[Cracked Sidewalks] UW-Madison Preview

[brewcity77]

Badger Hate Week comes early this year. UWM is deep and experienced, but who will lead them? And can Marquette accomplish something they haven't done in over 35 years?

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2019/08/uw-madison-preview.html?m=1

[Stretchdeltsig]

Guard's inability to recruit talent should make for an embarrassing season for rodent fans.

[94Warrior]

Gard walked into a very nice situation.  Now that Happ is gone, this will be Gard's  first season with 'his team'.  We shall see, but I'm expecting to see the pitchforks and torches in Madison sooner than later. 
Let the Tony Bennett campaign begin (again!). Of course we know he'll never go back, but the 'Less than Grateful Red' hasn't figured that out yet.

[brewcity77]

So much will come down to Trice & Reuvers. Bo turned guys like that into Jordan Taylor & Jon Leuer types. I'm not convinced Gard has that developmental acumen, but if he's going to try to replicate Bo's on court and recruiting styles, it only works if he can replicate the development as well.

[Its DJOver]

Trice's inconsistencies have already been pointed out, and I'd be interested to learn what percentage of Happs 4.5 assists per game went to Reuvers,  because he always seemed to be the open one after Happ got doubled.  If there's no one to double, there's far fewer good looks for others.

[Jay Bee]

Trice's inconsistencies have already been pointed out, and I'd be interested to learn what percentage of Happs 4.5 assists per game went to Reuvers,  because he always seemed to be the open one after Happ got doubled.  If there's no one to double, there's far fewer good looks for others.

FWIW, approx 55% of Reuvers' 2FGM were unassisted.

[muguru]

When as much of what you do offensively goes through one player like it did for UW with Happ, and now he's gone...you can't just replace that. I think Davison will start bombing away more than he already did. What will their strength be?? Not sure they will have a true strength this year to be honest. I know many at Buckyville already have them penciled into the tournament, but I just don't see it.

[Its DJOver]

FWIW, approx 55% of Reuvers' 2FGM were unassisted.

He did shoot over 38% from three on 2.5 attempts per game though.  Just against us he attempted 7, and IIRC, most, if not all, were good looks that were the result of Sam or Joey helping on Happ.  If he's not even getting those good looks as a result of a Happ double team, his Sophomore to Junior jump won't be as significant as the folks in Madison think it will be.

[Uncle Rico]

He did shoot over 38% from three on 2.5 attempts per game though.  Just against us he attempted 7, and IIRC, most, if not all, were good looks that were the result of Sam or Joey helping on Happ.  If he's not even getting those good looks as a result of a Happ double team, his Sophomore to Junior jump won't be as significant as the folks in Madison think it will be.

I fully expect Reuvers to be vastly improved this year.  It's the Great White Corollary Of Madison

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Madison losing happ kind of reminds me of us losing Henry a few years ago. Some thought there was no way we would improve,  turns out we improved a metric shatton.

The difference of course being that their newbies don't look nearly as good as Markus/Rowdy/Sammy/Katin. So while I don't think the loss of Happ is insurmountable, I also don't think they have the pieces to build on last season. I think they take a small step back and end up in the 7 to 12 seed range.

[Pops Sims]

So much will come down to Trice & Reuvers. Bo turned guys like that into Jordan Taylor & Jon Leuer types. I'm not convinced Gard has that developmental acumen, but if he's going to try to replicate Bo's on court and recruiting styles, it only works if he can replicate the development as well.

UW fan here. Reuvers and King are the key to the season.  If Reuvers improves like he did from freshman to sophomore year, he'll make a difference. King can keep teams from double-teaming Reuvers. Trice doesn't have the "ceiling" the other two have. Davison needs to improve offensively to make a measurable difference.

Some folks theorize Happ was detrimental to the development of their offense while others think he WAS the offense. We'll see soon enough...

[Galway Eagle]

UW fan here. Reuvers and King are the key to the season.  If Reuvers improves like he did from freshman to sophomore year, he'll make a difference. King can keep teams from double-teaming Reuvers. Trice doesn't have the "ceiling" the other two have. Davison needs to improve offensively to make a measurable difference.

Some folks theorize Happ was detrimental to the development of their offense while others think he WAS the offense. We'll see soon enough...

If Davison can't flop anymore he'll need to improve defensively as well

[Spotcheck Billy]

If Davison can't flop anymore he'll need to improve defensively as well

During his 1st 2 seasons it seemed to me that Davison gets the call early in the season but later the refs wise up and call him for a block as much or more than getting the charge call.

[brewcity77]

UW fan here. Reuvers and King are the key to the season.  If Reuvers improves like he did from freshman to sophomore year, he'll make a difference. King can keep teams from double-teaming Reuvers. Trice doesn't have the "ceiling" the other two have. Davison needs to improve offensively to make a measurable difference.

Some folks theorize Happ was detrimental to the development of their offense while others think he WAS the offense. We'll see soon enough...

In the final 14 games, Trice, Reuvers, and King combined for 6 double digit scoring efforts. None of them hit 15 once.

I guess my wonder is if any of them will be able to take that step as none showed the ability to do so down the stretch. If Bo was there I'd have more faith Reuvers would become Leuer and the rest would develop. Hard to know if Gard will be able to replicate that.

[Stretchdeltsig]

In the final 14 games, Trice, Reuvers, and King combined for 6 double digit scoring efforts. None of them hit 15 once.

I guess my wonder is if any of them will be able to take that step as none showed the ability to do so down the stretch. If Bo was there I'd have more faith Reuvers would become Leuer and the rest would develop. Hard to know if Gard will be able to replicate that.

[Stretchdeltsig]

Agree. Gard hasn't shown the ability to coach up mediocre talent like Bo. This could be the rodents worst season since No quit.

[Jay Bee]

In the final 14 games, Trice, Reuvers, and King combined for 6 double digit scoring efforts. None of them hit 15 once.

I guess my wonder is if any of them will be able to take that step as none showed the ability to do so down the stretch. If Bo was there I'd have more faith Reuvers would become Leuer and the rest would develop. Hard to know if Gard will be able to replicate that.

To be fair, scoring 15 while playing for uw-madison is like scoring 52 playing for an average tempo team.

I do think Nate can be a ton better.

[brewcity77]

To be fair, scoring 15 while playing for uw-madison is like scoring 52 playing for an average tempo team.

Touché.

[Coleman]

Why is this being written so early? We have other games before then...

We definitely could win this game, but it is no given. Kohl Hole is a tough place to play. Would be nice to take 3 in a row from Bucky though...

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Why is this being written so early? We have other games before then...

We definitely could win this game, but it is no given. Kohl Hole is a tough place to play. Would be nice to take 3 in a row from Bucky though...

Previews for the previous games have also been posted.

[brewcity77]

Why is this being written so early? We have other games before then...

We definitely could win this game, but it is no given. Kohl Hole is a tough place to play. Would be nice to take 3 in a row from Bucky though...

It's the third game and the third preview I've posted. Bucky is notably early on the schedule this year.

[Pops Sims]

In the final 14 games, Trice, Reuvers, and King combined for 6 double digit scoring efforts. None of them hit 15 once.

I guess my wonder is if any of them will be able to take that step as none showed the ability to do so down the stretch. If Bo was there I'd have more faith Reuvers would become Leuer and the rest would develop. Hard to know if Gard will be able to replicate that.

I think King (assuming he's healthy as last year was his first year back from a 2017 knee injury) might be a "difference-maker" UW lacked last season (besides Happ). Trice tailed off badly in the second half of the season. The question is, which version of Trice shows up in 2019? The jury is still out on Gard whether "player development" continues to be part of UW's program. Reuvers didn't have the luxury of red-shirting in 2017 but his game correlates well with the swing offense.   

[Pops Sims]

I think King (assuming he's healthy as last year was his first year back from a 2017 knee injury) might be a "difference-maker" UW lacked last season (besides Happ). Trice tailed off badly in the second half of the season. The question is, which version of Trice shows up in 2019? The jury is still out on Gard whether "player development" continues to be part of UW's program. Reuvers didn't have the luxury of red-shirting in 2017 but his game correlates well with the swing offense.

While some people don't think Gard is in Bo's class in terms of "player development", exhibit "A" would be Happ. While his shooting "skills" were lacking (obviously), his low post game allowed him to achieve All-American status.

[Uncle Rico]

While some people don't think Gard is in Bo's class in terms of "player development", exhibit "A" would be Happ. While his shooting "skills" were lacking (obviously), his low post game allowed him to achieve All-American status.

Happ kept staying in school and I was fed by Wisconsin media it was so he could develop for the next level.  Greg Gard did zero for getting his game ready for the next level.  It was laughable when it was suggested and laughable looking back on it.

[Big Papi]

The rodents prefer to have their bigs shoot 3s creating mismatches down low.  Happ while a great individual player did not fit the system they wanted to use.  Happ's inability to make a basket from 10 feet out was a killer.  They actually looked better when Happ was on the bench. They will be better this year then last year.  I expect a very difficult game.