Great Week of Basketball

As is usually the case in mid-November, I spend a week touring our state and watching as many basketball games as I can while trying to see each of our scholarship teams as well as our professional teams very early in the season.

Thus far, I have seen .....

Sunday, November 15

UW-Parkside hosted Concordia University (NCAA Division III - Mequon, Wisconsin) at DeSimone Gymnasium with a 12:00 noon start. The Rangers only suited up nine healthy bodies which seemed a little odd and stuck out immediately. Coach Reigel basically played 7 players the entire game.

The game was competitive but I don't believe neither team played their best basketball and left with many questions to be answered. I don't think either team ever had a lead greater than 10 points from what I can remember.

Falcon forward Tyler Granrath (6-2, G, Port Washington) scored a few baskets but, more impressively, he made an amazing 17 of 19 free throws besides pulling down 10 defensive rebounds. Kyle Barth (6-6, F, Wautoma) also added 19 points. Concordia outrebounded Parkside 39-31 if the end-of-the-game stats sheet was accurate. The Rangers will have to improve upon that stat quickly or it's going to be a very long year within the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

Three Parkside players eventually fouled out (Sam Katula, Zach Blesich and Jeremy Saffold). Grant Johnson scored 29 points for UWP on the day including a 3-point shot at the end of regulation that sent the game into overtime.

Obviously, this was a huge win for Concordia and a very big loss for Parkside. The Rangers are the only NCAA Division II school located in Wisconsin and, therefore, they need to win games against any NCAA Division III school that they play...especially those schools from Wisconsin.

A very special thank you to Coach Reigel, Coach Wolfe and the UWP staff for the great seats. Sheldon Cooks (2012, 6-7, F, Kenosha Bradford), C.J. Malone (2012, 5-10, G, Menomonee Falls) and Nic Stokes (2012, 6-0, G, Milwaukee Rufus King) also attended this game and had a chance to meet with the UWP coaching staff following the tough loss.


Monday, November 16

The Dallas Maverick's came to the Bradley Center for the final game of their 4-game roadtrip to visit our Milwaukee Bucks. Dallas has been playing good basketball early in the season and certainly provided the young Bucks a stiff test early in the season.

The Bucks did not play with enough intensity on defense in the first half. This sesms to be an early season trend with our team. The Mavs led after the first quarter by like 7 and stretched their lead at the half to 12 points

One of the things I've picked up on early after attending a couple of Bucks games is the fan support and love for rookie Brandon Jennings. I was able to coach Brandon at the 2007 Reebok All American Camp. He also played for our 10U coach and current Milwaukee Hamilton varsity coach, Tom Diener as well as Rufus King head coach, Jim Gosz during the 2008 McDonald's All-American Game which was held here in Milwaukee at the Bradley Center.

Brandon is so quick and he is able to attack gaps with limited space. He left a lot on the table defensively when he played on the grassroots circuit but I can see immediately that his year spent overseas really forced him to play harder on both ends of the floor.

The game came down to the final possession in the 4th Quarter and every single person in the Bradley Center knew where the ball was going. Dirk Nowitski did not disappoint hitting a tough fadeaway jumper and giving the Mavs the win. Dirk ended up with 32 points for the night.

Coach Skiles has the Bucks playing harder and I believe that they will improve quit a bit over the next five months.


Tuesday, November 17

I was back at the Bradley Center for the Marquette game as the Golden Eagles hosted Maryland Eastern Shore. I saw plenty of familiar faces in the crowd as many grassroots coaches and support personnel were in attendance as well.

Lazar Hayward filled the stat sheet in this one folks. The senior and best collegiate player currently playing in the state of Wisconsin on any team had a career high 28 points to go along with a team high 8 rebounds. We all know that Lazar can play but he is going to have some big nights this season if the Golden Eagles are going to win a lot of games.

Jimmy Butler has kind of become "Robin" to Lazar's "Batman" this season. I really enjoy watching Butler play. He is long and skilled and rarely seems to try to do more than he is actually capable of.

The senior guards, David Cubillan and Maurice Acker, are making the most of their final season. These two guys have been through a lot over the years and you just feel obligated to really cheer them on.

Of course, Jeronne Maymon continues to play well in spurts. He will be a major factor in Marquette's ability to rebound against larger teams in the Big East. I expect Jeronne's role on the team to increase in the months to come.

A special thanks to Coach Williams, Coach Autry and Coach Collins for the fantastic seats. Nic Stokes (2012, 6-0, G, Milwaukee Rufus King) and Nathan Tanguay (2013, 6-4, F, Mukwonago) also attended this game and had a chance to meet with the Marquette coaching staff following the Golden Eagles victory.


Wednesday, November 18

I made the trip with my wife over to Madison for the Badgers game against Oakland. The Grizzlies are favored to win the Summit League this season. Our good friend, Kevin Scharnek and his son Chase also joined us for the game.

We rolled into the Kohl Center a little early to spend some time with some of the famlies of my former players. It is always great to keep in touch with each family as the relationships that we build every season within our grassroots program are so special to me and my family.

I ran into Ed Andrist prior to the game. He is the head coach at UW-Stout and a good friend. I have been lucky enough to speak at his fall clinic several times in the past couple of years. I continue to follow his teams closely and always hope for the best for Coach Andrist.

I also ran into James Adams before the game. Coach Adams has been with several AAU programs over the past decade including the Madison Spartans, Wisconsin Force, Mad Town Tarheels, etc. He has now started a brand new organization called the Wisconsin Starz. I made sure to wish him well in this new endeavor and he is very committed to building a top notch program this season. Coach Adams also coaches the JV at Oregon High School and works as a DJ during his spare time.

James' best team was probably his Wisconsin Foce team (Class of 2007) led by Will Hudson (6-9, F, Middleton HS). That team won a lot of games and did very well nationally. We knocked them out in the state tournament for three straight years and the games were not really close. Will now is the starting power forward for Oakland. He had a great showing of family and friends in attendance to watch him play.

Many people asked me throughout the night why I didn't ask Will to play on my team. I actually did ask him to play but told both Will and his parents that playing time would be limited. We started Cole Aldrich (Kansas, 6-11, C, Bloomington Jefferson/MN Player of the Year) and Keaton Nankivil (Wisconsin, 6-8, F, Madison Memorial) inside on our team. Cole is a lottery pick this spring and Keaton simply was the best post player in Wisconsin in that class. Keaton also played very, very well against Will in their respective head-to-head matchups over the years. I also had Andrew Zimmermann (Stanford, 6-9, F, Oostburg) and Matt Dorlack (Eastern Illinois, 6-11, C, New Berlin Eisenhower) coming off the bench. Andrew was the smartest player I have ever had and knew our stuff so well that he played significant minutes for me.

Kevin Bavery, the head coach at Middleton High School was also there to support Will Hudson. Kevin is another very close personal friend. I always learn something when given the chance to speak with Coach Bavery.

Neither team played very well in this game. Oakland will need to play much better to accomplish their preseason goals of winning the Summit League and advancing to the NCAA tournament.

The Badgers were still way too careless with the basketball. Until they learn to value the ball more, they will struggle against good pressure. I have to believe that Arizona and the teams scheduled to be in Maui next week most certainly will pick up the defensive pressure against Wisconsin.

I would should mention how cool it was to see J.D. Wise on the bench and suited up. J.D. is a very bright kid and always told us that he wanted to go to a "good academic" school and that a scholarship was not the most important thing to him. I'm so happy that he's earned the right to be on the team as a walkon.

As usual, it was also very nice to speak with Trevon Hughes, J.P. Gavinski, Tim Jarmusz and Keaton Nankivil after the game. I took both Kevin & Chase back into the lockerroom and we got plenty of quality pictures.

Oh yeah, Wisconsin won the basketball game as well by a score of 58-42. Keaton and Trevon both played solid. Keaton 13 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks and 2 steals. Trevon led UW in scoring with 15 points and added a career high 7 rebounds.


After attending so many games (11/13 @ Marquette; 11/14 @ Wisconsin Football; 11/15 @ UW-Parkside; 11/16 @ Milwaukee Bucks; 11/17 @ Marquette and 11/18 @ Wisconsin), I decided to take Thursday night off even though I was eyeing up some interesting NCAA Division III games including UW-Oshkosh @ Lawrence. I am also spending this Friday night with family as it's my mother-in-law's birthday.

On Saturday, I will complete the week by traveling up to the Resch Center to watch UW-Green Bay host Long Beach State. Go Phoenix!!!