Way Back When

[Wayne23]

1/15: 8-5, 1-1 Pacific is here. They're 1-1 vs. ranked teams so on a good night they can be trouble.

1/16: 44-37 at the half; they're staying within reach.

91-79. They were competitive but couldn't quite catch us. 19, 14 for Kent, 24, 4 for Cary, 14, 2, 8, 3 for Post. Only 6 TOs.

13-1, 3-0.

(Author's Note: I'm going to start simming regular season games. I'll report at the midway point in conf. play, and pick up the back story then.)

[Wayne23]

2/3: 17-2, 7-1, ranked #24.

We lost by 10 at BU, shooting 28.3% for the game

Tied with Portland for 1st with Duquesne 1 game back at the halfway point. We play Duquesne there next week but we do not play

Portland during the regular season.

Cary and Kent have been red hot.

I still walk every day that I can, even when we're on the road. I do not let the cold stop me but if the roadways are icy I stay inside. That is too dangerous with these damnable automobiles. I see more and more of them, as many as 5 or 6 a day!

Someone named George M. Cohan is writing some mighty fine songs. “Give My Regards to Broadway” is a real rouser!

[Wayne23]

2/17: 21-2, 11-1, 1 game up on Portland, 3 or more on the rest, with 4 to play. Ranked #14, NET #9.

The big game was at Duquesne, which was only 1 back of us at the time. The game went back and forth and we won it by 5, due in large part to the terrific game by Center Dal Kent, 25 and 19, holding his man to 6 and 6. Our front line played very well and we were +15 in RBs.

So much train travel. I like the train in many ways but not this much of it. Of course many men use the train regularly in their work so I'm far from alone. The food is so variable. Some trains feature wonderful food and on other trains it is very poor. I have found that it is a good idea to ask the steward's opinion before ordering. I've done much better since I began to do that.

As to sleeping, again, there is a great deal of variety. The mattresses are thin but some are fine and others are awful. And relatedly, some trains ride smoothly and others give a very bumpy ride. I've been told that this is due to the particular tracks we are riding on, not due to the particular train. That makes sense. Going East and West seems generally considerably better than going North and South, and the bumpiest rides nearly always happen in the South.

[Wayne23]

3/5: The regular season ends with us at 24-3, 14-2. We win Conf. L by 2 games over Portland, 4 or more over the rest.

We lost at Rider by 5 shooting 31.7%.

#11, NET #11. +16.8 PPG,

+16.8 PPG, #1 in points and margin. +9.3 RBs, #1 in margin. -5.4 TOs, 12.4, which isn't quite as good as I like, but close. +6.4 assists, 2nd nationally in assists.

Kent leads us in scoring and RBs, 16.9 (#1 in conf.), 10.9 (#1 in Conf., #10 nationally). Cary gets 15.6 (#4 in conf.). The other 3 starters get 11.7, 11.3, 11.3.

Sean Rich gets a conf. leading 6.4 assists. Post gets 5.3.

On to the post season (I'll go back to playing games out.).

“In My Merry Oldsmobile” is a very popular song these days. Not with me. I have yet to ride in one of those things and have no plans to do so!

The baseball will be starting in a month or so. I will probably get up to Boston to watch the team once or twice.

A German, or maybe he's an Austrian, named Einstein, has written something related to science. I read about it in the Providence Journal but the writer didn't explain it very well so I'm not quite sure what the fellow is getting at. Something about gravity, I think.

[Wayne23]

3/6: We face #8 seed BU, 14-14, 8-8, in the quarter finals. They beat us by 12 there on a night when we just couldn't make shots. We'll need to do better this time! Their starting SF is hurt. He may play but I don't think he will play much. They have a good outside game but this is a team we should beat despite our last encounter with them.

3/7: They take an early lead then we wake up. 40-39 at the half. Only Kent, 19, 7, is playing well, and the D is awful. I give them a stern lecture at halftime. We quickly get the lead to 10 in the 2nd. Then we get it to 20.

85-66. Kent has an amazing 36 and 12. 18 and 6 for York. Our guards didn't do much.

[Wayne23]

3/8: #4 seed Sam Houston ST, 19-11, 9-7, in the semifinals. We won by 29 in Smithfield. Their SF has back issues but he'll play.

Game time: We take the lead right away. 50-31 at halftime. They can't stop our offense. 14 for Cary, 13 for SG Art Post.

88-54. This was never really a game. Dal Kent had a terrific 2nd half and led us with 20 and 15. 16 each for Cary and Post. Only 7 TOs.

Some of the old songs are popular again. We hear “In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree” at all of the musical performances lately. And yes, I am going to musical performances all over the area, and when we're away I try to go to musical performances in the cities where we are playing. I believe that getting out is good for me, and I love music.

[Wayne23]

3/9: #7 seed Rider, 15-15, 8-8, upset both the #2 and #3 seeds, so we play them for the Conf. L title. Their starting PF has an ankle sprain, and he will be limited. They beat us by 5 there in our only meeting. They won in the back court and from the bench. We shot a dismal
31.7% that night. They do have a good back court but we feel that if we play our game we should beat them.

Game time: We take an early lead. 49-31. We're having no difficulty tonight. 12, 5 for Kent. +18 down low. The substitutes will play quite a bit tonight.

97-68 and the Conference L championship. 15, 2, 10 for PG Sean Rich, 18, 9 for 6th man Joel King, 14, 5 for tournament MOP Dal Kent, 14,
7 for York. We breezed through the entire tournament.

3/11: 27-3, 14-2, #9 ranked, #8 NET. Dare we hope for a #2 seed? #3?

[Wayne23]

3/12: #4 West. A bit disappointing. We play #13 Xavier, 18-12. They're 3-7 vs. ranked teams but they've played a strong schedule. They are a good team and they do many things well. They are especially good at SF and PF. This could well be a difficult game for us. It is definitely a difficult first round game!

3/17: They take the lead quickly. We maxed out the D early but we're falling way behind. 30-49 at the half. Ouch! -10 RBs. Shooting 30.6% to their 54.3%. We're in big trouble. We're getting beat up, badly.

49-90. Worst loss of my coaching career. We shot 24.7%, mostly due to their D. 20, 3 for York in his last college game. 18, 9 for Kent.

Makes me wonder whether this is as far as I can take Bryant and perhaps I should look to move on. On the other hand we won the conference easily and might well be able to move up 2-3 more conferences and still do well. And we have some very good recruits coming in. I'll ponder the situation.

[Wayne23]

4/3: #5 ranked Texas beats #6 Kansas by 3 for the title.

4/4: Awards: Dal Kent is Conf. L POY and 1st team, along with Art Cary, Art Post is Def. POY and 2nd team. I get Conf. COY.

4/9: Letters and telegrams are pouring in concerning other jobs.

After a great deal of consideration I decide to remain here at Bryant for another season. We'll move up to Conf. I.

4/23: I ask for a budget increase.

No.

27-4, 14-2, Conf. L regular season and tourney champs. Overall, for 4 years, 111-18, .860.

[Wayne23]

5/1: We move to Conf. I.

Recruiting class #17.

5/29: We lose a guard who would have gotten minutes, maybe our #4 guard. We have 2 spots open for transfers. We're looking for big guys.

We offer to 2 Bs. 0-2.

6/2: Round 2: I offer to an A and a B, both have us in their Top 5. We get the B, and he will almost certainly start for us.

6/5: Round 3: We offer to a B. No.

6/8: Round 4: We offer to a very good looking C. No.

6/11: Round 5: We offer to a C. No.

6/16: Round 6: We try another C. Got him, and he'll get minutes.

6/25: Only 1 senior so we're going to the East Coast Jam and the Big Apple.

6/26: One scholarship. We want a big guy.

The trains are really being modernized. We're seeing big differences, all to the good!

7/11: Arthur is wooing someone. She's a nurse and she seems very nice. I'm happy for him.

8/21: We offer to a C.

“Dearie” is a lively little ditty. “Vesti la Giubba” is a Caruso aria. He has not been back to the U. S. but an opera singer sang it in Providence last night and it is beautiful. It was a night of songs from operas and I really enjoyed it. I went with my bench coach, Jon Hart, who is a fellow music lover.

Life here at the boarding house remains about the same. The food is always good and the portions are large enough. The rooms are too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter but there's nothing to be done for it. We manage.