Samurai Bucky

Purdue loses three of the past four games. Maybe there is something to the strength of the B1G?

The problem for small tech companies is that "good talent" or talent with experience often demands six figures. The people who don't have the breadth of knowledge but have 5 or so years of experience are still looking for 80K or so.

Lopez got into foul trouble early and was a non-factor. I am trying not to get spoiled with the Bucks. They are a good team and very entertaining. Feer the Deer -- this is the way

I did not see the Nebraska game, so I cannot comment on what happened there. There are two distinct things that I saw that haven't been part of the Badger mindset: offensive rebounds and not as many post backdowns. Up to this point, I thought Jordan Davis was the only one who was a quality rebounder. Crowl is "a rebounder" simply because he is 7'. There are players that seem to be able to find holes, position themselves, etc. when rebounding. Also, there was less of the, "we put up a shot, so let's turn our heads and run the other way." You don't get to be at the bottom of the entire NCAA (349th, IIRC) in offensive rebounding unless it is based on a philosophy instead of physical ability. I do not recall too many times where the ball was in the post and it was the "I'll back down and everybody else stand around" approach. Crowl did it a few times with some nice moves, and I think Wahl did it a few times. They decided to use better motion, back passes, better screens, and getting momentum towards the basket. Hmmm... maybe that helped with the better offensive rebound production, too? Like others on the board, we were thinking that Chuckie was going to single-handedly shoot up off-balanced bricks and give the game back to the Wolverines. Good for him for not forcing up as many as he did in the past. Good for the Badgers to trust somebody else to get the job done -- although nobody made a FG in the last, what was it, five minutes? On a side note -- I was impressed at the quick handshake by the coaches 😉

The first time I saw something similar is when you could use Photoshop to "miniaturize" pictures. The goal was to make it look like a model or something like that. When I saw it on TV for the first time, I thought it was an attempt to bring 3d-ish watching to sports. For me, it wasn't that big of a deal. Within 10-20 years, we will be watching holograms instead of flat screen TVs anyway. I don't play Madden that much anymore. Perhaps it is to be similar to that or to the FIFA video game series?

Maybe if more of the team would fight for a rebound more often, they would do better. Essegian and Klesmit are the only two who know how to box out. Jordan Davis seems to be the only one who tries for an offensive rebound. Wahl, for whatever reason, is nowhere close to where he was last year. Crowl gets pushed around way too much. I hope Essegian doesn't transfer.

Did anybody respond with, "The Bible?" 😉

Waited for Wakanda Forever to come out on Disney+. Disappointed, but not surprised. There were times where I thought I was watching a DC movie. I'm glad I saw it, though, so I can stay up on all things Marvel.

I'm sure it helps, but I think we are seeing what OSU, Oregon, Alabama, etc. have been doing for years. Wisconsin is finally catching up.

When I saw BW3's Mango Habanero sauce at Meijer, I snatched a few bottles. Awesome stuff!

Started watching Wednesday on Netflix. I like it so far. Is Catherine Zeta-Jones in everything now (see National Treasure: Edge of History which I like, too).

Just saw Knives Out this weekend. Very good!!!! Yes... Glass Onion is next!

10 pages of items and counting... 😉 I'm sure I'm oversimplifying this, but I see some glaring issues. Nobody attacks the lane. By attacking, I don't mean turning your back to the basket and dribble down. Johnny Davis attacked the basket last year and that is one of the main reasons why they were Big Ten Champs. You put pressure on the defense. Heck, at least when the other team has a player that is lights out, switch up and force him to work! You can't do that when it is a 4x1 with the 1 dribbling down to the block for 10 seconds. The offense if very stagnant (see previous point). Dribble... dribble... dribble and maybe pass. If you get it to one of your bigs, watch them try to back down for 10 seconds and, maybe, throw up a shot. Sure, you might kick it out to somebody to jack up a three which doesn't go in as often as we would like. I don't have a doctorate in basketball, but I don't think they are running any form of the swing. The Badgers are being out hustled. I was by the band for the Minnesota game at home. That may be the beginning of the hustle issue. Minnesota came back because of desire. I don't see that with the Badgers recently. How many offensive rebounds do they allow to the other team during a game? Way too many. The depth on the team is not very good. *** WAY TOO OBVIOUS *** MAKE YOUR FREE THROWS! Sorry... Tyler Wahl is not as good as people think he is. Away from the basket, he gets owned when he is on defense. You could make a "not top 10" video of how he gets schooled. On offense? Terrible. He might average negative assists per game. So many comments on whether or not Gard is a good coach. I think he is a good coach. It may take him a little longer to make a decision than I would like, but he seems to be fine. I also know that recruiting is very iffy right now. I do know the talent isn't there and Gard isn't making changes with the talent he does have to be successful. So, from that standpoint, he isn't making the necessary changes. Very disappointing.

This reminds me of the old freeway plan for the Milwaukee area... http://midwestroads.com/wisconsin/past/reports/m03_1965proposed1990system.jpg

What we have seen the last few games is what happens when the smoke and mirrors are removed.

... and an interior defensive lineman. There were too many times where they did not control the line of scrimmage on the defensive side.

When I order from Jimmy John's through the app, I get a notice that they got the order. I then make my way over to pick it up. I get a message the next day (if I'm lucky) saying the order is ready for pickup. ?‍♀️

Was at the game last night. A lot of fun, but much closer than it needed to be. One key is at around the 10:00 mark of the second half (I seem to recall 9:48, but not sure). Minnesota outworked and "out-desired" the Badgers to cut the 13 point lead. I don't know if it was evident on TV, but behind the band, you could certainly see it. Klesmit and Essegian are, IMHO, the hardest workers on the floor. Klesmit will at times will avoid toning it down a little. The second foul in that two-foul sequence was a little iffy, but he probably got it because he was very physical on defense. There were more than a handful of times when Crowl would miss on his post move and instead of fight for the rebound, he would put his head down and just run back. There might have been a pout in there once in awhile. I know he had a good stat line, but it could have been much, much better.

I have a picture from the store of the cover of People where it says Betty White turns 100. She died before her 100th birthday.

NVM -- site didn't update and I posted twice.

https://nypost.com/2022/12/22/juwan-howard-flips-out-in-michigans-loss-to-unc-video/

I saw that and had to do a double take. I think Howard had a good thing going up until he lost it against Greg Gard. That publicly highlighted some character flaws that have hurt the program. I'll bet Michigan was willing to overlook that. Nebraska isn't terrible. I saw Andy Katz suggested that Minnesota would be the only team not to play in the postseason. The others would play in the NCAA or the NIT.

I'll bank on Howard going first. Iowa will keep Fran around because they don't want to disrespect him. The program may suffer, but they can say they stuck with him. Might be the same situation as Jim Leonhard, except Leonhard wasn't a good coach. So many people were very mad that Fickell was hired because McIntosh should have honored the internal coach. I say let Leonhard come back in 8-10 years. He can sow his oats on somebody else's program.

Translation to the Juwan Howard tirade: "Where in the world is Greg Gard???!!! I need to slap him up!"

It appears the Hawkeye faithful are turning bitter with Fran. My prediction -- when his kids graduate, he is gone.