Our coach is pretty good

[brewcity77]

Right now, it's easy to drink the Kool-Aid. We just knocked off the #7 team in the nation in their building, where they are now 157-12. But a few thoughts on this team...

• Buzz was regarded as a great recruiter after two top-25 recruiting classes, but how about this one? Mayo is a scoring stud, DW looks great, and Juan bring more energy than Speedy Gonzalez
  
• Last year, the three killed us. We held opponents to 30.4% from beyond the arc before UW's 5/19 (26.3%) today. We were patient defensively and look a lot more mature. Who says Buzz can't coach D?
  
• The maturation of Vander Blue is insane. He's been a flat-out stud, and no one does the little things better. Kid was balling in a pressure cooker today and didn't look phased. Great job by the staff.
  
• Our offense is still really good. Yeah, it slowed down today, but it's not as though we expect 61 points to continue.
  
• The rebounding is much improved, and it comes from everywhere. Our backcourt got 20 boards. Wisconsin's frontcourt got 19 boards. That's amazing.

.
It's not just the players that are special...I'm still really glad we have Buzz 

[hairy worthen]

Agree with all that, but the most impressive thing to me is the improvment in the defense. There were many on here last season that were ripping Buzz for not being able to coach defense.

I hope the intensity continues, dosen't hurt to rotate 11 deep.

[tower912]

Last year defensively...no good PG defense.  EWill simply did not get it on defense.    Jae committed too many dumb fouls (still a work in progress).     DG lacked the stamina to play defense.    Fulce was playing on bad knees.   Otue was a year younger.      The 3 freshmen and Jamil are exponentially better on defense than the guys who left.    Buzz recruited some complete ballplayers. 

[shiloh26]

How about being a great strategy guy?  He knows we're deep on the bench, and I absolutely loved all the substitutions.  Wisconsin was tired, but our defenders were always fresh. Honestly, if he can trust the bench like that in a place like the Kohl Center, I'm even more excited about this season. 

[wadesworld]

Last year defensively...The 3 freshmen and Jamil are exponentially better on defense than the guys who left.

Jimmy Butler might have to disagree with you on that one.  And I would tend to agree with Jimmy if he did.  This is a guy who completely shut down anything from point guards to power forwards.  Just ask Tu Halloway and Kemba Walker how good Jimmy was on the defensive end.

[brewcity77]

Jimmy Butler might have to disagree with you on that one.  And I would tend to agree with Jimmy if he did.  This is a guy who completely shut down anything from point guards to power forwards.  Just ask Tu Halloway and Kemba Walker how good Jimmy was on the defensive end.

Individually, JFB was a better defender than anyone we brought in. But when you factor in Buycks (average defender), Fulce (bad knees hampered him), and Williams (below-average defender), it's clear that adding four above average defenders more than balances it out.

If you ranked the four newcomers and the four who left, JFB would rank #1. But 2-5 go to the guys currently on the roster.

[tower912]

Agree about Jimmy.  Oops.   Right about the rest.

[UticaBusBarn]

Coach Williams came in with a reputation as a good recruiter. What is now obvious is that his recruiting is multi-dimensional. He has been unwavering in his target of the "switchable"; and, he has also followed the Abe Lemons dictum of, "if you ain't got guards, you ain't got s**t" (example, five of 11 players are guards, six of 12 if you count red-shirt Thomas). Coach Williams has also has been great at spotting talent that fits his (and Coach Raymonds) "transition" philosophy. Coach Williams has also shown an ability to spot latent talent and know how to develop this talent (example, Gardner). Finally, he has brought in pretty bright kids who have, and respond to, a work ethic. Really been interesting to watch this all unfold ... so far, so good!