2012-2013 College Basketball thread

[LouisEly]

Can't believe no one has started this thread yet.

 

Not sure what to think of UW; Florida is Florida, and Creighton is a better team than people think. But they have to have better perimeter defense than they got on McDermott and Wragge, and they can't have Brust go 2-12 and 0-5. Already thin at G, Gasser's injury is really going to hurt them. The silver lining is that Marshall will get more experience, and if last night is an indication of his potential he could be a stud.

 

Marquette is missing Todd Mayo due to academic ineligibility; fortunately they are deep at G with the transfers in of Lockett and Thomas. They can ill afford an injury to one of the four players they have that are 6-7 or taller. Not much help there next year either - Burton, Wilson, and Johnson are very good recruits, but I wish they could have gotten Toby Hegner or even Nick Fuller instead of Dawson. Kyle Washington or Luke Fischer would have made an outstanding recruiting class.

 

Discuss...

[ELCABALLO45]

I thought Marshall looked really good last night at times. I think Dekker offensively is fine right now and he will be a All B1G player by next year. He probably should be starting, but his defense is still suspect at times. Gasser's injury really did hurt, however I do think like you noted it will be huge for Marshall to get extended time this year. Berggren played well last night as well. Creighton is a good team who has an All American on their team, however the rebounding was terrible last night.

[Baldkin]

I thought Marshall looked really good last night at times. I think Dekker offensively is fine right now and he will be a All B1G player by next year. He probably should be starting, but his defense is still suspect at times. Gasser's injury really did hurt, however I do think like you noted it will be huge for Marshall to get extended time this year. Berggren played well last night as well. Creighton is a good team who has an All American on their team, however the rebounding was terrible last night.

 

I like that Bo is using Dekker as a change of pace off the bench. If he didn't, their second unit would have NO scoring what so ever.

They lost the Creighton game because they completely stopped attacking the basket for the last 9 minutes of the game (right when they got into the double bonus) and settled for jumpers.

[ELCABALLO45]

Dekker had 19 last night in the win over Arkansas.

 

And IMO, I don't even think they have a second unit. They only go about 7 deep right now. They struggle scoring even with the starting group. He is a different level scorer that I think they need in the game as much as possible IMO.

[Menotti80]

Marquette should be competitive this year and definitely fun to watch.

 

And being a big Duke fan, its awesome seeing them beat two top 3 teams already this year. If their freshman can improve throughout the year they will be a championship contender for sure.

[Baldkin]

Dekker had 19 last night in the win over Arkansas.

 

And IMO, I don't even think they have a second unit. They only go about 7 deep right now. They struggle scoring even with the starting group. He is a different level scorer that I think they need in the game as much as possible IMO.

 

They are definitely playing 8 guys (although Kaminski hasn't gotten a lot of run yet).

 

I keep waiting for them to go big and play Frankie and Bergerren at the same time, but I don't think Bo will do that. Brust needs to start hitting shots, and the team needs to stop taking so many 16 foot jumpers.

[homer]

UW will be fine. Their defense has been suspect this year but I have faith that it will turn around once the young guys get more experience. Offensively, there isn't a huge black hole out there. I think Dekker will end up starting but Bo may just continue to bring him off the bench. I don't think starting vs. not starting is a huge deal. Total minutes probably matters more.

[Funketown]

I hate to say it but Duke has looked really good so far. They didn't look great against VCU, and if it weren't for a couple of blown calls and horrible FT shooting from VCU down the stretch, they may have lost that one.

 

I guess I can take solace in the fact that NC State has not looked very good. I'm not sure why pollsters all of a sudden decided that they were worthy of a #6 preseason ranking after they barely made the tourney and then won a couple of games.

 

Carolina is definitely a work in progress, but I expect them to be a much better team by the time ACC season rolls around. I could see this team doing anything from making a final four run to stumbling through a tough ACC schedule and having to go to a play-in game. Freshman Joel James and Brice Johnson have both looked quite good in the first few games, while Marcus Paige doesn't quite seem to be in sync with the rest of the offense. There will always be growing pains when you lose four first rounders, and they have the raw talent to become a pretty solid group. Tuesday could be interesting.

[bjkrautk]

Can't believe no one has started this thread yet.

 

Someone did, but no one posted in it.

viewtopic.php?f=67&t=29121

 

(Honestly not worth the effort to merge the threads; just lock the old one.)

[bjkrautk]

I know that I'm not the only one watching UW-Marquette right now...

[Menotti80]

I am. Go MU!!!

[Menotti80]

Is buzz paying tribute to Majerus?

[Baldkin]

How the Badgers are only down 11, I have no idea.

 

It feels like they should be down about 30.

 

Wisconsin: Where your PF is your best ball handler and brings the ball up the court.

[craigharmann]

Is buzz paying tribute to Majerus?

 

Announcers just said yes.

[craigharmann]

How the Badgers are only down 11, I have no idea.

 

It feels like they should be down about 30.

 

Wisconsin: Where your PF is your best ball handler and brings the ball up the court.

 

UW is making their way back! Maybe?

[Baldkin]

Can't believe Bucky has clawed back into this.

 

I had surgery and I'm not allowed to talk for another couple days... and I'm going to a party later with all Marquette people. I am going to be the worlds most insufferable mute if Bucky wins.

[jjfanec]

Sadly (at least from my perspective) the Badgers are just not a good team this year. Losing Gasser hurt a ton but they look so bad I cant blame it all on that injury. Evans looks like the sophomore version of Ryan Evans which is a really bad thing. He takes poor shots, cant shoot free throws and cant hold onto the ball. Brust is great against mid-majors but against athletic teams he is not the answer. The defense is soft on the perimeter without Gasser. No way Blue starts out like he did with Josh out there.

 

Marquette is a tournament team but there isnt much there that screams really good team either. My initial prediction is the Badgers dont make the tourney, which is painful to say, and Marquette is one and done.

[Funketown]

You know Wisconsin's having a rough year when they fall out of Ken Pomeroy's top ten (they're 11th).

[fondybrewfan]

Biggest problem with UW is at the PG position. When was the last time they didn't have a solid veteran player at that position? This team has a lot of long term potential with at present there are a lot of holes. Evans has had a poor senior year; Berggrenn got man handled by Marquette.

 

They still haven't beaten a good team yet this year; the tourney might be hard to come by as I can't see them beating the likes of Michigan, Ohio State, Indiana, or Michigan State. They don't have a good win yet so unless they pull a couple upsets and beat the teams they are suppose to I can see them on the outside looking in.

[TooLiveBrew]

Biggest problem with UW is that Ryan's slow, boring offense doesn't attract top recruits. Dekker is an exception, not the norm... and how he'll pan out is definitely still a work in progress.

[TooLiveBrew]

Biggest problem with UW is that Ryan's slow, boring offense doesn't attract top recruits.

[jjfanec]

Except the next class may be his best with some very good players like Koenig, Nigel Hayes, and Vito Brown to go with Dekker.

[M Skjellyfetti]

As recently as 2006, the Badgers were in the dead middle of the pack for tempo, so Bo obviously doesn't *have* to run a super slow offense. I'm guessing he chooses how fast or slow to play based on his personnel. I can't find them right now, but I recall some quotes from Bo when recruiting Dekker and Koenig about wanting to run more. I'm guessing in the next few years the Badgers will play faster and perhaps get to an average tempo again. They are already playing faster than a few solid programs this year (Michigan, Pitt, Notre Dame, UVA).

[fondybrewfan]

Its not like they are completely devoid of athletes. Bergrenn isn't some plodding big man; he could run if you asked him. UW could definitely get up and down if they wanted to; but they don't have the PG play to pull it off at the moment. Maybe if they had Gasser.

 

UW might be a little down this year; but the have enough talent that they can rise again pretty quickly next year. They will need to find some big men but there G and F positions should be pretty strong with a year of experience under the belts plus the addition of Gasser. Weird that Kaminsky has been basically non existent next year; I thought he would be next in line for the next good UW big man.

[jjfanec]

Its not like they are completely devoid of athletes. Bergrenn isn't some plodding big man; he could run if you asked him. UW could definitely get up and down if they wanted to; but they don't have the PG play to pull it off at the moment. Maybe if they had Gasser.

 

UW might be a little down this year; but the have enough talent that they can rise again pretty quickly next year. They will need to find some big men but there G and F positions should be pretty strong with a year of experience under the belts plus the addition of Gasser. Weird that Kaminsky has been basically non existent next year; I thought he would be next in line for the next good UW big man.

 

Kaminsky's problem is he is too soft and he cannot play at the same time as Berggren. This year's team is being held back by poor pg and sg play (gasser loss was huge) and Ryan Evans reverting to sophomore year Ryan Evans. He has been brutal.