DDSCB23: The Greatest II

[Wayne23]

1/13: Back and forth early. Up 5 after 10. 53-45 at the half. 18 for Irri. Big edge in the lane.

Holding the lead early. Up 3 with 10 to play.

99-85. We finished strong. 34, 5, 3 blocks for Irri, 22, 10, 3 blocks for Harp, 16, 10, 4 blocks for Nate. We blocked 17 shots! +22 for the bench.

5-10, 1-3 San Jose ST is here. They’re good outside.

1/16: Early lead. Up 16 after 10. 54-29 at the break. 17 for Harp, 10, 5 for Nate. Solid D.

Up 38 with 10 left.

104-68. 24, 10 for Nate, 23, 5, 3 blocks for Harp. 13 assists for Smik.

At 6-10, 3-2 Colorado ST.

1/18: Early lead. Up 9 after 10. 51-33 at halftime. 15, 6 for Prin, who has become the equivalent of a 6th starter. 12, 4 for Irri.

Breezing early. Up 28 with 10 to go.

94-61. 26, 8, 4 blocks for Irri, 23, 9 for Prin, 16, 5 for Harp. We owned the paint.

Irri sprained his ankle. Limited time for the next 10 days or so.

At 5-11, 1-4 UNLV.

1/23: Back and forth early. Up 3 after 10. 33-39 at the half. Balanced scoring.

“You let them score the last 6 of the half. Not good!”

We catch up early. Up only 2 with 10 to play. Then we go on a run.

86-67. 20, 6 for Prin, 16, 7, 4 for Harp, 14, 3 for Caes. Great 2nd half, 53-28.

“Bobbi Sue Barker, WNOU, here with the postgame show. Coach, you guys are tearing through the MWC, 2 game lead already. Did you expect that.”

“Actually, no, I didn’t. But I’ll take it. It’s a tough conference.”

“Giving Coy Prin more playing time has really worked out.”

“He adds a lot. He’s a good scorer and a very good defender.”

“Were you surprised that he could play guard?”

“Well, that was a gamble, but he’s doing great!”

19-2, 8-0, #14, NET #3. Leading the nation in PPG. Shooting pct., rebounds, and assists.

10-8, 3-4 Boise ST is here next. Irri is till playing limited minutes.

[Wayne23]

1/25: Early lead. They come back. Up 4 after 10. Then a run. 60-37 at the break. 17, 6 for Nate, 10 and 5 for both Harp and Irri. +30 down low.

Up 14 with 10 left as they narrow the gap.

106-84. 25, 9, 3, 3, 3 for Nate, 20, 10 for Harp, 18, 10, 1, 3 for Irri in limited time.

Irri will be at 100% for our next game.

1/29: At 9-11, 4-5 Nevada. This is a team we should beat.

We’re ranked #11.

All of our recruits hit our SAT score.

1/30: Early lead. They come back. Down 1 after 10. 48-45 at halftime. 10, 4 for Nate, 11, 1, 3 for Caes, 8, 5 for Prin.

Still close early in the 2nd. Up 12 with 10 to go after a run. Then we extend the run.

102-80. 21, 12 for Irri, 19, 6, 3 blocks for Nate, 15, 11 for Hapr12, 10 for Prin. Solid play inside.

Del Caes talked to me after the game:

“Coach, I’m disappointed that I’m playing less than I was.”

“I understand that. All I can say is, do your best when your in there and let’s see what happens. I want to remind you that you’re almost always in the game at crunch time.”

We lead the MWC by 3 with 8 to play.

#15 Utah ST, 17-5, 5-3 is here. We won by 30 there but they can play. We’re taking this game seriously.

2/3: Back and forth early. Down 4 after 10. We press. Big late run and it’s 61-44 at halftime. 23 for Irri, 10, 5 for Nate. +22 for the bench, +34 in the paint.

Up 20 with 10 to go. In control late.

107-83. 33, 8 for Irri, 18, 7, 3 blocks for Nate, 16 assists for Smik. +34 for the bench. 80 in the paint.

4 game lead in the MWC. I told my A. D. to look into the SEC for next season.

We’re #6 in the polls!

At 11-10, 6-4 Fresno ST. We won by 33 at home.

5 of our last 7 are on the road.

2/8: Close early. Down 1 after 10. Still close late. 64-56 at the half as we score the last 8 of the 1st. 22 for Prin. +36 inside.

Big run to start the 2nd. Up 18 with 10 to play.

124-113. 28, 4 for Prin, 21, 3 for Nate, 13, 1, 15 for Smik. The only thing that kept it relatively close was the horrible officiating. They called 18 on them and a ridiculous 38 on us!

At 18-7, 7-5 New Mexico. We won by 33 at our place. They’re good inside.

2/10: Close early. Up 5 after 10, then a run. 54-36 at the break. 12 each for Irri and Hix.

Up 19 with 10 left. It’s over early.

101-74. Strong bench play, 21, 7 for Hix, 20, 3 for Prin, 14 each for Harp and Irri.

Both Hinn and Wyte, neither of whom play much, are hurt.

24-2, 13-0, 4 game lead, #4, NET #2.

We lead the nation in PPG, shooting pct., rebounds, and assists. #2 in blocks.

Irri still leads us in points and rebounds. Smik gets 11.2 assists, #1 in the nation by 3.2!

7-17, 4-8 Air Force is here. We won by 32 there.

[Wayne23]

2/15: Early lead. They come back. Tied after 10 so we press. 60 -43 at halftime. 16, 5 for Irri, 11 each for Nate and Harp.

Up 29 with 10 to go. A runaway win.

113-77. 30, 7 for Irri, 18, 10 for Hinn, 16, 10 for Prin, 13 each for Nate and Harp. 80 in the paint.

Coy Prin sprained his ankle. Limited time for a couple weeks. Short bench with 3 players hurt.

4 game lead with 4 to play.

At 9-15, 5-8 San Jose ST. We won by 36 at home.

2/15: Close early. Up 12 after 10. Then a big run. 63-41 at the half. 13, 1, 1, 3 for Caes, 10 each for Harp and Irri. +15 for the bench.

Up 25 with 10 to play. Another romp.

109-82. 24, 8 for Irri, 22, 7 for Harp, 16 each for Caes and Nate.

“Bobbi Sue Barker, WNOU. Coach Cash, you clinched the MWC really early. Are you surprised you’ve totally dominated this conference?”

“We moved here because we wanted to play in a more competitive conference. It hasn’t worked out that way.”

“So now what?”

“I suppose we should look for an even tougher conference.”

“How do you feel your progressing toward the goal of being the greatest college basketball coach ever?”

“It’s still really early, but I’m pleased with how we’re doing.”

Hinn is back to 100%. Hix hurt his calf. Out for at least one game. So we still have 3 players hurt.

8-18, 5-10 Colorado ST is here for our last home game. We won by 33 there.

2/20: Close early. Up 5 after 10. 50-37 at the break. 21, 10 for Irri.

“You closed the half really strong!”

Up 22 with 10 left.

101-70. 31, 15, 4 blocks for Irri. 4 others with 11 or more. +62 in the paint.

Prin is the only player still injured.

At 2nd place #10 San Diego ST, 20-6, 11-4. We won by 14 at home. They can play!

2/22: Close early. Up 6 after 10. Then a run. 49-38 at halftime. 12, 4 for Irri, 10 each for Nate and Harp.

They close the gap early. Up only 1 with 10 to go. Uh oh!

85-101. We couldn’t make a shot in the last 5-6 minutes. 16 each for Irri and Harp, 15 for Nate. The refs were a factor, they went to the line 24 times to our 8. But we didn’t play that well,
especially late.

Our final regular season game is at 12-15, 5-11 Boise ST. We won by 22 at our place.

Prin is at 100%.

3/1: Early lead. Up 12 after 10. 54-38. Balanced scoring. Solid inside play.

Up 10 with 10 left.

105-91. 22, 11 for Nate, 16, 10 for Prin, 18, 7 for Harp. Only 5 TOs.

3/5: We end regular season play at 28-3, 17-1, Up by 3 over San Dieo ST, 5 over Fresno ST, 7 or more over the rest. Ranked #4, NET #2.

Still #1 in the same categories. +22.7 PPG, +15.6 RBs, +3.8 assists, -2.6 TOs but a very good 9.9.

Vic Irri leads us with 20.5 and 7.9. 16.6, 6.9 for Marq Harp, 16.0, 7.0 for Leon Nate, 14.4, 6.2 for Coy Prin. 11.1 assists for Val Smik.

[Wayne23]

3/7: We play #8 seed Colorado ST, 10-20, 6-12, in the quarter finals. Beat them by 33 and 31. This should be ugly.

3/8: We come out flat then wake up and take a lead. Up only 5 after 10. 50-35 at halftime. Balanced scoring. We’re winning easily but not playing well. Both Irri and Harp have 3 fouls.

Big run to start the 2nd. Up 44 with 10 to go. Subs in early.

120-66. 30, 4 for Hix, 18, 4 for Wyte, 12, 3 for Prin. +47 for the bench!

#5 seed Utah ST, 21-10, 10-8, in the semifinals. Beat them by 30 and 24.

3/9: Early lead. Up 6 after 10. 60-47 at the half. 14, 3, 3, 4 for Irri, 11 for Harp. Huge edge in the paint.

Up only 9 with 10 left. We’re flat. Close late.

117-115 as sub guard Sama Syle hits a three with .9 left. We didn’t win, we escaped.

26, 6, 3, 5, 3 for Irri, 25, 8, 2, 3 for Harp, 15, 7 for Nate.

“Joe Hoop, SBC. Coach CASH, WHAT HAPPENED IN THE 2ND HALF?”

“We stopped playing defense. I don’t ever remember giving up 68 in a half; that’s awful.”

“And yet you won.”

“We were very lucky. They had us by 7 with a little over a minute to go. If we play like that tomorrow we’re in big trouble.”

As expected it’s you and #7 ranked San Diego ST in the title game. You split with them in the regular season. What do you need to do to beat them?”

“Ben Abrams went wild for them in the 2nd game. We can’t let that happen again. They’re gonna score, all 5 starters can shoot. We need to play good D and we need to play the game down in the paint.

We also need to bring our A game, which we didn’t do wither tonight or last night.”

“Good luck Coach.”

3/10: Close early, as expected. Down 1 after 10. Still close late. 39-42 at the half. 11, 3 for Irri, 10, 4 for Nate. 3 fouls for Harp. Prin is ice cold. Big edge inside but too many TOs.

Close early. Up 5 with 10 to play. It’s a battle! Close late.

78-87. We shot only 41.9%, one of our lowest pcts. Of the year. 21, 8 for Irri. 17, 9 for Nate, 14, 7 for Harp.

Poor shooting, too many TOs, not enough D.

Joe Hoop, SBC. “Coach, what happened?”

“We just didn’t play well late. They wanted it more.”

“What can redeem this?”

“A very deep run in the big dance!”

[Wayne23]

3/12: #1 South. We play #16 seed Binghamton, 18-14. This shapes up as a blowout.

3/17: We’re flat again and we trail early. Down 4 after 10. A late run. 64-51 at halftime. 16, 6 for Harp, 10 each for Irri, Prin, and Hinn. Irri, Caes, and Prin have 3 fouls.

“Play some damn D!”

Holding the lead early but not extending it. Up 11 with 10 to go. It’s close late!

103-92 but they got it to 2 late. 20, 10 for Harp, 20, 3 for Irri, 16, 5 for Prin, 12 each for Hix and Hinn. +60 in the paint but way too many fouls.

“Dan Dee, ENPS. Coach Cash, you won, but it wasn;t early.”

“It was embarrassing. We just haven’t played well in the post season. We need to turn that around and quickly!

“How do you do that?”

“Well, the coaches need to project our belief in our kids. We need to be encouraging and positive, but demanding.”

“And if it doesn’t work?”

“We get a longer vacation than we want!”

#8 seed Wisconsin, 22-11, in the 2nd round. They have a very good back court, but 1-4 vs. ranked teams.

3/19: Close early. Up 11 after 10. 51-38 at the half. Balanced scoring. +9 for the bench. -11 from the line.

Up 11 with 10 to play.

87-69. 19, 8 for Harp, 14, 8, 3 blocks for Prin. 12 assists for Smik. +21 RBs.

It’s #5 seed, #24 ranked Kansas ST, 23-9, in the Sweet Sixteen. Looks like their backcourt vs. our front court.

[Wayne23]

3/24: Close early. Up 6 after 10. Big run and it’s 60-34 at the break. Balanced scoring. Only 1 TO. Irri has 3 fouls.

Up 22 with 10 left.

107-82 and we’re back in the Elie Eight! 22, 3 for Hix, 20, 4 for Prin, 16 for Harp, 12, 5 for Hinn. +52 for the bench! +50 in the lane.

Coy Prin reinjured his calf. He’ll be on limited duty from now until the end of the season.

#2 seed, #5 ranked conference rival San Diego ST, 29-6. NOT the team we wanted to face again. They beat us 2 out of 3 times.

“Dan Dee, ENPS. Coach, probably not the team you wanted to face.”

“We’re in the Elite Eight. There are no easy teams.”

“True, but these guys gave you fits the last two times you played them.”

“It comes down to belief. If my guys believe they can beat this team then they can. We’re doing all we can to get them to believe that.”

3/26: It’s close early. Down 9 after 10. Uh oh! 41-62 at the half.

“Look, you’re beating yourselves. Nobody’s in foul trouble. Go out there and play hard D and find the open man on O.”

Not happening. Down 21 with 10 to go.

81- 101. 18, 5 for Irri, 14, 8 for Harp.

We were never really in it.

4/3: #7 Alabama wins it all.

[Wayne23]

4/4: Awards: Vic Irri is MWC POY and 1st teamalong with Marq Harp and Leon Nate. I am Conf. COY.

4/9: We’re losing Irri, Smik, Prin, Hinn, and 2 others.

Not looking to move.

4/23: I ask for money.

No.

33-5, MWC regular season champs. Elite Eight. Overall, 67-7, .905.

[Wayne23]

5/1: We decide to stay in the MWC.

#19 recruiting class, which is great!

We’re again unable to meet our expected to spend amount.

5/29: We don’t lose anyone so we have no openings for transfers.

6/25: We go to Indy and all the regional camps.

6/26: We have one scholarship to award. Looking for a guard.

7/11: I offer to an SG.

7/25: Summer is the “slow” time. I still work 12 hours a day most days, including weekends, but there’s less pressure. I have more time to party down along the waterfront and at other places. I do love
the ladies so it’s a good time of the year.

8/7: Saw all of the guys I’m most interested in at at least one camp.

9/18: No in season tourney but a competitive schedule.

9/25: Still nothing from the recruit we’re chasing but at least he hasn’t committed to anyone else!

10/2: 1st day of practice. I think we’re good but we’re not deep this year.

10/9: We lose the recruit. Back to the drawing board…

11/14: Here’s the lineup:

Soph Del Caes moves from SG to PG, his natural position.

Frosh Marc Pryl is at SG. He can shoot and he’s a decent defender.

Junior Sama Syle remains our #3 guard and we don’t lose much when he’s in the game. #4 is frosh Kurt Ling, and he’ll only play in blowouts unless we get injuries.

Junior Rick Hix starts at SF after not starting last year and starting the season before. His D could be stronger.

Junior Leon Nate is back at PF. Maybe our best defender.

Soph Marq Harp is in the middle. He can play!

Soph Will Wolf is 1st big off the bench. He’s a good rebounder but that’s about it. Frosh Joe Vaka’s game is still developing. Frosh Gary Crow is a long way from ready.
As I said, we’re thin!

We start the season with Temple, here.

San Diego ST is #2 in the polls as the season starts so it will be tough to win the MWC.

[Wayne23]

11/15: Early lead. Up 9 after 10. 50-30 at the half. Solid D! 19, 3 for Harp. Great inside play. Nate has 3 fouls.

Holding the lead early. Up 29 with 10 to go.

104-66. No challenge. 29, 7 for Harp, 18, 21 for 6th man Will Wolf, which was a pleasant surprise. 12 assists for Caes.

“Billie Bob Cramer, WNOL. Coach, this was a very impressive start to the season. Temple is a solid team.”

“I was happy with our play. We committed too many fouls but we play aggressive defense.”

“Everyone thought you might be in trouble with Irri and Smik gone but Marq Harp was terrific in the middle and Del Caes did a great job at the Point.”

“We had 8 or 9 guys who gave us good minutes, which is what we need.”

“Thanks Coach.”

Little used F Gary Crow hurt his calf. Out about a week.

At 1-0 California. Their two bigs scored 20 each in their opener.

11/18: Back and forth at the start. Up 3 after 10. Late run. They come back. 42-39 at the half. Their bigs are tough. Especially the PF.

Up 3 with 10 left. It’s staying close late.

74-81. They beat us late, it was tied with 3 minutes left. 15, 5 for Hix, 10, 1, 8 for Caes. Harp was in foul trouble all night and didn’t do much. -10 from the line. They beat us outside but their bigs held their own.

At 2-0 DePaul. They’re good outside and they play good D.

11/22: High scoring early- both teams. Up 1 after 10. 48-49 at the break. Not much D by either team. Both Harp and Pryl have 3 fouls.

We start the 2nd with a run. Up 12 with 10 left.

105-90. 25, 10, 3 blocks for Harp, 21, 7 for Hix, 15, 4 for Syle, 14, 7 for Nate, 13, 10 for Wolf. 14 assists for Caes.

Pryl isn’t giving us much at SG. We’ll give him one more game and then consider starting Sama Syle.

“Jay Kaye, WNOU here with Coach Cash. Coach, how important is Marq Harp to this team?”

“Well Jay, everyone’s important but Marq is really important. He didn’t do much against California and we lost. He had a big game tonight and we won easily.”

“What’s going on with Marc Pryl?”

“Marc is a freshman. Sometimes it takes a freshman awhile to get into the flow. Hopefully he’ll find himself. We think he has a lot of potential.”

At 1-2 Dayton. We feel like we should beat this team but the road is rough.

11/25: They take a quick lead and extend it. We come back. Down 4 after 10. 44-54 at halftime. 2 fouls on them 14 on us, including a T against me. Yes, I’ll say it, the refs are beating us.

Narrowing the gap early. Down only 1 with 10 to go. Late run.

95-86. Great comeback, we were down as many as 13 in the 2nd. 17, 10 for Harp, 12 each for Hix and Nate. +15 for the bench. The terrible calls stopped in the 2nd half. +42 in the paint.

At 5-0, #15, Colorado. They can play, especially outside.

We’re giving Syle more time at SG but still starting Pryl.

[Wayne23]

11/29: Early lead. They come back. Tied after 10. 31-35 at the half. We’re shooting only 31.4%. Both Harp and Pryl have 3 fouls again. 13, 9 for Nate who is the only one doing much.

They stretch their lead early. Down 7 with 10 to go. It’s not happening late.

72-79. We shot better in the 2nd but only 40.6%. We lost it at the line, 36 for them 17 for us. I got another technical. 23, 12 for Nate, 16, for Ling, who doesn’t usually play much. 11, 7 for Wolf.

We lost this one outside as well as on the line. Our guards didn’t get it down.

The 5 game road trip ends at Oklahoma ST, 3-1. Another team that is very good outside.

12/2: We come out on fire. Up 15 after 10. 46-28. Great D. Harp, Nate, and Wolf have 10 each. No one with more than 1 foul! Big edge inside.

Up 23 with 10 left.

92-82. They narrowed the gap late but not enough to matter. 25, 8 for Nate, 16, 14 for Harp, 12, 7 for Wolf. Good guard play for once. +38 down low.

Finally back home! We play 5-1 Kona. They’re tough.

12/6: Fast start. Up 10 after 10. 36-27 at halftime. Balanced scoring, very good inside play.

We start the 2nd with a big run. Up 31 with 10 to go.

85-45. I real blowout. 22, 9, 3, 1, 3 for Harp, 14, 8 for Nate, 14, 3, 4, 3 for Syle, 12, 7 for Wolf. +16 for the bench.

2-3 Belmont is here. They’re good outside.

12/9: Early lead. Up 15 after 10. 50-27 at the half. 16, 12 for Harp, 12 for Vaka, who doesn’t play much. 3 fouls for Nate.

Up 22 with 10 to play.

104-77. 22, 15, 4 blocks for Harp, 22, 8 for Nate, 16 for Vaka, 12, 7 for Wolf. +42 inside.

Harp hurt his knee. He will be on limited play time for about 10 days.

6-2, NET #14.

#1 in PPG, +15.6. #3 in RBs, +10.0, -2.2 TOs, 10.9 per game.

Harp leads us with 17.8 and 9.3. 16.4, 7.0 for Nate. 11.9, 9.0 for 6th man Will Wolf. 10.3 for Hix. 7.4 assists for Caes.

At 5-2 NC ST next. They can play but I don’t know if they can score enough points to stay with us.