Merry Christmas!
Quick followup to Saturday's win over the Hawykeyes: I've heard a lot of talk from Iowa fans about how bad they were screwed by the officials. Why I do not deny that it was one of the poorest officiated games I've seen in the last few years, I get mad at their lack of perspective. I haven't heard about the five minute stretch in the second half where they swallowed their whistles and refused to call a foul on Iowa, the poor handling of the Cox/Givens situation that put Bucky in foul trouble all game, or the explanation for why they expect equal amounts of foul shots when they are jump shooting nearly twice as much (29 3PT attempts versus Drake's 16 gives you a clue for how many jumpshots they settled for). Let's get real with ourselves.
Saturday calls a trip to Evansville, which will be previewed tomorrow. For now, we are 1/3 of the way into the season, which I feel calls for a progress report time. Here is what I submitted to Coach Phelps:
Dear Mr. Phelps:
With 1/3 of the season complete, it is now progress report time. Please review the reports of your sons performance at BulldogsRoundball school through the first few months and sign your name and send it back with one of the kids. For those that are failing, please consider working with them at home on their action steps so that their performance can improve and they do not have to be held back a year.
Josh Young = A-
Josh has shown endless potential in class, especially on 11/19 when he scored 34 points on 7/11 shooting from beyond the arc in a hands on project with Morehead State. While he had a bit of a lull for a few games, his performance in class has been excellent lately, as he has averaged 21.2 PPG on 49% shooting in his last five classes. He really led the group in a great day against Iowa and is one of the best students in his conference, a sure 99%ile kid.
Bucky Cox = B-
Bucky has shown his potential at times but has been very inconsistent in class. He is one kid on one day and will be a completely different kid the next. Overall, he has been excellent at picking up all of the classes garbage with 8.1 RPG and two games of 14 rebounds (@NM, @ISU), but I feel that he has not had enough opportunities to shoot his garbage at the can from behind the three point arc, and when he has - he has not seem as accurate in past years. He is still a leader in class but I would like to see him pick up his productivity.
Josh Parker = A+
Josh has been nothing short of a delight in class this year. While I did not expect to hear too much from him, he really has stepped up and made the most of his opportunities and has contributed quite a bit (10.1 PPG) in limited class time (16.9 minutes per game). I would like for you to stop calling in sick for Josh so much and get him into class more often because he is very important to our work and makes his classmates so much better. He is one of the best so far this year at making shots from behind the arc (50% from the three!) so I would like you to make it a point to get him in here more often.
Craig Stanley = B
Craig had a rocky start to the schoolyear but has seen his play pick up quite a bit. He is the best in the class at sharing (4.3 assists/game) and I have appreciated him sharing with his classmates so much and not confusing them with other students from other classes (1.59 Assist/Turnover ratio). I see that you have been working with Craig to be a bit more selfish and try to create his own points, which I think is much appreciated and makes him much more of a contributor. I hope for Craig to continue to catch up to the class and be a leader for the rest of the season.
Adam Templeton = D+
Adam has been a disappointment in class so far this year. He appears confused at times and has been very inconsistent. He does not appear to understand when to shoot or drive or pass and has really not fit in very well with the kids. I hope they are not stealing his lunch money. You might want to talk to him about this. He was appearing to really turn the corner averaging 10 PPG and 6 RPG in three tough classes (NCC, @ISU, GSO) but has really regressed in his last few classes shooting 0-8, averaging 3 PPG. Please work with Adam on finding his offense, or he might be in danger of having to be held back or sent to the bench.
Brent Heemskerk = B
Brent has been a solid contributor in class so far. While he is admittedly not as talented as some of his other classmates, he has offered a great inside threat (5.6 PPG) and has been great at cleaning up the trash (6.2 RPG). I would like to see his free throw percentage continue to increase and he will possibly earn a letter higher on his grade. Please tell him to stop shooting three pointers. It appears ugly and he is not good at it. We have had a few discussions after class about focusing on doing what you are good at and I don't know if he is listening. I will offer to move this to a B+ if he immediately promises to stop shooting threes.
Bill Eaddy = C
Is Bill okay? We need to talk about him. He has not been in class in quite some time, after a great start to the season, including 17 points in our 11/19 project with Morehead State. His shooting has gotten worse to the point that I just have not seen him. Hopefully he does not have strep throat or chicken pox -- please get him vaccinated before returning him to class. Let him know we miss him and his awesome ability to take charges at opportune moments in class.
Jacob Baryenbruch = C-
Please stop sending Jacob to point guard class each day. He is not suited for it and makes questionable decisions on tests. It is clear he should go to off guard class during the day and really just fill in to let Josh Young and Josh Parker go to recess for a few minutes. He is not very talented and has added little value to the class. Had it not been for a clutch three pointer against Iowa, he would be at a D level grade.
Alex White = A-
Alex might be the most improved kid in class this year. It is easy to get caught up in ballhandling and shooting drills and we forget how important defense and rebounding is to the class. Alex has come a long way and is one of our leaders in both defense and rebounding. He makes kids from our rival grade schools cry when he flexes his muscles, which makes me laugh. He has had 4.9 RPG in his last 9 games. Off the bench, he is a great asset and I look forward to seeing him continue to improve in Valley season.
Using minutes per game to weight your kids scores it comes out to roughly a B grade for the first 1/3 of the season. I would even be willing to consider your great parenting/coaching skills to bump it up to a B+. With a 9-3 record and wins over NM, Iowa, and Iowa State, the class has been extremely excited. Sure there were setbacks against SFA and quite a few creampuffs in the early going, but I am excited at how far this class has come and I am looking forward to our work with other classes in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Parent/Teacher Conferences are a week from today. Please come ready to discuss the comments in this report and potential things you can do at home to improve your kids performance.
x_____________________
Mr. Phelps
dutl
Dean of BulldogsRoundball School
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