The Phenom

[Wayne23]

1/11: 80-58 vs. 7-8, 1-3 Tulsa here. Back and forth. We had a late run and led by 15 at the half. We overpowered them in the 2nd, leading by as many as 27.

18, 11, 4 for Bree, 13, 4, 6 for Gazu, 12, 8 for Toma. Very good bench play.

+8 RBs, 8 TOs. We hit 10 threes to their 3.

Post Game Presser, Excerpts:

Q: Coach, you're 15-1, 5-0, beating most teams by a lot. Next up is #23 Cincinnati. They're 13-3, 6-0. Can they beat you?

Coach: Hell yeah! We need to be really on our game, and we need to keep their outside game in check. They have as good an outside game as anyone in the country.

Q: So keep the game inside?

Coach: That's our best shot. We need to get it into our big guys, and we need to clog up the passing lanes on D. And our bench has to step up. We've got a great bench, but so do they. It sucks that we have only one day off between games and that's a travel day. That's not going to help us.

Midge is still not 100%. Her energy is low; when she gets home she goes right to bed. I make her eat something, but that's it. I'm concerned.

[Wayne23]

1/13: 72-84 at Cincinnati. Back and forth early but all the calls are going against us. Up 1 at the half. It stayed close for a long time. Then with about 5 minutes to play they went on a 7-1 mini-run and we couldn't come back. We did a great job of getting it inside for most of the game but we couldn't hit a three to save our lives, 4-22, and we were a dismal 12-24 from the line. They took 6 more free throws but made 17 more (29-30). The goal is to beat them at our place later in the season. But the hell of that is, as it was this time, that we have only one day between games and it's a travel day. WTF!

14, 12 for Toma, 15, 8, 3 for Bree, 11, 7, 3 for Hawk. But their SG lit us up for 29 and their 6th man had 16 and 8.

Chris Burr hurt a knee but it's not serious. He may miss a game.

Midge is now 17-1, undefeated in the AAC. Still #2; Ohio State hasn't lost.

[Wayne23]

1/20: 87-55 against 8-7, 3-3 Houston here. Solid early lead. Up 19 at the end of the half. This one really was easy.

26, 4 for Toma, 17, 5 for Hawk, 17, 1, 4 for Howe. 7 TOs, and they had 23. Very good D, but Houston is having an off year.

Two injuries. Fortunately both are slight. Arvid Biel hurt his knee but it's not a ligament, just a bruise. Might miss a game. Deke Juli banged up his shooting hand. He's day to day.

"I'm ready to start running again."

"You what!... Uh... Okay, what does your doctor say?"

"..."

"No, Midge. You need to talk with your doctor first."

"Are you telling me what to do?"

"No, but-"

"But it sounds like you're telling me what to do!"

"Okay, let's slow it down... I think it's more than reasonable to talk with your doctor before you start running again. I really hope you'll do that. I'd be really worried otherwise."

"Doctors always take the freakin' conservative approach."

"And keep their patients alive."

"Oh stop!"

"Come on, Midge. That's the right thing to do. Call the office or use the Portal. She's really good about getting back to you."

"..."

"You know I'm right."

"I'm going to be really pissed if she says no."

"Listen to what she has to say. Maybe it won't be a no but it'll be a process instead."

"A process?"

"You know, start with walking, then build up the time and the pace, then walk and run, and get to running over time."

"Christ, I'll be 40 by the time I can run again."

"You're not 40 yet?"

"Shut up!"

[Wayne23]

1/23: 89-71 with 5-11, 1-6 Tulane here. We just took off. Up 12 at the half. Another easy win.

20, 2, 6 for Howe, in his best offensive game since I put him in the starting lineup. 13, 16 for Hawk, 13, 6, 3 for Bree. 11, 4, 5 for Mike Wins subbing at guard.

+16 RBs, 8 TOs.

We're #14, NET #8. 17-2, 7-1, alone in first. Cincy has lost twice since they beat us, and they're alone in 2nd.

3 game road trip, and all three teams have winning records both overall and in the AAC.

Midge is still undefeated in the conf., 19-1 overall, #2 to Ohio State.

"So what did the doc say?"

"Just what you said. Walk 20 minutes. Increase it by 2-3 minutes a day. When I get to 45 minutes, alternate 5 minutes of running, 5 minutes of walking, increase the running time slowly."

"Okay, that's what we'll do."

"WE'LL do?"

"I miss running with you. Seems like forever, and I miss it like crazy. I'll do the exercise with you as soon as I get back from this damn road trip."

"You just want to check up on me."

"Midge! We ran together for how long, a year maybe?"

"Yeah, at least."

"I miss it. I really liked that time with you. We kept up a good pace, but not so fast that we couldn't talk. Some days it was the only time we had together all day."

"You know sometimes you say just the right thing."

[Wayne23]

1/27: 77-84 at 3rd place Memphis, 12-7, 6-3. Back and forth. Up 5 at the break. It was close until the last 2-3 minutes.

Sam Toma was unstoppable, 46, 14. That's the most points any player of mine has ever scored. 13, 8 for Hawk.

They beat us badly outside, 33, 11, 16, to 7, 4, 12. The inside guys did well but they couldn't overcome that. 3-17 shooting on threes didn't help, and shooting 56% from the line didn't help either. +8 RBs.

Cincinnati lost. We're one up in the Loss column on both Cincy and Memphis. We play them both again and both games are at our place. But our next two, both away, could be challenging.

1/29: Sam Toma is #13 on the Norton list.

Our recruit got a 940 on his SAT. Our minimum number? 940. Whew!
Midge lost by 2 on the road to #17 Houston. Ohio State also lost, their first loss of the season. The women's poll has UConn at #1, Ohio State at #2, and Midge at #3.

[Wayne23]

1/30: 78-76 at 4th place Central Florida, 10-9, 6-4. We took an early lead but it stayed close. Tied at the half. Hell of a game! It was tied after they hit a three with 4.8 left. We got it over the line and worked it to Jay Bree who slammed it home with 0.3 left for the win.

Bree led us with 19, 4,3. Arvid Bree played really well, 12, 5, 3 and the pass to Bree at the end. 12, 4 for sub C/F Deke Juli.

Both teams were in foul trouble for most of the 2nd half. Gazu fouled out early, playing only 12 minutes, and both Hawk and Toma had 4. The other team lost their C to fouls and their SG wound up with 4.

We're 1 up in the Loss column over #20 Cincinnati. Memphis and Southern Methodist are both 2 back in the Loss column.

[Wayne23]

2/1: 101-75 at 13-6, 6-4 Southern Methodist. We mostly led but it was close throughout. Up 7 at the break. We opened up a comfortable lead quickly in the 2nd half.

19, 6, 4 for Bree, 22, 4 for Toma. 6 others had between 7 and 14 (Howe).

We shot an amazing 62.5%, 13-22 on threes. Good thing because they shot 50.9%. Not much D tonight.

Post Game Presser, Excerpts:

Q: Coach, Cincinnati is at the Mullins Center next. Tough opponent.

Coach: Yeah, and we fly tomorrow and play them the day after. The prep time is miniscule and this will be our 4th game in 8 days. The scheduling sucks.

Q: Sounds like you and A. D. Rick Hope don't get along very well.

Coach: You don't really expect me to comment on that, do you?

Q: I guess that's the only comment I need. What do you need to do to beat Cincinnati?

Coach: They won by 12 at their place. We let their SG score about 30, their PF had a bunch inside, and their 6th man hit 15 or 20. We didn't take good care of the ball. Our guards gave us very little point production. We hit like 4 out of 20 threes. So we need to take care of the ball, play tighter D, and rebound. They're a tough team. I think the key is guard play, but our bigs need to step up, too.

[Wayne23]

2/3: 81-74. A real battle in the first. At the midpoint I went with only man and we were up 2 at the half. The 2nd half was a war. They got the lead to 10 so I went with max defensive intensity and started pressing about half the time. We regained the lead and got it to 9. They came back and tied it. Then Bree hit two threes, back to back, and we hung on for the win. HELL of a game and a HUGE win!

18, 10, 4 for Bree. 17, 4 for Howe, 15, 11 for Toma.

We got 27 from our guards, which was a huge improvement over last time. Bree, Toma, and sub C/F Deke Juli (10 pts) all came up BIG. We held them to 38.9%, mostly because of the man to man. They only shot 11-31 on threes. We didn't commit dumb fouls and they did. Those were the keys to this win.

We're 20-3, 10-2, #10, NET #8. Up 2 in the Loss column over Cincy, 3 over Memphis, 4 or more over the rest, with 8 to play, only 3 against teams with winning records and all of those are at home.

Midge is 22-2, 11-1, in 1st by 3 games, and ranked #3.

[Wayne23]

2/8: 85-86 at 11-12, 5-7 Tulsa there. They came to play. I had to go to the man full time again. Up 1 at the half. Damn! This is not a game we should have lost. Probably a let down after 4 games in 8 days, all of them tough games. 16 lead changes, 9 ties, never more than an 8 point differential. We seemed tired at the end and I think we were.

Their bench was a little better, they rebounded a little better, we let them shoot 53.1%, 9-19 on threes, they made their free throws while we were
5-11, and that REALLY pisses me off. It's a FREE throw! MAKE IT!

21 for Gazu, but the other PG had 12, 8, 10. 16, 7 for Bree.

We caught a break. Cincy lost at home to Temple. So this loss didn't hurt us in the standings.

4 days off then we're at the worst team in the AAC.

[Wayne23]

2/13: 75-67 at 3-19, 2-11 Wichita State, but it wasn't that closed. I emptied the bench early and they stayed with their starters. They hung in for 16 minutes. Up 22 at the half; BIG run late. We led by as many as 29.

7 players had between 8 and 12. Bree led us with 12, 16, 4. Good bench play.

+22 RBs, 12 TOs. They shot 36.4%, 7-23 on threes.

Sam Toma is #12 on the Norton list.

We shoot a miserable 64% from the line.

16-9, 10-5 Memphis is next, here. They're tied for 2nd in the AAC, two games back. They beat us by 7 at their place. They scored both inside and out, and took good care of the ball. We couldn't hit threes and had 15 TOs. Toma was amazing, 46 and 14, but no one else did much except for watching him.

We need to stop their outside game. I plan to go with man just about 100% of the time. That seems to be our best D.

2/14: Midge fainted again, and again it was in the locker room after the game. Damn! I'm with her at the local hospital in Northampton. They're running tests again.

"Hell of a way for us to spend Valentine's Day."

"I am SO pissed!"

"Did you forget to eat again?"

"No! I had lunch and dinner both. You were still on the plane this morning but I didn't overdo the exercise. I did the full 45 minutes but alternated 5 minutes running, 5 minutes walking, and the running was slow, only 10 minute mile pace. I don;t get it."

"Hang in. We'll see what the tests show."

"Damn!"

"Hey, speaking of Valentine's Day-"

"Yeah, I am in SUCH a romantic mood!"

"Okay. Anyway, I love you."

"I know. Sorry for biting your head off."

"It's understandable. I had a surprise planned for today but maybe it's better to wait until you're feeling better."

"A surprise?"

"Never mind."

"No, it might cheer me up. What is it?"

"Hang on... Here ya go? I'm on one knee so you know what that means, right?"

"... An engagement ring?"

"Here it is... It's time, Midge. I want to marry you. How about it?"
"We need to wait until we see what this fainting **** is all about."

"I don't care. No, I DO care, but what I mean is it doesn't make any difference. I think it's time. I've been feeling this way for a while, and I almost asked you at Christmas."

"I love the ring... but no. Not until I know about my health. But don't return it. Just ask me again if it turns out to be no big deal."

"Midge. It doesn't matter to me. I hope this is nothing, but if it's something I want to be with you more than ever."

"Let's see what the tests show."