Hereafter

[Wayne23]

3/10: #1 seed, #22 ranked Clemson, 23-7, 14-6, in the semifinals, as all 4 favorites won their games. Their starting C is out, but he was last time when they embarrassed us by 26. We won earlier by 14 at our place. We truly believe we're the better team but we need to play that way.

Game time: They take a quick lead. Playing catch up for most of the half, then a mini-run. 37-36 at halftime. This looks like it will go down to the last possession. They start the 2nd with a run. We come back. Up 8 with 10 to go. Big run and we have the game in hand.

87-66. We've played really well for the last two games!

21, 6, 12, 3 for Bann, 15, 4, 4 for Robi, 17, 5 for King. +16 in the paint.

[Wayne23]

3/11: #3 ranked, #3 seed Michigan, 27-7, 14-6, for the title. We won by 14 at home then lost by 23 there. They're 8-1 vs. ranked teams, losing only to us. They have the best PG in the country. We think we're better everywhere else. That puts a lot of pressure on Bann.

Game time: I think a win gets us a #1 seed and a loss means we're a #2.

They score the first 8. 28-32 at the half but C Rom Maye has 3 fouls. Their Sg also has 3. +18 inside. Tied with 10 left. We go on a 19-0 run!

79-72 and the title! We had a great tournament!

19, 3, 9, 3, 5 blocks for Bann to out play the #1 guy on the Norton list!

20 and 8 for Moro. +10 RBs, +16 inside.

[Wayne23]

3/12: I think we'll be a #1 seed.

#1 South.

Somehow Michigan is #1 overall. We play #16 seed Maine, 19-13. This is a game we should win easily.

3/17: Early lead. We're running away with this. 43-20 at halftime. 11, 8 for Moro. Maye has 3 fouls. +9 RBs.

71-51. We fell asleep in the 2nd half but it didn't matter.

22, 4 for Robi, 15, 11 for Moro, 12, 4, 3, 5 for Bann.

#1 overall Michigan lost in the first round!

We're getting fairly close to the abandoned space station. It definitely seems dead.

[Wayne23]

3/18: #8 seed Indiana, 22-10, in the 2nd round. They beat us by 8, we beat them by 33. On paper it's an easy win but I don't like playing someone from our conference this early.

3/19: We take an early lead. 28-19; very low scoring half. 8 each for Moro and Robi, 7 for Bann. They catch us. We're sleeping. We wake up and get the lead to 10 but they come back again.

68-55. Not our best game. 14 each for Bann, Robi, and Moro, 10, 12 for Maye. 11 fewer TOs, +14 down low.

[Wayne23]

3/23: #5 seed, #16 ranked Ohio ST, 25-10, in the Sweet 16. We won by 23 there. They're 3-5 vs. ranked teams. They have some really good players and can hurt you outside.

3/24: Back and forth through out the 1st half, 40-41; 12 lead changes, 8 ties. +8 for our bench. -11 from the line and I'm chirping. +12 inside. We're holding a small lead for much of the 2nd. We get it to 10 with 5 ½ to go.

81-66 and we're in the Elite Eight! 16, 6, 7, 3 but 6 TOs for Bann. 16, 4 for Moro, 15, 6 for King. +20 in the paint, +11 RBs, +18 on 2nd chances.

We're the last Big 10 team playing.

Only 2 #1 seeds left, 2 #3s, no #2s or 4s.

[Wayne23]

3/25: #3 seed, #11 ranked Arizona, 30-7, next. Their starting C is playing hurt. They played a weak schedule, only 3 ranked opponents; they were 2-1. We'll need to play good D, they can score.

3/26: We fall behind early; not hitting shots. 33-42 at halftime. Turning it over way too much, not playing D.

“Win or go home, guys. Come on, Final Four is on the line!'

Down only 2 with 10 to go. 11-0 run!

69-72. They made a late three and Rivo missed one at the end.

19, 4, 4, 4 for Bann in his last game. -7 from the line.

Another disappointing end to the season. That's been the story since I got to East Lansing. Maybe I should just move on...

[Wayne23]

4/3: #11 ranked Arizona wins it all. We lost to the Champs which is NO consolation!

4/4: Awards: Tal Bann is a 1st team All American.

In the Big 10 Bann is frosh OY and 1st team. That's all we get.

4/9: North Carolina? Too big of a rebuilding job. I'm staying.

4/23: 28-8, Big 10 champs, Elite Eight. Overall, for 26 seasons, 771-179, .812.

We're losing Bann, Rivo, Wild, Maye, King, Barr, Robi, and Ruth. The only good player returning is Troy Moro. Hopefully good recruits and some good transfers.

We're at the abandoned space station. Robots are exploring it. No bodies. They're trying to fire up the computers.

4/24: Space station computers are operational. Now it's a matter of translation. Could take some time.

[Wayne23]

5/1: Preseason #17. Recruiting class #2. Only 3 guards on the team, none are highly rated. Could be a LONG year!

We buy the usual scouting reports.

Still unsuccessful at translating and the robots we have on it are really good.

5/9: The robots have cracked the code!

5/11: Some very interesting information on the space station computers.

There was an enormous amount of material written in the Captain's Log, the Department Heads' reports... The Captain's Journal was probably the most interesting.

The space station was launched in the Delina system by the Delinans. There is no way to know where that system is or was. At some point the space station was propelled out of the system and simply drifted through space, for a very long time- more on this later.

The station was one of several and it served as a sort of way station, or connection point. The Delinans built space ships in orbit using (we THINK) something like our 3D printers. The human workers- they used humans and robotic workers, lived on the space station during construction. When the ships were built the crew members were flown to the station. They boarded the ship, which was then launched. Evidently the Delinans sent many ships into space, again, over a very long period of time. They were an active, thriving civilization living on two planets and three moons. The ships were sent to explore the galaxy, much as we are doing, and it is possible that some of them are still exploring.

After several centuries the Delinans were invaded by the Muuugleee Collective. You may remember that we encountered them in late 2038.

The Muuugleee are an aggressive race with the goal of absorbing every sentient people they meet into their collective. We were lucky to escape. We sort of always thought we might encounter them again.

The Delinans encountered them and were not so lucky. The Captain's private journal says that when the Muuugleee's goal became clear he put the space station on the alert and got it ready to move. When it became obvious that the Muuugleee had the power to completely absorb the Delinans, he set the space station in motion.

He escaped, he thought successfully.

The private journal, the logs, and other documents continue for several years.

Then comes a short statement:

“The Muuugleee have found us. They are here.”

That's the last thing anyone wrote.

Based on most likely scenario we assume the Muuugleee absorbed the crew of the station into the collective, took them away from the station and simply abandoned the station and let it drift.

[Wayne23]

5/29: We lost Max Wolf, who might have started up front, and Josh Hugo, one of our 3 guards. We'll have 5 spots open and we'll need to get very lucky!

Round 1: No A or B guards. Unimpressive pool. We offer to an A. No.

Round 2: We offer to the same A, a PF Top 5. We offer to 4 Bs, 3 of them guards. 4-5. We get the A and 3 Bs, 2 of them guards, both of whom will start at this point.

Round 3: 1 to go and we need a guard. We offer to a very mediocre looking B, an SG. Got him.

6/25: The usual camps.

6/26: 2 scholarships. We want guards.

Tal Bann was taken 2nd in the draft. Marc Ruth #15, Kev Robi #26. I guess they all made the right decision.

8/7: 2 on the Norton list, PF Hio Soko is #2 and C Josh Grat is #22.

8/21: We offer to 2 SGs, both of whom could play the Point if need be.

9/4: The stressful time in recruiting. Hoping not to lose anyone in the next couple of weeks before we can make the home visits.

9/11: We get one, SG, #3 overall.

Home visits to the other one we offered to, and three others.

9/18: We lose the other guy. We offer to another SG.

Going to the Preseason NIT vs. Southern Illinois. Very challenging schedule.

9/25: We get the other SG, #14.

10/2: 1st day of practice. I think we have a team here! Maybe a little thin in the backcourt.

11/12: Here's the lineup, for now:

Roy Blay, a soph transfer from Stanford, starts at PG. He's a solid player and takes good care of the ball, and he can shoot. He's a very good defender.

Juan Caro, a senior transfer from Mississippi, where he was a three year starter, is at SG. He has just about the same skill set as Blay so they should be a solid backcourt.

#3 guard is frosh Dan Jaco. Dan does a lot of things well but his D and his decision making need work. #4 is Byl Fier, another frosh. The comments about Jaco apply equally to him. #5 guard is soph Adam Wats, a transfer from Western Michigan where he started and played pretty well. But he has not been impressive in practice.

SF is going to be split between two players. Starting is soph Abe Moli, another transfer from Mississippi, and a starter there. He has looked really good in practice. Looking equally good is returning junior Troy Moro, who started at SF for us last season. He and Moli are going to get equal minutes until one of them shows us he deserves more minutes.

Soph Hio Soko is a world class PF. He came here from NC ST. We have very high expectations for Hio.

Frosh Josh Grat is at C and he could be very special. He and Soko make us a powerful inside team.

#2 big man off the bench is Ben Roll, a senior who has never gotten much playing time here. #3 is Al Marn, a frosh. If his D were better he'd get more time. He's young and we're working on it. Frosh Aron Harp also needs work on D. Finally there's frosh Marc Howe, who just isn't ready. We probably should have red shirted him.

[Wayne23]

11/13: We open at the NIT with #13 seed Southern Illinois. We're the #4 seed in a loaded field. We're a big favorite.

“What if the Muuugleee find us?”

“It's been just about 10 years. I expect they're a very long way from here.”

“You don't know that, and they may have some kind of devices that show them when ships pass through a given area.”

“If that was true don't you think they would have showed up by now?”

“Space is huge. This may be the first time we've triggered one of the tracking devices.”

“First, there's no evidence of anything like that. Our ship has all kinds of ways to detect everything we run into, large and small, in our travels.”

“We should have a contingency plan. I move that we form a committee to come up with a contingency plan in case we encounter the Muuugleee or any other hostile species.”

There was a second. As it always is discussion was very long. In the end the committee idea was passed 10-2. Thankfully, I'm not on the committee. They report in a month.

11/14: PG Roy Blay is on fire early on. 53-23 at the half. Our guards are WOW! PG Roy Blay has 17, 4, 4, and #3 Dan Jaco has 19. Dan played 17 minutes because starting SG Juan Caro played 4 minutes due to picking up 3 quick fouls. Hio Soko has 10 and 6. This game is a walk over.

91-57. Blay wound up with 22, 4, 8, 4 blocks. 14, 11 for Soko, 19, 2, 3 for Jaco, 10 for #4 guard Byl Fier. +9 RBs. We shot 61%. Our inside game, aside from Soko, was not impressive. We expect more.