Sam Dekker Makes National Team

[TedBaxter]

http://www.usabasketball.com/mens/u18/12_mu18_finalists.html

Very impressive and a congrats to the Wisconsin recruit.

[Goose85]

Great to see state talent brigning it on a national level. Congrats to Dekker.

[Hamostradamus]

If he was an MU commit, would Badger fans be as gracious? They would probably shoot out his porchlight. Anyhoo, I wish him the best and hope he kicks ass. One problem: Reading the Badger boards (and after losing Uthoff), Dekker is now expected to be a 20 and 10 guy, All-Conference and a one-and-done. He and I have logged exactly the same amount of Div. 1 basketball minutes. I think it is unfair of Bucky fans to put that much pressure on an 18-year old freshman to perform.

[TheSultan]

If he was an MU commit, would Badger fans be as gracious? They would probably shoot out his porchlight. Anyhoo, I wish him the best and hope he kicks ass. One problem: Reading the Badger boards (and after losing Uthoff), Dekker is now expected to be a 20 and 10 guy, All-Conference and a one-and-done. He and I have logged exactly the same amount of Div. 1 basketball minutes. I think it is unfair of Bucky fans to put that much pressure on an 18-year old freshman to perform.


Yeah, cause Marquette fans have never done that!

[IWB]

Sam Dekker Makes National Team

Not so fast Ted - I hope he makes it, but this is the "finalists roster", which is at 14. There are 2 more players that will be cut as the final roster is 12 players. Hope Dekker makes it, and I believe he will. It would be great to get a home-state player on this team.

[Goose85]

If he was an MU commit, would Badger fans be as gracious? They would probably shoot out his porchlight. Anyhoo, I wish him the best and hope he kicks ass. One problem: Reading the Badger boards (and after losing Uthoff), Dekker is now expected to be a 20 and 10 guy, All-Conference and a one-and-done. He and I have logged exactly the same amount of Div. 1 basketball minutes. I think it is unfair of Bucky fans to put that much pressure on an 18-year old freshman to perform.

If Dekker is as good as advertised he should put up such numbers (see Kentucky). A lot of pressure seeing as they will likely start a redshirt frosh at point.
One and done? If that is the case, the Badgers will have a real tough go of it the following year. Do the Badgers score enough points for a guy to average 20 per game?

From Zagsblog on the team.
http://www.zagsblog.com/2012/06/08/u-s-u18-finalists-named-harrisons-cut/#more-74504

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

This is the same team Vander made right?

No doubt about it the kid is talented and will be a pain to deal with for however many years he is at UW. I don't see him being one and done, but I could see him going before the 4 years is up... Then again who knows, let the kid play and we can all see what happens.

[Hamostradamus]

Yeah, cause Marquette fans have never done that!

Assuming you are referring to the expectations part, I agree (and I was exaggerating a bit for effect about the one-and-done). I was as guilty as anyone of expecting Vander to be the second coming as a frosh, but that was my "teachable moment." Going forward, no matter how high a player is ranked, I wouldn't expect more than a few mins. per game, a few points here and there, and an occasional start. The question is: considering Bo's style and the supporting cast, what are Dekker's numbers going to be in conference play? Remember Gasser, as a freshman, scored 21 points in his first game (2nd best in UW history) and recorded UW's only triple double ever (vs. Northwestern). He finished with 6 ppg in conference play freshman year, 8 ppg sophomore year. Granted Dekker is better than Gasser, but once conference play hits, I would try to remember he is still just a freshman.

[TedBaxter]

Not so fast Ted - I hope he makes it, but this is the "finalists roster", which is at 14. There are 2 more players that will be cut as the final roster is 12 players. Hope Dekker makes it, and I believe he will. It would be great to get a home-state player on this team.

Sorry, jumped the gun a little. Hope he makes it.

[IWB]

I am pretty sure he will, although that roster is pretty forward heavy, so the cuts will likely be forwards, but I still think he makes it.

[Goose85]

Either way, quite an honor.

By the way Hamostradamus, seems every year you have a number of "teachable moments".

Dekker should score in double figures but I'm not sure about boards.

[IWB]

Official - Dekker made the final roster! Congrats to Sam, represent the home state!