WhoÂ’s Bret Vandergard and whatÂ’s he done for us lately?

[PointGuard]

Coach V decides to see if freshman SG Kareem Masiello can handle the move up to college. With him starting at SG, that means last season’s SG Brent Gregory has moved back to PG, his position in high school.

Starters:

PG Brent Gregory, 6-5 Sr, averaged 14.3 ppg last season but worked hard on his passing and ball-handling this past summer and he’s a solid defender.
SG Kareem Masiello, 6-2 Fr, the #25 ranked recruit was a scoring machine in high school but has some maturing to do.
SF Quinton Asbury, 6-5 Sr, averaged 5.0 ppg last season in a supporting role, but was a double-digit scorer in his first 2 seasons at Oregon State. Hopefully he gets his shooting stroke back this season.
PF Ricky Lee, 6-6 Jr, averaged 6.7 ppg last season. He’s been a solid, but not flashy player for us but he has extremely high athleticism.
C Marquis Hollins, 7-1 So, averaged 5.0 coming off the bench last season. He’s still developing but is expected to become more of a presence as the season progresses.

Bench:

PG Bart McCain, 6-3 Jr, a starter last season who averaged 9.5 ppg. As a reserve he will still get plenty of minutes.
PG Matt Lewis, 6-1 Fr, he came in and showed more skills than expected this early. Has a very good outside shot.
SG Cleveland Brown, 6-4 Jr, he averaged 3.6 ppg in a reserve role last season, but became a bigger presence on the court late in the year.
SG Rashad Thompson, 6-3 Sr, as a walk-on he’s filled in when necessary during his 3 years here. Last season he got very limited time on the court and averaged 1.3 ppg.
SF Marcus Jones, 6-8 Jr, a walk-on this year who has a lot of skills, particularly as a rebounder and shot blocker.
SF Quin Bruton, 6-7 Jr, a transfer from Michigan State so will have to sit out this season, but Is likely to take over at the 3 position next season.
PF Kenneth Grandison, 6-6 Jr, played extremely well coming off the bench last year, averaging 5.9 ppg and hitting a high percentage of his shots.
PF David Earl, 6-6 Jr, he’s developed slowly but steadily during his first 2 years on the team and was used in a very limited role last season averaging 0.7 ppg.
C Joey Jones, 6-9 Jr, primary starter last season, averaging 4.7 ppg, a solid rebounder and streaky scorer, but weak defensively.
C Donte Hartfield, 6-8 Jr, a part-time starter in his first 2 years on the team, averaging 3.6 ppg last season and is a good shot-blocker.

[PointGuard]

Game #1, Nov. 14, 2019: Washington State Cougars (0-1) at Missouri State Bears (0-0)

Bret worked with Tommy this past summer and Tommy has become a very good young basketball player. I brought him to tonight’s game since it’s not a school night. He’s spent time with Bret at practices so thinks he knows everything about this season’s players and how they are going to take the Cougars apart tonight. There’s a bigger than normal media presence since there appears to still be interest from those in the Northwest in Bret.

Neither team could score in the first couple minutes, but we then took a 5-0 lead and held a small lead throughout the first 13 minutes of the first half. Then SG Kareem Masiello, who had picked up 2 fouls early in the half, came back on the court and scored from all over the court while the Bears defense clamped down on the Cougars. The result was a commanding 46-21 halftime lead. Masiello, who hit every shot he took, dropped in 17 points while playing just 9 minutes. His play brought forth a level of excitement heretofore unknown in JQH Arena.

Tommy ate too much junk food in the first half and got sick at the half, so I took him home. But the Bears kept the Cougars at arms’ length, dominating all team stats, to win with ease and start the season on a very positive note. Bret said he played two deep subs throughout most all of the 2nd half to see how they would do. Freshman PG Matt West looked good, whereas Junior PF David Earl failed to impress and likely will be relegated to the end of the bench for the foreseeable future.

Final Score: Missouri State (1-0)—82, Washington State—59.

Leading players for Missouri State: SG Kareem Masiello-26 pts, 4 assists, 4 reb; SF Quinton Asbury-16 pts, 1 assist, 7 reb; PG Matt Lewis-12 pts, 2 assists, 2 reb.

Player of the Game: SG Kareem Masiello-26 pts, 4 assists, 4 reb.

Injury: After the game, SG Kareem Masiello complained of a sore hip. He’ll nurse it for a few days to ensure it doesn’t inflame and may miss the Bears’ next game.

[PointGuard]

Game #2, Nov. 17, 2019: Missouri State Bears (1-0) at Maryland-Eastern Shore Hawks (1-1)

SG Kareem Masiello still isn’t 100% but his hip has improved to allow us to start him, but we’ll limit his time on the court.

Thus far this season the Hawks have won their opener at home, then they took a loss on the road.

For the 2nd straight game, Kareem Masiello picked up 2 fouls very early in the first half. This time he was quickly joined by PF Ricky Lee on the bench as the refs called things tight against us. We were assessed our 7th foul at the 15:48 mark of the first half. Ultimately it wasn’t fouls, but poor shooting that doomed our first half efforts. We hit just 27% of our FG attempts and were behind 39-27 at the break. C Marquis Hollins led our scoring with 7 points.

Behind the stellar play of Brent Gregory and Quinton Asbury, we scored the first 20 points in the 2nd half to take a 47-39 with 14:15 to go. The Hawks came back, partly behind the concerted efforts of the refs. Coach V got called for a technical and the Hawks tied the game at 48-48 at the 11:47 mark. After trailing by 6, we pulled with a single point with 2 minutes left, but the Hawks hit a shot that made it 64-61 with 1:36 remaining. After we called a time out, our designed play failed. We got the ball back with 48 seconds on the clock. We called another time out and this time cleared Kareem Masiello for a 3 that dropped in to tie the game. After the Hawks missed a shot, we played for last shot, but as the clock was expiring, Quinton Asbury was too well guarded. He forced up an awkward 3 that clanked off the rim and we went to OT.

We drew first blood in the OT, but the refs repeatedly put the Hawks on the foul line and the game was tied at 68-68 with 2 minutes left. With 1:40 on the clock, Bart McCain found C Marquis Hollins inside who drove to the bucket and threw down a monstrous dunk to put us up by 2 points. The Hawks hit a basket but the refs called the basket off due to too many steps. The Hawks tied it with a minute to go and then were put back on the foul line to go up by 2 with 43 seconds remaining. Brent Gregory hit a shot to tie the game at the 0:32 mark, but then we let the Hawks score inside and an errant pass with 13 seconds led to a final driving layup to ice the game for the Hawks. We lost a heart-breaker in a game we should have won.

Final Score: Maryland-Eastern Shore—76, Missouri State (1-1)—72 (OT)

Leading players for Missouri State: SF Quinton Asbury-15 pts, 3 reb, 3 steals; PG Brent Gregory-14 pts, 3 assists, 6 reb, 1 steal; C Marquis Hollins-13 pts, 2 assists, 4 reb, 2 steals; PF Kenneth Grandison-8 pts, 3 reb.

Player of the Game: MD-Eastern Shore’s SG Craig Eschmeyer-15 pts, 1 assist, 4 reb, 3 steals.

[Wayne23]

Freakin' refs!

[PointGuard]

Freakin' refs!

Yeah, the assistant coaches had to restrain Coach V from getting in the refs' faces after the game.

[CoachC]

"a shadowy figure appears in a cemetery carrying a shovel. As he begins to dig he can be heard to murmur* "He's going to be sorry he ever crossed us, my sweet"

[CoachC]

inquiring minds want to know "Who Is Bret Vandergard's Tormentor and Where Has He Been Lately?"

[PointGuard]

"a shadowy figure appears in a cemetery carrying a shovel. As he begins to dig he can be heard to murmur* "He's going to be sorry he ever crossed us, my sweet"

Hmmmm...sounds like someone is working the graveyard shift at the cemetery.

[PointGuard]

It’s taken quite a while, but I’ve now got evidence that Alexei Koramatsov not only is a big time gambler, but also has deep ties to a major gambling syndicate.

I finally decided to lay it all out to Bret. It came out awkwardly and Bret was reluctant to accept what I had to say about his friend. Rather than forcing the issue, I suggested he think it over carefully and we’d talk again.

Two days later we again discussed it. This time he was more open to listening, but still didn’t want to believe it. But I brought along some of the evidence I had, so it soon became impossible for him to deny. I expressed that I was just afraid his friendship with Alexei could well lead to allegations that would harm Bret and jeopardize his coaching career. Finally, he thanked me and closed the discussion by saying he would take care of it.

The TV station was sending me out of the country to report on a human rights story in the Mideast, so it was a week-and-a-half before I got back together with Bret. He told me he had confronted Alexei who had denied everything. Bret said, “With Alexei denying that he bet and that he was associated with gamblers, it was tough, but I just told him that while I appreciated our friendship, I had to sever ties with him and not allow him into athletic department facilities. He seemed hurt at first, but then flew into a rage, saying, ‘I know who is behind this and I don’t forget’ before storming off.”

Bret again thanked me, but I think he’s hurt by my finding out a friend of his was not whom he seemed and embarrassed that he didn’t discover it and that I was unofficially investigating his friend and by necessity him. While he’s not mad, I think our relationship has suffered at least a temporary setback.

A week later I got a call from Brenda Portman. She said she understood I had made allegations about their friend Alexei and that she felt I was wrong and what I had done was unjust. According to Brenda, “Like many people, Alexei likes to gamble. There’s no harm in that. But to try to tar him with being involved with illegal gambling and bookies is just wrong and mean-spirited.” I wasn’t going to get into specifics with her, but she then abruptly hung up on me anyway. I guess I'll not be expecting any free tickets to her shows or those of other entertainers in Branson.

[PointGuard]

Game #3, Nov. 21, 2019: South Carolina Gamecocks (1-1) at Missouri State Bears (1-1)

We missed the season opener but wanted to see the Bears go up against South Carolina. I have family in South Carolina and hope to be able to rub in a loss to the Bears. Due to the holidays, Branson is and will be busy for the for the next 6 weeks, so getting free for a night is an unsual occurrence right now.

Brenda has a burr under her saddle about how Meaghan Kriley is harassing Alexei Koramatsov about his gambling. So she doesn’t even acknowledge Meaghan when she shows up for tonight’s game. I still like the gal, but know when it’s best to follow my wife’s lead. But i'm gonna miss kidding Meaghan tonight.

I sure hope the Bears can take a big step forward this year. I think they should because their talent level seems higher this year.

After both teams sputter in the early-going, Missouri State catches fire to take a 35-20 lead with 6 minutes left to play in the half. That’s due to their hitting over 70% of their three’s and all their FG attempts. We’re all whooping it up big-time. But then their shooting cools allowing South Carolina to pull closer, but the Bears still hold a 44-35 lead at the break. PF Kenneth Grandison came off the bench to lead Missouri State’s scoring with 8 points during his 9 minutes on the court.

Not much to say about the 2nd half other than Missouri State steadily adds to their lead throughout the half. Their bench scores 44 points of the team's 76 points.

Final Score: Missouri State (2-1)—76, South Carolina—58.

Leading players for Missouri State: SF Quinton Asbury-10 pts, 1 assist, 4 reb, 2 steals; PG Bart McCain-10 pts, 3 assists, 3 reb, 1 steal; PF Kenneth Grandison-10 pts, 2 reb; PG/SG Brent Gregory-8 pts, 3 assists, 3 reb, 2 steals; PF Ricky Lee-8 pts, 2 assists, 1 reb, 2 steals.

Player of the Game: SF Quinton Asbury-10 pts, 1 assist, 4 reb, 2 steals.