11/13: We start with #10 ranked, #1 seed Duke at the NIT. We’re the #16 seed.
11/14: 89-79. We were up 1 at the half. We made two adjustments and started the 2nd 17-4. Greg Duke had 16, 9, sub Dio Barq had 18. 41 RBs, 12 TOs. Great way to start the season.
#23 ranked, #8 seed Seton Hall in the round of 8.
11/16: 71-56. We never trailed. 11 players scored. 47 RBs, 11 TOs.
#6 ranked, #4 seed Georgetown in the semis.
11/18: 83-66. This went back and forth for about 17 minutes. We closed the half with a 9-0 run, then started the 2nd with an 11-1 run, and that was that. 16, 7 for sub Chaz Bert, but again, lots of contributors. +14 RBs.
I guess we’ve got a pretty good team here!
#3 ranked, #2 seed Pitt for the title.
11/20: 73-69, and the title! It was a war. It stayed within 5 points until about 2 ½ minutes left. Up one, we went on a 10-3 run, and then hung on.
Balance again. 11 players scored, we played solid D, and we took care of the ball and the boards.
#14 in the new poll.
4 at home coming up.
11/24: 78-68 over Southern Miss. We were a little sluggish, but we came on late. Lots of foul trouble but sub Dio Barq had 19, 7 from the bench. 45 RBs, 13 TOs.
11/27: 89-62 over Dayton, here. Subs Barq and Brix really played well, 12, 5 for Barq, 13 for Brix.. Duke, King, and Knox also had big games. 37 RBs, 9 TOs.
6-0, #5, RPI #2.
PF Del Land, #114, committed.
12/1: 74-52 over Iona here. No contest. 5 in double figures, good bench play.
12/4: 71-45 over Long Beach ST here. 13, 8, 5 for Wole at SG, 15 for King, 8, 9 for Knox.
I should have put together a more challenging schedule, I guess.
8-0, #4, RPI #3.
12/6: 74-73 at Western Carolina. The refs were not kind but our outside D could have been much better. Sub Dio Barq, who is getting starters minutes, had 11 and 6, including the game winner. 13, 8, 2, 2, 2 for Al Knox. 15 for Duke.
This was our first true road game after 4 on a neutral court and 4 at home. We’ll take the win!
12/11: Back home, and a 79-55 win over previously undefeated Tulane. 17, 11 for Knox, 16, 4 for Barq, 13, 4, 3, 2 for King, 12, 5 for Duke. +6 RBs, 9 TOs.
10-0, #3, RPI #3.
12/14: 76-65 at Central Arkansas. They were 6-2 coming in. 16, 7, 5 for Wole, 17, 7 for Knox, 12, 7 for Duke. 12 TOs. This is the best ball handling team I’ve coached.
Met someone a couple of weeks ago. Callie Hayes is a medical doctor. I knew her, of course, but had never had social contact with her. She’s not a hoops fan, and she’s not on the Council, so there was not a lot of interaction.
There was a musical review a week ago Friday, and as it happened she and I were seated together.
We chatted before the show and discovered that we share interests in reading fiction, and in theater and music. At Intermission she bought me a glass of wine and we continued to chat.
After the review we spoke for at least an hour. In the past 10 or 11 days we’ve managed to either see each other or chat on line every day. It’s early, but this feels good.
Oh, Callie is 31 (I’m 42). She’s short and rail thin. She’s a dedicated runner. Becoming an M. D. is a very different process these days. She studied anatomy, of course, and did all of the coursework possible. But her real learning took place when she apprenticed to one of our older M.D.s. He taught her everything she knows, according to her. And she knows a lot. She’s a surgeon, and what used to be known as an internist. We simply do not have enough medics to let them specialize all that much.
We are just beginning to be able to do delicate operations, and her greatest frustration is the relatively low success rates of such surgeries, but she says that the medics need to get through this stage in order to progress to where the success rate improves.
I did some checking. She’s #1 in survival rate among all of the surgeons in the 8 communities, and she seems to perform more complex operations than any of the others, as well. She is even called to other communities when there are particularly difficult surgeries that need to be performed.
She works too hard, which she admits. Lots of hours are spent teaching medical students, which is vital.
I’ll keep you posted as time goes by.
12/18: 72-71 at Maine. Brad Wole drained a 16 footer at the buzzer. Stats were close to even across the board. 12, 6, 6 for Knox, 12, 3, 6, 3, 2 for Wole. 2 one point wins so far.
12-0, #4, RPI #4.
12/22: 80-59 over George Washington here. 5 in double figures. +13 TOs, +9 RBs.
12/25: 67-52 at Binghamton. 15, 12, 3, 3 for Knox, 18, 6 for Duke. +15 RBs, +7 TOs.
We end the pre-conf. season at 14-0, #4, RPI #2. +14.6 PPG, +7.2 RBs, +5.1 TOs. This is a very good team.
Callie and I are very new but we managed to spend some of the holiday together. Just small gifts, books mostly.