I Don't Think I'm Ever Doing That Again

Watching "Live Streaming Video" on the Big Ten Network's website is, uh, awful. The speed of the feed kept slowing down, speeding up, stopping, etc. And the sound, the radio broadcast for the game, which could have been great, was about three minutes ahead of the video. Ugh. What crap. Again, why did the Big Ten Network opt to show volleyball on its television channel instead of some men's basketball exhibitions? I like volleyball, but I'm almost certain the ratings will be higher with basketball, even an exhibition game. So yeah, the point is I watched the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team beat Augustana College in their first exhibition game last night, on the Big Ten Network's website, and it was an unpleasant viewing experience.

Anyhow, here's the box score. Again, Augustana College is a D-II school, which means some of their guys are on scholarship, and they did make the D-II tournament last year. They had some decent ball-handlers, and they had some good jump shooters. (I love Bo's post-game comment that "They can shoot it. Division II, Division III teams, you don't play H-O-R-S-E with them." As a former D-III athlete, I agree.) But Augustana was not tall, I bet their tallest guy was 6'8", and they were not particularly athletic. Thus, the Badgers scored a fair amount of points in the paint.

In particular, Landry scored a lot, although about a third of his points were two three-pointers that bounced around the rim. He's looking very fluid and confident on the offensive end. Leuer looked like you'd want him to-- hit a three, scored in the paint, took his guy to the basket once or twice. Bohannon nailed a bunch of threes-- his release looks to be quicker than the last two seasons, which is very exciting. Frosh Jordan Taylor was strong with the ball, and made good decisions; plus, that kid is flat out built. He looks more like a running back than a point guard. Mystery frosh Ryan Evans played a fair amount and looked pretty good, grabbing some offensive boards, slashing to the basket a couple of times. That was reassuring, because after reading that he didn't do much in the scrimmage I was starting to get a bit worried. The frosh big men-- Ian Markolf and Jared Berggren-- looked fine, large, not awkward with the ball, and reasonably mobile. No worse than Stiemsma or Butch as freshman, and well above the Gavinski/Mader level, at least in my opinion. But I bet one or both redshirt. And yes, the frosh can play in these exhibition games without burning their redshirts. It'll be interesting to see what happens on that front. All I know is that Taylor is not redshirting. That kid is going to be a consistent contributor.

Finally, regarding frosh Robert Wilson-- ATTENTION, ATTENTION: we have an impending paradigm shift! Wisconsin is no longer a clean cut and wholesome team! That is, (the horror, the horror)-- Wilson has a visible tatoo. The team's Hoosier-esque, 1950s image is irretrievable shattered. What's next, players with unkempt hair or, god forbid, headbands? Hell, we might as well join the Big East. What a terrible recruiting oversight, Bo. This is what happens when you give a scholarship to a kid from Cleveland.

(The above paragraph was said in jest, of course. Wilson looked quite good, a legit 6'4" or 6'5", smooth with the ball and his shot and scrappy on defense; he does not seem to be a redshirt candidate.)

Men's Basketball Scrimmage Recap

Unsurprisingly, the most thorough and interesting recap of the University of Wisconsin Men's Basketball team's Red-White scrimmage comes not from the Madison or the Milwaukee papers, but from Phil over at Hoops Marinara. Based on that and other various reports, I can say with confidence that former Madison Memorial Spartan Keaton Nankivil went to town offensively (Hooray, another Badger that can dunk easily!), frosh Jordan Taylor looked impressive, the big four (Trevon Hughes, Joe Krabbenhoft, Marcuc Landry, and Jason Bohannon) all played solid games, Tim Jarmusz tussled with Morris Cain but was otherwise quiet, and Jon Leuer had a tough night, getting repeatedly rejected by (gulp) J.P. Gavinski. Sounds like an entertaining experience. And it looks like Nankivil will be the team's fifth starter, with Leuer, Taylor, Jarmusz, and maybe Gavinski and Kevin Gullickson coming off the bench.

We'll get a better idea this Saturday night, when the Badgers play host to Augusta College in their first exhibition game. That game will apparently be streamed on the Big Ten Network's website, for all the exceedingly devoted Badger basketball fans out there. Tip off is at 7 pm.

The Dream Lives!

The awesomely balding Wisconsin punter, Ken DeBauche, has been signed as an undrafted free agent by the Packers. Kenny performed reliably as UW's punter the last few seasons, and grew up just outside of Green Bay. That is excellent, and I hope he makes the team. Not only would it further the long term goal of having as much positive overlap between the Packers and the Badgers as possible. But I would much rather have Kenny letting snaps go over his head in 50 mph Soldier Field winds than the team's current punter Jon Ryan, who couldn't handle the elements in that game and thus appears to be a faux-Canadian, not a real Canadian as claimed.

In other happy news, incoming Wisconsin basketball recruit Jordan Taylor was named Minnesota's Mr. Basketball. That's how (hopefully) it goes these days for the Badger men's basketball team. It's not just one guy, or a group of guys, it's a serious program. You lose one great guard in Michael Flowers, and another excellent player rises up to fill the gap. Rock.

One for Two

So my mentioning of Badger basketball recruits Jordan Taylor ('08) and Mike Bruesewitz ('09) playing in the 3A and 4A Minnesota state high school championship games only jinxed one of them. Bruesewitz's Henry Sibley team lost to favored Minnetonka, and Mike had a relatively quiet offensive game with 9 points, though he did grab 14 boards and block 5 shots. Sorry, Mike. Congrats on a great season, and remember that you do have one more year.
Taylor's Benilde-St. Margaret's squad, however, beat defending champ St. Thomas to win the 3A championship. Jordan had a big game, with 20 points, 10 boards, 6 assists, and 2 steals, including a steal and several free throws in the final minute to clinch his school's first state title-- congratulations on going out on top, Jordan. You're one of the lucky ones.

There were also some neat compliments and quotes scattered throughout the articles covering Taylor's 3A win. Taylor sounds like he'll be a good fit on the Badgers--
His coach:
"I've got the best point guard in the state. That's a pretty good comfort zone for a coach to have." And, "Taylor is the hardest worker I've ever seen in a basketball player. He's always pushing everyone to play hard. He's always in the gym."
The opposing point guard:
"You can tell Jordan knows when to make something happen for his team," Waldvogel said. "I've played with him a lot in the summer. He's a special player."
Taylor himself:
"The strenuous drills that no one wanted to do. The complaining, the crying, the moaning. Playing 4-on-4 when the coaches didn't show up for practice, playing the littles against the bigs. So many great memories. To have it end like this with these guys is so great I can't even explain it."

Accentuate the Positive

I'm definitely going to discuss the Davidson Debacle (that has a nice ring to it, don't you think?) more later, but now I wanted to pass along some encouraging tidbits. That is, two of Wisconsin's recruits, Benilde-St. Margaret's senior Jordan Taylor and Henry Sibley junior Mike Bruesewitz, will be playing in the various Minnesota high school state championship games.

Bruesewitz's team has never even made it to the state tournament before, and just dispatched a team with one of the most talented juniors in the country on it. Apparently Bruesewitz and this other touted junior got into a bit at one point and the other guy got a technical. Bruesewitz had this to say after the game-- "I'm just a country kid from Litchfield, but I had to stand up for my team." Hilarious. Bruesewitz's team is the underdog in the 4A championship game--the largest division in the state. Taylor's team plays in the second largest division, 3A. He had 43 points in his team's quarterfinal victory, and 19 in 21 minutes in an easy semi-final win. Congratulations to both these guys and good luck in the championship games. As U-65 said earlier, the Badgers are a program. They'll reload and keep on trucking.

p.s. Go Kansas!