Encouraging

[famouspnthrfan]

i think it's unfair to doubt the ability of some of these players after 5 games raar...especially considering only two of the starters played DI ball last year. It's difficult to come back from a hiatus like Paige and Ricky experienced...you have to be patient ...it has been a bad few games...

[PantherU]

However, they're getting better.

They need to contest shots. No team will win if their opponents shoot 60% in a game.

They also need to pick better shots. They have to be patient and wait for their shots to open up.

[milwsport]

There were an nteresting stats mentioned in yesterday's broadcast.

No D-1 School has LESS D-1 experience than we do.

UWM is dead LAST in NCAA Division 1 experience. The entire team has only 9 D-1 starts between them. All of those starts came from one guy, Paulsen

That is a truly scary stat, but it also shows as the season progresses, the team will get better. We've already seen improvement and there will be more improvements to come.

[reggiewheelerfor3]

I realize post help is on the way next year. But still, it was discouraging for me to play a team like Northern Iowa, which has had about an equal amount of success over the past four or so seasons, and see their lineup stacked with quality big men. It just makes me cringe when I see guys like Adam Koch on NIU or Andy Polka on Loyola. How did they get away? I mean, I can maybe, maybe see someone choosing a Missouri Valley school over UW-Milwaukee. But really, why is a guy like Polka down in Chicago? Wouldn't we rather have him and Koch than, let's say, Anthony Hill or Kevin Johnson? It's debatable, yes, I understand Having seen all but KJ play, it seems like a couple good ones got away...and not to Big 10-quality schools, or even another in-state school like UWGB. I doubt either one of those guys dreamed of playing at Loyola or NIU when they began high school.

On the bright side, it appears as if the tiny team we have now is improving. No doubt, they'll be much better with the new additions next year. Unfortunately, I think this team is still a good two years away.

[brewtownbrian]

reggiewheelerfor3 said:

I realize post help is on the way next year. But still, it was discouraging for me to play a team like Northern Iowa, which has had about an equal amount of success over the past four or so seasons, and see their lineup stacked with quality big men. It just makes me cringe when I see guys like Adam Koch on NIU or Andy Polka on Loyola. How did they get away? I mean, I can maybe, maybe see someone choosing a Missouri Valley school over UW-Milwaukee. But really, why is a guy like Polka down in Chicago? Wouldn't we rather have him and Koch than, let's say, Anthony Hill or Kevin Johnson?

Recruiting is largely about connections between the coaching staff and the recruit, as well as the recruits wants/needs.

Maybe Polka and Koch didn't like some of the things the UWM coaching staff had to say. Or maybe they both wanted out of WI for their own reasons. Being highly-touted high school BBall players in WI and then playing college ball in WI could've been undue pressure that they didn't want to deal with.

Isn't Loyola one hell of a educational institution? And located in Chicago, near a great downtown?

Plenty of factors come into play besides local kids staying in state.

[BBFran]

Loyola already had another player from Oshkosh West on the roster, so they had a great connection to Polka. UNI had a very good program and a great new arena to sell.

I would have loved to get Polka and Koch too, but in recruiting you always lose more than you win. Don't sweat it -- Rob has upgraded our recruiting very substantially. Frankly it's a lot more impressive that he brought in top kids from Chicago and Minneapolis than its disappointing that he lost a few top kids from Wisconsin. He'll get his share of the Wisconsin kids and he certainly isn't ignoring them, as we know from the early offers he has made.

[Deleted]

While I wouldn't mind having Koch or Polka, I'd certainly rather have Torre and Flowers.

When Pearl was here, we had Polka locked to attend UWM. Pearl left, Polka got lost in the transition. It happens.


Later,
UWMfreak
ps. Hill will finish his senior year as a three star prospect.

[reggiewheelerfor3]

I guess my point was that you HOPE Polka and Koch chose to shun UWM for the outside factors, rather than basketball prowess and program direction. UWM has had its four best years while those guys were in high school. You'd like to think that we were able to gain some clout with them through that. I don't buy that they didn't come to UWM because of the pressures of playing in-state. I mean, what if the Badgers would've offered them a sholly? I know that that's comparing a Mini to a monster truck...but I doubt they would've turned that offer down, and there would've been even more pressure to perform on them in Madison.
I agree that Jeter has upped the level of recruiting....but we need bigs, and the guys coming in aren't quite big enough, in my opinion. The best mid-major teams (Gonzaga, NIU, Wichita State, etc.) always have the big dudes. We need them.

[Deleted]

Reggie,

Our top big guys in 04'5-'05 were not big. Tigert was barely 6'7" and Tucker had to pick up plenty of minutes in the paint. We've upgraded our height overall, especially next year with the addition of Joe Allen, Torre, Flowers, Johnson, and Hill. Each guy is 6'5" or taller.

Plus, all of these guys are far more athletic than Polka. Polka is not even that big.

Did Jeter even recruit Polka or Koch? Pearl wanted and had him here, but that doesn't mean Jeter was after him. Jeter only had one month to get these guys after he signed as our coach. maybe he has a different style of player in mind (judging by our signees, he wants a smaller, more athletic post player). Polka is definitely not quick.

-UWMfreak

[reggiewheelerfor3]

Just a difference in opinion, guys. Ha, and I'll give you that Polka, or Koch for that matter, are not overly quick. But Polka is basically Tigert junior, and we know how successful A.T. was here last year. Yes, I know Jeter supposedly wants to bring a more up-tempo game to UWM, and Polka doesn't necessarily fit the mold. I'm just going off of what I've seen work in the Bo Ryan/Jeter system for the past eight or so years. And I'm not saying some of those teams (especially Badgers teams) haven't been really athletic. They have, for sure. I just know there are places for guys like Polka and Koch, especially in the swing. A guy who can pass from the high post (AT, Polka) is invaluable. And it's kind of funny that Coach Pearl, who LOVES pressing, wanted the concrete-footed Polka to come here.
Yes, I know Hill's team runs the swing in high school. That's a good thing. It will be interesting to see how Flowers/Johnson fit in, because I have not heard much about their perimeter skills.
I'm not being overly critical of Jeter's recruiting. As I stated before, I think he's bringing in an overall higher caliber of player. I just hope he doesn't forget that there's a reason that a lot of 6-foot to 6-4 guys with stellar high school careers are playing Division III ball right now.
Point taken on UWM having its deep tournament runs without a huge lineup. Throw George Mason in that mix, too. But the mid-major programs that haven't missed a beat over the years that I mentioned before, all have guys at least in that 6-7 to 6-9 range year in and year out. I just don't want us to become the Manhattan of the midwest.
With that said, don't mistake me for being downtrodden on this team. Two more years and we could have another banner hanging downtown. I just don't know if, even then, we'll be on that elite level with Gonzaga and a lot of the Missouri Valley schools.

[BBFran]

I think Andy Polka is plenty athletic for the HL. Also very skilled. Seriously, I wish we had him. He's a good player and he'll bother us for four years at LU.

That said, I have absolutely no complaints about Rob's recruiting.

[uwmfan04]

I was at the game yesterday and I'm sure a lot of you watched it on TV but Koch did not impress me AT ALL. I'm not sure how many points he ended with but his only highlight was a 2 handed jam on a breakaway.

[TBone]

We had a coaching change a year and a half ago, and we lost 7 experienced players last year. Jeter didn't have much of a chance to go out and get bigs last year, and they're the hardest to find since everyone and their mother wants them. Now that we've had a coach for a year and a half, we have some promising big guys coming in.

Of Gonzaga, UNI, and Whichita St. how many of those teams have had coaching changes in the last year and a half while losing half their scholorship players within that year and a half?

T

[reggiewheelerfor3]

Well, we have some promising mid-sized guys coming in, anyway.
To answer your question (which you already know the answer to), none of Gonzaga, UNI or Wichita State have had coaching changes to go along with losing seven key players. But as someone stated earlier, Jeter seems to like the quicker, smaller post guys. Why? Those guys are fine, if you have a couple anchors to compliment them. As you said, TBone, everyone and their mother is going after big guys. There's a reason, and other mid-majors are landing some of these guys. Since Jeter isn't getting them (yet, at least), even after a full year of recruiting, maybe some other coach's mom will let him borrow a few of hers
Green Bay seems to have it down with the in-state guys (Randy Berry, Schachtner, even a big wing like Tillema), it just makes me wonder. It would just be nice to that that size on the team. And Jeter apparently wants size (see Knollmeyer). We'll be big-ER next year, but still undersized, probably even by Horizon League standards.

[ArtVandelay]

The problem with last years recruiting cycle was that Jeter had little time to prepare for it, and he had so many scholarships to fill. Jeter was hired early summer, and was put in a horrible spot since we lost all our '05 recruits. We were then forced to reach on some players just to fill out our '05 class and basically given no time to build a relationship with any recruits for the early signing period. Jeter did a great job of at least giving us a shot at guys like Knollmeyer and Koch, but they chose other great schools like St. Louis and UNI.

I can't comment specifically on the situation with Polka, but I can on Koch and the reason we didn't get him wasn't due to anything that Jeter did or didn't do. Jeter offered Adam a scholarship in mid July after watching him play in Las Vegas. Everyone offered late on Adam since he really didn't show how good of a player he would become until late in his junior year and during the summer AAU circuit. Adam frankly liked the facilities, coaching staff, players, and the conference more than he liked the same stuff from UWM. We have had lots of success, but so had UNI under McDermott and frankly they play in the best mid-major conference. It was between us, UNI, and Loyola for Adam and UNI won.

The Badgers can get nearly any in-state recruit they want because kids grow up idolizing them since they are born. Most high school recruits around the state probably hadn't even heard of UW-Milwaukee's basketball team until the 02-03 season. Adam was praying that the Badgers would extend an offer of preferred walk-on or a scholarship to him since he is a huge Badger fan. There is no way we can hope to have that type of relationship with recruits unless we can maintain a good amount of success over decades.

I've seen both Flowers and Polka play and they are both very good players. Both strong, great rebounders that can muscle their way to the hoop and take contact. Polka got lost in the transition between coaches and that sucks, but their is nothing that can be done about it now.

Art Vandelay