Transfer to the Title

[Wayne23]

1/15: #20 St Johns, 15-3, 1-2, is here. Their starting SF has a groin pull. I doubt he'll play. We're heavily favored. They're 0-2 vs. Ranked teams.

Ranked #4.

1/16: Back and forth and then we take a lead. Up 9 after 10. 51-47 at the hlaf. No D at all. They shoot 56.7%, Cole has 3 fouls. 10 each for Thom and Brad. -6 RBs, only 2 TOs. -6 at the line. We stretch the lead to 19 with 10 to play.

97-69. 46-22 in the 2nd half. 19, 8 for Brad, 15, 1, 5, 6 steals for Thom, 18, 7 for Savo, 12, 12, 5 for Boyd. 7 TOs to 17, +22 in the paint.

When Suli gets better how am I going to sit Savo? He's been excellent.

Shan is back, Muer will miss one more.

[Wayne23]

1/18: At #12 Villanova, 13-7, 1-3. We have a big edge inside. They're 2-3 vs. Top 25 teams. But it's a road game...

1/19: They take an early lead. Down 1 after 10 as we come back. Down 15 at the half; their guards are killing us, 32-6 for starting guards. They're shooting 60% to 45.5%. +10 in the paint. 3 fouls for both Thom and Savo. We're in trouble. Down 11 with 10 left.

79-88. Foul trouble and a shortage of healthy guards did us in, and poor D. Thom and Savo are my best players and both were in foul trouble all night.

20, 5, 3 for Brad. +10 in the paint, +15 on 2nd chances but their guards just smoked ours.

Muer will be back for our next game, thankfully.

1/20: "Wedding plans are a pain!"

"But it's going to be a small wedding."

"Clearly, you don't understand."

"I guess I don't."

"We need to talk about where we're going to live."

"Okay, let's talk."

"Not NOW! I'm WAY too busy with wedding plans."

[Wayne23]

1/22: #21 Butler, 15-5, 2-3, is here. We're a heavy fav. This is a strong conference this season, lots of ranked teams.

Xavier is 5-0, 1 up on us and ranked #1 in the country. We play them in early Feb.

1/23: It's close early. Up 4 after 10. Big run puts us up 20 at halftime, 45-25. Great D! 11, 5 for Brad, 12 for Thom.5 TOs. Shooting 54.8% to
39.1%. Up 22 with 10 to go; Thom is lighting it up, and Brad is right with him.

77-58. Easy win. 19, 3, 3 for Thom, 17, 12 for Brad. +9 RBs, 11 TOs.

The injuries continue. In his first game back Al Muer, stretched a calf muscle; he's day to day. Lon Brad hurt his wrist late in the game. He'll miss our next game. Cris Fier will get his first start ever. I considered going small but Muer is iffy so that's out.

'So what about housing?"

"Mack! After the wedding, not now!"

"Okay, okay."

[Wayne23]

1/25: 11-8, 3-3 Creighton is here. Let's see how our makeshift lineup does. The injury thing has hit us hard this season. They're 1-4 vs. ranked teams but they have some guys who can play. They have trouble scoring and they don't get a lot of rebounds.

1/26: Early lead. Up 11 after 10. Big run puts us up 23 at the half. Fier is kind of in over his head so Muer is getting a lot of minutes at SF. 16 for Thom, 11 for both Cole and Muer. Their strength is outside and we're dominating there. Up 25 with 10 to play.

99-63. Easy win. 28 for Thom, 19, 0, 4 for Cole, 16, 2, 4 for Muer, 13, 6, 3 for Savo. 11 fewer TOs. We shot 60.6% and played solid D.

We're 20-2, 6-1, still 1 back of Xavier. 1 up on Seton Hall, 2 on Georgetown, who have really sunk from being #1; 3 losses in conf.

[Wayne23]

1/29: At 10-11, 3-4 Providence. They have a very good SF but not much else.

Earl Thom is #8, Lon Brad #27 on the Norton list.

Both recruits hit our SAT score.

1/30: It's close early. Up 10 after 10 as we heat up; Thom has 15 already. Up 11 at the break. 15 for Thom, who they're now doubling. +5 RBs, 6 TOs to their 12. They're shooting better but we've taken 14 more shots. We held their SF to 4. Up 13 with 10 left.

76-64. 19, 6, 3, 5 steals for Thom, 12, 7, 3, 3 for Boyd. 12 fewer TOs.

At the halfway point in conference play we're 21-2, 7-1, still 1 back of Xavier, but 2 up on 3rd place.

Kam Savo: I'm worried about playing time when Suli gets back so I talked to coach. He told me I'd get my minutes. He's going to split the SF, PF, and C minutes 4 ways, giving all of us about equal time. I'm good with that. 2 really good looking big guys coming in next year and only one big graduating so I'm thinking about transferring, but now is not the time to worry about that.

[Wayne23]

2/1: At 9-12, 3-5 DePaul. They're having a down year, 4 starters graduated. This is a team we should beat easily. The only thing they have going for them is the home court.

2/2: They stay with us early. Up 4 after 10. Up 6 at the half as we score the last 6 before going into the locker room. 11, 7 for Boyd. 5 TOs, +6 in the paint. 30 fouls called; ridiculous. It's hurting the other guys more than us but still. Up 13 with 10 left.

86-70. 20, 2, 3, 3 for Thom, 18, 8 for Boyd. 9 TOs to 19. Another easy win but things are about to get more difficult.

[Wayne23]

2/5: #1 ranked Xavier, 20-2, 9-0, is here. They are heavily favored, and they're definitely good, but but we beat a #1 team on the road and this one is at our place. Their Sg and their C are outstanding players. We'll need to be very shrp for this one.

2/6: They can play! Down 6 after 10. Down 5 at the half. Their SG has 22, and Thom, who is guarding him, has 3 fouls. He's the difference. That and the fact that they're shooting 59.1% to 40.6%. We're usually a 2nd half team; we'll see. Down 10 with 10 to play.

66-71. Not tonight. Their SG had only 8 in the 2nd half but we just couldn't catch them. -12% shooting. We took 14 more shots and made the same number. -6 from the line was the difference. Sloppy game, 26 TOs for them and 21 for us. +7 fro our bench. Our big guys didn't dominate inside, which we needed them to do.

"Mack?"

"Yeah?"

"Um... about... about not starting a family until we've been together for a year..."

"Yes. We agreed. Good plan. What about it?"

"Well..."

"Oh hell, you're pregnant!"

"I am. You're mad."

"No! I'm just surprised. How did that happen?"

"Well, I assume in the usual way."

"I didn't mean that!"

"I don't know. But this is the way it is."

"Okay, I'm good with it. Do you want to get married sooner?"

"No. That's totally irrelevant. But we should talk about housing."

"This place is big enough for now but yes. When are yo due?"

"End of July."

"That's actually a good time. I'm recruiting but my schedule is flexible pretty much until the beginning of October, which is great."

"You're actually taking this better than I expected."

"It's a reality that in this career I'm going to work a lot of hours, and I'm going to be out of town a lot. You know that, but let's keep it in mind. Also, this gives us time to think about whether we're going to stay here or move somewhere else. The Burlington area is a great place to raise kids..."

"Yes it is. As to being busy, I'm pretty sure you'll find ways to spend time with your kids."

"I fully intend to do that!"

[Wayne23]

2/8: At 6-17, 2-8 Marquette. They're not very good. We're a big fav, even on the road. They average 64.6 and give up 69.5.

We climb to #2 in the polls but the loss to Xavier hasn't been figured into that yet.

2/9: We take an immediate lead. Up 12 after 10. Up 9 at the half. Balanced scoring. -7 RBs but 7 fewer TOs and +8 in the paint. We're playing good D but the O could be better. Up 10 with 10 left; we're not sharp.

64-56. Great D but we never got the offense going.

15, 8 for Savo, 15, 3, 3, 3 for Thom, 13, 9 for Brad. -6 RBs, 11 fewer TOs. Not our best effort but we'll take the W.

The injuries continue. Marc Cole strained a knee. It's not terrible but he'll miss a couple of games. Suli will be back in a week.

"You know, I don't HAVE to coach..."

"But you love it."

"Yeah but it is so consuming. There's never enough time for you, and finding time to be a dad will be a constant issue."

"What else would you do?"

"Maybe be an A. D. Somewhere."

"Would you like that?"

"I think I would. We have lots of time to think about it and to discuss it and research it."

[Wayne23]

2/12: 14-12, 5-6 UConn is here. We hammered them at their place. They score 1.1 more than their opponents.

Thom is still #8 on the Norton list.

2/13: Early lead. Up 15 after 10. Up 21 at halftime. Balanced scoring, great D. +5 RBs, 4 TOs. +12 in the paint. Holding them to 25%. Up 23 with 10 to go.

74-55. It was never close. 18 for Muer, filling in for Cole. Our guards did a terrific job. +14 RBs. +14 in the paint. Held them to 32.1%.

24-3, 102, 2 back of Xavier, 1 up on Georgetown.

"A. D.s work long hours."

"Yes, but mostly at home. There will be road trips but the A. D. Usually only goes to road games when they're tournament games or a VITAL road game. Other trips happen, related to the business side, or conventions and other get togethers, but mostly I'd sleep in our bed."

"Well, it still has to be something you want to do."

"Yes."

[Wayne23]

2/15: At #12 Seton Hall, 18-9, 5-7. We won by 23 at our place.

Suli will play a little; Cole may as well.

2/16: Close early. A run puts us up 13 after 10; Thom is hot. Up 8 at the half. 16 for Thom. 5 TOs to 13. +13 at the line. We're quicker so they're fouling. It's too close! Up 5 with 10 to go.

80-75. They got it to one possession 3 times late. 24, 4 for Thom, 17 for Muer, 13, 5 for Savo. +7 RBs, 6 fewer TOs, +10 in the paint.

We're finally back at full strength.

"What about salary?"

"I'd have to check but I assume A. D.s make more money than head coaches except for in the really elite programs. I'm guessing Ali makes more than I do."