Jess Wynn, to do the impossible

[Wayne23]

#4, 12-2 Arizona is in. Their only losses are to top 10 teams but they haven’t beaten any ranked teams. 6 solid big guys but weak at guard. If we’re serious about contending for the title this is a game we need to win.

1/7: We jump out quickly and build a lead which we never relinquish, 69-55.

+1, -1, 46-34%, fouls 22-27- ridiculous. Both PGs foul out.

28, 4, 1, 3, 1 for Mack, 9, 6 for Garr.

#7, RPI #2. 4 of the top 8 are from the PAC 12.

At 9-5, 2-1 USC. Arizona buried them. This is not a team that should give us a lot of trouble but it IS a road game.

1/11: We sleepwalk through the first, going down by as many as 15 before coming back to down 4 at the break. I raise all kinds of hell in the locker room and we establish control in the 2nd, winning 61-45.

+11, -4, 46-32%.

16, 9, 2, 2, 1 for Mack, 12, 2, 4, 1, 3 for Rayn, 9, 8, 1 for Day, 6, 2, 7, 1, 4 for Brown.

8-7, 1-3 Washington State is in. This is not a very good team.

1/14: 78-44. No contest.

-1, +12 (4 TOs), 48-30%.

28, 5, 2 for Mack, 13, 5, 3, 2, 2 for Garr, 12, 2, 7 for Rayn, 11, 7 for Day. Brown and the bench were invisible.

#6, RPI #2.

[Wayne23]

At 11-5, 2-3 California. 4 losses to unranked teams. Lots of holes.

1/18: Strange game, no one could score. 48-44.

+3, +2, 37-33%.

18, 5 for Mack, 10, 8, 1, 1 for Day. D won this one.

5-13, 0-6 Colorado is in. They really aren’t very good.

1/21: 75-40. They were as bad as I thought they’d be.

+11, +7, 55-39%.

22, 2, 4, 4, 1 for Mack, 14, 1, 6, for Brown, 13, 4, 1 for Boyd.

In a 3 way tie for 1st. #5, RPI #2. 18-2, 6-1. BUT, we have road games against UCLA, Arizona and Stanford ahead.

At 6-12, 3-4 Oregon. Lost 4 of their last 5. A PG who scores but is terrible with the ball, some talent inside.

1/25: 81-49.

+20, +7, 49-40%, fouls were 8-14.

26, 8, 5, 3 for Mack who has been rock solid, 8, 11, 4, 1, 1 for Garr.

Now it’s a 2 way tie for the lead but this is the soft part of the schedule.

[Wayne23]

At 7-13, 3-5 Oregon State. Another poor team.

1/28: b. Yikes!

+24, +2, 54-24%.

25, 7, 3, 2 for Mack, 10, 3, 7 for Brown, 6, 11 for Garr. Everybody played.
Mike Mack is #2 on the Norton List.

Now come the tough teams, every other game for awhile. First we’re at #11 Stanford, 18-5, 7-2. They lost to both UCLA and Arizona at home. They’re very good at 1, 2 and 5 but not much else.

2/1: We led most of the way but Brown had foul trouble most of the way and fouled out with 8 minutes left. After that we fell apart but still held on for quite awhile. With 1:02 left we were up 3. They scored a three to tie it at that point, then got 6 more points. We scored the last 4 but it wasn’t enough, 55-57. Damn!

+7, -3, 36-41%.

28, 4, 2, 1, 1 for Mack 11 RBs for Garr, and not much else. I guess I overestimated how good we would be this year.

We’re in a 3 way tie for 2nd, but it equals 4th place.

8-14, 4-6 Arizona State is in. Mismatch.

2/4: 65-36.

+15, +2, 41-28%.

16, 6, 4, 3 for Mack, 9, 13 for Garr, 17, 1, 3, 2 for Rayn, 8, 4, 8, 2, 4 for Brown.

21-3, 9-2, #6, RPI #3.

[Wayne23]

At #2, 20-2, 9-2 UCLA. They won by 3 at our place. Somehow Oregon State beat them. This is a very good team. We’ll need to be at the very top of our form.

2/8: 58-66. I don’t say this often but the refs took away any chance we had, 3 of our guys in foul trouble all the way and Brown fouled out. I got a T. UCLA was +14 from the line.

+3, -7, 41-36%, fouls 22-13. Ball handling had a lot to do with the loss.

24, 7, 1 for mack, 9, 16 for Garr.

Alone in 4th place.

8-15, 3-9 Utah is in. We won by 29 there.

2/11: 77-41.

+21, +1, 44-26%.

35, 9 for Mack. Starters and Boyd played well.

Mike Mack is now #4 on the Norton List.

And the last tough road game of the regular season, at #4, 22-3, 12-1, 1st place Arizona. We won by 14 at home but they haven’t lost since. They are terrific inside, not so good outside. We were able to exploit that last time.

2/15: 83-76. We hit a lot of shots and stayed out of foul trouble. Still in 4th place but a great win! As bad as the refs were to us vs. UCLA, they were that good to us tonight, +13 at the line and the other coach got the T.

-8, +3, 46-49%, fouls 6-24.

This was a team effort, Boyd had 17, 1, 6, 3 from the bench, but 5 guys in doubles and two others close. Our backcourt did the damage.

[Wayne23]

15-10, 8-6 USC is in. We won by 16 there. I don’t think they can stay with us.

2/18: 69-49. We built a 26 point lead fairly early and it was never close.

+18, +8, 45-39%.

19, 14, 2, 2 for Mack, 16, 10, 3, 1, 2 for Day, 8, 6 for Garr. We won this one inside.

We finish the regular season at 11-15, 4-11, Washington State. Beat them by 34 at our place. They’ve lost their last 7.

2/22: 76-55 and it wasn’t that close.

+16, +6, 43-42%.

33, 4, 1, 1, 1 for Mack, 16, 14, 3, 3 for Garr, 8, 8, 7 for Brown.

We end the regular season 25-4, 13-3, in 4th.

3/5: Mike Mack is #3 on the Norton List. We’re #5, RPI #3, and 4th in conf.

Amazing! Bubble watch has us as a #1 seed but we’ll need to get to the title game for that to happen.

[Wayne23]

3/9: Play in day. Oregon was the only favorite to win. We’ll play 8-21, 2-14 Colorado who finished dead last in conf. Beat them by 35.

3/10: Never close, 81-47.

-4, +15, 48-41%.

25, 5, 2 for Mack, 19, 2, 2, 2 for Rayn, 14, 6, 1, 2, 1 for Day.

The favorites all won which is no surprise. Now it gets tough, #2, 5, 8, 9 in the country in the semis. We get #1 seed, #2, 26-2, 13-3 UCLA. They beat us by 3, then by 8, and they are a very tough team. 11 game streak.

3/11: Not pretty, 56-68. Brown got in early foul trouble played a total of 12 min.

-15, -1, 38-41%.

Only 2 guys did anything at all for us, 29, 5 for Mack, 12, 6, 1 for Garr. We were way overmatched.

3/12: UCLA won the title over Stanford by 9.

[Wayne23]

Selection day: Not in the East.

Midwest is idiotic, UCLA #1, Stanford #2, Arizona #3. Why?

Not in the South.

#1 in the West and I’m shocked! UNC #2, Wake Forest #3, Tennessee #4, Memphis #5. RPI of 3 must have decided it.

3/13: USC wins in the NIT.

3/15: USC loses by 1.

3/16: UCLA, Stanford and Arizona all win.

We play #16 seed Wagner from Am. East. They were 16-16, 7-9, finished 10th in a 12 team conf., got hot and won the tourney and upset MO. ST.

This is a mismatch.

3/17: 83-54.

+10, +10, 48-35%.

28, 13 for Garr, 15, 9, 2 for Mack, 13 for Rayn, 5, 1, 9, 2 for Brown.

3/18: UCLA, Stanford and Arizona all won again.

We play #8 seed, 20-11, 9-7 Boston College who we beat by 27 and 16 earlier this season. 5-1 in their last 6. This is another game we should win but we need to play well.

3/19: We never trail, 71-57.

+12, even, 42-38%.

26, 6, 3, 1 for Mack, 10, 10 for Garr, 12, 8, 2, 1, 1 for Day, 6, 5, 9, 1, 2 for Brown.

In the Sweet Sixteen.

Prat hurt his back. Day to day.

[Wayne23]

3/23: UCLA wins and Stanford beats Arizona.

We play #12 seed Princeton, 22-9, 11-3, who upset the #5, then the #4 seeds. Their 2 can light it up but this looks like another mismatch.

3/24: Again, we never trail, 73-52. Mack had a huge game.

+9, -5, 58-33%.

38, 9, 4, 3, 3 for Mack, 10, 1, 10 for Brown, 10, 6, 2 for Garr.

On to the Elite Eight.

3/25: #2 UCLA wins and will play #1 Georgia Tech in the Final Four.

We play #6 ranked, #2 seed North Carolina, 26-9, 12-4. They finished 2nd in conf., and lost in the 2nd round. 7-1 in the last 8. 7 extremely good players and they all play D. We’ll need to be at the very top of our form to have a chance.

3/26: It was close for about 32-33 minutes and then it wasn’t. The wheels fell completely off at that point, 59-76.

+4, -12, 43-46%. TOs killed us. They pressured us in the 2nd half and we couldn’t handle it, 22 TOs.

16, 10, 2 for Garr, 14, 5, 2, 1 for Mack.

UNC will play #3 Kansas.

We end 29-6. 4 starters back and a couple of good guys coming in so we’re optimistic.

4/1: I’m at the Final Four.

#1 Ga. Tech beat UCLA by 7 and #6 UNC beat Kansas by 10.

4/3: Ga. Tech by 22 for the title.

I talk to lots of big time movers and shakers.

4/4: Awards: Mike Mack is 1st team All American. In conf. Al Garr is freshman of the year, Mack makes 1st team.

4/9: Nothing resembling a good job offer but I like what I see for next year anyway.

4/23: I ask for a facilities upgrade. Got it. We will now have A level facilities.

4/30: My numbers: Off. 59, Def. 87, Recruit 93, Scout 10, Player Dev. 73, Reputation 71. 363-102, .781. Looking forward to a great season.

[Wayne23]

5/1: #21 preseason. We’ll do way better than that if we stay healthy. Buying the National Gold.

6/5: We can go for one transfer.

6/12: No luck.

6/26: 6 to fill. Looking at 14- 6 PG, 1 SG, 2 SF, 1 PF, 4 C.

8/7: Mike Mack is #1 on the Norton List and Brian Brown is #27.

8/21: We offer to 4 bigs and 2 PGs.

9/11: Home visits.

9/18: Got one, #13 C, Tony Crow, highest ever at #13. Lost one. We have a sched. Going to the Sunshine Shootout in Dec. 12 ranked teams.

9/25: Got one, lost one, got #25 PF Mike Smith. Need guards!

10/2: Got one, lost one. Finally got a guard, #29 PG Des Wick. First day of practice. The conf. is almost as tough as it was last year but I have a good feeling. We’re picked to finish 2nd in conf.

10/9: Got #33 SF Steve Marr. Two more to go. We really need to get one of the two PGs we are chasing.

10/23: Still working on the recruits. New poll has us at #5.

10/30: Lost one of the two PGs we’re chasing. I’m offering to a big who has been very interested in us all along. GOTTA get that last PG. He has us at #3 so it could go either way.

11/2: First exhibition is with UC Davis. 35-21 at the half.

64-42. +28, +2, 38-31%. Mack an’ Call did great.

11/7: 2nd exhibition is with UC Davis. 28-29 at the half. Not happy. OT! REALLY not happy.

72-62. +19, +8, 38-41%, fouls 10-17. SO all the numbers were in our favor, by a wide margin. How was it a close game? They hit 12 threes. Garr, Day and Silk played well. Mack was okay.

Hack, Call and Petty all need more minutes. Not sure that can happen though. Call will get minutes.

Brad Jones, #37 C signed. We NEED to sign that PG.

[Wayne23]

#25 Temple is here. They seem to have 3 really good players, PF, C, PG. Not much else.

11/15: 68-38. They didn’t get many open looks, the D was terrific.

+17, +1, 49-24%.

15, 9, 2, 2 for Mack, 13, 6, 1, 2, 2 for Day.

San Diego, 1-0, is here. They don’t have the talent to stay with us.

11/18: 72-34. Can our D possibly be this good? Mack was unbelievable tonight.

+13, +4, 39-22%.

45, 11, 1, 2 for Mack. Not only did he outscore the other team, he outscored them by 11! 13 RBs for Garr.

#16. That PG we’re chasing has us at #1.

New Mexico, 2-1, is here. Another team that I don’t think can stay with us.

11/22: 75-62. D wasn’t as impressive tonight but it was never a game.

+11, +4, 47-48%.

17, 7, 1, 1 for Garr, 16, 3, 3 for Mack, 11, 9, 1 for Day. We let their SG get 27.