2024 - 25 Wisconsin Basketball Thread

[AKCheesehead]

Yup that was a good one.  Bucky is good at these invitationals. 

[yourout]

2 minutes ago, AKCheesehead said:

Yup that was a good one.  Bucky is good at these invitationals. 

A lot of interesting parts to this team.

[homer]

On 11/22/2024 at 6:02 PM, Oxy said:

It's amazing how many "favorite Badger Bball teams" I've had in the last 30 years.

so true 

[RedStickBrew]

This is a fun team to watch play. It’s not as likely this team will suffer those long 7+ minute scoring droughts of the teams in past years  plus they are still really efficient on the offensive end  

 

[Oxy]

I feel like my Brewer fandom and Badger bball fandom are mirror images of each other...and not just on the calendar (which is not coincidental). Over achieving regular seasons and a big fart in the post season.

[Jim French Stepstool]

Pitt really, really made them uncomfortable early with some serious defense in the half court. Credit Gard for finding something to attack, and staying with it. Pitt only goes 7-8 deep, and then lost a starter early to injury. Then a hint of some early foul issues, and we just drove, and drove, and drove, and drove..........and the success there finally collapsed the defense enough to get room to hit just enough big threes. And the UW defense really deserved to finish with a lower points-against total----Pitt converted on some very tough drives. Just a fun win vs quality in a very intense game.

Vs their two most heralded opponents so far, Tonje scores 41 & 33. Just such an incredible feel for the game, positioning, heart, poise. A grown man.

So happy for McGee. Accepting his role & playing the best basketball of his life. This is a kid whose minutes were greatly curtailed his first year here after averaging over 11 PPG as a freshman at UWGB. He got to work, acclimated himself to the system & got better. I don't know what his plans are but I would love to see him involved in the program for a long, long time after his playing days. Role model.

I feel a little for Crowl. I thought he actually had a nice floor game & rebounded well when he was out there, but I suspect all folks will remember about him tonite was all the shots he took that bounced on the rim 37 times & caromed out. He needs to see a few more go through.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

7 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Pitt really, really made them uncomfortable early with some serious defense in the half court. Credit Gard for finding something to attack, and staying with it. Pitt only goes 7-8 deep, and then lost a starter early to injury. Then a hint of some early foul issues, and we just drove, and drove, and drove, and drove..........and the success there finally collapsed the defense enough to get room to hit just enough big threes. And the UW defense really deserved to finish with a lower points-against total----Pitt converted on some very tough drives. Just a fun win vs quality in a very intense game.

Vs their two most heralded opponents so far, Tonje scores 41 & 33. Just such an incredible feel for the game, positioning, heart, poise. A grown man.

So happy for McGee. Accepting his role & playing the best basketball of his life. This is a kid whose minutes were greatly curtailed his first year here after averaging over 11 PPG as a freshman at UWGB. He got to work, acclimated himself to the system & got better. I don't know what his plans are but I would love to see him involved in the program for a long, long time after his playing days. Role model.

I feel a little for Crowl. I thought he actually had a nice floor game & rebounded well when he was out there, but I suspect all folks will remember about him tonite was all the shots he took that bounced on the rim 37 times & caromed out. He needs to see a few more go through.

Totally right about getting them in foil trouble and then really committing to getting to the basket. Good coaching by Gard.

This was the most impressive win I have seen since last year @ MSU. Never panicked, played together, outlasted them down the stretch. 

[Playing Catch]

54 second-half points vs. Pitt. This team is gunna blow the doors off of a few opponents this season once they really hit their stride defensively -- which looks like is an effort thing for this squad. I wasn't at all worried when they were down 14.

McGee is really an x-factor right now. If he keeps this up, he'll be getting starters minutes every game, especially when teams go small. I thought it was interesting seeing them go with all 4 guards and Crowl for a spell there in the 2nd half. I could see the Badgers going small against certain opponents.

The next stretch will tell us a lot about what the ceiling for this team is.

 

[Samurai Bucky]

Hopefully Tonje can remain healthy.  I remember the Badgers being a completely different team before Johnny Davis got hurt.  If Tonje gets hurt, I'm sure Klesmit will try to be that guy.  Not sure if he could do it.

All in favor of purchasing bubble wrap for Tonje's protection... say 'Aye!'  Just kidding

[Jim French Stepstool]

7 hours ago, Playing Catch said:

54 second-half points vs. Pitt. This team is gunna blow the doors off of a few opponents this season once they really hit their stride defensively -- which looks like is an effort thing for this squad. I wasn't at all worried when they were down 14.

 I thought it was interesting seeing them go with all 4 guards and Crowl for a spell there in the 2nd half. 

 

They did it vs UTRGV pretty much out of necessity. It worked well vs a larger opponent yesterday, so I agree it'll be an option we sometimes see. If Amos hits his stride defensively it'll give them yet another look. Just a lot of versatility on this roster. Janicki too---he plays much more seasoned than a RS freshman.

[Playing Catch]

Feast Week with no Badgers is kind of a letdown.

[Jim French Stepstool]

On 11/25/2024 at 12:53 PM, Samurai Bucky said:

Hopefully Tonje can remain healthy.  I remember the Badgers being a completely different team before Johnny Davis got hurt.  If Tonje gets hurt, I'm sure Klesmit will try to be that guy.  Not sure if he could do it.

All in favor of purchasing bubble wrap for Tonje's protection... say 'Aye!'  Just kidding

Shame on you for even bringing it up😲, but if it were to happen I'm sure you'd see McGee start at PG and Blackwell get many more scoring opportunities from the wing. The biggest adjustment then would be bench minutes. 

Toward that end, I'm hoping something gets mentioned, one way or another, about what's up with Cam Hunter. I don't see how he'd be getting many minutes right now, but the unavailability appears a little strange to me.

I hope Freitag is following McGee around like a little puppy, absorbing everything. His situation right now is in some ways similar to McGees' 1st year here. Kamari is a perfect guy for Freitag to hitch his wagon to right now.

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

14 hours ago, Playing Catch said:

Feast Week with no Badgers is kind of a letdown.

Trying to soothe that with an overdose. Just finished watching Kon Knueppel & AJ Storr go at it during Kansas-Duke. They actually guarded each other much of the game. Knueppel shot poorly, but man, his floor game & intelligence for a freshman is off the charts.

The other day, Essegian played pretty well in Nebraskas' win at Creighton. He's moving w/o the ball, and actually cutting to the hoop when overplayed. Thought I saw him defending a little bit too, although it might've been technical difficulties.

Saw Gus Yalden play a few minutes for Seton Hall. He looked very below-the-rim unathletic to me. On the year he's playing about 10MPG & averaging just over 2PPG.

11:00 AM tomorrow, Chucky Hepburn & Louisville play Indiana in the Battle for Atlantis.

[Jim French Stepstool]

Big challenge tonight in the B10 opener vs Michigan. Looks like they made a good choice in Dusty May as their new coach. Haven't seen very much of them this season but he has them guarding people (under 40% from the floor; under 30% from deep). Experienced backcourt and their transfer from Yale, 7'0" Danny Wolf has been very effective in the post at almost 10RPG.

Probably their best game of the season last time out, blowing out Xavier.

I want to see us drive the ball.

[RedStickBrew]

[yourout]

Wish we had one of their bigs instead of Crowl.

[yourout]

Max was complete ass from 3

[yourout]

Woof. What a terrible last two minutes

[RedStickBrew]

Just now, yourout said:

Woof. What a terrible last two minutes

Needed someone else to step up and help Blackwell and Tonje. Also needed to shoot better from 3 against this team. Their bigs killed us

[Joseph Zarr]

2 minutes ago, yourout said:

Woof. What a terrible last two minutes

I just read out the last 1 minute 25 seconds. Yeeeesh. That's an All-Time NCAA classic right der. Woooof.

[Jim French Stepstool]

Amazing how well those two bigs coordinated their game in the halfcourt. Either they hadn't emphasized that all year, or were better at it than they've been all season because they more than doubled their combined PPG. Just never had an answer for the big-to-big screen action.

You needed Crowl to be better tonight, but he'll get the majority of the criticism somewhat unfairly because he only scored two points on the other end. I'm not saying he played well, he didn't. But defensively Winter wasn't much better. And not many other options. Gilmore gives up 5-6 inches, Amos was getting sand kicked in his face when he was out there, and the one big-four small lineup just isn't going to work in this game unless you outscore them on the other end, and we were 6 for 27 from three. I seriously doubt you'll ever see a Greg Gard coached team play a zone, but if there ever was a game to have it in the holster this might've been it (and they don't have it in the holster).

Even with the severe disadvantage around the rim, if they hit just 1/3 of their 3pt shots they probably win.

[Playing Catch]

 

9 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

You needed Crowl to be better tonight, but he'll get the majority of the criticism somewhat unfairly

I respectfully disagree. None of the criticism would be unfair. He was terrible. 1-5, 5 fouls. Terrible, terrible, terrible.

Klesmit? 1-9 from deep. NINE shots from deep. Terrible.

I will remain bitter about that loss all season. We still don't know how good this team can be, but that loss will get in the way of some kind of goal, be it a B1G championship, or a much-needed game to get into the dance.

The Badgers were "in control" of that game throughout, and let it slip through their fingers. Bad, bad loss.

[CheezWizHed]

Well, at least we didn't lose to Howard...

[Jim French Stepstool]

5 hours ago, Playing Catch said:

 

I respectfully disagree. None of the criticism would be unfair. He was terrible. 1-5, 5 fouls. Terrible, terrible, terrible.

Klesmit? 1-9 from deep. NINE shots from deep. Terrible.

I will remain bitter about that loss all season. We still don't know how good this team can be, but that loss will get in the way of some kind of goal, be it a B1G championship, or a much-needed game to get into the dance.

The Badgers were "in control" of that game throughout, and let it slip through their fingers. Bad, bad loss.

I may have done a poor job conveying this but I was referring to the defensive side of the ball. IMO both he & Winter were equally lousy defending the two-man game between their bigs & both deserve criticism. On the offensive side, yes, Crowl deserves more barbs than Winter. He's made it clear he's more comfortable facing more conventional bigs. Well, he faced one yesterday & scored two points. Someone with his resume--a senior who averaged 11-12ppg the last two years--I agree needs to produce more.

Klesmit is frustrating right now. I'm sure he's getting a lot of shots up in practice, and needs to keep putting them up provided it's a good shot for him. Watching their offense, they're heavily involved in getting to the rim or shooting threes with not a whole lot in between. The getting to the rim part, we'll see much more of that from Blackwell, Tonje & McGee than Klesmit just based on skill set. I questioned a couple of his shots last night, but for the most part the main problem is he just needs to start MAKING them.

The good news is, we're talking about two seniors who have gotten it done in the past. Wanting to see them be more productive isn't some kind of pipe dream. But yeah, we're on the same page regarding how those two played last night. 

I never felt they were 'in control' of the game though. Had a chance to win, definitely. But way too much trouble stopping their bigs for me to feel we were in control.

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, CheezWizHed said:

Well, at least we didn't lose to Howard...

Too bad he isn't still there. Dusty May has gotten off to a nice start at Michigan. I was impressed by the way they played. AFA our chances for success vs them, give me Howard any time. Just keep your guard up in the handshake line (just checked the emojis, no boxing gloves lol)..