2015-16 UW Badger Basketball Discussion Thread

[Johnlac1]

So Happ replaces Dekker. Koenig, Hayes are back. Who replaces the backcourt? Vitto Brown and who else? They can't bang with anyone. Plus I saw Frank was like a point center in his distribution.

From here I see Sweet Sixteen and out next year.

I think Marquette should be pretty good. But that's for another thread.

So Wisconsin has two players in the top ten of hs players in the country this year (Ellenson and Stone), and the Badgers don't get either one. Not good. I'm not crying too much about Stone because like Looney he'd probably leave after a year. But losing both was disastrous.
Ryan always make the best of less than great material, but no shot at the Final Four next year. Maybe squeak into the tournament and out in the first round. Unless the incoming players are a lot better than advertised. I hear Happ can be a real good player. But Happ, Koenig and Hayes won't make up for what the Badgers are losing.

[Johnlac1]

Too bad UW redshirted Happ and HIll. Just think what they could have done with them on the court!

Just think if Uthoff had stayed. What a frontline. Dukan did alright for his limited ability, but Uthoff would have had a much bigger impact.

[PkrsBcksGphsMqt]

Yeah Uthoff will be one of the best players in the conference next year. That dude would have killed in Bo's offense.

[sidney moncrief]

Ryan always make the best of less than great material, but no shot at the Final Four next year. Maybe squeak into the tournament and out in the first round. Unless the incoming players are a lot better than advertised. I hear Happ can be a real good player. But Happ, Koenig and Hayes won't make up for what the Badgers are losing.

Maybe squeak into the tournament?

Of course they won't be as good as this year, but Koenig and Hayes alone make them a good team. Add in Happ, expected improvements from others already on the roster, and contributions from 1 or 2 incoming freshman and the Badgers should be back in the top 25 and a near tournament lock next season.

[Johnlac1]

Ryan always make the best of less than great material, but no shot at the Final Four next year. Maybe squeak into the tournament and out in the first round. Unless the incoming players are a lot better than advertised. I hear Happ can be a real good player. But Happ, Koenig and Hayes won't make up for what the Badgers are losing.

Maybe squeak into the tournament?

Of course they won't be as good as this year, but Koenig and Hayes alone make them a good team. Add in Happ, expected improvements from others already on the roster, and contributions from 1 or 2 incoming freshman and the Badgers should be back in the top 25 and a near tournament lock next season.

I hope you're right.

[Bernman]

I think this is a crossroads for the program. This offseason and how things materialize for next year will determine whether we are perceived nationally as having been an elite program or just a consistently good one with one great team. Butler went to back to back Final Fours, and in one of them lost to Duke in a close one in the final too. We aren't in the Horizon League though and we have a lot more resources than Butler. Among those resources are two scholarships left to draw recruits to a major conference team that went to those back to back final fours. I'd suggest they use at least one so we don't have mid-major size like Butler did. Outside of that we just have to develop within and hope some of the freshmen pan out really well. Of course it would help a lot if Sam chose to return, but I'm not holding my breath. One way or another, I think we have to get another big tourney win and back to the Elite Eight at least, to show we're not going anywhere anytime soon. I don't think keeping the top 4 and NCAA tourney berth streaks alive cut it, unless that's what you're going to be satisfied with. Sam wasn't, and God bless him for not being.

[Johnlac1]

I see Traevon took a shot at Ryan in a post game interview. He was praising coach K who he said allows players to play through mistakes and not pull them when they made one.

[randybreuerfan]

The problem is Traevon kept making mistakes. His injury was the best thing for this team. Better recruits than him have responded to Ryan's methods, and less-regarded recruits than him have improved much more than he did. Probably wasn't the right match for the program to begin with.
Just hope they have enough of a bench next year to be able to continue Ryan's intolerance for crap.

[Johnlac1]

The problem is Traevon kept making mistakes. His injury was the best thing for this team. Better recruits than him have responded to Ryan's methods, and less-regarded recruits than him have improved much more than he did. Probably wasn't the right match for the program to begin with.
Just hope they have enough of a bench next year to be able to continue Ryan's intolerance for crap.

Whatever anybody wants to say about Ryan, they have to admit he gets results. They came within a few shots of winning the whole kaboodle. I've been a Wisconsin resident my entire life, and I'm in my sixties. It wasn't until the late 80s before the Badgers made it into the tourney.
It took until I was fifty before the Badgers made it to a Final Four. Now Ryan has taken the Badgers to back to back Final Fours without going the Kentucky or Duke semi-pro route. I think Ryan deserves a lot of respect for what he's accomplished, harsh methods or not.

[PackAttack9]

I don't see how Sam Dekker could stay in school after his tournament showing. The Badgers will make the tournament no doubt, but they'll be out before the sweet 16 unless Hayes takes a big jump.

[On_Wisconsin]

If Dekker stays we have a pretty decent shot at getting back to the Final Four next year too.

Koenig/Hayes/Dekker/Happ is really really solid. Hopefully either Pritzl or Iverson can fill that 2 spot.

If Dekker goes, I'd say we are maybe a sweet sixteen team. We may go three guards again though. Would be interesting for sure


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[Kerb Hohl]

Jackson had an incredible run in the Final Four of screwing up probably 10 times with a stupid turnover, pass, or shot and somehow having 7 or 8 of those times turn out positive by a lucky bounce or hustle.

[Johnlac1]

Jackson had an incredible run in the Final Four of screwing up probably 10 times with a stupid turnover, pass, or shot and somehow having 7 or 8 of those times turn out positive by a lucky bounce or hustle.

Traevon's strengths were fearless penetration and ability to get to the basket. His weaknesses were his quick trigger, not a good outside shooter, and not seeing the floor. But he did have his pluses. His penetration caused Duke (not the greatest defensive team) a lot of problems.
That's maybe my biggest beef about how the Badgers played. Duke did not have the interior defense to stop the Badgers from either penetrating, slashing, or posting guys up. We just didn't do it enough in the last ten minutes. Critics will talk about how their guard penetration killed us again, but the facts are our offense broke down in last ten minutes. Just didn't take advantage.

[BUCKnation]

I see Traevon took a shot at Ryan in a post game interview. He was praising coach K who he said allows players to play through mistakes and not pull them when they made one.

The funny thing is, Trae had one of the longest leashes I've seen in years from Bo. He'd let him play hero ball all day, but if someone else messed up like Koenig, he'd pull them.

[chonestown]

The problem is Traevon kept making mistakes. His injury was the best thing for this team. Better recruits than him have responded to Ryan's methods, and less-regarded recruits than him have improved much more than he did. Probably wasn't the right match for the program to begin with.
Just hope they have enough of a bench next year to be able to continue Ryan's intolerance for crap.

Eh, Trae was barely getting recruited out of high school and he became a legit honorable mention conference point guard. Drove me nuts plenty of times, but his positives outweighed his negatives pretty clearly. Koening passed him this year as the better option, but BK is a definite top-level college guard. I have a ton of respect for what Trae contributed, but I'll admit I'm not exactly sad to see his eligibility expire.

[Johnlac1]

The problem is Traevon kept making mistakes. His injury was the best thing for this team. Better recruits than him have responded to Ryan's methods, and less-regarded recruits than him have improved much more than he did. Probably wasn't the right match for the program to begin with.
Just hope they have enough of a bench next year to be able to continue Ryan's intolerance for crap.

Eh, Trae was barely getting recruited out of high school and he became a legit honorable mention conference point guard. Drove me nuts plenty of times, but his positives outweighed his negatives pretty clearly. Koening passed him this year as the better option, but BK is a definite top-level college guard. I have a ton of respect for what Trae contributed, but I'll admit I'm not exactly sad to see his eligibility expire.

Naturally, there's many what ifs in any big game or season, but if Traevon hadn't broken his foot he still would have been the starting pg. His game was probably better suited to beat Duke than BKs.
The first Duke game Traevon scored 25 pts. That game was a three point game until the last five minutes and was also a game where neither Dekker nor Hayes played worth a d..., Dekker mostly because of his bad ankle.
Duke, while obviously an excellent team, could be scored on. Okafor for all his off. talents is only a mediocre at best def. center. Jackson was a better penetrator than BK (and I love BKs game), and no Duke guard could stop Jackson from getting inside. It's just that a combination of rust and playing a little out of control cost Jackson more pt Monday.
With a healthy Jackson penetrating at will and a healthy Dekker slashing and cutting to the basket instead of launching six threes (none of which he made), the Badgers could have easily scored 75-80 pts on Duke.
But even with all the screwups down the stretch, a missed Duke shot here and a made Badger shot there could have given us the game. I can live with Jones making those long jumpers with a hand in his face. But Allen's pts were the killer.
Nevertheless, a healthy Jackson penetrating the whole game would have exposed Duke's def. weakness more and forced them to go zone opening up the outside for easy three ball attempts. Hopefully by players other than Dekker.

[tski1972]

why doesn't Bronson drive the lane more? he really loves to dribble at the top of the 3 point line and then shoot it with one foot on the line. drives me nuts.

[Kerb Hohl]

why doesn't Bronson drive the lane more? he really loves to dribble at the top of the 3 point line and then shoot it with one foot on the line. drives me nuts.

The 3 point thing has improved over time. He needs to step into his shot and he sometimes steps over the line.

In terms of driving...he rarely can get a good shot in there.

[Johnlac1]

Koenig has the outside shot, including otd, he has the drive and pop jumper in the lane, and he can get to the basket. I'll bet he'll be doing a ton of work this summer on getting to the basket and finishing.
For all his semi out of control play against Duke last Monday, Jackson threw the Duke defense into a panic due to his penetration. Not to knock the three ball, but any player who can get to the basket and finish at a good rate is still incredibly valuable. That's how many lesser teams almost beat Wisconsin this year.
With his tremendous passing skills and increased ability to get to the basket and finish, Bronson can makes next year's team almost as potent offensively as this years. Wisconsin will still have to pick up that third excellent scoring option which has yet to be determined.

[ReasonablySober]

Dekker officially enters the draft.