1/24 Update: Another huge Badger basketball victory. While I will take credit for predicting the solid Badger football campaign, I must plead guilty to being stunned by the performance of the basketball squad to this point.
Don't get me wrong, I thought they would have a nice season (7-9, 8-8 in the Big Ten, but would still have too many holes for serious conference contention.
Well, let the race now begin, because the Badgers are a team to be reckoned with.
In their victory over the Hawks, they controlled the tempo masterfully, especially in their handling of the full court pressure.
Bennett also was masterful in his juggling of his four forwards, despite the fact that all were in foul trouble and were going against a 6 man frontline rotation.
Here are the game grades:
Andy Kowske: C
As expected, Kowske spent much of the night in foul trouble once again. However, in his time, Andy was a physical force on the boards (6 rebounds) and did a pretty good job of holding his defensive position, especially in the second half. He also finished strong on a couple of early feeds. His turnover in the lane wasn't really his fault as Calderwood shouldn't have fed him the ball in that position.
Charlie Wills: C-
Charlie's situation was similar to Kowske's, in that he committed a few silly fouls, yet was pretty tough inside at times, gathering in 4 rebounds in only 12 minutes. Defensively, it appears that he is still trying to figure out when to contest the pass/shot, and when to lay off. In other words, a typical freshman.
Sean Mason: B
Once again, Mason's shot was not falling at times, but Sean proved at crunch time that he was going to find a way to get his points. Mason finished with 18 points and broadened his contributions with 6 rebounds and 4 assists. He generated much of his offense in the latter half of the second period when Iowa was trying frantically to get back into the game. Mason was also very effective in handling the Iowa pressure, with only 1 turnover. Defensively, he was one of the many Badger perimeter defenders to completely take away most 3 point looks for a very effective perimeter team.
Ty Calderwood: A-
Although we still saw a few flashes of "out of control Ty", considering the circumstances, Calderwood was exceptional. Like Mason, his shot wasn't always falling, but he came through in crunch time with two especially huge three pointers (and 15 points overall). Calderwood also was one of the key controllers of tempo for the Badgers against the Iowa pressure. To top off his night, Ty added a superb 8 rebounds and 2 steals on the defensive end and 6 assists on the offensive end. When matched up with Oliver, he did a solid job (other than when Oliver was granted 3 steps by the refs).
Mike Kelley: B+
McCausland was 1 of 7 from the field. Kelley also drew Oliver at times and completely horsetied him as well. Kelley is truly a weapon in the way he completely negates the number one offensive option for the opposition. Offensively, once again not a turnover despite some substantial time handling the ball. Throw in 6 assists and Mike continues to build his staggering assist to turnover ratio for the season, now approaching 6 to 1. He did miss a couple of free throws.
Jon Bryant: A
Once again, Bryant was the primary offensive option when the rest of the team was struggling offensively. Bryant nailed 3 clutch jump shots to keep Iowa at bay in one stretch of the second half. Jon finished with a career high once again, with 22 points on a brilliant array of cuts and spot ups. Even his misses were dead on. As with the rest of the Badger guards, Bryant was also effective handling the Iowa full court pressure.
Mark Vershaw: B-
Against a good sized frontline, Vershaw's post looks were a bit more limited. He was able to hit some key shots however, most notably a face up 10 foot jumper from the wing in the second half at a crucial moment. He never forced the ball offensively and added 3 assists to his game. He was also in some foul trouble which limited his minutes, and he only had 2 rebounds to go with 2 turnovers, but a Mark was a nice solid presence throughout the game when he was in there.
Maurice Linton: C+
While his numbers were not impressive (3 missed shots and 3 fouls) and while he also had some "interesting" fouls, I thought Maurice played a key role in the game. When the rest of the front line was in foul trouble, Linton gave the team some solid first half minutes. He didn't exactly excell, but he did not allow a dropoff, even snatching 4 rebounds in his 13 minutes, several of them quite impressive. If he plays poorly, the Badgers could have been in trouble.
David Burkemper: A
Well, I noticed I missed him last game so this may be a make up grade. Burkemper notched his first point of the year (and boy did his teammates let him hear about it). Burkemper has had his playing time cut to nothing this year, but still appears to be the consumate team player. His contributions to the program over the years cannot be forgotten.
Travon Davis: INC
Duany Duany: INC
John Moriarity: INC
Eric Faust: INC
Maurice Sessoms: INC
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