Test Dynasty: Al Besenya

[Wayne23]

Test Dynasty- Promotion/Relegation

(Author’s Note: I will abandon this when Gary puts up 1.2, or when Bloomington puts up a new edition of his mod so it may not live long.)

My name is Al Besenya. I’m 35 years old and I been around coaching since I graduated from Oregon ST 14 years ago. Finally got the head coach job at San Diego five years ago and went 86-54 there. We got promoted four out of five years.

U. of Washington came calling this spring. Taking the job meant moving from Conf. Q to Conf. E, with a salary increase from $99,000 to $539,000, better facilities, a much bigger budget. How could I say no? I didn’t.

So I dumped the assistants, #1 because he was jealous of me getting the job, and #2 and #3 because they weren’t that good. I brought in Ben Metcalfe at #1. He’s a great recruiter. He told me he’s probably going to retire at the end of the year but I’ll take my chances. #2 is Matt Price, and he is a terrific scout. I got him for 3 years. If Ben goes I’ll bump Matt up to #1. #3 is Brian Crouch, and he’ll be my bench/practice coach. He came with me from San Diego and I’d like to get him to #2 if I can.

Okay. This is about the dynasty not about me so let’s go.

May 1

I bought the gold for the West and the basic national and international. That leaves me with $50,250 for recruiting which should be plenty.

June 26

I trimmed the roster. Got rid of the walk ons and a couple guys who looked like they’d never get off the bench so we’re looking for 5 guys. Tell you the truth I would have got rid of a few more but I don’t want the assistant trainer to suit up so…

Still, I got 3 good looking guards and 3 good looking bigs with 2 other bigs who look okay. My A. D., Rip Lee, only wants us to finish in the top half of Conf. E, go to the NCAA, and win 15+, so I think we’ll be okay.

My best players look like they’re gonna be Mo Joad, who’s REAL good at SF/PF, Chad Owen, who’s almost as good at PF/C, and Rod Rich at guard. Gabe Oler at SG/SF looks good too. After that it’s patch, patch, patch, like they say. He first two are seniors, and Rich and Oler are juniors so we need to recruit.

About my style: I play about 2/3 man, and 1/3 2-3, and I don’t press much but when I do it’s a full court man. On O I go with Princeton and Triangle. A little more Princeton.
I went Very High on everything except Temper which is average. Tough on grades, tough on discipline, very ambitious. I play set offenses about 70%, and I hit the boards HARD.

Not doing any summer travel; can’t afford it.

We’re looking at 17 guys. Lot of ‘em are from the West, 7, but that leaves 9 from around the country and one foreign kid. 8 guards, 9 bigs. All of ‘em like us at least a little.

[Wayne23]

8/7
Hosted two weeks of kid camp. Learned that I was right about who my players are.

Down to 12 recruits, most of whom are showing lots of interest.

8/21
We offer to 2 PGs, an SG, an SF, and a C, all of whom have us in their top 5. All 12 have us in their top 10.

9/18
Got SG Nye Bakk, #33 right now. We feel like we have a good shot with all but one of the others.

Invited to the pre-season NIT but first opponent is #10 Syracuse. 6 ranked teams on the schedule. Maybe more if we beat Syracuse.

9/25
Got 2, lost 2. Got Fryd Zhar, #49 PG from Poland, and Sean Neal, #47 C.

Offers to a PF and a PG.

We add 5 to the list.

10/2
We get PF Al Main, #229, but he was #63 last month so we’re hoping. Lost one. We offer to a PG.

First day of practice. We been working to this for a long time, seems like.

We’re stronger, or at least deeper inside than out, but we’re not bad outside.

10/16
We get PG Ken Hart, #102, but he was higher last month. A good haul, and only one is a little iffy on hitting the SAT score.

Practice is going well.

11/6
Surprised by the lack of performance by Gabe Oler in our two exhibitions. He’s highly rated and was great in practice. In the game? Nothing. Lost his starting job at SG to junior Nat Hart. Rod Rich looked great at the other guard. Mo Joad will start at 3, and he’s our horse. Chad Owen and Stan Coll look really good up front. Jon Holt will back them up.

[Wayne23]

11/20
Made a little noise in the NIT, winning 2 before losing to UConn.

11/27
Ranked! # 22. We’re 4-1. The inside guys are doing the damage but Rod Rich is getting the ball to them. We’re scoring a lot and hitting the boards. TOs are too high. Oler continues to do nothing. He may lose his spot as #3 guard. I don’t get it.

12/11
#17, RPI #3. 7-2. Joad is scary good, our best player and our best defender. 23.7 PPG, 7.3 RBs. Coll and Owen are both averaging 8+ RBs, and Rich has 5 assists PG, and 1.7 A/TO. The other guys need to take better care of the ball.

12/25
9-3, #15, RPI #4.

Gabe Oler is simply not getting it done. Sid Klew is now my #3 guard. Our up front game couldn’t be better. +4.5 RBPG. TOs are improving, we’re finally + in that category, 12.9 to 13.3. +1.2 assists.

It’s been a great ride so far. One more before conference play begins.

Academics are great. Lowest GPA is 2.8. We work hard at that.

A. D. Rip Lee is smiling when our paths cross. Nice!

[Wayne23]

1/8
12-3, 2-0. #13, RPI #2.

Same story, solid play all around. Sid Klew looks great as #3 guard. He banged up a hip in our last game but should be good to go for our next.

We’re +8.1 PPG, +6.9 RBs, -0.1 TOs at 13.0. I like to be below 12 but it may not happen this season. +2.1 assists helps a little.

We’ll lose Mo and Chad Owen, our #1 guy with RBs, but everyone else is back.

1/22
Two tough road games in the last two weeks. I hoped for a split and got it , and we won our 2 at home.

15-4, 5-1, #11, RPI #3. In a 3 way tie for 1st in conf. We beat one of them, Butler, and play the other, #25 Weber ST, here, in Feb.

Mo is #8 nationally, #1 in conf. in scoring. Chad Owenand Stan Coll are #6, 7 in conf. Rod Rich is #1 in conf. in assists. Owen is #1, Coll #3, Joad #5 in RBs.

1/29
Home wins against two of the better teams in our conf.

17-4, 7-1, #10, RPI #4. Tied with Butler in 1st place.

Every recruit hit our SAT score. So unless I decide to dump one or two guys in the spring we’re done recruiting.

(Author’s note: I expected Washington to be successful. In setting up this association I took what I expected to be the best team in Conf. E. No disadvantages in budget, facilities… Ability to hire strong assistants. I gave myself lots of advantages, and started with an experienced, successful coach who had learned the hard beginning lessons before the association started.)

Adding a few recruits to the list. We have $ so why not.

[Wayne23]

2/5
19-4, 9-1. Alone in 1st, #6, RPI #3.

Two on the road this week. We have a shot at both but 1-1 would not break my heart.

2/12
Won ‘em both! 21-4, 11-1, 2 game lead with 4 to play, 3 of them at home. Looking good! Frankly, this team has exceeded my expectations by a wide margin so far.

#5, RPI #3.

2/26
Clinched! Wound up conf. play 15-1, 25-4 overall. 3 games up on Butler, 5 on Western KY and Weber ST, 7 or more on the rest.

#3, RPI #3. Incredible.

+9.2 PPG, +5.0 RB, +2.1 TOs (12.7), +1.5 assists.

3rd in the nation in PPG.

Bring on the postseason!

[Wayne23]

3/5: Nobody’s leaving early for the pros. I worried that Rod Rich might.

3/7: #8 seeded Kent St, 12-16, 8-8, in the ¼ final round. Only won by 7 at our place last time.

80-68. 19 and 14 for Stan Coll. We led all the way.

#5 seed Tennessee, 19-10, 8-8 is next. We won by only 2 at our place, but their first guard off the bench is out. We’re the better team but we need to play well.

3/8: 71-48. Yep, we played well! 12, 11 for Coll, 21, 6 for Joad, all 5 starters in double figures.

#2 seed Butler, 20-10, 12-4 for the title. We won by 11 at our place. They’re healthy and they can play. We need our best game.

3/9: 75-56 and the title! 23, 12 for Mo Joad who dominated the game. 11, 10 for PF/C Chad Owen.

28-4, 15-1, #3, RPI #3 going to the selection show and we’re red hot. #1 seed? Probably not, being from Conf. E, but I’ll be real upset if we don’t get a #2.

3/12: Here goes!

#2 East! I’ll take it! We play #15 Cleveland ST, 20-10, first.

3/16: 81-69. Too close! We came out flat and got down 10 early. My second time out woke them up. I was yelling loud enough to be heard 3 states away- without the TV coverage! I also made two adjustments. Still, they never gave up. 12 was the biggest margin and that came on a late three. Mo was the man, 38 points, 17 for 17 from the line. Survive and advance.

Next is #7 seed Liberty, 25-7. Their RPI is 28 so no cupcake.

3/18: 84-74. We led by as many as 15, and led most of the way. Again, we could have come out of the gate faster. 22 and 8 for Mo, and solid performances from our other starters and #6 and #7 players.

Sweet Sixteen and a 30 win season!

27-7 Miami (FL), #10, RPI #16, #3 seed next. We need to step it up from the way we played in the first 2 games. If we do, we’ll be okay.

3/23: I gotta admit I was nervous before the game. I’m usually not.

94-97. We scored the first basket. They scored the nest 17 points. It was catch up all night. We got it down to 4 at the half, and got it to 3 with 14 seconds left. We then managed to steal the ball on a double team, got it to Mo and let him take the shot. We did a crappy job of setting a screen, and he shot it with a hand in his face. It rimmed out.

32 and 10 for Mo in his last game with us. 12 and 8 for Chad Owen in his last game.

30-5. I couldn’t be prouder!

4/4: Miami lost to UNC in the round of 8.

I went to the Final Four in Minneapolis. #1 North Carolina beat #5 Missouri by 21 for the title.

4/4: Awards: Mo was Conf. E POY and 1st team along with Chad, and junior PF/C Stan Coll. I got COY.

Got the usual crash coming out of the Awards show. Thought that was fixed. Tried again and got through, so not a recurring error.

4/16: Talked Ben Metcalfe into a 3 year extension! Thrilled. The guy is one of a kind.

We wound up 30-5, winning the conf., and the conf. tourney, getting to the Sweet Sixteen. H*ll of a year! Let’s see how we do in Conf. D!

4/23: I ask for a budget increase. Got it, but only $6,500. Hoping for $10,000 so we could buy the national Gold next year. Oh well.

My coaching ratings went up very slightly, a point or two in most categories.

[Wayne23]

5/1: A new season. Ranked #24 going in. We look like we’re going to be much deeper at guard. Maybe not quite so strong up front, but it would be hard to match last year’s talent there. I think we’ll still be very good up front. I also think we’ll do well in Conf. D. Optimistic? Maybe.

Rip Lee wants us to win the Conf. tourney, go to the NCAA, win 20, Finish in the Top 25. Fair enough!

6/5: No one is transferring out.

6/26: Mo was drafted #38. Someone got a h*ll of a bargain!

We need a bunch of guys. Looking at 22 recruits. Most are showing interest. The others are in state.

8/1: Still looking at a lot of recruits. Summer kid camp told me that we got 7 that can flat PLAY, and 2-3 more who will be just fine backing them up.

8/21: We offer to 3 bigs, 2 guards.

9/18: We get 2 guards and a big. Both guards are iffy regarding the SAT but we rolled the dice.

We’re going to the Hawaiian Shootout. Always nice to go to paradise!

5 ranked teams on the schedule.

10/2: Got another one. One to go.

First day of practice. I like what I saw.

10/16: Got the last one. If those 2 PGs hit the SAT score we’re done with recruiting.

11/6: After two exhibition games we have a lineup. Not the one I expected but… I’m going with 4 guards equally dividing the minutes at 1, 2, and 3. Senior Rich Rod will play 1 and 2. Senior Nat Hart will play 1, 2, and 3. Frosh Fryd Zhar will play 1 and 2, and frosh Nyah Bakk will play 3. These four guys have GOT to play. It’s that simple. My inside guys are junior Greg Star and frosh Sean Neal and they can do it all inside, score, rebound, and defend. Backing up are senior Stan Coll, who started last year, and junior Jon Holt, who was my 6th man last year. That tells ya how good I think Star and Neal are! Soph Sid Klew is ready if needed, and like last year, senior Gabe Oler showed nothing. He will only play if injuries force me to use him. He’s a practice player.

The coaching staff is excited to start the season.

[Wayne23]

11/20 YES! All my recruits signed. That almost always means they’ll hit the SAT score.

3-0 going to the Hawaiian Shootout title game against #9 MS ST. We’re up to #13.

Beat ‘em! 74-72. Nobody ever led by more than 8. We won inside. Points in the Paint were 34-16, and RBs were 51-26. Our 3 point defense was poor. Their 12 threes kept them in it. Our bench was huge. Stan Coll had 17 and 7, and Fryd Zhar, who is really like a 6th starter, had 15, 6, and 6. Sean Neal and Rod Rich also had great games. At the end we were up 7. They chipped it to 4 and then to 2, but they missed a 35 footer at the buzzer. H*ll of a game!

Hart and Bakk are going to switch positions, with Hart going to SF more, and Bakk going to SG more.

11/27: 6-0. #6, RPI #12. 4 guys averaging in double figures and Sean Neal, at 9.5 PPG, is our leading rebounder. +13.0 PPG, +8.8 RBs, +6.3 TOs, +3.7 assists. Leading the conf. as a team in all of the important stuff.

11/28: We fell WAY behind UCLA, as many as 21 early in the 2nd half. It was too big a mountain to climb and we lost 65-70. Outside D again; they had 14 threes. 18 and 15 for C/PF Greg Star, but it wasn’t enough.

12/11: Won the next 3 so we’re 9-1. Ranked #7, RPI #2. 3 more before conf. play, all at home.

12/26: 12-1 heading into conf. play. Ranked #7, RPI #5. +16.8 PPG, +7.4 RBs, +5.9 TOs, +4.1 assists. I need to say that all of the teams we played who were ranked pre-season had fallen out of the top 25 by the time we played them. Still, we played 7 very solid programs and beat six of them.

#1 in the country in PPG, #2 in assists, #5 in RBs, #13 in TOs. Not bad!

[Wayne23]

1/22: 17-2, 5-1. #6, RPI #4. Our “starting 6” has 5 guys averaging 10.4 or more, and the 6th is at 9.3. Our 7th man is at 7.1. This makes us VERY hard to defend. We’re +15.5 PPG, +7.1 RBs, +4.8 TOs, +3.1 assists. We’re #3 in the nation in scoring, .6 behind #1, #4 in assists, and we’re among the leaders in team RBs.

We’re tied with Butler in 1st place. A good Creighton team beat us by 13 there on an off night for us. We didn’t shoot well, had 17 TOs, and allowed 12 threes. We won all 5 of our other conf. games by wide margins. The road is tough sometimes.

1/29: 19-2, 7-1, #5, RPI #3, alone in 1st, 1 up on Butler and UNLV.

Nat Hart hurt his knee, but it’s minor. Day to day. Everyone hit our SAT score. The two PGs we were worried about BARELY hit the score- 940 and 950. 940 is our magic number.

We’re good and we’re deep. Our #9, Sid Klew, deserves more minutes. When I get him in he produces. Unfortunately, there simply aren’t many minutes to give him. #8 man Jon Holt is in a similar position.

2/12: 2-2 in our last 4. Given that 3 were on the road this is not a surprise. Tied for 1st with Butler, and 3 of the last 4 regular season games are at home. I like our position!

I have to say that using guards at the PG, SG, and SF spots has worked really well. They all get about the same amount of time which means I always have fresh legs at those spots. They average between 9.5 and 11.6 PPG, A/TO ranges from 1.0-2.0, and the 1.0 guy plays mostly SF, while the other three are 1.9, 2.0, 2.0. In RBs they go from 3.1-4.4, but the 3.1 guy plays PG and SG only.

As for my bigs, Neal and Star give me everything I want and need inside, and we lose nothing when Stan Coll comes in for them. I LIKE this team. +12.4 PPG, +6.7 RBs, +3.7 TOs, +2.3 assists.

Ranked #5, RPI #7.

2/26: We end the regular season 25-4, 13-3, 2 up on St. John’s. #3, RPI #6.

Looking forward to the postseason!

3/5: No one is leaving for the NBA. Again, that sort of surprises me- in a very good way! #4, RPI #6.

[Wayne23]

3/10: Beat UNLV 76-64 in the quarters. It wasn’t that close. 20 points for guard Rod Rich. The refs were whistle happy but it was about equal. We held them to 2 threes.

3/11: 78-72 over #5 seed UMass in the semis. Our top six had between 9 and 15 points. 10 RBs for Sean Neal. We had 13 threes, they had 7. They never went away though. The biggest lead was 8.

3/12: 97-86 over #2 seed, #13 ranked St. John’s for another conference title. We jumped out to an early lead, got it to 15, and kept it in double figures all the way. The refs were whistle happy again but it was way in our favor. We were 41-49, they were 22-33. Both head coaches were T’d up, and their guy got the hook very late when he got his 2nd. We dominated inside.

28-4, 13-3, #3, RPI #3 going to the selection show.

#2 Midwest. The #1 overall- ranking and RPI, Pitt, is #1 in this region. I don’t get it.

3/16: 88-70 over a scrappy Central Connecticut team. Fred Zhar had 22 and 8, Stan Neal 10 and 10.

3/18: 61-59 over a very determined #7 seed Virginia team. They played slow down, they denied, they didn’t let us do what we like to do. We had a lot more talent and so they needed to foul, and that was the difference. We were 20-28, they were 10-13. But they had the ball last, and they got an open look for a three by their best outside shooter, who had already hit 7 of them. This one rimmed out at the buzzer. Survive and advance!

It will be #6 seed, #25 ranked OK ST, 22-10, in the Sweet Sixteen. They have a very good outside game but we feel that we are way stronger inside. If we play our game we’ll be fine. But they are in B conf., moving up to A next year.

3/23: Stopped at the Sweet Sixteen again, 65-76. We had an early 9 point lead. They got it to 3 at the half, and it all fell apart in the 2nd. Rod Rich was awful, fouled out in 12 minutes. And only one was a bad call. To make it worse another of our guards, Fryd Zhar, fouled out in 16 minutes. That meant that we spent most of the night with guys who were not used to playing the Point trying to do that. 29 TOs (-13) was the result. We knew they were tough outside and that’s where they beat us. Their PG had 32.

It was a disappointing way to end the season and we’ll say goodbye to seniors Rod Rich, Nat Hart, and sub seniors Stan Coll, and Gabe Oler. All except Oler were a huge part of our team.

4/4: I went to the Final Four. OK ST did too. They lost to UNLV by 1 in the round of 4. UNLV was a #9 seed, unranked. It’s all about getting hot at the right time. They lost by 12 to #4 ranked MD in the title game.

Awards: Sean Neal got conf. Frosh OY, and 2nd team, and junior Greg Star also got 2nd. I knew those two big guys were special. I got COY again.

4/23: Going for a budget increase again. Got $15,000. Good. Now we’ll be able to get the national gold.

60-10, .857, after two seasons. Maxed out all my ratings except scouting.

2 very good guards, a good SF, and 3 very good big guys coming back. 5 very promising recruits on the way. Let’s tear up Conference C!