Time for a heapin' helpin' of EL PRESIDENTE!

What? No. The other one.

Good jesus, what the hell is that? No. The OTHER other one. Not Upsidey-downhead Obama. Though with a giant beard, he does seem wise.

 
I'd David Palm her! [dude, what?--ed]

Yes, according to Hawkcentral, Tate is doubtful for tonight's game. So even if Tate does find his way onto the court (unlikely), he's going to be of limited-at-best utility to the Hawkeyes, both in quantity and quality of minutes. So we get David Palmer, who managed to rack up 19 points (and 4 turnovers) in just 22 minutes of work this past Sunday. The 19 points accounted for A) nearly 40% of Iowa's scoring production in the loss; and B) a new high scoring mark for Palmer, barely beating out his previous Iowa best of 7.

Yes, it's worth noting that his points usually came while he was wide open, but they also came from everywhere on the floor, and if defenses start to collapse on Palmer when he gets the ball 15 feet from the bucket then so much the better; collapsing defenses = wide open perimeter shooters = Todd Lickliter dances like a leprechaun. No, Palmer didn't record an assist on Sunday, but that's because everyone ran away from him as soon as he got the ball like he was a fat kid on the 3 point line at the Y; a pass would have been idiotic and earned him a spot on the bench.

And further, though Palmer's defense was meh against Purdue, he wasn't the one blowing transition D responsibilities while the Boilers were raining 3s on Iowa in the second half and pulling away. That story might change a bit with bigs like Joe Krabbenhoft and Jon Leuer looming for the Badgers; neither are huge scorers, but who's going to stop them tonight? Palmer and whom? Jarryd Cole? We're a little worried.

Be sure to stop by the liveblog tonight; HS is going to be drinking himself blind and I, being the designated driver, will gorge myself on Triscuits and other hors d'oeuvres. Just kidding, HS doesn't drink.