That Fat UWM Guy

[Freeport Warrior]

. . . named Most Entertaining Player in college basketball by Seth Davis, Sports Illustrated:

Most Entertaining Player
Seth Davis
Who else? James Eayrs (aka "Big Lumber"), 6-7, 310-pound senior forward, Milwaukee. Body of a sumo wrestler, hands of a surgeon, feet of a ballet dancer.

UWM played tough against Western Kentucky the other night. Could have pulled it out. Doesn't seem to be the easy game it has been in the past.

[Jay Bee]

Yeah James EaTrs looked pretty good shooting 4/18 while that tough UWM squad fell to powerhouse Indiana State 76-63 on a neutral court last night. 

[Freeport Warrior]

Yeah James EaTrs looked pretty good shooting 4/18 while that tough UWM squad fell to powerhouse Indiana State 76-63 on a neutral court last night. 

You can rip 'em all you want -- but neither Indiana State or UWM is a Centenary. Indiana St. held there own at LSU on Monday. Lost by the same margin (11) that Western Kentucky did to LSU last night. Many of these lower ranked mid-majors seem capable of surprising any team, say ranked 25 -75 early in the season, us included. My bigger point is that UWM doesn't seem to be the absolute "gimme" it has always been in the past. While I'd love to see us set another Bradley Center record for field goals (40) like we did a few years back on them, we seem more vulnerable of this actually being a game this year.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Buzz's team has no business losing to UWM. 

[LON]

Buzz's team has no business losing to UWM. 

Agreed.

[MU1984]

Eayrs would start on MU

[Freeport Warrior]

We had no business losing to ND State three years ago with a seemingly much more talented, experienced team (ranked #8/#9) either. With so many new guys and such inexperience, we can't afford to look past anyone this year, especially these non-conference "cupcakes."

[NotAnAlum]

I agree on Eayrs.  I'd be pleased as punch to start him instead of Fulce.  Enough bulk to push the other team's center off the blocks and a real match up problem on defense.

[Freeport Warrior]

I agree on Eayrs.  I'd be pleased as punch to start him instead of Fulce.  Enough bulk to push the other team's center off the blocks and a real match up problem on defense.

By the sound of his boot camp, my guess is Buzz would also have him down a few more pounds.

[Skatastrophy]

He can't get up and down the floor.  Nor can he play for more than 3 minutes at a time without heading to the bench to catch his breath.

He would be a novelty to have in the lineup during cupcake season, but he would only be a liability when playing any team that could run.

[ChicosBailBonds]

We had no business losing to ND State three years ago with a seemingly much more talented, experienced team (ranked #8/#9) either. With so many new guys and such inexperience, we can't afford to look past anyone this year, especially these non-conference "cupcakes."

I don't disagree with you, but this is why I've been against this series from day one.  If you lose to ND State, no one cares really.  There is only downside if you lose to UWM.  So if we're going to be silly about playing them, we have ZERO business losing to them.  Forget the BS article how great it is for the state, blah blah blah. 

They are absolutely capable of beating anyone and we are capable of losing to anyone, but then we need to be smarter about who we schedule.

Crean blew it by caving into this series in my opinion.

[MU1984]

I don't disagree with you, but this is why I've been against this series from day one.  If you lose to ND State, no one cares really.  There is only downside if you lose to UWM.  So if we're going to be silly about playing them, we have ZERO business losing to them.  Forget the BS article how great it is for the state, blah blah blah. 

They are absolutely capable of beating anyone and we are capable of losing to anyone, but then we need to be smarter about who we schedule.

Crean blew it by caving into this series in my opinion.

Translation:  If you think you might lose to a team - don't play them in non-conference play.  Recipe for success and development right there.

We lose to UWM this year no one other than UWM alums will care.  This isn't a big deal and in fact, this is one of the games I am looking forward to this year and it will be a nice tune up for the UW game.

[Chicago_inferiority_complexes]

Translation:  If you think you might lose to a team - don't play them in non-conference play.  Recipe for success and development right there.

No, I think it's more, if the "costs" for losing are overwhelmingly bigger than the "benefits" of winning, it's probably not a series worth seeing. For UW-M and their sisters across the state, one UWM win would be worth every single loss they've ever had against MU.

[dsfire]

There is only downside if you lose to UWM.

What upside is there, generally, in losing games?

[MU1984]

No, I think it's more, if the "costs" for losing are overwhelmingly bigger than the "benefits" of winning, it's probably not a series worth seeing. For UW-M and their sisters across the state, one UWM win would be worth every single loss they've ever had against MU.

What costs? - recruiting?  No.  Money?  No.  If we lose to UWM this year - what is the downside to that?  If we are a top 10 team and they beat us - is the season over?  Why is losing to UWM the apocalypse?  They are the other D1 team in Milwaukee.  Maybe its just me, but not playing them would not make any sense.

And lets not forget - in 2004 & 2005 - the best college ball being played in city was at the Cell.  Their program has come a long ways in the last 5yrs, ours has in the last decade.  Lets play.

[77ncaachamps]

Nice post.

As uneven as the "rivalry" series has been between MU and UWM (a huge understatement), we should not back down from any opponent.

The best will beat the best...
And these new MU kids will feel it: you'd better beat UWM.

[avid1010]

I have no idea what all goes in to scheduling (date wise), but I wasn't too excited to see UWM three days after NC State and four days prior to UW.  Two of the more difficult non-conference games, but like has been stated, they cannot lose to UW-Milwaukee. 

[MarquetteDano]

What costs? - recruiting?  No.  Money?  No.  If we lose to UWM this year - what is the downside to that?  If we are a top 10 team and they beat us - is the season over?  Why is losing to UWM the apocalypse?  They are the other D1 team in Milwaukee.  Maybe its just me, but not playing them would not make any sense.

And lets not forget - in 2004 & 2005 - the best college ball being played in city was at the Cell.  Their program has come a long ways in the last 5yrs, ours has in the last decade.  Lets play.

I couldn't agree more with MU1984.  I found it irritating they played out this series in the press so much (about us supposedly ducking them) but we now have the series.  They are a better opponent than the buy games we have which is good.  Will they win sooner or later and gloat like it is their Superbowl?  Of course.  Will the series continue to be lopsided in our favor into the future?  You bet.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Translation:  If you think you might lose to a team - don't play them in non-conference play.  Recipe for success and development right there.

We lose to UWM this year no one other than UWM alums will care.  This isn't a big deal and in fact, this is one of the games I am looking forward to this year and it will be a nice tune up for the UW game.

We'll have to agree to disagree.  I want to OWN Wisconsin, or at the very least SE Wisconsin.  There's a reason why so many big schools don't play little sisters across town, because there is nothing positive to gain from it.  If you're going to build a base from which you want to recruit....Milwaukee and Chicago among other places....you need to own those areas.  You need to beat the crap out of DePaul each year...you need to own UWM....you need to beat Wisconsin often. 

The last thing I want is for casual Milwaukee residents to start thinking MU is down because we lost to UWM and start to attend UWM games because they get lucky one time, or God forbid they leverage that into becoming a mid-major player.  The only way they become a mid-major notable program is by knocking off Big East big brother, plus Butler and making a little noise in the NCAA tournament.  I just assume not give them that chance...it benefits them, not us.

Having met Bud many times, if it was his idea then I want nothing to do with it.  When the local press is pushing it, then I want nothing to do with it.  I'd love to clean their clock on these next three games and then just call it a day.  We can say we gave them a shot, even played on their campus, and nothing came of it.  Time to move on.   

[ChicosBailBonds]

And lets not forget - in 2004 & 2005 - the best college ball being played in city was at the Cell.  Their program has come a long ways in the last 5yrs, ours has in the last decade.  Lets play.

OK Fran.   Sorry, but we'll have to agree to disagree again.  More than anything, however, you prove my other point.  I want to own Milwaukee and giving them a chance to be the best college basketball team in the city is not my idea of a good thing for MU.  Because MU didn't play UWM in those two years, it's highly debatable if your comments are valid.  MU had significant injuries and a much tougher schedule, as such they didn't make the NCAAs.  UWM plays in an easy conference and went to the NCAAs.  The last thing I'd like to see is them also notching a few wins against MU along the way.

ZERO upside for MU.   Never has been, never will be.  I'm sure St. John's and DePaul cringe now that they have to play cross town schools each year like Fordham, UIC, etc, because they have fallen to such depths those games now can't be undone for political reasons. 

As several very wise AD's have told me along the way, when you schedule...schedule to win games, schedule to be on tv, and in the event you might lose, make damn sure you lose to someone that doesn't impact your program in a negative light.   I'd clearly put UWM in that category. 

[Golden Avalanche]

For the record, my opinion is MU should never lose to UWM. Never.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Here's a classic case in point...whether we play them or not, this perception will continue no matter what.  So I say, F'em, let them have the perception because it only pisses them off even more.


"You'll put a lot more in the seats by beating Marquette. There is very little enmity by Milwaukee fans towards Wisconsin, especially with Bo there. Marquette, on the other hand, is seen by a lot of Milwaukee fans and grads as the haughty neighbor who puts her nose in the air when she sees you walk by -- while she's wearing a threadbare coat and scuffed boots. And that aside, as a practical matter the intracity game is just a bigger deal in the local news, where it's likely to make an impression on people.

Of course, it's very unlikely we will beat either this year, but beating Wisconsin would be nearly impossible, given that it's at the Kohl and they are a much better team.

Don't get me wrong; I completely understand and agree with the preferability of winning non-con games from a "program" standpoint. It just has little significance to me from a basketball standpoint."
-BB Fran

http://uwmfreak.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Games&action=display&thread=4941&page=9

[Freeport Warrior]

Not to beat an old horse, but we wouldn't be in this "transition" year at all if Crean hadn't left the cupboard pretty much bare sans Lazar. Buzz has done his best to re-stock quickly, but we don't have junior/senior guys with experience. This makes me feel vulnerable against teams like this. As a fan, I like the in-state competition, but I also like knowing we always have a stacked deck of high-ranked recruits. If we keep the pipeline of great players coming in, there really is no competition. Forgetting the business side of this, I always felt like we were a bunch of pu$$ies for ducking them. Yes. it's emotional, but I am sure I'm not alone. As far as an upside, I'd much rather attend this game than any of the other home non-conference games including NC State. If Buzz does his job, we shouldn't ever have to worry about these guys. This year is a little different IMO.

[MUBurrow]

The reason I don't like the UWM series is from a recruiting standpoint.  Not necessarily that I'm afraid of losing recruits to UWM, but it reflects on the competition from Madison.  If we lose to UWM and we have another recruit from Memorial on the fence, why go to Marquette? The sense of satisfaction from the city/state would be palatable due to the public school bias.  If Madison were to play and lose to UWM, it would have nowhere near the ramifications as it would on MU.  Though the whole thing may not ultimately be THAT big of a deal anyway, its at the very least, an extension of the no-win situation thats already talked about.

[GOMU1104]

You guys are missing the point. The series is bad for MU, because we have to give up a home game game to play a middle of the road mid major. Doesnt make sense financially, and it handcuffs MU when it comes to trying to schedule REAL OOC opponents.

If the series is renewed, it should be without the game @ UWM.

It will be interseting to see what happens with the next contract. I am willing to bet there is a better relationship between Buzz/Cottingham and Jeter/Koonce...than there was between the previous administrations at the respective schools.