by Wayne23 » Thu May 19, 2022 11:54 am
12/10: 4 more wins including one over the #1 ranked team.
80-59 vs. Wichita ST. our typical pattern, up only 2 at the half then we took charge in the 2nd. 17, 11 for Cole, 17, 10 for Wrig, 13, 8 for Buta. Total dominance inside again.
89-65 at Baylor. We led all the way in this one. 21, 8 for Wams, 13, 15, 4 blocks for Cole, 16, 8 for Bute. +22 TBS, +16 in the paint.
Two injuries in this game, both to players who don't play much. Guard Ben Coll strained a calf and is out for a couple of weeks. He's our 2nd option off the bench among guards. Brad Wilk, a C/F who doesn't play much, hurt his wrist. He'll miss a game.
We easily beat #1 ranked Virginia, 97-81 here. It was 52-28 at the half. They scored some points but they just couldn't stop us. 22, 7, 5 for Bute, 15, 10, 3, 3 for Wrig, 15, 9, 4 for Wams, 10, 12, 3 for Cole.
The press is starting to refer to our “Big 4,” Wrig, Wams, Cole, and Bute, the four big men who seem to control every game.
Then it was 68-49 at Marquette. A game of two completely different halves, 50-33 in the first and 18-16 in the 2nd. Weird! 21, 11, 5 blocks for Wrig, 14, 7, 4 for Wams. As usual, we completely controlled the paint.
I'm talking with Dyl Cole:
“Dyl, you're putting up some great numbers, even better than last season.”
“Yeah. It really helps to have so many really good big men. The other team can't focus on any one of us. The coaches figure out who the weak defenders are on the other team and our game plan is to get the ball to the guy or guys they're guarding. It's working great so far.”
“What happens if you play a team with all good defenders inside?”
“There aren't many teams like that, but if we do we can go inside/outside, let our guards get some open looks, set picks, use back door cuts- there's all kinds of things we can do.”
“Can you win it all this year?”
“That's the goal!”
(Author's note: In both this association and in the other one, and maybe in general, I need to tighten up the house rules on Recruiting, and develop some for Transfers, which I'm having trouble figuring out how to do- Transfers, that is. Also, man-to-man is clearly the way to go on defense. I've become all but invincible since going to man-to-man 100% of the time, especially when I play the game out and max out the D late in the game and/or go to the press more often late in close games. Thinking it all through.)