That is one BOLD prediction! If you hit that, huge tip of the cap to you! I think Wisconsin is just really bad this year, so I can’t see that at all.
(Plus, hope you throw some $$$ on that +855 moneyline in case it hits!)
I threw $5 on it…fingers crossed haha
1 Like
Give me Purdue -14 tonight… Wisconsin doesn’t have the shooting.
Gotta say that it has been frustrating to have Big Ten games spread across every day of the week. Feels like the Big Ten slate each night is more underwhelming. And as someone who designs his life around Big Ten hoops for three months of the year, I want my Mondays and Friday nights back.
12 Likes
Not looking good for the Badgers.
1 Like
So Wisconsin . . . is this year probably just a blip or are they possibly in trouble long-term?
I think they are in trouble. I’m not sold on Gard just continuing the Bo Ryan legacy. Plus they were probably playing above their weight class while they had the best coach they probably will ever have.
Trouble. They are young, but what does life after Ethan Happ look like? And Greg Gard isn’t Bo Ryan.
1 Like
Makes sense. Bo Ryan was unreal. What was it, 15 years in a row they finished in the top 4 in the league?
Yep. This was the first test of Greg Gard’s program. He had a couple years to recruit and develop his own guys and it hasn’t worked out at all. There’s no reason they should be this bad. If they are bad again next year, I’d pull the plug.
Yep count me 0-1 on bold predictions. Although I still believe in Purdue less than others…but yeah Wisconsin is looking pretty damn rough right now
So this season has me wondering - what does the best transition for a coach look like?
Is it better to come in and have the team immediately bottom out, so that seasons 2, 3, and 4 can show progress? Or to come in and slightly exceed expectations, so that the faithful can feel like the new coach is obviously better than the old one? Or to completely shatter expectations, in hopes that the fanbase will then forgive a few shortcomings in the future?
Do those descriptions sound accurate for Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio State, respectively? Gard’s first season at Wisconsin was unusual, to say the least, with Saint Bo retiring when the team hit 6-5. The turnaround from 9-9 overall, 1-4 in conference to yet another top 4 finish sort of puts him in the same category that Holtmann occupies now, though - nobody thought he could do so well in his first season. How long a leash has that, followed by another season of success with holdover players, bought him?
I guess to some extent it really depends on the fanbase - Indiana fans will turn on Miller if he doesn’t win a National Championship within 3 or 4 years, but Illinois fans will probably be a bit more patient with Dunderwood.
In my opinion the best situation apart from an already good team with a retired coach or something would be a high sports revenue school with low basketball expectations who has been performing poorly lately.
I know a lot of Wisconsin fans and the ones I talked to last night after the game seemed to be taking a patient approach with Gard. They blamed season ending injuries on a couple guys (I think Kobe King is one). I’m a lot more skeptical than them as the freshman just aren’t showing much and Gard hasn’t proven he can develop them for 4 years yet.
Sounds like Michigan post-Amaker
This is a really tough question, one that ADs must face squarely. The Michigan experience in both hoops and football suggests that a good coach really may need five years to get things rolling in the right direction. And that is a lot of money and time. Fans’ expectations are often inordinate and irrational–they want championships, and not a lot of those are given out. Good coaches may fail for all kinds of reasons. This is why I feel so happy for Beilein. The guy is going to be able to go out in style–somewhere in the universe a little bit of decency, it seems, is going to prevail. Will be interesting to see what happens to Harbaugh and football, where the pressure is crazier. I hope like heck that the fans will be able to accept good, competitive teams from him, with few guarantees beyond that.
2 Likes
Kobe King (stud freshman) is out for the year and Trice has been out for an extended period of time. They struck out with a bunch of bigs and don’t have enough guards with the injuries. The bigs that really haven’t done anything include Charles Thomas, Alex Illakianen, and Van Vliet. That’s three scholarships for guys that haven’t developed a ton. They also have two extra scholarships this year and gave them to walk-ons. Probably could’ve used them the extra scholarships on other players.
Gard is in a tough spot (in part because of the lack of recruiting) but a bunch of guys are getting good experience this year with Davison, Pritzl, and Ford. Not having Happ next year will clearly hurt them but they’ll get Trice and King back at full strength.
One of my former players is a walk-on and seeing some spot minutes for them because of the lack of guard depth. He struggled mightily last night vs. Purdue. Hopefully, he can get things going.
1 Like
“In 6 big ten games, Dakich has 19 assists and two turnovers, including 15 and one in the past four”
3 Likes
Btw, Happ is actually NOT a senior somehow.
Most surprising news of the day. He’s the new Trajan Langdon.
17-10.
Ohio State -3 at Northwestern tonight.
I want to say Rutgers +1 vs. Iowa but I just can’t do it 
1 Like