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

[studbucket]

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

I hope this is still alive!

It is. I have to do the highlights from the last game and grab a few pieces of historical data from NBA 2K16.

Admittedly, I've been having a lot of fun with EA College Football 25.

[JoshNormanMane]

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

I glance through the Football Dynasty threads but I watch a lot of CFB25 on YT, it'd be interesting to see you start a dynasty with your level of storytelling. Heck maybe the Bulgarian Brothers has a cousin in the college football coaching ranks for all we know lol.

[studbucket]

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

I glance through the Football Dynasty threads but I watch a lot of CFB25 on YT, it'd be interesting to see you start a dynasty with your level of storytelling. Heck maybe the Bulgarian Brothers has a cousin in the college football coaching ranks for all we know lol.

I don't think I have the energy to storytell another dynasty, but I am sharing my progress on the CHoops 2K8 Discord (we have a channel for CF25). I did 2 seasons at Buffalo, then got hired at Arizona. I am wrapping up my second season there.

My conferences are entirely geographic. No states split. So the MAC is all schools from NE, MO, IA, MN, WI, IL, and IN. The Sun Belt is Florida + Louisiana. Big 10 is Ohio + Michigan, etc.

Here's a 21 point comeback win vs Pitt:



And here's some plays from my season 3 bowl win vs Virginia Tech. Special teams won me the first half:


And defense won me the second:

[studbucket]

January 31, 2025 St. Francis at Mount St. Mary’s [NEC]

Dinko finds himself in a position he didn’t expect to be in: second in the Northeast Conference. Not that it’s especially bad – his team is doing quite well. However with a 79-71 loss to Fairleigh Dickinson and Long Island continuing their hot streak, the Red Flash are a half game back of the Blackbirds in the NEC.

After that loss, St. Francis rebounded in a big way beating “Fake Francis” 87-45 that saw 4 starters score in double digits, including a Floyd Akindele 13 and 12 double-double. This brings them to a matchup with Mount St. Mary’s. The Mountaineers are 4-5 in conference and sitting mid-table. The game shouldn’t be too close, with their previous matchup being a 30 point blowout win for the Red Flash. Head coach Dan Engelstad has done an awful job building this roster and there’s no help for the talented sophomore big man Louis Krymski (C, 76) outside of the injured Terrence Downey (PF, 73 ovr) who cannot play due to an achilles strain.

Meta: only Louis Krymski is above 56 overall for their starters, with the other 4 being between 54-56 overall.

This was a game that made Dinko question if his team is focused or not. They were dominant last year and are a better team on paper this year, but too often they are letting bad teams hang around. They got bit last week against FDU and they should have been punished again today.

To start, they found themselves down 12-15 early on, as they were completely unable to stop this Mountaineers team. And then even when they slowed them down, they seemed to make it their job to miss easy shots. At one point during a first half timeout, Dinko uncharacteristically raised his voice and yelled “nobody on that team but gosh darn Krymski would even sniff our rotations, but you all act like we’re playing UConn. Wake up and play like we know you can!”

Nothing really seemed to work. Bobby Valdez provided a spark off the bench with 11 first half points and got St. Francis up for a bit, but they went into halftime down 28-32. It was a miserable halftime locker room. The two teams were very statistically even, but Chris Thompson, Floyd Akindele, and the bench bigs could do nothing to slow down the Mountaineers’ 7 footers. As a big man himself and a defensively-minded player, Dinko couldn’t believe the lack of focus and effort he was seeing.

After Mount St. Mary’s hit a three to extend their lead to 7 points, Dinko immediately changed things up. First, he decided to hard double any seven-footer who touches the ball. Second, he instructed his team to attack the basket more: stop trying to get post moves and instead use your speed to get layups and fouls. The Red Flash were 12-23 from the paint at that point and 4-9 from the free throw line, so Dinko was desperate to do anything to get them back in the game.

Initially, it looked bad. The Red Flash were down 41-51 and Dinko started to let his mind wander to the next game. Was he going to need to mix up his rotations? Maybe Valdez and McGuire should start and Quick and Akindele should move to the bench, putting Thompson at the 5?

But he was snapped out of his daydream by none other than quiet, hard-working, unsung hero Stephane Diakite. The doubling of bigs and Diakite attacking the basket over and over again was working. Stephane was too strong for guards and too quick for bigs and found himself getting layups and drawing fouls. The score was 48-51 and the home crowd had some nervous murmuring.

A few minutes later it was 54-54 and Krymski had 4 fouls and Dieng had three. The Red Flash were in the bonus and then somehow Bird (who isn’t a shooter) drained a three but Quick finally made a shot, answering the call and tying it at 57.

Shortly after that Diakite was able to get Krymski to foul out and St. Francis was up 63-61 with 2 minutes left and 65-63 with 1 left. They forced a bad pass, got the ball, but Diakite missed the layup on his drive and the Mountaineers had the ball for the last shot.

And what did they do? Make an inside pass to the shortest player on the floor who manages to get a seal on 6’8” Vern Quick and make the inside bucket. How in the world did this happen? What world is Dinko living in?

The game goes to overtime and after each team trades 3s, St. Francis scores 8 straight points and Valdez scores a dagger three to go up by 11 and seal the game.

St. Francis got the win, they survive, but Dinko isn’t feeling great about the game or this team’s chances to make a postseason run.

Stephane Diakite was the difference-maker down the stretch, scoring buckets, getting to the line, and getting the bigs to foul out. Bobby Valdez’s 4-6 shooting from three was also huge.

The team was 7-14 from three and perhaps should have taken more, but when Vern Quick isn’t feeling it the team tends to shy away. They were also only 11-20 from the free throw line, which looks like it could be a problem if not turned around as the season goes on.

Around the NCAA

• Oggy and the Lions had 2 games:
  • Oggy’s 100^th win 88-72 over San Diego. Immanuel Kharimanovic had 22 points. Herbert Nashif had 12 and 17.
  • They then lost to Portland 61-70. Herbert Nashif had 10 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 steals.
  
  
• #13 Notre Dame defeated #1 UConn 87-81. Notre Dame was led by Rodney Bowers (PF, 84 ovr) with 19p, 8r, 3s, 3b. Ed Warden (PF, 87 ovr) had 27 in loss for the Huskies.
• Unranked Cincinnati goes into UConn and wins 83-82 in thriller, seeing the top ranked team drop another game. 4 starters had 15+ points, including Kirby Weisse (PG, 75 ovr) with 16 points and 8 assists.
• #2 Louisville destroys #9 Marquette 83-58. Jermaine Faulk (SG, 89 ovr) and Paris Lalugba (PG, 87 ovr) both scored 16 points in the win.
• Georgia Tech beat #7 Duke 85-62. Dominic Guy (PG, 84 ovr) with 16 points off bench to lead all scorers. Derek Matera (SG, 89 ovr) and Jimmy Tran (SF, 90 ovr) average a combined 32 ppg and GT held them to 18 on 7-21 shooting.

[JoshNormanMane]

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

Good on the Flash to squeak out the win but that's not a locker room I'd want to walk into after the game lol. I'd have to think it's a little encouraging to see guys outside the Big 3 step up. Hopefully the wake-up call aids in the ascension in the Northeast.

[studbucket]

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

Good on the Flash to squeak out the win but that's not a locker room I'd want to walk into after the game lol. I'd have to think it's a little encouraging to see guys outside the Big 3 step up. Hopefully the wake-up call aids in the ascension in the Northeast.

Yeah, it was not a fun game for the Red Flash. Quick has been bad all season, which is crazy. I thought he'd be scoring 20+ per game his senior year. Was great to see Diakite step up, and maybe he and Willingham can contribute more offensively down the stretch.

[studbucket]

2025 NBA All-Star Teams

For the 2025 NBA All-Star game we had team captains Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic. While many of the names in the game are expected, there are at least a few players that can reasonably be upset to not make the game:

1. Darius Garland, PG, Cleveland – the 25 year old point guard is leading the Cavaliers to the top of the East and averaging 24 points and 8 assists per game. While his stats aren’t gaudy or league-leading, the best player on one of the best teams in the East should be recognized.
2. Tyler Herro/Markelle Fultz, PG/SG, Hawaii – Herro is scoring nearly 28 points per game and Fultz is scoring 24 and adding 8 assists as well. The Honu are 4^th in the West and maybe these players split their fans’ votes.
3. Zach LaVine, SF, Brooklyn – LaVine’s teammate Kyrie Irving made the team, but LaVine is scoring 3 more points per game on a lower usage rate. Some assert he’s been their team’s most important player, but that’s up for debate.

Note: Trevor Merchant (3 ASGs), Zion Williamson (4 ASGs), and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (no ASGs) are all injured and unable to participate in the All-Star game. Otherwise, they would have been selections. In their places, R.J. Barrett, Jerry Sparks, and Kawhi Leonard make the game.

[BlindSideNZ]

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

Ey, so great to see this back.

Woah, that St Mary’s team is awful. At least as far as OVR goes.

21 all star games by Lebron is really quite an incredible feat. Kudos to him.

[studbucket]

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

Ey, so great to see this back.

Woah, that St Mary’s team is awful. At least as far as OVR goes.

21 all star games by Lebron is really quite an incredible feat. Kudos to him.

Yeah, St. Mary's is soooo bad. Which makes it extra terrible that they took St. Francis to overtime.

LeBron is amazing, and I am not sure he deserved an ASG last season, but he's bounced back a bit this year and it's tough to argue against him. It's pretty crazy Shai doesn't have an ASG and missed out on it this year due to injury.

[studbucket]

February 4, 2025 San Francisco at Loyola Marymount [WCC]

The Lions of Loyola Marymount are 8-11 overall but at 3-3 in the WCC they find themselves in 4^th place. It hasn’t been a great season, but if they can finish the year in 4^th Oggy would be thrilled. However, just 6 games into conference play, there’s a long way to go…and it might feel even longer after today.

The Lions welcome star-studded San Francisco to town. The Dons are 18-4 overall and somehow 4-2 in conference play but are a deadly team. They were previously ranked, but have dropped two straight (by 2 to Santa Clara, by 10 to San Diego), and will be hungry to get back on the winning track. They are led by a quarter of professional-caliber players in Jalon Jeanpierre (PG, 82 ovr), Alan Meyer (SG, 82 ovr), Joshua Berrelleca (SF, 81 ovr), and Jabahri Tobias (PF, 80 ovr). Berrelleca may be the most talented of the whole group, but is somehow averaging just 7.6 ppg despite being 6’11”.

Meyer, Tobias, and Jeanpierre combine for 41 points, 15 rebounds, 10 assists per game and the other 6 players in the rotation easily fill in the rest of the box score. Oggy has to be hoping that this is an off game for the Dons and that his team can keep it close enough that they can squeak out a win at the end.

The first minute was a promising start for the Lions as San Francisco had 2 turnovers in 2 possessions and the home team was able to take a 2-0 lead. However, before Oggy could react his team was down 8-2 and he needed to call a timeout. He couldn’t let this game get away from his team. The Lions were getting good looks but couldn’t make a shot: they were 1-8 from the field.

Skip Salow was part of the problem, missing several open threes, but he adjusted and started driving to the hoop. Soon a 14-6 deficit turned into a 20-14 score thanks to him and Immanuel Kahrimanovic finally stepping up and hitting 2 threes. The Lions weren’t playing bad defense, but just needed to score. Kahrimanovic hit his 3^rd straight three and gives the Lions some hope, but a small run before half gives the Dons a 38-29 lead.

It’s not been a terrible half from LMU and Kahrimanovic is easily having his best scoring game of the year with 5 threes in the first half. However, San Francisco is shooting 65% from the field and Loyola Marymount is shooting 34%, which is making all the difference in the game. Herbert Nashif has 10 points, while Tobias has 12 and Berreleca has 9 points and 6 boards for the Dons.

The second half starts off with Skip Salow sneaking to the corner against San Francisco’s 2-3 zone and nailing a three. After a Dons turnover and Kahrimanovic with a three, it’s a 3 point game! After a few more minutes and a Salow three and Nashif pick-and-roll layup, LMU took the 49-48 lead.

The home crowd was going crazy, cheering for the Lions and chanting “O-VER-RA-TED” at the Dons. The Lions were up 58-54, but a few turnovers meant San Francisco was able to tie it up.

With 2:30 left the hosts found themselves up by 3 points thanks to some sloppy play by the Dons, who just committed two turnovers in a row and then fouled twice. However, their talent could not be overlooked and they were going to make this a tight game. After the Dons scored a bucket to make it 69-68 with 2 minutes left, Reid Christensen threw down a huge dunk to ignite the crowd.

Christensen’s dunk gives the Lions a 1 point lead late in the game.

Loyola Marymount was up 72-71 with a minute left, and we’re going to provide a possession-by-possession recap of how the game ended.

1. Jalon Jeanpierre drove to the hoop and was fouled by Nashif. He made the first shot and missed the second, so the game is tied at 72.
2. With 42 seconds left, Skip Salow hits Nashif on a pick-and-roll for a layup. 74-72 LMU.
3. Berrelleca nails a long two. Tied at 74-74 with 24 seconds left.
4. The Lions quickly score a layup and there are 19 seconds left for San Francisco to get the last shot. 76-74 LMU.
5. San Francisco misses their shot, LMU gets the rebound and are sent to the line with less than a second left.
6. Immanuel Kahrimanovic makes both free throws. 78-74 LMU.

Oggy has had a number of thrilling and signature wins. In 2021 Northern Colorado won on a dunk as the game expired. 2 years later he won a thriller over FGCU in double overtime. And there was the regular-season-title-clinching-last-second-bucket over Campbell.

As good as those were, this is likely Oggy’s signature win. He took an underwhelming roster and beat a top that was ranked 25 at points during this season and has at least 1 future NBA player on the roster and managed to defeat them. He’ll relish this one for the rest of the season.

Herbert Nashif led all scorers with 24 points, while Kahrimanovic and Salow both had 20 points. Salow went 7-7 from the free throw line as the Lions managed to shoot 100% as a team from the charity stripe.

San Francisco was only 1-5 from three and probably should have shot more from deep.

Around the NCAA

• St. Francis had 1 game this week and defeated Robert Morris 79-48. 4 of 5 starters scored double digits, including Chris Thompson’s 15 and 9 rebounds.
• #1 UConn has lost 3 straight games to Cincinnati, South Florida, and Florida State. This drops them in the rankings down to #3, though they should arguably be quite a bit lower.
• #6 UCLA beat #4 Cal 82-73. They followed that up with a 102-72 win over #9 Washington.

Here’s a two-fer with college hoops tonight, February 3 and February 10’s videos:

[JoshNormanMane]

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

Good win for the Lions. I like the 2-man game between Nashif and Kahrimanovic in the video, I'm going to show that to my kids one day and tell them that was Jokic and Jamal Murray lol.

Good to see St Francis get a blowout victory as well.

[studbucket]

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

Good win for the Lions. I like the 2-man game between Nashif and Kahrimanovic in the video, I'm going to show that to my kids one day and tell them that was Jokic and Jamal Murray lol.

Good to see St Francis get a blowout victory as well.

Yeah, Kahrimanovic finally played well! I was so excited to use him before the season because of great ratings, but the reality has been quite disappointing.

I hope he can have a few more of those performances.

[studbucket]

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

I'm working on the league-wide update and some All-Star Weekend recaps, so enjoy this awesome Bobby Drake dunk for the Sonics while you wait.

[BlindSideNZ]

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

Overrated?! Hah, what a chant. Confidence oozing all through the building.

Looking forward to the incoming update. If that dunk is anything to go by we’ll be in for a treat!

[studbucket]

2024-25 February NBA Update

We’re 2 weeks from the All-Star break and we’re going to check in and see what’s happening around the league. The trade deadline is just a week away and we’ll likely see some moves as teams.

Injuries are the real villain of this season
It’s been an NBA season full of interesting storylines and breakout stars, but many are wondering what it could be if there weren’t so many injuries to key players and stars across the league.

Before the season even kicked off, #2 overall pick Angelo Braswell (PF, 75 ovr) was knocked out for the season. Then after an amazing opening month from SGA (PG, 87 ovr), he was knocked out for several months and the Miami Heat were sent into a tailspin. Both of those injuries were complemented by injuries to Nikola Jokic (C, 94 ovr), Dallas’s Andre Drummond (C, 87 ovr), and Brooklyn’s T.J. Warren (PF, 83 ovr) early in the season as well.

While those 3 are back now, we’ve got a whole slew of stars who are out:

1. Zion Williamson (PF, 92 ovr), Pelicans
2. Trevor Merchant (PG, 90 ovr), Pistons
3. Kevin Durant (PF, 87 ovr), Thunder
4. Domantas Sabonis (C, 85 ovr), Kings
5. De’Andre Hunter (SF, 85 ovr), Lakers
6. Khris Middleton (SF, 84 ovr), Bucks
7. Jaylen Brown (SG, 83 ovr), Knicks
8. Taquan St. Fort (C, 82 ovr), Cavs
9. Horace Wolfe (PF, 81 ovr), Spurs
10. Bobby Drake (SF, 79 ovr), Sonics

Here’s to hoping they recover soon and we can have an exciting playoff race to finish the season.


Trevor Merchant is having a career year
Somehow Trevor Merchant just keeps getting better. While the nitpickers could tell you his rebounds are slightly down, everyone else can see how well he’s doing even though he’s now sharing the scoring load with Kawhi Leonard. Merchant has missed the last 2 weeks with an injury, but prior to that he was on fire. He had 7 double-doubles and 2 triple-doubles in January and he’s got a career high in:

• Points (29.0)
• Assists (8.2) – that’s 3 assists per game better than last season
• FG % (56.6%) – 7% better than last year
• 3P% (44.9%) – 7% better than last year
• FT% (86.2%)
• Triple-Doubles (4) – previously had 2 for his entire career

The Pistons’ star PG is truly a gem in this league and fans hope they can tread water and remain 6^th or even better until he gets back.

The big January trades have been hit-or-miss
Back in early January a number of big trades were made. Of the teams involved, The Hawks, Heat, Lakers, and Pistons were hoping the trades could turn their fortunes around and help them be true contenders this year. So far the success rate has been 50%.

Winner: Detroit Pistons
The Pistons made this trade before they lost Trevor Merchant for a chunk of time, but it’s really good that they did. Detroit looked like they were on track to waste an amazing Merchant season with another just pretty good season. The Piston’s front office decided to take action knowing that their starting 5 of Merchant, Huerter, Wiggins, Gosley, and Bagley III wasn’t enough to get them to be real contenders.

They brought in Kawhi Leonard and have gone 13-5 since his arrival, improving from 18-17 to 31-22 and going from the edge of the postseason to just a few games out of the top 4. It’s looking even smarter now that Merchant is injured and it seems like Kawhi and the supporting cast are able to keep this team competitive until their star PG returns.

Winner: Los Angeles Lakers
When the trade went down, the Lakers were just 11-21 and struggling mightily. They were the beneficiary of a desperate Atlanta team and since adding De’Andre Hunter they’ve got 13-7 (including a 7 game win streak) and are now 24-28. They aren’t in the playoff picture yet, and Hunter is injured, but that stretch has them just 1 game behind Utah for the play-in spot.

Loser: Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta decided to go with a big three…that stopped being “big” about 5 years ago. Harden, Young, and George have not transformed the Hawks who are 8-10 since the trade and sit in 11^th place at 24-30. They are 2.5 games behind Orlando for the playin, and it will be a disaster if they can’t make the playoffs this year.

Loser: Miami Heat
The Heat’s desperation is understandable. When healthy, SGA is having one of the great season of the entire decade and if they can make the playoffs they could cause some real problems. Unfortunately the trade for Siakam has not helped to stem the bleeding and they are just 5-12 since the trade, dropping to 23-32 and 12^th in the East, 3 games behind Orlando for the 10^th spot. That’s not too far for them to recover once SGA is back, but they aren’t in a great spot.


Standings

• The Denver Nuggets are still dominating the league after their rough start. Sitting at 43-12, they’ve gone 16-3 since our last league update and should have the best record in the league when the season is all over. The rest of the top 4 in the West has stayed in the same order as well.
• Last time we checked in the top 3 teams in the East were in a virtual tie, but one team has clearly risen above the rest: Milwaukee. They are 13-4 in that stretch and are 3 games ahead of the second-placed Celtics.
• Portland and Utah have both fallen down the West standings from 6^th and 8^th to 10^th and 11^th and are struggling, having won only 5 games apiece during this stretch. Capitalizing on their fall has been Minnesota (13-5 in that stretch) and Oklahoma City (11-8 in that stretch).

Vince Carter and Carmelo Anthony have helped reverse Minnesota’s fortunes the last few seasons.

Notable Transactions and Injuries

• Rookie of the Year leader Taquan St. Fort (C, 82 ovr) is out for over a month with a broken ankle. Hopefully the Cavaliers can keep doing well in his absence. Backup Jaxson Hayes (PF, 81 ovr) is out for the same time period, so they will be tested.
• The Bucks have lost Khris Middleton (SF, 84 ovr) through the All-Star Break due to a sprained knee.
• Bobby Drake (PF, 79 ovr) will miss the rest of January and part of February with broken ribs.
• Domantas Sabonis (C, 85 ovr) adds to the misery of Sacramento’s season as he is out for the season with a back injury.
• Detroit suffers a huge blow with Trevor Merchant (PG, 90 ovr) missing up to 2 months with a broken leg.
• The Pelicans have lost Zion Williamson (PF, 92 ovr) for most of February with a pulled back muscle.

League Leaders
Points: Luka Doncic (DAL) – 37.4, Donovan Mitchell (UTA) – 34.1, Jayson Tatum (BOS) – 33.5
Rebounds: Zion Williamson (NOP) – 14.5, DeAndre Ayton (GSW) – 13.6, Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL – 12.9
Assists: Luka Doncic (DAL) – 11.9, Jawun Evans (MIA) – 11.7, Ben Simmons (PHI) – 11.6
FG %: Zion Williamson (NOP) – 71.1%, Andre Drummond (DAL) – 62.7%, Ben Simmons (PHI) – 62.4%
3 point %: Matt Mooney (ORL) – 53.8%, Rudolph Butler (HOU) – 52.2%, Troy Jameson (LAL) – 51.5%
+/-: Zion Williamson (NOP) – 8.9, Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL) – 7.5, Tyler Lydon (GSW) – 6.9
Double-doubles: Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL) – 50, DeAndre Ayton (GSW) – 43, Zion Williamson (NOP) - 42
Triple-doubles: Luka Doncic (DAL) – 12, Ben Simmons (PHI) – 12, Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL) – 10, Nikola Jokic (DEN) - 10
PER: Zion Williamson (NOP) – 31.8, Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL) – 29.8, Luka Doncic (DAL) -29.7
Efficiency: Luka Doncic (DAL) – 42.8, Zion Williamson (NOP) – 41.0, Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL) – 39.3
GameScore: Luka Doncic (DAL) – 33.4, Trae Young (ATL) – 29.2, Zion Williamson (NOP) – 29.1
Usage Rate: Luka Doncic (DAL) – 33.9, Donovan Mitchell (UTA) – 33.0, Markelle Fultz (HAW) – 32.9
Estimated Wins Added: Luka Doncic (DAL) – 19.5, Zion Williamson (NOP) – 18.4, Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL) – 18.3


Award Races
MVP – This is really a three way race, but Luka Doncic (SG, 94 ovr) is currently in the driver’s seat, just ahead of Giannis (PF, 97 ovr) and Zion (PF, 92 ovr). Luka is having a historical season, scoring over 37 points per game while adding 12 assists and 8.6 rebounds per game. He’s leading the league in triple-doubles and most advanced metrics and has games of 64, 61, 60, and 56 points this season.

Rookie of the Year– Despite his injury, Taquan St. Fort (C, 82 ovr) is still the favorite for this award due to his stats and being a force on a top 3 team in the East. The Cavs’ rookie out of DePaul is averaging 15 points and 10 rebounds per game and has developed an immediate rapport with teammate Darius Garland. First overall pick Kordel Cleaves (PF, 80 ovr) and St. Fort’s teammate Tommy Swain (SG, 79 ovr) are also in the running.

6^th man of the Year– It’s no surprise to see supersubs Damian Lillard (PG, 89 ovr) and Jarrett Pressley (PG, 84 ovr) on this list, but they are joined by a third point guard this year: Orlando’s Erroll Reaser (80 ovr). Lillard won it last year, but his scoring has dropped by over 5 points per game and his rebounds are down from 4 to 1 per game. However, his 23 points and 6 assists per game are still fantastic off the bench. Pressley’s scoring is down slightly, but his assists are up and he’s once again an amazing contributor as Steph’s primary backup. Reaser is new to the 6^th man role, but with Dejounte Murray in town he’s now the second unit’s conductor and has adapted well by scoring 16 point per game and adding 4 assists.

Defensive Player of the Year– This looks like it’s Jonathan Isaac’s (SF, 85 ovr) award this year. The Nuggets are dominating the league and Isaac is in the top 3 in both steals and blocks this year.

Most Improved Player– This is a fascinating race with no clear favorites but 5 interesting and exciting candidates.

1. OKC’s Sidney Dunnington (C, 82 ovr) – the former national player of the year and Notre Dame standout is finally making an impact in the pros. After only playing 11 games in his second season, he’s now played in 54 games for the Thunder and is averaging 13.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game as a backup big man.
2. Cleveland’s Darius Garland (PG, 88 ovr) – we’ve talked about how great the Cavs are this year plenty. Garland is at the enter of that. He was good last year (19 ppg, 6 apg, 18.5 PER), but he is great this year: 24.2 ppg, 7.9 apg, 23.9 PER for a team at the top of the East.
3. A San Antonio two-fer: Jarrell Brantley (SF, 79 ovr) and Terry Rozier (PG, 79 ovr). Brantley has played only 2 career games despite being 28 years old but has been a key contributor this season, scoring 9.4 points and adding 6.8 rebounds off the bench for the Spurs. Rozier is in his 13^th season despite being just 2 years older than Brantley. But he’s scoring a career-high 19.2 points per game and dishing out 7 dimes. His previous highs were 13 points and 5 assists per game and he has a 20.9 PER.
4. Detroit’s Darrall Gosley (PF, 81 ovr) – The 4^th year stretch big is thriving with Merchant, Leonard, and Bagley around him. He’s stepped up his scoring from 12 to 17, his rebounds from 4.5 to 7, and his PER from 12 to 19).

Other Standout Performances

• It came in a loss, but second year pro Malcolm Nahra (SG, 78 ovr) scored a career-high 40 points as the Bucks fell to the Spurs.
• In another loss, Jason Tatum (PF, 90 ovr) dropped over half of the Celtics points as he scored 52 in a 125-103 loss to the Wizards.
• Zion Williamson (PF, 92 ovr) balled out over the Trail Blazers with 42 points on 21-25 shooting with no free throws and 19 rebounds.
• Luka Doncic (SG, 94 ovr) had an amazing 56, 8, and 10 game but the Mavericks fell to the Nets.
• The Wizards are back on a hot streak with 2 wins over the Celtics and another over the Pistons. In that latest win, R.J. Barrett (SG, 85 ovr) scored 48 points for Washington.
• Trevor Merchant (PG, 91 ovr) and the Pistons rebounded with a big win over the Bulls in which Merchant had a 41, 11, and 9 night.
• Luka dropped 21 assists in a win over the Blazers. Oh, and he had 35 points and 9 rebounds as well.
• Seth Valsin (PG, 82 ovr) led the short-handed Thunder to a big win over Milwaukee as he scored a career-high 40 points and added 5 steals.
• The Nets beat the struggling Hawks behind Zach Lavine’s (SG, 86 ovr) 54 points. Lavine has been revitalized this season, playing much better and seeing more wins than he ever got on the Hornets.
• Ben Simmons (PG, 89 ovr) almost had a quadruple-double with 27 points, 15 rebounds, 16 assists, and 8 steals.
• The Thunder saw a trio of players put up very similar statlines and grab an easy win over Portland. LeBron James (SF, 86 ovr) had 31, 7, and 8; Seth Valsin (PG, 82 ovr) had 30, 7, and 7; Sydney Dunnington (C, 82 ovr) had 30, 7, and 2.
• Russell Westbrook (PG, 82 ovr) saved one of his best games of the season for a trip to Atlanta to take on former teammate James Harden. He bested the big 3 in overtime with a 32, 9, and 15 statline.
• Jason Tatum (PF, 90 ovr) played 43 minutes and scored 52 points for the Celtics in an easy win over the Raptors and then followed it 1 night later with 44 and 11 to beat the Mavericks. Damian Lillard (PG, 89 ovr) added 43 in the Mavs game as well.
• Giannis Antetokounmpo (PF, 97 ovr) helped the Bucks get back atop the East with a 46 point, 19 rebound win over the Nets.
• Trevor Merchant and Zion Williamson were your January Players of the Month! Both got injured at the end of the month, but prior to their injuries were on a tear. Merchant is averaging 29, 8, 8 on the season and Detroit was 9-3 with him in January. Zion and the Pelicans went 9-4 and he’s scoring 31 ppg and grabbing 14.5 rebounds per game. Both are expected to return by March.
• The January Rookie of the Month awards were given to the Knicks’ Kordel Cleaves (PF, 80 ovr) and Hawaii’s Esteban Martinez (SF, 79 ovr). Cleaves is starting and averaging over 36 minutes per game for the Knicks and is putting up a 10 point, 7 rebound, and 6 assist performance per game. Martinez, the Spanish rookie, is scoring 13 points per game and while he normally played 15 minutes per game, an injury caused him to be a starter for half of January, averaging 30 minutes per game.

Here are some highlights from players across the NBA in January.