yikes.......not looking to good....anyone here?? 22 - 26 Cobs. End of the half. 
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This is not a skilled team.
The talent hole is immense, though it seems the young guys might make up for some weak Bo Ryan recruiting (Even thought AI was a four star recruit). I was just looking up Josh Sharma, who was potentially another big recruit for Bucky... and he'd be nice to have on this team, but I don't think he moves the needle either
Put up a good fight, but just not enough talent. Also, Happ has to hit his free throws.
El-Ka-Bong posted:This is not a skilled team.
The talent hole is immense, though it seems the young guys might make up for some weak Bo Ryan recruiting (Even thought AI was a four star recruit). I was just looking up Josh Sharma, who was potentially another big recruit for Bucky... and he'd be nice to have on this team, but I don't think he moves the needle either
Not sure what happened with Illikainen. He got offers from 6 Big 10 schools (Iowa, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska) so a lot of people missed on him.
Happ has nothing around him right now.
Davidson takes charges and all, but his defense has steadily gotten worse, as is his shooting. Maybe it is time to let the kid rest up.
The 2015 recruiting class has been a certified disaster. Van Vliet and Illikainen are non factors. Iverson has not developed despite his superior athleticism, Thomas has gone from a Freshman getting time to a non factor, and Pritzl looks good one game and lost the next.
That’s a 5 player class that produced nothing to help out Happ. Now it’s down to the current Freshmen, who are showing promise (Davison, Reuvers, and King could be a great class, then add in Ford from 2016 as a redshirt and you could have a great group).
But the 2018 class lost a potential star in Herro and didn’t really recover. They picked up two big kids from Michigan and Minnesota, but the kid from Minnesota is a 4 for 5 kid who will redshirt his first year automatically. That leaves one inbound freshman, Taylor Currie, who can help close the gap for this team in 2018-19. I like Currie- solid back to the basket game, decent mid-range, but he’s a below the rim PF that will have to get really frickin strong if he’s going to have a chance to help this team in this conference.
That 2015 class might cost Gard his job. Unless the 2017 class saves him, they’re no longer competitive in the Big Ten, much less nationally. That’s not going to cut it anymore.
Why would the 2015 class cause Gard his job? They were not his recruits. If his recruiting classes continue to be as bad as the 2015 class then I can see his job on the line.
El-Ka-Bong posted:Happ has nothing around him right now.
Davidson takes charges and all, but his defense has steadily gotten worse, as is his shooting. Maybe it is time to let the kid rest up.
He's basically a poor man's Josh Gasser. The problem is instead of the 6th best offensive player on the team like Gasser was, he has to be the 2nd right now.
ammo posted:Why would the 2015 class cause Gard his job? They were not his recruits. If his recruiting classes continue to be as bad as the 2015 class then I can see his job on the line.
I don't think it will cost him his job in the next 2-3 years, but if it sets up a 2 year stretch where they win 12 games a year it could have a domino effect on recruiting the next 2-3 years which could hurt them in the long run.
As Music City said, a bad class happens in most places from time, but 5 guys is 2 classes worth of recruits. Having 5 seniors plus redshirt senior Happ next year should have been a 25 win team based on the last 15 years of Wisconsin basketball and how much players usually improve. They'll likely struggle to make the NIT next year as well.
ammo posted:Why would the 2015 class cause Gard his job? They were not his recruits. If his recruiting classes continue to be as bad as the 2015 class then I can see his job on the line.
According to 247 Sports, Greg Gard was either the primary or one of the coaches who recruited every single one of them. Greg Gard was the primary recruiter for Bo Ryan- he did most of the work.
He has nowhere to hide. This is his team. Now I don’t know if Herro pulled out because Kentucky got him a car or if his ACT scores were in the low teens. But on a team screaming for scoring talent, he bolted. And they’ll miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 17 years because they turn the ball over and they struggle scoring and defending. And they suck at shooting free throws. And shooting 3s. And they’re not a very good rebounding team. So yeah... Gard has presided over a team that sucks at everything that matters and has failed to recruit. I’d say that his job is teetering a bit...
Music City posted:ammo posted:Why would the 2015 class cause Gard his job? They were not his recruits. If his recruiting classes continue to be as bad as the 2015 class then I can see his job on the line.
According to 247 Sports, Greg Gard was either the primary or one of the coaches who recruited every single one of them. Greg Gard was the primary recruiter for Bo Ryan- he did most of the work.
He has nowhere to hide. This is his team. Now I don’t know if Herro pulled out because Kentucky got him a car or if his ACT scores were in the low teens. But on a team screaming for scoring talent, he bolted. And they’ll miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 17 years because they turn the ball over and they struggle scoring and defending. And they suck at shooting free throws. And shooting 3s. And they’re not a very good rebounding team. So yeah... Gard has presided over a team that sucks at everything that matters and has failed to recruit. I’d say that his job is teetering a bit...
I think he'll get another 3-4 years to right the ship. But you're right, if you took Happ off this team the talent would fit in well within the WIAC.
Other than Sam Dekker, the Badgers have not gotten the Tyler Herro types. Whether it's Diamond Stone, Kevon Looney, Ellenson, etc., the guys that think they are NBA ready want to play for a flashier program.
The fact that 19 consecutive trips the Big Dance, 2 Final Fours, 10 guys that have played for the Badgers in the next 10 years playing in the NBA, etc. hasn't changed that perception is disappointing. But that's the reality. Because of that they have to rely on developing 2 and 3 star recruits. Kaminsky is the most obvious example, but guys like Brusewitz, Berggren, Jordan Taylor, Brust, Gasser, Dukan, Traveon Jackson, Showalter etc. all improved dramatically as they grew into being upperclassmen.
Iverson, Illikainen, Van Vliet, C. Thomas have regressed. Pritzl is OK, but only in comparison to the other 4. The other 4 guys they offered scholarships to that year were all more highly rated and none of them has really panned out either (Diamond Stone, Maverick Rowan, Esa Ahman, and Jimmy Whitt).
http://www.espn.com/colleges/b...ass/2015/page/offers
The only reason I think Gard could be on the hot seat is he wasn't really Barry's hire
El-Ka-Bong posted:The only reason I think Gard could be on the hot seat is he wasn't really Barry's hire
Who did Barry really want? Tony Bennett?
Horrible at home. After this
Take that, rewind it back. ⏪@iverson_khalil with a MONSTROUS REVERSE DUNK! 😱😱😱 pic.twitter.com/x8LFgDbwqg
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) January 30, 2018
allowed Neb to go on a 20-3 run and piss the game away
Yeah, last night was brutal. Can't shoot, zero consistent offense outside of Happ, and have extended defensive lapses. But they make up for all that with by not being able to make free throws.
What made it worse was BTN had the two title four runs on just before the game. Actually got goosebumps again. I told my wife I forgot how much fun it was to watch those teams, how efficient they were.
Then came last nights game....
Sure. You have to put the ball in the hoop. But I think playing good DEFENSE is eerily missing from the team this year. Maybe it's because they are young. But for Iverson and Pritzl there is no excuse.
I swear Davidson is regressing. I hope it is his shoulder.
I hope so too, maybe he's hitting the freshman wall.
He is probably regressing because he is not in shape physically or mentally for the number of minutes he's had to play. A full B1G season has to be what 3-4 times more difficult than a high school season? Maybe more?
I think both Davison and Reuvers would have redshirted in past years. It's unfortunate they wasted a year on not redshirting them so the team could win 10-12 games instead of sitting them out and winning a total of 7 or 8 games. It wasn't fair to them and it didn't make a difference towards making this a decent season.
Davison is clearly physically limited and Reuvers has potential but needed a full year in the weight room.
At this point in the season, if you take Happ off the court, this team is a D3 level team.
If what everyone is saying about Gard is true, and they just need to push past this year and get the 2017 class healthy, then for both Reuvers and Davison this year is a great education. They now know the difference- the adjustments to this level are being noted if these kids are going to amount to anything.
I don’t get the impression that either of these kids are mentally weak- they’re competitors. This year of taking it on the chin will be a catalyst to them being as good as they can be.
And while the above is 100% possible, I still think that Gard isn’t the right guy for the program.
