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[Wayne23]

11/22: At 1-1 Cleveland ST. We're favored by 2 1/2. They have a lot of trouble scoring points but they play good D and they rebound. But we should be able to turn them over. My fear is that my guys may be too cocky after the tournament.

Long continues to piss and moan. When I talk to him he seems to be better for awhile but talk about high maintenance!

Dee and I were teasing each other about living in "Champions House." She's had a little experience with this kind of success but it's new to me. Sure feels good!

11/23: We score the first 14. They come roaring back. Up 8 after 10 as we stopped their run. Up 9 at the break. 10, 5 for Long, 8, 5 for Suli. Their bench is keeping them in it, 16 points- the starters have 6! 8 fewer TOs. Shooting lousy yet again but so are they; we've taken 14 more shots. +16 in the paint; +9 on
2nd chances. We should be farther ahead. Great D though. Up 6 with 10 to go; too close!

64-71. We couldn't make a shot late. VERY frustrating loss.

23, 9 for Long but no one else did much. -10% shooting. Wse took 16 more shots but made only one more and they made 8 threes to our 2, 15 free throws to our 12. +14 in the paint and 5 fewer TOs.

I'm completely frustrated by this loss. We beat some terrific team then lose to a mediocre team. WTF!

Dee and I had a long phone conversation but I can't sleep; the hotel is noisy but I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway.

[Wayne23]

11/25: At 2-2 Marquette. If we couldn't beat Cleve. ST on the road how are we Up 8 with 10 to play. going to beat these guys! We're favored.

We need to turn them over, which we should be able to do, and play the game inside.

11/26: Early lead. Up 11 after 10. Up 12 at the half; great D. They're shooting 35% and we've taken 7 more shots. 13 for Long, who has been playing good ball. 6 fewer TOs but it's a sloppy game, 11 to 17 TOs. +8 in the paint and the same re 2nd chances.

"Keep playing that hard nosed D!"

74-77. They scored 52 in the 2nd half. I don't get it at all. Completely mystified.

20 for Long, 12, 7, 3 for Suli, 10, 6 for Thor. Their bench won it, 42 points to our 15. 21 TOs; so did they but still.

I never do this but I got drunk in my hotel room. I'll pay the price tomorrow, no doubt.

11/27: Very painful flight home. We drop to #21 in the polls.

[Wayne23]

11/29: 1-3 George Mason is here. They have a very good outside game, but they give up a lot of points. I have no idea what to expect from my team...

Terrible break for Dee's team. Her best player tore her MCL and is out for the season.

"It's part of the game but we're going to have a tough time compensating. This is a huge loss for us."

11/30: They take a lead immediately. Down 8 after 10. Down 5 at the half. Terrible D, they're shooting 63.6%. We've taken 9 more shots. 7 fewer TOs, +10 in the paint, but you need to play D. Up 10 with 10 to go; Suli's hot.

81-76, but against a team that's 1-4, and at home; not good. I'll take it, of course.

24, 6 for Suli, 12, 6 for Long, 13 each for Thor and Cole. +10 RBs, +16 in the paint. +13 from the line.

Two injuries. Both minor but one will miss a game and the other may miss two. Long hurt his hand and will miss a game. Bays hurt his hip and is out for a week.

Ad Mill will play the Point, Brin Lee will start at PF.

"Damn. You and I can't catch a break!"

"The way my guys are playing right now they can't catch anything."

[Wayne23]

2/2: At 1-4 UMass. Their PF is hurt but he'll play, as opposed to my two starters. With my injuries this won't be easy.

We took the bus to Amherst. Three hour bus ride. Ugh.

2/3: Close early. My guys aren't used to playing together. Up 1 after 10. Up 6 at the half. Cole has 11. Lee and Mill are doing okay so far. But Suli has 3 fouls. We're shooting 58.3% which I totally do not understand. +8 in the paint. +12 with 10 left.

79-62. Easily our best game since the Coaches Classic- our first good game since then, really.

We drop to #24; amazed we're still ranked!

[Wayne23]

Marc Cole strained a hammy and is out for a week and a half. So now both of our starting guards are out. Colt Hays will start; good thing we're deep at guard!

12/6: 3-2 Kent ST is here. We're favored, even with the injuries.

Long is back but I'm without my starting back court. Well, Bays can play a little.

12/7: Back and forth. Tied after 10. Tied at the half. This team's D is making me crazy; the other guys are shooting 60%. We're shooting 40.7%. +10 from the line. -9 boards and -4 in the paint. Suli has 15 points but nobody is rebounding. Long and Thor are just plain getting beat. Up 11 with 10 left; Suli has 24 so far.

89-81, but they never quit. 26, 6, 3, 4 steals for Suli, who carried us. 18 for Bays in 18 minutes; he'll start our next game since he'll be at 100% by then. Hays and Mill played well. 10 TOs to 21. But they shot 56.9%. We were +15 from the line, which won it for us.

"You now, you're really a load when things aren't going well."

"I'm not taking it out on you, am I?"

"Not exactly, but it's no fun to be around you when your guys aren't going well."

"Sorry. I guess I'm having trouble putting it into perspective."

"Yes you are."

[Wayne23]

12/9: At 4-1 UConn. This won't be easy. Their starting Sg is banged up but he'll start. On paper they're a little better and they're at home.

We're no longer ranked.

12/10: We take an early lead. They come back. Down 1 after 10. Down 3 at the break after being down 11. 14 for Long, 10 for Lee. Their supposedly injured SG has 12. Their bench is +16. And they're out shooting us by 11%. We're +8 at the line. Our guards need to do a lot more than they're doing. Down 12 with 10 left. We're falling apart late.

82-104. No D at all; disgusting. -10 Rbs-10.5% shooting. Our guards totally let us down tonight; starting guards had 10 vs. 32. Their bench had 54 to our 26.

25, 5, 3 for Long, 14, 4 for Thor, 13, 3 for Lee. But that was it.

Another road game coming up so at least Dee won't have to put up with me.

[Wayne23]

12/12: At 2-6 Boston University. This is a game we should win. They score 10.7 less per game and give up .3 more. Their game is all outside, which could be a problem for us.

12/13: Big early lead, Up 16 after 10. Up 19 at the break. 13 for Bays, 8, 6 for Meek. +13 RBs. We're actually shooting 67.6%! Nothing like playing a cupcake to inflate the stats! Up 18 with 10 to play.

79-63. A walk in the park. 19 for Bays. 3 guys had 11, Suli, Hays, and Lee.

+21 RBs, 10 TOs. +20 in the paint. We fell asleep on O in the 2nd, only 26 points. But we played good D all night.

12/14: "Is it safe to go near you? Oh yeah, you had an easy win, so yes!"

"Okay, okay."

"Hey, you're 8-3. Exactly one bad loss."

"That's true."

"I'm 9-2 with 2 bad losses."

"Yeah but you're best player is out for the season."

"You need to roll with the punches. How about a hike?"

"There's a foot and a half of snow on the ground."

"Makes it more fun."

"Are you going?"

"Hell yeah!"

"I'll go with you then."

"My big, brave, strong, handsome MAY-ah-ah-an is going to protect me."

"Nah, you don't need protection. But accidents do happen."

"Okay, but no bitching about the cold."

"Deal."

[Wayne23]

12/16: 5-4 VA Commonwealth is here. They have an excellent SG and they play solid D. They're 1-1 vs. Ranked teams. We need to play the game inside. They're no cupcake.

We're back at full strength!

12/17: They take an early lead. We come back. Tied after 10. Down 4 at the half. Our D is awful and their SG is killing us (23). -5 RBs, -6 in the paint. Cole has 12. Down 2 with 10 left. We're doubling the SG. Late run!

79-70. We held the SG to 4 in the 2nd half; the double team worked!

17 for Cole, 13, 7 for Suli, 12, 6 for Lee, 11, 6 for Long, 11, 5 for Meek. +6 RBs, 12 TOs. We shot almost as well as they did.

2 pre-conf games left, both on the road. I'd take 1-1.

Suli hurt his hand. He's day to day and he shouldn't miss a game.

[Wayne23]

2/20: At 5-2 Temple; they're 5-0 at home. They score a lot of points and they're tough inside. Our guards need to step up and our bigs need to step up even more.

2/21: Back and forth early. Tied after 10. Down 8 at the half. They're beating us up inside but we're not being aggressive enough. That will change in the 2nd half. 11, 5 for Suli but he's not getting much help. We're +8 in the paint, -4 on the boards but they're scoring inside. As usual we're not hitting shots, 35.7% to 48.4%. Down 5 with 10 to go. STILL not aggressive enough.

71-69. Rob Bays hit a three at the buzzer with a hand in his face. Took the refs a long time to determine that the shot beat the buzzer, but it did and they actually got it right!

19, 9 for Suli, 13, 2, 3 for Cole. Bays had only 5 but that three won the game. +12 at the line.

Dee is hiking just about every day in knee deep or higher snow. When I can I go with her. I'm really worried that something bad could happen. Temps are usually in the teens or single digits. Yes, she knows how to dress for it but it's not safe. She won't listen, of course.

[Wayne23]

12/27: At 3-7 ST Johns. They're first big off the bench is out with a broken hand. We think we should beat them but the road is never easy.

12/28: lose game early on. Down 2 after 10. Down 7 at halftime. -10 RBs and our usual crappy shooting. -6 from the line. Tied with 10 to go. Late run!

81-61. Very good D! 17, 10 for Long; if only he were consistent but he's playing much better this year than last. 17, 4, 4 for Mill, 12, 9, 5 for Thor, 12 for Cole.

Only 4 TOs to 16. +24 in the paint. We actually outshot them; we really lit it up in the 2nd half after poor 1st half shooting.

We end pre-conf play at 11-3. NET #11, which is very surprising. +5.6 PPG, +2.6 RBs, this is not our usual rebounding team. -4.7 TOs. Suli leads us with 13.7. Wqe don't score a lot of points, and we have 8 guys scoring 6.3 or more. A lot of bench this year. Thor gets 6.1 RBs, Suli 5.9.

Almost a week off. We need it.

12/29: "You missed a great hike!"

"I didn't miss it a bit!"

"Wimp."