Deserved To Lose

[Viper]

Actually, there is. Did they make shots? Sure. Chucky Hepburn made multiple fade-away 35-foot threes. Meanwhile, O-Max missed a number of wide-open jumpers in spots where he normally makes it. But while Wisconsin got the win, we were the better team on the day. Shot Quality had that as an SQ Upset and based on the shots taken, Marquette would win that game 60% of the time.

So why did they get the result? Because in the first half, one of the worst 2PFG% teams in the country made 90% of their two-point field goals and shot 17 points above their season average from three. Then in the second half, both teams played their average game and we rallied to get to overtime. They got the better of us in the 5-minute frame, but that's hardly indicative of the overall game, which really just demonstrated that you can't defend luck, which is the only reason Wisconsin won. They were lucky in their shooting and won as a result.

Take the L and move on knowing that if you play that one 10 times, yesterday was the only one they would've gotten.

try your explanation with a Badger fan.

[wadesworld]

Saturday was by far MU's worst defensive game of the season.  T-Rank lists the adj-D rating at 117.1,  while the 2nd worst was 94.3 at Purdue.

That confirms how bad the defensive gameplan was.   Our offense was really good, third best of the year behind the Baylor and GA Tech games. Which makes it feel like even more of a missed opportunity.

The more I think about this game, the more frustrating the result. Hopefully MU routes ND on Sunday to wash the bitter taste from my mouth.

Agreed.  I'm generally in the camp of "until the Badgers actually do suck, I'll just give them the benefit of the doubt and realize they'll probably be a Tourney team with room to spare."  But I don't think this version of the Badgers is very good.  Hepburn and Wahl are solid, but neither are close to the Jordan Taylors or Ethan Happs of the world.  I think Marquette is a better team than the Badgers, but I also struggle to go along with the "they shot out of their minds" by pointing to shooting percentages while ignoring the attempts those guys were getting.  We played the Mike Budenholzer defense of, "We'll give their average to bad shooters as many open looks as they want, and if they make them they'll win" defense.  And then when their 30% three point shooters are making warmup jumpers everyone cries out about their luck and shooting over their heads.  Well, we didn't defend them.  Obviously Hepburn hit some insane shots, but their first half shooting wasn't just a bunch of prayers.  They were shots Ners made in high school all day!

[Elonsmusk]

Agreed.  I'm generally in the camp of "until the Badgers actually do suck, I'll just give them the benefit of the doubt and realize they'll probably be a Tourney team with room to spare."  But I don't think this version of the Badgers is very good.  Hepburn and Wahl are solid, but neither are close to the Jordan Taylors or Ethan Happs of the world.  I think Marquette is a better team than the Badgers, but I also struggle to go along with the "they shot out of their minds" by pointing to shooting percentages while ignoring the attempts those guys were getting.  We played the Mike Budenholzer defense of, "We'll give their average to bad shooters as many open looks as they want, and if they make them they'll win" defense.  And then when their 30% three point shooters are making warmup jumpers everyone cries out about their luck and shooting over their heads.  Well, we didn't defend them.  Obviously Hepburn hit some insane shots, but their first half shooting wasn't just a bunch of prayers.  They were shots Ners made in high school all day!

We didn't play very well Saturday, defensively. The doubling the post strategy wasn't the right decision, though it did yield some turnovers from Crowl and Wahl (8 total.)

End of the day Hepburn played out of his ass.  He looked like Markus Howard.  If just one of the 30+ foot contested step backs doesn't go in, we probably win the game.

Last two plays were terrible.  Shaka had his worst game as coach at MU, and despite that and UW playing a ceiling type game, we had a good chance to win.

Lastly, I feel so trolled by the last sentence in your post. 

[UWW2MU]

I would hardly say this team "deserved to lose" Saturday.   I'm not sure, despite mistakes being made, that this is a good way of summing up the game. 

The biggest thing I noticed is that when they doubled up that did force a bunch of turnovers, especially earlier when the rotation of the defense was sharp.  It was only when the quickness of the defense rotating faltered a little bit that the opponents guys started opening up a bit.  I don't' think it was bad coaching or a lack of effort, just an awareness and practice thing that the team will continue to get better at.  I didn't notice if the personnel changed out between the good rotations vs bad, except I noticed Stevie was a step off his game that day. 

I found it all very promising and reminded me a lot of what we saw during the best parts of the Purdue game.  I think this type of defense, the scheme, the effort, the awareness all never would have happened previous to Shaka and will only get better as the year goes on. 

[wadesworld]

We didn't play very well Saturday, defensively. The doubling the post strategy wasn't the right decision, though it did yield some turnovers from Crowl and Wahl (8 total.)

End of the day Hepburn played out of his ass.  He looked like Markus Howard.  If just one of the 30+ foot contested step backs doesn't go in, we probably win the game.

Last two plays were terrible.  Shaka had his worst game as coach at MU, and despite that and UW playing a ceiling type game, we had a good chance to win.

Lastly, I feel so trolled by the last sentence in your post.

Come on, admit it.  You could've made a number of the threes that guys like McGee and Davis got in that first half.

[rgoode57]

Truth is, UW has a nice team and a good coach. They will do well in the BIG this year. But, the game should have never gone to OT. Just hit a couple of free throws and make a missed layup, and we win a close one.  Or, call a timeout and make a defensive adjustment in the first half. But, in OT, at least have a workable plan to get a shot at the end. I hate to say it, but I don't think that game was one of Shaka's better performances.

[Newsdreams]

Possibly.  Look at the highlights yourself to judge the accuracy of Brew's claims about Hepburn's shots.

Close outs seemed late, if you get there the shooter already starts motion and your arms are up late, not a good contested shot against a 3 pt shooter.

[MU82]

We didn't play very well Saturday, defensively. The doubling the post strategy wasn't the right decision, though it did yield some turnovers from Crowl and Wahl (8 total.)

End of the day Hepburn played out of his ass.  He looked like Markus Howard.  If just one of the 30+ foot contested step backs doesn't go in, we probably win the game.

Last two plays were terrible.  Shaka had his worst game as coach at MU, and despite that and UW playing a ceiling type game, we had a good chance to win.

Glad to see that you believe one Scooper has the right to criticize Shaka, anyway.

BTW, we are in agreement on just about everything you said here.

[nycwarrior]

In retrospect, doubling the post was a bad idea.

But two truths about this team are that they are very exciting and they have very little margin for error.

Much of the excitement comes from seeing growth. Tyko's passing being complemented by the occasional bucket, Kam's newly found aggressive attacking (along with the J), Omax's increasing control on his drives and Oso's uncommon mix of size, speed and skill. And the push we get from the guys off the bench.

But we also have a lot of holes that Shaka has to consider. If/when Oso gets into foul trouble our ability to defend inside is significantly compromised. I have to think that played into his decision to double the post against a Wisco squad that often schools its players in drawing fouls.

Also, the pressure that we have to put on the ball works to both take the opponent out of what they wanna do and prevent the passes they wanna make. If it's a step slow, it's not nearly as effective. Satruday, in the first half it felt a step slow.

Also, we don't have an automatic ice-in-his veins bucket-getter. Kam stepped into that role last night. But those moments when we need one are still dicey. Felt that way in overtime.

Fun team. Little margin for error.

[MU82]

Who is "Cam"?

[tower912]

Cousin of O'tule and Duane.

[nycwarrior]

Who is "Cam"?

Fair. My mistake.

Any thoughts on how Shaka might feel the need to protect Oso?

I don’t think it’ll be the last time we see doubles as a way to keep him on the court

[wadesworld]

Cousin of O'tule and Duane.

I thought Jamil was Duane's cousin.

[DoctorV]

In retrospect, doubling the post was a bad idea.

But two truths about this team are that they are very exciting and they have very little margin for error.

Much of the excitement comes from seeing growth. Tyko's passing being complemented by the occasional bucket, Kam's newly found aggressive attacking (along with the J), Omax's increasing control on his drives and Oso's uncommon mix of size, speed and skill. And the push we get from the guys off the bench.

But we also have a lot of holes that Shaka has to consider. If/when Oso gets into foul trouble our ability to defend inside is significantly compromised. I have to think that played into his decision to double the post against a Wisco squad that often schools its players in drawing fouls.

Also, the pressure that we have to put on the ball works to both take the opponent out of what they wanna do and prevent the passes they wanna make. If it's a step slow, it's not nearly as effective. Satruday, in the first half it felt a step slow.

Also, we don't have an automatic ice-in-his veins bucket-getter. Kam stepped into that role last night. But those moments when we need one are still dicey. Felt that way in overtime.

Fun team. Little margin for error.

Good post, solid points.

It’s easy to say the double didn’t work, especially when the opposition can’t miss.
That doesn’t take into account that Marquette is thin down low and can’t afford Oso foul trouble.

I bet Shaka wants to install a year long system where, knowing the limitations in bulk with regards to defending the post, MU uses its speed and athleticism in double downs in the post.
As the year goes on the defensive approach should improve.
If the opposing team can’t miss from 3 it’ll lead to some trouble.

They just might want to consider bringing the double from different spots and or going away from it sooner, mixing up the defenses and confusing the opposition