SURules
All Conference
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 2,865
- Like
- 3,998
I say we go "hell-bent" on driving to the basket and get your bigs in foul trouble
Remember your bigs have to have both feet planted or it's a foul on the "D".
Badger fan here...
- Thread starter badgerfan43
- Start date
I say we go "hell-bent" on driving to the basket and get your bigs in foul trouble
Remember your bigs have to have both feet planted or it's a foul on the "D".
suloyalfan
2nd String
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 546
- Like
- 512
No, we played them more recently in football in the Kickoff Classic in the 1990's down at the Meadowlands too... Ron Dayne was the tailback for them at the time.
orangecuse
Hall of Fame
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2011
- Messages
- 8,234
- Like
- 13,093
On occasion this is as true as it's not, especially in the college game...just look at Butler that past two years...many teams had considerably more talent than them...
kuethstheman
All Conference
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 3,693
- Like
- 4,685
suloyalfan
2nd String
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 546
- Like
- 512
I think the original poster was talking about defensive efficiency and style of play... Syracuse has faced tough defenses with rugged styles already this season. Georgetown, South Florida, Marquette, and Cincinnati come to mind (Kenpom Defensive Efficiency #7, 13, 16, and 22 respectively. Syracuse is #15 and Wisconsin is #4).
FornerlyBIS
Walk On
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2012
- Messages
- 20
- Like
- 31
If that's true, I apologize. The poster who said that Syr had seen it before was reacting to a Badger fans observation that Syr's strength of transition game/forcing turnovers are things UW doesn't allow. In my mind, not allowing turnovers is about our offense (which leads also to lack of transition opportunities), and therefore I quoted the offensive ranks.
SWC75
Bored Historian
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 34,529
- Like
- 67,226
I'd like to thank the OP for such an balanced and detailed scouting report.
The first thing I would say is that we've played Wisconsin-like teams several time this year. I'm not sure Wisconsin has played a team like Syracuse. There aren't too many of them. We are 33-2 because we have have played all kinds of teams in all kinds of games and still found a way to win them, even though the type of game was not what we normally like to play. The most popular offensive stategy against us is to slow down the game and look to score only in the last 5-10 seconds of the shot clock. It's basically never worked. Notre Dame and Cincinnati beat us by shooting lights out in the first half, not by holding the ball to drain the clock. Watching the Badgers vs. Vanderbilt the thing that impressed me the most was not their defense or their pace but their shooting ability and the willing to run when they got the chance. I think they are a much under-rated offensive team and might actually be doing Syracuse a favor by passing on scoring opportunities early in the shot clock.
Syracuse looked lousy vs. UNC-Ashville because, ironically, we don't seem to know how to attack a zone. When teams have success against our zone, they do it by putting a guy with some size who can shoot and pass at the top of the key and working the offense through him. He can score , pass to the baseline or a cutter or back out for a three. But facing a zone, we didn't do that. We just passed the ball around the outside and "settled" for three pointers, missing 18 of 23 of them. Why? I don't know. We have several guys who could have worked form the top of the key. We looked like so many other teams do when facing SU's zone. Dazed and confused.
But we won't be facing a zone in this game. When SU saw an man-to-man vs. K-State, it was like a dog seeing a turkey drumstick. But we didn't do all that well in the first half, scoring one field goal in the last 8 minutes of the half. Matt Roe, who does the color commentary for our local radio boradcasts, pointed out that if you are going to win a game by driving to the basket, you still need to pass the ball, back and forth across the defesne to get the defenders moving. When we don't do that we get called for alot of charges, turn thye ball oer or miss awkward-looking shots. They took Matt's advice in the second half and ripped up the Wildcats. That created a lot of optimism that we will do the samw thing to Wiscosnin but we need to remember that drives to the basket are better as the product of a team offense approach rather than guys punding the ball into the woodwork, looking for an opening on their own.
We are very good at extending the zone to cover three point shooters so teams looking to "bust" the zone with long range shots tend to fail. Nore Dame and Cicny had success simply because we came out flat and didn't play very good defense in those games, especially in the first half we were down by 13 at the half at South Bend and lost by 9 and were down by 12 at the half in New York and lost by 3. If we come out flat in this game the same thing could happen but those are our only two losses all season. When we play the zone well, we play it very aggressively, feet moving, hands waving, denying entry passes, playing the passing lanes, trapping in the corners, (you don't want to go into the corner vs the 'Cuse). We love to run off of blocks and steals, (not so much off of defensive rebounds). And nobody run a better break than we do. We have some good passers and great athletic finishers. Wisconsin is well-advised to get back to prevent that. But I have to say that coming down the stretch on 'D', we've been less aggressive and haven't generated as many turnovers and fast breaks in recent games. We got 2 fast break points vs. Cincy. The team showed signs of getting more aggressive vs. K-State and I hope we'll be getting back to that.
Offesnively we have no inside scoring game at all. Nobody has a post-up, back to the basket game. We are a medicore outside shooting team. Like everybody else, we've had some games where we 'went off' from outside and things got easy. we haven't had many of those games lately. At Louisville we hit one three pointer, one other shot outside the piant and somebody figured out we hit only one other shot outside the charge semi-circle under the basket, (but we still won). We don't have a Preston Shumpert/Gerry McNamara/Demetris Nichols/Andy Rautins type gunner who can hit 3-4 treys in a row and change the game, or hit the "dagger" shot than caps a run or ends the other team's run. We just have a bunch of guys who can occasisonally hit a three pointer. Our half-court offense is based on the dribble-drive and dish game, supplemented by fast breaks off of defensive plays. And too many times, our drives on one-on-one plays where a single player is just probing for a weakness. That's not a lot. We finally pulled away from K-State because we finally started to make some shots. We could use a good run of games in that department.
Everybody talks about our rebounding. We are a zone team and you can't box out in a zone, so we are never going to be a very strong rebounding team. What makes it worse is that this year we have no power forward, which is, traditonally, where our best rebounder played. We basically ahve a center with two small forwards and two guards. Our small forwards are pretty good rebounders for their size when they put their minds to it but are inconsistent at best. Our guard are big and strong but they like to leak out for the break so they haven't rebounded as well as they are capable. We try to make up for poor rebounding by causing turnovers and for much the season that worked. I use stat I call "manufactured possessions": one teams rebounds plus the other team's turnovers. We led in that stat in 18 of our first 19 games but only 6 times in the last 16. The good news is that we are such a good defensive team that even when teams rebound a miss, they often miss again, and again- until we get the ball. That was K-State's problem. They got 25 offensive rebounds but got only 20 second chance points out of it. Since offensive rebounds often lead to field goals and/or trips to the line, that's pretty good. I was interested to learn that Wisconsin doesn't go to the offensive boards much, that they get back to fcover the fast break. Considering that, maybe it would be a good thing for SU's guard to go to the boards, rather than "leaking out".
Regardfing individual personnel, losing Fab Melo hurt us. He was an athletic 7-0, 260 pounds. He could block and alter shots and had an amazing knakc for a bag man in drawing charges- up to 4 in one game. Rakeem Christmas is 6-9 222 and Baye Moussa Keita 6-10 213. Both can bolck shots but are less impsoing in the middle. Rak may actually be a better reboduenr than Fab, whyo only got 6 a game, (Rak had 11 vs. K-State). Baye's problem is getitng pushed around and he has bad hands. Rak was a top big man recruit last eyar, though, and we are beginnign to see why. He was mis-cast as power forward much of the eyar and is performing much better at his nautral position. Our big fear is that someone like Sullinger could foul these guys out and we wind up with a small forward playing center, (they've all done it for short periods during their career here but obviously, that's far from ideal). But I don't think that will be a problem vs. the Badgers.
Kris Joseph has good all-around skills for a college forward but isn't great at anything. He's a sneior so the team looks to him for leadership but sometimes he tries to do too much himself and he's not that type of player. CJ Fair is a more talented player with a geta knakc for being where the ball is. he doesn't have the range on his jumepr Kris does and in recent games he hasn't been able to throw it in the ocean, (it's usually off the back rim). Like a lot of players in a shooting slump, he seems to be in kind of a daze, wondering what's wrong and his whole game hyas sufferred. We need him to get back to normal if we are going to make a run for the title. Both guys are good at finding lanes to drive to the basket and CJ, when he's on is good and sinking the 'floater'. Both are good dunkers when they get the chance. James Southerland has the best form on his jump shot of anyone on the team. After hybernating most of the season, he's "on" and has scored 15 points in each NCAA game, going 5 for 7 from the arc. He doesn't put the ball on the floor to set up a drive or shot but he's an athletic dunker and an active defender. He's the sort of guy who has not been a consistent contributor during the season and suddenly becomes on in the post season, a key to a good run.
Scoop Jardine has been the butt of criticsm thoughout his career but his numbers interms of scoring, assist and assist-to-turnover ratio are actually good. He showed sings of breaking out of a playing slump in the seocnd half vs. K-State, hitting a couple of big threes and getting 8 assists after 7 in the UNCA game. But he did have a bad turnover game with 6 and sometimes SU fans can't fathom what he was trying to accomplish. Like Joseph he's a senior who sometimes interprets that as meaning he's got to do it by himself. He's better being a distributor who takes advantage of an opportunity to score when it's there. Dion Waiters is an explosive player with an extra grear most college players can't match. He's the team's best dunker He can make a three and plays defense well when he puts his mind to it. He's got the biggest "Wow" factor of anyone on the team. Brandon Triche is like Joseph- a good all-around player not great at anything. What he does best is shoot fouls, but he's been getting some yops from the line recently. he has the ability to contribute more but seems to prefer being a supporting player. Behind them is Michael Carter-Williams who may turn out to be better than any of them but is a freshman stuck behind three veteran guards who can play and coaches will stick with their most experienced players this time of year.
We were a donimant team earlier in the year. We've been in "survive and advance" mode for some time and that's what what it's all about now. It can be an advantage to "bottom out" just befgore the tournament or even at it's beginning so you can get better as your opposition gets better and that's pretty much what we have done. I don't think our performance vs. either UNCA or K-State would beat Wisconsin but we can play a lot better than that and hopefully will. if we don't we'll be going home and you'll be moving on.
The first thing I would say is that we've played Wisconsin-like teams several time this year. I'm not sure Wisconsin has played a team like Syracuse. There aren't too many of them. We are 33-2 because we have have played all kinds of teams in all kinds of games and still found a way to win them, even though the type of game was not what we normally like to play. The most popular offensive stategy against us is to slow down the game and look to score only in the last 5-10 seconds of the shot clock. It's basically never worked. Notre Dame and Cincinnati beat us by shooting lights out in the first half, not by holding the ball to drain the clock. Watching the Badgers vs. Vanderbilt the thing that impressed me the most was not their defense or their pace but their shooting ability and the willing to run when they got the chance. I think they are a much under-rated offensive team and might actually be doing Syracuse a favor by passing on scoring opportunities early in the shot clock.
Syracuse looked lousy vs. UNC-Ashville because, ironically, we don't seem to know how to attack a zone. When teams have success against our zone, they do it by putting a guy with some size who can shoot and pass at the top of the key and working the offense through him. He can score , pass to the baseline or a cutter or back out for a three. But facing a zone, we didn't do that. We just passed the ball around the outside and "settled" for three pointers, missing 18 of 23 of them. Why? I don't know. We have several guys who could have worked form the top of the key. We looked like so many other teams do when facing SU's zone. Dazed and confused.
But we won't be facing a zone in this game. When SU saw an man-to-man vs. K-State, it was like a dog seeing a turkey drumstick. But we didn't do all that well in the first half, scoring one field goal in the last 8 minutes of the half. Matt Roe, who does the color commentary for our local radio boradcasts, pointed out that if you are going to win a game by driving to the basket, you still need to pass the ball, back and forth across the defesne to get the defenders moving. When we don't do that we get called for alot of charges, turn thye ball oer or miss awkward-looking shots. They took Matt's advice in the second half and ripped up the Wildcats. That created a lot of optimism that we will do the samw thing to Wiscosnin but we need to remember that drives to the basket are better as the product of a team offense approach rather than guys punding the ball into the woodwork, looking for an opening on their own.
We are very good at extending the zone to cover three point shooters so teams looking to "bust" the zone with long range shots tend to fail. Nore Dame and Cicny had success simply because we came out flat and didn't play very good defense in those games, especially in the first half we were down by 13 at the half at South Bend and lost by 9 and were down by 12 at the half in New York and lost by 3. If we come out flat in this game the same thing could happen but those are our only two losses all season. When we play the zone well, we play it very aggressively, feet moving, hands waving, denying entry passes, playing the passing lanes, trapping in the corners, (you don't want to go into the corner vs the 'Cuse). We love to run off of blocks and steals, (not so much off of defensive rebounds). And nobody run a better break than we do. We have some good passers and great athletic finishers. Wisconsin is well-advised to get back to prevent that. But I have to say that coming down the stretch on 'D', we've been less aggressive and haven't generated as many turnovers and fast breaks in recent games. We got 2 fast break points vs. Cincy. The team showed signs of getting more aggressive vs. K-State and I hope we'll be getting back to that.
Offesnively we have no inside scoring game at all. Nobody has a post-up, back to the basket game. We are a medicore outside shooting team. Like everybody else, we've had some games where we 'went off' from outside and things got easy. we haven't had many of those games lately. At Louisville we hit one three pointer, one other shot outside the piant and somebody figured out we hit only one other shot outside the charge semi-circle under the basket, (but we still won). We don't have a Preston Shumpert/Gerry McNamara/Demetris Nichols/Andy Rautins type gunner who can hit 3-4 treys in a row and change the game, or hit the "dagger" shot than caps a run or ends the other team's run. We just have a bunch of guys who can occasisonally hit a three pointer. Our half-court offense is based on the dribble-drive and dish game, supplemented by fast breaks off of defensive plays. And too many times, our drives on one-on-one plays where a single player is just probing for a weakness. That's not a lot. We finally pulled away from K-State because we finally started to make some shots. We could use a good run of games in that department.
Everybody talks about our rebounding. We are a zone team and you can't box out in a zone, so we are never going to be a very strong rebounding team. What makes it worse is that this year we have no power forward, which is, traditonally, where our best rebounder played. We basically ahve a center with two small forwards and two guards. Our small forwards are pretty good rebounders for their size when they put their minds to it but are inconsistent at best. Our guard are big and strong but they like to leak out for the break so they haven't rebounded as well as they are capable. We try to make up for poor rebounding by causing turnovers and for much the season that worked. I use stat I call "manufactured possessions": one teams rebounds plus the other team's turnovers. We led in that stat in 18 of our first 19 games but only 6 times in the last 16. The good news is that we are such a good defensive team that even when teams rebound a miss, they often miss again, and again- until we get the ball. That was K-State's problem. They got 25 offensive rebounds but got only 20 second chance points out of it. Since offensive rebounds often lead to field goals and/or trips to the line, that's pretty good. I was interested to learn that Wisconsin doesn't go to the offensive boards much, that they get back to fcover the fast break. Considering that, maybe it would be a good thing for SU's guard to go to the boards, rather than "leaking out".
Regardfing individual personnel, losing Fab Melo hurt us. He was an athletic 7-0, 260 pounds. He could block and alter shots and had an amazing knakc for a bag man in drawing charges- up to 4 in one game. Rakeem Christmas is 6-9 222 and Baye Moussa Keita 6-10 213. Both can bolck shots but are less impsoing in the middle. Rak may actually be a better reboduenr than Fab, whyo only got 6 a game, (Rak had 11 vs. K-State). Baye's problem is getitng pushed around and he has bad hands. Rak was a top big man recruit last eyar, though, and we are beginnign to see why. He was mis-cast as power forward much of the eyar and is performing much better at his nautral position. Our big fear is that someone like Sullinger could foul these guys out and we wind up with a small forward playing center, (they've all done it for short periods during their career here but obviously, that's far from ideal). But I don't think that will be a problem vs. the Badgers.
Kris Joseph has good all-around skills for a college forward but isn't great at anything. He's a sneior so the team looks to him for leadership but sometimes he tries to do too much himself and he's not that type of player. CJ Fair is a more talented player with a geta knakc for being where the ball is. he doesn't have the range on his jumepr Kris does and in recent games he hasn't been able to throw it in the ocean, (it's usually off the back rim). Like a lot of players in a shooting slump, he seems to be in kind of a daze, wondering what's wrong and his whole game hyas sufferred. We need him to get back to normal if we are going to make a run for the title. Both guys are good at finding lanes to drive to the basket and CJ, when he's on is good and sinking the 'floater'. Both are good dunkers when they get the chance. James Southerland has the best form on his jump shot of anyone on the team. After hybernating most of the season, he's "on" and has scored 15 points in each NCAA game, going 5 for 7 from the arc. He doesn't put the ball on the floor to set up a drive or shot but he's an athletic dunker and an active defender. He's the sort of guy who has not been a consistent contributor during the season and suddenly becomes on in the post season, a key to a good run.
Scoop Jardine has been the butt of criticsm thoughout his career but his numbers interms of scoring, assist and assist-to-turnover ratio are actually good. He showed sings of breaking out of a playing slump in the seocnd half vs. K-State, hitting a couple of big threes and getting 8 assists after 7 in the UNCA game. But he did have a bad turnover game with 6 and sometimes SU fans can't fathom what he was trying to accomplish. Like Joseph he's a senior who sometimes interprets that as meaning he's got to do it by himself. He's better being a distributor who takes advantage of an opportunity to score when it's there. Dion Waiters is an explosive player with an extra grear most college players can't match. He's the team's best dunker He can make a three and plays defense well when he puts his mind to it. He's got the biggest "Wow" factor of anyone on the team. Brandon Triche is like Joseph- a good all-around player not great at anything. What he does best is shoot fouls, but he's been getting some yops from the line recently. he has the ability to contribute more but seems to prefer being a supporting player. Behind them is Michael Carter-Williams who may turn out to be better than any of them but is a freshman stuck behind three veteran guards who can play and coaches will stick with their most experienced players this time of year.
We were a donimant team earlier in the year. We've been in "survive and advance" mode for some time and that's what what it's all about now. It can be an advantage to "bottom out" just befgore the tournament or even at it's beginning so you can get better as your opposition gets better and that's pretty much what we have done. I don't think our performance vs. either UNCA or K-State would beat Wisconsin but we can play a lot better than that and hopefully will. if we don't we'll be going home and you'll be moving on.
orangefan13
Hall of Fame
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2011
- Messages
- 8,080
- Like
- 5,211
If Syracuse gets 2-3 guys going in the first half its going to cause Big Problems. Thats how Syracuse starts to upset teams.
moqui
generational talent
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2011
- Messages
- 12,094
- Like
- 25,582
At the end of the day, I think this edition of the Badgers is much, much better than Butler 2010
and I don't think our squad is as good as 2010
Wisconsin is the best team we have faced all year, or at least the best team since Marquette (and we are not the same squad as we were at that point). If I was a betting man, I would take Wisconsin and the points and think it was the steal of the decade, because there is a very good chance that they win outright.
and I don't think our squad is as good as 2010
Wisconsin is the best team we have faced all year, or at least the best team since Marquette (and we are not the same squad as we were at that point). If I was a betting man, I would take Wisconsin and the points and think it was the steal of the decade, because there is a very good chance that they win outright.
djcon57
Living Legend
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
- Messages
- 17,110
- Like
- 63,326
Wisc doesn't have anyone the level of Hayward or even Howard inside.
moqui
generational talent
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2011
- Messages
- 12,094
- Like
- 25,582
maybe not, but as a unit they are much better on the offensive end than Butler was, and they are at least their equal on defense.
longislandcuse
Living Legend
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2011
- Messages
- 36,003
- Like
- 43,299
2010 without AO is not as good as we are now. No way. That team also had no Dion to break down a defense like this.
moqui
generational talent
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2011
- Messages
- 12,094
- Like
- 25,582
point taken on no Arinze that game
but, Wiscy is still a better team than Butler was, and is getting the same dismissive treatment from SU fans that the Bulldogs got 2 years ago.
djcon57
Living Legend
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
- Messages
- 17,110
- Like
- 63,326
You reading Syracuse.com?? The majority of the posts are saying Wisky can definitely beat us and has a 50/50 shot depending on their shooting.
Who's dismissive? I will say I DID want to play them over Vandy and I stick by that
kingtidge
All American
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2011
- Messages
- 5,953
- Like
- 12,929
I don't know who's being dismissive...
It's the sweet 16...
Chances are, if you don't bring your A game, you're likely packing your bags.
Cuse will need to play well to win... as they should. And that means establishing the paint early and stout on D.
moqui
generational talent
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2011
- Messages
- 12,094
- Like
- 25,582
it seems to me that a large majority of the posts on this forum - which usually is the smarter forum by far - are pretty dismissive of Wisconsin's chances
longislandcuse
Living Legend
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2011
- Messages
- 36,003
- Like
- 43,299
Obviously. Any team who jacks up threes is scary to us. I didnt say they cant beat us but they shouldnt. Were the better team. My point was to you saying 2010 was better team than this team. Without AO they were not as good as we are without Fab. This team is also much more adept at playing a Butler/Wisc type team with experience against it and a player in Dion who we didnt have in 2010.
CorduroyG
Hall of Fame
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2011
- Messages
- 8,190
- Like
- 14,516
moqui
generational talent
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2011
- Messages
- 12,094
- Like
- 25,582
subtlety and nuance are not your strong point, are they?
I said I would take the points, and they have a good chance to win, but I didn't pick them.
again, I have to wonder - why are you so desperate to have everyone 100% on board your Kool Aid train? I think secretly you have more doubts than anyone, and you want the cover of unanimity if the worst happens.
Knicks411
Living Legend
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2011
- Messages
- 13,910
- Like
- 12,695
The mood is not quite like it was in 2010 for the Butler game, the general consensus was that we were going to roll them, from what I remember.
But I am kinda getting flashbacks to that game. There are similarities; we are a #1 seed, hopes are really high we lose our starting C right before the tournament. Then expectations are tempered for a bit, but we end up blowing out our second round opponent. (beat Gonzaga 87-65, K-State 75-59.) The games were somewhat similar in that we shot really well in both games; but better in the Gonzaga game. (54% from the field, with 12 3's. Btw, Wes had a 31-14 game against Gonzaga; didn't realize it was that good). That blowout victory gets the optimism back, and then we face a team in the Sweet 16 that is going to try and slow the pace of the game down and get into a rockfight with us.
But I am kinda getting flashbacks to that game. There are similarities; we are a #1 seed, hopes are really high we lose our starting C right before the tournament. Then expectations are tempered for a bit, but we end up blowing out our second round opponent. (beat Gonzaga 87-65, K-State 75-59.) The games were somewhat similar in that we shot really well in both games; but better in the Gonzaga game. (54% from the field, with 12 3's. Btw, Wes had a 31-14 game against Gonzaga; didn't realize it was that good). That blowout victory gets the optimism back, and then we face a team in the Sweet 16 that is going to try and slow the pace of the game down and get into a rockfight with us.
DoctorBombay
Hall of Fame
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2011
- Messages
- 9,902
- Like
- 28,090
As did I.
Vandy had 3-4 shooters who could've all gone nuts at the same time & we wouldn't have had a chance.
Wiscy has good shooters, but its mostly due to the volume of shots they take- throw up enough tries, you'll likely hit a few.
I do think we're not giving enough thought to their inside game- they have a coupla big, doofy white guys in the Cooley mold.
Either way, I have more faith in our meat-grinder game ability since we've been in those all year. In 2010, we were usually blowing
other teams out.
newmexicuse
All Conference
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
- Messages
- 3,726
- Like
- 8,322
Hello 'cuse fans! Looking forward to our game game on Thursday! Just figured I'd stop by and give you a quick run-down of the badgers.
Defense, defense, defense. That what the Badgers and Bo Ryan preach. We will always play man to man D (we've never played zone for even a second under Bo), and solid transition defense. Our D is led by sophomore guard Josh Gasser who was named first team defensive all BIG and Jared Berggren who is the conference's top shot blocker. We aren't a defense that will force a lot of turnovers, but we will make you work for a good shot, that's for sure. Typically we defend the perimeter very well only allowing 28.8% from behind the arc, good for 5th in the nation (we're 10th in overall FG defense). The Transition defense is very good because, instead of crashing the offensive glass, we usually drop back and play defense to prevent transition, which allows us to slow down faster, more athletic team(such as Syracuse).
On offense, we've been known to struggle at times. UW isn't the greatest shooting team in the world, and we've been prone to go through long scoring droughts. The majority of our offense revolves around passing it around the perimeter and trying to get some movement and get an open shot. Most of the time this comes with 10 seconds left on the shot clock, but we don't intentionally let the clock run down and then try to find a shot like some "analysts" would lead you to believe. The offense lives and dies by the three and when we aren't making them, that's when we go on those long scoring droughts, but if they are falling, we are a very tough team to beat. Our main scoring threat is preseason AA PG Jordan Taylor as he is the only one that can truly create his own shot and get to the rim consistently.
For the most part this team is made up of role players, Gasser can be invisible offensively or he can put up 15, the same goes for Mike Bruesewitz. He had a really though month in February but it seems as if he's broken out of his slump in the tourney and even when he wasn't hitting his shots he was still displaying a ton of effort on the court and is probably our best rebounder due to sheer effort. Ryan Evans will be the X factor in the game, IMO. He's another who really come on strong as of late. He has been consistently knocking down the mid-range jumper all season which is why I believe he's the X factor as that can be the weakness in the 2-3 zone. Berggren can surprise you, the can pick and pop, hit the three, and displays good, sometimes great, post moves.
I didn't go to in depth but if ou still have any questions about the badgers, I (or another badger fan) will be happy to answer them.
All in all, just hoping for a great game thursday. This one could go either way, IMO. Good luck, and Go Badgers!
Thank you for the insight. If all of your fans are equally classy, I would wish you the best...other than against us, which is unfortunately the case on Thursday.
It sounds like your team consists of a bunch of great hard-working kids who will battle to the end.
Our guys have a tremendous will to win, and always seem to make big plays.
No disrespect intended to your team, but I think we can agree that we have the better athletes. You never know - you can get hot from three & we can go cold, which can change game dynamics. There are no Sweet Sixteen gimme games, but I gotta think that we have more weapons and more options. Even if your D limits our transition game we will still probably get ten or so easy fast break points. IMHO, that will be the difference in a hard fought game.
CorduroyG
Hall of Fame
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2011
- Messages
- 8,190
- Like
- 14,516
im worried about wisconsin. just seems like any team we play we were gonna get a post from you saying something along the lines of "this is a bad matchup for syracuse". been that way all season long.
come on, this wisconsin team is "much much better" than the butler team 2 years ago? the same butler team that beat boeheim, izzo, and was 1 shot away from taking down coach k and winning it all? other than ohio state theyve lost to every better team theyve played this year. theyre a good team, certainly not an elite team, and certainly not much much better than a team that was 1 shot away from winning a national championship.
CorduroyG
Hall of Fame
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2011
- Messages
- 8,190
- Like
- 14,516
according to jeff sagerpomeroyin wisconsin is ranked 3rd in offensive efficiency against zones when the opposing teams center is suspended, and 7th in turnover efficiency margin on thursday nites games against teams with a hall of fame coach. we're doomed!!!!!!!!!
Similar threads
