College Basketball Thread 2013-14

[brwrsfan]

Not only can they not stop guards from lighting it up, but they've suddenly become unable to score the ball. For a team of really good shooters, they all seem to have gone into a slump at the same time. Kaminsky has been really bad outside. And Dekker has been really disappointing. This is a guy that many think could go to the NBA this year, yet he can't take over a game nor can he pick up the slack on offense when the team is struggling.

[FVBrewerFan]

UW-GB is the best team in the state right now, and the most exciting to watch.

[brwrsfan]

Well both Marquette and Wisconsin found ways to win tonight, though neither really inspired any confidence that they will be better going forward, but two wins nonetheless.

[DHonks]

FVBrewerFan, just curious if any of the issues regarding Wardle's allegations have been in the news this season. He was a favorite at Marquette. Besides Novak, he's the best shooter Marquette has had in my 20 years as a fan.

[FVBrewerFan]

FVBrewerFan, just curious if any of the issues regarding Wardle's allegations have been in the news this season. He was a favorite at Marquette. Besides Novak, he's the best shooter Marquette has had in my 20 years as a fan.

 

Better shooter than Derrick Wilson? There hasn't been much said about the Wardle allegations this year. It has pretty much blown over. This is nothing more than my opinion, but I can see Buzz moving on soon and Wardle replacing him at MU.

[jjfanec]

UW-GB is good but best team in the state is a huge stretch. This is a team that got rolled by a 14-10 Valpo team and struggled mightily against a terrible UIC team. Cleveland is really the only other decent Horizon League team this year. I like UW-GB but if UW or Marquette were in that conference they would have great conference records as well

[DHonks]

Does this mean UWM is now best in the state?

 

It's obviously Wisconsin this year. Although even they are quite vulnerable. Good to see all 4 teams over .500

[stalton]

What a game for the Badgers against Michigan State!! We certainly needed that. Was it me, or was Payne just shoving people left and right the last minute of the game.

[DHonks]

wow, congrats Bucky fans. I really thought they'd be 5-6 after this game. Huge win for the Badgers considering they still have a difficult schedule. Ok...now for Marquette to make their typical end of season run...or else the CIT, CBI, or NIT are calling.

[jjfanec]

Nice game for the Badgers. They need Brust to find his shooting touch. He is 13 for his last 50 from three!

[jjfanec]

Badgers pick up another win. They followed the hockey teams lead by beating Minnesota. The Badgers are now 20-5 overall and 7-5 in conference. They have two very tough games coming up at Michigan and at Iowa. If they can split those two they are in good shape to finish top 3 or 4 in the conference and in line to get a nice seed. Their tourney resume is very good

[brwrsfan]

Their non-conference resume is great, I just hope they get credit for the wins against Florida and MSU - as both weren't at full strength (not that that is WI's fault) when they played.

 

The lack of putting teams away is concerning. That's two straight games they more or less had it locked up but let a team back in it with some missed FT and poor defense down the stretch. But wins are wins. Big weekend for WI teams, as MU hosts Creighton and UW is at Michigan.

[fondybrewfan]

After the next two games the Badgers hopefully can coast into the tounrey; their last 4 or 5 games aren't exactly hard. I hope they can win won of the next two. If they can do that I think they are a solid 4 with a chance at a 3 if everything breaks right.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

My concern with the Badgers, even in this good stretch, has become their ability to close. I thought T-Jack's jumper against MSU was awesome, but also a bit of a bail out after they let a lead slip away late.

 

Same thing last night with letting Minnesota chip away at a big lead (though the Gophs did hit some tough shots). And it cost them earlier vs. Ohio State as well.

 

The next two will be major tests. Iowa's system is a nightmare for Wisconsin, it seems. I really thought this team had the stuff to be Bo's best team, but, as the season's wore on, I'm nervous about the toughness factor. Can they get big stops and points in the paint down the stretch? It seems to be improving, but it's not there yet.

 

Looking forward to another nationally televised game on Sunday.

[jjfanec]

Their non-conference resume is great, I just hope they get credit for the wins against Florida and MSU - as both weren't at full strength (not that that is WI's fault) when they played.

 

The lack of putting teams away is concerning. That's two straight games they more or less had it locked up but let a team back in it with some missed FT and poor defense down the stretch. But wins are wins. Big weekend for WI teams, as MU hosts Creighton and UW is at Michigan.

 

I dont know how the committee could really discredit wins. I think they can give Florida and MSU the benefit of the doubt when it comes to their seeds but it is hard to take something away from the team that actually won the game. I think you are hard pressed to find many teams with more quality wins than the Badgers especially road and neutral site games. They have beaten 5 top 20 teams and numerous other potential tournament teams. Losses to Indiana and Northwestern will hurt though

 

Home - MSU, Florida, Iowa

Road - Virginia and even UWGB is a nice win

Neutral - St. Louis, St. Johns.

[owbc]

This year reminds me of 2004: 24-6, B10 tourney champion, projected around a 4 seed--but they ended up getting a 6 seed in exchange for going to Milwaukee. In that case the higher seed probably would have been more helpful than getting the pseudo-home court advantage.

 

I'm just happy they made it through the mid-season slump. Two tough games coming up--it would be nice to get one of them but I have a feeling they will both be losses.

 

The committee will like the Badgers' RPI and SOS numbers. The nonconference schedule will help bump up the seed as well. A #4 seed seems reasonable if they finish 4-2 in conference.

[brwrsfan]

Their non-conference play should help them. They beat a lot of good teams, quite a few of which were on the road. The strength of the B10 is really going to help them too. They could really use one of these next two as they are really the only two marquee teams they have left on the schedule. I don't see them beating Iowa, so it'll have to be Michigan tomorrow.

 

They've played 18 games against the RPI top 100 (according to ESPN), and every team they have left is in the top 115 so that SOS should stay where it's at. All 5 losses are inside the RPI top 100 as well (surprisingly NW is at 97 and Indiana is at 91). It would sure help them if some of the non-conference teams they beat keep on winning (Florida, Virginia, St. Louis mainly, but to a lesser extent WV, Marquette, GB, St. Johns). If they can split the next two and avoid a loss after that (at NE or PSU may prove tough), they would be sitting at 25-6 entering the B10 tournament. With the resume they'd have, I can't see anyway they wouldn't be a top 4 seed in the NCAA tournament. If my understanding is correct (and it might not be), if they're in the top 4 seed lines, they get preferential treatment in seeding, which could result with games in Milwaukee. A lot of things have to happen first though, still got 6 games to go.

 

Marquette with a nice win today, though I still see them as being a long ways out of the bubble picture. If they can beat Creighton this week, that might bring them quite a bit closer. I think realistically though, they can probably only afford one more loss at the most, which would mean closing out the year beating Creighton or Villanova, Georgetown, @ Providence and St. Johns (both of which are fighting for a tourney spot too).

[fondybrewfan]

This is going to be a huge win today. Beating Iowa next week would be gravy. Another nice win to add their resume. Florida, Virginia, and St Louis have all played really well which has helped the cause. I don't know how this team can beat MINN, MSU, and MICH in 10 days and lose to NW at home.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Yeah, what a big road win. Great to see them pull away after Michigan roared back. The defense has played A LOT better lately, and that bodes well for success in the tourney. I have no doubt this team will score.

[brwrsfan]

Didn't want to jinx it during the game, but the defense was great. Both MN and MI torched them attacking the hoop the first time around and we took that away completely for the most part. Both hit quite a few threes at the end of the game but I can live with that. Still a little concerning to see the offense go completely stagnant for 4-6 minutes in the second half, but they responded well and pulled away. That's a nice, nice resume building win. Even with a loss at Iowa, if they win the last four and win one B10 tournament game, I don't see anyway they aren't a top 4 seed in the tournament, with a likely spot in Milwaukee waiting for them.

[FVBrewerFan]

UW-GB is good but best team in the state is a huge stretch. This is a team that got rolled by a 14-10 Valpo team and struggled mightily against a terrible UIC team. Cleveland is really the only other decent Horizon League team this year. I like UW-GB but if UW or Marquette were in that conference they would have great conference records as well

 

It's why I said "right now." No, I don't think UW-GB is overall a better team than Wisc. I do think they're very close to Marquette. (In fact, RPI has Green Bay higher than Marquette.) I said that while WIsc was losing several games, including NW at home. I'm no big UW-GB fan or anything, just wanted to give them some love because there's very little talk about them.

 

Wisc, they can still get the #1 seed if they win out. NOT predicting they will, just saying with their RPI and SOS if they win out they will probably be a #1 seed. Commitee likes teams that come on string at the end, especially htose that win their conf tourney.

 

MU's best way in is still to win the Big East tourney. If they don't do that, they have to at least make it to the champ game, and only lose probably one more reg season game. Anything other than that, and I don't think they make it in. Of course, it depends what other bubble teams do also.

[jjfanec]

Huge game for Marquette tonight as they host Creighton. Marquette is playing better and this is a chance for their first really good win. They have wins against bubble teams but that is about it.

[brwrsfan]

Marquette hung around for awhile, but Creighton's offense is just too much. Pretty hard to win when a team shoots 62% overall, 52% from three (which includes TWELVE made) and Marquette missed 16 FT. This was one Marquette really had to have from a tournament perspective. They still have a slim shot, but I think they likely have to win out at this point. They just couldn't figure it out this year, especially on the offensive end. Really makes you wonder what could have been had Blue stayed in school.

 

Outside the state, Syracuse lost at home tonight to a terrible BC team. Syracuse has gotten exceptionally lucky the last few games so they had it coming, but this was still pretty surprising considering how bad BC is.

[LouisEly]

As I mentioned earlier, how in the world do you allow Wragge to take 8 3-point shots? He's shooting 48.3% from 3 this year - that's like shooting 72% from two point land. You don't let someone like that get the ball. You have to guard two guys on Creighton; let the other three beat you. Guys not named McDermott or Wragge were 13-25 and 4-12 from three.

 

It is a matchup problem with Creighton because Marquette's best offensive advantages over Creighton (Gardner, Otule) are kind of defensive liabilities because Creighton's a small team and their forwards step out and shoot the three. But you do one of two things - you put Juan Anderson on Wragge and tell him to never stray more than three feet from Wragge, or you put Otule out on Wragge. Sounds crazy, but I remember when Marquette upset Kentucky in the tourney 20 years ago when Kentucky was launching 3's left and right. Marquette put McIlvaine out on the perimeter and whether it just psychologically affected Kentucky or it really caused them to alter their shots Kentucky couldn't make 3's and Marquette won. 3-point shooters are used to being guarded by smaller guys, but when a 7-footer with a 7.5 foot wingspan is in front of you it alters your shot and makes it harder to see/focus on the rim when you shoot.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Huge game today for Wisconsin. I think they'd probably be solidly on the 4 line win or lose, but I'm of the belief that there's a big difference between a 4 and 5, and today is another opportunity to pick up a huge road win.

 

I was rooting for Marquette on Thursday, but, man, is McDermott good. He is an efficiency monster, and when he puts up 25 it just feels like business as usual. Barring injuries, he's going to get 3,000 points for his career, which is saying something for a guy who wasn't even the best player on his high school team (Harrison Barnes). He's got to be the poster child for college development, and I would be shocked if he wasn't a solid pro (role player). If I had any faith at all in Creighton's D, I'd be writing them into the Sweet Sixteen.