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Brian Butch's Bio: Nicknamed "Polar Bear" Wisconsin's Brian Butch plans to play professional basketball for as long as he possibly can. Since graduating from Wisconsin in 2008 the 7-foot center has played overseas in China, Germany, Greece as well as back home in the NBA summer league. He chronicles his adventures for us below. |
Badger pride
| Mar 15 2010, 2:01 PM | Topic: Basketball plans |
| As we are on our way to L.A. driving in the 15-passenger van with eight players and two coaches I can't help but think getting on the private jet heading to the Big Dance with all of the band, cheerleaders and fans getting ready for the Tourney two years ago. Wow. Things have changed. But it's still great because I'm still playing the game I love. As I sit back and look at the bracket I like the path to the Sweet Sixteen for the Badgers. It's funny since one of our assistant coaches, Mark Strickland, played for Temple so the trash talk has already started in anticipation for the potential Temple-Wisconsin match-up. I never truly knew how much the mid-majors dislike the major conferences until the bubble talk started. We have a lot of guys on our team from mid major schools like Kent State, Jackson State, Southern Mississippi, Missouri State. They all want to know how Wisconsin can lose in the first game of the conference tourney and still make it since so many of their teams don't. Come on! How is that even a question? We play a tougher schedule and beat better teams. The funniest thing? Everyone's reasons make no sense. It's made for some great talks - or loud discussions - between the guys. The best comments were between me and John Edwards who played at Kent State. He was saying how bad the Big Ten was and how we shouldn't get any teams in the tournament. I asked him what tournament he played in his senior season. That's right - the NIT. Things got a lot quieter after that, ha-ha! Got to love that school spirit though. That's the nice thing about being on a professional team - there are a lot of lunches on the line when the teams start playing against each other. I'm just glad that most of the time I'm the one eating for free. Go Badgers! You guys are letting me eat real good so far. |
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Tourney time
| Mar 12 2010, 11:56 AM | Topic: Basketball plans |
| It is weird to sit back and think were this journey has taken me after watching some of the conference tournament games. It feels like I was just playing in those games and just in college. Granted I am only two years out but it still doesn't feel that way. It is crazy to see where I am now - two years ago I would have never imagined that I would be in Bakersfield, California playing in the D-League. To be honest, I knew that I would be playing basketball but that was all I knew. As I sit back and think about where I might be in two years from now I really have the same feeling of uneasiness. I dream that I will be in the NBA, and right now I feel like I will chase that dream as long as I can. I don't want to look back at any opportunity and think that I let a chance go by. But as bad as some of my European experiences have been, there are teams that have great programs and depending on what my family needs it might be tough to turn down the money. Who knows? A great job opportunity might come along where I might have to make a choice - either take that job or play basketball. That is the weird thing about the future - you can sit back and think about what might be all day long but the one thing that I really have learned is that you have to take one day at a time and take advantage of the opportunities. Who knows what the future will hold? It is scary but the one thing I do know is that I will take it all in stride. |
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March Madness
| Mar 11 2010, 9:42 AM | Topic: Basketball plans |
| Wow, I can't believe the Big Ten Tournament is here already. Playing in the D-League has really made this season go by so much faster than last year. Playing in Germany last year I only had one game a week but now I'm playing three times a week sometimes. But as the Big Ten Tournament starts up and I have a couple of days of practice ahead of me I'm sharing my favorite Big Ten Tournament Memories. Here is a list of the Top 5 memories from my time at Wisconsin. 5. 2004 Championship Game against Illinois: Even though I red-shirted this was my first taste of what winning a championship at the collegiate level was like. 4. 2007 Championship Game against Ohio State: It was so frustrating being hurt and watching us lose in the championship was motivating for the next season. 3. 2008 Semifinal game against Michigan State: We were down by double digits late in the second half but found a way to come back to get a great win on the way to a title. 2. 2005 Semifinal game against Iowa: Alando Tucker hits a half-court game-winner to send us to the finals. 1. 2008 Championship Game against Illinois: Winning the Tournament Championship and the regular season Championship meant so much. It was one of the best feelings to finish what we had started Here is a bonus memory: Every time we arrived in Chicago or Indianapolis our fans and the band would be waiting in the hotel lobby. As soon as we walked through the doors the band would start playing for us and all of the fans would begin cheering. It was pretty cool, and what made it so special was that it only happened during tournament time. Needless to say it was a great way to begin the couple of days that was the Big Ten Tournament. |
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My awards ...
| Mar 9 2010, 9:40 AM | Topic: Basketball plans |
| Since the votes are now in on the All-Big Ten teams it's my turn to give my All-Conference Teams. Since I've been back in the U.S. after playing in Greece I actually have been able to watch enough Big Ten hoops. Here it is: First Team Evan Turner Kalin Lucas Robbie Hummel E'Twaun Moore Trevon Hughes Second Team Demetri McCamey JaJuan Johnson John Shurna Taylor Battle Deshawn Sims Third Team John Leuer Jason Bohannon Raymar Morgan William Buford Chris Kramer I know there will be some disagreements with these teams but there are many reasons for my opinions. First, this year there are so many great players it was hard to decide. My main factor: Winning. I personally know how hard it is to win in the Big Ten so that's why I put so much emphasis on that one category. The next area I looked at was leadership. I think that all my first-team guys showed great leadership throughout the season. The last area: Production. Overall the Big Ten season was great to watch and what a season it was with so many twists and turns. I can't wait to see what is going to happen in the tournament. |
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Busy, busy, busy ...
| Mar 9 2010, 9:32 AM | Topic: Basketball plans |
| So after a weekend of back to back games against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Another update is on the way. I feel like I have sent more updates than ever but I guess since it is March it makes sense. We played two games against Rio Grande Valley and ended up splitting with the top team in the league. Our first game was a tough one but we played hard and keep on fighting. We just couldn't get the gap closed and we ended up losing. Here's a game recap. However the next night was an exciting game. We ended up winning on a last-second shot which was well-earned. We fought so hard and it was nice to have a game go our way. Great win. Here's another recap. This whole month we have a back-to-back every weekend. Even though it is fun to play it is really tough to play back-to-back games. I remember when I was at Wisconsin we never played back to back unless it was for the Big Ten tourney. We were in the Championship game four out of my five years so we had to play a lot of back-to-back games. It's not easy. I think as a player the toughest thing is to get to sleep. You are so amped up from the game you just played it's hard to sleep and get ready for the next game. But somehow all of us found a way to get it done because of the four times we got to the Championship game we won twice. |
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