Midweek Stock Report: How sweet it is for 8th-seeded Badgers
Every Wednesday, FOX Sports Wisconsin takes a look at which athletes' stock is trending up and whose is trending down.
In other words, who is making a meteoric rise, and who is quickly plummeting.
With that in mind, let's "take stock" of the current sports scene in Wisconsin, shall we?
Wisconsin Badgers basketball
Last week we had UW on the down side, with this comment: "An 8 seed?" This week perhaps it should simply be "Sweet 16!" Despite Ethan Happ getting into foul trouble in both of their first two NCAA tournament games, the Badgers toppled Virginia Tech and top-seeded Villanova to advance into their fourth straight Sweet 16 and sixth in the last seven years.
Junior Guerra, Brewers starting pitcher
In case you weren't sure who Milwaukee considers its ace this season, Guerra was tabbed the Brewers' starter for Opening Day three weeks before the start of the season. Guerra was a surprise in 2016 and if spring training is any indication -- two runs allowed on four hits in 10 innings -- good things are ahead in 2017, too.
Manny Pina, Brewers catcher
Three players are vying for Milwaukee's two catching spots on the opening 25-man roster. Pina appears to have a leg up on the competition as Andrew Susac has been hurt and batting just .192 in his 12 games while Jett Bandy is hitting .243 in his 13 games. Meanwhile, Pina is batting .405 with a .757 slugging percentage (thanks to four doubles and three home runs) in 15 games and 37 at-bats. In four games this past week, Pina was 6 for 11 with a double and a home run in each of his last three games.
Khris Middleton, Bucks forward
Middleton continues to be the key cog in Milwaukee's machine. In four games last week, he averaged 20.8 points per game -- including his first 30-point game of the season, against the Los Angeles Lakers -- while shooting 53.6 percent from the field. He made 6 of 9 3-point attempts and 17 of 18 free-throw attempts. On March 1, Middleton played in 30 minutes for the first time this season. The Bucks are 9-3 since then (3-1 in the past week, all on the road).
Ann-Renee Desbiens, Badgers goalie
Desbiens became the fifth Wisconsin player to win the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award -- the top honor in women's college hockey. The senior finished the season with a miniscule 0.71 goals-against average and .963 save percentage with 17 shutouts. She never allowed more than two goals in a game and owned a 29-2-4 record. Unfortunately, one of the losses was in the NCAA championship game vs. Clarkson, but it was still a season to remember for Desbiens, who set numerous NCAA and Wisconsin records.
Wisconsin hockey
OK, maybe it is a bit of a stretch to include the Badgers' men's and women's teams in here as both had tremendous seasons. However, both ended on a bit of a downer. The women were ranked No. 1 and fell 3-0 to Clarkson in the title game. The men had a fantastic turnaround season under new coach Tony Granato and were this close to winning the Big Ten tournament and earning a bid in the NCAA tournament, but fell in double overtime (of all things) to Penn State.
Terrence Jones, Bucks forward
Jones, who was averaging 11.5 points and 5.9 rebounds in 24.8 minutes with New Orleans, has played all of two minutes since he signed on with Milwaukee and didn't appear in any games this past week (i.e. the same amount as injured players Michael Beasley and Jabari Parker). Even Spencer Hawes played six minutes.
Dave Heller is the author of the new book Ken Williams: A Slugger in Ruth's Shadow as well as Facing Ted Williams Players From the Golden Age of Baseball Recall the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived and As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns
