Grim Madder

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[color="Blue"]Introduction[/color]

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I decided to have a crack at a new career. The updates will be scheduled as preseason news updates, seasonal updates (match by match), and postseason news updates. I coach all matches, so it may be a slow career.

I am using the default names, so there will be discrepancies with real names. I did make changes for the conference I will be coaching in. There will quite a few pictures.

I am also using limited ratings for the first time which may make things very interesting or very shambolic

[SIZE="4"][color="Blue"]The Coach[/color][/SIZE]

Grim Madder takes over at Mississippi Valley. The Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils men's basketball team represents Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, Mississippi, in NCAA Division I competition. The school's team competes in the Southwestern Athletic Conference and plays home games in the Harrison HPER Complex.

The Delta Devils have appeared in four NCAA Tournaments. Their combined record is 0–4.

Year Round Opponent Result/Score
1986 First Round Duke L 78–85
1992 First Round Ohio State L 56–83
1996 First Round Georgetown L 56–93
2008 First Round UCLA L 29–70

The Delta Devils have appeared in one National Invitation Tournament (NIT). Their record is 0–1.

Year Round Opponent Result/Score
2007 First Round Mississippi State L 63–82

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[color="Blue"][SIZE="4"]Season 01 Preseason - Coaches[/SIZE][/color]

My first coaches meeting was interesting, I was not overly impressed with the ambition or drive shown by the current coaching group.

I decided to take it easy on them and just fired Howard. At 64, the guy hadn't achieved anything, and I wanted to bring in someone with a little more offensive ability.

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[SIZE="4"][B][color="Blue"]Season 01 Preseason[/color][/SIZE]

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The AD wanted to know what kind of schedule I wanted. I didn't think twice. I told him I wanted as many softies at home as he could muster. I am not sure he will be able to find that many!

I was given a $90,000 budget for recruiting. I decided to focus on our area and keep things simple. I purchased the basic edition of the Great Plains Scouting Report and the Southeast region Scouting Report for $5,000 each.

I decided to check out three camps. The Georgia Superstar Camp, The Houston Classic Camp, and The Southeast Region Camp. A bit of money spent, but I want to get our name out there.

I finally decided to hire a 3rd coach. Travis is not the greatest looking guy on paper, but he does bring more offensive coaching skills to the table than the rest of us.

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[SIZE="4"][color="Blue"]Season 01 Preseason[/color][/SIZE]

The team itself seems reasonable on paper. For some reason we have a plethora of small forwards. Using limited ratings makes deciding on my best players tricky, but here is who I imagine will be our starting five right now.

PG - Anthony Greenleaf - SR
SG - Rick Harrison - JR
SF - Leonard McClean - SR
PF - Tim Kellum - SO
C - Clint Ward - SR

The main weakness for me is the power forward position. I want a strong inside game so my recruiting will look to target a power forward, a center, a point guard and a shooting guard in that particular order.

I decided to redshirt Jarrett Chabliss (SO) as he was just not going to cut it as a small forward.

Strategy wise, I tried to keep things simple defensively. I will focus on th 2-3 and 3-2 zonal defenses. Offensively the flex and motion will be our major calls.

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Season 01 Preseason

I have never claimed to be the best recruiter out there, and in general, we are weak at both scouting and recruiting. The whole process was a bit fingers crossed this year. Still I hope the guys will become valuable members of the team.

Our first commitment came from Ray Clyburn. He is a power forward from Brooksville, MS. We hope he will become a strong inside player for us.

The next commitment was from Jeremy Griffin who is a center from Hattiesburg, MS. Jeremy again is being earmarked to help build the inside game.

The third verbal came from point guard Ryan Harmon. Ryan is from Olive Branch, MS. He is a risky choice. At only 5'5 he may struggle to have much impact on the court.

It took a while to get Chuck Irvin squared away, but he eventually become our final recruit. Chuck comes from North Carollton, MS. He is an all round shooting guard who is also on the shorter side. He does have a good set of hands.


Our first practice session resulted in quite a few incidents. It seems like these boys need a bit of discipline. I spoke to Tim asking him to try to consider those around him, and he said he would try harder.

The following week was just as bad. What is wrong with these guys? I gave Tim a week's suspension, told Ben to stop fighting, and Matt to pull his head in.

Tim really did not like the suspension. He may well be a problem child for me. Ben also believed he was getting a raw deal. I may have to let the team sort it out for a bit.

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Season 01 Preseason

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Here is the early schedule the AD set up for us. I am happy enough with it.

There were still a few incidents over the last couple of practices, but it is really only Tim who seems to be a real problem. I will keep an eye on it.

This is the practice schedule we have been using. I am just following the strategy we have set.

[PointGuard]

Nice start on the dynasty report. Glad to see it.

[fondfoat]

Cheers PG,

It will never have the drama that your career reports have, but I hope it will be of some interest

[PointGuard]

LOL...mine has had more twists and turns than a mountainous road.

But I'm sure yours will be great!

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[SIZE="4"][color="Blue"]Season 01 Gameday 01[/color][/SIZE]

16th November 2011

[SIZE="4"][color="Blue"]Toledo (37) @ Mississippi Valley State (18)[/color][/SIZE]

The opening game of the season always carries some additional weight. Many questions are asked during preseason and opening night can begin to provide some answers.

The Toledo Rockets are from the Mid-US Conference. They have a team prestige of 37.

I was really pleased with the game as a whole. We started a lot better than they did. We often managed to get a lead out to 8 or 9 points before they would close us down, but we would fight back and reestablish control. It was a bit nervy near the end but the lads really did a great job.

Final Score:Rockets 78 @ Delta Devils 85

[color="Navy"]Where we won the game[/color] - Anthony Greenleaf looks class. He scored 27 points and was the man who steadied the ship all night. Geoff Hoyer announced that he would be the starting shooting guard with a 16 point 7 rebound game. Toledo outscored us inside 34 to 16, but we shot 64% from the floor to their 42%.