Pick it Up, Pick it Up...

That was a mid-90's Redman, "Muddy Waters" LP reference. Lol.


The University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee men's basketball team picked themselves up off the floor against Loyola last night (after being kicked in the teeth and left for dead following a dreadful road trip through Indiana last week). Your Milwaukee Panthers (13-8, 8-3) were just happy to be home; as they defeated Loyola, 72-58, in front of 3,400 of the Panther faithful at the Cell.

And we are definitely happy to see the return of UWM's aggressive style of play after the two lethargic and uninspired games against Valparaiso and Butler. Other than shooting (we made meager improvements, but still shot only 35% from the field), the team that controlled the floor last night looked like a team that would've beat Valpo and at least give Butler a scare.

The win last night was huge. The Panthers set a school record for most total rebounds and most offensive rebounds in a game. They collected a staggering 59 on the night- 34 on the offensive end. Unfortunately, as good as it sounds, that is testament to how many shots they missed!

But seeing this team bang down low and make opposing bigs and guards respect the Panthers authority is a pleasant sight indeed (other than Marcus Skinner and Jason Averkamp, we didn't have the kind of carom collectors that this year's team boasts with Ant, Burliegh "The Door" Porte, Big Lumber, Avo, Ricky Franklin (The General), and Tony Meier.

Avo certainly filled up the stat sheet as he scored a team high 17 to go along with 13 boards (career best), 6 assists (don't ever call this man selfish- this year's Avo knows that he has many options to get it done if he can't find a shot), and 2 steals. Tone (15pts), Rick (13pts), and James Earys (10pts) also tallied double digit point totals and helped lead the Panther attack.


While he may not have had the best stat line of the night (but certainly a very good one, especially in light of his (and Avo's) recent slump), I believe Ricky Franklin keyed this victory in the opening minutes of the game. Within 18 seconds, Rick dropped in a trey for the first points of the game. In the following 3-4 minutes, Franklin proceeded to hit 2 more from long distance, giving the Panthers a nice early lead- a lead that wouldn't be seriously threatened all night. For a team coming off the kinds of losses we just endured, The General's hot hand provided exactly the kind of mental shift this team badly needed. Tone hit the big shots when he needed to; Ant showed his continued transformation into a forward that opponents must respect.

Most impressive of all though (if only because we hardly ever get a chance to see him!), "The Door" (Porte) showed off his incredible defensive toolbox in the paint. It was pure entertainment to watch "Door-slam" after Door-slam, as, in his brief 9 minutes of floor time, Burleigh ferociously rejected the shots of two (could have been 3, if it weren't for an iffy foul call) Ramblers who dared drive into the post. It will be fun to see Porte grow as a player and begin to pick up more minutes this year or next- I honestly think he could average double digit rebounds and 3-4 blocks a game if he is in there enough.


One thing that struck me last night is the fact that UWM's defense seems to have the most trouble preventing opponents from scoring cheap bunny shots right underneath the basket- it goes without saying that this would not fly under The Door's watch- Porte could seriously prevent 10-15 points a game in this way (keeping opponents honest and door-slamming any who try their luck at beating him in the post). He is a bit of an offensive liability (and shouldn't be in there when we're shooting bad), but we have a bevy of scoring threats on the floor at all times. His arms are seriously almost as long as Zach Holt's entire body.

Avo did an excellent job penetrating the lane (a la the dribble drive that has become so ubiquitous during the Jeter era), but still doing it within the offense and kicking the ball out or around the perimeter when needed. Big Lumber had a bit of an off-night, but was still quite effective eating up space (and thus boards) in the post, and Deion showed the steady hand of a senior and helped limit the turnovers that had plagued this team in the past few games so badly.

The only down notes I can think of are for one, Deonte Roberts was absent for unknown reasons (reportedly having nothing to do with grades or disciplinary action) and the fact that, even though he has done enough to maintain his starting spot and solid share of minutes, Tony Meier continues to struggle playing effectively in the post against bigs who are almost always twice his size.

Meier is still a deadly swing forward, and I think we can all agree that once he build up his frame and low-post skill set, Meier will likely be a huge force in the years to come. We have to remember (remember Ant's struggles last year adjusting to the rigors of the D-I forward position?), Tony is just a freshman (he probably could have red shirted with Haggerty). He'll be just fine, and I'll even go so far as to say he may start playing like he did at the World Vision Classic by season's end.


There is an old African proverb that says, "Smooth seas do not make skilled sailors". With the near-perfect storms that have engulfed the Panthers early in the season (Iowa State, Marquette, Wisconsin, Ball State, Miami (OH)) and as recently as last weekend in Indiana, Milwaukee has had no shortage of turbulence in this season's voyage.

Here's to hoping those experiences have provided enough skill for UWM to sail straight into a postseason tournament come mid-March. Let's grab that momentum back and never let go.

UWM hosts UIC at the Cell, this Saturday (1/31) at 7pm. The home court has been friendly to the Panthers thus far (so far, 9-2 record on the new and improved, "Milwaukee" floor). The student turnout for last night's game was pretty impressive (at least 200, probably more). I have a feeling that, despite the demoralizing losses to Valpo and Butler, the word is starting to get around campus- Pssssst! They're baaaaaaack...


POTG: Ricky Franklin* (13 points, 8 rebounds, 1 block)

*as mentioned in this post, Rick was the spark that re-ignited UWM last night- right from the game's outset- his performance and leadership last night were indispensable.

Valpo! Part Deux

There is something about road games (outside of Chicago) that seems to throw the Panthers' equilibrium into a chaotic spin. After playing their worst game of the season since going ice cold against Miami (OH) at Valpo last Thursday, UWM did themselves one worse today- much worse, and Butler asserted their Horizon League dominance dropping the Panthers, 78-48. That's right, UWM was on the losing end of a 30 point margin.



It was pretty tough to watch this game on TV, fighting the urge to turn it off and think about something a little more pleasant. But I, and many of you "tried and true" fans know that you've gotta take the highs with the lows, and hope against hope that everything will settle into nice shape after the season has run its course.

The game recap is pretty straightforward and as follows (not much drama or changes in momentum). Butler started the game out with Matt Howard winning the tip (Ant- where are your hops at?). The Bulldogs then went to work with their patented style of passing around the perimeter until someone has an open look at a three. Surprisingly, throughout much of the first half, Butler was only hitting around 20-25% of these perimeter shots.

UWM was essentially handed a ticket into the game time after time after time. And they did what they did so often against Valparaiso- either they turned over the gifts they kept getting, or they put up off-balance, contested bricks and saw the Bulldogs lead increase- slowly, but very surely.

In the second half, UWM wasn't so lucky. Butler began playing like the nationally ranked team they are, and completely obliterated Milwaukee. The team should be embarrassed by their performance- especially in the second half. Uninspired, lethargic, confused... these are just a couple of adjectives that come to mind.

Butler packed Hinkle Fieldhouse in preparation for what their fans thought would be a great college basketball game. We gave them- the Washington Generals. There isn't much else to say about the rest of the game. Milwaukee's shooting percentage "skyrocketed" from the 12% or so in the first half, all the way up to about 24% in the second (Panthers shot 24% overall). The turnovers and cold shooting spells need to be addressed, or this team will go nowhere.

Another very important observation that many have brought to light, is the fact that recently Avo and Ricky Franklin have been completely absent. Franklin and Smith combined for 3 field goals in the entire Indiana road trip. These are upperclassmen leaders who should have combined for over 40 points in these two games.

Additionally, from the deer-in-the-headlights looks that began once Valpo started their run on Thursday night and haven't left since, you could feel the need for some senior leadership to calm down the younger guys and keep the train on track. Sadly, neither Avery or Ricky stepped up to provide this leadership. Neither did Deion (another senior). What resulted was UWM's best version of "Who's Ball is it Anyway?". I am confident that, should they realize the dire need for them to step up and command the troops (team meeting anyone?), the newer, younger guys will respond, and get back to doing what they do best- play rock-solid, winning college basketball.

Last season, UWM improved from 9-22 in '06-'07 to 14-16. What with the not-too-far removed hot winning stretch, Milwaukee has put itself in a great position to improve once again. 16-14? 17-13? 18-12? 19-11? Anyway you cut it, we only have to win three more contests to make this season a little better than the last. But to settle for such meager incremental improvements would be to stifle the program's growth and acquiesce to a new "era of mediocrity".

I guess what I mean to say is, while this team has completely folded under adversity, they have shown that they can play at a high level and put away teams (excepting the Valpo debacle) that they are expected to put away. How can they reach that next level? I don't know. But I will say, that even as optimistic as I am about this team- when I'm really honest with my homer-self, I have to admit that there are a lot of disconcerting gaps, lapses on the court, and awesome talent that is unfortunately, still quite rough around the edges. That is not to say that those edges cannot be smoothed in the remaining five weeks of Horizon League play. If they work for it- there may be something to play for come late February.

UWM must put this Indiana road trip behind them. As great as it felt to be 12-6, many of us knew that it was only a matter of time (or road trips) before the magic halted. It's unfortunate that the Panthers' momentum didn't just slow a little- it completely froze up. But the team returns home this coming Thursday to face the two Horizon Chicago schools that they put away just a few weeks ago- on their courts. If losing has frayed some relationships or created some tension in what seemed just a week ago like perfect chemistry- that tension needs to stop now. The team needs to be coherent now more than ever.


Let's hope that Rob and the coaches get this team ready for this upcoming two game home stand- both physically and mentally (in both the Valpo and Butler games, the entire team seemed to play like they had cinder blocks tied to their feet). If people were looking to see how the Panthers would react to adversity like they had to (and succeeded) last season, here you go.

After winning 9 of 11, we've dropped two straight, but are still in third place in the league. Green Bay and Wright State are sandwiched ahead of and behind us, respectively. We can't afford to lose any more games like Valparaiso or Ball State (games that we should have won had the team played at 1/2 their ability). From here on out, (assuming Butler doesn't crash and burn- somehow after today I am convinced that will never happen), it's all about that second place spot which holds the key to the precious second seed in the conference tournament.

The team may not yet be ready to compete with the Butlers and Marquettes and the Wisconsins of the world (although I'd like to say if they worked tirelessly to reduce the stupefying amount of stupid mistakes they make, they definitely could). But we should be ready to take on the rest of the Horizon schedule with a full head of steam, and maybe, just maybe, next time the Panthers get another crack at Butler (Feb. 18th at the Cell), they'll make it a game and not a torture session.


POTG: Shawn Vanzant of Butler (20 points*, 2 rebounds, 4 assists in 18 minutes of play)

*Vanzant came into the game averaging just over 3 points per contest

The Drought

The Milwaukee Panthers were unable to add to the three game winning streak they had built up since the OT loss to Green Bay as they lost an ugly game to Valparaiso, 63-51.

14 for 51 (.294). That was the Panthers' FG shooting numbers for the game. While that alone tells most of the story, I can elaborate on specifics of some of the major lapses. UWM opened up the game on fire. Tone Boyle hit from three followed by Tony Meier then Tone then Big James then Tone, it was nuts. The Panthers were up by 12 points just 8 minutes or so into the game.

Then came more than just a dry shooting spell- the lights went out (and nobody shot them out- the ARC just went dark for Milwaukee- the team looked like confused blind mice). Not one single player on Milwaukee could hit the broad side of barn as shot after shot either clanked miserably off the side of the rim, or (in more than three instances) missed the rim entirely. I know different gyms can have slightly varying court feels and hoop setups, but come on now!

I kid you not, for over 10 minutes (between the first and second halves), UWM's score stood completely static at 28 points. What was a 12 point lead and then a 3 point deficit at halftime, became a 14 point deficit by the 11:00 mark.

Jake Diebler, Howard Little, and Erik Buggs lead the attack for Valpo. At times in the first half, it seemed as if Diebler wasn't countering with threes every other possession, the Panthers' early 12 point winning margin would have been closer to 28 (and maybe insurmountable (too late now)). Igbavoa, who was rumored to be out with a knee injury, seemed to raise the level of play for all the Crusaders around him.

Slowly but surely, as Valpo started to gain on and then eclipse the Panthers, the crowd of a few thousand went from library-quiet to a rollicking, seated riot. Milwaukee was visibly rattled throughout virtually all of the second half, and could never regain their composure.

To compound all of the shooting woes, (we have been able to overcome poor shooting in a few of our wins), UWM coughed up the ball, lost dribbles, missed passes, and generally utterly failed to protect the rock as they handed Valpo an astounding 20 turnovers. You have to hand it to Valpo- they were the better team last night and it showed. We have no regular season rematch left (their win tied the season series at 1-1), but we could meet them again in the Horizon League Tournament.

This one's over though- it's time to move on and (hopefully) begin another, longer winning streak. Road games are never easy no matter the conference (see- Northwestern beating Minnesota last week); but to be a competitor in the Horizon, and to vie for a chance at a national tournament, UWM must fix it's road problem (Panthers are 2-5 on the road thus far). The game at #16 Butler (17-1, 8-0) airs tomorrow at 1pm on Time Warner Sports Channel 32 (Bill Johnson has the radio call on WISN 1130).

We will have very little chance of winning to begin with; but if we play like we did when the ship nosedived against Valpo, it will be a loooong afternoon. Here's to hoping we surprise a lot of folks. Butler has to go down at some point. Maybe they are ripe for a meltdown (kinda like us the other night after winning 8 of 9...).

There are no moral victories. If the Panthers were guilty of looking ahead to tomorrow's big game at Butler or Igbavoa's mysterious healthy appearance threw them off guard- so be it. But good teams don't look ahead and they sure as hell don't get caught off guard.

Good teams rebound from even the worst of performances. Good teams know that you've gotta chop down each individual tree to clear the forest- and come back to the ones you miss, if need be. There is a big one to get out of the way tomorrow. But after last night, tomorrow seems like one giant question mark- is this team ready for it?


POTG: Jake Deibler of Valparaiso (19 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals)

Too Close For Comfort (But We'll Take It)

It was almost an epic collapse. Fortunately for Panther fans, it wasn't. UWM, who held about a 10 point advantage all night long against a very good Cleveland State team, allowed the Vikings to close a 19 point margin with less than 5 minutes to go in the game. It was scary for all who witnessed. But a win is a win is win- get it? "W", and that left side of the W/L column us all that matters.

Rob Jeter and the rest of UWM's coaching staff went without shoes tonight in a gesture of solidarity with IUPUI coach Ron Hunter who is using the shoeless endeavor as a way to bring awareness to poor folks across the globe who don't even have the simple luxury of shoes to protect their feet.

Notable performances tonight included Tone Boyle (12pts, 8rbs, 2ast, 2stl), Avery Smith (11pts, 8rbs, 2ast, 2stl), and Tony Meier (8pts, 3rbs, 2ast) Meier seems to be coming out of his slump very nicely- his two three-pointers came at crucial times to keep the mo' going for Milwaukee. But the players of the night for the Panthers were two of our forwards- "Big Lumber" James Earys (23pts*, 9rbs) and Anthony "Ant" Hill (20pts*, 2ast, 2blk) destroyed the competition and kept the Panthers a cut above the Vikings all night- that is, until the very end of the game.

The Panthers played their most impressive basketball of the season for the first 37 minutes. "Closing the deal" seemed to be a problem as the team got lazy and mistake-prone to allow CSU their big comeback chance. UWM should have won this game by double-digits, and could have actually won by 20 had they extended their relentless push beyond the 37 minutes it lasted.


Credit must be given to Cleveland State though. They didn't play that bad of a game; they seemed to save their best for last. Norris Cole, J'Nathan Bullock, and Cedric Jackson combined for 5 straight triples to close out the game- they were a mere shot away from dashing the hopes and dreams of all Panther fans who thought this season was on the way to some kind of tournament in March (well, that may be a bit dramatic, but winning and confidence is a hell of a thing)). It was a huge relief to get this victory.

With this game and a successful 4-1 home stand in the books (should have been 5-0... 'can't wait for revenge at the Resch Center!), UWM goes on the road to Indiana for a pair of games . Valparaiso welcomes the Panthers this Thursday, and arch rival Butler opens up the historic Hinkle Fieldhouse two days later for Milwaukee (that is- arch rival when we're both doing well, which is currently clearly the case). The game against the Bulldogs could be Horizon's #1 vs. #2, but we've gotta take care of business at Valpo first.


Tune in to Time Warner Sports Channel 32 to watch this UWM team as they attempt to continue their rise to the top of the Horizon. Valparaiso isn't having a stellar season, but make no mistake, any road game, and especially any league road game, is tough. The most important game of the season is this next game- it'll be that way from here on out. Even if we're hundred of miles away, let's cheer on this team and hope for another victory Thursday night. So far- they've certainly given us a helluva lot to cheer about.


POTG: Anthony Hill** (20 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 2 blocks)


*UWM Career best

**Big Lumber actually had slightly better numbers on the night, but numbers don't tell the whole story. Ant was the difference in this game. He made the shots that we needed early on and late in the game- all at crucial times- all of which deflated Cleveland State, just when they thought they were digging into the Panthers lead.

The March of the Panthers

Another league game, and another win for Milwaukee... UWM defeated Youngstown State 69-50 in a pretty sloppily played game by both teams, but YSU’s 27% shooting made this an easy game to win.


It’s too bad, because with CSU knocking on the door, a good “tune-up” outing in which the Panthers played superior on both sides of the ball would have boosted confidence enough to come out swinging from tip-off against the Vikings this weekend. The 1st-half woes continue. Your Milwaukee Panthers came out flat once again, but still managed to build up a 10 point lead going into the half. We maintained an 8 point or so cushion all game, and then turned up the heat down the stretch to torch the ice out from under the Penguins.

Avo (3-12 FG), Tony Meier (1-5 FG), and James Earys (2-9 FG (but Big Lumber did have 8pts and 9rbs!)) all had shooting off-nights. Meier, though still part of our starting five, has struggled quite a bit since his strong play early this season. It’s a concern to many, but really shouldn’t be. Meier is a freshman. He starting in his first year of D-I, and it will take time to fully transition. He has been plagued by foul trouble almost every time out since the Wisconsin game- that definitely limits our options.

Tony also is at a disadvantage due to his lack of size relative to the post players he is faced with each night- that will improve as he grows over the course of his career- Tony won’t gain 25lbs of muscle overnight or even by the end of this season… (but maybe 10lbs!). He will get back to being “Mega-Meier” anytime now, I would guess.

The legend of Big Lumber lives on… While Eayrs did not have the greatest game last night (James had swelling in his knee in the two practices leading up to Youngstown), he will likely be a force and definitely will be a huge factor in the Cleveland State game.

The Deonte Roberts of old was officially “in the building” at the Cell last night. Deonte had 12 points and 7 rebounds in 20 minutes- by far his best game of the season thus far. If he keeps it up (and we can start to count on Deion James for 3’s in close games), our bench could get very dangerous by season’s end.

UWM’s leading scorer was Mr. Tone Boyle (18pts, 3rbs)- Tone is steadily becoming one of the best Panther JuCo transfers in recent history (Avo is among this list as well- Smith, a Milwaukee native, played 2 years at Garden City Community College before landing back in Miltown). Tone is fundamentally sound in every way on the court. He and Ricky Franklin seem to create a sort of calming influence when the aggressive but sometimes chaotic floor marshaling of Avo and Deonte create anxieties on the floor that can often lead to turnovers and momentum shifters.

Last but most, Burleigh Porte has arrived. In 20 minutes of play (Porte's most all season by far), Burleigh pulled down 11 rebounds, had 2 assists, and 3 blocks. His lack of offensive ability is well-known, but we've got a slew of offensive players on the court at all times. Porte also needs to work on his basketball skill set a bit, but last night he showed exactly why Jeter's staff recruited him: Porte gives us a legit post presence. If Burleigh learns to play within his limited offensive ability/amazing defensive ability, and starts playing with an aggressive intensity- he'll be a wake-up call for a lot of opposing forwards when he gets off the bench.


Cleveland State beat Sryacuse earlier in the season, as you may have heard. ESPN would have you believe that it was a miracle, come-back, “buzzer-beater” victory. The truth of the matter is CSU outplayed the Orange nearly all game- Syracuse barely tied the game with 3 seconds left and Cedric Jackson’s three point heave actually caused Cleveland State to win by 3 points. But that’s another story (about the media’s well-known and almost uniform lack of respect for mid-major programs- that is until March Madness (when the media makes it’s money off of the “Cinderella Stories”)).

Fact of the matter is that CSU is good. They were the Horizon League pre-season #1 pick, and Gary Waters is intent on putting the Vikings in that spot at some point, and putting the Panthers out of contention for the league title”. J’Nathan Bulock, part of the Bullock-Jackson tandem that anchors this Viking team, suffered what seemed to be a significant leg injury in Cleveland State’s loss at UIC last night. Whether he plays or not, the Vikings will give the Panthers their biggest conference challenge yet (though the challenge will be significantly steeper if Bullock is 100%).

Come out this Saturday and support your local college hoops team. Despite the inconsistent play from half to half that is plaguing Jeter’s dream of a 40 minute outing by these guys, UWM is on a tear so far since starting conference play (won 8 of last 10). Let’s hope that continues, because we cannot play Cleveland State like we played YSU and SIUE. The funny thing is, what with the success Milwaukee has been having while playing well below their capability, it makes you wonder how good this team could actually get.



POTG: Tone Boyle (18 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal)

Back in the Win Column

Chalk it up. The Panthers (10-6, 5-1) just got their 10th win of the season tonight. After the festive crowd of about 5,000 last Friday to watch the Green Bay overtime loss, a paltry thousand-or-so person sampling of the Panther Proud witnessed UWM dispatch D-I newcomer, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, 70-59.


Big James Eayres (22pts, 12rbs, 2stl) continued his stellar transition from junior college to D-I. Eayres posted D-I career highs in both points and rebounds- his was a crucial double-double Milwaukee could not have afforded to miss tonight.

In accordance with the game plan, the Panthers substituted often. Tony Meier played 14 minutes, Anthony Hill (9pts, 8rbs) only 12), but the dissonance (of play- not emotions) was palpable. UWM shot 34%. Ricky Franklin was 2-10. Avo was 3-12. Most discouraging of all though- the Panthers gave up 19 turnovers- most them completely unforced. UWM did notch a school record for rebounds with a collection of 57 boards; but rebounds alone do not score points.

Fortunately, between Eayres' hot shooting and board gobbling, and Tone Boyle's (15pts, 7rbs, 2blk) perimeter shot, the Panthers were able to keep SIUE at bay- just enough, as Rob Jeter often quotes, "to find a way to win". And that was likely the entire purpose of this game.

Youngstown State comes to town Thursday and Cleveland State will enter the Cell for a Saturday game. With 3 games in 6 days (4 in 9), it would be wise to ensure we've got as many fresh legs as possible for the final two games in this stretch- the conference games that matter exponentially more than the non-conference game (with our current record- we have long ago kissed away any chance of an at-large NCAA berth (which Butler would likely get if it needs it)).



For those who may not know, the top two seeds in the Horizon League get a "double-bye"- that is correct, a double-bye. The regular season first and second place Horizon teams essentially skip ahead directly to the Semi-Finals. That's how it works in our league, and that is why winning in conference (and working for one of those two coveted seeds) is so vitally important.

But I get ahead of myself.. Youngstown State stands in the way of conference victory #6. Thursday night is going to represent the most important game we've played against the Penguins in several years. With the unexpected fast start to conference play- everyone in the Horizon is already looking to take out UWM when they get that chance. The '08-'09 Panther squad has faced many challenges this season, and taken most head-on; the team seems to have improved dramatically since the loss at Miami (OH).

But you can never look past a single game and I know pre-season Horizon League favorite Cleveland State is on many Panther fans' minds. We can afford that luxury of gazing into the future a bit, and looking at the bright possibilities- the team sure can't. I think they'll be alright- so long as they just learn how to consistently and skillfully, take care of the little things. They'll get there.

Can you say, "OH, HOT DAMN!!!!!!"

POTG: James Eayres (22 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals)

Panthers' Late-Game Comeback, Record-Breaking Free Thow Shooting Futile

The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix came into the Cell for a blood match with UWM Friday night in what is maturing into a serious rivalry (both teams have been rivals as members of the Horizon League and earlier, the defunct MCC conference for over a decade). They made it out alive, and knocked the Panthers off the #1 spot in the Horizon standings (although, one must admit, it was a little strange seeing "Milwaukee", above "#20/21 Butler" for a short time...).


Green Bay just came out with more intensity on this night. From The lightening-quick lane moves of Ramon Fletcher to the floor-slap-happy Ryan Tillema, everyone in the building could tell that the Phoenix wanted this game more- until about five minutes before the end of regulation.

The first half was largely dictated by the Phoenix. Green Bay seemed to find a very effective method of alternating between having Fletcher strike through the lane, and then going left for the bucket, and having Ryan Tillema (a senior 6'8" swingman who has dramatically improved since last season) set 'em up and knock 'em down from the perimeter.

UWM did everything they could to stay in the game (Ant almost singlehandedly kept us in the game for a five minute stretch at one point- without his burgeoning strength and shooting in the post (which is a very welcome sight), we would have been buried in an insurmountable hole.

Milwaukee, ever-ready to completely transform when you least expect it, started digging into the Green Bay lead late in the game. With the game winding down and UWM down by a pair, Terry Evans was fouled (Evans although a 75%+ FT shooter, is one of the worst , on a UWBG team that is among the national leaders in FT shooting %).


Evans sunk the first, and, as fate would have it, his second shot caromed off the side of the rim. The Panthers quickly pushed the ball up court and assessed the options. Who other than, Big James, Big "Lumber" (as coined by the ESPNU announcers) James Eayres takes a catch and shoot and absolutely nails the game-tying three. Shortly after (some ferocious defense and another UWM bucket), the Panthers actually found themselves up by two points with just over a minute to play.

Ryan Tilemma tied the game on free throws, and while it was thrilling to take this one to overtime- ultimately, we got torched by the burning birds. Ricky had a chance runner as regulation expired- not even close. Eayres had another chance to tie (or was it make it 1pt?) late in OT, and again, nothing.



It just wasn't our night (other than from the foul line- Milwaukee was a perfect 20 for 20 from the charity stripe, setting a school and Horizon League record). That's all well and good- but unfortunately, we did not get a single call when it mattered most in the closing minutes of regulation and in overtime. You can never, ever blame a loss on the refs alone. The refereeing did not help get this victory- but neither does playing like 55% the team you are.

After shooting a freezing cold 37% from the field (and somewhere in the mid-20's in the first half), what can you expect?

(The below was copied from the Milwaukee Athletics website)

        1st Half 2nd Half
FG's 15-51(29.4%) 24-49 (49.0%)
3FG's 2-22 (9.1%) 9-19 (47.4%)
PTS 43 (21.5%) 83 (41.5%)

Pretty astounding, huh? We can beat a team like Valpo (when they are down) playing like that, but good luck trying to eke out a win at Hinkle with those numbers! Geez... I hope the past two games have just been an aberration.

UWM hosts Division I newcomer "SIU-Edwardsville" (no, that's not the Saluki's!) this Monday night at 7pm at the Cell downtown. After streaking out to a 5-0 (now 5-1) conference record, the Panthers need this game to notch double digit victories and get the poise and swagger that will be needed when we return to league play later this week.


Can't look past this game (SIU-E is 5-12 in their inaugural D-I campaign). After how all of us Panther fans felt after the Green Bay game, I can't imagine the team is thinking about anything other than getting back out on the court and playing to win- both halves.

These next two games could be huge confidence boosters if these Panthers can play at the top of their game- both halves, for once. If we could just, for every game forward, take our first half play against Marquette, and our second half play against UC Davis, and fuse it into 40 minutes of in-your-face, tenacious, sharp-shooting, crisp-passing Milwaukee basketball.... big things could happen before it's all over.



POTG: Ryan Tillema. Hey, this is "Player of the Game" and not "Panther of the Game". We can't be biased on this award. Big James and Avo played well, but Green Bay loses this game if it weren't for the incredible play of Ryan Tillema (24pts, 6rbs, 1blk, 2stl).

Milwaukee Five-0

UWM fans haven't had a whole lot to get excited about (much less stay excited about) in the past 2+ years. The 9-22 "empty cupboard" season provided some glimpses of future Panther superstar Avery, "Avo" Smith that we now see before us in this, his last, and best season.


There was the heralded, not-so-dynamic Chicago Simeon duo that came in with much fanfare and left with very little (bad, if any) substance. Paige Paulsen wowed us with his long range bombing campaign throughout the '07-'08 season.... That was all entertaining- if only to the more fanatic of Panther fans.

But let's be honest- after reaching for the stars twice in two years (just three and four short seasons ago...) defeating Alabama, and then Boston College to reach the Sweet 16 of the 2005 NCAA Tournament and besting Kelvin Sampson's Oklahoma in 2006 only to lose to eventual tournament champion Florida in Round 2, 9-22, and 14-16 (albeit a thrilling and emotional 14-16) seasons, each followed up with exactly zero postseason victories in the Horizon League Tourney, can kinda feel like the lyrics to the track, "The Thrill is Gone", popularized by B.B. King.

At the time of dire need to satiate a fickle fan base, a Milwaukee Panther squad is currently emerging that could, at the very least, very well do something about that winless postseason streak of 2 long years. Last night the undefeated Panthers (9-5, 5-0) took down yet another Horizon League foe, as they defeated Valparaiso, 61-47- this time back in the friendly environs of the US Cellular Arena in front of a modest crowd of just over 3,000 souls. And you guessed it- the usual suspects fueled the brunt of the Panthers' attack.


Avery Smith dropped 22 points and Tone Boyle had 10. Anthony Hill battled back from a miserable 1st Half to put together his best 20-minute performance to date. His 9 points and 7 rebounds were key to keeping the Crusaders down and out last night. Tony Meier and Ricky had 8 points apiece (does Rick seriously have a potential year of eligibility left? ...we could have unmatched senior leadership next year as well).

But it wasn't all rosy. The 61 points the team scored was the fewest all season. The first half of this contest was repelling to be kind- easily the sloppiest play and worst shooting of the year for both teams. Fortunately, Jeter was able to get the guys to look past the situation that the 1st Half left them in (the team launched and missed all of 11 three point attempts before the break), and seize momentum and the game back- in a hurry.

Momentum was indeed transferred to the Panthers early in the second half- in fact after four three pointers and a 35-27 lead, Milwaukee never looked back. The entire second half was a clinic on maintaining a solid, cushioned lead. Things to take away from this game include the admirable ability of UWM to not fold after their own sloppy play and an early lead by their opponent. The Panthers held their ground, and managed to find another way to win.


This team has been finding a lot of ways to win recently (they've now won 6 of their last 7 games). It was a quiet night for a lot of Panthers- maybe they are saving their best game of the week for Friday? Hopefully, this winning mentality never leaves (even after an unexpected loss- that loss won't come this Friday; but it will inevitably come at some point). The guys over at the Horizon League website have put up a steep challenge to UWM fans for the huge game versus Green Bay this Friday night at 8:00pm (downtown at the Cell, as always).

I sure hope the attendance is good (but doubt it would be anywhere near that Milwaukee-Detroit HL Championship photo seen in that link!) for this, the biggest home game so far, four seasons into the Jeter Era; word on the street is that 4,000 tickets have already been pre-sold. Even if you you are just a college basketball fan in the area and don't care about UWM or Green Bay, get out to see this game; you will witness a great game of a great Horizon League and Wisconsin college rivalry. It will be nationally broadcast, live on ESPNU; but I can't urge you more- get out to this game. This one is for half of East Wisconsin's bragging rights (with the other half settled at the Resch Center in early February). And a whole lot more...

POTG: Avery Smith (22 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 5 steals)

Sweet Home Chicago

It sure seemed that way this afternoon at the Gentile Center on the campus of Loyola University Chicago. Your Milwaukee Panthers emerged victorious for the third game in a row as they defeated the Loyola Ramblers 80-66 in their own gym- or was it the Panthers gym for a day?

There must have been at least 200 UWM fans in attendance- all consolidated into one half of the visitors side of the arena. But that was 200 of the 1,200 or so total fans- to be polite, UWM's contingent was loud. Us fans cheered the team on as best we could, and made the best pseudo-home court environment we could, but whether it mattered or not is debatable- the team is getting hot (and today it sure as heck showed).

28 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a block. That was tonight's stat line for a certain Avery Smith. Impressive is an understatement. But while Avo was far and away the Player of the Game against the Ramblers, the entire UWM squad deserves huge props. They have begun what seems like a legitimate transformation into an extremely confident team that now exhibits threat rather than fear.

Milwaukee got off to an early ten point lead on the shoulders of Tone Boyle and Avery Smith. The tenacious tandem continue to attack whenever they touch the ball and shoot the bottom of the net out; and this afternoon, in kind, they hit shot after shot to keep the Ramblers licking their wounds and unable to go on the offensive. Loyola made several mini-runs with Milwaukee native JR Blount and Justin Cerasoli (did you know Justin used to play for Seton Hall?), but they didn't amount to much.

So a see-saw battle resulted only in denting into Milwaukee's lead, only to have it build back up to the 8-10 point range, eventually leaving the score at 35-27 after 20 minutes. UWM then completely owned the first 6 minutes of the second half as Tony Meier (9pts, 6rbs, 1blk), Big James (5pts, 4rbs, 2stl), Avo (...you know), Ricky (5pts, 5ast, 2rbs), and Tone (19pts, 3rbs, 2ast, 2stl) locked things down and lit things up, more than appropriately.

Ricky Franklin fouled out with over six minutes to play, but, for the third time out, played one helluva basketball game. Rick has the ability to command the offense and defense even when he's not playing the point- truly a leader on this team. Anthony Hill had 2 points, 6 rebounds and a pair of assists in only 18 minutes.

If Ant starts crashing the boards on the offensive end like he does on defense, he'll be averaging close to double digit rebounds (he currently leads the team averaging 5.1rbs/game). Deonte Roberts got some solid minutes, and, after being yanked for a couple of ill-advised passes and failed Texas-crossovers that resulted in turnovers- I thought a second to myself.

As overwhelmingly ecstatic for the Panthers and their potential (now reality) 4-0 conference record as I was, I was also concerned that Deonte, one of our best players last year (and one of our best freshman players in a long time), wasn't playing his normal game- I'm sure he is/was more frustrated about that than me.

But in the final 7 minutes- we got to see the Deonte Roberts we all got to know last year. Tey dashed and slashed, spread his huge wingspan and played great D, and (probably most importantly) he crashed the boards- as hard as another Panther guard who seems to be making that his forte- Ricky Franklin. In the end, in his mere 15 minutes on the floor Roberts scored 7 points and had 5 rebounds, an assist and a steal. I think it's fair to say Deonte is playing as good as ever..

And so the Panthers now see themselves with a respectable 8-5 overall record. But more importantly, we are now 4-0 and still stand alone in first place of the Horizon League. Enjoy it while it lasts because a ranked Butler team is likely not going to stand for another UWM Basketball revolution like the one that began around 1999-2002... That's another story for later in the season.

The season schedule has us, unfortunately for students (who are off until the third week of January), but fortunately for the team (Milwaukee is 4-1 on the new/repainted court), playing the next five straight games at home. It begins with Valpo and ends with Cleveland State. All of the games are winnable- although Cleveland State (having beat Syracuse) could pose a huge threat to the Panthers' streeeeaking confidence. Or could it? Maybe this year's team is built to persevere and overcome even the biggest of obstacles (cough! Butler..).

UWM plays Valparaiso this Monday night at the Cell. Tip time is 7:00pm. Get out and watch if you can- this Milwaukee Panther team is starting to surprise even myself.

POTG: Avery Smith (28pts, 5rbs, 3ast, 1blk, 1stl)