[Izulde]

Fixed the issue, but in the replay, UC-Davis whips us by 25. It's bullshit, but whatever. Moving on.

@ Long Beach State 1-11 (1-0)
The 49ers won their first game of the year last time out. Isidoro Lopez and Dominique Larsen are always a dangerous duo, so I have a feeling we're going to get hammered in this one. Reinaldo Gonzalez beats the 1-3-1 zone on our last play of the half to cut their lead to 2, 27-25. We totally collapse in the second half, and I'm switching back to our old lineup.

Reginald Maze bolts to Sacramento State, which is fine. I didn't much like him for our setup anyway. 2* PG Gayle Horton hears a who of a scholarship offer from us. Won't ever score, but looks like a reasonable floor general and a shutdown defender. Can't steal the ball, but I'd like to upgrade our perimeter defense, which isn't that great right now overall. Elsewise I think I'm going to roll the scholarship over - I just don't like what's left in this class at all.

vs Hawaii 8-5 (0-2)
Color me surprised the Rainbow Warriors have started 0-2 in Big West play and they justify my surprise by having us lucky to lose only in single digits 62-71. Angel Moore with 12, Florentin Dupretz with 11, and 10 boards for the Fish Knight, but we're suddenly hot garbage and I don't understand why. Dietrich Hirschmann dropped 31 on us.

vs UC-Irvine 5-9 (2-2)
If we lose to the Anteaters, who haven't impressed me, I'm going to be really annoyed. 44-39 Matadors at the half, riding Angel Moore (13 points) and Joseph Velarde (12 points), as our defense continues to be a complete and total mess.

We finally get on the board in conference play, Joseph Velarde winning PotG with 14 points and 4 steals. Angel Moore leads us in scoring with 17 points, 6 boards, and a steal. Nice 11/8/1/2 line for Rabbithead (the 2 is steals), and Winston Reyes scores 10.

vs CSU-Fullerton 4-10 (3-2)
The Titans have turned from a defensive team to one of scorers, but they're not the most efficient at it. I feel pretty good about this one - well, as good as my Eeyore ass ever gets about a game.

And yep, we're up by 10 at the break as the Titans are wasting shot after shot after shot.

Naturally we let them back in, but eke out a 63-59 win on the back of Winston Reyes suddenly roaring for 16 points to be PotG. Joseph Velarde scores 14 with 2 steals, and the Fish Knight just misses the double-double with 11 points, 9 rebounds. Not too often you see the post win games for us.

@ Cal Poly 9-7 (3-2)
Another year of Chris Perry, and David Montes is the best player in the Big West. We have a hard time against these guys every single game, so I'm chalking this up as an automatic L.

We're shockingly up 37-35 at the half and would be more if Rabbithead hadn't A. got the ball stripped that turned into a breakaway dunk and B. missed the buzzer-beater trey try. Joseph Velarde already has 13 points.

Chris Perry of course hits the buzzer-beater at the end of the game to get the 78-76 win. He scored 17, David Montes had 18 and PotG. 24 points for Angel Moore, goose egg in second half for Velarde, Rabbithead with 11 and 2 steals, and 12 and a steal for Reinaldo Gonzalez. This one's going to sting for a long time.

@ UC-Riverside 10-7 (4-2)
The Highlanders are missing Alex Denny, who is pretty much a better Thomas Hadden, so maybe we can steal this one.

Fucking 3 pointer puts us down by 4 at the half. Where's your clutch genes, guys?

I don't care if Rabbithead scored 16 with 7 rebounds and a steal. His dummkopf ass gets whistled for the technical and that's the difference in a 3 point loss, 75-78. Ugh. 10 for Winston Reyes, and 14 off the bench for Florentin Dupretz. Two winnable games we've pissed away with stupidity. Jesse Reyes torched us for 27, including the first half trey of note.

vs Pacific 5-12 (0-7)
If we can't beat the bad Tigers on our court, I deserve to be fired.

And of course they're up 30-26 at the break.

15 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals later, it's another Player of the Game for Joseph Velarde as we get mad in the second half finally and win 73-66. Marlin Chevalier played great with 11 points and boards and 2 blocks. Angel Moore is 13/5/2, and Reinaldo Gonzalez shines in replacing the foul-plagued Dummkopf with 15 points, 8 rebounds, and a block.

vs UC-Santa Barbara 9-9 (4-4)
Remember how I said the Gauchos made a horrible hire? It's playing out in the standings, as an incredibly talented roster is being wasted by a shit coach.

How shit? We jump out to an 11-0 lead and are up 40-22 at the half. Of course, this is us, so we'll probably still find a way to blow this one.

Lee Chadwick scores 26 with 4 steals and gets them back into it within 6, but we avoid blowing the lead entirely on Rabbithead's 28 points, 7 rebounds, and a steal, winning Player of the Game, but not my heart after his screwups. Angel Moore added 14 points and 8 rebounds, while the Fish Knight has 10 boards and a block.

vs UPenn 8-10 (2-2)
We have a game against the Ivy League that somehow got scheduled super late. The Quakers have risen to mid-tier Ivy status, but I'm not impressed with this squad.

Our offense melts in the closing minutes of the first half, putting us up just barely at 21-17 after we were up by 10+. Typical. So bleeping typical.

We just scrape by, 71-68, almost blowing yet another double-digit lead. Angel Moore scores 21, but Rabbithead is PotG for the second one in a row on his 16 points, 6 rebounds, and a steal. Florentin Dupretz adds 10 bench points and a steal as we ride our wings to victory. I'd say fly, but we only won by 3.

Everyone and their mother jumped on Gayle Horton as everyone is scrambling to fill their offers with whatever passable spare parts they can find in this trash year. One scholarship open for transfers I can abide. Two and I start getting antsy. So back to the scouting trail we go.

The bright side? We're 11-9 (4-5) and could conceivably end up with our best season yet by the time all is said and done: 13-17 (8-10) was our top of my regime so far, back in Rabbithead, the Fish Knight, and Angel Moore's freshman season. And we've already cleared 10 wins twice in three years (just missed it last year at 9-22).