Badger hoops globetrotters

Today the Journal Sentinel had a list of Euroleague basketball players with Wisconsin connections. Very interesting list. Thought I'd take a closer look at the Badgers who are playing internationally.

Jason Chappell, Gussing Knights (Austria)
I'm sort of surprised at this one. J-Cheezy never seemed like the type who cared much about basketball, just played it because he was tall and his dad was great. And there's that whole aspiring fashion designer angle. But he turned out to be a solid contributor to a great team and is now getting played to hoop. When we saw him back in Tucson in September 2004, if you would have told me Chappell would play basketball professionally, I would have told you there was a monsoon coming and the temperature would drop 30 degrees in an hour. Oh wait ...

Rashard Griffith, CSU Asesoft Ploiesti (Romania)
Shard apparently plays for the most successful Romanian club of the past decade. He could play forever over there, couldn't he?

Andreas Helmigk, Allianz Swans Gmunden (Austria)
Wasn't able to interpret much that was written about Andreas, but check out this hottie he married. Way to go, dude!

Danny Jones, Schwetzingen (Germany)
It is shameful that this is the first time Danny Jones has been mentioned on Badgercentric. This guy was the greatest player to wear red when I was a kid, or at least that's how I remember it. Sort of amazing that he's still playing professional ball, he's got to be pushing 40. He still stands 198 centimeters tall, just like in college.

Zach Morley, Leche Rio (Spain)
I took four years of Spanish in high school, and can tell you that Leche Rio means Milk River. Morley hit a big shot this season to give the Prince's Cup to Lugo.

Ray Nixon, Tuebingen (Germany)
Speaking of guys who would have been well-served by a redshirt season ... this guy defied stereotypes by becoming a Wisconsin player who won a slam dunk championship! Click here to see his winning dunk. It's safe to say there are few things funnier than a German-language call of a slam dunk contest. Below is another YouTube video of Nixon dunking, but of very poor quality.



Kirk Penney, Breakers (New Zealand)
Apparently the guy hasn't just given up basketball to hang out with Andy North. He was first team NBL last season after averaging 24 points per game, and guess who one of his teammates is? Rick Rickert! Here's an interview with him from three months ago.



Kammron Taylor, L'Hospitalet (Spain)
Do yourself a favor and visit this team's official website — it's funky fresh! Best I can tell, Kamm, playing primera temporada, led the team in total puntos and tres-puntos made, was second in assistos. And his middle name is Harry.

Mike Wilkinson, Khimki (Russia)
Wilk has been granted Macedonian citizenship and plays for the Republic of Macedonia national team. What?!? Who does the ol' US of A turn to at power forward next time Elton Brand blows out his knee? Just kidding, Wilk's doing fine - 8.6 ppg and 4.4 rpg at last check. Notable teammates include Daniel Ewing and Pat Burke. Tell you what: I wouldn't dare fail to hedge out on a screen or miss a box out with those coaches glowering from the bench.

That's all I was able to glean in 45 minutes, maybe I'll revisit this post again and bring my personal translator, Babel Fish, with me. If anyone has any more info about these dudes please post a comment.

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?

A little bit Stiemed

That's right, I am. Near the end of the basketball season, especially in the NCAA Tournament, it bothered me that Greg Stiemsma was about to exhaust his eligibility. He was playing so well ... and now it's over. It didn't have to be that way.

If memory serves, Greg committed to UW before Brian Butch did, and was just a notch or two below the caliber of recruit Butch was - still a big catch. A woman I work with named Stacy Krull has a nephew named Jon Krull, who was a star at UW-Stevens Point, and was an AAU teammate of both Stiemsma and Butch in high school. She thought Greg was the better prospect, and maintained that up until several weeks ago.

When both Butch and Stiemsma were in the fold, the posters on Badgermaniac were going crazy. Certain posters asked questions like "Would you rather have Stiemsma for one spectacular year and have him leave school early and become an NBA lottery pick, or keep him for four very good years?" There's lots of good stuff on message boards, far more insight than you'll find in one of my daily posts, but it's that kind of hysteria and rampant speculation that got me to quit cold turkey.

Stiemsma had injuries early in his career and he didn't play much as a freshman, but I can't get his performance against North Carolina in the 2005 Elite Eight out of my head. Sean May was dominating us in that game, and Mike Wilkinson was really no match. Young Greg stepped in and did a really nice job slowing May down, even if it was only for three minutes. Didn't see Stiemsma in the second half, and I remember Andy and me screaming for him to come back in. Probably didn't end up making the difference, but it showed just how effective Stiemsma could be as a post defender.

His sophomore season was cut short by his well-documented bout with depression. It took a lot of guts for him to come forward with his disease, and for him to talk about it in such detail. Mental illness is nothing to hide, and hopefully his example inspired others to deal with their troubles.

Last season it puzzled me that Greg was stuck behind Jason Chappell. But you know what? J-Cheezy was the more consistent, well-rounded post defender, good at using his feet and fronting. Stiemsma delivered spectacular blocks, but picked up silly fouls and found himself back on the bench. His game at Illinois was particularly memorable.

Really liked how he fit in this year. After beginning the year in the starting lineup, he moved back to the bench when Flowers was ready to start again. The move was obviously the right move for the team - Landry is more of a 4 than a 3, Krabby's more a 3 than a 2, and Flowers was my choice as team MVP. Never seemed to bother Stiemsma, he came in and gave more solid performances than his first three years combined.

Looking back over my posts from the season, found a lot of instances of "glad we have Stiemsma as a backup 5" and cases where he came in and was effective in limited minutes. My enduring memory of him will be his joy and exuberance during the win over Penn State that clinched the Big Ten title, and his terrific all-around effort against Kansas State that sent us to the Sweet 16.

He peaked at the right time. Too bad any further improvement will be in a different uniform.

There was much talk from commentators this year about how wise it was that Butch redshirted as a freshman - look at how good his fifth year was for him and the program. What about Stiemsma? Imagine if he had redshirted; he played just 27 minutes as a true freshman. Next year, he would have gotten the chance to play 25 minutes a game, controlling the boards with Krabby and Landry. His range wasn't out to the 3-point line like Butch, but he was effective to 16-17 feet, which helps keep post defenders honest.

Now, Keaton Nankivil and Jared Berggren will likely log most of the minutes in the 5 spot next year, and while I'm confident they'll eventually be fine players, they'll be rookies next year and will endure some tough games against older more physically developed players in a rough conference.

Maybe Greg knew this team was special, knew that his senior team would win 31 games and two Big Ten titles. Like George Costanza telling jokes on Seinfeld, he knew when to make an exit.

The Badgers' new Bruiser

Bo Ryan got his first commitment for the class of 2009 this week, a kid named Mike Bruesewitz from Henry Sibley High School in Mendota Heights, Minn. Looks like Minnesota, Iowa, Purdue, and Washington State were among the other schools after the Bruiser (easy nickname, right?).

Apparently he's a three-star kid, per Rivals, whatever that means. There's a good discussion on the commitment on Heavystarch's message board, here.

From what I've read, the kid's coach compares him to Krabby, which isn't bad, right? And guys who Bo signs and stick with the program for their entire college careers always end up contributing - even Jason Chappell.

Not sure how to feel about this. It's a pretty early commitment, and it sounds like this guy plays roughly the same position as Jamil Wilson of Racine, a much higher priority for us — in-state kid who's a national recruit, ranked #33 on Rivals' class of '09 list. I like the fact that he's smiling in this mug shot, not trying to look tough.

The thread mentioned above compares this to the situation we were in when Jerry Smith had a press conference scheduled to announce his intentions to attend Wisconsin, but canceled after we go a commitment from Jason Bohannon. That's the way I understood it as well, and when Smith committed to Louisville, it cleared the way for Trevon Hughes to make his way to Madison.

But ... last March at the Big Ten Tournament a smart person told me that it wasn't J-Bo's or Pop's commits that squeezed out Smith — it was J.P. Gavinski's. J.P., if you recall, committed really early in that class, which left room for only two of the three very good guards who wanted to come to Madison. Balance is one thing, and you always need height, but just think about how potent we'd be with Hughes-Bohannon-Smth right now.

So my point is, early commitments aren't bad, as long as they don't keep you from grabbing some higher-hanging fruit.

At the least, it keeps us viable in the Twin Cities even as Tubby builds his fence. Any of our Minnesota friends see this kid play or hear anything about him?