Brace yourself for a whirlwind tour of Wisconsin sports, as we peel back the curtain on a weekend that was anything but predictable. Shedding a somber light on the Wisconsin Badger women's hockey team's crushing defeat, we're here to unravel a narrative of resilience and stellar performance against the odds. But we won't linger in the valley of defeat—there's a summit of success to celebrate with Marquette's victory dance, the Milwaukee Bucks' court domination, and the Brewers' offensive fireworks, courtesy of Willy Adames' bat.
Ever been on the edge of your seat, heart pounding, as the underdogs of March Madness defy the odds? Join us as we recount the tournament's most gripping moments and the fate of teams like Northwestern, Illinois, and Michigan State. We're putting our cards on the table with bold predictions, a tad of bias against Purdue (sorry, Boilermakers), and a standing ovation for Tyler Colic's show-stopping performances. It's a chapter of passion, analysis, and the sweet unpredictability of college basketball.
Now, let's talk about the elephant in the room—the Wisconsin Badgers basketball team's stumble against James Madison. We dissect the game, the season's highs and lows, and what Connor Essigians departure means for the team's future. Join us as we explore the emotional rollercoaster of being a fan, the complexities of team dynamics, and the whispers of change on the horizon for the Badgers. It's a deep dive into the heart of loyalty, strategy, and the bittersweet farewells that shape the world of sports.
Brace yourself for a whirlwind tour of Wisconsin sports, as we peel back the curtain on a weekend that was anything but predictable. Shedding a somber light on the Wisconsin Badger women's hockey team's crushing defeat, we're here to unravel a narrative of resilience and stellar performance against the odds. But we won't linger in the valley of defeat—there's a summit of success to celebrate with Marquette's victory dance, the Milwaukee Bucks' court domination, and the Brewers' offensive fireworks, courtesy of Willy Adames' bat.
Ever been on the edge of your seat, heart pounding, as the underdogs of March Madness defy the odds? Join us as we recount the tournament's most gripping moments and the fate of teams like Northwestern, Illinois, and Michigan State. We're putting our cards on the table with bold predictions, a tad of bias against Purdue (sorry, Boilermakers), and a standing ovation for Tyler Colic's show-stopping performances. It's a chapter of passion, analysis, and the sweet unpredictability of college basketball.
Now, let's talk about the elephant in the room—the Wisconsin Badgers basketball team's stumble against James Madison. We dissect the game, the season's highs and lows, and what Connor Essigians departure means for the team's future. Join us as we explore the emotional rollercoaster of being a fan, the complexities of team dynamics, and the whispers of change on the horizon for the Badgers. It's a deep dive into the heart of loyalty, strategy, and the bittersweet farewells that shape the world of sports.
you. How are we doing? Everybody, and welcome to Wisconsin sports. Time to go with trage. I'm your host, trage. It is Monday. I want to say fantastic, but I don't know if I can say fantastic. Today we're we got, we had snow yesterday. They're talking about rain coming up this week yet. So it's just gonna turn to a muddy, slushy. Just a mess, just a mess, and you know it's a mess. Wisconsin sports are a mess. That's what I'm gonna tell you right now. Wisconsin sports are a mess as a total right now.
Speaker 1:So we got lots jump into today. I don't know where to start, because over the weekend we had bad I mean bad news all the way around from Wisconsin Badger sports. Then we get into more out of the men's basketball team coming out yesterday there, and you know there was a bright side Marquette did wins. We'll talk about a bright side there. We had the bucks winning over the weekend there. So we can maybe jump into the box a little bit. But I mean, man, there's a couple things that I want to talk about today that I didn't know if I was gonna get to, because I didn't know, I didn't want to talk about it, I didn't want to talk about it. But we're here.
Speaker 1:So with that I want to talk about right away Wisconsin women's hockey. They fell to the Ohio State Buckeyes and it always seems like the Badgers. It doesn't matter what sport it is football Basketball's had issues over the past. I mean it doesn't matter it's Ohio State. They always find a way to beat the Badgers. And here we go Wisconsin women's hockey all the way they beat Colgate on Friday, had a date with the Ohio State Buckeyes on Sunday for the title, and well, ohio State wins. It Won nothing. I mean this game you can't say it wasn't close, it was nothing. Nothing going into the third period, nothing, nothing until about 1248 to go in that third period. And that's where Ohio State scored their one and only goal of the entire, of the entire afternoon in that third period there and that was it. That's all they needed to fend off the Badgers. Badgers didn't go with much of. I mean they put up a fight. I'm not gonna say they didn't put up a fight, but there wasn't much happening on the offense for the Badgers there in that matchup with the Buckeyes. So Badgers lose the championship game to Ohio State.
Speaker 1:All in all, it was another Fantastic year for the Wisconsin Badger women women's hockey team. I mean you can't say anything less than they played a fantastic season. It's just, ohio State was Ohio State. They're returning to the title game for any and it was like the fourth consecutive year that they've been there.
Speaker 1:This Buckeyes team has been rolling as of late and I mean they got in there once again and this year they were able to beat Badgers. Last year Badgers had the upper hand. This year this was Ohio State's year. So sucks to see the Badgers women's team end like that. But hey, what can you do? What can you do? It's all uphill from here. Right, badgers women's hockey will be good again once again next year. We just know it. We just know it. They, they just have to be, because there's lots of other badger sports that they just let us down. So so with that, I want to talk a little bit of Brewers here.
Speaker 1:Brewers did get the win over the weekend there against the Diamondbacks. I mean they had an outboard outburst of scoring there against the Diamondbacks this last weekend. 14 to 4 was the final we saw. Will ya Domus go? Three home runs in that game. He had in total, I believe, six RB eyes, three for three day for Willie. So that's fantastic. I mean to see will ya Domus starting to put up power numbers. There's nothing better. That's what we wanted to see. Also, sal Frelec did have a home run and Reese Hoskins had a home run. Both those guys went back to back there in that one. Outside of that, yellich was two for four on the day. Not a bad day for Yellich. Gary Sanchez played one for five. Same with Blake Perkins Monasterial one for three on the day.
Speaker 1:Luis Lara, 19 year old prospect if you haven't really dug deep into the Brewers prospects, luis Lara is like the Jackson Cheryl coming up through the minor league system for the Brewers. This guy's 19 years old and he's fantastic. Had a two-run shot there for the Brewers in that one 19 years old, this guy I mean he is a fantastic ball player. So if there's a guy to watch there climbing through the minors throughout the year outside of maybe like a Brock Wilkin, tyler Black, some of the other pitchers out there, this is a great a A fantastic outfield prospect for the Brewers. So keep an eye on the name Luis Lara as time goes on here. But we saw Luis Lara go one for three on the day pitching lies for the Brewers.
Speaker 1:We saw DL Hall pitch pretty well. Five innings, two earned runs, two runs, five hits, four strikeouts in the game. Dl Hall pitch great for the Brewers. He had a big. The first inning was a blow-up inning for him. He kind of struggled there right out there second, and I mean struggled there in that second to get the D-backs out. But after that he settled in. Everything was working for him. His off-speed stuff is nasty. This guy is gonna be fantastic. So great to see there.
Speaker 1:Hudson I mean another good outing out of Hudson there for the Brewers. Two innings, one hit, two strikeouts. He pitched well. And then Jaeger did get in there. He had an inning pitched and two strikeouts for him. Brewers got to Merrill Kelly in this game three and two thirds, six earned runs, six Runs, five hits, three home runs given up for him in that one. Brewers got all over Merrill Kelly, so that's fantastic to see.
Speaker 1:Other now I mean I For the D-backs. We saw bits and pieces of guys that we're gonna see throughout the year. Tucker Barnard did play for them, el Mora junior played, mccarthy played a little bit, but other than that I mean not really many of your everyday guys. J Speedersen played for him there in that one. But outside of that not a whole lot for the D-backs in this one.
Speaker 1:So Brewers win the weekend over the D-backs 14 to 4, they will have the Rockies coming up. That'll be today here a 3-10 start for that one. That will be Colin Ray getting the ball for the Brewers there going up against the Colorado Rockies in that one. And then the Brewers will have one more date with the Rockies here on Tuesday. That'll be Aaron Ashby getting the start for the Brewers in that one come and that'll be leading up. That's the lead up to opening day for the Brewers there coming up on Thursday against the Mets where Freddie will get the ball Against Jose Quintana. So we got like I got lots talking about the Brewers this week, lots of questions that I still have With this Brewers team, but we'll get into that as the week goes on here because I want to get into it with the lead up to the Brewers. Right, get into it a little bit more here as we go. So, like I said, brewers in action, day 3-10 start there Going against the Colorado Rockies.
Speaker 1:But last night we did see the Bucks got a win Over the Oklahoma City Thunder and they did it in pretty impressive fact fashion there. 118 to 93 was the final. In that one the Bucks did well, I mean defensively in this game, kind of slowing down what the Thunder wanted to do. Chet Holgram won for 10 on the game, 0 for 5 from downtown. There he only had six points. Shea Gilger said Alexander went for 12. I mean, it's the guy who averages 30 a game. I mean 12 points in this one against the Bucks in 30 minutes Giddy was actually a leading scorer with 19 and then Williams went for 18 for the Thunder. All the way around for the Thunder in this one they were 10 for 43 from downtown, 33 for 69 for our, 33 for 89 from the floor. In this one, 37 rebounds and 12 turnovers. The Bucks in this one. Yanis goes for 30, dame had 11, 14 for Brooke, 11 for Chris Middleton.
Speaker 1:The bench scoring as well was impressive for the Bucks in this one. Jay Crowder goes for 10 points off the bench. This is a role that I think he can fulfill better than being a start. He had 10 points off the bench. Bobby goes for 15 and then Pat Bev. He added one point in this game and Pat Connington had 11 for him.
Speaker 1:We saw Galenari had a three late in that one. So that was good to see Galenari getting in there and hitting a big three. For the Bucks they were 11 or 11 for 34 from downtown in this one. So not much better than the Thunder but a little bit better from the floor. 49 492, 9 for 14 from the free throw line. They had 57 rebounds in this game. 57 rebounds in total, 16 turnovers by 57 rebounds for the Bucks they have 15 offensive rebounds in this game. So impressive.
Speaker 1:All the way around there from Milwaukee they get the win. They control for the most part in this game. I mean they held okay, see the 17 points in the third quarter. That's impressive, you ask me, impressive defense are showing by the Bucks in this one. Bucks moved to 46 and 25 on the year. They will continue this home stand. They have the Lakers up next here. That'll be coming up on Tuesday. They'll add the Lakers there for a 630 start from the Pfizer before they travel on Thursday to take the Pelicans on there at At New Orleans for that one. So Bucks getting out our home game there at the Lakers. We'll talk about that one as this week goes on getting more into it tomorrow here with the pregame show.
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Speaker 1:So with that we got to move on here. We got to talk about, I mean, the, the good, the bad, the ugly I don't know what you want to talk about. It came out of March madness, so Right away I'm gonna talk about some of the Big Ten team. So we did see Northwestern fall the Yukon 75, 252. So Northwestern, they're eliminated from the Big Ten or from the March madness turning here, illinois got the win over Duquesne, 89 to 63. Impressive fashion there on Illinois. They got the win. They're gonna move on to play Iowa State here in the sweet 16.
Speaker 1:And then we saw Michigan State lose to. North Carolina, jumped out to a big early lead and then North Carolina made that comeback and just were too much. They were too much for Michigan State. Well, tom is oh said after the game is he's going to, he's gonna, he's gonna advance in this tourney or he's gonna die trying. That's what he said. So it's gonna be interesting what Tom is oh's outlook is in the offseason here from Michigan State I Could see him going out there and I Mean he hasn't been big in the transfer portal yet. This could be a year where he jumps into the transfer portal and finds just bought anything you can. So that sets up a matchup now with Alabama and North Carolina there coming out of that side.
Speaker 1:We also saw Clemson and Baylor. That was a close game. 72 to 64 was a final there. Clemson moves on to face Arizona. We saw Creighton sneak past in double overtime. Not sneak, they won by 13. But double overtime game with Oregon just became too much. Creighton gets the win. They're gonna face Tennessee coming up. And then we saw Purdue with dominating fashion. Once again they took care of Utah State. I don't like Purdue, so I hate to say dominating fashion, but that 106 to 67 was a final. There Purdue got the win over Utah State. They will face Gonzaga now coming up here in the sweet 16 other matchups.
Speaker 1:Other Notables I mean Duke beat James Madison. Right, they avenged the Badgers. I never thought I would rely on the Duke Blue Devils to avenge the Badgers ever, because I don't like Duke, but I'm one of those fans. Right, you beat my team. I need this other team to avenge me. It doesn't matter who they are. And we saw it there. Duke beats James Madison. 93 to 55 was the final there. Duke just completely routed James Madison in that game. So that's I mean the big ones that I wanted to look at there In the tournament bracket. I'll get the final tallies up and I will Announce on the show here who was the winner in the first round here in the tournament challenge there on ESPN for the show. But with that we got to move on. I want to talk about the good before I talk about the bad. Right, I hate talking about the bad right away. So let's go with the good news, marquette one.
Speaker 1:We did see Marquette advance in the tournament. They beat Western Kentucky on Friday and then yesterday there they got the win over Colorado, a close one. Colorado made it a game there in the second half. I mean 11 point game at the half. There Marquette was winning and Colorado closed the gap, lost this game 81 to 77. But a good game out of Simpson there for Colorado 20 points, 8 for 19 from the floor. This guy was shooting the ball well with cold on him and well that's what led to Colorado kind of falling apart, falling down, and Marquette was able to pull this one out of your.
Speaker 1:Tyler Colic was the leader for Marquette in that game 21 points for him, 10 for 14 from the floor. He was one for two from the free throw line. He had five rebounds and 11 assists. That's a big number. You got to look at there. Is that 11 assists for him in that one? Six turnovers. Something's got to clean up here.
Speaker 1:Moving forward, if you are Marquette but other net, I mean this team played well and they got the win. That's what matters. Right, you get to March. It doesn't matter how it looks, you just got to get wins and that's what they did in this one. Joplin went for 14. We saw a good hour. All get 10 for him and then 18 from Cam Jones. Outside of that, off the bench, ross had 12. I believe Ben Gold had one of the bigger shots of the day there. He had a three late in that one and that was it. Three points on the day in eight minutes of play. So, ben Gold, I believe these are underlying factor right, that big three. Now Just kidding, tyler Colic played well throughout this entire one and you could tell how better, how much better, marquette is when Tyler Colic's on the floor. I mean you could say that about any team when your star goes out, but this team in Marquette without Tyler Colic, they were falling apart at the seams. It seemed like nothing was running. Right now Tyler Colic comes back and this team is fueled and ready for a run. So Marquette gets a win over Colorado 81 to 77. They will square off With NC State next.
Speaker 1:I didn't want to see it. I didn't want to see the NC State. I didn't want to see him, the Wolf pack, I was done with them. I was cheering for him for a while and Then they faced Jack Goulke and I was like I don't want to see, I don't want to see NC State anymore. I want Goulke, ted Vance here and well, sadly, no more Goulke. We don't get the watches. This guy's nuts, this guy's great.
Speaker 1:I saw his pregame shooting routine before that NC State game. From 9 to 9 45 was his spot, shooting 250 shots there. Then he had his 10 am Team practice and from 3 to 4 30 at night he had full, full speed game situation, shooting 500 shots. This guy put up 750 shots before the game even started. That's ridiculous. I mean, this guy was crazy. He was that guy. You, just you. Every year in the tournament you find that guy right, the one guy, that from a smaller school that you just want to just. You just hope they can make it all the way, and this was my guy. Jack Goulke was one of those guys where I was like I'm hoping this guy, this Oakland team, just keeps figuring it out, figuring out. Well, nc State was just too much for him and over time and they were shut down. Goulke couldn't get an open look and well, that led to the downfall there and Oakland did lose that game to NC State.
Speaker 1:So now we will get a matchup of Marquette and I gotta be honest, if Oakland would have beat NC State, I was here for Oakland against Marquette. I'm not that big of a Marquette fan. I like Wisconsin teams advancing in the tournament, but I'm not that big of a Marquette guy, or more of Wisconsin guy. You guys know that. So I mean I would have cheered for Oakland. I've been like Oakland all day long, but Oakland loses. So now you gotta avenge me, now, marquette. You gotta avenge my loss, my Jack Goulke loss. You gotta avenge me there and get me a win here against the Wolfpack in advance to that elite eight.
Speaker 1:I want to see Marquette Win it. When I could see Marquette now, I mean Houston's a good team. I don't know if they were. I mean there's good teams throughout this tournament, but you, I don't know. I mean, I could just see a Marquette team squeezing into the final four. They got the pieces back together. It's just a matter of can they make it work? I mean, they snuck it out against Colorado, but now you got a team like NC State.
Speaker 1:This is a a team who's been hitting their strides, but they have their flaws throughout the year. Right, this is a team that wasn't even expected to make the tournament. Now they're in the tournament. They had to wipe out the ACC to get in there. Now They've been rolling into the big, into the big dance. Now how does this Marquette team square off with them? We're gonna get more into that as the week goes on. We'll get into the matchup, the pregame there, coming up here on Friday, because I believe that game will be on Friday. For that one, I'm pretty darn sure that'll be Friday. So Marquette will square off with NC State on Friday. We'll get more into that game coming up there on Friday.
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Speaker 1:Sorry, I had something in my throat there, couldn't get it out. It's probably my next segment is coming up. I didn't want, I didn't want to talk about it, so it's choking up on it a little bit. But with that we got to get into the one thing I didn't want to talk about today. See, my voice is back now. It's back now. We must have. I just got over it now. We got to talk about it.
Speaker 1:Badgers lose to James Madison. I didn't want to talk about a Badgers loss. I mean we were, we talked about it and I was like you know, I'm hoping to give you guys a pregame leading up into the Sunday game Against Duke. I was so excited, I mean I I just expect you know, I saw the Badgers in the Big Ten tourney. They were rolling right along and I was like I'm liking the odds. I'm liking the odds. It's all of a sudden this team is going to be a big team and I'm hoping to give you guys a pregame. I'm liking the odds and it's all of a sudden this team, the game I mean I was sitting there on Friday, right, I'm sitting there on Friday and I'm doing whatever I'm doing and it's just like 840 couldn't come, couldn't come fast enough. Right, it couldn't come fast enough and I was like I don't want it, I don't want it to come, I don't want it to come, I don't, I don't want it to be there, right, and you know. It got there and I was like, okay, let's get this thing started. But then, right before the game started, I'm like I'm nervous. I'm nervous for this game because I don't know. I don't know how this is gonna go right, where we've seen two different Badger teams this year.
Speaker 1:We saw the team through the first half of the year and they played fantastic. Offensive efficiency was through the roof. They were one of the better teams offensively in the country. I was like this team, if that team shows up, this could be a scary team come March. Then we got into the second half of the year. Right after that, nebraska first half right season started to fall apart and everything was falling apart and it seems, and it was like, okay, what team's gonna show up? Because then Big Ten tournament came around and this team all of a sudden resorted back to what we saw in the first half of the year. They were shooting the lights out, offense was flowing, everything looked good and it was like, okay, what team are we gonna get now? We've seen it all. What are we gonna get now?
Speaker 1:Well, against James Madison we got 19 turnovers 8 for 19 from layups 2 feet, layups, whatever you want to call it 2 feet. 8 for 18 shooting layups, 8 for 21 from downtown. I don't look at this that bad. 8 for 21, not terrible. 38% from the from the 3 in this one, 15 for 23 from the free throw line. They were 65%. Not a great showing from the free throw line. A lot of that. I mean Tyler wall, 3 for 6, steven Carl, one for 2, aj store Klesman both missed a free throw. Black well, missed a free throw, not terrible. But the 19 for 51 from the field. You pair that with the 19 turnovers, not many games are gonna win.
Speaker 1:Now I look at this game and I saw a lot of people after the game saying James Madison was just so good and Wisconsin wasn't even I mean not even close. Blah, blah, blah. I don't even think James Madison played that well. I mean 72 points not to shake your head at, but 41% from the field, 23 for 56. They were 21 for 30 from the free throw line and 5 for 17 from downtown. They weren't. It's not like they were fantastic. They didn't play offensively fantastic. They didn't play offensively fantastic in this entire tournament, james Madison.
Speaker 1:Because if you look at that next day or that Sunday game against Duke, they scored 55 points, gave up 93. So I mean, and Duke people will say it's Duke and Duke's that much better, duke's not that good. I mean realistically, when I picked, I mean when you watch this Duke team, they aren't that great Offensively. I mean, mccain played well for me at 30 points against James Madison. That was big, big difference. But flip hasn't been playing well, proctor hasn't been playing well, mitchell can't hit from the outside. He's been playing well, but he can't hit from the outside. Duke hasn't been playing that fantastic. And yet they blew the doors off James Madison. So what's the difference there? Turnovers right. In that game Duke had six turnovers, wisconsin had 19. There's your difference.
Speaker 1:James Madison isn't a team that's going to beat you more than once. If you are Wisconsin, I mean, if this game was in Madison and Wisconsin was playing like we saw in the Big Ten tourney, like we saw it really on in the air, they beat James Madison Heck. I think even in the second part of the year they could have found a way to beat James Madison. It's just a matter of Wisconsin killed themselves in this game. They shot themselves in the foot from the opening tip on Wire to wire. James Madison led in this game and it wasn't to the fact of. I mean, they had 20, some points off of turnovers and that is a big factor in games. I'm not going to say it is, but if you put James Madison against Wisconsin and both teams are playing well their games, wisconsin wins that.
Speaker 1:I want to be honest with you. Wisconsin wins just because skill wise they are better. They have more size, something the Badgers didn't utilize in this game Size. And you look at their offense. Right, and I couldn't. I bill after he and Grand Tale on there. The Badgers run in their swing offense. They're running a swing offense anymore. I wanted to reach to the TV and punch those two in the mouth. They aren't running a swing offense anymore. This is their new European style Kirk penny offense that they're running now. Right and I.
Speaker 1:When you watch it, the things the Badgers wanted to do was cut drive right. Aj store wanted to drive to the basket and when you have Steven Crowell standing in the post, that adds another defender. And when you add more defenders in that paint where's the driving lane? Then it's not there, then you gotta look for kickouts. But you look at AJ Store in this game, only one assist on the entire game. Now, yeah, he might've passed out a couple more times, couple more missed shots, whatever it was, but I didn't see him pass out of it too often he dribble in there. And whether it was a missed shot, the guy shot five for 14 on the day. Whether it was a missed shot or a turnover, he had four turnovers. That was the story of it.
Speaker 1:Driving lanes weren't there because, james, the Badger offense was packing the lane. They were for some reason. We were packing up the lane, allowing more defenders, then weak side help would come, and then you have three guys standing down there and instead of looking to kick, we just turned it over. We just try to make a move through three guys. Kickouts were there. The Badgers weren't moving the basketball like we thought, like we saw them doing the Big 10 30. They were moving the basketball and I mean that led to a lot of it here, james, a big difference between Duke and Wisconsin was Duke saw what James Madison did to Wisconsin. James Madison came out and punched Wisconsin in the mouth and Duke punched James Madison in the mouth. They said we know we're better than you and this is how this game is gonna be dictated.
Speaker 1:You wanna blame it on ref, and you can. There was a lot of, I mean, james Madison in this game against Wisconsin. I'm not gonna say that they did not play overly aggressive, that's a thing. That is a thing. You can play aggressive and then you can play overly aggressive. Where there should be foul calls being made, wisconsin couldn't get clean looks, because there was lots of times where I don't remember one. There was one where Stephen Croll got the ball and there was a James Madison guy who grabbed around him. In my book that's foul Wasn't called that night.
Speaker 1:I believe refing has been terrible in this entire tournament, but this game was bad. It was badly I mean it was badly refed in this ball game here. I believe there was only 20 fouls called and at one point Wisconsin wasn't even playing that aggressive, if you ask me. They weren't playing aggressive and I wish they would've, but they didn't and yet they had one less foul in this entire game than a team that was playing aggressive from wire to wire. They were all after you, all up in your grill hands all over you and yet they had one more foul called. I mean that was one of the things that I if you wanna blame refing. I could see it from a standpoint of there's a lot of handsy plays and the Badgers weren't ready for it. They weren't ready for that part of the game to be played here.
Speaker 1:But turnovers, that was the big kicker for Wisconsin. Turnovers in that first half. That's what led James Madison to get out to a big league, because the Badgers played better in the second half. I mean they all scored, james Madison, they scored 41 points in the second half. I mean it's just a matter of when you have a first half where you might score 20 and you're down 13,. That's a hard. It's hard to come back in a game where you're not playing that great yourself. Right, there was a turning point for me In this game.
Speaker 1:Badgers were down, I believe six at the time. They got it down to six and Klesman drove. I thought he got fouled. He split the double team. I thought he got fouled. No call, made it through, had a wide open shot and that ball seemed to sit on the rim for like 20 minutes. Right, it seemed like forever. It wasn't that long, it seemed like forever Rimmed off and James Madison went down and scored. After that it was over. It was like a 11 point game. Badgers get it down to eight and they just couldn't. It seemed like every time the Badgers, james Madison, didn't play well in this game.
Speaker 1:I am not going to anybody who wants to argue with me that James Madison played well in this game. I'll argue with you all day long. Because they did not play well. They might have been the more aggressive team, right, they might have played more aggressive than the Badgers, but outside of that they didn't play well.
Speaker 1:This was a 31 and three team and I really did expect a lot more. When everybody was telling me how good they are and the guard play so good and everything like that. They didn't shoot the ball well. I mean the Badgers just shot. They had a lot of defensive lapses by the Badgers led to wide open shots those are the ones they hit and transition threes. Other than that, I mean they didn't play well and yet they got the win 11 point win over the Badgers. Yeah, you could say free throw line. They did have, I believe, hit six more free throws. So there's a little bit makes the game a little bit closer, right, but other than that, I mean the Badgers outshot them from the three point line. It was just the little things the transition, the fast break, the turnover buckets that killed the Badgers, and that's all you can lead it to. Now this is gonna lead me into my next part.
Speaker 1:So throughout the game, and throughout a lot of games the Badgers have played, they've struggled shooting the basketball and I've said to myself one of our best shooters and if he's not, I could argue the best shooter on the Badgers team from the perimeter is Connor's season and he sat there on the bench and just watched and this team couldn't shoot in the first half, and yet he sat there and he sat there and he sat there. No playing time, no playing time. We saw Gilmore, we saw McGee, we saw Marcus Silver's, we saw Nolan Winter, we saw Blackwell, but no a season. I didn't get it. I never understood his playing time throughout the year and this was a game that I was like what's it gonna hurt you right, all season long. The excuse I got was his defense. It was his defense. He's such a bad defender that it's just not going to playing him isn't going to help and blah, blah, blah and it's, I got that excuse. Okay, fantastic. You tell me a moment this year where the Badgers defense looked that good that a guy like Connor's season was going to hurt them. You tell me that when you can answer me that question, then I can safely say that I agree, because their defense was atrocious all year long and yet Connor's season didn't see the floor. His defense wasn't that bad that he would hurt them that much and yet we did not see Connor's season. Now this is the sad news, right? You thought sad news was the Badgers. This is the more sad news, right? Connor's season comes out yesterday and says first off, I would like to say thank you to Badger Nation for everything.
Speaker 1:These past last two years in Madison have been nothing short of amazing. This place has helped me, shape me into the person I am today. The city university will forever have a special place in my heart. Thank you to all the fans and community for your unconditional love and support. You took me in as your own and I am forever grateful for that. Thank you to my teammates who have become part of my forever family and for the relationship and memories I've created. Thank you to the coaching staff to give me the opportunity to play at the highest level. Thank you to my friends and family for supporting me through this difficult process, but after further consideration I will be entering my name into the transfer portal. Thank you, wisconsin.
Speaker 1:Okay, so now Connorsesian Leafs transferring out of Wisconsin. One of the better shooters on your team, who saw zero playing time, is now leaving Wisconsin. And well, I did see a lot of different comments to it. One guy said he wasn't guards doghouse all year and guard refused to give him another chance. Yeah, but why? Why? I didn't get it. Why? Why was he never given that second chance? Aj Store threw up a lot of bad shots and yet AJ Store was given chance after chance after chance. Why was Connors? He been throw up a bad shot, if you ask me, defensively he had a couple of lapses. But who didn't on this badger team? Who didn't? If you can tell me one guy that was that stellar on the defensive end all year long that Connorsesian couldn't play, I will wait.
Speaker 1:But lots of other comments here. One guy said go get it down at your next spot. Glad you were a part of this for two years, me too, but I wish it was leaving on a higher note. I wish it was leaving on the terms that you played and you just wanted to go somewhere else to try it somewhere else. Not that you were one of the better, the best shooter on the team and you didn't play. That's where the difference relies, there. One guy said I'm not surprised.
Speaker 1:I read that Wisconsin is top 20 recruiting class coming in next season. He knows his playing time. We cut in the half. I don't think they have a top recruiting class. I'm pretty sure Daniel Freetag, I think they're like 40th. I'm pretty sure they're like 40th, maybe in there. I don't think they're 20 in the recruiting. They have Jack Robinson and Daniel Freetag coming in, but other than that I mean I they don't have anybody else coming in right now. So top 20. No, no, they aren't even in there.
Speaker 1:One guy said uncertainly anyone welcome to better team wouldn't leave, especially with tough academic standards at UW Team is one of the better mediocre teams, if that's your preference. It's turning into that, right? I mean, if you're right now, if you're at Madison and you got a phone call from, let's just say you can to come and play, you would probably go to you, can. I'll be honest with you and that's just how it is, because you can is going to give you a better shot to win and is, if you're, if you can get some kind of plans and pens right. Playing time will be a big factor in that.
Speaker 1:But right now, I mean we don't know what's going on locker room. If guys are still under the guys under Greg guard really believe in Greg guard? I don't know. I never saw the effort waiver. I thought the effort was always there. I thought they were still giving it. I just I don't know right now what it's like in the locker room there.
Speaker 1:One guy said oh well, nothing big. I think it's big. I got the answer. I think it's big. One guy said I don't blame you, connor, best of luck. Yeah, best of luck to him. I mean I'm going to be a fan of his wherever he goes, because this guy he, like this guy says class act, you'll do well elsewhere. I mean, yeah, 100%. This was a guy who is always, I mean, supportive. Even in the role that he was given with not much playing time, he was a supportive cast in this badger locker room and everywhere else. I mean it just came down to you. Have guys coming in right now and you don't have room for him. I mean, you got AJ store, if he comes back, you got Chucky Klesman, you have Daniel Freetay coming in, you have Mati McGee in there already and John Blackwell. There's no room left. There's no room left for a guy like Connor Seeson, especially if you're so gung-ho that he's so bad on the defensive end. He's not gonna get playing time. It's not gonna change. So I don't blame him whatsoever for leaving Madison, because that, I mean, at the end of the day, is what's best for him.
Speaker 1:One guy said it would help next season if Gus Bus has his act together, if he is still around. Yeah, that's a big one too. I mean, gus came into Madison and everybody was higher on him than Nolan Winter and as far as I know, he wasn't traveling with the team for away games and he wasn't. He wasn't with them for the NCAA tournament. So I don't know what was going on with Gus there, but that's definitely interesting. I I don't know.
Speaker 1:I don't know what to make of the Gus Bus situation yet. We're waiting to see, right? I didn't know that we'd see Connor Seeson so early. Right after this is done, aj store, I believe, is the next domino to fall, but after that I don't know what other dominoes could fall in that locker room. I really don't. And one guy came on said this isn't surprising. Guard did use them. Well, aj store could be out the door since, since he didn't commit for next season. Yeah, we saw AJ store come out and talk and he didn't commit to the Badgers for next year. They talked to him and he said NBA drafts still on the table, transferring still on the table, everything still on the table for AJ store. So I don't know, with AJ store, what is even gonna happen there.
Speaker 1:So that we got more to get into with the Badgers. I mean we got the season wrap up. We have a lot of I mean I'm seeing throughout social media, I'm seeing a lot of posts about Greg Guard and everything like that. So we got lots to tap into here with the Badgers as the week goes on. We got more Brewer talk coming up this week. Like said earlier, I didn't want to get into too much today because I want to get into it as the week goes on here leading up into opening day. We have Marquette in action on Friday. We're gonna touch more on them. We got the Foxen action this week. Lots to talk about this week, so with that, this has been Wisconsin Sports on the Goa Trage. Thank you guys for listening. We'll catch you guys back here tomorrow, but until then, dosus.