The Chris West Basketball Journal

Wisconsin vs. Michigan State: I'm Upset Enough to Write About This One

2012-01-04T08:00:00.000-06:00

While I’ve made no official comment about it, I think my silence generally has been a pretty good indicator that I’ve abandoned blogging about basketball this year (I’m pleased to note that I’m still seeing plenty of games, though). However, last night’s Wisconsin-Michigan State game got me fired up enough to briefly come out of retirement to jot down a few thoughts. It was an upsetting night (particularly after watching the Badger football team lose by just barely running out of time the night prior), but I think in times like these it is important to clarify who and what you’re upset with. With that in mind, here’s who I’m upset with over last night’s game, and who I’m not upset with.

Those Who I’m Not Upset With:

The Officials: Much as it hurts to say, every indication is that they got the call right. Moreover, they actually deserve some praise for the way that they handled things. First off, while I expect my referees to have a thorough understanding of the rules of basketball, I wouldn’t be offended if I saw a team of refs baffled by what to do when there are two game clocks in the arena that are out of sync. That’s not exactly the same as not knowing what a double dribble is. The fact that last night’s refs made the correct ruling on that issue was impressive. Second, that’s a tough call to make against the home team. There is a school of thought that would say that things were so close, and the video so inconclusive (if one didn’t know the correct rule on the clock issue), you just stick with the call on the floor and let the teams keep playing. And making such a call probably would have saved the referee crew from a lot of verbal abuse last night at the Kohl Center. But as we know now, it would have been the wrong call. So kudos to the refs not only for knowing their stuff, but for having the guts to stand behind the rule book in a tough situation.

Bo Ryan: Bo Ryan went on an expletive-laden tirade after the referees waved off the final basket last night. I’m certain to read tons of internet comments today from people complaining about Ryan’s lack of class, and the poor sportsmanship that he displayed. I couldn’t disagree with those people more. As a fan, I’d be disturbed if my team had a coach that didn’t completely lose it after a moment like that. I pretty much lost it in my living room after they waved the basket off, and I don’t have a full-time job that’s impacted by the outcome of the game. Show me a division one coach that wouldn’t have at least a mini-meltdown over something like that and I’ll show you a terribly uninspiring coach. And sure, Bo Ryan swore a bit during his meltdown. I’m not a particularly big fan of swearing, but your filter kind of disintegrates when you’re in a blind rage, so I can forgive some coarse language. Furthermore, Bo Ryan is far from standing alone in letting some filthy words come out of his mouth on a basketball court.

What also goes unnoticed by those that would criticize Ryan is that once the moment was done, he pulled himself together. He shook hands with the Michigan State team. And if you took the time to watch SportsCenter and see his remarks during the post-game press conference, you wouldn’t have seen a guy ranting about how his team got screwed. To the contrary, Ryan indicated that he’d have to watch the tape later and noted that one of his teams had won a big game in a similar manner at Michigan State a few years back, so this is the sort of thing that can go both ways. He even jokingly ended his comments by stating “What are you going to do? Violence is out of the question.” That’s pretty much exactly what I want from my coach. A guy that won’t hold back in the heat of passion, but can find some perspective once the situation has cooled down. So, major kudos to Bo Ryan for his handling of the controversy last night.

Those Who Angered Me Beyond Belief:

Kohl Center Facilities Management: It’s remarkably embarrassing when your home arena’s game clocks aren’t synced up. Now, I’ll grant you that two-tenths of a second isn’t a difference that would be noticed all that frequently, even if you were specifically checking it. But I’ll make this observation to fellow Badger fans–if this game had been played at the Breslin Center, and Michigan State had won in exactly the same manner, wouldn’t we all be screaming about the incompetence of Michigan State due to their inability to maintain accurate clocks? And wouldn’t we be irrationally speculating about them trying to gain an unfair advantage? I know I would be, so I feel like I should be holding my home facility to the same standard. It was embarrassing enough a few years back before the Kohl Center floor was replaced and television broadcasts kept pointing out that the old floor no longer fit together properly, leading to slightly jagged free-throw lines. But not having all of the clocks set to exactly the same time is pathetic. Let’s hope the Kohl Center pulls it together and gets this (and any other issues that haven’t yet been exposed) fixed by the end of the year.

Fans Who Left the Game Early: I commented to my friend Jesse just before the end of the game that I wanted to see a comeback not so much because I wanted to see a Badger win, but because I wanted all of the fans that started streaming out of the Kohl Center with 50 seconds to go to miss one of the greatest endings of all time. Despite Wisconsin losing, it was a remarkably exciting ending and I feel like that wish came true. I’m very pleased that the Badgers stuck it to some of their worst fans.

Don’t misread my anger here–I’m not one of those uptight people that feels you’re a bad fan if you leave any game early. Wisconsin’s up or down 25 points and you’ve got a big meeting the next morning? Sure, take off with 4 minutes to go–I’ve done it plenty of times myself. I have a life, and don’t always want to waste another 15 minutes on a lost cause. But when fans started bolting to the exits in a two possession game with 50 seconds to go, I was embarrassed. Sure, the outlook at that point is bleak, but a comeback wasn’t inconceivable by any means. You’re saving what–five minutes if you beat the crowd out of the arena and to your car? If you’re going to leave early from a game that’s not totally out of reach because you need to get home at 8:37pm instead of 8:42pm, then perhaps you shouldn’t have gone to the game to begin with. Anyone who left that game at the 50 second mark and didn’t have a medical emergency got what they deserved when they found themselves listening to the game in the car.

So at the end of the night, it was a soul-crushing loss. I’m not exactly excited for the Badgers upcoming road games at Michigan and Purdue, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed for the best. After all, stranger things have happened than Wisconsin coming back from losing their first two home games of the Big Ten season.

See you when I’m feeling moved enough to write again...

Worst. Bracket. Ever.

2011-03-24T09:01:00.000-05:00

It’s fun to tout your successes when you’re right, but I can take equal glee in recounting those times when I’m astoundingly wrong about things. At the moment, it’s a good thing that I can laugh at myself, because if you read my NCAA picks last week, you know how horrifically wrong I got things. Most people have been shaking their heads at how awful their brackets look after the first weekend, but I truly mean it when I talk about how embarrassing my effort was. Both of the teams that I had in the finals are gone, and it’s safe to say that this was my worst attempt ever at predicting the tournament. With that in mind, I’d like to recount the top ten bad calls that I made in my predictions from last week. Enjoy the carnage:

10) Michigan State in the Sweet Sixteen: Apparently you can bet against Tom Izzo in March. Particularly when he has his most disjointed team in years.

9) Belmont over Wisconsin: To be fair, in my comments I did note that this was a calculated risk, as Wisconsin would be blessed with the most amenable bracket possible were they to hold off everyone’s upset darling (which, given my horrific track record on predictions this year, probably means that Butler will give the Badgers a monumental beatdown tonight). On the bright side, my bracket was so horrible this year that I was able to simply sit back and enjoy the win without worrying about my picks (yes, I was already getting crushed on Thursday). And now I get one more weekend of the Badgers.

8) UNLV over Illinois: Picking an 8-seed over a 9-seed is nothing that shocking, but my reasoning for the pick was essentially a total lack of faith in Illinois. Well, if you watched this game, you’d know that Illinois completely dominated the Runnin’ Rebels. My apologies to Mike Tisdale–my lack of faith in you and your teammates was misguided.

7) Xavier over Marquette: Credit to Marquette for getting off to a hot start and knocking off two higher seeded teams on the first weekend of the tournament. I didn’t think they had it in them to win back to back games over very good teams on a neutral court. It’s certainly not something that they were capable of during the regular season. Just over two weeks ago I was vaguely concerned that the Golden Eagles would drop a game to lowly Providence and miss the tournament altogether. And now they’re in the Sweet Sixteen. As for Friday’s game, let’s be thankful that everyone’s in good shape, as we should see lots of running against UNC. And with Marquette finally showing some of the toughness that it seemed to abandon after last season, anything can happen now.

6) Old Dominion over Butler: I pretty specifically said that I thought that Butler was overseeded based on their prior year’s success, played medicore basketball in a mediocre conference, and would lose immediately. The Bulldogs then not only won their first game, but followed it up by upsetting a 1-seed. Yeah, I guess they weren’t overseeded. I just hope that none of these bad things that I said about Butler come back to really bite me when the Bulldogs take on Wisconsin tonight.

5) St. John’s over Gonzaga: Perhaps my recent lack of respect for the Bulldogs is because my schedule no longer allows me to fall asleep to Gonzaga games on the TV in my bedroom. Whatever it is, I sure didn’t expect Gonzaga to beat St. John’s, who by the way, I had in the Elite Eight. Ugh.

4) Georgetown over Notre Dame: This one was supposed to happen tomorrow, but neither team made it to the game. I didn’t love Notre Dame, so I’m not that blown away that the Irish dropped their game on Sunday, but the real shocker was Georgetown being so throughly throttled by VCU. Granted, VCU has completely crushed everything in its path so far, but the smart, slow-down team from Georgetown was supposed to be blowout-proof. Apparently I was a bit off in that reasoning.

3) VCU losing in the First Four: Piggybacking off that last point, I never explicitly stated this, but I fully expected USC to win the play-in game and for VCU to be sitting home on the first weekend of the tournament. All VCU has gone on to do after playing its way in is post a pair of 18-point wins against higher-seeded teams. Sure, no one saw that coming, but it doesn’t change the fact that I was epically wrong. (Side note–best quote of the tournament so far comes from VCU coach Shaka Smart, who after his team’s upset of Purdue responded to a question about next weekend by noting about his point guard Joey Rodriguez “I’m not worried about a letdown. For instance, Joey’s nuts. He wants to win the whole thing.” Credit to the Midmajority twitter feed for making note of this gem.)

2) Syracuse in the Final Four: This was a risky pick, and I knew it. The Orange share a bracket with Ohio State, which is the odds-on favorite and who looked unbeatable this weekend, and North Carolina, a team which appears to be peaking at just the right time. I’ll admit that I never expected Marquette to be the team to take Syracuse out, but seeing as they did, it seems that one of the other stellar teams would have eventually done that anyway. I suppose I should have seen this coming, with Marquette’s signature win of the regular season coming over Syracuse, but I was blinded by the 3-seed.

1) Pittsburgh as National Champions: I think I knew when I was picking this one that it was a bad idea, but I just couldn’t help myself. I love Pitt’s hard-nosed style, and hey, you can’t go wrong picking the top team from the Big East, right? Wrong. I overlooked the fact that while Pitt plays well together, it’s a team lacking star power, something that I must begrudgingly admit is important in March. And while I would still make the case that the Big East is a very good conference, the fact that only two of eleven Big East teams are still playing next weekend, and seven Big East teams lost to lower seeded opponents this past weekend is probably enough for me to concede that I overrated the conference a bit.

Fortunately, the outstanding weekends of Marquette and Wisconsin made up for any personal failures that I may have encountered. Here’s hoping for at least two more nights of excitement from our home teams, though I’d certainly take a few more in the event they’re able to bring home a couple more wins. Enjoy the games this weekend...

2011 NCAA Tournament Picks

2011-03-15T17:18:00.002-05:00

As has become all too apparent over the past three years, I’ve slipped a bit in my older age and have continued my shift from rabid fan to casual fan. But if there’s one thing I’ll never stop doing with the blog, it’s making my NCAA tournament picks. Frankly, I didn’t watch nearly as much televised basketball as I have in years past, so I’m less informed on non-local teams than I should be (including one #1 seed I haven’t seen play a full game all year). But I did just spend a long weekend in Las Vegas enjoying the conclusion of all of the major conference tournaments (side note--it was my first time doing this and suspect that it will be far from my last) and am sufficiently excited for the tournament. I'm no expert, though, and can virtually guarantee that you've got a couple of guys in your office pool with more well-informed thoughts than I have.

Before I get to this year’s picks, though, it’s time for my annual restatement of my general rules for filling out NCAA tourney brackets:

1) Don’t just completely steal my picks (or anyone else’s, for that matter). I don’t mind it personally, but what fun is that for you? Think of it this way–what’s going to be more fulfilling to you: telling the guy in the cube next to you that you “totally called” St. Peter’s knocking off Purdue, or telling him that some guy whose picks you followed got it knew that St. John’s had a path that would allow them to go deep into the tourney. Listen to advice from your doctor or your financial advisor, but the NCAA tournament is supposed to be fun. So relax and follow your instincts.

2) Don’t go crazy with upsets, particularly in the first two rounds. The NCAA selection committee knows more than you, and they’ve seeded these teams for a reason. Sure, you’re no fun if you don’t go out on a limb here or there, but picking 14 first round upsets isn’t just bold, it’s stupid. Yeah, you’re probably going to have a friend that picks that miracle 10-seed that made it to the Sweet Sixteen, and he’s not going to shut up about it. He’s probably not talking so much about the 5-seed and the 7-seed that he had in the Final Four who both lost the first day, though. My picks are notoriously and painfully boring, and I make no apologies for that, even though someone inevitably comments below to complain about my lack of originality and insight every year. (One addendum to this note—while I’d never predict it in a bracket and don’t honestly think it will happen, if ever there was a year that the perfect record of 1-seeds vs. 16-seeds was broken, this would be it. It was a chaotic year, and this is not my favorite group of 1-seeds ever.)

3) Have fun and make some picks for goofy reasons. There are 64 teams in this tournament, and unless your name is Jay Bilas or Digger Phelps, you probably haven’t seen all of them (and in the case of Phelps, even seeing every team isn’t helping him make any sort of useful analysis). So go ahead and pick Oakland to win a game because your favorite cousin from Michigan goes there, or pick against Connecticut because a guy in your office who’s a total dick got his degree there. After all, last year wasn’t your pool won by that woman in your office who thought Duke had nice uniforms? See, you need some quirks, too.

Those are the rules. Now on to the picks. Winners are in bold:

Second Round (Why the NCAA can't just call this the first round is beyond me...)

East

Ohio State (1) vs. UT-San Antonio/Alabama State (16): I’m not going to try real hard on the my explanations for each of the 1-16 matchups, since we generally know how these are going to end, anyway. So I suppose I’ll just say that it amuses me that Dallas Lauderdale looks like he’s about a 42-year-old senior.

George Mason (8) vs. Villanova (9): Villanova, by Villanova standards, was fairly forgettable this year. And seeing as Jim Larranaga is a regular guest on my favorite radio show, the Sports Junkies, it’s easy for me to pick the Patriots here.

West Virginia (5) vs. UAB/Clemson (12): And here’s where the “First Four” games mess things up. If Clemson wins against UAB, I’d take the Tigers in an upset against WVU. If UAB was to somehow pull off a win in its opening game, I’d give this one to West Virginia. I’m feeling like a gambler today, though, so I’ll take UAB/Clemson on the assumption that Clemson will make take out the Blazers. It’s tough to pick a game when you don’t know who will be in it, though.

Kentucky (4) vs. Princeton (13): I like that Princeton has two Milwaukee-area kids (Whitefish Bay’s Jimmy Sherburne and Catholic Memorial’s T.J. Bray), but still can’t take the Tigers over Kentucky’s usual roster of freshman all-stars.

Xavier (6) vs. Marquette (11): Normally my knock on Marquette is that the Golden Eagles are wildly inconsistent—able to knock off the top team in the country on one day and lose to a mediocre mid-major the next. Not this year, though—Marquette is plenty consistent, but simply isn’t all that inspiring. Xavier rolls them in this one, and the Golden Eagles can start their offseason of trying to figure out who’ll step up and be a leader next year.

Syracuse (3) vs. Indiana State (14): I feel it must be noted that if we’re strictly talking nicknames, Orange vs. Sycamores has to rank up there as one of the worst matchups of all time. But hey, at least orange is an attractive color.

Washington (7) vs. Georgia (10): I can’ get too worked up about Pac-10 or SEC hoops this year. Lorenzo Romar’s teams always seem to be good, but also seem to fly under the radar a bit, so give me the Huskies in this one.

North Carolina (2) vs. LIU (15): UNC got a 2-seed, and it doesn’t seem like a travesty? Back in early December I’d have never believed that this would happen. Seeing as things got so much better after he departed, Larry Drew is not looking real good right now.

West

Duke (1) vs. Hampton (16): Duke’s okay now, but I’d give my right arm to see Duke playing with Kyrie Irving like they were at the start of the year. I’m a lefty, though, so it wouldn’t be that big of a sacrifice.

Michigan (8) vs. Tennessee (9): While watching the selection show with a couple of buddies, this was the game that came up on the screen and prompted us all to immediately say “That one’s going to be fun to watch.” With the amount of running in this game, I’m going to be worn out just from watching it. Seeing as this year was a bit of a step back for Tennessee and a huge step forward for Michigan, I’m riding the Wolverines on their way up. And finally, no, I can't even come up with a decent Jeronne Maymon joke right now, and I feel sort of bad about that.

Arizona (5) vs. Memphis (12): Arizona won the Pac-10, yet no one seems to know or care about this. Well, Wildcats, I care. I care.

Texas (4) vs. Oakland (13): The fact that Texas stumbled a few times down the stretch concerns me and I do love Oakland’s nickname (the “Golden Grizzlies”) and jerseys with the players’ names below their numbers. But I just can’t pick against the Longhorns this early.

Cincinnati (6) vs. Missouri (11): I love Yancy Gates, but let’s be honest, I’m taking Cincy here largely because I don’t want to pick against a team that starts a guy named “Cashmere.”

Connecticut (3) vs. Bucknell (14): Kemba Walker has a great sense of timing. He’s a good player who has turned it on to become great when he happens to be in any sort of a tournament that is being seen by the entire country. He did it in the Maui Invitational, he did it in the Big East tournament, and given that the NCAA tournament dwarfs both of those, it’s safe to say that Walker should explode for about 65 points in helping his Huskies take down Bucknell.

Temple (7) vs. Penn State (10): I want Penn State to go out and win this one, mostly because I’m sick of people talking about Penn State like they finished tied with Indiana in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions wre the 6-seed in the Big Ten tournament, and while that doesn’t mean they had a mind-blowing year, it’s still a fairly good indicator that they don’t suck as much as most people seem to think.

San Diego State (2) vs. Northern Colorado (15): SDSU is 2-2 against teams that were relevant at the times that the Aztecs played them. Not a ringing endorsement, but good enough to pick them over a 15-seed.

Southwest

Kansas (1) vs. Boston University (16): Fun fact—if you’d like to know how derelict I’ve been in my basketball watching this year, I’m pretty sure I haven’t seen a full Kansas game from start to finish all year.

UNLV (8) vs. Illinois (9): This pick says less about UNLV (though they did give 2-seed San Diego State a good run in the Mountain West tourney) and more about my lack of confidence in Illinois. I actually like it when the Illini are good, but they just never reached their potential this year.

Vanderbilt (5) vs. Richmond (12): I dislike Vanderbilt--the basketball team, the institution of higher learning, and probably even the family itself. And while I have a ton of reasons why I’d like to pick against the Commodores, I just can’t bring myself to do so.

Louisville (4) vs. Morehead State (13): I’m always going to pick a Big East team that has stepped up its play down the stretch, particularly when it has a coach who’s been through the tournament a few times in his day.

Georgetown (6) vs. USC/VCU (11): I suppose I understand why it worked out this way, but I find it amusing that the other “First Four” game is being played for a 12-seed, and this one is for an 11. Either way, I already picked the other First Four winner to advance, and I’m not picking them both. So Georgetown moves on.

Purdue (3) vs. Saint Peter’s (14): I know literally nothing about Saint Peter’s, though I’ll make an educated guess that it’s a small Catholic school, probably from the East Coast. I’ll take Purdue to win this one, as I continue to shake my head in disappointment at friends who expected the Boilermakers to completely fall apart when they lost Robbie Hummel to injury before the season. Were you simply unfamiliar with JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore?

Texas A&M (7) vs. Florida State (10): I’ve liked what I’ve seen out of Florida State when I’ve seen them this year. I’m probably not giving enough weight to Chris Singleton’s broken foot on the ‘Noles chances, but it wouldn’t be the first time that I overlooked an obvious angle on a game.

Notre Dame (2) vs. Akron (15): For a team that finished 14-4 in the Big East, I never found myself looking at Notre Dame and thinking “Wow, that’s a great team.” But that said, you’re doing something right if you go through the most challenging conference in the country and come away largely unscathed.

Southeast

Pittsburgh (1) vs. UNC-Asheville vs. Arkansas-Little Rock (16): I can’t see the words “UNC-Ashville” without thinking of Kenny Gregory, the Bulldogs’ 7’7” center from a few years back. Was there anything more fun that just watching guards lob the ball as high as possible to a giant near the hoop?

Butler (8) vs. Old Dominion (9): I was shocked when I saw Butler as an 8-seed this year. The Bulldogs are on a nice streak now, but they had a stretch late January/early February where they lost four of five games in the Horizon League, a conference that doesn’t exactly strike fear into the hearts of outsiders. I think this year’s Butler team, while decent, is getting a little too much attention based on their Final Four appearance of a year ago and rich history. I like to pick one game each year where I zig when everyone else is zagging. This is this year’s game, as the rubes in your office pool are going to stick with the name they know and just ignore Old Dominion.

Kansas State (5) vs. Utah State (12): No solid reasoning this year—I’m simply taking the number of Utah State t-shirts that I saw while I was out in Las Vegas over the weekend of a sign of something big to come. (Side note—I saw more Utah State and BYU gear in Las Vegas than perhaps any other school this past weekend. I found this odd, as I based on what little I know about Las Vegas and the Mormon religion, I would think it would be a sin for most Utah folks to even enter Las Vegas city limits.)

Wisconsin (4) vs. Belmont (13): I struggled with this one quite a bit, so prepare for me to ramble on about it. While watching games with my friends on Sunday about three hours before the selection show started up, I said to everyone “Who’s that mid-major team that lost 3-4 games all year and won it’s conference championship game by like 40 points? I forget their name right now, but I know we’re going to hear it 8,000 times in the next 3-4 days, since every talking head in the country is going to name them as their sleeper pick.” That would be Belmont. Every year there’s a team that becomes such a popular sleeper pick that it actually becomes so overrated that it is no longer a sleeper. This year, it will be Belmont. And it’s tough to argue—Belmont has a great resume. Little did I know that they would be matched up against my favorite team. And knowing Wisconsin as well as any team out there, their performance at road and neutral sites concerns me. The fact that they laid an egg in their last game of the year against Penn State doesn’t help my perception, either.

On the flip side of the equation, the Southeast region is a great one to be in, and Wisconsin could have some success there. Gary Parrish has picked Wisconsin in his Final Four, and explains his logic here. It’s pretty solid reasoning. As he points out, top seed Pitt is always solid but doesn't have athletes that leap off the page, Florida was unranked not too long ago, and BYU, having lost its leading rebounder, isn’t exactly the same team as it was just weeks ago. So if Wisconsin gets by Belmont, it stands a good chance of going pretty far.

So my thoughts on this are conflicting. I always hate picking the hot sleeper pick, because a sleeper that everyone knows about doesn’t bring as much value. And there’s some risk in picking the sleeper, as I don’t see Wisconsin as a team that will lose right away if the advance past the first round (particularly since I’m projecting Utah State, a 12 seed, as the second round opponent for the winner of this game). But at the end of the day, I come back to two key reasons to pick against my alma mater here: 1) Belmont is the trendy sleeper pick for good reason, and 2) Wisconsin scares the hell out of me when they’re not playing at the Kohl Center. So with great regret, I’m picking Belmont in the upset. It hurts my soul to do so, and I’ll be rooting hard for the Badgers, but I have to concede that I think it’s the right pick to make. I’m horrifically wrong a lot of the time, though, so let’s hope that this is one of those times.

St. John’s (6) vs. Gonzaga (11): There used to be a time when Gonzaga would be a sleeper pick as an 11 seed. Now it just means that the Bulldogs had a somewhat crappy year. I like the way that St. John’s has played down the stretch, and am pleased with the Red Storm coaching staff’s decision to make the “Coaches for Cancer” sneaker gimmick an all season long thing. Just when you thought Gene Keady couldn’t look any more ridiculous, there he is in a suit and some bright white sneakers.

BYU (3) vs. Wofford (14): I’m not sure people know what to think of BYU right now. On one hand, you’ve got people writing them off because of the suspension of Brandon Davies. On the other hand, it’s borderline impossible to not be excited about the Cougars after watching Jimmer Fredette put on a show to the tune of 52 points against New Mexico this past weekend. BYU is either overrated or underrated, but I don’t think anyone (myself included) has them properly rated. But it doesn’t really matter in the first round—they’re still beating a solid Wofford team.

UCLA (7) vs. Michigan State (10): It’s tough to get super-psyched about either of these teams, so I’ll just stick to my general rule that if you have any doubt (and often even if you do have doubt), you don’t pick against Michigan State in March.

Florida (2) vs. UC-Santa Barbara (15): UC-Santa Barbara is the alma mater of a fairly cool guy that I went to law school with and used to talk hoops with from time to time, as well as Steve Czaban, a favorite sports radio personality of mine. That said, I’m still not picking the Gauchos over Florida.

Third Round

East

Ohio State (1) vs. George Mason (8): Remember that game where Ohio State shot over 90% from three-point range against Wisconsin a few weeks back? I sure do.

Kentucky (4) vs. UAB/Clemson (12): I’d be a fool to pick UAB or Clemson here, since they have to win two games to even play in this one. That’s two events that could keep picking them through to the third round to even be a viable option. I like Kentucky’s team, but frankly, even if I didn’t, I’d be compelled to pick them simply for safety reasons, given that I’ve got them playing a play-in game winner.

Syracuse (3) vs. Xavier (6): Syracuse struggled mightily during the middle of the season, but you have to like that the Orange have put things together for a good late-season run. And their 2-3 zone, run to perfection, is the sort of thing that always tends to bother teams that haven’t seen it before.

North Carolina (2) vs. Washington (7): I like that I’m back to looking at North Carolina and thinking “Why wouldn’t they win this game?” Harrison Barnes is finally playing like people expected all along, and things are clicking for the Heels again, so I can’t end their run this early.

West

Duke (1) vs. Michigan (8): If I may make a superfluous jump back in time for a moment, how awesome was the portion of The Fab Five, the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary that premiered on Sunday, where Jalen Rose noted that he thought Christian Laettner was a “bitch” and that Grant Hill was one, too? Great stuff—almost as great as those games between the Blue Devils and the Wolverines in the early 1990s. As to this weekend’s game, I’d put the over-under on total three-point attempts by both teams around 55. And while Michigan is heading in the right direction, Duke’s already where the Wolverines want to be, so I’m moving the Blue Devils along.

Texas (4) vs. Arizona (5): Neither team has been a model of consistency down the stretch, but I’ve just got a feeling about Jordan Hamilton getting hot.

Connecticut (3) vs. Cincinnati (6): UConn is seeded 6 spots higher in the NCAA tournament than they were in their own conference. And interestingly, while seeded three spots lower than UConn in the NCAA tournament, Cincinnati was seeded two spots higher than UConn in the Big East tournament. I’ll take the team that’s trending upward.

San Diego State (2) vs. Penn State (10): Penn State is a team that I think will challenge San Diego State, but the Aztecs have something to prove, and I don’t see them letting down against a mid-level Big Ten team.

Southwest

Kansas (1) vs. UNLV (8): Like I alluded to earlier, I know little to nothing about Kansas, but you pick an upset of a 1-seed this early in the tournament at your own peril.

Louisville (4) vs. Vanderbilt (5): It was supposed to be a re-building year for Louisville, but you wouldn’t know it by watching them late this season. I’ll stick with the hot hand here. Besides, I really hate Vanderbilt.

Georgetown (6) vs. Purdue (3): Let me get something straight—while I’ll defend Purdue against people that thought losing Robbie Hummel would end their season and I am a huge fan of JaJuan Johnson, I stop well short of having tons of confidence in the Boilermakers this year. Georgetown’s style of play would put them right at home in the Big Ten, so I think the Hoyas enjoy a solid win here.

Notre Dame (2) vs. Florida State (10): And the least-exciting (though arguably the best) 2-seed moves on. Who knew Ben Hansbrough would be this good?

Southeast

Pittsburgh (1) vs. Old Dominion (9): Have I mentioned yet that I am a big fan of the way that Jamie Dixon gets his teams to play?

Utah State (12) vs. Belmont (13): Did I really just pick two underdogs to advance to this game? I guess I’ll take Belmont to move into the Sweet 16 because a) as I mentioned earlier, they’ve got a stellar mid-major resume, making them more likely to win if this game actually takes place and b) if they manage to take out Wisconsin, it would at least be mildly validating to have them win another game and prove themselves to be a worthy team.

St. John’s (6) vs. BYU(3): Jimmer and friends, meet the representatives from the Big East. You’re not going to like them.

Michigan State (10) vs. Florida (2): For the record, about a month ago I saw Michigan State’s squad get their doors blown off at Wisconsin. It has been a rough year for the Spartans, and there were doubts that they’d even make the tourney. However, if they can pull a mild first round upset, they get, in my estimation, the weakest of the 2-seeds. And just like they’ve done in the past, the Spartans will again find themselves inexplicably playing on the second weekend of the tourney. Don’t bet against Tom Izzo in March, even when he’s got a weak team and it makes logical sense to do so.

Sweet Sixteen

East

Ohio State (1) vs. Kentucky (4): Ohio State has that rare mix that makes a team special—a bunch of seniors that have been around the block and know how to behave in tough situations, and a super-talented freshman player that’s only going to be around for one year. So Kentucky’s going to have to wait until next year, when they bring in an entirely new crop of one-and-done talent.

North Carolina (2) vs. Syracuse (3): I like both of these teams a lot, but don’t trust either of them. North Carolina started off the year by continuing last year’s epically disappointing play, while Syracuse had a brief free-fall in the middle of the season. But seeing as I spent the past weekend watching North Carolina get down 15 points every day before charging back against their opponents, I’ve got to take the Orange here. It’s nice to be able to get out of a hole, but why jump into one to begin with?

West

Duke (1) vs. Texas (4): Back in February, Coach K was saying that Duke was still trying to figure out how to play without Kyrie Irving. I’m trusting that they’ve figured it out by now. Look for Mason Plumlee to bust out a stellar game at some point.

San Diego State (2) vs. Connecticut (3): When I was in Las Vegas this past weekend, one of the most confusing betting lines of the day on Friday was when I looked up at the board and saw San Diego State vs. UNLV as a pick ‘em (the line had moved to SDSU -1 by the time I got in for one of my few good decisions of the weekend). Now, I know that the Mountain West tournament was being held in Las Vegas, making UNLV the hometown favorite. I don’t care where that game was being played, though—it simply doesn’t make sense to have an unranked opponent getting no points against the #6 team in the country. If my wallet and I learned one thing this past weekend, though, it’s that the folks running Las Vegas are smarter than I am. And if they say that San Diego State vs. UNLV is a coin flip, than I can only imagine what kind of a favorite UConn would be.

Southwest

Kansas (1) vs. Louisville (4): I love the way the Big East is playing right now, but I can’t bring myself to put six Big East teams in my final eight. Yeah, that’s right—I just revealed where I’m going with the rest of my picks for this round.

Notre Dame (2) vs. Georgetown (6): Strictly a feel pick for me. Georgetown always feels like one of those teams that you don’t think is all that great, but ends up being a lot better when you see them on the court. Notre Dame always feels like one of those teams that you think is going to be awesome, but then you feel sort of underwhelmed when their game is over. So based strictly on my program stereotypes, I’ve got to take the Hoyas.

Southeast

Pittsburgh (1) vs. Belmont (13): Nice run for Belmont, but Pitt’s not the kind of team that will allow a mid-major to sneak up on them. In the event that Wisconsin surprises me and powers through to play in this game instead of Belmont, here’s hoping that New Orleans has plenty of ice machines, because there are going to be a lot of sore players at the end of that one.

St. John’s (6) vs. Michigan State (10): I will admit that in many ways it is patently stupid to pick Michigan State to advance to this point. But like I said, logic often gets thrown out with the Spartans. But given that they really shouldn’t be winning either of the games preceding this one, I have to play it safe and knock them out here. Congrats, Steve Lavin—ditching your ESPN gig and getting back into coaching seems to have worked out well.

Regional Finals

East

Ohio State (1) vs. Syracuse (3): Ohio State’s the obvious pick for the best team in this tournament. Three senior leaders, two stellar freshmen, and a bunch of other solid options helping out. This year’s Syracuse squad lacks its usual star power, but has righted their ship down the stretch. You can take two paths when picking late round NCAA tournament games—either play it safe with the favorite, or play some hunches and hope that everything works out. The former is my usual strategy, because let’s face it—you don’t want to be the only one left out in the cold when the team everyone else has picked is hoisting the trophy. But this year I just have a feeling about Syracuse, so I’m playing the hunch. Let’s hope it works out.

West

Duke (1) vs. Connecticut (3): I feel like I was in this position last year—I don’t love Duke, but I just don’t see anyone taking them out in this regional (that logic worked out fairly well last year, by the way). UConn’s the best bet, but the Huskies will have won seven games in a row dating back to the start of the Big East tournament by this point. And while UConn’s good, they’re not so good that I see them ripping off eight straight wins against good teams. So once again, I have to begrudgingly pick Duke through to the Final Four.

Southwest

Kansas (1) vs. Georgetown (6): This one just boils down to logic and blind faith. I love Austin Freeman and Georgetown, but even though I’m totally unfamiliar with Kansas, the Jayhawks must be a #1 seed for a reason. So I’m picking them. Either way, if this game happens is will be a fun contrast of styles.

Southeast

Pittsburgh (1) vs. St. John’s (6): Pitt lost to St. John’s about a month ago by one point. And while that could certainly happen again, Pitt doesn’t strike me as the kind of team that loses to anyone twice.

Semi-Finals

Syracuse vs. Duke: When you go with your hunches, as I did with Syracuse last round, you don’t go small. Duke had their turn last year—now Syracuse is getting a crack at the national championship.

Kansas vs. Pittsburgh: It will warm my heart if two true teams like this without the usual overwhelming superstars make it to the Final Four. Who will win? You may have noticed by this point that I have sort of an irrational love of Pitt’s toughness, so I’m putting the Panthers through to the finals.

National Championship

Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh: It amuses me that I’ve got Pittsburgh and Syracuse, two teams that didn’t even make their own conference tournament finals, in the national championship game. I suppose that speaks to the fact that the Big East is a tough conference, though I think it also is somewhat related to the fact that the Big East contains something like 85 teams. Pittsburgh won during the first meeting, so I’ll take them as a winner again, restoring the nation’s faith in tough-minded team basketball. How old school is that?

So there are my 2011 picks. Happy bracketing, enjoy the best weekend of the year, and I'll check back in when it's all done...

What I've Been Up To Lately...

2011-02-28T16:42:00.002-06:00

Sometimes life gets the best of you, and as I should have learned 2-3 years ago, my life doesn’t allow me the time to blog like I used to. Nonetheless, I’ve failed to share some excellent moments of basketball watching over the last month and a half. So here, in abbreviated form, is a brief account of every game that I have attended in person in the last month and a half. I've been sitting on most of them for a bit, so some of the observations are a bit dated at this point, but I assure you that they were amusing at the time. Good luck on getting through all of this entry.

Wauwatosa East vs. Menomonee Falls (1/14/2011)

Tosa East won the game 69-66, but as with any Menomonee Falls game that I see, most of the questions that I got from friends after this one centered about how star forward J.P. Tokoto played. Tokoto should pay me not to watch his games, because on virtually every occasion that I’ve gone to see Menomonee Falls during the past two years, he has gotten into early foul trouble and been relegated to the bench. This most recent occasion was no different, as Tokoto picked up a couple of quick fouls, drew the anger of his coach, and was relegated to the bench for nearly the entire second quarter. Largely because of this, Tokoto finished the first half without a field goal, before putting up a respectable second half.

My general thoughts on Tokoto based on the few times that I’ve seen him play? Hopefully you’re not looking for anything groundbreaking, because nothing I think is all that different from the volumes that have been written on him. He’s a ridiculous athlete who occasionally makes questionable decisions when dribbling and needs work on his outside shot (though this latter issue has probably been overstated a bit by people who feel a need to pick apart Tokoto’s game). Clearly he’s going to be an asset for whatever college ends up enticing him to campus, but I’m not so sure that he’ll be the immediate game-changer that lots of people are expecting. I like guys with very little downside, though, and Tokoto’s superior athletic ability combined with his purported level headed demeanor and strong work ethic clearly put him in the “low downside” category. So while I’d be absolutely thrilled if either Wisconsin or Marquette acquired his services, I’m fairly certain I’m less worked up about his recruitment than most people are.

On a secondary note, I’m not sure if I specifically made note of it at the start of the season, but you can color me unsurprised that Menomonee Falls has struggled a bit this year. While the current Indian roster is talented, it was readily apparent while watching them last year that their senior class of John Cording, Jonathan Phillips, Adam Rubatt and Conor Cassidy was special. Not one of them was off the charts in terms of basketball ability, but all of them were successful at hoops, and most of them had significant accomplishments in other sports as well (I believe it’s no coincidence that Falls reached the state finals in football last season prior to fielding a stellar basketball team). Simply put, it was a group of winners–and one of the best three such groups that I’ve ever seen, I might add. And while the current Falls players may have just as much (if not more) talent than the departed seniors, they lack those difficult-to-define things that left when their teammates graduated last spring. You just don’t replace a foursome like that.

Marquette vs. DePaul (1/18/11)

I won’t waste a lot of time on this one, as going to it wasted enough of my time. If this game was representative, this year’s DePaul squad may be the worst Big East team that I’ve ever had the displeasure of watching. The Blue Demons actually kept the game close up until 5-minutes were left in the first half. At that point, Marquette went on a short run, and DePaul appeared to basically quit. The 30-point margin of victory for the Golden Eagles doesn’t begin to show how lopsided this game was, which is particularly notable, given that the game was all but tied until late in the first half. It’s rare that I leave a game early, but I did so on that night. DePaul’s effort was simply disgraceful.

Cedar Grove-Belgium vs. Sheboygan Lutheran (1/21/11)

Aside from being required to be out of my house for several hours on this particular Friday night, my reason for making my pathetic hour long drive to Cedar Grove-Belgium High School with my buddy Gus in frigid weather was to get a glimpse at Wisconsin Badger recruit Sam Dekker. My thoughts on Dekker? In many ways he reminds me of Kevin Durant. He’s rail thin (though I would assume that this will change, as it always seems to, when he gets on a college weight program), has a soft touch from the outside, and has a good, but somewhat playful, handle. It’s sort of jarring to see a 6'7" guy on a division 5 team playing primarily on the perimeter (mark this down as the only time I’ve seen a guy who’s four inches taller than anyone else on the floor playing at the top of a zone defense), but Dekker would be miscast playing on the blocks, so his position is appropriate. And of course, from time to time he likes to try and make a spectacular pass, which undoubtedly is what prompts the allusions to Pete Maravich that you’ve undoubtedly read if you’ve followed Dekker’s recruitment (for the record, I find the Maravich references to be a bit over-the-top).

Will Dekker be remarkably successful at Wisconsin? I couldn’t tell you. His height and perimeter skills would seem to make him a perfect fit for the Badgers, but I’m notoriously bad at judging how high school players will turn out. Several years ago, I told anyone who would listen that while Devin Harris was one of the three best high school players I had ever seen, his slight frame would make it advisable for him to redshirt before thinking of trying to play in the Big Ten. Last year I managed to get to a game to see stellar Badger freshman Josh Gasser and came away about as unexcited as I’ve ever been about an incoming recruit. And I’m also the guy that saw some real potential in J.P. Gavinski back when he was at Wisconsin Dells High School. The fact that Dekker plays his high school ball against small schools that rarely have other players anywhere near his skill level makes his game even harder to judge. So while there’s a lot to like about Dekker’s game, you shouldn’t trust any excitement that I currently have, as even I find it impossible to trust myself.

And while I was clearly at this game for little reason other than to see Dekker, I feel it’s only fair to note that his teammate, 6'1" low post player Zac Jensema had roughly 400 rebounds during the game. Okay, that might be a bit of hyperbole, but I honestly wouldn’t be shocked if you told me that Jensema had 20 boards on the night in question. Very refreshing to go to a game and be wowed by someone other than the expected star.

Brookfield East vs. Wauwatosa East (1/28/11)

I always enjoy this match-up for two reasons: 1) Brookfield East is well coached, and while the Spartans may not always have a great record, they always give perennial power Tosa East a tough game, and 2) my buddy Dez is a Brookfield East alum, so we can usually talk one another into going to the game and dredging up our high school memories from our competing alma maters.

There was a third big draw this time around, though, as this game would present me my first chance to see the new Brookfield East fieldhouse. Due to my less-frenzied game watching schedule of late, I had somehow not managed to check out the brand new fieldhouses that opened last season at Brookfield East and their crosstown rival, Brookfield Central. I’ve still yet to see Central’s new facility, but assuming that it’s similar to the one at East, it’s safe to say that everyone in Brookfield should be very happy. The Brookfield East fieldhouse got everything right. The stands are well-built, the area outside of the actual gym is large and well put together, and it’s obvious that there’s abundant room for practices when you picture the fieldhouse devoid of fans (I can readily recall what a pain it was to schedule practice for six teams in my school’s moderate sized gymnasium way back when I was in school). Suffice to say, it’s a good time to be an athletic teenager in Brookfield these days.

As to the game itself, things went almost exactly as I expected, with the disciplined squads from both schools keeping the score low in a hard-fought battle to the end. Tosa East converted a go-ahead layup with 2.5 seconds left on the clock and stole a win from their foes from Brookfield. I walked out of the gym marveling at both the game and the huge flat screen TVs on the concourse outside the new fieldhouse. Both on and off the court, Brookfield East does things right.

Wisconsin vs. Purdue (2/1/11)

This would mark the first time that I’ve actually risked my life to go see a game. As you may recall, Wisconsin hosted Purdue on the night of what people were calling the “storm of the century.” My friend Samip had invited me to the game a week earlier, and I had been excited to go. However, with the forecast calling for 20 inches of snow overnight, I began playing phone tag with Samip early on the day of the game, checking to see if he wanted to cancel our trip from Milwaukee to Madison for the game. Honestly, I was sort of hoping that he would be willing to call things off, as the weather report seemed to indicate that we would be making the worst decision possible if we were to drive to Madison. But Samip was steadfast in his desire to head to the game. Even when he picked me up, I wanted to try and talk him out of going, but in the end, I knew that if I vetoed the trip it would forever make him a more dedicated fan than I am. So rather than allowing him to hold that over me for the rest of eternity, I shut up and to Madison. As expected, our trip to Madison was not particularly noteworthy–the real snow was starting later in the night.

Our game viewing experience was interesting, not simply because of the fact that it was a great game and a huge Badger win, but because Samip, despite being a decade out of college, had managed to acquire his game tickets on Craigslist from a student (I suspect this is mostly because Samip much prefers to stand and yell during games than to sit and clap). So we were among the kids. Normally, this would just make me feel like an old guy (and indeed, it did), but on that night things got a bit more interesting, as the students were chanting at Chancellor Biddy Martin about their desire for a snow day the next day. Just prior to their introductions, the students’ wishes were granted, as cell phones in the section began lighting up and the students around us all began high-fiving. Samip and I could only stand and chuckle as the students’ chant of “Let’s get wasted!” began. Twenty year olds have an odd way of expressing excitement. Meanwhile, I think we were both wishing that we really were still students, facing only a short walk to our old apartments just around the corner from the Kohl Center, rather than two allegedly intelligent adults who somehow had to find a way back to Milwaukee that night.

As you can tell, good as the game was, it was not the key point of the evening, so I’ll jump ahead to the drive home. Simply put, it was treacherous. The roads themselves were not terrible until near the end of the trip, but visibility was awful. Were it not for a long stretch of positioning ourselves behind a large semi truck whose tail lights we could clearly see, I’m not sure if we would have made it back (we saw a healthy smattering of motorists who had ended up in ditches on the side of the road. I’m also fairly certain that if it had been me rather than Samip driving, we’d have been staying in Madison for the next day and a half (if we’d made the trip at all–I’m a remarkably cautious man). As it was, our trip took longer than any of the many that I’ve taken between Madison and Milwaukee over the years, and it’s safe to say that the portion of the trip from Oconomowoc to my home was equal to the amount of time that it usually takes to drive the whole stretch. But Samip had guided us home safely, and I was thankful for that.

As Samip dropped me off and I prepared to trudge through the thigh-high snow in my front yard in order to get to my door, I thanked him for his hard work that night and said something that I think he wholeheartedly agreed with at that point:

“Let’s never do anything like that again.”

Wisconsin vs. Michigan State (2/6/11)

For the first time that I can remember after a Wisconsin-Michigan State game, there simply wasn’t much to be said. Wisconsin dominated the Spartans 82-56. Part of the reason for the Badgers’ dominance on this particular day was the fact that they shot incredibly well, but frankly, the bigger issue was that Michigan State just completely fell apart. It was, oddly, sort of disheartening. As those of you who’ve followed me in prior seasons may recall, though I love seeing Wisconsin beat Michigan State more than any other opponent, part of my reason for feeling this way is that I have greater respect for Tom Izzo than perhaps any other coach in the nation. His teams are consistently tough, and you can be virtually certain that you’re going to get a well-played game when the Spartans take the court. So to see Michigan State fall so mightily in this game (and for much of this season) was sort of sad. You like to beat your most hated enemy, but you really don’t want to beat them so badly that you start feeling sorry for them. Fortunately, I suspect that the Spartans struggles this season are an aberration and that they will be back with a vengeance next year. And when they do return to prominence, I’m hoping for a pair of hard fought, single digit Badger wins. Really, it’s just more fun that way.

The most amusing moment of the drive home (which needed to happen quickly, as you may also remember that this game occurred on the same day as the Super Bowl, which as a Wisconsin resident, I was legally obligated to watch) was the telephone call from the friend from whom I had obtained my tickets for the day. My friend in question is the holder of some excellent seats in the Kohl Center, and was excited at the start of the season to offer me the Michigan State game, as it looked to be the most compelling game on the schedule. I laughed after the game when he called to apologize for really setting me up with seats for a 26-point blowout. The sentiment from him was genuine, but even if it wasn’t the hard fought contest that I’d prefer, I’ll always take good seats to a win over Michigan State.

Wisconsin vs. Ohio State(2/12/11)

Unlike the Michigan State game, where I was sitting in the best seats in the house, I returned to my rightful place in society for the Ohio State game and headed up to the last row in a corner of the Kohl Center with my pal Ferd. I’m okay with that, though, because a) being anywhere in the arena for that game would have been awesome and b) one of the amazing things about the Kohl Center is that I’m pretty sure I’ve never sat in a truly bad seat there.

Ferd and I actually came into these tickets sort of by accident when we bought a four-pack of Wisconsin tickets at the start of the year. Before the season when we were looking to pick our ticket package it quickly became apparent that neither of us had a strong preference for any of the four different packages of games offered by the Wisconsin Athletic Department. Ultimately, I argued that I was fine with any of the Big Ten games (all packages had two conference games and two non-conference), but thought that the UW-Milwaukee game would be the non-conference game of the greatest interest with me. So we bought that package, never thinking that Ohio State would come into the building undefeated and ranked #1 in the country. It’s nice when my love for an in-state team pays off for illogical reasons.

So up to our nosebleed seats we trudged. I won’t recount the game–we all know that watching any team, let along a methodical Wisconsin team, recover from a 15-point second half deficit was pretty amazing. But watching it from the top of the building was a unique experience. As I stated, there truly are no terrible seats in the Kohl Center. From the last row I had an awesome bird’s eye view, I could stand whenever I felt necessary without impeding anyone’s view (as a moderately tall man, this is a constant concern of mine at events), and we were safely far away from the craziness that ensued on the floor immediately after the game (getting caught in a very short and mild crowd avalanche while rushing the court during my student days was one of the more terrifying moments of my life).

As to the post-game furor over the alleged Jared Sullinger spitting incident, I can’t say that I saw how Sullinger made it off the floor, so I can’t speak intelligently about that. What I can say is that while watching the rushing of the court I felt very concerned for Buckeye guard Jon Diebler, who was at mid-court when the Wisconsin students quickly enveloped the entire floor. It took Diebler at least a solid minute to wade his way through the exuberant students to the sideline, and Sullinger’s disturbing allegations notwithstanding, I was pleased to eventually see Diebler make it out of the crowd seemingly unharmed. Heaven knows that was not the safest place on earth to be for an opposing player.

Marquette vs. St. John’s (2/15/11)

There’s just been something very frustrating about watching Marquette all season, and this game encapsulated that feeling very well. St. John’s is a decent team that was playing very well coming into this game. And Marquette, a decent team in its own right, kept things even with the Red Storm throughout most of the game, but wilted at the end. It’s the same type of thing that’s been going on all year–the Golden Eagles simply can’t play 40 minutes of basketball against teams of similar strength to their own. I walked out of this game thinking that something is off about this year’s Marquette team. It’s not a squad that’s short on talent or desire, but I’m left wondering if departed seniors David Cubillan and Lazar Hayward were bigger factors in team chemistry than anyone ever knew. Whatever the story, I’ve watched too many Marquette games this year that, despite the athleticism on the court, left me feeling uninspired (it’s a bad sign when the most notable moment of the game for me was realizing that “Cotton Eye Joe” was no longer being played during the “Dance Cam” segment on the scoreboard). Hopefully the victory on the road over Connecticut not long after this one brought some fire back to the Golden Eagles.

Wauwatosa East vs. Menomonee Falls (2/18/11)

One moment sticks out for me in this game. I saw the most violent collision that I've ever seen in a high school game. A Tosa East fastbreak caused Menomonee Falls' Steve Ross to get tangled up with a backpedaling teammate as both were trying to defend the hoop. This ultimately caused both Falls players to fall into Tosa East's Anthony Carroll, who was streaking down the court at full speed. The game stopped for several minutes as Ross and Carroll, who both received the worst of it, stayed on the ground getting evaluated by the trainer. Fortunately, both eventually returned to the game and neither appeared to have suffered a major injury, but it was a scary few moments.

On a side note, both crowds displayed some of the poorest reactions to injury that I've ever seen. I was appalled at the Tosa East student section booing Ross as he eventually found his way back to his feet and ambled off the floor. That was totally unacceptable. However, I sort of thought that the outrage over the students' behavior displayed by a couple of overzealous fans seated near me in the Falls adult section was a bit ironic, since the duo in question spent the first minute of the injury stoppage yelling at the refs that their foul call on Ross during the play was a terrible call. The call was unquestionably a good one (and not a tough one to make, in my estimation), but that’s obviously not the point. Much like the general rule that you should never boo an injured player, I'd say that if ever there was a time to stop worrying about the game and complaining to the refs about a call, it's when two high school players are writing in pain on the ground and the severity of their injuries is not yet known. I can tell you quite honestly that after the collision that I saw, fouls and possessions were the last thing on my mind in the ensuing five minutes. Simply put, there were a lot of fans in the gym on that night that I felt truly embarrassed for.

Turning to another interesting tidbit from the game, while I won't say why exactly, my experiences at the game that night left me fairly confident that Menomonee Falls’ star player, J.P. Tokoto is going to be heading to Chapel Hill next year. That’s certainly not a guarantee, as I don’t have any inside information, but something that I stumbled upon that night pretty much convinced me how this one is going to end. I suppose we’ll know for certain soon enough, as Tokoto is reportedly planning to announce his decision at the end of this week. And just to be clear, I'd love to be wrong about this one.

As to the game itself, Falls pulled away for the win, extending a bit of a winning streak that they’ve put together. It appears that things may be coming together for the Indians at the right time for them to be a tough out in the tournament, which kicks off this week. As I noted in my earlier game notes from their prior game against Wauwatosa East, Falls is definitely not short on talent.

And with that, you’re now aware of what I’ve been up to for the past month and a half. I’ll try to be back with one or two updates before the end of the year. However as you know by now, it’s probably best not to expect too much from me these days...

Wisconsin vs. Michigan State: Ouch

2011-01-12T07:52:00.000-06:00

Wow, that was a stomach punch. After a week and a half of basketball that included an improbable decisive UWM victory over Butler and a spirited Marquette win over longtime rival Notre Dame, I managed to re-find my focus just in time to watch a Wisconsin-Michigan State game that ended in dreadful fashion (assuming that you, like me, are a Wisconsin fan), as the Badgers blew a 9-point lead in the closing minutes and lost in overtime. I’m not sure what was a worse feeling–the loss, or the realization at the end of the game that I needed to go out and shovel snow in the dark. Such is life. Game points below:

1) I’ve come to greatly respect Michigan State’s defense over the years, so it was a bit disappointing to me to see the Spartans almost immediately allow Keaton Nankivil a wide-open look from three-point range, near the top of the key. Anyone who’s even vaguely familiar with Wisconsin’s recent games knows that Nankivil has been on fire from that area.

2) Obviously people are going to lay a good amount of blame on Rob Wilson for his dunk attempt during the midst of Michigan State’s comeback. And deservedly so. Wilson is a talented, fearless player. And while that’s a great trait to have at many points in the game, it’s not so great near the end of the game when you’re attempting to hold a fragile lead. I question why Wilson, not known as one of the more “safe” guys on the team was even in the game during the final minutes. I understand that he thought he had a good opportunity to nearly seal the game with a dunk in a 2-on-1 situation, but pulling the ball out or drawing the Michigan State defender (who, to be fair, played things perfectly) to him and passing off to a well-spaced Jon Leuer would have been a much better call. It doesn’t take a great basketball mind to see this.

3) I’m not sure what to make of the fact that for the first time in Bo Ryan’s tenure at Wisconsin, he can’t seem to settle on a regular starting lineup. In past seasons, he seemed stubborn almost to a fault with refusing to deviate from the starting lineup that he began the year with (Jason Chappell’s starting role seemed almost ceremonial at times). But this year, I think Jared Berggren is the only player in the regular rotation that hasn’t seen a start. Is this merely because Ryan is becoming more flexible in his old age, or simply because he’s not sure who to trust from game to game? I would hope for the former, but I suspect and fear that it’s the latter.

5) It’s something that I think every time I see a game in East Lansing on TV–I really need to get to the Breslin Center for a game. Rounding out the rest of my top-five arenas that I’ve never seen a game at, but would like to, are: The Dean Smith Center (North Carolina), Gallagher-Iba Arena (Oklahoma State), Phog Allen Fieldhouse (Kansas), and The Carrier Dome (Syracuse).

5) Is it disturbing to anyone else that the two best three-point shooters in Wisconsin’s regular rotation are the Badgers’ starting center and power forward?

6) Big credit to Delvon Roe’s defense on Jon Leuer. Last night was the first time all year that I’ve seen someone make Leuer look that uncomfortable. He was still able to make some moves, but when it came time to shoot, there were no easy looks last night.

7) For all of the great things that I can say about Jordan Taylor–and there are many–I found myself frustrated with him last night whenever the shot clock was running down. I don’t expect him to be able to break guys down and get into the lane like Trevon Hughes could last year, but it seemed to me that Taylor tended to panic a few seconds early, and consequently ended up launching long-range desperation shots with about 5 seconds left on the shot clock. The same thing happened at the end of regulation when he couldn’t quite find a way to crack Michigan State’s defense in time.

8) Losing a game in the manner that it occurred last night hurts. It always hurts as a fan when your team blows a tough-to-overcome lead in the final minutes. But it hurts a little bit more when you’re playing a tough team in a building that’s very tough to win in. And it hurts even more when it’s Michigan State. If history is any indicator, you know that the Spartans are only going to get better as the season goes on, so it would have been nice to steal one early on.

9) I’ve not watched enough televised basketball this year to really get a feel for things, but am I nuts for starting to really like Dan Dakich as an announcer? Obviously, despite his Indiana ties, Dakich is no Bob Knight. But I really like the way that he’s able to describe what will happen next on the floor before it actually happens (and he was on fire with reading tendencies last night). Kudos to ESPN for stealing another coach away and making him into a broadcaster. (And yes, I say that in spite of him completely confusing me when he got the white board in his hand to draw up a play late in the game).

10) I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again–I’m that rare Badger fan that likes Michigan State. Last night’s game is a perfect example of why I feel this way. Wisconsin lost to Michigan State in large part because of the Spartans’ hard-nosed style of play that made nothing easy. In short, Michigan State does the same sort of thing that Wisconsin does. I value the consistency and toughness of both teams. So while I don’t like losing, I’d much rather see a loss to a Michigan State team that wins by out-working you, rather than an Ohio State team that simply out-talents you.

So that’s last night’s game for me in a nutshell. On the plus side, with Monday night officially putting an end to college football, it seems like ESPN is really ramping up the intriguing basketball matchups this week. So I should get a chance to see a few more good games in the coming days. If nothing else, I’ve seen a number of amusing basketball-related television programs in the last few days, so I should have something to get me back to writing a bit more.

Marquette vs. Vanderbilt: Not Quite There Yet

2010-12-30T07:26:00.001-06:00

After a hectic couple of nights (I only barely saw the Wisconsin-Minnesota game, a contest that I had circled on the calendar weeks ago), I finally got the chance to relax in my living room (well, after I took down the Christmas tree) and watch some basketball last night. Marquette and Vanderbilt looked to be a fun one. I’ve been waiting for Marquette to get a big non-conference win, and I have a bit of a distaste for Vanderbilt, so I was looking for the Golden Eagles to lay a major beat down on the Commodores. Unfortunately, that was not to be, with Vanderbilt pulling out a squeaker at the end. But it was nonetheless an entertaining game to watch, with perhaps as many dunks as in any game I’ve seen this year. Game thoughts below:

1) About five minutes into the game, Jae Crowder gave me one of those amusing moments that happens every so often where I think to myself “I didn’t know he could shoot from three-point range” as a guy’s launching a shot. And then .5 seconds later as the ball is missing the rim entirely, I realize why I was surprised to see that particular player shooting.

2) Great to see Joe Fulce on the floor, after questioning just a few weeks ago whether he would ever play basketball again.

3) I’m always perplexed when I see games at Vanderbilt. Who thought that floor would be a good idea? I kind of understand the concept of the raised floor, but I’m at a loss trying to figure out why anyone would think it a good idea to put the benches on the baselines. Given that virtually every other basketball facility has sideline benches and that set up tends to work remarkably well, wouldn’t it seem logical to set up your own facility in this way? I’m all for creativity, but sometimes you just need to conform.

4) Dear ESPN: If in any way true, that was a nice tidbit that your commentators dropped in about Chris Otule wearing goggles because he only has one eye. But as great a factoid as that is, I’d ask that you not share it with Dick Vitale before he calls any Marquette games. The world doesn’t need any more excuses for Vitale to make his old “I only have one eye!” joke.

5) Vander Blue may not start for Marquette, but is there anyone out there that doesn’t think he’s one of the top five players on the roster? He’s come along much quicker than I expected.

6) It was a subtle moment, but there was a great shot in the second half of Buzz Williams on the baseline, where the benches are at Vanderbilt, shouting out a complaint to the referees. In the frame as Williams was yelling were one male and one female Vanderbilt fan, each of whom looked to be about student age. Both fans were calmly sitting in their front-row seats until Williams began his complaint. The look on the face of the male fan quickly shifted to one of anger, as if he was ready to confront Williams about punching one of his family members, or something else way more serious than a traveling call or three-second violation. I can’t do it justice writing about it, and it probably makes no sense if you didn’t see it. But if you happened to catch it while you were watching the game, you probably understand the understated brilliance of this moment.

7) Okay, I’ll admit it–Chris Otule is starting to look like a serviceable player. I still don’t think he has a high ceiling, and I will never think of him as the solid big man that Marquette could really use, but he’s developed some moves and is not totally embarrassing when he’s on the court. And that’s not something that I could have said about him when he was a freshman.

8) There were times last night when I was completely embarrassed to watch Marquette’s defense. There was one notable moment early in the second half when one of Vanderbilt’s guards took the ball 3/4 of the way down the court and three Marquette defenders in the lane just watched helplessly as he slipped by them to effortlessly lay the ball in. I’ve rarely seen such a poor effort on one play from high school players, let alone a trio of decent college players. And then there was the more glaring last possession for Vanderbilt, when the Commodores patience led them to break Marquette down for an fairly easy layup. I’m not sure if the Golden Eagles don’t know what they’re doing or if they’ve gotten tired of the consistent effort that they’ve always given and just aren’t trying all the time. Either way, it was upsetting to see the lapses last night.

9) Watching Marquette not even get a shot off on their final possession really took me back to the Tom Crean days at MU. The only difference being, of course, that if Crean was still at Marquette, this failure would not have been due to a player tripping. Someone would have just dribbled out the clock while over-thinking things.

10) I can’t recall too many non-conference seasons more frustrating than the one that Marquette just completed. The Golden Eagles played four games against big-time opponents and lost all four. Yet none of the losses were by more than five points, and one of them was an excellent effort against Duke, the best team in the country. At some point you’d have to suspect that Marquette will get over the hump and hold on to beat some excellent opponents in Big East play. After all, this is a talented team. But a good team needs to win games, and even though a shift in 14 points in all the right places would drastically alter the season to date, the fact still remains that Marquette has not yet won a game against a name opponent.

So all in all, not the best of nights for Marquette. I still think this team has a few Big East upsets in them. Let’s hope they get a big win soon, though, because it’s tough as a fan to stay patient through all of the near misses.

What He Said...

2010-12-28T10:02:00.000-06:00

Last night I typed up some thoughts on point guard Reggie Smith's decision to transfer from Marquette after just one semester. And this morning I decided that there's no need to post those thoughts after I read something that said everything better I did over at the Anonymous Eagle blog. Very well-reasoned analysis, and in addition, it raises some interesting points that I may look to dig deeper into when I have a spare moment tonight (in addition to my regularly scheduled hoops watching). I love it when someone articulates the thoughts running through my head better than I ever could.

Tuesday Night Hodgepodge

2010-12-22T08:04:00.002-06:00

Last night was a bit of a letdown due to the holidays. I was excited a few days ago when one of my friends asked me if I wanted to check out a high school game (usually it’s me doing the hard work of convincing someone to see a bunch of high school kids play basketball), but ultimately realized that I had too many chores to complete prior to Christmas to head out and watch hoops. Fortunately, I had my television, as well as a Marquette radio broadcast to keep me company as I wrapped Christmas gifts and prepared edible holiday treats in anticipation of the 25th of December. Here are some observations about the things that I saw and heard (and a few that I didn’t) on my night of trying to take in some basketball along with my holiday cheer:

1) As I was headed to the grocery store to buy more poppy seeds for a holiday creation, I was particularly pleased to flip on the Marquette radio pre-game show and hear George Thompson, the longtime former Marquette radio color commentator, filling in with his old partner Steve “The Homer” True last night. Thompson’s propensity for ridiculous comments and generally sounding like a fool always made for interesting radio. Much as I enjoy Jim McIlvaine and the occasional drop-in by Tony Smith, there’s nothing quite like sitting around wondering what the heck is going to come out of George Thompson’s mouth. So it was nice to have him back.

2) Thompson, also a former star player at Marquette, conspicuously disappeared from broadcasts a few years back shortly after his retired number was briefly given to then-freshman Lazar Hayward. I recall Tom Crean lamely trying to talk his way out of this miscue at the time by claiming that Marquette doesn’t retire numbers, it retires jerseys. This would have been a much more believable excuse if a) Marquette had previously made a practice of handing out other numbers from players honored with retired jerseys, and b) Marquette hadn’t additionally retired the numbers 77 and 11 in honor of Al McGuire and the Apollo 11 crew, respectively. Last time I looked, neither Al McGuire nor the Apollo 11 crew wore jerseys. In any event, while there has never been any public confirmation of a rift, it would appear to the casual observer that Marquette has mended fences with Thompson, and that’s good for everyone. Particularly fans who want to listen to a broadcast where they’ll ask themselves multiple times “Did I really just hear someone say that?”

3) In the pre-game, Thompson did not disappoint in terms of ridiculousness, noting that he was looking forward to watching Vander Blue, and inexplicably referring to Blue as “Monsieur Bleu” in a terrible French accent. I still have no idea of what was going through his head on that one, however, I particularly appreciated the quip, as the recipe that I was preparing last night required mass quantities of blue cheese. So I sort of felt like George was directing the broadcast at me.

4) I'm not sure if I should praise Steve "Homer" True's repeated mentions that Mississippi State guard D'Angelo Jackson was from Milwaukee and starred at Milwaukee Pius during high school, or complain that he kept repeating this fact so much. Either way, it was interesting to find out that Jackson had ended up at Mississippi State. Given that he had bounced around from Creighton, to UW-Green Bay and then a junior college before landing at MSVU, I had sort of lost track of Jackson until last night.

5) In addition to listening to the Marquette game on the radio, I took some time out to watch the start of the Ohio State-UNC-Asheville game on TV. My particular desire to watch this game was twofold (aside from just wanting to see a good team play). First, I had not yet gotten an extended look at OSU freshman Jared Sullinger, who has been putting up mind-boggling numbers. Seeing as Kyrie Irving is presumably out for the year now, it seemed it would behoove me to see the new top freshman in the country. Sullinger did not disappoint. Second, I also wanted to get a look at fellow OSU freshman DeShaun Thomas, who I had the good fortune of seeing at the Indiana State High School Championships two years ago, when he was just a junior (in one of the two great events from the past two years that I somehow neglected to write about). I’ll never forget walking into Conseco Fieldhouse and having a friend note “we might want to watch this guy,” after noticing Thomas’s averages of 36 ppg and 16 rpg in the game program.

6) During last night’s OSU game, I briefly reflected on the amusing fact that David Lighty has been at OSU since the magical season of Greg Oden and Mike Conley. It occurred to me last night that someday Lighty (after his own pro career, of course) will be able to tell his grandkids that he played with the best freshman in OSU history. I find it amusing that if you’d told anyone in 2006 that Lighty would be referring to someone other than Greg Oden when potentially making this statement, they’d have looked at you as if you were insane.

7) Since I’m hopping around on topics, I suppose that I should make some comment about the Connecticut women’s team breaking the record for longest winning streak last night, winning their 89th game and unseating John Wooden’s UCLA squads of the early 1970s. I congratulate the Huskies. I don’t care how much of a talent advantage you have–winning 89 in a row of anything is a ridiculous accomplishment. But while I congratulate you and respect what you’re doing, I frankly don’t care much about it. I’ve tried to get into women’s hoops, and it has simply never worked out. As a college freshman, I recall feverishly trying to talk my dorm-mates into getting season tickets to the women’s games at Wisconsin. My main argument? Who could turn down season tickets to anything if they were only $26? I found no takers. Nor would anyone go to a single game with me. A big part of my love of sports is its ability to give me an easy way to socialize with others. And the fact that I can find more takers to watch a Thursday night division three game at Carroll University during a snow storm than I can to attend a single college women’s game with me tells me all that I need to know about the value of women's basketball in my life.

8) I saw nothing of the game, but heard later in the evening that in high school action, Menomonee Falls dropped to 5-5 after a loss to a perennially strong Brookfield Central team last night. Mark me down as unsurprised by the Indians’ struggles to date–it’s something that I’ve been anticipating since the summer. While many will undoubtedly look at Menomonee Falls’ underwhelming start to the year as proof that top recruit J.P. Tokoto may not be all that he’s cracked up to be, nothing could be further from the truth. Falls was overrated to start the year, not because of Tokoto (who is still awesome), but because of the expectations set up by their outstanding team last season. People tend to be blinded by the shine from Tokoto’s star power and forget that Menomonee Falls graduated a remarkable senior class last year. Talented forward Jonathan Phillips took inside pressure off of Tokoto, and the backcourt was dominated by three solid guards who also excelled in other sports and therefore knew what it was like to compete for state championships. It’s rare that a school has a senior class that just happens to be full of winners, but Falls had such a class last year. That’s a bigger deal than most people typically realize. Falls actually does have plenty of talent this year, but it’s tough to replace the intangibles that last year’s seniors brought to the table. So if you want to blame someone for Menomonee Falls starting this year a bit overrated, don’t blame J.P. Tokoto–blame the guys that graduated last year. They'd have had a great team even without their young superstar teammate, and they’re the ones that really created these expectations.

And with that last rant over, I wish everyone a happy holidays. I’m more than likely out until after Christmas, unless something huge happens. Here’s looking forward to conference play after Christmas!

Nothing To See Here...

2010-12-17T08:14:00.001-06:00

I was excited to have last night totally free and available for watching some basketball. That is, until I saw what my options were. None of the local division one teams were playing, so that was out. High school games are a Tuesday and Friday night affair, so I knew I wasn't going to find myself in a high school gym. With those options out of the way, I made a cursory check of the schedules of the local division three teams and what they were doing, which turned out to be nothing. In my desperate last move, I checked the television schedule and found out that I officially had two options: a) a high school game between two national powerhouse high schools that I knew nothing about on ESPN, and the Northwestern-American game on the Big Ten Network.

While I love basketball, I feel that my free time is too valuable to waste on high school players (no matter how phenomenal) that I know nothing about, or the Northwestern Wildcats. So I did what anyone in my situation would do--I cleaned my basement instead.

Here's looking forward to finals being over soon so that our nation's colleges and universities can get back to playing basketball. In the meantime, I'll be back on Monday with thoughts from whatever game(s) I happen to make it to this weekend.

An Evening of Frustration

2010-12-15T07:49:00.001-06:00

A quick note–due to a computer error on my part, I thought that yesterday I posted my thoughts from Monday’s Wisconsin vs. UW-Green Bay game, but I did not actually do so. I’ve made certain that they’re now up, though, so if you’re itching for some thoughts from a less-than-exciting contest, feel free to scroll down. Now, on to today’s thoughts.

Last night was a fiasco when it came to hoops. The world basically seemed like it was against me when it came to seeing the basketball that I wanted to watch last evening. There were three things that I wanted to watch, but none of them worked out for me. Here’s what I wanted to see, and what ended up happening:

Marquette vs. Wauwatosa East: It’s my favorite high school rivalry and was a game between two of the only four high school teams that I’ve seen this year. But I knew a little over a week ago that a commitment that I couldn’t get out of would keep me from going to see this one. I shrugged it off at the time, as the rivalry has died down a bit during recent years, with one team usually holding a strong edge heading into games. This year, between Tosa East’s uneven early play and Marquette’s strong senior class, it looked like the Hilltoppers would have that edge and walk away with a convincing win. Imagine my surprise to flip on the radio on the drive home (yes, I’m one of the 5 people out there that knows where to find a high school basketball game on the radio) and hear that it was a 29-point win for Wauwatosa East. I can’t believe I missed it. Mark me down for the next meeting right now, as it looks like the rivalry may be revived. There’s little doubt in my mind that the Hilltoppers will be as prepared as ever for when Tosa East heads to their gym later this season.

Jeronne Maymon’s Tennessee Debut: Because I didn’t have anywhere to be until 7pm last night, I was optimistic that I would be able to take in the first half of the Tennessee vs. Oakland game and perhaps see the Tennessee debut of former Madison Memorial star and controversial Marquette transfer Jeronne Maymon. No luck there. I was able to tune into the game, but Maymon is still awaiting clearance on his eligibility from the Tennessee administration (for seemingly ridiculous reasons, I might add). Adding insult to injury, while the game ended in an surprising upset by Oakland, I had long since been pulled away from my TV by that time. So really, I got almost nothing that I was looking for from this game.

UWM vs. DePaul: This one seemed like a very interesting game to me. UWM can’t compete with many Big East teams (Marquette’s near stumble against the Panthers a few weeks back, notwithstanding), but if there’s one that they might be able to take down, it’s a bottom-feeder like DePaul. The game was listed on two channels in my Directv expanded sports package. While it has become clear that Marquette games are going to be blacked out all year on these channels due to Time Warner Sports’ exclusive rights deal, I was keeping my fingers crossed that this one would not be. Because Time Warner Sports also holds exclusive rights to several UWM games, logically it would follow that this game would be blacked out. However, given that thousands of people locally would want to watch a Marquette basketball game, while maybe 100 people would go out of their way to find a UWM game on an obscure regional sports channel, I thought there might be a chance that the UWM blackouts would somehow be overlooked. They were not, and my DVR could not record the game. I later learned that the game was on ESPN3, but by the time that I figured that out, the game was close to being decided and the latter minutes were not really worth my time. Let this be a lesson–when in basketball-watching peril, always look to the computer.

It’s another night off for me, as the holiday season is full of strange commitments. Hopefully I’ll find something to watch on Thursday and be back with some more thoughts on Friday.

Wisconsin vs. UWGB: Rounding Out the State Matchups

2010-12-14T08:32:00.000-06:00

Last night I plunked down on my couch to see the last of the in-state rivalry games this year, as Wisconsin hosted UW-Green Bay. Obviously as Wisconsin win was expected, but with their upset at the hands of the Phoenix at the Resch Center last year, I wasn’t willing to take anything for granted. It ended up being a fairly bland 70-54 win, but was interesting enough to bring forth a few notable thoughts, and I’ve left those below for you.

1) After watching Bob Knight diagram a play with a pen and a piece of scrap paper a little over a week ago, my friend Dez and I have been noticing an increased use of white boards by color commentators since this past weekend during basketball broadcasts. This is a good development, but I'd say that the Big Ten Network upped the ante last night with Jim Jackson's dry erase board that looked like a miniature version of one half of Wisconsin's court. Very cool, and I sort of want one, though I have no idea what I would do with it.

2) My favorite early moment of the game came when 5'10" Badger guard Wquinton Smith found himself defending 7'0" Phoenix center Alec Brown. Smith's effort in attempting to deny the entry pass was commendable, but some things just aren't going to work when you're giving up over a foot. Accordingly, an entry pass directly over Smith's head led to an easy Brown layup.

3) Well, they talked about it during the game, so I suppose I can chime in on the new Big Ten logo and division names for next year's expanded conference. Like just about everyone else, I'm not a fan of the logo. I'm a big fan of simplicity (look in my second dresser drawer and you'll find that roughly 50% of my t-shirts bear the name of a college in plain block lettering), but the new Big Ten logo is so simple that it almost feels like no one put any effort into it. Perhaps I'm spoiled by the awesome current logo that slyly weaves the number 11 into the words "Big Ten," Of course, compared to the "Legends" and "Leaders" monikers for the football divisions, the logo looks pretty good. I loved listening to Jim Jackson dance around the his feelings on the names during the broadcast as he repeatedly said about them "I'm gonna leave it alone." Solid move, Jim–when you can't defend your employer's decisions, better to say nothing.

4) Kudos to the Big Ten Network for throwing up a graphic showing color commentator Jim Jackson's chosen top-five players in the conference without deeming them the "Jackson Five," a moniker which was lamely forced into last year's broadcasts when Jackson gave his keys to the game. With Tim Doyle calling other games on the network, there's no need for any more forced jokes.

5) It was the debut for former Sussex Hamilton star Kameron Cerroni, who injured his knee last high school football season and had been anticipating redshirting his freshman year as he continued to recover. Nice to see that despite his layoff, Cerroni was not shy, jacking up plenty of three-pointers during his limited minutes. Hopefully once the rust is off, Cerroni will be back to his prolific-scoring self. The Phoenix could always use another reliable scorer.

6) So far this season there’s been a lot to talk about with the Badgers. The immediate emergence of Josh Gasser, the ascendence of Mike Bruesewitz (who had an outstanding game last night) to a starting role, and Keaton Nankivil’s recent solid play. With all that’s going on, I’ve nearly forgotten that Tim Jarmusz is on the team despite him still seeing significant minutes every game. And I’m actually okay with that. People start to complain about Jarmusz when there’s not much to talk about and when Wisconsin needs to lean on him too much. But Jarmusz is best when you can just plug him in and you don’t have to think about him. Here’s hoping that by the end of the season I’ve almost completely forgotten who Jarmusz is, because if that’s the case, then everyone (including Jarmusz) is doing his job.

Not a ton of observations today, but like I said, it was sort of a bland game (fittingly, I also prepared myself sort of a bland dinner for consumption during the game). Back tomorrow with thoughts on something, though I’m not totally certain what I’m going to watch. The smart money is on the DePaul-UWM game at this point.

Marquette vs. Wisconsin: The Rivalry Continues

2010-12-13T08:00:00.002-06:00

As always, Saturday was my favorite game of the year--the Marquette vs. Wisconsin game. It's the one time a year when I'm forced to root against Marquette, and it's a typically a good time for some back and forth between myself and my large contingent of friends that are Marquette fans. Thankfully, this year the Badgers generally controlled the tempo and the game prior to a brief late game scare, and Wisconsin walked away with the 69-64 win. My game thoughts below:

1) Perhaps my favorite moment of Saturday came prior to the game when I began the walk over to the game with some friends from a nearby tavern. Looking to play a quick joke on my friend The Franchise, my friend Dave told him that he had received a text message that the game had started at 1pm instead of 1:30, for reasons related to television. The Franchise was livid, and stayed that way for about a block and a half, somehow not tipped off to Dave's fib by the hundreds of other fans streaming towards the Bradley Center along with us. He was only tipped off by the giggling of the group as we watched The Franchise quickly devolve into anger about the early start.

2) As usual, big kudos to the people who produce the game experience at Marquette. The pre-game video that specifically focused on the history of the Marquette-Wisconsin rivalry was brilliant and definitely made me smile.

3) Saturday's game highlighted one of the things that has excited me most about both Wisconsin and Marquette as the season has unfolded--depth. Wisconsin saw 12 different players log minutes and Marquette had 11 different players take the floor. While there's an argument to be made that both teams would be better off settling on a tighter rotation (and that very well may happen as the season goes on), it's pretty amazing to me that both teams have nearly an entire roster of players that the coaches feel comfortable inserting into a tight game. Although I will admit that late in the game it scared me a bit to see a Wisconsin lineup of Wquinton Smith, Jordan Taylor, Tim Jarmusz, Ryan Evans and Jared Berggren. I know that you can't have the starters out there all game, but seeing nearly the entire B-team down the stretch still causes some tension.

4) I could probably say this after any game, but I love the energy that Mike Bruesewitz brings to the table. I've seldom seen a player have a more impactful performance while scoring only two points.

5) By and large, one of my favorite things about the Marquette vs. Wisconsin rivalry is that I've never really had a bad incident with an opposing fan. Saturday was no exception for me. It's generally pretty tough to hide from the opposing fan base when your school colors are bright like red or gold, so a fair amount of harassment is to be expected when you're in the minority at a game like this. But it was a remarkably respectful day all around where I was sitting. Post-game, a few friends told me tales of people acting like jackasses, and I did witness a handful of Wisconsin fans gloating like idiots on the walk out of the game, but overall, I like the respectful nature of the rivalry.

6) As the early part of the season has unfolded, I've found myself really liking Davonte Gardner of Marquette and Jared Berggren of Wisconsin. While both have their differences, the thing that I've come to realize that I love about both is that they are legitimate low-post players, a rarity in today's game. Big guys in the modern day seem to be concerned with being versatile, but both Gardner and Berggren are quite at home putting crafty moves on defenders down low. Berggren dabbles with a three-point shot, but it's clear that he's more comfortable down low, while Gardner seems to be able to drop the ball through the hoop on just about anyone. Why Marquette didn't take more advantage of Gardner's skills on Saturday is a mystery to me, particularly given that Wisconsin's defensive switching often left him defended by a much smaller guard.

7) My favorite thing about watching Wisconsin on Saturday was noticing how calm they were throughout the game. Marquette had a solid defensive gameplan. The Golden Eagles' zone press, while not overly aggressive, made the Badgers work to get the ball up the floor. Then, Marquette's ball pressure and extended defense forced the Badgers to exert great effort in order to make even simple passes. But Wisconsin never panicked, and that's largely why they came out on top. It was a classic performance from a Bo Ryan team--methodical and effective. It's not exactly exciting to watch a team pass out of a basic full-court press, but the team that can do so like it's second nature is always going to stand a good chance of coming out on top.

8) As I believe I said at the start of the year, Jordan Taylor may not be the best point guard that Bo Ryan has ever had, but he's probably the most solid. It has quickly become apparent to me that there's no better guard for Ryan's system than Taylor.

9) I was amused and disappointed by the number of fans that I saw leave early as Wisconsin found its way to a double-digit lead for portions of the second half. Most notably, the guy sitting directly behind me looked at his two kids just as the 8-minute media timeout in the second half ended and said "If Wisconsin scores here, we're heading out." Indeed, Wisconsin did score to increase its lead to 11, and this gentleman and his two kids grabbed their coats and left. Now, I grew up with a father who took great joy in leaving games early to beat traffic when things got out of hand. But I think even he would concede that it would be a bit presumptuous to walk out with only an 11-point lead with eight minutes to go. Particularly when it's a Marquette team that can score in bunches that's down, and particularly when the game was occurring on a Saturday afternoon. (Yes, I get walking out early on an 8pm game vs. Prairie View on a school night.) I was still rooting for Wisconsin when that guy left, but there was a small part of me hoping for Marquette to win on a thrilling last second shot after a furious comeback, just to spite that guy who left with eight minutes to go.

With a big Badger win in the books, I headed back out to meet with my gold-wearing friends for a pleasant post-game gathering. I'll make enjoy the rest of this year as a victor, as I know all too well that this is a rivalry that never swings too far in one direction.

First High School Game of the Year: Whitefish Bay vs. Wauwatosa East

2010-12-08T08:15:00.001-06:00

Last evening I attended my first high school game of the year, as Wauwatosa East played host to Whitefish Bay. The game was intriguing for a few reasons. It involved two teams that should compete for championships within their respective conferences, that stand a decent chance of competing against one another again at sectionals, and that each have a power forward ranked among the area's best. Aside from that, long ago I attended Tosa East and I now have a good friend who's close to the Whitefish Bay program, so the game was personally interesting to me. With that in mind, my friend Gus and I took our seats and enjoyed the opportunity for us to get our first look of the season at the Red Raiders and Blue Dukes. The evening ended with a 64-46 win by Tosa East. My thoughts below:

1) Having eaten just before the game, I failed to take advantage of the Tosa East concession stand, but my friend Gus partook in an old favorite item of his at the game--an impressive looking walking taco. On a base level, I'm impressed that a high school concession stand has something beyond popcorn, candy and soda. But I'm even more impressed that a high school concession stand can sell a legitimately tasty looking item for only $3. I'll think twice before eating prior to a game again.

2) After reading an article a few days ago about Wauwatosa East, I was amused that the roster includes a guy that seems to be casually referred to by everyone, including the coach, simply as "Money." Nicknames simply weren't that cool when I was in high school. If we'd have had a guy named "Money," it's pretty much guaranteed that it would have been an ironic nickname to make fun of some guy who was a mediocre player. But seeing as Diamontae "Money" McKinley is a starter, he's clearly not regarded as mediocre. And for the record, hearing the Tosa East coach yell things at his players like "Give the ball up to Money!" made the nickname even more amusing than it was when I saw it in print.

3) Last season, Whitefish Bay's Jamie Schneck was one of my favorite players to watch and he continued to be such a player last night. He didn't put up huge numbers--he had a solid, but unspectacular 13 points--but he generally looked smooth and was undoubtedly the most polished player on the floor. I have no idea what colleges are involved with Schneck, or where he's considering playing next year, but the future looks bright for him.

4) Beyond Schneck, I like the rest of Whitefish Bay’s frontcourt, namely Ron Patten and Jack Beck. Patten made a minimal impact last night, but his size and ability give the impression that he’ll preform better in future games. As for Beck, his wide frame would seem to imply that he’d be slow, but that’s definitely not the case. Add in his soft hands and ability to effortlessly destroy opponents while boxing them out, and you’ve got yourself a player.

5) Aaron Uden is looking like the odds-on choice to be the under-appreciated Tosa East player that I really enjoy watching this year. A 6'4" forward, Uden sets hard screens, battles for seemingly every rebound, and generally does the dirty work that goes unnoticed by people watching the ball. That's not to say that he doesn't have a bit of flash--he did throw down a breakaway dunk for Tosa East's first points of the game, and totaled the second highest number of points for the Red Raiders last night. But it’s the former things that stood out about his play.

6) For a variety of reasons, I didn't make it to a Wauwatosa East home game last season, so I may be late to the game on noting that the gym floor has gotten a nice face lift. With a lighter red color and white lettering, the floor is a solid update from the design that's the only one I had ever seen dating back to the first high school game that I saw back in 1985. It does make me feel somewhat old that my old high school gym has changed so much from the increasingly long ago days when I was a student, but I'm definitely glad that today's youngsters have a much more attractive place than I did in which to play games.

7) I was somewhat surprised by a fairly small crowd at Tuesday night's game. I suppose that Tosa East's lackluster prior season and 0-2 start this year has dampened some enthusiasm on the part of fans. However, last night's game was a fairly attractive non-conference contest featuring two of the better forwards in the area (Jamie Schneck and Darrell Bowie), so I'd have expected a few more fans in the building. A mildly solid home student section was in attendance, however the lack of adults was notable. The one benefit to decreased attendance is that I may no longer have to opt for my usual traffic-avoiding parking spot a block from the school. But I'm still hopeful for an enthusiastic crowd at coming games.

8) Tosa East guard Jackson Orin provided a huge spark off the bench, knocking down the first three 3-pointers that he took. On a team that still needs to settle on a regular rotation, Orin made a good case for continued playing time.

9) I promise to pay more attention to Tosa East standout Darrell Bowie the next time I see the Red Raiders play. My lack of attention to Bowie had more to do with the fact that he’s the one somewhat known entity on a team that I’ve long followed, but currently know next to nothing about. But his 17 point game implies that something good was going on–I was just too busy watching other things to make any notable observations about it.

10) At one point in the fourth quarter, Whitefish Bay trailed by only four points. But in the final quarter, Tosa East reversed course on the inability to finish out games that had marked its first two showdowns of the season. Calm and methodical, Tosa East took advantage of Whitefish Bay turnovers and repeatedly found easy layups while slowing the game down on offense. The home team played about as well as possible in the final six minutes, while the road team proceeded to panic and turn the ball over. Hence, the 18-point victory by Tosa East.

With a high school game in the books, I can shift my focus back to college hoops tonight as I head west to watch UWM visit Wisconsin. Given that one never knows which UWM team will show up on a given night, this one could be interesting.

On a final note, here’s wishing a speedy recovery to Marquette’s Joe Fulce, who from the sounds of it, suffered a potentially career-ending knee injury last night. Never a star for the Golden Eagles, Fulce had become one of my favorite role players, and assuming that he won’t be returning to the floor this year, I’m really going to miss seeing him play. Best of luck to Fulce, and here’s hoping that the early speculation about the severity of the injury is wrong.

Greatest Promotion Ever

2010-12-03T07:25:00.000-06:00

While cruising around and skimming a few message boards last night, I happened upon a link in a thread on the MU Scoop board noting that Marquette's February 19 game against Seton Hall will be Father Wild Bobblehead Night. It's certainly appropriate that Marquette's well-respected retiring president who's been a good friend to the basketball program is receiving such recognition. But leaving that logic aside, I think it's simply awesome that there will now be a priest with his own bobblehead. Count me in for this game. Now I just need to figure out where I should place Father Wild in my bobblehead cabinet (yes, I actually have one): next to Bobblehead Polish Sausage, or next to Bobblehead Jesus. I'm thinking the latter is more appropriate, but the former would be more fun.

Around the Dial...

2010-12-02T08:20:00.001-06:00

Last night I had my friend Dez over to my place to watch the final night of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. The plan was to watch the Wisconsin-N.C. State game, followed by the Duke-Michigan State game. Those plans were derailed a bit by technology (more on that below) and the fact that there were more interesting things to watch in the second half of the Wisconsin game than the Badgers absolutely burying N.C. State. But it was a solid evening all around with one of my go-to basketball watching pals. Thoughts from our trip around the ESPN dial below.

1) Unfortunately, I saw very little of Wisconsin’s blowout win over N.C. State. In the first half, this was due to a flawed video feed (I don’t know if this was unique to Directv, but it was annoying) which forced me to briefly switch over to the standard definition version (the horror!) of ESPN2. I believe things were fixed by the time the second half started, but the game was so out of hand at that point that it seemed prudent to switch over to the Purdue-Virginia Tech game. As that game went into overtime, I think I made the right call.

2) Speaking of Purdue and Virginia Tech going into overtime, I couldn’t believe how easily Purdue got its final basket to tie the game in regulation. If you’re Virginia Tech, the one guy you know that you need to pay attention to is JaJuan Johnson, Purdue’s all-American caliber center who was having a great night. So you’d have to think that Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg was ready to murder someone when his team let Johnson easily catch the ball on the block, leading to a quick and easy basket. I can’t say for sure that Purdue wouldn’t have scored had this not happened, but Virginia Tech sure didn’t make it tough on the Boilermakers.

3) Dez and I found ourselves talking several times about how great it is to watch a game where Bob Knight is doing color commentary. Knight, despite being a jerk to a lot of people over the years, oozes brilliance when talking about basketball and breaks things down so that even the most uninformed viewer can understand them with ease. The high point of last night’s Purdue-Virginia Tech broadcast had to be when, during overtime, Knight used his pen and a piece of white paper to diagram a Purdue offensive set and how Virginia Tech should defend it. In an era of high definition television, the camera was actually focusing on the piece of paper containing the scribblings of the color-commentator. And it was good. I can’t think of a single person other than Knight that could have made something like that compelling.

4) At one point during the Purdue-Virginia Tech game, I couldn’t help but notice that in the camera shot between Brent Musberger and Bob Knight was an unshaven man in Virginia Tech gear who looked like a classic stereotype of a crazy Virginia mountain person. That was amusing in itself, but more entertaining was the fact that he was wearing some sort of headset that would seem to indicate that he was calling the game for some media outlet. Nothing like having the crazy-looking guy as part of your radio team...

5) As part of the pre-game breakdown of Duke-Michigan State, Jay Bilas did an interesting segment where he pointed out all of the elements of Duke's defense in a clip of them defending one possession. At the end of it, after Bilas's talk about the Blue Devils applying ball pressure, constantly communicating, denying ball reversal and doubling players with the ball in the post, Dez looked at me and said "Jay Bilas just described everything that Marquette doesn't do on defense." Dez was my one direct information link to the Marquette-UWM game that I didn't see, so I think it's safe to assume that things didn't go well that night.

6) Kudos to Michigan State, who generally hung with Duke last night, despite my expectation that they would get their doors blown off by the Blue Devils. Michigan State is always a team that gels over the course of a season and which you can count on come tournament time, but I don’t necessarily expect them to win big games early on. Given how well they’re playing already, it could be a very special season for the Spartans.

7) It's nice to see Milwaukee native Korie Lucious playing well for Michigan State, though I have to admit saying to Dez after Lucious's excellent first half "I saw him play in high school plenty of times, and I never expected him to be that good."

8) Well, after the last two days I guess we can stop talking about Harrison Barnes as the nation’s top freshman and start talking about Kyrie Irving. Aside from Irving generally playing better so far, it doesn’t hurt his case that his team is generally looking outstanding and that he dropped 31 points on a top-ten team on national television last night.

9) As Dez pointed out, Doris Burke had better enjoy getting top assignments like reporting at the Duke-Michigan State game, because once football season ends, those top assignments are going to Erin Andrews. In the meantime, I’ll also continue to enjoy nights like these, due to my confusing crush on Ms. Burke.

10) I suppose I should have expected lackluster results from picking games solely based on which school’s campus I enjoyed more, but for the record, I went 6-5 on my picks made on that basis. Not great, but at least I came out up one, just like the Big Ten.

11) There are several conclusions that could be drawn from the fact that the Big Ten, considered by many to be the best conference in college basketball this year, won the ACC-Big Ten Challenge by a mere game and the win in the clinching game came in overtime. That’s about as close as it gets. The conclusion that I choose to draw is that while the Big Ten is excellent this year, the ACC is the most consistently outstanding conference in the country and will hang with any other conference in just about any year. (Now, if they could just get North Carolina going again...)

I've got some non-basketball things to do tonight, so I suspect there will be no update tomorrow. But Friday night there's a good chance of me having my first opportunity to get a look at some high school ball (either in person or on television, as Time Warner Sports is broadcasting what is sure to be an interesting Marquette-Menomonee Falls game). Here's looking forward to that.

ACC-Big Ten Challenge Predictions (Based On Virtually No Legiitmate Facts)

2010-11-30T07:58:00.000-06:00

I had the chance to watch the phenomenal Minnesota-Virginia game last night and was very pleased to have taken the time to watch the game. My lasting impression from the evening is that the Gophers can still play with pretty much anyone, and that the Cavaliers will steal a game or two that they shouldn’t win this year. So essentially, I’m not backing off of my pre-game analysis from yesterday (aside from the outcome)–Minnesota is very good now, and Virginia is on the verge of being pretty good.

In lieu of writing up factoids from last night’s game (and it kills me to throw away my meticulously compiled game notes), I need to make my Big Ten-ACC Challenge predictions today. As typically is the case, it’s early enough in the season that I’ve seen almost none of the teams. Thus, I’m reverting to my usual way of predicting things based on arbitrary characteristics. Because I’ve been to many of the Big Ten and ACC campuses (visiting college campuses is something of a hobby of mine), I’m choosing my winners this year based on which school I believes has the better campus. As you’ll see in my re-pick of the Virginia-Minnesota game, had I used this method yesterday, I would have gotten the game correct. In any event, here are my picks, with the winners in bold:

Virginia vs. Minnesota: This one’s sort of a tough call. I can’t say that I’ve spent tons of time on the Minnesota campus, but I’ve liked what I’ve seen of it, and I love the Twin Cities. Williams Arena is also one of the greatest spots I’ve ever watched a basketball game. As for Virginia, while I foresee a visit to Charlottesville in the near future, I’ve not been to the UVA campus since I was 9 years old, getting dragged along with the family as my older brother checked out colleges. From what I recall, Virginia was very nice, and had my mother had her way, that’s where my brother would have gone to school. My memory of the UVA campus is obviously hazy, given that my trip there occurred when I was a child and took place 23 years ago. However, if the place was nice enough that my mother wanted to send her eldest son there, I have to give the edge to the Cavaliers.

Illinois vs. North Carolina: This one’s the easiest pick of the challenge for me. It is widely known among my friends that Illinois is my least favorite of the Big Ten campuses. It’s in a remote area, has awful night life, and I generally get a terrible vibe from the people in Champaign. In contrast, North Carolina is my favorite campus in the entire country. Full of gorgeous red brick and abutting the excitement of Franklin Street, I find it impossible not to love UNC-Chapel Hill. During my college days, I once asked a friend of mine attending Duke how he enjoyed a class that he took at Chapel Hill and he replied “Honestly, if I’d known more about Chapel Hill coming out of high school, I’d have gone there instead.” That’s a telling statement coming from a Blue Devil. I’d have cut off one of my pinkie toes to go to school at North Carolina, so Illinois is no match for the Tar Heels in this one.

Ohio State vs. Florida State: Here’s one of the two matchups where I’ve been to neither place. Frankly, both places seem like they’d be a lot of fun to visit, and both schools have rabid sports fan bases. Based on the little that I know about both places and their seeming similarities, I can’t make an informed judgement. So I’ll have to revert to relying on actual basketball attributes and pick Ohio State and their talented freshman duo of Jared Sullinger and Deshaun Thomas. I’ve not seen Sullinger yet, but I had the opportunity to see Thomas as a high school junior (at the best event that I never took the time to write about) and I’m really looking forward to seeing both on the floor for the Buckeyes.

Michigan vs. Clemson: I haven’t been to Clemson, but suspect that I would like it there. My cousin who attended Clemson has a love of her Tigers that rivals mine for the Badgers, so that’s a good sign already. As to Michigan, I’m the rare Wisconsin grad who actually sort of enjoys Ann Arbor. Yes, Crisler Arena’s a bit of a dump, but the campus itself is not, and I found the downtown area to be a lot cooler than I was led to believe. I wanted to attend Michigan when I was coming out of high school, and while I’m happy for financial reasons that I did not get in, I’m certain that I would have had a great time there had I ever gotten off of the wait list. So Michigan narrowly gets the win.

Northwestern vs. Georgia Tech: Georgia Tech is on the list of campuses that I’ve never had the pleasure of visiting. That’s okay, though, because I’ve been to Northwestern’s campus a handful of times and it would be an understatement to say that I’m not a big fan of Evanston. Its extremely close proximity to Chicago is nice, but as to things going on in Evanston itself are severely limited. Perhaps its some bias on my part, as I was never a serious enough student to be able to live in a place with virtually no distractions, but Northwestern just isn’t my kind of place.

Iowa vs. Wake Forest: This one’s a tough call, as I’ve been to both, and really liked both. My trip to Wake Forest was brief and came prior to attending a basketball game there. It was basically a tour from a car window, but I was impressed. Due to Wake Forest’s high profile in the ACC, you sometimes forget that it’s a smaller school, and the pleasant campus reflects that fact. In contrast, Iowa is a big state school and definitely looks the part. Aside from my alma mater, UW-Madison, I’d have to say that Iowa is my favorite Big Ten campus to pay a visit to. The people are pleasant, the campus is set away from everything without being in the middle of nowhere, and in my younger days, I recall the night life being excellent. So while I like both, my love of Iowa wins out on this one (and this pick is painful, because while Iowa has a great campus, their basketball team is currently brutally bad).

Michigan State vs. Duke: Despite having very likeable key acquaintances with Michigan State ties, it’s one of the Big Ten campuses that I’ve never been to. As to Duke, between good friends that have studied and worked there, I’ve seen the campus more than any other school located outside of Wisconsin. And it should come as no surprise that it’s one of my favorites. So while I’ve never been to East Lansing, it’s hard for me to believe that it could compete with the Gothic architecture of Duke.

Purdue vs. Virginia Tech: Most people that I talk to hate Purdue’s campus. I can’t say that I hate it, but I can’t say I’m a huge fan of it, either. I’m really indifferent when it comes to Purdue–it’s kind of cool in some ways, but is never going to be a place that get me excited. In contrast, I was blown away when I visited Virginia Tech a few years back. Knowing the Hokies mostly from their football exploits, I had forgotten that Virginia Tech is actually a legitimate school. Thus, when I showed up expecting a bunch of inbred Virginia mountain people and happened upon one of the five most gorgeous campuses that I’ve had the pleasure of seeing, I was pretty much amazed. I’d go back to Blacksburg in a heartbeat and I’d be neither upset nor pleased if someone dropped me off in West Lafayette, so I’m taking the Hokies over the Boilermakers.

Wisconsin vs. N.C. State: As a man with two degrees from Wisconsin, I’m a bit biased in this one. And interestingly, though I’ve attended an N.C. State home game, I’ve never been to the campus (the RBC Center isn’t exactly part of the N.C. State campus). So I can’t really comment. Fortunately, one of my closest friends followed up his graduation from Wisconsin by attending N.C. State for grad school. And while I’ve not talked to him explicitly about which campus he prefers and don’t want to put words in his mouth, I’m fairly confident that his preference has always been Madison over Raliegh. So I’m picking the Badgers.

Indiana vs. Boston College: Despite a visit to Boston this past summer, BC was not among the schools that I had the chance the chance to visit. Boston’s fairly cool, though, so Boston College has that going in its favor. In terms of Indiana, it has been some time since I’ve been through Bloomington. I do know that it was my second choice school, after UW-Madison, for college. So something about the campus must have moved me when I visited there as a high school senior. I just wish I could recall what it was. Either way, the fact that I was moved to nearly spend four years of my life in Bloomington outweighs the fact that Boston is sort of cool, so I’m picking the Hoosiers in this one.

Maryland vs. Penn State: The second matchup where I’ve been to neither campus, which is sort of weird, since my family has a number of Maryland ties. In any event, my vision of Maryland is that of a traditional college town. Penn State has many of the same attributes, buy my understanding is that it’s out in the middle of nowhere, and that very few students actually get into Penn State as freshmen, with most transferring in at some point after attending other state schools for a year or two. Because Maryland sounds like the place that I’d be more likely to enjoy, I’m picking the Terps. But don’t hold me to this one, as my knowledge of both places is severely limited.

So, in terms of campus excellence, the ACC has the edge 6-5 over the Big Ten. Let's just hope that doesn't hold up during this week's games, as it would be nice for the Big Ten to bring home another win this year and actually make this look like some sort of challenge...

Recovering From The Long Weekend and ACC-Big Ten Challenge Prediction #1

2010-11-29T07:15:00.000-06:00

As usual, Thanksgiving weekend delivered tons of good basketball. UWM gave Marquette all it could handle on Saturday night, Wisconsin played three games and lost in the finals of the Old Spice Classic, and the high school season kicked off with some big all-day basketball events. Unfortunately, I had other commitments this weekend and missed most of the hoops excitement (on the plus side, Wisconsin's football team was fun to watch). So I have no comprehensive update today for two reasons. One, I simply ran out of time this weekend to write about anything. Two, I question the validity of me writing about a bunch of games for which the only details I have come from a slew of text messages from friends giving me updates throughout the weekend.

I'll perhaps crank out a few thoughts from the weekend for tomorrow. In the meantime, I always like to predict the outcomes of the games in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, and I tend to always miss the Monday game. But not this year. Full predictions will be out tomorrow, but here's my prediction for tonight's game:

Minnesota over Virginia: I actually want to pick Virginia here. I love head coach and former UW-Green Bay hero Tony Bennett. And I'm a big fan of the staff that he's assembled at Virginia. But if you've seen how awesome Minnesota has looked early on (and in limited amounts, I have), it's pretty much impossible to pick against them in this one. I'd put the frontcourt of Trevor Mbakwe, Ralph Sampson III, Rodney Williams and Colton Iverson up against just about anyone with the way that they've been playing of late. I'll discount the Gophers' win against North Carolina, as the Tarheels seem to be stuck in the same funk as last year, but it cannot be denied that Tubby Smith has his team playing shockingly well to start the season. It remains to be seen if this will be sustained over the course of the year, or how long Trevor Mbakwe will go before he mentally implodes and leaves the team, but for now, you'd have to give the Gophers a shot against any team in the country. And while Virginia and its roster of seven freshmen will likely be very good in a few years, it's not the Cavs' time yet.

Back tomorrow with more predictions, and a few random tidbits from my weekend exodus.

Marquette vs. Duke: When a Loss Is a Win

2010-11-23T07:31:00.000-06:00

Well, it was a successful evening last night. While I had expected a big Duke victory over Marquette, the Golden Eagles hung tough for a five-point loss and served notice that they can compete with just about anyone in the country. I had the pleasure of enjoying the game at a local bar with some friends. Fortunately, we were able to keep the game and the game audio (though we could not hear it well) on over Monday Night Football. Never let it be said that college basketball can’t compete with the NFL. My thoughts are below. They’re a bit light on non-game thoughts, as the bar viewing experience always takes away most of the opportunity to focus on weird broadcast moments. But it was a good enough game (and my first extended look at Marquette) to garner several legitimate thoughts:

1) I think I’ve lost a step, because I was totally taken by surprise when I saw Joe Fulce in street clothes at the game. Despite doing my best to follow news online, I somehow missed the fact that Fulce will be out of action for a week or two with a knee injury. While Marquette suddenly has some degree of depth at the forward spot, I’d still like to see Fulce return quickly. He’s been off to a slow start, but with his performance in the Milwaukee Summer Pro-Am League, Fulce has become the Marquette player that I have grown to like an irrational amount. I see him offering big contributions somewhere down the line.

2) Finally, the Junior Cadougan that everyone has heard so much about showed up last night. Caduougan, free of pain from last year’s Achilles injury, showed that he can be a master distributer of the ball. He even hit a three pointer, which I wasn’t expecting (and I probably don’t expect much long range shooting out of Caduougan going forward). Given that his fellow guard mates include a freshman (Vander Blue) and an inconsistent guy (Dwight Buycks), it would be nice if this version of Cadougan stuck around for awhile.

3) My most awkward moment of the night? That would be when I looked at a couple of friends after a successful Plumlee to Plumlee alley-oop for Duke and noted “It’s tough to stop a pass like that between the brothers.” Realizing how that sounded as it came out of my mouth, I then felt the need to quickly add “No, I mean actual brothers who are related to one another.”

4) My friend Greg would like everyone to know that he hates Dwight Buycks. I’m putting the over-under on the number of times that I hear this during each game that I end up watching with him the rest of the year at 26. If you had the over last night, you won.

5) There are two ways that I could go with my thoughts on Davante Gardner today. I could express disappointment that he let his minutes per game average dip below his points per game average by putting up only nine points in 15 minutes. Or, I could express excitement that he put up nine points not against a dreadful non-conference foe, but against the top team in the country, who routines runs out a front line of a 6'8" guy and two 6'10" guys. I’d just assume focus on the latter, as I had some concern before last night that Gardner was simply a master of racking up stats during garbage time. Instead, just a guy with a feather-soft touch down low and an uncanny knack for scoring. As I speculated during the pre-season, Gardner may be just the guy that Marquette has long needed at the forward spot.

6) You can’t help but love the talent on Duke’s roster. They’ve got a legit national player-of-the-year candidate in Kyle Singler and a legit freshman-of-the-year candidate in Kyrie Irving (you know a freshman is good when Coach K says he’s going to alter things about Duke’s offense to play to his strengths). Yet last night Mason Plumlee was the star of the evening, throwing down dunks and leaping above everyone else for rebound after rebound. Oh, and Nolan Smith managed to log 18 points and 9 rebounds without me even noticing because of the impressive things that other guys did.

7) I’m sort of glad that I’m not a member of the Plumlee family. Take Miles Plumlee, for instance. Two years ago he was a freshman starter at the beginning of the year for Duke. Now he’s getting minutes off the bench while his brother shines. And his younger brother Marshall arrives on campus next year. It’s quite possible that Miles could end up as the least successful of the three brothers. And when you’re still the low-man in your family after playing four solid seasons at Duke, that’s just too high a standard to live up to. I mean, I’m arguably the lesser sibling in my family, but at least my brother slips up here and there in an attempt to make me feel better about myself.

8) It’s completely unrelated to last night’s game or even basketball in general, but as a lifelong resident of the state of Wisconsin, I feel that I must note that it is a particularly joyful experience to see an ESPN news crawl detailing the complete implosion this year of Brett Favre’s Minnesota Vikings. It’s one of the few things that can get me to look away from the game.

9) Perhaps it was just the television that I was watching, or the fact that he wasn’t wearing one of his more ridiculous shirt and tie combinations (of which there have been many) last night, but I could swear that Buzz Williams has lost some weight. Perhaps his running habit is finally paying off.

10) I ultimately give lots of credit to Marquette for not folding against Duke. For the first five minutes of the game, Duke played the best basketball that I’ve seen out of anyone so far this year. It would have been easy to wilt after seeing Mason Plumlee receive perfect lob passes down low, or Kyle Singler finishing reverse layups on the fastbreak, particularly given the intimidating aura of Duke. But the Golden Eagles, either too stubborn or too dumb to be intimidated, just kept fighting back. It’s one of the things that I love about Marquette teams under Buzz Williams–they’re always tough and tend to play as if their season is on the line in every game. You can’t help but have fun watching a game like that.

So, it was really a good night for everyone watching the Duke-Marquette game. Duke fans are happy with the win, and Marquette fans are happy to have exceeded early expectations (as I said before and still believe, I think Marquette fairs better if this game gets replayed in March). As for tonight’s action, I have to believe that Marquette will be primed to take down Gonzaga to return from their tournament with one win. Look for a big Golden Eagle victory tonight as the prelude to a war between Duke and Kansas State. I’ll be doing my best to fit both into my night.

UWM vs. Northern Iowa: Mid-Major Utopia

2010-11-22T08:16:00.000-06:00

It was a rough hoops weekend for the big boys in Wisconsin college hoops. I haven’t yet watched the Wisconsin-UNLV game, but have read that there were many missed opportunities leading to Wisconsin’s 3-point loss to the Runnin’ Rebels. And friends that attended the Marquette-South Dakota game related that although a fan won a car on a half-court shot during a break in the action, the Golden Eagles looked fairly lifeless in their win over the Coyotes. So it is with great relief that I’m able to tell you that I picked the right game to watch this weekend, as I met up with a couple of friends to check out the UWM-Northern Iowa game downtown on Saturday night. It was my first look UWM this year, and it was a good one, as the Panthers (UWM Panthers, that is–it’s sort of tough to use that moniker in today’s entry, since Northern Iowa shares the same mascot) won a thriller. Thoughts on my first trip to the MECCA this year:

1) In addition to the UWM game on Saturday night, the Milwaukee Bucks were playing right across the street at the Bradley Center. It’s always sort of a bummer when the Bucks are downtown on the same night as the Panthers. The traffic is heavier, the parking ends up being more expensive, and you feel a little weird walking around with a UWM shirt when everyone else is wearing green and red. Yes, it may be one of the saddest franchises in the NBA, but any NBA fan base still dwarfs the fan base of a mid-major college team.

2) So much for buying a UWM media guide (which it’s entirely possible that they no longer make) at the stand that used to sell them on the way in. That stand now sells gourmet popcorn. While there are probably more people that want popcorn than media guides, this still begs the question of who would head to a UWM game and have a craving for cheddar popcorn.

3) I’m not going to lie–my interest in going to see Saturday night’s game was less about UWM and more about getting to see last year’s Missouri Valley champions in person. However, I will say that I was excited when the game started and UWM not only hung with Northern Iowa, they kept a slight lead for most of the game. To be fair, Northern Iowa lost three key players from last year’s squad (including Missouri Valley Player of the Year and former Ashwaubenon star Adam Koch) and they’re not exactly as powerful as last year, but the Panthers should still be a solid Missouri Valley team.

4) Northern Iowa’s Lucas O’Rear isn’t exactly an unknown entity, but you can’t help but be impressed by him. He doesn’t look like a guy that should be an excellent basketball player, but there he is in the starting lineup, grabbing rebounds and generally holding things together. He’s one of those guys that stands out for not standing out, and it’s always nice to have one of those helping to prop up your team.

5) While it was an interesting idea by UWM last year (or perhaps a couple years back–I really can’t remember) to eliminate the bank of seats behind one of the baskets, put in a bar and a bunch of tables to stand at and name that area the “Panther Pit,” I was reminded again on Saturday night that the Panther Pit is one of the saddest places on earth. There was some brief activity there during halftime, but otherwise it was generally a huge empty area with a lonely bartender on duty. Given that Northern Iowa is one of the three most intriguing games on the UWM schedule, I’m thinking that the only chance of excitement in the Panther Pit this year is if Marquette fans try to stage a hostile takeover when the Golden Eagles’ visit UWM next Saturday.

6) One of the intriguing things about seeing Northern Iowa was that the Panthers have two Wisconsin products on their roster in Jake Koch (brother of the aforementioned Adam) and Chip Rank, a freshman standout from Cedearburg. Koch played his high school to far away from me for me to ever see him play, but I had the chance to see Rank last year and was very impressed. I was pleased to see him have a nice game off the bench. His activeness on defense and surprising shooting range confirmed for me what I’d suspected before Rank got to Northern Iowa–he’s going to be a very good player for the Panthers for the next four years.

7) Excited as I was about seeing Chip Rank, I was less excited than the group of young men in the row ahead of me, who I can only assume were hopeful young Cedarburg hoopsters who had watched Rank play for the last few years as they dreamed of playing ball for the Bulldogs. I’m glad that those guys got to enjoy the game, even if their speculation about Rank tossing down a game-winning dunk in overtime did not materialize.

8) I’d read the pre-season hype about Anthony Hill and I’d tempered my expectations a bit, because I’ve actually seen Hill play. But it looks to me like Hill’s late-season surge last year may have been for real, and that he may have finally turned a corner and become the solid player that everyone has been waiting for. I’m not sure if something went off in Hill’s head, or if his teammates are simply looking for him more, but I don’t think that his 17-point effort is going to be uncommon this year. With his muscular frame, Hill has always looked the part. Now he’s playing the part, too.

9) I didn’t get to a lot of UWM games last year, though I know that I saw the thing that I’m about to mention during the times when I did make it to the MECCA. So I need to apologize for being late to the game with my praise for the giant inflatable panther head that the players run in and out of to get to the locker room. It is thoroughly awesome.

10) It was nice to see Tone Boyle healthy and sinking a game-winning shot with 2-seconds left. The play was a classic example of just letting the team’s best scorer get the ball and make something happen. There were a few screens that Boyle curled around, but he ultimately ended up creating his own shot with a defender in his face. The shot was clutch, and the fact that he was even able to get such a nice shot off shows exactly why Boyle is a fun guy to watch.

And with the UWM victory in the books, my friends and I headed off to catch the end of the college football Saturday with a couple of other pals. We’ll be reconvening tonight to catch the Marquette-Duke matchup in the CBE Classic. To be completely honest, I don’t have a great feeling about this one. While Marquette’s athleticism and ability to play hard at all times is inspiring, Duke’s experience is tough to overlook. I’m seeing a big double-digit loss tonight for the Golden Eagles. But if we replay this one in March, I suspect it’s a much different ballgame. In any event, I’ll be back tomorrow with thoughts on the game.

Marquette vs. UW-Green Bay: Struggling To Find a Feed...

2010-11-18T08:37:00.001-06:00

I was excited to finally get my first look at Marquette last evening (and against an in-state foe, no less). I’ve not had a moment to get down to the Bradley Center so far this year and while I did see portions of the Golden Eagles’ game against hapless Prairie View A&M last Friday, I was out with friends at the time, which always makes it impossible to have a laser-like focus on the game. So last night I couldn’t wait to settle into my chair and closely watch Marquette and Green Bay for two hours. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

As the night broke down, I caught the first five minutes of the game at the gym before heading home to watch the rest of the game, which I had set to record from the Directv feed of MASN. When I got home, I was dismayed to find that my DVR had stopped recording after about 30 minutes. I sighed, anticipated a 20-minute gap in the game, and pressed record again as I started to watch what had actually recorded. I thought nothing of it until I came to the end of the initial 30 minutes of the recording. At that point I learned that the reason that my recording had stopped was that the broadcast had been blacked out mid-game. I’m was a bit rattled by the blackout, not because it was inappropriate (truthfully, it makes sense to me that a locally played game to which Time Warner Sports has rights would be blacked out), but because MASN and other east coast sports channels had been a reliable way to catch Marquette games last season. I guess that’s no longer the case, which complicates my analysis of television providers even further. In any event, crestfallen, I continued on with the radio broadcast of the game while I cued up a random college hoops game in the background. It was not my happiest moment.

(On a side note, I was wrong a couple days ago about me not having access to ESPN3. After testing things out, it turns out the disclaimer on the ESPN3 website about being unable to receive ESPN3 without a cable package containing ESPN was apparently incorrect. Despite me being an internet-only Time Warner subscriber, the tail end of Tuesday night’s Wisconsin game came through crystal clear for me. I suppose it’s even possible that last night’s Marquette game was on ESPN3, but I didn’t get the chance to check. Now I just need to get a computer that can output to my television. And perhaps also has a functioning “b” key.)

On to my abbreviated thoughts on Marquette’s 89-69 dismantling of the Phoenix:

1) In the pre-game, it was noted that former Marquette star and newly hired Green Bay head coach Brian Wardle is 31 years old. That’s one year younger than me, which is just another reminder that I’ve accomplished very little in my life.

2) I was not aware until the broadcast that last night’s game was part of the CBE Classic. At first, I simply thought that this was some bogus set of bad early-season non-conference games grouped together solely to give O’Reilly Auto Parts an opportunity to sponsor something. Upon further investigation, though, I found that this (and MU’s game against Bucknell) was part of the tournament that will pit the Golden Eagles against Duke next Monday. As it turns out, Duke, Marquette, Kansas State and Gonzaga all played games whose outcomes didn’t matter (a point driven home by Gonzaga losing to San Diego State on Tuesday night) before the pre-determined “Championship Round.” It seems like having two meaningless opening rounds is a pretty illegitimate way to run a “tournament,” but maybe that’s just me.

3) I can’t say with a high degree of certainty, but during the first portion of my game-watching at the gym, I’m pretty think that a particular former Marquette player was just a few machines down from me. I’m uncertain if it was truly the guy I was thinking of for three reasons. First, he’s a guy that I somewhat thought would still playing pro ball overseas. Second, he’s a guy that I would have expected to return to his home state after graduation. And third, if he was indeed a former player, I’d expect him to want to carve out some time to watch the game on his own time (then again, I really wanted to see the game and I was there too, so perhaps this third point is not such a great one). I’ll leave this vague, partly in order to leave the guy alone, and partly because I don’t want to look dumb if I’m wrong.

4) This is actually a point that I discussed with some friends while watching the Prairie View A&M game, but good heavens is Jae Crowder well-built. I don’t know how much time that guy spends in the weight room, but he resembles a long-haired Karl Malone. During the Prairie View A&M game, my friends and I had briefly forgotten that Crowder attended a junior college before Marquette. I'm glad that I've since remembered that, because it seemed simply implausible that someone could look like that as a freshman. As it turns out, it is implausible.

5) The announcing team noted that Green Bay freshman center Alec Brown is Green Bay’s first 7-foot tall player. As for the positive things about his game at this point, I’d say that he’s about 7-feet tall. Good thing he has three more years to learn.

6) Watching some of the perimeter exchanges on offense, it’s pretty clear that Green Bay coach Brian Wardle spent some time playing for Tom Crean.

7) So here’s the one thing that really disappointed me about last night’s game–because of when the black-out kicked in, I didn’t get to see Davonte Gardner. He’s a guy that I was fairly high on before the season began, he was one of the heros of the Bucknell comeback, and he didn’t play in the first 10 minutes of the game. I know I’ll eventually get to see him, as he’s currently averaging 13 points per game in only 12 minutes of playing time per game, but it would have been nice to finally get a look at him last night.

8) The broadcast teams for Marquette have been shaken up of late as radio color commentator Jim McIlvaine has been shifting over to the TV side for a few games, with fellow former-MU star Tony Smith subbing in on the radio broadcast. Having had the chance to take in portions of both the TV and radio broadcasts last night, I can say that while the shift appears temporary, I liked it. McIlvaine, being new at TV, obviously needs some practice. However, he’s a bit more subdued on TV, and you can rest easily knowing that he’s not going to make one of his cornball moves like exclaiming “No mercy in this dojo!” when something exciting happens. As for Smith, his work with various local media outlets has made him a competent, if unspectacular color commentator. I suspect that given a few more games, his rapport with play-by-play man Steve “The Homer” True would be fantastic.

I wish I had a few more salient game points, but my points above will have to do, given that the final 30 minutes of the game were not visible to me. Fortunately, next Monday it should be pretty much impossible to miss Marquette taking on Duke. After all, with the amount of influence that Duke has on ESPN, I’m half expecting the game to pre-empt Monday night football.

I’ve got my eye on a late game tonight, so back tomorrow if I can jot some thoughts down before passing out.

Quick Thoughts

2010-11-16T08:27:00.001-06:00

Just a few quick thoughts today on the little basketball content that I took in last night:

1) I caught a good portion of the second half of the Minnesota-Siena game last night. Because I only tuned in for the second half, and not the first half where the Gophers fell way behind, it's tough for me to get a good read on the Gophers. As for my favorite moment, Gopher forward Rodney Williams became the early frontrunner for most athletic play of the year when he took an alley-oop pass which forced him to adjust mid-air from his straight-on attack and throw down a reverse dunk instead. Very nice, Mr. Williams.

2) During the broadcast of the Minnesota game last night, the announcers noted that Tubby Smith was calling forward Trevor Mbakwe the team’s “X-factor,” and saying that Mbakwe was the guy that the team’s success or failure could hinge on. If I was Tubby Smith, I would probably have an uneasy feeling about the season after making those statements.

Mbakwe is undoubtedly a great talent. He’s also a guy that makes confusingly bad decisions. Let’s review how he got to Minnesota. His high school career spanned, if I recall correctly, three schools in two states. In college, he started off injured at Marquette and instead of taking a redshirt year, returned to play a mere 11 games at the end of the season. He then left Marquette the day before classes for his sophomore year were about to begin, leaving virtually no way for the Marquette staff to fill the huge hole that he left on the roster. From there, he ended up at a junior college in Miami, a city which he had seemingly no ties with. And last year he found his way to the Golden Gophers, but was held out of play all year due to a then-unresolved sexual assault charge against him from his time in Miami. Oh yeah, and during this past offseason he talked about potentially transferring from Minnesota.

I hope for Tubby Smith’s sake that Mbakwe’s head is finally screwed on straight, but he certainly doesn’t have the track record of a guy that you want to depend on. That’s a shame, because his abilities as a player make him a guy that you’d like to lean heavily on. But don’t color me surprised if Mbakwe leaves the team midseason for mind-boggling reasons.

3) I didn't realize until it was too late last night that Dickey Simpkins was doing color commentary on the Minnesota-Siena game. A tip to everyone out there--if you ever hear that Dickey Simpkins is calling the game that you're watching, don't change the channel, but do turn the volume up and listen closely. I guarantee that it will be less than five minutes until Simpkins says something so asinine that you'll find yourself wondering how he ever got anyone to give him a microphone.

4) After all of my pre-season analysis of television packages and providers, we’re one week into the season and I now realize that I have a huge hole in my coverage: ESPN3. In previous years, ESPN3 (or ESPN 360, as it was formerly known) was a niche product, as no one wanted to watch a game on his or her computer. So I never thought twice about the service. But in the last two years, connecting a computer to one’s television has become a much more common way of watching games, and ESPN3 actually appears to have some value. In fact, I was thinking of watching tonight’s Wisconsin game on ESPN3, until I realized that I don’t have access to it. My internet provider is Time Warner, and as it turns out, Time Warner subscribers can only receive ESPN3 if they receive ESPN in their cable programming package. As I’m a Directv subscriber, I have no Time Warner Cable package and am 95% sure that I'm out of luck for tonight’s Badger game. This will be something to take into consideration as I evaluate my television needs going forward. As for tonight, it’s a good thing that Badger play-by-play man Matt Lepay is the best in the business.

5) I love the ESPN 24-hour hoops marathon, even though I’m tied up doing other things for something like 15 of those hours.

6) I caught a bit of ESPN’s pre-season basketball preview last night, and particularly enjoyed the discussion of the newly expanded 68-team tournament by ESPN’s panel of basketball experts. Of particular note, Hubert Davis put forward my constant objection to the play-in games as being an unfair way of keeping low-level conference champions out of the “real” tournament. And my idol, Jay Bilas, noted that while the reason for the expansion to 68 teams is money, money isn’t exactly a terrible reason to make a decision. I agreed with the general consensus of the group that while 68 teams was far better than an expansion to 96 teams would have been, it doesn’t have the simple fairness that the old 64 team tournament had.

Back tomorrow with thoughts on whatever I manage to watch or listen to.

Wisconsin vs. Prairie View A&M: The Season Begins

2010-11-15T08:21:00.000-06:00

The real action finally got underway this weekend with all of the state’s division one teams playing their first regular season games of the year. I had the opportunity to get a few glimpses of Marquette’s Friday night game against Prairie View A&M on TV and to listen on the radio to most of the second half of the Golden Eagles’ come-from-behind win against Bucknell yesterday. However most of today’s thoughts will be about my trip to the first Wisconsin game of the year, as I actually attended and paid full attention to that one. Weekend thoughts below:

1) I had forgotten until I was making the drive to the Badger game on Sunday that 100.5 FM in Madison is now broadcasting Marquette games. Being able to listen to the Marquette game and post-game show made the drive to Madison much more enjoyable. I’m sort of jealous that there’s now a way to follow Marquette in Madison, as during my days there, there was so little coverage that Marquette might as well have been a school located thousands of miles away on the west coast.

2) A final note on last night’s Marquette game before I go all-Badgers for the rest of this entry: How amazing is it that Marquette’s 24-0 run to close out yesterday’s comeback win against Bucknell was largely led by three freshmen (Davonte Gardner, Vander Blue and Jae Crowder)? With Buzz Williams recruiting guys like that, the future looks very good at Marquette.

3) As I alluded to in my pre-season notes, I’m a thrifty guy when attending hoops games, so you can imagine my delight in finding free street parking on my way to last night’s game. That’s $3 sliding right back into my pocket.

4) The story of Sunday night was obviously Josh Gasser’s stellar debut as a Badger. I can’t recall a better first game by any Wisconsin player. His stats–21 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists are what leap off the page. But in watching the game, his aggressiveness was perhaps the most notable thing about him. Gasser’s hard cuts and ability to get into the lane are what led to his point and rebound totals, as well as his ability to constantly get to the free throw line. While I obviously am not expecting a performance like this from Gasser every night, it’s immediately apparent after one game that he’s not going to be tentative as a freshman.

5) Sometimes I don’t know what I’m talking about. One such instance is my proclamation during my pre-season thoughts on the Badgers that Wquinton Smith would be little more than a solid guy to throw into a game during an emergency. So of course, he opened the season as a starter, proving that Bo Ryan wasn’t just trying to mix things up by giving him an exhibition start. In my defense, Rob Wilson’s injury has impacted the number of guard minutes available. And let’s face it, it’s pretty surprising that a 5'10" walk-on (and not even a preferred walk on–Smith found his way on to the roster via an open tryout) is starting and playing significant minutes.

6) I might as well keep talking about things that I’m wrong about. Here’s one that I never even explicitly stated on the blog–prior to the huge buzz about him in the pre-season, I wasn’t expecting to see Josh Gasser giving the Badgers important minutes this year. He struck me as the kind of guy that would be very solid by the time that he was a junior, but wasn’t necessarily going to be someone to be relied on immediately. I only had the opportunity to see Gasser once during his high school career, and didn’t come away from the game particularly excited about him. (Here’s my entry from that game last year. I’ll let you in on a secret–I have a general rule against saying negative things about high school players on the blog. So it’s a pretty good bet that when I say very little about a star high school player after a game that I’m a bit underwhelmed. Note that I don’t spend a lot of time talking about Gasser in last year’s entry.) As I’ve long said, I have great respect for actual coaches, as they can see the things that I can’t. Mark this down as one instance where I’m pleased to have been completely clueless.

7) Kudos to the creative team at Wisconsin for coming up with the “Mike Bruesewitz Hair Cam” as a timeout entertainment feature. The general concept is that the scoreboard video screen shows people from around the arena and then superimposes Bruesewitz’s big red mop of hair onto their heads. And while it was pretty much a home run of a concept to begin with, the arena camera people nailed the execution of it, as well, appropriately focusing mostly on children and middle-aged bald guys. Those are clearly the most entertaining people to toss a giant red hairdo onto.

8) It’s official, Duje Dukan won’t be redshirting, as he checked into last night’s game. I doubt he’ll see much playing time this year, which is more a reflection of the Badgers’ frontcourt depth than anything about Dukan himself. I’m not too worked up about this either way. While it’s probably likely that Dukan would see more floor time as a fifth year senior than as a true freshman, it’s hard to get worked up over a guy wanting to play.

9) Prairie View A&M played Marquette on Friday night and Wisconsin on Sunday evening. (As a side note, I was impressed at their ability to lose badly to both teams in distinctively different ways.) Because of this scheduling situation, I’m assuming that the Panthers’ had some free time to play around with on Saturday. This left me wondering what a basketball team stuck in Wisconsin for a weekend does during their down time. I want to believe that after a short practice on Saturday morning, the team banded together and begged their bus driver to take them to the House on the Rock. However, I suspect that the day was probably a bit more mundane than that and involved watching college football in a hotel room.

10) It was a weak showing by the Wisconsin crowd on Sunday evening, as the attendance was about as low as I’ve ever seen it for a Badger game. The student section didn’t come close to filling its lower-level seats (in contrast to Marquette, who appeared to have solid early-season attendance for its student section on Friday night), and there were plenty of empty red seats around the rest of the arena. I assume part of the low attendance can be attributed to the bizarre 5pm Sunday evening start time, but it was still a bit jarring. When I’m sitting in the last row of the arena I expect there to be enough people making noise that I’m not able to hear the opposing team’s coach yelling instructions to his players. That wasn’t the case last night.

11) The hoops team scored 99 points last night, so can we now put a moratorium on lame jokes about the football team outscoring them on Saturday?

12) Mike Bruesewitz again looked like the best of the reserve forwards on Sunday night (followed closely by Jared Berggren, who really has developed an outside shot), even looking briefly dominant during a five minute stretch in the second half. The difference between Bruesewitz last season and this season seems less about his skill level and more about his comfort level. Last year when Bruesewitz got into a game, he did things correctly, but his movements were deliberate, precise, and you could tell he was thinking about them. This year, he just looks like he’s in the flow of things and that the basics are second nature, which makes him markedly better.

13) The only guys not to have great games? Ryan Evans and Keaton Nankivil–and even they had some very good moments on the floor (Evans’ athletic lay-in on a back door lob pass comes to mind). Evans was slowed by early foul trouble again, and I thought Nankivil had a few defensive missteps. But Evans and Nankivil’s less-than-perfect nights revealed what’s so great about Wisconsin having six capable frontcourt players this season–when one person is having an off night, it’s a pretty good bet that someone else will be able to step in pick up his teammate for that game.

14) Last night was the first game of a four-pack of tickets that I purchased with my friend Ferd. We were in the last row in a corner of the Kohl Center. And you know what? The view was actually pretty good. I’m probably a poor guy to ask, as I’m willing to sit just about anywhere at a basketball game, but I’m impressed that even the worst seats in the house at the Kohl Center are pretty good. It’s comforting to know for future game that I may scalp tickets to that no matter how much a scalper lies to me about seat location, I’m pretty much going to be okay.

15) Perhaps the most underrated aspect of the games played by Josh Gasser and Wquinton Smith last night was their ability to rebound down low. I actually watched Smith, a 5'10" walk-on guard, grab four rebounds in the paint last night. I don’t expect to ever see this again (indeed, Wisconsin out-rebounded Prairie View 45-15, which is about as lopsided as it gets), but it was nice to see guards that were able to make a strong effort down low. Not since Kirk Penney and Travon Davis have I seen Wisconsin guards so willing to commit to playing well near the blocks.

16) No minutes in a 44-point win for J.P. Gavinski, J.D. Wise or Dan Fahey. I guess they know their roles all too well.

17) The lingering question for Wisconsin? What will happen when Rob Wilson is fully recovered from his injury. Wilson is more experienced and athletic than Josh Gasser and Wquinton Smith, but has also generally been less consistent than Gasser and Smith have looked in their two exhibition games and initial regular season game (of course, that’s a pretty small sample size). I can’t say that I have any idea what the distribution of minutes at the guard spots will look like, other than that Wilson will play some sort of role and Jordan Taylor’s minutes won’t be impacted at all.

With my first real game of the year in the books, I headed back to Milwaukee with Ferd listening to foolish callers on a the radio post-game show. Now that the fun has begun, I’m excited to begin watching games in earnest. Hopefully I’ll find something to see tonight, but if not, I suppose ESPN will come to my rescue tomorrow with it’s 24-hour hoops marathon. Who’s with me for a little 3am Central Michigan vs. Hawaii action?

Wisconsin vs. Minnesota State: Starting the Season Off Right

2010-11-11T07:13:00.002-06:00

Ah, the first game of the year. Last night I had the opportunity to head to the Kohl Center for Wisconsin’s exhibition game against Minnesota State. Joining me for the evening was my good friend Samip, who I watched many a game with back in college, and who happened to be in Madison already on business. So I didn’t get the fun car ride to Madison with Samip, but we did enjoy the game, as well as a quick pre-game drink. It felt good to be back at the Kohl Center. Thoughts on night #1 of my season below:

1) It was a bizarre starting lineup for the Badgers last night. As expected, Jon Leuer, Jordan Taylor and Keaton Nankivil took up three of the starting spots, but the remaining two spots unexpectedly went to Mike Bruesewitz and walk-on guard Wquinton Smith. I try not to read too much into the minutes that get doled out in exhibition games, as Bo Ryan tends to play around with things during the preseason (indeed, he had almost every conceivable combination of players on the floor at some point last night), but one can’t help but think that it speaks volumes about what Ryan thinks about Bruesewitz and Smith that each received a start tonight.

2) Aside from his being in the starting lineup, Wquinton Smith logging major minutes was one of the surprises of the night. Some of Smith’s time undoubtedly came because Rob Wilson was sidelined for the night with a hamstring issue. However, he logged more minutes than every other guard on the team besides Jordan Taylor. Smith acquitted himself nicely, though, and one wonders if the unthinkable is possible and a walk-on may log a few minutes here and there for a very good Badger team. Based on how he was used tonight, it’s tough not to think that Smith will be in the mix along with Josh Gasser for backing up the guard spots.

3) I’m advocating that Mike Bruesewitz be given the opportunity to start every home game this season. It’s not because he played well (though he did), and it’s not because of his gigantic mop of red hair that’s sure to make him a fan favorite this year. No, it’s because he had the goofiest set of expressions ever on his face when the video of him for player introductions was shown on the Kohl Center scoreboard. I’m still trying to figure out if Bruesewitz was just messing around of if he just generally looks sort of goofy.

4) The player that I was most intrigued to see last evening was Josh Gasser, the freshman guard generally thought to be most likely to see minutes at the backup guard spots. I had seen Gasser play once in high school and was generally not blown away. That was the case last night, as Gasser saw some minutes, but did nothing overly exciting. But I suspect that this is part of why Bo Ryan likes Gasser–much like Tim Jarmusz (though I would argue that Gasser has a bit more upside than Jarmusz), Gasser isn’t going to wow you with spectacular passes or steals, but he’s going to do everything pretty much right and not screw anything up. Who knows what this year holds for Gasser, but I’m pretty sure that we’ll all love him by the time he’s a junior.

5) As I noted a couple of days ago, I’m not a guy that’s going to go out of his way to defend Tim Jarmusz. That said, Jarmusz proved his worth to me on one play tonight when he pointed at Jordan Taylor and told Jared Berggren to set a ball screen. Moments later, Berggren obeyed Jarmusz’s command and Taylor got free for a sweet jump shot.

6) Ryan Evans fouled out in 11 minutes of play. Ouch. To be fair, it was a tightly called game, but it was nonetheless a rough night for the hard-working sophomore.

7) I’ve been oddly slow to warm to Jon Leuer, but his 19 first half points in limited minutes may have finally brought me around. Leuer can score from anywhere on the floor. And while he embarrassed Minnesota-Mankato less than he did UW-LaCrosse a few nights ago (I watched a short portion of the replay of that game on my DVR, and saw Leuer toss down four dunks, all of which involved him putting an impressive move on his defender), he still generally had his way. Even more interesting, Leuer displayed a few of tricky, behind-the-head passes to teammates, who caught them every time. It’s one thing to throw a fancy pass, but it’s another thing when you can actually get your teammates to catch it. Leuer just seems to have everything going his way right now.

8) One complaint on the night–during the halftime kids’ hoop dunk contest, contestant number two, Isaac from Janesville got totally robbed when he was not chosen by the crowd as the winner. Isaac, who could have been no more than 9-10 years old, was bested by contestant number three (presumably his younger brother or friend). While I’ll give you that it was funny when the smaller contestant number three ripped down the rim with his dunk, young Isaac had actually asked contestant number three to kneel down in front of the hoop and then jumped over him for his dunk. When you’re 9 years old and using human props already, there’s really no way that you should lose.

9) I enjoyed J.P. Gavinski’s thunderous dunk during garbage time (this was perhaps the last time that I’ll ever get to see him play live). And it only felt appropriate the Gavinski threw down at the exact moment that I was commenting to Samip that it was uncanny with the physical transformations of some of Gavinski’s teammates that he himself had developed almost no muscle tone during his four previous years on campus.

10) Former LaCrosse Aquinas standout Jimmy Whitehead is on the Minnesota State roster. I was only reminded that I vaguely knew who Whitehead was after looking him up on my roster sheet to see who the guy with the most awkward looking shot ever was.

11) While the Badgers didn’t exactly look to be in early season form, the cheerleaders sort of did. There were a few mildly nervous moments endured while watching their less-than-totally-clean lifts during timeouts. One can only assume that in 4-5 games, there will be much less reason to fear one of them suffering a horrific fall.

12) He’s been relegated to the bench for a couple of years, but after seeing him play some minutes last night, I still really like Jared Berggren, and my positive impression of him is based on the same thing that drew me to him two years ago–he likes contact down low. These days it seems like most guys that are 6'10" want to show off their ability to put the ball on the floor and take long three-point shots. So it’s refreshing to see a big guy that looks at home banging with opponents on the blocks. Berggren is able to take the occasional three-point shot now, but it’s not his primary game, and he looks like he’d rather be down low. And he might be the only Badger that I can say truly loves being near the baseline.

13) Duje Dukan saw some brief action last night and when he entered the game I simply looked at my friend Samip and noted “Good God, is he skinny.” Indeed, while I had heard some noise about how skinny Dukan’s frame is, it was an entirely different thing to see in person. I’m still not quite sure if his astounding appearance is due to him actually being skinny or his teammates having added so much muscle during their years in the program. After all, I was commenting about how skinny Dukan was while he was standing next to Jon Leuer, who was the guy that everyone talked about as being insanely thin three years ago. Clearly that’s not the case now.

And with the 93-59 dismantling of the Mavericks in the books, I headed back to Milwaukee with a smile on my face and an extended post-game show on the radio. Well, not right away actually. A word to the wise–if you get a craving for Babcock Hall ice cream and want to pick up a couple pints on the way home, they no longer sell it at the Hilldale Sentry, so it’s not worth the drive out there. I went home with an empty cooler and that side-trip extended my night a bit with no tangible benefit. I guess I should have anticipated that some things would change in the seven years since I’ve lived in Madison...

Housekeeping Notes

2010-11-10T07:52:00.002-06:00

As I noted at the end of my thoughts on Marquette, today I’m addressing a couple of housekeeping issues on the blog. I’ve made two major updates, which I’ll discuss below:

Links

Yesterday I had the opportunity to update my links off to the right side of the page. Having gone at things remarkably half-assed over the past two seasons, I had allowed the links to fall into almost total disarray. A large number of the blogs that I had linked to were no longer operational, and a number of the pages that I had linked to had changed their locations. In fact, I’d guess that you were more likely to end up frustrated than informed if you tried to use my links. So yesterday I cleaned house, got rid of some old links, added some new ones, and reorganized the categories that I had previously carved out. A few notes on the updates:

1) A number of the blogs which I deleted from the links section had mostly been there because someone had e-mailed me a few years ago looking to exchange links. I may have read some of them once or twice and perhaps even liked them, but then rarely, if ever, returned. That’s not the case now–every link off to the right is to a blog or site that I find personally useful or compelling You have my personal endorsement on everything (as of today, at least).

2) I’d like to specifically note two blogs that I added links for yesterday which should have been added long ago. First, to all of my friends who have mentioned it over the years, yes, I’m readily aware of the amazingly witty Club Trillion blog, written by now-former Ohio State walk-on Mark Titus. I’ve sort of missed my time window for linking to the blog (though I’ve been reading it almost since its inception), as Titus has completed his time at OSU and has entered the real world. Thus, he can no longer pontificate on what it’s like to be a walk-on for a big-time college basketball team. But because he has indicated that he will keep on writing, and because his track record implies that he will continue to be amusing, I’m giving Club Trillion a link. (And as I alluded to in my Marquette thoughts, he’s also doing occasional pieces for ESPN, which is officially awesome.)

Second, I’ve probably mentioned it in passing over the years, but former Marquette great and current Marquette radio color commentator Jim McIlvaine has one of my favorite blogs around. McIlvaine is equally comfortable sharing bizarre photos from old media guides as his is giving serious insights about basketball (with an occasional diversion into amusing non-basketball territory). His blog has never been an easy find, hidden on the website of Milwaukee’s ESPN Radio affiliate, but now that you know the secret, I guarantee it’s worth your effort to give McIlvaine a read.

3) Because high school basketball is a uniquely local thing, I’ve added section for High School Media Coverage, with links to the websites of a few of the more notable newspapers in the state of Wisconsin. I’m by no means an expert on areas of the state outside of Milwaukee and Madison, though, so if there’s a Wisconsin newspaper that seems like it should be included, please shoot me an e-mail or leave me a comment below.

4) I’ve not been as frequent a reader of basketball blogs over the past few years, so if I’m missing something new and awesome off to the right, drop me a line and let me know. Similarly, if you have a blog that’s new and awesome, let me know. As you might suspect, I tend to favor things that take a light-hearted approach to basketball, but I’m not opposed to serious discussion, either.

Twitter

So, I’ve signed up for this Twitter thing that everyone is talking about. Frankly, I have no idea how this will go. On one hand, I’m currently a bit intimidated, as learning how to read things on Twitter feels like learning a foreign language (and I truly hated French class in high school). I’m also skeptical of my ability to say meaningful things in 140 characters or less. However, the ability to give real time updates about mascot mishaps and obscure high school scores leaves me intrigued. You can follow me @chriswesthoops. I’ll be attempting my first tweet sometime this evening, in conjunction with my attendance of my first game of the year. I make no guarantees that I won’t completely suck at this and shut it down by the end of 2010. But seeing as it’s 2010 and not 2004 anymore, I suppose I can’t just have a plain old blog anymore...

I'll keep you advised of any future significant changes. Back tomorrow with my first set of game thoughts of the year.

Thoughts on Marquette

2010-11-09T07:29:00.002-06:00

I’m going to approach my pre-season comments about Marquette a bit differently than I did my comments about Wisconsin. Having attended a couple of games (and I do mean “a couple,” as I was not a frequent attendee) of the Milwaukee Summer Pro-Am League that most of the team played in this past summer, I’ve got a bit more to work with, since I’ve actually seen most of these guys play since last March. So, rather than just giving a simple ranking, I’d like to reflect on some of my impressions on each player from his summer league performance, and talk about my expectations for the year. And here are those thoughts about the players, followed by a few brief thoughts on the team as a whole:

Darrius Johnson-Odom: DJO was my favorite thing about the Milwaukee Summer Pro-Am League. In the few times that I saw him play, he was on a completely different level than everyone else on the floor. I’m looking for a huge leap from Johnson-Odom this year. With Lazar Hayward gone, this team belongs to Johnson-Odom and Jimmy Butler. And I can’t think of two better guys to take the reigns.

Jimmy Butler: I was lucky enough to see Butler in one of his early appearances in the summer league prior to injury keeping him out of most of the action. Like Johnson-Odom, he was on a higher level than most of the other players there. Perhaps just as impressive, Butler remained active in the league after his injury, showing up to encourage and help out teammates (both MU and non-MU). One of the fun things about watching Marquette since Buzz Williams took over is that the guys who seem to have the most success are the guys who seem most willing to help the team. Butler’s that guy this year. Like Wesley Matthews and Lazar Hayward before him, Butler is never going to complain that he’s playing out of position. He’s just going to go out and play his butt off, regardless of where he ends up on the court or who he needs to guard. And he’s going to have a great season. (Jeronne Maymon, or perhaps more accurately, the people around Jeronne Maymon could learn a lot from watching a guy like Butler.)

Joe Fulce: I sort of knew that I was going to enjoy watching Johnson-Odom and Butler play in the summer league, but I was sort of surprised by how much I liked Joe Fulce. First off, from observing the players up close and getting to see a bit of their personalities come out on the floor, Fulce seems like the guy on the Marquette squad that I’d most like to hang out with. He approached things with an appropriate amount of seriousness, but still spent plenty of time joking around and having fun. And it would have been tough for him not to have fun, as he played extremely well in the summer league, grabbing rebound after rebound and displaying a shooting range that he wasn’t able to show off in the regular season. It was clear upon seeing Fulce close up that he’s a bit shorter than I had anticipated, which makes his solid play as an undersized power forward all the more impressive. I look for Fulce to potentially be a starter this year and to be another guy who takes a strong step forward.

Junior Caudougan: I was prepared to dislike Cadougan when I went to go watch summer league games. If you liked Cadougan last year, I don’t know what you were watching. Coming off a ruptured Achilles tendon, Cadougan made the questionable decision to take off his redshirt and play 12 games down the stretch. He looked slow and out of shape in the few games that he played in. This summer, however, he got up and down the court with ease and consistently set his teammates up with outstanding passes. Upon watching him, it was tough not to think that his play last year was merely a function of him not having the time to get back into game shape following his injury. He clearly looks the part of a point guard and it would be surprising to me if he’s not the starter this season.

Chris Otule: I didn’t really get to see Otule play in the summer league. For some reason I just never seemed to be watching his team when he happened to be playing. I’ve heard some buzz about how he looked vastly improved (his exhibition game stats would imply some improvement, as well). Unfortunately, I have to say that I don’t believe any of that buzz. In his limited action during his rare healthy moments at Marquette, I’ve generally thought that Otule has looked lost and over-matched when he’s on the court. Improvement is possible for everyone, but to date, nothing has led me to believe that Otule is the frontcourt answer that the Golden Eagles are looking for. I hope that I’m wrong in my assessment, as I’ve found Otule to be really likable when I’ve heard him interviewed. But just because someone seems like a good guy doesn’t mean that I have to like them as a player.

Dwight Buycks: Buycks wowed most people in the summer league, routinely dropping 40 points in games. I get the sense, however, that most people recognize that the wide-open style of the league played to Buycks' strengths, and that we shouldn't be expecting huge scoring outbursts during the regular season. This season I look for him to be pretty much what he was last year–a solid bench option who whose play won’t be a huge drop-off from that of the starters. And let’s be honest–that’s not at all anything to sneeze at. But anyone who’s expecting him to randomly drop 35 points on Providence will probably be disappointed.

Erik Williams: Williams looked good in the summer league, and teammate Robert Frozena relates to ESPN’s Mark Titus (yes, the Club Trillion guy is doing occasional pieces for ESPN–I can think of few more exciting developments this season) that Williams is stronger, much improved, and should be a key cog for Marquette this year. I’m not sure that the summer league gives me a good read on how much Williams has improved though. While summer league can showcase player improvements, a series of glorified pick up games are not the best devices to use in gauging a player’s mental toughness. And last season, Williams’ problems seemed much more mental than physical. If he can get over some of his mental mistakes from last year, Williams has the opportunity to play an important role in the Golden Eagles’ frontcourt.

Robert Frozena: While he’s among the favorite walk-ons of recent memory, I can’t say that I spent much time looking to see how Frozena had improved his game this summer.

The Newcomers

As with all newcomers, I've seen very little of the following players, so take whatever I say with several grains of salt.

Davante Gardner: The one newcomer that stuck out to me when I was watching summer ball, I feel like Gardner could develop into the semi-big guy that Marquette has been trying to find for the past few years.

Vander Blue: He was solid, but unspectacular at the times that I saw him play in the summer league. By the time all is said and done, I think Blue will be a superstar. But I think he’s a guy that’s going to need some time before he feels comfortable. I, for one, am willing to be patient.

Jamil Wilson: Despite being genuinely excited to see him play, I never saw Wilson on the court this summer. My timing just never worked out. Ultimately, this is of no consequence, as Wilson is sitting out this season after transferring from Oregon. I did see him in the stands quite a bit, though. On one such day, I found myself thinking about how uncool he looked standing around with headphones plugged into his iPad (while generally awesome, the iPad looks decidedly lame when used as a portable music device). Then a really attractive woman walked up to him and gave him a hug, reminding me that I don’t really have a great handle on what it takes to be cool these days.

Jae Crowder, Jamail Jones, Reggie Smith, Dave Singleton: I probably saw one or two of them play in the summer league (aside from Crowder, who was the only member of the team who was unable to participate in the league), but I’m certain that I wasn’t paying attention to them when I watched. I know that most people who stopped out to see a game or two of summer league play were just there to scout out Marquette players, but I was genuinely excited to see some big names from the past. Do you seriously want me to pay attention to some freshman guard that I’ve never heard of when Dejuante Wade (who was surprisingly phenomenal in the summer league, by the way) is running up and down the court? If the box score from the Golden Eagles’ exhibition is any sort of indication, though, this could be a very solid freshman class.

Final Thoughts

I’m very excited about this Marquette team, and suspect that it is severely underrated coming into the year. Lazar Hayward is a huge loss from last year’s team (his surprise first round selection in the NBA draft speaks to his value), but Jimmy Butler looks primed to take over his leadership role with some help from Darius Johnson-Odom. The freshman class sounds as if it is loaded with talent and should offer immediate contributions. Indeed, this is a remarkably deep and athletic roster. Only a lack of big-name players keeps Marquette from garnering more respect in the pre-season rankings.

As always seems to be the case, the glaring weakness for Marquette is a lack of size, as only Chris Otule and Davante Gardner stand 6'8" or taller. I’m actually starting to come to grips with Marquette’s lack of size, though. Buzz Williams’ recruiting seems to indicate that he’s not desperate to get big bodies to campus–he just wants guys that can play. I can live with that, as it has seemed to work well for him over the past two years. The key is finding guys like Lazar Hayward and Jimmy Butler who buy into the team concept and don’t mind playing out of position at times (or most of the time). When that happens, Marquette is not an undersized team at a disadvantage, it’s five athletic guys causing problems for its opposition. For most teams, I wouldn’t advise just rounding up a bunch of athletic 6'7" guys and forgetting about even trying to find a true big man. But it seems to work for Buzz Williams, so who am I to complain.

Back tomorrow with a few housekeeping notes before I head off to my first game of the season...

Thoughts On the Wisconsin Badgers: Levels of Importance

2010-11-05T07:33:00.001-05:00

There are few things that I enjoy more than reading about Wisconsin during the preseason. As seems to be the case every year, the Badgers are picked by most people to finish about fifth in the Big Ten. And on paper, this is the projection that they deserve. Michigan State, Purdue, Ohio State and Illinois are all objectively better, particularly given that Wisconsin lost both of its longtime starting guards to graduation. But here’s the fun thing about the Badgers–though they look to be about the fifth or sixth best team in the league nearly every year, I can always virtually guarantee that they’ll finish higher than they’re projected to. Bo Ryan’s been dancing around the top of the league for years now and somehow his teams always manage to be sneaky-good. What’s wonderful about this is that by the end of the year the team always seems to end up with all of the benefits of being a top-tier team, but it comes with all of the fun that accompanies an underdog's journey. Truly, Wisconsin seasons bring the best of both worlds, and that’s a big reason that it’s so much fun to follow the Badgers.

As usual, I’m not going to give an extensive breakdown on Wisconsin, since most people reading this know the team as well as, if not infinitely better than I do. You know from above how I expect the team to perform–it will finish top three in the Big Ten, make another tournament appearance, and be a consistently tough out for opponents. As to my thoughts on individual players, I could go on for pages and pages about what I think (well, except for the freshmen, who like everyone else, I know little about at this point). But instead, I’m just going to rank the players according to how important I think they will be to the success of the team this year. It’s not a ranking of who I think the best players are (thought that obviously plays into it), but merely how important each player will be with regard to creating a winning season. Of course, this will all change the moment the first guy blows out an ACL, but for now, here are my rankings:

1) Jon Leuer: I challenge anyone to dispute that Leuer is the most important guy on this team. He’s a candidate for Big Ten Player of the Year. This summer, Villanova coach Jay Wright essentially called him the most pleasant surprise on the USA Basketball select team, which as the name of the team would imply, had some pretty big names. And I’m pretty sure that I heard or read an interview with Bo Ryan where he uncharacteristically said that this was Leuer’s team this year. My only concern? Let’s hope that guys don’t fall into the trap of standing around and watching Leuer operate on the offensive end, as tended to happen last year prior to his injury.

2) Jordan Taylor: The point guard is always important, and Taylor is even more important than the average point guard for two reasons. First, he’s the most steady player on the Badger roster. Taylor may not be the best point guard that Bo Ryan has had at Wisconsin, but he’s perhaps the most solid, reliable point guard that he’s had. Second, with the backcourt exceedingly thin this year, the drop off from Taylor to whomever is backing him up (the early favorite seems to be Josh Gasser, just a freshman) will be huge.

3) Ryan Evans: Evans is important because the way that he plays can provide a spark for the Badgers. While his basketball skills are still developing, his athleticism and work ethic are unmatched, something Bo Ryan seems more than happy to bring up any time Evans’ name is mentioned in an interview. Evans may become a slight victim of his own success this year, with his rapid improvement from a raw prospect two years ago giving fans inflated expectations. I’m actually not expecting huge stats from him this year. But stats are not what Evans is about, and his impact on his teammates from the hard work and excitement that he brings to the court are what make him important to this team.

4) Tim Jarmusz: I’ll admit that I’m not one of those guys that sings the praises of Jarmusz, talks about his great position on defense, and thinks that only well-educated basketball fans can appreciate what he brings to the table. I get down on his poor shooting and lack of athleticism as much as (and perhaps more) the next guy. But Jarmusz is important because he a) tends not to make glaring errors and b) is versatile. The versatility is going to be a big deal on a team that returns only two other experienced scholarship guards. Jarmusz isn’t going to bring a ton to the table, but he’s not going to take much off of it, either. And with the roster that Wisconsin has this year, it needs a guy like that.

5) Josh Gasser/Ben Brust: Jordan Taylor, Rob Wilson and Tim Jarmusz. That’s two guards and one quasi-guard. Only one of them can play point guard. That’s what Wisconsin has returning in the backcourt. One of the freshmen is going to have to step up and provide some quality minutes at both guard spots in order for this team to flourish. Much like Jarmusz, whoever takes this role (to my surprise, the early favorite appears to be Gasser) won’t necessarily be among the best players on the team, but he will need to fill an important roster hole. So one of these guys will be remarkably important this year, while the other will likely slide way down on the importance scale until next year.

6) Keaton Nankivil: Nankivil is important because when he’s on his game, it makes the Badgers tough to stop. I’ve come to accept that Nankivil is not a guy that’s going to be stellar every night. But if he’s having one of those nights where he’s knocking down bizarre three-point shots, muscling guys off the blocks on defense, and generally taking pressure off of his more consistent teammates, the odds of a Badger win are pretty good.

7) Rob Wilson: Wilson is the guy on the team that tends to make clutch plays. If he was a bit more consistent, he’d be higher on the list. As it stands, the team is loaded at the forward spot and fairly thin at guard. Seeing as Wilson is one of only two returning scholarship players whose primary position is guard, you’d kind of like to make sure that he’s around.

8) Mike Bruesewitz: Some guys bring instant offense. Bruesewitz brings instant rebounding. He’s got a nose for the ball that no one else on the team has. He’ll bring energy off the bench, but a different type of energy than Ryan Evans. If this list was about pure basketball ability, he’d be higher up. As it’s simply about importance to the team, and the Badgers have an insanely deep frontcourt, I have to drop Bruesewitz in the rankings. If one of the guards goes down with an injury this year, the team will change fairly significantly. If one of the six capable forwards on the team is out for extended time, there are other guys who can step in.

9) Jared Berggren: I’m wary of all that I’ve read about people loving Jared Berggren’s game during the two open preseason scrimmages. After all, I developed a borderline irrational love of Berggren’s game two years ago when I saw him play 10 minutes in a preseason scrimmage before he redshirted for the year. Since then, I have barely seen him. As my notes about my previous super-brief viewing would imply, I suspect that Berggren has the talent to hang in the Big Ten. The question is whether he’s improved enough to steal some minutes from Jon Leuer, Keaton Nankivil, Ryan Evans, Mike Bruesewitz and Tim Jarmusz. That’s a lot of guys to jump over, and while Berggren is definitely capable of making that jump, he’ll have to do it before I consider him more important.

10) Duje Dukan: Based solely on what I’d read prior to the new freshmen coming to campus, Dukan was the new guy I was most excited to see in a Badger uniform. Word has it that he needs to bulk up a bit before being totally ready for college ball. This year he looks to be either stuck behind a massive frontcourt logjam or a candidate for a redshirt. Either way, don’t look for Dukan to see much time on the floor for now.

11) Wquinton Smith: Smith is a walk-on who is short in stature, so Wisconsin’s in trouble if he has to take on a role of importance. However, rumor has it that Smith, in addition to being able to bench press obscene amounts of weight, would be the most likely walk-on to see the floor in an emergency situation. But that’s exactly what it would be–an emergency.

12) Evan Anderson: I’m not sure what to make of Anderson just yet. On one hand, reports about his work ethic and progress from Wisconsin’s staff have been glowingly positive. On the other hand, he’s a strong 6'10" guy that averaged a mere 10 points and 6 rebounds per game during his senior year of high school while playing in one of the weakest regions of the state. Reports are that he’s considering redshirting. As you’ve seen above, with the depth in the Badger frontcourt and Anderson’s likely need to develop a bit, he’d be wise to do just that.

13) Brett Valentyn: It’s not every day that you see a walk-on like Valentyn take a redshirt year, so that would imply that he’s got a bit more value than the average walk-on. I still don’t plan on him seeing the floor this year, no matter how many points he puts up in a scrimmage.

14) J.P. Gavinski: I don’t think that anyone, perhaps not even Gavinski himself, would argue that J.P. Gavinski has been a particularly helpful player for the Badgers over his five years with the team. That said, I’ve gotten the sense from articles over the years that Gavinski is well-liked on the team and has great enthusiasm about being a Badger. You’d like everyone on your team to be able to contribute on the court. However, if there’s a guy that can’t, it’s nice that he’s at least able to keep things positive and loose in the locker room.

15) Dan Fahey/J.D. Wise: For all I know, Dan Fahey and J.D. Wise may very well be more talented than fellow walk-ons Wquinton Smith and Brett Valentyn. It doesn’t really matter, though, because as walk-ons, none of them are likely to ever see meaningful time on the floor. So as the younger, less well-known pair of walk-ons, Fahey and Wise round out the final level of importance.

We’ll start to get a read on what actual team roles are on Saturday night when Wisconsin hosts UW-LaCrosse in the Badgers' first exhibition game. Until then, the above should give some guidance as to what I think the rotation is going to look like. Bo Ryan’s not a slave to position labels, though, so don’t be surprised if he throws some strangely large lineups out as the season gets underway.

The Economics of Being a Basketball Fan, Part 2: Choosing a Television Provider

2010-11-03T08:23:00.000-05:00

Today’s entry continues my discussion of economic decisions of a basketball fan and focuses in on one specific element: television service. If you’re a basketball fan, you need television. While there’s generally no better way to watch basketball than by heading out to an arena or gym to watch the game live, television brings you far away teams that you wouldn’t otherwise see, the opportunity to see your favorite local team when they’re playing in far away places, and expert analysis on any number of channels. Indeed, college basketball is so intertwined with television that it has literally changed the rules of the game to accommodate broadcasts. It is virtually impossible to follow division one college basketball without watching it on television (I actually wrote a paper on this topic entitled “College Basketball and Television: A Revolutionary Change of the Last 20 Years” back when I was in college. And since you’re thinking it, yes, I do sometimes question the value of my communication arts degree.). Fortunately, these days we’ve got an array of options for how we receive our television programming. And it is with careful thought that I have typically chosen my television programming provider.

While getting the best cable or satellite provider for my basketball-heavy programming needs is something that’s usually floating somewhere in my mind, it’s currently at the forefront. Improving technology, a desire for great value, and perhaps most importantly, my current lack of a contract commitment, makes this a logical time for me to reassess which programming provider, if any, can best meet my needs. I’ve weighed pros and cons of the five most obvious options in my area and have listed those thoughts below. Before I get to those, though, two things that I should preface my analysis with:

1) While basketball programming is arguably the biggest factor in my choosing a television provider, it is certainly not the only factor. I like other television programs (as will become clear as I make my decision on which provider to go with), I like technology that makes my life easier, and above all else, I like value.

2) I have direct experience with only two of the options below. I was a Time Warner subscriber from 2003-2006 and have been a Directv subscriber from 2006 to the present day. This colors my analysis a bit. I feel like I know Directv fairly well at this point, and while I think I know Time Warner, some of my thoughts are admittedly probably a bit outdated (though Time Warner’s prevalence in Milwaukee means that I see it all the time at the homes of my friends and family members). The other options are things that I’m speculating about. For the most part, I try to be informed, but nothing beats first-hand knowledge.

On to breaking down the contenders:

Directv

Why Would I Stay With Directv?: It’s virtually impossible to find a channel, sports or otherwise, that Directv doesn’t carry. The Sports Pack, at $12.99 per month, has more regional sports channels than I could ever use (which allows me to find most Marquette games that are not televised on local free TV). And unlike with pro games, college and high school games don’t get blacked out. Mega March Madness, while overly expensive (and potentially obsolete with the NCAA’s new television contract for the NCAA tournament this year), is fairly awesome. It’s tough not to like the customizable on-screen guide, which allows you to filter out those weird niche channels that you’d never watch, like QVC, or the Big Ten Network from April through August, when all it’s showing is track and gymnastic meets. Changing up programming or setting your DVR on Directv’s website is remarkably easy, too. And aside from my basketball needs, I do like getting to see Friday Night Lights before the rest of the world does.

Why Would I Leave Directv?: You pay for what you’re getting, and Directv costs plenty. Directv’s business model of charging an initial fee (which feels like a purchase, even though it isn’t) to obtain a box and then charging a monthly rental fee to rent the box feels like double-dipping. I’d much prefer it a lot better if Directv would just pick one of the two ways to separate me from my money and stick with it. Also notable is that except in rare circumstances, any piece of new equipment comes with a new fee and new 2-year contract commitment. Thus, you’re prompted to think long and hard about whether you really want to upgrade to the latest and greatest new technology. On a personally bitter note, this issue first came up for me a week after my initial Directv installation. When I questioned a technician about why I was not receiving local channels in HD from the satellite, I was told that my current box didn’t work with the new technology delivering those channels and that I would need to upgrade to a newer box at a cost of $300. Being told that I needed to upgrade from soon-to-be obsolete equipment one week after said equipment was installed was not exactly something that I was excited to hear.

Time Warner

Why Would I Switch to Time Warner?: Time Warner Sports Channel has the rights to several Marquette and UWM games, which range from mildly challenging to impossible to see without said channel. It also shows various high school games throughout the year, has talk shows with local guests and fills its remaining time with shows where they interview washed-up old Milwaukee Brewers. Basically, it’s a channel targeted directly at me. And the On Demand features of Time Warner allow one to pull up the season’s high school games at one’s leisure, which is pretty cool. From my days as a Time Warner subscriber, I recall that they had a nice extended sports package. While less extensive than the Directv Sports Pack, it gave me everything that I needed. It was only $5.99 per month at the time. I’m sure the price has gone up in the last four years, but it’s a good bet that the Time Warner sports package still costs less than Directv’s. I already have Time Warner’s internet service, and bundling that with cable could potentially save me some money. Finally, the fact that there’s a Time Warner service center at the mall near my house ensures that service is always easy to come by. And unlike the fees and commitments that come with Directv upgrades, I recall upgrading my old Time Warner equipment with at no additional cost or commitment by simply exchanging it at the service center.

Why Wouldn’t I Switch To Time Warner: I won’t recount the full details of my last Time Warner cable installation experience back in 2003, but the end results were this–three lost Saturdays for me, a $100+ credit to my account, and a week’s unpaid suspension for the technician that handled my installation. I’ve come to accept that it was an isolated set of bad incidents, but the experience still taints my view. (To Time Warner’s credit, when I had internet service installed in 2006 at my current home, the installer was outstanding in pretty much every way possible.) I’m probably not saving much by switching from Directv to Time Warner, and I’m losing the NFL Network, which to my surprise, is a pretty outstanding channel. And there are probably one or two other great channels that I would lose, as well. While I would like the Time Warner Sports Channel, I can get most of the Marquette games (and some of the UWM games) that they show on random regional channels on the Directv Sports Pack. And in the event that there’s a game that I don’t get, my gym has Time Warner. So I can watch Time Warner Sports there AND force myself to get in a workout. Thus, one could argue that not having Time Warner Sports in my home is actually making me healthier.

AT&T U-verse

Why Would I Switch to U-verse?: Friends that have the service have generally said good things. While other providers are now offering whole-house DVR, U-verse has had that capability for awhile, so all of the kinks are probably worked out. It appears to be the one option that actually would save me a reasonable amount of money (assuming that I switched over both my television and internet service to them) even before the initial sign-up rebates and discounts, which are significant. A sports package is offered, and from my experience with Time Warner, I know that even though the U-verse sports package likely isn’t as extensive as the Directv package, it will still probably have everything that I truly want. The lack of a mandatory contract commitment (you’ll still be facing a contract if you’re looking for a deal) is a plus, because unlike Directv, I won’t necessarily have to ponder if I want to lock myself in for another two years before deciding on making changes to my services.

Why Wouldn’t I Switch to U-verse?: Interestingly, I’ve made the decision to switch to U-verse in the past and have unsuccessfully attempted to switch twice. In each instance, I made an online request with AT&T to set up an installation date and was subsequently denied service. Upon calling AT&T to confirm why I was denied service, I was informed that it was for reasons related to my credit. This somewhat bewildered me for two reasons. First, I was under the impression that I had a very good credit rating. Shortly after my denial I pulled my files with each of the credit bureaus and confirmed this to be the case. Thus, it is unclear to me what issue AT&T has with my credit. Second, I’ve had AT&T wireless phone service for somewhere in the neighborhood of five years and have never missed a payment. Given this long history, it’s a bit frustrating that AT&T will gladly accept my money for one service that it offers, but won’t even offer me the opportunity to subscribe to another one that I’m interested in. The experience makes me question not only the idea of attempting to sign up for U-verse again, but also whether I will continue with AT&T wireless phone service when my contract is up.

Dish Network

Why Would I Switch to Dish Network?: Back in grad school when I lived in the rough, low-income area of Madison (Note: This speaks to how great Madison is. In how many other cities can you live in the bad part of town and have a wooded bike trail 100 feet from your apartment?), lots of people in the neighborhood had Dish Network, implying that it may be a cheaper option. So there’s the idea of saving some money, which is always attractive. Last time I glanced at their offerings (which was admittedly some time ago), I was intrigued by their multi-room DVR and the ability to sign up for service without locking into a contract (albeit at a slightly higher price than for those with contracts).

Why Wouldn’t I Switch to Dish Network?: I’ve never had a friend with Dish Network who has had particularly good things to say. Its resolved standoff with Fox Sports leaves me with some concern over future deals, as getting key channels blacked out is never fun. Furthermore, with the satellite providers, the old way of thinking (and it may be ancient at this point) was that Dish Network was for people serious about movies while Directv was for those serious about sports. You can guess which category I fall into. Whatever the reason, I’ve not given too much serious thought to signing up with Dish.

Canceling All Service

Why Would I Cancel All Service?: Obviously the total lack of a monthly bill is the benefit here. I had a friend recently give up cable service. He has reported that with his antenna picking up the local channels in crystal clear fashion and the ability to connect his computer to his television, he hasn’t missed out on anything that he’s wanted to see during college football season. And if there was any game that he wanted to see, but couldn’t get at home, the cost of going to watch a game or two at a bar probably still wouldn’t add up to the monthly cost of cable. Maybe technology really can get me all the games that I want to see without the need to pay a provider. It seems clear that my computer can get me every non-sports program that I want.

Why Wouldn’t I Cancel All Service?: It seems like my sporting options would be at best, a hassle to find and watch and at worst, incomplete. Call me lazy, but I like the ease of being able to scroll through my channel guide and pick out the game or program that I want without putting much thought into it. I think the day is coming soon when it will be common and advisable to cut ties with one’s cable/satellite provider, I just don’t think I’m there yet. Let’s give the technology a few more years...

My Final Decision

As with everything else, it’s complicated. Here’s my tentative, two-part plan:

1) I’m definitely sticking with Directv for the next few months. Based on my experience, I like the service, despite its high cost relative to competitors. More importantly, Directv is currently airing the final season of the television program Friday Night Lights, months before NBC will get to air the program. While it’s sort of pathetic that my love for one television program could drive this decision, that’s exactly what’s going on here. (Seriously, check this one out on DVD if you've not already seen it.)

2) When Friday Night Lights ends forever (with 12 episodes left, I’d guess this takes me to February), I’m making one final attempt to sign up for AT&T U-verse service. While it lacks some of the dazzling programming of Directv and Time Warner, I believe it’s the best value of the above options. So, I will be excited to sign up if AT&T decides this time around that it is willing to accept my money. If I’m again denied for unknown credit reasons, I’ll likely remain with my pricey, but solid Directv plan (and perhaps lock into one of those annoying 2-year contracts in order to do some equipment upgrades that I’ve been holding off on for years). I’ll also be canceling AT&T phone service and finding a company that doesn’t view me as a bad risk, but that’s an entirely different story...

I recognize that, despite my modest attempts to keep up with things, I may be off-base in a few ways in my analysis of this one. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below or e-mail me directly if you think I’ve missed something or completely misread one or more of my options. Clearly this is not an issue that I take lightly.

The Economics of Being a Basketball Fan, Bonus Post: Money Saving Tips

2010-10-29T07:15:00.001-05:00

As promised, I've got a bonus-post related to the economics of being a basketball fan. Over my years of being a fan, I've picked up a few tricks for saving money while attending games in the area, and I'd like to share a few of my favorites. As with almost anything that's worthwhile, there's some sacrifice involved, but the things I've detailed below are places where I've cut corners and haven’t really felt like I’m giving much up. Perhaps not all of them are your cup of tea, but I know I've kept my wallet from being constantly empty by using all of the information below.

1) Marquette’s five-game packs are a great deal. I used to have season tickets with a friend, but we dropped down to the five-packs a few years ago. Buying both five-packs gets you the entire Big East season and the top non-conference opponent. Those are the only games that you want to pay full price to see, anyway. You can scalp a ticket to Presbyterian outside the Bradley Center for $10 on any given night, so it sort of hurts when you realize that with season tickets, you’re paying $30 apiece for all of the dreadful non-conference games. No, your five-game pack tickets aren’t going to be in the lower level, but the seats that I’ve gotten have always been near center court (even if they’re a bit high up). If you’re going to let me keep a couple hundred extra bucks in my pocket, I’ll gladly walk an extra flight of stairs each night and watch the action from a bit further away. And seating location matters even less this year, as the Bradley Center’s extremely awesome new scoreboard appears to be capable of giving views of the action that will make everyone feel like they’re sitting courtside.

2) UWM games are an outstanding value. Last year I actually attended one game where there was a half-price ticket promotion and I paid $5 for my seat. That’s exactly $1 more than it would have cost me to go to a high school game. It’s an insane price to see a division one college basketball team. If you go to a UWM game, I would suggest to you that buying the cheapest ticket is almost always the way to go. U.S. Cellular Arena is seldom anywhere close to being crowded, so you can buy the cheap seats and sit in nearly any section that you want. That may not be the case for the couple of games at the Klotsche Center this year, but you’ll probably save a bit on parking at UWM’s campus as opposed to downtown (parking at UWM is frighteningly scarce, but it’s still going to be less costly than going downtown at the times that the games are played).

3) Park wisely. You can easily pay too much to park at any given game if you don’t know what you’re doing or don’t plan ahead. Usually saving a couple of bucks involves a slightly longer walk to the venue, but the savings add up, and you’ll usually be fighting with less traffic at the end of the night. Here are my go-to hot spots for the venues where I most frequently have to pay for parking. None of them are exactly secret, but it boggles my mind how few people tend to take advantage of them.

Kohl Center: Go to one of the city lots and you won’t pay more than $3. The Lake Street ramp just off of State Street ensures that you’ll be stuck in traffic for 30 minutes after the game, so I would suggest that you head over to the Dayton/Mifflin Street ramp. The walk is roughly the same, but it will be much smoother sailing post game. (I get the added bonus of a nostalgic walk past two of my college-era apartments on the way back to my car, which certainly doesn't affect you, but is pretty cool for me.)

Bradley Center: My go-to lot on State Street raised its game day rate last year, so I can’t suggest it anymore. With that gone, your best bet is to park at the surface lot across the street from the bars on Water Street for $5. A word of warning, though–you’ll need to have an extra time cushion built in if you go there, as it can take some time to pay and walk to the game. The walking isn’t a huge issue (it’s only a block or two further away than most lots), but payment can be a pain, as one automatic payment machine on site handles all payments for the lot. If that's not bad enough, the machine is painfully slow (particularly since there are always a few people who struggle with figuring out how to use the machine). If it’s close to game time, you’re virtually guaranteed to spend 10 minutes in a slow-moving, 15-person line filled with people complaining about how ridiculous the situation is. Honestly, I hate this lot because of this issue, but if you’ve got the time and can deal with some frustration, you’ll save a few bucks.

U.S. Cellular Arena: If Marquette or the Bucks are playing across the street at the Bradley Center, just use my advice from above for Bradley Center parking. If the Panthers are the only thing going on downtown, you should be able to find parking at any number of lots for $5 if you’re not lucky enough to happen upon an open spot on the street for free (while rare, this is not impossible).

Al McGuire Center: Home to various Marquette events and high school games, I’m continually amazed when I see people paying $3 to park in the crowded ramp and lot just west of the McGuire Center. I always park for free on Wells Street, in front of the Milwaukee County Courthouse, which is only a two-block walk from the McGuire Center. I not only save $3 by doing so, I also avoid post-game parking lot and pedestrian gridlock. All because I’m willing to walk one block more.

4) Don’t eat or drink at college games. Concession stands can be tasty, but they’re pricy. Where else are you going to pay $4 for a bottle of water? Or $8 for a beer? As a general rule, I tend not to patronize concession stands. If I can’t get home before the game and need to eat something, it’s not that hard to find a place on the way to the arena to buy a sandwich for $4 that’s going to be way more filling than that $4 hot dog. Or, if I'm feeling really unhealthy, Taco Bell can sell me more food than I can possibly eat for under $3. (Yes, that last revelation frightens me, too.)

5) Feel free to eat or drink at high school games. High school concession stands are the exact opposite of college concession stands. It’s not unusual to find a bag of popcorn for sale for 50 cents. You’re likely not getting great food, but if you need a snack, you’re not going to break the bank, and you’re more than likely going to be helping out a high school booster club. So it’s even sort of noble to buy that can of soda for 75 cents.

6) Go to division three games. This one’s a bit tougher. I generally tend to go to games with other people, and sometimes it’s a tough sell to get a friend to go to a division three college basketball game. But if you’ve got a friend who’s a fellow basketball junkie or just happens to be an alum of one of the schools involved, it can be a cheap option to go see the local division three team. Admission is usually somewhere in the neighborhood of what a high school game costs (a few years ago at Carroll University, they didn’t even charge admission) and the players are all guys that were among the best players on their high school teams. It’s high level play without the high level cost.

The Economics of Being a Basketball Fan, Part 1: An Analysis of the 2009-2010 Season

2010-10-28T07:16:00.000-05:00

The past few weeks have seen me make my first basketball-related purchases of the 2010-2011 season. In making those purchases, I got to thinking about the financial implications of my hobby of obsessively following basketball. Like everyone else, I have not been immune to our country’s ongoing economic recession. However unlike most other people, I tend to compile ridiculous amounts of data about my spending habits (Indeed, I have a log of every cent that has left my hands dating back to November 2007. Yes, I can be a bit obsessive sometimes.). The question of exactly how much money I spend on keeping up with basketball is not something that’s totally new to me. So, in order to find some sort of answer to this question, I spent all of last season meticulously tracking and logging every one of my basketball-related expenses. And due to laziness (and perhaps a bit of fear over finding out what I spend on basketball) I’ve put off analyzing this data until now. Today, however, I’d like to answer the question that I spent all of last season trying to wrap my head around: just how much does it cost to be a serious basketball fan?

Below I’ve broken out my expenses for last season into seven categories. The first two are media related and the last five relate to the cost of actually attending games. Not surprisingly, it costs a bit more to actually go to a game. But that's fine--even if high definition television makes watching games in the comfort of one's own home a spectacular experience, there's still great value to actually heading out an experiencing things first-hand. That should be enough background on this project, so I’ll get to the point--here’s my detailed breakdown of basketball related expenses for the 2009-2010 season:

Media (Print): There are two big media expenses that relate to my basketball obsession. First is the cost of pre-season basketball guides. I’m not the sort of guy that can head into a season without information–I need to know a little something about what’s going on before I can watch it. I have two “must buy” guides that I purchase every year–the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and the Wisconsin Basketball Yearbook. Basically everything that I could possibly need to know is in these two books. The combined cost of both last year was $52.89 ($27.88 for the Blue Ribbon and $25.01 for the WBY--shipping charges included for both), and it was arguably the best $52.89 that I spent all year. I still also make an effort to buy a copy of any basketball guide that I see on the newsstand for archival purposes (I am readily aware that this is one of the nerdiest things about me). Unlike ten years ago when that meant buying 7-8 magazines, the number of folks with their hand in the college basketball guide business has dwindled to 2-3. I don’t have figures on what I bought last year (I usually buy my guides at the grocery store and don’t break them out as a separate expense), but it’s probably safe to say that I spent roughly $25.00 on three basketball guides last year. Total Expense: $77.89

Media (Televison): My second media-related expense deals with television. With the way that technology has advanced in the past few years to allow people to watch almost any program with internet assistance, a big part of me thinks that live sporting events are the only reason that I haven’t canceled cable/satellite television service. But it would probably be a stretch to allocate the cost of my Directv subscription to basketball. However, the one programming adjustment that I can clearly attribute to basketball is adding the Directv Sports Pack to my plan from November until the end of March at a cost of $12.99 per month. So that’s $64.95 (not counting a couple of bucks for taxes and fees, which I’m not obsessive enough to calculate) for me to be able to see Pac-10 games, other games from the West Coast, and an assortment of games that I wouldn't otherwise even think of (old AWA wrestling shows on ESPN Classic are merely a bonus). And as hard as I tried not to, I ordered Directv’s Mega March Madness package last year, allowing me to watch any NCAA tournament game that I wanted from the comfort of my own living room. That ran me $69.00, which I will concede is a ridiculous price for a programming package that is relevant for little more than four days (two of which I’m working during) and which is partially covered by free network TV. But it’s like crack to me. I’m hoping that the tournament’s new television deal will make this plan obsolete and save me a few bucks this spring. Total Expense: $133.95 (Note: This also doesn't include the cost of replacing my living room television, which was inconsiderate enough to break down right before March Madness last year. I suspect that I'd have bought a new TV, anyway.)

Tickets: The most obvious cost of attending basketball games is the fee for entry, and it’s where I spent most of my money last year. I spent a grand total of $636 on tickets to games last year. Of that, I spent just $28 attending seven high school games, which are always a bargain at $4 per game. The remaining $608 spent on college tickets puts me at a ridiculously high cost of $45.43 per game over the course of 14 games. That per-game total is skewed high by a few things, though First, I ordered both of Marquette’s five-game packages last year, but was only able to make it to seven of the ten games. So I paid for three games that I didn’t attend, but still factored in what I paid for the tickets that I either ate or gave away (second level Marquette tickets aren’t exactly a hot re-sale item). Second, occasionally I have the opportunity to purchase a pair of outstanding seats for a Badger game from a friend of mine. That happened three times last year. While the seats themselves are reasonably priced, I’m not the type of guy that asks a friend to join him at a game and then asks to be reimbursed for the second seat. That’s just not how I roll. So for three of the games, I’m paying for two seats instead of one. Finally, I foolishly paid more than I’d like to admit to attend the Wisconsin-Duke game and that significantly altered my season costs. Seriously, it was an embarrassingly expensive season last year, particularly given the relatively small number of games that I attended, and the fact that I'm typically not particularly picky about where I sit. Frankly, I'm sort of ashamed. Total Expense: $636.00

Parking: It’s easy to forget that you often have to pay to park your car when you go to a game, but that expense adds up. Fortunately, high school games generally offer free parking. Similarly, if you’re notoriously cheap (as I usually am) and slightly knowledgeable (as I occasionally am), you can park for free or extremely cheaply at most Wisconsin games (city parking ramps in downtown Madison remain one of the greatest bargains of our time, though only novices park at the super-busy Lake Street Ramp on game day). Generally where I get dinged the worst for parking is at Marquette games, as downtown Milwaukee is just a different sort of animal. If you time things right and are willing to do some walking, you can still find a couple of places to park in downtown Milwaukee for $5. Usually a number of factors have to work out in order to pull this off, though, so you need to plan ahead. Bottom line, I kept my expenses fairly low for attending 21 games, but I can probably do better this upcoming season. Total Expense: $60.80

Concessions: Some folks cannot envision going to a game without getting a hot dog and a huge soda. I’m not one of those people, largely because as I noted earlier, I can be notoriously cheap about certain things. While I love a soft pretzel as much as the next guy, I’d much rather keep my $3 in my pocket and make a sandwich when I get home. So it should come as no surprise that I only opened my wallet to the concession people once this past season, to the tune of $9 at a Marquette game. Were I to guess, I’d say that I probably had a slice of pizza and a bottle of water, and that it hurt my soul when I handed over my cash to the man behind the counter. Total Expense: $9.00

Miscellaneous: From time to time, I end up spending money not at the game itself, but doing things that I would not have done if not for attending the game. For instance, sometimes I’ll need to grab dinner somewhere when I’m heading directly from work to Madison for a game (stopping for a pre-game gyro at the Parthenon on State Street totally beats grabbing a hot dog at the game both in terms of value and taste), or I’ll stop at a gas station for a water or soda on the way home from a far-flung game. I don’t believe that I factored in most pre and post-game outings with friends in this category last year, those felt like things I would have been doing with or without a game going on (though I’ll probably track this in the future). Bottom line, I did a good job of keeping my miscellaneous costs down. Total Expense: $47.33

Gas/Travel: If you can believe it, I generally tried to track my mileage for every game that I drove to this year (with varying levels of preciseness in my tracking). I did not include games to which other friends drove, as it was not my car taking the hit. But in the 17 games that I took responsibility for driving to (including side stops related to the games), I logged a grand total of 833 miles. It’s a big number, but given that it includes four trips to Madison and back, it’s not all that shocking. According to the EPA, my car gets 26 miles per gallon of gas (combined highway/city). Thus, it took just over 32 gallons of gas to get me to and from games last year. Estimating a cost of $2.60 per gallon (which may not be accurate for the time period involved, but seems reasonable to me), that adds up to $83.20 in gas. That’s a very palatable number, as long road trips in prior years have tended to skew this number higher. Total Expense: $83.20

Total Cost (All Categories): $1,048.87

While dropping just over a grand on hoops over a 5-6 month period doesn’t totally upset me, I know I can do a bit better. And here are the three places in which I could potentially see myself saving some cash this season:

1) Media (Television): As I alluded to earlier, the NCAA’s new television deal seems aimed at providing national coverage of every game on four different channels. If so, that would seemingly eliminate the need for the Mega March Madness plan and the need for me to fork over $69.00 to watch as much hoops as possible. Even if it doesn’t, I’ll hopefully have the will power to resist a programming package that’s only useful for a very short period of time. For reasons unrelated to basketball, I may look into switching away from Directv around February, anyway, so perhaps this won’t be a temptation anymore.

2) Tickets: I’ve dropped down to only one Marquette 5-game plan this year, so right off the bat I’m up $150. And Duke's not coming to town again, so I shouldn’t have another high-cost game. I would anticipate lots of high school games this year, too, leading me to get my number of games seen this season up without the high costs of college games.

3) Gas/Travel: I’m giving some semi-serious thought to taking a year off from following the Badgers and adopting a different team to follow this year (to be clear, a lowered cost is not why I would do this–it would merely be a side benefit). In the unlikely event that I find the will power to actually do this, it would keep the miles off my vehicle. However, if trips to Madison and other far-off spots are in the cards, this expense also has the potential to go way up.

With only a few weeks left until practice opens, here’s looking forward to a season of constant fun and constant fiscal responsibility. (Man, I really have gotten old in the last few years...) Back tomorrow with a bonus economic post. I had intended to continue on today and share my personal basketball-specific money saving tip, but I recognize that today's thoughts are already a bit long-winded without tacking on one more thing. So back tomorrow with those tips.

Observations On the New WIAA Tournament Brackets

2010-10-27T08:14:00.000-05:00

In my last post, I shared my general objections to the new 5-division WIAA state basketball tournament. However, until the actual tournament brackets came out in late September, there were still a lot of unanswered questions about how the state tournament would look. I’ve since had a chance to peruse those brackets, and today would like to share some observations about what I’m seeing. For your reference, here are those brackets:

Division 1

Division 2

Division 3

Division 4

Division 5

Most of my thoughts below (the first six, to be exact) revolve around Division 1. This is for two reasons. First, Division 1 is perhaps the most drastically altered by the new tournament format, as only half as many teams as in the past from that division will get to play at the state tournament this year. Thus, it has a lot of interesting changes occurring. Second, I simply happen to be more familiar with Division 1 than any of the other divisions.

Without further adieu, here are some of the interesting, amusing, and potentially upsetting things that I’ve noticed from glancing at the new state tournament brackets:

1) In general, I’m not crazy about the Super Tuesday game concept (the final Division 1 games before the state tournament being played at big venues on a night when none of the other divisions are playing). I do like having four huge, hyped up games to determine which Division 1 schools go to the state tournament. And I appreciate the WIAA’s attempt to give a special night to the Division 1 schools after taking away four of their state tournament berths. However, let’s be honest–these games would be better played on a Friday or Saturday. Putting the games with the potential for the most geographically far-flung teams on a Tuesday night in the middle of the school week seems an odd choice to me, particularly given that the winner will be missing school for the state tournament later that week. I suppose the distance issue is one that small schools in remote areas deal with all the time, but that’s out of necessity. It sure seems in this instance like there should have been a way to avoid the potential of sending a team from LaCrosse on a 5-hour round trip to and from Stevens Point on a Tuesday night.

2) I find it remarkable that there is a Super Tuesday game to be played in Stevens Point and that of the 19 schools competing to play in that game, there are exactly two whose cities are within an hour’s drive of Stevens Point. I find it even more remarkable that Stevens Point Area High School has been placed in neither of the sectionals competing to play in this game. If SPASH wants to go to state, it will have to travel to Oshkosh, instead. Given that the WIAA is based in Stevens Point, I’d have to assume that someone noticed these points and that there's some reasoning behind the placements. But I'm at a loss for what that reasoning could be.

3) In Division 1, all of the Milwaukee-area* schools are spread between three sectionals, none of whom are in the same bracket to get to the state tournament. Thus, there’s a possibility of three Milwaukee-area teams going to the state tournament. While this was a possibility last year, as well, the possibility of three out of eight teams at the state tournament being from Milwaukee was a bit different than three out of four teams having a Milwaukee area base. While as a Milwaukee native, I certainly don’t mind that the WIAA split things up in this manner, it does sort of conflict with all of the talk that I’ve heard over the years about wanting to have different geographic regions represented at state. And does it not seem weird that if, say, Menomonee Falls wants to make it to state, they’re going to have to play a game in Oshkosh first? Or that most of the schools in Sectional 7 are within a 10-15 minute drive of the Al McGuire Center (one of the “Super Tuesday” game sites), but that the winner of Sectional 7 is playing its Super Tuesday game at UW-Whitewater?

*Note: I’m counting Sectional 4, comprised of Waukesha and Ozaukee County teams as Milwaukee-area. I had an acquaintance in college who was willing to fight anyone who claimed that Hartland wasn’t a suburb of Milwaukee, so I think I’m on pretty solid ground here.

4) As for the Whitewater Super Tuesday game that will include one Milwaukee area team, I can virtually guarantee that you won’t find me going to that one. The drive between Milwaukee and Whitewater at night is unnerving enough due to the darkness and tricky points on Highway 12. I can only imagine what it will be like late on a Tuesday night with a bunch of teenage basketball fans who’ve never driven the stretch before. (I seem to have shifted into bitter old man mode there–sorry about that.) Then again, perhaps the long trip will kill attendance for the Milwaukee Public Schools, which typically have fan bases that don’t travel well. As Milwaukee King Coach Jim Gosz predicted about fan attendance at a potential game in Whitewater even before the Sectional pairings came out, “If we get one busload there, it would be a half bus more than I would figure.”

5) Division 1's Sectional 7 is absolutely brutal. It’s got Milwaukee King, Milwaukee Washington and Milwaukee Vincent, the three dominant City Conference schools of the last two decades. Then you mix in the typically strong programs at Milwaukee Marquette and Brookfield Central. And the winner more than likely gets to face off with Madison Memorial, the biggest non-Milwaukee-area talent magnet in the state, for the right to play in the state tournament. That's no easy path. Special kudos to Milwaukee Washington for being the only team to opt up from Division 2 to Division 1. Washington had to suspect that it was going to be placed in a sectional like this, and it takes guts to invite competition like that.

6) Milwaukee Hamilton coach Tom Diener may be the luckiest man alive. For years when he coached at Milwaukee Vincent, his teams were placed in a sectional away from all of the powerhouse teams now located in Sectional 7. Now, three years removed from his tenure at Vincent, the Vikings are in Sectional 7 with all of the other longtime Milwaukee-area powers and Diener’s Milwaukee Hamilton squad is placed in the significantly less-brutal Sectional 8. Talk about being in the right place at the right time.

7) As I accurately noted in my post from Monday, the new Division 3 will contain four private schools (Racine St. Catherine’s, Whitefish Bay Dominican, LaCrosse Aquinas and Manitowoc Roncalli) that were dominant in the old Division 3. I stand by my comments that we should plan on those schools continuing to dominate in the new Division 3. Given the geographic diversity of the schools, only St. Catherine’s and Dominican appear in the same sectional, so it’s still entirely conceivable (perhaps even probable) that three of these four dominant programs could find themselves at the state tournament.

One thing that I noted in my previous post was not entirely accurate, though. My statement that “A few schools will get lucky and dodge these powers by moving down to Division 4" implied that Division 3 would basically stay the same as it always had. I believed that at the time that I wrote my prior post, but after examining things a bit more closely, that’s clearly not the case. Of the 127 schools that were part of the old Division 3, only 33 remain in the new Division 3. Of the other schools, 89 move down to Division 4 and four move down to Division 5 (You’ll note that only adds up to 126. I’m not entirely sure that the remaining school, the Milwaukee Wisconsin Career Academy, even exists or fields a basketball team anymore. All I know is that I can’t find it in any of the new divisions.) The net result? The aforementioned Division 3 powers now play schools that are slightly more equipped to compete with them, and the majority of the old Division 3 gets a break by moving down a division. I still think the new five division plan ignores the private school issue and simply shifts it to a different set of schools, but at least it’s semi-defensible when you examine the upward and downward movement of the schools involved in the new Divisions 3 and 4. It’s sort of uncanny, though, that the four schools that have been the subject of the most discussion were among the minority of old Division 3 schools that did not shift downward.

8) Semi-defensible as the five-division plan is for the reasons above, I find that the WIAA’s method of defining the enrollment limits for divisions somewhat lacking in terms of logic. Here are the official enrollment cut-offs for all of the divisions:

Division 1: Schools with an enrollment of 1200 and above

Division 2: Schools with enrollments ranging from 600 - 1199

Division 3: 50% of schools with enrollments between 200 and 600

Division 4: 50% of schools with enrollments between 200 and 600

Division 5: Schools with enrollments of 200 and less

One thing jumps out immediately when you look at the enrollment limits for each division–Divisions 3 and 4 are the only divisions without hard numbers as their limits. I’m troubled by this. As I’ve always understood it, the reason to separate teams into divisions is to ensure that no team is put at a vast competitive disadvantage solely because of its school’s enrollment. I’m all for divisions when they address a competitive imbalance. But based on the WIAA’s failure to make a clear line separating Division 3 from Division 4 that seems not to be what’s going on here. Having no set lower limit to Division 3 and no set upper limit to Division 4 implies that there’s no clear reason to differentiate between the two, other than the fact that there are a lot of schools of this size. And crafting a new division simply for the sake of convenience seems particularly misguided to me.

So, those are the things that jump off the page to me. Am I missing anything interesting in any of the divisions that I’ve discussed, or for that matter, those that I am not informed enough to discuss?

Things That I'm Decidedly Not Excited About This Season

2010-10-25T07:25:00.002-05:00

Not everything that goes on in life is great. Similarly, not everything that goes on in the world of basketball is something that I can get excited about. Usually there are a couple of things that go on during the offseason that serve primarily to damper my enthusiasm for the upcoming season. This past offseason, I read about two such things. The first is a minor annoyance. The second is, in my mind, a more fundamentally upsetting change. And today I bring you my angry rants about those things. I’m generally a pretty positive fellow, so you’ll undoubtedly note that the list of things that I’m excited about this year is considerably longer than the two things that bring me down. But it must be noted that the following two items do upset and disappoint me (particularly the second one):

1) I was disappointed a few months ago when I read that this upcoming December's installment of the annual Wisconsin Basketball Yearbook Shootout is moving to Concordia University after spending its first five years at the Al McGuire Center. The Wisconsin Basketball Yearbook website notes that the move was made due to NCAA rule changes. Though I am unfamiliar with the rule changes that necessitated the move, I can only assume that they involved some sort of prohibition of or set of limitations imposed on tournaments like this one being held on division one college campuses. Indeed, one can see how such a tournament being held in the Marquette University practice facility could be a recruiting advantage. That said, as a guy who's a fan of Marquette's big in-state rival, I never had a problem with the tournament being held at the McGuire Center. It is, quite simply, a fabulous venue for such an event, and I could care less if a kid or two gets swayed toward Marquette every couple of years by getting to experience the Golden Eagles’ gorgeous practice facility. Regardless of what the reason is for the change (and indeed, I recognize that my assumptions as to why the rules changes occurred may be completely wrong), the fact remains that the WBY Shootout is good for basketball and should be located in the best venue possible. And that venue is located in downtown Milwaukee, not out in Mequon.

2) We’re entering the first year of a new format for the Wisconsin high school basketball tournament and I couldn’t be less excited about it. The two key “innovations” of the plan are the addition of a fifth division and a change in the number of Division 1 teams that make it to the state tournament from eight to four. Before this new format was adopted a few months ago, Nicholas Kartos of Wissports.net very clearly broke down some of its pros and cons. Check out his blog if you want a good summary of how things will be different. If you’d prefer a long, bitter rant about the change, I present you with my list of the three things that most bother me about the change.

a) Five state champions is too many. As the blog post linked above notes, every one of Wisconsin’s neighboring states has four state champions, and each of those states contains more high schools than Wisconsin. While adding a fifth division doesn’t totally strip the meaningfulness of the designation “state champion,” it’s tough to argue that it doesn’t at least devalue it. Truth be told, I’d rather go back to the old three division format that the WIAA did away with just over twenty years ago. There was something logical about having champions of the large schools, medium sized schools and small schools.

b) There seems to be no compelling reason for the change. I honestly can’t think of any problem that shifting to five divisions solves. Nor have I seen any clear explanation of what this move fixes or any compelling argument about how it makes the tournament better. If there truly was any significant problem (and it’s arguable that there was) with the four-division format of the WIAA state tournament, it was that a small number of private schools have tended to snatch up a disproportionate number of Division 3 state tournament berths and titles. Addressing this issue would have at least been a defensible reason to consider some type of restructuring. Indeed, initial drafts of the five division format, while flawed in their method of approaching this issue, at least attempted to solve the problem by creating a mechanism for shifting powerful private schools upward in the division structure. The format that was actually adopted is totally silent on this issue. And I have yet to see an explanation of any other issue that the new format could reasonably solve, or a reasonable argument for why this makes the tournament better.

As an aside about how this change in format does not address the public-private issue in division three, it’s notable that of the four most successful teams from the old Division 3 (Racine St. Catherine’s, Whitefish Bay Dominican, LaCrosse Aquinas and Manitowoc Roncalli) are all in the new Division 3. In the last decade, those five schools have combined for 15 state tournament appearances, seven Division 3 championships, and two Division 2 championships (Aquinas and St. Catherine’s had years earlier in the decade where their enrollment placed them in Division 2). I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the Division 3 private school dominance will continue with this new format. A few schools will get lucky and dodge these powers by moving down to Division 4, but for everyone else sticking around or moving into the new Division 3, the story will remain the same.

c) Limiting Division 1 to four teams at the state tournament makes the tournament less exciting. I recognize that I have some inherent bias on this issue, having gone to a somewhat large high school and having lived only in Milwaukee and Madison, home to most of the state’s large schools. I also recognize that a handful of the state’s great Division 1 teams will now drop to Division 2 (my own alma mater included). And finally, I’m fully aware that the mission of the WIAA is not to ensure the best tournament match-ups or create the most exciting tournament possible. But can we all look past that for a moment and just all admit that watching teams from the biggest schools is generally more fun. I liked having eight Division 1 teams at state for two reasons. First, they’re usually the most talented teams there. It’s not tough to figure out that a Division 1 team made up of the 14 best players from a school of 1,800 students is going to almost always be much better than a Division 5 team made up of every able-bodied male who’s enrolled in school and doesn’t entirely hate basketball. The more talented the teams, the more fun the games are to watch. Second, a format where a team has to win three games in three days to win the championship lends itself to allowing you to seeing a few games so that you can get to know the teams. By the time that the state finals came around each year, I found myself caring a lot more about the two Division 1 teams because I’d seen them play for the past two days, rather than one quick game.

I find it significant that the new format ultimately makes no change in the number of teams that make it to state to play for a championship. It merely shifts the state tournament berths from large schools to generally less talented small schools. Oh, and the number of games to be played at the Kohl Center drops from 16 to 15. In return, we get to hand out one more gold ball. That doesn’t feel like a fair trade off to me.

So those are the items that are wearing on me a bit. I'll be back in the next day or two with some more in-depth thoughts on the new WIAA tournament and a few observations about the recently released tournament brackets. And not to worry--not everything will be negative. There are positives about even the worst of situations.

Starting Things Up Again: Things I'm Excited About This Season

2010-10-21T07:55:00.002-05:00

It’s time to fire up for another season of hoops, and it’s time for my annual attempt to document my thoughts about all of those things. Unlike in years past, I’ve actually prepared a bit ahead of time this year, and have organized my thoughts into seven different postings that I’ll unleash in the weeks leading up to the season. After that, there should be enough going on that I’ll have new topics to talk about (no guarantees that I won't completely crap out like I did last year, but I'm much more of a writing mood than I have been in several years). The first of those is today, when I’ll share four things that I’m excited about headed into the season. Seeing as things are new, I figured that I’d start things out on a positive note. After today, here are the topics that I'll look to tackle over the course of the next two weeks.

Things That I Am Decidedly Not Excited About This Season

Observations From the New WIAA Tournament Brackets

The Economics of Being a Basketball Fan, Part 1: An Analysis of the 2009-2010 Season

The Economics of Being a Basketball Fan, Part 2: Choosing a Television Provider

Thoughts on the 2010-2011 Wisconsin Badgers

Thoughts on the 2010-2011 Marquette Golden Eagles

After that, hopefully I’ll settle into a bit of a routine. As for today, I might as well jump right into the things that I'm really looking forward to this year:

Marquette vs. UWM at the MECCA

This is the year when Marquette finally plays UWM on the Panthers’ home court. The frosty relationship between the two schools seems to have warmed a bit since the departures of former head coaches Tom Crean and Bruce Pearl. Their successors, Buzz Williams, a particularly affable fellow, and Rob Jeter, a man who spent some time at Marquette prior to his gig at UWM and who seems to be one of the most likeable people on the planet, appear to lack the animosity towards one another that their predecessors had. So while the fun is still there, the bitterness is gone.

Would this game have been infinitely better five years ago when the inability to come to terms and play a game led Marquette and UWM to seemingly hate one another, and when UWM was one of the hottest mid-majors in the country? Certainly. But that doesn’t mean that this game won’t still be fun. While the Marquette and UWM athletic departments may be getting along better, it doesn’t mean that fans aren’t hanging on to the old bitterness. My friends that are UWM fans are still charged up to have the opportunity to beat the big local program that didn’t give them a chance when they felt that they deserved it. My friends that are Marquette fans are all excited to give a massive beat down to a team that they view as whiners who only wanted a game when they were good enough to compete. Fans, you see, don't forgive and forget like the people involved do.

Why is this game any different than the games that have been played between the two teams over the last two years? Quite simply, it’s the fact that the game is being played at the U.S. Cellular Arena. The location is significant for two reasons. First, it’s the Panthers’ home court. Marquette has had the joy of beating UWM badly at the Bradley Center already, but it’s an entirely different level of humiliation to beat a team down on their home court. On the other side of the coin, UWM undoubtedly knows that strange things can happen when our state’s mid-majors host the big boys. UWM’s last second loss to Wisconsin at the Klotche Center in 2002 and UW-Green Bay’s win over Wisconsin last season are two memorable examples. These games don't happen often, but when they do, we tend to remember them. The second significant factor about the location of the game is that U.S. Cellular Arena is Marquette’s old home arena. While much of the MU fan base these days is now too young to remember the days when Marquette called the building home (indeed, I was 10 years old when MU moved to the Bradley Center and can admit that I only barely remember the days in the old MECCA), playing in the old arena will stir up memories for many longtime Marquette fans.

Sadly, I realized earlier this week that I won’t be able to make it to the game on November 27 due to a prior commitment, but you can bet I’ll be feverishly checking for scores all day. Whether I’ll be wearing my Marquette jersey or my UWM sweatshirt at the time is something still to be decided.

The New Bradley Center Scoreboard

I recently had the opportunity to attend the home opener for the Milwaukee Admirals, the local minor league hockey team that shares the Bradley Center with the Milwaukee Bucks and Marquette. I learned virtually nothing about hockey (a sport that I know little about anyway) that night, but what I did learn upon walking into the Bradley Center is that the new scoreboard there is nothing short of spectacular. As hockey goons punched each other in the head, I spent much of the game staring at the huge HD screens with my mouth agape, thinking about how great this new technology will be at basketball games. My Marquette five-game pack tickets are sure to place me far away from the court for all games, and after seeing the scoreboard, I’m seriously questioning how much time, if any, I’ll spend looking at the actual court when I have a giant screen above giving me a much closer look at the action. If I had second level seats behind one of the baskets, I’m fairly confident that I would never even glance at the arena floor–there would be no reason to. I’ve never particularly loved the Bradley Center, but this scoreboard is a huge upgrade and will clearly and significantly improve the game experience. And I say that as a guy who tends not to get excited about big flashy signs in arenas. Kudos to the Bradley Center for making what looks to me to be a phenomenal investment.

Vander Blue vs. Wisconsin

The story of Vander Blue’s college recruitment is one filled with drama. As a relatively unknown high school sophomore at Madison Memorial, Blue gave a verbal commitment to play for his hometown school, Wisconsin. A year later, he turned in a dominant state tournament performance and began to make a name for himself on the national circuit. Then, in his senior year, Blue backed off of his verbal commitment to Wisconsin, only to sign with the Badgers’ big local rival, Marquette.

Now that Blue’s in college, the real fun begins as he gets to face Wisconsin once a year during his time at Marquette. Luckily for Blue, he gets to ease into things this year in front of a supportive home crowd, rather than being thrown to the wolves in Madison. Unfairly or not, Blue is going to be the man that everyone has eyes on for the next four meetings between Marquette and Wisconsin. Wisconsin fans are going to hate Blue and roundly boo him whenever they have the chance, out of anger over his changing his mind about becoming a Badger. Marquette fans are going to celebrate every one of Blue’s successes, reminding Wisconsin fans that not only did they beat the Badgers out for one of the most outstanding state high school players in recent memory, they did so even after Blue had originally decided that he wanted to play for Wisconsin. If you need any point of reference for how heated things should get, consider how loudly fellow former Madison Memorial standout Wesley Matthews was always booed during his appearances at the Kohl Center after spurning the Badgers’ offers out of high school. Matthews’ recruitment had none of the twists and turns of Blue’s and ended with him giving a straightforward, polite “no thanks” to Wisconsin before he took his services to Milwaukee. So one can only imagine how polarizing Blue’s career will be given the added drama of his decision process. In years to come when Blue becomes a key player for MU we'll start to see the real fun, but as Blue begins his freshman year in a reserve role, we can start watching things develop with his first crack at the Badgers.

(As an aside, I’ve likely noted this before, but as primarily a Badger fan, I don’t harbor the same type of anger towards Blue that many of my fellow Badger fans do. While I’d have loved to have had him wearing red and white, the fact remains that Blue’s college options changed so significantly from his sophomore year to his senior year that I find it hard to argue with him backing off to examine those options. From everything that I’ve read, it appears that Blue has a strong family influence behind him and did not make a hasty final decision. In short, he seems like a good guy that got himself in over his head when he made a premature decision at age 15. That notwithstanding, I’m still looking forward to booing him when he steps onto the Kohl Center floor next year. Having a logical reason not to hate someone is nothing that should stand in the way of a good rivalry...)

The Return of Tone Boyle to UWM

I’m as excited to see Tone Boyle suiting up for UWM this year as I was disappointed to not see him playing last year. Boyle was the team’s top returning guard last year, and an 2nd team all-Horizon performer in the 2008-9 season. And he was fun to watch, too. Back in November 2008, here’s what I said about Boyle (who was previously unknown to me at the time) after watching him play against Marquette’s stellar trio of senior guards, Jerel McNeal, Wesley Matthews and Dominic James:

The biggest surprise of the night for me was UWM’s Tone Boyle, who shot the ball well, and was able to get by any and all of Marquette’s perimeter defenders with ease (to be fair, it seemed on Saturday like anyone could have gotten penetration on Marquette, though). Boyle’s one weakness was an amazing inability to finish layups once he got to the hoop. He tallied 23 points, but I suspect he’d have easily had over 30 points if he’d have put in any reasonable number of the inside 4-foot shots that he took.

Last season should have seen Boyle using his talents to team with fellow seniors James Eayrs and Ricky Franklin in challenging for a Horizon League title. Instead, nagging back problems that struck Boyle before the season started never went away and he ended up redshirting.

Last season’s loss is this season’s gain, though. And UWM is luck to have Boyle back, because with the losses of Eayrs and Franklin to graduation, the Panthers need someone compelling to watch on their roster. Earys, with his 6'7", 310 pound frame and sweet touch from behind the three-point arc was always reason enough to tune into a Panther game. But this year’s roster generally lacks interesting players or well-known local players. I’m somewhat intrigued by seeing if Anthony Hill can build off of his outstanding play near the end of last year and keeping tabs to see if I’m right about the vast potential that Lonnie Boga seems to have, but I will admit that it would be a stretch for those things to keep me interested in the Panthers. Boyle immediately ups my interest level and should do the same to yours. He’s a talented, entertaining player with a good comeback story. And I can guarantee that I’ll have fun watching him this season. And, of course, there's something inexplicably awesome about a team that has a guy named Tone (Boyle), a guy named Tony (Meier) and a guy named Anthony (Hill).

UWM’s Occasional Use of the Klotsche Center

I was excited back when I heard that UWM is playing their exhibition games and one non-conference game at the Klotsche Center this year. I suspect that many people feel that playing at the tiny Klotsche Center is a big step back for a program just a few years ago found itself in the Sweet Sixteen. Truth be told, it probably is. However, the UWM basketball program isn't exactly generating the same buzz that it was during the Bruce Pearl glory years, and there's something to be said for stepping backwards in a smart manner.

Just over a decade ago UWM had fallen on some lean years and made a similar move for its program, shifting games from what had become a largely vacant MECCA for their games to a more tightly-packed Klotsche Center. While a huge arena has some advantages, the atmosphere and intimidation factor of a small gym cannot be overlooked. I was at the Klotsche Center on the night in 2002 when the Panthers nearly upended a very good Wisconsin team, and I honestly believe that the venue played a role in the Badgers almost falling to their in-state foes to the east. It has become clear in the last few years that UWM selling out, or even half filling the MECCA on a regular basis is not something that's going to happen anytime soon. So why not generate some excitement by packing a more size-appropriate venue and moving the action back on campus to give students easy access?

The Expanded NCAA Tournament

I have deleted some earlier thoughts about my love of the newly expanded NCAA tournament because they were based on a false premise. I was intensely excited about the newly expanded tournament's "First Four" games until it was pointed out to me below in the comments section by the Phil Mitten, formerly of Hoops Marinara fame, and currently an outstanding writer for Bucky's 5th Quarter, that I had completely misread the format of the "First Four" games involving the last four qualifying at-large teams and the lowest-ranking automatic qualifiers. As it turns out, my belief that the at-large teams and automatic qualifiers would be squaring off against one another was totally wrong. The at-large teams are playing against one another for the final two at-large spots and the automatic qualifiers are playing for the final pair of sixteen seeds. This alters my view of things, and makes me feel essentially neutral about the change. While two very interesting games between at-large teams will now take place, one more automatic qualifier gets marginalized in the process. I'm still trying to figure out if that's progress or not.

Because my feelings about the expanded television package have not been affected by the fact that, you know, I've finally figured out how the tournament is really going to work, I'm leaving that part of my excited ramblings below. You may resume your normal reading...

The second benefit to the expanded NCAA tournament is the new television deal which accompanies the expansion. Now all games will be televised live nationally on one of four channels. That’s amazing access. As a man who has spent big money on tournament television packages and exerted far too much energy on tinkering with media options to see games, this feels like a major victory. With one touch of the remote on tournament weekend, I’ll be able to switch to any tournament game that I want to see. I’m almost weeping with joy over this development. It may be the most spectacular thing that the NCAA has ever done. I’m this close to driving to Indianapolis to try and hug NCAA president Mark Emmert (the fact that the date of his appointment implies that he had nothing to do with this deal, notwithstanding).

So those are the big things that I'm excited about this year. As you can see, 2010-11 brings a lot to be excited about. Of course, not all new developments are good, and next week I'll detail the pair of things that leave me less than excited as we head into the new season.

Changes...

2010-06-24T18:28:00.000-05:00

Change is coming to both of the basketball tournaments that always make my March so enjoyable. Both the WIAA state basketball tournament and the NCAA tournament have made significant format changes that will take effect next season. As I’m tired of being dormant for the summer, my thoughts on both are below, starting with the most recent development:

Earlier today the WIAA Board of Control voted unanimously to shift the state basketball tournament from four to five divisions. I’ve been anticipating and dreading this move for a long time. It would be an understatement to say that I’m not a fan of this format change. Mark Miller of Wissports.net nicely hit on some of the flaws of shifting to a five-division format last August when he critiqued an early proposal for such a move. While changes to the proposal since then have made some of his thoughts irrelevant, many of his key points remain spot-on. In fact, below I will say little that he hasn’t already (and will do so in far more words) as I detail the three reasons that I hate the new state tournament format:

1) Five state champions is too many. As the blog post linked above notes, every one of Wisconsin’s neighboring states has four state champions, and most of those states contain more high schools than Wisconsin. While adding a fifth division doesn’t totally strip the meaningfulness of the designation “state champion,” it’s tough to argue that it doesn’t somewhat devalue it. Truth be told, I’d rather go back to the three division format that the WIAA had around twenty years ago. There was something almost inherently logical about having champions of the large schools, medium sized schools and small schools. Now we’re just trying too hard to achieve complete fairness.

2) The plan does not seem to solve any sort of problem. If there truly was any glaring problem with the four-division format of the WIAA state tournament, it was that a small number of private schools have tended to snatch up a disproportionate number of Division 3 state tournament berths and titles. Addressing this problem would be a valid reason for a format change. Indeed, early versions of the proposal to move to five divisions did attempt to create a mechanism for shifting powerful private schools upward in the division structure. But the proposal that passed today does nothing explicitly to address the public-private school issue. And if that’s not the issue that the WIAA is trying to address, then what issue is it trying to fix?

Of course, an argument can be made that the new five-division format was created to give more opportunities to moderately-sized public schools to make it to the state tournament. While that may be true, the new format does so at the expense of larger schools (both public and private), and merely shifts most of the private schools that had been dominant to similar divisions that they were in before. I have no way of knowing how this will play out, but I’ll be watching very eagerly to see if private schools end up dominating the new Division 3, Division 4, or both (the smart money would be on Division 3, which contains most of the same private school powers as the old Division 3). Because it seems pretty likely to me that at least one division will still end up with lots of superior private schools heading to Madison each year.

3) Limiting Division 1 to four teams makes the tournament less exciting. I recognize that many of the great Division 1 schools that I’ve watched at the state tournament will now be heading there in Division 2. I also recognize that the mission of the WIAA is not to ensure the best match-ups or to create the most exciting state tournament possible. But quite simply, having eight Division 1 teams at state was fun. The attraction was twofold. First, and most obviously, you got to see eight of the biggest and most talented schools. Second, you saw a format where a team had to win three games in three days at the state tournament in order to bring home a gold ball. By the time that the state finals came around each year, I found myself caring a lot more about the two Division 1 teams because I’d seen them play for the past two days, as opposed to the smaller division finalists who I’d only seen once at state. More games created more drama. The new system increases the number of small schools in the tournament and takes away the intrigue of one division playing quarterfinals at the Kohl Center. Both are steps backwards, in my opinion.

Thus, in my mind the WIAA just made the state basketball less entertaining and less meaningful, all while either failing to address or poorly addressing the one problem that most needed fixing from its prior format. In the interest of fairness, you can read their explanation here, but I’m fairly unmoved by it. This, quite simply, is a terrible change, and makes me significantly less excited about the prospect of heading to Madison to take in a game or two in March.

(Also of interest, here's a running collection of coach reactions complied by Wissports.net.)

Turning to the NCAA tournament expansion:

As most know by now, the NCAA decided a few months back to expand the field for its basketball tournament from 65 teams to 68 teams. Unlike my general hatred of the WIAA’s changes, I'm sort of torn about how I feel about the NCAA expanding its tournament. On one hand, I’m no fan of how the expansion is likely to be structured. While details are still only speculative about how an extra three teams will be integrated into the tournament, the most likely format would be to give each region a face-off game between its lowest seeds for the right to play its region’s one seed on the first Thursday/Friday of the tournament. Essentially, this would add three more “play-in games” like the ones that have been played by the weakest two teams in the tournament since the expansion to 65 teams a few years ago.

As I’ve made clear over the years, I’m no fan of the “play-in game.” The the term “play-in game” has long been disliked by the NCAA because it so accurately reflects the fact that such games are basically illegitimate as NCAA tournament games. The NCAA has long made the promise that conference champions are guaranteed a berth in the NCAA tournament. To me, the play-in game concept feels like the NCAA creating a loophole to get out of its obligations to champions from conferences that are perceived as small and weak. The play-in game is technically an NCAA tournament game, and the NCAA therefore technically meets its obligation to put all conference champions into the tournament by putting teams in the play-in game. The 65th team gets to put a banner in its gym and everything. However, the loser of the play-in game never gets to experience the rush of playing at a regional site on opening weekend, when the NCAA tournament that everyone knows and cares about happens. Instead, that conference champ ends its season by heading to yet another medium-sized gym and playing in a game that, while televised, is watched primarily by gamblers and social deviants (even I don’t watch the play-in game). And if the most obvious method of expanding the tournament is implemented, we’ll have four of these games instead of one. Not exactly progress if you ask me.

On the other hand, though, the big positive to come out of tournament expansion is the TV deal with CBS and Turner Sports to ensure that every tournament game is nationally televised. This is a huge step forward for fans. Gone will be the days of praying that your local CBS affiliate would be carrying your favorite team's game instead of the other three going on at the same time. Now all of those games will be on either CBS or a Turner cable channel just sitting there waiting for you to watch them. For junkies like me, this seems to mean that we'll no longer have to buy the Directv Mega March Madness plan every March. While an awesome programming package in that it gave access to every game of the NCAA tournament, it grew increasingly difficult for me to justify dropping $70 for a package that's only relevant for six days. And if you dare to work during any of those days, or CBS just happens to be showing all of your favorite games, you can knock down the useful amount of content that you're watching even further. So yes, I’ll be excited to find out exactly where TruTv is on my television package next March so that I can watch the 4th best game without paying anything more than what I regularly do for cable or satellite.

I suppose what the question boils down to, then, is whether the added benefit of widely available, low-cost television access to games is worth the concession of four more meaningless games being added to the NCAA tournament. As a fan, I must begrudgingly admit that it is. I feel sad to admit this, as I’d like to think that I could suck it up and pay $80 for full access to NCAA tournament games to ensure that a bunch of kids from Winthrop get to end their season being throttled by Duke in a huge arena like they so clearly deserve. But alas, I’m simply not that principled. So, bring on the full slate of games on regular cable in 2011. Let’s not get too crazy, though, as I may have to re-think my position if this tournament ever expands to 96 teams. (And of course, all of this analysis changes if the NCAA comes up with a more creative way of expanding than I have.)

I guess we’ll see how this all plays out in 2010-2011. Enjoy tonight’s collection of former NCAA players wearing crazy suits and finding out where they’ll live for the next three years. I’ll hopefully find my way back for some mid-summer thoughts in a few more weeks.

Thoughts on the 68-Team Tournament

2010-04-30T12:35:00.001-05:00

With yesterday’s announcement that the expansion of next year’s NCAA tournament to 68 teams has been approved, I’ve been trying to wrap my head around how I feel about the expansion. Like most observers, I’m thankful for two of the results from the process leading to next year’s expansion. First, I’m pleased that the tournament was not expanded to 96 teams, as was originally expected. While the most often cited non-monetary reason for expansion to 96 teams was a desire to create more opportunities for mid-major teams, I suspect that eventually the largest beneficiaries of the expansion would be mediocre power-conference teams. Frankly, if you come in 8th in the Big Ten, I don’t need to see you play any more games. And aside from adding 31 more mostly mediocre teams, a 96-team tournament would have ruined the simple beauty of the current bracket, which has until now been comprised essentially six uniform rounds. A 96-team tournament would guarantee the addition of byes to the tournament. Though there are rare exceptions, byes seldom seem like a good tournament device to me.

The second, and perhaps more significant positive to come out of the expansion is the new TV deal, splitting television rights to the tournament between longtime exclusive rights holder CBS and tournament broadcast newcomer Turner Sports. The major impact of the deal is to allow the national broadcast of every tournament game on either CBS or one of the three Turner Sports cable networks. This is a coup for college basketball fans who want access to every game during the first two weekends of the tournament, and a personal bonus for me, as it almost certainly means that I won’t have to fork over $70 to Directv for the Mega March Madness plan next year. That extra $70 sliding back into my pocket makes it tough for me to say anything other than that expansion is good (and also sort of makes me wonder if I’m misunderstanding the deal, since this almost seems too good to be true).

However, I’m not without my reservations about the new 68-team NCAA tournament. While it has yet to be decided how the tournament bracket will be structured with three teams added to the mix, a logical assumption by many is that three more “play-in games” featuring the lowest seeds will be added. Thus, instead of one region having a playoff between its lowest seeds to see who will face the number one seed in Thursday/Friday action (as has been the case since the expansion to 65 teams), all four regions will have a “play-in game.” Yesterday I read a piece by John Gasaway (formerly of Big Ten Wonk fame and currently of Basketball Prospectus fame) arguing essentially that the format that I have just described is the most fair way to structure the tournament. While Gasaway is certainly correct that basic competitive fairness mandates that the lowliest teams should have the most difficult path through the tournament, I think forcing the lowliest teams to essentially “play-in” to the tournament overlooks a bigger fairness issue–the failure to recognize the deference due to conference champions.

The NCAA has long made the promise that conference champions are guaranteed a berth in the NCAA tournament. However, the increase of the number of conferences in existence over the years has decreased the number of at-large bids for teams that large numbers of fans are actually interested in. The NCAA doesn’t want to go without these popular at-large teams, so it has created the play-in game concept. To me, the play-in game feels like a loophole that the NCAA has created to get out of its obligation to put small, weak conference champions in the NCAA tournament. (Note–the NCAA shuns the term “play-in game” for precisely this reason–it too accurately describes what’s going on.) Yes, the play-in game (or in next year’s likely case, four games) is technically an NCAA tournament game. Thus, technically, both participants in the game are participating in the NCAA tournament. The loser still gets to put up a banner, print t-shirts proclaiming their participation and all that good stuff. However, that losing team never gets the experience of traveling to a regional site with eight other teams to play in the NCAA tournament that everyone knows and cares about. Instead of ending their season playing against one of the nation’s top teams in a huge arena filled with fans, the play-in loser’s season ends in Dayton, playing in a game that, while televised, is watched primarily by problem gamblers and social deviants (even I’m not enough of a junkie to watch two teams fight for a 16-seed). That’s not the NCAA tournament in my book, no matter what the NCAA calls it. To me, the play-in game is nothing more than the NCAA finding a way to cheat a small, weak team out of an honor that it has rightfully earned by winning its conference. I see little fairness in that, and would hate to see three more games added just to push out the little guy who earned his way in.

Fortunately, my rantings about such a format are completely premature, given that no particular bracket format has been settled on. So at least for the time being, I remain pleased with the NCAA’s decision to only expand to 68 teams. I still miss the simplicity of 64 teams, but if the NCAA does the right thing and forces bubble teams to fill the play-in game slots, I may actually come to like the 68-team format more. After all, it would be tough for me to dislike a format change that both pays respect to the privileges earned by conference champions and provides four watchable Tuesday night games between fringe at-large teams fighting for a second-chance into the real tourney.

UNC NIT Questions

2010-04-01T16:56:00.004-05:00

If North Carolina wins the NIT tonight, do they have a championship banner made? And if so, where do they hang it? I've had the opportunity to visit the University of North Carolina Basketball Museum a few months back, and I can definitely tell you that I didn't see a lot of references to the NIT there. Is there a banner hanging in the Smith Center for the Heels' 1971 NIT championship, when an NIT championship had a much different meaning? Would hanging a 2010 banner next to 1971 banner (if such a banner exists) lend any legitimacy to the exceedingly minor accomplishments of the 2010 North Carolina team?

These are the things that I think about during my down time.

My 2010 NCAA Tournament Picks

2010-03-16T08:38:00.002-05:00

It’s that time again–the NCAA tournament. Yes, I’ve been absent since mid-season when I officially gave up on jotting down entertaining bullet points about games that I’ve watched. While I've punted away the season in terms of documenting it on the blog, I've not stopped watching large amounts of basketball. And since I still get the occasional question from family and friends looking for guidance on picks, I figured it was time to dust off my keyboard and put forth my picks, if for no other reason than having an easy place to guide folks to when they ask my thoughts. As usual, I’m less informed that you’d think, as most of my time as a basketball junkie is focused on seeing local teams and sneaking in high school games on the cheap. I’ve seen a little bit of most of the top teams, but I’m certainly no expert on most of them, as my justifications for each pick will surely reveal. So listen to me at your own risk.

Before I get to this year’s picks, though, it’s time for my annual restatement of my general rules for filling out NCAA tourney brackets:

1) Don’t just completely steal my picks (or anyone else’s, for that matter). I don’t mind it personally, but what fun is that for you? Think of it this way–what’s going to be more fulfilling to you: telling the guy in the cube next to you that you “totally called” UTEP knocking off Butler, or telling him that some guy whose picks you followed got it knew that Purdue was going to be better than expected. Listen to advice from your doctor or your financial advisor, but the NCAA tournament is supposed to be fun. So relax and follow your instincts.

2) Don’t go crazy with upsets, particularly in the first two rounds. The NCAA selection committee knows more than you, and they’ve seeded these teams for a reason. Sure, you’re no fun if you don’t go out on a limb here or there, but picking 14 first round upsets isn’t just bold, it’s stupid. Yeah, you’re probably going to have a friend that picks that miracle 10-seed that made it to the Sweet Sixteen, and he’s not going to shut up about it. He’s probably not talking so much about the 5-seed and the 7-seed that he had in the Final Four who both lost the first day, though. My picks are notoriously and painfully boring, and I make no apologies for that, even though someone inevitably comments below to complain about my lack of originality and insight every year.

3) Have fun and make some picks for goofy reasons. There are 64 teams in this tournament, and unless your name is Jay Bilas, you probably haven’t seen all of them. So go ahead and pick Oakland to win a game because your favorite cousin from Michigan goes there, or pick against Louisville because you dated a girl who went there and was totally wrong for you. After all, last year wasn’t your pool won by that guy in your office who just picked teams based on the ferocity of their mascot? See, you need some quirks, too.

On to the picks. As always, winners are in bold. (And as a final FYI, I’ll have at least one more post to wrap up the season–a look at the financial impact of basketball on me in these tough economic times.)

First Round

Midwest Regional: First Round

Kansas (1) vs. Lehigh (16): For the team generally considered the best in the country, I really didn’t see much of Kansas this year. I’m still not sweating this one, though.

UNLV (8)vs. Northern Iowa (9): I think we’re past the point where Northern Iowa and their Missouri Valley Conference brothers are trendy picks, so I feel safe picking the Panthers here.

Michigan State (5) vs. New Mexico State (12): My good friend Peter is currently working towards a masters degree at NMSU. Peter’s previous university affiliations included Arizona State, back when absolutely no one was going to their games and Missouri, just as Quin Snyder was bringing massive scandals to the program. Because having Peter at your institution is a basketball curse, I’m going with MSU.

Maryland (4) vs. Houston (13): My favorite radio show out of D.C. occasionally has Gary Williams on as a guest, so the inadvertent emotional attachment to the Terps that I’ve formed forces me to pick them.

Tennessee (6) vs. San Diego State (11): The fact that Steve Fisher, generally considered to be a weak coach at Michigan, can consistently field solid teams at San Diego State is somewhat mind-boggling. And while the inherent inconsistency of Tennessee always makes it possible for the Vols to blow a game, I just can’t accept a loss to a Fisher team.

Georgetown (3) vs. Ohio (14): At the start of the year, I thought Georgetown was over-rated. I’ve changed my mind after seeing how Greg Monroe progressed and how Austin Freeman has quickly rebounded after his recent diabetes diagnosis. Oh, and I’m finally accepting that John Thompson III is a pretty outstanding coach, not just the son of an outstanding coach.

Georgia Tech (10) vs. Oklahoma State (7): Not knowing enough to form a valid opinion, I’m taking Georgia Tech. I have no good reason for doing so. If I need to add a fun fact about one of the teams, then I’ll note that I still maintain that Oklahoma State’s arena is the one college basketball venue that I would most like to see a game at of all the places that I’ve never been to.

Ohio State (2) vs. UC Santa Barbara (15): Club Trillion is much more amusing when the Buckeyes are winning, so I’m counting on Evan Turner and company for a win here.

West Regional: First Round

Syracuse (1) vs. Vermont (16): I didn’t even really know that Vermont had its own state school. Do they have dorms, or do the students just stay in bed and breakfasts?

Gonzaga (8) vs. Florida State (9): We’ve finally reached a year in which I can’t decide whether Gonzaga is under-rated due to playing in a mid-major conference or over-rated because everyone knows they’ve evolved past mid-major status. Is it possible that they’re actually properly rated? If so, I have to take them, because they’re the higher seed in this round.

Butler (5) vs. UTEP (12): Butler went undefeated in Horizon League play, which should be enough for me to pick them. However, I saw them play a few times, and feel like they’re more vulnerable than their record indicates. This one could burn me, but I’m picking a UTEP team that’s only lost one game in the past month.

Vanderbilt (4) vs. Murray State (13): Last night I saw a computer nerd on one of ESPN’s bracket analysis shows mentioning that his computer analysis said that Murray State was the most likely upset team not just of this tournament, but of the last five years. First off, I’m not buying that. Secondly, if word’s out about this one, I’d prefer not to follow the masses into a trendy upset pick that won’t net me as many catch-up points. So Vandy it is.

Minnesota (11) vs. Xavier (6): Tubby Smith should be given a medal for what he’s done his obstacle-laden team this year. Despite a bizarre number of roster problems, he’s managed to field a team that can win games. They’re not a great team and they're not a sure bet every night, but when things are clicking, the Gophers are a tough out, as they repeatedly proved in the Big Ten Tournament. Their placement in Milwaukee and my state’s kinship with our neighbors to the northwest only bodes well for their reception when they take the floor at the Bradley Center.

Pittsburgh (3) vs. Oakland (14): I’ve seen both teams play in person this year. Pitt’s the kind of team that I’d want to cheer for if couldn’t cheer for my local favorites. Oakland is the type of team that’s always good, but never quite good enough (all while wearing cool jerseys). And that’s why I have to take Pitt.

BYU (7) vs. Florida (10): Florida was widely rumored to be on the bubble, but got a #10 seed. I suspect that the committee knows something about them that I don’t in order to rank them this highly.

Kansas State (2) vs. North Texas (15): While it pains me to pick against a team whose nickname is “The Mean Green,” I’m afraid that I have to.

East Regional: First Round

Kentucky (1) vs. East Tennessee State (16): I hear this John Wall guy is pretty good...

Texas (8) vs. Wake Forest (9): Really? Can I pick neither? Both teams have been dreadful during the final stretch of the season. Texas was ranked #1 for a bit, though, so I guess I’ll coast on those memories.

Temple (5) vs. Cornell (12): Tough pick for me. I know nothing about Temple, as I figured the Owls would become irrelevant after the John Chaney era. I continue to be wrong. Meanwhile, Cornell is one of the only Ivy League teams that I’ve ever seen create a buzz during my lifetime. I’d like to pick Cornell here, but I’ve heard some TV commentators who are very high on Temple, so I’ll defer to others’ wisdom.

Wisconsin (4) vs. Wofford (13): This may be the most boring game of all time, given that both play very deliberate styles of basketball. But in a boring game, I’ll always take the Badgers.

Marquette (6) vs. Washington (11): This may end up being the most exciting first round game to watch, given that both teams always seem to give a maximum effort. While the Pac-10 was dreadful this year, Washington is one of those teams that just never seems to be all that bad. You never know what’s going to happen when Marquette takes the floor these days, but their history of winning close games bodes well for this one. Lazar Hayward and Quincy Pondexter should have a battle for the ages.

New Mexico (3) vs. Montana (14): I never want to live in either place, but Montana scares me more. So I’m picking the Lobos.

Clemson (7) vs. Missouri (10): Tigers vs. Tigers–I love it! My Clemson-grad cousin is predicting an early loss for her alma mater, but I still like them in the first round. Truth be told, I’m probably making this pick mostly out of bitterness over my one failed attempt to see a game at Missouri a few years back.

West Virginia (2) vs. Morgan State (15): It’s tough not to respect a team that wins the Big East tournament, so I’ll stick with the obvious choice of West Virginia.

South Regional: First Round

Duke (1) vs. Play-In Winner (16): My stance on the play-in game is well documented, but I’ll offer a refresher. Wednesday night Winthrop and Arkansas-Pine Bluff will meet in a small, nondescript gym like the ones that they usually play in and play a game that no one outside of their immediate fan bases care about. One team will lose, go home, and never get to experience the once-in-a-lifetime joy of playing at a huge arena in front of a sell-out crowd. Meanwhile, a mediocre Florida team that scooped up one of the last spots in the tourney will get the opportunity to play another in a long line of games in front of a huge audience and hopefully win one more game so that their fans don’t feel like the season is a total loss. Something about that doesn’t seem right.

Louisville (9) vs. California (8): Each year during basketball season I order the Directv expanded sports package, mostly so that I can watch Pac-10 games late at night. This year, the Pac-10 was truly wretched and I didn’t come close to getting my money’s worth on the package, as there were so few games worth watching. So I have to pick Louisville to win this one. I’m largely unimpressed by the Cardinals, but my spite over the fact that the Pac-10 provided me nearly no entertainment value for my dollar this season wins out.

Texas A&M (5) vs. Utah State (12): When you don’t know much about either team, go with the higher seed (even in the infamous 5-12 matchups).

Purdue (4) vs. Sienna (13): Yes, I know Robbie Hummel is done for the year. That doesn’t change the fact that JaJuan Johnson, Keaton Grant and E’Twaun Moore are still talented and well-coached. This may be a popular upset pick, but I’m not falling for the hype.

Notre Dame (6) vs. Old Dominion (11): It seems like just two weeks ago that people were wondering if Notre Dame would make the tournament. The reason that it seems that way is because people really were wondering whether the Irish would make the cut. That near-bubble status may concern some people, but I take the opposite view–if a team can suddenly and successfully reinvent itself like Notre Dame has over the past few weeks and work their way up to 6-seed, then I expect them to continue doing things right, at least for a little while.

Baylor (3) vs. Sam Houston State (14): Every time I see Baylor on TV, I’m continually amazed that they’re a good team. I mean, teams have overcome academic issues or violations involving paying of players, but it was only a handful of years ago that Baylor had a murder scandal. I’ll say that again: a murder scandal. Any school that can gut the program and rebuild from something like that as quickly as Baylor did has to sort of impress you, so they get my pick.

Richmond (7) vs. St. Mary’s (10): Great mascot matchup, as the Spiders take on the Gaels. I’m taking St. Mary’s in this one because they’re from the same conference as Gonzaga, consistently lag just a half step behind Gonzaga and won the conference championship from Gonzaga this year. Thus, my theory is that they’re essentially like Gonzaga 10 years ago, before anyone knew exactly how good the Bulldogs were.

Villanova (2) vs. Robert Morris (15): I have a cousin who attended Robert Morris, but my family loyalty goes out the window here due to the fact that Scottie Reynolds was the most entertaining player that I watched all year.

Second Round

Midwest Regional: Second Round

Kansas (1) vs. Northern Iowa (9): When one of the top mid-majors of the year takes on the top power conference team of the year, you simply have to take the power conference team.

Maryland (4) vs. Michigan State (5): Maryland has a coach that’s won it all in Gary Williams, one of my favorite players to watch in Greivis Vasquez, and has sort of flown under the radar after going through a few down years and playing in a weaker-than-usual ACC this year. I should pick them to win, but I can’t. Why? You’re utterly stupid if you pick against Tom Izzo and the Spartans in the tourney. They always seem to go on a run, even when it doesn’t quite make sense.

Tennessee (6) vs. Georgetown (3): I hate picking Tennessee games. While this year’s team is more steady than most, all Bruce Pearl-coached teams are the type of squad that can either blow the doors off of their opponent or completely embarrass themselves on a given night. You never know which team will show up. I hate picking Bruce Pearl, who has always seemed vaguely dirty to me (though admittedly, I have no facts to validate this feeling), over John Thompson III, who seems like a guy that does things the right way. But I have to pick the Vols, because their upside is always so high.

Ohio State (2) vs. Georgia Tech (10): If Ohio State plays all season with Evan Turner, they’re probably a #1 seed. I haven’t seen many teams in the country as good as the Buckeyes, and now is when they start proving it to the nation.

West Regional: Second Round

Syracuse (1) vs. Gonzaga (8): The excitement and speed of this game will be high, but ultimately Gonzaga will wilt as Syracuse gets Arinze Onuaku back from his leg injury just in the nick of time.

UTEP (12) vs. Vanderbilt (4): Twelve seeds usually only get one upset, so sorry UTEP, you’re going home.

Minnesota (11) vs. Pittsburgh (3): Minnesota’s hot streak comes to an end here. While the Gophers are hard-nosed, Pitt is even more so, and has a bit more talent.

Kansas State (2) vs. Florida (10): I can’t seem to watch Kansas State home games on TV. I hate looking at their arena–it just looks like a terrible, cheaply made place to play. Of course, every time I did turn on a bit of a K-State game this year, they were on the verge of knocking off someone good. That has to count for something.

East Regional: Second Round

Kentucky (1) vs. Texas (8): Kentucky wins this one, as Texas has collapsed down the stretch and can’t be all that confident at this point. However, there’s a bigger point to be made here–keep an eye on the East region, as the conspiracy theorist in me thinks that the NCAA has tired of the black mark that John Calipari keeps leaving on the game and has schemed to craft a bracket that is geared towards preventing Kentucky from getting to the Final Four. The first obstacle here is subtle (as it needs to be in the second round), but how many #8 seeds can you think of that were ever ranked #1 in the country?

Wisconsin (4) vs. Temple (5): Based on total lack of knowledge about Temple and a huge amount of homer sentiment, I’ll take the Badgers here. They got all of their bad shooting out of the way in the Big Ten Tournament, right?

Marquette (6) vs. New Mexico (3): Bad memories of Steve Alford’s stint at Iowa make it impossible for me to pick him here. Marquette wins going away and shoots its usual 65% from the arc in doing so. This pick has an added bonus for you if you're not from Wisconsin, as local excitement and knowledge of the Golden Eagles is bound to increase the number of Wisconsinites picking them through to the Sweet Sixteen. If you thought Buzz Williams was overly emotional and way too candid on the Marquette radio post-game show, just wait until you see him make it to the second weekend of the tournament.

Clemson (7) vs. West Virginia (2): For a team that I didn’t respect at the start of the year, WVU has proven me to be a fool, taking the Big East tournament crown in impressive fashion. Hopefully their hillbilly fans won’t throw things onto the court during this one.

South Regional: Second Round

Duke (1)vs. Louisville (9): Duke begins its path as that team that I don’t necessarily love, but whose path is paved by teams that I truly cannot get behind. Louisville is one such team, even if the presence of Jerry Smith still gives me a small soft spot for the Cardinals.

Texas A&M (5) vs. Purdue (4): Looking to zig when everyone else is zagging, I’ll take Purdue here. Everyone’s going to be picking A&M, since it’s no secret that Purdue’s seeding is in large part based on wins that they accumulated before star forward Robbie Hummel was lost to a knee injury. Do I trust the Boilermakers here? Heck no–I saw part of their dreadful performance against Minnesota. But when else can you gain upset cache by picking the higher seeded team? This is unique opportunity.

Notre Dame (6) vs. Baylor (3): Notre Dame is resurgent, but Baylor is flat out good, so I’m going with the Bears.

Villanova (2) vs. St. Mary’s (10): I’ve had the discussion many times about how many really good, but not quite great teams there are in the country this year. I always bring Villanova’s name up at some point in that discussion, so they’re not losing in the second round, no matter how proud of St. Mary’s I am for winning their conference tournament.

Sweet Sixteen

Midwest Regional: Sweet Sixteen

Kansas (1) vs. Michigan State (5): Finally, some powerhouse schools get to play one another. I said last round that it’s nearly impossible to pick against the Spartans in the NCAA tournament. However, when they’re playing the consensus top team in the tournament, picking against them gets a lot easier.

Tennessee (6) vs. Ohio State (2): Ohio State showed some cracks in the Big Ten Tournament. The Buckeyes needed a ridiculous 35-foot shot to defeat Michigan and two overtimes to defeat Illinois. Neither opponent was deemed NCAA tournament-worthy. Despite the doubts raised by those performances, though, the fact that I’ve got them playing Tennessee means that I have to pick Ohio State. I learned last year what happens when you rely on picking a team as inconsistent as Tennessee to go deep into the tournament. It doesn’t end well for your bracket.

West Regional: Sweet Sixteen

Syracuse (1) vs. Vanderbilt (4): Vanderbilt could be a sneaky team, but when Syracuse is on (which is most of the time), I feel like they’re the best team in the country, so I’m advancing the Orange here.

Pittsburgh (3) vs. Kansas State (2): I think logic dictates that Kansas State wins this one, as the Wildcats have been playing very well down the stretch. But I’m not a logical guy. When Pitt played at Marquette a few weeks back, I remember saying to my friend Dez “You know, Pitt’s not the best or most talented team that I’ve seen this year, but they play like I’d want my favorite team to play.” After the first two rounds, every pick is something of a risk, and who better to take a risk on than a team who’s style of play you believe in?

East Regional: Sweet Sixteen

Kentucky (1) vs. Wisconsin (4): Much as I hate to admit it, I think Kentucky’s talent wins out over my beloved Badgers’ relentless consistency. But more importantly, let’s jump back into my conspiracy theory about the NCAA crafting a bracket to prey on Kentucky’s weaknesses. Here, an extremely youthful Kentucky squad would have to take on a junior and senior dominated Wisconsin team. And if there’s one way to defeat the overwhelming youthful talent of guys like John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, it’s with consistent veterans who won’t back down (adding to my conspiracy theory, both Temple and Cornell also apparently fit this bill). I’m just saying...

Marquette (6) vs. West Virginia (2): Marquette on a few days rest is a dangerous team and should scare anyone in the country. That said, West Virginia is just too hot for me to pick against them right now, and they’ve got the psychological upper-hand after beating Marquette by one point when the teams met earlier this year.

South Regional: Sweet Sixteen

Duke (1) vs. Purdue (4): There’s only so far that I can pick Purdue after the Robbie Hummel injury, no matter how well-coached they are, or how much I expect other star players to pick up the slack for him. I’ve taken my shot with the Boilers, but now Duke moves on to (hopefully) see their first true challenge of the bracket.

Baylor (3) vs. Villanova (2): I could really make the case for either team here, but will pick Baylor simply to mitigate some of my apparent bias toward the Big East (I’ve already picked three other Big East teams to the round of 8, and I don’t want to back off of any of those other ones).

Regional Finals

Midwest Regional Final

Kansas (1) vs. Ohio State (2): Perhaps my toughest pick of the tournament. I've changed and re-written this justification about eight times. I’ve been telling people for the last month that I think Ohio State with Evan Turner is a Final Four team. I don’t want to back off of that. And while most people don’t remember this, they’ve got some Final Four experience on their team (it seems like ancient history now, but David Lighty started school with Greg Oden and Mike Conley a few years back). However, Kansas is talented beyond belief and probably the best bet to get to the Final Four. I try not to pick scared, because those type of picks are the ones that cost you in the end. But let’s be honest–I’m scared by Ohio State’s struggles to beat non-tournament teams in the Big Ten tournament, and I’m not sure how they handle Cole Aldrich. So, I have to pick Kansas here, but I’m not happy about it.

West Regional Final

Syracuse (1) vs. Pittsburgh (3): Pitt handed Syracuse one of their four losses this season, but in one of the few tournament games between teams that I’ve seen play a few times and feel like I somewhat understand, I just don’t see the Panthers getting one over on the Orange again. And my favorite team in the country rolls to the Final Four.

East Regional Final

Kentucky (1) vs. West Virginia (2): Round three of my NCAA conspiracy theory, and Kentucky’s band of fresh-faced rookies are facing a hard-nosed West Virginia team. While I may hate Bob Huggins and what he stands for, it cannot be denied that his teams are never lacking for toughness. And with the big game experience that they accumulated in the Big East Tournament, the Mountaineers become heroes to the NCAA and keep John Calipari from eventually vacating another Final Four appearance. John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, fed up with the lowball salary that they’re making at Kentucky, take their talents to the NBA.

South Regional Final

Duke (1) vs. Baylor (3): I don’t know that I can justify my picking of Duke here other than to simply say I can’t envision a world in which Baylor is one of the last four teams playing for a national title. It’s not a good justification, but at least it’s honest.

Final Four

Kansas vs. Syracuse: Kansas is the safe pick, but as I’ve alluded to, I just really like Syracuse’s team. Concrete reasons for this pick (or really, any pick at this point of the tournament) are tough to come by. So I’m relying on the fact that my grandfather’s a big Syracuse fan and deserves the joy of an Orange run to the finals. God wouldn’t take that away from him.

West Virginia vs. Duke: Every year when I’m filling out a bracket there’s one team that I would never look at outside of the context of the bracket and say “That’s a Final Four team.” That year, Duke is that team. I’ve got them in the Final Four largely because as the South region is set up, there simply isn’t a challenge that I think should overwhelm them. But I can’t stress enough that while every one of Duke’s parade of big men is good, none of them truly inspires me, and I’m readily aware that Duke remains one guard injury away from being very shorthanded. But here’s the thing–as much as I love West Virginia and think their forwards are one of the only groups that can match up against Duke’s frontcourt, the Blue Devils will be more rested from their run through the early rounds. Duke finally restores some pride to a program that’s had, by its ridiculous standards, a down couple of years.

Championship

Duke vs. Syracuse: So far I’ve picked Duke over one great team and four teams that simply didn’t seem all that important to me. It’s bad enough that I’ve picked Duke through to the finals despite having no passion for them, but I can’t have them winning the whole thing. Plus, the story of Syracuse’s preseason loss to Division II LeMoyne in an exhibition game at the start of the year becomes even more legendary if they win the national championship. I think the Orange need to bring this home, and become the first ever team to lose in the first round of their conference tournament and win a national championship. (Yes, that last tidbit does scare me just a little bit.)

Enjoy the tourney–as always, it’s going to be quite the weekend.

Milwaukee Lutheran vs. Port Washington: Two For the Price of One

2010-01-06T09:14:00.000-06:00

Last night I headed out to Milwaukee Lutheran to watch the Red Knights play host to Port Washington. The draw of this game was three-fold. One, I wanted to see Wisconsin recruit Josh Gasser, who based on the Badgers’ roster make-up, has the potential to play an important role for them next year. Two, I wanted to see Milwaukee Lutheran star Chim Kadima, who I have somehow not managed to see over the past two years. And finally, I just wanted to see a good game, as I hadn’t been to a high school game in a month (save for my trip down to the Wisconsin Basketball Yearbook Shootout). All three objectives were met (at least until Port Washinton pulled away in the fourth quarter). My thoughts below:

1) Milwaukee Lutheran is always one of my favorite places to watch a high school basketball. I’ve been to a handful of games there over the past few years, and I always leave smiling because of the atmosphere. There’s always a huge student section (they were quiet last night, but are typically very spirited), an excellent pep band, and generally a larger crowd that you see at most high school basketball games. It doesn’t matter if it’s a big game or not–the Milwaukee Lutheran fans always seem to show up. It’s something that most schools should be envious of.

2) For all of the good things about Milwaukee Lutheran, I find its fieldhouse to be one of the least awe-inspiring of the handful of huge high school fieldhouses that have popped up around the Milwaukee area in recent years. And it all boils down to two things–lighting and color. The vast grayness of the Milwaukee Lutheran fieldhouse makes you forget that it’s probably about the same size as the fieldhouse out at Cedarburg, or that the bleachers at Milwaukee Lutheran are far less flimsy than those at Milwaukee Pius. All that said, even if the Milwaukee Lutheran fieldhouse can be sort of drab and depressing at times, it’s still better than no fieldhouse at all. I can’t tell you how jealous of today’s students I am every time I walk out of a school that has a climbing wall. Where was that when I was a teenager? (Side note–I’m told that Brookfield East and Central both have new fieldhouses, and I’m anxiously looking forward to checking those out).

3) Because high school basketball is much lower profile than college hoops, I often find myself in the amusing situation of having read oodles of material about a given player and being very familiar with a name, but having no idea what the guy actually looks like. Such was the case last night with Josh Gasser and Chim Kadima. Whenever this happens, I like to play a game with myself and see if I can figure out who the star is during warm-ups, before numbers and identities are revealed to everyone. Usually, it’s pretty easy to guess who the star is due to a unique height, race, or abundance of athletic ability. Kadima, for example, was given away by the superior athleticism that he displayed during warm-ups. Gasser was nearly impossible to pick out, though. He’s a 6'4" white guy with short brown hair. A brief perusal of the program revealed that six of Port Washington’s twelve players were 6'4", and nearly the entire team had short brown hair. Part of me wonders if the reason that Milwaukee Lutheran played a lot of zone defense in the first half is that they couldn’t tell anyone apart. As to my attempt to figure out who Gasser was, I got it wrong, guessing that he was teammate Cory Steinmetz. I was disappointed in my effort, but at least I picked another starter, and one of the more solid players on the team.

4) I can’t say that last night was always fun for me to watch, as the first half featured both teams playing a lot of zone defense (I don’t know if I ever saw Port Washington go man-to-man). While I don’t necessarily have anything against zone defense, both teams were sort of at a loss regarding how to attack a zone defense for a good portion of the early part of the game (Milwaukee Lutheran didn’t score its first points until nearly 5 minutes into the game). It was a bit better late in the game once both teams figured out what they were running (and Milwaukee Lutheran increased the amount of man-to-man played), but the start of the game dragged a bit and tainted my opinion from the onset.

5) Because of the size of the Milwaukee Lutheran fieldhouse, a ball boy or girl is deployed at each end of the court to chase down any loose balls that happen to make their way into the vast abyss that is the area beyond the baseline. Last night the public address announcer mentioned the names of the two kids working the game and noted that both were part of a program where fifth graders at a local Lutheran school that recognized a student’s positive performance by granting them the honor of serving as ball boy/girl. Part of me wondered if it really was an honor to be stuck sitting on a 2x3 rectangle of carpet with nothing but a towel and bottle of water for roughly an hour and a half, with the only reprieve being the moments when it became necessary to chase down a sweaty basketball. Of course, much as it seems like a punishment to me now, in fifth grade I probably would have totally loved doing something like that.

6) Beyond Josh Gasser, the other big name in last night’s game was Milwaukee Lutheran’s Chim Kadima, best known for an array of injuries over the years and his backing off an acceptance of a scholarship to Iowa State. Kadima showed no signs of his prior injury last night, and while not a superior athlete, is still pretty athletic. Add in a nice night from three-point range, and I was generally pretty pleased with Kadima’s 20-point performance.

7) In addition to scoring 17 points and looking like Port Washinton’s top forward, Pirate forward Shane Kennedy wins last night’s Andreas Helmigk Award for outstanding achievement in sweat production. Port Washington’s team colors did him no favors, but Kennedy managed to easily sweat through his jersey quickly.

8) How did Gasser look to me? To borrow a phrase from Steve “Homer” True, solid but unspectacular. He’s not a guy that wows people with his athletic ability, and while he has a nice looking shot, nothing managed to fall for him beyond the three-point arc last night. It was tough to get a read defensively, due to Port Washington’s reliance on zone defense. Gasser does excel at passing (kudos for his teammates for being able to catch some of his more impressive assists last night), which bodes well for where Wisconsin may need to use him next year. But beyond that, he’s basically like a human version of the Wisconsin team–no glaring weaknesses, but no characteristics that are going to get you overly excited at first glance, either. So he should fit right in with the Badgers.

9) I do have to admit that I left the game wondering exactly how hazardous it is to be a cheerleader at Milwaukee Lutheran. During pre-game and time-outs, there were several instances where team members pulled mats out onto the floor with them for routines, and my unofficial count revealed that the team was wearing a grand total of six braces on various body parts, as well as three patellar bands. Maybe some of the girls should go out for something more safe–like the football team.

10) I understand that every moment of a game is important to a high school team, but I really wasn’t too excited to see Milwaukee Lutheran calling timeouts in the final minute and being instructed to foul while down by 11 points with 35 seconds left. As a fan, there comes a time when you just want to go home.

With Port Washington sealing its victory with a nice fourth quarter run, I headed home with a bit more knowledge about next year’s Wisconsin team and was able to cross two players off of my must-see list. I also solved one of the great mysteries of my life when I passed by nearby Divine Savior Holy Angels high school on my drive home and finally figured out where that school is. Despite the fact that DSHA is in Wauwatosa, and I’ve crossed paths with a handful of its graduates, I honestly didn’t know where that place was for the first 30 years of my life. I’d say that all of those things together made for a pretty good night.

Tonight brings Wisconsin-Michigan State and Marquette-Georgtown. I’ll be attending the latter, and watching the former either on my DVR, or with MU fan friends poking at me at a bar.

Wrapping Up Jeronne Maymon (and Fun With Quotes!)

2009-12-18T07:53:00.000-06:00

For as much as I’ve alluded this week to a discussion of it, I’m not sure there’s much that I can say about Jeronne Maymon’s departure from the Marquette basketball team that’s unique. It would be tough for nearly any reasonable person to look at the decision made by Jeronne Maymon and not think it’s a remarkably hasty choice that’s bound to impact him in a negative way. Coach Buzz Williams and Maymon’s father, Tim, have both confirmed that the departure is due to Maymon’s disagreement with the way that he is being utilized. Maymon has been asked to play primarily a post position, despite an understanding at the time of his commitment that he would be spending time at shooting guard and small forward.

What Maymon’s dismay with this situation overlooks is that Marquette is currently a team with a number of guards and without a healthy, legitimate post player above the height of 6'6". At 6'6" and 250 pounds, he was the player most well-suited to pick up minutes in the post and was the logical player to fill that hole for the Golden Eagles. Not an ideal situation for anyone, but given the current roster, Maymon playing down low was a borderline necessity. He should have been able to see this, particularly with senior teammate, Lazar Hayward, thriving in the role that Maymon likely wished to fill, after years of playing out of position in the post. Maymon was literally playing alongside a guy doing exactly what he wanted to do, and who had started exactly the same way as Maymon was starting out and somehow failed to notice. Making things even more frustrating, Maymon was showing nice progress on the court, and looked like he would have been a solid contributor for his career at Marquette had he continued to plug away. But ten games in, he apparently was frustrated that he wasn't there yet.

Of course, we’ll never know how good Maymon would have been at Marquette, because he was unable to show the patience to wait his turn and contribute as asked this season. I’d be angry at Maymon if it wasn’t such a sad situation. While Maymon himself has had the good sense not to speak publicly about his departure, his father has been characteristically outspoken. Comments from Tim Maymon reveal an inflated opinion of his son’s abilities, and imply a misguided belief that college will only be a short detour on Jeronne Maymon’s journey to the NBA (a journey that, in reality, is a long shot, at best). Such beliefs would appear to be the only explanation for the prompt departure of Jeronne Maymon, who by any reasonable standard, was essentially thriving in his limited role as a freshman. One would hope that despite the misguided approach to his career, he’ll manage to at least find some benefit from his basketball abilities in the form of a college degree. Because it will be a sad ending when the NBA doesn’t come calling if all that Jeronne Maymon has to show for his talents is a couple of high school trophies. The fact that it took all of 10 games for him to sour on his first attempt at playing college ball doesn’t bode well, but I’m hoping that Jeronne Maymon can learn from this and stick out his next situation long enough to see some true benefits.

Of course, given that Jeronne Maymon has not commented to the media, we’re left wondering how much of this is actually his idea. So we’re left only with outrageous comments from his father to shed light on the situation. Below I’ve compiled some of the more outlandish and misguided comments attributed to Tim Maymon in various articles, and I’ll leave you with those today. Mr. Maymon’s comments appear in italics, while my own sarcastic comments follow each one in regular type. I wish I was making some of these up, but you can find every quote here, here or here. Enjoy the comments, and enjoy your weekend:

He'll play some two and some four depending on the teams. We're going to create a lot of matchups. Jeronne is going to be a hard matchup for any team we face, and depending on who their best player is, whether he's at the two, the three or the four, Jeronne will be pretty much guarding him and they'll pretty much have to guard Jeronne. We're not going to give leeway to teams because, ‘Oh, Jeronne's playing the two so we're going to move you to the three so Jeronne can't guard you.' No, Jeronne will be able to move to the two, three, four.

There are two obviously ridiculous things from this quote from Tim Maymon at the time of Jeronne Maymon’s original announcement that he would attend Marquette. First, there’s the notion that Maymon was going to step in and immediately be the team’s go-to, lock-down defender as a freshman. Not only that, he’s going to guard whoever the opposing team’s best player is, regardless of position, because he’s just that versatile. No one can hide from Jeronne Maymon. Second, I love the idea that a team would be able to avoid a matchup by simply labeling what position the player is playing. I don’t recall Buzz Williams’ press conference after losing to Villanova last season behind 27 points from Scottie Reynolds, but I’m pretty sure that he never said anything to the effect of “Well, we wanted to put Jerel McNeal, our best defender, on Reynolds, but coach Wright said that he was playing the three spot tonight, so we were forced to use Wesley Matthews on him instead, because he’s our small forward. My hands were tied.”

School's going great. That part is good. But he's not getting many touches. They're not trying to run the offense for him. They've got him playing center and that ain't what he does. So we just kind of moved on and regrouped for next year.

Well, at least Tim Maymon had realistic expectations for his son. As we know from the previous quote, he was going to immediately be a lock-down defender who guarded the best opposing player, regardless of position (*so long as that player’s not a center). As we know from this quote, he was also going to instantly be the focal point of the offense, and all sets would be designed around his skills. Oh, and from what I can glean from the previous quote, the opposing team’s best player will always be guarding him (*so long as that player’s not a center). That seems like a normal season for a freshman.

Right now, it's like he's up for recruitment. All I can say is ever since Buzz made the announcement Monday night, my phone has been ringing off the hook.

I’m going to venture that at least 50% of those calls are coming from reporters looking to get more outrageous quotes for their articles.

The bottom line is Jeronne just wanted to transfer. He just felt like it was time.

Well, at least he gave it some time. If things aren’t going to come together in almost a whole semester and nearly a dozen games, when are they?

We've just asked for a (scholarship) release so we can get out of here, because it ain't working out. He's not being used the way he needs to be used, so we're moving on.

Don’t you mean “We’re not being used the way we need to be used,” Tim?

Buzz had expressed to Jeronne that if he came there -- because he's losing three starters, not one - that Jeronne's playing time is enormous. ‘You, coming in with your talent level, you're going to play. That's just the bottom line. You're going to start and you're pretty much from 25 to 30 minutes a game.'

I’m firmly of the belief that what Tim Maymon heard and what Buzz Williams said are two completely different things. However even if you don’t believe that, it’s interesting to note that Maymon was well on his way to getting those 25 minutes per game that are talked about here. They simply weren’t at the right position for him. (Is it possible that Marquette was simply playing a lot of teams with great centers, and they simply needed Maymon to guard the best player all of the time?)

We're looking at some decent programs, like Central Florida, where Michael Jordan's son (Marcus) plays," Tim Maymon said. "That would be a great school that he could go in and they could pretty much get to the Final Four and do some damage.

Seems logical enough. I’ve long thought that adding a player who was averaging 15 minutes per game for a middle-of-the-pack Big East team was just what the storied Central Florida program needed to put them over the top in their quest to play in a Final Four. I can't believe these words actually came out of someone's mouth.

Wisconsin vs. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo: Even Worse Than Expected

2009-12-17T08:08:00.000-06:00

Last night, I sat down with every intention of closely watching the Wisconsin-Cal Poly game and compiling comments. As I sat down to take in the game, I opened up my Blue Ribbon Yearbook to get some background on Cal Poly. Turns out, they were picked to finish dead last in the Big West Conference (which is not exactly the west coast equivalent of the Big East, in case you were wondering). Their grade for Bench/Depth was “F,” marking one of the only times that I’ve ever seen such a harsh assessment in the Blue Ribbon Yearbook.

And even with this indictment of the team by the gold standard of college basketball publications, Cal Poly still played worse than I expected. The only semi-run that they made during the game came around the 8-minute mark of the first half, when they suddenly went to the Marathon Oil/Athletes in Action offense and just started tossing up threes. But going Marathon Oil seldom works for more than a couple of minutes. This might have been the worst performance that I’ve seen by a division one basketball team since the infamous Chicago State team that I saw at the Kohl Center as a student near the start of the decade. Highlights of that awful Chicago State team included most of the team laughing and joking on the bench during their lopsided defeat, and a team manager who openly conversed with the Wisconsin student section during the game about his exploits as a player for the Chicago State football team, which did not actually exist. Because Cal Poly’s team actually appeared to care about the game, I still rank them as better than Chicago State. But it’s a pretty low standard.

Didn’t see the game? Well, here’s all that you need to know–in the closing minutes of the game last night J.P. Gavinski rolled to the basket and threw down a thunderous dunk. I always enjoy seeing Gavinski and love it when he does well in garbage time, but even I must admit that a team has really mailed it in if Gavinski is looking that good. Yes, though, I still pumped my fists and let out a scream when he threw that sweet dunk down. It was an exciting night in my living room.

So no, there’s not much more to say about last night. When a game gets that out of hand that fast, there aren’t a lot of legitimate things to be gleaned from a game. Perhaps the only good thing that can be said about last night’s contest is that the Badgers got a much needed night off during exam week. Now if only they’d wrap up those pesky tests and start playing again, I’d be a happy man.

Back tomorrow with my final thoughts on Jeronne Maymom, which should not be all that surprising.

Germantown vs. Whitefish Bay: A Pleasant Tuesday Night Diversion

2009-12-16T07:58:00.000-06:00

Last evening I took a break from reading about Jeronne Maymon (more on that in the coming days–needless to say, the more information that comes out, the less impressed I am with his decision), headed out into the cold, and took a trip out to Germantown to see the Warhawks host Whitefish Bay. Normally I’d have been pushing for a trip to the Marquette-Tosa East game, but there were a handful of compelling games in the area last night, and frankly, I didn’t care which of them I saw. So I let my friend Kevin choose the game, as I trust his opinion as much as anyone's in terms of picking out a high school game to see. He made a good call, and I got the chance to get out of my box a bit and see two intriguing North Shore Conference teams play. My quick thoughts below:

1) Germantown broke out what seems to be a dying concept these days–the pep band. It was sort of a double-edged sword to have the pep band there during the pre game and first half. On one hand, the band was impressive, belting out tons of pep band standards (who doesn’t love “Hey, Baby”), and generally setting the atmosphere for the game. On the other hand, Germantown has always been ahead of the curve in terms of using its PA system to play amusing sound cues and songs during breaks in the game (who doesn’t love to hear chimes after made free throws, like at Bucks’ games?), and the band supplanted the usual AV creativity during the early parts of the game. I guess any way you slice it, Germantown has turned into a nice place to watch a game (a far cry from my feelings about the place back in high school, when I was scolded by an annoyingly sarcastic supervisor for bringing a soda into the gym.)

2) My friend Kevin had seen Germantown prior to last evening’s game, and noted that it was a much different team from last season. He wasn’t lying. Last year the Warhawks were anchored by two big men, including outstanding forward Ben Averkamp, who has since taken his talents to Loyala. The new-look Warhawks start four sophomores and a junior, and look to be most talented at the guard spots, with highly regarded Zak Showalter and aggressive defender Josh Mongan holding down the backcourt. The frontcourt has some promise too, though, and Germantown will be a team to watch in coming years, once the players get a bit more experience under their belts. They’re actually not too shabby now, even though last night’s game wouldn’t be the best example of their talents.

3) Kudos to the young man in the Germantown student wearing the sweater with built-in Christmas lights. Awesome look. Yesterday when I went to Germantown High School’s website to find the address of the school, I happened to notice that the school was having some sort of holiday spirit week and that yesterday was ugly sweater day. Glad to see that this carried over to the game a bit, as terrible holiday sweaters are generally fun (the trend of ugly Christmas sweaters will likely be a tired one in the near future, but we’re not there yet).

4) I was not expecting to be nearly as impressed as I was by Whitefish Bay big man Jamie Schneck. During warm-ups, he looked like a skinny, fairly nondescript player, save for his 6'7" height. Then the game started. Early on, Schneck found himself leading a fastbreak, and showing off far better ball handling skills than a 6'7" center for Whitefish Bay should have. Throughout the game, he showed far more confidence, aggressiveness and court instincts than I would expect out of a player just starting his junior year. I’d not heard of Schneck before last night’s game, but his is a name that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon. I can’t wait to see what he does over the next two years.

5) One confusing aspect of the evening was that it was parents’ night at Germantown last evening. So, we got to sit through the ritual of players and dance team members being introduced and handing a flower to their parents. While I certainly have no problem with an evening to honor parents, it has generally been my experience that parents’ night comes later during the season, and not during the first few weeks of the season. I guess if we want to get mom and dad out of the way, last night wasn’t a bad way to do it. But it felt weird to see such a display when it wasn’t part of winding the season down.

6) The score doesn’t indicate it, due to a mini-run of sorts by Germantown during the closing minutes of the contest, but Whitefish Bay controlled this game from the opening tip and had a large cushion for most of the game. I would love to see a shot chart of this game, because Whitefish Bay scored the vast majority of points on shots no more than 3 feet away from the hoop. (Actually, I’m not sure I’d want to see a shot chart, as I’d just end up feeling sorry for the guy taking the chart, who had nowhere else to draw circles after awhile.) What made the rout by the Blue Dukes particularly impressive is that Germantown is far from a bad team. Bay just played a great game last night, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the next time these two teams meet the game goes down to the wire.

And with another one in the books, I headed back out into the ridiculously cold weather and headed home as quickly as I could. After all, I had to see if more Jeronne Maymon news had broken...

Jeronne Maymon: The Most Confusing Departure Ever

2009-12-15T12:30:00.002-06:00

It was 9pm last night when my friend Gus called and asked if I’d seen the news. Knowing Gus, I knew that it could be just about anything basketball-related, or something about one of the characters in our hometown. But even though it turned out to be basketball-related news, I absolutely did not expect him to tell me that Jeronne Maymon had quit the Marquette team. That totally floored me, and after spending the night thinking about it, I’m still perplexed at this turn of events. The timing just seems so confusing.

Maymon, of course, was something of a gamble to bring to Marquette. Though he was the state player of the year, there were plenty of questions surrounding his academics, and his outspoken father made lots of people cringe when he opened his mouth. Similar to another departed Marquette player from a few years back, Trever Mbakwe, there were enough red flags that you knew there was some risk in bringing Maymon aboard. But I thought it was a good gamble for Marquette. Grabbing a state player of the year from the same city of one of your biggest rivals is always a good move, and despite some of the questions about Maymon, he always seemed to be an excellent teammate. The positives were plentiful enough and the upside was big enough that it made sense to give Maymon a scholarship. But it seems that things didn’t work out.

Obviously, with so little information about what went down, speculation about the reasons behind Maymon’s departure abound. I’ve yet to come up with a reason that makes sense to me. Grades are an obvious first place to look, given Maymon’s reported past troubles. But the timing of his departure, prior to the end of the semester, means that he’d be leaving before any grades were even in. There’s little logic to a move like that.

I’ve seen some talk that Maymon could potentially be upset with his role as a supporting player, or that he doesn’t like the fact that he’s had to play a post position could be reason for conflict with Buzz Williams. But that doesn’t make sense to me either. In high school, Maymon seemed to be an almost frighteningly ego-less player to me. Two years ago, he dominated the state high school tournament like few others have ever done. Last year, teammate Vander Blue took over the breakout star at state, as Maymon seemed content to support his teammate and fill up the stat sheet in ways that didn’t involve being in the spotlight, so long as it meant his team would win. I don’t know of too many 18-year-old kids who reach a peak like that, and then step aside to let a teammate blossom, all in the spirit of success. To complain now would seem out of character, given Maymon’s past history as a seemingly outstanding teammate. And any rational person could see that his confinement to post-play this year is due to a freakish rash of frontcourt injuries, as well as the Brett Roseboro pre-season departure. I don’t claim to be an expert on Maymon’s demeanor, but leaving so quickly because of a dispute over how and how much he’s being used doesn’t add up to me.

Finally, I’d initially thought that his opinionated father was somehow involved in this, but early reports are that as of this morning he’s claiming to have known nothing about what went down. I’m not sure if I totally believe that, but for now, I’ll take the man at his word. Perhaps the only other thing that I can think of is that Maymon is involved in some sort of legal or other type of trouble, as Marquette has traditionally been good at protecting player privacy in those sorts of situations. But that’s a completely wild theory, and one that I can’t say that I actually believe.

So why Jeronne Maymon is no longer a member of the Marquette team is a question that I can’t answer. But there are other questions raised by his departure. Namely, the following two:

1) What happens to Vander Blue? Maymon’s relationship with Vander Blue seemed to be an important part of Blue’s decision to attend Marquette. With Maymon out of the picture, does that change things? If Blue’s smart, it shouldn’t. To start with, the letter of intent that he signed with Marquette would provide an extra hurdle to him should he decide to go elsewhere. Even if he could get Marquette to release him, his options would likely be limited. Aside from that, Blue has already publicly changed his mind once. To do so again would be bordering on ridiculous, particularly when he’s walking into a fairly good situation at Marquette. Marquette has a whole lot more to offer to Vander Blue than a chance to hang out with one of his friends. Given the early comments from his mother, I'm expecting that she'll read this situation well and will guide him in the right direction. It’s not even worth discussing Blue going elsewhere at this point, because I don’t see it happening. (I’ll only add that as great as it would be to see a player of Blue’s caliber in Badger red, after all that’s happened in his recruitment, it would probably be wise for him to leave the state and clean his slate, should he be inclined to depart Marquette.)

2) What will happen to Marquette this year? Well, practices just got a bit tougher, given that there are only 10 healthy players on the roster. Hopefully some of the assistant coaches are in shape so that they can practice if someone goes down or needs a breather (a la Rob Jeter and Tony Bennett for the 2001-02 Wisconsin team, the last season that I’ve seen a roster meltdown of this magnitude). In terms of actual games, I actually think Marquette will be more okay than we think right now. No, Youssoupha Mbao isn’t ready to play, and Rob Frozena will never rise above his walk-on status. But in the limited minutes that he’s played, I think Erik Williams has looked promising. Buzz Williams might disagree with me, though, given that I’ve never seen a coach berate a player like Buzz laid into Eric Williams during a timeout in the midst of garbage time in an early non-conference game. But Buzz Williams doesn’t have many other choices of players to go to now, and I think that the younger Williams will be up to the task. The already depleted Golden Eagles have looked somewhat better than expected so far, and let’s not forget–that 2001-02 Wisconsin team that I referenced earlier may have had a similarly cursed roster, but they also won the Big Ten championship that same year. I’m not saying that Marquette will rise to those heights, but let’s not start eulogizing this season just yet.

Here’s looking to whatever news comes out in the coming days. It’s sure to be interesting, particularly if the rumored press conference involving Maymon’s father actually occurs.

I Don't Want To Talk About It

2009-12-10T08:02:00.002-06:00

Yep, last night Wisconsin lost to a UW-Green Bay team that I predicted that they would "pummel." Apparently UW-Green Bay played a great game, but still, Wisconsin shouldn't find themselves on the losing end of a game with the Phoenix. No matter how much snow is on the ground, or how well Rahmon Fletcher plays.

I'd rather not think about last night's game today, and I'm betting that you'd rather not, too. So instead of dwelling on the loss, enjoy this link to UWM's 300+ pound star forward James Eayrs joyfully describing his perfect team. And by "team," he means a burrito at Chipotle. If that doesn't take your mind off of things and bring a smile to your face, nothing will.

Braving the Weather For Some Hoops

2009-12-09T08:26:00.001-06:00

I wasn’t quite sure what to do with myself last night, given an array of game choices, and the obstacles posed by the major snow storm entering the Milwaukee area last evening. The obvious choice was to head down to the Bradley Center for the Marquette-UWM game, a contest that I look forward to each season. However, with the fear that downtown could be a mess with the oncoming onslaught of snow, the prospect of a nearby high school game was also an intriguing, and less treacherous option. I also gave some thought to just staying home and staying out of the weather mess altogether. After all, better safe than sorry, right?

Ultimately, I opted for my second choice, and headed out to my first high school game of the year at Marquette High. The Hilltoppers hosted Menomonee Falls in a showdown of two of the favorites in the wide-open Greater Metro Conference race. My rationale behind the choice was multi-faceted. First, a trip to Marquette High would be shorter and easier for me than heading downtown, where the combination of snow and parking ramps was sure to cause minor gridlock. Second, I had to test out the weather early on last night, as my beloved 1999 Mystique that took me to so many games died this summer, and I wanted to see how my new vehicle handled in the snow before things got too bad. Third, with the Marquette-UWM game on TV, I could take in the high school game early, and be home in plenty of time for the local college game as a nightcap on the DVR. Finally, the combination of weather scaring off fans, a general lack of awareness by fans of early season games, and a huge Marquette gym led me to conclude that this might be one of the few opportunities to see rising Menomonee Falls star J.P. Tokoto this year without finding myself crammed in a crowded gym next to random parents berating referees. What can I say–I like my space.

For the most part, I think I made the right call. The game was easy in and easy out (well, as easy as it could be, given that it occurred during the start of the first snowstorm of the year) and it provided me an early look at two teams of interest. The post-game look at Marquette-UWM didn’t quite work out, as my Directv feed went out due to heavy snow on my dish. I’m mildly bitter about that, but will concede that I’d be much more upset had I not seen an entertaining game earlier in the evening.

The evening’s thoughts below:

1) J.P. Tokoto may be the most widely talked about player in the state, but because his name isn’t pronounced in the way that you would intuitively say it when reading it, announcers sometimes don’t get it right (for the record, based on what announcers have been saying, I’m led to believe that it’s pronounced toke-a-toe). Tonight’s public address announcer slipped up during player introductions and audibly apologized. It sort of reminds me of when I went to games as a kid and even the home announcer couldn’t figure out how the heck to pronounce Gary Grzesk’s name during his sophomore year in high school. It’s sort of amusing to get to see a player that everyone knows is great, but who’s so new that few know the most basic facts about him yet.

2) I was sort of surprised to see Marquette go nearly the entire first quarter without subbing a single player in. I found this unusual for two reasons. First, one of the things that I always notice about Marquette is that their coach tends to go deep into the team’s bench and sub freely, something that’s kind of nice to see with a high school team (particularly one that’s typically competitive, like Marquette). Second, even teams that don’t sub much tend to slip players in and out of the game more freely early in the season as they try to find a team identity. Marquette went 9 or 10 deep by the end of the night, but it wasn’t as busy a night at the scorer’s table as I’ve seen in nights past.

3) It’s going to be a busy night in the laundry room for the Marquette team today, as both Quinten Calloway and John Korpiva had to change jerseys at separate points during the game, presumably because of blood ending up on their originals. Calloway’s jersey change took far too long, as a Marquette assistant coach went to the locker room to grab the spare, and for reasons that I still don’t understand, the referees did not re-start play promptly after removing Calloway from the game to deal with the issue. It seemed inappropriate to stop play for the extended amount of time that they did, and there seemed to be no point to the long break when ultimately, Calloway was not allowed to immediately re-enter the game after finally changing jerseys. The end result was neither coach looking happy with the situation, and attendees like myself grew frustrated sitting around with no action going on. Thankfully, Korpiva’s jersey swap later in the game was no distraction at all, as I didn’t even notice that it had happened until after the fact.

4) Marquette will miss the inside presence of Garrett Maloney, who graduated last year, but John Korpiva looks up to the task of filling in down low. Korpiva isn’t quite as crafty as Maloney was (who is?), but he’s a better athlete (as evidenced by a near-block on Tokoto’s first dunk attempt) and should be a very solid player by the time he’s done (he’s just a junior, folks).

5) While the end score will indicate that this one was a rout, that’s not exactly how things went down. At the end of the first half, I believe the game was either tied or within one point. Falls really pulled away in the third quarter, though, going on a nice run as they turned up some full court pressure on Marquette. Interestingly, I’m not sure that J.P. Tokoto, their star player, even scored a point in the major run of the game (he very well may have, but he clearly wasn’t the focal point). While Tokoto is clearly the most talented guy on the floor, the guards at Falls are no slouches either, and this was their game last night. I recalled liking John Cording last year, but backcourt mate Connor Cassidy was outstanding last evening, and the smallest guy on the bench, Jalen Ramey, gave the Indians some excellent minutes last night. Against a Marquette backcourt that included Quinton Calloway, one of my favorite surprises of last season, it was a very nice performance. For all the talk that Tokoto gets, he’s clearly got some support from good players who have varsity experience.

6) Okay, enough about the Falls guards–how did J.P. Tokoto play last night? (Yeah, I know that’s what most of you really want to read about.) The box score says he had 19 points, and I’d guess he fell just short of 10 rebounds. His gifts are still obvious. He can jump higher and more quickly than anyone else on the floor (yes, he had a handful of dunks), he’s got a solid mid-range shot, and he has a sweet touch around the rim. Last night he settled for a few outside shots without even looking to attack in other ways, simply because he could shoot over the top of his defenders so easily. There were also quite a few instances of him trying to dribble upcourt with 2-3 defenders surrounding him, a recipe for disaster for even the best ball handlers. With all the hype, you sometimes forget that Tokoto is just starting his sophomore season, and is going to have a bad habit or two simply because he’s so young. But I expect that he’ll get those minor issues worked out in no time, as he is definitely not overhyped.

7) It was sort of a downer of a game from an atmosphere standpoint. The snowstorm kept the crowd somewhat sparse, and it being the first home game of the year for Marquette, there were no halftime contests or other non-game related attempts at entertainment. The only semi-entertaining crowd activity was a Falls student repeatedly attempting to taunt one of Marquette’s star football players who was sitting across the gym in the crowd. And that was only amusing because it was such a poor attempt at taunting. (FYI, potential taunters, every student at Marquette High has had someone point out to them that there are no girls at their school. They’re aware of it. It’s a fact that’s irrelevant to any sports situation, and is completely unoriginal. And I say this as someone who was usually looking to run down Marquette during my student days.)

8) Last evening contained two of the most confusing jump ball calls that I’ve ever seen. I’m pretty sure that a player from Falls got a shot off while a jump ball was called at one point last night.

9) I’m hoping that both teams spend a decent portion of this next week working on their foul shooting. I can’t recall ever seeing a game that contained so many instances of a player heading to the line and missing two straight shots. There were some absolute bricks (not to mention an airball) thrown up, too. It’s early, so there’s time to right the ship, but neither team should be proud of how they looked from the line last night.

10) I get the sense that Menomonee Falls guard Kevin Scroggins is very well-liked by his teammates, due to the audible disappointment displayed by the bench when Scroggins missed the first of his foul shots after being inserted to close out the game with around two minutes to go.

And as the public address announcer sent the crowd off with the words “May all your snowblowers start on the first pull,” (a legitimately nice line, I must say) I headed out into the winter air to brush off my car and head home. My new ride got me home safely, and I had seen a good game. Not a bad night, even though the DVR failed to record the big game of the evening. Perhaps I can catch the replay of it tonight if I get done shoveling in time...

State Matchups Week!

2009-12-08T13:31:00.002-06:00

It’s a big week in Wisconsin hoops, with Marquette taking on UWM, UW-Green Bay hosting Wisconsin, and in the finale, Wisconsin and Marquette getting together on Saturday for their annual rivalry game. While it doesn’t always happen this way, it’s extra fun when so many intra-state games fall during the same week. With a chance to focus solely on games played by teams from inside the state’s borders, you’d expect me to have some thoughts on the games. And you’d be right. Here’s a couple of random things running through my mind as we head towards tonight’s Marquette-UWM game kicking off a week of homegrown basketball in Wiscosnin:

1) I doubt there could be any better way to kick off a week of state teams playing each other than yesterday’s announcement that Marquette has put UW-Green Bay on the schedule for the next three years, and is likely to do the same with UWM. Marquette has gone overly generous on the deal, offering to play Green Bay twice at home and once at the Resch Center. And from the Todd Rosiak report linked above, it sounds likely that UWM will get a similar deal. It’s surprising that Marquette would demand only two games in return for heading to our state’s mid-major homes, but it’s a nice PR move for the Golden Eagles program. After taking lots of flack (some deserved and some not) in recent years for not having the “other” state schools on the schedule, now they’re killing UWGB and UWM with kindness. I know that basketball fans like myself are pleased. Sometimes a deal that’s not so great on its face can be worth all the trouble once you factor in the gain in goodwill.

2) It officially boggles my mind that the Wisconsin-UW-Green Bay game isn’t going to be televised throughout the state. I will admit that I don’t know enough about television rights to know exactly who’s dropping the ball here, but as it is a home game for UW-Green Bay, the blame would seem to fall in the lap of UW-Green Bay or its conference. My question–why wouldn’t UW-Green Bay desperately want this game on statewide television? A game against the state’s most popular program would allow them to show off their team to fans (not to mention, recruits) in every corner of the state. Currently, UW-Green Bay has very little media presence throughout the state. I know very little about the Phoenix, and that has generally been the case since I started this blog. Having seen many of their players in high school, I’d love to know more about the Phoenix, but as a Milwaukeean it takes more work than I’m willing to put in to see their games. If Green Bay made it easy to see a handful of games on TV in other parts of the state each year (this week’s contest against Wisconsin being a glaring example of such an opportunity), I suspect that they could increase their fan base. As things stand, most people in my part of the state seem to think that the Green Bay program shut down when Dick Bennett left.

3) UWM fans will probably be expecting a big night tonight from James Eayres, the Panther big man who looks like an adult version of Rudy’s friend Peter from the Cosby Show (thanks to my pal T.J. for noticing that last year). After all, Marquette lacks size, and should logically struggle against a good big man. Trouble is, Eayres is only listed a 6'7", making him big by mid-major standards, but not by general college basketball standards. Marquette can handle defending a 6'7" guy, particularly when he doesn’t have a lot of reinforcements behind him. Tony Meier and Anthony Hill are solid enough players, but they’re not going to take the pressure off of Eayres. So, I’m expecting Eayres brief slump to continue for one more game before he resumes being the most entertaining and surprisingly good player in the state.

4) Official Game Prediction #1: Marquette will beat UWM in a rout. Aside from my belief that Marquette will have a plan to defend James Eayres, UWM’s top scorer, the Golden Eagles just have more talent. I actually think that UWM will eventually go on to a solid season, but they need a bit more time to put the pieces together (particularly since it’s looking less and less likely that star guard Tone Boyle’s back will heal enough for him to be able to play this season). Put them up right now against a Marquette team that takes pride in not losing to the city’s other team, and which will undoubtedly be angry after blowing a second-half lead against N.C. State this weekend, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. I hope I’m wrong and that the Panthers will keep this one close, but I don’t think that I am.

5) In an offshoot about my comment about Marquette’s talent, I’m going on record with something that I meant to say before the season even started: If Luke Harangody falters at all, Lazar Hayward will bring home Big East Player of the Year honors this year. I thought Hayward was the best player on the Golden Eagles last year, and this year he doesn’t have to share the ball with three seniors who’d been starting for four years. You do the math on that one.

6) In the cruel twist of the week, snow is likely to wreak havoc on this week’s games. Should the snow fall throughout the next day or two as forecasters are predicting, people will definitely think twice about heading downtown tonight for the Marquette-UWM game. And if things get really out of hand, it will be interesting to see if Wisconsin can even make it to Green Bay to play on Wednesday night. I generally expect that weather problems are oversold this time of year, but if the snowstorms of the last two years have taught me anything, it’s to not be surprised at the logistical problems that the weather can cause.

7) Official Game Prediction #2: Wisconsin will pummel UW-Green Bay. Like I said, I don’t know much about Green Bay. However, I do know this–they don’t have a lot of great big guys. Despite the inside game being one of the biggest question marks for Wisconsin heading into the season, the frontcourt has turned into one of the Badgers’ biggest strengths. If people could see this game, they’d end up talking about Jon Leuer’s stellar game. As things stand, we’ll probably just find ourselves talking about what a great stat line Leuer has on Wednesday night.

8) Official Game Prediction #3: Wisconsin will come out on top against Marquette, but the game will be in doubt until the final two minutes. My opinion that Marquette will give Wisconsin fits is not one that’s share by many of my friends. Most people that I’ve talked to are aware of two key facts heading into this game. One, Wisconsin just beat Duke, which was the #5 team in the country at the time, in impressive fashion. Two, Marquette played one of the most painful second halves of basketball in recent memory en route to a loss to a mediocre-looking N.C. State team. But those games mean nothing in this meeting.

I see two reasons why Marquette will be in this game until the end. The first is matchups. Marquette is used to being at a disadvantage inside (as they definitely will be on Saturday), and counters with a rotation made up almost exclusively of sppedy sub 6'5" players. Wisconsin’s rotation skews big, which helped them against a big Duke team, but will potentially leave them vulnerable to Marquette’s quick guards. The second issue is Marquette’s emotional style of play. One of the traits of old Tom Crean teams that hasn’t gone away at Marquette (and has perhaps become even more pronounced) is the ability to feed off of emotion. More than ever this year, Marquette is a team that puts forth a furious effort every time it takes the floor. When you add in the excitement of a rivalry game, that effort will get stepped up to an entirely new level. That’s a stark contrast to Wisconsin’s consistent, methodical and relentless demeanor. In general, I’d rather have my team play like an even-keeled Wisconsin team, cutting its opponent apart with the patient determination of a horror movie zombie looking to eat a human brain. However, that’s not to say that the team that goes through highs and lows isn’t going to get hot and occasionally bump off the consistent team during a hot streak. And while I don’t think that Marquette will get hot enough to take down Wisconsin, I do think they’ll come close.

Enjoy the statewide games over the next week, and try to stay out of the cold. Here’s hoping that I don’t wuss out and stay home to shovel tonight when there’s good basketball to be seen...

Wisconsin vs. Duke: Better Than Expected

2009-12-03T13:39:00.003-06:00

Despite my love of Wisconsin basketball and my closet Duke fandom, I wasn’t going to go to last night’s Wisconsin-Duke game. I thought it would be too expensive, that the game would be too late, and that things would look just fine on an HDTV screen at home, or perhaps at a bar with friends. And while I expected the game to be close, I can't say that I necessarily expected a Wisconsin win. But it’s a rare day when someone contacts me to go to a game and I don’t rethink the idea of watching it at home. So, when my friend Nikki, a Wisconsin basketball fan of the highest order, indicated that seeing a Coach K-coached team in person was on her to-do list of things in life, it didn’t exactly take much arm-twisting to get me to join her. Turns out, it was a very good thing that I went to this one, as I’d have been kicking myself for years if I hadn’t. Wisconsin played its best game of the year so far, beat the #5 team in the country, essentially clinched the first ever Big Ten win in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, and became the first team to defeat Duke in the history of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. And to think–just an hour before the game I was wondering if killing time having a pre-game gyro at the Parthenon, one of my favorite State Street stops during my student days, would be the highlight of my evening. Safe to say, it was not. I’m not sure that the adrenaline from this one will wear off for another week or so. Full thoughts below:

1) I’ve been lucky enough to see a few games at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and that place is truly intimidating to an opponent. What I didn’t realize, having never seen Duke on the road before, is how intimidating a visitor Duke is. Looking down at the bench, you see a row of coaches decked out in dark suits flanked by players wearing all-black warm-ups. It’s incredibly bad-ass, and immediately sends the message that Duke knows exactly who they are, and what they’re there to take care of. It didn't negate what was, indeed, a hostile atmosphere at the Kohl Center, but it did throw some of the hostility right back at Wisconsin.

2) I didn’t expect to see Mason Plumlee back for Duke last night after he spent the early part of the season recovering from a wrist injury, but he made his return in limited minutes last night. When I saw Duke’s season-opening event, it was evident that Mason Plumlee was slightly more athletic and older brother Miles (a superb athlete in his own right), and showed amazing confidence, as well. I don’t know if Mason Plumlee would have been a difference maker if he was fully back to form last night (I actually suspect he might have been), but I’m certainly glad that Wisconsin caught Duke while he was a bit rusty. (Quick editors note--I tried repeatedly to get my Plumlees straight here, and still got their names mixed up upon my first posting of this. I'm screwed if their brother heads to Duke, too. Thanks for setting me straight, T.J.)

3) I would have been worth the price of admission just to see the stars of the game, Trevon Hughes from the home team, and Kyle Singler for Duke. Singler was amazing, particularly in the first half, scoring repeatedly on runners while he had a hand in his face. It seemed early on that he was incapable of missing, no matter how goofy a shot he took. As for Hughes, he continued his brilliance at getting into the lane and making things happen, but managed to buttress that with an uncanny ability to make absurd three-pointers last night. Both Singler and Hughes made a number of shots that had no business going in last night. I’m just glad that Hughes managed to make more. And he picked a good spot, as I suspect that ESPN talking heads will be throwing out his name quite a bit in the coming week after taking in this game.

4) Very rough game for Duke’s Brian Zoubek last night. Three years ago, while trying to describe J.P. Gavinski to someone, I referred to him as a poor man’s Brian Zoubek. At the time, I sincerely thought I was being complimentary to both. Today, it simply looks like a comment that I threw out to get cheap laughs.

5) During games of this magnitude, I often receive a lot of texts from random friends (side note–in game texting is one of two acceptable uses for text messages, and if you’re going to text me, please use proper grammar). Best text of last night’s game came from a number that wasn’t in my phone (I later deduced that it was likely my friend Rick, whose number, assuming it’s right, I have finally saved). It read simply “When will the whiteout be in this game?” It never happened, but you’re never going to get closer than in a Wisconsin-Duke game.

6) Last night I ran into my good friends Josh and Chris, the biggest Wisconsin fans that I know, and they were with the one person that I was actually jealous of last night–their son Gabriel. Gabriel, at roughly three weeks old, was at his first Badger basketball game. Chris explained that she knew she needed to be at last night’s game, and that there wasn’t really a good way for her to be away from Gabriel for an extended period of time, given his extremely young age. So he came along to the game. Sure, being only a few weeks old, he undoubtedly saw none of the game, and was only vaguely aware that loud noises were going on around him, but the story of his first game will be a good one someday.

7) The one thing that I was most looking forward to last evening was watching Keaton Nankivil and Jon Leuer go up against Duke’s forwards. The frontcourt of Kyle Singler, the Plumlee brothers, Lance Thomas, and to a lesser extent, Brian Zoubek is intimidating. But the way that Nankivil and Leuer had been playing of late, combined with their general athletic ability, had me thinking that Wisconsin stood as good a chance as anyone of keeping up with Duke’s forwards. Both continued their strong start to the season, with Nankivil hauling in a handful of tough rebounds, and Leuer showing that while his athleticism is perhaps a notch below that of Miles Plumlee, he’s currently the more polished player. With Kyle Singler’s versatility and two bigger teammates taking pressure off of him, no one truly matches up well with Duke’s frontcourt, but Leuer, Nankivil and Ryan Evans did quite the job of keeping up with the Blue Devils last evening.

8) I loved some of the new scoreboard bits featuring players pumping up the crowd last night. Marquette has been doing this for years, and I’ve always thought it was a fun thing. I particularly enjoyed last night’s clip of Wquinton Smith and Brett Valentyn leading the crowd in starting a slow clap. Who better to call upon when you need some good clapping than the walk-ons, who undoubtedly know more about clapping than anyone.

9) As my friend Nikki pointed out, Jared Berggren may have only gotten around 5 minutes of playing time, but somewhere his parents were going nuts when he tossed down a dunk off of a Trevon Hughes assist during his few minutes on the floor.

10) As if the game wasn’t enough, last night’s halftime show was the always-amazing Red Panda Acrobat, which consists of a woman on a roughly 7-foot tall unicycle flipping bowls onto her head. I’d be impressed by anyone who could ride a 7-foot tall unicycle, but when you add bowl-flipping into the equation, you’ve got pure gold. There aren’t a lot of halftime shows that would make me suggest you wait to take your bathroom break until after the intermission. You’ve got the F-M Acro Team (North Dakota’s Goodwill Ambassadors!), the Jesse White Tumbling Team, the Zooperstars, and arguably Quick Change. But Red Panda has to be on that list as well. It’s just classic halftime fare.

11) I will admit to being somewhat frightened seeing Ryan Evans on the floor during the late minutes of last night’s game. At the very end, it all made sense when Bo Ryan started swapping Tim Jarmusz on offense with Evans on defense. Kyle Singler was much less likely to fake Evans out of his shoes, and Jarmusz, as a classic solid but unspectacular guy was going to be strong with the ball. But prior to that, I was a bit apprehensive to see a talented, but fearless freshmen who wasn’t necessarily used to big games yet on the floor while Keaton Nankivil and Jarmusz sat on the bench. Evans, of course, worked out magnificently, which is why Bo Ryan is coaching Wisconsin and I’m sitting here writing about the halftime show the next day.

12) Always good to see students rushing the court. There will undoubtedly be a lot of pointless internet arguments today about when, if ever, it’s appropriate for students to rush the court. I’ve never been much for judging when and how students should have fun. That said, I can’t think of too many situations that set up better for a rushing of the court than last night’s game. Wisconsin is unranked, Duke is #5 in the country, Duke is, well, Duke, and Wisconsin all but clinched the first ever Big Ten victory in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Aside from making the wishes of a dying child in a hospital bed come true, this one had everything you’d want to validate the court rushing.

13) Where does this rank in terms of Wisconsin games that I’ve seen in person? I’m putting it third. First is the obvious game that I heard numerous people reference last night–the win over Illinois to win the conference championship a few years ago, when Devin Harris won the game on the foul line and I was nearly crushed in a mid-court mini crowd avalanche as the student section ran onto the court. Second is a less obvious win against in the 1996-97 season, my freshman year in college, where in the final seconds Ty Calderwood and Mike Koselcharoen stole a game that Iowa had basically won. The old Fieldhouse was rocking so hard that night that I was actually mildly worried that the floor beneath my second deck seats was going to collapse (being 18, I continued to jump up and down, anyway). And then there was last night, which was awesome, and did not even feature the element of possible physical harm to me that was present in the previous two. (FYI–last night just edges out Wisconsin’s 1997 win over #1-ranked Minnesota to all but seal a trip to the NCAA tournament, another underrated favorite game of mine.)

Awesome night, awesome win, and awesome drive home in the first snow flurries of the year. I think Duke will improve as the year goes on, particularly with the addition of Miles Plumlee, and this win will look even better in hindsight as time goes on. Although, I must admit, it seems tough to imagine things feeling any better than they do right now. Isn’t it great to have two surprisingly good teams in the state of Wisconsin?

Update Coming...

2009-12-03T08:03:00.000-06:00

Yes, I was at the Duke game, and yes, it was a pretty phenomenal night. And yes, my adrenaline allowed me to jot down my thoughts at midnight last night. Of course, I didn't think to forward said write-up to myself for my usual morning review during my daily glass of water (I'm not a coffee guy) to start the day. Because I'm a complete idiot, look for my thoughts around 1pm, once I get a chance to head home for lunch and check everything out on the home computer.

Wisconsin vs. Arizona: A Late Night Affair

2009-11-24T01:47:00.002-06:00

So I’m staying up late and watching the Badger on TV at the Maui Invitational tonight. Those crazy Hawaiians are making things tough with their time zone, which I'm told is four hours behind my life in central standard time. Technically, I suppose I’m not live-blogging, since I’m not posting these thoughts in real time–I’m just planning on throwing them up after the game. Two reasons for this approach: 1) no one’s hanging on my every thought at midnight on a Monday and 2) Making 25 or so separate postings in an evening causes lots of clutter. But given that this thing’s going to be over at 1am or later, I’m not going to realistically have time to process my thoughts and type them up post game. So I’m going to try something that I never do and type things up as I’m watching the game. I’ve always figured that writing out thoughts while trying to watch a game would make both tasks less fun. We’ll see how that works out tonight. At the very least, I suspect I’ll have a lot more stream-of-consciousness action, and fewer solid big-picture points. And I’ll probably get a bit punchy near the end, given that I’m usually heading to sleep right about the time of tip-off. This could be a festival of typos...

Texas and Iowa are wrapping up their evening on ESPN (wow, that wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected for Iowa), so I guess we’ll begin this evening’s experiment:

–First three things of note when the game is joined after the end of the Texas-Iowa game: a) Wisconsin is up by two points, Arizona just missed two fouls shots, and Nic Wise has two quick fouls. I’m officially glad that I’m staying up for this one.

–Jay Bilas–I love you, and you’re my favorite commentator. But really, you’re at the Maui Invite and you’re too good to wear a Hawaiian shirt with a floral pattern? Weak. Though not as weak as the Arizona coaching staff for completely foregoing the Hawaiian shirt and going with polos. Aren’t Hawaiian shirts like 35% of what Feast Week on ESPN is all about?

–Difference between the chubby guy behind the Arizona bench who’s wearing an Arizona jersey with nothing underneath it and me wearing my old Mike Kelley Wisconsin jersey with nothing underneath it? I’m in my living room alone and no one can see me.

–Five minutes in and still no points for Arizona. Meanwhile Wisconsin has made two shots that had no right to go in. So far this is the opposite of how I felt the last time that Arizona and Wisconsin met, in the 2006 NCAA tournament. I’m waiting for the Chaminade gym to start piping in Jon Bovi songs.

–Ryan Evans for three Make that three shots that had no right to go in. (Not that it was a terrible look, it’s just, Ryan Evans jump shot is going to make me cringe all year long.)

–In his first 30 seconds of meaningful action, I think Mike Bruesewitz just made a lot of people happy that he didn’t redshirt. Can you get an assist for causing a teammate to get a rebound?

–The good: Arizona didn’t manage to score a field goal in the first nine minutes. The bad? Even with that dry spell, somehow Wisconsin is only up by 10 points.

–Nice move by Solomon Hill to get to the line (perhaps the first good thing I’ve seen out of a Wildcat). I knew he was going to take advantage of Ryan Evans the moment that he got the ball on the block. Time to put Hill on my list of players to pay attention to this year.

–Three fouls apiece on Ryan Evans and Keaton Nankivil just 13 minutes into the game. I’d be a bit more worried about depth if not for the fact that Mike Bruesewitz has been playing like a man possessed tonight.

–I noticed this at the last game that I was at, but think I failed to mention it to anyone other than my friend at the game–Jon Leuer looks like he had some sort of revolutionary neck length reduction surgery during the offseason. Either that, or his past three years in the weight room are finally allowing his 6'10" frame to fill out.

–Nice of Trevon Hughes to dish off to Mike Bruesewitz on the fastbreak. With most of his night so far being about Krabbenhoft-like toughness, I’m sure he’s pretty pleased to get the opportunity to toss down a dunk and do something kind of flashy.

–Leuer has three fouls now, with five minutes to go in the half? I hope Bruesewitz is in good shape. Bo Ryan wasn’t lying in a pre-trip interview when he noted that he needed to be able to use every player that he brought with him on the trip. Speaking of Bruesewitz, he just took a charge. This might be one of the best Badger debuts that I’ve ever seen. (Assuming that we’re willing to just forget about his two minute, two turnover performance against Oakland.

–Three Wisconsin forwards with three fouls, and now Jared Berggren goes to the bench with a shoulder issue with two minutes left in the half. That’s Wisconsin’s top four big guys (though Bruesewitz is making a case to move up a few notches tonight) that are probably done for the half. This might be the perfect storm, but somehow I think J.P. Gavinski still knows that he’s not going to be checking into the game tonight.

–A few thoughts on the brief stoppage of play near the end of the half where the referees took time out to review the blocking call on Rob Wilson a few plays earlier, due to Bo Ryan apparently complaining about an Arizona player intentionally dribbling the ball off of Wilson’s head. One, what was Ryan looking at? Not only was there nothing intentional going on there, but after reviewing the replay, I don’t even think the ball hit Wilson’s head. Two, can the officials really stop the game to look at this? If so, that’s terrible. Stopping the game a minute after an alleged incident to look for a retroactive technical foul just seems like an awful way to use replays.

2nd Half

–Does Trevon Hughes actually practice drawing fouls on people, because he’s been completely brilliant at it tonight.

–Great shot of a Wisconsin fan wearing a 1994 Rose Bowl t-shirt and a cheesehead, doing his best to reinforce stereotypes (I did not see a Miller Lite in his hand, but I trust this is a function of unavailability in the Chaminade gym). Actually, I’ve never minded cheeseheads so much, but dude, it’s been almost 16 years–I loved the ‘94 Rose Bowl too, but buy a new t-shirt. Joe Panos retired from the NFL years ago.

–Four fouls on Leuer, and now a dumb fourth foul on Nankivil challenging a Derrick Williams dunk. I think I just saw J.P. Gavinski stretching. Thank God Jared Berggren seems to have been able to shake off his shoulder issue.

–On the bright side, Nic Wise is now on the bench for Arizona with four fouls, joining the Wildcats’ starting center (the tall blonde guy who’s not Chase Budinger), who also has four. I’d be bitter at the refs for trying to tack an extra hour onto my late night with all these fouls, but I honestly can’t blame them when the players keep hammering each other like they have been.

–I’m not sure if I’m supposed to feel good or bad about the fact that Nic Wise beat Jason Bohannon in their matchup in the Maui Invitational’s X-Box tournament. I like my school and want us to win at everything, but I think if there’s one thing that it wouldn’t hurt much to be considered bad at, it’s video games.

–And I continue to have less confidence in Jason Bohannon from three-point range than any player considered his team’s top three-point threat that I can remember. (Get used to this comment, I’m going to be using it a lot this year.)

–Leuer’s done with 10 minutes to go. Rough night, and though I’ve always been sort of down on Leuer due to him disappearing from time to time, tonight’s not really what I’m talking about. He never did find his groove, but it’s tough to find a groove in 12 minutes, or whatever Leuer played tonight.

–The irony of Rob Wilson taking a charge is pretty sweet.

–Trevon Hughes strikes again, drawing two very questionable fouls on Arizona players to get to the line in the final three minutes.

–Sweet steal by Trevon Hughes to essentially seal the game. I suspect his sneaky play has been annoying Arizona players all night.

Final thoughts:

–Keaton Nankivil still doesn’t have much in terms of offensive moves, but he does have a knack for getting points off of put-backs and finding just the right time to roll to the basket and accept passes from the guards. He made himself look really good on national TV tonight, even though most people with jobs were in best

–Sean Miller is going to need a little bit of time to beat some of the recent Arizona habits out of his current Arizona team, but I suspect that by the end of the year he’ll be coaching more basketball players than athletes, rather than visa versa.

–Sure, this isn’t a banner year from Arizona, but they’re still Arizona, and I’ll always take a win over the Wildcats.

–Wisconsin continues to impress me, particularly with its frontcourt. First it was due to the play of their starting big men, but tonight they showed depth. This isn’t going to be the best Wisconsin team that we’ve seen in the past few years, but at least so far, its appearing that the roster isn’t quite as untalented as many people (including myself) were expecting. I remain encouraged.

–Wisconsin’s playing Gonzaga tomorrow in Maui, and also has Duke in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Thus, in one season, the Badgers will manage to play ESPN’s favorite team to televise, as well as ESPN’s go-to late night, west coast team. I think you’ve arrived when both of those teams are on your schedule.

And with that, I’m off to bed. I’m going to be paying for this game for the rest of Feast Week....

Wisconsin vs. Oakland: The First Good Game

2009-11-19T08:34:00.000-06:00

Last night I got another chance to take in a Wisconsin game. Thankfully, we’re still in the part of the non-conference season when there’s something exciting about every game. My first look at the Badgers in their exhibition against UW-Superior was fun because it was my first chance to see the new team. Over the weekend, IPFW provided my first televised Wisconsin game of the year. And last night brought my first chance to see Wisconsin play against a decent opponent.

Oakland is the type of team that tends to pop up on Wisconsin’s non-conference schedule a couple of times each year. The Golden Grizzlies were picked to win their conference this year, and have a couple of extremely talented players on their roster. However, no casual fan really knows or cares that Oakland is the class of the Summit League. They just see a mid-major team that Wisconsin should pummel. That makes games like this sort of tense, because while a loss to a team like Oakland shouldn’t be embarrassing, a lot of people will see it that way. So the added drama of a game like this makes things really fun, particularly since prior to this, Wisconsin hasn’t played any teams that you would classify as “good.”

Fortunately, Wisconsin continued its strong start to the year, and notched a 16-point win in a game where it never quite felt like the opponent was going to mount a real challenge. It’s probably unfair to Oakland that most of the folks in the stands still see them as a small school that could never compete with a Big Ten team. However, I’ll take that disrespect for the opponent if it means that the Badgers could avoid a falsely embarrassing loss. Game thoughts below.

1) I’m not sure why it took me until I actually saw Oakland warming up before the game, but at the moment that I saw them wearing their warm-ups I instantly remembered that Oakland is the team that puts player names below numbers on the back of their jerseys, a truly unique move. It was glorious when the warm-ups were removed and my memory was revealed to be correct. I think I remembered their uniforms being a bit more hideous than they were, however I want to say that’s because I saw the Golden Grizzlies play at Marquette a couple years ago with non-matching shorts and jerseys due to some sort of mishap with the equipment during travel. I’d link to my recap of that game, but I’m currently too lazy to go back and try to find it, if it even exists. (On a side note, when you’ve got a mascot as awesome as the “Golden Grizzlies,” how do you not put that on the front of your jersey instead of the name of the school?”)

2) In the cursory reading about Oakland that I did prior to the game (and trust me, my pre-game inquiries are far from comprehensive), I’d read that their point guard Johnathon Jones was supposed to be fairly talented and capable of handing out assists at will. While he had a nice enough game last night, I won’t remember Jones so much for his play as for his propensity for getting knocked to the ground hard and often last evening. To his credit, he kept getting up, but I hope the Oakland trainer had plenty of ice for him on the trip home, because getting knocked out of mid-air and onto your butt that many times had to leave Jones sore.

3) It’s official, Mike Bruesewitz is not redshirting, as he entered the game for two uneventful minutes last night. I have no strong feelings about this either way. On one hand, Bruesewitz is one injury away from logging minutes at the bottom of the rotation, and it’s a rarity for a team to go through a season without at least one key injury. On the other hand, if everyone stays healthy, he could be on track to log 50 minutes the entire year, as Keaton Nankivil did as a freshman two years ago. Ultimately, I suppose I like having the depth this year in case someone goes down, even though the way that Nankivil is starting to play this year sort of makes me wish that he could have that first year back.

4) Low moment of the evening was during the fan contest in the student section where they took two guys and had them go back and forth naming players on the Wisconsin roster. The first one to miss a player lost, and the other guy won--Stump the Schwab style, if you will. The first contestant started off by naming Tim Jarmusz, followed by the second guy naming Marcus Landry. Ouch. Afterwards he tried to make the excuse that no one indicated that it had to be the current Badger roster, but this excuse was simply met with boos (as it should have been). Simply awful.

5) A big thumbs up to the Wisconsin student manager wearing the vertical striped shirt with white and various shades of red. That garment took guts to pull off, and I’m pretty sure that other than working a Badger basketball game, there’s nowhere else he can wear it.

6) I feel a lot better about Keaton Nankivil and Jon Leuer after tonight. In the two prior games that I’d seen them play in, they were impressive inside and out, and largely did what they wanted to on the floor. Of course, a big part of that was due to the fact that the interior players that they were matched up against were a) smaller, and b) muss less capable players. Last night Keith Benson and Middleton’s own Will Hudson provided a considerably more formidable challenge (indeed, it was not until a post-game visit to Oakland’s website that I learned Benson is projected by NBAdraft.net as a potential first-round draft pick). Leuer and Nankivil both continued to do their thing, with Nankivil in particular finding a way to pick up garbage points off of rebounds and short passes around the hoop. I was worried about the inside this year with the departures of Marcus Landry and Joe Krabbenhoft (admittedly, only a part-time interior player), but it appears that Leuer and Nankivil have the potential to equal or surpass their former teammates over the next two years. I’d say it’s the most solid spot on the floor for Wisconsin right now.

7) Apparently there was a sign making station located outside the student section last night where students were encouraged to make creative poster board signs in hopes of winning a prize for displaying the best message. There were many marriage proposals from female fans to players, and several references to Ryan Evans’ circa-1991 haircut. The winners of the contest, however, ended up being two young women who made a pair of signs the said something to the effect of (I don’t remember the exact wording) “Take us to Hawaii” and “We’ll fit in a suitcase.” Not a bad choice, and I liked that it rewarded the two fans’ awareness of the Badgers’ upcoming trip to the Maui Invitational. However, I would have to say that my favorite sign of the evening was one that was directed at the evening’s opponent and read simply “You’re not even from the good Oakland,” a reference to the fact that Oakland University is located in Rochester, Michigan, not Northern California (apologies if you knew that–75% of the people that I come into contact with don’t). Of course, the makers of that sign showed no artistic ability, choosing simply to write the sentence in plain black letters on their piece of poster board. Wit without flair will only get you so far.

8) Last night was a game that I was lucky enough to see from what I would argue are the best seats in the Kohl Center, compliments of my friend Boo-Yah, who’s nice enough to grant me access into the world of the high class once or twice each season. There are many benefits to sitting in a spot that is not tucked away in my normal cold, damp corner of the arena. The obvious ones are the outstanding view, and the chance to marvel at the local people of note that are occasionally sitting nearby. But an underrated one that I enjoyed last night is the opportunity during early season games, when the place isn’t yet packed and it’s somewhat more quiet, to actually hear Bo Ryan yelling at the refs. No matter how good your seats are, you’re never going to get as good a view as you would on TV of Ryan’s facial expression of disbelief after an arguably bad call. But hearing him make his case sort of makes up for this. As always, thanks to Boo-Yah for this opportunity.

9) That’s two games attended, and two winners of the Culver’s three-point shootout so far. Is there anything more excellent than watching random people win money in a down economy?

10) It was a solid defensive contest, and I give Oakland credit for pressuring the ball and extending its defense, a plan that has tended to work well against Wisconsin in years past. This time around, Trevon Hughes was able to work through some of the pressure by driving on his defenders, however I can think of a few occasions where he was cut off in the lane and found himself dribbling in traffic and miraculously not losing the ball. There were definitely some scary moments. It will be interesting to watch if Hughes’ stellar ball handling skills will hold up against future teams that learn from Oakland’s tactics.

11) I’ve said it before, but one of the underrated things about a drive back to Milwaukee from a Wisconsin basketball game is the extended radio post-game show. I assume part of the reason that there’s always at least an hour of post-game coverage is that it’s clear that people drive from many areas of the state to come to games, and the range of the AM station covering the games is about an hour’s drive from Madison. Whatever the reason, though, I always appreciate the chance to pick up a few more tidbits on my drive home.

With another one in the books, I hopped back in my car and managed to get home at a very reasonable hour. Have I mentioned that I love 7pm games? More updated to follow, perhaps on Friday, or perhaps on Monday. One random thought below before I go, though.

–A couple nights ago, I was having a really bad day when I sat down at the end of the night to try and find a game to watch. I stumbled on Arizona State and Texas State on one of the ESPNs. Instantly, my day was made, as I remembered immediately that former West Allis Hale star John Rybak plays for Texas State (seeing ASU play is never a bad thing, either, of course). One of the best high school shooters that I’ve ever seen, I was excited to finally get to see Rybak play on TV as a senior for his school, which I didn’t even know existed until he got there. My excitement grows, though, as UWM has drawn Texas State in the consolation bracket of the preseason NIT next Monday night. Something tells me that this one will be tough to find on TV, but rest assured that I’ll be watching or listening to the whole thing, no matter what lengths I have to go to (aside from actually driving to Texas).

Wisconsin vs. IPFW: Opening The Year on My Couch

2009-11-16T07:53:00.000-06:00

Finally this weekend we got to the basketball games that count. And finally, we had the last Wisconsin home football game of the year. The latter fact would not be significant for basketball purposes, save for the fact that I have Wisconsin football season tickets, and not having to wake up at 5am anymore to go tailgate will leave me a lot more time and energy for watching basketball. This weekend, my early wake-up time led me to decide not to head downtown on Friday night for either the Marquette or UWM season openers. Thus, I’m still looking to get my first look at the Golden Eagles, and I’m still waiting to see the Panthers in regular season action (and with Ricky Franklin). Fortunately, I was able to take in Wisconsin’s season opener on TV last night. It was a bit of a struggle, since I was freakishly tired last night, and had to wait until 8pm to cue up the game on my DVR due to dinner plans interfering with my ability to watch things live. But I sucked it up and stayed awake until 10pm to finish the game. My thoughts below:

1) I’d made it my goal to write all of my game thoughts without referencing IPFW coach and former Indiana standout Dane Fife, who most of us only know from his time as a player. But here we are in the first point, and I’m referencing him already. If you have this year’s Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook (and if you don’t, you really should buy one), it’s worth giving IPFW’s profile a read just for Fife’s candor about playing prominent programs on the road. Long story short, he doesn’t like getting repeatedly pummeled at the start of the year, but is required by the school to bring in money for the program through games like this. Granted, anyone with half a brain knows that this is how most coaches of mid-major programs feel, but most other coaches in Fife’s role would say something like “The challenging early schedule will really help prepare us for our Summit League schedule.” Fife simply comes clean, and I like that. (FYI, his thoughts on his former coach, Bob Knight, were mildly amusing, too, though they were brief.)

2) I’m not a fan of the design of the IPFW uniforms for one reason–the front collar that had one side that was white and one side that was blue. I don’t know what they were going for there. Perhaps because the team mascot is the Mastodons, the pointy end of the white side was supposed to imply some sort of tusk (though even that hackneyed attempt at an explanation makes no sense, as a mastodon would have two tusks, one on each side). I’m certainly not a guy that has the expertise necessary to design a good uniform, but I feel like those that do should have learned by now that abandoning symmetry seldom results in a good looking uniform.

3) Perhaps just a bit of an exaggeration when the announcing team referred to Tim Jarmusz as “one of the greatest high school players in Wisconsin state history.” Of course, if you were paying attention to the broadcast, you later on realized that this was an exaggeration when they revealed that Jarmusz is a business major. In Wisconsin basketball-speak, “business major” means a guy that already realizes that he’s not going to play pro basketball and has gotten an early start on the process of preparing to get a good job that doesn’t involve throwing a ball through a hoop.

4) I enjoy watching a good defensive mismatch, even when it’s a situation that does not benefit my team. And last night contained an entertaining mismatch situation where Trevon Hughes had to defend an IPFW post player on one of the blocks. Normally, this results in the little guy either getting completely dominated, or him making scrappy moves that ultimately just end up resulting in a foul. Either way, it’s amusing to watch a small guy defend a huge beast. But last night, Hughes actually showed off some legitimately good post defense on a guy much larger than him. I suppose this should come as no huge surprise, given that a big part of Wisconsin’s system involves guards knowing how to post up on offense, but I can honestly say that I haven’t seen a point guard look as comfortable on the blocks as Hughes did last night since Travon Davis improbably turned into the greatest 5'10" post threat ever during his senior season.

5) Despite plenty of fine things about his game, I’m undoubtedly going to complain a lot this year about how I have very little confidence whenever Jason Bohannon puts up a three-point shot. So in the interest of fairness, I have to note how impressive it was when he calmly sank his three-pointer at the buzzer to close out the first half. Nice job, Mr. Bohannon–hopefully we can make this begrudging praise thing a more regular thing.

6) Nice work by the announcers working in the tidbit that the father of IPFW forward Oleg Kovalov was a former captain of the Soviet water polo team. If you’ve ever wondered why I love media guides so much, it’s randomly amusing factoids like this one.

7) That’s two early-season games, and two contests where I’m feeling good about Jon Leuer and Keaton Nankivil. I wasn’t sure what to make of Leuer and Nankivil coming into the year. Nankivil was a guy that started for much of last year with little impact, and Leuer was a guy who was occasionally brilliant, but generally never saw much more than 20 minutes per game. So far, both are looking like the most efficient players on the floor, and the guys that I’m most confident in when I see them putting up a shot (curiously, Leuer seems to be logging noticeably more minutes than Nankivil, though). This early in the season, part of that is undoubtedly due to the fact that they’ve been defended by players that are smaller and less skilled than they’ll see as things go on, but at this point I feel like both are taking a leap forward this season. So far, so good...

8) Best random exchange of the night between play by play man Jay Wilson and color commentator Shon Morris: Morris proclaimed that he had seen Lynard Skynard in concert 37 times. Wilson then asked very appropriately and very simply “Why?”

9) Was that a random Wquinton Smith siting with about 9:30 left in the game? I have no idea what that was about. Did Bo Ryan misread the clock?

10) Shon Morris was pandering to either Wisconsin fans or guys that like watching the movie Hoosiers when he proclaimed how much fun it is to watch “solid, fundamental basketball.” While I appreciate that Wisconsin’s emphasis on fundamentals helps them consistently be a winning team, even I must concede that it’s often a bit more fun to watch guys who have a slightly less solid handle on fundamentals, but who can dunk over two defenders in traffic.

11) I’m happy that Jon Leuer had a great game last night, but I’m also sort of bitter that he registered four blocks on the evening. Because had he not, I’d have been able to say “It’s official–Jason Bohannon leads the team in blocks so far this season.” Mark that down at the last time Bohannon records three blocks in a game.

12) No Mike Bruesewitz last night in the blowout win, so let the speculation that he’s redshirting begin.

So that’s one game down. So far, the Badgers look encouraging, I’m falling in love with every player that I thought I wouldn’t like, and I’m seeing nothing of interest from any of the players that I was most excited about heading into the year. Right now, though, I’m not complaining about how wrong I’ve been about things so far. Here’s looking forward to a good first week of hoops, and here’s hoping I can get some rest tonight and beat down the budding illness that seems to be attacking me. I’m going to need some stamina if these rumors about ESPN showing 24 straight hours of live basketball tomorrow are true.