Rebuilding Rutgers -- A DDSCB2016 Test Diary

[jksander]

Good news! I talked to Gary this evening and he said it's okay to post this -- nothing he's changing in 1.1 will affect league structure in any way, so he says you shouldn't have to worry about having to restart with the update! So get cracking on those diaries, people! I can't be the only one ...

[jksander]

Code: Select all

Rank  RPI    Date   Opponent              Score          Record          Leader(s)
      #118   1/25   Nebraska              W 69-52        7-11 (3-6)      M. House (18 pts 5 reb) K. Majerus (9 pts 10 reb 3 ast 3 stl)
      #118   1/28   @ Wisconsin           W 81-73        8-11 (4-6)      K. Majerus (19 pts 4 reb) G. Tate (18 pts 8 reb 5 ast 1 blk)
      #87    2/1    Illinois              L 71-88        8-12 (4-7)      K. Majerus (21 pts 2 reb 1 stl) M. House (18 pts 8 reb 2 ast)
      #87    2/4    @ Penn St             L 62-63        8-13 (4-8)      G. Tate (16 pts 3 reb 4 ast) K. Majerus (15 pts 4 reb)
      #153   2/8    Purdue                L 77-83        8-14 (4-9)      G. Tate (17 pts 2 reb 6 ast) M. House (17 pts 3 reb 2 ast)
      #153   2/11   @ Iowa                L 66-83        8-15 (4-10)     K. Majerus (16 pts 4 reb 2 blk) M. House (13 pts 3 reb)
      #188   2/15   Northwestern          L 54-72        8-16 (4-11)     T. Jordan (14 pts 5 reb 1 ast) K. Majerus (9 pts 2 ast 3 blk)
      #188   2/18   #19 Maryland          L 65-82        8-17 (4-12)     M. House (16 pts 6 reb 3 ast) A.J. Holt (10 pts 3 reb 2 ast)
      #231   2/22   @ #10 Michigan St     L 50-76        8-18 (4-13)     G. Tate (19 pts 5 reb 2 ast) M. House (11 pts 5 reb 2 blk)
      #231   2/25   @ #22 Michigan        L 66-80        8-19 (4-14)     T. Jordan (18 pts 5 reb 1 stl) K. Majerus (17 pts 9 reb 2 ast)
      #256   3/6    (11) Nebraska*        L 58-78        8-20 (4-14)     G. Tate (17 pts 5 reb 2 ast) M. House (15 pts 4 reb 3 ast)
____________________
* Mid-10 Tournament

Top-seeded Indiana continued to be luckless in the Mid-10 Tourney, losing to Michigan State in the semifinals, 75-90, while Maryland upended Michigan 90-79, setting up a battle of high-scoring offenses looking to push their team into a higher NCAA Tourney seed. In the title game the Spartans came out on top for the second consecutive year, winning 78-70.

Midwest 10 Conference Standings (FINAL, post-Tourney)
01 #4 Indiana (16-2, 26-4)
02 #21 Michigan St (13-5, 21-8)
03 #15 Maryland (13-5, 23-8)
04 Minnesota (12-6, 18-10)
05 #9 Michigan St (12-6, 25-6)
06 Ohio State (10-8, 17-12
07 Illinois (9-9, 13-15)
08 Iowa (8-10, 17-12)
09 Northwestern (7-11, 12-16)
10 Purdue (8-12, 14-15)
11 Nebraska (6-12, 10-19)
12 Penn State (5-13, 11-17)
13 Wisconsin (5-13, 8-21)
14 Rutgers (4-14, 8-20)

Midwest 10 Postseason Teams

NCAA Tournament
Ohio State (10th Seed, Raleigh)
Minnesota (8th Seed, Minnesota)
Maryland (4th Seed, Indianapolis)
Michigan (5th Seed, Houston)
Indiana (1st Seed, Denver)
Michigan St (2nd Seed, Denver)

NIT Tournament
Iowa (2nd Seed, East)

Iowa promptly lost in the first round of the NIT to Old Dominion 58-64.

Only Maryland escaped the first day of NCAA Tourney action unscathed, beating (13) Cambridge 58-46. Ohio State fell to (7) South Bend 75-79, while Minnesota was reamed by (9) Western Michigan 71-93. In the Friday games, Michigan outlasted (12) Philadelphia 75-64, while Indiana had a tougher than expected battle against (16) East Tennessee State, beating them in the end 85-72. Michigan St barely fared better, surviving a brutal second half comeback by (15) Bronx, escaping with an 82-76 win. But they all advanced.

Against (12) Queens on Saturday, Maryland punched its ticket to the Sweet Sixteen with a 70-55 victory over the Crimson Storm. The next afternoon Michigan stumbled against (4) Texas, losing 64-67, while Indiana and Michigan State got down to business. The Hoosiers stomped (8) Georgia 98-75, while the Spartans handled (7) Alabama easily enough 74-61.

On Thursday the 23rd, Maryland took on (1) Florida with an Elite Eight spot on the line, and the Terps were up to the challenge, beating them in a hard-fought battle 83-78. On Friday Indiana got (13) Hawaii, the darlings of the tourney, and the Hoosiers decided to give Cinderella the beating of her life, crushing them 100-70. Michigan State meanwhile handled (3) Syracuse with the same ease they have everyone else, winning 67-59 (setting up a rematch against the Hoosiers, Indiana's chance to redeem themselves for the Mid-10 Tourney stumble). First, however, Maryland had to fight off (2) NC State for their shot at a Final Four. And they weren't up to it, losing to the Wolves badly, 59-75.

In their two hours in the prime-time spotlight, the high-scoring Hoosiers and Spartans battled for the third time this year, having split the prior two appearances -- the Hoosiers winning by 30 at Assembly Hall, and Michigan State by 15 on a neutral court in Chicago. And in the end the Hoosiers came out with an 85-71 victory, emerging from a 45-45 tie at the half to flummox the Spartan defense in a dominant second half performance.

It was a chalk Final Four, with (2) NC State facing (1) Connecticut and (1) Indiana challenging (1) Durham. And the CBS audiences got everything they could have wanted. While NC State stuffing Connecticut 88-74 was fun, the best times were saved for the Indiana / Durham game. The Hoosiers went into the half down 48-50, and then commenced to kick serious ass in the second half, stomping Durham 58-52 during that period to win 106-102 IN REGULATION! And Durham had several chances down the stretch where an overtime could have been forced. I don't think anyone wanted that one to end, they could have each played to 150!

In the national title game a more subdued Hoosiers team quietly took care of business, putting NC State away early en route to a by-the-books 84-73 victory. Hoosier fans could at long last celebrate their first National Title since the Bob Knight era!

Graduating
PG - Greg Tate (3.5 GPA) 11.4 ppg 3.6 rpg 4.2 apg 0.6 spg 0.7 bpg (28 starts, 33.5 mpg)

Team Leaders
Scoring: Kevin Majerus (12.5 ppg) Greg Tate (11.4 ppg) Marc House (11.1 ppg)
Rebounds: Marc House (4.9 rpg) Kevin Majerus (4.9 rpg) Kendall Kamara (4.8 rpg)
Assists: Greg Tate (4.2 apg) Kendall Kamara (2.3 apg) Marc House (2.1 apg)
Steals: Trey Jordan (0.8 spg) Marc House (0.8 spg) Kendall Kamara (0.8 spg)
Blocks: Kevin Majerus (1.2 bpg) Marc House (1.0 bpg) Kendall Kamara (0.9 bpg)

Team Awards
None.

Team Goal Watch
We failed in every regard. But we got four wins in-conference, and I have to believe that adding Josh Greenwalt to the mix is bound to push us quickly in the right direction. And he should wind up in the conversation for Mid-10 Freshman of the Year, with the number of minutes he'll have to play right away.

[slybelle1]

Good news! I talked to Gary this evening and he said it's okay to post this -- nothing he's changing in 1.1 will affect league structure in any way, so he says you shouldn't have to worry about having to restart with the update! So get cracking on those diaries, people! I can't be the only one ...

To be honest, I am waiting to see what comes in 1.1 and what gets fixed up before attempted to really put much into it...any idea as to when the update might be out? With the real life tournament going on, now is the best time to play:)

[C-Bailey24]

Are u not gonna mod this league? "Midwest 10", "South Bend", "Cambridge" and other generic names are kinda throwing me off lol

[jksander]

Are u not gonna mod this league? "Midwest 10", "South Bend", "Cambridge" and other generic names are kinda throwing me off lol

This was a test league I set up before the mods were released. I edited the Big Ten teams, but didn't change any other teams, so I left the conference names alone, and am referring to other teams as they are in the original league setup. Once I retire this league I will start a new one with either Bloomington's D1 mod or Valdarix's D2 fantasy mod. Thanks for reading

Incidentally, I fucked up ...

I got my verbal from Greenwall and then never noticed that I never got an LOI email. I don't know if he reneged and signed elsewhere or if there was a glitch, because I had already progressed to season two before I noticed he was not on my roster. So ... read on for some fun! I had to create backstory for it, and we'll see how Rutgers does with no incoming players I also have five spots to fill this year. Year three could be great, or I could be totally fucked.

This could be my most fun diary yet!

[jksander]

Coach Information
Name: Seth Reinghold
Age: 43
D1 Record: 8-20 (.286)
Contract: $250,000 / 2 years
Job Goals: Qualify for NIT, Finish in top half of Mid-10, Finish above .500, Improve prestige.
Reputation: Below Average
Ambition: Low … I don't want to move to big jobs until I've done my job in the first place.
Academics: Very High … Make the grades, or you don't play! Student athletes is the emphasis.
Discipline: Very High … Work hard, play hard, but keep your **** together!
Temper: Average … I prefer not to yell unless necessarily. But I still demand results.
Integrity: Very High … Cheating never gets anyone anywhere good.

Starting Budget: $211,250
Coaching Assistants: $135,000
Remaining Budget: $76,250 with five open scholarships

- - - - -

“Admit that you fucked up!”

Thaat's our wonderful athletic director throwing **** again. This time I deserve it. I didn't keep tabs on Greenwalt well enough, and in early April he got picked up in a drug sting at his high school, where he'd apparently been dealing marijuana. We immediately had no choice but to rescind his scholarship offer, and now we go into the season without Greg Tate's offensive production and with no incoming players to boost our depth.

Suddenly 8-20 is looking good, compared to where I worry we'll be this year if I can't pull a coaching miracle.

“I brought you here to achieve something good for our program!” Druden's yelling. “If I wanted a scandal, or for us to not even win 10 games, I could have kept the last guy!”

He grabs a letter opener off his desk and begins waving it for emphasis. I step back, worried he's gonna slice me and not notice as he does it.

“This season may be a wash,” he yells. “But I expect you to get your ass out there and recruit like you said you did last year. And I want you to vet these kids, make sure they're worthy of putting on that uniform! And then MAKE SURE THEY PLAY HERE! Because if you don't bring in a Mid-10 worthy class next fall ….” He stabs the letter opener into the side of an empty coffee cup on his desk, then throwing both to the floor. “You're going to be brushing up your résumé next March!”

He storms out, slamming his own office door behind him. And I start plotting the best recruiting plan I can muster. Things have to go well, or my coaching career's on its way down the toilet.

[jksander]

Okay, I am told by Gary that, while rare, it is possible for a team to revoke a verbal and sign an LOI with another team. That's what happened with Greenwalt. Read on #ThePlotThickens

- - - - -

OK, things just got really interesting in Midwest 10 rivalries -- at least the one between us and last year's Elite Eight contender michigan State.

First, the update on Greenwalt's criminal record. It doesn't exist. As it turns out, he was indeed picked up in that drug sting, but as the case progressed, he wound up being cleared of all charges by the local prosecutor, which meant he did not have any NCAA eligibility issues. However, there were issues with us for having revoked his scholarship. And Michigan State's coach needed that “missing link” to help push them past the Hoosiers and into the 2017-18 Final Four, which made Greenwalt a tasty recruiting possibility right under the deadline.

That's right. Josh Greenwalt, who was to have been our savior this season, will be playing elsewhere. Within our conference. For a team that, already good, will surely be phenomenal this season as part of the nation's #3 recruiting class.

I'm focused on turning things around this season with a top class of my own. But I can tell you I'll be following Greenwalt's career closely. He's the player who could have been, and my reputation as a judge of character is on the line.

[Wayne23]

https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=y ... mp=yhs-001

[Wayne23]

Oh, that debonair, devastatingly handsome gentleman who enters at the beginning of the video? The one and only James Mason.

[jksander]

Wow, Wayne, that's so **** spot on I'm speechless