The Camp: Aaron Witt's journey back, thoughts on practice No. 5, the spring transfer portal
The Badgers are a third of the way through spring practice. Zach and Jesse talk about OLB Aaron Witt's journey back to the field, some thoughts on practice No. 5 where a couple WRs and a CB stood out, and they close talking about the spring transfer portal and where Wisconsin could be looking to add.
Bucks: Giannis to miss final three games of the season, status for playoffs uncertain
Giannis Antetokounmpo avoided a serious injury but his status for the postseason is uncertain.
In an injury update given early Wednesday night, Milwaukee said the star forward underwent testing that determined he suffered a calf strain in the win over Boston. It went on to say Antetokounmpo would miss the final three games of the regular season and would be evaluated daily.
The Bucks are in a fight for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, sitting one game up on New York and two games up on Orlando. Heading into Wednesday night's game against the Magic, they could be anywhere from the No. 2 seed all the way to the No. 6 seed.
The first round of the playoffs begins April 20. Any run Milwaukee could make will revolve around Antetokounmpo's health and availability. He leads the team in points, rebounds and steals, while sitting second in assists and blocks.
Packers to open 2024 season in Brazil against Philadelphia
The Green Bay Packers 2024 season will begin on another continent.
It was announced Wednesday morning that coach Matt LaFleur's club would open the year Sept. 6 against the Philadelphia Eagles at Corinthians Arena in São Paulo, Brazil.
https://twitter.com/NFLBrasil/status/1778054752221192472
"We're looking forward to being a part of this historic matchup against the Eagles in São Paulo," said Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy in a team release. "We're excited to play in front of our devoted fans in Brazil and help build upon the international popularity of the NFL and the Packers. We had a great experience playing internationally for the first time a couple of years ago and we're proud to be part of the league's continued global growth."
This will be the first time the NFL will host a game in South America and will mark the second time the Packers have played outside of North America. They lost to the New York Giants in London back in 2022.
The game will count as one of Green Bay's eight away games. The team will get nine home games at Lambeau Field for the first time. The full schedule will be released later this spring.
Bucks beat Boston but lose Giannis to injury
Milwaukee snapped its four-game losing streak with a 104-91 win over Boston on Tuesday but it came on a night that saw star Giannis Antetokounmpo leave early with an injury.
The Bucks were up by 15 late in the third quarter when the two-time MVP went down with a non-contact injury, immediately grabbing his left leg. He was eventually able to walk off and head to the locker room with a clear limp. The team said he was dealing with a left soleus (calf) strain.
https://twitter.com/LilySZhao/status/1777867965704147405
Coach Doc Rivers said Antetokounmpo had left Fiserv Forum to undergo an MRI that will check his calf and Achilles to determine the severity of the injury. Rivers said the concern level was high because of what Antetokounmpo means to the team.
The injury clouded a signficant step in the right direction for a team that had matched its longest losing streak of the season and had lost six of its last seven games. Milwaukee jumped out to a 37-21 lead after the first quarter, had a 20-point lead at the break and never truly looked back.
Patrick Beverley, making his first start of the year, went off for a team-high 20 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. Bobby Portis came off the bench to score 15 points and grab 10 rebounds, while Brook Lopez had 15 points. Before leaving, Antetokounmpo had 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
With the win, Milwaukee maintained its 1-game lead on Orlando and New York for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Bucks will host the Magic on Wednesday night before closing out the regular season with trips to Oklahoma City and then facing Orlando again.
The Camp: Is there actually a QB competition, a new defensive look, how the transfer players are fitting in
Wisconsin is four practices into spring ball. Zach and Jesse discuss whether there is actually a QB competition between Tyler Van Dyke and Braedyn Locke, a new defensive alignment with exciting possibilities, how Tawee Walker and some of the other transfers are fitting in and more.
Former Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan to be enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame
A life of coaching the game of basketball at nearly every level has landed Bo Ryan in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
The former Wisconsin coach was among 13 players, coaches and contributors that got the news Saturday they would be a part of the 2024 class to be inducted later this year.
https://twitter.com/BadgerMBB/status/1776630618769551845
After growing up in Chester, Pennsylvania and a college playing career at Wilkes University in the late 1960s, Ryan got his start in coaching at the middle school and high school level. After an eight-year stop in Madison as an assistant coach under John Powless and Bill Cofield in the late 1970s and early 80s, Ryan took over the program at Division III UW-Platteville where he had unprecedented success. He won better than 90% of his games in the 1990s with the Pioneers, leading the school to four national titles.
Ryan would finally get a shot in the Division I level in 1999, taking over at UW-Milwaukee. Despite a 30-27 record, Wisconsin athletic director Pat Richter tabbed the then-54-year-old Ryan to lead his program in Madison. It was one of the best decisions Richter made, as Ryan would coach the Badgers for the next 14 seasons, building on what Stu Jackson and Dick Bennett had done before him in ushering in the golden age of Wisconsin basketball.
Under Ryan, the Badgers won four Big Ten regular season titles, three Big Ten tournament titles and never finished lower than fourth in the conference standings. He was a four-time Big Ten Coach of the Year and Wisconsin went to the NCAA Tournament every season, advancing to the Sweet 16 seven times and the Elite 8 three times. But Ryan saved the best for his final two seasons with the Badgers, getting to the Final Four in 2014 and 2015. The second appearance came with what many consider the best team in school history. Paced by National Player of the Year Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin won a school record 36 games, knocked off a 38-0 Kentucky team in the national semifinals and came up just short of the school's second national title.
Ryan finished his career with 747 wins and a 76.2% winning percentage. That included going 364-130 with the Badgers, making him the all-time wins leader in school history.
The 76-year-old Ryan will become the second Wisconsin coach to be enshrined in the hall, joining Harold "Bud" Foster.
The rest of the class features Chauncey Billups, Vince Carter, Michael Cooper, Walter Davis, Charles Smith, Seimone Augustus, Dick Barnett, Harley Redin, Michele Timms, Doug Collins, Herb Simon and Jerry West.
Brewers blow 9th inning lead to Seattle, but recover to get walk-off win
Milwaukee blew a two-run lead in the ninth inning Friday night but recovered to beat Seattle 6-5 at American Family Field.
It was a 5-3 game going to the final frame but Abner Uribe couldn't hold it, giving up a pair of runs. It was the first blown save of the season for Uribe. He had been tasked with filling in for two-time NL Reliever of the Year Devin Williams, who is rehabbing from a pair of fractures in his back.
But the Brewers had an answer in their half of the ninth and never had to take their bats off their shoulders, as Mariners pitcher Andres Munox walked the bases loaded and then served up another walk to William Contreras with one out to bring in the winning run.
https://twitter.com/Brewers/status/1776444814294188221
It was a special night for rookie Oliver Dunn. He drilled the first home run of his career, a 413-foot shot in the fourth inning. He would add a run-scoring single in the ninth to give the team some breathing room. His home run was one of three on the night for the Crew, with Christian Yelich hitting his third of the year and Willy Adames nabbing his first.
Adames finished with a pair of hits, while Joey Ortiz drove in the Brewers other run with a double in the second inning.
Milwaukee got 5 2/3 innings from Freddy Peralta. The club's No. 1 pitcher allowed three runs on four hits and struck out seven.
The Brewers and Mariners will meet against Saturday night in Milwaukee. First pitch is at 6:10 p.m.
Wisconsin basketball assistant announces departure from program
Wisconsin is in the market for a new assistant basketball coach.
Dean Oliver, who had been with the Badgers since 2017, announced Wednesday he had told coach Greg Gard he was moving on.
https://twitter.com/DeanOliver20/status/1775694589375996281?s=20
While Oliver said he was the one deciding to move on, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Wisconsin State Journal reported that Oliver's contract was not going to be renewed.
Oliver was hired in 2017 as a replacement for Lamont Paris. During his time with Wisconsin, the Badgers won a pair of Big Ten titles and played in the NCAA Tournament four times.
One potential replacement is already on the staff in Kirk Penney. A former All-Big Ten guard for the Badgers in the early 2000s, Penney joined the team this year as a special assistant to the head coach. He was credited with overhauling Wisconsin's offense, which scored its most points per game since 1993-94.
A 5-run 7th powers Minnesota past the Brewers
Milwaukee's undefeated start to the season is done after falling 7-3 to Minnesota on Wednesday at American Family Field.
The Crew led 3-1 in the seventh when the Twins jumped all over Joel Payamps, getting tagged for four of the five runs they scored in the inning. It included a three-run home by Ryan Jeffers off of Bryce Wilson. Jeffers would add a run-scoring single in the ninth to finish 2-for-4 with four RBI.
Joe Ross gave the Crew 3 2/3 innings in his first start, allowing just two hits while walking five and striking out three.
Milwaukee jumped out to early lead thanks, in part, to a pair of solo home runs. Rhys Hoskins hit his second of the season before Jackson Chuorio delivered the first of his career. Sal Frelick had a couple of hits and scored a run.
https://twitter.com/Brewers/status/1775598273316700527?s=20
The Brewers dropped to 4-1 on the year. They will get Thursday off before opening up a series against Seattle on Friday at home.
Chourio hits RBI single in first home plate appearance. Brewers beat Twins 3-2 and improve to 4-0
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jackson Chourio singled in a run in his first American Family Field plate appearance, Christian Yelich homered and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Minnesota Twins 3-2 on Tuesday to open a season with four straight wins for the first time since 2006.
Chourio stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the third inning after consecutive one-out singles by Rhys Hoskins, Oliver Dunn and Brice Turang. The 20-year-old followed with an RBI single into shallow right field.
“I was just looking to make good contact there and bring in the first run of the game,” Chourio said through an interpreter.
Chourio, who signed an $82 million, eight-year contract in the offseason before making his big league debut, is hitting .400 (6 for 15).
Home after a three-game sweep at the New York Mets, the Brewers never trailed in front of a sellout crowd of 41,659 that saved its biggest cheers for the introduction of Bob Uecker as he began his 54th season of broadcasting Brewers baseball.
Turang went 2 for 3 with an RBI single, improving his batting average to .500 (7 for 14).
Milwaukee is 4-0 for the fourth time after winning its first 13 games in 1987 and its first five in 1978 and 2006.
Yelich hit a 423-foot drive over the center-field wall and Turang added a two-out RBI double in the third as the Brewers boosted the lead to 3-0.
Matt Wallner had a sacrifice fly in the fourth and the Twins closed within a run in the seventh on Christian Vázquez's sacrifice fly, a run that was unearned because of catcher William Contreras' fielding error that allowed Willi Castro to reach. Hoby Milner preserved the lead by striking out pinch-hitter Kyle Farmer to strand Manuel Margot at second.
Carlos Correa walked to start the ninth before Margot hit into a double play and Carlos Santana grounded out as Abner Uribe finished a three-hitter for his third save in as many chances.
“With the way that we play sometimes and early in the season, and the way that they play, it's not surprising to see a good, well-pitched, low-scoring game right there,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “But when we do hit the ball on the barrel, we want to get something out of it. Overall I think we could have had better at-bats.”
Elvis Peguero (2-0) pitched two hitless innings after starter Jakob Junis allowed one run and one hit over four innings in his Brewers debut.
Junis, a 31-year-old right-hander, threw just 47 pitches as he adjusts to starting after working primarily out of the bullpen for San Francisco Giants last season. Junis also had been dealing with a minor shoulder issue for part of the spring.
“He came in after the third and said he wasn't feeling great, but wanted to go back out,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “You could see he didn't have great extension in that fourth inning. We made the decision then, because it's about his health.”
Twins starter Louie Varland (0-1) gave up three runs, six hits and two walks in four innings.
