I'll Be a Son of a Shark

[CoachC]

I agree that I like the idea that it might (and should) lol.. at any rate when I do a dynasty I'm taking on a personality other than my own, and will try to stay true to them...otherwise, why a dynasty? The reason your and Wayne's dynasties have been so interesting to watch over the years is because of the personality you put into them. If you just want to try to take advantage of flaws in the system.. do it someplace else...if you just want to pump out stats....do it someplace else....Dynasty's are all about the coaches...period, and their Journies. When I play under my own philosophies I just play. Dynasties are only fun to write and read when you put a coach in predicament, or situation that is unusual... like i said, it's about te coach's journey. you and Wayne do it much better than i do. This particular dynasty only came about because of a particularly fun dynasty I ran during CB2 beta where I wanted to check cheating....well what better way to check it out than to play as Jerry Tarkanian? I had so much fun with that one that I started this one.

[CoachC]

btw, gary winston has only offered two bribes, and they both occured while he was at Gardner-Webb.. in both cases the poor income students he was trying to recruit both lost interest and he wound up with nothing. THIS season he came SO close to going daddy's way. He had 3 top 10 recruits in his radar...unfortunately he had no money left in his budget to cheat with! lol That's why the best cheating schools come from conferences with football money... *ahem* SEC *ahem" Big can't count to TEN... excuse me ..had a frog in my throat

[PointGuard]

I agree that I like the idea that it might (and should) lol.. at any rate when I do a dynasty I'm taking on a personality other than my own, and will try to stay true to them...otherwise, why a dynasty? The reason your and Wayne's dynasties have been so interesting to watch over the years is because of the personality you put into them. If you just want to try to take advantage of flaws in the system.. do it someplace else...if you just want to pump out stats....do it someplace else....Dynasty's are all about the coaches...period, and their Journies. When I play under my own philosophies I just play. Dynasties are only fun to write and read when you put a coach in predicament, or situation that is unusual... like i said, it's about te coach's journey. you and Wayne do it much better than i do. This particular dynasty only came about because of a particularly fun dynasty I ran during CB2 beta where I wanted to check cheating....well what better way to check it out than to play as Jerry Tarkanian? I had so much fun with that one that I started this one.

I agree that story lines are what make good reading in dynasty threads. I consistently find your dynasties good reads. While I don't put myself in the class of great dynasty writers, it's more fun to both develop and read stories that are more than game scores and stats. I also like unusual concepts, such as Bryan Swartz' "Race to the Top" where he followed the careers of 4 coaches.

[CoachC]

Our fourth game with an ACC opponent and another very tough assignment. We have to find a way to contend with the nation's best big man, and last year's national player of the year, Eddie Davis, who is a monster averaging 20 pts and 14.2 rebs/g. THey'll also be packing a zone which always gives us trouble. Martin Ray is going to have to not show fear in this one and play smart. Stetson will start tonight in place of Angelli, and we'll give Jon a chance to come off the bench. Angelli took his benching in the last game the way I had hoped, and even came to me to apologize for his recent play. Hopefully he'll come out with fire in his eyes tonight. He's had a couple of outstanding practices.

This will be a very difficult game for us to win. We'll probably start tonight playing more zone than usual to try to contain Davis, but we still have to figure out how to score against their 2-3 zone.

After winning the national championship 2 years ago, last season the Terrapins were 16-14 and had an early exit from the NCAA tourney. This year behind Davis they are looking to make another deep run and have the personnel to do it. Their lone loss was to a very good Memphis team on a neutral court by 1 pt. This is just their second road game of the season, but they won their last time out at Cincinatti. Other than Memphis we are the first ranked team they've faced, although their schedule hasn't been particularly soft. With most of the student's gone for break, we won't be capacity to night, but the crowd we do have tonight needs to be a factor.

Although we do a decent enough job defensively in the first half, not surprisingly we struggle against the zone. We also need to do a better job on the boards and start forcing some turnovers for transition baskets and get the crowd into the game. We trail at the half 30-26. Davis had 12 points, 9 rebs in the first half, but did pick up his 2nd foul just before halftime. We've done a good job of not letting anyone else hurt us too much.

After leading most of the 2nd half by as much as 8 a 3 minute let down midway through, where we couldn't handle the ball and couldn't get stops saw the game unravel. I thought our effort was good, but we just couldn't attack their zone well enough and ten more freethrows for the Terrapins was ultimately the difference. Defensively we did a very good job until late when we let a couple of their 3 point specialists get open looks. We really did a great job on Davis in the 2nd half. He had 16 pts, 15 rebounds for the game, but that's actually below his average, and he really didn't beat us. They struggled against the Amoeba in the 2nd half turning the ball over 15 times and 23 for the game, but our own 16 turnovers undermined the effort. I'm not as disappointed in us as I was in our non-effort against Syracuse, but a home loss is still a home loss. It's an unfortunate because this was a game there for us to win if we had finished well, but we looked like deer caught in headlights the last 8 minutes of the game.

Michael THompson had a poor game, but Conley did have 6 assists off the bench..that's a lot in a game where shots weren't dropping.

Houston had 14 pts, 4 rebs and played pretty well
Stetson played well too with 11 points.

Johnson was terrific and was the one guy finding the seams in their zone and providing us with outstanding defense. Unfortunately foul trouble limited him to just 15 minutes. If we could have kept him in the game for another 5 or 10 minutes, it probably would have made the difference. In 15 minutes, he scored 14, and had 2 asts, 4 rebs, 4 stls and 2 blocks. They simply couldn't stop him from being a factor at either end of the court, and had to rely on the officials to do it for them.

Ray didn't back down from Davis, and I was proud of him. Mighty tough to get him shots tonight though which I expected. He had just 6 points, 3 asts, 8 rebs, and 3 blocks.

Angelli off the bench struggled offensively, but his defensive effort and 4 stls i the 2nd half and really got the crowd going and helped give us the 8 point lead we enjoyed. It's unfortunate that we weren't able to have him and Johnson both on the court more. He has to find some way to score against the zone though. He's got to get into the seams the way Veronon did tonight and is certainly capable of it. just 2 points on someone who is our 2nd or 3rd option on offense most nights, just won't cut it.

Jackson (4 pts, 4 rebs) gave us good effort of the bench tonight too, and helped us keep control of Davis.

Petion couldn't find his shot tonight, missing both of his 3 point attempts, but did come up with a couple of steals in 10 minutes.

Our zone offense simply has to get better, because teams aren't going be shy about showing it to us until we do.

Final: UNM 55 Maryland 60

[CoachC]

Dec 25: We have no practice and celebrate Christmas Dinner together as a team. The guys are in good spirits and the team chemistry seems to be better. Houston and Gerren had an argument after the game, which I believe came out of Gerren's frustrations and I think Houston understood that. At this point i don't think it's anything to be concerned about, and they got along fine at dinner. Unfortunately be we have a game on the 28th, they won't be able to celebrate the holidays with their families until the 29th but will then have time off until the 2nd when practice resumes.

With the loss to Maryland we fall to #16 this week in the polls (#17 in the coach's poll.) Our RPI takes a big hit losing at home and falls to 14.

Rocket was Conference Freshman of the week again, and has won the award every week but one thus far and has still been in double figures all 12 games.

Final Grades were posted for the fall semester, and Gerren did well with finals and wound up doing okay. Now it's Houston we have to worry about a bit as his grades slipped towards the end of the semester. No problems with eligibility but he needs to study harder in the spring semester. Our schedule this year was tough on the entire team and especially the freshmen as they really didn't have enough time off as finals approached. I took that up with little Ed, and hopefully next year we'll be able to work out a schedule a bit more conducive to academics.

[CoachC]

Our last non-conference game until the Bracket Buster and our 5th and final matchup with the ACC and another very tough assignment. The high scoring Wolfpack(76.9/g 5th in the nation) like to run, and rebound and shoot the ball (3rd nationally) very very well. They also have an elite big man in Scott Thompson (14.0. 9.8 rebs, 1.7 blocks). Ray can only get better from the quality of opposition he's faced lately, but I'm getting a bit concerned about his confidence on offense. Our defense has to be terrific tonight. This is probably the best offensive team we've faced all season, except perhaps Georgia Tech, but they may be even better than the Bees.

Angeli and Conley return to the starting lineup tonight along with Houston, Johnson and Ray. We need a positive end to the non-conference portion of the schedule headed into break.

The Wolfpace were 24-8 last season losing in the round of 32 in the dance. They have wins over Michigan (neutral floor), Arizona St, and Ohio st. and South Carolina on the road in their last two outings. Their losses came on a neutral court to Minnesota, and surprising one point loss on the road at Buffalo. With their 3rd straight road game, we are hoping they are getting a bit road worthy. With the student's gone, we still expect a crowd tonight between 11 and 12 thousand.

We shot well, and played reasonably well on defense for the most part and did a decent job on the boards. Too many turnovers though (9) and we still trail by one at the half. We are just going to have to do everything even better in the 2nd half and keep Angelli and Ray out of further foul trouble (each with 2). at the half the Pack leads 41-40

OOC: A TECHNICAL ON THE VISITING COACH! It's been a long long time since i've seen one of those, and probably the first time ever in a regular season game.. holy cow! Why did we not get possession after the freethrows though??

Although 16 turnovers was too many for us our defense in the 2nd half was relentless and we held one of the nation's best offense to 39.3% from the field. The Amoeba zone totally discombulated them in the 2nd half as well, and they turned it over 22 times giving us a lot of fast break opportunities. After NC States, head coach Harmon picked up a T midway through the 2nd half, the crowd went bananas and the Wolfpack pretty much spit out the bit after that. Houston matched their leading scorer Billet point for point, and Ray edged Thompson by 1 and probably played the smarter game with Thompson fouling out late. Their stats were very even across all categories, but Ray was definitely not intimidated this time out.

Conley played well with 11 pts, 5 asts, 3 rebs despite 4 TOS in 29 minutes.

Houston did not look like a freshman tonight. Billet is a very good player for them, but Houston was his match at both ends of the floor. Houston led us with 17 points, 3 rebounds and 2 block shots. Matt also turned the ball over 4 times, but we can forgive that as much as he touched the ball on offense in this one.

Angelli found his offensive mojo again in this one just in time and had 15 pts, 4 rebs, 2 stls.

Johnson had 6 pts, 2 asts 6 rebs, a stl, and 2 blocks

Rays 10 pts, 7 rebs, 2 stls and 3 blocks were very encouraging against an Elite big man on the other side of the court, and should give him some confidence heading into conference play where he should become a lot more dominant again.

Jackson (6pts, 4 rebs, 1 blk) played well off the bench helping to contain. Peterson. Stetson did a lot of things well as usual. Petion had 5 rebs, and a steal, but is still struggling to find his shot again. Thompson added 6 points but was a bit shaky with the ball, and Gene Frederick gave us 8 solid minutes off the bench as well when Ray was in a bit of foul trouble.

A nice quality win going into break. Now for the conference. Hope the guys come back from their time off ready to get to work.

Final: UNM 76 NC ST 60

[CoachC]

Dec 29: Tatum was nursing a sore arm last night and didn't play. It's nice to know that Frederick is there to fill in the gap. Steve should be fine by the time break is over and we get back to practice.

[CoachC]

Jan 1: We head into the new year still ranked #16. Our Rpi improved to 11 with the win over the Wolfpack.

Houston wins Fresh of the week again, and conference Player of the week as well and earned it.

Air Force is 3rd in the nation in steals, and we are 4th. Dion York of the Falcons leads the nation in that category at a whopping 5.1 /g

Houston is second in the league in scoring at 14.3. Johnson and Ray are 2nd and 3rd respectively in rebounding. Thompson and Conley are 2nd and 5th in the conference in assists. Ray is 2nd in FG% (he doesnt force shots. we just need to find a way to start getting more of them for him). Ray, Johnson and Angell are 1st, 3rd, 5th in blocks, and Angelli, and Johnson are 4th and 5th in steals. Ray is also 4th in the league in ft percentage.

Non-Conference Records:
#16 UNM 10-3 RPI 11
Air Force 10-4 RPI 31
SD St. 8-5 RPI 167
Col. St 6-7 RPI 149
Boise St 6-7 RPI 256
TCU 6-7 RPI 176
UNLV 4-9 RPI 296
Wyoming 4-9 RPI 304

Certainly appears to be a two team race at that point, and no danger of this being a 4 bid conference again this year.

[CoachC]

We begin conference play on the road against the Horned Toads. Our biggest concern will how our team will respond to playing on the road, since this is our first game away from The Pit since Loyola-Marymount. Our second biggest concern is their 3-2 zone and finding a way to score against it. If we hope to make another deep run in the tournament this year we have to start finding ways to score against zone.

13 turnovers, lousy rebouding, spotty defense and an inability to score against the zone. We are giving ourselves no chance to win at this game. I'm unhappy with the entire team heading into intermission. NO ONE is doing anything well at all up to this point. Someone has to step up and show some leadership in the 2nd half, but I don't know where we are going to find it. We trail at the half 27-17 and it should be worse.

We did find some senior leadership in the 2nd half from Stetson who played well. Tatum gave us a big spark off the bench as well, and a pair of clutch freethrows with 8 seconds left in the game by Martin Ray, let's us pull one out of the fire that we should have lost. We turn the ball over 19 times for the game, but they fumbled against the Amoeba repeatedly in the 2nd half and turn it over 26 times themselves. We are very fortunate to come out of this one with a win.

Conley and THompson combine for 15 pts, but turn the ball over an alarming 11 times, which is usually going to get us beat.

Houston for the first time in his career fails to score in double digits and had just 6 points for the game.

Angelli had 4 asts and 2 stls but didn't do much else.

Vernon Johnson was a rare no show in this one and played just 10 minutes.

Ray had 6 pts, 9 rebs, 2 blocks, but we still are having a difficult time getting him the ball in the blocks. Plus, even though Ray is a very unselfish player and thinks of the team first...we need him to be a little LESS unselfish, and get more aggressive in the pivot.

Inyo had 9 rebs a stl, and a block and also played pretty well in the 2nd half.

Stetson was our only player in double figures with 10, but had 3 asts, and 5 stls and without him tonight we have no chance of winning.

Tatum gave us some inspiration during our comeback as well with 4 pts, 2 asts, 4 rebs and 3 stls in 12 very positive minutes. He and Stetson were the main reason we were able to come back from the halftime deficit.

Kurt Lewis deserves a pat on the back tonight too, getting 7 minutes in the thick of a game for once, he made the most of it with a rebound and a couple of steals as we went deep in the bench looking for help.

Am obviously not happy with our overall performance tonight, but relieved we managed to get out of here with a win in a very ugly game

Fortunate Final: UNM 49 TCU 48

[CoachC]

Jan 5: The Falcons thoroughly humiliated Boise St on the road last night in their conference opener 81-49.