Animals at the Zoo-a Sacred Heart University Legacy

[ehrie]

Greetings everybody! After much enjoyment had at reading some of the Legacy AARs here I decided to do my own. After toying around with what team to choose I just decided to write one up for the open legacy I'm doing now with my alma-mater, Sacred Heart. Life as a small conference team sure is tough! As I decided to do this in the middle of the 2nd season here is a quick recap of the goings on so far:

Season 1 was one of struggles. SHU, well, stunk. I simmed most of the games as I really couldn't beat anybody that mattered. We ended up finishing the season 18-15 and losing to Robert Morris in the NEC conference championship game. After kicking a bunch of one star seniors out of the door I managed to bring in a decent recruiting class. Here are the four impact players that all signed on with full scholarships:

6'3" PG Duane Kent 4* Mr Basketball-MA 74 OVR

Kent is the rock star of this class. I had horrible trouble in my first season controlling the ball as my two PGs had butterfingers on both hands. He was the one Freshman who started from game one in this class, though that would change almost right away.

6'6" SG Holland Hendricks 3* 68 OVR

One of my fall backs that has really outperformed his rather meager stats. As he is a C minus potential I don't really think he'll be much of an impact for all four years, but he shot over 50% for his freshman season, which is quality. He started the year on the bench, but after game 3 I plugged him into the starting SF position and he never looked back.

6'8" PF Lyle Caldwell 3* Mr Basketball-RI 68 OVR

More like Mr Injury. Lyle started the year as a starter, but soon sat out of a few games with a leg injury that nagged him all season. He's healthy now so I'm not sure what to make of him so far.

6'10" C Shelton Cross 3* 66 OVR

After game 3 became the starting center and has done a serviceable job. He has a B potential so I'm hopeful he's grow some more.

All that amounted to the #13 ranked recruiting class in the country so I had some pretty high hopes this season. I didn't change my schedule at all as I really didn't know what to expect.

In the next post is the recap of the season so far and the NCAA tournament bracket for the 2009 tourney.

[BaRtacular]

Nice recruiting

[Preo32]

damn, good recruit class. i am Long Island in my closed legacy and i have lost 2 of my 4 games to Sacred Heart. their guards kill me. that Hassan guy and the SG that starts wit an S for the last name. Kill me i lose by a lil bit every time. and i cant get anybody to come. well, not anybody good. im 16-4, and i MIGHT get a 3* center, otherwise its lookin to be a couple 2* and a coupel 1*. at least they are over 7 feet tall, except the 2* that i kno is comin to my school since hes 100% and im the only school thats offered yet.

[ehrie]

The high scoring in this is mostly due to the fact that I played with 15 minute halves until the NEC tournment, then I shaved it down to 13 minute halves

2008-2009 Sacred Heart Schedule Red=Conference
vs Hartford
at Stony Brook
vs Albany
at Maine
at Lehigh
vs Princeton
vs Long Island
at American
at DePaul
vs Penn
at Boston U.
vs Brown
at Mount St. Mary's
vs Quinnipiac
vs St Francis(PA)
at F. Dickinson
at Long Island
vs Monmouth
at Robert Morris
vs Mount St. Mary's
at C. Conn
vs Wagner
at St. Francis(NY)
at Monmouth
at St. Francis(PA)
vs F. Dickinson
vs Robert Morris
at Wagner
at St. Francis(NY)

The season started off with a bang. Kent hit the scene with a fury dropping 24 points on Hartford en route to a 77-70 win. 20 more for Kent led to a 76-61 win at Stony Brook. Game 3 was a turning point, as Kent was in foul trouble most of the first half and Albany led 26-19. My other starters were ****ting the bed, so in the 2nd half with Kent on the floor I tossed more of my freshman out there and we came back to win 56-47. After this game I stuck with four starting freshman the rest of the season. It would be up and down as Freshman tend to be. After five more wins including a buzzer beater 3 by Kent to beat Lehigh 81-80 I took a trip to my only Big East team on the schedule at 8-0. This would be one of those down games at DePaul. Down only two at the break Kent got his four foul with 8 minutes left in the game. DePaul ripped off a 23-0 run shortly there after and all my shooters went ice cold. Sophomore Center for DePaul, Geraard Dzier ripped down an astonishing 23 rebounds, 18 of them coming in the 2nd half. My rather deflated team came home to play Penn and let the Quakers stay in the game. Kent again showed why he will win awards by nailed an 18 foot jumper with 15 seconds left to give SHU a 71-69 lead. Penn came right back though and buried a three with 5.8 seconds left for the one point lead. Kent then showed why he is still a Freshman getting his pocket picked coming up the floor and SHU lost its 2nd game in the row.

After some soul searched and some changes to my defense pressure settings(Press more!) the Pioneers got on a real run winning the next 10 in a row to bring their record to 18-2 and even crack the Coaches' Poll at #24. Obviously letting that get into their head SHU played their worst game of the year at Central Conn allowing them to shoot 62% for the game while being held to 29% on their own. The result was a 92-74 drubbing. Regrouping the Pioneers won out on their conference schedule and by the end of the season had earned the #19 ranking in the Media poll.

The conference tournament started out easy, an 84-65 win over Quinnipiac. After another runaway(90-61) against Wagner the Red Flash of St. Francis(PA) were waiting in the finals. By this time the SHU ranking had risen all the way to #16. A single digit seed in the tourney seemed like a sure bet. The Red Flash came out smokin in the final game and led at the half 38-29. Kent was held to only 2 points on 0-8 shooting. Kent would only score 10 points in this affair, his lowest output of the season. Backup point guard Joe Sommerville led the Pioneers back though with 16 2nd half points including a backbreaking three pointer with 45 seconds remaining that game the Pioneers a 65-59 lead. A couple of free throws later and SHU had their first NEC title, 67-63. The final Media poll put SHU at #16.

Selection Sunday was a nervous affair. First the East region was announced and SHU's fate was not known. The West passed and a sigh of relief was breathed as traveling far from home would not happen. The South region came next and still nothing. So it would be the Midwest, but where? The selection committee surpised everybody giving SHU a #4 seed and a date with the champs of the Missouri Valley Conference, the Northern Iowa Panthers.

[ehrie]

damn, good recruit class. i am Long Island in my closed legacy and i have lost 2 of my 4 games to Sacred Heart. their guards kill me. that Hassan guy and the SG that starts wit an S for the last name. Kill me i lose by a lil bit every time. and i cant get anybody to come. well, not anybody good. im 16-4, and i MIGHT get a 3* center, otherwise its lookin to be a couple 2* and a coupel 1*. at least they are over 7 feet tall, except the 2* that i kno is comin to my school since hes 100% and im the only school thats offered yet.

I've had much less luck this year. Nobody signed during the recuiting period in season with me and my top 3 guys all went elsewhere. I have one four star and two 3 stars at 100% now and I'm just praying I get all them in the offseason period.

[ehrie]

The 2008-2009 Sacred Heart Pioneers

Starters

PG 6'3" Duane Kent Fr 76 OVR
SG 6'4" Brendan Tamayo Jr 72 OVR
SG 6'6" Holland Hendrinks Fr 68 OVR
PF 6'8" Lyle Caldwell Fr 69 OVR
C 6'10" Shelton Cross Fr 67 OVR

The Bench

PG 6'0" Joe Sommerville Jr 72 OVR
SG 5'11" Drake Ubaka So 65 OVR
SG 6'4" Ray Volpenhein Jr 64 OVR
SF 6'6" Garret Bronson Sr 63 OVR
PF 6'9" Antanas Rudakas So 61 OVR
C 7'0" Brandon Harvey Sr 61 OVR

Season Leaders

PPG: Kent 20.9, Tamayo 12.7, Hendriks 12.4
RPG : Cross 6.8
APG : Kent 5.3
SPG : Hendriks 1.6
BPG : Cross 1.2
FG% : Hendriks 53.8%
3 PT% : Hendriks 48.3%

[ehrie]

The 2009 NCAA Tournament

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a235/ehrie/2009Tourney.jpg

For those of you that want a blank copy of what I made: here (http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a235/ehrie/TeamRankingsBracket.jpg) is a link to one. :)

[nemzep95]

I have a 2* at 100 that's decent and a 3* has me at the top of their interest, and I'm getting his interest up fast. Hopefully I'll get him.

[nemzep95]

How'd you put the teams on there? It looks so neat.

[ehrie]

How'd you put the teams on there? It looks so neat.

I used Text boxes in the Gimp image editor and played with the settings until I could block them in four at a time and they would look decent. Trial and error, if you notice all the teams on the right are a smaller font than the top left. I got lazy and didn't feel like fixing those. :P

[ehrie]

I have a 2* at 100 that's decent and a 3* has me at the top of their interest, and I'm getting his interest up fast. Hopefully I'll get him.

This season I had two four stars at 100% who both fled to big schools, including one of them that was a Connecticut recruit who went to UNC who listed his second priority as being close to home. Argh.

[Preo32]

yea one recruit i went for his 2nd priority was close to home. from Brooklyn, so local, and, figures, he goes to a California School. seen it a few times, but ive also seen people with that as their 3rd priority and their top interested teams are all local to where they are from. recruiting is pretty stupid in some ways like that

[Auburnman12]

Good job so far though. Nice guys coming in, a young team, and you got a #4 seed. Some big name jobs should come up if you choose to take them. =]

[ehrie]

Okay re-typing the 1st round game now. I say re-typing because I had a huge post on the game that I lost when I was 30 seconds from being done with my fracking computer decided it was time to reboot to install updates. UGH!

[ehrie]

NCAA Tournament Round 1

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a235/ehrie/SHUlogo.jpg#4 Sacred Heart University Pioneers

vs.

http://www.swim2000.org/NorthernIowaLogo.jpg#13 Northern Iowa Panthers


1st Half

The first round in this Midwest regional is coming to you from the University of Iowa! The first half started with Hendriks on fire. He hit his first three 3 pointers and before you could blink it was 9-0 Pioneers. A rout right? Uhm, no. For the rest of the half Northern Iowa shot the lights out to the tune of 63%. Freshman Panther PG Boyd McCarthy put on a show with 19 first half points. After the initial fireworks the whole Pioneer team went ice cold. The only thing that kept the Pioneers in the game was the butterfingered guards on Northern Iowa who turned the ball over seven times in the 1st half. Duane Kent was ice cold for nearly the whole half not putting a point on the board until two free throws with five minutes left in the half. Facing going into the locker room down 32-30 Kent finally showed up hitting a pretty buzzer beater three pointer. The score at the half was 33-32.

2nd Half

The 2nd half picked up where the first left off with the Panthers draining everything in site. They hit their first six shots and opened up the then largest lead of the game at 45-33. Slowly the Pioneers clawed back and Brandon Tamayo found his stroke hitting back to back threes. Kent got in on the action with four points of his own and with five minutes left in the game the score was tied at 59. A bought of the dropsies hit the Panthers again and with three minutes left the Pioneers had built a seven point lead. Two missed wide open threes by Kent failed to put the dagger in and with less than a little more than a minute left a Tamayo jumper put the Pioneers back up five. McCarthy juked out Kent and looked to have an easy layup, but Cross knifed into the lane and came up with a huge block and rebound. That forced the Panthers to foul and send the Pioneers to the line. Some free throws later the Pioneers escaped, 72-65.

Game Stats

FG% - SHU 42% NI 54%
TOs - SHU 3 NI 13
FTs - SHU 15/21 NI 1/1

Player Stats

Kent - 16 Pts(4-15 Shooting) 10 Ast 2 Stl
Tamayo - 19 Pts(7-10 Shooting) 2 Ast
Hendriks - 11 Pts(3-12 Shooting)
Sommerville - 11 Pts(3-8 Shooting)

Boy this game was frustrating. The Computer went with a Box and 1 and 2-3 Zone for the whole game. Kent always had two bodies on him and the other guards just could not hit their open looks. Their 7'1" Center made drives to the lane and points in the paint near nonexistant. Next up is the #5 seed Alabama Crimson Tide.

[ehrie]

The Round of 32. Sucks to be the Big East so far.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a235/ehrie/2009Tourney2.jpg

[nemzep95]

Nice win and good luck against Alabama. Go on fire and wipe the floor with them!!!

[Auburnman12]

Sweet. Auburn won their first round game! Destroy that Alabama team!

[ehrie]

NCAA Tournament Round of 32

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a235/ehrie/SHUlogo.jpg#4 Sacred Heart University Pioneers

vs.

http://www.cudaapparel.com/images/category/DaynaU/DU_Alabama_logo.jpg#5 Alabama Crimson Tide


So who would punch their ticket to the sweet 16? The 30-3 Pioneers take the floor against the 25-9 Crimson Tide of Alabama. Last time SHU faced a big conference school theylost by almost 30, and this team is no DePaul. SHU just has to hit their open threes in this game. A shooting performance like the opening round and the season will be over.

1st Half

The game started out about as poorly as you could expect. SHU controlled the opening tip and a wonderful pick set by Cross opened up Kent for a wide open three on the baseline. That rimmed out. Alabama scored a quick bucket in transition and it was 2-0. Kent opened the game carrying the ice cubes from the first round missing his first three shots, back to back threes by Tamayo and Hendriks though gave the Pioneers an early 6-2 lead. Alabama fought back with some hard points in the paint to tie the game at ten with 9 minutes left in the first half. A quick 11-0 Pioneer run followed by an Alabama timeout game the Pioneers an 21-10 lead with just over 6 minutes remaining the first half. Kent continued to be frustrated as the Crimson Tide used the same Box and 1 defense to double him whenever he had the ball, but this time Tamayo and Hendriks were hitting the open shots the defense created. By the time Kent finally score his first points with 3 and a half minutes left the Pioneers were rolling by a count of 35-16. The score at the half had the Pioneers firmly in control 42-24.

2nd Half

The 2nd half started witht he Crimson Tide turning up the heat. Their shooting woes started cease and slowly they cut into the Pioneer lead. Oddly enough they did not switch up their defense and when Kent was on the floor open looks for all others were still the order of the day, though shots were starting to rim out instead of in like the first half. Three minutes into the half the Pioneer lead was down to nine at 47-38. By the time six minutes were left the lead was only four, 53-49. The Alabama run contnued as the Pioneers went cold en masse and the game was tied at 53 with 5:02 left. Another miss and an Alabama three gave the Crimson Tide their first lead since the opening seconds of the game 56-53. Two minutes of traded missed shots by the Tide and shots and layups by the Pioneers were finally broken by a Hendriks three to tie the game at 56 with three minutes to play. Kent finally made a difference stealing the inbounds pass and dishing to Caldwell to who fouled. He hit 1 of 2 for a 57-56 Pioneer lead. Another Pioneer steal via the press turned into a quick Tamayo three pointer and suddently the Pioneers had the Big Mo again at 60-56. The tide after a timeout answered right back tieing the game at 60 with a transition buckete off another missed three by Kent(now 0-9 from downtown in the game) with one minute to play. Noticing they had switched to man to man Kent drove the lane on the next time down and was fouled. He hit one of two for a 61-60 lead. Kent is the type of player that when his shot is off he finds ways to affect the game and he did again stealing a midcourt pass with just 45 seconds left. A horrid pass by Tamayo was stolen right back though by the tide with 30 seconds left. The tide held the ball for the final shot, the whole season came down to this possession. Smalls their dynamite point guard went up for a desperation three with 7 seconds left. The shot hit the front iron, bounced off the backboard...and went in. 63-61, Tide. Kent drove the ball down the court and took the final shot and....fouled! Fouled with 0.5 seconds left. He hits the first. He hits the 2nd! Tie game at 63! We are going to Overtime!!

Overtime

A Kent opening jumper followed by two quick Crimson Tide buckets had the game at 67-65, Tide after the first two minutes of OT. It all fell apart from there. The Pioneers missed shot after shot and everything fell for the Tide. Before you could blink it was 75-65, Tide. The Tide would go on to miss only one shot in OT and win the game 84-68.

Final Score

Alabama: 84
Sacred Heart: 68

Game Stats

FG%: SHU 36% Alabama 58%(They shot an amazing 76% in the 2nd Half and 88% in OT)

Player Stats

Kent: 10 Pts(3-18 Shooting) 8 Ast 4 Reb
Hendriks: 17 Pts(6-11 Shooting) 1 Ast 1 Reb
Sommerville: 12 Pts(4-7 Shooting) 1 Reb 2 Ast

A painful loss especially how I dominated the first half. Nothing, including layups fell in OT and the 2nd half. Kent didn't show up again. He really needs some help. Against the top schools in the country they just take him out of the game and I don't really have great options elsewhere. Hopefully some age will put more mettle on the other guys on my team. They murdered me in the paint. Cross left in the middle of the 2nd half with an injury, but the muralizing inside had already begun. Oh well, I mean this is just the 2nd season. With a few more solid recruits I can set my eyes on the Final Four next season.

[ehrie]

I'll have the full tournament bracket soon. I just simmed to the end of the season and have been offered the Syracuse job! I thought about it, but I want to see SHU to a Final Four before going to another school. As a WTF Spoiler, the #4 seed Providence Friars won the National Championship. That sucks on so many levels as my top recruit has them at 100% along with me.

[ehrie]

The Final 2009 bracket. Prov rolled through everybody, winning each game by double digits.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a235/ehrie/2009Tourney3.jpg

[Preo32]

Damn, i am very happy the Friars won it all. big fan of them for no reason at all and i had a legacy with them on 2k7.

[ehrie]

Damn, i am very happy the Friars won it all. big fan of them for no reason at all and i had a legacy with them on 2k7.

I'm not! I lost my #1 recruit to them! I already simmed the offseason and will post about it probably sometime tonight or tomorrow. I landed 1 4* and two 3* recruits, though one of the 3*s is a 7'1" beast. 97 Close shooting, 96 DREB. Odd because I got him with basically no competition. The other two recruits are Small Forwards which was down the priority list, but will have to do. I made a pretty hard schedule this year to. Preseason goal is a #2 seed in the tournament.

[nemzep95]

Damn. What season are you on? I'm lucky if I land a 3*.

[ehrie]

Damn. What season are you on? I'm lucky if I land a 3*.

Going into my third season. I think the key for us small schools is the #1 priority HAS to be wants to stay close to home. If I don't see that I get off them right away. If big program pops later you are screwed, but you have to be invested already if that comes as priority #3. I got my four star this season in the offseason actually. There's always usually one that falls through the cracks and sure enough he was there and only had URI on him and they didn't offer him a scholarship. Swooped right in and now I have a starting Small Forward.

[nemzep95]

Whenever one falls through the cracks I'm not in the person's top 5 :'(.

[ehrie]

Whenever one falls through the cracks I'm not in the person's top 5 :'(.

I tend to ignore that at first depending on who is ahead of me. I don't care if Kansas or UNC are 2nd & 3rd on a recruit who's #1 is staying in the NYC metro area. Small schools are never that high to begin with, it's why you have to hit the bullseye with recruiting targets. I started out a lot better in the upcoming season as you'll see. That tourney appearance boosted interest across the board. I might even land a 5* this year.

[nemzep95]

Kool. Hopefully I'll get good recruits. If I don't get good job offers, then I'll stay. Unless a team that sucks that I like offers, then I'll go there lol.

[superpastulio]

I love my hometwown team, The SHU Pioneers. It's across the street from my High school. I was at the NEC Champ. game, and the place was rockin. They're really cool in 2K8. Hassan, Litke and Granato are lights out from 3. Potter is a stiff, but he's 7' tall. You are the greatest 2K8 recruiter ever...

[ehrie]

2009 Sacred Heartt Recruiting Class

Following up on the #13 ranked recruiting class last season Coach De La Rosa(Can't believe I've forgotten to mention my Coach's name still, oops) pulled in the #113 ranked class. In many ways though this class is better than the previous one. There is no Duane Kent in this class, but the roleplayers in this class will take much of the pressure off the NCAA Freshman of the Year to do everything himself.

Alexis Arenas ****


Height:6'6"
Weight:216 lbs
Position:SF
Hometown:Brockton, MA
Potential:C+
OVR:74


Comments: Alexis will immediatly start at Small Forward, letting me move Hendriks to backup PG, where he can be the sharpshooter off the bench I always wanted him to be. Alexis is a good close in shooter(88) and can also hit the open 3(81) and has the speed to get by the slower forwards in the NEC(86). I will expect him to take a good size portion of the offense off of Kent's hand.

Courtney Blackett ***


Height:7'1"
Weight:281 lbs
Position:C
Hometown:Queens, NY
Potential:C
OVR:77


Comments: Courtney was the most prized recruit I was after last season. He is a dominate big man in all the ways his star rating doesn't reflect. He is an automatic close range shooter(98), defensive rebounder(89) and will solve my defense in the paint(B+ Potential there).

Morris Burelson ***


Height:6'7"
Weight:203 lbs
Position:SF
Hometown:Brooklyn, NY
Potential:C
OVR:65


Comments: Average in pretty much every way Morris will get some minutes off the bench and give my bench some depth I've lacked. I faded a lot down the stretch against Alabama because I didn't have guys like Morris on my team. I pondered redshirting him, but he is the other backup options had ratings in the 40s, so I saw this as a much better option. Being 6'7" I plsn on giving him time at both forward positions this season against the mostly small NEC teams.

[ehrie]

2009 Sacred Heart Schedule Red=Conference

11/9: Preseason NIT
11/17: at(24)Texas A&M
11/22: at(18)Syracuse
11/25: vs Southern Miss
11/29: at (1)Duke
12/3: vs St. Francis[PA]
12/5: at Central Connecticut St
12/7: vs Florida A&M
12/19: vs Iona
12/30: at Rhode Island
1/2: at Long Island
1/7: vs Mount St. Mary's
1/9: vs F. Dickinson
1/14: at Monmount
1/16: at St. Francis[NY]
1/21: at St. Francis[PA]
1/23: vs Robert Morris
1/28: vs Monmouth
1/30: vs Quinnipiac
2/4: at Mount St. Mary's
2/6: at Wagner
2/11: vs Long Island
2/18: vs St Francis[NY]
2/20: at F. Dickinson
2/27: vs Wagner

[ehrie]

Preseason Media Top 25

1. Duke
2. Louisville
3. Tennessee
4. Arizona
5. Texas
6. Florida
7. USC
8. Memphis
9. Connecticut
10. Ohio St.
11. Notre Dame
12. Mississippi St.
13. Georgetown
14. Kentucky
15. Michigan St
16. Washington
17. California
18. Syracuse
19. UCLA
20. Wisconsin
21. Maryland
22. Seton Hall
23. Cincinnati
24. Texas A&M
25. Pittsburgh

Sucks to be Providence, you will the National Title and aren't even ranked the next season.

[CincyFan]

I see someone is going after the achievement of knocking off the #1 team. Thats a very rough way to start the year, but at least it should make you tougher when you get to conference play.

[ehrie]

2009 Sacred Heart University Roster

Starters

PG Duane Kent Sophomore 77 OVR 6'3"


Last Season Stats: 20.4 PPG 3.0 RPG 5.5 APG 1.4 SPG 47 FG%

SG Brendan Tamayo Senior 73 OVR 6'4"


Last Season Stats: 12.9 PPG 3.0 RPG 1.7 APG 0.9 SPG 43 FG%

SF Alexis Arenas Freshman 77 OVR 6'6"


Last Season Stats: N/A

PF Lyle Caldwell Sophomore 70 OVR 6'8"


Last Season Stats: 4.4 PPG 5.7 RPG 2.0 APG 1.2 SPG 51 FG%

C Courtney Blackett Freshman 77 OVR 7'1"


Last Season Stats: N/A

The Bench

PG Joseph Sommerville Senior 73 OVR 6'0"


Last Season Stats: q12.2 PPG 0.8 RPG 2.8 APG 0.8 SPG 51 FG%

SG Holland Hendriks Sophomore 70 OVR 6'6"


Last Season Stats: 12.5 PPG 2.6 RPG 5.5 APG 1.6 SPG 50 FG%

SF Morris Burleson Freshman 65 OVR 6'7"


Last Season Stats: N/A

PF Antanas Rudakas Junior 62 OVR 6'9"


Last Season Stats: 2.1 PPG 2.5 RPG 0.5 APG 0.8 SPG 82 FG%

C Shelton Cross Sophomore 68 OVR 6'11"


Last Season Stats: 5.4 PPG 6.6 RPG 1.3 APG 0.4 SPG 57 FG%

The Reserves

Guard Ray VolpenheinSenior 64 OVR 6'4"

Guard Drake Ubaka Junior 66 OVR 5'11"

[ehrie]

I see someone is going after the achievement of knocking off the #1 team. Thats a very rough way to start the year, but at least it should make you tougher when you get to conference play.

Gotta test the quality of your meddle sometime. Nothing like traveling to Duke to see what kind of fire is in the belly.

[boomosby50]

nice to see Howard as #14 seed, but no upset. Youre breezing thru this

[Auburnman12]

You have a very talented team though for a small comference school. Duke should be worried.;)

[ehrie]

Preseason NIT - Game 1

Sacred Heart Univeristy Pioneers(0-0)

vs.

Richmond Spiders(0-0)

1st Half

Showing why they made the tournament last season the Pioneers came out firing on both ends of the floor scoring the first 14 points, 6 of them by Arenas, before a Richmond timeout with just under 10 minutes to play in the first half. The rout never stopped and at the half the score was a ridiculous 44-15, Pioneers. The Spiders couldn't hit the broadside of a barn all half shooting a horrid 26% for the half.

2nd Half

The Spiders showed some life coming out of the locker room hitting three quick threes to make it a 44-24 game. The Spiders were game in the second half, but the Pioneer lead was just too big, it would never get under 19 and the final score in this one was 82-55.

Richmond played a 2-3 and Box and 1 defense for basically the whole game. As you'll see, it rained opened threes.

Team Stats

FG%
Sacred Heart: 49
Richmond: 45


3 Pointers
Sacred Heart: 17/34
Richmond: 10/21


Rebounds
Sacred Heart: 31
Richmond: 16


Game Leaders

Points
Tamayo(SHU): 18
Kent(SHU): 14
Arenas(SHU): 14
Clement(Rich): 13


Assists
Kent(SHU): 7
Tamayo(SHU): 6
Bush(Rich): 4
Sommerville(SHU): 3


Rebounds
Blackett(SHU): 11
Caldwell(SHU): 5
Collier(Rich): 5


Next up for Sacred Heart(1-0) is a foe from last season in the Preseason NIT Finals, the DePaul Blue Demons(1-0)

[desmin123]

Nice win, Complete domination!

[ehrie]

Nice win, Complete domination!

Thanks. I'm not going to read too much into it until after the DePaul game. They beat my team by 30 last season. If I can win that one then the party can start.

[desmin123]

Thanks. I'm not going to read too much into it until after the DePaul game. They beat my team by 30 last season. If I can win that one then the party can start.
You mean I have to wait to open the six pack I just bought!!!!!!!!
:eek: I cant wait!

[CincyFan]

Yeah your two starting freshman are sadly better than my freshman. Even if you lose to Duke or the other ranked teams you should easily handle the conference this year.

[ehrie]

My biggest problem and I gather this is from starting four underclassman is my team unity is only 29 at the moment.

[nemzep95]

Where do you see team unity?

[ehrie]

Preseason NIT - Semi-Finals

Sacred Heart Univeristy Pioneers(1-0)

vs.

DePaul Blue Demons(1-0)

1st Half

With vengence over last years humiliation on their minds, the Pioneers hit the floor with determination. Like the game against Richmond DePaul, wary of the 7 footer inside came out in a 2-3 zone. Back to back threes to open the game gave the Pioneers an early 6-0 lead. A switch to Man to Man by the Blue Demons and the defensive battle in the first half began. Crush interior defense by the Pioneers ballooned the early lead to 10-2. Neither team shot especially wel, but the Pioneers earned 12 points on the fast break mostly because of the 9 first half DePaul turnovers. The score at the half has SHU in control 31-18.

2nd Half

DePaul opened up the 2nd half with a furious 11-2 run to make it a 33-29 game. Two Arenas three points pushed the lead right back to ten. Determined to dial up the speed some Kent started pushing the ball up the court a little faster. A beautiful 25 foot crosscourt pass on the break and suddenly the lead was back to 14, at 46-32 with just over 5 minutes to play. DePaul was from done though, over the next two minutes they would wittle down the lead again to 50-42. Faced with a crucial possession with just over a minute left Arenas stuck the dagger with a 3 on the baseline created by a Kent dribble drive to bring the lead back to 11. A few more defensive stands later and SHU was the winner and move on to the Finals of the Preseason NIT, 53-43.

What a game! Both teams had hands in the faces of every shooter all gaem long. Arenas could really be something. He had a dynamite game. Ozier killed me again like he did last year, but not nearly as much as last year.

Team Stats

FG%
Sacred Heart: 39
DePaul: 30


3 Pointers
Sacred Heart: 12/29
DePaul: 4/20


Rebounds
Sacred Heart: 29
DePaul: 32


Game Leaders

Points
Arenas(SHU): 22
Kent(SHU): 14
Ozier(DePaul): 11
Clement(Rich): 13


Assists
Kent(SHU): 7
Ozier(DePaul): 3


Rebounds
Ozier(DePaul): 17
Blackett(SHU): 7
Rasmussen(DePaul): 6


After this game SHU moved up to #15 in the Coaches Poll and #1 in the Mid-Major Poll. The media still chooses not to recognize us.
Next up for Sacred Heart(2-0) is a trip to Texas to take on the A&M Aggies(0-1). Then two days later to take on the #3 team in the land in the Preseason NIT Finals, the Arizona Wildcats.

[IBBALLIN33]

Dude, what difficulty are you playing on? Because it really gets boring following a chise that is always winning scrub games, but congrats nonetheless.

[nemzep95]

Man I want to be in the Preseason NIT :(.

[IBBALLIN33]

Then just pick a team that is in there, it is that e/z

[ehrie]

Dude, what difficulty are you playing on? Because it really gets boring following a chise that is always winning scrub games, but congrats nonetheless.

Chise? I'm playing on All American, thinking about going up. The schedule gets tougher soon anyways. And if you don't want to read, well, that's your choice then as well. Lacking being in a Power Conference I take the games that come to me. Next three are Texas A&M, Arizona, and Syracuse.

On an unrelated note, I think I may have messed up on what that game was, because as I typed it I thought since I saw another blue circled game that the Preseason NIT continued. It looks like winning that shoved me into the NIT Tip Off Classic, something I know I didn't schedule, but what the heck. All three teams on it are better than me. If I somehow beat Arizona that will mean 4 games in a 7 day span. Syracuse is going to eat my team for lunch.

[desmin123]

Am I the only one that noticed the stats say richmond instead of depaul?

BTW, I just opened the first one of my six pack because the partying has started!

[ehrie]

^ haha oops, thanks for noticing, proofreading for the win. Thought I changed everything from the copy and pase. Obviously...not.

[boomosby50]

yeah ehrie go up to MOP. Any other jobs youre thinkin bout taking?

[ehrie]

I'm going to go up to MOP if I stay with Arizona. I've only had the game for a couple of weeks after all. :P

As for other jobs, I'd like to stay atleast two more seasons until that first class I brought in graduates. I'd take St. John's if it came along. The thought of taking a program that used to be pretty good, but now is in the dums interests me. I'll look every year. I was surprised after just one tourney appearence getting offered a job like Syracuse after last season.

[ehrie]

Regular Season - Game 3

Sacred Heart Univeristy Pioneers(2-0)

at

Texas A&M Aggies(0-1)

1st Half

For the third straight game the Pioneers win the opening tip and nail a three, this time by Kent off a beautiful pick by Blackett. Kent buries two more on the next two trips down the floor and was the rout on? Hardly, Texas A&M came right back with a 11-0 run of their own to take an 11-9 lead. The Pioneers had to switch off their favored man to man defense as the paint was already becoming a problem, the place where Sacred Heart was destroyed last season by the bigger programs. The change bore fruit as by the time the Aggies called time out with 7 minutes left in the half it was SHU up 23-15. Scoring was pretty evenly spread around for the Pioneers with nobody in double figures, but a lead at the half by the score of 39-27.

2nd Half

The Aggies continued to hammer the paint and within two minutes of the second half beginning the SHU lead was only four. Kent was really on his game, having 15 points, all coming by way of three pointers. As the half wore on the Aggies starting coming out more on the peremeter to cover the open looks the guards were getting. This opened up dribble drive lanes for both Kent and Sommerville and for the first time since Coach De La Rosa took charge the Pioneers were having stretches dominating the paint on offense against a more talented team. The Aggies remained game though and after hitting back to back threes and suudenly a once 15 point second half lead was down to just four with 1:32 left in the game. Another basket in transition off an Arenas miss that would have put the game away left the game at 68-66 with with only 6.7 seconds left. Kent was sent to the line. Hit em both, game over. He hits the first and showing the meddle that was lacking in all of the NCAA tourney as a freshman, nails the second for a 70-66, which was the final score.

Sick and tired of fading in the 2nd half once my subs have to play more. Great win though, Texas A&M was an 87 OVR, to my team's 81.

Team Stats

FG%
Sacred Heart: 57
Texas A&M: 50


3 Pointers
Sacred Heart: 12/27
Texas A&M: 11/26


Rebounds
Sacred Heart: 23
Texas A&M: 25


Game Leaders

Points
Kent(SHU): 18
Barber(A&M): 16
Sommerville(SHU): 14
Hardaway(A&M): 13


Assists
Hardaway(A&M): 10
Caldwell(SHU): 4
Blackett(A&M): 4


Rebounds
Matera(A&M): 13
Blackett(SHU): 11
Admundson(A&M): 9


Next up for Sacred Heart(3-0) is back to the NIT Tip Off Classic and #3 Arizona Wildcats.

[ehrie]

NIT Tip Off Classic - Game 1

Sacred Heart Univeristy Pioneers(3-0)

vs.

#3 Arizona Wildcats(3-0)

1st Half

Big heads abound as fierce Pioneer defense netted three Arizona turnovers and an early 11-2 lead. Coach De La Rosa came out featuring a 2-3 & Box and 1 zone to attempt to combat the two 7 footers that the Wildcats trotted out on to the floor and in the first four minutes of the game it seemed to be working. Blackett was dominating the early offensive glass with six points off offensive boards, the first time all season he’d asserted himself on the offensive glass. Lackluster outside shooting by the Pioneers though eventually allowed the Wildcats to come back and tie the game at 19 with 4 minutes left in the half. The bricking continued as Arizona continued the run and suddenly was up 30-22. The score at the half was Arizona leading, 36-26. The story of the first half was simple, Arizona was 5-11 from beyond the arc, Sacred Heart could manage only 2-12.

2nd Half

The 2nd half started much like the first ended. The Pioneers continued to get twos while the Wildcats drained three after three. Slowly the Pioneers through a little bit of tough defense and Blackett absolutely dominating the inside cut the lead down to 56-50. An absolutely clutch Kent three pointer with 2 minutes and 36 second left dropped the Wildcat lead to just 3 at 62-59! Kent stole the inbounds pass, chucked the rock to Tamayo who coolly tied the game at 62. Arizona pushed the lead back to five showing why it is ranked as it is. Another Blackett basket down low made it a three point game again. A stop was needed with just 45 seconds to go and one was had. The Pioneers still had a shot down three. Kent drove the lane looking for the foul, but good discipline by the Wildcats denied the easy shot, he kicked it out to Tamayo with ice water in his veins tied the game at 69. Arizona held the ball for the final shot, but Blackett stepped up again in this game blocking the shot. Overtime, with the score at the end of regulation, 69-69.

Overtime

Arizona controlled the tip and hit an easy jumper off a nice pick with the Pioneers answering back. A boneheaded Pioneer turnover on the inbounds pass after the next Arizona bucket led to an easy three pointer by the Wildcats and their lead was now at five. Back would come the Pioneers though again. A Kent jumper followed by a hoop and a harm tied the game back up at 75. Another Tamayo clutch three gave the Pioneers their first lead of OT with under 2 minutes to go at 82-80. Arenas, who had been quiet for most of the game had a golden opportunity to give the Pioneers a two possession lead, but rimmed out an 10 foot jumper on the baseline. The defense picked him up though and with 45 seconds left the Pioneers dribbled the ball up the floor looking to stick the dagger in the back of the Wildcats. Who would get the ball? Blackett, ofcourse. A pretty fadeaway jumper with two hands in his face gave the Pioneers an 84-80. Sacred Heart drained a few free throws and Arizona hit a meaningless three at the buzzer and the Pioneers had their biggest win in school history over the #3 Arizona Wildcats, 89-83.

Team Stats

FG%
Sacred Heart: 48
Arizona: 50


3 Pointers
Sacred Heart: 12/33
Arizona: 12/29


Rebounds
Sacred Heart: 34
Arizona: 32


Game Leaders

Points
Tamayo(SHU): 21
McGrath(Zona): 21
Kent(SHU): 19
Anderson(Zona): 19
Blackett(SHU): 18


Assists
Anderson(Zona): 9
Kent(SHU): 7
Spencer(Zona): 4
Sommerville(SHU): 4


Rebounds
Blackett(SHU): 17
Cuffe(Zona): 14


What a game! Well as I said now that I hung with and not only beat Arizona, I’m going up to MOF for the next game, the final game of the NIT Tip off Classic, against (4-1) Cleveland St who upset #4 Louisville in their Semifinal game.

[CoachDubois]

Interesting read.

I coach St. Francis (PA) in my legacy and am currently in my 3rd year as well.

Sacred Heart won the NEC tourney in year 1 (I was bounced in the 1st round but won the regular season title with a tiebreak) and then beat me in the finals in year 2. In year 2, they were the #15 seed and managed to upset #2 Conn. in the first round of the NCAA before losing in the second round (to Syracuse I believe).

This year I plan to get some revenge, so I don't think I can root for you when you open up conference play in a few games =)