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!

Here is a question: Let's say Rodgers restructures his contract in a way where he frees up cap space. Yes, that would mean he would take a significant cut in pay, but let's just say it happens. So his annual salary goes down from just under $60M to $40M. Would you be more in favor of keeping him since there would be more money to get some additional pieces, or would you still want to trade him. Cap numbers can be found here: https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/green-bay-packers

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.

I was disappointed when I saw the Badgers had lost to Iowa by the third tiebreaker criteria. Tying Iowa was a great accomplishment by the Badgers.

Based on Fickell's comments, I believe he doesn't really want to build through the Portal. He wants to recruit high quality individuals and have them work their way up the depth chart. Chryst leaving the cupboard so bare on the offensive side along with implementing a new system required the huge haul from the Portal. I'll predict something though... Wisconsin will start having very good recruiting classes with more 4 and 5 star kids. Kids will start entering the transfer portal and people will be exclaiming, "What is going on here? Kids are leaving the program! What are we going to do?" That will prompt another awesome "yell at the clouds" reference by Louis (well done 😉)

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.

Sorry for quoting myself, but I saw this:

I was surprised that all of them decided to Wisconsin. For me, I am stoked that there are top-quality kids that want to come to Wisconsin. Let them work hard, battle it out, and the cream will rise to the top. For those who don't get the playing time, the portal is available. They did a great job of getting Mordecai to play this year to stagger the quarterbacks. Fickell and Longo have a great pedigree with recruiting and developing quarterbacks. Wide receivers may start coming in droves. Longo coached DK Metcalf and AJ Brown. I am nervous, however, about OL, DL, and RB. Yes Allen and Chez are here this year, but what is coming after that? The RB tradition at Wisconsin is (almost) second to none over the past 20-30 years.

I hope the Badgers continue to recruit good offensive lineman. They have been HUGE (6' 7" and bigger). When Gary Andersen came to Wisconsin, he recruited smaller lineman. I was not a fan. Hopefully, the Badgers can keep the tradition of the excellent Offensive Line going.

It is more exciting when Wisconsin is a destination. There are many people who seem to be surprised at the dumpster fire (excellent term, BTW Ron) that the Portal has turned into. Once NIL entered the picture, then it turned into a sugar honey iced tea show. To think, the first really big transfer was Russell Wilson from NC State to Wisconsin.

... 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. ?‍♀️

We know that something else will come in to fill it's place. Sort of like Vine and TikToc.