UW about to lose to Milwaukee

[AlexJesswein]

down 4 at home with 22 seconds left...

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

That sucks, I wanted UW flying high for Saturday.

[mufan2003]

UW should not have even got the final possession, awfully quick travel call on UWM player diving for loose ball...he got rid of it quickly.

[kneelb4zerg]

That sucks, I wanted UW flying high for Saturday.

Some things are more important than an MU win in December. Badger humiliation is one of them.

[mufan2003]

That sucks, I wanted UW flying high for Saturday.

Yeah. MU players need to maintain mindset that it will be a very tough game. However, brutal loss for UW.

[mufan2003]

What is MU's streak against UWM?

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

What is MU's streak against UWM?

39-0

[MU/Panther]

Life is good! I'll be in Madison for the mupanther sweep on Saturday!

[mufan2003]

39-0

Thanks

[MUfan12]

That's gotta be awkward as **** for all the diehard UW fans that went to UWM.

[Markedman]

Brutal game for UW. I would expect them to play a lot better on Saturday.

Obviously was a trap game for the Badgers before their "Super Bowl"... ....��

[Markedman]

Jeff Goodman is such a clown. Trolling Kaminsky after a badger loss? https://twitter.com/goodmanespn/status/674804751406501890

[TedBaxter]

This hurts MU. A win or even a loss Saturday will not move the NCAA needle much for MU. Wouldn't be a bad loss and more importantly, wouldn't be a great win. UW will need to do well in the Big Ten.

[MulliganMusings]

This is not a good outcome for MU on many levels not the least of which is that you will have a group of very pissed off Badgers at the Kohl Hole on Saturday. This was the ultimate trap game for UW after coming off some very impressive wins. They will be primed on Saturday making an already difficult task an even more so. Will be interesting to see how Coach Wojciechowski gets them ready and how they respond. The first five minutes of this game will be critical.

[kneelb4zerg]

Guys it will still be a good win or not a bad loss. One loss to a decent mid major doesn't significantly undermine Wisconsin's status. Come on now.

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

Guys it will still be a good win or not a bad loss. One loss to a decent mid major doesn't significantly undermine Wisconsin's status. Come on now.

I don't think it will be a bad loss, especially on the road, but I don't know how good of a win it will ultimately be. We looking at a potentially below .500 Big Ten team that already has home losses to Western Illinois and UWM...

[TedBaxter]

Add the loss to the Western Illinois loss at home and Wisconsin is a bubble team if they have a .500 record in the Big Ten. The bottom half of the Big Ten, Rutgers, Illinois, Minnesota and Penn State are not godd this year and Ohio State, Michigan and Northwestern are average so they have to win most of those games and hope to beat a Michigan State, Purdue, Iowa and Maryland along the way.

Not unlike Marquette's status right now in that they don't have great wins and the conference record will determine their fate. The Syracuse win was a good win, but at the end of the year may not be a great win.

[bleedbluegold03]

According to Kenpom, our SoS is 332. That is beyond abysmal.

With Wisconsin's bad losses, Saturday is nothing short of a must win if people still want to entertain the idea of making the tournament.

[Phantom Warrior]

Add Nebraska to the list of not very good teams. Creighton pretty much crushed Nebraska. Not quite sure where to put IU, but the Hoosiers have enough talent to finish among the Top Five in the Big 14.

[Phantom Warrior]

bleed,

After we play Presbyterian (330), Chicago State (339), and Stetson (312), our SOS could be even worse. It will not surprise me one bit if our SOS ends up being the lowest of any team in the ACC, Big 12, Big 14, Pac 12, SEC, and Big East (74 teams).

That is beyond pathetic.

And to all the apologists for this travesty of a schedule, there is no rationale - none - for playing a schedule that includes seven games against non-conference teams that could well end up below 300 on RPI.

And if/when this team does not make the NCAA Tournament because of this abomination of a schedule, you can all go right on trying to justify it in your own minds.

[kneelb4zerg]

bleed,

After we play Presbyterian (330), Chicago State (339), and Stetson (312), our SOS could be even worse. It will not surprise me one bit if our SOS ends up being the lowest of any team in the ACC, Big 12, Big 14, Pac 12, SEC, and Big East (74 teams).

That is beyond pathetic.

And to all the apologists for this travesty of a schedule, there is no rationale - none - for playing a schedule that includes seven games against non-conference teams that could well end up below 300 on RPI.

And if/when this team does not make the NCAA Tournament because of this abomination of a schedule, you can all go right on trying to justify it in your own minds.

Do people not understand -- as Wojo and Broeker have repeatedly said -- that scheduling isn't a one-way street? Even if they wanted to play a more difficult schedule, who's to say that those teams wanted to play MU, or that they could be arranged for scheduling purposes? I for one can think of plenty of "excuses" for the schedule being what it is.

[Nukem2]

I don't like the scheduling of so many buy games any more than most and I have posted so. Reality is that the schedule was set up that way because of the youth and lack of experience. It is what it is. Obviously, the empty seats at the BC this season
speak for themselves. The AD and Wojo will have to figure that out for the future.

Back to the point. MU is at Bucky on Saturday and this game is going to tell us a lot about the direction of this MU team, win or lose. Obviously UW will be up for this game after the loss to UW-M, but our guys should be ready and up for this game as well. Need to minimize TOs.

[MUfan12]

And to all the apologists for this travesty of a schedule, there is no rationale - none - for playing a schedule that includes seven games against non-conference teams that could well end up below 300 on RPI.

And if/when this team does not make the NCAA Tournament because of this abomination of a schedule, you can all go right on trying to justify it in your own minds.

I don't think people are being apologists, they accept it for what it is rather than pissing and moaning about it at every turn.

And if MU gets to 11 wins in the conference, they'll get in regardless of what happens on Saturday. They'll have to beat 3 or 4 really good teams to get there.

[TedBaxter]

I don't think people are being apologists, they accept it for what it is rather than pissing and moaning about it at every turn.

And if MU gets to 11 wins in the conference, they'll get in regardless of what happens on Saturday. They'll have to beat 3 or 4 really good teams to get there.

Exactly how I feel.

[ge1974]

I understand the "bunny" game concept for MU but cant they schedule some better RPI bunnies like schools from the MAC, Ivy or Patriot League?

[Phantom Warrior]

Well, we will get a chance to see just how well this strategy of playing a lot of crappy teams works/worked when we play UW Saturday.

UW came into the season with exactly two veterans who had averaged double-digit minutes last year - Koenig and Hayes. And one player - Showalter - who got very limited minutes but still contributed a little at the end of the year. Still, Showalter's minutes were far less than either JJ's minutes or Sandy's minutes were last year.

We returned two veterans who played major minutes last year in Luke and Duane, both of whom averaged double-digit ppg, along with Sandy and JJ.

UW has three frosh that get major minutes this year, and so does MU.

The past four games UW has played the following teams: Oklahoma at Oklahoma (#2 in RPI), Syracuse at Syracuse (#34), Temple (#91) and UWM (#115).

Our past four games have been against Jackson State (#208), Maine (#317), San Jose State (#328), and Grambling State (#350).

In my mind both UW and MU had relatively comparable teams coming into this season - a couple of proven, solid veterans who were starters last year, one or two reserves with at least some experience, and some unproven but highly-regarded freshmen. If anything, our freshmen were more highly-regarded than UW's frosh were - even including Happ. The two programs took very different approaches to non-conference scheduling. Our SOS is #328; UWs is #100.

We'll see what happens Saturday, but I think UW's last four games have likely better prepared the Badgers for Saturday than our last four games have.

And after, we round out the pre-Big East portion of the schedule with Chicago State and Presbyterian we'll see just how well-prepared this group is for the rigors of the Big East.

[MUwarrior1090]

Phantom,

I do agree with most of your post, and obviously I wish we would have scheduled tougher non conference games. However, We will likely end non conference 10-3 (including Stetson) and I think we all would have taken that preseason, and been thrilled with it after the Iowa debacle.

The test for this team was always going to be Big East play. Making the tournament is the ultimate goal this year but if we could get to .500 or better in league play I would see that as a success following last year.

[MUfan12]

We get it. The schedule sucks. We've all said it from the time it was released.

[MU88]

Well, we will get a chance to see just how well this strategy of playing a lot of crappy teams works/worked when we play UW Saturday.

UW came into the season with exactly two veterans who had averaged double-digit minutes last year - Koenig and Hayes. And one player - Showalter - who got very limited minutes but still contributed a little at the end of the year. Still, Showalter's minutes were far less than either JJ's minutes or Sandy's minutes were last year.

We returned two veterans who played major minutes last year in Luke and Duane, both of whom averaged double-digit ppg, along with Sandy and JJ.

UW has three frosh that get major minutes this year, and so does MU.

The past four games UW has played the following teams: Oklahoma at Oklahoma (#2 in RPI), Syracuse at Syracuse (#34), Temple (#91) and UWM (#115).

Our past four games have been against Jackson State (#208), Maine (#317), San Jose State (#328), and Grambling State (#350).

In my mind both UW and MU had relatively comparable teams coming into this season - a couple of proven, solid veterans who were starters last year, one or two reserves with at least some experience, and some unproven but highly-regarded freshmen. If anything, our freshmen were more highly-regarded than UW's frosh were - even including Happ. The two programs took very different approaches to non-conference scheduling. Our SOS is #328; UWs is #100.

We'll see what happens Saturday, but I think UW's last four games have likely better prepared the Badgers for Saturday than our last four games have.

And after, we round out the pre-Big East portion of the schedule with Chicago State and Presbyterian we'll see just how well-prepared this group is for the rigors of the Big East.

Let's throw out the name opponents for each team, then look at the preseason schedules.

Wisconsin plays Western Illinois, Siena, North Dakota, Prairie View, T&AM-CC, Green Bay and Milwaukee in the preseason.

MU plays Belmont, IUPUI, Jackson State, Grambling, Maine, San Jose St., Chicago State, Presbyterian and Stetson in the preseason.

Really, before the season, can you say that one teams lineup is any worse than the other? I would suggest that Belmont and a MWC team will tilt the preseason schedule towards MU, but it is really a toss up. You can't honestly say that MU's buy games are any worse than UW's or any other school for that matter.

Now, the team coming off the final four has played more marquee, made for tv games. Granted. But, the lack of marquee games is a consequence of MU being so stinky last year. Plus, MU is stuck playing home games to fund their budget, a problem UW doesn't have. UW can play more home-homes than MU can. They can play Temple, home-home and travel to OU this year. Unfortunately, MU can't. We get an extra conference game, but we have to fill in the schedule with a Stetson, while UW can travel to Norman. That's life with BCS football.

[Djgoldnboy]

I don't know why, but I have a good feeling about Sat. I think the Luke/HE combo, recent improvement of ball movement/assists.....along with some improved 1-3 spot performances of late (Traci at the PG, HC and Sandy stroking from deep).....if we can continue those trends I think we could walk out of there with a nice little "W". I've been wrong before but I think we get this one.

[bleedbluegold03]

my only point in bringing up the fact is that in scheduling so few OOC "quality" games, you need to make sure you're winning them.

[Markedman]

I'm still trying to figured out how UW lost that game. They had a higher shooting percentage, they shot a higher percentage from 3 and they out rebounded them by 16!

Panthers made more 3s and shot a higher percentage from the free throw line. Neither team turned it over much. 10 for UW only 8 for UWM.

It 's hard to shoot 35% from the floor...29% from 3 and get killed on the boards and still win on the road.

UW had 7 assists for the entire game.

[Halo]

When is the last time UW has lost two in a row at home? How about two in a row losses to non-conference teams?

Not going to be pretty Saturday for MU. Bo will make the adjustments.

I do like that Duane Wilson is shooting better. But UW allows so few 3's taken typically that it will be tough to get many good open looks. So he can't just be jacking 3's up there.

[Markedman]

Let's throw out the name opponents for each team, then look at the preseason schedules.

Wisconsin plays Western Illinois, Siena, North Dakota, Prairie View, T&AM-CC, Green Bay and Milwaukee in the preseason.

MU plays Belmont, IUPUI, Jackson State, Grambling, Maine, San Jose St., Chicago State, Presbyterian and Stetson in the preseason.

Really, before the season, can you say that one teams lineup is any worse than the other? I would suggest that Belmont and a MWC team will tilt the preseason schedule towards MU, but it is really a toss up. You can't honestly say that MU's buy games are any worse than UW's or any other school for that matter.

Now, the team coming off the final four has played more marquee, made for tv games. Granted. But, the lack of marquee games is a consequence of MU being so stinky last year. Plus, MU is stuck playing home games to fund their budget, a problem UW doesn't have. UW can play more home-homes than MU can. They can play Temple, home-home and travel to OU this year. Unfortunately, MU can't. We get an extra conference game, but we have to fill in the schedule with a Stetson, while UW can travel to Norman. That's life with BCS football.

Last year MU had home and homes that finished up with Ohio State and ASU so lets not say this is the best we could do because of funding the athletic department.

It's a choice they made because of the youth of the team and not wanting to have another 13-19 season.

[MUwarrior1090]

When is the last time UW has lost two in a row at home? How about two in a row losses to non-conference teams?

Not going to be pretty Saturday for MU. Bo will make the adjustments.

I do like that Duane Wilson is shooting better. But UW allows so few 3's taken typically that it will be tough to get many good open looks. So he can't just be jacking 3's up there.

Lost 3 in a row at home two years ago (2013-2014). Not sure about non conference.

[IrwinFletcher]

Although I am not all too confident about Saturday, it isn't because Madison is going to be "focused" and Bo is going to get things corrected.

This is their second stunning loss at home in a month. The first time something like that happens, it is a wake up call, the second time it happens, it is the beginning of a trend. Simply put, Madison isn't all that good, especially in comparison from teams past. If anything, the players are likely to be questioning themselves, the team, the strategy etc and that can bit them moving forward.

The one thing that gives me a bit of hope, but it is based on a small sample size of one, is that Wojo put a really good plan together last season in this game. Now, we had more experience and were at home but Madison was supremely talented. Maybe, Wojo has an answer for what Bo is doing with his team.

I think we are at a huge disadvantage due to our youth, inexperience and being on the road. That will lead to a 10-12 point loss.

[Phantom Warrior]

MU has basically as much experience as UW does.

Koenig and Hayes have an advantage in experience over Luke and Duane because they both have two years of significant playing time whereas LF and DW have basically one each.

But JJ and Sandy have an edge in experience over both Brown and Showalter in terms of mpg last year. Both JJ and Sandy averaged double-digit mpg, while neither Showalter nor Brown averaged even 10 mpg.

The three frosh on each team who see decent mpg are probably a draw, even though Happ has an advantage having spent a year as a red-shirt. However, Henry's stint with the national team means he has a bit more experience against quality competition than most freshmen. (Plus our frosh had an advantage in terms of the trip to Italy, even though HC wasn't able to play.)

Inexperience comes into play against Iowa and Belmont and ASU, but it shouldn't be a factor against UW - except that this is our first true road game (hostile environment) while the Badgers have already played at Syracuse and at Oklahoma.

[Djgoldnboy]

When is the last time UW has lost two in a row at home? How about two in a row losses to non-conference teams?



This is not your fathers badger basketball team!

We shall see, like I said, I've been wrong in the past, will again in the future, I just have a good feeling about this one.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

When is the last time UW has lost two in a row at home? How about two in a row losses to non-conference teams?

As noted, they lost three in a row at home in their 2013-14 Final Four year. Two non-con teams, I'm thinking this week will be the first time in quite awhile :D

[Goose85]

This is not your fathers badger basketball team!

We shall see, like I said, I've been wrong in the past, will again in the future, I just have a good feeling about this one.

Actually, it is better than my fathers Badger basketball team (ha). The Badgers were terrible until Bennett arrived.

[Djgoldnboy]

As noted, they lost three in a row at home in their 2013-14 Final Four year. Two non-con teams, I'm thinking this week will be the first time in quite awhile :D

Glad we could both be right!! And should have won by much more than we did too.....I'll take a W, but winning by 10-15 would have been rubbing salt in the wounds.