Pick your team ...

Bucky

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Thanks JC! I tried to balance out the roster a bit more than in years past, hah. Fun thought experiment though. Too bad they don’t have a college basketball game anymore. I’d like to see our squads face off!
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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after the opening game for every team (and some have already played two), i thought i’d check and see how my guys are doing …

Team 1:
Kyle Filipowski is making a strong case for national PoY. he’s scored 25 in both games while shooting lights out and pulling down 7.5 boards.
at my other big, Ben Gregg is providing energy, floor spacing, versatile defense, and a nose for the glass. off the bench, Braden Huff provides scoring punch (19 points and 9 rebounds in 20 minutes), while Wessels gives me beef and ruggedly physical production without running plays for him (9-11 shooting, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 8 fouls over 2 games) in 16 minutes per game.

on the wing, we’ve gotten bigger with Essegian’s injury. Payton Sandfort has exploded in response to being inserted into the starting lineup, averaging a double-double (19.5 ppg and 10.5 rpg) while shooting lights out from deep (over 40% from three). Tyler Wahl has been superb on both ends of the court, shooting over 70% from the floor in a complimentary offensive role and guarding the opponent’s best perimeter player.

at the point, Tyler Kolek has been quiet near-perfection. he doesn’t have to shoulder as much of a scoring load with this lineup, which frees up his floor generalship. Braden Smith has been brilliant off the bench (18 assists to just 5 turnovers through 2 games) and scoring at a nice clip.

with all that versatility, length, and firepower, it’s looking like we can redshirt gifted youngsters Stromer and Stojakovic.

Team 2:
Grant Nelson is looking like a first-team all-American. two games in, he’s averaging 22 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal while shooting over 63% from the floor in 27 minutes. Beast. Mode. Activated. Tyson Degenhart broke his nose in an exhibition game, so Mason Miller gets the nod to begin the season. he’s responded well, but has a lot of room to grow. Young and Lohner provide plenty of energy and physicality off the bench.

on the perimeter, Elijah Pepper is burning up the nets (22.5 ppg while shooting over 48%), and McCaffery is VERY disruptive at the top of our zone trap and has shouldered a bigger load on both ends of the floor after buying into the weight room ( over 16 ppg at better than 55% shooting). Pinion offers sharp shooting off the bench.

at the point, Aidan Mahaney is making a claim for all-American status, even though he plays with a bunch of Aussies. he doesn’t pass the eyeball test, but he’ll kick your ass just the same. he’s averaging 20 ppg at over 50% shooting.

it’s looking optimistic that we can redshirt Bradtke and Krajnovic.
 

Bucky

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BuckyU is in turmoil. Gus Bus has been sidelined for disciplinary reasons. He wants to party like the affletes at his Prep Academy..

Also I’m a year off on McNeeley so with JCs approval I’d like to add a Big in Vlad Goldin. The 7 footer would allow my Guard/Forward heavy roster some stability down low!
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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BuckyU is in turmoil. Gus Bus has been sidelined for disciplinary reasons. He wants to party like the affletes at his Prep Academy..

Also I’m a year off on McNeeley so with JCs approval I’d like to add a Big in Vlad Goldin. The 7 footer would allow my Guard/Forward heavy roster some stability down low!
responsibility is difficult, especially for those who are ill prepared. hopefully Gus turns his life around.

the transfer portal has changed the game. i’m sticking with my two real-life Badgers in Wahl and Essegian. they’re outstanding players and young men, and i’m confident they’ll turn it around. if they were really at Chitwood University, the culture of high expectations, accountability, and trust would help them through the good times and bad. stay strong, men.
 

El Gringo

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Feb 12, 2021
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Great stuff guys sorry I didn’t get my team in I’ve been busier than a fat girl at a pancake breakfast. Along with business My buddy and I finally drew two late season hunting tags for elk and deer that we’ve been putting in on for 10 years. This is good news for you guys though because my roster at the University of El Gringo Polytechnic would have no doubt dominated. I’ll try and get a underrated team in now that I have more time and review your guys rosters.
 
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Jimmy Chitwood

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Reed Sheppard of Kentucky has been named the SEC freshman of the week. Dick Vitale named his national “diaper dandy” of the week. he’s likely the best freshman in the country, and he’s certainly the best player on the otherwise-all-Upsider rotation for Calipari and the Wildcats.

someone else picked him for “their” team in the CF challenge, or he’d have been on my roster. kid looks like a Boy Scout but is an absolute monster. i’ll be surprised if the NBA doesn’t want him in the ‘24 draft.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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despite injuring his ankle in his tremendous outing at North Carolina, Dalton Knecht played against George Mason, though he was noticeably hobbled. his season averages took a bit of a beating due to the injury, but it showed A) that he’s a tough kid, and B) Tennessee is in BIG trouble without him.

on the season, the well put together, 6-foot-6 wing has been a scoring machine. he finally dips below 50% from the floor and 40% from 3-pt range after the GMU game (now at 49% and 39% respectively), but he’s still the dominant scorer in the SEC. with his size, skill, and bounce, he’s certainly caught the interest of the next level guys, though he’s still got a lot of room to improve (primarily with his ball handling and on-ball defense). he’s been a TERRIFIC story so far this year.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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the author ignores the obvious but at least asks the question: The Curious Case of Razorbacks’ Joseph Pinion This Year

to provide a more complete picture of this Caste System profile, the only time Pinion has gotten substantial run, he’s lit up the scoreboard. this season, he played 27 minutes in Arkansas’ Red-White game and scored 20 points on 7-8 shooting. that’s it. he’s played less than 30 minutes total the rest of the year. last season, he scored 13 (on 4-7 shooting) in 27 minutes against Missouri. that was it for last season’s significant game action.

when you watch him in the sparse minutes he does occasionally get, he is literally frozen out by his black teammates (they simply refuse to pass him the ball), and never gets to even touch it unless he gets a rebound or a steal.

Pinion is a 6-foot-5 (or 6) lights out shooter with a little bit of bounce and a tremendous feel for the game, yet “for some reason” he can’t get on the floor for a team that simply can’t shoot. not even a little bit. not a lick. and as for this “he can’t play defense” line, (even if it’s true, for which i have my doubts) have you seen the rest of Arkansas’ players? their entire defensive strategy is to hack and slap as an opposing player runs past them then hope to block the shot. hardly “lock down” stuff there.

the reality is that Musselman simply loathes White people. hell, he even married a negro. Pinion should’ve transferred last year or, better yet, never gone to Arkansas to begin with.
 

Freethinker

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the author ignores the obvious but at least asks the question: The Curious Case of Razorbacks’ Joseph Pinion This Year

to provide a more complete picture of this Caste System profile, the only time Pinion has gotten substantial run, he’s lit up the scoreboard. this season, he played 27 minutes in Arkansas’ Red-White game and scored 20 points on 7-8 shooting. that’s it. he’s played less than 30 minutes total the rest of the year. last season, he scored 13 (on 4-7 shooting) in 27 minutes against Missouri. that was it for last season’s significant game action.

when you watch him in the sparse minutes he does occasionally get, he is literally frozen out by his black teammates (they simply refuse to pass him the ball), and never gets to even touch it unless he gets a rebound or a steal.

Pinion is a 6-foot-5 (or 6) lights out shooter with a little bit of bounce and a tremendous feel for the game, yet “for some reason” he can’t get on the floor for a team that simply can’t shoot. not even a little bit. not a lick. and as for this “he can’t play defense” line, (even if it’s true, for which i have my doubts) have you seen the rest of Arkansas’ players? their entire defensive strategy is to hack and slap as an opposing player runs past them then hope to block the shot. hardly “lock down” stuff there.

the reality is that Musselman simply loathes White people. hell, he even married a negro. Pinion should’ve transferred last year or, better yet, never gone to Arkansas to begin with.
Musselman is a vile anti-White. He might have overthrown Mick “The Prick” Cronin as most self hating White coach in college hoops. Cronin has actually gotten slightly better since going to UCLA.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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Arkansas continues its run to the bottom, currently sitting at 10-9 overall and 12th in the SEC despite the (millions of dollars in) NIL money from its fan base. still, Musselman and his Upside Americans are playing hideously ugly basketball (like always) while also losing, apparently the only unforgivable sin in modern Merika.

that being said, in the Razorbacks most recent loss, a 26-point butt whipping to an at-best-average New Miss team, Joseph Pinion finally got some playing time for only the second time this season (22 minutes at Florida).

AND for the second time, Pinion played very, very well despite his “more affletic” teammates not sharing the ball. again getting 22 minutes off the bench, Pinion scored 10 points (on an ultra-efficient 3-6 shooting). a stellar offensive player, his scoring numbers should surprise no one.

what does defy the “experts” however, is his defensive performance. the “can’t play defense” Pinion finished with a game-high 3 blocked shots. he also chipped in 2 assists and a rebound. not bad considering he allegedly can’t do any of those things …

one wonders why the most effective, efficient, yet disregarded offensive player on the team can’t get more minutes for a team that is struggling mightily to score.

what reason could it be … ?
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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now that we’re deep into conference play, i wanted to do a quick update on how my teams are doing. here goes!

Team 1 (from a Power 5 conference):
Starting five -
Kyle Filipowski is a dominant force in the ACC, averaging almost 18 ppg, 8 rpg, 3 apg, 2 bog, and just over 1 steal while shooting 50% from the floor and 38% from 3-pt range. he’d be putting up better numbers if Duke was a better passing team.
Ben Gregg is exactly what i was hoping for: an active, high energy defender who can really run the floor and stretch opposing defenses with his 3-pt shooting. despite irregular minutes on a dysfunctional Gonzaga team this season, he’s averaging just over 8 ppg and 5 rpg while shooting over 50% from the floor.
Tyler Wahl is just a winner (he just won the 100th game of his Wisconsin career!) and does all the things that brings success to a team. a versatile defensive player, he’s also a versatile, highly efficient scorer, averaging over 11 ppg and 5 rpg, while shooting over 55% from the floor.
Payton Sandfort is an extremely long, pure gunner from deep, capable of taking over games when he gets hot, and a surprisingly tenacious rebounder. averaging over 14 ppg and almost 7 rpg, he’s shooting nearly 40% from 3-pt range.
Tyler Kolek is simply the best point guard in the game. averaging over 14 ppg and 7 apg, he’s also a plus defender (nearly 2 steals per game) and rebounder (nearly 5 rpg).

off the bench, Braden Smith (arguably the best point guard in the Big Ten) gets starter minutes. the “Little Ball of Hate” is a FIERCE competitor, as shown by his 5.5 rpg despite being only 6-feet tall. he’s also a dynamic playmaker with the ball, both for himself (nearly 12 ppg and over 42% from 3) and for his teammates (over 7 apg).
Connor Essegian has struggled with injuries and other (unknown to me) issues this year at Wisconsin.
Braden Huff is a skilled scoring big off the bench, providing offensive punch while having his defensive liabilities (hopefully) hidden. averaging over 10 ppg at over 61% shooting, he can score in bunches of he gets hot. i still need him to get in the weight room, though.
Harry Wessels gives me muscle (7-foot-1, 255 lbs) and efficiency (over 63% shooting) off the bench. he knows his role, and is capable of more if he continues working on his game.

i’m redshirting Dusty Stromer and Andrej Stojakovic.

Team 2 (from a mid-major conference):
Starting five -
Grant Nelson is my 6-foot-11 point forward. a do-everything skill set is featured (instead of fighting Upside Americans for opportunities like he’s doing at Alabama). in real life, he’s averaging over 12 ppg, 6rpg, 2 apg, and nearly 2 bpg.
Tyson Degenhart is killing opposing wings in the post as we invert our offense to take advantage of mismatches. he’s averaging nearly 16 ppg and over 5 rpg while shooting 50% from the floor.
Patrick McCaffrey has battled injuries and anxiety, but thankfully we’re strong at the wing.
Aidan Mahaney has struggled with his shot this year (39% from the floor), but he’s still a winning, productive player (over 14 ppg, nearly 3 rpg, better than 2 to 1 assist-to-turnover ratio).
Elijah Pepper has been KILLING it. averaging over 21 ppg and nearly 40% from 3-pt range, he’s picked up a lot of the scoring load. dude has improved defensively and on the glass, as well, averaging nearly 5 boards and 2 steals.

off the bench, and as an occasional starter, Mason Miller has filled in admirably with McCaffrey’s struggles. shooting 50% from the floor and 45% from deep, he keeps defenses from doubling Degenhart on the block, and his length and athleticism on the top of our press is very disruptive.
Ryan Young gives us energy, girth, leadership and good passing off the bench. he’s also a capable scorer (60% from the floor) when called upon.
Caleb Lohner is another high energy big with enough strength and athleticism to guard multiple spots.
Joseph Pinion is being blackballed in real life with the Arkansas Razorb(l)acks despite being a lights-out shooter (has shot 50+% in every game he’s played more than 10 minutes). on my team, he’d be getting minutes and touches and scoring in droves.

we’re redshirting Luka Krajnovic and Jensen Bradtke.
 
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