MADISON, Wis. -- Former Wisconsin big men Brian
Butch and Greg Stiemsma are two of 21 players that have accepted
invitations to participate in the Oct. 14-22 USA Pan American Games Team
training camp. The training camp will be utilized to select the USA's
12-man roster that will compete in the 2011 Pan American Games that are
being held from Oct. 26-30 in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Since leaving
Wisconsin, Butch has played professionally overseas and enjoyed a
successful stint in the NBA Developmental League that earned him a spot
on the Denver Nuggets roster late in the 2010 season.
The Appleton,
Wis., native missed all of last season after dislocating his knee in an
NBA Summer League game in July of 2010. An All-Big Ten selection as a
senior, Butch scored 1,115 career points and finished sixth in UW
history for career rebounds.
Stiemsma has taken a similar path
since his days in Madison, playing professionally in Europe, the NBA
D-League as well as a call-up to the NBA with the Minnesota Timberwolves
in 2010 and later a contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
A native of
Randolph, Wis., Stiemsma appeared in 95 games for the Badgers and
currently ranks sixth in UW history for career blocks.
In
addition to Butch and Stiemsma, the USA Pan American Games Team training
camp is excepted to include: Blake Ahearn (Missouri State '07) Chris
Daniels (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi '08) Justin Dentmon (Washington
'09) Jerome Dyson (Connecticut '10) Moses Ehambe (Oral Roberts '08) Anthony Goods (Stanford '09) Ron Howard (Valparaiso '06) Marcus Lewis
(Oral Roberts '09) Leo Lyons (Missouri '09) Renaldo Major (Fresno
State '04) Anthony Mason, Jr. (St. Johns '10) Matt Rogers (Southwest
Baptist '10) Walker Russell (Jacksonville State '06) Donald Sloan
(Texas A&M '10) Curtis Sumpter (Villanova '07) Lance Thomas (Duke
'10) Curtis Withers (Charlotte '06) Chris Wright (Dayton '11) Luke Zeller (Notre Dame '09).
The Pan American Games, held every
four years in the year prior to the Olympics, are being held Oct. 13-30
in Guadalajara, Mexico. The men's basketball competition, which features
eight teams, is being conducted Oct. 26-30.
The USA men were
drawn into Group B for the Pan American Games and are joined by national
teams from Brazil, Dominican Republic and Uruguay. Competing in Group A
are Argentina, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. The U.S. men open
preliminary round play Oct. 26 facing Dominican Republic (5:30 p.m.
CDT), then face defending Pan American Games champion Brazil on Oct. 27
(8 p.m. CDT), and conclude preliminary play versus Uruguay (5:30 p.m.
CDT) on Oct. 28. Semifinals action will be played Oct. 29, and the
finals will be contested on Oct. 30.
Training camp for the 2011
USA Basketball Men's Pan American Games Team will held Oct. 14-22 at the
Tulsa Convention Center (Okla.). The 12-member USA Men's Pan American
Games Team will be announced before the team departs Oct. 23.
Tulsa
66ers head coach Nate Tibbetts will serve as head coach for Team USA.
The player and coaching staff selections were made by the USA Basketball
Men's Pan American Games Committee, approved by USA Basketball's Board
of Directors and are subject to final approval by the U.S. Olympic
Committee Chief Executive Officer.
The USA Basketball Pan
American Games Committee is chaired by USA Basketball Men's National
Team Director Sean Ford, and also comprised of 2000 Olympic gold
medalist Steve Smith, NBA Development League Vice President of
Basketball Operations & Player Personnel Chris Alpert, and NBA
Development League consultant Gordon Chiesa.
By Paul Capobianco on September 29, 2011 12:25 PM
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I tried to put together a release about television for road games at North Dakota on Jan. 27-28 (Fox College Sports) and at Minnesota on March 2-3 (Fox Sports North), as well as the online streaming schedule for select Badger home games, but clearly explaining the streaming schedule is proving a challenging task.
Instead, I'm trying here in a more informal way to see if that works better.
So... there are four Badger home game streams available to anyone. Two of those are free at wpt.org/wisconsinchannel. They are Oct. 8 against Northern Michigan and Jan. 20 against Alaska Anchorage. The other two games, which involve both games of the Mercyhurst series Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 25-26), require a subscription at UWBadgers.com.
The remaining six streams will only be available to viewers residing outside the borders of Wisconsin and again require a subscription at UWBadgers.com. Please note the subscription auto renews, so unsubscribe when you are done watching games if you don't want to keep getting charged.
Why outside the state, you ask? That is because they are on TV inside the state. In the Madison area, they are either on WISC-TV or TVW. Outside the Madison area, Charter Extra will carry the games. Those games include North Dakota (Oct. 22), Nebraska Omaha (Oct. 29),
Minnesota Duluth (Dec. 10), RIT (Jan. 7), Alaska
Anchorage (Jan. 21) and St. Cloud State (Feb. 4).
What this means is that all 22 regular-season home games will either air on TV or be available via the web.
Hopefully that makes sense so far.
A few bonus nuggets. All of Coach Eaves' Monday news conferences, which begin next Monday at 12:30 p.m., as well as all postgame news conferences at the Kohl Center, stream live and for free at UWBadgers.com.
Many of Wisconsin's opponents stream their games live at Americaone.com. This year, that means streams for games at Bemidji State, Colorado College, Minnesota State and St. Cloud State should be available to watch.
I would suggest checking UWBadgers.com each week for possible changes to the schedule.
We will be posting a chart on the Web in the next week that should help keep you informed on where you can catch Badger hockey.
By Paul Capobianco on September 27, 2011 9:54 AM
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It's not the easiest task to keep track of all the former Badger hockey players skating in the professional ranks these days, but we attempted to bite off one piece and find out what Badgers have been in NHL training camps up to this point. So far we've counted 25 names, with a 26th on a training camp roster, but holding out as a restricted free agent. The number has slowly increased as we discovered new names on rosters. Some have already been waived, while some have been sent to AHL affiliates.
Here's the list, in no particular order
Matthew Ford - Washington Capitals Jake Gardiner - Toronto Maple Leafs Brian Elliott - St. Louis Blues Joe Pavelski - San Jose Sharks Brad Winchester - San Jose Sharks Derek Stepan - New York Rangers Ryan McDonagh - New York Rangers Adam Burish - Dallas Stars Jake Dowell - Dallas Stars Tom Gilbert - Edmonton Oilers Brian Fahey - Chicago Blackhawks Blake Geoffrion - Nashville Predators Ryan Suter - Nashville Predators Craig Smith - Nashville Predators Davis Drewiske - Los Angeles Kings Dany Heatley - Minnesota Wild Brendan Smith - Detroit Red Wings Cody Goloubef - Columbus Blue Jackets Andrew Joudrey - Columbus Blue Jackets Jamie McBain - Carolina Hurricanes Rene Bourque - Calgary Flames Joe Piskula - Calgary Flames Ben Street - Pittsburgh Penguins Jack Skille - Florida Panthers Steve Reinprecht - Florida Panthers Kyle Turris - Phoenix Coyotes (Unsigned Restricted Free Agent)
By Paul Capobianco on September 26, 2011 4:41 PM
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College hockey is upon us. That became more apparent on Monday when the USCHO.com and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Polls released their first prognostication for the 2011-12 campaign.
The young (20 of 26 skaters are either sophomores or freshmen) Badgers check in at No. 17 in the USCHO.com Poll and in the receiving votes category of the USA Today Poll, which equates to No. 18. That's three spots higher than the Badgers ended the 2010-11 season in both polls.
Notre Dame comes in at No. 1 in the USCHO.com poll, while Miami tops the USA Today survey. For the WCHA, North Dakota (3/3, Denver (4/4), Colorado College (7/7), defending NCAA champion Minnesota Duluth (8/10), Nebraska Omaha (14/14) and Minnesota (19/RV), join the Badgers in the rankings.
Some context regarding preseason polls. The 2006 NCAA champion Badgers opened the season ranked No. 10, the 2010 NCAA runner-up Badgers opened at No. 13 and No. 14 and the 2003-04 Badgers opened by receiving votes, but went on a 15-game unbeaten streak early on and were within an overtime goal of the Frozen Four.
Official practice for the Badgers begins Saturday, while the Kohl Center reawakens Friday, Oct. 7 when Northern Michigan visits Madison.
Andy Kilbride was never cut from the Wisconsin men's basketball team. But if he was, he might have been prepared to handle the rejection.
After a couple firings and a lay-off in the turbulent investment world, the former UW shooting guard has penned a humorous, yet insightful advice book titled, "A Man's Guide to Getting Fired."
Kilbride will be in Madison on Friday, Sept. 30, to promote his new book. He will appear at Underground Printing (521 State Street) to sign books from 5-7 p.m.
A three-year starter for the Badgers, Kilbride (1992-95) still ranks seventh in UW history for career 3-point shooting (41.8 percent). He is now the founder of Foster Bridge Partners, LLC, a management and consulting firm, but has recently added author to his resume. Kilbride is using his new book to inspire readers to create a life centered on their passions. "A Man's Guide to Getting Fired" reveals the process he developed to push his own life and career forward.
"I stopped climbing the corporate ladder and made my own way," Kilbride said. "Now I can look back on my former miserable life with clarity and objectivity. I want to share with you what I have learned from my experiences - what I did right and what I did wrong."
According to Kilbride, there is a lack of available information on what to do after you lose your job and before you find a new one. With this in mind, he offers witty anecdotes and liberating advice intended to help men understand what they're going through, look within to recalibrate their professional goals and move on with their lives.
Last season Jordan Taylor burst onto the college basketball scene with a monster year and a few signature games. For his efforts, Taylor was widely rewarded with second-team All-America honors.
Count Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook as the first to think Taylor can make the leap to first-team All-American in 2011-12.
The annual preview magazine has included Taylor on its preseason first-team All-American list, joining Harrison Barnes (North Carolina), Terrance Jones (Kentucky), Kris Joseph (Syracuse) and Jared Sullinger (Ohio State).
Taylor enters his senior season after averaging 18.1 points per game (5th in Big Ten) and 20.1 ppg during conference play last year. A lethal shooter, Taylor shot 43% from 3-point range (7th in Big Ten) and 85% from the free throw line (4th in Big Ten). Taylor also led the nation with a 3.83 assist-to-turnover ratio.
In its 31st year of publication, the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook is one of the most comprehensive college basketball publications in the world. On newsstands in October, Blue Ribbon gives readers thorough, up-to-date and timely evaluations of every Division I team in the country.
The Wisconsin men's basketball team has announced preliminary details for the annual Red-White Scrimmage sponsored by the University Bookstore. Fans can get their first look at the 2011-12 Badgers on Sunday, Oct. 30, beginning at 2 p.m. at the Kohl Center.
Admission, as always, is free to the public and the UW coaches and players will be available following the scrimmage for a one-hour autograph signing.
Former Badger Keaton Nankivil, who is now playing professional in Germany, was the leading scorer in each of the last three Red-White Scrimmages. Who will steal the headlines this year?
Wisconsin returns a pair of starters from last season's Sweet 16 team in second-team All-American Jordan Taylor and backcourt mate Josh Gasser. Junior Mike Bruesewitz, who averaged nearly 20 minutes per game and made 13 starts a year ago, returns in 2011-12, albeit with much less hair.
The Red-White Scrimmage will also offer fans their first look at the six newcomers on the Badgers' roster. Bo Ryan's staff welcomes five freshmen and transfer Zach Bohannon into the fray in 2011-12.
Mark your calendars now for the Red-White Scrimmage on October 30 and stay tuned to UWBadgers.com for more details as the event draws near.
Leaves changing color, weekends full of football and giant men in red and white running "The Hill" at Elver Park... rites of fall in Wisconsin.
The 2011-12 Wisconsin men's basketball season officially started on Sept. 7 with the year's first running of "The Hill." The time-honored tradition stepped off with eight repetitions up and down the hill that measures over 100 yards long and roughly a 35-percent grade.
The team will increase reps until reaching 22 by mid-October.
On day one, 15 of the 17 Badgers were in attendance, with only Jared Berggren and Rob Wilson absent due to a class conflict. Jordan Taylor (recovering from ankle surgery in July) and J.D. Wise (broken foot in 2010-11) were both held from running the hill, but did other strength and conditioning activities on the side.
Wearing weighted vests, Taylor and Wise took turns throwing weighted medicine balls backward up the hill and doing various other exercises.
"The foot's feeling pretty good, it's getting there," Taylor said after the workout."I'm about 70 percent right now. It should be better by the next week or two."
By Patrick Herb on September 9, 2011 2:21 PM
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Every year when schedules are announced, fans and experts alike quickly analyze the lineup of games and make judgments about the schedule's toughness.
It's a natural reaction and we all do it. We go down the list game-by-game and say: "easy win, tough game, easy win, easy win, tough game, toss-up, no chance, easy win, etc."
We all try to determine whether the schedule is easy, hard or somewhere in the middle. That's how we pass the time and fill our water cooler discussions when we're still two months from tip-off.
The thing that often goes unrecognized, is that this preseason ritual is based off of the previous' results and hype surrounding each opponent. The real measure of a schedule should be done after the season when you can analyze how each opponent performed instead of how each opponent was supposed to perform.
"Schools can never really be sure how their non-league opponents will fare in a given season," ESPN.com's Joe Lunardi wrote recently. "Teams can schedule so-called "up" games in tournaments, home-and-home series, one-way road trips, etc., and said opponents can underachieve for any number of reasons."
Using Wisconsin as an example, last season provided two terrific examples of how unpredictable scheduling can be. At the time UW faced Notre Dame in the championship game of the Old Spice Classic, the Irish were not even receiving votes in the AP poll and were largely predicted to finish anywhere from seventh to 10th in the Big East. Notre Dame went on to go 27-7 and finish second in the rugged conference.
On the flip side, UW's dance partner in the 2010 Big Ten/ACC Challenge was NC State, an up-and-coming team that entered the season with a returning all-conference pick, a top-ranked recruiting class and as a lock for a top-half finish in the ACC. Instead, the season unraveled quickly (including an 87-48 loss at the Kohl Center) and led to head coach Sidney Lowe's resignation and a 15-16 record.
Notre Dame or NC State from 2011 illustrate that predicting the future is a difficult exercise. The real analysis of a schedule should come when the nets are being cut down at the Final Four.
With that in mind, Lunardi recently examined the schedules of every BCS team over the last four seasons based on results, not predictions. He ranked the schools that have played the toughest non-conference schedules over that span and revealed that Wisconsin has played the ninth-toughest slate on that list.
So... truth or myth, Wisconsin plays weak non-conference schedules? The proof is in the numbers:
Quick... which schools have had the most All-Americans in college basketball history?
Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina... yep, those are no brainers. What about Duke? Sure. UCLA? Of course. Wisconsin? That's right, Wisconsin. While adding Jordan Taylor (AP second-team) to the All-American section of the Wisconsin men's basketball record book, I unearthed some information that, quite simply, blew me away. Try this on for size.
Only Kansas and Kentucky have had more men's basketball All-Americans than Wisconsin.
According the NCAA Official Record Book, Wisconsin has had 17 individuals earn a total of 20 consensus first-team All-America honors. UW's 17 All-Americans ranks third among all Div. I schools and the Badgers' 20 All-America honors ranks seventh all-time.
Here are the numbers:
TOTAL INDIVIDUAL CONSENSUS 1ST-TEAM ALL-AMERICANS Team Individuals 1. Kansas 20 2. Kentucky 18 3. Wisconsin 17 4. North Carolina 16 Purdue 16 6. Duke 15 7. Penn 14 UCLA 14 9. Columbia 13 Notre Dame 13
TOTAL CONSENSUS 1ST-TEAM ALL-AMERICA HONORS Team All-Americans 1. Kansas 27 2. North Carolina 25 3. Purdue 24 Penn 24 5. Kentucky 23 6. Notre Dame 22 7. Wisconsin 20 UCLA 20 9. Columbia 19 10. Duke 18
Granted, most of UW's All-Americans came in the early 1900s, but still... an All-American is an All-American. If UW ever decides to hang jerseys in the rafters, it would get pretty crowded in the Kohl Center. Here is the honor roll:
1905 - C.D. McLees, Chris Steinmetz, Sr.* 1907 - Frank Arthur 1908 - Hugh Harper, Helmer Swenholt 1909 - Helmer Swenholt 1911 - Walter Scoville 1912 - Otto Stangel* 1913 - Allen Johnson 1914 - Carl Harper, Eugene Van Gent 1915 - George Levis 1916 - William Chandler, George Levis* 1917 - Harold Olsen 1918 - William Chandler*, Eber Simpson 1941 - Gene Englund 1942 - John Kotz 2007 - Alando Tucker
Stiemsma has taken a similar path
since his days in Madison, playing professionally in Europe, the NBA
D-League as well as a call-up to the NBA with the Minnesota Timberwolves
in 2010 and later a contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
According to Kilbride, there is a lack of available information on what to do after you lose your job and before you find a new one. With this in mind, he offers witty anecdotes and liberating advice intended to help men understand what they're going through, look within to recalibrate their professional goals and move on with their lives. 
