Hereafter

[Wayne23]

3/2: Back and forth. The D is poor again, at least so far. Up 5 after 10. Big run! Up 20 at the break; Bond has 17. Up 20 with 10 to play; D is better.

85-55; too easy, again. 21, 8, 3 for Bond, 17, 3, 6 for Shay, 16, 3, 3 steals for Carr, 14, 7 for Udel.

+16 RBs. +14 in the paint.

Coach says he's happy with the way we played tonight.

At the end of the regular season we're +19 PPG, +4.5 RBs, -8.2 TOs (9.8 and still #1).

Carr leads us with 19.9. Shay gets 16.6, Bond gets 12.2. Udel leads in RBs with 8.3, and Bond gets 6.7. Shay gets 5.8 assists.

We win the PAC 12 by 2 over # Cal, 4 over Utah, 7 or more over the rest.

3/5: Today's the day players declare for the draft...

Carr is #1, Shay #4 on the Norton list.

Coach: I am shocked and delighted that only Lex Carr declared for the draft!

(Author's note: Carr declared. I'm showing 1 scholarship. I can award to every player on my recruit list except the one I want, who is uncommitted. I don't get it. I offer to another guy but not happy about it.)

3/9: We play #9 seed Washington ST, 10-20, 6-12, in the quarter finals. Beat them by 22 and 28.

[Wayne23]

3/12: We score the first 11. They come back. Up 5 after 10. Up 10 at the half. Both teams are shooting terribly. Up 10 with 10 left. Their PF is scoring again tonight.

69-53. Their D was good, ours was better.

16, 3, 4, 5 steals for Carr, 13, 16 for Udel, who more than matched their PF. 16, 2, 5, 3 steals for Shay, 13, 8 for Savo.

8 TOs. Both teams shot 30%. +7 from the line.

We expect to be the #1 seed Overall.

#1 East, #1 overall. We play #16 Bradley, 16-18.

[Wayne23]

3/16: Their PF can score.

Up 1 after 10; they're hanging in. Tied at the half. Coach is NOT happy in the locker room! We switch to man. It helps. Up 14 with 10 to go.

90-59 but it took awhile! 24, 5 for Carr. 5 others had between 13 and 9.

12 TOs to 26. We made 9 more shots, and 9 more from the line.

It's 8th ranked Minnesota, 22-11, in the 2nd round. They don't score enough unless we're having a terrible night. And they turn it over. Their Sf can score.

Ivan Fox hit the floor hard. He has a concussion and is out for about a week.

Coach: The rest station is close enough for us to be talking. There are Tralmorians there and they are just as interested in mating as the other Tralmorians were. It will go to the Council but I'm guessing we'll approve it. The station will be here next month.

[Wayne23]

3/18: JW: Up 7 after 10. BIG run puts us up 22 at halftime. Up 21 with 10 left. The subs will get lots of PT.

91-66. Easy one. 18, 7, 3, 3 steals for Bond, 19, 4, 5 for Shay, 19, 1, 5 for Carr, 12, 7, 4 for Savo.

+7 RBs, 10 TOs. +16 in the paint.

Here's part of the Post Game Press Conference:

Q: “Coach, did you feel your guys played post season ready ball tonight.

Coach Clark: Overall, they did. I saw a focus that I hadn't been seeing in the latter part of the regular season. We shot the lights out, 55.6%.

Q: “Everybody's healthy?”

Coach: At this point in the season most of the guys have little nagging things, aches and pains, things like that, but Ivan Fox will be ready for our next game, and he's the only guy with a meaningful injury.

Q: “Everybody talks about your two All Americans, Carr and Shay. What about your other players?”

Coach: I can't say enough about my other three starters. Noel Bond is a lock down defender and he's a money scorer and a solid rebounder. He'd be the star on most teams.

Ron Udel is our best rebounder, leave him alone and he'll score all night long, and he plays solid D.

Al Savo has made us a better team since we put him in the starting lineup. He does a little bit of everything, and all of it well.

I could talk about everybody on the team but I'll just talk about two more guys.

Joel Ston would be a starter on most teams. He'll certainly be the leading contender to start at the Point next year. He's as good a defender as we have, he passes well, takes care of the ball, and he can shoot.

Ivan Fox lost his starting job but it didn't slow down his effort. He's a very hard worker.

The other guys all got lost in the talent storm. I have about 3 other guys who mostly sit but could start for a lot of D I teams.

Q: “You've got a really good team coming up, #15 ranked, #16 NET Wichita ST, 28-8. What's the plan?”

Coach: There are only good teams left. No easy games any more. Ass to the plan, we've watched some video but we're still working on the plan.

3/22: JW: I'm talking with Coach.

“Okay Coach, you didn't have a plan right after the game but I'm betting you have on now.”

Coach: We do! They score more outside than in but they actually average more RBs that we do. But we score a lot more and give up only a few more points. We think we can turn them over.

They're only 1-5 vs, ranked teams. If we play well I think we'll be fine.

“My first Sweet Sixteen! I'm definitely excited and my friends are jealous.

[Wayne23]

3/23: Full house and it's rockin'! I think more fans are rooting for us. That's based on the noise.

Nobody's hitting shots but we have a lead; up 9 after 10. BIG run and we're up 22 at the break. Up 30 with 10 to go. Here come the subs.

79-46. Unbelievable D against a really good team.

19, 5 for Bond, 18, 3 for Carr, 14, 3, 9 for Shay, 10, 11 for Savo, 11, 5 for Fox.

+9 RBs, only 8 TOs. We held them to 30.8%.

Post Game Press Conference (Excerpts):

Q: “Wow, Coach Clark. That was a clinic!”

Coach: When we're on we're a force and we were on tonight!

Q: “How do you hold a top team to 46 points?”

Coach: Absolute focus, every single minute. Our D never let up.

Q: “Is this your dream team?”

Coach: That's not how I'd put it, but this is one hell of a team. But, we still have a lot of work to do, our hardest work of the season.

“You say that, but your next opponent is #19 ranked Gonzaga, 26-10. They're only a #7 seed. You ran over them at your place in late December, winning by 28.”

Coach: First that was a long time ago, 2nd, it was at home, and 3rd, they didn't play their best game that night and we shot the lights out. We're taking this very seriously.

Q: “What's the plan?”

Coach: We need to stop their PG from doing what he wants to do. He dishes as well as anyone in Div. I, and we can't let him do that. We need to hit the boards; they rebound well. Effort and focus are the keys; they always are.

Q: “They're only 5-4 vs. ranked teams.”

Coach: They've played 9 ranked teams. They won't be intimidated by us, and that kind of experience will be vary valuable to them.

Q: “#12 vs #7 on the other side of the bracket. That has to make you happy.”

Coach: Well, it's a surprise but we'll start thinking about that if we win our next one.

Q: “Lots of upsets in this year's tourney.”

Coach: I'm hammering that home to my guys every day. One off night and it's over.

Q: “You've never been to the Final Four, Coach.”

Coach: No, I haven't, but talk to me about that after the Gonzaga game, assuming it's still relevant.

JW: Coach handles himself so well with the press.

[Wayne23]

3/25: JW: Watch those guards! But then our guards are both All Americans!

They're playing well early. Up 5 after 10. Run! Up 10 at the half. Up 7 with 10 left. We switch to man. And we go on a run!

109-90. Talk about a shootout! Coach was not happy with the D, but we're in the Final Four!

Noel Bond hurt his wrist but the docs think he'll be okay in 3-4 days so he should be at 100% for our next game.

We won this one inside. Their starting guards had 49 to 47 for ours. 31, 6, 4 for Carr, 29, 3, 3, 3 steals for Bond, 16, 1, 5 for Shay. Our bench played very well.

+9 RBs, 9 TOs to 15. Both teams really shot well, 56.1% for them to 54.9% for us, but we took 14 more shots.

Post Game Press Conference (Excerpts):

Q: “What a shootout!”

Coach: I wasn't happy with our D, but I don't ever remember a team of mine scoring 109 in 40 minutes, so there's that.

Q: “14-29 on threes.”

Coach: Shay, Carr, and Bond were all knocking them down.

“Q: So when a game develops like this and it's obvious that shots are going in for both teams do you just go with it?”

Coach: We can score with anyone, #1 in the nation in PPG, so I suppose a shootout works in our favor. I kept talking about D during the breaks, but I also told them to
keep taking good shots. I don't like this kind of a game but you're going to have a tough time beating us at it.

Q: “#7 seed, unranked Mississippi ST in the national semifinal. That has to be a break.”

Coach: I'll tell you after the game. They beat some really good teams to get here.

Q: “Yes but with an underdog like them maybe getting there is enough.”

Coach: We've looked at some video. There's no quit in them.

Q: “Good luck, Coach.

3/31: JW: Here with Coach.

“Congratulations, Coach! Mississippi ST, #7 seed, unranked, won by only 2 against the #12 seed in the Elite Eight. What's the plan?”

Coach: They're very experienced, senior leadership team, and they have a lot of heart. And they're 4-2 vs. ranked teams. They lost their starting C 9 games in and it took them awhile to adjust. But they came on strong at the end of the season and in the post season and they're tough now.

We need to play our best D, we need to rebound, and we need to turn them over.

Q: “What about on O?”

Coach: they play a 1-2-2 which we haven't seen all season. That should help them against our terrific outside players, so we'll try to get it inside as often as possible.

Q: “What can they do that might hurt you?”

Coach: If the threes are falling that could be a problem. They're a very good defensive team so if they play their best D that could hurt us. They don't really have a big time scorer but sometimes that can give a team an advantage; we need to guard everybody.

Q: “Pretty exciting to be in the Final Four?”

Coach: It is! As the head coach I have to try to strike a balance with my players. I want them to enjoy the entire experience because this will be with them for the rest of their live4s, but I need to keep them focused on the game, and if we're lucky enough to get there, on the next game.

Q: “Let's do this!”

When I took this project I didn't know it would get this far. I feel so lucky to be part of this!

Oh, Two #1 seeds on the other side, #3 ranked, #3 NET Oklahoma, 32-7, vs. #8 ranked, #4 NET Kansas, 31-5. We didn't play either team this season.

[Wayne23]

4/1: Here we GO!!!

We're not hitting shots early. Up 4 after 10 shooting .333. 37-24 at the half; shots aren't dropping but the D! They come back. Up 4 with 10 left. We go to max D, man-to-man. And we go on a run!

73-55. Great D! 21, 4, 5 for Scot Shay, 16, 5, 2, 4 steals for Carr. Savo was in foul trouble all night but Fox stepped in and did what needed to be done.

9 TOs to 25. Both teams shot 40.9% but we took 22 more shots. +12 in the paint.

It's #8 ranked, #4 NET Kansas, 32-5, for the title. The biggest factor is that their big scorer, 21.1, is playing hurt. They have a very good C. The other edge we have is that we take much better care of the ball.

4/3: JW: “Coach, great win against Mississippi ST the other night.”

Coach: Our guards stepped up and Ivan Fox did what we needed him to do.

“You're playing for the title. What do you need to do to win?”

Coach: We just need to play our game and stay focused. I truly believe that if we do that we win. We have so many weapons on offense that if we play, we should be able
to beat anyone. BUT, one night this season we DIDN'T play, and a team that was not all that good beat us by 9.

“What worries you?”

Coach: We haven't had a one possession, or even a two possession game all season. If it's that kind of a game the lack of having that experience could be a factor.

“The season ends tonight, win or lose. Thoughts?”

Coach: I hate to see it end. It's been a fantastic ride. It's kind of unfair that if we don't win everyone will think of this season as a failure when we've accomplished so much. But that's the way it is.

“Best of luck, Coach.”

We get the recruit we were going for!

[Wayne23]

4/3: The guys are definitely stressed in the locker room just before the game. They're about to head out to the floor for the opening tip. Coach just cracked a joke and they laughed. Hopefully that will help. No doubt Kansas is just as stressed.

Close early. Down 1 after 10; their SG hasn't played yet. Our bigs are in foul trouble. Run! Up 10 at the half. They come at us. We fight them off. Up 15 with 10 left! Almost there!

93-80 and the national championship!

As expected Carr and Shay were the keys. Carr had 29, 3,3 before fouling out after the outcome was decided. Shay had 17, 3, 4 and finished with 4 fouls. 11, 3, 3 for Ston so our guards did the heavy lifting. Their star SG never played. The Coach had listed him as “iffy.”

8 TOs. The difference was free throws, we were 45-57, they were 33-45. A ridiculous number of fouls called for a title game. The fans reached the point where they were booing every whistle.

Post Game Press Conference (Excerpts):

Q: “Congratulations, Coach. Keys to victory?”

Coach: We had two first team All Americans on the floor and they played that way.

Q: “How big a factor was it that their big scorer couldn't play?

Coach: It was a huge factor. We'll never know how big, of course, but it would have been a very different game with him in there.

Q: “I hate to ask, but 62 fouls called?”

Coach: This is going to cost me some money but I don't care. The officiating was amateurish tonight, just terrible. It hurt Kansas way more than it hurt us, but this kind of thing is simply unacceptable. Biggest game of the season and the game mostly consists of players walking up and down the floor to go to the line. My good friend, Kansas coach Jack Evans, has an absolute right to feel like the officials took away his chance. I won't say any more except that if the NCAA doesn't do something about this, the game is going to suffer badly. No one, and I mean no one, wants to watch this kind of thing.

Q: “Everyone is back except for Lex Carr and Ken Doon. Repeat?”

Coach: Let me enjoy this one for awhile before we start thinking about that.

Q: “Coach, I know you. You'll be back to work tomorrow.”

Coach: (laughs) True enough, but let me enjoy it today!

Q: “Thanks Coach.”

JW: My project ends on April 30. I'm going to hate to see it end. I couldn't have asked for more than this!

[Wayne23]

4/4: Awards: JW: Lex Carr wins the MNA MOP but NOT the Norton Award. Hm. He is a first team All American, along with Scot Shay, for the 2nd time, and Frosh POY. I get National COY. In conference, Carr is POY, Frosh OY, and first team along with Scot Shay. Noel Bond makes the 2nd team and is Def. POY. Ron Udel also makes the 2nd team.

Coach says Bond should have been 1st team.

4/8: Coach gets fined a record$75,000 for his comments about the officiating. Here's what he said to the press:

“I accept the fine. But I am challenging the NCAA to do something about the officiating situation in Division I, and I call on everyone who loves the game of college basketball to to write, call, text, or email the NCAA and join me in asking them to make some changes.”

Later that day I asked Coach about whether anything could get him to move to another school.

“No. I'll be here next season. I do wish the PAC 12 was more competitive though and some day the fact that they aren't could get me to go elsewhere.”

When I asked where he said,

“The Big Ten, the ACC, the SEC.”

4/9: TP goes up to 89.

4/14: Coach was fined another $75,000 by the NCAA. He says they're being inundated with demands to fix the officiating. He says they'll ignore the issue. They always do.

4/18: Coach: The rest station evidently took a side trip. They won't be here until early May.

4/23: Coach has been lobbying A. D. Dee Forest for more money. Here's what he told me:

“Hell, the top schools have a budget of $50,000 to a million. We're at $306,000.”

4/23: Yes! Increase to $400,000. This makes us fully competitive in recruiting and hiring assistants.

40-1, national title. Overall Coach is 366-94, .796.

4/30: JW: My final interview with Coach Clark.

“Coach, I need to begin by once again thanking you for allowing me to do this and for being so generous with your time. I can't say how much I appreciate it.”

Coach: You're very welcome, Lucy. It was great having you with us and I look forward to reading the journal.

“I'll send it to you. I'm going to end up by asking you something I should have asked right at the beginning. Tell me about your coaching philosophy and strategy.”

Coach: Sure: I consider myself a defensive coach, despite the fact that we had the best PPG in the nation this year. I try to build teams that stop the other team from scoring. We actually did that pretty well this season.

“What are the most important things you look for in recruits and transfers as you build this?”

Coach: For the guards it's ball handling and defense, then discipline, then shooting. For the inside players it's defense and rebounding, then scoring and discipline.

“So not much emphasis on scoring.”

Coach: If you handle the ball well you'll find the open man and open shots go in often enough. Shooting and scoring are a function of good ball handling, and guys working to get open.

“You're going to need to do it without me next season, Coach, but I'll be watching. Here's hoping you can repeat”

Coach: Best of luck, Lucy, and keep in touch!

[Wayne23]

5/1: #1 pre-season, #2 recruiting class. We buy both the National and International Gold Scouting Reports.

6/5: Oh NO! Noel Bond is transferring out. He didn't get along with the other players. I tried to fix it and thought that I had, at least enough. I guess not. BIG loss.

We have room for a transfer. It would need to be a very good one.

6/12: We offer to a big.

6/15: We get him! Bond went to Kansas.

6/25: We will go to the Indy Elite Camp.

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

Lex Carr is drafted #1.

The rest station is back. The Tralmorians are being as pushy as they were last time. The Council voted to delay the mating exchange until we get to know them better. They are firmly stating that they are exactly like the other Tralmorians we met. We're holding fast.

We're also trying to get to know some other species.

7/7: All 10 of the recruits we're most serious about were at the Indy Camp. We spoke with all of them multiple times and got to watch them play.

The Reee are a people who live in a liquid world. They are highly intelligent. Not much technological development in their society but they are deep thinkers and philosophers who spend as much time as possible thinking about and discussing ideas of all kinds. They manage somehow, without that much technology, to travel, and to bring their environment with them. We have absolutely no idea how they do; it is mystifying. They also seem to be able to view objects at tremendous distances, and in a lot of detail, without anything that seems to be a telescope. We are interacting with them to try to learn both about them and about what they know.

7/25: The Brawzsh are a warlike race. They control a large segment of the space near their home planet, an area spanning 7 solar systems with several intelligent species. They agreed to refrain from any violent behavior while at or near the rest area, and they further agreed to not use anything they learn here to expand their empire. Other races tend to avoid them.

8/7: 4 players on Norton: #4, frosh C/F Del Betz, #7 veteran guard Scot Shay, #8 frosh C/F Ted Alan, and #15, F/C Ron Udel.

Recruiting is going well. There are some very good players very interested.

8/14: The MuuGi are very social. They are friendly, love conversation and interaction with other species. They can't breathe our air and we can't breathe theirs but we've struck up a nice friendship.

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