louis harrison....i really liked louis harrison, no low potential areas and a number of highs. he's a very good signing.

i only had two spots open this season. one of them needed to be filled with a PG (even moreso now that Cape has gone down with an injury in the first preseason game) so i needed to lock that one up early. having only two schollies, i couldn't take a risk and go after anyone further away than cyphers was...and anyway, there were only 2 5-star PGs to be had, so i was pretty content with cyphers.

that me with 1 spot for two assumed needs for next season. i'm about 99% certain that both morris and winkleman will go pro after this season. i really can't imagine either of them sticking around. so i will be pretty empty at both SF and big man next season. both spots were a need.

both SF-harrison and PF-locklear were considering me after the first cycle, but harrison was also considering SIU, so i decided i would just not get into any battles and keep as much $$$ for next year. i'm going to need it.

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Just a better starting team for sure, and the bench is mostly better too. Wyble is better than no one :), Charland as good as Benson was last year and Leffler and Moorman return, so I have high hopes this year.

Breaking noncon down into 3 sections we have Wyoming, then at Texas-San Antonio, then home vs. PAC 10 bottom feeder Arizona State an finish up on the road vs. a solid Houston team.

Anything other than 4 wins would be a disappointment, although that Houston game will be tough, but they only have 4 upperclassmen so we'll have the IQ advantage. Interesting to see how things go now that Flood is going to be one of the big 3. I have options to go 2 perimeter and 1 post or 2 post and 1 perimeter every game. Flood + 2 of (Benson, Baker, Norris) will be the main scorers every game.

2 games, 2 solid wins. Even though in the second Norris my center fouled out in 11 minutes. We have a ton of frontcourt depth and its only a matter of time before someone gets ****** about PT. No matter. MVC starts out 15-9 overall so that is great news.

And in the first poll of the year we are 26th, so 2 wins vs. Arizona State and at Houston will get us there. The Houston game will be the tough one, as we always seem to play poorly vs. zone/press teams.

4 players in double figures through 4 games: Benson, Flood, and then Moorman and Lefler, my backup PF/C as Baker and Norris have really been struggling.

Well first 4 games complete and we went 3-1. Lost badly at Houston, they just shot really well...I got owned by their PG who just had a ton of assists.

But 3-1 is still good and my team is still young, so these types of losses can be expected, especially when the opponent has a good shooting night. Now my next 3 games are San Jose State, @ Weber State and @ Kansas. All 3 were NT teams last year, but SJS went sim this year so I think we can get it done there.

Weber State has 5 freshmen and only 2 seniors, so they are even younger than we are, so I have a good feeling about that game.

Kansas is awesome this year and basically I wish this game was at home so we'd have a decent shot at it, but what the heck. Ending this stretch 5-2 would be very good going into the last 1/3 of the noncon schedule.

My conference is struggling though. Northern Iowa, who should be the best team in the MVC is 1-3 , and our sims are 1-15 or something. So overall we are like .500, which isn't very good and doesn't bode well for our NT berth hopes. But at least Gardner-Webb and Illinois State have it figured out (7-1) combined. Maybe we can make a run here to get into the 6th/7th/8th overall RPI spot.

Got the win vs. SJ State to get to 4-1. Norris and Baker did a good job down low, but Benson really played well, exposing SJS's 30 defense SG.

Now for a rivalry game with Weber State, we are 3-3 all time with them, played every year. Conference is still not doing so hot, 5-7 last night. NIU is the most talented team in the conference and is 1-4. If they don't turn it around soon they are going to not have any shot of making the NT through the at-large process.

Good execution down the stretch and the Shockers come away with a nice win at Weber State. Now its time to pray as we go to Kansas. This is probably not a winnable game, but you never know, if we can get a lot of TO => layups, we always have a chance. Maybe they go cold or whatever. Feel like there would be a better shot if it was at home, but whatever.

After Kansas I have 3 games I hope to win: Rhode Island, Fordham and at Canisius. The Fordham game is the hardest, but at least its at home.

Main reason for the early success: 3pt %! We are shooting 52.6% from deep so far this year. Only 24.7% of our shots are from deep, but Flood, Benson and Boyton are doing the job. I have faced a lot of pack it in defenses too, but still that is a great percentage. Hopefully I can get lucky with that again tonight.

Tough loss at Kansas. Down 2 with 5:00 to go and they score the final 11 points. 53-40, but we were 1-11 from 3. Needed a few more of those, and we'd have had a lucky win. But considering how lucky we have been shooting its ok.

After the break we have the 53rd RPI, which is fine. Conference went 7-5 last night despite my loss, so if I can win my next 3 I should be in great shape. Tonight is Rhode Island, a newly sim team that has zero depth and is 7-0 somehow. We'll see if I can go uptempo and get into their freshman backups.

Solid win over 7-0 Rhode Island, but Stephen Boynton my backup SG sprained his ankle and is down to 81%. Tough decision to make....play Wyble my freshman PG as backup at both guards? Leave Boynton at SG2? Play one of my SF up at the 2? Hard to decide.

let em rest

I'd rest him. You've got enough to cover the minutes. Though I wish you had the sim tonight.

Play him at 3rd string, put your starting PG as 2nd string SG AND starting PG, set your starting guards to "getting tired."

Yeah that is what I think I am going to do...too bad I am playing such a good team. But a little fortunate that we have that off day between noncon and conference play and Boynton should be close to 100% for the start of the league schedule.

Well, survived my injury I think, got good games from Benson and Flood and got to 8-2.

Benson is having a great year, averaging 13.6ppg, 2.5rpg, 2.1 assists, 1.2 steals and only 1.9 TO per game, and shooting 52.2%. Hope he stays for his senior slump season :)

Flood is having an excellent sophomore season as well, averaging 10.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg on 2 turnovers, shooting 52.8%.

Baker is my disappointment, averaging 7.6ppg and 5.6 rpg on 43.3% shooting, but he is getting more than a steal and a block per game while shooting 78% from the line. Plus I recently switched him to Center. Maybe that will help get his offense on track.

My first quarter of the conference schedule is pretty easy, @ Bradley, Missouri State, Illinois State and @ WKU. Bradley is 9-1, but has 9 sim recruited seniors, but our starters average 85 athleticism and 78 speed, compared to their 52 ath and 66 speed. The 33 point difference in Athleticism should make this a pretty easy game.

Then we don't lose to weaker teams at home very often and WKU is a lousy sim, so 4-0 looks pretty likely, and 12-2 is a nice way to start. Got to keep the foot on the gas, because I really want to make a run in the NT this year to improve my prestige and to make some $$$ for the MVC.

3-1