DDSCB23: Alone

[Wayne23]

0-4 Charleston is here. They have trouble scoring points.

11/30: 81-70. We jumped out to a quick lead and built it to 21. It was 17 at the half. The final score was as close as they got in the 2nd half.

12, 11, 2, 4 for Rand, 14, 5 for sub Bri Mixs, 13, 4 for sub Jim Wynn, 13, 4 for Pryo, 11, 5, 3 for Hall. +14 in the paint.

We had 3 guys in foul trouble again. We’re working hard in practice on playing good D without fouling but we still have a lot to learn.

At 1-3 Colgate. They score only 61.5 per but they rebound well. Still, we think we have a big edge inside.

12/3: 82-83. 14 lead changes, 10 ties. Never more than an 8 point separation. At the end they scored on a 12 footer off a screen with 1.1 left. We didn’t get a good shot off.

19, 13 for Hall, 18, 1, 4 for Onda. We’re better from the line this year than we were last but shot only 17-25. Making a couple more free throws would have made all the difference.

Always fragile Mal Rand broke a finger on his shooting hand. He’s out for 7 or 8 weeks and that really hurts us. Wynn and Mixs will get his minutes.

4-1 Charlotte is here. They’re good, especially outside. Without Rand we’ll need to step up our game.

12/7: 88-61. We DID step up our game! We led all the way. Up by a dozen at halftime. 20, 3 for Pryo, 14, 10 for Hall, 14, 8 for News, 10, 9 for Wynn. +16 in the paint, +15 RBs.

At 0-6 Louisiana-Monroe. They have trouble scoring but they’ve played 2 ranked teams.

1st game on a 4 game road trip.

12/10: 71-78. They didn’t have much trouble scoring tonight, unfortunately. We led by as many as 15 early and by 5 at the half, but we couldn’t make a basket in the 2nd half. They went to the line 22 times to our 8. 21, 0, 5 for Stew, 18, 8 for Hall, 14, 6, 3 for Pryo. They beat us inside.

It could be a long, tough few weeks without Rand.

At 3-6 Bryant. They shoot well outside, but they don’t hit the boards.

12/13: 87-71. We led all the way. Up 8 at the half. 16, 14 for Hall, 17, 7 for Mixs, 11 each for News and Pyro. +10 RBs, +28 in the paint. But lots of foul trouble yet again.

We’re 7-3, NET #122.

I’ve been living full time in the holo for some time now. My routine hasn’t changed all that much. The only addition is stepping out of the holo to check the building and the robots, which I do right after my morning run.

[Wayne23]

At 1-8 Morgan ST. They’ve really struggled. They don’t rebound well.

12/17: 71-78. Damn! We stayed with them until they went on a 12-3 run with about 3 minutes left. We were up 2 at the half. They went to the line 15 times more than we did and hit 12 more shots from there. They beat us inside and not having Rand really made the difference.

15, 10 for Hall but he was outplayed by their C. 12, 0, 3, 5 steals for Onda, 11, 1, 3 for Pryo, 13 for Mixs. -8 RBs, which really hurt.

At 2-2 Grambling. They give up 10 more than they score and they don’t rebound. But they’re at home.

12/21: 58-61. Not having Rand is killing us. Looks like he’s out until at least late January.

They took the lead right away and we never led. Down 13 at the half. Wee scrambled back late to get it to three but they made their free throws at the end. On our last possession we couldn’t get a good look. We shot a miserable 34.8%. They out rebounded us.

We’ve lost 3 of 4, 4 of 6. Not good.

3-6 Hawaii is here. They’re a good team despite their record. They beat the #2 and #8 ranked teams, lost a close one to #4.

We NEED a win!

12/24: They came out fast and in no time had a 15 point lead and I thought, “Here we go again!” I called my 2nd time out and raised hell and then made a change on D. We cut the deficit to 9 at halftime. In the locker room we worked on tactics and motivation. Within 5 minutes we had caught Hawaii, and in another 5 we had an 8 point lead. We stretched the lead to 13.

22, 4, 5 for sub F/C Bri Mixs, 12, 8 for Both Hall and Pryo, 10, 5, 6 for Onda. +12 RBs, +8 in the paint. We badly needed this win to go to 8-5.

Our last pre-conf game is at #8 ranked Texas Tech, 11-1, 9-0 at home. They can play, especially inside. Without Rand our chances are not good.

12/28: 64-88. We were in over our heads. They led all the way, by 14 at the break. Their SF had 37!

14, 5 for Wynn, 13, 4 for Mixs, 10, 5, 6 for Pryo, 10, 5 for Hall. News fouled out and Hall ended up with 4, as did Stew. They took 18 more trips to the line than we did. -16 RBs.

8-6, NET #151 at the end of pre-conf play.6 of our last 9, 3 of our last 4.

+3.8 PPG+1.8 RBs, -3.7 TOs, 11.1 per.

Hall leads us with 13.9 points, 8.1 RBs. Pryo gets 12.6 points. Rand gets 10.7 and 7.6. Onda gets 5.4 assists.

The first month of MAAC play could be rough. Hope we don’t dig a hole we can’t climb out of.

I miss my old job. I loved crunching numbers, running down data, and all of that. Now there’s no need for any of it, of course.

[Wayne23]

1/1/2225: 5-8 Iona is here. They are not the team they were last year. Their SF is out with a broken hand. We think we’re better, even without Rand.

1/7: 90-63. Huge win to start MAAC play in style! We came out strong and determined and led by 21 at halftime. We never looked back in the 2nd.

20, 9, 3, 3 for Mixs. If he were a better defender he’d start. 15, 8 for News, 12, 11 for Wynn, 10, 12 for Hall. We owned the paint. +29 for the bench, +18 in the paint, +22 RBs.

At 6-8, 1-0 Marxist. We think we’re better but…

1/11: 75-63. We led all the way, by as many as 21. Up 8 at halftime. 14, 6 for Mixs, 11 each for Onda and Pryo, 10, 5 for Hall. The bench won this one for us, +20. +18 in the paint.

8-7, 2-0 Fairfield is here. They have a good inside game.

1/14: 76-57. Strong D. 17, 7 for Hall, 12, 7 for Mixs, 11, 4, 2, 3 for Onda.

Another major injury. Starting SF Jay News breaks his leg. Out for at least the rest of the regular season. May or may not be back for the post season. Wynn will start at SF, Mixs starts at PF.

Rand has started light workouts. He should be back for our Feb. 2 game, maybe for our 1/28 game.

At 6-10, 1-2 Canisius. At full strength we’re much better but with 2 starters out…

1/18: 91-95 in OT. Great O, no D. We blew a 14 point lead. Up by 8 at halftime. Horrible officiating and I took a T in the last minute of OT. We went to the line 15 times and they went 47 times, and that was the difference. We played better than they did. Wynn and Pryo fouled out, 4 guys ended with 4 fouls each.

21, 8 for Mixs, 14, 16, 4 for Hall, 14, 6, 7 for Onda.

Little used guard Ric Coli bruises his bicep. Out about 10 days. The injury bug needs to stop.

My post game comments about the officials will no doubt get me another fine.

In a 3 way tie for 1st in the MAAC but it's early.

[Wayne23]

8-9, 2-2 Mount ST Mary is here. We think we’re stronger inside even with 2 big men out.

1/21: 88-70. It was back and forth for the first few minutes. Then we went on a run and never trailed again. Up 13 at halftime. 25, 10 for Hall, 16, 7 for Wynn, 16, 6 for Little used F/C Luke Henn. We definitely won this one inside, +30 in the paint, +10 RBs.

Mixs went down early in the second half with a twisted ankle. Thankfully, it’s nothing. He shouldn’t miss a game.

We’re alone in 1st but again, it’s early.

At 11-9, 3-2 Saint’s Peter. We’re +8.5 on the boards.

1/25: 86-69. I’m delighted at how well we’re playing with 2 starters and a sub out.

They started fast and went out to a 14 point lead. We came back hard, went on a 19-4 run and went into the locker room up 10. We controlled the 2nd half. 25, 11 for Hall, 18, 6, 3 for Mixs, 17, 4, 3 blocks for Wynn.

We owned the paint.

6-13, 2-4 Rider is here. They have trouble scoring, especially outside.

1/28: 90-85. We started very slowly and were down 21 after about 12 minutes. We got it to down 11 at the half. The shots started dropping and the D tightened up in the 2nd half and we caught up and then took the lead.

23, 2, 7 for Onda, 15, 8, 1, 4 for Hall, 15, 3, 3, 3 for Pryo. We on this one with good guard play. Rider neutralized our inside game- outplayed us inside, actually.

Rand and Coli will be back for our next game.

1/29: All of our recruits, including the ones we’re still chasing, hit our SAT score.

At 11-9, 3-4 Niagara. They’re very good outside but we have a big edge inside.

Let’s see how ready Rand and Coli are in their first game back.

2/1: 87-85. A real knuckle biter. We started slow again and fell behind by 10 early. We cut it to 2 at halftime and felt pretty good about ourselves heading into the 2nd half. It was back and forth for most of the half. Then we went on a 7-0 run to take a 5 point lead late. We kept the lead and made our foul shots late. They hit a three with 1.2 left to cut the margin to 2 and that’s the way it ended.

26, 6 for Hall, 20, 10 for Rand, 17, 4 for Mixs. We won it inside.

15-7, 7-1, up by 2 over 2 teams at the halfway mark. NET #71.

A near disaster in the building. The heating system went down. Given that it gets to minus two hundred and something on Mars this is serious.

I get alerted by the robots when there’s trouble. I put my hazard suit on and came out of the holo. I don’t have the skills to solve a problem like this but the robots do. They worked on it with me watching and the inside temperature dropping. It took about 2 ½ hours but they got it fixed.

We printed a back up unit as soon as things were back to normal. It would have been quicker to replace the heating system than to repair it.

I supervised the 3D printing of all of the vital machines we use to keep the building functioning, including 2 iridium/platinum batteries in case any of those failed.

We learned something here and it will benefit us in the future.

[Wayne23]

10-11, 3-5 Siena is here. We think we’re a lot better.

2/4: 85-66. Yet again we started slowly. Before long we were down by 13. We fought back and were down 2 at the break. Foul trouble for Hall and Onda were a big cause of our poor first half. In the 2nd
we played much better and shot 55%. We took the lead after about 5 minutes, expanded it for the rest of the game.

16, 8 for Rand, 13, 4 for Henn, 11, 2, 4 for Stew. +12 for the bench. +12 in the paint, +9 on 2nd chances.

At 8-15, 5-4 Manhattan. They’re good outside but we’re much stronger inside.

2/8: 87-73. The first half was close with lots of lead changes and ties. We led by 2 at the break. We clamped down hard on D in the 2nd and held them to 27.

17, 3, 7 for Onda, 14, 4 for Mixs, 16, 2, 3 for Wynn, 12 and 12 for Rand.

2 up on Quinnipiac, 3 on Iona, 4 or more on the rest with 6 to play.

That phone I talked about is how the robots alerted me to the problem with the heating system. They are able to contact me via the phone, thankfully.

The phone is also connected to weather reporting equipment outside the building. I don’t get weather forecasts but I get reports on current conditions.

2nd place Quinnipiac, 14-9, 7-3, is here. Their C is hurt but will play. We have a big edge inside.

2/11: 81-60. BIG win in that it puts us 3 up with 5 to play. We led for the last 38 minutes. Up 11 at halftime. We shot 50% to their 36.4%.

17, 9, 4 for Mixs, 13, 3, 3 for Wynn, 13 for Onda.

At 11-13, 6-5 Iona. We won by 27 at home. We think we’re much better but it’s a road game.

2/15: 87-75. Yet another slow start saw us down by 11 after 10 minutes. We were down 6 at the half. Hall only played 3 minutes due to fouls. As we usually do we bounced back in the 2nd, taking the
lead quickly and holding it the rest of the way. 22, 4 for Wynn, 15, 9 for Mixs. +20 in the paint. We won this one inside and with good bench play.

We now lead by 4 with 4 to play. 19-7, 11-1, NET #43.

The only MAAC game we lost was an overtime loss.

[Wayne23]

11-14, 6-6 Marxist is here. We won by 12 there. This is a team we should beat.

2/18: 92-64 and another 20 win season!

This one was easy and we led all the way. Up 17 at the break.

22 with 3 steals for Onda, 17, 7, 6 for Rand, 13, 7 for Hall. We shot 55.1% to 38.3%. +22 in the paint, +13 RBs.

Mate Emma has a sore knee. We’ll sit him for at least one game.

We clinch the regular season MAAC title.

At 10-16, 4-9 Fairfield. We won by 19 at home. We score 13 more per game.

2/22: 81-89 ending our win streak at 9. We started slowly again but this time we never really woke up, at least not enough. Down only 2 at the half but they got the lead to 10 a few times in the 2nd and
we never got it to a one possession game during the last 10 minutes.

Fouls hurt us, Pryo and Stew both fouled out. 14 each for Hall and Mixs, 12, 2, 5 for Onda but 5 TOs. They definitely beat us outside.

13-14, 8-6 Canisius is here for our last home game. They beat us in OT there. We’re the better team.

2/25: 95-76. Up only 3 at the half after trailing a few times. We broke it open early in the 2nd. 22, 9 for Hall, 15, 9, 3 for Rand, who fouled out, 10, 3, 8, 3 for Onda.

We won it inside.

Our last regular season game is at 12-16, 6-9 Mount ST Mary. We won by 18 at home. We’re much better inside.

3/1: 84-72. We led all the way. Up by 13 at halftime.

27, 9 for Hall, 13, 5 for Pryo.

We end regular season play at 22-8, 14-2, NET #40. We win the MAAC by 3 over Quinnipiac, 5 or more over the rest.

+8.9 PPG, +4.2 RBs, -4.4 TOs, 10.8 per.

Hall leads us with 14.7, 8.1. Sub Bri Mixs gets 11.4, 4.8. Rand gets 10.9, 6.8. 10.0 with 5.3 assists for Onda. 9.9 for Pryo.

Looks like News won’t be available for the MAAC tourney but will be for the NCAA.

[Wayne23]

3/6: We play #8 seed Saint’s Peter, 16-16, 7-9. We won by 17 there. We’re much better outside.

3/7: 90-74. They were tough in the early going, building a 10 point lead. We tied it up at halftime. We came out fast in the 2nd and were in charge throughout the half.

30 and 8 for Rand, 12, 4, 3, 3 for Mixs, 12 with 5 steals for Pryo. +12 in the paint, +11 on 2nd chances. +15 for the bench.

#5 seed Niagara in the semis. They’re 18-13, 8-8. We won by only 2 there. It will be their outside game vs. our inside game, as it was last time.

3/8: 76-78. Damn! Close all the way. They led by 2 at the half. At the end they made their free throws. We had the ball with 2.2 seconds left but they played good D and all we got for a shot was a three by Pryo with a hand in his face. It missed long.

18, 9 for Rand, 18, 4 for Mixs, 14, 14 for Hall. They won it with their outside game.

3/12: 23-9, 14-2, NET #42 I expect us to be in the big dance.

[Wayne23]

No. NIT #1 East. Hofstra, 19-12, is the opponent. They can play.

3/13: 79-70. Back and forth for about 10 minutes then we took the lead. Up by 5 at the break. We got the lead to 12 early in the 2nd and never trailed again. A ridiculous 54 fouls called. For once it hurt the other guys more than us.

13, 15 for Rand, 17, 7 for Mixs, 11, 10 for Hall, 12, 4 for Onda.

#4 seed Tennessee ST, 21-10, in the 2nd round. They’re a good team. We rebound better but we’ll need to play well.

3/15: 98-92 in OT in a real shoot out. We led by as many as 15 early in the 2nd but they came back to tie it at the end of regulation with a three off a screen. We took charge in OT.

Our bench won it for us, +31 points. 19, 4 for Mixs, 14, 4 for Hall, 12, 10 for Rand, 11, 3 for Henn, 10, 2, 5 for Stew.

#2 seed New Mexico,23-10, in the quarter finals. They’re very good outside. 1-2 vs. ranked teams. This could be a tough one.

3/20: 102-82. We were a scoring machine. It was close for about 25 minutes. We were up 2 at the half. Then in the 2nd we hit most of our shots, scoring 56 to their 38.

26, 6 for Hall, 24, 12 for Mixs, 13, 0, 6 for Onda, 10, 7 for Rand. Our bench won it for us again, +24 points. We were +26 in the paint, +14 on 2nd chances.

It’s 21-12 Iowa ST, #3 seed, in the semifinals of the NIT. On paper they’re better than us. 1-9 vs. ranked teams but that is a tough schedule and it makes them battle hardened. We’ll need to be at our very best tonight.

3/28: 91-74 and we’re in the NIT title game! The first half was a shootout and we ended it with a 9 point lead. We got the lead to 22 in the 2nd and it was never in doubt. Our bench was huge again, 46-18.

19, 3, 5, 3 for backup guard Marq Stew, 18, 8, 3 blocks for Rand, 18 5 for Mixs.

#5 seed Vanderbilt, 22-12, in the title game. They’re 1-5 vs. ranked opponents. It will be their outside game vs. our inside game and bench.

3/30: 82-65 and the NIT title! Our inside game won it.

We led for the last 35 minutes, by as many as 24. Up 14 at the half. 20, 10 for Rand, 14, 8, 3, 3 for Mixs, 14, 4 for Hall.

Great win. This was probably my last game at CCSU. A. D. Sam Sims and I had a very testy relationship after he turned down my request for a facilities improvement last year. If I get a decent offer I’m gone.

[Wayne23]

4/3: #17 ranked West Virginia is the national champ.

4/4: Awards: Geof Hall repeats as MAAC POY and 1st team. Mal Rand is Def. POY. For the 3rd year in a row I am Conf. COY.

4/9: Going to NC ST. We’ll go with triangle and Princeton on O, man-to-man on D and when we press.

B- facilities, B+ academics.

They went 17-17, 8-12 so we’re rebuilding, but they have 5 rookies coming in, 3 of whom look good.

I ask for a facilities upgrade.

No. A. D. Butch Green says maybe next year. I’ve heard that before.

CCSU went 28-9, won the NIT. In my 3 years we were 80-25, .762. Pretty good!

I don’t like the heat but there it is. It’s hot in Raleigh.

I’m settling in and getting to know my staff and the players.

[Wayne23]

5/1: #24 recruit class.

We exceed our Expected to Spend budget.

We lose a forward who wouldn’t have played much. We’re cutting a guard. We need at least one guard, maybe 2 in the transfer pool. We have 3 open roster spots.

6/2: We get a He’ll start. Now we need 2 guards.

6/5: No luck.

6/9: No luck again. We thought we had a chance with 2 SGs. Lost one. Still chasing the other one.

6/12: Still didn’t get that guard. He’s been in our top 5 all along.

6/16: The guard signs!

6/19: We get another guard.

6/25: We’re going to the Indy Elite and to all the regional camps.

6/26: 2 scholarships. We need 1 and 1 or 2 guards.

The landscape is pretty barren here but I look out via all the cameras at least once a day, and the robots do so several times a day. We landed and built this place in a very flat spot, no hills, no valleys, no big craters. The soil actually is kind of reddish. All we see is dust blowing around when it’s windy.

The plan was to terraform the planet but there’s no point now since there are no humans to settle here.

7/11: Definitely some recruits showing interest.

7/31: We offer to a PG and a PF.

8/21: Working the recruits.

I decide to cut a kid and go for another guard.

9/18: 3 for 3! We get a PG, #34, our #1 and the guy we cut someone to go after. He took a LONG time to show interest in us but we didn’t give up. Another PG, #75, and a PF, #59. They should all hit our
SAT score.

Going to Poseidon’s Challenge. Some challenges on the schedule.