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[Wayne23]

1/1/2022: We open conf. play at 5-6 Binghampton. They're a big favorite but we score 9 more a game and give up the same. We're better on the boards and better with ball handling. Their SG is a big time scorer, and their C can play.

Dee and I actually had little new year's eve celebration at her place. Just the two of us and a very small bottle of champagne which neither of us much cared for.

"So, will you miss me if I leave Vermont?"

"Of course I will! I spend more time with you than with anyone else, even my players."

"Yeah, about that..."

"What about it?"

"Are you really this clueless?"

"About what?"

"Yep, you are... Do you have any interest in me at all?"

"Yeah. Like I said, I spend more time with you than with anybody."

"HELLO-O-O-O-O!!! Anybody home?"

"What?"

"Do you have any interest in me romantically?"

"Oh... I mean... I..."

"I guess not."

"NO! I mean yes! I mean-"

(She laughs)

"Dee, I never have any idea how to go about that. I think ... yeah, I think I really do care about you that way but I don't know what to say or do."

She spent some time giving me some lessons... I guess we're going out, or whatever the term is.

1/2: Back and forth early. Up 3 after 10; it's close! We go on a run and lead by 17 at the half. 14 for Hays. Good inside play, +8 RBs, +8 in the paint, but Long has 3 fouls. Our guards are really hitting shots. Up 17 with 10 to go.

91-77 but it wasn't that close. It's great to open AEC play with a road win!

20, 2, 6 for Bays, 17, 4, 3, 3 steals for Hays, 12, 11, 3, 3 blocks for Meek, 12, 4 for Simm.

+14 RBs, but 19 TOs. +12.3% shooting.

[Wayne23]

1/4: 8-4, 1-0 NJIT is here; good team, at least at our level. The stats are close. They have very good guards but we should have the edge inside. They're not going to be an easy opponent. Hopefully we'll have another full house to cheer us on.

1/5: Early lead. Down 1 after 10; the D sucks again tonight, at least so far. Down 3 at halftime. 10, 3 for Meek at C; he hasn't been doing all that much lately so hopefully this is a good sign. +6 RBs but -4 in the paint. They're shooting better but we're taking more shots.

"You need to step it up and you need to play friggin' D!"

Up 6 with 10 left after I ramped up the D and went to man; can we keep it up?

77-78. Damn! We gave this one away, giving them an open 15 footer off a screen with 2.8 left.

17, 5 for Meek, 14, 0, 7 for Bays but 5 TOs, 10, 10 for Thor. These are games you just HAVE to win at home.

Ruf Long hurt his hip late in the game. He's day to day. Hopefully he'll be ready for our next game. It'll be close.

"So you've never had a girlfriend?"

"I never knew how to go about it."

"But you've been attracted?"

"Yeah, and a few times people seemed interested in me, but I didn't know what to do so..."

(She laughs)

"Hey!"

"Sorry. You know you're far from stupid. This isn't that hard."

"Yes it is! It's not like you can look it up. How do people learn about this stuff."

(She laughs) "Trial and error, asking friends, lots of ways."

"Never had a clue."

(She laughs)

[Wayne23]

1/8: At 4-9, 0-2 Albany. Long isn't fully ready. I'm going to gamble and play him; not sure how long. Their starting PF AND their starting C are out with big injuries.

1/9: Close early. Down 3 after 10; the d is awful again. A run puts us up 9 at the half. The guards combined for 20 1st half points. +7 RBs and we're shooting much better. Long seems to be fine; I played him 13 minutes. Up 7 with 10 to go.

95-85. Our guards really did some serious 2nd half scoring!

26, 6, 5 for Bays but 5 TOs again. 17 each for Hays and Long. 10, 3, 3 for #3 guard Ed Hite.

+14 RBs but 17 TOs to their 8. 13-28 on threes, and that was the difference. +8 in the paint, so I guess inside play was a big factor as well.

[Wayne23]

1/11: 4-10, 0-3 New Hampshire is here. They have trouble scoring and their D isn't that great.

We're 9-5, 2-1.

1/12: Close early on. Up 4 after 10. Up 3 at the half. 14, 7 for Long. Meek has 3 fouls. Only 3 TOs, which is nice. We're shooting a crappy 36.4% to 46.2%.

"You're making a lousy team look good!"

Up 6 with 10 left.

72-64 but we were in control for the last 8 minutes or so.

20, 11 for Long, 13, 10, 3 for Thor, 13, 3, 5 for Hays.

+7 RBs, only 7 TOs to 16. We took 13 more shots, which made up for lousy shooting. +9 at the line, +11 on 2nd chances.

Thor hurt his leg. He'll probably miss a game; given how NOT deep we are that's not good.

"I'd REALLY like to go hiking."

"You are out of your freaking mind!"

"I know, but I really miss it and I'm restless as hell."

"Dee, you're not even recovered yet. You still have the cast."

"Yet but it's a walking cast now."

"NO! Do NOT do this. Let's go for a walk around campus instead."

"You're no fun."

But I won, for once. It was a nice walk, considering it was 5 degrees outside.

[Wayne23]

1/15: At 10-5, 3-1 Maine. This shapes up as a tough one. We should have an edge inside but they're about as good as we are overall. I've decided to play Thor but limited minutes.

1/16: They take a quick lead. Down 11 after 10. The D is invisible. I switch to man and we come back. Down 3 at the half. 13 for Hays. 5 TOs, which I'll take every night. They're shooting 58.1%. Down 3 with 10 left. Uh oh, they're going on a run.

80-100. A friggin' HUNDRED!!! We totally fell apart in the last 10 minutes.

20, 2, 3 for Hays, 14, 7 for Long, 13, 1, 6, 4 steals for Bays, 11, 9 for Meek. But when you don't stop the other guys...

-13 RBs, -8 in the paint. They shot 59%.

1st big off the bench, Ken Simm, is out for a week or more with a sprained index finger. Cris Fier will get his minutes. Thor is back to 100%.

[Wayne23]

1/18: 7-9, 3-2 Hartford is here. The stats are pretty close. If we play D for once...

1/19: I decide we're going man to man all the way. Down 6 after 10; we're shooting .190. Down 9 at the half, shooting 21.6%. Only 2 TOs. Down 4 with 10 to play. OT!

74-68. 10-2 in OT. Whew! Playing man to man held them to 66 in a 45 minute game. One game doesn't mean a lot but we'll stay with the man defense for now.

14, 14, for Meek, 15, 13 for Thor, 14, 8 for Long, 10, 4 for Fier, so we definitely did it inside. +6 RBs, +14 in the paint, +14 on 2nd chances. 9 fewer TOs.

Long hit an 8 footer at the end of regulation to keep us alive, but a win is a win!

"The cast comes off tomorrow and I can drive!"

"It must have seemed like forever."

"That's for sure. About that hike?"

"Um, we just got 18 inches of snow..."

[Wayne23]

1/22: At 9-8, 3-3 Stony Brook. They're supposed to be better at both guard spots and in the middle... Maybe in the middle but our guards are underrated. This does shape up as a challenge though.

1/23: Down 2 after 10. Down 15 at the half. Our two highest scorers are subs, due to foul trouble. No one has 3 though. 7 more TOs. Awful D; I guess man to man isn't the answer. I don't think there is one. They shot 64.5%. -12 in the paint. Maxing out the D for the 2nd half. Not helping. Down 12 with 10 left.

73-94. We were awful again. 20 TOs, -16 in the paint. Ugh.

"Hey, it takes time to build a program. Grab a few decent transfers in May and June and it will be a whole different story next season."

"I guess I know that but I really hate to lose."

"Kinda inevitable. I was 14-20 my first year here."

"And you're 19-1 right now, which is pretty cool!"

"#4 in the country!"

"I'm really happy for you."

[Wayne23]

1/25: At 7-11, 3-4 UMass-Lowell. I almost went there last spring. They wanted me. But I figured it would be a lot easier to build here. I still think so. On paper this one is a toss up but they have the home crowd. I really feel like we need a win... or maybe I'm just sick of losing.
Simm is back so we're at full strength.

1/26: Going with man-to-man full time again. We take a quick lead. Up 5 after 10. Up 3 at the half. Long and Hays have 3 fouls each. Our starting guards have 2 points. Their bench is +10. We're better inside, but not a lot. What was that Cindy Lauper song, "Same Old Fu-" Never mind. Up 5 with 10 left.

84-69. Strong 2nd half and good D! We totally dominated inside, +9 RBs, +6 in the paint, +15 on 2nd chances. Only 11 TOs. We took 11 more shots.

15, 7, 3 steals, 3 blocks for Thor, 14, 10 for Long, 15, 6 for Simm, 10, 5 for Meek, so 54 points by our bigs. #3 guard Ed Hite had 13 and 3.

Ed Hite sprained the same finger that Ken Simm sprained awhile back, right index. His is worse. Out for maybe two weeks. Given how thin we are at guard this is not good.

Dee's Cats lost in conf. That shouldn't happen and she is NOT happy!

[Wayne23]

1/29: 4-15, 3-5 MDBC is here. They score 15 and a half fewer, give up .7 more, and they're favored. The odds makers have no respect for us! I'm waving the article in my guys' faces!

1/30: Staying with the man to man. Close early. Down 1 after 10. Up 6 at halftime. 9, 6 for Meek. +6 RBs and only 5 TOs. We've taken 12 more shots. Thor has 3 fouls. Big run to start the 2nd half. Up 17 with 10 to go.

86-78 but it wasn't that close. Tonight it was the guards leading the way, 28, 4, 4 for Bays, 15, 3, 6, 4 steals for Hays. Simm had 11, 3, 5.

8 TOs to 18. 12 more shots, making 3 more. 12-27 on threes.

At the halfway point in AEC play we're 13-7, 6-3, in a 3 way tie for 2nd, 1 back of 1st, 1 up on 2 teams.

"Sometimes a loss isn't the worst thing for a really good team."

"Except that it could knock us out of a #1 seed."

"That's a long way off."

"Yeah, but we don't play any ranked teams for the rest of the regular season."

"Keep winning and you'll be fine. And hey, you're losing one kid."

"She's my best player."

"And you have 3 blue chip recruits coming in to take her place."

[Wayne23]

2/1: 10-10, 5-4 Binghamton is here. We won by 14 there. Their PG has a sprained finger but he'll start. Yet again the numbers are all in our favor, we're at home, and we're the underdog. I don't get it.

2/2: Early lead. Up 4 after 10. Down 2 at the half. 10 for Hays, 8 for Meek. Stats are pretty even. Good start to the 2nd half. Up 9 with 10 left.

74-58. Excellent 2nd half! 15, 15 for Thor, 15 for Hays, 12, 5 for Fier. +11 RBs. We shot better and more often. I LOVE giving up only 58!

We're in a 4 way tie for 1st with 8 to play.