start of Coach Dean - WIU

[vols21]

After a successful season as asst. coach with the University of TN Vols, it was no surprise that several schools inquired if he might want to try his hand at the head job. After careful consideration and consultation with mentor Coach Pearl, Dean decided to return to his midwest roots and accepted the offer from WIU. He knew he could help turn the Macomb IL program around, after all coaching was in his blood. In a different era (and game), he was there to watch another coach Dean build New Mexico State into a football power house. He knew the formula that worked there might work here (note: it did not, lol). At New Mexico St, they were lucky enough to sign a local boy- a 5* offensive lineman - and that helped solidify the offense and bring in other top talent. Coach Dean would soon find out the basketball recruiting wars would be much tougher. BUT, let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet.

Upcoming - highlights from the first season.

[vols21]

Evaluation of talent was the first order of business. It was quickly apparent could implement the vaunted "Pearl Jam" attack. Use some pressure and traps, work the fast break and shoot the 3's (there were three very good long distance shooters on the team). The achilles heel was the middle - there was no center on the team. However, we had 4 decent power forwards who would fill the void.

I read up on some "Recruiting 101" and hit the dusty trails. My main target was finding a big man to help my soon to be apparant rebounding woes. The advice and tips I had read said to build a solid program, you needed to focus on 3 star players so they could make an immediate impact. BUZZZZZZZZZZZ. I worked hard on several 3stars from around the local area and region and never got close to signing any of them.

the season was spectacular - beyond my wildest dreams for the first year. some had advised to redshirt the best players, recruit hard, and be a power next year. Coach Pearl laughed when he heard that (what would the TN fans had done to me if I redshirted Loften as soon as I got here?). So instead, I redshirted a freshman SG named Christian since I had plenty of upperclass depth there for now.
Phaler was a back-up player who could fill it up from long range and he quickly became a starter and avg. 17 pts a game (making all-conference!). My record the first year was 27-4, winning the Mid-Contintent conference regular season and tourney. One of the highlights was going into Bloomington IN and beating the Hoosiers on their home floor!!
then advanced to NCAA in the 12 seed. Big win in round one gave me #4 Minnesota -- and amazinging I got a SIM victory over them (72-71)!!!! (now 2-0 vs the Big 10).

Sweet 16 saw powerhouse Syracuse, the #1 seed. I played the game and lost a rout by 20 pts. But we were all please with the overall performance..

Sorry, I didn't keep much records the first season. but in later years, there are a few more details. Next, the results of my first foray into the recruiting wars......

[vols21]

Syracuse may have won the battle against me, but the Pearl Jam attack took it's toll and they lost their next game against eventual champion Texas.

I was honored at the Mid-Cont. conference banquet with Coach of the Year honors. I was humbled by the fact that the Coach William Bailey's biography tells how he was denied this honor in the OVC despite similiar heroics at Morehead State. As will be documented later, Coach Bailey soon becomes my second coaching hero behind my former boss and mentor Coach Pearl. The information is his bio will prove very beneficial in the upcoming years.

RECRUITING:
After the season was over, we went back to work on signing some guys to help us next year. I may have made a mistake by keeping the 2 assistants who were there (chose the first 2). But they complemented each other with one being good in offense and the other on defense. none of us were particularlly strong in the recruiting area.

The early focus on 3 stars left us with an empty bag and time running out. I was getting some favorable responses from a 2* PG (Wilmont) and a 2* C (Dailey). At an alumni function, one guy walks up and says "YOU NEED A BIG MAN!!!! You got out-rebounded all the time!!" I laugh and ask him to "tell me something I don't know". he asked if we can recruit overseas? In theory I'm sure we can, but we dont have the resources at WIU to do that. he then gives me something he printed off the internet:

7 foot giant scores 120 in JUCO game against pygmy tribe in Cameroon.

:rotfl:
there was even a picture of this giant dunking over the much smaller pygmies. It reminded of seeing Andre the Giant in the ring against a dozen midgets in the WWF.
Now while the guys here are much bigger and the "pygmy" centers he will face are still 6'10, I thought it was worth a shot. The alum was all excited about finding the "next Akeem" but I knew in my heart that at 2*'s he was not going to be Akeem - but his 7 foot frame would help us in the paint. I called the Cameroon Junior College coach to inquire about him and he told me he was very green but had unlimited potential. A few phone calls and e-mails to J. Ali and we had ourselves a 7 ft. monster to roam the paint!!!!!


THREE 2star recruits!! Not the big haul I was hoping for. no 3 star guys, but maybe some kids who will be able to help us down the road. Coach Pearl consulted that I shouldn't be too hard on myself. "Even at TN, we're happy to get a 2** player that can help us, and often focus on 3-4* guys".
Wilmont and Dailey graded out to 52 and Ali graded to 58 (he was a Juco). The advice regarding 3*'s are needed for instant help was very true since all 3 of these guys grade below 60 and are not going to do much right away. But, maybe over time we will be able to get that level of talent interested in this small school

STAFF
Even so, I took a hard look at my staff and ended up firing both of them and replacing them with local High School coaches who knew the area and the players and I thought might be able to help me bring in a better recruiting class next year (both were B in charisma instead of C- and C+). The other reason I replaced them was that I was not happy with the player development over the past year. No one improved more than a couple pts. At that rate, I thought my 2 new recruits would never reach a 60 potential and may never be much help to me.
(NOTE: I would find out later when reading the Coach Bailey bio that the player development was not far off course. I was just used to a different football game where some players would jump 4-8 pts on average over a season).

so now it's almost time for season 2. We have to replace Phaler's 17 pts, but Christian might be able to fill his shoes on the scoring side....just not the defensive prowess Phaler gave us. His dad taught him well and he could shut down just about anyone on the opposing team. I'm curious to see how Ali will adjust to the states and our style of basketball. If nothing else, maybe he can provide some minutes off the bench to give my power forwards a little breather.

[vols21]

The line-up for the Leathernecks of WIU are as follows:

name class pos. ht rating
Bynum jr SG 6'4 76 baton rouge
Camara Sr SG 6'4 76 chattanooga
Downey Sr SF 6'8 67 Aurora Ill.(3 pt specialist)
Christian FR SG 6'1 65 Cape G. Mo (good quickness, red-shirted last year)
Gary SR SF 6'7 65 Laguna Nigel, Ca
Wofford sr PF 6'6 64 Detroit MI
Walcott sr PF 6'8 63 Rockford
Barrow sr PF 6'8 63 Jonesboro, ar
Largent so PG 5'11 62 KC
Odugbula so PG 5'11 61 walk-on. eugene or. speedster (can provide a lift!)
Doumboya jr PF 6'6 61 Mission Viejo CA (spot player that does help)

new players

J. Ali so C 7'0 58 Cameroon (we hope for big things from the giant)
Wilmont fr PG 6'3 52 Milwaukee (will red shirt)
Dailey fr C 6'9 52 napeirville ill. (will redshirt).

walk-ons
Stafford. 6'8 PF rated 48 los angeles
Lambert 6'7 SG rated 48 riverside

the team rating is 72 overall. 77 offense, 66 defense. 79 shooting, and 74 rebounding

ASST COACHES
Riddick C (B- charisma)
Cousey C (B- Charisma, and C scouting)

head coach rating = 69

Midnight Madness was the first time we get all these players on the court.
Big crowd on hand to see what the hype surrounding Ali is all about. His first move of the game was to take the ball and try to run over walcott - CHARGE!!!! (he'll be hearing that word a lot this year). Ali does get a few massive dunks to wow the crowd, but it is obvious he's not ready to start for us. We'll be working extra with him in practice in hopes that he can make more of an impact as the year goes on.

When I got the schedule, I stormed into the AD's office to ask if we had changed conferences!!!! Not only did we return to Indiania again, but he had added Minnesota (rematch from NCAA last year) and Illinois from the Big 10. I actually relished the idea of playing Illinois because a good showing against them could help instate recruiting (one can hope!) We also play in the BCA tournament early on and could face yet another big 10 team Ohio State in the finals if both teams advance.
most of the other teams on the schedule are more on par with us, so if we can get motivated for the big games, this could be another banner year.

as for recruiting goals - as noted above, we have 2 sr SF and 3 SR PF (I put Barrow on redshirt, so will only lose 4 of them). so forward is going to be major focus. I'll have a good nucleaus coming back next year with Bynum, Christian, Barrow, and Ali. All we need now is a good group of recruits to fill in and be ready for the following season.

[vols21]

Early Season

the season has a rocky start.
an overtime 2 pt. win at Albany. and then a 1pt thriller at favored UMass - that was encouraging!! 56-55 over the heavily favored minutemen who were rated 80 vs my 72


The BCA tournament is coming up next.

meanwhile, I have a discussion with the AD about a new arena. We are starting to fill the small field house here with overflow crowds. Plus, when we inquired with UMass about a home and home series, they declined. Why would they fly out to our "crackerbox gym" when they have the spacious 9,500 seat Mullins Center?? I thought we should look to expand - build a new place and name it after the legendary tv sportscaster Joe Dean.
call it "Stuff Arena" (one of his catch phrases, along with "String Music in Nashville TN" - or wherever the game was being held). The AD assured me that he would start the ball rolling on plans for a new facility.

In the early games, as expected Downey and Bynum are carrying the bulk of the team's scoring. Ali has struggled in limited playing time - getting more fouls that pts and rebounds combined.

NOTE: All I have is summary info from the first couple seasons. But afterward, can give full game by game reports as in the other postings since it seems that is what most prefer.

[vols21]

The BCA from Columbus Ohio is a chance for this team to show what's it made of early on. Are we good enough to make the NCAA again?

Game 1 vs 67 rated Alabama St. The Leathernecks put it all together finally and roll to a 30 pt victory, with Downey and Bynum once again leading the way with 20 pts each.

game 2 vs Kent State - evenly matched, but they fall to the pearl jam attack. Leathernecks win by 20. Downey and Bynum again are the stars.

FINALS vs #20 ranked OHIO STATE!!
I knew this would be a tough game and only hoped to stay close. The Buckeyes have a man mountain playing at center and he can take over a game if you let him. We tried some old-school "Devoe" deny the ball man to man defense to keep the ball out of his hands. That worked as they only scored 2 pts in the first 10 minutes!!!!!!! On the flip side, my normal fast break style went nowhere against them because they were faster and in better shape so they beat me down the floor. When we tried to play half-court offense, and drive the basket every shot got blocked away. They completely shut down Downey and Bynum. As a result, we only scored 2 pts in the first 10 minutes!!!! so the score was tied 2-2 mid-way thru the half. Both teams found a little more success for the next 5 minutes and at half-time, Ohio State led 12-10 (imagine the shock when that score rolled across the TV screens and scoreboards across the country).
In the 2nd half, I found a secret weapon. ALI had a coming out party!!!!! He gets fired up and takes over inside, scoring 10 pts and 4 rebounds as WIU builds up a 12 pt. lead. In the final 2 minutes, Ohio State makes a mad charge and cuts the lead to 2. From there, it was free throws and I put in my best shooters. They sank their shots down the stretch and we win by a pair to shock the world!!!!! Ali is the star of the game. Who would have thought he'd have his first good game against one of the best centers in the nation!? Of all the games where I get massively out-rebounded, we even won the battle of the boards here 32-28.

this team has what it takes to do well this year. There are some weak spots that can be exploited and it's my job to hide those as best as I can. If Ali continues to develop, he will fill the void in the middle and make my power forwards that much better as they can play their natural position. At this point, I'm looking forward to going back to Oakland to go against their massive front line (3 guys over 6'10 whereas my tallest guy was 6'8 last year) with confidence we can hold our own against them this year.

Recruiting is encouraging as we are hot on the trail for a couple solid 3 star players from Illinois and one from St. Louis. Also, a couple more decent 2 star guys are moving up the ladder (just in case). Best yet, we are on the short list of a handful of 3 and 4 star Jr's so I call them every week just to see how they are doing and remind them of what's going on here at WIU. The AD is still optimistic about the new "Stuff Arena" but no definite plans yet about the money. Things are looking up. Coach Pearl even called today to congratulate us on the big win. He even had a tip about a 3 star guard (with A? rated shooting) in Paducah Kentucky that we might want to take a look at. None of the big boys are investing any time in him, so if we can work some magic he could turn into my very own Chris Lofton. I dispatched Coach Causey across the state border right away to scout his next game and Coach Riddick made a phone call and follow-up e-mail to get a feel for his interest.

[vols21]

the team was on a high after winning the BCA tourney. The coaching staff was able to keep them grounded and focused on their upcoming games though, and we continue our winning ways. The next big game (and by that I mean Big 10 again):

Illinois:
I was excited about this game. I knew it could really help our recruiting in-state if we proved we could run with the big dogs. The Illini had a 6 pt lead late in the game when we go on a 12-4 run to go ahead with under a minute. After a steal, they were forced to foul - and Bynum sinks the free throws to salt the game away.

Indiana:
Another trip to play the Hoosier who we upset last year. (I hit SIM for the game).
Final Score -- WIU 72 --- IND 64!!!!!!!!! (I like to sim a few games every year because it gives me a better feel for how good the team is. in other words, can they still win without me at the controls. Needless to say, I didn't expect a SIM win over the Big 10 power).

this makes me 6-0 vs the Big 10!!

and even more importantly, after the game I was ranked #8!!
My ranking moved up to #4 before the conference schedule started - and before disaster struck:
My two leading scorers, Bynum and Downey, both went down with serious injuies. Bynum tried to play thru his finger injury only then to hurt his shoulder too. Downey also came into play a couple games but was totally ineffective (he could not hit a shot to save his life - which I'm glad the game took into account his injury like that. Just not sure why the AI subbed him in during the timeout. The announcers really gave me down the road for allowing him to play hurt. "not the wisest decision"

the loss of half my offense put us in a tail spin, and a conference record just above .500. Then to compound matters, I caught Pneumonia and was put on medical leave for the last week of the season (I decided to sim out the games - I had 25 wins and a high RPI so I figured I'd make the NCAA win or lose -- we lost). And when the Mid-Cont. tourney rolled around, Bynum and Downey were back to near 100%, but I was still not cleared to return to the bench (Gee, I'm starting to dislike all this cold, snow, and ice up here. I'm a southern boy, and my "california blood" just doesn't like the cold).

FIRST GAME OF MID-CONT> tourney
Valparisio. my asst. coaches must think they are still in high school or something. They don't even play Ali during my absence and have 2 other players upset at being benched the whole time. they just ride their starters and a couple of their favorites to yet another shocking loss!!! Valpo goes on to shock every other team they play and win the tournament, so that's some consolation. The other is the extra time will give everyone time to heal up - and for me to get better and also be 100% for the NCAA.

We know Valpo will represent our conference. Now the question is, can this small conference get 2 teams into the Big Dance? Our final record is 25-7 and we have an RPI of 11. I'm banking on the fact we did so well against the power conference teams early on, that we will in fact get a shot to keep playing.

[vols21]

The selection committee was kind. Valpo earned a 15 seed (where they got destroyed by #2 kansas).

WIU will once again play in the dangerous 12seed vs 5 seed game, only this time we are the 5 Seed!! First round game vs TN St will be played on their home floor in Nashville (hey!!). Then looking ahead in the bracket could be #4 North Carolina and #1 seed Duke. Fans are wondering if I might stand in the way of the dream ACC rematch in the sweet 16. Let's get to nashville......

Game 1 vs Tennessee State
Several Vol fans who could not follow their team to the west coast where they are a #3 seed came out to support me (as a former asst. coach there, I guess they still follow my successes - didn't hurt that coach Pearl reminded them of the game). That helped offset the home crowd advantage that TN St. had. TN St. came out fired up and jumped to a quick 10-2 lead, feeding off their crowd's energy. I called timeout and reminded our team of what we had done as the #12 seed last year. The team responds (but can't quite figure out why there was a section of fans wearing orange and singing Rocky Top every time we scored on a fast break). The Fast Break attack takes it toll on TN ST and the leathernecks win going away in the 2nd half....105-64.

it was great to be back on the floor coaching, and even better to have all my players back and healthy too. We played a lot of subs today and the scoring was very spread out. But that is good as we'll be rested for the Tar Heels.

Game 2 vs North Carolina Tar Heels

Just like in the last game, we fell behind early. Only this time it wasn't just a team playing on emotion....this was the very talented NC Tarheels who rebounded and blocked shots at will. Once again I found our fast-break doesn't work as well against a quality team so we needed to try something else. Timeout to regroup -- this set my guys up for a 20-4 run to catch us up. It was nip and tuck the rest of the half. We were able to extend the lead with Downey's 3's leading the way. The big key to the turnaround was driving to the basket which helped us get 2 tarheels in foul trouble. The second half was more of the same. We never were able to get our run and gun "pearl jam" attack going, so with a lead we milked the shot clock down to the last tick before launching a 3 - and more often than not, a score!! From there, it was free throws to ice the upset.

outrebounded by only 10 against the larger heels. countered by 13 more steals, 6 more made 3's, and 10 more made FT's giving us a 77-66 victory.
Downey led all scorers with 22. he looks fully recovered from his late season injury.
Bynum, Christian, and Ali all had double digit scoring (which bodes well for next year, escpecially considering Jr PF Doumboya had 8 rebounds). More good news is that Wofford should be over his hamstring issues and ready to play against Duke.


game 3
SWEET 16 from Houston TX vs DUKE Blue Devils

boy, I tell you one thing. The weather here in Texas is soooo much better than what we left in Illinois. I think I could get used to this.

It's midnite for us once again as Duke man-handles us and exploits our youth, just wearing my team down. They hit 15-16 free throws down the stretch to win the game 77-84.

Bynum's 16 pts lead the team, and Downey closes out a great career with 12 pts.
camara, Christian, and Gary all had double digit pts as well.
My Cameroon center Ali had a quiet 2 pts and 5 rebounds against Duke's MONSTER 7'3 freshman center. It was 20-28 on turnovers - all in all, we were lucky to stay as close as we did (game played on MOP level).

As happened last year, our style of play takes its toll and Duke loses the regional finals to #7 Fla. St (79-70).

The Final 4 has #2 Kansas vs #2 Oklahoma St. and #7 Fla.St vs #4 Arizonia
Arizona routs Kansas (81-57) in the finals.

[vols21]

Rick Byrd of Arizonia won National Coach of the Year leading them to a national title in just his first year with the team.

Duke's Krayel (#2) won National player of the year and other awards.
20.7 PPG and 8.8 RPG

at the national banquet, I sat with Coach Pearl. He told me that Coach Knight would be retiring from Texas Tech this year and wondered if I might be interested. I'm thinking no way. First, I'm happy here. 2nd I don't think they would consider a 2nd year coach to replace a legend.
while here, we also talked about recruiting. I asked him what more I could do to bring in some better recruits. He thought I was relying too much on my Asst. Coaches to visit and phone recruits. "If you don't take a more personal role, you might lose out of some of the players you want and that could leave you with an empty cupboard in a couple years. Time to restock!" (note: The main reason I used my assts more is they had better Charisma ratings and were better recruiters so to speak. At the very beginning, I put my attribute points to offense and defense because I didn't know what charisma would do for me. Ok, so I know now. But the other points are helping me develop the players that I have). Coach Pearl advised to identify my immediate needs and focus heavily on 2 players that were already interested in me - then cast a wide net to see what else is out there. "You throw too much after too many players, and then you get nothing. Focus on a couple guys and ensure you get at least one of them. Meanwhile, your wide net approach might help bring in some supporting players. If you bring in at least one solid player every year, someone you can build around, then you'll build your dynasty."

At the conference banquet, I was awarded Coach of the Year for the 2nd time.
IUPU's McNeil was POY and UMKC's Wente won Freshman of the year.

Christian was named to the all-freshman team and Downy made 2nd team all-conference.

all in all, not a bad year. 27-8 (making me 56-13 overall).

We lose 45 pts a game to graduation (out of the 75 we average). But Bynum and Christian should be up to the challenge. Plus Ali will be better prepared next year for the challenges ahead.

recruiting is looking good. We are at the top of four 3* players' lists, and a close 2nd to a couple others. What puzzles me is that after my Asst. Coach called 2 local guys he knows very well, they decided they might rather go to Niagra instead!! I need to look into that. Take Coach Pearl's advice and call them myselves to chat about their decision.

It was around this time that I also discovered a great "book" - the legacy of Coach William Bailey. He's the legendary coach who turned Morehead State into a national powerhouse. I was hoping to see Coach Bailey at the national banquet this year to thank him for the insights he gave me from the "book". As I looked over his player progressions, I discovered that my players are developing just fine after all (maybe I didn't need to fire the asst. coaches last year after all, lol). Very few players improve more than a couple pts a year. His approach to recruiting was very well-planned, methodical, and successful. I knew right away that I needed to start spending more time phoning the HS Jr's. It's no wonder that his book is a New York Times Best Seller.

well, now it's time to go talk to the AD about that new basketball gym. "STUFF ARENA!!"

[vols21]

It wasn't planned - it just happened. where do I start?
I was excited about meeting with the AD. Another sweet 16 trip - surely he would be happy - maybe happy enough to announce plans for the new arena. The recruiting class looks like it will be pretty good as several 3* and even one 4* player have us in their top two. But for some reason, the AD has a way of busting my bubble.

first thing he told me was there wasn't going to be a new gym. In fact, he said, "we make so much more money going to those Big 10 schools, I may just start scheduling all of our non-conf. games on the road" whoa!
then when I asked about scheduling a game against Niagra - sort of a grudge match for them stealing my two top recruits right from under me - he said no. I already have your schedule for next year and we are not going to change it to add a "no money" game like that. Now if we can get Michigan, UCLA, Arizonia, or Kansas to pony up some money, I'll feed you to those lions" He also told me that Barrow, the PF that I red-shirted this year, was going to graduate anyway! Chances are I wouldn't have his services next year. Not even any mention of a bonus for winning coach of the year of taking the team to the Sweet 16.

Gee whiz. I went home depressed. I sat down in front of the TV and a special breaking news was announced -- sure enough The General Bobby Knight had retired, and Texas Tech was happy to announce Coach Marshall (9 years at Winthrop) would be thier new coach. I was right, they did want someone with experience to come in there.

later on SportsCenter, they also announced new coaches at Pittsburgh (they opted against cross-town hero Coach Schmidt of Robert Morris and brought in Coach Burton from Cal State Fullerton instead. That was just fine by Northwestern who quickly scooped by Schmidt. So as I sitting there drinking a tall, cold, adult beverage, the phone rang:

it was the AD from TCU. He just wanted to congratulate me on a fine team this year. "We were all rooting for you in the Sweet 16 - your kids did a super job."
I'm thinking (or did I even say it out loud) that I wish my AD would say that. The conversation slowly turned to business and he told me they had an opening for next year. "now Coach Dean.....I can't offer you a big salary like Marshall got a Texas Tech. and I can't promise you a new arena anytime soon. But I can tell you that we have a good group of kids that want to win....and our schedule won't be the toughest in the country. Oh, and about that schedule......I hope you like New York because we go there twice next year.....one to play in the preseason NIT tourney....and the second time to play a game against Niagra! OH MY - he has done his homework!!!

without even thinking, I asked him when I could start. I couldn't wait to get away from the cold and ice....away from Coach Riddick (who I heard was interviewing for an job at Niagra - now the pieces are starting to come together!). I had really planned to stay at WIU for at least 4 years (the coaches offered the power conference jobs all had been at their school for 4 years or more). But the graduation of Barrow just hit me the wrong way (when I checked their stats to see how my old team was doing, I was surprised to see Barrow right there among the leaders. So maybe even though it was reported that he graduated, the game still brought him back)

MONDAY! it's time to switch gears and see which recruits are interested in my new home. and time to learn about the powers that make up the Mountain West Conference - teams like UNLV, Col. St, San Diego St, Utah, BYU, and Air Force (also Wyoming and New Mexico who are the only 2 teams with worse records than TCU last year). It's time to move to Ft. Worth TX
I broke the news to my players. Ali took it the hardest, but he was happy for me. "coach, even if new coach never plays me again I want to thank you for bringing me here and giving me a chance. Ali will go to class and get good education. Someday, maybe I get to play ball again."
Next up is the recruiting report.

[vols21]

Looking at my new roster, I saw immediate needs at PG and forward since there was not a lot of talent there. I can also use a new center if I can find one. I have two, a Sr and Jr. so I have time there if I need it.

I quickly set my sights on 2 guards. a 4* and 3*, and three 3* forwards, and 2 centers (4* and 3*). The 4* recruits seemed to shy away from me since I was new and unproven at this level. The local guys seemed excited about me coming in, thinking there was a chance to build something new here.

I lost both centers - 4* Peavy went to Baylor while 3*Borger signed with New Mexico (great! I will have to see him a couple times this year).

I signed 3 players that I think will be a good foundation to build on for the future:

3* Gerrod Hubbard from Dallas TX. 6'0, 179 lbs. He's the #334 player overall, and #64 PG. He grades out to 64. Right now I can tell you that he is the quickest player and best defender on this team. Look for big things from this young man this year!!

3* Elliott Moody from Arlington TX. 6'5 200 lbs. #486 overall, and 104th best SF. He grades to a 64 (which is 6th best on the team). I expect Elliott to provide a lot of playing time. He will compete with Arturo Low for the starting line-up. Elliott is a good shooter and has great leaping ability. He's not afraid to mix it up with the big guys under the basket.

3* Rene Bridges, Moody's HS teammate at Arlington HS. He's a 6'8, 210 lb PF, ranked #531 in the country and the 125th best PF. Rene will redshirt this year and improve his game playing against Mick Kampman during practice. He grades to a 61.

I was pleased with this group. I had never seen a 3* athlete up close before, since all I could sign at WIU was 2*'s. These guys were 10-14 rating pts better than the 2* group, so I can see how they will help elevate things around here. but then I saw how the rest of the conference stacked up. When the report came out, I started ticking off the teams as I went down the list...UNLV (top 50 class), Col.St, New Mexico, SD ST, Utah. etc. finally down around #150, there I was. The recruiting class I was so proud of was mired as the worst in the league. I vowed that would never happen again. Even with my 2*'s at WIU, I was always near the top of the Mid.Cont. conference.

speaking of WIU, they signed the twin towers from MI that I had hotly persued all season. 6'8 SF's Adasi and Fazekos. Both graded out to 68 and can expect a lot of playing there (that is better than what I got at TCU, but didn't the time to invest here. That made me feel better and knew we were on the right track at WIU). I made it clear during the press conference that I didn't want to talk about the 2 thugs who went to Niagra. "we'll deal with them on the courts. Today, let's celebrate these 3 fine young men who are going to help make TCU a championship team."

when asked about our goals for the season. "I don't know if we can go from worst to first, but we will play hard and be competitive. This will be a team that you can be proud of...a team worth coming out to support....and make no doubt about it, if we are going to become winners, we will need your fan support around here (noting the 30% attendance at the 7200 seat Daniel-Meyer Coliseum). We want to win the conference title and we want to make it to the NCAA tourney. I think we can have a team that competes for the national title here in a few years."

I also want to introduce my new coaching staff:

Jimmy Phaler - if the same sounds familiar, it should. His son played for me at WIU. Jimmy is a defensive whiz (B-) and will help teach (B-) this team how to defend the ball. He is also a charismatic recruiter that will us bring in some great players to this program (B-).

Vernard O'Brien is veteran of the hard court wars. His knowledge and teaching skills are unparalled (A-). He will be in charge of scouting our opponents and new recruits (B)

I will run the offense (B-) and take the lead on recruiting visits (A-). speaking of which, it's about time to hit the trail and see if we can land some solid players for our team.

[vols21]

My roster for your viewing pleasure:




YEAR NAME POS rating hgt wgt
jr Hendry sg 72 6'6
so Kampman pf 69 6'11 235
F Hubbard PG 68 6'1
Sr Ames PF 68 6'7
Jr Boythe SG 64 6'5
F Moody SF 64 6'5
SR Low SF 63 6'7
Jr Zeigler C 63 6'11 231
F Bridges PF 61 6'8 210
Sr Welchel C 61 6'9 284
Jr McKnight PG 60 5'11
Jr Adkission PG 60 6'0 grandson of Fritz Von Erich
So Jeanpeiros SG 58 6'5
F (w) E.Boythe PF 53 6'7 walk-on
S (w) Melvin SG 52 6'3 walk-on
F (w) Sockwell SG 52 6'5 Bahamas walk-on

team ratings
74 overall
75 offense
74 defense





Hendry and Kampman are expected to carry the team this year. Freshmen Hubbard and Moody will probably start early in thier careers, but we can't expect freshmen to lead the team. My first plan is to start Kampman at Center with Ames at PF. Then bring in Ziegler and Welchel to platoon at Center for most of the game at let Kampman fall back into the forward position. Welchel is a big bull at 284 lbs while Ziegler is the more polished center. Ames, Boythe, and Low will be role players and hopefully will contribute at the right times. Not being very deep in talent on the bench compared to the teams in the conference will require some creative line-ups at times. It was fun to find the grandson of wrestling legend Fritz Von Erich on the team. Maybe we'll see his dad Kevin, another Dallas legend, at the games to watch his son Duncan.


I can always use advice from the more experienced 'coaches' out there. My first thoughts on recruiting needs are that I need everything. I have 3 scholarships this year. I will look at what top recruits are the most interested and go from there. I have a young team and graduate a C, PF, and SF this year. That's where I'll look first. I'd also like to sign a shooting guard since no one on the team is very good at the 3-ball.

After Midnight Madness, it's time to prepare for the NIT -- Colorado (80 rating) is my first round opponent. Guess I will find out early what this team is made of.

[vols21]

PRESEASON NIT


TCU vs Colorado

The season opens with Colorado in the NIT. The Buffs kill me inside and dominate in the first half. Team only shoots 36% for the half. Coach Phaler makes some defensive adjustments at half-time which leads to a few steals allowing me to open up some fast breaks and get the ball down the floor ahead of their lumbering big men. As a result, my 2nd half shooting jumps to 56% AND we hold them to only 11 of 25!!

Colorado has a complete melt-down and TCU wins its opener 82-62.
Freshman PG Hubbard leads the team with 23 pts and 10 steals! Hard to imagine this 3 star player is the quickest guy on the team and also the best defender. Hendry and Kampman also score double digits. Kampman has very quick hands and got 9 steals, stripping the ball from their big men down low in the 2nd half.

My first thoughts on the game are that it could be a long season. Aside from their meltdown, I don't have the bench strength I'm accustomed to. As a result, the team doesn't seem up to the task of the funk and gun fast break attack that made WIU famous.
The bright spots are the play of the 2 freshmen, Hubbard and Moody. Also, Kampman and Hendry are good enough to pick this team up and carry us to several wins. With the shortage of quickness, I'll have to adjust my usual gameplan on offense.

Looking ahead in the NIT, the other two top rated teams are #19 Alabama and Indiana (who I could face in the semi finals. I was 2-0 against the Hoosiers at WIU and look forward to playing them again).

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game 2 TCU vs UAB

UAB is up next as they eked by San Francisco in their first round match.
talk about quickness!!! UAB is lightning fast!!! So much so, that I quickly turn off any hope of running on them. Instead we are slow and steady - pounding the rock. The strategy works as we score 50 points in the paint and out-rebounded them (20-5 on the offensive glass alone!). On defense, we hold their star PG to only 4 pts!!! (30 bonus pts!).

Final Score TCU wins 93-53. I'm starting to get a better feeling about this season.

Kampman was on fire the whole game. The super soph laid in 20 pts and grabbed 11 rebounds for the double double. Hendry, Hubbard, and Moody all had double digit scoring as well for a well-rounded effort.

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THIS JUST IN: Cleveland State upsets Indiana 62-46!!!
I wonder if Indiana tanked the game rather than have to face me again. No matter, I now have Cleveland State in the semi finals after a short break. VCU takes on Alabama in the other semi-final.

During the NIT Break, I will give an Update on our early recruiting efforts. I am pleased so far - and amazed at how many Mr. Basketballs from different states have expressed some interest in our program. I don't want to get overconfident at this point. I know I can't sign them all (and may not get any). We signed three 3* players at the end of last season, so it would be nice to at least get a 4 star this time around.

[vols21]

We have some exciting news in the recruiting races so far:

5* SF J.P. Desilios from nearby Dallas is very interested. he visits the campus and puts us at the top of his list above Oklahoma, Texas A&M, LSU, and Kansas. Now that's some tall cotton!! Desilos is rated the #11 player in the nation and #5 SF. He is 6'9 219 lbs. Scouts rate with A+ offense, and A's and B's for his other stats. We met at the 2K Elite Camp and he must have been as impressed with me as I was with him.

6'9 211 lb Herbert Thomas is a 4* PF that also has me in the 90% range. I've made 1 trip down to Lubbock to meet with him and his parents and plan another this week. He is ranked #182 (#49 PF). We are battling Texas Tech, Baylor, and Nebraska for this star.

We are leading Butler in the battle for Mr. Indiana Wayne Sykes - the #12 player in the nation and #6 SF. He'll be visiting the campus this week to watch the UC Santa Barbara game.

We are in the hunt for 6'7 Noel, a 4* SF with Mizzou and Auburn.
the early battle for Mr Basketball in Texas is going Alabama's way.
We were early in the recruiting wars for Mr Utah (Ted Horner), but as more teams join the fight for his services, we are starting to fall behind.
Mr TN (Stiles) is leanding toward Miss. St and Memphis.

As coach Pearl advised, I will try to focus on my top 2 chances, Desilios and Thomas. Then spread my efforts among the others in case I lose one of them.

Steve Alford brings the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos to town this weekend. Wayne Sykes will be attendance, so I hope we play well. I am cautiously optimistic about our recruiting

[vols21]

TCU vs UC Santa Barbara

Mr Basketball from Indiania was in crowd tonite to watch TCU pull ahead from a close first half to win 82-62.

Ames leads the way with 20 pts.
Kampman pours in 13 and grabs 6 rebounds.
Hubbard and Low add 11 pts.

Sykes was impressed and left 92% sure he will sign with us. Today starts the early signing period. Hopefully we hear from either Desilios or Thomas with some good news - we extended both formal offers this week and they are right at 100%. We'll give Sykes a call Monday when he gets home to see if he made any decisions on the plane ride home. We made a formal scholarship offer to him while he was here.

the downside of the game is we lose Center Ziegler to a knee sprain. He's going to be out for at least a month. No time to dwell on that as San Jose is here for Sunday's game. No rest for the weary, as we had 2 teams from the left coast in for a weekend doubleheader.

[vols21]

Good news on early signing day. I want to announce that we not signed one, but two great players!!!!


J.P. Desilios from Dallas. He's rated as the 11th best player in the country and the 5th best SF. His A+ offensive grades will be a huge addition to our team next year. He is a 5* HS ALL American and participated in the 2K Elite Camp.

Herbert Thomas from Lubbock. He's #49 at the Power Forward position. He'll try to fill the shoes of Dawan Ames who graduates this year. He could work a rotation with Ziegler and Kampman and see a lot of playing time.

We have 1 scholarship left to give this year and we are hot on the trail of several other outstanding athletes.

--------------------When questioned about the Sykes of Ind, Coach Dean had to decline saying he was not able to comment at this time about any player whose signed papers have not been received by the athletic dept. ------------------------------------------------


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TCU vs San Jose State

TCU wins 72-63. SF Moody was on fire, scoring 17 pts to supplement Kampman's 19. (seems like Moody wanted to send a message and ensure he remains in the starting line-up next year when Desilios arrives on campus!). Seniors Boythe and Ames added 10 each. Hendry hit the jackpot of sorts, getting 7 pts, 7 rebounds, and 7assists.

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next up are the finals of the Preseason NIT. Then mark your calendars for Dec. 2 - the grudge game of the year when the TCU Horned Frogs invade Niagra!!! the war of words has escalated between these two programs regarding alleged recruiting violations last year. I'm expecting a barn-burner when these 2 teams collide.

[vols21]

any opinions or advice? Now that I've signed a 5* SF and 4* PF, should I continue to pursue Sykes, Indiana's Mr. Basketball, also a SF???

or should I drop down and look for a guard even at the 3star level (none currently have me high on their list, whereas I still lead in the hunt for Sykes).

[vols21]

back to NY for Preseason NIT sees TCU 79-61 over Cleveland ST. 4 players in double figures: Ames (17), Kampman (15), Hubbard and Welchel (13 each). Kampman 8 rebound led team.
Cleveland St was the team that knocked the Hoosiers out.


In the Finals:

TCU vs VCU who upset #19 Alabama was not much of a contest. Kampman takes over like never before - 25 pts, 10 rebs. Ames and Hubbard add 15 and 10 pts each. (moody 8 reb.). TCU wins the preseason NIT by 20. (79-59)

next game -- "The Fight at the Falls" as TCU travels to nearby Niagra.

[elprez98]

any opinions or advice? Now that I've signed a 5* SF and 4* PF, should I continue to pursue Sykes, Indiana's Mr. Basketball, also a SF???

or should I drop down and look for a guard even at the 3star level (none currently have me high on their list, whereas I still lead in the hunt for Sykes).

Only if you plan to split the time evenly between the two. Most players of that caliber will leave without decent PT.

[vols21]

thanks ElPrez98.

there's no guarantee I'd get them both and I could use a shooting guard - if I can get one. That's where I turn most of my efforts. Will update on my progress

[vols21]

TCU at Niagra

The N-Zone was rocking at the Gallagher Center

The OCHO, ESPN 8 was on hand to broadcast the game

GRUDGE MATCH - "Fight at the Falls" as we invade Niagra (The war of words continued in the media all week long). Building was packed and rabid as security would earn their pay tonite. The 2 heralded recruits were nowhere to be seen as Niagra's coach may have thought I would do something against them (in fact, I'm sure they were red-shirted). Oh how I long for Ali (my 7'0 center at WIU) as their front line reads 6'10, 6'11, and 7'1!!!!
compounded by the fact that my 6'10 center Zeigler has a sprained knee and may require surgery from the last game and I suddenly feel like I'm walking into the lion's den.

In the hostile environment, Niagra got the home court advantage as the refs whistled me for a foul every time I turned around (4 charges in a row) and let them kill me over the back.
At one point Niagra had more offensive boards than I had total rebounds! (17-14 ....ended 19-5 in OR) and end up winning the board battle 50-32. add 6 blocks to that and it’s a wonder that I stayed close (40-38 pts in the paint). Game is one of spurts but no one can get too far ahead (10 pts is biggest lead by each team). I take a 5 pt lead into the last 5 minutes and suddenly they go on a run and are ahead by 4. Timeout!! We work out a play to get some open mid-range jumpers, then tough defense. Boom, Boythe cans one from the wing and we play them tight with a minute to go.
they take a shot, no good, tip no good, tip again no good and finally Moody my freshman guard comes out of there with the ball. 10 seconds left and he hurries down the floor, finding Kampman on the way. He and Welchel look inside but the tall trees prevent a good shot, kick out to Hubbard who drives with 5 seconds on the clock ….FOUL!!!! 3.8 seconds left.
Hubbard stands at the charity stripe - we are 5 of 10 so far in the game in free throws. Hubbard is 1-3 himself. The freshman steps to the line in a pressure-packed situation with a screaming hostile crowd in his ears - and he calmly sinks them both!!! Moody pressures the inbounds pass and Niagra gets off a desparation shot from half court that RIMS out!!!!
We go to OVERTIME!!!!! Kampman with 4 fouls sits to open the OT. They get the tip (big surprise) and that was all they got. My defense came out rested and fired up. Niagra
only got off 5 shots in the extra period and made 2 of those. Meanwhile Low gets 2 drivers at the basket, Hubbard, Ames, Hendry and Boythe each hit a jumper. And big Welchel puts the exclamation point on it as he JAMS one home and rocks the building that had gotten deathly silent. It was a 2 pt game at the half. Tied at regulation and we pulled away to win by 10 in the end (conditioning??) 76-66. Coach Dean wins round 2 (if you count the recruits round 1) of what may become one of the mosted hated rivalries of all time for non-conference foes like this. Both AD's are already talking about the REMATCH.

GAME NOTES:
Hubbard 17 pts, 4 asst, and 7 steals. Boythe (JR) 16 pts; Ames 10 pts; Welchel comes thru with 10 pts and 6 rebs against the redwoods. Superstar Kampman disappoints
as he brings 3 pts but 6 boards - just never getting untracked against the big men and getting 4 fouls. Hubbard is the talk of Texas - an unheralded freshman's and his exploits!
And in case anyone is curious, Hubbard is a 58 for clutch and 71 rated on FT's. His main claim to fame has been his 88 speed up to now.
Moody, Welchel, Low, and Kampman all brought down 6 boards each. Moody is only 6'5, but he showed no fear in mixing it up with the 7' footers.

We are 64% FT shooting on the year!!!! But we made 2 when it counted! WHEW!!

[vols21]

would there be a letdown after such a dramatic game with Niagra as they travel to the Sunbelt to take on Western Kentucky??


TCU 66 - WKU 59. game was slower paced. Welchel was not up to playing after last night and needed extra fluids. But Hendry stepped up and almost single-handedly carried the team through a second half rally when he scored most of his 23 pts. Hubbard added 13 and Kampman returned to form with 11 pts and 7 rebounds before foul trouble again. Ames adds 8 rebs for the team.

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The letdown did hit us on Friday though when the road trip ended in Kansas State. Bob Huggins had his team ready to play and Vitelli, his 7'3 center, killed us with 30 pts. (53-74 final score)

no players in double figures - Ames led team with 9pts (17 of 51 shooting, 4 of 15 beyond arc. Kampman, Hubbard, and Moody all with 4 fouls. No one got untracked vs 6-1 Kstate
K-state is a top 10 RPI school so this was a good experience for the team. It was a grueling week, but we have the weekend off.

Coastal Carolina next week and another stiff test in Oklahoma!

[vols21]

Coastal Carolina was just what the doctor ordered. We forced them into an uptempo game and Welchel dominated inside with 20 pts. Hendry (19), Moody (17), Hubbard (12), and Kampman (10) round out the top scores. Ames (8) and Kampman (7) worked the boards against the smaller team. (96-59 was final score. Peters (PF) led Buzz's team with 14.

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Montana St was also outclassed (SIM). 72-52 (rebounds we led 44-29). Kampman double double (19 pts, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks and another 4 fouls)
Ames also double/double (12 /11) Hubbard (14) and Hendry (10pts, 7 reb). Moody another big nite on the glass with 8 rebounds. OK is next

the first polls came out, and at 10-1 we are not ranked. That's fine, we still need to prove ourselves. What really got my dander up is that Niagra (4-4) is ranked #23 in the mid-major (WIU was usally near the top, TCU does not qualify). BYU from Mountain West is ranked #16 at 7-0. Could be a marquee match-up on 1/28, but there are a lot of games between now and then.

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vs Oklahoma. Win 63-53!!! KAMPMAN came to play!! 19 pts and 9 reb (and only 1 foul! against a 7footer). Hendry another 18. Big win makes me 2-1 vs Big 12.

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uninspired win over IPFW 74-38. Kampman tallies 17 pts and 9 rebounds to lead team. Boythe and Moody (13 each). Lotta guys bring down over 5 rebounds - no monster #'s, just spread out. 2nd game in a row that Kampman was just one rebound shy of a double-double.

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in-season rematch with San Jose St goes my way 92-67 at San Jose. Coach Ness said we were totally "Untouchable"
Buckman, their 6'7 SF rolled in 17. But the combined attack of Hendry (21) and Kampman (20) backed up by 12 pts each Boythe and Moody (also 7 assists and 5 steals)
Low also had 6 assists, and walk-on guard Melvin dished out 3 (not sure why he was complaining about playing time before the game. Walk-ons should be happy to be on the team!)
It was a shame to see their 6'9 C Weatherspoon break his finger early in the game. That will affect his game for at least a month. But it sure did help me win the battle of the boards.

while on the left coast, we stopped by to watch high school stand-outs Bowens (C) and Bachman (SG) who were playing a game against each other. We left fairly impressed with Bachman is who is B all the way around (called to tell him so). Would be great to steal one of these guys from the California schools. That would cap off an awesome recruiting season.

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our last tune-up before conference play will be the Soda Pop Classic in Chattanooga TN. I've already made plans to have Christmas dinner with Coach Pearl and his family while I'm there. We even talked about making a little road trip to KY to scout some local players we're both interested in.

Later this week, I'll give an update on our recruiting and also mid-season stats for the team after the Classic.

[vols21]

Chattanooga TN Soda Pop Classic:
Southern (63-58 as we took them a little for granted). Kampman (15) Moody (13) Boythe and Hendry (10 each). Moody, Ames, and Kampman with 7 rebounds each.


Western Carolina in the finals: 95-62 blow-out in the UTC arena. Nothing for granted in this game. Hendry (26) and Kampman (25) led scoring. Low (14) and Moody (10) also double digits. Low also had 6 assts.

Impressive showing - not often you get 2 guys to score 25 pts each. Hendry and Kampman seem to be getting it together in time for the conference schedule to kick off.

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Christmas dinner with the Pearls while I was in TN. Then we all drove to Owensboro KY to scout a game. He was interested in 5* SF Mr Kentucky Rasmussen. I took an interest in 4 star Jr prospect Dale James, a sharpshooting PG (lots of A ratings!). We had a chance to meet the players after, and ran into Morehead St's Coach Bailey. Pearl said his worst nightmare is that UK might pony up the dough to bring him and replace Tubby. Coach Baily smiled at the compliment. Doesn't sound like we'll see him in Kentucky blue anytime soon.

[LiAu41]

I've been following, vols and I love the legacy so far. I can't wait to see how this year turns out for you. Keep up the great work!

[vols21]

thanks. glad you like it. I was starting to think I was writing this for my own enjoyment. :-)

I've got midseason stats and a conference scouting report to post this week, plus some news on the recruiting front. If I'm missing anything, let me know.

[vikingfan1]

I have been following, nice legacy.

[vols21]

as recruiting shapes up heading into the conference schedule: We are still in the lead for the services of "Mr. Ind" Sykes (SF) whose interest has dropped to 84% since we signed Desilos.

Having signed 2 forwards, I am taking ElPrez's advice and going after some guards: Taft is "Mr. Minnesota" and we currently are 4th on his list (he is #36 overall PG). Marq, ND, and ISU above me.
Gillingham (4 * sg from st. louis) has me 3rd behind Marq and Mizz all around 70%. Barnett, a JUCO SG from Utah, has me a distant 4th behind BOI (45%). And Minoff from Lithuania has it between me and UGA at this point. He doesn't seem too interested at all to be honest (42%) but I'm making a call to him just to let him know we're here. I will target a couple more PG's and SG's in hopes of getting one interested by the end of the year. Not very many of them have me above that magic 70% mark at this stage and that is a scary prospect (most are even below 50% as you can see above. But the teams they are interested in may not have the scholarship to offer, so we want to be ready to help them pick up the pieces if that happens). I have my coaching staff scouring the list of 3 * players to see if we can find another diamond in the rough like Moody - someone who can fit the mold of this team and would be able to provide a role for us. We want the best fit regardless of his 'star rating"

Also laying the groundwork with a few JR's since I only have the one scholarship left to give this year. Top prospect is a 5 * SF (6'9 J J Noel from here in Ft. Worth). We are also on top of his brother Janou Noel who's a SR sf for Plano, but we're not spending as much time on him (4 * SF, since we already signed 5* Desilos). I'm not in many top 10's yet, but that's why to start early on them. I have tagged my target list with mostly Jr's. I'd like to follow up this year's recruiting success with another banner year. To do that, I know I have to start early. I am maxing out the calls and e-mails to my top 5, then spending as much time with the next 10 guys to keep getting them more and more interested. By the end of the year, we'll narrow the list down so that we can maximize our time wisely.

[vols21]

here are the team stats for the top players at TCU



year position name PPG RBG APG FG% FT %

so pf Mick Kampman 15.8 6.8 0.9 59% 69%
jr sg Armond Hendry 12.6 3.5 2.2 56% 71% 49% from 3 pt land
fr pg Gerrod Hubbard 9.9 1.4 3.4 38% 59% leads nation with 3.5 steals per game.
sr pf Dawan Ames 9.3 5.5 2 55% 58%
fr sg Elliott Moody 8.4 4.4 2.1 42% 80%
jr sg Elliah Boythe 7.3 1.9 1.8 41% 75%
sr C Laron Welchel 4.7 2.2 0.5 61% 39%
sr SF Arturo Low 4.6 3.1 1.9 42% 58%

[vols21]

Looking ahead to the conference, San Diego State knocked off #15 UCLA 83-56 to win the Las Vegas Classic (now ranked #21) and also won the Lobo Invite at the Pit over St. Marys
They are my 2nd conf. game. BYU still ranked 18 (down from 10th when they lost their first game - to Texas Tech on Christmas Eve by 1 point) and UNLV 23 (10-2)
We've had some good wins so far, but quite frankly the schedule hasn't been the strongest I've seen. 3 top 25 teams, and 3 more knocking on the door in this 4th rated Conf.
3 mt west teams in top 25 is more than ACC (two - BC and NC st). #1 is Seton Hall (big east has 6 ranked teams), #2 Arizonia (Pac 10 has 2 teams), #3 is Tennessee (SEC has 7!!! 5 in top 10!!)


scouting report:
first game is against Colorado State - they have a trio of 3-point shooting guards and a freshman forward named Nystrom that was highly recruited last year and has been impressive so far. (in another legacy, C.State won the national title recently - that has me worried a bit).

at 14-2, #19 San Diego St is led by SR SG Perry Smallwood with 15 PPG and 7 RBG. 4 other players average double digits, so you can't just focus on one guy. 7'2 soph Center Bennie Simmons has 10 pts and 6 boards plus an amazing 3 blocks a game.

Tulsa OK's own Terrance Bolton is tearing it up, 29 pts a game. The 7'1 center also has 9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks. He plays for 10-3 Utah and leads nation in scoring

Dallas native Chika Brewer of BYU is 2nd best player in M.west right now, scoring 21.8 pts, 11.1 rebounds, and 1 block a game. The 6'11 sr leads nation in reb. Their starting 5 all avg 10+ a game.

it's about time for our MWC home opener against Col. State. Let's see what we are made of.

[vols21]

Mountain West home opener vs Colorado st. Game starts slow and both teams are cold. Half time score is 20-12. Kampman gets on fire to start the 2nd half to extend the lead. final score in the victory -- 56-37
(coach Phaler's defense certainly rose to the task at hand!)

Kampman leads all scorers with 17 pts and 8 rebounds. Hendry and Ames with 10 pts each. Freshman star Hubbard plays 2/3 of the game but does not score.
we win rebound battle 33-30!! (always a pleasant surprise) Shoot NO 3's, and are 4 of 5 at the free throw line. Welchel 7pts and 5 rebounds off the bench.

their talented shooters are held to 1 of 13 beyond the arc. Meade leads the rams with 8 pts. San Diego State will require a better performance from our players.

[vols21]

sellout crowd of 12,414 at Cox Arena

at San Diego St.

Coach Dean pulls a switch - starting california native Gerrod Melvin at PG in place of slumping freshman Hubbard (hoping that hearing his name being announced as a starter might help my recruiting efforts in the state - we've got our eye on a couple Cali players and can use any help to secure one of them). It also seems to spark the team as we win the opening tip and score the first 4 pts with vaunted duo Kampman and Hendry. Melvin also provides a great dish to Ames for 2 more. Game goes to 10 minute mark before the first whistle, and I have a lot of tired kids.
Hubbard is coming in for his first appearance. He leads a fast break after a rebound and scores quickly! I hope this trend continues for him! Kamp and Hendry each with 12 pts as we jump to 37-20 halftime lead.

The Aztecs double team both of the in the 2nd to slow them down, and I had to look for other scoring options. Hendry broke loose late and ends with 23 pts. Kampman finishes with 14 pts, 6 reb, and 8 steals!
Boythe and Hubbard add 6 pts, and Welchel brings in 5 pts and 5 rebs off the bench. We held Smallwood in check the first half, but he broke loose for 14 in 2nd half (just under his avg).
paint pts, 2nd chance pts were about even. But I had 10 more fast break pts than them (16-6). Both teams had 2 blocks (Simmons got in foul trouble early, and aside from 8 reb. He was a non-factor for the Aztecs).
8 of 11 free throws, so that practice time paid off. 49% FG shooting compared to their 46% (and 1 of 2 FT's). Final Score 69-48. (well below both teams 75 ppg avg -- once again, kudos to Coach Phaler and his work on defense - he implemented the 1-3-1 for the game after a couple weeks of perfecting it in practice)

We get ranked!! #24. SD St drops to #25. BYU #10. 84 rated UNLV (86 offense, 84 defense) and 76 rated New Mexico are up this week.

Kampman is #3 scorer, #8 reb. #3 steals in Mt West.

[vols21]

Vs New Mexico. Total domination in this one from get go. 74-49. Moody and Hubbard have 9 each at the break. Moody finishes with 14, while Hubbard doesn’t score again.
Hendry with 15 leads all scorers. Kampman adds 10 (and 6 reb.) The 7'0 Soto gets 10 for Lobos by half, and is held scoreless in the 2nd. (20-6 on fast breaks)


Vs UNLV - who has lost first 2 conf. games. This was a close game with several lead changes. Ends 80-72 in my favor.
PG Mouton raps 19 to lead UNLV (Lhota 16, Mulloholland 10). They shoot 64% from field (to my 48%). The 1-3-1 caused a few turnovers and limited their shots.
Hendry and Kampman fire 22 each to lead all scorers. Ames 12. Hubbad 6 pts and 5 steals as he rejoined the starting line-up tonite.
one of the few times I lose the points in paint, fast break, and BENCH scoring - and yet we still win the game!. We skyrocket to #12 in the polls!!

Air Force and Utah next week

[vols21]

At Airforce -- classic letdown game sandwiched between UNLV and #22 Utah. And we got BIT! lost 49-71
Hendry (12) and Kampman (13) struggled the whole game. Outrebounded 23-33. (SG) Blue leads Air Force with 17 pts to the upset.

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vs Utah: the Bolton Express rolled in and ran over me, crushing me early and often. I fought back, but lost down the strech 59-69. outrebounded 34-49 and 5 blocks by the UTES (to my 0).
Hubbard gave his all - scoring 18. Kampman put in 16 and Hendry 10. But the rest of the team struggled. Kampman had 8 rebounds and Low 6.
The 7'1 Bolton, the nation's leading scorer, was held to only 14 pts (15 off his avg) + 12 reb. His 7'4 back-up, Shumate blocked 3 shots. And 6'9 Grove grabbed 18 boards and 10 pts.
a very tough game - we just didn't have the horses to stay with their big men. I need to start working on a game plan for the rematch. I only shot 34% (32% in 2nd half, missing a dozen layups -- I'm sure their size forced my players to adjust their shots and thus the misses)
foul plagued game saw the Utes hit 14 of 19 FT's and we got 11 of 16. they were 3 of 5 beyond arc and I was 0-4. I really need to find a good 3 pt shooter.

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we fall to #18. out of the frying pan and into the fire though as we travel to #15 BYU and Chris Brewer who is still the #2 league scorer. Kampman remains #3 ahead of Bracy (wyo) by .6 of a point.
4 MWC teams in top 25 - what a tough league. .. but not as tough as the SEC who has 3 teams in TOP 5!!! UT Vols are 2-3 in league play and fell to #5 LSU #2, and South Carolina #4

[vols21]

at BYU. Brewer was all he was made out to be and every bit as good as Bolton. We couldn't double down on him because PG Spaulding was lighting it up from outside and drives (finishes with 22)
BYU took the lead and expanded it to 12. Hubbard got in foul trouble, so I had to scramble at the point, but we tied the game - only to let them score at the buzzer to lead by 2 at half. (32-34)
Bad news for BYU as Brewer breaks his hand late in the 1st half. That just seemed to take the wind out of their sails, and we got very fired up. Brewer leaves with 6 pts, 4 reb, and 2 blocks.
We only shot 40% in first half, but lit it up for 63% in 2nd (55% for game). BYU went the opposite going from 64% to 51% (56% for game). Rebounds 30 apiece!!
Hendry got hot and his 25 pts led us to a 20 pt win (91-71). Kampman (15pt and 8reb), Hubbard 10 pts (plagued with fouls had no steals) Ames (10). Low had 6 rebs.
Everyone scored except backup guards McKnight and Melvin who saw more playing time than normal due to pace of game and Hubbard's fouls. We break 2 game losing streak.
last word on Brewer is he'll be out about a month with the broken hand. He's a tough cookie, so he might try to get back in sooner especially when they play Utah (and Bolton).
he shut Bolton the last time they played as BYU won 63-46 (game right before ours, which helps explain their letdown in this one). They next play Utah on 2/10 (right after I play SD St.)

(2/4 - utah loses to Col. St. puts us in a tie at the top of the Mt. West. We have a tough game with San Diego St. coming up which u may recall we used a bit of trickey to surprise them in opener)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

vs Wyoming - somone new steps in and carries the team when the stars are double-teamed and slump. Moody (19) and Ames (16) seemed to score at will. Kampman is held to 5 pts, but his 11 rebounds were his contribution. Moody adds 7 boards too. Hubbard scores 8 and adds 3 steals to his nation-leading total. Wyoming has 4 players in double digts led by Riveria w/ 16.
It was our balanced scoring off the bench that give us a 73-65 victory.


2nd half of league plays kicks off when SD State comes to town, then we take a trip to the PIT to face New Mexico. Then Valentine's Night, we face off with UNLV. Hope we don't get massacred in that one.

[vols21]

vs San Diego St. - another hard fought win. No mind-games with the starting line-up this time. Just straight-up hard nosed basketball. Ames and Kampman score 12 each. Boythe and Low come off the bench to lead the team with 15 and 10 pts each. Kampman pulls in 7 reb. Hubbard gets 4 steals plus 9 pts. Moody was held to 2 after just a great game last time.
outrebounded 29-42!!! But final score was 69-56. Their star Yeager poured in 16 and grabbed 15 rebounds in a losing effort. We just could not slow him down.
(scores of interest - without Brewer at 100%, Bolton and Utes roll over BYU 70-53. remember they lost at home the first time 46-63).
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At New Mexico - the Pit! We come in ranked #8 against the lowly Lobos. They may have snagged the 3rd best recruiting class in the league, but it didn't help them here.
Borges, who I recruited heavily but lost to New Mexico had a target on his back all night. He got a rebound and went to jam it back in and it came off the back of the rim, so our players razzed him the rest of the game until he retired to the bench. It was a subtle message that if you decide to go play somewhere else instead of playing for us, you will pay for it when you play against us.
Their 7'0 Soto was held to 8 pts for the game - but he dominated on the defensive end with 5 blocks and 8 rebounds. (green led them with 10 pts). 65-46 was final score (rebounds an astounding 35 each!!)
I only scored 4 fast break pts, just not able to get off the blocks after a miss against their tall guys.
Hendry was cold shooting (30%) but still managed 20 pts. Moody and Kampman add 10 each. Kampman with 6 reb and another 5 steals. He has such quick hands underneath the basket.
Little used guards McKnight and Melvin combine for 5 rebounds, an assist, and 2 steals (but 3 turnovers). Ames for some reason gets the dish award, handing out 4 assists.
Hubbard was silent most of the game, but came alive late when the Lobos staged a rally to get 3 steals and hit a 3-pointer (his only pts).
Fun highlight of the game was their back-up Center Bradsaw getting called for a charge away from the basket. That was a first for me to see (happens to me a few times) - he is one of 5 centers on Lobos. This was after one of my players took a flop, running into a well-set screen away from the ball.
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Feb 14th

vs UNLV - the running rebels seemed unstoppable in "preseason" (14-2) but have fallen apart in conference play (3-6). At 17-8, they could still in play for post season and the defending conference champs will still be a threat in the league tourney. But I'm just concerned about my team tonite!! I don't really want them to come in and give me a St. Valentine's Day massacre!
The rebels lived up to their name as they run me ragged. Their quick players stole a lot of my outlet passes and shut down my fast break - and then their long passes led their break for 14 pts.
My early lead (up 4) turned into a 5 pt deficit by halftime. I used a couple 3 pointers by Hendry and Boythe to work up a 6 pt lead. But here come the rebels and shortly it is once again a one possession ball game. With under 2 minutes to go, I put in my best free throw shooters and ball handlers. Kampman got the J on my end. A foul on the other, they made one FT (3 pt game now).
under a minute, they began fouling. Hendry makes his FT's. Hubbard misses the front end of a 1-1 (he hasn't hit a big FT since the Niagra game!). Hubbard gets a steal at half court and this time he hits both FT's. Kampman steals a pass and jams one home. They miss a 3, and Hendry hits 2 more FT's as we win pulling away. 68-61.
Mouton killed me last time, but this time is held to just 8 pts. Lot of turnovers on both sides leads to a lower score this game.
Hendry hits 21 while Kampman adds 18 (6 reb, 2 asst, and 2 steals - the big one at the end of game). Hubbard has 6 steals to increase his nation's best total. Boythe 10 pts - some key baskets.
both teams hit 80% from charity stripe - I just got twice as many trips (those 4 pts prove very big). Loss drops UNLV to last in conf. A dangerous place for them to be!!!
A HS freshman PG from Nashville TN was in town and stopped by to watch the game. He expressed a lot of interest in our program (75%). Keep an eye on this 4* shooter!! (R. Bracy)

[chestnutz6]

hey man keep up the good work. a suggestion I have for you would be to maybe have some press conferences or talk about yourself the coach like you did in your first few posts. seems lately youve just been telling whats going on in the games but lose some of the "story aspect" to it.

I've never done one of these myself, but lately I've been wondering if I should. Not sure if people would read it though...

what difficulty and settings do you have for this?

[vols21]

thanks for the input. I am playing on MOP. the only real slider change I made was bump up the lay-up a few points. But I still miss a ton of them. As I win games easier, I plan to adjust my sliders down and the CPU sliders up to make the games closer. Not sure I'll do that until I learn how to rebound though. lol

[vols21]

update on the state of the MWC, plus the final games of the regular season

Byu's Brewer #2 in scoring leads league with 10.4 rebounds pg. Utah's twin towers Grove and Bolton have 9 rebounds each.
Spaulding of BYU is top assist tied with Utah's Jolly with 4.4. #3 scorer Bracy (WYO) has 4.3 proving he is can do it all.
TCU is top scoring team 73.3 BYU 72.2 is next. BYU leads Sd St 37 RPG to 36.9 (TCU mired in the cellar here) BYU 15.7 APG (SD 15.2) TCU is 4th with 14.6. BYU 5.7 blocks full 1 over Col.St
My 47.5% FG is tops (BYU is 43.4). My dismal 32.7% 3-pt is 3rd. BYU 34.1 leads UNLV (32.9). UNLV 72.6% FT leads SD (71.3). We are near bottom with 66.2%
lucky we hit the ones we needed when we needed them!
Time to call Coach Pearl…..UT is ranked #6…..we are ranked #8 after the big game with UNLV. Gonzaga at 18-3 is #9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At Air Force - it's payback time for the drubbing they gave me. 68-31 was the SIM final!! Kampman (21), Hubbard (19) and Ames (10) lead the scoring parade. 6 players with 5 rebounds compared with their 19 total!
Phaler's 1-3-1 defense held them to 11-52 shooting while we rocked 24-46 (9 of 17 from 3pt land - Hubbard 5-8, and Hendry a perfect 3 of 3).
We also had 9 blocks in the game! Kampman and little Hubbard 3 each, Hendry 2, and Moody 1. The boys were fired up for this game to say the least.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At Col. St. Col St jumps to 9-2 lead and hold it most of the half. Boythe 3 point shooting keep me in the game as he hits 4. one more at the buzzer gives me a 1 pt half time lead (38-37).
Boythe has 18 at the break and ends with 24 as he goes cold under the added pressures. The rest of the team warms up as the lead switches 4 times thru the half. A 4 pt lead late, and I call time to put in my best free throw shooters, and put Boythe at the point to catch the inbounds pass. Strategy works as he hits his FT. TCU 73-67 Col St.
Boythe 24. Kampman 14 + 6 reb. Zeigler 5 rebounds. Welchel 6 big pts late on tip backs. Hubbard plagues by foul trouble does not score (gets a late steal to help seal the win).
Nystrom leads all scorers as the freshmen SG lights it up for 26 pts (most in the 2nd half). (Hendry a paltry 6 pts (3 of 12 shooting) as he's trying to press and get more pts.
(interesting shot chart stat - didn't miss a 3pt shot from the left side (first half). Didn't make one from the right side (2nd half). In fact, I missed every jumper outside the low post in 2nd half.
Ames is out 5 days with a hip pointer.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
scores of interest - Air Force upsets Utah (my next opponent), so I have a tedious 1 game lead in the conference standings.

3 MWC teams are projected as top 8 seeds in the NCAA tourney (TCU, Utah, and BYU). UNLV or San Diego State would look to have an outside chance if they make a late season or conference tourney run based on their non-conference


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At UTAH: battle of the top teams. Hendry got in foul trouble early (held to 4 pts) and we could only slow down Bolton a little bit (24 pts to lead all scorers and 12 reb). Utah wins (59-63)
kampman shot 13 and Moody 11 - they were joined by Ziegler with 5 rebounds apiece (we actually tied in rebounding, 33 per team)
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vs BYU - a game of spurts. BYU roared to 9 pt lead led by Dumbliauskas'14 pts. I stuck a double team and pressured him, plus a few drives to basket got him foul trouble. This let us catch up.
Then Spaulding started hitting (he scored 18) and they grew the lead again. It was pressure defense that started causing turnovers right and left and we caught back up. This time, BYU had no answer and we grew the lead to 10 and held on. Boythe 24pts and 7 steals. Kampman 15 pts and 7 rebs. Hubbard 11 pts and 4 steals. Hendry hobbled by tendonitis hit 6.
74-64 was the final despite shooting 37% from field (10 of 12 FT's helped a lot as BYU was only 1 for 1). I was creamed in rebounds (52-25) and fast breaks 20-10. but we caused 31 turnovers to my 9 and blocked 1 more shot. (3-2)
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Coach's Corner:
we end the season tied with Utah for first place. Despite losing 2 games to them, I get the first round bye in the MWC tourney.

Kampman has been on a tear. Boythe is coming on strong to supplement Hendry with outside shooting. Freshmen players Hubbard and Moody have had good years, but they seem to be going in different directions. Hubbard started fast and has faded under the pressure of playing the point (and since the limelight of his FT's at Niagra). Moody's rebounding have been a bright spot.

[chestnutz6]

Yeah I do that too. I bumped the layups up a lot and during games I'll change the sliders to make it as realistic as possible. O and forgot to say I loved the move you did to TCU. You'll get more looks in recruiting and you're in a bigger conference. Also I think it's a better read. I like reading about well known teams, even if some legacy built a small school into a powerhouse, it's still not as interesting to me as if they would have built up a good team and then switched to a well known power conference.

[chestnutz6]

oh and I have a question. Do you know what Real Player FT% are?

[vols21]

real player FT% means they will make FT's based on their actual ability. Otherwise, it depends on how well you can work the "shot stick". I use the real player % - I like the realism it provides (and I'm at the AI's mercy when it comes to the shots). makes it all the better when I hit 10 of 10 from the line (and I have someone to blame when we miss 50% of them too - just like a good coach should. haha).

I have gotten some better recruits at TCU. It may open some doors up for me at other places. I think half the fun is building up the programs (and then a year or so to enjoy the fruits of your labor). It's fun reading legacies at different levels. I'm kind of like you, unless you're the coach at Creighton, eventually you want to go where the power is. In the game, though you don't want to make the jump too quickly. If you take the first offer, it could stunt your own growth as it can be harder to recruit in the power conferences until your own repuatation and ability have grown to a certain level. Thanks for reading.

[vols21]

WE draw Colorado State -- they are a good team (as evidenced by their national title in another legacy). It is hard to beat a good team 3 times in a season....I just didn't expect to get spanked!!! 56-76.
"At the Buzzer" - the Horned Frogs post game show, Coach Dean comments that our game plan coming in was to stop their star Nystrom which we did. However, that allowed 4 other players to score double digits, led by Blake with 17 pts and 11 rebounds. We can't afford to lose focus like that. basketball is a 5 player game - stopping 1 at the expense of 4 means you will lose, and we did. I'm proud of Hubbard and Boythe who scored 14 pts each, and Ames getting 12 rebounds was just amazing. Now we have to regroup and get ready for the NCAA tourney. I don't like losing the first round.

BYU beats Utah to win the rubber match of their great series this year. Brewer is healthy 100% again for BYU and proved the difference. He may be the only player that can stop the Bolton Express.

Col. State beats BYU 79-76 to win the MWC tourney and the automatic bid to the NCAA's.

This is the 2nd year in a row that the team that beats my team goes on to win it all.



In all, 9 teams that I played make the field of 65:
Coastal Carolina, UCSB, Niagra, San Jose, and WKU (UAB just missed) from non-conf.
MWC teams include: BYU (7 seed), Col. State (13 seed), Utah #3 seed in midwest. TCU earns a #2 seed in the south and faces Weber State in the opener.

Big East & SEC get 7 teams each. MWC got 4 (tied with Big 12 and Pac 10)
the top 4 seeds are:
Michigan St, Villanova, Texas, and South Carolina

[chestnutz6]

alright thanks for that info. good job on this, i think you and TCU will go far in the tourney this year. is niagra in any bracket near you? seems like a very good rivalry. and thanks for reading my legacy. it's fun to do

[vols21]

Alumni Arena, Buffalo NY
#2 TCU vs #15 Weber State of the Big Sky

everybody plays, everybody scores. TCU wins 81-46
Hubbard and Kampman score 13 pts each to lead the balanced attack.

our second round foe will be #7 Alabama.
I don't think it will be quite as easy.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

other scores of interest:

is it the greatest upset of ALL TIME????? first time in history (ok, we can call it the 2nd since I did read it happening in another legacy):

the #16 seed (12-17) Sam Houston shocks #1 ranked, top seed Michigan State!!!! 75-65

Niagra is also a first round loser (haha). We could not have faced them until the finals anyway (if this was Pro Wrestling, then maybe that would have happened). It is building into a great rivalry, and I have them in our house next year.

Utah is the only other MWC team to survive the opening round. They get Mississippi State in round 2.

[vikingfan1]

A 16 beating a 1 happened in my Legacy. In fact, the 16 seed (St. Francis, PA) got all the way to the Elite 8 before losing to #3 seed Utah by just five points.

[chestnutz6]

Yeah in almost all of my legacies a 16 beats a 1. But in the first year in my legacy there were practically no upsets.

[vols21]

TCU 63 -- Alabama 47 (SIM game)

Hendry, Kampman, and Boythe all scored 13. We had 8 blocks (3 by Moody). We make the Sweet 16 once again. Lot of top seeds going down early (every #1 seed has already lost!!)
#6 Washington will be my next opponent. Just when I thought I might have an "easier" time since the top seeds lost, I scout Washington and find out they are a 90 rated team. GEE WHIZ!! Coach Dean laments that it doesn't get any easier for us.


other scores of local interest:
My hometown team of Missouri State (formerly SMS) upsets the #2 seed Duke 80-73!! There will be a party in Springfield tonite!!!!!

Mississippi State beats Utah 73-72 despite Bolton's 30 points for the Utes.

#16 Sam Houston 76 - Texas A&M 72!!! The 16 seed advances to the sweet 16 (will history repeat itself Viking? I remembered reading St. Francis' amazing run. (I remember as a kid going to UT football games and they'd announce the Slippery Rock scores. That's what this seeems like, lol)

Tennessee vs Ohio State: Vols jump to an early lead as they did this year for real. But with a deeper bench, Coach Pearl's teams doesn't have the 2nd half meltdown. Vols win 87-52. UT vs Sam Houston in round 3.

[chestnutz6]

next year you should schedule to play tennessee. i could picture that turning into some great rivalry, but a friendly one. mentor-apprentice.

[vols21]

Washington was just too tough in the end
63-71

closer than past sweet 16 losses, but its still painful. Next year we vow to get past this round. With the new recruits coming in, that could be possible.

Tennessee blows out Sam Houston to advance, but then they lose to #2 Arizonia.

FINAL FOUR
Final Four features #2 Arizona vs #2 Georgetown. #4 Memphis vs #6 Miss. St.
Arizona beats Memphis 65-47 to win its 2nd National Title in a row!!


we finish 30-7. much closer sweet 16 game against quaility team. Contract renewed for 4 years!!
0-2 vs Utah this year. 1-1 vs Air Force. 2-1 vs Col. St. (conference play)
we are 6-0 vs Big 10. 0-1 vs Pac 10. 2-1 vs Big 12. 1-0 vs Sec. 1-1 vs ACC 0-1 vs Big East in non-conf.


POST SEASON AWARDS:
POY is V. Teague of GA Tech (15 PPG, 9.5 RPG. Byrd of AZ wins national coach of year (2 in a row) with record of 29-9
I win Mt. West Coach of year (30-6). Bolton (utah) is conf. POY. UNLV's 72 rated Nuuallitia wins Frosh of year with 10.4 pts and 6 rebounds. (WIU Adasi wins in MidCont. 7 ppg)
Wilmont (WIU) and Moody (TCU) made all-freshmen conf. team

Tommorrow, I'll update the final recruiting news. All I know right now for sure is that Viking pulled away one of my top prospects. ;-)

[Out of the Fire]

I've got to play Washington next and they're 85 overall and #7 in the country, not looking forward to that. They already pounded my mentor Steve Fisher's SDSU Aztecs.

Still a great season when you win 30 games against that high a level of competition.

[vols21]

Post Season recruiting - We stayed in hunt for Sykes who finally signed with Illinois (WTG Viking Fan). We chased a local guard, McCarthy, but gave up when Mr. Minnesota, Taft was left alone. We signed Taft who was a 4 star PG leaving McCarthy to LSU (Mc was the better shooter, but we took the "bird in hand")

D.C. Taft 4 Star PG. B- off, B shooting, A- Rebounding (up), B+ Hustle, A leaping, B- Quickness, B Intel. And avg potential. From MN (my midwest background give me some inroads). He joins All-American SF Desilos and 4* PF Thomas.
Desilos can do it all - he was the starting PG in the East/West All-Star Game.

now we are going to focus solely on Jr's to set a base for next year. We'll definitely want another PF or C. And a SG would be good.
#19 recruiting class in nation!!!! (one 5 and two 4's. Includes 1 Mr BB and 1 AA) I was top class in Mt. West
#2 was BYU (25th best in nation), 3 UNLV (28th), 4 Utah (29th); SanD St, Wyoming, Col.St. Air Force, NM. So once again after a great recruiting class, we find that 3 other teams had just as good a recruiting session as we did. We're not going to pull away from the pack on talent alone.

the Midnight Madness event was 106-98. Kampman 24, new Freshmen Deslios 20 in losing effort. Frosh Thomas with 32!! Boythe, Taft, and Bridges all over 20. Bridges was the surprise. We redshirted him last year, and that extra seasoning seems to have paid off for him.

Bowen at Washington is a pre-season AA (ranked #11, and an early game for us).

Here is our roster for the upcoming year. Kampman grew an inch to 7 foot. Recruit Desilos also grew an inch over the summer. One interesting thing (and why you can't just go by the STARS) is that 4* Taft graded out lower overall than 3* Hubbard did last year at the same position. Hubbard was a special player (he graded above the other 3*'s at that time too.)


YEAR NAME POS rating hgt
SR Hendry SG 76 66
FR Desilos SF 74 610 218 grew an inch and 2 lbs
JR Kampman PF 73 7'0 249 grew an inch and 2 lbs
SO Hubbard PG 72 6'1
Sr Boythe SG 72 6'3 (shrunk couple inches)
FR taft PG 67 6'4 (4 star guard grades out lower than 3 star Hubbard did)
FR Thomas PF 67 6'10 211 grew an inch
SO Moody SF 67 6'5 200
Sr Zeigler C 65 6'10 233 shrunk an inch
RS FR Bridges PF 63 6'9 218
SR McKnight PG 63 5'11
Jr Atkinson PG 62 6'0
So Jeanp. SG 60 6'5
FR D.Boythe PF 53 6'7
Jr Melvin SG 53 6'4
W-Fr Pulley PF 52 6'11 253

[vols21]

Preseason press conference:
everyone wants to know what our outlook is this year - can we get back to the NCAA and if so, can we get past the Sweet 16.

Coach Dean replies: "Well I certainly think we can accomplish both of those goals this year......

With the addition of Desilos who can play every position, it certainly helps our depth out. I don't ever recall banking my season on a freshman before, but this kid is something special. He's big, he's quick. he can handle the ball, he can shoot, and heck he can even play defense!! Those are all the qualities I like in a player. Now when you combine that with our new Point Guard, Taft, who can rest Hubbard some (and maybe even push him for playing time or a starting job down the road), plus two more big boys down low in Thomas and Bridges. We won't lose as much when they come in to rest Zeigler and Kampman. With Kampman's growth spurt, he can be a better player and we will rely on him a lot; however, his stamina is in question.

It's going to be tough playing against us because of our size this year. We go 6'10, 7'0, 6'10 in the middle. And even Taft is a 6'4 PG, so he'll get some good looks at the basket over the smaller guys. You can almost say we built this team to compete with Utah here in the MWC.

The rest of our schedule will give us some early tests. We have a tourney rematch with Washington who will be ranked. Also, their Pac 10 mate Oregon State. San Francisco is always a tough opponent. The big home game that all the fans are talking about is game #8 when Niagra pays us a visit. I hope our crowd can be as energetic as theirs was last year.
and a special game this year - I've been invited back to WIU for a special early season Senior Day....in fact they are calling it ALI DAY in honor of the 7'0 center I recruited from Cameroon. Ali is a great person, who has even sent me tips on other players in his home country. It will be an emotional day for both of us, but I can guarantee it will be a good game as well.

and as we look ahead to recruiting this year to see if we can duplicate our success of last year, We have the inside track on JJ Noel, a 5 star SF from here in Fort Worth. We are working overtime to get a Center to replace Zeigler next year and also a Shooting guard since we lack that threat right now. Hooks from Iowa has us #3 on his list, he's the #13 center in the nation coming out of high school. SG, Buggs from Memphis also has us in his top 5. There are some other players we are going after hot and heavy as well.

The season opens with Autin Peay - I've got to go start some preparations.

[skarface2k1]

Coach Dean,i am impressed with you and what you have done so far in your legacy.I to started at WIU,and also won two NC's there along with three conference titles and three conference tournaments. so,i know how tough it was there at WIU.Good luck with your team this season.plus,with a team that long you should play alot of 2-3 or 1-3-1 i got that from Mr Jim boeheim.I get alot of steals in the paint and blocks as well due to the great size down low.I start 7'1 SF, 7'2 PF, 7''1 center so if that helps you.Check my post out it has all the up to date stats and player info on it.Plus i just started my 11 year in legacy,my 5 with wisconsin.Coach sanders signing off.

[vols21]

Before we get to a recap of our first few games, I want to thank Coach Sanders for his insights and advice. My defensive whiz Asst, Coach Phaler is a student of the game and implemented the 1-3-1 last year during conference play. We studied old films of Coach Ray Mears and how his teams would shut down the other team's star players (holding Pistol Pete Maravich to a mere 12 pts). Coach Phaler has been working on some Box and 1 as well for this year since we face a few teams with a superstar outside shooter who might need that extra attention without giving up the inside altogether. (we will be breaking out some film of Jimmy B and also Coach Sanders wisconsin team to see what new wrinkles we can learn from their defensive sets).


TCU at Austin Peay - tough scrappy game. The Desilos era is ushered in as he scored the first 11 pts of the game! Finished with 24 and 6 rebs.
Ziegler (14) Thomas (13), and Kampman (10). Unheralded frosh Bridges adds 8 and 5 rebs. Zeigler 8 and Thomas (6) scrape the boards. Boythe a horrible 1 of 10 shooting (layups!)
52% FG's and 11 of 20 FT's (55%). We'll take the win, but we need a lot of work on FT shooting next week!!

vs San Francisco: looked like the DONS would blow me out early opening a 10-2, and 21-9…but the 2nd team had some fire about them, then my FROSH came alive:
Desilos ends with 31 pts and 7 steals! Bridges 17 pts and 7 rebounds! Kampman and Thomas 12pts each. Taft with 10. Final score 103-64. 56% FG, 12 of 19 FT (63%)
Ziegler out 10 days with dislocated finger. Christian scored 20 for San Fran (6.10 PF). Rebounds even 27 each

at WIU: ALI day, everyone wore cameroon colors to the game. Close game, WIU took the led late, but we battled and regained the lead and eked out the win.
Boythe, Desilos, and Kampman all with 17 pts. Desilos 6 rebounds. Ali scored 23 for WIU. 54% FG and 15 0f 22 FT (68%)

at #2 Washington: huge underdogs is an understatement. Washington outrebounds 42-16 (37 bench to my 16!! Usually a strength of mine) lose 81-97
Desilos scores 20. Boythe and Kampman 18 and frosh Thomas adds 14, Bridges 9. Huskies blocked 8 shots!!! And altered many more, as we missed dozens of easy layups
shot 44% (compared to their 65%). We were 11 of 15 FT (73%) while they hit 14 of 18 (78%). All in all, a game to forget, but a learning experience for all the kids on the team.

vs UC Riverside - just what the doctor ordererd to repair some damaged confidences 101-59. early struggles due to missed lay-ups but shoot 55% and 13 of 14 FT (93%) - 38 fast breaks
Desilos with 22 pts (5 reb and 7 steals). Kampman 17 (5 reb). Taft, Zeigler, Thomas and Bridges with 10. jeanpeirre gets 8 off the bench

at Long Beach State: 102-68. 58% FG%. 13 of 22 FT (59%). Desilos 20 pts and 5 reb. Thomas 19, Boythe 15, Bridges 12, Ziegler 11


Coach Corner:
good start to the season at 5-1. Desilos is an exciting player to watch and he just makes it happen. Hard to believe he's just a freshman at times. He gets in the lane and shoots, more often than not he gets fouled. At 6'10, he's bigger than most other Small Forwards he faces, so they have no option but to foul him. Our FT shooting is improving from that first game, but fell off again at Long Beach State. The crowd really got to our guys. That's good experience though for all the young guys and should help prepare them for the tough road games in the conference. It was a real thrill going back to WIU and honoring Ali. He rose to the challenge and had the game of his career against us - I'd expect no less. We're pleased to escape there with a "W". We have some more tough road games ahead with trips to NIU, Oregon State, and San Diego. But the big home game on the horizon is Niagra.

I hope to have great news at my next update on recruiting as the early signing period is upon us. Several players have moved us up the list. WE fully expect to sign Noel, and there is an outside shot at getting one more player early. That would leave us only 1 scholarship for this year (and lots of time to invest on Jr's for next year's class... the cycle never ends).

[skarface2k1]

Before we get to a recap of our first few games, I want to thank Coach Sanders for his insights and advice. My defensive whiz Asst, Coach Phaler is a student of the game and implemented the 1-3-1 last year during conference play. We studied old films of Coach Ray Mears and how his teams would shut down the other team's star players (holding Pistol Pete Maravich to a mere 12 pts). Coach Phaler has been working on some Box and 1 as well for this year since we face a few teams with a superstar outside shooter who might need that extra attention without giving up the inside altogether. (we will be breaking out some film of Jimmy B and also Coach Sanders wisconsin team to see what new wrinkles we can learn from their defensive sets).


TCU at Austin Peay - tough scrappy game. The Desilos era is ushered in as he scored the first 11 pts of the game! Finished with 24 and 6 rebs.
Ziegler (14) Thomas (13), and Kampman (10). Unheralded frosh Bridges adds 8 and 5 rebs. Zeigler 8 and Thomas (6) scrape the boards. Boythe a horrible 1 of 10 shooting (layups!)
52% FG's and 11 of 20 FT's (55%). We'll take the win, but we need a lot of work on FT shooting next week!!

vs San Francisco: looked like the DONS would blow me out early opening a 10-2, and 21-9…but the 2nd team had some fire about them, then my FROSH came alive:
Desilos ends with 31 pts and 7 steals! Bridges 17 pts and 7 rebounds! Kampman and Thomas 12pts each. Taft with 10. Final score 103-64. 56% FG, 12 of 19 FT (63%)
Ziegler out 10 days with dislocated finger. Christian scored 20 for San Fran (6.10 PF). Rebounds even 27 each

at WIU: ALI day, everyone wore cameroon colors to the game. Close game, WIU took the led late, but we battled and regained the lead and eked out the win.
Boythe, Desilos, and Kampman all with 17 pts. Desilos 6 rebounds. Ali scored 23 for WIU. 54% FG and 15 0f 22 FT (68%)

at #2 Washington: huge underdogs is an understatement. Washington outrebounds 42-16 (37 bench to my 16!! Usually a strength of mine) lose 81-97
Desilos scores 20. Boythe and Kampman 18 and frosh Thomas adds 14, Bridges 9. Huskies blocked 8 shots!!! And altered many more, as we missed dozens of easy layups
shot 44% (compared to their 65%). We were 11 of 15 FT (73%) while they hit 14 of 18 (78%). All in all, a game to forget, but a learning experience for all the kids on the team.

vs UC Riverside - just what the doctor ordererd to repair some damaged confidences 101-59. early struggles due to missed lay-ups but shoot 55% and 13 of 14 FT (93%) - 38 fast breaks
Desilos with 22 pts (5 reb and 7 steals). Kampman 17 (5 reb). Taft, Zeigler, Thomas and Bridges with 10. jeanpeirre gets 8 off the bench

at Long Beach State: 102-68. 58% FG%. 13 of 22 FT (59%). Desilos 20 pts and 5 reb. Thomas 19, Boythe 15, Bridges 12, Ziegler 11


Coach Corner:
good start to the season at 5-1. Desilos is an exciting player to watch and he just makes it happen. Hard to believe he's just a freshman at times. He gets in the lane and shoots, more often than not he gets fouled. At 6'10, he's bigger than most other Small Forwards he faces, so they have no option but to foul him. Our FT shooting is improving from that first game, but fell off again at Long Beach State. The crowd really got to our guys. That's good experience though for all the young guys and should help prepare them for the tough road games in the conference. It was a real thrill going back to WIU and honoring Ali. He rose to the challenge and had the game of his career against us - I'd expect no less. We're pleased to escape there with a "W". We have some more tough road games ahead with trips to NIU, Oregon State, and San Diego. But the big home game on the horizon is Niagra.

I hope to have great news at my next update on recruiting as the early signing period is upon us. Several players have moved us up the list. WE fully expect to sign Noel, and there is an outside shot at getting one more player early. That would leave us only 1 scholarship for this year (and lots of time to invest on Jr's for next year's class... the cycle never ends).


Vol21,you know i read your post everyday to see what you had done.I to take your advice and put into our game plan.Two great coaches sharing ideas.hey,we both enjoyed WIU.Good luck with the rest of your year.I have posted my new schule and the recruits i am currently going after.Check my post.Tell your kids to keep up the defense and the hard work.

[vols21]

BOBBY JOE BRIDGEWATER!!!!!!!!

that's right, repeat after me, Bobby Joe Bridgewater!!! You're going to hear that name a lot around these parts over the next few years. The #2 center in the nation (and #35) overall wanted to play at Oklahoma or Texas, but the coaching staff here at TCU invited him to visit the campus and he was impressed with what we have going on here. He did not even hesitate when we offered him a scholarship and now this 7'0 235 lb man mountain is a Horned Frog!!!! Bobby Joe Bridgewater -- is there a better Texas sounding name out there? Is there anyplace else he could play? (almost like Jim Bob Cooter, the back-up QB at Tennessee). He is A+ offense and A+ rebounding (with more a's and b's) so that will help eliminate my rebounding deficit that I usually have.


as expected, we also sign home town hero J J Noel, the 5 * SF. He's the #10 SF and #36 overall. This is the basis for another top 20 recruiting class - a trend we need to continue if we want to be a top 20 power year in and year out.

We have one scholarship left, and we are focusing strictly on the top shooters and SG's across the country. we lost on out on Center Hooks to Iowa (he was #13 and we got #2 so who cares!) hated to lose SG Buggs to MSST. There are plenty of fish in the sea. We have some inroads into AZ and Cali where several top shooting guards play and we hope to snag on of them.
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two games this week
at NIU

the Huskies of Northern Ill. looked like the huskies of Washington early on jumping to a 10-2 lead. My bench depth finally wears them down and we win 80-67.
56% FG, 7 of 11 FT (64%). Armstrong and Grkovic pace NIU with 17 pts. Desilos hits 26 and 6 reb for TCU. Boythe (14), Thomas (13), Bridges (10). Kampman early fouls only gets 4.

vs #23 Californiia: we were able to run early and often and extended a big lead despite poor shooting. Win 90-64 (shoot 47% FG and 85% FT 11/13). We win rebounds 33-31!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Desilos 18 pts (30% FG but 8/8 FT). Boythe 16. Bridges and Thomas 12 each. Thomas (7) and Zeigler (8) rule the boards


Coach's Corner:
I'm not happy at the way we start our games, but at least we finished strong. We can't continue to dig these big holes....in my opinion... Against good teams we might not be able to climb out of them every time. We have rival Niagra next, and by golly we are going to work extra hard at coming out of the gate strong. They are ranked #11 and we cannot afford to get behind early against them. They'll just throw dirt on us and bury us alive if we do that. Fans, I want to encourage you to get here early next week for the game. We feed off your enthusiasm and we'll need all the help we can get against the Purple Eagles.

[skarface2k1]

BOBBY JOE BRIDGEWATER!!!!!!!!

that's right, repeat after me, Bobby Joe Bridgewater!!! You're going to hear that name a lot around these parts over the next few years. The #2 center in the nation (and #35) overall wanted to play at Oklahoma or Texas, but the coaching staff here at TCU invited him to visit the campus and he was impressed with what we have going on here. He did not even hesitate when we offered him a scholarship and now this 7'0 235 lb man mountain is a Horned Frog!!!! Bobby Joe Bridgewater -- is there a better Texas sounding name out there? Is there anyplace else he could play? (almost like Jim Bob Cooter, the back-up QB at Tennessee). He is A+ offense and A+ rebounding (with more a's and b's) so that will help eliminate my rebounding deficit that I usually have.


as expected, we also sign home town hero J J Noel, the 5 * SF. He's the #10 SF and #36 overall. This is the basis for another top 20 recruiting class - a trend we need to continue if we want to be a top 20 power year in and year out.

We have one scholarship left, and we are focusing strictly on the top shooters and SG's across the country. we lost on out on Center Hooks to Iowa (he was #13 and we got #2 so who cares!) hated to lose SG Buggs to MSST. There are plenty of fish in the sea. We have some inroads into AZ and Cali where several top shooting guards play and we hope to snag on of them.
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two games this week
at NIU

the Huskies of Northern Ill. looked like the huskies of Washington early on jumping to a 10-2 lead. My bench depth finally wears them down and we win 80-67.
56% FG, 7 of 11 FT (64%). Armstrong and Grkovic pace NIU with 17 pts. Desilos hits 26 and 6 reb for TCU. Boythe (14), Thomas (13), Bridges (10). Kampman early fouls only gets 4.

vs #23 Californiia: we were able to run early and often and extended a big lead despite poor shooting. Win 90-64 (shoot 47% FG and 85% FT 11/13). We win rebounds 33-31!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Desilos 18 pts (30% FG but 8/8 FT). Boythe 16. Bridges and Thomas 12 each. Thomas (7) and Zeigler (8) rule the boards


Coach's Corner:
I'm not happy at the way we start our games, but at least we finished strong. We can't continue to dig these big holes....in my opinion... Against good teams we might not be able to climb out of them every time. We have rival Niagra next, and by golly we are going to work extra hard at coming out of the gate strong. They are ranked #11 and we cannot afford to get behind early against them. They'll just throw dirt on us and bury us alive if we do that. Fans, I want to encourage you to get here early next week for the game. We feed off your enthusiasm and we'll need all the help we can get against the Purple Eagles.


Vols21 congrads on the early signing you have gotten(#2 center and #10 SF) that is good.Keep up the good work on recruiting.

[vols21]

the greatest non-conference rivalry going today? Maybe, but Coach Dean insists his team approaches it like any other game (yeah, right!!). The focus in practice this week is getting out of the gate better and not digging such a big hole to climb out of.

The rabid crowd showed up early, as urged by Coach Dean in pre-game pep rallies "I bought pizza for the students who stood in line. They may not have a cool name like the Rocky Top Rowdies, but they came out in force for this team tonite!"


Niagra wins the opening tip and scores the first bucket of the game. Then 28 straight points by one team! "It's the greatest run any of my teams have ever had" quoted Coach Dean after the game. I'm so proud of the way we played tonight." The crowd really got under the skin of the Niagra players and rattled them. TCU was up 52-21 at the half led by Big D's 19 pts. (Desilos would finish with 24). The game got a little sloppy in the 2nd half since it was played mostly by the scrubs. The Horned Frogs prevail over the Purple Eagles 83-59. (McKnight was the only TCU player not to score).

The Niagra coach exclaimed as he left the floor that there is no way they would play us next year.

[Superjames1992]

Vols21, Congratulation on the big win versus Niagra. I had this feeling you would blow them right out of the building. Looks like you're building quite a program up at TCU. This could be a great year for the program! Good luck!:)

[vols21]

thanks Superjames!

Unfortunately, we are not as lucky or as prepared in our next game. Call it a letdown from the high of winning against such a rival:


TCU at San Diego:
lose 79-86! Kampman led all scorers with 26 while Desilos was "held" to only 16. Hubbard handed out 11 assists. Gray and Christopher led San Diego to the win with 22 pts each.


TCU at Oregon State:
slowdown game and TCU pulls out an upset 59-50. Kampman 17, Desilos 13pts. Hubbard and Zeigler had 8 rebounds each. We executed an old school Ray Mears strategy to slow the game down and it worked as we took the lead late and held on for the win.


TCU vs Lehigh -
95-57 shooting 62% FG and 11/21 FT (52%) (0/3 from 3pt). Desilos 27 pts. Kampman 17 and 6 reb. Moody and Bridges with 13 each. Zeigler pulled quad, out 11 days.

this was the last game before conference play begins. I will post the mid-season stats

[skarface2k1]

Yeah Vol21 i am just getting finish with Non-coference games as well.So,that means i will be simming all the rest of the games.I hope the team paid attention to how i ran them when i played the games.Then i will start the BIG ten tounrament this weekend.I will post the conference results on my post monday.Check them out.You are doing a great job.I cann't wait to you get to the NCAA's.to see how you fair.

[vols21]

here are the mid-season stats. first headers should be year, position, and rating


name PPG RBG APG FG% FT % notes
FR / SF 75 J.P. Desilos 20.6 4.4 1.5 54.5 68.00% 3.6 steals per game leads nation (top freshman scorer so far)
Jr / PF 73 Mick Kampman 13.2 4.3 0.8 56.3 68.1
FR / PF 67 Herb Thomas 10.8 4.5 1 65.4 66.6
SR / SG 72 Elliah Boythe 10.6 1.8 1.4 44.7 57.8 47% 3 pt (17 of 36)\
FR / PF 64 Rene Bridges 8.2 2.4 0.4 57.6 58.6
SO / SF 67 Elliot Moody 5.3 2.4 1.1 48.3 50.00%
Sr / C 66 Kylie Zeigler 4.6 3.5 0.3 53.8 57.1
So / PG 73 Gerrod Hubbard 4.5 1.5 3.4 35.3 73.3 4th in nation for steals
FR / PG 68 D.C. Taft 4.3 1.5 1.6 40.9 40
So / sg 61 C. Jeanpierre 2.6 1 0.6 58.3 25



Kampman's production is down a little with the addition of 3 freshmen in top 5 scorers. Hubbard pts cut in half, Boythe up a little. Kampman's playing time is down a little bit as his stamina isn't what it used to be since his growth spurt. Desilos has been a scoring machine. He is top scorer in the MWC and #3 in the country!!
roughly 16 pts graduated with Sr's and replaced with 38 pts by new guys (42 if you add Taft). Only 2 conf. teams ranked this year (col st at 10-3 could be soon) utah is 16th

[vols21]

Conference play starts with UNLV running into town. I was able to stay with their runs this time around and blew them out 108-66
we attempted the same # of shots, I hit 2 more. The big difference was they had NO FT's and I was 30 of 35 (85%!!). Was at 90% until 3 misses late.
they had 17 offensive boards to my 4. 47-22 overall rebound deficit
Desios 24 pts (10 of 11 FT). Thomas (17), Bridges (13), Boythe (12), Hubbard, Kampman, and Taft all with 11 (6 players with 4+ steals). Coach Dean said the stat he was most pleased is the FT's. "Finally, we played solid defense without fouling them. On the other side, Desilos led the way in drawing fouls and delivered at the charity stripe. If we can continue to play like this, we can win a lot of ball games"


at BYU is next: 93-65 56% FG and 9/10 FT (90%). Desilos 24 pts,3reb; Kampman (15 & 6), Thomas (10 & 5), Boythe (10), Moody (10) Bridges (10 & 8) are my double digit point guys. Another solid game against a very tough conference opponent.
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In recruiting news:

5 star list of JRs
We are slowly moving up the list of JR sharpshooter Damon Cleveland of Austin. We are 73% and now #5 (passed TTU). Still Tex, LSU, OK, and OK st in front. He is the top rated Jr from the state of Texas and will likely be "MR Texas Basketball" next year.
Jr Center Ferguson from Ill is #13 at 72%

Alec Turiaf 86% and we are#18 on his list (He's the SG from my new hometown of Springfield MO, so he's high on my target list for personal reasons). Darien Berry from Phoenix AZ is 81% interested and Garrett 80% and #9 (he's from florida).

On 4 star Jr targets Ike is 85% #6 on his list. Holland 79% also #6. Sikes (NY) is #10 at78%.
Holden,a 7ft center, we are #6 behind Tex, Ok, LSU, Ark, Ok St (91%).


as for top prospects this year (I have one slot left):

we are in hunt for 2 SG's for this year: 4 * Tucker from Ill (95% and #1). 5* Bachman (CA) 91% and #3 behind USC and UCLA
5 * Sullivan 91% we are #3 behind OhSt and GU (he's from canada and an outside shot for us.

As you can tell from some of the states listed, that we trying to branch out this year and bring in some talent from around the country. I tend to secure 2 players from Texas and one from another state. The group of in-state Jr's don't look to have the same potential as those in years past which we hope is not going to become a new trend. We count on the great state of Texas to provide the bedrock of this team - with players like Kampman, Hubbard, Desilos, Thomas, Moody, and others. Next year we have the addition of Bobby Joe Bridgewater (gotta just luv that name, haha). BUT this team also has guys like Taft who came to us from Minnesota and we need those kind of players too if we want to compete on a national level. We can't just field a Texas All-Star team and expect to go against the elite teams out there. I don't worry so much about 5 star vs 4 star - I want a guy who can fit in with this program. We scout the players and find those who have attributes we need and want (if there is a 3 or 4 star center who is A+ at rebounding but C- on scoring, that is fine because I have other guys who can score for me....I need that rebounding underneath. Likewise a guard who is A+ shooter will move to the top of my list of a more well-rounded and higher rated guy at this stage. I can insert the shooter in the line-up for some offensive pop when we need it, then bring back in my starter who would be better all around.

[Out of the Fire]

Great start to conference play and nice team stats. I like how everyone contributes with the scoring. Depth separates the good from the great, and it looks like this team is headed for big things.

[chestnutz6]

great job recrutinman. just know that I'm back so I'll be updating =D. Question: how do you do the code thing? I know how you get the code up, but I don't know how you make it all even like you have above. Thanks.

[vols21]

I type the info into Excel first, then copy and paste it here. highlight it and hit the # sign (to "code" it). I just find that easier than trying to space it out on here.

[vols21]

TCU vs Col. St.
We trailed the entire game. Was down 8 with 4 minutes to go, and the rams wilted under the pressure. Tie game going back and forth a couple minutes, then
with a minute to go, I get the lead and they have to start fouling. Boythe comes thru at the line (he did miss his first, but who else but Desilos rebounds and jams back. 81-75 final.
Desilos 23, 4reb, 3 steals. Thomas 16 / 8. Bridges double double! 10 pts and 10 rebs plus 7 steals!

TCU vs Air Force -- thought this would be a close game, as we started lethargic. But BOOM, 20-0 run and it was all but over as the Frosh fired on all cylanders. 91-49 final
51% FG, 13 of 20 FT (65%). Tied 16 assists, tied 35 rebounds, but 18-6 fast breaks and even 12-10 2nd chance pts (something we worked on all week) paid off.
Desilos 22 pts (4 reb). Bridges another Double Double (15 and 10 + 4 asst and 2 steals). Thomas 17 pts and 6 reb. Boythe 10, Kampy 8 pt, 6 reb. Hubbard/Moody 3 assts each.

TCU At Utah:
the team we could not beat last year with Bolton in the middle for them. This year they have Grove, another giant in the middle and leading scorer.
Desilos and Kampman clamped down on him, rested by Bridges and Thomas. Their smothering defense held the leading scorer to just 2 pts (on a put back early in game).
Desilos roared with 26 pts and 6 reb., Kampman with 18 and 6. Boythe 12 and 6. Bridges 5 pt and 6 reb. (4 guys with 6 reb each). Boythe also 5 asst.
WE played a slower paced, more methodical game and as a result the starters stayed fresher (most going 22-24 minutes instead of the usual 16-18).
Freshman Cox led the Utes with 15 (6'8 SF) and Stys with 10 (6/3 F PG). Grove did pull in 9 rebounds in a losing effort, but 2 pts in 25 minutes.
we shoot 47% vs 43%, 6/9 FT (67%) vs 7/10 (70%). Rebounds 32-38, so very close against their big guys (some late misses and 2nd chances for them gave them the edge).
only 16 steals, but 16 fast breaks vs 6 steals and 4 FB pts for them. Utes bench outscored mine 6-23 (usually I play more subs and a faster game).

San Diego State is also undefeated in league play. We have them next week in a what is shaping up as a big game

[vols21]

at Wyoming - built a big lead, but the lowly Cowboys roared back with 2 runs. Came down to a 2pt game and FT's - Taft and Hubbard sunk them. Win 84-78
shot 65% in first half, 33% in 2nd when they got rabid (49% for the game). Desilos a quiet 22pts (3 fouls had him benched). Kampman (15), Bridge and Taft (10 each). Kamp 6 reb. Thomas 5
Mullins and Rivera have career games with 20 pts each (way over their 8 pt avg). We shot 17 of 20 FT (85%). Free throws are why we win these days.

vs San Diego St: Kampman and Desilos score 15 each in losing effort: 56-64. Kampman also 12 rebounds. Lot of fouls, and players seemed out of their game. Kudos to SD defense. This win leaves them alone as sole undefeated team in Mt. West. We drop one game back 6-1. Sd is 7-0 (13-5 overall; with 25 RPI, they are only other "sure" shot at NCAA since Utah imploded)

At New Mexico: 85-56. Boythe dislocates finger and Zeigler gets 3 fouls early. Desilos takes over and wins almost single-handedly 36 pts, 5 rebs and 4 steals.
Moody has double-double getting 15 pts and 10 rebs. Hubbard and Kampman 11 pts each (Kamp also 7 rebs.) Taft 15 minutes but did not score. 49% FG, 10/14 (71% FT).

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RECRUITING UPDATE:

recrruiting news: Winter, the French A+ sharpshooting Jr SG, now has us #3 at 73% (behind Miami and UGA). Sikes up to 80% and #9 on list. Holland has us #4.

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TOP 25 spotlight:
Syracuse is ranked #1. In fact, the Big East has the top three slots!!

Atlantic 10 is big surprise with St Louis (17-4) and Rhode Island (18-4) ranked #8 and #9. Temple #15, and St. Joe/ LaSalle at 24/25.

[l0rdza0n]

TOP 25 spotlight:
Syracuse is ranked #1. In fact, the Big East has the top three slots!!

Atlantic 10 is big surprise with St Louis (17-4) and Rhode Island (18-4) ranked #8 and #9. Temple #15, and St. Joe/ LaSalle at 24/25.

yea, I think in everyone's legacies, the strength of the BIG EAST is frightening :X in my current Legacy I think I have 7 spots in the top 25 all from the big east, and they're consistently ranked up there every year..

anyhows yea, anyone thinking to jump to a Power Conference, or worse.. a team in the "East" :X gotta bring it cuz it's fierce competition

[chestnutz6]

that's right syracuse number 1 =D

[vols21]

Defeat Utah 76-66 with Kampman and Desilos get 17 each.

Defeat Col. St. 56-47 with kampan getting 15. Boythe tried to play thru the injury and his avg has now dropped below 10.

Defeat Wyoming 92-63: Desilos 26 pts (4 R and 4 steals). Kampman 17 pts, 5 r, 3 A, and 6 steals. Thomas 13, Zeigler 10. everyone played and everyone scored

Defeat UNLV 80-70. Kampman 22 pts Hubbard 14, Zeigler 11, Boythe 10. Desilos held to 5 pts. Kamp and Zeig get 7 rebs each

Coach's Corner:
Team rebounds from first loss with 4 good wins. Desilos showing his youth as he struggles in a couple of these games. The other teams are starting to focus their attention on him with double teams. This has freed up Kampman who's playing his best right now. The more teams concert their efforts on Frosh superstar Desilos, the more other players on the team are left open and they have delivered. We are playing more like a team right now, and they will help us as we head toward tourney time.

[skarface2k1]

yeah it sounds like your team is starting to play great basketball.They are playing together and winning games.that's all that matters.

[vols21]

LOST at Air Force. Desilos almost back to form gets 16. Thomas only back-up gets 12. no one else in double digits. (49-64)

vs BYU: fired on all cylanders 99-61 on 50% shooting (even 7 of 14 3pters), 16 of 22 FT (73%). Held their leading scorer to 6 pts, but freshmen Robertson fires in 16 and Spaulding 15
Boythe leads all scorers with 25. Desilos 21, Kampman 18 and 10 rebs. Thomas played with hamstring pull and got 8pts. Zeigler 7 pts and 8 rebs.

San Diego St is playing for their post season hopes - and they destroys the Frogs 68-49., Kampman 22 pts is the only player to show up for TCU.

New Mexico - 77-64. just could never put the the pesky lobos away. They kept cutting it back to a single digit lead
Desilos 25 pts and 6 rebs. Boythe 16, Kampman 12 (and 7 reb), Thomas 12 pts. We shot 38% from FG, but 14/18 (78% FT). NM shot 50%!!

2-2 stretch. Not good momentum heading into the tournament. We tied SD State for the league lead and just like last year, we earn a first round bye (not sure why since they beat us twice!! We draw BYU for our opener.......a team we just finished blowing out. Let's hope we dont take them for granted.

[chestnutz6]

what's yo record? post that more

[skarface2k1]

LOST at Air Force. Desilos almost back to form gets 16. Thomas only back-up gets 12. no one else in double digits. (49-64)

vs BYU: fired on all cylanders 99-61 on 50% shooting (even 7 of 14 3pters), 16 of 22 FT (73%). Held their leading scorer to 6 pts, but freshmen Robertson fires in 16 and Spaulding 15
Boythe leads all scorers with 25. Desilos 21, Kampman 18 and 10 rebs. Thomas played with hamstring pull and got 8pts. Zeigler 7 pts and 8 rebs.

San Diego St is playing for their post season hopes - and they destroys the Frogs 68-49., Kampman 22 pts is the only player to show up for TCU.

New Mexico - 77-64. just could never put the the pesky lobos away. They kept cutting it back to a single digit lead
Desilos 25 pts and 6 rebs. Boythe 16, Kampman 12 (and 7 reb), Thomas 12 pts. We shot 38% from FG, but 14/18 (78% FT). NM shot 50%!!

2-2 stretch. Not good momentum heading into the tournament. We tied SD State for the league lead and just like last year, we earn a first round bye (not sure why since they beat us twice!! We draw BYU for our opener.......a team we just finished blowing out. Let's hope we dont take them for granted.



First vol21 what are the final conference standing? and good luck in the conference tounranment.

[vols21]

POST GAME: Coach Dean was visibly upset. "I'm getting sick and tired of this. Our team may be young, but that's no excuse for walking in thinking you're going to win easily. No reason for not being hungry to win it all."
what caused that response......?

For the 2nd year in a row, the top seed TCU falls in the first game.

BYU wins 72-69.
Desilos scored 16, Kampman 14, Boythe 13, Hubbard 10. Zeigler pulled in 10 rebounds.
The team played good enough to win and had a balanced scoring attack. But they just didn't step up when it counted most. They let down on defense and let BYU hit a 3 at the buzzer.

in other games,
Colorado State embarrassed pre-season fave Utah 73-43!! The rams went on to defeat UNLV in the finals and for the 2nd year in a row, they run the table. At 20-12, they are the automatic NCAA rep for the conference. TCU, San Diego State, and possibly Air Force await their fate. At 24-6 (9-3 in MWC league play), TCU expects an at-large bid.


2 years in the Mountain West Conference, Coach Dean's overall conference records:
2-2 vs Utah, 2-2 vs Air Force, 4-1 vs Col. State; 2-2 vs San Diego State; 4-1 vs BYU
*(4-0 vs all other teams). Note: Air Force has won a game both years, while Utah and SD State swept a series in one year and we swept the other year.

[vols21]

The top 4 seeds are:
Syracuse (ranked #1 - big surprise, right? haha)
Washington! the team that creamed me earlier this year
West Virginia -- now that is a good surprise
Michigan State -- the top seed last year was upset by Sam Houston St in first round, how will they do this year?


MWC teams:
San Diego State #7 seed. draws Hawaii

Air Force #11 seeds vs Tennessee (winner gets UCLA)

Col. State #11 seed vs Oklahoma State

TCU #3 seed vs San Diego (winner gets LSU-Fairfield winner)

MWC gets 4 teams, mostly lowered seeded so not a lot of respect for the conference this year. Well, my thoughts on that is you have to earn respect. Win some games for a change and maybe next year the conference will get some higher seeds.
On the other hand, 4 teams is more than the power conference SEC got (only 3)
Big East and Big 12 topped out with 7 teams each. And the surprising Atlantic 10 brings 6 teams to the Big Dance.

Now here's my sob story on our draw:
first, we get a rematch against San Diego. We are 0-3 against teams from SD this year. And we play the game in Spokane Washington -- we are 0-2 when playing in Washington.

If our team plays like they did in the MWC tourney, we will go home early. I am stressing that point daily. We're watching game films of the first loss to San Diego. We played them close, and it was the game following our emotional victory over Niagra - but I will not allow the team to think of excuses. We lost - and we have to play our best game or we'll lose again. My promise to the fans of TCU is that this team will come out prepared and hungry. We are practicing and preparing like we are the underdogs. If and when we win, we'll starting thinking about the next opponent. One game at a time (although the coach inside of me has taken a sneak peek at our possible later round opponents....teams like #2 Ohio State and #1 Michigan State. I am undefeated against the Big 10 in my short coaching career - while that gives me confidence, it could give them extra motivation.... if if ever comes to that. My personal goal is to get past the Sweet 16. That will take a lot of effort from the team and some luck along the way.

[knox33]

Got your work cut out for you during this post season. Hopefully, you'll get past San Diego, but it'll be tough up against OSU and MSU. Good luck!

[vols21]

FIRST ROUND NCAA - from Spokane Washington

#3 TCU vs San Diego

It is a close game at the outset -- San Diego takes a small lead in the nip and tuck game. At the first time-out, I challenged the players......"Do you want to lose in the first round again? Are you going to let this team hang around and beat you again? If you don't want that, then you better step up and start playing our brand of basketball. Don't let them dictate the flow of the game like last time, let's start taking it to them".

and take it to them, we did. Kampman explodes for 22 pts and 10 rebounds. Desilos added 19 pts (5 rebs, 3 assists, and 2 steals) as TCU rolls to a 101-56 blow-out. We shot 58% FG's but only 8/13 (61%) from FT line. It's our first win vs a San Diego team this year.

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every other MWC team lost in the first round.
No Cinderella stories this year as the top seeds dominated as expected.
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#6 LSU defeats Fairfield easily and will be our 2nd round opponent.

[chestnutz6]

good first round win. we're both in similar parts in the year (I'm just startin' my tourney)

[vols21]

#3 TCU vs #6 LSU - from Spokane Washington

Kampman sprains his angle in the opening minute, but comes back to be the hero.
trailing by 2 pts with time running out, Kampman scores and is fouled - "and 1" gives us a one pt lead with 5 seconds and the Bayou Bengals are not able to get off a good shot.

TCU wins 84-83!
Walls lit up the 3 ball for LSU to lead all scorers with 22 pts. Burnett had a double-double.

Desilos led TCU with 21 pts/ Kampman wrapped up his ankle and contributed 16 pts, including the old fashioned 3 pt play that won the game for us. We shot 52% FG (only 3 of 5 FT as LSU played disciplined defense and was able to match up with Desilos and others without fouling).

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We move on to San Jose where we face Ohio State in the sweet 16 game. I've faced them before and have a little confidence even though they are an elite team. However, we are worried about Kampman's injury. WE sure need him against the Buckeyes or they will kill us on the boards. The scouting report that coach O'Brien put together shows the Buckeyes are not a high scoring team and have some offensive struggles. We still have to find a way to score though against their smothering "anaconda defense"

#5 St. Johns takes on #1 Michigan State in the other regional semi-final.

[vols21]

#3 TCU vs #2 Ohio State
HP Pavillion Center - San Jose CA

Kampman is not 100% (sprained ankle) and Ohio State dominates early. I cannot find a good combination on the floor and the fouls mount up (2 fouls on every starter!!). The offensive woes of Ohio State is well documented, and that allows me to stay close despite our problems. A Boythe 3 pointer ties the game at the half (33-33).

2nd half action sees TCU edge out to a 4 pt lead, but Ohio State quickly regains the lead. This trend continued until the 3 minute mark when we finally held the lead and expanded it to 6. At that point we started playing the clock and I rested my best FT shooters. Ohio State went totally cold in the last 2 minutes and could not buy a bucket and we pull off the upset . TCU 67-62.


key stats of the game: we shot 38.5% FG (Ohio State shot 38.1%) in a defensive struggle.
With Kampman's ankle sprain, they dominated the boards 27-47 (offensive rebounds were 2-14 in their favor). Despite the early foul trouble, we turned the tables on them and got to the charity stripe more often - and hit them all!!! 15 of 15 FT (they were 10-12). WE also hit 2 more three pointers (that makes up the 5 pt win).
Desilos led all scorers with 14 pts. It was a well-rounded scoring attack by our team as Thomas had 13, Kampman 10. Ziegler grabbed 9 rebounds (but no pts). We had 7 turnovers but forced 22 from them (that defense saved the day).
Kent and Massie had 12 pts each for Buckeyes. 6'11 Massie and Blanchard had 10 rebounds each.

This was a draining game. Not sure how much we have left. We accomplished our stated goals of getting past the Sweet 16 - but now we want more.


the west region had two Big 10 teams with St. Johns vs #1 Michigan State in the other bracket. St. Johns routs the Spartans 55-39, setting up #3 TCU vs #5 St Johns for the west region title.

[chestnutz6]

St. Johns ain't in the Big 10 last I checked =D

[vols21]

(St. Johns ain't in the Big 10 last I checked =D)
no - but Michigan state is


but speaking of St. Johns, they are next for TCU....

The Red Storm led by 5 at halftime. Unlikely hero in reserve Conner Jeanpierre who came off the bench to score 13. This freed up Desilos who carried the team back with 26 pts. Kampman added 16. Bridges was the top man on the glass with 6 rebounds (and 6 steals). Taft wins the dish award with 4 assists.
shot 47% vs 48%; 9 of 10 FT's. 18 assists, 31 rebs to 42. (turnovers 17 to 36 in a sloppy game). St. Johns led by McKenzie and Swoger's 15 pts each (Swoger also 15 rebs!)


Now it's on the RCA Dome in Indy for the Final Four.
What a match-up for us as #3 Texas will be our opponent. This is a game for respect as well as a shot at the national title.
the other match-up has #1 Washington vs #9 Kansas.

[chestnutz6]

"the west region had two Big 10 teams with St. Johns vs #1 Michigan State"
=D
nice win

[vols21]

#3 TCU vs #3 Texas

battle of Texas in the first final four game.
what a barn-burner of a game it was too, but The Longhorns prevail 65-76.
Bob Surratt was their star with 29 pts, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists. More importantly, he did what no one else could do this year -- he shut down Desilos who only scored 5 pts (but had 5 rebounds and 5 assists to help the cause). Kampman gave his all, scoring 25 pts and Hubbard put in 12. It just was not enough.
Ziegler grabs 9 rebounds in his final game as a Horned Frog. Boythe goes out with a disappointing 6 pts (as a team we were 3 of 15 from three point land). 16 of 23 FT's.

We out-rebound Texas 30-28, but that is little consolation.

Coach Dean is offered a 3 year contract extension afterward (along with a nice bonus). He comments that playing in the Final Four was a great experience for the young kids on our team. Good luck to Ziegler and Boythe in thier futures. We thank them for their roles in helping build a solid program at TCU. The future is bright for us and with the players we've already signed, we expect to be even better next year. Our tourney run should make my job a little easier in bringing home one more recruit - we need someone who can take Boythe's spot - someone who can shoot the 3. We think we'll be ok under the basket with Bobby Joe Bridgewater coming in. It's our outside game that worries me.

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#9 Kansas beats #1 seed Washington in the late game setting up an "All Big 12 Finals:
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Kansas 63 -- Texas 49

3rd year in a row that the team who beats us loses in their next game.
Surratt had nothing left after his performance against us -- he is held scoreless and fouls out in just 12 minutes of playing time.

Kansas is your national champs.


post season awards to follow as well as other "off season" news.

[skarface2k1]

Vol21 tough loss things will be better next year.Good run in the NCAA.

[vols21]

YEAR END AWARDS:

KANSAS wins national title

Coach of year: the KU coach in his 7th year (overall record: 369-175)
note: the coach that wins national title has always won this award.

Player of Year: Miles Rushing, Soph C (7'3) of LSU (houston native) who scored 19 ppg, 8.9 rbg, 3 bpg

MWC COY is Coach Dean 28-7 and Final Four appearance)
MWC POY is Maurice Grove of Utah (17.4 PPG, 10.3 RPG,
MWC Freshman of the year is J P Desilos of TCU!!!! 19.6 ppg, 4 rpg, 3.1 steals per game]


Coach Dean's career:
overall conf. records: 7-0 vs Big 10; 1-2 vs Pac 10; 2-2 vs Big 12; 2-0 vs SEC; 1-1 vs ACC; 1-1 vs Big East; 2-1 vs West Coast Conf.


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Coaching Carousel:

not a lot of high profile jobs on the coaching carousel this year:
marshall, Richmond, Tulane, Buffalo, Troy, Austin Peay, UT Pan American, N.Colorado, NJIT, and Savannah State
all but Marshall and Richmond had 2 -4 year contracts in hand for me. HA - thanks, but no thanks. I have a title contending team coming in next year!

it was around this time that I found out that I had a second legacy team out there (user 2) that I never did anything at all with!!! As it stands, in 4 years they were below .500 record (and had NO freshmen or Soph players - since I had never recruited for them. LOL.

However, the coach was offered the job at the College of Charleston (since Bobby Cremins jumped to the Marshall job. I can see why he left sort of, 7 seniors who will all graduate next year leaving a talent void. While I won't report on a 2nd legacy, I may drop a note or two on how we do with 7 scholarships to offer.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I also have some sad news to report:
Ast Coach Jimmy Lee Phaler has decided to step down to return to his farm and family. He has been a tremendous influence here at TCU and his presence will be sorely missed. He introduced the "Ray Mears 1-3-1" defense to our players and fans.
But life goes on - and so now I want to introduce you to our new Asst. Coach:

Darrell West. B- overall. He'll be a big help in recruiting and he's also a no-nonsense guy who will get the most of the players and ensure they follow the team rules
C- off, B- Def, C- teach, C scout, B Charisma, B+ Disc. C+ ambition

I'll sign off now with a little video honoring Coach Phaler, some highlights of the best defensive stops. (video ends with his son, my player at WIU, paying tribute to his dad).

[chestnutz6]

Ha been a while since you posted

[vols21]

yeah, had to go out of town a couple days on a business trip. Nice to be missed. :-)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I will post my recruiting success - we signed another potential superstar today!! Also my schedule for the upcoming season is going to be quite the challenge, and I will have that info finalized and posted tommorrow.

Meanwhile, here are the final season stats for TCU (along with the players' final ratings)
Notice Desilos fell below 20 pts per game for the first time all season in the final game of the year against Texas. Maybe some day, he'll get a chance for redemption and revenge.


rating name PPG RBG APG FG% FT % notes
75 J.P. Desilos 19.6 4.0 1.7 52.8 71.10% 3.1 steals per game, led nation; 1st team all MWC and All Freshman
73 Mick Kampman 14.3 5.3 0.8 55.4 75.5
67 Herb Thomas 9.9 3.9 0.7 54.6 65.4
72 Elliah Boythe 9.6 2.3 1.4 40.7 63.4 42 of 123 3pt for 34%
64 Rene Bridges 6.7 3.2 0.8 52.5 66
73 Gerrod Hubbard 5.5 1.8 3 37 70.20%
66 Kylie Zeigler 4.7 4.4 0.6 49.6 68.5
68 D.C. Taft 4.3 1.7 2.3 39.8 71.4
67 Elliot Moody 4.1 2.3 1.4 44.6 48.2
61 Connor Jeanpierre2.5 0.8 0.6 61.5 25% 66.6% 3 pts led team (4 of 6)

[vols21]

Recruiting news:

TCU announces the signing of a SG from the state of California!!
Alton Bachman decides to join the TCU Horned Frogs instead of staying local at USC or UCLA. This is quite the coup for Coach Dean. Bachman stands at 6'4 and is a 5 star recruit from Yorba Linda, CA (the home of former US President Richard Nixon, his library there is a great place to visit).

Bachman joins Bobby Joe Bridgewater and JJ Noel.

Bachman 6'4 SG
Bridgewater 7'0, 230 lb Center
Noel 6'9, 215 lb SF

off shoot reb hustle leap quick intel potential
b b a a- b- a a good Bachman
A+ b- A+ A- A- B- B+ good Bridgewater
A+ B B B+ B+ A- B+ good Noel


as a result, TCU lands the #14 overall top recruiting class.
compared to other MWC teams: UNLV #18, UTAH #33, Col. State #44, New Mexico #52.
the top 10 overall were: Duke, Michigan St, TN, Arizonia, Wisconsin, Washington, Alabama, Uconn, Texas Tech, and USC.

upcoming schedule - we have #1 Syracuse, #2 Arizona (maybe twice, they are in Alaska shoot-out too), #14 Texas Tech, #18 Stanford ahead of us.

Marquette, Duke, Miss. St, Syracuse, and West VA have the first team All-Americans. AZ's Center is on 2nd team - guess we'll get to see what he's made of soon enough

sad news of sorts, Niagra refused to schedule TCU this year. Instead we add thier confernece mate Manhatten during our new york tour.

We open at Missouri State (double duty here as we plan to scout Mr. MO, Alec Turiaf while we are there. The Springfield native is high on my target list this year (mainly since I live here, AND he can plain shoot the lights out)> then onto the west coast for games with Gonzaga, Pepperdine, and AZ.

[chestnutz6]

good luck with the tough schedule. Some great recruits, especially Bridgewater and his rebounding! Cant wait to see what their ratings turn out to be

[skarface2k1]

you seem to have everything handled.I can't want to see the numbers those in comming freshmen are going to put up.

[vols21]

Meet your 2010-11 TCU Horned Frogs:
(the last column lists some key ratings for certain players)

YEAR NAME POS rating hgt
so Desilos SF 78 6'10 87 steals
SR Hendry SG 77 6'6 72 3pt
jr Hubbard PG 76 6'1 88 def
sr Kampman PF 76 7'0 93 close shots
FR Bachman SG 74 6'5 68 3pt, 89 speed
FR BridgewaterC 73 7'0 79 blk, 85 reb
SO Thomas PF 71 6'11
SO taft PG 70 6'4 71 3pt
FR Noel SF 70 6'9
jr Moody SF 69 6'6
so Bridges PF 66 6'9
sr AtkinsonPG 64 6'0
jr Jeanp. SG 62 6'5


FR D.BoythePF
Jr Melvin SG
W-Fr Pulley PF

overall 83
offense 81
Defense 85
shooting 79
rebounds 90
coaching 83


Mick Kampman is the 7'0 Senior PF. He is expected to be our leader this year.
J.P. Desilos returns after a phenom freshman year - will he be bit by the Soph jinx, or will he excel to new heights. He was very close to Coach Phaler who recently retired.
Armond Hendry returns for another senior year since he received a medical redshirt last year after tragedy struck.
Hubbard and Taft will share point guard duties. Hubbard has been a leader on this team since his freshman year. Taft has shown moments of brilliance.
Bobby Joe Bridgewater is expected to make a huge impact early on. The center position is his for the taking. Bridges and Thomas can spell him as needed. Bachman will not start right away, but could take the spot away from Hendry who has been one of our top-rated players the last couple years (Desilos overtook him last season while Hendry was in the hospital).

[skarface2k1]

when is the first game?

[vols21]

TCU's quest for the gold starts tonight in Springfield MO.
This trip has double meaning for us as we kick off a new season AND we plan to scout high school sr Alec Turiaf - we've moved up from 10th on his list to his top 5. With this trip en force, maybe we'll really peak his interest. MO State is a top team in the Mo Valley conf. so this will be a tough challenge.


TCU wins 85-64

Kampman 16 pts 5 reb. Bridgewater debuts with 14 pts and 6 rebs. (and 2 blocks!!). Bachman also debuts 11 pts. Thomas and Bridges off bench with 10 pts and 5 rebs. Each
Desilos and Hendry were quiet with 6 pts but grab 7 rebounds. Hubbard 9 steals (win steals 33-21). Shoot 49.3% vs 46.7%. All in all a solid game in hostile territory against good team.


rebounds were tied, but we lost that battle 34-41 down the stretch (we'd miss, and they didn't or would get a tip)
With Bobby Joe, we have gotten better in this area. I hope we continue to improve.

We have a killer trip ahead with west coast powers Gonzaga and Pepperdine followed by a showdown with #2 Arizonia.

[vols21]

vs Pepperdine 107-67. big blow-out. Desilos is back 20 pts. Taft had 22 to spark the team when they were down 10 early. Lose rebounds again 27-33
Kampman, Bridgewater, Bachman with 12 each, Bridgewater 7 rebs (Bridges 5 reb, and 1 block). 52% vs 59% fg, TCU 9 of 17 3pt land and 10/11 FT.
very disappointed with the defensive effort in this game - to allow almost 60% shooting!! I'll have a little chat with new asst coach West about this since he replaced the legendary defensive guru Phaler here. He needs to get a better effort out of the kids. Holding Pepperdine to only 67 pts is good, but we expect a smothering defense and to hold the other team under 50%

vs Gonzaga: 103-75. (lose rebounds badly 28-37. 7-13 on offense. Shot 57% vs 49% (7 of 18 from 3pt land)
Bachman 21 pts - his first breakout game as a freshman. Thomas 14 and 5 reb. Desilos and Bridgewater 12 pts (3 players with 5 rebs. Nameless until they can win the board battle). The little talk with Coach West trickled down to the team who responded in kind.


We had excellent offensive explosiveness in these games, and a decent defensive effort.
Let's see if that holds up when we visit #2 Arizonia. It will take a total team effort to survive that game.

[vols21]

TCU vs #2 Arizonia

things were just going too well I guess. almost 1,100 views and almost 100 posts, a great group of freshmen players and some huge wins. AND all things are pointing toward another solid recruiting class for next year. But all good things must end - and these ended at the hands of a buzzsaw named Arizonia.

Final Score 81-88
and the game was not as close as the score indicated. We were down by 16 most of the game and made a mad dash at the end against their 2nd team. To make matters worse, Desilos breaks his finger and is a non-factor. We shot 31% to their 55.5%!
killed on boards - 33-55. We had 4 blocks, but they had SEVEN! They took away our inside game in a big way (as the shooting per centage indicates)

ok, were there any bright spots??? yes, we had more offensive rebounds 13-8.
3-point shooting was 11 of 29 (37%) gee, that was better than any other shot we could take. Taft was the star of the game scoring a career high 31 points (plus 6 steals). Bridgewater had 12 pts, 7 rebs, and 2 blocks. Kampman held to 4 pts, but had 10 rebs.

Bobby Joe Bridgewater was taken to school by the AZ All-Americans, but he grew up a lot in this game. He proved he could hold his own against the best of the best. After the game, he said he hopes we get to meet them again in the Alaska Shoot-out Finals.
Playing this type of team will help us down the road, WE learn more from the losses than from the wins in most cases. But all things considered, I'd rather not have to face the Wildcats again any time soon.

[vols21]

TCU 95 - Utah Valley State 46
five guys in double figures led by Bachman's 17 pts. Bridgewater rips down 8 rebounds and 3 blocks (to go with his 13 pts). win rebounds 37-33. FG % 54% vs 33%. Great overall effort


TCU 76 - Georgia State 56
Hendry and Kampman lead the scoring with 20 pts each. Taft 7 rebounds. Bachman follows up his stellar game 1 performance by going scoreless in this one. Win rebounds 34-29.

Desilos played sparingly in both these games to allow his broken finger time to heal.

on the other side of the bracket.... AZ beats East Carolina 58-45, and AZ destroys UC Santa Barbara 81-27!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AZ leapfrogs Syracuse and is now ranked #1 in the nation.


FINALS
TCU vs #1 AZ

we learned from the first game against AZ what we can and can't do. So in this game, we loaded up the outside shooters and gave them the green light to fire away. Lock and load - Bachman scores 15, Taft 18, Hendry 10 - we shoot 10 of 24 from beyond the arc (42%!! - 48.7% overall., AZ still shoots 55% so we didn't improve much on defense against them....where's coach Phaler when we need him). The 3-point barrage opened up the inside game for us more.
WE held a one pt lead late in the game when AZ's all-american got a steal and roared the other way...let the radio play by play guy tell the story: "BoJang gets the steal, he drives to the basket with only one man to beat....he shoots, he.....BOBBY JOE BRIDGEWATER!!!!!! ....the shot is blocked!!! TCU recovers and goes the other way....Bachman for 3.....MONEY!!!"

that play changed the momentum of the game totally (potentially trailing by 1 to taking a 4 pt lead) It was Bobby Joe's only block of the game, but it energized our players and demoralized theirs. Bojang had 16 pts and 15 rebounds at that stage, but did not score again. (they had 6 players in double figures) They started launching 3's and they clanked off the iron (1 for 8). We win blocks game 5-2
TCU wins going away 99-83. What a HUGE win over the top-ranked team in the country. Maybe they took this game for granted having beaten us so easily a week ago. On our side, we prepared extra hard for them and had a good game plan. PLUS, Desilos was back 100% for this game - he added 10 pts and was able to keep our players fresher with him back in the rotation, plus his presence on defense (blocked 2 shots).
It's early, but this team is proving they are something special.

[chestnutz6]

great win. it makes me laugh how every time you say bobby joe bridgewater you say it with such exclamation. BOBBY JOE BRIDGEWATER!

[vols21]

Ever since I signed Bobby Joe Bridgewater, I could hear the radio, tv, and PA announcers shouting his name after a big play, and in fact the home court PA guy does just that. Maybe he'll join the likes of Hipsher and Gattling, etc. as the all time great legacy players.

speaking of great players, TCU pulls a coup and signs all 3 scholarships in the early period:

Alec Turiaf: Mr MO. Off: A+, Shooting, A+, reb B-; Hustle B+; leaping B-; quickness A-; intell. A-. Potential GOOD (5* SG from Springfield MO, #23 player)
He's 6'3 197 lbs. Coach Dean comments this might be the missing piece from having an all-time great team.....a guy who can light it up from outside, which should keep teams from collapsing inside to stop Bridgewater and company.

Darian Berry: All American from Tucson AZ. Off A+; shooting B: Reb - A-; hustle A; leaping A+; quickness B+; Intelligence A-; potential GOOD (#4 PF, #26 overall).
He's 6'8 247 lbs.


Lowell Holden: 4 star center. A- offense; shooting B+; rebound b-; hustle C?; leap B-; quick A; intell B-. Potential >???. From Flower Mound Texas (#15 center, #103 overall. He'll be Bridgewater's back-up next year).
He's 7'1, 225 lbs. so we'll still have a pair of 7 footers even after Kampman graduates.

we lost Mr. Texas Cleveland to Texas. Mr AZ McLarian to AZ, and Mr CA McLaughlin to UCLA. But we signed 3 solid players including Turiaf who we stole from Texas - he was the prize we really wanted. Berry will be a great addition and help fill the void left by Kampman. His interest jumped after our games with AZ.
By locking all 3 up, we'll be able to focus on the top Jr players and try to set up a bumper crop for next year.



conference news: BYU upsets #7 Boston College to win NIT preseason (also beat Notre Dame on the way); BYU also bested Niagra 79-78 (they refused to play me this year)
New Mexico upset #23 Kansas State and is undefeated (3 other MWC teams lost to Kstate). My old team WIU upset Air Force and knocked them out of top 25.

[chestnutz6]

Don't forget Stinson =D
I $uck at recruting. you're getting 5* guys and stuff at TCU and I can't do that to save my life, even at MD

[vols21]

at my second school (C of C) I havent gotten many good recruits yet (first season there). I've just started working them hard as a JR and then they are ready to sign when they become seniors. Focus on a couple guys hard, then cast a wide net on about 8 more (depends on how much recruiting pts you have). There's usually 1-2 high rated guys who have some interest in my school and I work them hard.
You're exactly right - Stinson is another of the legacy legends

this week's games:

vs Stanford: the #20 team in the country comes for a visit and the Cardinal go home with another Loss 86-58 as the team was fired up. 1 of 12 3pt (so that luck ended) but 50% overall
Desilos leads the team with 19 pts (8 steals). Taft, Kampman, and Bridges get 11 each (7 reb.and 2 blocks by Kamp). Lose Bridgewater 9 days with bruised tailbone.



#13 TCU at #1 Syracuse -

watched film of Coach Chesonis and his Indy State tourney win over the orange.

wow. TCU wins 82-80. we had 10 pt lead, but they whittled it down and even took a 2 pt lead. I kept subbing in the fresh men (even using injured Bridgewater for short spots). Moody came off the bench to put back two offensive rebounds to give us the lead back.
defensiviely we held their star Coverdale to 8 pts (well off his 20 pt avg) and Calvert to 13 (off his 18pt avg). But guard Simon (18) Tatum (14) shot above theirs.
Desilos (17 pts) kept us alive. Taft (12), Hubbard and Thomas (10) were unlikely scoring heros. Moody was the spark off the bench late with 2 key rebounds and 9 pts. Desilos 4 blocks!!!
7 of 15 from FT line nearly killed us!!! Bridges missed TWO front end of 1 and 1's under a minute that could have sealed the win. Instead we had to watch their jumper rattle off as time expired!!
rebounds 21-35. we had more on offense (6-4) and those put backs by Moody are what put us back in the lead when all hope seemed lost. Fast breaks were 14-18, so we kept them in check.

at Manhattan: Niagra refused to play us this year (and maybe a good thing since at 8-1 they are #1 ranked Mid-Major)so Metro Atlantic mate Manhatten filled in.
it was a total let-down game coming a day after upsetting the #1 team. 58-63. Kampman 16 pt and 9 rebs. Bridges 11 /4 subbing for injured Bridgewater. Taft adds 10

two wins over a #1 ranked team -- this team is putting it together!! Have to work on FT's though!! Tough loss to Manhattan - maybe the team would have gotten fired up if we were playing Niagra. 8-2 record after a grueling early schedule gives us a #14 ranking in the latest polls (loss hurt us more than the win over #1).

[skarface2k1]

great win over the number 1 team in the land.Keep it up.

[knox33]

Way to pick it up after the 'Zona loss. Looks like your boys are gelling right now. You signed a dynamite frosh class last year and not a bad looking class this year as well. I'm looking forward to seeing more Bobby Joe Bridgewater too. Tough loss against Manhattan though.

[vols21]

thanks for the comments. I'm excited about the incoming freshmen. I'm almost worried that with another stelllar recruiting class, I may run out of playing time. Still amazing that the highest rated player on the team is the 3* guard I signed the very first year (Hubbard).

Also, special prize to Chestnutz for being Post #100 - you win season tickets to next year's games. :cool:
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Vs San Francisco: 102-47. team came out mad and ready to play (a days worth of PUKE DRILLS may have gotten their attitude adjusted.
Desilos shot 11 of 11 FG's and 25 pts. Thomas and Hendry chipped in 15 and 12 respective. Bridgewater played some late to work out the kinks and added 8. Moody 8 boards and 7 steals
17 of 24 FT's, nice to return to form. Win rebounds 37-27 (without Bobby Joe getting any)!! 24 2nd chance pts (as OR were 16-2 in my favor, DR was 21-25). 3 blocks (2 by Kamp)

vs Oregon State: 82-50. tough early, but then we exploded. Win rebounds 43-31! (18-4 on offense) Hendry leads with 15 pts and 6 rebs. Kampman 13 and 6. Bridges 12 and 8.

at Texas Tech - 80-74. Red Raiders roared back down the stretch to make it close. FT's sealed the deal (20 of 21)
Bridgewater 15 pts and 3 blocks. Desilos 14 pts, 4 rebs. Hubbard 12 pts and 6 steals

vs Colgate: 60-35. Kampman 14 pts (3 blocks), Bridgewater 10 /7reb/2 blocks. Hubbard his 2nd straight double digits with 12 and 6 rebs. Bachman adds 10.
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Coach's Corner:
Great stretch of 4 games here. A different player stepped up every night to carry us to a win. Whether it was Desilos, or Thomas, or Hendry, or Bridgwater, or Hubbard - we didn't have to rely on Kampman every night. That's what is going to make us very tough once we get into conference play. I'm pleased with the way we bounced back from the Manhattan loss. We totally man-handled a very good San Francisco team. What worries me most is that this team does not get come out to play with the same level of intensity against every team. We get up against the big teams, but we are prone to the upset. That just shows the youth we have. The team has gelled with chemistry of 91%. The MWC is stacked again this year, but I think our team can play with anyone right now.

TCU is ranked #11 in country with 12-2 record

PPG RBG APG FG% FT % Blocks PG

team 85.4 31.7 13.1 46.80% 70.40% 4 31%
conf 1st 5th 5th 1st 3rd last 4th
rank

lead nation in pts and FG % and steals
Kampman and Desilos are our leading scorers with 12 ppg. Kampman 5.4 RPG.
Taft and Bridgwater each with 10.2 ppg. Bobby Joe adds 4 rpg and 1 block.



scouting report: BYU 14-2, new Mexico 12-2, Utah 11-3, Col State 11-4.

BYU beat Boston College to win NIT preseason tipoff; and won Soda Pop Classic (over Prairie View and Jacksonville). Gave Niagra their only loss of season!
Col. State beat Gonzaga to win New Mexico classic; and beat Texas A&M and Oregon to win Las Vegas Classic
New Mexico beat UTEP, #8 NC state, and Purdue to win Puerto Rico Shootout
Utah, not a tough schedule - beat Stanford and Gonzaga but lost to #2 Georgetown, then beat Northwestern (only teams with winning records)
all of Air Force losses come to ranked team so 8-5 may be deceiving. One win over #12 UCLA
all in all, a stacked conference again this year. 5 or 6 teams (if u count UNLV) can be contenders along with us!!!!
that kind of depth in the league could work against us as everyone knocks each other off, and then no one gets an at-large bid.

[guckin1989]

Good stuff. I think i'll follow now =P

[chestnutz6]

lol YES oh boy I'll have to ask the kids to come!
and its not chesonis anymore its crayola =D
and guckin don't forget to read my legacy =P

[guckin1989]

I read the good ones. But ill check it now to see if it meets my reading standards =]

[vols21]

Good stuff. I think i'll follow now =P


welcome aboard the Horned Frog Express!!!! There's room for everyone!!


================================================== ======
Conference play:


vs UNLV: 68-57: played slowdown against the Running Rebels to keep them off their game plan. We pushed the ball inside all game:
Kampman 16 pts, Bridgewater 15, Desilos 14. Desilos and Bridgewater 2 blocks each

at Air Force: 82-78
Kampman 22 pts, Desilos 19, Bridgewater 18 (and 3 blocks early) rebounds 24-27. For AF, Blue and Walls 18 each (Glover 12) Fall with 10 rebs.

at BYU: 62-59.
Hendry 19 pts finally steps up. Desilos and Kampman 13 pts each. Bridgewater 14 rebounds, 9 pts and 1 block

vs Col. State: 101-40 blowout.
Kampman 28 pts, 7 rebs, 10 steals is player of game. Desilos adds 20 pts, 7 reb, 7 steals. Hendry & Taft 10 pts each
55% FG vs 33% (only 3 of 8 FT's). Win rebounds 35-30!! (9-1 on offense) 5 blocks to 3. We just outplayed them all over the floor. Downside is Moody's achilles tendon - out 22 days

--------------------------------------
Coach's Corner
4-0 in early league play. Some close games against quality teams.
Sr. Mick Kampman is starting to exert himself on the scoring side. He's been backed up by Taft, Hendry, and Desilos. The team put it all together against arch rival Col. State (who has won the MWC tourney 2 years in a row). It remains to be seen how the loss of Moody will affect the team. Moody is the spark off the bench - he comes in with a key rebound or shot or steal. at 16-2, we move up to #3 in the polls. From the frying pan to the fire as we have SD state, Utah, and the other top 25 MWC team, New Mexico on the horizon. the top recruiting class New Mexico brought in 2 years ago is starting to pay off for them.

[vols21]

at San Diego State 114-69. Kampman 26 pts, 9 steals. Bridgewater 22 pts 3 reb, 2 blocks. Desilos 19 pts TAFT 12 pts, 4 reb, 4 ast. 16 of 22 FT

At Utah: 114-76. Bridgewater struggles early but gets a groove and scores 22 plus 3 blocks. Desilos 17 pts and 5 rebs. Kampman 4 fouls plays less but scores 16
Hendry and Bachman score 14 each from the SG slot (lost rebounds only 33-37).

we are ranked #1 now!!!

#1 TCU (18-2) vs #19 New Mexico (15-4)

held their star Soto to 4 pts (7'0 center). Kampman roars with 25 pts, 7 reb. Bridgewater 21 pts. Desilos double double (17 pts, 10 reb. 8 steals)
108-78, (21 of 36, 58% FT's!! Ouch). Rebounds 46-41. we had 18-2 run to start. Then they caught up, but another run put us ahead for good.

#1 TCU (19-2) at Wyoming (7-13)

Kampman 13, Desilos 14, Hubbard 12. Just didn't take them serious enough. 70-76. tough loss to swallow. Puke drills to follow!!

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Coach's Corner
After winning 3 huge games against our top rivals and scoring 100 pts each time, you knew there would be a letdown. The team threw it all at New Mexico to best them and took the last plays cowboys for granted. As discussed in Coach Bailey's legacy, it is hard to go undefeated in league play even when your team is way better. We are playing well, but we are not way better than the other teams. In fact, we are even (give or take a couple pts) with most of them. We are ashamed of the way we played Wyoming, but take nothing away from their efforts. They took it to us and did what they needed to get a victory. At 19-3, we drop to #5 in the polls. We will learn from this loss and move forward. I can guarantee this team will be hungry and I just feel sorry for our next opponents because I hope we take it out on them. (for the record that will be San Diego State who is 8-12 and BYU who is lingering near the MWC cellar despite a great non-conf record)

[vols21]

#5 TCU vs San Diego St. 19-3 vs 8-12
Hendry best game of year with 20 pts and 7 rebs. Leads TCU to 80-74 win. Desilos 19, Kampman 13. Hubbard and Bridgewater 10 each

TCU at BYU: 115-80.
20-3 vs 18-7
slowed their all-conf. PF Dumbliaus to 12 pts (and 12 rebs), and frosh C Swoger to 0 pts (11 rebs). We were 22 of 35 (63%) from FT line! Geee
Bridgewater career day with 28 pts (6 of 14 FT). Desilos 26pts, Kampman 24 pts. Taft 7 assits. Bachman 9 pts and 9 steals (4 reb and 3 asts) - best day for the frosh SG


TCU vs Utah: satisfying 108-56 blow-out. 21-3 vs 15-9

Bridgewater asserts himself - 27 pts, 4 reb, 3 blocks (72% FG). Desilos 26 pts, Kampman 17 pts
Hendry 7 rebounds, Hubbard 7 assts (Taft 6). Team shoots 56% FG (vs 52%). Hold Utah star SG Jolly to 14 pts and their leading scorer Diener to 6.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COACH'S CORNER:
nice bounceback from the tough loss to Wyoming. I've been working with Desilos on the side to help improve his offensive output. He just hasn't responded well to Coach West like he did last year with Coach Phaler. The extra practice paid off as he scored 15 pts above his average the last couple games. When Bobby Joe Bridgewater shut down BYU's Swoger, he may have moved ahead of him on the freshman of the year balloting. They both have similiar stats. It was a huge confidence boost for Bobby Joe who put up some huge offensive numbers as well.

[skarface2k1]

Bobby Joe starting to pay off for your program.What is your starting five.Are any of the freshmen in the starting five?

[vols21]

good question!!
The starting 5 are:
Hubbard (JR) at PG
Hendry (SR) at SG
Desilos (SO) at SF
Kampman (SR) at PF
Bridgewater (FR) at C

Bridgewater is only freshman starting. Desilos started as a freshman last year, and Hubbard at PG the year before that, so we tend to have 1 frosh in the starting line-up every year. Bachman is getting a lot of playing time behind Hendry, who seems to still feel the effects of his season ending injury last year. Our other recruit, Noel, was redshirted this year. He is a SF and I did not feel he would get significant playing time behind Desilos and Moody (who has been injured twice, but Connor Jeanpierre as well as Hendry/Bachman have filled in to spell Desilos during those times).
It is possible that Berry (PF) or Turiaf (SG) will vie for a starting position next year.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


TCU at UNLV (10-12) : 113-77. was close early as UNLV shot 100%, but a defensive change altered their shot selection and got us on a run.
Desilos and Bridgwater score 31 pts each!! (D adds 5 rebs and 5 assts). Kampman 25 pts late (plus 4 rebs and 2 blocks). Hubbard 14 ASSISTS!! (29 for team vs 15)
defense held their leading scorer (and all-conf Center Hargett) to 6 pts, and all-conf PF Lhota to 6 (half their avg). SG Mulholland lit it up with 20 to lead the rebs
we shot 60% for game, and the crackdown man to man held them to 48% (after the fast start) --

game of day: #4 Providence routs #5 Cincy 68-49; #18 BC over #7 Duke 73-54. Providence leap frogs us in the polls (we are now #4).

TCU at Col. State (18-10): 93-91. Bridgewater scored 23, 5 reb, 1 blk to lead team. Kampman 19 pts, 5 reb, 2 block. Taft 15 pts 4 reb.. Desilos 9 pts, 8 reb, 5 asst. Hubbard 9 asst
held Ram leading scorer Blake to 4 pts (11 reb) off his 15 pt avg. (lose rebounds 32-41; 5-12 on offensive side which had been a recent strength)

TCU at Air Force (15-11) 64-41. Air Force held the ball and slowed it down a lot. Talent wins out (and we defeat AF twice for first time ever!).
Kampman 17 (6reb, 4 blocks), Bridgewater 15 pts (7 reb, 3 blocks). Desilos 15 pts (6 reb); Hendry 8 rebounds as TCU wins battle of boards 47-39.

TCU at New Mexico (20-7)
82-76, close, close game until Frogs jump late to take and hold lead. Bridgewater 21, Kampman 20 pts. Desilos 15/10 for double-double
Hubbard a surprising 8 rebounds to go with his 5 assts. League leading scorer Soto held to 8 pts while Domercant scores 14 for Lobos.
win rebound war 40-39 (despite losing it early 10-2. did on strength of off reb 13-4 with little scrappy Hubbard leading the charge)
turnovers pretty even at 17-19 and a low fouling game 8-10. Taft missed 2 FT's (had only missed one prior to the game)

TCU vs Wyoming ( -- lose 60-65. once again coming off a big win against #2, we fall flat against last place cowboys. Desilos leads with 15 pts. Kampman, Hendry, Hubbard also double digits. Bridgewater held to 6 pts and 7 rebs. We can't afford to let a team slow it down on us like this. The team gets to run Puke Drills once again for losing to the last place team. I expect them to be focused for every game, and treat each opponent with the proper respect. We can't take anyone for granted.
season ends 26-4

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MWC tourney seeds:
BYU will play Wyoming in the play in game, with the winner facing us. Just in case it is Wyoming, I'm having the players run puke drills NOW so they will remember. I am tired of losing the first round of the conf. tourney - our goal this year is to get past that opening game. Kampman is a senior who has never seen a 2nd round in the conf. tourney. I'm asking him to step up and provide that senior leadership and carry this team over the finish line.
San Diego State vs Utah
New Mexico vs UNLV
Air Force vs Col. State (the winner of the last 2 years).

[Out of the Fire]

Wyoming seems like a spur in your side. Kind of like Irvine for me.

Good luck in the MWC tourney, and maybe BYU will beat the Pokes.

[vols21]

Wyoming seems like a spur in your side. Kind of like Irvine for me.

Good luck in the MWC tourney, and maybe BYU will beat the Pokes.

No kidding., every year there seems to be one team that has my number. I was happy to finally beat Air Force twice. And you were right - BYU knocks off Wyoming. and then history is made!!!


TCU defeats BYU
116-77. Kampman scores 31 in 17 minutes (sits with big lead). Bridgewater 23, Taft 20 and 9 steals. Bridges 7 rebs. BYU finished 20-13 (maybe settle for NIT?)

I challenged Kampman to play like a senior leader and he responded in a big way. He almost single-handedly carries the Horned Frogs to their first MWC tourney win in 3 years. The way he was going, he could have scored 50 or 60 pts. But we hope to play a lot more games, so I let him rest with the big lead.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TCU vs Utah
tough battle, 77-55. Bridgewater 16 pt. Kampman 14 pts 7 rebs. Taft and Desilos 14 pts. Hubbard 6 assts.
Utes shoot 57%!!! (to my 45%) and outrebound 24-35. their 40 turnovers proved their undoing. TCU shot 50% FT (4-8) and Utah 0-0/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We have Colorado State in the finals (they upset New Mexico). The Rams have won the MWC 2 years in a row and have always played us close. This should be a good game.

[vols21]

TCU (28-14) vs Col. State (21-13) in finals. Rams have won last 2 MWC tourneys (while we have floundered in first game).

TCU wins 63-53. Bridgwater 14 pts and 12 rebs led TCU (plus 3 blocks). Hendry 11 pts. Kampman and Taft 9 pts.
CSU's Blake held to 8 pts, so Nystrom led them with 11. Rebounds tied 36-36. Good hard fought battle.

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NCAA SELECTION SUNDAY

TCU ranked #2 behind #1 Maryland (new mexico #15).

Charlotte region: TCU #1 seed
Houston: Maryland (coach Crayola must be proud)
Detroit: Kansas
Phoenix: Arizonia (who was ranked #10) - take on my old WIU (14-16, making their 3rd appearance - first without me). New Mexico gets 3 seed.

MWC only gets 2 teams this year (A-10 got 3 teams). Niagra didn’t make tourney - they faltered in their conf and fell from #1 mid-major team despite Snipes leading scoring 27 ppg.
ACC gets 7, Big 12, Big east also 7. SEC gets 5. Conf. USA only 1 team. 21-9 Hofstra falls off bubble as did the 18-10 St. Johns team we met last year.


other team of interest: the 2nd legacy I recently found out I had, College of Charleston, received a #12 seed with a 26-5 record. I simmed all their games except 3 (when players started griping about playing time, I took the reins for a game to equal it out. Gave me a good chance to see what talent they had coming back (7 srs graduating) so I'd know where to focus some recruiting efforts (humbling going back to the basics after being at TCU and having top talent wanting to play for me)


TCU will play the winner of the play-in game between Illinois State vs U C Irvine (my recent west coast trip to watch the UCI vs Cal Poly game may pay off as extra scouting on the guachos)

[chestnutz6]

Houston: Maryland (coach Crayola must be proud)
TCU ranked #2 behind #1 Maryland (new mexico #15).

Oh I am =D. Check out my new updates, I added some things and changed the format a lil (thanks to Out of the Fire)

[guckin1989]

Good luck in the dance.

[CincyFan]

three A-10 Teams. Well let me guess Xavier wasn't one of them. Good luck in the dance.

[vols21]

FROM SAN DIEGO STATE

TCU (29-4) vs Ill. State (14-18). Missouri valley tourney upset winner (they knocked off Creighton) faces MWC champ. They are 76 rated vs our 84 and led by Soph C McDonald (12 ppg). They advanced over double tough UC Irvine in the play-in game.

We play here every year and would expect to have an advantage, but did not show it in this game.

too close for comfort!!! 58-55 as Ill. State goes to the full 35 seconds almost every time. We shoot miserable 41% (out of our rhythm) but hold them to 36%
Desilos 18 pts, 8 rebs. leads team. Kampman 13 pts. Bridgewater only 3 pts (6 rebs) and key block late that seals the win.

NOTE: CofC upsets #5 seed Utah State in Phoenix. They have #4 Cal next. New Mexico won over #14 St. Peters and has #11 K-State next
In Charlotte, Gonzaga upset #3 UCLA. In Houston, #13 American U killed #4 Indiania (71-57), E.Washington over #3 Boston College. George Mason beat #11 Kentucky

Sorry, Xavier is not one of the 3 A-10 teams. It is St. Louis, Rhode Island, and LaSalle. Two of them are in my bracket:

OK State beat Lasalle in round 1, and we face them next. Winner advances to face winner of Rhode Island vs Texas in round 3.

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Round 2:

TCU (30-4) vs Oklahoma State (20-12)

95-88. went on 10-1 run to take and hold lead. Was 3 pt game until 2 minutes to go.
Kampman 26 pts (4R), Bridgewater 22 pts (4 blocks!) Bachman 17 pts was the hero with his outside shots, plus 9 steals on defense. Moody 6 rebs led team
Bradford was their star guard and we couldn't stop him. 25 pts, 6 assts, and 7 steals. Andrew (SG) added 20 pts
Ok St shot 63% for the game while we shot 40% - it was 29 of 35 FT shooting that kept us in it, they had twice as many turnovers
our second chance shots saved us many times too - 15 off rebs (vs 4 for cowboys). Overall, 32-37 (was tied until some missed shots late).
they won the fast breaks 22-12 and pts in the paint 62-60. two areas where I usually do much better. We are still not playing our best ball at a critical time.


Rhode Island of the A-10 upsets Texas and robs us of a chance for a rematch from last year with our in-state rival. We will face them in Charlotte.

[chestnutz6]

How's my team doin?

[vols21]

#4 Rhode Island vs #1 TCU

tough game - they scored first, then we scored 9. they tied it. Every time we got to 10 pt lead, they battled back. 3 pt game at the half.
a few adjustments at half, and we took over the game to win 83-57. shot 47.4% vs 44.9%, lost rebounds 26-34 (they had 2 7'4 guys!)
Desilos 16, Kampman 14, Bridgewater 14, Taft 13 for well-rounded scoring attack. Bridgewater 5 rebs and 3 blocks.
RIU shot 51% in first half, only 36% in 2nd, so the defensive adjustments paid off.




regional finals: TCU vs #7 Marquette (who beat Texas A&M, #2 Oklahoma, and Gonzaga)
Houston: #1 Maryland vs #2 Duke (Maryland beat Syracuse and Arkansas, Duke went thru Baylor and Nova)
Detroit: #2 LSU vs #3 Providence (LSU beat Georgetown who ko'ed #1 Kansas. Prov beat Alabama and G.Mason)
Phoenix: #4 Cal vs #2 Cincinatti (Cal upset #1 Az and CofC. Cincy ended New Mexico's run and also beat Michigan)


from the Southern Conference:
Cof C ends season 27-6. Haim Bro is their leading scorer with 16 ppg. (Marshall under Cremins ends up 17-12 (12-4) but in NIT when Rice wins Conf. USA tourney). I simmed the tourney games for CofC (like most of the regular season). With 7 seniors, they were the tops in their league and did well in the NCAA. Going to be interesting to see if I can rebuild their team next year.

[vols21]

TCU (32-4) vs #7 Marquette (24-10)

53-45 halftime score. Lead cut to 3 before a 17-2 run. TCU wins 105-74. 51% shooting vs 53% (rebs.28-38)
Kampman would not be denied. 31 pts 5 rebs. 10 steals (for double double). Bridgewater 16 pts, Desilos 15 pts 4 reb, 3 blocks. Little-used Pulley, 4 pts, 4 rebs.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


FINAL FOUR: TCU vs #2 Cincy. #2 Duke vs #5 LSU. These are classic match-ups (all won big in their elite 8 games)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We feel like we have the home court advantage with the Final Four being played in Texas (Houston). Our opponent is the 28-9 Cincinnati Bearcats.

Cincy played well enough to win, shooting 61% (7 of 12 from 3pt), 39 rebs to our 27. Bench and fast break pts tied. We just made the D stops when it counted. (70% in 2nd half)

A 17-5 run down the stretch put us over the top for the win.
107-92.
Desilos 20, Kampman 19 (2 blocks), Bridgewater 17, Bachman 17 (3 late treys sparked our run). Hubbard 4 asst. Thomas 6 rebs.

the bad news from the game is that Moody separated his shoulder as is done for the season. He is a spark off the bench with his hustle - always coming up with a key rebound (and often an offensive putback).



WE play Duke in the Finals as they edge by LSU. We are 0-1 all time vs Duke. This is not the same powerful Duke team we are used to seeing, but they are talented nonetheless. Time for me to formulize some strategy to help us - especially with the loss of one of our key players at such a critical time.

[chestnutz6]

Haha you can check out some of my games when I played duke =D
Damn them, Maryland should've won it

[skarface2k1]

TCU (32-4) vs #7 Marquette (24-10)

53-45 halftime score. Lead cut to 3 before a 17-2 run. TCU wins 105-74. 51% shooting vs 53% (rebs.28-38)
Kampman would not be denied. 31 pts 5 rebs. 10 steals (for double double). Bridgewater 16 pts, Desilos 15 pts 4 reb, 3 blocks. Little-used Pulley, 4 pts, 4 rebs.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


FINAL FOUR: TCU vs #2 Cincy. #2 Duke vs #5 LSU. These are classic match-ups (all won big in their elite 8 games)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We feel like we have the home court advantage with the Final Four being played in Texas (Houston). Our opponent is the 28-9 Cincinnati Bearcats.

Cincy played well enough to win, shooting 61% (7 of 12 from 3pt), 39 rebs to our 27. Bench and fast break pts tied. We just made the D stops when it counted. (70% in 2nd half)

A 17-5 run down the stretch put us over the top for the win.
107-92.
Desilos 20, Kampman 19 (2 blocks), Bridgewater 17, Bachman 17 (3 late treys sparked our run). Hubbard 4 asst. Thomas 6 rebs.

the bad news from the game is that Moody separated his shoulder as is done for the season. He is a spark off the bench with his hustle - always coming up with a key rebound (and often an offensive putback).



WE play Duke in the Finals as they edge by LSU. We are 0-1 all time vs Duke. This is not the same powerful Duke team we are used to seeing, but they are talented nonetheless. Time for me to formulize some strategy to help us - especially with the loss of one of our key players at such a critical time.


Good luck vs Duke,because i have lost to duke before in the NCAA Chamionship game.I have read your post for a long time and feel this is your year.Good luck!!!

[vols21]

TCU vs Duke

two top teams in America square off for the national title. TCU is 34-4, ranked #2 and a top seed. Duke is 27-9, ranked #5 and a 2 seed. Duke has a storied past with enough national titles to earn a "dynasty" title. TCU is the new kid on the block - each year they have gotten just a little better. Some of the legendary coaches around the country are prediciting this could be their year. Have they put enough pieces of the puzzle togehter? Was Bobby Joe Bridgewater the missing link? Can Mick Kampman will this team to just one more win as he has done over the past 4 years? The answers to these and other questions will be answered tonite:


PREGAME:
TCU is a smaller school and not a lot of money. Coach Dean pulled out all stops though in an effort to motivate his team, help them get over their jitters, and be ready at the opening tip to take on one of the greatest basketball programs ever seen (they certainly rank with UCLA under Wooden and the Tennessee Lady Vols under Summitt with the all-time greats). In past games against this type of quality, the defenses took over and scoring was tight. We need our best defensive game of the season if we expect to win. Coach Dean invited former Defensive Guru Coach Phaler back to give a pre-game prep talk (and he even helped design a few defensive plays to attack Duke. Then as an added motivational ploy, injured player Elliott Moody spoke to the troops - he told how he'd be out there in spirit....."when the ball comes off the iron, You go get it and put it back in and score for me!!"


The GAME
The team responded to this inspiration - they charged out and set the tone early. Duke turned the ball over the first 5 times they touched the ball (we only scored twice, but we were getting inside their head). We didn't use a full court press or any trap pressures, just tough zone defense (the Phaler-Mears 1-3-1 and some 1-2-2). Duke tired to lob the ball inside, and we just kept intercepting it in the paint!! Hubbard and Taft hit some early 3's and Duke could not afford to sit back in a 2-3 to smother Bridgewater and Kampman. As they came out of the zone, Hubbard dished the ball inside like he has all year and the lead grew to double digits.

Duke made a hard run at us in the 2nd half. With the lead cut to 2, Taft missed a shot - Desilos skyed high and jammed it back in - shades of Moody's big boards and he cheered louder than anyone! That rebound seemed to break the back of Duke's rally and fired our defense up. From there, it was a downhill run.......



FINAL SCORE
TCU 96 -- Duke 72

cut down the nets for the Horned Frogs.

Kampman went out in style with the MVP 27 pts, 5 rebs. 1 asst. 10 steals, and 1 blocked shot.

Our defense was so intense, Duke turned the ball over 51 times!!! No full court, just stolen lobs and passes around the paint.

Desilos had his hand in everything to help the team: 16 pts, 4 rebs. 6 asst. 4 steals, and 3 blocks
Bridgewater 16 pts, and he stopped their giants underneath who were never in the game (Paul and Neilson were 10pt below their avg for the game!!). Bobby Joe certainly did his role as the "missing link"

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POST GAME - Post Season:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

National Champs: TCU
POY: Devon Wilmont of West VA. 26.9 ppg, 7.8 rpg
COY: Coach Dean TCU. 35-4 on season. 149-30 career record
Dean wins MWC,
coach 2 wins Southern Conf. Coach of year

Mick Kampman wins MWC player of the year!!! 16.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg. 3.9 steals, 1.1 blocks
Freshman of the year? Was there any question? BOBBY JOE BRIDGEWATER!! 14.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.3 blocks

Kampman graduates with career high 1951 pts, 782 rebounds. He will be missed, but we have some players who may just break those records.
neither he nor Hendry were drafted (with 79 ratings) 2 MWC players with 88 ratings were drafted by NBA teams.

Coaching Carousel:
Maryland, UConn, Florida State, Houston, Marshall (Cremins didn't last long), Northeastern, UW-Milwaukee are top of 24 teams with openings
Maryland is the stud just like Coach Crayola found (89 overall. 90 O, 87 D, 90 Shot, 90 REB. #1 in ACC. They were ranked #1 in the country prior to the Big Dance (they were blown out by arch-rival Duke - that rivalry will only get more intense next year).

Uconn 81 rated. 82O, 82D, 84 S, 86Rebs. 4th in Big East. And the wildest part - no Sr's and no Jr's!!!!!!!!!! This team is built with youth and should be a force for years to come. These guys will only get better.

FSU doesnt have the same talent of these two, but they are better than most. Plus, they are in a prime location and can be built up to where they could challenge Maryland, Duke, and the other ACC powers year end and year out.

All of these teams have juicy offers in hand for Coach Dean. tough decision time!?!

[chestnutz6]

First of all congradulations, 51 turnovers is crazy! BOBBY JOE BRIDGEWATER dats my boy gettin frosh of da year, props

Ha and about your decision. I wouldn't mind if you took the Maryland job. I dont know about FSU only if you really like that school personally but I wouldn't go there. UConn looks to be the best bet as they seem to have a ton of great youth, which I love. and I forgot what kind of recruits you got coming in to TCU, and if you got a good team coming back you might want to stay to see next years offers.

[skarface2k1]

Great championship run.I am sorry to see Kampman graduate.I thought that with stats like his he would be a draft pick.You never can tell!I don't envy you with what you have to choice now. DO I STAY OR DO I GO?If great talent is comming in and alot of the old talent is staying.I might come back and see what the offers look like after this season.Or i would make the choice to go to Uconn or Maryland.I think Coach Crayola would love that.

[knox33]

Great tourney run! Congrats on winning it all. Good luck on the big decision.

[skarface2k1]

vol21 you are killin us!LOL! What are you going to do?Stay or leave?

[chestnutz6]

Hey coach this is in response to your message to me, since I figured youd check here first.

I think youre recruiting class is very good. Turiaf should become a monster, and Bridgewater is a beast as well. I think it all depends on if you want to go to a power school. Personally I hate UConn (being a huge syracuse fan)haha so I wouldn't go there. Try simming a year or two ahead in all four instances and see how things turn out, it helps a lot.

[vols21]

Coach Dean was invited to be a guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Of course part of the appearance was to celebrate the national title, but Leno wanted the coup -- he wants the announcement of where Coach Dean will be next year right here tonight on his show. What a ratings boon.

Coach Dean answers Leno's questions politely and finally says that yes he has made a decision. "This has been a heart-wrenching decision. TCU has come a long way under my guidance and the players have grown as a team and their accomplishments this year prove that. It is a dream of every coach to go to a power conference, make the big bucks, and all that. Everyone wants to know which team I will go to and hopefully make them one of the elite teams in the nation ... which team will I help build into a dynasty?"
The fans at UConn and Maryland are sitting on the edge of their seats for sure. "Tonight I have that answer, but I'm getting emotional about it and I'm not sure I can bring myself to utter the words.....so will my new team please join me out here on stage?" Leno's eyes get wide when the curtains part and Coach Dean's new team walk out on stage to flank the coach of the year. First out is Darian Berry, followed by Alec Turiaf, JP Desilos, Gerrod Hubbard, D.C. Taft, and of course Bobby Joe Bridgewater. "How could I ever walk away from such a talented bunch of guys?" The players hug their coach and lift him on their shoulders and parade him around the stage area to a standing ovation from the studio audience. I can't Promise you another national title anytime soon, but I can guarantee we will compete against anyone. Maryland and any other national power is invited to visit us anytime for a game. We will take on all comers. And when the smoke clears, we hope to still be standing.

I will do everything in my power to make this team a winner. I will hit the recruiting trail early and often. <as such, I will post the recruiting results as well as other post season news later in the week when I get back to town. Didn't want anyone to die from the suspense. >

[chestnutz6]

haha alright nice decision. how long do you plan on staying?

[CincyFan]

so apparently TCU shelled out the big bucks to keep you there. lol. good luck on the upcoming year. glad to see you stayed.

[CincyFan]

actually that would of been funny if one player didn't make it out on stage. me and my sick twisted humor. would of been funny what the discpline would of been.

[vols21]

now that you mention it.....where was Rene Bridges????
I can understand Thomas and Moody not flying LA with their injuries.

Speaking of discipline......I just never clicked with Asst. Coach West last year and neither did the team. Despite the championship, player ratings just did not improve like they did under coach Phaler in past years (Desilos pretty much stayed the same until I took him under my wing late in the season and worked with him one-on-one. Hendry's ratings declined. And Kampman did not improve enough to be drafted by the NBA).
Therefore, I dumped him and replaced him with Coach Kory Summers (59 years old). He wants us to return more to the Mears 1-3-1 that Phaler used.
B- overall, C- offense, B- Defense, B teacher, B- scouting, b- charisma, B+ discipline, B- ambition.
basically he has the same stats except he is better at teaching (West was a C-) and Scouting (West was C)
while there are some really good other assts out there we keep C+ O'Brien. His A- teaching skills are the best, and a B scout. That's his sole role on the team.
He's 50 years old, and his177-103 record as a head coach shows he's a proven winner. His role on the team is invaluable. Plus it shows loyalty.

year end stats (first column is ratings. noted a couple with big increase / decreases):

PPG RBG APG FG% FT % Blocks PG
was 78 Kampman 16.8 4.9 1 52.7 75.8 1.1
79 Desilos 14.9 4.2 1.8 49.4 64.2 1.2
71 76 Brwater 14.6 4.3 0.7 48.7 60.1 1.2
79 Hendry 8.4 3.4 1.8 49.6 74.6 38% 3 pt
75 73 taft 8.3 2.2 2.2 39.6 76.6 32.8% 3 pt
77 Bachman 7.6 2.5 1.4 40.2 76.4 28.7% 3pt
79 Hubbard 5.4 1.9 3.4 38.2 73.6 31.2% 3pt
69 Bridges 5.3 3.1 0.7 59.4 53.1
72 Thomas 4.3 2.6 0.6 53 68.4
70 Moody 3.8 2.6 1.4 41.2 75

Bachman and Bridgewater make All-Freshman team in MWC (Bridgewater wins Freshman of the year)
3rd year in a row, a different TCU player leads nation in most steals - Kampman edges Desilos (who won last year) with 3.9 steals breaking the record Desilos set last year (he broke Hubbard's record from the year before)
Desilos and Kampman make first team all-conference!

For CofC: Bro and Faye win 2nd team all-conf. honors. Freshman Smalls led team with 44.4% 3pt shooting. The rest of the leaders graduated. Coach 2 has a career record of 80-69.

Cof C recruiting was a challenge. Right off the bat, the top 3 interested players signed with other teams. But we hustled and stole Austin Paul from Maryland and BC. He's a 3 star SF from Boston Mass. At 6'9 and A- hustle (B rated offense, C rated quickness) he should help us on the boards.
Cof C ends up signing three 3* players and three 2* players (6 of their 7 scholarships). They are high on the list of a couple 3* Jr Players and hope to land one of them early on. This class ranked them around 200 in the nation, but tops in the Southen Conf.

TCU's recruiting class was rated as #12 in the nation.
TCU lands #12 recruiting class (behind Alabama, Duke, Nova, AZ, UCLA, Prov. Texas, Uconn, Mich.st/ Syracuse, and Washington
MWC recruiting at other schools:
#37 Air Force, #56 SD State (Niagra #57), BYU 58, 61 UNLV, Utah #73. CofC was closer to #200 but tops in the Southern Conference with a couple good 3 stars.
LSU has the worse class in the nation!!!!


TCU has a number of all-americans and Mr Basketballs for several states in thier sights. They are the top choice for 6 Mr. Basketballs (just not Texas). I think we only have 2 or 3 scholarships to offer, so we need to be choosy in who we take.

[knox33]

ha ha ha. I loved the Leno interview. Nice touch. You landed a big class and I'm sure you'll have plenty of success with them.

[CincyFan]

if you get all three Mr. basketballs that is going to be crazy for next year. Then again if you do that i see no reason for you to leave for at least another 4 years then.

[skarface2k1]

Great chose to stay.I hope you get the recruits you want next year.Man i didn't see that comming after a big win.Congrads again.Coach Sanders of Indiana out.

[vols21]

'm on vacation this week (well deserved after the national title, haha), so there won't be many posts. I did play the first game of the new season before I left, so I will try to get it up this week.

Preseason Top teams: Duke, Syracuse, BC, Georgetown, Wisconsin (Bama #6, UCLA #10, Maryland #15). TCU preseason #19
All-Americans from Florida (Chavez), AZ (Gray) , Kansas (O), Alabama (6'9 PF) Syracuse (7'1 C calvert)
2nd team all-americans:
tatum (syr), Davenport (Stanford), McBride (duke), Halsell (maryland, 6'10), Polk (7'0 C from OK).

I'm expecting some good performances out of Desilos who is a JR this year and Bridgewater. Hubbard could put up some good numbers as he is a Sr this year. Freshmen Berry and Turiat have the fans excited. Turiat lit it up from outside in the Midnight Madness game - his first shot from NBA land swished the net to the ooohs and ahhhhs of the crowd. Berry showed he was a force inside and quickly cemented his starting position. THE play of the game came when frsh center Holden took the ball at the free throw line and soared to slam the ball over Bridgewater!!!! We just expected him to play some spots to rest Bobby Joe, but he showed he wants more playing time. That should help push Bridgewater to keep improving his game and not sit on his laurels. Noel is not as good as Desilos at SF, but sure improve over the year and be ready just in case JP decides to go Pro.

Pepperdine will be our first opponent - it'll be fun to see how well this team comes together.

[skarface2k1]

WoW!sounds great so far!We will read about what is going on when you get back!Enjoy your vacation!

[vols21]

first game vs Pepperdine. New defense confuses Pepperdine bigtime holding them to under 50 pts. Win 98-46. both teams shoot 48%. TCU wins rebounds 31-29 (on 21 OR's!!)

6 players score in double digits!! Hubbard and Bridgewater lead way with 14 each. Bridgewater also 5 rebs and 3 blocks. Desilos and Noel block 2 each (team blocks 10!!)
freshman Berry had impressive start with 7pts (3 rebs / 3 asts) before a knee injury sidelined him (not serious, only 5 games). Frosh Holden and (RS) Noel debut with 12 pts and 5 rebs. each.
good start for the team with balanced time and scoring - plus great showing by the newcomers.

[CincyFan]

for only winning the rebound battle by 2 and still win by over 50 is very impressive. good way to start off the year.

[skarface2k1]

Great start to the year vol21.It looks like the freshmen have come to play.

[knox33]

Nice win. Looks like your new defense paid off. Which set are you guys running?

[vols21]

mostly 1-3-1, with some man to man and 2-3 mixed in depending on the other team.
I have used a 1-2-2 as well in the past if all else fails.

[knox33]

I've never tried the 1-3-1 or the 1-2-2. My guys run man-to-man about 99% of the time. I play a trapping 2-3 very rarely. I haven't used a press in years (in my legacy), but when I did I only ran a 1-2-2.

[vols21]

TCU 84 - 41 over Portland. Another defensive effort turns in a low score. Give the Pilots credit for frustrating some of the TCU greats (Desilos held to 6 pts, Taft only 2).
J.Noel leads with 14, injured Berry delivers 13, and Bridgewater 13. Noel, Bridgewater, and Moody grab 5 rebs each as the Horned Frogs win the battle of the boards 2nd straight game (35-30)
Hubbard an incredible 16 steals (plus 5 assts, and 6 pts). Turiaf led all with 7 rebs.

Business is about to pick up as arch rival Washington is up next (0-2 vs Huskies). Texas next week!

defensive notes: I've found teams drive off the corners against the 1/3/1 but with 3 guys in the paint, we stop them most the time. When I try man to man, my players get lost in the shuffles and give up some easy baskets. At other times, I go to a "deny the ball" Don Devoe style (who learned from the master Bobby Knight). When I'm on my game, I can shut down the other team and get a lot of steals (which leads to them having a higer shooting % and more rebounds - yet a lot fewer pts).

the 1-3-1 often looks like the old "heinous curtain" when the players get out of position. WHen I was in college, our Fraternity "B-team" was named the Heinous B's (with the full word rhyming with witches -- and plus we spelled the h word wrong at the time -- Haneous). In basketball, the Curtain was a straight line. 1-1-1-1-1 zone, lol. Our object wasn't to win games as much as it was to have fun (the pregame meal at the Longbranch Saloon or other suitable establishment that served our purpose saw to that). Other fun notes: When I got tired, I'd TAG OUT (like in wrestling) as opposed to wait for the next dead ball. (never got caught). It was my job to guard their best player - so I often guarded the referee (lol - the ref never did like that at all). Our more effective defense was the 3-3 zone. Yes you read that right, and the refs or other team never caught it either. Much like in softball, we had extra outfielders (one with a fishing net). Our perfect record was broken in softball when we upset the defending IM Champs (and we still don't know how we won - our antics must have thrown them off their game in a big way). despite never winning, we were always ranked #1 on campus. The Intramural Chairman, school AD, and Asst. basketball coaches all spoke at our Fraternity Sports Banquets and made mention the "fun" the "B's" brought to the game (funny how they made Haneous a 3 syllable word).

[vols21]

#19 TCU at #13 Washington. Huskies roared early as we shot 23% fg's and trailed at half by 14. No one was hitting, not inside or outside. A stirring halftime peptalk by Coach Dean
fired up the Horned Frogs who jumped out with a 25-4 run in 2nd half to take the lead and hold on to win 65-55. outrebounded 30-40 (first time all year).

Bobby Joe Bridgewater: star of the game with 22 pts (14 in 2nd hlf) and 9 rebs (plus 4 steals and 2 blocks). Desilos 12 pts, Hubbard 11 pts (7 steals and remarkable 4 rebs for the point guard).
Turiaf and Bachman a combined 0-14. My star shooting guards wilted big time under the pressure of this road game. Despite adding the best 3 pt shooter I've ever coached, our 3 pt % is the lowest I've ever seen. We will need to make some adjustments.
We shoot 45% in 2nd half to end game with near respectable 36% shooting %.

This was a great game and a great test for our players. In the 2nd half, we showed we can apply tough defense and shut anyone down and also that we have some offensive explosiveness. If we put together a complete game, there may be some lop-sided scores in some of our games if we don't take teams for granted. Things don't get any easier for us though as we have in-state rival Texas Longhorns coming to visit next. We may see these same Washington Huskies again in the finals of the Great Alaskan Shoot-out as we try to defend our title there. Other top 10 teams on our schedule include #6 Kansas and #9 Arizonia. Later in the season, a game that I know a lot of fans are looking forward to as we travel to Knoxville TN and go head to head with my mentor Bruce Pearl.
(Personal Note: I just got back from vacation and will post the squad and their pre-season stats this week).

[vols21]

Here is my current roster.

Jr Desilos SF 82 6'10
sr Hubbard PG 80 6'1
SO Bachman SG 79 6'5
So Bobby J C 78 7'0
FR Turiaf SG 78 6'3
FR Berry PF 74 6'8
Jr Taft PG 74 6'4
Jr Thomas PF 73 6'11
FR Noel SF 72 6'10
SR Moody SF 71 6'6
FR Holden C 69 7'2

overall: 86
Offense: 84
Defense: 88
Shot: 82
Rebounds: 89
Coaching 87

compared to last year, the overall ratings all improved 3-4 pts everywhere except for rebounds which declined 1 pt (from 90).
A closer look at some of the players:

Desilos - a Jr who is looking to shake the sophomore jinx that plaqued him last season. With the graduation of Kampman he'll be expected to assume more of a leadership role this year (like he did as a Freshman). He has a good supporting cast, so he doesn't have to do it all. His 82 rating is the highest in TCU history.

Hubbard - he promises to deliver big time for his senior year. He was a breakout player as a freshman and was the first player signed when Coach Dean moved to TCU. He was only a 3 star recruit, but still has ratings the 5-star studs that followed have yet to acheive.

Bachman - he made the all-freshman team in the Mountain West Conference last year. He expects to split playing time with Mr. MO, Alec Turiaf this year as the two battle for the starting spot. Right now, Bachman is winning that battle.

BOBBY JOE BRIDGEWATER - some expect this phenom to jump to the pros after the season. He has picked up where he left off last year, and if his performance in the Washington game is any indication, he will have a super year. Bobby Joe says he's not thinking about the NBA right now, he has his mind focused on repeating as national champs.

Turiaf is an 85 rated 3-pt shooter, yet so far he can't seem to buy a bucket. Maybe too high of expectations for the youngster.

Berry - this power forward from AZ has jumped into the starting line-up and hasn't looked back. He is very aggressive, but is injury prone. That may limit his performance this year.

Taft, Thomas, and Holden will all see some playing time backing up Hubbard, Berry, and Bridgewater. Holden has impressed so far as a freshman.
Moody and Noel will split time backing up Desilos. Moody is a SR and a real spark off the bench - his offensive rebounds and put backs have helped pull out several games in the past. Noel is a redshirt freshman, but shows the maturity that Desilos showed a couple years ago at the same position. Coach Dean promises to find ways to put both these athletes on the floor at the same time.

[chestnutz6]

some great height on your team. good luck

[skarface2k1]

Here is my current roster.

Jr Desilos SF 82 6'10
sr Hubbard PG 80 6'1
SO Bachman SG 79 6'5
So Bobby J C 78 7'0
FR Turiaf SG 78 6'3
FR Berry PF 74 6'8
Jr Taft PG 74 6'4
Jr Thomas PF 73 6'11
FR Noel SF 72 6'10
SR Moody SF 71 6'6
FR Holden C 69 7'2

overall: 86
Offense: 84
Defense: 88
Shot: 82
Rebounds: 89
Coaching 87

compared to last year, the overall ratings all improved 3-4 pts everywhere except for rebounds which declined 1 pt (from 90).
A closer look at some of the players:

Desilos - a Jr who is looking to shake the sophomore jinx that plaqued him last season. With the graduation of Kampman he'll be expected to assume more of a leadership role this year (like he did as a Freshman). He has a good supporting cast, so he doesn't have to do it all. His 82 rating is the highest in TCU history.

Hubbard - he promises to deliver big time for his senior year. He was a breakout player as a freshman and was the first player signed when Coach Dean moved to TCU. He was only a 3 star recruit, but still has ratings the 5-star studs that followed have yet to acheive.

Bachman - he made the all-freshman team in the Mountain West Conference last year. He expects to split playing time with Mr. MO, Alec Turiaf this year as the two battle for the starting spot. Right now, Bachman is winning that battle.

BOBBY JOE BRIDGEWATER - some expect this phenom to jump to the pros after the season. He has picked up where he left off last year, and if his performance in the Washington game is any indication, he will have a super year. Bobby Joe says he's not thinking about the NBA right now, he has his mind focused on repeating as national champs.

Turiaf is an 85 rated 3-pt shooter, yet so far he can't seem to buy a bucket. Maybe too high of expectations for the youngster.

Berry - this power forward from AZ has jumped into the starting line-up and hasn't looked back. He is very aggressive, but is injury prone. That may limit his performance this year.

Taft, Thomas, and Holden will all see some playing time backing up Hubbard, Berry, and Bridgewater. Holden has impressed so far as a freshman.
Moody and Noel will split time backing up Desilos. Moody is a SR and a real spark off the bench - his offensive rebounds and put backs have helped pull out several games in the past. Noel is a redshirt freshman, but shows the maturity that Desilos showed a couple years ago at the same position. Coach Dean promises to find ways to put both these athletes on the floor at the same time.


Vol21,i love the height on your current team.That should make for some great pressing.Plus,to get your players the amount of playing time you want them to have run like i do.I use two teams when i play.My players understand that the starters will play about 12 minutes a game.and the 2nd unit will play about 8.If they are playing good that night they may get 9 or 10.I run like the UK wildcats of the RICK P.,days.That keeps everyone fresh and the press up on defense.Coach sanders out.

[vols21]

#11 TCU vs Texas - 112-58!!
Destroy in-state rival, avenging loss in NCAA final 4 two years ago. Beat them in all aspects. Shoot 55% to 44%. Outrebound them 34-26. The team was really fired up and pulled together for this game!! :dance:

a return to explosive balanced scoring with 6 frogs in double figures. Bridgewater once again leads the team - 22 pts, 8 rebs, and even 2 asssts.
Desilos 17, Berry 16, Noel 12, Turiaf with 11 as his best game to date. (notice that 3 of top 5 scorers were freshmen??) Hubbard adds 4 assts and 6 steals to his nation leading totals.
only lowlight is once again the pitiful shooting beyond the arch. 1 of 12 (.083%). Turiaf made his first shot, then missed 4. everyone else was 0 for the game. You'd think with a 85 3-point rating, that Alec Turiaf would make a few more of these - instead of leading the team to its worst 3-pt production EVER!!!! Maybe the freshman just needs time to adjust to the game.


As stated in earlier posts, I used to run the Pearl Jam attack - with some pressure and fast breaks. With this team, I have been content to just play half court offense and pound them ball on them. I actually give up a few fast breaks a game because everyone is crashing the offensive boards. I have a lot of height on this team which makes us tough to defend. The only missing link is the outside shot which we'll need if teams start collapsing back on on the post players. Right now, my counter to that is Hubbard driving up the gut and either taking an open shot in the lane OR dishing to Bridgewater or Desilos if their defender leaves them open to try to stop Hubbard's drive.
I toyed with the idea of putting Desilos at Center, Noel at PF, and Moody at SF - then playing a quick up tempo game. This could be an extra weapon in our arsenal. We did this a little against Washington and it helped loosen them up a bit, and when a fresh Bridgewater returned to the game, he just dominated them inside.

The Great Alaskan Shoot-out is next. We play IFPW in the opener. If we play like we did against Texas, this game could get ugly!

[vols21]

TCU 109 - IFPW 29!!! What a mismatch and white wash. Win rebounds 40-30.
Turiaf with breakout game scoring 19 pts (4 of 9 from 3 pt). Desilos and Berry add 16 each (berry leaves with broken finger). Bridgewater has 14 pts in limited play as does Noel.
Desilos gets double double as he also has 11 steals. Hubbard nabs 5 to stay in the lead. Desilos also 6 rebounds. Moody off the bench has 5 boards. Noel and Turiaf also 5 rebs.
4-0 Fresno State from the WAC is our semi-final foe.

5-0 TCU vs 4-0 Fresno St.
116-58 as the team fired on all cylanders - shooting 54% vs 47%, and 40% from 3 pt land, 25 assists 29 rebounds (9 players in double figures!! …. 2 with double/doubles!)
Bridgewater leads with 17 pts, 4 rebs, and 2 blocks. Thomas 14 pts and 10 steals, Hubbard 11 pts and 10 assists as it was a great team effort.

Pacific upsets Washington and prevents that rematch, so instead the 6-0 TCU horned frogs take on the 2-0 Pacific (from Big West Conf).
TCU vs Pacific
TCU 106-69 -- pacific's press gave our team fits with 20 turnovers for easy buckets. But talent wins out as we just kept feeding fresh players into the game.
win rebounds 33-32. Turiaf is starting to find his rhythm as teams sag off him - scores 18 and 7 rebs.(53% shooting for him). Desilos, Noel, and Bridgewater add 15 each.
Hubbard dishes 7 more assists and once again everyone plays and everyone scores (everyone but Taft also gets at least one rebound too) TCU wins shootout for 2nd year in a row.

Berry's finger injury gets worse when he tried to play through it (goes from 16 days to 34 days) and may have to be placed on injured reserve to let it heal. We also suffer a couple more minor injuries during the tournament. I need to hire a new team doctor!!

It is almost signing day, so I hope to have to positive news to report on the recruiting front very soon!!

[chestnutz6]

Damn talk about domination

[CincyFan]

was going to ask with all that height if you had any speed. apparenly you don't need any speed with this team since you are picking up all these easy wins in the season. keep it up.

[vols21]

There is a little speed - at the guard and SF positions especially. However we don't run as much as I used to with the smaller teams. If we get behind, like against Washington, then I can go small and turn up the heat with some fast breaks. (go small means putting 6'10 Desilos at center, haha)
It's more of a fun challenge to rebound, walk the ball down, and try to run a half court offense. AS much as I like this team, I'm in the running for 8 of the top players in the nation (at 100% and in top 2). I just need to decide which 4 I have the best chance at and fit my biggest needs (mainly PG since Hubbard graduates. other Sr's include Moody and JeanPierre at SF and SG -- but they are role players and already have 2 guys playing in front of them.)

[CincyFan]

its going to be sad to see hubbard leave, but i bet you can find someone similiar or if not better than him. i love to push the ball down the court, and if i don't have anything to reverse it to the other side as quick as possible and if i don't have the open three i look for the two man game. Man does that bring back memories. but hey i won't lie rebounding his fun as hell in this game. love trying to get 10 plus rebounds with my center and power foward (actually another center) in the same game.

[knox33]

It is almost signing day, so I hope to have to positive news to report on the recruiting front very soon!!

Man, with all the talent on your roster, I wonder what kind of talent your going to bring in for next season?

[vols21]

its going to be sad to see hubbard leave, but i bet you can find someone similiar or if not better than him. i love to push the ball down the court, and if i don't have anything to reverse it to the other side as quick as possible and if i don't have the open three i look for the two man game. Man does that bring back memories. but hey i won't lie rebounding his fun as hell in this game. love trying to get 10 plus rebounds with my center and power foward (actually another center) in the same game.

It is going to be hard to replace Hubbard. He's the been the heart and soul of this team ever since hitting those pressure packed free throws at Manhatten to send that game to OT. There are lots of players with more talent and who put up bigger numbers, but Hubbard just seems to know how to win. I say others have more talent, but actually Hubbard is still my highest rated player despite just being a 3 star recruit. I think that is one reason why I like him so much - he's not the thorough bred blue-chipper like Desilos and Bridgewater. I'll still have Taft who was a 4-star Mr Minnesota PG -- he's shown he can score in bunches, but he just hasn't materialized into being a leader like Hubbard.

oh, and one reason why I toned down the running some was to give my starters more playing time - to see if that would help them earn more post-season accolades.

[skarface2k1]

vol21 you have a great one going here.Keep it up.

[vols21]

recruiting: first off, 3 guys we didn’t get. #2 center Ravello and #4 PF Reece both sign with Duke (Mr ILL and Mr PA). Mr Washington #1 SG signed with Washington (Pettyjohn).
However, we steal the top PG away from Washington -- MR California Elliott Barro, the top PG in US and #5 player overall joins TCU
Also, we outhustle Duke to obtain the #2 SG in US (#11 overall).
Mr Iowa Seth Whitted also signs. and the players just keep coming.....
7'1 250 lb PF Lorenzo Baker, Mr. Arkansas signs and then we also get 7'1 273 lb center Clyde Baldwin from Hollywood Florida (Mr Florida)
4 Mr Basketballs, 4 All-Americans - what a haul!!

Here is how our scouts have them rated:

name: off shot reb hust leap quick IQ
PF Baker A A- B- A+ B- B A+ #7 overall
C Baldwin B A+ A- B+ B+ B+ B+ #13 overall
SG Whitted A+ A+ A+ B+ A+ B- A+ #11 overall
PG Barro A- C A A+ A+ A+ A+ #5 overall



Duke may have gotten the #3 and #4 overall players, but each of my recruits were in top 3 for their position and in top 15 of nation. I'm very happy with this class!!!!!!
Syracuse got #6 (SF Ingram) and #8 SF Rowe. Texas signed #`10 a 7'1 center.

#2 - SF Massie is looking at BC and Bama. #1 a 7'1 SF named Bailey from NC is also unsigned - looking at Duke and Michigan State (BC, nova, and NC state in his top 5)

meanwhile, CofC scores a 4 star recruit - 6'9 center Atila O'Brien (ILL). And 2 solid 3 stars: 6'5 SG Mensah Barnes (NC) and 6'9 PF Rodoifo Hackstadt (NC)
O'Brien is solid with all A and B ratings. CofC is still in the hunt for 5 star Earl Sharrod from Detroit (tied with Det. For his services and ahead of UK)
they are also tops for 6'5 SF 3 star McGowan from the Bronx, and a 3 star JR SG from the metro area -both above 85%

[CincyFan]

man that is an extremely nice looking draft class. And who question you leaving TCU???

[knox33]

name: off shot reb hust leap quick IQ
PF Baker A A- B- A+ B- B A+ #7 overall
C Baldwin B A+ A- B+ B+ B+ B+ #13 overall
SG Whitted A+ A+ A+ B+ A+ B- A+ #11 overall
PG Barro A- C A A+ A+ A+ A+ #5 overall


Vols, that should get you the #1 recruiting class. Nice work. Which player do you see being the eventual leader of this team? This is definitely your "Fab Four."

[vols21]

Duke could beat me as #1 since they signed #3 and #4 - not sure if they have any more scholarships to give or not. Either way, I agree with you that will be one of the top recruiting classes for sure. Could make it very hard to leave TCU any time soon.

I can see Baldwin being redshirted -- if Bridgewater doesn't jump Pro, which I don't think he will.
Whitted could also redshirt - depends on how he looks when he joins the team. We have Bachman and Turiaf, but one of them could move to PG. With all his A+ ratings, he may surprise and push both them aside and take over this team.

On the other hand, Barro could jump right in as a starter. He could replace Hubbard as the "spiritual leader" on this team.

Baker is the guy I expect to just take over when he gets here. at 7'1 and 250, he could fill the void left by Kampman's graduation. While I have two solid players at PF, both are injury prone (as evidenced this year). That could leave the door wide open for Baker to come in, start, and become an instant star.

I have not had any players go Pro early -- I think at least one of these guys will break that string. For that reason, I may not redshirt any of them, but only time will tell.

[chestnutz6]

Whitted looks like a stud with A+ shooting and A+ rebounding. I wouldn't redshirt him. Great class

[vols21]

I think I'm going to need some of these guys to join the team early -- my players are dropping like flies!!!


#4 TCU vs #7 Arizonia 101-71. this game was a struggle early as we trailed by 10. But the team never quit and mounted a torrid comeback. Win rebounds 42-35
Bridgewater 21 pts, 5 rebs, and 4 blocks! Desilos 20 pts, 6 rebs, and 2 blocks. Noel and Bachman add 12 pts each (bachman also 9 rebs.)
Hubbard in foul trouble early but in 2nd half delivers 5 assts and 5 steals (only 2 pts).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

as always, I sim a couple games early and in conference - just to see how good we really are. OUCH!!!

At 8-1 Providence, ranked #17 in nation. TCU 8-0 is ranked #1.
injuries finally catch up to us, as we lose 76-72. Bridgwater leads our scorers with 15. Taft and Noel 11 each before going out with injuries. Desilos held to 7 pts.
Prov's frosh SF Souchu rips us for 26. So much for our short-lived #1 ranking

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total upset as Fairfield wins 72-71!! Bridgewater scored 18 and 8 rebs. But it is not enough; We miss Bridges at PF. Desilos struggles again with only 8 pts
win rebounds for 9th time in 10 games (35-30). Hubbard is added to the DL with a dislocated finger (10 days). Berry is back in a couple weeks - hope we can hang on.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Coach Dean comments on the recent slide - "we were in those games to the end. With so many players on the DL and /or playing hurt we're just not as fresh at the end of the game. That cost us against two fine teams. It's not going to get any easier for us as the top ranked mid-major team Santa Clara visits next and then we go play Washington State. Top 10 teams Kansas and Tennessee await us too. The positive side is some young players are getting to play early and that will help us down the road when we get to the conference and in tourney play. Bobby Joe Bridgewater is carrying this team right now and I don't know what we'd do without him. We need more production from Desilos who hasn't shown the same spark he had as a freshman. Moody has been a bright spot coming off the bench - his senior leadership may just earn him a starting spot if Desilos doens't snap out of his funk. And what can I say about the play of Pulley!!?? He's a walk-on that's been forced into playing due to the massive injuries we've suffered. He improves every game and he's playing with the type of enthusiasm we saw from guys like Hubbard and Desilos in their freshman years. If he keeps it up, Berry will have some competition when he returns to the game - and the least he'll have someone who can give him some rest.

[chestnutz6]

Hey vols make sure ya check out my last post in my legacy. Tough luck man

[CincyFan]

what did those two losses do to your ranking. I think its unfair when a small power team drops more with two losses as if say Kentucky lost two games in the same time span. Injuries always seem to play a big role, but in the end it balances out since it actually helps out your chemisty and when everyons is healthy your team just keeps on rollin.

[vols21]

the TCU Horned Frogs drop to #10 in the polls after two tough losses.



TCU (8-2) vs #15 Santa Clara (#1 mid-major at 9-1) win 105-63.
jumped on them early holding them to 27% shooting, but they finally got into a groove to be respectable. We shot 55% vs their 41%. Win rebounds 37-34. 3 pters 7 of 15 for 47%
Bridgewater commanding game - 28 pts, 6 rebs, 8 blocks!!!! Turiaf 19 pts, Desilos 12 pts. (gone are the days of 6 guys in double digits!)
Noel dislocates his finger and is out for 12 days!!! We have a walking wounded team here. I was happy with my bench strength, but right now there is none

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vs 6-4 Washington State - they were rated just a bit better in every section. They had a senior laden team with talent
WSU starts out firing 13 of 13!!!! But finally we start playing defense and they setttle in at 58% for the half (to my 47%) trailed rebounds ONLY 15-19 at break ( was like 4-12 at one pt)
we also erased their 12 pts advantage to lead 52-39 at half. Shoot lights out to start 2nd half and win 99-79 (they win the key stats: 48% vs 52% FG, 27-38 rebounds (only 2nd "loss" this year)
we got 20 more turnovers, and that seemed enough to bring this game home. It was not a fun game to play because nothing was going right, no one was having a good game.
Turiaf 17 pts, Taft 16 pts, Bridgewater 15 pts (5 rebs and 3 blocks), Bachman and Pulley 10 pts (that should tell the story - when a walk-on PF is one of our leading scorers instead of highly heralded Desilos, Berry, Thomas, or even Hubbard (blame injuries?). We won, but a lot of players should be ashamed of their performance. Moody's 6 rebounds led team.

I really am worried about the way we are playing - we could take some lumps in conference play unless someone steps up and soon!!

We move back up to #6 in the latest poll.
Two other top 10 teams on tap this week with road trips to Kansas and Tennessee

(NOTE: I adjusted the slided some after the fast start in the season. I'd rather not have so many blow-outs. Tougher games make it more fun. Not realistic to win them all (and win them as big as I was). AS my game play skills improve and the game gets easy again, I'll move the sliders again. Until then, I expect to take a few lumps along the way.)

[CincyFan]

after reading how your season is going i think i am not going to recruit anyone and just have walk on's since yours is doing so well.

Nice way to bounce back from the two losses. especially after Washington State came out firing. That was a big win to get some confidence back for how your team is not really playing together.

But then again it might be from all the injuries. At least it happened now and not later in the year

[skarface2k1]

I think I'm going to need some of these guys to join the team early -- my players are dropping like flies!!!


#4 TCU vs #7 Arizonia 101-71. this game was a struggle early as we trailed by 10. But the team never quit and mounted a torrid comeback. Win rebounds 42-35
Bridgewater 21 pts, 5 rebs, and 4 blocks! Desilos 20 pts, 6 rebs, and 2 blocks. Noel and Bachman add 12 pts each (bachman also 9 rebs.)
Hubbard in foul trouble early but in 2nd half delivers 5 assts and 5 steals (only 2 pts).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

as always, I sim a couple games early and in conference - just to see how good we really are. OUCH!!!

At 8-1 Providence, ranked #17 in nation. TCU 8-0 is ranked #1.
injuries finally catch up to us, as we lose 76-72. Bridgwater leads our scorers with 15. Taft and Noel 11 each before going out with injuries. Desilos held to 7 pts.
Prov's frosh SF Souchu rips us for 26. So much for our short-lived #1 ranking

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

total upset as Fairfield wins 72-71!! Bridgewater scored 18 and 8 rebs. But it is not enough; We miss Bridges at PF. Desilos struggles again with only 8 pts
win rebounds for 9th time in 10 games (35-30). Hubbard is added to the DL with a dislocated finger (10 days). Berry is back in a couple weeks - hope we can hang on.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Coach Dean comments on the recent slide - "we were in those games to the end. With so many players on the DL and /or playing hurt we're just not as fresh at the end of the game. That cost us against two fine teams. It's not going to get any easier for us as the top ranked mid-major team Santa Clara visits next and then we go play Washington State. Top 10 teams Kansas and Tennessee await us too. The positive side is some young players are getting to play early and that will help us down the road when we get to the conference and in tourney play. Bobby Joe Bridgewater is carrying this team right now and I don't know what we'd do without him. We need more production from Desilos who hasn't shown the same spark he had as a freshman. Moody has been a bright spot coming off the bench - his senior leadership may just earn him a starting spot if Desilos doens't snap out of his funk. And what can I say about the play of Pulley!!?? He's a walk-on that's been forced into playing due to the massive injuries we've suffered. He improves every game and he's playing with the type of enthusiasm we saw from guys like Hubbard and Desilos in their freshman years. If he keeps it up, Berry will have some competition when he returns to the game - and the least he'll have someone who can give him some rest.

Vol you have had some tough luck lately it will all work it self out.Plus,i don't think you want anyone to leave early,it really hurts the team.Good luck with the rest of your season.Chech out my new post as well.Coach sanders out.

[vols21]

#6 10-2 TCU at #4 9-3 Kansas: LOSE 102-113.
We were totally destroyed. We jumped to a 10 pt lead, but Kansas just took over the game after that and won all aspects:
FG 43% vs 60%! 3 pt shots - 35% vs 60% (we were only 10% until Hubbard hit 3 in the last minute). FT 52% vs 90% assists 12 vs 33. turnovers 20 vs 39 rebounds 30 to 49
we had 9 blocks to their 5 and 1 more bench pt (but killed on fast breaks 16 - 34). Bridgewater 18 pts, 3 reb, 4 blocks was our star once again - but banged his knee down the stretch and did not play at the end.
Berry was the bright spot early - 17 pts, 3 rebs. Hubbard 16 pts (most came late when the game was all but over). Lose Bachman (back spasms) and Bridgewater (knee) 3 games

TCU at #7 9-2 Tennessee: blown out 69-91.
only shot 29% FG!!!!! Vs 57% for Vols. 22% 3pts, but improved to 73% FT
outrebounded again 31 to 46 (Berry had 13!)
after winning battle of boards in all but 1 game all year, we've lost the last 3….and by huge margins. The team just isn't hustling. Coaching staff will have to try something different.
Coach Pearl showed the student (me) a thing or 2 in this game. He quoted Coach Bailey in how much fun it is beat up on former proteges. My response is to "Let em try it with Bobby Joe in the line-up!!" I'd love to play some of these games again later in the year with everyone back healthy....and some of these freshmen with a little more game experience under their belts. We expect so much from Berry and Turiaf, but they are both pure freshmen. Noel is a redshirt coming off the bench - and our real spark has been sophomore Walk-on Pulley who's been forced into action due to injuries.

Desilos finally steps up to play with 18 pts and 2 blocks. Turiaf 17 and Holden 14 (playing for injured Bridgewater) (8 players with 2 or less pts -- no one wants to play right now! Or they're hurt - so I can't be too critical))
as coach, this is very frustrating. It's one thing to lose and quite another to lose ugly. Playing top schools in their gym, so we'll take it as a learning experience. We Learn more from failure than success
Time to get our act in gear though as the league games start next week. (yes - in case you are wondering, I adjusted the sliders after the fast start to make the games more interesting. Losing these games as we did is not too far out of line - they had the better talent and all. We'll improve and think we'll do ok in league play - but I do expect more competitive games this year)

These losses drop us all the way back to #24. The only MWC team close to being ranked.

[CincyFan]

i am a little upset that you lost to Kansas, but that bad to Tennessee. I don't know about all of that. Are you sure their wasn't an underlinning lost since they are Tennessee.

I think the NCAA needs to check this game out. I pray that the COACH didn't throw it. lol

[chestnutz6]

PRETENDERSSSSS

haha just kiddin

[skarface2k1]

Vol acouple of bad loses for your squad.It's ok that just builds character and prepares your freshmen for down the road.Once your team gets 100% health it will set everything right, and who knows who you will get matched up with in the NCAA.You might get acouple of re-matches.i know in my legacy acouple of times i lost during the season and was later matched up in the NCAA with that team who beat me.

[knox33]

Vols tough losses, especially to UT. It's always tough when you've got you're superstar injured. Usually when one of my better players is injured, I have to slow the game down a little for the guys that aren't used to playing in a starting role. Very rarely does my team mesh quickly when one of my boys are injured. With that said, I hope you bounce back.

[vols21]

i am a little upset that you lost to Kansas, but that bad to Tennessee. I don't know about all of that. Are you sure their wasn't an underlining lost since they are Tennessee.

I think the NCAA needs to check this game out. I pray that the COACH didn't throw it. lol

for the record. I played the entire Kansas game. I played the first 10 minutes or so at UT - got so frustrated at the way we were playing so I hit exit and simmed the rest of the game. It was like a 10 pt game at that time - so we fell apart after I got ejected from the game arguing a call. :bark:
Not having Bridgewater in that game really shaped how we played. Just his presence underneath opens up things for a lot of other players. If they dump down on him, Turiaf and Hubbard light it up from outside -- if they come back out to guard them close, they dish it to him for the score inside (and/or often a foul).

As for UT, I relish the rematch. It'll be time to turn the tables and beat my mentor.

Thanks for all the well-wishes and support. The fans here at TCU are still solidly behind this team (it's not like we've had a total NY Yankee style collapse). The good news is everyone is healthy for league play and they seem ready to put aside these losses and get back to business.

[skarface2k1]

WOW,it sounds like your team will play the rest of the season with a chip on their shoulders.Is that the case?

[vols21]

WOW,it sounds like your team will play the rest of the season with a chip on their shoulders.Is that the case?

If the first week of league play is any indication, then I'd say I put the challenge before them to do what no other team in TCU history has done --- go undefeated in MWC play.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

#24 TCU (10-4) vs UNLV (7-4): 110-80.
it was good to get back home and all our players back healthy!!
better ball handling - only 8 turnover! Still not a good offensive-defense mix though as we shot 44% vs their 64% and got killed on boards 28-42
12 of 31 from beyond the arch is what set the tone, and most of that was the senior PG leader Hubbard. Also 90% at FT line
Hubbard leads with 21 pts and 4 assts. (7 of 16 3pts). Desilos and Turiad 16 pts each. Berry, Taft, and Bridgewater all with 10 pts. BW and Desilos 5 rebs and 1 blk
Coach comments: we just didn't have the killer instinct today as we kept letting them sneak back into the game. Bobby Joe didn't have his best game, yet we won.
We expect he'll be 100% in time for Air Force. The games just don't get any easier for us and we're going to need his A game every night. It was nice to see
Hubbard step up and exhibit the senior leadership we so desparately needed right now. It would have been easy to just fall apart after two tough road losses, but
this SR wants to win the Conf. title once again and get back to the Big Dance.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TCU (11-4) at Air Force (4-9) win 94-53 -- big road win! Despite getting killed on boards again 24-39. outshot them 48% to 46% and 6/9 FTs, so good job on the road.
score at half was TCU 27 - AFU 25 - and Hubbard 15. (actually 42-25, as Hubbard has been on a tear - at one time having as many pts as all the Falcons combined).
Hubbard ends up with 17, so slow 2nd half. Bridgewater had 4 in first, and ends up with 24 for game (5 rebs and 7 steals and 3 blocks). Desilos 19 and 3 blocks
Pulley had 6 pts off the bench - he's not talented, but makes up for it with heart and desire (overall 55 rating, but he's 7'0 274 lbs - so ok, he makes up for it with SIZE)
we were 7 of 14 from 3 pt land in first half, so team got a bit cocky…..ended up 0-11 in 2nd half - but 24 of 34 inside the arc for 53% shooting overall. AND NO ONE GOT HURT!!!!

Coach Dean commented that with the Falcolns slumping back to stop Bridgewater in the first half, it opened things up for Hubbard to shoot the 3. They made some half-time adjstments and focused on stopping our 3pt barrage -- as a result, Bobby Joe had his way inside and scored at will. This was a well-executed game plan on our part. It was nice to finally hold a team under 50% shooting again and to outshoot them. When our defense plays like this, it will be hard for any team to beat us.

We jump back to #11 with these wins, so we are getting some respect in the polls. I think the writers and coaches out there realize we hit a rough patch with injuries and played some super quality teams. not too many schools out there could walk into Lawrence Kansas and Knoxville TN and play as well as we did with walk-ons at key positions.
Wyoming is up next for us -- they were the only conference team to beat us last year, and they did it twice. Needless to say, we have some payback on our minds!!

[CincyFan]

look at the domination in league play. I am sure if you keep this up you will go undefeated in league play

[vols21]

12-4 TCU vs 7-8 Wyoming - win 109-59, but wasn't a pretty game
back to playing poor defense as Cowboys shoot 60% in first half to our 30% (we shot better from 3 pt land than inside the arc)
Cowboys shoot 65% for game. We improve to shoot 40% (drop to 28% from 3pt). Killed on rebounds 51-30 (worse game ever????). If not for 44 steals, we would lose this game big. On the other hand, it was that defensive pressure that limited their shots and is usually a key to our wins.
JR SG Shephard leads Wyoming with 23 pts, and big Wooley, the 7'6 Center adds 16 (and 18 rebounds!!!!)
No one stepped up to carry the game, just a different person at different times, so it was balanced team scoring. 7 guys with 10 pts. 3 more with 8 (only person not to score was Pulley - the Walk-on)
Bridgewater and Berry get 6 rebounds each (and still combined not as many as Wooley).
12-7 Utah and 7-6 New Mexico are up next week.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

vs Utah: 89-62. an 11 pt half time lead evaporated fast. 2nd team came in and gave us a spark. They had 2 guys with double doubles (cox and diener - 12 pts and 11 rebs each)
Hubbard once again leads our team - 18 pts and 3 rebounds. Turiaf and Berry add 14 each. Brempong, their 7'3 center blocked 5 shots and effectively shut down Bridgewater (also 9 rebs for him).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

These teams both match up well against us. Utah has such impressive size (as we do) and Wyoming has the tallest player I've ever encountered. Bridgewater struggles a little against these giants - but he still contributes and the fact other teams focus so much energy on stopping him, it opens up scoring opportunities for everyone else. It was a great team effort against Wyoming as they quickly adapted their defense to attack whoever our hot player was, and so another guy would step up at that point. That game should scare our future opponents - when 10 guys on the team can score 8 or more pts, you know we are going to light up the scoreboard. One recent concern has been our stamina in games. Players seem to tire quicker - maybe because we are playing a more up-tempo game. But when we are healthy, I'll put our bench against any other teams.
And I'd be remiss not the once again mention the play of Hubbard. He is showing that he is the leader of this team (much like Jeter with the Yankees). Also, I'm quite pleased with the progress of freshmen Turiaf and Berry.

Next week we have New Mexico - another tough team with lots of size. their Center Cage is a POY candidate. This should be quite a battle between cage and Bobby Joe Bridgewater!!

[CincyFan]

44 steals in one game. thats insane. i really don't know how you can say you play poor defense when you give up only 59 points in a game. good luck against New Mexico and their Player of the Year candidate. Just keep taking those jump shots and three pointers to take him out of the game since your team is great at that.

[skarface2k1]

I don't know!The way you have TCU playing is great.If i was coaching agaisnt your team i maybe upset at the defense you play.44 steals i would have to email the ball around the court.Great open to league play for your team.

[knox33]

Keep playing like this and you could find yourself running the table the rest of the season.

[vols21]

on a sad note, the legendary coach of Tennessee, Ray Mears, passed away today. He was the man who coined the phrase "Big Orange Country". It was good that he got to see his legacy restored under Coach Pearl, and that he got to see the team he built return to the national spotlight with recent success.

Back to the legacy:
thanks for all the support and kind words of wisdom. I realize I shouldn't be so hard on the defense just because we allow the other team to shoot 60% -- when you take gambles going for steals, you will get burned time to time and leave open shots and/or layups. The good part is we don't allow them to get too many shots off. :-)
When my teams focuses, they have proven they can shut any player and even on occassion an entire team (flashback the opening round of the Great Alaskan Shoot-out that we won 109 to 29.


in the spirit of sharing, here are some notes on other teams of interest:

teams of interest at this stage of the year
SanDiego State 10-10 (2-4) RPI 120 overall 82

Morehead State 6-14 (3-8) overall rating 65 (TN Tech is 14-7 (10-2, tied with Tenn. State atop OVC)

Xavier 10-9 (3-3) RPI 113, rating of 83. #10 George Washington is 15-3 (6-1) tied with Charlotte atop A-10. St. Joes is ranked #20 at 14-5

Maryland #6 ranked 15-4 (3-3) RPI 17 with 87 rating. Duke is ranked #1 in nation at 16-3 and 5-1 in ACC

Indiana 17-3 (5-1) RPI 3, ranked #3. Rating of 85 (Illinois is 16-4, ranked 17)
Indy State 6-15 (2-8) rated 71 RPI 281
Portland 10-10 (3-2) 70 rated
WIU 13-6 (5-1) RPI 197, rated 74 -- this is where some of us got our start and nice to see the "team we built" are still winning. Kind of makes me curious how some of the long term success story teams will do after the legendary coach moves on.


St Peters is #4 mid-major 14-5 (9-1) while hated Niagra is on hard times 5-15
Buzz Peterson has Coastal Carolina firing on all cylanders: 13-2 (6-0 in Big South) and ranked #5 mid-major
Cleveland State, Fresno State, and Santa Clara round out top 5 mids

[vols21]

14-4 TCU at 8-7 New Mexico win 98-72.
both teams shot lights out (52% to 55%. Lobos were over 60% until late in game.
Bridgewater 17 pts, 5 rebs, 3 blocks. Berry 17 pts 5 rebs, 2 blocks. Desilos, Noel, and Thomas 15 pts each. Their 1-3-1 kept Hubbard from shooting outside, but he drove and dished inside as you can see from the big guy's numbers.

Player of the Year report ---
Their star center Cage was held to 1 pt. He sprained a wrist in the final minute of the game and is out for 18 days. That might pave the way for someone like Bridgewater to take over the POTY front-runner status!!!

new rankings have TCU at #5. 10-9 SDSU and7-10 Col. State are up next week


Coach Dean said he was pleased with the performance against New Mexico, especially since we were playing in The Pit. The Lobos were one of four teams picked atop the MWC. None of the conference teams had as much scuccess out of conference as we have in past years, so it may come down to the league title to see who goes to the Big Dance. With our fast start in league play, we have to like our odds there. I want to really complement the play of Bobby Joe Bridgewater today! He shut down one of the permeire players in the nation, holding Cage to only 1 pt. Other teams have focused their efforts on Bobby Joe in recent weeks, and now they see what happens when he focuses all of his abilities on them. Not only did he play outstanding D, but he also had a great scoring game. He may be about to break out of his "mini slump"

[CincyFan]

honestly i always thought Bridgewater was always in the running for POTY award. He is has terrific games so far (well except for one that i remember) and is the true leader on this team.

It sounds as if your conference schedule is getting easier now so you should be ready to string some wins together.

[vols21]

Cincy, you are correct. Bridgewater is in the running for POY. He is the leading scorer in MWC with 17 ppg (top 10 of nation) plus he has decent rebound and block numbers. CAGE WAS his top competetion and still is. This game certainly puts Bobby Joe in the driver seat. It also seemed to give him newfound confidence which he exudes in the next few games!!


At San Diego State: 70-53! Win rebounds 45-33. Desilos and Berry score 21 pts each (berry 10 rebs for double-double).

vs 7-10 Col. State. Col State started off shooting 85% FG - "Frog killer" Nystrom was 5-5 leading his team to a 10 pt lead. We moved 6'11 Desilos to PG and he started the rally.
Bridgewater rebounds and fires downfloor to streaking Desilos for a runaway jam. With him at the point of a 1-3-1, it stifled the rams and we lead 55-37 at half (they end up shooting 56% to our 57%)
win 108-82 final Bridgewater leads with 23 pts, 3 rebs, and 2 blocks (7 steals!) Hubbard 22 pts only 1 asst and 2 steals. Desilos, Thomas, and Noel with 12 each. Thomas led w/ 5 rebs
Nystrom ends game with 19 pts (8 of 11) on his 10 ppg avg. Bozeman, their leading scorer is held to 6 pts.

(10-9 BYU is our next game - much like Utah, they have 3 players with 12 ppg avg). They are always a tough opponent and we cannot take them for granted.

[CincyFan]

Bridgewater can play any posiiton it seems (hell i bet he could play Center) which gives him the edge over Cage. Thats the way to keep it up. Did Bridgewater have a bad game against San Diego State since you didn't post anything about him?

[vols21]

he wasn't the leader of the game, but now that he's the front runner of POTY, maybe I should always give a BOBBY JOE report.
against SD State, he scored 11 pts, had 8 rebounds (3 assists and 2 blocks). it's exciting how he dishes the ball to the open man when he gets double teamed. What a team player.

[skarface2k1]

great couple of wins.Hey where can you see if someone in the leader for POY award?

[vols21]

it's just speculation. there are no sites for that in the game.
I look at the league leaders and comment on the top players (leading scorers is a good place to start since that seems to be the key factor in past years with rebounds sort of a tie breaker. Haven't seen any attention given to the top defensive players or play makers -- not unless they can score too). The national POY does not usually go to the leading scorer, but to someone on a good team with solid stats. Not as easy to place conjecture on that award (at least not with any accuracy).

speaking of which, I don't think I can find the all-american teams and all-conference teams at the end of the season (on PS2). I can look in the trophy room to see if any of my players are selected, but not the rest of the teams. (I get the preseason all-americans in the talk show - but nothing at year end). What am I missing?

[skarface2k1]

it's just speculation. there are no sites for that in the game.
I look at the league leaders and comment on the top players (leading scorers is a good place to start since that seems to be the key factor in past years with rebounds sort of a tie breaker. Haven't seen any attention given to the top defensive players or play makers -- not unless they can score too). The national POY does not usually go to the leading scorer, but to someone on a good team with solid stats. Not as easy to place conjecture on that award (at least not with any accuracy).

speaking of which, I don't think I can find the all-american teams and all-conference teams at the end of the season (on PS2). I can look in the trophy room to see if any of my players are selected, but not the rest of the teams. (I get the preseason all-americans in the talk show - but nothing at year end). What am I missing?

You are not missing anything.it is like that on my game(Xbox).I can only see at the end of the year in the trophy room which one of my players made those teams(all- conf and all- amer).

[CincyFan]

its at the end of the year. When you are looking at the national champions and such it you scoll your pages over (i know for the 360 its the trigger buttons) you will get to your conference and people leaving. Once you get there you can look at each team (players leaving and i think something else by using LB/RB again for the 360). Hopefully that helps, but i do wish they could carry that over instead of clicking on the players name and then moving it over to awards to see if he won anything. It should have an icon like NCAA Football next to their names telling you what awards they got last season.

[chestnutz6]

Well can't you just click the right analog stick (on 360 at least) and it shows their awards? I'm not sure what you talkin about

[CincyFan]

i was just saying there was two different ways.

One is at the end of the year to actually see who made it was just to scroll over to your conference and then to first team conference players and then second team.

Second way is to click on the player in the roster screen and look at their awards (if they have any) in their career in college.

If vol is talking about pre-season awards well then the only time is if you watch the pre-season show or whatever its called at the beginning of the year

[vols21]

thanks. I'll try this at the end of the season. Maybe just not available on PS2, but will investigate. Now back to the games:

#6 TCU at BYU: win 76-56 in a bit of a defensive tussle. Held them to 40% shooting (best effort in awhile) while putting up 46%.
held their 12 pt avg trio to under 8 pts each. SG Robertson picked up slack for them with 20pts. Swoger did snag 17 rebounds for them!!!
Bridgewater scored 22 for us. 4 rebs and 2 blocks. Turiaf and Desilos 12 each. Hubbard 7 pts and 5 assts.

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vs New Mexico -- rematch of Cage vs Bridgewater,
not even close!! 109-60. Bobby Joe with 21 pts (cage, 8 pts)
Hubbard 17, Desilos 16, Berry 15 (plus 4 rebs). Thomas and Noel lead team with 5 boards each. Both teams shoot 52 %. TCU wins battle of boards 33-22

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At Wyoming: 76-65. 27 pt lead evaporated in the waning minutes as we relaxed.
another much anticipated rematch - this time Bridgwater vs big WOOLEY. Wooley another double double (12 pts and 11 rebounds). But Bridgewater's 21 pts help build the big lead for TCU (plus 3 blocks)
Hubbard adds 20 from outside. Taft's 10 the only other player in double figures. Bridgewater and Thomas grab 4 rebounds each (again 3 Frogs - not as many rebounds as Wooley alone)
needless to say we got blown out on rebounds (19-43 - even worse, they kill us on O.rebounds 4-11. that's usually a strength. We win turnovers (15-31) and have 9 blocks! Hold them to 45% shooting.

other scores of interest: in battle of top teams. #2 TTU knocks off #1 Oklahoma 61-58. big 12 looks to be loaded this year!!

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Coach Dean comments: What can I say about Bobby Joe Bridgewater? He has simply been dominant against the best big men in the league. Barring tragedy, he should easily win the player of the year honors and should be a contender for national awards (although at first glance, the centers from Arkansas and Oklahoma should be vying for it as they avg over 20 pts and 8 rebs a game). Hubbard continues to impress. He gives us a Mr Outside/Mr Inside combo that is proving deadly. We expected Turiaf to provide the 3 point pop this year, and while he is starting to get his stroke down, it has been Mr Hubbard that is in the groove right now. As long as these guys stay hot, we are going to be a tough team to beat. We are playing our best ball of the year; great time to be peaking.


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(note: someone asked before about team speed. Bachman, Hubbard and Desilos have earned the coveted golden foot icon denoting their quickness. Turiaf and Taft aren't far behind). That speed helps us push the ball and get a few breaks. Desilos especially starts a few fast breaks for us. However, we haven't utilized the break as much as in the past, going more for the half-court game and try to ram it down their throats. We will push the ball some in an effort to wear them down (and it works as we usually pull away in the 2nd half).

[vols21]

on this historic 200th post, we have some historic news to report. Earth-shattering news in fact..................


Vs San Diego State: 113-72. with no big star on the other team to focus on, the team floundered a bit early, but taft lit a fire and the rest of the team followed suit.
Bridgewater 23 pts (only 1 reb and 1 block). Taft 19 pts, 4 assts (player of game), Bachman and Hubbard had off-shooting nites but still added 14. Noel and Berry put in 12.
Desilos 6 rebs and Holden 5 to lead team. Rebounds was 24-30. both teams shoot 56% from field. (we were 12 of 28 from 3's = 43%)
(one interesting thing in bracketology: has us a #2 seed and Tenn a 3 seed in the same bracket! Could the fates play into our hands (or be careful what you wish for??)
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21-4 TCU vs 11-11 UNLV: Running Rebels shoot 60% but we win 110-65. rebounds tied at 27 (we had 14 offensive boards - they didn't miss many to snag on their side)
devastating news though!!! Bobby Joe Bridgewater suffers the dreaded high ankle sprain and is lost for 23 days!! This comes at a horrible time with the tournament just around the corner.
Taft leads us again with 22 pts and fellow PG Hubbard with 17. Bridgewater scored 13 (1 block, 0 rebs) before his injury.. Desilos a double-double: 12 pts and 11 steals
Berry a solid day with 8 pts and 6 rebs. Only time will tell if we are about to bit by the injury bug again and how this team will respond to the loss of their superstar Center.
We are hoping he will return to action in time for the NCAA tourney - or else we will be in big trouble.
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TCU at Utah: what a tough start. The team seems lost without Bridgewater, several guys try too hard and we fall behind by 10 and cannot catch up....as they find an answer for each of our runs - until - Finally we get into the game and despite playing a horrible half trail by 2 at the break - and take the lead on a 3 by Hubbard to start the 2nd --we never look back. Win 102-69
Desilos hits 22. Hubbard 18, Berry 16, Thomas 15, Noel 10. Utah shoots 60% in first half but cool to a 51% 2nd half (54% overall). TCU shot 38% in first, and a torrid 61% 2nd (51% overall)
Now more bad news!!! Back-up center Holden breaks his toe (32 days). This could get ugly!! Both centers are out for the season. PF's Thomas and Pulley better lace their shoes tight!!

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Coach Dean will have quite a challenge as the team prepares for the final stretch without a true center. He works to rally and motivate the troops for the tough times ahead: "I've coached teams before that did not have a center. Our teams at WIU for example until we brought Ali in from Cameroon. Thomas, at 6'11, will move down to the post; Desilos and Noel will split time at SF and PF to rest Berry. That'll allow Moody some additional minutes at SF. Pulley has played exceptionally well as a walk-on this year. He was pressed into action early on when we had a rash on injuries. We'll be calling on him to provide some valuable relief time for Thomas as well. We'll be fine - this is not a time to panic. This is the time for great players to step up, a time for guys to show what they have inside.....it's a time that champions can become legends."

[vols21]

TCU vs Air Force: holy cow what a dismantling. 109-39.
Air Force did not score in 2nd half until 4 minutes left in game!!!!!
Desilos looked like he did as a freshman prodigy - he took over the game like he did then - before he had Bridgewater to share the load. Big D scores 42 pts, 5 rebs. 12 steals, 2 blocks
Noel 17 pts, 7 rebs, 8 steals, and 2 blocks. Berry 16 pts (4 rebs and 3 assts), Turiaf, Pulley, and Hubbard all with 10 (outscored A.F. 75 to 6 in 2nd half!!!)
for game outshoot the Falcolns 56% to 30% (best effort ever - was 80% to 11.6% in 2nd half) rebounds 34-32. plus we get 49 turnovers and 9 blocks (pulley and Thomas also with 2 each).

It was a 1pt game at the break -- one thing that helped spark the team was that Bobby Joe Bridgewater dressed out and sat on the bench in the 2nd half. They rallied and played the best team defense ever. Can we keep this up?

[skarface2k1]

great wins for the program.

[CincyFan]

very impressive wins with the injuries you have. it always seems that when someone goes down the other people go down. i don't think i ever had someone get injured and when he got back had other guy get injured. Its always ran together. or for at least me it has.

If you do keep it up it will be very impressive. I hope the walk on (Pulley) can play as good as he did at the beginning of the year.

[vols21]

Maybe the best game (closest game) since the historic win at Niagra in my first year at TCU (somewhere around page 3 on here?). The loss of Bridgewater and Holden leaves me without a true center and we take on a team that's won 2 of the last 3 conference tourneys....and a player named Nystrom who has earned a reputation of being a Frog Killer with his high scoring attacks when he plays us.

24-4 TCU at 9-16 Col. State:
This game was close the entire game. Neither team gained a double digit lead.
oh my, we trailed by 5 pts with under 2 minutes to go. Using our last time-out I challenged the team.....our undefeated league record was on the line. I looked freshman Alec Turiaf and told him when he hits a 3 pointer to make this a one possession game, he will be remember forever just as Hubbard is for his pressure packed free throws at that Niagra game. Then I looked at JP Desilos......"dude, you've risen to the occassion with almost 30 pts tonite. You can't stop now. This is your time to become an all-time TCU legend. Let's see what you guys are made of. Tough Defense - and get the ball to Big D." Turiaf does his part, he catched the inbounds pass and calmly hits a 3. Desilos steals the inbounds pass, scores and ties it up. Our defense clamps down once again and they come up empty. Desilos works for a good shot - then hits a J to take the lead with 28 secs left, and we hold on to win.

87-85. Best game in quite a while (in how close it was). Nystrom (the Frog Killer) almost did it again - 22 pts while Famutimi gets D/D (16pts /12 rebs). Great outgoing performance for the sr's.
Desilos willed the team to the win, 33 pts and 6 rebs. Turiaf 13 pts (none bigger than the 3's down the stretch as rallied). Hubbard 11 pts. Berry 5 pts and 5 rebs.

Coach Dean could not hide his excitement after the game. "I never lost confidence in these kids. It's amazing how well they played in a tight ballgame like this one since quite frankly, we are used to blowing other teams out. The loss of Bridgewater and Holden puts us in a bind (amazing the difference one player makes in how close the games are - whew). We can't stay as fresh as normal with a different rotation. Give Col. State credit, they played their hearts out in this game - our guys wanted to win it for Bobby Joe and keep our dreams of an undefeated conference record alive. We have one more game left, back at the pad for Senior Day against BYU.

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25-4 TCU vs 13-15 BYU on senior day: Jeanpierre and Moody joined the starting line-up for the game. TCU wins 67 - 47. win rebounds 44 to 39.
Desilos continues his tear as he scores 25 (8 rebs). Turiaf adds 16 and Thomas 10. Hubbard 6 rebs and 6 assts. Berry does not score but grabs 7 rebs.
It was like everyone assumed a role for the game and made it work. Despite crippling injuries down the stretch, this team pulled together and goes undefeated in MWC league play. We could use some time to rest up and heal, but the MWC tourney is up next. Don't think for one second that this team will just phone in a performance or take an early powder. We are in it to win. Hubbard and Desilos are showing that Bobby Joe Bridgewater is not the only star on this team. Desilos has scored big in every game since Bobby Joe went down - averaging over 30 pts a game. The other teams are going to double team and do everything they can to slow him down -- we'll need to remember that team ball is what has gotten us this far.

[CincyFan]

close win. Was that the game your team went from boys to Men? That game was just one example that will lead coach Dean to the All Time Great lists.

[skarface2k1]

good luck in the touney!

[chestnutz6]

24-4 TCU at 9-16 Col. State:
This game was close the entire game. Neither team gained a double digit lead.
oh my, we trailed by 5 pts with under 2 minutes to go. Using our last time-out I challenged the team.....our undefeated league record was on the line. I looked freshman Alec Turiaf and told him when he hits a 3 pointer to make this a one possession game, he will be remember forever just as Hubbard is for his pressure packed free throws at that Niagra game. Then I looked at JP Desilos......"dude, you've risen to the occassion with almost 30 pts tonite. You can't stop now. This is your time to become an all-time TCU legend. Let's see what you guys are made of. Tough Defense - and get the ball to Big D." Turiaf does his part, he catched the inbounds pass and calmly hits a 3. Desilos steals the inbounds pass, scores and ties it up. Our defense clamps down once again and they come up empty. Desilos works for a good shot - then hits a J to take the lead with 28 secs left, and we hold on to win.

Those two things made me laugh out loud.

[CincyFan]

vols21 don't listen to chestnutz6. He doesn't understand that a mid-major school they can complete and do all the little things of a major school. I think someone needs to do some puke runs for making fun of you write-ups lol

[vols21]

lol, guess I changed tense mid sentence and put a "d" instead of an "s" (making it spelled wrong if I intended it to be caught). As for DUDE, you can take me out of California, but guess u can't get the california out of me. But as long as I make people laugh (at least I didn't pick chewing gum up off the floor and put it back in my mouth).

And Cincy, I think you hit the nail on the head. The team matured and now they are men among boys. They showed they can win without the giant Bridgewater in the middle. They proved it even more in the MWC tourney. They didn't lay down or just take a loss to give them an extra week to heal up:

MWC TOURNEY GAMES:

TCU 79 - Col. State 64: team scoring - Desilos 18, Hubbard 15, Thomas and Taft 13, Bachman 10. Thomas 12 rebs (win 41-22) and Hubbard 8 rebs/5 asst.

TCU 80 - SDSU 77: Hubbard leads the team with 25 pts. Desilos, Turiaf, Thomas, and Taft all add double digits. Thomas 8 rebs.

TCU 75 - BYU 67: This team wanted to win the conference tourney for Bobby Joe and they did!! Desilos and Turiaf lead team with 17 pts. Berry 13, Thomas 12 (and 9 rebs)

many sports writers expected this to fold up, lose early and rest up for the Big Dance. This shows the character of this team, they never say die and win MWC 2nd year in a row.
the team suffered minor injuries to Bachman and Noel during the tourney - they are day to day with patellar tendonitis (14 days each). At the post game press conference, one sportswriter asks Coach Dean about his plans at the end of the season "coach, there is a lot of speculation about what Coach Bailey might do at Morehead State. have you given any thought to making a change?" Coach Dean looked him square in the eye "I will promise you only one thing. NO big speculation at the end of the year. No big suprise Leno appearances. I just signed the top recruiting class in the nation (or what will prove to be darn close if its not). I have Desilos coming back for his senior year. And oh yeah, one other guy told me he'll be coming back too because he has something more to prove: BOBBY JOE BRIDGEWATER. this decision is one that will take about 2 seconds to make, so don't blink.


(Spoiler alert: get ready for one of the emotional games EVER in the first round of the NCAA tourney. Anyone who has followed this team and grown attached to certain players might feel a few tugs at the old heartstrings. You could see the tears in eyes of many fans, coaches, press, and players. how's that for a teaser??????)

[CincyFan]

ohh i love trailers. I mean teaser's. Very impressive wins in conference play with that squeeker out of SDST. well i would say good luck in the tournament, but it looks as if luck was already on your side

[chestnutz6]

I don't care if you switch tenses, but is "catched" even a word? Hahahah

Can't wait to see what's going to happen. I'm an emotional rock =D

Hey Cincy, FU!

I thought people from Cali say "hella". I hate that with a passion. When I visited some old friends there everyone said hella, and it ******** me off.





Just kidding Cincy, I love you.

[CincyFan]

chestnutz6 what are u talking about. I coach the X-Men of Xaiver. I am not the coach of Fordham University

[chestnutz6]

Funny. But not really. I'll have an update up tonight BTW

[vols21]

Ok, here are your top 4 seeds.

Indiana top seed overall - East

Duke - Memphis regon (ranked #1 in polls)

Texas Tech - midwest

TCU - Phoenix region we play Florida A&M 18-14 (12-6 in Mideastern conf,)
As expected, Tennessee is the 3 seed in the west (Bama is the 2 seed). Could we see the rematch against the Vols we were all hoping for early in the season??
Will Bobby Joe Bridgewater be healed and ready to play soon? Stay tuned!!

Current TCU medical report: Bridgewater is still out for 9 more days. Noel and Bachman are listed day to day. Holden is on the shelf for at least 2 weeks. There are some good teams in our bracket. Since we only have 6 scholarship players healthy, another injury could be devastating.


some interesting news was made at the Press Conference as a few elite coaches announced they would retire at the end of the season - and a few teams that did not make the tourney fired their coaches.

Most notably the coach of Syracuse retired -- he's hoping this will motivate his team. They are a #2 seed in the Memphis region and are expected to do well. This announcement could put them over the top. He hasn't been there that long (but longer than Bobby Cremmins who retired a year after jumping to Marshal a couple years ago). Maybe they just go in to stabilize things and put another feather in their cap before going to the house for good.

Iowa had another disappointing season and fired their coach. They wasted no time saying they wanted to see Steve Alford return from UC Riverside and bring them back to greatness. Steve has worked wonders for the Santa Barbara team and has the Gauchos in contention every year

Other top name programs with openings for next year include DePaul, Pittsburgh, VA Tech. I'm sure these teams will be scouting the tourney games in hopes of signing on the more successful coaches. Closer to home, there will be a new face in the Mountain West Conference next year. There is very little coaching turnover in our little hotbed of action. Despite this being the 2nd year in a row that only one team made the NCAA tourney, AD's are reluctant to pull the trigger against the man in charge. But my good friend at the University of Wyoming has decided to step down. He's old enough to have earned the right to retire in peace. Early speculation is they plan to bring former Tennessee Coach Buzz Peterson out west to see if he can turn this program around the way he did at Coastal Carolina. They just missed out on the NCAA this year despite being a top 10 Mid-Major program (that dreaded conference tourney loss is deadly to the small schools).

(so yes, I have played ahead and gotten some insights on the coaching carousel - but that seems a bit more realistic since schools do use the tourney to search for and sign their new coaches - after he eventually gets knocked out. Might not be quite as good for our game though due to the timing and several offers taken before we finish our run. Plus since I have publically stated it will only take 2 seconds for me to make the decision, any insights from the peanut gallery out there on these jobs can be made during the tourney).


ROUND ONE ACTION WILL FOLLOW later this week. Do you have your hankies ready??
Expect one top seed to go down early! And several other upsets as we seem to have every year.

[skarface2k1]

YOU COACHES OUT THERE SEE MY BOYZ(INDIANA) GETTING THE BIG TIME RESPECT.THE NUMBER ONE OVERALL SEED IT SEEMS LIKE I AM LOOKING AT MY LEGACY!

[CincyFan]

yea but vols said a top seed goes down, and what he really means is that he doesn't want to break your heart that it was them that lost. Cause I know for a fact it wasn't TCU.

[skarface2k1]

yea but vols said a top seed goes down, and what he really means is that he doesn't want to break your heart that it was them that lost. Cause I know for a fact it wasn't TCU.
I read that part i was hoping it was someone esle!Cry out loud!!!

[vols21]

yeah, I just said to bring ur hanky -- I didn't say who we were going to cry for Argentina/

[vols21]

scores of interest around the NCAA's:
#16 IUPUI upsets #1 Indiana Hoosier in the opener 66-63!!
#13 Columbia takes down #4 Louisville 65-63.
Umass over #6 NC State
UAB over #3 Kansas 72-66. Uconn survives a scare from Jacksonville St *81-80.
bubble team GA Tech upsets #7 LSU.
UCLA had to go to OT to beat #12 Wright State

[vols21]

#1 TCU vs #16 Florida A&M: what an emotional rollercoaster of a game!!!! A&M played tough in the first half. The team was fatigued since we only had 6 healthy scholarship players (& Pulley)
What a lift in the second half, the cheers and tears as Bachman and Noel came out to play in the 2nd half….but that's not all folks. BOBBY JOE BRIDGEWATER returns from his injury early. he was supposed to be out 9 more days, yet he comes out in the 2nd half to play. And oh my stars - he rips off 8 pts in 2 minutes and looked a man above boys as he dominated. Coach Dean puts back in his rejuvenated starters and they are fired up - the crowd is really rocking now. Bridgewater's return provided a huge spark. The next series of events almost made me want to cry.
Bobby Joe returns to the game during a time-out. He quickly scores 4 more pts - when Joynes, their 6'9 294 PF slams Bobby Joe to the floor. Bridgewater holds his knee in pain. A silence fills the arena - you can see fans visibily weeping. Tears welled up in the players eyes. Then they just got f'n mad. You could see the fire in their eyes. Desilos started pointing at Joynes, big 7'0. 274 lb Rodney Pulley had to be physically restrained. During the time-out I reminded the team that this was NOT Miami. Donna Shalaha was not in charge, I AM. No rough stuff on the floor, there will be no brawls. Let's go out there and beat them where it counts the most.....on the scoreboard.
Desilos started pumping his fist in the air, the crowd responded - and omg, did this team respond. Their fallen leader returning to action is injured again, and they took out all their frustrations on the poor Rattlers. 30 unanswered pts in the next 5 minutes!!!!!!! (almost as many as FAM scores all game as it turns out).
Desilos scored 20 of those alone. Turiaf hits a couple 3's. FAM finally scores as the team is distracted by the doctor talking to Coach Dean on the sidelines. Folks, get ready for those tears again.......
The PA announcer told the standing crowd the following: Ladies and Gentlemen, now entering the ballgame #53 Bobby Joe Bridgewater!!! HOLY Smokes, this man is not human.
He's thinking he may never play again, and while he is on pure adrenalin he wants back in. His first order of business was to block a shot from Joynes into the cheap seats!!! He takes a pass and drives right over 2 defenders to slam it home. Bobby Joe acts like nothing is wrong. A missed shot from Hubbard and FAM runs a break, Desilos gets back, blocks the shot, fires the ball back down floor to who else…..BOBBY JOE BRIDGEWATER FOR THE SLAM. Total destruction.

After that shot, Bridgewater is limping and retires to the bench to a roaring standing ovation from fans, players, and media alike. We have witnessed a superhuman feat today folks. With two injuries, Bridgewater scores 18 pts, 4 rebs, 2 blocks in only 8 minutes of play in the 2nd half!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(our team shoots 65% for the half while FAM shoots 11% final score TCU wins 112 to 48. we shot 63% to their 36% (we were 8 of 16 from 3 pts as Turiaf earns his "3" icon for the game). Rebounds 30 apiece. We "only" force 30 turnovers.
Desilos led all scorers with 27. Turiaf had 19. Bridgewater and Berry 18 pts. Pulley and Thomas had 8 pts and 4 rebs each. 8 blocked shots for the game (they had NONE).
with all the goings on surrounding Bridgewater, I'm drained after this game.


OK State over Gonzaga to see who our next opponent will be. And no rematch as #14 E. Washington takes the measure of the Vols 65-56 - they face Georgetown next
Wisconsin vs Villanova is the other game in our bracket.

[vols21]

30-4 TCU vs #8 18-11 Oklahoma State (#25 RPI rated. Their 92 rated coach is 125-74 lifetime vs my 179-34 record. Why is he rated better??)

Spears, their 7'0 center, is 80 rated - he's gonna to be tough for Thomas and Pulley to contain. - and he was as OKST built a 15 pt lead early.
Bridgewater came in, slowed by the knee injury was gimpy on defense, but provided a spark that led TCU to catch up and trail by 1 at the half. 2nd half, Hubbard hits a 3 to open it - we go from there to a 6 pt lead. However, the Cowboys come back and tie, then take the lead 87-85. Back and forth action. Inside a minute, we try to feed the ball inside but the shot is no good. On the other side, hubbard steals a pass. 40 seconds to go, Hubbard lobs inside - shooooots scoreeeees. And that gentleman was FOULed….who was it….BOBBY JOE BRIDGEWATER!! He sinks the FT. Hubbard gets the ball as is fouled. He sinks 2.
OKST does not quit, they score, steal, and score. 2pt ball game with 2 seconds to go. Moody is fouled and he sinks the FT's to seal the win. 100-96.
I don't know about the team, but I am exhausted after these 2 games. Berry and Pulley foul out trying to guard Spears who ends up with 16 pts. McGrain, their 6'9 SF scores 18
They kill us in many categories. Assists 12-31. rebounds 25-42 (tied at 11 on off.rebs). Turnovers was only 37-20 in my favor. Not many teams get 20 steals off my guards
bench pts was 38 each. SO it's hard to say where we actually won this one. We fought back, made it a close game, and then relied on our stars to carry us home
Hubbard scores 22. Bridgewater 20. Desilos 17. Berry 10. Other players chipped in and contributed in ways that don't show up in the box score. Bridgewater is just amazing even just being able to play after the double injury in the last game - but he comes in and scores 20 pts, helping lead this team back from a double digit deficit.
ok so maybe I will pinpoint where the game was won. OKST was 0-1 from 3pt. We shot 6 of 17. We also made 4 more FT's (12/16 to their 8 of 15). Those 10 pts prove very BIG!


other scores:
#16 IUPUI continues the cinderella story! Beats #8 Provivence 55-54 They face George Washington next - who ended Columbia's cinderella bid 79-53.
#11Umass knocks off #3 Maryland 70-51. They get UNC who beat #7 Standford 71-50.
#1 Duke ekes out a win over Cincinnatti 82-79, #5 Uconn over #13 UAB 67-59
Syracuse will meet #6 Illinois in the other as both manhandled their opponents (GA Tech and Oklahoma). Illi walloped the former #1 team 75-44
#1 Texas Tech gets by Florida 64-55. That sets up a dream match with #5 UCLA who edged pac 10 rival Arizonia
#2 vs #3 in the bottom half. Minnesota runs by Washington 64-57 while #3 Arkansas crushed #6 Seton hall 81-39
#12 Villanova destroyed #4 Wisconsin 61-38. WE face them next
The other dream match at the lower half has #2 Alabama vs #6 Georgetown. Football power vs basketball power
Bama edged by top mid-major school Santa Clara 66-64 while Hoyas got by E. Washington 60-52.

[CincyFan]

well at least you have a couple days to rest up for the next game against Villanova. Why they are ranked #12 seed is weird, but keep it up.

a little inside to my season (TCU falls out of top 25 the next with with a loss)

[vols21]

TCU vs Nova -- another tough game, but we battle back and win 77-75
Bridgewater comes off the bench again and roars with 27 as he starts to feel better. Hubbard another 16. Desilos slacks at 10, but he has carried the load for awhile - and the object of many double-teams

other scores:

#5 GW ends IUPUI's dreams in a big way - 63-39
#2 UNC rolls past Umass 79-57 - Coach Roy Williams has his team back in contention after a few years of drought
in Memphis it will be #1 Duke vs #2 Syracuse. Duke ousts Uconn 68-54 and Syracuse edges Illini 61-57
In Indy, #5 UCLA upsets #1 Texas Tech 71-51 and #3 Arkansas over #2 Minnesota. UCLA vs Arkansas looks like a good game as both are 90 rated.
Georgetown got by Bama in OT by 4 pts.

WE have the Hoyas in the Phoenix regional
The Hoyas are a senior laden team and their players have better ratings at each position except SF (Desilos at 84 ties Rogers for them)
At center, they boast 7'1 275 lb Garnett with an 86 rating. We can expect another war inside. Their forwards could play offensive line for some college teams (avg 289 lbs)

TCU vs Georgetown: we set the tempo early as we face another Big East team. I knew we couldn't pound it inside all night, so we played uptempo. Not so much fast breaks, but pushing the ball up the floor.
Desilos did lead a couple breaks for big dunks to fire the team up. We quickly found out they were not as fast as the OKST cowboys were. Big stats of the first half were
we only had ONE FOUL (with 2 minutes to go a stupid reach in) and we shot 12 of 14 from FT line. We were able to stifle their inside game with tough deny the ball man to man and took 20 pt lead.
Bridgewater comes off bench to score 9 pts - all from FT line. One downside to first half is the glue of the team Hubbard comes up lame with Shin Splints. We will evaluate in the lockerroom.
Free throws were plentiful again the 2nd half, but we missed as many as we hit (7 of 13 in half: 19 of 27 for game. This is a throwback game to 2 years ago when we got 20+ FT's a game).
Georgetown was on their game in the 2nd half, scoring seemingly at will (shot 60% for half vs 40% in first). However, we were able to match them point for point and even extend our lead.
Final Score TCU wins 105-72. rebounds a respectable 27-36 (considering how they rocked us early). We win turnovers 36-8. Both teams with 4 blocks
Desilos leads us with 25 pts and 4 rebs. Bridgewater another 23 pts and 5 rebs off the bench. Berry, Hubbard, and Turiaf all score double digits. Noel, Berry, and Bachman nab 4 rebs each.
For Hoyas, Their Giant Garnett finishes with 18 pts (most in 2nd half) and 7 rebs. PG Kapono with 17. Juan Barea with 15 pts (SG). 7'0 SF Rogers adds 10 pts and 10 rebs.

In other regional Finals with winners advancing to Charlotte for Final Four
George Washington over UNC 76-74. What a classic game that was in Worcester
Duke routs Syracuse 81-58 in Memphis
UCLA squeaks by Arkansas 66-65 in Indy.
and of course TCU routsGeorgetown 105-72

The final 4 will have GW at 25-7 (12-4) from the A10 taking on the TCU Horned Frogs at 33-4 (16-0) from the MWC in battle of smaller schools
meanwhile Duke 29-6 (13-3) of ACC meets 25-10 (11-7) UCLA of Pac 10 in battle of all-time great college programs. This final 4 has something for everyone!!
with the week in between games, we will have a rare sight at the start of the game against George Washington…..every TCU player will be healthy!!!! Holden and Hubbard are due back mid-week.

[skarface2k1]

this final four will be a good couple of games.The winner of Duke and UCLA will be a great matchup for either of the TCU or GW teams.Great run at the title.Good luck with the rest of the NCAA.I am sitting here bitting my nails waiting to see what happens.

[knox33]

TCU vs Nova -- another tough game, but we battle back and win 77-75

Way to pull it out in the tournament. Pulling out close wins like that will prove beneficial in the long run.

[vols21]

Way to pull it out in the tournament. Pulling out close wins like that will prove beneficial in the long run.

in years past, we won most of our games by a large margin (and early this year too, until I tweaked the sliders a bit). It is more fun to play some squeakers like this - just call us the Cardiac Frogs. :lol:

Those close games late in the season has given us the confidence in games like these. Because at this stage, if don't win the close game you GO HOME. I can tell the team is a tad overconfident going into the George Washington game - even Bonnie picked up on it in her pre-game report. But rest assured, I will set them straight in the lockerroom before the tip-off. Even I'm looking forward to playing against UCLA or Duke for the national title, but c'mon guys.....you have to win this one first......one game at a time, remember!!!!! We've just got to pretend we're already playing against one of them. GW has a lot of talent and you don't get to the final four on luck alone.

[vols21]

this final four will be a good couple of games.The winner of Duke and UCLA will be a great matchup for either of the TCU or GW teams.Great run at the title.Good luck with the rest of the NCAA.I am sitting here bitting my nails waiting to see what happens.

I agree - we'll have a great final four and no matter the outcome of the games we'll have a David vs Goliath game in the Finals. SO before you bite your fingernails into the quick, let's start the Final Four..........


TCU vs George Washington:
strange first half. Rare time that another shoots more and makes more FG's than me - yet we lead by 10 pts (18 of 21 FT's - they hack Bridgewater to death and he has 16 pts at break, mostly from the Free Throw line).
win 104-82. Colonials did not read the scouting report or they'd know we come out running in the 2nd half - we extend lead to 20 in short fashion. We needed all those pts as GW roars back to within 5!! But that last burst took a lot of them, my starters returned fresh and took control. Despite a couple little runs, we salt the game away.
Bridgewater 22 pts, Desilos 20 pts and 6 rebs. , Berry 14, Turiaf 13, Holden returns and gives us 12 pts and 6 rebs. Hubbard also has 10 quiet pts.
we outshot them 55% to 53%, (23 of 30 FT's too). Turnovers and rebounds were exactly the same 25-35. it was the 20 more FT's that was the difference.
Duke vs UCLA: Duke wins 69-56 to set up a rematch from last year's national title game. Their all-american Anis Nelson scores 28 pts in this victory.

TCU vs Duke once again. Coack K and I have spilt the previous 2 games where we faced each other in the NCAA's. This will be rubber match. There will be another much anticipated match-up in the game as Duke's 7'0 PF Anis Nelson will go head to head against TCU's 7'0 Bobby Joe Bridgewater -- two of the nation's best players. We also have J P Desilos who stepped up his game in Bridgwater's absence. Duke has a talented supporting cast as well. We'll rely on freshman stand-out Berry to guard their senior all-world Nelson, but he'll have some help from Bobby Joe and others. I don't think any one man can guard Nelson one-on-one.....he's just that good. We designed a defense last year that helped Bridgewater shut down both of Duke's Giants (Paul and Nelson) holding them 10 pts under their averages. In a move / counter-move, I'm sure Coach K will be ready for that defense again, so we'll need to be ready to counter whatever new offense he brings in. It should be a whale of a game!!

[vols21]

well at least you have a couple days to rest up for the next game against Villanova. Why they are ranked #12 seed is weird, but keep it up.



I went back to check this out. they were 23-14 but only 5-11 in the Big East. Their 64 RPI got them into the Big Dance.....but just barely. With a conference record like that, I think there'd be an outcry if they made it for real (since teams usually have to have a .500 record to make the tourney). sort of like this year's Arkansas.

On the other hand a team that deserves to be the most upset about Nova is Michigan. They were 19-12 (6-10) and had a 29 RPI. However, they were left holding the bag and watched the games on TV. (Ohio State's RPI was 39 with a near .500 record overall). I think the computer gives the Big 10 too much credit - they also had 3 teams in top 10 of RPI. (Big East got 9 teams in the tourney, but their RPI's were not quite as impressive). Duke personally knocked 3 of those teams out along the way to the Championship game. 9 seems a bit much for any league -- especially since Nova was one of them and 18-13 (10-6) West VA also made the bubble. ACC only got their top 7 teams in -- two teams with top 30 RPI's were left out (Wake Forest at 19-12 (8-8) and Virginia who was 16-15 so that makes sense). Wake should be there over WVA imho. Or even better, take another smaller school.

[skarface2k1]

great win!Now it is time for the main event.will you get your second title in two years or will you just be a runner up.Good luck!Bring home the hard wood.

[vols21]

NATIONAL TITLE GAME: 34-4 TCU vs 30-6 Duke:

Coach K made a little switch moving Nielson to Center and inserting 6'11 Paul at PF (sitting 7'1 freshman center Lang who banged his knee in the last game). This duo avg. 39 ppg combined during the season.
That actually worked to my favor as Bridgewater clamped down on Neilson who only scores 7. Paul gets loose once Berry goes down and puts in 20. (Berry, my PF, broke his foot 2 minutes into the game!!!! that opened the door for Paul to run wild on my 2nd team forwards. SG, Little shot 4/7 from 3pt to add 19 for Duke.

For TCU, Desilos hit 15 pts. 10 rebs (7 of 10 FT). Bridgewater 13 pts / 7 rebs. Hubbard 11 pts. Our team focused on defense and spread the ball around on offense (4 other players near double digits). Desilos also holds all-ACC SF McBride below his avg. and Hubbard holds Flowers to only 2pts (on his 10 ppg avg). Exciting as we out-rebound them 38-30!!

The game came down to the final minute with Duke leading by 1. We work it around, and get the ball to Bridgewater underneath for the jam - we lead by 1. Duke on the other end also patiently works the ball around, Neilson sets a pick for Paul, with 5 seconds left, he shoots for the win......NOOOOO!!!! BLOCKED BY BOBBY JOE BRIDGEWATER!!! Desilos scoops up the loose ball and is quickly fouled. He hits the front end of the 1 and 1, but misses the second. Duke rebounds and fires a desparation shot that just falls short.
TCU wins the game. 64-62 (Berry, who broke his foot 2 minutes in, is the only Horned Frog not jumping for joy!).

One of the most exciting title games in history.
Coach K shakes my hand after the game, he mutters something and asks for a favor. Can't hardly hear over the roar of the crowd, but "sure Coach K, anything for you - I have some souvineers I want you to autograph too". I hold the Championship trophy high for all the fans to see then pass it on to Bridgewater and Desilos to celebrate.
In the post game press conference, Coach K thanks his players for another great season. Congratulates us, then abruptly announces his retirement and then shocks the world and me when he announces he wants Coach Dean to take over for him - and that I had already accepted!! WTF!!!!!

[skarface2k1]

are you heading to DUKE?Great win!Let us know what is up.

[vols21]

It was bizzare - after the title game it went straight to the coaches carousel. I wanted to save it, so I tried to exit the carousel and save the game. As a result, I selected yes to Duke's offer and YES, I have replaced the legendary Coach K at Duke. Why did I think I could save the game first and have time to think about the decision??? Oh well, there aren't many more elite college programs to go to (UNC, UCLA, or Kentucky jump to mind as other elites). I'll do my time here in a power conference and in a few years be looking for a smaller place to go hang my hat and build back. One thing is for sure, with 2 all-american candidates (Bridgewater and Desilos, 4 MWC-All Freshman, and 4 awesome recruits, I have left TCU in good position where they should be a national if not regional power for years to come). The Pittsburgh Coach took my place there.


some post season Awards:
Desilos is named All-American; leads NCAA in steals
Hubbard 2nd team allConf.
Berry, Turiaf, Holden, and Noel make all frosh team. Berry is MWC freshman of the year
Desilos and Bridgewater make all MWC team

Bridgewater ends with 18.2 pt, 4.2 rebs. 1.7 blocks to lead team.
UPSET in MWC player of the year……..his play at the end of the year to carry the team put him over the top I guess: J P Desilos - MWC player of the year

Arkansas's 7'0 Center Jamual Fullova wins National Player of the year.
Duke's 7'0 PF Anis Nelson wins 2k Sports Player of year (first time ever I had a split on the award)

Hubbard graduates with 82 rating but does not go pro. He has 11.2 ppg, 2.4 rbg, 3.1 asst, 3.5 steals. What a great year. I tip my hat to the man who started this program
Hubbard ends career with 1184 career points, 459 assists and 453 steals (TCU bests - although Desilos will break the steals record next year since he 442)
Desilos also stands to break Kampman's career points totals at TCU (1951) as he finishes his JR year with 1881. I'm sad that I won't be here to see it happen.
Maybe we can get TCU on the early schedule and might just get lucky enough to be there and present the game ball to him when he does it.

This was a very strange ending to a great year. I hate to leave TCU especially with the recruits I have coming in. I have competed head to head with Duke every year for top recruits - they win some and I win some. They have 2 scholarships left (K offered one to the #38 player in the country, a 6'8 PF. With Anis Neilson returning, and another solid PF on the bench he doesn't seem to be an instant need. It's going to be an interesting couple of years (or until I get another offer I like -- I've already shown I can walk away from a top team so I will do it again when the time is right)

[chestnutz6]

Wow interesting twist.

[skarface2k1]

i am sorry about what happened.Good luck in North carolina.Welcome to the power schools.

[vols21]

Well things could be worse. The team I just inherited is quite possibly the greatest assembly of talent since Jordon's Bulls (or Shaq's Lakers, etc.). They are a sight to behold with FOUR PRESESASON ALL-AMERICANS! Only two seniors on the team, so if those four also jump pro, it'll leave a big hole next year. BUT until then, let's look at all the preseason hoopla:

In the all-star game my 2 new guys Reece and Ravello scored 8 pts each. Reece grabbed 11 rebs while the center Reece only got 3. both project at a 77 rating/

Recruiting:
As expected and predicted by Coach Bailey, TCU lands the #1 recruiting class (although I'm sure I'll get no credit for it). Duke comes in at #2 with five 5* players
We sign 3 all-americans/Mr Basketballs. #1 vernard bailey from Fayeteville NC (he was 70% interested when I took over, but worked him and won him over from NC state, BC, and Texas) He is a 7'1 SF and will redshirt (since I have 3 SF's that rate better than him).
#3 Herschel Reece a 6'11 PF at 251 lbs. #4 Jon Revello 6'11 232 Center from Napierville Ill. Derike Hoyer #26 overall and #6 SG was a late addition by me (only had 1 SO SG who is 89 rated)
the other player is #32 overall and #6 PF, Aswan Baskauskas from Michigan. He is 6'10 and 229 lbs. Coach K thought a lot about him to offer a scholarship before he left. WE'll See
other top classes are #3 Boston College, Syracuse, Texas, UCLA, Washinton, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri in the top 10
Georgetown, Oregon, NC State, Florida, Michigan, Colorado, Maryland, W.VA, Cincy, and Vandy round out top 20
Other teams of interest: San Diego State comes in at 26 and New Mexico at 28 (from my old MWC). College of Charleston pulls in a #40 ranking!! I got a 5 star, 4 star, and two 3 stars to fill this squad. I'm excited about this recruiting job - done at a school where I sim every game and did not make the NCAA last year. Sherrod, the 5 star SG, could dominate the Southern Conference this year. If things get boring at Duke, I might just switch teams midstream. lol.
UNC is #41, Tennessee 51, UK 53 (WKU is 55!)
Xavier gets 4 3* and lands around 100. Poor Morehead stats mired near the bottom - just not the same without our hero coach there.

schedule looks to be tough enough with a few cupcakes mixed in...
AD gets my rematch with Tennessee in the break between games of the College Basketball Experience - in Cameron Indoor. I won't have Bridgewater for the game, but I suspect I'll have enough talent to make the game a tad more interesting than last year.
Our only road trip is to TCU (hope in time for Desilos record breaking game) and Syracuse.
then a HUGE home game on Christmas Day vs UCLA. We also drew Michigan State (ranked #4 preseason) from Big 10 and West VA (#20). Late road game at Notre Dame on March 3. sandwiched between Wake Forest, Boston College and season finale at UNC, that could be a spoiler game for us.

In Midnight madness, Neilson lit up the Freshmen for 21 pts and 11 rebs. Little shows why he is a star getting 18 (4 of 7 FT).
Coach K's boy (as he will always be known since his name is too long to write out) Baskauskas - scores 19. He was only freshman that really did well.

2k Preview Show: Top 25: Duke, Uconn, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Arizonia, TCU #5, Washington, Gatech, UCLA, (UT at 18, Louisville 25)
4 preseason all-americans!!! Flowers, Shaq Little, McBridle, and Neilson, - Bobby Souchu of Colorado was center (7'3 308 lbs)
2nd team sees Garrity (Wisconsin), Salazar (bama), Neal (LSU), Adingono of Tennessee (7'0 PF), Majak Gai of Ncstate 7'1 248 center
(NOTE: we'll get to two of these players these year)

Jr Little SG 91 6'7
Sr McBridle - SF 90 6'9 224
JR Flowers PG 89 5'11
Jr Neilson PF 89 7'0 239
JR Roller SF 85 6'9 257
SR Webber SF 82 6'9 222
SO Lang C 81 7'2 221
Fr Bailey SF 80 7'3 247
So Kennedy PG 80 6'1
Fr Ravello C 78 7'0 239
FR Reece PF 77 6'11 251
FR K's boy PF 74 6'10 238
FR Hoyer SG 73 6'6


and for those interested in the FAB FOUR I signed at TCU:
Whitted SG, rated a 77 (so he won't jump to the starting line-up over Turiaf and Bachman). Baker the 7'2 PF is 77 (just behind Berry at 79)
Barro, PG is 76 - Taft at 77 will start ahead of him. Baldwin the 7'2 center rates 76. He bumps Holden to the bench and can spell Bobby Joe Bridgewater (81 rating). Desilos is 86 rated SF.
We'll keep an eye on these guys over the years to see how they pan out.

[vols21]

Season kicks off with a bang -

1st game of year in College Basketball Experience in Kansas City against Harvard - easy win 92-62
21 assists and 30 rebounds. Shoot 48% (and held them to 47% despite a 10 for 10 spurt toward the end). Also we get 8 blocks
Neilson led with 17 pts, Little 16 pts, Roller off the bench with 10 (and 2 of the blocks). Lang 8 pts, 5 boards, and 3 blocks
Flowers all-round good game with 8 pts, 5 rebs, 3 asssts, and 3 steals. Not the usual Coach Dean defense with only 21 steals, but we played solid in every aspect.
Chattanooga is up next (maybe Washington - an old arch rival awaits after that, if they get by San Jose and utah/UCR winner)

Duke vs Chattanooga. Blue Devils roll 81-55 in 2nd round action. Neilson leads with 22 pts and 10 rebs. Little 15 pts, 9 rebs, and 5 assts. Lang blocks 3 shots (6 blocks for team).

Next game is my awaited rematch from last year against #18 Tennessee. The eyes of the nation will be on this game for the marquee match-up between Duke's All-American Neilson and the Vols 2nd team AA Adingono (the 2K sportscenter preseason report noted that many expect Adingono could be a first-teamer. He'll get his chance to prove it - as will Neilson get a chance to show why he is the best player in the country.....he split that title last year and wants it all for himself this year.
Then it's back to KC for the tourney where we'll meet #3 Washington. and possibly #13 Texas A&M in the finals.

[vols21]

#1 Duke vs #18 Tennessee - much anticipated match up of Adingono vs Neilson (1st and 2nd team preseason All-Americans at PF. Both 7'0. Adingono is 20 lbs heavier so he might bull his way around.
we built a 27 pt lead, but the Vols charged back to cut the lead to 10 with 3 minutes to go. My starters came back in and answered the call to win 102-83.
The defense had held their scoring to around 40% until their late run lifted them to 52%. Duke shot 54% and 10/11 FT (91%) 31-28 rebounds and we block 8 shots! (both teams 10 off. Rebs)

Adingono gets in foul trouble early and is held to 9 pts. SF's Jorguson and Felder step up for Vols to score 18 pts each. Tayborn sparkled at PG with 12 pts and 10 dish.
Neilson sparkled in the national spotlight - 29 pts. Flowers12 pts. Shaq Little (SG) 10 pts, 3 rebs, 4 assts and 3 steals for another solid game.
in all, 6 devils in double digits. Lang leads with 6 rebounds and Ravello 2 blocks. (6 others with 1 each). This was a little payback for the game last year (felt better before their late run).

[skarface2k1]

great win!It's just hard to see you at DUKE.Here it is i was ready to leave Indiana and go to a mid-major because of you and my friend at Morehead,but now you guys are at the power level with me.keep the winning up.

[vols21]

great win!It's just hard to see you at DUKE.Here it is i was ready to leave Indiana and go to a mid-major because of you and my friend at Morehead,but now you guys are at the power level with me.keep the winning up.

Coach Bailey hasn't made that move yet - but there COULD be an annoucement after this tourney. I didn't exactly want to leave yet. I wanted to stay there another year or 2 and finish with my prized recruit and best name ever ... Bobby Joe Bridgewater (ranks up there with Tennessee's back-up QB Jim Bob Cooter - for real!). Plus I wanted at least a year with the top recruiting class in the nation that I just signed. It's funny that this year a lot of the recruiting battles have been between me and TCU. TCU is the top choice for the #1 player in the nation (but that silly coach from Pittsburgh hasn't been able to seal the deal). But in the end, this is DUKE for crying out loud, Much like your Hoosiers, or UNC, UK, UCLA, it's an elite program with a storied past. I had to punch my ticket sometime at a power school. Not often you inherit 4 preseason All-Americans (which I think just means they are the highest rated player at their position - no way all 4 can get the numbers to end up there). I expect to possible lose a ton of underclassmen at the end of the year. So once we rebuild them and a fun team pops up with an opening, I'll make the jump back down to a smaller school. TCU was a fun place to be. I want to work that same magic on another college and will just weigh my options when they become available -- after next year, I'll be looking for lots of feedback on the coaching carousel (not sure how I'll get to it and be able to save it yet, but I'll think of something).

[vols21]

#3 Washington vs #1 Duke (College Experience tourney) in Kansas City, MO. If we are going to be tested all year, this might be the game. Washington is tough rival for me. Very close first half with 10 lead changes. Biggest lead of either team was Duke with 6 pt lead at break.
We explode out of the gate in the 2nd half to win 99-78. Neilson struggled against their tough defense (8 of 23 FG) but scores 21 (only had 4 in first half) 3 rebs, 8 steals.
Flowers big 19 pts in the first half (and game). Lang has 17 plus 2 blocks. Little with 11 and McBridle 9 pts, 5 rebs, 3 assts, 3 steals.
Huskies shoot 54% while we tally 46% (after a dismal 20% in opening minutes). Crushed on the boards 22-43 (like happens most games vs Huskies)
We went to our depth and up-tempo game after the initial stall. That paid dividends in 2nd half as we ran up a big lead. We play Texas A&M in the tourney finals

#13 Texas A&M vs #1 Duke (college experience finals) crush! 122-72 shooting 59% FG and hold them to 54%
Flowers is player of the game scoring 32, 2 rebs, 4 assts, and 10 steals before giving way to the 2nd team. Hoyer scores first points of year in reserve (ends with 7pts, 3 rebs, 2 assts).
Neilson puts up 32 as well, only 2 rebs. He struggled in first half but exploded in 2nd. McBridle and Little add 13 each. Little leads with 5 rebs.. Lang 3 boards and 3 blocks.


Neilson is slower than most PF's I've coached before and is tougher to play with because of that (different style). But he is very talented and for some reason has become a 2nd half star after struggling in the first - wondering if I should just bench him for the opening stanza to help his FG %.

WE have the new #3 team Michigan State next week, and then the big road trip to Ft Worth where we face my old team TCU. I expect that to be a dogfight. They were upset once this year and are ranked #11.

[skarface2k1]

great wins it's seems like you are enjoying yourself in North Carolina.Good couple of wins.

[knox33]

Well I'm back. So much has happened since I left. Congrats on winning it all and accepting the new job at Duke (although you wer ultimately kinda forced into it). Your team is looking quite outrageous so far. I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.

[vols21]

Well I'm back. So much has happened since I left. Congrats on winning it all and accepting the new job at Duke (although you were ultimately kinda forced into it). Your team is looking quite outrageous so far. I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.


Good to see you back. We're all interested in what happens at Morehead State as well.

Meanwhile, Duke continues to rolllllll...............


Duke blasts Davidson
won 82-58. Neilson rips 24 and 7 rebs. McBridle 15. Lang 3 more blocks

Blue Devils scatch out a win over #3 Michigan State
win 83-81. Neilson another 26 pts in the national spotlight. Mcbridle 10 pts and 7 rebs. Lang 7/7. outrebound them 36-33. WE have the game pretty much in hand, but they made a late rally. We hit our free throws when it counted.

simmed game vs #24 West VA, and team pulls out anolther win -
win 69-50 as Neilson pours in 25 and 6 rebs. Lang 15 /7, Flowers 10 pt, 3 reb, 5 asst, 2 steals. Little leads team with 8 rebs. Lang 4 blocks.

Coach Dean brags on his team's performance the past week. In Wins over ranked teams like Michigan State and West VA, Neilson is asserting himself on the national stage. Plus It's nice to see a different player step up each time out to provide support. Lang is becoming a blocking machine!!!

With such a talented team of underclassmen, recruiting is not too easy. The elite players think they might not get very much playing time. I have thought about not signing anyone during the early signing period to keep everyone's interest high - in case I have 3 or 4 guys jump pro at the end of the season. The other option is to sign 2 guys who can help at different positions now, and then see what is left afterward - crossing that bridge when we get to it. A couple times each game, I put in all the young guys who will for sure be coming back next season. Playing together now will help prepare them for next year and lets me see how they will do. PG Kennedy is starting to emerge as a leader on the court. Hoyer is finally gaining some confidence in his shot. Reece and "Coach K's boy" alternate at PF spelling Nielson and both have their bright moments. With last year's #1 player, SF Bailey, red-shirted, I can rest knowing we'll be alright even if all my stars leave. (it would have been fun to play him this year and have three 7 footers roaming the court, but he would have been the 4th string SF and sure that wouldn't have sat well with him).

[vols21]

Recruiting News: Coach Dean opts for the "safe strategy" and takes the birds in hand. Duke signs 2 (both available scholarships used):

First was Torin McCrommon, the #1 PG (#15 overall) he's rated A- offense, A+ shooting, A- Rebounding, A Hustle, A leaping, A+ Quickness, and A- IQ. With good potential. He should be able to step in next year if Flowers jumps Pro.

We chased #3 Erick Swain, the top SG in country but he signed with Prov. Providence is signing a bumper crop this year and could be a contender if they all pan out. Coach Dean steams about losing this recruit (especially since the favorite of the Blue Devil faithful, Little, might be jumping ship at the end of the season.

So midstream shift got us "Mr Ohio" Elmore Root from Cincinnati. At 6'11 277 lb, he is the top center and #14 overall. B+ ratings for offense, shooting, rebounding. A on leaping, IQ, and quickness. Great potential
He might have to grow into his position, but that is fine since I expect Lang will stay with us and also have Ravello to back him up. He could help at PF too in a pinch though!!!

Both guys we signed were tops at their position, but not "top 10" overall. There's a plethora of SF's coming out of high school this year and we signed the top dog there last year. We are staying in touch with the top player overall, Mr. Wisconsin (currently 5th on his list, having dropped after using all our scholarships up) as well as a couple more top SG's (Hoyer keeps improving, but he has struggled to adapt to the big time - so I don't want him to be all alone if Little does go Pro.....and with a 91 rating, I have to assume that to happen). I fully expect to lose 3 Jr players to the pros (Flowers, Little, and Neilson) since they will have 90+ ratings by the end of the year along with my two Sr SF's McBridle and Webber. Roller, 85 rated, made some grumblings about jumping - but I think both he and Lang will stick around. If Roller decides to go, I will have 7'3 Bailey waiting in the wings. While he might not start right off, Bailey will get plenty of playing time - possibly even some time at PF (he clocks in at 247 lbs). Back-up center, 7'0 Ravello has played some at PF this year to get a feel for it - just in case I want or need to GO BIG next season and roll out three 7 footers. I'm hoping Bailey shows the diversity of Desilos at TCU (who even played the point). If that proves true, I could put him at guard and with Reece at 6'11 currently, we could have four 7 footers roaming the floor. Ah, but that just dreaming about next year and what possibilities we have. We still have this season to play - a team with 4 all-americans, undefeated, and ranked #1. We have a good chance to run the table with this talent even if we do have the toughest schedule. The upcoming road games will tell a lot about how the season will go.....

WE go to #11 TCU and #13 Syracuse.
Both these game have personal importance and we can expect large overflow SRO crowds for them. Possible even a few rabid fans as well -- seeing as how I left TCU to take this job at Duke......and I turned down Syracuse flat when they made the offer. And I may have made a few disparranging remarks about the Big East schools along the way (how they are over-rated).
TCU was ranked #2 after they waltzed into Arizonia and handed the Wildcats their only loss of the season. But then they dropped a game to Kansas and dropped out of the top 10. This national championship game rematch (from last 2 seasons) is sure to be a doozy. It'll be good to see my old players and no idea how the crowd will react. :D

after these games, we have a week off to rest and prepare for the Christmas Day Showdown vs UCLA (undefeated and currently ranked #2).

[vols21]

NATIONAL TITLE REMATCH - goes into Overtime!

#1 Duke at #11 TCU - we start fast scoring first 10 pts of game. But TCU has been trained well in the art of the comeback and had several runs making it a 4 pt game at half.
Once again we extend our lead to double digits in 2nd half, but it was short-lived as TCU roared back - they have good depth as we do and used that to their advantage in the run,
With a minute to go, TCU takes a 1 pt lead. Flowers shoots the 3 ball on our end to give us the lead, but Desilos ties the game at 67 all as time expired. Overtime was quite exciting, and once again Duke charges out to a commanding lead. This time we held off their charge and win 85-79.

Bridgewater was held quiet with 6 pts and 9 rebs. Their talented Freshmen trio: Baker 8 rebs, Whitted 11 pts, Barro 8 pts. Desilos led the frogs with 13 pt, but the same very balanced scoring I used to get there(8 guys with 8+ pts).
Neilson was very quiet most of the game but took control in the closing minutes and in OT to score 20 (only 2 in first half). McBridle scored 18 (all in first half)
Little 15, Flowers 12, and Lang 11. Neilson had 3 blocks as did Reece (9 for the team!! TCU had 5 - two by Bridgewater and also by Desilos).
the rematch of the national title game was as close as everyone expected. Good, tough road game for our team.

Coach Dean was appreciatvie of the kind reception he was given - much like a heroes welcome. The national championship rings were passed out in a pregame ceremony. J. P. Desilos broke Kampman's record for career scoring at TCU and was honored during the game as well. This was a grand homecoming. NOW, we have to turn our attention to what will be a more hostile environment - The Carrier Dome in Syracuse NY.

[vols21]

#1 Duke at #13 Syracuse:
the road doesn't get any easier as we go to the carrier dome to face the Orange - and a team that I turned down flat when they offered me a job.
Syacuse was fired up with a rabid crowd (reminding me of other visits to NY for a feud game with Niagra) and scored the first 10. Flowers lit up the 3 ball early to catch us back up.
we explode in 2nd half (almost a broken record, but my inspiring half time pep talks must have some kind of effect!) going on 17-4 run. We win 109-66


both teams shooting well over 50% (we were 13 of 23 56% from 3pt!!!) - killed on rebounds 42-19 (they ruled the boards getting 9 offense and 33 defense to our 7/12).
40 steals limited their attempts. I get upset at my team at times because the ball hits them in the hands and they can't catch it, yet we still get a ton of steals.
Flowers leads team with 25 pts. McBridle has another great game with 21 pts. Neilson a quiet 19 and 6 rebs, 2 blocks. Little has a double - double 16 pts and 12 steals!!! Kennedy 12 pts.

interesting stat, every player on the team has at least ONE STEAL!! Now if we can just get everyone rebounding and scoring.
this road win in a hostile environment shows just how dominant this team can be.
Syracuse shot 62% in first half, but wilted in 2nd to "only" 48% (it seems they could shoot 100% and it doesn't matter -- they just don't get very shots off against our tough defense). Duke went from 47% to 59%. We're getting a reputation as a 2nd half team.

We have a week off to prepare for the Christmas Day Showdown against UCLA. Other games against santa clara (last year's top mid-major), San Jose, and LaSalle will help prepare us for the conference schedule ahead. Not a lot of activity on the boards these days, so I may just play ahead several games and post an overview - especially once I hit the ACC.

[vols21]

Since there is not a lot of posting activity these days, I thought I'd share a few notes on my shadow legacy at CofC. I only play a couple games a season for them (whenever the players start griping about playing time - that let me get them all into the game).
I use trophy room to switch over to them every couple weeks to do a little recruiting (since the AI recruited NO ONE when left alone, lol)

CofC is currently 20-3!! They losses at Rutgers, vs Toledo, and conference rival Chattanooga. However, they sit atop the Southern Conf by 2 games over Elon and UTC.

With the signing of 5 star recruit Earl Sherrod last year, this team was ranked #1 preseason in the league. Sherrod is #2 scorer in the league with 12.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg. SR PF Drake McElroy has 11.1 ppg and 6.3 rpg. Whitted has 10 ppg at PG. Highly recruited SF Austin Paul is having a bit of a soph. jinx but still adding 8.2 ppg. Freshman center Atila O'Brien is learning his craft - 6.9 ppg and 6 rpg. At 6'9, he's the smallest center in the league - but he's been making up for that with his heart and hustle. (he was a 4 star recruit last year).

CofC did not match last year's recruiting success this time around, but landed some good players nonetheless with a couple 3 star players:
Bo Mascoll - 5'11 PG from Atlanta GA (#229 overall, #40 PG)
He has B ratings across the board except for A in shooting and A- in leaping. He could turn out to be diamond in the rough.
Ronni Hancock - 6'5 SF from New Orleans, LA (#348 overall, #79 SF)
He's B/B+ across the board. He'll provide some relief for Paul (who's 6'10). With Witherspoon also here next year at SF, Ronni could be redshirted while he develops his skills. He could also play and allow Paul to move down to PF if need be.

Recruiting was a matter of taking the best players we could find - we scouted the metro areas hard to bring in players who are used to playing in the big time. We should make it back to the NCAA after a one-year absence which will help our recruiting efforts next year. We are hot on the trail of five 4-star athletes (pair of 6'8 SF's and 6'10 Centers and one 7 footer who is an outside shot). 3 of these guys are over 75% interested at this stage and to be honest, we'll be happy to score any one of them (with the center being first order of priority) Just in case, we also have a 3* player from each position near 90% level (all 3 stars). A couple years out, a local HS SO 6'11 center is 75% toward CofC, but we'll want someone to replace the graduating Parks at O'Brien's back-up sooner than that. Plus there will be a need at PF that the center can fill in at as well as a good SF.

While we won't repeat last year's #40 recruiting class this time around, we filled some immediate needs with good versatile players - and we are building toward landing another great class next year.

So that's your Cougar midseason Report.

[ukdukefan]

Awesome legacy man, and now your my Duke Blue Devils, I'm even more interested

[vols21]

Awesome legacy man, and now your my Duke Blue Devils, I'm even more interested

Thanks. It's fun playing with such an awesome line-up. But I enjoy building the program from scratch too - which I may get to do next year. haha.

Here are some mid-term stats on the team:

PF Neilson 22.4 ppg, 4 rpg, 1.7 blocks -- these are POY numbers - hope he can repeat!!
PG Flowers 14.9 ppg, 2.9 apg
SG Little: 13.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.8 apg
C Lang: 10 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.0 blocks
SF McBridle: 9.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg,

Reece 5.8 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1 block (he's a freshman PF. He was the #3 rated recruit last season and is doing the best for me right now. I'm used to having (and needing) one or two freshmen come in and start/contribute/make the conference all-freshmen team. This year, due to having 4 pre-season all-americans, I don't need as much from the freshmen. But it's good they are delivering when their number is called.