Hereafter

[Wayne23]

11/15: It's #12 seed UAB in the quarter final. They beat #5 seed UConn in one of 4 big upsets in round one. They have a very good SG and they played good D, but we're a big fav.

11/16: They're hanging with us early. 39-32 at the half, which is our biggest lead. 11 for SG Juan Caro, 7, 4 for Soko.

78-69. We led throughout the 2nd half but they stayed fairly close.

17, 6, 4 for Caro, 16, 6 for Soko, 13, 6 for Grat. Moli and Moro both looked good at SF.

An incident at Comfort Home. Two men were fighting about who would get the last piece of blueberry pie. It turned into an ugly fight. By the time security got there one man had a broken nose and the other had two missing teeth. They were both arrested and are being held awaiting trial.

[Wayne23]

11/17: Nothing but upsets in the NIT. We're the #4 seed and the other three teams left are #9, 10, and 14!

We face #9 seed, #18 ranked San Diego ST, 2-0, in the semifinals. They can play. All 5 starters average in double digits and they can rebound.

11/18: This is our first test.

Back and froth but the calls are going against us. 35-36 at the half. 8 each for Grat, Caro, and #3 guard Jaco. We're shooting 56% to 34.4% but -7 from the line. 10 fouls against us and 5 on them and the refs are hearing about it! We open up a double digit lead.

73-55. Great D and we never had to max it out!

Soko had 15 and 11, C Josh Grat had 16 and 6, 10, 3, 5 for Caro, and 13 for #3 guard Dan Jaco, who is a scorer. We shot 50.9% to 30.8%. +12 in the paint.

[Wayne23]

11/19: It's #10 seed Akron, 3-0, for the title. They have a very good PG and they score a lot of points. But their D is weak and they turn it over.

11/20: Before the game they're ranked #11, we're #2.

Both of our recruits sign.

We take an early lead; Soko is hitting everything. 46-24 at halftime. We didn't do much wrong in the 1st half! 12, 4 for Soko, 13, 3 for 6th man Troy Moro.

Only 2 TOs, +10 in the paint, +11 from the line. This is a romp!

83-59 and the NIT title. Tourney MOP Hio Soko had 20 and 7 with 3 blocks. 15, 6, 3, 4 blocks for Grat, 17, 3 for Moro.

+10 RBs, +16 down low.

The two men were put on trial. It turns out they worked together in Waste Collection and Recycling, and they had a history of not getting along.

The Judge, Council Chair Grace Santio ruled, “This is absolutely unacceptable. You two are a disgrace. James, you will be moved to the water department and placed on the night shift. Arthur, you will stay in Waste and will work the day shift. These two departments are nowhere near each other.

“James, given your new job, you and your family will move to deck 18. Arthur, you will remain living on deck 12. James, you are restricted to decks 14-20 except in the case of an emergency. Arthur, you are restricted to decks 7-12, except in the case of emergency.

“A repeat of this incident will lead to extremely dire consequences!”

Both men were extremely upset by the ruling. They both enjoyed dining halls on floors where they were no longer allowed to visit.

[Wayne23]

11/21: (Author's note: I will revert to posting weekly until the post season, unless special circumstances occur.)

#24 Virginia Commonwealth, 2-1, is here. They lost to #1 Kansas by only 7 on the road so we're taking them seriously. They are very good outside. We play better D but we'll need to play well.

11/22: It's exciting to be here for our home debut!

It takes a while but we take a lead, then expand it. 53-27 at the break. We're not having any trouble scoring. 10, 0, 8 for PG Roy Blay, 10 for #3 guard Jaco, 8, 6, 3 for Soko but he has 3 fouls. +11 RBs, only 3 TOs. We're shooting 62.9%. Another romp against a ranked team.

88-62. 14, 3, 10, 3 for Blay, 16, 9, 4 for Soko, 8, 14 for Grat. +13 for the bench, which has played well all season so far.

+18 RBs, +16 inside. 10 TOs.

11/24: 2-1 Villanova is here. They are not playing up to expectations. They have trouble scoring and they turn it over. But they have lots of potential so we're taking this one seriously.

11/25: Their SF is on fire and it's close after 10 minutes. We go on a late run. 43-27 at halftime. 11 for Grat, good guard play. Soko has 3 fouls again. +11 RBs. This is turning into another blowout.

87-64. 21, 5 for Grat, 18, 2, 9 for Blay, 13, 7 for Soko despite foul trouble, 11, 6 for Moro. +22 inside, +9 RBs.

Moro will start at SF but Moli will still get minutes.

5 of our next 6 are against ranked teams.

“Jed, you're a smart guy. What do you think about this plan to prepare for hostile encounters? I'm on the Committee and I'm asking around.”

“Well, Mick, it was your motion so I assume you have some pretty strong opinions.”

“Yes and no. I'm open to suggestions. I'm sure there are things I haven't thought of.”

“We don't have the weaponry to do anything but be ready for a quick escape.”

“We could have weapons...”

“No. That goes against everything this mission is about.”

“But we're exposing ourselves to danger, hell, to possible annihilation.”

“We all knew that when we signed up.”

“Things change. The Muuugleee are extremely dangerous and no doubt there are others out there, maybe others even more dangerous.”

“Maybe. That doesn't change anything.”

“That's the way most people feel? I'm not so sure.”

“Tell your committee to have our engineers come up with a way for us to gear up the ship to get to max speed in less than 30 seconds, with alarms to warn people to strap in.”

“That's definitely part of the plan. I'll think about the rest and keep talking to people.”

“Good idea!”

[Wayne23]

11/28: #19, 4-1 Georgetown is here. They play excellent D and they can score outside. They've looked good so far but they haven't played anybody.

We're #1 in the new poll. #1 NET, too.

11/29: They take an early lead. We're back in it but we're not playing good D. 39-34 at the half; the D got a little better. Blay has 9, but 3 fouls. 8 each for Caro and Soko. 10 fouls on us, 5 on them and I'm chirping! We open up a 15 point lead.

84-63. 20, 8, 5 for Soko13, 2, 6, 4 for Caro, 14, 0, 4 for Jaco, 13, 3 for Moro in his first start. +18 inside.

12/1: #10 San Diego ST, 5-1, is here. We beat them by 18 in the preseason NIT. We score 17 more and give up .3 more. We won it inside last time we played them.

12/2: We jump out to an early lead. 45-21 at the half; we led them by 1 at the half last time. 13, 7 for Soko, 16 for Moli from the bench. Only 3 TOs. We get it to 30.

74-59. They came back late to save a little face. 18, 14 for Soko, 18, 4 for Moli, 12, 9 for Grat.

[Wayne23]

12/5: At 3-2 Georgia Tech. They have trouble scoring but they can cause trouble outside.

We're 8-0, still #1.

Forgot to mention that starting C Josh Grat hurt his back in our last game. He'll see limited minutes in this game, and maybe our next.

12/6: It's close throughout the half; 32-26 at the break. 9, 2, 5 for PG Roy Blay. We're shooting a lot better and that's the difference so far. We've extended the lead to 17 with 8 minutes to go.

76-53. We were fully in control during the 2nd half.

18, 2, 3 for SG Juan Caro, 14, 10 for Moro, 12, 2, 9 for Blay. +11 RBs, +14 inside.

Strange reports around the ship:

“It's like something's there but when I look there's nothing.”

“I can feel something near me but there's nothing there.”

“I've heard noises that I can't account for.”

“I saw a shadow, and nothing in the room was making a shadow.”

Those are a few.

12/8: #19 Louisville, 5-3, is here. They score 14 fewer, give up 2 more.

Grat is back to 100%.

12/9: We fall behind early. Then we come back. 38-28 at halftime. 10 for Blay. +10 RBs. They get it to 4, then we stretch it out again. Then we get it to 20.

79-54. 22, 1, 6, 3 for Blay who has been playing really well lately. 13, 12 for Soko, 13, 3, 7, 3 for Caro, 14, 8 for Grat.+17 RBs, +18 down low.

Soko is getting headaches. He's day to day.

People are still seeing, hearing, and feeling things they can't account for.

“Something touched my shoulder. I turned around and there was nothing there.”

“I tripped over... nothing.”

[Wayne23]

12/12: #2 Kansas, 8-1, is here. They score 10 ½ fewer, give up 1.8 fewer and the rest of the stats are pretty similar but they're favored by 2 ½. They're very good and we'll need to play our best game to have a chance.

Soko is fine again.

12/13: It's a battle early. 28-27 at the half in a defensive battle. Their SG has 3 fouls. Both teams shooting 33.3%. The fans are loving it and we have a full house cheering for us. So close!

77-72. We scored the last 7 points in an incredibly close game. 28 lead changes, 15 ties. 16, 8 for Soko16, 5, 5 for Caro, 14, 7 for Grat, 10, 3, 5 for Blay. +16 in the paint and that won it for us.

12/13: “The Committee will report. Mick?”

“Yes, madam Chair. We recommend that the ship be equipped to be ready to reach maximum speed within 30 seconds at any time, with an automatic alert to be broadcast throughout the ship so that everyone can strap in somewhere. That was a unanimous recommendation. By a vote of 3-2 the committee recommends that we create and print weapons to protect us against attack and to counter attack. The people who know about these things should be left to decide the specifics.”

A long discussion ensued.

“Madam Chair I propose that we vote on the committee's recommendations separately.”

There was a second, and the Council approved , 9-3. The recommendation for getting up to max speed quickly passed 12-0 after a brief discussion.

There was a very long, very heated discussion about weapons. At the end the vote was against, 8-4.

“Madam Chair, what about these mysterious goings on? People are reporting seeing, hearing, and feeling things that they can't identify or explain. The reports have come from all decks, and by a rather large number of people.”

“I suggest someone move that we form a committee of 5, at least two of them from psychology and one from medicine to investigate.”

Moved, seconded, discussed, approved 11-1. I'm on the committee.

[PointGuard]

I'm beginning to feel YOU are touched...or maybe more accurated, tetched.

(yet another CoachC style comment for you Wayne)

[Wayne23]

Humph! This is serious business!

[Wayne23]

12/19: A week between games. After the grueling schedule we've been on this is good. 10 days off after our next game.

6-1 Syracuse is here. 1-1 vs. ranked teams. They turn it over. They're stronger inside than out. We're a big favorite but we're not taking this one lightly. 106 year old head coach Jim Boeheim is still razor sharp.

Last pre-conf game.

12/20: We take the lead early. They come back. 30-29 at the half. 9 each for Moro and Marn, 8 for Soko. We're getting nothing from our guards but neither are they. Up 1 with 10 to play.

75-68 after a late mini-run. 18, 7 for Soko, 13, 3, 8, 4 for Blay, 13 for Marn. 9 TOs to 19.

VERY costly win. Hio Soko broke his hand late in the second, while the outcome was still in doubt. He's out until some time in February.

Moli will start at SF and Moro will move to PF.

12/25: We end pre-conf play at 12-0, #1, NET #1.

+19.1 PPG, +7.2 RBs, -3.0 TOs, +6.9 assists.

The injured Hio Soko leads us with 15.8 and 8.7. Blay gets 6.2 assists and 2.4 steals.