SPORTS
Wisconsin opens basketball season with celebration
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by Dave McGrath
Monday, October 17, 2005
The University of Wisconsin basketball season officially began with a bang, or rather a slam, Friday night. The Badgers celebrated the opening of the fall practice season with "The Night of the Grateful Red," an exhibition which featured the players being introduced to students and fans for the first time with friendly competitions between players and the Wisconsin faithful.
"It gives high school students a chance to come in and see us do a little something, see the players … experience the atmosphere in the Kohl Center," said Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan before the event.
Ryan added that the season-opening celebration was also an opportunity for the players to get their first taste of the Kohl Center atmosphere.
"I think it's a great idea for our basketball program, especially this year, to be able to have a night like this where our players — with so much inexperience and guys that didn't log a lot of minutes last year — to see what it's like to be introduced with the lights down a little bit, with the scoreboard going."
Around the nation, the first day of official practice is celebrated by holding the "practice," complete with scrimmages, shootouts and dunk contests, in front of fans at midnight. Wisconsin hasn't participated in those activities, but fans appreciated the effort put forth by the administration to bring some measure of the college basketball tradition of "Midnight Madness" to Madison.
"I think it was great to get the community involved. Coach Ryan was right pointing out that young kids wouldn't be able to come if it was being held at midnight," said UW student Kristen Blaha.
"It was good, they should always do it this way. It gets more fans involved," said Joel Luedke, a UW student who was pulled from the crowd to participate in a half-court shootout. "I've been to ["Midnight Madness"] at Marquette and that was fun, but Bo is probably right: to get the younger kids involved in it is probably a good thing."
With much of the first level occupied by the 3,257 fans in attendance, the night began with the introductions of the players and coaching staff, while the lights stayed off. The light-hearted mood of the evening was evident almost immediately as players entered in a variety of manners while being introduced, including senior forward Ray Nixon coming out in '70s-style shorts and a Ryan impersonator performing a break dance at mid-court.
After the team warmed up with an entertaining, if somewhat sloppy, three-man weave, a player/fan three-point shooting contest was held, with sophomore forward Brian Butch and a partner from the audience taking the crown.
The festivities continued with a charming 10-and-under slam-dunk contest, won with a power jam that broke the three-foot-tall plastic basket and drew great laughter and approval from the crowd.
After a half-court shooting contest, the highlight event of the evening was definitely the slam-dunk contest.
After freshman Marcus Landry warmed up the crowd with a tenacious windmill and Nixon got them on their feet again with a smooth reverse jam, redshirt freshman DeAaron Williams and junior forward Alando Tucker stole the show and tied for the unofficial "2005 Slam Dunk Championship."
Tucker started off with a behind-the-head reverse, complete with his trademark 38-inch vertical leap, to score a 49. Williams followed suit with a 49 of his own, reaching back to catch a ball in the air and dunking it with a smooth, powerful finish.
With his final dunk, Williams went between his legs and again shook the rim with a thunderous slam, drawing a roar from the crowd and a perfect score of 50 from the judges.
Not to be upstaged, however, was Tucker, who had sophomore guard Michael Flowers bounce the ball about chest high, and while in the air caught the ball and went between his legs for what was probably the most impressive rim-rocker of the night, scoring a perfect 50 to ensure the tie, and a worthwhile night for all in attendance.
