Wisky BB is everything Iowa isn't

[WindsorHawk]

Wisky sucked at both until Alverez got on campus. He picked the f-ball team up which eventually helped pick the b-ball team up & they've been truckin ever since.

Back in the '80's, Wisky was on par with the Purdue, Indiana & Minnesota's of the world. They used to be a joke. Not many remember that.

I also give Alvarez the credit.

 

[SteveGarvey]

UW doesn't even have many shooters this year. They have Koenig, and that is really it, a couple others that can occasionally hit the 3. What they have is toughness, defense, and they value every possession. Those are all things that I believe, to an extent, can be coached.

Their shooters are still more skilled than ours. And if you go back the last 10 years, even more so.

 

[Knight78]

It stings the pride to admit it, but I thought the same thing watching uni. A team full of players who seem to want the ball late in the game, and want to take the big shot.

(Obviously it didn't quite work out for them, but I saw the same toughness in overtime.)

But none of them knew how to pass the ball in bounds once Bohannon went down with his ankle injury.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

Teams can win without athleticism if they play with confidence and execute a winning strategy without hesitation.

The real question is this....

Should Fran have been able to coach more confidence and game-closing ability into these players? Or are those the sort of intangibles just something you're born with?

The only guy on the floor who seemed to be playing with that fearlessness needed to compete against a team like Villanova was Baer. Nobody else seemed willing or able to rise to the occasion.

Well, maybe you can coach some of these things to a degree, but I firmly believe that different players have different personalities.. Not sure Iowa has near enough alpha personalities. So I tend to believe that some players just have that "it" factor. Call it a high motor, clutchness, or whatever you like, but that seems to be missing from most of our team.

Baer, yes, that guy is a gamer. I think that helps make up for some of what he may lack in raw physical ability or talent, but I do like the way he can drive, hit floaters, etc. If he can develop that 3 point shot even more, he could be REALLY good. We need more players like him. He's a human spark plug.

Having the skills to make shots goes a long way of course, but I like players who are just aching to get in there and compete. Guys like Chris Street, Ryan Bowen, etc.

There's no room for being timid at this level.

 

[Knight78]

Yea. I told my wife I'd like to add up the missed layups by just Woodbury & Gessell alone these past 4 years.

On a side note, not many universities transitions coaches as good as Wisconsin either.

I believe it's because not every university has their coach "retire" a month into the season.

 

[Linesetter]

They will go back to there 47-97 form soon. The cream will once again rise to the top. Iowa has a higher all time winning %, and Iowa leads the overall series 61-55. Once again Iowa will be dominating the series. Not only does Iowa have better tradition, but Iowa plays a style of basketball that is easier to recruit to. Top notch athletes like Tyler Cook want to play for a team that plays at Iowa's style.

You are digging yourself a hole.

People have been saying that about Wisconsin for nearly 3 decades in football and 2 decades in basketball. Wisconsin has one of the longest NCAA tournament streaks in NCAA history.

just stop

 

[wisbadger303]

Ryan made Wisconsin basketball what it is today. I give the new coach credit. But he is still benefiting from Ryan's recruits' mental toughness, etc. If Hayes comes back then next year's team returns intact and is still an extension of Ryan IMO. Two years from now is when th. e new guy starts showing what he can do IMO.

While the players are obviously the same, GG has departed markedly from what Bo was doing earlier in the season. He's made much more use of the bench and reinstated the swing offense which was essentially not needed with Kaminsky, Dekker and Dukan on the floor. The contributions from the bench have been critical in some of the victories.


ClintoIAfan's hatred for Wis is pathological. You need to get some serious help for that, dude.

 

[WindsorHawk]

While the players are obviously the same, GG has departed markedly from what Bo was doing earlier in the season. He's made much more use of the bench and reinstated the swing offense which was essentially not needed with Kaminsky, Dekker and Dukan on the floor. The contributions from the bench have been critical in some of the victories.


ClintoIAfan's hatred for Wis is pathological. You need to get some serious help for that, dude.

I honestly think GG is a good coach. And I think Wisconsin will continue to be good from year to year. But Ryan's run was incredible. So I don't think he's as good as Ryan...not many are. And I want to see how he's doing in a couple of years with his own recruits, etc. I believe he was the right guy to hire and deserves the opportunity.

 

[PCHawk]

I just have no idea where this year came from for Wisconsin. They were absolutely terrible. Then their hall of fame coach retires and they go from terrible to really really good. It makes no sense at all.

To me their program has been 50% skill and 50% luck. I swear they made a deal with the devil or something. Who here thinks if Iowa would have tried that ridiculous flop at the end of the Xavier game, the refs would have called it? Not a chance. Our guy would have been laying on the ground looking like an idiot while getting dunked on.

Whenever they need to make a play, they make one. That's good for them. But whenever they need an opponent to screw up, that happens to, and that's luck.

 

[wisbadger303]

There was a significant element of luck in the last 11 seconds of last night's game but what about what happened in the preceding 39 minutes? When Happ got kneed along the baseline to cause him to slip, that was an obvious missed call. Look at all of the fouls called earlier in the game on the Badgers. Hayes, Happ and Brown all had 4 fouls for the last 5 minutes or so, which is very unusual for a team schooled not to foul. Look at what happened in the national championship game last year after coach K worked the refs at halftime. Duke got all of the 50:50 calls in the last 10 minutes of that game. I'm just making the case that it may seem like UW is very lucky but in fact it goes both ways. It's a fast sport that is very hard to officiate. And we have the benefit of slow motion replay but the officials have to call it in real time and of course, they miss some calls and they are human and will be persuaded by bias, even if unconscious.

 

[TheIowaHawkGuy]

They always seem to have a bunch of bad azzes who play with a chip on their shoulder....never backing down. They either don't know or don't care that they may not be as athletic or talented as the team they are playing....ALWAYS well coached.

Yep, this. This is the mentality I would love for Iowa to embrace. Hopefully Wagner, Hutton, Cook, etc. take on this much needed mentality. Sports psychology can be a huge asset when it matters most. Iowa just has never embraced this thinking but neither has Fran.

 

[Stanzi]

Wisconsin is like Hope Solo's roast beef. It looks really unappealing to most people, but once you get in there it works just the same.

 

[PCHawk]

There was a significant element of luck in the last 11 seconds of last night's game but what about what happened in the preceding 39 minutes? When Happ got kneed along the baseline to cause him to slip, that was an obvious missed call. Look at all of the fouls called earlier in the game on the Badgers. Hayes, Happ and Brown all had 4 fouls for the last 5 minutes or so, which is very unusual for a team schooled not to foul. Look at what happened in the national championship game last year after coach K worked the refs at halftime. Duke got all of the 50:50 calls in the last 10 minutes of that game. I'm just making the case that it may seem like UW is very lucky but in fact it goes both ways. It's a fast sport that is very hard to officiate. And we have the benefit of slow motion replay but the officials have to call it in real time and of course, they miss some calls and they are human and will be persuaded by bias, even if unconscious.

If Xavier played their best game, Wisconsin would lose no matter what. That's another way they seem to get lucky. I know a lot of it is due to how Wisconsin plays. But when do they ever run into a team that can't be beat like Iowa did? Iowa could have had an off night and still got lucky and run into the Villanova that got bounced early the last few years. Instead they run into a Villanova who made it a personal mission to not get bounced. It's frustrating enough when Iowa comes into a big game like that and plays bad. But it's equally frustrating if not more frustrating watching the other team play better than they have all year.

 

[wisbadger303]

Do you think UW played their best game last night? I remind you that their best player Hayes was 2/10 from the field and 0/5 from three. My take is that literally UW is a team that could beat any team in the field, including UNC and Kansas, but they could also lose to anyone in the field (see the ugly Pitt game). In the Pitt game the stars Koenig and Hayes were a combined 4/25 from the field and 0/8 from three, yet they found a way to win. That's not luck, that's grit.

 

[PCHawk]

Do you think UW played their best game last night? I remind you that their best player Hayes was 2/10 from the field and 0/5 from three. My take is that literally UW is a team that could beat any team in the field, including UNC and Kansas, but they could also lose to anyone in the field (see the ugly Pitt game). In the Pitt game the stars Koenig and Hayes were a combined 4/25 from the field and 0/8 from three, yet they found a way to win. That's not luck, that's grit.

No I don't think they played their best game. That further proves my point. It was lucky to have a trip to the sweet 16 on the line and run into a 2 seed that played bad enough for a 7 seed to win without their best.

I thought iowa and Villanova's best was about the same. Turns out I was wrong because villanova raised the bar on their best 10 fold. It would have been pretty lucky to run into average Villanova so iowa could still have a chance to win without playing their best. But that doesn't happen to iowa.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

I believe it's because not every university has their coach "retire" a month into the season.

I didn't even put this coaching change in perspective. I'm going back a couple when they hired Bret B. & the last football coach. They were both pretty smooth transitions and the administration had a vision.

But, even with Gard (?sp), they knew he was the next in line & would eventually transition him in as the head coach, so doesn't really matter when Bo ended up retiring. They had their smooth transition again with the next coach and didn't have to change their style of play. He tried to at first a bit but went back to Wisky ball to finish the season.

 

[trj]

I just have no idea where this year came from for Wisconsin. They were absolutely terrible. Then their hall of fame coach retires and they go from terrible to really really good. It makes no sense at all.

To me their program has been 50% skill and 50% luck. I swear they made a deal with the devil or something. Who here thinks if Iowa would have tried that ridiculous flop at the end of the Xavier game, the refs would have called it? Not a chance. Our guy would have been laying on the ground looking like an idiot while getting dunked on.

Whenever they need to make a play, they make one. That's good for them. But whenever they need an opponent to screw up, that happens to, and that's luck.

Since 1999: Wisconsin has 2 final fours, 1 elite 8 and 3 sweet 16(s) it can't all be a fluke.

 

[PCHawk]

Since 1999: Wisconsin has 2 final fours, 1 elite 8 and 3 sweet 16(s) it can't all be a fluke.

Did you even read my post you quoted? It says right in it the percentage of fluke I think it is.

 

[trj]

Did you even read my post you quoted? It says right in it the percentage of fluke I think it is.

Oh my bad, it can't all be 50% fluke.

 

[wisbadger303]

Since 1999: Wisconsin has 2 final fours, 1 elite 8 and 3 sweet 16(s) it can't all be a fluke.

Not quite correct. Counting this year as a sweet 16, since 1999 UW has had 3 final fours, 1 elite 8 and 5 sweet 16s. No other team in the country has gone to 5 of the last 6 sweet 16s. But of course there's a lot of fluky luck in there.....