Badger Basketball

[Smart]

We opened up the season last night with an exhibition against UW-Stevens Point. I was at the Kohl Center for the first half before coming back to watch football. My thoughts on yesterday and the team in general:

- There was a clear effort to demonstrate that Jordan Taylor can be dominating without scoring. He didn't take a lot of shots, but instead spread the ball around very successfully.

- I think Jordan Taylor is the best player in America. Seriously, the intelligence, speed, defense, shooting, and clutchness is second to none. I expect a 20 PPG, 7.5 APG, 1.8 TOPG season. He's that good.

- Nobody else really sticks out. Evans was playing well yesterday, but i've never known him to be able to play well against upper-level team. Gasser is a smart player who can shoot and display tremendous heart (in particular in going after rebounds), but he lacks the athleticism to compete really well against top level competition. The Bruiser is the bruiser. He is all heart and intelligent play, but i'm not sure he has the skills to be anything other than an OK player. Berggren is an average big man, which is a major downgrade after losing Jon Leuer to graduation.

- I was really impressed with Freshman Traevon Jackson. He looked comfortable with the team cutting through the paint and passing to open teammates. He also got 17 minutes, seventh on the team (behind the five I already mentioned and Ben Brust). For Bo to give that much playing time says that he thinks he will be something special.

- This team was once again almost perfect on offense and questionable on defense. It's amazing how efficient we are on offense, but if we let people get wide opwn threes and layups, it won't matter.

I'm looking forward to the season. I think we'll have a typical Wisconsin season. I think we probably go 11-2 in nonconference, 12-6 in conference, lose in the semifinals of the B1G tourney, and make the Sweet Sixteen to finish 25-10.

 

[ForkEmBucky]

I never really know what to say about them other than, "Bo Ryan knows how to get the most out of his players." Anytime you have a point guard like Taylor, though, you have a chance to win most games.

The killer carrot should make it fun, but we haven't had a dominating big man in a long long time. I want to say not since 2005. Leur was a shooter, but even he really didn't have the big body presence.

 

[johnnytata]

sam okey?

 

[ForkEmBucky]

sam okey?

ahhh jeeze.... Can I go back in time and punch that guy in the nuts?

 

[Doctor Krieger]

Yeah Bruiser, Evans and Co. are gonna have to step up big time this year...need to play well and develop like Keaton and Leuer did stepping in after Landry and Krabbenhoft.

I would really like us to play better on ball D this year...way too much penetration last year. It's funny how Bo get's credit for playing great D year after year, but it's really the offensive efficiency that carries the team year after year.

 

[ForkEmBucky]

Ya, that's a good point drun.k. Hadn't really thought about it like that.

 

[ForkEmBucky]

I'm not really sure if I see Evans stepping up. He just doesn't seem aggressive at all.

 

[ForkEmBucky]

You know I seriously think they are better this year than last all of the sudden.

 

[Smart]

You know I seriously think they are better this year than last all of the sudden.

Ryan Evans and Josh Gasser have improved a ton on the defensive side of the ball, and it has been great to see. JT might not be scoring, but he is as complete as any player in America right now. Great defense, ball control, and leadership wins championships, and that description fits Taylor perfectly. It also helps when you make 47% of threes, as the Badgers have done this year. We look really good now, but we'll find out how good tonight. I have a feeling we lose, but I hope I am wrong.

 

[ForkEmBucky]

Ryan Evans and Josh Gasser have improved a ton on the defensive side of the ball, and it has been great to see. JT might not be scoring, but he is as complete as any player in America right now. Great defense, ball control, and leadership wins championships, and that description fits Taylor perfectly. It also helps when you make 47% of threes, as the Badgers have done this year. We look really good now, but we'll find out how good tonight. I have a feeling we lose, but I hope I am wrong.

I liked Leur, but we relied on him too much. If this team can spread the ball around that would be quick step ahead. I think it actually says a lot about the team that Taylor isn't scoring. I wonder if he and Bo decided that Gasser, Evans, Bruiser, Brust, and hell maybe even Wilson...can score regularly.

 

[ForkEmBucky]

Speaking of, did any of you guys get a chance to watch the game Wed?

 

[Smart]

Speaking of, did any of you guys get a chance to watch the game Wed?

I caught it, yeah. I'll probably post at some point, but I already have done enough procastinating for tonight. I have a 30 page paper due at 4:00 PM tomorrow and about 15 pages left to write.

 

[ForkEmBucky]

That time of year. I'm pretty impressed that they played that well at North Carolina, though.

 

[ForkEmBucky]

Losing to Marquette never feels good.

But this was funny as hell, because the caption was simply, "Ryan disagreed with a number of calls Saturday."

 

[Smart]

Losing to Marquette never feels good.

But this was funny as hell, because the caption was simply, "Ryan disagreed with a number of calls Saturday."

I've never been in the Kohl Center when thee crowd was as angry as it was yesterday. Those refs were simply terrible, and I think they were one or two more terrible calls from a riot situation. It wasn't like the refs were one-sided for Marquette. The refs were just terrible for both teams. Most of the fouls they called weren't actually fouls, and there were a ton of obvious fouls that weren't called. Thank god for Russell and Duckworth, or else i'd be really pissed today.

 

[Smart]

Also, I know that officially counts as an end to the Kohl Center winning streak, but with our band and many of our fans in Indianapolis, it was not a normal Kohl Center atmosphere.

 

[ForkEmBucky]

Yea, and the shooting was kind of atrocious. But I don't doubt that the players felt a little weird if even the band was missing. I mean Marquette is really their biggest rivalry game of the year.

 

[Smart]

For some strange reason, Jordan Taylor has inexplicably forgotten how to shoot. Luckily for him, Ben Brust is absolutely ridiculous. He's seriously turned into a better version of Jason Bohannon, and he's only a Sophomore.

 

[johnnytata]

Did you here the comparisons to neitzel? For those of us with not so fond memories of neitzel, not sure how i felt about the comparisons.

But man he's got a nice looking shot and is pretty athletic to boot.

Need a stronger kow post presence to even out the spacing....

 

[ForkEmBucky]

I didn't buy the Brust hype at first, but he's pretty sick right now.