Here we are after our noncon. I scheduled pretty easy opps, so I was expecting a better record, but 5-5 is OK considering that I have a very young team and the press has had some changes made in the new engine.



I guess according to the engine, I have one bad loss (at Wm. and Mary) and one good win (vs. Siena.) The good thing is that the large majority of those teams are going to finish with VERY strong records - for instance, Navy might go 24-2 or 23-3.

And here's the conference. We're fifth in conference RPI (ACC, Big Sky, PAC 10, A-10) and seventh in record (ACC, PAC 10, Big Sky, A-10, Mizzou Valley, Ivy.) That's not so strong.

My conference schedule starts with three away games before we come to Gallagher-Iba for our first home Big 12 game of the season:
at Texas Tech,
at Texas,
at Iowa State,
vs TAMU,
at Kansas,
at Nebraska.

So at Texas and Kansas, I'll be able to get a lot of minutes to my backups. At Iowa State, we had better win.

The other three games will be tricky - can I outcoach the Sim enough to beat a Texas Tech team that has us outmatched on talent? Can I get lucky at home against jreitz or on the road against kari?

My goal is two wins in the first six games, but 0 or 1 is completely possible. Our schedule finishes very easily as far as Big 12 play goes (Baylor in Waco; Oklahoma, Kansas St., Mizzou, and Colorado in Stillwater,) so two wins in the first stretch would put me on the inside track to logging a tenth win this season.

Got through the first stretch with 3 wins - got the Tex Tech and Iowa State wins, plus I just pulled off a 1-point road upset of Nebraska!

Jreitz played me without his starting PG, but that wasn't enough for a win over TAMU... but still, we're at 8-8 now and ten wins is looking very doable.

Next stretch is still tough (it is the Big 12, after all:)

vs Baylor
vs Texas Tech
vs Texas
at Oklahoma
at TAMU.

The Texas Tech game we need to win. And realistically, we need to split the season series with Baylor - the Bears are a strong team, but one that we should be able to squeak past with the help of our D- HCA.

At Texas A&M, I will probably give lots of playing time to my backups, but you never know. Something could happen. Same with at OK and vs Tex.

RPI 97, too. Is it possible?

Answer: no.  This season has, as I sort of expected, fallen apart.  However, everyone is gonna be back.

I turned it around a bit, winning my last two conference games to finish with my best season yet in terms of record, conf record, and RPI.  The Big 12 sends 4 to the NT, 2 to the PIT, which is strong, but not as strong as the ACC, Big Sky, Pac-10, or A-10.  A great year for the midmajors: the Big Sky, A-10, Horizon, C-USA, and MVC send a total of 22 teams to the Dance, while the SEC, Big East, and Big Ten combine to send... six.

Standings after the CT:

Not a bad finish at all.  Next year's the year - over .500 and into the NT so I can get the prestige out of C- territory.

Start of season 43
Welcome to sinatra, who takes over at Iowa State.  Meanwhile, we hold steady while I help a friend recruit - 12 players on the roster, and I get a big cash bonus for not cutting Valencia.  Next year, we'll have the $17K from this year, plus another batch of money, plus the money for five schollies.  So I'll have Mathewson, Robbins, Brady, Kirschbaum, three sophomore PFs, and something like $105K to start season 44.

Redshirting with 12 returning

For the moment, the challenge is getting either Whalen or Whittle, preferably Whalen, to redshirt.  Both are sophs, but I have six PFs on my roster, 3 of whom are upperclassmen.  Whalen refused my first attempt - I'm trying Whittle now, then leaving them off the depth chart for the exhibitions and trying that.

I suppose I could RS Brady - that'd be nice, given that it would give me 5 guards and 6 posts, which is just as good as 6 guards and 5 posts.  But Brady has less room to develop than either the sophomore PFs. 

Valencia would likely take it, but he's a career bench player, and I'm not sure that a year's improvement on him is worth having him stick around for one more season... RSing Valencia would balance classes a bit, though, AND it would make my 11-man roster the strongest of any RS option, AND I'm still not sure what his potentials are like (the STs were very positive, that's why I signed him.)  Maybe this is the way to go.

Actually, my dream RS would be Thompson or Orsini.


Here are my top choices right now:

1. Thompson (senior PF, 3rd on depth chart by skill, T-1st by age)
2. Orsini (senior SG, T-1st by skill, 1st by age)
3. Whalen (sophomore PF, 5th by skill, 3T-4th by age)
4. Whittle (sophomore PF, 4th by skill, 3T-4th by age)
5. Valencia (sophomore PF, 6th by skill, 3T-4th by age)
6. Brady (sophomore SG, T-3rd by skill, T-2nd by age)

Wood, Warf, and Thompson are off the list (1st on depth charts, upperclassmen, my major scoring options this year,) and Robbins and Kirschbaum have already redshirted.  Oh, and Hurst sucks.

But I like how much flexibility I have here.

Hilarious that you have a roster that could RS 6 guys.  I wish I had the depth/talent.

Coach, just wanted to touch base on your decision. I think it was the right call. I know most kids want to play, and I do too, but I think the extra year will really help me.

Derrick


Derrick Whittle takes the redshirt (Whalen went -55 WE, so that was out)!  Sweet.  That gives me great class balance going forward - the four-man Class of '46 is two PFs and two SGs; the two-man Class of '47 is a PF and an SG.

Posted by reinsel on 7/7/2010 4:31:00 PM (view original):
Hilarious that you have a roster that could RS 6 guys.  I wish I had the depth/talent.

Depth, not talent.

It's funny - due to the fact that three of my seniors were JuCos, my team will actually get OLDER in the next two years despite my having 12 returning this year.

Year         Total Years of Experience
43             30
44             28
45             36
46             31

For reference, 30 is average experience with no draft - that is, 3/3/3/3 or 0/6/6/0 or something like that.  Hopefully, I'll be having players drafted soon (Mathewson if not Warf or Wood.)  Hell, I'd love to have Mathewson drafted - that would give me my null class back.