My All-Time Bo Ryan Team

Mike Lucas wrote a little story about his all time Bo Ryan team which can be found here: http://www.uwbadgers.com/blog/2012/08/bo-ryan-era-dream-team.html. The roster, of course, isn't the best players only.. but the best team that you can put forward. Naturally, you need role players, shooters, defenders and so on. How would you fill out your roster?

Guard: Devin Harris. Easy choice. Runs the point, plays off the ball, good size/length, very good defender and great at jumping the passing lanes to help get easy baskets.

Guard: Kirk Penney. Efficient. Not very athletic, will have trouble defending some of the bigger players and better athletes but he can use his body very well and is extremely hard to guard in the college game.

Forward: Mike Wilkinson. Not as athletic as the 2 guys he's sandwiched between here but you won't find a more efficient player at the 6'8 post position. He can be a solid on-ball defender, tenacious rebounder, and he can shoot the ball very well; he's another great player.

Forward: Alando Tucker. Another easy choice, another collegiate stud and the best part on an all-time team he could do what he does best.. play around the paint. He doesn't have to worry about playing around the 3-pt line, he can slash and rebound which he was excellent at.

Center: Brian Butch. When he came to Wisconsin he was the 2nd biggest Badgers recruit I know of after Sam Okey. He was underrated as a Badgers center and when he freakishly injured his elbow against Ohio State it was the downfall of the #1 Badgers team. Rebound, shoot 3s, and alter shots, do it Polar Bear.

1st Bench Guard: Michael Flowers. Lockdown defender and really improved offensively at Wisconsin, can shoot the ball, play off the ball or run the offense. I obviously really like him for the defense as he'd help shift match-ups with Penney/Wilkinson/Butch sliding over spots and to the bench.

1st Big: Jon Leuer. Big time offense, but I always thought he should have been a better rebounder/defender. He was solid at weakside D by senior year.

Subs: Marcus Landry. Solid size can play big and can play a little bit of the wing. Marcus really turned into a solid outside shooter, efficient rebounder and could even score a bit on the block. Underrated athletic ability.

Trevon Hughes: Excellent athlete, big time player. One of the few Badgers that wasn't afraid to make plays and could get to the rack more than other guards in the Ryan era.

Jared Berggren: Little bit of a ahead of time pick becuase I think he's set for a HUGE senior year. He's a solid player that can score from all areas of the floor. He's a VERY good defender and a solid rebounder.. I honestly think by the time the 2012-2013 season is over he could be on this starting squad.

There were my toughest picks to fill out the last 2 spots and I went with..

Jordan Taylor: I don't think I really need to explain why, do I? We've all watched recent Badgers basketball and know what he can do. If he doesn't need to put an entire team on his back then he can really defend as well as run the offense.

Clayton Hanson: Surprised? I can only think about the Elite 8 run the Badgers made and how he dogged guys defensively and hit huge 3 after huge 3. An elite marksmen and, at worst, a great 12th man practice player.

Notable guys that didn't make it:
Joe Krabbenhoft: Filled the gritty role with a better shooter in Hanson but I do lose size.
Greg Steimsma: Going off what they did in college and sadly for the Badgers it was mostly foul trouble.
Keaton Nankivil: Spot taken by Berggren and the fact you don't need multiple bigs anymore.
Sam Dekker: He'll be on it soon.. I hope
Zach Morley: Not in a Badgers uniform long enough
Shariff Chambliss: Same

2011 NFL Draft Thoughts

What a crazy 1st day in the NFL Draft! Trades, odd picks, odd decisions and sliding players across the board.  Naturally, I have an opinion about lots of things that happened during the draft.

1. $cam Newton is yuck. I'm glad I am not a Panthers fan. Between this and last year they have drafted 2 QB's in the 1st 2 rounds.

2. Very pumped the Bills took Marcel Dareus. He's a big time DT for their 3-4 defense.

3. I really like AJ Green, and I feel horrible for him that he is now a Bengal.

4. Falcons clearly going to try to sign veteran FA's for their D and outscore people with the offense. A king's ransom for Julio Jones, a great WR, but that many picks?

5. The Titans don't like pure QB's.. Vince Young and now Jake Locker? This isn't Madden 2012.

6. Aldon Smith at 7? Reeeeeeeeeeach.

7. Ecstatic for JJ Watt and Gabe Carimi. The Texans have a love for Wisconsin Badgers, apparently. Going to cheer for Gabe.. even though he's a Bear.

8. There is no way Peyton Hillis hasn't used enhancers of some sort. He looks like a pretty boy, too. Not what I expected or hoped for.

9. Jon Gruden is extremely annoying.. not a fan of him using "We're talking about lockouts.. this kid is a LOCKDOWN corner" not once.. but 2x in reference to Jimmy Smith. Good one, Jon.

10. Boomer didn't want to be outdone and made some awful segways of his own.. including using Gruden's "Who dat" comment to... "Who dat on the clock? The Bears." WOW.

11. No wonder the Vikings wanted to trade down, I wouldn't have wanted to draft Christian Ponder at 12 either.

12. I don't want to play the Lions next year. Those DT's are nasty.

13. Did the Giants get the steal of the first round with The Prince at 19?

14. Holmgren looked like a genius trading from 6 to accumulate tons of picks.. but then lost a 3rd to move up 6 spots to get Phil Taylor? Coulda stayed at 27 and gotten a good player. Does Taylor even fit the 4-3?

15. Danny Watkins is almost older than I am.

16. James Carpenter and Jon Baldwin? Yikes. Baldwin is laughable in the 1st round. James Hardy 2.0. Doesn't have the drive or the hips to make an NFL impact.

17. Jimmy Smith went to a dream situation in the Ravens locker room. What a place to be an elite defender.

18. I wanted Da'Quan Bowers but wonder what his knee is really like. Derek Sherrod is going to be a good pick for the Packers and can learn this year before probably starting in year 2. Hard to believe the options they still had at the 32nd pick and good patience to stay put.

19. Friday should be a fun day also with some big time players obviously still available. I think this is a pretty deep draft and should continue to help fill needs.

20. The Bills could go OLB or TE, Kyle Rudolph in round 2. I think the Cardinals take a QB. The Packers will let the draft fall to them but have to consider a bigger interior OL.

21. I never thought I'd say.. more Mel Kiper, JR but Boomer and Gruden are lost.

Well... we made it to State

Middle school sports in Illinois are actually.. impressive.  I'm an Illinois basher, living here and being from Wisconsin with deep Packers, Brewers and Badgers ties certainly isn't easy.  But, middle school sports do have a leg up in this state for one simple reason.. state playoffs.  Most or all (??) middle school sports have state competition and basketball has the whole she-bang:  regionals, sectionals and state games. 

The middle school I coach at has put together a recent string of state teams in girl's basketball.  In the late 1990's the middle school boys team made it a few times followed up with 2000 and 2002 high school (IHSA) championships.  The current sophomores in high school won the 7th grade boys 3A state title.  The current freshman made a state appearance last year, and now, you can add this year's 7th graders to the list. 

Sadly, when we got there things didn't go well.  Our opponent was dare I say... en fuego.  It didn't help that we couldn't hit sand if we fell off a camel.  When the first half was over we had mustered 10 points and they only had... 28.  We MADE 2 field goal attempts, thankfully nobody charted how many we missed.  We also managed 6 free throws, not bad... until you consider we shot 17 of them!  We had multiple, MULTIPLE misses from inside 3 feet.  Frustrating.  The 2nd half didn't get much better as we'd manage a little run to get it down to 12ish points and then have a weak foul against an AND 1 play, or we'd leave a shooter open and they'd hit a 3 ball.

It was a frustrating game, and one thing that was hard for me the previous years and early this season was to not get sarcastic during the games.  At times, I'd get so frustrated with them when they'd baffle me with their decisions.  Yesterday, I could see it wasn't because of a lack of effort.. they were just nervous, rattled and up against a buzzsaw.  The effort was intense, and I made sure all 14 kids got to be a part of that game for several minutes.  (It helps when the game is decided early)  I continued to coach through the mistakes and through all of our frustrations reminding them of the little things.. jump stops in the lane, a pass fake, or to be aggressive and take a shot when you're 1 foot from the hoop. 

Despite getting run up by 22 (27-49) I was proud of my kids.  The thing that sticks out into my mind the most.. is that we're down 22 points with 8 seconds left, a shot goes up and the rebound bumbles off some hands to go out of bounds; one of my players dove full extension into the wall to try to save the ball.  That honestly, blew my mind.  I was in awe and admiration of that player's effort and intensity.  I always tried to coach them in practice and games to play hard, regardless of score... winning or losing.  I wouldn't have traded that 2 seconds for a win (hmmm... really??).  That play meant a lot to me, more than the kids know.

I could see some of them really get better as the season went along.  I reminded them in the locker room, after the game, that this is just 7th grade.  It's great to have their name on our middle school gym's wall, it's great to experience that level of competition and to enjoy that stage, but what about the taste of defeat?  What about being crushed by 22?  Were they happy just to be there one time?  Are they going to work hard this summer to get a return trip and a win?  What about going into high school?  I challenged them to challenge each other; I hope they push each other to be a great team and to not slack off.  I brought up names familiar to them.. and to me during my little pep talk, so called "jerks" but winners like Kobe, Jordan and Bird.  I told them stories I'd heard about the 3 of them, and how they challenged themselves to work harder than anybody else.. and when they had teammates that didn't work that hard, how they'd challenge their teammates.  Sometimes, it's okay to be a "jerk" and to challenge your teammates.  Push yourself then push others.  That's how we'll get back to state next year.