Diamond Taylor Video

The best part of starting this open threads project for Wisconsin's latest recruits is that it forced me to hunt down elusive material. Prior to this I had never seen video clips of Diamond Taylor ... at least any in which he was identifiable. Luckily, today I stumbled across video of a Coach Gene Pingatore's 800th win from back in December that includes footage a nifty baseline move by Taylor. I also found a collection of very short summer league clips, like the one embedded below. These are the kinds of thing you can find compiled on Taylor's Prospect Profile page.

SJ vs Simeon - Diamond Taylor Pull-Up Jumper

Prospect profiles are now online for the last five preps to commit to Bo Ryan, which includes one from the upcoming freshman class. In the future, the green folder icon () next to any player listed in the Wisconsin recruiting sidebar will link to the open thread player page.

So far ...
2008: Ryan Evans
2009: Mike Bruesewitz | Diamond Taylor
2010: Vander Blue | Evan Anderson

Links:
- Has Northwestern become a player in recruiting? Nah ...
- Wisconsin was a "Near Miss" on Van Coleman's list of Top 40 (41) Recruiting Classes
- Mark Miller analyzes the top state players from the NY2LA Invitational at Wishoops.net

On the Stove Top: 5/29

Prospect Profile pages have been added to Hoops Marinara for several Wisconsin recruits. The goal is to track some of the links, press and stats of those future Badgers who have verballed, but have not yet signed a LOI. For instance, the first two pages up are for the Class of 2009: Mike Bruesewitz and Diamond Taylor. Class of 2010 is on its way shortly. Reader comments are encouraged and the posts will be constantly revised to hold the most up-to-date material.

NBA trade talk heats up as draft approaches
The Michael Redd trade rumors are swirling. I have been saying for a year and a half that it would be in Milwaukee's best interests to get some value for Redd in a trade and it looks like now might be the time.

With Milwaukee GM John Hammond clearly open to any possibilities that will improve the Bucks and the Cavaliers still in dire need of a move to capitalize on LeBron James while he's around, Cleveland fans are clamoring for Redd, just as they did three years ago. The Bob Boozer Jinx blog at the Sports Bubbler is all over the Bucks fans' perspectives.

Now that Scott Skiles is at the helm, you can almost see the end of the road appearing on the horizon for one of the great pure shooters of the decade. I don't think the new coach/GM will tolerate Redd's inability to either make those around him better or play consistent defense. He is a great scorer and a reliable free throw shooter, but had a surprising knack for ill-advised shot attempts. Maybe Redd will throw some Joni Mitchell in our face when he does leave, but Milwaukee is going nowhere with Redd on the roster and that's the bottom line.

The Bratwurst speculated on recent comments by Charlie Villanueva indicating he might be the one moved this off-season. Brett Boyer discusses a wide range of trade options, some far more likely than others. In any event, the Bucks could easily decide to move it's upcoming first-round draft pick (#8) or swap with a trading partner. Since Brook Lopez' stock is plummeting, Boyer and others now see Russell Westbrook as a logical #8 pick due to his athleticism and defensive potential. But Boyer has advocated Alabama' junior Richard Hendrix as a big-time sleeper in this year's crop, someone the Bucks could target if they moved down in the June 26 draft.

The 6'8" Hendrix, who has not hired an agent, can rebound, block shots and shot a high percentage last season. He was one of several players who has impressed onlookers already at the Orlando pre-draft camp. No mention of Brian Butch, which could be a positive or a negative depending on your personal bias. It surprised a few people that Butch was invited to the camp, but the Polar Bear has at least continued to rebound.

Thoughts on the Maymon press conference
After all that has been said during the recruitment of Jeronne Maymon, it was refreshing to be able to watch video of him making his announcement and draw my own conclusions. A few things stood out:

- EDITED: Apparently my hearing was pretty bad last week. I listened to the audio several times before I posted and still couldn't figure out whether Maymon said he had been text messaging Wesley Matthews and Bob Gibbons for info on Buzz Williams. When I listened again, he was pretty clearly just talking about Matthews (see comments), which is a relief. In true NCAA fashion, I have applied a self-imposed slap on the wrist as punishment for my error.

- "If I stay my whole four years ..." Ugh. That's the antithesis of a Bo Ryan mantra in a nutshell. The posse, the family, the person--something--has made Maymon a big believer in himself. Thinking positively, that attitude probably has helped his game develop, knowing he the people around him have faith in his ability. But you certainly get the idea that he and his father feel spurned by Wisconsin and cannot wait to play against the Badgers.

- I honestly got the impression that Maymon put a lot of thought into this decision, but still really had no idea what to do. Maybe even as late as the morning of the announcement. Since this is a 17-year-old kid we are talking about, I am a big believer in Freudian-slip type statements and how Maymon spoke of text messaging Vander Blue was telling.

That uncertainty probably grips a lot of youngsters, so setting an arbitrary deadline might keep them from wasting more time agonizing over the decision that in many cases is win-win. Marquette expressed desperate interest and offered a location close to home and that was enough.

- The dad is ridiculous and holding up that "Jeronne + Marquette" sign was hilarious. Jeronne knows it too.

Elsewhere:
- Speaking of Bob Gibbons, his All Star Report website reports that Evan Anderson was named to the 16-U All-Tournament team at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions this past weekend. They agree with me that Anderson could be a combination of some very recent UW big men:

"... Anderson (Eau Claire North, Eau Claire, Wis.) has a bit of Brian Butch’s skill set mixed in with Greg Stiemsma’s raw physicality. The end result could be the best big man to come out of Wisconsin in quite some time. Anderson did a great job finishing strong around the basket, controlling the glass, and knocking his opponents around defensively."

Jeronne Maymon Picks Marquette

Madison Memorial prep superstar Jeronne Maymon will take his game to the Big East Conference starting in 2009. The 6'6" forward was courted by many big-time college programs over recent months, but will stay in-state with the Golden Eagles, who Maymon says guaranteed him a starting spot when he arrives on campus.

Maymon's comments from this morning's press conference indicated that two factors drew him to Marquette: the ability to be a playmaker in new coach Buzz Williams' offense and the close location to his hometown. Considering how vocal Maymon's father, Tim, has been in the entire recruitment process, that is no surprise. Everyone will be watching to see if that proximity helps or hinders Jeronne.

Tim Maymon said recently that Jeronne nearly committed to Baylor right away after receiving his first scholarship offer in December. Previous chatter from the father seemed to imply Iowa State and Baylor had the edge, based on what they were "offering," possibly alluding to playing time. Even after the offers came in from some more prestigious colleges, after last week's visit to Marquette, Maymon was ready to make his final choice. So, in the end, his family did seem to have a big vote in where he attended. Jeronne's mother applauded the decision to stay close to home rather than ship out to USC, praised her son's mental toughness and now looks forward to a less hectic home.

Maymon sets Marquette up quite well to remain strong at the wing positions in the coming years. With the return of Jerel McNeal, the Big 3 of McNeal, Dominic James and Wesley Matthews will all ride off into the sunset after the 2008-09 season. Maymon and fellow 2009 recruit Erik Williams would appear to have the forward positions set, providing depth and star power behind the 2008 class that includes JUCO wing Joseph Fulce. Unlike the Badgers, the Golden Eagles still have three scholarships to hand out for Maymon's freshman season. One of those will likely go to Milwaukee Bay View guard Johnnie Lacy.

Today's announcement means that Wisconsin and Marquette continue to battle for the rights to the Madison Memorial pipeline. Both programs have one former Spartan on the current roster and another verbally committed. Other former Memorial players have wound up at North Dakota State and various state schools, including Jerard Ajami, who will attempt to walk-on at UW-Milwaukee after starring at D-2 doormat Northern Michigan.

Now all Maymon has to do is hit the books.

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Since Madison Memorial players are the topic of the day, it's worth mentioning that UW commit Vander Blue had a nice weekend in Nashville's big AAU tournament. Blue teamed with slim Chicago point guard Anthony Johnson to lead the Illinois Warriors to a win the 16U championship at the Nike Memorial Day Classic. Each player totaled 39 points in the two final games of the tournament.

Now that Blue is a known commodity on the travel team circuit, look for more comments like the following analysis from Rivals.com:

"Blue is a well built and athletic guard who hits the boards with a vengeance and has a feel for making plays off the dribble. Johnson is a slick ball handler and scorer but doesn't have the physique and athleticism of Blue."

Must be nice to be Memorial head coach Steve Collins.

Despite the high praise for Blue, Rivals still is showing no love for Wisconsin's incoming group of recruits. The Internet recruiting website did not list the Badgers among its revised Top 30 Recruiting Classes for 2008. Just based on sheer size (5) of the class for a reigning conference champion, I was thinking maybe Wisconsin would get a mention, as some other programs in recent years. However, the "almighty" 5-star recruits appear to be driving these rankings.

Boasting two 4-stars, two three stars and one relative unknown (Evans), there is no doubt in my mind that even on paper Wisconsin's 2008 class is better than USC's (#20) and Duke's (#27) and equal to Kentucky's (#21) at a bare minimum.

Removed the following prospects from the recruiting sidebar:
: : : Class of 2008
C Kyle Rowley, Lake Forest IL {reclassified & signed w/Northwestern}
: : : Class of 2010
G Lenzelle Smith, Zion IL
PG Lavonte Dority, Chicago IL [+] [+] [v]
PG DeAndre McCamey, Chicago IL
PG Kenny Stevenson, Chicago IL
SG Flavien Davis, Milwaukee WI
SG Alex Rossi, Winnetka IL
F Cody Larson, Sioux Falls SD
F Chip Rank, Cedarburg WI
SF Marquis Mason, Madison WI
C Paul Bunch, Chicago IL
PF Calvin Godfrey, Milwaukee WI
PF Fred Heldring, Winnetka IL
PG Josh Gasser, Port Washington WI

Big Ten Fans Rule The Roost

For all the heat the Big Ten conference takes for experiencing a down cycle in on-court quality, the fans are still supporting their teams at a record pace. Wisconsin led five Big Ten teams that placed among the nation's top 25 in average home attendance for the 2007-08 season, according to the Big Ten Network.

The release of these figures confirms the Big Ten's status as one of the premier basketball conferences in all the land, with consistent support from fans and athletic departments across the board. Many quality basketball programs around the country may have the ability to sell out every game, but do not have the matching commitment or resources from the university to maintain state-of-the-art facilities. The reverse is also true in other cases. The Big Ten has the best of both worlds. Together the 11 conference teams averaged 12,978 fans per contest, easily out-pacing the SEC's average.

Badger fans packed the Kohl Center for all 18 regular season home games, for an average sellout crowd of 17,190, good enough for seventh nationally. It marked the fifth consecutive season that UW has announced a full crowd for every home game. Wisconsin has consistently placed in the top ten for attendance since the Final Four season of 2000, thanks to increased capacity at the Kohl Center.

Indiana improved to reclaim the ninth spot in the rankings. Illinois (#11), Ohio State (#12) and Michigan State (#17) also placed among attendance leaders. Almost a thousand fewer fairweather Buckeye fans attended OSU games this season without Oden and Conley, while the putrid Illini still had the benefit of playing of in front of a packed house at Assembly Hall, much like the Spartans in East Lansing.

See: 2006-07 attendance numbers

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After reigning in a giant JUCO project and another impressive 2009 prospect, Indiana may have another 2008 recruit in its sights. Emmanuel Negedu is being released from his LOI at Arizona and will take a closer look at the Hoosiers. However, if Tom Crean wants to stay alive in the Jamil Wilson sweepstakes (or in the running for any other 2009 player for that matter), any further scholarships extended for 2008 must be to an incoming senior who has already sat out a year or is coming from a non-Division I school. Highly unlikely. (ed: Problem solved!) The other option? Cross that bridge when you come to it and run off an incoming 2008 recruit after one year of play. Two candidates would be Matt Roth or Tom Pritchard, who were already committed to Indiana when Crean hit the scene.

Draft Lottery Puts Bucks In Ominous Position

Eighth overall pick a familiar crapshoot
So, in a two-horse race, those underachieving Chicago Bulls won the top pick in the 2008 NBA Draft and the mysteriously bad Miami Heat secured the #2 pick. That sets up a dream combo for each team of getting an immediate impact player that also happens to patch a major hole in the roster. Michael Beasley can fill the void of interior scoring and muscle that has been lacking for years in Chicago. With the second pick, Miami can give Dwyane Wade a dream backcourt running mate in Derrick Rose who will also defer to Wade at crunch time.

When the smoke cleared Tuesday night at the draft lottery, Milwaukee was left holding the #8 pick, one slot lower than anticipated based on the team's record. General manager John Hammond should know what to expect out of that spot: it will not be a superstar player. The 8-hole should sound vaguely memorable to Bucks fans, as the team has drafted from that sport three other times in the last 16 years with mixed results. Twice when Milwaukee has selected eighth, it got talented but mediocre players who were both shipped out of town very early in their careers, either due to injury (T.J. Ford, 2003) or simply being squeezed out of the lineup (Todd Day, 1992). It is interesting to note, however, that the only All-Star drafted from the 8th position in the last 20 years (Vin Baker) was back in 1993 by Milwaukee.

Besides Baker, Andre Miller (1999) has been a borderline star throughout his career, including a career-best scoring average this past season in Philly, but he has also made many stops around the league over the last decade. Rudy Gay appeared to make major strides in his second season and may soon join Baker, Miller and Rex Chapman at the head of the class for #8 picks.

Expanding the search to all players picked between seventh and ninth over the last 20 years might raise your hopes a tad. Including Baker, seven of those players have either been selected to at least one All-Star team or named Rookie of the Year (Damon Stoudamire, 1995). Luol Deng and Andre Iguodala figure to add to that list in the near future. Other players like Miller, Gay, Brian Grant, Jamal Crawford and Rony Seikaly have been solid contributors originating from picks seven through nine. So in 20 years, I count 15 successful picks out of a possible 60 from that general area, mostly due to a lot of talent from the ninth slot. So the Bucks have a 25% of landing a legit NBA player from that position.

Some mock drafts are still projecting Eric Gordon as Milwaukee's selection while DraftExpress.com sees the Bucks taking another tall, skinny foreigner. Yikes. At NBA.com, Kevin Love is the pick, although the foreignor was the consensus #8 acccording to their collection of the web's numerous mock drafts.

The Sporting News likes Gordon at that spot too, but Sam Smith sees trade possibilities lining up better for the Bucks. The trade angle would not be surprising, as Milwaukee has seemingly done everything in its power to avoid making mistakes in the draft by giving away its draft picks. In the nine drafts since the Dirk Nowitzki trade of 1998, Milwaukee has only made five first-round selections and in 2004, the Bucks had no picks at all.

In other draft-related fun, NBADraft.net has gone all the way back to the mid-1980s to rank the top picks from the entire lottery era. For what it's worth, Detlef Schrempf edges Ron Harper as the greatest #8 pick of the lottery era.

This South Florida Sun-Sentinel article could have been an interesting behind-the-scenes account of draft lotto. Instead I was left completely baffled. The story describes the ping pong process tension without explaining how it works. Thus, I had to snoop around NBA.com to refresh myself on how the ping pong ball combinations do their magic.