Ooof

Oh boy. Just when you thought, with the Packers' loss, you could sit back and enjoy Badger basketball season. This happens. Leuer is out indefinitely. Probably for the remainder of the regular season (my prediction). Balls.

Perhaps, Appropriate

Well, Wisconsin gave it a ride. They were there for quite a while, but eventually the X-Men were just a little too much. Too much sizeable strength in the front court, too much strong cleaning of the defensive glass, too many well contested shots.

This game was a bit of the microcosm of the issues with this year's team, honestly. When Leuer and Nankivil were playing decently, the team was right in the thick of things. When they started fouling (Leuer), and bricking decent shot after shot in the post (Nankivil), and blowing defensive assignments (both, but most plainly Nankivil on that wide open dunk), things broke down. Pop and Landry kept them in it for a bit, with Hughes drawing fouls, and Marcus scoring on some nice post moves, but Xavier adjusted on Landry, Pop stopped getting the calls and couldn't really convert on most of his shots. Thus, the offense dried up, the lead evaporated, and the season trickled to an end.

In order to beat better teams this year, and there's no doubt in my mind that Xavier was a slightly better team, UW either needed a great team effort, or for someone to be on fire. When the production from your five spot is poor, when you don't have anyone hitting their shots (like Bohannon was against FSU in the second half), when your team's heart and best rebounder (Krabby) is hampered by fouls the entire game and you're playing against a big team with excellent rebounders, well, that's a sure recipe for a loss. Thus, this loss highlighted the issues with this team once more:
- The lack of quality depth.
- The lack of a go-to scorer on offense.
- The revolving door at the third frontcourt spot.
- The lack of physicality, athleticism and size up front.

So they went out like they played. They were who we thought they were, to paraphrase Denny Green. The failure of JP Gavinski to develop in his third year in the program and provide the team with a serviceable big guy, the failure to land a true impact player in the last few years of recruiting, the lack of depth due to the impatience of guys like Mickey Perry (who certainly would have played just about as much on this year's team as he did for Dayton--- 14 minutes a game), Leuer and Nankivil's slow grasping of the team's defensive principles, the bill on all of this stuff came due, again. Of course, there was a big positive in this game-- except for some loosening down the stretch, they held a pretty darn good Xavier team to less than 40% from the field. That's solid defense any way you slice it, and bodes well for the future, especially since Krabby was on the bench for a fair amount of the game.

It was nice to see Landry have a solid game in his last college outing-- stepping up on the boards and getting a double-double. He's had some serious times in Madison, and seems to have matured immensely. He will be missed. Good luck to him and his family.

I felt the worst for Krabby-- no points, just a few rebounds, fouling out, and (worst of all for him) going out with a loss. But remember Joe, unless you play in the Ivy League, or win the Tourney, the NIT, or that other weird tournament, every squad ends the season on the right hand side. Good luck to Krabby, as well.

More forward-looking thoughts later on this week.

A Glimmer of Hope

This years Badger basketball team has been among the most consistent in resent memory. Consistently beatable. Formulaic in their losing: Run their system; control tempo; build a lead; choke/get out-coached at the end of games. Clock-worrrr..urr.r..
Now, after squeaking into the field of 65 with a hilarious 12 seed which they don't deserve, Badger faithful prepare to watch them get high-jumped by a team which was competing for an ACC title well into February. I guess it's better this way.
But there is little reason to believe that our beloved Badgers, who have shown next to no heart all season long, will all of a sudden sack-up for the NCAA tournament. That is... Until now.
Perhaps Carl Landry's Shot in the leg is just the shot in the leg Marcus Landry will need. You know what they say, "one Landry's terrifying brush with death is another Landry's reason to get his head out of his ass." Too true. Not that it guarantees an inspired performance, but I'm sure Carl will be in Boise supporting his brother, and we all know how Marcus likes as many family members as possible at his games. Thank you, Carl. God bless you. And know that the next two weeks of your season died for your brother's apparent disinterest in the game of basketball.
Seriously get well Carl, and tell your brother that it's his last chance to accomplish something in an otherwise very forgettable senior season.

Skinless Teeth

A 12? Wow, huh? Last (or perhaps second to last, after Arizona) team on board. Lowest seed ever in UW history. Wild times. Okay, time for some Larry King randomness:

- First off, I find it a bit funny that Michigan gets a ten and UW gets a 12. I know, I know, Michigan beat Duke once in Ann Arbor, and beat UCLA on a neutral floor (an accomplishment that doesn't look all that impressive now-- UCLA got a 6 seed), and the bear-skunks managed to beat Purdue once, unlike UW. But we swept them, and we played a tougher non-conference schedule. Come on, now.

- Penn State apparently paid the price for us sweeping them. Little did they know that us beating them in the Valley of Happiness would doom them to the National Invitational. Switch that game around, and we're probably out and they're probably in. Poor little extinct mountain lions. 22 wins, 10-8 in the conference, sweep Illinois (who received a far too generous 5 seed), and you get a ticket to the NIT. Guess you have to schedule some better non-conference competition, PSU. Plus, they totally got the "we can't add another Big Ten team" bias. Wonder if they're wishing they had joined the Big East. Sadly for them, I bet this year is their topping out for a while. Two of their three best guys (Stanley Pringle and Jamelle Cornely) are outta-here as soon as their NIT ride is over. And the kids they have coming in don't look like super stars.

- Speaking of recruits, last night I was reading this Washington Post series about Gary Williams and the Maryland basketball team's quick fall from "elite" status after their national championship in '02. It makes for fascinating reading. This article, the second in the series, contained the following description of how AAU teams serve as the new means to use money to secure recruits (background-- many AAU teams actually incorporate themselves as not for profit corporations):

For years, college coaches have hired AAU coaches as assistants in attempts to attract players from that AAU program. Plus, AAU coaches have been paid to speak at camps affiliated with the college coaches. But in recent years, a few dozen elite AAU coaches have engaged in a variety of more creative practices to make money in exchange for access to their players, according to several prominent college and AAU coaches across the country.

The funneling of cash recruiting inducements between colleges and AAU or high school coaches, in the form of tax-deductible donations usually made by college athletic boosters at the behest of the coach, has become common, according to several prominent college and AAU coaches. Some summer league coaches also charge college coaches -- sometimes hundreds of dollars -- for copies of "scouting reports" that are often little more than lists of players' names. What's more, one elite AAU coach has suggested that he will create a 1-900 telephone number so he can make money when college coaches call him about recruits.

Read that bit in italics again. Instead of paying high school coaches, parents, friends or other family members, boosters are bribing recruits' AAU coaches. I imagine these guys either keep the money for themselves and try to "influence" their player to choose a certain school, or skim some of it off the top and furtively funnel some back to the player and his family or friends. (One of the writers talked about a certain unnamed recruit's mother driving some new car with a license plate number that was registered to no one.) Fascinating stuff, and the sort of thing that makes you feel pretty good about being a Badger fan, since it seems like UW and its boosters don't play those games. Here's the first article in the series.

- Now I feel I should have paid more attention to the Duke-Florida State game that was on yesterday afternoon. Instead, I fell asleep when Duke was up 20, and woke up with my arm asleep, some droll leaking into my armpit, and Greg Anthony trying to sound smart. Florida State did beat North Carolina in the ACC-semis, no? That's a bit scary. Yeah, UNC didn't have their bowling ball point guard, but still.

- So all I really know about Florida State is that they have one really good guard (Douglas) who was a transfer from Auburn. And I think their coach just won ACC Coach of the Year, and used to be the Miami coach. And they lost to Northwestern at Northwestern in the Big-Ten ACC challenge. (That's right, Northwestern beat a 2 seed and two 5 seeds.) All I know is I am deathly afraid of hearing the following chant coming from the FSU fans who actually make the trans-continental trip to scenic Boise: "Just Like Foot-ball! Clap-clap-clap-clap-clap" (and repeat). I heard that once at Northwestern's horrific minor league arena, and never want to hear it again.

Request for Answer to Trivia Question

What is UW's record in games when Bo gets a technical?

Seriously, it can't be good. Anyhow, another game, another horribly unclutch and crucial cold stretch, another late lead dissolves. Bummer, another thing that could have redeemed the season--- winning the Big Ten tournament-- crossed off the list. Time to look ahead to the tournament. Yeah, I'm coming around now to the "seriously, they should get in camp." They were fourth in the league. You going to let in Penn State or Michigan but not them? Come on, now.

Maybe they'll be a ten seed now. That'd be excellent. (See below.) With the added plus that UW could finally put those annoying Marquette taunts--- "When is Bo going to win a game against a higher seed?"-- to rest.

7 to 10

So that's the range most "bracketologists" have the UW men's basketball team falling into, when the NCAA tournament seeds come out on Sunday. (See here for a handy synopsis.) Right now, most of the prognosticators seem to have UW as a 9 seed. And history shows that that would be, well, unfortunate. An explanation requires us to think about how the brackets actually look.

In each of the four regions, the 9 seed plays the 8 seed in the first round. So, usually this will be a decently tough match-up with another team that's relatively even with your squad. And the statistics bear this out, as the results of that game are pretty even (9 seeds have won 52 8/9 games; 8 seeds have won 44 of these games). The problem is that the winner of this game plays the winner of the 1 v. 16 seed. Considering that no 1 seed has ever lost in the first round, winning this game is a near lock to face one of the top four teams in the country. This sounds tough, and history shows that it has been-- 8 seeds have managed to beat 1 seeds 20% of the time, but 9 seeds have beaten 1 seeds only 6% of the time. Ouch. And that's currently where UW is projected to be seeded.

(UW has had mixed results with this seeding. In the 2000 Final Four year, they were an 8 seed, and beat 1 seed Arizona in the second round. In 1994 though, the Griffith/Webster/Finley/Stu Jackson year, they won their 8/9 game, and then got bounced hard by 1 seed Missouri.)

Thus, the far preferable option would be for UW to dodge a 1 seed for as long as possible. Given UW's resume, a 7 seed seems to be the highest they could reach. A 7 seed plays the 10 seed in the first round, and the winner of that game plays the 2 seed (unless a 15 plays an upset). As you'd expect, 7 seeds beat 10 seeds most of the time (62% of the time). But oddly, 10 seeds, if they manage to advance, are historically far more likely to beat 2 seeds than 7 seeds are. Namely, 10 seeds have beaten 2 seeds 44% of the time. 7 seeds have beaten 2 seeds 29% of the time. Thus history says that being a 10 seed might actually improve UW's chances of making the Sweet Sixteen, more than being a 7 seed. Weird, huh?

So as a UW fan, where does this leave us? Obviously, you want UW to win every game, especially against other douchey Big Ten teams that nab our recruits (cough, Evan Turner, cough; yes, I'm bitter). But if UW wins today and goes out and loses to Sparty, probably nothing changes. They stay an 8 or 9 seed. If they win today, beat Sparty or the Goofs tomorrow, and make it to the finals of the Big Ten tournament, I think there's a decent chance they could get bumped to a 7 seed. That would be excellent. But then again, history shows that UW might be best served by being a 10 seed. That would require losing to The Ohio A&M College today, most likely, something that would place UW, in my opinion, squarely on the bubble again. And nobody but some typically spastic Buckeye fan would want that. But still, there's your silver lining if Evan Turner, BJ Mullen's struggling goatee, and Coach Matta and his Judge Alvin Valkenheiser nose (yeah, I'm referencing the worst Chevy Chase movie ever) manage to take the Badgers this afternoon.

Note: statistics were derived from this extremely helpful website.

Back in Madison

Yeah, so I went to the Wisconsin-Michigan basketball game yesterday with a good friend who's a Michigan alum. (He was not the dick Michigan fan shouting "Miss it!" in an otherwise deathly quiet Kohl Center when the Badgers were shooting free throws.) As many folks are saying, this is a win that puts the Badgers in reach of the tournament. A win at Minnie this week (followed up by a home win over Indiana) would seal it I think. With a loss at Minnie, and a win over IU, I think I'd want a first round win in the Big Ten tournament before I'd be relatively comfortable with their chances. Yeah, I know their RPI is good, and their strength of schedule is excellent, but still. I'd like them to be safe. Anyhow, various observations:

- UW and Michigan are sort of like polar opposites. Michigan starts a guy who was a walk-on. Pretty much all of their seniors are former walk-ons, and most of them (like Lee and Merritt) play a fair amount. The point is, they have little depth. DeShawn Sims and Manny Harris are burgeoning stars-- true sophmores with legitimate All-conference ability. Zach Novak, their pure shooter 2-guard is a true frosh. Everyone else on that team is pretty fungible. They lack solid role players. UW, by contrast, seems to have a team full of solid role players-- Bohannon is an excellent spot shooter, Krabby is a fine defender and excellent rebounder, etc. But I don't know if UW has a guy with the ceiling that Sims and Harris have. Maybe Leuer. Sometimes Pop, I guess, but he only has one season left. Anyhow, it made for a funny contrast.

- So the Pops' seats are at the baseline, about ten rows up behind the visiting bench. They're good seats, and thus we're surrounded by the Madison bourgeoise-- a class that seems to be rapidly aging, and growing increasingly persnickety. That is, clapping or shouting during Michigan's offensive possessions (along with the student section) earned me a bevy of stinkeyes from the folks in the rows in front of me. Particularly from this pallid high schooler who was a ringer for the bizarre arty son in Wedding Crashers, and a red-sweatered sextegenarian working a salt-and-pepper afro. Sorry, folks, I like to cheer, and I think making things loud for the opposing team helps UW's cause. We also got some hilarious chatter from the retirees behind us about the referreeing. Apparently every time Marcus Landry touched the ball he got fouled. Who knew? (I tried to get my UM fan to appreciate the comedic value of their complaining. Like the time they started complaining about Michigan goaltending on a rebound on the far baseline--those seats have the worst angle in the stadium for making that call.)

- Whenever the typical Jarmusz-for-Krabby substitution occurred, I experienced a feeling of dread. Don't know why, and I'm not sure if the Badgers' performance merited that feeling. As much as I'd like Timmy to be the new Krabby, I'm just not seeing it-- maybe the new Clayton Hanson, if Hanson was taller and somewhat afraid to shoot...

- I don't know if Michigan will make the tourney or not. I think they have one more conference game. If they win that, and win their first rounder in the Big Ten tournament, then maybe? My buddy kept ranting about how they were the worst road team in the conference-- even when I pointed out that Iowa and Indiana are clearly worse. Anyhow, their best players (Sims and Harris) are both sophs. Novak is a frosh. Transfer Lucas-Perry (who has fallen out of favor, but is still pretty talented) is a soph. They have four decent looking prospects coming in next year, including the 14th rated point guard in the country. Their zone defense in the last 8 minutes of the first half was excellent. I look for them to get better and better in the next few years, although I wouldn't be surprised to see Sims leave early.

- Anyhow, this was a bit of an ugly game. UW was dominant in the first ten minutes, with Michigan coming out man-to-man, and getting owned. Then Wolvie switched to zone and (after a few mintues) really established themselves, and UW did their uber-frustrating "pass the ball around the perimeter until the shot clock is almost up" thing, or turned the ball over. At the other end, UM drained a bunch of threes. During that strech, UW scored once in 8 minutes. Ugh. Thankfully, Hughes and Boyanyon each nailed a three to make the halftime score respectable. Then, to start the second half, UW either put the clamps down defensively, or Michigan went into the dumper. Either way, again, Michigan scored one basket in the first ten minutes of the second half. But the pace was so slow, or UW wasn't hitting enough shots, so they only built up a nine-point lead. Yeesh. It was ugly and semi-tightly contested from then on, especially, as a UW fan, all the missed free throws down the stretch. Not a pretty game. Good thing it was on the Big Ten Network.

- Speaking of free throws, the students need to start doing something when the Badgers are shooting charities. It's too quiet, enabling spoiler visiting fans to be heard. Unfortunatley, given the administration's successful effort to muzzle the student section, I doubt anyone will come up with anything. Speaking of that, there were a lot of empty seats in the lower bowl of the student section. A lot of kids standing around, a fair number sitting, many not really into the game, not dancing with the band. Again, the university needs to change the way they allocate tickets so that passionate student fans get the prime seats down low. The student section was helpfully loud at times, but compared to years' past, it was lame. Come on, Biddy! UW's lost more home games since the student ticket policy was changed than the previous four seasons combined. Time to try something new.

- Final note--for post-game munchies, I can highly recommend the chorizo-egg torta at this establishment, very conveniently located for those heading out of town to the East (just between East Wash and Willie Street).

8 PM Trap Game?

Is it wrong to be worried a little about UW's road game against Indiana tonight? With Sparty on the horizon on Sunday, and the Badgers perhaps feeling a bit overconfident after four straight wins, and with Indiana's leading scorer, Juco transfer Devan Dumes, returning from a two game suspension, and this being the Badgers' first game against Tan Tommy Crean in his new digs, well, color me a bit nervous. Harumph.

In other news, I actually enjoyed this column from the State Journal's Tom Oates, lamenting how UW's basketball games seem to have been permanently moved to 8 pm. Indeed, this is lame. As Oates notes, 8 pm games inconvenience the fans, especially folks from smaller towns around Madison who have long drives home, and reduces revenue for the charities that run many of the concession stands in the Kohl Center. Plus, it incentivizes people to leave early and check their watches incessantly-- which leads to half-hearted, ineffectual fan support. Lame.

As a viewer at home, I'm not a fan of 8 pm starts mostly because I'm not a night owl. 8 pm games usually end around 10:15 or so, and I need a good half hour or so to wind down after watching a live UW basketball game, especially one against a decent conference opponent. This drives the wife nuts.

What I don't understand is why the Big Ten Network doesn't use its alternate channels to broadcast games at the same time. Sure, they don't want to dilute ratings. But they should be able to recoup money by telling larger advertisers who want to show ads across the region that their ad will now be broadcast during three games, not just one or two. And they could do fill in with local advertisers-- the kind of folks who used to pay for ads when games were just shown locally, but now don't want to pay the region-wide rates charged by the Big Ten Network. What's to stop this from happening? Not enough broadcasting teams? Please.

What's Been the Difference?

Like many fans of Wisconsin Men's basketball, I'm a bit bewildered by what's happened to the Badgers this Big Ten season. After three solid wins to start the conference schedule, they've dropped five straight, two losses coming in overtime and two in a row at home. Three of those losses were clearly winnable games, games that UW has pulled out more frequently in prior seasons, and two were games that nearly anyone looking at the conference schedule in December would have marked as wins (at Iowa and Minnesota at home). This leads us all to wonder-- what's been the difference? Why are so many games that UW would have dominated last season turned into close wins, and so many close wins turned into narrow losses?

Randy gave his own theory below, with his conclusion being (I think) that the team lacks talent overall, and that the coaching staff has been too safe in their recruiting strategies. He's also ranted to me over the phone about how the team lacks "heart," meaning there aren't enough guys who are busting their asses on every play. I agree with that to an extent. But my take is slightly different.

Namely, I think UW is suffering from a lack of depth and experience. In the last two seasons, UW has shown it can win either with a couple of very, very good players, and some guys in complementary roles, or when it's deep and experienced. I don't think it can win when it only has four upperclassmen, and none of them are dominant players. (Hughes can be dominant at times, but he's been on a frustratingly ineffective streak lately-- not shooting that well from long-range, not nabbing many steals, not drawing enough fouls and missing bunnies when he gets to the rim.) Last season the team had five upperclassmen. The year before, (until Butch got hurt), UW had one great player (Alando), one very good offensive player (Kam), and six upperclassmen. That's how you almost beat an Ohio State team with three lottery picks late in the season in their own building.

Hughes certainly can be great, and is at times. But he isn't able to carry the team, at least not when he's lacking a real back-up. (Hopefully, the development of Jordan Taylor should aid Pop over the rest of the season.) Bohannon is a heady player and a streaky shooter, but he's been in a slump, and seems to be trying to do too much. The only potential back-ups for those guys are a guard-forward who will never be a primary ball-handler (Jarmusz), and two true freshmen. So the team's two juniors and only experienced guards get asked to do a ton, and have worn down and become ineffective. Especially in this last five game stretch, where UW has faced five teams that play tight, pressure man-to-man defense, which really stresses opposing guards.

The two seniors, and only legitimately experienced frontcourt players, Krabby and Landry, are in similar predicaments. Krabby is doing everything you would have expected of him this season. He's a rebounding fiend, he defends very well, and he's showing much better touch than years' previous. But he's not a guy who you can go to when the shot clock is running down. Landry is a more skilled offensive player, but he has just never developed that lateral quickness needed to drive to the basket, and his low-post game looked a lot better in previous seasons when he was posting up the other team's forwards, not their center. With no Butch or Stiemsma on the floor, bigger, lankier defenders like Purdue's Johnson or Illinois' Tisdale are stymieing him in the post.

Although there's more depth there with Leuer and Nankivil and Gullickson rotating in occasionally, and the two sophs have both shown excellent offensive potential (although Leuer has been in a slump lately) neither of those guys are experienced defenders. Their breakdowns at key moments in games (like Nankivil failing to rotate back to the right man late in the Purdue game, leading to Kramer's wide-open three pointer), have been an absolute killer. But it's hard to expect more from them. This is their first real year of playing, and Bo is so quick with the hook that they're in and out constantly, and thus have trouble settling down and gaining the needed experience. And at this point, Jarmusz is only a decent back-up to Krabby--- his issues on offense, whether it's a lack of confidence or ability or both, make him a bit of an afterthought.

So really, I agree with Randy, it does come down to personnel. Four upperclassmen, none of whom are consistent stars. Five scholarship freshmen, only one of whom is currently contributing. Three inexperienced and tenative sophomores. That leads to a tough year, folks.

It's true that Ryan has had success with thin teams, but that's partly because he's been blessed with two of the best players in UW history in Devin and Alando. And last season did show that with just a lot of good, experienced (not great) players, UW could excel. Unfortunately, both things are missing this season. I don't think that's because they're recruiting coachable, hard-working, lesser talents. It's more about total misses in recruiting and development, and a failure to recover from those misses. I'll explain more in the next post.

Bubble Team

That's what this UW men's basketball team looks like now. Hell, they way they've played in the last three games, they look like an NIT team. And one that doesn't do much in the NIT to boot. Tonight, they play at an 80% full Iowa arena, against a team missing two starters, who had lost three in a row coming in. They look loose with the basketball, make lazy odd passes, resulting in a ton of turnovers given the low number of possessions in this game. And the killer, the ultimate sign of a loss if you're a UW fan-- committing way too many fouls. Certainly, the refs were calling the game ridiculously tight. Every drive Iowa made in the second half seemed to result in a foul. UW just didn't adjust though.

Yes, Taylor's shot to force overtime was remarkable. It was excellent to see him get some confidence and contribute, and the additional shots he made in overtime were great. But with no Leuer and Krabby in the extra period, and with Bo sticking Pop on the bench for no apparent reason (why not play Hughes and Taylor at the same time?), you never had the feeling that UW was going to make a solid push. They just didn't seem inspired, which is odd, because we've seen a very solid, and very inspired UW team at earlier points this season. So yeah, tough ugly road loss in the Big Ten. It happens, I know. But what's scary, is what's going to happen going forward.

I'm sure most UW fans, myself included, looked at the conference schedule and thought "win, win" for the last two games. It has not been so. Wisconsin is now 3-3 in conference. Consider the next five games, and assume a similar level of performance from the past three game. At Illinois on Sunday. Given how the Fightin' Fibs have been playing, especially at home, that looks almost like a guaranteed loss. They've always played great team defense under Weber, and this year is no exception, and their sophomore big men have really come along. Then Purdue at home. Loss. At Northwestern, who is coming off wins against Minnie and today (shockingly) Sparty. Decent chance of a loss, given UW's troubles in Evanston. Illinois at home. Again, a decent chance of a loss, and should be, at the least, a very, very close game. Then at Penn State, ditto. In three weeks, Wisconsin could have an 8 game losing streak. Crazy to think of, given the level of success we've been used to, but still. It seems well within the realm of possibility.

I'd like to think that the solid contributions of Nanker and Taylor tonight are a sign that the team's depth will be better as the season goes along, and that this loss can just be written off. But this sudden and uncharacteristic tailspin the past three games has me feeling odd. Loads of fouls, poor rebounding, unclutch defensive lapses, weird turnovers, poor three point shooting, changes in the starting line-up, and now benching of starting point guards. Something strange is afoot, and I don't mean that in a good way.

Proven Right Again

So yeah, it does look like the male basketballing Badgers' success against Northwestern may have been due to a growing comfort against zone defenses. Because in Sunday's game vs. Purdidn't, UW looked like crap against their pressure man defense. Of course, it didn't help that Robbie Hummel, the Big 10 preseason POY made a triumphant return, or that the ambiguously gay Boilers were desperate for a win. Even with their generally poor offense, if there's no Hummel, I think that game is a toss-up instead of a double digit win for the Indianans. Also, attempting 6 stupid free throws? Come on, hometown refs. Also, Bo is now 1-4 against Matt Painter, and has won only once in West Lafayette-- and that game was during the middle of a winter break snowstorm so the arena was half empty. Not good.

Anyhow, it's clear we Badger fans have been spoiled in recent years. The league has been down for a while in numbers of high quality teams, and UW has had some excellent squads with dynamic senior leaders. This season, the league's depth is outstanding, and there isn't as much proven quality on the Badgers. It's the four upperclassmen, and Leuer and, uh, everyone else really can't be counted on to provide that much. The Nank is inconsistent, Jarmusz plays pretty good defense but he is mostly lacking on offense. The frosh guards basically come in to give Pop and Bohannon some rest, as does Gullickson with the forwards. Things are still percolating and coming along, hopefully. I don't know where we'll finish in the league, but at this point if I knew I'd call the season a success if Wisconsin qualified for the tournament and made it to the Sweet Sixteen. See, this is how you think like a Michigan State fan. Except they'd need at least a trip to the Elite Eight.

More Randomness

Again, too much nunsense out there for a coherent post. Here's another grab-bag.

- Former Packer O-coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski was "fired" from his position as the Boston College football head coach yesterday, after refusing to not interview with the Jets. Apparently UW-Whitewater alum Jagod failed to tell his AD that he was talking with the J-E-T-S, and that didn't sit too well with his boss. And the Globe reported some informal agreement that Jagod would not pursue other jobs for the first three years as BC chieftan. So there. But what a wacky way to get fired, eh? "If you do not-very-outlandish thing A, I'll can you!" "Alright, well I'm doing it." "You're canned!" That's a pretty quick trigger. And can Boston College really afford to be so choosey? It's not like the goofy Wisconsin native hadn't gotten BC (the smallest school in the ACC) to the ACC title game two straight years. Oh, wait. (I guess they did just gift Vandy its first bowl win in 50 odd years.) Anyhoo, Jagod is a friggin' weirdo. If you don't like recruiting 16-year-olds and want to go back to the NFL, just quit already. Further proof that you just can't trust a Warhawk. They're shifty.

- So, awesomely, UW men's basketballers totally pounded Northwestern last night. What a contrast to the PSU game on Saturday. NU had been doing quite well so far this year (they were in the top 25 in Pomeroy's ratings), but UW carved up their defense and forced miss after Wildcat miss. The dominant final score (by 29 points in a 62 possession game), jumped UW 15 slots in the Ken Pom ratings. Awww, yeah. Number 34, bitches! Whoop!

- Seriously now, UW sophomore forward Jon Leuer is getting smoother and smoother on offense, and his rebounding and D really have picked up. Or they at least looked excellent against NU's nearly all-white frontcourt. (It's like being back in Minnesota!) Sadly, fellow soph Keaton Nankivil continues to start but play less than Leuer. The young Madisonian just keeps looking a bit timid, though he has bursts of effectiveness. (What is it with these Madison Memorial alums? Are they all nancies or is it just me?) Hell, lower ceilinged walk-on Kevin Gullickson got about the same number of minutes as Nankivil last night. And don't get me wrong, I effing love kids like KG who are academic badasses (Academic All-Big Ten two straight seasons with a "business finance" major) and have multiple drinking citations. That is doing Wisconsin proud, my young friend. But schollie sophs should be earning more minutes that walk-ons, regardless of how bad ass they are. Can I blame the math teacher/head coach at Memorial for stunting the Nanker's development?

- Also, third soph Tim Jarmusz ran about the ugliest fast break I have ever seen last night. He bricked a mildly contested one on one lay up. The Leuer missed a tip, then Krabby missed a tip, then the ball got knocked out of bounds, I think. Yeesh. I thought Tim could shoot. There were a couple of ugly fast breaks last night-- there was another where Pop missed a lay in, Bohannon tipped it back up, and it was goaltended. Bizarre. Apparently, NU is the only team unathletic enough that Wisconsin can run on them (or is unafraid of the consequences of trying to run).

- Last UW basketball note: I'm convinced that UW's kick ass offense against NU was partly due to the fact that NU is the third straight team UW has played who primarily plays zone defense. (Michigan and NU are 1-3-1 teams, and PSU plays a lot of 2-3.) Meaning they just finished their second straight week of preparing to play against zone Ds. This has me worried they're going to be out of practice for the pressure man to man D Purdidn't will throw at them this weekend, and accordingly are going to look ugly on offense. Whatever. Number 34! Whoop!

- I have no idea who the Packers will hire to replace now deposed D-coordinator Bob Sanders. I do like, a lot, this line from a Journal-Sentinel article about the search. "McCarthy, a source said, wants someone who could adapt to his talent and not be tied to one way of doing things." Exactly. If you need perfect personnel to coordinate an effective defense, you're going to be in trouble, because people get old and incompetent and/or get injured quite quickly in the NFL. Hire somebody who makes decent lemonade.

- Getting back to college football, I will not be watching this evenings faux-national championship game as I have more interesting and important crap to do. In addition, I have opted to not even Tivo the game, as Grey's Anatomy and 30 Rock hold more allure than watching two "schools" try to run up the score on each other. (How can a team be seen as a formal representive of a school, if less than half of said team actual matriculates from said school?) Plus, Florida and the Pope should win by double digits. OU got into the championship game by losing early in the season (thus resulting in being higher ranked than Texas Tech and Texas, which was the tie-breaker for getting into the Big 12 Championship game), and by running up the score. Karma is a bitch. As is the fact that the Big 12 has gotten exposed this postseason. True, Nebraska managed to beat a terribly quarterbacked Clemson team, and Kansas bombed a floundering Minnesota team as predicted but Mizzou needed overtime to beat friggin' Northwestern, top ten team Texas Tech got pounded in Dallas by Ole Miss, Oklahoma State got burned by Oregon, and Texas needed all sorts of help to barely squeak past the Ohio A&M. Not looking so strong there, El Grande Doce. Plus, Florida actually has a defense and an offense, and Bob Stoops has laid several BCS eggs since winning his national championship eight plus years ago. I say the Pope, his balanced team, Tim Tebow (and his remarkably built ladyfriend), win by two touches. 30 something to 20 something. Predictable, cheesy and boring, especially with Fox's awful production values. (ABC does the Rose Bowl so much better, it's not even funny.) Watching the lady from Knocked Up debate the moral dillema of her illicit affair with a dead boyfriend's ghost (worst plot development ever) on Grey's Anatomy will be far more entertaining. Or maybe not. Well, if it's a good game it'll be rebroadcast soon enough anyway.

- In all seriousness, not watching that game is actually an effective way you can show your displeasure over the stupid BCS system. If the ratings start to suffer, the university presidents (whose hands must be chapped from all the rubbing together they do at the thought of the financial payout from the current deal) may start to come around. Either that, or we'll have to wait for them to all die off. Or at least for Big 11 commish Jim Delaney to die off.

- Finally, UW running back PJ Hill and his prodigious posterior have opted to try to take his game to the next level. Good luck to the young man. Despite assorted injuries, PJ has been a fine college back, and is actually third in career rushing yards at UW, behind Anthony Davis and Ron Dayne. In addition, PJ has always seemed like a good teammate and an amiable young man. (For example, I didn't see him grumble or sulk a bit after John Clay started getting more carries this season.) As far as his decision to leave "early" goes, I can't blame him a bit. He redshirted after breaking his leg in preseason camp as a frosh, so he's been here for four whole seasons. He doesn't have much left to prove, and Clay (and Zach Brown and Montee Davis) would have been champing at the bit behind him next season. I don't know where (or if) he'll be drafted, but he has always been great at getting yards in tough spots, maximizing what he can get after contact. He'd make a solid short yardage back, I'd wager. Godspeed.

New Year, New Thoughts

The state of the sports world currently calls for a random, classic Larry King style post. Here goes:

- An early report states that the Packers are firing defensive coordinator Bob Sanders. By all accounts, Sanders is an excellent human being. Unfortunately, his defensive tactics, while occasionally very effective, are somewhat simplistic and predictable, and he hasn't shown much ingenuity or flexibility during games. With workaholic players and coaches flooding the league, more and more it feels like you need a defensive scheme that will confuse the other side. The Packers haven't had that. So it's probably time to try something new. What'll be especially interesting to see is who replaces Sanders, and what kind of defense that coach will bring. And, of course, how much personnel turnover the new system will require and how quickly the players will be able to pick up the new scheme. Remember, one of the worst defenses in recent Packer history came in the first (and only) year of a new d-coordinator (Bob Slowik).

- If reports are true, Sanders will be joining Packers Special Teams coach Mike Stock on the way out of town. The sextagenarian Stock opted to retire a few days ago. This was probably a good reading of the tea leaves, as the Packers' kickoff coverage unit was awful this season and directly contributed to some close losses, particularly the loss at Chicago and the home loss to Carolina. Plus, Crosby seems to have stalled in his development, and some of the blame for the atrocious decision to release punter Jon Ryan and rely on (and stick with) the horrid Derrick Frost fell on Stock's shoulders. Of course, some blame must go to Thompson, who jettisoned Ryan, stuck with Frost for more than half the season, and released several special teams leaders, like Tracy White. Hopefully, he learned some lessons as well. Trivia-- did you know Stock had been the head coach at Brown?

- This year's Badger men's basketball team just doesn't let you get comfortable, do they? After a very solid victory over a pretty darn good Michigan team in Ann Arbor, they have to duke out a close one against Penn State in Madison. Yeesh. PSU is definitely improved over last season (although it'll probably be a one-year blip, as Pringle and Cornley are seniors), but still. A double digit victory would have been nice.

- Speaking of UW hoops, does it just feel like every game some guy goes off from long range against the Badgers? I mean, there was that swingman from Va Tech (6 for 9), this guard from San Diego (5 for 8), McShneal from Marquette (4 for 7), Zack Novak at Michigan (5 for 8), and on Saturday, Stanley Pringle (4 for 6, with all the makes in the second half). Last season the Badgers were at the top of the league in three defense, and were in the top 25 nationally. This year they're in the middle of pack nationally--174th out of 340 odd teams. They lost Michael Flowers, who was a great perimeter shot contestor, and the line has been moved back, which might actually have increased the shooting percentage on long-range attempts by creating more space (and by reducing the raw number of threes taken). Anyhow, the numbers (and personnel) say they're worse on the perimeter defensively compared to last season. But at the same time, I can't remember a lot of uncontested threes. It seems like guys (especially the guy at Va Tech) have just been on fire at times. So maybe it's luck? Whatever it is, I hope it turns around.

- Speaking of random stats, here's Ken Pomeroy's statistical summary of Wisconsin's season so far. Things look fine offensively, though you'd like them to grab a few more offensive boards and shoot a little better from the line. And the lack of steals and turnovers will always be a black mark against UW's defense, as they're far more focused on avoiding stupid fouls than nabbing stray passes. (Flowers' departure also hurts here though.) But what really sticks out is the opponent's free throw percentage-- against us, opposing teams are nailing their free throws. Totally weird. (The Texas loss and their ridiculous free throw shooting come to mind.) Hopefully, that rate will return a bit closer to the mean sometime soon.

- Did anyone reading this not love watching the Cowboys look like total garbage 8 days ago? Man, that was hilarious. And they can't get much better-- they gave away almost their entire 2009 draft for Roy Williams, the receiver, "offensive guru" Jason Garrett may very well abandon his head-coaching apprenticeship for a real gig somewhere else, and the front office still has the team-killing headache of Terrell Owens and the underperforming nuisance of Pacman Jones to deal with. That's totally the way you want to transition to a billion dollar stadium (one built with $475 million of tax money) that still has a stupid hole in the roof, where you'll be asking many fans to cough up 100 grand for a personal seat license. And it's not like the economy is not awesome or like the wealthy have seen their net worths shrink by half. Oh wait. Smooth moves, Skeletor. And it couldn't happen to a nicer, more humble guy.

- The playoffs have been very odd so far. Arizona winning a game? In the playoffs? The Dolts get a bunch of lucky scores, but still can't beat the 8-8 Chargers and their formerly sieve-like defense, even with LT on the sidelines? Weirdness. The ViQueens lines looked pretty dominant against the Eagles, but they give up two huge plays and thus lose. Fitting that their special teams looked like garbage, as it has all season. (They tied the record for most punt return touchdowns given up in a season-- thanks in large part to the Pack's Will Blackmon.) Personally, I'm rooting for Jimmy Leonhard and the Ravens. Even with the lack of talent on offense, at least they try to be entertaining on that side of the ball, employing lots of bizarre shenanigans.

- Did anyone else laugh when former Ohio A&M cover boy Ted Ginn, Jr. dropped the (admittedly stressed) exchange on that fourth quarter end around, effectively sealing the Dolphins' playoff loss? Thank goodness the AFC East has been eliminated from the postseason. That division was dreadfully overrated this season, mostly due to a flaccid schedule. As you can tell, I'm not a fan of the national media's East Coast-centricity.

- I still can't bring myself to write about the UW football team. The beatdown is too fresh, the program seems adrift, wandering in the wilderness, as it were. Maybe I'll hold out until national signing day, hoping for some encouraging developments.

The Big Ten Season Begins: Meeeechigan

"In watching us on tape [after the Texas game], there is a lot of room for improvement, so that is the encouraging sign. I don't think we're anywhere close to where we can be. The question is whether we'll get there or not." --Wisconsin men's basketball team assistant coach Gary Close

In a word, yes. A few more minutes of solid effort (to invoke the Rudyard Kipling poem cited by the soon-to-be-indicted governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, a few more seconds worth "of distance run") and the Badgers would be 11-1 and solidly ranked in the top twenty. But thems the breaks. Crappy free throw shooting and poor defensive rebounding against Texas, and a failure to get the rolls in the last few minutes = loss. Going cold down the stretch and not locking down defensively on Jerel McNeal at Marquette = loss. The question is whether the Badgers have learned from that, whether they're taking those lessons and running with them and improving. Whether they'll get there or not, to quote Coach Close.

This afternoon, well, we'll see whether the Badgers are anywhere closer to getting there. Wisconsin plays at Michigan in a 1 pm Central game on ESPN2. Michigan is vastly improved over last season (as should have been thought, given their coach's consistently outstanding record of turnarounds). They lost to Duke on a neutral floor, and at a decent Maryland team in a close game in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. But they beat Duke at home a few weeks later in a rousing performance, beat UCLA at the start of the season, are undefeated at home this year, and have yet to lose since the Maryland game four weeks ago. They're currently ranked 24th. They have the best pure two-guard in the conference in Manny Harris, a sure fire All-Big Ten pick if there is one (Harris turned down a schollie offer from the Badgers, choosing to stay in Michigan), a big talented forward in DeShawn Sims (he lit up Duke), and the just-cleared-waivers transfer from Arizona Laval Lucas-Perry. Jim Beilein has surrounded these legitimate talents with some decently skilled holdovers, like guard Kelvin Grady, and heady role players, like newly acquired three-point sniper Zack Novak.

The play a wacky 1-3-1 zone defense that gives up offensive boards, but is designed to force lots turnovers. They work the ball around the perimeter a fair amount and shoot a lot of threes, but Sims is an excellent interior player and will challenge Landry/Leuer/Nankivil. Harris is excellent at hitting mid-range jumpers off the dribble, and will be a tremendous defensive challenge for Hughes/Krabbenhoft/Wilson. The main key to watch out for, I think, is whether Wisconsin can take care of the basketball. In Michigan's biggest wins this year, they've forced a fair number of turnovers. This is a difficult task, as I don't know if UW's seen a 1-3-1 this season, and even if they have, it's not likely they've seen one as effective as Michigan's. Anyhow, fun stuff and it should be a revealing challenge for the Badgers. If you have to work today (like me, sigh...) set your tivos.

Time to Start Thinking Like a Michigan State Fan

Woooooo. So, that was a fun game. Until, I guess, the final two minutes or so, where Texas just made a couple plays (chasing down that offensive board, nailing that Brian Butch-at-Indiana-esque shot late, playing tough switch defense on Hughes) and Wisconsin didn't make enough. Maybe I should be pissed off. Maybe I should be wondering where Wisconsin's offense went in the last few minutes, or why they couldn't chase down that long rebound late. But I'm not too upset. Stuff like that happens. This game is entirely different if either Kevin Gullickson or Tim Jarmusz or Pop Hughes hit two more free throws. And Texas wins a tough game on the road by hitting an absurd 15 of 16 free throws (they were averaging 62% foul shooting on the season). The Badgers miss seven, Texas misses one. There's the difference. Twas a tough, hard-fought game against a very solid, talented Texas team, and in those situations, it often comes down to those details-- last minute execution, and foul shooting. But a good, good game.

Anyhow, I think the take away is that they're close. This Wisconsin team is pretty decent right now, and is close to being pretty damn good. The defensive rotations are vastly improved. The increased number of post touches were excellent (I love seeing Krabbenhoft exert himself down there like he did tonight). Leuer is looking more and more like Dirk Novitzki every day. The thing is, it's all still a work in progress. The freshmen guards are just not contributing enough to properly spell Bohannon and Hughes. Nankivil flashes and disappears. Against big opponents, Marcus plays tight and ends up a bit overaggressive (his foul trouble this game reminded me of his struggles against UConn). A little bit more scholarship frontcourt depth (hello, Ian Markolf) would be helpful. (Gavinski being a total noncontributor in his third year in the program is a real bummer. A servicable big body would have been a big help last night.)

Given all of that, I don't really see Wisconsin being a legitimate contender for the Big Ten title. The league is quite deep, and while the season-long trajectory should be up, this team's learning process just seems like it's going to continue to take some time. Thus, I'm going to act like a Sparty fan, I've decided. "The regular season doesn't matter! (Except when we win.) It's all about the post-season, man! Come tournament time, it's going to be on." This team should continue to grow and improve as things progress. They'll likely be some stops and starts, and also some big encouraging moments. But my goals for the regular season are pretty limited-- one loss or less at home during the conference season, qualification for the tournament, and single digit tournament seeding. Really, I'm getting psyched for the tourney already-- because that's when this Badger team should be peaking. Hey, only two and a half months away, right?

Badgers Beat Wiley Patsy

So the Wisconsin men's basketball team took down Coppin State in a mostly middling performance last night. Maybe after finals week and all that the team was a little out of it. There were stretches of good defense, generally solid rebounding, and some possessions with excellent passing, but there were a few too many turnovers (10) for how slow paced a game it was (53 possessions), and the Badgers seemed to run out of gas in both halves, scoring few points in the last five minutes or so of both periods. But they were generally in control the whole way-- working a double-digit lead early and milking it for the rest of the game. Although you would have liked to see them really put the pedal down and blow out a 1-6, now 1-7 Coppin State team.

Anyhow, the reason Coppin State is wiley is the following. They play in the MEAC (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) wtih teams like the traditional black universities Hampton and Bethune-Cookman (where the Packers' Nick Collins went to college). When you play in that small of a division, you know that you're not going to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. And thus, the only way to make the tournament, and, really, the only part of your season that matters is your conference schedule, and, in particular, your conference tournament. Knowing this, Coppin State volunteers to play one of the roughest non-conference schedules in the country. They've played 8 games so far this season, and 7 have been on the road, against teams like Wisconsin, Dayton, Kansas, Purde, and they have games coming up at Missouri and Oklahoma. Yeesh. The idea is obvious though. Play against tough competition early and the games that matter, the conference games, will feel easy in comparison. So these tough early losses (if the team's psyche can withstand all the losing) help prep them for the conference season. And it's worked! Coppin State made the tournament out of the MEAC several times in the last dozen seasons. (Last year, they lost in the play in game to Mount St. Mary's.) Plus, playing the patsy to all these big schools early in the season results in Coppin State getting a ton of money. In fact, the first ten or so games of the men's basketball season funds the rest of the athletic department. That's a wickedly smart set-up, and one any small conference D-I coach would be smart to emulate.

Anyhow, random stats and analysis follows. The Badgers were efficient, despite the turnovers, scoring roughly 1.09 points per possession. And they held Coppin State to a dour .87 PPP. So it was a pretty solid performance, it's just that the pase was so darn slow (largely due to the refs calling all of two shooting fouls on both teams combined--- they must have made a pact to try to get home before 8), the game seemed closer than it was. And it didn't help that Coppin State's various zones lured Wisconsin into a throwing up too many three pointers-- and the Badgers made less than a quarter of their attempts. (Pop Hughes was guilty of several especially heinous long range shots.) However, the lack of foul shots and the not-so-hot three point shooting was overcome by complete dominance on the boards. Wisconsin rebounded superbly on both ends of the floor, pulling down 86% of the available defensive boards and 44% of their own misses. Both superlative percentages.

Anyhow, Tuesday night's game in Madison against the Texas Longhorns is now looming. They're probably still pissed about Michael Flowers' ridiculous clutchness stealing that game from them last year. And I can't tell whether it's a good or bad thing that they lost a close game to Sparty (in a weird not really very neutral game in Houston) yesterday. It should be a tough one, and Wisconsin is going to need to show that the team that got beat down by UConn and lost its cool at Marquette (and nearly lost to Idaho State) has grown and matured into a better squad. The dominant win over UW-Green Bay sure made it seem like they had. Last night's game makes you wonder a bit though. Should be a fascinating match-up.

The Badgers Rebound, Literally

Don't have too much time to rehash Wisconsin's thoroughly satisfying win over a pretty solid UW-Green Bay team, but here are some random stats. Wisconsin managed an excellent 1.14 points per possession, and held UWGB to a thumping .85 PPP. That's a very solid performance. And they, at long last, dominated on the boards like they can--- with an 84% defensive rebounding performance. (Consider--- UWGB missed 34 field goals, and only grabbed 6 boards.) That, again, kicks ass.

In re individual performances, Pop Hughes did a great job of driving to the hole. Krabby looked for his shot and was efficient. And Nankivil hit the boards hard, grabbing 11, and slamming two dunks on drives and dishes (although he meeked out on a couple of moves in the paint). That kind of performance out of Keaton is what the Badgers need to become a good team.

Nice....

The facing by Idaho (related below) has been noted and relayed by Wisconsin men's basketball beatwriter Rob Schultz. If you have an opinion on the matter, I strongly encourage you to air it in the comments section below his article. The only way things will change is if people become aware of the problem.

Faced by Idaho!

The inexplicably lame and silent Kohl Center crowd on Tuesday was not only noticed by me and other real Badger fans, but also by the Idaho State beat writer traveling with the team. And he called the fans out. Hilarious:

"Wisconsin’s basketball fan base makes me feel spoiled to have ever attended Kansas games for four straight seasons. In short, the Badgers fans in the stands for Tuesday’s game against Idaho State were H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E. There were at least 12,000 of them, and the Kohl Center felt deader than Century High’s gym. Holt Arena gets louder than the Kohl Center did on Tuesday. In my own opinion, it was pathetic. A good number of students attended the game, but hardly any of them cheered. A student told me that was because student tickets are now being chosen at random instead of by how long a certain group of fans camps out for seats. I’m sure that hurts. But c’mon. Regardless of seat selection and the opponent, students should be able to chant “Defense” or “Let’s go Badgers” on key possessions. The Kohl Center was silent for all but the final play of the game."

That's right, Badger fans have been called out by a guy from Pocatello, Idaho. Yow. Thus, I now proclaim that it is indisputable-- the fans at the Kohl Center suck. They're staid, fair-weather, largely disinterested, and, above all, overly meek. But why? And what can be done to fix the problem?

Hmmmm.....

I don't know if any of you wasted your time like I did last night-- watching the male basketballing Badgers barely edge a 2-5 Idaho State team 60-58 at home in an icily quiet Kohl Center. But if you did, you can't help but be a bit concerned. Yes, it's the time of the year where everyone has the winter blahs, and finals are approaching, and they just came off a tough loss to a big rival. But nearly losing to Idaho State at home? Whoa there. I know most folks have rote confidence in Bo Ryan, as they should given his record. But this "win" was a bit disturbing. No one was being assertive on offense. On defense, several obvious miscommunications, and several plays were guys just weren't contesting shots with the hustle that we've come to expect. Other random thoughts---

- Way too much passing around the perimeter on offense. Idaho State was playing a zone, and no one on the Badgers was attacking it. My understanding is that the best way to bust a zone is to drive into it, draw defenders, and pass, while your teammates without the ball make cuts. That just wasn't happening last night. Too much passivity, resulting in far too many jump shots that weren't really falling.

- Several obvious miscommunications on defense, the most glaring of which was when Jordan Taylor and Jason Bohannon switched, ended up covering the same guy, and left one guy all alone by the three point line-- swish.

- Bo made some comments about lack of hustle and effort. That issue was apparent at times, especially on the defensive end, where guys were not consistently making the extra effort to really contest shots. I guess the reason this was noticeable is because the Badgers are usually busting their asses on D.

- I want to see more out of Keaton Nankivil. The Badgers really need another post presence beside Landry, but Keaton has just looked uncomfortable out there, and his teammates don't appear to be giving him the ball when he actually gets in the right place. In fact, this was an issue the entire game, and against Marquette as well. Guys seem so afraid of turning the ball over they play timid. When your teammate has good post position, listen to Keyshawn and give him the damn ball!

- Hopefully, this is a temporary issue, and the team looks a hell of a lot better Saturday against UW-Green Bay. If not, uh oh. The Badgers looked like a lower-division Big Ten team last night.