Philly Gym Rat (The Perry “QM” McMullin Story)

[PointGuard]

I will be staying on at CSU Bakersfield. I’m looking forward to working with Jerell Brown and seeing how the 14 returning players develop.
Age: 28
Contract: $80,000/yr for 2 years
Offense: 33 (+4), Defense: 32 (+4), Recruiting: 35 (no change), Scouting: 26 (+1), Player Development: 37 (+4), Reputation: 10 (no change), Job Security: 100 (no change)

[OOC: Since the game presently never updates the human coach's recruiting rating, I tried to go into the database and increase my Recruiting by 1 to 36 but it wouldn't save. Not sure how to get it to stick.]

[PointGuard]

My 2nd assistant coach, Jared Hill’s/[B] contract expired and I chose not renew it. While he was successful in helping to land a high-quality recruit this year, he was not happy being on the road so much so we parted ways amicably. He landed a head coaching job at College of Sequoias (a Community College in Visalia, California.

I moved Rodney Willis up to 2nd assistant and searched for the best recruiter I could find for a 3rd assistant. I could only identify one coach whose recruiting skills seemed better (albeit not much better) than those of Jared Hill. I offered a 3 year contract to [B]Gerrod Hedde, and fortunately he accepted immediately. Since Gerrod’s salary is $18,000 less than was Rodney’s, that will free up more money for recruiting activities. That means next year we will have $56,800 to use for recruiting cost.

Therefore my assistant coaches for the upcoming year will be:

1st Asst: Stephen Osbourne: Age-38, Reputation-8, Contract: $32,000/yr for 2 years, Primary strength-Player Development (40). He’ll be in charge of practices.

2nd Asst: Rodney Willis: Age-47, Reputation-9, Contract: $16,800/yr for 2 years, Primary strength-Scouting (46). He’ll be my scout. I am advancing him to 2nd assistant.

3rd Asst: Gerrod Hedde: Age-41, Reputation-9, Contract: $20000/yr for 3 years, Primary strength-Recruiting (34). He’ll be my recruiter.

[PointGuard]

Well, we won 10 more games than the previous year, finished 2nd in the conference, won the conference tournament, won a play-in game, and got knocked out of the tournament by the #1 rated team (and the one who would eventually finish 2nd in the NCAA Tournament), and our prestige increased by a whopping 1 (yes, ONE)…jumping all the way from 2 to the stratospheric heights of 3 (yes, THREE).

[PointGuard]

I met with Benson Jones, our Athletic Director, who congratulated me on exceeding my goal of at least 10 wins (had 16 wins) and making it to the NCAA Tournament. He was happy that our attendance numbers had increased throughout the year. He said “QM, you did a great job at rejuvenating the basketball program here, but you also set some high expectations for the future. The fans, the media, the administration, and I am looking for you to keep building this program.” I replied that I wasn’t surprised by that, but to entice recruits we really needed to upgrade our facilities (rated as C-). Benson looked at me for a bit before responding and finally said, “Well, that’s going to be tough. We’re strapped for money. But if you’d like, you can prepare a proposal and I’ll present it to the Board for their consideration. I went back and put together some ideas for improved training facilities.

The Board met. They didn’t respond immediately, instead taking my proposal under consideration. A few weeks later, I was informed by Benson Jones that the board had said that while they appreciated what the team had done this year, there just were no extra funds available and therefore were denying my proposal.

Seeming to feel he needs to make an apology for not getting the proposal accepted, he lays out the exact same goal as last year without increasing it whatsoever.

2012-2013 Goal: Win 10+ games. I just roll my eyes since this is absolutely no goal at all since it's going backwards.

[Wayne23]

Great season. Surprised your Reputation rate didn't increase.

[PointGuard]

Thanks, Wayne. Re my rep, I'm not surprised it didn't rise. Even though it was a somewhat suprising season (winning the conf title and getting to the Big Dance), the team record was still only .500 and it was just one season. Need to get some winning seasons and move the other coaching ratings up a bit, then the rep will go up as well.

[PointGuard]

Summer arrives and we jump back into action to try to move the Roadrunners up the ladder of success. I talk with Benson Jones and ask him to try to schedule some tough teams, but see if we can play them at home.

We have 5 seniors graduating, but two of them are walk-ons, so we will only have 3 scholarships to fill. While I’d like to pick up another high-flyer, I don’t feel we have much chance to get players from outside our region, so just purchase the Western Report and just the basic version. I also decide to just attend the Las Vegas Revue this year.

Since all of our scholarships are filled, we go after no transfer players. We have a couple players who are unlikely to develop into strong players and I’m tempted to cut one or two so I can pursue some of the transfer players, but decide to stick with the players I have.

[PointGuard]

First Round:

1. Detroit-G Mark Watkins, Indiana, 5-10
2. Los Angeles (L)-F Todd Webb, Kentucky, 6-6
3. Los Angeles (C)-G Justin Molinari, UConn, 6-0
4. Minnesota-G Brian Keown, Kentucky, 6-2
5. Memphis-G Mike Hobbs, Florida, 6-0
6. Indiana-G James Johnson, Syracuse, 6-0
7. Atlanta-G Brian Brown, Texas, 6-1
8. Dallas-F Nick Collins, Michigan St, 6-7
9. Toronto-C Quin Roe, Notre Dame, 6-7
10. Philadelphia-F Kenyon Clark, Maryland, 6-4
11. Phoenix-C Lee Chase, Syracuse, 6-10
12. New York-G Clarence Hinton, Kansas, 6-3
13. Golden State-C Malachi Howard, Duke, 6-8
14. Charlotte-F Eric Nixon, Georgia Tech, 6-3
15. Denver-F Calvin Womack, Georgetown, 6-6
16. Orlando-F Andrew Davis, Georgia Tech, 6-6
17. Portland-G John King, Syracuse, 6-2
18. Chicago-F Duane Lawrence, UConn, 6-3
19. Sacramento-G James Holland, Mississippi St, 6-5
20. Boston-G Whitney Brand, UCLA, 6-1
21. Indiana-F Jeff Bersticker, Illinois, 6-8
22. Brooklyn-F Mike Bedford,UConn, 6-6
23. Milwaukee-F Kyle Stuart, Brigham Young, 6-6
24. Oklahoma City-C Josh Redhage, Illinois, 6-8
25. Washington-F Chris Nolan, Michigan St., 6-6
26. Utah-G Danny Bolton, Duke, 6-0
27. San Antonio-F Dion Barrett, Florida, 6-7
28. Houston-C Bernard Merriex, Auburn, 7-3
29. Miami-G Russell Ferguson, Florida, 6-2
30. Cleveland-G Derek Hawkins, Indiana, 6-3

Second Round:

31. Los Angeles (C)-C Cory Dodd, Kansas, 6-10
32. Houston-F Collier Durden, UCLA, 6-8
33. Toronto-G Cory Allocco, North Carolina, 6-0
34. Detroit-G Michael Austin, Arizona, 6-1
35. Toronto-C Reginald Samuels, Auburn, 6-9
36. Indiana-C Ike Stanley, Indiana, 6-9
37. Oklahoma City-G Ashante Holbrook, Massachusetts, 6-0
38. Dallas-G Adrian Bryant, Georgetown, 6-0
39. Toronto-F Renardo Walker, Illinois, 6-8
40. Sacramento-F Matt Boyd, Kansas St., 6-7
41. Phoenix-F Roy Thurston, Ohio St, 6-6
42. Boston-G Gordon Daniels, Marquette, 6-0’
43. Golden State-G Cameron Worrell, Wake Forest, 6-4
44. Charlotte-F Matthew Richardson, Arizona, 6-4
45. Denver-F John Watkins, Memphis, 6-7
46. Orlando-G Jermar Cokley, Mississippi St, 6-4 (traded to Portland)
47. Portland-F Matt Haginas, Oklahoma, 6-8
48. Chicago-G Michael Williams, UConn, 6-3
49. Sacramento-G Jason Haymans, UNLV, 5-5
50. Boston-G Mike Booth, Duke, 6-5
51. New Orleans-G Glendon Skinner, Missouri, 6-3
52. Oklahoma City-G Tom Owens, Pittsburgh, 6-5
53. Milwaukee-G Kyle Spears, Indiana, 5-5
54. Brooklyn-F Brandon Powell, Arizona, 6-6
55. Washington-G Ron Toxey, Washington, 6-4
56. Utah-F Mike Bowle, Michigan, 6-6
57. San Antonio-G Troy Greer, UConn, 6-0
58. Houston-G Pat Carter, Butler, 6-5
59. Miami-F Darelle Saunder, Boston College, 6-8
60. Cleveland-F Jamaal Cameron, North Carolina, 6-6

6 of the first 7 players selected were guards!

(OOC: The Pro Draft was done using the integrated fictional association in DDSPB3 that I’m running together with this dynasty.)

Greg Bivins didn’t get contacted for a try out and although he is on the list of available free agents, no teams have given him a call. In my phone calls with him, it sounds like his junior management job at Chevron is going well, though.

[Wayne23]

Cutting players has always worked for me.

[PointGuard]

With 14 of 15 players returning and adding a Top 20 recruit, we should definitely be able to put a better team on the floor this year than last. Will we have a better record? We should. Will we return to the NCAA Tournament? Hard to say, since getting there for a Great West Conference team is dependent upon winning the Conference Tournament and that’s always a crap shoot.

Let’s take a look at our roster for this year:

6-5 Jr PG Rashun Kamara from Santa Clara, CA: Rashun has shown some improvement. He’s become a better passer and ball handler with a great crossover dribble and looks to be stronger on the boards. Another year of experience has improved his discipline and court intelligence. Stars: 1.5/3.5 (both improvements over last year).

6-4 Sr PG Carlos Holmes from San Francisco, CA: Carlos was a pleasant surprise last year and came off the bench to provide a steady hand and sometimes some quick offense. His scoring success last year has made him more confident to take shots and he’s worked hard to be our best free throw shooter. A very good passer. Creative off the dribble with a quick first step and good at pushing the ball up court. He’s becoming a better rebounder. Last year his defense was a liability but he’s worked to improve that. Stars: 2.0/1.5.

6-4 Fr SG Jerell Brown from Middletown, CA: This kid looks every bit as good as we had hoped. He’s effective inside and out and isn’t afraid to take the shot. A very adept passer. Fights for rebounds and loose balls. Good defensively and anticipates well to get blocks and steals. His only glaring weakness is his work ethic…things have come too easily for him. Stars: 4.5/5.0.

6-0 Jr SG Kevin Hill from Sacramento, CA: Was a streaky scorer last year. Has worked extremely hard on his passing and ball handling, so likely to get some time at PG. He’s also becoming a much better rebounder. A weak defender last year, he’s improved that part of his game and figured out how to use his quick hands to get blocks and steals. Stars: 2.5/3.5 (both dramatically improved).

6-5 So SG Jason Nurse from Irvine, CA: He didn’t get a lot of playing time last year and based on our evaluation that he hasn’t improved his skills, he’s likely to be on the court much this year either. He’s a good shooter from outside and can drive into the key, but his free throw shooting is weak. A good ball handler, but surprisingly a weak passer. He needs to work on his rebounding and defense. Stars: 1.0/1.5 (his potential has been significantly lowered).

6-1 Jr SG Andrew Powers from Hemet, CA: A good scorer last year, he’s improved his passing and rebounding. He’s becoming much better at getting blocks and steals and his court intelligence and discipline are improving. With Jerell Brown the likely starting PG, I’m hopeful Andrew can be a good 6th man. Stars: 2.0/3.5 (both slightly better than last year).

6-8 Jr SF Justin Williams from Irvine, CA: Justin had some strong games toward the end of last year and he looks to be much improved this year. A very hard worker. He’s really developed his rebounding and defense since last year. Stars: 3.0/4.0 (both big improvements from last year).

6-8 Jr SF Jeremy Jones from Larkspur, CA: Started several games last year, but his scoring left a lot to be desired as he was prone to slumps. A strong rebounder, but not a consistent scorer. Good defensively and has worked hard to be better at blocking and stealing. Stars: 2.5/3.5 (a slight improvement in his current skills, but potential remains the same).

6-7 Fr(R) Ammer Self from Riverside, CA: Redshirted last year. The year of working on his skills has been valuable to him. His outside shot and free throw shooting have improved. His rebounding skills are developing. Still not strong defensively, his blocking and stealing capabilities are developing. Stars: 1.5/4.0 (good improvement for both).

6-8 Sr PF Bobby Rivera from Santa Rosa, CA: A solid player off the bench last year who developed the more he played. His rebounding and defensive skills have improved. Not a strong scorer. Stars: 2.0/3.0 (his potential has declined slightly).

6-8 Sr PF Johnny Chase from Oxnard, CA: As a starter last year, he never fulfilled what his potential, playing strongly at times then all be disappearing at other times. A solid player who is an excellent rebounder. A very strong blocker and gets more than his share of steals. Unfortunately, he hasn’t show much growth in his game. Stars: 2.5/2.5 (a slight decline in both from last year).

6-7 Fr(R) C.J. Galloway from Scotts Valley, CA: Redshirted last year. His skills don’t appear to have improved significantly during that period, but he has potential as a rebounder and shot blocker. His shooting is unproven. Stars: 1.0/2.5 (slightly less potential that previously).

6-8 So C Josh Brown from Reseda, CA: He showed streaks of potential in limited on court time last year, but seems to have regressed. Rebounding is probably his main strength. Stars: 1.0/2.0 (both are reduced from last year).

6-10 Sr C Mike Settles from Whittier, CA: Came off the bench to provide some quality minutes and showed the ability to score well inside. He’s worked hard to develop his rebounding skills and also strengthen his defensive abilities. Stars: 2.0/3.0 (slightly more potential that last year).

6-9 Sr. C David Johnson from Oakland, CA: A starter last year who played solidly but not impressively. He has shows incremental development of most of his skills other than scoring. A strong rebounder and defender and good at drawing fouls. Stars: 1.5/1.5 (about the same as last year).