#Chicago PF Season 12

[invisibledevour]

HEY GUYS!!

"Not A Good Start, Burzek Fam Feels & Amazing Kim Centric Ep!!"

[play-like-athena]

2021 WNBA Mock Draft

This is a weak draft considering the top talent that declared early last year. This makes things even harder to predict because teams can go in many different directions. There are no clear choices... ESPECIALLY at #1.

1. Dallas Wings- Awak Kuier (PF, Finland)

I can’t put Charli Collier as the #1 overall pick. I just can’t do it. The youngest team is going to draft the youngest player in the draft. Kuier is just 19 years old but she has the versatility and skill that today’s game loves. She’s a 6′5″ forward who already has a decent 3-point shot. Many over seas players who are drafted this young don’t come over right away, so she will be a good stash pick for Dallas. Why not, they have 100 other picks in this draft.

2. Dallas Wings- Charli Collier (C, Texas)

IN THEORY she would be a great choice for Dallas. They need a good rebounder and a true center to help out Izzy Harrison. Here’s my problem: Big 12 Semi Finals vs. Baylor (FG 1-2. PF 4. REB 1). The player many are predicting to be the #1 pick only had TWO shot ATTEMPTS against one of the best teams in the country. If she can’t demand the ball and make plays as the best player on her team in college, how can we expect her to do it in the WNBA? Another example: vs. UCLA in the Second Round of the NCAA tournament (FG1-3. REB 5. PF 4.) Texas pulled of the upset in this game but it was in no thanks to Collier. She is far too prone to getting into foul trouble. A #1 pick is supposed to impact a franchise and I don’t see how Collier will do that. In honesty I don’t think she’s a #2 pick either, but I think Dallas will end up picking her here anyway.

3. Atlanta Dream- Rennia Davis (SF, Tennessee)

With Tiffany Hayes returning Atlanta should hopefully find some consistency this season. The loss of Renee Montgomery to retirement shouldn’t effect them too much considering they has Chennedy Carter to fill her spot. What Atlanta is lacking is versatility. Rennia Davis is a player who can get them a bucket, rebound and defend well, and get up and down the floor quickly.

4. Indiana Fever- Aari McDonald (PG, Arizona)

I don’t think anyone has boosted their draft stock more than McDonald. I love her game because a lot of her energy comes from her defense. That’s not something you see from a lot of players, so if you can find it you should take it. With the Olympics being in 2021 it seems like Allemande won’t be playing this season, so that means Indiana will be down a point guard. Dana Evans could easily be chosen here as well, but I think her tenacious defense and her tournament performance will give her the edge.

5. Dallas Wings- Natasha Mack (PF, Oklahoma St)

I desperately want Dallas to take Mack here. She lead the country in blocks, averaging 4 BPG. Dallas desperately needs some rim protection. They just need to do it. Will they? Probably not.

6. New York Liberty- Dana Evans (PG, Louisville)

It’s hard to predict what New York is going to do because they team they will have this year will look nothing last last years. They made some great additions with Natasha Howard, Betnijah Laney, and Sami Whitcomb. With the Olympics it is unclear whether Han Xu and Marine Johannes will be playing. And with Asia Durr’s battle with Covid- 19 it seems unlikely she will be playing either. I think New York will go with Evans here because they need to improve their shooting and defense. I think they’ll also just go with the best available player, which would be Evans if she’s still available.

7. Dallas Wings- Arella Guirantes (SG, Rutgers)

What Dallas does with their other 3 picks will determine what they do here. Guirantes will give them scoring off the bench, which will relieve some pressure from Ogunbowale.

8. Chicago Sky- Kiana Williams (PG, Stanford)

Other than Vandersloot Chicago doesn’t have another true point guard. I think they will be choosing the best available point guard here. If my predictions are correct that leaves Williams as the best available point guard. She has greatly improved her draft stock during the tournament. This pick could easily go to McDonald as well .

9. Minnesota Lynx- Iliana Rupert (C, France)

I think it’s about time Minnesota starts thinking about life after Sylvia Fowles. The problem is they spent a lot of money this off season. They don’t need someone right this minute. That is why I think they’ll go for a stash pick here. Rupert is just 19 and has already played against WNBA stars in the Euroleague. She has a good face up game at the basket and is a great rebounder as well. I think her game would work well in Cheryl Reeves’s system.

10. Los Angeles Sparks- Chelsea Dungee (SG, Arkansas)

LA lost a lot of great players in the off season. LA is going to need someone who can come off the bench and score some points. It will also be great for her to learn from Seimone Augustus.

11. Seattle Storm- Didi Richards (PG/SG, Baylor)

A lot of mock drafts has Richards falling to the second, even the third round. That blows my mind. Like any player from Baylor, her defense is elite. She brings constant energy, and her biggest spark is making a great defensive play. She doesn’t take a lot of shots, but she can get a bucket if she needs to. She also came back from a spinal cord injury in 38 days! That tells you the kind of person, and competitor she is. These are things you just can’t teach. Seattle lost Natasha Howard, Alysha Clark, and Sami Whitcomb in the off season. That is a lot of lost defense. Richards will be a perfect plug to those holes.

12. Las Vegas Aces- N’Dea Jones (PF, Texas A&M)

Vegas was also busy in the off season. They have no glaring needs, so I think they’ll go with someone with some versatility. Jones is a double- double machine. A downside is she is undersized at 6′2″. But she is someone who reminds me of Napheesa Collier. They are both undersized for their position, but aren’t afraid to do the dirty work to get the job done.

[junker-town]

Western Illinois, Year 40, 2046-2047

The final season of our sim dynasty with Western Illinois in College Hoops 2K8 is here.

Welcome back to our simulated dynasty with the Western Illinois Leathernecks in College Hoops 2K8. You can find a full explanation of this project + spoiler-free links to previous seasons here. Check out the introduction to this series from early April 2020 for full context. As a reminder, we simulate every game in this series and only control the recruiting and coaching strategies. Dynasty mode runs for 40 years.

Before we pick up with the Leathernecks at the start of Year 40, here’s a recap of everything that happened last season:

Western Illinois entered Year 39 trying to three-peat as national champions for the first time in program history. We lost two starters early to the NBA coming into the season, but still had enough talent to be ranked No. 10 overall in the preseason polls.

We ran through the regular season schedule, losing only one game to UCLA during the non-conference season and sweeping Summit League opponents once again. We entered the NCAA tournament at 29-1 on the year and earned a No. 4 seed to the big dance.

We beat Brown in round one, knocked off Georgia Tech in the round of 32, beat Indiana in the Sweet 16, and lost to Florida in the Elite Eight. We know enter the final season of my career tied with John Wooden with 10 national championships.

We added three players in our last ever recruiting class: five-star JUCO SF Jerald Obasohan, four-star SG Erwin Walls, and four-star PF Kenny Butler.

Here’s a first look at our roster for Year 40:

It feels like only yesterday that a fresh-faced, 25-year-old came to the small town of Macomb, Illinois with big dreams. Coach Rick was hired by Western Illinois to do the impossible: win a national championship with arguably the worst team in college basketball. After 39 seasons at the helm, our tiny program has accomplished that and so much more. Now it’s time to hang it up.

Our journey at Western Illinois is finally coming to an end. In literal terms, College Hoops 2K8 forces mandatory retirement upon coaches in dynasty mode after 40 seasons. All good stories need closure either way. As we start our final season, we have some big stakes attached to our swan song.

Western Illinois has won 10 national championships in the Ricky Charisma era. That ties us with UCLA legend John Wooden for the most in history. What started as a mission to win a single national championship has now left us with a different goal: to become the undisputed greatest program in the history of the sport.

While we failed in our bid to three-peat last season — falling to Florida in the Elite Eight — we did bring back all four breakout juniors for this season. We only lost starting center DJ Foster to graduation. Yeah, it’s been a while since we last published Year 39 (thanks for your patience), so let’s go over the roster:

PG Christano Ngounou, junior, 89 overall: Ngounou made major strides after being forced into the starting lineup last season, and now looks like a rock solid contributor going into our final year. An international recruit out of Cameroon, Ngounou is a fast 6’3 guard with lockdown defensive ability and a slightly above average three-point shot. We have bigger names on this squad who will be expected to carry the scoring load, but Ngounou is going to play a huge role because he’s way better than every other point guard on the roster. We need quality minutes from him in the tournament. Former five-star international recruit with B potential.

SG Bernie Doyle, redshirt senior, 92 overall: Doyle is an incredible talent who enters his senior year looking to fully blossom into a superstar. The 6’9 shooting guard uses his immense size on both ends of the floor. He’s elite at getting into the passing lanes and forcing steals (a team-high 1.8 per game as a junior) on the defensive end, and has a sweet three-point stroke offensively. Doyle is such a smooth scorer and dominant defender that it feels like he has the natural talent to develop into an all-great in his senior year. Let’s hope he’s up to the challenge. Former No. 36 overall recruit from Detroit with C potential. Projected lottery pick.

SF Floyd Keller, redshirt senior, 92 overall: Keller checks every box for a small forward. He has good size at 6’7. He has a three-point rating in the mid-80s. He’s the best dunker on the team. He’s an elite offensive rebounder for a wing with a rating in the low 90s, which helps equip him to play minutes at the four. After a tough shooting night in our Elite Eight loss last season — he went 1-for-7 from three — we’ll need Keller to be consistently great if we want one more run through the bracket. Former No. 101 overall recruit out of Dallas with C+ potential. Projected second round pick.

PF Oscar Fray, redshirt senior, 88 overall: Fray enters his third year as a starter with a fascinating combination of size and skill that could set him up for a breakout senior year. The 7-foot power forward is a great three-point shooter for his position with a rating just below 80. Defensively, he’s the top-rated shot blocker on the team, and also does a pretty good job on the glass. Former No. 118 overall recruit out of Lynn, MA with C potential. Projected second round pick.

C Brody Munoz, redshirt senior, 92 overall: Munoz finally gets the spotlight as a senior after backing up DJ Foster — a one-time NCAA tournament Most Outstanding Player — for his entire career up to this point. We’re expected big things, and not just because he’s tied for the highest rated player on the roster going into the regular season. What Munoz lacks in elite size at 6’11 he can make up for with strength, agility, and rebounding. We expect him to be really good at forcing turnovers, grabbing putbacks, and helping fortify the paint. Former No. 169 overall recruit (No. 6 center) out of Nashville with B potential. Projected lottery pick.

We have an incredibly deep bench for our final season. Center Logan Polk (85 overall) will be our sixth man, and should be able to form a three-man front court rotation with the two starters in the tournament. After that, we have a lot of options but not a lot of good options.

Here’s the rest of the bench: wing Jaycee Queen (80 overall), wing Jerald Obasohan (79 overall), guard Archie Howell (78 overall), wing/guard James Haranga (74 overall), guard Edwin Walls (74 overall), and power forward Kenny Butler (74 overall).

This is really it. Year 40. The last dance. What a ride it has been. We start the season at No. 4 in the polls.

How did the regular season go?

For our final regular season, we tried to schedule a good mix of local schools and historic big conference rivals with a couple in-season tournaments thrown in for good measure.

Here’s how the regular season went:

Win over Bradley

Win over Nebraska

Win over UTEP

Loss to Southern Illinois

Win over Florida

Loss to Northwestern

Win over New Mexico

Win over DePaul

That sets up a rivalry game against Illinois. We’ve played the Illini in almost every season, and we don’t want to end this dynasty without one more dub. The losses to Southern Illinois and Northwestern were a real bummer, and we need a palate cleanser. Let’s go!

Big win, 102-68. Look at Cristano Ngounou hanging 17 points and six assists on the Illini. Love seeing both starters in the front court — seniors Oscar Fray (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Brody Munoz (18 points, 11 rebounds) — each dropping a double-double, too. And how about our new five-star JUCO addition Obasohan chipping in 12 points off the bench? Really promising performance from the boys.

We get a big win over Kansas in our next game. That sets up another marquee game with a program we don’t like very much out of the state of North Carolina: Duke. We’ve battling with Duke on the court and on the recruiting trail for 40 freaking years. Can we end this rivalry with a dub?

Ugh, loss, 88-83. Nice games from Bernie Doyle (19 points, four assists) and Oscar Fray (14 points, 12 rebounds), but it isn’t enough. That’s our third loss of the season. Get bent, Duke.

We end the year with three more non-conference games.

Win over Illinois-Chicago

Win over American

Win over Arizona State

While we may have lost the final battle to Duke, I won the war over Coach K with a significantly better career by any measure (more on that in a minute). Now it’s time to jump into conference play in the Summit League.

Did we go undefeated in conference season?

Yes we did, another perfect 18-0 stretch.

Now we enter the conference tournament. Can we punch one more automatic bid to the NCAA tournament?

Win over UMKC

Win over Southern Utah

Win over UL-Calcutta

We’re going to the NCAA tournament for the last time, but that isn’t even the headliner after winning the Summit League. Im taking home the conference tournament championship, I won game No. 1,171 of my career. That currently puts me ahead of Coach K for the most wins all-time.

We have built a great legacy at Western Illinois. Before we enter the NCAA tournament, let’s take a look at our statistical leaders:

What a year for Munoz. Dude sat on the bench for four seasons before finally getting a starting spot, and all he did was lead our team in scoring at 17.2 points per game. Fray was awesome, too, averaging a hair under 15 points per game while chipping in nearly two blocks and six rebounds per game. It’s good to see Keller and Doyle both hit double-figures in scoring. I’m a bit surprised Cristano couldn’t even put up seven points a night after his big game against Illinois, but the assist and steals numbers are solid. We’re going to need him in March.

The Leathernecks are heading into the NCAA tournament at 32-3 on the year. I can’t wait to see what seed we get.

2047 NCAA tournament

Well, we couldn’t end this dynasty without getting swindled by the Selection Committee one more time. We’re a No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament. I thought we should have been a top-four seed without question.

We’ll open the tournament with a game against No. 11 seed Syracuse. Sheesh. Before we get to the game, let’s check in on our roster one more time:

I’m loving the way this group progressed through the year. We have two awesome wing scorers with an elite combination of size and shooting in Keller and Doyle. We have plenty of beef up front with Munoz, Fray, and Polk. Ngounou entered the program as a 77 overall and shot up to a 92 in three years without a redshirt. The bench also really improved during the season and should give us plenty of different lineup options in March.

This is going to be a tough run, starting with Syracuse. The Orange have knocked us out of the big dance before, and consistently put together really strong teams.

Our last dance starts now. As always, we’re simulating every game, I’m not controlling the ‘Necks.

Let’s go!

Win, 105-73! What an absolute beatdown. We’ve moving on to the round of 32.

Long-time followers of the series will know that our Leathernecks have always been known as a second half team. It happened in a big way in this game. Syracuse ended the first half strong to cut our lead to nine points, but we quickly turned it into a blowout out of the break.

I thought this was a tremendous all-around team effort. Six players hit double-figures in scoring with no one putting up more than Floyd Keller’s 15 points. Everyone who played recorded an assist. I loved this play from the first half when we set two screens for our five-star JUCO Obasohan that helped get him an easy layup.

Our bench is a big question mark coming into this tournament, mostly because it’s filled with a lot of fresh faces who haven’t played big minutes in clutch spots before. I have to say, the performance of our reserves in our tournament opener was super encouraging. Obasohan in particular looks like a keeper after scoring 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting and knocking down a three. We always need wing depth, and he should be able to provide that on this run.

The clear highlight of Obasohan’s night: this sick two-handed dunk in transition for an and-one.

We love to turn defense into offense, and Ngounou and Doyle’s ability to get into the passing lanes really helps us out there.

Speaking of Ngounou in transition: he had a beautiful finish on the break to put the game fully out of reach. That’s what you want out of your point guard.

The win sets up a second round game against Colorado State

The Rams have been a solid program throughout this sim dynasty, regularly making NCAA tournament appearances. We have a decisive edge in talent heading into this game.

We are one win away from going to the Sweet 16 and extended our run in the big dance. One time, ‘Necks. Let’s go!

Win, 109-79! We’re going to the Sweet 16!

We didn’t need to be a second half team in this one. Our ‘Necks blew the doors off Colorado State from the opening tip-off. I thought we played a great game offensively thanks to our inside-out ball movement.

We had five scorers in double-figures in this one, but it was senior starters Bernie Doyle and Oscar Fray leading the charge. We know Doyle is capable of taking over a game at his best, and he was awesome in this one: 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 shooting from three. The real story was Fray, though.

Fray was probably the least appealing long-term prospect of our recruiting class when he entered the program alongside Doyle, Keller, and Munoz. That was mostly because of his 74 rating and C potential grade. While he’s always been rated a few points lower than his classmates, Fray’s skill set on the court is so important to us. He’s a massive 7-foot power forward who can protect the rim and shoot threes. What more do you want?

Fray went off in this game: 22 points, eight rebounds, two assists, two steals on 9-of-11 shooting. I love watching the big man shoot from deep. This was from NBA range.

Here’s one more catch-and-shoot three for good measure.

Fray might get slept on a little on this team, but he’s absolutely critical to our success if we want to win it all.

I also want to shout-out the bench for another solid performance. I liked what I saw out of Obasohan (11 points) and Howell (10 points). Since we already have two Obasohan clips in this post, why not make it three? Love him hitting this triple in the first half to help us open up the lead.

We’re rollin’.

The win sets up a Sweet 16 game vs. Alabama

We’re now four wins away from ending this dynasty with a national championship. A Sweet 16 game against Bama is going to be an absolute battle.

In our simulated future, the Tide have become a basketball school. This program seems to make the tournament every year, and they’ve given us plenty of trouble in the past.

A trip to the Elite Eight is on the line. Let’s go!

Win, 112-69! We’re onto the Elite Eight!

Say it with me: SECOND. HALF. TEAM. After a tight first half left us with a six-point lead coming into the break, our ‘Necks absolutely torched the nets in the second half to come away with the blowout win. Seriously: we scored 66 points in the final 20 minutes. That was an offensive clinic at its best.

I had a good feeling about the second half when Cristano got this three hit the rim like 50 times before falling. Sometimes you need some good luck on your side.

A couple possessions later, Floyd Keller came down a ripped another three. We finally had a double-digit lead, and we’d never look back.

It was great to see Keller (15 points) get going from deep. He hit all three of his attempts from beyond the arc.

While we don’t have any clips of the front court from this game, they absolutely deserve credit for the win.

Fray turned in another incredible performance, this one somehow even better than his last. He ended the game with 25 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, three steals, and three blocks on 10-of015 shooting. He didn’t attempt a three (booooo) but he dominated the game on both ends. His front court mate Munoz was almost as good. The senior center finished with 20 points and 16 rebounds. We kept going inside — Munoz and Fray combined for 35 (!) field goal attempts — and they were making the Bama defense pay.

Not the best Bernie Buckets game (9 points on 3-of-10 shooting), but I clipped this shot from the first half, so I might as well embed it here.

Elite Eight, here we come.

The win sets up an Elite Eight matchup against No. 1 seed Indiana

Our run in the NCAA tournament has been a breeze up to this point, but I fear things about to get a lot more difficult. Our plucky No. 6 seed is about to run into one of college basketball’s blue bloods: the top-seeded Indiana Hoosiers.

The Elite Eight has been something of a bugaboo for us. We lost in this round last year. We’ve lost in this round many times before. I don’t want it to happen again.

A Final Four trip is on the line. As always, we’re watching a simulated version of this game; I am not controlling the Leathernecks. Let’s go!

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Loss, 96-86. Oh my gosh. And just like that, our dream of ending this dynasty with a national title is over.

I am devastated. I really thought this team was good enough to send me out on top, but it wasn’t meant to be. The Hoosiers’ outside shooters did us in. Indiana’s guard-heavy lineup caught fire from deep (10-of-21 for 47.6 percent), and our perimeter attack couldn’t keep up. We only hit 6-of-22 (27.3 percent) attempts from three.

What happened to our second half team this time? We were only down two going into halftime, but we were outscored by eight over the final 20 minutes. Tough scene.

There were some solid individual performances. Munoz went out strong with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Bernie Doyle dropped 21 points and hit this three-pointer to keep us in it early.

Floyd Keller just didn’t give us enough on the wing. He shot 1-of-8 from three in the loss. He did give us a little juice in transition, at least.

Cristano played all 40 minutes, and had eight points and nine assists. I really wish I got another year with him as a senior next season.

Unfortunately there is no next season. After 40 years at Western Illinois, our sim dynasty is over. Here are some final numbers on the series:

Final record: 1,177-213

10 national championships (tied with John Wooden for the most in men’s college basketball history)

15 Final Four appearances

25 Sweet 16 appearances

Final NCAA tournament record: 113-27

38 Summit League regular season championships

35 Summit League tournament championships

38 seasons with 20+ wins

61 players drafted

The thing I’m most proud of? After we made the NCAA tournament for the first time in Year 3, we didn’t miss it again the rest of this dynasty.

Is Ricky Charisma the greatest men’s college basketball coach ever?

I think so. Here’s how we stack up to other top coaches in NCAA history in important categories.

Total wins

Ricky Charisma: 1,179

Mike Krzyzewski: 1,170

Jim Boeheim: 1,083

Roy Williams: 903

Bob Knight: 899

Dean Smith: 879

Jim Calhoun: 877

Adolph Rupp: 876

Bob Huggins: 828

Eddie Sutton: 806

Tournament wins

Ricky Charisma: 110

Mike Krzyzewski: 94

Roy Williams: 77

Dean Smith: 65

Jim Boeheim: 57

Tom Izzo: 52

Jim Calhoun: 49

John Wooden: 47

Final Four appearances

Ricky Charisma: 15

Mike Krzyzewski: 12

John Wooden: 12

Dean Smith: 11

Roy Williams: 9

Tom Izzo: 8

Rick Pitino: 7

Denny Crum, Adolph Rupp, John Calipari: 6

Consecutive tournament appearances

Western Illinois: 36

Kansas: 31

North Carolina: 27

Arizona: 25

Duke: 24

Michigan State: 23

Gonzaga: 22

Winning percentage

Ricky Charisma: 84.7

Mark Few: 83.44

Sam Burton: 83.33

Clair Bee: 82.444

Adolph Rupp: 82.1

John Wooden: 80.3

National championships

Ricky Charisma: 10

John Wooden: 10

Mike Krzyzewski: 5

Adolph Rupp: 4

Roy Williams: 3

Jim Calhoun: 3

Bobby Knight: 3

Who is the best player in Western Illinois history?

That’s the big question within the fanbase right now. Before we get to it, let’s look back at our greatest recruiting wins.

We landed five five-star recruits out of the domestic high school ranks during my time at Western Illinois. We also signed nine five-star JUCO recruits, and six five-star international recruits from places like New Zealand (shout-out Dave French), Montenegro (anti shout-out Vitor Andrisevic), France (what up, Kim Kone!), and Cameroon.

The highest-rated recruit in program history was Sammy Yan at No. 10 overall in 2032. He was pretty much a disappointment. The program’s all-time leading scorer was center Vinnie Harmon with 2,452 career points during his career. He was the No. 122 overall recruit and the No. 8 center (those that followed the series or played the game know that centers are always weirded underrated on the recruiting trail).

Here are some more numbers during tournament games only (aka, the games we streamed), from the amazing Leathernecks Database maintained by our fans:

The highest rated player in program history is a tie between small forward Nic Cummings and point guard Duncan Martinez, who are the only players to reach 97 overall. Cummings in particular is a great choice for the GOAT. He ended his career with three national titles, though only one as a starter. He’s top-10 for me, but not No. 1.

The people’s choice for the GOAT is Deke Van, the legendary center who helped carry us to our first national title in Year 8. Deke’s turn from from Year 7 goat to Year 8 GOAT is the most memorable we’ve ever had. We couldn’t have done any of this without you, Deke.

When Coach tell you youre guarding @deke_van https://t.co/RDhmDAPRA8 pic.twitter.com/fm2udgvMZT

— Ryan Thomas (@RTtheSID) May 10, 2020

As the series went on, other great players emerged who finished with gaudier stats and better resumes.

My personal favorite might be Bert Draughan, Mr. Basketball out of Chicago (No. 29 overall recruit), who went on to win a title with us in Year 13 and also starred for our Year 11 team that began the season 35-0 before losing to Michigan State in the Final Four. Harmon is another fine choice. Skip Clemmons helped us win three national titles in Year 23, Year 24, and Year 26. Albert Jagla, Clemmons’ former teammate, played a big role in our first back-to-back championship squad, and is arguably the greatest perimeter bucket-getter in program history.

All-time favorite moment? Impossible to say. The first one that comes to mind is Kim Kone’s go-ahead corner three in the 2024 tournament. Najeeb Goode’s steal vs. UCLA in the Final Four to help us win our second title in Year 13 also stands out. There was also the time superstar power forward Allen Cunningham took off his pants mid-game.

Thank you to everyone who read, watched, and interacted

I started this series on April 11, 2020, a few weeks after the pandemic had shut down all ‘real’ sports. At the time, I was gearing up to cover the 2020 NCAA tournament. That never happened. I had college basketball on my mind, and I always wanted to write something on ‘College Hoops 2K8’, probably my favorite video game ever. This project is what came of it.

I had no idea if anyone was going to read this. I definitely did not think I’d finish out all 40 years like a complete lunatic. I didn’t think I’d write the equivalent of multiple books in terms of total word count.

Just before I dropped the first post in the series, I tweeted this:

Got a real dumb blog post coming

— Ricky O'Donnell (@SBN_Ricky) April 11, 2020

I wrote around 70 posts in the series, counting the inaugural Hall of Fame induction (read a big Deke Van retrospective at that link) and two posts of my Deke Van x Seattle Supersonics spin-off. I’m estimating I wrote 200,000 words in this series. That’s about the length of “The Fellowship of the Ring.”

I still can’t believe everything that came from this series. The Washington Post wrote a profile on it. I went on WGN TV and did a few radio spots promoting it. We sold a Deke Van t-shirt with Homefield Apparel. Our series inspired a new friend in Japan named Thanh Nguyen to write a pair of e-books adding greater depth to our story. Friend of the program Mike Rutherford did an amazing hype video for our first championship run. When I moved the series to Substack for a few months, more than 7,000 people signed up for email updates and still remain. Our first Twitch stream for the Year 8 Final Four drew more than 7,000 total viewers, and had 2,500 concurrent viewers on it at as we were closing out the win. On SB Nation, the series has been viewed more than 500K times.

What really made the project special was always the community around it. Some quick shout-outs:

The Leathernecks Database is an amazing companion to this series. You can lost in there. Thank you to the diehards to helped maintain it, and reader Evan for starting it.

Thanks to my guy who started the Leathernecks Nation instagram fan page and whoever is behind the wondrous fake Deke Van twitter account.

Thanks to everyone in the Discord who maintained ‘Necks discussion always and forever.

Thank the diehards that came out for every Twitch stream. I don’t want to name names because I’ll forget someone, but you know who you are. I love you all. I also want to thank the readers for keeping up with the recaps, and everyone who emailed me feedback throughout the series. I also want to thank my buddy Scott for introducing me to the game and running through multiple 40-year dynasties with me way before I ever considered blogging through it like this. This series would not exist without him.

What a ride it’s been. As I sim through to the end of the calendar, I’m greeted with this message.

Thank you, everyone. Go ‘Necks.

[tkmedia]

What’s Happening in Sports: October 1, 2021

2020: San Diego Padres set a franchise-record with 4 HR during 1 Postseason GP while recording the most HR (5) after the 5th inning in MLB playoffs history as Fernando Tatis Jr. belted 2 clutch HR with memorable bat flips to spark SD’s comeback2020: New York Jets QB Sam Darnold set a franchise record for the longest RUSH TD (46 YDS) by a Jets QB ever as he pulled off 1 of his best career plays against the Denver Broncos on TNF2019: Washington Nationals OF Juan Soto roped a CLUTCH 3-run double in the 8th inning against Brewers RP Josh Hader during the NL Wild Card Game with DC trailing 3-1, helping the Nats eliminate a team from the playoffs for the 1st time since 1924 2018: Down 3 PTS with 3:15 remaining during his 1st career primetime game on MNF, Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes avoided a Sack from Denver Broncos EDGE Von Miller on 3rd & 5 by completing a 1st down pass to Tyreek Hill with his left hand2004: Seattle Mariners OF Ichiro Suzuki broke the MLB single-season Hits record with his 258th base hit of the season. Ichiro extended his MLB season Hits record to 262 which still stands today1997: Just 2 years removed from his high school graduation, PF Kevin Garnett signed a record-breaking 6-year, $123 million extension with the Minnesota Timberwolves1995: 5 games into their inaugural season, the Jacksonville Jaguars finally captured their 1st victory in franchise history 17-15 over the Houston Oilers1961: New York Yankees OF Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record with his 61st HR of the season that stood as the MLB record until Mark McGwire & Sammy Sosa both passed him in 19981933: New York Yankees OF Babe Ruth pitched a Complete Game and also hit a Home Run during his final career pitching appearance and 2nd time on the mound in 12 years (also in 1930)1932: New York Yankees OF Babe Ruth made his legendary “called shot”, pointing toward centerfield before launching a HR there in World Series Game 3 as part of a multi-HR effort that led the Yankees sweep over the Cubs1922: Former Chicago Staleys played their very 1st game as the Bears, defeating the Racine Legion 6-01903: Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Boston Americans in what was the very 1st World Series game in baseball history. There has been a World Series to decide the MLB’s champion every year since then besides 1904 & 1994 Read the full article

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John Stockton, Karl Malone And The Utah Jazz All-Time Starting 5

SALT LAKE CITY – 1997: Karl Malone #32 and John Stockton #12 of the Utah Jazz talk strategy during … [+] a break in NBA game action at the Delta Center circa 1997 in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1997 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)

NBAE/Getty Images

With the NBA on hiatus due to the outbreak of COVID-19, scores of fans and analysts have looked to the league’s history for entertainment.

YouTube is loaded with old games and highlights. ESPN is airing two new hours of The Last Dance every Sunday. And Basketball Reference has a seemingly endless well of data to pore over.

In the spirit of looking back, let’s break down who would represent the Utah Jazz at each position for an all-time starting five.

Even though at least two of the selections are no-brainers (John Stockton and Karl Malone, of course), we’ll still provide some objective criteria to fill out the lineup.

If you sort the top 100 in franchise history in wins over replacement player by the average of their ranks in box plus/minus (BPM), wins over replacement player (WORP is the cumulative variant of BPM), win shares per 48 minutes (WS/48), win shares (WS) and player efficiency rating (PER), you get a pretty accurate gauge of who Utah’s all-time best players are.

But before we breakdown each member of the lineup, a word on the numbers. Plenty of hardcore numbers folks are simply out on WS and PER, at this point. A recent update to BPM seems to have gone over well with them.

To sum it up, though, these are the catch-all metrics that are most readily available, go back far enough in history (PER and WS go all the way back to the beginning, while BPM starts at 1973-74) and can be combined across multiple seasons.

Is it a perfect methodology? Of course not. Does it generally pass the sniff test? Sure, which is good enough for exercises like this one.

So, without further ado, here is the all-time starting five of the Jazz:

PG: John Stockton

Again, you knew this one was coming. Using a more involved formula that included playoff numbers, MVP shares and credit for championships, Stockton graded out as the NBA’s 18th-best player since 1973-74, just ahead of Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Garnett, and just behind Karl Malone and James Harden.

Here, he actually finishes ahead of Malone, based mostly on the omission of MVP shares.

And there is a decent argument for the point guard being the greatest player in franchise history. Few (if any) players in the history of the game possessed Stockton’s combination of vision, basketball IQ, skill and grit. He leveraged all of it to become, by far, the league’s all-time leader in both assists and steals.

If the 3,715-assist gap between Stockton’s 15,806 dimes and second place was thrown into the leaderboard as a player, it’d rank 144th all time.

Over a 10-year stretch from 1987-88 to 1996-97, he averaged 15.6 points, 12.8 assists and 2.6 steals, while shooting 52.4% from the field and 39.2% from three. In 1989-90 alone, he averaged 17.2 points and 14.5 assists.

These numbers simply defy explanation.

SG: Jeff Hornacek

He was there for the twilight of his career, but Jeff Hornacek was still an ideal complement to Stockton and Malone over six-plus seasons in Utah.

He averaged 14.4 points, 4.0 assists and 0.9 threes, while shooting 42.8% from three as a member of the Jazz.

During that stretch (1993-94 to 1999-00), Hornacek ranked 29th in the NBA in BPM. And, among players with at least 100 three-point attempts, he was 17th in effective field goal percentage (eFG%).

Flanking that legendary Stockton-and-Malone pick-and-roll with Hornacek’s shooting and playmaking ability made the Jazz a nightmare to defend. Over the course of those seasons, Utah had the best offense in the NBA.

SF: Adrian Dantley

Adrian Dantley’s scoring efficiency is mind-blowing.

Over his seven seasons with the Jazz, he made six All-Star teams, averaged 29.6 points (first in the NBA), eclipsed 30 points per game four times, won two scoring titles, posted a 63.2 true shooting percentage (the league average TS% for those years was 53.7), stood 6’5” and attempted a grand total of 27 threes.

That’s all-time-great center efficiency from a 6’5” wing. When people have discussions about the greatest scorers of all time, he generally doesn’t come up. He probably should. Even if he’s not No. 1, this combination of volume and efficiency deserves a mention.

For his career, Dantley averaged 23.9 points per 75 possessions and had a 61.7 TS%. Stephen Curry and Karl-Anthony Towns are the only players in league history to match or exceed both marks. They, of course, are benefitted by the use of the three.

Dantley’s plus-8.3 relative true shooting (rTS%) percentage tops that of both Curry (plus-7.8) and Towns (plus-6.8).

PF: Karl Malone

And here, of course, is the other obvious selection.

Malone didn’t score quite as efficiently as Dantley, but his longevity was ridiculous. Over a 17 (seventeen)-year stretch from 1986-87 to 2002-03, Malone averaged 26.0 points per game and never dipped below 20 in an individual season. For an 11-year stretch from 1987-88 to 1997-98, he averaged 27.6 points.

That level of scoring for that long is almost unparalleled, which is why he finished his career at No. 2 on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

But he wasn’t just a scorer. Malone also averaged 10.1 rebounds and a better-than-people realize 3.6 assists over the course of his 19-year career. And he spread the floor before that was all the rage. From 1996-97 (as far back as play-by-play data goes) to 2002-03 (his last season with the Jazz), Malone took over a third of his shots from the range of 16 feet to the three-point line. And he hit 45.6% of those shots.

As far as duos go, there are few better than Stockton and Malone.

C: Rudy Gobert

After just seven NBA seasons (and only five as the starter), Rudy Gobert is already a fairly predictable result at center.

He’s already sixth in franchise history in WORP and fifth in WS. As for the rate numbers, he’s fifth in BPM, second in WS/48 and fourth in PER.

Over the course of his career, the Jazz are plus-5.6 points per 100 possessions with Gobert on the floor and minus-1.1 with him off.

He’s a two-time Defensive Player of the Year who is also first (by a pretty wide margin) in career TS%.

On top of being one of the most dominant defenders in NBA history, that hyper-efficient offensive game has made Utah better on that end, as well. His rim running draws defenders into the point, creating more space for the perimeter players outside. And any team would love to have his conversion rate on 10-11 scoring possessions per game.

The Overall Top 10

So, there you have it. Stockton, Hornacek, Dantley, Malone and Gobert. Historic juggernauts like the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls probably have that lineup topped, but it likely has an argument against most other organizations.

And, assuming all five are at the peak of their powers, this group would make sure things weren’t easy for the aforementioned powerhouses.

Now, if you’re curious what the rest of Utah’s top 10 looks like, I have you covered:

John Stockton

Karl Malone

Adrian Dantley

Rudy Gobert

Andrei Kirilenko

Jeff Hornacek

Carlos Boozer

Deron Williams

Paul Millsap

Derrick Favors

Enjoy debating whether any of the above should’ve made the cut.

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Tags: 5, Adrian Dantley, alltime, Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams, Derrick Favors, Jazz, Jeff Hornacek, John, John Stockton, Karl, Karl Malone, Malone, NBA, Paul Millsap, Rudy Gobert, starting, Stockton, Utah, Utah Jazz

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RTARL’s NBA Previewpalooza: Part One

One of the most hectic and entertaining NBA offseasons in recent memory is finally drawing to a close, and real-live game action is nearly upon us. After ending last season by swiftly dispatching the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Golden State Warriors have cemented themselves as the most ridiculous Final Boss in the history of team sports. Barring an injury that prevents either Kevin Durant or Steph Curry from playing in the postseason, it’s damn near impossible to imagine anyone preventing them from repeating. In the same way that a movie can still be great even if you guess the ending ahead of time, the ups and downs of each of the thirty teams in the NBA are still a ton of fun to follow, even if the eventual champion is basically a foregone conclusion. For me they are, anyway. 

Today I’ll be previewing the Eastern Conference, with the teams presented in the order I think they’ll finish, worst-to-first. I’ll roll out my Western Conference predictions and my picks for the end-of-season awards as soon as I can. Let’s rock and roll.

15. Chicago Bulls. Mother of God, this roster is an atrocity. Zach LaVine is the best player the Bulls have on their roster by a country mile, and he’s currently recovering from a torn ACL. He’s not even going to be cleared for contact until sometime in November. In the meantime, their best player is...Nikola Mirotic? I guess? Mirotic is a 6′10″ PF who averaged as many three-point attempts per game as rebounds last season, while shooting under 42% from the field. Woof. 

This year is all about landing a high draft pick to add to their young core of LaVine and uh, Denzel Valentine, Kris Dunn and Lauri Markkanen. Damn, GarPax. Nice work. 

14. Brooklyn Nets. Oh, jeez. I’ll say this for the Nets: I really liked the move to ship Brook Lopez out of town for D’Angelo Russell. Lopez served no purpose on a team this bad, and there’s always the chance that the next foot injury he suffers is a career-ender. Getting a young guy with Russell’s pedigree for him is a score. In addition, the Nets are doing that thing where a team acts as a dumping ground for other team’s shitty contracts, while picking up draft picks along the way (they got a 2nd rounder from Toronto for taking DeMarre Carroll, for example). 

Speaking of draft picks, it’s impossible to talk about the Nets without mentioning the truly heinous trade that deprived them of their ‘14, ‘16, 17, and ‘18 first round picks. I still can’t believe that happened. The light at the end of the tunnel for the Nets isn’t going to be all that bright until after next season, when their rebuild can finally begin in earnest. In the meantime, enjoy D’Angelo and Jeremy Lin!

13. Atlanta Hawks. I learned recently that Dennis Schroder is a huge douche and his teammates really don’t like him at all. A team’s best player being an asshole isn’t a big deal when the player is a legit stud. When it’s Dennis Schroder, that’s less than ideal. The Hawks have some decently fun guys to watch in Schroder, Kent Bazemore, Taurean Prince and incoming rookie John Collins (pride of Wake Forest). I don’t really see it translating to a whole lot of wins, though. This feels like a transitional year for them, and I’m not sure if coach Mike Budenholzer is the kind of guy who’d want to stick around for a full rebuilding project. I can’t for the life of me find any information on his contract, so it won’t be surprising if he bails after this season, and the Hawks sink into full tank-mode. 

12. New York Knicks. Well, they got rid of Carmelo. The return wasn’t all that great (that’s putting it kindly), but it’s tough to argue that it was the wrong move. Now, the team can focus on developing Kristaps Porzingis into a superstar, and trying to build around him. The Knicks definitely aren’t going to be a GOOD team, but with Kristaps doing Kristaps things, Michael Beasley doing Michael Beasley things, Willy Hernangomez hustling like a madman, and Tim Hardaway Jr. possibly attempting 10 threes a game, they won’t be a total drag to watch. 

11. Indiana Pacers. I love Myles Turner as much as almost anyone, but he’s not enough to carry a winning team by himself quite yet. Victor Oladipo is a fine running mate, and I think he’ll have his best year to date. With Darren Collison and Cory Joseph both on the roster, the Pacers are assured of having a competent, unspectacular general on the floor at all times. I think the Pacers have enough to keep from completely bottoming out, but this still looks like a lottery team.

10. Philadelphia 76ers. There’s not a team in the league with as wide a range of possible outcomes as the Sixers. There are so many “ifs” here. IF Embiid plays 65+ games, and IF Ben Simmons hits the ground running, and IF Markelle Fultz is ready to play, this team could sneak into one of the final playoff spots in the East. On the other hand, IF Embiid has a health setback and another lost year, and IF Ben Simmons is still too raw to count on, and IF Markelle Fultz’s terrible jumper totally undermines his other qualities, the Sixers could find themselves dangerously close to the Nets and Bulls at the bottom of the conference. I think the Sixers will be one of the most fun teams in the league to watch this year, but they won’t coalesce enough to make a legit run at the playoffs until next season.

9. Charlotte Hornets. Truth be told, there really isn’t much of a difference between the Hornets, Pistons, and Magic. The Hornets losing Nic Batum to injury is a bummer, as this is a team that can ill-afford to lose a playmaker. They brought in Dwight Howard, and if the early reports are to be believed, he’s as healthy as he’s been in awhile, and he’s feeling rejuvenated. It remains to be seen how long the honeymoon period will last for him in Charlotte. The Hornets are well-coached and they have several good defenders. Kemba Walker is a legit star and has shown the ability to drag his team to the playoffs in the past. I also really liked their drafting of Malik Monk. Add it all up, and the Hornets aren’t a top-tier franchise, but they’re far from a smoldering trainwreck. I’m not great with compliments.

8. Detroit Pistons. I might be one of the few people remaining on the Andre Drummond bandwagon. I still think he has it in him to be an absolute force defensively, and I hope he makes a leap this season. Bringing in Avery Bradley gives them some more shooting and further fortifies their defense. By surrounding a rim-wrecking big man with shooters, it’s pretty clear Stan Van Gundy is trying to recapture the glory of his Orlando days. If he can get something useful in return for Reggie Jackson, and if Stanley Johnson progresses enough to be a legit rotation player, the Pistons may very well have a stew going. 

7. Orlando Magic. I really like a lot of the Magic players individually, but they’ve had issues fitting together in recent seasons. I think things will be different this year. Aaron Gordon is primed to take a step forward and become an All-Star, and Elfrid Payton has the skill to be a very good PG, especially defensively. Evan Fournier and Terrance Ross can both score in bunches from beyond the three-point line. The organization seems to dislike Nic Vucevic, but he’s a good player. He’ll either be productive for the Magic, or they’ll finally find a trade they like and bring in someone who fits what they want to do. 6′ 10″ rookie Jonathan Isaac was one of the picks at the draft that made the analysts ooh and ahh, so I guess that’s a good thing. 

6. Toronto Raptors. The Raptors are a pretty good team. They have two All-Star caliber players in Lowry and DeRozan, and Serge Ibaka is a perfectly decent third wheel. With that said, it feels to me like they’ve gone about as far as they can go. Most likely, they’ll chug through the season similar to the way they have the last couple of years, and proceed to bow out early in the playoffs. However, it wouldn’t surprise me if they get off to a slow start and decide to fire Coach Dwane Casey. After that, things could really spiral out of control, and DeRozan or Lowry could end up being traded. 

5. Miami Heat. I love Erik Spoelstra, and this roster is tailor-made for a coach to go buckwild trying to cause matchup problems for the opponent. They have an elite rim-protector in Hassan Whiteside, an upper-echelon point guard in Goran Dragic, and a slew of very good role players. There’s size and athleticism up and down the roster. They can go small, they can go big, they can load up with perimeter shooting, they have Peak Dion Waiters, and they brought in Kelly Damn Olynyk. This team as constituted is a blast. The only thing keeping them from legitimate contention is their lack of a go-to superstar. Pat Riley has proven rather adept at securing the services of players like that, but they don’t have any young guys that are obvious trade pieces, and they’re devoid of draft picks for 2018, so odds of an in-season deal are pretty slim.

4. Washington Wizards. I consider myself to be a reasonably WizWoke guy, but much like the Raptors, this feels like a team that’s reached it’s ceiling. The difference between the Wiz and the Raptors is that while Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka have caused locker room issues in the past, John Wall and Brad Beal seem to be more measured and mature guys, their own rocky relationship notwithstanding. I don’t see the potential for their locker room to implode the way I do with Toronto. Barring major injuries, this is a team that should coast to home court in the first round of the playoffs. Wall and Beal are a spectacular backcourt, and Otto Porter has improved every year he’s been in the league. Marcin Gortat is steady, but his style of play is rapidly becoming a liability in today’s NBA. They’re an athletic rim-protector away from taking another step forward, and unfortunately those aren’t all that easy to acquire. Also, Markieff Morris is a total piece of shit.

3. Cleveland Cavaliers. Just to be perfectly clear, I’m not saying the Cavs are the third best team in the East. I’m saying they’ll finish with the third-best regular season record. Isaiah Thomas, Derrick Rose, and Dwyane Wade are going to miss a ton of games. LeBron’s only objective is winning a title, and if he thinks resting during the season will improve his chances, he’s gonna sit some, as well. They aren’t going to care about gunning for a #1 seed, because they know they can beat anyone in the East without it. There will probably be a little bit of a feeling out process at the beginning of the year, but this is a veteran-laden roster and it should go smoothly. There’s a faint whiff of danger here, with Isaiah Thomas’ uncertain health, and the cloud of LeBron possibly bolting after the season hanging over everything. I don’t THINK things will take a nasty turn for them, but if they did it would be delightful from an entertainment perspective. 

2. Milwaukee Bucks. I am ALL IN on the Bucks. The term “position-less basketball” has become en vogue recently, and the Bucks are perfectly suited for it. They are flush with young, athletic, lengthy defenders. Half the battle in today’s NBA is trying to force defenders to switch assignments until you end up with a matchup you can take advantage of. Well, the Bucks have a boatload of guys who can reasonably guard every position on the floor. They’re going to be a nightmare to play against. 

In addition to their defensive capabilities, they have motherfuckin’ Giannis Antetokounmpo. He’s a superhuman. I think this is the year he vaults into superduperstardom, and he’s a legit MVP candidate. The Bucks figure to get Jabari Parker back sometime around the All-Star break, and if he can pick up where he left off, it’ll give them a massive boost offensively. Jabari was averaging over 20 PPG and shooting over 36% from three before he went down.

I think the Bucks will keep the pedal to the metal all season long as they announce their presence as a legit team, and as a result the wins will pile up. They are young and hungry, and will enjoy the hell out of wrecking people. The main thing keeping me from vaulting them all the way to the top spot, and giving them serious consideration to make the Finals, is the fact that they’re coached by Jason Kidd. I have no idea if he’s a good coach or not. He does completely inexplicable things all the time, but then he’ll counteract that by pushing all of the right buttons for a few games in a row. Much like the rest of the Bucks, there’s room for him to take the next step forward and become one of the league’s best. 

1. Boston Celtics. I swear this isn’t me being a homer. The Celtics are loaded and they have a very good coach. It’ll likely take them a bit to figure out how to play together, but once they get the hang of things, they’re gonna be really good. Basically everyone has a Celtics-Cavaliers Eastern Conference Finals set in stone at this point. But, whereas the Cavs have the kind of well-earned confidence that allows them to not give a rat’s ass about the regular season and homecourt advantage, the Celtics aren’t there yet. I think getting homecourt for a potential playoff showdown with the Cavs is really important to them, and as a result they won’t let up during the season. Even if Kyrie Irving does miss games, as he’s wont to do, the roster is deep enough that they should still be able to hang with most teams even without him. When you have a team with this amount of talent trying to win as many games as possible, playing in a weak conference, they’re gonna put up a enough Ws to lock up a #1 seed.

Whew! That’s it for the East, be sure to come back next time for my thoroughly uninformed opinions on the West!

[shervonfakhimi]

The Nerdtastic Blog Boy Unscientific 2019 NBA Mock Draft 1.0

Everything was all good just a week ago. Even in the span of one week, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson both got hurt for an exponential amount of time, the Raptors won the NBA Finals and Anthony Davis got traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. No one could have expected all of that to happen in one damn week. So, with that in mind, it is damn near impossible to predict how these future draft picks will perform in their careers. No one has any damn clue. However, I always love to try to guess. So, here’s my 2019 NBA Mock Draft that I’m sure will look stupid not too far from now. Enjoy!

1. New Orleans Pelicans - Zion Williamson PF/C Duke

Umm, duh. One building block leaves New Orleans, another one walks right in with new pieces to fit around him that New Orleans was never able to surround Anthony Davis with. Zion is built for the modern game with the way he can run the floor, finish around the rim, create off the dribble (though he could afford to add more tools to his bag) and play anywhere defensively. He’s the obvious pick.

2. Memphis Grizzlies - Ja Morant PG Murray State

Not as obvious as Zion, but this one should not be up for much debate either. Ja is the ideal point guard for today’s NBA; a solid enough shooter who can burn dudes and transition and put anybody on a poster to go along with his pristine playmaking and feel. He and Jaren Jackson Jr. are going to be a lethal duo for years to come.

3. New York Knicks - RJ Barrett SF/PG Duke

Turns out New York will get two former Duke stars… just not the one they wanted. RJ Barrett isn’t Zion, but he has the size and scoring ability to become a mismatch nightmare. New York is the place RJ wants to be and I’m thinking they grant his wish.

4. New Orleans Pelicans - De’Andre Hunter SF Virginia

New Orleans gets this pick as part of the monster haul the Pelicans got from the Lakers for Anthony Davis. This pick could go any number of ways and might not even be made by the Pelicans, as reports are circulating that the Pelicans could trade the pick, per Jonathan Givony of ESPN, but if it is, let’s say they add Hunter. Scoring is not as pressing a need for the Pelicans after selecting Zion earlier and adding Brandon Ingram alongside Jrue Holiday. However, neither Lonzo Ball, Ingram or Zion are great shooters at this stage of their careers. That’s where De’Andre Hunter comes in. He can spread the floor and guard bigger forwards that continue to push Ingram around a little bit. Adding him essentially solidifies New Orleans will be hell to score against. Hunter doesn’t need the ball, which makes him a perfect fit in the Big Easy.

5. Cleveland Cavaliers - Jarrett Culver SG/SF Texas Tech

The Cavs need a little bit of everything. Jarrett Culver brings a little bit of… well, everything. While not a great shooter yet with mechanics needed to be fixed, Culver is a very solid playmaker and has potential as a scorer to score from all three levels and wreak havoc across the floor defensively. He’s a home run pick for the Cavs.

6. Phoenix Suns - Darius Garland PG Vanderbilt

The Suns need a point guard. They *finally* get a point guard. Garland and Devin Booker can play off each other beautifully as Booker has enhanced his playmaking skills in the NBA. Garland will need to do the same and learn to make his teammates better, but his backcourt has baby splash brother potential. It’s a perfect pick for the Suns.

7. Chicago Bulls - Coby White PG North Carolina

The Bulls need a point guard. They *finally* get a point guard too. White is a beast in transition and will need to learn to slow down and settle his team in the halfcourt, but is a great shooter and dynamic scorer in the backcourt, something the Bulls desperately need. He’s more of a combo guard than a pure point guard at this stage, but he’ll be able to play through mistakes in Chicago. He’s well worth the pick.

8. Atlanta Hawks - Cam Reddish SG/SF Duke

Cam Reddish is… an enigma. One play he looks like Paul George, the next he looks like Andrew Wiggins. His handle is suspect, he isn’t much of a playmaker yet, there were games where he disappeared, his jump shot was inconsistent, yet you see glimpses of the exact type of dynamic scoring wing everyone craves that was stuck in a situation with zero spacing. Atlanta seems like the best place for him to develop with Trae Young able to create easy looks and John Collins there to take the pressure off as a scorer. Hopefully, it pans out for Reddish.

9. Washington Wizards - Sekou Doumbouya SF/PF France

Ok, I’ll be painfully honest: I don’t know a lot about Doumbouya or much of these international guys. But Pascal Siakam has been a trendy comparison for him. That’s good enough for me!

10. Atlanta Hawks - Jaxson Hayes C Texas

Hayes is the prototypical rim-running, rim-protecting big man. Reddish, Collins and Hayes would make for one of the more modern and athletic frontcourts in the NBA to fit Young’s up-tempo pace. He’s a great fit here with Atlanta’s second top 10 pick.

11. Minnesota Timberwolves - Brandon Clarke PF/C Gonzaga

Clarke is an awesome fit in Minnesota. He helps bring a defensive impact in the frontcourt Minnesota has lacked with Towns, he can play center in small ball lineups next to Dario Saric, is a really active shot blocker, athletic around the rim and is a very solid passer inside the lane. He’d fix many of Minnesota’s problems right away.

12. Charlotte Hornets - Rui Hachimura PF/C Gonzaga

I thought about Charlotte potentially taking the shot on Bol Bol here due to the position they find themselves, thinking the risk is worth taking. But, I sided against it and went with Rui Hachimura instead. Hachimura reminds me a lot of John Collins when he came out of Wake Forest  Frank Kaminsky is not the answer there and Charlotte has to find spacing anywhere they can. Hachimura was comfortable with the three this season and can be another option offensively while still learning how to grow his game. He’ll be a solid player, Kemba or no Kemba in Charlotte.

13. Miami Heat - Nassir Little SF/PF North Carolina

Little was kind of lost in the sauce during his year in North Carolina. There were times it looked like the game was a bit too fast for him, but he at least always played hard. He was a top 5 recruit for a reason. He can be a dynamic scorer and is a freak athlete. Miami can develop him about as well as anybody could. He could thrive and be the steal of the draft if he lands in the right spot like this.

14. Boston Celtics - PJ Washington PF/C Kentucky

Boston could use more punch in the frontcourt, and Washington should be able to provide it. He is tough and really improved both as a shooter and playmaker this season at Kentucky. He’ll be able to soak up all the wisdom Al Horford has accumulated during his career, assuming Horford opts in to come back to Boston. This is a really nice, solid pick for Boston.

15. Detroit Pistons - Tyler Herro SG Kentucky

The Pistons really need shooting. Like, really bad. Incredibly bad. Poor Blake Griffin simultaneously had to do everything and had no room to do anything. Tyler Herro is one of the better shooters in this draft, raising his stock like Kevin Huerter did last year. This makes a lot of sense. That hasn’t stopped teams from doing something not as sensical before though.

16. Orlando Magic - Romeo Langford SG/SF Indiana

A long, athletic wing who isn’t a great shooter yet? He sounds exactly like a Magician (that’s what we call somebody on Orlando, right? Does anyone know the correct answer for this?). Assuming Nikola Vucevic returns, shooting can surround Langford in the form of Vuc, DJ Augustin and Evan Fournier, at the very least. We’ll see if Markelle Fultz’s jump shot is resurrected from the dead. But Orlando can’t count on it and needs shot creation in the half court from the perimeter. Langford excels in this area and has defense all around him. Steve Clifford can coach him out of some of his bad habits and would appreciate the toughness Langford showed playing through a broken thumb all season long. I think this could really work.

17. Atlanta Hawks - Mfiondu Kabengele PF/C Florida State

I doubt Atlanta keeps all three of their picks, but let’s just go with it. Mfiondu Kabengele is one of my favorite players in this entire draft and should fit in perfectly alongside this uber-athletic frontcourt. He can run the floor, protect the rim, plays super hard and has potential as a shooter. He can play alongside either Hayes or Collins. Trae Young should make his life really easy. He can be a major spark plug off the bench and has the potential to be much more.

18. Indiana Pacers - Nickeil Alexander-Walker PG Virginia Tech

Darren Collison and Cory Joseph are free agents and Tyreke Evans got booted from the league (hopefully he’s doing ok) for violating the drug policy. Aaron Holiday will get more looks at point guard but Indiana could use more playmaking alongside Victor Oladipo. Nickeil Alexander-Walker would be great for the Pacers, fills a need and fits their style of play.

19. San Antonio Spurs - Goga Bitadze C Republic of Georgia

Again, I don’t know much about Goga. But I do know San Antonio could use a more dynamic center than Jakob Poeltl next to LaMarcus Aldridge and have made a killing in the international route. It looks like a match made in heaven for Popovich here.

20. Boston Celtics - Bol Bol C Oregon

Danny Ainge can get a little frisky with this pick. Bol Bol has top 5 upside but has concerns with his motor, his frame and his foot injury he suffered this year playing for the Oregon Ducks. If Boston gets the most out of Bol, this is a home run. If not, then they just move on. It’s a risk worth taking here for Boston. Just handcuff Bol with Al Horford and make sure Bol never leaves his sight.

21. Oklahoma City Thunder - Cameron Johnson SF North Carolina

Remember how I said the Pistons needed shooting? Well, Oklahoma City might be the one team that needs it more. Cam Johnson is probably the best shooter in this draft. Oklahoma City needs more wings alongside Paul George and Russell Westbrook. If Johnson is on the board and Presti passes on him, I’d get visibly upset and I’m not a Thunder fan at all. They have to take him if he’s here.

22. Boston Celtics - Kevin Porter Jr. PG/SG USC

With Kyrie likely gone and Terry Rozier possibly bolting out of town, Boston could use more creation out of the backcourt. Had things gone swimmingly this year in Los Angeles, Porter would likely get drafted way higher. He’s a dynamic scorer. I like this pick for the Celtics.

23. Utah Jazz - Ty Jerome PG Virginia

Utah has already told Ricky Rubio they aren’t prioritizing him in free agency. I don’t think Donovan Mitchell is ready to take the reins at point guard quite yet, making Ty Jerome a great fit. He can get Utah solidified offensively and involve the rest of his teammates while Mitchell brings his much-needed scoring punch.

24. Philadelphia 76ers - Grant Williams PF/C Tennessee

Philadelphia desperately is in need of depth anywhere they can find it. With a team trying to win games now, they should be looking for guys who can play now. Grant Williams can do so and still has room to grow. Drafting him could unlock lineups where he or Ben Simmons serve as the ‘center’ on the floor. He’s smart, tough and does all the dirty work. Philly didn’t have anybody for that last season.

25. Portland Trail Blazers - Keldon Johnson SF Kentucky

Portland could use shooting on the wing. They’ve neglected it for years, so hopefully, they come to their senses. He shot well at Kentucky last season and won’t be counted on to create much offense. He can play to his strengths, strengths Portland could very well use.

26. Cleveland Cavaliers - Luguentz Dort PG/SG Arizona State

Collin Sexton did not provide a ton of playmaking or defense. They get that and another scoring punch in Jarrett Culver, but double down with Lu Dort. Basically a Marcus Smart clone, he can bring toughness and versatility in their backcourt.

27. Brooklyn Nets - Eric Paschall PF/C Villanova

Eric Paschall was miscast last season at Villanova. If Brooklyn is going to go star-hunting this summer, which by all reports they are, they need to surround the team with cheap, versatile players who can fit around said stars. Paschall can do exactly that. He’s smart, plays hard and has the chops to guard multiple positions. It’d be another smart pick on the Nets’ part to take him here.

28. Golden State Warriors - Dylan Windler SG/SF Belmont

It didn’t take long for the Warriors to come to the realization that they really need to cash out on this pick after the injuries suffered in the NBA Finals to Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson. They need depth and shooting. Dylan Windler brings both. After playing in a free-flowing, ball-movement offense at Belmont, he should fit into the Kerr-ism system in Golden State.

29. San Antonio Spurs - Talen Horton-Tucker SF/PG Iowa State

I have no idea what the hell Talen Horton-Tucker is. I do think his skill-set is intriguing enough to go in the first round, I just don’t know what he is as a 6’4” 235-240 pound bowling ball who can push it in transition and jet by dudes. If anybody could figure him out, it is San Antonio. Give him a year to develop in the G League then let him loose.

30. Milwaukee Bucks - Jontay Porter PF/C Missouri

I don’t expect Porter to be picked in the first round. The Bucks may even trade this pick to shed some salary, per Marc Stein of the New York Times. But it’ll be difficult for Milwaukee to bring Brook Lopez back, which would mean the gravity he brings at the center spot to allow Giannis to terrorize the rim walks out the door with him. I’m not sure where else Milwaukee will be able to find that. Jontay has torn his ACL twice, but if he’s healthy, he wouldn’t go even this low. The medical has to check out, but if it does, his scoring versatility could fit very nicely with Giannis and the rest of this Bucks squad.

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1. Phoenix: Deandre Ayton, Arizona, C, 7-1, 250 After his workout with the Suns, the freakishly athletic center said, “I know I’m going No. 1” and shut down workouts with anyone else. If you can’t believe a 19-year-old Bahamas-born guy with one year of college behind him, whom can you trust? 2. Sacramento: Marvin Bagley III, Duke, PF, 6-11, 235 The Kings will try another Duke product who might actually play after Harry Giles sat out his rookie season. Bagley, the ACC Player of the Year, has some range and is a force at the rim. And he’s healthy. Defensively suspect but healthy. 3. Atlanta: Jaren Jackson Jr., Michigan State, PF, 6-11, 240 What do you get the team that needs just about everything? How about a shot-blocking athlete who was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year? 4. Memphis: Luka Doncic, Slovenia, PG/SG, 6-8, 225 A do-everything, multiple-position sort, Doncic seems like a terrific complement to point guard Mike Conley and center Marc Gasol. The Grizzlies had a 21-game plunge in wins, so anyone with a pulse should help, and Doncic brings way more than that. 5. Dallas: Mohamed Bamba, Texas, C, 7-0, 225 The Mavs want anyone who can put the ball in the basket, not just hit the rim, and love Doncic. If he’s gone, Bamba, whose wingspan suggests he was a pterodactyl in a previous life, is too good to pass up. He averaged 12.9 ppg, 10.5 rpg and 3.7 bpg. 6. Orlando: Trae Young, Oklahoma, PG, 6-2, 180 The Magic have shown an astoundingly impressive ability to stink for the past seven years, failing to win 30 games five times. They hope the latest rebuild moves along behind the nation’s top scorer (27.4 points) and passer (8.7 assists). 7. Chicago: Wendell Carter, Duke, PF/C, 6-10, 260 The Bulls are likely looking for frontline help, and either Carter or Michael Porter Jr. would make sense. He’s a moose inside who can step out with some range on a creditable jumper. He’s versatile, drawing Al Horford comparisons. 8. Cleveland: Collin Sexton, Alabama, PG, 6-2, 185 Yup, a forward would make so much sense, given LeBron James’ what-the-heck-will-happen situation. But the owner tweeted about an “intriguing” prospect being worked out the day Sexton was there. He has guts and averaged 19.2 points per game. 9. Knicks: Michael Porter Jr., Missouri, SF, 6-10, 215 Mikal Bridges makes so much sense. But if Porter is here, the Knicks may gamble. He has skills, an NBA body and was a top-three, if not No. 1, pick before a back injury cost him all but three games. His Friday workout in Chicago was (at least temporarily) canceled, raising some concern. OK, lots of concern. 10. Philadelphia: Mikal Bridges, Villanova, SF, 6-7, 210 The Sixers would be so happy to get the local hero, he won’t have to check his burner phones at the door. Bridges is superb defender, shoots from 3, rebounds, does everything but create his own shot. Boston stomped Sixer wings, and he’d help. If the Knicks take him, the Sixers, who once took shot on Joel Embiid, may gamble on Porter. 11. Charlotte: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kentucky, PG, 6-6, 180 In addition to going for “Most Complicated Name Available,” the Hornets would love to find a backup for Kemba Walker or possibly the next Kemba Walker. Gilgeous-Alexander can handle, score, pass and match up with bigger wings. SEE ALSO Miles Bridges' path to the NBA doesn't look like anyone else's Miles Bridges' path to the NBA doesn't look like anyone else's 12. L.A. Clippers: Miles Bridges, Michigan State, SF/PF, 6-6, 220 A bit of a tweener in size, this Bridges is another do-everything-well, nothing-really-great guy — which a lot of folks said last year about Donovan Mitchell. Makes a lot of sense for Clips with back-to-back picks. 13. L.A. Clippers: Lonnie Walker IV, Miami, SG, 6-4, 195 Yeah, the Clips are praying one of the top point guards falls to 12/13, but that is as doubtful as an All-New York Conference Final. Walker is a still-developing athlete with explosive-type potential. Decent, not great, 3-point range (.346). 14. Denver: Zhaire Smith, Texas Tech, SG, 6-4, 200 Smith’s wondrous athleticism that sends him scurrying all over the court seems like a Nuggets match made in heaven — or opponents’ hell in the high altitude. The potential is limitless, but the execution also can be viewed as clueless. 15. Washington: Robert Williams, Texas A&M, C, 6-9 240 Welcome to the non-lottery part of our program (please drive home safely). Lots of potential — and questions — here. There’s athleticism but motivation concerns. 16. Phoenix: Kevin Knox, Kentucky, SF/PF, 6-9, 215 Only 18, the upside project was the SEC Freshman of the Year 17. Milwaukee: Kevin Huerter, Maryland, SG, 6-7, 195 Good shooter (.503) with size, has been quick riser through pre-draft process. 18. San Antonio: Troy Brown, Oregon, SF, 6-7, 220 Spurs not picking in high 20s? They need something special, and this do-it-all guy fits, although the shot needs refining. 19. Atlanta: Jerome Robinson, Boston College, SG, 6-5, 190 Another riser in pre-draft process, overall skill set makes him appealing. 20. Minnesota: Keita Bates-Diop, Ohio State, SF/PF, 6-8, 225 Averaging 19.8 points and 8.7 rebounds, he was the Big Ten Player of the Year. 21. Utah: Dzanan Musa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, SF, 6-9, 195 Excellent size and versatility. Plus, he has improved 3-point range. 22. Chicago: Chandler Hutchison, Boise State, SG, 6-7, 200 Left combine, supposedly, with first-round promise, and many think Bulls made it. 23. Indiana: Elie Okobo, France, 6-2, 180 Lefty project with high upside, size and athleticism. A project. SEE ALSO Villanova's title game hero leaving while NBA stock is high Villanova's title game hero leaving while NBA stock is high 24. Portland: Donte DiVincenzo, Villanova, SG, 6-5, 200 Final Four Most Outstanding Player shot .481 overall, .401 from 3. 25. L.A. Lakers: De’Anthony Melton, USC, PG/SG, 6-3, 195 The combo guard is one of the better backcourt perimeter defenders available. 26. Philadelphia: Mitchell Robinson, Western Kentucky, C, 7-0, 223 He enrolled but never played in college. He withdrew from the draft combine. Confident cuss, huh? Good shot-blocker, intriguing potential. 27. Boston: Jacob Evans, Cincinnati, SG/SF, 6-5, 200 Defense is a definite strength. Good jumper but consistency a worry. 28. Golden State: Aaron Holiday, UCLA, PG, 6-0, 185 Fundamentally sound, smart player, but the drawback is his size. Hey, if he lands with the Warriors, he’ll get a ring next year. 29. Nets: Hamidou Diallo, Kentucky, SG, 6-5, 195 The Nets are feverishly trying to move up. If not, this freakishly athletic wing would make sense here. And he’s local (Queens). 30. Atlanta: Josh Okogie, Georgia Tech, SG/SF, 6-4, 210 Another upside energizer who makes sense as a third first rounder for the Hawks. 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Western Illinois, Year 38, 2044-2045

Western Illinois needs one title to tie John Wooden’s record with three seasons left in our College Hoops 2K8 sim.

Welcome back to our simulated dynasty with the Western Illinois Leathernecks in College Hoops 2K8. You can find a full explanation of this project + spoiler-free links to previous seasons here. Check out the introduction to this series from early April for full context. As a reminder, we simulate every game in this series and only control the recruiting and coaching strategies. Dynasty mode runs for 40 years.

Before we pick up with the Leathernecks at the start of Year 38, here’s a recap of everything that happened last season:

Coming off a devastating loss in the Sweet 16, Western Illinois returned four starters to begin the year at No. 3 in the preseason polls. The regular season was a tough go, with six losses that included two dropped conference games. Fortunately, we were able to win the Summit League tournament and punch our ticket to the big dance as a No. 8 seed.

We beat Akron in the first round, defeated No. 1 seed Richmond in the round of 32, beat Rhode Island in the Sweet 16, took out Louisville in the Elite Eight, beat BYU in the Final Four, and defeated UCLA in the national title game. It’s our ninth national championship and puts us one away from tying John Wooden for the most ever.

We landed three players in recruiting: international point guard Christano Ngounou from Cameroon, three-star center Logan Polk, and five-star JUCO point guard Archie Howel.

Here’s a first look at the roster for Year 38:

When we started this series way back in April of 2020, we said our goal was to win the national championship with the worst college basketball program ever. As we near the conclusion of the series after Year 40, the goal has changed: now, we’re trying to see if the worst college basketball program ever can become the greatest college basketball program ever.

John Wooden at UCLA will always be the gold standard for men’s college basketball. Wooden won 10 national titles before retiring. After winning our ninth natty last year, we’re now one away from tying the legend with three years left.

We lost our top four players from last year’s national title team, including guard Augustine Bruthelieus, who became the 13th player in program history to leave early for the NBA. Despite all of the defections from last year, we still have a talented team led by the return of the reigning Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA tournament as he enters his senior year. We begin the new year at No. 24 in the preseason polls.

We’ve only won back-to-back titles once in program history. Can we do it again this year to tie Wooden? Let’s meet the team:

PG Cam Kately, redshirt junior, 87 overall: We’ve yet to really see what Kately is capable of as he enters his junior season, but we’re excited to find out. The 6’6 point guard only earned spot minutes off the bench on last season’s title team, but his skill set is intriguing enough to make him a projected lottery pick entering the year. Kately has a wonderful 84 rating as a three-point shooter, an A- grade in ball handling, and a low 80s rating in passing. He’s also excellent defensively, with an A+ on-ball defense rating and the size to cover three positions. I like that we can slide him to the two or even the three when we go back to our patented ‘Elliott at point guard’ lineup that led us to the natty last year. Former No. 114 overall recruit out of Alexandria, VA with B- potential.

SG Jerald Elliott, redshirt senior, 93 overall: Elliott was our sixth man last year, but he became an absolute legend during our tournament run by being named Most Outstanding Player. We moved Elliott — a 6’6 natural shooting guard — to point guard for our tournament run, where he became a two-way terror who scored efficiently and wrecked havoc in the passing lanes. Elliott has an unreal 99 speed rating that makes him a one-man fastbreak, and he’s also one of our better three-point shooters (86 rating) despite a slow, awkward release. We’ve never had a player win MOP in back-to-back years, and it would be simply incredible if Elliott could do it. Former No. 35 overall recruit out of Sacramento, CA with B- potential.

SF Ketshner Evertsen, redshirt junior, 89 overall: Evertsen has been instant offense for us off the bench the last two seasons, and now steps into what should be a starring role. A 6’8 natural shooting guard, Evertsen has a sweet outside shooting stroke (88 three-point rating), impressive finishing ability, and A grades in both speed and quickness. He might need to be our primary scoring option in March. Former No. 96 overall recruit out of Chicago with B potential. Projected lottery pick.

PF Oscar Fray, redshirt sophomore, 80 overall: Fray is our lowest-rated starter in .... decades (?), but we’re still feeling pretty good about him. We love his size as a legit 7-footer, and he also has terrific three-point shooting ability (75 rating) for his position. While he’s not the strongest big man, he does have the top block rating on the team and can at least hold his own on the glass. We love the idea of Fray as a floor spacer for us, but for some reason he always seems to want to take pull-up threes in tournament games. This man does what he wants, and in a way, we respect it. Former No. 118 overall recruit out of Lynn, MA with C potential.

C D.J. Foster, redshirt junior, 86 overall: Foster is just a giant at 7’2 and a cheeseburger away from 280 pounds. Foster looked tremendous in his debut tournament run last year, anchoring our front court on both ends and even finishing with a 22-point, 12-rebound performance against Louisville in the Elite Eight. He has A- ratings in quickness, strength, and offensive and defensive awareness. While his rebounding ratings are pretty average, he totally cleans up in stream games. It’s just really comforting knowing we’re going into this season with a huge center like this who can control the glass and lock down the paint on defense. Former No. 173 overall recruit out of Chicago with C potential.

We also have a lot of talent on the bench. 6’11 center Brody Munoz (85 overall, B potential) is on his way to being a stud as a tough and physical big man. Sophomore shooting guard Bernie Doyle has outstanding size (6’9) and a three-point shooting rating in the low 80s. Fellow sophomore Floyd Keller is a 6’7 small forward who can shoot threes and has an elite offensive rebound rating. There are also three new freshmen who are all joining the rotation immediately because the series ends after Year 40 and we don’t have time to redshirt anymore. Meet the freshmen:

PG Christano Ngounou, 77 overall, B potential

C Logan Polk, 76 overall, C potential

PG Archie Howel, 71 overall, C- potential

Not our best class, but Ngounou looks like a big win as a five-start international recruit from Cameroon. I think he can give us decent minutes from day one.

Recruiting

We have three scholarships to recruit for this season and need instant impact guys: these players will only get two years on campus before the series ends. I think we need another big and two wings. After scanning the available options, we decide to offer the following prospects:

6’3 PG Daniel Scheer out of Springfield, IL: No. 12 overall, No. 8 at his position

6’8 SF Eze Coleman out of Riverside, CA: No. 26 overall, No. 5 at his position

6’9 C Rickey Ager out of Indianapolis: No. 125 overall, and No. 5 at his position

We’re really swinging for the fences this year, but why not? We’re defending champs. Landing any of these dudes would be great, to be honest.

We have four new starters, but I still think this team is pretty damn good. It would so great to go back-to-back and tie Wooden this season. Let’s go!

How did the regular season go?

We started the year with a game against No. 22 Richmond (the same No. 1 seed we knocked out in the round of 32 last year), and took home a 70-55 win. Then we headed to the Maui Invitational, where we beat Penn, No. 22 Arizona State, and Nebraska to capture the championship. I’m partying like Tom Crean in Hawaii. That brings us up to No. 14 in the polls.

We beat No. 13 Vanderbilt in our next game, and then take out Providence. We’re rolling at 6-0 and we’re up to No. 9 in the polls now. Next up we have Duke, and damn, they beat us by three. We lose one more non-conference game to Northwestern, but otherwise take care of business. We’re going into conference season at 8-2 while ranked No. 21 in the polls.

Did we go undefeated in Summit League play?

We have somehow lost two games in conference play each of the last two seasons. Just unacceptable, and I’m happy to say that trash is over.

We pull off 18-0 against Summit League opponents this year, and then sweep through the conference tournament to punch our automatic ticket to the NCAA tournament. We end the year at 29-2 and ranked No. 9 in the polls.

How did recruiting go?

HORRIBLE. We didn’t just miss out on all of our primary options, we cycled through like eight different offers until we finally found a few guys we have a chance with, and none of them are ready to commit when the spring signing period opens up, either.

We currently have offers out to five-star international shooting guard James Haranga (6’5 out of Cameroon), small forward Lester Figueroa (No. 106 overall), and center Dean Warner (No. 245 overall, No. 18 center) out of Tampa Bay. It’s going to take some more work in the offseason to get any of them to commit.

2045 NCAA tournament

We open up March Madness as a No. 2 seed against No. 15 seed Weber State. We enter the game rated as a 98 overall, while Weber State is a 75 overall. Apologies to Damian Lillard, but this is about to be a beatdown.

Before we get into the tournament, let’s check out our updated roster.

It’s hard to believe this team was so dominant after losing Arvydas Hardy, Reece Mascoll, Al Reece, and Bru off our title team last year, but I can absolutely see the vision for how this team wins. Elliott has emerged into a legit star (95 overall) and we already know that he’s incredible at point guard in tournament games. Ketshner Evertsen — aka Shner — is a walking bucket even if he’s not quite as strong or powerful going to the basket as some of our best wings from recent years. We know what we have in Foster, and I’m waiting for Kately and Fray to step up. I also love our top three guys off with the bench, with Munoz in the front court and the wing combination of Keller and Doyle.

This team has been kicking ass all season, and I think we have the right pieces to potentially go all the way. That said, our leaders from last season’s title run are gone and there’s a reason why we’ve only gone back-to-back once: it’s really hard to do. I’m optimistic about this team and nervous about the stakes at the same time with Wooden only one title away.

Because this first round game is so lopsided in our favor, we decided to straight sim the game instead of watching it like we usually do. It’s always scary to do this, but ....

Win, 97-76. Never in doubt.

Even in a sim game, Elliott went off for 27 points on 3-of-4 shooting from three, and 12-of-14 shooting from the foul line. Keller also hit 3-of-4 triples off the bench, which is great to see. It was a cold shooting night for Shner (1-of-8), Fray (0-for-4), and Foster (1-of-10), but we’re not too worried yet.

It’s nice to bank a quick win at the start of our tournament run, and now I’m mad again about all the times the Selection Committee disrespected us with a low seed in the past. Anyway.

The win sets up a game with No. 10 Oklahoma State in the round of 32

Oklahoma State was in the Final Four with us last year, and has been a formidable program throughout this sim. They enter the game rated as a 96 overall, while we’re a 98 overall.

We’re watching the games from here on out. As a reminder, I’m not controlling the Leathernecks, we’re watching a simulated game.

Sweet 16 on the line. Let’s go!

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Win, 86-79. Oh my, that one got close at the end but we held on to advance to the Sweet 16.

First of all, why was that game played on Oklahoma State’s home court!?!? I will never get over that, but somehow we won anyway.

We opened up a double-digit lead toward the end of the first half, and maintained it throughout most of the second half. Then Oklahoma State decidedly to simply stop missing shots. They got it down to a one-point game with under one minute left, and I was officially sweating.

Thankfully, Ketshner Evertsen came through with the clutch bucket, and we held on to win.

Shner had 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting and very much looked like the go-to scorer we need in this tournament. Bernie Doyle also had nine points off the bench of 4-of-6 shooting. It’s just a huge luxury to have two 6’8+ wings who can hit shots from deep in March. Jerald Elliott was also solid again, even if his numbers — 10 points, six assists, five turnovers — were unspectacular.

Foster was absolutely great: 15 points and 15 rebounds with three blocks. More of that, please. Damn, it feels great to have a 7’2 center in the middle.

Solid all-around team effort even if it got way too close for comfort there. We’re just trying to survive and advance.

The win sets up a Sweet 16 game with No. 11 Illinois

WOW, WE’VE GOT THE ILLINI IN THE SWEET 16.

We’ve played our in-state rivals countless times throughout this dynasty, but never in the NCAA tournament. We’re trying to do them like Loyola did IRL.

We enter the game as a 98 overall. The Illini are rated as a 90. Let’s go!

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Win, 99-78. We’re onto the Elite Eight.

I’m almost disappointed in Illinois, because that game was a little too easy. We opened up a double-digit lead midway through the first half, and pushed it to a 20-point lead midway through the second half. That’s officially ‘sim to end’ territory and we were able to do that with about seven minutes left.

Our friends from Champaign had absolutely no answer for Jerald Elliott in this one. Elliott went absolutely wild to finish with 30 points, five assists, and three steals on typically efficient 11-of-16 shooting from the floor and 4-of-8 shooting from three. Our dude won MOP for our title team last year, and this was still easily the best game of his life.

Look at that 99 speed in action:

Some other positives:

Shner made an impact on winning even on a night when he finished with more field goal attempts than points. He still ended the night with 16 points, six assists, and four steals. It feels like our offense has a solid foundation with Shner + Elliott + Foster.

Speaking of Foster: he had another double-digit rebound game with 12 boards. It’s also pretty comforting that we can still beat a good-ish team by 20 when he shoots 3-for-12 from the field.

Our bench really came to play. The reserves combined for 28 points. Doyle (12 points on 3-of-6 shooting) is going to be star, I just know it. The same can probably be same for our young center Brody Munoz, who finished with nine points and five boards. I even liked what I saw from the true frosh Christano Ngounou, who had five points.

The win sets up a game with No. 1 seed Louisville in the Elite Eight

Oh man. We played Louisville in the Elite Eight last year, and I hyped up that game to no end because the Cards had the one of the best rosters I had ever seen in this sim. We ended up winning that game by 18 points, but I’m not exactly excited about a rematch.

Louisville enters the game as a 100 overall. We’re a 98 overall. The Cards have six guys on the roster rated in the 90s. Just ridiculous.

This is going to be such a big test, but hey: we proved we could take them last year. This could be our biggest test standing between us and back-to-back titles. One time, ‘Necks.

Let’s go!

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Win, 91-87! WE ARE BACK IN THE FINAL FOUR.

Just an unbelieveable effort from our guys. Honestly, it looked like it was going off the rails early as Louisville ripped off a 17-0 run a few minuets into the game. Their press was forcing us into turnovers, and we couldn’t get into a rhythm offensively. It looked we might be headed for the wrong side of a ‘sim to end’ game, but then the offense started to wake up. We chipped the deficit to single-digits, and then took a one-point lead going into the break on a Cam Kately corner three in the final minute of the first half.

We got out to a strong start in the second half — this is a second half team, remember? — and held an 11-point lead with under four minutes left. Louisville would get the deficit down to four points only two minutes later, and it was officially go-time. That’s when Shner stepped up with a critical three to essentially ice the game.

Evertsen was brilliant, finishing with 19 points, three steals, and three blocks. We knew he could torch the nets, but I had no idea he had that type of defensive performance in him. I love having this dude on the team so much.

For as good was Shner was, D.J. Foster was even better. All our 7’2 redshirt junior center was put up one of the great performances in the history of the program given the stakes. Foster finished with 20 points, 18 rebounds, and four assists on 8-of-14 shooting. The Cards couldn’t stop him to save their tournament lives:

Let’s hit on some bonus shout-outs on the way out:

Elliott: 13 points, six assists, four steals on another efficient shooting night. The man is just a machine.

Brody Munoz: 15 points and seven rebounds on 6-of-6 shooting from the field. I’m already preparing to lose him after his junior season in Year 39 and be really bummed about not having him for my final year. He’s just too good.

Bernie Doyle: 11 points with 2-of-3 shooting from deep. Future stud.

The win sets up a game with No. 2 seed Michigan State in the Final Four

We have had a solid little rivalry with the Spartans over the years, though I can’t remember playing them much recently. Sparty famously ended our undefeated season in the Final Four in Year 11, and I’ve been holding a grudge against them ever since.

Tom Izzo is long gone, but MSU remains real good. Both teams enter the game as a 98 overall. As I check out Michigan State’s roster, I see that they are led by one of our former recruiting targets, senior small forward Sergio Hicks. Him vs. Evertsen should be the matchup of the game.

Two wins away from going back-to-back. Two wins away from title No. 10. LET’S GO.

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Win! 83-72! We are one win away from a national championship!

MSU kept it close, but credit our guys for never letting them take the lead. It is kind of amazing we were able to win this game despite shooting 3-of-22 (13.6 percent) from three.

This was once again a really solid all-around team performance despite the rough shooting night. Our top six guys in our rotation all reached double-figures in scoring. As is becoming the norm on this run, Ketshner Evertsen was leading the charge.

Shner finished with 25 points, seven assists, and four steals despite shooting 1-of-11 from three. It is unreal to have that type of impact on such a poor shooting night for a guy who is considered a pure shooter. This coast-to-coast layup helped us ice the win late in the second half:

We haven’t mentioned Kately’s name much during this tournament run, but it was nice to see him put together a good game with 11 points, four assists, and two steals on 6-of-10 shooting.

He even had one of our famous alley-oop layups.

Speaking of players we haven’t mentioned much: Floyd Keller. The 6’7 redshirt sophomore wing can really play even if he hasn’t gotten the opportunity to show it much on this run as we’ve largely went with Doyle in the rotation over him. On a night when Doyle couldn’t hit a shot, Floyd got in and made a few things happen.

This dunk was beautiful.

The win sets up a game with No. 7 seed Boston College in the national title game

Boston College?

Like, BC BC???

And they’re a No. 7 seed????

I can’t remember playing the Eagles during this sim before. I also can’t remember playing too many teams this small, especially this late in the tournament. BC has basically no size on the roster, with their biggest player being 6’9 small forward Irving Danley.

We are one win away from tying John Wooden’s record of 10 national championships. We just have to beat a Cinderella to do it.

Please, ‘Necks. Let’s go!

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Win, 96-78! THE LEATHERNECKS ARE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS FOR THE 10TH TIME IN PROGRAM HISTORY!

What a way to tie Wooden — with an absolute beatdown. BC simply had no chance of keeping up with us. We crushed them on the glass and did a good job defending the rim. Offensively, our starters caught fire from the field and turned this game into a blowout well before the final buzzer.

First shout-out goes to D.J. Foster, who was comically dominant. All he did was have his second 20-point, 18-rebound game of the tournament, and this time he came three assists shy of a triple-double. He was named Most Outstanding Player for his efforts.

This man is 7’2, 280 pounds and can do this!

How about some Foster defense?

Best of all, he’s expected to be back for his senior year next season.

Evertsen was also great again, too. He popped off for 18 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks in the win while shooting 3-of-5 from deep. Like Foster, the dude has been an essential contributor on back-to-back title teams, and is basically a legend now. We love to see it.

Jerald Elliott had an extremely Jerald Elliott game in his final time in a ‘Necks uniform: 15 points and seven assists on 6-of-8 shooting. It was an honor to coach him.

I’ll throw in this Cam Kately clip too, since this might be the last game he plays at WIU as a projected lottery pick:

I can’t believe we actually tied Wooden with 10 national championships. We went through an eight year stretch where we only won one title between Year 29 and Year 36, but just when it seemed like our goal was out of reach, we went out and won back-to-back natties.

It’s only the second time we’ve ever won back-to-back championships, and the first time since Year 25 and Year 26 in the golden days of the Albert Jagla/Skip Clemmons era. I really wasn’t sure if we had it in us, but this is clearly a special group of players.

RUN THAT NEWSPAPER:

We have two seasons left in this dynasty and we’ve already tied John Wooden. Everything from here on out is gravy.

Let’s get to the offseason.

Offseason

Western Illinois are national champs. Feels great to say, back-2-back baby.

D.J. Foster wins conference player of the year.

Nooooooooooo. Ketshner Evertsen turns pro early. Cam Kately turns pro early. Elliott graduates as a projected top pick. Wow, I really did not expect to lose both Evertsen and Kately. The loss of Shner really, really hurts our chances at competing for a title next year, but of course we love him and support him on his way to his NBA dreams. Dude made 73 threes at a 45 percent clip this year. What a season. Ugh.

My current record: 1,110-207 with 10 titles. Not bad for a 63-year-old. Only two seasons left.

We lose an assistant coach and replace him with someone who has an A rating in teaching. That should be a nice boost for our internal development.

Recruiting

Praise be that we won the natty, because recruiting has been a disaster this year — and it wasn’t very good last year either outside of Ngounou. We still have three open scholarships after whiffing on a ton of guys during the in-season recruiting period. No one is ready to commit when spring signing month begins.

After two weeks of recruiting, we get our first commitment: Dean Warner, a 7-foot center out of Tampa:

Warner is ranked No. 245 overall and No. 18 at his position, which is definitely a little lower than our typical center recruit. With that said, this class was full of 6’9 centers and we wanted to prioritize someone with real size. His AAU stats were also pretty impressive, so I’m happy about this get as a way to infuse some size in our front court.

We’re also closing in on James Haranga, a five-star international recruiting guard out of Cameroon, just like Ngounou. He commits the next week:

International recruits are tricky because they tend to have more variance in their rating and potential than domestic recruits, but Ngounou worked out well so we’re willing to roll the dice again. Haranga is rated as the third best international recruit. We need a two guard and like his size. After striking out on so many other two guard options, this seemed like our best bet.

We have one scholarship left after Figueroa commits elsewhere. We decide to offer it to Jaycee Queen, a 6’6 small forward out of Virginia Beach, VA. Queen is only rated No. 166 overall and No. 31 at his position, but his AAU stats are incredible: 19.1 points per game on 52 percent three-point shooting. He commits to Western Illinois the next week to finish off our recruiting class.

Now it’s time to set the schedule for next year. We go with:

@ Houston, @ Illinois, vs. UW-Milwaukee, vs. Kansas, @ UCLA, vs. Syracuse, @ Minnesota, @ Duke, vs. Grambling

Year 39

Here’s a first look at our roster for Year 39:

Only two seasons left! While the loss of Evertsen and Kately definitely sting, I still think we have a pretty good team. It’s going to be up to Bernie Doyle and Floyd Keller to carry our offense on the wings, and I think they’re both up for the challenge. We already know we can count on Foster to be a monster in the middle.

A few notes:

We move Howel to shooting guard, where he goes up one point to a 77 overall.

Queen looks solid with a 76 overall rating and C potential, but somehow he’s only a 66-rated three-point shooter. THE AAU STATS WERE A LIE.

Warner comes in at 74 overall with C potential. He’s our insurance in case Munoz leaves early (he starts the year as a projected lotto pick).

Haranga: 67 overall with A- potential. He’s already grown an inch to 6’6. Damn, he would have been so, so good if we had the time to redshirt and develop him for five years. Instead he’s going to have to grown A LOT to be a factor at all in the last two seasons.

Doyle and Keller both begin the year as projected second round picks as juniors. Will they return for Year 40? That’s one of the big storylines going into the end of this dynasty.

Our bench is going to be a weak spot on this team.

We’re going for a three-peat for the time in program history.

We’re going to be streaming Year 39 on Sunday, May 9 at 8 p.m. ET on my Twitch channel. We’ll be recruiting and simming through our regular season, and then going into the tournament. If we have a long tournament run and can’t complete the season in one night, we’ll finish out the tournament run on Wednesday, May 12 at 8 p.m. ET on my Twitch.

Watch Western Illinois in Year 39

What: Western Illinois Year 39 season

When: Sunday, May 9 at 8 p.m. ET. If necessary: continued on Wednesday, May 12 at 8 p.m. ET

Where: My Twitch stream

For email updates on this series, subscribe here.

[rotoworld-yahoopartner]

Dose: All the Jimmy Butler

James Harden and Draymond Green triple-doubled, Jimmy Butler scored 52 points without Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo by his side, and Giannis Antetokounmpo posted another big line. Stephen Curry was a bit underwhelming again, T.J. Warren bounced back with a big game, and we even had a Nurk Alert. Dose it up and follow me on Twitter by clicking here.

Bucks 98, Thunder 94 – Giannis Antetokounmpo was a monster once again, but did hit just 5-of-10 free throws. Eh, who cares? Jabari Parker had 19 points, six boards, a block and two 3-pointers, while both John Henson and Greg Monroe played well in the middle for the Bucks. Malcolm Brogdon had 12 points and five assists on 3-of-12 shooting, a far cry from his monster triple-double on Saturday, but hit a couple free throws to seal the win, and he should be owned in all leagues. Matthew Dellavedova missed his third straight game with a hamstring injury, but Brogdon might be able to hold his value, even when Delly is back. As for Monroe and Henson, I’d rather own Monroe right now.

Russell Westbrook had 30 points, seven boards, six assists and three steals, but hit just 9-of-28 shots. It’ll happen. Steven Adams was money with 20 points, eight boards, a steal and three blocks on 9-of-11 shooting, and Victor Oladipo looked great with 18 points, five boards, four assists, a steal and four 3-pointers in the loss. Enes Kanter was bad in this one, but has been playing well enough to be owned in most leagues.  

Cavaliers 90, Pelicans 82 – Kevin Love fought through food poisoning and double-doubled with 12 & 11, LeBron James had 26 points and a full stat line, and starters Tristan Thompson, DeAndre Liggins and Jordan McRae combined for just eight points in the win. Kyrie Irving was out with a hamstring injury and is iffy for Wednesday. Channing Frye, Richard Jefferson and Kay Felder all played well off the bench, but I don’t trust any of them. Love ate some bad sea bass, but I’m guessing it was the fish, and not the heart of kicker Sebastian Janikowski.

The Pels got 20 points, 17 boards, a steal and three blocks from Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday double-doubled with 11 points and 13 dimes, and Buddy Hield scored 20 in another start. Hield has scored in double figures in four straight games and is averaging 13.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.4 3-pointers on 47 percent shooting over his last five games. He’s worth a pickup if you have someone you want to cut. Terrence Jones, Langston Galloway, E’Twaun Moore and Tyreke Evans were all quiet off the bench, and while all are intriguing right now, none of them is trustworthy.

Jazz 101, Nets 89 – Gordon Hayward scored 30, Rudy Gobert had 15 points, 16 boards and three blocks, while Shelvin Mack and Rodney Hood also scored 15 in starts. Derrick Favors had just six points in 18 minutes and didn’t look good. Hopefully he’s still healthy. The bench was useless and George Hill is now dealing with a concussion, meaning Mack is back in play in all formats until Hill is healthy again. Joe Ingles did play 28 minutes off the bench and had five points, nine boards, a steal, a block and a 3-pointer, making him worth a close eye in deep leagues.

Trevor Booker appears to have righted the ship with 17 points, 15 boards and a block in a revenge game against Utah last night, Brook Lopez had 14 points, six boards, two steals, two blocks and a 3-pointer, and Isaiah Whitehead had 12 points and six rebounds while filling in for injured Jeremy Lin. I haven’t cut Lin yet, but I’m getting close. Bojan Bogdanovic and Sean Kilpatrick both struggled and scored eight points, but Kilpatrick is still a must-own player in my book. The Nets bench didn’t do much of anything last night.

Magic 115, Knicks 103 – Serge Ibaka stayed hot with 22 points, six boards and two 3-pointers, and Jodie Meeks blew up for 23 points and six 3-pointers in another start for Evan Fournier (heel). Meeks has scored in double figures in four straight games with 13 3-pointers, but Fournier should be back sooner than later. And then there’s Aaron Gordon. He hit 8-of-19 shots and three 3-pointers for 22 points, six rebounds, six assists and a steal in 32 minutes. I still don’t really trust him, but he scored 30 the day after Christmas and is now averaging 15.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 1.8 3-pointers on 47 percent shooting over his last five games. I gave in and picked him up across the board last night. Bismack Biyombo didn’t score in his 19 minutes, while Nikola Vucevic double-doubled (14 & 13) in another strong outing. Please start him, Orlando. This was Biyombo’s second game of the season without scoring a point and he was in foul trouble. Elfrid Payton had a 13 & 14 double-double as well, and hit 6-of-12 shots in 31 minutes. Make sure he’s not available.

Carmelo Anthony was the leading scorer for the Knicks with 19 points and seven boards, but hit just 6-of-17 shots. I was hoping for a lot more with Kristaps Porzingis sitting with a sore achilles. He’s day-to-day. Joakim Noah had eight points, 10 boards, two steals and two blocks in 33 minutes, making him worth a look in all leagues, Derrick Rose had 18 points and four assists in 28 minutes, and Courtney Lee returned to action with 14 points and a 3-pointer in 34 minutes. He killed Justin Holiday, who played just 14 minutes last night. Lance Thomas started for Porzingis, but had just 10 points and three boards, so don’t take the bait on him if Zinger misses more time.

Bulls 118, Hornets 111 – Jimmy Butler was the start of the night, hitting 15-of-24 shots, a 3-pointer and 21-of-22 free throws for a season-high 52 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, three steals and a block in 38 minutes. His career high is 53 points and he benefitted from the absence of Dwyane Wade (day-to-day), who was nursing a sore left knee. Doug McDermott started in Wade’s place, but had just 11 points in 30 minutes. Michael Carter-Williams started at point guard and had 10 points, nine rebounds and three assists, while Jerian Grant added nine points, six assists and four steals off the bench. Rajon Rondo didn’t even play and his time in Chicago might be over. It all depends on your situation, but yeah, Rondo is a drop candidate, unfortunately. And yes, MCW is a decent pickup right now. Nikola Mirotic played 28 minutes and had 12 points, two steals, two blocks and two 3-pointers, and is playing well enough to be added in most leagues. He’s also hurting Taj Gibson, who had six points, seven boards and two blocks in 27 minutes last night.

Kemba Walker had 34 points, 11 rebounds and six 3-pointers after scoring 37 his last time out, and Nicolas Batum stayed hot with 19 points, six boards, five assists, a steal and a 3-pointer. Batum is crushing right now, averaging 18.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1.6 steals, 0.6 blocks and 1.4 3-pointers on 47 percent shooting over his last five. Marvin Williams scored nine points, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist struggled to score six, and Roy Hibbert fizzled in a start for Cody Zeller (concussion) and had six points, zero rebounds and zero blocks. Yuck. Spencer Hawes played 26 minutes and had 10 points, three boards and two blocks, and Frank Kaminsky played 20 minutes for six points and a decent line. If Zeller’s going to miss more time, Hawes is worth a look. Jeremy Lamb had 15 points, six boards and a 3-pointer, and is quietly averaging 12.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and a 3-pointer on 50 percent shooting over his last five games. He’s worth a look until Marco Belinelli returns from his ankle injury.

Rockets 101, Wizards 91 – James Harden had 23 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, three steals and two 3-pointers, but hit just 6-of-24 shots in the process. Baller. Montrezl Harrell had 14 points, nine boards and two blocks in another start, and should be owned in all leagues, while Ryan Anderson cooled off with eight points in 32 minutes. Trevor Ariza crammed the stat sheet last night with Patrick Beverley out with a wrist injury, and Eric Gordon caught fire for 31 points and six 3-pointers on 11-of-18 shooting off the bench.

The Wizards got 27 points from Brad Beal in his return from a sprained ankle, John Wall and Marcin Gortat double-doubled, and Otto Porter Jr. continued his cooling off period with just eight points on 4-of-12 shooting. Porter’s been quiet for a few games, but should be ready to bounce back. Markieff Morris had 12 points, eight boards and a block, and is worth a look if you need a PF. Kelly Oubre failed to score on 0-of-4 shooting in 23 minutes, and I’m moving on from him. I love him, but he’s just not producing.

Clippers 109, Suns 98 – The Clippers snapped a six-game losing streak as Chris Paul and Blake Griffin missed another game. DeAndre Jordan had nine points, 20 rebounds and three blocks, J.J. Redick added 22 points and three 3-pointers, and Raymond Felton joined Austin Rivers in the starting unit and had 16 points and a full stat line. CP3 remains day-to-day with his nagging hamstring injury and I like the Felton play if he continues to start. Rivers had nine points, four rebounds and five assists in 37 minutes. Marreese Speights stayed relevant with nine points, six boards, two blocks and a 3-pointer in just 18 minutes, and Jamal Crawford had 18 points, seven boards and five assists off the bench.

T.J. Warren bounced back from a bad game with 24 points, eight rebounds, a steal and a block, and he should be owned across the board. And yes, I’d much rather own Warren than a guy like Tyreke Evans, and it’s not close. Eric Bledsoe had 22 points and flirted with a triple-double, and Devin Booker remained inconsistent with 13 points on 4-of-15 shooting. P.J. Tucker played 36 minutes off the bench and had six points, 12 rebounds and two steals, but I still don’t trust him, and Alex Len played 20 minutes off the bench for 10 points and seven rebounds. Tyson Chandler started and had 12 points and six boards, but I think I’d rather own Len at this point. Brandon Knight played just seven minutes and Dragan Bender played five minutes. I think it’s time to move on from both of them. Tucker has played at least 30 minutes in three straight and could be ready to get hot. Marquese Chriss played just 12 minutes and is another guy I wouldn’t want to mess with right now.

Warriors 127, Nuggets 119 – Draymond Green messed around and got a… well you know. He had 15 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists, and had a couple bounces gone his way, or if he hit a few more shots, he might have 10 triple-doubles instead of two. Stephen Curry was solid with 22 points, five assists and three 3-pointers, but is a little frustrating to own considering who you passed up to draft him. Kevin Durant scored 21 and Klay Thompson had 25 points and four 3-pointers in the win. Zaza Pachulia had a nice 11 points and nine rebounds, but isn’t blocking shots and hasn’t played this well very often this season. JaVale McGee had nine points, four boards and a steal in just nine minutes, and I think I’d rather own him than Zaza.

Nikola Jokic went off again for 21 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, a steal and a 3-pointer, and is a blast to own right now. Wilson Chandler bounced back with 21 of his own and a full stat line, and Danilo Gallinari scored 19 with a fun line in the loss. Emmanuel Mudiay was quiet with eight points and four assists, as his struggle for consistency continues, and Gary Harris was also quiet with 11 points in 31 minutes. Will Barton had 14 points, seven boards, four assists and two 3-pointers off the bench, and the timeshare with Harris is in full effect. One of the most interesting lines of the night belonged to Jusuf Nurkic, who played 21 minutes and had 15 points, six rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block on 6-of-8 shooting. He played solid minutes in his last game, too. I need to see it a couple more times before I’m taking the bait, but Nurkic is out of the doghouse and could be ready to go on a run. If you’re desperate at center, grab him, and if you’re not, put him on your watch list!

[placetobenation]

NEW ORLEANS PELICANS – PF Zion Williamson, Duke Fr. 

After trading away franchise player Anthony Davis the Pelicans will now build their team around Williamson. He took the college basketball world by storm this season and finished with a Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of 42.55, five points higher than anyone else in the country. At 6’7 and 285 lbs, Williamson displays insane athleticism but is much more than just that as he can pass, defend multiple positions, and handle the ball to go along with a strong work ethic. A no-brainer selection at #1. 

2. MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES – PG Ja Morant, Murray State Soph. 

The Grizzlies are looking to shop current PG Mike Conley and reports have been stating the Grizzlies front office wants to draft Morant so this is an easy choice. The Grizzlies can pair Morant with Jaren Jackson as a core to build around for the future. Morant is an excellent passer and finisher but does have to work on his shooting mechanics and there are concerns about his narrow frame holding up but the positives certainly outweigh the negatives as he should easily be able to excite the Grizzlies fan base with his creative passing. 

3. NEW YORK KNICKS – SF R.J. Barrett, Duke Fr.

This time last year, Barrett was considered to be the #1 pick of this draft. Despite all of the attention teammate Zion Williamson garnered at Duke, Barrett was still able to excel. He averated22.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 35.3 minutes per game and scored more points (860) than any freshman in ACC history. The Knicks are in dire need of a go-to scorer and Barrett might be the best pure scorer in the entire draft. He could end up being a steal at #3. 

4. NEW ORLEANS PELICANS – PG Darius Garland, Vanderbilt Fr. 

I do not expect Garland to stay with the Pelicans but I do expect him to be the 4th overall pick and traded somewhere. There are numerous suitors for this spot. Chicago, Minnesota, and Boston are both in desperate need of a point guard. Atlanta and Indiana have also inquired about this pick. And the Pelicans have reportedly shown interest in trading for Bradley Beal. If the Pelicans do decide to keep this pick and not shop then they could go with either Jarrett Culver or DeAndre Hunter. There’s also a chance the Pelicans could shop PG Jrue Holiday and have Garland and Ball in the back court but I imagine someone putting together a package to move up for Garland, who can shoot from anywhere on the court, has blazing speed, and can run the pick & roll as good as anyone else in this draft. The Damian Lillard comparisons are enough to make any fan of wherever he is selected happy. 

5. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS – SF De’Andre Hunter, Virginia Soph. 

There are rumors of Atlanta being enamored with Hunter and Cleveland wanting to add more picks in the draft, which makes these teams perfect trade partners if they do decide to go those routes. Hunter is a perfect fit for new head coach John Beilein’s free-flowing offense as he can shoot from deep and run screens on pick-and-rolls. Another way they could go here is Coby White as a combo guard to pair with last year’s 1st round pick Collin Sexton or with Jarrett Culver. 

6. PHOENIX SUNS – SG Jarrett Culver, Texas Tech Soph. 

There was a report at the combine that Phoenix promised to take PG Coby White with this pick if he was still on the board but a later report came out that the team wanted a veteran (D’Angelo Russell, perhaps) to pair with Devin Booker in the back court. The Suns are also reportedly high on Culver and I cannot see him going past this point in the draft because someone will trade up to get him. Culver is a versatile defender and can even create offense for others (He even played the point for Texas Tech at times), which will also help Booker and DeAndre Ayton. His shot does need work, however. 

7. CHICAGO BULLS – PG Coby White, North Carolina Fr. 

When John Paxson, Executive VP of Basketball Operations, said after the lottery he felt the team was really solid at the “2,3,4,5” spots, it became clear the team thought current starting PG Kris Dunn was not the answer. White who is primarily thought of as a scorer (He broke Michael Jordan’s freshman scoring record at North Carolina) but was able to show improvement as a passer. White can shoot from deep unlike the other point guards trotted out by the team this past season. 

8. ATLANTA HAWKS – SF Cam Reddish, Duke Fr. 

Again, with six picks in this draft and GM Travis Schlenk stating they are not going to keep all their picks, its likely the team trades up to grab someone like Hunter or Culver. However, anyone picking 8th would likely be intrigued by Reddish. Despite the inconsistent season at Duke he can shoot, something the team prioritizes, and they do need another wing player since trading Taurean Prince. If not Reddish and the Hawks are picking here they also could use a rim protector to pair with John Collins with Jaxson Hayes and Goga Bitadze as the top options. 

9. WASHINGTON WIZARDS – PF Sekou Doumbouya, France

With the John Wall contract crippling the team financially and rumors swirling around about Bradley Beal possibly getting traded, the Wizards seem to be in a total rebuild mode. Doumbouya is the youngest player in this draft (Will not turn 19 years old until December) and the team can afford to be patient with his development. He reportedly turned heads at his pro day in Dallas and if coached up properly has the tools to become an elite defender. Other possibilities for the Wizards include C Jaxson Hayes and SF Nassir Little. 

10. ATLANTA HAWKS – C Jaxson Hayes, Texas Fr.  

If the Hawks do end up keeping this pick, Hayes as a rim protector to pair with Collins would be the best fit. He is raw but at the very least on offense should be able to catch lobs from Trae Young. He even shot 74% from the free throw line this season so there is potential that he could develop a jump shot. If the Hawks want to go a different route, Goga Bitadze from Georgia can be an option as he can shot from deep, a trait the Hawks look for at all positions. Hayes shows more potential, however. 

11. MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES – SF Nassir Little, North Carolina Fr. 

After a disappointing season, Little has reportedly done quite well in the pre-draft process where he displayed better shooting than the 28% he shot this past season. He has all the tools (athleticism, ability to defend multiple positions, good rebounder) that you want out of a wing player in today’s game and really become something special if he figures it out. 

12. CHARLOTTE HORNETS – PF Rui Hachimura, Gonzaga Jr.

The biggest priority for Charlotte is re-signing Kemba Walker but with this selection there is not a point guard worthy of the pick. However, they could also use someone to pair with Miles Bridges at forward and help space the floor. Charlotte also has a history of selecting players that succeeded in the NCAA in which Hachimura fits the bill. Oddly enough, Hachimura has been a mystery in the pre-draft process since he skipped the combine and does not appear to have had any private workouts, which one would assume means a team in the lottery made him a promise and Charlotte is as safe a bet. Charlotte could also consider Hachimura’s teammate, Brandon Clarke, if they want more help protecting the rim. 

13. MIAMI HEAT – PF PJ Washington, Kentucky Soph. 

Miami is a team with a lot of money tied up with mediocre players. They also have a glaring weakness and power forward and Washington is a tough player, something Miami values. He shot 42% from behind the arc this past season and can play with his back to the basket as well. Another option to consider is SG Romeo Langford as the Heat have pending free agents on the wing next season. 

14. BOSTON CELTICS – C Goga Bitadze, Georgia (International)

With the news of Al Horford opting out and looking to sign elsewhere and the only two bigs under contract for next season being Aron Baynes and Robert Williams, the team needs help in a big way. Bitadze performed at a high level in the Euroleague and his best attribute at the moment is rebounding, something the Celtics lack in a big way. There was a rumor of combo guard Tyler Herro shooting lights out in a workout and someone like Rui Hachimura would be welcome since all signs point towards Marcus Morris leaving the team. If they happen to package this pick and move up for get Bradley Beal then Bitadze is still an intriguing option at #14. 

15. DETROIT PISTONS – SG Tyler Herro, Kentucky Fr. 

With little cap room and subpar drafting over the past few seasons, Detroit has needs on the wing and to potentially replace Reggie Jackson after next season. Herro is one of the better shooters in the draft and has seen his name rise up draft boards after impressive workouts and interviews. Head coach Dwane Casey runs a system heavy on shooting three-pointers and Herro could thrive in this system. Wings Romeo Langford and Nickeil Alexander-Walker are other options with this selection. 

16. ORLANDO MAGIC – SG Romeo Langford, Indiana Fr. 

Orlando has little depth on the wing and Terence Ross as an unrestricted free agent. The team also favors length and athleticism, which Langford possesses. Langford can shoot off the dribble and defend and can hopefully improve his shooting from behind the arc, which was hindered this past season due to a hand injury. 

17. ATLANTA HAWKS – SG Kevin Porter Jr., USC Fr. 

With all the picks Atlanta has its worth the gamble for Porter, who is considered a lottery talent but carries a lot of baggage (suspended at USC indefinitely for an undisclosed off-court reason). He can create his own shot and shots for others, creating a potentially dangerous back court with Trae Young. Although a young team, coach Lloyd Pierce’s team bonding on and off court could provide the positive environment needed for Porter to reach his potential. 

18. INDIANA PACERS – SG Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Virginia Tech Soph.

The Pacers have several free agents, including Darren Collison and Bojan Bogdanovic, plus lost Tyreke Evans due to suspension so they need help in the back court. While not a great shooter from deep, Alexander-Walker is a strong passer that can guard multiple positions and could be a nice compliment to Victor Oladipo. 

19. SAN ANTONIO SPURS – PF Brandon Clarke, Gonzaga Jr. 

If not for his age (will be 23 years old when the season starts) Clarke would have been a safe bet as a lottery pick. I really cannot see San Antonio passing on him with this pick. Although just 6’8, he can protect the rim and play center when going small and with Jakob Poeltl the only center currently on the roster and LaMarcus Aldridge turning 34 years old next month help is needed in the front court. 

20. BOSTON CELTICS – SF Cameron Johnson, North Carolina Sr. 

The Celtics do not have any great three-point shooters on their team, which will make Johnson a valuable commodity. He could really thrive in Brad Stevens’ motion offense and can space the floor for the other wings on the team. He will need to add strength to compete in the NBA though but the potential is there to be a productive role player as a rookie.  

21. OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER – PF Mfiondu Kabengele, Florida State Soph.

The Thunder have little cap room and a desperate need for shooting, no matter the position. Kabengele can block shots and shoot from deep and has drawn comparisons to former Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka. With a short bench Kabengele will have a chance to play early. 

22. BOSTON CELTICS – PF Nicolas Claxton, Georgia Soph.

Boston still needs a lot of help in the front court and doubling up if they keep these picks is a real possibility. Claxton has a world of potential on defense but has to improve his shooting and fill out his frame to earn minutes. A strong showing at the draft combine should solidify Claxton as a first round pick. 

23. MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES – SG Keldon Johnson, Kentucky Fr. 

Memphis does not have much at the wing. They received Jae Crowder and Kyle Korver in the Mike Conley trade but they’re both free agents after this season. Johnson is athletic, can shoot from deep, and defend. Makes for a good pairing in the back court with fellow rookie Ja Morant. 

24. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS – SG Ty Jerome, Virginia Jr.

Whatever happens to Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris in free agency doesn’t change the fact Philadelphia needs help on the bench. Jerome can shoot and provide toughness to help give the second unit some identity. 

25. PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERSPG Carsen Edwards, Purdue Jr. 

Portland is over the luxury tax and has a mid-level exemption to use on so there’s a good chance that Seth Curry will depart via free agency, leaving a hole on the bench. Edwards could fill in that role as a potential scorer off the bench as he showed the ability to score buckets in bunches during the NCAA Tournament. 

26. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS – C Bol Bol, Oregon Fr. 

Despite the injury history, concerns about his work ethic and rail thin frame at 7’2 and 208 lbs, Bol can still be an offensive threat in the NBA. He still managed to shoot over 50% from three-point land in the nine games he played before requiring season-ending foot surgery. Cleveland needs help at center and are in no need to rush anyone since they will not be competing anytime soon. 

27. BROOKLYN NETS – SF Dylan Windler, Belmont Sr. 

Windler shot over 42% from behind the arc the past two seasons and grabbed 10.8 rebounds per game this past season. Since Allen Crabbe was traded and with Joe Harris a free agent next season there is a chance for Windler to see significant minutes to start his career. He is a good fit for coach Kenny Atkinson’s system that is based on shooting from long range. 

28. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS – SF Matisse Thybulle, Washington Sr. 

With Kevin Durant likely missing this coming season and Klay Thompson also projected to miss a significant amount of time the Warriors are going to have to count on whoever they select here. Thybulle is a strong defender and decent three-point shooter that could become a defensive stopper for the team when Andre Igoudala retires. 

29. SAN ANTONIO SPURS – PF Luka Samanic, Croatia

The Spurs could use an offensively skilled stretch-4 like Samanic, who can also play inside. Coach Gregg Popovich’s system can be the one that gets him to live up to his potential. 

30. DETROIT PISTONS – C Bruno Fernando, Maryland Soph. 

There is a chance that Andre Drummond will become a free agent after next season and the team might have to start thinking about grooming his replacement. Fernando is athletic and reportedly has shot better than expected during player workouts which will make him an attractive choice with this pick.

SECOND ROUND

31. BROOKLYN NETS – PF Chuma Okeke, Auburn Soph. 

Prior to tearing his ACL during the NCAA Tournament, Okeke was shaping up to be a potential lottery pick. He can shoot from deep, score in the post, and protect the rim. Depending on how he comes back from surgery could turn this pick into a steal. 

32. PHOENIX SUNS – PF Grant Williams, Tennessee Jr.

With many free agents and shallow depth coming off of the bench a versatile option like Williams coming off the bench will help. There’s also a chance Williams could be selected in the first round with some scouts higher than others. 

33. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS – SG Luguentz Dort, Arizona State Fr. 

Adding a perimeter defender like Dort, who could easily get drafted in the first round, would be a huge boost to the team’s bench. They need help in that area. 

34. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS – PF Eric Paschall, Villanova Sr.

Paschall, who played college ball locally, might be able to contribute right away as a rotational player as he can defend multiple positions and shoot from deep. And with four selections in the second round expect Philadelphia to move some of these picks to cash-strapped teams looking to buy into the round (Los Angeles Lakers, Houston, Golden State). Fernando could be a target for one of those teams that needs frontcourt help.

35. ATLANTA HAWKS – SF KZ Okpala, Stanford Soph.

Atlanta was a horrible defensive team this past season. Although not there yet, Okpala has the skills to become a top wing defender. His shooting will also fit into the current Atlanta system.

36. CHARLOTTE HORNETS – PG Jalen Lecque, Brewster Academy (N.H.)

Whether or not Charlotte is able to retain Kemba Walker they still need more depth at point guard. Originally committing to North Carolina State out of prep school, Lecque has decided to enter the draft as he is eligible due to being a fifth-year senior. He will not be able to contribute right away but has a lot of potential and this team can afford to be patience with development.

37. DALLAS MAVERICKS – SF Admiral Schofield, Tennessee Sr. 

Dallas needs to build around Luka Doncic and surround him with shooters. Schofield improved his shot throughout his career and performed well in big games at Tennessee. 

38. CHICAGO BULLS – PF Zylan Cheatham, Arizona State Sr.

Cheatham improved his draft stock at the combine and has the toughness and physicality coach Jim Boylan wants from his players. The Bulls could use him as depth in the frontcourt. 

39. NEW ORLEANS PELICANS – C Daniel Gafford, Arkansas Soph. 

Without Anthony Davis they have a glaring hole at the center spot. Gafford can protect the rim and is more athletic than the other options on the roster. 

40. SACRAMENTO KINGS – SF Talen Horton-Tucker, Iowa State Fr.

Sacramento could use a defensive wing player on the team to come off the bench. Luckily for the team, Horton-Tucker is one of the best defenders in the draft. 

41. ATLANTA HAWKS – SF Deividas Sirvydis, Lithuania 

Atlanta is going to trade some of its picks but taking a draft-and-stash option like Sirvydis is another way to go plus he has the shooting and passing ability the team craves from the wing. 

42. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS – C Naz Reid, LSU Fr. 

Philadelphia needs to develop a backup to Joel Embiid. Reid can shoot and pass well for his size but is lacking on the defensive side of the ball. 

43. MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES – PG Tremont Waters, LSU Soph.

With Derrick Rose and Tyus Jones free agents and Jeff Teague possibly leaving if he does not pick up his player option, depth will be needed. Coach Ryan Saunders plays a more up tempo game and Waters is a good passer and and spot-up shooter. His lack of size (5’10) is a cause for concern, however. 

44. ATLANTA HAWKS – C Jontay Porter, Missouri Soph.

Porter has lottery talent but also tore his right ACL twice in a six-month span. A rebuilding team with many picks like Atlanta can afford to take a risk. He checks all the boxes for what the team wants in their players but will he be able to bounce back?

45. DETROIT PISTONS – PG Ky Bowman, Boston College Jr. 

Bowman can shoot and plays fast. He could become a scoring option off of the bench and possibly replace fellow Boston College alum Reggie Jackson should the latter depart via free agency in 2020.

46. ORLANDO MAGIC – PG Jordan Bone, Tennessee Jr. 

The Magic have DJ Augustin as their current starter with just Markelle Fultz behind him on the depth chart and given Fultz’s history he cannot be trusted to give you consistent playing time. Bone had himself a strong combine and a better shooter than both current guards on the roster. 

47. SACRAMENTO KINGS – C Alen Smailagic, Serbia

Smailagic has potential to become a good offensive player and is just 18 years old, making him a solid option as a draft-and-stash for a team with three second-round picks. He needs to get stronger before coming over to the league. 

48. LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS – PG Justin Robinson, Virginia Tech Sr.

With Patrick Beverly a free agent the team will need to find some depth if he departs. Robinson is not that athletic but can shoot (39% behind the arc), competes on defense, and reportedly did great during team interviews to make him a likely second round pick. 

49. SAN ANTONIO SPURS – SF Terance Mann, Florida State Sr. 

Mann is a strong defender and impressed during the G League combine. A solid choice for a team that needs depth on the wing. 

50. INDIANA PACERS – SG Zach Norvell Jr., Gonzaga Soph.

Indiana could stand to use more shooting and that is Norvell’s specialty. He’s someone that could make a career out of being a three-point specialist. 

51. BOSTON CELTICS – SG Terence Davis, Ole Miss Sr.

GM Danny Ainge always seems to go after aggressive perimeter players in the second round. Davis fits the bill and has the potential to improve on offense. 

52. CHARLOTTE HORNETS – SF Darius Bazley, USA

After de-committing to Syracuse for the G-League, Bazley then decided against the G-League and took an internship with New Balance meaning he did not play competitive basketball this season. He has a lot of raw skill but needs to gain strength in order to make it in the league. With both Marvin Williams and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist picking up their player options he has the chance to learn from the bench or down in the G League. A risk worth taking in the second round and there is a decent chance Bazley could get selected in the first round. 

53. UTAH JAZZ – SF DaQuan Jeffries, Tulsa Sr. 

Jeffries has 3-and-D potential, which will be needed seeing that the team moved on from Jae Crowder. He could fill a role as a utility player off of the bench. 

54. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS – PG Joshua Obiesie, Germany

Using a pick to stash away is a strong option for the 76ers. Obiesie has intrigue as a combo guard with size (6’6) and good passing ability. 

55. NEW YORK KNICKS – SF Louis King, Oregon Fr.

New York needs to try and add depth regardless of what happens during free agency. King is a solid three-point shooter and defended multiple positions in college who will have to gain more strength (6’8 and 195 lbs) in order to see playing time. 

56. LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS – C Tacko Fall, UCF Sr. 

At 7’6″ Fall is one of the most intriguing players in the draft. It’ll be seen if he can adjust to the faster-paced game in the NBA but he tested better than expected athletically at the combine where he is worth a shot in the second round. 

57. NEW ORLEANS PELICANS – SG Miye Oni, Yale Jr. 

Oni impressed at Yale as a scorer although he had a dud of a game against LSU in the NCAA Tournament. He could develop into a solid three-and-D option. 

58. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS – PF Jalen McDaniels, San Diego State Soph.

McDaniels is a lanky combo forward that can get to the free throw line and finish around the rim. Given the health situations of Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant the team might need someone with this pick to become a rotational player. 

59. TORONTO RAPTORS – SF Isaiah Roby, Nebraska Jr. 

Roby’s best attributes are size (6’9) and his potential on defense but will need to be more consistent from long range if he wants a chance at playing time. 

60. SACRAMENTO KINGS – SF Yovel Zoosman, Israel

Zoosman is a versatile player lauded for his high basketball IQ who was the FIBA Europe U20 Championship MVP in 2018. With three picks this round they can afford to take another player to stash over in Europe. 

[thedenfantasyleague]

The Den Fantasy League Recap: Week 12

Gentlemen, 

We’re done with the second-to-last week of the regular season and find ourselves in an interesting race for Cabana Boy. On to the recap.

A Team Has No Name v. VP

First off, I owe Vinny an apology. In a fit of rage, I threw a Tudor Tantrum and said some harsh words. What’s even worse is Vinny still suffered defeat at the hand of his old Dolphin: Lamar. There have been plenty of times I’ve given up on my RBs and, although I didn’t necessarily need him, he stepped up. The other guys contributing this week were the go-to’s: Russ, Thielen, Juul-ian, and made the right picks this week with Brate and Dallas D. Vinny, as pointed out in the chat, has had a rough season. He did have four guys with excellent games but left a lot of points on his bench. A zero from Engram and less than 10 from Mullens wasn’t great to see when he had four guys on his bench with double digits on his bench. Vinny, barring a win by the other two Cabana Boy eligible 3-9 teams he should be safe.  

Hank Mardukas v. Wilmore Cinderella

In our game of the week, we saw two teams in the last place with some new acquisitions. Scott talked the talk and backed it up. It was great to see Sony and White pitted against one another and JP was (obviously) on the losing side of that battle. Sony had over 20 points, combine that with Brees and Lockett, JP fell short. JP’s season went from bad to worse when he lost to Scott and likely lost his superstar for the final game of the season. JP will need a big win next week or hope to stay above Dylan in PF to stay out of the speedo. 

Mr. Magorium v. 2-2-1 (0.500) PVO

Dylan needed a win in the worst way this week and was blown out of the water. Gabe stayed on his winning ways with a big point output from Luck, Saquan, Sanders, JuJu, and Chicago D. Gabe’s in an interesting spot with AJ potentially being benched for the year but will hopefully see consistency down the stretch. Dylan, to his credit, finally did something right this week: he played the right TE. Unfortunately for him, that was his highest performer for the week. He did have good games from Cohen, Gus, and Fairbairn but everyone else came out flat, including Rodgers. Dylan is going to need a huge win over Rob (who he historically owns) to stay alive and out of the Cabana. 

Mixon It Up v. Team Timshel

What a game. What a heartbreak. Rob, needing to win to stay in first place for the #1 seed, pulled off the lowest margin of victory possible: 0.1. Mike was hoping to pull off the upset and had help from Dalvin, Evans, and Baltimore D. Unfortunately for him, Conner suffered his second consecutive single-digit point outing and Big Ben threw a dumbass pick on his last throw to give Rob the victory. Rob barely sealed the win with Newton, Mixon, Boyd, and Carson. What also helped Rob get the win? The newly acquired Adams. If Rob would’ve kept White, he most certainly wouldn’t have won. Will Rob’s luck run out or will he hold on to his win and ride the wave to a ‘ship? 

Kream In My Uggs v. Kalabar’s Revenge

Two teams who are teetering on the middle of the road but G has found himself trending in the right direction. Jake fell short again this week with only two players in double figures (Ryan with 20+ and Chubb with 24+). The unfortunate thing is that no one else had more than 8 points and that was his kicker. G, as explained earlier, is streaking at the right time. Finally, G’s patience in his Pats paid off with the trifecta scoring forty-plus points between them. The other big shocks from G? Run CMC. McCaffrey has had over 27 points three of the last four weeks and is now being considered for the #1 fantasy back. Can G ride CMC to a deep playoff run? Only time will tell. 

The Perfect Ten v. Virginia Kuppcakes

A battle of childhood friends and Al, who has now won his last three, outlasted E who was trying to streak at the right time. E streamed Jameis this week and was matched by Leonard on their big weeks. He also double-digit games from Julio, Ertz, Chargers D, and J-Tuck. Al had big games from Keenan and Jones but received massive games from Zeke and, now that he doesn’t have a QB battle, Cousins. The surprise? Blount hurt his own when he single-handedly beat E. E also left a TON of points on his bench with Drake (21.6), Deshaun (29.4), and finally Amari (30). E lost at the wrong time and, although it was a collapse, seems likely to not be CB but in danger of getting bumped from the playoffs. 

Week 13 Matchups

A Team Has No Name (5-7) v. Team Timshel (7-5) Mr. Magorium (10-2) v. Wilmore Cinderella (3-9) Mixon It Up (11-1) v. 2-2-1 (0.500) PVO (3-9) Kream In My Uggs (6-6) v. VP (3-9) The Perfect Ten (4-8) v. Kalabar’s Revenge (8-4)

Game of the Week 2-2-1 (0.500) PVO (3-9) v. Wilmore Cinderellas (11-1)

The Biggest Loser (PVO)

Due to his protest, Dylan won’t be joining us again. Instead, we welcome Gabe to discuss his being on the other side.

Cabana Boy Clinch:

We’re down to three tied for last and two who would need chaos to fall to CB.

MIU: CLINCHED

MM: CLINCHED

KR: CLINCHED

TT: CLINCHED

KIMU: CLINCHED

VK: CLINCHED

ATHNN: CLINCHED

TPT: 1

HM: 1

VP: 3-9 (1123.9)

WC: 3-9 (1009.8 PF)

PVO: 3-9 (935.4)

This is a big week for seeding and CB. Good luck to all and, as always, set your lineups accordingly.

Your beloved Commissioner, Jared R. Mosqueda

[thornburgrealty]

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[wiersema1]

Chicago Bulls NBA Draft Recap

Let me be clear. I am NOT happy with the Bulls 1st selection in this year’s 2018 NBA Draft. With the 7th overall pick, Chicago selected Duke’s PF/C Wendell Carter, Jr.

Oh no. Ugh. Weird. Pictures are truly worth a thousand words….or at least 4.

Wendell Carter is 6’10” 259. He played one average year at Duke for Coach K. But what is Carter? Is he a center? A stretch four? A regular power forward in the Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Al Horford, or Elton Brand mold? An undersized center? Underperforming shooter, scorer, and student? Yes. A kid with helicopter parents that seem to be leaning toward becoming the next Mr. and Mrs. LaVar Ball? Yes, unfortunately.

Wendell Carter, Jr. with his goofy parents, who claimed Duke and Coach K did nothing for them. Let’s hope Wendell is more mature than mom and dad.

  The Bulls could’ve had Villanova’s SF 6’7″ Mikal Bridges, who was selected at #10 by Philadelphia but was then traded to Phoenix. Ugh sauce! Mark it down: The Bulls will painfully regret taking Carter over Bridges. The 6’7″ Mikal Bridges is a lanky, athletic shooter with good 3-point range and the ability to drive to the hoop and slam dunk the ball dramatically. He is an excellent defender with long arms. Does this sound familiar to Bulls fans? Yes it does. You know what I’m thinking. Bridges is a Doberman. Bridges is the next Scottie Pippen, who was also 6’7″.

Scottie with a lanky dribble.

Mikal with a lanky dribble.

And we could have had him. Instead, we took the next Elton Brand, at best. I am furious about this pick!

On the other hand, I’m intrigued by the 22nd pick, 6’7″ Chandler Hutchison from Boise St. I’ve never watched Hutchison play. I’ve only seen his highlight package and he does look impressive. He’s very similar to Mikal Bridges, to be quite honest. He’s lanky. He’s a slasher. He worked hard on his game and improved a ton throughout college. So I can see what the Bulls were thinking here. They were probably against taking Bridges at #7 because they felt like they could take Hutchison at #22 and he’d be just as good.

Chandler Hutchison at #22 overall might be good. He looks like Scottie too.

Well, maybe the Bulls brass is right. Over the years, both John Paxson and Gar Forman have had their ups and downs. Drafting Jimmy Butler? Genius. Drafting Marquis Teague? Unacceptable. But that’s sports. You win some, you lose some.

As a 12-year-old, I remember being very upset when the Bulls drafted 7’0″ C Olden Polynice from Virginia (whom I knew from watching college basketball) and trading him for a no-name from Central Arkansas (whom I knew absolutely zilch about). That dude was…… Scottie Pippen. Polynice ended up with an undistinguished journeyman career for 10 teams, averaging 7.8 ppg and 6.7 rpg.

Mikal Bridges with a nice left-handed dunk. Looks like Scottie here.

On the other hand, Pippen ended up in the Hall of Fame after winning 6 rings! He averaged 16.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 5.2 apg, and 2.0 spg. He set many NBA records including career playoff steals. In general, Scottie simply dominated his opponents as Michael Jordan’s sidekick. He became an icon and one of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players of All-Time. Most experts put Scottie in their top 25 players ever.

So what’s my point? My point is I’ve been wrong before and I’ll be wrong again. I hope I’m wrong about Wendell Carter but I have a bad, bad feeling that we just let the next Scottie Pippen slip through our hands.

The famous Pippen over Ewing dunk!

Mikal Bridges doing his best Scottie impersonation.

If I were the Bulls brass, I obviously would’ve taken Mikal Bridges at #7 to build around young stars Lauri Markkanen, Zach LaVine, and Kris Dunn. At #22, I would’ve drafted another Villanova player, legacy and phenom PG Jalen Brunson. Brunson ended up going to the Dallas Mavericks at #33 overall, the 3rd pick in the 2nd round. Mark it down: Jalen will have a solid if not spectacular career. He’s a smart point guard who led his team to the state or national titles in three of his last four seasons. Think about that.

Jalen in his early high school days

He’s a winner. He’s a leader. He’s a smart kid, trust me. Most of all, Jalen is a good person. Self disclosure is I am biased since I have known Jalen since his early days at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, IL. From the minute we saw him in high school, we all knew he was going to the NBA.

How does the Naismith College Player of the Year and the John R. Wooden Award Winner (along with many other outstanding NCAA awards) not get taken until the 33rd pick? Only one reason….. his height. Jalen is somewhere between 6’1″ and 6’3″. I’ve said before and I’ll say it again. JB is the best player I’ve ever seen at his height. He’s the best high schooler I’ve ever seen in my 43 years. Period. The best word to describe Jalen is “poise”. His maturity was there from the very beginning. He knows how to control tempo, give his team confidence and energy, and of course, he knows how to score and pass. JB averaged 26.1 ppg his Junior year in high school but he’s the kind of young man who could have scored way more, probably 35 ppg if he wanted to be selfish. We knew he could. He once scored 57 against Lake Forest HS (underrated team, maybe the 2nd best in Illinois in ’14 and ’15) and an IHSA state playoff record 56 points against Jahlil Okafor and Whitney Young in the IHSA state semifinals. So he’s proven he can be like James Harden. But that’s not Jalen. He’s a team guy. A winner. Overall, Jalen is one of the greatest young athletes I’ve ever known. Classy, unselfish, smart, and talented. What a kid!

Dunk you very much!

Jalen’s father Rick played for 9 years in the NBA. Trust me when I say that Jalen is way better than his dad. He’ll have a long and prosperous career. Will he be a great player? I don’t know. But what I do know is I wouldn’t doubt him. What I know for sure is that he’ll be a solid NBA player for a long, long time. The Bulls could’ve used him as a backup to Kris Dunn, at worst. Knowing Jalen, he would probably beat out Dunn as the starter before too long.

One word: Poise.

Overall, the Bulls could have had Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson, two superstars from the college ranks that know how to win. That’s all they did at Villanova under head coach Jay Wright. They won two National Championships in three years.

CHICAGO, UNITED STATES: Michael Jordan (L) and Scottie Pippen (R) of the Chicago Bulls talk during the final minutes of their game 22 May in the NBA Eastern Conference finals aainst the Miami Heat at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The Bulls won the game 75-68 to lead the series 2-0. AFP PHOTO/VINCENT LAFORET (Photo credit should read VINCENT LAFORET/AFP/Getty Images)

Instead, Pax and Forman took an unathletic 6’10” power forward with some red flags and a project from Boise St. Maybe the Bulls will prove me wrong, but in this case I feel very strongly that Bridges and Brunson would’ve been the better choices.

Who would you rather have? Bridges and Brunson, or Carter and Hutchison?

Chicago Bulls NBA Draft Recap Chicago Bulls NBA Draft Recap Let me be clear. I am NOT happy with the Bulls 1st selection in this year's 2018 NBA Draft.

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[junker-town]

Western Illinois, Year 37, 2043-2044

Our Western Illinois dynasty has four seasons left in College Hoops 2K8. We need two titles to tie John Wooden’s record.

Welcome back to our simulated dynasty with the Western Illinois Leathernecks in College Hoops 2K8. You can find a full explanation of this project + spoiler-free links to previous seasons here. Check out the introduction to this series from early April for full context. As a reminder, we simulate every game in this series and only control the recruiting and coaching strategies. Dynasty mode runs for 40 years.

Before we pick up with the Leathernecks at the start of Year 37, here’s a recap of everything that happened last season:

Coming off a heartbreaking loss in the Final Four, Western Illinois started the new season with a young roster featuring zero seniors. We began the year at No. 23 in the preseason polls and had a solid run in the non-conference schedule before uncharacteristically dropping two games against Summit League opponents. We rebounded to win the conference tournament and punch our ticket to the big dance.

We earned a No. 7 seed to the NCAA tournament and beat Colorado State in the first round, and UNLV in the round of 32. We then lost in the Sweet 16 to NC State to end our season.

We had no open scholarships, so didn’t land any new recruits. We did lose center Filipe Hopes early to the NBA draft after the season.

Here’s a first look at our roster for Year 37:

Our goal is to tie or surpass John Wooden for the most national championships in college basketball history before the series ends after Year 40. With four seasons left, we have eight national titles to Wooden’s 10. We need to start stacking championships ASAP, and we start the new year with a team that’s good enough to win it all.

Everyone is back from last year’s team aside from center Filipe Hopes, who jumped to the NBA. With an intriguing four-man freshman class coming off their redshirts and set to join the rotation, we should have one of our deepest and most talented teams ever. We start the new year ranked No. 3 in the preseason polls.

Let’s meet the starting lineup:

PG Arvydas Hardy, 93 overall, redshirt senior: Hardy entered the program as our second-highest recruit ever (No. 12 overall), but hasn’t been able to fully live up to the hype yet despite some flashes of brilliance. Hardy is a huge lead guard at 6’4, 238 pounds, and he checks just about every box with his skill set. He’s blessed with a team-best 90 rating in three-point shooting, and he has A grades in passing and ball handling. Hardy’s only major weakness is that he’s often a little too passive offensively. We need to him to tap into his takeover scoring ability if we want to have a deep tournament run. Projected top pick out of Mesa, AZ with C- potential.

SG Augustine Bruthelieus, 92 overall, redshirt junior: Bruuuu is a tough 6’5 guard who can man either backcourt spot. While he’s not exactly a knockdown three-point shooter (75 rating), Bru plays a physical brand of basketball by getting into the paint on offense and forcing turnovers on defense. He has A- ratings in passing and handling for a shooting guard, as well as B+ ratings in both offensive and defensive awareness. Just a solid all-around player even if he doesn’t have outlier size or a signature skill. Former No. 42 overall recruit out of San Diego with C+ potential. Projected lottery pick.

SF Reece Mascoll, 93 overall, redshirt senior: A monstrous 6’9, 260 pound wing, Mascoll can play bully ball at the rim or stretch the defense with a high 70s rating in three-point shooting. We love that he has the versatility to play either forward spot, and can project as a primary scoring option at his best. After a big sophomore year coming off the bench, Mascoll’s tournament run as a junior wasn’t as dominant as we hoped. He decided to return for his senior year despite being a projected first round pick, and now should co-headline the team with Hardy. Former No. 40 overall recruit out of Riverside, CA with C potential. Projected top pick.

PF Al Reece, 89 overall, redshirt senior: Reece has tremendous size at 7’1, 277 pounds for a natural power forward. He has the best shot blocking rating on the team (90 rating) and can slide easily to the five. Reece checks a lot of boxes for a ‘Necks big man, but there’s one thing that holds him back: he’s almost too aggressive offensively. He shouldn’t be taking more shots than Hardy, but that has happened often in stream games. We need him to be a role player rather than think he’s our star. Former No. 138 overall recruit from Glendale, AZ with C- potential.

C D.J. Foster, 82 overall, redshirt sophomore: Foster is our lowest-rated starter in years, but we have no problem with that because he’s already proven to be a solid performer in tournament games. His best attribute is his size: at 7’2, 274 pounds, he’s able to protect the paint and rebound just by standing there. He also has more offensive game than you would expect, showing off a solid mid-range jumper last year. Former No. 173 overall recruit (No. 6 center) out of Chicago with C potential.

For as stacked as our starting lineup is, our depth might be the best asset of this team. We have the potential to go seven deep off the pine with no scholarships last season and four freshmen joining the rotation coming off their redshirts.

Redshirt junior Jerald Elliott (91 overall) is a 6’6 shooting guard with a ridiculous 99 rating in speed who also has A- ratings as a passer and ball handler. Elliott is our second highest rated shooter, but his slow release — similar to that of former guard Brandon “The Musket” Price — limits him some as a shooter. If Elliott is our ‘sixth starter,’ we have a group of freshmen and sophomores behind him who give us quality depth at every position.

Redshirt sophomore Ketshner Evertsen (83 rating) is a 6’8 shooting guard who we’ve moved to small forward. He projects as an elite shooter and proved he can be instant offense when he gets hot on our tournament run last season. Cam Kateley, a 6’6 redshirt sophomore point guard, and Bernie Doyle, a 6’9 redshirt freshman shooting guard, both provide size and floor spacing potential in the backcourt. We also have redshirt freshmen Floyd Keller (6’7 wing), Oscar Frye (7-foot power forward), and Brody Munoz (6’11 center) who could see time in the rotation in March.

Recruiting

We have four open scholarships this season. Since these players will only have three years with us before the series ends, we’re thinking about targeting some JUCO guys throughout the process. After scanning the available options, we decide to offer the following players:

SG Everson Fitch out of Peoria, IL: No. 14 overall player and No. 9 at his position

SF Kory O’Donnell out of Kansas City: No. 57 overall player and 6 at his position

PG Archie Howell out of El Paso: Five-star JUCO freshman

C Daon Whithers out of Cleveland: Five-star JUCO freshman

Fitch would go down as our third highest-rated recruit ever. O’Donnell is already massive at 6’9, 250 pounds for a high school small forward. Howell and Whithers are both five-star JUCOs, with Whithers profiling as a stud and Howell looking more gettable. We’ll see how it goes.

Reminder: WE’RE NO. 3 IN THE POLLS. Let’s do this.

How did the regular season go?

After a breezy season-opening win against Creighton, we faced No. 14 Oklahoma State in our next game and lost, 85-73. There will be no pressure to go undefeated this year. A few weeks later we lost to UConn and NC State, both talented but unranked teams, that dropped us out of the polls entirely.

We rebounded with wins over Kentucky, DePaul, and Lehigh to close out the non-con slate at 8-4. Not how we wanted to start the year.

Did we go undefeated in Summit League play?

No! We lost to Fort Wayne in our very first conference game of the season. An absolute shocker.

Oh my gosh, it happened again. This time to Southern Utah:

Two conference losses in each of the last two seasons, sheesh. This team was preseason No. 3!!! Are we even going to make the tournament at this point?

We won out for the rest of our regular season games and then entered the conference tournament. I am legit terrified we’re going to lay another egg and miss the dance entirely. After winning the first two games, we have a rematch with Southern Utah in the title game. They are rated as an 82 overall, which is about the highest you’ll ever see a team rated in this conference. We streamed the game here.

We won, and headed to the NCAA tournament. Man, this team doesn’t feel as good as I hoped.

Who did recruiting go?

Not well! We landed no one at the early signing deadline, and saw three of our targets commit elsewhere. The only original target we’re looking strong with is Howell, the 6’2 JUCO point guard, but he’ll still need a little more convincing in the offseason.

We’ve pivoted to big man Logan Polk, the No. 185 overall player and No. 11 center, in the front court. We also have offers out to five-star JUCO power forward Erik Stepp and four-star shooting guard Cornell Berry, who is rated No. 33 overall. Polk looks like the most likely to sign out of those three, while Berry is a swing for the fences. I figure we might be due for a little bit of good luck at some point here.

2044 NCAA tournament

We’re a No. 8 seed in the NCAA tournament, drawing MAC champion No. 9 seed Akron in the first round.

We’re rated as a 100 overall heading into the tournament at 27-6 on the year. The Zips are only rated as an 85 overall.

Before we get to the tournament run, let’s check in on the roster:

I know it hasn’t been the most dominant regular season, but damn, this roster is undeniably loaded. In terms of both top-end talent and depth, I’d put this squad up as one of my best ever. The reality is it won’t be remembered that way unless we run all the way to the national championship.

Hardy and Mascoll were big-time recruits with great tools who have had flashes of greatness, but have never put it together consistently. This is their chance as seniors. Reece and Foster, at 7’1 and 7’2 respectively, give us a major size advantage on any opponent. Bru and Elliott are versatile guards who feel like they could go either way in March. I’m really excited about our bench, with a few big wings who can shoot (sophomore Ketshner Evertsen and freshmen Bernie Doyle and Floyd Keller), some more size (freshman center Brody Munoz) and plenty of lineup versatility.

This team is awesome, but so far they have the underachievers tag. Let’s see if we can shake it. As always, we’re watching a simulated game between the computer. I’m not controlling the Leathernecks.

Let’s go!

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Win, 105-70. We’re rolling into the second round.

That was a straight up blow out — we were able to hit ‘sim to end’ with 13 minutes left in the game as we held at 30 point lead. This one was never in doubt.

A few takeaways: Hardy was awesome, popping off for 23 points on 7-of-8 shooting. What a great start to his final tournament run with us. It was an ideal game for Mascoll, too, hitting a couple threes and dishing out six assists. Bruthelieus was great scoring the ball, and Elliott looked solid as our backup point guard.

We only hit two three-pointers in the first half and were still up 21. That seems like a good sign.

The win sets up a game with No. 1 seed Richmond in the round of 32

There’s nothing worse than getting a No. 8 or No. 9 seed in the NCAA tournament, because it means we have to face the top seed in the round of 32. For us, that means a matchup with Richmond. I have to say, I’m shocked to see the Spiders are this good.

Richmond enters the game rated as a 98 overall. We’re a 100 overall.

It’s possible this will be our toughest game on the road to the Final Four. I guess we might as well take it on early. It’s not like we’re playing for Sweet 16 appearances over here. We need titles.

Massive game. The nerves are real. Let’s go!

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Win, 111-99! We’re into the Sweet 16!

This was another ‘sim to end’ game with five minutes left, but in reality it was a lot closer than the final score would indicate. The first half was a dog fight, with Richmond using a zone defense to coax our perimeter players into taking threes. We attempted 27 threes in the first half (making 10), and 45 threes on the night (making 17). That has to be a record. Seeing as we were making them at a 37 percent clip, I was happy to let our guys keep shooting.

Bru was the biggest star, with 17 of his 22 coming in the first half. He finished 6-of-13 from three despite only being rated as a 75 in three-point shooting. That was huge, especially on a night when Arvy Hardy didn’t have it (1-of-7 shooting).

Mascoll (18 points on 6-of-12 shooting) was awesome again, and our sophomore center Foster (11 points, 11 rebounds) looked every bit of 7’2 out there. Major shout-out to Jerald Elliott as well, who helped blow this game open in the second half when we put him at point guard went with a full court press. He finished with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting, and added a couple steals and a bunch of assists. It is an immense luxury to have a versatile guard rated in the 90s like him coming off our bench.

The win sets up a game with No. 4 seed Rhode Island in the Sweet 16

Rhode Island is rated as an 85 overall. They don’t have any super highly rated players, but it looks like they’ll have a formidable team for a stream game with a big small forward who can shoot and a couple veteran guards.

I’m starting to gain confidence in this team. We already knocked out the No. 1 seed, and I think we’ve found something with lineups that have Elliott at point guard. Let’s keep this run going. Let’s go!

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Win, 94-71! We’re rolling into the Elite Eight!

Three games, three ‘sim to end’ blowouts. I had a good feeling about this one when Reece Mascoll ripped a three off the opening tip:

Those good vibes wouldn’t last long: nine minutes into the game, Rhode Island was up double-figures. We took a timeout, put Elliott in at point guard, turned up the full court pressure, and before you know it we were going into the halftime break ahead by 13 points.

Elliott is really becoming a stud. He’s a great shooter (86 rating from three), but his slow release handicaps him on the wing. That’s why we’ve mostly been playing him at the one, where his size (6’6) and uber-elite speed (99 rating) is a terror. He’s really solid as a passer and decision-maker, and that’s been enough to give us a boost when he put him in for Reece as our first sub.

Look at the speed!

Hardy was also really good this game with 16 points, four assists, and a couple threes. We’ve been waiting five years for Hardy to carry us, but it seems like he’s just not aggressive enough to be a superstar. Instead, he’s really solid within a team concept, hitting open threes, dropping dimes, and never forcing his own offense.

Mascoll is starting to play like a star. He finished with 16 points, five rebounds, five assists, and five steals, just an incredible performance. Also: Floyd Keller got his first real minutes and scored nine points during a key stretch. Hell yeah. We are looking good.

The win sets up a game with No. 2 seed Louisville in the Elite Eight

We have our work cut out for us if we’re going to reach the Final Four. Louisville is one of the best teams we’ve ever faced in this simulation. Yes, they’re a 100 overall, and their roster is even stronger than ours. They have five players rated in the 90s, two players rated as 89s, another rated as an 88. We showed off Louisville’s roster at the start of the video below.

I’ve never felt more pressure as a coach. We need national title No. 9 if we want to match or surpass Wooden, and I doubt we’ll have a team as good as this one again before the series ends. We need a title, and Louisville is an enormous test in the Elite Eight.

One time, ‘Necks. Let’s go!

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Win, 113-95. We’re going to the Final Four!

We had some technical difficulties in this one, and by the time I resolved them we were well on our way to a fourth straight ‘sim to end’ game in this tournament. It is absolutely unbelievable that we were able to blow out that Louisville team. Just a great performance by our guys.

Foster was wildly good. The 7’2 sophomore center popped off for 22 points and 12 rebounds. He can score with either hand around the basket, has a decent face-up jumper, and is just so, so big. Louisville had no answer for him:

Our depth also shined again in a big way. On a night when Mascoll (10 points) wasn’t taking over, we were lucky to have 6’8 sophomore wing Ketshner Evertsen, 6’9 freshman two guard Bernie Doyle, and of course our boy Elliott get hot and help carry us.

Elliott just rules at point guard, going off for 16 points and seven assists on 6-of-7 shooting. I swear the guy never misses, and rarely makes a bad decision. Doyle (nine points) got going attacking the basket, and I really think he can be a future star. Then there’s Shner, who broke out as a freshman in the tournament last year and remains a great weapon for us off the bench:

Shner finished with 18 points on 4-of-5 shooting from three. I’m telling you, the wing depth is really what makes this team stand out.

There was also a kick ass Mascoll tip-dunk during our technical difficulties that was so good I had to pause the game and figure out the stream so we could make a clip of it as a replay.

We’re feeing it right now. On to the Final Four!

The win sets up a game with No. 1 seed BYU in the Final Four

BYU has had a really solid program throughout this simulation, and this looks like one of their better teams. The Cougars enter the game rated as a 97 overall, and they play a bit better than that because they have a ton of size in the front court.

We are one win away from the chance to play for title No. 9. Let’s go!

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Win, 94-88! We’ll be playing for the national championship!

There was no ‘sim to end’ in this one; instead, it came down to the final minutes. I really thought this was headed for a blowout, but a wild end to the first half set the table for the final 20 minutes. After Ketshner Evertsen hit a three with seconds remaining before halftime, BYU came down and drained a halfcourt shot at the buzzer:

We were comfortably in control for most of the second half before BYU started to make its run. Up 14 with under five minutes left, BYU started making everything and suddenly we couldn’t buy a bucket. The Cougars made it a two-point game with under a minute left, but some clutch free throw shooting from Hardy iced the win. This was unquestionably the most difficult game we have had on our tournament run, and it has me thinking that a national title game win won’t come easy.

Jerald Elliot, the 6’6 junior shooting guard, was awesome again, finishing with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting and almost exclusively playing the point for us. Our dude might be making a run at MOP if we can win it all.

Evertsen — aka Shner — was also killer again, going 6-of-8 from the field and 3-of-5 from three to finish with 15 points. It is so nice to have a 6’8 natural shooting guard on the bench we can go to for a jolt of offense. The starters also played well enough, with Hardy and Mascoll each scoring 13 points and Bru putting up 12 points.

The win sets up a game with No. 2 seed UCLA in the national championship game

We beat UCLA for our second ever championship, and we’re going to have to do so again if we want title No. 9. The Bruins have a loaded roster with four players rated in the 90s.

We enter at 32-6, they enter at 31-6. They’re a 99 overall, we’re a 100 overall.

Given that we’ve stated our goal is to tie or surpass John Wooden’s record 10 championships before the series ends after Year 40, there’s a case to be made that this is the biggest game in program history. This would give us title No. 9 with three seasons left. We aren’t catching Wooden if we lose.

Please, ‘Necks. One time. Let’s go!

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Win, 101-81! WESTERN ILLINOIS IS NATIONAL CHAMPIONS FOR THE NINTH TIME IN PROGRAM HISTORY!

This game was tight for the first 33 minutes or so, but our SECOND HALF TEAM came through when it counted. In fitting fashion, it was a true team effort with five players scoring in a double-figures and bench player being named MOP.

Jerald Elliott finished his amazing tournament by putting up 16 points, seven assists, five steals, and three blocks in the natty on 7-of-8 shooting from the field. He was deservedly named MOP. Elliott came into this season with a nice rating but major question marks about what role he would play. It turns out he was the point guard we needed all along, and that let the rest of the team fall into place.

It was also great to see Hardy have such a good title game performance. He finished with 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting to go along with three assists and just one turnover. It was a quintessential Arvy Hardy effort: he picked his spots and was efficient with every shot attempt. I’m going to say he lived up to the hype as our second highest rated recruit ever.

We needed this one:

And then there was Bru. We once recruited Bruthelieus and Elliott together as shooting guards in the same class, and that couldn’t have worked out any better. Bru finished with a game-high 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting and might have pulled a full DiVincenzo by playing his way into the NBA draft.

This three off a pin-down screen was the dagger.

Reece Mascoll also went out as a champion in his last game. While he never became a monster scorer like Jitim Dupree, Skip Clemmons, and Nic Cummings before him, he was one of the best players on this team the last three years and an invaluable contributor to this championship. His ability to play either the three or the fourth was an incredible dimension for us that we won’t have next year.

He also had a big dunk, if you’re into big dunks.

One last shout-out to Hardy for using his final game in a ‘Necks uniform to .... take our first ever charge!?! I honestly can’t remember this happening before.

From the moment we brought in the Hardy-Mascoll-Reece-Hopes group that was named the fifth best recruiting class in the country, we always thought their senior year would be our moment. While all of those guys were great, I think I’ll instead remember this team for having so much versatility and such great depth.

Pretty much everyone played two different positions for us on our run. We had size, we had shooting, we had size that could shoot. If this wasn’t our best team ever, I really do think it’s damn close.

Let’s see that hometown newspaper. Print lives in 2044!

It feels so good to win national championship No. 9. We’re one behind John Wooden with three seasons to go. All we wanted was a legit chance to match or surpass him, and now we have it.

So: let’s see who’s coming back next year.

Offseason

Western Illinois is your national champion. Feels great to say.

Hardy, Mascoll, and Reece all get drafted. We did lose one other player to the NBA: Augustine Bruthelieus. The man went out on top, having the best game of his career in the national title. Mad respect.

My record stands at 1,075-205.

I get offered jobs by NC State, Arizona, Indiana, and Arkansas, but turn them all down.

We lose an assistant and hire someone new with B- ratings across the board.

Recruiting

So just a reminder: recruiting isn’t going too well. We have four open scholarships and no one who is ready to accept.

The player we’re closest with is five-star JUCO point guard Archie Howel. After the second week of the spring signing period, he becomes our first recruit:

Howel is a 6’2 guard out of El Paso who we identified as gettable early in the process. He won’t redshirt and will be a senior in Year 40 because he’s entering school as a sophomore. The only position we didn’t recruit for two years ago was point guard (remember, we had no open scholarships last year), so filling this position was crucial. We’ve had a couple good JUCO point guards over the years in Damon Hendriks and Diondre Haynes, so hopefully he can be the next one.

We also badly need a center and have been chasing Logan Polk since we lost our initial target. A week later, he becomes our second commit:

Polk is rated as the No. 11 center in his class, and the No. 185 overall player. His AAU numbers are incredible: 17.1 points, 12.6 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game. He’s ranked a tad bit lower than the guys we usually get at his position, but he should be a solid three-year big for us before the series ends.

We have two more open scholarships, but our two targets — four-star shooting guard Cornell Berry and five-star JUCO Erek Stepp — both sign elsewhere. We need a big guard and wing, but we also just have to take what we can get. We decide to offer the top international player, 6’2 point guard Christano Ngoundu out of Cameroon, because he projects as the top player available. On the last week, he signs with us.

Our last scholarship is offered to 6’8 small forward Ivan Adler out of Bellflower, CA. He’s only rated No. 192 overall, but his AAU stats were awesome — 13.3 points per game on 44 percent three-point shooting — and we love his size. We were his only offer going into the final week, but unfortunately he did not commit. We’re going to have to roll over that scholarship to next year.

Now it’s time to set next year’s schedule:

@ Richmond, Maui Invitational, Vanderbilt, @ Providence, @ Duke, Northwestern, @ Penn State, Saint Louis

Year 38

Here’s a first look at our roster for Year 38:

Two thoughts:

This team has a chance to be very good

The lineups we play in the regular season will not be the same ones I’m playing in tournament games as we try to win national championship No. 10

None of the freshmen are redshirting. Here’s what they came in:

Christano Ngoundu, 77 overall, B potential: I was hesitant to offer Ngoundu because oftentimes international recruits take five years to get good, but I’m so glad I did because he’s easily our best get. The 6’2 guard should get backup point guard minutes from the jump.

Logan Polk, 76 overall, C potential: Probably about as good as we could have reasonably hoped for given that he was only ranked No. 11 at the position. He’ll likely earn spot minutes as our second big man off the bench.

Archie Howel, 71 overall, C- potential: This one hurts, but he does he have a 75 rating in three-point shooting, so maybe he can be a depth piece and a weapon in tournament time if nothing else.

We’ll have three scholarships to recruit for this year.

We’re going to be streaming Year 38 on Sunday, May 2 at 8 p.m. ET on my Twitch channel. We’ll be recruiting and simming through our regular season, and then going into the tournament. If we have a long tournament run and can’t complete the season in one night, we’ll finish out the tournament run on Wednesday, May 5 at 8 p.m. ET on my Twitch.

Watch Western Illinois in Year 38

What: Western Illinois Year 38 season

When: Sunday, May 2 at 8 p.m. ET. If necessary: continued on Wednesday, May 5 at 8 p.m. ET

Where: My Twitch stream

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