6’7” Willis Holman at the 5, Stephane Diakite at the 4, Vern Quick at the 3, Bobby Valdez at the 2, and Tanoris Houston at point. This immediately works as the three-quarter-court-trap results in a 3-point play for Diakite. Shortly after that, the Red Flash went on an 8-0 run that involved 5 points from Vern Quick and a three from Bobby Valdez.

Stephane Diakite and Tanoris Houston celebrate after Diakite’s “and 1”.

With the game getting out of hand coach Dambrot was forced to call a timeout and figure out how to recover from the red-hot Red Flash start as his team was down 26-14. The home crowd was going crazy and it wasn’t just for the Red Flash. Both teams had combined to shoot 8-9 from three. It seemed like everything was going in and the basketball was a joy to watch.

At halftime, the game was 49-32. Duquesne was fine on offense, but the Red Flash were unstoppable and shooting 74% from the field. Vern Quick led all scorers with 13 points, meaning that the rest of St. Francis had combined for 36 points: the scoring was well-distributed. The Dukes liked to play fast, but St. Francis liked to play even faster and they were winning this matchup.

Duquesne’s 7-foot center A.W. Kavaliauskas was playing very well in the second half as the Dukes fed him the ball. The game got back to within 10 points and Dinko could feel the game slipping away from him. Glancing down the bench, Dinko saw redshirt sophomore Geary Doss sitting at the end. He hadn’t been used much since he was starting as a true freshman two years ago, but now may be the time to bring him in. Dinko chatted with him and explained what he needed the 7’3” center to do: make life hard for the Dukes’ Greek-American 7-footer and bring some energy.

Doss subbed in and gave us the full Geary Doss experience: a great running layup that was called off due to him interfering with the basket on his own shot. Coach Kostadin couldn’t help but laugh, he knew what he was getting when subbing in Doss.

Duquesne continued to play well, but Doss’s size was helping. He was grabbing rebounds, scoring a few baskets, and when he was subbed off the Red Flash were up by 15 points and Doss had scored 6.

The crowd gave him a loud cheer and the Red Flash cruised to an easy 87-64 victory. This was a great win for St. Francis and it was special for Dinko to get a third straight victory over his alma mater.

Vern Quick had 26 points and scored from everywhere: near the hoop, from the line, and from three. It was a great game from the Red Flash’s scoring leader. Overall, it was a well-rounded performance from the Red Flash that saw every player on the active roster contribute in some way. They also played smart, as evidenced by 44 points in the paint against a 2-3 zone that was meant to stop that.

Around the NCAA
Here’s a partial College Hoops Tonight from December 11. It froze while generating the highlights for Rhet Shimokawa (SG, South Dakota State), so it’s only about 80% complete.

Around the NBA

• In a big win over the Heat, Jerry Sparks (PF, 88 ovr) scored a career high 52 points as the Hornets moved to 14-7 and stayed near the top of the East. Only 15 of Sparks’ 52 points were from three, with 13 coming from the line and 24 from inside the arc.
• The Milwaukee Bucks look nigh-unstoppable and this was evident as they beat the Magic by 50 points, scoring 157. Their worst quarter of the game was a 31 point first quarter. They are currently on a 19-game winning streak.
• With big stars Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam coming to town, the Wizards decided to show off their own two stars: R.J. Barrett (SG, 84 ovr) and Goga Bitadze (C, 80 ovr) – no, it’s not a joke, at least not on this night. The two Wizards combined for 80 points on the evening as the Wizards comminated the visiting Raptors.
• After Milwaukee won by 50, the Mavericks said “hold my beer” and beat the Thunder by 60 points, 168-108. Kristaps Porzingis (C, 87 ovr) had 49 points and Luka Doncic (SG, 97 ovr) had a 33 point triple-double.
• Jimmy Butler (SF, 87 ovr) has seen his scoring drop to 11.6 ppg and Klay Thompson (SG, 84 ovr) has dropped to 16.3 ppg, but Steph Curry (PG, 96 ovr) has not let the Warriors slip at all. Despite being 35 years old, the sharpshooter is still going strong and just dropped 48 points on the West-leading Trail Blazers.
• Trevor Merchant (PG, 88 ovr) is an amazing player, but somehow the young Piston only had a single triple-double through his entire career to this point. That changed in a win over the SuperSonics as Merchant grabbed a 45, 12, and 13 for his second career triple-double.
• Markelle Fultz (PG, 83 ovr) missed 2 weeks of games and hated every moment of it. As soon as he came back he led the Honu to a big way over the Cavaliers by dropping 31 points.
• The Grizzlies were on a 5 game winning streak before Ja Morant (PG, 90 ovr) pulled a muscle in his back and missed a week. Memphis went only 1-3 in that stretch and find themselves struggling in their first season in the East.
• The Timberwolves have won 7 straight games and have vaulted from 9^th to 2^nd place in the West. The drafting of Arnold McNurlin 2 years ago seems to have finally altered the fortunes of this team. However, they must stay sharp as only 1 game separates the top 6 teams in the West.

[marshdaddy]

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

Good to see this back in the rotation. At this point, what is stopping the Dukes from actually pursuing Dinko?

[studbucket]

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

Good to see this back in the rotation. At this point, what is stopping the Dukes from actually pursuing Dinko?

A lack of ambition. Their last conference championship was 1981, their last NCAA tournament appearance was 1977, and it's even been 14 seasons since they made the NIT.

Even bad teams accidentally make the NCAA tournament once every 20 seasons. It's been almost 50 years for the Dukes - it's just an organizational rot. Norm Nixon was their star when they last made the tournament.

They do get a smidge of credit for 2 years of T.J. McConnell (before transferring to Arizona) and for producing 12 year NBA veteran Mike James. That's about it.

[marshdaddy]

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

A lack of ambition. Their last conference championship was 1981, their last NCAA tournament appearance was 1977, and it's even been 14 seasons since they made the NIT.

Even bad teams accidentally make the NCAA tournament once every 20 seasons. It's been almost 50 years for the Dukes - it's just an organizational rot. Norm Nixon was their star when they last made the tournament.

They do get a smidge of credit for 2 years of T.J. McConnell (before transferring to Arizona) and for producing 12 year NBA veteran Mike James. That's about it.

Had to look it up since the winning their conference in 1981 and making the NCAA tournament last in 1977 was weird, but they won their regular season, lost the conference title game and then got dropped by Michigan in the NIT that season. Did they make the NIT at some point in your universe, cause I didn't see anything on their basketball-reference page about them making it.

[studbucket]

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

Had to look it up since the winning their conference in 1981 and making the NCAA tournament last in 1977 was weird, but they won their regular season, lost the conference title game and then got dropped by Michigan in the NIT that season. Did they make the NIT at some point in your universe, cause I didn't see anything on their basketball-reference page about them making it.

Yeah, it was weird, but less teams made it back then as well. No NIT berths in my universe, but Wikipedia says they made it in 2009.