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Badgers Looking to Capitalize on Momentum & March

Shortly after the Badgers completed an impressive road win over Illinois on Sunday, they likely watched and waited for the Michigan State/Michigan game to end.  After MSU won, Wisconsin earned themselves the four seed and packed up to return to Madison.

And that’s just how Bo Ryan and Badger fans like it; go about your business and keep playing hard.

The Badgers will face Illinois on Friday afternoon, a rubber match for two opponents who played well against each other this season.  However, UW clearly has the upper hand going into the Big Ten tournament, as they continue to ride the hot hands of Jason Bohannon and Jon Leuer, as well as the steady guard play of Trevon Hughes and Jordan Taylor.

If all goes accordingly, the Badgers will most likely face Ohio State in the semi-finals.  In my opinion, this would be the best game of the tournament, if not the whole month of March.  In their first meeting, Evan Turner was injured, and the Badgers rolled to an easy victory.  When Turner returned later in the season, OSU toppled Bucky.

So if there’s any pattern here, it’s that the Badgers have many scores to settle throughout the Big Ten tourney.

The gameplan against Illinois is pretty simple: out rebound them, let Jason Bohannon get the hot hand, and have Trevon Hughes pilot the whole operation.  Throw in a healthy dose of Jon Leuer, along with solid play off the bench, and the Badgers should have no problem advancing.

Assuming Ohio State advances through the winner of the Michigan/Iowa game (and they will), the Badgers would play in their second consecutive rubber match of the tournament.

It never comes easy in the Big Ten, but you’d never guess that’d be the case with the way Bo has his guys playing not just this March, but every March.

Peeps’  ”Article of the Week”

I came across this article today and the first thing I thought of was “NBA Live 94″ for Sega Genesis.  Remember the days where some players didn’t have their names used in popular video games? (I’m looking at you, MJ).  Well now, Ed O’Bannon is suing the NCAA for using player’s likenesses in everything from video games, DVD’s, apparel, and magazines.

You’ll have to read the article to get the jist of everything (Frank Deford is a great writer, so its worth it).  But it looks like the NCAA might actually be at fault in this regard, something that you don’t hear often.

Cheers and happy reading!

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Badgers Go About Business as Usual

There is absolutely nothing significant to report about Wisconsin’s 78-46 thrashing of Indiana.  The game was close for about the first five minutes, and from there, the Badgers were essentially on cruise control for the remainder of the game.

Actually, I stand corrected.  Seeing an irate Tom Crean get ejected in the 2nd half was pretty awesome.  My how the mighty have fallen, Tom…

All jokes aside, the Badgers are entering a fairly easy stretch of games to close out the Big Ten regular season; at the Kohl Center against Iowa on March 3rd, and then a road finale at Illinois on March 7th.  Iowa should be a breeze, but Illinois is underrated in many aspects and already showed they could beat UW in their own home a few weeks ago.

While I’m not one to cheer for injury (and I’m still not), the Badgers caught a bit of a break yesterday when it was discovered that Purdue forward Robbie Hummel is out for the season with a torn ACL.  The Boilermakers and Badgers went 1-1 against each other this season, with Hummel playing a significant role in each game.

In essence, the road to the Big Ten tournament title game just got a bit easier for the Badgers.  Purdue struggled last season without Hummel, and the weight of the entire season now rests on the shoulders of E’Twaun Moore.

All the Badgers can do now is take care of business and come prepared for the Big Ten tournament.  But who am I kidding?  Would you expect anything less from a Bo Ryan lead team?

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Badgers Looking to Close Out Big 10 Season on a High Note

Despite the heartbreaking loss to Illinois on Tuesday, the Wisconsin Badgers still have a great chance to take home the Big 10 regular season title and continue to reach their goal of winning the Big 10 tournament.

I was as devastated as any Badger fan when they succumbed to that rare home loss against a surprising Illini team, but I see little use in panicking.  Sometimes a wake-up call like that can actually be a good thing for a team that wasn’t expected to do anything special this season.

Since Jon Leuer went down with a fractured wrist, the Badgers are 5-2 and have displayed the kind of effort that seems to come naturally to Bo Ryan coached teams; continue to work hard and go about your business.  No team handles adversity quite like the Badgers. Since Kalin Lucas went down, Michigan State has struggled to regain its swagger.  Ohio State was a mess without Evan Turner.

Not the Badgers.  Bo Ryan has instilled the confidence in his players to carry on and pick up the slack when a fellow teammate gets hurt. It’s rare to find a coach who can build such confidence in his team, but Ryan has earned his living doing that exact thing for the Badgers since he was hired.

The Badgers will also have the benefit of a fairly easy schedule to close out the season. Tomorrow they square off against an Indiana team that is still deep in the process of rebuilding.  After that, UW won’t face a ranked opponent unless Illinois earns a spot in the top 25 before March 6th (UW’s final regular season game at Illinois).

It’s going to be a close race to crown the regular season champion, but if the Badgers can continue their consistent play and rebound from a rare hiccup at home, I think they’ll bring home the bacon.

Just imagine how strong this team will be going into March Madness if Jon Leuer comes back to full strength.  Don’t look now, but the Badgers have the fortitude and attitude to make a strong run at the Final Four this year.

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Wisconsin Badgers Basketball Team Gets Beaten Down by Mid-Major UW-Green Bay

Question: How do the Wisconsin Badgers respond after a home win against the Duke Blue Devils?  Answer: They drive through a blizzard and get beaten down hard on the road by mid-major UW-Green Bay, losing 88-84 in overtime.

No, the transitive property is not viable in sports. UW-GB would lose to Duke ten out of ten times.  What happened to the Wisconsin Badgers last night? Bryquis Perine had 22 points to lead the UW-GB Phoenix while Rahmon Fletcher chipped in with 18 points.  Perine is a Milwaukee native who lead Milwaukee Vincent to a state title his senior year.  Trevon Hughes poured in 27 to lead the way for the Badgers while Keaton Nankivil had 26 points and 10 boards.  This was a sloppy game for the Badgers as they committed 18 turnovers and seemed to be reaching rather than moving their feet all night.

What is going on in Madison?  They beat the Duke Blue Devils and then follow it up with this performance?! Last night was UW-GB’s first EVER victory over the Badgers. The Badgers are supposed to go into the little guys’ house and win by 15. This game was not televised outside of Madison and Green Bay and you will not find many video highlights of the game because the little guy can’t afford it!  But I am sure that the 9,759 on hand didn’t see the same Badgers team that they had seen up until last night.

Here are a few thoughts from the game:

1. Turnovers kill.
2. Missed free throws hurt (Badgers were 29-40).
3. Jason Bohannon, where are you? This is a guy who is supposed to be hitting threes from the moment he steps on the floor, and he just is not getting it done. 25% from behind the arc (1-4) will not cut it (actually, Bohannon was 1-4 in the game as well).  Still UW-GB showed up to play and took this game from the Badgers. They deserve the credit.

So, what does this mean for UW-GB in the Horizon League?

I saw my UWM (UW-Milwaukee Panthers) squad play Tuesday night and show very little effort while losing to Marquette by 20 points.  I hate everything about UWM’s swing offense. Butler has been losing a few games but against some very tough competition (Georgetown, Minnesota; Ohio State is next).  Detroit has beaten Albany…I guess that counts. Wright State almost beat Washington.  There is a lot to see here once conference play really gets going, but I see Butler and UW-GB as the class of this conference. The best case scenario is that two teams make the tourney, but Butler has to notch some wins in non-conference play.

After Butler and UW-GB, I see Wright State, Loyola, Detroit and UWM fighting for a home playoff game in the first round of the Horizon League Tournament.

Badger Nation should feel ashamed that their team is being discussed with the likes of the Horizon League!

In attendance at last night’s game in Green Bay were:

Packers (inconsistent) Kicker Mason Crosby

Packers Tackle (and GQ Model) Mark Tauscher

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