By Adam Roberts – 11/4/2020

The early 21st century at the Kohl Center was defined by the Bo Ryan style of basketball for the Wisconsin men. It was a style often duplicated in high school gyms across the state in an attempt to prepare potential Badgers for what they would encounter at that level, and for good reason. In between 2001 and 2015, the Ryan-led Badgers won 364 games, seven Big Ten titles, never finished lower than fourth in the conference, never missed the NCAA tournament, went to back-to-back Final Fours and played in the 2015 National Championship game.

For all his contributions to modern Badger basketball, Ryan is going to be enshrined among the immortal at the UW Athletics Hall of Fame.

As of right now, an official induction ceremony is on hold due to the pandemic, but Ryan says he is very happy to be a part of the Hall, and in particular he is glad he’ll be joining alongside former player Mike Wlkinson.

“Mike was such a delight to coach” says Ryan. “Just such a hard worker, soaked up everything that was given to him. [He] showed respect for everyone in the program…truly one of those guys that was happy to be there.”

A native of Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, Wilkinson was the personification of a Bo Ryan guy; he played through his senior year, averaging 14.3 points per game and earning an All-Big Ten First Team selection his senior year. He was also just the second player in school history to finish with at least 1,500 points and 800 rebounds.

Ryan entered the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.

By Adam Roberts – 11/4/2020

The tried and true Ted Thompson approach to outside help for the Green Bay Packers organization appears to have transferred over to Brian Gutekunst.

The current Packer GM reportedly was in disagreement with head coach Matt LaFleur about the short-term cost of Houston Texans wide receiver Will Fuller, and so no move for the veteran wideout was made. LaFleur noted yesterday that injured receiver Allen Lazard is close to returning, but many fans certainly wanted to see some kind of a move made by the team’s front office to provide quarterback Aaron Rodgers with an additional deep-threat heading into the second half of the season.

“I think he’s done everything we’ve asked him to” LaFleur said about Lazard. “It’s just a matter of when we feel it’s safe for him to go out there…he wants to be out there in the worst way…but we’re gonna take our time and be smart about him, and make sure that he’s able to go out there and play to the level that he’s been able to do for the last year and a half.”

When he was asked about how close the Packers actually were to acquiring Fuller, LaFleur said he didn’t “know if anything ever got that serious”.

Meanwhile in Minnesota, with a 2-5 record it was unlikely for the team to be buyers at the deadline, but many thought they would offload some veterans. However, ESPN’s Courtney Cronin wrote a piece indicating that the Vikings may have a change of heart after winning 28-22 over Green Bay last weekend, and as it turned out, they didn’t send anyone on their way. Perhaps coach Mike Zimmer, GM Rick Speilman, and the front office may have second thoughts on their chances after all.

In other Vikings news, today running back Dalvin Cook was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week. Cook of course was nearly unstoppable against the Packers, gaining over 200 all purpose yards and scoring four touchdowns, making history as the first player to score a touchdown on each of his team’s first four possessions of a game since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970.

By Adam Roberts – 11/3/2020

Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher Devin Williams turned heads this year with his excellence in late innings on the mound, and the already decorated pitcher is now in the running for the best honor a rookie in either league can receive.

Williams is one of three finalists for the National League Rookie of the Year award. The other two finalists are Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm and Padres infielder Jake Cronenworth.

Williams was already named the NL reliever of the year for this season, and was 4-and-1 with a 0.33 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 27 innings this year. His absence from the Wild Card Series against the eventual World Series-champion LA Dodgers was felt; Williams suffered from an arm injury, and without himself and Corbin Burnes the team didn’t stand much of a chance against the Dodgers.

By Adam Roberts – 11/2/2020

Per a number of sources, including ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Rob Demovsky and Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, Packers rookie running back A.J. Dillon has tested positive for COVID-19. According to Pelissero, the test came during the pregame testing cycle ahead of Sunday’s game against Minnesota. The results from Saturday were the ones used to determine who could play versus who must isolate on Sunday, which explains why Dillon played 17 snaps for the Packers in their loss. To this point, the NFL and its team of medical experts have not found any evidence of on-field transmission, although as we’ve seen the results can vary from situation to situation (take the Badgers-Illinois game from two weekends ago versus the Vikings’ not reporting any positive tests despite facing the Titans team just ahead of their big outbreak).

Contact tracing is currently underway, and Dillon will certainly be out for this Thursday’s scheduled game against San Francisco. We are continuing to follow this story and will provide updates as they become available.

By Adam Roberts – 11/2/2020

On Twitter, we currently have a poll running that asks you whether the Packers’ 28-22 upset loss to the now 2-5 Vikings was more the result of Minnesota running back Dalvin Cook being very good, the Packers’ defense being very bad, or a combination of both.

As of 7:45 this morning, the vote was about 2/3 in favor of the combination option, and that certainly seemed to be the case at Lambeau yesterday afternoon.

Cook ended up with 226 all-purpose yards, including 163 on the ground, to go with all four of the teams’ scores on a day in which 72 hours ago it wasn’t even a given that Cook would be on the field. But in the back’s first game on the field since his injury against the Seahawks, Cook looked every bit the NFL’s leading rusher that he was prior to his injury. Despite everyone knowing that on a windy day at Lambeau the Vikings would be a run-first offense, the Green Bay D couldn’t do anything to stop Cook from start to finish.

“We knew exactly what they were gonna do in terms of they were gonna ride him” head coach Matt La Fleur said after being asked why this was the case. “We never put them in a situation where they had to drop back and throw the football…that’s something that we better get fixed, and we better get fixed fast.”

LaFleur now has to prepare his defense for San Francisco, a team that has had Green Bay’s number the last few years; the Packers haven’t won at San Fran since Week Four in 2015, and of course last year were defeated twice by a combined score of 74-28.

Cook meanwhile made some history yesterday, becoming the first player to score a touchdown on each of his team’s first four possessions of a game since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970. He credited his huge return game to the Vikings’ medical staff for getting him ready to roll, and noted that the windy conditions combined with a great day from the offensive line helped him rack up the yards as well.

“I was telling those guys all game how much of an impact it was having for me” Cook said ” and they was doin’ a great job all day. Commend the offensive line for keeping Kurt off the ground pretty much the whole day and giving the backs holes to run through, too.”

Cousins didn’t light the world on fire yesterday (11/14, 160 Yds, 1 TD), but managed the game well by not committing any mistakes and not giving Green Bay any opportunities for free scores.

While Green Bay gets ready for the 49ers, the 2-5 Vikings will head home this Sunday to take on the Lions, who lost 41-21 to Indianapolis yesterday.