Wisconsin Badgers

Anyone who has watched the Wisconsin Badgers basketball team play this year has noticed that they lack a true “star” performer. However, that has not stopped them from having a successful season to this point. Home court advantage has remained a positive for the Badgers, where they have only one loss. Sophmore Trevon Hughes has vastly increased his scoring output to 14.2 points per game, and is a big reason why the Badgers have been successful. Also, Brian Butch has become the main scoring option, replacing All-American Alando Tucker and guard Kammron Taylor in a team that was ranked #1 last year for a brief stint. Marcus Landry has continued to improve, and Michael Flowers brings senior leadership to a young team. Fan favorite Joe Krabbenhoft has continued his scrappy play as well, continuing to earn minutes based on hustle and court intelligence. At this point in the season, the Badgers have suffered only two losses, both to impressive ranked teams in Marquette and Duke. They were able to knock off #9(at the time) Texas in a thrilling game that Wisconsin played without guard Trevon Hughes. Currently, the Badgers are 13-2, and face a Big 10 that will most definitely test them, especially with teams like Indiana and Michigan State playing so well. Despite the challenges of this years Big 10, we can be sure that Bo Ryan will have this team ready to play come tourney time.

Milwaukee Bucks

The few remaining fans of the Milwaukee Bucks have been growing impatient since the days of the "Big Three" in Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson, and Sam Cassell. All three are long gone, as are any hopes of contending for a championship. Larry Harris has built a roster that most definitely has some talent, just not enough to win big games. Coaching is also an issue, with Milwaukee unable to recruit a bigname coach to turn the franchise around. However, I urge the people of Milwaukee to give this team a chance, as they have won 4 out of their first 5 games in 2008, bringing their record to 15-20. Also, rumors of trade are abound, with the Bucks mentioned as potential destinations for players such as Tracy McGrady, Zach Randolph, and Mickael Pietrus. Add a player like McGrady or Randolph while giving up overpaid Dan Gadzuric, underproducing Bobby Simmons, and seldom-used Michael Ruffin and maybe a draft pick or two and you would instantly turn the Bucks into a contender. Picture a lineup of Andrew Bogut, Yi Jianlian, Tracy McGrady, Michael Redd, and Mo Williams. That team would make a run in the weak East, with their only real competition being the Boston Celtics and the Detroit Pistons.Their reserves would also be greatly enhanced with Desmond Mason, Charlie V, and Charlie Bell all capable of starting. I urge you, don't give up on the Bucks now, because they will turn it around.

A Note to Readers

Although I am alright with everyone not actually blogging on the site, it would be nice for feed back within the comments section to know I am not writing this to myself.

Thanks

Bringin' Sexy Back

Brett Favre is a stud. And the Packers are bringin' sexy back. Aren't you glad you invited me to contribute to your blog Zach?

Marquette goes down in Morgantown

While the score is not indictive of the play seen in Morgantown today, it still was far from pretty. The Marquette Golden Eagles (11-2) (1-1) fell to the Mountainers on the road today snapping the seven game winning streak and the undefeated mark in conference play. Marquette fell into early foul trouble with Lazar picking up his second five minutes into play and setting the tone for what was to be a very very long day. Although Marquette made a few counter runs against the hot-cold Mountaineers, West Virginia shot a sizzling 48% from both the floor and the three point line and over 70% for the second half.

While many different problems led to the lopsided victory, I believe the main issue arose with Lazar on the bench for most of the games. Most of WVU runs came with Lazar on the bench for extended periods of time only for Lazar to reenter and attempt to bring the Eagles back into the game. While the big three recieves most of the credit for Marquette's success Hayward's presence down low both in scoring and rebounding is a much more valuable asset to the team, maybe the biggest of all.

While no one at the beggining at the season pegged this as a "sure win" it still would have been nice to start conference play at 2-0, but you can't win them all. Next game is Tuesday in the BC against Seton Hall.

Here is the game recap from ESPN

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=280060277

Ring Out Ahoya!

Same Man New Team: Preview Marquette vs. West Virginia

Bob Huggins. The man who served as the icon for the evil Bearcats in Conference USA during the 90s. Although he no longer walks the sidelines for the Cincinnati Bearcats he is still very familar with Tom Crean and the Marquette Program. Many epic battles took place between the two programs throughout Marquette's tenure in CUSA and look for Huggins signature tuffness to make itself apparent with the Mountainers of West Virginia in Sunday's game.

Huggins now coaches a new team in West Virginia and has resurrected some of his old magic this season leading the Mountaineers to a 10-3 record on the year. Tip off is set for 1 o'clock in West Virginia and looks to be a challenging game as Marquettes looks to take an early lead in conference out of the gates. Looking ahead to the rest of the week MU will also be playing to more opponents at home with Seton Hall coming to town Tuesday and then the big showdown with Notre Dame on Saturday.

As with most games this season Sunday's game should come down to who can impose their style of basketball upon the other team. Being one of the most athletic teams in the nation Marquette will look for transition baskets while West Virginia will work primarily out of the half court set. While the Big Three remain consistent leaders on the offensive end the front court led by Sophomore Lazar Hayward and company has carried its own as well helping Marquette control the boards in the majority of the games this season.

My prediction 73-65 in a game with plenty of scoring and sloppy play.

Here are a few previews from ESPN and a great MU blog Cracked Sidewalks

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/preview?gameId=280060277

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/

Ring Out Ahoya!

Playoff Matchup is Set

With Seattle's win tonight over red hot Washington, the Packers will meet Seattle in Green Bay for the Playoffs for the second time in five years (We all know what happened last time).

Looking at the Seattle team nothing really scares me because they appear just ok at every position. If we are able to control the line of scrimage against Patrick Kearney and give Brett time to throw against the solid Seattle secondary I believe that we have a very good chance of winning this game. Bottom line: To win this game next Saturday we need to win the turn over battle.

That's all for now with more to come as the week progresses.

Go Pack Go!