Basketball 2111

[Wayne23]

11/20: 2-0. Home wins against 2 schools that are not very good. The front court looks pretty solid!

All 5 recruits signed.

12/4: 6-0, #21, RPI #6. We beat #6 ranked Purdue by 13 at home. Balanced attack but our bigs do most of the damage, PF Ryan Budd gets 15.5, 7.0, C Mel Mims gets 14.5, 10.3, and SF Cale Jenn gets 14.3, 6.2.

12/15: 9-0, #17, RPI #7.

Headed for the Winter Jam vs. #6 seed Houston, 4-2. We’re #3.

12/16: 66-61 in OT. We almost lost this one. They missed the back end of a one and one at the end of regulation. 18, 10 for PF Ryan Budd, 12 each for SF Cale Jenn and PG Mal Guty. +8 RBs.

#2 seed Syracuse, 4-4, in the semis. The odds makers have this one as a tossup.

12/17: 72-58, again in OT. We missed an open 14 footer at the end of regulation. 19, 6, 4 for Budd, 20 for Guty, 8, 14 for C Mel Mims, 12, 6, 3 for #3 guard Rico Copa.

#4 seed Rice, 7-2, for the title. They look solid and we need to play well.

12/18: 80-76. We took a big early lead, 21. They spent the rest of the night trying to catch up. The final score was as close as they came, and that was a result of a three at the buzzer. We were in control. 23, 10 for tourney MOP Ryan Budd. 13 each for Mims and Jenn.

12/25: 13-0, #6, RPI #4. +13.9 PPG (#79, #12), +9.0 RBs (#6), +3.7 TOs (#19).

It’s nice to be undefeated but we travel to #11 ranked Seton hall next week.

Many of us think there are fewer people alive than the numbers we’re being told would indicate. Every place we go to seems… not deserted exactly, but under populated.

There are empty tables in the cafeteria, here and at all of the other schools we visit. The buses, and remember there is virtually no private transportation, are not nearly as full as they used to be, usually less than half full. Any other place where I would expect to see crowds, I don’t. Attendance at games, ours and everyone else’s are reported as capacity or nearly so but the truth is that the stands are half full. What does this mean? Who knows!

[Wayne23]

1/1/2123: 14-0, 1-0, #9, RPI #6.

1/4: 52-71. I don’t know that I expected to beat Seton Hall but I DID expect us to play better than this! We were fone for about 25 minutes and then it all went to hell. -10 TOs (17).

1/15: 17-1, 4-1, #5, RPI #2. Tied for 1st with Seton Hall.

1/29: 19-2, 6-2, #7, RPI #3. ½ game back of 1st place Marquette, ½ a game up on 2 teams, 1 up on another. Everyone else is out of it. +11.1 PPG (#83,
#17), +8.8 RBs #5, +2.1 TOs (#24). Mims leads us with 14.8, 10.6.

2/5: 21-2, 8-2. #5, RPI #1. In 1st by ½ game.

2/12: 22-3, 9-3, #6, RPI #2. Alone in 1st, 2 teams 1 back, 2 more are 2 back.

2/19: 23-4, 10-4, #6, RPI #2, still alone in 1st but 2 teams are 1 back with 2 to play.

2/26: 23-6, 10-6. #8, RPI #6. We finish in a 3 way tie for 2nd, and we’re the #2 seed. +8.4 PPGs, (#139, #19), +7.7 RBs (#7), +1.7 TOs (#60).

Hoping to speak with my wealthy assistant about the “Where is everybody?” thing.

[Wayne23]

3/9: We play #7 seed Creighton, 16-12, 8-8, in the quarters. We beat them by 23 and 12.

3/10: 77-76. We had the last possession and SF Cale Jenn found just enough daylight to sink a 20 footer. He led us with 25 ans 10. 15, 11 for Mims. +12 RBs, +7 TOs. Their #3 guard lit us up for 28.

As stressful as this game was, #1 seed, #13 ranked Seton Hall had it even worse. They lost to the #9 seed.

#3 seed, #21 ranked Georgetown, 21-7, 10-6, in the semis. We beat them by 13 at home. We’re favored by 1 ½.

3/11: 73-78. This was a game we could have won. Frustrating. 23, 10 for Mims, 13, 8 for Budd.

24-7, #12, RPI #8. Hoping for a #2 but not expecting it.

3/12: #4 East. We play #13, Fresno ST, 19-11. We should have gotten a #3.

3/16: 59-61. I’m shocked. We were in a coma all night. Lousy way to end the season.

4/3: #2 Cincinnati wins it all.

4/4: Awards: Junior C Mel Mims is Big East POY, Def. POY, 1st team along with seniors Cale Jenn and Ryan Budd. I get COY.

4/9: It’s time to leave. Hoping for a good offer or two.

I’m going to Michigan! It will be a rebuilding job but what potential!

We’re recruiting and I need to hire 2 assistants.

4/16: We get a couple of so so players. Probably the best we can get at this point in the year. After one more.

4/23: Got him.

I ask for a facilities upgrade. No.

24-8, but exited in the 1st round. Great run at URI though. Overall, for 12 seasons, I’m 289-103, .737.

Let’s see what the future brings at Michigan!

[PointGuard]

Let's go Blue!

[Wayne23]

5/1: #57 recruiting class. We buy national and international gold. It’s nice to have money!

One guy transfers out, a guard we were counting on.

6/5: Room for 2 transfers.

6/9: After a look at what’s in the pool, and after a lot of thought and consultation with my staff, I decide to forego the transfer pool. I think we’re a good enough program to do
well with recruits.

6/26: 5 scholarships. We need 3 guards.

8/21: We offer to 3 PGs, 2 PFs.

The road to rebuilding starts with this year’s recruiting class. We simply have to do well.

9/18: Got a PF, #34, lost 2. We need guards!

Caribbean Challenge vs. Texas Tech.

9/25: We get 3 PGs, lose a big! #7, 26, 42.

10/2: We lose 1.

We’re picked 7th in the 14 team Big 10.

11/6: 8 man rotation:

Soph Ric Will is at PG. Soph Tav West is at SG. Senior Jem Kenn subs at both guard spots and is vying for a starting role.

Senior Al Star starts at SF, subs at PF. Junior Jon Gray and soph Joe Rich sub at SF.

Junior Ross Mont starts at PF, subs at C.

Junior Joe Fore is at C.

Strange goings on. Lots of movement. Some new construction. People I know at other schools report the same things.

[Wayne23]

11/20: 2-0 start, both at home, both against weak teams. But I want wins so it’s all good.

All 4 recruits sign. Still chasing a big.

Looks like mansion, a really huge mansion, going up on the East side of campus, and two others, nearly as big, on the Southwest side. Not a clue what it means.

I should have mentioned that Nell and I are living in luxury since coming here to Michigan. We’re what must have once been a condo in a luxury condo community. Three large bedrooms, a large living room, a study, a finished basement. All with solar powered heat and central AC. Everyone eats at the school cafeteria- actually, there are four of those but I’m told ours is the elite one. It’s the smallest but the “power players” and their families eat here, as do the athletes, artists, and star students and star faculty. The food is terrific- three choices for the entrée at each meal, soups, salads, desserts, and excellent food, the best.

I’m told that the other three cafeterias, where everyone else eats, serve food that is nearly as good, and they have choices too, but not as many as we do.

The condo complex we’re in is, again, where the “power players” and their families live. We have several buses that take us where we need to go and mini-buses that are on call for whenever we need them. Oh, there’s a club house that has all sorts of stuff- meeting rooms, game rooms, a gym… And there’s a pool.

Transportation to away games is via airplanes that are absolutely perfectly maintained, and all seats are what used to be considered either first class or business class. For the few short trips there are buses that are all but limousines.

12/4: 5-0, RPI #12. That’s WAY too high. We’ve played all of our games at home and against weak opponents.

12/15: 7-0. Headed for the Caribbean Challenge vs. #5 seed Texas Tech, 4-2. We’re the #4 seed.

12/16: 42-51. First decent opponent we face all season and they hold us to 42 points. I’m happy with what we did on D though. This does NOT bode well for the Big 10 season.
12 and 17 for C Joe Fore, 13 for sub forward Jon Gray and no one else had more than 5.

12/25: 7-2, RPI #77. +5.7 PPG (#279, #10), +2.8 RBs (#61), +3.1 TOs (#66). Joe Fore leads us with 14.1, 9.4.

I think we’re going to struggle in the Big 10.

My wealthy assistant says a big announcement is coming soon but he can’t tell me anything about it.

[Wayne23]

1/1/2124: 8-3, 1-1. We beat 8-2 Iowa at home. I’m thrilled!

1/3: Big, BIG announcement. The United States (I really should say “former” in there somewhere) has been divided into 1,500 “communities,” each to be overseen by a group of 3 to 5 “overseers.” These overseers will enforce policies which have already been made at the national level and they define what the rest of us can do, and how we will live our lives.

The overseers are the money people or their designates, in the cases where they don’t want to be bothered to do the work, but in reality, I doubt that any of them will do the hands on stuff required.

I’ll talk about this at it unfolds but it looks like a tiered system, not a lot different from what’s in place now. The worker class families will get the basic level living units and basic level food and such. As families move up the scale they get better living quarters, food…

People like university Presidents and top officials, and other people in positions of power and influence will live very well, but still be under the “guidance” of the overseers.

They haven’t told us about lots of things yet- money, travel and restrictions on travel…

1/15: 9-6, 2-4, RPI #57. We played two ranked teams this week, one home, one away. We weren’t going to beat either one of those teams.

Money: Okay, they explained it. They want a monetary system so they can monitor their own wealth. Given that almost all of them are fanatics on the subject, and unbelievably greedy, they wat to know that they have a LOT of money, and just as much, want to know that most everyone else has very little of it. So, there’s a system in place. It looks like people will have enough money to pay for clothes, household expenses, other living expenses. Food and shelter are part of everyone’s wages or salary, and health care is provided by the state. As to the latter, that’s a tiered system, as most everything else is. The higher up the ranks you are the better your health care, but everyone gets the basics.

As the head hoops coach at a major basketball university I make more money than most people. Honestly? There isn’t much to spend it on. Nell works part time, teaching English. We save more than half of what we make in take home pay just on the off chance that the money may some day have actual value or use.

The people at the bottom make enough to get by, and enough to buy things they need- barely enough, but enough.

1/29: 12-7, 5-5. RPI #44. We’re in a 2 way tie for 8th in our 14 team conf. One of our goals is to finish 7th or better. It will be a near thing, I’m guessing. 8 games to play, 4 against ranked teams. Probably not good.

+1.3 PPG (#311, #22). We have one of the worst offenses in the country but our excellent D helps to mitigate that. +3.7 RBs (#47). I’ll take it, for now. +0.5 TOs (#197).

Thankfully, we have three VERY good looking guards coming in next year.

Travel. Under the new regime there’s a curfew. No one is allowed to leave campus after dark without a special pass. Everyone in our community lives on campus, except for the three mega-wealthy families who are in charge here. Teams travel by bus, often for more than a single evening, but that kind of thing is handled on a group basis so we don’t need individual passes. When we’re flying a bus takes all of us to the airport.

2/12: 13-10, 6-8. RPI #70. In 9th place. I will be amazed if we finish in the top half. Hoping to finish above .500, but that won’t be easy, either.

Who runs things here? Well, yes, the three super wealthy families, but they really don’t do much that we can see. They have representatives who seem to be doing the management and keeping track. There are two new Assistant Provosts, and believe me, they have nothing to do with anything related to education here at Michigan. But they’re around, and they’re running things. They have some “henchmen”- men and women actually, who are seen everywhere, and they closely watch what’s going on.

2/26: We end the regular season 15-12, 8-10, RPI #75, alone in 9th. So we’ll miss at least 2 of the goals our A. D. set for us- finish in the top 1/2 of the Big 10, make the NCAA tournament. -0.3 PPG (#325, #24), +2.7 RBs (#58), +0.2 TOs (#186).

[Wayne23]

3/6: We play #8 seed Maryland, 18-12, 9-9, in the play in round. They won by 10 there, then we won by 15 at home. They’re favored by 4 ½. We feel like we need a win to get a good seed in one of the minor tournaments. We’d need to win this tourney to get to the NCAA… I don’t see that happening.

3/7: 64-74. Disappointed, but not surprised. It was close for at least 30 minutes, but C Joe Fore, PG Ric Will, and SG Tav West were in deep foul trouble by then (Fore and Will fouled out) and we drifted away. 22 TOs, 8 by each of our starting guards.

15-13, 8-10, RPI #80. Hoping we get invited to the NIT.

3/12: NIT. #8 South. We face #1 seed New Mexico ST, 18-12. They’re favored by only a ½ point.

3/14: 67-64. They jumped out to a big early lead, 17 at one point, We got it to 9 at the half and chipped away, finally taking our first lead with 2:11 to play. It went back and forth after that. They had the last possession and set up for a three but it front rimmed and that was that. 15, 13, 4 for C Joe Fore, 16 for SG Tav West, 13, 7 for PF Ross Mont.
+12 RBs, but 17 TOs. Happy for the win!

#4 seed Georgia ST, 20-10, in the 2nd round. We’re favored by 1 ½. They have a good outside team; we’ll need to contain that.

3/16: 83-76. We led most of the way, and by as many as 20. 29, 8 for Mont, his best game of the season, by far. 14 each for Fore and Gray. +10 RBs.

It’s my old school, URI, #7 seed and unranked at 18-12, in the round of 8. VERY surprised they didn’t have a better season. They’re favored by 2 ½.

3/21: 66-79. 23, 13 for Fore17 for West, 11, 13 for Ross, but they were the better team.

4/3: #1 Louisville is the champ.

4/4: Awards: We get shut out.

4/9: Not looking to move but never say never. We’re staying.

4/23: I ask for a facilities upgrade. We need one. Got it! C+ to B+.

17-14, RPI #80. Not a very good first season but not unexpected. We’ll do better, hopefully lots better, next season.

Overall, I’m 306-117, .723, for 13 seasons.

My brother Rav is getting remarried next month. We’ll fly out to Kingston, RI, for the ceremony.

[Wayne23]

5/1: #5 recruiting class. We buy National Gold, International Basic.

A PG transfers out. He didn’t figure in our plans.

5/15: Rav’s wedding was nice. We both really like his new wife. We talked about bringing them to Michigan. Rav said he’d talk it over with his wife and with her son.

“But when I move, you move.”

“Hey, I may never move again. If the UConn job came open I’d strongly consider that. It would be nice to get back home to CT. But there’s nowhere else I’d move to.”

We left it at that for now.

6/5: We have room for a transfer. There’s an SG from Purdue who may be worth a shot.

6/12: We get the SG.

6/26: 3 scholarships. We want 2 bigs.

8/21: We offer to an SG, a PF, and a C.

9/18: Got all 3, an SG, #23, a C, #26, a PF, #35.

Midwest Inv. vs. Creighton. Beefed up the schedule a little.

10/2: 1st day of practice. We’re picked to end up 6th in the Big Ten. I think we can finish in the top 3. We’ll see.

11/6: 8 man rotation but there will definitely be changes:

Junior Tav West starts at PG. Frosh Jan Park subs at both guard spots and will challenge for the starting PG spot.

Junior Tav West is at SG.

Senior Ross Mont is at SF. Juco junior Will Dens subs at SF and PF.

Senior Job Gray starts at PF, subs at C. Frosh Les Main subs at PF.

Senior Joe Fore is at C.

[Wayne23]

11/20: 2-0 start. SG Tav West is hitting shots and C Joe Fore is grabbing RBs.

We’re off to the Midwest Invitational vs. #6 seed Creighton, 1-1. We’re #3.

All 3 recruits sign.

11/21: 84-73. 20 for PF Jon Gray, 14, 7 for SF Ross Mont. +11 RBs but 17 TOs.

#2 seed, #15 ranked Miami, 3-0, in the semis. They have a terrific outside game and a very good C. They’re heavily favored.

11/22: 61-65. We kept it close but we just couldn’t get baskets when we needed them. They’re a good team and they played really good D. 20 TOs is probably what did us in.

12/4: 5-2. We lost to #18 ranked Texas A & M, by 2, at our place. RPI #91. Ball handling is a real problem so far. No one is getting it done at PG. My SG, Tav West, is fine.

People are disappearing. It happened to one of my team Managers, and to a member of the custodial staff here at the Crisler Center, where we play and practice. Everyone says it’s the overseers, but no proof. It doesn’t ever happen when anyone is around to see it. Troubling.

12/25: 7-3, RPI #59. +7.7 PPG (#97, #79), +8.3 RBs (#22), -1.9 TOs (#275). Ball handling is awful. Rebounding is very good. PPG for and against is okay. I believe we’ll do better
in the Big Ten this season, but how much is the question!

No new disappearances here, and I’m hesitant to ask people at other institutions.