by Wayne23 » Fri Apr 28, 2023 2:28 pm
11/15: “Okay guys. You’re about to go out there and begin the tradition of winning basketball at New Orleans U. You’ll be telling your grandchildren about this. Do great things!”
The game starts and we jump out to a quick lead. My guys are finding the open man! Up 12 after 10 minutes. I like what I’m seeing! 49-34 at halftime.
“Vin, 18 and 4, great half! And you totally shut your man down. Rick Hix, you can’t foul like that. We need you on the floor! Ari Hunt, when you go in for Hix or anybody else don’t afraid to be aggressive. You were just a little tentative. Mike Hinn, solid play! 10 and 6 and you shut down your man! Guards, you pretty much held your own. I need more aggressive play from the bench but Val Smik, keep doin’ what you’re doin’. 6 assists! Love it. Okay, we’re only gonna change one thing. I want you to press more, maybe about half the time. Whoever’s in a the Point will call it so look to him for the signal.
We start fast and get it to 20. Up 27 with 10 minutes to go.
101-83. “Yes, that’s what I’m talkin’ about! Great way to start the season!
“Billie Bob Cramer, WNOL, with the post game show. Coach Cash, you have to be happy with the team’s performance.”
“We saw some things we need to work on but yes, we’re very happy. 26, 7 for Irri!”
“Everyone expected him to be your best player and he lived up to it tonight.”
“On both ends of the floor. He was huge. 20 and 6 for Cal Selt at SG. We have high expectations for him and he lived up to them, especially in the 2nd half. 16, 9 for Mike Hinn, another solid player.”
“How about the bench?”
“A double double, 10 and 11, for Ari Hunt, and 6 and 9 for Val Smik at guard. Val wants to start at the Point and games like this don’t hurt his cause, although our starter, Sama Style had a really good game, 9 and 9. But his D wasn;t what we need it to be.”
“Will you make any changes?”
“Not after one game. We’ll watch and see and have a lot of staff time talking before we make changes. Hey, 60-24 in the paint. How about that! And only 9 TOs!”
“The crowd was behind you.”
“Yeah but it was a small crowd. As they figure out that we’re actually going to be winning games the crowds will get bigger. I want this to be the toughest ticket in town.”
“That would be quite something given the town we’re in! Thanks Coach.”
Our road debut is at Hartford, 0-2. They’ve really struggled, especially inside, but road games are never easy.
11/18: “Don’t let ‘em beat you outside!”
It’s close early but we’re playing hard. Up 5 after 10. 40-37 at the half.
“I’m not happy with the last 2 minutes. You have to finish strong!
“Vic, 13 and 7 is great but 3 fouls! We can’t have that. Do NOT pick up #4. We need you in there!
“Ari, good scoring but hit the boards harder. I need more outside; you guys are stopping the outside shot but I need points from you, too.
“Too many fouls all around. But we’re gonna press more, about half the time. Look for the sign from the Point. And play with discipline!”
It’s close early. Up only 1 with 10 to play. Then we go on a run!
87-81.
“All right. We LOVE road wins! 27, 7, 5 steals for Vic. Way to go. But watch the fouls.
“Cal, we need you at SG. Hopefully this is the first and last time you foul out.
“Hunt and Sims, great play from the bench. You too, Val.
“Hinn and Hix got it done at forward.
“In general, we’ve been workin’ on playing aggressive D without fouling. That didn’t happen enough tonight. We’ll be working on it more. Good job, all in all. The goal is to get a little better every
day, and we’re doing okay with that.”
The guy we were worried about not hitting our SAT score signed. That means he will hit it!
At 0-3 Delaware ST next. Their SF is really good but he doesn’t get much help. We should own the boards!
11/22: We start fast. Up 23 after 10. 51-33 at the half.
“Okay, don’t let up! Great job in the first half but what you do to another team they can do back to you. Don’t let that happen!
“Good work inside. Come on, guards, let’s put some points up!”
15, 3, 3, 3 for Irri, 11 for Hix.
Up 29 with 10 to play.
96-72.
“Rockin’ and a rollin’! Great D, just what I’m lookin’ for, hard D but with discipline. No one got in foul trouble.”
23, 6, 3, 3 for Irri, 14, 6, 3, 5 for Helt, 16, 5 for Hix, 14, 5 for Hinn. 10 for Sims, 10 assists for Smik.
“Bobbi Sue Barker, WNOU, with the post game show. Coach Cash, you’re team has been kicking butt so far this season.”
“I told you, Bobbi Sue, and I told your listeners. This team is capable of doin’ great things and we’re doin’ ‘em!”
“What are the keys?”
“I’ve said it before, team before self, solid D with discipline behind it, finding the open man. My guys have bought in to all of that and more.”
“This team hasn’t won more than 8 games in the last 7 seasons. You’re 3-0.”
“We intend to win a lot of games this season, Bobbi Sue. If we stay healthy we’re in it every night.”
“You’re heading home. Do you expect a bigger crowd than you had in your home opener?”
“I’m told you can’t get a ticket for that game, and that makes me very happy!”
“Thanks Coach.”
Florida Gulf Coast, 3-0, is here. Their C is out with a broken ankle. They’ve looked very good so far. We’ll need to be sharp.
11/25: “Okay, this team can play. Let’s show them what we can do!”
We take an early lead but it’s close. Tied after 10. We press some. 45-51.
“Okay, ya gotta work for this one.
“Dang it, Hix, and the rest of you, too. Too many fouls! And my guards are getting embarrassed. I KNOW you can do better!
“The threes are killing us. Stop ‘em!
“We’re gonna press more.”
13, 3 for Irri, 12, 3 for Sims, 10 for Hix, but Hix has 3 fouls and the other starters all have 2.
We catch up early, then go on a run. Up 12 with 10 left.
104-89.
“Great 2nd half!”
29, 7 for Irri, 18, 6 for Sims, 14, 4 for Hix, 13 for Selt. Big edge inside.
“Okay, I love the way you dug in after bein’ down 6 at the half. Love the determination!”
“Billie Bob Cramer with the WNOL post game show. Coach Cash, your guys really turned it around in the 2nd half.”
“Yes they did. I told them in the locker room that it’s no big deal to be down 6 at the half. We made a couple adjustments, bore down, and got it done!”
“Say something about your giant in the middle, Vic Irri.”
“Vic’s our leader. He’s consistently good every night, and the guys look to him, maybe more than anybody else, to show us the way. He scores, he rebounds, he plays big time D, and he’s a natural leader. I LOVE that he’ll be back next season!”
“Thanks Coach.”
Sama Syle hurt his foot. He’s day-to-day and won’t miss any time.
On the plane the coaches met to take a look at what we’ve seen so far.
We’re 4-0, NET #102, which is fantastic for us.
Looking at the stat sheet and talking about what we’ve seen we decided to make a change at the Point. Val Smik has been doing way more than Style, and he’ll start.
We’re #1 in the nation in scoring, #4 in both shooting pct., and blocks.
Irri leads us with 26.3 points and gets 6.8 RBs. Mike Hinn leads in RBs with 7.3, and gets 12.0 points. Cal Selt gets 13.8 points. Smik leads in assists with 8.0.
On the road for our next 3, starting at 1-3 Lindenwood. They're good at 2 and 5 but they give up more points than they score.