The Success/Failure of A Newcomer

[Goliathus]

CHI Final
Chattannoga 80 @ Air Force 78

AIT Final
Buffalo 64 @ North Indy 80

MNA Final
North Carolina 69 @ South Bend 43

Norton Award
#4 Kareem Dennis, Syracuse Senior SG
26.6 PPG, 3.1 APG, 7.1 RPG, 2.0 SPG, 1.2 BPG

WS Playee of the Year
#4 Kareem Dennis, Syracuse Senior SG
26.6 PPG, 3.1 APG, 7.1 RPG, 2.0 SPG, 1.2 BPG

MNA MOP
#1 Ryan Lee, North Carolina Freshman SG
22.8 PPG, 2.3 APG, 5.2 RPG, 1.6 SPG, 3.9 BPG

WS Freshman of the Year
#5 Aaron Smith, Durham Freshman PG
25.3 PPG, 3.3 APG, 4.3 RPG, 1.3 SPG, 0.8 BPG

WS Defensive Player of the Year
#22 Kelvin Moore, Oklahoma Freshman SF
8.1 PPG, 3.0 APG, 5.1 RPG, 4.9 SPG, 0.4 BPG

WS Coach of the Year
Ted Sanders, North Carolina, 35-1

1st team All-American
#4 Kareem Dennis, Syracuse Senior SG
26.6 PPG, 3.1 APG, 7.1 RPG, 2.0 SPG, 1.2 BPG

#5 Aaron Smith, Durham Freshman PG
25.3 PPG, 3.3 APG, 4.3 RPG, 1.3 SPG, 0.8 BPG

#45 Bevon Burke, Spokane Freshman C
19.3 PPG, 1.2 APG, 11.7 RPG, 0.4 SPG, 0.3 BPG

#41 Devon Thomas, Florida Freshman C
16.6 PPG, 2.3 APG, 10.5 RPG, 1.6 SPG, 2.6 BPG

#12 James Moore, Provo Junior SG
19.0 PPG, 2.2 APG, 5.2 RPG, 1.9 SPG, 0.9 BPG

2nd Team All-American
#34 Kevin Blevins, Freshman SF
18.4 PPG, 1.9 APG, 9.4 RPG, 1.6 SPG, 2.9 BPG

#25 Antione Gourde, Milwaukee Senior SG
21.2 PPG, 2.6 APG, 4.9 RPG, 1.1 SPG, 0.6 BPG

#24 David Gomes, Durham Sophomore PG
13.4 PPG, 4.6 APG, 6.6 RPG, 1.2 SPG, 1.1 BPG

#50 Delano Wadley, Indiana Senior C
12.3 PPG, 2.1 APG, 9.3 RPG, 1.8 SPG, 3.3 BPG

#25 Maurice Vaka, Arizona Freshman PF
12.1 PPG, 2.1 APG, 8.8 RPG, 1.3 SPG, 2.6 BPG

PAA Player of the Year
#20 Adam Brown, Old Dominion Senior SG
25.6 PPG, 0.8 APG, 3.9 RPG, 0.5 SPG, 0.4 BPG

PAA Freshman of the Year
#25 Andy Stanton, Georgia St. Freshman PG
11.8 PPG, 2.8 APG, 3.1 RPG, 0.8 SPG, 0.0 BPG

PAA Defensive Player of the Year
#54 Brian Alvin, NE Boston Junior C
6.7 PPG, 1.6 APG, 6.6 RPG, 0.8 SPG, 1.8 BPG

PAA Coach of the Year
Antonio Stoudamire, Old Dominion, 26-6

PAA 1st Team All-Conference
#20 Adam Brown, Old Dominion Senior SG
25.6 PPG, 0.8 APG, 3.9 RPG, 0.5 SPG, 0.4 BPG

#1 Nate Person, Delaware Junior SG
17.9 PPG, 1.1 APG, 4.6 RPG, 1.0 SPG, 0.9 BPG

#1 David Cox, Towson Senior SG
15.5 PPG, 2.2 APG, 4.0 RPG, 1.0 SPG, 0.6 BPG

#40 Scott Lynch, South Philly Senior C
11.1 PPG, 1.6 APG, 6.4 RPG, 0.8 SPG, 0.6 BPG

#32 Kelyn Howard, Towson Junior PF
10.8 PPG, 1.4 APG, 5.5 RPG, 0.7 SPG, 0.3 BPG

PAA 2nd Team All-Conference
#22 Chris Cook, VA Commonwealth Junior C
15.6 PPG, 2.0 APG, 3.8 RPG, 1.6 SPG, 0.5 BPG

#21 Zack Hamilton, Harrisonburg Junior PG
14.9 PPG, 4.0 APG, 3.1 RPG, 0.5 SPG, 0.9 BPG

#5 Josh Beck, George Mason Junior SG
17.2 PPG, 0.9 APG, 2.7 RPG, 0.8 SPG, 0.6 BPG

#54 Brian Alvin, NE Boston Junior C
6.7 PPG, 1.6 APG, 6.6 RPG, 0.8 SPG, 1.8 BPG

#41 Chad Linney, Harrisonburg Junior C
10.8 PPG, 1.3 APG, 6.6 RPG, 0.5 SPG, 0.2 BPG

[Goliathus]

OOC: Sorry but I am sick of the scouting job so I decided to sim to keep the diary going.

After three years in South Philly, let's just say I am getting the hang of it, a little bit at the very least. South Philly had an amazing season in this the 2014-2015 season as we were actually getting into the AIT final and I would like to keep it going, I have two more years to go in my contract and I am settled in Philadelphia...until I get this particular phone call.

"Hello." I answer it.

"Hello there, is this Andy Sim, the assistant coach of South Philly?"

"Yes, speaking."

"Are you interested to fill the vacant head coach of our school? We have the perfect opportunity for you here in Eastwen Illinois. We are in Charleston, not a grand school in a big city so I would understand if you reject the offer but still, I think it's a good opporturnity for you, and us."

I am not sure if I can describe what I felt at this moment, it's a mixture of emotion but a mixture of the positives and no negative. "Yes, of course."

"Wow, that's actually faster than I thought, can we discuss this further later on? I will call you at 8 tonight."

"Sure, no problem." The call ends there.

I dived into the my computer to access the internet. With the sound of keystrokes, I pressed the enter key with the word "Charleston" hanging inside the Google search bar. As expected, Charleston, South Carolina popped up. That dude was definitely cheating, Charleston is the second largest city in South Caroli...wait a second, Illinois...darn it, there's a Charleston in Illinois too? Darn my geography knowledge or common sense! Darn both of them. It turns out Charleston is really as that man said, a very small city, more like a county seat. The university is big though, very big for such a place. If every student became a zombie, they can outrun the town in less than a week, the student amount is like half of the town, or maybe more than.

Well, I am actually used to city life but once I think back on why I get into this thing in the first place and then my thought lingered to Hoosiers, darn amazing movie and it's about leading a basketball team in a small town too. Small town isn't that big really and I think I could get used to the life there after a few years. I am here to lead teams to glory, I come in here to South Philly to learn to be a good coach so I can lead a team one day, and when the chance presents itself, why am I hesitating?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Few days later, I arrived at Charleston, Illnois. My mind is still linger around the previous night's farewell dinner with the team. It's tough to leave a team that are already like family to me. I am even good friends with some of the players there but it's all in the past now. I am now - or technically, in the upcoming season - the head coach of Eastern Illinois Wildcats. The first day is pretty much the same like my experience in South Philly except that I am now the head coach of a team. I feel the pressure whenever someone calls me by it. I meet with the school board and also my assistant coaches -- darn, it feels good to say MY assistant coaches. While Jeff Jenkins, the first assistant coach, doesn't seem very friendly to me, the other two welcomes me with a smile on their face.

I am asked to report back at the beginning of the 2015-2016 season. Now, it's time to look for a place to settle down here and ready for the next chapter of my life, the life of a Div. I head coach.

[Goliathus]

School Information
School Name: Eastern Illinois
Mascot Name: Wildcats
Location: Charleston, IL
Arena: Eastern Illinois Arena, 5,300 seats
Facilities: C
Academics: C-
Conference: Ohio River Conference
Conf. Prestige: 26
Team Prestige: 16
Minimum SAT Score: 860

Goals
Finish in Top 3 of Conference
Win 10+ Games


Staff
Numbers are coach stats: Off/Def/Recruit/Scout/Player Dev

Head Coach - Andy Sim begins his first season as the head coach of a Div. I team.
1st Asst. - Jeff Jenkins(37/34/49/33/35), a 60 years old veteran that doesn't like me at all, probably because he thought he is the next on-line for the head coach job? Well, that's just my random guess. I am fine as long as he doesn't slack off on his job as he is one solid recruiter.
Salary: $46,000
2nd Asst. - Chris Little(23/28/29/27/23) is a 38 years old man that has more flair on recruiting but isn't that bad of a scout.
Salary: $40,000(Overpaid to the max compared to Jeff Jenkins but with a 6 years contract, he is very safe)
3rd Asst. - Sean Childress(25/28/33/26/29) is 46 and the training coach of the team. He is a good man, very friendly and very good at communicating with the players.
Salary: $13,000(Good bargain)

Personal Info
Name: Andy Sim
Age: 33
Salary: $73,000, 2 years [Not bad of a raise in salary]
Reputation: Poor(19)[+1]

Ambition: Very High
Academics: Average
Discipline: Average
Temper: High
Integrity: High

Offense: 33
Defense: 47(+2)
Recruiting: 27(+1)[I manually edit the potential and re-import the database, I give myself a +1 on this to see if the database import works, hopefully it can grow naturally]
Scouting: 29(+3)
Player Dev.: 41(+1)

[Goliathus]

The first thing to do with the team is to set things up for the upcoming season and the future. The team only have 12 players right now and 4 are graduating by the end of this year so there's a strong recruiting campaign is needed. I am not sure if I want to grab any transfer or to focus all 4 scholarships on the recruiting campaign. My initial plan is one solid transfer, leaving me with three scholarships to use on newcomers. I have $56,000 for recruit(Would be much more if Chris Little doesn't eat up so much salary) and IL being at the border of three regions is not so good when it comes to report. I bought basic Midwest and basic Great Plains, leaving me with $46,000 comes the transfer period.

There's a good pool of transfer players but then I realized the school really can't attract big talent at the current state so I decided to not waste my money on transfers after a few failed attempts. (More on them later on)

I sign myself up for the Chicago camp and also the Houston camp, which costs me $6,600. As a newbie coach I really not sure if I am making good money decision on the recruiting part. I don't even have a chance to tackle them as the assistant coach so it's a tough part of my life now. For better or worst, I have 39.4K for the actual recruiting period.

The Great Plains report turn out to be quite useless. Well, at least I know that no player has any initial interest in my school. Heck, they probably don't know the name of it. I then try to call some of the recruits in Kentucky and they all give me the same answer. I also try to call some of the Tenessee players but they are the same actually, not interested at all. Oh well, I just have to get the best out of the midwest region.

[Goliathus]

Initial Pre-Conference
@ Stanford
Florida Atlantic
@ Texas-El Paso
San Diego St.
@ Hawaii
Poughkeepsie
@ MD Eastern Shore
Nicholls St.
Texas Tech
@ Jersey City
@ South Alabama

Modified Pre-Conference
@ Peoria
Charleston Southern
@ Texas-El Paso
Mississippi Valley St.
@ Hawaii
Poughkeepsie
@MD Eastern Shore
Nicholls St.
Wichita St.
@ Jersey City
@ South Alabama

Conference
SE Missouri St.
@ Jacksonville St.
Murray St.
@ Eastern Kentucky
Morehead St.
@ Tennessee Tech
Tennessee St.
Tennessee-Martin
@ Clarksville
@ New Orleans
SIU-Edwardsville
@ SE Missouri St.
Jacksonville St.
@ Murray St.
Eastern Kentucky
@ Morehead St.

I tweaked the pre-conference schedule a little bit so the opponents are closer to my team in terms of skill level. I also put a few tough opponents there for my team to test the water. I could have adjusted it to an easier than now schedule but I feel that some challenge can be good to the team.

[Goliathus]

PG - Michael Minor SG #10 SR 6-1 183lbs 3.0/3.0
Michael Minor is a good guard with solid defensive skill and also good court vision. While mainly a SG, there's not a good PG in this team so I am forced to stuff him to the PG spot and his court vision and on-court decision are big factors why I give him the staring PG spot.

SG - Tyron Williams SG #2 SO 6-6 190lbs 3.0/4.0
Being the ORC Player and Freshman of the Year in 2014, Tyron Williams is no doubt the star of the team. He is athletic, a very good scorer and most importantly, his defensive skill is just impressive. Being a sophomore means he will be in the team for years to come, definitely a blessing to the squad.

SF - Josh Greene SF #24 SR 6-6 206lbs 3.5/4.0
Josh Greene has a point forward mindset, he has great passing and he is clever on the court. His scoring might be weak but his defensive ability makes up for it. Without a true point guard in the squad, I think he can contribute a lot to the offensive flow.

PF - Kevin Wright C #54 SR 6-8 243lbs 3.0/1.5
I would say Kevin Wright is the average C except maybe with a weirdly efficient jump shot. His court disclipine isn't the best though and that's his main problem.

C - Clifford Sanders PF #22 SO 6-11 246lbs 3.0/4.0
Not the best scorer on the court, Clifford Sanders is a tough inside presence thanks to his rebounding and shot blocking abilities. He is the team's primary big man and the main defender on the low post. The reason why I do a PF-C interchange is because Sanders has better inside shooting and their passing and ball handling ability is identical.

6th - Demond Ashburn SF #42 SR 6-6 206lbs 2.5/2.0
A standard SF that can do pretty much anything on the court, but not very good at anything. Still a good choice for 6th man since he can assist the team in any way possible.

7th - Del Morill PG #25 JR 6-4 177lbs 2.5/1.5(Walk-on)
Del Morill is an impressive dribbler and has some amazing shooting skill, if allowed the space, but he needs to work more on creating shots and also passing the ball.

8th - Brent Cherry PF #40 JR 6-11 238lbs 2.0/3.0
Brent Cherry is not a very impressive scorer but his ability to draw foul plus an averagely decent free throw percentage allows him to be a problem at times for the opponent. His defense and rebounding are up to standard PF level.

9th - Joel Hill PG #5 SR 6-3 211lbs 2.5/1.5(Walk-on)
Another walk-on, another PG. He is not that bad but his lack of defense isn't something I like to see often on the court.

10th - Chris Smith PG #21 6-4 207lbs 2.5/1.5
His handling skill is only mediocre for a point guard and that's why he is so low on the chart. His defensive skill, or lack of it, is another reason that I don't want to play him often.

11th - Corey Joseph C #51 SR 6-9 261lbs 2.0/1.0(Walk-on)
Just not a good enough player to be in Div. I, Corey Joseph has some good handling for a C but lacks everything else, especially defense and blocking skill.

12th - Craig Morgan PF #31 SO 6-7 190lbs 1.0/3.5
A PF that can jump shot as good as a SG, Craig Morgan has the raw potential to be a major factor in the upcoming years. The question is whether he can improve fast enough and his personality really isn't that good to be honest. He really needs to brush his ego aside to be a great player.

13th - Kevin Attaway SG #11 SO 6-6 178lbs 1.0/3.0
A freak athlete, Kevin Attaway can score and drive the ball like a freak and if he can develop his defense, he will be very useful to the team.

14th - Vigil Alston PF #45 FR 6-6 227lbs 1.5/3.5(Redshirt)
He is very raw as of now but I can see him being a good post player in the future. He can pass very well for a big man and will suit into a offense that involves a lot of movement.

15th - James Woollum SG #15 FR 6-1 207lbs 1.0/2.5(Redshirt)
I am not sure if he can ever become a consistent starter at this level but James Woollum has the typical SG scoring ability. Time will tell me his peak level, for now all he needs to do is to keep training.

[Goliathus]

We will be using Princeton, Motion and 5 Out for offense. Defense will be a lot of man-to-man with a bit of 2-3 zone, the seniors are good at it thanks to the previous coach so I want to keep the tradition going. I rarely press so only light training on full court man to man.

The team is given a 25% freedom since they are not very good in terms of on-court decision but they have to re-learn the offense as I don't agree with their previous year's playset so I think the freedom is needed to compensate that. Defense-wise, mostly man-to-man with a little 2-3 or no 2-3 against an outside team. Press will be full court man-to-man.

[Goliathus]

Ohio River Conference
1. Tennessee St. Lions
2. Tennessee Tech Golden Falcons
3. SIU-Edwardsville Jaguars
4. Murray St. Horses
5. Morehead St. Condors
6. Tennessee-Martin Condors
7. Clarksville Senators
[color="red"]8. Eastern Illinois Wildcats[/color]
9. Eastern Kentucky Officers
10. SE Missouri St. Braves
11. New Orleans Pirates
12. Jacksonville St. Roosters

[PointGuard]

It looks like you have a pretty strong starting lineup. It should be an interesting year.

[Goliathus]

November 14 - Eastern Illinois Wildcats(0-0) @ Peoria Indians(0-0)
This is definitely a game that I don't think the team will win but I still want them to give their best in this one to impress me. In the first half, the team can't really get anything going. The shot selection is bad, I ask them to slow the offense down but they still keep rushing it at times. The second half is pretty much 2-3 zone vs 1-3-1 zone. While that approach proven to be a tad better than the first half, the final result is staying that way. Peoria is so good with steals and our turnover is just too high. Tyson Williams still shows his flair out there though, 20 points and 5/6(.833) from behind the line? This kid is sick. His problem is the 6 turnovers. I would like to see how Michael Minor does against a weaker team because his playmaking is just bad in this one. If he can't be a good PG I will just put another one in and let him be the backup SG.
Result: Wildcats 59 Indians 83

November 17 - Charleston Pirates(1-0) @ Eastern Illinois Wildcats(0-1)
Battle of two Charleston school, huh? Tyson Williams refuse to pass and just keep jacking up bricks so I take an earlier timeout and scream the crap out of that kid. Seriously, my PG and SF has like no chance to shoot even when they are free out there and that's bad offense in my book. He is lucky that the first half ends in our favor because if it doesn't, he will be ready for my lecture at half time. Joel Hill put up one heck of a performance in the first half, 12 points and 100% on all the categories: 3/3 FG, 4/4 FT and 2/2 3PT. The opponent has bad three-pointers so we ride quite an amount of 2-3 zone and forcing them to take bad threes. It actually works pretty well. Before that, Charleston has a good run in the early period of second half but we stopped it well before the score goes out of hand. They foul too much and our team takes good use of the free throws but I believe they can do better than a .625(20/32). I love Kevin Wright's defensive effort in this one, three blocks and really putting the stoppage on the opponent's C. Tyson Williams is a ballhog with 6/22(.273) and 3/14(.214) from behind the line. Aside from that, no complaint.
Result: Pirates 61 Wildcats 69

November 22 - Eastern Illnois Wildcats(1-1) @ Texas-El Paso Diggers(1-2)
I give Del Morrill a shot as the starting PG in this one and Michael Minor as the sixth man and Del Morrill sure doesn't disappoint with 7 assists and only 2 turnovers. Now that is a point guard stat. While he doesn't make any of his field goal, he did hit 6/6(1.000) for free throws so I ain't going to complaint. This game is 50:50 in my book and with Diggers having the home court advantage, I expect a hard fight but the team did well. While Diggers has a few chances to overcome us, which makes my heart pound very hard, they just fail to capitalize. Despite the final score difference, it is actually much closer as Wildcats are only winning by 2-4 points. The wider gap is because Diggers' intentional fouling, my team nailing down the free throws and them not hitting their shots afterward. The main factor is our free throw accuracy, we hit 22/26(.846) which is amazing and the home team only hit 11/20(.550). That along is enough to decide a game. Tyson Williams is much pickier in this one although he still occasionally jack up shots which missed when there are still 20+ seconds on the clock. Still, he gives the team 25 points, 4 assists, 6 rebounds and 1 steal so he's alright. Clifford Sanders has a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds(3 offensive) and Kevin Wright is amazing with 4 blocks. I am very happy with this game so I treat the team to a Tex-Mex diner for dinner.
Result: Wildcats 74 Diggers 66