Hereafter

[Wayne23]

10/8: Captain rejected my application to go down to the planet. He named the 8 member crew today. They leave in the morning. I'm disappointed.

“Jed, if we send a second crew you're on it. But I can't send you on the first crew. You're 'essential personnel.'”

“So you think these guys aren't going to make it back?”

“If I thought that I wouldn't send anyone. But there are a lot of unknowns here.”

10/10: The landing party just went on their first excursion out of the lander. It was pretty cool to watch and everyone on board did watch. They're in hazmat suits with oxygen for now but if things go well, in a couple of days one of them will leave the lander in regular clothes.

10/12: Everything was going really well... until...

Matt Moon was chosen to be the first to leave the lander in regular clothes. He walked out, walked around, explored a little, then shouted,'

“BUG!”

A few seconds later he collapsed. The others, all in hazmat, dragged him back into the ship. He was dead. Whatever kind of insect bit or stung him killed him. There was extensive work to be certain that no insects had gotten onboard the lander. When the crew was certain none had they headed back to the ship.

10/14: We laid Matt to rest today. Medical testing indicated a severe allergic reaction had killed him. There's no way to know if it was something only he would have been affected by, or if all or maybe most humans would react the same way.

When the lander reunited with the ship, people in hazmat suits entered the lander and did extremely thorough tests of all kinds to be certain the lander hadn't brought anything up here. When they were 100% certain, all personnel entered a holding chamber, stark naked, shaved off all hair on their heads and bodies, showered, applied some kinds of chemicals to every inch of their skin, and waited a half hour. They then repeated that entire process. Then they showered yet again, and entered the ship, still naked.

They found an donned clothing. So far so good.

We won't be sending anyone else down. The risk of bringing something back, even if hazmat suits are worn, is too great.

So all farther exploration will be done by the robots who preceded us onto the planet. They have the facilities to do all sorts of testing down there. When the exploration is completed their landers and everything onboard, including the robots, will remain on the planet. We are taking no chances.

10/25: Exploration of the planet continues. We have found no life forms larger than the ones already mentioned, either on land or sea. We are extensively studying all of the animal life forms and will stay here at least another month to do so.

There is no evidence or reason to think that there was ever more complex life here. There's still a lot to learn though.

11/3: JW: “I'm here with freshman Al Savo, a Power Forward from Sherbrooke, Canada. Hi Al. Big difference in the weather here.”

Savo: That's one of the main reasons I'm here. No winter!

“Al, there's a lot of competition on a team like this.”

Savo: Yes there is. I know I may not play right away, but I also know I'm going to learn a lot. I just want to get my shot, if not this year then next.

“Sounds fair. Do you think you will?”

Savo: I'm confident that if I work really hard and show the coaches what I can do, they'll see it, and I'll get my chance.

“So what do you do when you're not doing basketball suff?”

Savo: Study! (laughs) I like video games, and I always liked to fish so I do that when I can.

“What about girls?”

Savo: Hey, that's what I'm fishing FOR! (laughs)

“Good answer! What's the best part of your game?”

Savo: I'm a really good defender, and I have a good outside shot for a big guy. I'll surprise some defenders with that.

“What do you need to work on?”

Savo: Discipline. I'm trying too hard and that makes me do some dumb stuff. I know it but I seem to do it anyway.

“I'm guessing the coaches kind of expect that from a freshman.”

Savo: Well, I don't have to like it.

“Best of luck, Al.”

11/12: JW: “Today we're talking with walk on junior F/C Den Taye. Den, what's it like to be a walk on at a major program?”

Tayl: Basically I'm a practice player. My job is to give the player's someone to play against. I get into a practice scrimmage or whatever when somebody needs to take a break.

“Will you get to play in games?”

Tayl: Only MAYBE in a blow outs. Coach isn't going to put me in there if there's anything on the line.

“So why do it? It takes a lot of time?”

Tayl: Yeah, it does, but I'm a good student and I can afford the time. I do it because I can say I'm part of this awesome team. When I'm old I can tell my grandchildren. If we get lucky I can tell them I played on a Final Four team, or maybe even on a national champion. Being part of that is pretty cool.

“What else do you do?”

Tayl: Not a lot. Between this and my studies there's not a lot of time left. I like old movies, and I watch those when I can. Not much else.

“I've seen you in practice. You're actually not a bad player. You rebound well and you defend as good as some of the other big guys.”

Tayl: Thanks. My trouble is I'm a terrible shooter. I can't seem to get the hang of shooting. Even layups can be iffy.

“Sounds like your having fun though.”

Tayl: Absolutely. This is way cool!

“Thanks Den, and good luck.”

11/13: JW: I'm writing this in a plane. The season starts tomorrow at the preseason NIT, and we're playing all our games in New York. It's really stupid but we're only the #5 seed. Senseless!

Anyways, we start with New Mexico. I talked with Coach and he says he doesn;t know much about them but he thinks his guys are way better. I can't wait to see the game. I've seen lots of UCLA basketball games, but mostly from the cheap seats. I'll be right behind the team all season.

[Wayne23]

11/14: JW: Slow start but we're heating up. Up 10 after 10. Up Up 17 at the half. WE have a lot of weapons and we're playing good D! Up 21 with 10 left.

77-57. The scoring slowed up in the 2nd half but the D stayed strong. It was SO exciting to be right behind the bench. I sat next to the A. D., Dee Forest. We talked a little. She said she was impressed that I knew a lot about the game and the team. Well I do!

Center Ivan Fox was the big guy on O, 20 and 8. 12, 10 for SF Noel Bond. The two “stars,” Shay and Carr, didn't do much on O, they each ha d onmly 8. Al Savo had a good game from the bench, 9 and 5 in only 11 minutes. The #3 guard, Jay Ston, played a lot and had 6, 0, 8.

We held them to 34.8%. 14 TOs, which Coach won't like, but the other guys had 24. +20 in the paint.

Later I talked to Coach. He said it went well for the first game of the season and with 3 new starters and a new important sub.

We talked about #13 seed Western Kentucky, which upset #4 Illinois in a real shocker- #1 Memphis got beat, to. Anyways, Western KY, yeah. Coach says they have good looking Center and there SF is good. But they gave up a ton of points and we should be able to score on them easily. They hit the boards hard. Coach doesn't think there in our class.

Oh, everybody played, even walk on Tayl, 6 minutes, 3 pts, 2 RBs, 1 block. I bet he's happy!

[Wayne23]

11/18: JW: Their C is GOOD! But we're really good; up 15 after 10. Carr is hot. 53-32 at the half. Greta O, great D, 20 for Carr! Up 22 with 10 to go.

89-66. A blowout!
A huge game for Carr, 29 and 8. 15, 6, 6 for Bond. Shay had 10, 5, 6 . He doesn't seem all that happy playing out of position at PG, but half his time is at SG so it's not totally bad. 6, 10 for Al Savo, who is definitely getting his minutes and doing pretty well. Coach says he's pleased, mostly, but Al fouls too much. Ston and Winn did okay from the bench too.

+12 RBs, 9 TOs, and we shot well. +12 on 2nd chance points.

Another upset so it's #8 seed St. Mary's, 2-0, in the semifinals; they beat only #9 and #16 to get here. They have a good C and a good PG. They shoot the three really well, but they turn it over a lot.

Carr and Doon both have a touch of the flu. I don't think they'll miss a game though.

Coach here. We're winding up our study of the planet. All of our scientists have been really happy to get all this time to study the plants, animals, geology, or whatever, and they've all learned a lot. We're heading out tomorrow.

[Wayne23]

11/18: JW: They take an early lead. Down 2 after 10. Fox is hot! Up 7 at the half. Up 13 with 10 left. Both teams' Cs are scoring a lot of points.

79-64. Another easy win with good D.19, 6, 3, 5 steals for Fox. Their C had 20 and 12 so it was a wash. 13, 1, 4 for Shay. Carr was in foul trouble all night.

Only 4 TOs to 23. They shot 51.2% to our 40.9% but we took 23 more shots, made 5. +7 from the line. +14 in the paint, +10 on 2nd chances.

#2 seed, #8 ranked Syracuse, 3-0, for the title. On paper this is an easy win. We should control the boards, we should turn them over. But we have to play well. Coach says they can hit the three and that makes them dangerous.

All three recruits sign.

[Wayne23]

11/20: JW: Early lead. Up 8 after 10; Carr is hot. Up 10 at the half. Still up 10 with 10 to play.

65-50. Excellent D; they never got closer than 6 in the 2nd half.

18, 4 for Carr, 13, 6, 5 for Shay but 8 TOs. Good bench play.

+16 RBs but 19 TOs; Coach really let them have it about that after the game. We held Syracuse to 23.9%, 5-19 on threes. +20 in the paint.

Al Savo did something to his back. He's out for a couple of weeks. We're thin inside and this will make us a lot thinner.

Coach was really mad at the refs. Both Carr and Udel fouled out and Fox had 4 fouls.

I talked to Coach and asked him if he was satisfied with the team so far. He said he's seeing a lot of good things but lots to work on, too.

#11 Xavier, 2-0, is here. They score more than us and give up fewer but they haven't played anybody. We think we have an advantage inside.

I spoke with freshman guard Ty Hart on the plane.

“Ty, why UCLA and not your hometown school, San Diego ST?”

Hart: I want to get away from home and I want to play for a national champion.

“There are a lot of very good guards here. Are you worried about playing time?”

Hart: I didn't expect any this year, but my hope is I'll get some next year and more after that.

“How's your expereince been so far?”

Hart: Really good. The guys are great, very welcoming and they include me in stuff. The Coaches are very demanding but in a good way. They're not jerks about it.

“Campus life?”

Hart: I don't have a lot of time for much of that but it's good.

“Do you miss home?”

Hart: I talk to my family a lot. I miss my friends a little but I don't really have to think about that much.

“What's the one thing you need to improve that would get you more time?”

Hart: Probably my discipline. At least that's what the Coaches say (laughs).

“Tell me more about that.”

Hart: I tend to rush passes when the D is tight. I should keep my cool and wait for something to open up. I'm working on it.

“Thanks Ty, and good luck!”

[Wayne23]

11/21: Early lead. Up 8 after 10; Shay and Carr are scoring. Up 22 at the half. Shay has 26. Up 16 with 10 to go.

109-87. What an offensive performance. They doubled Shay in the 2nd half and Carr went crazy, 37 and 7, Shay had the 26 he got in the 1st half, 2 and 9. 18, 5, 3 for PF Ron Udel, his best game so far.

6 TOs. 39-41 from the line, +18.

At 2-1 Alabama next. They have a very good C and a deep bench. They score a lot, give up a lot. They take good care of the ball. But all of that is against nobodies.

Coach: We left orbit this morning. We're on a path that will take us past one of the outer planets as we head to the next solar system. Space is large so we're a long way from that, although I can speed things up a little.

I'm thinking of the mysteriousness of space. There are always unanswered questions, like what happened to the rest station.

[Wayne23]

11/24: JW: BIG crowd, and they're noisy! Up 3 after 10. They can play. We open it up. 16 point lead at the half; Carr and Shay are getting it done. Up 14 with 10 left.

101-85. We are a scoring machine. They got it to single digits mid-2md half but we went on a run.

28, 5, 5 for Shay, 20, 5 for Carr. 14, 9, 4 for Bond, 12, 7, 3 for Udel, 14, 4 for Fox.

+8 RBs but 14 TOs.

Coach was really upset about the officiating again, 58 fouls called. Fox fouled out and 2 of their starters did. He got a T late in the 2nd half. He says he was “sending a message.” I remember when my dad was coaching he got very frustrated with the refs, too. I think all coaches do.

Coach said, “It's not that they miss calls. It's a very fast game and the action is in a very confined space. I know they're gonna get some wrong but that sort of thing evens out. but it's the inconsistency, the calls they make when they didn't see the play, the times when they guess rather than asking another ref, the times when they make a call when there was another ref closer. Those are the things that get to me. Plus, let 'em play. No harm, no foul; but lots of times they don't do that. When they make too many calls they ruin the flow of the game.”

At Maryland, 1-2, then 8 straioght at home. It looks like a down year for them. We can turn them over and we should have an edge inside. There only hope is if the threes are falling.

I'm with soph guard Nadi Hara.

“Hello Nadi. You came a long way to play here.”

Hara: Yes. Israel is a long way from California.

“Why did you come here?”

Hara: I wanted to play in the U. S., and UCLA is famous for basketball all over the world. When they recruited me I was very excited to come here and I said yes immediately.

“You didn't play hardly at all last year, and you're not playing much this year.”

Hara: This is a very big disappointment. When they signed Carr I knew I would not play much and I am not happy.

“So you're being treated unfairly?”

Hara: No, no. I am not saying that. It is rather that they have a large number of very good guards and I am lost in the shuffle.

“Do you think things will get better?”

Hara: Only if Shay and Carr go pro after this season. I don't want them to do that, it would hurt the team. But it would help me.

“So, what are you thinking?”

Hara: I have three possibilities: First, I stay here and hope for the best. Second: I explore transferring to another school. Finally, I go back home, go to school and play ball there.

“Are you leaning in any one direction?”

“I am happy here except for the playing time. It is a wonderful university. I have made friends. I feel I am learning a lot in the classroom. I very much like the Coaches and I know they are making me a better player. But all three options are still open.

“Thank you, Nadi.”

[Wayne23]

11/28: JW: We take a quick lead again. Up 7 after 10. Carr is scoring. Actually we're doing it outside. Up 22 at the half. Up 25 with 10 minutes left.

92-66. We really put points up! 2 turnovers- for the entire game! Unbelievable!

25, 4 for Carr, who is definitely a superstar. His opposite got 0 points. Shay had 17, 3, 8 and has adjusted to the Point, but he is definitely better at SG, and when Carr goes out or moves to SF, Scot is even better. 11, 12 for Bond, another really good player. 11, 1, 5 for Ston, who would start for most teams in Div. I.

Fewer fouls called tonight, only 34.

Coach says, “When they call less than a foul a minute it's a good game for them.”

+18 in the paint.

Al Savo is getting better. He'll probably ony miss one more game, and that one is with #7 Michigan ST, 7-0, here. This should be a challenge.

Coach says, “They've only played one ranked team, #20. They won by 7 at home. They live and die by the three so we may play more 3-2 than usual. We'll see. We think we can do well inside, and nobody has better guards than we do so their good guards may not be so good.”

Coach: I wonder how that journal is going. The kid is no problem. She's really nice, knows her stuff, not pushy. I just hope she's not doing a hatchet job on me!

[Wayne23]

12/1: JW: Two undefeated teams, We're #1, they're #7. I'm excited. Sitting next to Coach Clark's wife tonight.

They're banging heads early. Very physical game but the refs are letting them play. Up 9 after 10. Up 16 at the half; never heard our crowd so loud! Up 23 with 10 left. Scoring is spread out.

77-56. An easy win, really, but much more of a defensive battle than usual. Our D was awesome. Coach's wife is a big time fan., She knows her stuff and gets really excited.

PF Ron Udel led us with15, 7, and he shut his man down. 17, 4 for Carr, 10, 13 for Bond. Good bench play.

Good D so we shot poorly, they shot worse. +6 RBs, 5 fewer TOs.

Another challenge next, #8 Wisconsin, 6-1, here. Coach says we beat them if we play our game. They don't score enough points, and we're better inside.

Savo is back, as expected.

I'm with Ken Doon:

“Hi Ken. You're the only senior on this team.”

Doon: That's right.

“You transferred here fro Washington after your freshman season.”

Doon: Worst mistake of my life.

“Oh dear. Why do you say that?”

Doon: I came here expecting to start. I never got my chance, never played decent minutes except when someone was hurt. I wasted my college basketball experience by coming here.

“Sorry to hear it, Ken. Is there any upside?”

Doon: Well, I'm getting a top notch education, which I'm going to need. I had hoped to play pro ball but given what's happened here that's not going to happen.

“What's your major?”

Doon: Economics.

“Future plans?”

Doon: My dad has a huge real estate business in Tempe, where I'm from. I didn't want to go back home, but I can make a lot of money going in with him so I guess that's what I'll do.

“Sorry this hasn't worked out for you, Ken. Good luck in the future.”

[Wayne23]

12/5: JW: Early lead. Up 11 after 10. Carr and Fox are doing the scoring. Up 24 at the half. Up 21 with 10 to play. Easy so far.

72-54. JW: Great D yet again. Coach says he's really happy about the way we're playing D.

24, 4, 4 for Carr, 13, 15 for Udel, who has really hit his stride, 12, 3, 3 for Shay.

8 fewer TOs. We held them to 36.5% and were +7 from the line.

We're making some really good teams look not so good! 9-0, #1, #1 NET. +19.4 PPG.

#15 Louisville, 6-2, is here next. Coach says there better inside than outside but if we play our game we should win.

12/8: As usual, we take a quick lead. Up 9 after 10; Carr continues to have a hot hand. Up 21 at the break. Up 27 with 10 left; Carr, Shay and Fox are scoring.

87-60. Our D just shuts teams down. 25, 5, 5 for Carr, who is averaging 21. 15, 3, 5 for Shay. Good bench play.

Only 5 TOs to 20. We held them to 32.6%, 3-13 on threes.

4-2 North Carolina ST is here. They have trouble scoring; with our D that means they're in real trouble.

I'm with junior starting Center Ivan Fox.

“Hi Ivan. After some really hard work last year and the year befopre, you're starting. How does that feel?”

Fox: It feels great. Given the talent on this team it's a real honor, and it's lots of fun.

“How has your experience been at UCLA?”

Fox: Actually, it's been pretty much fantastic. The hoops is the best in the country and everybody is easy to get along with. The school is challenging, but I want that. I'm having a great time.

“Pretty different from Utah, where you're from?”

Fox: A lot more relaxed!

“What's the best part of your game?”

Fox: I do my best to play an all around good game but I'm pretty happy with my scoring.

“What needs to get better?”

Fox: Free throw shooting. I'm awful! (laughs)

“What do you do on those rare occasions when you have free time?”

Fox: I mostly hang with my girlfriend.

“Anything you'd like to share?”

Fox: We met spring of our freshman year and we've been together ever since. We're really close.

“Any plans?”

Fox: Not formally be we talk about the future and I can't imagine her not in my life.

“That's so sweet. All the best, Ivan.”