This is the sixth of ten posts revealing the ten Marquette nominees for the SBN Wisconsin Hall of Fame.  These are in no particular order, except for the particular order they're in.

A lot of these posts (at least the ones I've seen so far)  have chimed in on players' statistical greatness and professional successes. While my nominee for the SBN Wisconsin Hall of Fame doesn't have a fantastic professional career (a la Ellis, Wade and hopefully soon, Matthews), he does have one night that all Marquette fans will never forget - January 3, 2006.  UCONN visits the Bradley Center in Marquette's first ever game in the Big East.

41 points.  16 rebounds.  19,000 hoarse voices.  1 major upset.  Novak made his robotic jumper a national spectacle, knocking down shot after shot after shot.  He had a three-pointer that was so long, his foot was darn near touching the edge of the "M" at the center of the Al McGuire Court.  He officially welcomed UCONN in the BC and told every other Big East team to watch out.

His performance was widely praised around the college basketball world - even declared the number 1 individual performance by Sports Illustrated (found via Cracked Sidewalks - I love Google). He took a young, raw team on his shoulders that year and carried the Golden Eagles to a season that no one, repeat NO ONE, expected.

Novak developed his own mold - a tall, bruising, brutally efficient shooter that found a way to get open, whatever the defense threw at him.  He was a guaranteed two points at the line.  If I may interject some of his statistical greatness, in his final season at Marquette, he shot 47.7% from the floor - his 3 point percentage was 1 point below that.  He made 97% of his free throws.  Remember his two-point, fadaway jumper to sink Notre Dame that year?  Of course you do.

His 2006 season was special, but what about that first year?  What about his gutsy performances in his freshman year?  He was the ultimate role player on a team that had it all - superstar player, slick point guard and frontcourt talent.  He definitely benefitted from having a more balanced attack in his senior year (versus Sophomore and Junior), but his crunch time shooting made that 2005/6 team.

I know that Novak doesn't have the superstar power of Wade or the legendary name-recognition of Ellis or Rivers, but I nominate him for the SBN Hall of Fame for making us believe in Marquette basketball again.  It can be argued that he set the tone for the current stretch of success we've been riding on as a program.  That January game was arguably the biggest Marquette upset of the decade and it was his time.

Other than basketball, I also have a personal story regarding Novak.  On my first night as a student, when I was at my first college party, Novak was there.  I was dumbfounded.  I was more dumbfounded when Novak came up to me and introduced himself.  I was even more dumbfoundeder when he hung around to talk ball for 20 minutes.  That was my first night as a student at Marquette and I'll never forget it.  Since then, he's been my favorite player and my nominee for the SBN Wisconsin Hall of Fame.

At the depressingly desperate request of Admiral Ackbar, S.J., I regrettably make my debut here on the Anonymous Eagle.  Seriously, he was begging at my feet.  

My name is Marc, but you can call me Chris Grimmace.  I got the name from one of the best (ok, ok, let's say " most appreciated") players in Marquette history and Mr. Moving Screen himself, Chris Grimm.  Pair that with one of the greatest corporate mascots in corporate mascot history, Grimmace.  I'm so clever it's scary.

Anyway, let's stop focusing on how humble I am and start talking MU basketball.  I \was able to check out our boys at the Scion Dental Pro-Am last Saturday and wanted to throw out my thoughts on some of our current and soon-to-be Golden Eagles.

Current Players

Darius Johnson-Odom - Disclosure, this was a tournament of pick-up proportions and defense wasn't exactly on the mind of the players.  Despite that, it looks like that DJO has definitely improved.  Not only from an ability standpoint, but he looks very confident in his game.  Three's, effortless infiltration of the lane and a disturbingly good windmill jam made his appearance more than enough to get me excited for his 10/11 campaign.  This may be Jimmy Butler's team, but he may be the go-to man.

Junior Cadougan - Definitely has improved his speed and court visibility, but I worry about our future version of Khalid El-Amin.  He didn't seem very animated and happy to be where he was, even though he made some pretty note-worthy plays.  It looks as if he's recovered, but he's going to have to work harder than that to be a consistent starting point guard.  Apparently we have a lot of guards....?  News to me.

Joe Fulce - I think I speak for a lot of people here when I say that I hope he does well, and by "does well" I mean more than taking baseline jumpers (That's Dan Gadzuric's game, jack!).  He didn't have much to compete with, considering what his nightly competition will be, but he was dominant on the glass.

Recruits

Vander Blue - What more can I say that hasn't already been said by Rosiak and Winn?  This guy is for real.  His game was the one to watch at the Pro-Am on Saturday - close throughout, featured Wilson vs. Blue and was very much back and forth.  Out of his team's first 30 points, I feel like he had at least 20 - 25 of them.  Hard to keep tracked when you're mesmerized with his combination of speed and strength.  Winn sees a future NBAer - hope he's right.

Jamil Wilson - The most purely athletic recruit we've had since D. James.  He can sky very very high and has the inside/outside game of Hayward and Butler.  He could honestly be lethal in the Big East.  Marquette has constantly had problems with the type of guys who can post up and play the wing - he is definitely that kind of threat.  He had an alley-oop jam that everybody in the gym saw coming, but were still amazed with.

Devonte Gardner - Kind of looked asleep out there.  He was matched up with Quemont Greer (yes, him.), who dominated the post and mid-range, but he was the slowest Marquette player out there (and I don't think it was entirely due to his size) and his lack of productivity was concerning.  Hopefully he can come through and provide a few minutes rest for Otule and Fulce - they're going to need it.

Former Players

Wes Matthews - The new Trail Blazer (talk about an awesome Jersey Tee) was leading his team as coach.  Pretty cool to see him educating the younger players.  Guess he gained some knowledge after guarding Kobe and 'Melo.

Chris Grimm - He had a moving screen foul within the first ten minutes.  No joke.  Wes was cracking up on the bench.  Man, do I miss the big Night Train.

That's it for me tonight - hope my first post didn't send you for the hills.  I hope to win hearts, minds and a lot of arguments in the future.  Sincerely, Grimmace.