The Wisconsin Sports Rant

What a disaster this week has become, culminating in the game today. How many opportunities can one team blow? Tucker missed everything in the second half. Taylor brought the team back but then choked on his own clutchlessness (a new term I have coined for performances such as Taylor’s).  Bo would have been better off letting the game continue at the end, as Bohanon hit the winning shot. Instead, he had to stop it, and a) let Ohio State set up their defense, and b) force his team to go the length of the court to try to win. I’m sorry, but if Bo is going to get all the praise when the team is doing well, he ought to share the blame when they aren’t, and that was just the wrong decision. The officiating was awful, but was not the reason UW lost. They shot only 6 free throws?  Ohio State had 3 fouls to give with under a minute left? That is ridiculous.  I guess Ohio State simply doesn’t hack, and that their opponents seemingly fall down on their own under the hoop. This game should have been a victory for Wisconsin. Instead they lost…and lost big. They lost the Big Ten title. They probably lost a #1 seed. They probably lost Brian Butch for the year. They definitely lost their #1 ranking. Overall, if coupling this loss with the one from Tuesday night, you get the worst possible span of 6 days the Badgers could have had. How’s that for acting like you are a top ranked team? I guess things were too good to be true. Now, we fall back towards Earth, our season in tow. Sure, there’s still a (marginal) chance to win it all, but the magical season that was building has lost its luster. After all, we have won Big ten championships in several recent seasons.  Just not this one.

This is perhaps the most frustrated I have ever been after a UW basketball game. There have been very difficult losses in the past, but this is a new feeling that we have never experienced before. This is what Wisconsin fans get? This is what we deserve? A tease? We had only two days to enjoy the top ranking (and in only one poll, so it was still not the ultimate pinnacle). Sure, we will be ranked #1 through the week, but regardless of the outcome Sunday, Wisconsin will not be ranked #1 come next Monday. It is hard to put into words the rotten feeling that engulfs me at this moment. I know Wisconsin is better than Michigan State. But when you have a player get so ridiculously hot that even prayer three pointers bounce around and in, there is not much you can do. I am just so irritated that it had to happen to this team. I hope the players feel that burning anger and channel it into the remainder of this season. They have missed the opportunity laid at their feet to solidify a unanimous #1 ranking before the regular season is out. However, the better ones remaining that they MUST take advantage of are a) defeating Ohio State on Sunday to win the regular season Big Ten crown, b) winning the Big Ten tournament which would likely lock them into a #1 NCAA tournament seed, and c) the ultimate achievement…the chance of a lifetime for these players…winning the NCAA tournament. That’s what’s left. As disgusting the taste in all of our and (more importantly) the players’ mouths’ is right now, that needs to be set aside immediately so that these remaining three goals–the holy trinity of NCAA hoops goals–can come to fruition. For that, my fellow Badger fans, is what we really have been waiting, longing, and hoping for since day one.

Marquette had to have this game, and they did. Lazar Haywood came alive, and Dominic James finally contributed as he had been when they were winning. The result was a solid double-digit victory at home against a middle-of-the-pack Villanova team. This time, Marquette didn’t give the opposition a chance to pull out a late game victory, instead pulling away 3/4ths of the way through the game. At 9-5 in conference, and 22-7 overall, Marquette could still use a couple more wins to get to a decent seed. It will not be easy, as they have games remaining against Notre Dame and Pittsburgh. However, achieving at least a split could get them that first round bye in the Big East tournament, which would be hugely beneficial towards that NCAA tourney seeding. Hopefully this is Marquette getting permanently back on track at the right time.  They need to play these last two games with fire and intensity, as well as to understand that in order to make it anywhere in the post season, they need to bring their ‘A’ game for 40 minutes at a time.

Wow! It may be a split decision in the polls right now, but Wisconsin is ranked #1 in the AP, #2 in the ESPN/Coach’s Poll! As everyone knows, this is the first time UW has ever been ranked #1 during the season in either poll! I love the scenario that sees UW beating MSU Tuesday night, and Ohio State beating Penn State on Wednesday to set up a #1 versus #1 matchup (if you take my meaning)! Man is it good to be a Badger right now!

UPDATE: One more thing…isn’t it ironic how we didn’t get that shot at OSU in football, but here we have the opportunity to be the undisputed #1 in the land staring us in the face.  However, I think we all must remember that in basketball, it is all about where you end up the first weekend in April!

Wisconsin dished out a whooping to Penn State in Madison on Saturday. This was the type of victory that looks good to those writers/coaches that didn’t actually see the game but have to vote in the polls. With the Florida loss, if Wisconsin and Ohio State both hold serve until next weekend, we should be seeing a game for the ages…#1 versus #2! I was thinking about how I would like Minnesota to upset Ohio State Sunday so Wisconsin could enjoy the #1 ranking for a week, but the more I think about it, the more I would rather Wisconsin gain the #1 ranking by beating the currently ranked #1 team. If UW can accomplish that feat and not let down to Michigan State, they should not only gain their first ever #1 ranking, they should also lock up a #1 seed regardless of the Big Ten tournament results. Granted, going into the Breslin Center is not a walk in the park, but Wisconsin is too good to lose that game, especially if they hit threes like they did against Penn State. In fact, if they can shoot the ball like that, they should be able to handle Ohio State or anyone else that gets in their way.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum Marquette has dropped three in a row. When they beat Pitt on the road, and were in the midst of their 8 game winning streak, things looked excellent. They were hitting their stride, handling teams with ease. Then they got blown away at Georgetown, and it seems that Dominic James has forgotten how to play to the level he is capable of. Jerel McNeal continues to play very well, but deserves criticism for things like missing the front end of a one-and-one that could have put Louisville away. I just can’t figure out this team. They were ranked as high as 8th (and have played like they deserved that ranking), fell out of the top 25 completely, climbed all the way back up to 11th, and now have dropped three in a row; including one to the major power DePaul, and one on their own turf to a Cardinals team they destroyed in Louisville a few weeks ago. They will most likely see a ranking in the 20’s if at all. Marquette is in grave danger of losing their first round bye in the Big East tournament, and we all know how difficult it is to win four games in four days. The bottom line is that this team needs to get their collective head out of their collective ass before they are collectively bounced out of the tournament.

Wisconsin took care of business in Minnesota, with Tucker pouring in 29 points on 10-20 shooting. It is frustrating that the talking heads on ESPN and such say that Florida is the only lock for a #1 seed at this point. That suggests that even if they were to slip up against any of their competition before the SEC tournament, they would still gain a #1 aeed. If that is the case, then why isn’t Wisconsin also a lock at this point? The Badgers have only 1 conference loss and 2 overall, the latter being the same as Florida’s overall record. I don’t want to make a huge deal about it, but I still find it frustrating. I think the Badgers could probably lose at Columbus, win the rest, and still hold a #1 seed.

Marquette seems to have reverted to their early Big East schedule form. Consecutive losses at Georgetown and DePaul, while not necessarily true upsets, have severely crippled their chances of winning the Big East regular season title. The losses have also likely dropped them out of the “protected” seeds in the NCAA tournament for now. They will really need to finish strong, perhaps even earning a trip to the conference tournament final to creep back into one of those top seeds. In Wednesday night’s loss to DePaul, Dominic James took another ill-advised shot at the end with way too much time left on the clock. He is clearly pressing at this point and needs to find better ways of trying to get out of his slump. For Marquette to make a run in March, he had better get back on track soon.

Finally, the Milwaukee Bucks did just as I had predicted in my side note from yesterday’s post. They made the wrong kind of history by being the Boston Celtics’ victims in their first win after a franchise-record 18 game losing streak. I also have to say that perhaps dismissing Stotts shouldn’t wait until April. The Bucks have obviously hit rock bottom. Their season is lost. Time to start thinking about those ping pong balls.

If you read Michael Hunt’s column today, you probably agree that Stotts’ days in Milwaukee are numbered. Honestly, take a look at his two head coaching stints: Atlanta and Milwaukee. Granted, Atlanta was a huge mess before he took over, but Milwaukee was not quite that big of a project. We already had Michael Redd, and some other better-than-average players. Then, we got the first pick and took Andrew Bogut. We have added pieces here and there that should have made this a better team. Now I realize that injuries cannot be discounted, but as Hunt also discusses, there is a time when you can’t simply blame it on injuries anymore. The players that are out there need to perform. Bogut has not lived up to the hype (wow…a top draft pick, big white center in Milwaukee not living up to the hype? Where are you Kent Benson?) Now is that the fault of the coach? Perhaps, perhaps not. But it is the responsibility of the coaching staff to develop the players, and this is just one area that Stotts has failed. Looking back at the last four seasons of “Terry” in Milwaukee, does anyone think that the firing of Terry Porter and replacing him with Stotts was a good idea? The team has gone in the wrong direction, and it is time to recognize that. I am not sure a simple coaching change will get this team headed back up. I think some other personnel moves are in order; but that is a topic for another post. The bottom line with any professional sports club is that the coach has ultimate responsibility for winning and losing, and when the latter dominates the team’s record, it usually ends with a dismissal. This case should probably be no different.

Side Note: The Bucks play the Celtics on Wednesday night. The Celts are on an 18 game losing streak. The game is at the new Boston “Garden” or whatever it is called now. Probably a good time to put some cash down on the Celts.

As I have been in the midst of preparation to move and change jobs, I have been both busy and in some very low-speed internet situations over the last couple of days, so I apologize for the lack of posting concerning the major milesetone achieved by one POY candidate, Alando Tucker. With his first basket in the Badgers’ victory over Iowa on Saturday, Alando joined Michael Finley as the only Badger men’s hoopsters to score 2000 points in their careers. When all is said and done, Tucker will most certainly eclipse Finley’s record as well. What can you take from this? Well, for one, he has played at UW for a long time. But more importantly, he has been consistently superb. To score nearly 20 points per game this season, while remaining totally in the team system makes the feat all the more impressive. During Finley’s senior season (the Van Gundy Debacle), Finley obviously got to the point where he would just shoot as much as possible. He saw the ship sinking, and just started playing for the paycheck he was sure to receive as a pro the next year. In some ways I didn’t blame him. The team was terribly coached, and Rashard Griffith, the other big time player on that team (if you can call him that), had already quit and returned before the season because he was unhappy with Stu Jackson. Now granted, Bo Ryan is no Van Gundy, but Tucker has been able to raise everyone else’s game and the team as a whole while playing his way into the NBA draft. All the talking heads have moved on from Tucker to Kevin Durant when selecting their favorite for POY, and perhaps rightly so considering the numbers alone. However if you take into account things like team success, and improving the other players around you, I still have to go with Tucker. Either way, the ultimate goal is to win an NCAA title, not individual awards (a cliche that actually applies perfectly to Tucker). But 2000 points does have a sweet ring to it.  Congratulations Alando!  Keep it going!

Marquette did their best Lewinsky in going to Washington and just blowing it. Talk about a terrible 6 minutes of basketball…Marquette had pulled to within 1 at 53-52 on Jerel McNeal’s 3 pointer with 5:43 left and then decided to stop playing basketball. It was truly a terrible stretch of play after that. For all the good that Dominic James does, when he is off, he simply tries to do too much. He can’t take the fact that he is off that day, and instead of trying to do all the other things like passing and being a floor leader, he tries to shoot his way out of it. Boy did he look silly at the end of the game. Badly missed threes, blocked layups when he tried to take 3 guys on at once. Just poor. Throw in that McNeal overall had a bad game, Matthews barely showed up, and the foul calls came fast and furious against MU, and you have the 12th ranked team in the county looking to plunge several spots come Monday. It is very frustrating that the three guard tandem everyone raves about chose perhaps the worst game on the schedule to coordinate their off nights. Now Marquette finds themselves in third place, and without the tie-breaker against Georgetown. Hopefully they rebound in a big way and realize that they need to focus and dig down on defense when their top guns have bad games.

Bill Hall was just one of those players that the Brewers had to get in the game in 2006. It didn’t matter what position; what spot in the batting order. They just had to play him. And when they did, good things happened. Bill Hall didn’t put up the gaudiest numbers ever seen in a Brewers uniform, but he was the catalyst for much of the good from last season. Accordingly, the Brewers did what they needed to do. They avoided arbitration (which often can breed bad blood between player and franchise) and paid Hall, and when I say paid, I definitely mean paid. As in the richest contract for a position player in club history. Although a 4 year $24 million contract is what the Yankees pay their bat boys, for Milwaukee, this is a sizeable chunk of change. Jeffrey Hammonds may have had a higher per-year average when he signed his contract* several years ago, but the overall value was not as high as the one Hall signed today. Let’s just hope Hall continues to play the way he did in 2006, because in order for the Brewers to really take that next step, they will need him to come through.

*The term “contract” when used in regards to Jeffrey Hammonds is somewhat of a misnomer. Usually, a contract stipulates that both of the negotiating parties fulfill some obligation. In this exmaple, Mr. Hammonds did no such thing, unless of course the contract stipulated that he sit on his injured backside for the duration of said contract.