The Phenom

[Wayne23]

11/15: 82-98 at Chattanooga. We fell behind early. Down 6 at the half. We Never led. Not the way we wanted to start the season. Our D completely let us down; they shot 58.3%, 61.5% on threes. 23 TOs, and our starting guards had 15 of them. We have a lot of work to do.

Frosh Johnny Brom led us with 18, 12, 3, and 5 steals.

[Wayne23]

11/18: 70-57 at Wofford. We scored the first 11 points, led by 20 quickly. 46-12 at the half. They got closer in the 2nd but the final score was as close as they got.

27, 10 for Owen. +17 RBs.

The D was as good tonight as it was bad last game; they shot 32.3%, 22.2% on threes. This was more like KSU basketball but I wasn't happy with the 2nd half.

[Wayne23]

11/20: One of our guards didn't sign, which means he won't hit our SAT score. Not good.

11/22: 86-81 at Lafayette. Back and forth 1st half. Up 5 at the half. 20 lead changes, 10 ties. We led for most of the 2nd half, but at times it got really close.

25, 8, 3 with 4 steals for Owen, 12, 5, 4 for Celk, 13, 7 for Brom. 16 TOs and the D was not good.

I just don't feel the team is playing up to its potential so far.

[Wayne23]

11/25: 90-74 at Mercer. Back and forth 1st half. Up 5 at the end. We took charge in the 2nd.

17, 14 for Brom, 17, 4, 3 for Owen, 10, 10, 3 for Celk, 14, 4, 9 for John. F/C Brian Weat had 17 from the bench.

We open the season with 5 road games. We're 3-1 after the 1st 4, so it's not all bad by any means. With 2 frosh and a soph in the starting lineup it's taking a while for us to jell but I'm beginning to see some things that make me think it's starting to happen.

[Wayne23]

11/29: 97-78 at Portland. We took an early lead. Up 16 at the half. We were rock solid on O, +14 on the boards, but the D was weak; they shot 49.2%.

18, 15 for Brom, 21, 6 for Celk, 14, 2, 9 for Luke John at SG; he's finally starting to put it together. Brian Weat is a real asset from the bench, 12, 5 tonight.

Excerpts from the Post Game Press Conference:

Q: Coach, it's been a long road trip.

Coach: It definitely has. 4-2 after that awful 1st game, so i guess we're moving in the right direction. The good news is that exactly half of our remaining regular season games are at home.

Q: Talk about the freshmen.

Coach: Johnny Brom is making some rookie mistakes, and he needs to learn some things on the defensive end but he is an offensive machine and a solid rebounder.

Luke John took a few games but in this game and the last one he was getting open regularly and hitting some shots. I think he has the potential to be a really good defender but he's not quite there yet with that. He needs to do a lot of work regarding taking care of the ball.

Brian Weat could be a starter if we weren't so deep up front. He's giving us very solid minutes.

Ike Howe is doing well as our #3 guard.

It's hard to find minutes for Sam Toma with our depth inside but when he gets a chance he does well. It's a very good freshman class, and they'll only get better over time.

Q: Has it been frustrating to see all of the rookie mistakes?

Coach: I try to be patient but I also demand a lot from my players. I sometimes have to take a deep breath and realize there's a learning curve here, and we'll be a better team in March than we are now.

[Wayne23]

12/2: 91-67 UMass here. Back and forth for 10 minutes, then we took over. Up 21 at the half. It's nice to be home, in front of a sellout crowd.

31, 9, 4 for Owen. A season high 21, 5, 5 for John. Ike Howe, our #3 guard, had a season high 10.

+21 RBs, 12 TOs.

Shawn Sand is moving the ball well, but he's not shooting. We're working on that but it's not happening.

[Wayne23]

12/6: 87-68 Georgia State here. We took an early lead. Up 21 at the half. Then we stayed in control throughout the 2nd half. Our front line
overpowered theirs- 20, 6 for Celk, 16, 11, 3 for Brom, 14, 3 for Owen, and 18, 4 for Weat, who keeps getting better. Only 10 TOs.

Our NET rating is only #36. It was better last year. But it's getting better. We're #11 on O but only #141 on D. I really thought we were going to be an outstanding defensive team this season but it hasn't happened so far. We're #2 in PPG though, and #11 in RBs.

[Wayne23]

12/9: 101-80 at Rider. We took an early lead again. Up by 13 at the half. The combination of an amazing and very deep front line and the ability to score outside made this a walk in the park.

21, 13 for Brom, 21, 9 for Weat, who will get more playing time starting now, 18, 3, 6 for John, and good games from Owen and Celk. 9, 4, 5 for Sand. Even Rick Sage managed 6 and 2 in only 7 minutes. +21 RBs, 10 TOs.

It feels like we've found our game and we're executing extremely well. We're spending more and more time working on our weak D but the O is so overwhelming that it masks our defensive shortcomings.

[Wayne23]

12/13: 70-80 at Charlotte quickly opened up a double digit lead. We were down 15 at the half. We really never threatened them. Our O was listless and static. When the O isn't clicking we simply don't play enough D to compensate. Not a good night.

22, 10 for Owen, 15, 5 for Weat, but no one else did much. They beat us badly in the back court, 51 for their top 4 guards, 21 for our 3. That was the difference. That and the fact that Celk and Brom had sub-par games.

We're 7-2, NET of 61, with 2 more to go before OVC play begins.

[Wayne23]

12/20: 81-70. New Mexico ST here. Close for the entire 1st half. Up 5 at the end. We took charge in the 2nd.

15, 7, 3 for Celk, 17, 4 for Weat, 10 points, 10 assists for Sand. Only 6 TOs.

Bad news. Starting SG Luke John broke a finger on his shooting hand. Out until the post season. Ike Howe will step in with Greg Morr subbing. I think Howe can get it done but we'll lose a little something on D, and we're down to 3 guards, the third, Greg Morr, being someone we don't have a lot of confidence in. Hopefully, as a senior, he will step up.

One more pre-conf. game.