Coach Graham Sims: A Pennsylvania Story (FBCB)
 

Hi again. I'm Graham, and I'm back for another try with my college basketball dynasty idea.

As I wrote in my first thread:

"At first, I thought I'd write the usual "coach begins at small school and tries to work his way up to a national powerhouse" story. I do enjoy playing this kind of career, but this time I decided to approach it from a different angle.

My coach will spend his entire career coaching in a single state. He won't apply for, or accept, a job offer outside that state's borders."

I chose Pennsylvania, and I'm returning there for this story, too.

I'll be playing Fast Break College Basketball this time, and my story will begin in the spring of 2011. I don't mind turning the clock back a decade. The conference alignments made more sense to me then.

Coach Graham Sims is back, and this time he's the head coach at Lafayette.



After a successful high school career in northern Virginia, Coach Sims attended Villanova. He played four years there as a walk-on, and graduated in 2001. A decade later, he's beginning his career as a collegiate head coach. I've made him an Average coach, because I'd like to give him a chance to enjoy a long and successful career.

I hope we'll all enjoy discovering how that career will turn out.

May 1, 2011

I let the computer pick Coach Sims's three assistants. Their salaries are taken from the team budget, and what's left over can be spent on recruiting. It's been a long time since I've played FBCB, and I didn't want to mess up and leave myself with too little cash to spend on recruiting. There are four senior scholarship players on this year's roster, so I need a healthy recruiting budget.



They're nothing special, but I've seen much worse. I can't remember if assistant coaches' ratings improve over time. If they do, perhaps these young coaches will develop into a distinguished, experience team. Or, will they be the first branches from Sims's coaching tree?

I'm also going to let the computer make the schedule this season. I figure it would have been set by the time Coach Sims took the job.

July 1, 2011

Here are the Leopards Coach Sims inherited from his predecessor.


DeWitt Leiva is the team's biggest star. If his overall ratings can be believed, the senior big man could play for any team in the country. DeWitt is an elite defender and a rugged rebounder. He doesn't look like he'll be much of a scorer, however. Leiva is also an outstanding student, the kind of man Coach Sims wants his program to produce.

Leiva's classmate Robert Castleman will start alongside him in the post. He's a big, strong dude, the team's best inside scoring threat by a wide margin. He also possesses a decent touch from outside the arc, especially for a 260-pound wide load.

Stephen Diaz, another senior, looks like he should be another low-block banger, but he's actually a perimeter player. His combination of defensive awareness and a decent amount of quickness allows him to guard opposing wings. We'll depend on Diaz for scoring, too; he has the team's smoothest mid-range jumper.

Second year shooting guard Stephen Thames is unpolished, but he seems to have some potential. At his best, he'll take over games with his quickness and his long-range marksmanship. At his worst, he'll be a turnover machine whose man torches him on a regular basis. We'll probably see some of both, even within a single game.

Point guard Billy Weiler, a city kid from Philly, will have the keys to the Leopards offense. Billy looks like he'd be at home behind the plate; in fact, he was a very good high school catcher. He is the team's only decent passer, and one of its few capable ballhandlers. Weiler can't guard anybody, however, gambling for steals rather than locking down on his man. Our staff thinks there's a player in there. We'll see.

Guards Joseph Burford and Victor Gentry will probably be the first men off the bench. These veterans don't do any one thing particularly well, but they're not too bad at anything, either. Both Joseph and Victor are quick and athletic.

I'm curious to see what kind of player Willard Davis turns out to be. A sophomore guard, Davis can jump out of the gym and has a nifty mid-range jumper.

Freshman Clark Nolan is the best of the reserve big men. He's a less-accomplished version of Robert Castleman. Unlike Castleman, however, Nolan is in terrible shape, lacking the stamina to play effectively for long stretches.

Wing Dana Broughton intrigues me. He will get some playing time, because he's one of the few players on the roster who has the combination of qualities Coach Sims is looking for in the players he recruits. Dana is intelligent, and he has the potential to develop into a tough defender. He's also a good shooter who could become a very good one. If Broughton, a first year, demonstrates he can hold his own as a college basketball player, he'll earn more playing time...possibly at the expense of the veterans with less upside and much less time to develop.

(Once the Lafayette roster features players with whom we're familiar--because I recruited them, or because they've been around a while--I'll post their individual "cards' here, too.)

August 1, 2011

The recruiting season began on July 1. Lafayette has four scholarships to offer, so Coach Sims will be very busy for the next few months.

The program needs to add at least one big man who is ready to play as a freshman. DeWitt Leiva and Robert Castleman are both seniors. The young bigs, Clark Nolan and Donnie Pope, have potential, but both will have to show significant improvement before they can be considered potential starters. I'll be watching how Clark and Donnie develop. If they seem to be learning quickly, the second big in the class can be more of a project. If they don't progress, they could be pushed farther down the depth chart by a second promising newcomer.

There's also a need for a playmaking guard who can join the rotation right away. Billy Weiler is the only guy on the roster with the handle and vision to play point guard. Weiler is also the only Lafayette player who is even a decent passer. Victor Gentry, who will be a senior next year, will probably always be more comfortable as a two guard.

The fourth signee will probably be a wing player. I'm hoping Dana Broughton will be ready to start next year. If he's not ready, then the new guy will have an opportunity to play a lot.

I want to build a culture at Lafayette that emphasizes stalwart defense. If a player can't or won't work hard at that end of the floor, he won't be a good fit on a Graham Sims team. A player will have to be an extraordinary offensive force, one who can turn a game around, before we'll look at him otherwise.

Our monthly recruiting budget will be $11,406 this season. We spent almost all of it evaluating the 20 players we put on our call list, chosen from those who have expressed Very High or High levels of interest in our team. Among them are a handful of three-star recruits, with two- and one-star players making up the rest.

I don't know anything about basketball but I hope to enjoy this and learn something =)

Welcome! I hope you have fun following the story, too. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to ask.


August 1, 2011

The first group of players we evaluated contained several we're interested in recruiting.


James Sanders puts the "big" in "big man." He grades out as a decent defender, but his offensive numbers are what caught our eye. Players his size shouldn't be able to stroke it from three point range the way James can.

The Connecticut product has us first on his list. We offer him a scholarship, and we invite him to campus. Coach Sims will also visit him at home.


We might have to work harder to land Spitzer, who has three schools listed ahead of us. If he joined our program right now, he'd be the best defender among our perimeter players. He'd also rival Billy Weiler as our best playmaker, with the potential to be much better.

Our recruiting efforts for John are the same as those we make for Sanders: a scholarship offer, an invitation to campus, and a visit to his home.


I was intrigued by the fact that a player in Spain was interested in coming to Easton, Pennsylvania to play college basketball. It's not cheap to recruit Castillo; it will cost about six times as much to bring him to campus as it does Sanders or Spitzer.

If he turns out to be as good as his potentials imply, the Good King will be worth every penny we spend. We offer him a scholarship, but we can only afford to send recruiting assistant Steven Manion to Spain to meet him.

I'm not sure to whom we'll offer our remaining scholarship. We're looking most closely at a few other big men, but if another guard or forward capture our attention, we might change our plans.

September 1, 2011

Coach Sims and his staff were kept busy with recruiting during August.

The Leopards' courtship of James Sanders took an intriguing turn, as the big man switched out several of the programs on his Top Five list. We're still at the top, and Marist continues to be on his radar, despite the fact they haven't offered him a scholarship. Fordham, Siena, and Sacred Heart are now on James's list, and he has offers in hand from the first two. Siena, with its 64 prestige (to our 27) has me a bit worried. Their coaching staff aren't very good recruiters, but we're taking no chances. Coach Sims will visit James again.

Flattered by our offer, John Spitzer placed us first on his revised list. Rider, who also offered him a scholarship, is right behind us. Again, we're competing with a more highly regarded program; Rider's prestige is 49. We're still his top choice, however, and even though Rider is located in John's home state of New Jersey, our campus is actually closer to his home. Again, we're sending Coach Sims in to try to close the deal. Rider head coach Clarence Bigley is also a skilled recruiter. Can we hold him off?

We appear to be the only team pursuing Venceslás Castillo right now. We're taking no chances here. Besides, Coach Sims wouldn't mind a trip to the beautiful city of Alcázar de San Juan.

After taking another look at the post players on our list, I decided to gamble with an offer to Arlen Brown.


This long, lean big man from New York is a productive scorer, with elite potential as an inside presence. He's also an active, disruptive defensive player. Arlen holds two scholarship offers already. Can we sway him with an offer of our own? We're spending almost all our remaining budget to send Coach Sims up to Staten Island to give it a shot.

October 1, 2011

I had forgotten how exciting the recruiting "minigame" in FBCB could be!

We're still on the pole in the race to land James Sanders. Fordham (34 prestige) and Marist (37 prestige) are still in contention, and James has offers from all three schools in hand.

Who is Coach Sims up against here? Fordham relies on a talented assistant, Chris Sellers, to lead their recruiting team. How about Marist? The Red Foxes' head coach, Gus Barros, has ZERO points in recruiting (!!). I'm envisioning Coach Barros saying things like this:

"I recently learned that Division I college basketball teams offer scholarships to players. I wonder if offering a scholarship to a player makes it more likely he'll decide to come to Marist?"

Coach Gus does have an assistant who understands the process. Rudy Kirkland isn't as highly rated a recruiter as Graham is, but he's no pushover.

Both Coach Sims and assistant Coach Manion will visit James this month. Let's lock this big man down.

While I'm feeling pretty good about our chances with Sanders, I'm starting to worry about John Spitzer. John has narrowed his choices to two: Rider and Lafayette...and now we're his second choice. Should I concede the battle to Clarence Bigley and the Broncs? I'm not impressed with the other point guards we've evaluated. None of them have the defensive chops I'm looking for, or the potential to acquire them.

Faint heart never won fair lady. Nor did it win talented point guard. I'm pulling out all the stops here. Both Coach Sims and Coach Manion will visit John and his family this month. I'm adding another PG or two to my call list, just in case we need a Plan B.

Our overtures to Arlen Brown were well-received. He still names Wagner as his top choice, but we're now right behind them. He's interested in Providence, too, but the Friars haven't offered him.

Now we can invite Arlen to campus, and we're doing so. We're also sending Coach Sims and Coach Manion to visit him.

Good King Venceslás apparently remains a secret to every Division I program besides ours. We don't have enough money left over to send a coach to Spain this month. If we can get a commitment from at least one of the other players in October, we'll have money in our budget to spend on our pursuit of Castillo.

Time to press "Sim Month." Wish us luck!

buena suerte!

November 1, 2011

The season is now right around the corner, so there's much more to do this month.

I let the computer make our schedule, and it's still not complete; we have openings for three road games. I think I'll take over the process and see if I can fill those slots in our schedule.

I learned that three of our players--Louis Hewett, Bastian Hirt, and Willard Davis--are willing to redshirt this season. I don't see any reason to have Hewett sit out a year. A freshman center, Willard doesn't have a great deal of unrealized potential in any aspect of his game. We don't need three big men in one graduating class, so we'll let Hewett suit up this season.

Hirt is our walk-on forward from Germany. He's already decent in both post and perimeter defense, and he has the potential to be a lockdown defender on the perimeter. I have a hunch Bastian might develop into a useful rotation option, especially with three years to develop rather than two. I decide to redshirt him.

I mentioned Davis in an earlier post. He's a Red player now, which is the lowest category in the color-block scale FBCB uses. In other words, he's a "warm body." However, he has some growth potential; he could develop into an Orange guy, good enough to start for a low prestige team or contribute off the bench for a mid-major. That evaluation matches what I see on his player profile. Willard appears to have decent potential to improve his jumper and his perimeter defense. Davis will redshirt this year and return with three years of eligibility left.

It's also time to begin training camp, when our players will be given an opportunity to develop their skills in anticipation of the season.

For those of you who aren't familiar with FBCB: each player has 30 training points, which I can allocate to seven different training categories. Six relate directly to their game:
Inside Play: inside scoring, rebounding
Shooting: jump shot, free throw shooting, three point-shooting
Handling: handling, passing
Post Defense: post defense, shot blocking
Perimeter Defense: perimeter defense, stealing
Conditioning: stamina, strength, quickness, jumping

Players can also be assigned to concentrate on Academics, making it less likely they'll be suspended for poor academic performance.

I can also have the computer plan their training. I start by seeing what the computer comes up with. I'm generally pleased with the results; the computer assigns tasks to players that correspond with their positions and abilities. I tweak a few things because I want to shape some of our players in slightly different ways. For example, I'd like to shift Bastian Hirt to the wing, so I give him more training in Perimeter Defense and Shooting, hoping to unlock more of his potential. I adjust Dana Broughton's training to emphasize the same qualities, because he's got so much upside. Three of our starters--Stephen Diaz, Stephen Thames, and Billy Weiler--all need significant amounts of extra attention to Academics.

Finally, it's time to check out the monthly recruiting update...

First, some good news. James Sanders has committed to us!

I won't know for sure until I see how successful the other teams in the Patriot League are at recruiting, but James seems to be a good signing for a team at our level. He's ranked #45 among all the centers in this recruiting class, and we rate him as a potential Green player by the time he's finished. Green players are considered mid-major All-Conference candidates, and possible starters at big programs. If James turns out to be that good, he'll be a star at Lafayette. (Incidentally, DeWitt Leiva is a Green guy now.)

Now, the bad news. We lose out on John Spitzer and Arlen Brown, who choose Rider and Wagner respectively. Brown, who attends Susan E. Wagner High School, seems to have a strange affinity for a certain name.

We're still waiting for Venceslás Castillo to make his decision. We're still the only school recruiting him, and the only one he's expressed interest in playing for. I wonder if international players take longer to commit.

This month's events leave us with two scholarships available. After having lost out on Spitzer and Brown, I begin to wonder if I'm aiming too high when I pursue three-star players, so I take a deeper dive into the recruiting screen.

It seems that FBCB divides the pool of recruits into categories based on their national rankings:

Five stars: players 1-25
Four stars: players 26-99
Three stars: players 100-491
Two stars: players 492-751
One star: players 752-2082

There's a significant difference between the players at the top of the three-star tier and those at the bottom. Not surprisingly, it seems that many of the high three-star players are signing with major programs. James Sanders, who lands high in the middle third of the three-star range, is indeed quite a prize for us. The players ranked closest to him have chosen Gonzaga, Iona, and Penn State.

Guys like John Spitzer, who's right in the middle of the three-star group, seem to pick mid-majors; that's exactly what John has done. Arlen Brown, not much farther down the list, has also picked a less prestigious program than most of the most similarly-ranked players. Going 1-for-3 with these three recruits, therefore, seems like a fairly reasonable outcome.

Venceslás Castillo is a low two-star recruit. Players like Castillo are signing with programs like ours, or even smaller. So, unless the recruitment of international players works a lot differently, we ought to have a good shot at signing him. Coach Sims will travel back to Spain to visit him and his family this month.

I have eight free spots on my call list now, so I'm going to investigate big men and point guards ranked in the 300-600 range this month. Are there any hidden gems to be found?

It looks like there just might be, in the form of Hubert Song...

Goodness...if that rating is accurate, then Hubert Song is as quick as any college basketball player can be! He's also apparently very good at point guard things like dribbling, passing, shooting from long range, and defending on the perimeter. I know our scouting ability is only mediocre, but we rate Hubert as a future Blue player...an All-American candidate.

Hubert currently has no scholarship offers. That's about to change. We are also inviting him to campus, and he'll get a visit from Coach Sims, too.

Is a 6'7", 249-pound player ever truly a small forward? We don't think so, and that's why we're adding Edgar Pratt to our call list. His high school stats lead us to believe he could be a decent fit for us. I nearly offer Edgar a scholarship, sight unseen, before I take a deep breath and remember it's still fairly early in the recruiting window.

You know it's going to be a good season when you're wished good luck in Spanish by a Dane. :)

December 1, 2011

I'm still thinking about how I'd like to report my game results, at least while I'm still mainly coaching players I didn't recruit myself. I think I'm going to keep ti simple, short, and sweet for now.

November 14, 2011
St. Peter's 70, Lafayette 61
Graham Sims's coaching debut doesn't go as planned, as the visitors from Jersey City hand the Leopards a loss. Robert Castleman leads the home team with 16 points, and reserve Clark Nolan goes 5-7 from the floor and adds 11. DeWitt Leiva makes only one shot and fouls out, but he grabs 11 rebounds.

November 16, 2011
Lafayette 77, Loyola-Maryland 44
A much better peformance. We lead 44-15 at the half and never look back. The Leopards attempt 50 (!!) free throws, sinking 35 of them. Stephen Thames (17 points) and Stephen Diaz (15) are the leading scorers. DeWitt Leiva pulls in 11 rebounds again.
Record: 1-1.

November 19, 2011
Lafayette 57, Eastern Washington 55
Stephen Diaz scores only 8 points, but two of them come with 33 seconds left. A crucial defensive stop on the Eagles' final possession lets us return home from our cross-country trip with a W. DeWitt Leiva (20 points, 13 rebounds) has his first dominant game for us.
Record: 2-1.

November 22, 2011
Lafayette 70, Monmouth 62
We treat the home crowd to a win that's more comfortable than the score might indicate. All five starters score in double figures. Seniors DeWitt Leiva (18 points, 12 rebounds) and Robert Castleman (14 points, 12 rebounds) record our first double-doubles of the season.
Record: 3-1.

November 25, 2011
Lafayette 59, Appalachian State 55
Coach Sims' Leopards make it four wins in a row, edging a close one against the Mountaineers. Robert Castleman tallies 13 points, and Stephen Diaz adds 12. It's an unaesthetically pleasing victory, but a victory nonetheless.
Record: 4-1.


Recruiting Update
There's very little news on this front. Neither Venceslás Castillo nor Hubert Song are ready to commit, although neither hold a scholarship offer from any other school. Song is now expressing interests in bigger programs like Tennessee and Notre Dame, but until one of them reciprocates, I won't worry much. Castillo still hasn't added any other programs to his list.

We like what we see in Edgar Pratt, but before we can recruit him, we learn he's given a commitment to Yale. We shift our attention to Earl Greene, a 6'10" post player from Maryland who has received no offers yet. Earl's interest in our program is Average, so if our evaluation of his skills is positive, we might be able to convince him to sign with us.

I'm tempted to spend nearly all our monthly budget to bring Castillo to campus. Perhaps that would be what it takes to land him...but that would leave very little money to spend wooing Song.

Perhaps it's not the right move, but I decide to have Coach Sims and Coach Manion pay a call to the Song family again this month. That leaves enough money for Coach Sims to fly out to Spain again.

For those European players, I always just toss them a scholarship first so we end up on their interest radar because I can always pull it later if they're a dud, so that I can get the edge on them before someone else can.

That's good advice...thank you! That's what I've done with Castillo. We're still the only program who's shown any interest in him at all, and we're the only program he says he's interested in. Given those things, I'm a little surprised he hasn't accepted our offer yet.

Thanks for stopping by!

For a smaller school, you want to go in on the international players early - before the higher prestige schools start sniffing around them as fallback options

I thought I'd acted quickly enough with Venceslás Castillo, whom I offered a scholarship in August. Because I have four open scholarships and a monthly budget of less than $12,000, I've decided against spending $10,000 to bring Castillo to campus, because we're the only school who has offered him and the only one on his interest list. Maybe that's still not quite fast enough.

By now, I was hoping to have at least two other commitments, so I could shift more of my budget to the courtship of Castillo. So far, we've still only managed to sign James Sanders.

Thanks for stopping by, Izulde, and thanks for the tip. :)

December 2, 2011
Lafayette 46, Albany 34
Nobody seems to want to score the basketball tonight, as the teams combine to shoot 22-75 from the floor. Only one player scores in double figures; reserve James Burford leads us with eight points. When this many shots are missed, there are plenty of rebounds to be had. DeWitt Leiva pulls in 16 of them.
Record: 5-1.

December 4, 2011
Vermont 71, Lafayette 44
We play badly in the first half and worse in the second. We make 17 of our 19 free throws. That's the highlight of the first leg of our trip to New England. When you have more turnovers than made baskets in a game, it's going to turn out badly.
Record: 5-2.

December 8, 2011
Lafayette 69, Boston University 48
Two solid halves of basketball result in a big win. We hold the Terriers to 36% shooting and dominate the boards for a +16 rebound advantage. Billy Weiler (12 points) plays his first really good game for us, while Robert Castleman posts a season-high 21 points.
Record: 6-2.

December 10, 2011
Niagara 71, Lafayette 49
Niagara enters this game with a 7-2 record, so I figure they'll be good. They are, and they roll to an easy victory. Two of our starters, DeWitt Leiva and Billy Weiler, fail to score; Leiva fouls out after playing only 17 minutes. One bright spot: Dana Broughton drills three of five from behind the arc and scores 12 points. Consistent Robert Castleman finishes with 14. Clark Nolan injures his wrist, and he'll be less than 100% for about a week.
Record: 6-3.

December 14, 2011
Lafayette 75, Chicago State 50
We treat a festive crowd at the Kirby Sports Center to a decisive victory over the visitors from the Windy City. A dominant Robert Castleman pours in 30 points, while Billy Weiler bounces back with 14 and 5 assists. Louis Hewett scores his first basket of the season to finish off a very satisfying game.
Record: 7-3.

December 17, 2011
Massachusetts 76, Lafayette 56
The Minutemen, led by their outstanding point guard Bert Wahl, bring us back to earth with a bang. Wahl scores his average--19 points--and dishes out 9 assists. DeWitt Leiva, who's not much of a scorer, doesn't miss a shot all day and finishes with 12 points, adding 10 boards to complete another double-double. Joseph Burford plays 28 minutes when Billy Weiler runs into foul trouble and plays well, with 5 assists.
Record: 7-4.

December 22, 2011
Lafayette 67, Brown 45
For a half, the Ivy League visitors make a game of it; it's 26-25 at intermission, and we're playing sloppily. We restore regular service--and then some--in the second half. Again, the star is Robert Castleman, with 18 points and 13 rebounds. DeWitt Leiva decides it's fun to score points, and adds 13, while Stephen Diaz pops in 12.
Record: 8-4.

December 24, 2011
George Mason 76, Lafayette 72
We almost receive an early Christmas gift, as we lead a 9-2 George Mason team at halftime and nearly pull off the upset. The Patriots defend Robert Castleman well and hold him to 8 points, but DeWitt Leiva nets 19 to lead four Leopards in double figures (Stephen Thames 14, Stephen Diaz 11, Billy Weiler 10).
Record: 8-5.

December 26, 2011
Lafayette 78, Pennsylvania 56
The game's algorithm must not be terribly festive, because it schedules us to play on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. Santa brings us a late present, with help from Billy Weiler (19 points, 11-13 from the line), Stephen Thames (16, 4-5 from beyond the arc), and Robert Castleman (11).
Record: 9-5.


Our non-conference schedule has come to an end, so let's look at how the Patriot League teams have fared so far:
I'd say we're doing well, wouldn't you? We're hanging with the more prestigious teams in the conference.

I'll be back with recruiting news next time.

December 31, 2011

Recruiting Update

Coach Sims can breathe more easily now, because Venceslás Castillo and Hubert Song have committed to Lafayette!

Castillo is ranked #137 among small forwards in his class, and our scouts rate his potential at Green. We think he'll develop into an outstanding shooter and a tough defensive player. He is also a very good student who should have no problem remaining academically eligible.

We're very excited about Song, too. Our second three-star signing, Hubert is exceptionally quick and has the potential to be a lockdown defender. His potential ability is Blue, and if he approaches that level of accomplishment, he'll be a star.

I'd like us to sign one more big man. Earl Greene still doesn't express more than Average interest in playing for us, so we're going to cast our net a bit wider this month and evaluate a new batch of centers and power forwards.

January 4, 2012
Navy 58, Lafayette 54
Not the way we want our Patriot League season to begin. We shoot 32% for the game, including a woeful 2-16 from three-point range. The Patriot League's leading scorer, Steven Ison, torches us for 25 points. Our high scorers are Robert Castleman and Joseph Burford, with 11 each. DeWitt Leiva fouls out with 4 points, and Stephen Diaz leaves the game early with an injury. Clark Nolan comes off the bench to pull in 10 rebounds. A lot goes wrong, and we nearly win anyway.
Record: 9-6 (0-1 in conference play).

January 7, 2012
Army 58, Lafayette 57
Another service academy hands us a narrow loss at home. Jarred Olivo sinks two free throws with five seconds left to play, undoing another yeoman effort from Robert Castleman (21 points, 6 rebounds). A courageous Stephen Diaz wraps up his wrist and plays 30 minutes. We can't stay out of foul trouble, and the Black Knights make us pay (20-25 from the line).
Record: 9-7 (0-2).

January 10, 2012
Lehigh 75, Lafayette 70
Another tough loss, this time away to our traditional rival. We play much better, placing five men in double figures, led by Robert Castleman's 16. Joseph Burford (11 points in 20 minutes, 3-3 from 3) again provides us with production from the bench. Is our conference season slipping away from us already?
Record: 9-8 (0-3).

January 14, 2012
Lafayette 67, Holy Cross 64
I would not have picked a road game at Holy Cross to be the one to break our losing streak. DeWitt Leiva plays like a grown man, netting 11 points and pounding the boards for 15 rebounds. Another balanced scoring attack finds five Leopards with between 10 and 12 points; Dana Broughton, with 10 in 13 minutes, stands out. We make 20 of our 25 free throws, with Stephen Thames, an 84% shooter, going 8-9.
Record: 10-8 (1-3).

January 17, 2012
Lafayette 81,Yale 72
We interrupt our conference schedule with a victory against an Ivy League foe. Robert Castleman (17 points, 8 rebounds) is named Player of the Game, but a good argument can be made for Stephen Diaz (19 points) or Joseph Burford (14 points in 20 minutes).
Record: 11-8 (1-3).

January 21, 2012
Lafayette 55, Colgate 43
If you appreciate offense, this is not the game you want to watch. Colgate's leading scorer, Douglas Cleveland, scores 12 points, but he misses all six of his three-point attempts. Our scoring leader, DeWitt Leiva, scored his dozen in a much more efficient manner, and pulls in 22 rebounds. That's the Patriot League single game record, and I wonder how it ranks nationwide.
Record: 12-8 (2-3).

January 25, 2012
American 57, Lafayette 50
The Eagles come into this game with a 5-0 record in conference play, and most of their games haven't been close. Keeping it close isn't a victory, but it doesn't feel terrible, either. We play good defense, and so do they. No Leopard scores in double figures, and their high scorer only manages 11.
Record: 12-9 (2-4).

January 28, 2012
Lafayette 55, Bucknell 40
We need a win, and another stout defensive effort delivers one. Meanwhile, the Bison can't handle Robert Castleman, who sinks 9 of 12 shots and finishes with 20 points. Stephen Thames provides quality scoring help with 14.
Record: 13-9 (3-4).

February 1, 2012

Recruiting Update
We barely get to know Earl Greene before he signs with Towson. I'm glad we didn't invest any more time or money in pursuing him.

The most promising player left on our call list is probably Rhett King, a center from Saratoga Springs, NY. He's a 6'9" bruiser, in the mold of Robert Castleman...who's playing like a boss for us.
I'm encouraged by the fact Rhett has us in his top three, even though we've just begun recruiting him. I decide to go all in, offering him a scholarship, inviting him to campus, and sending Coaches Sims and Manion to visit him.

In other news, we learn that walk-on Kyle Cox will be academically ineligible for the remainder of the season. I'm not terribly surprised, because Kyle is the least talented student on our roster. His absence won't affect us much on the court; he's seen one minute of action, although he did sink two free throws.

I wanted to step out of character for a moment here. I'd forgotten what a delightful game Fast Break College Basketball is. I think it's been a decade since it was updated, and it's not flashy, but it's a lot of fun to play. FBCB is not so complicated that I don't have the mental energy to play it after a day at work. It's not so time-consuming that it will take me months in real time to play a season in-game, which makes it perfect for a story I plan on following for decades.

I'm having a great time, and I'm looking forward to discovering how Coach Sims does as he pursues his dreams.

Let's hope so!

Glad you are enjoying the run so far =)

So far, so good! I've found I enjoy writing stories that move at a fairly rapid pace. Some dynasty writers enjoy analyzing single games in detail; I don't think that's really my style. I might take that approach with a national championship game, but if I'm going to tell the story of a coach's entire career without losing interest myself, I need to move it along.

And, like I said above, FBCB lends itself well to telling that kind of story. Thanks for following along!

February 1, 2012
Lafayette 66, Army 47
A DeWitt Leiva double double (12 points, 11 rebounds) helps us avenge our earlier loss to the Black Knights. Not usually a good passing team, we average fewer than ten assists per game, but this time 20 of our 25 baskets are assisted. Bily Weiler hands out six dimes, and James Burford–playing lots of minutes after Stephen Thames has to leave the game with a migraine–dishes out five more. We’re back to .500 in Patriot League play.
Record: 14-9 (4-4).

February 4, 2012
Navy 57, Lafayette 45
Once again, we have no answer for Steven Ison. He drops 21 on us, right on his season average, and the trip home from Annapolis seems longer than it is. Stephen Diaz and Robert Castleman share our scoring honors with 10 points apiece. To make matters worse, Clark Nolan hurts his back. He’ll probably be out of action for a week or so.
Record: 14-10 (4-5).

February 8, 2012
Lafayette 64, Holy Cross 51
The Leopards battle back from a 30-22 halftime deficit, delighting a big, noisy home crowd. This time, we do a wonderful job defending a high-scoring guard, forcing Paul Van Winkle to misfire on 13 of his 14 shot attempts. Meanwhile, Stephen Diaz pours in 19, and DeWitt Leiva grabs 16 rebounds. Stephen Thames returns to action and scores 9 points, all coming from the free throw line.
Record: 15-10 (5-5).

February 11, 2012
Lafayette 61, Lehigh 40
We celebrate Senior Day with a satisfying victory. Each senior acquits himself well. Robert Castleman (16 points) regains his scoring touch. DeWitt Leiva nearly posts a double-double, finishing with 9 points and 9 rebounds and adding 4 assists for good measure. Stephen Diaz struggles with foul trouble, but finishes with 8 points in 17 minutes. That opens the door for Joseph Burford to play 25 minutes, filling the scoresheet nicely.
Record: 16-10 (6-5).

February 18, 2012
Colgate 58, Lafayette 55
We miss our chance to guarantee at least a .500 conference record with five minutes of sloppy play at the end of the game. In doing so, we waste Billy Weiler’s best game of the season; he played 32 minutes, scored 14 points, and didn’t turn the ball over once. Stephen Diaz (13) and Robert Castleman (10) join Billy in double figures.
Record: 16-11 (6-6).

February 21, 2012
American 95, Lafayette 67
The Eagles are the class of the Patriot League. Their 12-1 record is at least five games better than anyone else in the league. Tonight, they show us why that’s the case. Kirill Korolev and Victor Reed combine for 51 points; sixth man Reed gets his in only 18 minutes. To make matters worse, DeWitt Leiva leaves the game with an injury that looks pretty bad. Robert Castleman provides our only good news with 21 points.
Record: 16-12 (6-7).

February 25, 2012
Lafayette 62, Bucknell 45
We enter the last game of the regular season needing a win to meet the AD’s challenge of a .500 record in conference competition. We’ll have to do that without the services of DeWitt Leiva, whose sprained wrist is far too badly injured to allow him to play. The Leopards step up and defeat the Bison behind 14 points and 12 rebounds from Robert Castleman. Stephen Diaz and Stephen Thames add 12 more apiece.
Record: 17-12 (7-7).

February 29, 2012
Patriot League Tournament, First Round
(5) Army 87, (4) Lafayette 78 (OT)
Besides American, who is a cut above the rest, the team I’d most hate to face in the Patriot League tournament is Army. Still, it’s hard to beat a team three times in a season, and we come close to denying the pesky Black Knights that achievement. We fall behind 36-24 in the first half and battle back gamely, and we send the game into overtime with a clutch basket from Stephen Thames. The Black Knights regain control in the extra session and and eliminate us from the conference tourney. James Gonzales (26 points) and Jarred Olivo (23) are the big stars for the winners, while Robert Castleman (17 points), Thames (16), and Billy Weiler (14) earn high marks for their performance in a losing effort. I can't help thinking we would have won if DeWitt Leiva had been able to play. This one hurts.
Record: 17-13.

I wonder if our record will be good enough to earn us a spot in one of the minor national tournaments? We'll find out soon.

March 1, 2012

Recruiting Update
After spending what seemed like forever persuading our recruits to commit to our program, it's wonderful to take care of business with Rhett King so quickly. The big man from upstate New York completes our four-man recruiting class. Rhett also received a late offer from Maine, but accepted ours instead.

We like King's potential as an inside scorer, and he looks like he'll be able to protect the rim. He's strong, and his fitness levels are very good for a freshman. Rhett is a one-star prospect; he isn't as highly touted as James Sanders, but we don't consider him an afterthought, either. We simply found each other later in the recruiting process. Both Rhett and James have Green potential.

March 11, 2012
Coach Sims receives an email with an invitation to the CIT tournament. The Leopards are seeded #16...which makes us the very last team to qualify for a national tournament! Nonetheless, it's an honor to participate in postseason play, and it will give our four seniors a chance to suit up at least one more time. We'll face the #1 seed, Utah Valley. The Wolverines finished the season at 17-16, going 9-3 in the Great West Conference and winning the conference tournament. Because the Great West is a new conference, its champion doesn't receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. That's why we'll meet the Wolverines in the CIT.

March 13, 2012
CIT Tournament, First Round
(16) Lafayette 57, (1) Utah Valley 55
DeWitt Leiva admits his wrist still hurts as he's warming up today, but he insists he can play. He takes only four shots, but one of them comes after he rebounds a missed jumper by Billy Weiler and scores with eight seconds left in the game. The senior captain's basket gives Cinderella a chance to dance one more time! Weiler leads the Leopards with 14 points. Robert Castleman and Stephen Diaz pitch in 10 apiece. Leiva's clutch rebound was one of 13 he claims today.
Record: 18-13.

March 19, 2012
CIT Tournament, Second Round
(9) UC Santa Barbara 63, (16) Lafayette 55
We lead a hard-fought game by a basket at halftime, but credit goes to the Gauchos for their impressive performance in the second half. Senior Josue Hawkins puts his team on his back, scoring 13 of his 19 points after halftime. Stephen Diaz leads us in scoring with 14 points in his final collegiate game. Robert Castleman and DeWitt Leiva add 11 in their curtain calls. Our fourth senior, Joseph Burford, plays his sixth man role with aplomb: 8 points, 3 assists, and a steal.
Record: 18-14.

March 27, 2012
We can feel some consolation in the fact that UC Santa Barbara goes on to win the CIT tournament. They defeat the other Cinderella team, #15 seed College of Charleston, in the final.

March 30, 2012
None of the four #1 seeds in the NCAA tournament make it as far as their regional finals. Villanova, Oklahoma State, and Florida lose in the Sweet Sixteen, while Tennessee doesn't even get that far. Instead, both national semifinals match a #3 seed against a #5. Brigham Young will play Arizona, while Illinois takes on Utah State.

April 1, 2012
Arizona (34-5) will face Utah State (36-2) in the national championship game. Both earn their spot in the final with comfortable victories; Arizona beats BYU, 58-46, in a defensive battle, while Utah State outguns Illinois in an 80-71 shootout.

April 2, 2012
The Arizona Wildcats are crowned national champions with a 68-63 victory over Utah State. Senior center Joaquin Koon is named Player of the Game for his 15-point, 6-rebound performance.

Here are the final standings for the Patriot League, including tournament play:
We were one of three teams in the league with a winning record, behind the two most prestigious programs. I'm not disappointed with that result at all.

The Patriot League awards are announced today:

I'm delighted to see DeWitt Leiva's contributions honored with a place on the first team. He's the conference's leading rebounder by a fairly wide margin and the best passing big man in the league.

On the other hand, I think Robert Castleman deserves a better fate. I have nothing against Michale Eichelberger, who played a key role on an American team that dominated the league. But RC was every bit as important to us, and was more productive across the board. I'm biased, but I'd have Eichelberger and Castleman change places.

Kirill Kovalev, our Conference Player of the Year, was a third team All-American selection too.

Not many freshmen made big impacts on the Patriot League this year, and it's nice to see Clark Nolan and Dana Broughton earn some postseason honors. Both players stepped up for us on several occasions.

Now it's time to end the season, after we take a dive into some stats.

April 3, 2012

Here's a look at Lafayette's stats for the 2011/12 season. Most of the numbers speak for themselves, so I'll step back and let them do the talking.




Before I close the book on Graham Sims' first season at Lafayette, I'll post a tribute to each of the team's seniors. I only coached them for a year, but I honestly grew attached to all of them. :)

2011/12 Senior Tribute

JOSEPH BURFORD

At the beginning of the season, I believed Joseph would be a rotation player for us, possibly our seventh man. As the season progressed I came to rely more and more on him, and by season's end, the athletic Warminster, PA native was playing starter's minutes.

Joseph contributed as a secondary scorer off the bench, and was second on the team in assists. The wide range of his contributions are best measured with the plus/minus statistic. Joseph was third overall in this category, and when his output is weighted for playing time, his 4.9 figure was the best on the team.

Winning teams always have a player like Joseph Burford on their roster.
Thanks for the memories, Joseph.

2011/12 Senior Tribute

STEPHEN DIAZ

Ever reliable, Stephen started every game for us, played the second-most minutes, and was third on the team in scoring and rebounding. His athleticism enabled him to defend quick and powerful wing players equally well, and while he was a streaky shooter, when he was on, he was very difficult to guard.

Stephen's defining moments were a game-winning basket at Eastern Washington and the courage he demonstrated by playing through a painful wrist injury against Army in early January.


Thanks for the memories, Stephen.

2011/12 Senior Tribute

ROBERT CASTLEMAN

Right away, I identified Robert as the Leopards' best offensive option, selecting him as the team's key offensive player. A likeable big man from Maine, Robert played the role in which he was cast perfectly.

He was the only player on the team to average in double figures as a scorer, and finished seventh in the Patriot League. He was also the league's seventh-leading rebounder.

Robert made second team All-Conference, but as I've said, I think he deserved a spot on the first team. His big shoes won't be easily filled.


Thanks for the memories, Robert.

2011/12 Senior Tribute

DeWITT LEIVA

There was nothing fancy about DeWitt's game. While he could score if he needed to and demonstrated a deft touch at the free throw line, he took even more pride in his ability to keep his opponents from scoring. It's difficult to remember a big man who had a big game against us, and DeWitt was the reason why. His selection to the first team All-Conference squad was richly deserved.

His other superpower was rebounding. DeWitt led the Patriot League with just under 10 boards per game, and his 22 rebounds against Colgate in January was the most by a Division I player this year.

A native of State College, PA, DeWitt was also a very good tight end in high school and might have walked on to his beloved Nittany Lions football team. We're glad DeWitt picked basketball and Lafayette.

Thanks for the memories, DeWitt.

Love the senior tributes, a nice touch.

Thanks, Young Drachma. I came up with the idea when I was thinking about how much the four seniors contributed to the Leopards' success this season. Although I only had them in the game for one year, I grew attached to them, and thought they deserved a fond retrospective. I'm going to make the Senior Tributes a regular feature, and I think they'll be even more fun and meaningful once I'm writing about players I recruited and coached throughout their careers.

May 1, 2012

The recruiting rankings come out today, and Lafayette's class is ranked #138 in the nation. How do we compare to the rest of the Patriot League?

Holy Cross's prestige is considerably higher than ours, so I'm not surprised their class is considered the best. I'm pleased with how our class shaped up.

I'm offered the head coaching position at Coppin State. Since I'm only considering offers from Pennsylvania schools and Coppin State is in Baltimore, I'm not interested.

All three of Coach Sims's assistants will return for the 2012/13 season. None of them have improved; their attributes are exactly the same as they were this time last year. Coach Sims hasn't improved, either.

How quickly will a young coach improve in FBCB? I've never played a long enough career to see how that dynamic works. If Graham isn't going to develop much more, I may have to use the editor to take matters into my own hands. I'd like to see him have a chance to move up to a more prestigious program at some point, with the attributes to succeed there.

We don't have any scholarships available for players who are transferring, and none of our players have decided to leave.

With American so dominant what's realistic to expect from them? Will they fall back into the pack, or do you have to try to catch them?

July 1, 2012

Let's meet your 2012/13 Lafayette Leopards!


Coach Sims might have three first year players in his starting lineup this year.

The only starter from last year's team who will almost certainly make this year's starting five is guard Billy Weiler. He's the team's best ballhandler and a decent secondary scorer. Billy will have to be carried on defense, however, and he'll probably have to come out of games when stopping the other team becomes a priority.

Stephen Thames and Hubert Song will both play a lot. Thames, a junior who averaged nine points a game last year, is a fairly good spot-up shooter with the athletic ability to score at the rim. Freshman Song's ability to run the point or play the two opens up the possibility of using a three-man rotation at the guard spots. Hubert can shoot the deep ball, and he should be fairly confident with the reins of the offense in his hand.

Another first year, Venceslás Castillo, will be given the first opportunity to start at small forward. The Good King has a well-rounded offensive game, hits the boards hard for a wing, and demonstrates sound awareness of defensive principles.

Clark Nolan demonstrated enough talent in a reserve role last year to earn the chance to start as a sophomore. However, the only flaw in his game is one with which Coach Sims has little patience: a lack of attention to defense.

Another new recruit, James Sanders, will start at center. This large man won't be moved if he establishes a position on the low block, where he'll display a variety of scoring moves. He's a work in progress, but his potential is as high as anyone on the roster. James likes the nickname his teammates gave him: Big Colonel.

The third guard will be the first man off Coach Sims' bench. Victor Gentry will also see action in the backcourt, and Willard Davis, returning from his redshirt year with more skill and stamina, could also get some run.

Dana Broughton has potential as a provider of instant offense on the wing, and walk-on Bastian Hirt could be called upon as a frontcourt defensive specialist.

Donnie Pope and freshman Rhett King will compete for playing time as a reserve big man. There's a possibility King will redshirt this year.

August 1, 2012

This recruiting season should be a bit less hectic than last year's, since we have half as many scholarships to fill.

The backcourt will be our recruiting focus this time around. We need two guards, and I'd love to find a classic point guard and a versatile player who can fill multiple roles.

I enjoy looking beyond the star ratings and national rankings to find players with the skills I want as hallmarks of our team's playing style. I believe I might have found that kind of player in Armando Brown.
This Harlem product is listed as a shooting guard, but our staff believe he will develop the ballhandling and passing skills necessary to run a team's offense. He's got very good potential as a perimeter defender, too. I also like his academic credentials. We're the only team on Armando's radar right now, and we'd like to keep it that way. I think he's our kind of player.

We also like Dorsey Hicks, Delaware's Mr. Basketball.
Dorsey is a scoresheet filler, a player who can score, rebound, distribute the ball, and play sound defense. Signing him looks like it will be a tougher task, as we're competing with several comparable programs in the DMV area.

Our first "reach" recruit is Ned Doran.
Ned has been a three-level scorer at the high school level, able to fire away from long range and get to the rim and finish. This ability might be the factor that earns him a Top 200 national ranking. Ned ranks several more prestigious programs ahead of us, but we'll invest some recruiting capital in him and see what happens.

I decide to offer scholarships to Brown and Hicks. My instincts tell me Doran is setting his sights higher, and would prefer one of the bigger programs if they offer him. All three players will visit our campus. Coach Sims will visit all three players, and Coach Manion will join him on trips to meet with the Brown and Hicks families.

September 1, 2012

The recruiting plot thickens!

We're still in the driver's seat with Armando Brown. Coach Sims and Coach Manion will try to close the deal with another visit to his home this month. He hasn't received any other offers so far.

Dorsey Hicks is offered by Loyola-Maryland, his top choice. Our programs are nearly identical in prestige; we're at 28, they're at 27. Coach Sims is a better recruiter than Greyhounds head man Rodrick Higa, while their recruiting assistant is more talented than Coach Manion. If we keep working hard, can we snag Dorsey's commitment, or is it time to concede the field to the Greyhounds and look elsewhere?

Meanwhile, Ned Doran is offered by George Mason and Loyola-Maryland. Even so, he still lists St. John's and Lafayette, in that order, as his top choices.

St. John's head coach Joe Steele is acknowledged as the gold standard when it comes to recruiting, and his right hand man, Chris Petrie, isn't that far behind. There's no way Graham Sims will win a head-to-head recruiting battle with Joe Steele, so if the Red Storm decide they want Ned, he's theirs. But they haven't decided that yet.

After much thought, I decide to stand pat. There's plenty of money available to send both our coaches to visit all three players at their residences.

It’s tied to achievements (such as making the Big Dance, etc.). When your coaching level increases, so does that of your assistants. You’re in a low enough conference you should be able to build your coaching up

Sorry for the late reply, TheseBoots. I was writing a post when you commented, and I just saw you'd stopped in.

On paper, American doesn't look like they will be quite as good in 2012/13. Kirill Korolev, last season's Patriot League Player of the Year, passed up his last season of eligibility to turn pro. (In my game world, a player can declare for the draft after three years). Korolev was a third team All-American, and I'm not sorry to see him go.

American lost two other All-Conference players, Michale Eichelberger and Joseph Coston, to graduation. They bring back PG Patrick Robinson, the fourth Eagle to make the first team. Still, losing three players as good as Korolev, Eichelberger, and Coston should bring the Eagles back down to earth a bit. Their roster is still strong, and they'll be picked to finish ahead of us based on the color ratings of our players.

They also lost their head coach, Trey Clayton. He was hired by Boston University to replace the retiring Curt Aycock. American's new man, Jimmy Reynolds, led Coppin State to a 23-10 record and an invitation to the Big Dance. You might remember that Coach Sims was approached for the Coppin State job and turned it down.

American's recruiting class was the lowest-ranked group in the Patriot League, with three one-star recruits. Rankings should, of course, be viewed with a critical eye; we'll see in four years what kinds of players they'll be. But, again, it looks like we narrowed the gap considerably this off-season.

I don't think American will walk the league this year. I expect Holy Cross to be very competitive. And what about our chances? DeWitt Leyva and Robert Castleman leave very big shoes for young players to fill. We might be a year away from a run at the title, unless the freshmen play like men in their first year on campus.

Thanks for commenting, TheseBoots.

Thanks, Izulde. I didn't figure a .500 record in a low-prestige conference would convince the game that Coach Sims was improving his skills. All his assistants are Level 0, which I didn't know was a thing.

October 1, 2012

Very little changed as a result of our recruiting efforts this month. We're in exactly the same positions with our top three targets as we were on September 1.

Armando Brown is still a secret recruit whom no other program has discovered. Or, perhaps he's a recruit nobody else believes to be worth recruiting. I remain convinced he's a good fit for the program Coach Sims is trying to build.

I also believe we have a shot at Dorsey Hicks. We're locked in a head-to-head battle with Loyola-Maryland, and while Dorsey still lists them as his first choice, I'm going to do what I can to prise him away.

We lose some ground with Ned Doran. I have a feeling St. John's is his dream school, and they offered him this month. We're now Ned's #3 choice, so it's probably time to divert those recruiting resources elsewhere.

Perhaps it's time to court a local kid from just up Highway 191 in Bangor, Leroy Bonin.
I mentally checked Leroy off my list early on, based on his struggles with ballhandling and passing. Now his potential as a lockdown defender and his projectable shooting ability have me intrigued.

I decide to invite Leroy to campus. He, Armando, and Dorsey will all receive visits from Coaches Sims and Manion this month. There's enough cash left to let Coach Sims pay one last call to Ned.

I'm hopeful for Hicks, he might just be the type to take a risk ... and hopefully Brown will be a sneaky good discovery!

I'm also glad that Venceslas will be getting a chance to impress this season. I'm just biased to the unknown European talent =) but he has a great name as well, well worth rooting for.

I've been increasing my knowledge via wikipedia, checking out the prototypical sizes and skillsets for the various positions. Good fun!

I hope you're right about both Brown and Hicks.

I'm a bit surprised Brown hasn't committed yet. As of last month, we were the only program recruiting him, and he's liked us from the beginning. I remain hopeful, however. Unless our scouting report is way, way off, Armando is the kind of player I want to coach, as I shape the character of the Lafayette basketball program.

My instincts are telling me Hicks might pick Loyola instead. That would be a shame, because I think he's a good fit for us, too. There are reasons why I recruited Dorsey before Leroy Bonin. Leroy's not a bad player, but there are things Dorsey does considerably better.

Good King Venceslás will be practicing with the starting five when workouts begin in October. I'm fond of recruiting European talent, too. However, they're expensive to recruit, so a program the size of Lafayette has to commit a sizeable portion of its monthly budget to a single player when we turn our attention overseas. It costs more money to evaluate a European player than it does to bring a kid from the eastern USA to campus for a visit...so we have to be careful about which international recruits we pursue. Venceslás was a high priority from the start, but we still couldn't afford to recruit him heavily until we'd lined up two other members of his class.

Perhaps I'll look overseas if things don't work out with Brown or Hicks.

I'm glad you're enjoying your research about basketball! There seems to be an increasing trend toward "positionless" basketball, involving players that don't fit the traditional archetypes associated with size and position. Nicola Jokić of the NBA's Denver Nuggets, who is 6'11", 285 pounds, averages over 10 assists per game as his team's primary playmaker. He's uniquely talented and versatile, but there are other players who do similar things at a less dominant level. The "positionless" trend is catching on at the NCAA level, too.

Thanks for stopping by again!

November 1, 2012

Good news first: combo guard Armando Brown commits to Lafayette today!

Armando won't dazzle the recruiting experts who rank each program's incoming class. He's ranked #1436 in the Class of '13, and he's barely among the top 300 players at his position nationwide. But if you've been reading for a while, you know we've liked him all along. We won't need Armando to step into the starting lineup as a freshman, not with Billy Weiler, Hubert Song, and Willard Davis all returning next year. Coach Sims can afford to be patient with Brown, letting him develop his ballhandling and passing abilities. He looks like he'll be ready to play our kind of defense as soon as he arrives. Armando is also a very good student. It's great to have you aboard, Mr. Brown.

Not-so-great news next: Dorsey Hicks continues to weigh his college decision, trying to decide whether to pick Loyola or Lafayette. If there were another player we liked nearly as much, I probably would have withdrawn Dorsey's offer and given it to the next man up. Right now, that man would be Leroy Bonin, who doesn't have any offers yet.

I think I'm going to court Hicks one more time. Meanwhile, I'll continue to invest in recruiting Bonin, and I've picked two more players from our contact list to visit: Lamar Pickens and James Robbins. I'll give you more information about them if they become high-priority recruits.

I won't be redshirting anyone this season. The only player willing to sit out a year is sophomore center Louis Hewett, who probably won't ever play very much for us. Our incoming big men, James Sanders and Rhett King, passed him on the depth chart from Day One, and his classmate, Clark Nolan, will start for us this year.

Training camps are about to begin, in anticipation of our season opener, at home against NJIT on November 18.

November 18, 2012
Lafayette 77, NJIT 64
Coach Sims begins his second season in Easton with a satisfying victory. The starting lineup includes only one player who started last season: point guard Billy Weiler. His new backcourt mate, Hubert Song, immediately endears himself to the Kirby Sports Center faithful with a cool 20 points on his debut. He lives up to his reputation as a three-point marksman, going 4-8 from beyond the arc. Hubert's classmates Venceslás Castillo (14 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists) and James Sanders (10 points, 9 rebounds) also look good, as does soph big man Clark Nolan (14 points, 9 rebounds). The Leopards demonstrate a much greater propensity to shoot threes; their 19 attempts are the most ever by a Graham Sims team. (We make 7 of them.)
Record: 1-0.

November 22, 2012
Lafayette 71, High Point 57
We open up a comfortable first-half lead and cruise to victory down in North Carolina. The Panthers apparently look at film of the NJIT game, because they clamp down hard on Hubert Song (7 points). However, they have much more trouble containing James Sanders (14) and Venceslás Castillo (13), the latter of whom has sunk 11 of his first 14 collegiate shot attempts. Senior captain Stephen Thames adapts well to his "offensive specialist" role off the bench with 11 points in 18 minutes.
Record: 2-0.

November 25, 2012
Lafayette 78, Rhode Island 75
The Rams have a rugged senior center, Steve Natale. He schools our young big, James Sanders, tonight, forcing him to foul out with only two points and one rebound to his credit. However, his teammates willingly take up the slack. Hubert Song bounces back with 16 points, leading a pack of Leopards in double figures: Venceslás Castillo 13, Billy Weiler 11, Stephen Thames 11 (in 14 minutes). And, with Sanders out of the lineup, Rhett King asserts himself with 11 points and 9 rebounds of his own. Rhett can stroke it from deep, and he does so tonight, making all three of his treys. We take the lead with nine minutes remaining and fight off a comeback attempt to win our third straight game.
Record: 3-0.

November 27, 2012
UMBC 85, Lafayette 57
The Retrievers outplay us in every phase of the game, and their margin of victory accurately reflects that fact. Venceslás Castillo leads us with 13 points, but also turns the ball over 7 times. The only other positive takeaway is another productive outing from Stephen Thames, with 11 points in 17 minutes. Let's just turn the page.
Record: 3-1.

December 1, 2012
Recruiting Update

One of these days, I'm going to start trusting my recruiting instincts. Today, I learn that Dorsey Hicks has committed to Loyola. Dorsey has always been clear about the fact we were his second choice, so it doesn't feel like we've been tricked. I wish him well, and hope he enjoys a long, successful career.

Until today, I thought I would offer the scholarship to Leroy Bonin, but now I've changed my mind. I'm violating my own "defense first" rule to make an offer to Alvaro Kinard, another guard from the Big Apple.
At first glance, I looked past this tall, rangy guard because the assistant responsible for scouting, Donn McClinton, has such negative things to say about his defense and shooting. But he averages 18 points per game on a decent shooting percentage, which makes me wonder if Coach McClinton is missing something here. Alvaro also looks like a more polished playmaker and ballhandler than Armando Brown is at this point in their careers.

Kinard, a three-star prospect, has an intriguing list of favorite schools. Besides us, there are three Power Five teams and an Ivy League program. He hadn't received an offer until today. Alvaro will visit the Lafayette campus this week, and Coaches Sims and Manion will pay him a call.

They'll also maintain their connections with Leroy Bonin and Lamar Pickens. Neither of these players are being recruited by anyone else right now.

December 3, 2012
LaSalle 66, Lafayette 64
This one hurts. Playing against an Atlantic 10 team on the road, we fall behind by 10 in the first half. We rally, and with three minutes left, it's tied, 58-58. The Explorers' class reveals itself down the stretch. A Hubert Song three at the buzzer makes the final score even more heartbreaking. Our first year trio of Song (12 points), James Sanders (11), and Venceslás Castillo (10) lead the scoring, while another frosh, reserve Rhett King, leads us with 9 rebounds.
Record: 3-2.


December 14, 2012
St. John's 78, Lafayette 72 (2 OT)
When John McGrath sinks two free throws to give St. John's a 50-43 lead with 4:03 remaining, I figure I'll be telling you about how we gave a Big East team a decent game, that the result indicates some progress for our program, etc. But the Red Storm don't manage to score again during regulation time, and a fairly routine baseline jumper by Stephen Thames ties the score at 50 with almost two minutes to play. A series of ugly possessions ensues. McGrath and Billy Weiler both have chances to play the hero in the game's final seconds, but neither can convert them.

Both teams score at will during the overtime period, and as it dwindles down, we're tied again, 67-67. McGrath fires a three-pointer from the right corner. No good. Rhett King rebounds the ball for us, and gets it ahead to Weiler. Weiler tries a 30-footer. No good. Let's play five more minutes.

St. John's pulls away during the second extra period, and that's that.

Weiler leads all scorers with 19 points. Hubert Song contributes 15, and Mr. Offense, Stephen Thames, pours in 14 in 17 minutes. Venceslás Castillo pulls in 10 rebounds.
Record: 3-3.


December 16, 2012
Lafayette 69, Rider 54
Two days after a tough loss in double overtime, the Leopards pounce back with a tidy road victory. Good King Venceslás Castillo, our leading scorer, drops in 17. Even more impressively, he's making 63% of his shots so far this year. We don't shoot well as a team, but we defend tenaciously, and Clark Nolan dominates the boards with 14 rebounds. Remember John Spitzer, whom we recruited last year? He's had a decent season for Rider, serving as their first guard off the bench. We hold him to only two points.
Record: 4-3.


December 18, 2012
Temple 72, Lafayette 70
I've given Coach Sims and the Leopards a much more demanding non-conference schedule this year, and we've managed to hang pretty tough. Today, we take a very good Temple team down to the wire. We have the ball with 55 seconds left, behind 71-69, and the Owls force us into a shot clock violation. It's that close.

Hubert Song is our high man with 12 points, but Stephen Thames is right behind him with 11, in only 17 minutes this time. However, Willard Davis provides even more instant offense. He needs only six minutes to score three baskets, one a three-ball, and knock down three foul shots for 11 points.

Temple starts three Green players and two Blue players. Our boys--two Yellows, two Oranges, and a Red--don't back down one bit.
Record: 4-4.


December 23, 2012
Dayton 64, Lafayette 43
The parade of tough opponents continues with a 9-1 Flyers team that probably should be nationally ranked. We're never really in this game. James Sanders and Hubert Song are our only double-figure scorers, with exactly 10 points apiece.

I move Stephen Thames into the starting lineup, in place of Billy Weiler. Perhaps this isn't the right time for the move, as neither of them play well. I'll try the new lineup against a more manageable opponent and see what happens.
Record: 4-5.


December 26, 2012
#22 Baylor 91, Lafayette 79
This time, our opponent really is ranked, and again, we perform creditably against a team that should wipe us off the court. We do several things well; we make 53% of our shots and go 23-25 from the line.

Our freshmen again demonstrate how ready they are to play at this level. Hubert Song scores 17 points, and James Sanders adds 12. Rhett King, who sees a lot of action in relief of foul-plagued Clark Nolan, finishes with 10, including two 3-pointers. Rhett is 7-15 from long range this year.
Record: 4-6.


December 28, 2012
Seton Hall 62, Lafayette 56
Again, we play well against a strong team, making up a good portion of a first-half deficit and making our opponent play hard to the final buzzer. Ian Crook, the Hall's high-scoring Aussie guard, gets his usual 20 points, the first player to score that many against us this season.

Venceslás Castillo is finding it more difficult to score against these superior opponents; for the fourth straight game, he's held to fewer than 8 points. Hubert Song and Billy Weiler combine for 23 points--12 for Hubert, 11 for Billy--but they require 24 shots to score them.
Record: 4-7.


December 31, 2012
Lafayette 64, Loyola-Maryland 55
If you'd told me before the game that Venceslás Castillo would not score a single point, I would predict we'd lose. Hubert Song, however, has other plans.

The freshman sensation scores 29 points, making 5 of his 10 shots from behind the arc. He adds 5 rebounds and 4 assists for good measure. Stephen Thames supports him with 13 points, as the Leopards close out the calendar year with a victory that breaks our four-game losing streak.
Record: 5-7.

Good call on violating your rule here, I like what I see.

If you land him and the scouting is accurate, I'd look at moving Alvaro to SF given the post defense and the weak pass/handle for a guard, then shift the Good King down to PF. You've got Big Colonel's 319 pounds as a post anchor, so I think you can afford to go a bit smallball, especially since it appears Good King has the rebounding ability to play in the paint

Hubert Song is surprising me - I didn't think he'd be nearly that prolific a scorer at the jump.

Kinard's F potential for perimeter defense made me look the other way at the beginning of the recruiting season. In fact, I nearly took him off my call list. Something told me to wait, and now I'm glad I did. If one of the big programs on Alvaro's list offers him a scholarship, I'll face the same question I did with Dorsey Hicks. Hopefully they'll look past him, and if they do, I feel pretty good about my chances.


There are definitely two "ifs" at work here, Izulde. I'm honestly more concerned about the scouting accuracy. If the assistant's rating shapes the program's scouting accuracy as much or more than the head coach's, I'm even more concerned. Graham Sims is a considerably better scout than Donn McClinton.

If the "ifs" work out in our favor, those position changes make a lot of sense. Good King Venceslás does have the size and skills to move to the four. He's 6'8" and 245 pounds and, as you point out, he's a good rebounder and a decent low block defender. Clark Nolan and Rhett King could probably terrorize most of the second unit big men they'll face in the Patriot League. Rhett already is; he's the best rebounder on the team on a per-minute basis, and he's also making half his three-point attempts.

I've never tried converting a PG into a SF, but Alvaro's potentials do make him look like a better fit at the three.

I'm pleased with how quickly Song has become our go-to scorer, too. At the beginning of the season, I figured he would be fighting for playing time with Stephen Thames. Now, it's Thames and Billy Weiler who are competing, while Song is leading the team in minutes played. Hubert is seventh in the Patriot League in scoring, at 13.7 per game, after dropping 29 on Loyola. I like how our backcourt is setting up for next year--even more so now with Armando Brown coming in. Armando looks like he has a solid skill set for a point guard.

Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate comments, so please feel free to chime in anytime.

January 1, 2013

Recruiting Update

Our 2013 recruiting class is now complete, as Alvaro Kinard commits to play for us next season!

The three-star point guard prospect from Manhattan's Upper West Side is an intriguing player. His statistics--nearly 18 points, five rebounds, and four assists per game--indicate a productive high school player with a full skill set. His rankings--#443 nationally, #103 at his position, #98 overall in the Northeast Region--are better than Hubert Song's were last year, and Song has been a very good player for us.

Alvaro's scouted ratings reveal a different picture, however--one of a player who will never be a good shooter (except from behind the arc), will probably never be able to run a college team's offense, and won't be able to guard perimeter players.

I wonder which set of evaluations are more accurate? Perhaps the truth is somewhere in the middle. I could peek under the hood with the editor, but I don't want to spoil the fun.

Choosing to be somewhat optimistic, I'm envisioning Alvaro as a versatile player who could potentially fill several roles for us. While he might never be a prototypical point guard, his length could enable him to play on the wing. We'll see what he's like when he arrives on campus next year.

Welcome to the team, Mr. Kinard.

January 2, 2013
Lafayette 70, Pennsylvania 62
The Quakers enter the game undefeated, a perfect 10-0, and leave with their first loss of the season. We play very well defensively, holding them to 39% shooting--a mark that was inflated somewhat when they fired in three straight from long range in the last few minutes of the game.

Penn defends Hubert Song well; he shoots 2-10 from the floor and finishes with only 7 points. When Stephen Thames gets in foul trouble, Billy Weiler seizes his opportunity and plays very well: 16 points, 3 assists. James Sanders notches a double double, with a pair of 11s (points and rebounds).
Record: 6-7.


January 6, 2013
Lafayette 64, Chicago State 60
Our third straight victory enables us to end a demanding non-conference schedule with a .500 record. Hubert Song rediscovers his scoring touch, nailing 5 of 8 three-point tries and finishing with 18 points. Billy Weiler (13) and Rhett King (11)come off the bench to join Hubert in double figures.

Clark Nolan scores one single point, but he compensates by grabbing 11 rebounds. Venceslás Castillo, too, doesn't score much (5 points) but asserts himself under the basket (8 rebounds). I like the momentum we've created going into Patriot League competition.
Record: 7-7.


Unsurprisingly, American and Holy Cross are off to strong starts. Look at American's RPI; I suppose that's the result of playing Alabama, Pitt, and three ranked teams: Duke, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Navy has beaten up on a less impressive array of teams. I'm sure they're good, but I don't think they're the best team in the conference. And we look like the "best of the rest," which I think is probably an accurate observation.

January 12, 2013
Lafayette 68, Colgate 56
I had been thinking about swapping Billy Weiler for Stephen Thames, and making Billy a starter once again. I waited, and today Stephen vindicates my decision to leave him in the first five with a solid 19-point performance.

Hubert Song adds 15 more, and Clark Nolan has 11 rebounds for the second straight game. Our conference season begins in fine style.
Record: 8-7 (1-0 in Patriot League play.


January 16, 2013
Holy Cross 75, Lafayette 46
Ouch. We're pummeled by the Crusaders, who dominate us in every aspect of the game. Our offense consists of flinging three-point shots very inaccurately. We set a new Sims-era record with 27 attempts from behind the arc, and we make FOUR of them.

Rhett King, who plays a lot in reserve of James Sanders and Clark Nolan, does the "one-point-and-double-digit-rebounds-thing" with a 1/10 performance. Hubert Song finishes as our top scorer with 13; he's responsible for half our made threes, going 2-6. Turn the page, please.
Record: 8-8 (1-1).


January 19, 2013
Bucknell 65, Lafayette 58
Bucknell wasn't anything special in non-conference play, but they're 3-1 in the Patriot League after beating us on our home court. When you allow another team to make 61 percent of its shots, you're almost always going to lose, a precept we embody today.

Hubert Song gets his, finishing with 17 points. Big Colonel establishes a new high with 15 points. I wish they'd come in a winning effort.
Record: 8-9 (1-2).


January 23, 2013
Lafayette 83, Navy 66
We visit a Navy team that has come back to earth a bit in January. They're led once again by high-scoring guard Steven Ison. The conference's leading scorer, Ison finishes with 22 points, but he needs 20 shots to get them. Meanwhile, Hubert Song drops a much more efficient 20. The rest of our backcourt trio, Stephen Thames (18) and Billy Weiler (13) join him in double figures. Weiler gets 10 of his at the line, where he's perfect on the night.

Quite a few of Ison's misses are retrieved by Clark Nolan, some of his 17 rebounds. Back to .500 we go.
Record: 9-9 (2-2).


January 26, 2013
Lafayette 69, Army 61
Our tour of the service academies continues with a trip up to the Hudson, where we earn a victory that moves us into the top half of the conference standings.

It feels like a standard Lafayette win, based on solid defense and just enough offense to get the job done. James Sanders (14 points) Stephen Thames (14) and Billy Weiler (12) lead our scorers, as Hubert Song endures an off night and is held to 9.
Record: 10-9 (3-2).


January 30, 2013
American 75, Lafayette 68
The first round of our season series with the Patriot League's marquee program goes to the Eagles, to almost nobody's surprise. American bounces back from a shocking loss at home to Lehigh and runs their conference record to 5-1.

One of the angles the media promotes before the game is a matchup between American's Victor Reed, a high-scoring junior guard, and Herbert Song, a similar, younger player. Reed narrowly wins their individual scoring matchup, 25-22, and his stronger supporting cast makes the rest of the difference today. Clark Nolan scores 12 for us, but three Eagles join Reed in double figures. American still seems like they're a cut above the rest of the Patriot League.

Venceslás Castillo leaves the game early in the second half after he catches a stray, inadvertent elbow. He'll be day-to-day for about a week.
Record: 10-10 (3-3).

February 2, 2013
Lafayette 59, Lehigh 50
We have Hubert Song, and Lehigh doesn't. That simple fact makes the difference in a sloppy game that wouldn't make anyone fall in love with the sport of basketball.

Song scores 22 points, shooting 4-7 from three-point distance. Everyone else shoots so badly, both from the field and from the line, that there are 81 rebounds to be had. We grab 50 of them. Three Leopards: Clark Nolan (12), James Sanders (11) and even Stephen Thames (11) finish in double figures in this category.

Someone has to win this game, and I'm glad it's us.
Record: 11-10 (4-3).


February 6, 2013
Evansville 60, Lafayette 52
We step outside of conference play for a midweek game against a Missouri Valley Conference foe. Evansville is not a good basketball team this year. They're in last place in their league, and they enter the game with a 3-18 record.

They leave it with a 4-18 record.

The only somewhat bright spots are the return of Venceslás Castillo to full health (he finishes with 11 points) and the long-range marksmanship of stretch big Rhett King (he makes 3 of 4 three-pointers). The Purple Aces defend Hubert Song well, and hold him to a quiet 11 points.
Record: 11-11 (4-3).


February 9, 2013
Lafayette 69, Colgate 54
We slightly adjust our formula, but it results in a victory on a snowy night in upstate New York.

Hubert Song again finds it tough to get good looks at the basket. His 13 points are the result of tenacity rather than brilliance. But Stephen Thames capitalizes on all the attention the Red Raiders pay to his backcourt partner, and makes them pay with a cool 16 points.

I think Clark Nolan heard the conversation we've had on the forum about shifting him to a reserve role next season. He's been rebounding fiercely since then, pulling in 10 more tonight to lead both teams. James Sanders is too much for Colgate's Chance Bump to handle. Two inches taller, but 80 pounds heavier, Big Colonel fills the role of fourth option on offense marvelously. He makes 5 of his 7 shots and a free throw, good for 11 points.

P.S. James has gained two pounds, and now he tips the scales at 321.
Record: 12-11 (5-3).


February 13, 2013
Lafayette 49, Bucknell 40
The storyline of our trip up the road to Lewisburg to meet the Bison is made more interesting by the fact that we enter the game tied for third in the Patriot League with 5-3 records. Again, we win ugly.

Hubert Song endures a nightmarish game. He misses 11 of his 12 three-point attempts, and finishes with a career-low 6 points. His classmates, Venceslás Castillo and James Sanders, bail him out with 11 points apiece.

Our team defends well, however, and our measly 49 points are enough for the win that gives us sole possession of third place.
Record: 13-11 (6-3).


Here's something interesting I haven't posted before. It's a look at how our players' training is impacting their development.

It's good to see that, despite the fact our training facilities are nothing special, our players seem to be developing quite well. The more promising among them--Song and Sanders, even Weiler-- are gaining points in the things I want them to be good at.


February 16, 2013
Lafayette 74, Holy Cross 67
Could this be the biggest win of Graham Sims' young career to date?

The Leopards submit a delightfully complete performance, away to one of the league's top teams. The offense clicks, with four players scoring in double figures: Venceslás Castillo (10), James Sanders (10) Clark Nolan (11), and a resurgent Hubert Song (23). A relentless defensive effort holds the Crusaders to 36% shooting; the home team keeps it close only because their offense is so fast-paced.

Now we're in second place in the Patriot League, a half-game ahead of Holy Cross and only one game behind American. Coach Sims will have to make sure his players don't look ahead to their trip to Washington, D.C. on February 27 and forget to take care of business between now and then.
Record: 14-11 (7-3).



February 20, 2013
Lafayette 58, Army 41
Coach Sims' boys complete a season sweep of the Black Knights of the Hudson.

It's a weird game; James Sanders is named Player of the Game on a day when he plays only 11 minutes due to foul trouble. Big Colonel does make the most of his time on the floor, scoring10 points and snaring 4 rebounds. His understudy, Rhett King (7 points, 10 rebounds) plays well, too.

Good King Venceslás leads all scorers with 13 points, as Hubert Song reminds us he's a freshman with an erratic 6 point performance.
Record: 15-11 (8-3).


February 23, 2013
Lafayette 71, Navy 64
A struggling Navy team hangs tough for 20 minutes, before we hit the afterburners and pull away for the victory.

Again, we demonstrate we can win without a big game from Hubert Song. Two quick fouls put the first year guard on the bench, and a third early in the second half put him there again. He plays only 18 minutes and scores 8 points.

The scoring slack is taken up by Clark Nolan (16 points), Venceslás Castillo (13) and Billy Weiler (also 16), who returns to the starting lineup while Stephen Thames nurses a sore knee. Nolan and James Sanders collect 9 rebounds apiece.
Record: 16-11 (9-3).


February 27, 2013
American 77, Lafayette 73 (OT)
The long-awaited clash between the Patriot League's two best teams deserves the hype. Tied 37-37 at halftime, the Leopards and Eagles--both riding winning streaks--exchange shots all evening long.

American leads, 63-61, with ten seconds remaining. While everyone in the gym looks for Hubert Song to take the Leopards' last shot, James Sanders lumbers out to the right wing. Billy Weiler spots him, and Big Colonel drains a 12-footer to tie the score.

The Eagles try to create a shot for star man Victor Reed, but a swarming Leopards defense force a bad pass that sails out of bounds.

Again, the well-coached Eagles aren't going to let Song find room to shoot the ball. He swings it to Castillo, whose attempt at a game-winner from the corner won't go down.

American's outstanding junior point guard, Patrick Robinson, asserts his will on the game during the overtime period. Robinson finishes with 19 points and hands out 8 assists, just over his APG mark of 7.6--third best in the nation.

Song's 14 points lead a group of four Leopards in double figures; he's joined by Venceslás Castillo (13), James Sanders (11), and Stephen Thames (10).
Record: 16-12 (9-4).

Darn impressive second year, no matter how you end up. Massive improvement over last season

Young players really developing...

Damn that loss at the end there, but, as Izulde stated, what a great improvement in y2!

Thanks, Izulde. Our overall record is only a bit better, but we played a more challenging non-conference schedule this year. We're doing much better in the Patriot League; with one game remaining, we've clinched second place behind American.


They are indeed, Chas. I think that's the key to our improvement this year. I had the chance to recruit four players during my first year, and all four of them have emerged as major contributors. DeWitt Leiva and Robert Castleman were really good players, and I wish I'd had them for more than one season...but the new guys are all "ours." I want to develop a team culture at Lafayette. James Sanders, Venceslás Castillo, Hubert Song, and Rhett King are the OGs in that respect.


That was indeed a tough loss, TheseBoots. Taking a team as good as American into overtime--in their gym--is no small feat, however.

The Eagles are the only team Coach Sims has never beaten. Last year, we lost to them by scores of 57-50 and 95-67. This season, the scores were 75-68 and 77-73, in overtime. So, we've lowered the aggregate deficit from -35 to -11. It's not exactly what we want to see, but it's a step in the right direction.

Thanks for the comments! :)

Sorry for the long hiatus, everyone. "Real" basketball has been taking up much of my time lately! Now, however, it's time to head back to Easton and catch up with Coach Graham Sims and the Lafayette Leopards.

March 1, 2013
We learn today that two of our players are unhappy: Donnie Pope and Dana Broughton. According to the messages, giving them more playing time might resolve the issue.

Both players' feelings are understandable, especially Dana's. He appeared in every game as a freshman last year, averaging nine minutes per contest; this season, he's gotten in 19 of 29 games and plays about a third as much. He's shooting a bit better than he did last season, but he's a minus player this year. Donnie, a redshirt soph, is playing about half as much and hasn't been as productive.

Coaching your predecessor's recruits can be tough. Both Broughton and Pope have lost some run to guys I brought in; Broughton plays on the wing, where the arrival of Good King Venceslás and the return of Willard Davis from last year's redshirt have taken some of the minutes that were Broughton's last season. Pope, a big man, must now compete with first years Big Colonel Sanders and Rhett King, along with emerging sophomore Clark Nolan.

Dana and Donnie are both good students and good guys, and I'd hate to lose them. I'm not sure how likely an Unhappy player is to transfer at the end of a season; I don't remember encountering one before.


March 2, 2013
Lafayette 68, Lehigh 58
The first half of this rivalry game is an exciting display of fast-paced, up-and-down basketball. We go into the locker room behind, 36-35. After the intermission, the Lafayette lads turn up the intensity on defense and earn a sweep of the season series against Lehigh.

Venceslás Castillo continues his consistent scoring, leading us with 14 points. Stopping Hubert Song is clearly a priority for Lehigh; he only takes five shots in 27 minutes, but makes them count for 12 points (2-3 from three, 4-5 from the line).

We end our Patriot League season with a satisfying victory. As the #2 seed in the conference tournament, we'll face #7 Army in the first round.
Record: 17-12 (10-4).


March 6, 2013
Patriot League Tournament
(2) Lafayette 71, (7) Army 53
For the second straight year, we draw the Black Knights of the Hudson as our first round opponent...but this time we are, by far, the better seed. Last year, we lost in overtime. This year, the outcome is far different.

Army keeps it close for 20 minutes, but we take control of matters after the intermission. Two players who were in high school last year are the difference-makers. Hubert Song scores 17 of his 24 points in the second half, knocking down three of his four treys. James Sanders controls the paint on both ends, scoring 18 points, claiming 9 rebounds, and rejecting two shots.

The big story of the tournament's first day is 8-seed Navy's shocking 73-71 victory over the #1 seed juggernaut from American. The Midshipmen will face Bucknell in the semifinals. #3 Holy Cross beat #6 Lehigh, 70-62, so the Crusaders will be our semifinal opponent.

Is it bad luck to wonder out loud if our ticket to the Big Dance just got easier to claim, with American no longer able to snatch it away from us?
Record: 18-12.


March 10, 2013
Patriot League Tournament Semifinals
(2) Lafayette 72, (3) Holy Cross 63
We know better than to take Holy Cross lightly. Led by imperious senior center Richard Ruiz and breakout star forward Lenny Catlin, the Crusaders whipped us in our gym in January. We responded with a very pleasing victory in Worcester last month. Which contest would tonight's game resemble more?

Again, it's clear that the opposing coach has decided to try to guard Hubert Song out of the game. Emile Richards' game plan works well in that respect; the Crusaders hold Song to 10 points in 32 minutes, and Hubert only attempts five shots. Lenny Catlin, who pours in 24, is a far more effective scorer than Hubert tonight.

However, we defend the rest of the Crusaders very well. They miss all but one of their 16 three-point attempts. Meanwhile, four of our starters score in double figures, led by James Sanders with 16. Venceslás Castillo (14), Billy Weiler (11), and the aforementioned Song--along with reserve Rhett King (14) all contribute to a delightfully balanced attack.

Bucknell routs the Cinderella gang from Navy, 68-54, so they'll be our Patriot League championship opponent.
Record: 19-12.

March 15, 2013
Patriot League Tournament Championship
(2) Lafayette 59, (4) Bucknell 41
It's time to cut down the net. Lafayette are the 2012/2013 Patriot League champions!

It doesn't take long for the Leopards to assert their dominance. A combination of tight defense and the Bison's inability to convert the few good looks they got enabled us to hold Bucknell to 14 first half points. So, while our offensive performance is far from optimal--we make 43.8% of our shots, right on our season average--we do enough to get the job done. We are more successful from long range, knocking down 38.9% of our treys; this lifts our season percentage to 33.5%.

In the biggest game of Graham Sims' Lafayette career to date, Hubert Song is once again the offensive star. The freshman scores a game-high 14 points, two more than senior Stephen Thames. Another first year, James Sanders, adds 11 points, and sophomore Clark Nolan logs a tidy double double (10 points, 10 rebounds.)

The fact that the victory is our 20th of the season is a nice touch, but nothing matches the thrill of earning the chance to take part in March Madness.

Congratulations to the champions!
Record: 20-12.

March 17, 2013
The Lafayette basketball family gathers at the team's facility to watch the NCAA Tournament Selection Show together. The room erupts when the Leopards are introduced as the #13 seed in the East Regional. We'll play #3 seed Vanderbilt on either March 21 or 22.

The Commodores are a formidable opponent. They will enter the game with a 26-7 record, going 13-3 in the nation's second-toughest conference and winning the SEC East title. They're ranked #12 in the nation, and #4 in RPI. Needless to say, a victory would become an indelible part of the story of Lafayette basketball, which began in 1900.

Three other Patriot League teams earn berths in postseason tournaments. American draws the #2 seed in the NIT South Region, and will play #7 Weber State. Holy Cross, the #9 seed in the CIT, will face #8 Morehead State. And Bucknell's strong performance in the Patriot League tournament impresses the CBI selection committee, who give the Bison the #13 seed and a game against #4 Northern Arizona. All three of our conference rivals will play on either March 19 or 20.

March 22, 2013
NCAA East Region
(3) #12 Vanderbilt 79, (14) Lafayette 68

One look at Vanderbilt's roster is all it takes to understand what we're facing here. Sophomore forward Ramon Russell (15.8 PPG) is considered the #40 NBA prospect in the nation. Senior guard Daniel Price (13.0 PPG, 2.8 APG), junior center Joseph Capers (11.8 PPG, 4.6 RPG), Aussie sophomore guard Dudley Harris (8.3 PPG, 3.0 APG), and senior forward Lionel Lane (9.3 PPG, 7.8 RPG) can also reasonably aspire to playing basketball for a living. There's a reason they're the 3 seed, and we're the 14.

Late in the first half, the game is close enough that the national telecast cuts to our game. The TV audience watches Capers miss two free throws. Venceslás Castillo snares the rebound, and fifteen seconds later, Rhett King kicks the ball out to Billy Weiler in the left corner, just inside the three-point line. Weiler knocks down a jumper, and with 1:36 remaining in the half, the score is Vanderbilt 36, Lafayette 35. Vandy's Roderick Starling banks in a three before halftime, but we go into the intermission only four points down.

Vanderbilt coach James Husted is a superb X-and-O coach, so it's not surprising that his halftime adjustments are spot on. Those moves, and the superior talent of the Commodores players, allow them to begin the second half with a 9-0 run. We courageously battle back, however, and with 2:47 remaining, the Good King scores to pull us within a point, 67-66. Once again, the national broadcast shifts to our game.

I'd like to report that Cinderella never heard the clock strike midnight, and earned the chance to dance another night. But the Commodores hit their shots when it counted most, both from the free throw line and, then, from the field. The final score flatters the winners, who know they had to fight hard to the finish.

Dynamic Ramon Russell leads all scorers with 24 points. Hubert Song is our high scorer, finishing with 13. James Sanders scores nine points and grabs six rebounds in 12 minutes before exiting the game with an injury. Rhett King deputizes for him well, shooting a perfect 4-4 from the field with five rebounds.

You always hate to lose, but it's hard to feel too bad about this result.
Record: 20-13.

No shame in that loss at all, and a stellar turnaround. Now, of course, is when the pressure really begins. :)

BTW, you should get a Coach Level Up email since you made the Tournament

@Izulde: I was pleased with the way Year Two went. You're right; if you do it once, the AD expects you to do it again. And again. And again. :)

I haven't seen the email yet, but I haven't ended the season. I suppose it will appear then...right?

March 22, 2013
A day ago, American was upset, 80-67, by Weber State, and were eliminated from the NIT. Bucknell nearly broke the CIT bracket, losing to Northern Arizona, 57-56.

March 25, 2013
Holy Cross loses, 71-68 to Missouri State, the #1 seed in the CBI. The Crusaders, a nine seed, beat Morehead State handily in the first round, and give the favored Bears a good game.

April 6, 2013
This year's Final Four includes Kansas, Providence, Dayton, and Texas. Only one #1 seed, Duke, gets as far as the Sweet Sixteen; they lose there to #4 Villanova.

The Friars, a #9 seed, are the neutrals' favorite, but they're no match for the rugged Jayhawks and lose, 75-51. Texas disposes of Dayton nearly as easily, 69-52.


April 8, 2013
The NCAA championship game is an all-Big 12 contest. Kansas beats Texas in a high-scoring viewer's treat of a game, 91-85.

Three Jayhawks score at least 20 points: Eustaquio Picavet (28), Jermaine Waldrop (25), and Tracy Murphy (20). The Longhorns get 23 from Richard Quintana and 19 more from Alexander Currey. Picavet is named Player of the Game.


Here's how the Patriot League standings looked this season:

Three teams in our conference win at least 20 games this year, and we're one of them. I wonder if our conference prestige will improve?

The Patriot League awards are announced today.

Wow. Just, wow.

On what grounds could the conference fail to recognize a single player from a team that went 10-4 in the league and won the conference tournament? I'm unreservedly partial, but I think Hubert Song and James Sanders deserved some postseason honors.

I have no issue with Patrick Robinson as Player of the Year. He's third in the nation in assists, and his plus-minus is best in the league. Shaun Domingo's stat line looks almost exactly like Song's...but Hubert did his thing for a 20-13 team, while Shaun's Colgate team finished 13-18.

April 9, 2013

Here are Lafayette's stats for the 2012/13 season.




I think I've been selling Clark Nolan short. Maybe we all have been. I keep thinking that Clark will eventually yield his place in the starting five to an incoming freshman--Alvaro Kinard, perhaps--and then I look at how efficient a player Clark is, and I wonder if we might be better with him on the floor as much as possible. We'll see how good the frosh are when they arrive on campus this summer.

I know the algorithm that picks the All-League teams looks closely at the players' position labels. Because Hubert Song is a shooting guard, he's therefore compared to the other SGs in the conference. He understandably loses out to Victor Reed and Steven Ison for the spots on the All-League first and second teams, and he's edged out by Shaun Domingo for freshman honors. I see the reasoning behind those choices.

But, based on the stats, wouldn't you start Domingo and Song in your backcourt, rather than saving a spot for Irvin Schumacher? I would. Schu is a fine player, but he'd be the third guard on my team.

I'd also give James Sanders the nod over Bucknell's Thomas Grimmett. Again, Grimmett's good, but I'll take the Big Colonel, thank you.

Next up, the Senior Tributes.

2012/13 Senior Tribute

VICTOR GENTRY

I didn't recruit Victor--Coach Sims' predecessor did--but I would have. He was an ideal fourth guard, able to give us a handful of productive minutes every night while his teammates rested. A player like that is useful, and Gentry was certainly that.

His performance dropped off slightly as a senior and, consequently, so did his playing time. However, he made his last appearance in a Lafayette uniform in an NCAA tournament game, took a shot, and knocked it down. That's how you go out in style.

A very good student and a stand-up guy, I'd hire Victor as a graduate assistant if the game let me.


Thanks for the memories, Victor.

2012/13 Senior Tribute

STEPHEN THAMES

It can't be easy to lose your starting position as a senior. That's what we asked of Stephen, and he accepted the decision with class.

A quick, athletic product of Mount Joy, PA, Stephen embraced his new role as the provider of instant offense from the bench. When Billy Weiler suffered a mid-season slump, Thames returned to the starting lineup, but we were a better, more cohesive team with Thames leading the second unit, so we returned him to that role. He earned that championship ring, didn't he?

Thames might have scored 1000 points in his Lafayette career if we'd had four seasons of game play from him.

Stephen admittedly struggled with the academic demands he faced at a school like Lafayette. He worked hard, always remained eligible, and will complete his degree next month. Whatever comes next, Stephen Thames will handle it with dignity.

Thanks for the memories, Stephen.

May 1, 2013

Here are the Patriot League recruiting rankings:

Lehigh brought in the highest-ranked class, by far. Gerald Propst and PG Pete Truman are top-200 talents, players we would have pursued if they'd shown any interest in us.

Justin Ceaser and Jae Rodney are also rated higher by the experts than our prize catch, Alvaro Kinard. I think Kinard is a great fit for our program, however, and I like Armando Brown a lot, too.

I got an email telling me that because of our success last season, our annual budget has been raised to $245,731. All of Graham Sims' assistants have one year left. If I don't decide to find anyone new for our staff, we'll have $14,229/month to spend on recruiting. That's almost $3000/month more than we worked with the past two years.

Our team's prestige has risen from 28 to 33. We're still third in the Patriot League, behind American (44) and Holy Cross (40), but we're solidly "the best of the rest."

Coach Sims receives job offers from Bethune-Cookman, Fairfield, and Texas-Arlington in the first Head Coach Round. I might briefly consider the Fairfield job if the school were located in Pennsylvania; they're a more prestigious program with a bigger budget.

In the next round, the offers are better. Niagara and Vermont offer Graham their head coaching positions. Again, since neither are Pennsylvania schools, we politely turn the offers down. Niagara, who finished 29-9 last year and are bringing in the #40 recruiting class in the nation, would tempt me otherwise.

The third round almost has me wishing I'd chosen a slightly different theme for my dynasty. Davidson makes an offer to Coach Sims! I've always liked their basketball program, and one of my best friends--a groomsman in my wedding, whose family spends time with mine almost every summer--is a Davidson alumnus. I nearly set this story in North Carolina so I could possibly coach there. But, since this is A Pennsylvania Story, I somewhat reluctantly click on "Reject Offer."

In Round Four, Chattanooga makes Coach Sims an offer. No, thank you. Winthrop and Austin Peay come calling in Round Five. Again, no thanks.

I didn't know there were six Head Coach rounds, but there are, and Weber State and Belmont are looking for coaches. Apparently there are quite a few programs who think Graham Sims is the Next Big Thing. I won't leave Pennsylvania, so two more ADs receive polite refusals.

Now it's time to decide about Coach Sims' assistants. The recommended budget for our three-man coaching staff is about $120,000, and we're currently spending just over $103,000. Could we possibly find some better coaches who will fit our budget?

I take a look at the available coaches, none of whom represent significant upgrades over who we have. I decide to keep the band together for one more year, at least.

None of our players--not even unhappy Dana Broughton and Donnie Pope--decide to transfer out of our program. We don't have any available scholarships, so the Transfer Round will be uneventful.

July 1, 2013

Here are your 2013/14 Lafayette Leopards!



Our starting backcourt remains unchanged. Senior Billy Weiler returns for another season at the reins of Coach Sims' offense. He's still apparently unwilling or unable to play defense, but his ballhandling and passing are good enough to keep him in the starting five. Hubert Song was sensational last year, the only player to average double figures in scoring. He's improved in every area we'd want him to improve, and he'll be the focal point of our offense.

I decided to see what the AI recommends for the rest of our lineup, and I think I'll roll with it. Like Izulde, the computer thinks Alvaro Kinard will make a fine small forward. Alvaro enters our program with better shooting ratings than Song. His ballhandling and passing, while not suitable for a true guard, are just fine for a wing player.

Right now, I'm planning to use Kinard, Venceslás Castillo, Rhett King, and Clark Nolan in a four-man forward rotation. Kinard has to play the three; he's not suited for the four at all. Castillo played mostly as a small forward last year, but he's big and strong enough to play power forward. He can guard big men as well as any of our other frontcourt players.

King and Nolan are pure bigs; in fact, Nolan is a natural center who's been playing power forward and doing a wonderful job of it. We should be able to choose players who match up well against different opponents, or ride with whoever is playing best.

James Sanders returns as the center. Look for him to be an increasingly effective offensive player this season. Last year, teams could often afford to focus their defensive efforts on stopping our perimeter game, because our big men weren't serious threats to score. I don't think that will be the case anymore.

Dana Broughton will play a more important role this season. He can shoot the rock, and he could emerge as an explosive scorer off the bench, in the mold of Stephen Thames. Newcomer Armando Brown and veteran Willard Davis are also available for backcourt duty. If Brown is willing to redshirt, I might have him do that.

August 1, 2013

We have two scholarships to offer to players from the Class of 2014. Both departing seniors, Billy Weiler and seldom-used Gary Pooler, are guards. Our first recruiting targets, therefore, will be backcourt players.

I'd like to see us bring in a point guard who will be able to compete with Armando Brown for a starting spot from the start of the 2014/15 season. The other player could fill any of a number of roles.

Four players catch our eye in the first weeks of the recruiting season. All of them are rated more highly than the players we usually attract. Will our growing prestige, based on our recent NCAA tournament appearance, cause them to look at us with interest?

Jack Ostrander is Delaware's Mr. Basketball. He's a scoring guard who reminds us of Hubert Song in some ways. Jack also has the potential to be a lockdown defender, and I always like to see that in a player.
It won't be easy to lure Jack away from his home state, or to persuade him to look past the more prestigious programs of the Big Five. Coach Sims and Coach Manion will both visit the Ostrander home in an attempt to do so.

Jermaine Whitfield is our favorite example of a classic point guard. At the high school level, he is a productive scorer and an elite playmaker, and we believe his passing and ballhandling skills will play at the next level, too.
Four of Jermaine's top choices have already offered him. We do the same, and send Coaches Sims and Manion to find out if they can turn his Average interest in our program into something more promising.

Whitfield may be looking for more than we can offer. Perhaps Paul Newman, a similar player without quite as much hype, could bring the same kind of game to the Kirby Center.
Paul is an excellent student, and he's a Pennsylvania kid who lists us among his top five choices. We'll visit him, and he's coming to Lafayette for a visit this month.

According to the experts, Perry Scribner is the best player who expresses Very High interest in playing for Lafayette.
Perry is an excellent shooter with decent playmaking skill, and he's also a very good student.

We decide to offer scholarships to Jermaine Whitfield and Jack Ostrander. Why not aim high? If neither player expresses real interest in our program, we'll turn to Newman and Scribner.

I spent some enjoyable time yesterday looking for information about how to improve my FBCB skills. Much of what I found, including this classic from this forum's past, was written over a decade ago, based on what I believe was an earlier version of the game. The advice looked very sound, so I hope it's still applicable to the current (2010) edition of FBCB.

I realized I've been interpreting the INS rating too narrowly. I took INS to be a skill that was mainly relevant to big men, because it related solely to post play. The game guide (which I had rarely looked at) mentions that players with a good INS rating are better at creating shots. Now I'm thinking of INS as a rating that affects a player's ability to get to the rim, whether he's a big who catches the ball down low or a slashing guard or wing. A player with a high JPS rating who's low in INS now seems to be a spot-up shooter who needs someone to get him the ball. That makes a lot of sense.

I haven't been considering INS at all when I'm evaluating SGs, and I've only noticed it in passing when I look at SFs. Now, I'm going to value it highly in any player I want to be a scorer.

September 1, 2013
I gathered another valuable insight regarding recruiting, which confirmed my original belief. If I'm recruiting a player who receives an offer from a school whose prestige level is more than about 10 points higher than mine, it's time to move on--especially if the player has listed the other school ahead of mine.

This is exactly what has happened with Jack Ostrander and Jermaine Whitfield. Ostrander has been offered by Villanova, and Whitfield has offers from Rhode Island and Rider in hand. There's probably no way I can sway Jack from the mighty Wildcats, and Jermaine has both other schools listed ahead of us. It's time to turn elsewhere.

Or is it? We haven't brought either Jack or Jermaine to campus for a visit, and we can do so this month. Let's look at the players we would turn to if we can't land our first choices.

Paul Newman has the skills we're looking for in a point guard. He lists Lafayette as his first choice, although he has an offer from Delaware. If we wait another month to see what Whitfield will do, will Newman sign with the Blue Hens?

Perry Scribner doesn't like us much anymore. His interest in our program has dropped to Average; he must not have enjoyed his visit to campus very much.

There are two players who are now looking more promising to me. One of them is Desmond White, a two-star recruit from Princeton, NJ.

Desmond hasn't displayed the defensive chops we'd like to see, but in every other respect, he looks like he could be an effective combo guard. We're going to invite Desmond to campus, and Coaches Sims and Manion will visit him at home.

The other player, Justin Judkins, has slipped past everyone besides us so far.
We're keeping an eye on Justin, as the "best of the rest" of our PG recruits.

After giving it some thought, I'm going to take one more shot at Ostrander and Whitfield. Both players will visit our campus this month. If they don't seem more excited about our program after they visit, we'll move on.

Carpe diem.

October 1, 2013

Our ardent pursuit of Jack Ostrander and Jermaine Whitfield doesn't seem to have succeeded. Jack still prefers Villanova, and Jermaine rates Rhode Island more highly. Villanova's prestige is 94, and Rhode Island's is 57. These are battles we probably can't win. I revoke our offers to both players so I can give them to someone else.

Paul Newman has narrowed his list of top schools to two: Delaware and Lafayette, in that order. He's listing the Blue Hens first, and his interest in our program is Average now. Is that because we haven't offered him a scholarship, while Delaware has? I rate Paul higher than our other PG options. Let's see what happens if I offer Paul this month.

Our second choice PG recruit, Desmond White, receives an offer from Long Island. Their prestige is 15, so I like our chances if we make Desmond an offer. And Justin Judkins has apparently been spotted by Oakland and Detroit. Justin still prefers Lafayette, but neither of his other suitors have made an offer. We can afford to invite Desmond to campus this month.

Last month, I culled some players from our Call List, so I decide to see if there's anyone out there I might want to check out. I filtered the list so I could see players from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. When I looked at the Jersey boys, I sorted them by scoring average...and this player literally leapt off the page at me:
Joe Lien is the second leading scorer among high school players in the United States. His ratings seem to support the argument that Joe's scoring ability is no fluke.

Has Joe escaped the notice of every Division I team in the nation except Wagner and Lafayette? Have other teams checked him out and seen something in his game that we, with our rather mediocre Scouting ability, can't detect?

Wagner's head coach, Chris Allgood, is a decent recruiter (rating 43). His recruiting assistant, Barry Willey, isn't bad either (rating 41). However, when I created Graham Sims, I bestowed upon him a notable ability to sell the benefits of the Lafayette basketball experience to players and their families. Graham's rating is 72. Our recruiting assistant, Steven Manion (rating 39), is just a little bit less talented than Coach Willey. But Graham's charm might be enough to win the day.

Let's find out, shall we? I offer Joe a scholarship, and pursue him with the Recruiting Trifecta: a visit from Coach Sims, a visit from Coach Manion, and a recruiting visit to Lafayette. Nobody will be traveling very far; Joe lives 37 miles from our campus. In fact, he's the most local player we're recruiting.

Another player we've started recruiting bears mention, too. Corey Crayton seems to know where the basket is, and how to get there.

Corey shows some interest in our program, despite the fact we've just started recruiting him. He has an offer from a program with comparable prestige, but Loyola's record over the last two seasons is 15-46. Let's bring Corey to campus and show him a good time, shall we? Coaches Sims and Manion will ride over to Enola to visit him and his family, too.

I'm really having fun with recruiting in this game!

November 1, 2013

To nobody's surprise, Jermaine Whitfield commits to Rhode Island this month. But Jack Ostrander hasn't said "yes" to Villanova yet. We didn't leave the field too quickly, did we?

More importantly, our late push to sign Paul Newman falls short, as he accepts Delaware's offer. While I'm disappointed that we can't land him, I'm glad the game won't always let human players wait for months, swoop in, and snag any player they want. It's more realistic, and more challenging, for a recruit to look favorably on a program that recruited him actively from the beginning.

Joe Lien still lists Wagner ahead of us, but his interest level goes up to High after his campus visit. Coach Sims and Coach Manion will each visit Joe again. In this case, I hope the late recruiting push strategy will pay off.

Now it's time to choose which point guard will receive an offer from us. Desmond White hasn't accepted his offer from Long Island yet. Is he waiting for Lafayette to make an offer he'd like better? Justin Judkins is still awaiting his first offer. I think he'd commit to us as soon as we offered him. Would it be better to play it safer and offer the scholarship to him?

Or, do I trust the point guard spot to Armando Brown (or even Alvaro Kinard) for the next two or three years and take a shot at the dynamic Corey Crayton? Corey hasn't accepted Loyola's offer yet.

*thinks about it*
*thinks about it some more*

The season starts this month, so I have lots to do before the recruiting cycle begins again. I'll think about it even more. ;)

November 18, 2013
Lafayette 77, Quinnipiac 48
We open our season with an easy road win. Clark Nolan flashes some offensive game, leading us with 15 points. Hubert Song adds 14, and Alvaro Kinard nets 12 in his collegiate debut. Rhett King plays well off the bench, with 11 points.
Record: 1-0.


November 20, 2013
Lafayette 89, Fordham 48
Our home opener is an even more joyous romp. Dana Broughton goes 5-9 from behind the arc, finishing with 19 points. Alvaro Kinard (15), Billy Weiler (14), Hubert Song (11) and Rhett King (11) round out a group of five Leopards in double digits.
Record: 2-0.


November 24, 2013
Lafayette 67, Boston University 58
We run our record to 3-0 with an upset win at a tough place to play. A combination of tough defense from the Terriers and our inability to hit open shots keeps our scoring down, but we compensate well with another tenacious defensive effort.

Hubert Song scores 14 points, and Alvaro Kinard adds 11; the freshman has scored in double figures in each of his first three games.

We earn a spot in the Mid-Major Top 25 for the first time, coming in at #24.
Record: 3-0.


November 27, 2013
Lafayette 87, Princeton 67
The crowd at the Kirby Center is treated to another high-scoring performance from the home team. Hubert Song goes off for the first time, dropping in 21. Alvaro Kinard is once again the only other Leopard in double figures, but six other players score at least seven points.

Big James Sanders has endured a slow start, struggling to make his presence felt. Today, he grabs a season-high 9 rebounds, but he shoots poorly--3 for 10--and finishes with only 7 points.
Record: 4-0.


It's time to make my final recruiting decisions for the month. My confidence running high as I look at our 4-0 record, I decide to be bold. I offer our second scholarship to Corey Crayton.

If we can sign Crayton and Joe Lien--and if they're as good as we think they are--we'll add two potent scorers to our lineup. Hubert Song has begun to demonstrate the qualities of a true lead guard, leading our team in assists and, better yet, posting an assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.66:1. Armando Brown is also playing well as our third guard. As a result, I'm feeling better about going into next season with Song and/or Brown directing the offense.

Let's see what happens, shall we?

December 1, 2013
Recruiting Update

Let Leopard Nation rejoice! Joe Lien has committed to Lafayette!

There seems to be more to Joe's game than his arcade-like scoring totals. He's averaging about six rebounds and six assists a game, and his potentials in those areas look good. Our scouts see him developing into a decent perimeter defender, too.

We lose out on Corey Crayton, however. Drexel makes him an offer he can't refuse. Corey has always liked their program, so I'm not surprised that he committed as soon as they arrived with a scholarship in hand.

Desmond White commits to Long Island, so he's off the table now. LIU's coach, Thomas Cowans, is probably on the hot seat, after winning 17 games in the last two seasons combined. White is a good signing for him. Perhaps he can help Coach Cowans turn things around.

It's a lot easier to be charitable, now that Lien is on his way. :)

Our backcourt for next season will include first year Lien, junior Hubert Song, and sophomores Alvaro Kinard and Armando Brown. There's no longer a need to hit a home run with this offer, so I decide to extend it to the patient Justin Judkins. Justin isn't as highly regarded as the other players we've looked at, but I see a solid player there who will have time to develop his game without being rushed into action.

December 1, 2013
Rutgers 63, Lafayette 54
This game is a battle of undefeated teams, and Rutgers successfully defends their home court. The Golden Knights usually force a lot of turnovers--just over 20 per game--and we hand the ball to them this way 23 times. In the process, we hand the game to them, too.

Otherwise, we don't play too badly. We hold them to 34.0% shooting, defending even better than our usual standard, which is best in our conference. Hubert Song leads us with 15 points, Billy Weiler pitches in 11, and James Sanders has his first double-figure game with an even 10/10.

We consequently fall out of the Mid-Major Top 25. Holy Cross, now 4-0, is the only Patriot League team on this list.
Record: 4-1.


December 5, 2013
Lafayette 59, St. Francis (NY) 58
With 17 seconds left in the game, Billy Weiler drives the left baseline and scores through contact. He misses the and-one and big Rosendo Dudley claims the rebound for St. Francis. Defending relentlessly, we force them into a poor shot; they miss it, and we run our season record to 2-0 against teams whose mascot is the Terrier.

Weiler is the only Leopard to score in double digits with 15. The Player of the Game is James Sanders, who scores 9 with 7 rebounds.
Record: 5-1.


December 11, 2013
Lafayette 75, Monmouth 46
Monmouth's post players aren't very good, so I adjust our game plan to focus on the inside a bit more. It's time to let the Big Colonel eat.

James Sanders responds with 15 points in another lopsided victory. Senior Billy Weiler, playing the best basketball of his career, leads us with 16 points, while Alvaro Kinard tosses in 12 more.
Record: 6-1.


December 13, 2013
Lafayette 70, Iona 64
A tough Gaels team comes to the Kirby Center and gives us a tough game, but we hang on for the win despite shooting a miserable 5-25 from behind the three-point line.

Our backcourt combines for 33 points: 19 for Billy Weiler and 14 for Hubert Song. A revived James Sanders posts a robust double-double: 15 points, 14 rebounds. Clark Nolan clears another 13 boards.
Record: 7-1.


December 15, 2013
We're back in the Mid-Major rankings, at #23. Holy Cross, still unbeaten at 8-0, come in at #10, and receive some votes in the "big" poll, too.


December 18, 2013
Lafayette 64, Brown 63
We snatch another victory away from a home-standing opponent with a definite lack of style...until the final ticks of the clock.

Venceslás Castillo knocks down two free throws to tie the score at 59 with just under six minutes remaining in the second half. For the next four minutes, nobody manages to score; both teams squander possessions with a variety of missed shots, a five-second call, a pair of bricks on a two-shot foul, and a laughably wild pass.

We're up, 61-60, when Clark Nolan hacks Gary Martin. A senior who has made 61 percent of his charity tosses over the course of his career, Gary misses both shots this time. DeWitt Kirchner rebounds for Brown, but his putback attempt is rejected by the Good King. We storm into the frontcourt...and do very little once we get there, losing the ball on a shot clock violation.

The Bears take full advantage of the turnover, and we inexplicably lose a smooth-shooting freshman named James Claxton. He drills a triple to put Brown ahead, 63-61.

With 26.5 seconds remaining, the shot clock is off. I call our last time out and load up on three-point marksmen, bringing Dana Broughton off the bench to join Alvaro Kinard and Hubert Song, with Castillo and the Big Colonel available to grab a rebound if necessary.

The ball goes to Broughton, a career 42.4% shooter from long distance. Dana has a decent look from the left wing, but doesn't pull the trigger; instead, he swings the ball to Song on the right side. Hubert spots Kinard, open in the right corner, and gets him the ball.

Night-night.

The play-by-play reads:
Nothing but net.
Alvaro Kinard is taunting the opposing bench.

While Kinard provides the last-second heroics, Venceslás Castillo is the game's brightest star. Until recently, it's been difficult for Castillo to find opportunities to shine. Only five players are allowed to play basketball at a time, and with Clark Nolan and Alvaro Kinard both in fine form, Castillo's playing time has been somewhat limited. An adjustment to the depth chart before this game allows the Good King to play more, and he takes full advantage: 16 points, 8 rebounds.

Song (13 points), Kinard (12) and Billy Weiler (10) provide scoring assistance. Nolan leads us with 10 rebounds.

Good King Venceslás was simply waiting for Christmas to be right around the corner.
Record: 9-1.


December 22, 2013
The latest Mid-Major poll puts us at #19, up four spots from last week. Holy Cross suffers two losses this week, and slot in two places below us at #21.


December 24, 2013
George Washington 58, Lafayette 38
Our first home loss of the season is an especially ugly one. We don't do anything especially well, and we do several things poorly.

Hubert Song suffers through the worst game of his career. He misses all but one of the 10 shots he takes, and fouls out with 3 points. The only individual performance of note is a 10-rebound effort from James Sanders.
Record: 9-2.


December 26, 2013
St. John's 64, Lafayette 46
The Lafayette athletic director, whom I let schedule our games, is advised by Ebenezer Scrooge*to make us play on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. The result of our trip to play St. John's is a symmetrical score that does not flatter us.

James Sanders is again our best player, scoring over a third of our points (18) and pulling in 7 rebounds. Hubert Song is again held to only 3 points, giving him 6 in two games. Hubert often scores that many before the first media timeout.

Remember Ned Doran? We recruited him heavily last fall, before he signed with St. John's. Ned is playing well for the Red Storm, starting every game so far. He scores 10 points today, below his average of nearly 14 per game.

* This version of Scrooge predates his visit from the Three Spirits.
Record: 9-3.


December 31, 2013
Lafayette 74, Rhode Island 62
Ringing out 2013 on a good note, we bounce back nicely with a win over Jermaine Whitfield's future teammates.

Hubert Song can only be contained for so long. He reasserts himself with a 24-point performance, featuring 6 treys in 12 attempts. James Sanders logs another double-double, with 12 points and 10 boards. Reserves Venceslás Castillo and Rhett King make their presences felt; Castillo scores 10 points, and they split 15 rebounds between them: Castillo 8, King 7. Alvaro Kinard finds shots hard to come by, so he contributes with 4 assists.
Record: 10-3.

January 1, 2014
Recruiting Update

Our incoming class is now complete, as Justin Judkins announces his commitment to Lafayette basketball.

The native of Middletown, Ohio is not highly regarded; the "experts" give him one star, and believe there are 225 point guards out there better than he is. I think he could be a sleeper. He can create his own shot, and his handle should be reliable enough to run the point. He looks raw defensively, but the potential for improvement is there.

Of course, the margin of error in our scouting could be fairly dramatic. That might, however, mean Justin is a better player than the "experts" believe.

Justin is an outstanding student who won't need to devote training time to keeping his grades up. This will allow him to hone his basketball skills.

Welcome to the team, Justin.

January 3, 2014
Lafayette 57, Seton Hall 45
Let's ring in the new year with an upset, shall we?

The Leopards harry the Pirates into lots of bad shots, most of which don't go in. Clark Nolan outplays the Hall's All-Big East power forward, Edmond Stuart, holding him to 6 points and 5 rebounds--less than half his season's averages. Meanwhile, Clark notches 11 points and 7 rebounds.

It's another fine game from Hubert Song, who finishes with 18 points and 7 rebounds of his own. Hubert, who was 6'3" and just over 200 pounds when we signed him, has grown into a 6'4", 220-pound unit who looks like an outside linebacker. He simply bullies Seton Hall's willowy guards.
Record: 11-3.


We roll into our Patriot League campaign in fine style, don't we?

Holy Cross has a better record than we do. They are in the Mid-Major Top 25, and we are not. However, when I look more closely at their season so far, I wonder if they're all that good.

The Crusaders have played only one team with a winning record this year. They beat an 8-2 Columbia team on November 23. They lost to Harvard (5-8) and a 5-7 Quinnipiac team we beat by 29. They recorded victories against 2-11 Long Island, 1-12 Dartmouth, and 1-11 Brown. (In all honesty, that Brown team gave us fits.)

American's record also deserves a deeper dive. Four of their losses came to Connecticut, Duke, Maryland, and George Washington, who blew us out of our own gym. The Eagles, led by star senior guards Patrick Robinson and Victor Reed, are certainly among the teams to watch in the Patriot League.

January 6, 2014
Lafayette 62, Colgate 61
We try our very best to throw this one away.

A basket by Colgate's Brandon Apple pulls the Red Raiders to within two, 62-60, with just under a minute to play. Apple then picks off a pass, and on the ensuing possession, Rhett King fouls William Whitmer in the act of shooting.

Twelve seconds show on the clock as Whitmer steps to the line with a chance to tie the game. He sinks the first foul shot, but misses the second. Billy Weiler snares the rebound. Colgate has to foul, and Whitmer promptly grabs Weiler by the waist. We're in the double bonus, and I feel pretty good about our chances here; Billy is a career .730 free throw shooter, the second best on our roster.

Billy misses both free throws. Apple rebounds the second miss to give his team one more chance to win the game. His shot bounces off the rim, and we sheepishly walk away with the W.

Weiler plays well before his late-game yips, scoring 15 points: one fewer than our high man, Hubert Song. Venceslás Castillo adds 11 more off the bench. Clark Nolan (11) and James Sanders (9) are our leading rebounders.
Record: 12-3 (1-0).


January 11, 2014
Lafayette 71, Bucknell 54
The Bison do a fine job of defending our guards and wings. They hold Hubert Song to 9 points, Billy Weiler to 6, and Alvaro Kinard to 5. If you tell me before a game that the three of them will score only 20 points combined, I'll predict we will lose the game.

Venceslás Castillo has other ideas. Flourishing now in his sixth man role, the Good King burns the Bison for 17 points in 21 minutes. He also pulls in 7 rebounds, one below team leader James Sanders' 8. The Big Colonel is our only other double-digit scorer with 10.

Bucknell's high scorer is guard Devin Switzer, a walk-on who has started every game of the season and leads the team in minutes played.
Record: 13-3 (2-0).


January 12, 2014
Our four-game winning streak earns us a return to the Mid-Major Top 25, but barely. We're at #25.

The top-ranked Mid-Major is undefeated Northern Iowa. The Panthers, 18-0, earned every first place vote, and they're #5 in the overall Top 25.


January 15, 2014
Lafayette 75, Navy 67
The Midshipmen often play us tough, and tonight is no exception. Down 12 with 14 minutes to play, they close the gap to three before we make some foul shots down the stretch.

We shoot better from distance than we do from closer range, making 12 of our 25 three-point attempts while shooting only 42.6% overall. Hubert Song rediscovers his shooting touch and pours in 27, including 6-8 from three. Billy Weiler scores 10 points and hands out 6 assists, and Clark Nolan's 10 rebounds include 5 off the offensive glass.

We are alone at the top of the Patriot League in the early going. Colgate (2-1) has beaten both American (1-1 in the league) and Holy Cross (1-2), and nearly beat us, too.
Record: 14-3 (3-0).


January 18, 2014
Lafayette 83, Lehigh 78
I wonder if Alvaro Kinard angered the basketball deities with his celebration of his game-winning bucket against Brown. Since that night, he's been in a horrific slump, not getting many good shots and not making many of the ones he gets.

Meanwhile, Venceslás Castillo has turned his game up a notch. I decide to move Castillo into the starting lineup for our rivalry game at Lehigh, shifting Kinard to the sixth man role.

Venceslás and Alvaro make me look very smart. The Spanish sophomore, who now packs 245 pounds of muscle on his 6'8" frame, records an imperious double-double, with career highs of 17 points and 12 rebounds. The brash freshman from NYC scores 10 points as the first man off our bench.

Billy Weiler also records a career high with 19 points to lead our scorers, with Hubert Song adding an efficient 17.

We don't play very well defensively, but Lehigh gives us a chance to make up for it by putting us on the free throw line an outrageous number of times. We shoot 45 foul shots, making 31 of them. Weiler goes 10-11 from the stripe.
Record: 15-3 (4-0).


January 19, 2014
We remain at #25 in the Mid-Major poll.


January 25, 2014
Lafayette 85, Holy Cross 71
Holy Cross's struggles in Patriot League play continue, as we travel up to Worcester and pull away in the second half for a comfortable victory.

The Crusaders can't handle James Sanders. His post moves result in baskets or fouls, which he converts into points at the free throw line. Going 5-8 from the floor and 8-10 from the line, our massive center finishes with 18 points.

Our next high scorer is Venceslás Castillo with 16, and Alvaro Kinard follows with 14. Both players seem to thrive in their new roles. Clark Nolan pitches in with 10 points of his own.

On a night when Hubert Song (9 points, 3-10 shooting) is cold, a teammate--or two or three or four--pick up the slack. I'm starting to really, really like this team. :)

Fun fact: 6'0" Billy Weiler has blocked twice as many shots this season as 6'11" James Sanders. Billy has rejected two shots. James has, amazingly, only turned back ONE. The Big Colonel is actually not much of a shot blocker. He recorded only eight blocks in 2012/13.
Record: 16-3 (5-0).


January 26, 2014
We move up one spot to #24 in the Mid-Major Top 25. While other teams move around quite a bit, we remain in about the same place every week.


January 28, 2014
Lafayette 69, Army 56
I was worried that this might be a trap game for us, coming between a trip to Holy Cross and a home date with American. The boys reassure me with a fine first half performance which they ride to a tidy victory.

Hubert Song is in tune again tonight, nearly matching Army's high-scoring Jack Jessie with 17 points (to JJ's 18). Alvaro Kinard (13) and Venceslás Castillo (11) join Song in double digits, and Billy Weiler distributes the ball well and finishes with 6 assists.
Record: 17-3 (6-0).


January 31, 2014
This is how the Patriot League standings look at the end of January.

That's a comfortable 3 game lead - knock on wood - and I'm glad to see the Good King (my own personal favorite Leopard) back in the lineup. Excited to see if Lien puts up video game numbers for you guys at the college level, too.

The other good teams in the Patriot League keep beating each other, and that's been very helpful for us. Plus, nobody in the league has been so bad that teams can count on a W when they see them on the schedule.

I'm a big fan of Castillo, too, ever since I began recruiting him. It's interesting; we seem to play with a bit more style when The Good King starts. Being introduced with the starting lineup seems to bring out the best in Venceslás. And Alvaro Kinard has been very effective coming off the bench. I'm going to roll with this lineup for a while.

Venceslás is officially listed as a "small forward," but there is nothing small about him. He's 6'8", and he's bulked up to 248 pounds. This is quite the Clydesdale lineup:

James Sanders: 6'11", 321
Clark Nolan: 6'9", 260
Venceslás Castillo: 6'8", 248
Hubert Song: 6'4", 220
Billy Weiler: 5'11", 209

Rhett King (6'9", 260) and Dana Broughton (6'6", 226) are two of the first three men off the bench. Armando Brown (6'0", 201) is solid. Kinard (6'5", 189) seems almost frail by comparison.

I hope we scouted Joe Lien fairly accurately, because his ratings suggest he could score just about anywhere. That 77 for INS is sweet, and his JPS and 3PT aren't bad, either. Our staff are mediocre scouts, so I won't believe the numbers until Joe arrives on campus. I believe I read somewhere that once a player joins your team, you see his actual ratings.

Thanks for stopping by, Izulde.

February 1, 2014
Lafayette 65, American 34
Yes, you read that correctly.

We play well defensively, but American are just plain awful tonight. Even if we don't score a single point in the second half, the game would go into overtime.

Victor Reed, the Patriot League's leading scorer, took nine shots, missed them all, and finished with zero points. Despite the shutout, Victor is still averaging 19.4 per game. That's how productive he's been this season.

James Sanders and Billy Weiler drop in 15 apiece for us. Hubert Song manages "only" 10, but that's 10 more than the man he's guarding. Venceslás Castillo rips down 12 boards, missing a double-double by a single bucket. All in all, it's a hugely satisfying performance.
Record: 18-3 (7-0).


February 2, 2014
I don't get how the Mid-Major Top 25 poll works. We beat a conference opponent by 31 points and FALL one spot in the rankings, back to #25. Perhaps it's because the Patriot League is such a meh conference. Holy Cross (14-7) is the only other team in our league with a winning record.


February 5, 2014
Lafayette 58, Bucknell 54
The Bison had moved into sole possession of second place in the league, and this game resembles a clash between Number One and Number Two. Our defense has been very good all season long--we're #23 in the nation in fewest points allowed--and in a tough away game, it comes through once again.

Clark Nolan finishes with 10 points and 11 rebounds, sharing the scoring honors with Armando Brown. Armando makes all four of his shots and goes 2-4 from the line. He adds two steals, grabs two rebounds, and commits a turnover. He's named Player of the Game for his scoresheet-filling performance...and he plays only six minutes! I've never seen anything like that. I feel a little sorry for Clark, who battles the Bisons' tough big men, Jason Grimmett and Damon Troyer, for 27 minutes, outplays both of them, and is eclipsed by Armando's meteoric moments.
Record: 19-3 (8-0).


February 8, 2014
Lafayette 75, Colgate 64
We sweep our season series with Colgate with another scrappy, unaesthetically pleasing win. The Red Raiders shoot much better than we do--they scorch us for a 54.5% percentage, while we are at 43.3%--but we squeeze off so many shots that we win on pure volume alone.

Hubert Song's scoring slump continues; he's a very ineffective 2-13 from the floor. Venceslás Castillo also takes 13 shots, but he makes more of them and finishes with 17 points. James Sanders scores 12, and Clark Nolan, our leading rebounder, does his thing with another 11 rebounds.

Rhett King gets hurt. He's diagnosed with Blurred Vision, and he'll be day-to-day for about a week.

Like I said, it's an ugly win, but good teams manage to get a few of those every year.
Record: 20-3 (9-0).


February 9, 2014
We finally move up in the Mid-Major poll, achieving a season-best #22 ranking. However, when I peek at the Bubble Watch, I see that we're listed as Out. I have to filter the results to show only Patriot League teams in order to discover our status.

Our schedule hasn't been strong, and that's probably part of the problem. Our RPI is 88. We've played only three teams in the top 100, and we've gone 1-3 against them. We've run the table, 19-0, against teams ranked 101 and below.


February 12, 2014
Lafayette 70, Lehigh 62
We celebrate the 205th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln with another win that brings to mind the less-than-elegant style of the Great Emancipator.

Rhett King's injury causes me to shorten our bench quite a bit. Six guys play the vast majority of the game. Five of them score in double figures: Hubert Song (10), Alvaro Kinard (11), James Sanders (13), Billy Weiler (15), and the magisterial Good King (15). Castillo adds 13 rebounds, Sanders 9, and Weiler 8.

I don't like the fact we turned the ball over 20 times, but we forced the Mountain Hawks into 22 turnovers of their own.

We've clinched a share of the Patriot League championship. Holy Cross is 5-4 in league play; they would have to win out while we lose four straight to split the title with us.
Record: 21-3 (10-0).


February 15, 2014
Lafayette 72, Navy 53
Graham Sims and his Lafayette Leopards sew up their first Patriot League championship with an emphatic win over Navy at the Kirby Center.

We return to the form that carried us through the early part of the season, characterized by stout defense, opportunistic offense, and the dominant presence of Hubert Song. The sophomore nails 6 of his 9 three-point attempts and scores 24 points, adding 6 rebounds.

The team's celebration of its championship is muted somewhat by the injury of Venceslás Castillo. The Good King sprained his knee, and he'll be day-to-day for a little over a week. Venceslás will make the trip out to Seattle, where we have a non-conference game, but he won't play.
Record: 22-3 (11-0).


February 16, 2014
We've made it all the way up to #20 in the Mid-Major poll.


February 17, 2014
Lafayette 66, Seattle 44
The Redhawks have struggled this season; they enter today's game with an 8-18 record. Their signature win is a 78-63 defeat of a decent Virginia team. Even without Venceslás Castillo, we look good in a decisive victory.

The star is senior guard Billy Weiler, who continues to play the best basketball of his Lafayette career. His 16 points come on 7-for-11 shooting, and he hands out four assists while committing only one turnover. That kind of guard play wins games, and championships.

Hubert Song and Alvaro Kinard score 13 apiece, and I don't push Castillo far enough down the depth chart to keep him completely off the floor. He sees a single minute of action and claims a rebound.
Record: 23-3 (11-0).


February 22, 2014
Holy Cross 68, Lafayette 63
Our dream of a perfect Patriot League season are shattered by the Crusaders, who play a nearly flawless first half and hold off our spirited attempt at a comeback.

We have trouble with sophomore point guard Dominick Hinman, whose 23 points lead all scorers. Billy Weiler deserves a better Senior Night than this. He misses all eight of his field goal attempts and gets into foul trouble trying to stop Hinman.

Hubert Song leads us with 18 points. James Sanders adds 14, and Venceslás Castillo returns to the starting lineup with 11.
Record: 23-4 (11-1).


February 23, 2014
Our loss causes us to drop a spot in the Mid-Major poll; now we're at #21.


February 26, 2014
Lafayette 68, Army 44
It doesn't take long for us to return to regular service, as we trounce the Black Knights by 24 points on their home court.

Jack Jessie scores 20 points, but he needs 22 shots to do so. Our Hubert Song is a bit more efficient, matching Jessie's total with "only" 16 shots, and he finds his teammates for a career-high seven dimes.

The two high-scoring guards are the only players in double figures.

I tweak the starting lineup a bit, going with Weiler, Song, Kinard, Castillo, and Sanders,, while bringing Nolan off the bench.
Record: 24-4 (12-1).


March 1, 2014
American 75, Lafayette 74
Victor Reed sinks a three-pointer with 19 seconds remaining to give the Eagles a come-from-behind victory in his final regular season home game. We have a chance to snatch the honors back from the Eagles, but Clark Nolan's shot bounces off the rim. It's a sweet bit of revenge for the Eagles, and especially for Reed; you may remember the way we held him scoreless in our first matchup, exactly a month ago.

Reed finishes with a much more typical 22 points. Patrick Robinson directs the American offense like a maestro. The reigning Player of the Year in our conference, Patrick records a double-double: 12 points and 13 assists, while turning the ball over only twice.

Nolan returns to the starting five and plays well, scoring 18 points. Hubert Song (16), Billy Weiler (13), and James Sanders (10) join him in double digits.
Record: 24-5 (12-2).

March 5, 2014
Patriot League Tournament
(1) Lafayette 68, (8) Navy 37
The Navy doesn't make it out of port today, falling behind 39-18 at halftime and never posing much threat to the #1 seed Leopards.

The Midshipmen discover that it's really hard to score if the other team steals the ball from you. We rack up 11 thefts, led by Billy Weiler's 4.

Hubert Song's 17 points lead all scorers. Alvaro Kinard comes off the bench for 15 more, hitting 5 of 7 shots. Venceslás Castillo hauls in 11 rebounds. He and James Sanders have each pulled in 181 for the season, but the Good King has played fewer minutes.

Bucknell and American win their opening round games, but 3 seed Holy Cross are upset by Army. We'll face the Bison next.
Record: 25-5.


March 8, 2014
Patriot League Tournament
(4) Bucknell 64, (1) Lafayette 61
Sometimes a basketball team does everything fairly well, and it loses because the other team did things just a bit better. That's what happens as Bucknell eliminate us from the Patriot League tournament.

We have the ball with 15 seconds left, which gives us a decent chance to send the game into overtime. Bucknell defends very well, however, and it's Venceslás Castillo who ends up taking the last shot, rather than Hubert Song, Billy Weiler, or Dana Broughton. Ideally, Alvaro Kinard would be high on that list, but he's already fouled out.

The Good King misses from the right corner, and the Bison advance. They'll face American, who beat Army by 33 points.

Song (15 points) and Kinard (12) are our high scorers. Castillo falls one pont and one rebound short of another double-double.

Now it's time to see if the NCAA Tournament selection committee will be kind to us. According to the Bubble Watch, we won't be invited to the dance.
Record: 25-6.


March 14, 2014
Bucknell makes up a seven-point halftime deficit to beat American, 79-64, and win the Patriot League tournament. The Bison claim the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Guard Moses Washington, who played very well against us, was the star for the Bison again today.


March 16, 2014
We accept an invitation to the NIT, as the #4 seed in the West Region. Our opponent will be #5 seed Western Michigan, and we'll play them at home on March 20.

Bucknell will have to survive a play-in game against Middle Tennessee in the NCAA West Region.

American barely sneaks into the CBI; as the #15 seed, they'll take on St. Mary's.

The CIT chose Holy Cross as its #2 seed, and they'll play Belmont in the first round.


March 20, 2014
NIT West Region, First Round
(4) Lafayette 67, (5) Western Michigan 55

Western Michigan are a very good team. Their 25-6 record is identical to ours, and they went 13-2 in the MAC, a significantly tougher conference than the Patriot League. The Broncos are currently #21 in the Mid-Major Top 25, and we've fallen out of the poll.

Their best player is PG Harvey Rager, a senior who averages 21.1 points and 4.1 assists per game, leading his conference in both categories. SG Robert DeAngelo is a decent complementary scorer, and PF Georg Rothmeyer will battle hard under both baskets.

Stopping Rager (whose name I would like to pronounce as "one who rages") is the key to winning the game, and we do a good job of that. We hold him to 11 points on 4-13 shooting.

The bigger story, however, is the dominance of the Big Colonel. "I would like to rage," says James Sanders, and he inflicts 28 points of damage on the Broncos. James goes 10-17 from the floor and 8-12 from the line, and claims 9 rebounds.

Hubert Song contributes 14 points, and Clark Nolan leads all rebounders with 11.

Sanders' big night seals our spot in the next round, where we'll face top-seeded Stanford.
Record: 26-6.


March 22, 2014
NIT West Region Semifinal
(1) Stanford 77, (4) Lafayette 59
The Cardinal, with their 79 prestige and All-American candidates Barry Tobar and Miguel Brito, are simply too much for us to handle today. High-flying wing Tobar scores 20 points, and bruising big man Brito dominates the backboards, grabbing 14 boards.

Billy Weiler, playing his final collegiate game, leads us in scoring with 16 points. Sixth man Alvaro Kinard finishes with 11, and Hubert Song, who was locked down by defensive stopper Alonzo DeLoach, netted 10.

It's not the result we want, but we can leave the court with our heads held high.

Holy Cross is the only Patriot League team still playing, advancing as expected to the second round of the CBI. Bucknell lost their play-in, and American was eliminated by St. Mary's.
Record: 26-7.

April 1, 2014
Holy Cross falls at the last hurdle in the CIT, losing 83-75 to South Alabama in the championship game.

The NIT championship matchup is set. Missouri defeats Cincinnati to earn one spot in the final, while Maryland edges UCLA, 54-52, to take the other. They'll play on April 3.


April 3, 2014
In a battle of #3 seeds, Maryland beats Missouri, 63-49, to win the NIT championship.


April 7, 2014
Illinois are the 2014 NCAA champions, beating Michigan State, 99-85, in a high-scoring final contest.

Keith Lahr, usually a distributor, turns scorer, dropping a career-high 28 on the Spartans. All five Michigan State starters score in double figures, led by junior C Lyndon Chen, who announces he will enter the draft. Chen will almost certainly be a lottery pick.

The Fighting Illini beat Louisville in their Final Four matchup, while Michigan State sent Marquette, a #10 seed Cinderella, home.

Here's one last look at the Patriot League standings:

While we set a new Patriot League record for wins in a season, our end-of-season RPI isn't as high as American's was in either 2012 or 2013.

The Patriot League awards are announced today, too.

American's senior backcourt pair, Victor Reed and Patrick Robinson, add more accolades to their distinguished records. I'd be lying if I said I haven't enjoyed trying to beat them, and I wish both of them well as they continue their careers.

Hubert Song earns a well-deserved spot on the All-Conference second team, after his second productive season in a row. He should become the first of our players to score his 1000th point, sometime early next season.

But how on earth does James Sanders not beat out at least one of the centers? When I post our stats in a moment, you should see what I mean.

I'm delighted with Alvaro Kinard's freshman honors, too. I can see how Justin Ceaser might have a case for Freshman of the Year, but I'm glad AK took the prize.

And I'm also delighted with Coach Sims's first postseason honor. :)

April 7, 2014

As promised, the 2013/14 Lafayette Leopards statistics.




The plus-minus stat probably has some flaws, but I like it as a quick measure of a player's contributions. Last year, we had seven plus players, led by Clark Nolan's 4.2. This year, every player who was on the court for more than five minutes earned a plus...and six of them were roughly as good as Nolan was last year, or better. In a few cases, much better. Our top five players rank 1-5 in the entire Patriot League in this category.

Several Leopards finish high in individual statistical categories:

• Hubert Song: 5th in PPG; 7th in APG; 3rd in 3PFG%; 3rd in SPG
• Clark Nolan: 5th in RPG
• Billy Weiler: 7th in APG; 3rd in FT%; 6th in A/TO ratio
• James Sanders: 9th in FG%; 8th in FT%; 7th in PPS
• Alvaro Kinard: 2nd in 3PFG%

The Big Colonel didn't rebound as well and had no shotblocking. I would have actually had Mallett 1st Team myself and then debated long and hard about whether Woods or Sanders should be 2nd Team. I notice the Colonel shot 44.2%. What percentage did Woods shoot? That'd probably be the decider for me - who was more efficient at shooting the ball.

Woods and Mallett both play for Holy Cross. Woods actually starts at center, and Mallett plays power forward. Woods didn't shoot much; he averaged right at five FGA per game, but he made 59.0% of them. You can't deny his efficiency.

Mallett was also a more accurate shooter, at 49.3%. So, unless you take into consideration that he wasn't actually playing center, Mallett is probably the right choice.

Sanders outplayed both Holy Cross big men both times he faced them, too. On January 25, the Big Colonel scored 18 points (5-8 from the floor) in our 85-71 victory. Woods (5 points) and Mallett (10) combined for 15, shooting 6-13 between them. Sanders blocked a shot, and neither Crusader big man did.

Holy Cross handed us our first Patriot League defeat on February 22. Mallett was injured and didn't play. Woods took only two shots in 32 minutes, making them both. He had 8 rebounds and was a dominant rim protector with 4 blocks. Sanders scored 14 (6-11), and had five rebounds.

I suppose I undervalue Woods and Mallett a bit because neither of them played a huge game against us. They're both good, but the game calls Mallett a center, even though he never actually plays there. Lenny Catlin, the Patriot League's first team PF, plays the three. And, for what it's worth, Charles Davis, the second team SF, starts for them at shooting guard.

They evidently haven't played enough at those spots for the game to reclassify their positions yet (perhaps they were at their original spots in previous years). For example, Marlin Chevalier came in listed as a PF, but after playing center pretty much exclusively for us, the game reclassified him as a CE.

I didn't know the game would do that. It still calls Clark Nolan a C, even though he started 32 out of 33 games for us, all at PF (Big Colonel is the center).

Perhaps I can retcon it as position-less balloting. It's as if the voters are picking the ten most effective players in the league, and then slotting them into the five-man units they'd choose if they had all ten guys on one team. I suppose I can live with that, even when a favorite player loses out. One of these years, a Leopard will benefit from this system. :)

2013/14 Senior Tribute

GARY POOLER

Gary was a guard from Rib Lake, Wisconsin, recruited by Coach Sims's predecessor. In three years, Gary played roughly the equivalent of one game of basketball for us: 28 minutes, spread out over 16 appearances. He made a free throw as a sophomore, and sunk a basket as a senior. Only the most hardcore Leopards fan would recognize his name.

But Gary Pooler did something thousands of boys grow up dreaming they'll one day do: he earned a scholarship to play Division I basketball. He played for four years and started on his Senior Night. His teams played in three different post-season tournaments, and he got on the court in an NCAA tournament game. How many young men make this many of their athletic dreams come true?

Rib Lake is a village in Taylor County, Wisconsin. About 900 people live there. Gary Pooler is probably the best player in the history of Rib Lake High School's basketball program. A photo of his signing ceremony graced the front page of the local newspaper. Gary's jersey hangs in the school's athletic trophy case. Rib Lake has to combine with another school to assemble enough boys for a football team. Gary was a very good football player, too, and he ran track in the spring. Back in Rib Lake, Gary Pooler is a star.

Gary could have played Division III basketball and been a major contributor to his team. He was quick and fairly athletic, with a decent handle and the willingness to play defense. Instead, he chose to come to Lafayette, where he worked hard in practice, dressed for games, supported his teammates and made them better players. That's an honorable way to spend four years.


Thanks for the memories, Gary.

2013/14 Senior Tribute

BASTIAN HIRT

Bastian Hirt came from Recklinghausen, Germany to enroll at Lafayette College. He walked on to the basketball team as a junior and basically took a redshirt year, practicing with the team and developing his skills. Bastian's strength and hustle earned him some meaningful playing time in his first year; he appeared in every game and averaged about eight minutes an appearance.

As several of Lafayette's frontcourt players gained ability and experience, Bastian's playing time declined. To his credit, he didn't complain. He started on his Senior Night, scoring two points, grabbing three rebounds, and getting a steal in eight productive minutes.


Thanks for the memories, Bastian.

2013/14 Senior Tribute

BILLY WEILER

Billy Weiler was a Philly kid out of Central Casting. He played tough, with a touch of swagger. Listed at 5'11", Billy wasn't that tall. Listed at 209 pounds, Billy was possibly a bit heavier. He was surprisingly quick, however, and he was a reliable ballhandler. While he was never our primary scoring option, he could make teams pay if they didn't guard him. Billy didn't look much like a college point guard, but he could play like one.

His almost complete lack of defensive nous was his Achilles heel, one that caused us to come up with creative ways to stop talented point guards. Still, Billy got the keys to Graham Sims' team as a sophomore and drove it to a 64-34 record in three seasons. His scrappy, lunch-pail style will be missed around the Lafayette program.

He finishes his eligibility as a Green/Green player, fully realizing his potential. His last basket gave him exactly 800 points in his three-season collegiate career.


Thanks for the memories, Billy.

May 1, 2014

Look who brought in the best recruiting class in the Patriot League...


Joe Lien is the #117 player in the nation, and he's clearly the best incoming freshman in the Patriot League. Three teams in our conference landed a three-star player, and Joe is good enough to lift us over American and Bucknell into the top spot...even though they both recruited at least one two-star player and we did not.

Joe arrives on campus as a Yellow/Blue player, so the hype may be real.

Papillon Lecroix is an early candidate for the Patriot League All-Name Team. My French isn't very good, but isn't that The Butterfly Cross?

My mouth fell open when I saw our budget for 2014/15. We have $361,474 to spend this year! If I decide to keep our current coaching staff, our recruiting budget will be $25,803/month...about $11,000 more than we had last season. Perhaps it's time to hire more accomplished assistant coaches.

Our prestige has gone up two more points, to 35. American (42) and Holy Cross (37) still rank higher than we do, although we've closed the gap on the Crusaders a bit more. After us comes Bucknell (28), and the other Patriot League programs are all in the teens.

The conference prestige of the Patriot League goes up even more significantly, however. We're now a Prestige 3 conference, rather than a Prestige 1. We're now considered on the level of the Big West, the Colonial Athletic Association, the Horizon League, and the MAC.

This spring, Coach Sims gets his first chance to change jobs, within the "rules" I created for this dynasty. Drexel is looking for a new coach. They play in the CAA, and their Prestige is 57. On the surface, this looks like a real step forward. However, their budget is just a bit higher than ours. I like the team we've put together at Lafayette, so I decide to turn Drexel's offer down. If Graham keeps winning, he'll get other chances.

South Carolina, Charlotte, and Virginia Commonwealth also make job offers, but since none of these schools are in Pennsylvania, they're easy "nos."

The caliber of schools that offered Graham jobs this spring makes me wonder if his coaching stats have improved. They haven't; he's still right where he was when I created him. However, all three of his assistants have improved.



Coaches Manion, McClinton, and Liang offer more bang for their buck now. I might have checked to see if our enhanced budget would allow us to lure even more talented assistants to our program, but I clicked past the Assistant Coach Round by mistake. It looks like we're keeping things the way they are for at least one more year.

We don't have any transfer activity this spring.

July 1, 2014

Here are your 2014/15 Lafayette College Leopards!


Three players from Graham Sims' first recruiting class--now juniors--have been starters from the moment they arrived on campus. Guard Hubert Song, forward Venceslás Castillo, and center James Sanders need no introduction to anyone who's followed Leopards basketball for the last three years.

Two of the three will assume new roles this season. Song will inherit the point guard position from graduated Billy Weiler. The Good King will line up at power forward, with the Big Colonel remaining in the pivot.

Sophomore Alvaro Kinard, who shuttled between the starting five and the sixth man role, will open the season as a starter on the wing.

The fifth starter will be highly regarded freshman Joe Lien. Joe was a prolific high school scorer; will he be able to put points on the board at this level, too? We think so, and he'll be a focal point of our offense...as long as he keeps his grades up. His low Academics rating is cause for concern.

Senior Clark Nolan and junior Rhett King will be the reserve big men. Neither will represent a huge step down from the starters, especially Nolan. Senior sharpshooter Dana Broughton and sophomore defensive specialist Armando Brown will feature prominently as subs on the perimeter, with senior Willard Davis and freshman Justin Judkins competing for playing time as well.

August 1, 2014

There are five senior scholarship players on this year's roster. That large recruiting budget will come in handy.

Three of our seniors are bigs: Clark Nolan, Donnie Pope, and Lewis Hewett. Dana Broughton is a wing, and Willard Davis is a point guard. Nolan and Broughton are the only members of the Class of 2015 who have played significant minutes.

I try to maintain a good positional balance among our scholarship players, and I used to simply recruit direct replacements for our graduates. But now I'm thinking about recruiting in a more nuanced way. I look more closely at the players in our freshman and sophomore classes. How many players do we have in those classes who are good enough to start? Are there positions where we don't have a starter-caliber player who's that young?

Our projected starting five includes three juniors, a sophomore, and a freshman. SF/SG Alvaro Kinard and SG/PG Joe Lien are our underclass starters. I'd like to have ready replacements for James Sanders, Venceslás Castillo, and Hubert Song in the fall of 2016. If we recruit them THIS year, they'll have a year to develop before we ask them to start.

It's clear, then, that we need to recruit two post players and one guard this year. If we see a third big man we like, we'll go after him, and I'll look at a wing player for the fifth scholarship.

Among the first players I've evaluated is Roderick Gove, from Levittown, NY. He initially caught my eye because he's making 97(!!) percent of his free throws. But Roderick can do more than sink charity tosses.


Roderick seems to be interested in staying close to the Big Apple, and he holds an offer from Manhattan already. But there's no way I can pass on a player with potentials like that. If those ratings are CLOSE to accurate, Gove is an elite scorer in the making, a superb athlete, and the kind of defender I like to recruit. He's not a pure point guard, but I don't care. I take every possible recruiting action with Roderick: a scholarship offer, an invitation to our campus, and a visit from Graham Sims and Steven Manion.

I see several intriguing big men, too. One of them is Johnathon Blouin, the first player on our list when I sort them by Interest level.


I like the fact that Johnathon makes a high percentage of his shots, grabs rebounds, and blocks shots. None of his scouted ratings leap off the page at you, but I sense there's a solid player there.

Alphonse Johnson, from Long Island, is an old-school center who treats the paint like it's his personal property.


In high school ball, he's an opportunistic scorer, but his potential as a force at the defensive end that catches my eye.

Raleigh McGinty is not as highly regarded as the players you've just met. He's a one-star recruit, possibly because he's not an elite athlete. But Raleigh understands that the basketball team that scores the most points wins the game, and he's very, very good at scoring points.


Right now, Raleigh is our secret. I'm going to offer him a scholarship and rush him hard. Let's see if we can lock up one member of our class right away.

We might have found another hidden gem in Richard Leak, a playmaking guard from Massachusetts.


Richard drops dimes all day long and takes care of the ball. He doesn't show signs of being much of a scorer, but the scoring guard role at Lafayette looks to be in Joe Lien's hands for the next four years. We have the cash to splash on an all-out recruiting effort for Richard, too, complete with a scholarship offer.

I decide to offer Johnson and Blouin, too. Let's see if the early bird can catch some worms.

October 1, 2014

Very little changed with regard to our recruiting efforts by September 1, so I went ahead and did another month's worth of work on the players we've targeted.

As I expected, we're in a two-way contest with Manhattan for the commitment of Roderick Gove. Their prestige is higher (45), and their head coach's recruiting ability is comparable to Graham's. The prudent approach would be to withdraw from the field, but I'd really, really like to sign Roderick. I'm going to send Coaches Sims and Manion to visit him again; it's all I can do at this point.

I have some thinking to do regarding Alphonse Johnson, too. He holds two offers besides ours: Columbia and St. Francis-NY. Their programs aren't as prestigious as ours, and they're located closer to his New York home. Alphonse says he has an Average interest in our program.

Johnathan Blouin's recruitment blew up last month. He received offers from Pennsylvania and Seton Hall. Both have us beat for Prestige--especially the Hall--but JB still lists us as his first choice. Perhaps he remembers we liked him first. Both coaches will visit him this month, doing all they can to make sure we stay tops on his list.

We're still the only school looking at Raleigh McGinty. If the high-scoring big man wants to end the recruiting process quickly, he'll probably say "yes" to us this month. Perhaps he wants to wait and see if other suitors come calling. We'll find out soon, and in the meantime, we'll keep the recruiting efforts strong.

Our last recruiting target, Richard Leak, is also still a Lafayette exclusive. Hopefully another month of our attention will convince him to give us a commitment.

It's time to fish or cut bait with Alphonse, and I've decided to take option two. I wouldn't have withdrawn my offer if I didn't have a player in mind who brings a lot of the same things to the table. Meet Samuel Davis.


He lacks Johnson's touch around the basket and he's not as athletic, but he's a lot more interested in playing for us. Samuel has an offer from Liberty in his hand, but he's a smart young man. Surely he can see we have more to offer him (with the sole exception of a location very close to home). And speaking of offering him, that's what we do this month.

November 1, 2014

Three players to whom we've offered scholarships make their decisions this month, and two of them choose Lafayette.

First, a quick farewell to the one who gets away. Roderick Gove will be playing his college ball at Manhattan. I'll content myself with the fact that fitting him and Joe Lien into the same backcourt wouldn't have been easy, since there's only one basketball in the game at a time.

I'd rather spend time talking about the two players we do sign.

Richard Leak will make his way down from Ludlow, Massachusetts to join us next season. He is a pass-first, make-his-teammates-better point guard with a delightful 5.22:1 A/TO ratio. He doesn't project to be a lockdown defender, but he's not lazy at that end of the floor, either, and he's athletic enough to be disruptive.

Raleigh McGinty has the potential to be the kind of high-scoring big man we haven't had since Robert Castleman graduated. Raleigh creates his own scoring opportunities with ease in high school, and he's a good enough shooter to force opponents to guard him away from the basket.

He'll need a partner to do some of the dirty work in the post, but that's where we hope Johnathan Blouin will come in handy. Johnathan eliminates Seton Hall from his list of schools, so it's down to us and Pennsylvania, and we are in the pole position. Let's get this done.

Our pursuit of Samuel Davis goes well, too. He now prefers our offer to Liberty's, and we're hoping one more month's worth of attention will persuade him to sign.

We have a scholarship available to offer again. Let's take a closer look at big Otis Hall.

Yes, I know Otis is a one-star recruit. But look at the way he fills a scoresheet: 20 points, 13 rebounds, better than three blocks and steals per game. This young man is a basketball player.

He'll need an incredible amount of work on conditioning, but we can afford to be patient with him...especially if we sign three other big guys in his class. It's also not ridiculous to envision Otis as a "small" forward; he's comfortable with the ball in his hands, and he's rather quick for a seven-footer. Let's make him an offer and recruit him to the max, and see what happens.

I set our training for the month--with a heaping helping of academic tutoring for Joe Lien--and prepare for the beginning of the season.

November 9, 2014

Here's how preseason training went for our players:


A few highlights:

• Hubert Song is adding the ability to lock down opposing guards to his skill set, and his handle is better, too. He's now a Green/Blue player who looks to be ready to run the point for us.
• James Sanders, now a Green/Green player, has sharpened his game considerably. The Big Colonel should be able to command the post at both ends of the floor with increased authority.
• Venceslás Castillo and Clark Nolan, now Yellow/Yellow, have become especially ferocious rebounders.
• Alvaro Kinard's length and athleticism should enable him to create more disruption and cause more turnovers. Alvaro is now Yellow/Green.
• Joe Lien, already a Yellow/Blue player, looks like he's the real deal.
• Freshman Justin Judkins impressed the staff with his efforts in conditioning drills, and he looks much more ready for college ball

.

Let the season begin!

November 16, 2014
Lafayette 78, Gardner Webb 75
Our opening game of the season sees us come from behind against a tough Big South opponent.

The Joe Lien era begins in fine style. The freshman guard leads all scorers with 18 points, snags seven rebounds, and hands out three assists; he's a worthy Player of the Game selection. Hubert Song (14), Alvaro Kinard (11) and Clark Nolan (10) join Joe in double figures.

It's hard to feel too good right now, though. James Sanders exited the game at the 14:19 mark of the first half with an injury and did not return to action. It's a Broken Rib (capitalized), and he'll be out for 18 days or so. Clark Nolan will start at center in Sanders' absence.
Record: 1-0.


November 18, 2014
Lafayette 75, UMBC 71
Minus the Big Colonel, we open up a nice halftime advantage and let the Retrievers back in the game.

Hubert Song reminds us that Joe Lien isn't the only talented guard in Lafayette colors. The junior from Fiorello LaGuardia High in NYC plays a beautifully well-rounded game: 19 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists. Hubert's classmate, Venceslás Castillo, puts the power in power forward with an 18-point, 13-rebound performance.

Lien tosses in 18 points of his own, as the Leopards offense continues to operate on all cylinders.
Record: 2-0.


November 21, 2014
Lafayette 76, Binghamton 53
We don't usually allow teams to score 70 points on us, so the results of the first two games were a tiny bit puzzling. This defensive effort was much more like we're used to seeing in Leopardland.

The partnership of Hubert Song and Joe Lien continues to thrive. Tonight, they combine to shoot 10-for-15 from three point range and score 46 points between them: 25 for Hubert and 21 from Joe.

Dana Broughton is our next high scorer with 9 off the bench. At some point, a team is probably going to find a way to slow our guards down. Right now we don't seem to have a Plan B, but so far, we haven't needed one.
Record: 3-0.


November 26, 2014
Lafayette 84, St. Peter's 76
We score 47 points by the intermission, but we allow St. Peter's to score nearly as many points in the first half (48) as we allowed Binghamton in a full forty minutes. While both teams' scoring pace slows down in the second half, ours fades a little bit less.

The Peacocks contain Hubert Song better than any team we've faced this year. Hubert only takes eight shots and finishes with 10 points, including 5-6 from the line. However, Joe Lien hits his scoring average--19 points--on the button, and with double-figure assistance from Venceslás Castillo (13), Dana Broughton (12), Rhett King (10), and Song, we once again score enough to win. King notches a double-double, as he pulls in 11 rebounds.

I'm a little concerned about Alvaro Kinard. He's shooting only 43.5% for the season, averaging just over 7 points a game. Maybe it's a case of there only being so many shots to go around, but I'd like to see AK have a big, confidence-boosting game.
Record: 4-0.


November 28, 2014
Temple 82, Lafayette 69
The Owls are simply too deep and too good for us, especially today. They have a Green/Green player and a four-star freshman coming off their bench. Clark Nolan and Alvaro Kinard both get in foul trouble, and we simply don't have enough in reserve to stay in the game for long.

Rhett King impresses me again, recording 13 points and 11 boards off the bench. Hubert Song, scores 17...and Joe Lien drills 5-of-7 treys and finishes with a game-high 23.

Now the third-highest scoring freshman in the country, Joe looks like he'll be every bit the offensive threat we thought he'd be when we recruited him. (David Sullivan of St. John's, the #3 recruit in the nation, and Christopher Weise of Southern are the players ahead of Lien.)
Record: 4-1.


November 30, 2014
Lafayette 80, Long Island 70
James Sanders has been upgraded to day-to-day status, at 90% of full health. I don't want to risk him in a non-conference game, so he sits out again. We don't need him, as we sink 12 of our 26 three-point attempts in a nice road win.

Joe Lien is now the top-scoring freshman in Division I basketball. His 27 points include 6-10 from long distance. Hubert Song, playing the wingman role to a T, scores 17 points and fills the scoresheet in other positive ways: 3 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals. Dana Broughton shoots a perfect 3-3 from the floor and 4-4 from the line and cashes in 10 points. Venceslás Castillo adds 11 points and 9 rebounds.

We catch up with Desmond White, whom I recruited last year. He comes off the bench to play 20 minutes, scoring 5 points with 3 assists and a steal.
Record: 5-1.