February 2012 Archives

Great opportunities within reach for Badgers

By Anna Poulter-Hendrickson on February 29, 2012 2:09 PM | No TrackBacks

In today's blog entry, head coach Yvette Healy writes about adversity and opportunity.

Adversity, what a great word for sports, what a great lesson for life. Wisconsin softball is 4-5 right now. It's a good 4-5. We've played a great schedule, with our three of our five losses to top 25 teams, and the other two losses to Arkansas and Maryland who are in the top 30/receiving votes.

The first few weekends always test your mental toughness. Everyone enters the season with high hopes and dreams of the type of impact player they could be. Everyone has their sights set on making huge strides as a program, getting out of the gates fast and knocking off a few ranked teams. Reality can be humbling. When things don't go as you'd planned, it can either motivate or hold your back.

For Badger softball, this week is about focus and confidence. When you face ranked teams, and you play in tough, tight games that you almost win, it breaks your heart. Adversity tests your character, placing you in pressure situations, forcing you to act, react, and respond during and after competition. As a growing team that's still trying to figure out who we are, and how to win big games, it's the response that matters most. What happens after the game; what do you do every day afterwards to improve? As a coaching staff, we're so pleased that our team has the opportunity to play in tight games against great pitchers early in the season. It builds your database, and makes you a smarter, tougher team.

As a staff, we work hard to prepare our team to compete. We've challenged them mentally and physically throughout the fall and winter. We've built up their softball IQ and worked on mental training. Yet there is no substitute for the real feelings that arise when each players battles through the ups and downs of the season. It is the games that cause that gut reaction, the nerves, the thrills and hearth-break. There's no way to simulate that emotional rush. What we cannot account for as coaches is each individual's mental toughness, and their ability to deal with adversity and challenges. Great players always bounce back.

I think our team is in the perfect position to make a run, and go on a role these next 14 games. We're prepared, we've been tested; we're learning and getting better each and every game. Our success over the next three weekends will be a direct result of how mentally tough our team is. If the challenges of the past two weekends bring us down, and hold us back, it could get ugly. If the adversity causes divisiveness internally, we could be in trouble. Yet if we can pull confidence and trust from what we've learned in playing tough ranked teams, we could surprise some people.

I'm excited to see our team's character and leadership develop. This weekend could be a great turning point for the Badgers. We'll see if we have the leadership and experience to make the jump. I would love to see the team pull together, get excited, and string together some wins. It all comes down to temperament. These are the moments in the season, and in our student-athletes careers, when the greatest opportunity is right within reach.

Last day for the offense

By Brian Lucas on February 29, 2012 1:10 PM

***Vote for the All-Bielema Team on Facebook***

After nearly 4,000 votes on Facebook, the offensive side of the ball is taking shape for the All-Bielema Team. The voting for the final position for the offense, right tackle, opens today on the Football Facebook Page.

However, just because we're highlighting the right tackle today doesn't mean you can't go in and vote for all the other positions if you have not done so already. Think John Stocco is getting overlooked in the QB battle? Want to have a say in the close race at tight end between Travis Beckum and Lance Kendricks? Who should be the second WR to line up with Nick Toon? Have your say on Facebook or Twitter (#AllBielemaTeam).

The Right Tackle Candidates:

Josh Oglesby (2009-11)
First-team All-Big Ten selection in 2011 ... started 28 games in his career, including 10 as a sophomore and 13 as a senior ... started three games at LT as a freshman ... winner of team's Wayne Souza Coaches Appreciation Award as a senior ... invited to 2012 NFL Scouting Combine

Eric Vanden Heuvel (2006-08)
Started 35 career games at right tackle ... winner of UW's Wayne Souza Coaches Appreciation Award as a senior ... honorable mention All-Big Ten selection in 2006 ... also named Academic All-Big Ten in 2006 ... three-time UW offensive player of the week in 2008

Ricky Wagner (2010-11)
Honorable mention All-Big Ten in 2010 and 2011 ... started 10 games at right tackle in 2010 ... started all 14 games of 2011 at left tackle ... former walk-on tight end who earned a scholarship

Remember to vote early and often for the All-Bielema team either on Facebook or Twitter using #AllBielemaTeam (follow @BadgerFootball).

The Voice: Tough-minded Badgers will be tough out in tourney

By Matt Lepay on February 29, 2012 9:32 AM

Welcome to the Madness.

As the Big Ten season hits the final few days and more than a dozen other conference tournaments get going, let us just go ahead and welcome all those sports fans whose interest in college basketball picks up -- right about this time of year.

More than one week away from Selection Sunday, and already I have heard what has turned into an annual question. How far will the Badgers advance in the NCAA tournament?

Who knows? Can we at least wait for the tournament pairings?

Boring as it might sound, that is the best answer I can give. However, there are some signs that the Badgers once again could be a tough out in postseason play.

The effort last Sunday at Ohio State certainly gives fans reason to believe. After coming close against highly-ranked teams such as North Carolina, Marquette, Michigan State and the first matchup with the Buckeyes, Wisconsin broke through with a 63-60 victory in Columbus.

In sports, there are some games that you steal. This was not one of them. The Badgers won it. They won it with a big-league effort from Jared Berggren, Jordan Taylor and company. With Taylor, it is the latest chapter in a terrific career, but to see Berggren have success at both ends of the floor against OSU big man Jared Sullinger is encouraging. Yes, it is simply one game, but what a game it was.

How about the recent play of Rob Wilson? The senior can hear the clock ticking on his college basketball career, and he is playing as though he would like it to last several more weeks.

To make a long story short, it appears as though a certain All-America point guard is getting more and more help from players not named Jordan Taylor. In two of the previous three games prior to Tuesday night's 52-45 victory against Minnesota, Wisconsin had four players scoring in double figures. Against Ohio State there were three, with Wilson adding nine critical points off the bench.

It is no secret that opposing teams have tried to do everything possible to contain Taylor. Still, there are times when Taylor proves to be next to impossible to stop. Just ask the Gophers. However, on other nights, Taylor needs the other four on the floor to pick him up. As the regular season comes to a close, the Badgers are showing they are capable of providing some balance.

"They're gonna have to," said UW coach Bo Ryan. "That is how you can get to keep playing. They are trying to be a more consistent unit, no matter who the five are on the court."

Against the Gophers, it was more a matter of Jordan needing to be Jordan. The senior guard knocked down 3 of 6 shots from 3-point range and then added 11 of 12 from the free throw line. Come tournament time, he may very well need to have a monster game --maybe more than one -- for Wisconsin to advance.

But perhaps the better chance for the Badgers would be if they are able to distribute the scoring.

On Tuesday, the Badgers finished a rather grueling stretch of playing three games in six days in three different cities. They won two of those, which assures the Badgers of a first-round bye in the Big Ten tournament for the 12th-straight year.

And they are in line for a 14th-consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament.

Some of the Badgers' games have been anything but pretty, but this streak of postseason appearances is a thing of beauty.

Archived Gameday Blog: Men's basketball vs. Minnesota

By Karl Anderson on February 28, 2012 11:15 PM

Patrick Herb and Karl Anderson covered all the action with the Gameday Blog as the Badgers defeated Minnesota, 52-45, at the Kohl Center.

Men's Basketball vs. Minnesota Gameday Blog

(02/28/2012)

6:39

Karl Anderson:

Good evening Badgers fans and welcome to tonight's Gameday Blog as the Badgers play host to Minnesota at the Kohl Center

Tuesday February 28, 2012 6:39 Karl Anderson