Hereafter

[Wayne23]

12/12: #20 Texas, 6-1, is here. They're very good outside and they don't turn it over but they haven't played anybody.

12/13: Small lead. Up 3 after 10. A run gives us a 49-30 lead at halftime. They have shut down our two super frosh, and Tony has 3 fouls. 11 for Webb, 12 for Gain, 11 for Gard, as the bench picks up the slack, +13. +18 in the paint, +8 RBs, only 4 TOs. Up 25 with 10 to go.

96-53. We have crushed everyone except Gonzaga. 216, 5, 2, 3 for Webb, 14, 8, 3 for Gain, 10, 10 for Hasi. Tony played 6 minutes. +16 for the bench.

Howe is #2, Webb #4 on the Norton list.

No new cases of flu for 3 days.

[Wayne23]

12/19: A few days off, now #5 Duke, 8-0, is here. Their forwards can really score, they rebound, and they take care of the ball. But they have played no ranked teams.

For some reason we drop to #3. We're #1 NET.

No new cases of flu for 3 days.

12/20: They're right with us early. A run puts us up 12 after 10. 45-32 at the half. 17 for Tony. Up 18 with 10 left.

73-56. They played great D against us but ours was better! 22, 8 for Tony, 14, 6 for Gard. +16 inside, 10 TOs.

12/26: We end the pre-conf season at 11-1. #3, NET #1. +20.2 PPG, +8.7 RBs, -7.3 TOs, +6 assists, +4.3 steals.

Aus Howe gets 16.7 per game. Shay Webb gets 16.2, and Ric Tony 13.6. Tony gets 8.0 RBs, Mick Hasi gets 7.6. Webb gets 6.3 assists and Howe gets 5.8. Howe is #4 on the Norton list.

[Wayne23]

12/29: At 6-3 Purdue to start Big Ten play. They haven't played a strong schedule.

The Big 10 doesn't look particularly strong this year, only #18 Wisconsin, #21 Indiana, and #22 Michigan ST are ranked.

10 days off was very welcome.

12/30: Early lead. Up 11 after 10. Webb is lighting it up so far. Up 50-36 at halftime. 20 for Webb, 12, 6 for Tony. +7 RBs, 2 TOs. Up only 7 with 10 left.

76-67. 7 was as close as they got late. 17, 14, 3 blocks for Tony, 24 for Webb, but he fouled out late, 17, 5, 5 for Howe. +12 RBs. We shot poorly, 33.8%.

We approached the orbit of the single planet in this solar system when:

“You will halt your ship immediately.”

We've been there before. We did. Obviously the planet has an advanced civilization. They've clearly been monitoring us long enough to learn our language,
which means they managed to crack the probe's computer codes, or ours, or maybe they found a way to hear our conversations.

“We come in peace. We are on a voyage of discovery in order to-”

“We are not interested in your voyage. Please remain silent.”

Not a good sign, but we'll comply and wait it out until we hear from them again.

1/1/2045: 6-5, 1-0 Penn ST is here. They have trouble scoring. They've only played one rankled team and they lost to them.

I coached there for 4 years and got them to the Elite Eight the last 3. Then I left to come here to UConn.

[Wayne23]

1/1/2045: 6-5, 1-0 Penn ST is here. They have trouble scoring. They've only played one rankled team and they lost to them.

I coached there for 4 years and got them to the Elite Eight the last 3. Then I left to come here to UConn.

1/2: We take an immediate lead. Up 12 after 10. Up 38-22 at the half; outstanding D! 11, 4 for Wie. Only 1 TO. 18-0 in the paint, 10-0 on 2nd chances. Up 19 with 10 to play.

71-50. Very solid D all night long.

12, 9, 3 steals for Hasi, 13 each for Wie and Howe. +8 for the bench. Domination in the paint and 5 TOs.

Ric Tony: Coach really got on me after the game. He waited until I had showered and dressed and then called me into his office. He told me he has had it with me being constantly in foul trouble. It was bad again tonight, I only played 11 minutes. He says I have the potential to be a first round draft choice, maybe a lottery pick, but it won't happen unless I learn to stay in the game. He says we work on this every day in practice, that the coaches keep trying to teach me the same things, and that I'm not making any progress. He says he's going to start someone else and just bring me in here and there if I don't find a way to fix it.

I feel pretty down but I know he's right. I get into the game and I lose control and make bad decisions. I'm writing this at 3:00 in the morning because I'm stressed and I can't sleep.

Coach Clark: I really read out Ric Tony tonight. The gentle, patient approach hasn't done a thing. This kid has all the ability in the world and if he declares for the draft in the Spring he'll be a top 5 pick. But he is nowhere near ready. He just doesn't have any on court discipline, and he averages fewer minutes than any of our starters. I might have been a little rough on him but I'm hoping it will help. I'm writing this at 3:00 a.m., because I can't sleep.

[Wayne23]

1/5: At 5-6, 0-2 Nebraska. Their starting SF has been out since the first game of the season with a wrist fracture. They score 3.5 fewer than they give up.

1/6: Very slow start for both teams. Up 7 after 10. 39-20 at the half; we woke up, they didn't, or maybe we didn't let them. 4 TO2 to 15, +20 in the paint. Tony has no fouls in 17 minutes but he ahs only 4 and 5, and he's not being very aggressive. Oh well, it's a process... Up 23 with 10 to go.

74-54. It was never in doubt.

16, 3, 5, 3 for Web, 11, 1, 5, 3 for Howe. Tony played 30 minutes, committed 1 foul, and had 9, 12, 3 blocks. I praised him in the post game press conference and made sure he knew that I had done so.

+12 RBs, 10 TOs, +16 inside.

1/7: “The Council will come to order. I called this special meeting to discuss our situation here in orbit of the planet.”

“Nothing new from the inhabitants?”

“No. The tone of their only communication with us was worrisome. We voted to do nothing, and to simply wait to hear. That was on 12/30. Today is 1/7 and we are still waiting.”

“This is not good. Maybe we should just leave.”

“Our mission is to learn all we can about the universe we live in.”

“i agree. I move we wait.”

After discussion we voted 8-4 to wait.

[Wayne23]

1/10: 7-8, 1-3 Rutgers is here. They give up 4 more than they score.

We moved to the Big 10 to have more games where we are challenged. It isn't working. Maybe the ACC next season.

1/11: We're sleep walking early. Up 1 after 10. We wake up. 47-29 at the break. 11 for Howe, 10 for Tony. +8 RBs, 4 TOs. Up 22 with 10 left.

85-64. 20, 7 for Howe, 14, 8, 4 blocks for Tony, 14, 7 for Hasi. +17 RBs, 9 TOs.

Aus Howe: I came here from high school pretty confident. I thought I could play at this level well enough to get some big time attention from the media, and to have the pro scouts watching me. That has all walked out pretty well. I haven't decided whether or not to go pro in the Spring but I'm leaning toward yes. Hey, I'd like to be a teenage millionaire!

[Wayne23]

1/12: At 11-3, 4-1 Ohio ST. They score 14 fewer a game than we do, and they don't rebound well. But they're tough to beat at home.

1/13: Back and forth early. Up 5 after 10. We go on a run and lead 39-26 at the half. Tony committed 3 fouls, after a couple of games when he played with discipline. 14 for Webb, 8 for Howe. 5 fewer TOs. Up 20 with 10 to play.

74-56. They held our score down but they couldn't score against our D.

20, 3, 2, 3 for Webb, but 5 TOs. 12 each for Howe and Gard. Tony was ineffective due to fouls. +22 in the paint, 11 TOs to 23.

We're 16-1. Pretty much 16 blow outs and an overtime loss. We need to be challenged.

[Wayne23]

1/17: 12-5, 4-2 Michigan is here. They can score, especially outside, but they're 0-2 vs. ranked teams.

While stuck waiting for the next communication from the planet we're doing long distance probes. This is a very sophisticate, complex society from what we can gather.

1/18: They take an early lead. We come back. Tied after 10. Down 5 at the half; we're not playing well and once again Tony has 3 fouls.

We're shooting 29.6% to their 50%, and that's the story.

Up 11 with 10 to go; playing much better in the 2nd half.

83-63. 51-26 in the 2nd. 21, 5, 5 for Howe, 13, 3, 3 for Hasi, 11, 7 for Gard.

+10 RBs, 8 TOs, +20 in the paint.

I have no answers for how to get Tony to not commit dumb fouls.

After 6 conference games we're alone in first and only Iowa is 1 game back.

[Wayne23]

1/19: At 12-5, 3-3 Michigan ST. It's a rebuilding year for them. They have trouble scoring and they turn it over a LOT.

1/20: Down 2 after 10. Then we heat up a little. Up 35-23 at halftime. Stifling D! +9 RBs. Their PG has 3 fouls, as does Howe. Up 23 with 10 left; they scored 6 in the 1st 10 min. of the 2nd half.

63-51. Their D was very good, but not as good as ours!

12, 4, 3 for Webb, 15 for Howe, 11, 4 for Pane. Tony played 17 minutes.

Starting SF Tan Wie suffered a concussion. Out for a week and a half. SG Owen Pane will start at SF.

1/22: “Attention invading ship. We find you have been probing us and learning about us without our permission. You have ten of your minutes to leave our space. If you have not begun to move away you will be fired upon. If you should ever return you will be fired upon immediately.”

It takes few minutes to fire up the engines but we started moving at about the seven minute mark. We kept moving and we were not fired upon.

One of the problems with what we do is that when we encounter other civilizations we often come in with no way to communicate with them. We stop at what we feel is a reasonable distance from the first potentially inhabited planet we encounter and wait. We may need to rethink this...

[Wayne23]

1/24: At #22 Iowa, 14-3, 5-1. They're the only team 1 game back of us. They can play, but only 1-2 vs. ranked teams. Their SG and SF can be dangerous. We should have an edge inside.

1/25: We take a quick lead. Up only 3 after 10. Tony is hot. Big run. Up 49-26 at the half. Tony has 12 and 9 and 1 foul. 9 for Howe, 10 for Gard. Pane is doing fine at SF. +13 RBs, +14 in the paint. Up only 4 with 10 to go; I max the D.

91-78. We beat our biggest conf. rival by 13 at their place so we now have a 2 game lead in the Big 10!

20, 13, 3, 3, 3 for Tony. When he stays out of foul trouble he's a force! 21, 7, 4 for Webb, but 5 TOs, 14 for Gard. +16 RBs, +20 in the paint.

Damn! Another injury. Aus Howe bruised his sternum. May be out for as long as 3 weeks. Wie is out for another week so we're down 2 starters. Joe John, a guard who rarely plays, also got hurt. He'll miss one game.

We're traveling through space again, away from any solar systems. We were followed for some time when we left the last planet but they finally turned back.