Wisconsin Basketball 2025-26

[LouisEly]

1 hour ago, yourout said:

Fletcher Loyer is a flopping douche nozzle.

The 3 amigos with Kaufman-Renn and Smith.  

So glad all three of those punks are gone.  Not sure who pushes off with their forearm more, Smith or Kaufman-Renn.

[adambr2]

3 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Loads of heroes. With Winter out, you kinda needed to outscore them. And how often does a team lean on its' offense to win in that place? Bieliauskas & Rapp got some deep looks as I thought, and combined for 8 hits. Blackwell was great throughout, and Boyd was magnificent in taking over late. That shot he made from the left side of the lane, with 2-3 defenders right there & having to recover the ball after momentarily losing it----if I ever need to find a magician for a kids' party, I'm hiring his ass.

I mentioned how I didn't like Blackwell on Smith, but it turns out the looser D was by design. Blackwell laid off him trying to keep him out of the lane & keep him from picking up 15 assists by dishing to bigs for and-ones. Late in the game he bellied up on him more. I guess you'd have to say it worked---Smith went 2-7 from deep---but still picked up nine assists. He's just a great PG. I won't miss him.

Purdue shot over 50%, shot 44% from three, only turned it over seven times & outrebounded UW by twelve. It's just so crazy to look at those numbers & realize they won the game. Another huge factor was only four TOs in the last 33 or so minutes of game time. And other than CJ Cox being mostly invisible offensively, no one for Purdue really played poorly. Just another gutsy, impressive win.

I have no idea what to expect this month from these guys. Their ceiling is winning the NCAA Tournament and their floor is getting blown out by 20 in a 5/12 matchup.

[yourout]

13 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

The 3 amigos with Kaufman-Renn and Smith.  

So glad all three of those punks are gone.  Not sure who pushes off with their forearm more, Smith or Kaufman-Renn.

One could say Loyer’s senior night was a flop.

[Jim French Stepstool]

21 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

I have no idea what to expect this month from these guys. Their ceiling is winning the NCAA Tournament and their floor is getting blown out by 20 in a 5/12 matchup.

If it's closer to the floor the culprit will be cold shooting from beyond the arc, not being connected on the defensive end, or a combination of the two.

The rebounding is always a concern, and a ++concern if Winter is less than 90%.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

3 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Loads of heroes. With Winter out, you kinda needed to outscore them. And how often does a team lean on its' offense to win in that place? Bieliauskas & Rapp got some deep looks as I thought, and combined for 8 hits. Blackwell was great throughout, and Boyd was magnificent in taking over late. That shot he made from the left side of the lane, with 2-3 defenders right there & having to recover the ball after momentarily losing it----if I ever need to find a magician for a kids' party, I'm hiring his ass.

I mentioned how I didn't like Blackwell on Smith, but it turns out the looser D was by design. Blackwell laid off him trying to keep him out of the lane & keep him from picking up 15 assists by dishing to bigs for and-ones. Late in the game he bellied up on him more. I guess you'd have to say it worked---Smith went 2-7 from deep---but still picked up nine assists. He's just a great PG. I won't miss him.

Purdue shot over 50%, shot 44% from three, only turned it over seven times & outrebounded UW by twelve. It's just so crazy to look at those numbers & realize Bucky won the game. Another huge factor was only four TOs in the last 33 or so minutes of game time. And other than CJ Cox being mostly invisible offensively, no one for Purdue really played poorly. Just another gutsy, impressive win.

You said it last week. Twos versus threes. Purdue shot it well, but they put up a lot of 8-10-footers that were well contested. The numbers won't show it, but I thought Rapp and AB did a decent job of avoiding fouls and forcing tough-ish shots. Then, on the other end, you had Boyd getting to the rim at will late, a lot of nice dishes for easy layups, and open corner threes.

This is not a defensively impressive team, but they do force inefficient shots a lot of the time. That's gold in March. I also loved Rapp, AB, and Rhode being aggressive. They stepped confidently into open looks. No timidity. Gotta have that with Winter out.

Speaking of, I didn't see Nolan on the bench? Assume he didn't make the trip. I saw the "day-to-day" update, but it looked vague in a "let's not give the committee any reason to downgrade our seed" kind of way. Be very surprised if he sees the floor next week or if we get a substantive update.

Good news is, it's looking more and more like this team is going to be on the 5 or 6 line, which is perfectly positioned to do damage. Sweet 16 should be the goal, but it'll take two very strong efforts.

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

You said it last week. Twos versus threes. Purdue shot it well, but they put up a lot of 8-10-footers that were well contested. The numbers won't show it, but I thought Rapp and AB did a decent job of avoiding fouls and forcing tough-ish shots. Then, on the other end, you had Boyd getting to the rim at will late, a lot of nice dishes for easy layups, and open corner threes.

This is not a defensively impressive team, but they do force inefficient shots a lot of the time. That's gold in March. I also loved Rapp, AB, and Rhode being aggressive. They stepped confidently into open looks. No timidity. Gotta have that with Winter out.

Speaking of, I didn't see Nolan on the bench? Assume he didn't make the trip. I saw the "day-to-day" update, but it looked vague in a "let's not give the committee any reason to downgrade our seed" kind of way. Be very surprised if he sees the floor next week or if we get a substantive update.

Good news is, it's looking more and more like this team is going to be on the 5 or 6 line, which is perfectly positioned to do damage. Sweet 16 should be the goal, but it'll take two very strong efforts.

Winter stayed in Madison. Gard said in postgame that he had a number of separate rehab/treatment sessions today so his plate was full--he mentioned Winter might not even have had time to watch the game save for phone updates.

Anyone's guess as to what 'day to day' means. I'd say the original "not as bad as originally feared" line sounds legitimate. If he's heading a bit northward every day then I'm happy, and Gard seemed to suggest that with his comments. It's nice for him to get four more days to work while his teammates get a little re-charge.

I thought Cluff, Kaufman-Renn & even Jacobsen had a real edge inside. But when you consider where Rapp was in November & that Bielauskas is a freshman, yeah I agree they both had their moments given the size & experience Purdue possesses. Their defensive growth was critical & it seems to be bearing some fruit. And they both shot it with confidence.

Right now, 5 or 6 looks like a pretty good guess.

[RedStickBrew]

6 hours ago, yourout said:

That was fun fun fun. 

Few teams on the planet I like to beat on senior day more than the Purdue flip flop douche nozzles.

Always great to take down Purdouche. That was a fun game to watch. 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

12 hours ago, adambr2 said:

I have no idea what to expect this month from these guys. Their ceiling is winning the NCAA Tournament and their floor is getting blown out by 20 in a 5/12 matchup.

Even so, it seems absurd they're unranked. They have to at least be 20-25. You can't tell me any of the teams there are better. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

17 hours ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Even so, it seems absurd they're unranked. They have to at least be 20-25. You can't tell me any of the teams there are better. 

Games like USC & Oregon hurt them in that regard. But they're now 4-2 vs teams in the B10 that have been ranked all/most of the season & I'm all but certain they'll pop back into the top 25 tomorrow.

[Jim French Stepstool]

Only remotely Badger BB related but Camren Hunter, who portaled to UW last season & played in eleven games, scored 49 points in Central Arkansas A-Sun Conference tourney championship game today. It would've been interesting if he didn't have the early injury situation when he was here as that immediately put him behind some people & he never caught up. Not saying this was a system he could've thrived in---there's the obvious step up in competition, and he needs the ball in his hands A LOT, sort of like Boyd in that regard---but if he came in healthy he might've carved a niche for himself.

Daniel Freitag (Buffalo) is another former UW guy who scored a ton of points this season. Of course, the flip side is scoring points usually hasn't been a problem this season, thank you very much.

[AKCheesehead]

Will you take 100 milligrams? 😂freitag was one I thought might do well at uw but you just never know 

[CheezWizHed]

I texted a friend of mine Saturday who is a huge Purdue BB fan.  He complained that I only text him whenever the Badgers beat Purdue.  I responded, at least that means I reach out yearly! 😂

[Jim French Stepstool]

11 hours ago, AKCheesehead said:

Will you take 100 milligrams? 😂freitag was one I thought might do well at uw but you just never know 

I did too. Just shows to go ya how recruiting can be such a crapshoot sometimes.

Like Gus Yalden. He does nothing here, goes to Seton Hall & averages under 2PPG, then this season playing in the America East Conference (Vermont) he's over 16ppg. Level of play, style of play---finding the correct fit can be tricky.

[Jim French Stepstool]

From the most recent Greg Gard presser:

Nolan Winter is "trying" to get ready for the BTT, but he will "definitely" be ready for the NCAAs.

There is a "possibility" that Jack Janicki could get on the floor for the NCAAs.

[CheezWizHed]

17 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I did too. Just shows to go ya how recruiting can be such a crapshoot sometimes.

Like Gus Yalden. He does nothing here, goes to Seton Hall & averages under 2PPG, then this season playing in the America East Conference (Vermont) he's over 16ppg. Level of play, style of play---finding the correct fit can be tricky.

I'm currently throwing down 44.7 ppg and 12.6 rpg in our local kindergarten league (I was held back).  Unfortunately, I have to pull back my aggression a bit as I've reached 4 points of flagrant fouls and I don't want to be suspended. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

Badgers play Washington tomorrow, which guarantees nothing but nevertheless is good news in that the Huskies played seven players (they're down to seven scholarship guys on the roster) in an OT game vs USC & have the quick turnaround. It seems that a team playing their 1st game in a tourney often starts out slow when meeting someone that's already played a game, so that's something to try to avoid.

Steinbach IMO didn't touch the ball nearly enough vs USC & I assume that's something they'll rectify, so a challenge there especially if Winter sits. And Diallo (if he has any legs left) is a pretty tough cover.

[Jim French Stepstool]

Nolan Winter officially listed as 'out' for todays' game. I expect a heavy dose of Steinbach as the Huskies want Bieliauskas & Rapp to prove they can deal with him in the paint.

[yourout]

It would really suck to choke this one away.

[yourout]

Massive gag job.

[young guns]

Not taking the free dunk from the corner was certainly a choice.

[tmwiese55]

Press break has been a consistent problem in the Bo/Gard.  Its a bit surprising more teams haven't done it vs them other than in desperation.

With these two guards, especially Boyd, its definitely not a personnel issue this year.    In general, I hate how teams (UW included) sit back and just let the traps play out rather than if you have a great ballhandler with great quickness (like boyd) to just get it and go. Attack it and beat them to the spots you'll get layups or fouls. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

Thoughts:

You're playing a team that had nothing to lose and never really hung their heads even when down 18. Then both Steinbach & Diallo got in a zone, and what contributed to the comeback was our starting to go cold from three. The long ball got us the big lead, and also helped let them back in because a team mixing in zone & not having to foul really isn't being stressed defensively. So the tired old adage of live by it, die by it.

Late in the game UW didn't handle the press well, for sure. But to me the biggest negative was the extra looks Washington had, pretty much throughout the game but especially in the 2nd half. I want to remind myself that Winter wasn't playing & Steinbach is probably the best rebounder in the entire conference, but they've been getting beat on the boards for a handful of games now & that HAS to get cleaned up. Steinbach is one thing, but Yates had 7 boards, Peterson 6, Muldrew 6. That can't happen. Clean that up, and we're up 25 or so & the late anxiety probably never occurs.

I thought Washington really under-used Steinbach vs USC & were kinda fortunate to win despite that. Of course vs us they get him nineteen shots. A healthy Winter would've been huge today, even if he never scored a point. Every low post touch, every 50-50 rebound, Steinbach was like a seventeen-year-old on the playground vs a bunch of sixth-graders--and it isn't like we weren't working. Just no one who could match him.

As for Bieliauskas having the late path to the hoop yes, he should've drove in. But I can see the thought process unfold as he got the ball--We're expecting to be fouled. Ball security is paramount (IIRC we just came out of a TO). And during the season, I'm pretty sure we work on zero sets in practice that involve Alexis Bieliauskas putting the ball on the deck & driving to the hoop. Plus, the kids' a freshman. Should he have taken it in? Again, yes. But I understand why there was hesitancy. And in a year or two, He'll probably have the recognition to cut to the cup BEFORE the pass is made, take one dribble, and dunk. THAT would've been the best recipe today.

Positives I saw: Obviously Blackwell & Boyd. Only five TOs. Bieliauskas DID have nine boards. And Jones & Garlock are slowly getting better.

[Jim French Stepstool]

6 minutes ago, tmwiese55 said:

   In general, I hate how teams (UW included) sit back and just let the traps play out rather than if you have a great ballhandler with great quickness (like boyd) to just get it and go. Attack it and beat them to the spots you'll get layups or fouls. 

I think that might be why you don't see opponents throw an occasional press at them early in the game. The style Bucky plays now, and the guards they have, you could get burned & cause a quicker pace, which nowadays suits UW just fine. I thought Sprinkle unleashed it at the perfect time. They crawled a little bit closer on the scoreboard, got us on our heels a little bit, then sprung it on us when maybe the circumstances of the game caused us to tap the brakes a little.

They had a couple opps late to take it strong to the hoop, yes. I just wish we had done a little more to get the Huskies in foul difficulty earlier in the half.

[Joseph Zarr]

Hey, they won the game and advance. Key Big is down and out for the foreseeable future but trending well. Take the 'W' regardless of the warts. Doesn't matter how you win in post-season play. Just win. Today's goal was accomplished despite its flaws.

[Jim French Stepstool]

Winter again listed as 'out' for today. After seeing what's been transpiring lately rebounding-wise & knowing how good Illinois is at hitting the offensive boards I'd have to say that after today, our next game will be next Thursday or Friday in the NCAAs. The Illini also have a back court stabilizer (Boswell) back who was still injured when we beat them in Champaign. Plus they have the advantage of playing in front of a lot of their home fans (No, the game isn't being played in Belgrade. It's in Chicago).

The flip side is the one way I can see beating the odds is to get & stay hot from beyond the arc, and we certainly are capable of that. On this day vs this team I just don't think it'll be quite enough.