Wisconsin Basketball 2022-23

[stoutdude04]

Another heartbreaker in a long list of heartbreakers.

I have zero doubt this team should be in the tournament. I also have 0 doubt they are going to get in.

[homer]

missed. two wide-open threes late. 

[yourout]

Lack of a stud at the end of games has continually killed this team.

Every time Chucky shoots that step back jumper I just close my eyes cuz I know it's not going in.

[MrTPlush]

That last shot was just LOL…almost 5 seconds, literally not reason you can’t get down the court for a real shot. Entire team left the poor guy to helpless at mid court. This has got to be a situation a team practices a ton…no excuse for no attempt at a real shot.

Badgers had a chance to solidify themselves in the bracket, but blew it. Good news, I doubt this really changes their situation a ton. They will need to beat Minnesota though and then probably win at least their opening conference tourney game to squeak in.

[Oxy]

Purdue isn't very good.  Although had somebody asked me after Thanksgiving I'd say that Kansas wasn't very good either.  Strange year, although last year St Peter's nearly made the Final Four, only to lose to a team in the Elite 8 that squeaked into the tourney as a First Four participant.  So I guess this is the norm in college bball these days. 

[MrTPlush]

8 hours ago, Oxy said:

Purdue isn't very good. 

Although had somebody asked me after Thanksgiving I'd say that Kansas wasn't very good either. 

Strange year, although last year St Peter's nearly made the Final Four, only to lose to a team in the Elite 8 that squeaked into the tourney as a First Four participant.  So I guess this is the norm in college bball these days. 

Seems like maybe teams finally figured out how to beat the rest of the team not named Edey. Because you aren't wrong, the rest of that team is not very good. 

I thought the same, almost losing to Wisconsin...yikes. 

I am guessing the Final Four will be lucky to feature a single 1 seed. Neither Purdue nor Kansas has a great make-up of a Final Four squad. Houston is definitely the best chance to get there. 

[yourout]

20 minutes ago, MrTPlush said:

Seems like maybe teams finally figured out how to beat the rest of the team not named Edey. Because you aren't wrong, the rest of that team is not very good. 

I thought the same, almost losing to Wisconsin...yikes. 

I am guessing the Final Four will be lucky to feature a single 1 seed. Neither Purdue nor Kansas has a great make-up of a Final Four squad. Houston is definitely the best chance to get there. 

Houston...Without a doubt.

Always pick the team with the best set of guards and right now that's Houston.

[Samurai Bucky]

When I attended the Minnesota game, I saw what would become a staple to this year's team -- have a lead relatively late, or be very competitive.  Then, find a way to lose.  In that game, Wisconsin blew a 12 or 15 point lead to almost lose.

OT loss to Michigan; OT loss to Nebraska.  Wash, rinse, repeat.

There are teams that find ways to win, but I think Wisconsin finds ways to lose.  Often times I hear, "<insert name here> went off and had a huge game."  That is an excuse.  

I agree -- the Badgers don't have that go to guy like Johnny Davis last year.  They need a guy who can drive to the hoop and draw contact.  I'm guessing Chuckie was supposed to be that guy this year.  Maybe it was Wahl.

Oh well.  Unless they make it to the B1G final, they will be in the "Not In Tournament".

[stoutdude04]

2 hours ago, MrTPlush said:

Seems like maybe teams finally figured out how to beat the rest of the team not named Edey. Because you aren't wrong, the rest of that team is not very good. 

I thought the same, almost losing to Wisconsin...yikes. 

I am guessing the Final Four will be lucky to feature a single 1 seed. Neither Purdue nor Kansas has a great make-up of a Final Four squad. Houston is definitely the best chance to get there. 

I saw the line was Purdue minus 3.5.  I immediately put money on Wisconsin.  Fishy line.

[CheezWizHed]

I've unfortunately only watched one game this year and even then... just the second half of last night's game. I guess I was pleasantly surprised by being in the game the entire night despite Purdue's "luster" starting to tarnish.  

Clearly, they miss a player like Johnny-D.  But I think they never really replaced Brad Davison's contributions either.  He was very clutch in those late game situations - 3ptr, driving to the basket, and/or drawing fouls. After watching Chuckie grow last year...I was hoping he'd fill those shoes, but it looks like he is about the same as last year.

I do believe we lead the league in the loudest rims however.  You'd think we could fix that... or is it just our shots clanging off the wrong parts. 😂

[Brewin]

3 hours ago, Samurai Bucky said:

When I attended the Minnesota game, I saw what would become a staple to this year's team -- have a lead relatively late, or be very competitive.  Then, find a way to lose.  In that game, Wisconsin blew a 12 or 15 point lead to almost lose.

OT loss to Michigan; OT loss to Nebraska.  Wash, rinse, repeat.

There are teams that find ways to win, but I think Wisconsin finds ways to lose.  Often times I hear, "<insert name here> went off and had a huge game."  That is an excuse.  

I agree -- the Badgers don't have that go to guy like Johnny Davis last year.  They need a guy who can drive to the hoop and draw contact.  I'm guessing Chuckie was supposed to be that guy this year.  Maybe it was Wahl.

Oh well.  Unless they make it to the B1G final, they will be in the "Not In Tournament".

I strongly disagree that they need to get to B10 final to make the tourney...Beat Minn Sun and win one game in the BTT (two games if they have to play on Thursday) and they should be in. The bubble is incredibly soft and most of the projections still have them in today after the loss to Purdue last night. The only major guy who has them out right now is Jerry Palm and they are literally his 1st team out right now. UW has a really weird resume with a lot of Quad 1 & 2 wins and no really bad losses. There worst loss is probably Wake Forest which I think is a high Quad 3 loss

[rickh150]

I think there should be a rule that teams below .500 in conference play cannot get in the tournament. Strength of schedule and non conference games played in November and December, whatever… the Big Ten was supposed to be extra good the last two years and the last two NCAA tournaments showed that not to be true.
 

I’d much rather have the top two or three teams of a good mid major conference than the 9th or 10th best team in the Big Ten.  Put teams in that actually are having a good season, and that is not the Badgers. The Badgers are sitting at 8-11 now in conference play. I don’t see that as good enough to be a tournament team. 

[MrTPlush]

43 minutes ago, rickh150 said:

I think there should be a rule that teams below .500 in conference play cannot get in the tournament. Strength of schedule and non conference games played in November and December, whatever… the Big Ten was supposed to be extra good the last two years and the last two NCAA tournaments showed that not to be true.
 

I’d much rather have the top two or three teams of a good mid major conference than the 9th or 10th best team in the Big Ten.  Put teams in that actually are having a good season, and that is not the Badgers. The Badgers are sitting at 8-11 now in conference play. I don’t see that as good enough to be a tournament team. 

So #6 seed Iowa State should not be eligible and instead we should put in more UW-Milwaukee’s of the world…? Yikes.

How about Wisconsin just doesn’t make the tourney because they aren’t one of the best 68 teams. Why this eventual 14-loss Badgers team deserves a spot in the bracket (well play-in) is kind of mythical. Playing in one of the premier basketball conferences allows way to much generosity sometimes.

[MVP2110]

It's pretty wild to look at the difference between Wisconsin & Marquette with their schedules. Marquette has played 15 Q3 or Q4 teams, whereas Wisconsin has only played 6 such opponents, that's nearly 3x as many "easy" games for Marquette. Against Q1 teams they are pretty similar, Wisconsin is 6-7 whereas Marquette is 5-5. I'm really curious where Wisconsin would be if they had played Marquette's schedule. I'm not saying they'd be a top 6 team but they might be in the top 25.

As for last night's loss, it didn't seem to hurt them that much, Lunardi still has them in

 

[MrTPlush]

2 hours ago, MVP2110 said:

It's pretty wild to look at the difference between Wisconsin & Marquette with their schedules. Marquette has played 15 Q3 or Q4 teams, whereas Wisconsin has only played 6 such opponents, that's nearly 3x as many "easy" games for Marquette. Against Q1 teams they are pretty similar, Wisconsin is 6-7 whereas Marquette is 5-5. I'm really curious where Wisconsin would be if they had played Marquette's schedule. I'm not saying they'd be a top 6 team but they might be in the top 25.

As for last night's loss, it didn't seem to hurt them that much, Lunardi still has them in

 

I bet Wisconsin would have a bunch of Q3 losses. They have only had one of those games all year…and lost.

Wisconsin has played twice as many Q2 games (5-5), but Marquette is 5-0 in those games, so I think Marquette has proven themselves in that regard.

One of the biggest things about the Badgers resume is no bad losses, which is completely misleading. Of those 6 opportunities, 5 were Q4 teams. A P5 team winning a Q4 game at home is worthy of a participation trophy at most. 

[rickh150]

3 hours ago, MrTPlush said:

So #6 seed Iowa State should not be eligible and instead we should put in more UW-Milwaukee’s of the world…? Yikes.

How about Wisconsin just doesn’t make the tourney because they aren’t one of the best 68 teams. Why this eventual 14-loss Badgers team deserves a spot in the bracket (well play-in) is kind of mythical. Playing in one of the premier basketball conferences allows way to much generosity sometimes.

I agree… too much generosity.  We’re talking about a team simply playing .500 in conference. Pretty low bar. It would help weed out teams for the tournament committee too.

[MVP2110]

1 hour ago, MrTPlush said:

I bet Wisconsin would have a bunch of Q3 losses. They have only had one of those games all year…and lost.

Wisconsin has played twice as many Q2 games (5-5), but Marquette is 5-0 in those games, so I think Marquette has proven themselves in that regard.

One of the biggest things about the Badgers resume is no bad losses, which is completely misleading. Of those 6 opportunities, 5 were Q4 teams. A P5 team winning a Q4 game at home is worthy of a participation trophy at most. 

I agree I don't think Wisconsin would be as good as Marquette has been and I wasn't trying to say that, but rather Wisconsin has played a much tougher schedule and held their own against Q1 teams. Wisconsin has played 3 more Q1 teams & 5 more Q2 teams. Imagine if they took those 8 games made them Q3 or Q4 games, we're talking likely 4ish more wins or so, so likely put them around a 20-9 record. Maryland, TCU, & Kentucky are all in the top 25 at 20-10. 

[rickh150]

4 minutes ago, rickh150 said:

I agree… too much generosity.  We’re talking about a team simply playing .500 in conference. Pretty low bar. It would help weed out teams for the tournament committee too.

And yes, no Iowa State as of right now…8-9

[nate82]

4 minutes ago, rickh150 said:

I agree… too much generosity.  We’re talking about a team simply playing .500 in conference. Pretty low bar. It would help weed out teams for the tournament committee too.

The tournament committee already have better tools than simply playing .500 in a conference to determine who goes and who doesn't. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

The idea of needing a .500 conference record is cosmetic, but has a certain amount of merit. It would put some teams in that clearly aren't among the top 68 but we have that now. The problem IMO is the conference tourneys at the low-to-mid major level. What you do in your league over 3 months is a bigger indication of who's best in a conference than a 3 day tourney. Always has been, always will be. But as in so many things in sports common sense takes a back seat to $$$$$.

UW is in a very strange position right now. The results W-L wise haven't bore it out but I think they played their most consistent basketball in a long time over the last few games. It became obvious early in the Purdue game they needed to knock down jump shots to win. Needed one or two more, and the turnover problem in the first half didn't help.

Would love to know what Purdue does to develop their bigs. A 7-4 guy built like he stepped out of a laboratory, and his footwork, court vision & overall feel for the game are better than some wings I've seen. Their lack of offense hurt, but Crowl & Wahl IMO did an incredible job on him in the second half just making things tough on him.

[MrTPlush]

Those mid-major conference tourneys are what makes March Madness great though…and I’m sure it shoots viewership through the roof. Considering most of those mid-majors are destined to get absolutely rocked in the first round or at best make the round of 32…why not make some excitement getting into the tourney?

I don’t think there is a problem with a team having a losing conference record, but sometimes teams really get propped up because their schedule is crazy tough.

There is no merit to thinking sub .500 team shouldn’t make the tourney. Iowa state has beat Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, TCU twice, and Texas. Going to be pretty darn hard to get manage a .500 record when you play Top 10 teams for 8 of those games.

Sure, Iowa State is probably the most extreme example. But I’d take a middling Power 5 team over some second place team from the horizon league or similar. We already waste a spot every year on some garbage Horizon League champion…no need to make it more.

 

[rickh150]

1 hour ago, MrTPlush said:

Those mid-major conference tourneys are what makes March Madness great though…and I’m sure it shoots viewership through the roof. Considering most of those mid-majors are destined to get absolutely rocked in the first round or at best make the round of 32…why not make some excitement getting into the tourney?

I don’t think there is a problem with a team having a losing conference record, but sometimes teams really get propped up because their schedule is crazy tough.

There is no merit to thinking sub .500 team shouldn’t make the tourney. Iowa state has beat Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, TCU twice, and Texas. Going to be pretty darn hard to get manage a .500 record when you play Top 10 teams for 8 of those games.

Sure, Iowa State is probably the most extreme example. But I’d take a middling Power 5 team over some second place team from the horizon league or similar. We already waste a spot every year on some garbage Horizon League champion…no need to make it more.

 

 The tournament does not need the Big Ten’s 9th and 10th best teams. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

11 hours ago, MrTPlush said:

Those mid-major conference tourneys are what makes March Madness great though…and I’m sure it shoots viewership through the roof. Considering most of those mid-majors are destined to get absolutely rocked in the first round or at best make the round of 32…why not make some excitement getting into the tourney?

I don’t think there is a problem with a team having a losing conference record, but sometimes teams really get propped up because their schedule is crazy tough.

There is no merit to thinking sub .500 team shouldn’t make the tourney. Iowa state has beat Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, TCU twice, and Texas. Going to be pretty darn hard to get manage a .500 record when you play Top 10 teams for 8 of those games.

Sure, Iowa State is probably the most extreme example. But I’d take a middling Power 5 team over some second place team from the horizon league or similar. We already waste a spot every year on some garbage Horizon League champion…no need to make it more.

 

Like most people, I watch some of the conference tourneys & enjoy the intensity & competitiveness they create. It's just that it does nothing to assure the most deserving team gets a bid. We all know why they exist. Of course, just about all of the low majors get rocked right away. I wouldn't include mid-majors in that statement though. Many of those schools as 9-to-12 seeds have provided some of the greatest thrills in the tourney over the years. Now we just have to hope NIL & the transfer portal don't harm that. It certainly won't help.

I assume people bringing up the subject are referring more to some of the schools from the A-10, Valley, Mid American, Southern or Mountain West. The Horizon is terrible. Yet, every league needs to have a rep, I don't think it's a waste at all. Especially when it's someone who seldom if ever makes it in, I think that's one of the things that makes March Madness the special time it is, for some of the alumni & fan bases who wonder if they'd ever experience it first-hand. But if I'm the Horizon, or the SWAC or Big West or MEAC I'd want my best representative that was proven over three months, not three days. That obviously won't change though.

[Brewin]

The Maryland collapse against PSU hurts the Badgers IMO. Now, they need to beat Minn tonight, followed by either Minn again/or OSU on Wednesday, and likely win their game on Thursday as well. The best they can do now for the B10 tourney is the 11 seed and they will be playing on Day 1.

This team has not shown the ability to string wins together since Nov/Dec so that could be a tall order...

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

9 minutes ago, Brewin said:

The Maryland collapse against PSU hurts the Badgers IMO. Now, they need to beat Minn tonight, followed by either Minn again/or OSU on Wednesday, and likely win their game on Thursday as well. The best they can do now for the B10 tourney is the 11 seed and they will be playing on Day 1.

This team has not shown the ability to string wins together since Nov/Dec so that could be a tall order...

 

They used to have that "last ten games" thing when looking at seeding, or whether a bubble team makes it in. Now they're more into the entire body of work. PSU winning that game might wind up hurting UW's chances, but you're still talking about a team they swept, and UW DID also beat Maryland (although it seems like that was a LONNNNNNG time ago).

But as you said they need to string together at least a couple more wins.