Panthers One Win Away

In front of a surprisingly rocking student section, the Milwaukee Panthers Men's Basketball team defeated Valparaiso 70-63 on Saturday night.

The Panthers were again lead by senior forward Anthony Hill who had 24 points and 11 rebounds (four offensive) last night and moved into the Horizon League tournament championship game where they will face Butler. They also got 15 points from sharp-shooting 6-8 forward Tony Meier and 16 from JUCO transfer Kaylon Williams.


Valpo was lead by Brandon Wood who had 24 himself but didn't get much from anyone else. UWM held Valpo's Ryan Broekhoff to just 1 of 11 shooting and did a good job containing their 3-point attack. The Crusaders were also only 5-9 from the charity stripe where as Milwaukee was 24-36 and made their last five to clinch the victory in the burning embers of the game.

The Panthers were trailing by five at one point in the first half but never seemed fazed as they regained the lead before half and never looked back. Valpo closed the gap to 64-60 with 2:02 to go in the game but the free throw shooting of Milwaukee was pure from then on.

It's really amazing to see this team now from where they were after they got beat handily by this same Valpo team back on January 21st. They said during last night's broadcast that after that game, coach Rob Jeter talked to the team for two and a half hours about what the goals of the team were for the year and the team responded. The Panthers rattled off wins in their last nine Horizon League games and their only blemish since then was a non-conference tilt against Buffalo in an ESPN "BracketBusters" game.

I think the senior leadership of Anthony Hill and Tone Boyle can take this team into the Big Dance. I really like what the Panthers have with not only those two guys, but also Tony Meier who is capable of doing a lot of damage on any given night.

The only thing that makes me apprehensive about our team going forward is their lack of depth. Outside the starting five of Boyle, Hill, Meier, Williams and sophomore guard Ja'Rob McCallum, the Panthers only other player in double figures for minutes last night was Ryan Allen. You tend to get that from most mid-majors but they're going to need another guy to step up off the bench if they want to beat a Butler team that is possessed right now.

After not being able to attend last night's game, you bet I'll be in attendance on Tuesday and I hope to see everyone else there as well. Tickets are on-sale on campus starting today for $10 with student ID.

Let's help get the Panthers' ticket punched.

-Mitch

UWM Basketball: Back To Relevant?

In case you haven't noticed (and judging by the attendance, you haven't) the Milwaukee Panthers are now just one game out of the Horizon League lead as we head into the last week of conference play.

Anthony Hill is a god damn BEAST!

They've won seven straight contests and are coming off they're biggest victory Wednesday night where they knocked off then top ranked Valparaiso at The Cell 79-76. 

The Panthers are 11-5 in the conference and are 16-11 overall, and they have been the benefactor of a great year from senior forward Anthony Hill who averages 14.9 ppg and 6.5  boards per game. Tone Boyle is having a good senior year as well after sitting out all of last year with an injury. 

They don't have a prayer of getting in at large obviously, so they'll have to probably win the conference tourney. 

The thing that scares me is that their last three games are on the road against Buffalo, Cleveland State and Youngstown State. Those are all pretty far from home. That Cleveland State game will be yet another huge game for the Panthers as CSU have assumed first place in the Horizon League after UWM knocked off Valpo.

It will be interesting to see if Hill and the boys will be able to make some noise in these few games and head into the Horizon League tourney as a #1 seed and then onto the Big Dance.

-Mitch

Thoughts On The Blake Show

Courtesy of Mr. Tom Luljak and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, I got to attend the Bucks game last night for free as part of my Sports Marketing class.

It just so happened that the Los Angeles Blakers were in town.

I was rocking my "Fear The Deer" t-shirt because I knew we were staying for the game. And right off the bat, the Director of Corporate Sales of the Bucks asks me where I got it. Without reservation, I tell him "from some dude across the street out of the back of his car before Game 4 of the playoffs last year." He responds with, "Oh, so illegal merchandise?"

He didn't like my shirt too much I reckon.

Anyway, during our hour-plus tour of the Bradley Center, the anticipation was mounting from my fellow classmates about seeing Mr. Griffin in action. But before the game started, we went into the radio booth and we heard from the radio voice of the Bucks, Ted Davis. He is one of my favorite broadcasters and I stood right next to the man as he spoke to us. Just a class act.

We get our tickets and since Luljak has such great connections, we get to sit lower level and the view was just like watching it on TV. Maybe a little closer, but it was in person so that was pretty awesome.

Pretty quiet night from Blake overall. Shucks.

We didn't see our first dunk of the game until late in the second quarter and it was by Andrew Bogut off all people on the court. There was an opportunity for Blake to have a wide-open dunk but douchebag Randy Foye kept it and just layed it in. The crowd reacted negatively as you can imagine. Go back 'Nova Randy.

Blake made up for it with a sick half-court alley oop from Donald Sterling's favorite Baron Davis just before half. That was the just about the loudest the BC got last night.

The Bucks pulled away from Blake and the Clippers early in the fourth quarter and ended up winning 102-78. Carlos Del3no was 7 of 10 from beyond the arc and the Bucks in general actually made some shots. John Salmons had a career-high 12 assists.

Griffin rolled his ankle on good ole' Jon Brockman's foot in the fourth as well, but he appeared to shake it off after a time or two down the court and should be fine. The Brock Ness Monster is always in the way.

I feel like the Clippers could be good for a while if they handle things correctly. Pat touched on this a bit last night and I agree, Baron Davis should be dealt sometime in the near future. Maybe not this season but either in the offseason or by the deadline next year.

I doubt Eric Bledsoe is ready to a starting PG in the NBA but maybe by this time next year, he will be. He's got talent and another budding star in Eric Gordon right next to him. Patrick also asked me if I thought that the Clips could get Chris Paul. I seriously doubt it but it could be something to watch. Who wouldn't want to play with Blake Griffin? He's the first Clippers #1 overall selection to pan out since....Michael Olowokandi? Wait, no.

-Mitch

The Scene on Milwaukee's East Side

This gem of a video really sums up the celebration of the Packers victory in Super Bowl XLV in the UWM neighborhood. Now I see why the traffic was backed up so badly on Oakland Avenue. Things like this were happening throughout the city.

If I'm completely honest, it was tough to not be a Packer fan yesterday. How could I resist? Being surrounded by several other red-blooded Wisconsinites, I was just as pumped for the game to begin. The beer and Jim Beam were flowing but that was just a tributary to a day that would have been Super anyway (pun intended there).



Sports bring strangers together and make them the best of friends for short while. It is truly unlike anything else in the world. And as ESPN columnist Rick Reilly stated, you had to root for Green Bay. They've done what no other franchise could do by staying in the "small town" where it originated.

There are many more videos like this one to be seen on YouTube. Props to the account Blizzink for the upload.

-Mitch