DDSCB23: Alone

[Wayne23]

12/6: 84-59 over #22 Michigan here. We led all the way. 35, 7, 2, 3 for Gray, 14, 8 for Baly. +16 in the paint.

12/9: The win streak ends at 101, as #4 UCLA beats us in Storrs, 79-87. They took a big early lead and were up by 14 at halftime. We came back in the 2nd half but never quite got there. The two main factors were fouls, they went to the line 44 times, we went 15, and their SG, who scored 40. Their C also came up big. 19, 6, 7 for Ando, 15, 10, 2, 3 for Baly, 12, 10 for Lake. They matched us inside and beat us outside.

Post game press conference (excerpts): “Luke Bows, EPSN. Coach, how does it feel to lose after 101 wins in a row?”

“Losing is never fun but it’s not the end of the world. My guys are down right now and our main job as coaches is to get them feeling confident again. We’ll work on that at practice.”

“The foul calls were pretty one sided.”

“Yes they were. I’m certainly not happy about that but we lost because we had no answers for their shooting guard and their Center. We’ll work hard on defending against a guy or guys who are lighting us up.”

12/10: The kids turn 5 today. All of them can read, some just a little, some are reading novels designed for older kids. We work hard on math skills as well and the kids are doing well there.

12/13: 103-98 in OT at Temple. First OT game since I’ve come to UConn? Might be, I can’t remember another one. Temple led by 16 in the 1st and by 13 at the end of the 1st. We fought hard to come back and tied it at the end of regulation on a three by Troy Gray. In OT we took charge early and came away with the win. Losing two in a row would not have been good!

22, 7 for Gray, 20, 4, 8 for Ando, 14, 7, 5 blocks for Mile, 17, 8, 3, 3 blocks for Lake.

12/20: 71-58 at Arkansas. We never trailed but they got our lead to 2 at the half. We widened it in the 2nd, leading by as many as 15. 31, 7 for Mile, 13, 5 for Baly, 12, 7 for Lake. +26 in the paint and that was the difference.

12/25: We end pre-conference play at 11-1, #2, NET #1.

+14.1 PPG, +6.7 RBs, +5.8 assists. -7.1 TOs, averaging a very good 9.7.

Matt Baly leads us in coring and RBs with 16.7, 9.8. 14.0, 6.8 for Mile, 13.8, 7.2 for Gray, 10.9, 6.7 for Lake. 7.2 assists and only 2.3 TOs for Ando.

[Wayne23]

12/28: 90-89 at #19 Florida ST. Hell of a game. There was never more than a 7 point spread. Tied 41-41 at the half. The lead changed 3 times in the last 30 seconds. We had the ball last, getting it with 11.2 to go and down 1. Ando worked the clock and with about 4seconds left got it to PF Matt Baly who powered it to the hoop for a lay up. He was fouled but it wasn’t called. That left 0.4 on the clock and FL ST couldn’t get a shot off.

22, 11 for Baly, 15, 9 for Gray, 12, 10 for Lake. We won it inside, and at the line, where we were +13.

12/30: 84-74 at Va. Tech. We led all the way in this one. 24, 4, 4, 4 blocks for Baly, 15, 6, 3 blocks for Mile, 12, 6, 3, 3 for Lake. +22 in the lane.

1/4/2235: 83-63 at Virginia. We led all the way again. Up 13 at halftime. 16, 5, 3, 3 for SG Josh Grow, 15, 11 for Mile, 14, 8, 1, 4 for Gray, 13, 5, 5 for Lake. +22 inside.

1/6: 89-62 over Boston College in our conference home opener. 55-28 at the break. 22, 10 for Baly, 17, 7, 3 for Mile, 6, 10, 11 for Ando, 12, 5 for Lake. +23 boards, huge edge inside.

15-1, 4-0, 1 game lead. #1, NET #1.

[Wayne23]

1/9: 84-62 over #17 Pitt. Up 20 at the half. 21, 8 for Baly, 15, 5 for Lake, 14, 1, 4 for #3 guard Kea Toms. +21 for the bench and that was the difference.

1/11: 78-76 at #8 Louisville. 25 lead changes, 14 ties. We were up 5 at halftime. It came down to the last possession when our C Jed Mile blocked a shot by their C as time ran out.

21, 3, 4 for Toms, 14, 11 for Gray, 16, 9 for Baly. +23 for the bench which is pulling us through some very close games.

1/18: 86-65 over Va. Tech here. 52-23 at the break. 18, 5, 3, 4, 3 blocks for Mile, 20, 5 for Gray, 15, 8, 1, 3, 4 blocks for Baly. We won it inside.

1/20: 74-65 at #19 Clemson. Up 12 at the half. 17, 2, 4 for Ando, 11, 8, 2, 4 for Gray, 11, 9 for Baly. We won this one with outside scoring and solid play in the paint.

19-1, 8-0, up 2 on Pitt, #1, NET #1.

We’re winning but lots of games are very close.

8 of our 64 kids are prodigies of one kind or another. That’s a very high percentage. One of the kids is a poet who, at 5 years of age, writes about sophisticated topics and makes his poems both scan and rhyme.

Most of the other prodigies are in math or one of the sciences. We have two kids who are fascinated by space, and by what we’re doing in space. They’re teaching themselves the things they want to know, with help from the robots. One is into weather, on Mars, and on other planets, especially Earth. Another is a bacteriologist. Two are already learning some very advanced math, and the other is a chemist.

[Wayne23]

1/25: 78-64 over Miami here. Up only 7 at the half but we led by as many as 19 in the 2nd. 19, 14 for Baly, 17, 7 for Mile, 12, 3, 5, 3 for Ando. +15 RBs, +28 in the paint.

1/27: 106-73 over #9 Louisville here. I thought it would be tougher given that we won by only 2 there. 61-36 at halftime. 27, 7, 4 for Grow, 24, 5 for Gray, 12, 6, 5, 3 blocks for Mile,
15, 6 for Lake.

1/29: All of our recruits hit our SAT score.

Troy Gray is #19 on the Norton list.

2/1: 87-60 over Syracuse here. Up 17 at the half. 17, 10 for Mile, 15, 12, 3 blocks for Baly, 16, 6, 3 for Lake. We beat them inside and outside.

2/6: 96-86 at #19 NC ST. Up 15 at the break and we led by as many as 24 in the 2nd before they got it closer late. 21, 14, 5 blocks for Mile, 17 each for Gray and Baly. +20 in the paint.

23-1, 12-0, 3 up on Pitt, 5 or more on the rest. #1, NET #1.

[Wayne23]

2/8: 79-60 at #9 Duke. Up 20 at the half. 20, 12 for Lake, 13, 7, 6 for Ando, 13, 3, 2, 4 for Gray.

Matt Bailey bruised his sternum. He’s out for at least a week.

2/10: 87-66 over #11 Ga. Tech there. Up 9 at halftime then we stretched the lead to 28 in the 2nd. 21, 10, 1, 3, 4 blocks for Gray, 21, 6 for Mile, 11, 13 for Lake, 12, 7 for Feld. +18 boards.

Troy Gray is #19 on the Norton list.

2/13: 83-79 over Florida ST here. We won by only 1 point there so beware of this team in the post season! We led all the way, by as many as 16, but they came back strong and got it to a single possession a few times late. 18, 8 for Feld, 14, 10 for Gray, 12, 4, 6 for Ando. +16 for the bench which won it for us.

2/20: 111-76 over Wake Forest here. Baly is back.

Up 21 at the break. 19, 7, 9 for Ando, 17, 7 for Lake, 16, 3, 6 for Grow, 19, 3 for Feld. +26 inside. We outscored them by a lot outside.

27-1, 16-0, 4 game lead with 4 to play. #1, NET #1.

The kids are divided into 5 groups for much of the day. The 8 prodigies are together in one class and there are 4 classes of 14 students each, with the groups divided along lines of interests and abilities, more or less. Most of our students are very bright. The lowest group of 14 are probably what would be considered above average in the old days on Earth.

For some classes and activities the grouping is different.

[Wayne23]

2/22: 74-70 at #8 Pitt to clinch the regular season ACC title. They led by 7 early. Wew came back and led by 4 at halftime. It stayed close for most of the 2nd but the game was not in danger late.

They hit a 3 at the buzzer to get the margin down to 4.

21, 6, 1, 3 for Baly, 16, 7 for Mile, 14, 5, 2, 3 for Lake. +24 in the paint.

2/24: 69-62 at Miami. Up 10 at the half and we never led by more than 12. 20, 8, 3 for Baly, 14, 4 for Feld, 11, 9 for Gray. We won it inside.

3/1: 92-54 over #22 Clemson in Hartford. 47-22 at the break. 23, 18, 3 blocks for Baly, 14, 6, 3 blocks for Mile, 13 each for Grow and Lake, 12, 4, 4 for Ando. +26 RBs, +42 in the lane.

Lake strains a calf. He’s day to day.

3/3: 96-75 over #20 North Carolina on senior night in Storrs. Up 18 at halftime. 21, 10 for Gray, 16 each for Grow and Feld. +28 inside.

Post game press conference (excerpts): “Luke Bows, EPSN. Coach, you’re not undefeated but only 1 loss all season and perfect in ACC play.”

“That’s true but we had some close ones along the way. Frankly, I didn’t expect to run the table in the ACC this season. My guys have exceeded expectations.”

“Can you win it all again?”

“We can, but we’re not the huge favorite we have been for the last couple of years. We’ll need to play really good ball and probably we’ll need to catch a break somewhere along the way.”

31-1.20-0, 6 game edge in the ACC. #1, NET #1.

+16.1 PPG, +8.1 RBs, +5.5 assists, - 6 TOs, averaging 10.4.

16.0, 9.2 for Baly, 13.6, 7.1 for Mile, 13.2, 7.8 for Gray, 11.0, 6.4 for Lake. 6.3 assists for Ando.

On to the post season!

[Wayne23]

3/5: Matt Baly declares for the draft. Not a big surprise. There’s no one left that we want to recruit so we’ll hope to pick someone up in the transfer pool.

3/9: We face #8 seed Virginia, 16-15, 10-10, in the quarter finals. We beat them by 20 and 21.

3/10: 94-72 so now we’ve beaten them by 20, 21, and 22! Up 20 at the half and we coasted during the 2nd, which I didn’t like. 25, 6 for Mile, 20, 10, 3 blocks for Gray, 19, 7 for Baly. Our big guys crushed theirs. +22 boards, +36 in the paint, +15 on 2nd chances.

Troy Gray hurt his leg but he’ll play.

#5 seed, #22 ranked Clemson, 24-9, 12-8, in the semifinals. We won by 9 there, then by 38 at home.

3/11: 89-81. We led all the way but never by more than 11. Up 5 at the half. 28, 8, 3 steals for Baly, 21, 9 for Feld, 16, 9, 3 blocks for Mile. Our big guys brought this one home.

Costly win. We lost Adam Lake for the season with a back injury. That makes us very thin up front.

It’s #2 seed, #8 ranked Pitt, 24-9, 14-6, for the title. We won by 22 at home but only by 4 there.

3/12: 83-91. Mile fouled out in 20 minutes and Feld was held to 16 minutes due to fouls, so we had to go with a three guard lineup, and we just couldn’t stop their big guys. Down 1 at the half but as the fouls piled up in the 2nd we fell behind. 20, 10, 3, 4, 3 blocks for Gray, 16, 10 for Baly, 19 for Grow. Our thin bench was -12.

This loss may cost us the #1 overall seed but we’ll be a #1 someplace.

[Wayne23]

#1 East, #1 overall. We play #16 seed Stonehill, 19-14.

3/16: 108-72. We didn’t expect much of a game and that’s how it went. Up by 18 at the break. An amazing 47, 15, 3 for Baly. 15, 3, 6 for Ando. +35 RBs, 62 in the paint.

#9 seed Arizona, 24-11 in the 2nd round. They have a good outside game.

3/18: 91-75. Up 18 at halftime. 23, 13 for Baly, who is red hot right now. 18, 3, 5, 3 for Grow, 12, 15, 4, 7 blocks for Gray. +17 RBs and a huge edge inside.

Back to the kids. They are put into 2 large groups for Physical Education, which they get every day, and into 4 groups of 16 for Art, which they also get every day. The kids choose chorus, band, or orchestra, or any 2, or all 3, and they get whichever ones they choose 3 days a week. They also get music history one day a week. So they have a busy school schedule but we keep things hands on as much as possible in all study areas.

[Wayne23]

#14 ranked, #4 seed Maryland, 24-11, in the Sweet Sixteen. They’re good outside and they play good D. This could be a challenge.

3/23: 80-72. We led all the way but never by that much. Up 5 at the half. 16, 17 for Baly, 14 each for Mile and Feld. We won it inside.

#2 seed, #4 ranked Oklahoma ST, 33-5, in the Elite Eight. They can play, 6-2 vs. ranked teams.

3/25: 90-111. Worst defensive performance I can ever remember coaching. Down 13 at the half and it only got worse in the 2nd. They shot 65.6%! They beat us both outside and inside.

Not a good way to end the season. It’s not the loss that bothers me, it’s the fact that we played so poorly on D.

4/3: We lost to the winner. Oklahoma ST is the national champ.

[Wayne23]

4/4: Awards: Matt Baly is ACC frosh Oyand 1st team. Troy Gray and Jed Mile make the 2nd team. I am national and conf. COY, which means nothing to me since we had such a poor post season.

We’re losing Baly, Ando, and Lake.

4/9: TP drops from 100 to 97.

4/23: I ask for a facilities upgrade.

No.

36-3, no post season titles; overall: 441-53, .893.

Two of the kids are taking a special class in statistics with me as the teacher. I have a Masters in stats and I love it so this is cool!