by BOB WOLFLEY, Staff, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel , Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"I think Wisconsin is going to be a little bit better than people think," Fraschilla during an interview last week. "I think because of the loss of guys like (Marcus) Landry and (Joe) Krabbenhoft, everybody is expecting a step down, which is understandable. Also, the league is very deep this year.

"I still subscribe to the fact that people are going to have to beat them at home, which is not going to be easy. It's a style of play which has driven people crazy in the league. Bo still has enough talented guys that I think he is going to be in the mix at the middle of the league, which I think is going to put them in contention for a bid by the end of the year."

The week's edition of ESPN the Magazine has Wisconsin 59th and Marquette 64th in its ranking of the top 64 teams.

Hello, NBA world

Former Marquette University guard Wesley Matthews, an undrafted free agent with the Utah Jazz, played a key role in the Jazz's first victory of the season, a 113-99 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

Matthews played nearly 25 minutes in a reserve role, scoring 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting with three rebounds and two steals.

Doug Collins of TNT, who called the game, noticed Matthews' contribution.

"This might be Wesley Matthews' coming out party," Collins said. "It's a nationally televised game. Coming in off the bench, he really gave his team a shot in the arm."

Looking good

The Milwaukee Bucks never seem to get to play Thursday nights on TNT.

But that doesn't mean Bucks players can't be mentioned by the "Inside the NBA" crew, which in this case was Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Chris Webber.

Barkley had high praise for Bucks rookie guard Brandon Jennings.

"He is so fast and he's done a good job," Barkley said. "He's clearly the best rookie so far. He is so fast and to me, he's a left-handed Chris Paul. He is flying up and down the court."

Developing story

The NBA Development League draft was held last week, and a few former college basketball players with ties to the state of Wisconsin were taken.

Reece Gaines was taken in the second round by the Bakersfield Jam. Gaines is a native of Madison who has played in the NBA with Orlando, Houston and Milwaukee.

Joah Tucker was chosen in the fifth round by the Iowa Energy. Tucker is a Nicolet graduate and former star at UWM.

Also in the fifth round, the Sioux Falls Skyforce chose Draelon Burns, who played for Milwaukee Custer and DePaul. Quemont Greer, who played for Milwaukee Vincent and DePaul, was taken in sixth round by the Austin Toros.

The 16-team NBA D-League rosters will be trimmed to 10 players by the time its season opens Nov. 27.

Lombardi on Broadway

The life of Vince Lombardi will be the subject of new play that producers plan to bring to Broadway in late 2010.

According to a story Saturday in the New York Times, the new play is to be adapted from the 1999 biography, "When Pride Still Mattered," which was written by David Maraniss.

Eric Simonson, who was born in Milwaukee, is to adapt the play from Maraniss' book. Fran Kirmser and Tony Ponturo, who produced "Hair" for Broadway, are to produce the Lombardi play.

In 2007, the Madison Repertory Theatre produced the one-act, 90-minute play "Lombardi/The Only Thing," which Simonson wrote. Jeff Still played the title role.

In 2008, that play came to Milwaukee's Off Broadway Theatre with David Cecsarini in the title role.

No announcement was made about who will play Lombardi in the new version.

Simonson told the Times the new play will stay closer to Maraniss' book than "Lombardi/The Only Thing" did.

Costas interviews Selig

At 7 p.m. Tuesday the MLB Network is scheduled to air a one-hour interview Bob Costas did with Commissioner Bud Selig.

The topics include umpiring, stadium ticket prices, competitive balance, performance enhancing drugs and Pete Rose.

"Studio 42 with Bob Costas" will air a new interview each week this month in the same time slot as the Selig interview. On Nov. 17, the interview subject is scheduled to be Ernie Harwell, the Detroit Tigers broadcaster.

Yankees again?

The New York Yankees were given the best odds for repeating as World Series champions by bodog.com.

The Yankees were first with 11 to 4 odds, followed by Boston (13-2), Philadelphia (9-1), and the Los Angeles Angels and St. Louis Cardinals (both 10-1).

The Brewers, along with Cincinnati and Oakland, were listed at 45-1.

Call SportsDay at (414) 223-5531 or send e-mail to bwolfley@journalsentinel.com

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