Jess Wynn, to do the impossible

[Wayne23]

We’ll start the season at home vs. #17 Wake Forest. They are very strong at 1 and 4, and their 5 is good as well. This will be a challenge.

11/14: Great 1st half, 42-26. Brown gets in foul trouble at the Point so Sims comes in and kicks butt.

They come back but the closest it gets is the final score, 66-58.

-2, +1, 44-35%.

16, 4, 1 for Sims from the bench, 10, 7, 2, 2 for Bass, 7, 5, 5 for Asby from the bench, 8 each for Walk and Rich. Starting guards were disappointing.

At 1-0 New Mexico. Their 3 hit for 30 in their 1st game but it was against a nobody.

11/17: 30-27 at the half. Owning the boards.

It stays close all the way, 6[B]8-63. [/B]

+26, -5, 37-39%, fouls 12-19.

13, 15, 1, 1 for Rich, 12, 10 for Walk, 4, 13, 4, 2 for Bass, 16, 3, 1, 1 for Dahl, but he had 4 fouls and 5 TOs, 13, 5, 9, 1, 2 for Brown. We had to work for this one.

11/20: #15.

Pitt, 1-1, is in. Played 2 nobodies. Their 2 is getting 34.5 per. He doesn’t get much help. Sloppy and they don’t rebound.

11/21: 39-31 at the half.

Controlling the boards but sloppy.

No threat in the 2nd, 75-57.

+22, -8, 47-27%, 47 total fouls called- ridiculous. Brown spent the game in foul trouble again.

13, 12, 1, 1, 2 for Bosl, 13, 10, 1 for both Bass and Rich, 11, 4, 6 for Asby.

[Wayne23]

At #17, 2-1 Syracuse, best team we’ve played so far. Tough, esp. inside.

11/24: 38-34 at the half.

Brown simply cannot stay out of foul trouble. We’re rebounding well but not
taking care of the ball.

More ball handling troubles in the 2nd and we get beat up inside- their bigs scored almost at will, 68-72.

+12, -4, 44-46%.

17, 1, 5, 1 for Dahl, his 1st good game at SG, 7, 8, 2 for Bosl, 10, 8, 2, 1 for Rich, 11, 6, 1, 2 for Bass.

11/27: #22.

At 1-2 Michigan next. They give up lots of points.

11/28: 64-58. They led by as many as 6, and we didn’t take the lead for good until 2:27.

+7, +1, 42-38%, fouls 9-18 (which was the difference, 18 free throws to 6).

23, 10, 1 for Walk, 8, 9, 1 for Rich. Their 2 and 3 nearly did us in.

#12, 5-0 Virginia is in. They really haven’t played anybody. Excellent outside game. This one won’t be easy.

12/1: Weird game, all D. They led by 7 early, and by 3 at the half. Then we shut them down completely in the 2nd (14 pts.), and won it 48-37.

+2, +9, 30-24%. We doubled the ball every chance we got and it worked. We turned them over 20 times.

11, 9, 1, 2, 1 for Rich, 10, 6, 5, 2, 1 for Brown who is still fouling too often, 12, 3, 2 for Dahl.

12/4: #20, RPI #7. This team is doing better than I expected them to.

[Wayne23]

2-4 Minnesota is in. They’re struggling, a couple of losses were against mediocre teams. They have some talent inside but not much at guard.

12/5: We started strong and never let them make it a game, 67-42. Great D!

+13, +5, 45-27%.

21, 12, 1 for Rich, 11, 4, 5, 1, 1 for Brown, 10, 5, 6 for Dahl, 10, 6 for Walk.

#21, RPI #4.

At 5-4 Gonzaga. They’ve played a tough schedule. 3 and 4 can definitely play. This won’t be easy.

12/13: I was wrong, it was easy, 69-42. Our D never let them get started.

+11, +3, 46-30%, fouls 9-19.

19, 3, 5, 1 for Brown, 14, `3 for Walk, 9, 6, 2, 1, 1 for Bass, 7, 8 for Rich, 8, 3, 5, 1 for Dahl.

Heading for the Las Vegas Winter Jam.

First up is New Mexico State, 6-4 and the #8 seed in this 8 team tourney. Lost to 4 good teams and beat 6 awful teams.

12/16: It stayed close for 33 minutes, then we took charge, 78-63. They were stubborn but we just hung in and it eventually paid off.

+20, +3, 44-41%, fouls 10-22.

18, 10 for Walk, 15, 11, 3, 2 for Bass, 16, 7 for Rich, 7, 6 for Bosl. We completely dominated inside.

First off the bench Lorn Bosl has a concussion, out for a couple of days.

[Wayne23]

4-5 Nebraska, #5 seed is next. Very weak sched.

12/17: This was a war all the way to the end, 60-57. Nebraska never led and never tied it after 0-0, but they got within 1 on 11 different occasions. Each time we did what we needed to do.

With :22 left they had the ball down 1. They worked for a shot and missed an open 12 footer with :08 left.

We rebounded, they fouled, we made both and they came down and missed again. Brown and Rich got in foul trouble and stayed in trouble throughout.

-7, +4, 50-37%. Rare for us to not control the boards.

19, 9, 1, 1 for Walk, 16, 5 for Bass. Not having Bosl hurt.

It’s #3 seed, 6-3 Iowa State for the title. 3 bad losses. Their 2 can light it up and they don’t make a lot of mistakes so we’ll need to play well.

12/18: Wow! 85-32. Didn’t expect that!

+14, +5, 63-19% (unbelievable!).

17, 4, 2 for Rich, 9, 9, 2, 1 for Bass, 8, 7, 2, 1 for Walk. Everybody played and everybody scored.

[Wayne23]

At #13, 8-3 Maryland. They’ve beaten some good teams but their losses were against mediocre teams- all on the road though. Very tough at 3 and 4.

12/19: Up early but we couldn’t hold it, 55-59. In a low scoring game their 3 and 4 combined for 48 and 22- all but 11 of the team’s points. We resorted to trying to double both and still couldn’t stop them.

-6, +6, 37-36%. Fouls were 18-14 but free throws were 6-19.

No one had a particularly good game for us, due to MD’s D.

At 8-2 Kent State next, the last pre-conf. game. They beat MD by 2, at home. 2 early losses but very tough since then. We’ll need to be sharp.

12/22: Back and forth for the first 35 min. then we went on a 12-2 run and that was that, 69-59.

+5, +6, 40-39%, fouls 11-20.

16, 12, 2, 1, 1 for Bass, 14, 1, 3, 1 for Asby from the bench, 12, 3, 1 for Bosl from the bench, 8, 7, 6, 1 for Dahl, 7, 8 for Walk.

Got two guys giving me the Our Relationship crap; one has potential, the other doesn’t.

11-2 for the pre-conf. season. The conf. is very strong again this year, 5 ranked teams including us. 11-5 would be wonderful but I would not be shocked with 9-7.

12/25: #15, RPI #3.

[Wayne23]

#5, 11-0 UCLA is in. They aren’t deep but they have a truly outstanding starting 5. We’re going to try to slow it down but this is going to be really tough.

12/29: After the first two minutes I abandoned the slowdown plan and decided to shoot it out, just play hoops. Good decision! Up 11 at the half and 70-61 at the end. We weren’t a lot better but we were slightly better in most categories.

+5, +3, 44-39%, 16 fouls to 19.

20, 7, 3 for Rich, 10, 8 for Bass, 8, 6 for Walk, 10, 3, 2, 1, 1 for Asby. Brown did a really good job at PG. This was a very pleasant surprise!

1/1: Happy 2025! The planet is in sad shape, the population bomb is at 8 ½ billion, almost half of whom are starving. Coastal cities are due to go underwater within a very few years. Most people and most governments remain completely in denial. I understand that I am one of the lucky few but when it all falls apart I suppose I’ll go down with the rest. Might be good to look for a school in the heartland soon- real soon.

#15, RPI #2. You’d think beating #5 by 9 points might have gotten us moved up a couple of spots.

At 4-8 Utah. They’re really struggling, one good win and LOTS of bad losses.

1/2: We jumped out to an early lead and it was never close, 83-63.

+15, +4, 55-44%.

16, 10, 2, 1 for Bass, 19, 1, 5, 1 for Brown, 13 each for Rich and Walk, 9, 6, 5 for Dahl,8, 5, 1, 1 for Bosl. Their guards did some damage but not nearly enough.

Another major challenge, #8, 12-4, 2-0 Arizona is here. They’re monsters at home but 2-4 on the road. 2-3 vs. ranked teams, 2 wins at home, 3 losses on the road. Very tough inside. We think we can pressure their guards into lots of TOs. We have got to contain their inside game, or at least limit the damage.

1/5: Another of those close for about 30 minutes games. Then we exploded, scoring 30 of the last 35 points in the game, 67-40.

-2, +14 (The strategy of pressuring their guards led to 26 TOs), 45-29%.

18, 4, 2, 3, 1 for Bass, 12, 4, 5, 3 for Dahl, 10, 6, 1, 1 for Rich, 11, 2, 2 for Asby, 8, 4 for Gelb. A great win!

1/8: #13, RPI #3. 14-2, 3-0, tied for 1st with Stanford.

[Wayne23]

At 9-6, 2-1 USC. They haven’t lost at home all season. On the other hand they don’t play D and they’re sloppy.

1/9: Hell of a game. They got up by 13, we charged back and went into the locker room up 1. We built an 11 point lead, they charged back and took the lead away from us. Seemed like we got every RB they forced every TO.

Score tied after they hit a three with :11 left.

We brought it down, worked it, got it to Bosl (we had gone big and had three bigs in the game). He used an inside screen from Walk and dunked with :009 left. Final was 67-65. Whew!

+19, -10 (23 TOs!), 46-42%. They were +11 from the line but we took 9 more shots from the floor and hit 6 of them. Great road win!

4-11, 1-3 Washington State is in. They just beat Utah at home after losing 9 in a row. If we come to play this one should be a little more relaxed than some of the other recent games. Of course I am not telling my guys that!

1/12: 81-55. Yep, we got to relax and we played everybody.

+21, +1 (8 TOs), 52-33%.

Starting 5 plus Asby all had very similar games, 8-16 points, good # of RBs and/or assists. A real team effort.

Still tied with Stanford, 1 ahead of UCLA, at least 2 ahead of everybody else.

1/15: #11, RPI #4.

At 8-8, 2-3 California. They’re tough at home. Starting C flunked off the team and it has to hurt, he could play.

1/16: I guess there are few easy road games. We led by as many as 20 but they came roaring back and got it to 1 with 1:22 left.

I called my next to last TO, kicked butt and we woke up and took care of business, 64-59.

+20, -11 (When we don’t take care of the ball it’s trouble.), 47-37%, fouls 11-17, +9 from the line for the winning margin.

15, 8 for Walk, 10, 9, 1 for Rich, 10, 4, 7, 2 for Dahl, 9, 7 for Bass. We won it inside and at the line.

I’m getting ready to kick John and Gelb off the team. They’ve been nothing but trouble. John doesn’t play but Gelb does- 6 min. per game or so.
Cut Gelb, lost a Prestige point.

[Wayne23]

4-13, 3-3 Colorado is in. Haven’t won on the road all season. Cupcake.

1/19: Jumped out to an 18 point lead and gave most of it back. 55-49.

+2, even, 41-28%.

17, 6 for Rich, 14, 8, 1, 1 for Walk, 9, 4, 5, 1 for Dahl, 10 RBs for Bass. We played good D but I wasn’t happy with our overall performance.

1/22: #9, RPI #4. More “Our Relationship; stuff from Joel. He may need to go, too.

And Joel is gone. I’d have lost both of them anyway.

At 11-8, 4-3 Oregon. Won the last 3 after going 1-4. PG and PF are very good. Not much else, and they turn it over.

1/23: We were overwhelmed in the 1st half, 22-45. Their PG owned us and we didn’t react well despite my using 4 TOs to try to turn things around. We were better in the 2nd but it was too late, 51-66. Their PG had 39 in 29 min.

+2, +4, 34-50% (!).

We outplayed them at every position except PG, and our bench did more than theirs. Work to be done.

11-9, 2-6 Oregon State is in. They won one after losing 6 in a row. Some outside strength.

1/26: We went down 9 early but unlike last game we came right back, going up 5 at the half and building the lead to 18. At that point I cleared the bench and we won by only 7, 67-60, but it wasn’t that close.

-1, +10,41-38%.

17, 4 for Walk, 10, 4, 7 for Dahl, 11, 9 for Bosl, 9 each for Brown and Bass.

Asby hurt his hand. Day to day.

We just offered to #43 PG Sean park, and he signed. One more to go.

#9, RPI #5, 19-3, 8-1, tied with UCLA, 2 ahead of the field. Pat Rich is #30 on the Norton List.

[Wayne23]

7 to go, 3 against top 12 teams, all on the road.

Next is #12 Stanford, 18-4, 6-3, alone in 3rd. 1-3 in their last 4. Very strong at guard but only 1 good big. Tough team.

1/30: We were up by as many as 13 early in the 2nd. Then the roof fell in, 10 TOs in the last 14 minutes, and we shot 3-20 over that same time period. 56-60 at the end.

+16, -6, 41-41%, fouls were 14-3. How can a team commit only 3 fouls? They beat us at the line, 13-0. I managed to avoid a T. Maybe I should have gotten one.

17, 1, 1, 1, 1 for Brown but he only played 21 min. due to fouls. 8, 16 for Walk, 5, 5, 8, 1 for Dahl.

Their 2 hit for 27. Just as in our last loss, one guy beat us. We need to find a way to stop that from happening. Wish I could consult with dad on it, but that almost never happens any more. I still talk to him every day but it isn’t anything substantive any more. He has trouble with anything like that. The analytical part of his mind just isn’t there except for very short periods of time. It depresses the hell out of me.

9-12, 3-7 Arizona State is in. 1-5 in their last 6, 2-4 in the 6 before that. If we come to play this one shouldn’t be a problem.

2/2: 64-47 and it wasn’t that close.

+3, +4, 37-30%.

28, 3, 2, 1, 2 for Dahl, 14, 4, 5 for Brown, 7, 12, 1, 1, 2 for Rich, 5, 4, 6, 3 for Bass, 10, 2 for Asby.

2/5: #8, RPI #6.
A real challenge next. At 1st place #5, 21-1, 10-1 UCLA. Their only loss was at our place. They’ve beaten 5 top ten teams, and we scored 7 more points against them than anyone else has all season. Very, very strong starting 5 and two good guys on the bench. We’ll need to play our absolute best to have a chance in this one. Pat Rich was the key for us last time.

2/6: Nope, couldn’t stay with them, 59-77. Not surprised. We pressured their PG into 9 TOs but we couldn’t really take enough advantage of that. They didn’t let Rich beat them this time. We weren’t awful, we were simply overmatched.

-16 (! We’re +8 for the season.), -3, 41-41%, fouls were 17-11 and they beat us by 14 at the line, but they were quicker, and the slower team fouls. We fouled.

Bass, Rich, Dahl, Asby and Bosl put up decent numbers but Walk and Brown struggled.

Sims hurt his hamstring and is out for about a week.

Tied for 2nd with Stanford, which puts us 3rd. We’re 1 ahead of #15 Arizona, who we’ll play there, and 2 ahead of Oregon, who beat us. We’ll need to work hard to finish 3rd.

[Wayne23]

8-15, 4-8 Utah is in. We won by 20 there. Not much has changed.
2/9: 57-38.

+10, +1, 38-22%.

The bench put up numbers, 13, 6, 1, for Bosl and 12, 5, 1 for Asby. Among the starters Rich had 6, 16, Walk had 8, 8, 1, 1, 1.

2/12: #10, RPI #7.

Next up is the battle for 3rd, or maybe 2nd if Stanford falters. At #15, 19-8, 9-4 Arizona. Beat them by 27 at our place but they’ve won their last 5. They have not beaten a ranked team since their season opener though.

It will be our outside vs. their inside. Last time we TO’d them 26 times and that’s the kind of thing we’ll need to do again. Their 4 and 5 combined for 21 and 22 with 5 blocks. It would be good to hold them to a little less than that. This one is winnable but it should be a much tougher fight than last time.


2/13: Disappointing. We were never in it after the first 10 min. or so, 47-61. We just couldn’t generate any O.

+5, -5, 31-36%, fouls 17-9. We lost by 15 at the line and it was the difference. This time I was NOT okay with the officiating. I got a T and nearly got a 2nd.

Interestingly enough we didn’t do that badly inside but we didn’t do at all well outside. But the bottom line is that we’ll probably finish 4th in the conf. Not good.

Hm, on 2nd thought AZ plays at UCLA next so we’ll probably finish 3rd if we win our last 2, which we should.