The Road to the Final Four- starting with Northern Colorado

[UK7andcounting]

Hey everybody, I've been reading legacy stories for quite a while now, and before reading basketball legacies I read lots of stories about dynasties in NCAA Football 2007 over on the EAsports board. I've wanted to do one of these for a while now, but I've never really had that much time. I will try to update this as often as possible, and any input from anyone would be great. Thanks guys.

I'm starting out with Northern Colorado. Playing on MOP, 13 minute halves, and adjusted sliders so the computer is smarter with the ball, and I can't get as many steals. Any questions or suggestions about anything, just let me know.

[UK7andcounting]

----Northern Colorado Announces New Men’s Basketball Coach----

After the Bears posted a 5-24 record in the 2005-06 season, everyone in Greeley knew it was time for a new coach. Coach Boyle had not produced what the fans wanted to see and resigned last night. Northern Colorado today announced Boyle’s replacement. They found their man in Coach Henderson.

UNC didn’t have Coach Henderson as plan A, but they are definitely excited to have him aboard as their new coach. This is Coach Henderson’s first time as a Head Coach at the Division One level, but he is known around the league as being a great teacher and recruiter. He was interviewed for the job last weekend, and received a call this morning from UNC asking if he would accept the job.

“I was stunned,” when asked about what his thoughts were after he received a call asking him to fill the void for the Bears. “I talked to my family about the possibility of being a head coach someday, but none of us expected it to happen this soon.”

Coach Henderson has played at the Division One level before- he was a walk-on at the University of Kentucky. He was on the team for the 1996, and 1998 championship teams. As a senior he played a huge role off of the bench for the Wildcats as a shooter.

His coaching career began the season after he finished his career as a basketball player. From 2000-2002 he was a graduate assistant at UK. He left for the 2003 season to be an assistant coach at Winona State (D-2) and coached there from 2003-2005. In 2006 he returned to his home state to begin his time as a D-1 coach, at Western Kentucky. This past season, he helped coach the Hilltoppers to a 23-8 record and NCAA tournament.

Head Coach Darrin Horn of Western Kentucky said this about Coach Henderson, “He is an outstanding teacher of the game. Playing at UK under (Rick) Pitino, he got a great feel of how the game is supposed to be played. This season Coach Henderson played a vital role in our success. He was always there helping out our guys on anything- whether it be shooting, defense- you name it, he coached it. You guys got a great coach and person in Coach Henderson. I wish him the best of luck at Northern Colorado.”

More on Coach Henderson soon.

[UK7andcounting]

----Press Conference with New Coach- Coach Henderson----

Today Coach Henderson was addressed for the first time as the Bears head coach. He was interviewed today about his style of play, recruiting style, and just about everything.

Director of Athletics- Jay S. Hinrichs: “I would like to welcome everyone here today to announce the hiring of our new men’s basketball coach- Coach Henderson. We felt at Northern Colorado, that Coach Henderson could help us turn around our program and help our student-athletes become better people and players. That is why we hired a person like him, he has the character and determination that the Bears love to see. We welcome you all to ask your questions to the new Bears coach- Coach Henderson.”

Reporter: Coach, congratulations on being announced our new coach! How has this whole experience been for you?

Coach Henderson: First of, I would like to thank all of you for wanting me to be the coach of the Bears, my family and I are extremely excited to be here in Greeley. Now, this whole experience has been something I will never forget. Two weeks ago, I never would have dreamed of being a head coach. Like I said before, my family and I talked about the possibility of moving somewhere someday due to basketball, but not this quickly. When I came out here last weekend, I tried to just let the whole experience soak in- interviewing for a head coaching job at this level is amazing. I got the call yesterday morning about the job. I was ecstatic from the get go, I can’t wait to get everything here rolling.

Reporter: Mr. Henderson, what kind of style are you bringing to the Bears?

CH: I like to run the opponent up and down the floor all game. Our team will be in top condition. On defense you can expect a man-to-man almost every possession. You can also expect a man-to-man press all game long. Unless there are certain match-ups that would be favorable for us to play 2-3, you can expect an in-your-face, man-to-man defense for the entirety of the game. On the offensive end I like to run an inside-out game. We will get the ball down low to our posts, and then kick to the opposite wing for the three. Teams will realize very soon how upbeat the tempo for the Bears are, our games are going to be exciting.

Reporter: Have you had a chance to talk to the players yet?

CH: Yes sir, I have. I am extremely excited about how much talent our team has, and we have so much potential, that we could really give teams a run for their money this season.

Reporter: Coach, who are you brining with you to be your assistant coaches?

CH: I have two great men joining me on the staff for next season. One of which is Martell O’Bannon. You won’t forget that name. He is a tremendous recruiter, and everyone that knows him loves him. The whole state of Colorado will love this man. My next assistant is also a great person. Oliver Bailey will be the teacher for all of us. He has plenty of experience at the collegiate level, and coached his high school team 15 years ago, to three championships in four seasons.

Reporter: You’ve talked about how you like to get the ball into your posts and then have dependable shooters. How do you think the current Bears roster fits that mold?

CH: We have tremendous posts and excellent shooters. With players like Kirk Archibeque, Cory Lowe, and Chris Kaba down on the blocks for us, I don’t know why teams should be able to deny us from the boards. And on the perimeter we have outstanding shooters in Kline, Figures, Taibi, Beitzel. We are going to be a great team next year.

[chestnutz6]

I'm readin...seems you like recruting and teaching. What exactly does teaching do? I've never paid much attention to making it better

[UK7andcounting]

Teaching just effects how much faster your players progress, if they have good potential, and you are a good teacher, they can become really good players.

[UK7andcounting]

----Early Recruiting News----

Losing three starters for next season is going to make for a tough task for Coach Henderson. He believes that the Bears have enough depth at the guard positions, but he wants to add more depth at the post positions.

It isn’t only the power forward position that is lacking players. The only center on the roster is junior, Kirk Archibeque. Coach Henderson and his staff intend to use all three scholarships on post players, or possibly two posts and one guard. With the departure of Matt Kline after this season, the Bears will need to find a new starting point guard. There is enough depth there though that the coaches aren’t worrying.

“Next year we will have Terry Anderson and TP (Thanasi Panagiotakopouios) fighting for that starting spot, but that’s not what we’re worried about right now. We are focused on having a successful season. We’ll start to actually be a little concerned about starters for next season, next season.”

Some rumored targets that the UNC coaching staff are after for the 2007-08 season are:

Ekene Cuffe, 6’4, 193, 2 star, Shooting Guard, Rockford (IL) Guilford- excellent shooter, smart player
Nate Akpan, 6’6, 215, 3 star, Shooting Guard, Olathe (KS) North- great overal player, very athletic
Ron Winter, 6’6, 226, 2 star, Power Forward, Aurora (CO) Overland- great shooter, good post player
Jairus Millar, 6’9, 222, 3 star, Power Forward, Memphis (TN) White Station- good shooter, extremely athletic and smart for a post player
Stan Nicholson, 6’9, 215, 2 star, Center, Loveland (CO)- great leaper, smart player
JUCO FR- Cam Torres, 6’10, 234, 3 star, Center, Portland (OR)- very intelligent, great huslter

[UK7andcounting]

---Lineups for Blue-Gold Game----

BLUE TEAM
PG- #10 Matt Kline- Senior - 5‘11, 185 (64 OVR)
SG- #20 Thanasi Panagiotakopouios- Junior- 5’10, 175 (59 OVR)
SF- #21 Dwayne Birden- Senior- 6’5, 200 (61 OVR)
PF- #44 Chirs Kaba- Freshman- 6’6, 195 (55 OVR)
C- #4 Cory Lowe (PF)- Senior- 6’9, 270 (61 OVR)

Bench
G- #32 Devon Beitzel- Freshman- 6’0, 170 (55 OVR)
G- #2 Will Figures- Freshman- 5’8, 150 (53 OVR)

GOLD TEAM
PG- #12 Terry Anderson- Junior- 5’11, 170 (59 OVR)
SG- #3 Sean Taibi- Junior- 6’3, 210 (67 OVR)
SF- #31 Tommie Clark- Freshman- 6’3, 175 (56 OVR)
PF- #34 Jefferson Mason- Freshman- 6’5, 170 (53 OVR)
C- #41 Kirk Archibeque- Junior- 6’9, 250 (71 OVR)

Bench
G- #23 Darren Moore- Freshman- 6’2, 170 (53 OVR)
F- #33 Neal Kingman- Freshman- 6’6, 195 (52 OVR)

[skarface2k1]

I am following what UNC is doing.Coach Sanders of wisconsin.Good lo=uck this season.

[UK7andcounting]

----Archibeque, Taibi Lead Gold Team to 53-45 Victory Over Blue Team----

This game wasn’t pretty. A combined 31 turnovers between the teams, and a combined 3-17 from behind the arc. It’s obvious that Coach Henderson still has a lot of work to do.

“I was pleased with how both teams played tonight, everyone hustled, and did their job. But, there were way too many turnovers. We had a combined 31 possessions lost. That’s a lot of points we could have scored.”

It wasn’t completely bad though, both teams shot nearly 50% or better from the field. They shot 13-19 from the line as well. Tonight two players stood out- both from the Gold Team- Kirk Archibeque and Sean Taibi.

“Kirk played outstanding tonight. 21 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, and a monstrous block- not a bad day huh,” said Henderson. “Oh and by the way, don’t forget to write down that he was 9-9 from the field .”

Taibi started out slow- as did everyone else on the team except Archibeque- but finished with 19 points and 2 assists.

“Overall, I’m happy with how both teams played. Everyone that was on the court gave it 110% while they were in, and that’s all I can ask for as a coach. Obviously we still have a lot of work to do, but we have a solid foundation after tonight’s game.”

Gold Team (53)
#41 Kirk Archibeque- 21 points (9-9 FG, 3-4 FT), 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals, 1 block, 3 TO’s- 21 mins
#3 Sean Taibi- 19 points (8-16 FG, 2-7 3’s, 1-2 FT), 1 rebound, 2 assists, 3 steals, 1 TO- 21 mins
#23 Darren Moore- 9 points (3-8 FG, 0-2 3’s, 3-4 FT), 1 rebound, 1 assist, 5 steals, 2 TO’s- 18 mins
#34 Jefferson Mason- 2 points (1-8 FG), 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 3 TO’s- 19 mins
#33 Neal Kingman- 2 points (1-2 FG), 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 TO- 17 mins
#12 Terry Anderson- 0 points (0-2 FG, 0-2 3’s), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 TO- 19 mins
#31 Tommie Clark- 0 points (0-4 FG, 0-2 3’s), 1 rebound, 2 assists, 4 steals- 18 mins
Blue Team (45)
#44 Chris Kaba- 10 points (4-8 FG, 2-2 FT), 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 TO- 22 mins
#2 Will Figures- 10 points (5-5 FG, 0-1 FT), 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 TO- 13 mins
#20 Than. Pang.- 7 points (3-5 FG, 1-2 3’s), 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 6 TO’s- 22 mins
#10 Matt Kline- 6 points (3-7 FG, 0-1 3’s), 1 rebound, 3 assists, 1 steal, 4 TO’s- 21 mins
#4 Cory Lowe- 6 points (2-6 FG, 2-2 FT), 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 4 blocks, 1 TO- 18 mins
#21 Dwayne Birden- 3 points (1-4 FG, 1-2 FT, 0-1 3’s), 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 3 TO- 22 mins
#32 Devon Beitzel- 3 points (1-2 FG, 1-2 FT), 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 3 TO- 15 mins

Expected Starting Lineup
PG- #10 Matt Kline- SR
SG- #3 Sean Taibi- JR
SF- #21 Dwayne Birden- SR
PF- #4 Cory Lowe- SR
C- #41 Kirk Archibeque- JR

[Goheels7811]

I'm starting a UNC legacy too. You should check it out. I'm about to post my Midnight Madness stats. Mine looked a lot different than yours, but then again I'm coaching.