Jumping on the bandwagon!

#1
B

BadgerVol

Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2007
Messages
5
Likes
0
#1
As a disappointed Wisconsin fan, I'd like to declare that I'm jumping on the Tennessee bandwagon for the remainder of the season. I am a long time Bruce Pearl fan. Before transferring to Wisconsin, I was a student at UWM during Bruce Pearl's early years. He wasn't yet a face/body painter, but he was already a riot to watch. Even in the Horizon League the guy would get worked up enough to sweat through his suit coat! Anyway, I think Tennessee is clicking right now as well as any team in the country, and we UWM fans know as well as anyone how Pearl can put together a run in the tournament. Kick some buckeye ass this Thursday!

Also, there is a rumor that Tennessee may start a home and home with Wisconsin. Has anyone here heard anything to this effect?
 
#3
#3
Welcome aboard! You're a tad late to the party, which is understandable since the Badgers were so good this year. :)
 
#5
#5
Thanks. Better late than never I guess. It was a pretty huge season for the Badgers, but the team's chemistry just seemed to fall apart near the end. It seems the very opposite is happening for the Vols. They are really peaking at the right time, and I like Tennessee's chances of going very deep into this tournament.

Best of luck to the Running Rebels. They are underrated at a 7 (top 10 rpi), and I was not happy to see them on the other side when the brackets came out.
 
#6
#6
What kind of talent does Wisconsin have returning next year? I don't really know a whole lot about them other than they were really good this year.
 
#7
#7
Obviously Wisconsin loses a lot in Tucker, Taylor and to a lesser extent Chappell. Taylor was great at times, but is not much of a defender and very streaky. We return everyone else. Look for Marcus Landry and Brian Butch (both at the 4/5) to fill in most of Tucker's post scoring next year. Wisconsin will be deep in big men with Greg Stiemsma, redshirt freshman J.P. Gavinski, and freshman recruits Jon Leuer and Keaton Nankivil (Wisconsin Mr. Basketball) coming off the bench. Also, look for returning starter Michael Flowers and sophomore guards Trevon Hughes and Jason Bohannon to fill in for Taylor next year. Neither sophomores (freshman this year) had a lot of playing time this year, but Bohannon (Mr. Basketball in Iowa last year) is a phenomenal shooter and will be deadly from behind the arc when he learns to get his shot off quicker. Hughes has been called the most talented prospect for Wisconsin and is a great defender but hasn't had much opportunity to develop yet. Krabbenhoft will start and may be our only true 3 on the team. He isn't very athletic, but is a great rebounder, makes very few mistakes, and is as tough as they come.

Bottom line: Wisconsin will not be nearly as hyped next year, but I expect Wisconsin will still finish top 3 in the Big Ten and hopefully make a deeper tourney run. Too often this year Wisconsin looked like they were just waiting for Tucker or Taylor to take over the game, and they should be more balanced with the loss. I hope to see a team similar to the 2004-05 Wisconsin team that made an elite eight run coming off the loss of Devon Harris.

Anyone want to give me a home fan's perspective on the Vols?
 
#8
#8
badgervol, i have also heard that tennessee and wisconsin will be playing a home and home in the next few years, i don't remember a date on it, maybe 2009-2010?
 
#9
#9
Anyone want to give me a home fan's perspective on the Vols?
Click to expand...

Basically, our team this year is young, small, and energetic. We will only graduate one senior this year (Bradshaw) who plays an undersized PF usually, but has skills at point. He doesn't score much but has like a 13-1 assist to turnover ratio in the tournament. We have 4 freshmen who play big minutes every game (Chism, Crews, Tabb, R. Smith), all of which have come on very strong as the season has progressed. Chism and Crews rotate at center. They tend to go back and forth between who's playing better at any given time, but Chism has been more consistent down the stretch. R. Smith starts at point and has really grown up fast for a freshman who didn't even play point in high school. Tabb comes off the bench, but he is one of our best on the ball defenders. Lofton and J. Smith are our starting guards and the leading scoring duo in the SEC. They both should have 1 more season left if Lofton doesn't go pro. There just aren't words to describe Lofton. He's just amazing. Earlier in the season, our team did what you were describing where they would just wait for Lofton to take over the game, but then he sprained an ankle and was out for 4 games, and ever since then we've been a lot more well rounded. Another big contributor that doesn't get mentioned a lot is Childress. He rotates with Bradshaw at the 4. He was questionable at the beginning of the season but has started playing some great ball lately. Him and Chism both have a good 3 ball for being big men. Basically, we play a lot of freshmen who don't play like freshmen anymore and should only lose one player after this year, so there's a lot of upside.

I'm sure people will add to/disagree with parts or all of this, but that's just my take.
 
#10
#10
BadgerVol said:
As a disappointed Wisconsin fan, I'd like to declare that I'm jumping on the Tennessee bandwagon for the remainder of the season. I am a long time Bruce Pearl fan. Before transferring to Wisconsin, I was a student at UWM during Bruce Pearl's early years.
Click to expand...

Somebody get HatVol over here and show him that we have proof that Bruce Pearl has love in Big 10+1 country...
 
#11
#11
Heard Rick Majerus on Mike and Mike this morning, sounds like he might be interested in the Michigan job. Could be tough for you guys.
 
#12
#12
I'm skeptical of Majerus taking another coaching job. It's just hard to imagine someone that fat and out of shape coaching basketball. More important than Michigan though, we Badgers really hope Minnesota doesn't get their act together. Wisconsin has been able to treat Minnesota as in-state recruiting for both football and basketball in recent years, and that has really helped our talent level.
 
#13
#13
I count Wisconsin as my second favorite football team. I've never even been to Wisconsin but their style of play and the big nasty corn fed lineman they always have make them number 2 in my book.
 
#14
#14
ConMan said:
I count Wisconsin as my second favorite football team. I've never even been to Wisconsin but their style of play and the big nasty corn fed lineman they always have make them number 2 in my book.
Click to expand...

Dayne should have given that Heisman to those linemen
 
#15
#15
ConMan said:
I count Wisconsin as my second favorite football team. I've never even been to Wisconsin but their style of play and the big nasty corn fed lineman they always have make them number 2 in my book.
Click to expand...
Yeah, remember that row of beasts they fielded this year? Average size was like 6'6" and 340 lbs. or something crazy.
 
#17
#17
I met a Wisconsin Football player about 4 years ago in a Hottub in a Hotel. :)

Forgot his name, but we ended up talking about College Football and he said he played football for Wisconsin.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top