Wisconsin Basketball 2025-26

[RedStickBrew]

BYU is a really good team. They have an NBA lotto pick and a lot of really good role players.

I expect UW will bounce back fine from this and play better next game. There is some talent on this team. 

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

16 hours ago, RedStickBrew said:

BYU is a really good team. They have an NBA lotto pick and a lot of really good role players.

I expect UW will bounce back fine from this and play better next game. There is some talent on this team. 

 

All true. I was a little annoyed by the announcers reaction when Dybantsa left w/the four fouls, as if they were going through some immense test while he sat. That's a pretty damn good team even w/o him.

It's just disappointing how the starters played and like Gard said, how they responded to BYU. It certainly was a huge step up in competition from the first four games. But besides the wars Winter & Blackwell have been through Rohde spent two years in the ACC & Boyd started 37 games for a team that made a FF run. Austin Rapp had a terrible day yesterday, almost to the point of me wanting to question his toughness vs better competition. But taking a closer look at his previous yr he had a 9pt, 9 rebound game at Oregon and averaged 10 & 5 in his four games vs St Marys & Gonzaga. 

So yes, certainly some talent. And it takes time to get everyone on the same page defensively. Hopefully this is nothing more than a very ugly mulligan.

[yourout]

Another 50 point half. 

Bo's got to be doing a double take when he sees last year's games and this year's so far.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Caught most of this one, but only in chunks. Big thing that stood out was creating turnovers and getting in transition. A couple of big threes right before the half, too.

Not sure if it's a shame or a good think that TCU beat Florida. I think TCU has a shot at being a Q1, and we're more likely to beat them, but always fun to take another crack at a top 10 team. Hopefully they play just they did tonight and get another power conference win.

[Jim French Stepstool]

I also only saw the game in between visiting w/family & expanding the ole' waistline. From what I ascertained the pregame stuff I heard was accurate---Providence has some talent & can score, but isn't exactly Bob Knight-like on the defensive end.

Nick Boyd isn't bashful (25 shots) but if he's going to shoot 60% from the floor, ummmmm, OK. Looking at the box score I see Rapp had a nice bounceback game, and Janicki shot the ball really well.

[Jim French Stepstool]

6 hours ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

Caught most of this one, but only in chunks. Big thing that stood out was creating turnovers and getting in transition. 

I noticed that, too. Vs a group that tries to go too fast like I think Providence was sometimes guilty of, Boyd & Blackwell can wreak havoc, as can Janicki & Carrington. Also only 6 Badger TOs.

Tomorrows' game looked like a real challenge Whether it was TCU or Florida. Since a squeaker over New Orleans in their opener the Frogs have been pretty good, beating FLA & losing to Michigan by four. Not a lot of imposing height, but some girth. Winter missed one shot from inside the arc all day vs Providence. Whether it's screen & roll or posting, would like to see the ball in his hands in the post.

Brock Harding (late of Iowa) starts at guard for them.

[Playing Catch]

Yesterday was the Boyd we were sold. Every team wants to stop the ball, but he makes that primary task very difficult.

Winter has been outstanding, so far. He's going to be a tough matchup for B1G teams that want to bully their way to the offensive glass. Between him, Rapp, and Bieliauskas, they've got just enough height/weight/rim protection to defend the post --- my annual, nay perpetual, concern.

It looks like Gard's 6, 7, and 8 are pretty well set with Janicki, Bieliauskas, and Carrington. I approve.

Torvik has Michigan favored in all of their remaining games after destroying Gonzaga, and giving Mark Few his career-worst loss. To my eye, though, they don't look quite as intimidating as all that. I'm not sure if I've seen a team that I fear in that way this season, but I probably just don't watch enough basketball.

TCU made it a game against Michigan, and of course, beat Florida yesterday. Torvik has TCU a quad-II, which kind of puts today's game as an okay win, or an unfortunate loss. I really dislike those games. 

It should be interesting if TCU's pressure can turn over and withstand Boyd's breakneck-but-ball-secure Bucky, as well as if the Badgers can indeed neutralize a team that likes to rebound the ball.

[Jim French Stepstool]

3 hours ago, Playing Catch said:

Yesterday was the Boyd we were sold. Every team wants to stop the ball, but he makes that primary task very difficult.

Winter has been outstanding, so far. He's going to be a tough matchup for B1G teams that want to bully their way to the offensive glass. Between him, Rapp, and Bieliauskas, they've got just enough height/weight/rim protection to defend the post --- my annual, nay perpetual, concern.

It looks like Gard's 6, 7, and 8 are pretty well set with Janicki, Bieliauskas, and Carrington. I approve.

Torvik has Michigan favored in all of their remaining games after destroying Gonzaga, and giving Mark Few his career-worst loss. To my eye, though, they don't look quite as intimidating as all that. I'm not sure if I've seen a team that I fear in that way this season, but I probably just don't watch enough basketball.

TCU made it a game against Michigan, and of course, beat Florida yesterday. Torvik has TCU a quad-II, which kind of puts today's game as an okay win, or an unfortunate loss. I really dislike those games. 

It should be interesting if TCU's pressure can turn over and withstand Boyd's breakneck-but-ball-secure Bucky, as well as if the Badgers can indeed neutralize a team that likes to rebound the ball.

He isn't as 'game ready' as the other three but I'd include Garlock in the comment re post defense. He has the size & bulk, and as long as he doesn't get caught out in space on switches a lot he'll contribute. Certainly behind the other post guys at this point but when you think of the term 'freshman big' he appears physical enough to transcend that stereotype. They don't really need scoring from him right now; hopefully that'll come.

Rapp might be a key today. He had a horrible game vs BYU & followed it up with a great performance, not only scoring the ball but on the boards & defensively. UW needs the second one to show up on a more regular basis. Looking forward to this one. Running their offense & getting good shots will be much tougher vs TCU than it was vs the Friars.

[Jim French Stepstool]

5 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

 Running their offense & getting good shots will be much tougher vs TCU than it was vs the Friars.

The above was one of the big stories of the 1st half. During the course of the season you'll have games where you're being guarded well & struggle, especially when you're not on your home court. That's why it's so important to match defensive intensity, and for most of the 1st half UW didn't. Was getting sick of watching the curly-haired kid basically shoot set shots. The defensive fire returned late in the half; hopefully it's there to stay.

After all that, down four at half while turning it over eight times. I almost feel like someone needs to post, to help alleviate the aggressive perimeter D if nothing else. Inverting things & posting up Blackwell or Boyd on occasion wouldn't be a bad idea either.

Winter & Rapp having one of those halves, on the offensive end, where they might as well be 6'4". One way or another you have to find a way to stretch TCU out & make them pay for the overplay on the perimeter.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Badgers grading out in the 60s in the first round of the NET. Seems about right given their performance so far. No truly bad losses (though did get blown out against BYU), but no real good wins either. 

They'll get plenty of chances in a loaded B1G. NW (46) at home this week is Q2, Nebraska (32) on the road is Q1. Marquette (168...ouch) at home is a Q4 as of today, but that's going to change. Villanova (53) on a neutral is borderline Q1. Especially with challenge games and early conference play this week, those numbers will shift a lot. Good temperature check over the next two weeks, though.

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

Badgers grading out in the 60s in the first round of the NET. Seems about right given their performance so far. No truly bad losses (though did get blown out against BYU), but no real good wins either. 

They'll get plenty of chances in a loaded B1G. NW (46) at home this week is Q2, Nebraska (32) on the road is Q1. Marquette (168...ouch) at home is a Q4 as of today, but that's going to change. Villanova (53) on a neutral is borderline Q1. Especially with challenge games and early conference play this week, those numbers will shift a lot. Good temperature check over the next two weeks, though.

I usually don't look at the computer stuff at this early point of the season. Many good early non-con matchups but a lot of buy games across the country as well. Somewhere in the 60s sounds about right to me too.

Northwestern isn't one of those teams overloaded with talent, but they'll come well-prepared & will be a problem if we aren't. I'll be interested in seeing who guards Martinelli. UW's switching, communication & just overall consistency on defense HAS to get better. I'm not overly concerned about the scoring, although the obsession with playing faster & shooting threes has to be tempered with recognizing the importance of getting favorable matchups & taking the extra 5-10 seconds to make that happen if need be. Having trouble scoring vs TCU wasn't startling, but the TO rate was much too high.

After setting screens, Winter & Rapp have to be a little more cognizant of rolling to the cup & less apt to just be happy floating around the perimeter.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

1 hour ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I usually don't look at the computer stuff at this early point of the season. Many good early non-con matchups but a lot of buy games across the country as well. Somewhere in the 60s sounds about right to me too.

Northwestern isn't one of those teams overloaded with talent, but they'll come well-prepared & will be a problem if we aren't. I'll be interested in seeing who guards Martinelli. UW's switching, communication & just overall consistency on defense HAS to get better. I'm not overly concerned about the scoring, although the obsession with playing faster & shooting threes has to be tempered with recognizing the importance of getting favorable matchups & taking the extra 5-10 seconds to make that happen if need be. Having trouble scoring vs TCU wasn't startling, but the TO rate was much too high.

After setting screens, Winter & Rapp have to be a little more cognizant of rolling to the cup & less apt to just be happy floating around the perimeter.

This is all good stuff. 

One positive takeaway I had from the TCU game was that the intensity was there. That team really put in the effort to come back and looked like they cared. I know that seems like a low bar, but in these holiday tournaments it often isn't. Boyd's compete is off the charts. Rohde took a horrible tech, but I liked the intensity, anyway. Honestly, that wasn't a vibe I got from previous year's Badger teams. Not questioning their toughness in any way, but something in the intangibles felt missing a little bit, and I think it cost them in the BYU game where it really took them a while to believe they could lose. 

Looking forward to tomorrow night for sure. And will definitely be watching Iowa at MSU, which would headline any normal December night, but is maybe only the fourth best game on the schedule given three ranked v. ranked matchups. Plus, Purdue gets its first real road exposure in NJ. They're a 14.5 pt favorite, which is definitely not something you see every day in that building. Fun night of hoops ahead!

[Jim French Stepstool]

3 hours ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

This is all good stuff. 

One positive takeaway I had from the TCU game was that the intensity was there. That team really put in the effort to come back and looked like they cared. I know that seems like a low bar, but in these holiday tournaments it often isn't. Boyd's compete is off the charts. Rohde took a horrible tech, but I liked the intensity, anyway. Honestly, that wasn't a vibe I got from previous year's Badger teams. Not questioning their toughness in any way, but something in the intangibles felt missing a little bit, and I think it cost them in the BYU game where it really took them a while to believe they could lose. 

Looking forward to tomorrow night for sure. And will definitely be watching Iowa at MSU, which would headline any normal December night, but is maybe only the fourth best game on the schedule given three ranked v. ranked matchups. Plus, Purdue gets its first real road exposure in NJ. They're a 14.5 pt favorite, which is definitely not something you see every day in that building. Fun night of hoops ahead!

I liked the last few minutes of the half vs Da Frogs, and the last 5 minutes of the game. Definitely great intensity & effort in those stretches, and it coincided with their best defense of the entire game (surprise, surprise). It's why I'm watching & waiting for that end of the floor to show consistency and --I think I heard Mike Bruesewitz use the word 'connectivity'. That works. Fullcourt press looked pretty effective late, but of course you can't rely on that to bring energy.

I too feel good about the intangibles re guys like Rohde & Boyd. Carrington has his head screwed on pretty tight too. In the past, IMO the deal was that Tonje competed well & all that, but really wasn't a rah rah type. The guy conducted himself as an adult, which is fine. Then there's Storr, who played for the name on the uniform for four months at a time until the next highest bidder came along.

They made a terrific hire, but I'm not 100% sold on Iowa quite yet, especially going into EL. After getting their eyes opened a bit in San Diego I wonder how Florida will do in Cameron.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

18 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I liked the last few minutes of the half vs Da Frogs, and the last 5 minutes of the game. Definitely great intensity & effort in those stretches, and it coincided with their best defense of the entire game (surprise, surprise). It's why I'm watching & waiting for that end of the floor to show consistency and --I think I heard Mike Bruesewitz use the word 'connectivity'. That works. Fullcourt press looked pretty effective late, but of course you can't rely on that to bring energy.

I too feel good about the intangibles re guys like Rohde & Boyd. Carrington has his head screwed on pretty tight too. In the past, IMO the deal was that Tonje competed well & all that, but really wasn't a rah rah type. The guy conducted himself as an adult, which is fine. Then there's Storr, who played for the name on the uniform for four months at a time until the next highest bidder came along.

They made a terrific hire, but I'm not 100% sold on Iowa quite yet, especially going into EL. After getting their eyes opened a bit in San Diego I wonder how Florida will do in Cameron.

You were right about Iowa. Listless performance. No urgency. Stirtz looked overwhelmed. I still like that team, so we'll see, but long way to go.

Florida made a run, but Boozer is the real deal.

Looking forward to the Badgers tonight!

[yourout]

After playing a really good first half there playing kind of a stinker in the second. 

They'll still win but yuck.

[RedStickBrew]

5 minutes ago, yourout said:

After playing a really good first half there playing kind of a stinker in the second. 

They'll still win but yuck.

That first half was near perfect in many ways. I think the second half is unfortunately what happens when the game is all but over at halftime

[Jim French Stepstool]

Yeah, the 2nd half was tough to watch. Give credit to Singleton, Page & Martinelli for playing hard to the buzzer, especially Martinelli after tweaking the ankle. What bothered me in the 2nd half was the sloppiness---I think 7 TOs in the half, a couple of them really ugly---and not matching the NU energy on the boards, way too many 2nd & 3rd looks. But when things go south it's nice to have a guy like Boyd to take over & find a way to get to the lane & the FT line.

Blackwell's performance speaks for itself. And I liked how Rapp did some positive things after coming off the bench. And continued baby steps for Janicki on the offensive end. Normal solid defensive & floor game from him, but it looks like the comfort level & confidence is starting to come on the offensive end. Shot looks a lot better.

[Jim French Stepstool]

59 minutes ago, RedStickBrew said:

That first half was near perfect in many ways. 

Agreed. Rohde, Blackwell & Boyd all played really well on both ends & gave us a huge edge over the NW guards from the get-go. A couple late NW threes were the only damper on a magnificent defensive half. Seven steals for the game is quite a bit vs a team that usually plays pretty smart basketball.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Yeah, not much else to add here. Combination of game being over and still trying to gel for a consistent 40 minutes probably explain the 2nd half. The first half was a straight-up knockout blow, but they'll need all 40 @Nebraska for sure, and probably in a rivalry game against desperate Marquette on Saturday, not to mention Villanova the next week. 

We'll see how the Badgers handle what seems to me to be a VERY deep lineup. Deeper than most years, anyway. They probably go 9 or 10 down the roster. That doesn't matter as much in the NCAAT itself (the year we beat undefeated Kentucky, Devin Booker played 19 (!) minutes, and that hurt Kentucky more than anything helped them), but you'd figure it'll help over a grinding, 20-game league schedule.

Probably the best win of the year for the Badgers all things considered. Not EXACTLY where you want to be at the early B1G window, but not far off, either. Right now, flip the TCU game, and this team looks really good. Right now, it's more like I have lots of reasons for optimism, but need them to bank a serious road/neutral W to start to feel like they can be a top-6 seed. Hopefully that's coming.

[Jim French Stepstool]

2 hours ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

Yeah, not much else to add here. Combination of game being over and still trying to gel for a consistent 40 minutes probably explain the 2nd half. The first half was a straight-up knockout blow, but they'll need all 40 @Nebraska for sure, and probably in a rivalry game against desperate Marquette on Saturday, not to mention Villanova the next week. 

We'll see how the Badgers handle what seems to me to be a VERY deep lineup. Deeper than most years, anyway. They probably go 9 or 10 down the roster. That doesn't matter as much in the NCAAT itself (the year we beat undefeated Kentucky, Devin Booker played 19 (!) minutes, and that hurt Kentucky more than anything helped them), but you'd figure it'll help over a grinding, 20-game league schedule.

Probably the best win of the year for the Badgers all things considered. Not EXACTLY where you want to be at the early B1G window, but not far off, either. Right now, flip the TCU game, and this team looks really good. Right now, it's more like I have lots of reasons for optimism, but need them to bank a serious road/neutral W to start to feel like they can be a top-6 seed. Hopefully that's coming.

I imagine it'll stay a 9-man rotation, mostly. I liked what I saw of Hayden Jones right from the first time I saw him in the scrimmage, but barring injuries I imagine he'll remain behind Carrington & Janicki. And unless you run & press for most of the game, going 2 deep along the perimeter is usually as far as you need to go. Maybe if they have games where they go small as they did vs TCU...........?

As you said, still fighting for consistency. I'm sure having the huge lead had something to do with it, but being outscored by eleven in the final twenty minutes should spearhead the teaching points going into Saturday.

[Jim French Stepstool]

A few thought on todays' "Super Bowl".........

It's pretty obvious this isn't one of MUs' best squads, but I wasn't buying some of the comments out there about how bad they were (I haven't seen much of their games). I thought defensively in the 1st half their overplay & recover, foot movement & hedging was really good & kept UW in check until Blackwell started going off. I also thought some of their open looks from three were by design, especially when as the game unfolded it was obvious their best boat is to drive the ball. If they can knock down shots they can win their share of games. Hell, they were a couple of plays away from being 7-2 coming into today. But if they can't 'muck up' a game & make it an up & down affair that'll be a problem.

Good & Bad from Gard today. I have no idea how you don't get Blackwell out of there late in the half w/the two fouls. OTOH, keeping him on the bench to start the 2nd half was a solid decision, and I thought UW treading water in the first 8 minutes if the half--even opening it up a little--with Blackwell sitting was maybe the closest thing to a key in the game.

Andrew Rohde was absolutely terrific today in all aspects. POTG as far as I'm concerned.

Coming out party for Bieliauskas? He can really be an X factor if he shows some semblance of what he did today from here on out.

Bad half, then a pretty good one from Rapp. Let's hope he settles into a relief role cuz it looks like that's the plan moving forward.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

My main takeaway from today is that Marquette just lacks the ability to score, and they don't have enough athleticism to grind teams down defensively, especially in a sport that really is starting to look more and more NBA by the week. I agree with @Jim French Stepstool that MU will probably win their share and get better, but that's a really underwhelming squad right now, other than Ben Gold, who looks like their best player.

Badgers winning games they should win by the margins they should win them by. Wednesday at Nebraska is a big one. Road wins are gold in this league. That's a gettable one, even though I like the Huskers NCAA shot this year.

 

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

 

Badgers winning games they should win by the margins they should win them by. Wednesday at Nebraska is a big one. Road wins are gold in this league. That's a gettable one, even though I like the Huskers NCAA shot this year.

 

 

It'll be a real challenge but yeah, gettable. Their best win is probably a neutral-court game vs Oklahoma, and their closest thing to a roadie is K-State in Kansas City. 

They seem to play quite a bit better in Lincoln, more than your usual home-road team splits. I held the opinion for awhile that Hoiberg was a vastly overrated coach, but he seems to have them guarding pretty well the last couple seasons & they appear to have money to throw around (I almost throw up in my mouth a little every time I make reference to that when talking about the college game).

Hoibergs' kid is a nice energy guy.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

2 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

It'll be a real challenge but yeah, gettable. Their best win is probably a neutral-court game vs Oklahoma, and their closest thing to a roadie is K-State in Kansas City. 

They seem to play quite a bit better in Lincoln, more than your usual home-road team splits. I held the opinion for awhile that Hoiberg was a vastly overrated coach, but he seems to have them guarding pretty well the last couple seasons & they appear to have money to throw around (I almost throw up in my mouth a little every time I make reference to that when talking about the college game).

Hoibergs' kid is a nice energy guy.

Hoiberg really pioneered the transfer thing at Iowa State. Once everyone started doing that, the advantage slipped noticeably. He hasn't found the next market inefficiency. He does have some talent on the roster, though, including an international kid who can really play.

He's been....fine at Nebraska. I thought he'd be better. At the time, I thought it was the right call to take a shot with him over Tim Miles (not a no-brainer, far from it, but the right call in terms of upside nonetheless), but in hindsight? Not so sure things have worked out as they thought in Lincoln. 

I mean the game has changed so much in the last five years, it's hard to judge any coaching hire too harshly. Say that for Gard. He has adapted and kept the Badgers relevant. Obviously folks want more tourney success, but look around. When a Jay Wright or Tony Bennett retires suddenly, things get ugly quick. Bo was in that top tier of coaches, and Gard has been about as good of a follow-up as anyone could reasonably expect. High marks from me, anyway.

[Jim French Stepstool]

2 hours ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

 Bo was in that top tier of coaches, and Gard has been about as good of a follow-up as anyone could reasonably expect. High marks from me, anyway.

And from me, and anyone else that appreciates Xs & Os. Just a solid, solid coach with a real knack for roster construction. He's adapted to the new landscape very well IMO.