Legacy of Coach Street

[shipfb21]

note: i just discovered this game. i loved college hoops 2k8 for its deep recruiting and career mode, so im assuming this game will quickly become a favorite of mine. this is my first play through and i decided to create a dynasty report. i downloaded the real teams and unis, just not the coaches. enough with the side note, here we go...


1:34...1:33...1:32... I sat on the bench just staring up at the clock run down... 43...42...41... The time was quickly running out on my college career. 23...22...21... I came to Temple as a 3 star point guard out of Philadelphia. I had dreams of leading Temple to the Final Four and becoming a top pick in the NBA. However, things did not turn out the way I visioned. My freshman year was plagued by injuries and inconsistent play. I did't see much playing time my first two seasons. I was really frustrated and considered transferring to a different program. Our head coach, John McCoy was the reason I stayed. He was such a great teacher and leader. I listened and observed the way he went about his profession. He was the reason I stayed at Temple. I worked hard over the summer heading into my junior season and was poised to have a breakout season, or so I thought. Unfortunately, a broken foot followed by a tear in my shoulder limited me to only seeing action in a handful of games. By the time senior year rolled in, I was buried deep on the bench...9...8...7... What am I going to do now? Basketball was all I have ever known. My grades were terrible and i would be lucky to graduate with a degree in general studies. Maybe I could go overseas and develop my game and eventually make my way to the NBA. 3..2...1... Bzzzzz. That was it, career over. A loss in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tourney.


During my closeout meeting with Coach McCoy, he informed me, rather bluntly, that I had no shot of ever making the NBA. That was one of the traits I really admired about coach, his honesty. He also told me I was one of his favorite players of all. He loved my passion for the game, my understanding and knowledge of the game, my ability to help my teammates on and off the court, and my work ethic and drive. He then told me something that would change my life. He told me that he thought I would make an excellent coach and that he would want me to stay on as a graduate assistant. I was floored. I never dreamed of coaching, but as soon as he mentioned this to me, a light went off and I saw the light. However, I couldn't see myself going through graduate school. I hated school and I never took my studies as serious as I should have. With that in mind, I thanked coach for the offer but I had to turn it down. What an idiot. I cant believe I just turned down the opportunity of a lifetime.


After graduation I signed with an agent and had hopes of getting a tryout in the D-League or a contract offer overseas. Ultimately, those hopes were dashed. My agent informed me that there were no feelers for me. He said 6 foot point guards with a history of injuries and very little tape on, have very little prospects of getting signed or even invited to tryout. Months went by with no offers. With that, I decided to swallow my pride and call Coach McCoy up about the graduate assistant position. Unfortunately, he told me the position was filled. I could feel myself on the verge of breaking down. However, before I could swallow the lump in my throat, coach delivered me some great news. He told me that one of his assistants was just offered a head coaching position at another school, and accepted. This left Coach McCoy scrambling to fill his staff this late in the offseason. He said he would never in his life consider doing what he was about to do, but he said he believes in me and on the spot he offered me a paid spot on his staff. I was floored. I obviously accepted and immediately hung up the phone and made my way down to meet him.



He told me that he was moving his assistants up and that I would be the third assistant. Since I was new to coaching and since I was on the roster last season and knew how coach liked to run his practices, my primary responsibility would be running and scheduling the practices. There I was a 22 year old paid coach, ready to become the next great coach, or so I thought... I signed a 2 year deal that would pay me 17,000 annually. I had very high ambitions. School was never a priority to me, so I had low emphasis on academics. I had am average temper and I was neither a strict disciplinarian or a super softy. I guess I would consider myself average when it comes to discipline. I knew the game pretty well, but I also knew that I had a lot to learn.

[PointGuard]

Good start, shipfb21...welcome to CB3 and to "dynasties unlimited".

[CoachC]

welcome aboard!

[Wayne23]

Welcome to DDS:CB3. Hi, my name is Wayne and I'm a hoopaholic.

[shipfb21]

Temple Owls Season Preview:


Coming off a disappointing close to last years season, the Owls of Temple head into the 2014 season with high expectations. With all five starters returning, along with all key reserves, the Owls will look to build upon last seasons success. The American Athletic Conference looks to be a one horse race, as Memphis looks to be head and shoulders above the rest of the field. Look for Tulsa, Temple, and Connecticut to round out the top 5 teams in the conference. Temple will be led by senior big man Zack Felton. Guards Deon Jarvis and Thomas Nooner return and should once again be one of the most effective backcourts in the conference. Freshman Mike Porter adds a facet to Temple's offense that was sorely missing last season, 3 point help off the bench. Here is a look at Temple 7 deep.

C: Zack Felton (sr) 6'8" 270 lbs: Although not the tallest 5 in the conference, standing 6'8", he makes up for it with girth, 270 lbs. He is a tenacious rebounder and has terrific touch around the basket.

PF: Ryan Ferguson (sr) 6'7" 216lbs: Not a strong rebounder. Is not asked to produce much on offense, but is athletic and can get out and run the floor. A solid defender.


SF: Barry Kettle (jr) 6'6'' 227lbs: Outstanding set shooter. Has trouble creating his own shots, but with the drive/dish ability of the guards, Kettle should find some open looks this season.

SG: Thomas Nooner (jr) 6'2" 176lbs: Speed is the name of Nooner's game. His natural position is the 1, but once Coach McCoy inserted him into the starting lineup at the 2 midway through last season, Temple went onto an 11-2 run, including a loss in the conference championship game.

PG: Deon Jarvis (jr) 6'0" 209lbs: A great on the ball defender. Led the team in steals and ranked 2nd in the conference in that category. He extends the oppositions defense with his outside shooting range. His ability to get to the rack and set up teammates for wide open looks and easy put ins, led to him finishing 3rd in the conference in assists.

6th: Ken Chouest (so) 6'8" 211lbs: Last year during his freshman year, Chouest burst onto the scence with a 31 point outburst off the bench against Houston, establishing himself as an offensive threat off the bench. He doesn't do one thing particularly great, however, he does a lot of things exceptionally well. He could be a starter, but Coach McCoy likes what he brings off the bench. Chouest has the ability to play multiple positons.

7th: Chris Zimmerman (sr) 6'6" 192lbs: The primary big man reserve off the bench, Zimmerman is a much better rebounder and low post defender than his size would indicate.

Strength of team: The strength of the 2014 Temple Owls will be its ability to score. Coach McCoy is a master on the offensive end, and with the outside scoring ability of Nooner and Jarvis, teamed with the low block scoring of Felton, Temple should lead the conference in scoring.

Weakness of team: The weakness of this team is its size. There are no true big men, in the traditional sense. Coach McCoy would be wise to run a lot of smaller quicker lineups, to compensate the lack of size on the roster.

Season Prediction: 20-8, 2nd in conference. NCAA tournament bid. If everything falls in place for this squad, a run to the sweet 16 should be expected.

[Wayne23]

Go Owls!

[PointGuard]

Go Owls!

Who? Whooo?

[shipfb21]

As practices began, there was a buzz in the air. The entire team was feeling confident heading into the season. We were picked to finish 3rd in our conference. As I mentioned before, Coach McCoy assigned me the responsibility of scheduling and determining what we should be doing during practices. Of course, he had the final word and I had to get everything approved by him, especially early on in the season. I knew that coach was a great offensive mind, I was more of defensive minded player and I wanted to continue that as a coach. I wanted to set the tone early in camp that we were going to become a tenacious defensive team. Coach agreed, so we decided to focus our early portion of camp on defensive fundamentals and drills.

Our season was to begin with the Coaches Classic Tournament, and our first opponent would be a tough Virginia squad. During the week leading up to the Virginia game, I worked closely with Coach Keams, whose primary responsibility was focused on scouting. I like Coach Keams, as a player we had a very good relationship and I was sure our relationship would grow now that we were peers. Together we came up with, in my opinion, a pretty sound gameplan for the Cavaliers. Coach agreed and we went to work...

The game feels completely different in a suit, rather than a uniform. Standing on the sidelines as a coach felt surreal. As the game progressed, I had the itch to check in at the scorers table and sub in, haha. As far as the game went, we dominated. We let from tap to final buzzer. As expected our big three of Felton, Jarvis, and Nooner led the way, each scoring in double digits. That win felt great, as much work as I put in as a player paled into comparison to the work I have put in as a coach. We would end up losing in the next game of the tournament to a very explosive Arizona St team, 75-56...


The beginning of our season was off to a roaring start. We jumped out to a 4-1 record, with wins over Alabama and Seton Hall along the way. After a win over Wyoming, which raised our record to 5-1, we cracked the top 25, sitting at 21st in the nation. Things were off to a roaring start for the Owls. We ended our nonconference portion of the schedule with an embarrassing loss to Iowa. However, our nonconference record stood at 8-2 and a ranking of 19th nationally. We were feeling confident and were looking forward to conference play.


As far as myself, I was learning about what it took to become a coach. Since I played last year I was pretty friendly with the current squad. Coach warned me that I have to put my feelings and friendships to the side. As a coach I could no longer be their friends. I was now in an authority role, and I needed to be viewed as a authority figure, rather a friend. I understood completely and I cut down on the so called "locker room" behavior with the players. I was always a film room rat, so watching game tape on opponents was right up my alley. Coach Keams and I put in late hours breaking down opponents and devising gameplans. I was pleasantly surprised that Keams opened up to me. As I mentioned, we had a good relationship while I was a player, but now that I was a coach, I was worried that he would feel threatened by my presence and the fact that I was McCoy's "golden boy". On the practice courts, I continued to design practices that would work on our defensive fortitude. After all, defense wins championships. I was a firm believer in this age old principle.

[shipfb21]

Heading into conference play we were 8-2 and ranked 19th in the country. We ended the nonconference with a loss to a physical Iowa team 82-65. It wasn't the way we wanted to head into conference play. Especially since our first conference game was against one of the better teams in our conference, the Cincinnati Bearcats. Thankfully, the game was in North Philly. Well, that's what I thought the first 20 minutes of action. We headed into htalftime even at 31. Unfortunately, our defense let us down as senior sg Lee Hickman of the Bearcats went off for 14 of his team high 20pts in the 2nd half... Two straight losses with a Friday night game down in Memphis against the conference favorites. We were never in this game. We managed only 16 points in the first half, teamed with a woeful 25% from the field. The second half we played much better, but we were never in the game losing by 22, 77-55... During the flight back Coach McCoy spoke with me.

McCoy: "What do you think our problems have been the last few games?"

Street: "I think we havent been able to put together a full game. We either start slow or finish poorly. We havent fought nearly hard enough on the defensive glass. We have been getting dominated on the boards, giving up way too many second chance points. Our defensive effort has also been sub par. Offensively, I think we are settling for too many deep threes that are coming late in the shot clock."

McCoy: "I agree, perhaps our practices have been too tough on the boys. I think maybe we should scale back the intensity that we get after it in practice. Not permanently, but until we get back to our winning ways. Im going to want to work harder on the offensive side of the ball a while. I think we need to get Felton more involved."

Street: "Coach, I really dont think our practices our hurting the team. I do agree our offense has been stagnant as of late, but, I think we should keep driving the importance of defense."


Our next two conference games ended just as the first two conference games did, with "L's". We lost a tough game against UConn at home, followed by a humiliating loss in Tampa against the South Florida Bulls. A once promising season seemed to be heading down the drain fast. We were now sitting at 8-6, 0-4 in conference and of course we were unranked now. As far as our team, jr pg Deon Jarvis was leading our team in scoring. He was averaging 12 ppg. Our bench was almost nonexistent and we were the second worst shooting team in the conference. From a defensive standpoint we were playing well enough to win for the most part. Personally, I felt that we were still settling for too many threes. We had one of the bet low block scorers in the conference, yet he wasnt gettig fed as much as he should have been.


Our recruiting was primarily handled by Coach Michael Jones. We had an astonishing 7 scholarships to offer. Jones was not very warm to me. I often asked if I could be of any assistance in the recruiting process. For the most part he rejected my advances and kept his distance from me. Im sure he felt threatened by my presence. After all, I was half his age and I guess he could see me moving up McCoys ladder and nullifying the need for him as McCoys top assistant. I give Jones credit though, he was a fantastic recruiter. Through the early portion of conference play we had already had 4 players signed. Leading our recruiting class was 6'5" pg our of New Hampshire Dion Welch. I viewed some film of him and I thought he was fantastic. Personally, I love bigger pgs. This philosophy differs from Mccoys. He prefers smaller, quicker pgs, much like I was when he signed me out of high school...


We finally righted the ship to a certain degree, winning 4 of our next 5 games. This stretch of good play got us back in the mix for a higher seed in our conference tourney. By this time of the season, Memphis clearly established themselves as the cream of the crop, not only in our conference, but also on a national level. They were sitting at 9-0 in conference play and 16-2 overall, along with a #8 ranking. Coach McCoy headed my advice and allowed us to continue our high intensity, defensive oriented practices. He also agreed with me that we needed to work the ball inside more often. Center Zack Felton benefited greatly from our new offensive focus. During our current run he averaged 16 ppg.


The ebb and flow of the season continued on. After such a good run of ball, we went on to lose 3 straight games against the three top teams in our conference, Cinncy, Memphis, and Uconn. It was apparent that we were not on the same level of the top teams in our conference. This came as a shock to me. I couldnt understand why we were playing so inconsistent. Coach McCoy helped me once again. He explained to me that some seasons things just don't go your way. As a coach you have to understand that every season will not be a successful one. You have to stay the course and stay true to your coaching style. A coach can never show desperation or despair. He has to be the stabilizing force, a constant symbol of strength and leadership, even when your team is a bunch of dogs...

Perhaps Coach McCoy really knows what hes talking about because we finished regular season play with a great stretch of ball winning 5 of our final 6, including 4 straight to close the season. Our 5 wins were all convincing wins and our lone loss was a loss on a three pointer at the buzzer... We finished regular season play with a 9-9 conference record and 17-11 overall.
Thanks to our strong finish ESPN's Joe Lunardi considered us as one of the first 4 out of the big dance. This told me that we were on the bubble. We had an rpi of 69. A good run down in Atlantic City at our conference tournament could help go dancing... We would enter the tourney as the 5th seed and would be matched up against the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes. They were the 4th seed in the tournament, finishing 12-6 and 19-8. Of course a win against Tulsa would pit us against Memphis, baring a huge upset, who happens to be undefeated in conference play at 18-0 and 25-2 overall... I think in order to get invited to the dance, we have to beat Tulsa and have a good showing against Memphis. This will be a large order because Memphis beat us by 22 and 18 points respectively. Our record against the top four teams in the American was a staggering 1-7, ouch...

[shipfb21]

Welcome folks, tonight we're going to kick off our show with a battle from the America Athletic Conference quarters finals from down in Atlantic City. The 5th seeded Temple Owls squared off against the 4th seeded Tulsa Golden Hurricanes. Temple desperately needed to win this game to help strengthen their tournament resume... We kick this one off early in the 1st half, as Tulsa's freshman stud John Gunn (22.2 ppg avg) drains a deep three to help Tulsa jump put to an early 6 point lead. Temple's usually stingy defense had trouble containing Tulsa early on. With 4 minutes left in the first half, Temple was trailing by 11, when junior pg Deon Jarvis forces an ill-advised pass, leading to a turnover (1 of 4 commited by Jarvis) and an easy fast break thunder dunk by Gunn. At halftime, Temple trailed 38-28... This years version of the Owls have been haunted by some slow opening halves and tonight was no exception. Shooting only 31% from the field... Coach McCoy would need to rally the troops in order to get his team back in this one. Unfortunately for the Owls, the second half was no better than the first as John Gunn continually hit shot after shot. He would finish with a game high 33 points on 11-17 shooting, including 6-10 from beyond the arc. The Owls would be paced by senior center Zack Felton who would score 16pts, but he had an off night shooting just 5-16 from the field, while also committing 5 turnovers. Tulsa would roll in this one 73-52...The Owls finished shooting just 36% from the field and a miserable 22% from downtown....What will this loss do to Temples NCAA Tournament hopes? Will the committee think Temple finished strong enough to be considered for the dance? We will have answers to those questions this Sunday night as the selection committee will announce the field.