by Wayne23 » Sun Apr 21, 2013 9:12 pm
Jess Wynn’s Journal:
At IUPU- Fort Wayne, they’re 4-7, 0-2. They give up LOTS of points. The tapes don’t show an impressive team but the road is never easy. Their 1 and 3 are their players, not much inside.
1/2: We fall behind earl, down 7, 14:22. #2 on Bick, 11:33. Down 5, 9:23. Down 6, 3:19, their PG gets #2. 27-29 at the half. I feel good though, only 5 TOs and we’re +2 in RBs.
#3 on Bick, down 5, 14:22. I go to man, level 8. #4 on Bick (Sigh), 8:44, down 1. Clerq is my PG. Up 12 on a BIG run, 5:11. I put Bick back in at 2:55 and he fouls out at 2:01, up 12. 76-67 at the end.
8 TOs for the game and +5 RBs. They shoot 52% but they only get 44 shots to our 60. 18, 6, 4 for Price, 13, 1, 3, 2 for Clerq and great presence at PG, 10, 5, 1, 1, 1 for Root, and 13, 3, 4 for Smid from the bench.
We actually had lots of weapons tonight. I think confidence is making a real difference. We’re looking great right now. This was the most points we’ve scored all season. We’re in a 2 way tie for 1st and the team we’re tied with comes to our place next.
Total Sports Magazine
January 3, 2014
The Boy Wonder by Wright Page
What’s gotten into the SDSU Jackrabbits? They’ve won three straight and in their last they looked like an actual team. Boy coach Jess Wynn has his team tied for the conference lead at this early stage. Can it continue? Stay tuned.
1/3: Just as I settle into my recliner at 10:45 p.m., there’s a knock at the door. It’s Mom and Dad who show up for a surprise visit.
“Hello Son, since you’re going so well and you have a two game home stand your mom and I thought we stop by for a few days.”
“What hurricane hit this place!”
“Mom, it’s not that bad, just cluttered. It isn’t really dirty.”
“Look at this, Will, just look!”
“Well, Lenny, I don’t think-”
“Young man, you are going to get yourself a cleaning lady- tomorrow! You can afford it and you obviously can’t keep the place clean yourself. Why if she stayed for two hours a week she could do a load of laundry, wash the floors, dust, and pick up the mess. It wouldn’t cost that much and you could live like an actual human being. I’ll put the place in shape in the morning but you find that cleaning lady!”
I gave into that one quickly. She’s right. I put my secretary, Shirley, on it and she had someone very reliable who would start the following week.
After the explosion it was great having Mom and Dad here. We went to dinner every night, Dad came to practice and they both came to the two games we played while they were here.
My players were in awe of Dad. He didn’t do or say a lot, not wanting to interfere, but I asked him to talk with the team at practice every time, and he came up with some things that were really helpful. The assistants and I made note of all of it.
North Dakota State, 9-3, 3-0, was in to decide first place. They’ve won their last 8. They’ve beaten Seton Hall, Miami, and division rival Oral Roberts this year so they can play. They do give up points though.
Their PG may be the best player in the league and their SG can light it up as well. We need to play tough D on both. They rebound but they turn it over. Should be a battle.
1/5: I ask Dad if he wants to sit on the bench. He emphatically does not. He asks for seats across from the bench and he and Mom get them.
The first half is all back and forth. Their 1 and 5 and Clerq for us get into foul trouble, but Clerq’s is only late in the half. He has a hot hand and keeps us in it, along with Price and Bick. It’s 32-34 at the half.
In the 2nd half we can do no wrong. We start with a 14-3 run and hold the lead from there, never letting them get closer than 6. When Clerq picks up #4, with 2:07 left, we’re up 14.
The final is 65-52. Great D once more and amazing rebounding, 45-31. 17 TOs though. We held them to 27% shooting, which will usually get a win.
27, 7, 2 for Clerq, 14, 13, 3, 2, 1 for Price, 12, 7, 3, 1, 1 for Bick, 5 RBs each for Fox and Root. Pohl had 5, 4, 1 in only 7 minutes. A great win and we are, amazingly enough, alone in 1st place.
Dad spoke to the guys in the locker room after the game and he had everyone’s attention. He found things to say about everyone who played, very analytical. Some praise and some advice regarding what to work on and how to go about it.
1,112 in attendance, a great crowd for us. We’ll really promote our next game.
My folks will be here through 1/10, so they’ll see our next game, which is against the best program in the conference, Oral Roberts, 10-3, 3-1, but against weak competition. Their D is weak but their 1, 2 and 3 all put up big points, combining for 43 per game. These guys will challenge us.
Dad makes the practices and offers his help to me, to the staff, and to the kids. It all helps. Wish he were here longer.
1/9: We played catch up throughout the first half, getting close, even taking the lead now and then and falling back again. We were playing well on O, taking care of the ball, rebounding, but our D couldn’t stop them. Still it was only 37-39 at the half.
They quickly got up 8 in the second and nothing we did got us closer than 4. I kept increasing the level on D, finally getting it to 10. Then in the final 2 minutes I pressed, but the simple truth is that, at least for this one night, Oral Roberts was the better team, 73-80 at the end. Our D has won us a few games this year but it lost this one.
We were +3 in RBs, -1 in TOs, but we let them shoot 47.3%. 14, 14, 3, 2 for Price, 17, 7, 1, 3 for Clerq, 13, 2, 8, 2, 1 for Bick.
Dad spoke after the game. He talked about problems with our man defense, failure to either switch off or fight through picks, failure to get out on the 3 point shooter. Then he gave the guys some ideas about how to solve those problems. He talked about the things we did well, calling players by name with his praise and including all who played.
He concluded with the following:
“When I was coaching I always told my players that in a game that didn’t go OT I had 200 player minutes to hand out- 5 players on the court times 40 minutes per position. Who got those minutes was a vital, and often a difficult decision. How did I figure out who got minutes? Sometimes a guy was talented enough that I played him as many minutes as possible. More often I had to decide between two or more players at a given position. I decided based upon who managed to keep his head in the game more often than the other guy, who worked his butt off in practice- every day, who worked like hell to learn new sets and new skills, who listened and acted upon what I told him, who went out of his way to be a team player, and who kept his grades up and kept out of trouble. That’s the formula. If you want it more than the other guy it will show. And when it shows you’ll get those minutes. I’m guessing Coach Wynn assigns his minutes pretty much the same way… since that’s how I taught him to do it!”
That last got a big laugh but there was a lot of truth in what Dad said.
3,822 saw the game, our best crowd in more than 5 years.
I say goodbye to Mom and Dad after lunch. I’ll really miss them. I ask Dad to please come back. He says he’ll try to but Mom probably won’t be able to get away again before at least the summer.
We’re 8-6, 4-1, and tied with Oral Roberts and No. Dak. ST for first place. Our schedule is really unfavorable as we play both of them at their place in the rematch.