J.P. Tokoto, in person

Where was Bo Ryan on Saturday night? Like me, my dad, my brother-in-law and his dad, we were at the Menomonee Falls gym to watch Falls play Wauwatosa East. Or, more accurately, we were there to watch J.P. Tokoto.

Sorry to say, but I don't have much original analysis to add to what has already been written about J.P. But here's my take if you missed the others.

-Tremendous, tremendous athlete. A legit 6-6, thin, but should be able to add weight and strength without losing his leaping ability. When he strides he gobbles up the court.

It was senior night, so Tokoto, a sophomore, didn't start. He came off the bench a couple minutes in, but didn't really do much until halfway through the second quarter. Then he made his presence felt. A Falls guard made a scrappy steal, missed a shot, and Tokoto followed with a monster putback dunk.

-He had, I think, three more dunks and several more layups. Against a team with decent size, he still showed enough discipline to stay close to the rim, where he was most effective.

-He was also dominant on the glass, and made his presence felt as a shot blocker.

-I liked his demeanor on the court -- not cocky, good hustle, seems humble.

-On the other hand, his shot is not good. Someone sitting nearby said the rotation on his jumper looks like a tornado, which was an apt description. I only remember him taking one jump shot, a stepback elbow jumper, which he missed. The ball ricocheted off the front of the rim at an odd angle, definitely not the way a pure shooter's misses bounce. He also missed a free throw attempt the same way. He didn't take any 3-pointers, which I thought was a good thing, showed discipline.

His ball handling also needs work, but the jumper should be his priority. It's probably not possible, but I'd like to see him spend all summer just doing skills work. Working with a shooting coach, someone who could help him refine his ball handling, do strength and conditioning work.

There is no need for him to play on the summer AAU circuit. His status as a top recruit in his class is solidified, and he has scholarship offers from all the nation's top programs, and Marquette. If he's going to be a dominant college player, he'll need to be a better shooter and ball handler.

It's self-serving to write this, obviously, but I think he would thrive in the Swing. He's like a more athletic, not quite as strong version of Alando Tucker. He's probably a long shot to end up in Madison, but he could do worse with his college choice.

On a related note, Falls has another springy 6-6 player, Jonathan Phillips. I'm told Phillips is Tokoto's cousin, and that he has an offer to be a preferred walk-on at Wisconsin.

Oh, and Bo appeared to have brought his wife along to the Falls. Guess that's part of the deal of being a coach's wife, but imagine Bo selling Kelly on that trip: "Hey honey, wanna go watch J.P. Saturday night? Valentine's Day? Couldn't we see that after the game Sunday? I swear, we will. We can eat at Saz's ..."

UW-Indiana thoughts

Word is that Jon Leuer is practicing with the team again, status for Minnesota uncertain. Even if he doesn't come back for another week, that means he should have plenty of time to round into shape before the postseason.

I did notice that against Indiana there was more of a concerted effort to touch the post, and for guys to actually make scoring moves once they got the ball in the post. They looked awkward doing it -- moves by Keaton Nankivil and Ryan Evans come to mind -- but good things happened when they did -- Nankivil was fouled and Evans scored.

Having "watched" the second half online and monitored the box score, I assumed Jason Bohannon was the big story of the day, but that 46-point first half only happened because Trevon Hughes found his shot again. Only good things come from that.

Funny thing: against Illinois we got burned by switching to easily on pick and rolls, and we did the same thing to Indiana. Their 1-3-1 wasn't very effective, either. Michigan and Northwestern didn't exactly kill us with that zone variation, either.

Mike Bruesewitz was obviously impressive, but besides his offensive rebounding, did you notice the plays he made off the dribble? Haven't seen that before.

Nankivil had another monster dunk in the halfcourt, which we have seen before. Is he the best dunker the Badgers have had in the Bo Ryan era? Better than Alando Tucker?

Larrivee and Jackson talked a few times about how Indiana was taking its lumps now but were bound to come around and be a force in another year or two. That may just be Big Ten Network announcers being polite, or maybe they really see something. But I see a team that looks like the kind that usually visits the Kohl Center in early December, takes a 30-point loss and a check, and flies back to Louisiana or California or wherever. Some of their guys have talent, and Tan Cream will probably recruit well enough, and they are sure to be much tougher to beat in Bloomington. But that program has a long way to go after the mess created by his predecessors.

Speaking of messes, did you catch Illinois's performance against Ohio State? McCamey, who was all-world against us, couldn't throw a rock in the ocean yesterday. Why couldn't they have uncorked that stinker against us?

UW-Penn State thoughts

Wow.

I spent a good portion of this afternoon trying decide if this would be Wisconsin's worst loss of the Bo Ryan era, or simply one of the worst. The verdict: this was the worst. (Charlie, on the other hand, voted for the North Dakota State loss. Agree to disagree.)

Against an inferior opponent with a confidence deficit, we played lazy defense, got killed on the board, and once again missed a ton of open shots. We played inspired ball for about three minutes and Penn State played along, but then relaxed and let Taylor Battle dictate things.

Interestingly enough, Jordan Taylor was the one Badger who drew my ire more than the others. He was shooting terribly, not playing particularly well offensively. Then ...

What happened? Taylor played like an All-American for about four minutes, Penn State played about like you'd expect them to, and we pull out an improbable win.

The Badgers got outshot 51.8% to 43.3%; outrebounded 34-22; jacked up an obscene 33 3-pointers; and yet ...

For all its ugliness, this was a win that makes you smile. Why? Because it's a testament to the program's strength. Coming into the Kohl Center and winning is just really, really hard to do. It's similar to, say, a Miami being up 16 points in the second half at Duke: Miami might be doing everything right, and Duke might be laying an egg, but you know they're not going down without making a run, and Miami's going to have to play perfect for 40 minutes to go home a winner. More often than not they'll have a rough stretch and open the door enough for Duke to win a game they probably shouldn't.

That's what happened today. Penn State was the better team for 36 minutes of regulation, and it wasn't enough.

-Are you worried yet about all the 3-pointers the Badgers are shooting? My brain says yes, because it's not the formula that has worked so well under Bo. We're not touching the post, and we're not getting to the free throw line as much as we should. But ... for the most part the 3-pointers are not bad looks, and shooting 30% on 3-pointers, like we did today, is the equivalent of shooting 45% on 2-pointers.

-Look at Taylor's game. He missed a ton of 3-pointers early in the game, then makes two at the end to get us close enough. But his better shots were the game-tying short one and a nice jumper in overtime. Jon Leuer only became an elite offensive player when he developed an inside-the-arc game. His shorter teammates should remember that.

-I'm really going to miss Trevon Hughes when he's done. Where does he rank on your list of Badgers you want taking a big shot under Bo? Somewhere among Devin Harris, Alando Tucker, and Kam Taylor, maybe even #2 on that list.

-How awesome was Jason Bohannon's block on the weakside help? A pretty weak move on the Penn State guy's part, but still. J-Bo's third on the team in blocks, would you have guessed that? Oh, and he went over 1,000 career points today, good for him.

-Everyone's going to remember Taylor, but Keaton Nankivil had a really efficient game, 7-for-9 from the floor, only one 3-pointer. It was a Leuer-esque performance. Stop me if you've heard this before, but he's a really nice shooter, and also probably our most athletic player -- how about that putback dunk?

-I'm glad Rob Wilson is getting minutes and contributing, but all this four-guard lineup stuff doesn't feel right to me.

OK guys, I'm heading off to Germany for a week. The Badgers are in much better shape than they were a year ago when I traveled over the pond; at that point we'd lost six in a row. We're in much better shape now. But even though we're 3-1 without Leuer, I don't think anyone would say we've played well. It's going to be tough to win at Purdue, unless we shoot about 50% on 3-pointers.

Auf wiedersehen!

Ouch

Fresh off yesterday's Packers loss, word comes this morning that Jon Leuer has a broken wrist and will be out indefinitely. Great. Sources are saying he'll miss 4-6 weeks, or 7-10 games. Could be more, that's a finicky injury.

Let's be honest: this just about kills our Big Ten title chances. They were probably a long shot anyway. It was nice to daydream.

OK, enough of that, glass half-full time.

Health: We haven't had too many bad injuries in the past few years, have we? Brian Butch at the end of the 2007 season and Alando Tucker in 2004 come to mind immediately as two in-season injuries to key players that really hurt. Pop hurt his ankle before that memorable Texas game. Sharif Chambliss hurt his knee in offseason workouts. Krabby had a lower body injury. My point is, we've been fortunate in the injury category, and should be thankful for that.

Keaton Nankivil: You have to shoot more now, big guy. You have to! Now! You are a really good shooter, particularly when you're looking for your shot. You're not going to do the same moves Leuer does, like shooting off the dribble, but you are better taking a pass and shooting off a guard's dribble penetration. You will replace Leuer's perimeter game. (Of course, you will also have a better defensive player checking you now.) You're also very good hitting the offensive boards. Now is the time for you to become the double digit scorer you can be.

Mike Bruesewitz: We've been impressed with your athleticism and active game in limited minutes. You will replace Leuer's rebounding and some minutes. You'll also be called upon to take Nankivil's minutes when he gets in foul trouble. (In the locker room at hoops today someone remarked that Nankivil has become Greg Stiemsma for refs' tendency to call fouls on him the minute a play comes near him. This is also known as Dave Mader Syndrome. It's not fair, but it's true.)

Ryan Evans: We've been impressed with your knack for scoring. You will replace Leuer's low post game, and become the quick trigger guy in the frontcourt. We love your confidence, even if your shot isn't everything it could be and will be.

Jared Berggren: You are now the only guy on the roster over 6-8 who is capable of playing against Big Ten post players. You're going to need to play double digit minutes some nights, if only because Nankivil's going to get tired or in foul trouble.

Like most injuries to star players, there's no way one guy can replace Leuer. But I am really excited in seeing what these four kids can do with their opportunities. Additionally, you would expect the guards to assume even more of the scoring load, like in the Purdue win. They're capable.

We've won games recently with limited minutes and production from Leuer. We ought to be able to tread water without him, and emerge a deeper, more experienced team.

But I don't want the Badgers to tread too long -- get well soon, Jon!

Alando Tucker: Minister of Hygiene

Can't say I'm as diligent as Alando about flu prevention ...

Best of the decade: How I voted

Here's how I voted:

Best play of the decade
Football (Oct. 15, 2005) Jonathan Casillas blocks a punt that Ben Strickland recovers for a touchdown with 30 seconds left to complete a 10-point comeback in the final three minutes and give UW a 38-34 win at Minnesota.

Maybe the most excited I've ever been at a Badger sporting event. Those of us who were in that dump of a dome will never forget it.

Close #2: Men’s Hockey (March 26, 2006) Jack Skille scores the game-winning goal in the third overtime against Cornell to advance to the Frozen Four. My brother and I were there, what a tremendous game. The aftermath of this one was a little different than the Casillas-Strickland game, since they'd been playing for about six hours, we were dead tired, and had a long drive home ahead of us. Andy and I waited in line at a concession stand behind Darrell Bevell during one overtiem intermission, he had just been named the Vikings' offensive coordinator, good guy.

But it's hard to argue with Michael Flowers' shot to beat Texas (watched it in my bedroom) or the Scott Starks Purdue play (watched it somewhere in Central Washington at in-laws' house).

Best Student-Athlete of the Decade
I chose Devin Harris. Chris Solinsky, Joe Thomas, Dany Heatley and Alando Tucker are my runners-up. Jimmy Leonhard, too.

Best Team of the Decade
2005-06 men's hockey. Why them and not any of the women's national champions, who were more dominant? Because there are a lot more teams playing Division 1 men's hockey, tougher to reach the top of the mountain.

Who did you vote for?

Sports Illustrated jinx for Clay?

Probably not. This is a cool shot, isn't it? It figures: I'd subscribed to SI for about 10 years and let it lapse earlier this year, and now they put a Badger football player on the cover.

The only other Badgers I can think of on SI's cover were Brian Butch and Alando Tucker on the 2006-07 men's basketball preview issue. Anyone else come to mind?

Rappin' rappin' rappin'

Erik Olson sent a Tweet to the world the other day regarding a most unlikely subject: Alando Tucker's music career.

Yes, Alando Tucker's music career.

Read all about it in this story at Slam Online. It's interesting. And listen to it all. It's, um, interesting.

The three tracks are called "Someone," "I'll Holla" and "Role Play."

A quick review: it's not bad ... but it's not good. It's sort of paint-by-numbers hip hop, from unscripted mid-verse chuckling to gratuitous use of the N word, from grand tales of lovemaking to guest appearances.

Alando tells Slam that rap is not something he does to make money, which is good thing.

Here's something even more amusing: Tuck and Shaq get together to make what looks like a music-free version of the Beastie Boys' Sabotage video, with Alando starring as Billy Ray Badger. Not sure what the video was for, but it looks like it was 98% ad-libbed.

It is the rare athlete who makes the transition to legitimate actor or musician. Alando ain't no Carl Weathers or Wayman Tisdale, but God bless him for trying.

Feeling Blue

By now most Badger fans have heard that Vander Blue has reopened his commitment. Not going to lie to you or try to deny how I'm feeling about this: very bummed. Vander is an exciting player, and a hometown player, maybe one of those transcendant Devin Harris- or Alando Tucker-type players.

Maybe hyperbole, but whatever. Last year was difficult to stomach at times, and Vander seems like the kind of kid who could get us over the rough spots we saw during our ugly losses.

Now it might not happen. Let's take a look at a few of the points.

1. The fact that this is happening should not be surprising. Any time a kid commits to a school that young (before his junior year), there's a lot of time for stuff to change. He can grow bigger or get much better. A coach can leave a program. A coach he likes better can land somewhere else. His buddy might go somewhere else.

It appears some of these things may have happened in Blue's case. If we're going to be in on high-ceiling recruits, this is going to happen. Win some, lose some.

Can't blame Vander for checking out his options. You can be a little miffed that he committed so early, but in his defense that's the way college coaches are playing the game nowadays. At the time he wasn't a top-tier recruit, and we're a top-tier local program, but the way he's improved, he might now be on the radar of the national name brand programs. As much as it would gall me to lose him to North Carolina or Kansas, can't blame him for looking.

2. And if we lose him to Marquette ... sweet Jesus, I'll be honest, that'll kill me and I'll be really upset. But all of the usual Internet sniping back in forth between Badger and Gold fans on message boards and comments on blogs is childish and unproductive, as usual. Please don't get into that here.

3. Much of the sniping stems from Rob Schultz's report in which an unnamed source says the sticking point is academics. First, shame on Schult'z source for going public with information that paints Vander is an unflattering light. If he's got the wrong attitude about or struggles with academics, so be it, but that should be a private matter. And of course, with the implication that Vander will follow Jeronne Maymon to Marquette, this has predictably devolved into a UW=hard, MU=easy discussion. Can't imagine it's this simple.

4. What really galls me, and what seems to have taken a back seat to this new academic-focused report, is the theory that Vander doesn't think he can thrive in Bo's system. Baloney. Look at Devin, a true guard, who was a prolific scorer and lottery pick. Look at Alando, an All-American and first-round pick. Hell, look at Kirk Penney, who found a way to score big in the system.

Sure, sometimes this system produces a bunch of guys averaging 9 to 12 points per game. We won 31 games two years ago with this setup. But special talent, NBA talent, shines through. Bo and the Swing don't keep that kind of talent bottled up.

5. Even though the prospect of Vander coming to Madison still exists, we'll still be a successful program even if he doesn't. Just maybe not as successful as if he ends up wearing red.

For what it's worth, Mark Stewart reported this afternoon that Vander had not formally decommitted, but I wouldn't read too much into that.

So far, Blue and his family aren't talking. You know what? They shouldn't. Vander's a high school boy in the midst of making a really important decision, respect his privacy.

Best under Bo

Two recent, similar stories/blog posts got me thinking about who would make an All-Bo Ryan Team.

The Daily Cardinal's top 5 was, in order, Alando Tucker, Devin Harris, Mike Wilkinson, Kirk Penney, Marcus Landry.

Papa Sal of Camp Lambeau named Harris, Penney, Tucker, Wilkinson, and Brian Butch.

My thought is that Harris, Tucker, Penney, and Wilkinson are no-brainers. It's that fifth guy who's a challenge to name.

Landry doesn't jump out to me as a top 5 guy. Yet his senior numbers are very similar to Butch, who was first team all-conference, just a rebound or two shy.

If position is no object -- saying you don't need another true post for this team/top 5 -- why not Kammron Taylor? He wasn't a pure point guard, but he was a go-to scorer who wasn't afraid to take big shots in the clutch. What about Krabby? His offensive game has left much to be desired, but he was tough as nails, a great rebounder, terrific leader, and the ultimate glue guy.

My choice: Michael Flowers. His offensive game was underappreciated and underutilized, but his calling card, as everyone knows, was his defense. Just how valuable his perimeter defense was has been painfully apparent this season, as guys from Lawrence Westbrook to someone named Nick Williams have penetrated our defense at will. Remember how Flowers shut down Drew Neitzel in Madison last year? Can't remember many defensive efforts like that this season (save for J-Bo's defense against Ohio State's Diebler, although Diebler is clearly not yet in Neitzel's class).

If you played this as an actual starting lineup, it would look like one from Bo's early years: small, but tough. Devin and Flowers at guard, Penney at the 3, Tucker as the undersized 4 (a role he excelled in early in his career) and Wilk in the middle. Fill out the rotation with Butch, Landry, Krabby, and Kam. Not a bad run over eight years.

Where would you rank Bo?

On the Journal Sentinel's Badger Blog the other day I saw a post talking about Forbes' assessment of the top college basketball coaches in the country. Bo Ryan was ranked ninth, three spots behind Tom Izzo, the only Big Ten coach in the top 10. Probably because Bo let Alando Tucker throw down that dunk at the end of that game in 2004, major deduction for that one.

Here's the criteria Forbes used:

To identify the country's best college basketball coaches, we measured recruiting class rank, win-loss percentage, NCAA Tournament invites, Final Four trips and, the ultimate goal of every coach, a championship.

Seems reasonable, except for recruiting class rank. What should that matter where your recruiting classes are ranked if you win? Stupid.

Also stupid is Roy Williams' #1 ranking. Come on, you could put any one of 100 different coaches in Chapel Hill and they would still be one of the sport's top programs most years. He's coached at Carolina and Kansas -- big challenges building those programs. At least Bill Self started at Tulsa.

If I were doing these rankings, recruiting rank wouldn't matter, but your program's tradition would -- the less yours has, the more impressive your success. If you've won at lower levels, even better. I'd also give much less weight to Final Four appearances, which can be fluky, and championships, which are not reasonably accessible to many coaches; and more weight to conference success, a truer gauge of long-term performance over the course of a season.

My less formula-based rankings would go something like this:

1. Ben Howland
2. Billy Donovan
3. Rick Pitino
4. Bo Ryan
5. Rick Barnes
6. John Calipari
7. Jim Calhoun
8. Coach K
9. Herb Sendek

10. Tom Izzo

11. Bruce Weber
12. Bill Self
13. Jim Boeheim
14. Mark Few
15. Tubby Smith
16. Trent Johnson
17. Kevin Stallings
18. Bruce Pearl
19. Mike Anderson
20. Roy Williams
21. Jamie Dixon
22. Matt Painter
23. Thad Matta
24. Bob Huggins
25. Oliver Purnell

Laugh if you want at me ranking Bo so high, but what he's done at a football school with almost zero basketball tradition is astounding. I probably missed wildly on one of these guys or forgot someone altogether, let me know.

Illinois vs. Michigan State

Sorry for not posting for a couple days, been sick. No, not over the Badgers' late collapse Sunday, but that was still pretty awful. I still can't get over how much Michigan State fans hate us. Regular readers of this blog know that my emotions reach this range in football for teams like Michigan and Ohio State, who I see as the Yankees of the Big Ten, but in basketball no other Big Ten team makes my blood boil to that level.

If one did, wouldn't it be Illinois? After all, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan State have been the undisputed top teams in the Big Ten since Bo Ryan came back to Madison, and without crunching the numbers I think the Illini has beaten us more than anyone else in that time. Cripes, Illinois is even in a bordering state (unlike MSU -- we're not going to count the UP, sorry Izzo and Jana), and Wisconsinites even have a catchy little acronym for its residents.

My initial thought was that our series was more even than ours with MSU has been, and with far fewer dramatic or emotional games. Let's look:

UW vs. Illinois
UW 72, UI 66
UI 80, UW 48
UI 69, UW 63
UW 60, UI 59 (Devin Harris hits free throw to give us Big Ten title)
UW 76, UI 56
UI 65, UW 57
UW 70, UI 53 (Big Ten Tournament championship game)
UI 75, UW 65 (breaks our long Kohl Center winning streak)
UI 70, UW 59
UI 54, UW 43 (Big Ten Tournament championship game)
UI 66, UW 51
UW 71, UI 64
UW 53, UI 41
UW 70, UI 60
UW 71, UI 57
UW 61, UI 48 (Big Ten Tournament championship game)
UI 64, UW 57
UW 63, UI 50

UW leads series 10-8 under Bo, we lead Big Game series 3-2. Thing is, of those five games, only one of them -- the one with Devin's free throw -- was dramatic. So 27% of our games have been big, and 5% of them dramatic.

UW vs. Michigan State
UW 64, MSU 63 (snapped State's long home court winning streak)
UW 64, MSU 53 (an otherwise ordinary win, but Alando Tucker's late dunk scars Izzo's brain to the point where he's still talking about it six freaking years later! The nerve! Izzo's reaction to this makes it a Big Game.)
UW 77, MSU 64
UW 68, MSU 64 (keep that banner rolled up fellas; per Deuces' request, I believe this is also the game in which Paul Davis was crying on the bench with cramps)
UW 68, MSU 66 (Big Ten Tournament semifinal)
UW 62, MSU 59 (we rally late to pull off an improbable win)
MSU 77, UW 64
UW 82, MSU 63
MSU 74, UW 65
MSU 64, UW 55 (we get to #1 for the first time and Drew Neitzel immediately knocks us off)
UW 52, MSU 50 (Kammron Taylor hits a late 3-pointer to sort of, but not quite, atone for that #1 loss)
UW 70, MSU 57
UW 57, MSU 42
UW 65, MSU 63 (Michael Flowers' late steal and layup steals victory from jaws of defeat, after about 14 State players foul out)
MSU 61, UW 50

UW leads series 11-4 under Bo, we somehow lead Big Game series 7-1. Of those, I'd say six were dramatic. So 57% of our games end up qualifying as Big, 40% dramatic.

The purpose of this exercise was not just to rehash our success against Michigan State -- which, I'm told, is ending -- but to point out just how rare it is to play so many dramatic, important games against a single opponent in a relatively small period of time. And how unlikely it is that one team would prevail in so many of these games. And how it is logical that these results would build enmity in the hearts of the defeated.

Here's hoping we keep showing up on the left-hand side of the ledger in these matchups.

Hey, Andy North's on ESPN and the Badgers aren't even on ...

Alando Tucker

For some reason, the other night I watched the Celtics blow out the Suns. Horrible game, outcome never in doubt. Only reason I watched was to see if Alando Tucker would get in -- and he did. He had 11 points, a steal, and an assist in 12 minutes of action.

He's actually gotten into six games lately, albeit in very limited minutes.

His jump shot still looks the same, which is to say not good, yet he's shooting 73% from the floor. He threw down a left-handed dunk off a turnover, showing that smooth explosiveness we know him for.

Hopefully he'll keep earning more minutes and start getting into non-blowouts with greater frequency.

What's wrong with these guys?

Gotta be honest with you: my enthusiasm for blogging about the Badgers is as low as it's been for quite some time. Football season was a major drain, but at least we had basketball season to look forward to. There's plenty of time to turn things around, but basketball is looking a lot like football.

But why? Lots of theories abound, here are mine:

-Lack of swagger/enthusiasm. Alando Tucker and Kam Taylor played with supreme confidence. Brian Butch and Michael Flowers were energetic, emotional players, especially Butch. Those things are missing right now.

Trevon Hughes plays with a swagger, but it's been missing the past three games, to the point where his place on the bench in the waning moments of regulation and overtime didn't seem that strange in retrospect. Marcus Landry shows emotion after really big shots, but it doesn't seem to be an emotion that spreads.

The rest of the key players -- Krabby, J-Bo, Leuer -- are about as even-keeled as they come. Ordinarily, that's the type of player I prefer. But during tough times like we're going through now, you need a spark and reassurance, and one of those five guys has to get it started.

-This may sound dumb, and may indeed be dumb, but I think Landry, Leuer, and Bohannon need to force more shots. Think about all the bad shots Butch and Tucker took. They were forced, but they forced defenses to be on their toes at all times.

This year's team seems to only take really good shots, Hughes excepted. That's all well and good when you're playing Coppin State and you get good shots relatively early in the shot clock. Against the excellent defenses of the Big Ten, those clean looks don't come with regularity.

So what you get is 30 seconds of "probing" that doesn't really test the defense at all, and Hughes is left to jack something up. Landry, Leuer, and Bohannon are all skilled shotmakers who should exert their skills outside of the parameters of the Swing, as Butch, Taylor, and Tucker did before them.

-We're missing Butch's and Stiemsma's height. This surprises me, since I thought we'd be able to get through the Big Ten season without this being a liability, given the seeming paucity of quality bigs.

Case in point: Last night someone named David Palmer scores 21 points and grabs seven rebounds against very little resistance inside. Two games ago JaJuan Johnson had his way inside with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

What can remedy this? Faster maturity from Keaton Nankivil? Force feed Ian Markolf minutes? Probably not the answer.

For all of Landry's and Leuer's skills, they are not able to carry the low-post defensive load without a bigger body alongside them.

-And all those turnovers. Oh, god, those turnovers make you sick.

The way I see it, the talent level is comparable to the team that won 31 games last year, and the coaching is presumably exactly the same. But you've got a little less maturity and personality, a little less height, a little tougher conference, and a point guard going through a midseason crisis -- add it all up and you've got a three-game losing streak.

Unfortunately, the schedule doesn't hold what appear to be any gimmes anytime soon. This year will be a great test for the program and its viability going forward. It'll be interesting to see how it turns out.

Another Hill to Climb, another book to read

Over the holiday break I got around to reading Bo Ryan's book, Another Hill to Climb. If you'll recall, my mom got me the book and had it signed by Bo, who declined to personalize it in any way.

How was it? Well, it wasn't The Iliad, but it was interesting. Sort of read like a 211-page Mike Lucas column, not surprising since he was the co-author of the book. Some would argue that's about 210 pages too many. Lots of one-sentence paragraphs and loose transitions. A random finish.

Other than that, my only real criticism of the book is the overuse of the first person. At one point it was really jarring, so I counted the number of uses of the word "I" on a random page -- 28. Flipped back about 25 pages or so and did the same thing -- 28 again. Shame on Lucas for not cleaning that up more.

Much of the book is stuff we already know about Bo, but there were a lot of anecdotes that were new and interesting to me:

-When Bo was an assistant at Wisconsin in the '70s, he would go running, and his frequent running mate was Steve Randall, the old Oshkosh West coach and widely-liked good guy who passed away several years ago. Randall earlier coached at Iowa-Grant, where current UW assistant Greg Gard played for him.

-Pickup games at the Field House at that time included Andy north, Van Stoutt, and Jim Doyle. Wouldn't you have loved to see Stoutt get fouled hard?

-Reading about some of the recruits UW got in the '70s and early '80s -- Wes Matthews, Larry Petty, Joe Chrnelich, Claude Gregory, Scott Roth, Brad Sellers, Cory Blackwell, Ricky Olson -- it's amazing the program was so bad for so long. Probably a combination of mediocre head coaching and a tougher Big Ten than we have today.

-Bo writes about recruiting Roth and Sellers out of Cleveland, two very big gets for the Badgers (even if Sellers ended up transferring). During the Michigan game when Rob Wilson got in, the announcer made a reference to Cleveland being a pipeline for Bo, and mentioned Roth. Has Bo gotten anyone besides Wilson during this go-round in Madison? None come to mind. That would be a great place to tap a pipeline to, though, just as it is for football. So much talent, only one Ohio State.

-Apparently during the time between when Bill Cofield was fired and Steve Yoder was hired at Wisconsin, Bo was pursued by Jud Heathcote to move to Michigan State. He and Tom Izzo could have been best buds!

-Paul Chryst, whose dad George was the athletic director at Platteville and recruited Bo there, helped move Bo's family to Platteville.

-Tom Davis, who coached so well at Iowa, wanted the UW job when it went to Cofield.

-As a young lad, I played against two guys who went on to contribute to Bo's championship teams at Platteville -- Ben Hoffmann, who played at Hartford against our West Bend East teams, and Colin Gassner, who beat my eighth grade St. Frances Cabrini team to win the 1990 St. John's tournament. The things you don't forget ...

-My memory of the 2003 Badger team is that a weak Big Ten helped contribute to a conference championship, but think of the talent on that team: first round NBA picks Devin Harris and Alando Tucker, and future pros Kirk Penney and Mike Wilkinson. That's a helluva foursome, I'd put them up against anyone in any conference in any year. Bo poses the question "Have I ever thought about what it would have been like if Alando Tucker and Devin Harris had been able to play together for more than one season?" I have, it's bittersweet to think about.

-Lastly, before going to the book signing, my mom asked me if I wanted her to tell Bo about my blog. No, I said, please don't. Good call -- Bo seems to have a problem with blogs and bloggers. To quote:

"... during our 2008 Big Ten coaches meetings ... we had a panel discussion with two respected sportswriters ... and a blogger. Yes, a blogger. That's how times have changed. In many instances, I just think there's a lack of accountability with blogs. It almost becomes an obsession with some. And what follows is usually hearsay or an over-reaction, whether it's to one play or one game or one team. Where's the credibility?"

Ah, um, er ... I see where he's coming from, and he's to an extent he's right. The Internet, particularly the anonymity it provides, has heightened the second-guessing and scrutiny of people with public jobs. But what I think bothers Bo about the Internet is he can't control the conversation like he does with traditional media, as he boasts about in the succeeding pages. In fact, it seems the only "sports journalists" Bo holds in high regard are those who deliver only fawning praise.

Frankly, I'd wager that Bo has never read a blog, and is using the term as a catch-all for everything on the Internet. Certainly none of the blogs devoted to the Badgers are ever very critical of him or his program, and with good reason, we appreciate the job he's done. Blog comments, or other Big Ten blogs, maybe, but that just reflects what fans are thinking.

Not all bloggers are purveyors of hearsay and over-reaction, and the Internet as a dominant medium isn't going away any time soon, so deal with it.

Later, Bo is talking about Cicero. "... I'm told he was a Roman statesman, who was known to be a flip-flopper. He would change his position depending on which way the wind was blowing -- and then over-react. He might have been the world's first sports writer or blogger."

Ouch.

As with any of these books, if you're looking for a deeper understanding of Badger sports and one of the more successful programs we've ever had, give it a read.

Freshman starters

Reading about Jeronne Maymon's recruitment last week got me thinking: how often have freshmen started at Wisconsin? Off the top of my head, Alando Tucker was the only one I could think of in recent times. Here are the freshman starters for Wisconsin basketball in the last 26 years:

2003: Alando Tucker
2002: Devin Harris
1998: Mike Kelley
1996: Sam Okey, Hennssy Auriantal (Maymon's mentor)
1994: Rashard Griffith
1992: Michael Finley
1990: Larry Hisle
1983: Rick Olson
1982: Brad Sellers, Cory Blackwell

That's some list. Tucker, Harris, Griffith, Finley, Blackwell and Sellers were all first or second round NBA draft picks. Kelley might be the best defensive player in program history. Olson is the program's fifth all-time leading scorer. Okey was Big Ten Freshman of the Year, the only one in school history. Auriantal led the team in steals as a freshman for Dick Bennett's first team.

That's 11 freshman starters in 26 seasons, or ninein 25. Shouldn't be any freshman starters on next year's team, even though we lose two starters to graduation. That's the sign of a stable program that recruits, retains, and develops players well.

Jason Bohannon

Every year in college hoops, you look at your favorite team, look at who's not on the team anymore, and wonder who is going to make up for all the points that just graduated. If you've got a strong program, it takes care of itself. Bo's done it after losing Kirk Penney, Devin Harris, Alando Tucker -- he'll figure out how to replace Brian Butch and Michael Flowers.

Who sees his scoring average jump the most in 2009? My bet is it's Jason Bohannon. Which isn't a total upset pick by any means, but you have to wonder: If he's such a sure thing, why didn't he average more than 8.2 points per game?

Two words: Opportunity and consistency. I think Jason has the arsenal of offensive moves and shots to get the job done. He's a good 3-point shooter, but he also makes good cuts to get himself open for layups and has a nice runner/floater. He's also our best bet for closing out games at the free throw line. And while at the beginning of last season many of us were fretting about his ability to create his own shots, that no longer worries me.

The opportunity for more shots will be there. Butch and Flowers took almost 18 field goal attempts between them, and I see Landry and J-Bo assuming the lion's share of those. Of course, this also means he'll be facing the other team's best perimeter defender. The nice thing is, the Swing makes it harder for teams to focus on a certain guy, like we did with, say, Drew Neitzel.

Consistency is the big thing. J-Bo scored in double figures 13 times in 36 games last season. He also scored five or fewer points 11 times. The nice thing is, he finished strong: eight of his double-digit games came in the Badgers' last 14, and most of his clunkers came in the early non-conference schedule, when it was speculated he was battling an injury.

The key number to me is 69. Sixty-nine percent of J-Bo's field goal attempts last season were 3-pointers. If he can bring that number closer to 50% by working more off the ball and maybe developing a post-up move or two, he'll be much more effective.

Lots of things worry me: gas prices, the Brewers' bullpen, whether Jim will ever propose to Pam on The Office. Jason Bohannon? Not worried about him.

Marcus Landry

I've been watching a lot of NBA playoffs lately -- cue the boo birds -- and have gotten to thinking: is there any player on the Badgers' 2008-09 roster that is capable of playing in the NBA?

From what I've seen, probably not. Trevon Hughes has some of the required attributes, but guys his size usually need to be a lot quicker or much better shooters to make the league. J-Bo's a great shooter, but sometimes has troubles getting his shot off against college defenders. Jon Leuer is a darkhorse, a big guy who can shoot; hell, Steve Novak is still playing professionally stateside, so why not?

Actually, it's one of Novak's Rockets teammates, Carl Landry, who piques my interest. Carl was a helluva college player -- powerful, good mid-range jumper, workmanlike. Thought he was an inch or two too short to make it in the NBA. Was wrong. He played a key role on one of the league's most overachieving teams this year. Good for him.

So what about his younger brother? The buzz on Marcus coming in was that while he was not as strong as Carl, he was more advanced skill-wise than his older brother at age 18. Carl was an instant success at Purdue, but that was after two years of junior college ball.

Marcus has become a fine college player, but has he reached Carl's level? It would be a reach to say yes. There have been times when he has seemed on the verge of becoming a dominant player, then fades back into being just another guy spreading the wealth in the Swing offense. Granted, Carl's Purdue teams were not nearly as good as Marcus's Badger teams; Carl never had an Alando Tucker or Kammron Taylor go-to guy on his roster.

As a freshman, Marcus was ready to contribute, and was getting about 15 minutes of playing time per game until sitting out the second semester with academic troubles. His absence hurt more than Stiemsma's, in my opinion, and was a major reason for what was really the only mediocre season in Bo Ryan's time in Madison.

As a sophomore, Landry apprenticed under Tucker, and while he averaged just 5.9 points per game, he shot over 50% from the field. Comparisons to Alando probably held him back at the beginning of his junior season -- Marcus was slotted to play the 3 and become the team's go-to scorer. But in reality, Landry, like his brother, is more of a 4, and his personality is not comparable to Tucker's. He played much better when Stiemsma was taken out of the starting lineup and he returned to the 4 spot. His scoring average increased by about 5 points per game, but his field goal shooting percentage went down about 5 points.

So what can we expect from Marcus Landry as a senior? Without Brian Butch around, he becomes to unquestioned first option in the post. The more I think about it the more I think that Landry is more like Butch on the court than he is like his brother. So here's a projected stat line for Landry in '08-'09: 13.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.1 blocks per game. About 45% shooting from the field, a willing 3-point shooter. Guards the other team's top big man. First team All-Big Ten.

Will Marcus Landry reach the NBA? Probably not. But if he hits those projections, and the Badgers contend for a title in what is looking like a weaker-than-ever Big Ten, then his career will have to be considered an overwhelming success, no matter how his resume compares to Carl's.

And by the way: if you're not watching the NBA playoffs, you're missing Chris Paul's coming out party. The guy is amazing. Deron Williams is pretty awesome, too.

The newest Badger

This morning at 2:22 a.m., Jana gave birth to Charles Edward Tappa. Charlie was 20.5 inches long, 7 pounds, 8.4 ounces.

I understand that's a little bit tall for a newborn, and sure enough: when my mother-in-law went home to check the mail for us, there was a scholarship offer for Charlie from Indiana University! I'm holding out hope he'll play for Tony Bennett in Madison.

When Will was born in May 2004, I had to walk him around OB unit to keep him calmed down in the first day or so. One of the stories I told him was the story of the 1993 Wisconsin Badgers, who magically shook off decades of poor play to win the Rose Bowl. We went through the two-deep, position by position. Haven't had to do that yet -- Charlie has been a terrific sleeper thus far -- but at least I have some fresh material for him: the 2006 hockey national champions, All-American Alando Tucker, Joe Thomas, the 2008 Big Ten basketball champions, etc.

It's early, but it's hard for someone like me not to daydream about taking Will, Charlie and Jana to Camp Randall on fall Saturdays in the not-so-distant future. Those are some of my best memories of my dad and brother growing up, and hopefully my boys and I will make similar memories.

God willing, these two will follow their father, uncle, grandfather, and many other wonderful people to Madison for college. When I graduated from UW 10 years ago, most of the best moments in my life took place there. They're still great memories, but nothing beats holding your newborn child ... even if they end up going to Northern Michigan.

Redshirts

All this talk about Butch and Stiemsma has me thinking about the pros and cons of redshirting in college basketball. Certainly sometimes in works out. In Butch's case, we got more out of him as a 23-year-old senior than we would have as an 18-year-old freshman. And as you've read, I think Stiemsma could have been a similar case.

But what about guys who might never contribute, and redshirting just keeps them in the program for another year, tying up a scholarship? Let's take a look at the incoming recruiting classes under Bo.

2008 freshmen: Tim Jarmusz, Keaton Nankivil, Jon Leuer. None of them redshirted. Leuer played a lot early, not much late, but showed great potential. Jarmusz was solid in action late in the season. Nankivil hardly played at all, but should play a lot next year. Even though his body was ready to compete in the Big Ten, he was blocked by Butch and Stiemsma, and in my opinion should have redshirted this season.

2007 freshman: Trevon Hughes, Jason Bohannon, J.P. Gavinski. J-Bo played the most of the three, and had his moments. That team needed him, especially at the end of the season. Hughes had a nice game against Marquette, not much else, but he didn't seem like a redshirt candidate either. Gavinski redshirted, and right now I'm dubious that he'll make an impact on this program. But I thought the same thing as someone else I'll review here in a minute, and he turned into a contributor, and don't like it when guys get labeled "busts" early in their careers, so let's give him time.

2006 freshmen: Joe Krabbenhoft, Marcus Landry, Mickey Perry. Krabby and Landry played right away, Landry would have been an even bigger contributor if not for his academic problems. Perry redshirted and left early in his redshirt freshman season. My question is, why did it take him that long to come to the conclusion he wasn't going to get the playing time he was looking for? In any event, at least he moved on and freed up a scholarship, best of luck to him.

2005 freshmen: Greg Stiemsma, Michael Flowers, DeAaron Williams. Stiemer and Flowers played right away, and you know how I feel about the former's decision not to redshirt. Williams was an academic casualty. Had he stuck around I think he would have made an impact as a defender and hustle guy.

2004 freshmen: Brian Butch, Kammron Taylor (Zach Morley was a JC transfer). Butch redshirted, wise move. Kam didn't even though he was clearly lost out there and made no impact. Maybe he would have benefited from another year of seasoning.

2003 freshmen: Alando Tucker, Ray Nixon, Jason Chappell, Boo Wade, Marcettus McGee. McGee had problems and never made it to Madison. Wade contributed right off the bat, flamed out later, but his decision not to redshirt was a good one. Nixon was a young freshman and didn't play much, and could definitely have used another year. Tucker was ready to play right away, and eventually took an injury redshirt, but his decision was correct. J-Cheezy for some reason did not redshirt as a freshman and played about 15 minutes. He took an injury redshirt later, and while I lamented the fact he was tying up a scholarship, he eventually became a dependable player as a fifth-year senior. So there's hope for Gavinski.

In this fall's incoming class, you've got to think Jared Berggren and Jordan Taylor will play right away, Ian Markolf might be a project and redshirt candidate, and even if their offensive games are raw, Robert Wilson and Ryan Evans might see time as perimeter defenders.

The guys who redshirted as freshmen were Butch, Williams, Perry, and Gavinski. Hard to argue that redshirts work out for the best - one for four. But that one is so hard to ignore. Because of he redshirted, Butch had three productive years at UW (averaged 9.9 ppg as a sophomore), if not four (he played almost 10 minutes per game as a redshirt freshman, slightly less than what Stiemsma played as a senior) instead of two or three.

In basketball more than football, incoming recruits expect to play right away, and a pattern of redshirting probably works against a program. But there is merit in developing the right guys over a longer period of time. Emphasis on the right guys - if you made a recruiting mistake, get it out of your system ASAP. Wisconsin is not the kind of program that is going to attract the supremely talented one-and-done guys making a layover on their way to the NBA, so why not give them more time to grow?

What do you guys think?