Hereafter

[Wayne23]

1/12: 67-58. Took awhile to get a lead. They came to play. Up only 3 at the half. We've lost our shooting touch; hopefully not for long. This one was tied with 3 minutes to play.

16, 5 for Thop, 14, 3 for Mill. We shot only 35.4%, 33.3% on threes. We won it at the line, +11.

Our inside game helped too, +8 in the paint. But we're definitely not shooting well. Part of that is we need to do a better job of moving without the ball.

At 7-8, 2-2 UMBC next. On paper they're better at PG and C. Not convinced , but they definitely hit the boards. We need to hit shots and rebound.

The asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter requires some very careful navigation. There's plenty of room but the navigators need to be alert at every moment. The big ones are easy to spot but the small ones can really do some damage. We're just entering the belt and the next few weeks.

[Wayne23]

1/16: 74-81. Close early. Still close late. Up 1 at the half. We start the 2nd with a min-run, then another one. They narrow the gap. We fell apart in the last 2 minutes. Not happy. Their bench beat ours badly, 30, 17, 8 to our 18, 9, 5. That was more than the difference.

22, 6 for Thop, 14, 6, 5 for Jack.

Worse than the loss was an injury, Brett Joon broke the index finger on his shooting hand. Out for probably the season unless we go very deep into a tournament and without him that's not likely.

Rash Thop is moving to the Point, Tom Jack goes to SG. Hank Fino to SF. Cal Mill moves into the starting lineup at PF. Only Pete Andy stays where he was.

Lav Swoe will get lots more minutes at guard, and my first big off the bench is Alex Murt.

We're still only 1 back of 1st in the AEC at 12-4, 3-2.

9-7, 2-3 Stony Brook is in town next. They're tough inside and have a solid bench but their guards are weak. Given our guard situation we'll see how weak. There are no easy games for the rest of the season.

Near the end of my frosh season at UMass. I've played in all but 2 games, mostly because a starter went down for the season. That makes me the first guy in at SF and SG. I've done okay in most games but over my head a couple of times. But I'm learning. Coach James, the guy who is mentoring me, keeps talking about how much I'm learning about the game. He lets me ask all kinds of questions after practice, and I text and email questions, too. He really knows his stuff. He was a high school head coach for years, and I'm betting he'll get to be a college head coach sooner or later. I'm learning a ton!

It's kind of tricky juggling these two lives but it is also very cool!

[Wayne23]

1/19: 83-64. We take an early lead. Up 10 after 11 minutes. Up 14 at the half. Big run early in the 2nd half. We led by as many as 28.

19, 6, 3 for Tom Jack in his first game back at his natural position. Andy had 21, sub guard Lav Swoe had 14. They beat us up inside but we won the game outside.

We shot 49.2% to their 45.1% but we took 8 more shots and made 6 of them. We were +8 at the line.

10 TOs to their 23.

8-9, 4-2 Binghampton, tied with us and a couple of others for 2nd place, is here next. They do most of their scoring outside but they don't move the ball that well, and they turn it over. We also seem to be stronger on the boards.

We had a fairly close call with a small rock in the asteroid belt. We needed to make a quick swerve. The crew had only a few seconds to get secured somehow and several didn't make it. There were 15 injuries. All of the injured will fully recover but there were some broken bones.

There are places to secure oneself quickly in every part of the ship. The Captain is NOT happy about the injuries and sent a text memo ordering everyone to review safety procedures at least weekly. He made it clear that most of the injuries were caused by negligence by those injured.

I have always reviewed safety procedures regularly. It's a ship in space; one little glitch can do a person in.

[Wayne23]

1/23: 88-64. We take an early lead. Up 10 after 14 minutes. Up 0 at the half. Up 10 with 10 to play. Our best game in a while considering the opponent. We were a little worried, especially about their guards, and we outscored them by a bunch.

24 for Thop at PG, 16, 7, 3 for Andy, 12, 7 for Mill, 10, 7, 6, 3 steals for Jack, 10 for Swoe from the bench.

+13 RBs. 13 TOs but they had 19. We shot 50.8% to their 39%. +11 from the line. +12 in the paint.

We're adjusting to this new lineup really well, at least so far.

We're in a 4 way tie for 1st but it's early.

We're taking video of every rock, big or small, that we get near here in the asteroid belt.

I'm in a jazz combo here at UMass. They know I'm not available all that much but they're cool with it. We've got a gig coming up.

At 7-11, 1-6 Albany next. This is the kind of team that scares me. They are desperate for a win and they're at home. They rebound pretty well but we're the better team. Now to play like it!

[Wayne23]

1/26: 76-63. Back and forth for the 1st 10 minutes. Up 8 at the half. Up 6 with 10 to play. A late run brought it home but they never rolled over.

28 for Thop, 18, 7 for Andy. Biggest stat difference is that we took 10 more shots and made 8 of them, 45.9% to 39.2%, and 5 more threes.

Backup guard Tony John, who plays very little, hurt his shoulder. Out for a week. No big deal except it shortens the bench even more.

Now it's a 3 way tie for 1st place. Still a long way to go.

4-16, 2-6 NJIT is at the Costello Center next. They have a good Center and a solid bench but we're the better team.

1/29: Every recruit we're chasing hit our SAT score. We make two changes, withdrawing offers to 2 and offering to 2 others who are showing more interest.

[Wayne23]

1/30: 74-57. We take a lead right at the start but they come back. Up 7 at the half. Andy is beating up their C. We took off at the start of the 2nd and never looked back.

30, 9 for Andy. I challenged him, saying the other C was really good.

+20 RBs. We shot 47.5% to their 36.8%.

+14 in the paint, +10 on 2nd chances.

Tied with UMBC for the conf. lead at the halfway point. 16-4, 7-2, NET #36.

8-12, 3-6 Maine is here. We won by 28 at their place. They have a balanced attack but they don't score many points and they turn it over. We're going to try pressing on every possession. I'll get out of it if it doesn't work.

[Wayne23]

2/2: 84-76. Quick double digit lead. We're not turning them over and we're fouling so I come out of the press. Down 9 at the half. We quickly catch up and take the lead. It stays close. It wasn't easy.

24 for Thop, 18, 10 for Andy. 9, 11 for Mill, who was better coming in from the bench, but I need to start him and take what we get.

+17 RBs. They shot a little better than we did but we took 10 more shots and made 4 of them. Threes kept them in it, 9 for them 4 for us.

+13 2nd chance points.

At 10-11, 4-6 New Hampshire next. We won by only 12 at our place. They're pretty good at 3, 4, and 5 but they turn it over, and we feel like we're tougher, but we need to be on top of our game.

The gig was very cool. Small crowd in a small place but they liked us.

My piano playing just feels so relaxed and natural now. Of course in the holo I've been playing and taking lessons for about 11 years.

I'm a soph at UMass. The coursework is challenging but I'm doing great, Dean's List every semester so far.

I play in every game. Averaging 11 minutes, 6 points, 4.5 RBs, and 3 assists. Coach James says he is really impressed at how I'm really learning the fine points of the game, both in my play, and in coaching strategy.

[Wayne23]

2/6: 78-79. We take a lead midway through the 1st. Can't hold it. Down 6 at the break. Retake the lead with 10 left. Then lose it again. Tough loss.

We missed a three with 7.8 to go, tapped in the RB, went for the steal, got it, and missed a 25 footer at the buzzer.

26 for Thop, 19, 9 for Andy. -12 RBs, which was more than enough to make the difference. 9 TOs to their 15. They took 7 more shots and made 5 of them. We missed 16 free throws. In a 1 point loss that means a lot.

In a 2 way tie for 2nd, 1 back of 1st.

13-9, 7-4 Hartford is here. They won by 8 at their place. Their C and their bench won it for them. Thop has to score, we have to stop their SG and their C, and we have to match their bench. Hopefully the home court and a full house will count for something.

[Wayne23]

2/9: 69-81. Up 1 after 10 minutes. Down 12 at the half. Getting beat up in the 2nd, badly. Not pretty.

20, 10 for Andy, but the other C did almost as well. We didn't stop their SG. Bench play was 34, 15, 6 for them, 15, 10, 6 for us. But the big difference was at the line, 23-29 for them, 8-14 for us. That's a little more than the margin of victory.

Still only 1 back but in a 2 way tie for 3rd. The way we're playing right now, and with 4 of our last 6 on the road it doesn't look great. And never forget that our starting PG has been out for a long time and isn't coming back.

At 11-12, 6-6 Vermont next. Beat them by only 9 at home. Their D really shut us down. We should have a better backcourt. We should turn them over.

We should control the boards. But will we?

[Wayne23]

2/13: 66-51. They take an early lead. Up 8 at the half. Great D enabled us to win on a night when we weren't scoring much.

14, 9 for Andy, and good D. 12, 4, 3 for Swoe, but this one was about D. It was also about rebounding and we were +17! 19 TOs though, to their 11.

We shot 43.8% to 32.2%. We took 11 fewer shots but made 2 more, and we were +12 from the line.

In a 4 way tie for 1st place. If we play well we could go 4-1 in our last 5. That might well get us 1st place if we can actually do it.

UMBC, 14-10, 9-4, tied for 1st, is here next. They beat us by 7 there. Bench play was the big difference in that one, and our bench is now shorter with Joon out for the season. On paper they're better, especially inside. I'm challenging my big guys to come up big. Tom Jack could also be a key in this one.

Just figured out that I have the piano skills at the exact level i have them in the holo deck. Never gave it a thought until the thought stopped me in my tracks. I'm now spending probably too much time playing the piano.