The Bulgarian Brothers – A College Hoops 2K8 & NBA 2K20 Dynasty

[studbucket]

It’s the day that all 5 members of the Dragomirov family have circled on their calendar - one that Stephanie has started calling the “Drago Derby.” Stephanie was, of course, decked out in all red to support her husband and she wheeled into her courtside seat behind the bench. It was tougher for the parents to choose though – Dragomir decided he would go completely neutral and showed up in a grey dress shirt with slacks, but Zhivka had a special shirt made that was red on one half and yellow on the other.

Both teams come into the game at .500, with Oggy and Northern Colorado sitting at 4-4, while Dinko and St. Francis are 3-3. On paper, the Bears look like the better team, due to the talent of seniors Delvon Jahnke and Donovin Mascoll. However, they have been up and down all season, and are on the road against a team with very solid leader at point guard.

The two brothers came together at the scorers’ table before the game, grinning broadly and teasing each other in Bulgarian. As the shook hands and slapped each other’s backs, even the players seemed small in comparison to them. A combined 13.5 feet and 500 pounds, these were big human beings. Oggy switched to English and loudly proclaimed “if I win, you wear a blue and yellow tie all season!” Dinko just smirked, wondering how that would go over with the fans.

It turns out it was a great night for those in red and white as the Red Flash pulled out to an early lead and never looked back. After a hectic start (quick turnovers from both team and Jahnke three), things settled down for a sloppy first few minutes with both teams looking like they were pressing instead of letting the game come to them.

Oggy made the first adjustment as he asked his defenders to start aggressively doubling Dinko’s boys, especially in the paint. St. Francis quickly started to figure this out and was moving the ball inside and out and found themselves up 19-12 after Casey Tyler hit an open corner three.

It looked a bit frantic at times, but the Red Flash managed to make their shots, even if the passes were sketchy, and on the other end the Bears were missing layups, playing small, and not playing well. At halftime, Dinko and his boys found themselves up 10, and they were shooting nearly twice as well as UNC: 60% vs 33%. Donovin Mascoll was a complete no-show for Northern Colorado, and that would need to change in the second half.

Mascoll came out motivated in the second half, starting it off with an assist, a sweet up-and-under, and a block. Because of him and some good play, UNC got the game back to within 4 and it was a contest. Unfortunately for Oggy, just as soon as the game was back within reach, his team seemed to get comfortable and lax and let it slip away just as quickly. It felt like he looked down his bench to think about the next subs, looked back up and saw they were down by 9.

The Bears followed that with a sequence of turnovers and bad shots and found themselves down double digits due to some sloppy play and St. Francis’ Casey Tyler having a career night, draining shot after shot.

With 3 minutes left, UNC pulled to within 9 and was deep in the bonus. Dinko wanted to prevent a furious comeback, so he put his starting five back in, regardless of the foul trouble situation, and smiled as he saw his lead quickly grow to 15 points. On this night at least, his brother’s team couldn’t compete with his well-rounded and more consistent team.

At 72-56, the scoreline reflected how easy the victory was for Dinko. His brother may be more charismatic and pull in better recruits, but he has won round 1 with his coaching acumen, shutting down his little brother quite easily. Oggy talked a big game, but it was Casey Tyler who shone (6-8 from deep) and the Red Flash who played with discipline. Noah Almond had a near double-double with 10 points and 9 assists.

It was a big win for the Red Flash, and everyone was celebrating, especially Casey Tyler, after a career night that helped his coach upstage big brother Oggy. The boys were looking forward to next year, where it was rumored that the two teams would do a “home and home” series against each other.

Casey Tyler was the star in Loretto, PA tonight

[RMJH4]

Dinkos guys put in work!!

[trekfan]

WOOF, the Red Flash ate UNC's lunch. Great shooting and passing, high-percentage looks that clearly translated into a big win. Oggy's got to be unhappy his team got thrashed like that, hopefully he doesn't go too hard on his kids.

[studbucket]

Quote: Originally Posted by seaboh

Dinkos guys put in work!!

Quote: Originally Posted by trekfan

WOOF, the Red Flash ate UNC's lunch. Great shooting and passing, high-percentage looks that clearly translated into a big win. Oggy's got to be unhappy his team got thrashed like that, hopefully he doesn't go too hard on his kids.

Yeah, the Bears just didn't know how to stop the Red Flash. Great teamwork from Dinko and his team.

I think Oggy wasn't too fiery with his team, he understands his brother got the best of him and the disappointment was tempered by seeing his parents and being back in Western Pennsylvania...but if this happens against another team, oh boy.

[studbucket]

Now that the Drago Derby has wrapped up for 2019, it’s time to take a look at their conferences and see how they should do this year. Before the season, both Dragomirov brothers were projected to finish near the bottom of their conferences. Have their non-conference games changed the projections?

Standings
Just like both brothers were predicted to be second-from-the-bottom, they now find themselves 4^th in their conferences as they get set to kick off their conference play.

Northeast Conference
School	Wins	Losses	Percentage
Quinnipiac	5	2	.714
Central Connecticut	5	3	.625
Long Island	5	3	.625
St. Francis (PA)	4	3	.571
Sacred Heart	5	4	.555
Wagner	3	5	.375
Robert Morris	2	7	.222
Fairleigh Dickinson	1	5	.166
Mount St. Mary’s	1	6	.142
St. Francis (NY)	1	7	.125
Monmouth	1	8	.111

Big Sky
School	Wins	Losses	Percentage
Portland State	6	1	.857
Montana	5	2	.714
Weber State	4	3	.571
Northern Colorado	5	5	.500
Montana State	3	5	.375
Northern Arizona	2	5	.285
Sacramento State	1	5	.166
Eastern Washington	1	9	.100
Idaho State	0	7	.000

Leaders
So far in non-conference play, the expected players and teams have been the ones performing well. Armond See and Maarty Pinkalla are leading the NEC and Big Sky in scoring, and their teams look very strong heading into conference play.

Dinko’s team and players aren’t leading in any categories, but Oggy has two things to be proud of:

• His team is leading the Big Sky in assists per game, showing how well they move the ball
• SF Andres Swanson is leading the conference in field goal percentage, showing his finishing ability and wisdom when it comes to taking shots.

Category	Northeast	Big Sky
Best offense (PPG)	Sacred Heart (73.2)	Portland State (76.3)
Best defense (PPG)	Quinnipiac (61.9)	Montana (61.6)
Best differential	Quinnipiac (7.7)	Portland State (6.9)
Rebounds per game	Sacred Heart (31.3)	Sacramento State (34.7)
Assists per game	Sacred Heart (12.2)	Northern Colorado (16.1)

Category	Northeast	Big Sky
Scoring	Armond See, PG, CCSU (19.9)	Maarty Pinkalla, C, PRST (17.3)
Rebounds	Toree Arnold, PF, FDU (11.3)	Piotr Stelmach, PF, WEB (11.6)
Assists	Perry Lamkin, PG, FDU (6.3)	Karl Lloyd, PG, NAU (6.0)
Steals	Rod Cruz, PG, FDU (3.8)	Altron Snipes, PG, CSUS (3.3)
Blocks	Toree Arnold, PF, FDU (1.5)	Lunzaya Grant, C, EWU (1.6)
FG%	Tay Ryan, C, WAG (65.8%)	Andres Swanson, SF, NC (66.6%)
3P%	Jose Blizzard, PG, WAG (65.0%)	Wil Darag, SG, IDST (70.5%)

[trekfan]

So looks like both Dinko and Oggy's teams are middle of the pack in their respective conference -- very promising for year 1. Conference play is going to make or break both of their squads.

[studbucket]

Quote: Originally Posted by trekfan

So looks like both Dinko and Oggy's teams are middle of the pack in their respective conference -- very promising for year 1. Conference play is going to make or break both of their squads.

Totally - a middle seed in the conference tourney would be a wonderful outcome for both. Maybe make magic happen!

[RolePlayer]

Had a feeling Dinko's more well-rounded squad would fair well against Oggy's offensive attack. Both brothers seem to have decent squads going entering conference play, either one of them could possibly make a run and surprisingly win the conference