PointGuard

Nicely done dynasty report ! 

Game #1, Portland Pilots (0-0) at Colorado Buffaloes (0-0)

Before the game begins my eyes scan around Coors Events Center and I marvel at the size and beauty compared to the facilities where I’ve coached before. It holds over 11,000 people in much greater comfort than the arenas where I’ve played and coached. Lots of yellow seats and, while the center is not nearly filled to capacity, a fair number of fans wearing yellow. And here I am at age 44.





Our starters as the season begins are: PG Chris Smith, 6-1 Soph; SG Stacey Walker, 6-2 Sr; SF George Seamon, 6-8 Sr; PF Vefa Kurtbek, 6-6 Soph; C R.J. Reis, 6-10 Soph.

We host the Portland Pilots for our season opener. They’re strongly favored even though we are at home. We hung with them the first 10 minutes but then wilted and fell behind 41-25 at the half, letting them hit 63% of their shots. Our 13 turnovers in the half didn’t help. 21 of our 25 points were by our guards.

We stayed behind by 10-15 points through most of the half and ended up losing 80-61. The Pilots hit 63% of their shots. We had 20 turnovers. But we did hit 8 of 15 of our 3’s. We only have 3 guards on our roster, but the three carried what offense we were able to generate. They hit 13 of 24 from the field including 7 of 8 from beyond the arc. PG Chris Smith scored 19, PG J.B. Parker had 10, and SG Stacey Walker chipped in 9. None of our players had more than 3 rebounds. Reserve PF Larry Smith popped in 21 points for Portland.
 
 
Game #2, Brown Bears (1-1) at Colorado Buffaloes (0-1)
 
Again we have a home game and again we’re the underdog. It takes 2-1/2 minutes for either team to score, but we hit the first bucket and after 5 minutes of play we’re up 10-4. Is that an omen? But at the midpoint of the first half, Brown takes their first lead at 14-13. The Bears hold a small lead through most of the remainder of the half. But in the last two minutes we come back and on the last play of the half, we execute a perfect pick and roll and score just before the buzzer sounds to take a 32-30 lead into the locker room. Again we have too many turnovers (11) but shoot well (52%). SG Stacey Walker leads our scoring with 8 points, but we get good production from our entire starting five.

We pull ahead 40-32 after 4-1/2 minutes of play in the 2nd half. But we can’t maintain our momentum and let Brown come back to take a 42-41 lead. We make another run to lead 50-43 with 8-1/2 minutes remaining. Three minutes later we open our first double digit lead at 57-47. We hang on to come away with my first win at Colorado. The final score: Colorado-66, Brown-58.

We played well, out-rebounding the Bears 35-28 and out-shooting them 47% to 39%, but had 18 turnovers to the Bears’ 13. Ultimately the fact that we got to the line 20 more times than Brown and scored 13 more points at the free throw line was the difference in the game.

SG Stacey Walker finished with 14 points. PG Chris Smith put in 13 points plus had 5 assists, 7 rebounds, a steal and 2 blocks. PF Vela Kurtbek scored 12 and grabbed 8 boards. C Duez Jones scored 15 for Brown.

NOTE:  This DDSCB association has been successfully imported to the new DDSCB2019 from DDSCB2018 and will be continued using DDSCB2019.
 
Youngstown State Opens Season on the Road
By Steve Porter

Youngstown State’s men’s basketball took a 3-1/2 hour bus ride south to Athens, Ohio to begin their season by taking on the Ohio Bobcats. Following a season when they won 23 games and got to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament, the Bobcats slumped last season to a 14-15 record. Coach Mike Clagget said, “We went to post-season tournaments each of the first three seasons I was head coach for Ohio and it hurt last season when we had such a subpar record. We’re intent on turning things around this season and are excited to host the Penguins.”

The Penguins’ defense shone in the first half. YSU held onto a small lead for the first 10 minutes as the Bobcats’ SG Alojzy Wieruszowski kept Ohio within reach by scoring 10 points. Then the Penguins’ offense caught fire and they began to pull away. With 7 minutes remaining in the half the lead expanded to 34-16. When YSU drove ahead 43-20, it sucked the air right out of the Bobcats’ fans in Ohio’s Convocation Center forcing the Bobcats to call a timeout to try to stem the Penguins’ momentum. When the buzzer sounded ending the first half, Youngstown State was in solid control 50-30 as they outshot the Bobcats 59% to 36% and forced Ohio to make 13 turnovers while making just 6 themselves. C Will O’Neil scored 12 points in the half to lead YSU’s attack. Ohio’s Alojzy Wieruszowski also scored 12.

The Penguins cruised to a 31 point lead midway through the 2nd half and then coasted at the end of the game to come away with an 86-66 thrashing of Ohio. Youngstown State dropped in 49% of their shots while Ohio managed just 38%. The Penguins out-rebounded the Bobcats 43-28 and held a 20-15 turnover advantage. YSU scored 36 points in the paint while holding Ohio to just 12 points in the paint and also held a 14-4 advantage on fast break points.

C Will O’Neil scored 16, grabbed 5 rebounds, handed out 3 assists, and had 3 steals and a block. SF Colin Chambliss scored 11 while hauling down 8 boards. PG Pat White scored 10 and dished out 5 assists. SF Lee Pauly had 9 rebounds in just 12 minutes on the court. Ohio’s SG Alojzy Wieruszowski scored 20 and had 7 rebounds, a steal and 3 blocks.

“We had a great team effort tonight,” said Coach KD Durst. “Eleven of our players put points on the board and we got good production from all 5 positions with both starters and subs contributing. It’s always nice to put a W on the board, especially in our season opener.”

When asked about his reaction to starting in his first collegiate game, PF Donnie Williams replied, “I was pretty excited at the tip-off, but the guys got me right into the flow. That got rid of the butterflies, and I was happy to be able to contribute.” He finished with 5 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a block.

Penguins Review
By Steve Porter

Youngstown State begins Horizon League play tomorrow night with a very tough challenge. They travel to Chicago to take on the UIC Flames. The Flames came out on top of last season’s Horizon League standings.

The Penguins come into League Play with a strong interior but question marks elsewhere. 

The team is anchored by junior center Jamal Grady with his 17.7 ppg and 6.3 rpg team leading statistics. When Grady has to go to the bench to rest, he is ably backed up by sophomore Kent Jones who is averaging 5.8 ppg but isn’t a strong rebounder.

At PF, the team has two very strong players, sophomore Tim Tice and senior Rich Braswell. Tice is normally the starter and is averaging 8.9 ppg and 4.8 rpg, but Braswell is having a strong senior year, averagg 7.0 ppg (while hitting 57% of this shots) and 4.2 rpg in his 15.7 mpg on the court.

Chad Delzell is continuing to start at SF but the senior has been shooting poorly this season and is averaging just 3.9 ppg. He continues to be a strong rebounder though (4.6 rpg). He is backed up by senior Rick Martin who is shooting well (hitting 44% of his FG attempts including 47% of this 3’s) and averaging 8.1 ppg. Martin has been doing double duty recently, starting at SG but also backing up Delzell. 

The SG position has been a morass. Junior Levall Hart began the season as the starter but while shooting well overall (55%), only hit 14% of his 3’s and has seen his on court minutes decrease precipitously and is averaging just 3.1 ppg. Rick Martin has been starting in recent games but has been inconsistent and thus has not been able to solidify his hold on the position. Redshirt freshman B.J. Dennis, while not yet starting, has been playing more minutes at SG than anyone else recently and has had some good scoring performances. Dennis is now averaging 7.8 ppg. Freshman William Swan and senior Lonnie Holt also have had limited exposure at SG

Confusion extends to the PG position where junior Tim Lostetter and sophomore Linehan Murphy have been sharing starts and minutes. Lostetter is the more aggressive shooter and scorer (8.1 ppg), but Murphy (6.2 ppg) tends to be the passer and has shown a keen shooting eye. Levall Hart could also play some at PG.

When asked about the team, Coach Durst replied, “I had certainly hoped to see the starting positions nailed down by now. But we have a bunch of very good players who compete hard both in games and in practice. There are a number of players who have very good performances on any given day. Those who gain a bit more consistency will ultimately become regular starters for us. It’s nice to have the depth we have this season. I’d like to see a couple of them begin having strong games so that teams will have to spread their defensive intensity around and take some pressure off Jamal.”

Regarding his team’s chances in league play, Durst responded, “I think it’s going to be a tough battle. There are so many teams that have the players to make a run. I think we’ll be in the mix. We’ve shown we have an offense that can compete, now we just have to amp up our defense some. With our inside game pretty much in place, if we can now get our outside game complimenting that, I think we could be a big factor in the Horizon League. To be league champs, though, a team has to play well on the road and carve out some away victories. We had a couple early this season but then lost our last two road games.”

When asked about the team’s recruiting efforts, Durst said, “We’ve got letters of intent from very good high school seniors for 2 of the 4 scholarships that will be available after this season. We’re continuing to actively work to build interest and hope to nail down some players who can step in and fill the big shoes of those who are graduating at the end of this season. There are a couple recruits we are pursuing who need to do well on their SAT’s to qualify to play for us, so January 28 when the SAT scores are announced is a big date for them and us.”

The Penguins take on UIC in Chicago in their Horizon League opener, and in response to what the team would do to win the game, Durst replied, “Tim Patterson is a big time scorer. He’s scored over 20 point in 6 of their 10 games this season. So we need to try to keep him from busting out. UIC had a great team last season and I expect them to be tough to handle this year as well. Going on the road to take them on in our first league contest is a huge challenge. We need to be clicking on all cylinders if we expect to have a chance.”

No wins yet for Coach Durst. I guess we can’t expect miracles and for an immediate turn-around of the fortunes for Youngstown State. So far the Penguins have played poor defense. If they can’t start playing D, it’s going to be a long year. Thus far, the center position has produced the most. Steven Puzey, a senior, and freshman Jamal Grady have combined to average 21 ppg and 11 rpg, although Puzey has been most dominant in the first two games. But they’ve been outplayed by their opponents, so again defense is a big deficiency.

I’ve been unable to have an in depth talk with Coach Durst, but Raymond Harrington, 1st assistant coach, has told me that the team still isn’t playing together well as a unit. He feels that is going to take some time and therefore they aren’t overly concerned about the team’s pre-conference record, but hope the Penguins will be competitive by the time league play rolls around.

Youngstown…you’ve heard of it, right? But I doubt you know where it’s located. Well, maybe you’ve heard it’s in Ohio, but walk a couple miles east from Youngstown and you’d be in Pennsylvania.

Population: 66,000 and change. But the town’s dying. In 1930 there were 170,000 souls here. It’s been a steady decline ever since…a downward spiral for nearly 90 years. You’ve heard about the Rust Belt. Well, Youngstown has one of the bigger layers of rust. Yeah, we’re the county seat, but so what! The whole county is wasting away.

I grew up in Youngstown and still live here. In fact, I’ve hardly even gotten out of the county. My dad never made much money, and as the manufacturing jobs disappeared, so did a series of low-level jobs for him. After finishing high school, I was able to go to Eastern Gateway Community College since it didn’t cost all that much and I could live at home. But there was no way I could afford to follow that up at a 4-year college. 

But you read this because you were interested in basketball. And what’s all this got to do with round-ball?

I wish I could say it was to tell you about my stellar basketball career. But hell, I’m only 5’7” tall. I thought I was a good player, though. So I turned out to make the high school team. The coach quickly dispelled me of my lofty opinion of my own talent and any dreams I might have had. So rather than play sports, I inhaled them vicariously….watching and reading about all kinds of sports and playing pretty much any video sports game I could get my hands on.

So is this about how I learned so much about the intricacies of basketball that I became a great basketball coach? Sorry, no way. I’m not that talented nor am I a masochist. Besides, my temper would result in me leading the nation in technical fouls, ejections, and enough fines to eclipse my salary.

While attending Eastern Gateway CC, I wasn’t even much of a student. I attended when I had to and did enough to get by with lots of C’s. But I did enjoy my journalism courses, and one of the journalism instructors encouraged me and made sure I wrote for the college newspaper. When she realized that I wasn’t going to be able to take any college courses beyond my 2 years at Eastern Gateway, she pulled a few strings with an editor at The Youngstown Vindicator to land me a job as a sports reporter for that daily newspaper (such as it is—like all newspapers readership and circulation are dying).

I guess the next logical question is...who am I? I’m Steve Porter. I’ve now been a sports reporter for 6 years and am still on the staff of The Vindicator. Not going to get rich, but I like what I do. I cover any and all local sports, but my favorite is basketball.

Check out DDSPB17 (professional basketball) and/or DDSCB17 (college basketball) at wolverinestudios.com.  You can play the demos for each to see if they are what you want.  There is also a forum there if you want to ask questions about either game from those who are playing it.

Over the years through premier youth basketball, AAU basketball, and college basketball, five players became friends. Sometimes they were on opposing teams and at other times they played on the same teams.

After graduating from college, all five eventually became assistant coaches. 

In 2016, college basketball realigned into twenty-two 16-team conferences. These were set up based on the present strengths of the 352 teams with the 16 best teams in Conference A, the next 16 best teams in Conference B, and all the way down to the lowest rated 16 teams being in Conference V.

Due to this drastic change, many coaches left or were fired so there were many colleges needing to hire coaches. The five assistants, who had continued to communicate regularly, decided the time was ripe for all five to apply for head coaching jobs. Since they would be rookie head coaches, they realized that they would have to aim for head coaching jobs at lower rated programs. They wanted to try to get jobs where they would be in direct competition with each other as much as possible. Since many of the colleges in Conference U had openings, they decided to focus on applying for jobs at colleges in that conference. During the spring of 2016 the five friends each landed a head coaching job at a college in Conference U and therefore, while remaining friends, were now also foes.

DJ Brower became the head coach for the Chicago State Cougars in Chicago, IL. Academics at Chicago State are rated as C- and its facilities are rated D+. Their team prestige is 13 and minimum SAT score is 860.

Kyle Anders landed a job with the Wofford Terriers in Spartanburg, SC. Academics at Wofford are rated B+ and facilities are rated C. Team prestige is 13 and the minimum SAT score is 960.

Monroe Thurlow became the new head coach for the Cal-Davis Aggies in Davis, CA. Academics at Cal-Davis are rated B and facilities are rated C. The minimum SAT score is 940.

Parsons Nyland is now the head coach for Jacksonville Dolphins in Jacksonville, FL. Academics at Jacksonville are rated C and facilities are rated B-. The minimum SAT score is 880.

Vernell Strom was hired to coach the Texas State Bobcats in San Marcos, TX. Academics at Texas State are rated C+ and facilities are rated C. The minimum SAT score is 900.

[This dynasty was developed to test the game’s multi-coach component. Therefor this dynasty report will focus mostly on how each of the coach’s teams are doing rather than developing a detailed story line. All team functions are being handled by the AI and games are being simmed to avoid favoring one coach over another.]  Chicago State—3 scholarships to fill; no recruits signed.

Wofford—1 scholarship to fill, verbal acceptance by PF Ron Leonard, a HS senior from Duncan, SC, a good defender and scorer who is ranked as the #593 best recruit nationally.

Cal-Davis—4 scholarships to fill, no recruits signed.

Jacksonville—2 scholarships to fill, verbal acceptance by PG Josh Jones, a HS senior from Daytona Beach, FL, a good ball handler and passer as well as a strong defender and good scorer who is ranked as the #1437 best recruit nationally.

Texas State—4 scholarships to fill, verbal acceptance by PG Collin Jackson, a HS senior from Lorenzo, TX, an excellent passer and good ball handler who is ranked as the #1441 best recruit nationally.

Obviously the five rookie head coaches and their assistants sucked with their recruiting efforts (well, with the exception of Kyle Anders at Wofford who had just one scholarship to fill but did so and seems to have gotten a fairly solid recruit). But since the other 4 programs only filled 2 of 13 available scholarships, that puts the onus on those 4 head coaches to do some heavy duty work over the winter and particularly in the spring.  Lamar is expected to top the conference, but with respect to the teams being coached by the Five Friends, Texas State is predicted to finish in 2nd place followed by Chicago State in 3rd and Cal-Davis is 4th.Jacksonville is pegged to finish 8th and Wofford 11th.

Coach Feedback going into Conference Play:
 
DJ Brower (Chicago State Cougars, 4-7, RPI 102)—We had a tough start, losing 4 straight to open the season, but we bounced back to win 5 of 9 and 3 of our last 4 games. And this call came about even though we only played 3 of our 11 pre-conference games at home. So I’m optimistic and look forward to taking on the rest of Conference U. I’m pleased with how the team has done on the boards but we need to tighten up our defense. Our perimeter players needs to improve their shot selection so their shooting percentage improves, but overall Steve Greer (9.2 ppg, 3.5 apg) at PG, Ryan Roberts (9.5 ppg) at SG, and Gavin Johnson (6.8 ppg, 7.4 rpg) have playes well. C David Bracey (4.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg) has had a couple good games, but needs to improve his consistency and attack the boards harder. PF Robert Allocco (16.3 ppg, 6.9 rpg) is our anchor and has played exceptionally well. 
Kyle Anders (Wofford Terriers, 5-6, RPI 117)—It was disappointing to lose in overtime to Portland in our last game, otherwise we’d be playing above .500, but I’m really enjoying my time here in Spartanburg. My guys are excited about starting play in Conference U. But we’ve got a ways to go. Too many turnovers (16.5 per game) and we need to get stronger both on offense (64.8 ppg) and defense (71.3 ppg). I like my guys to be tough on the boards and thus far, they’ve done pretty well. PG Alton Johnson (11.8 ppg) has been our workhorse and our leader offensively. Freshman C Jamaal Hobbs (9.1 ppg, 3.8 rpg) is still acclimating to Division I college ball and has done well on offense but we’re going to need more rebounding from him. PF Kenny Taylor (8.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg) has been steady for us. SF Brandon Detmer (6.0 ppg, 4.9 rpg) missed 3 games due to an injury, but will be a key player for us, I believe. We’re still solidifying who will be starting at SG. Freshman Antuan Lackey (6.6 ppg) has been on the floor the most time, but Jimmy Griffith (4.0 ppg) and Victor Griffin (3.2 ppg) are challenging him. We really need one of the 3 to step up and put consistently put some points on the board for us. PF Rod Leonard, who we signed for our lone scholarship this year, should be a big addition next year both offensively and on the boards.
 
Monroe Thurlow (Cal-Davis Aggies, 3-8, RPI 303)—We’ve played well in 2 or 3 games. But I’m not happy with our record thus far. We’ve lost too many close games. The guys need to nail down those games that we have a good chance to win, and we just haven’t done that so far. We’re going to be working harder on getting our guys familiar with our offensive sets so we can put some more points on the board. Our interior guys have done pretty well but both PF Jeremy Wolthers (10.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg) and C Casey Givens (9.9 ppg, 6.4 rpg) need to hit a higher percentage of their shots. Our perimeter players, PG Jason Everett (8.0 ppg, 3.9 apg), SG Steffon Forman (7.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg), and SF Adrian Ballard (7.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg) are shooting well, but need to put more shots up when they get good looks at the basket. We didn’t win as many pre-conference games as I would have liked, but only 6 of the conference teams has 6-5 records and all others were below .500 so I think we have a good chance to do well in conference play. Our goal now though is to beat the Conference U teams one by one starting with Parson Nyland’s Jacksonville Dolphins this coming week.
 
Parsons Nyland (Jacksonville Dolphins, 3-8, RPI 196)—This head coaching gig isn’t as easy as I expected. Pretty rough start. We had a couple good wins against some good competition (Baylor and Vanderbilt), but haven’t played well otherwise. But his is a young team with 5 freshmen and 4 sophomores and just 2 seniors. Thus far PF Maurice Braun is leading us offensively with 10.5 ppg, plus he’s come up big on the boards (7.0 rpg). C Fred Smith isn’t far behind with 9.5 ppg and Ross Walker has been None of our perimeter players has yet stood out, but we have 4 of them (Reggie Scholl, Michael Frederick, Justin Hartfield, and Rowland Bolton) scoring between 7 and 8.5 ppg. Recruiting wise, I’m happy with the point guard (Josh Jones) who has signed an LOI to play for us next year…even though he’s not ranked that highly, our assessment is that his passing, ball handling and defensive skills will make him a key player for us, if not as a freshman, at least for the 3 remaining years. We’ve got one more scholarship to fill and are looking closely at a couple strong centers.
 
Vernell Strom (Texas State Bobcats, 6-5, RPI 176)—Overall I think we’ve played pretty well so far. And we played a heckuva game against a very talented Texas Tech team in our last game and even though we lost by 2 points, our guys now realize they can compete with anyone. Defensively we’ve played particularly well. And offensively we’ve got 3 players averaging in double figures (C John DePina, 11.7 ppg; PG Gilbert Lemeke, 11.0 ppg; and SG Terry Deng, 10.4 ppg) so that keeps the opposition from focusing on any one guy. SF Russell Brown is averaging 7.9 ppg, but if he can start hitting his 3’s, he could be in double figures also. PF Kebu Dupay (5.5 ppg) has had a slow start and is being challenged as a starter by Brian Robertson (3.6 ppg in 7.6 mpg). We have landed one recruit but still need 3 more so have some major work to Thdo on the recruiting front.

Coach Backgrounds:
 
DJ Brower (Chicago State Cougars)—DJ is 30 years old and was the most talented player of the 5 friends. But the NBA showed no interest following his graduation from St. Louis University. His major strength is player development. He likes to employ a tenacious defense, have his team crash the offensive boards, and play a deep bench. He probably has the highest amount of ambition of the 5 friends and has a high degree of integrity.

Kyle Anders (Wofford Terriers)—Kyle is 33 years old. He played at and graduated from New Orleans. His major strength is evaluating defense. He likes his team to crash the boards on both ends of the court, prefers a rather deliberate style of play, and likes to use younger players. He isn’t very ambitious but places a very high degree of emphasis on academics.

Monroe Thurlow (Cal-Davis Aggies)—Monroe is also 33 years old. He played college ball at and graduated from UC Irvine. He had a strong college career, but sustained a broken ankle midway through his senior year. His main strength is recruiting. He is pretty middle of the road in all coaching philosophies. His personal qualities are also pretty average, although he doesn’t place a lot of emphasis on discipline. 

Parsons Nyland (Jacksonville Dolphins)—Parsons is 32 years old. He played for WIsconsin as a freshman but after getting little playing time, he transferred to Rhode Island where he played for 3 years and graduated. He’s main strength is scouting. He prefers to play veteran players, use a shallow bench, and likes to use a zone defense. Discipline is very important to Parsons but he doesn’t worry too much about academics.

Vernell Strom (Texas State Bobcats)—Vernell is 31 years old. He played ball for Texas Southern and graduated Summa Cum Laude. He main strength is recruiting. He prefers man-to-man defense, likes to use a deep bench, and likes his team to crash the offensive boards. He is ambitious, is very concerned about academics, and discipline is very important to him.

Over the years through premier youth basketball, AAU basketball, and college basketball, five players became friends. Sometimes they were on opposing teams and at other times they played on the same teams.

After graduating from college, all five eventually became assistant coaches. 

In 2016, college basketball realigned into twenty-two 16-team conferences. These were set up based on the present strengths of the 352 teams with the 16 best teams in Conference A, the next 16 best teams in Conference B, and all the way down to the lowest rated 16 teams being in Conference V.

Due to this drastic change, many coaches left or were fired so there were many colleges needing to hire coaches. The five assistants, who had continued to communicate regularly, decided the time was ripe for all five to apply for head coaching jobs. Since they would be rookie head coaches, they realized that they would have to aim for head coaching jobs at lower rated programs. They wanted to try to get jobs where they would be in direct competition with each other as much as possible. Since many of the colleges in Conference U had openings, they decided to focus on applying for jobs at colleges in that conference. During the spring of 2016 the five friends each landed a head coaching job at a college in Conference U and therefore, while remaining friends, were now also foes.

DJ Brower became the head coach for the Chicago State Cougars in Chicago, IL. Academics at Chicago State are rated as C- and its facilities are rated D+. Their team prestige is 13 and minimum SAT score is 860.

Kyle Anders landed a job with the Wofford Terriers in Spartanburg, SC. Academics at Wofford are rated B+ and facilities are rated C. Team prestige is 13 and the minimum SAT score is 960.

Monroe Thurlow became the new head coach for the Cal-Davis Aggies in Davis, CA. Academics at Cal-Davis are rated B and facilities are rated C. The minimum SAT score is 940.

Parsons Nyland is now the head coach for Jacksonville Dolphins in Jacksonville, FL. Academics at Jacksonville are rated C and facilities are rated B-. The minimum SAT score is 880.

Vernell Strom was hired to coach the Texas State Bobcats in San Marcos, TX. Academics at Texas State are rated C+ and facilities are rated C. The minimum SAT score is 900.

[This dynasty was developed to test the game’s multi-coach component. Therefor this dynasty report will focus mostly on how each of the coach’s teams are doing rather than developing a detailed story line. All team functions are being handled by the AI and games are being simmed to avoid favoring one coach over another.]  Chicago State—3 scholarships to fill; no recruits signed.

Wofford—1 scholarship to fill, verbal acceptance by PF Ron Leonard, a HS senior from Duncan, SC, a good defender and scorer who is ranked as the #593 best recruit nationally.

Cal-Davis—4 scholarships to fill, no recruits signed.

Jacksonville—2 scholarships to fill, verbal acceptance by PG Josh Jones, a HS senior from Daytona Beach, FL, a good ball handler and passer as well as a strong defender and good scorer who is ranked as the #1437 best recruit nationally.

Texas State—4 scholarships to fill, verbal acceptance by PG Collin Jackson, a HS senior from Lorenzo, TX, an excellent passer and good ball handler who is ranked as the #1441 best recruit nationally.

Obviously the five rookie head coaches and their assistants sucked with their recruiting efforts (well, with the exception of Kyle Anders at Wofford who had just one scholarship to fill but did so and seems to have gotten a fairly solid recruit). But since the other 4 programs only filled 2 of 13 available scholarships, that puts the onus on those 4 head coaches to do some heavy duty work over the winter and particularly in the spring.  Lamar is expected to top the conference, but with respect to the teams being coached by the Five Friends, Texas State is predicted to finish in 2nd place followed by Chicago State in 3rd and Cal-Davis is 4th.Jacksonville is pegged to finish 8th and Wofford 11th.

KFGO Radio Sports: Tyler Baines Bison Sports Talk
 
Earlier tonight the semi-finals of the Summit League matched Western Illinois against South Dakota State and North Dakota State against Denver. 
Western Illinois demonstrated why they were the class of the league this year by steadily pulling away from and downing the Jackrabbits 68-55. SF Calvin Thomas scored 15 for the Leathernecks while the games top scorer was reserve guard Chris Kerlin for South Dakota State. Kerlin finished the game with 16 points. 
 
The Denver Pioneers and our local Bison team split their 2 regular season games with both teams winning on their home courts. SG Derrick Williams came into the game averaging 17.4 ppg for Denver. Surprisingly though, Williams didn’t start for the Pioneers. While Denver’s coaching staff was mum about this surprising action, there was a rumor Williams was benched for his post game comments after the Pioneers 1st round victory in which he made derogatory remarks about South Dakota’s guard play.
 
The refs saddled the Bison with 6 team fouls in the first 4 minutes of play, sending SF Brandon Tracy to the bench with 2 fouls. The Bison were called for their 7th foul a minute later, sending the Pioneers to the line for one-and-ones early. While NDSU held a small lead throughout most of the first half, the fouls proliferated allowing the Pioneers to move ahead late in the half and take a 38-32 halftime advantage. Reserve SG Kelsey Brown was the top scorer for the Bison with 7 points while SG Dionsio Houston dropped in 11 points for Denver.
 
Early in the 2nd half, the Bison fell behind by 13 points. The Bison gamely hung in and gradually whittled away at the lead. With 3 minutes to play they trailed by just 3 points. Neither team could score after that, but with 23 seconds remaining, NDSU called their final time out. A 3-point play was set up but David Miller’s shot was far off the mark. The Bison pulled down the rebound and worked the ball around before Evan Williams drove to the basket trying to score and get fouled on the play. Neither goal was successful, but Brandon Tracy muscled down the rebound and fired it outside to David Miller who put up a desperate 3-point shot with 2 seconds on the clock. The balls went off the backboard and into the net to tie the game at 62-62 and send the teams into overtime.
 
Denver scored 7 points in the first 2 minutes of overtime while the Bison were held scoreless. NDSU scored their first points of the OT with just over a minute to play but then trailed 70-64. Another bucket by the Bison was too little, too late and they fell by the score of 71-66, ending their season.
 
The difference in the game ultimately was fouls and free throws. Reserve PF Evan Williams led the Bison scoring with 10 points. Bison starters combined for just 25 points. SG Dionsio Houston led all scorers with 18 points. The Pioneers C Joel Blake hauled down 11 rebounds.
 
Now let’s hear from callers. First we have Norvil on the line. What you have for us, Norvil?
 
Norvil: The league oughta fire those refs. I think they were being paid by Denver.
 
Tyler: Next we have a frequent caller, Buzz:
 
Buzz: Yeah, I agree that we got robbed tonight, but overall I think we have to look at this season as a big turn-around for NDSU basketball. The team finished with 16 wins which is more than double what the Bison were recording in each of the years before Coach Bolton came to us.
 
Tyler: Thanks, Buzz. Here’s Al from his ranch:
 
Al: Damn, I really thought the Bison could pull off 3 wins in the tournament and make it to the Big Dance. Guess we have to wait until next year now.
 
Tyler: Yes, I’m pretty sure they won’t get into any of the post-season tournaments even though they have a 16-13 season record. Finally, here’s Sue:
 
Sue: I attended all of our home games this season. Our starters did pretty well, but I was particularly impressed with 2 reserves. Evan Williams and David Miller came in and put points on the board nearly every game. I expect they will get more playing time next season and together with Brandon Tracy, James Hall and maybe Kelsey Brown, could give us a solid starting lineup in the coming season.
 
Tyler: I agree that this year was a huge improvement for the Bison and has laid the foundation for more success next season. Hopefully, Coach Bolton can bring in at least one recruit who will be able to step right in and help lift the team to the next level.

TopNDSU News, college newspaper 
Bison Fall Out of First Place

Last night NDSU’s basketball team went on the road to take on last-place IUPUI. The Bison deployed a devastating defense throughout the early stages of the 1st half, allowing them to open an eleven point lead. But in the last 5 minutes of the half, both their defense and offense fell apart letting IUPUI creep back into the game. The Jaguars tied the game with 2 minutes to go in the half. NDSU escaped with a razor-thin 28-27 lead going to the break. 

But in the 2nd half NDSU’s abysmal shooting together with numerous turnovers led to their undoing. IUPUI pulled away to a carve out a convincing 56-43 victory. That lowered the Bison’s league record to 5-3 and dropped them into 3-way tie for 2nd place. Western Illinois took over first place with their 6th straight win. SF Brandon Tracy (10 points) was the only Bison to score in double figures. He also pulled won 9 rebounds. 

Following the game, Coach Bolton said, “It was disappointing how we fell behind in the 2nd half. We have to work on consistency and developing a killer instinct. But give the Jaguars credit. They got us out of sync in the 2nd half and continued to apply pressure until the end of the game.”

Pollsters Top 8 Holiday Tournament
 
This special holiday tournament matches up the top 8 teams in the polls after the completion of pre-conference play. Both the Media and Coaches Polls this year have are identical for the top 8 places. They are: 
1. North Carolina Tarheels (AAC)
2. Georgia Tech Yellowjackets (AAC)
3. Arizona Wildcats (Pac-12)
4. Michigan State Spartans (Big 10)
5. Duke Blue Devils (ACC)
6. Michigan Wolverines (Pac-12)
7. Kansas Jayhawks (Big 12)
8. Mississippi Rebels (SEC)
 
[NOTE: The teams and rankings are from the Tad Bolton dynasty thread that I’m running separately. This tournament is being played in “Exhibition” mode. Since it’s not possible to set Exhibition games to be played on a neutral court, games are being played on the home courts of the top-ranked team in each game. The games are being simmed with the computer running both teams.]

Bison Blog

BISON CONTINUE SEARCH FOR HEAD COACH

The on-going effort by North Dakota State to hire a new men’s basketball head coach is continuing painfully. Although AD Steve Monroe has interviewed at least 6 coaches, the university has yet to have any show enough interest to take on the job. 

The Bison used to have strong basketball teams and Scheels Arena used to fill for basketball games. But the emergence of FOOTBALL as KING at North Dakota State has resulted in a stead downward slide of the basketball program. The Arena now is like a morgue for most games. Their recent dismal records forced Monroe to fire head coach Sandy Roderick in early April. Now with summer fast approaching the Bison remain coach-less. 

While Monroe would not admit it, the ascendancy of FOOTBALL accompanied by the plunge of basketball at the university probably explains the reluctance of basketball coaches to take over the reins at North Dakota State. There have been no improvements to the basketball facilities in years, money has been siphoned off the basketball budget to further accommodate the avaricious appetite of FOOTBALL, and its been virtually impossible to recruit high school basketball players from outside of North Dakota. Why would any decent coach want to take on such a challenge?

Recruiting Ray and I went all out on recruiting. With just 2 scholarships to offer, we needed to sign 2 impact players. We both realized that it would be tough to compete for Top 10 players against the likes of Duke, Arizona, Syracuse, North Carolina, UCLA, and Michigan State. 

So not only did we work our asses off and used every tool we had to our maximum advantage. We did “whatever it takes”...and that meant offering a bribe. Well, not a bribe...we offered bribeS with a capital S...lots of them. In total we made eleven “offers” to guys rated from #1 to #25 in the nation. 6 bribes of $10,000 each, 3 of $5,000 each, and 2 of $2,000 each. We made sure to offer to those players whose families weren’t well off. In fact, some of them were dirt poor. 5 liked the $10,000, 2 liked the $5,000, and 1 liked the $2,000. One player turned us down on the $10,000 offer (Mr. Goody Two Shoes), one was upset by how low our $2,000 offer was (Mr. I Want More), and one wasn’t too sure what to make of our $5,000 offer (Mr. Duhhhhh). 

End result: 

1. We signed the #10 player in the nation, a fantastic rebounder, defender and scorer. We didn’t offer a bribe to this guy since his family was pretty sound financially. We got him the old-fashioned way, phone calls (lots of ‘em), watching film, school visit by the player, scouting games, and finally multiple visits to his home). While this guy was too good to pass up, it was a lot of work. In the future, maybe a bribe will short-cut things on guys like this.

2. We lost the #1 player in the nation (to whom we had offered a $10,000 bribe in which he was very interested) to Duke. Did Duke offer a bribe also? Probably not, since they likely didn’t have to. Note to self for the future...offer more to the #1 (and maybe the #2). Stick it to Duke.

3. We signed the #8 player in the nation, a PG who not only distributes the ball like a magician, but is an outstanding scorer, a very strong rebounder, a talented defender who can block like a 12-foot wall, and steal like a thief. We offered him a $10,000 bribe and he went for it like a trout chasing morning Mayflies. He made sure to let us know that if he were to accept our offer, he damned well expected us to “show him the money”.

I can’t wait to get these guys on our team.

[NOTE: This dynasty has been created to test how cheating (in the form of bribes to recruits) works when employed by the human player in CB3. We know that AI teams occasionally get placed on probation in CB3 due to recruiting violation. But: (1) Does the offering of bribes significantly improve the signing of highly rated recruits by the human coach? and (2) Does CB3 levy penalties on the human coach for offering bribes? Since an occasional bribe offer might go under the radar (whether it be by the AI coached team or the human coached team), Coach Tom “Whatever It Takes” Bradbury will bribe egregiously. His aim in the future will be to get the highest rated recruits in each and every recruiting class. Since he’s not at an elite school, that means that bribes will flow like the water in the Nile.]

During my interview for the head coaching job at Memphis, Steve Forester, the AD, said he was tired and the alumni were tired of Memphis playing 3rd fiddle to Kentucky and Louisville. The more we talked, the more I realized that this was my opportunity to make a huge jump from a very low mid-major in the coaching ranks to an up-and-comer. Steve said he wanted a coach who would “do whatever it takes” to make Memphis a powerhouse team. Not only does he want the Tigers to best Kentucky and Louisville, he wants a national championship, and better yet, multiple national championships. And he wants it as quickly as possible.

It’s obvious he’s familiar with my background (very high ambition, very low academics, low discipline, low temper, and very low integrity)....so he realizes I’m not adverse to “doing whatever it takes” to get the job done. In other words, he’s found his man.

So a marriage officiated by the devil was cemented and I became the new head coach of Memphis. 

Steve’s goals for me and the team this season: (1) sign a 4-star recruit; (2) win 20+ games; (3) win the American Athletic Conference tournament; (4) reach the Sweet Sixteen; and (5) improve school prestige. Obviously a tall order since the Tigers hadn’t gotten close to reaching any of those last season. 

My first task was to hire Ray Schau, a top-notch recruiter, Mike Hampton, who is very adept at developing players, and Kelvin Chadwick, a talented scout, as my assistants. Not only are they good at what they do, but I know each one and like me, each will “do whatever it takes” to get things done.

Way to go Golden State on the +6 !
 
Good luck with your next coaching gig.

No Hispanic names, but a lot of other international representation. My next trade, I'll add in a Rodriguez just for you. That is, after November (since I already played through that.

Way to go Golden State on the +6 !
 
Good luck with your next coaching gig.

Hey, this is a very sharp looking dynasty report with lots of detail and comments as well.  I checked out a few of the youtube vids...very cool!

November 22, 2014

Washington Americans (7-1) @ Atlanta Eagles (4-6)

 

We're in fourth in the division, half a game out of last place, and we get the chance to host the top team in the Division for an early-season challenge. This is the kind of game you have to win early in the year if you want to build momentum. We've won all our home games thus far, but our losing record has fans on the fence about spending money to see us live when they can watch from home. We need to play well and encourage them that's not the way.

 

Especially with five of our next nine games here at home.

 

It is KILLING us not to have Horford ready and able, and Washington controled the pace and tenor of this game from the start, leading 11-18 with 2:46 to go in the first quarter. We never got control of things the remainder of the half, going into the break trailing 38-49.

 

We trailed by 16 early in the third quarter, but with 5:07 remaining in that period we pulled within eight thanks to a three by Korver, down 52-60. We inched our way back in, and with 10:36 to play in the game we took a 67-66 lead on a Ray Allen three! But we could not maintain the momentum, as Washington rallied to go up 71-81 with just seven minutes remaining. By that point, with Horford struggling to stay on the floor for even a few minutes, we just didn't have any good options for high-powered scoring. We fought hard, keeping the loss within single digits but losing nonetheless 88-97.

 

ATL Player of the Game: Jeff Teague (18 pts 1 reb 7 ast 1 stl 1 blk)

ATL Honorable Mentions: Tim Duncan (13 pts 13 reb 1 stl 1 blk); Andre Blatche (10 pts 4 reb 2 ast 1 stl)

 

Made another big trade, to get former Indiana player Cody Zeller from Charlotte, in exchange for Pero Antic and our first round pick for next year (we still have the first rounder from San Antonio). Zeller will get immediate starting minutes, and should be able to fit in the lineup as a big contributor. Antic was never going anywhere with us, and we need young guys who can score and defend. Anyone who has seen him play in the past knows his explosive athleticism. And though he's yet to show it in the pros, I think he's capable of being just as good in the NBA as he was in college. He just needs the right push.

 

New lineup:

 

PG - Jeff Teague (6'2” 180 lbs) 3.0/3.0

SG - Kyle Korver (6'7” 212 lbs) 2.5/2.5

SF - DeMarre Carroll (6'8” 225 lbs) 2.5/2.5

PF - Tim Duncan (6'11” 260 lbs) 4.0/4.0

C - Al Horford (6'10” 245 lbs) 4.5/4.5

 

6 - Cody Zeller (7'0” 230 lbs) 2.5/2.5

7 - Jarrett Jack (6'3” 197 lbs) 2.0/2.0

8 - Ray Allen (6'5” 205 lbs) 2.0/2.0

9 - Thabo Sefolosha (6'7” 215 lbs) 2.0/2.0

10 - Elton Brand (6'9” 254 lbs) 1.5/1.5

11 - Shelvin Mack (6'2” 205 lbs) 1.5/1.5

12 - Kent Bazemore (6'5” 195 lbs) 1.5/2.0

13 - Mike Muscala (6'11” 230 lbs) 1.5/1.5

14 - Adreian Payne (6'10” 245 lbs) 1.0/1.5

15 - John Jenkins (6'4” 212 lbs) 1.0/1.0

 

Zeller will start at center in place of Horford until he is ready for full-time minutes again, at which point he should perform well as a solid swing-man at PF / C from the sixth spot.

Aaarggghhhh...so close!

DeLawn West, Eastern Washington Eagles’ player:
 
Game #4, Nov. 25, 2013: Eastern Washington Eagles (0-3) at Bethune-Cookman Wildcats (2-1)
 
Man, another freakin’ road game. I’m beginning to question the leadership affecting the Eastern Washington basketball team. The AD, Swede Olaffson, really messed up on our schedule. And Vandergard’s choice of starters is killing this team. I didn’t say much at first, but his starting all these freshman is a big mistake. The team would be doing a helluva lot better if he’d start me instead of Terence Hillier at SF. Hillier is really a PF and he’s doing a terrible job at SF. I didn’t say much for a while, but watching from the bench as we continue to crash and burn had gotten me so pissed off that I’ve let Hillier have it a few times. The coaching staff has come between us and tried to throttle me, but nobody else on this team will speak up and we’re going to continue to fall on our faces until they finally figure out they’re giving minutes to the wrong guys.
 
Well, another night on the bench for me. So I might as well let you know what really goes on in this game tonight.
 
Same bunch of guys start tonight who’ve led us to 3 straight losses. We’re up against another team that’s been scoring most of their points inside and our starters have just been letting guys blow by them for easy baskets. Bethune-Cookman is pretty weak at SF, so I sure wish I was in there so we could get some offense at the 3.
 
Hillier wears down so quickly. Coach V then replaces him after 4 minute of play with Joe Blackwell rather than me. Another poor decision. Blackwell picks up 2 fouls in just over a minute of play. And again the coaches pass me, instead inserting Travis Dawson at SF. Hillier comes back in and does nothing except get tired and finally I’m in with 6:20 to play in the half. I force a couple quick turnovers by the Wildcats and hit a 3 in my first minute on the court. For once the coach left me in for enough time for me to put some numbers on the board. I scored 5 points in just over 6 minutes of play and we cut the Wildcats’ lead to 36-31. Michael Taylor and (surprisingly) Terence Hillier led our scoring with 6 points apiece.
 
With 16:05 to play, we finally got a lead at 41-40. Hillier was dragging by then and I was sent back into light a bigger fire. But our guards began turning the ball over and we fell behind once again. After just 4 minutes on the court, Hillier was brought back in and I was back on the bench. We fell further behind from that point and lost our 4th straight game. This sucks!
 
Final Score: Bethune-Cookman (3-1)—81, Eastern Washington (0-4)—64.
 
Team stats:
 
FG %: 57% (29-51) vs 53% (28-53) in favor of B-C
FT %: 70% (21-30) vs 70% (7-10) in favor of B-C
3 pt %: 100% (1-1) vs 33% (2-6) in favor of EWU
Reb: 26 (including 7 offensive reb) vs 23 (including 9 offensive reb) in favor of B-C
Turnovers: 13 vs 21 in favor of B-C
Blocks: 2 vs 2 so even
Steals: 8 vs 5 in favor of B-C
Assists: 15 vs 9 in favor of B-C
Fouls: 14 vs 22 in favor of B-C
Pts in paint: 42 vs 36 in favor of B-C
2nd chance pts: 15 vs 12 in favor of EWU
Fast break pts: 20 vs 16 in favor of EWU
Biggest lead: 17 vs 2 in favor of B-C
Lead changes: 11
Times tied: 2
 
Leading Eagles’ players: C Michael Taylor-14 pts, 5 reb; PF Cory Davis-11 pts, 6 reb, 1 assist; SF Terence Hillier-10 pts, 4 reb, 1 assist, 1 steal; PF Cory Davis-10 pts, 3 reb; C Odie Joseph-7 pts, 6 reb, 1 assist, 1 steal.
 
Bethune-Cookman’s PF Michael Selden was the player of the game with 13 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks

Sunan, waiter at Bangkok Garden Restaurant:
 
Ms Rozniak is back at our restaurant. She’s been here several times. She’s a good customer, so we give her the table she likes in the back corner. She’s always been a good tipper, so I’m happy to be able to wait on her table.
 
Tonight she’s with some tall guy, and she’s really dressed sexy…a slinky dress with lots of cleavage. She seems to be making most of the decisions about drinks and food. But I guess that is because she’s been here fairly often, and he seems not to know anything about the restaurant or our menu.
 
The guy hasn’t said much to me at all and he seems sort of ill at ease, but she’s particularly bubbly. Maybe that’s because she’s downed several drinks. Towards the end of the dinner, she introduces me to him (Bret Van-something) and says he is the new basketball coach at Eastern Washington. He gives me a business card and writes on the back of it, telling me “If you want to see our team play, just bring this card to the ticket office and they’ll provide you with tickets for two good seats.”
 
As they get up to leave, she wobbles slightly and giggles, then takes his arm to steady herself while saying, “Bret, I really have had too much to drink so I think you better take control…of the car and drive us back to Cheney.”
 
She leaves a VERY nice tip. The valet later tells me he also got a good tip and a nice view. We get better tips than the valets, but there are other benefits to being a valet.