Strike outs

I don't mind cheering a slugger when he hits a home run, but when he fails to cut back on his swing with two strikes and as a result strikes out, I think he ought to be booed.

What makes Wisconsin consistently good?

from Rivals:

Look at all the little things. The Badgers led the nation in Free-throw shooting and assist-to-turnover radio last season, and had the fewest turnovers per game by a wide margin.

Post health

The health of our post men may be the make-or-break factor for this year. With Gus out and Courtney hurting, we have no room to spare. The talent seems to be there, but if they are on the bench in bandages, they cannot help us.

Starters

Who starts a game means absolutely nothing to me. In fact, when I track starters from a stat sheet, I always do so in terms of minutes played, not who was in the line-up at the tip-off. However, because of the hype that accompanies the introduction of the starters, I can see why it is important to the players. A moment in the spotlight.

Again, watch the SBC next season

I expect the SBC to move upward in the conference rankings this year, but next season I expect us to take a giant step forward. There is a LOT of talent coming into the league this year that will need a year to get D1 acclimated, and a more-than-usual percentage of that talent is made up of big men. When lower-ranked conferences get several talented big men coming in, usually the difference is easy to see.

Recruiting class

We definitely are heading in a different direction with our last two recruiting classes. FAR less bulk. We are downsizing in weight and upsizing in height. And we will be among the national leaders in cool recruit names with Stetson Billings.

Good time of year

The basketball preseason magazines are out, the websites are coming out with their predictions. It is a good time of the year. Basketball is right around the corner.

Better Belt

The Sun Belt will struggle again this year, but I expect us to take a big step upward a year from now. There is a lot of talent coming into the league this season, and when they have a year of experience under their belts (no pun intended), I expect a lot of good things to happen. Stand by.

"Decent" height

There are a lot of factors that go into the discussion of what constitutes adequate height for a basketball roster. Bulk and reach and foot speed to go along with the height are probably more important than what is shown on the roster. After all, the player does nothing with the top of his head during a game. Still, when we scan a roster, there are rules of thumb that we go by to see if this team is undersized or not. What is my yardstick? Generally, I look for two players 6-9 or taller on the roster, especially at our level. That usually will not get the job done at the Big Six level, but Sun Belt teams do well to maintain that standard year in and year out.

More running

I think it is inevitable that this team will run more next season than we have in the past. The talent will demand it. We do not have a big man whose strength is the post-up game, and the bulk of the team is down considerable. We are built to run. Eric Lawton is one of our best incoming players, and his strength is in the open court.