Path to the Hall of Fame (v2)

[randy]

Quarter Finals
(6) Wake Forest, Lost 53-65

• FG: 36-46%; REB: Even; TO: +7

[randy]

Rank (Media/Coaches): NR/NR; RPI: #50

We're in the South Regionals (Atlanta)

1st round matchup:
(8) Clemson vs (9) Creighton

Teams in the South Regionals

• (1) #4 Stanford - 1 National Title, 6 Final Fours
• (2) #7 Houston - 2 National Titles, 6 Final Fours
• (3) #22 Georgetown - 3 National Titles, 5 Final Fours
• (4) #25 Michigan St - 1 National Title, 4 Final Fours
• (5) #8 UNLV - 3 Final Fours
• (6) St. John's - 6 Final Fours
• (7) Arkansas - 5 Final Fours
• (8) Clemson
• (9) Creighton
• (10) Syracuse - 1 National Title, 2 Final Fours
• (11) St. Joseph's
• (12) Play-In
• (13) Fairfield
• (14) Austin Peay
• (15) New Jersey Tech
• (16) South Dakota St

Other Ranked Teams

East

• (1) #1 Georgia Tech
• (2) #3 Southern Illinois
• (3) #12 Louisville
• (4) #16 New Mexico
• (5) #24 Kentucky
• (6) #20 Lamar

Midwest

• (1) #5 Iowa
• (2) #6 Kansas
• (3) #13 Oklahoma
• (4) #18 Arizona
• (5) #23 Pepperdine

West

• (1) #11 Pittsburgh
• (2) #10 Xavier
• (3) #9 Memphis
• (4) #17 Oregon
• (6) #19 Toledo
• (7) #21 Florida International

On Probation

• #2 Georgia
• #14 Auburn
• #15 Temple

ACC teams appearing on post-season tournaments

NCAA

• East: (16) NC Greensboro vs (1) #1 Georgia Tech
• Midwest: (10) Wake Forest vs (7) Seton Hall
• Midwest: (9) Purdue vs (8) Duke
• South: (9) Creighton vs (8) Clemson
• West: (9) Tulane vs (8) North Carolina St

[randy]

Mar 17, 2006: (9) Creighton (21-11, 10-6) vs (8) Clemson (17-11, 12-6)

Scouting Report

1. Primary defense: M2M
2. Offense focus: Balanced (fast)
3. Key players:
   
   • Sr SF Bill Jones (11.9 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2-time All Conf)
   • So(R) SF Lee Steele (13.9 ppg)
4. Strengths:
   
   • Rebounding: 34.6 rpg (#22)
   • Defense: 41.9% opp FG (#60), 16.7 opp topg (#27)
5. Weaknesses:
   
   • Shooting: 43.7% FG (#208), 32.2% 3PT (#272)
6. How they got here:
   
   • Finished 3rd Missouri Valley; Lost Conference Tournament Finals

Strategies

1. Use 2-3 zone to control def rebounds, and force Creighton to shoot from the outside

Start of 1st half

Good start on both ends, as CREIGH is 1-6 FG, while our outside shooting was on target 7-8 FG. Up 17-4, 15:39. We continue to shoot well at 72% FG, but we need to watch out on our turn overs. Up 33-16, 8:07. We also controlled the boards, which contributed to our lead. Halftime, Up 47-35.

Key stats / Notes (Halftime)

• FG shooting: CREIGH 38%, CLEM 59%
• Rebounds: CREIGH 11, CLEM 19
• We need to play better defense in the 2nd half, esp if we won't be able to sustain our good shooting. We also gave up 10 fast break pts due to our turn overs, so we better cut down on that. This game is far from over

Start of 2nd half

Our turn overs problem persist, which allowed CREIGH to come as close to 9 pts. Our outside shooting still keeping us in the lead. Up 59-45, 13:24. CREIGH's half court offense has gone cold, and we have slowly built an almost insurmountable lead now. Up 68-49, 7:40. Pulled out my key players with 4 mins left and a safe 26 pt lead.


Final Score: Creighton - 56, Clemson - 85


Box Scores
[INDENT]Akins 23, 5, 2, 10-14 FG (*)
Mastern 19, 4, 5
Jones 10, 1, 0
Harvey 6, 10, 2
Massiah 6, 5, 2
Sharpe 6, 5, 0
Hein 6, 1, 0
Bland 4, 1, 0
Howard 3, 5, 5, 7 tos
Monroe 2, 5, 5, 5 tos
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 59-34%
REB: +25 (+4 off)
TO: +10
Pts in paint: +2
2nd chance: +2
Fast break: -15
[/INDENT]
Notes

• Our rebounding and CREIGH shooting miserably from the outside (6-36 3PT) gave us this win.
• However, we can't continue to commit 22 turn overs and give up 23 fast break pts, and expect to have a deep run in this tournament.

[randy]

Mar 19, 2006: (8) Clemson (18-11, 12-6) vs (1) #4 Stanford (29-4, 15-3)

Scouting Report

1. Primary defense: M2M
2. Offense focus: Balanced (fast)
3. Key players:
   
   • Sr C Maurice Ivory (15.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 2.6 bpg, All Conf, #32 class rank)
   • Jr SG Tim Carey (12.4 ppg)
4. Strengths:
   
   • Offense: 76.1 ppg (#4), 38.2% 3PT (#44)
   • Rebounding: 34.0 rpg (#31)
5. Weaknesses:
   
   • Defense: 66.7 opp ppg (#170), 36.5% 3PT (#280)
6. How they got here:
   
   • Finished 1st Pac 12; Won Conference Tournament
   • (Round 64) Def South Dakota St, 87-66 (STAN: 5 players in double figures)

Strategies

1. Stanford's offense is difficult to guard because of Ivory can score inside, and they have a number of perimeter players who can shoot from 3. We'll use a combination of 2-3 and m2m defenses.
2. We need to minimize turn overs, as we can't afford Stanford to have too many possessions
3. We'll go with a more balanced offense focus, and test Stanford's perimeter defense

Start of 1st half

C Curtis Massiah has done a good job on the boards, and also able to fish 2 fouls from STAN's C Maurice Ivory. Up 12-6, 15:14. We are getting quite a number of easy pts on transition, and STAN forced to call an early timeout when they went down by 14. STAN's offensive output so far came from 3 triples. Up 27-9, 9:55. STAN mounted a comeback, anchored on Ivory, who scored 8 pts after he came on the floor. Halftime, Up 39-33.

Key stats / Notes (Halftime)

• Fast break pts: CLEM 14, STAN 5
• We led by as many as 19, but Stanford is talented enough to easily get themselves back in the game. We need to be aggressive on defense and force more turn overs, and get more fast break pts; we can't expect to win by settling on a half court shootout

Start of 2nd half

STAN continues to inch closer, until they reduced our lead to just 1 pt. With a combination of off rebounding and forcing turn overs, we were able to recover and hang on to the lead. Up 51-46, 10:58. STAN scored 6 unanswered pts, and have taken the lead momentarily; we scored the last basket to stop our bleeding. Up 53-52, 7:30.

STAN retook the lead, and extended their advantage to 7 pts as our outside shooting has gone cold. We'll shift to favor inside on offense. We cut down the lead to 3 prior to the last media timeout. Down 62-65, 2:06.

We missed on our last possession. STAN called for traveling. I called a timeout.

We miss again. STAN has done a good job wasting time. They miss, but got the off rebound. However, we came up with a steal and scored on the break! Down 64-65, 0:32.

We need to foul. We did; it was our 7th team foul. 1-and-1 for STAN. They miss the front end. We get the rebound, and called a timeout. Down 64-65, 0:22.

We go to SG Cory Mastern. Mastern shoots a jump shot. Miss. Rebound by STAN, and we have to give up another foul. 1-and-1. Regardless of what happen on their FTs, we need to hurry up on offense. They miss the front end again. Timeout. Down 64-65, 0:08.

We'll max out the pace, as long as we can get a shot.

SG Cory Mastern has the ball, but he is being guarded tightly. Master forced to pass to SF Chad Akins. Time running out. Akins drives and puts up a shot. Miss. Scramble for the rebound. PF Mike Harvey gets the ball, but the can't get the shot off in time. Season ended.


Final Score: Clemson - 64, Stanford - 65


Box Scores
[INDENT]Mastern 15, 1, 3, 3 stls
Akins 11, 4, 3, 4 stls
Massiah 10, 10, 2, 2 stls
Monroe 9, 6, 1, 6 tos, fouled out
Harvey 5, 6, 3
Sharpe 5, 0, 1
Jones 4, 0, 0
Bland 3, 3, 0
Howard 2, 4, 3, 2 stls
Hein 0, 0, 0
Inge 0, 0, 0
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 39-42%
REB: -3 (+3 off)
TO: -7
Pts in paint: +4
2nd chance: +1
Fast break: +7
[/INDENT]
Notes

• We got STAN on the ropes in the 1st half, as we built up a 19 pt lead. Their C Maurice Ivory (18 pts) led their comeback. We scored just 25 pts in the 2nd half, but still had the chance to win the game on the very last possession. We put the game on the line with freshman SG Cory Mastern; however, Mastern couldn't find a shot and we scrambled in the end
• Still a better than expected season. We have to play better in the regular season, in order to get a higher seed in the next NCAA tournament

[randy]

Final 4

• #1 Georgia Tech def #5 Iowa, 62-61
• St John's def UCLA, 60-57

Championship

• #1 Georgia Tech def St John's, 59-52
• Georgia Tech wins back-to-back titles, and their 5th overall

[randy]

ACC 1st Team All-Conference

• Jr SF Chad Akins

[randy]

Legend (Conference Rank, National Rank)

Points

1. SF Chad Akins, 14.1 (#6)
2. SG Cory Mastern, 10.1 (#20)
3. C Marcus Bland, 7.1 (#41)
4. PF Mike Harvey, 6.6 (#48)
5. SG DJ Howard, 6.1
6. PF Kurtis Sharpe, 5.8
7. C Curtis Massiah, 5.6
8. SF Joey Jones, 4.8
9. PG Joel Monroe, 4.3

Rebounds

1. SF Chad Akins, 5.2 (#18)
2. PF Mike Harvey, 5.0 (#21)
3. C Curtis Massiah, 4.5 (#29)
4. C Marcus Bland, 4.4 (#31)

Assists

1. PG Joel Monroe, 3.7 (#5)
2. SG DJ Howard, 3.3 (#8)
3. SG Cory Mastern, 2.1 (#23)
4. SF Chad Akins, 2.0 (#26)

Steals

1. SF Chad Akins, 0.9 (#24)

Blocks

1. PF Mike Harvey, 0.6 (#10)

Turn overs

1. PG Joel Monroe, 2.9 (#10)
2. SG Cory Mastern, 2.7 (#12)

Minutes

1. SF Chad Akins, 29.7 (#9)
2. PF Mike Harvey, 27.4 (#20)
3. SG Cory Mastern, 27.0 (#23)
4. PG Joel Monroe, 25.0 (#43)
5. SG DJ Howard, 23.3
6. C Marcus Bland, 17.8
7. PF Kurtis Sharpe, 17.0
8. C Curtis Massiah, 15.1
9. SF Joey Jones, 9.4

3PT Made

1. SG Cory Mastern, 37 (#12)
2. SG DJ Howard, 33 (#20)

FG% (min 50 FGAs)

1. C Curtis Massiah, 54.9%
2. C Marcus Bland, 54.7%
3. PF Mike Harvey, 51.5%
4. PF Kurtis Sharpe, 45.1%
5. SF Chad Akins, 44.9%
6. SG DJ Howard, 43.4%
7. SF Joey Jones, 42.5%
8. PG Joel Monroe, 38.0%
9. SG Cory Mastern, 32.6%

FT% (min 20 FTAs)

1. SG DJ Howard, 92.2%
2. PG Joel Monroe, 87.2%
3. PF Kurtis Sharpe, 81.0%
4. SG Cory Mastern, 75.5%
5. C Curtis Massiah, 68.8%
6. SF Chad Akins, 68.5%
7. C Marcus Bland, 64.8%
8. PF Mike Harvey, 62.0%

[randy]

Legend (Conference Rank, National Rank), +/- from last season

Offense

• PTS, 66.7 (#3, #171), +5.9
• AST, 15.3 (#4, #73), +1.5
• FG, 44.5% (#2, #136), +0.6%
• 3P, 36.9% (#1, #83), +2.8%
• FT%, 74.3% (#3, #101), +2.4%
• TO, 14.7 (#9, #195), -2.3

Rebounding

• REB, 33.6 (#5, #35), +1.5

Defense

• Opp PTS, 61.2 (#5, #34), -6.5
• Opp FG, 41.6% (#8, #51), -1.7%
• Opp 3P, 29.0% (#1, #2), -5.3%
• Opp TO, 13.7 (#10, #248), +2.4%
• STL, 5.7 (#6, #200), +1.6
• BLK, 1.7 (#8, #243), +0.2

[randy]

1. PG Joel Monroe
   
   • GPA: 4.0
   • 4-yr Senior
   • 91 GP (29 GS), 21.6 mpg, 7.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.4 apg, 36% FG, 81% FT, 26% 3PT
   • Post Season: 2 GP, 5.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 3.0 apg
   • Awards
     
     • Player of the Game: 6
   
   
2. PF Kurtis Sharpe
   
   • GPA: 3.8
   • 4-yr Senior
   • 114 GP (30 GS), 17.1 mpg, 4.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 47% FG, 78% FT, 2 double doubles
   • Post Season: 2 GP, 5.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg
   • Awards
     
     • Player of the Game: 3
   
   
3. C Curtis Massiah
   
   • GPA: 4.0
   • 4-yr Senior
   • 112 GP (60 GS), 16.6 mpg, 5.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 50% FG, 72% FT, 2 double doubles
   • Post Season: 2 GP, 8.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.5 spg
   • Awards
     
     • Player of the Game: 3
   
   
4. C Marcus Bland
   
   • GPA: 3.8
   • 4-yr Senior
   • 81 GP, 13.9 mpg, 5.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 55% FG, 56% FT
   • Post Season: 2 GP, 3.5 ppg, 2.0 rpg
   
   
5. PF Colin Hampton
   
   • GPA: 3.1
   • 4-yr Senior
   • 93 GP, 8.5 mpg, 1.3 ppg, 35% FG, 64 % FT
   
   

[randy]

Starters

• 1: Fr John Lewis, 6-3, 1.0/2.0
• 2: So SG Cory Mastern, 6-2, 3.0/4.5
• 3: Sr(R) SF Joey Jones, 6-7, 1.5/2.5
• 4: Jr(R) PF Mike Harvey, 6-8, 3.5/4.0
• 5: Fr C Dan Dickel, 6-9, 1.5/2.0

Bench

• 3/4: Fr PF Tommy Davis, 6-6, 1.5/4.5
• 3/4/5: Fr PF Mills Walker, 6-6, 1.0/2.0
• 1/2: Jr(R) SG DJ Howard, 6-1, 2.0/3.5
• 1/2/3: Sr SG Matt Hein, 6-6, 2.0/3.5
• 3: Jr SF Antonio Anderson, 6-7, 1.5/3.5
• 1/2/3: So(R) SG Matt Stuart, 6-5, 1.5/3.5

Walk-ons

• 1/2: Jr PG Brandon Wheat, 6-1, 1.5/1.5
• 1/2: Fr PG Jason Lee, 6-4, 4.0/4.0 (?)

Transfers (ineligible to play this season)

• 5: So(R) Abe Weston, 6-11, 1.0/1.0

Academic Suspension (eligible to play on January)

• 3: Sr SF Chad Akins, 6-7, 4.5/5.0