Tag: Sam Dekker

Former Badger Sam Dekker says Mavericks star Luka Doncic did ‘one of the most impressive things a basketball player can do’

The former Badger star has high praise for the young Dallas star

Perhaps the greatest NBA moment of the season happened last night when Mavericks star Luka Doncic made his playoff arrival in dramatic fashion. His patented step back jumper gave the Dallas Mavericks an upset game four win against a championship favorite in the Clippers. Former Badger great and current overseas basketball pro Sam Dekker is just as impressed with the 21 year-old as the rest of us, but made an interesting point on Twitter today given his unique perspective as someone playing in Europe.

Sure, a step-back playoff game winner at the age of 21 after a 40-point triple double is nearly as impressive as it gets, but Dekker pointed to something even earlier on in the career of the current Dallas star.

Oftentimes, the EuroLeague is viewed by American fans as a massive step below NBA basketball and not given the respect it deserves. Yes, the NBA is the most talented and toughest league in the world, but EuroLeague basketball is arguably the most physical basketball being played today. The level is higher than most American fans realize, as Dekker points out. He even admits that he lacked a full understanding of just how difficult the league was until he was actually playing in it.

Doncic dominated the highest level of international basketball at the age of 18 en route to a EuroLeague championship and MVP season with Real Madrid in 2018. He has been re-writing the record books at every level since his teenage years. We are seeing unprecedented greatness at a young age from the Slovenian-born star that is destined to be one of the next faces of the NBA.

One of Wisconsin basketball’s all-time greatest players named to the Big Ten Network All-Decade First Team

Frank the Tank with a well-deserved honor

After a tremendous decade of Wisconsin basketball, awards from the Big Ten Network are flowing in. Frank Kaminsky was named to the Big Ten All-Decade First Team this morning. Kaminsky joined Trey Burke of Michigan and Draymond Green of Michigan State as the first three players named to the squad. The Big Ten Network is announcing the other two players later today.

Kaminsky had a legendary career that culminated in his jersey being retired at the Kohl Center. The current member of the Phoenix Suns led the Badgers to back-to-back Final Fours, a national championship game appearance, and was named National Player of the Year in 2015. One of Wisconsin’s greatest players of all time is extremely deserving of such a prestigious honor from the Big Ten Network.

What an all-time Wisconsin Badgers NBA starting five would look like

Creating an all-time NBA lineup of Wisconsin alums

While Wisconsin basketball has not always been a consistent tournament team that pumps out NBA talent, we have seen a number of Badgers succeed at the next level over the years. With this all-Wisconsin starting five we will be creating an all-time NBA starting five featuring Badger alums. The criteria I used to come to the selections was as follows. The players chosen were selected because of their NBA careers, not their Wisconsin careers, and positions were sometimes hard to fill with a player that was actually listed at that position. For each player chosen, I also chose the year that I would want them on my team (in other words, the best year of their NBA careers). So, here is our BadgersWire all-time Wisconsin NBA starting five.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6

The quarantined Wisconsin basketball reunion is finally here

As I promised last week here, the Big Ten Network told fans via Twitter that they would be posting a zoom call reunion with Badger basketball stars from the 2013-14 and 2014-15 Final Four runs. It is finally here, and it is as good as advertised. …

As I promised last week here, the Big Ten Network told fans via Twitter that they would be posting a zoom call reunion with Badger basketball stars from the 2013-14 and 2014-15 Final Four runs. It is finally here, and it is as good as advertised. The Wisconsin on BTN teaser clip from the full thirty minute session has former Badger guard Ben Brust asking the Wooden Award Winner Frank Kaminsky if “he knew he was good.” You do not want to miss this comedy.

The full zoom session is now available via the Big Ten Networks YouTube account (link below). Former Badgers Ben Brust, Zack Showalter, Sam Dekker, Josh Gasser, and Frank “The Tank” Kaminsky remember better times as they look back on their Final Four days. Enjoy the Big Ten Network’s “Video ReCall.”

Locked On Badgers Podcast: The greatest Wisconsin Basketball team of all time

Asher discusses what he feels is the undisputed greatest Wisconsin basketball team of all time

[lawrence-newsletter]The Locked On Badgers Podcast is a daily Wisconsin basketball and football podcast bringing you short-form, daily coverage of Badgers sports Monday through Friday. On today’s episode, Asher talks about the greatest Wisconsin basketball team of all time, and details why Greg Gard has been such a contentious figure in Madison.

You can listen to Locked On Badgers on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and wherever else you find your podcasts, Monday through Friday.

Big Ten Network is airing a Wisconsin basketball reunion that should make Badger fans very excited

Do you miss watching the antics of Frank Kaminsky, Sam Dekker, and Wisconsin’s back-to-back Final Four squads? As a part of the Big Ten Network’s “Video Recall” series, Wisconsin basketball is having a family reunion that you do not want to miss. In …

Do you miss watching the antics of Frank Kaminsky, Sam Dekker, and Wisconsin’s back-to-back Final Four squads? As a part of the Big Ten Network’s “Video Recall” series, Wisconsin basketball is having a family reunion that you do not want to miss. In keeping with these strange times, former Badger stars are getting together via a video conference call.

Big Ten Network announced on Friday that Kaminsky, Dekker, Ben Brust, Josh Gasser, and Zack Showalter will all be in attendance for stories, humor, and memories from the best years in Wisconsin basketball history. Here is a taste of what you can expect:

Yes, Gasser has a beard. And yes, if that clip is any indication, we are in for a lot of fun. Stay tuned for the Wisconsin basketball reunion!

Why Arizona and Kentucky were perfect villains for Wisconsin basketball in their Final Four runs

Every hero has an equally important villain. No story is complete without it, especially in sports. Rivalries are everything for fans, and Wisconsin basketball had a short-lived, heated rivalriy in 2014 and 2015 that could not have been scripted any …

Every hero has an equally important villain. No story is complete without it, especially in sports. Rivalries are everything for fans, and Wisconsin basketball had a short-lived, heated rivalriy in 2014 and 2015 that could not have been scripted any better.

When Wisconsin made back-to-back Final Fours in 2014 and 2015, the path was eerily similar. Arizona in the Elite Eight and Kentucky in the Final Four. For the perfect narrative, it could not have happened any other way.

Former Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan was known for doing things the traditional way. He ran the swing offense, had players that stayed at Wisconsin for four years to earn degrees, and almost never was wrapped up in anything remotely scandalous. Sean Miller, Arizona’s head coach in 2014/2015 and still the head man at U of A today has probably the most dirty track record of any coach who hasn’t lose their job because of scandal. The most recent mark on Miller’s record were conflicting reports surrounding a phone call from Miller to current NBA star and former Arizona Wildcat Deandre Ayton discussing a payment of $100,000 if he were to end up at Arizona.

John Calipari has a larger than life personality and presence that is infamous around college basketball. Coach Cal’s success has been rooted in his ability to adapt to one-and-done basketball. Kentucky has become the blueprint for players staying one year and then succeeding in the league. The list of NBA talent that has come out of Kentucky with Coach Cal is extremely impressive. His model, however, is the antithesis of the Wisconsin way. That is not to take anything away from the success and system that Coach Cal has instituted with the ‘Cats, but it does set up the perfect ingredients for a rivalry.

In 2014 and 2015 respectively, Wisconsin defeated Arizona in two close Elite Eight matchups. It is hard to say the games truly felt like a rivalry matchup, but against Kentucky that feeling of a rivalry was apparent in 2015. Wisconsin had been working all year just to get another shot at Kentucky, who had beaten the Badgers at the 2014 Final Four. The 2015 Kentucky squad was no ordinary UK team. 2014-15 Kentucky went 38-0 before meeting UW in the Final Four. Wisconsin’s 71-64 win over the ‘Cats felt from a Badger perspective like team basketball beating individual basketball. It felt like doing things the “right” way finally beat the new era of college basketball. The narrative was perfectly written.

 

Wisconsin’s win over Baylor in the 2014 Sweet Sixteen was an absolute clinic

When Sam Dekker told the Badger Twitter universe that Wisconsin did not run much offense from 2013-2015, a period where UW went to two Final Fours, a lot of us were certainly surprised. It actually makes sense when you take a step back. They knew …

When Sam Dekker told the Badger Twitter universe that Wisconsin did not run much offense from 2013-2015, a period where UW went to two Final Fours, a lot of us were certainly surprised. It actually makes sense when you take a step back. They knew each other so well that they did not have to run sets or make things more complicated than they needed to be. Here are Dekker’s words on Twitter:

The former Badger star was also a part of one of the best offensive clinics that UW fans have ever seen. The Badgers dominated the Baylor Bears in the 2014 Sweet Sixteen on both sides of the floor, but the clinic on offense against the Bears’ 1-3-1 matchup zone was specifically amazing to watch. Baylor had been a team that had split between man and zone through the first half of 2014, but strictly played zone for the back half of the year. Wisconsin had them into a man-to-man before the first half was over. What genius x’s and o’s had the Badgers making Scott Drew and the Baylor zone look like a YMCA 2-3?

Turns out not too much. It was simple basketball, but it was also beautiful basketball. The Badgers held a 29-16 lead at halftime and never looked back. One possession in the second half, that former Badger guard Ben Brust told BadgersWire was one of his favorite of all time, summed up most of the night. The patience, the execution, the trifecta:

[wpvideo OIhXVdkK]

Wisconsin went on to a 69-52 win in a game that felt over from the opening tap. The Badgers may have not reinvented the wheel with their zone offense, but it was a thing of beauty in its simplicity.

A secret that Sam Dekker wants to share with the world about the 2014 and 2015 Final Four teams

Wisconsin basketball is nationally known for execution. This team is perenially one that most coaches and players dread playing against because you know you are in for a fight. You know that the Badgers will probably make less mistakes than you do. …

Wisconsin basketball is nationally known for execution. This team is perenially one that most coaches and players dread playing against because you know you are in for a fight. You know that the Badgers will probably make less mistakes than you do. They will probably foul less, turn the ball over less, and run prettier offense. But what if Wisconsin didn’t actually run offense at all in their Final Four runs?

Former Badger and current pro Sam Dekker, a member of both the 2014 and 2015 Final Four teams, took to Twitter this afternoon to alert the people that Bo Ryan and the Badgers did not really need to run anything fancy on offense. It wasn’t even running through the patented swing offense that led to tremendous offensive clinics. Instead, they knew each other so well that they could just play. Sometimes not over-coaching, especially when you have the talent that the 2014 and 2015 Badger teams had, is the best coaching. Here is how Dekker put it on Twitter:

It’s stunning to think that most of Wisconsin’s offense in those two tournaments was improv, but it actually makes sense. They knew each other extremely well, and were all focused on a common goal of winning. All that was left to do was play basketball.

The Wisconsin Basketball March Madness guide to hand-washing

Our friends at Auburn Wire realized that the CDC is not thinking of college sports fans in their hand-washing recommendations. Sure, we could all sing our favorite song for 20 seconds as we vigorously apply soap, but Auburn Wire had a better …

Our friends at Auburn Wire realized that the CDC is not thinking of college sports fans in their hand-washing recommendations. Sure, we could all sing our favorite song for 20 seconds as we vigorously apply soap, but Auburn Wire had a better suggestion for Tiger fans: spend your CDC-recommended 20-second hand-wash listening to the radio call of Auburn’s miracle return for the win against Alabama:

I have to admit, even as a non-Auburn fan, that is one of the greatest ways any sports fan can spend 20 seconds. I have to add that if you are going to choose any song, there is only one choice to be made for premium March hand-washing:

But how about Badger fans? This is still March, ladies and gentlemen. The madness of our constant hand-washing, which a few weeks ago may have seemed like madness but now should be every American’s common practice, needs some Wisconsin flavor. Let’s start with a Bronson Koenig classic:

The game-winner that sent the Badgers to the 2016 Sweet Sixteen is still one of the sweetest shots in Wisconsin basketball history. There are many reasons why it is perfect, 20-second material. You see not only the corner-fadeaway shot and all of the reaction that follows, but the Milwaukee Brewers’ own Brian Anderson gives you an electric call of the action.

An alternative? How about a nearly-perfectly timed clip from the Big Ten Network of the dagger three by Sam Dekker in 2015 that sent the Badgers to the Final Four for the second straight season. Shoutout to Zach Heilprin for delivering a ton of throwback Badger clips on his Twitter timeline over the last few days:

There’s no shortage of Badger basketball memories, and no better time to stay at home and enjoy some classics while keeping yourself healthy.