Hereafter

[Wayne23]

11/23: We take an early lead and extend it. Up 11 after 10. Up 15 at the half. Bett and Savo are doing the scoring so far. Up 21 with 10 to play.

88-64. 21, 6 with 5 blocks for Bett, 15, 11 for Savo, 14, 7 for Mara, 8, 6, 3 for Brum. We only have 5 bigs on the team but 4 of them are world class.

+11 RBs, 9 TOs. We held them to 37.3%.

#8 ranked Virginia, 3-1, is here next. They're good outside, they take care of the ball, they hit the boards. I don't think they can keep up with us.

(Author's note: I forgot to implement the recruiting restrictions I usually put in when I'm at an elite program. These will go into effect next season: I can only offer to one top 10, one 11-25, one 26-50. And I'll probably leave UCLA to build a different program with those restrictions.)

[Wayne23]

11/26: They take an early lead but we come back. Down 3 after 10. They can play! Up 3 at the half and I ramp up the D even though all 5 starters have 2 fouls. We start the 2nd with a big run. Up 20 with 10 to go. We're in control now.

93-67. They stayed with us for a half.

25, 9, 5 blocks for Bett, 25, 9 for Mara, 14, 7, 6 for Jank, 11, 1, 5 for Ston. Their SF had 29, but we controlled the paint; +16 in the paint. 5 TOs.

We're going to try Jank at the Point after sharing it for our first 6 games. Just an experiment for a few games; if it works, great, if not we'll try Ston.

We're also giving some of Savo's minutes to Brum but Savo will continue to start.

At 2-2 Villanova next. This has blow out written all over it.

We're back to #1.

It's definitely a comet, and it's just a little smaller than Earth's moon. Fascinating.

[Wayne23]

11/30: We take an early lead but it's close. Up 2 after 10. We're playing like crap. Down 10 at the half. I max the D for the 2nd. Up 1 with 10 left and I go to the man. Still close late.

72-73. They hit a 28 foot prayer at the buzzer. We should never have been in that position. We were awful tonight. Bett had his first bad game, fouled out in 15 minutes. Savo was also in foul trouble all night. We let them shoot 50%, 10-18 on threes.

19, 6 for Mara but his man outplayed him. 14, 5 for Brum. Nobody else did anything worth mentioning.

Jank wasn't very good at the Point but we're going to try it for at least one more game.

#4 Michigan ST, 6-1, is here. We beat them by 11 at the NIT. They were better outside but we were WAY better inside. They're a good team.

[Wayne23]

12/3: Let's see how we bounce back from an off night.

They take an early lead. We bounce back. Down 5 after 10. Down 1 at the half but we haven't led yet. I max the D and we quickly take a lead, then get it to double digits.

Up 8 with 10 left. I go to man when they get it to within 6.

89-79 but the 2nd half was ours. Bett and Mara fouled out, Ston had 4.

18, 3, 3 steals for Mara. 14, 11 for Bett, 12, 5 for Winn.

A terrible 18 TOs. -7 from the line. We won it by taking 18 more shots, hitting 7 more, and being +12 in the paint.

Jed Jank is a PG but he seems more comfortable at SG. I'm considering making that change but I want to give it one or two more games first.

#11 Florida, 6-1, is here. They have excellent players at SG and SF but they are weak on the boards. They lost by 5 to the only top 25 team they faced.

6th man C/F Lorn Brum hurt his shoulder. Out about 2-3 weeks. That makes us very thin inside. We're counting on Jay Winn to step up.

We're getting closer to the comet but still a long way from it. The probe is closer. It is seeing nothing to indicate that it is anything other than a really large comet.

[Wayne23]

12/7: Back and forth early. They take a lead. Down 7 after 10; we're shooting .211. Down 9 at the half. I max the D and go to man. Tied with 10 left; we're not stopping their SG and SF. Mini-run! We're finally in control late.

80-65. 22, 12, 3 for Mara, 17, 10 for Bett, 16, 3, 5, 3 steals for Jank, so we'll keep him at PG for now.

7 TOs. We held them to 36.2%, below 30% for the 2nd half.

We're fouling more than our opponents and I'm not happy about it. No doubt it's a function of starting three frosh.

At 3-4 Memphis. They're having a disappointing season; they were ranked in the early polls. They're 0-3 vs. ranked teams, but 3-0 at home. They don't score a lot of points and they turn it over.

[Wayne23]

12/10: Last time we played an unranked team on the road we lost.

Early lead, and it quickly goes to 20. Up 22 after 10. 43-22 at the half. Up 30 with 10 to play.

87-52. Not pretty. 17, 8, 4, 6 blocks for Mara. 18, 7, 3 for Jank. 11, 10 for Savo, 14, 7 for Bett but fouls limited his time again.

+27 RBs, 9 TOs. 50% to 33.3%.

4-3 NC ST is here. They're our home and home rival. I don't think they can beat us.

I can't believe I'm typing this but there appears to have been a hostile takeover of the ship. The Council was meeting when a group of people burst into the room, armed. Armaments on the ship are in very limited supply and kept stored in a very secure location. How these people accessed them is a mystery. But they did. Karl Graves. Is their leader and he spoke:

“I am placing all members of the Council under arrest for treason.”

There was an uproar from the Council. Graves and his fellow conspirators aimed their weapons at us and that quickly silenced us.

“Thank you. You will be placed under guard in empty living quarters on the tenth level pending trial.”

“But the Captain-”

“I am the Captain. The former Captain is also under house arrest.”

This was a Council meeting with nothing really important on the agenda so there were only a handful of people not on the Council in attendance. Likewise, my guess is very few people were “tuned in” to the meeting on either audio or video.

We were taken to the tenth level under heavy guard. On the way we heard the following announcement from “Captain” Graves.

“Attention everyone on the ship. This is your Captain, Karl Graves. The former Captain and all members of the Council, as well as a few other members of the ruling cadre, have been placed under arrest for treason. They will be tried for their crimes in due course. Your new Council will be introduced to you tomorrow at 7:00 when we will hold our first meeting. All are welcome to attend or to watch or listen remotely. Any resistance to the rule of the new Council will be met with a swift, harsh, effective response. Resistance is futile and extremely unwise.”

So here I am in my cell. I have a computer but it is not connected to the Network. Meals are brought to me. I have not been allowed to leave here. I requested permission to go to the nearest holo to coach my team but have not received a reply.

I am very concerned regarding all of this. How many others have been arrested? How many people, critical to the safe, efficient operation of the ship, are under arrest.

How many people are involved with Graves and his coup? How much support does he have among the entire crew? What, if anything, can those who oppose Graves do about it. Lots of questions but no answers.

12/11: The new Council was introduced. No real surprises. Graves said there will be an election next week. Only candidates approved by the current Council will be allowed to run. So it will be an election in name only.

Graves did not say who besides the Captain and the Council had been arrested. He said the ship was being run efficiently and people need not worry about that. He said the mission would continue essentially unchanged but the “traitors” were now deposed and “the people” would be in charge. That's all I know.

12/12: Nothing new to report.

12/13: I will be allowed to coach the team, escorted by two armed guards. When I asked for access to my computer records related to my coaching duties the request was denied.

“How am I supposed to coach without the information I need!”

“You assistants have the same information you have, and they can relay that to you.”

“They don't have my notes!”

“You'll have to make the best of it.”

The tone and posture of the guard speaking made it more than clear that my best course of action was to stop talking, so I did.

[PointGuard]

You better hope the refs aren't part of the "new order".

[Wayne23]

Given that they're refs, of course they're with the bad guys!

[Wayne23]

12/13 (Continued): Game time. Of course nobody in the holo world has any idea about the coup. They don't know that this is a holo simulation, or that I live on a ship in space.

We're off to a fast start. Up 11 after 10. Up 13 at the half. Big run early in the 2nd. Up 22 with 10 left.

98-66. Not much of a game. Sha Mara led us with 20, 5, 3, 3 blocks. 19, 3, 7 for Jank, 14, 13 for Bett, 18, 5 for Winn, who really stepped up!

+12 RBs, 8 TOs. We shot 55.1%. +24 in the paint.

I was allowed to remain in the holo to work with my coaches on team matters, and to plan for our next game, with #24 Marquette, 7-1, here. They have not played a ranked team. They have a decent outside game and a good C who hits the glass.

When I was finished, and I have to say they gave me all the time I needed, I was led back to my cell- I refuse to call it anything else.

There's not a lot to do. I can read, watch videos, and that's about it. I am not allowed visitors, not even my family, and again, I do not have access to anything related to the team when I'm not in the holo. I'm going to ask if I can go to the holo every day for a few hours, in order to do what I need to do to coach my team. I spent 4-6 hours doing coaching activities almost every day. Some of it was done outside of the holo, but without my notes, I can't really do anything except in the holo.

12/14: Permission granted to spend three hours a day in the holo on non-game days, as much as needed on game days. I'd like more, but I'll take it.

12/15: Spent my 3 hours in the holo. The rest of the day sure dragged. I have to wonder what's going on. No way to know.

12/16: Life was never boring on this ship. I loved my job and I loved coaching. Not having the job really makes the time drag.

[Wayne23]

12/17: Slow start but we're leading. Up 15 after 10. Up 13 at the break. We're getting it done inside. Up 14 with 10 left.

78-56. Jank was in foul trouble all night and gave us very little.

28, 14, 4, 5 steals for Bett, 22, 4 for Mara, 14, 2, 4 for Ston.

13 TOs but they had 23. +13 at the line. Easy win.

#8 Syracuse, 8-3, here. 1-1 vs. ranked teams. The 3 losses have to be disappointing. They play solid D but have trouble scoring; no one gets more than
10.8. They take care of the ball but don't go to the boards well.

12/20: The days are all the same, slow, and mostly boring. I have no idea what's going on. I haven't heard a word about a trial and believe me, I'm not asking.