2018-2019 B1G Basketball Thread

[SFBadger96]

I think the idea this might have been a “plan” might not be totally accurate. You have a zone full of 6-9 guys. You seem to be generating lots of mostly open 3-point looks for people you believe can hit them, that’s a take.
If you say, the 3s ain’t working, your choices are drive into the thicket of arms with a so-so driving team (not ideal), post more (they did that a good bit), attack he high post for mid-range jumpers and to hit cutters (did that some).
But the larger point is the “cold shooting” fallacy. If you think you have good shooters and they’re open, you assume they’ll hit at some point. If you shoot 3s badly for a half and just stop shooting open 3s, you’re not really helping yourself.
After a rewatch, the turnovers stood out to me. Some were just brutal, Combine that with some really good Pritchard play and some tough shot making from the Ducks. It was a rough one.

That's fair. I haven't rewatched it--and never had the TV angles. What stood out to me was the number of open shots the Badgers missed, and--outside of Iverson, and a few moments of Happ in the second half--no sustained effort to get the ball inside. And yes, there were some bad turnovers.
For a big man who has a great reputation for his assists, Happ didn't create much space for others on the floor. I'm still unsure why Gard didn't try harder to get Iverson more involved. He was the spark in the first half, but he didn't get the ball much in the second. Also, for a team that has had those cold moments all season, why wouldn't they try more bigs, particularly knowing that they were facing a zone full of big players: Reuvers, and Ford had 17 minutes each. It was one of them and Happ most of the time--why not try a bigger lineup? Particularly knowing they were going to play a team like that, why not practice working with a bigger lineup?

[TyphonInc]

Easy to be the best player in the country if you can push off like that, then draw fouls when the defender is standing there

Yah this bugged me a lot.

[Brutus Buckeye]

Aside from OSU has any other team ever made it to the tourney after winning only one game over the entirety of January? 

[bayareabadger]

That's fair. I haven't rewatched it--and never had the TV angles. What stood out to me was the number of open shots the Badgers missed, and--outside of Iverson, and a few moments of Happ in the second half--no sustained effort to get the ball inside. And yes, there were some bad turnovers.
For a big man who has a great reputation for his assists, Happ didn't create much space for others on the floor. I'm still unsure why Gard didn't try harder to get Iverson more involved. He was the spark in the first half, but he didn't get the ball much in the second. Also, for a team that has had those cold moments all season, why wouldn't they try more bigs, particularly knowing that they were facing a zone full of big players: Reuvers, and Ford had 17 minutes each. It was one of them and Happ most of the time--why not try a bigger lineup? Particularly knowing they were going to play a team like that, why not practice working with a bigger lineup?

Iverson is gonna score in the flow. If you're at the point of saying, "how do I set up Iverson?" You've probably already lost. 

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm glad Xavier has been practicing his hook shot. This contest v Texas Tech is probably the most important game for that hook so far this year. Higher value than normal per basket. 

[Anonymous Coward]

Michigan isn't the kind of program to rack up these kinds of highlights, so I entirely forgot how seeing them might be fun:

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1109595547109752832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1109595547109752832&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.12up.com%2Fposts%2F6327314-video-michigan-s-isaiah-livers-hammers-home-thunderous-fast-break-dunk-and-puts-florida-on-poster

[ELA]

I prefer a somewhat crazy 1st round, followed by a 2nd round that rights the ship.  So while the 1st round could have given us a few more upsets, the 2nd round did what I like it to do.  The problem was not enough of the games were actually close.

This should be a great 4 days of really good teams.  Last year where you had the chalk side and the crazy side, the dichotomy in level of play was stark.  Should be much more even this year.

[847badgerfan]

Iverson is gonna score in the flow. If you're at the point of saying, "how do I set up Iverson?" You've probably already lost.

SF also mentioned Reuvers and Ford in his response, and that's fair to bring up. 

Reuvers has been in a funk for a while. Hopefully he can add some more strength in the offseason and be more of a force next year. He has potential, as he's shown.

As for Ford, well, he doesn't play like a big guy too much. He loves his 3 point shot (I don't) and didn't really show that he's willing to mix it up down low on a regular basis. I think he is what he is, but I'll save more judgement on him for next year. Guys change from year 2 to year 3. I'm not very hopeful, but hey, what the heck is there to lose in hoping?

Could Gard have tried to get them involved more? Perhaps. Not sure what good it would have done, because while they were in the game, not much happened to make me think more minutes would have been a positive thing.

6-30 on 3 point attempts. There's your ball game.

[SFBadger96]

Iverson is gonna score in the flow. If you're at the point of saying, "how do I set up Iverson?" You've probably already lost.

Except that in the first half, save for the dunk at the end of the half, he was creating his own shots.
I don't disagree that poor shooting did the Badgers in, but I do disagree that there was nothing the coaching staff could do about it. They didn't look prepared to respond. Once the game starts, the coaches have the responsibility of looking for what's working and what isn't, and making adjustments. Throwing their hands up and saying, "well, we didn't shoot well," means they didn't have any backup plan. That's a coaching failure. Particularly because the shooting problem was evident from the first few minutes of both halves.

[medinabuckeye1]

Indiana's season has ended.

Unfortunately, there will be no NIT Championship for the B1G this year.

[bayareabadger]

Except that in the first half, save for the dunk at the end of the half, he was creating his own shots.
I don't disagree that poor shooting did the Badgers in, but I do disagree that there was nothing the coaching staff could do about it. They didn't look prepared to respond. Once the game starts, the coaches have the responsibility of looking for what's working and what isn't, and making adjustments. Throwing their hands up and saying, "well, we didn't shoot well," means they didn't have any backup plan. That's a coaching failure. Particularly because the shooting problem was evident from the first few minutes of both halves.

I went back and did a rewatch. He only attacked when the back line of the defense was kinda pulled up toward half court. That happens because the team is running zone offense and Happ is creating some gravity. That's good approach creating buckets. 
I suppose you can argue there needs to be a plan, but just demanding a plan without a sense of what it might be strikes me as frustration transitioning into "DO SOMETHING" and the assumption there's a plan. 
UW missed jumpers. UW missed layups. Mid-range jumpers are also jumpers. Assuming 3s were open and the defense was ceding them, that means all the tall guys were in the paint. I guess you could say, "attack that thicket of arms because the shooting isn't there." But it just ain't much of a plan. The coach can yell at the ball to go in. He can say, "Let's take worse shots because the good ones aren't falling," but that's not the opposite of coaching failure. It was frustrating, I get that. But I don't think some shift in plan would've helped. 
Getting mad at the turnovers, that's fine. But, the other team made hard shots and UW missed easy ones, not many adjustments can fix that. 

[MichiFan87]

After further review from UMHoops and MGoblog, I think Michigan wins a close one over Texas Tech. They have a great defense, too, but their offense is not quite as good. The key stat will probably be turnovers since Michigan doesn't commit many while Texas Tech forces more than most teams, but they're both average on the opposite side (Michigan forcing them and Texas Tech committing them).... Texas Tech is also mediocre in rebounding at both ends, which Michigan exploited v Florida at both ends. TTU is also more FT-reliant and commits more fouls. If Michigan makes an average # of 3s, it would probably be game over.... Basically the main difference between TTU and Florida is that TTU has a better half-court defense (ie. 2pt and 3pt defense).

[betarhoalphadelta]

Purdue assistant Greg Gary has been announced as the next head coach at Mercer.

He will not transition until after Purdue's season concludes. I.e. hopefully Apr 9 ;-)

[Anonymous Coward]

Kenpom is having an awfully good postseason. It's top 14 teams are still in (had UW won, the top 15 would still be in).
https://kenpom.com/