Hereafter

[Wayne23]

2/28: 19-8, 11-7 Maryland is here. We're favored by 2 ½ but this is no cake walk. We rebound better but the other stats are about even. They are 1-3 vs. ranked teams but only lost to #1 Michigan ST by 4 at home, though it was 26 on the road. We expect a battle!

3/1: “Kick some butt!”

Back and forth. 2 point lead after 10. Up 10 at the half. 15 for Mack, 14 for Sams. 2 TOs, to 10. They're shooting better but we've taken 6 more shots. +9 from the line. Up 18 with 10 to play!

98-81. HUGE win! Tied with #10 Wisconsin for 2nd.

27, 3, 5 for Sams, 26, 7, 5 steals for Mack, 13, 14 for Tuck, 16, 7 for Bowe.

+11 RBs, 7 TOs.

June is in pain but the meds help. I'm in a lot of pain because I'm too stubborn to take them. We're managing, but I brought a robotic cook and house cleaner in to help. A nurse comes in daily to check on June, but he checks on me, too; same nurse both days.

My staff is gathering all the statistical data for me but they're sending it to me and I'm doing the analysis here, and communicating with those who need my information and advice. So I am working, but at my own pace, and not when June needs me.

[Wayne23]

3/2: We end at 19-11, 11-8 Michigan. For some unknown reason I was convinced it was #1 ranked Michigan ST. Still a very challenging game but at least it's possible! We won by 14 at our place. They are another team that's better outside than inside. They have a very good SF and a deep bench.

3/3: Here we go! We're riding a 7 game winning streak and we'd sure like to finish 2nd!

They score the first 10 points. Down 14 after 10; we're getting hammered! Down 17 at the half. Looks like we just don't have it tonight. Berr has 14; no one else has more than 6. We're shooting 29% to 66.7%. -8 RBs but 9 fewer TOs. Tuck has 3 fouls.

“It's not too late. Give it your best shot.”

Not tonight, they're up 28 with 10 to go. I'm going to rest my starters.

70-96. Ugh! Berr had 20. Sams was 4-15, Tuck 1-6, Bowe 2-9.

-15 RBs, 11 fewer TOs. They outshot us by 25%.

“Okay, tonight pretty much sucked. We missed a huge opportunity because Wisconsin lost, but we're the #3 seed so we would play them in the semifinals if we both get that far, and it's a neutral court. No big deal. Let's forget this one and move on to better days!”

We end the regular season at 23-8, 13-7. Ranked #, NET #.

June and I are healing. It will be a lot quicker for me than for her with the two fractures she has. She's bearing up well but gets frustrated.

Her mom has been here every day since the injury, but she doesn't stay long. Not nearly long enough in my view. This is her CHILD!

My department is pushing me to do more work but I'm resisting. I'm still in a lot of pain and June needs me more than they do. I'm doing the work related things no one else can do easily, and that's all they're getting out of me for awhile!

[Wayne23]

4/5: No one declares for the draft. Didn't really expect anyone to, but you never know.

4/8: Luck of the draw, a rematch with #6 seed Michigan, 21-11, 12-8, in the quarter finals.

“Look, you had an off night. You beat these guys easy at our place and you can do it again!

4/9: Early lead. Up 12 after 10; nothing like our last game so far. Up only 6 at the half after leading by as many as 14. 10, 5 for Sams, 11 for Bowe and Rico. -4 RBs but 7 fewer TOs.

“One and done, guys. You've got the edge. Keep fighting!”

Up 5 with 10 left. It's a battle! We stretch it out a little.

98-87! 21, 9, 7 for Sams, 18, 4, 6, 4 blocks for Bowe, 13, 7 for Tuck, 14, 3, 4 for Berr. 17 for Rico from the bench, which definitely meant a lot.
8 TOs to 15. We shot 4% better, +16 from the line.

[Wayne23]

3/10: #7 seed Purdue, 23-10, 11-9, in the semis. We won by 14 at our place, lost by 7 there. It's their back court vs. our front court, and it's up for grabs.

June is in a lot less pain but she is very hobbled by the broken shoulder and broken ankle. She can't use crutches due to the shoulder so she's using a walker, but even that is difficult. She's very sick of it and there's another 2 weeks or so before the fractures heal if all goes well.
Her mother stops by briefly every 2-3 days. I'm about finished with that and she's going to hear from me soon if it doesn't improve. June is really hurt by her mother's indifference.

“Dad, don't. Remember back at first when I said if I had to remind you I didn't want it? It's the same thing. If you have to guilt her into coming, I don't want her here.”

“It's not the same. My head was screwed on right at that time. Hers isn't. I think she needs a wake up call.”

“Dad!”

“Just one time. Hopefully to wake her up.”

“I wish you wouldn't.”

“Let me think about it. I don't like to pull rank on you but this may be an exception. I'll let you know before I do anything.”

3/10: Game time.

“Go get 'em guys! Don't let their guards beat you!”

We fall behind right away. Down 10 after 10. Down 8 at the half; we got it to 4 then fell back again. Sams has 3 fouls; only played 9 minutes; we can't win with him sitting. We're shooting for crap. 31%.

“Win or go home. It's that simple.”

Looks like we're going home, down 16 with 10 left. Sams committed #4 in less than a minute.

64-81. D sucked but O was way beyond sucking. 35%. 4-18 on threes. Forget the numbers, we were awful. This will hurt our seeding.

[PointGuard]

Tell me more about BERR. Seems as though he was starting at PG early in the season, then you said you pulled him off the bench to start at SG when Sams was hurt (or am I mistaken?) Anyway, BERR goes crazy and scores beaucoup points. What's his skill and star ratings?

[Wayne23]

3.5 stars. Scoring: 7. Passing 8, Ball Handling 5, Defense 4. But he wasn't producing early in the season despite those great ratings. Then, when I was forced to start him he suddenly got better and has stayed at or near that level, or at least at a high level.

Ratings can fool you, as you know.

[Wayne23]

3/12: Michigan ST romped through the tourney. They are a big fav to win it all.

#5 Midwest. I had hoped for a #4 but this is not shocking.

We play #12, Colorado, 20-11. They made a STRONG pitch for me to go there last spring. They are very good outside and their SG can light it up.

Don't want to think past this game but making the Sweet Sixteen would make this season a huge success. Let's win this one first though.

I talked to Lacy. I tried very hard to stay cool and speak calmly. I thought I was doing that but she blew up at me and turned into an ugly argument. Not what I wanted at all.

“Told you.”

“Yeah, you were right, June. Sorry.”

She's like, blind right now. There's no use talking to her.”

“I still say at some point she'll come back down to Earth.”

“Whatever.”

3/16: Down early; missing shots. Down 9 after 10. We come back; up 4 at halftime. +11 RBs but too many TOs. Out shooting them. Balanced scoring. Up 19 with 10 left; in good
position.

89-64. After a slow start, down 13, we really came back.

20, 5, 5 for Berr, 17, 13, 4, 5, 3 blocks for Tuck, 21, 9 for Hern, 13, 3 for Sams. +15 RBs.

[Wayne23]

3/17: #4 seed, #12 ranked UCLA, 28-6, in round 2. The odds makers have this as a toss up. They have good guards, but we seem to be better inside.

3/18: “Play hard and keep your focus. No dumb fouls.”

Close early. Up 4 after 10. They go on a run. Down 11 at the break. Their SG and their bench are doing the damage. They're shooting 48.4% and we're 7% lower. -7 RBs.

“This is it guys. The season is over if you don't win. You can beat these guys. Go out there and do it.”

Down 6 with 10 left. We take the lead.

92-88! GREAT win! Down 16 early in the 2nd half.

26, 4, 5, 4 for Sams. 13, 6 for Mack, 12, 3, 4 for Berr, 14, 4 for Bowe.

9 TOs. We both went 26-58 from the floor. They had 4 more threes but we had 8 more free throws. Slight edge in the paint.

“I am very proud of you guys. It would have been easy to quit when you were down 16. You didn't have any quit in you though. Sweet Sixteen!”

[Wayne23]

The “reward” is #1 seed, #5 ranked, #2 NET Missouri, 32-4.

3/22: Missouri is favored by 2 ½. They have very good forwards and their guards are pretty good, too. They play solid D. Our edge is on the boards. They're 6-2 vs. ranked teams, but only one win vs. a team ranked higher than #18.

3/23: “This one will be a challenge, but you can beat these guys if you play hard and play smart.”

Up 2 after 10. 49-33 at the half!

“You guys are ON IT! Great first half!”

Balanced scoring and good bench play.

+5 RBs, 5 fewer TOs. We're shooting 52.8% to 38.5%. +8 in the paint. 3 fouls for Mack but Hern stepped up and Coll did, too.

“These guys can get hot. Stay focused!”

They get back in it. Up only 3 with 10 to go.

78-77! Back door pass to Bowe and an open 5 footer with .2 seconds left! Great pass by Berr!

13, 13, 3 for Bowe, including the winner. 16, 1, 6 for Berr. 15, 4, 3, 3 for Sams, 12, 6 for Tuck, 11, 4 for Coll in 12 minutes. At the end all 3 starting bigs had 4 fouls.

+8 RBs. We made 5 more shots on 9 more attempts. They made 11 threes to our 4.

“I couldn't be prouder of you guys. Elite Eight!”

June has been coming to the games, and even to a practice or two. She never showed much interest until now. I guess she started coming out of boredom and she caught us when we're at our best so it kept her interest. There's still not a lot she can do although the casts both come off in a couple of days.

[Wayne23]

3/24: #11 seed Western Illinois, 26-9, has been piling up the upsets and we meet them with a trip to the Final Four at stake. We're a solid favorite but they can score.

3/25: “Don't let being the favorite make you cocky. They've beaten some really good teams to get here. Just go out and play the way you've been playing through this whole tournament, hard and focused.”

Up only 1 after 10. Down 2 at the half. 11 lead changes 4 ties and never more than a 5 point difference. Mack has 3 fouls as does their PF. We're shooting poorly, 34.5% to their 42.3%. The stats are as close as the score. We need somebody to get a hot hand and we need more from Tuck. The bench is holding their own.

“Come on guys. Good shot selection, no dumb fouls.”

Down 2 with 10 left; still not hitting shots.

73-77. Damn! Lost to an 11 seed!

They shot 52% and we shot 37.7% and that was the difference. That and -12 on the boards.

Nobody got that hot hand we needed. Berr was 0-9, Tuck 0-4, Bowe 4-11, Sams 4-10.

Oh well, we made a hell of a run, just came up short by one game.

“I'm proud of the tournament you had. Great season guys!”