Transfer to the Title

[Wayne23]

2/19: It's the battle for 2nd place! #2 Georgetown, 25-3, 10-3, is here; we're ranked #3. We beat them at their place by 6. They're a slight favorite. They're 5-3 vs. Ranked teams. On the stat sheet it looks pretty even.

Doesn't look like anyone's going to catch Xavier and the 4th place team is 4 back of us, so this one will likely decide who ends up 2nd in the Big East and who ends up 3rd.

2/20: Back and forth. Down 5 after 10. Tied at the half. 11 for Thom8 fewer TOs, 8 more points in the paint, +7 from the line, but we're shooting 35.3% to their 60%. We've taken 9 more shots. We need to tighten up the D. Up 2 with 10 to play; what a battle! Fans are loving it!

60-68. We had a bad minute and a half late and that did us in. Damn! Terrible shooting %, 31.9 to their 50%. 9 fewer TOs, 10 more in the paint. But you need to hit the shots.

18 for Thom, 10, 7, 2, 5 for Suli in his first game back.

Not a good loss.

[Wayne23]

2/22: There really is no difference between being the #2 seed and being the #3 seed in the Big East tourney but still... We can only win our last 2 and hope that Georgetown loses one.

At 18-11, 4-10 ST Johns. Their starting PF is hurt and unlikely to play. We won by 28 at our place. This is a game we should win.

2/23: We take an early lead. Up 11 after 10. 52-32 at the half; 14, 7 for Suli. We're really overpowering them inside. +14 RBs, +12 on 2nd chances, +10 in the paint, +10 on fast breaks. Up 17 with 10 to play.

95-64; a walk in the park. 20, 3, 6, 5 for Thom, 20, 12 for Suli, 14, 12 for Brad, 13, 4 for Savo. +16 RBs, 6 TOs to 20, +20 in the paint, +17 on 2nd chances.

"I wouldn't mind if you faced less stress. There's so much of it coaching."

"That's for sure. I wouldn't miss that."

[Wayne23]

2/26: #17 'Nova, 20-11, 8-7, here for the final regular season game. Their best player, starting SG, is out with a broken hand. They're 5-5 vs. ranked teams. We're a solid favorite, but we lost by 9 there...

2/27: Close early. Up 1 after 10. Up 5 at the break. 14 for Thom. -7 from the line; 7 fouls on us, 2 on them. Again, the idiots with the whistles usually even things out in the 2nd half. -7 RBs, 6 fewer TOs. We're +10% shooting. We go on a run to start the 2nd. Up Up 16 with 10 to go.

75-59. Easy win.21 for Thom, 13, 9, 6 steals for Suli. 12 TOs to 27.

Georgetown won so we end up 3rd in the Big East.

27-4, 13-3, #3, NET #2. If we reach the Big East title game I think we get a #1 seed. I can see us going to the Final Four this year but we'll see.

+13.3 PPG, +6.4 RBs, -4.9 TOs, +4.5 assists, +3.8 steals.#3 in RBs, #4 in steals, #6 in blocks- in the nation; #3 Def. Rating.

11-4 vs. Q1, 16-0 vs. The rest.

18.9 PPG for Thom, 12.7, 8.9 for Suli, 10.8, 6.2 for Brad. Savo gets 9.9 and 7.7.

[Wayne23]

3/2: In a very small ceremony Jess and I got married today. We're going to Europe for 5 days in April.

3/5: Thom is #9 on the Norton list. No one is declaring for the draft!

We drop to #4 in the polls but still #2 NET.

3/9: We play #6 seed Creighton, 16-14, 7-9, in the Big East quarters. Their starting C is out with a broken finger. We won by 36 at our place.

We're a strong fav to do it again. They're 3-7 vs. Top 25 teams.

3/10: We're up 1 after 10; we're flat. Up 7 at the half. 11 for Thom, 8 each for Brad and Savo. We're shooting better. We start the 2nd on a run. Up 20 with 10 to play.

72-52. Terrific D! 20, 3 for Thom, 14, 14 for Savo, 16, 5 for Boyd. +20 in the paint. +10% shooting.

"Big perk of being your wife, I get to go to tournaments with you!"

"I KNEW that was why you married me!"

[Wayne23]

3/11: #2 ranked, #2 seed Georgetown was shocked by 7 seed Butler, 22-11, 7-9, so we'll play the Bulldogs next. We won by 19 at our place.

We're a big favorite. They're 4-5 vs. ranked teams.

Game time: Close early. Up 6 after 10. Up 9 at the half. Balanced scoring; they're doubling Thom. Suli has 3 fouls, as does Savo, so trouble in the middle. 5 fewer TOs. They're shooting better but we've taken 9 more shots. Up 16 with 10 left.

90-69. Big 2nd half, and good D. 18, 4, 3 for Suli, despite the fouls, 14, 5, 3 for Thom, 15, 4, 3 for Brad. 10 fewer TOs, +12 in the paint, +14 on fast breaks.

"Wow! You guys really got it going!"

"Easy team. Tomorrow's the test."

[Wayne23]

3/12: As expected it is #1 ranked, #1 seed Xavier, 29-2, in the title game. Their best player, their C, broke his elbow late in the game yesterday. That is going to hurt them a lot. They're on a 29 game win streak. They lost their 1st two of the season and have not lost since.

They beat us by 5 at our place and a re a big favorite. I think we have a shot with their big guy out.

Game time: Back and forth early. Up 6 after 10. Big run puts us up 50-32 at the break. 10 for Thom, 9 for Suli. Boyd has 3 fouls, but two of their starters also have 3. 31 fouls called, which really makes me fume. In a big game let us play! =5 RBs but 8 fewer TOs, +10 in the paint.

They're shooting 28.6% to our 51.9%. It's all us so far but there's a long way to go! Up 16 with 10 to go.

94-79! They made a late run at us but we answered.

25, 5 steals for Thom, 17, 2, 6 for Cole, 14, 4 for Suli.

This win could get us the #1 overall seed. Let's see what happens...

#1 overall! We're ranked #3, NET #1. Wow!

[Wayne23]

We play #16, Weber ST, 17-16, in the first round. This won't be pretty!

3/16: They score the first 5 and then we wake up. Up 11 after 10. Up only 6 at the half. 16, 6 for Thom, 11, 1, 4 for Cole, but our bigs are invisible- all of them. And Weber ST's strength is outside. Not happy! They're shooting 53.3%. I raise the roof in the locker room. We open up a lead but they're hanging in. Up 9 with 10 left.

90-75; we scored the last 8. They got it to 6 points twice late in the game.

24, 9, 6, 5 steals for Thom, 20, 2, 5 for Cole, and they won it for us. Our bigs were much better in the 2nd half but not great. 8 TOs to 21, so another big plus for our guards.

"We need to play better than this if we want to keep playing!"

Cris Fier sprained his wrist. We'll need to get to the Final Four before he can play again. He's our 2nd big off the bench and we'll miss him.

[Wayne23]

3/17: #8 seed Miami (FL), 19-15, in the 2nd round. We beat them by only 2 at our place in the season opener. They're 3-5 vs. Top 25 teams. Their strength is outside. We should not have a problem with this team but if we play the way we played against them last time, or the way we did in our last game, we're in trouble.

"This is really exciting. A lot more so in person!"

"Enjoy it. You never know how long it's going to last!"

3/18: Slow start for both teams; we're flat again. Down 10 after 10. We climb back in but still down 2 at the half. They have 2 starters with 3 fouls. 14 for Thom, 9 for Suli, 8 for Gem Hill, who is getting Fier's minutes. -8 from the bench, +8 in the paint. Down 2 with 10 left; not good! OT!

84-88 in OT and the season is over. The #1 overall seed is NOT supposed to go out in the 2nd round. 23, 2, 3 for Thom, 18, 15 for Suli, 17, 7 for Brad. They won it
from behind the arc hitting 14 threes, 3 in OT. The rest of the numbers don't matter; we're going home.

3/20: "What are you thinking?"

"I was all set to go for an A. D. Job but I don't want to go out this way. We're going to have a hell of a team next year. I want to coach that team."

"I support that, Mack. DO it!"

[Wayne23]

4/3: #16 Purdue wins it all. No #1 made the Final Four. We went out in the 2nd round as did Georgetown and Xavier, and Michigan ST went out in the Sweet Sixteen. Evidently this year was the earliest exit for all four top seeds. Sure made the Big East look bad!

4/4: Awards: I get National COY; it's nice but... Earl Thom makes 2nd team All America. Both are a first for Vermont! In the Big East, I get COY, which I have every year of my career. Thom makes the 1st team, Savo and Brad make the 2nd team. Considering that he only started exactly half our games that's quite a feat for Savo!

"Are we going to lose you, Mack?"

"No way, Ali. What about you?"

"I'm looking but it would have to be the right place."

4/9: We meet all our goals but TP stays at 53.

The phone has been ringing off the hook but I tell everyone I'm not interested. Honestly? I only plan to coach for one more season and I want it to be here.

We're only graduating starter Dave Boyd and sub Cris Fier. No idea who we'll lose to transfer; no one has seemed unhappy but some will go.

4/23: I ask for a facilities upgrade. We get it. Facilities will go from C to B.

31-5, #1 NCAA tourney seed. Overall, I'm 115-29, .799. Let's get it over .800!

Ali stayed, too.

[Wayne23]

5/1: NOT ranked in the first poll. Really? WOW!

#40 recruiting class.

I gamble and by the East Premium.

Baby time is not that far off, end of July!

We're staying here. Since I'm hoping to land an A. D. job in the Spring we'll wait to see where we end up.

5/29: OUCH! We lose 4 guys.

Al Muer is a HUGE loss at guard and we lost Jon Shan and Trav Sila, two other guards. NOT good. We also loe F/C Gem Hill who would not have played much. But we're down to 3 guards. We want 3 guards and 1 big. Fingers crossed.

6/5: 1st round: TONs have us Top 5 and Top 10. Only 1 B in the pool, no As. We offer to the B, who's an SG. Offer to 3 unrated. 0-4.

Round 2: We offer to 2 guards in Top 5, a B and a C, another B guard, and a B Center. 2-4, a B guard and a C guard. They could both get minutes, especially the B.

Round 3: We offer to 2 Cs, a big and a guard. We get the guard, who looks very good. We need a big. Round 4: Offer to a C. We get him; practice player. So 1 B, 3 Cs.

6/25: No camps this year. Don't have the $.

6/26: 4 scholarships. We need 2 bigs, 2 guards.