The Phenom

[Wayne23]

1/4: 97-98 at 7-5, 2-1 Temple. Back and forth through the half. Up 3 at the break. We lost it on a truly awful call with 2.2 seconds left. Not having Toma hurt us badly, but the officiating hurt us more. Both Hawk and Juli fouled out, and Bree had 4. They went to the line 39 times, we went 24. Of course the fact that we missed 10 free throws didn't help.

19, 3, 5 for Wins, 17, 2, 4 for Ward, 16, 9 for Burr, 9, 9, 8 for Bree,

I shouldn't have done it, and it will undoubtedly cost me money, but at the press conference after the game I opened with,

"Congratulations to Temple and their three most valuable players who, strangely enough, were not wearing Temple's colors."

Totally worth the fine.

1/5: I got the word at around 4:30 that the NCAA has fined me $10,000.

[Wayne23]

1/6: 93-69 vs. 9-5, 2-2 Tulsa here. Close for awhile, then we went on a run, then they came back. Tied at the half. We totally dominated the 2nd half.

25, 12, 4 for Juli, 21, 7, 3 for Hawk.

5 TOs. We couldn't hit threes though, 4-23.

Sam Toma will be back for our next game.

We're #9, which confuses me given the recent loss, NET #2. 14-3, 4-2, 1 back of 1st in the lost column.

"So Phee."

"Yes?"

"Should I just forget about having any kind of a relationship with you?"

"Brandi, I... look, I... I don't have a lot to give right now. I care about you... a lot... but I don't know when or even if I'll be ready to move on from Midge. I just don't know. I realize that's not fair to you, but I don't know what to do about it."

We talked about the uncertainty of my coaching future. I'm starting to think I may not be able to take UMass all the way to a title or two, and I want that, and will move on if the right offer comes along. That added to the uncertainty, of course.

We talked for a long time.

At the end Brandi said, "I think it's best if I just take care of PG for awhile. I don't think we should see each other until you think you're ready... if you ever are."

[Wayne23]

1/13: 77-63 vs. 6-8, 2-3 Wichita ST here. They scored the first 7 points and led throughout the half. Down 8 at the break. I fired them up in the locker room and we turned it around quickly.

Toma was awful, and in foul trouble all night. Hawk was in foul trouble all night. Fortunately Juli and Burr played well from the bench.

18, 4 for Juli, 14, 8 for Hawk. Again, good bench play.

Only 10 TOs. Decent D. But 4-20 on threes.

I'm going to shift the O to favor the inside game. The way we're shooting threes I have to do this.

Two tough road games next.

[Wayne23]

1/18: 89-86 at 10-6, 3-4 Houston. They have a powerful inside game and will test my new strategy of favoring the inside game. It was a battle in the 1st. Up 4 at the break. OT! HELL of a game!

WE won it at the foul line, shooting 31-43 (72.1%), to their 8-16. They missed the front of a 1 and 1 at the end of regulation to send it to OT. And yes, they fouled WAY more than we did. If I was on the other side I might have a different point of view.

It's highly unusual to win a game when you shoot 38.5% and the other team shoots 56.5%. Both teams were 8-20 on threes.

+14 RBs was a huge help. We had 3 fewer turnovers.

16, 11 for Hawk, 15, 5, 3 for Bree, 12, 8 for Toma, 16, 4, 3 for Wins.

Amazingly, in my 7th year as a head coach, this was my first overtime game.

On to 11-7, 3-5 Cincinnati. They have had a disappointing season but they're always dangerous. They are very good at the Point and in the middle, but are weaker at SG, Sf, and PF. They have a solid bench.

They don't score easily and if our D does what it should, that will help us greatly. But their D is excellent, so we need to step up on O. We rebound better than they do and take better care of the ball. But we need to be on our game.

[Wayne23]

1/20: 88-76 but it was closer than that. We took an early lead, got it to 10, then they came back. Down 10 at the half. They had to foul late, and for once we made most of our shots from the line (16-23, but 10-11 in the last few minutes.

23, 12, 2, with 4 steals for Toma. 20, 5, 8 for Ward, 15, 5, 4 for Wins. 12 for Juli.

7 TOs to 21 for them, so our D did a great job. Threes kept them in it for a long time, 12-24.

#8, NET #2, 17-3, 7-2, tied for 2nd with #4 Memphis, one back of Temple.

I miss Brandi, but I'm no closer to being able to give what I would feel I need to give in order to sustain a relationship. She still watches PG when I'm on the road, but she comes here to feed him and play with him, and is never here when I leave or when I get back home. So I don't see her at all.
She doesn't even eat in the UMass cafeteria any more.

[Wayne23]

1/27: 76-59 vs. 7-13, 4-6 South Florida here. We took an early lead and stretched it out fairly quickly. Up 18 at the half. It was never in doubt.

17, 7, 3 for Hawk, and 17 more for Wins. 15, 4, 7 for Ward.

14-29 on threes and that was the difference, they had only 4-16.

In a 3 way tie for 1st with Temple and Memphis.

1/30: Toma is #21, Ward #29 on the Norton list.

12-6, 7-2 Temple is next, here. They beat us by one there. We really think we're better all across the board. We want to concentrate on turning them over and out rebounding them.

[Wayne23]

2/1: 95-74. We held a slight lead from the beginning, then got it to double digits late. Up 9 at the break. We're OWNING the boards. It turned into a rout. We led by as many as 27.

17, 9 for Juli. I keep reassuring him that he will start next year. He says he's cool with that, and he seems to understand the situation. 17, 7, 4 for Bree, 20, 4 for Hawk.

+21 RBs, 10 Toa. Both teams shot 50% but we took 14 more shots. 75% from the line, which is great. Not a hell of a lot I can do to coach free throw shooting.

Tied for 1st with Memphis. We play there in late Feb.

Hadn't met with Ruth in a couple of months but I felt like I needed her to help me refocus about Brandi. After I'd laid it all out she laid into me.

"Why are you setting these ridiculous limits. 'I can't' is always self-inflicted. If you're interested in her, do something about it, and stop hitting the brakes with both feet. Feel what you feel."

Yeah...

[Wayne23]

2/3: 75-60 at 8-12, 4-7 Wichita ST. They scored the first 6. After that it was back and forth until we went on a late run. Up by 12 at the half. Never a doubt in the 2nd half.

20 for Ward. 12, 6, 4 for Bree, 12, 9 for Toma, 13, 5, 3 for Hawk.

14 TOs, but they had 23. We shot only 32.8% but took 21 more shots. And we actually hit our free throws-88.5%!

We're now 1 up in the loss column on both Memphis and Temple.

2/6: 20-3, 10-2, #7, NET #4.

[Wayne23]

2/8: 90-52 vs. 14-9, 6-7 Cincinnati here. Up 11 quickly. Up 15 at the half. Then we just ran away with it. A true rout.

20, 8 for Deke Juli, who may be the best 6th man in the country. 19, 3, 3 for Bree. Good guard play and good bench play.

+9 RBs, 8 TOs. We held them to 29,6%, 22.2% on threes. We shot 54.7%, 59.1% on threes.

I asked Brandi to dinner. She said no, but that she'd be willing to come to my place and talk things over.

2/9: Brandi and I had a long talk. She told me she needed a commitment from me to try. Nothing more, just to try.

I told her that's what I had in mind.

She asked about my future and I had to say that I felt like I had taken UMass hoops about as far as I could given the limited budget and facilities,
and that if I get an offer from an elite program I'm gone.

She said that would make it hard for her, knowing I might be gone, this spring or next, most likely.

I don't know where we are right now.

[Wayne23]

2/10: 81-67 vs. 13-10, 6-8 Houston here. We won by 3 in OT there. Back and forth. Down 4 at the half. We went on a big run midway through the 2nd.

21, 13, 5 for Hawk, 21, 4, 3 for Bree, 14 each for Toma and Ward. Wins was awful, in foul trouble all night, played 11 minutes.

+8 RBs. 15 TOs but they had 23. 46.2% from the line, which is making me crazy. As we regularly do we took 14 more shots than they did. Our rebounding, as well as our ability to turn teams over, give us lots of extra shots. That's a recipe for winning.

Weird scheduling. We have 4 straight on the road next. Then we finish with 2 at home.