Hereafter

[Wayne23]

11/13: We're doing well against #4 ranked, #5 seed Xavier early, especially inside. Up 8 after 10 minutes. They take their first lead with 3 min. Left in the half. Up 5 at the half. We go on a run, up 10 with 14 to play. They come back, going on a big run. Down 1 with 10 to play. They go on another run.

68-82 but it was closer than that and we stayed with them for a very long time. I think this shows we're going to have a very competitive season.

We were called for 26 fouls to their 16, and that made a critical difference. Our backcourt got the worst of that with PG Josh Mill fouling out, and SG

Marc Brad being held to 15 minutes due to fouls; we need him in the lineup. Our bench didn't do much scoring, and theirs did, 15-30, and that made the difference. Our inside game beat theirs. Still, lots of positives here. Gau Wall led us with 18 and 5, and Roy Star had 15 and 7.

Nine days off.

Space is pretty empty on the long journey from Neptune to Pluto.

I'm doing really well in this month's USOP (Universe Series of Poker). I'm at the final table tomorrow, in third place. This is the best chance I've ever had to win this thing going into the last day.

Still nothing to report regarding producing a baby.

11/14: USOP got down to me and a woman from the medical staff. We face off tomorrow. She has $4.9 million and I have $4.1 million.

11/15: The USOP came down to one big hand, as it usually does. We played for 2 1/2 hours, with the money going back and forth. When we got to the final hand we were almost dead even in cash.

I was dealt the K, J of Hearts. She was dealt (I found out later), a pair of 10s.

The flop was the Q of Hearts, the 10 of Hearts, and the 7 of Spades. I bet light and she raised. I called.

The next card was the 7 of Clubs. I bet small, she raised, I raised back and she went all in. I had just a few thousand more and I called her.

The final card was turned over. 9 of Diamonds. My straight beat her three 10s and I won my first title! It was a great feeling.

We don't use money here, so it wasn't about that. But my pride sure shot up! I am now third in all time winnings in the USOP. Not bad!

11/20: We've had lots of time to practice. It's way to early to make lineup changes but we are using different combinations on the first team, trying to see what's working best and who's working well with whom.

Crap! One of our PGs does not sign. That means he won't hit our SAT score.

0-3 Dixie ST there. They have a lot of trouble scoring so if we play D we should be okay.

[Wayne23]

11/22: We're not playing well early. Up 5 after 10 minutes but we're sluggish; this is NOT a good team we're facing. Run! Up 15 at the break. Up only 5 with 10 to play. It's staying too close.

92-79. We dominated the last two minutes but I am not impressed with the way we played tonight.

Roy Star had 21, 8; he played well. 15, 8 for Cora but he didn't play good D. Brad had 19 but committed 4 fouls; that needs to stop. Our bench was outscored 35-20.

We shot 54.1% to their 44.4%. +18 in the paint.

Our home opener is against 1-1 Cornell. This is a team we should beat but at this point in the season I'm interested in how we play, and in how we're coming together as a team.

[Wayne23]

11/25: It's close early. Down 1 after 10 minutes. They go on a mini-run and we fight back. Up 2 at the half on a 30 foot buzzer beater. Up only 3 with 10 left. We go on a late run.

76-69. We still aren't close to playing the way I want us to. Sometimes it takes a while for a team to come together.

16, 4, 5, with 4 steals for Marc Brad, and only 2 fouls. This is the way we'd hoped he'd play, and if he continues to play like this that will be a very big help to us. 11, 9 for Star. My mentee, Gau Wall, has had two straight mediocre games. Guess I'll need to kick his butt a little.

We were +11 at the line and that was the difference. -14 in the paint which is NOT good! Our bench held its own.

2-2 St. Francis, NY is here next. We should be the better team, easily, but we need to start playing better D. We're a pathetic 25% from behind the arc.

Still in deep space within the solar system. It will be a while before we approach Pluto.

Some wonderful news. Baby expected in June! We're thrilled of course. We're not applying for larger quarters yet, but we'll need to do that at some point.

[Wayne23]

11/29: We score the first 10 points. Up 13 after 10 min. Terrific D so far. Up 17 at the half. Up 17 with 10 left.

73-53. We focused on D in practice and it worked! They shot 33.3%, 7-30 on threes. +12 in the paint, +9 on 2nd chances.
Balanced scoring. Brad had 13, 2, 5 and played great D, as did PG Josh Mill, who had 12 points. 11, 7 for Wall. Our bench outplayed theirs 25, 19, 5-1, 9, 2.

This is the best we've looked so far this season. Admittedly against a poor team.

At 0-5 NJIT next. This is a team we should beat. They have a good bench, but they really struggle to score, averaging only 54.4 per game. They turn it over and they don't rebound well. It's a road game so we can't take it for granted.

Lacy is glowing. So far her pregnancy is a breeze, she says. Hope it continues that way.

[Wayne23]

12/2: We take an early lead. Up 9 after 10. They come back. Up 5 at the half. Up 10 with 10 to play.

77-62. We led by as many as 20 late. Roy Star led us with 16, 4, 4. Brad had 15, 1, 4. All 5 starters in double digits. Only 12 TOs and they had 25. We didn't rebound well, -8.

+12 in the paint.

We're now 4-1, having lost only our opener.

2-4 Albany comes to Dayton next. They are better inside than outside, but they struggle to score, and they can be turned over.

We're about a month away from orbiting Pluto.

[Wayne23]

12/6: Albany hit a three then we took over. Up 10 at the half. Up 12 at the half. We're playing well. Up 11 with 10 to play. We've led pretty much all the way but can't deliver the knockout punch.

71-54. We closed strong. Forward Gaut Wall led us with 15 and 6.Brad also had 15. Wall had 12, 8, 5, with 4 steals. Huge edge in TOs, we had 12,
they had 23.

I haven't talked about the ship's recreation director, Kelly Geer. Kelly is amazing. The days and nights are long in space, especially when we're not exploring an object ion space, which is a great deal of the time.

Kelly organizes all sorts of activities. The monthly poker tournament is undoubtedly the most popular but there are all sorts of other activities related to games, sports, arts, crafts, entertainment in general, gatherings of all sorts- you name it. Some are popular for awhile and then fade away. Some have regular members with the
occasional drop in. But she keeps scheduling, which in itself is not easy given that about half of us work the "day shift," while the other half are split evenly during the rest of the "day." When there's any sort of a tournament, once it reaches the final stages shift swaps occur in order for finalists to be able to compete. She arranges for the shift changes as well as everything else. She has a staff of 5 and I really don't know how they do all that they do- as well as coming up with activities and scheduling them, they need to be publicized (daily notices in the ship's online "newspaper" as well as posters, announcements in the cafeteria...). When there's a competitive aspect the schedule of who plays whom, and when and where they play, as well as arranging the locale to accommodate the activity has to be arranged. Decisions about what will be done on a given day may be handled by the person leading the given activity, or that may also fall on the Rec. Staff. Anyway, Kathy seems to work night and day. My work hours vary, and I spend some time every week with all shifts, and I see her throughout the day and night. She is truly amazing!

[Wayne23]

12/9: Great start. Up 7 early. Then they come back and take the lead. +3 after 10. +1 at the half. Up 6 with 10 to go.

67-53. We finished strong! 20, 4, 4 for SG Marc Brad. 12, 6 for Gaut Wall. We held them to 26.3% from the floor, 2-21 on threes.

We're 6-1, NET 159.

We have balanced scoring; our top 6 get between 14.6 (Brad) and 8.0. We need to improve our rebounding. I'm now starting Mack in place of Cora to hopefully help with that.

At 0-7 Campbell next. They average only 58.0 per game, turn it over a lot and don't hit the boards. If we play our game we'll be fine.

Lacy continues to feel good. The pregnancy has been smooth sailing so far but it's a long way until June.

[Wayne23]

12/13: Early lead. Up 14 after 10 min. Up 14 at the half. Up 25 with 10 to play. This one is a walk in the park.

79-57. We were never threatened. 19, 5 for Chris Mack at C; this is only his 2nd start and it looks like we made a good decision. 13, 5, 3 for Wal, who has been steady and good. 16, 4, 4 for Brad. +7 TOs, +5 RBs.

Shooting % was about equal but we took 20 more shots.

5 straight home games, 4 in conference. That's not good though. It means lots of late road games.

We close the pre-conference season with 2-7 James Madison here. On paper this one should be a win. We have huge advantages in all the stats categories.

I went out on day two of this month's poker tournament. I went all in with 3 Kings and a straight beat me.

[Wayne23]

12/20: Slow start for both teams then we gallop out to a 14 point lead after 10. Up 17 at the break. Up 31 with 10 to go.

86-57. Another easy win. We absolutely dominated inside. 25, 9 for Mack. 13, 13, 4 for Star, 12, 10, 3, 4 steals for Wall.

+18 RBs, +10 TOs.

+16 in the paint, +13 on 2nd chances.

Rich Cora sprained a toe. Out for about a week and a half. He'll miss our next 2 games.

We end pre-conf. play at 8-1, Net #92. +13.7 PPG, +2.0 RBs but getting better, -7.4 TOs. We cause more TOs than any other team in DIV. I.

We open Horizon League play with 4-5 Milwaukee here. We're better at every position. Their strength is in the backcourt.

[Wayne23]

12/26: We take an early lead. Up 9 after 10. Up 10 after a low scoring 1st half. Up 14 with 10 to play.

62-45. No challenge. Balanced scoring with 5 guys getting between 12 and 9. +12 TOs. We held them to 31.9% shooting, 2-16 on threes.

Next up is 7-3, 1-0 Northern KY, a team that has looked good so far this season. They're strong outside but we think we're a lot better inside, even with our 6th man out.

This could be a test for us.

We're a week away from Pluto. We don't expect much in the way of surprises so far away from the Sun.