Temporary: Don't get too attached

[Wayne23]

5/1: #8 recruiting class. Ranked #8 in the first preseason poll.

I buy the National Gold, International Basic.

6/5: One spot open for a transfer. We offer to an SF who started for Kentucky last season.

6/15: We get the SF.

6/25: We'll go to the Indy Elite Camp.

6/26: Dom Mafe, who left early and who didn't impress us, was picked 13th in the draft. I'm mystified.

2 scholarships. We want either 1 and 1 or 2 guards.

7/17: We have some very good recruits showing interest.

8/7: Del Star is #7 on the Norton list. We'll see...

8/21: We offer to 2 PGs, #10, #19. We have a definite shot at #19. #10 is a gamble.

9/18: We get #18; he's going to be a very good PG.

At the Preseason NIT again, vs. Northern Iowa. Challenging schedule.

9/25: YES!!! We get #10. Two terrific PGs.

10/2: First day of practice. I think we could definitely make some noise this year. My concern is discipline with the bigs. We could get into foul trouble too easily.

10/16: Practices are pretty intense. The only way to get players into the kind of shape they need to be in is to push and push hard. The veterans know this, and they come in ready for it. The new guys think they're ready but they soon learn they're not. Lots of tongues hanging out and the occasional guy puking.

11/6: LONG discussion with staff about whether to red shirt Frosh C/PF Sean Weat. We decide against. Tough call. He's probably #5 among the bigs and we're going with a 3 guard set most of the time. So he won't get minutes unless he really surprises us. But if we get injuries, the way we did last year, we'll need him. We don't red shirt him.

[Wayne23]

11/13: We don't know much about our first opponent in the NIT, Northern Iowa, but we feel pretty confident. We're only the #6 seed. They're #11.

Senior Don John is at PG, for the 3rd year as the starter there.

Soph Ry Wink starts at SG. He began the season as a starter but lost the position fairly early on. He started a lot of games due to injuries but he was never among my top 5. Let's see if he's grown into it.

Junior Jay Joon is starting for the 3rd year. He's a natural SG but he is just fine at this spot. If Wink can't hack it Joon will shift to SG.

Our first guard off the bench is junior Kel Nunn. He's almost good enough to start and I'm comfortable with him on the floor.

Soph SG Ted Cobb hasn't yet developed the way I'd like him to.

Frosh Will Kean is at PF. He has looked really good in practice and we have high expectations.

Soph Del Star is back at C. We need him to play with discipline, which he didn't do last year. If he does, the sky's the limit for this kid.

First big off the bench is Kyri Tsir, who started at PF last year. If Wink doesn't make it, Tsir becomes a starter.

Walk on junior Jim Hyme is next. He played way beyond our expectations last season.

Then it's frosh Sean Weat.

The last two guys, both SFs, play only in garbage time. Ty Poin is a junior and Doc Malo is a senior.

11/14: It's always exciting to start a new season. The guys are just about to walk onto the court and I can sense their excitement. I try to keep them confident but not too high. I think psyching a team up too much leads to an inevitable down reaction after the first couple of minutes. But we're ready!

Good start! Up 11 after 10. Our energy fell off and we're only up 6 at the half. NOT happy with the D. 22, 10, 2, 3 for Star and ZERO fouls! This team should not be scoring on us and their shooting over 50%. I make some adjustments, go max, and let my guys know I expect better. I go man-to-man after 5 minutes. REALLY not happy!

93-83. Awful D, mainly because 3 players, Wink, Kean, and Tsir, wound up with 4 fouls.

Outstanding performance by Star, 34, 17, 3, 4 steals. 17, 6 for rookie Kean, but he only played 18 minutes due to fouls. 15, 3 for Joon, picking up where he left off last year. Wink played 12 minutes due to fouls. I'll call him in and speak to him privately tomorrow; this doesn't cut it. 9, 4, 7 for back up guard Kel Nunn, but 6 TOs. Tsir and Hyme were unimpressive.

[Wayne23]

11/15: #2 ranked #3 seed Maryland in the quarter finals. They look powerful but the team they decimated isn't very good. But Maryland's C got 32 points and 22 RBs.

11/16: They take an immediate lead and widen it. We're down 16 at the half despite my going max D and man-to-man early.

71-97. It was a slaughter. Star played 19 minutes and Joon 17 due to fouls. Without our 2 biggest scorers we didn't have a chance.18, 6 for Kean, 13, 2,
5 for Wink, 14, 6 for Tsir.

It's early days but a loss like this hurts.

11/20: We drop completely out of the top 25.

Our 2 recruits sign.

[Wayne23]

11/21: We're at 0-1 Alabama. This is a team we should beat. Let's see how my guys react to getting their butts kicked.

11/22: We fall behind early. We take our first lead with 4 minutes left and lead 40-31 at the half. Star gets 3 fouls and 2 points. We held them to 28%.

77-66. Frosh Will Kean led us with 14, 5, 5. Star had 12 and 11 in only 18 minutes. I may try him at PF and put Kean in the middle. 12. 8. 5 for Wink.
Good bench play.

+10 RBs. We outshot them 46% to 39%. +12 in the paint.

[Wayne23]

11/24: We're switching Star and Kean.

#12 Duke, 3-2, is here. On paper, if we can stop their Point, we can beat them. He's extremely good. They're 1-1 vs. Ranked teams.

11/25: This is another test. Can we rise to it?

Close early. Up 18 at the half after a big late run. 18, 11 for Star and only 1 foul. 11, 3 for Kean and 2 fouls. +12 RBs, only 3 TOs, and we held them to 32.1%. We own the paint so far. Up 20 with 15 left.

94-62. A VERY encouraging win!

28, 18, 3 blocks for Star and only 2 fouls. Kean had 19 and 7 in the middle but he fouled out in 23 minutes. WTF! 16, 1, 7 for backup guard Kel Nunn; big game for him.

+19 RBs, only 7 TOs. They shot 27.9%. +18 in the paint, +14 on 2nd chances. We really beat up the #12 team.

[Wayne23]

11/28: #16 ranked Kona, 3-1, is here next. It's their back court vs. Our front court.

We're back in the rankings, #20.

11/29: We score the first 8. We quickly get it to 10, then to 20. Up 18 at the half. 22, 5 for Star with 1 foul. I think we solved the problem! 10, 4 for Kean with 2 fouls, but Star is more important. The lead goes to 30.

91-60. We really played well tonight.

36, 11, 4 steals for Star. 20, 14, 3 steals for Kean. 13, 5, 3 for Joon.

+23 RBs and total domination inside. We shot 52.3% to their 36.7%. An unbelievable +50 in the paint!

[Wayne23]

12/1: At #11 Purdue, 5-2. Another team that's good outside, not as good inside. They have yet to play a ranked team.

12/2: We've won 2 big ones in a row but this one is on the road.

Close early. Up 1 after 10. They go on a run, lead by 12 at the half. 3 fouls for Joon. We're playing well inside but turning it over. Down 20 after 7 minutes of the 2nd.

70-86. Not tonight. +10 RBs but a terrible 20 TOs to their 7. +8 in the paint but -8 at the line.

24, 11, 4 blocks for Star, 11, 11, 3 for Kean. Joon played only 17 minutes due to fouls.

[Wayne23]

12/5: #3 ranked Louisville, 7-1, is here next. We're #17. They're an excellent team, especially outside. This is going to be tough.

12/6: Back and forth. We go on a run. Up 15 at the half. Star is on fire, 18 and 14. We're shooting only 32.4% but they're at 25%.

75-62. They never got close in the 2nd. Great win which we NEEDED!

29, 21, 3 blocks for Star. 17, 7 for Kean, 16,6 for Joon.

+9 RBs, 11 TOs. +16 from the line, +14 in the paint.

This team has a split personality.

At present no one else on our schedule, in conference or out, is ranked.

[Wayne23]

12/8: 5-2 Creighton is here. They average 16 fewer points a game but give up 14.5 fewer. 0-1 vs. ranked teams.

12/9: They're battling hard early. We go on a run midway through the 1st half and open up a lead. Up 6 at halftime; they were down 13 but made a late rush. 20, 6 for Star. We're looking good inside and have only 1 TO! Comfortable lead.

74-67 but it wasn't that close. 30, 16, 3 blocks for Star who has been amazing since we moved him to PF. He's #3 on the Norton list. 11, 10 for Tsir.

Kean fouled out in 20 minutes.

+8 RBs, 7 TOs.

[JoFleecy]

Jeez, Star is a freaking monster. Are there any big men ahead of him on the Norton?

Really NET critical win over Louisville, nice job. How far have these victories moved you up from #17?