Jess Wynn, to do the impossible

[Wayne23]

Ellie and I are still seeing each other but it would only be exciting to a stats geek. We do stats problems, play games involving stats, and talk about the SDSU men’s hoop team. Well, we do some other stuff but MYOB.

My stats class is great. It’s really challenging and equally stimulating. I’ll miss a class here and there as the season starts but I think I’ll be okay. Thank goodness for the web.

11/1: Exhibition time. Both will be against North Carolina Central. I won’t play Clerq since I know how I’m going to use him. Without him we may lose both games but that doesn’t matter.

24-30 at the half. We trailed for almost the entire game and then came on and won it, 49-47. -5, +2, 36-34%. Fouls- 15-11.

Robin was impressive, as were Boozer, Camel and Moon. None of them started. Starters Holden, Henry and Slak were okay, except Henry fouled out. No one else impressed much.

2nd exhibition: A very different game so far. Up 39-26 at the half. Slak is lighting it up.

74-67. +2, +2, 46-45%. Fouls- 16-16. Slak was immense, Henry and Holden were very good. Everyone except Moon and Boozer played very well.

Decisions. First, we’re going to red shirt Boozer. We’ll start Henry at PG, Slak at SG, Clerq at SF, Holden at C. The debate is over the PF slot. We’re going with Smid. Lepore and Evans will get the most bench time, followed by Robin.

We’ll give Camel a little time as well. After that it’s scramble time.

Arkansas-Little Rock is in. Nothing to go on so we’ll find out by playing it I guess.

11/16: A back and forth 1st half. 6 lead changes and we wind up ahead 35-31 at the half. Lance Henry is hitting all kinds of shots. Holden and Clerq are doing damage as well.

We score the first 8 in the 2nd and build the lead to 20 late. 59-42 at the end. Great D!

+12 RB but 18 TOs (-4). We held them under 29%.

25, 6, 2, 2 for Henry, 13, 11, 1 for Holden who fouled out, 12, 8, 2, 1, 1 for Clerq. Slak didn’t score but had 7 RBs and 5 assists. Smid was invisible, as was the bench. Still, a good start.

3,671 watch.

Eastern Illinois, 0-2, is in next. They don’t play much D and they don’t take care of the ball.

11/19: Same kind of 1st half as in our last game, and we come out ahead 28-26. Then the roof caves in. The final is 52-60.

Even in both RB and TO but we shot 32.8% to their 40.3%. Fouls were 10-15. Smid hasn’t scored a point in two games so we’ll consider sitting him. We like his D but he needs to produce a little, anyway.

I feel like I’d like to give up 60 every night, we should win when that happens. On the other hand we’ve scored 59 and 52. Not sure what to do about that but we’re going to stand pat for at least one more game.

4,117 paid.

[Wayne23]

Appalachian State, 1-1, is in next. They score outside.

11/23: And for the 3rd straight game, a back and forth first half. We go in up by 41-37. Foul trouble for both teams, their 1 and 2 have 2 each, and for us it’s Clerq, Holden and Slak. Our starters are all playing well but there’s not much to choose between these two teams.

We come out fast, build to a 10 point lead at 14:03. It’s 13 at 7:11 but the 3 I mentioned all have 3 fouls. Up 9, 3:22, but in the last minute Holden, then Slak, then Clerq all picked up #4. They stay in at this point.

The other guys lost their 2 and their one has 4. They chip away, up 5, :44. Up 4, :22. They hit a 3 with :07 left. We manage to play keep away and they can’t foul us; they finally do with :02 left. Slak makes both and we win 77-74.

Finally got some offense. Of course the D wasn’t so great.

-2, +8 (only 8 TOs), 40-47%. Fouls were 16-17.

18 and 6 for both Henry and Clerq, 13, 4, 2, 1 for Slak, and 12, 6, 4 for Smid, which is a relief to all of us. Holden had 5, 4, 2, 1. Not much from the bench yet again.

4,448 watched.

3-1 Wisconsin closes the home stand. The Big 10 is way above our class but this team hasn’t played anyone so 3-1 doesn’t mean much. They play D and they are way more athletic than we are, as far as we can tell from the CDs.
11/26: We climb all over them early, leading by 19 at 5:57. It’s 42-24 at the half. Clerq and Henry are on fire.

They make a couple of runs in the 2nd half but can’t get closer than 7. We build it back up late and win 72-58.

-4, +8 (8 TOs again), 40-44%. Fouls- 12-12.

23, 6, 1 for Clerq, 20 for Henry, 7, 4, 4 for Slak. Robin has 11, 4, 3, 1 from the bench. It’s great to beat a big 10 team!

5,122 in attendance.

As was true last year we can’t seem to put 5 good players out there. Clerq and Henry are consistently effective but the other three are up and down, and the bench isn’t much help most games.

I decide to even up the minutes among Smid, Lepore and Evans and see if anyone emerges.

[PointGuard]

Hey, Wayne, good luck with Lang, but I'd be interested to know if you can rekindle any interest within him. In the distant past I've pulled back a scholarship offer a couple times, then later re-offered it, and their response has always been "no way Jose".

[Wayne23]

That's usually the way it works. The only way I'll get any of these guys is if they hit 800-830 on the SAT. Lying low 'til then.

[Wayne23]

At 3-1 UC Santa Barbara for our 1st road game. Beat Ohio State. They score outside. They’re sloppy.

11/30: Up 9, 14:54. Everything is clicking, up 15, 5:22. 42-23 at the half. +11 RB, shooting 50% to their 28%. Slak, Henry and Clerq are scoring at will.

It continues, up 27, 15:39. Up 33, 6:07. 82-42 at the end. I don’t think we can play better than this.

+24, +1, 52-30%.

21, 7,4 for Slak, 18, 4, 2 for Henry, 15, 5, 2, 4, 1 for Clerq. We play everyone.

At 1-4 Portland next. Their record is deceptive, they’ve played good teams. Their 2 can score and the RB well.

12/3: Back and forth for awhile. They go up 4, then we go up 3, then they go up 1. It continues that way. At 3:26 it’s tied. We go on a mini-run and lead 38-32 at the half. Clerq sat for the last 4:32 with 2 fouls.

Slak and Henry are getting points, as is Robin from the bench.

Up 7, 14:44. #3 on Clerq, 13:02, up 9. #4 on Clerq, 10:21, up 11. The lead goes to 4, 6:22. We go to man, level 9. Lead back up to 11, 3:38. Final is 72-63.

+6, +1, 42-41%. Fouls- 14-19. 17, 1, 4, 1 for Slak, 16, 2, 3 for Henry, 7, 14, 2, 3 for Holden, 14, 2, 3, 1 for Robin.

We are playing way better than I expected us to, as we did last year.

[Wayne23]

At 3-3 Dartmouth next. They don’t play much D.

12/7: We continue our solid play early, up 11, 13:27. Up 17, 5:22, Henry and Clerq are doing the scoring, Holden is doing it all. 2:54, #2 on Henry, up 15. 37-25 at the half.

Up 15, 14:56. #3 on Henry, 9:44, up 17. #4 on Henry, 5:13, up 16. 68-56 at the end.

+6, +5, 38-46% but we take 18 more shots. Fouls- 12-14.

23, 3, 4, 1 for Henry, 17, 5 for Clerq, 6, 10, 6, 2 for Holden, 6, 9, 4, 3 for Slak.

Smid gives me very little on O but he is a solid defender.

7-1 Lehigh is in. They haven’t played anyone. 2 and 5 can score. We expect a big crowd for this one.

12/14: Henry is on fire early, up 8, 13:33. Up 19, 6:22. #2 on Holden, 3:31, up 24. #2 on Henry, 1:58, up 22. 41-23 at the half. Great D and we’re controlling the boards.

Up 22, 15:31. Up 19, 8:44. #4 on Holden, 4:11, up 18. Lehigh is scoring lots of points and our D has disappeared, but we’re scoring about as many. D to 10. #4 for Henry, 2:48, up 17. 87-74 at the end. Not happy with the 2nd half D but it became a horse race and we kept up.

+9, +2, 47-43%. Fouls- 19-18.

31, 6, 2 for Henry, 12, 12, 4 for Holden, 15, 4, 2 for Clerq. Slak, Robin and Evans all contributed and Smid collared his man.

[Wayne23]

At 3-7 Fresno State to close the pre-conf. season. This one worries me, they’ve played a very tough schedule. They score outside. I tell the guys they need to be on their game tonight.

12/21: It’s like a continuation for the 2nd half of the Lehigh game, no D, down 7, 14:41. #2 on Smid, 8:54, down 7. #2 on Holden, 8:31, down 9. #2 on Henry, 5:18, down 10. I’m not happy with the refs but the other team has 3 in trouble, too. 34-41 at the half.

D is the problem. We make a couple of adjustments at the half. The problem is they have 5 guys scoring. We can’t double or even overplay anyone.

Down 5, 14:29. Then the whistles start again, against both teams. Lots of players sitting. At 3:45. We have Smid, Holden and Henry all with 4, and they have their 1, 2, and 5 in the same condition, down 3 and hanging on.
They hit a 3, we miss, they hit another 3. I call a TO go to 10, man, and press at 10, 2:58. We can’t hit shots and it ends 68-78. D was awful but the fouls made it difficult.

+4, -4. 42-50%. Fouls were 18-20. The refs made it tough for this game to have any flow and for us to play D.

7-2 at this point though, so I’m pleased.

Everyone makes Dean’s list. Let’s hear it for tutors and study halls (and gut courses).

6-3 Oakland is in. They played one decent team, #24 Kansas State, and beat them. Starting PG just flunked off the team which should make a big difference. SG will shift over but the new SG isn’t very good.

12/28: We hit the floor with our shooting shoes on, up 11, 17:03. #2 on Slak, 16:44, Damn! #2 on Henry, 14:55, up 13. Up 14, 7:22, we keep hitting shots and stopping them and the backup back court is doing fine. 47-29 at the half.

Slak and Henry get in foul trouble right away and stay there but Robin, Camel and Lepore do a great job of covering. Up 18, 11:28. Up 16, 4:31. Both Slak and Henry foul out but it doesn’t matter, 77-63 at the end. Slak played 11 and Henry 20 min.

+7, +4, 43-44%. Fouls were 17-21. Wish the refs would go away and let us play the game.

17, 14 for Holden who is finding himself lately, 16, 9, 1, 2, 2 for Clerq, 15 for Henry, 10 for Robin and good D for Smid again.

The talks with Dad have not slowed down at all. He still catches all of our games and we still chat every day, often more than once.

[Wayne23]

At 3-7 IUPU-Indy. 5 straight losses and they give up points.

12/31: We got out to a solid early lead, 10 points, but then the recurring foul bug got us, #2 on Slak, 8:33, #2 on Henry, 6:28. By then we were up only 1.

At the half it was 29-35 and I was PISSED.

Except for rebounding nothing went right, more foul trouble for Slak and Henry, and I got a T. by the 4:26 mark they both had 4 and I was close to a 2nd T. We were down 13.

At 2:58, when Henry picked up #5 I got the 2nd T, and I really did need to be held back by my assistants. The final was 59-68. We were +10 RB. With our guards out we simply couldn’t get any O going.

Dad was not happy with me. He said it’s one thing to get a T, even to get a 2nd one, but there is no justification for losing it the way I did. He told me I was a grown man and needed to act like one. I shut up and took it, since I realized he was right.

3-8 Southern Utah is in. They just beat IUPU-Indy, who just beat us, so we need to play. They’re 1-6 with this as their only win in that span. They’re sloppy.

1/4: Weird, weird game. We were behind for the entire first half, by as many as 7 at one point. We couldn’t make a basket and either could they, it was 9-12 with 6:01 left. Then it got a little better but only 18-22 at the half. Welcome to Jr. High hoops.

We woke up in the 2nd, at least some, and they didn’t. We took out first lead at 10:02, stretched it to 9, and then won 47-42. No O for either team.
-3, -1. 32-29%.

Clerq led us with 11 and 8.

At 6-6, 2-1 No. Dak. ST. They’re up and down with some bad losses. They score outside.

1/7: Same old f***ing story, as Cindi Lauper sings (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQkfCBplbqE).

Early foul trouble for Henry and Slak, and add Holden for good measure. We never had a chance with 3 starters on the bench for so much of the game. Down 9 at the half, as many as 16, and 72-85 at the end. Don’t know how to stop it. They shot 57%. I did get a T but I stayed in control.

[CoachC]

A sophomore slump. You'll snap out of it.

[Wayne23]

Maybe.