Finding ways to win

[randy]

(It's been a while since I last played this game ...)

Association background

• Simmed for 60 yrs
• Illegal Recruiting: Yes
• Conference Movement: Yes
• Declare Early: Yes

Year: 2000

After shortlisting possible opportunities, I decided to take the HC job at Alabama St:

• Team Prestige: 8
• NCAA Tournament Appearances: 10
• Conf Championships: 8 (last: 2000)
• Facilities: B-
• Academics: D- (min SAT score: 800)

There were already 3 incoming FR recruited by previous coaching staff:

1. SG Solomon Hillier (class rank #1136)
2. C Will Perkins (#1143)
3. PG Travis Reuter (#1757)

I cut 2 players. and able to recruit the following:

1. JuCo SG Haven Wilkerson (#55)
2. C Chris Hawkins (#468)

[randy]

Recruitment budget: 106,000
- Bought SE Gold Report and Basic National Report
- SUmmer Camps: Georgia Superstar Camp and Memphis Hoops Summit

Available scholarships: 3
- looking to fill 1 SG, 1 SF, and 1 PF/C

[randy]

Offense: 23
Defense: 21
Recruiting: 32
Scouting: 24
Development: 21
Reputation: 8

[randy]

Starting Lineup

• 1: So PG Johnny Victor, 6-2, 2.0/3.0
• 2: Jr SG Haven Wilkerson, 6-5, 2.0/4.0
• 3: Sr SF Steffon DeLord, 6-4, 3.0/3.5
• 4: So PF David Andrews, 6-8, 2.0/3.5
• 5: Sr C Reginald Davis, 6-9, 3.5/3.5

Bench

• 3/4: So SF Terrance Walls, 6-8, 3.5/4.0
• 1/2: So PG Thomas Scott, 6-1, 2.0/4.0
• 4/5: Jr C Seneca Popp, 6-9, 2.0/3.0
• 1/2: Fr SG Solomon Hillier, 6-2, 1.0/4.0
• 4/5: Fr C Will Perkins, 6-8, 1.0/4.0
• 1/2: Fr PG Travis Reuter, 6-2, 1.0/0.5
• 4/5: Fr C Chris Hawkins, 6-8, 1.0/1.0

Walk-ons

• 3/4: So SF Charlie Jones
• 4/5: Jr PF Jonte Delk

Ineligible (until start of conference play)

• 1/2: Michael Everhart, 6-0, 2.0/3.5

Notes:

• With the exception of JuCo recruit SG Haven Wilkerson, our back court rotation is relatively inexperienced. We should be ok once Everhart is eligible to play in the mid-season
• Aside from Wilkerson, looks like we will rely on SF Steffon DeLord (14 ppg last season) and C Reginald Davis (8.1 ppg) on offense. SF Terrance Walls (6.9 ppg) gives us flexibility on the front court when he comes in off the bench

[randy]

Signed so far

• SF Thurman Clark, 6-6, 3.1 GPA (class rank: #112)
• C Robbie Wise, 6-10, 2.1 GPA (#116)

We're still looking to recruit a SG who can put points on the board, and be the offensive spark plug coming off the bench. Also, we're keeping some shortlisted big men, in case Wise scores below 800 SAT

[randy]

Nov 14, 2000: North Dakota St (1-0) @ Alabama St (0-0)

Pregame Notes

• In NDST's last game, C Marvin Orr scored 25 pts on 10-11 FG

Tip off

SG Haven Wilkerson already with 13 pts. NDST started the game going 0-9 FG.
13:44, Up 22-5

NDSU started to settle down on offense, but our rebounding advantage (14-5) is a major difference.
7:50, Up 29-15

A string of turn overs cut our lead to 10. Then our big men, C Reginald Davis and PF David Andrews, went to work on both offense and defense to build up our lead again.


Halftime, Up 42-25
Even though SG Haven Wilkerson was sitting on the bench towards the end of the half due to 2 fouls, he still managed to score 19 pts in 14 mins, shooting an efficient 7-12 FG. C Reginald Davis has 11 pts, 6 rebs, 3 stls.


NDST can't seem to miss at the start of the 2nd half. SG Haven Wilkerson and C Reginald Davis continues to carry our offense. Wilkerson already with 4 fouls, and has to sit for a while. I'm not happy with the defense; increasing def intensity
12:15, Up 54-44

Our 2nd unit able to hold our lead, as NDST's offense went cold
7:14, Up 60-48

SF Terrance Walls scored all of his 8 pts in the 2nd half, which helped staved off any late rally by NDST. I'm satisfied with the way our bench played during that stretch, before our starters finished the job.


Final Score: North Dakota St - 53, Alabama St - 78


Box Scores
[INDENT]Wilkerson 27, 4, 3, 4 stls (*)
Davis 17, 7, 1, 3 stls, 2 blks
Andrews 12, 9, 0, 2 blks
Walls 8, 3, 0
Victor 6, 3, 6
Popp 4, 5, 0
DeLord 2, 4, 1, 2 stls
Reuter 2, 0, 0
Scott 0, 1, 0
Perkins 0, 1, 0
Hillier 0, 0, 0
Hawkins 0, 0, 0
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 51-34%
REB: +6
TO: -5
Pts in paint: +16
2nd chance: +6
Fast break: +14
[/INDENT]

[randy]

Nov 17, 2000: Alabama St (1-0) @ Akron (1-0)

Pregame Notes

• In Akron's last game, they put up 49 pts in the 1st half

Tip off

SF Steffon DeLord suffered an injury early in the game. AKR like to play up-tempo. Both teams already with 4 turn overs each.
13:51, Down 7-8

Our players, esp with the shortened rotation, barely able to keep pace on the speed of the game. PG Thomas Scott scoring 6 pts off the bench, to keep us in the game.
7:04, Down 18-21

AKR's early penalty allowed us to score 16 out of 23 FTAs.


Halftime, Up 36-32
Our rotation in the 2nd half should be more frequent, as our key players were tired at the end of the half. SG Haven Wilkerson with 10 pts; C Reginald Davis 9 pts.


Start of 2nd half

We forced several turn overs on AKR, which allowed us to get easy transition baskets. However, the foul story has been reversed, and we're the one early in the penalty.
13:36, Up 48-40


AKR has threatened several times, by taking advantage of our penalty situation; PF David Andrews has been a non-factor for us, 0 pts, 1 reb, and has fouled out already. A couple of our FR guards, PF Travis Reuter and SG Solomon Hillier hit clutch outside shots, keeping us in the lead.
6:58, Up 63-54

AKR committed 4 turn overs in their next 6 possessions, and we increased the lead to 15, 69-54, before AKR put up a mini 5-0 run.
2:52, Up 69-59

AKR came up empty on the next 2 possessions, while our big men scored 2 baskets, to take our lead up to 14 and put the game beyond doubt. We slowed down the game afterwards.


Final Score: Alabama St - 77, Akron - 59
I made sure our key players were fresh for the end game, and that was the key to our late run. The score seems to indicate it was a blow out, but this was a challenging game to coach from a substitution standpoint


Box Scores
[INDENT]Wilkerson 24, 2, 2, 4 stls (*)
Davis 15, 4, 2, 5 stls
Scott 12, 5, 4
Walls 6, 8, 1
Popp 6, 5, 1
Victor 6, 2, 1
Reuter 3, 1, 1
Hillier 2, 2, 0
Hawkins 2, 0, 1
Perkins 1, 2, 2, 2 stls
Andrews 0, 1, 2 (fouled out)
DeLord 0, 0, 0
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 52-33%
REB: -1 (AKR: 12 off rebs)
TO: -8 (AKR: 21)
Pts in paint: +14
2nd chance: -9
Fast break: +8
[/INDENT]

[PointGuard]

Good start by the team and Wilkerson and Davis, in particular.

[randy]

Nov 21, 2000: Princeton (1-2) @ Alabama St (2-0)

Pregame Notes

• Luckily, SF Steffon DeLord's had injury wasn't serious and he'll be able to play today
• Princeton is averaging just 53 ppg in their last 2 games (both losses)

Tip off

We started well offensively, shooting 5-8 FG. But things started to go downward after that, and we missed our last 10 FG attempts. We'll switch to Favor Inside to get higher percentage shots
10:33, Down 11-17

We continue to struggle with our half-court offense. We went with a smaller 3-guard lineup, which forced PRIN to commit turn overs that we converted into easy fast break pts
4:59, Up 21-19

Both teams only had 2 FGs each during the last 5 mins of the 1st half.


Halftime, Up 31-26
Our defense has kept us in the game, forcing PRIN to commit 11 turn overs. We're shooting only 35% FG; SG Haven Wilkerson has 9 pts, but only 2-9 FG.


Start of 2nd half

SG Haven Wilkerson scored 6 of our 1st 8 pts in the 2nd half, but his FG% is still low. Both Wilkerson and PF David Andrews with 3 fouls each.
13:31, Up 39-34

We couldn't extend our lead beyond 7 pts, until PRIN slowly chipped away their deficit and able to tie at 48. PF David Andrews converted a 3pt play opportunity to restore our lead.
7:43, Up 51-48

Even though PRIN has not made a FG in the last 4 mins, they were able to generate pts from the FT line because of our early penalty situation
3:51, Up 55-53

We couldn't buy a basket on our next 3 possessions. Luckily PRIN was only able to score a FT during the same span, and we're clinging on just 1 pt lead.
2:17, Up 55-54

ALST: We moved the ball on our next play. PG David Victor receives the pass. Victor attempts to drive to the basket. Victor drains the bucket!
1:49, Up 57-54

SG Haven Wilkerson with the interception. Wilkerson takes it all the way for the slam plus a foul! Wilkerson nails the bonus FT. Timeout PRIN
1:33, Up 60-54

PRIN: C Matt Greene who has been effective in the 1st half, missed a shot from the low post. Ball knocked out of bounds. Our ball. I call a timeout
1:15, Up 60-54

ALST: We're trying to waste some clock. PRIN realizes this and commits a foul. Both teams in the penalty. PG David Victor makes both FTs. Timeout PRIN
1:03, Up 62-54

PRIN: We gave up a silly foul. But C Matt Greene missed both FTs. That should do it.

A 7-0 run in the last 2 mins, before PRIN scored a meaningless basket in the end


Final Score: Princeton - 56, Alabama St - 62
We had better composure in the end game, to finally break free from a very close match. There will be games like this where we shoot poorly, but as long as we play good defense (PRIN: 17 turn overs, 39% FG), we'll have a chance to still snatch a win.


Box Scores
[INDENT]Wilkerson 18, 1, 0 (*)
Andrews 9, 6, 1
DeLord 8, 9, 0, 2 blks
Victor 8, 2, 4, 2 stls, 2 blks
Davis 4, 7, 0, 2 blks
Reuter 4, 0, 2, 3 tos
Hillier 3, 0, 1
Walls 2, 2, 2
Popp 2, 2, 0, 3 stls
Scott 2, 0, 1
Perkins 2, 0, 0
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 37-39%
REB: -4
TO: -9
Pts in paint: -4
2nd chance: -4
Fast break: -2
[/INDENT]

[randy]

Nov 24, 2000: Middle Tennessee St (0-2) @ Alabama St (3-0)

Pregame Notes

• MTST is shooting 28% 3PT. We'll try to use more 2-3 zone, as their only offensive threat is C Del Woods (11 ppg)

Tip off

MTST's 2 FGs were from beyond the arc, so we switched back to m2m defense.
13:10, Up 12-6

PF David Andrews having a good offensive game so far, 9 pts, 4-4 FG. MTST already hit 4 3s.
7:13, Up 21-14

After MTST trimmed our lead to within 5 pts, SG Haven Wilkerson scored 8 pts as part of a 14-6 run to end the half.


Halftime, Up 35-22
SG Haven Wilkerson with 14 pts, while PF David Andrews has 11; the two combined to shoot 12-14 FG, while the rest of the team only managed 4-16 FG.


Start of 2nd half

MTST continues to surprisingly shoot well from the perimeter today (7 3s already). We have 6 team fouls already, with PF David Andrews having 4. I had to burn an early timeout.
13:05, Up 46-41

Before our last timeout, our bench has not contributed anything on offense; since then, they have now scored 10 of our last 12 pts. But MTST still shooting well to keep themselves within striking distance.
8:26, Up 58-50

Our lead was down to 6. I brought back SG Haven Wilkerson and PF David Andrews to the floor, and the two combined on a 10-0 run to give our team a more comfortable margin.
2:34, Up 70-54

We slowed down the game and held on for the win.


Final Score: Middle Tennessee St - 54, Alabama St - 74
Another game where we had a strong finish. Both team shot horribly from the line; we were 7-15 (47%) while MTST fared worse at 6-15 (40%).


Box Scores
[INDENT]Wilkerson 25, 6, 2, 3 stls, 11-15 FG (*)
Andrews 18, 6, 1, fouled out
Davis 9, 10, 0
DeLord 6, 6, 1
Victor 6, 2, 8
Popp 4, 5, 0
Scott 2, 4, 4
Walls 2, 2, 2
Perkins 2, 0, 1
Reuter 0, 0, 1
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 53-40%
REB: +19 (+10 off rebounds)
TO: Even
Pts in paint: +32
2nd chance: +14 (18-4)
Fast break: +14 (16-2)
[/INDENT]