Hereafter

[Wayne23]

2/19: Our next 3 are all against ranked teams, 2 of them on the road. Next is at #14 Wisconsin, 21-6, 11-5. We crushed them by 28 at our place. They're 2-4 vs. ranked teams. They can score outside but we should have a good edge on the boards, and we should be able to turn them over.

2/20: They take a quick lead. We come back. Down 4 after 10. A run puts us up 40-32 at halftime. 11 for Prio. 8 fewer TOs, +8 down low.
Both teams are shooting ridiculously high percentages but we've held them to only 21 shots..

“Play some D!”

Up 6 with 10 left; they're hanging around!

85-71 but it was closer than that. They were down only 6 and then we scored the last 8 points.

24, 3, 2, 6 steals for Prio, 15, 5 for Kruo, 13, 4 for Rich. 10 TOs to 26.

This was a big win. Two more tough ones coming up next.

[Wayne23]

2/23: #18 Indiana, 20-7, 10-6, is here. Their C leads the nation in RBs and they get 2.2 more a game. I think this one may be up to our two star players, Kruo and Prio; they need to have big games.

If we win this one it will pretty much assure us of winning the Big 10 regular season crown. If we don't Michigan is next, there, and that will likely decide who wins the crown.

2/24: Early lead and then a run. Up 19 after 10. 46-27 at the half. Prio is on fire with 23 and 5; Kruo has 8, 6, 4. Their C has 14 and 9 but we've stopped everyone else. +7 RBs, only 3 TOs. It's a romp, up 32 with 10 left.

81-48. 29, 11 for Prio, 14, 13, 7 for Kruo, 14, 4, 4 for Beja. Their C showed how good he is with 21, 16, 7 blocks, but he didn't get any help so it didn't matter. I kept telling our C, Josh Rich to keep his head in the game and not commit dumb fouls. He did fine, 8, 7, 3, 6 blocks, and only 3 fouls. +13 RBs, 9 TOs, +12 inside.

#4 guard Troy Wild hurt his knee but it isn't serious. He's day to day.

[Wayne23]

2/26: At #9 Michigan, 23-3, 14-3, and the only team that can catch us, is here. We won by 13 at home in a game that we led most of the way, but usually not by a lot. Our backcourt matched theirs which is not easy given their world class SG. Our bigs were dominant inside, and our bench scored 12 more than theirs. They're favored by 1 ½. They're 4-1 vs. Top 25 teams, losing only to us. We'll need to be at the top of our game for this one.

This is not a must win, our last two are against teams we should beat easily, but it would be nice to beat Michigan on their home court.

2/27: They take an early lead. Down 6 after 10. 26-37. We're ridiculously sluggish, can't get anything going on O, and shooting only 36%. They've taken 10 more shots and that's the difference. 3 fouls for Walk but they have 2 starters with 3.

“You need to wake up! Move without the ball to get open for good shots. Wake the hell up!”

Up 2. It's a hell of a game!

70-71. Beja missed an 18 footer with a hand in his face at the end. We wanted wither Prio or Kruo to take that last shot but Beja couldn;t get it to either of
them.

22,11, 3, 4 for Prio, 21, 13, 3 for Kruo. The difference? They hit 10 threes to our 2. +6 RBs, +18 in the paint.

1 game lead with 2 to play.

The ship is back to being a happy place. There's a lot of sadness around the people we lost, especially Rec. Director Kelly Geer, who was the heart of the ship. Her successor, Mina Karham, is really trying, and she's fine, but Kelly was very special, and irreplacable, really.
Still, people are having fun again. Everyone is back to raving about the great food, people are signing up for Mina's activities, and life is good again!

[Wayne23]

2/28: Our last regular season home game is at 9-18, 6-12 Rutgers. There's only one Big 10 team with a worse record.

UConn is ranked #1; they're 28-1. No surprise.

3/1: We're sluggish again tonight. I am NOT happy. Tied after 10. We wake up after I call a TO to yell at them. Up 41-31 at the half. 11, 7 for Kruo. 5 TOs. Rutgers is in a lot of trouble, 4 of their starters have 3 fouls. Up 23 with 10 to play.

82-63. 17, 11, 3, 3 blocks for Kruo. 18, 4, 3 steals for Walk. +9 RBs. +10 from the line. We shot 51.8%, to 40%.

Michigan was shocked at home by our next opponent, Minnesota, so we've clinched the regular season title.

[Wayne23]

3/2: 10-18, 7-12 Minnesota in our final game and the last time we'll play in front of the home folks. Their very good SG is still out with back problems, as is his backup. This is a game we should win easily.

3/3: We honor graduating seniors Josh Rich, Toby Walk, and Don Beja, all starters, before the game.

They're playing well early. Up 8 after 10. 48-28 at the break. 18, 6 for Kruo, 11, 5 for Walk. +12 RBs, +10 inside, 4 TOs. Up 25 with 10 left.

85-69. 28, 9, 3, 3 for Kruo. 13, 12 for Prio, 17, 5 for Walk, 13, 6 for Rich.

Michigan really fell apart late, losing their last 2. They wound up tied for 2nd with Maryland, 3 back of us.

3/5: Emi Krou goes pro, so we lose 4 of our starting 5. Very happy to have Prio back at SG.

Kruo is #6 on the Norton list.

We end the regular season at 26-5, 18-2. Ranked #6, NET #4. We probably need to win the Big 10 tourney to get a #1 seed.

We're +16.1 PPG, +7.8 RBs, -3.7 TOs and we turn it over too often, 13.4. +4.7 assists.

Kruo leads us with 16.8 and 8.1. Prio gets 15.5.

The post season is what it's all about. I'm already excited.

[Wayne23]

3/8: We play #9 seed Ohio ST, 19-13, 8-12, in the quarter finals. They have a good inside game but they're 1-7 vs. ranked teams and they turn it over 18.7 per. We won by 26 at home, 9 on the road.

3/9: There is nothing like the excitement of the post season, from start to finish. I can feel my kids' energy.

(Author's note: The Big 10 tourney is played in Washington, D.C.? That's just weird.)

Close early. Up 1 after 10. 41-30 at the half after a late run. 16, 4 for Rich, 14, 6 for Kruo. Prio has 3 fouls. Only 4 TOs, +12 down low. Up 15 with 10 left to play.

87-66. Great way to start the post season! 24, 12 for Kruo, 24, 8 for Rich. +17 RBs, +12 in the paint.

[Wayne23]

3/10: All the favorites won so we play #4 seed Indiana,, ranked #21, 23-9, 12-8. We won by 33 at our place. We need to contain their excellent C, who is a real glass eater. They can score outside, too.

Game time: My guys look determined tonight.

Close early. Down 8 after 10; not good! I max out the D intensity. Down 10 at halftime, but they have 2 players with 3 fouls each, including their C, who is killing us. Our C and SF both have 3. 13 for Prio, 8, 5 for Kruo. -7 RBs. They're shooting 52.9% to our 46.9%.

I can get you really good seats to watch the title game...”

Down 3 with 10 left; we have a shot!

75-87. We fell apart late, but we didn't play well all night long. We lost it inside and outside, Rich played 7 minutes due to fouls with no points, 3 RBs; his
man had 21 and 7. Their starting guards had 31, ours had 18. Our bench was +8.

Post Game Press Conference (Excerpts):

“Tough loss, Coach Clark.”

“In the post season any loss is a tough loss. This one probably cost us a #1 seed.”

“So what do you tell your players when something like this happens?”

“I try to build them back up. They've lost some confidence, some belief in themselves. I need to find ways to give that back to them.”

“What are your chances in the Big Dance?”

“UConn and Memphis seem to be way out ahead of the rest of us,. But we're solidly in the next tier. In the tournament a lot of strange things happen. I see us as a contender.”

[Wayne23]

3/12: We're ranked #8, NET #6. That definitely looks like a #2 seed. Hope it's on the right side of the bracket!

#2 West. Tough bracket with Memphis at #1.

We start with #15 seed Denver, 17-15. They shocked #7 Butler on the road in November but they have not had a great season. Their strength is outside.

3/17: We're sluggish. Up 3 after 10 but we look terrible. Then we go on a run. Up 13 at the half. 10, 3 for Toby Walk, who is usually quietly efficient. Nice to see him being not so quiet! 3 TOs to 12, +18 in the paint. Up 14 with 10 left.

83-59. After a slow start we took control.

21, 4, 4, 4 for Rich, 18, 14 for Kruo, 15, 6, 5 for Walk, 13, 2, 3 for Prio. 5 TOs to 22, +30 in the paint.

“This was almost certainly your last easy game of the season. Bring your focus and no slow starts from here on.”

[Wayne23]

3/18: #7 seed Virginia Tech, 22-11. 2-2 vs. Top 25 teams. They do everything well, but well enough? That's up to us!

3/19: (Author's Note: Computer screw up- actually an Open Office screw up. It's a terrible, unstable platform.) 74-60 ove VA Tech. We led just about all the way.

23, 9 for Kruo, 15, 10 for Walk. We controlled the inside.

3/20: Hali took one look at me when I got home from the airport and said, “Hike. Now!”

“But I'm tired.”

“More importantly, you're stressed. A good hike will get rid of that and you'll be able to sleep. If you don't do something physical you won't sleep well at all.”

We went for a rigorous hike on a great trail in the holo. We came home, had a light dinner, watched a funny video put together by the geeks, who have a weird sense of humor, and then I went to bed.

3/21: Slept like a log!

[Zingo]

Following this tourny run. Wishing you the best on it!