Wisconsin Badgers Basketball

[Glennron]

Well most people are picking USC to knock of UW, not all that suprising considering the "Star Power" factor. I dont see USC being a huge obstacle because Mayo will be introduced to Mr. Flowers. The Georgetown-UW game would be a fun one to watch, very slow paced. I am very iffy on Kansas, they just seem to squeak by all the time, sooner or later they are not going to get that one turnover or that one big 3, and they will lose

USC is a lot more than O.J. Mayo, though. Taj Gibson probably could've been a first round pick in the NBA last year, plus they have another (21 year old, yikes) freshman in Davon Jefferson who's also good. I still think UW would win, but I really would not be surprised at all if USC wins, either.

[TheCrew07]

I don't know anything about CSF, but if the Badgers play good basketball they should win by double digits.

 

USC is very up and down, probably due to playing their youth so many minutes all year. One of the analysts said that he didn't see USC's young players adjusting well to a half court type game, and that's my opinion as well. I think UW would win that matchup, but it wouldn't surprise me if they laid an egg either.

 

Georgetown worries me the most because all it takes is Hibbert to get his head out of his butt and UW would be in trouble. Butch flops way too much trying to get calls, and rarely does he rise up to the rim and aggressively pull down a rebound, he's not that kind of player. The thing is you never know which version of Hibbert is going to show up, and if he's playing well, individually he scares me. He'll get off his feet though, so there is the potential to get him foul trouble as well.

 

Kansas would be an interesting game, Ryan and Self know each other well, which is why I think that game will go either way. If it were in conference I think they would have split home and home and Kansas would have won in the tournament over the weekend to take 2 of 3. However this is the big dance and UW would just have to frustrate them and beat them one time.

 

If being an athlete=talent then UW doesn't match up with people talent wise hardly at all. While the Big Ten was definately down, there are still a ton of athletes in the conference that are quicker, jump higher, move better and so on then the Badgers. UW won a ton of games this year on simply playing good basketball. In my opinion Landry is the best athlete, but he's also the worst off the ball defender, he's the one that generally is responsible for the layups that UW gives up. The talent thing is a road I don't want to go down, and the final four team didn't exactly set the world on fire talent wise.

 

At any rate, I'm pretty excited about the tourney this year, more so than I have been since UWM, UW, and MU were all in the tournament a few years back.

[Roscoe Chill]

I love the possibility of facing a 7 footer...that just means one of the more dominant defensive forces in the nation gets to play a lot more, and that dominant defensive force is Greg Stiemsma. Did someone really say the Badgers don't have an answer for a 7 footer? Hell, when Sean May was making Mike Wilkinson look like a fourth grader, Greg Stiemsma came in for the final few minutes of the first half of that game and shut May down...as a freshman. One of the bigger mysteries about Bo Ryan is why the Stiemer didn't play in the second half of that game to go to the Final Four after his defensive effort at the end of the first half.

[LouisEly]

I'm with you on that NDOG. Perhaps because the Big 10 doesn't have a lot of big men like that, Stiemer doesn't match up well, and thus doesn't get a lot of minutes. Steimer can hold his own on the offensive end and can make that 16-18 foot "jumper". Stiemer does go for a lot of blocks which might put him out of position for the rebound, which might land him in Ryan's doghouse.

[homer]

He has trouble on the perimeter.

[Roscoe Chill]

Either way, he's more of an answer for facing 7 footers than what 90 % of college teams have.

 

Not only that, but he also alters shots of players who drive the lane. He's also a great passer.

[TooLiveBrew]

Greg's a good player, I don't dispute that. However, he's not all that well-rounded. He has a surprising lack of back-to-basket game for a man that's been huge as long as he has. He's a decent complementary piece for offense, and a killer on D. But my point is about facing a skilled big that can really play both ends (unlike Sean May who imo was more O than D in college), and then having foul trouble - something with which Stiemsma has had trouble in the past. Without him in there on a guy like Hibbert/Hansbrough, the Badgers have no one to guard effectively down low.

 

In my opinion Landry is the best athlete, but he's also the worst off the ball defender, he's the one that generally is responsible for the layups that UW gives up.

Did you mean "on-ball", or are you putting 'guards getting beat off the dribble' on the help defender? I can't agree with either categorization.

[Oldcity]

I'd be much more concerned about what Hibbert would do defensively than offensively. I'm pretty sure Bo Ryan could contain him offensively with Stiemsma and Landry if he wanted to.

[Glennron]

ESPN uses the program Accuscore, where basically a computer simulates each potential matchup 10,000 times. It gives the Badgers a 4.36% chance to win the championship, which is actually 6th best. The only non-1 seed ahead of them is Tennessee, who has a 4.6% chance. The only problem is, it gives Wisconsin a lower percentage to make the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 than it does Georgetown, Duke, and Texas.

[IIAY]

Anyone that is a fan of Chris Farley and the Badgers will get a kick out of this recent Tom Izzo "interview" from the Buckyville board.

 

http://buckyville.yuku.com?topic=5202

[TheCrew07]

Did you mean "on-ball", or are you putting 'guards getting beat off the dribble' on the help defender? I can't agree with either categorization.

Off the ball defender... means defending against the pass (staying in the passing lane) and maintaining rebound position. Landry gets down cut on (from the elbow to the hoop) and backdoored more than any other Badger the way it looks watching on TV. I could be wrong because Bo might have some sort of rotation or match up zone going at times, but usually it looks like they play exclusively straight man to man when I watch on TV. I made some hockey games but no BBall games this year in person so I'm going off of what I observed on TV. Watch Landry exclusively some night, while he's a decent shot blocker, he doesn't play very good off the ball defense at all. I'm a defensive nerd when it comes to BB, so I favor a Flowers type way more than a Hughes, it's just my personal thing. Landry is a decent face up defender because he's generally quicker and more atheletic, but off the ball his not very good in my opinion.

 

edit. Clarified my position some.

[temke]

One of the bigger mysteries about Bo Ryan is why the Stiemer didn't play in the second half of that game to go to the Final Four after his defensive effort at the end of the first half.

if i had to guess, i would think that bo was willing to give up some defensive help to make sure he could keep "scorers" in the game. greg is a solid player, but i dont think anyone would argue with the notion that he is not an offensive presence.

[Roscoe Chill]

Yes, but if you remember that game, the Tar Heels were dominating. And Stiemsma came in, shut May down, and the Badgers cut the lead down. Then he didn't play at all from that point on. It was a pretty close game, and I'm not saying he should have played the whole half, but how about a couple minutes? Sean May was a beast.

[homer]

Here's an article from the Chicago Tribune on how Wisconsin could make it to the Final Four:

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs-080318-myslenski-wisconsin-ncaa-tournament,1,6956491.column

[Brewtacular]

Should be a good game tomorrow! What with the media hype for K-state its a chance to get some national respect.

[Roscoe Chill]

I'm rooting for Georgetown. That way we won't be subjected to the "Wisconsin didn't have to play anyone" crap from the national "experts." How this team doesn't get the respect that they deserve at 31-4 is beyond me. But I couldn't care less really I guess. If Georgetown takes care of business, it means more Stiemsma!

 

But I suppose if Stephen Curry goes off for 40 again today and Davidson wins, it will be nice to watch Flowers hold him under 20 too.http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[jason21nl]

How this team doesn't get the respect that they deserve at 31-4 is beyond me.

 

no kidding. I don't get it, they won over 30 games now and still nobody talk about them at all. The don't have the big names guys, but they play a well balanced team game and are seriously coached up.

[homer]

That was probably the best game I've seen them play all year.

[temke]

no kidding. I don't get it, they won over 30 games now and still nobody talk about them at all. The don't have the big names guys, but they play a well balanced team game and are seriously coached up.

they can just keep winning.

i personally enjoyed all the heads that picked USC to beat the badgers. they lose and then all of a sudden a team that was not good enough to beat USC will beat the badgers. take your "upset alert" and eat it digger phelps.

 

just wait for the comparison of wisconsin and g-town (assuming a win). georgetown will be a "strong defensive team" while the badgers will "play ugly". look at the facts folks...they are extremely similar teams.

[Blazer25]

georgetown will be a "strong defensive team" while the badgers will "play ugly". look at the facts folks...they are extremely similar teams

Yep minus all the athleticism the Badgers are just like G-town.

 

I hope they get a chance to play them but I don't think you can compare UW to anyone. Bo wins with his guys doing it his own way. It's amazingly boring to watch but it's been effective as heck.

[RyDogg66]

georgetown will be a "strong defensive team" while the badgers will "play ugly". look at the facts folks...they are extremely similar teams

Yep minus all the athleticism the Badgers are just like G-town.

 

I hope they get a chance to play them but I don't think you can compare UW to anyone. Bo wins with his guys doing it his own way. It's amazingly boring to watch but it's been effective as heck.

Huh, Ive never heard consistent winning called boring before. I suppose we could ball it like Marquette does, but then we'd have as many losses as they would and probably more.

 

[jason21nl]

I'll take a boring 31 wins and counting record

[Blazer25]

I suppose we could ball it like Marquette does, but then we'd have as many losses as they would and probably more

If the Badgers played in the Big East they'd have more losses than MU.

 

And I didn't say the Badgers weren't effective. Just boring as hell to watch.

[PKBadger]

Conversely, if D. James played for UW he probably would have fouled Neitzel on his game-ending 3-point attempt last weekend (as is his forte), and then we wouldn't have a shiny new trophy.

[Jimbo]

Bo wins with his guys doing it his own way. It's amazingly boring to watch but it's been effective as heck.

Watching Dick Bennett was boring. I enjoy watching Bo's teams. Don't do anything to hurt themselves: few turnovers, smart shot selection, good D. I don't follow Marquette, but I caught the last ten minutes of their game. If I had to watch Crean's team everytime, I would go nuts. Not too much poise down the strech and some questionable shot selections.