November 15 Art Wall:
80-60 over SMU here. 19, 4 for center Mai Bro, 17, 6, 2 for guard/forward Jude Idit, and 15, 3, 5 for guard Curt Tann. 9 for guard Sis Goyl from the bench.
Lots to talk about. First, Tann shot 5-7. If his shot is back we’re going to be good- I mean REAL good. Bro and Idit were everything we thought they’d be. Sure, it’s only one game, but SMU is from the AA, a big time conference, and their Team Prestige is 30, ours is 10. If Bro and Idit can do it against these guys, they can do it- period.
The game plan is, of course, to feature Bro and Idit, and if he’s up to it, Tann. The other guys are role players. When Goyl is in we want him to get the ball; he’s a pure shooter. On D we’re sticking with some man, some 2-3, a little less 3-2. Fouls are still a problem, like they were last year; Bro fouled out in 24 minutes, and his backup, Les Cool, had 4. We got some good minutes up front from Ed Huey, who hadn’t shown much up to now, but he had 4 in just 11 minutes. And Sis Goyl fouled out in 19. So that’s something we need to address. Our defensive intensity is 5. We’d hate to drop it below that but I don’t know what else to do. We almost never press. It’s early. We’ll figure it all out.
Zak is comfortable with me and Jude Will, and Hardin was here before us. This season we’ve really worked well together as a staff.
November 16 Dawn:
Jamal and I went to the game, of course. It was too much excitement and he couldn’t sleep. When Zak got home at about 1:15 in the morning we were downstairs on the couch, reading- Jamal loves to read. He never had books before, of course. We go to the library every week now, and buy books for him as well.
The three of us talked, and then Jamal just started crying. It took a while for him to calm down, but when he did he said four words that broke my heart.
“I miss my sister.”
How could I have forgotten! Later Zak said I’d forgotten because of the trauma of my injuries, and because no one, including Jamal, had mentioned his 4 year old sister since the day he arrived at our facility and sent me to the hospital.
We were careful not to make any promises but we told Jamal we would see what we could do right away.
We put him to bed shortly after that and stayed up for another hour and a half. We decided that if we could find Jamia we would arrange for a visit right away… and … we would see about taking her as a foster child. I didn’t need to convince Zak. As a matter of fact he brought it up before I did.
November 18 Jude Will:
60-51 over Rice here. We led all the way, but never by more than 14. Curt wasn’t on tonight so we played Sis Goyl a lot and he responded with 19. Jude Idit had 17, and Mai Bro had 9 and 9. We managed to stay out of foul trouble. We just beat a team with a Team Prestige rating of 55!
A lot of my scouting report was based on info from last season, but it turned out to be right on target. They had a strong center and were good inside, but their guards were weak. We turned them over frequently, particularly their PG and his backup. They beat us on Points in the Paint and Fast Break Points but in the half court we were way better, and that’s where we beat them, just as I wrote it in my report.
Dawn:
We located Jamia today. We were able to make arrangements for her to spend the weekend here, and we will begin getting to know her in hopes of bringing her here to reunite with Jamal.
November 20 Dawn:
It was heart rending to see these two kids when they saw each other. I took Jamal with me to pick Jamia up at her foster placement. He hugged her for a long time. Then they started chattering. They kept it up as I spoke to the foster mom, as we drove home in the car, and for most of the afternoon and evening.
Jamal is a wonderful big brother, very protective and loving.
It was difficult to bring Jamia back this evening but we told them both that we will do all we can to reunite them.
Oh, Jamia really liked her room. We had not, of course, had time to redecorate, but I bought some stuffed animals, and some sheets and blankets that I thought a 4 year old girl would like, and a couple of cute table lamps- a few other little things. If she comes to stay we’ll have the room repainted.
Zak:
I don’t expect to get impressive numbers from the SF and PF spots. If Don Summ and Ted Lane can play good D and get a few rebounds I’ll be happy. We’re going to get our scoring from the guards and from Mai Bro.
November 22 Les Cool:
“Mom? Put it on speaker phone, I want dad to hear this… Okay. Guess what? I played 29 minutes tonight! … Yeah, really! 10 points and 7 rebounds. When we said New Jersey was a long way from Hawaii I said yeah, but I’d play here, not just sit the bench. Remember? Anyway, Ted Lane didn’t have it so Coach put me in. The guy on the other team was tough, but I kind of did better than Ted was doing, and I was hitting shots and rebounding, so Coach pretty much kept me in except when I needed a breather. It was awesome! Oh, we won, 55-47 over Western Michigan here at home. Yeah, Mai Bro is an unbelievable inside player. He had 16 and 6, and some of my points were cuz they focused so much on him but hey, I’ll take it! Yeah, our guards did great too, +10 turnovers, and 10 each for Idit and Goyl. Tann isn’t hitting his shots again, 0-6. I’m guessing they’ll start Goyl if Tann doesn’t find his shot. What? I don’t know if they might start me. That would be awesome though. Okay, gotta go. Love ya.”
Zak:
I’m giving Goyl more minutes. Mostly he’s taking them from Don Summ, playing SG and Idit moving to SF. I am also playing Les Cool over Ted Lane at PF; that’s just a few minute adjustment but Cool will be in at crunch time. Let’s see what happens. They are getting about the same amount of minutes until one of them claims the balance.
We’re on the road for three games, and 6 of our next 7. That will certainly test us, although we scheduled weaker teams on the road than at home, mostly. I’m gone for the next 10 days. But after the home game the last three road games are one a week so we’ll come home in between. If we get Jamia I want to be there as much as I can, and Jamal relates so well to me, I need to be here for him. I will call every day when I’m on the road. I always have, but now I’ll do it when I can speak with both Dawn and Jamal, and hopefully, Jamia, before too long.
Dawn:
Jamal has made all three home games. He adjusted better and was able to go to sleep after the second and third.
We have done the paperwork to get Jamia but the state says they want at least 2-3 more weekend visits first. Whatever it takes.