Hoops in Space

[Wayne23]

3/5: We drop to #6.

Mike Henn goes pro. Sad to see him go. We’re also losing our starting backcourt as both Jonn and Ells are seniors. This might be the year to move on…

The rocks that looked like they might be threatening passed harmlessly by us on the starboard side.

#9 seed Texas-San Antonio, 13-17, 8-10, in the quarter finals. We beat them by 14 at home.

3/8: 85-65. Up 19 at the half. 26, 4, 4 for Jonn, 19, 6, 5, 3, 5 blocks for Wats. 15, 5, 6, 4 for Henn.

“First basketball game, Meg?”

“Second. Two years ago the guy I was seeing at the time brought me to a game. He didn’t explain anything but I figured out the basics. When your team has the ball they try to put it through the hoop. When the other team has it you try to stop them from putting it in the hoop.”

“That’s it, very basically.”

“Did you like it?”

“I liked how fast paced it was but I didn’t like that it stopped every time they blew a whistle. That interrupted the flow.”

“Good point. But if there were no refs it would get too rough.”

“Still.”

“Yeah. It’s tricky. If they call too many fouls it slows everything down and if they don’t call enough it gets rough.”

“And they seem to get it wrong sometimes.”

“In my rational moments I know that it’s a very fast game in close quarters and the refs are right down in the middle of it. It’s happening so fast they’re bound to mess up now and then, and the bad calls pretty much even out over the course of the game most of the time. In my less rational moments I don’t quite buy that.”

“Do you get mad?”

“Oh yeah! If the calls seem to be going against my team I get mad, for sure.”

“I saw you and the other coach yelling at the refs a lot.”

“We’re trying to protect our team’s interests.”

“Does it help?”

“I think it does sometimes. If the ref knows he messed up, or if he’s called a few in a row against the same team, yelling at him might change that. Other times it probably doesn’t help at all. Anyway, I hope you get to like basketball since it’s such a big part of my life.”

“I’ll probably have lots of questions.”

“Just ask!”

#4 seed East Carolina, 22-9, 11-7, in the semifinals. We beat them twice during the regular season.

3/9: 96-82. We led for the last 30 minutes. 28, 4, 5 for Ells. Good play by all 5 starters.

“Do you think you can win the championship?”

“I think we’ve got a great chance at winning the AAC title. The national championship is a tall order. We finished in the Elite Eight last year, which is great?”

“What’s the Elite Eight?”

“There are about 350 teams. At the end of the regular season the best 68 get picked for the championship tournament. As soon as you lose a game you’re out. We made it all the way to the last 8 teams.”

“So that’s good.”

“Definitely.”

#6 seed Charlotte, 17-15, 9-9, in the title game. We beat them by 10 and by 40.

3/10: 84-64 and the title! We led all the way. 23, 11, 5, 5 for Henn, 12, 11 for Tony.

We should be at least a #2 seed.

[Wayne23]

3/12: #3 East. We play #14 Idaho, 20-12.

3/16: 80-59. It was close for a half. 20, 5, 5 steals for Jonn, 12, 12, 4 for Henn, 15, 7, 4, 3 for Wats, 15, 3 for Troy.

“So now there’s 32 teams left.”

“Right.”

“But there are 4 … sections?”

“Yes, 16 teams in each. We’re in the East.”

#6 seed, #20 ranked UConn, 22-10, in the 2nd round.

“They’re a pretty famous team.”

“And they’re really good.”

“Could they beat you?”

“If we don’t play well they sure could.”

3/18: 72-63. They led by 16 early and by 9 at halftime. We whittled away at it and took our first lead with 6 minutes left. Then we took over. We held them to 19 in the 2nd half. 19, 9 for Henn. 21 TOs upset me a lot, but they had 21, too.

[Wayne23]

#10 seed Texas A & M, 23-11, in the Sweet Sixteen.

“Now you’re playing a not so good team. I don’t get it.”

“They upset a good team then they upset a very good team. That’s why.”

“Oh. Okay, I get it. Do upsets happen a lot?”

“No, but they happen. That’s what makes the tournament so interesting. If the favorites won all the time what fun would that be!”

3/23: 72-80. They went to the line 32 times, we went 25, but they made their free throws and we didn’t make ours. We took 14 more shots and still lost. Not good!

“So now you’re done?”

“That’s the way it works. Lose and you go home.”

“Too bad. I’m sure you’re upset.”

“I am, but we didn’t play very well.”

“You said you might go to a different school next year/’

“If the right club offers me a job I might go. I’m losing three very good players.”

4/3: #4 Pitt wins it all.

[Wayne23]

4/4: Awards: Mike Henn is AAC POY, Def POY, and 1st team along with Alan Wats. Jonn and Tony make the 2nd team. Ells should have made it, too. I am Conf. COY.

4/9: Staying in the state of Oklahoma. Moving to Oklahoma ST in the Big 12.

They went 18-15, 12-8, and they have all 5 starters coming back and a good looking recruit.

“So why did you switch schools?”

“My 3 best players are leaving. Ok ST looks pretty good for next season and they’re higher rated. I accomplished about all I can at Tulsa.”

4/23: I ask for a facilities upgrade.

No. We finished at Tulsa with a 32-5, 15-3 season. Got to the Sweet Sixteen. Overall, for 4 seasons, 106-33, .763. Not bad!

[Wayne23]

5/1: #60 recruiting class.

5/22: We lose a C who would have started and 2 guys who weren’t going to get minutes. We need 2 guards, and 2 big guys.

5/26: We offer to 4.

5/29: We get a guard.

6/2: We get a guard and 2 bigs.

“So you actually try to get new players twice every year.”

“That’s right. We recruit high school kids and junior college kids, and we use the Transfer Portal.”

“What’s that?”

“If a kid isn’t happy where he is he can transfer to another school.”

6/25: We’re going to Indy and all 5 regional camps.

6/26: 1st day of recruiting. We only need 1 big guy.

7/7: “HARD TO STARBOARD! HARD TO STARBOARD!!!”

And that’s the last thing I remember before waking up in the infirmary. They tell me I was out for about 12 hours.

When I came on duty last night I immediately saw a rock heading straight for the bridge. I yelled for the course correction and then got thrown. Seems I broke my left arm and suffered a concussion.
I hope to be back on duty tomorrow.

Why the guy on the shift before me didn’t see the space rock I have no idea, but clearly, he didn’t.

The rock impacted deck 1 over the science labs. It was not a direct hit but rather a glancing blow. Hard enough to send a lot of us flying and to knock some people out of their beds. No one was killed, and my injuries are about as bad as anyone’s.

Meg’s lab suffered a lot of damage. She just left here. She says a few experiments were ruined and she’ll need to redo lots of stuff.

7/9: Back on duty but I need to check in with the doc every day for awhile because of the concussion.

7/17: We offer to a PF. He likes us and I like our chances with him.

8/7: Stew Camp is #26 on the Norton list.

Meg is working lots of extra hours now that the lab is repaired and open again.

9/18: As expected, we get the PF.

10/2: 1st day of practice.

We have an incredibly talented repair squad. They seem able to fix almost anything that needs fixing. On the rare occasions when they can’t, we just 3D print another one.

11/12: Here’s the lineup:

Freshman Stew Camp is at the Point. He has looked very good in practice.

Junior Mike Alst is at SG. Really good defender.

1st guard off the bench is soph John Benn, a transfer from Kansas City. We don’t lose anything when he comes in. Next is soph Gene Span, a transfer from ST Louis. He’s pretty good. Junior Des Ande doesn’t play enough D.

Ted Geez, a transfer from Tulsa, is at SF.

Junior Jess Niel is at PF. He transferred here from North Carolina where he started for the last 2 seasons.

Soph Dan Beck is back at C. He may be our best player.

1st big man off the bench is junior Cris Grel, who started last season. Junior Ty Bond also started last season. Senior Joe Morn also started last season. Junior Jay Sams won’t see much action, and junior Joe Pred will see almost none.

We’re good and we’re deep, especially inside.

[Wayne23]

We start the season with UAB here.

11/28: 4-1 in our 1st 5.

69-54 over UAB here. We led all the way. 18, 7, 4, 6 for Alst, 16, 12 for Beck.

85-64 over Texas San Antonio at home. Big early lead. 21, 7, 3 for Alst, 17, 11 for Beck, 12, 9, 6 for Camp.

69-56 over Mississippi ST here. We led by 29 at the half. 19, 23 for Beck, 25 for Alst.

In the quarter finals of the myrtle Beach Invitational we beat Georgia 76-66. We never trailed. 26, 4 for Alst, 11, 17, 3 blocks for Beck.

73-77 to #2 seed Creighton in the semifinals. We came back from down 14 but couldn’t quite get there. 12, 16, 1, 3, 6 blocks for Beck, 14, 6, 5, 3 for Camp.

Starting SF Ted Geez tore his ACL. Out for the season. Cris Grel will start.

Ranked #24.

[Wayne23]

12/25: 5 straight wins. We end pre-conf. play at 9-1.

76-58 over Wichita ST here. Up 2 at the half, then we took over. 23, 7, 3 for Jess Niel. Good bench play.

81-56 at Northwestern. Big early lead. 19, 7, 3 for Niel, 8, 13 for Beck, 15, 7 for 6th man Ty Bond.

69-54 over Vanderbilt at home. We led all the way. 13, 6, 7 for Camp.

71-67 over UConn at home. They led by 10 early in the 2nd half. 22, 3, 1, 3 for Alst, 14, 7, 3 blocks for Beck.

70-65 at Fresno ST. Down 1 at the half. Close for 35 minutes. 17, 9 for Beck, 11, 7, 3 for Niel.

Ranked #19.

Alst leads us with 15.9 PPG. Beck gets 13.1, 12.5. 11.7, 6.1 for Niel. 8.7, 5.3, 5.4 for Camp.

+12.2 PPG, #6 in points allowed. +10.1 RBs, #4 in RBs. -2.8 TOs, but 12.3 per game is too many.

Meg and I spend most of our free time together.

[Wayne23]

1/19/2105: 5-2 in our 1st 7 Big 12 games. Tied for 3rd place. Ranked #14.

94-88 at #15 Arizona. We led all the way. 15, 7, 10 for Camp, 16, 5, 3 blocks for Grel. Great road win!

62-77 to Texas Tech at home. We shot 29.4%. 17, 4, 3, 4 for Alst.

70-73 at Iowa ST. We shot 34.5%. It was close all the way. They won hitting a three with 4.2 left. We came down and took a three which missed.

89-73 over Colorado here. We never trailed. 17, 14, 5, 3, 4 blocks for Beck. 15, 4, 5, 3 for Camp.

84-75 at Baylor. We led all the way, by as many as 19. 30 for Alst.

78-73 over Houston here. Close until the last few minutes. 29, 4, 6 for Camp. 12, 8, 4 for Grel.

79-66 over #3 ranked Kansas here. Tied at halftime. 29, 15, 4 for Beck, 23, 3 for Alst. Big win!

Meg and I applied for living quarters for two. It usually takes only a couple days before an application is approved.

[Wayne23]

1/22: We’re approved and are moving in. The new place is just 3 doors down from my old place.

91-78 at #24 Cincinnati. Big early lead. 20, 6, 5 blocks for Grel. 20, 5 for Niel.

63-79 at Utah. They led all the way. 19, 13 for Grel.

95-72 over Central Florida at home. We never trailed. 28, 17 for Beck, 23, 12, 2, 3 for Grel.

2/1: 94-103 at Arizona ST. Foul trouble and poor D. 25, 8 for Beck, 25, 3, 3, 4 for Alst, 17, 6, 6 for Camp.

Cris Grel, who is starting only because Ted Geez is out, broke a finger and is out for about 8 weeks. Ty Bond will start.

91-78 at #24 Cincinnati. Big early lead. 20, 6, 5 blocks for Grel.

81-60 over Cincinnati here. Big early lead. 12, 23 for Beck, 17, 9 for Alst, 14, 5 for Niel.

86-67 over Utah here. We led all the way. 19, 18, 5 for Beck, 12, 7, 4 for Alst, 13, 16 for Niel.

57-63 at Brigham Young. We led by 15 early then faded. 14, 13, 0, 3, 4 blocks for Beck.

2/14: 4-3 in our last 7. We’re tied for 4th, 1 back of 2nd place. Ranked #12.

Meg and I are getting along great. We both had to make some adjustments to living together but that wasn’t much of a problem.

[Wayne23]

3/4: 5-1 in our last 6.

76-72 at Central Florida. Never more than an 8 poinr gap. 20, 8 for Beck, 14, 9, 3 for Camp.

79-74 over Kansas ST here. It was back and forth all nbight. 13, 10 for Beck, 13,6 for Camp.

87-77 over Iowa ST at home. It was close until we went on a late run. 17, 4, 5, 5 for Alst.

65-84 at #6 West Virginia. An off night. We were never in it. 20, 4 for Alst.

83-78 over #11 Arizona here. We had a big early lead. They came back late but the final score was as close as they got. 22, 16, 3 for Beck, 22, 7, 7, 3 for Camp.

79-70 at TCU. We led all the way. 21, 10, 3 for Beck, 16, 8 for Niel. Ty Bond hurt his knee. Not serious, he’s day to day.

We end the regular season at 23-7, 14-6, in 3rd place. Ranked #12.

“Sir, I see flashing lights on the port side of the ship about two days ahead of us. They appear stationary.”

“What do you mean by flashing lights?”

“That’s all I can say at this point, sir. Just several rows of flashing lights. Too far away to say what’s causing it.”