DDSCB23: Alone

[Wayne23]

3/9: We play #8 seed Virginia Tech, 22-10, 10-10. They beat us by 18 at their place in the conf. game opener and then we beat them by 21 at home. If we play our game we should beat them again.

3/10: 102-81. We scored the first 11 and never looked back. Up 53-29 at halftime.

26, 8 for More, 30, 4 steals for Scot, 14, 8 for Feld, 10, 4, 10 for Moon, 6, 12 for Welp.

+34 in the paint, +11 RBs, only 4 TOs.

It’s #4 seed Boston College, 22-10, 12-8, in the semifinals. We won by 7 there. We think we’re better but they just beat #21 GA Tech.

Cid Mose hurt his back. Out for just a few days.

3/11: 94-70. Another runaway win. We never trailed. Up 14 at the break, and we got it to 29.

28, 4 for More, 13, 6, 10 for Moon, 14, 9, 6 for Feld, 16, 3 for Welp. +40 in the paint.

As expected, it’s #5 ranked, #2 seed Syracuse, 26-7, in the title game. We beat them by 1 and by 6 and it is VERY hard to beat a good team 3 times. We’ll give it our best shot!

3/12: 84-80 and the title! I really hope we don’t face these guys in the big dance!

They hit a 3 to open the scoring. We scored the next 8 and never trailed again. Up 16 at halftime. But they came roaring back in the 2nd and got it to a one possession game 7 times. But we responded every time. It was close but in the final minutes we came up big.

23, 7 for Feld, 14, 9 for More, 14, 3 for Scot, 12, 3, 5, 3 for Moon. They went to the line 17 more times but it didn’t matter.

What a great win!

We’re now ranked #4, NET #2 and ACC champs. We’ll get a #1 seed.

I remembered that before leaving Earth we had all of the leading 23rd century scientists, artists… go into the holo and create “copies” of themselves so that any knowledge they had we would have.

So I went into the holo and spoke to the leading terraformer.

“It’s simple, really. There’s no way to do traditional weather forecasting, BUT, you can put wind measuring instruments outside the building at a distance away, I recommend 100 miles. And remember the prevailing winds on Mars go from northwest to southeast.”

“Great, but how the hell do we anchor them down and how the hell do we power them?”

“Well, the second is easy, power them with small batteries. As to the first, hm… Ah! Glue!”

“Glue?”

“Yes. We developed this amazingly high powered glue. Once you use it on something nothing will move it, and I mean nothing! Bring some with you.”

“Okay, I guess that solves the problem. Thanks.”

[Wayne23]

Seeded #1 in the West. E play #16 Youngstown ST, 16-18. This should be a walkover.

3/17: 90-69. We never trailed but they stayed close for 22 minutes. Then we put them away.

18, 2, 8 for Moon, who has played terrific ball since declaring for the draft. 16, 10, a career high 7 blocks for More, 15, 11 for Feld, 13, 6, 4, 3 for Scot, 12, 5 for Welp.

+22 in the paint. I wasn’t happy with the officiating but I kept quiet since the game was never in doubt.

As a high priority issue I sent a robot with wind measuring devices, batteries, and glue to be placed 50 and 100 miles northwest of here.

May and I are still together and still enjoying each other’s company.

3/18: #8 seed Kentucky, 22-13, in round 2. They’ve had a down year but they’re still a top notch program. They have trouble scoring and they don’t rebound that well.

Something happened to the robot I sent out with wind measuring equipment. He should have been back by now and he should have checked in after successfully placing the equipment. Neither has happened. I’m sending 2 robots to see what happened. There were some very high winds yesterday. I’m sending these robots with duplicate equipment, and the wind is much lighter today.

3/19: 82-56 and we’re in the Sweet Sixteen.

55-28 at the half and it was never a game despite the fact that More played only 8 minutes due to fouls. And yes, I did pick up a T.

18, 8, 3 for Feld, 12, 6 for Welp, 12, 5 for Spin, 13 for Scot, 8, 3, 12 for Moon. We had only 5 TOs.

+26 in the paint.

The robots checked in to say that they have placed both devices and are headed home. They saw no sign of the first robot or the devices it carried. I’m guessing they were literally blown away.

3/20: The robots are back and the wind gauge is working- both of them.

#12 ranked, #4 seed Washington, 25-7, in the Sweet Sixteen. 3-1 vs. ranked teams and they play tight D.

[Wayne23]

3/24: 86-73. For the 2nd time in my short coaching career I have a team in the Elite Eight!

We never trailed. Biggest lead was 22 and up 15 at the half. We’ve been on fire so far in the post season.

22, 8 for More, 16, 4, 11 for Moon, 11, 5, 5, 4 for Welp, 12, 4 for Feld, 14 for Spin. +24 in the paint. The zebras were the only reason it was close.

#8 ranked, #3 seed Xavier, 28-9, in the Elite Eight. They’re 6-2 vs. ranked teams. Looks like their outside game vs. our inside game.

3/26: 90-85 and we’re in the Final Four!

Once again we started strong and built a 17 point lead. It was 9 at the break. They came at us in the 2nd and even took the lead 3-4 times. At the end we hit our shots and our free throws and we got the important rebounds.

The refs were awful, as usual. More fouled out, both Moon and Spin ended up with 4. They went to the line 12 more times.

23, 2, 7 for Moon, 16, 7, 3 blocks for Welp, 19 for More in only 13 minutes, 12, 9 for Feld. +16 in the paint.

[Wayne23]

3/31: #1 seed, #3 ranked Illinois, 33-5, in the national semifinal. They are 9-1 vs. ranked teams so they can play! They definitely have the edge outside and it looks about even inside. We’ll need to play our very best ball to have a chance.

4/1: Win or lose it’s great to be playing in April!

112-82. Amazing!!! I thought we were up against it. Not only did we win but we blew them out.

We scored the first 9 and were up 60-39 at the half. No one was in foul trouble for once. We were in complete control in the 2nd half.

25, 12, 3 blocks for Feld, 19, 8 for More, 18 for #3 guard Art Howe, 13, 4, 11 for Moon. +22 rebounds and +3 in the paint.

One more mountain and it’s a huge one. #1 ranked, #1 seed West Virginia, undefeated at 39-0, in the title game. Both teams are healthy.

On paper we’re in very big trouble. They’re better at every position. But we’ve been absolutely on fire throughout the post season; if that holds tonight it should be a game!

4/3: 89-77 and the national title! Nothing was going to stop us this year.

We started strong and built a 7-0 lead. It stayed close all the way in the 1st half but they only led twice, and by 0ne point each time. We were up 5 at the break. Spin and Moon had 2 fouls each. What
encouraged me was that we were able to score inside.

In the second we held the lead and expanded it. With 5:09 to go we were up 15 and we could see the title right in front of us. A media time out happened shortly thereafter.

“Don’t let up! They can’t compete with you. Just keep your heads in the game and keep doing what you’re doing. No dumb fouls.”

I was able to empty the bench in the last minute so everyone could say they had played in the title game.

29, 7 for More, 21, 11, 3 blocks for Feld, 12, 1, 3 for Scot. We definitely won it inside. +28 in the paint.

What a feeling!

All of the robots are built including a replacement for the one that was lost. The shack and tools and equipment are also built so it’s time to get started!

[Wayne23]

4/4: Awards: Gene Feld was the tourney MOP. Jack More made ACC 1st team and Gene Feld made the 2nd team. I kept my record perfect and was named Conf. COY again.

4/9: I can’t imagine I’ll leave.

TP goes from 49 to 59.

Some good teams call but I’m staying.

4/23: I ask for a facilities upgrade… again.

Yes! B- to B+. This will help with recruiting for sure!

38-2, 18-2, national champs. For my 5 year career I’m 146-35, .807.

[Wayne23]

5/1: I am very concerned about guards. We only have 3 on the roster. We’re incredibly deep up front.

#14 recruiting class.

We meet our Expected to Spend amount.

5/29: Nobody is transferring but we have 2 open roster spots. We want guards.

6/2: We offer to 2 SGs.

6/5: 2 for 2!

6/25: We’ll go to Indy and all of the regionals.

6/26: 5 scholarships. We want 2 guards, 3 big men.

Sal Moon is drafted #39

7/11: Recruiting is going well. It is such a LOT of work though.

7/31: We offer to 2 PGs, an SF, a PF, and a C.

8/7: 5 on the Norton list: C Andy Ezel, #11, SF Ed Ells, #23, Sg Stan Henn, #27, SG Rick Kitt, #28, and PF Gene Feld, #42. It continues to mystify me that Jack More has never made the list.

Communication continues with the Canadians. It’s nice to have real humans to interact with. They told me that they’ve been trying to contact other groups of survivors on Earth but have not been successful.

“There must be other survivors but we haven’t had any luck. We’ve tried all of the social media sites, which is really the only way to try to find them.”

The terraforming project is underway. There are lots of days when no work can be done due to high winds but our wind gauges have alerted us and there have been no losses of robots or tools and supplies.

9/11: We lose a big. Offer to a PG.

9/18: We get 1, lose 2. We get an SF, #33. We offer to an SG and a PF.

Going to the JAG Holiday. A much stronger schedule this season.

9/25: We get a PG, #40, an SG, #80, lose 2 bigs. We offer to an SF and a C.

10/2: We lose the SF. Not making any more offers except to the C who looks like we may get him.

1st day of practice. I like what I see. Not sure we can repeat as national champs but we have the talent

to have a great year.

10/16: We lose the C so we have 2 open roster spots.

11/15: We start tomorrow with Butler here. They run a very deliberate offense with lots of set plays. On D they play man and they like to press.

Here's the lineup:

Senior Stan Henn, a transfer from West Virginia, is at the Point. He does a lot of things well.

Senior Rick Kitt, a transfer from Stanford, is at SG. He too does a lot of things well.

#3 guard is junior Jim Turr who could start, as could soph Art Howe. I usually have a pretty clear idea on my lineup but I’m still not sure I have the right guys at guard. We’ll see how things go and be ready to change it up.

Frosh Andy Ezel is at SF. He’s a big time scorer, plays excellent D, and can rebound. He could play any of the inside positions.

Soph Gene Feld is back at PF. He has the whole game.

Senior Jack More is back at C. He’s been our best player for the past 2 years.

Soph Ed Ells would start for a lot of teams. Senior Joey Welp is a solid inside player and we lose nothing when he’s on the floor. Senior Rash Spin is too good to be this far down the lineup. Finally, soph John Kemp, who will only play if we have injuries.

This is a good team and we should do well this season. We’re picked to finish behind Louisville and Syracuse in the ACC but I think we can win it.

[Wayne23]

11/16: 102-74 over Butler. We were impressive in our debut. We led by as many as 30, and were up 54-30 at the half. 34, 12 for More, 16, 8 for Feld, 16, 4, 3, 3 for Kitt. 12 each for subs Ells and Welp.

+11 for the bench. +52 in the paint!

Ohio, 0-1, is here. This should be a walk over.

11/19: 89-68. It was never close. Up 9 at the half an we took off in the 2nd. 17 each for More and Henn, 14, 9 for Welp, 13, 5 for Ezel. More fouled out in 14 minutes but we went to the line 12 more times. +40 in the lane.

Michigan ST, 1-1, is here. Rocky start for what looks like it’s going to be a good team. Their SG may be an All American. It will be their outside game vs. our inside game.

11/23: 98-65. We ran away with it. 46-25 at the break. 19, 6 for Feld, 11, 5, 10 for Henn, 14, 6 for More, 12, 2, 7 for Turr, 13 each for Kitt and Welp. 6, 17, 5, 2, 4 blocks for Ezel.

+38 in the paint where we’ve put up some impressive numbers.

At 3-1 East Carolina. They’ve looked good but they haven’t played anyone decent.

11/26: 91-77. For the first time this season we fell behind. They had us by 12 early on and by 9 at halftime. Foul trouble by our big guys hurt us. We made some adjustments at halftime and turned it around in the 2nd.

21, 12 for Feld, 18, 7 for More in only 16 minutes. 18, 4, 5, 3 for Henn. +14 RBs and +40 inside where we continue to shine.

I watch a LOT of video. Most of it is of games involving ACC teams, and video of our games, but now that we’re big players on the national scene I watch video of top ranked teams as well. Watching my own team’s videos allows me to see things I may not have seen in the heat of the moment. Things happen very fast during the game. I’ve always done this and I have no doubt that it helps. My scouting coach watches even more video than I do, of course.

4-0, ranked #21, NET #5.

[Wayne23]

3-1 Creighton is here. 1-1 vs. ranked teams and both games were close so they can play.

11/30: 91-65. We’re a scoring machine so far this season.

We led for the last 35 minutes. Up by 11 at halftime. 37, 7, 3 blocks for More, 23, 8, 3 blocks for Feld, 12, 5, 10, 3 for Henn but 7 TOs. +48 in the paint.

The 30 robots on the terraforming project work 16 hour days, 7 days a week. We keep them in the shack during the coldest hours of the day and of course they don’t work when it’s really windy. The 18 hour days give them enough time to recharge and to fix any issues that may come up with their “bodies.”

#21 UConn, 5-0, is here. Once again, this is my dream team. I’d love to be in Storrs. They’re 2-0 vs. ranked teams and they can play. Not sure they can keep up with our high scoring.

12/7: 81-74. Our first competitive game and it was that!

They led by 16 early and by 6 at the half. They were beating us inside. We made some changes at the half and our big guys matched them in the 2nd. Our bench was +7, the margin of victory.

We didn’t lead until there were about 3 minutes left and the final margin was our biggest lead. This game was a study in not giving up. Both teams had a few players in foul trouble. I wish the freaking zebras would let teams play and only call fouls that absolutely needed to be called. Never going to happen, of course.

20, 11 for More, 13, 5, 4 for Henn, 11, 9, 4 blocks for Feld, 12, 7 for Ezel.

+32 inside.

The terraforming process is very complex. To be honest I don’t understand it at all. I just know that the robots will eventually work on every inch of the planet, doing whatever it is they’re doing. And it will take a very long time. If I live a normal life span it may or may not be completed when I die.

I can view the process in action via video and robots can contact me as needed.

Out in the field the robots can 3d print more robots, more tools and equipment, and anything else they may need.

5-1 Alabama is here. They have a solid outside game and they defeated then #1 Gonzaga.

We’re playing a lot of good teams who are having good seasons, and we’re kicking their butts.

12/13: 88-50. Another butt kicking.

52-25 at the break. 23, 8 for More, 20, 8 for Feld, 13, 9 for Ezel, 13, 3 for Kitt. Our front line overpowered theirs. +44 in the paint.

At 6-4 Vermont. On paper we’re much better.

12/21: 84-69. They led early but we turned it around. Up 8 at the half. 19, 3 for Kitt, 16, 1, 3 for Henn, 12, 9 for Feld, 12, 8 for More who was out played, which is rare. We won this one outside.

8-0, NET #1. I don't understand why we're not ranked.

[Wayne23]

Off to the JAG Holiday. We’re the #3 seed. We face #6 ST Bonnie’s, 4-5. They’re not impressive.

12/23: 87-79. They were more impressive than expected. We led all the way but they closed the gap to 4 in the late going.

18, 3, 6 for Kitt, 16, 7 for Feld, 12, 5, 10, 4 for Henn. Good bench play. More’s slump continued. 6 and 8 , playing only 12 minutes due to fouls. Once again, our guards carried the load, or most of it. +22 in the paint though.

#2 seed Wisconsin, 7-2. They play good D. All of the favored teams advanced.

12/24: 86-45. We totally annihilated them. 38-18 at the half.

30 and 9 for More, who snapped out of his slump. 14, 11 for Feld, 13, 6, 3 for Ezel, 11, 1, 6 for Henn. We caused 27 TOs! +44 in the paint.

It’s #11 ranked UConn, 11-1, in the title game.

Their only loss was to us, by 7 at our place. We beat them in the paint.

We’re finally ranked, #19.

12/25: 91-75 and the tourney title. We led all the way, by as many as 21. Up 10 at halftime.

32, 8, 3 for tourney MOP Jack More. 11, 6, 3 blocks for Feld, 10, 7 for Ells, 12, 4 for Ezel. +17 RBs, +36 in the lane.

Gene Feld hurt his foot. He’s day to day. Unfortunately, we have a game tomorrow. He’ll play but for less time.

We finish pre-conf play undefeated, 11-0.

+22.4 PPG, #1 in scoring with 89,8, +10.6 RBs, -7.6 TOs, with an amazing 9.3. +5.7 assists, +4.1 steals.

More gets 22.1, 8.0. 15.4, 8.5 for Feld. Henn gets 10.5 and 6.7 assists with only 2.6 TOs.

We start ACC play with #7 Syracuse, 9-0. They have a world class PF and a very good team. They give up only 57.3. This should be a challenge.

[Wayne23]

12/26: 83-79. 18 lead changes, 8 ties. They started fast and led by as many as 16 in the early going. We got it down to 1 at the half. We led for most of the 2nd, but never by more than 9. They scored the last 5 and missed a three at the end but we were in control very late in the game.

19, 8 for More in only 21 minutes; foul trouble again. 16, 4 for Welp, 12, 5, 3 for Ells, 11, 7 for Feld. We won it with good inside play.

“So how would you feel about having a baby?”

“Huh!”

May shocked the hell out of me with that question. I quickly checked to make sure she wasn’t pregnant, which I didn’t even think was possible. She’s not, but apparently it is possible. I have never had any interest in becoming a parent, certainly not a holo parent. I like kids, but in small doses.

We had a long discussion. She does not want to get married or move in together but she would want me to be actively involved in the child’s life.

The discussions will continue, no doubt.

We’re at 9-3, 1-0 Miami next. They play good D.

12/28: 80-66. They hit a three at the beginning and it was back and forth for 3-4 minutes. Then we took off. 40-23 at the break. Balanced scoring, 13, 3, 2, 6 steals for Kitt, 14, 7 for Ezel. More was in foul trouble all night, as usual, He had 10 and 2 in 15 minutes. +20 in the paint.

We were the EPSN game of the night.

Post game press conference (excerpts): “Coach, you’re the defending national champions. Does that add any pressure?”

“Not that I’ve noticed. My kids are playing excellent ball.”

“You’re good and you’re deep. Any issues with guys who feel they’re not getting enough minutes?”

“I haven’t heard much but good players want to play and there just aren’t enough minutes to go around. I worry about that.”

1/1/2228: 6-4, 1-0 Boston College is in town. On paper we’re way better.

We’re now ranked #12.

1/4: 109-63, a real blowout. 52-31 at halftime. They were never in it.

23, 10 for More in 16 minutes. As a senior he should know how to play good D without fouling; he doesn’t. I’m reducing his minutes in hopes that that will help. 20, 7 for Ezel. 19, 2, 5 for Henn, 9, 10, 5 for Welp. +28 RBs, +50 in the lane. +17 for the bench.

At 7-5, 0-2 Wake Forest. They beat #20 Wisconsin but that’s their only quality win.

1/6: 109-97. We played terrible D but led all the way. 27, 8 for More who had only 3 fouls. Reduced PT may be the answer! 19, 5 for Feld, 16, 8 for Ezel. +34 inside, where we absolutely dominated.

15-0, 4-0, ranked #7, NET #1, tied for 1st in the ACC with Pitt.

May and I continue a discussion that can only end one way- I’m not going to do it. That might end what has been a great relationship.

Terraforming seems to be going well. No major problems anyway.