Norm Peterson

I'm going with what the prevailing understanding is right now. And, yeah, it's my understanding he's going to go pro in Europe. Or Iceland. And best of luck to him. I think that's great.

The LOIs are signed. There might be another arrival. I've heard rumblings but nothing firm. I get the sense we're done with reaching and anyone else that comes in will be someone we're going to like. Six months ago, I asked people to explain to me why I should feel confident that year 2 would be any better than year 1. And, I mean, it was a little better, I guess. This year feels a bit different. I'm not here to say we're going to shock the world. But we have a core nucleus of players (is that redundant?) that return who, statistically, were probably our best players. We didn't lose the guys we didn't want to lose. The guys who left, while great kids, don't seem like a kick-in-the-gut situation like when Chad Johnson transferred. Anyone remember that? You feel like the guys who stay should be better next year in the aggregate than they were the year before. I mean, players just develop. It's hard not to when you play and practice as much as they do. Some will show greater improvement than others, but as I sit here now, I'm going to take for granted that, across the board, the returning players will be better in certain respects next year than they were last year. So, the key is whether the players we brought in are a net gain over the players who've left. Anyone want to take a swing at that one?

Returnees: Trey McGowens 39.1/36.7/65.7 Dalano Banton 41.1/24.7/65.9 Lat Mayen 39.6/34.8/77.8 Kobe Webster 38.2/38.0/65.4 Derrick Walker 60.0/0.0/45.5 Trevor Lakes 37.5/33.3/75.0 Eduardo Andre 64.7/0.0/45.0 Departures: Teddy Allen 44.9/37.6/69.1 Shamiel Stevenson 43.7/18.8/72.3 Thor Thorbjarnarson 34.2/29.4/76.9 Yvan Ouedraogo 42.4/0.0/39.1 Elijah Wood 28.6/20.0/0.0 Akol Arop (DNP) Arrivals: 6'6 Bryce McGowens (5-star, Rivals #18/ESPN #22) 6'7 Keon Edwards (4-star ESPN top 50) 6'9 Wilhelm Breidenbach (4-star 2021 ESPN #64) 6'5 CJ Wilcher (4-star 2020 ESPN #81) 6'1 Keisei Tominaga (Rivals 3-star) 7'0 Oleg Kojenets (Rivals 3-star) Thrilled to edit this post to add the new player!!!

Oleg Kojenets for THREE!

I'm just the proud of my guys' effort. We were facing elimination in game 4 but we hung in there and put the game away. Game 5 was not as close as the final score makes it look. We win by 14, but if Keisei doesn't hit those 5 3-pointers in the last 90 seconds, combined with us missing some front-ends, we win that one by 25.

By the way, my 2nd assistant is Larry the Cable Guy. I'm going for heft.

I'll admit it kind of threw me when he took Walker 2nd after taking Eduardo in the first round. I assume he figured there were plenty of guards, but he could leave me with no bigs. So, I've got some match-up problems in the paint. But we're going to be on their shooters like gloves. I have a lot of confidence in Doc to come up with a defensive game plan to shut those pesky 49rs down. It should be EPIC!

A good carpenter never blames the tools.

Is it affecting their recruiting?

So apparently like half of their coaching staff is leaving too. Like some guy going back to being an assistant at Purdue after having been an assistant at Purdue. It gives the appearance of rats leaving a sinking ship, but I'm sure it has nothing to do with that Freudian slip of the tongue about "plantations."

Whole starting lineup? OK, well, I guess I heard Zegarowski is going "pro." And the Bishop dude. And I guess the guy with the glasses or whatever. But what about the Ballock kid and the other guy? Them too?

But I have Doc Sadler on my bench. Does the name Leemire Goldwire ring any bells?

Well, I'm going Doc Sadler all day long. We're going to fight over all ball screens and keep in that little Tominaga guy's jock strap so he can't get a shot off. We'll trade you twos for threes all day long. All. Day. Long.

I'd rather be flirting with the dance squad. So, I'm going with @49r taking both mascots.

Since I got the first pick of players, it's only fair that @49r gets to pick his assistant first.

Tell ya what: You get the mascots; I get the cheerleaders and dance squad.

But I like Lil' Red.

Fighting Norms or the Fearsome 49rs? Best of 5. Full court. AAU rules.

And I think that draws this little escapade to a close. So, the lineups are: The Fighting Norms: Bryce Trey CJ Wilhelm Lat The Fearsome 49rs: Kobe Keisei Dalano Derrick Andre Now, the BIG question: Who wins best of 5?

OK, Imma get CJ while I can. I got CJ.

Oooh, you're going really long. I better get Wilhelm while he's still on the board. OK, I got Wilhelm.

@49r hoping another guard commits between now and his next pick?

You're playing to hurt me. OK, I got Lat.

Good choice. Trey.

Who wants to be the other captain? I pick first. I got Bryce. Who you got?