End of Summer Status

Just one week into September and football season, it already feels like the previous basketball season ended years ago.

Luckily a lull in groundbreaking Wisconsin basketball news came at a perfect time. It was a busy summer for me personally and changes are in the works regarding this blog as well. But when I rehash what people might have missed during the lazy summer, it turns out that a lot went down and most of it was good.

While the Big Ten collectively celebrated the return of many of its top players from the brink of the NBA Draft pool, other key pieces like Kevin Coble evaporated unexpectedly. Or in Chris Allen's case, not-so-unexpectedly. Meanwhile, UW said goodbye to two seniors and one non-contributor without any teeth-gnashing. That is especially great when you consider what was going on last year at this time.

Rather than the program kicking a couple kids off the team, recovering from a dramatic decommitment and sending Bo Ryan to coach Team USA, Wisconsin flew under the radar (except for this). A flurry of recruiting activity in June wrapped up nicely with Jarrod Uthoff's semi-surprising commitment in mid-July. What followed was a month of relative silence.

Though student-athletes typically get a couple of short breaks from class and teammates, an incredible amount of hard work is going on behind the scenes to prepare for the next season. Just ask the new freshmen. Or ask sophomore Ryan Evans if the hard work pays off. He was selected by Global Sports Academy for a team that toured Europe in August. Evans played well, even if it barely registered at all in the media.

However, one fellow who is no longer inconspicuous in any sense is Jon Leuer. A lot of praise was heaped on the 6'10" forward this summer as he impressed during his Team USA internship. That'll get you hyped as one of the top three players in your conference, although some draftniks over at Draft Express might be eating some crow based on how low they placed Leuer on their list of Big Ten draft prospects.

Leuer leads a six-man senior class heading into the fall semester as the program adjusts to one new assistant coach in light of Howard Moore's departure. But people forget that number could have doubled if Greg Gard had gotten the UW-Green Bay job in the spring (Ed. note: could have tripled really). Again, disaster averted.

So it's a good time to be optimistic about an even more enjoyable basketball season lurking behind the changing colors of the trees. We can even take a deep, relaxing breath knowing that the divisional realignment scare has passed ... I think.

A Look Ahead: Leuer's Draft Stock

UPDATE (7/8): Jon Leuer is one of 20 collegians named by USA Basketball to the USA Men's Select Team to train against the national team later this month.

Let the record show that in the summer prior to the 2010-11 season, Wisconsin senior Jon Leuer was generally accepted as a projected second-round pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.

Leading writers at two mainstream portals, Fox and ESPN, came out with their own early looks at next year's draft class. Jeff Goodman has Leuer going 55th, while the 6'10" forward was one of the 68 players to watch on Andy Katz's list, saying Leuer "has pro skills."

Full-time draft website NBADraft.net has had Leuer going in the mid-to-late second round for a while now. Somehow DraftExpress.com hardly has Leuer in the top 50 among returning seniors for next season. That is, well, crazy.

Leuer averaged 15.4 ppg, 5.8 rpg and 1.3 bpg with great percentages (52/39/72) during his injury-shortened junior campaign. You could just as easily compare his combined physical profile and scoring prowess to recent first-rounder Craig Brackins from Iowa State as you could to undrafted Mac Koshwal of DePaul. Except that Leuer would be entering the league as a 22-year old graduate. Sure Leuer is versatile and has a better touch from the outside, but rest assured, scouts will be looking for more rebounding from this Badger big man on his farewell tour.

Vote for Postseason Awards

Tuesday night was the Wisconsin men's basketball postseason reception. In particular, the season highlight video put together by Matt Ryan was very well done and is worth a look.

Along the same lines, online voting ends today for the 2009-10 men's basketball awards. When I watched the nominees for Play of the Year or Individual Performance of the Year, I got a renewed sense of appreciation for the great year this group of Badgers really had. Now that a few weeks have passed since the end of the season, it doesn't seem so bad that the team peaked earlier than you'd like -- the enjoyable part is that Wisconsin reached a significant peak, highlighted by three home wins over teams ranked in the Coaches' Top 5.

Voting is closed -- see the winners now!

Allow me to make a case in each category:

1. Best Game of the Season: 73-69 win over Duke
A no-brainer really. Duke is a combination college hoops royalty and the evil empire all in one, so this was a big hill to climb. A wire-to-wire win eradicated a bad memory from 2007 and this contest was close enough throughout that the outcome was truly up for grabs. A not-so-close second place goes to punishing Michigan State, 67-49, at the Kohl Center in February.

2. Greatest Individual Performance: Trevon Hughes vs. Duke
Several good options here, but Hughes played perhaps the finest game of his career against the Blue Devils. Not a stat-stuffer event (he added just 2 rebs, 2 assts, 1 blk & 1 stl), but Hughes was the one Badger who the team was counting on to athletically get his own shot that night. He delivered with 26 pts. And had zero turnovers to boot. The sheer variety of way in which he scored was dazzling.

I would be remiss if I didn't reiterate how much I enjoyed watching Keaton Nankivil hit 7-of-8 treys in the losing effort at Purdue. Just amazing, which is more than I can say about Jason Bohannon's barrage against Indiana I'm afraid. The Hoosiers are just terrible. But both Hughes' night on the road in Evanston and Jordan Taylor's performance against Penn State both received heavy consideration for my vote. I remember feeling resigned to Wisconsin dropping a home game to the Nittany Lions of all teams while listening to that game on the radio. Then Taylor became possessed ... and a minor miracle ensued. Good times!

3. Play of the Year: Hughes' steal and alley-oop to Nankivil vs. Iowa
Showtime at the Kohl Center showcased Pop's defense, ball handling and knack for the moment, as well as Nankivil's athleticism. Gave the crowd exactly what they wanted to punctuate a big win.

Note this wasn't called the "most important" play of the year or else I would have voted for Jon Leuer's winner against Wofford, which was incredibly clutch. And the prettiest has got to be Hughes' spin and rainbow J against Duke. That one is etched in my memory for good.

4. Greatest Team Accomplishment: Beating three Top 10 teams
This is one of those things that happens once in a generation really (at least for Wisconsin it had been 21 seasons). Kind of ties into the 16-1 home record also. Leading the nation in fewest turnovers looks nice on the résumé, but I'd trade it for a few more wins in a heartbeat.

5. Team MVP: Jon Leuer
This one was tough. I believe Leuer is the most talented player on the roster and he really came into this own this year. As the only legit post presence on the team, he was the single player most vital to UW's success. Wisconsin's success without Leuer was admirable, but the way Hughes reverted to his old ways at the season's end pretty much clinched this one in my mind. A close third to J-Bo, who really stepped up when Bo needed him most (during Leuer's injury).

6. Most Improved Player: Jordan Taylor
Just a sophomore, Taylor had basically become Wisconsin's true point guard even before he was inserted into the starting lineup. His mercurial assist-to-turnover ratio (3:1) stands out the most, along with his assists, but it was his confidence that took the biggest step. Perhaps that's why he improved his 3-point shooting from 19% to 32.5% and his overall FG% from 26% to nearly 40% (a 71% and 51% improvement, respectively!!).

This category was clearly a two-horse race between JT and Leuer. Leuer started the year as a bit player with potential to a potential NBA draft pick and one of the favorites for next year's Big Ten Player of the Year award.

7. Which non-starter are you most excited about: Ryan Evans
And of the four players, this was my order: Evans > Rob Wilson > Mike Bruesewitz > Jared Berggren. Wilson was my first thought, since I believe he will blossom with a bump up to more playing time as a junior. Love his aggressiveness. The more I thought about it though, aggressiveness is Evans' game too. And as a freshman, Evans played even more than Wilson did, despite still being such a raw prospect. His skill set is much different than anyone else on next year's team. Evans is a big x-factor -- I'd love to see that haircut in the starting five next year.

Down To The Wire With Wofford

In Friday's opening round action, #4 seed Wisconsin survived the 13th-seeded Terriers rather than tame them.

The Badgers set themselves up for a tight finish in the first half, failing to pull away from Wofford when the Terriers went over nine minutes without a field goal. An eight-point halftime lead evaporated in a hurry when Wofford went unconscious to start the second half to lead 38-37. Give the Terriers credit: they were confident and hit some tough shots. But they didn't have to face UW's A-game by any stretch.

Wisconsin's perimeter defense was lackadaisical pretty much all game. The Wisconsin guards appeared slow of foot, allowing Wofford to get into the lane at will. This opened up a bevy of pull-up jumpers in the paint. Even when they didn't go in, defensive rotations allowed the Terriers to pick up tons of easy second-chance hoops around the basket. Maybe the Badgers were looking ahead to the kind of defense they want to extend to Cornell's 3-point shooters?? Okay, maybe not ...

Jon Leuer (20 pts, 8 rebs) was the star of the day, as he was impossible for Wofford to stop defensively. It was almost criminal that Wisconsin didn't force feed Leuer in the post during the stretch run. Instead UW tried to hang him out high running a fruitless pick-and-roll routine.

Luckily Leuer kept his touch in tact. After hitting the go-ahead jumper with 20 seconds remaining, Leuer also came up with the defensive play of the game by moving his feet against the smaller Cameron Rundles and forcing a ball handling mistake out-of-bounds. He also hit two clutch free throws in a game where neither team seemed to want the freebies. [box score]

It was refreshing to see Trevon Hughes get out to a hot start in this one, which allowed UW to overcome Jason Bohannon's goose egg. Thankfully Hughes also avoided going into full-on "Bad Pop" mode and was able to find Leuer for the winning shot rather than force up a ridiculous shot.

Hughes finished with 19 points, many of them on early drives to the hoop. Amazingly, the Badgers attempted only nine 3-pointers, their lowest total of the entire season.

Bohannon really seems like an all-or-nothing guy. I liked running a specific play for him coming out of halftime. You could tell by that play that Bo knew he needed a third scorer to get things going from the outside to make life easier. I wish they had made more of an effort to get him the ball earlier.

As for J-Bo's defense, what does it say about Bo's respect for Rob Wilson's defense to not put him in at all? I cannot wait until Bo is forced to play Wilson next year. He should have gotten at least a brief audition yesterday and it's hard to believe it's the end of the season and Wilson hasn't earned Bo's confidence yet.

Oh, and props to Jordan Taylor for hustling to poke the ball out of Jamar Diggs's control from behind to a waiting Hughes, whose ensuing lay in gave UW a 49-48 lead. For that, Taylor, you earned bragging rights.

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In high school hoops, the Madison Memorial Spartans will go for back-to-back Division 1 state championships tomorrow night after blowing away Appleton East, 68-48. Their opponent will be 7'1" Boise State recruit Ben Mills and his Arrowhead cronies. Arrowhead narrowly survived a comeback bid by Milwaukee Marquette by hitting a banked 3-pointer in the final seconds. Marquette had upset powerhouse Milwaukee Hamilton the night before. That's March Madness folks.

Mills has looked pretty mobile at the state tournament and might be the best prep big man in Wisconsin. Of course, it's easy for him to move fluidly when he weighs, what, about 190 pounds?! Regardless of his build, he's scored 42 points in two games and has one more to play.

In Division 3 -- you guessed it -- Racine St. Catherine's is back to face another private school in the title game. Meanwhile, Randolph looks capable of moving to 29-0 and taking home yet another gold ball, led by UW-Milwaukee recruit Kyle Kelm.

Senior Night Reflections

Click here to watch this year's senior class tribute.It was a great night at the Kohl Center for Badger fans as Trevon Hughes and Jason Bohannon relished their final performance in front of the home crowd.

The duo scored 12 of UW's first 14 points and set the tone for one final creampuff blowout against the undermanned Iowa Hawkeyes. From there, the rejuvenated Jon Leuer had his way, scoring 10 points in a row on dunks and treys to put Wisconsin up 26-10. The lead ballooned to 20 by halftime and got as large as 30. [box score]

Action got a tad sloppy as the players smelled the blood in the water and tried to make their own highlight reel play. Pop took some wild shots that ended up distorting his FG%, but you cannot blame a guy for trying to impress his momma in the stands, who was seeing her son play live in Madison for the first time as a Badger believe it or not.

Leuer, who finished with 18 points, might have stolen the show and even got to exit the game with the two seniors. In general, the Badger big men did whatever they wanted -- Leuer and Nankivil combined to shoot 11-of-13 from the field. With such a large lead, 15 different Badgers saw aciton.

But in the end, the focus was rightly on the seniors. Hughes finished with 15 pts, 4 rebs, 4 assts, 3 steals and 2 blocks with just 2 TOs. Bohannon finished with 11 pts, a career-high 9 rebs, 3 assts and only 1 TO.

Both seniors continued to move up the career list for 3-pointers. Hughes is finally knocking on the doorstep of the UW's top ten in career assists as well. He had a few beauties that resulted in huge dunks for his big men, which had recruits in attendance like Marshall Plumlee cracking ear-to-ear smiles. Pop also passed a few legendary Badgers on his way to tying Michael Flowers for third on the all-time steals ladder.

Player - Career Steals (Season Total)
1. Mike Kelley - 275
2. Tracy Webster - 183
3. Trevon Hughes - 171 (49)
3. Michael Flowers - 171
5. Mike Wilkinson - 169
6. Michael Finley - 168

Player - Career Free Throws (Season Total)
7. Devin Harris - 362
8. Sean Mason - 332
9. Trevon Hughes - 319 (92)
10. Dick Cable - 316

Player - Career Free Throw Attempts (Season Total)
7. Joe Franklin - 476
8. Paul Morrow - 449
9. Trevon Hughes - 443 (129)
9. James Johnson - 429

Player - Career 3-Point Field Goals (Season Total)
1. Tim Locum - 227
2. Kirk Penney - 217
3. Michael Finley - 213
4. Jason Bohannon - 208 (64)
5. Trent Jackson - 193
6. Devin Harris - 187
7. Trevon Hughes - 167 (66)
7. Tracy Webster - 167

Player - Career 3-Point Attempts (Season Total)
1. Michael Finley - 631
2. Kirk Penney - 561
3. Jason Bohannon - 539 (155)
4. Devin Harris - 499
5. Tim Locum - 481
6. Sean Mason - 471
7. Trevon Hughes - 465 (165)
8. Kammron Taylor - 430
8. Trent Jackson - 430

Badgers Balanced in Bloomington

Jon Leuer returned to Wisconsin's starting lineup Thursday night and helped lead the No. 17 Badgers to an impressive 78-46 dismantling of Indiana.

Wisconsin, which rose to No. 4 in the Pomeroy ratings, was the model of efficiency in Bloomington. As you might imagine, the team's 70.4 defensive efficiency was it's best of the Big Ten season as they held the Hoosiers to 35.3 effective field goal percentage (eFG%). Meanwhile, Keaton Nankivil (6-of-7 FGs) and company posted their second-highest eFG% mark (62.3) in conference play.

All five starters scored in double figures, led by Trevon Hughes' nice shooting (17 pts): Nankivil scored 14, Leuer and Jordan Taylor both had 13 and Jason Bohannon scored 11. Wisconsin shot 8-of-11 on 3-pointers (72.7%). [box score]

With Leuer replacing Tim Jarmusz, Wisconsin now puts an imposing three-guard lineup on the floor to start games, one which may rival any starting five in the Big Ten (yes, even the Ohio State). Each of these players has experienced their ups and downs during the year. Bohannon started the year in a bad shooting slump and Nankivil disappeared when Big Ten play began. Leuer is of course trying to return from injury. Hughes has not seemed as mentally engaged as he was the first half of the year and forced many bad shots in the last few games. Taylor has struggled uncharacteristically with turnovers lately.

The key going forward will be getting all five to contribute against higher caliber competition. Bohannon blossomed with Leuer out and is still shooting the lights out now that he is more aggressive finding shots. Nankivil is more assertive too. Leuer looks closer to 100% after a few tune-ups. But remember that the young Hoosiers turned the ball over 18 times and played uninspired defense all night.

At least for one night, the whole team seemed to put it together. As the first two off Bo Ryan's bench, Ryan Evans showed off his rebounding ability and Rob Wilson displayed his scorer's mentality once again. In fact, Wilson has asserted himself as the team's second best offensive threat in the post. He's decisive, and even then, knows when to stop his move and pass out if he can't get the look he wants.

So if Hughes and Taylor can can clean up the decision-making issues of recent games, you might see an entire starting lineup firing on all cylinders at just the right time.

Wisconsin Knocked Out Of Big Ten Race

It sucks to be out of the Big Ten Conference title race. Now Wisconsin fans are left to rationalize away the team's downward trending performance because the team has exceeded preseason expectations. Small consolation. The Badgers are 3-3 in their last six games and sit in fifth place.

What sucks worse is getting blown out in the last two losses to unranked teams and losing three in a row to Minnesota. And this one was a thrashing.

Tubby Smith mulled over a twin towers starting lineup for this game, but it didn't matter who started. Minnesota's height and length was too much for No. 14 Wisconsin, starting with Ralph Sampson III. The Gophers out-rebounded the Badgers 36-20 in a game where every tipped ball, bounce and call seemed to go Minnesota's way. [box score]

Prior to tip-off, I suspected that Wisconsin needed to pounce on Minnesota early and limit its turnovers to have success at the Barn. The Gophers have lacked confidence lately and called a players only meeting earlier this week in an effort to manufacture some confidence. A fast start by UW could have really frustrated a team like that. But even though Wisconsin controlled the ball well, the Badgers couldn't sustain a 6-0 lead.

In fact, once Jon Leuer checked in, Minnesota rattled off a 14-2 run and never trailed thereafter. Leuer got some open looks but didn't quite look up to game speed. The bandaged wrist appeared to prevent him from grabbing a couple rebounds with both hands properly and he failed to convert a bunny that he normally would have dunked. It will take a few more games to get the big guy comfortable again.

Blake Hoffarber got loose for 12 of his 16 points in the first half, hitting from all angles, and also pulled down a game-high 9 boards. Nice game. Wisconsin shut him down in the second, but the end of the first half ensured that the Badgers would be playing uphill the rest of the night.

Trailing by just five with under a minute until halftime, Ryan Evans got called for a horrendous loose ball foul on a rebound he corralled fair and square with two hands above Justin Cobbs. Bo Ryan, naturally got T'd up and the Goofs hit all four gift free throws. Just like that, it's a nine-point game.

Jason Bohannon and Trevon Hughes combined for 37 points, including 9-of-19 3-point shooting, but the "Minnesota Baadgers" let the team down. Jordan Taylor, Jon Leuer and Mike Bruesewitz shot a combined 3-of-22 from the floor. Taylor had two indefensible (and uncharacteristic) turnovers, while Bruesewitz fouled out after 20 minutes of play and four rebounds.

Rob Wilson was credited with one minute of PT in a game where UW had trouble getting to the rim and drawing fouls. Go figure.

Parting thoughts
:: Hughes was nearly invisible during the game's first 10 minutes. He really stepped up his defensive intensity in the second half, including a highlight-reel theft from Devoe Joseph that led to Pop's layup and three-point play opportunity. Where was that intensity from Hughes earlier? He needs to put together a complete game for 40 minutes ... it's been awhile.

:: Stories about Lawrence Westbrook's attitude and his odd relationship with teammates and coaches have surfaced this year. So his petty attempted dunk over Keaton Nankivil at the end of the game just cemented his status as the least likable player in the Big Ten. Westbrook appeared to be dribbling out the game's final seconds when he realized the shot clock was going to expire so he blew by Hughes and went to the goal hard. Keep in mind Westbrook had not scored a field goal all night until this point. I doubt he would have tried that garbage if the Gophers were losing. Any way, I'm just as disappointed that Nankivil didn't deliver a harder foul.

:: A throw-away line in Tom Oates' article yesterday stated that Wisconsin "reduced its turnovers to a trickle" when Taylor replaced Leuer in the starting lineup. That got me thinkin' (and fact checkin'). Wisconsin actually committed 36 turnovers in the four Big Ten games before Leuer's injury (9 TOs/g) and 70 in nine games without him (under 8 TOs/g). Tonight in his return, Wisconsin only turned the ball over five times so it wasn't a Taylor-Leuer thing.

:: Wisconsin has only one more chance for a good road win, that one being at Illinois to finish the conference slate. Without Wisconsin's two miraculous comebacks against doormats Michigan and Penn State, this team would be .500 in league play right now, theoretically having lost six out of nine games. Thank goodness for reality ...

:: The Badgers clearly struggle with tall teams, having missed on all their recent recruits at the center position. While J.P. Gavinski and Ian Markolf ride the pine indefinitely, it is most frustrating that redshirt freshman Jared Berggren has a warm seat next to them. Rumors of Berggren's off-season progress were evidently way overblown.

Leuer Has No Doubts About Wrist's Health

The big news on Monday was that Jon Leuer was back practicing with his teammates just like old times and there were no complications. Leuer also spoke with the local media for the first time since the injury. [video]

After reading hints that a Leuer return might be imminent, it appears that UW's leading scorer has a great chance to play on Thursday night against Minnesota. Leuer mentioned the range of motion and weight exercises he worked on with the training staff and said he is "really confident" in his wrist going forward, whether it be finishing strong at the rack or just getting hit inadvertantly.

"I feel like I'm game-ready right now," Leuer said. "I've been able to work out and run and condition so I feel like I'm in really good shape and hopefully I can just do whatever I can to help the team."

Props to the medical staff for getting Leuer prepared to return just five weeks after the injury occurred.

"Right now, I'm just taking it day-by-day and seeing if there's any pain or much I can tolerate," Leuer continued. "Today went well."

For now Leuer will continue to practice with the wrist heavily taped, no special cast needed. He sounds really anxious to help the team win once again and the timing could hardly have been better. Wisconsin will attempt to erase the memories of last year's breakdowns (plural) against the Gophers. At the same time, it is yet another must-win for a contender seeking another Big Ten title.

On the Stove Top: 2/8/10

Unfortunately, I still have not seen the Wisconsin-Michigan game in it's entirety due to the Camp Randall Classic festivities. I caught glimpses of the second half and apparently I missed all the good parts. Because neither team wanted to score in the final 10 minutes. [box score]

There's no doubt that Jason Bohannon has hit his stride. J-Bo destroyed Michigan with 64% shooting, adding four rebounds and five assists. In the process of leading UW's long-distance barrage, Bohannon passed Devin Harris on Wisconsin's all-time 3-pt FG and 3-pt FG attempts lists.

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Illinois is a team I feared would give Wisconsin fits after Jon Leuer went down, due to their skilled big men. But the other reason was Demetri McCamey, one of the few point guards around who can overpower a Trevon Hughes or Jordan Taylor. While Wisconsin seems to have figured things out heading into Tuesday's game with the Illini, McCamey is on top of his game also. The junior shared Big Ten Player of the Week honors with high school teammate Evan Turner for this past week. McCamey scored 23 point and dropped 11 dimes in Illinois' win over Michigan State.

Meanwhile, Illinois' front court has not been all it was cracked up to be this season. Mike Davis lost his starting job four games ago. Center Mike Tisdale will be playing at less than 100% versus the Badgers after injuring a different knee in each of the past two games.

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Yesterday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Jeff Potrykus blogged about Jon Leuer's Sunday shootaround with coach Gary Close. Apparently Leuer's wrist has been healing well enough to impress onlookers with his accuracy. It's a great sign, but there's still no timetable for his return. It's a big step from shooting to colliding with another 6'10" dude for 40 minutes.

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Rob Wilson got a little media ink last Friday when the Journal-Sentinel did a nice summary of his recent improvement. Wilson continued to play well on the road against Michigan, playing 20 turnover-free minutes. His scoring was down (5 pts), but he chipped in three rebounds and got to the line.

"He is tough driving into the lane," Bo Ryan said of Wilson. "He's got that little floater that when he is on the scout team we have a hard time stopping."

At the risk of jumping to conclusions, I hinted after the Purdue game that Bo was starting to transition away from heavy use of Tim Jarmusz now that some of his younger players are stepping up. Even though Ryan Evans only played 25 minutes in the next two games, Wilson has played 44 minutes to TJ's 45 minutes since then.

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Howard Moore continues to recruit Chicago. Illinois Prep Bullseye reported that Moore was spotted a couple weeks ago at a Chicago De LaSalle game with his eyes on junior Mike Shaw and freshman Alex Foster:

"Among the coaches in the gym were University Of Illinois head coach Bruce Weber, Purdue University assistant coach Rick Ray and University Of Wisconsin assistant coach Howard Moore.

"Weber was also there to get yet another look at De LaSalle's talented underclass duo of 6'8 class of 2011 forward Mike Shaw and 6'7 class of 2013 forward Alex Foster. Ray's main focus was on Foster, who has already received a scholarship offer from Purdue (as well as Illinois), while Moore was also taking a close look at both Shaw and Foster."

Shaw has been ballyhooed for years and would seem like an odd player to recruit considering the AAU handlers that seemed to be involved in his recruitment. That leads me to believe Moore was particularly interested in Foster, one of three Class of 2013 youngsters being hailed as the collective second coming in Illinois.

Leuer's Surgery Set For Tuesday

Right or wrong, one of Wisconsin's biggest victories of the year suddenly seems like a consolation prize.

Even though Jon Leuer played 38 minutes in #17 Wisconsin's huge win over #4 Purdue [box score] that put the Badgers firmly in the Big Ten championship hunt, the university confirmed today that the junior forward will be out of action indefinitely with a fracture in his non-shooting (left) hand. Leuer is scheduled to have surgery to repair the bone on Tuesday.

Leuer has developed into one of the toughest matchups in the conference and is arguably Wisconsin's best scorer. Watching Leuer grow into his role as a go-to player on this team have been one of the most enjoyable facets of the season thus far. Unfortunately, he now joins a list of marquee names from Big Ten teams to be sidelined for a significant time this season. I suppose one reason for optimism is that if one of your best players is going to suffer a major injury, it might as well be in the same year as Kevin Coble, Evan Turner, Lewis Jackson and Maurice Creek.

Another silver lining is that if Wisconsin maintains its composure and makes the NCAA tournament as we all expect, the team could getting one of the biggest pre-tournament boosts of any team in the country just in time for a deep run. Giving the wrist a fair 8-week timetable to heal, a 100% healthy Leuer could potentially return right around Big Ten tournament time to a UW team that may be flying under the radar. I'm sure the team would welcome the new challenge of reintegrating Leuer into the rotation.

However, if Leuer's progress is slow, this could end up being the most significant injury for the program since Alando Tucker missed nearly the entire 2003-04 season with a foot injury. Since Leuer is not eligible for the medical redshirt that Tucker took, we will all be keeping our fingers crossed that Leuer can make an impact on the court year again this season.

No one can replicate Leuer's experience or his exact value to Wisconsin, but a group of guys is certainly going to have to try to replace his production. I cannot imagine Jared Berggren would go from not playing straight to Bo Ryan's starting five, but that's a somewhat arbitrary distinction anyway. It seems like Ryan Evans or Jordan Taylor, fresh off his career-high 23-point showing, would be the best bets to step into the lineup.

Badgers, Spartans Jockey For Early Position

With Minnesota's loss to Purdue, Wisconsin's next two games will go a long way to shaping the early conference pecking order. Before the Badgers (12-2) get a shot at Purdue, they face off against arch-nemesis Michigan State (11-3). Wisconsin has lost four in a row in East Lansing, dating back to Bo Ryan's first loss to Tom Izzo in 2005.

This seems like two evenly matched teams, though Vegas has installed Sparty as the clear favorite. As the guys from MSU blog The Only Colors point out, both of these teams are doing what they do best. Namely, the Badgers are taking care of the basketball and the Spartans are hoarding their own missed shots. But no team in the nation limits opponent's second chances like Wisconsin.

The 17th-ranked Badgers enter the game scoring about 72 ppg, 10 fewer than the 10th-ranked Spartans. But MSU also gives up approximately 10 more ppg than UW does. See that evenly-matched theme again? As usual, it will come down to execution.

Trevon Hughes has led UW in scoring the past two games to snap out of the sleepwalk he was in prior to facing Ohio State. But the trepidation for Badger fans stems from Jon Leuer's inability to stay out of foul trouble at all in the team's first two Big Ten games (the same Leuer, btw, that The Only Colors mentioned as a possible Big Ten POY). Guys like budding rebound machine Draymond Green could make life difficult again for Leuer when coupled with MSU's ability to drive past the Badgers' perimeter defense to the cup.

Both teams have some depth, with a rotation of seven players and the ability to go 10 (UW) or 11 (MSU) deep if they have to. After seeing Ryan Evans perform against Duke earlier this year, I feel pretty comfortable with Bo's rotation staying composed in a big game. Can he duplicate this poise on the road?

With all the recent history between the two teams, it was not surprising to hear reports that Kalin Lucas allegedly toed the MSU company line with some comments in a recent interview, much like Goran Suton last season. But why would Lucas need to artificially inflate this game by ignorantly calling Wisconsin dirty? Are these guys being brainwashed by the head coach? There is not a single dirty player on this Wisconsin roster; in fact, if anything, many of the current Badgers are still learning to be less passive. Greg Stiemsma ain't walking through that door, Kalin.

Could it be that the Spartans need to pump themselves up to get that marquee win that has eluded them since beating Gonzaga? Since starting 4-0, Izzo's bunch has dropped every game against quality competition -- on a neutral site versus Florida, at North Carolina and at Texas. Incredibly tough slate, no doubt, but you can see why Michigan State might be searching for a balm of sorts. Right now the conference buzz is about Purdue, but a win over this year's new media darlings from Madison would put the Spartans right back at the forefront of the title chase. I, for one, have not forgotten that talent-wise Michigan State is just as stacked as it was to begin the year.

Links:
- Hughes was named one of 20 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award yesterday. I'd handicap this year's award for best point-guard as a two-horse race between Duke's Jon Scheyer and Kentucky's John Wall, with Sherron Collins at Kansas an outside consideration. Hughes is among the second-tier group after those three, but we shall see ...
- Sounds like Milwaukee native Calvin Godfrey is pretty comfortable with his new high school team up in Minnesota. The former Milwaukee Custer forward lit up Jordan Taylor's old crew, Benilde-St. Margaret's, on Tuesday night as the Twin Cities Hoops Czar chronicled.

Checking Back In

Returning from a tropical vacation to the same mountain of snow I left was not the only rude awakening I got earlier this week. It was an interesting time to be cut off from the information super highway to be sure.

I followed Wisconsin's shocking first-ever loss to UW-Green Bay on the web (again) before I skipped town, leaving me worried about which group of Badgers would show up against Marquette. Though Trevon Hughes and Jon Leuer willed the team into overtime against the Phoenix, and Ryan Evans seemed to play well, the turnovers and inability to lock down Green Bay's outside shooters were disconcerting. Wisconsin really had no business being in that game.

The worrying was all for naught though. While I was away, Leuer continued to catch fire. The junior forward is averaging 27 pts-per-40 mins in his last three outings, including a 24-point, 12-rebound masterpiece in 38 mins against Marquette. [box score]

Marquette was one of several teams in the region to hit a personnel snag over the last two weeks. The Jeronne and Tim Maymon circus pulled out of Milwaukee in search of greener pastures (Tennessee?) just days after the loss to Wisconsin. Iowa's Anthony Tucker showed he hasn't learned a thing, getting suspended indefinitely after a second arrest involving alcohol. And finally, the Royce White saga at Minnesota took a bizarre twist when he announced in an overly dramatic YouTube video that he was leaving college basketball. I'm sure the last chapter in that story is yet to be written.

Meanwhile, the Big Ten Conference "announced" it was going to consider expansion again. Well, the Chicago Tribune certainly took the bait and went hog wild with coverage of potential scenarios and implications. Count me as one who thinks Missouri is the most logical target due to proximity and an existing rivalry with Illinois. However, I promise not to get too worked up against the Rutgers and Syracuse suggestions since any expansion is pure speculation right now.

With their Big Ten brethren looming, the Badgers will try to avoid taking another dive when they host UW-Milwaukee tomorrow night. After piling on Cal Poly last Wednesday, Wisconsin has risen to No. 14 in the Pomeroy rankings even though it's still on the outside looking in at the traditional Top 25 polls. The Badgers have proven themselves thus far to again be exceptional defensive rebounders who take great care of the basketball, despite the occasional misstep against a Horizon league foe. Wisconsin has delivered an offensive efficiency above 113 for each of the past six games, only stumbling when it surrendered a 118.7 offensive efficiency on the road to Green Bay.

Since Pomeroy's individual ratings are now online, it was good to see that Jordan Taylor has cut down on his fouling while still dishing out the assists. Hughes, on the other hand, is drawing 6.7 fouls-per-40 mins -- good for 68th in the country. That is the most on the team since Alando Tucker's hey-days.

Maui Invitational: Game 2

Gonzaga coasted to victory over a slower Wisconsin team Tuesday night to advance to the Maui Invitational championship game. The Bulldogs proved they were an underrated team, one which will probably be ranked for much of the year.

Even though the Badgers avoided the foul trouble that plagued them the night before, they still got beat up on the inside. And not just by big man Robert Sacre. No, it was Gonzaga's penetration that manhandled Wisconsin. None of Wisconsin's guards could stay in front of Steven Gray or Demetri Goodson. In fact, the Zags' three starting guards combined for 42 points with only one 3-pointer among them. [box score]

Overall, way too much scrambling on defense throughout the contest. And more subpar shooting. Wisconsin shot under 40% for the second straight night and is hitting threes at a dreadful 24% clip (18-of-74!) through four games. The Zags made 33% more free throws (21) than the Badgers attempted (14). The unlikely trend gains momentum ...

The game commentators hit it right on the head when they were discussing how Wisconsin's offense comes within the confines of the system because the team lacks playmakers besides Trevon Hughes and perhaps Jon Leuer. Guys like Tim Jarmusz and Jason Bohannon can only take what the defense gives them. When the opponent gives nothing, those players give the Badgers nothing.

Even last night's stars had bad games. Hughes failed to get to the free throw line and had zero assists in 30 minutes. Keaton Nankivil had a tough night from the floor, including another missed dunk that may have brought down the house. My conclusion is that he must have small hands; I'm not sure how else he keeps clanking these.

The stats will show that Leuer shot under 50% from the field, but watching the first 35 minutes of play, you would have thought he hit everything. Leuer, who scored 18 points, found a real rhythm inside, especially with the short baseline jumpers. I would not mind if he stopped shooting treys altogether.

Early on, you could see bits and pieces of Hughes' style in Jordan Taylor's moves to the hoop. He continued to build on some those successfully drives and wound up with a career high 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Pretty impressive and encouraging considering how much the team will need him to fill that role next season.

Tomorrow's title game matchup between Robert Sacre and Cincinnati's Yancy Gates should be fun to watch. Wisconsin will play Maryland in the 3rd place game at 3:30 pm CT. Three quality opponents to start the season in my opinion. By the way, SI.com's Luke Winn wrote a good article about the recent evolution of the preseason tournament scene and how it has been influenced by the Worldwide Leader.

On the Stove Top: Media Day Edition

Edited 10/22 to include Media Day videos & additional content
Wednesday was Media Day, so folks got to ask Bo some questions after his first few practices of the season. We know what to expect Bo to give the media at this point: nothing specific. He said that practices have been very competitive though.

Two small things stood out after seeing video of the session. First, Bo was asked if he has been able to identify this early who the defensive stoppers might be on this year's team. He talked about Jordan Taylor and Tim Jarmusz specifically. No mention of Rob Wilson, which was slightly disappointing to me. Secondly, Bo said that the staff pointed out to both Jon Leuer and Keaton Nankivil that those players were not exactly where the team needed them to be physically last year. It seems the two guys have responded. The coach noted how Nankivil in particular "blew up" the Hill this off-season. Leuer says he has bulked up [video] to 228 lbs. (up from 190 as a freshman):

"I've put on about 15 pounds. Playing in the Big Ten, it's a physical league and there are a lot of guys that are bigger and stronger than you are, so you have to deal with that. If you haven't worked to get stronger, you're going to get pushed around. That was a major emphasis for us this offseason--getting stronger in our legs and core so we couldn't get bumped around, especially in the post."

Some early season previews have the Badgers falling well out of the Top 25 this season, but often still as a tournament team:

• #40 by Rivals
• #36 by CollegeHoops.net
• 7th in the Big Ten by Jeff Goodman at Foxsports
• 10-seed by ESPN's Joe Lunardi

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UWBadgers.com has profiled the team's two redshirt freshmen, Ryan Evans and Jared Berggren, leading up to the new season. Nothing hard-hitting, but it's still twice as much as you've heard from either of them so far.

The Sports Bubbler also posted video interviews with all the non-seniors from Media Day and I picked out a few in addition to Leuer's that were interesting. Berggren was named the player to watch by most of his teammates. To see the whole video series, visit SportsBubbler.com.

• Ryan Evans: profile / interview [video]
• Jared Berggren: profile / interview [video w/Mike Bruesewitz]
• Jordan Taylor: interview [video]
• Rob Wilson: interview [video]
• Ian Markolf: interview [video]
• Keaton Nankivil: interview [video]

: : :

Illinois Wolves director Mike Mullins spoke with Talking Illini yesterday and they discussed the Diamond Taylor situation for about three minutes or so [audio: start at 38-min mark]. The comments from Mullins reinforced that Taylor's dismissal was handed down from above Bo Ryan and the Athletic Department. The interview covers Chasson Randle also, whom Mullins says is no longer accepting scholarship offers, so his decision is creeping closer. Wisconsin is not expected to be a finalist for Randle's services at this point.

: : :

Speaking of the Class of 2011, a few of the high school juniors who have drawn interest from Bucky decided to verbal to other teams today. Luckily, nothing heartbreaking, but Villanova and Penn State will both be getting nice players.

Removed the following prospects from the recruiting sidebar:
: : : Class of 2011
SG Achraf Yacoubou, New York [s] [+] [+] {Villanova}
PG Trey Burke, Columbus OH {Penn State}

Badgers Tame The Same Old House Cats

If you saw the Power Poll from the other day, you already know I didn't think too highly of Northwestern in spite of their solid Pomeroy rating. Wednesday's beatdown at the hands of the Wisconsin Badgers may have doomed the Wildcats to lower end of the conference standings once again.

I find it amazing that Northwestern's football team can rise up every 8-10 years and put a nice product on the field, but the basketball team cannot seem to make any progress. Wisconsin's lead ballooned to 30 points in the second half, thanks to Jason Bohannon's sharpshooting. Bohannon actually quietly set or matched career highs in points, rebounds and assists. Wow. On the flip side, no Wildcat scored in double figures. [box score]

The Badgers have started out 3-0 in conference, but in my opinion, have bested three teams in the bottom half of the league. Associate head coach Greg Gard called the team's free-throw shooting the biggest disappointment of the night. A late rally by J-Bo and Marcus Landry left the team at 63.6% on the evening, so I suspect Gard had Trevon Hughes and and Jon Leuer (they shot a combined 3-of-9 on freebies) in mind when he said that. If that is the worst thing you can say about your team's performance, you are always coming away with a 'W' against Northwestern.

Wisconsin certainly had its way inside with Landry and Leuer, which was fun to watch. I mentioned before halftime that anything less than about 16 points from Marcus would be a disappointment. Unfortunately, he caught a few bad bounces on good looks, winding up with 12 points and five boards.

Leuer asserted himself early and often, stuffing the stat sheet with 15 pts (6-of-9), 8 rebs, 3 blks & 2 stls. His active hands and improved defense have led to an increase in playing time, much to the amusement of Badger fans.

Stats by StatSheet.com

Another positive was the starting backcourt combining for nine assists. A couple of Pop's dimes were particularly pretty. I am still amazed at how much criticism Hughes took after the Texas loss. It was totally uncalled for; Hughes is one of, if not the most valuable player on this Wisconsin team.

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Links:
- Iowa's Matt Gatens is the only Big 10 frosh to make BP's list of the Top 25 freshman in this "down year".
- I am hoping to get to a Madison Memorial game soon. I wish I could have seen the Spartans squeak passed Mike Bruesewitz's Henry Sibley squad last week, where future Badger recruits squared off against each other and fellow D1 talent.
- Harvard! Finally good for something besides hockey and spawning The National Lampoon. Can you say "let down" game? And Michigan fans, haven't we heard this Amaker story somewhere before?

Meeting the Challenge

The current joy of being a Wisconsin basketball fan is being able to see your team silence a turbulent home crowd with a game-winning shot in a big road game for the second year in a row. In a scene vaguely reminiscent of Michael Flowers' game-changing final sequence against Texas last year, Trevon Hughes calmly glided down the floor in a tie game and nailed a tough floater in traffic with less than a second left to beat Virginia Tech. The basket struck an opening blow for the Big Ten in its annual quest for national respect against the big, bad Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Badgers had been unable to corral VT's A.D. Vassallo during the second half as he single-handedly dismantled a fairly comfortable Wisconsin lead down the stretch. Vassallo's 3-pointer with seven seconds left sent the home crowd into pandemonium, yet distracted the team from organizing its full-court pressure and anything else other than token defense. That same pressure had given Badgers like Hughes, Joe Krabbenhoft and Jason Bohannon fits for the previous minute, allowing the Hokies to chip away.

Virginia Tech's momentary lapse (or more likely, a deliberate strategy) proved to be serendipitous, as Hughes was unimpeded in his progress down court. He even appeared to get fouled prior to his release. Following a brief celebratory reaction themselves, Krabby gathered the team quick enough to ensure VT got no easy looks at a half-court heave.

First and foremost, this was a great college basketball game. At last, I think even non-Wisconsin fans could agree that it was truly enjoyable to watch. All the elements were there: star power heating up at the right time (Vassallo), a valiant comeback by an underdog, a slighted team with a possible chip on its shoulder (UW), and both teams shooting the lights out.

It is time to embrace the Badgers as a team of shooters; last year was no fluke. Virginia Tech hit 11-of-15 from behind the arc and 26-of-51 (51%) overall from the field. Yet Wisconsin one-upped the Hokies by connecting on 12-of-18 3-pointers en route to 51.1% overall shooting. [box score]

Vassallo was the great Hokie hope in the end, striking from 30-feet out on a few occasions as he posted 24 of his game-high 30 points after halftime, thanks to six treys. I kept yelling at the TV that #40 was the only guy the Badgers needed to guard, yet he kept getting great looks. Oddly, he was best guarded on his final shot that tied the game.

UW really needs to tighten up its perimeter defense before league play starts, but the problem seems to be that guys like Bohannon and Tim Jarmusz have to allow quicker players a cushion so they do not get blown by off the dribble. This is where the development of Rob Wilson comes into play. Wilson, by the way, provided a great early spark for the team in this game.

Jon Leuer gets my nod for UW's player of the game. He sank both of his shots from long distance and showed the offensive versatility and aggressiveness that has had fans (and coaches) salivating for about a year now. Even his attempted put-back dunk that rimmed out had me out of my seat. Leuer finished with 17 points on 11 attempts to go along with six rebounds and two blocks.

Landry missed only one shot and finished with another studly line: a team-high 18 points & 4 assists, plus two more blocks. Lo and behold, J-Bo knocked down three treys after missing his first couple of open looks. A great night all around.

The elephant in the room of course is the "Big Donut" put up by VT's Jeff Allen. Hampered by a few ticky-tack fouls (and some even dumber, obvious fouls), Allen played only 15 minutes and had two points.

Had Allen not fouled out, I think the dynamic of the game changes and as crazy as it sounds, it may not have been as close. With Allen in the game, maybe Vassallo wouldn't have gotten a chance to catch fire. Marcus Landry was holding his own -- and more -- offensively with Allen doing all he could to slow the goggled one. Landry went wild from outside, hitting all four of his 3-point attempts. He did not have to worry about guarding Allen himself, though, as Keaton Nankivil picked up the assignment to begin the game. But no doubt, Allen's absence allowed guys like Leuer a reprieve on defense.

Savor the flavor: replay of the last 12 seconds [video]

Media's Preseason Picks Are In

Wisconsin's Marcus Landry was named to the Big Ten's preseason all-conference team by the media this weekend, joining Manny Harris, Raymar Morgan, E'Twaun Moore and preseason POY selection Robbie Hummel.

It appears that Landry's Most Outstanding Player award from last season's Big Ten Tournament has helped distinguish him from the three other heralded upperclassmen returnees in Madison. Landry himself agreed. I am interested to see if the Goggled One can rise to the occasion.

Meanwhile, the media projects UW to finish third in conference play this season, behind Purdue and Michigan State. All three teams should be very solid this season, while the young'ns at Ohio State and Minnesota will determine whether the Big Ten begins its return to glory this season or next.

: : :

The people have spoken. The majority of Hoops Marinara readers prefer Keaton Nankivil over Jon Leuer to start for the Badgers. Nankivil earned 51% of the vote, compared to 35% for Leuer. Nankivil has been getting a lot of attention lately as the one who will fill Brian Butch's shoes initally as the fifth starter. Even Bo Ryan had a few encouraging words about Nankivil in his Wisconsin media day press conference [video] last week.

It will certainly be a group effort, however, including both a more fit (sober?) Kevin Gullikson and J.P. Gavinski -- like it or not. I would not be surprised to see Leuer end up with more minutes played than Nankivil either, as long as Jon can keep his back healthy.

Exhibition Opener

The first starting five of the year consisted of Trevon Hughes, Joe Krabbenhoft, Marcus Landry, Brian Butch and Greg Steimsma versus Edgewood College on Sunday night. Michael Flowers came off the bench quickly with Jason Bohannon though, and made an immediate impact. One would guess that Flowers will be in the starting lineup in place of Krabbenhoft to start the regular season.

Rumor has it (alarm!) that Flowers has been upset about being placed at shooting guard while he really desires to play the point this season. That's not likely to happen with Hughes impressing enough as a floor general to justify starting him and Krabbenhoft ready to reprise his sixth man, jack-of-all-trades role from last year.

Unfortunately, I was not able to see any of the exhibition game with Edgewood, but people are already drooling over Jon Leuer, who used a meaningless game against a Division III opponent to catapult himself from the team's most obscure freshman baller to its most hyped.

Poor Leuer is already on the short list of Badger players fighting an uphill battle for my admiration and respect. In my opinion, Leuer needs to improve dramatically to see much floor time as a first-year player. In fact, I even suggested after the Red vs. White scrimmage that he should think about redshirting. I still see a funky, slow-developing release on his shot and a perimeter-oriented game. His perimeter focus is not bad (in fact it will come in handy down the road), but Krabbenhoft and and Landry have a lot of minutes at the small forward spot already wrapped up.

As Leuer continues to fill in his tall frame and confirm his early reputation as a nice shooter, I am able to admit I was wrong ... about the reshirting. You just cannot sit a guy who can explode and exploit a matchup like Leuer has the potential to do. I really want to be wrong about this kid.