Wisconsin Basketball 2025-26

[RedStickBrew]

11 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Signing day was last week and both committed freshmen signed & are in the fold for next season, LaTrevion Fenderson from Racine & Jackson Ball from New Zealand. Both are 6'5"-ish but Fenderson is more of a physical player who has a nose for the ball & whose best offensive game right now is from about 16ft & in while Ball is a guard with versatility who has competed successfully vs older competition & has a real shot at early minutes next year if Blackwell leaves early, and probably even if he doesn't.

Still recruiting Dominykas Daubaris, an 18-yr-old 6'9" forward from Lithuania who was in for a visit last month.

Fenderson and Ball are both considered combo guards now I guess. I was a bit surprised to hear Fenderson say the coaches are talking to him about playing the 1 and 2 spots. As I recall he was recruited as more of a wing. Perhaps they thought he would still grow a couple more inches when they started recruiting him. Ball can definitely handle the point and has a pretty high ceiling. 

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Haven't had a chance to watch much so far, but, hey the Badgers would win the MAC? That's good.

I wouldn't say tonight is a test, but SIU-E is a decent team with a good shot at the OVC autobid. Top 100 defense. Wouldn't be too surprised if they put up a good fight. 

Will look forward to getting a more extended look tonight and then during this stretch of tough games. Seems like, during the Bo era, everything came down to whether the team could score. Lately, feels the opposite. If we defend, we do well. That's not a comment on Gard. Aside from Houston, the whole division is more and more like that, with an identity that starts with being able to score the ball. We'll see what B10 play brings, but the BYU game will be a good look at how we stack versus an elite offense.

[Jim French Stepstool]

4 hours ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

 

I wouldn't say tonight is a test, but SIU-E is a decent team with a good shot at the OVC autobid. Top 100 defense. Wouldn't be too surprised if they put up a good fight. 

 

Yes. We're about to head out to the KC. It's one of those games where you want to get out to a good start----they've done that defensively the last two times out---and if you do so, don't let down as Indiana seemed to vs Incarnate Word.

[Jim French Stepstool]

5 hours ago, RedStickBrew said:

Fenderson and Ball are both considered combo guards now I guess. I was a bit surprised to hear Fenderson say the coaches are talking to him about playing the 1 and 2 spots. As I recall he was recruited as more of a wing. Perhaps they thought he would still grow a couple more inches when they started recruiting him. Ball can definitely handle the point and has a pretty high ceiling. 

I'd be really surprised if Fenderson played any PG for UW. He certainly seems like a wing forward to me.

Some got a tiny bit anxious when Balls' signing was a couple days behind Fendersons'. Maybe just a long-distance thing. Yeah, he's versatile & I agree the ceiling is pretty high. He's apparently spent a lot of time playing 'up' in relation to his age range.

[yourout]

It has to be easier recruiting playing at a more uptempo pace.

Certainly easier to watch.

[RedStickBrew]

12 minutes ago, yourout said:

It has to be easier recruiting playing at a more uptempo pace.

Certainly easier to watch.

Yeah. We haven’t had too many kids come in like Boyd over the years. Let’s see if they can get a couple of the ‘27 class now too

[yourout]

4 minutes ago, RedStickBrew said:

Yeah. We haven’t had too many kids come in like Boyd over the years. Let’s see if they can get a couple of the ‘27 class now too

It's been a while since we had a point guard with that kind of quicks.

[RedStickBrew]

12 minutes ago, yourout said:

It's been a while since we had a point guard with that kind of quicks.

I think he only had 1 turnover tonight. That works

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Yeah, this is my first real look at Boyd, and he's really good. You expect it given the resume at SDSU (a program that understands a lot about player development and defensive efficiency), but it's great to see. I especially like that it frees up Blackwell to play his more natural second guard position. 

Strong contributions across the board tonight. The next 7 tell us what this team is, I think, or at least gives us a solid idea. We should be favored in 4 of the games (all three BE teams, NW at home), underdogs vs. BYU and maybe at Nebraska, and then we'll see about Florida/TCU. You'd figure we get Florida and are not expected to win, but you never know.

5-2 would put the team in good shape. 4-3 is okay, depending. Anything above or below changes expectations more significantly in either direction.

[Jim French Stepstool]

I mentioned the other day about the high volume of 3pt shots & how I don't see it changing much. That'll make for some roller-coaster sequences. Like last night, I may not have this nailed perfectly but I believe they started out 1-9 from three, then made 7 of the next 9, then something like 3-12. At the end of the day, 15-39 is a percentage that pretty much justifies the high volume. SIUE really packed in their defense too, which mitigated the drives to the hoop & the screen & roll game. Would still like to see the occasional post up from Winter. If nothing else, passes out of the post almost always result in better 3pt looks.

He isn't stuffing the stat sheet AFA scoring or rebounding, but Garlock had 4 more assists last night. Sees the floor really well for a FR big. Once he develops somewhat of a mid-to-low post offensive game his ability to pass will put some terrific pressure on defenses.

Outside of a little too much penetration allowed, they guarded pretty well. Some really tough bank shots on drives from SIUE in the first half kept UW from maybe allowing around 60pts, which in todays' game is pretty outstanding. Maybe the most impressive thing from SIUE's perspective is shooting almost 45% & scoring 69 pts with their best scorer (Malith) in foul trouble for virtually the entire game. I suspect they'll make noise in the OVC.

There were two commercials on the video board last night, one UW sponsored & one for Piggly Wiggly, featuring Zack Kinziger. They've been talking about trying to sign kids to NIL deals of multiple years. I wonder if something like that has been hammered out with Kinziger, since it appears he isn't playing this season. It would be a refreshing development.

[Jim French Stepstool]

15 hours ago, RedStickBrew said:

I think he only had 1 turnover tonight. That works

And four for the game (team total), and one was questionable as the ball was pinballed around & maybe should not have been ruled a TO. That's Dick Bennett-type stuff, while playing much faster.

Keeping that # low helps justify the high 3pt volume, too. A cold spell from deep can kill you if it's combined with 15 trips where you get no shot off.

[Jim French Stepstool]

4 hours ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

 I especially like that it frees up Blackwell to play his more natural second guard position. 

 

Can't agree more. And if/when needed, all three perimeter guys can run point. Nice versatility on the roster.

[Playing Catch]

It's easier to avoid turnovers if you are willing to jack up the first semi-open shot your team gets. Playing faster leads to more looks, and if your team is mostly getting good looks, more looks is good.

In terms of the optimal ratio of 1s/2s/3s a team takes, I think "too many" 3's is a fallacy. They need to maximize opportunities to get to the line, and take open shots. They've been doing a good job with this balance. Very few forced shots, heat-checks, late-shot clock chances.

I think "too many" 3's usually means either that the opposition defense is really good (tough to get good looks), or really bad (lazy offense). There haven't been many poor stretches of offense, though.

It seems to me that the offense is basically, (Plan A), Boyd fastbreak layup/foul, (Plan B) Get the ball to Blackwell to score/create-and-dish, (Plan C) get the ball to the best matchup/iso that takes advantage of height (e.g. Rohde/Winter/Rapp spot-up or drive against shorter defender). And I think this is a pretty good plan. These plans will be harder to implement as the competition improves, but so far, this team looks really, really fluid. Like all 10 of them have been playing together for years, and are just passing it around for fun.

The defense is well behind the offense so far, which I think is probably a good thing. They've had some stretches of strong defensive play, and their defense will be tough enough --- and deep enough --- to slow down decent teams. We'll see if they can continue to force turnovers and slow down B1G-quality teams.

[Jim French Stepstool]

5 hours ago, Playing Catch said:

 

The defense is well behind the offense so far, which I think is probably a good thing. They've had some stretches of strong defensive play, and their defense will be tough enough --- and deep enough --- to slow down decent teams. We'll see if they can continue to force turnovers and slow down B1G-quality teams.

The defense has been showing signs of more consistency but isn't "there" yet, which is why I'm not overly optimistic about the BYU game. From what I've seen so far, a win on Friday would need to be a 92-87 type game and I don't know about them shooting it well enough for 40 minutes to do that in their first trip outside the state, and vs quality. But the guards have it in them to defend, and the bigs are getting there--Rapp in particular did some nice 'dirty work' on Monday.

Dybantsa for BYU is a really tough matchup. I'm guessing Rohde gets the call.

[Jim French Stepstool]

5 hours ago, Playing Catch said:

 

In terms of the optimal ratio of 1s/2s/3s a team takes, I think "too many" 3's is a fallacy. They need to maximize opportunities to get to the line, and take open shots. They've been doing a good job with this balance. Very few forced shots, heat-checks, late-shot clock chances.

I think "too many" 3's usually means either that the opposition defense is really good (tough to get good looks), or really bad (lazy offense). There haven't been many poor stretches of offense, though.

 

I agree that most of the shots from 3 have been good looks, and Gard doesn't seem to mind if they're early in the clock. What's key is that if the defense is extended the screen & roll needs to hum since posting up isn't a big part of the picture, at least not now. 

And like you said, Boyd & Blackwell driving the ball.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

23 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

The defense has been showing signs of more consistency but isn't "there" yet, which is why I'm not overly optimistic about the BYU game. From what I've seen so far, a win on Friday would need to be a 92-87 type game and I don't know about them shooting it well enough for 40 minutes to do that in their first trip outside the state, and vs quality. But the guards have it in them to defend, and the bigs are getting there--Rapp in particular did some nice 'dirty work' on Monday.

Dybantsa for BYU is a really tough matchup. I'm guessing Rohde gets the call.

I'm very excited for this game. 

Worth pointing out that BYU may be minus two starters, after one of their guys left early with something that looked like a concussion and another appears to have been involved in a DUI (something for which BYU actually might hold players accountable).

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

I've seen some bad basketball courts in my day, but....whooo boy.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Badgers look the weaker team so far, but they hadn't played all that poorly until the little BYU spurt before the 6 minute mark. Defended alright and got some decent looks. 2 fouls on Boyd and Carrington hurt.

I think BYU has gotten the better whistle, but some of that is they've been more aggressive. Dybantsa also maybe getting a little of the royal treatment too.

Speaking of, I feel basketball sliding a little down the slippery slope of trying to induce fouls more and more. It's not quite at the pre-pitch clock era in terms of it's impact on pace, but it isn't far from it. People always hated that approach in soccer, and it isn't exactly flopping, but lots of guys just play to get fouled these days. Not a good development. I do not want the switch to quarters (mostly because I HATE advancing the ball on timeouts), but they might have to disincentivize playing into contact.

See if they can get it going in the last 25 mins here. I could see anything from a narrow Badger W to a BYU blowout.

 

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

Early on, I thought they were defending OK, mostly. But it got worse later on, not dealing well with some really good ball movement, not stopping penetration. Of course, this IS a really talented BYU group. Dybantsa, there were times we did all we could & it made no difference. 

A couple OREBS allowed late in the half hurt quite a bit.

I think we're somewhat guilty of getting rattled on the offensive end. Jones, he played like this is a little too big of a stage for him right now, and maybe it is. Rapp had about as bad a half of basketball as you can imagine. Winter was pretty active but needs help inside.

There IS some foul trouble brewing on BYU's side as well, so we'll see if UW can settle down, get some good looks, get back to the FT line.

[Jim French Stepstool]

23 minutes ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

Badgers look the weaker team so far, but they hadn't played all that poorly until the little BYU spurt before the 6 minute mark. Defended alright and got some decent looks. 2 fouls on Boyd and Carrington hurt.

I think BYU has gotten the better whistle, but some of that is they've been more aggressive. Dybantsa also maybe getting a little of the royal treatment too.

Speaking of, I feel basketball sliding a little down the slippery slope of trying to induce fouls more and more. It's not quite at the pre-pitch clock era in terms of it's impact on pace, but it isn't far from it. People always hated that approach in soccer, and it isn't exactly flopping, but lots of guys just play to get fouled these days. Not a good development. I do not want the switch to quarters (mostly because I HATE advancing the ball on timeouts), but they might have to disincentivize playing into contact.

See if they can get it going in the last 25 mins here. I could see anything from a narrow Badger W to a BYU blowout.

 

 

The two early fouls on Boyd seemed to hurt quite a bit. I didn't expect them to struggle that much with him on the bench, but it was a pretty bad stretch.

I agree re foul calls in the college game. Some of these 'points of emphasis' & changes every off-season, IMO there's no need for it. Basketball IS a contact sport. I don't think anyone wants to watch a "he's a projected top ten pick & missed the shot, so It must've been a foul" type game.

That said, BYU is showing great aggressiveness & many of the calls today are probably legit. Need to stop the ball w/o having to help a lot. Tough vs this group.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

I guess my takeaway from this one is that there are a lot of new guys on this team, and they haven't figured it out yet. We didn't shoot it well, BYU got what they wanted on offense most of the time.

On a micro level, the possession after Dybantsa got his 4th felt big. You give up a wide open corner three to Baker, who, other than Saunders, is the one guy you don't want to leave. Breakdown there, and the Badgers never got back in it.

 

Who is the guy for the Badgers? That's the question. It should be Blackwell, but he doesn't seem quite ready to embrace that role yet. Boyd, OTOH, is all confidence. Liked what I saw from Carrington too, and Winter played well. Lot of positives, even in a November blowout. Felt to me like one where we just got our first taste of a road environment against a good team.

Time to bounce back.

[Jim French Stepstool]

12 minutes ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

 

On a micro level, the possession after Dybantsa got his 4th felt big. You give up a wide open corner three to Baker, who, other than Saunders, is the one guy you don't want to leave. Breakdown there, and the Badgers never got back in it.

 

 

Spot-on. Then after the three, the next two BYU possessions were missed shots, but one resulted in a putback dunk, the other a long rebound where Boyd committed his 3rd foul.

[Jim French Stepstool]

Talked about this earlier--if UW isn't making threes, they aren't going to stop shooting them. Eventually water has found its' level this season & the percentages justify shooting them. Today 7-29, the starting five 2-21. BYU won the rebounding battle 41-36 but it seemed much worse to me, probably because of the OREBs. It seemed like BYU made an emphasis to battle for 2nd & 3rd looks, and we responded poorly. I remember one time just ahead of the under 8 TO there was a BYU miss, Winter had perfect box out position, and his man still scrapped, battled from behind Winter w/o fouling & somehow kept the possession alive. That, and the 50-50 balls were mostly no contest today. 

Cougars were awfully good today, and obviously we need to be much better in an atmosphere like that. BYU seemed to play as if THEY were the team that lost a close one in the tourney last year & wanted revenge. Impressive energy.

Austin Rapp is going to pay a lot of dividends this season, for sure. But today kinda illustrated how important it is to get offense from him cuz the ancillary stuff, at least today, was non-existent.

Positives, I would say the bench wasn't a huge factor but competed, and Carrington & Janicki actually provided a little offense as well.

My favorite comment from the announcing team was about the enthusiastic support in the stands & how well the BYU fans travel. Really? Provo is like 40 miles away, and you would assume many of their alums live right in SLC.

[yourout]

I'm guessing this season will be a lot like most badger seasons. Decent team and will finish in the top half the big 10 and will make the dance but ultimately not add any hardware to the trophy case.

And that's okay for me.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

1 hour ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Talked about this earlier--if UW isn't making threes, they aren't going to stop shooting them. Eventually water has found its' level this season & the percentages justify shooting them. Today 7-29, the starting five 2-21. BYU won the rebounding battle 41-36 but it seemed much worse to me, probably because of the OREBs. It seemed like BYU made an emphasis to battle for 2nd & 3rd looks, and we responded poorly. I remember one time just ahead of the under 8 TO there was a BYU miss, Winter had perfect box out position, and his man still scrapped, battled from behind Winter w/o fouling & somehow kept the possession alive. That, and the 50-50 balls were mostly no contest today. 

Cougars were awfully good today, and obviously we need to be much better in an atmosphere like that. BYU seemed to play as if THEY were the team that lost a close one in the tourney last year & wanted revenge. Impressive energy.

Austin Rapp is going to pay a lot of dividends this season, for sure. But today kinda illustrated how important it is to get offense from him cuz the ancillary stuff, at least today, was non-existent.

Positives, I would say the bench wasn't a huge factor but competed, and Carrington & Janicki actually provided a little offense as well.

My favorite comment from the announcing team was the enthusiastic support in the stands & how well the BYU fans travel. Provo is like 40 miles away, and you would assume many of their alums live right in SLC.

Good analysis here. I think the big thing you're right about is that BYU just looked more poised and in control.

 

Some of that is the environment, certainly. We'll see how this team responds because there's no real recovery period in terms of opposition. Providence expects to dance, and they (and the Big East) need a big win. 

I think the three games versus the BE are going to define this nonconference portion. We should win all 3 given what I have seen early on. Do that, and you're feeling okay no matter how the other games turn out.