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

[studbucket]

Player Spotlight: Vytas Kowalczuk

As I play games, I’m going to take the time to periodically spotlight some of the fictional players in my NBA. This time I will be doing it with 24 year old shooting guard from Oklahoma City: Vytas Kowalczuk.


College Career and NBA Draft
Kowalczuk’s final season at Tennessee was on a team that was absolutely loaded with talent. He, SG Dor Pettyjohn (now of the Cavaliers) and SF Arnold McNurlin (2022 #1 overall pick to the Timberwolves) were preseason All-Americans and the Volunteers started the season ranked 8^th in the country.

Kowalczuk finished as a second team All-American, the only Tennessee player to get an award, as he had 23.6 points per game, 2.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.6 steals. However, Tennessee was disappointing on the season and only made the tournament as a 5 seed despite being predicted by some as national championship contenders.

In the first round of the tournament, the Volunteers beat TCU as Vytas and Dor Pettyjohn combined for 40 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 steals. They followed that up with a slight upset over #4 Pittsburgh, winning by 14. Unfortunately, they were knocked out by eventual runners-up #9 Villanova. In that loss Kowalczuk and Pettjohn combined for 44 points.

In the NBA draft, Kowalczuk was the 12^th ranked prospect and 3^rd ranked shooting guard behind #1 overall pick Ernesto Parkinson and teammate Dor Pettyjohn. He ended up being drafted 12^th by the Thunder, which was OKC’s second pick of the draft (the first being UNC Greensboro’s Dana Bright at #7).


Player Overview

As a rookie, Kowalczuk was a meaningful contributor on an OKC team that finished 29-53, third worst in the West. He managed to make Second Team All-Rookie and build on that in his second season by scoring nearly 15 points per game off the bench as the Thunder just barely missed the playoffs.

This year, the Thunder were expected to be better, but are sitting 10^th in the West at 23-32 while Kowalczuk has started much of the season at shooting guard. A big reason they were expected to be better was the growth of him and his young teammates. Kowalczuk made splashes by working hard on his defense all offseason and this has been noticed by many pundits. He’s shooting a career high 43.4% from three this season, but hasn’t take the step to be an elite scorer, but rather the type of player who could be the third or fourth banana on a good team.

As a player, he was compared to Danny Green and Gerald Henderson coming out of college and both are fair. He’s undersized at 6’2” but is an excellent shooter, making shots from anywhere on the court. He has some room for growth when it comes to his decision making, often settling for sub-optimal shots instead of getting the space he needs. His perimeter defense and quick hands make him a menace and he’s often placed on the other team’s best perimeter player even when giving up some size.

NBA Stats

Season	GP	GS	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TOPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	PER
2020-21	72	18	12.4	3.7	1.8	1.1	0.2	1.8	.448	.420	.855	N/A
2021-22	75	5	14.9	3.3	1.8	1.1	0.1	1.7	.490	.371	.873	17.5
2022-23	53	38	13.9	3.4	2.2	1.3	0.0	1.8	.493	.434	.884	15.0
Total	200	61	13.8	3.5	1.9	1.1	0.1	1.8	.477	.405	.869	N/A

[R1zzo23]

Re: Player Spotlight: Vytas Kowalczuk

As I play games, I’m going to take the time to periodically spotlight some of the fictional players in my NBA. This time I will be doing it with 24 year old shooting guard from Oklahoma City: Vytas Kowalczuk.


College Career and NBA Draft
Kowalczuk’s final season at Tennessee was on a team that was absolutely loaded with talent. He, SG Dor Pettyjohn (now of the Cavaliers) and SF Arnold McNurlin (2022 #1 overall pick to the Timberwolves) were preseason All-Americans and the Volunteers started the season ranked 8^th in the country.

Kowalczuk finished as a second team All-American, the only Tennessee player to get an award, as he had 23.6 points per game, 2.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.6 steals. However, Tennessee was disappointing on the season and only made the tournament as a 5 seed despite being predicted by some as national championship contenders.

In the first round of the tournament, the Volunteers beat TCU as Vytas and Dor Pettyjohn combined for 40 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 steals. They followed that up with a slight upset over #4 Pittsburgh, winning by 14. Unfortunately, they were knocked out by eventual runners-up #9 Villanova. In that loss Kowalczuk and Pettjohn combined for 44 points.

In the NBA draft, Kowalczuk was the 12^th ranked prospect and 3^rd ranked shooting guard behind #1 overall pick Ernesto Parkinson and teammate Dor Pettyjohn. He ended up being drafted 12^th by the Thunder, which was OKC’s second pick of the draft (the first being UNC Greensboro’s Dana Bright at #7).


Player Overview

As a rookie, Kowalczuk was a meaningful contributor on an OKC team that finished 29-53, third worst in the West. He managed to make Second Team All-Rookie and build on that in his second season by scoring nearly 15 points per game off the bench as the Thunder just barely missed the playoffs.

This year, the Thunder were expected to be better, but are sitting 10^th in the West at 23-32 while Kowalczuk has started much of the season at shooting guard. A big reason they were expected to be better was the growth of him and his young teammates. Kowalczuk made splashes by working hard on his defense all offseason and this has been noticed by many pundits. He’s shooting a career high 43.4% from three this season, but hasn’t take the step to be an elite scorer, but rather the type of player who could be the third or fourth banana on a good team.

As a player, he was compared to Danny Green and Gerald Henderson coming out of college and both are fair. He’s undersized at 6’2” but is an excellent shooter, making shots from anywhere on the court. He has some room for growth when it comes to his decision making, often settling for sub-optimal shots instead of getting the space he needs. His perimeter defense and quick hands make him a menace and he’s often placed on the other team’s best perimeter player even when giving up some size.

NBA Stats

Season	GP	GS	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TOPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	PER
2020-21	72	18	12.4	3.7	1.8	1.1	0.2	1.8	.448	.420	.855	N/A
2021-22	75	5	14.9	3.3	1.8	1.1	0.1	1.7	.490	.371	.873	17.5
2022-23	53	38	13.9	3.4	2.2	1.3	0.0	1.8	.493	.434	.884	15.0
Total	200	61	13.8	3.5	1.9	1.1	0.1	1.8	.477	.405	.869	N/A

Wow that was legit one of the best player spotlights I’ve ever seen! [emoji1376][emoji1376][emoji1376]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[studbucket]

Re: Player Spotlight: Vytas Kowalczuk

Wow that was legit one of the best player spotlights I’ve ever seen! [emoji1376][emoji1376][emoji1376]

Wow, thank you! Glad it was helpful. I'll try to do 3+ of them per year.

[studbucket]

February 26, 2023 St. Francis at Mount St. Mary’s [NEC]

St. Francis has played two games since we saw Dinko’s boys last and they got two huge victories, which puts them on a three game winning streak. The first was a 60-58 comeback victory over Robert Morris, led by Vern Quick’s 23 points. Then they followed up that game with a huge scoring output: 109-81 win over Quinnipiac. They had five players score in double digits, with the key players being Vern Quick with 28 points (7-9 from three), Chris Thompson with a double-double (12 points, 10 boards), and Stephane Diakite had 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Gerardo Bethel is still out for two weeks and will miss the conference tournament if they make it; and that’s definitely an “if”. Right now, the Red Flash are sitting in 7^th place on this last day of the season.

#	Team	Conf Wins	Conf Losses	%
1	Central Connecticut St	12	5	.705
2	Fairleigh Dickinson	11	6	.647
3	Long Island	10	7	.588
4	Monmouth	9	8	.529
5	Mount St. Mary’s	8	9	.470
6	Quinnipiac	8	9	.470
7	St. Francis (PA)	8	9	.470
8	Sacred Heart	8	9	.470
9	Robert Morris	8	9	.470
10	Wagner	7	11	.388
11	St. Francis (NY)	5	12	.294

The game between the Mountaineers and Red Flash is clearly huge, with the loser possibly being knocked out of the conference tournament. Quinnipiac plays last place SFNY, Robert Morris plays first place CCST, Sacred Heart plays Long Island, and Monmouth plays Fairleigh Dickinson. Based only on the standings, Quinnipiac would have 9 wins, Robert Morris would have 8, Sacred Heart would have 8, and Monmouth would have 9.

This means that the winner of the St. Francis and Mount St. Mary’s game would be in a three-way tie for 4^th place, guaranteeing they make the tournament. The loser would be in a three-way tie for 7^th place, meaning one of them would get knocked out. Robert Morris and Sacred Heart are in the worst place for tiebreakers with an overall winning percentage below .400.

The Mountaineers are led by junior center Tamsir Grady (77 ovr), who wins with quickness and his mid-range game, not with brute strength. He’s supported by Jake McCalebb (SG, 67) who is scoring 15.7 points per game. Mount St. Mary’s is an interesting team with only 1 regular that’s shorter than 6’6” but no regular taller than 6’8”. Seven of their top eight players fall in that range, which could be good or terrible for the Red Flash. They’ll need to keep their spacing and see if Floyd Akindele can take advantage of his height.

The game started with Floyd Akindele scoring two straight buckets on the break, then he got an assist on a Vern Quick three as the lead quickly grew to 7-2. Mount St. Mary’s decided to wake up and started cutting to the basket and getting good looks to keep it a game. This match had started out excited early on, as it was clear both teams really wanted to make the conference tournament.

After a few minutes, Akindele stepped off for a short break and starting PF Chris Thompson decided to take over. All of a sudden the game went from 10-8 to 20-8. Only a third of the first half had happened and the Mountaineers looked shellshocked. If this kept up, St. Francis would score 50+ in the half.

Mount St. Mary’s head coach Dan Engelstad called time and looked to regroup his players. It didn’t work as they immediately came out of the timeout, turned the ball over and Stephane Diakite threw down a dunk off the oop. The 50 St. Francis fans in the corner were going crazy.

The misery continued for the hosts as the scoreline extended to 36-16 with several minutes left in the first. The Mountaineers couldn’t get rebounds, couldn’t score inside, and couldn’t stop the St. Francis big men. Tamsir Grady was invisible, having gone 0-1 and having no impact on any part of the game. Dinko had been double-teaming him every time he touched the ball, no matter where he was on the court and the junior was not handling it well.

That twenty point lead stayed steady and the game was 46-26 at halftime. The Mountaineers stopped the bleeding but made no progress in making this a respectable game. St. Francis was shooting 71% thanks to all the easy looks they were getting on the inside. They had only take 1 three pointer, a make in the second minute from Vern Quick. Akindele and Thompson had combined for 23 points and the only player for MSM to play alright was PF Jerrold Payne, who had 10 points on 4-9 shooting.

Stephane Diakite flies about the mountaintops to finish an oop.

The Mountaineers started the second half with two straight turnovers, but recovered and started playing better. They were playing faster, attacking on the break, and getting to the charity stripe. They had knocked the lead down to 14, which would have been even closer if they didn’t keep bricking free throws.

Shortly thereafter, the hosts brought the game to within 11 points and Dinko had to call a timeout. He could not allow things to continue to fall apart this way.

The timeout seemed to work as the Red Flash came out settled, extended their lead, and held on comfortably the rest of the game.

The Red Flash were feeling it and celebrating as the game wrapped up. They had secured a place in the conference tournament.

The game finished 84-66, an 18 point win for the Red Flash and a terrible result for Mount St. Mary’s. Based on the results across the conference, this meant they finish in ninth place and would miss the post-season.

Floyd Akindele was the MVP of the game with 20 and 8, but Chris Thompson added 17 as well. Tanoris Houston and Stephane Diakite both worked hard and each had 11 points and 7 rebounds. Cassiano Djordjevic had 5 assists off the bench to lead the team.

Tamsir Grady finished the game with a magic number of 4:

• Shots taken
• Points
• Fouls
• Turnovers

Double-teaming him paid off, as that was possibly the worst game of his three year career.

Around the Conference

• Robert Morris 66 – Wagner 65. The Colonials finish at 9-9 in conference and get the 8 seed.
• Monmouth 72 – Fairleigh Dickinson 53. The win allows Monmouth to finish 3^rd in the conference.
• Sacred Heart 97 – Long Island 78. The Pioneers’ Chip Bridgewater (SG, 68 ovr) went off and scored 38 points on 10-15 shooting from three to ensure Sacred Heart made the tournament as a 7 seed.
• Quinnipiac 85 – St. Francis (NY) 80. Gene Cranford (SG, 73 ovr) dropped 27 and Nic Carroll (SF, 69 ovr) had 12 points and 14 rebounds in the overtime victory that Quinnipiac desperately needed to stay in the race.
• With Robert Morris, Quinnipiac, and Sacred Heart all winning, Mount St. Mary’s misses the conference tournament. Dinko joins his brother in knocking out a rival on the last day of the season.

Apparently the NEC is getting top billing in this week’s college hoops tonight. The St. Francis – Monmouth first round matchup got a shoutout from Greg Gumbel.

[studbucket]

2022-23 Regular Season Recap and Tourney Preview

Both brothers have snuck into their conference tournaments and are looking forward to redeeming their disappointing regular seasons by once again making a run through the conference tournament to make March Madness. At least one brother has made it every year and each coach has made it two out of his three years. However, it seems unlikely that we’ll have a repeat of last year where both brothers made the tournament.

Atlantic Sun
The only change the last weekend of games brought was swapping Mercer into the tournament and bumping Kennesaw State out. On the season, the biggest surprise was Lipscomb. They were awful last season (finishing 12^th) and were expected to be a middle-of-the-pack team this season. However, they went 22-8 on the season, are 15^th in the mid major poll, and won the tiebreaker to get the conference title. After last season’s terrible showing, Lennie Acuff was fired and coach Nate Price was hired and has made an immediate impact. Jacksonville should be somewhat disappointed that they didn’t perform as well as last season and won’t have a chance at an at-large bid, but they will be strong contenders in the conference tournament.

Team	Conf W	Conf L	Conf %	W	L	%
Lipscomb	12	4	.750	22	8	.733
Jacksonville	12	4	.750	18	11	.620
Campbell	11	5	.687	15	12	.555
SC Upstate	10	6	.625	17	12	.586
Stetson	10	6	.625	16	15	.516
Belmont	9	7	.562	14	15	.482
North Florida	7	9	.437	15	13	.535
Mercer	6	10	.375	12	18	.400
Kennesaw State	6	10	.375	8	17	.320
Florida Gulf Coast	5	11	.312	10	19	.344
East Tennessee State	5	11	.312	10	20	.333
Gardner-Webb	3	13	.187	9	18	.333

Campbell and Jacksonville are many pundits’ favorites to win the conference tournament despite Lipscomb’s great season. Oggy and Stetson will have a tough path, as any route to making the NCAA tournament again will need to involve wins over SC Upstate, Lipscomb, and Jacksonville.

Northeast Conference
For the second straight year, the top of the NEC is Central Connecticut State followed by Fairleigh Dickinson. Donyell Marshall is looking to finally win the conference tournament and see his hard work and good coaching pay off. The last day was heartbreaking for Mount St. Mary’s, who fell from 5^th to 9^th and will miss the tournament.

Team	Conf W	Conf L	Conf %	W	L	%
Central Connecticut State	12	6	.666	22	10	.687
Fairleigh Dickinson	11	7	.611	18	11	.620
Monmouth	10	8	.555	16	14	.533
Long Island	10	8	.555	14	15	.482
Quinnipiac	9	9	.500	13	14	.481
St. Francis (PA)	9	9	.500	13	17	.433
Sacred Heart	9	9	.500	12	17	.413
Robert Morris	9	9	.500	12	18	.400
Mount St. Mary’s	8	10	.444	16	14	.533
Wagner	7	11	.388	12	18	.400
St. Francis (NY)	5	13	.277	7	20	.259

Central Connecticut State (19^th in the mid major poll) are considered the clear favorites to win the tournament, with Long Island being dark horses. Of course, Dinko has shown a knack for exceeding expectations and doing well in a tournament setting, but at 13-17, this is his worst record yet and it’s been an up-and-down season. Additionally, senior Gerardo Bethel will be out for another 1-2 weeks and will not be able to play another game for the Red Flash unless they can make March Madness.

Conference Statistic Leaders
Campbell was clearly the class of the Atlantic Sun from a statistical perspective, even if they only finished third in the standings. Jacksonville led the conference in point differential for the second straight year, but their 5.8 point per game difference this year is far below last year’s 11.8. The NEC was quite different from the Atlantic Sun as the conference leaders were spread out amongst several different teams, not all of whom were good.

Category	Northeast	Atlantic Sun
Best offense (PPG)	Fairleigh Dickinson (74.7)	Campbell (82.3)
Best defense (PPG)	Monmouth (64.8)	Lipscomb (63.7)
Best differential	Central Connecticut State (5.4)	Jacksonville (5.8)
Rebounds per game	Wagner (33.7)	Campbell (36.7)
Assists per game	Mount St. Mary’s (12.7)	Campbell (13.6)

For individual leaders, we saw the return to glory of Sam Zeigler, who scored an amazing 27 points per game for Campbell, though Issa Matela’s 21.5 ppg for Quinnipiac are impressive in their own right. Also impressive was the Atlantic Sun’s leading rebounder being a small forward. Transfers Rashay O’Bannon and Daron Wagner showed up in the leaderboards in what will be their first and only season in the Atlantic Sun.

Category	Northeast	Atlantic Sun
Scoring	Issa Matela, SG, QUIN (21.5)	Sam Zeigler, SF, CAM (27.0)
Rebounds	Melvin Augustine, C, SFNY (8.4)	Brandin Prekevicius, SF, GWU (8.8)
Assists	P.J. Pjevcevic, PG, MONM (5.3)	Rashay O’Bannon, SG, JU (5.9)
Steals	Gene Cranford, SG, QUIN (1.7)	Caron Martinez, SG, CAM (1.9)
Blocks	Dallas Perry, PF, LIU (2.1)	Daron Wagner, C, STET (2.3)
FG%	Willis Holman, PF, SFPA (55.5%)	Adam Baynes, C, STET (52.1%)
3P%	Boris Parker, PF, SHU (46.8%)	Prosper Brickens, PG, BEL (43.9%)

This leaders chart showed one way in which the brothers were very similar: they love to get the ball into the paint for high percentage shots. Baynes and Holman led their conferences in field goal percentage and St. Francis had the top three players in the NEC with Taj Hailey (54.8%) and Chris Thompson (53.4%) coming in behind Holman.


Note: I will no longer be playing every tournament game for the brothers. In all post-season tournaments (for NCAA), I will play the first game, every other game thereafter, and any finals I make. So for the NEC and Atlantic Sun, I will play round 1, sim round 2, and play in the championship if I make it.

[kibaxx7]

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

I haven't seen any losses in a while, so great job, brother!

[marshdaddy]

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

Loved the player spotlight, really cool to see that and learn about that player. Excited to see who else you do it for. And a huge win to close the season for St. Francis. Based off the standings seems like that was a must-win for you guys?

How far do you think each brother can go in the tournament?

[studbucket]

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

Loved the player spotlight, really cool to see that and learn about that player. Excited to see who else you do it for. And a huge win to close the season for St. Francis. Based off the standings seems like that was a must-win for you guys?

How far do you think each brother can go in the tournament?

Yeah, it was very close to a must-win. Maybe if another team lost it would have been OK, but the way things played out it turned out needing to be a must win.


Both brothers are missing a key player: SFPA is missing starting PG Gerardo Bethel and Stetson is missing SG Lennox Evertsen. This makes it tough for them.

Honestly, I think each brother has a reasonable chance of making it out of round 1. However, both round 2 matchups are looking rough and I don't know if either, let alone both, will make it that far.


If 1 brother were to make the tourney, I'd guess Stetson, but I am worried both will miss this year.

[studbucket]

Top NBA Draft Prospects – 2023 NBA Draft

We’re two months away from the end of the NBA season and about 4 months away from the NBA draft. Many of the hopefuls will have conference and national tournaments to showcase their skills, but here’s how the rankings stack up currently.

Most scouts feel that Jameer Trammell (SF, Kansas State) is the best player in the draft, but a minority (including Draft Express) feel that Horace Wolfe (PF, Kentucky) may be better. Generally, the next group is believed to be headlined by 7’1” Raynell Ere (C, USC). So who is in the running for those players? Here’s the top 7 picks currently:

1. Suns (swap best with Kings)
2. Heat (lottery protected, otherwise to OKC)
3. Wizards
4. Trail Blazers
5. SuperSonics*
6. Honu*
7. Spurs
8. Knicks
9. Thunder (swap best with Clippers)

The Suns are currently in a fantastic place thanks to the trade last spring that swapped Ricky Rubio for Harrison Barnes and included this pick swap. This is looking disastrous for the Kings. The Heat are fortunate to have lottery protection on this pick, which will allow them to get a fantastic player and roll over that pick to next season.

*It’s likely that the 2 new expansion teams will be placed at slots #5 and 6 in this draft, but the exact order is TBD.

Point Guards

Player	Rank	School / Country	Age	Height	Weight	Season Stats
C.W. Wente	3	Michigan State	21	6’1”	188 lbs	20.0 ppg; 4.9 rpg; 5.1 apg; 1.0 spg
Roland Mayes	9	Arizona	18	5’11”	158 lbs	11.3 ppg; 2.9 rpg; 5.4 apg; 1.5 spg
Tudor Filimon	15	Romania	22	6’1”	203 lbs	23.2 ppg; 3.0 rpg; 8.5 apg; 1.5 spg
Devonne Shakur	21	USC	21	5’8”	185 lbs	13.6 ppg; 2.6 rpg; 4.3 apg; 1.5 spg
Kentrell Werch	26	Florida	20	6’4”	190 lbs	11.6 ppg; 4.3 rpg; 5.6 apg; 1.4 spg

Shooting Guards

Player	Rank	School / Country	Age	Height	Weight	Season Stats
Jerald McLaren	5	Duke	20	6’1”	195 lbs	14.9 ppg; 3.4 rpg; 3.2 apg; 1.1 spg
Malcolm Nahra	6	UCLA	21	6’3”	193 lbs	15.9 ppg; 3.0 rpg; 2.9 apg; 1.6 spg
Artie Tyler	13	Australia	23	6’4”	209 lbs	23.8 ppg; 4.8 rpg; 5.0 apg; 2.1 spg
Matthew Carroll	19	Alabama	22	6’3”	186 lbs	16.5 ppg; 3.8 rpg; 3.5 apg; 1.2 spg
Sheldon Newman	20	Duke	19	6’3”	194 lbs	7.6 ppg; 2.2 rpg; 2.3 apg; 1.2 spg

Small Forwards

Player	Rank	School / Country	Age	Height	Weight	Season Stats
Jameer Trammell	2	Kansas State	21	6’6”	234 lbs	18.6 ppg; 5.4 rpg; 0.9 apg; 0.9 spg
Ndudi Colter	10	Oklahoma State	23	6’6”	204 lbs	15.9 ppg; 5.1 rpg; 1.6 apg; 1.5 spg
Troy Jameson	14	Duke	21	6’6”	248 lbs	11.5 ppg; 5.8 rpg; 1.4 apg; 0.8 spg
Shawan Guzman	16	Arizona	19	6’8”	215 lbs	16.8 ppg; 7.6 rpg; 1.4 apg; 0.9 spg
Enrique Rivera	23	Argentina	20	6’7”	203 lbs	22.0 ppg; 5.2 rpg; 3.9 apg; 1.2 spg

Power Forwards

Player	Rank	School / Country	Age	Height	Weight	Season Stats
Horace Wolfe	1	Kentucky	22	6’10”	247 lbs	16.8 ppg; 8.3 rpg; 0.4 apg; 1.5 bpg
David Bruff	7	Duke	20	6’10”	252 lbs	13.5 ppg; 5.8 rpg; 1.2 apg; 2.3 bpg
Roy Grady	12	Texas	22	6’8”	268 lbs	18.9 ppg; 8.6 rpg; 0.4 apg; 1.2 bpg
Keston Mendoza	18	Stanford	18	6’8”	205 lbs	13.4 ppg; 5.8 rpg; 1.1 apg; 2.3 bpg
Jave Ibikunle	24	Florida	21	6’10”	219 lbs	17.9 ppg; 5.1 rpg; 0.8 apg; 0.4 bpg

Centers

Player	Rank	School / Country	Age	Height	Weight	Season Stats
Raynell Ere	4	USC	22	7’1”	249 lbs	24.6 ppg; 7.9 rpg; 0.4 apg; 2.9 bpg
Delvon Archie	8	Texas A&M	20	7’0”	271 lbs	23.6 ppg; 7.8 rpg; 0.1 apg; 2.7 bpg
Lamar Olson	11	Ohio State	22	7’0”	281 lbs	22.8 ppg; 5.9 rpg; 1.2 apg; 1.4 bpg
Stephan Maclies	17	NC State	21	6’9”	272 lbs	22.6 ppg; 7.7 rpg; 0.2 apg; 1.3 bpg
Lou Park	28	Kansas	22	6’11”	261 lbs	16.3 ppg; 4.7 rpg; 0.2 apg; 0.4 bpg

[studbucket]

Power Conference Updates

As we head into the last week of play and have conference tournaments kicking off, let’s take a look at where the major conferences stand and who is likely to make it into the NCAA tournament.

Conference Standings
ACC: The #2 Duke Blue Devils are 2.5 games ahead of the 2^nd place (and unranked) UNC Tar Heels. The #7 Maryland Terrapins are only 8-6 and 5^th place in the conference.

Big East: The Big East is strong as usual, but there’s a big surprise near the top. In first place is #9 Syracuse, but just half a game back are the unranked Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Just behind them are #18 Pittsburgh and #13 Cincinnati. In second-to-last place in the conference are the UConn Huskies. Perhaps that upset loss to Dinko in last year’s tournament was a harbinger of things to come.

Big 10: The top of the Big 10 may be the strongest in the nation, as they have 5 of the top 11 teams. #4 Iowa is in first place, with #10 Illinois just behind them. #6 MSU, #11 Wisconsin, and #5 OSU are the remaining teams with winning records in conference play. No other teams are ranked.

Big 12: #12 Kansas State and top prospect Jameer Trammell lead the conference, with #14 Kansas and $15 Iowa state fighting for second.

Pac 10: #3 Oregon finds themselves in second place as it seems that #8 Washington has likely locked up the conference. It's surprising to see #20 Arizona still ranked as they are 7-9 in the conference (17-11 overall) and in 7^th place.

SEC: #1 Florida owns this conference. They are 14-0 in the conference, the only ranked team, and should expect to roll through the postseason as well.


Top 25
Here are the top 25 teams in the country the week before the big conference tournaments kick off. The country’s two most talented teams find themselves at the top, though it’s shocking to see Duke’s 5 losses. Surprise contenders Oregon and Iowa are in the top 4 and look like they are for real. Only three teams in the country are undefeated in their last 10 and one of them is now ranked 25^th: the Creighton Blue Jays.

Projected Bracket and Bubble Watch
With over a week until selection Sunday, here’s the projected bracket.

Here are the teams on the bubble, with several talented teams that are underperforming such as UCLA and Miami showing up here.

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March 2, 2023 Stetson vs SC Upstate [Atlantic Sun Tournament]

Small conference tournaments have a way of being weird, but Oggy does not like how the Atlantic Sun is weird: the entire thing takes place over 3 days on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday over a week before selection Sunday. Why shove it all into three days? Why the weeklong break before postseason tourneys? He didn’t have the answer but he did have a matchup with SC Upstate, and at least it was at a neutral facility: Lipscomb’s Allen Arena in Nashville.

The Hatters were 2-0 against the Spartans this season with a 78-74 win on the road and a 91-72 at home. Brendon Pocius had 26 points in the first matchup and Lennox Evertsen scored 37 in the second, showing that SC Upstate is vulnerable to talented wing players.

The Spartans are 4-3 in the month of February, including a win over conference leaders Lipscomb last week. They are led by junior Caron Monserez (SG, 72 ovr), senior Carl Blackshear (PG, 68 ovr), and senior Dawud Blalock (SF, 68 ovr). They will be missing starting power forward Kory Cortez (PF, 68 ovr) who is out for the rest of the conference tournament with a separated shoulder. Blackshear is the #1 threat for Oggy to worry about, as he’s their best scorer, three point shooter, and playmaker.

The Hatters have a clear height advantage and with Evertsen out another three weeks they will need to heavily rely on that in this game. This could be the very last game for Daron Wagner and Adam Baynes, so Oggy hopes that the seniors show up motivated and ready to dominate.

Oggy decided to place Marko Neville exclusively on Blackshear, hoping to use his quick hands, quick feet, and sound defense to pressure him all game long. He also has a help defender waiting anytime Blackshear enters the lane. He hoped that by forcing the rest of the team to beat the Hatters, Stetson could advance to the next round.

Stetson started the game off with two dunks in the first 10 seconds and then added a few offensive rebounds, steals, and layups to bring the lead to 10-4. If Stetson was going to score a lot, it was going to need to continue to be in that way as the Spartans ran a 2-3 zone, sitting back and packing the paint.

However, that didn’t continue. Stetson let their foot off the gas and SC Upstate started grabbing easy offensive rebounds and getting back in the game. Oggy was not happy and called a timeout to regroup his team.

Coach Ognyan was not pleased with the effort he saw from his team.

The timeout seemed to work and the Hatters built up a 21-15 lead and had the momentum, causing SC Upstate to call timeout. It had been a fast-paced game so far and quite clean. Only three total turnovers and fouls between both teams so far. Blackshear had 4 assists but hadn’t scored yet. Caron Monserez was the main beneficiary of this as the guard had 9 points. Oggy made a quick adjustment, tell the Hatters to pick him up as soon as he crossed halfcourt, not giving him any space to shoot. He didn’t believe the rest of the team would be able to put up the points to beat them.

At halftime the score was 31-26 in favor of the Hatters. Their best, and sometimes only, offense had come from the pick and roll between Neville and Wagner. Nothing else was working well as they were shooting less than 50%. Monserez hadn’t scored again and had 9 points while Daron Wagner had 10 points for Stetson.

The Hatters came out with 1 thing in mind: to run the pick and roll until the Spartans could stop it. It worked. Even when they weren’t running the pick and roll, Neville was in the zone and dropping dimes, leading the way to a 44-33 lead.

Neville was in a zone, dropping dime after dime

However, the Spartans showed grit and resolve and worked their way back into the game, cutting the lead to 3 points with 4 minutes left. The game stayed close until Daron Wagner grabbed a key offensive rebound, put it back, and gave the Hatters a 5 point lead. Shortly after that he tipped in the ball off of a missed free throw and gave the Hatters an insurmountable lead: 8 points with just 15 seconds left.

The game finished 65-56 and the Hatters were onto the second round to face Mercer who had defeated top-ranked Lipscomb in the first round. What a major break for Oggy.

Daron Wagner had a monster second half and finished with 29 points and 8 boards. Marko Neville had 9 assists, and Brendon Pocius added 9 rebounds.

Carl Blackshear was held to 9 points this game, though he did have 7 assists. Limiting him was a big part of the victory, forcing others to step up. PF Maynard Elliot had 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Spartans.

Around the Atlantic Sun

• Mercer 81 – Lipscomb 77. The 8-seeded Bears shocked the Lipscomb Bison as they led much of the game before getting a four point victory. Cheyne Knox (PG, 66 ovr) played 34 minutes and scored 26 points, had 5 rebounds, and 7 assists for Mercer. This is great news for Stetson, who now get a matchup with Mercer instead of Lipscomb.
• Campbell 72 – Belmont 68. The Bruins scored 41 first half points and had a 12 point lead, but blew it by only scoring 21 points in the second half and then falling in overtime. E.J. Acker (PF, 64 ovr) had 18 rebounds for the Camels and Ulrich Stivers (PF, 76 ovr) had 24 points, 13 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 3 steals in the loss.
• Jacksonville 70 – North Florida 55. It was an easy win for the Dolphins, who led the game wire-to-wire.

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

Those GIFs!!!

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

Those GIFs!!!

I rather enjoy them myself, lol.

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The Inside Scoop – 2023 Post-Trade Deadline Edition

The Inside Scoop is based on TheDominator273's awesome spreadsheet to add random events to your MyLeague.

Marquese Chriss will miss 25 games for violating league drug policy
The Kings’ center is just 25 years old and has some promise (78 ovr), but things seem to have gone downhill after he was part of the Wiggins and Bagley trade from the Pistons last year. This has culminated with his suspension, opening the door for rookie Reid Ziri (C, 76 ovr) to get more playing time and perhaps render Chriss unnecessary in the future.

Chriss was already out with a dislocated patella, and it appears that his injury contributed to a narcotics addiction that will cause him to most, if not all, of the rest of the season.

George Hill is an old, old man
George Hill has had a good career, but that long career seems to be catching up to him as it’s been reported out of San Antonio that he is coming into and out of every practice and game with ice packs, braces, and wraps. The 36 (nearly 37) year old is privately concerned with how his body is holding up and this may be the final season for the 2008 draft pick out of IUPUI.

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March 3, 2023 St. Francis vs Monmouth [NEC Tournament]

Dinko wasn’t supposed to, but he couldn’t help but look at the scores around the conference. Fairleigh Dickinson had won their game, as was expected, so the Red Flash would have a tough round two matchup against the second seed…but first they needed to make it there.

The NEC tournament was spread over a very reasonable 7 days, but for some insane reason the lower seed got home court in the games. Dinko did not understand it, but it benefits his team this tournament so he just appreciated it for now.

Monmouth was a solid team and had a better season than the Red Flash. With that acknowledged, they were just 1 game better in the conference standings and the two teams had split the season series. The first game was an easy 20 point win at home for the Red Flash, while the second was a 2 point win for the Hawks.

Dinko will need to slow down their center, 7’2” Jay Challed (67 ovr) and their point guard, P.J. Pjevcevic (67 ovr) to win this game. Fortunately, only Pjevcevic is a good shooter, so hopefully the Red Flash can afford to sag off others and play good help defense against him.

This had been Dinko’s worst season as St. Francis coach and he was hoping that a good run in the conference tournament could redeem this frustrating season.

Vern Quick drained a three to kick off the game and then St. Francis didn’t score again for four minutes. They were committing a lot of fouls and missing easy shots and were fortunate to only be down 12-5 and knew they could get back into the game.

They eventually brought the game to 4 points and then got sloppy letting the lead extend to 10: 26-16. Dinko called his second timeout and tried to get his team to play smarter and with more composure. They came out crashing the boards and aggressively double teaming. This worked, briefly. The Hawks adjusted and pulled ahead by 12. However, at half the lead was cut down to 31-26.

A 5 point deficit was not bad at all for how terribly the Red Flash had been playing. Monmouth was 11-17 from the free throw line while the hosts were 0-4. The Hawks kept driving into the lane and putting pressure on St. Francis and the Red Flash would need to reciprocate if they want to get back into the game.

The way the second half started it looked like there would be no way that St. Francis would get back into it. They were down by 15, 45-30, and Monmouth had been making great passes and getting easy baskets the entire half. Dinko was starting to get a sinking pit in his stomach. Maybe this would just wasn’t his year.

However, the Red Flash decided to turn things around. They went on a 10-2 run to make the game 47-40, spurred by 2 threes from Vern Quick. The Hawks then turned the ball over and St. Francis got another bucket. It was now a 5 point game and St. Francis was starting to get some hope.

However, they did have some concerns. Both Vern Quick and Floyd Akindele had four fouls and the Red Flash were playing far too physically. However, both players still had a role to play in this game, including Akindele’s up-and-under followed by a Tanoris Houston layup that brought the game to within 3 points with 5:30 left.

A Willis Holman and Chris Thompson unorthodox pick-and-roll brought the game to 51-50 and Monmouth called time as the crowd went crazy. St. Francis has gone on a 20-6 run and it’s anyone’s game.

A Thompson dunk and-one tied the game at 53, but then Floyd Akindele fouled out. With just two and a half minutes left, the game was tied at 55. With a minute left, the Hawks had a 3 point lead, 60-57. This was when St. Francis decided to get heroic.

Vern Quick caught a pass on the wing, pump faked and got his defender in the air. A quick sidestep to the left and a nothing-but-net three later and the game was tied. What a clutch shot from the sophomore, who now had 21 points.

Thirty seconds later the game was tied at 62 and Monmouth had the ball on the sideline to inbound it with 36 seconds left. Their inbound pass was tipped, deflected off of the inbounder and went out of bounds. This meant that with just a half second difference between the shot and game clocks, the Red Flash could ensure they took the last shot of the game.

They inbounded the ball and immediately stood 40 feet from the basket, wasting time. With 10 seconds left, Houston dribbled right and then passed the ball to Stephane Diakite, who was in the short wing area. He caught the ball with 6 seconds left and turned his back to the basket. He began backing in, got to the edge of the paint and spun toward the baseline, faking the shot with his right hand. He then stepped through and flipped the ball up with his left hand, swishing it. With only 1.5 seconds left in the game, the Hawks were forced the chuck the ball the length of the court and easily missed.

Three very important shots to help the Red Flash get the win.

The bench, the fans, and Dinko went nuts. It was pure, unadulterated chaos as popcorn flew, people screamed, and students rushed the floor. It was almost three years to the day from when Robert Morris knocked out the Red Flash on a last-second shot and Dinko was glad to pay it forward to Monmouth.

Later that night, Dinko would reflect that even if the season ended after this game, this memory would make it a “good season”. It’s a team full of freshman and sophomores – to show this level of resilience is a very good sign, especially without senior guard Gerardo Bethel.

For now, it’s a bit of celebration, then onto Fairleigh Dickinson in the semifinals.

The Red Flash were a miserable 1/5 from the free throw line, while Monmouth was 18/28. St. Francis will need to be far more aggressive on the offensive end and controlled on the defensive end. The Red Flash were also poor at grabbing rebounds.

Vern Quick led the way with 21 points and Chris Thompson added 15 for St. Francis.

Rick Falu had 15 points, P.J. Pjevcevic had 13 points and 9 assists, Jay Challed had 14 points, and Jacoby Benjamin had 8 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks.

Around the Northeast Conference

• Fairleigh Dickinson 94 – Sacred Heart 85. Kevin Duggins (SG, 67 ovr) scored 27 points as FDU managed a relatively comfortable win over the frisky Pioneers.
• Central Connecticut State 83 – Robert Morris 63. Robert Morris isn’t good, and that was clear as they were down 21 at halftime. Tommy Victor (SG, 71 ovr) has his career continue for at least 1 more game as he scored 24 points, dishes out 6 assists, and grabs 5 rebounds in the win.
• Quinnipiac 78 – Long Island 67. Quinnipiac jumped out to a big first half lead and held on for the win thanks to Issa Matela (PG, 67 ovr) and Gene Cranford (SG, 73 ovr).