Alasketball

[PointGuard]

I think the big plus to playing out all the games is that you get to "know" your players so much better. Of course you also get to decide who to sub and at what points and if you want to change your strategy at various points in the game. Obviously it slows progression of your association, though. So really it just depends on what you're aim is for the association you're running. I sim when I'm trying to test something or check out some specific aspect of the game. But when I do that, a lot of things about my team become sort of a blur and the players don't really seem so much like "my guys".

Getting to "know" my players gives me a lot more buy-in to my team...so much so that even though I like to switch jobs after getting a team to be successful, it becomes hard to do since I want to see what each of "my guys" on that team will do in succeeding seasons. And when I do move on, looking at how my old team's players do is sometimes sort of depressing if the Ai uses a player much differently than I would have or if the AI benches a player I really liked and who I would have started or played a lot.

[Jake8005]

I think the big plus to playing out all the games is that you get to "know" your players so much better. Of course you also get to decide who to sub and at what points and if you want to change your strategy at various points in the game. Obviously it slows progression of your association, though. So really it just depends on what you're aim is for the association you're running. I sim when I'm trying to test something or check out some specific aspect of the game. But when I do that, a lot of things about my team become sort of a blur and the players don't really seem so much like "my guys".

Getting to "know" my players gives me a lot more buy-in to my team...so much so that even though I like to switch jobs after getting a team to be successful, it becomes hard to do since I want to see what each of "my guys" on that team will do in succeeding seasons. And when I do move on, looking at how my old team's players do is sometimes sort of depressing if the Ai uses a player much differently than I would have or if the AI benches a player I really liked and who I would have started or played a lot.

Good point PG

[Jake8005]

We continue out Big West slate. First, a trip inland to play the UC-Riverside Highlanders. We get out to a good lead, leading 44-36 at halftime and eventually more in the second half. However, the highlanders make it a three point game at one point later on. But, we pull out the victory, winning 82-72. Lee Crosby was player of the game with 17 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, and 4 steals. Matt Louis had 16 points on a perfect 7-7 from the field and 2-2 from the free throw line.

The bad news is Johnny Pengelly, our starting point guard suffered an injury in the first half. While this did give third string PG Otis Strong an opportunity to get some minutes, it's bad news when your starting PG gets hurt. It's just a sore foot for the next four days though thankfully, and he's at 89%. However, Matt Louis is also hurt, which we can't afford given our depth at center. He's also at 89%, but with a sore leg for the next seven days. We may have to ask him to play through it as we have no other choice.

Our next game is a trip back to the coast to play against the Long Beach State Beach. Their power forwards are both 6'7 and their starting center is 6'8 and the backup is 6'9, so the decision was made to hold Louis out for this game while he recovers. Michael Blake will start at small forward, with Herb Smiley starting at power forward and Livan Gaither being the starting center. Backup center Kelvin Geyer will continue to come off the bench, mainly against the 6'9 backup center we are facing. Pengelly is at 97%, while Louis is still at 89%, so the former is gonna start, but will have his minutes lessened a little bit.

We trailed most of the first half, and were down 45-39 at haltime. Eventually we were down 20 points and I emptied the bench, losing 91-74. Livan Gaither led the Seawolves with 17 points.

Quadree Fleming is starting to play more as personnel limitations mean Lee Crosby is seeing some minutes at the 3.

Good news? Finally got Brown and Kamouna to talk to us again......... briefly.

The next game is an interesting matchup as the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors trade sunny Oahu for January Anchorage, Alaska. Hawaii's centers are a 1.5 star 6'8 guy and a ZERO STAR walk on, so I'm gonna keep Louis out again. Jesus, I thought our situation is bad. At least Geyer is on scholarship.

It's a close game at first, as it's 40-40 at halftime. However, we fall behind in the second half and a late surge is not enough as we lose 72-69. kelvin Geyer actually leads the team as he scores 15 points on 7-11 shooting from the bench, hmmmmmm...... is more playing time warranted.

Next, we head back to California to face the UC-Santa Barbara Gauchos. Finally, Matt Louis is at 100%. We got out to a good lead, leading 26-13 with 9 minutes left, but only lead 42-34 at halftime. In the second half eventually the Gauchos tied it at 75-75 with 4:21 left, at 80-80 with 2:39 left, and 82-82 with 0:46 before finally taking the lead with 0:57 left, winning 84-82. Disappointing. Matt Louis led the team with 22 points on 8-10 shooting and 7 rebounds. Johnny Pengelly had 10 turnovers.... OOF! In this game I only used seven players, Geyer and Fleming didn't play.

We are now 5-10 and 2-4 in the Big West, 227 in the NET.

[Jake8005]

Continuing on our Californa road trip, we next play the Cal State Fullerton Titans. We were tied at halftime, and built up a solid lead throughout most of the second half, holding off a late surge to win 70-67. Matt Louis led us with 22 points on 10-14 shooting. Herb Smiley 15 points on 5-7 shooting and led the team with 9 rebounds.

Finally, we return home to Alaska for the next 18 days, with four games at the Alaska Airlines Center.

1/14, John Wayne Airport, Orange County, CA.


Boozer: Great win guys, and the good news is we're at home until February!

Assocoiate Head Coach Mike Dunlap: It's not gonna be easy though, three of our four opponents are in the top half of the conference, so don't lose your focus!

Despite the win, changes may be needed. Our third guard, David Omara, has been rotating with Pengelly and Crosby most of the season. But he's shooting 28% from the field. That's not good enough. Also, all three guards will be gone next season. Next season we will have our fourth guard, SG Quadree Fleming, and current third string guards PG Otis Strong, SG Jeff Rowell, and recruit PG Eric Edwards. We may also take PG Travis Mintz as a recruit, but he's not a priority at the moment.

So far, Fleming is the only one who has played, often at SG when Crosby is playing at SF. He's played 11 out of our 16 games, averaging 11.5 minutes a game, shooting 50/58/86 and scoring 3.7 points a game. That deserves more playing time. He's going to take some Kelvin Geyer's minutes and we're gonna play more small ball. Strong and Rowell, who have .902 and .595 TS% respectively in their little minutes, may see some more minutes.

On January 20th, we play the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners, who are last place in the Big West at 5-13 and 3-6.

18:56 and our first sub is........ Quadree Fleming, coming into the game at SG for Lee Crosby. The game gets out of hand fastly, and we're up 45-21 with 4:21 left in the first half, and we're gonna try to get Strong and Rowell some playing time, even John Haymon is getting in.

The game was never close and ended up being an 84-64 Seawolves victory, and was only that "close" because of our reserves playing. Fleming played 19 minutes, Strong played 18 minutes, Haymon played 17 minutes and Rowell played 15 minutes. Our walk-ons Jacob Cox and Adam Finneman got in the game for the last 3 minutes. Johnny Pengelly led the team with 12 points.

We are now .500 in the Big West! Not bad for a first year Division I team!

[Jake8005]

The homestand continues against the Long Beach State Beach, who we faced in California 19 days ago. The first half was great, as we led 48-32 at halftime. Eventually we won 95-73.

Matt Louis led the Seawolves with 20 points on 7-11 shooting. David Omara has continued to thrive in a smaller role scoring 11 points on 5-9 shooting with 2 assists in 19 minutes after shooting 3-6 for 6 points and 4 assists in only 11 minutes last game

We are now 5-4 in the Big West!

Following this we play the Cal Poly Mustangs, currently in second place in the Big West.

Their center is 6'8 (and at 86% with back spasms) as is his backup, who is a power forward. So we can get away with no using Geyer and using Gaither or even Smiley at center when Louis is sitting. So there will be a lot of small ball today, with Omara, Fleming and Blake being our main subs.

We had a comfortable lead throughout the first half and led 40-31 at halftime. In the second half we eventually got up by over 20 points, and emptied the bench, winning 96-72. Herb Smiley led the team with 20 points on 7-10 shooting in 23 minutes, Crosby scored 19 points on 6-8 shooting in 19 minutes. David Omara scored 10 points on 2-3 shooting and 6-6 from the line.

We are now 6-4 in the Big West, 183rd in NET amd one game from .500 at 9-10.

The bad news is we don't have a top 30 Norton candidate. It might be awhile before we have that.

[jksander]

This looks fun. As a long time player, what I would suggest for your future seasons (if you're going to stick with only recruiting in AK) would be to forego the scouting reports and travel for summer tournaments and put the money into your assistants. You'd be in a unique position to pay for much better scouting and development coaches ... scouting so you get better information on the players you DO recruit, and development so they practice their hardest.

Will definitely be following

[Jake8005]

This looks fun. As a long time player, what I would suggest for your future seasons (if you're going to stick with only recruiting in AK) would be to forego the scouting reports and travel for summer tournaments and put the money into your assistants. You'd be in a unique position to pay for much better scouting and development coaches ... scouting so you get better information on the players you DO recruit, and development so they practice their hardest.

Will definitely be following

Thanks! I definitely spent less than I did in my previous saves.

[Jake8005]

The final game of the homestand was against the Cal St. Northridge Matadors. We got out to a 42-22 lead, but by halftime this was only a 49-41 lead with junior forward Michael Blake leading the team with 15 points off the bench. However, we eventually got back to a 20 point lead in the second half, winning 83-70 when it was over. Livan Gaither was the player of the game with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocks. Lee Crosby also had 17 points, and David Omara came off the bench to lead the team with 4 assists.

After 11/20 conference games, the Alaskan newcomers are third in the Big West with a 7-4 Big West record, and also rank third among the conference in NET at 183.

[Jake8005]

Now the return leg of an interesting weather matchup happens, as the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves head for their first (and only) westward plane trip, taking on Hawaii on Feb. 1st.

In the previous matchup,

Hawaii was not a team that was strong at center, so this lets us play some more small ball. They also aren't very tall in general, with heights of 6'5, 6'1, 6'6, 6'7, and 6'8 in their lineup. A good matchup for us.

Within a few minutes, Fleming is on the floor as the 8th man, as Crosby shifts to small forward with a frontcourt of Smiley and Gaither.

This works as the Seawolves lead 42-32 at halftime. However, it does not last as Hawaii takes the lead in the second half, and wins decisively enough that the Alaska Anchorage bench empties out at the end, losing 80-67. Lee Crosby and Livan Gaither led the Seawolves with 11 points each

Heading to California to play the UC-Davis Aggies, Alaska Anchorage is 7-5 and in fourth place in the Big West, but is one game behind third place and one game ahead of sixth place, so this game can change where they stand.

A similar halftime lead follows, as we are up 41-30 after 20 minutes.

Unfortunately, Gaither fouled out in the middle of the second half and the Seawolves had to go to extreme small ball, including Fleming at SF and Smiley at C sometimes when Louis was out.

But this didn't effect their performance, as they were up by 20 for a lot of the second half, and got to run a lineup of Strong, Rowell, Cox, Finneman, Haymon for the last four minutes, winning 88-73.

Matt Louis was the player of the game with 15 points and 7 rebounds, though it could've easily gone to Lee Crosby, who had 16 points, 6 rebounds and an assist and a steal.

Two thirds of the way through, Alaska Anchorage is 8-5 in the Big West, good for

We also got Kamouna to talk to us on the recruiting trail, but that went nowhere. It's looking more and more like Geyer will continue as our backup center next season.

[jksander]

Glad this one is still alive