Frank: Wow! I just witnessed a performance for the ages.
Artie: There were some good games today, but who was thatgood?
F: Joyce Yang. She was simply magnificent!
A: Um, as you know I don't follow women's hoops.
F: This ain't shooting from the key, it's making thekeys sing. Yang is a world-class pianist, and for the last three years I'vebeen lucky enough to see and hear her in an all-Rachmaninoff concert with theMilwaukee Symphony.
A: Well, I know that to do justice to ol' Sergei you'vegotta have a lot of stamina.
F: You betcha. Talk about someone without a lot of“size” whose game is huge! Yang does it all—drive it up-tempo, slow it down tosingle, haunting notes—and if there's a slam-dunk needed to end the concerto,she'll nail it!
A: A musical Spud Webb, ain'a?
F: As she took her bows I was thinking our headline thisweek could be "Rockin' and Rollin' " to honor her and our basketballteams. But alas, the Badgers didn't continue the up-swing they'd been on alongwith Marquette and the Bucks.
A: It was more like UW rolled over against Purdue. TheBadgers were in control in the first half, but Matt Painter is a good coach andhis Boilermakers always hustle. They fought back and once they got the lead theBadgers' bugaboo kicked in and they couldn't hit any three-pointers to rally.At one point I heard the announcers say they'd missed 16 threes in a row.
F: They finished with 18 straight misses and 6 for 28overall behind the arc. As we've noted before, UW relies heavily on treys. Theytry 22 or 'em per game, ranking in the top 30 out of 347 Division I teams. Liveby the three, die by the three.
A: Except that they'd gotten away from that, at leastsomewhat, in winning six of seven games before Purdue. They'd been morebalanced on offense, taking more mid-range shots and driving more. But on theirSenior Day they got outhustled by Purdue, and when they had to makethrees they went ice-cold.
F: That's the danger in any given game.
A: It's a shame, too, because with Michigan beatingMichigan State, if the Badgers had won they'd have been one game behind Indianafor the conference title with two games left.
F:That's just where Marquette findsitself—right behind Georgetown—as the week begins. And MU's last two games,although they're on the road, are against Rutgers and St. John's—definitelywinnable.
A: The Hoyas have become a really good team, with agreat player in Otto Porter Jr. But if they stumble, say against Syracuse intheir finale, MU could grab a share of its first Big East title.
F: And presumably last, at least in the present form ofthe conference, since MU and six other Catholic schools are bolting. Just likeUW, the Eagles have stunned the “experts” who predicted them for a mid-range orlower finish in their conference.
A: They've played a lot of really close games, but mostof the time they've found a way to win.
F: Against Syracuse last week they got a monster gamefrom Davante Gardner, who'd vanished against Villanova in the previous game.And Saturday against Notre Dame, who'd have guessed that they'd get 8-for-8shooting from Chris Otule?
A: Beating the Irish got MU a double-bye for the BigEast tournament next week, which means they'll only face a maximum of threegames.
F: As the Badgers will in the Big Ten tourney.
A: And losing on Senior Day should add some fire tothem—for their next game at Michigan State and for the tournament.
F: I caught the final seconds of Michigan-MichiganState. Your favorite guy, Trey Burke, made the game-clinching steal.
A: Twenty-one points, eight assists, five steals—what ajoy he'd be to have on the Bucks!
F: But the guy you want him to replace, BrandonJennings, had 19 assists against Toronto in the Bucks' third straight win.
A: But he's still a crummy shooter.
F: In those three wins he was 9 for 31, but that meanshe was shooting less. Maybe he's gotten the message from you—and last week fromyour nephew Bart—that a point guard should distribute instead of chuck.
A: Bart is the voice of young people, Brandon'sconstituency. To get musical again, when it comes to shooting Jennings shouldemulate the composer Philip Glass and be a minimalist.
THE ONE WHOGOT AWAY
F: Meanwhile, Monta Ellis started shooting better andJ.J. Redick seemed to be doing exactly what they hoped—getting 14 or 16 pointsa game and shooting around 50%.
A: With Ellis playing more of a point-esque role attimes, that's what he did at Golden State with pretty good success. But as forthat trade, I'll see your J.J. Redick and raise you my Tobias Harris, whom Iswear the Bucks gave up on too early.
F: How's the NBA sophomore been doing with Orlando sincethe trade?
A: He had a rough game Sunday against Memphis—six pointsand 3 for 14—but in the four games before that he averaged 20 points and made32 of 46 shots. It's just gonna kill me when he becomes a star. The Bucksshould have stuck with him—they stuck with Larry Sanders for two years and thisyear it's paid off big time!
F: At any rate, the Bucks' three straight wins put themin solid shape for the No. 8 playoff spot, and going into the week they're onlyone loss behind No. 7 Boston and two losses behind No. 6 Brooklyn.
A: Reason enough to be optimistic for April. But first comesMarch Madness!
A CLASSICCOMPLAINT
F: The World Baseball Classic is underway. Are you tingling withexcitement?
A: It smacks just a little too much of soccer...
F: Any whiff of the World Cup is too much for you?
A: Not just that, it seems like a bad idea. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't,but in terms of how it affects individual major-league teams...
F: Like the Brewers, for instance?
A: Absolutely. You've got to wonder about how the pitchers are going tobe used on the national teams, whether they're really ready to “air it out” incompetition that I guess is more important than a weekday game on someglorified Little League field in Arizona.
F: I can't imagine that the players, at least the U.S. Guys, care as muchabout wearing a national uniform as, say, the soccer guys do in the World Cup.
A: I see that Yovani Gallardo has what they call a slight groin strain. Isure hope he decides to stay in camp and rehab instead of risking himselfpitching for Mexico.
F: As always, your pessimistic nature has you worrying which Brewer—JohnAxford? Jonathan Lucroy?—will pick up a season-ending injury.
A: Besides, doesn't Taiwan or Curacao always win these things?
F: You're thinking of the Little League World Series. Japan has won thefirst two World Baseball Classics.
A: Well, if it hasn't been the good ol' USA, why are they playing thedang thing in the first place?
FrankClines covered sports for The Milwaukee Journal and the Journal Sentinel. Art Kumbalekknows he's not a three-point threat.
