White Suburban Punk

Iowa City, Iowa.  Evanston, Illinois.  Madison, Wisconsin.  Ann Arbor, Michigan.  State College, Pennsylvania.  And Piscataway, New Jersey?  Are you kidding me?  The established Big Ten cities are destinations, quaint Midwestern towns suggesting intellectualism, camaraderie, beautiful architecture, and dynamic campuses within vibrant urban areas.  Rutgers is largely a commuter school, suggesting not a destination, but a place one must endure and escape from.  New Jersey is New York’s septic system.

Let’s talk accents.  The Minnesota and Wisconsin accents are cute, almost lovable.  WiscAHNsin is beloved by Sconnies and East Coasters alike.  The Minnesota accent became a countrywide phenomenon in the movie Fargo.  The New Jersey accent, on the other hand, makes me want to smash someone in the face with a baseball bat.  It is all about anti-intellectualism, the celebration of ignorance, spray-on tans, big hair, and loud, obnoxious, belligerent people.

Rutgers would boast the cast of MTV’s The Jersey Shore.  Mike ‘The Situation’ and Snooki would be celebrated guests at sporting events.  In basketball, they are 5-11 in the Big East conference this year, 15-14 overall.  In the previous five years, their conference records are 2-16, 3-15, 3-13, 7-9, and 2-14.  Overall records over the same time period are 11-21, 11-20, 10-19, 19-14, and 10-19.  That will really increase the conference’s prestige.  Their basketball arena, the Rutgers Athletic Center, was built in 1977 and seats 8,000.  Their football program had a good year in 2006, finishing 5-2 in conference and 11-2 overall.  They’ve had one winning conference record since then.  They were 4-3, 7-5 in 2005 and had losing records 2002-2004.  U.S. News and World Report’s 2009 rankings of public schools places Rutgers behind Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Penn State, Ohio State, Purdue, and Minnesota.  This is far from a seamless fit.  Another argument is that the Big Ten wants to open up the New York media market.  New York sports fans follow Rutgers?  Really?  I mean, really?  More than Syracuse?  Really?

Unfortunately, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney is from South Orange, New Jersey.  Given his keen insights in the past, this is probably as good as done.  But Piscataway, New Jersey will make Urbana/Champaign and East Lansing look like Berkeley and Austin.

Look out, Jon Leuer is back.  Wisconsin destroyed Iowa on Senior Night at the Kohl Center, 67-40.  Leuer was fantastic, scoring 18 points on 8-9 field goals, grabbing 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocked shots.  He scored ten unanswered points at one point in the first half, with 2 dunks, a blocked shot, and then 2 three pointers.  Not only was it his best game since his injury, but it was his best game of the season.  The game was tight for a little while, with the Badgers holding a 12-10 lead before a 14-0 run, including the aforementioned 10 in a row by Leuer.  They ended up with a 24-6 run over the final 12+ minutes of the first half and cruised in the second.  It was the last home game for seniors Trevon Hughes and Jason Bohannon.

Wisconsin’s last regular season game is Sunday at Illinois.  The Illini need the game badly, as they are certainly on the bubble for the tournament.  But Wisconsin will be looking for revenge after Illinois became the first unranked Big Ten team to win in Madison under Bo Ryan.  And the Badgers didn’t have Leuer for that game.  No matter what happens Sunday, it looks like these two teams will hook up again in the 4/5 game of the Big Ten tournament.  Time for a bold prediction: Wisconsin will win Sunday, win the Big Ten tournament, and go to the Elite Eight in the NCAAs.  Why not?  In the past, Wisconsin teams under Bo Ryan have tended to peak a little early and other teams have been improving more than they have as we reach March.  Not this year.  Of course, that’s probably a function of the timing of Leuer’s injury more than anything.  But this has turned into an absolutely solid team.  A requirement for a deep tournament run is strong guard play, and the Badgers have that in spades, with the seniors Hughes and Bohannon and the sophomore who plays like a senior, Jordan Taylor.  Leuer is definitely back, and Keaton Nankivil is a solid player who learned to step up in Leuer’s absence.  Plus, they’ve got some good bodies off the bench in Ryan Evans, former starter Tim Jarmusz, Rob Wilson, and Mike Brueswitz.  Given that the Badgers were generally picked to finish seventh or eighth in the Big Ten, Bo should win conference coach of the year and should also get consideration for national coach of the year.  The national media won’t be able to keep ignoring him for much longer.  The run starts now. 

Photo from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Badgers got off to a rip-roaring start, but ended up barely hanging on for the win Sunday at Kohl Center.  Wisconsin was clearly making a concerted effort to get the ball down low early on, either through drives by the guards or passes into the post.  Northwestern also helped out by essentially not playing defense, and the Badgers ended up shooting 15-20 from the floor in the first half (75%), with just three turnovers, and led 43-29.

The second half was a different story, however.  The Badgers seemed to get tentative and Northwestern picked up the defensive intensity, extending their trapping zone defense.  Wisconsin’s offensive rhythm was completely screwed up, they started turning it over and taking bad shots, and got away from going into the paint.  Predictably, Northwestern crawled back into the game, and after Jon Leuer missed three straight free throws late, Northwestern’s leading scorer John Shurna somehow missed a bunny that would have tied the game with :30 seconds left.  With :10 left, Leuer blocked a shot off a drive from Northwestern’s Michael Thompson that iced it.  Leuer finished with 11 points, and 4 rebounds in 22 minutes, so he’s still inching his way back.  This was Northwestern’s last chance to get a signature win, and the Badgers were very, very fortunate to survive.  They’ve got to get better fast.  Three games left — at Indiana Thursday, Iowa at home, and at Illinois.  The Badgers fell to #17 in the AP and #19 in the coaches’ poll.  They’re also #19 in the RPI, and #10 in the Pomeroy Ratings.

The school honored Dick Bennett and the 2000 Final Four team at halftime, and Bennett also had a nice visit with the announcers during the game.  Ten years?  Actually, that sounds about right.  That was a great team, with exactly zero great players.  It was also a helluva way to start out that last decade for this sports fan, who also happens to love the Patriots (3 SB wins), Red Sox (2 WS wins), Celtics (1 championship), Badger hockey (1 national championship), and Liverpool soccer (won Champions League).  Gotta get Badger football back to the Rose Bowl.

BTW, Badger hockey split their final home series of the regular season against St. Cloud State, and those teams remain #3 and #4 in the polls released today.  3 of the top 4 teams are from the WCHA, with Denver back at #1 and Miami #2. Their last two series are at Michigan Tech and at Minnesota.

Underachieving Minnesota picked a helluva time to actually show and play like they care last night, as they beat Wisconsin 68-52 at Williams Arena.  Wisconsin’s hopes for the conference title are dashed.  The good news for the Badgers was that Jon Leuer made his return to the lineup, coming off the bench 2:30 into the game.  The bad news is that there is going to be an adjustment period, both for the player and the team.  Leuer looked extremely rusty last night, both with his shooting touch and on defense.  In fact, the team defense overall was pretty weak, although they definitely didn’t get any help from the officials.  It seemed like the Badgers kept getting called for touch fouls while Minnesota would hack and rake all they wanted without getting a call.  Bo Ryan actually received a technical late in the first half when the foul differential was 10-4.  At halftime, Minnesota led, 35-26, Leuer was 0-6 from the floor and Wisconsin was 3-18 from two.

Still, Wisconsin was able to cut the lead to three in the second half, but then they started missing shots again.  They had good looks, but they just weren’t going in.  One of those nights.  They also gave up a lot of offensive rebounds and got killed on the glass overall.  It was a pretty sloppy game that they deserved to lose.  Leuer finished 2-12 with four points and one rebound in 26 minutes.

Steve Lavin stated at one point that his friends who are scouts consider Leuer a lottery-level talent.  I know he’s good, but I”m not sure he’s that good.  Maybe next year he will really emerge into a force.  It seemed before his injury that he was starting to figure out how good he is.

With Minnesota dribbling the clock out, Gopher guard Lawrence Westbrook inexplicably drove the lane and attempted a dunk with 3 seconds left in the game.  He failed, but was fouled and hit two free throws.  Stay classy, Minnesota.

Solid weekend for the Badgers as the basketball team blew out Indiana at the Kohl Center, 83-55, behind a career high 30 points (and 7 three pointers) from Jason Bohannon and the hockey team swept Minnesota State, 4-3 and 8-4.

Indiana was probably in trouble before they even entered the arena, as Bo Ryan was reportedly steamed after the loss to Illinois.  Alando Tucker and Marcus Landry watched from behind the Badger bench as Wisconsin got out to a 8-0 start that grew to 14-2 after 5 minutes.  It was 46-24 at the half.  Not bad for a team that Hubert Davis claims, “can’t score.”  The Badgers built the lead by taking the ball to the hole and pounding it underneath, as well as nailing their jump shots.  Bo clearly got his message across that the team needs to be aggressive offensively and can’t just settle for three pointers all the time.  They had 18 points in the paint in the first half and pretty much just cruised in the second half.

Jon Leuer was on the bench again, and the camera caught him chatting with Tucker and Landry at one point.  The last report I saw is that he has been shooting and is now receiving passes, too.  He reportedly hit a jump hook with his injured hand, so he’s coming along.  The Badgers have five regular season games left: at Minnesota (Thursday), Northwestern, at Indiana, Iowa, and at Illinois.  Those are all winnable games, and they should be favored in all except the Illinois game, but revenge will be a factor in that one.  In fact, Illinois just got blown out at home today by Ohio State.  Wisconsin is currently 9-4 in the conference, one game in the loss column behind Michigan State, Purdue, and Ohio State.  They are 6-3 without Leuer.

I wonder if Leuer will replace Jarmusz in the starting lineup when he comes back.  Since his injury, Jordan Taylor has gotten each start as the third guard, but that has worked so well that I think Bo might stick with it.  He clearly loves Taylor’s game and the sophomore has played great.  Bo is also pretty comfortable with a three guard offense, as he’s used it in the past, too.  I would think that Leuer will start off coming off the bench, but I believe he will replace Jarmusz as a starter when the time comes.

#3 Badger hockey swept Minnesota State at the Kohl Center, too, in a very rough series.  Minnesota State is a very scrappy/dirty team, with lots of hitting after the whistle, and there were loads of penalties in both games.  The Badgers poured 40 shots on goal Friday night and knocked the starting goalie out of the game Saturday.  Both games were televised, Friday’s on the NHL Network and Saturday on Fox Sports Wisconsin.  The last home series of the regular season is next weekend vs. St. Cloud State, who is really good but is coming off a blowout loss to North Dakota. 

Photo from UWBadgers.com

Just when it seemed like all was right with Wisconsin basketball, they get upset at home by the Illini.  Looking back, however, this was almost inevitable.  Wisconsin had been leading a very charmed life lately, winning a couple of games they didn’t deserve and getting a couple of routs based on lights out shooting.  A dry spell had to come at some point, and it arrived last night.

The Badgers started out great with the offense cruising, and built a ten point lead, but then they started getting a bit lackadaisacal on defense and taking some quick shots.  They also didn’t drive into the lane, and absolutely could not stop Illinois’ high pick and roll all game.  Guard Demetri McCamey finished with 27 for the Illini, including some fairly ridiculous shots.  Illinois hit their last 8 shots of the first half, and the Badgers kept it close in the second, but Illinois pulled away at the end.  Wisconsin got some good looks, but missed 17 of their last 20 shots in the game.  Trevon Hughes finished 4-16, including 0-8 in the second half.  The Badgers had been ranked #13 in the coaches’ poll and #11 in the AP and looked like they could go 2-0 this week and maybe break into the top 10, but it wasn’t meant to be.  They probably needed to be brought back to earth.  They’re still #9 in the RPI, with Indiana at the Kohl Center Saturday.  In fact, the rest of the Big Ten schedule is pretty good, with the toughest game at Minnesota.

Illinois was able to build its resume, and Wisconsin gets another shot at them in Champaign in the last game of the season.  Coupled with Michigan State’s third straight loss last night, Illinois is now tied for first in the conference.

Photo from Scout.com

Wisconsin made it 2-0 against Michigan with a win in Ann Arbor Saturday in basketball.  My favorite color guy, Bill Raftery, did the game on CBS, although it was on an alternative CBS station I didn’t even know about on Direct TV.  Wisconsin shot lights out in this game, almost unbelievably well, especially from three.  They were 9-13 from downtown in the first half, including a Jason Bohannon bomb from just over half court at the buzzer.  Michigan shot 60% for the half and trailed, 40-26.  The Badgers couldn’t stop or contain Deshaun Sims, but Michigan inexplicably stopped going to him.  This happened in the second half, too.

At halftime, Seth Davis said that he loves Wisconsin and he thinks they’ll be a really tough out in the tournament because they’re smart and they don’t turn the ball over.  Amen.

Michigan started the second half much more aggressively and the refs started calling fouls like crazy.  This was the second recent game where this happened – virtually no fouls in the first half, and then every touch gets a foul in the second.  Big Ten officials.  Suspiciously, 7 of the first 8 fouls in the second half were called on the team with the double digit lead, too.  But Wisconsin simply would not be deterred on this day.  They kept hitting their threes and cruised to a 62-44 win.  The offense was purring all game, working the shot clock, and really getting good shots.  It wasn’t like all these threes were prayers.  After high hopes in the beginning of the season (#15 in preseason polls), Michigan looks like an also ran now.  Manny Harris scored just 11 points and Deshaun Sims finished with 18.  Beyond them, I don’t see any other scorers on the team.  Wisconsin is now 5-2 without Jon Leuer, who actually took some shooting practice Sunday with his cast still on.  The projection for his return is still “before the Big Ten tournament.” 

Next up for the Badgers is Illinois and Indiana at home.  I actually watched the end of the Illinois/Michigan State game, won by Illinois in Champaign, and the fans rushed the court after the game.  Dick Vitale was saying how he didn’t like that, which is also something Mike Wilbon said last week.  What is up with these guys?  Isn’t college basketball supposed to be fun?  They beat the first place team in the conference, a team they hate.  They’re supposed to just pack up and go home?  Lighten up!

Illinois and Wisconsin are now tied for second, one game behind Michigan State.

Great performance for the #16 Badgers as they destroy #5 Michigan State, 67-49 last night, handing Tom Izzo his first Big Ten defeat of the season.  Wisconsin did it without Jon Leuer and mostly without Trevon Hughes, who played just 3 minutes of the first half before sitting with two fouls.  Still, UW led 38-23 at the half.  It was a season low points for Michigan State, who shot 37%, had just 11 assists, and 13 turnovers.  Wisconsin shot 51%, had 17 assists, and just 5 turnovers.  Wisconsin did it with an incredibly balanced attack, as virtually everyone played well.  Jason Bohannon, Jordan Taylor, Keaton Nankivil, Ryan Evans, Tim Jarmusz, and Rob Wilson all contributed solid games.  The Badgers are now 4-2 without Leuer, 5-2 vs. ranked teams, and 3-0 vs. teams in the top 10.  They are now #10 in the RPI.

No matter how much Izzo bitched and moaned, and he did it a lot, it didn’t matter.  Michigan State’s only lead in the game was 1-0.  They were absolutely blown out, crushed, routed, out-toughed, manhandled, and bitch slapped by the better team, at least on this night.

Photo from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

#16 Wisconsin lost to #12 Purdue at Mackey Arena Thursday, but the performance was definitely encouraging given the last couple of games.  It’s a completely acceptable loss, and they actually had a real good chance to win this game.  Jon Leuer somewhat strangely is still traveling with the team despite his broken wrist, but this was probably the Badgers’ best performance so far without him.  Purdue’s crowd was extremely pumped for this game, and they had some extra emotion with the return from injury of their point guard.  The first half was pretty tight, with Purdue holding a 27-25 halftime lead.  There were only 8 fouls called in the entire first half, and then 8 were called in the first 4 minutes of the second half, including 3 on Purdue in 16 seconds, which had the crowd in a frenzy.  Purdue actually started the second half with 6 points, 8 fouls, and 5 turnovers, and UW took a 5 point lead.  But then the shots stopped falling and the Badgers started turning the ball over like crazy.  Purdue went on a 17-2 run.  One stat showed the Badgers with 4 turnovers in the game’s first 30 minutes and then 4 more in the next two minutes.  Still, Wisconsin clawed back and even took a lead with 40 seconds left on Keaton Nankivil’s 7th three pointer.  Hopefully he continues to step it up in Leuer’s absence.  A big guy who can score.  Robby Hummel hacked the hell out of Trevon Hughes on a 3 with 6 seconds left, but it wasn’t called, after the refs called absolutely everything in the rest of the second half.  The officiating was horribly inconsistent, but we’re used to that in the Big Ten.  Anyway, Badgers lose 60-57.  Next is Michigan State at the Kohl Center on Tuesday.

Looking forward to Kansas v. Kansas State from Manhattan Saturday night. 

Photo from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

These were supposed to be fairly easy games, Michigan and Penn State at home.  But they both turned into games Wisconsin had absolutely no business winning, although they did.  They rose to #16 in both polls in the process.  This Penn State game was even more insane than Michigan.  The Badgers trailed by as many as 16 in the second half and were down by 8 with two minutes left.  Jordan Taylor scored 18 of Wisconsin’s last 24 points as they forced overtime and then won, 79-71.  This time, Wisconsin actually got killed on the boards, but they only turned the ball over 5 times in the game and really turned up the defensive intensity when it counted.

The win solidifies Wisconsin’s hold on second place in the Big Ten, even though they really don’t deserve it.  Next up is at Purdue Thursday night and then Michigan State at home next Tuesday.

In some sad UW news, O’Brien Schofield tore his ACL during practice for the Senior Bowl.  He was projected as a second or third round pick and was actually chosen Defensive MVP of the East West Shrine Game last week.  He was trying to make the transition from defensive end to outside linebacker.  He probably won’t get drafted at all now.  Harsh.