Notes From A Big Week

Take a listen to Bo Ryan's weekly press conference. He talks about the wear and tear that his guards are experiencing at this point in the season. Bo is also clearly unhappy with Trevon Hughes' shot selection. These clips and other recent quotes after the past few games are as close as you'll hear Bo come to calling out a player. Assorted thoughts on Purdue and Indiana are sprinkled in as well.

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I pulled out a few tidbits from the Journal Sentinel's Badger Blog. As you know, I've been keeping an eye on Brian Butch's climb up the Wisconsin career rebounding list. Dave Heller delivers the update on the offensive side, where Butch is up to 207 offensive boards, overtaking Michael Finley this past weekend for fifth all-time. The Polar Bear may have about 10 games left in his career in Madison, so it's likely he'll wind up between Andy Kowske (240) and Sean Daugherty (227) for fourth place in the books.

What's amazing about the offensive rebounding leaders is how far ahead of the pack both Alando Tucker (314) and Mike Wilkinson (311) are. Both of them played on successful teams and played more games than some others on the list, but I consider those extra games hard-earned. Tucker, of course, had the benefit of four extra games the year he broke his foot and redshirted, so I think I can safely proclaim Wilk to be UW's "King of Offensive Rebounding."

Note: Overall, Butch's current pace of 7 reb/g should sneak him into ninth place for total rebounds, ahead of Kowske.

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This tangent has been slow-cooking on the back burner for awhile, but I'm finally giving up on my secret hope that Finley could squeak into the Basketball Hall of Fame. At basketball-reference.com, he is the 27th most likely candidate among active players ... Manu Ginobili is even in front of him! Ginobili just got to ride the Big Fundamental's coattails longer, methinks.

You're a HOF'er in my book Finley ...