Get ready to play ball with our latest episode, where we're brimming with excitement for the Milwaukee Brewers' upcoming season! We're throwing the spotlight on Sal Frelick and DL Hall, two players who are stepping up to the plate with the kind of potential that could send shockwaves through the Brewers' lineup. And with the NL Central looking like a battlefield, we're laying out our predictions for our boys in blue, including some bold takes on the Cincinnati Reds that might just surprise you.
The court's heating up as we break down the Bucks' nail-biter against the Lakers and dissect the pivotal plays that could've turned the tide. Giannis is on fire, but can the Bucks tighten their defense enough to clinch victory on the road? We're also casting our eyes over to the NCAA, sharing our bracket predictions that are sure to ruffle some feathers. From UConn's dominance to Arizona's skillful play, we're not holding back on our hot takes for this year's March Madness!
And, of course, we can't ignore the budding talent in Badger country. We're spotlighting the fresh faces that might just be the game changers for Wisconsin Badgers basketball, including William Kyle III and Terrence Edwards Jr. Whether it's dissecting potential transfers or celebrating the women's team's latest triumph, we've got the inside scoop on everything Badger basketball. So lace up your sneakers and join us for an episode that's all about the thrills, spills, and slam dunks of Wisconsin sports.
Get ready to play ball with our latest episode, where we're brimming with excitement for the Milwaukee Brewers' upcoming season! We're throwing the spotlight on Sal Frelick and DL Hall, two players who are stepping up to the plate with the kind of potential that could send shockwaves through the Brewers' lineup. And with the NL Central looking like a battlefield, we're laying out our predictions for our boys in blue, including some bold takes on the Cincinnati Reds that might just surprise you.
The court's heating up as we break down the Bucks' nail-biter against the Lakers and dissect the pivotal plays that could've turned the tide. Giannis is on fire, but can the Bucks tighten their defense enough to clinch victory on the road? We're also casting our eyes over to the NCAA, sharing our bracket predictions that are sure to ruffle some feathers. From UConn's dominance to Arizona's skillful play, we're not holding back on our hot takes for this year's March Madness!
And, of course, we can't ignore the budding talent in Badger country. We're spotlighting the fresh faces that might just be the game changers for Wisconsin Badgers basketball, including William Kyle III and Terrence Edwards Jr. Whether it's dissecting potential transfers or celebrating the women's team's latest triumph, we've got the inside scoop on everything Badger basketball. So lace up your sneakers and join us for an episode that's all about the thrills, spills, and slam dunks of Wisconsin sports.
Thank you, how we doing everybody, and welcome to wisconsin sports on the go with trage. I'm your host, trage. It is thursday, a great Thursday in the great state of Wisconsin. Weather is supposed to be turning around now. Right, they're talking a little bit of sunshine today. Only a high of 37, so nothing crazy there In the temperature department, I guess you could say. But we're avoiding the snow right. A little bit more snow yesterday here in central Wisconsin. We're getting away from that, getting away from the rain, finally seeing some sunshine. So that's fantastic.
Speaker 1:And I wish it was to say the brewers were going to be in action. But the game against the mets has been postponed. They have some uh, rain coming in now into the northeast and, I believe, most of the east coast. I mean it's supposed to be a big storm heading through there. So that game will be postponed until Friday now, so the Brewers will not be in action until Friday. But I guess that's what you get. That's what you get with these east coast games early on, right, it seems like there's a lot of games rained out early on in the year on the east coast and while we're dealing with it again here, why don't they just have it at American Family Field. We might have some snow drifts yet here in Central Wisconsin, in the state of Wisconsin. But I mean, come on, we got a roof. We got a roof down there, the grass is green, everything's ready to rock inside of American Family Field. Why, I just have never. I've never understood it. I've never understood it. Why is those early season games you just throw it at American Family Field? Maybe that pushes a little bit more road games late. But I mean, end of the day, come on, you want to get these games in Now, we push it back, that's okay. So opening day will be on Friday. Now That'll be when we first see the Brewers.
Speaker 1:So today I just wanted to talk. Yesterday we talked about kind of projected lineups, how we see it shaking out and everything like that. I kind of wanted to look at today here, looking at the Brewers, just some of the players on this team that I personally can't wait to watch here in this upcoming season. And well, you know I can't. It's hard to pick because it's like I want to see all these guys back. I can't wait for baseball to be back here. But but you know you had to pick and choose right, so I went through it. It was tough finding my select guys that I can't wait to see here. But my number one guy and that's because I saw a clip came up today a video on Sal Frelick. I saw a video. They replayed his debut against the Braves there. So I just Sal Frelick's the guy for me.
Speaker 1:Last season, I mean, had a pretty good showing for the Brewers. He was, I mean, an A-plus defender. I thought he did fantastic out in the field for the Brewers and then at the plate, I mean he was a solid bat. Did he decline at times throughout the year? Yeah, I mean, who doesn't? Who doesn't have struggles, especially in their first year up, I mean in the bigs there, and he didn't start the year in the bigs, he got transitioned in. So Sal Frelick is a guy for me. I want to see what this guy puts up for numbers, not just hitting the baseball but also running the bases too. I want to see the stolen base. We talked yesterday we did an over under for for him. I want to see what this guy can do. He's a very good. He's very good on the base path. So I can't wait to see what Sal does out there defensively, how he transitions into being a versatile, I mean a utility player basically. I mean you got him at third now and also in the outfield, seeing how he plays at third in a role there against everyday major league hitters and possibly playing there multiple times in a role right, a couple of days here and there, or if it's going to be an everyday kind of deal later on, we don't know. Garrett Mitchell comes back, frelick's hitting, mitchell starts a hit. You got Churchill, you got Yelich. Maybe Sal Frelick develops into being an everyday guy at third base. Who knows? I mean, you never know with this Brewers team and that's the same every single year what the heck's going to happen. So I think Sal Frelick is definitely one of my guys. I can't wait to watch.
Speaker 1:Another guy I have on there is DL Hall. I mean got him from the Orioles and the Orioles didn't really see him as a starting pitcher, right, they transitioned him into more of a bullpen guy, long reliever, that kind of setup there. They didn't trust him in that starting role. The Brewers are trying to push him back into that setting and I think that's exciting. Right, he's got good stuff. The fastball's electric, the breaking stuff is nasty. This guy has got the tools to be a. You know you don't want to jump the gun, but with the stuff he's got and if he can stay consistent, this is a guy who could potentially be a number one or two in your rotation and I think that's where the Brewers will see him.
Speaker 1:Because we look at game two of the series against the Mets. I don't believe they had announced a starter yet for that one. Last time I checked it was just Freddie in game one and then it was Ray in game three. Dl Hall is scheduled for game two now. So Hall is set up to be the number two in your rotation and I think rightfully so. This guy has the stuff to be a number two guy.
Speaker 1:It's just going to be the growing pains, right. This is a guy who was transitioned to the bullpen. Now he's back as a starter. He's still young, how you know those growing pains, and if he battles through them, if it's going to be struggle after struggle, if he gets into a jam, can he get himself out of that jam. You know, getting some of that veteran experience, right. We know good pitchers out there. We saw Corbin Burns, we saw Brandon Woodruff, even a guy at times like Freddy Peralta guys who got themselves into jams and were able to get out of it. They had the poise. How does DL Hall fit that mold? Does he have the poise to be able to settle it back in and throw strikes? That's going to be a big thing.
Speaker 1:I'm watching with DL Hall but I can't wait to watch him out there because I think he is going to be a top end of the rotation guy for the Brewers here for years to come there. So DL Hall is my second guy. And then I got Jackson Churro. I mean everybody, every Brewer fan, even baseball fans, are excited to see this guy, jackson Churro, up there at the big league level. See what he's got. I mean you're talking number two prospect in all of baseball just behind. I mean, you know everybody says Jackson Holiday, and rightfully so, but Jackson Churro, he's, or Churro is right behind him there and I believe you know, watching this guy, he's got the tools right. It's just going to be how do those translate in at the big league level? We saw him hitting a little bit there in spring.
Speaker 1:You see guys hit in the minor league level and that's all fine and dandy right. But we watched Keston Hira go down to AAA, how many times it hit 300. I mean, the minor league system is one thing. It's when you come up to the bigs, does your hitting style match up and is able to translate up there at the big league level? We saw it with joey weimer. It was a struggle, right, he couldn't get it going at the big league level. Lots of the things that you can get.
Speaker 1:I took what gary varsho told me once there on an interview on the show here and he said you know, you watch guys in the minor league system and they all look great. Right, they're all hitting the baseball, everything, everything looks fine and dandy, but they get up to the big league level and they can't hit. When you go through the minors, especially nowadays with the expanded rosters and everything like that, you're not facing some of these big league pitchers down there anymore, right? The guys who are that good that they are big league ready and everything like that, they're at the big league level already. Right? I mean, we're going to see that with Paul Skeens and the Pirates. Like, this is a guy who, if he doesn't start in the big leagues, he's going to be up there very soon.
Speaker 1:Right, one of the top prospects in all of baseball, or one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball there, and that's where you kind of have to look at it. So I'm not saying that Jackson Sherrill isn't going to be a great hitter at the big league level. I'm not saying that, not whatsoever. What I'm saying is I'm excited to see how his game does truthfully work at the big league level, because I think it's going to come with growing pains, right.
Speaker 1:We saw in the minors he did have a higher strikeout rate and that's you know. You can take it one of two ways. You can call it alarming, right. Or you can say that he had a lot of at-bats down there at the minor league level and who knows, you know that kind of thing he does have the tendency to. I mean, I saw a couple, I watched a few of the games down there and he's got that tendency to chase right. So play discipline when he comes up to the big league level. He's going to be facing some pretty good pitchers here. So his plate discipline is going to be a big thing. Not getting in his own way, right. This is one of the top prospects in all baseball, but staying poised with what got him to this place. That's going to be a big thing.
Speaker 1:You watch, with Jackson Terrell not getting ahead of himself and you know when the struggle does come, because I mean it will right. Every, every big leader goes through that struggle. Stretch right, even if it's one game, two games, it could be a week. I mean we've seen you can say, like Willie Adamas, it's been for a while, right, but it's all about being able to come to the ballpark the next day and be able to produce, be able to still be that clubhouse guy, and I think that's a big thing.
Speaker 1:You watch with these rookies here for the Brewers is, as they're coming up here, how do they translate into that, into the clubhouse, everything like that? Do they stay poised? Do they stay with their work? You know, those are some of the big things I watch out for when I look at young guys coming into a system is how do they respond to the bad? That's the biggest thing. How do they respond to the bad and do they have the characteristics right, the ability to bounce back and be able to still produce?
Speaker 1:We've seen a lot of careers go downhill because they come up to the big league level and everything seems to be going wrong, have a blow up, whatever it is, and then you don't hear from anymore, right, and that's a lot on their character. So how do? How does a guy like jackson churro if he does face struggle at the big league level? How does he keep it moving? That's something I watch out for there with jackson churro, I mean other guys, I was all up in the air on guys that I was excited to see here for the Brewers here in this upcoming year. I mean, I even thought about a guy like Willie Adamas. Right, we've seen the struggle over the years with Willie and every year it's like I just want to see Willie back out there and I want to see Willie start to hit the baseball again, you know, and be a consistent hitter for the Brewers. So that's going to be an interesting storyline there too.
Speaker 1:Is if Willie Adamas does hit, what do the Brewers do with Willie? Is he going to be a trade candidate? Could they get better by trading Willie Adamas? Or, if he struggles, do the Brewers possibly look at a? I don't know if you can go to a bench roll, because you're paying them a little bit of not a boatload of money, but you're paying them a little bit of money there. So I don't know if you can go to a bench roll because you're paying them a little bit of not not a boatload of money, but you're paying them a little bit of money there. So I don't know if you look at a bench roll then for Willie, you know, to get some of these younger guys in there, if you look for a trade partner, even if he's struggling, and kind of just take what you can get, I think that's going to be an interesting storyline there with Willie Adamas.
Speaker 1:And also I mean I look at the likes of Christian Yellich too. You have a lot of young guys, young outfielders, coming through the system now for the Brewers. I mean you look at the likes of Garrett Mitchell, sal Frelick, who now we see transitioning to third a little bit there, but you still have Sal out there. You have Jackson Churro Nobody ever knows with Joey Weamer if he's ever going to start a hit again. And then Luis Lara a lot of people not really high up on the name of the guy yet, but he's a very promising prospect. He's young yet 19 years old down there in the minors yet but this is another guy who is very exciting and could potentially find himself rising through the ranks there really fast. So you know Christian Yelich is going to be another guy for me, that I'm ready.
Speaker 1:I want to watch here and see. Okay, if he does struggle in the outfield, what do the Brewers do? We heard no first base for him, but is that still an option? Maybe we transition him to first base? I don't know if he can be an everyday or a DH all the time, right, because you have a lot of different guys Gary Sanchez now, who is going to be in the DH at some point, even a guy like Reese Hoskins, william Contreras. You have a lot of good hitters who you want to be able to utilize in that DH role. You can't really give them days off in a lineup like that. So that's a big thing I watch out for there too, is if Christian Yelich does struggle in any facet, how do the Brewers play that? I mean, you have a lot of promise in this outfield room. Now. You're paying them a boatload of money, so I don't expect them to just bench him, right, you can't just bench the guy, but sometimes it's like do you, do you give him more days off here and there? Is that an option? Do you bring him off the bench a little bit more. I don't know. It's going to be interesting to see what the Brewers do with Christian Yelich.
Speaker 1:And then I look at Freddy Peralta First season as the ace of the staff. He's never been relied on to be the ace of a pitching staff. How does Freddie respond to now being the number one? Right, he's always been the two, three, sometimes four. Right Now he's the number one guy in this rotation. How does he respond to that? That's going to be a big thing for me to watch is how Freddie Peralta responds to now being the number one. And we're going to see it here against the Mets on opening day on Friday.
Speaker 1:There the game got moved to 12-40 now. It was supposed to be I believe it was supposed to be 12-40 on, was it no? Yep, yeah, it was supposed to be at 12 40 on thursday. It just got moved to friday now. So time stays the same. It's just getting moved a day back there. So but those are some of the guys that I'm excited with, with the brewers, that I'm excited to see here in this upcoming year. I think all those guys, if all those guys, have big years for the brewers. I mean the brewers should be sitting pretty healthy there at the end of the year.
Speaker 1:And that leads me into a lot of the projections right now are really high up on the Cubs and they're high on the Cardinals too and I was looking at them. I'm like, okay, the Cubs, I mean realistically they didn't get that much better. I mean they got Craig Council right, but on the pitching side I don't think they got much better. Lineup-wise they're relatively returning the same lineup that they had last year. So are you really getting that much better? I think it's going to be a we're going to have to wait and see, kind of thing. But Craig Council, yeah, he contributes to a couple I mean probably five wins. You could say being a pretty good manager there in one-run games, that kind of deal he's pretty good at managing. But other than that, I mean the Cubs didn't get that much better.
Speaker 1:The Cardinals you look at the starting pitching staff and that was the big question mark they had last year. Or the big fault they had last year was the starting pitching room. And I mean they got guys right Gibson and Sonny Gray but they got old guys. They didn't get that. I I don't know. I just look at the NL Central right now and if you had to, if you had to say who's got the most talent in the NL Central? The Reds. I mean the Reds have a boatload of talent. I really do. I mean people are so high up on the Cubs and the Cards but I would be more leaning towards the Reds to be that sleeper, the Reds to be that team to finish at the top. I mean that's a bold take, I guess, but that's where I'm leaning right now. If I was outside, I mean, of course I want to say the Brewers right. But I just look at the Cubs and the Cardinals and I just did they get better.
Speaker 1:I mean the Cardinals, the big question mark, like I said, was the starting pitching staff. They might've gotten a little bit better with some solid old veteran help, but I don't know if that did it for them. And then you look at the Cubs and they're relatively the same. So you can't take what you had last year. I mean the Cubs finished towards the top in the division last year but I mean, does that really change that much just having Craig Gounsell in the room, that's. But I mean, does that really change that much just having Craig Council in the room. That's going to be a big thing. That's going to be a big thing to watch. So I mean that's where I'm at, kind of with the projections right now.
Speaker 1:I mean it's a toss-up, the NL Central. There's a lot of different ways it could go and it just depends on. I mean, yeah, you're going to say depends on who's hitting, who's got the staff, everything like that. But I don't know. I mean it depends on how the Cardinals with an older pitching staff fare, how the Cubs underneath the Craig Council roll and, looking at the Brewers, how some of the young guys start to hit. If the pitching staff can hold up right. And the Reds, they always just seem to have a problem in the pitching room right. The starting pitching, that's what always seems to trouble the Reds. They always seem to have some kind of offense but it just it always seems to falter with that starting pitching. So it's going to be interesting to see how the Reds roll it this year.
Speaker 1:Pirates, they always seem to hang around right. They always seem to play tough and I think that's going to stay the same this year. They have good pieces. I mean they have Mitch Keller. They're going to have Skeens up there at some point you have O'Neal Cruz and Cabrian Hayes. Rowdy Tellez is there now. I mean Rowdy could have a great year for the Pirates. We don't know that yet, but I mean they have pieces there in Pittsburgh. It just seems like they can never. That's an organization that can never put it together right. And you look at the organizations in the NL Central and it's like the Brewers are a tier ahead. I believe. Honestly, when it comes down to it, just with player development, looking at skill of players, staying competitive, everything like that, it just seems like the Brewers right now are that team in the NL Central to me. So that's about all I got for the Brewers for the day. We're going to talk about them. I planned on doing a little bit of opening day show today but, like I said, I mean game got moved to Friday now. So we're going to get our opening day show here coming up tomorrow on this show.
Speaker 1:So, getting out of the Brewers, I just wanted to mention a couple more of our, a couple of our sponsors here quick before we move on. First game day supply in on alaska. Do you have a sports club or team? Are you looking for some sweet custom uniforms or apparel. Check out the awesome crew at game day supply in on alaska to help your team get the sweetest gear. Find them on facebook at game day supply or online at game day supplynet. Also, pittsville farm and home center. At the store they serve you anything from hydraulic hoses to red roses. Stop in and see the awesome. We'll be right back. But hey, it's going to be gone soon. We're going to get some summer feeling and you got to get down to the racetrack there for some fun summer days and nights there down at the track. Marshfield motor speedways in marshfield, wisconsin. But with that I want to talk about the bucks here.
Speaker 1:Bucks dropped the game to the lakers. Didn't get into it yesterday there, but I wanted to talk about it here today. Double overtime, the Bucs dropped that game and it all. I mean the Bucs controlled this game From the first to the third quarter. The Bucs controlled this game against the Lakers. And then you look at that fourth quarter 13 points, 13 points. They're outscored 27-13. In that fourth quarter that led to the comeback there by the Lakers and once again, no LeBron James. Lakers beat the Bucs Without LeBron James Twice, now Twice Without LeBron. So Lakers beat the Bucs without LeBron James, twice now, twice without LeBron. So Bucs lose.
Speaker 1:Looking at the box in this one, I just want to check it out here. Giannis had 29, dame had 27, and then Beasley had 21 for the Bucs in that one. Middleton with 12, brooke Lopez with 9, 18 for Bobby Portis, middleton. What are you doing, man Late in the game? The foul, that foul call. I mean I get tough defense, but that was just I don't want to say stupid, but man, that was.
Speaker 1:It was a rough night for Middleton. Let's just go with that. End of the day. Rough night for Middleton 4-15 from the floor, 2-7 from downtown for Middleton. Let's just go with that. End of the day. Rough night for Middleton 4-15 from the floor, 2-7 from downtown. Middleton struggled.
Speaker 1:Middleton struggled mightily in this game and you look across the board there, dame. He was 3-14 from downtown. In this one he was 9-29 from the floor. Dame struggled from three and it's been a struggle for the Bucks at times. From downtown. Beasley five for uh. Five for 14 from downtown. Eight for 18 from the floor. Beasley shot it well in this game. I mean we've seen some bad games from Beasley too, so I mean we've seen it all. Uh, brooke Lopez, four for seven, one for four from three, nine points in this one and then, like I said, bobby coming off the bench there with 18.
Speaker 1:Defensively, it is still. You know, everybody's telling me the Bucs defense has gotten so much better and when you look at the stats, yeah, they have. But my biggest problem is that when I look at the games that the Bucs are playing, this great defense in it's against I don't want to say some part teams, but against. You know you go against the Lakers, you struggle. You go against the Warriors, you struggle. You play the 76ers, you look good. But it's when you play these good teams that the defense just seems to lapse, that the Bucs seem to be out of sorts. And that's my worry right now.
Speaker 1:With Milwaukee, that's my worry and you know you're going to have a team coming up here. They're going to play today here against the Pelicans. This is a game for Milwaukee. The Pelicans, they're a good team 44-28 on the season right now. This is a good team. In New Orleans They've had good scoring all the way around Zion's averaging about 20 to a game for the Pelicans right now. And then looking at a couple of the other scorers on that team Zion, brandon Ingram averaging 20, cj McCollum's averaging 18, trey Murphy he's about 14, and then it goes down from there. But this is a good Pelicans team, right.
Speaker 1:So this is another game where I look at this Bucs team and I say, how do the Bucs stack up? Like this isn't the top team, this isn't a top team, but it's a solid team. How do the Bucs square up there? How do they play? How do they get into it? They're going on the road for this one. Can they win a game on the road against a good team? They win on that West Coast swing there and they struggled right and only winning one game out there on the West Coast. Now they go on the road again here against Pelicans. How do they respond to that? How do they? How does the ball move for the Bucs here against the Pelicans? How does Dame and Giannis play together on the court Communication with this Bucs team? It's all the little things for Milwaukee right now that I feel like is failing them.
Speaker 1:And this is a swing right now where you're going to have the Pelicans, but then you're going to get into a stretch here where the Bucs will play. I don't want to say bad teams, but lesser teams Hawks are in the play-in conversation, yeah, but then you look at some other teams there. You have the Wizards, the Grizzlies, the Raptors. You're going to have some struggling teams and then after that you have the Knicks and the Celtics and the Magic, and then the Thunder and then the Magic again. You're in the home stretch right now. You've got to be able to take some of these games on the road. You got to show that you are a team that can yeah, you can dominate at home, but you got to be able to win games on the road. And that's where, with this Bucs team we're going to see here coming up. They have a three game road trip. They've struggled on the road so far this year.
Speaker 1:How, how does, how, does this Bucs team play on the road here against good competition in the Pelicans? That's something I need to see here, because lately the 17 and 18 on the road you get into a playoff series. You're going to have to go on the road and win some games. Can the Bucs do that? That's going to be a big thing to watch. So Bucs Pelicans, like I said, a big thing to watch. So Bucs Pelicans, like I said, coming up, that'll be tonight here seven o'clock. Tip for that one on NBA TV. Can't wait to watch that one. Like I said, bucs going on the road should be a good game and I believe the Bucs should be able to beat a team like the Pelicans. But how does this Bucs team respond after losing a tough game to the Lakers where the offense kind of went away late there? So going to be a good game Bucs-Pelicans coming up tonight here.
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Speaker 1:I want to get into the brackets here a little bit and just kind of browse around. So today we're going to have mainly the left side of your bracket in action. We got UConn and San Diego State. That game's going to be coming up 6-39, a rematch of the national championship game from last year. Uconn's been rolling in this NCAA tournament. I don't. I really don't see it changing here. They had that round one win against Stetson 91-52, and then they beat Northwestern 75-58. I just don't see it changing. At San Diego State I thought maybe if Auburn would have made it through, that was a team that I thought could have banged around with UConn San Diego State. I think they're going to play close for a little bit, but UConn's going to be too much for them. Another team in action we're going to see Illinois in action. They're going to be taking on Iowa State. That should be a good game. That'll also be on TBS there. That'll be a 9-0-9 start for that one.
Speaker 1:I'm looking at that game and I got gotta say I like Illinois Defensively. I don't like Illinois. I think this defense for Illinois has been giving up points all year long. It's just that offense. That offense. They can score buckets with the best of them Terrence Shannon, damask, coleman Hawkins all great scorers for this team and I think we will see Illinois advance to play UConn there. I don't think it's going to be a blowout. I think Iowa State's going to bang with them. Iowa State is nothing to shake your head at there. Cyclones have been playing great this year. They rolled it in that Big 12 tournament, played fantastic and I think this will be a very good game between Illinois and Iowa State. But I think Illinois' offense is just going to be a little too much for Iowa State. Looking at the bottom half of the bracket, this is going to be.
Speaker 1:I believe I picked Alabama to win this game against North Carolina, but I think this is going to be one of the better games of the day. If you ask me, alabama defensively is bad. They're not a great defensive team. I mean you look at the past couple games 96 points. They gave up Charleston Alabama that was I said it in the preview show for the bracket that was going to be a very good game. They were both two high-powered offenses. Don't play a lot of defense. We saw 109 to 96. You look at their last game against Grand Canyon 72 to 61, just got enough there. This game against Grand Canyon 72-61. Just got enough there. This game against North Carolina North Carolina can defend. They're a pretty good defensive team and they can score it. I mean you got RJ Davis out there. Armando Baycott is still playing well.
Speaker 1:This is a very well-rounded North Carolina team. But when I look at it, I just saw the offense in Alabama and I said to myself I just don't know if North Carolina can play it. I don't know if they can keep up with that pace. If Marcus Sears is rolling, if Alabama's is rolling along, is North Carolina able to hit shots to back it up? And North Carolina's got good shooters on that team. But I feel like they're limited. Right, they have good shooters on this team. I, just when I watch this team, I just feel like they're limited. So I picked Alabama to win that game. But that should be a fantastic game. That one will be an 839 game on CBS. So fantastic game there down in the West region. And then looking at the last game, that will be well, not the last game of the day, but the last game.
Speaker 1:On that side of the bracket I was looking at clemson and arizona, arizona. They survived a scare there against uh dayton. You look at this clemson team pj halls average about 12.5 a game right now and 45 percent uh shooting from the floor in this tournament. So far the clemson's a pretty there. I I gotta be honest with you in my bracket I had new mexico making out of the first game. I did not think I. I knew Clemson was a good team. I said it all year. They were a scary draw, right. I just New Mexico is rolling coming into that tournament. I was like New Mexico is going to win that. I didn't have Clemson going this far. They've played impressive. They beat that New Mexico team, beat Baylor there. Now they face off with Arizona. But when you get against Arizona, this is an athletic, long lanky, good shooting team in Arizona. I mean this team can if they don't get knocked out here by.
Speaker 1:When I look at the likes of Clemson, if Clemson isn't able to play with them, it's going to be a tough draw for North Carolina, I really believe, with Arizona. I mean, look at DeLangter, you got Ballot there, you have Johnson, and then you have a couple of good guards there in Boswell and Larson and Love. When I look at Larson and Love both those guys very good three-point shooters on the year here and then you look at the bench for them, they have a couple good guards coming off the bench there in Bradley and Lewis I mean both guards there getting buckets here in the tournament. This Arizona team is going to be dangerous and I believe Clemson can play in this game. I just don't know if they can beat a team like Arizona. Arizona's got a lot of length. They like to get out and push it and they like to score at a high tempo and I don't know if Clemson can play that game. If Clemson controls the tempo, I believe they can control this game, but other than that, I believe that Arizona's got the better players. When you look at, if you want to look skill-wise, I believe Arizona tops that one. So that's where I'm at right now.
Speaker 1:In the March Madness bracket we won't see Marquette tip off. That'll be a Friday game or a excuse. Yeah, a Friday game there for Marquette. That will be, I believe, a 609 start, yep 609 on CBS there against NC State on Friday. So we'll get more into that game there tomorrow on the show. But other than that I mean fantastic games here coming up in March Madness today here.
Speaker 1:Looking at the Badgers, I did see some interest. The Badgers are looking at a couple of interesting guys right now. William Kyle III he's a former teammate of Chucky Hepburn played at the University of South Dakota last year. He was in the NCAA tournament there. He did have a very good showing in the NCAA tournament there and looking at him he averaged about 13.1 per game, 6.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists there, 1.6 blocks per game and about 0.3 steals per game. Not really anything to look at there and he shot about 62.3% from the field there.
Speaker 1:So I mean this is a guy who could come into your program and essentially replace Tyler Wall. Right, you need a replacement for Tyler Wall. This is a guy who could replace Tyler Wall for you. Very good shooter. He can extend the floor and I think that's something the Badgers really need to look for there in a forward position, because I think the one thing with Tyler Wall was is he couldn't extend the floor. He couldn't make defenders honest out there at the three-point line they were able to kind of play off, sag off. It added problems for the Badgers, especially trying to cut, drive anything in the lane there. So I think a guy like this to be able to extend it out, it's going to help out Steven Crowell, it's going to help out this Badgers offense a ton. So I like that addition there. And also I saw they reached out to and this is a guy that we just recently saw James Madison guard, terrence Edwards Jr. He did declare for the NBA draft but he's just testing the waters right, Keeping his college eligibility available there and he did also enter into the transfer portal so we could see a guy like Terrence Edwards.
Speaker 1:This is a guy he's a 6'6 junior, averaged about 17.7 per game there for James Madison, was one of the better players for James Madison on this year and a big reason why this team made it to the NCAA tournament, made it through that season with a 32-4 record overall. Just looking at some of his stats there. I mean, look at him 4.4 rebounds per game. He had about three assists per game. Only averaged about two turnovers. He shot 42% from the field. He's about an 81% free throw shooter and 34% from downtown. So this is a guy you lose AJ's store potentially. This is a guy who could replace in there. You lost Connor's season. This is a guy who could replace him there. You lost Conor Season. This is a guy who can replace in that aspect. This is a guy that you can bring into your system right now if you are Wisconsin and he has the ability to influence you in the starting rotation right off the bat coming in. So I guess you can't beat him and have him join your team right Right now.
Speaker 1:I'm very intrigued by some of these guys the Badgers are reaching out to Now. It's just a matter of can the Badgers draw them in right? Is Greg Gard able to say this is? You know? This is a year you want to be coming to Madison? We got good things brewing here. Don't pay attention to all the critics on the outside who are saying that I should be fired right now. You know, get in here.
Speaker 1:Also other notables. I saw Tony Perkins from Iowa. He just entered the transfer portal himself. So Tony Perkins, a very experienced guard, very good scoring guard there for Iowa in that portal. Do the Badgers call up Tony Perkins and just say, hey, we've seen you, you've seen us, you know what we're about? I mean, this is a tough get-after-you kind of guy that played for Iowa. Does this Badger team look at a guy like Tony Perkins? There's going to be a lot of people, I believe, calling Tony Perkins, looking for his services there.
Speaker 1:Are the Badgers going to be looking in that direction? I definitely would. I mean, you might have a lot of guards in the room, but what's another one, right? Noah Reynolds from Green Bay. He's transferring out. Noah Reynolds would be a guy that I would potentially look at if I was the Badgers and see if you can't draw him. He once was going to transfer to Madison. Then I think he saw the guard room and said I don't want a part of that. But now I mean you potentially lose aj store. Maybe noah reynolds says, hey, I could get into that rotation. I think you guys have something good brewing there. I want to jump in so that could be another interesting ad for the badgers there. So those are a couple of guys I'm looking at right now for Wisconsin, just kind of seeing. I was just scoping around yesterday A couple of those came across my social media feed so I just wanted to talk about it a little bit there.
Speaker 1:But last but not least, I wanted to talk about Wisconsin women's basketball. They will be in action coming up tonight here. That game will be on starts at seven from the cole center. I'm trying to pull it up here because for some reason it just went away on me. I want to get the full stats of that game there right there. Illinois state coming up tonight from the goal center there, seven o'clock start for that one. I believe it's on espn plus for that game. So wisconsin coming into this game sitting at that 14 and 16 record on the season. They did have that great come from behind win in their last game. They Looking at this one as a whole, I mean you're looking at Sarah Williams for the Badgers.
Speaker 1:She had 24 points against Southern Indiana on Monday. So you're looking at a girl like Sarah Williams to lead the charge for the Badgers. Looking at the flip side, for Illinois State, deanna Wilson is the big one you're watching for she had 17 points against Charleston there. So two of the bigger names there, heading into this one. Looking at the Badgers, they're giving up about 62 points per game right now. They're about six fewer than what Illinois actually allows per contest. Right now, the Badgers shooting about 73% from the free throw line Good for 10th in the Big 10 on the year. So this game, if it comes down to free throws, can the Badgers capitalize on free throws in this game Because they have struggled on this season? So this is one you're watching. If the Badgers get into a free throw situation, will they be able to win it in that department?
Speaker 1:Looking at the Badgers, some of the players to watch out for, like I said, williams, she's the leading scorer and rebounder for this team 17 points a game, 11 boards. But you also gotta be looking at the likes of ronnie porter. She's averaging about 10 points a game right now, five rebounds and four assists, and then also 8.3 points per game from brook, uh, shermex. So a lot of good scoring there from the badgers. Those are some of the girls you'll be watching out for if you are. Uh, illinois state. Heading into this one, santa copeland is about. She's making about 1.3. Three points uh, three pointers per game right now for the Badgers there. So she's a very. She hits about 27% of her shots from behind the arc there. She's their best three point shooter on this team. So how does Illinois State defend her in this game? That is going to be something to watch out for there. Looking at Illinois State some of the players to watch Wilson leads the team in scoring average about 14.9 per game. Maya Wong she's got about three assists per game for them and 12.2 points. And then Kate Bowman is averaging about seven rebounds per game and seven points. So those are some of the girls going to be watching out for Illinois State.
Speaker 1:This should be a good game between Wisconsin and Illinois State. Winner advances to the semifinal, or it would be the semifinal of the WNIT. So big game here for the Badgers coming up to Kohl's Center. That'll be tonight here seven o'clock for that one. But with that that's about all we got for today. Talked about a little bit kind of sporadic there, not a whole lot going on, but hey, we got opening day of baseball happening on friday, so we'll get into it on friday talking about the opening day slate, talking about what we expect, everything like that. We'll get into that as the week goes on. We'll talk a little bit more about march madness lots to get into here in our week wrap up there tomorrow here on the show. But but with that this has been Wisconsin sports on the go with trades. Thank you guys for listening. We'll catch you guys back here tomorrow, but until then, deuces, thank you.