Hereafter

[Wayne23]

2/26: At 14-13, 8-8 Wyoming. We won by 33 at home. Their D is weak. They have a very good Center.

We fall to #3 in the polls. NET #3.

2/27: Down 4 after 10. We're not focused. I kick butt after a media time out and they wake up. 46-29 at halftime. 11 for Wolf, 8 for Olin who looks good.

90-59. 17, 9 for Kam Saul, 19, 6 for Wolf. +14 RBs, +12 in the paint.

2/28: Our final regular season game Is at 2nd place Colorado ST, 20-8, 12-5. They're 3 games back of us so it's a meaningless game but given that we may meet them in the WMC tourney finals, we'd love to shellac them in this one. Their starting PF broke his arm in their last game. They have an excellent C.

3/1: Tied after 10. Then we go on a run. 44-32 at the half. 19, 6 for Saul against their star C who has 5 and 3, and 3 fouls. +14 in the paint. Their staying close in the 2nd. With about 6 minutes left we go on a mini-run which opens it up some.

82-71. BIG game for Saul, 32 and 13. 12, 4 for Gran. +32 in the paint.

3/5: We end the regular season at 29-3, 16-2. We win the MWC by 4 games. #3, NET #2.

+15.5 PPG, +6.6 RBs, -4.1 TOs but 13.7 per. +4.8 assists, +4 steals.

Kam Saul leads us with 15.5 and 7.9. 6 others score between 10.9 and 8.4. Olin gets 6.0 assists.

It is always exciting to go to the post season.

The Playan are here. They breathe just about exactly the same mix as we do and they send 3 representatives to our ship. They are short, about 4 feet tall.

They have three eyes, one in the middle of their face and the other two sort of the front and sides of their head. Otherwise their anatomy seems similar to ours.

We communicate easily. Their discomfort regarding being in blue space is obvious, but they still really don't have any specifics to share with us about why they are so uncomfortable. All in time, I suppose.

[Wayne23]

3/7: It's #9 seed Boise ST, 15-15, 7-11, in the MWC quarter finals. Their starting C is still out with a leg fracture. We beat them by 26, then by 31. They haven't ben able to defend us at all.

3/8: Slow out of the gate and up onl;y 2 after 10. A late run puts us up 45-33 at the half. 16 for 6th man Bret Gran. Wolf has 3 fouls. We take charge early in the 2nd and it's no contest after that.

83-65. 20, 8 for Gran. 15, 6, 6 for Olin, 13, 3, 8, 4 for Dean, so good guard play. +12 RBs.

[Wayne23]

3/9: #5 seed Wyoming, 16-14, 9-9, in the semifinals. We beat them by 33 and 31. We would need to have a terrible night for them to have a chance.

Game time: Up only 3 after 10. 33-34 at the half; we're not playing at all well and I read them the riot act at the half. 13 for Dean.

“Would you like to stay to watch the title game? I can get us good seats.”

We stay flat early in the 2nd. Up 6 with 10 left. Nothing I try is working very well. Little by little we extend the lead.

78-61 but we didn't play at all well. 25, 5 for Dean, 11, 7 for Saul, 14, 3, 4 for Olin.

We get to know the Playan better as their 3 representatives remain on board. They invite us to send 3 crew members over to their ship and we decide to do it.

[Wayne23]

3/10: #3 seed Utah St, 22-10, 11-7, in the title game. They won by 11 there, and we won by 19 at home. They play solid D but they turn it over. The night they beat us we had 4 players in foul trouble for much of the 2nd half, and their starting guards out played ours. At our place we won easily despite our inside platers having foul problems.

We need to play better than we did last night.

Sub Al Mack has the flu. He doesn't play much.

Game time: Slow start for both teams. Up 8 after 10. A run puts us up 41-24 at halftime. They're having a lot of trouble scoring on us. 10 each for Dean and Gran. +14 in the paint. It's over early. The subs will get lots of minutes.

78-59 and the title. 22, 7 for Saul, 18, 4 for Gran, 15, 7, 6 for Wolf. +30 down low.

Gran is tourney MOP.

[Wayne23]

3/12: We climb to #1 in the country, #2 NET.

We're #1 in the West. We play play-in winner, #16 seed Towson, 15-18. It's a good bracket.

I honestly have no idea how good this team is. I've never felt like I knew them as a team this season. Let's see what happens!

3/17: We start slow then wake up. 48-28 at the half. They can't keep up with us. 16, 6 for Saul. We're flat in the 2nd.

90-75 after a late charge. 23, 9 for Saul, 15 each for the starting guards.

#8 seed North Carolina, 21-12, in the 2nd round. This is NOT the typical North Carolina team. Their best player, their starting SF, is out with a broken wrist. If we play well and don't get intimidated by their name, we should be fine.

3/18: We take an early lead. Up 9 after 10. 44-34 at halftime. 13 for Dean, 9 for Olin. Our bench is -17. Some inside foul trouble but up
15 with 10 left. We take control late.

85-65. 29, 4 for Dean, 20, 12 for Saul, 16, 3, 10 for Olin. +22 in the paint.

[Wayne23]

3/23: Big upsets on our side in the West. In the Sweet 16 we play #13 seed Houston Batfest, 26-7. This should not be a difficult game.

3/24: We take the lead early on. Up 21 after 10; Dean and Saul are scoring at will. 56-34 at the half. 18 for Dean, 12 for Saul, 9 for Wolf. +12 RBs, +14 inside. They can't stop our O.

95-65 and we're in the Elite Eight. 31, 4, 7 for Dean, 20, 8 for Saul, 9, 5, 10 for Olin, 13, 8 for Wolf. +30 in the paint.

The Playan are appalled that our ancestors ate animals.

“And is it true that if it were feasible to do so on a space ship you would still be eating animals?”

“That's difficult to say. We've been on the ship for many years and have not eaten animals in all of that time.”

“This is disgusting!”

[Wayne23]

3/25: #2 seed, #7 ranked, #7 NET Cincinnati, 30-7, in the Elite 8. All 5 starters average 10.4 or more. They are 6-2 vs. ranked teams and they do many things well.

3/26: We take the lead quickly. Up 14 after 10. We are breezing, leading by 20. 45-27 at halftime. 13, 6 for Saul+11 RBs, +16 in the paint.
They try to catch up but 9 is as close as they come, and then we build the lead again.

82-69 and the Final Four! 18, 7 for Saul, 15, 5, 5 for Olin, 17, 2, 3 for Dean. +14 RBs, +14 inside.

We seem to be peaking at the right time.

[Wayne23]

It's #3 seed, #13 ranked, #8 NET South Carolina, 29-5, in the national semifinal. We think our guards are better than theirs and our bigs can hold their own but they're a good team and we'll need to be sharp.

4/1: We take an early lead. 23-7 after 10; they can't score on us so far. Then they come back. 39-35 at the half. 3 fouls on Saul. 14 points for Wolf. Stats are very even.

“20 minutes away from the title game. Keep your focus!”

We come out strong in the 2nd half. Then they come back again. Up 12 with 10 left. Then a big run and we put them away.
88-64 and we're in the title game. Am I surprised? As I said awhile back, I have no idea what to expect from this team. I inherited the team
so I don't feel I know them that well, and all except Akin are graduating so I'll start all over again next season.

24, 3, 4 for Wolf, 17, 3, 4 for Dean, 10, 7, 3 for Henk, 12, 4 for Gran. +12 inside.

[Wayne23]

4/2: No surprise that we'll face #1 seed, #2 ranked, #4 NET Michigan ST, 32-7, for the title. They are strongly favored. They are 9-1 vs. Top 25 teams. They're very strong inside and not bad outside. We'll need to play a terrific game and hope that they don't.

4/3: They take the lead fairly early but we're down only 2 after 10. Then they go on a run. 31-47. They're beating us on both ends of the court. They're shooting 54.8% to our 35.3%. They're bigger and quicker. I make a couple of adjustments at halftime but I'm not sure we have the horses. Down 9 with 10 to go.

65-82. We got it to 5 twice and then they went on a run and put us away.

Olin led us with 10, 7, 9, 3.

[Wayne23]

4/4: Awards: I get National COY. In the MWC, Eric Dean is Def. POY. Kam Saul makes the 2nd team. I get COY.

4/9: I am not committed to staying here, given that my entire team is graduating. Let's see what the offers look like!

TP goes from 69 to 80.

Memphis wants me. TP of 85, 21-13. I'm going to visit.

I'm staying at San Diego ST.

4/16: We get 3 late recruits. We wind up with 7, and all of them look very good.

4/23: I ask for a budget increase.

No.

37-4, won the MWC. Made it to the NCAA title game. Overall, for 29 seasons, 887-186, .827.

Whole new team and maybe a better one, especially with at least 3 spots for transfers. The only guy I don't want to lose is Akin.