College Basketball 2011-2012

[craigharmann]

Brady Heslip of Baylor is playing out of his mind! Hitting a crazy amount of 3's

[homer]

Badgers shot selection was not good, and they looked as though they had never seen a zone defense before when Vandy switched to it (which I'm sure will be a point of emphasis preparing for Syracuse next), but the defense and hustle made the difference.

 

UW's been pretty good against zone this year. Northwestern, Montana games come to mind.

[Funketown]

Terrible win for Carolina. Kendall Marshall, who has maybe been the most important player on the team over the last half of the season, fractured his wrist about 10:00 into the second half. He finished the game, and it's his off-hand, but he's probably done for the tournament. There's an outside shot that he could be back for the final four, but I don't see UNC getting by Kansas without Marshall. If Purdue or NCSU can knock off Kansas, they may have a chance to make it into the final four with a relatively easy sweet 16 draw next week against U Ohio.

 

Stilman White, a 5'11" Freshman, is the backup PG right now. He usually plays about 5 minutes per night, and he's a nice player, but nowhere near the caliber of PG this team needs right now.

 

Creighton was blatantly dirty tonight. They were hacking Henson's wrist all night. Grant Gibbs winks at his coach after hacking Henson's bad wrist and drawing a T from Henson. It was pretty clear part of their plan was to get him out of the game.

 

http://www.sbnation.com/2012-ncaa-tournament/2012/3/18/2882906/grant-gibbs-wink-gif

[TooLiveBrew]

Creighton was blatantly dirty tonight. They were hacking Henson's wrist all night. Grant Gibbs winks at his coach after hacking Henson's bad wrist and drawing a T from Henson. It was pretty clear part of their plan was to get him out of the game.

 

Yeah, after seeing that crap, I was instantly rooting for UNC... which is probably about the first time in my life I've ever rooted for them

[bjkrautk]

Badgers shot selection was not good, and they looked as though they had never seen a zone defense before when Vandy switched to it (which I'm sure will be a point of emphasis preparing for Syracuse next), but the defense and hustle made the difference.

 

UW's been pretty good against zone this year. Northwestern, Montana games come to mind.

 

Which is precisely why it stuck out to me to the extent that it did. On Thursday, they were working the ball in to one of the bigs on the free throw line, forcing the zone to collapse on the ball, and creating opportunities and open shots. Late against Vandy, they kept swinging the ball back and forth on the perimeter; no movement off-the-ball, and they couldn't get the ball in to their big guys on the FT line.

 

Some of that must have been fatigue, but it was a night-and-day difference in how the Badgers attacked the zone.

[PeaveyFury]

I think some of that was that the change by Vandy was sudden and unexpected, while they knew going in that Montana would do it constantly. Syracuse's use of the 2-3 shouldn't surprise them.

 

I prefer being the underdog in the 16's for a change. Too many times in the past few years I find myself rooting for the Davidsons or Butlers of the world to beat a high seed thinking it would give the Badgers a better chance to win only to be beaten. This time, we should know exactly what we're getting with the top seed. Syracuse is beatable, as they've struggled in two of their last three games and are missing the anchor of their defense. I'm not expecting a Badger win, but they certainly have a good shot at it.

[Oldcity]

Pretty much exactly how I feel. I'm actually relieved they aren't playing a higher seed at this point. Makes it a low pressure game, and the Badgers seem to play at their best when people keep counting them out.

 

I love all the jokers who couldn't stop singing the praises of Florida St. and Vanderbilt. It seemed like every other television "expert" had those two teams squaring off in the Elite Eight, and I just never bought it. I actually have UW knocking off Syracuse in my pool, although I admit it was a bit of playing the odds since I expect Ohio St. to make the Final Four out of that bracket anyway. But I agree that they certainly have a good shot.

 

Marquette, on the other hand, will be favored to make the Elite Eight. They've had such a great year. Buzz is the best.

[Glennron]

How stupid was it for the guy on Creighton to wink? I honestly didn't even think it was intentional until he did that, why make it so obvious?

 

As far as Marshall goes, the good news is they basically have a free game to figure out how to play without him.

[PeaveyFury]

Also, loving the way the bracket looks on the Badgers' side of things right now. If (and that's a big if) they get by Syracuse, they're left with a likely rematch with OSU who they beat in Columbus for a trip to the Final Four. If they make it there, they likely have either a game vs. a wounded NC team that they played close in Chapel Hill or a Kansas team that had all they could handle with a mediocre Purdue team last night.

 

They're certainly not going to be a favorite anywhere along the way, but there's a path there for the Badgers if they stay hot.

[owbc]

Generally if you want to make the final four as a lower seed you have to knock off at least one 1/2 seed and sometimes both of them. It was fortunate that Wisconsin got put into the Syracuse bracket and I agree with others that it is a winnable game. If the outside shooting falls they will probably move on to face Ohio State. I really hope this is the year for Bo to get to the final four, but it's going to be tough. I don't see them beating Ohio State if they get that far.

 

Marquette beating Florida is certainly not a given, but you have to like their chances. I'm really hoping for Marquette vs. Michigan State, that would be a classic.

 

Also, the Big Ten is finally having tourney success, but they really need a final four team to get some respect. Too bad Purdue couldn't finish off Kansas.

[Oldcity]

Definitely interesting that Pomeroy's odds are the opposite of what you'd expect. He has UW with a 52.5% chance of winning, and Marquette with a 47.1% chance. I guess it shouldn't be that surprising, since he has always liked UW more than Marquette, but still interesting.

 

He has UW with a 1 in 18 chance of winning it all. Marquette as 1 in 54.

[Menotti80]

Yeah let MU keep getting overlooked/underrated.

 

http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball/story/2012-03-19/ncaa-tournament-2012-kentucky-michigan-state-ohio-state-syracuse-kansas-baylor-n

 

The sole fact that Indiana has a better chance than MU is ridiculous. Indiana will get rolled by Kentucky.

 

 

If MU can get by Florida, imagine the talking heads gushing over Crowder vs Green.

[M Skjellyfetti]

He has admitted that UW is overrated by his system. He did a blog post on it back when UW was on the losing streak.

[owbc]

No hope of winning without the big men. Bo needs to put them on the floor and trust them to stay out of foul trouble. This one got out of hand too quickly.

 

Edit...well, only 6 at halftime. Still anyone's game.

[Oldcity]

Josh Gasser looking really passive offensively. And Bo has made a mistake in keeping Berggren out all half. The game has almost gotten away from them and he just kept him on the bench.

[brettac1]

Well, at least the scoreless streak was only five and a half minutes tonight. Hopefully there won't be a second one.

[Glennron]

Not sure what the point of bringing Bruiser back in but not Berggren was. It's almost Ryan was thinking of one picks up a third foul quickly it might as well not be Berggren.

[adamb100]

Wisconsin has been pretty impressive going against a number 1 team.

[craigharmann]

I'm about ready to have a heart attack! The Badgers played the last 2-3 minutes like they had a lead, yet down by 3. Now, this next 30+ seconds is going to be tough!!!

[owbc]

Watched plenty of Badger games over the years but never a heartbreaker like that.

[craigharmann]

What in God's green earth was that crap? Horrible shot. Awful, awful, awful.

[craigharmann]

Watched plenty of Badger games over the years but never a self-inflicted heartbreaker like that.

 

 

Fixed it for ya.

[derflotr]

UW was so outmatched. It really shouldn't have been close. The 3 PT barrage made it so

[Glennron]

What in God's green earth was that crap? Horrible shot. Awful, awful, awful.

 

That was a microcosm of Wisconsin's offense in the Bo Ryan era. If the team is hot they can play with anyone in the country, but their late game must-score offense has always been painful to watch.

 

It hasn't really set in I won't get to see Taylor play anymore. Man.

[Hammer]

I wonder what the score would have been if the Badgers got ANY of the charge calls that they should have? That was twice in the tourney that Syracuse got every freaking call. Yes...they were a #1. No...they shouldn't get a +6 or so to start the game because of that...