tOfficial B1G Thread 2017-2018

Smart said:

Wisconsin has 14 turnovers in the first half right now. It's insane that this team is three years removed from the most efficient offense ever.

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ericd7633 said:

It's amazing Happ is as awful as he is trying to throw out of a double team. With that said, I think he's trying to do more than he's capable of because of the surrounding cast. Playing the last 2 years with Hayes, Koening and Showalter is a big difference with what he's working with this season. And I do think losing Trice and King has hurt, but I don't think Wisconsin would have been a tournament team with them. But it's tough to expect Freshman like Davison, Reuvers and Ford to come in and be significant contributors on a winning team.

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Great Dayne said:

Interesting year for the Badgers. They lost all but one of their starters which is Happ who is a top candidate for POY in the NCAA. They will be relying heavily on 3 freshmen which never happens. Also these three freshmen round out their best recruiting class ever and all are top 100 players.

They're also returning Pritzel and Van Vilet who are offensive gods but didn't put to much work into anything else until late in the season and worked hard this off season. The coach said those two look like the most improved players on the court. Pritzel scored 28 vs an Austrailian pro team a few weeks back and Van Vilet the 7 foot three point specialist appeared to be well rounded in comparison to last season.

I can see this team starting off as a top 4 BIG team and then competing for the #1/#2 spot in the end of the season and making the sweet 16 again and maybe surprise some people and make the elite 8. So far their 2 week tour in Australia and New Zealand vs pro teams went very well and the freshmen look like veterans out their already.

I'm not hyped up for the championship like I thought we would win in 2015 but it feels like the 2014 season when we made the final four and knowbody knew who the hell the Badgers were that year.

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Great Dayne said:

I think you're overreacting a bit to that one game. They had a three game stretch vs all top 25 teams and they could've easily won all three of those games. After they win vs Rutgers in a couple games that will be six games in a row. The slow start was expected as they lost their entire starting five outside of Happ. They'll be fine and end up in the top 4 as they always do.

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Great Dayne said:

I know the season hasn't even started but after watching this team vs pro teams in Australia and New Zealand (went 4-1) combined with easily handling Missouri (2 NBA prospects and NCAA tournament team) and obliterating UNI (projected conference winner) this team is looking much better than last season. I mean they lost by one point on a last second buzzer beater (refs gave the opponent some home cooking as well) to a pro team that was beat by OKC a playoff NBA team by just one point.

They're playing more like a team. I believe having Vitto Brown who was very inconsistent at shooting and way too many turnovers, and Hayes was just a ball hog that killed the team chemistry and was a low FG% low efficiency player actually hurt this team in many ways.

Happ will be able to dominate now and he has more shooters that can bail him out when he's double teamed. The defense looks even better as well. Happ should be a POY candidate and I believe Kobe King and Davidson will be freshmen of the year candidates. Both have NBA bodies and are playing like 4 year veterans already. Reauvers still looks green but is offensively gifted. He might be the 10th man off the bench at the PF spot.

I will stick with my prediction of finishing 4th in the Big and being an 8 seed but I can see them potentially shocking many people by winning the BIG and being a 2 seed but a good amount of growth would need to occur during the season. At worst they finish as a 6th seed and barely make it into the NCAA tournament.

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Hitman Hart said:

Don't tell @Great Dayne this

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ericd7633 said:

This made me search the beginning of this thread because I thought I remembered him saying Wisconsin could potentially be a 2 seed/make the Elite 8. lmao.

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Hitman Hart said:

I understand having faith in a consistent program to reload, but man, he was so cocky about it.

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navamind said:

Wisconsin won't even be a 2 seed in the NIT.

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Hitman Hart said:

unless there is a huge improvement over these next 2 months, they won't even be an 8 seed in the NIT.

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mr.hockey4242 said:

Actually at this point they literally can't be in the NIT

Pretty sure it requires a .500 overall record

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Hitman Hart said:

For sure. The highest seed you can be is an 8 seed in the NIT.

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mr.hockey4242 said:

On a serious non trolling Dayne not

How long do they give Gard?

Bucky is in big trouble post Bo

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Hitman Hart said:

Yeah from an outsider POV, it never looks good when a new guy replacing a legend is having this type of trouble in year #3. I don't know if they're in real trouble or not, but it is interesting.

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