College Basketball Thread 2013-14

[homer]

Fischer to Marquette apparently.

[DHonks]

Good decision for Fischer. We sure are spoiled in Wisconsin with two strong programs. Marquette has always been fairly strong, and Wisconsin has been really good since hiring Stu Jackson. Today they have two of the nation's top coaches. Either program would have been a good call, but he chose the one that historically has had the more exciting offense AND lacks bigs.

[jjfanec]

Good decision for Fischer. We sure are spoiled in Wisconsin with two strong programs. Marquette has always been fairly strong, and Wisconsin has been really good since hiring Stu Jackson. Today they have two of the nation's top coaches. Either program would have been a good call, but he chose the one that historically has had the more exciting offense AND lacks bigs.

 

He chose the one he could go to without losing a whole extra year of eligibility. He ruled out Big Tens schools because of this. Marquette was a good choice. Also historically you are right about Marquette's offense being more exciting but I am not sure how one can make that claim this year. Marquette's offense is dreadful against teams with a defensive pulse. Wisconsin on the other hand is scoring at a much better rate and just put up 51 in a half on Iowa.

[brwrsfan]

Marquette recruited him hard last year, so it's really not a surprise. It's a good fit too as he can play right away when he's eligible as they're sorely lacking in big men next year.

 

Nice win for UW last night, though a few glaring concerns:

 

1 - The lack of boxing out and all the offensive rebounds for Iowa

2 - Iowa could get to the rim pretty much any time they wanted, that's going to have to be fixed.

 

Still a good win, and the Iowa coach flipping out was hilarious.

[fondybrewfan]

That was a very entertaining game last night. It was a good sign that Dekker struggled so mightily and they still managed to pull it out. He did come up big at the end though. I got the sense that Bo was getting frustrated with Jackson last night; he had some dumb turnovers. Koenig may only be a freshman and probably doesn't have the offensive game of Jackson yet but he will probably get some more meaningful minutes.

 

The January schedule plays out pretty well for UW; they could be undefeated going into the OSU game at the beginning of February. My money would be on them slipping up somewhere (@Minnesota or @ Indiana being possibilities) though.

[Baldkin]

That was a very entertaining game last night. It was a good sign that Dekker struggled so mightily and they still managed to pull it out. He did come up big at the end though. I got the sense that Bo was getting frustrated with Jackson last night; he had some dumb turnovers. Koenigs may only be a freshman and probably doesn't have the offensive game of Jackson yet but he will probably get some more meaningful minutes.

 

The January schedule plays out pretty well for UW; they could be undefeated going into the OSU game at the beginning of February. My money would be on them slipping up somewhere (@Minnesota or @ Indiana being possibilities) though.

 

Jackson is so talented, but he makes me shout "What the heck are you doing?" at the TV more often than any player I can remember.

[pitchleague]

maybe it's the name Trayvon, since Hughes drove me monkey-crazy in the day for the exact same reasons.

[bani1717]

I thought last night's game was very sloppy and not officiated very consistently (largely due to the sloppiness of the game). Iowa's fast-pace tempo resulted in some tired players and some sloppy plays on both ends of the floor for both teams.

 

With that being said, I am glad that the Badgers were able to squeak out a win after a horrendous start. Of course it doesn't hurt when the opposing coach gives you enough points to cover your margin of victory.

[FVBrewerFan]

Looks like Buzz is going to go down with the ship. That ship is the SS Derek Wilson. By all accounts, he's a great kid. He also hust happens to be athe worst player on the roster, and he gets the most minutes. Jake Thomas isn't much better, but at least he can do something nobody else on this roster can do- hit a couple 3s here and there.

 

Jajuan Johnson is not getting playing time, yet he is cleraly better in almsot every way than either Wilson/Thomas. Heck, I would even take Dawson over Derek Wilson- seriously. Why can't JaJuan Johnson and/or Mayo play some PG? What exactly does Derek Wilson do, other than dribble the ball up the court, then he becomes one more guy on the perimeter that passes the ball back and forth and never (and shouldn't) takes a shot? Even when he drives he rarely finishes, and has areally low assist/minute also. So it's not like he's even a good distributor.

 

If some of these guys aren't busting it in practice, fine, don't start them. I get that. But to limit their minutes, or not play them at all? I've waited a long time to say this, because I've been searching for a logical reason. But I've seen almost every MU game now, and whatever Derek Wilson does that he needs to be on the floor 30 minutes a game escapes me.

[bacon06]

After Brust hit the 4 FTs, all I wanted was for the Badgers to win by 4. What was McCaferty thinking? His hissy fit completely gave the momentum to Wisconsin and lost his team the game. Unbelievable.

[jjfanec]

After Brust hit the 4 FTs, all I wanted was for the Badgers to win by 4. What was McCaferty thinking? His hissy fit completely gave the momentum to Wisconsin and lost his team the game. Unbelievable.

 

Fran did throw a fit but it was in part because all the momentum was with Wisconsin already. The Badgers had outscored Iowa 15 to 6 the first 8 minutes of the second half and Hayes was at the line to have a chance to make it more. The momentum changed when the Badgers figured out how to grab rebounds, make free throws and hit open threes

[fondybrewfan]

collegebasketballtalk has their first "bracketology" out and they have WI as a #1 seed with Villanova, Iowa State, and Colorado as the 2-4 seeds. That would be an amazing draw for UW if that were to ever happen. Plus they have us playing our opening round games in Milwaukee. This would be about the most favorable draw UW could possibly get.

 

Unfortunately Marquette is nowhere to be found; not even the last 10 out. They need to win a ton of games including against Villanova to have any shot at all.

[adamb100]

I don't know much about college basketball and the rankings but when/how is Wisconsin going to move up? They've been the 4th seed for like a month now?

[jjkoestler]

I don't know much about college basketball and the rankings but when/how is Wisconsin going to move up? They've been the 4th seed for like a month now?

 

They will move up when a team in the top 3 lose a game.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Badgers get Illinois tomorrow, and they've been playing well lately. Lots better than the team that lost to Georgia Tech in December.

 

I think Wisconsin wins, but this is one of those "we're in the Big Ten" now. And home games are not as homey during break. Hopefully there's no "let down."

 

Be nice to see T-Jack make some better decisions.

[LouisEly]

Derek Wilson is a great defender and a pass-first PG; the problem is that he has no offensive game. In what I've seen of Johnson so far this year he has made some bad decisions about when to shoot and when to drive to the rim. He's also a SG, whereas Wilson is a PG, so you can't sub Johnson for Wilson. The other, other Wilson (Duane) unfortunately is hurt, but he was a four star top 100 recruit.

 

Buzz has been tinkering with resurrecting Paul Pressey and having Jamil Wilson play point-forward. That can't happen when Wilson has six turnovers like he did against DePaul.

[DHonks]

Buzz is still learning his lineups. I still think Jamil Wilson is very over-rated. But I say that and then he has a great game. Derek Wilson is a solid 10-minute per game backup, nothing more. It's been nice to see Buzz experiment lately with Jamil Wilson and even Mayo running the point. It's really a tough team this year as Mayo is the only guard capable of creating a shot--either for himself or others. I really was expecting more of Anderson this year. I figured that he'd have a more prominent role, given that he was a top 100 recruit. But he still has the deer-in-the headlights look out there. Johnson looks talented and athletic, but I see why people critiqued his ugly shooting form.

[RobDeer 45]

I can't believe Bucky right now. Good win!

[homer]

Yeah, this team is pretty good. Scary thing is I think there's room for improvement.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Badgers got mauled on the glass, and still won by 25. This is a totally different brand of UW basketball. They'll definitely move up to #3 this week, I should think, and deservedly so. They've done more than enough to prove that they belong up there this year.

[jjfanec]

In their last 3 quarters of basketball the Badgers have scored 146 points! That is coming against 2 ranked opponents who are actually rated pretty well by defensive metrics. The ball moment on this team is phenomenal. All 5 starters can score and the first 3 off the bench are very good as well. I have been impressed with the defensive improvement as well. They do a great job getting teams to settle for contested jumpers or tough shots in the paint. They just need to clean up the defensive rebounding.

[TooLiveBrew]

I definitely didn't expect them to roll Illinois like that. What a performance.

[fondybrewfan]

As much as I love how UW is playing; I am still scared to death that they will get a 1/2 seed and then just blow chunks in the tournament. They have had so many early flame outs and with the complete lack of size I am still worried they will run into a team that just kills them inside. I want myself to believe that this is team can make a Final 4; but I just can't bring myself to become optimistic. If they get to play in MIL I can't imagine them not at least making the 2nd weekend though.

 

The good news is that this team does not rely on only 1-2 shooters; basically everyone on the team can score. In years past this team is relied very heavily on 1 or 2 guys and if they happened to have an off night in the tourney than UW was basically screwed.

[DuWayne Steurer]

 

The good news is that this team does not rely on only 1-2 shooters; basically everyone on the team can score. In years past this team is relied very heavily on 1 or 2 guys and if they happened to have an off night in the tourney than UW was basically screwed.

 

 

This, to me, is really the big difference between this year and Bo Ryan's other squads. On any given night, someone can light up the scoreboard. UW's offense is a lot more dynamic with guys all over the floor that are capable of doing different things with the ball, rather than just stand beyond the arc, pass around, and someone takes a 3 with 3-4 seconds left on the shot clock.

[Outlander]

I think the Badgers will get to play in Milwaukee this year for the first two rounds, they certainly lucked out in that respect. I saw them once in person this year and you can tell they have much more talented and skilled players this year, should make the sweet 16 pretty easily and sure hope for a final 4 run.