The Wisconsin basketball team opened its exhibition season tonight against Edgewood, its bitter rival from down the street. I really like this deal of playing Division II and III teams in the preseason, not Athletes in Action or whoever Anthony Pieper is balling with nowadays, you're playing less talented but more cohesive teams.
Still, the Badgers rolled tonight over what looked like a group of SERF all-stars with matching tank tops, albeit one that apparently went 18-8 overall, 15-3 in conference play last season. You can only tell so much from this one, but here goes:
(We'll use full names until Andy gets comfortable with my Musberger Treatment.)
-Freshman Jon Leuer (right) was the story of the night. The pride of Long Lake, Minn., was bigger than I thought he'd be, but just as skilled as billed. Had a nice array of scoring moves - jumpers, post moves, dunks. Should be a contributor this year.
-Starters: Trevon Hughes, Joe Krabbenhoft, Marcus Landry, Brian Butch, Greg Stiemsma. Big lineup. Michael Flowers will likely be there for the real opener, I'm thinking Krabby comes off the bench, but he was assertive tonight, looking for his shot much more than last year.
-Butch has lost weight, looks lighter and more nimble.
-Hughes looks much more comfortable out there, very much in control, some great moves in the halfcourt, looked to catch outlet passes further up the court and push.
-Keaton Nankivil is just as big as I thought he'd be - broad shoulders, strong.
-Didn't take too many three-pointers tonight. One one hand, I like that they were able to take closer shots. On the other, should be able to get more open threes against Edgewood.
-Free throw shooting looked shoddy again.
-Landry didn't do much aside from a great open court dunk, but that's not a concern.
-Stiemsma still looks good shooting jumpers, and threw up a couple lefty shots in the lane.
-Early bet is that JP Gavinski and Tim Jarmusz don't play much this year. Gavinski looks awkward out there.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Badgers upset Edgewood
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1 comment:
Thanks for the write-up, Tappa. Don't really know much about the basketball team besides Butch, Krabby and Flowers (my personal favorite). And as others noted during the Big Ten Network rant, it will be harder for those without the station to track the team.
Are we going to get an official prediction blog later in the preseason? My NCAA tournament group is heading to Birmingham this March, so maybe we'll those guys there (hopefully).
Obviously, the team won't have the success it did last year, but I kind of like it when UW has a more scrappy outfit.
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