DDSCB23: Alone

[Wayne23]

6-8, 1-4 Duke is here. They have trouble scoring.

1/11: 83-61. Quick start and we never trailed. Up 18 at halftime. 20, 4, 1, 3 for Rick Kitt, our SG. 13, 7, 3 for Feld, 12 for back up guard Jim Turr. 9, 6, 5 for Henn. More fouled out in 15 minutes.

We won this one outside. Our guards were great.

12-4, 2-3 Ga. Tech is here. They’re 2-1 vs. ranked teams and the loss was in OT, so they can play. It looks like their outside game vs. our inside game.

1/13: 104-75. It was never a game. 37, 12, 3 blocks for More. When he stays out of foul trouble he’s a force. 12, 6 for Ezel, 12, 1, 5 for Henn, 14 for Kitt, 10, 5, 5 for Ells.

+19 RBs, +44 in the paint. We won this one inside.

We haven’t met the best teams in the ACC yet, except for Syracuse. 7 ranked teams to play in our last 14 ACC games.

At #11 Virginia, 15-2, 4-2. They’re tough at home.

We’re now #6.

1/18: 80-69. We led all they way but they stayed close most of the time. Up 6 at the break.

29, 11 for Feld, 19, 12, 3 blocks for More but he fouled out again. +20 in the paint. We won it inside.

Well, another relationship ends. If I program another woman I’ll put more emphasis on her not wanting kids.

#18 Pitt, 13-3, 7-0, is here. Their back court can light it up. Their D isn’t as good as ours. Their SF is playing hurt.

1/20: 104-93 in a shootout. 14 lead changes, 8 ties. Up 5 at the half but they took the lead twice in the 2nd half. We were stronger at the end. 29, 6, 3 for Feld, . 20, 2 for More, who fouled out again.

15, 3, 9 for Henn. +21 for the bench which was more than the difference. +52 in the paint.

Their guards were very good, as we expected.

19-0, 8-0, ranked #4, NET #1. 1 up on Pitt, 2 on Syracuse, 3 on 3 teams. We have some very tough road games still to play.

[Wayne23]

At 10-8, 3-5 Kona. 1-3 vs. ranked teams. They’re better outside than inside.

1/25: 94-88. Not happy with the D. It was close throughout. Up 8 at the half. They took the lead a few times in the 2nd but we were there at the end.

21, 20, 3, 3 blocks for Feld, 19, 8, 3 blocks for More, 13, 3, 5, 3 for Henn, 14 for Turr. +16 RBs.

At 6-12, 1-8 Duke. We won by 22 at home. They give up 10.6 more than they score.

1/27: 55-68. I can’t believe we lost to this team and I can’t believe we scored only 55 points; our previous low for the season was 81. We shot 34.2%. We were just awful, I tried all kinds of adjustments but nothing helped.

We were up 1 at the half though we weren’t playing well, and then we just fell apart completely in the 2nd.

18, 10 for More. No one else did much.

1/29: It’s hard to know how to handle something like this. Maybe just ignore it and move on.

All of our recruits hit our SAT score.

Midway through the ACC season we’re 20-1, 9-1, #5, NET #1. Tied for 1st with Pitt, 2 up on Syracuse, 3 on Louisville, 4 or more on the rest.

+18.6 PPG, still #1 in scoring. #7 in both RBs, +9.7, and assists, +4.2. -6.9 turnovers, 10.0.

Gene Feld is #12 on the Norton list.

12-9, 4-7 North Carolina is here. This should be a walkover.

1/30: 95-65. It was a walkover. Up 20 at the break. 17, 13, 4 for Ezel, 24, 4 for More, 16, 6, 4 blocks for Feld. +36 in the paint, which we owned.

Jack More has the flu. Hope he doesn’t spread it. We told him to stay home until we fly out for our next game.

At #4 Louisville, 18-4, 7-4. Their SG is playing hurt. More is back at 100%. They’re 5-1 vs. ranked teams, and #1 in the nation in RBs. This won’t be easy!

2/3: 71-65. GREAT win! We led most of the way, by 8 at the half, but they came roaring back midway through the 2nd and the lead changed hands for the next several minutes. Finally we took charge, got the lead to 9, and won it by 6. It wasn’t easy!

They went to the line 17 times more than we did, and were +12.

29, 1, 6 for Henn, who was fantastic. He made 9 threes (for 15), three of them in the final two minutes. 15, 5 for More, 10, 7, 3 for Kitt. They outplayed us badly inside but we beat them even worse outside. +10 for the bench.

We and Pitt are 2 up on 3rd place Syracuse.

2/5: 22-1, 11-1, #3, NET #1. Still tied with Pitt. 8 to play but realistically only we two teams and Syracuse are still in the race for 1st.

Dear Jack,

I’ve been saying that I had another reason to want Mars terraformed. Here it is:

As a research embryologist I can tell you that for the past 25 years there has been a way for a single individual, whether male or female, to reproduce. It involves doing some very complicated things to cells. Theoretically one individual could parent thousands of children.

I can get that information to you and you could bring it into the holo, have the embryologist in there study it and figure it out, and start the process. I am suggesting you have 64 children, since you started with 64 people. Then once the planet is terraformed, there would be a growing population to inhabit it.

You could print enough robots to care for the children, programming them to be specialists in child care.

I expect this is a lot for you to take in, but I hope you’ll be willing to consider it, and to discuss it with me further.

Maggie (and Reggie)

This was a bolt out of the blue and not a pleasant one. Sure, I agreed to father 2 kids with Holly when we signed up for this, but I wasn’t thrilled about it. Since she and everyone else was killed I’ve been certain that I would never be a parent and I felt relief more than anything else.

64 kids? 64 KIDS!!!

On the other hand, this would appear to be the only way the human race can survive. There would be no point in doing it on Earth given how devastated and corrupted the planet is.

I guess I do have to at least try to open my mind to the idea. But man!

[Wayne23]

At #12 Pitt, 16-4, 10-1, in the battle for 1st place.

They’re 2-2 vs. ranked teams. They have a truly excellent outside game.

Last time, at our place, we won by 11. Their outside game owned ours but we owned the paint even more so. This won’t be easy!

2/6: 94-111. We just didn’t play D. Their guards and their bench did us in and they shot 57.6%. We were never really in it.

26, 11, 3 blocks for More, 13, 4 for Ezel, 11, 4 for Feld.

We’re in 2nd place, only 1 up on #9 Syracuse who we play there later.

Art Howe turns an ankle. Out for at least a week.

#20 Virginia, 17-6, 6-6, is here. We won by 11 there. We’re much stronger inside.

2/8: 111-93. We led all the way. Up 14 at halftime. 37, 12 for More, 28, 6, 3 blocks for Feld, 15, 5, 8 for PG Stan Henn, 12, 4, for Ells. +19 RBs, +40 in the paint.

Syracuse beat Pitt so we’re tied for 1st with Pitt, 1 up on ‘Cuse. 6 to play.

Gene Feld drops to #18 on the Norton list.

Lots of communication back and forth with my friends from Earth regarding reproducing and all that it would entail. Talking with the embryologist in the holo as well, and the pediatrician.

If I actually do this the robots would need to be as human looking and as life like as possible, some parent types, some teachers, some pediatricians…

I actually have a shrink in the holo and I’m discussing this with her. Still not liking the idea.

At 12-12, 6-8 Florida ST. They’re 1-3 vs. Top 25 teams. We’re a lot better inside. But we’ll need to play much better D than we’ve been playing.

2/15: 91-80. Still not happy with the D but we’ll take the win.

We led by 12 at halftime and they never got closer than 6 in the 2nd. 34, 6 for More, 14, 6, 8 for Henn, 14, 12, 3 blocks for Ezel. +30 inside.

I liked the way we played on O but the D has got to get better.

At #9 Syracuse, 20-4, 11-4. We won by 4 there. They’re 2-2 vs. ranked teams. We seem pretty evenly matched. The home win was close all the way. Our bench was the difference.

2/17: 86-93. Still not playing good D. Tied at 52 at halftime. Both teams played better D in the 2nd but they played much better. Their backcourt and bench won it for them.

25, 6 for More, 16, 11 for Feld, 13, 0, 3 for Turr.

Tied for 1st with Pitt, with Syracuse 1 back and 4 to play, 3 at home.

2/19: 24-3, 13-3, #3, NET #1.

[Wayne23]

17-8, 9-7 Clemson is here. 3-3 vs. the Top 25. We think we’re better.

2/22: 108-70. Happy with the O and much happier with the D. 60-36 at the break. 22, 11 for More, 21, 9, 3 blocks for Feld, 17, 3, 6 for Henn. +14 for the bench. +27 RBs, +32 in the lane, +14 on 2nd chances.

Pitt was upset. We lead them by 1, Syracuse by 2, with 3 to play.

We get the PF we’ve been after.

11-15, 4-13 Virginia Tech is here. This is a mismatch.

2/24: 104-85. It was never a game. Up 15 at halftime. 31, 3 for More, 18, 10, 4 blocks for Ezel, 9, 10, 4, 4, 5 blocks for Feld, 23, 5 for Ells. +36 in the paint. Our big guys were the difference.

#6 Louisville, 22-8, 11-8, is here. We won by 6 there. They’re 6-3 vs. ranked teams, 2-2 on the road. They can play. I think if we play our best game we can beat them.

3/1: 74-84. Damn! Not enough D again. They just took off to start the game and before we knew it, but after taking two time outs, we were down 22. WE got it to 15 at the half. We never got closer than
6 in the 2nd. Feld fouled out in 14 minutes, which hurt.

23 for Henn, 8, 15 for Ezel, 13, 7 for More. Our bench played well. We lost it inside where their bigs outplayed ours.

Tied with Pitt, 1 up on Syracuse with only 1 to play.

At Clemson, 18-10, 10-9,who we just destroyed by 38 at our place. It’s a must win.

3/3: 84-79. Too close! They jumped out to a lead, made it a huge lead of 20 points, and it was 17 at the half. I read the riot act and made some changes in the locker room. We controlled the 2nd half,

53-31, and eked out a win. It wasn’t pretty.

19, 10 for More, 19, 5 for Feld, 16 for Welp, 12, 8, 5, 4 for Kitt. +21 for the bench and that’s what did it for us. +26 in the paint.

We end the regular season at 27-4, 16-4, tied with Pitt for 1st in the ACC but the #2 seed in the tourney. Ranked #4, NET #1.

+15.5 PPG, #1 in the nation in scoring. #2 in assists, #8 in RBs, #4 overall NET. +8 RBs, -5.8 TOs, averaging 10.0, which I’m happy with.

Jack More leads us in points with 22.3, and in RBs with 7.7. Gene Feld is 2nd in both, 14.8, 7.6. Henn gets 6.6 assists.

Red shirt frosh Sean Gami is going pro. I was worried that Gene Feld might and I’m really happy that he’s staying, and relieved that we lost only one guy.

I can’t seem to commit to becoming the father (and mother) of 64 kids. I see the logic, and all it would require up front is getting some cells scraped from the inside of my mouth, but it would change everything after they were born, and it’s just not a lifestyle I want. I haven’t said an absolute no, but…

[Wayne23]

3/9: We play #7 seed Clemson, 19-11, 10-10, for the 3rd time. We crushed them the first time, it was pretty close last week.

3/10: 96-85. It was close for about 30 minutes and we never really held a comfortable lead until the last couple of minutes. The refs were calling everything and our entire front line wound up with 4 fouls.

20, 12, 3, 3, 5 blocks for Ezel, 23, 6 for More, 17, 9 for Feld, 13, 3, 5 for Kitt. Our bench stepped up to fill in for the big guys who were in foule trouble. +40 in the paint.

Post game press conference (excerpts): “Del Roads, EPSN. Coach, great way to start the post season.”

“We’ll take the win. I’m trying to tighten up our D though. We’ll need to do that to keep advancing.”

“Speaking of that, you’re the defending national champs. How do you like your chances of repeating?”

“That’s a very, very difficult thing to do. Last season we absolutely caught fire in the post season and if we’re to have a chance to repeat we’ll need to do that again, soon!”

It’s #7 ranked, #3 seed Syracuse, 24-6, 14-6, in the semifinals. We won by 4 at home, lost by 7 there. It’s probably going to come down to who wants it more.

3/11: 89-68. I never expected this kind of a game. I’m delighted! It was a one point game at the half and More was in foul trouble so it didn’t look great. But we played some of the best D we’ve played all season in the 2nd, holding them to 21.

27, 10 for More, 15, 9 for Ezel, 13, 6 for sub F Ed Ells. +30 in the paint, +16 RBs.

#6 Louisville, 25-8, 12-8, upset Pitt. We won by 6 there, lost by 10 at home. Their inside game beat up on ours both times. That can’t happen again if we hope to win.

3/12: 86-76 and the ACC tourney title! This may get us the #1 overall seed. We’ll definitely be a #1 somewhere.

Up only 1 at the half and it stayed close until late. Then Henn and More hit some key shots. 23, 10, 3, 3, 4 blocks for More, 20, 4, 6, 3 for Henn. We won it inside but Henn didn’t hurt!

#1 East, #1 overall. We start with #16 Iona, 16-17. This should not be pretty.

[Wayne23]

3/16: 102-86. NOT happy with the way we played against a #16 seed!

We were up by only 2 at the half and playing terrible D. I probably did more yelling at halftime than I’ve ever done. No excuse for our poor play, no one was in foul trouble. We finally woke up in the 2nd. The D was better but not great.

27, 8 for More, 25, 6 for Ezel, 19, 9 for Feld. Nothing wrong with the inside game. An amazing 70 in the paint, +44. But we need to play better D.

Next is #9 seed Oregon ST, 25-9. Their PG is playing hurt. This is another mismatch if we actually play our game.

Pitt was upset.

3/18: 88-78. We led all the way but they stayed reasonably close most of the way. Up 7 at halftime. 20, 9, 4, 7 blocks(!) for Feld, 17, 12 for Ezel, 14, 4 for Welp. +26 in the paint.

Louisville is out.

[Wayne23]

3/22: It’s #5 seed, #15 ranked Texas, 27-8, in the Sweet Sixteen. They play good D.

3/23: 86-72. We never trailed and led by as many as 22. Up 14 at the half. 21, 1, 5, 7 for Henn, 20 for Kitt, 17, 5, 1, 3 for Feld. +30 in the paint.

We face #3 seed, #10 ranked Iowa, 29-6, in the Elite Eight. We’re favored but we’d better come to play.

3/25: 100-81 and we’re back in the Final Four!

11 lead changes, 7 ties. Up one at the break. About 30 minutes in we went on a 15-2 run and that was it.

23, 13, 4 blocks for Ezel, 17, 7 for More, 12, 15 for Feld. Good bench play. +24 in the paint.

Still angsting about the decision re kids. Reggie and Maggie gave me a different alternative in their last message:

“As to the 64 children, as you seem to be really opposed, perhaps you could create the appropriate medically talented robots and have them do the cell scraping. It can be frozen for a very long time. You can opt in later or work it so it happens after your death.”

I’m proceeding with that. It kind of takes the pressure off.

[Wayne23]

#2 seed Syracuse, 28-7, in the national semifinal. We split a pair of close games during ACC play then we crushed them by 21 in the ACC tourney semifinal. Let’s see what happens.

4/1: 77-51! We never trailed and led by as many as 30. 33-20 at halftime.

25, 8, 3 blocks for More, 14, 1, 4, 4 for Kitt. Exceptional D won this one for us. +22 in the paint.

Post game press conference (excerpts): “Coach, you’re one win away from repeating as national champs. Talk about that.”

“Repeating is extremely difficult. Very few teams have done it, something like 2-3 in the past 100 years or so.”

“Your opponent is #1 in the country West Virginia, same as last year.”

“And you can bet they remember what happened last year. They’ve got to want this one pretty badly.”

“What do you need to do to beat them?”

“They’re good inside and outside but I’d say we need to play good D, especially outside, and we need to avoid foul trouble as much as possible.”

“Good luck, Coach.”

West Virginia is #1, #1 NET, 36-3. They’re one tough team. Ed Ells will have limited availability due to a head injury. We have a ton of confidence in Joey Welp but hopefully our big guys stay out of foul trouble.

4/3: 88-76 and we repeat as national champs!

It was back and forth for about 12 minutes. We went on a run and never looked back. Up 14 at the half. The 2nd half was pretty even. They never got closer than 5.

30, 17 in his last college game for tourney MOP Jack More. 14, 6 for Feld. We stayed out of foul trouble which was huge.

There’s no doubt we won this one inside, 55 for our starting front court to 37 for theirs.

[Wayne23]

4/4: Awards: As I mentioned Jack More was Final Four MOP. He is also ACC 1st team. Gene Feld made the 2nd team. I am once again Conf. COY.

We’re losing More, our starting back court of Henn and Kitt, Welp and Rash Spin.

TP goes from 59-63.

4/9: There’s only one school I’d leave for- UConn.

UConn didn’t call.

4/23: I ask for a budget increase. We sold out every home game, so that should help.

No.

36-4, national champs again. Overall, for seasons I’m 182-39, .824.

[Wayne23]

5/1: Recruiting class #13.

Preseason #19.

Only 11 on the roster before we see if anyone leaves.

We meet our Expected to Spend amount.

5/29: No one transfers out. We have 2 spots open. We want 1 and 1.

6/2: There are a few worth looking at.

6/5: We offer to a guard and a big.

6/9: We get a PF. He’ll play.

We offer to a PG.

Didn’t get him.

We offer to a C.

6/12: Got him! He might start.

6/25: Going to the usual camps.

6/26: 2 scholarships. We want guards.

The robots are created and the cells have been extracted and frozen.

Terraforming is moving along at the expected slow and steady pace.

7/11: Things are looking good re recruiting.

7/31: We offer to a PG and an SG.

8/7: 3 on the Norton list: Andy Ezel is #21, Ed Ells #31, Gene Feld #32.

9/11: We get a PG, #85, but we think he’s better than that.

9/18: We get the SG, #48.

We gamble and cut a guy to go after #20, who has us at #1.

Going to the Alaskan Classic. Very challenging schedule but almost all at home.

9/25: The gamble paid off. We get an SG, #20. Great catch!

10/2: 1st day of practice. Threepeat? That would be a long shot.

11/14: We start tomorrow with #25 Wisconsin, here. Not much to go by but I think we’re better.

Here’s the lineup:

Junior Art Howe starts at PG. He looks really good.

Frosh Sean Demo is at SG. He does a lot of things well.

#3 guard is frosh Jon Abur, who could start. #4 is senior Jim Turr. We lose nothing when he’s in. We have 4 very good guards.

Junior Ed Ells is at SF. Very good shooter and rebounder.

Junior Gene Feld is back at PF. He’s a terrific defender who does everything well.

Soph Ed Ezel is at C. He’s another guy who does it all.

1st big man off the bench is senior Greg King, a transfer from UConn. Good defender, good rebounder. Frosh Tom Vick is a scorer and a rebounder. Junior John Kent is a great rebounder but doesn’t play enough D to get minutes. Soph Pete Deng, a transfer from Houston, does a lot of things well.