Hereafter

[Wayne23]

9/11: Got one, a PF, #12. We lost a C.

9/18: Got the 2 Cs, #3 and #37.

No in season tournament. Very challenging schedule.

A petition is presented to the Council to return to the dino planet. It has 589 signatures, a big majority of those on board. This is certainly unique.

9/19: “I say let's go back. If that's what people want, why not?”

“But our mission is to explore the galaxy. We've already seen everything there is to see on that planet. We need to move on and see what else there is to see in the galaxy. Besides, the Krai can continue to give us updates.”

“This is a problem, Jennie Bates. It seems the Krai have become a food source for both small mammals and small dinos. The Krai have gone into hiding in order to protect ourselves, and we are unable to observe.”

“Does this look like a permanent problem?”

“No, Captain. We are working to evolve into a species that emits a foul odor that will repel both mammals and dinos.”

“Will those of you on board have this odor?”

“We are endeavoring to restrict the odor to the Krai on the planet since it is not useful here on the ship and it would repulse your people. Also, it might not be useful on other planets and moons that we might settle.”

“Any idea how long this might take?”

“It will take an estimate of between 10 and 100 of your years.”

“That settles it! I move we go back to the dino planet.”

The motion was seconded and discussed for quite some time. Eventually it passed 7-5. We are headed back.

10/2: First day of practice. The four big men who made the Norton list will play about an equal amount of minutes.

We're back to the planet. The dino mania crowd are seeking ways to get down to the planet to study the dinos right up close. The danger is far too great, and the average temp is 42C to 49C, and the air is not really breathable.

“There is so much to be learned. We need to find a way!”

“This isn't about learning, it's about adventure. The robots are fully able to tell us everything we need and want to know about the dinos, their habits, their habitats- everything.”

“But it is human nature to want to-”

“Human nature be damned! We're not having people eaten by dinosaurs!”

“There have to be safe ways for us to explore- some kind of a bubble or-”

“Some of those things are gigantic. They would crush any kind of a bubble we could design.”

“That's not true! We can make this out of a plastic alloy that could withstand tons of pressure.”

“What do we know about jaw pressure? Could some of the biggest carnivores bite through such a bubble?”

“We haven't studied that, Captain.”

“Get your people on it, but I want it on record that I am opposed to sending our people down there under any circumstances.”

“I move we let the research guide this decision.”

The move was seconded. It came down to no human exploration under any circumstances or human exploration if and only if a safe, bite proof, crush proof bubble could be designed. The debate was long and heated.

“As Captain I need to say it again. This is pure adventurism and there is no scientific knowledge to be gained!”

Despite the Captain's firm opposition the motion to let the science determine whether there would be human exploration passed, 7-5.

11/13: The lineup: Frosh Kev Oslo is at the point. We have high expectations. He is very good at everything but D; he's decent at that.

Soph Don Gare, who started for UConn last year, is at SG. He looks really good.

#3 guard is soph Neil Cass who doesn't hurt us when he's in the game. #4 is soph Jam Edds, a transfer from Northwestern who is quite good. Finally, soph Don Hal started for us last season and won't get many minutes this year. He has regressed.

Juco junior Max Hark is at SF. He's really good!

Junior Rod Ansa is back at PF.

Senior Jev Casp is a 4 year starter for us.

Senior Curt Sona, a transfer from Auburn will get equal minutes with the three starters, at least for now.

Second big off the bench is junior Do John, a transfer from Missouri who won't hurt us when he's in. Frosh Lano Mati would start for many teams. Frosh Mick Deon is not ready, and senior Cris Wrig never has been ready.

The scientists are setting up all kinds of experiments to test bubbles for crush and bite resistance. They have yet to develop anything that the most aggressive dinos cannot either crush or bite through.

Meanwhile the robots are observing and reporting on the dinos, their habits, and their habitats. They exist all over the planet with most only existing in certain areas. Very few live on all parts of the planet, which has only one land mass.

There are aquatic dinos living in the ocean that surrounds the land mass.

[Wayne23]

11/27: We open the season with a 92-68 win over #15 UConn here. 24, 12, 3 for C Jev Casp. 14, 7, 6 for SG Don Gare, 14, 2, 7 for PG Kev Oslo. Major control inside.

84-49 over Tennessee here. 15, 8, 9 for Gare. We were strong inside again.

A very impressive 98-76 win over #1 ranked West Virginia here in East Lansing. 15, 7, 9 for Gare, who is starting the season on fire! 17, 3, 8 for Oslo. Yet again we controlled the paint.

In our first road game it was 97-80 at #15 Arizona. 18, 2, 12 for Oslo, 16, 4, 8, 4, 4 blocks for Gare. 17, 6 for 6th man Curt Sona.

We're ranked #2 behind a West VA team we slaughtered.

Different people seem to be focusing on different kinds of dinos- carnivores or herbivores, large dinos or small...

We still don't have a bubble that is dino proof. Maybe that can't be done.

[Wayne23]

12/7: 91-74 over Alabama here. They're not as good as they were last season. 17, 14, 4, 3 for Casp, 11, 3, 5 for Gare.

99-77 over Memphis at home. 10, 17 for Casp, 14, 5, 4 for Max Hark. Gare was in foul trouble all night and didn't do much. Total dominance inside.

73-62 over #7 Villanova here. We took the lead right away and led by as many as 21. We were never challenged; we have yet to be challenged this season. Gare was in foul trouble again tonight. We spoke! 6 players had between 9 and 11 points.

Dino watching has lost none of its appeal. It has become more popular than the holos. Actually, the geeks are creating holo programs that feature the ability to interact with dinos. We've always had these but based on everything we've learned from this planet the programs are much more interesting and realistic.

[Wayne23]

12/25: 90-70 at home vs. VA Commonwealth. Up only 6 at the half for once but then we romped in the 2nd. 18, 10 for Casp, 17, 4, 5, 3 for Gare, 18, 3, 3 for Oslo. The usual inside domination.

79-54 over #10 Kentucky here. Easy win. 26, 5, 6, 4 for gare who seems to be back on track. Sloid inside play.

Our first single digit game, 76-67 over #16 Syracuse. But we led all the way, by as many as 17. 21, 8, 3 for Gare, 14, 10 for Casp, 11, 11 for Hark, 11, 5, 3, 2, 3 for Oslo.

10-0, #3, NET #1. I don't understand why we're not ranked #1.

+20.2 PPG, #1 in points and margin. +13.1 RBs, #1 in RBs and margin. -0.4 TOs; this is our weakness, 14.0 per game. +6.4 assists. #1 in blocking shots. Maybe the best shooting team I've ever had, 51%.

Gare leads us with 14.5 PPG. 5 players average in double figures. Jev Casp gets 9.6 RBs. We foul too much, especially Gare, Sona, and Casp.

Heading to Big 10 play. 6 of the other teams are ranked, and we play them ranked teams 10 times.

We absolutely cruised through the non-conf. schedule. Not sure if anyone in the Big 10 can hang with us unless we have an off night.

An effective dino bubble? It has passed initial tests down on the planet but the geeks want to observe for awhile longer.

[Wayne23]

1/12: 82-64 at #19 Ohio ST. We were down 4 at the half but we overwhelmed them in the 2nd, 53-31. 18, 7 for Hark. 39 point6s for the bench. Big edge inside.

73-54 over Michigan here. We led all the way. 16, 3 for sub Curt Sona, 11, 10 for Casp. +30 in the paint, +15 RBs. But 20 TOs.

75-61 at Penn ST. We led all the way and won easily. 16, 6 for Hark, 16, 3 for Mina. Strong inside play.

62-44 over Nebraska here. 34-9 at the half- 9! +18 for the bench. Excellent inside play and only 7 TOs.

We kept testing the dino bubble and it passed every test. We're 3D printing a dozen of them. Each holds 6 people comfortably. When they are printed we will send them down to the planet. The people studying aquatic dinos are lobbying for a bubble submarine. The techies are working on it.

[Wayne23]

1/25: 61-50 at #5 Iowa. We led all the way. 19, 5 for Sona, 12, 9 for Hark. Strong inside, as usual.

85-65 over #9 Maryland at home. 56-29 at the half. 24, 4 for Sona. 10 TOs to 20.

61-73 at Indiana. I didn't expect to go undefeated but this is not a team we should have lost to. We shot 34.4% and were -12 from the line. The refs didn't help but we played poorly.

97-91 in OT at #7 Purdue. We were lucky in this one. Curt Sona is NOT a three point shooter but he wound up with the ball just inside of half court with time running out. He launched it and it went in to take the game to OT. That took the wind out of Purdue's sails and we dominated in OT.

25, 8 for Sona, 15, 8 for Hark, 10, 10, 3, 4 blocks for Ansa. 56 RBs.

17-1, 7-1, in a virtual tie with Northwestern for 1st. #4, NET #1.

No problems with the 12 shuttles, each with 6 people on board. They're all seeing the things they want to see from a front row seat, as it were, and reporting back to the ship.

The submarine bubble is almost ready. It will hold a dozen people. Two will be trained as pilots but a robot will do the actual piloting. It's just a very good idea to have back up!

[Wayne23]

2/7: 72-62 over #8 Iowa here. We led all the way. 17, 4, 2, 3 for 6th man Jev Casp. 4 starters had 10, the other had 11 points. 11 TOs to 29.

A tough loss at Minnesota, 56-60. We couldn't get the offense going; 22 in the 2nd half. -10 from the line. When we give up 60 we should win!

A real battle at #8 Illinois, 64-57. We're having trouble scoring lately. We took an early lead and got it to 20 in the second. They made a late charge but the final score was as close as they got. 12, 6, 2, 3 for Hark.

79-56 with Ohio ST in East Lansing. Never a game. 19, 1, 7 for PG Kev Oslo, 16, 7 for Sona. Only 7 TOs.

20-2, 10-2, alone in 1st in the Big 10 with 3 teams one game back. #4, NET #1.

The submarine is operational. It is taking and sharing video. We're seeing some fascinating specimens of underwater life, dino and otherwise. Lots of the sea creatures are trying to attack the bubble but they give up quickly. It doesn't smell or taste or feel like food.

The bubbles on land continue to send back really interesting video. The variety of life here, on land and in the water, is amazing! Scientists back on Earth always felt that Far less than 1% of prehistoric life was preserved in fossils, and we would never know about 99.9% of the life forms that had existed in our planet's history. There is no way to know if the life forms here parallel those on Earth, but we're seeing quite an array of life forms! We could stay here a very long time.

[Wayne23]

2/22: 71-59 at #16 Maryland. We led all the way. 15, 12 for Casp, 14, 7, 5 blocks for Ansa. Huge advantage inside but a horrendous 27 TOs to their 18. Awful!

78-60 in a rematch with Indiana here. They won at their place. Tonight we led all the way. 21, 9 for Casp, 15, 6, 5, 3 blocks for Hark.

A romp over Rutgers here, 71-46. 22, 7 for Sona. Good guard play. 9 TOs, domination inside.

Another easy win at home, 84-55 with Minnesota. 16, 7, 6, 3 for gare, 17 each for Sona and Hark. Good inside play and 14 fewer TOs.
24-2, 14-2, 2 up with 4 to play. #3, NET #1.

I suppose it was inevitable but someone on one of the bubbles managed to get outside. He got into oxygen debt and was overcome by the heat very quickly. Two crewmen joined a robot in risking their lives to get him back inside. There were carnivores hurrying to get to them but they barely got inside in time. The idiot will be brought back to the ship on a shuttle this is on its way down. When he recovers he will be tried for several very serious crimes. We intend to throw the book at him and we have already so informed everyone on all of the bubbles.

We have people waiting to go down to the ships so both the land bubbles and the submarine will come back up to the ship and new people will head down.

[Wayne23]

3/4: 66-46 at #25 Wisconsin. Terrific D! 13, 10 for 6th man Jev Casp, 4 others with 10 or more. But 21 TOs. If we don't win it all this season, TOs will be the reason.

73-60 with #10 Illinois here. We led for the last 33 minutes. 18, 8, 4, 3 for Sona, 12, 9 for Casp, 13, 2, 5, 6 for Gare. 20 turnovers, sadly.

Northwestern gave us a real battle here at home. We won 73-69, but they had the ball with a chance to tie or go ahead three times in the last two minutes.

21, 4, 4 for Oslo, 19, 6 for Sona. +18 in the paint and 12 TOs to 21.

We won our last regular season game, at Rutgers, 71-55. We held them to 20 1st half points and led all the way. 15, 4, 4, 4 for Gare, 13, 11 for Ansa. Big edge inside.

28-2, 18-2, 1st place in the Big 10 by 3 games. #3, NET #1.

+15.7 PPG, +8.7 RBs, #1 in RBs. -3.8 TOs but an awful 14.6. +5.4 assists. 2nd in blocks.

Our top 5 scorers get between 12.9 (Sona) and 9.8. 8.3 RBs for Casp, 7.0 for Ansa.

3/5: Only soph guard Neil Cass declares for the draft. Great news!

The first crews are back on board the ship and the second crews are down. There will be third crews as well eventually. That will accommodate all who want to observe from the planet's surface or under water.

[Wayne23]

3/8: We play #8 seed Ohio ST, 18-13, 9-11, in the quarters. We beat them by 18 and 23. We should do it again if we play our game.

3/9: We start slow. 55-61 at the half. We're not making shots. Solid D in the 2nd is stopping them dead but we're still not hitting shots..

61-55. NOT a good night offensively, 30.4%, 1-13 on threes. But our D held them to 28.8%, 1-12 on threes. The refs were ridiculous, 51 fouls called. Both coaches were on them for most of the night but we both avoided getting a T.

12, 11 for 6th man Jev Casp. The stats were very even across the board.