The One We've Been Waiting For, BUCKY vs. Dookie

Game over 

He never will.

Dekker just looks invisible. Again, he's not playing poorly, you just wouldn't even know he's out there because he just defers To everyone. 

Yup- Dekker as a lottery pick? Um, no. He never takes his man. Makes poor decisions.

Frank and Trae showed up tonight- the rest were sleepwalking out there...

Dekker in high school had a swagger.  Now, he looks tentative. 

Dekker on the bench. 

Embarrassing time. 

WTH?

Dekker sitting down 8

Terrible defense tonight... Let them do whatever they wanted

Refs bailed us out. Clean block.

Oh, Bo is going to have fun pulling out this tape.

There is something up with Dekker. He sat out the last 4-5 minutes. 

Yep - he wasn't effective.   Better off having someone in who has a chance to attack and score.  Not a good game for him. 

To be fair, he has a bad ankle.

Good point. Maybe it's worse than has been revealed. 

 

The expectations after the Lebron James camp were high. There are stretches - like the beginning of one of the games in the Bahamas were he looks like a lottery pick, but they seem to last for about 3-4 minutes and then he disappears. 

Every time Dukan dribbled, it was like blood in the water.  Dekker didn't show up.  

 

Duke earned it tonight, hit big shot after big shot (and Bucky kinda collapsed after getting it back to 5 late).  

 

Should be a fun game on Saturday.  

You can look this two ways. The most positive is that one of the best five teams in the country, with several future NBA players, shot lights out for the entire game, Wisconsin got next to nothing from Hayes, Dekker, and Koenig and yet the Badgers were never really out of it until the last three minutes.

 

The biggest concern is that the Badgers struggled to contain quick guards on dribble penetration. That was the problem for that stretch last January when even Indiana beat them. Gasser has seemed to struggle this year on defense. Don't get me wrong, he's still good, but we are not used to see opposing guards go off like this against the Badgers. Sykes from UWGB did the same thing to them.

OK, where the hell is Satori?

 

The problem playing Duke is they just don't make consecutive mistakes that let you get on 10-2 run to get a big lead.  2 Badgers looked good, the rest looked like they were in awe of Duke. 

Bo Ryan is a very good coach... but let's not get crazy with the homerism surrounding the guy.  I'd say Bo is arguably a top 10 coach.  Coach K is easily a top 3 IMO.  

 

Believe me, I'm not a Duke lover... but Coach K stands tall.

 

 

It was one game.....the Badgers were not going to be undefeated, and they will lose a couple more.  It is a long season, the object is to learn from all games, wins and losses and to be able to put it altogether in March and April.  

 

I don't see any reason to freak out about this loss. Won't matter one bit once the Big Ten starts and March comes around.

 

Regarding Dekker, disappearing does seem to be a running theme with him but I did read somewhere that the ankle isn't 100% so maybe that is a part of it.

Wisconsin is likely the best team in American that doesn't have any one and done players.

 

Purely for talent reasons, it would be nice to get a guy like that once in a while, but I think I'd rather cheer for a team of players that actually major in something other than staying eligible for a year.

 

I think Coach K probably runs a clean program, but I doubt Okafor is spending a lot of time studying. As for Kentucky, based on Calipari's track record, they are probably cutting more than a few corners.

Diamond Stone will be interesting. I'm not sure what to hope for there.

I'm pretty sure everybody knows I'm a big Arizona fan.  They get their fair share of one-and-dones and 5 star recruits.  I can tell you from following that program closely that some of the one-and-dones stay with their academics for the first part of the year and then stop going to classes all together.  Losing their eligibility doesn't catch up with them until the season is over.  Same goes for the upper classman that plan to leave after their 2nd or 3rd season.  They stop going to class and train for the NBA draft or go to NBA workouts.  Last season, Aaron Gordon and Nick Johnson spent most of their time traveling around trying out for one team or another.  There's no way they kept up with their classes.

 

It's great to get the 5 star players... It makes for some exciting basketball.  Stanley Johnson is the next superstar to come out of Arizona but he'll never see his sophomore season.  

 

A lot can be said for the 4 star guys that stay at the university for four years.  It's what the Badger fans are currently experiencing with a stellar Badger team.  What you end up having is a group of men playing against a group of kids... more talented kids, but kids none the less.  Not to mention some of the 5 stars tend showcase their individual talents rather than playing team basketball.  

 

As for Diamond Stone, I've heard he's heading to UConn.  

And here I thought they were student athletes! At least that's what I've been told.

Hasn't been the game for a long time, and that is not the 19 year olds fault.  

 

And damn right I would take a one and done player, just like I will take the next Frank the Tank.  

 

They lost to Duke, learn from it and play angry against Marquit

The bottom line is the NBA rule (19 year old) is flat out stupid and just encourages more "one and dones" and I don't think it makes these guys any more mature or prepared for the pros than if they skipped college and went right to the pros out of high school.

Couldn't agree more.  I think the kids should have to complete two years of college before being eligible for the draft.  

heck, for Roy "dadgum" Williams and his NC players....they could earn a degree in 2 years with all the classes they are passing.

 

In the grand scheme of things there's no shame in losing to a very talented Duke team.  They need to shore up guard penetration but you can't really plan for a team shooting 65% from the field.  Tip your cap to the Dookies