(May 28, 2014)
“Jackson Lee here. We left off just as ‘Buddy Boy” Blakelee was about to begin his first season. Here he is.”
“First up was MD Eastern Shore. On paper we was the better team but paper don’t mean much. At leas’ we was at home. I gotta say, I don’t know if’n I was ever that nervous afore or sense. Hope it didn’t show too much. It he’ped havin’ Loretta ion the stands a course. Anyways, we started strong an’ ended strong. The middle wasn’t too good but we done enuff. When it was over we won 63-52. I played 7 guys an’ all 7 done some good stuff. A. D. Toms, our #3 guard, a walk on, had 15 ta lead us. Our bigs held their own; we was on’y out rebounded by 4. The best part was on’y 8 turnovers an’ we caused 21, which really was the difference, along with them strong legs at the end. That an’ nobody got in no foul trouble which always helps, speshully when ya got a short bench. Case at the Point an’ Fill at SG had 6 assists each, an’ on’y 3 TOs ‘tween ‘em. On the down side we built a 17 point lead but let ‘em get it ta 4 in the second half. Like I said though the legs was there an’ we took care a business when it counted. I had a lot a big vict’ries over the years, but that first one? I won’t never ferget it.”
“So a great start. Then what?”
“Well, then we hit the road. In them days ya didn’t fly unless ya really hadta. It was a long bus ride ta play Florida Gulf Coast, all the way over in Fort Myers. Agin, on paper we was the better team, but they was 1-0, like us, an’ they was at home. On top a that they had a real good Center an’ a PF who was perty good.”
“How’d it go?”
“Well, we struggled perty near the whole first half. Couldn’t seem ta git in sync, couldn’t hit a shot when we needed ta. We got down by 10 er 11 late. But then in the last couple minutes we got a couple a steals an’ we cut it ta four at the half. That give me a lot ta work with at half time an’ I used it, tole my guys we had ‘em on the run an’ we was jes’ catchin’ fire. Alls we hadta do was keep it goin’ in the secon’ half. I made a adjustment with our inside D an’ put some plays in ta free up our outside shooters an’ dang if’n we didn’t hit 8 threes in the secon’ an’ win it goin’ away, 56-44! On’y 8 TOs agin, nobody got in foul trouble, an’ we was on’y minus 1 on the boards! Their bigs outplayed us but team reboundin’ saved us. Den Wall was the big guy off the bench with 14 an’ 6 RBs, an’ Arn had 15 an’ 4 from SF. They bottled up Fill but Case had 14 an’ 6, an’ we plain played good team basketball. I knowed we had a sof’ schedual, an’ that it wouldn’t stay this easy but it was sure fun!”
“Let’s take a break…”
“So, undefeated season?”
“Ha! Hardly that. We had a home game comin’ up but then four straight on the road, 6 outta 7. I knowed that was gonna be trouble.
“North Colorada was 1-1 an’ they was comin’ ta our place. Like I said we’d be mos’ly on the road fer a long time so’s I wanted a win in this one. But they was prob’ly a little tougher than our first two opponents, an’ they was tough inside, real tough. We hadta make our outside game work ta have a chancet.”
“And…”
“Well, we done it agin! Final was 75-63. Trey Case was red hot. He wound up with 23, an’ Hobbs, Arn an’ Wall all got points. But what amazed me was that we were +10 on the boards. Team effort, nobody had more’n 6 RBs, but we got inside position all night long. Like the last game their D keyed on Fill so’s we jes’ foun’ the open man an’ made ‘em pay. 12 TOs but I’ll take that mos’ ever night. We was playin’ dang good ball an’ our two man bench was gettin’ it done somehow. I played 7 guys ever game, 5 of ‘em guards, an’ it was workin’. Hobbs got inta foul trouble but I kep’ him in mos’ly an’ he played smart an’ never did pick up #5. I teach playin’ smart, always have. Stay in control at all times, as much as ya kin, an’ lotsa good things are boun’ ta happen. So far they was sure happenin’, but 6 outta the next 7 on the road. If we was ta go 3-4 in them nex’ 7 I’d be a happy coach.”
“And next time we’ll find out whether that happened. Jackson Lee, WATL. Join us next time.”
Buddy Boy Blakelee- Good Ole Boy
36 posts
• Page 2 of 4 • 1, 2, 3, 4
by Wayne23 » Wed Nov 12, 2014 7:06 pm
(June 4, 2014)
“Jackson Lee here again. Now we’ve gone almost day by day through Coach ‘Buddy Boy’ Blakeleee’s first year of coaching. Obviously this series would go on for a very long time if that continued. But these first few months laid the groundwork for everything that followed so we’ll do just a bit more.”
“Coach, tell us about that first long road trip.”
“Okay, James. Another long bus ride took us ta Kennesaw St. in Georgia. We felt like if we could stop ‘em at the 2 and 3 spots we’d be okay. They was 1-2 aginst the same kinda teams we was playin’. But, it was a road game so’s we wasn’t takin’ nuthin’ fer granted. We didn’t play too bad in the first half but fer the first time all year we had lotsa trouble hangin’ onta the ball. Still, we went inta the locker up by 4. Then in the second half the wheels plumb fell offa the wagon. We had 14 turnovers, and Trey Case fouled out. Despite alla that we was still in it with a couple minutes lef’. But it weren’t our night, an’ we los’ 62-68. Ta be hones’, we didn’t deserve ta win. Their startin’ guards lit us up fer 33, whilst pickin’ our pockets all night. Oh well, I knowed they was gonna be nights like this. On the bright side our bigs played real good, +6 on the boards, Hobbs had 15 an’ 8, an’ Mack had 10 an’ 8.
“It ain’t losin’, it’s how ya bounce back after losin’. So we got ta work. An’ we also got back on the dang bus headin’ all the way ta Jacksonville ta play North Florida what was 3-1 aginst some teams that wasn’t bad. They didn’t score much but they didn’t hardly give up any points atall. I knowed we was in fer a rough night less’ we come ta play, an’ mebbe even then.”
“And were you?”
“Well I gotta tell ya we come ta PLAY! Not in the first half though. They ‘bout run us outta the gym, went up by 13 an’ went in up 9. Halftime was the first time I ever pitched a fit at one a my teams. I meant it too, it weren’t no act. We was a step slow the whole first half practic’ly. Didn’t show no energy, no hustle, no want ta. I laid inta ‘em fer a good three minutes an’ then I tole ‘em what I expected in the second half, which was good, sharp passes, good inside position fer rebounds, an’ hustle, hustle, hustle.
"I got it too. We chipped away at the lead fer the first ten minutes er so an’ finely took our first lead with about 8 minutes lef’. It went back an’ forth the resta the way. We had 10 turnovers in the first half an’ didn’t have but three in the second, an’ we got mosta the rebounds too. Chris Mack was a force inside. Fill hit some key jump shots an’ Trey Case like ta couldn’t miss. We come down the floor with the game tied an’ 14 seconds lef’. Case jes’ dribbled aroun’ until the clock all but run out, cut by Mack who set a beautiful pick fer him, took a open 15 footer an’ drained it fer the win. 68-66 was the final score an’ it was my first close game as a head coach an’ my mos’ satisfyin’ win so far. Case had 22 an’ Fill 15, but like always it was a team effort. My seven guys all did some good stuff. 13 TOs an’ +4 on the boards.”
“Time for a break. We’ll be right back…”
“4-1. That was a fine start, Coach.”
“It was unbelievable. My big 7 all averged ‘tween 7 an’ 15 points, everbody did a little reboundin’, an’ ‘cept fer one game we didn’t turn it over hardly atall. Life was perty dang good! We rode the bus ta Deland, FL ta play Stetson what was 3-3, but they had beat Chattanooga an’ Seton Hall an’ we hadn’t played nobody in that class nor anywhere near it. They ran a freewheelin’ offense what was hard ta defend aginst, an’ they played a real good man. They was definitely the best team we’d seen so far.”
“How did it turn out?”
“Well they done ta us what they done ta everbody else. They plain didn’t let us score. Fill an’ Case got points outside but they took a lot a shots ta get ‘em, an’ we got nuthin’ inside. Lost 52-55. They turned us over 18 times and Hobbs an’ Mack both had foul trouble all night. Mack fouled out. Worse of all they totally bottled up Arn. He never seen the ball an’ took on’y one shot all night. They was a good team!
“Seems like we played the whole Atlantic Sun conference that first year. They had a lotta weak teams an’ they wasn’t all that far away from us bus wise. We done okay aginst ‘em, all in all, winnin’ some, losin’ some. Worst was Jacksonville what plain trounced us. We had that one home game in the middle a that 6 outta 7 on the road an’ we trounced Portland State. So we was 5-3 with 2 more on the road. I wasn’t unhappy with that. We wasn’t doin’ nuthin’ great but we was doin’ everthin’ more er less okay. I figgered we was on track. If’n we could grab a few recruits we’d have sumthin’ ta build with. Seemed like we’d git recruits late, an’ thass kinda how it turned out.”
“More next week. Jackson Lee, WATL.”
“Jackson Lee here again. Now we’ve gone almost day by day through Coach ‘Buddy Boy’ Blakeleee’s first year of coaching. Obviously this series would go on for a very long time if that continued. But these first few months laid the groundwork for everything that followed so we’ll do just a bit more.”
“Coach, tell us about that first long road trip.”
“Okay, James. Another long bus ride took us ta Kennesaw St. in Georgia. We felt like if we could stop ‘em at the 2 and 3 spots we’d be okay. They was 1-2 aginst the same kinda teams we was playin’. But, it was a road game so’s we wasn’t takin’ nuthin’ fer granted. We didn’t play too bad in the first half but fer the first time all year we had lotsa trouble hangin’ onta the ball. Still, we went inta the locker up by 4. Then in the second half the wheels plumb fell offa the wagon. We had 14 turnovers, and Trey Case fouled out. Despite alla that we was still in it with a couple minutes lef’. But it weren’t our night, an’ we los’ 62-68. Ta be hones’, we didn’t deserve ta win. Their startin’ guards lit us up fer 33, whilst pickin’ our pockets all night. Oh well, I knowed they was gonna be nights like this. On the bright side our bigs played real good, +6 on the boards, Hobbs had 15 an’ 8, an’ Mack had 10 an’ 8.
“It ain’t losin’, it’s how ya bounce back after losin’. So we got ta work. An’ we also got back on the dang bus headin’ all the way ta Jacksonville ta play North Florida what was 3-1 aginst some teams that wasn’t bad. They didn’t score much but they didn’t hardly give up any points atall. I knowed we was in fer a rough night less’ we come ta play, an’ mebbe even then.”
“And were you?”
“Well I gotta tell ya we come ta PLAY! Not in the first half though. They ‘bout run us outta the gym, went up by 13 an’ went in up 9. Halftime was the first time I ever pitched a fit at one a my teams. I meant it too, it weren’t no act. We was a step slow the whole first half practic’ly. Didn’t show no energy, no hustle, no want ta. I laid inta ‘em fer a good three minutes an’ then I tole ‘em what I expected in the second half, which was good, sharp passes, good inside position fer rebounds, an’ hustle, hustle, hustle.
"I got it too. We chipped away at the lead fer the first ten minutes er so an’ finely took our first lead with about 8 minutes lef’. It went back an’ forth the resta the way. We had 10 turnovers in the first half an’ didn’t have but three in the second, an’ we got mosta the rebounds too. Chris Mack was a force inside. Fill hit some key jump shots an’ Trey Case like ta couldn’t miss. We come down the floor with the game tied an’ 14 seconds lef’. Case jes’ dribbled aroun’ until the clock all but run out, cut by Mack who set a beautiful pick fer him, took a open 15 footer an’ drained it fer the win. 68-66 was the final score an’ it was my first close game as a head coach an’ my mos’ satisfyin’ win so far. Case had 22 an’ Fill 15, but like always it was a team effort. My seven guys all did some good stuff. 13 TOs an’ +4 on the boards.”
“Time for a break. We’ll be right back…”
“4-1. That was a fine start, Coach.”
“It was unbelievable. My big 7 all averged ‘tween 7 an’ 15 points, everbody did a little reboundin’, an’ ‘cept fer one game we didn’t turn it over hardly atall. Life was perty dang good! We rode the bus ta Deland, FL ta play Stetson what was 3-3, but they had beat Chattanooga an’ Seton Hall an’ we hadn’t played nobody in that class nor anywhere near it. They ran a freewheelin’ offense what was hard ta defend aginst, an’ they played a real good man. They was definitely the best team we’d seen so far.”
“How did it turn out?”
“Well they done ta us what they done ta everbody else. They plain didn’t let us score. Fill an’ Case got points outside but they took a lot a shots ta get ‘em, an’ we got nuthin’ inside. Lost 52-55. They turned us over 18 times and Hobbs an’ Mack both had foul trouble all night. Mack fouled out. Worse of all they totally bottled up Arn. He never seen the ball an’ took on’y one shot all night. They was a good team!
“Seems like we played the whole Atlantic Sun conference that first year. They had a lotta weak teams an’ they wasn’t all that far away from us bus wise. We done okay aginst ‘em, all in all, winnin’ some, losin’ some. Worst was Jacksonville what plain trounced us. We had that one home game in the middle a that 6 outta 7 on the road an’ we trounced Portland State. So we was 5-3 with 2 more on the road. I wasn’t unhappy with that. We wasn’t doin’ nuthin’ great but we was doin’ everthin’ more er less okay. I figgered we was on track. If’n we could grab a few recruits we’d have sumthin’ ta build with. Seemed like we’d git recruits late, an’ thass kinda how it turned out.”
“More next week. Jackson Lee, WATL.”
- Wayne23
- DDS:CB Support Squad
- Posts: 14324
- Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 5:23 pm
by Wayne23 » Wed Nov 12, 2014 10:46 pm
(June 11, 2014)
“Welcome back to WATL’s presentation of ‘Buddy boy’ Blakelee. Here’s the late James Broadstreet.”
“Coach, let’s start with the rest of that road trip.”
“Well, we won both of ‘em somehow. 23 TOs in the first, an’ real good work an’ a lucky shot at the end fer a 1 point win in the second. So now we had one more non-confrence game an’ we was 7-3, which was WAY better’n I coulda figgered, even with the sof’ schedual.Trey Case was avergin’ 15.1, an’ the other 6 guys all averged ‘tween 7.0 an’ 8.7. We was out reboundin’ the opponents by 3, an’ not takin’ quite as good care a the ball as early on, but not all that bad. Two biggest facters was we was playin’ great team ball an’ we hadn’t had a injury yet. That was bound ta change. I jes’ hoped it wouldn’t be one of our two big guys what got hurt. Time would tell.
“Then we blowed the last non-confernce game at home. Mack fouled out in 18 minutes an’ we cain’t compete without him. That plus we couldn’t hit a shot nor take care a the ball. Trey Case played great an’ everbody else was awful. So we ended up 7-4 startin’ conference play.
“Our fambly’s first XMas in Conway was right nice. We had a week ‘tween games an’ the nex’ one was ta home, so’s they was time fer fambly. All a my players was in state so they got ta go home fer the holiday. We had a game on the 26th so I tole ‘em ta be back on campus fer a 9 PM XMas day practice but that was okay with everbody.
“First semester grades come out an’ my emphasis on doin’ good school work definitely he’ped. Lowest GPA was 2.9!
“We crushed Texas A & M Corpus Chrispy in the conference opener. It was our biggest win a the season so far, 20 points. Case an’ the bench led the way. It woulda been hard ta play better’n we did in that one. Then it was back on the bus fer the nex’ 2, 3 outta 4, an’ 5 outta 7. If’n we could servive that we’d be in perty good shape the resta the way.”
“And did you?”
“Well sir, we lost the first two. I didn’t think we played bad in them games but we ran inta some foul trouble an’ couldn’t catch a break. I stayed positive with the kids in practice an’ tole ‘em ta keep workin' an’ we’d be okay.”
“And were you?”
“Well our next one was home agin’ the worst team in the conference an’ we won by 2. I weren’t sayin’ so but I was startin’ ta worry at that point.”
“We’ll be right back…”
“So at this point we’re 9-6, 2-2 in the conference but our 2 wins is aginst the two worst teams.
“On the recruitin’ front we still got them two kids signed an’ then Rog Lewis, a PG, committed. Nobody else but we’re still workin’ a lotta kids. Need at least one more big guy now, but we’re losin’ a lotta guards.
“On the home front the President a the school called Loretta in ta congratulate her on the work she was doin’. That made her happy an’ made me proud as could be!
“Then we got a huge road win at San Antone; Case got 31! We won our next one at home an’ was tied fer 3rd. Case was our leader an’ he was playin’ great but my seven was still all doin’ their part. Nex’ two on the road an’ then 5 outta the las’ eight at home. I dearly wanted a split a them nex’ two games!”
“And?”
“Well, Northwestern State come first an’ they was one a the bes’ teams in the conf. They showed it too, crushed us like a bug.
“Losin’ ta Nicholls State in our nex’ one hurt. We shoulda beat that team. So we didn’t get our split an’ we was at 4-4. But we was on’y one game back a first place. Course 6 teams was tied fer first an’ one team was tied with us. All but one a the res’ was one game back a us. So halfway through the conference season it was anybody’s race. We hoped our heavy home schedual would he’p us, but right now, side a Trey Case there weren’t nobody playin’ all that good. Keep workin’. Thass always the solution an’ iss usually the on’y one”
“And we’ll find out if it worked next time. WATL, Atlanta.”
“Welcome back to WATL’s presentation of ‘Buddy boy’ Blakelee. Here’s the late James Broadstreet.”
“Coach, let’s start with the rest of that road trip.”
“Well, we won both of ‘em somehow. 23 TOs in the first, an’ real good work an’ a lucky shot at the end fer a 1 point win in the second. So now we had one more non-confrence game an’ we was 7-3, which was WAY better’n I coulda figgered, even with the sof’ schedual.Trey Case was avergin’ 15.1, an’ the other 6 guys all averged ‘tween 7.0 an’ 8.7. We was out reboundin’ the opponents by 3, an’ not takin’ quite as good care a the ball as early on, but not all that bad. Two biggest facters was we was playin’ great team ball an’ we hadn’t had a injury yet. That was bound ta change. I jes’ hoped it wouldn’t be one of our two big guys what got hurt. Time would tell.
“Then we blowed the last non-confernce game at home. Mack fouled out in 18 minutes an’ we cain’t compete without him. That plus we couldn’t hit a shot nor take care a the ball. Trey Case played great an’ everbody else was awful. So we ended up 7-4 startin’ conference play.
“Our fambly’s first XMas in Conway was right nice. We had a week ‘tween games an’ the nex’ one was ta home, so’s they was time fer fambly. All a my players was in state so they got ta go home fer the holiday. We had a game on the 26th so I tole ‘em ta be back on campus fer a 9 PM XMas day practice but that was okay with everbody.
“First semester grades come out an’ my emphasis on doin’ good school work definitely he’ped. Lowest GPA was 2.9!
“We crushed Texas A & M Corpus Chrispy in the conference opener. It was our biggest win a the season so far, 20 points. Case an’ the bench led the way. It woulda been hard ta play better’n we did in that one. Then it was back on the bus fer the nex’ 2, 3 outta 4, an’ 5 outta 7. If’n we could servive that we’d be in perty good shape the resta the way.”
“And did you?”
“Well sir, we lost the first two. I didn’t think we played bad in them games but we ran inta some foul trouble an’ couldn’t catch a break. I stayed positive with the kids in practice an’ tole ‘em ta keep workin' an’ we’d be okay.”
“And were you?”
“Well our next one was home agin’ the worst team in the conference an’ we won by 2. I weren’t sayin’ so but I was startin’ ta worry at that point.”
“We’ll be right back…”
“So at this point we’re 9-6, 2-2 in the conference but our 2 wins is aginst the two worst teams.
“On the recruitin’ front we still got them two kids signed an’ then Rog Lewis, a PG, committed. Nobody else but we’re still workin’ a lotta kids. Need at least one more big guy now, but we’re losin’ a lotta guards.
“On the home front the President a the school called Loretta in ta congratulate her on the work she was doin’. That made her happy an’ made me proud as could be!
“Then we got a huge road win at San Antone; Case got 31! We won our next one at home an’ was tied fer 3rd. Case was our leader an’ he was playin’ great but my seven was still all doin’ their part. Nex’ two on the road an’ then 5 outta the las’ eight at home. I dearly wanted a split a them nex’ two games!”
“And?”
“Well, Northwestern State come first an’ they was one a the bes’ teams in the conf. They showed it too, crushed us like a bug.
“Losin’ ta Nicholls State in our nex’ one hurt. We shoulda beat that team. So we didn’t get our split an’ we was at 4-4. But we was on’y one game back a first place. Course 6 teams was tied fer first an’ one team was tied with us. All but one a the res’ was one game back a us. So halfway through the conference season it was anybody’s race. We hoped our heavy home schedual would he’p us, but right now, side a Trey Case there weren’t nobody playin’ all that good. Keep workin’. Thass always the solution an’ iss usually the on’y one”
“And we’ll find out if it worked next time. WATL, Atlanta.”
- Wayne23
- DDS:CB Support Squad
- Posts: 14324
- Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 5:23 pm
by Wayne23 » Wed Nov 12, 2014 11:30 pm
(June 18, 2014)
“Trey Case stayed hotter than a Arkansas July. He got 26 in our nex’ game. Then we got hammered by 5-15 McNeese State. That was mebbe the most discouragin’ time a the season. That was a game we needed an’ a game we shoulda won. We was awful that night, ‘specially on D which we didn’t play. I never see so many open shots took agin’ one a my teams. I didn’t sleep a wink that night. Jes’ couldn’t stop my mind from racin’ an’ thinkin’ bout all the things we done wrong.
“Nex’ one was home an’ we won it. Clay Fill had the hot hand. He’d been a little bit of a underachiever all season so’s I was hopin’ this was a sign a things ta come.
“At this point we got 5 ta play an’ we’re easy in the runnin’ fer 2nd place an’ in danger a fallin’ ta as low as 10th. The conf. was that bunched up.
“We’d beat San Antone big at their place an’ now they was here. I ‘spected a win, but not the 40 pointer we got. Case got 37. That put us in a 2 way tie fer 2nd an’ we was ridin’ high. Amazin’ how big a bounce one game could give ya. It give us them bounces all season- both up an’ down. An’ nex’ was Stephen F, Austin what was the team we was tied with. It was away, like the one after, then two at home. This figgered ta be a tough game.”
“We’ll find out if it was after these messages…”
“An’ yet agin we couldn’t git it done on the road. Couldn’t make shots when we needed ta. Los’ by 12 an’ now we’re tied fer 4th. We got three lef’ an’ don’t ya know they’s with the first, third an’ 6th place teams. Leastwise the #1 an’ #3 is at home. But first Sam Houston State, there. We need a break. More important we needta play good! We won by 19 aginst these guys at home but the road is different.
“Yep, the road was totally diffrent. Like I said we beat ‘em by 19 at our place. They beat us by 19 in this one. 9 TOs fer Case an’ he fouled out. Mebbe his worse game all year. All of a sudden we’re tied fer 6th. Seems like a minute ago we was tied fer 2nd. Man!
“Two lef’, both at home, both agin top teams- they’s #1 an’ #2 now- an’ we jes’ gotta win ‘em both, er one at the very least. We’re 14-11, 7-7.”
“Next week we’ll finish the story of Coach Blakelee’s first season as a head coach. See you then. WATL Atlanta.”
“Trey Case stayed hotter than a Arkansas July. He got 26 in our nex’ game. Then we got hammered by 5-15 McNeese State. That was mebbe the most discouragin’ time a the season. That was a game we needed an’ a game we shoulda won. We was awful that night, ‘specially on D which we didn’t play. I never see so many open shots took agin’ one a my teams. I didn’t sleep a wink that night. Jes’ couldn’t stop my mind from racin’ an’ thinkin’ bout all the things we done wrong.
“Nex’ one was home an’ we won it. Clay Fill had the hot hand. He’d been a little bit of a underachiever all season so’s I was hopin’ this was a sign a things ta come.
“At this point we got 5 ta play an’ we’re easy in the runnin’ fer 2nd place an’ in danger a fallin’ ta as low as 10th. The conf. was that bunched up.
“We’d beat San Antone big at their place an’ now they was here. I ‘spected a win, but not the 40 pointer we got. Case got 37. That put us in a 2 way tie fer 2nd an’ we was ridin’ high. Amazin’ how big a bounce one game could give ya. It give us them bounces all season- both up an’ down. An’ nex’ was Stephen F, Austin what was the team we was tied with. It was away, like the one after, then two at home. This figgered ta be a tough game.”
“We’ll find out if it was after these messages…”
“An’ yet agin we couldn’t git it done on the road. Couldn’t make shots when we needed ta. Los’ by 12 an’ now we’re tied fer 4th. We got three lef’ an’ don’t ya know they’s with the first, third an’ 6th place teams. Leastwise the #1 an’ #3 is at home. But first Sam Houston State, there. We need a break. More important we needta play good! We won by 19 aginst these guys at home but the road is different.
“Yep, the road was totally diffrent. Like I said we beat ‘em by 19 at our place. They beat us by 19 in this one. 9 TOs fer Case an’ he fouled out. Mebbe his worse game all year. All of a sudden we’re tied fer 6th. Seems like a minute ago we was tied fer 2nd. Man!
“Two lef’, both at home, both agin top teams- they’s #1 an’ #2 now- an’ we jes’ gotta win ‘em both, er one at the very least. We’re 14-11, 7-7.”
“Next week we’ll finish the story of Coach Blakelee’s first season as a head coach. See you then. WATL Atlanta.”
- Wayne23
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by Wayne23 » Thu Nov 13, 2014 5:28 pm
(June 25, 2014)
“BIG home win. We beat 2nd place Abilene by 17 an’ now we cain’t finish no lower’n tied fer 4th. Course they could be a lotta teams tied fer fourth. Trey got 23 an’ Clay Fill got 13, an’ we held our own on the boards.
“Okay, las’ regler season game is home aginst #1 Northwestern State. They shellacked us by 19 at their place but this one’s in our yard. We gotta take better care a the ball an; find a way ta stop their Center.
“We flat cruched ‘em, 74-49. It’s perty amazin’ what home court can do fer ya. 23 fer Case, an’ what a shame he’s graduatin’! +5 both TO and RB, an’ Hobbs an’ Mack controlled the inside.
“An’ after all the regler season games is played we end up 16-11, 9-7, in a 4 way tie fer 3rd! No real idea where we’ll be seeded fer the tourney but the top four git a bye. We’ll see. I gotta say I am thrilled ta end up this high. Never figgered it. As of 2/26 our RPI is #128. That prob’ly ain’t good enuff ta git a invite ta a tourney less we win ours but thass okay. We done real good. Hope we kin win at leas’ one game in our tourney.
“We got that first roun’ bye so we watchin’ the first roun’ games. The tourney’s at Northwestern ST in Louisiana cuz they finished first.
“We play McNeese ST what won their first roun’ game. We feel like we got a score ta settle with them. They beat us bad at their place las’ time in a game we felt like we shoulda won. I guess we’ll see about that. Their 2 hurt us an’ their bench really hurt us las’ time.
“78-57. They scored the first basket an’ then never led agin. We come ta play tonight. 24 fer Trey Case. We coulda played a little better D but the rest was great.
“Lotsa upsets so we play San Antone which won two games so far, both as the underdog. Be nice ta git ta the finals. We beat these guys by 23 an’ then by 40. I hope we ain’t overconfident cuz we gotta do more’n show up.
“Trey Case done went crazy tanight, 46 points. Jes’ took the game an’ never let go. They never had a chancet.
“An’ so we done it. We’re in the final aginst Northwestern State. We crushed ‘em at our place an’ we’re playin’ great but don’t fergit, when we played at their place they hammered us, an’ they gonna be up fer this one fer sure. Oh well, I’ll take my chances. We’re 18-11 an’ we won our las’ four. Everbody on both teams is healthy so less see what we see!
“They scored the first 11 an’ we never was in it. We kep’ fightin’ an’ never give up but we jes’ couldn’t git it done. Final was 61-70. So after them first 11 points we actuelly outplayed ‘em but that ain’t what counts. I don’t know if gittin’ ta the finals will be enuff ta git us ta the NIT or the CHI. Hope so but not countin’ on it.”
“Sum up your season, Coach.”
“Good news: 18-12, made the finals a the tourney. Case had 18.8 a game, our inside game held up, an’ our big guys is comin’ back. Bad news: All a our guards is graduatin’ ‘cept the walk on. We better git some late recruits!”
“No surprise but we did not git invited anywheres. Still, I’m real happy with what we done this year.”
“And you should be, Coach. How did the recruiting turn out?”
“Well, like I figgered it took a long time, right up ‘til the end. Afore we git ta that, the Awards was presented in April. Trey Case was POY fer the conference, as he shoulda bin. First team too. Chris Mack made 2nd team. I thought Fill shoulda but he didn’t have the season we ‘spected really. I wasn’t offered no coachin’ jobs but then I didn’t spect ta be an’ I wouldn’t a gone after on’y one year."
“’nother thing was we needed ta hire a assistant. I got Bud Blue, a real good recruiter, ta come outta retirement. Meant I’d shift Mike Poindexter ta practice/bench coach but Mike was okay with that.
“Okay. I got me some recruits: I got Jon Nye, #116 PF, Bo Sand, #435 PG, an’ the big one, Scot Mill, #71 SG. They was one more week an’ I still had two ta fill. I rolled the dice on a couple a PGs, one from Argentina what was very high rated, top 100, an’ a SG from Italy what was also top 100. Hard ta tell with foreign guys but he’d they’d both he’p us if’n we could git ‘em. If we didn’t, oh well. I decided ta ask Truck fer a facilities upgrade. Didn’t really ‘spect ta git it but we shore needed it. I got a supprize an’ got the facilities upgrade!
“An’ that was the end a the season. We didn’t git them 2 foreign guys. That meant we’d start next year with 10 scholarship athaletes, one a which I’d prob’ly cut.”
“Before we go, Coach, what were your thoughts about moving?”
“Like I said, not after jes’ a year, but Loretta an’ me had talked on it an we knowed that if’n I was ta git ta the top we might need ta move two er three, mebbe four time ta git there. We was ready ta do what needed doin’.”
“And that wraps it up for this week. WATL, Atlanta.”
“BIG home win. We beat 2nd place Abilene by 17 an’ now we cain’t finish no lower’n tied fer 4th. Course they could be a lotta teams tied fer fourth. Trey got 23 an’ Clay Fill got 13, an’ we held our own on the boards.
“Okay, las’ regler season game is home aginst #1 Northwestern State. They shellacked us by 19 at their place but this one’s in our yard. We gotta take better care a the ball an; find a way ta stop their Center.
“We flat cruched ‘em, 74-49. It’s perty amazin’ what home court can do fer ya. 23 fer Case, an’ what a shame he’s graduatin’! +5 both TO and RB, an’ Hobbs an’ Mack controlled the inside.
“An’ after all the regler season games is played we end up 16-11, 9-7, in a 4 way tie fer 3rd! No real idea where we’ll be seeded fer the tourney but the top four git a bye. We’ll see. I gotta say I am thrilled ta end up this high. Never figgered it. As of 2/26 our RPI is #128. That prob’ly ain’t good enuff ta git a invite ta a tourney less we win ours but thass okay. We done real good. Hope we kin win at leas’ one game in our tourney.
“We got that first roun’ bye so we watchin’ the first roun’ games. The tourney’s at Northwestern ST in Louisiana cuz they finished first.
“We play McNeese ST what won their first roun’ game. We feel like we got a score ta settle with them. They beat us bad at their place las’ time in a game we felt like we shoulda won. I guess we’ll see about that. Their 2 hurt us an’ their bench really hurt us las’ time.
“78-57. They scored the first basket an’ then never led agin. We come ta play tonight. 24 fer Trey Case. We coulda played a little better D but the rest was great.
“Lotsa upsets so we play San Antone which won two games so far, both as the underdog. Be nice ta git ta the finals. We beat these guys by 23 an’ then by 40. I hope we ain’t overconfident cuz we gotta do more’n show up.
“Trey Case done went crazy tanight, 46 points. Jes’ took the game an’ never let go. They never had a chancet.
“An’ so we done it. We’re in the final aginst Northwestern State. We crushed ‘em at our place an’ we’re playin’ great but don’t fergit, when we played at their place they hammered us, an’ they gonna be up fer this one fer sure. Oh well, I’ll take my chances. We’re 18-11 an’ we won our las’ four. Everbody on both teams is healthy so less see what we see!
“They scored the first 11 an’ we never was in it. We kep’ fightin’ an’ never give up but we jes’ couldn’t git it done. Final was 61-70. So after them first 11 points we actuelly outplayed ‘em but that ain’t what counts. I don’t know if gittin’ ta the finals will be enuff ta git us ta the NIT or the CHI. Hope so but not countin’ on it.”
“Sum up your season, Coach.”
“Good news: 18-12, made the finals a the tourney. Case had 18.8 a game, our inside game held up, an’ our big guys is comin’ back. Bad news: All a our guards is graduatin’ ‘cept the walk on. We better git some late recruits!”
“No surprise but we did not git invited anywheres. Still, I’m real happy with what we done this year.”
“And you should be, Coach. How did the recruiting turn out?”
“Well, like I figgered it took a long time, right up ‘til the end. Afore we git ta that, the Awards was presented in April. Trey Case was POY fer the conference, as he shoulda bin. First team too. Chris Mack made 2nd team. I thought Fill shoulda but he didn’t have the season we ‘spected really. I wasn’t offered no coachin’ jobs but then I didn’t spect ta be an’ I wouldn’t a gone after on’y one year."
“’nother thing was we needed ta hire a assistant. I got Bud Blue, a real good recruiter, ta come outta retirement. Meant I’d shift Mike Poindexter ta practice/bench coach but Mike was okay with that.
“Okay. I got me some recruits: I got Jon Nye, #116 PF, Bo Sand, #435 PG, an’ the big one, Scot Mill, #71 SG. They was one more week an’ I still had two ta fill. I rolled the dice on a couple a PGs, one from Argentina what was very high rated, top 100, an’ a SG from Italy what was also top 100. Hard ta tell with foreign guys but he’d they’d both he’p us if’n we could git ‘em. If we didn’t, oh well. I decided ta ask Truck fer a facilities upgrade. Didn’t really ‘spect ta git it but we shore needed it. I got a supprize an’ got the facilities upgrade!
“An’ that was the end a the season. We didn’t git them 2 foreign guys. That meant we’d start next year with 10 scholarship athaletes, one a which I’d prob’ly cut.”
“Before we go, Coach, what were your thoughts about moving?”
“Like I said, not after jes’ a year, but Loretta an’ me had talked on it an we knowed that if’n I was ta git ta the top we might need ta move two er three, mebbe four time ta git there. We was ready ta do what needed doin’.”
“And that wraps it up for this week. WATL, Atlanta.”
- Wayne23
- DDS:CB Support Squad
- Posts: 14324
- Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 5:23 pm
by Wayne23 » Fri Nov 14, 2014 8:27 pm
(July 2, 2014)
“James Broadstreet here with Jerome ‘Buddy Boy’ Blakelee. Coach, we’ll kind of speed up our march through your career, but tell us a little about the off season after year one, and the beginning of year two.”
“Wasn’t no offseason, really. I took Loretta an’ the kids ta see her folks then mine, an’ we went ta a couple a places with the kids but then it was back ta work. I had ta fill my roster. I went after some transfers an’ recrutin’ would come later. I did cut one kid. They was no way he was ever gonna he’p us. Cost me one Team Prestige point so’s I was at 6. I was gonna be better defensively this year but we was thin, ‘specielly at guard. I had four guards on the team includin’ my walk on. None of ‘em was bad but they wasn’t as good as we had las’ year.”
“We didn’t have no luck atall with transfers so when recruitin’ started we was lookin’ fer a whole pile. As recruitin’ went along it was better’n las’ year. At least more recruits was willin’ ta talk ta us. An’ then we got a big time foreign player from Sweden. We’d hafta wait an’ see if’n he could hit our GPA score though. It’d be close.
“When schedulin’ time come we bumped it up a tad, mos’ly cuz we was playin’ a lotta home games this year. Still weren’t no real good teams though.
“Then practices fin’ely started. We was deeper up front this year. Not as good outside but gen’ly I thought we had a better team. Time would tell a course. (The conference preview bug came up and I couldn’t open it so no way to see where we might be expected to finish. One of the many things unfinished about this game, sadly.).
“By the time exhibition time come aroun’ I realized we had kinda messed up an’ spent too much recruitin’ money. I had 2 PGs if the foreign guy passed the SAT, but we was still chasin’ three guys an’ we was near outta ammunition. We wouldn’t make that mistake agin’, but here it was. We’d jes hafta do what we could. Hopefully we could git more money in the recruitin’ budget nex’ year.”
“Let’s take a break…”
“How about those exhibition games, Coach?”
“They learned us a lot. We went small agin this year. Mack was awful in the preseason an’ in the exhibitions so he got dropped way down. I started 3 guards a SF an’ Rob Rand at C what was prob’ly my best player all in all. Roy Lewis at PG an’ Bo Sand at SG was both decent, an’ both of ‘em played good D. Scot Mill was a natural SG startin’ at SF, an’ Dave Hobbs was a natural SF startin’ at PF, but thass what we hadda do. Jon Nye who I wished I coulda red shirted was my #1 big offa the bench an’ walk on A.D. Toms was #1 guard off’n the bench agin this year. Mack was my 2nd big, an’, lord he’p us if I needed a second small which we wouldn’t cuz we’d jes shif’ guys back to their normal positions if we needed ta go deeper at guard. I thought we’d be okay with this lineup.
“And how did that work out for you?”
“We done real good early. We had mos’ly home games an’ that always he’ps. Rob Rand was a HOSS! Scot Mill done real good at the 3. We took perty good care a the ball, an’ I went deeper inta my bench than I thought I would. But bottom line it was Rand an’ Mills what was getting’ it done fer us. Rand had 24 an’ 17 aginst Niagara, one a his better games but then he follered that with 28 an’ 13 in the next game! He could do that. An’ he was a freshman! An’ Mills was gettin’ all the points Rand wasn’t gettin’. We won 6 outta the first 7 an’ I started ta think I put tagether a scheduel what was too easy. Then we went on the road an’ 0-7 MD Eastern Shore took us ta overtime fore we put ‘em away.
“Then we got two more scares in the nex’ three games but we won ‘em an’ we ended the preconference scheduel 10-1. Now remember, 9 a them 11 was ta home, an’ none was aginst real good teams.
“Rand led us with 16.3 an’ 8.4, an’ Mills had 15.5. I was playin’ seven agin this year, Mack played his way outta the rotation. We was takin’ real good care a the ball, an’ our other three starters was scorin’ enuff that the other team hadta guard ‘em.
“Now ta see if’n we was good enuff fer the conference.”
“And we’ll find out next time. WATL.
“James Broadstreet here with Jerome ‘Buddy Boy’ Blakelee. Coach, we’ll kind of speed up our march through your career, but tell us a little about the off season after year one, and the beginning of year two.”
“Wasn’t no offseason, really. I took Loretta an’ the kids ta see her folks then mine, an’ we went ta a couple a places with the kids but then it was back ta work. I had ta fill my roster. I went after some transfers an’ recrutin’ would come later. I did cut one kid. They was no way he was ever gonna he’p us. Cost me one Team Prestige point so’s I was at 6. I was gonna be better defensively this year but we was thin, ‘specielly at guard. I had four guards on the team includin’ my walk on. None of ‘em was bad but they wasn’t as good as we had las’ year.”
“We didn’t have no luck atall with transfers so when recruitin’ started we was lookin’ fer a whole pile. As recruitin’ went along it was better’n las’ year. At least more recruits was willin’ ta talk ta us. An’ then we got a big time foreign player from Sweden. We’d hafta wait an’ see if’n he could hit our GPA score though. It’d be close.
“When schedulin’ time come we bumped it up a tad, mos’ly cuz we was playin’ a lotta home games this year. Still weren’t no real good teams though.
“Then practices fin’ely started. We was deeper up front this year. Not as good outside but gen’ly I thought we had a better team. Time would tell a course. (The conference preview bug came up and I couldn’t open it so no way to see where we might be expected to finish. One of the many things unfinished about this game, sadly.).
“By the time exhibition time come aroun’ I realized we had kinda messed up an’ spent too much recruitin’ money. I had 2 PGs if the foreign guy passed the SAT, but we was still chasin’ three guys an’ we was near outta ammunition. We wouldn’t make that mistake agin’, but here it was. We’d jes hafta do what we could. Hopefully we could git more money in the recruitin’ budget nex’ year.”
“Let’s take a break…”
“How about those exhibition games, Coach?”
“They learned us a lot. We went small agin this year. Mack was awful in the preseason an’ in the exhibitions so he got dropped way down. I started 3 guards a SF an’ Rob Rand at C what was prob’ly my best player all in all. Roy Lewis at PG an’ Bo Sand at SG was both decent, an’ both of ‘em played good D. Scot Mill was a natural SG startin’ at SF, an’ Dave Hobbs was a natural SF startin’ at PF, but thass what we hadda do. Jon Nye who I wished I coulda red shirted was my #1 big offa the bench an’ walk on A.D. Toms was #1 guard off’n the bench agin this year. Mack was my 2nd big, an’, lord he’p us if I needed a second small which we wouldn’t cuz we’d jes shif’ guys back to their normal positions if we needed ta go deeper at guard. I thought we’d be okay with this lineup.
“And how did that work out for you?”
“We done real good early. We had mos’ly home games an’ that always he’ps. Rob Rand was a HOSS! Scot Mill done real good at the 3. We took perty good care a the ball, an’ I went deeper inta my bench than I thought I would. But bottom line it was Rand an’ Mills what was getting’ it done fer us. Rand had 24 an’ 17 aginst Niagara, one a his better games but then he follered that with 28 an’ 13 in the next game! He could do that. An’ he was a freshman! An’ Mills was gettin’ all the points Rand wasn’t gettin’. We won 6 outta the first 7 an’ I started ta think I put tagether a scheduel what was too easy. Then we went on the road an’ 0-7 MD Eastern Shore took us ta overtime fore we put ‘em away.
“Then we got two more scares in the nex’ three games but we won ‘em an’ we ended the preconference scheduel 10-1. Now remember, 9 a them 11 was ta home, an’ none was aginst real good teams.
“Rand led us with 16.3 an’ 8.4, an’ Mills had 15.5. I was playin’ seven agin this year, Mack played his way outta the rotation. We was takin’ real good care a the ball, an’ our other three starters was scorin’ enuff that the other team hadta guard ‘em.
“Now ta see if’n we was good enuff fer the conference.”
“And we’ll find out next time. WATL.
- Wayne23
- DDS:CB Support Squad
- Posts: 14324
- Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 5:23 pm
by Wayne23 » Sat Nov 15, 2014 3:57 pm
(July 9, 2014)
“And the rest of the season?”
“Well, les’ say it were a happy holiday season. Come Janerrary 1, 1957 we was 12-1, 2-0, RPI a 68. I couldn’t a bin no happier.”
“And did it continue?”
“Nope. The very nex’ game we was beat at home by a team what was 3-10. We stood aroun’ all night, specially on D. I raised holy Ned at practice nex’ couple a days to try an’ wake my guys up. Sometimes this sort a thing ain’t all bad. You start getting’ too cocky an’ it shows ya what kin happen. Worked. We won our nex’ one by 30. Still, I’d be pointin’ ta that loss for the resta the season. I should mention that Roy Lewis was doin’ great at the Point. His A/TO was 2.3, an’ he was getting’ about 10 points a game. Rand an’ Mills kep’ playin’ great an’ my walk on guard, A. D. Toms, was doin’ way better’n I coulda ‘spected. Hobbs an’ Sand was doin’ jes fine. Jon Nye really coulda used that red shirt year but he was workin’ an’ learnin’, an’ he was what I had.
“We was unbeatable at home. At the halfway point in the conference we was 16-3, 6-2, 1 back a the lead, an’ 12-1 at home. I liked our position. We had 3 tough road games lef’ but so did everbody else. We was still takin’ good care a the ball an’ controllin’ the boards. Them things’ll win ya a lotta games! An’ the guards was startin’ ta git more points which was even better! Mack was playin’ the ‘Our Relationship’ card. The on’y problem with our relationship was that he was playin’ lousy an’ he wasn’t hustlin’ at practice. I tole him so, but he wasn’t listenin’.”
“And the second half of the conference season?”
“Well first, everbody we was lookin’ at, includin’ Onde Agar from Sweden, hit the SAT score. After 12 confernce games we was tied with Houston Bay, 2 ahead a everbody else, an’ they was up nex’ in a game at our place. I tole my guys we was gonna crush ‘em. N’ we beat ‘em by 17, so close enuff! The we perceeded ta blow two straight road games aginst mediocre teams. Houston Bay lost one so goin’ inta the last game a the season we was all tied up with ‘em. Oh, ‘cep’ now they was four teams jes’ one game back.”
“We’ll see how all of that came out after these messages.”
“We was at home aginst Nicholls State what was one a the four tied a game back. I tole my kids I ‘spected a ole fashion butt kickin’ an’ I did NOT ‘spect ta be the butt!”
“And?”
“An’ we was the butt. Lost our third in a row, by 10 at home, finished 2nd in the confernce. Lewis an’ Sand both fouled out, I got my first technical a my career an’ dang near got throwed outta the game. We was homed at home. Worst dang reffin’ I ever seed. Still, refs don’t beat ya by 10 points so that was on’y a part of it. Now we’d need ta try ta win the confernce tourney from the 2 hole steada the top spot. It could be did but it woulda been a whole lot easier the other way.
“All the faverites won in the first roun’ so we’d play Texas A & M Corpus Chrispy first. They had two starters banged up but both of ‘em would play. We won by 16, #1 seed an’ home team Houston Bay lost, an’ so did #3 seed Nicholls State. The door was lef’ wide open fer us.
“We had SE Louisiana next. They jes’ beat us by 3 at home. Not this time. We got ‘em by 19.
“So it was us agin Sam Houston State. We beat ‘em by 13 the on’y time we played in the reg’ler season. We thought we had a edge at the Point an’ a big edge at Center. 54-44 an’ we was the champs! Bo Sand was in foul trouble all night an’ they doubled Rand, but he got 13 an’ 9 anyways an’ Lewis got 17 an’ Hobbs 13. D won it though. Ya don’t lose offen when ya on’y give up 44.”
“So on to the NCAA tournament.”
“Yep. 23-7, an’ we was goin’ ta the big dance, not that they called it that way back then. I didn’t ‘spect too high of a seed. If’n we got the play in that’d give us a chancet fer one more win. Otherwise prob’ly not. We got put in the West at #14 aginst #3 Wichita State, 30-3. They was a big fav’rite but this weren’t impossible. We prepared like we could win.”
“And did you?”
“Not even close. We knowed their 3 an’ 4 was big time players an’ we worked a stragedy we thought might slow ‘em down. It didn’t. They got 29 an’ 22 with 20 RBs ‘tween ‘em. They was jes’ too good. No complaints though. 23-8 an’ the conference tourney champeenship. I’ll take it.”
“And recruiting?”
“We done okay. First awards though. Rand got POY an’ 1st team, an’ Freshman OY. I got Coach a the year. Scot Mill made 1st team an’ Roy Lewis 2nd. “Loretta an’ me had talked about what’d happen if’n I got a good job offer. Turned out we had a dilemma. Fairleigh Dickinson offered an’ they was a definite step up. Problem? They’s a Yankee school. We decided ta see if’n anyone closer ta home made us a offer. Sure enuff Colerader State offered. That were a BIG step up. Loretta an’ me decided agin it though. We jes’ wasn’t gonna leave Dixie. Mebbe there’d be a offer we wanted. Hartford called but Connecticut? Hell no! I know what yer thinkin’ but you jes’ don’t unnerstan’. We’d feel like traitors if’n we was ta leave the South. We jes’ couldn’t do it. An’ alla our frien’s would say we sold out an’ took the big Yankee dollar. It kinda become clear that they wasn’t gonna be no more offers. Colorader State called 2-3 more times. They really wanted me ta come see the campus at least, but no. We’d be stayin’ here in Conway fer another year. An’ that was fine. Nex’ year the offers’d be better. We made our las’ pitch ta the three recruits we was still chasin’ which used up the resta our $. We got 2 more. Still chasin’ one but we kin on’y watch an’ call.
“Got some real good breaks. First we signed that last recruit. Second we hired us some real good assistants. All but Bud Blue moved on. I permoted Bud ta #1 an’ moved him ta bench coach. My #2 is now Ken Lane, a good scoutin’ poach, an’ #3 is Lou Case, a terrific recruiter. Bes’ staff I had yet. So fer recruits I got Agar, a C from Sweden, #43, Leon Mati, a PF from Brazil, #144, Tom Cast, another PF, #108, PG Stan Fell, #128, an’ PG Amir Ward, #173. I’ll take it.
“I axed fer recrutin’ money. We got $2,000. Not a lotta he’p. An’ that was the end a the second season.”
“And that’s the end of today’s show. Join us next time. WATL."
“And the rest of the season?”
“Well, les’ say it were a happy holiday season. Come Janerrary 1, 1957 we was 12-1, 2-0, RPI a 68. I couldn’t a bin no happier.”
“And did it continue?”
“Nope. The very nex’ game we was beat at home by a team what was 3-10. We stood aroun’ all night, specially on D. I raised holy Ned at practice nex’ couple a days to try an’ wake my guys up. Sometimes this sort a thing ain’t all bad. You start getting’ too cocky an’ it shows ya what kin happen. Worked. We won our nex’ one by 30. Still, I’d be pointin’ ta that loss for the resta the season. I should mention that Roy Lewis was doin’ great at the Point. His A/TO was 2.3, an’ he was getting’ about 10 points a game. Rand an’ Mills kep’ playin’ great an’ my walk on guard, A. D. Toms, was doin’ way better’n I coulda ‘spected. Hobbs an’ Sand was doin’ jes fine. Jon Nye really coulda used that red shirt year but he was workin’ an’ learnin’, an’ he was what I had.
“We was unbeatable at home. At the halfway point in the conference we was 16-3, 6-2, 1 back a the lead, an’ 12-1 at home. I liked our position. We had 3 tough road games lef’ but so did everbody else. We was still takin’ good care a the ball an’ controllin’ the boards. Them things’ll win ya a lotta games! An’ the guards was startin’ ta git more points which was even better! Mack was playin’ the ‘Our Relationship’ card. The on’y problem with our relationship was that he was playin’ lousy an’ he wasn’t hustlin’ at practice. I tole him so, but he wasn’t listenin’.”
“And the second half of the conference season?”
“Well first, everbody we was lookin’ at, includin’ Onde Agar from Sweden, hit the SAT score. After 12 confernce games we was tied with Houston Bay, 2 ahead a everbody else, an’ they was up nex’ in a game at our place. I tole my guys we was gonna crush ‘em. N’ we beat ‘em by 17, so close enuff! The we perceeded ta blow two straight road games aginst mediocre teams. Houston Bay lost one so goin’ inta the last game a the season we was all tied up with ‘em. Oh, ‘cep’ now they was four teams jes’ one game back.”
“We’ll see how all of that came out after these messages.”
“We was at home aginst Nicholls State what was one a the four tied a game back. I tole my kids I ‘spected a ole fashion butt kickin’ an’ I did NOT ‘spect ta be the butt!”
“And?”
“An’ we was the butt. Lost our third in a row, by 10 at home, finished 2nd in the confernce. Lewis an’ Sand both fouled out, I got my first technical a my career an’ dang near got throwed outta the game. We was homed at home. Worst dang reffin’ I ever seed. Still, refs don’t beat ya by 10 points so that was on’y a part of it. Now we’d need ta try ta win the confernce tourney from the 2 hole steada the top spot. It could be did but it woulda been a whole lot easier the other way.
“All the faverites won in the first roun’ so we’d play Texas A & M Corpus Chrispy first. They had two starters banged up but both of ‘em would play. We won by 16, #1 seed an’ home team Houston Bay lost, an’ so did #3 seed Nicholls State. The door was lef’ wide open fer us.
“We had SE Louisiana next. They jes’ beat us by 3 at home. Not this time. We got ‘em by 19.
“So it was us agin Sam Houston State. We beat ‘em by 13 the on’y time we played in the reg’ler season. We thought we had a edge at the Point an’ a big edge at Center. 54-44 an’ we was the champs! Bo Sand was in foul trouble all night an’ they doubled Rand, but he got 13 an’ 9 anyways an’ Lewis got 17 an’ Hobbs 13. D won it though. Ya don’t lose offen when ya on’y give up 44.”
“So on to the NCAA tournament.”
“Yep. 23-7, an’ we was goin’ ta the big dance, not that they called it that way back then. I didn’t ‘spect too high of a seed. If’n we got the play in that’d give us a chancet fer one more win. Otherwise prob’ly not. We got put in the West at #14 aginst #3 Wichita State, 30-3. They was a big fav’rite but this weren’t impossible. We prepared like we could win.”
“And did you?”
“Not even close. We knowed their 3 an’ 4 was big time players an’ we worked a stragedy we thought might slow ‘em down. It didn’t. They got 29 an’ 22 with 20 RBs ‘tween ‘em. They was jes’ too good. No complaints though. 23-8 an’ the conference tourney champeenship. I’ll take it.”
“And recruiting?”
“We done okay. First awards though. Rand got POY an’ 1st team, an’ Freshman OY. I got Coach a the year. Scot Mill made 1st team an’ Roy Lewis 2nd. “Loretta an’ me had talked about what’d happen if’n I got a good job offer. Turned out we had a dilemma. Fairleigh Dickinson offered an’ they was a definite step up. Problem? They’s a Yankee school. We decided ta see if’n anyone closer ta home made us a offer. Sure enuff Colerader State offered. That were a BIG step up. Loretta an’ me decided agin it though. We jes’ wasn’t gonna leave Dixie. Mebbe there’d be a offer we wanted. Hartford called but Connecticut? Hell no! I know what yer thinkin’ but you jes’ don’t unnerstan’. We’d feel like traitors if’n we was ta leave the South. We jes’ couldn’t do it. An’ alla our frien’s would say we sold out an’ took the big Yankee dollar. It kinda become clear that they wasn’t gonna be no more offers. Colorader State called 2-3 more times. They really wanted me ta come see the campus at least, but no. We’d be stayin’ here in Conway fer another year. An’ that was fine. Nex’ year the offers’d be better. We made our las’ pitch ta the three recruits we was still chasin’ which used up the resta our $. We got 2 more. Still chasin’ one but we kin on’y watch an’ call.
“Got some real good breaks. First we signed that last recruit. Second we hired us some real good assistants. All but Bud Blue moved on. I permoted Bud ta #1 an’ moved him ta bench coach. My #2 is now Ken Lane, a good scoutin’ poach, an’ #3 is Lou Case, a terrific recruiter. Bes’ staff I had yet. So fer recruits I got Agar, a C from Sweden, #43, Leon Mati, a PF from Brazil, #144, Tom Cast, another PF, #108, PG Stan Fell, #128, an’ PG Amir Ward, #173. I’ll take it.
“I axed fer recrutin’ money. We got $2,000. Not a lotta he’p. An’ that was the end a the second season.”
“And that’s the end of today’s show. Join us next time. WATL."
- Wayne23
- DDS:CB Support Squad
- Posts: 14324
- Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 5:23 pm
by Wayne23 » Sun Nov 16, 2014 9:01 pm
(July 16, 2014)
“Jackson Lee here. We’re going to kind of skim through some seasons here. We’ll throw in some of Coach’s words as we go. Season three was pivotal for a lot of reasons. It was the last at Central Arkansas for one, and quite a season.”
“We was almos’ unstoppable durin’ that third year. We finished the non-confernce season at 10-1. We was +5.9 in TOs, an’ +3.1 in RBs, Rand was getting’ 19.3 an’ 7.6, Mill 14.3, an’ Lewis was terrific at the Point, an’ Ward was getting’ 11 at SG. All of ‘em was playin’ real good D. I moved Matt Abel in at PF cuz he flat played his way there. Hobbs moved to sixth man an’ done better there than when he was startin’. Then grades come out an’ ever single player made the Dean’s list! Our RPI got ta 16 then we los’ a game we shoulda won, by 2.
“Then on Febeary 5 I got the thrill a my basketball life, mebbe the biggest I ever got. We was ranked! #25. I cain’t even describe how great that felt. We got ta Feb. 17 at 22-2, 12-1, but we was on’y 1 up on New Orleans an’ they was playin’ us at our place taday. Jes’ ta show ya what kinda team we had, an’ what kinda season it was, we beat ‘em 90-55. We won the conference by 3 over New Orleans, 5 over SE Louisiana, an’ 6 er more over everbody else. Goin’ inta the tourney which would be at our place, we was 25-2, 15-1, RPI #17, ranked #19.
“We sailed through the tourney an’ went to NCAA selection day 28-2. Bo Sand got hurt fairly bad, but he wasn’t playin’ much this year. On the mornin’ a March 12, selection day, we was ranked #14, RPI #15, so we had high hopes fer seedin’. We didn’t need ta wait long. We was #7 in the East. We’d play Utah State in Louisville. We figgered we had a chancet ta win a game er two.
“We beat Utah State by 19. Dave Hobbs got 24 from the bench. Best thing I did all season was take him outta the startin’ lineup. He was terrific from the bench. Next up was #2 seed, 28-5 Kentucky, in Louisville! We hadn’t never played anybody in their league er close to it. I ‘spected a “learnin’ ‘sperience,” if’n ya know what I mean. Turned out we done okay, 69-80. They was jes’ way too talented. But we didn’t embarrass ourself an’ we never give up. Finished the year 29-3. Now it was jes’ wait ta see who offered me a job. If’n a decent team in the South did, I was gone.
“”We’ll find out in a moment…”
“I went ta the Final Four fer the first time here at Central Ark. I’d been as a member a the ‘Bama staff. I was lookin’ ta make contacts, ta meet A.D.s what might be lookin’ fer coaches. I talked ta a lot of ‘em. North Carolina beat Kansas by 1 fer the title. Yay, Tar Heels!
“Then come awards. Rob Rand was POY, Defensive POY an’ 1st team. Matt Abel was Freshman OY, I got Coach OY agin, Scot Mill got 1st team agin. Amir Ward an’ Matt Abel made 2nd team. Practic’ly a sweep!
“An’ then it was time fer the offers. UAB called. I thought ta myself an’ Loretta agreed, “Say no more. This is it!” We visited. We loved what we seen. We said yes. We weren’t kiddin’ ourself, this would be a major rebuildin’ job, but they had the tools on hand an’ it could be did.
“I headed fer UAB immediately an’ Loretta an’ the kids come as soon as school was out. Central Ark. Hated ta lose her mebbe more’n they hated ta lose me. UAB hired her right off ta run their Alumni publications an’ it was a MUCH bigger operation. Her salary tripled an’ mine near tripled.”
“The usual question Coach, what did you do first?”
“About a million things! Afore leavin’ Central Ark. Though I wanted say a couple a things. First, we went 70-23 there an’ won two conference tourneys an’ one reg’ler season. Second, everthin’ that follered was cuz a Central Ark., an’ cuz a the wonderful people there. Truck James, a great A.D. who went on ta bigger an’ better things, but it was jes’ everbody. I will never fergit an’ never stop bein’ grateful.
(Author’s note: This is my first association in several months. It just now occurs to me that I completely forgot my house rules! I won’t start over but I will implement them from here on.)
“I permoted #2 assistant coach Fred Higgins ta #1 (#1 an’ #3 left). I hired Ed Barr at #2, an” Bib Wise #3. Wise would do recruitin’, Barr scoutin’, an’ Higgins would be my bench coach. Good group but I didn’t think I’d keep Higgins fer more’n this first year. He wanted ta run his own program an’ he was ready.
“I axed fer a facilities upgrade but I got, ’Mebbe nex’ year.’ Okay.
“Jackson Lee here. We’re going to kind of skim through some seasons here. We’ll throw in some of Coach’s words as we go. Season three was pivotal for a lot of reasons. It was the last at Central Arkansas for one, and quite a season.”
“We was almos’ unstoppable durin’ that third year. We finished the non-confernce season at 10-1. We was +5.9 in TOs, an’ +3.1 in RBs, Rand was getting’ 19.3 an’ 7.6, Mill 14.3, an’ Lewis was terrific at the Point, an’ Ward was getting’ 11 at SG. All of ‘em was playin’ real good D. I moved Matt Abel in at PF cuz he flat played his way there. Hobbs moved to sixth man an’ done better there than when he was startin’. Then grades come out an’ ever single player made the Dean’s list! Our RPI got ta 16 then we los’ a game we shoulda won, by 2.
“Then on Febeary 5 I got the thrill a my basketball life, mebbe the biggest I ever got. We was ranked! #25. I cain’t even describe how great that felt. We got ta Feb. 17 at 22-2, 12-1, but we was on’y 1 up on New Orleans an’ they was playin’ us at our place taday. Jes’ ta show ya what kinda team we had, an’ what kinda season it was, we beat ‘em 90-55. We won the conference by 3 over New Orleans, 5 over SE Louisiana, an’ 6 er more over everbody else. Goin’ inta the tourney which would be at our place, we was 25-2, 15-1, RPI #17, ranked #19.
“We sailed through the tourney an’ went to NCAA selection day 28-2. Bo Sand got hurt fairly bad, but he wasn’t playin’ much this year. On the mornin’ a March 12, selection day, we was ranked #14, RPI #15, so we had high hopes fer seedin’. We didn’t need ta wait long. We was #7 in the East. We’d play Utah State in Louisville. We figgered we had a chancet ta win a game er two.
“We beat Utah State by 19. Dave Hobbs got 24 from the bench. Best thing I did all season was take him outta the startin’ lineup. He was terrific from the bench. Next up was #2 seed, 28-5 Kentucky, in Louisville! We hadn’t never played anybody in their league er close to it. I ‘spected a “learnin’ ‘sperience,” if’n ya know what I mean. Turned out we done okay, 69-80. They was jes’ way too talented. But we didn’t embarrass ourself an’ we never give up. Finished the year 29-3. Now it was jes’ wait ta see who offered me a job. If’n a decent team in the South did, I was gone.
“”We’ll find out in a moment…”
“I went ta the Final Four fer the first time here at Central Ark. I’d been as a member a the ‘Bama staff. I was lookin’ ta make contacts, ta meet A.D.s what might be lookin’ fer coaches. I talked ta a lot of ‘em. North Carolina beat Kansas by 1 fer the title. Yay, Tar Heels!
“Then come awards. Rob Rand was POY, Defensive POY an’ 1st team. Matt Abel was Freshman OY, I got Coach OY agin, Scot Mill got 1st team agin. Amir Ward an’ Matt Abel made 2nd team. Practic’ly a sweep!
“An’ then it was time fer the offers. UAB called. I thought ta myself an’ Loretta agreed, “Say no more. This is it!” We visited. We loved what we seen. We said yes. We weren’t kiddin’ ourself, this would be a major rebuildin’ job, but they had the tools on hand an’ it could be did.
“I headed fer UAB immediately an’ Loretta an’ the kids come as soon as school was out. Central Ark. Hated ta lose her mebbe more’n they hated ta lose me. UAB hired her right off ta run their Alumni publications an’ it was a MUCH bigger operation. Her salary tripled an’ mine near tripled.”
“The usual question Coach, what did you do first?”
“About a million things! Afore leavin’ Central Ark. Though I wanted say a couple a things. First, we went 70-23 there an’ won two conference tourneys an’ one reg’ler season. Second, everthin’ that follered was cuz a Central Ark., an’ cuz a the wonderful people there. Truck James, a great A.D. who went on ta bigger an’ better things, but it was jes’ everbody. I will never fergit an’ never stop bein’ grateful.
(Author’s note: This is my first association in several months. It just now occurs to me that I completely forgot my house rules! I won’t start over but I will implement them from here on.)
“I permoted #2 assistant coach Fred Higgins ta #1 (#1 an’ #3 left). I hired Ed Barr at #2, an” Bib Wise #3. Wise would do recruitin’, Barr scoutin’, an’ Higgins would be my bench coach. Good group but I didn’t think I’d keep Higgins fer more’n this first year. He wanted ta run his own program an’ he was ready.
“I axed fer a facilities upgrade but I got, ’Mebbe nex’ year.’ Okay.
- Wayne23
- DDS:CB Support Squad
- Posts: 14324
- Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 5:23 pm
by Wayne23 » Mon Nov 17, 2014 7:07 pm
(July 23, 2014)
(Second author’s note: It just occurs to me that in the deep South in the 1950’s, where this association begins, I should have been drafting white players only. Opinions please: Should I begin again, start going whites only at this point, or just ignore the issue? I do think it would be interesting to go that route just to limit myself regarding available players, and see how I could do. The other option is to do this in a future association. I hate bigotry in all forms but that was the reality in that place and in that time.)
“Nex’ year come right quick. I bought the Gold for the region an’ the national reg’lar scoutin’ reports. I gotta stop right here an’ say that Birmingham, Alabama, right from the git go, was our kinda town. Loretta an’ me LOVED our time there.
“It were the first year. They was a lotta rebuildin' ta do. We shuffled the line up as the year went an’ done better’n I thought we would all in all. Recruitin' was goin' good. UAB had a lot ta offer, leas’ compared to Central Ark. Guys was listenin’. We got a couple early an’ had hopes ta fill the rest.
“I didn’t give us too easy a preconference schedule an’ we wound up 7-4 AN’ in our las’ preconf. game we beat #17 Pitt. That was a supprize I hadn’t figgered on! Bigges’ problem was turnovers. That weren’t gonna git better this year though, we was thin at guard. I made a change in the startin’ line up jes’ afore the foirst conference game an’ we preceded ta win our first 4 confernce games. Then PG Mark Kemp spraioned a ankle an; was out fer a week an;’ we los’ one. One thing I did not unnerstand though, we was in first place in a much tougher conference than las’ year an’ we was playin’ a tougher scheduel an’ our RPI was on’y 108. At the halfway point we was in 1st place, 13-6, 6-2.
“Things was goin' great ‘til the very las’ game in the conference. We had what shoulda bin a easy win at home ta clinch first. We los’ by 20 an’ wound up #3 seed in the tourmanent. 19-8, 11-5, but a real bad time ta not show up. Jes’one a them nights. Couldn’t make a shot.
“Strange set up fer the tourney. We got two byes. Then we played Rice in the roun’ a eight. We beat ‘em big at our place in the rg’ler season. We beat ‘em agin but bar’ly, 61-56. In the roun’ a four it was Middle Tennessee State what finished 9th in the reg’ler season but got hot late. We beat ‘em by 15 at our place early on. 62-39. We couldn’t do a thing wrong. #1 UTEP fer the title. Brady, our startin’ SG, got a little leg thing but he’ll play. They beat us by 12 at their place in Janerarry. We gotta stop their inside game ta have a chancet. 49-61. They was better but both Brady an’ Center Curt Brow got hurt early.”
“Back in a moment…”
“I think we done enough ta git inta a tourney. Prob’ly not the big one but thass okay. We might have a chancet ta win one a the others, er at leas’ ta do good. We’re 21-10, 11-5, RPI #76, but that’ll change once more afore the tourneys git selected. We got down ta #68 so I’m real confident we’ll go somewheres.
“#1 seed in the East in the NIT. We play Fairleigh Dickinson first. 71-57. 19 TOs though. We won’t go far if we cain’t do better’n that.
“20-12 Richmond nex'. They looked good in their opener. It’s a close match up but they got more bench. OUCH! 36-64. We was horrible! 9 points in the second half!
“Still, it was a way better season than I thought, 22-11. Losin’ three starters but if’n we git a couple more recruits we’ll be way better nex’ year. Les’ see what happens. Our tweo bes’, Kemp at PG, an Brady at SG is both back, an’ so is Rik Penn, what done a good job at PF.
“I went ta the Final Four agin. Iss good ta keep up connections. I weren’t lookin’ fer nothing’ right now but still… North Carolina vs. UConn in the title game. Come on Tar Heels, beat them damn Yankees!
“Afore the title game I got word that two a my recruits said yes, Vikc Ello, #119, SF, an’ #92 Dror Tavor a PF from Israel what we was real high on.
“Damn Yankees won. Then come awards. I got Coach a the Year. Brady made 1st team, Brow an’ Penn made 2nd. Dunno how they missed Kemp, he was our bes’ player!
“No interestin’ job offers. It’d a taken somethin’ REAL interesting’! The nex’ week I got the las’ two recruits, Jed Cane, a PG what started at 120 er so when we first noticed him an’ climbed alla the way ta #27. Perty excited about him. The other’n is another foreign guy, from Slovenia, Tine Truk, #89 PF.
“My #1 got that head coachin’ job he was lookin’ fer. I permoted my #2 an’ #3 an; went lookin’ fer a scoutin’ coach. I got Mick Ford, an’ I think I’m gonna like him!
"I ended up the season at 92-34 lifetime, .730. Reputation still on’y 23 so I might be here a couple more years, which is fine. Team Prestige jumped ta 32. Askin' fer facilities. I could use recruitin’ money but I think facilities is more important. We’re at C an’ that ain’t good enough. WOW! Not on’y got it, alla the way ta B+!
“End of a great first season in a place we love. Loretta done fer UAB’s alumnis what she done at Central Ark. An’ they love her jes’ as much here. Kids are happy too.”
“Join us next weerk at the same time. WATL Atlanta.”
(Second author’s note: It just occurs to me that in the deep South in the 1950’s, where this association begins, I should have been drafting white players only. Opinions please: Should I begin again, start going whites only at this point, or just ignore the issue? I do think it would be interesting to go that route just to limit myself regarding available players, and see how I could do. The other option is to do this in a future association. I hate bigotry in all forms but that was the reality in that place and in that time.)
“Nex’ year come right quick. I bought the Gold for the region an’ the national reg’lar scoutin’ reports. I gotta stop right here an’ say that Birmingham, Alabama, right from the git go, was our kinda town. Loretta an’ me LOVED our time there.
“It were the first year. They was a lotta rebuildin' ta do. We shuffled the line up as the year went an’ done better’n I thought we would all in all. Recruitin' was goin' good. UAB had a lot ta offer, leas’ compared to Central Ark. Guys was listenin’. We got a couple early an’ had hopes ta fill the rest.
“I didn’t give us too easy a preconference schedule an’ we wound up 7-4 AN’ in our las’ preconf. game we beat #17 Pitt. That was a supprize I hadn’t figgered on! Bigges’ problem was turnovers. That weren’t gonna git better this year though, we was thin at guard. I made a change in the startin’ line up jes’ afore the foirst conference game an’ we preceded ta win our first 4 confernce games. Then PG Mark Kemp spraioned a ankle an; was out fer a week an;’ we los’ one. One thing I did not unnerstand though, we was in first place in a much tougher conference than las’ year an’ we was playin’ a tougher scheduel an’ our RPI was on’y 108. At the halfway point we was in 1st place, 13-6, 6-2.
“Things was goin' great ‘til the very las’ game in the conference. We had what shoulda bin a easy win at home ta clinch first. We los’ by 20 an’ wound up #3 seed in the tourmanent. 19-8, 11-5, but a real bad time ta not show up. Jes’one a them nights. Couldn’t make a shot.
“Strange set up fer the tourney. We got two byes. Then we played Rice in the roun’ a eight. We beat ‘em big at our place in the rg’ler season. We beat ‘em agin but bar’ly, 61-56. In the roun’ a four it was Middle Tennessee State what finished 9th in the reg’ler season but got hot late. We beat ‘em by 15 at our place early on. 62-39. We couldn’t do a thing wrong. #1 UTEP fer the title. Brady, our startin’ SG, got a little leg thing but he’ll play. They beat us by 12 at their place in Janerarry. We gotta stop their inside game ta have a chancet. 49-61. They was better but both Brady an’ Center Curt Brow got hurt early.”
“Back in a moment…”
“I think we done enough ta git inta a tourney. Prob’ly not the big one but thass okay. We might have a chancet ta win one a the others, er at leas’ ta do good. We’re 21-10, 11-5, RPI #76, but that’ll change once more afore the tourneys git selected. We got down ta #68 so I’m real confident we’ll go somewheres.
“#1 seed in the East in the NIT. We play Fairleigh Dickinson first. 71-57. 19 TOs though. We won’t go far if we cain’t do better’n that.
“20-12 Richmond nex'. They looked good in their opener. It’s a close match up but they got more bench. OUCH! 36-64. We was horrible! 9 points in the second half!
“Still, it was a way better season than I thought, 22-11. Losin’ three starters but if’n we git a couple more recruits we’ll be way better nex’ year. Les’ see what happens. Our tweo bes’, Kemp at PG, an Brady at SG is both back, an’ so is Rik Penn, what done a good job at PF.
“I went ta the Final Four agin. Iss good ta keep up connections. I weren’t lookin’ fer nothing’ right now but still… North Carolina vs. UConn in the title game. Come on Tar Heels, beat them damn Yankees!
“Afore the title game I got word that two a my recruits said yes, Vikc Ello, #119, SF, an’ #92 Dror Tavor a PF from Israel what we was real high on.
“Damn Yankees won. Then come awards. I got Coach a the Year. Brady made 1st team, Brow an’ Penn made 2nd. Dunno how they missed Kemp, he was our bes’ player!
“No interestin’ job offers. It’d a taken somethin’ REAL interesting’! The nex’ week I got the las’ two recruits, Jed Cane, a PG what started at 120 er so when we first noticed him an’ climbed alla the way ta #27. Perty excited about him. The other’n is another foreign guy, from Slovenia, Tine Truk, #89 PF.
“My #1 got that head coachin’ job he was lookin’ fer. I permoted my #2 an’ #3 an; went lookin’ fer a scoutin’ coach. I got Mick Ford, an’ I think I’m gonna like him!
"I ended up the season at 92-34 lifetime, .730. Reputation still on’y 23 so I might be here a couple more years, which is fine. Team Prestige jumped ta 32. Askin' fer facilities. I could use recruitin’ money but I think facilities is more important. We’re at C an’ that ain’t good enough. WOW! Not on’y got it, alla the way ta B+!
“End of a great first season in a place we love. Loretta done fer UAB’s alumnis what she done at Central Ark. An’ they love her jes’ as much here. Kids are happy too.”
“Join us next weerk at the same time. WATL Atlanta.”
- Wayne23
- DDS:CB Support Squad
- Posts: 14324
- Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 5:23 pm
by Wayne23 » Fri Nov 21, 2014 6:58 am
(August 6, 2014)
“Let’s go right to the tapes of Coach Jerome ‘Buddy Boy’ Blakelee, and find out how that first season or two at Vanderbilt went.”
“Nashville was a whole other kinda town than Birmingham. Birmingham was a steel town, workin’ class, hard workin’ folks. Nashville, well, y’all know, music city. Everbody comin’ here lookin’ ta be a star. Parties an’ hell raisin’. Never worked noplace where I hadta git my boy outta trouble so much. WAY too much temptation, even if my kids was all good students an’ that. Still, they’s a awful lot ta like about Nashville an’ we did.
“We was picked ta finish 10th in our 14 team conference that 1st year. I kinda thought that might be fairly accurate. It could be a LONG season. We was grabbin’ some awful goods recruits though, an’ early on we had picked up a terrific lookin’ transfer Point Guard. If’n we could git through this first year things would be lookin’ up after that.
“Then the scheduel came out an’ life got even worse. 7 a the first 9 on the road.
“We done our exhibition games an’ I still didn’t have a startin’ five. I had Del Bain at the Point, Chad Thom at SG, an’ Roy Borg at C, but the other two spots was still WIDE open. Hadn’t nobody grabbed ‘em. So 4 guys was gonna share the minutes an’ hopefully two of ‘em would show through. After 7 they wasn’t much but them last few might get their shot if nobody else made it happen. I figgered this year was about ta teach me some lessons in humility.
“Kris Long emerged quickly an’ he got starter’s minutes at PF. Chad Thom was my player. He could flat score!
“We went 6-5 in the pre-confernce scheduel aginst poor competition, but 7 a them was road games so it weren’t bad. I had a feelin’ it was about ta git bad given the confernce we was in.
“At the halfway mark we was 9-10, 3-5, tied fer 9th with 3 other teams. About what we ‘spected an’ not a lotta fun. ‘cept fer Thom we didn’t have a whole lotta talent. Lots a great kids comin’ in nex’ year but that seemed a long ways off. Still, we thought we had a chancet ta finish at .500.
“Then we went 3-5 agin in the 2nd half. At the end a the reg’ler season we was 12-15, 6-10, in a four way tie fer 8th, but #11 all in all. On’y break was we’d be playin’ las’ place South Caroliner in the first roun’ a the tourney so hopefully we’d git one more win. Then we’d need ta git real lucky.
“We beat SC but nex’ was #6 seed Florida which beat us by 9 at our place las’ time. They had 2 starters out fer the season with injuries but they was still out a our class. We played decent but they beat us by 8. That was it fer the season, 13-16. My first losin’ season as a head coach. I sure didn’t like it much. But agin, nex’ season looked like it would be a lot better.
“I went ta the final four agin, never missed another one, actually, still ain’t. This year we’d have a rebel champeen. It’s Duke an’ Memphis fer the title. Memphis won but I was gonna be happy either way.
“Awards come an’ Chad Thom made 1st team. Our prestige went down from 38 ta 35. No supprize. No good job offers but I wouldn’t a gone. They’s unfinished bidniss here. I was gonna have a whole new team nex’ year, an’ I felt like it were gonna be a good, competitive team. I axed fer more recruitin’ money. Didn’t git it. I was a little upset then I realized that I’d been a failure this season. I never bin one afore but I guess thass the way failures git treated. Okay, I’d succeed nex’ year. That’d change everthin’.”
“Let’s take a break.”
“That summer was bad. Jerome Junior was 17 an’ he got in with a bad crowd, which ain’t hard ta do in Nashville. He run us ragged all summer an’ even got inta a little trouble with the law- twicet actually. We had trouble with Junior for a long time. He on’y straightened hisself out when he got ta be about 40. The girls was never a problem, either of ‘em.
“We on’y had two scholarship ta give (we picked up a couple a transfers) so recruitin’ would be a little easier than usual.
“I went fer a stronger scheduel since I thought I had a real good team.
“First day a practice I figgered I died an’ went ta heaven. Most talent I ever coached as either a head coach or a assistant ta that point. They perdicted us at 3rd, behind KY an’ Ark.
“Then we played our two exhibition games- aginst good teams. I got 8 guys could start an’ #9 an’#10 is almos’ as good. Les’ see what happens!
“On December 11 we was 8-0, an’ we was ranked! #23, RPI 18. We’d beat some good teams an’ looked mighty good doin’ it. Bin about 3-4 years since one a my teams was ranked an’ it felt awful good. As ‘spected, this was the bes’ team I ever coached ta that point. I had eight terrific ball players.
“We got ta 9-0 then New Mexico State upset us at our place. We played terrible D, give up 17 threes. We finished the pre-confernce season 10-1 an’ was rarin’ to go to the conference season.
“Then we commenced ta winnin’ games we shoulda los’ an’ losin’ games we shoulda won an’ it got real frustratin’ fer a spell. We was 5-3 halfway through an’ that weren’t good enough. We went ta the las’ reg’ler season game in 3rd but needin’ a win on the road ta stay there. We managed ta win an’ finished 4th. Goin’ inta the tourmanent we was 21-6, 11-5, RPI #20 but not ranked.
“We was up agin Florida what beat us by 13 in the reg’ler season. We beat ‘em 67-55 which put us up agin #3 in the country, KY. They beat us but on’y by 9. So now it was wait to see where we’d go an’ how high we’d be seeded. 22-7, so I thought perty high, mebbe a 5 seed. Turned out we was #7 in the East, playing’ #10 Iowa. 75-56. We played good. Unfortunitley next was #2 seed, Arizona, 31-3. We’d hafta play awful good ta have any chancet. We played good, but not good enuff, 62-74. Ended the year at 23-8, not bad. I’d go ta the final four an’ see what I see. Would I accept an’ offer? Loretta an’ me thought our nex’ move should be to a blue chip school. We wasn’t sure one a them ‘ud be offerin’ jes’ yet. Might be another couple a years.
“North Carolina vs. UConn fer the title agin. An’ them damn Yankees won agin! I made some good contac’s though.
“Awards: Juan Cony made conference 1st team an’ that were it. An’ then it was time fer job offers. As ‘spected we’d be stayin’ put this year, which was what we wanted anyways. I axed fer money agin this year. Got $11,000 an’ I was happy with that. Nex’ year prob’ly ask fer a facilities upgrade.
“An’ thas the en’ of another season. It was a perty good one all in all. Ended with a record a 176-75, .701 pct, reputation a 34, an’ what looked like a bright future ahead of us.”
“We’ll find out more about that next time. WATL Atlanta.”
“Let’s go right to the tapes of Coach Jerome ‘Buddy Boy’ Blakelee, and find out how that first season or two at Vanderbilt went.”
“Nashville was a whole other kinda town than Birmingham. Birmingham was a steel town, workin’ class, hard workin’ folks. Nashville, well, y’all know, music city. Everbody comin’ here lookin’ ta be a star. Parties an’ hell raisin’. Never worked noplace where I hadta git my boy outta trouble so much. WAY too much temptation, even if my kids was all good students an’ that. Still, they’s a awful lot ta like about Nashville an’ we did.
“We was picked ta finish 10th in our 14 team conference that 1st year. I kinda thought that might be fairly accurate. It could be a LONG season. We was grabbin’ some awful goods recruits though, an’ early on we had picked up a terrific lookin’ transfer Point Guard. If’n we could git through this first year things would be lookin’ up after that.
“Then the scheduel came out an’ life got even worse. 7 a the first 9 on the road.
“We done our exhibition games an’ I still didn’t have a startin’ five. I had Del Bain at the Point, Chad Thom at SG, an’ Roy Borg at C, but the other two spots was still WIDE open. Hadn’t nobody grabbed ‘em. So 4 guys was gonna share the minutes an’ hopefully two of ‘em would show through. After 7 they wasn’t much but them last few might get their shot if nobody else made it happen. I figgered this year was about ta teach me some lessons in humility.
“Kris Long emerged quickly an’ he got starter’s minutes at PF. Chad Thom was my player. He could flat score!
“We went 6-5 in the pre-confernce scheduel aginst poor competition, but 7 a them was road games so it weren’t bad. I had a feelin’ it was about ta git bad given the confernce we was in.
“At the halfway mark we was 9-10, 3-5, tied fer 9th with 3 other teams. About what we ‘spected an’ not a lotta fun. ‘cept fer Thom we didn’t have a whole lotta talent. Lots a great kids comin’ in nex’ year but that seemed a long ways off. Still, we thought we had a chancet ta finish at .500.
“Then we went 3-5 agin in the 2nd half. At the end a the reg’ler season we was 12-15, 6-10, in a four way tie fer 8th, but #11 all in all. On’y break was we’d be playin’ las’ place South Caroliner in the first roun’ a the tourney so hopefully we’d git one more win. Then we’d need ta git real lucky.
“We beat SC but nex’ was #6 seed Florida which beat us by 9 at our place las’ time. They had 2 starters out fer the season with injuries but they was still out a our class. We played decent but they beat us by 8. That was it fer the season, 13-16. My first losin’ season as a head coach. I sure didn’t like it much. But agin, nex’ season looked like it would be a lot better.
“I went ta the final four agin, never missed another one, actually, still ain’t. This year we’d have a rebel champeen. It’s Duke an’ Memphis fer the title. Memphis won but I was gonna be happy either way.
“Awards come an’ Chad Thom made 1st team. Our prestige went down from 38 ta 35. No supprize. No good job offers but I wouldn’t a gone. They’s unfinished bidniss here. I was gonna have a whole new team nex’ year, an’ I felt like it were gonna be a good, competitive team. I axed fer more recruitin’ money. Didn’t git it. I was a little upset then I realized that I’d been a failure this season. I never bin one afore but I guess thass the way failures git treated. Okay, I’d succeed nex’ year. That’d change everthin’.”
“Let’s take a break.”
“That summer was bad. Jerome Junior was 17 an’ he got in with a bad crowd, which ain’t hard ta do in Nashville. He run us ragged all summer an’ even got inta a little trouble with the law- twicet actually. We had trouble with Junior for a long time. He on’y straightened hisself out when he got ta be about 40. The girls was never a problem, either of ‘em.
“We on’y had two scholarship ta give (we picked up a couple a transfers) so recruitin’ would be a little easier than usual.
“I went fer a stronger scheduel since I thought I had a real good team.
“First day a practice I figgered I died an’ went ta heaven. Most talent I ever coached as either a head coach or a assistant ta that point. They perdicted us at 3rd, behind KY an’ Ark.
“Then we played our two exhibition games- aginst good teams. I got 8 guys could start an’ #9 an’#10 is almos’ as good. Les’ see what happens!
“On December 11 we was 8-0, an’ we was ranked! #23, RPI 18. We’d beat some good teams an’ looked mighty good doin’ it. Bin about 3-4 years since one a my teams was ranked an’ it felt awful good. As ‘spected, this was the bes’ team I ever coached ta that point. I had eight terrific ball players.
“We got ta 9-0 then New Mexico State upset us at our place. We played terrible D, give up 17 threes. We finished the pre-confernce season 10-1 an’ was rarin’ to go to the conference season.
“Then we commenced ta winnin’ games we shoulda los’ an’ losin’ games we shoulda won an’ it got real frustratin’ fer a spell. We was 5-3 halfway through an’ that weren’t good enough. We went ta the las’ reg’ler season game in 3rd but needin’ a win on the road ta stay there. We managed ta win an’ finished 4th. Goin’ inta the tourmanent we was 21-6, 11-5, RPI #20 but not ranked.
“We was up agin Florida what beat us by 13 in the reg’ler season. We beat ‘em 67-55 which put us up agin #3 in the country, KY. They beat us but on’y by 9. So now it was wait to see where we’d go an’ how high we’d be seeded. 22-7, so I thought perty high, mebbe a 5 seed. Turned out we was #7 in the East, playing’ #10 Iowa. 75-56. We played good. Unfortunitley next was #2 seed, Arizona, 31-3. We’d hafta play awful good ta have any chancet. We played good, but not good enuff, 62-74. Ended the year at 23-8, not bad. I’d go ta the final four an’ see what I see. Would I accept an’ offer? Loretta an’ me thought our nex’ move should be to a blue chip school. We wasn’t sure one a them ‘ud be offerin’ jes’ yet. Might be another couple a years.
“North Carolina vs. UConn fer the title agin. An’ them damn Yankees won agin! I made some good contac’s though.
“Awards: Juan Cony made conference 1st team an’ that were it. An’ then it was time fer job offers. As ‘spected we’d be stayin’ put this year, which was what we wanted anyways. I axed fer money agin this year. Got $11,000 an’ I was happy with that. Nex’ year prob’ly ask fer a facilities upgrade.
“An’ thas the en’ of another season. It was a perty good one all in all. Ended with a record a 176-75, .701 pct, reputation a 34, an’ what looked like a bright future ahead of us.”
“We’ll find out more about that next time. WATL Atlanta.”
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