Wisconsin Badgers Thread/March Madness

[MickeyDavis]

Previous thread maxed out

[humanrefutation]

If they take care of business against Minnesota on Sunday, they should be ranked next week.

[Kerb Hohl]

Trice and Ford have been something. Both guys off the scrap heap in the first abbreviated recruiting class, Ford probably was a mid-major guy, Trice was being recruited as a backup at major programs it seemed. They have really started to max out their potential of late.

[0BobLobLaw0]

Was King a total buzz kill for the team?

They are playing so much better with him gone.

[HaroldinGMinor]

Was King a total buzz kill for the team?

They are playing so much better with him gone.

My guess is it's a coincidence.

[jschligs]

This team is starting to gel and they're playing well/getting hot at the right time. The entire team too at different points. Every win in the last 5 has had a different leading scorer for the Badgers. That's dope.

[Kerb Hohl]

Was King a total buzz kill for the team?

They are playing so much better with him gone.

My guess is it's a coincidence.

King himself was really starting to come around himself. He had a few clunkers near the end but his game was getting in gear.

I agree it has been a coincidence. There have been some fortuitous aspects to it, though.

They were starting to give a lot of possessions to King to create his shot...and that was smart. Trice was not playing well and King could get buckets, albeit inefficiently from midrange at times.

Well, now that he’s gone, the light came on for Trice and he’s doing a great job probing the defense and getting dunks or open 3s out of it, a lot. That’s more efficient. And Ford randomly came of age at the same point and I’d take Ford’s 3s over King if I had to choose even if King is a really nice offensive creator.

The more I think about it, the more I do think King is a good fit in Hoiberg’s offense...but he was definitely starting to do pretty well here.

[humanrefutation]

Only the players in the locker room can answer the question about King's departure and its impact on the team. Perhaps the tumult led Gard to approach his players differently over the last few weeks - perhaps there was some sort of coming together behind the scenes. I can't imagine that they just brushed it off and moved on - it had to be addressed in some way in that locker room. And maybe that woke them up? Or brought them closer? Or, simply, it was an issue hanging over them that has dissipated and allowed everyone to breath more easily.

That isn't at all to point at Kobe as the cause of their poorer play prior to this recent run, but rather to suggest that sometimes a controversy like that can be a catalyst for reflection and change for anyone involved.

Or, as has been suggested, it's just a total coincidence. But I personally think that it's unlikely that the tumult didn't have some impact on the players, even in a small way.

Either way, they've played better basketball and that's good to see.

[Je K]

I don't think there's any direct correlation between King leaving and them performing better or anything like that. I do think that everyone seems to have a better understanding of their role now. A lot of times King would touch the ball, the possession would end with him iso-ing and taking a midrange (which honestly was our best offense a lot of the time). But with him gone, everyone seems to have embraced their role in the swing which is encouraging - it's the best way to maximize the talent we have.

[Kerb Hohl]

They had a pretty brutal schedule in King’s final 8 games or so.

They were 7-3 with both King and Potter with a win over Maryland, @PSU, @OSU, @Tennessee. That’s basically as good as this recent set of wins, probably better. The losses were @Purdue and @MSU where they just couldn’t hit a shot and Illinois where Illinois kinda stole it by hitting all of their 3s late.

So I also think the improvement is a bit overblown. They’re playing better but I think it’s a basketball thing where Trice finally found his niche at PG and Ford has been hitting his shots along with Potter being even more comfortable.

Guys leave literally every program in the country much more than Wisconsin for fit or basketball reasons. I wouldn't look under too many rocks for a reason as to why they're winning. You could just pick up the tiny pebble that says, "Gard has won most of his games since taking over as head coach" to find your answer.

[Ron Swanson]

Crazy considering after the 5-5 start we're now looking at what? A potential 4 or 5-seed in the tourney? Gard deserves a lot of credit for righting the ship. They just keep racking up these quality wins.

[midranger]

Getting good at the right time

[Kerb Hohl]

One other thing on, "Potter saving Gard's ass." I mean, it's probably fair to only judge when he has one of his key pieces that is vital (Reuvers apparently loses a ton of steam at 25 minutes and they had no suitable backup/rotation) but wouldn't you say it's a good quality to recruit and covet a guy that a "better" program tossed aside that clearly was undervalued?

[buckboy]

Potter saving Gard's ass is completely lolworthy on many levels. That comment deserves zero credence.

[Kerb Hohl]

Potter saving Gard's ass is completely lolworthy on many levels. That comment deserves zero credence.

Yeah I shouldn't have even given the comment any credence or credibility but the poster has been wrong every step of the way the last few years and quintupled down on the bad take and I couldn't help myself.

[Kerb Hohl]

Maryland's got a tough schedule, regardless, but I regret cheering for Maryland to make that miraculous comeback @MN (as if my rooting interests matter).

Had Maryland lost that, we'd be 1 Maryland loss with 3 tough games to go + 3 winnable games for WI (winning all 3) away from being B10 champs and the #1 seed in the tournament.

[MikeIsGood]

I think this shows why even if you are down on a coach (me!), in the college game there isn't much reason to promote firing someone mid-season, barring unusual circumstances. He's done a great job with this squad the past month especially, and he's certainly earned his way off any hot seat and another season at the helm. Really impressive February; impressive improvement from Trice most notably, and truly pleased at just how good Potter has been, as I mentioned during the game last night.

Who knows what can happen yet this season with how upside down the college landscape is, but I'm especially excited now for a squad next year featuring a Senior class of Potter, Reuvers, and Trice if they can keep this up and make reasonable/expected improvements.

[MissKhriddleton]

Not saying we will, but if Potter and Trice continue to play like they did yesterday this is a potential final four team. Most years I would say S16 but with how wide open it is this year FF is a possibility.

[Kerb Hohl]

As I noted a few days ago on the old thread, I am wondering if Potter may get a 2nd round grade or interest from some teams of a 2-way deal or something after this season.

I'm not even sure of that as a certainty, but if he's the type that really just wants to start earning a paycheck, the opportunity might be there.

He can hold his own with decent NBA athleticism at his size and is shooting over 40% from 3.

[HaroldinGMinor]

They could easily go cold and lose in round 1 but the nice thing about this team is there are three or four guys that would have to go ice cold from three - Trice, Ford, Pritzl, Davison (Potter too I suppose although I don't think he takes as many per game as those guys)