DDSCB 2023: The Greatest

[Wayne23]

11/24: Back and forth early. Down 12 after 10. 48-50 at the break after a big come back. Balanced scoring. 3 fouls for Brog, -8 at the line. Poor D, 58.6%.

“First time you’ve been challenged. Good! Show ‘em what you’ve got!”

We start the half with a big run. Up 16 with 10 left.

100-75. 21, 10 for Doss, 18, 10 for Cass15, 3, 2, 3 for Lee, 11, 5, 4 for Brog. 66 in the paint.

Finally a home game. 3-0 George Mason is here. Their C is out with a broken ankle.

11/28: Ranked! #19.

Early lead. Up 8 after 10. 49-35 at halftime. Balanced scoring.

Up 25 with 10 to go. The home crowd loves it.

114-82. 23, 6 for Doss, 21, 5 for Cass, 14, 8 for Fraz. 14 assists for Sill. 84 in the paint.

5-2 Richmond is here.

12/1: We trail early. Down 2 after 10. 49-38 at the half. 17, 5 for Cass.

In control early. Up 28 with 10 to play.

103-80. 28, 10 for Cass, 16, 8 for Brog, 17, 5, 2, 3 for Fraz, 11, 2, 8, 4 for Sill.

8-0. #16. We’re really playing well.

At 3-2 Fresno ST.

[Wayne23]

12/5: Early lead. Up 21 after 10. 66-38. 16, 4 for Lee, 17, 3 for Cass, 13, 9 for Doss. +34 in the paint.

Up 25 with 10 left. No contest.

107-76. 29, 9 for Cass15, 10 for Doss, 19, 4 for Lee, 10, 9 for Brog. 68 down low.

5-2 UMass is here.

12/12: Back and forth early. Up 9 after 10. 60-50 at halftime. 16, 5 for Doss. Not much D being played by either team.

Holding our lead early. Up 15 with 10 to go.

120-105. 25, 10, 3 for Doss, 23, 7 for Cass, 20, 7 for Fraz, 14, 1, 14, 3 for Sill, 12, 7 for Barr. 72 inside.

Last pre-conf game is with ODU, 3-5, here.

12/19: Early lead. Up 11 after 10. 60-30 at the half. Doubled them up! 17, 5 for Cass, 16, 4 for Brog. Solid control inside.

Holding our lead early. Up 25 with 10 to play.

98-74. 30, 6 for Brog, 27, 6 for Cass, 20, 10 for Doss. 80 in the paint!

We end pre-conf play at 11-0, unranked for some reason. We were as high as #19. NET #4.

#1 in PPG, +23.2. #1 in field goal pct., 57.5%. #1 in three point pct., 57.6%. #3 in assists, #4 in RBs. +15.9 RBs. -4.1 TOs, 10.8.

Will Cass leads us in PPG with 21.2, 2nd in RBs with 7.6. Rob Doss is 2nd in points, 19.2, 3rd in RBs, 19.2. Jay Brog gets 16.0 and leads in RBs with 8.5. Sill gets 8.6 assists.

We open Missouri Valley Conference play with 2-7 Evansville here.

[Wayne23]

12/26: Early lead. Up 15 after 10. 64-43 at the break. 14, 3 for Doss, 10, 5 for Cass, 12 for Lee. +38 inside.

Up 29 with 10 left.

122-92. 26, 4 for Barr, 27 for Lee, 18, 8 for Cass, 12, 9 for Brog, 16, 4 for Doss.

Tony Fraz hurts his foot. He’ll see limited time for a game or two.

Jed Carr, Sports Inundated: Just want to write a bit about a rising young star in the college basketball coaching ranks. Ally Cash, with the New Orleans Privateers, is a winning machine. At this point in his third season as head coach he is an amazing 77-6, with an equally amazing .928 winning percentage. New Orleans hadn’t had a winning season in a long time when he came on board.

Cash is not shy. He quickly told us that his goal is to become the greatest college hoops coach in history. He softened that a little by adding that he doesn’t consider himself to be great yet. He says it will take a lot of long term success and a few national titles to make that happen.

He just might have what it takes to pull it off. We’ll be watching.

6-4, 1-0 Belmont is here.

12/29: Early lead. Up 14 after 10. 60-41 at halftime. 10 each for Doss, Brog, and Lee.

Up 16 with 10 to go.

105-92. 17, 9, 3, 1, 3 for Cass, 19, 8 for Doss, 16, 4 for Brog.

7-5, 2-0 Illinois ST is here. We start conf. play with 4 at home, which we’ll pay for later!

1/2/2025: Close early. Up 7 after 10. 62-45 at the half. Balanced scoring. +28 down low.

Up 34 with 10 to play. It’s a romp!

119-79. 18, 8 for Doss, 19, 4 for Fraz, 16, 13 for Brog, 10, 2, 12 for Sill. 86-8 in the paint!

6-7, 1-2 Northern Iowa is here.

1/5: We jump out to a quick lead. Up 3 after 10 as they come back. 60-41 at the break. 21 for Doss.

Up 20 with 10 left.

116-97. 25, 7, 7 for Lee, 26, 4 for Doss, 21, 7 for Cass. 68 inside.

3 game road trip starts at 6-7, 3-1 Illinois-Chicago.

1/9: Early lead. Up 17 after 10. 44-31 aqt halftime. Balanced scoring. Strong inside play.

Up 12 with 10 to go.

92-69. 22, 9 for Brog, 21, 8, 0, 3 for Doss.

16-0, 5-0, 1 up on 2 teams in the MVC. #20, NET #2.

At 3-11, 1-4 Bradley next.

[Wayne23]

1/12: Close early. Down 3 after 10. 49-41 at the half. 13, 4 for Doss.

We start the 2nd with a run. Up 29 with 10 to play.

114-90. 23 for Lee, 18 for little used J. Malo, who played because all our bigs were in foul trouble.

1/29: We won our last 4. Now at 21-0, 10-0, 3 up on 2nd place. #16, NET #4.

1st in PPG, assists, field goal pct., 3 point pct.

Cass, Doss, Lee, and Brog, in that order, are our top scorers. Brog, Cass, Doss, Fraz are our top rebounders. Sill gets 8.8 assists.

We had our closest game of the season at Drake, winning by 8.

[Wayne23]

2/15: Win streak stopped at 21 when we lost 92-97 at Southern Illinois. They were +17 from the line. We couldn’t hit shots in the 2nd half. Tough night.

We won our next 4. We’re 25-1, 14-1, 5 game lead in conf. #13, NET #8.

(Author’s Note: I’m hurrying through the regular season so I can make some adjustments. Winning is way too easy with the way I’m playing: 100% freedom on O with no set plays, Maxed out offensive pace, 90% off. Rebounding, Maxed out D and D rebounding, pressing as needed. Add to that all my big guys take as many shots as possible from lay up range and all of my guards and SFs take as many shots as possible from beyond the three point line. I’m all but unbeatable with this set up.)

[Wayne23]

3/5: We end the regular season at 29-2, 18-2, win the MVC by 5 games. #9, NET #6.We lost 67-70 at Evansville, our lowest point total of the season. -15 at the line as the refs called
18 on us, 6 on them. But we were also beaten in the paint.

We’re still #1 in PPG, assists, shooting pct., and 3 point shooting pct.

Cass leads the conf. in points with 17.9; we have the top 3 scorers with Lee at #2 and Doss at #3. Sill leads in assists with 8.5. Cass was 2nd in RBs and Brog was 3rd.

Heading for the post season.

[Wayne23]

3/7: #8 seed Illinois ST, 14-17, 8-12 in the quarters. Beat them by 40 and 21.

3/8: 99-78. It was close for about 25 minutes. 22, 8 for Cass, 13, 5, 10 for Sill, 13, 8, 0, 4 for Brog, 14, 5 for Fraz.

#4 seed Murray ST, 17-14, 11-9, in the semis. Beat them by 11 and 27.

3/9: 114-96. We led all the way. 26, 3, 3 for Brog, 17, 9 for Fraz, 18, 6 for Cass. 82 in the paint.

#2 seed Valparaiso, 19-12, 13-7, in the title game. Beat them by 34 and 17.

3/10: Up 4 after 10. Big run and we’re up 20 at halftime. 14, 5 for Brog, 12, 3 for Cass. Lee has 3 fouls.

Big lead early. Up 26 with 10 to go.

100-72. 30, 10, 3 blocks for Brog, 16, 9 for Cass, 11, 3, 14 for Sill. 70 down low.

On to the Big Dance! Can we hope for a #2 seed?

[Wayne23]

3/12: #2 Midwest! We play #15 Texas A & M, 18-14.

3/16: 99-71. We started fast and built a big early lead then never looked back. 29, 0, 3 for Lee, 15, 10, 5 for Brog, 12, 6 for Cass. Good bench play.

#7 seed Pitt, 23-12. They can play, especially outside. We’ll need to be on our toes.

3/18: Fast start. Up only 4 after 10. 55-48 at the half. 15 for Doss, 13,m 3 for Cass. +26 in the paint.

We start fast then they come back. Up 16 with 10 to play.

120-104. 28, 7 for Cass, 20, 10 for Brog, 22, 4 for Doss. 78 down low.

It’s #6 seed, #22 ranked Davidson, in the Sweet Sixteen. Good team.

3/23: Close early. Up 10 after 10. 68-45 at the half. We shot 66.7%. 15, 7 for Cass.

Up 26 with 10 to go.

106-81. 23, 12 for Cass, 23, 8 for Brog, 12, 9 for Doss, 16 for Lee.

#1 seed, #10 ranked Michigan, 30-7, in the Elite Eight. On paper we’re in a lot of trouble.

3/25: Early lead. Up 15 after 10. 66-56 at the break. 14, 2, 3 for Lee, 11, 3 for Doss, 10 for Brog. Good play inside.

Holding the lead early. Up 18 with 10 left.

113-87 and we’re in the final four! 18, 5, 3 for Lee, 19, 4 for Doss, 17, 6 for Cass, 17, 4 for Brog.

[Wayne23]

#5 seed, #20 ranked UNLV, 29-8, in the national semifinal. The oddsmakers have it as a tossup.

4/1: It’s a battle early. Up 2 after 10. 66-50 at halftime. 14, 4 for Doss, 3 others with 10 or more. +22 inside.

Up 29 with 10 to go.

124-102. 26, 8 for Doss, 23, 6 for Cass, 21, 3 for Lee, 10, 2, 15 for Sill, 16, 11 for Brog, 15, 8 for Fraz. 82 in the lane.

It’s #1 seed, #2 ranked, #3 NET Ohio ST, 36-3, for the title. They’re a huge favorite but their C is out with a broken leg.

4/3: Close early. Up 5 after 10. They come back. 47-54 at the half. -6 at the line. They’re a tough team, especially their forwards.

We catch up and it’s back and forth. Up 2 with 10 to play. Up for grabs late.

107-91. A BIG late run. 26, 9, 4 blocks for Cass, 21, 1, 3, 3 for Lee, 13, 11, 4, 1, 4 for Brog, 14, 6 for Doss, 12, 7 for Fraz.

[Wayne23]

4/4: Awards: Will Cass is tourney MOP. I am National COY. In the MVC, Cass is POY and 1st team along with Tony Lee, Jay Brog, and Rob Doss. I am Conf. COY.

4/9: Due to circumstances I will not discuss I need to leave the Privateers. Going to Va Tech.

Bobby Jo Gates, Times Picayune: There’s all kinds of speculation and tons of rumors as to why Coach Ally Cash, immediately after winning a national championship, has left the Privateers. But we have
found nothing with any evidence behind it and we do not print rumors.

Trying to settle in in Blacksburg with the Hokies who have much better facilities and a much bigger budget.

It’s a rebuilding job as they won only 9 last year but they have a couple of good players coming back and some good looking recruits.

My assistants all stay, which is great.

4/23: I ask for $.

No.

38-2 and a national title this season. 103-8, .928 overall for 3 seasons.

And no, I will not ever speak about why I had to leave New Orleans. I assured the people here at Va. Tech that it was a dead issue and would not come back to haunt me or them and it will stay that way. Don’t ask.