The Good, The Bad, and The Dukies

Before the Sweet Sixteen started, I sat with a bracket that was in the 96 percentile. I started having dreams of getting a 10,000 dollar check from Yahoo! and laugh my way to not having a summer job this year. But Thursday hit me like a ton of bricks. There were some things I liked, but most of it was bad.  Thankfully the Black Rose on Oakland helped me drown my sorrows.

The Good

-Florida deserves all the credit in the world for how they played defense against Jimmer Fredette. It seemed every shot took a ton of effort to get off, and they completely gassed him by the overtime period.

-Since Jimmer is now gone, Derrick Williams is the new face of March Madness 2011.  The only comparison I have for him is a stronger Lamar Odom. He throws down some nasty dunks and can step outside to hit big shots.
-Let's not forget about the Kemba Walker Show, he scored 36 in a win for the Huskies. But like I talked about earlier this week, he got others involved such as Jeremy Lamb who dropped 24. Big time excited for Williams v. Walker on Saturday night.  
-Butler is the better version of Gonzaga, no longer underdogs.

The Bad

-Wisconsin did their usual Badger thing bowing out in the Sweet Sixteen. I know that will upset some Badger fans, but for whatever reasons, they cannot get to that next level. Additionally, this fourth time in five years that they have lost a lower seed. Questions have to start coming out about Bo Ryan. I thought Jordan Taylor forced a lot of shots like last Saturday. Also there is a missing person report out for Jon Leuer in New Orleans because you couldn't find him on the basketball court. This is something I saw on Twitter via the Big Lead about the Badgers recruiting budget, which is unbelievably low and makes more impressive of what they do every year. Think if they increased that by 50 percent. 


-You could tell San Diego State got tight in the final minutes. They couldn't do anything after the technical with 10 minutes left.  It seems like they froze up and didn't create the shots as they had in the first half.
-Jimmer got infected with the SI curse. Now, it understood the curse outweighs the Law of Gus. 

Dukies

-We here at SnoTap told you so. I felt uneasy about my National Champion pick after seeing the chemistry with Kyrie Irving. I wish I would have just went chalk with Ohio State, but now it's up to Kentucky to save my bracket. Eric nailed this a week ago and deserve credit
-Eric also had the comment of the day "Last night was a complete DOY game from Arizona." Agreed, human highlight reel from the Cats. 
-Duke decided to quit. No one can tell me otherwise either. Arizona had this epic run, but Duke did nothing to punch them back in the mouth. If I were one of the Plumlees' I would put Mo-Mo Jones on his ass during this run to show Duke was there.   
-Reminded me a lot of LSU knocking out Duke in 2006, but the Blue Devils were favored more in that tournament.
-Nolan Smith did not look like himself in the last two games, and that sent Duke off the tracks.
-I wouldn't call this a black mark on Coach's K career, but he could have saved this season if he limited the play of Kyrie Irving. It's more his fault than anyone else.

-Charlie.

My Sweet 16 Picks (Southeast/West Region)

The second weekend of March Madness provides great theater because we all wonder if Cinderella's slipper will still fit on Thursday or Friday, and what new storylines will develop for the weekend. Due to the new format being able to see every game, I feel more involved with this tournament than ones in years past. 

West Region

3.) Connecticut vs. 2.) San Diego State- I read an interesting stat via The Big Lead: "UConn Huskies are 0-7 since 1992 in NCAA Tourney games in opponent's state".  That makes me feel uneasy, but did anyone ever consider Kemba Walker?  D.J. Gay will struggle trying to get shots off against Walker for damn sure.  But I worry about who will actually defend Kawhi Leonard on the Huskies. They have a couple big bodies, but nothing at Leonard's level. I feel it will be a pro-Aztec crowd, but I am confident the Huskies will win. The Aztecs have not done anything remarkable, just beat teams they were supposed to. I think Kemba and the crew is on another level.  UCONN 77-68

5.) Arizona v. 1.) Duke- A lot of people do not think Arizona belongs here because of some bad calls in their last game against Texas. But Derrick Williams and his crew does not care. He is an absolute monster, and I do think Duke will have some problems against him. Williams could get the Plumlee brothers and Ryan Kelly into some serious foul trouble. Don't think I missed Coach K's comments about trying to get Kyrie Irving being more involved, which scares me because one of the best coaches is trying to sabotage a National Championship contender. The Dukies will get it together and get a big game out of Seth Curry, just feel it's his time to shine.  DUKE 73-66 

Southeast Region 

3.) BYU v. 2.) Florida- Jimmer got the SI Curse. It sucks when he will shoot about 10 for 32 with 18 points. The Cougars have faced two teams that are very similar to their style of play leading to much success. But now they run into the big bad Gators who are nothing like them. By the way, anyone else find it hilarious that they are a bunch of Mormons roaming Bourbon Street as we speak? What could they do there? Anyways, the Gators have a great combination of size with Alex Tyus and Patric Young plus the guard play of Kenny Boyton and Erving Walker. I believe the Gators will have too much size and speed for the Cougars. Sadly, this is where Jimmer time comes to end.  UF 81-67 

8.) Butler v. 4.) Wisconsin- A white boy wet dream!  Just kidding.  This game could go several ways, and I am stealing this thought from my buddy Ron. He told me last week his wish would be for Bo Ryan to have deep conversation with Rob Jeter about UWM's success against Butler. I personally think the Badgers need to go inside much more than they have been doing in the first two games.  The two biggest things I would like to see if I am a Badger fan would be to get Matt Howard into foul trouble and lock Shelvin Mack down. This will be a complete nail-biter with Jordan Taylor hitting the big shot in the final seconds.  UW 64-62

-Charlie. 

Why Wisconsin-Marquette Rivalry Isn't There For Me

It's too bad I do not have a tape recorder on me at all times. I told people months ago that this could be the year Bo Ryan finally gets into a Final Four. Weird that a statement such as this would come from my mouth because if you've known me for sometime, I despised the Badger basketball team growing up. The reason had more to do with being a minority at my high school where most people loved the Badgers, and found every reason to make fun of Marquette.

It's also what made it a fun rivalry for me because I knew most days during the college basketball season, one side was going to give the other shit for something that happened the night before. Every loss Marquette had in those four years were painful because I knew the next day, my Badger fan friends would be waiting with snarky comments in the halls of Wauwatosa West. Likewise, it made me happy when the Badgers lost especially those ones to Northwestern. I hated Wisconsin more because of my friends more so than other influences. The other thing that bothered me was the slow, deliberate style the Badgers used for most of my life compared to Marquette's fun, transition style.



Let's fast forward to today. Most of you know I live in Eau Claire, Wisconsin for most of the year, and the rivalry for me is not what it used to be. The simple reason is because I do not go to Marquette or Wisconsin. Those two schools and the people who go/went there have all the right reasons to hate each other. They are contrasting schools in many different ways, and I feel like they do not have much to agree upon. If I went to Marquette, I would hate the Badgers just as much as I did in high school. But since I do not, the hateful feelings are not nearly as strong. In Northwest Wisconsin, a herd of people do not make fun me when MU loses to Seton Hall, nor do I make fun of Wisconsin fans for losing to UNLV. Sure, my roommates tell me 'Marquette sucks', but it's just playful banter. I actually don't give Wisconsin that hard of a time, but felt the need to when they set basketball back about 60 years ago a couple Fridays ago.

Another reason why the rivalry does not have the momentum to outsiders who did not go to either universities is neither team has cost the other a chance to play in the postseason, or ended their season.  Not being in the same conference also hurts the rivalry. If the Badgers had beat Kentucky, then lost to Marquette in 2003, the rivalry would be ten times bigger because that is a stomach punch loss. Every Marquette fan could hold that over Wisconsin fans' heads for a long time. To say something is a rivalry for outsiders for a single game in December is pretty difficult to do.

I wrote in my live blog, I yelled out a 'Let's go Bucky' during the Belmont game, and said 'Now I will run through ongoing traffic' because the 16 year old me would have kicked the living shit out of me for saying something like that. But, I wanted the Badgers win just like I did on Saturday because they are in my Elite Eight. An unbiased view of college basketball would see that the Badgers have a lot intangibles a team needs to succeed in the month of March.  If I can notice that, being a fan of the rival school, I feel most people saw the potential of this Badger team.

Wisconsin and their fans still irk me somewhat, but not as much as they did five years ago. I hope Wisconsin and Florida win on Thursday so I have the chance to cheer against the Badgers for the sake of my bracket, just because it would be fun to bring back those feelings for one night.

-Charlie.

Charter Adds TruTV HD

Everyone that is a Wisconsin basketball fan, in the central and western parts of the state, can breathe a sigh of relief. Charter Communications will pick up the suddenly relevant TruTV in High Definition. It will be channel 651.

You will now be able to watch the Badgers first round game against the champions of the Atlantic Sun Conference, the Belmont Bruins, in whatever stunning High Def your television can dish out. The game can be seen at 6:27 central time.

I, on the other hand, get to suffer in my abode in Milwaukee with Time Warner Cable who seems to be ignoring this public outcry. I'll get to watch my two favorite teams ('Sconnie and 'Cuse) on TruTV in 480i a.k.a Standard Definition.

Oh well.

-Mitchy

Wisconsin Hoops Recap

As the season winds down, I think it's only fair that I give you both a Marquette wrap up and the Wisconsin wrap up because I know we have readers of each team and we don't talk enough Badgers.  I am just going to give you today, a paragraph or two thought on the game.

Marquette 86 Providence 62- I worried about this game somewhat because there was a potential for a letdown after upsetting UConn. I thought something that is worth noting is the play of Junior Cadougan and Chris Otule. Junior has assumed the role of point guard with his play in the last two weeks and finally felt confident to score on the offensive end. He had 10 points 10 dimes and 6 rebounds. If he starts doing that, Marquette will be really strong in the next month. Otule had 16 and 6 boards patrolling the inside. When Marquette has somewhat of an inside presence, teams have a tough time defending this squad

Wisconsin 78 Northwestern 63- The Badgers got probably one of their best nights out of Jon Leuer in the last month dropping 26 points and 6 rebounds. He played really strong all night, and that's what makes Bucky dangerous. One day it could be Leuer, the other day it could Jordan Taylor, both play at a very high level. It's a nice problem to have in the tournament.  Badgers shot nearly 60 percent getting very high efficient shots, and it basically took away the fact the Wildcats made 11 threes in the game.

-Charlie.

Free Write Friday: Why I Was Wrong About Jordan Taylor

This is from my friend Jared who is an avid Badger fan decides to join us. After finally getting called out by Charlie, I decided that I would finally write a SNOTAP Free Write Friday article. I have always enjoyed the site so thought I’d give it a chance. So here it goes.

When talking about pre-season college basketball with Charlie last semester, I would have to first admit that I was skeptical about this year’s Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team. I thought they would probably finish around fourth or fifth place in the Big Ten behind the likes of Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue and maybe even Illinois. I also thought they probably make the NCAA Tournament as a 10 seed and be knocked out of the tourney after the first round (Best case scenario: maybe make the second round and then lose by 18 to an Ivy League school).  These predictions all came from the idea that the Badgers did not have a clear number one to fall on when it mattered the most.  

I felt this way because I didn’t think the young junior point guard Jordan Taylor had the mentality or skills to become a number one type of player and also because of the concern that Jon Leuer has never really stepped up to the stage in his career as the Badgers main go-to-guy. My personal opinion is that Jon Leuer possess the skills of a gifted athlete with great size and agility but I truly believe Badgers fan can agree that he has never really shown his desire or capability of taking over any game night in and night out for a full forty minutes (Side note: I didn’t think any other player on the team for that matter could either…Sorry Tim Jarmusz). This topic on Leuer can be another discussion but that is not my main point. 

My main point was that I was nervous about the Badgers season because every Badger team I have witnessed (Even as team orientated as they are) has always had some type of player the team relied on when times got tough (Kirk Penny, Devon Harris, Alando Tucker, Trevon Hughes and etc).  This idea frame made it look like this was going to be the first year that a Badgers team was going to be without that type of player. And now, let’s talk about Jordan Taylor.

Charlie could probably be the first to pay tribute to my quote about Taylor before start of the season, “Taylor is good but he is not a guy who can take over the game or make the big shot. I’d rather still have Trevon Hughes. At least he wasn’t afraid to try to take over a game.” Now before people go crazy about what I said, let’s just remember that Trevon has won Badger nation numerous games over the years. Yes, I can see the agreement already that he has probably lost as many games for the Badgers over the years but at least he was a guy who wasn’t afraid to fill that role. Hughes dropped 25 points in his junior year at the 2008 NCAA Tourney against Kansas State and also hit two game-winners in his senior year against Virginia Tech and the opening 2009 NCAA Tourney game against Florida State (A personal favorite).  These are just a few of games that Hughes played a major factor in the team’s success due to his desire to take the game over when he was needed most. To be honest, I was afraid that the departure of Trevon and Jason Bohannon (my all-time favorite Badger) would be a tough transition for Taylor’s junior year and the Badgers 2010-2011 season.

Fast Forward to now. Boy was I wrong about Jordan Taylor; plain and simple. I always thought Taylor was an average point guard that didn’t make dumb decisions and made the shots that were expected to be made. In his short career with the Badgers, I never thought he would be capable of what he is doing today. The sophomore Jordan Taylor compared to the junior Jordan Taylor is absolutely a completely different player. Check out the states from year to year:

-          Sophomore year Taylor is averaging a stat line as follows: 10 ppg. 3.2 reb. 3.6 ast and shooting .395 from the field.

-          Junior year Taylor is averaging a stat line as follows: 18 ppg. 4.4 reb. 4.8 ast and shooting .464 from the field.

 

Now, these stats don’t exactly jump out on paper but they do on the court. Taylor has taken control of this Badger team and I can finally say that “Jordan Taylor is hands down the Badgers go-to-guy” (Chuck might even make this his Twitter post for this week). Yes, I will admit that I have a man-crush on Jon Leuer but the guy is not the type of player who takes the last shot for you. Sure he can get you double-digit points every game but he is best suited as the second-fiddle (For example: I feel Leuer is a way-way better version of what Marcus Landry was for the Badgers. A good player who played crucial roles when times needed him but never developed as the team’s main go-to-guy). 

Overall, I think that there is no denying that Leuer is a beast but he fits the role of Robin better than Batman; and his batman is now Jordan Taylor. Bo Ryan’s teams have always had a solid one-two punch. Examples as follows: Kirk Penny-Devon Harris, Harris- Alando Tucker, Alando Tucker-Kammrom Taylor, Marcus Landry- Trevon Hughes, Trevon Hughes- Jon Leuer, Jordan Taylor- Jon Leuer. The list can go on and on but with that said; both Luer and Taylor play major roles for the team. This method has historically worked for the Badgers since the arrival of Bo Ryan so why change it now.

 I would like to finish this post by stating my formal regret that I never fully believed in Jordan Taylor and Wisconsin Badger. Not only was I wrong about the team, I was wrong about Taylor. He is and has developed into the player who will take over the game for you when needed. I am looking forward to seeing the one-two punch of Taylor-Leuer take the Badgers into the NCAA Tournament. 

Go Badgers!!!!

Jared

Chuck's Corner Flashback On Rushing The Court

I assume PTI and Around The Horn will talk about the Badger student section rushing the court after beating number one Ohio State.  I really have no problem with it, so sit back and enjoy the experience, this was about the Maryland fans rushing after they beat Duke last season.


People are getting all upset about fans rushing the court like if they were in the stands of the Maryland-Duke game last night, they wouldn't have rushed.  This earns a big Chad Ochocinco Child Please. 


I love rushing the court. I think it's an awesome sight to see all the fans on the court with a player or two hoisted on top of the shoulders of the fans. It's worth doing when you win a share of a conference title like Maryland and Ohio State did the last two nights, you beat a rival for the first time in awhile, or it's a monumental upset.  Are there times when the student sections probably shouldn't have rushed the court?  Oh yeah, but thats like saying are there times when I wished I didn't take five shots of vodka.  You are in the moment, really not caring about what people think about your decision making, rather you are having a good time. 

Another thing to add about the Maryland charge in particular, people were stunned the Terps fans charged because they won a National Championship in 2003 meaning they are better than that!" C'mon, these kids were not even close to sniffing college and they won a share of an ACC title, which if you look at the history is hard to come by with the likes of the Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels. 

Rick Reilly's major point today in his column and on the Scott Van Pelt Show was the safety of these kids. "MY GOD, ONE PERSON MAY DIE OMFG!!!!!"  Listen, these college kids put enough crazy shit in their body to kill themselves so why not risk it again by charging the court? No one is thinking in the crowd... "Shit I might die if I rush... I better not man, so scared.." Hell no, they are running faster than Frank the Tank in the quad through the gymnasium to center court to greet their fearless leaders. Like I said above, you live in the moment. 

Because I go to a D3 college atmosphere, I will probably never have the experience to rush the court and I wish I went to a bigger school to have that on my resume of cool things I have done. I hope that every college kid who goes to a big school gets a chance once to rush the court in celebration of their great basketball. 



-Charlie