Hereafter

[Wayne23]

3/23: Early lead. Up 11 after 10. The only guy scoring for them is their C. We're defending everyone else. Up 15 at the half. The C has 23 of their 32. Up 20 with 10 to go.

85-62. It was a romp. Their C was amazing, 33, 12, 4 blocks.

23, 3, 5 for Ward, 18, 2, 4 for Maxx, 14, 6 for Mann. Solid bench play. We shot 55.9%.

Post Game Press Conference (Excerpts):

Q: Elite Eight.

Coach: 2nd time in my career, first time with the Bears. It feels good.

Q: Talk about their Center, Leroy Wright.

Coach: We decided that unless it got really close we would play him straight up and not let their other guys beat us. It never got close enough to make us abandon that.
Milt, Tuck, and Ruck did what they could do, and the strategy worked beautifully.

Q: A 23 point win in the Sweet Sixteen. Pretty impressive.

Coach; There are only good teams playing at this point so yeah, I'm impressed! We brought all the tools tonight, and we did a lot of vital things that don't show up in the stats. This was a good one.

Q: #1 seed, #2 ranked, #2 NET Marquette, 30-7.

Coach: Yeah. Quite the challenge. We'll need to play the way we played tonight to have a shot. Way back in November we weren't ready for the #1 team in the country.
We've gotten a lot better so now we'll see if we're ready for #2.

Q: Coach, I've just been told that their starting SG, Randy Dent, tore his ACL late in the game tonight.

Coach: You hate to see that happen to anyone, even the other team. Randy's a great kid. We went after him. That will certainly affect our strategy.

Q: Talk about strategy:

Coach: The stats are close. The one area where there seems to be an advantage is TOs. We think we can turn them over and we'll need to.

Q: Will you overplay their Point Guard?

Coach: At times. We'll try it and see how it goes. At least to begin with we'll switch up the D frequently. I've always liked that. It keeps the other team guessing.

Q: What else?

Coach: Their forwards are their big scorers. We need to defend them well. Tuck and probably Ruck, will be very important. These guys are only 4-5 vs. ranked teams so they can be beaten. But it will take our very best effort.

Q: Coach, yours is the only bracket that held. No other #1 or #2 teams, only 1 #3.

Coach: Can't worry about that; we need to focus on this game.

Q: But it sure puts the winner of this game in a great spot. Thanks Coach.

[Wayne23]

3/25: We fall behind early. Down 10 after 10; shooting .250. Down 8 at the half. Down 14 with 10 left; not hitting sahots.

66-78. We never got closer than 6 late. 15, 11 for Mann, 15, 1, 4 for Mann, but their starting forwards combined for 42; we couldn't stop them.

We shot 37.9%, not good enough. -14 in the paint.

Good season, just not quite good enough.

4/3: #24 ranked Miami, a #6 seed, beat #2 ranked Marquette for the title. Damn! We could have won it all!

4/4: Awards: Mal Mann makes the PAC 12 1st team. Kent Maxx and Reg Free make the 2nd team.
Is this the year I leave? Hard to say. We're losing Maxx, Mann, Milt, three starters, plus #3 guard Smid. But we have some really good looking kids coming in, and our TP is up to 65. It would take an offer from an elite team.

4/9: UCLA is making a very strong pitch. You never like to move to another school in the same conference, but the facilities, the budget, the tradition! I'm going to visit.

4/11: Go Bruins! I am the new UCLA coach! It will be a bit of a rebuild but we will be at the highest levels before long. I came here to win national titles!

4/12: Post Game Press Conference (Excerpts):

Q: Welcome Coach Clark. You seemed to have a pretty good bunch of recruits coming in at Cal, yet you decided to come here. Why?

Coach: You don't get a lot of chances to come to the school with the richest history in college basketball.

Q: What are your goals?

Coach: I came here to win national titles. I hope the fans will be a little patient but the plan is to contend for the national title regularly before very long.

Q: Assistants?

Coach: Just hired a terrific #1, Gil Hale. I'm thrilled that Jam Kane and Dan Vuhl are staying. I'll match my staff up with anybody.

Q: The players?

Coach: We have some good ones coming back, some good recruits coming in.

Q: Immediate problems?

Coach: We need a bigger budget- significantly bigger, if we're going to return to being the best program in the nation. Oh, I need a place to live!

Q: Where are you staying now?

Coach: They have me in a hotel on campus, hopefully not for long.

Q: Good luck Coach!

4/23: I need a big budget increase to be competitive. We discussed this when I was interviewed.

$38,000. YES! An A. D. who keeps her promises! Thank you, Dee Forest. Now we can recruit nationally with the best teams.

29-8, Elite Eight. Good run at Cal. After 10 seasons as a head coach I'm 291-90, .764. Not bad! Looking forward to BIG things here at UCLA!

The spacecraft has been in constant communication with us for some time now. It will be here in a few months. They're not like us. They seem almost robotic in their focus and lack of humor.

[Wayne23]

5/1: #10 recruiting class. #10 in the preseason polls. We buy the National Gold scouting report.

6/5: Nobody transfers out. Great news!

I have room for a transfer.

We go after a very good looking PG.

6/12: Nope. We offer to an SG.

Nope. We're done here.

I notice that Jam Moro did transfer. We're not chasing him.

6/25: We'll go to the Indy Camp.

6/26: 4 scholarships. We need at least 2 bigs.

We're going after some top 10s and other 5 star recruits, with a couple of 4 stars in there.

8/7: SG/SF Scot Shay is #21 on the Norton list. on the Norton list.

8/21: We offer to An SG (#1 rated recruit in the country and he has us as his #1), a PG (#28), and 2 PFs (#21, #46). We're being ambitious but all 4 have us in their top 5.

The spacecraft is a few days away from its closest approach. We don't breathe the same gases and couldn't be unshielded in the same environment so we're not going to meet face to face, but when they reach closest approach we will scan each other's vessels from close range and communicate with each other.

[Wayne23]

9/4: Three guys with some academic issues. Not serious but I'm going to make damned sure they don't GET serious. We're on it.

The spacecraft is at its nearest approach and we're scanning each other.

9/5: Very different life forms, very different life styles. They are amazingly spartan. Nothing in the way of creature comforts or entertainment that we've been able to see.

When we ask they don't seem to have any idea what we're talking about. We're going to let them remotely watch a poker game, a basketball game, a cooking competition, yes, we've started those, over the next few days.

9/10: They seemed to think all of the entertainment, relaxation, fun stuff was pointless.

Oh, what they look like. They're bipedal as we are, 2 arms, 2 legs, 2 ears, 2 eyes. Taller by maybe 10%, and thinner. They need only 3-4 hours of sleep per “day.” They spend all of their waking hours being productive. But then they run a ship about 50% bigger than ours with about 100 people, so they'd need to be productive. They breathe a chlorine/helium mixture. It seems like the gravity on their ship is lees than we have on ours, which is 90% Earth normal. They move about their ship quickly and easily. More as we learn more.

9/11: We got our #1, Lex Carr, an SG! We were pretty confident but until they commit you never know.

9/18: Clean sweep, we get #21, PF Ron Udel, #28, PG Ty Hart, and #49, PF Al Savo. Savo is the only one who might be iffy on hitting our SAT score but we think he will hit it.

Going back to the Tip-Off in Paradise vs. Furman. Nearly every team on our pre-season slate is ranked.

The Alerians (That's as close as we can come to whatever they call themselves) are certainly a straight forward people. They reproduce asexually, so no fun there either.

Their offspring develop in pods kept in what seems to be a pond. They tell us the pond is “warm and nurturing.” When the offspring are ready, they emerge from the pond, break out of the pod as fully developed adults, and immediately start working. Interestingly enough, they seem to understand how to do all of the various tasks on the ship. How they learn? No idea.

They don't seem to bond in any kinds of relationship, not romantic, not friendship, not anything. They work together, humorlessly and efficiently. Not much of an existence.

They keep saying that they don't understand us or the things we do. They have been complimentary regarding the efficient running of our ship.

10/2: 1st day of practice. We have 2 legit superstars, Scot Shay at SG/SF, and SF/PF Noel Bond. We looked pretty good today. I'm excited. We even have a bench!

10/9: The Alerians left today. No explanation, no goodbye, they just saddled up and rode off into the sunset, so to speak. We had just about nothing in common with them, but they clearly have no hostile intentions so it's all good.

10/30: Our #4 guard, Nadi Hara, has a lot of potential. But he's struggling with his grades. We're giving him all the help we can and enforce study halls 7 days a week but so far it's barely keeping him above water academically.

[Wayne23]

11/14: Season starts tomorrow. Here's the lineup:

PG is senior Kal King. He is stepping into the starting role be definitely looks ready for it.

SG is soph Scot Shay. The sky is the limit for Scot.

#3 guard, junior Ken Doon. He's a transfer from Washington who didn't play much last year. We see potential though. #4 guard, Nadi Hara, a frosh. He definitely has potential but he's not ready yet, especially defensively. Senior Ty Pitt and frosh Joel Ston won't play much unless there are injuries. We probably should have red shirted Ston.

SF is frosh Noel Bond. We have very high expectations for Noel.

PF is senior Sany Rama. Sany transferred from New Mexico a couple of seasons ago and started for us last season. He was a good defender and scored some. His rebounding needed to improve. From what we saw in the 2 exhibition games, it HAS improved.

Frosh Lou Dunn is in the middle. He does a lot of things well but he makes rookie mistakes.

First big off the bench is C/F Ivan Fox, a soph. We think he's ready to have a good season. We're a little short handed inside with only senior Dan Hick after Fox. Dan will only play in garbage time. If we get injuries we'll go with Fox, and then a 3 guard lineup.

Michigan is here to start the season. We don't know a lot about them; it's too early.

A fascinating meteor or comet or something is being picked up by the same probe that found the Alerians. Too far from the probe for us to know much.

Random thought. I'm from the East and there are times when I miss the seasons, and lots of other things. At some point if UConn or a school like that came calling I just might consider it. Frankly I haven't been in L. A. long but there's not much I like about it. The traffic is horrible. Fortunately, the condo I bought is only a quarter of a mile from campus so I never drive to work, but driving anywhere else is a nightmare. Lacy dislikes it even more than I do.

[Wayne23]

11/15: Sellout crowd and they greeted me with a standing O when I walked onto the court.

Early lead. Up 7 after 10. Up 12 at the half. We're playing well but could be shooting better- I'm used to that! Up 13 with 10 to go.

84-67. We were never threatened. 22, 9 for PF Sany Rama; great game! 15, 5 for C Lou Dunn. They focused on stopping Shay and Bond, both of whom got points but used bad shot selection, forcing shots. I let them know I was not happy with that. We didn't get much from the bench other than Ken Doon's 8, 4, 8.

We shot 41.9% to their 45.3%. 31-40 vs. their 14-22 from the line, and that was a huge factor. 7 TOs, which made me VERY happy. None were by my PG Kal King.

We're off to Hawaii where we face 1-0 Furman in the first round of the Tip-Off. Their PG looks really good.

[Wayne23]

11/18: They're staying with us early. A run puts us up 12 after 10. Rama is lighting it up again. Up 7 at the half. We're not shooting well again. Up 10 with 10 to play.

80-65. We were in complete control in the 2nd half. 27, 9, 4 for Rama, 15, 9 for Bond, 12, 3, 5 for King. So far, Scot Shay is NOT living up to the hype. He's playing great D though.

We held them to 38% from the floor. 4 TOs. Looks like this is a team that takes care of the ball. I LOVE that! +16 in the paint, +12 on 2nd chances.

Pretty happy about that, too.

It's 2-0, #6 seed Drake in the semifinals. They beat #3 seed Tennessee by 10. They can score but they don't defend very well. They really hit the boards and their C shows a lot of muscle inside; he can score, too. They turn it over a LOT.

It's a comet- the thing the probe saw. It's a strange one, shooting something of various colors both to the sides and to the rear.

[Wayne23]

11/22: Early lead but they're hanging in. Up 6 after 10. Their C is in foul trouble. Up only 1 at the half. I ramp up the D for the first time this season. Little run puts us up 10 with 10 left.

75-61. We took charge in the 2nd. Their C can play, 17, 10 with 4 blocks.

But we have some players too, Bond had 23 and 9, Shay had 20, 5, 6, 4 steals. 15, 7 for Rama, who has been a very pleasant surprise so far. Our bench didn't do much.

Both teams shot poorly but we took 17 more shots. -5 RBs but 8 TOs to 25, which was a difference maker. We were a woeful 1-17 from behind the arc.

#5 Alabama, 4-1, is here next. They are VERY good inside, they lead the country in RBs and both starting bigs can score. This is the best team we've faced.

[Wayne23]

11/25: The battle is inside and my guys are more than holding their own early. Up 8 after 10. Up 8 at the half but fouls are a problem. Shay is nailing shots. Up 22 with 10 to go.

92-70. BIG win! Scot Shay matched his season high with 28, 3, 6. 16, 9 for 6th man Ivan Fox; he really stepped up. 16, 3, 3 for King at the point. 11, 7, 3 for Bond. We neutralized their highly vaunted bigs. Our starting guards had 44; theirs had 16.

We shot 51.6%. -8 RBs but only 7 TOs. Our ball handling has been terrific all season so far.

I'm really happy with this one- the last one, too.

#17 Florida ST, 4-0, is here. They have an excellent backcourt; their SG can really light it up and their PG just doesn't turn it over. They also play lock down D; they're very hard to score on. We have a big edge inside and we'll need to exploit it.

We are the worst three point shooting team in DIV I, 21.6%.

Little used Ty Pitt hurt his hand. Out for maybe a week.

The comet continues to light up space. Nothing new on the artificial space outpost, or whatever it is.

[Wayne23]

11/29: Early lead, then a run to get it to double digits. Up 15 after 10. Up only 1 at the half; they got back into it. Ramping up the D. Up 3 with 10 to play; it's a battle, outside vs. inside. Mini-run!

79-67. I'm starting to think this is one hell of a team! 17,6, 3 for Lou Dunn, who also shut down his man. 16, 4, 3 for Rama. 11, 11 for Bond, 12, 7, 6 for King. Shay was overmatched. Their SG had 22, 7, 4, Shay had only 7, 3, 3; both wound up with 4 fouls but Shay got his earlier, which limited his PT.

Our bench held its own. We outshot them 48% to 39%, mostly due to our bigs.

+6 RBs, and a season high 16 TOs to their 15.

Unranked, 2-2 Illinois is here next. We've been beating excellent teams by double digits so we should be able to handle these guys. But they DID beat the only ranked team they've faced. But we have a huge edge inside.