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

[PointGuard]

With only 6 returning players, it is hard to assess how good this team will be and how long it will take the players to gel as a team. While we have some players with good individual skills, most are still unfamiliar with our offensive and defensive sets. Our strength should be inside and at the point.

Here’s this year's roster (** indicates that player is new to team this year):

Point Guards:

1. **Jerry Yearwood, 6-1, Jr, Juco transfer from Mount Dora, FL—Excellent ball handler and passer, good outside shooter who should put some points on the board, strong rebounder, good defender with quick hands that should result in a lot of steals, excellent shot blocker. 4.0/4.5 stars.
2. Lionel Benjamin, 6-0, So, San Bruno, CA—played well in a limited role last year, is developing quickly, makes some spectacular passes but also turns the ball over too much, strong defensively with quick hands that yield steals and blocks, good rebounder, good scoring abilities but needs to work on shot selection and passing rather than shooting when closely defended. 4.0/4.5 stars.
3. **Brett Cook, 6-5, Jr, Juco transfer from South Paris, ME—Good outside shooter, needs to work on passing and ball-handling, weak rebounder and defender, good potential. 1.0/4.0 stars.
4. **Tremain Jennings, 6-4, Fr, San Diego, CA—Good passing skills who also can get free for shots, good outside shooter, excellent at stealing the ball. 2.0/4.0 stars (Redshirting this year).

Shooting Guards:

1. **Brett Holt, 6-2, Jr, Juco transfer from Beaufort, NC—good outside shooter who isn’t afraid to put up a 3 or drive to the bucket, excellent passer and ball-handler, strong rebounder, very good defender who gets his share of blocks and steals. 3.0/4.0 stars.
2. **Edmund Little, 6-0, Jr, Juco transfer from Midwest, WY—gaining confidence as a shooter, needs to work on ball-handling, good rebounder, excellent defender and very strong shot blocker and thief. 2.5/4.0 stars.
3. **Harold Masters, 6-4, Fr, Pine Bluffs, WY—very good set shooter, but needs to work on his jumper, good rebounder, good passer but needs to work on ball handling, weak defensively. 2.0/4.0 stars.

Small Forwards:

1. Mitchell Jarmond, 6-6, Jr, El Monte, CA—was inconsistent last year at PF but had some good games, although he’s not a strong outside shooter, we will play him at SF this year where we expect him to drive inside and also rebound well, very good passer, strong defensively and a good shot blocker and ball thief, good at drawing fouls but needs to improve his foul shooting, very athletic. 3.0/4.0 stars.
2. **Tyson Morris, 6-8, Sr, Lake Arrowhead, CA—very strong rebounder, shooting skills need work but should get inside for some points and is not afraid to put up the 3, although a good shot blocker and good at stealing the ball he still needs to work on his overall defensive game. 2.0/2.0 stars. (Walk-on).
3. **Jermaine Vershaw, 6-8, Fr, Orosi, CA—good outside shooter who takes his share of 3’s, good passer, strong rebounder, needs to work on his defensive game. 2.0/2.0 stars. (Walk-on).

Power Forwards:

1. Awvee Calton, 6-8, Sr, Chicago, IL—was an able starter at PF for us last year, very strong post player, excellent rebounder, good passer, strong defensively and good shot blocker, good at drawing fouls but needs to work on foul shooting. 4.0/5.0 stars.
2. Mike Dotson, 6-7, So, Mariposa, CA—played well in a limited role last year but has quickly developed his game, good post player with strong rebounding skills, excellent passer, good at drawing fouls, strong defensively and good shot blocker and ball thief, very athletic. 4.0/4.5 stars.

Centers:

1. **Jeff Gilbert, 6-8, Jr, Juco transfer from Volga, SD—strong post player, excellent rebounder on both ends of the court, very good passer, extremely strong defensively, excellent shot blocker, very good at drawing fouls but a poor free throw shooter. 4.5/5.0 stars.
2. Marcelle Pastner, 6-10, Sr, San Diego, CA—played well last year and has developed well during the summer and fall, excellent scorer in the post, rebounding is now a strong point of his game, very good defender and shot blocker. 3.0/4.0 stars.
3. Mark Saunders, 6-9, Jr, Elkton, MD—played well as a starter last year but his game has seemed to have hit a brick wall, can be a good scorer but inconsistent, good rebounder, strong defensively and good shot blocker, poor free throw shooter. 2.5/3.5 stars.

[PointGuard]

Game #1; Nov. 15, 2016: CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (0-0) at Clemson Tigers (0-0)

We started shakily, missing our first 6 shots and turning travelling with the ball twice in the first 3-1/2 minutes. Fortunately, Clemson started slow as well, and we were only down 4-1 before hitting our first FG of the season. We then began hitting our shots and together with rebounding superiority (22-17), we opened a 12 point lead midway through the first half. Although Clemson closed to within 4 points, we pulled away late in the half to leave the court with a 42-31 lead. Awvee Calton scored 10 and Lionel Benjamin came off the bench to add 9 for us. Since we turned the ball over 8 times, I stressed ball control during the break.

We maintained a double digit lead through most all of the 2nd half and played our entire bench.

Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-81, Clemson-68. CSU Bakersfield season record: 1-0.

Scoring leaders: Calton-18, Benjamin-11, Gilbert-9, Yearwood-8.

Rebound leaders: Gilbert-9, Calton-6, Holt-5.

Assist leaders: Yearwood-3.

Player of the Game: PF Awvee Calton-18 pts, 6 reb, 1 block.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: C Jeff Gilbert-9 pts, 9 reb, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block.

Other notes: We won this game at the free throw line as the refs called 25 fouls against the Tigers giving us 40 free throw attempts (of which we sunk 29). We were called for just 13 fouls and Clemson hit 13 of 17. We hit 43% of our shots while Clemson hit 40%. We dominated the boards 44-30, but made 14 turnovers against Clemson’s 11.

[PointGuard]

Game #2; Nov. 18, 2016: Princeton Tigers (1-0) at CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (1-0)

We play the Tigers again…this time Princeton rather than Clemson.

We stormed out to a lead and never looked back in the first half. We hit 50% of our shots compared to Princeton’s 30% shooting. We out-rebounded the Tigers 19-17, and we held an 11-3 turnover advantage. The half ended with us ahead 45-24. Jerry Yearwood led our scoring with 11 points.

Our dominance continued in the 2nd half as we opened a 32 point lead. Again we played our entire bench significantly.

Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-84, Princeton-58. CSU Bakersfield season record: 2-0.

Scoring leaders: Holt-12, Yearwood-11, Gilbert-11, Calton-11, Benjamin-10.

Rebound leaders: Holt-8, Dotson-7, Gilbert-6.

Assist leaders: Yearwood-6, Holt-6, Morris-3.

Player of the Game: SG Brett Holt-12 pts, 8 reb, 6 assists.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: PG Jerry Yearwood-11 pts, 2 reb, 6 assists.

Other notes: We knocked down 51% of our FG attempts whereas Princeton could only manage 37%. Whereas rebounding was even 37-37, we turned the ball over just 3 times while Princeton had 14 turnovers.

[CoachC]

surprised that you still don't play exhibition games, PG. I think you said before though that you think it gives you an unfair advantage against the AI, which is probably true.

congratulations on your national championship this year!

[PointGuard]

LOL re "national championship this year".

Yeah, still don't do exhibition games. I figure I should have the same uncertainties at the beginning of the year that the AI has. I think it's a tremendous idea though. Same reason for me that I don't cut players to pick up transfers (as much as I'd like to at times). I still recruit like a zealot though, which is a human advantage over the AI that I can't resist. Also, I work hard on the players who I think will have academic problems so that they never get disqualified because of grades (just because I HATE to have any of my players not available), but I realize that the AI isn't doing what I'm doing and AI teams therefore are getting academically-ineligible players. So obviously I'm not "pure" with respect to doing things that give me an advantage over the AI.

BUT...by coaching at a low-prestige college, I am at a disadvantage (a realistic one) in trying to recruit high school stars. Unfortunately that ultimately results in an advantage to the human also, since some really good JC players are generally available...and they're just too good to pass up.

[Wayne23]

As I always say, let the AI watch out for himself!

[CoachC]

I never cut players to pick up transfers either, because it's almost like metagaming. I think I've done it once, because it was justified. Had a horrible player causing trouble every week in practice, and because my coach at the time was rated high in discipline, i had no choice but to give him the heave ho. That was in CB1, but i swear it cost me more than one prestige point to do it (more like 3 or 4). they need to fix that.

I do think you are going to have an unbelievable season, however.

[CoachC]

With regards to having an advantage over the AI, playing out the games is the biggest factor of all, but I'd never enjoy this game sitting on the sidelines watching it being played out. Same reason I manage (and unfortunately have to GM as well.... call me Whitey Herzog) every game in OOTP year after year.

[PointGuard]

Yes, I agree re playing out the games...both with respect to having an advantage (particularly in the last few minutes of the game) and the enjoyment factor.

[PointGuard]

Game #3; Nov. 22, 2016: Oregon State Beavers (1-1) at CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (2-0)

Oregon State’s loss was to #18 UConn. They’re led by senior PG Larry
Whitney who is scoring at a 16.5 ppg clip and hitting a very high percentage of his shots.

We hit 50% of our shots and controlled the boards 21-12. By the end of the half we were ahead 49-35. Jeff Gilbert and Marcelle Pastner both had 9 points.

We continued to cook offensively in the 2nd half and pulled away for a big win and the highest point total we’ve ever had during my head coaching career.

We played everyone on our bench extensively and 11 of our players scored.

Final Score: CSU Bakersfield-101, Oregon State-62. CSU Bakersfield season record: 3-0.

Scoring leaders: Yearwood-15, Calton-14, Gilbert-13, Pastner-13, Jarmond-12, Holt-11, Benjamin-11.

Rebound leaders: Gilbert-11, Calton-9, Jarmond-8, Saunders-5, Pastner-5.

Assist leaders: Yearwood-3, Holt-3, Jarmond-3.

Player of the Game: C Jeff Gilbert-13 pts, 11 reb, 1 assist, 2 blocks.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: PF Awvee Calton-14 pts, 9 reb.

Other notes: We scorched the nets, hitting 52% of our shots plus 15 of 17 from the free throw line. Oregon State his 41% of their FG attempts. We completely dominated the boards, 50-17 and had 23 offensive rebounds (to 3 for the Beavers). We also held a 14-8 advantage in turnovers. All 5 of our starters scored in double figures as did 2 of our subs. Jeff Gilbert had a double-double (13 points and 11 rebounds). We held Oregon State’s Larry Whitney to 6 points.