Jess Wynn, to do the impossible

[Wayne23]

At 15-10, 7-7 USC. We won by 10 at our place. They’ve been up and down but they’re tough at home. Some strength inside.

2/18: 65-57. Back and forth early but we built the lead to 17 in the 2nd.

Even, +8, 40-35%. We stopped them inside but they made 9 threes.

No one stood out but 7 guys put up decent numbers.

Arizona lost so we clinched 2nd place. Never expected that the way we played in the early season.

We close with last place Washington State at home. They’re 11-15, 3-12. We won by 21 there.

2/22: 59-39. It was never a game.

Even, +15, 38-35%.

16, 7 for Rich, 14, 5, 3, 2 for Bass, 11, 9, 2, 1 for Bosl.

16 days off. We’ll rest some weary muscles and then prepare for the post season. The secret of our success has been D. We held opponents to 51.3 per game, and were +5.9 on the boards. We need to keep that up in order to make some noise in the tourneys.

2/26: Still #17, RPI #13. 22-7, 14-2.

3/5: No change in the rankings.

3/9: Play in day.

[Wayne23]

3/9: We’ll play 12-16, 6-10 Arizona State. Beat them by 19 on the road. They’ve won 4 of 5. They don’t p[lay a lot of D and they’re sloppy.

3/10: 71-46. We never trailed and it was only close for a few minutes.

+7, +11, 42-37%.

35, 3 for Rayn, 8, 11, 1 for Rich, 9, 1, 8, 1 for Brown, 15 RBs for Bosl.

The favs all won so we’ll play #3 seed, #13 Arizona, 23-7, 12-4. They beat us by 7 then we beat them by 22. We’re expecting a tough game, they have a lot of strengths which they didn’t show last time. Their #1 scorer is out with an injury but they’re still tough.

3/11: Back and forth, no one ever led by more than 8. With 1:44 left it was tied.

They came down and scored inside to go up by 2 and Brown drew foul #5 on their PG, hitting both ends of the 1 and 1. So it was tied again at 1:01.

Their back up PG coughed it up and then fouled Bosl who made the 1st and missed the 2nd. Up 1, :39.

They worked it around and got it to their best player, their PF. He missed a 10 footer and Bass got the RB with :08 left. He was fouled immediately and hit both. Up 3, :07.

We pressed full court and they threw up a desperation shot from about 30 feet. It hit the front rim as the horn sounded. 51-48, and we’re in the finals.

-13, +6, 34-28%, fouls 20-17 but we hit enough free throws late. Their inside game gave us fits but our D won it for us.

16, 7 for Bosl to lead the way.

It’s #3, 26-3, 15-1 UCLA for the title. They beat us by 7 then we won by 1 at home. These guys are very tough. They have 5 very good starters and 3 good players on the bench. They do everything well.

3/12: A VERY poorly officiated game, 44 fouls called, 24 on us. Brown and Rayn both fouled out and Asby got 4.

The game was close for 35 minutes. At that point they went on a 14-3 run and that was that. We fought back but it ended up 55-64.

-3, +2, 34-33%. We lost it at the line shooting 9-25! They shot 24-31. I got a T but so did the UCLA coach. Could we have won if the refs had let both teams play? Hard to say.

Eight guys played significant minutes and they all contributed but it wasn’t our night. Oh well, this ended a 15 game win streak. Hoepfully we’ll get a good seed.

#16, RPI #11. Hoping for a #3. 24-8, 14-2.

Not in the East.

#4 Midwest. #1 Florida is the #1 seed (Why not in the East? They’re #1 in both polls and #1 RPI.), #13 Duke is #2, #8 Michigan State is #3, and #20 Louisville is #5.

[Wayne23]

3/13: USC lost by 2 in the NIT.

19-14, 9-5 Fresno State from the WAC is first up. They finished 2nd and won the tourney. They don’t look that strong.

3/16: They were strong enough. It was a battle from start to finish and it was nearly our finish. We were up 8 with :58 left. They proceeded to score a 3, a 2, and 2 free throws to narrow it to one with :08 left. They stole it with :04 left and a 12 footer rimmed out at the buzzer. We were luckier than we deserved to be, 46-45. It was one of those games when neither team could score. Good D played a part but poor shooting was also a factor.

-3, +5, 29-31%, fouls 15-9. Brown fouled out with 2:14 left. Park and Asby led us from the bench, Park had 14, 6, 3, 2, and Asby 8, 7, 1. The starters didn’t do a lot. Still, we’re alive.

Stanford and Oregon both won their 1st round NCAA games.

3/17: UCLA and Arizona both won their 1st round NCAA games.

Next up for us is #12 seed Purdue, 18-14, 10-6. They upset #5 seed Louisville. They finished #6 and lost in the 2nd round. They’ve had an up and down season. Lost a starter and a back up to grades. Their 2 can light it up. If we contain him we should be all right.

3/18: 62-42. We were much better than in round one, but it took awhile. It was very even, and tied for the last time with 13:07 left. At that point we took over. Their 2 had been scoring almost at will but from then on he got only 2 free throws.

+22, -2, 36-29%, fouls 10-15.

19, 6, 5 for Rayn, 11, 13, 2 for Bass, 11, 4, 5 for Brown, 8 and 8 for Rich, 13 RBs for Bosl.

Stanford won, Oregon lost.

3/19: UCLA won, Arizona lost.

[Wayne23]

#1 in the country, 32-3, 14-2 Florida is next. They are weak at SG but very strong at the other 4 spots and they have a deep, solid bench. If we play our best game of the season we’ll still need some luck.

3/23: 45-59. They held us to 13 in the 1st half. Nothing worked and shots just wouldn’t fall. We were much better in the 2nd but we never got closer than 8. Those guys could win it all.

-7, -1, 46-24%(!), fouls were 10-18.

Last game for Bass, Rich, Bosl and Asby, and for a couple who don’t play.

I have to say it was a good season, particularly late. We knew we were rebuilding and I can’t say I thought we’d win 26 games and finish 2nd in conf.
Stanford also lost.

3/24: UCLA wins and is in the Elite Eight vs. UConn.

3/25: #11 ranked VA upset #2 in the country UNC. Florida won by 1 and will face VA in the Final Four. #7 KY will face #4 UConn, who beat UCLA by 8. I’ll be at the Final Four, for the first time without dad.

4/1: Got here yesterday and talking with lots of folks, friends, friends of dad…
#1 Florida vs. #4 UConn for the title. Gotta root for UConn but FL is tough.

4/3: UConn by 10 in OT. Hell of a game and their first title since dad retired. Love it!

4/4: Awards: Lorn Bosl made conf. 1st team. Kev Bass made 2nd and I got the coach award.

4/9: No job offers worth considering.

4/16: I rehire two assistants. The third retired. Love the guy who will replace him.

4/23: I want a budget boost. Only need one more. If I get it I’ll concentrate on facilities from now on. Got it! $12,000, which was more than enough.

Okay, here’s where I am for numbers, 334-96, .777. Off. 54, Def. 80, Recruit 88, Scout 9, Player Dev. 67, Reputation 64. I’m still only 35 years old so 1,000 wins is well within reach. Only one coach ever did that…

[Wayne23]

5/1: We buy the National Gold.

6/5: No room for transfers.

6/26: 3 to fill. We need guards. Looking at 8, 3 PGs, 4 SGs, 1 SF.

7/11: Kid camp.

7/25: I think we can contend for the national title this year. I really like this team.

8/7: Mike Mack is #5 bon the Norton List and Brian Brown is #46.

8/21: We offer to 2 PGs, and an SG.

9/11: We visit our 3 and one other.

9/18: Got the 2 PGs lost the SG. Going for an SF.

We have a schedule. We’ll be in the JAG Holiday as we were last year. I want a strong schedule and we have one, 5 top 25 teams in pre-conf., 2 of those in the top 10, then 6 ranked teams in conf.

9/25: Got the SF so we’re through recruiting. Well, one guy is borderline regarding passing the SAT so we’ll see.

10/2: First day of practice. I have a good feeling.

We are picked 3rd in conf. It is a tough conf. and the sched. is not good, tough road games at the end.

[Wayne23]

11/3: 1st exhibition is against UC San Diego. 36-17 at the half.

69-42. +8, +14, 37-28%, fouls 10-15. Garr was great and a few were good.

11/8: 2nd exhibition is against UC San Diego. 44-40 at the half.

80-63. +11, +7, 54-45%. Fouls 13-15.Garr, Mack, Mury and Call led the way.

The exhibitions show us we have a stronger bench than expected. We’re solid and deep.

We start the season with Texas Tech, here. Not much to go on but the 2 and 3 seem to be their best players.

11/16: Crushed them in the 1st then I played a lot of people in the 2nd. 65-48.

+30(!), -4, 38-33%.

22, 14, 4 for Mack, 15, 12, 3 for Garr, 14, 6, 2 for Day, 9, 10, 1 for Park, 5, 6, 7 for Brown. A good start.

At #20 Illinois, 0-1, next. They lost to an average team. They look very strong inside but were sloppy.

11/19: We managed to fall behind by 17 in the 1st and went in down 15. I raised every kind of hell I could think of at the half. For awhile it didn’t look like it helped but then we finally got hot.

We were still down 6, with the ball, with :43 to go. We quickly worked it to Mack who hit a three, one of only two we made in the entire game. We managed a steal with :22 left and they fouled Garr who hit the 1st and missed the 2nd, :14.

We fouled their C with :08 to go, he missed the front of a 1 and 1, and we raced down court. We worked it to Garr who hit an 8 footer to send it to OT.

In the overtime we took control and won it 75-67. I think this one will help us. We never quit and managed to come back from a huge deficit.

#17.

Oklahoma, 1-1, is in. They’ve played two good teams. They have strength at all 5 positions as well as a decent bench, but we don’t think they’re quite as strong as we are.

11/23: This one was close all the way. Their outside game nearly did us in- 11 threes. In the end we used our inside strength to build a late lead. They fought to come back but never quite got there. They hit a three at the buzzer to make the final score 62-59.

+17, -6, 38-33%, fouls 12-19. We owned the inside.

16, 18 for Garr, 20, 5, 2, 1 for Mack, 10, 10, 2 for Day, 15, 3, 3 for Park.

Brown hasn’t found himself yet and we’re hoping that happens soon. We also need to start getting some production from the bench, which simply isn’t happening.

[Wayne23]

Georgetown, 2-1, is here next. #2 UNC destroyed them. 1 and 4 look like their players.

11/26: Finally a fairly easy one, 68-49.

+13, +1, 38-33%.

30, 11, 2, 1, 1 for Mack, 11, 9, 6, 1 for Park, 6, 10, 3, 2 for Garr.

3-1 BC is here. They haven’t played anybody. They have some talent but they aren’t deep.

11/30: 75-48, never a game.

+12, even, 47-28%, fouls 8-26.

22, 10, 2 for Garr, 19, 6, 4, 2 for Mack.

Prat hurt his knee, out about 10 days.

3-2 Auburn is in. They don’t stay with the tough teams.

12/3: 83-60. Another blow out. Their 2 had 25 but it didn’t matter.

+6, even, 55-32%, fouls 14-21.

23, 7, 5, 1, 1 for Park, 18, 10, 2 for Garr, 19, 7, 3, 1 for Mack.

#13, RPI #3.

[Wayne23]

At #10, 5-2 Duke. 1-2 vs. ranked teams. 1, 5 and 3 look really good but that’s it. Still, a tough road game.

12/7: We led for the first 38 min., by as many as 11, but starting with about 5 min. left they came back. At 1:55 they took their first lead. We retook the lead and it went back and forth. They scored the last 4 to win it 72-76. Their 5 was unstoppable.

-1, -2, 41-47%, fouls 25-18, and that was the difference. They went to the line 41 times to our 24.

32-7 for Mack, 13, 6 for Garr. We got very little from our guards.

6th man Prat is 100%.

It doesn’t get easier, at #11, 6-2 UConn. While it’s nice to be back home, and UConn will always be home, this one could be tough. Their 2 gets almost 30 per, and they play D. They aren’t deep though, and they can be sloppy.

12/10: Back and forth for the first 30 minutes then we took over, 65-47. I got a nice reception from the home folks. Make no mistake this is my dream destination.

+9, +6, 41-32%, fouls 9-18.

21, 9, 7, 2, 1 for Mack, 19, 8 for Garr, 9, 9 for Day. Their 2 had 32 but we shut everyone else down.

#14, RPI #1.

At 5-2 Gonzaga next. Played 2 ranked teams and lost to both. Tough inside but sloppy.

12/13: Held them to 15 in the 1st and never trailed, 58-42.

+12, even, 39-32%.

16, 8, 3 for Garr, 12, 6, 5, 1 for Brown but 6 TOs. We need to be better with the ball.

[Wayne23]

Back home after 3 on the road. LSU is 5-4, 1-4 vs. ranked teams. Some inside strength.

12/21: 65-47, we never trailed.

+8, +4, 39-30%.

22, 9, 3, 1, 1 for Mack, 14, 12, 3 for Day, 14, 10, 2, 1, 4 for Garr. Yeah, we won it inside, for sure!

Al Garr hurt his arm. He’s out for a few days and will miss at least part of the JAG.

6-3 Rhode Island is first up in the JAG Holiday Tourney. Weak schedule. Some strength inside but we’re the stronger team.

12/23: We were sluggish for a long time, trailing at the half and really taking control until about 30 minutes in, 67-51.

+4, +6, 47-39%.

22, 9, 4, 2 for Mack, 12, 2, 3 for Prat. We’re not the same team with Garr out.

Brian Brown has tendinitis but he’ll play.

4-8 New Mexico State upset Hawaii so they’re next. They’d lost 7 straight before beating Hawaii. If we play this shouldn’t be a problem.

12/24: 76-50. We took charge early and were never threatened.

+23, -1, 46-34%.

Mike Mack had a huge game, 27, 14, 2, 2. Day had 13, 10, 1.

#13, RPI #1.

It’s #1 seed, #23 ranked, 10-2 Boston College for the title. We beat them by 27 at home but they’ve won all 7 since. We’re the only ranked team they’ve faced. Starting SG and starting SF both hurt. The SG may play some but he’s only at 80-85%. These guys are better than they showed us last time.

12/25: They hung with us for awhile but we took the lead for good about halfway through the first, 66-50.

+1, +10, 41-35%, fouls 12-18.

18, 10, 4, 2, 1 for Mack, 15, 7, 4, 3 for Prat, 10, 9, 1, 1, 1 for Day, 13, 2, 2, 1, 1 for Boyd. Brown has been invisible on O and Park not much better. We need more from our guards.

Garr is 100%.

12-1.

[Wayne23]

We start conf. play with #1 in the country, 11-0 UCLA, here. They’ve looked very tough. Their starting SF just flunked off the team though. The other 4 starters are all very, very good. This will be a tough one.

12/31: We went down 12 early and it was 10 at the half. We rallied in the 2nd and made it a game, even took the lead twice. Then they went on a run. The final was 55-58, but only because we hit a 3 at the buzzer.

-2, -2, 35-30%. We lost it at the line, 13-22. Garr and Brown fouled out.

15, 7, 2, 1 for Mack, 9, 7 for Prat.

Changes. Rayn starting at the 2 and Boyd getting more time. We need more from our guards so we’ll try playing different guys at guard.

At 5-7, 0-1 Utah. They’ve lost 5 in a row against lousy teams. Starting PG flunked off the team.

1/4: 53-18 at the half! I don’t know if we’re that good or they’re that bad. 85-56 at the end.

+20, -3, 52-33%.

35, 5, 2, 1 for Mack, 20, 3, 5, 1 for Rayn in his first start, 11, 10 for day.

6th man Boyd hurt his shoulder. Out about a week.