Cool Hand Lucroy

Kind of seemed like this one turned in set 4, after the Badgers clawed back to 24-24. They gave it a run in the fifth, but were in desperation mode basically the whole time. Great tournament for the Badgers. My only disappointment is an all-SEC final, but the Texas A&M-Nebraska match was an ELITE sporting event and the best possible argument for on-campus regional finals. Great atmosphere, incredible match. If I had a few extra million lying around, I'd be trying to buy a women's pro volleyball team right now. Hard to imagine going broke on this sport's growth curve, and it deserves all the attention. Highly competitive, good atmosphere, incredible athleticism that translates to television.

He's a 2nd round pick (Baddoo) vs. a 9th round pick (Collins). That's the pedigree I'm talking about. Alls I'm saying is, I think arguing over whether you'd rather have Collins or Baddoo is a little po-tato po-tah-to. One guy had his good year four years ago. One guy is coming off of his good year. One guy is a little more toolsy and profiled better upon being drafted, the other guy came out of nowhere. Again, totally fine if you'd much rather have Collins. I just don't see anything special there. In a lot of ways, I'll feel great for Collins if he proves that take wrong. He's a good story! I'm also with @sveumrules and a little higher on Black than some and definitely think Lara could be a big part of this club's future. All of that is why I think this is a good gamble for the Crew (which recognizes that gambles involve risk).

I genuinely think I just like Perkins, Baddoo, Chourio, Frelick, and Lockridge (plus whatever you get from Yelich) as much as I like Perkins, Collins, Chuorio, Frelick, and Lockridge (plus whatever you get from Yelich). We've got 6 guys and Bauers who can play outfield fine. I'd like BETTER players, but losing Collins doesn't make the position any weaker IMO. There are legit arguments that we're not THAT deep at OF, but I think you have to say that Collins is a lot better than Lockridge/Baddoo to make the case that this trade hurts. Call me a sucker for buying more into Baddoo's pedigree more than Collins' 2025, I suppose. It's a fair point, and we'll see how it plays out. Like I said, Brewers taking on risk here. But that's a good thing. We're all probably willing to sacrifice some regular season magic for playoff upside at this point. This move screams that to me. Give me the team-cobtrolled lefty with high-end BP potential over the ROY outfielder regression candidate, even though he might not regress. EDIT: Mitchell is the best OF of all these guys, but obviously he has to show he can get 400 ABs.

I'm just really not a big fan of either Collins or Mears, TBH. Sounds like a lot of MLB people think the same. Remember that Akil Baddoo was sort of Isaac Collins before Isaac Collins. That career trajectory is a very, very plausible outcome for half of this trade. The other half is a 30-year-old reliever with a 97 ERA+. Zerpa has more upside than both those guys, and we have A LOT of OF depth. Does this return seem a little light? Maybe? But were Collins and Mears really going to return better upside? Like, this roster seems pretty clearer better today than two days ago. A lot better? No. But better, and marginal improvements have always been the Crew's MO. I don't believe Isaac Collins is much more than a replacement level player over the long-term. That being a wildly incorrect guess seems to be the only real way this trade goes bad. It feels like we got younger, higher upside Nick Mears for Nick Mears and organizational depth. The Royals get a solid relief option and a guy they hope is three-quarters of the player he was for a couple of months in the summer. Seems like a deal both sides should feel comfortable with, but, given where we are and where we've been, I prefer taking the gamble on a potential leverage lefty. EDIT: to add that I like Lockridge more than Collins, for his defense and for his ability to see pitches. That's a more valuable skill than people think in today's game. That's a big part of my sense that Collins isn't worth that much FOR US, even IF he's better than I think he is longer term.

Brad Stevens' Butler teams embodied "connectiveness" better than anybody I've seen this century in college hoops. They had a pro (Hayward) and a PG (Mack) who was very close to NBA-level, but that team just knew every spot on the floor. It was like having five Shane Battiers (for my money, a top-5 all-time NBA defender). Fully believe they'd have been NCAA champs if it weren't for a very similarly built and more talented Duke team. Anybody else in the country, I think they win. Closest team to that this year for me is Iowa State. Otzelberger (a Wisconsin guy through and through--Saint Thomas More grad, I think?) might be one of the best coaches in the game right now. They had to fight tooth and nail to hold on against Iowa tonight, but they got it done. At 12-1, they're my early title pick.

I didn't see the presser, so that's good to hear. I like the idea of going a little smaller as matchups dictate, though, like you said, that's trouble against Michigan and even Purdue. I like the compete of all three guys you mention, and it's not like I'm seeing a bad attitude or lack of toughness yet. Honestly, it looks to me like a team that hasn't figured out how to communicate yet, especially in the halfcourt. They got backscreened to death last night. Still genuinely optimistic about this roster. This is exactly the kind of team that can succeed in a one-and-done format. They're deep, they shoot a lot of threes, their guards are really, really good, and they're really hard to prepare for given the ways they can generate shots. Someone mentioned Fran's Iowa teams as a comp, and that's not bad. I'd like to think this one is going to be much better defensively than those crews were. If they are, lookout. I just don't see the bottom falling out. Maybe they're a bubble team, but I also see a high ceiling. In retrospect, last night was really a lot of these guys' first taste of life on the road in the B1G. Let's see if they adjust. It's a tough early schedule. If they get two out of Villanova (neutral), Purdue, UCLA, @Michigan, that'll keep me largely in optimistic mode. They get three, I'll be really excited. 1-3 or 0-4, and I might re-evaluate, but no real judgments from me until Jan 11.

We've got some time off and a few buy games after Villanova. Only three games left in NC, and, I have to say, this is a very bubbly resume right now. No bad losses, but 1-3 in the top 2 quadrants. Again, too early to care much about that, and some of it is because the Big East looks worse than expected. The TCU loss is the one you want back. There are going to be tons of chances in B1G play, but, right now, we'd be maybe 9th or 10th in line for a bid in the league. They don't give bids to conferences, but you know what I mean. There's work to do, especially on the defensive side.

Rough night for Bucky in Lincoln. Nebraska looked even better than I thought. A lot of that might be how many minutes those guys have logged together. Team looks poised to take the leap. From our side of it, this one turned in the last 5 minutes of the first half. Big run for Nebraska, and a close game is out to 16 at the break. Nebraska shot it well, but they also really spread us out, and we never made the adjustment. So much space to operate. Pair that with some tough shot choices on the other end, and you get a 30-point blowout. We really haven't played too many close games this year, have we? I'm not sure what that means, but I'm kind of just waiting for these guys to find their level.

I agree wholeheartedly. My one concern in this era has always been development, on both a team and individual level. Blackwell has really developed even after a great year last year. I am hoping the team looks BETTER in Feb/March than in December, something that hasn't always been the case on the last few years. Feeling optimistic despite the lack of big wins. Think this team is better than their resume to this point.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

More of a Badger fan (ducks), but I always enjoy hoops more when Marquette is good, and I really like and respect Shaka. College basketball is better when the Big East is operating at the top of its game. Give me a basketball-first conference all day long. Worried not just about Marquette (without a Kolek or Jones, their scoring ability is really limited, and I think this group is usually the less athletic bunch, meaning their defense can only get so far on toughness and verve), but about the whole of the Big East. A really bad noncon for them so far. UCONN is predictably great, maybe Nova and Butler are better than advertised, but with Creighton and Marquette looking like they're taking a step backward, this could be a three-bid league. LONG way to go, so hopefully there's some course correction. Maybe Seton Hall is better than we thought? Georgetown? I trust Saint John's will get back up to form. Big question with MU is whether Shaka will start prioritizing transfer portal adds a little or a lot more in the future. Honestly? I hope this team gels and gives him a reason to stick to his current strategy. Better game when all kinds of philosophies can operate.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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).

And, for most problem gamblers, winning or losing is less important that one would think. It's the behavior itself, the rush etc., the provides the hook. That's not a comment on the Ohtani situation. I have no idea what level of knowledge he had about his translator's bets. I would think more than zero, but nowhere close to 100. We'll never know either way, and it's in a whole different category than the recent cases of actual outcome fixing, so it feels less significant to me in terms of the integrity of the game, even though the dollar amounts are bigger.

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.

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.