Temporary: Don't get too attached

[Wayne23]

1/18: First place Temple, 14-3, 5-0, is here. 3 teams are one back of them but they're alone at the top right now. They score as many as we do and give up 13 less. Other stats are close. We'll have our hands full with them.

1/19: Good start. Solid 1st half; up 14. Mino and John are doing the scoring and the refs aren't calling much which always helps us. They come back and take the lead. We can't hit a shot.

61-60. No one scored for the last minute and a half! We damn near blew a 16 point lead but we hung on.

14, 18 with 4 blocks for Mino. 13 for John.

+3 RBs, 4 fewer TOs. Stats were all but identical. It's a big win. It's early but it puts us in a 3 way tie for the top.

These low scoring games seem to go our way. 5-1 in one possession games, which makes me feel pretty good as a coach!

Joon hurt his shoulder but he's day to day and shouldn't miss a game.

Lu John was in the stands, right behind the bench. She must have had to hurry to catch her plane to East Carolina.

[Wayne23]

1/22: At 8-10, 4-2 Memphis next. Stats are very close all around. We'll see who comes to play.

1/23: It's a battle early. Up 1 at the break and it was back and forth all the way. We'll come out with max D and see if that changes things; Mino already has 12 and 11 and only 1 foul. 14 lead changes, 6 ties in the HALF! We go to man midway through the 2nd; it's still close.

76-67. It was tied with 2:03 left.

19, 19, 4 blocks for Mino; terrific game and only 1 foul. 13, 5 for Joon. 13 for Rash Burk from the bench. He's our only big coming back.

+7 RBs, 9 TOs to 21. 11-0 on 2nd chances.

[Wayne23]

1/26: 13-6, 6-1 Cincy, tied for 1st, here next. They don't score as many as we do but they don't give up as many, either. We need to hit the boards.

They're 0-4 vs. ranked teams. Both teams are 13-6, 6-1.

1/27: Early lead. We stretch it out. Up 18 at halftime. Jeff and Joon are scoring the points. Great D so far. We're holding the lead.

78-60! 25, 3 for Jeff, 22, 3 for John, 9, 12 for Mino.

+5 RBs, 9 fewer TOs. Shooting % were about the same bvut we took more shits. +9 from the line. +20 in the paint.

1/29: As expected, one of our recruits did not hit our SAT score. A big guy, so now we're trying to land 2 bigs with no money left. It won't be easy!

Ben Mino is #12 on the Norton list.

[Wayne23]

1/29: 7-12, 2-6 Central FL is here. We won by 7 there. We shot well and had 10 fewer TOs in that game. We need to control the boards, and the inside in general, which we did NOT do there.

1/30: We score the first 13. 44-23 at the half. We could use a romp and this may be it. Playing subs a lot in the 2nd.

74-53. It was never in doubt.

17, 6 for Mino, 12, 6 for Jeff, 14 for Joon.

+4 RBs, only 9 TOs to 23. We held them under 40% and scored 12 more baskets. +28 in the paint.

Sub guard Kel Nunn hurts his hand. He may miss our next game but he doesn't play much.

1/31: I was having lunch in the Rome dining hall, which I do every weekday when guess who came to my table...

"Coach! What a surprise!"

"Hi Lu."

"Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all."

We talked through lunch and I got nothing done. But I have to admit that she really knows her stuff. She asked if I'd come to one of her practices when I have the time. I said I would. I actually watch her team when I can. They're solid, #1 in the country and undefeated so far.

[Wayne23]

2/1: At 7-134, 2-7 Wichita ST next. It's their outside game vs. Our inside game. We think we're better but it's a road game...

2/2: Back and forth. They're doing it outside. Down 9 at the half. We're not hitting shots and they are. 10 minutes left and we're not closing the gap.

60-79. We shot 32.8%. We took 10 more shots and made 1 less, and they were +14 from the line.

14, 14 for Mino, 15, 6 for Joon, 10, 8 for Jeff.

+9 RBs but 7 more TOs.

You gotta hit shots and you can't give up 79. Bad night.

15-7, 8-2. In a 2 way tie for 2nd, 1 back of 1st, 2 up on 4th.

(Author's Note: I just had a guy who did not hit our SAT score accept a scholarship offer that I withdrew when he failed to hit that score. I'm guessing I'll lose the scholarship.)

[Wayne23]

2/5: At 9-12, 2-8 South Florida. We need this one. They have a lot of trouble scoring points but if the threes are falling...

2/6: Takes 9 minutes for us to get our first lead but then we stretch it out. Up 16 at the half; balanced scoring and dominating inside.

87-77. We weren't that good, especially on D, but we got the win.

23, 14 for Mino, 14, 4 for Stey, 15, 3 for Joon, 15, 3 for Nunn, who got more minutes than he usually does. Stey hasn't been getting it done at SG but I don't have many alternatives, and he may be our best defender.

+5 RBs, 6 fewer TOs. They shot better be we shot more often. +7 from the line.

I watched one of Lu's practices. Actually, I kind of got involved in it. She asked me to talk to the team and asked my advice as she ran things. That is one terrific team!

[Wayne23]

2/8: 9-14, 5-6 Memphis is here. On paper we should win this one. We have an edge in every stats category.

2/9: We take an early lead. They come back. 45-36 at the half. We're not having any trouble scoring. Big lead with 10 left.

94-71. Easy win.

19, 5, 3 for Joon, 15, 8 for Mino, 17, 4 for Jeff, 20 for Stey, who seems to be waking up his offensive game.

A season low 6 TOs to 19. We shot 52% to 48%, and took more shots.

We're tied with Temple for first in conf., 2 up on two teams. 17-7, 10-2, with 6 to play. Looks good for finishing in the top 3, which was a goal our A. D. set for us. I'd love to win it all, of course but we're at Temple later. That will be tough.

[Wayne23]

2/12: At 11-11, 4-8 Tulane. We won by 17 at our place. We held them to 44 and owned the paint. They score inside but don't hit the boards or take care of the ball. Can't take anything for granted on the road but if we play well we should be okay.

Ben Mino is #10 on the Norton list.

2/13: Down 1 at the half. We're not hitting shots and not rebounding. I kicked some butt in the locker room. Up 9 with 10 to go.

70-67 but that's a little deceptive; they hit a half court shot at the buzzer.

25, 7 for Mino; he's gotten into foul trouble far less often as the season has progressed. He's our go to and when he's in the game we're tough.

15, 4, 7 for PG Don John, one of his best games; he shut down his man as well.

They were +4 on the boards but we had 7 fewer TOs. +11 at the line brought it home.

5 to play and we should go 4-1. I'm aiming for 5-0, of course.

Lu wants us to break down video together. She has a non-conf game with #2 in the country. I agreed, so we're going to do it tomorrow night at her place.

2/14: We broke down video and came up with a great strategy for Lu's team. I think they're a lot better than #2 to begin with.

[Wayne23]

2/15: 11-13, 6-7 Houston is here. They beat us in OT at their place; the only close game we've lost all season. We shot poorly and Mino fouled out at the end of regulation. I have to say I think we're better. We need to play our solid inside game and Mino needs to be on the floor.

Lu's team won by 17 against #2. It wasn't that close.

2/16: Big crowd behind us tonight.

Big early lead. 45-28 at the half. We're breezing through but getting out rebounded.

89-62. It was never a game. 17, 10, 4, 5 steals for Mino. All 5 starters plus Chad Schu had 10 or more.

-4 RBs but a season low 4 TOs to 20 for them. +20 in the paint.

Still tied for 1st, 3 up on 3rd with 4 to play. Unlikely we'll be worse than 2nd.

[Wayne23]

2/19: At 12-13, 8-6 Tulsa. We won by only 2 at our place. Threes hurt us in that game and we didn't rebound or take care of the ball. That tells us what we need to do.

2/20: They take an early lead. Down 17 at the half despite spending most of it in man at max level. They're shooting 63% and we're shooting 34%.

72-73. We were down 23 with 14 minutes left and we almost got it done. A last second shot front rimmed.

26, 8 for Mino, 15, 12 for Jeff.

I haven't talked much about our bench. That's because it always gets outplayed by the other team's bench.

+5 RBs, 3 fewer TOs, but they shot 50%, we shot 36.4%.

This puts us a game back of Temple but if we both win the rest of our games it will come down to our game at their place, in the next to last regular season game.

Lu and I have lunch together in the Rome dining hall whenever both of us are in town. I like her but I have no idea what's going on here.