Sunday morning stream of consciousness

Thoughts while enjoying Starbucks in the Sheraton lobby, watching Andy North and now Mike Lucas walk by.

-Just read the Indianapolis Star recap of our game yesterday, and it barely mentioned the officiating. For all the kvetching about the refs from both sides (read Kyle's Spartans Weblog for a well-reasoned criticism, not from Michigan media idiots like Drew Sharp), a neutral observer focused on Neitzel's excellent BTT after a tough season, and UW's fourth title game run in five years.

-I've been disappointed in our NCAA seed too many times to get too worked up about it this year, but we really should be a #2 seed. Duke, Georgetown, and Stanford losing yesterday has to help our cause there. But we'll still likely be a #3, since the Big Ten is just so damn unimpressive.

-If I were Bruce Weber, I'd play McCamey off the ball more and leave Frazier to bring the ball up the court, Chester's no threat to come off a screen jacking up 3-pointers.

-In some downer Badger news, the hockey team lost to St. Cloud State in the first round of the WCHA playoffs and is now an iffy bet at best to make the NCAAs. Too bad, the regionals are in Madison.

-I've been defending the Big Ten a lot lately, but here's some criticism: very little imagination or crispness in the offensive sets. The Swing is deliberate, but at least it yields good looks on a consistent basis. Many of the other teams we've seen in Indy just toss the ball around the perimeter aimlessly for 28 seconds, then panic to jack up a long 3-pointer or crash recklessly into the lane and either miss the shot or throw the ball away. So yes, our teams play good defense - in particular, Big Ten big men are exceptional at hedging on ball screens and forcing the dribbler to flatten out his path - but our coaches need to take a long look at their offensive systems this offseason.