Somewhere in America

[Serafino74]

One of the most important games of the season is ahead, we will welcome the neighbors Jackson State Tigers. Tigers have conference rank 7, and this kind of games are crucial for us, they will mainly determine if our season will be successful! We have exactly the same record (1-1 conference and 5-6 non-conference). We play at home and it is an opportunity to show character! Their starting lineup is comparatively better than ours, and in the Center and Shooting Guard position there are two players with 4.0 overall.

We had an amazing first half, especially in defense, their two stars are as if they never entered the court and we are 46-30 ahead. However, I do not feel confident enough that we will win. Chris Simmons has 4 fouls early, but at the moment this does not affect the team.

In the second half we reached the difference up to 25 points but somewhere there their wounded egoism awoke and they started playing good basketball. They reduced the difference enough, but not so much that they could claim the win. In the end we won 83-75. The game was won by our bench, Chris Simmons was sent off early due to fouls, and while our main players were sluggish, from the bench Mark Ford scored 13 points with 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks, in a great performance , center Mark Marsh and small forward David Roberts added 12 points each. The wide rotation I use in the games makes the players feel that they all have an active role in the team and today's appearance was a result of that!

[Serafino74]

In the next game we travel to Houston to face the team that is first in the rankings of Southwestern. Texas Southern has a prestige of 17 while our conference has a prestige of 13 ....... The fact that they did not start well (1-2) will make the game even harder as they will have the opportunity to break out on us!

However, the situation in Houston is difficult as the Tropical Depression Hanna continued to lash south Texas with powerful winds and rain on Sunday as it weakened and moved farther into northeast Mexico, prompting the Federal Emergency Management Agency to approve an emergency declaration for Texas. Heavy rains continued to drench south Texas, where some communities reported more than 12 inches of rain. Loose and damaged boats are tossed around after the docks at the marina where they had been secured were destroyed as Hurricane Hanna made landfall.


We were pressured full court from the first minute, but we coped exceptionally, at some point we were ahead with 18 points but we closed the half 49-39. Our bench again looks very reliable, Mark Ford continued from where he left off in the previous game and scored 10 points in the first half. Texas Southern shows a team with a lot of problems, and if we continue like this we will achieve a very big win, but it is still early and nothing has been decided!

There was a big fight in the second half, very early they covered the difference and we went point by point until the end, finally we lost 77-79, we lost a great opportunity and we are very sad but the dynamics we showed as a team makes me very happy. Mark Ford finished the game with 12 points, scoring just one bucket in the second half. Our front line was played well by Travis Day and Aaron Bland scored 13 and 14 points respectively, while crazy Reggie Horwath seems to be going through a crisis and has poor performances in the last 3 games, just after his best game in the season with 19 points and 7 assists.

[Serafino74]

The 5th game for the conference championship was in the neighboring Mississippi valley state against the Delta Devils. While it is a historically black university like us our relationships are not the best, so the bad hospitality was expected. As a team it is about the same level as us but with a slightly stronger roster.

We lost 51-59, from the beginning it seemed that we were not on a good day but we kept the difference at low levels, until they escaped with 15 at halftime and the only thing we managed in the second half was to reduce to 8-10 points and that is all. Reggie 'Madman' Horwath started well and it seemed that he would break the series of bad performances but he had a problem with the fouls, he did it on the bench, got out of his rhythm and finally stayed at 7 points in the first 5 minutes. We generally shot very badly, the Devils had good and tough defenders in most positions and we conceded 8 blocks in return for just 2. We are now 2-3 in the conference and 6-8 overall.

[Serafino74]

In the next game we faced at home the Prairie View Panthers, a small university from Texas. Prairie View is very close to Houston and has only 5 thousand inhabitants. We made perhaps the best appearance so far and won 82-72 having three players with double-digit points. Excellent performance from our center Aaron Bland, who was the player of the match with 12 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists and one steal. Adrian Williams scored 17 points with 4/8 three-pointers and Simon Tarver scored 17 points. Overall we are good, we have reached a record 3-3, not bad for a team that aims to avoid the last place. We have one more game to get to the mid-season in the Southwestern Athletic, after that we will deal with what has been done so far on an individual and team level based on statistics.

The positive news of the team, however, is overshadowed by the difficult situation that prevails due to the pandemic. At least 116 people in a Mississippi school district have been instructed to self-quarantine for two weeks after six students and one staff member tested positive for the coronavirus less than two weeks after the start of school.
The only solution is to immerse yourself in Wayne's futuristic world and take on a team there. No unmet needs. Not many needs at all, or wants either. A contemplative life!!

[Wayne23]

Wayne's dream worlds have problems of their own though!

[PointGuard]

Wayne's dream worlds have problems of their own though!

And the plot thickens!

[Serafino74]

8/28: 5 months alone. I'm trying to minimize alcohol use, one drink, and not every day. Alcohol tends to increase depression and I sure don't need that.

11/6: I'm probably drinking too much. Thinking of reactivating my holofriends.

Old school players and coaches plagued by such bad habits, and so am I, hahaha

Roy Tarpley, one of the strongest drinkers he played in greece, he was the best foreigner who came to play in greece in those years (because then there were very big names like Dominique Wilkins, Byron Scott, Jeff malone and so on). When coach Steve Giatzoglou went to picked him up from the hotel for training he asked the reception what he had ordered for breakfast, and the answer was 2 fried eggs and 18 beers ..........
Tarpley died at the age of 50. It was reported that he died due to liver failure.

[Wayne23]

Yikes! 18 beers!

[Serafino74]

For the final game before the conference mid-season, we traveled to northern Louisiana to face the Grabling Tigers, a team that is last in the Rankings with a 2-4 record at the conference and 3-12 overall. With a victory we would close with a positive record (4-3). We started terribly anxious and continued throughout the first half at the same pace, we lived and died with three-pointers. At halftime we were tied 39-39, a good start in the second half gave us a difference of 8 points 48-40, but immediately after we got a blackout and the score was 48-56. We balanced again (61-61) but in the end we did not have the mental reserves and while we were in the game 2 minutes before the end we finally lost 61-73. The final score does not reflect the true picture of the match, and it was the most bitter defeat so far despite the fact that we have lost games by one basket. Reggie 'Madman' Horwath was our worst player in line with expectations with 4 turnovers and 2 points. The last performances of the promising freshman will throw him far down in the upcoming evaluation of the mid-season. Adrian Williams scored 13 points with 4/9 three-pointers, and Mark Ford add 12 with 3/4 three-pointers


The tiger devoured us at the finish!!!

[PointGuard]

Yikes! 18 beers!

Is that a ....

Drinker's Dozen?