Wisconsin Basketball Thread 2021-2022

[Oxy]

Good time for a loss, I guess... Wahl is sorely missed. Hopefully at the end of the year all of UWs losses can be explained by injury/illness... Prolly similar to a number of other clubs, but hopefully UW will be at full strength in March.

[LouisEly]

Davis and Davison combined outscored all five MSU starters.

 

The problem was MSU's bench. If you would have told me that MSU's starting five would score 43 points I would have taken it. Having depth like that will be valuable come tourney time.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Davis and Davison combined outscored all five MSU starters.

 

The problem was MSU's bench. If you would have told me that MSU's starting five would score 43 points I would have taken it. Having depth like that will be valuable come tourney time.

 

I don't know. I mean, I hear it, but I'm of the view that depth is overrated in a one-and-done tournament.

 

I want my best 6 guys playing 100% of the minutes if their conditioning is there.

 

Whenever Kentucky subs out a five star, no matter who comes in, I'm thinking, "Alright, let's make a run here."

[LouisEly]

If there's little to no dropoff from your starters to your bench, you can give your starters an extra 5 minutes of rest each game and have fresher legs, especially the 2nd game of the weekend. If you can get by with your starters playing 32 minutes a game instead of 37 that's a big advantage in the Saturday/Sunday games.

[homer]

I don't think playing two games with a day off in between is that taxing on a college kid. Where depth probably helps most is if one of your top guys gets into foul trouble.

[Oxy]

If this was more of a typical walk-it-up halfcourt UW offense then the "rest" aspect of depth wouldn't be important. Typically UW guys would just space the floor, move the ball and get it in the post for an easy look or a kick out for an open 3. That has been UW's offense for 15 years. This team is different though, as it is really dependent upon penetration by the 3 guards to make something happen...that is A LOT more physically taxing than just spacing out and working it inside. With the way UW wants to play defense it is hard to play that hard on both ends for more than 30-32 minutes per player.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

I don't think playing two games with a day off in between is that taxing on a college kid. Where depth probably helps most is if one of your top guys gets into foul trouble.

 

Certainly agree with this.

[Samurai Bucky]

I was in the top deck for the game against Iowa. I think the temperature outside was 5 degrees. The crowd, including me, was more in "watch like I was at home" mode at times except for...

• When Fran starting have a Frantrum
  
• When the Badgers lead was getting cut. At that point, the crowd started to get louder to in an effort to "help them along..."
  
• Johnny Davis would make a spectacular play

 

Why they / we might have been quiet:

• The Student Section typically makes a lot of noise during the game. There weren't many students there.
  
• Everybody was required to wear a mask. It is tough to make a lot of noise while wearing them. For me, that did take away, a little, from the experience.

 

That said, it is a little sad when, at times, I could hear Brad Davison being loud (calling for the ball, etc.). It is sad because the place wasn't loud enough that I could hear him. It was cool, though, that he was being that loud, though. That talks more about the player he is. He wasn't angry, it was more about calling for the ball, or directing the team.

[AKCheesehead]

This talk about quiet crowds brings me back to the days of The Fieldhouse. I’ve been to a lot of games in both places. Obviously the Kohl Center is superior in every way. Except for nostalgia and noise that is. In the Fieldhouse everyone was right on top of the court. And when the crowd got fired up you had to yell to speak to someone whose shoulder was against your own. I can only imagine what it would have been like if they were playing there during the Bo years.

[Samurai Bucky]

This talk about quiet crowds brings me back to the days of The Fieldhouse. I’ve been to a lot of games in both places. Obviously the Kohl Center is superior in every way. Except for nostalgia and noise that is. In the Fieldhouse everyone was right on top of the court. And when the crowd got fired up you had to yell to speak to someone whose shoulder was against your own. I can only imagine what it would have been like if they were playing there during the Bo years.

This is akin to the Dane County Coliseum with hockey. Of course, I was in the band back in the day, so if I sat in the front row, I could lean over the glass. Too fun.

[AKCheesehead]

This talk about quiet crowds brings me back to the days of The Fieldhouse. I’ve been to a lot of games in both places. Obviously the Kohl Center is superior in every way. Except for nostalgia and noise that is. In the Fieldhouse everyone was right on top of the court. And when the crowd got fired up you had to yell to speak to someone whose shoulder was against your own. I can only imagine what it would have been like if they were playing there during the Bo years.

This is akin to the Dane County Coliseum with hockey. Of course, I was in the band back in the day, so if I sat in the front row, I could lean over the glass. Too fun.

 

No doubt, and aided by the fact that they sold beer at the Coliseum.

[homer]

This talk about quiet crowds brings me back to the days of The Fieldhouse. I’ve been to a lot of games in both places. Obviously the Kohl Center is superior in every way. Except for nostalgia and noise that is. In the Fieldhouse everyone was right on top of the court. And when the crowd got fired up you had to yell to speak to someone whose shoulder was against your own. I can only imagine what it would have been like if they were playing there during the Bo years.

This is akin to the Dane County Coliseum with hockey. Of course, I was in the band back in the day, so if I sat in the front row, I could lean over the glass. Too fun.

 

No doubt, and aided by the fact that they sold beer at the Coliseum.

 

Speaking of which, I don't remember a single third period of any hockey game I attended.

 

Good times!

[Samurai Bucky]

This is akin to the Dane County Coliseum with hockey. Of course, I was in the band back in the day, so if I sat in the front row, I could lean over the glass. Too fun.

 

No doubt, and aided by the fact that they sold beer at the Coliseum.

 

Speaking of which, I don't remember a single third period of any hockey game I attended.

 

Good times!

Well done. I see what you did there...

[Oxy]

Road wins are always nice! Solid game considering that Johnny was pretty bad in the first half. Carlson seems to have overtaken Gilmore, which is good to see since his ceiling is miles higher. He looked comfortable out there and made some plays too. Hopefully another comfortable win against Minnesota at the Kohl center this weekend to finish the first half of the B1G season at a cool 8-2.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

I thought Hoiberg was an easy, home run hire for Nebraska, but wow. It's ugly in Lincoln. I honestly might put the O/U on B1G wins for them at 0.5.

 

They got rid of Tim Miles to take the jump, and I bet they'd kill to be where Miles had them. I'm rooting for Hoiberg to get it together, but lots of progress reversed down there so far....

 

As for the Badgers, ho hum. Gotta take care of the Gophs on Sunday.

[OldHeidelberg]

Nice to see Carlson finally getting more minutes and producing, I was starting to think he was a bust but him and Crowl give hope that there is still some upside coming to this years team.

[tmwiese55]

I agree with the crowds/noise/students diminished the last few years. I've been going to games consistently since 03ish. KC was a massive home court advantage in that Harris/Tucker/Butch era, it used to get pretty loud/crazy. The students sections were basically full all 3 levels for all games, even bad opponents. Now, there's rarely anyone 3rd deck, I remember saying during MSU on Friday that's first time in forever I remember seeing students 3rd deck full. I really don't know why. Guesses would be fans are complacent after 20 years of being very good, and for young people there's a zillion other entertainment options compared to 20 years ago. Outside the student section issues, the old people on the sides continue to get older (but obviously a lot of seats are stubhubbed out). For the most part, these seats are grandfathered into the people who got them when the KC was built and you have to donate a ton money to get a lower level season ticket. These people are rarely going to give those seats up. So that could be a factor too.

 

Yes good to see Carlson showing positives so hopefully there's no more need for Gilmore.

 

Yes kind of surprising Hoiberg has been this rough. Slight reminder to UW fans in both sports who always call for firings to get us to the next level, the grass isn't always greener. I didn't get it from Neb with Miles, he took them from trash to decent and borderline tourney most years, that's good improvement so let him keep working. Stability and being good (but not great) isn't so bad, one bad hire at a non blue blood program and you can quickly become the bottom the league.

[rickh150]

Kohl Center still draws. It’s usually top 10 in attendance. Does this translate proportionately to being loud and a great atmosphere for college basketball? I still think so.

However, after Bo Ryan, Frank, and Sam left, it has been a bit of a downer in Madison. Not as good atmosphere as before. Still very good, though, especially when top ranked teams come. They went from back to back Final Fours to a bit better than fringe tourney teams over the last 7 years. I can see why enthusiasm is a bit down for both Badger BB and FB. We have seen better Badger teams recently or have hoped for better teams and have fell short often. This Badger BB team has hopes up, though. We’ll see how the crowd is against Purdue in March.

[Underachiever]

I was at the Ohio State game and thought it was a great atmosphere. It always sounds quiet on tv, but if I'm not there, it's hard to complain about the noise.

[yourout]

Carter Gilmore needs to be buried on the bench.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Minnesota has a game squad. They look just a lot tougher than years past---I think Pitino was the total wrong guy for that program. They need to follow the Wisconsin model and not try to outrecruit everyone. Johnson is off to a good start in that department.

 

Another first place showdown in Champaign on Wednesday. Hard to expect a win, but I hope they play like @Purdue and not like @Ohio State.

[CheezWizHed]

This talk about quiet crowds brings me back to the days of The Fieldhouse. I’ve been to a lot of games in both places. Obviously the Kohl Center is superior in every way. Except for nostalgia and noise that is. In the Fieldhouse everyone was right on top of the court. And when the crowd got fired up you had to yell to speak to someone whose shoulder was against your own. I can only imagine what it would have been like if they were playing there during the Bo years.

 

My junior and senior year in HS, my BB team went to state both years. Unfortunately, we just bought tickets to attend it. But I remember sitting in the top deck and feeling like we were literally looking straight down at the court.

[yourout]

Great... Of course tonight they get the Borowski special.

Sure been nice not having that pain in the butt working badger games much this year.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

No answer for Kofi, and they shot horribly from 3. It happens.

 

And while I'm not at all worried about the Badgers, I do think dropping this one and the home game vs. MSU two weeks back is the results catching up to the predictive metrics a bit. Badgers have a great resume. Are they a great team? Jury's out.

 

I'll say this: If they shoot it at all from three, they'll be in every game, and I have no worries about their toughness in close ones.

[MrTPlush]

Badgers shot terrible, but then again they are one of the worst shooting teams in basketball. Kind of amazing the score was as close as it was in the end.

 

Kofi against a team the size of Wisconsin was kind of ‘LOL’. I mean wow that is a one big dude with great moves and a nice little shot. Don’t think Wisconsin did enough to try and force the rest of the team to do something.