Sconnie Basketball

Khalil was a machine this past season, a force to be reckoned with, a dunking and blocking superhuman. I think Iverson is going to be the next Nigel Hayes, but I think he’s going to go beyond that and exceed Hayes. Hayes has kind of fallen his senior year in comparison to his sophomore and junior season. Everyone thought he was going to have an outstanding senior year, and get drafted into the NBA, but he hasn’t really been an incredible star this year.

Khalil on the other hand is only a sophomore and he came into this season sort of as a silent threat. He had had a good freshman season, but it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. This year he started to make himself more known yet still not making a lot of noise. I see him progressing at a steady rate, and I think he’s going to turn into someone like Alando Tucker. This is just my prediction but I think he’ll make it to the NBA by the time he’s through at Wisconsin with flying colors. He’s one of those guys who is an effective player and he’s really consistent. The thing I love about him is that every now and then he’ll come out with a crazy block or a dirty standing dunk, and everyone just kind of looks around like “where did that come from?” His defensive game is strong and he knows how to be smart about it. He knows when to swat and how to block without fouling.

I think he’s someone to keep and eye on, and I think he’s going to be a major game changer in the next couple of years.

The badgers are scheduled to play Virginia Tech in the first round of the NCAA tournament and I wanted to take a minute to take about their head coach, Buzz Williams. Buzz is a familiar face for the badgers and a potential threat. Buzz is a good guy and an intense coach, but he really knows what he’s doing. Wisconsin fans are familiar with Buzz for his coaching record at Marquette, where he lead the them to five NCAA tournament appearances, three Sweet 16’s and one appearance in the Elite Eight.

Although he’s a great coach, a lot of Marquette fans are bitter when it comes to Buzz because when he was offered the head coaching position at Virginia Tech, it looked like he couldn’t get away fast enough. He’s had moderate success at Virginia Tech, but I’m sure Marquette fans are still smirking at the fact that he’s had more success in Wisconsin so far.

Buzz is an unusual sweaty breed. He’s such an ugly dude and he sweats so much it’s hard not to find hilarity in his appearance. He also gets really intense when he’s coaching and he screams really loud and spits all over the place. He’s got to have some kind vocal damage because he yells so much and every press conference and interview I’ve heard, his voice is so husky it sounds painful.

Nevertheless I like him because he’s a good coach and he’s a good guy. He is an active advocate for our veterans, and has done a lot of charity work to support our troops. He’s been involved in a number of volunteer programs, and contributes to society in a positive way through the basketball community.

Keep on Buzzin’ Buzz!

The regular season is now officially over, rankings are out and the badgers got screwed. We all thought at worst, the badgers would get maybe a six seed. Well not only did they not get a six seed, or even a seven seed, but an eight seed! So many people are outraged about this because everyone knows the badgers are not an eight seed team, at least not this season. They also had a pretty good run in the conference tournament which a lot of people thought would make up for the three hits they took from Ohio State, Michigan State and Iowa.

I was thinking about this when the brackets came out and I was looking at the teams they would most likely play, and I started to think, maybe the badgers just aren’t that great this year. I came to the conclusion that I right, they aren’t that “great”, but they certainly are a “good” team. Just when I found myself doubting the badgers, I found out that Minnesota got a five seed! THE GOPHERS ARE NOT A FIVE SEED TEAM.

How is the justifiable? Wisconsin beat Minnesota twice in regular season play, finished higher than them in the regular season and the conference tournament, yet they end up three seeds lower than them. Why did that happen?

I’ve come to the conclusion that the NCAA hates the badgers, and that everyone wants us to fail. That’s the only logical explanation and I refuse to believe anything else.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiO4uaO947TAhXMz4MKHRigD_QQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgiphy.com%2Fgifs%2FxYHscQ1Np55i8&bvm=bv.151426398,d.amc&psig=AFQjCNFJhPezHqxauRhD8EbEygw7hXMR8w&ust=1491537162292400

The Badgers were looking pretty decent towards the end of the season, and it looked like they were going to be battling for first place. This wouldn’t last long however, because right before the conference tournament they lost three games in a row. Falling to Ohio State, Michigan State and Iowa, beating Minnesota after that wasn’t going to help much. They ended up finishing fourth in conference, not what they had been shooting for at all. We’ll have to wait and see what seed they get after these three losses, but i’m sure it won’t be as high as they wanted. We’ll also have to see how they do in the conference tournament. A lot of times if teams end on a bad note there’s kind of an inevitable crappy cherry on top that says they will do poorly in the tournament. However I don’t think that will affect there performance in the NCAA tournament because like I always say, anything can happen in March Madness.

The Badgers are giving fans something to worry about after they suffered their second consecutive loss to Michigan, Michigan executed well and did what they needed to do to get the job done. While Michigan extended their winning steak, the badgers record is suddenly dwindling. The Wolverines (17-9, 7-6 Big Ten) have won three straight to boost their chances at making the NCAA Tournament, giving them the opportunity of possibly improving their seeding and chances of advancing.

The Badgers (21-5, 10-3) have lost consecutive games for the first time this season, dropping them into a three-way tie atop the Big Ten standings with No. 16 Purdue and No. 23 Maryland with five games remaining in the regular season. Although we were without our senior point guard, Bronson Keonig, the badgers still should have been able to pull off a win. Koenig is currently out with a calf injury in his left leg, forcing us to break our consistent starting line up of 25 games.

The badgers apparently need Koenig to get healthy soon, because they suffered a major loss without him. D’Mitrik Trice took his place but wasn’t enough to get the job done because he made a couple of big freshman mistakes throughout the game, specifically in the second half.

Happ was a shining star per usual but he couldn’t carry the whole team on his back. To me this game was perhaps a dooming foreshow of what may come in the NCAA tournament if the badgers have and off game. It exemplified that if they’re not all connected, whether it’s due to injuries of mental issues, the could fall apart with the flip of a switch.

Wisconsin fell to the Northwestern Wildcats 66 to 59 on Sunday night, sending the Wildcats to their first ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament. It was a bitter sweet victory for me personally, because I also a Northwestern fan. I was more upset that the badgers lost, but a part of me is happy that Northwestern gets to go to the tournament.

Bryant McIntosh scored 25 points, and to defeat a defensive minded Wisconsin Team. Dererk Pardon added 11 for the Wildcats (19-6, 8-4), and they also doubled up on big man Ethan Happ to get the job done. Nigel Hayes scored nine of his 13 points in the second half for the Badgers (21-4, 10-2), who had their eight-game winning streak snapped.

The Badgers didn’t go down easily though, making an impressive comeback within five points with one minute left in the game. Zac Showalter is largely responsible for this surge of adrenalin, hitting two foul shots in the last 50 seconds.

But McIntosh followed with two free throws with 42 seconds left, and Wisconsin ran out of time. McIntosh hit the big shots late, including a drive and basket with 1:58 left to give Northwestern an eight-point lead after Hayes’ back-bending layup attempt on the other end rolled off the rim.

Wisconsin is still at the top of the pack in the Big Ten Conference however and they are expected to stay that way until the regular season plays out. Although this was a surprising loss for the badgers, it won’t affect them too drastically in the long run. As long as they win their last few conference games they should be solid; up next the badgers face the blue and yellow boys as they’ll travel to Michigan.

Ethan Happ is becoming a well known name in the households of badger fans across Wisconsin. Happ originally started out as a redshirt freshman on the scout team, and no one could’ve predicted the things he’d be able to do in just a few short years. His freshman year he was forced to learn the ins and outs of being a power forward, as he quickly realized he was one of the few guys tall enough to go against Frank Kaminski.

Kaminski showed him the ropes, although Happ has said it was a frustrating process because he was just no match for Kaminski’s raw talent. He would be singled out in practice to help Kaminski improve his game, to help the team reach their highest potential. Although it was a tough journey, it’s now starting to pay off for Happ.

Happ is now. what many would argue, the most valuable player on the team. Some say he has even surpassed Nigel Hayes, who was seriously considering entering the NBA draft last year. He is a starter, and he is their key post player taking on the big guys from competitors.

One area he down need to improve however is his free throws. He hinders below the rest of the team, shooting just 52 percent from the line. If he wants to become an unstoppable well-rounded player, he needs to crank that stat way up. Other than that though, Happ is helping to pave the way for another great season for the badgers.

Last year Bo Ryan, former head coach of the badgers, announced 12 games into the season that he would be stepping down. After 15 seasons as head coach badger fans were heart broken and many thought their season would go down the drain. They already had a rough start losing 4 starters that helped them make it to the National Championship game in 2014-2015, Sam Dekker, Frank Kaminski, Trevon Jackson, and Josh Gasser.

It was announced that assistant coach Greg Gard would take over as head coach, and many started to realize Ryan had resigned when he did on purpose, to ensure that Gard would get the position for the rest of the season. Many thought that Gard couldn’t handle the role of head coach but he proved them wrong, leading the badgers all the way to the sweet sixteen in the NCAA tournament.

Many thought it was all over after an upsetting loss to Nebraska, but then they received an at-large-bid to the National tournament. Gard helped them defeat Pittsburg and Xavier, and they came very close to upsetting Notre Dame, but eventually took the fall in the sweet sixteen.

Now, in his second year as head coach, Gard has “rebuilt” this new team in just one short year, training players like Ethan Happ to be key game changers. The badgers have an overall record of 22-5 with a conference record of 11-3, and they are expected to make their 14th appearance at the NCAA tournament this year.

I think Gard was the perfect guy for the job, and he’s a genuinely good guy too. He already knew the players and the team structure from having previously been the assistant coach, which is the major reason he was such a good fit. The players trusted him and respected him already and they didn’t need to take extra time to get comfortable with him. Keep up the good work Greg, we’re counting on you!

Khalil Iverson

V. Tech Goes Down

Got ‘Em all Buzzin’

“Badgers Get an Eight Seed”…. Wait what did I just read?

Badgers Lose Three in a Row

Salty Pritzl Dunk

Badgers Lose to Michigan: Game Review

Willie Wins, Bucky Gets a Beating: Game Review

What’s (Happ)enin’ Hot Stuff

Our Savior, Greg Gard