DDSCB23: Alone

[Wayne23]

12/2: 94-47 over Maryland here. 51-29 at halftime. 16, 5, 3 for Thun, 16, 3 for Mack, 13, 3, 6, 3 for Croy, his best game so far. 13, 6 for Beko, 12,3 for Prin. A total wipe out.

We need a challenge!

12/6: 98-67 over #16 UCLA. 61-31 at the half. 34, 23 for Thun, an amazing game! 16, 8 for Mack, 11, 8, 4 for Latt, 13, 1, 9 for Croy, whose D has been better than expected.

(Author’s note: I need to add more challenges: Starting next season, only 1 top 25 recruit, 1 in the 30s, 1 in the 40s; only 1 A or B transfer.)

12/9: 87-68 at #6 Iowa. 46-31 at the half, and they never got it to single digits in the 2nd. 24, 14 for red hot Bri Thun. 17, 6 for Mack, 11, 11, 3 blocks for Latt. We owned the paint again.

12/10: The babies are two years old, walking and saying words and phrases. Getting into everything.

12/13: 95-65 over #8 Gonzaga here. 50-31 at the half. 23, 13 for Thun, who has been simply unbelievable lately. 5 others in double figures. We had some foul trouble but our bench stepped up 30-17.

9-0, #2, NET #1. 6 Big East teams are ranked right now, including #1 Seton Hall.

The communication with #8 continues. It still wants more details re terraforming.

“We may be able to help with this but I need more information.”

Interesting!

[Wayne23]

12/16: 96-76 over San Diego ST here. 47-33 at halftime. 21, 11, 3 steals for Thun, 20, 16 for Mack. Total control inside.

12/20: 86-64 over #24 Virginia here. Close 1st half for the first time, up 8 at the half. Then we built the lead to 34 in the 2nd. 24, 12 for Mack, 23, 8, 3 blocks for Thun. Bug edge inside.

12/23: 76-47 over Washington here. 42-17 at the break. 20, 12 for Thun, 13, 9, 3 blocks for Latt, 12, 2, 5 for Croy.

12/27: 88-60 over Florida here in the last pre-conf game. 46-25 at halftime. 25, 11 for Thun, 12 each for Harn and Prin. +31 RBs, +40 in the paint.

13-0, #2, NET #1. Seton Hall is still #1, 16-0.

+28.5 PPG. 1st in the nation in scoring and RBs, 3rd in assists, 2nd in blocks. +21.5 RBs, #1 in RB margin. -3.2 TOs, 11.2 per game.

22.3, 9.7, 1.9 blocks for Thun. 16.1, 8.9 for Mack, 12.1, 8.2 for Latt. Will gets 6.3 assists, Croy gets 5.2. We’re thinking of having them switch positions.

12/28: We decide to make the switch.

“We can terraform your planet in one year. We nearly have a plan ready. We just must make certain it is fully operational. It will require all of you to live on your ship while this is being done. Since the ship was designed to carry 64 humans to the planet you call Mars, this should be manageable.”

Wow!

[Wayne23]

1/1/2232: We start Big East play at Vermont.

1/6: 107-81. 60-43 at halftime. 32, 8 for Thun, 23, 9, 2, 3 for Mack, 15, 11, 3 blocks for Latt, 13, 4 for Gray.

Along with the robots I’m making plans to transfer 64 toddlers to the ship, and planning on how to have them live there safely and sanely for a year or so. Sounds like a huge challenge! Some robots will come along, which will make it even tighter quarters on the ship, but I need the parents and the medics.

1/9: 97-65 over ST Johns here. 54-35. As usual it was over by halftime. 28, 9, 4 blocks for Thin, 18, 6, 5 for Croy at SG. 11, 12 for Mack.

1/13: 73-58 over #1 Seton Hall here to take sole possession of 1st. 40-32 at halftime then we quickly built the lead to 15 early in the 2nd. It stayed between 10 and 15 the rest of the way.

14, 14, 3 for Thun, 14, 2, 1, 5 for Croy, 13 each for Latt and Mack. +16 in the lane.

1/17: 70-60 at #14 Villanova, our closest game of the season. But it wasn’t, really. We led 43-24 at the half and the final score was as close as they got.

19, 16 for Thun. They defended us well but we dominated inside and took 24 more shots.

17-0, 4-0, #2, NET #1. 3 teams one game back in the early going.

#8 says we need to begin transferring our people, robots, and necessary equipment to the ship. That’s going to take some time!

[Wayne23]

1/20: 109-67 over #23 Georgetown. 51-34 at the break. 33, 14 for Mack, 18, 11, 3 blocks for Latt, 14, 5 for Thun. +37 RBs.

1/24: 116-81 over #13 Marquette. 66-42 at halftime. 32, 13, 3 for Thun, 23, 10 for Latt, 15, 10, 6 for Mack. +29 RBs.

1/27: 101-63 at Butler. Close early. We led by 9 at the half. Then we poured it on in the 2nd, 48-19. 24, 11 for Thun, 19 each for Beko and Latt. +37 RBs.

1/29: Bri Thun is #2 and Rod Latt #28 on the Norton list.

1/31: 99-63 at #11 Creighton. 27, 8 for Mack, 23, 8 for Thun, 12, 0, 6 for Croy. +44 in the paint.

21-0, 8-0, 2 game lead over Seton Hall who are still #1 despite 2 losses. We’re #2, NET #1.

I am shuttling kids, robots, and necessary equipment to the ship. It’s a process and will take a week to 10 days. Then we need to move the ship at least 10,000 miles away from the planet and stay there for a year or so while the planet is terraformed. There is room for only one holo on board so it will be tight quarters.

[Wayne23]

2/3: 82-64 at Providence. 49-25 at halftime. 18, 10, 4 blocks for Mack, 18, 6 for Thun. 54 RBs, 56 in the paint.

I can only be in one place at a time, mostly piloting the shuttle, so the kids are alone, either in the ship or on the planet. Still, the robots are perfectly capable of supervising.

2/7: 94-61 over DePaul here. 56-26 at the half. 28, 9 for Thun, 16, 9, 3 for Mack, 14, 6 for Beko, 12, 6 for Latt. +26 RBs, 62 in the paint.

2/10: 103-59 over #9 Xavier here. 59-33 at halftime. 30,10, 4, 6 blocks for Thun, 25, 14 for Latt, 17, 13 for Mack. 55 RBs, 62 in the paint.

2/12: Thun is #1 on the Norton list.

2/14: 92-56 over Vermont here. 56-41 at the break. 25, 12 for Thun, 22, 8, 4 blocks for Lat, 15, 12, 3 for Mack. 51 RBs, 54 in the lane.

25-0, 12-0, 2 up on #1 Seton Hall, 5 or more on the rest, with 4 to play. We’re still #2, NET #1. We play at Seton Hall soon.

I am on the last shuttle flight up to the ship. Most of the robots involved with the terraforming project were left on the planet. We don’t need them or have room for them on the ship.

When I reach the ship and unload the shuttle there will be 65 humans and 45 robots on board. We’ll head in the direction of Earth though we won’t get anywhere near it. Then we’ll just drift in space until it’s time to go back to Mars, probably sometime in Feb. or March of next year if all goes well.

I have communicated with Reggie and Maggie about all of this and they are very excited.

[Wayne23]

2/17: 98-87 at ST Johns. Close for most of the game. Up only 3 at halftime. We built a big lead, 23, in the 2nd, but then we lost focus and they came back. 29, 4 for Thun, 25, 11 for Mack. 52 in the paint.

We won easily enough but I wasn’t pleased with our D, or with our loss of focus in the 2nd half.

We’re settling in on board the ship and trying to find ways to make this work in the tight quarters.

2/21: 90-96 at #1 Seton Hall, our first loss of the season. It was tied at 51 at the break. They out shot us in the 2nd. Our D was awful, letting them shoot 53.7%. Way too many whistles, which made it difficult to play D, but the fouls pretty much evened out.

29, 6 for Thun, 18, 7 for Mack, 13, 2, 6 for Croy, 12, 10 for Latt, who fouled out. They beat us outside. Their starting guards scored 35 to 13 for ours.

2/24: 99-45 over #20 Villanova. 54-22 at the half. We played great D tonight, for the first time in awhile. 69 points for our bench! 24, 9 for Prin, 17, 7, 3, 5 for Mack, 15 for Harn, 11, 8 for Gray. Our starters were sluggish so I played the subs, who came through for us.

2/28: 84-75 at Georgetown. The game wasn’t as close as the final score. Up 17 at the break, and the final score was as close as they got. 30, 12, 3 blocks for Thun, 25, 11 for Mack, 12, 9 for Latt. 52 in the paint.

3/5: Bri Thun remains #1 on the Norton list.

Frosh guard Bill Croy declares for the draft.

We end regular season play at 28-1, 15-1, 1 up on #1 Seton Hall, 5 or more on the rest. We’re #2, NET #1.

+27.8 PPG, #1 in the nation in scoring, RBs, assists, and blocks. 3rd in field goal %, #1 in overall NET Rating. +21.5 RBs, #1 in RB margin. +5.8 assists. -3.3 turnovers, 11.3 per game.

Thun gets 22.3, 9.4, 1.8 blocks. 17.0, 9.2 for Mack, 12.7, 8.0 for Latt. 6.6 assists for Will, 5.1 for Croy.

[Wayne23]

3/9: #9 seed Villanova, 20-12, in the quarter finals. We won by 10 there, and by 54 at our place.

3/10: 89-61.Never a contest. 46-29 at halftime. 25, 13 for Mack, 18 for Prin, 13, 11 for Latt. +40 in the paint.

#12 ranked, #4 seed Xavier, 23-9, 8-8, in the semifinals. We won by 44 at home. Their starting PF has a broken ankle.

3/11: 109-105Our D was awful, they shot 52.4%. 27 lead changes, 11 ties in a game that was close all the way. We trailed by 3 after giving up 62 in the 1st half. I blistered the locker room walls at halftime and we played better in the 2nd but still gave up 43. In the 2nd we built an 11 point lead late. They chipped away and got it to 2 twice. Once again the refs were horrible, calling 61 fouls! They hurt Xavier more than us as we took 22 more free throws.

22, 11 for Mack, 21, 4 for Prin, 10, 6, 13 for Will, 14, 8 for Thun.+25 for our bench. +28 RBs.

As expected it’s #1 ranked, #2 seed Seton Hall, 32-2, in the title game. We won at home by 15, lost away by 6. Their 6th man is banged up but he’ll play.

3/12: 81-64 and the Big East title. Back and forth for the entire 1st half. We scored the last 8 to lead by 8 at the break. Then we came out in the 2nd and scored the first 11, and all they could do was try to catch up after that. They never got close. 19, 8 for Thun, 19, with 5 steals for Croy. 13, 15, 3 blocks for Mack. +12 for our bench.

We should be the #1 seed overall.

[Wayne23]

#1 East, #1 overall. We play #16 Northern Colorado, 18-15.

3/16: 75-52. They couldn’t score on us. 34-19 at halftime. 16, 11, 3, 4 blocks for Latt, 14, 14 for Mack, 11, 6, 3, 5 blocks for Thun.

#9 seed Iowa, 23-12. Beat them by 19 at their place in December. Their C is out and their 6th man is playing hurt.

3/18: 103-70. It was never a game. 50-23 at the half. 24, 17 for Thun, 24, 10 for Mack, 13, 4 for Latt. +22 RBs, +46 in the paint.

Rip Will tweaked his back but he shouldn’t miss a game.

Life on the ship is uncomfortable. There’s not enough room, and with only a single holo, it’s hard to escape into a more spacious environment. We do find programs where all 64 kids can be in the holo, and that helps. I’m missing privacy a lot.

[Wayne23]

#14 ranked, #4 seed Marquette, 25-10 in the Sweet Sixteen. We won by 35 at home. Their PF is out with a broken finger on his shooting hand.

3/23: 109-78. A blowout. 62-32 at the half. 32, 14, 4, 6 blocks for Thun, 20, 7 for Prin, 14, 10 for Mack. Good bench play. 80 in the paint! We just pushed it inside all night and they couldn’t stop it.

#6 seed, #2 seed Texas, 31-6, in the Elite Eight. Their C is out with a knee injury. Every team we’ve faced in the tourney so far has had a major injury.

3/25: 91-64, another wipe out. 61-36 at the break. 26, 12 for Thun, 18, 2, 10 for Croy, 16, 13 for Mack. 50 RBs.

We have destroyed every team we’ve faced so far. Nothing resembling a close game.

In my frustration with life on the ship I’ve taken up boxing. I need to hit someone. We’re wearing helmets and using pillow gloves so no one can get hurt, really, but it’s helping.

[Wayne23]

#9 ranked, #2 seed Baylor, 28-8, in the national semifinal. Their SG is playing hurt. They play very good D and they have an outstanding C, but he’s not as good as Thun. But then nobody is. They’re 5-5 vs. ranked teams. If we play our game I don’t think they can hurt us.

4/1: 97-70. Yet another blowout. 49-36 at halftime. 27, 11 for Thun, 19, 5 for Prin, 15, 6, 3 for Latt, 10, 1, 7, 3 for Cory.

No surprise, we’re playing #1 seed, #1 ranked Seton Hall, 37-3, for the title. We split 2 close games in conference play then we won easily in the Big East title game. They’re very good but my guys are confident. I’m making damn sure they’re not cocky!

4/3: 89-84 and a hard fought win to take our 2nd straight national title and UConn’s 19th overall to break the tie with UCLA for most titles.

Rip Will broke his elbow midway through the 2nd half. We put Croy at the Point and put Al Harn at SG.

We took a big 1st half lead and went into the locker room up 50-34. Seton Hall spent the 2nd half trying to catch up but the final score was as close as they got.

23, 9, 3 blocks for Thun, 16, 4 for Latt, 11, 2, 8, 3 for Croy. +23 inside, +8 for the bench. Their very good guard play wasn’t enough.