Dick Bennett's last game

Charlie, God bless him, woke up at 5:15 this morning, about 90 minutes earlier than I hoped he would. Silver lining: the Wisconsin-Maryland game from November 2000 was on the Big Ten Network.

Watching it (intermittently) was a nice trip down memory lane. I went to that game with our old friend John Koebel, who many of you know as Chez Whitey, at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

After the game, I got grabbed by cop for jaywalking. When trying to explain my way out of it, I called the guy "Dude," and he explained to me that he wasn't my "dude."

Anyhoo, back to the game. When Dick Bennett stepped down as Wisconsin coach after this game, it didn't come as a huge surprise to me. I remember thinking that he looked like he was having an awful time on the bench. Trying to pass a kidney stone awful. All while his team was playing a good game against the team that went to the Final Four that year and won the national championship the next year.

Maybe that's just how he was all the time, and having been in Ohio for awhile I'd forgotten. But man, did he look unhappy.

He should have been very happy. Happy with seeing Kirk Penney show what kind of big-time player he would become. Happy with Mike Kelley's defense (oh, and with his 12 assists). Happy with Charlie Wills and Mark Vershaw picking their spots.

Not happy with Andy Kowske's hair -- frosted tips.

That season turned out to be really interesting. After making that fluky run to the Final Four in March, most of the guys returned, and the 2001 team should have been pretty damn good. Maybe it would have been had Bennett hadn't stepped down to give Brad Soderberg a shot.

As it was, when we lost in the first round to Georgia State, I was sort of happy about it, because I didn't think Soderberg was the long-term answer. (Didn't think Bo Ryan was either at first, very happy to have been wrong on that count.)

One other thing: playing these Big Ten-ACC Challenge game in NBA arenas is really stupid, glad we haven't had to do that since.

One last thing: when doing a Google Image search for Andy Kowske (looking for those frosted tips), this picture showed up on the first results page.

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.

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.

Kirk Penney -- look at that hair!

Last week a fellow named John Rillie emailed me from Australia. A professional basketballer Down Under, John maintains a nice blog and directed me to something he recently did that he thought would be of interest to Badger fans.

It's a podcast featuring an interview with one of our favorite former Badgers, Kirk Penney, now with the New Zealand Breakers. Apparently Kirk is the leading scorer in Australia's NBL, and has been named player of the month multiple times.

I can't get over that hair, and neither can the Australian fans. We saw him several times in Indianapolis at the Big Ten Tournament, most of the time hanging around with Andy North, and he sure didn't look like that. Not sure if this photo is pre- or post-Indy, but in any event that style is really out there.

Give it a listen. The interview with Kirk comes about 13 minutes into the podcast, but the guys rave about him often before then. It's sort of like Flight of the Conchords, if they were basketball fans instead of musicians.

The guys talk about the Badgers' defensive-oriented philosophy under Dick Bennett, and the shockingly low halftime score of our Final Four game against Michigan State. John asks Kirk who his favorite Big Ten rivals were, and he lists Michigan State, Indiana and Michigan. (Michigan?) Also a funny anecdote from Kirk's time with the Miami Heat about "White Guy Wednesday." He also caddied for Andy North at Augusta recently.

Funny side note: while looking for more recent Penney news I found that one of his teammates is Rick Rickert, former Minnesota lightning rod.

Tim Jarmusz

In early March my friend Ryan and I were driving to a lunch in honor of a co-worker who had taken a job in a different part of the company. Ryan was asking me a few questions about Badger hoops, and as is my nature, I was rambling.

In particular, I was rambling about Tim Jarmusz, who had just been getting some legitimate playing time in the wins at Illinois and Ohio State. If memory serves, I called Tim a "Kirk Penney type" who would at some point in his Wisconsin career be a versatile scorer from both the perimeter and in the post.

What do y'all think of that statement? Upon immediate reflection, it seemed like a fairly unreachable projection. But thinking about it further, I could see him developing into a Penney type. Consider Penney's yearly scoring averages:

Freshman: 3.7 ppg for the Final Four team
Sophomore: 11.2 ppg
Junior: 15.1 ppg after becoming the main man on Bo's first team
Senior: 16.2 ppg as he becomes an elite player

Jarmusz didn't play much last year, and probably will not break 15 minutes per game as a sophomore, and with Pop, J-Bo, Landry, and Krabby back his scoring will not skyrocket. But it's not a stretch to see him averaging double-digit points per game as a junior and senior, using his 6-6 frame to post up smaller wings and his nice outside shot to hit about 35-40% of his 3-point attempts. In other words, a guy fit for the Swing.

Will he become an all-conference player like Penney? I'm not ready to put money on that, but consider that Penney played on a leaner roster with less scoring options than Jarmusz will.

Jarmusz's emerging playing time in the last quarter of the season was one of the more unexpected developments from the 2007-08 team, and when he was presented the opportunity, he did not show that he was incapable of contributing. Aside from a three-turnover stinker in the Big Ten clincher at Northwestern, he was strong with the ball, and took the open looks that came to him.

Will Tim Jarmusz become another Kirk Penney? Probably not, but that's not to say Tim won't become an all-around, versatile scorer every bit as valuable to a winning program as Penney was. If he can get to Kirk's sophomore year production at some point in his career, I'll be satisfied with his development.

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.

Krabby

Looking at the 2008-09 UW basketball roster, the guy who was the highest-rated recruit coming in is Joe Krabbenhoft. Per Rivals, he was the #23 overall recruit and #5 small forward recruit in the class of 2005.

Which is interesting. My guess is if a basketball fan watched the Badgers for the first time without any knowledge of the players' backgrounds, and they were asked which was the lowest-rated recruit coming out of high school, they'd pick Krabby.

Because while there is no denying his importance to his team, his effectiveness defending and rebounding, those glue guys are usually unheralded coming in. Guys don't get five stars for leading the country in stitches.

I've made mention of this before, but my impression of Krabby coming in was that he was going to be a scorer, a Mike Miller-type who would be a better version of Clayton Hanson. Someone like Kirk Penney. Instead we got a taller version of Mike Kelley.

Which is great, Kelley was a winner and Krabby's a winner. In thinking about next year's team, I find myself thinking that Krabby should score more to make up for the departures of Butch and Flowers. But realistically, that probably won't happen. He's not a shooter; his scoring average might end up creeping toward 10 ppg, but it probably won't happen.

Krabbenhoft will probably do almost exactly what he did last season: guard the other team's best swingman, with the ability to guard the 2 and 4 spots; make an occasional layup; bring the ball up the court in a pinch; lead the team in rebounding.

If Wisconsin wins 20 games, Krabby will have been a part of 100 victories in his career. There's a lot of five-star guys who can't say that.

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.

Jansen at the Georgia Dome

Quick note: Rob Jansen texted Andy to tell him he was at the Georgia Dome during last night's severe weather event in Atlanta. We'll hear more later.

Also:

-With either Illinois or Minnesota playing in the title game Sunday, won't the selection committee have to wait until that game is over to finalize the brackets?

-Just saw Barry Alvarez strolling around the suite level. Andy was surprised he didn't have a bodyguard. Do you think he needs one?

-Stop me if you've heard this before: passed Andy North and Kirk Penney in the Sheraton lobby ...

It's officially a Badger event ...

... because we just passed Andy North and Kirk Penney, walking together, on the sidewalk. Do a shot!

Also, Deuces saw Matt Ryan, Bo's son not the Boston College quarterback, in the hall at the Sheraton and exchanged pleasantries. He also saw Keaton Nankivil outside the hotel.

Celebrities everywhere, my head is spinning!

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?