Kam on, feel the noize

[Newsdreams]

Excellent effort by the whole team. Once again Kam demonstrates the ability to post 30 plus playing within a team concept.

Hopefully all the banged up folks will be able to use the week until Dayton to get healthy

Sorry you can't get healthy

[brewcity77]

Crowd was incredible. If there were Badger fans there, they were quiet.

It was maybe 10-15% Badger fans. Which is honestly the smallest contingent I've ever seen for this game. Usually they are 25-30% of the crowd.

[K1 Lover]

No problem, mon.  Assuming no unexpected departures, a starting line up of Gold, Parham, DO, Chase, Tre/Sean.  Assuming normal development, I still see a top 15 starting line up.  Caedin, Clark, Zaide.  Next season has the potential to be absolutely filthy.

I'm curious, how do you think Al Amadou would fit into the rotation? With Caedin & Clark as the reserve 5s, I assume Al would sub in for Parham at the 4.

[LloydsLegs]

Did anyone watching on Fox catch the moment at the end of the game where they showed Shaka with his arm around Cam Brown? At the moment, I thought he was putting in Cam for the last few seconds. But then, Stevie, Kam and Jop were substituted and Shaka huddled with the four seniors. "The Guardians" as Jones subsequently mentioned, I'm guessing.

What an afternoon!

. yes-shaka mentioned Cam Brown and the other guardians in his post game with Homer

[MU82]

2-0 in the throwback golds.

[1SE]

This.  My son, a senior, texted he was grateful he finally saw a win over the Badgers during his tenure.  I texted him back the now MU needs a deep run in March April to put the icing on the cake.  What a great time for him to be a student.  The beginning of an MU basketball renaissance. 

[tower912]

I'm curious, how do you think Al Amadou would fit into the rotation? With Caedin & Clark as the reserve 5s, I assume Al would sub in for Parham at the 4.

Amadou is a wild card.   No idea.  With Clark and Caedin, I can definitely see scenarios a season from now where Ben plays more 4.   Something along the lines of Ben playing 20 minutes as the 5 and 10 minutes as a 4.   He has the skills.

[Stretchdeltsig]

The better team won for the first time in four years. Shaka checked the beat Badger box and now needs a deep run to check another box.

Right on. Solid game. KAM played like an All American. Ben played tough and was a difference maker. Chase and Jop played hard to win. Tre played his best. Caedin, Owens and Partham are true Warriors. In short, we have a Marquette team to be proud of.

[tower912]

MU'S defense has been altered slightly from last season, which is a sign of a good coaching staff understanding what they have. 

Less switching.

There are far fewer instances where Ben is isolated on the perimeter against a guard.  He isn't Oso.  He is staying with his big, hand fighting, locking them down, helping, showing, trapping. 

When the opponent has two bigs in the game, Joplin is staying home more.  We talk about his defense.  He is also not getting isolated against the PGs. 

With Chase and Stevie, MU is locking down a PG and a wing.  Let us call him 'Tonje'.  S/C switched all over him.  And when the rotations got wrong, Ben had a glorious possession of absolutely shutting him down.  Tonje is a bull, not a speedster.  Rugby player, if you will (see Ben's interview with Homer)

I love TKo as much as the next guy, but he couldn't defend like Chase.  Replacing 6'1 with a 6'5 beast changes the defense for the better.

[Shooter McGavin]

The frosh, and I include Caedin, are so freaking close right now.  They are attacking fearlessly, which is what Shaka wants and the only way to get better.  We can all see the potential.  Eventually, they, like others before, will figure out how to work with their teammates to get even better shots.  And how to use their skills and gifts to move their feet on defense like the starters.

The future is bright for those guys.

100% agree.  Secure NIL deals for these men and MU is good for the foreseeable future. 

[GB Warrior]

Amadou is a wild card.   No idea.  With Clark and Caedin, I can definitely see scenarios a season from now where Ben plays more 4.   Something along the lines of Ben playing 20 minutes as the 5 and 10 minutes as a 4.   He has the skills.

Amadou is a wild card.   No idea.  With Clark and Caedin, I can definitely see scenarios a season from now where Ben plays more 4.   Something along the lines of Ben playing 20 minutes as the 5 and 10 minutes as a 4.   He has the skills.

This is interesting, because last night I thought that Hamilton looked comfortable in space on the perimeter against Crowl MUCH more than I thought Ben typically does.

Maybe these thoughts aren't mutually exclusive, but I thought Hamilton showed a lot of unexpected flexibility yesterday. Bright future for him if he pieces together his offensive game.

[The Sultan]

I think Caedin is actually pretty good on the perimeter. He has some smoothness moving laterally. He struggles more getting in position underneath against size and strength.

[The Sultan]

MU'S defense has been altered slightly from last season, which is a sign of a good coaching staff understanding what they have. 

Less switching.

I read an article years ago about why Roy Williams was always loathe to switch on defense. To him it wasn't just about preventing mismatches, but instilling an attitude that you need to be physical and fight through picks.

[tower912]

This is interesting, because last night I thought that Hamilton looked comfortable in space on the perimeter against Crowl MUCH more than I thought Ben typically does.

Maybe these thoughts aren't mutually exclusive, but I thought Hamilton showed a lot of unexpected flexibility yesterday. Bright future for him if he pieces together his offensive game.

Shaka has said two things about Hamilton which I think apply here.  He moves his feet much better than they expected. 
(From yesterday) He is the biggest,  baddest guy on the team.  We have been after him to show it on the floor.

I view Hamilton as similar to Theo John.  In size and ability.  With this coaching staff's commitment to development, I think Hamilton becomes what we wanted Theo to be. 

[Goose]

Tower

I am going to argue the Theo comparison. While a small sample size to date, it looks to me that Hamilton has far more tools to build on than Theo. In Theo's defense, possibly Shaka could have developed him into more of a skilled player.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

Tower

I am going to argue the Theo comparison. While a small sample size to date, it looks to me that Hamilton has far more tools to build on than Theo. In Theo's defense, possibly Shaka could have developed him into more of a skilled player.

Way more skilled than Theo. 

As Sophs, only our best bigs have been able to catch the ball outside the paint and create a shot oppty in the paint.  While he needs to refine his moves he certainly has potential that only a few have shown in the past. 

[brewcity77]

A few thoughts...

• Congratulations to Marquette, the 2024-25 Big 10 Champions. They can drop the trophy off at their leisure, sorry, I don't make the rules, this is just how it is.
• We love to get down on Jop driving, but he found the loophole today. Wisconsin doesn't try to poke the ball away, which let Jop drive more comfortably. He made them pay for that.
• That was the lowest UW turnout at an Egg Bowl Bedlam home game I've seen. They were maybe 10-15% of the crowd, it's usually 25-30%. I heard Badger fans were complaining about ticket prices, but clearly it wasn't a problem for everyone since we set a Fiserv Forum attendance record.
• The second half defense on Tonje was incredible. He had 12 in the first half including 7/8 from the FT line. In the second, just 1/5 from the field, no trips to the line, his only 2 points came with about 7:00 left on the clock. Great D, and great work by Shaka talking to Breeding repeatedly about the hook that Tonje was using.
• I said before the game that we could exploit offensive rebounding with a team effort as both Arizona and Michigan had over 33% OReb rates against UW. Stevie & Chase with 4 apiece helped us to a 35.5% OReb rate. Great stuff.
  
• Also noticed before the game that Wisconsin was poor defensively guarding players going left and that it could portend to a big Kam Jones day. Tying his career high in scoring certainly counts.
  
• Gard saying in the huddle that their strategy was to draw fouls and get to the line was telling. When you're counting on the officials to do your job for you, that's not the best gameplan.

[tower912]

We can disagree here.  Theo was faster end to end and had bigger ups. Whenn he actually blocked a shot, it was awesome.  There were times in his final season that the offense was initiated through him in the post.  He had a lot of physical gifts.

However, we agree that Hamilton is likely to be developed better.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

We can disagree here.  Theo was faster end to end and had bigger ups. Whenn he actually blocked a shot, it was awesome.  There were times in his final season that the offense was initiated through him in the post.  He had a lot of physical gifts.

However, we agree that Hamilton is likely to be developed better.

If Caedin wants to jump really high out of control and foul someone, I'm sure he could. 

[The Sultan]

Theo was a good at rim protection and a physical presence but never had much touch offensively.

[MUfan12]

Caedin will be just fine. He played scared at ISU, not yesterday.

[Jockey]

Tower

I am going to argue the Theo comparison. While a small sample size to date, it looks to me that Hamilton has far more tools to build on than Theo. In Theo's defense, possibly Shaka could have developed him into more of a skilled player.

Agree totally, Goose. We kept expecting Theo to progress, but he really never did (possible Wojo effect). He was basically the same guy his entire time here.

Caedin has made some nice strides in just a few games this year. He's gonna be fun the next few years.

[WarriorFan]

Caedin is already better than Theo ever was.  Theo was like a 6th defender when the remaining 4 tried to play offense.  And on defense, other than a few huge blocks, he was pretty slow and limited.  No comp at all.  The best Caedin comp is going to be Ben.  Or one of the Creighton guys who are big and can shoot. 

[wadesworld]

  I think Caedin will be better than Theo. But he is not close to "already better than Theo ever was."

[1SE]

A few thoughts...

• Congratulations to Marquette, the 2024-25 Big 10 Champions. They can drop the trophy off at their leisure, sorry, I don't make the rules, this is just how it is.
• We love to get down on Jop driving, but he found the loophole today. Wisconsin doesn't try to poke the ball away, which let Jop drive more comfortably. He made them pay for that.
• That was the lowest UW turnout at an Egg Bowl Bedlam home game I've seen. They were maybe 10-15% of the crowd, it's usually 25-30%. I heard Badger fans were complaining about ticket prices, but clearly it wasn't a problem for everyone since we set a Fiserv Forum attendance record.
• The second half defense on Tonje was incredible. He had 12 in the first half including 7/8 from the FT line. In the second, just 1/5 from the field, no trips to the line, his only 2 points came with about 7:00 left on the clock. Great D, and great work by Shaka talking to Breeding repeatedly about the hook that Tonje was using.
• I said before the game that we could exploit offensive rebounding with a team effort as both Arizona and Michigan had over 33% OReb rates against UW. Stevie & Chase with 4 apiece helped us to a 35.5% OReb rate. Great stuff.
  
• Also noticed before the game that Wisconsin was poor defensively guarding players going left and that it could portend to a big Kam Jones day. Tying his career high in scoring certainly counts.
  
• Gard saying in the huddle that their strategy was to draw fouls and get to the line was telling. When you're counting on the officials to do your job for you, that's not the best gameplan.

I really despise Gard and I despise his teams - they play dirty and they are whiners - was so nice to see Tonje and Blackwell get called for the offensive hook.