2015-16 UW Badger Basketball Discussion Thread

[trwi7]

Happ played the best/worst game I've ever seen. Most of his buckets were spoon fed, He had 4 traveling calls go against him and at least one more really bad TO. He missed probably 5 or 6 chances at the rim that most college players finish relatively easily. Still... he was pretty awesome and battled away as the box score proves.

If our strength and conditioning can get the cement shoes off his feet and he learns to settle down/go up strong, he'll be at least an All-Big Ten guy before he leaves Madison.

Towards the end of OT when Syracuse was getting ready to foul they started going towards Hayes to double him. Hayes saw it coming and passed to Happ who, I guess didn't know the ball was coming because there was no explanation for what happened next, which was the ball just going out of bounds. Hayes just threw his hands in the air like what the hell are you doing.

[PkrsBcksGphsMqt]

B1G hasn't lost a challenge since 2008! I love it! Good win!

[buckboy]

Team would be looking pretty good if not for that stupid Western Illinois game.

Yep. And Western Illinois just lost to Creighton by 30. And Creighton stinks.

That one hurts.

[KidA24]

Amazing. Awful game from the "elder statesmen" Koenig and Hayes, and they still won!

I didn't think Hayes was awful at all.

Not great, but pretty ok in my world.

Before Syracuse fouled in OT the Badgers had shot 6 FT. 0 from Koenig and 4 from Hayes. Yes, Hayes' final line looks better as he made the big play in OT, but I can't believe they got to OT when Hayes shot 4-15 and Koenig was 2-7 during regulation.

[Kerb Hohl]

I'm starting to get the feeling that Pritzl is going to take a medical redshirt. Felt more soreness yesterday. Should still be eligible.

[DingleJerry]

Happ played the best/worst game I've ever seen. Most of his buckets were spoon fed, He had 4 traveling calls go against him and at least one more really bad TO. He missed probably 5 or 6 chances at the rim that most college players finish relatively easily. Still... he was pretty awesome and battled away as the box score proves.

If our strength and conditioning can get the cement shoes off his feet and he learns to settle down/go up strong, he'll be at least an All-Big Ten guy before he leaves Madison.

Towards the end of OT when Syracuse was getting ready to foul they started going towards Hayes to double him. Hayes saw it coming and passed to Happ who, I guess didn't know the ball was coming because there was no explanation for what happened next, which was the ball just going out of bounds. Hayes just threw his hands in the air like what the hell are you doing.

And Bronson was running away from the ball up the top sideline. he's the best FT shooter and only good ballhandler on the team, he's gotta be running to the ball not away.

[tski1972]

I'm starting to get the feeling that Pritzl is going to take a medical redshirt. Felt more soreness yesterday. Should still be eligible.

yep. I think they were expecting him to play at Syracuse, but that foot is not healing.

without Pritzl and Van Vliet, they lost a lot of potential offense.

[buckboy]

Amazing. Awful game from the "elder statesmen" Koenig and Hayes, and they still won!

I didn't think Hayes was awful at all.

Not great, but pretty ok in my world.

Before Syracuse fouled in OT the Badgers had shot 6 FT. 0 from Koenig and 4 from Hayes. Yes, Hayes' final line looks better as he made the big play in OT, but I can't believe they got to OT when Hayes shot 4-15 and Koenig was 2-7 during regulation.

He shot poorly for sure, but he did everything else well.

[El Duderino]

Happ played the best/worst game I've ever seen. Most of his buckets were spoon fed, He had 4 traveling calls go against him and at least one more really bad TO. He missed probably 5 or 6 chances at the rim that most college players finish relatively easily. Still... he was pretty awesome and battled away as the box score proves.

If our strength and conditioning can get the cement shoes off his feet and he learns to settle down/go up strong, he'll be at least an All-Big Ten guy before he leaves Madison.

I thought the same thing about Happ yesterday.

Part of his problem is that he's kinda robotic in how he scores around the rim, so defenders have been able to block a number of his shots inside this year. He had that play in OT though off a pass by Hayes where Happ immediately went up quick/strong and dunked the ball vs pump faking multiple times and trying to lay the ball in.

He played really hard though and attacked rebounds like how you want to see your man inside do. There is a skill to rebounding, but effort is always a factor also. Some guys simply go after the ball more consistently than others do and Happ had a number of high effort type of boards, even though he stayed on the court for a lot of minutes.

[Johnlac1]

That frontline is a little undersized, but they do have a lot of potential. They rebound very well and have the potential to be good off. players. Lots of mistakes so far, but by the end of the years, they could be formidable.
Here's hoping Bo works his usual magic on young ballplayers. The development of those frontline players will be critical as far as tournament chances.

[machu46]

Also, I believe I heard that Syracuse won 61 of the last 62 in the Carrier Dome against non-conference unranked opponents. Not sure if that was the exact number but it was something close to that.

To be fair, I'd guess that something like 60 of those 62 games are against teams like Colgate. This is by far the most difficult non-conference schedule that I can remember Syracuse having in a long time.

For example, back in 2010, we started 18-0. Our home wins during that streak were against:
Northern Iowa (before they were decent)
Canisius
Detroit
William & Mary
Cornell
NC State
Colgate
Iona
Morgan State
Drexel
and then we got into conference games.

The year before, we started 13-0 with home wins against:
Albany
Robert Morris
Cornell
Columbia
Colgate
Maine
St. Francis (NY)
St. Bonaventure
and Oakland

When Tyler Ennis was the PG, we started 25-0 with home non-conference wins against:
Cornell
Fordham
Colgate
St. Francis Brooklyn
Indiana
Binghamton
High Point
#8 Villanova
Eastern Michigan

This last one was about the toughest slate Syracuse has had at home in awhile; Syracuse is notorious for having an absolute cakewalk at home to start the year. And the crowd just isn't what it used to be. I've already been to three games this year, and while the students have shown up in decent numbers, the rest of the Dome has been relatively empty, and the overall crowd is just incredibly quiet. I'm not sure what exactly is going on but people suddenly don't seem to care the way they used to.

Anyways, that was a fun game to watch, and a good win for you guys. I think Syracuse was underrated to start the year; it's a pretty good team. But I think we're going to be very inconsistent this year. After years of only having one shooter on the team, we have 4 or 5 good ones this year, but that's the only way we can really score. We're going to beat some teams that we shouldn't because we'll get hot from 3 but we're going to lose to inferior opponents when we go cold as well.

[MikeIsGood]

For example, back in 2010, we started 18-0. Our home wins during that streak were against:
Northern Iowa (before they were decent)
Canisius
Detroit
William & Mary
Cornell
NC State
Colgate
Iona
Morgan State
Drexel
and then we got into conference games.

The year before, we started 13-0 with home wins against:
Albany
Robert Morris
Cornell
Columbia
Colgate
Maine
St. Francis (NY)
St. Bonaventure
and Oakland

When Tyler Ennis was the PG, we started 25-0 with home non-conference wins against:
Cornell
Fordham
Colgate
St. Francis Brooklyn
Indiana
Binghamton
High Point
#8 Villanova
Eastern Michigan

The last one isn't too bad. The first two - holy crap. I mean UW has had pretty decent schedules recently, so maybe by comparison more top-flight schools' home schedules look like that than one would think, but that is pretty barren.

[machu46]

For example, back in 2010, we started 18-0. Our home wins during that streak were against:
Northern Iowa (before they were decent)
Canisius
Detroit
William & Mary
Cornell
NC State
Colgate
Iona
Morgan State
Drexel
and then we got into conference games.

The year before, we started 13-0 with home wins against:
Albany
Robert Morris
Cornell
Columbia
Colgate
Maine
St. Francis (NY)
St. Bonaventure
and Oakland

When Tyler Ennis was the PG, we started 25-0 with home non-conference wins against:
Cornell
Fordham
Colgate
St. Francis Brooklyn
Indiana
Binghamton
High Point
#8 Villanova
Eastern Michigan

The last one isn't too bad. The first two - holy crap. I mean UW has had pretty decent schedules recently, so maybe by comparison more top-flight schools' home schedules look like that than one would think, but that is pretty barren.

Yeah lol. I think Syracuse just likes to get the fans hopes up so that they can torture them the rest of the year when they go just above .500 in conference play; it's an annual tradition. Even this year the home schedule is nothing special. Outside of the Wisconsin game, they play:

Lehigh
St. Bonaventure
Elon
Colgate
Cornell
Montana State
Texas Southern

It's a pretty tough non-conference schedule because of the neutral/away games, but the home slate is really nothing to write home about.

[midranger]

I'd say fan interest tends to wane when it's revealed that the beloved coach was running a dirty program in essentially every imaginable way. Academic, drug testing, benefits, you name it... Boeheim looked the other way (more likely, encouraged the cheating).

[machu46]

I'd say fan interest tends to wane when it's revealed that the beloved coach was running a dirty program in essentially every imaginable way. Academic, drug testing, benefits, you name it... Boeheim looked the other way (more likely, encouraged the cheating).

Ehhh... nobody around Syracuse really cares about that at all lol. He's still very much beloved. The majority of people that go to games think the NCAA screwed Syracuse over (which, they probably did even if Syracuse was guilty of a couple minor offenses).

And people are still going to the games; it's just that they're so quiet suddenly. For example, the student section looks larger than ever, but they literally don't do any chants anymore. They all just sit there watching the game (with a few crazy over-the-top students mixed in). I'm sure it will improve once Syracuse starts facing some of the bigger teams like UNC, but it's been a really weird atmosphere this year (and this wasn't an issue last year when the penalties and all that stuff came out).

[midranger]

Nigel and showy are beasting temple

[skones]

Nigel Hayes now shooting 36% on the year which will undoubtedly raise some red-flags with NBA scouts. Hoping he stays as a result, next year could be exciting.

[DingleJerry]

Yea Nigel has ruined his shot form in the offseason. Tried to develop a quicker shot but the result is not good. He's been slimming down and trying to turn himself into a wing for the NBA. I just don't see that happening, there's no way he can guard NBA wings, he's just too upright/stiff. I think his best bet would be to bulk back up and just be a short PF, he's got great moves and feel in the post and around the hoop, could do really well vs many second units in that role. Best case scenario he'd be a poor man's Draymond, worst case other than injury to be a Carly Landry type backup who can hang for several years in the association. And of course he'd need to go back to his old shot form that actually made shots so he could be an adequate stretch 4 type.

[MikeIsGood]

Oklahoma looks extremely impressive. Really not giving a second thought to that game - just a bad game combo-ed against a great team playing very well.

ETA And yes Nigel ruined his shot. I still cannot believe he tried to change his jumper...but I'll try to give it a rest one of these days.

[Turk Nowitzki]

Nigel looks like he just doesn't give a **** this year. He's talented enough to get away with it at times but he just looks so disinterested everytime I watch a game, just going through the motions.