2015-16 UW Badger Basketball Discussion Thread

Kerb Hohl · Post #481 » by **Kerb Hohl** » Wed Feb 11, 2015 11:04 pm

I actually would relate this to McCarthy a bit, though I think McCarthy is a bit more in the wrong than Bo in this case.

The only game of significance that I can remember McCarthy blowing for taking his foot off the gas is the Seattle debacle from a month ago. They held on by a hair every other time that I can remember (or just won by a little less than they might have). I'm sure somebody can find a 2012 or 2010 regular season game that they lost with a decent-sized lead and gave up at the end (maybe the Colts game of 2 years ago?)

Anyways, same thing with Bo. A lead late in the game - start draining the clock. It can cause ulcers, but has given great results. In terms of McCarthy, I can at least hear an argument for keeping your foot on the gas in some of those games.

WiscSports1 · Post #482 » by **WiscSports1** » Wed Feb 11, 2015 11:05 pm

At the end of the day, this team will have a difficult time getting back to the F4 simply because this defense is just not good enough. Despite our offense being incredibly efficient, you still have to D it up late in tourney and I'm not sure we can do that.

Kerb Hohl · Post #483 » by **Kerb Hohl** » Wed Feb 11, 2015 11:07 pm

WiscSports1 wrote:At the end of the day, this team will have a difficult time getting back to the F4 simply because this defense is just not good enough. Despite our offense being incredibly efficient, you still have to D it up late in tourney and I'm not sure we can do that.

Contrarian viewpoint: Is it much worse than last year's (player personnel)? I know that Brust was a sneaky good rebounder and defender, but otherwise, the team is the same. Evan Anderson and Z-Bo didn't really do much. Dukan seems to suck more but that's on the offensive end.

Bring back Tre and they may be good enough on D. That said, your main point is valid: A team with not a great defense is vulnerable to lose enough that you wouldn't expect them to get to the Final 4. Last year might have been the lucky exception.

LUKE23 · Post #484 » by **LUKE23** » Wed Feb 11, 2015 11:11 pm

WiscSports1 wrote:At the end of the day, this team will have a difficult time getting back to the F4 simply because this defense is just not good enough. Despite our offense being incredibly efficient, you still have to D it up late in tourney and I'm not sure we can do that.

Our O is one of the best in history though, it's not just a good offense, it's elite. So while I agree the defense needs to be solid, it doesn't need to be as good as it's historically been under Bo. Currently they are 68th nationally in adjusted D. Their adjusted O is #1 by far and I believe the best that Pomeroy has ever tracked.

LUKE23 · Post #485 » by **LUKE23** » Wed Feb 11, 2015 11:12 pm

WiscSports1 wrote:At the end of the day, this team will have a difficult time getting back to the F4 simply because this defense is just not good enough. Despite our offense being incredibly efficient, you still have to D it up late in tourney and I'm not sure we can do that.

Our O is one of the best in history though, it's not just a good offense, it's elite. So while I agree the defense needs to be solid, it doesn't need to be as good as it's historically been under Bo. Currently they are 68th nationally in adjusted D. Their adjusted O is #1 by far and I believe the best that Pomeroy has ever tracked.

HaroldinGMinor · Post #486 » by **HaroldinGMinor** » Wed Feb 11, 2015 11:35 pm

LUKE23 wrote:
WiscSports1 wrote:At the end of the day, this team will have a difficult time getting back to the F4 simply because this defense is just not good enough. Despite our offense being incredibly efficient, you still have to D it up late in tourney and I'm not sure we can do that.

Our O is one of the best in history though, it's not just a good offense, it's elite. So while I agree the defense needs to be solid, it doesn't need to be as good as it's historically been under Bo. Currently they are 68th nationally in adjusted D. Their adjusted O is #1 by far and I believe the best that Pomeroy has ever tracked.

I agree but it needs to be better than 68th. In the last ten years the champ never had an Adj D lower than 21st.

trwi7 · Post #487 » by **trwi7** » Wed Feb 11, 2015 11:38 pm

Our adjusted defensive efficiency last year was 97.6 points per 100 possessions. This year it's 96.0 points per 100 possessions.

Last year the top 5 teams in adjusted defensive efficiency were Arizona, Florida, Ohio State, Louisville and Virginia.

Wisconsin beat Arizona by 1 in overtime to advance to the Final Four. They beat Florida by 6 at the Kohl Center. They lost by 1 to Ohio State at the Kohl Center and beat Virginia by 10 on the road.

HaroldinGMinor · Post #488 » by **HaroldinGMinor** » Wed Feb 11, 2015 11:53 pm

trwi7 wrote:Our adjusted defensive efficiency last year was 97.6 points per 100 possessions. This year it's 96.0 points per 100 possessions.

Last year the top 5 teams in adjusted defensive efficiency were Arizona, Florida, Ohio State, Louisville and Virginia.

Wisconsin beat Arizona by 1 in overtime to advance to the Final Four. They beat Florida by 6 at the Kohl Center. They lost by 1 to Ohio State at the Kohl Center and beat Virginia by 10 on the road.

Scoring is down in college basketball this year vs. last year.

buckboy · Post #489 » by **buckboy** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 12:43 am

The defense definitely needs to get better. 68th is not great.

There's no way to predict a FF run though. It's mainly about matchups, but obviously the better your D is, the less important matchups are.

It's not like it's huge stretch to get there, and the difference between last year's finish of 49th and 68th is basically nothing.

SpursNBucks · Post #490 » by **SpursNBucks** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 7:13 am

buckboy wrote:The defense definitely needs to get better. 68th is not great.

There's no way to predict a FF run though. It's mainly about matchups, but obviously the better your D is, the less important matchups are.

It's not like it's huge stretch to get there, and the difference between last year's finish of 49th and 68th is basically nothing.

First of all those rankings are flawed in so many ways, I don't pay a lot of attention to that unless they are around the bottom 20%. They aren't the most athletic, and Bo's teams usually wont leave their feet for fear of fouls/block shots. Kaminski is a HUGE key for the defense obviously.

Bo's teams have always struggled against quick/athletic teams. They struggle against inside muscle. They struggle against full court presses. They do a lot right and have high BB IQs, but aren't real strong in those areas. They need to gel and probably have someone else knock off Kentucky, I think if they are playing at the top of their game they can beat anyone else.

wapith · Post #491 » by **wapith** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 3:30 pm

SpursNBucks wrote:
buckboy wrote:The defense definitely needs to get better. 68th is not great.

There's no way to predict a FF run though. It's mainly about matchups, but obviously the better your D is, the less important matchups are.

It's not like it's huge stretch to get there, and the difference between last year's finish of 49th and 68th is basically nothing.

First of all those rankings are flawed in so many ways, I don't pay a lot of attention to that unless they are around the bottom 20%. They aren't the most athletic, and Bo's teams usually wont leave their feet for fear of fouls/block shots. Kaminski is a HUGE key for the defense obviously.

Bo's teams have always struggled against quick/athletic teams. They struggle against inside muscle. They struggle against full court presses. They do a lot right and have high BB IQs, but aren't real strong in those areas. They need to gel and probably have someone else knock off Kentucky, I think if they are playing at the top of their game they can beat anyone else.

It's a wonder they ever win a game

LUKE23 · Post #492 » by **LUKE23** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 3:46 pm

SpursNBucks wrote:
Bo's teams have always struggled against quick/athletic teams. They struggle against inside muscle. They struggle against full court presses. They do a lot right and have high BB IQs, but aren't real strong in those areas. They need to gel and probably have someone else knock off Kentucky, I think if they are playing at the top of their game they can beat anyone else.

They can definitely beat Kentucky. In fact, they are probably built to beat them more than any team in basketball given their outside shooting ability. Not saying that they will, Kentucky is the best team, but they are more built to beat them than the other top teams.

Also, what teams have successfully pressed the Badgers into turnovers? Taking care of the ball is probably their biggest strength.

Regarding the other stuff, this years team doesn't struggle against inside muscle. They have struggled against quick guards/penetration in terms of halfcourt defense. But this is their biggest frontcourt in a while with Dekker/Hayes/Kaminsky and they bring good length off the bench as well (Dukan/Brown).

SpursNBucks · Post #493 » by **SpursNBucks** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 5:08 pm

LUKE23 wrote:
SpursNBucks wrote:
Bo's teams have always struggled against quick/athletic teams. They struggle against inside muscle. They struggle against full court presses. They do a lot right and have high BB IQs, but aren't real strong in those areas. They need to gel and probably have someone else knock off Kentucky, I think if they are playing at the top of their game they can beat anyone else.

They can definitely beat Kentucky. In fact, they are probably built to beat them more than any team in basketball given their outside shooting ability. Not saying that they will, Kentucky is the best team, but they are more built to beat them than the other top teams.

Also, what teams have successfully pressed the Badgers into turnovers? Taking care of the ball is probably their biggest strength.

Regarding the other stuff, this years team doesn't struggle against inside muscle. They have struggled against quick guards/penetration in terms of halfcourt defense. But this is their biggest frontcourt in a while with Dekker/Hayes/Kaminsky and they bring good length off the bench as well (Dukan/Brown).

Sure, the Badgers could beat anyone if they get hot. I think they would have to catch fire from the outside to win. I just would rather not have them face all that height/athleticism/strength - Kentucky could defend pretty well right now against NBA teams. As you say Kentucky is clearly the best team - who would want to face them?

Traditionally Bo's teams have struggled against full court pressure against more athletic teams. Nebraska gave them some trouble. Late in games the more athletic teams would be stupid not to full court press the Badgers- they could be exposed.

Badgers haven't played against great front line teams - Kaminski/Dekker/Hayes went 8 for 22 against Duke. The Big 10 is weak this year (outside of UW=maybe Maryland) so they haven't taken on a lot of very good teams yet. After Duke, Georgetown was the best team they played and that was a 3 point nail bitter win.

Don't get me wrong - UW is a top 5 team for sure. If I sound too critical and looking for flaws it's because this may be the best chance for UW winning a national title in my lifetime and that is the measuring stick I am looking at. They have only played 1 ranked team this year and got beat by 10 at home (although at 1 time Iowa ranked #25). I'm looking at areas of concern - what could eventually hurt them when all the chips on the table.

Kerb Hohl · Post #494 » by **Kerb Hohl** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 5:48 pm

I don't think the Badgers have struggled all that much against full-court press in Bo's tenure. The absolutely annihilated Iowa's full court press in Iowa City earlier this year. It depends, but normally they don't make turnovers against a team looking to prey off of turnovers.

Johnlac1 · Post #495 » by **Johnlac1** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 5:57 pm

SpursNBucks wrote:
LUKE23 wrote:
SpursNBucks wrote:
Bo's teams have always struggled against quick/athletic teams. They struggle against inside muscle. They struggle against full court presses. They do a lot right and have high BB IQs, but aren't real strong in those areas. They need to gel and probably have someone else knock off Kentucky, I think if they are playing at the top of their game they can beat anyone else.

They can definitely beat Kentucky. In fact, they are probably built to beat them more than any team in basketball given their outside shooting ability. Not saying that they will, Kentucky is the best team, but they are more built to beat them than the other top teams.

Also, what teams have successfully pressed the Badgers into turnovers? Taking care of the ball is probably their biggest strength.

Regarding the other stuff, this years team doesn't struggle against inside muscle. They have struggled against quick guards/penetration in terms of halfcourt defense. But this is their biggest frontcourt in a while with Dekker/Hayes/Kaminsky and they bring good length off the bench as well (Dukan/Brown).

Sure, the Badgers could beat anyone if they get hot. I think they would have to catch fire from the outside to win. I just would rather not have them face all that height/athleticism/strength - Kentucky could defend pretty well right now against NBA teams. As you say Kentucky is clearly the best team - who would want to face them?

Traditionally Bo's teams have struggled against full court pressure against more athletic teams. Nebraska gave them some trouble. Late in games the more athletic teams would be stupid not to full court press the Badgers- they could be exposed.

Badgers haven't played against great front line teams - Kaminski/Dekker/Hayes went 8 for 22 against Duke. The Big 10 is weak this year (outside of UW=maybe Maryland) so they haven't taken on a lot of very good teams yet. After Duke, Georgetown was the best team they played and that was a 3 point nail bitter win.

Don't get me wrong - UW is a top 5 team for sure. If I sound too critical and looking for flaws it's because this may be the best chance for UW winning a national title in my lifetime and that is the measuring stick I am looking at. They have only played 1 ranked team this year and got beat by 10 at home (although at 1 time Iowa ranked #25). I'm looking at areas of concern - what could eventually hurt them when all the chips on the table.

True, the frontline struggled against Duke, but Dekker's ankle was still bothering him considerably at the time. The game was still close until the last five minutes. Even then a few possessions go the other way, and the Badgers could have won. But I will say Wisconsin will have to be playing their very best to beat Kentucky. Kentucky is hardly the all-time best team. Three teams have already come close to beating them. But they are at the top of the heap.

wapith · Post #496 » by **wapith** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 5:58 pm

SpursNBucks wrote:
Badgers haven't played against great front line teams - Kaminski/Dekker/Hayes went 8 for 22 against Duke. The Big 10 is weak this year (outside of UW=maybe Maryland) so they haven't taken on a lot of very good teams yet. After Duke, Georgetown was the best team they played and that was a 3 point nail bitter win.

Don't get me wrong - UW is a top 5 team for sure. If I sound too critical and looking for flaws it's because this may be the best chance for UW winning a national title in my lifetime and that is the measuring stick I am looking at. They have only played 1 ranked team this year and got beat by 10 at home (although at 1 time Iowa ranked #25). I'm looking at areas of concern - what could eventually hurt them when all the chips on the table.

You're missing Oklahoma, which is ranked #17 in the polls.

xTitan · Post #497 » by **xTitan** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 10:12 pm

Zach Heilprin retweeted
Zach Fleer ‏@ZachFleerLGHL 15m15 minutes ago
Khalil Iverson has committed to Wisconsin. Just met with Bo Ryan after practice and committed.

xTitan · Post #498 » by **xTitan** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 10:16 pm

I really like the Iverson pick up for Bo, sounds like Greg Gard told Iverson over the summer what he needed to work on with his game to get an offer from UW, so Iverson went out and improved significantly in those areas and was rewarded. Iversen is an excellent athlete, and was starting to get some some real good looks/offers....very nice late pick up for Bo.

Kerb Hohl · Post #499 » by **Kerb Hohl** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 10:36 pm

Read the same thing, xTitan, and after they made the offer (hence, he did improve) Tennessee offered, OSU asked him to visit, etc.

El Duderino · Post #500 » by **El Duderino** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 10:46 pm

Kerb Hohl wrote:I don't think the Badgers have struggled all that much against full-court press in Bo's tenure. The absolutely annihilated Iowa's full court press in Iowa City earlier this year. It depends, but normally they don't make turnovers against a team looking to prey off of turnovers.

I agree, the Badgers typically are very good against the press.