The Phenom

[Wayne23]

11/29: 62-83. OUCH! We were only down 5 at the half but they ran away from us in the 2nd. The bench was one of the differences, 25 to 13. Their D was another, holding us to 36.8%, 24% on threes.

23, 10 for Toma, 13, 5 for Biel, and that was about it.

The Minutewomen (what an idiotic name) beat #1 UConn on a buzzer beating 30 footer by Della.

"Best win of my career. Smith and Wirz were incredible inside, and Della was Della. Auro Giniemma said afterward that Della is as good As Addie Fudd. She was tonight. She had 37, 8, 8 and Fudd had 34, 5, 8."

"Think you'll be #1 in the next poll?"

"Hard to say. It would be nice but we both know it doesn't really mean anything at this point. It helps at the end so you get a better seeding in the tourney, but yeah, it would be nice."

[Wayne23]

12/2: 74-63 at 1-4 American but it wasn't that close; they scored the last 6 points. We fell behind early but quickly got into our rhythm. Up only 2 at the half though. We played well in the 2nd half.

21, 11 for Toma, 19, 3 for Biel, 10, 13 for Hawk.

+16 RBs. We held them to 37% shooting, 21.4% on threes.

12/4: The road trip is finally finished. Just got back to Amherst- well, South Deerfield, really, but I'm home!

We're 7-1, dropped to #8.

Midge is #2 behind Ohio State and ahead of UConn. They play Ohio State there next.

[Wayne23]

12/6: 90-66 with 3-3 Baylor here. W took an early lead. Up by 17 at the half. An easy one.

27, 14 for Toma, 17, 4 for Biel. Gazu was in foul trouble all night and played only 8 minutes but both Mike Wins, 9 points, 5 assists, and Hec Howe, 13 points, filled in really well.

+11 RBs, only 7 assists. Good D.

I'm giving Hec Howe more minutes at both guard spots. Let's see what happens.

2 more pre-conf. games. Both at home. But Midge is on the road. Seems like we never see each other. But we both have a week off before our next game so that's good.

Midge lost by 4 at Ohio ST.

"Damn! We were in it all night but we just couldn't get over the hump. The refs really hurt us. They called it tight and both Smith and Wirz were in foul trouble for the whole second half. But the good news is we damn near won even with that."

[Wayne23]

12/13: 77-61 with 4-5 Harvard here. Up 14 at the half. We were never in trouble.

16, 6, 2, and 4 steals for Toma. 19, 5 for Bree, 12, 8 for Hec Howe, who really took advantage of the added minutes.

+11 RBs. Decent D.

More time off.

Midge is 10-1, with only the loss to Ohio ST to mar the record. And they are for real!

[Wayne23]

12/20: 73-54 vs. 5-3 Georgia Tech. Took us 12 minutes to take our first lead. Down 5 at the half. We came out strong in the 2nd half and were in control all the way.

18, 8 for Toma, 10, 8, 4 for Bree. Good bench play.

Excellent D, 31.1%, 1-16 on threes.

We end the pre-conf. season at 10-1. #23, which I do NOT understand, especially given that our NET is #6.

+10.1 PPG, +3.0 RBs, -2.1 TOs.

Toma leads us with 14.9 points, 7.6 RBs. Nobody turns it over more than 2.2 per game; impressive!

Midge is 11-1, still #2, NET #1.

[Wayne23]

12/26: 87-75 at 6-4 Temple in the AAC opener, but it wasn't that close. We scored the first 11 points. Up 20 with 6 min. To play in the 1st. Up 14 at the break. We led by as many as 23 in the 2nd.

19, 14 for Toma, 14, 7, 6 for Bree.

+10 RBs, 11 TOs. Good D, for the most part.

Temple is a good team. Beating them easily at their place may be a really positive indicator of how we will do in the AAC.

[PointGuard]

The Minutewomen (what an idiotic name) beat #1 UConn on a buzzer beating 30 footer by Della.

Welllll....

Most guys don't want to be known as minute-men either!

[Wayne23]

That's true!

[Wayne23]

12/28: 91-62 2-8, 1-0 Wichita ST here. Up 12 at the half. We led throughout, mostly by a wide margin.

18, 10, 3, with 5 steals for sub C/F Deke Juli. 18, 9 for Toma, 17, 5 for Hawk, 12, 2, 4 for Howe.

+8 RBs, 8 TOs.

Hec Howe is going to start at SG. He's giving me more, especially on D, than Biel is.

[Wayne23]

1/4: 85-58 vs. 9-4, 2-2 Southern Methodist here. Early lead. Got it to 20. Up 25 at the half. Never a game.

14, 5, 5 for Bree, 15, 2, 4 for Gazu, 12, 2, 6 for Howe, 13, 4 for Biel, 10, 8 for Toma. +7 RBs.

1/5: Midge fainted shortly after the end of her game in Memphis; she's in a local hospital there. I want to fly out there to see what's going on.

Talked with Midge a little while ago. She's feeling better and has no idea what happened. They've run some tests and will run more. No results yet.

We're off until the 11th. I'm catching a plane in an hour. I've spoken with bench coach Randy Cilk, and the other coaches, and with Rick Hopeless, of course. Randy will run the practices, and will coach on the 11th if I'm not back. I probably will be.

1/6: "Damn it, I'm fine!"

"People don't just faint."

"I got caught up and forgot to eat... both lunch and dinner. I'm sure that was it."

"Well, maybe."

The tests all came back negative, which is great, of course, but it's scary not knowing.

"Phee, it's way better. It just happened. The last thing i want is for something to show up on a medical test."

1/7: Midge is in the process of being released from the hospital. We're flying home tonight.