UW-Michigan thoughts

As you know, I play basketball at the local fitness center every day, a hodge podge collection of players who like to get together and run around. Afterward while cooling down we break down the day's proceedings, trying to decipher why one group was successful and the other wasn't. More often than not it boils down to something along the lines of "They made their shots, we didn't" or vice versa. Really deep analysis.

This is what happened in Ann Arbor today, in a nutshell. In the first half we made our shots and they. In a way it was the exact opposite of what happened during our game in Madison, only in that game Michigan couldn't establish any separation in the first half like we did today.

Ever since Jon Leuer went out, it seems that the Badgers' fortunes ride on how well they shoot jump shots. And really, there's no reason they can't shoot well on a consistent basis. Obviously it would be best if Leuer returns before the regular season ends, but even if he doesn't we can still make a run in the postseason if the shots keep falling.

-Jason Bohannon is playing the best basketball of his college career, right? There's no reason he can't ride this wave all the way to the end -- when you've got a stroke like his, success really comes down to confidence, and he's got it. Two J-Bo moments stood out to me today. One, after a shot clock violation, he barked at Keaton Nankivil to shoot the ball; Keaton had passed up a jumper that would have been contested, putting Jason in a tough spot as the shot clock expired. Two, after he made that first half buzzer beater, he was demonstrative in pumping his fist. Love the emotion.

-A key moment came early in the second half, when Bo Ryan took a timeout with the Badgers up 12, playing poorly, and Zach Novak about to shoot two free throws. After the timeout Novak missed both free throws and we went back to building the lead. Bo usually doesn't take timeouts unless things are really getting out of hand, which I typically appreciate, but sometimes it's the prudent thing for a coach to do, like it was today.

-Did Jordan Taylor really have 13 points, five rebounds, four assists? They were quiet, which tells you something about his game. Given his assist-to-turnover ratio, he might be having the best pure point guard season any Badger has had under Bo. That's not to say he's better or more valuable than Trevon Hughes, Kam Taylor or Devin Harris, but he's playing like a traditional point guard.

-Pop had 14 points on only six field goal attempts? That has to be one of his most efficient games.

-Nankivil and Rob Wilson were solid again, and since Manny Harris was 4-for-12 from the field you can draw that Wilson, Ryan Evans and Tim Jarmusz did a good job on him. Everyone contributed today.

-Boy, outside Harris and DeShawn Sims, Michigan is garbage. When Sims is hot, like he was in Madison and in the first half today, they are competitive. Same with Harris, although he was bad against us both times this year. But the fact that the Wolverines were a preseason top 20 team is laughable.

-Speaking of garbage, Ed Hightower and Ted Valentine were at their worst in the second half. One blocking call on Taylor guarding Harris was particularly ridiculous. Thankfully the game was close and Michigan missed most of their ill-gotten free throws. How they've stayed employed by a major conference all these years is beyond me.

Earlier today Will and I debated heading to Madison for the outdoor hockey game. It's not that cold, after all. But I've been traveling a lot lately and we'll be on the road the next two weekends ... and it's not that warm, either. Should be fun to watch.

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!

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.

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 ...

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.

UW-Michigan thoughts

What a nice win to go into the new year, very pleased with today's effort and result. After the lumps we took in the last week in both basketball and football, this one feels extra nice.

A bit surprised at how easy this one was, given how well Michigan had been playing coming in. Early on I thought the Wolverines' defense was just atrocious, we were getting good looks really easily, more easily than we have against other teams so far.

Having watched Michigan beat North Carolina Central Monday night, it occurred to me, as it did to the announcers, that they might have been a bit tired. But you know what? They're 20-year-olds who aren't going to class right now, they ought to be able to come out with fresh legs no matter what.

It's funny how one win completely changes your outlook on things. At the risk of overlooking or underselling Penn State and Northwestern, we should be 3-0 heading into the Purdue game.

-They said we're 29-1 when Landry reaches double figures scoring, presumably 30-1 now. That's a pretty incredible statistic if you think about it, given the balance nature of team's scoring. We'll probably lose a few games this year in which Marcus hits that plateau, but even so, it underscores just how important his post scoring is to everything else we do on offense. His offensive game was efficient today.

That said, he needs to to a better job of staying out of foul trouble. Right now he's in that Stiemsma-Mader zone of picking up fouls at an alarming rate. Marcus only played 23 minutes today, and while I thought two of his fouls were questionable, he's giving the refs the option of calling them. He's got to play smarter than that.

-Pop sure got hot there for a little while, didn't he? Reminded me of some of the one-man runs Kam Taylor used to go on. Hughes' shooting like that means it will take a really large deficit for us to be out of a game.

-Those two players' scoring performances aside, my players of the game were Krabby and to an extent Jarmusz for the job they did on Manny Harris, who had a terrible day. Harris's offense today consisted of driving wildly to the hoop and hoping the refs bailed him out, which to their credit they didn't. When Harris isn't scoring, everything else comes a lot harder for Michigan. Great job by Joe and Tim to not let him get going.

Krabby also had nine points and eight boards, and Jarmusz had three assists and five boards. Not tough to see the heir apparent to Krabby's "glue guy" role next year, is it?

-Jon Leuer is a deceptively good penetrator, isn't he? He doesn't look like he's moving that fast but with those long legs he covers a lot of ground in a hurry. At the risk of beating a dead horse, it's great that four of his six shots today were 2-pointers.

-Robby Wilson provided a spark off the bench with seven points, and Jordan Taylor hit a big shot at the end of the first half.

-Loved Steve Bardo's reference to former Badger Mike Heineman, a guy who would have fit in well under Bo.

Several nits to pick:

-It looked like Zack Novak wasn't even on our scouting report, and we lit him up. Not surprising, he seems like an excellent shooter and had really open looks.

-Leuer is still a bit too turnover-prone for my tastes.

-J-Bo missed two free throws in crunch time, and our lead was large enough that it didn't cost us, but it might if he doesn't get it together. He's still the player I want with the ball when the other guys need to foul, although Krabby is much-improved in this department.

Time for a couple days' rest, come back and play like this against Penn State on Saturday. Great win guys!

Trevon Hughes

Haven't been thinking too much about basketball lately, but Trevon Hughes popped into my consciousness the other day. He was obviously a big reason for last season's unexpected success, but how did he stack up individually against his predecessor, Kam Taylor? Let's go to the stats:

Trevon Hughes, 2007-08: 11.2 points per game, 2.5 assists, 2.1 turnovers per game, 1.8 steals, 3.1 rebounds, 39.4% FG, 31.4% 3-point FG, 68.8% FT. Team: 67.2 ppg, 44.9% FG offense, 54.4 ppg, 38.3% FG defense

Kammron Taylor, 2006-07: 13.3 points per game, 1.9 assists, 1.7 turnovers, 0.5 steals, 2.2 rebounds, 42.1% FG, 38.4% 3-point FG, 79% FT. Team: 70.2 ppg, 46% FG offense, 57.9 ppg, 41% FG defense

So what can we tell from these numbers? Not much that we didn't already know. Hughes played on a more balanced team (lower scoring average), is more of a pure point guard (more assists per game), and isn't as good of a shooter as Kam (field goal percentage). I was surprised to see that Kam had so few steals per game compared to Pop - not necessarily the best measure of a defender, but in this case it's telling.

What do we need from Pop as a junior? He needs to raise his scoring average and field goal percentage by a couple points with the departure of Brian Butch and Michael Flowers. His free throw percentage needs to rise a few points at least, although J-Bo is still our better guy to give the ball in obvious fouling situations at the end of games. It would be nice, but not critical, to see him average another assist per game.

The thing I'd like to see less of next season from Hughes is those minor injuries. He is too important to the team to miss time so often, especially without Flowers as the obvious fill-in at the point. Ironically, had Hughes not been hurt for the Texas game, the magnitude of that win might have been less and the team may not have had the emotional boost heading into Big Ten play that it got in Austin.

It's always been a topic of conversation that the Swing offense doesn't need a true point guard, which is why teams with a Taylor have thrived. Hughes was the first true point guard to run the Badgers since Devin Harris in 2003-04, and it worked out pretty well. It will be fun to see how much better Pop will get as he makes minor improvements to his game.

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.

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?

Twin Cities love, part II - from Millie

Badgercentric correspondent Mike Milinovich posted this comment to yesterday's post about Jordan Taylor and Jared Berggren, and it was so good I thought it deserved its own post. Not Louisville dance team 1997 good, but UW hoops in 2002 good. Thanks Millie!

I saw Taylor play twice this year, Berggren once and the Bruiser (rght) twice. Here is what I saw: Taylor - very solid point guard coming in. He is physically mature enough to play right away unlike Kam Taylor and is much more of a pure point guard. He's not as flashy off the bounce as Hughes, but he's effective. I would like to see his shot improve, but it's not like it's a total weakness. Defensively he's active, though he'll probably take a while to play Bo's style of defense. Overall, he's just a very solid player. He doesn't jump out at you with absurd quickness like Hughes or a sweet touch like Bohannon. But he takes care of the ball, is a very good passer and just does everything pretty well.

Berggren - I think that he's going to be a very good player for the Badgers. He has very soft hands and doesn't seem afraid to take it strong. He definitely has a lot of post moves and seemed comfortable using both hands in the post. He's not the most athletic guy, but he isn't a plodder either. He should be a very good rebounder and will provide very solid defense in the post. I'm very excited about Berggren.

Bruiser - Big 10 fans are going to absolutely hate this guy. Let's go through the checklist of things that will drive people bonkers. White? Check. Pasty White? Double Check. Red Hair? Check. Hustle guy? Check. He should be a very good player in the swing offense. He has a pretty good handle for a guy his size and is an outstanding rebounder. He was able to take guys off the dribble and had an incredible baseline drive for a dunk in the state final. The only thing that I would really like to see improve is his jumper. Let's just say that I think we have a guy that can fill Krabby's shoes when he graduates.

Great report Millie. I'm most encouraged by the Bruesewitz review, mostly the dunk. Many reports have pegged him as a Krabbenhoft type, but Krabby doesn't take guys off the baseline for dunks ... although maybe he did in high school. Maybe Bruiser is more athletic than originally speculated.

All the better if he becomes one of the more hated players in the Big Ten - nobody hates guys who suck and don't win. The guys who come to mind who sort of fit Millie's description - Brian Cardinal, Drew Neitzel, Tom Coverdale, Chris Kingsbury - all played for good teams. So where does Miles Tarver fit into this equation?

Just ours

During football season I made mention about how I often refer to preseason magazines throughout the course of the year, and the same is true for basketball. Yesterday I picked up the Sporting News college basketball preview to see how they broke down the Big Ten at the beginning of the season.

1. Michigan State
2. Indiana
3. Ohio State
4. Penn State
5. Wisconsin
6. Illinois
7. Minnesota
8. Purdue
9. Michigan
10. Iowa
11. Northwestern

Good call, guys. At least you got Northwestern right!

Much of the season preview is written about the Spartans' recent history of excellence, about Indiana's superstars, about Ohio State's boffo recruiting class. Here's what it says about the Badgers: "Wisconsin didn't win 30 games by accident last season."

Not much to go on, but prophetic. Alando Tucker and Kammron Taylor were all-time greats, but the groundwork for this season's success was laid in their shadows. Even so, early this season there was little indication this team would be winning a conference title. Be truthful: when you saw Duke annihilating us at Cameron and Marquette edging us at the Kohl Center, did you see a trophy in March?

But, as Bo's best teams often do, this team improved dramatically as the season progressed and did what was expected of it.

Brian Butch found his confidence as a go-to post scorer and rebounder, and delivered shot 1A of the year at Indiana. Trevon Hughes started fast as a scorer, then settled in as a more traditional point guard and played with more control than Kam had at a similar age. When Pop was hurt at Texas, Michael Flowers asserted himself as a lead guard and hit the shot of the year in college hoops.

Joe Krabbenhoft still struggles with confidence shooting the ball, but does everything else well, and shut down Eric Gordon in the big win over Indiana in Madison. Early on, I questioned both Marcus Landry's and Jason Bohannon's scoring mentality, and here we are in March with those two serving as arguably our most attractive scoring options. Greg Stiemsma wasn't always used much because of matchups, but escaped the foul trouble that has plagued his career and played some terrific minutes.

What a joy to watch. At the end of the football season, I mentioned that as wonderful as last season was - 30 wins, a #1 ranking, arguably the greatest player in school history - fair or not, there was little tangible to show for it. Not the case this year. I don't care what happens next week (although we'd certainly like to see another trophy), or in the Big Dance, this will go down as one of my favorite teams.

One big reason: the seniors. Heralded as he was coming out of Appleton West, Butch has overcome a lot in his career, you have to feel good for him. Flowers embodies the blue collar, lunch pail ethic that Wisconsinites love, and his friendship with Max Bass is a neat story. Stiemsma overcame a freak high school knee injury and depression to build a nice career. And everyone loves Tanner Bronson, wouldn't be surprising to see him be the most successful member of the Badger coaching tree 15 years from now.

Good kids, all of them from Wisconsin. You don't see senior classes like that very often. They make us proud.

Cherish this championship. Even with all the success we've had under Bo, you can't take titles for granted. Seasons that start with all the promise in the world can end up nondescript (see Football: 2007; Basketball: 2001). The Big Ten is down this year, but Purdue is a rising power, Thad Matta is recruiting like a madman at Ohio State, Izzo will keep State tough as ever, and Indiana will probably come up with someone who can return that program to glory. There isn't a 55-year gap on that conference championship banner by accident - it takes true excellence to win this conference.

We captured that this winter, and it will be awhile before this smile leaves my face.

A Diamond for the Badgers

The members of the basketball program will be getting rings for their latest Big Ten championship, and now it appears they'll be getting the Diamond to go with it.

(Hah! I've still got the sportswriter's cheesy lead gene!)

Mark Stewardt of the Journal Sentinel is reporting that Diamond Taylor committed to UW last night. This one's important - I have no doubt we'll get the bigs and swingmen we need to be successful, but guards are just so important.

Sounds like Diamond, who I'm pretty sure sat by Andy and me at the Washington State football game in September, has really improved rapidly in the last year or so. Check out this blogger, who says that while the class of 2009 is the weakest in recent Illinois history, Diamond is at the top.

The other things you have to like about this kid are the fact that he plays for St. Joseph's (Hoop Dreams), a big-time program with a legendary coach in Gene Pingatore; and his dad is an assistant coach at Bolingbrook and runs a fundamentals camp, which has a website that plays rap music, which sort of startled me writing this at 10:30 p.m. I think Shaq is the artist currently dropping rhymes, "I Know I Got Skillz."

Nice to see the tradition of UW guards named Taylor continue, with Diamond following in the footsteps of Kammron and Jordan. But Diamond thinks he's more like Devin Harris, which we'd be OK with too.

Now if we can reel in Jamil Wilson, ranked #6 nationally on this list, to round out this class, I'd be thrilled.

-Follow up note from a guy mentioned yesterday: Madison Memorial's Vander Blue almost had a double-double tonight against Oshkosh West: nine points and nine turnovers. Memorial went into the fourth quarter with a 23-point lead and let it dwindle to four before pulling it out. How many teams get outscored 34-14 in the final quarter of a game and win? Jeronne Maymon was the man again with 29 points.

Alumni basketball game

On his short radio segment tonight following our local news, Bo was talking to LePay about the alumni basketball game, which was played Saturday before the UW-Purdue game. They talked for a while in generalities about how special it is, the great guys, yadda yadda yadda.

In Brian Lucas's courtside blog for the actual game I found this mention of the alumni game:

Tonight's honorary captain is Charlie Wills. He was part of the alumni game that took place earlier today. Sean Mason led all scorers with 19 points to lead the Red team to victory. Dave Mader paced the White team with 16 points.

Not surprising that Mason could still fill it up. That wasn't a bad two-person class - Mason and Sean Dougherty - was it?

Earlier in the week Lucas's daily email mentioned other notables:

... rumored to be in attendance include Clayton Hanson, Dave Mader, David Burkemper, Sean Mason and Charlies Wills ...

What was Burkemper, the ref? Lord knows he's got the whistle.

The game got me thinking about what my dream UW alumni game would be - with guys playing in the shape I'm guessing they're in nowadays, so Joe Franklin and Wes Matthews probably wouldn't qualify. Here's my matchup:

Cardinal: Devin Harris, Sean Mason, Michael Finley, Sean Dougherty, Mike Wilkinson

White: Kammron Taylor, Roy Boone, Kirk Penney, Alando Tucker, Rashard Griffith

Who do you think wins that matchup?

Wisconsin-Northwestern thoughts

Sshould have watched Happy Feet on Showtime instead of that pile of crap. And I've seen Happy Feet - it sucks.

Not much good to report here, other than Landry's game, which was basically taking what Northwestern gave him. My biggest disappointment was not getting to see Wquinton Smith tonight, thought there was an even-money shot.

-Marcus really did play well, finishing inside against guys he should be able to finish against. This whole five different guys scoring 20 in five straight games is really pretty incredible. They're saying this is the first time that's happened in Wisconsin history; I would guess it's the first time this has happened in all of college basketball history.

As much fun as it was to watch Alando and, to an extent, Kam, take over games on a regular basis, it might be more fun to watch a different guy do it every night.

-Krabby also pretty well, especially on defense, but still had some pretty horrible passes. His reverse layups are sweet.

-Trevon had a really bad game. Wasn't able to penetrate until Northwestern was scrambling late, missed his shots, fell asleep on defense at times. Did he really hurt his ankle again? It looked like he'd have to come out, then five seconds later he's back at full speed.

-J-Bo didn't play very well, either. Before the game Northwestern's radio guy was talking about how their 1-3-1 leaves openings for 3-pointers. We were only 4-for-14 there, and J-Bo's looks were open. Also, he seemed like a magnet for double teams and did not deal with them proactively.

-On that note, our first half offensive approach was embarrassing. It looked like we hadn't prepared for the 1-3-1 at all, we made them look like friggin' Duke for 20 minutes.

-Flowers played a good game, did a nice job on Moore and pitched in his share of scoring. Maybe my favorite play of the game was when he leveled Thompson with that pick near the end, although it looked like Thompson was acting (shocking!).

-Thirty-seven free throws: good. Sixty-five percent free throw shooting: ugh. It's going to catch up to us at some point.

-Stiemsma didn't play tonight, and I figured it was just because of matchup reasons, but Bo just said on the radio that Greg had been nicked up physically and didn't practice yesterday. Hope he's better for Michigan on Tuesday, there are good matchups there.

-Poorly officiated game, the refs let both coaches influence calls

-How in the world does Coble average 18 a game? Krabby did a good job on him, but he didn't look like he had any moves to free himself for open looks, and Lord knows their offense isn't designed for anyone to score.

-Bill Carmody and Conan O'Brien: separated at birth?

-My take on Northwestern: I don't see how Carmody ever wins here. Granted, no one ever has won with that program, but his "system" is ridiculous. On offense, they do most of their work 45 feet from the basket, and their guards execute spin dribbles for no apparent reason.

The only consistent threat they had tonight was Michael Thompson driving - not fast enough to get around his defender - drawing contact, and going to the free throw line because Carmody whined enough to get a technical.

They shot 13 free throws, but probably earned about three of them. They miss a ton of shots, but don't send anyone to the offensive boards. Their first possession of each half end with a shot clock violation, and it couldn't have been because we threw an exotic defensive look at them.

The announcers said Carmody was making recruiting inroads into the Chicago Public League, but if the best he can get is Thompson, who didn't even attempt a jump shot tonight, and Sterling Williams, who looks like he'd be a better fit at Whitewater, well, that ain't gonna get it done.

Northwestern should follow the long-ago example of the University of Chicago and withdraw from Division I Big Ten athletic competition, put the money it saves on sports on its academic/research pursuits that would further mankind. God knows it would be better for someone in Evanston to cure cancer than watch Jeremy Nash hit the side of the backboard on a 3-pointer attempt.

At least the only time we saw Tim Doyle tonight was in the Big Ten Network studio at halftime.

Wisconsin-Illinois thoughts

Earlier today, the prospect of a 10-point win over Illinois would have inspired a shrug and a grin from me. After watching tonight's 70-60 win, I'm feeling a lot happier, the result of my rekindled contempt for the Illini.

Realistically, these guys have just north of zero talent, and were lucky to score 60 points. Can't stand Meacham or Brock, both weenies. Pruitt ran down the court screaming after every shot he made. Randle has been around too long, he reminds me too much of the painful loss to Illinois at the Kohl Center two years ago. That alley-oop at the end of the game (the reverse of Alando's "I'll remember that" dunk for Izzo). They'll do well to make the NIT this year.

This is probably the adrenaline of a win over a conference rival talking, but I'm happy with the win.

The thoughts:

-Good start, and while they got back into the game, we never let them take the lead, which was key. We have some nice momentum-changers this year - Leuer against Michigan, Butch against Iowa, Hughes tonight. Last year it was Alando and Kam, who were great at that, but this year we have more options.

-Thought the officiating in the first half was horrible.

-Butch for 3! Like I said, just keep jacking them up! ;) Another solid game scoring and rebounding in front of his biggest broadcasting fans, but make the front ends of those one-and-ones.

-What a great game for Pop. The 22 points were nice, and big for giving us breathing room, but I think he also had five assists and six steals, which were more impressive. It was important for him to have another 20-plus scoring night, so he remembers he can do it. Did think he took some bad shots, some shots too quickly, but he made a couple of them. Can't wait to see him get even better over the next 2-1/2 years.

-The crowd seemed fairly restrained during some pivotal moments, maybe a sign of how Illinois is now perceived - a rival, but a team we should definitely beat.

-As much as I don't have time for most of that team, I love Chester Frazier, he's all guts. The time he dove into the crowd for the loose ball, I almost wanted to applaud. Not much on offense, but a nice defender and character guy.

-Flowers has to stop getting into foul trouble, we don't have enough guys who can check scoring guards. Trent Meacham and Calvin Brock shouldn't combine for 28 points against the St. Frances Cabrini seventh graders, let alone a top defensive squad like ours.

-Early on I wrote down "great rebounding," then crossed it off emphatically as Illinois did a job on us on the offensive glass. Credit their effort.

-Came in on the conversation late, but I believe Brent Musberger and Steve Lavin were talking about Erin Andrews when Musberger said something to the effect of "When she goes to meet Hugh Hefner, I want to go with her." Yeah, me too Brent! Should be cause for some awkwardness among co-workers. Or did I hear that wrong?

Update: Check out the exchange on YouTube.



-Speaking of the announcing team, I started a drinking game where every time Musberger or Lavin commented on Illinois's newfound "bounce" or "step" or "wind in their sails," and I am totally hammered now.

-Did you see St. Louis scored 20 points tonight? And Brad Soderberg isn't even their coach any more!

-Lastly, kudos to UWM for knocking off Valparaiso tonight. Apparently Rob Jeter's formula for success is to kick your leading returning scorer off the team, same for this year's leading scorer, wave goodbye to a starting guard, and leave your top two freshman in street clothes. I don't get how it's working, but the Panthers are winning now, which is terrific, wish them nothing but the best.

Badgers don't lose to Division III opponent

The UW basketball team beat UW-Eau Claire 74-35 in exhibition action tonight, which doesn't seem too noteworthy, except for the fact that Michigan State and Ohio State, the consensus # 1 and #3 teams in the Big Ten this year, lost to non-Division I opponents in the last five days. Granted, Grand Valley State and Findlay might be better than the Blugolds, but still, take care of business guys. Didn't we learn anything from Appalachian State?

Tonight's broadcast on the Big Ten Network was delayed by another almost-shocker, as Michigan State struggled to put away Michigan Tech away (Tech's penalty kill was terrific tonight), and Izzo was in midseason timeout calling form. When the game finally did come on:

-Trevon Hughes was the star of the night. He is much more of a pure point guard than Kam Taylor, and while last season his play vacillated between wild and tentative, he seems more even keel thus far. We'll see how he holds up for 38 minutes against Dominic James or Travis Walton, but I'm optimistic.

-Joe Krabbenhoft also looked very good. He seems to have come to grips with the fact that we recruited him to come to Madison and shoot the ball, and tonight he did so in a variety of spots on the floor.

-Conversely, Sunday night's stars, Michael Flowers and Jon Leuer, were quiet tonight. Yesterday Flowers talked to the press for the first time since his two-week leave of absence. He sure as hell doesn't look like he's coming back from anything medical, which only lends credence to those rumors about him thinking about transferring to Winona State ... although that really doesn't make sense either, given the timing. But he's out there playing hard as ever, no worries about him.

After playing almost flawlessly in his debut, Leuer looked like a freshman trying to figure things out. Like you'd expect.

-Leuer does seem capable of playing the 3 spot, even on defense, which means Bo can throw a 6-10, 6-11, 6-11 lineup out there. A far cry from the 2003 team, with 6-5 Alando starting at the 4.

-The backup bigs had a terrible 90-second run where they had several passes clank off their hands.

-Again not taking many outside shots, which they shouldn't have to against a team at that much of a size disadvantage. Good discipline to work for the inside shot.

-JP Gavinski's haircut makes him look like a skunk - to the skin down the middle. Goofy kid.

-Keaton Nankivil and Tim Jarmusz each looked more comfortable on offense tonight, scoring on nice inside moves and hitting outside shots.

-Butch airballed a 3 late in the second half. His 3-point shooting has not progressed to the point I thought it would.

-Landry had a vicious open-court dunk in the second half, he's a great athlete - not quite as shifty as Alando, but every bit as explosive.

Next up: IPFW on Sunday. Gesundheit.