2023-24 Wisconsin Basketball season thread

[Jim French Stepstool]

Long story short, if you give up 87 your chances of winning aren't good, Those chances go down to zero if you throw in 14 TOs or whatever the number was.

I actually thought we defended slightly to moderately better in the 2nd half despite giving up more points & getting virtually no critical stops. A greater % of PSUs' shots in that half were tougher takes IMO. But I just kept waiting for the 4-5 minute dry spell that never came. 

Obviously no could stay in front of their man consistently. Then when he doesn't get into the lane, Ace Baldwin shoots 4-5 from deep. Coming into the game he was at 26%. Go figure.

Obviously tough nights for Klesmit (defensively at least) & Wahl. Their pressure was well-constructed, but we have way too much experience to get that flustered.

Hopefully Crowl is back to 100%. It was hard to tell b/c they didn't have anyone to stop him anyway.

Indiana becomes a real big one. Purdue cleaned their clocks tonite so i'm sure Woodson & his staff will be getting their attention.

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, yourout said:

Penn state's about due to miss about 8 in a row.

Kept waiting for that, too.

[RobDeer 45]

That was a tough loss last night.  Penn State looked like world beaters.  We could not defend their guards or ball screens.  On the other end it seemed like they got away with a lot more contact.  They seemed to not get called when they'd strip the ball out on moves to the hoop.  Trying not to be a homer!  I was impressed how composed the team stayed despite some of these tough calls.  It showed their maturity.  I was holding out hope they'd sneak out of there with a win when things weren't going their way but we just couldn't get stops.  AJ looked so explosive last night!  Great to see.

[LouisEly]

Ilver looked good in the five minutes he got; I'm surprised he didn't get more run in the 2nd half.  Made a couple of good defensive plays when he was in too, not just offense.  Five rebounds, a block, and an assist in five minutes is impressive.  But Crowl, Storr, and Wahl were the best players on the court and thus no room for Ilver.

Essegian had a really good defensive play when he was in.  One of the few times they were able to stay in front of their guards.  Looks like he's making strides on the defensive end.

UW shot better from 3 and from the FT line, out-rebounded them 36-25, but only had 2 steals to 13 TOs.  PSU had 8 steals and only 6 turnovers.  That was the difference.

[Playing Catch]

I don't think I'm going to forget the PSU loss anytime soon. I like to think that I do a good job of compartmentalizing my irrational fandom, but the PSU game really, really bugs me. If how I feel is indicative of how the Badgers feel, I think Indiana is in trouble.

[Jim French Stepstool]

59 minutes ago, Playing Catch said:

I don't think I'm going to forget the PSU loss anytime soon. I like to think that I do a good job of compartmentalizing my irrational fandom, but the PSU game really, really bugs me. If how I feel is indicative of how the Badgers feel, I think Indiana is in trouble.

It was the type of loss where you can certainly get a teams' attention in practice in the days to follow. Guards suddenly couldn't stay in front of people. As Gard said postgame, PSU was very comfortable offensively & we did nothing to change that or disrupt the pace of the game. Of course after being clobbered at home the same night, I'm sure Woodson has his teams' attention too. The good news is college BB is still largely a guards' game, and I don't think the IU guards are capable of what PSU turned in Tuesday. Yeah, if I'm Bucky I can't wait to get back on the floor. Particularly #s 5 & 11.

[Jim French Stepstool]

6 hours ago, LouisEly said:

Ilver looked good in the five minutes he got; I'm surprised he didn't get more run in the 2nd half.  Made a couple of good defensive plays when he was in too, not just offense.  Five rebounds, a block, and an assist in five minutes is impressive.  But Crowl, Storr, and Wahl were the best players on the court and thus no room for Ilver.

Essegian had a really good defensive play when he was in.  One of the few times they were able to stay in front of their guards.  Looks like he's making strides on the defensive end.

UW shot better from 3 and from the FT line, out-rebounded them 36-25, but only had 2 steals to 13 TOs.  PSU had 8 steals and only 6 turnovers.  That was the difference.

Crowl & Storr were effective. Wahl had his worst game in some time IMO.

Agree re Ilver. Even against a team with subpar rebounding numbers, five boards in limited time is no joke. Everyone that lobbied for him over Gilmore points to his offense, but if his floor game going forward resembles what he did Tuesday that's what may finally inch him ahead of Carter.

For some time now we've heard how Ilver & Essegian are practicing well. Starting to see proof.

[yourout]

Woof .. Sloppy start.

[RedStickBrew]

2 minutes ago, yourout said:

Woof .. Sloppy start.

Definitely not Badger-ball

[RedStickBrew]

I love Blackwell. Hits a 3, rips down a board, finishes at the rim…

[yourout]

Blackwell to the rescue.

 

[yourout]

Indiana doesn't have the guards that Penn State does.

[yourout]

Funny how tonight every downward swipe at the ball is a foul tonight unlike the other night.

[RedStickBrew]

That’s not an offensive foul

[yourout]

What a crap charge call.

[Oxy]

I would be happy with a 79-52 victory.  81-49 would be even better.

[yourout]

That Blackwell charge wasn't a charge even in the Davison era.

 

[yourout]

#5 must have a parent referee ing.

He's getting absolutely every call even when there's nothing there

[RedStickBrew]

Klesmit says

[yourout]

Hey guys....#5 is LEFT handed.

[rickh150]

Badgers gave up 40 points in the last 10 minutes of the game! Has that ever been done to a Badger team? Ever? AND in a double digit win?

[yourout]

47 minutes ago, rickh150 said:

Badgers gave up 40 points in the last 10 minutes of the game! Has that ever been done to a Badger team? Ever? AND in a double digit win?

Again the defense was pretty awful in the paint.

And it doesn't help that referees are calling fouls on straight up hands up defense.

[Jim French Stepstool]

Really strange 2nd half. Klesmit & Hepburns' defense in the 1st half & quite a bit of the 2nd was about as good as you can ask for. The last 20 minutes, I don't know if I've ever seen a Badger game with as much hot-to-cold fluctuation, especially on the defensive end. Being able to do absolutely nothing to slow down Reneau didn't help. I felt kinda bad that the stage was set for the end-of-bench guys to get a minute or two & it didn't happen. With Hepburn sitting & McGee down for the rest of the night, the ballhandling got really ugly.

Storr & Blackwell attacking the rim is a thing of beauty.

I was trying to remember if I ever saw a more complete performance in person from a UW player, than what Klesmit turned in. In Bo's 1st year I saw Kirk Penney drop, I think, 33 on Marquette. That might be about it.

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, yourout said:

Again the defense was pretty awful in the paint.

And it doesn't help that referees are calling fouls on straight up hands up defense.

Told my wife after the ejection & McGee taking a couple tumbles that this looked like one of those games where the zebras were going to do their over-reaction thing the rest of the way. At least we knocked down just about all the FTs.

[Jim French Stepstool]

2 hours ago, rickh150 said:

Badgers gave up 40 points in the last 10 minutes of the game! Has that ever been done to a Badger team? Ever? AND in a double digit win?

I knew it was bad but.........wow. Didn't realize that. I would guess the answer is no.

Fortunately it didn't cost them, but when Hepburn & Klesmit both sit & McGee isn't available it can look pretty ugly. Hopefully McGee isn't hurt seriously. It's nice to use him to spell Hepburn w/o having to slide Klesmit over.