Hereafter

[Wayne23]

12/27: 8-5 Creighton is here. They have a lot of trouble scoring but they play good D. They're strong inside.

12/28: We trail early on. Down 4 after 10. 35-29 at halftime. Saul has 3 fouls which is not good; he leads us in scoring and rebounding. We go on a run early in the 2nd and get the lead to 15.

74-65 but it wasn't that close. 5 players had between 13 and 10 points. Saul and Henk both played limited minutes due to fouls, but the bench was +15 to make up for it. +12 in the paint.

At the end of pre-conference play we're 13-1, #3, NET #1.

+13.4 PPG, +6.9 RBs, -3.2 TOs but 14.0, which is NOT good! +5.3 assists, +5.1 steals.

Saul leads us with 15.2 and 8.2. 6 players get between 9.9 and 8.6. PG Jay Olin leads in assists with 5.6.

Jay Olin: I have to say I'm happy with my senior season so far. I'm playing well and we're ranked #3. Very cool!

[Wayne23]

1/1/2052: We start Mountain West play at 8-5 UNLV. On paper we're better at every position.

1/2: They take the lead early on. Down 5 after 10. 27-26 after a low scoring half. +8 for the bench. Up 9 with 10 to play but they're pesky.

71-54. We heated up late. Excellent D. 14, 4, 3 for #3 guard John Akin. +12 RBs. A road win is a nice way to begin conference play!

1/3: 7-4 Nevada is here. They have trouble scoring but they play good defense.

1/4: We come out red hot, especially Henk. 39-24 at the half. 13 for Henk, 8 for Saul. We're in charge in the 2nd.

63-41. Amazing D. 14, 7, 3, 3 for Henk, 12, 4 for Wolf. Easy win.

I think we'll move to the PAC 12 next season.

We're still surrounded by blue space. Our scientists have analyzed everything they can and we have no explanation for why everything here is pastel blue.

[Wayne23]

1/8: At 8-5, 1-1 Boise ST, one of the better teams in the conference. On paper we win easily but they score lots of points outside. Our D needs to be as solid as it has been lately.

1/9: We take the lead right away. Up 10 after 10. 52-33 at halftime. We're having no trouble scoring. 12 each for Saul and Gran, 10 for Wolf. Henk has 3 fouls for the first time in awhile. +14 in the paint, +9 from the line, only 3 TOs. We run away with it in the 2nd.

99-73. 22, 4, 3, 3 for Wolf, 20, 8 for Saul, 21, 7 for Gran. +26 down low, only 7 TOs.

We're already alone in 1st after 3 games.

1/10: 9-6, 2-1 New Mexico is here. They score outside and if the threes are falling they can be trouble.

1/11: We score the first 8. Up by 9 after 10; Saul is hot. 42-28 at the half. Solid D again. 14, 8 for Saul. No challenge tonight.

83-50. 22, 1, 5 for PG Jay Olin, 16, 8 for Saul. +30 in the paint.

1/12: A three game week is bad enough but having to travel before and after each game makes it really challenging.

At 6-8, 1-2 Air Force. Not one of the better teams in the conf.

1/13: Back and forth early. Tied after 10. 33-41 at the half. We're not playing our usual D; they're shooting 53.3%. Their C has 21! 9 for Dean. Down 6 with 10 left.

68-77. We were not ourselves tonight, but 3 games in 5 days with lots of travel may have been a factor.

14, 2, 4 for Henk, 12, 8 for Saul, but he was out played.

Henk hurt his calf; he's day to day.

An attempted assassination of the Captain. Rumi Sabu attacked the Captain with a knife. Where and how he got the knife is being investigated as knives are never supposed to leave the areas where they are being used.

Rumi works in the kitchen so he certainly has access, but workers have to pass through a metal detector to enter and leave the kitchen areas.

The Captain was walking in the hallway on the bridge level when Sabu attacked. She was, as always, accompanied by a body guard. The body guard reacted quickly but the knife penetrated the Captain's body in the right chest area.

The body guard subdued Sabu, called for back up and emergency medical assistance.

While the Captain was bleeding, it was not severe, and the medics managed to stop the bleeding quickly. They did what they needed to do to stabilize the wound on the scene, and then transported the captain to the sick bay. She is expected to make a full recovery but it will take some time.

1/14: “Damn it, this is on you, Mick!”

“Order! I will have order in the Council. Jennifer, find a way to express yourself calmly and reasonably.”

“Captain, the agitation by Mick and his cronies has led to all of the ill feeling on the ship. This attack would not have happened without that.”

“Now wait a minute! I have a right to-”

“STOP!... Mick, I will recognize you to speak when you calm down.”

“Mister Chair, a significant percent of the crew feel strongly that the Captain, and others, acted in a manner that endangered the lives of everyone on board-”

“And so you you provided a maniac with the motivation to-”

“Jennifer, you are out of order! I am calling a 10 minute recess. Jennifer and Mick, you are not to approach each other during the recess.”

10 minutes later things were not much calmer. One side accused the other of inciting the attack on the Captain. The other side defended themselves by saying that everything they did was within their rights. They made it clear that they did not condone the violent attack.

After 45 minutes of debate:

“We are going in circles. The Captain will apparently recover completely in time. The Council, and the crew, must find ways to disagree without dividing the ship and fracturing any hope of efficient management of the ship. We are all suffering because of the level of animosity that exists here. I would strongly suggest that everyone think about ways that we can lessen the stress on board and find areas of agreement.

“Second in command Moses Arends will serve as Acting Captain. I appeal to everyone to give Moe your complete cooperation and support during this difficult time.”

What a nightmare!

1/15: Rumi Sabu was examined by the psych department and found to be criminally insane. This brings up the problem of what to do with him. We can't execute a mentally ill person, and incarcerating him will use up a lot of resources.

“Jed, just 3D print a couple of robots, train them, and put them in charge of guarding Sabu, bringing him his food, and doing whatever else needs to be done.”

“That makes sense, Chloe. I'll bring it to the Council.”

1/16: The Council agreed to the plan. Robots will guard and feed Sabu, who will get regular psych counselling.

[Wayne23]

1/17: At 11-6, 2-3 Utah ST. They don't take care of the ball.

1/18: We fall behind. Down 3 after 10. 36-43 at the half. 16, 5 for Saul. Wolf has 3 fouls. They're beating us up in the 2nd.

70-81. We didn't play D again and the O wasn't all that great. 18, 8 for Saul, 14 for Wolf, 13 for Akin. -11 RBs.

2 losses in a row; not good. After 7 games we're in a 3 way tie for 1st.

“Hi Captain. How's the recovery coming along?”

“It's difficult, Jed. I'm in a great deal of pain.”

“Sorry to hear it.”

“The important thing is that they're telling me that I will recover fully. I'm bored though. I'm not allowed to do any work at all. I'm not accustomed to having all this time on my hands.”

“Rest up.”

“Yes, I don't have the strength to do anything else. But the time is passing slowly. I'm familiarizing myself with the new propulsion system.”

“That sounds like work to me.”

“Well, more like research, I'd say. Jed, I'd like to speak with Rumi Sabu.”

“What in the universe for!”

“I'd like to have some idea why this happened.”

“He's been diagnosed as criminally insane. I don't think you'd get any sensible answers.”

“Maybe not, but still.”

“I recommend that you wait at least a month before even trying. Whatever crazed him enough to do this may be a little less intense after a month of three sessions a week of therapy.”

“That makes sense.”

[PointGuard]

“What in the universe for!”

Hah! Good one!

[Wayne23]

1/22: 9-8, 3-3 Wyoming is here. Time to get back on track. They have a very good C but not much else.

1/23: We take an early lead and expand it. 46-32 at the half. 13 for Dean, 12 for Saul. +16 in the paint.

88-55. 20, 7 for Saul, 20, 3 for SG Eric Dean, 18 for Akin. +20 in the paint.

1/24: 10-8, 3-4 San Jose ST is here. We score 5 more, and we give up 5 fewer.

1/25: We take charge right away. 52-34. We're scoring at will. 12 for Dean, 11 each for Olin and Henk. Saul has 3 fouls. 4 TOs. The subs will be in early.

90-61. 23, 12 for Henk, 18, 4 for Dean, 14, 3, 8 for Olin. 10 TOs.

The probe directly ahead of us sees what looks like a space ship ahead of it. It is NOT blue.

[Wayne23]

1/31: 10-9, 5-3 Air Force is here. They won by 9 there. We were not on our game that night. We plan to win this one.

2/1: They take the lead right away. We come back; up 5 after 10. 42-36 at halftime. 9 each for Saul and Dean, 8 for Wolf. We take control in the 2nd.

91-71. 24, 7 for Saul, 16, 2, 7 for Olin, 15, 3, 5 for Dean, 15, 4 for Wolf.

Midway through MWC play we're 20-3, 7-2, Up 1 in the loss column on New Mexico. #4, NET #4.

2/2: 11-12, 3-7 UNLV is here. We won by 17 there. They have trouble scoring.

2/3: early lead. Up only 1 after 10. 42-33 at the break. 12 for Henk. +16 inside. We get the lead to 20 fairly early.

83-63. 19, 13 for Saul, 14, 5, 6 for Wolf, 18 for Henk. +26 in the paint. We won it inside.

The ship seems to be trying to communicate with the probe. No luck yet.

[Wayne23]

2/7: At 9-12, 2-8 Nevada. We won by 22 at home. They commit more TOs than anyone in the conf.

2/8: It's close early. Up 7 after 10 as we're finding our rhythm. 39-39 at the half as they came back. PG Jay Olin has 3 fouls. Akin filled in well. -16 from the line as the calls are going against us. I'm letting the refs know how I feel about that! We start fast in the 2nd. Up 9 with 10 to play. They come back late and it's a game!

74-69. They never quit! 20, 3 for Akin, 15, 9 for Gran, so the bench led the way.; +18. +16 in the paint, +9 RBs.

The ship has managed to communicate with us via the probe. It's on a delayed basis.

They are saying that they are leaving the blue space as quickly as they can figure out how to do so.

“We are the Playan. This space is dangerous. We see indications of danger in many places as we explore. We must tell you that the path you are travelling will not lead you out of this space. I see that the path from which you have come is also not a solution. We will travel to our port side. You may feel free to accompany us when we meet up.

“How do we know it's safe to join up with this ship? We know nothing about the people. I say we go to OUR port, the opposite direction.”

“Mick, our mission is one of exploration, and meeting other life forms is part of that. I favor joining the Playan and learning from them and them from us.”

“I repeat that it could be dangerous.”

After a long debate the Council voted 7-5 to join the Playan.

“I hope we don't come to regret this decision!”

Captain Wang continues to recover.

“They tell me it will still be a few weeks before I can get back to work. I'm bored and i'm frustrated.”

“You are also still healing, and the medics have told you that too much exertion will impede the healing of the stab wound.”

“I am well aware of that and I am complying.”

What about trying your hand at something creative? Writing, drawing, sculpture- something like that?”

“I don't have any talents in the arts.”

“How do you know? Watch a video. Take a class in the holo. Try some things.”

“Maybe I will, just to ease the boredom.”

“You have nothing to lose.”

“That's true.”

[Wayne23]

2/12: 11-12, 4-8 Boise ST is here. We won by 26 there. Their starting C broke his leg two weeks ago. They can score outside but they don't rebound, especially with their C out.

We're back to #2 in the polls.

2/13: It's close, up 5 after 10. Then a run puts us up 52-34 at halftime. We're shooting 59.4%. 15 for Dean, 13 for Wolf. We take full charge in the 2nd.

95-64. 18, 14 for Saul, 21, 1, 5 for Dean, 21, 5 for Wolf. 10 assists for Olin. +20 in the paint, +11 RBs.

PG Jay Olin sprained a finger. He'll miss at least 3 games, possibly 4.

2/14: Naturally, our first game without our starting PG is with our #1 conf. rival.

At 16-9, 9-4 New Mexico. We have a 2 game lead on them, which helps. We won by 33 at home. They're 0-4 vs. ranked teams but they do some things well and they're tough at home.

2/15: Very slow start; we can't make a shot. Up 2 after 10 but a VERY low scoring game so far. 26-27 at the half; we're shooting 32.3% to 22.7%. They're up 7 at the line. Wolf, Saul, and Henk all have 3 fouls and none of their players have 3. I got a T when the 3rd guy got #3. Wolf has 12 points. Down 5 with 10 left. We get hot late and our press turns them over several times.

64-54. Not much O in this one. 14, 7 for Wolf, 10, 8 for Dean. +14 inside, +10 boards.

Big win. We now lead 2 teams by 3 in the loss column with 5 to play, but all except the next one have winning records.

2/16: 7-18, 4-10 Fresno ST is here. They give up 8 more than they score.

2/17: Slow start. 42-38 at halftime. 16 for Dean. Both teams shooting over 50%. Up only 3 with 10 to go.

76-72. We couldn't break away from them. 22, 4, 4 for Dean, 13, 2, 4, 3 for Akin, 13 for back up guard Rob Reed. We won this one outside.

We are communicating with the Playan long distance as we travel to a point where we can meet up. They seem peaceful but they seem VERY concerned about being in blue space and very alarmed about the dangers. However, they are not being very specific. Hopefully we will learn more over time.

[Wayne23]

2/19: At 14-11, 7-7 San Jose ST. We won by 29 at home. They are better outside than inside.

2/20: We score the first 9. 46-24 at the half. 13 for Dean, 11 for Wolf. We're dominating inside.

76-59. It was never in doubt. 20, 2, 4, 3 for Dean, 16, 6, 5 for Wolf, 12, 8 for Saul, 12 for Gran.

I'm in a unique situation coaching this team. The only people coming back, if they don't transfer out, are my #3 guard, John Akin, and two guys who don't play at all. It's weird.

2/21: 20-9, 11-6 Utah ST is here. They beat us by 11 at their place. They won it outside with very good guard play. We think we just had an off night but they're 2-1 vs. ranked teams.

Olin is back but will not play his full minutes. If he plays half the game I'll be happy.

2/22: 32-22 at the break. 11, 4 for Gran. Our D has been excellent. Up 16 with 10 to play.

75-56 and we clinch the regular season MWC title. 18, 6 for Gran, 16, 9 for Saul, 12, 1, 4, 5 steals for Dean. +16 down low. Olin played 21 minutes but wasn't sharp, 6 TOs. He will be better next time, and at 100%.

We will rendezvous with the Playan in about a week.