Hereafter

[Wayne23]

11/29 (continued): 3-1 Dayton is here tomorrow. They were ranked in the preseason polls. They lost to #1 Duke by only 8 on the road so I'm not sure why they aren't still ranked. On paper, like OK ST, they're better than us at every position. They're better outside than inside but they rebound well. This won't be easy.

11/30: 2nd home game. Not a sellout but a good crowd.

Neither team is hitting shots. Up 7-6 after 10. Weird! 30-30 at the half. Tuck has 3 fouls; no one else has more than 1. Up 2 with 10 to play.

64-76. They go on a late run and we can't answer. They won it inside. Teams are getting more points in the paint than we are (-12 tonight) and I'm not used to that.

18, 6 for Mill, 10, 9 for Tuck, 14 for Ster. They won it from the bench, 32, 5, 4 to 15, 8, 8, and inside, of course. We had 18 TOs as well. It could be a long season but that's not a shock.

Talks continue, on both ships, with the Trelor. Our prisoners are visiting the other ship and they're already talking about foregoing their trials and just moving to the Trelor ship. The Council will need to rule on that but I don't see us rejecting it.

12/1: Everything continues to go smoothly regarding negotiations with the Trelor. They ask how much longer we will need to make our decision.

“We have disrupted our schedule of exploration in order to rescue your prisoners. We do not have an unlimited amount of time before we need tor resume our travels.

“Let us peak with the prisoners. Then the Council will meet. We can do all of this in 24 hours.

12/2: The prisoners all want to join the Trelor.

The Council meets and approves of the plan to send the prisoners to the Trelor ship. Our leaders and theirs meet on their ship.

“We are prepared to allow the transfer of the 19 humans to your ship but we have one concern.”

“What is that?”

“We want to be able to check in with the 19 at some point, perhaps in 6 months, perhaps in a year, but no longer than a year.”

“We are willing to do that provided that you come to us. Our exploration cannot easily manage another delay. We can tell you where we will be in 6 months and in one year.”

“Will we be able to get there in sufficient time? Remember, our ship cannot travel at the speeds your ship travels at.”

“This is a concern. We could modify your engines and your fuel in order to give you this capability but our engineers tell us that your ship and your engines would wear out quickly at these speeds so this is not advisable.”

“It is important to us to be able to see our people.”

“Yes... We will modify our travel agenda. Your ship and I can meet at a point in space that we will transfer to your navigation team. This will happen in approximately nine months. Is this satisfactory?”

“It is.”

Later that day the 19 were transferred to the Trelor ship and both ships were on their way.

[Wayne23]

12/3: 1-3 Tulsa is here this evening. On paper we're better, especially defensively, and with ball handling. We need a win.

12/3 (Continued): Gotta stop their outside game.

Early lead. Up 8 after 10. Up 19 at the half. 13 for 6th man Jan Bowe, 9 and 8 for Tuck. Holding them to 27.3%. +7 RBs, only 4 TOs. Mill has 3 fouls. Up 14 with 10 to go.

81-57. A very solid performance for our guys!

20, 4 for Bowe, 16, 10 for Tuck, 14, 8, 3 for backup SF Tim Hern, 12, 2, 6 for Sams.

+6 RBs, only 7 TOs. We held them to 33.8%. +18 in the paint, which makes me VERY happy.

The Council met to debrief our encounter with the Trelor. After a 2 ½ hour meeting we concluded that it was a very positive encounter. We have never before had face to face encounters with another species and we feel we handled ourselves very well. The Trelor are very different in appearance and that didn't present any problems. One or more members of our psychology staff were present at every meeting, and their report to the Council indicated that they feel we handled a unique situation very well. The psych staff also felt that the Trelor were very much who and what they said they were. No sign of deception was detected.

We feel that this bodes well for future encounters with sentient beings.

As to the prisoners who are now on board the Trelor ship, our feeling is that this was a great solution. We very much did NOT want to execute even one person, let alone 19, and this made that unnecessary.

So a very positive outcome, by all indications.

I am sure I'm not the only person on board who is feeling exhausted. My typical day, between my work and my coaching, is 14-18 hours. It was more like 16-18 during the time the Trelor were here. As a member of the Council I accept that this sort of thing will happen from time to time but I very much hope I am able to get some rest for the next few days.

I did take an hour to play some piano. That soothes me. Afterward I was able to go to sleep very quickly and I slept soundly. That's not always the case so I'll keep it in mind.
After games I almost always have trouble sleeping; it's hard to come down from the adrenalin rush of coaching a game. I'll remember to play piano 45-60 minutes before trying to sleep. I do it in the holo so the noise won't bother anyone. I usually toss and turn anywhere from a couple of hours to all night after a game so this could make a very positive difference.

[Wayne23]

12/6: 4-1 Murray ST is here. They're favored, and on paper they're better at 3 positions and from the bench. They score a lot of points but give up a lot. They beat #22 Illinois on the road in their only match up with a ranked team. But we have an edge on the boards and they can be turned over.

12/7: It's back and forth. Down 2 after 10. We max the D with 4 minutes left in the half and we're up 4 at the break. 13, 7 for Mill. Both teams are 12-31 from the floor. We're
+6 from the line. Long way to go! Up 5 with 10 left; they're right here in it.

72-67. Whew! They were right there all the way. We made our foul shots late and were +13 from the line; that won it for us.

19, 12 for Mill, 16, 4, 3 for Sams.

+10 RBs. +11 on 2nd chances, +8 in the paint. 2-19 on threes hurt us.

Only two more pre-conf games, and a week off between them both times.

Again tonight I played the piano after the game. It usually takes between 90 minutes and 2 hours before I'm free after a game, and I'm tired. But, as I've said, I have trouble sleeping; still very wound up. Hoping the piano soothes me as it did last time. I play things like Brahms, Chopin... soothing stuff. I leave the Bach and Mozart for other times.

12/8: Yep, I slept well again last night!

Things seem wonderfully peaceful on the ship. There's no crisis situation for the first time in a long time, people have adjusted to their new jobs or their increased work load- nearly all of us have experienced one or both. Life is good. Let's hope it stays this way for awhile.

[Wayne23]

12/12: At 5-3 Hartford. They're having a good season but they haven't played anybody. Their PG is their best player. We have a huge edge on the boards. We'll do our best to exploit that.

12/13: I've been telling the guys to get it inside- repeatedly!

Slow start and we can't make a shot. Then we can. Up 5 after 10. Up 5 at the break. They're hanging tough though. 12, 5 for Mill, 11, 8 for Tuck. We're +9 on the boards but only +2 in the paint; +9 on 2nd chances. They're shooting an unacceptable 54.5%. They take a lead. Down 1 with 10 to go. I'm not happy!

73-88. This is a horrible loss. We should NEVER lose to a team like this! The refs were a huge factor; 23 fouls on us, 13 on them, -19 on the line. Yes

I got a T. Yes, I got a 2nd T very late and got kicked out of a game for the first time in my life, as a player or a coach- 15 seasons as a coach, and I haven't gotten ten TOs in that time; got 2 today.

22, 8 for Mill, 13, 11 for Tuck. But they shot 54.5% for the game, same as for the first half. That just can't happen.

Instead of hitting the piano tonight I hit the bottle. I'm not much of a drinker and I'll regret this in the morning.

12/14: It's the afternoon... Still regretting it...

[Wayne23]

12/20: We close with #9 Kona, 10-0, here. This shapes up to be a tough game... On paper we're in trouble. I'm challenging my guys to shock the world. I'm not convinced that we can't do it!

12/21: The guys look ready as we're about to take the court.

We start well. Up 7 after 10; I like what I'm seeing. Up 8 at the half. I like what I'm seeing. 15 and 4 for Mill. We're taking good care of the ball. We could tighten up the D and we will if we need to. No one in foul trouble on either team. We start strong. Double digit lead. We're rockin' it! Mill is having a great game!

92-72! Biggest win since I got here!

29, 9, 3 steals for Mill. 14, 5 for Ster, 10, 3, 4 for Sams, 15 for Terl, our #3 guard.

+9 RBs, 12 TOs to 19. We took 15 more shots, made 7 more. We had an edge in the paint.

[Wayne23]

12/25: 7-3, NET #28, at the end of the pre-conf. schedule. +5.1 PPG, +4.6 RBs, -2.3 TOs but 12.9, which is too high!

Rash Mill leads us with 16.4; 2nd in RBs with 7.2. Nobody else does much scoring, PG Gary Sams is 2nd with 10.6. He leads in assists with 4.8. PF Hal Tuck leads in RBs with 9.2.

We give Sams and Ster full minutes at the guard spots and Jan Bowe some time at SF. Let's see what happens.

12/26: Tonight we start Big Ten play here with the best team in conference, #3 ranked, #10 NET, 11-0. They've beaten 2 ranked teams. They're very good and they do everything well. #1 in PPG Allowed.

They take an early lead. They are tough! Down 11 after 10 even with max D and man-to-man. Down 18 at the half. We're playing decent D except fouling too much. They're shooting only 36% but +13 from the line. We're only shooting 30.4% though. Down 16 with 10 left.

66-84. We're not in their league.

22 TOs but their D was scary good, and they had 16. Only 1 fewer RB. They did beat us up in the paint, -18, the difference in the score.

13, 8 for Mill.

Unfortunately, Hal Tuck bruised a calf and may miss our next game.

After the game I talked to my guys:

“Okay. This was the toughest team we'll face all year. We played them dead even in the 2nd half. We had a better shooting percentage, and we made 5 more shots from the field. We fouled way too much and some of the calls were sketchy at best. I mean 54 free throws to 23? Anyway, you didn't do so bad, and we're a team that's only getting better. And I never saw any quit, which I loved! I don't care that they beat us, and I don't say that very often. There are mostly good days ahead this season. Don't forget that and DO believe it!”

[Wayne23]

12/27: At 5-4, 0-0 Nebraska. Their starting PF has a broken finger. They have the edge at PG but we're better inside. We need to rebound.

12/28: I sit Tuck.

Close early. Up 9 after 10. Up 6 at the half. +6 rebounds, too many TOs. We're shooting 57.1% but they're shooting 51.9%. We're doing well in the paint. Bowe has 3 fouls and that's a problem with Tuck out. Down 1 with 10 to play.

84-79. We played max and man from the middle of the 1st half on. We went full court press for the last 5 minutes and that won it for us; caused 4 TOs.

22, 11, 4 for Mill, 23, 2, 3 but 7 TOs for Sams. 14, 4 for Bowe in only 18 minutes due to fouls, 13, 4 for Mack.

+20 in the paint decided it.

[Wayne23]

1/3: #21 Ohio ST, 9-4, 2-1 is here. This won't be easy. They score fewer and give up fewer than we do. After looking at a lot of video I think that if we play well and stay out of foul trouble we have a chance.

1/4: They take a quick lead. Down 7 after 10. Down 6 at the half so we're still in it. Sams has 3 fouls. Too many TOs and they're beating us in the paint; we need to win the battle down load. 12 for Tuck, 10 for Mill. We're staying close but not quite getting there. Then we take a lead. Up 3 with 10 to go. OT!

88-91 min OT. We had our chances. Mill fouled out with 79 seconds left and they scored the last 4 points inside.

18, 7 for Bowe, 16, 9 for Mill, 16, 5 for Tuck, 14, 5 for Ster.

Stats were close right down the line. We wound up +8 in the paint, so +18 after the first half; not enough.

Sadly, we will be playing #3, 4, and 5, all away later on.

The probe is saying that whatever they're seeing is hard to describe. It's too far away for them to send video or photos.

[Wayne23]

1/8: At #6 Maryland, 14-2, 3-2. We're 9-5, 2-2. They're excellent, especially inside. I decide I'm starting Bowe at SF and sitting Mack.

1/9: We're staying with them. And now we're not. Down 16 at the break. They're shooting better and taking more shots. Too many TOs. About even in the paint. Down 16 with 10 to play.

74-101. They shot 55.2%,

-13 from the line. About even inside. 22, 10, 4 for Tuck, 16, 7, 4 blocks for Mill, but his man had 29 and 14. They were just better than us.

[Wayne23]

1/12: 7-5, 2-1 Illinois is here. Their SG is a scoring machine. They score a lot of points but give up a lot, too. If we let them make threes they will romp. If we don't we have a chance. Their starting PG has a shoulder injury but he'll play.

1/13: Early lead. Down 3 after 10. Up 3 at halftime. 6th man Rich Mack has 10 and 4. 3 fouls for Bowe. Only 3 TOs. We held them to 33.8% for the half. They're winning the battle inside. Too many fouls by our bigs. Down 1 with 10 left. Late run!

102-90. A real shootout!

We made 18 threes and that won it for us. Ster had 7 of the threes and 27 points. 15, 7 for Bowe, 14, 7 for Tuck. 12 each for subs Mack and Hern.

+6 RBs, 54 fewer TOs. A dismal -24 in the paint.

The probe is still mystified by whatever it's seeing and still unable to get any video or photos to us.