2008 NCAA Tournament Thread (UW Sweet 16- Fri. vs. Davidson)

[MajorDad]

a coach has a choice. he can spend 23 hours a day trying to lure in a 5 star stud, or he can be a very successful recruiter of 3 and 4 star players and be able to go to sleep at night.

The problem with going after the 5 star studs is that they rarely stay in school more than 1 year, and if you are a Wisconsin, you usually have to also throw in a kicker - like give his dad a job. it worked for Sampson at IU luring Gordon. Although Sampson is no longer allowed to coach NCAA teams.

Purdue's coach Painter was asked why he didn't pursue Conley and Oden harder based on his track record of recruiting Indiana high school basketball players. His reply was that he knew he didn't stand a chance at recruiting either player, so rather than wasting his time, he decided to concentrate on recruiting several 3-4 star players whom he was able to sign. While others were wasting their time following Oden around, Painter was out recruiting Martin, Hummel, E'Twoin and johnson a year early

UW's Ryan's recruiting followed a similar path. You can get to the final 4 by recruiting 3-4 star players. UW has done it before. it's always nice to have a star player. but look at USC, IU and kansas St. in order for that star to be a star, the team made sacrifices and lost.

UW sure didn't look like a great team tonight. but I believe they are going about their recruiting the right way, and next year, they'll make another run at the elite 8. I have to believe UW could have beaten at least 3 of the other elite 8 teams. it was just not to be tonight.

[MickeyDavis]

Good post.

[europa]

The good news for the Badgers is that getting screwed out of a 2 seed actually helped them advance further. Had they gotten the 2 seed they deserved they would've met Davidson in the second round and gotten bounced just like Georgetown did. So I'm happy for that anyway.

Tough loss but it's hard to beat a team shooting that well. Curry is a ridiculously good shooter and it seemed like every time they took a 3 they hit it. It was just their night. Great season for the Badgers. I honestly think this was the least talented team Bo has had so for them to run the table in the Big 10 and advance to the Sweet 16 is pretty damn impressive in my opinion.

Back to the tourney, what we're seeing tonight from MSU is why I picked them to lose in the first round. Yea I was wrong about that but they're just not that good of a team. Memphis damn good but the Spartans are being humiliated tonight.

Oh, and if there is any good fortune to fall on the Bucks they will get Derrick Rose in the draft.

[Bernman]

-= original quote snipped =-



I'm not convinced at all that the Badgers would beat Davidson in say a 7 game series. I think people underestimate how good that team is because they aren't from a power conference.

Davidson played Duke much closer than UW did, were way up on UCLA, only lost by 4 to North Carolina, beat Gonzaga/Georgetown, and destroyed us in the second half. They weren't some small school that just got hot late in the year.

Watching them vs us and the second half against Georgetown, they are a legit good basketball team. They shoot better than Wisconsin, are more athletic, and have a special player that can get crazy hot and carry a team.

Wisconsin was tied with them at halftime in spite of torrid shooting from the outside. One reason was our effort, shown especially in our dominance on the boards. Also, we had the mental energy to counter every one of their runs. They wore us down mentally and physically in the 2nd half. A big reason is their depth in comparison to ours.

Davidson had the luxury of playing North Carolina, Duke, Georgetown, and Gonzaga; at home basically. When they played UCLA in California, they were beaten by double digits. They also lost to NC State and Charlotte. Wisconsin got blown out by them in the midwest. I think you're rationalizing. We should have beaten Davidson and certainly shouldn't have been blown out.

[JoeHova]

I thought my original post presented a great solution for how we could easily improve our chances in the future.

You definitely made some great points about the scholarships. However, let's just remember that Dean Smith didn't win a title at UNC until his 21st season with a team that had James Worthy and Michael Jordan. Krzyzewski won in his 11th season with a team that had 3 top 7 NBA draft picks on it. Boeheim won in his 26th season at Syracuse with a team featuring one of the best freshmen ever and another top 20 pick.

I just think building a top program takes time and what Bo has accomplished at UW in 7 seasons is remarkable and should be commended. UW is consistently top 10 in attendance nationally in addition to their on-court success. Recruits will eventually come, imo.

[paulpressey25]

Rick Majerus on talk radio yesterday kept talking about what a great player Hughes was.....best player in the State.

Unfortunately I think the media and CBS bought into that bit about Wisconsin being 10 interchangable parts. So there was little mentioned about Hughes going down so early. Hughes is/was every bit as important to our team as Curry to theirs. Take Curry out and we'll win most games against them. Just as we were at a big disadvantage without Hughes.

[LUKE23]

Hughes was a huge loss, given that the Badgers only have six guys on the team that can really score at all (and Krabbenhoft is questionable most nights). Granted, I don't think UW beats Davidson if they shoot like that whether Hughes plays or not, but Hughes is a very good perimeter defender, much better than Bohannon, and gives UW their only guy that can penetrate and create.

I'm actually glad Butch is graduating. I want a post player that can bang people and score in the post, not a 7 foot guard.

[El Duderino]

-= original quote snipped =-



Wisconsin was tied with them at halftime in spite of torrid shooting from the outside. One reason was our effort, shown especially in our dominance on the boards. Also, we had the mental energy to counter every one of their runs. They wore us down mentally and physically in the 2nd half. A big reason is their depth in comparison to ours.

The Badgers were also very hot from three point land in the first half, it wasn't only Davidson raining three the first 20 minutes. They made 8 threes the first half, we made 7 and at a good percentage.

As for their socalled superior depth, their by far two most important players in in Richards/Curry, they played 39 and 37 minutes. Bohannon played five less minutes than Richards did and Curry only played three less minutes than Flowers. Butch only played 29 minutes and Landry played 31. Krabbenhoft played only four more minutes than his season average and was right around the minutes he usually plays in close games.

Besides all that, Davidson took apart Wisconsin in the first 10 minutes of the second half, not late in the last few minutes when maybe the players could be gassed. They beat the Badgers mentally by executing better, but their two studs played the whole game and they managed to still play well.

[Buck You]

Who are the freshman the Badgers are getting next year?

[Bernman]

Who are the freshman the Badgers are getting next year?

PG Jordan Taylor: http://www.recruitingplanet.com/forum/w ... erbal.html

PF/C Jared Berggren: http://www.recruitingplanet.com/forum/w ... erbal.html

SG/SF Robert Wilson: http://www.recruitingplanet.com/forum/w ... erbal.html

C Ian Markolf: http://www.recruitingplanet.com/forum/w ... erbal.html

[Buck You]

Important information.

Thanks.

Ian Markoff looks promising. Looks like he actually wants to play in the post.

[LUKE23]

What kind of competition is Wilson going against? He really has come on, especially the rebounding numbers. I've seen a ton of Buckeye fans saying they missed the boat on that kid.

I like this class quite a bit.

[Stones313]

What kind of competition is Wilson going against? He really has come on, especially the rebounding numbers. I've seen a ton of Buckeye fans saying they missed the boat on that kid.

I like this class quite a bit.

Luke, I would have expected you to be at Ford Field last night. It was off the hook. 58,000 fans, craziness. Terrible place for a basketball game. Can't imaging next years final four when the draw 70,000+ fans. Sorry about your Badgers. They looked terrible.

Gonz

[skones]

Jordan Taylor looks like a true point guard.

[DH34Phan]

UNC with a great win over Louisville. Hansbrough was amazing.