Something lost in the concern over playing Wisconsin

[revcort]

The B1G is really down this season. Maryland was the clear #2 in that league. Traditional big ten powers Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio St, and Indiana were all down. Iowa and Purdue both had 12 wins in that league for goodness sake!

It's easy to pile up some major offensive stats when your best player is your center and you're not facing an elite big man in your conference. Outside of Kaminsky, who is a great center in that league? A guy with size and skill? And find one on a good team? There's not one.

Maryland is dominated by guards and small forwards. Mich state has Matt Costello. Iowa has Adam Woodbury- ever heard of him? Me neither. Purdue has AJ Hammons but nothing surrounding him. Ohio State is DeAngelo Russell and 4 blind sisters. Indiana doesn't have a center. Those are the top teams in that league.

Now I'm not saying Wisconsin isn't a good team. They clearly are. But are they what people are making them out to be? Are their offensive efficiency stats a bit skewed by playing in a down league filled with teams with nobody who can defend their best player? I think it is.

 

[JerseyCat84_rivals57050]

Same could be said for the SEC.

 

[OldRed]

I watched several Big 10 games this year. I was imagining Calipari coaching those teams. I imagine that Calipari would have often ran out of timeouts in the first half. I saw multiple coaches just sit there and watch turnover after turnover and bad shot after bad shot. MSU this year was just a bad team to watch. They turned the ball over constantly and settled for bad shots and Izzo for the most part just sat there.

 

[revcort]

Originally posted by JerseyCat84:
Same could be said for the SEC.

Which part? That the conference is down or doesn't have any dominant big men?

Actually I would disagree on both points. I think this league is much improved over last season. I think the numbers bear that out.

Regarding dominant bigs or teams with someone who could guard Kaminsky, I disagree there, too. Arkansas has a dominant 6-11 guy in Portis. LSU has Mickey and Martin who could both guard him. Georgia has Thornton and Djurisic. TX A&M has Kourtney Roberson. Ole Miss doesn't have much other than Saiz. Even Vandy has a couple guys who could challenge him.

But my point above is that the Big Ten has become a league dominated by guards and small forwards with very few teams starting a guy who can defend Wisconsin's best player.

 

[BigBlueInYourEye34]

JerseyCat84 posted on 3/10/2015...
Same could be said for the SEC.




Sure if you want to be a parrot and repeat what idiots in the media say.

This post was edited on 3/10 3:28 AM by Basketball_Benny_BBN

 

[cats#1again]

That's not even mentioning Florida, who has a more than capable power forward aswell. The sec is a much better conf than the B1G

 

[EnglandWildcat]

I posted the same thing in one of the Wisconsin threads a day or two ago. Ohio State is laughably bad in my opinion. There OOC schedule was weaker than UL's, and that's saying something! IU is down. MSU is an average team. Iowa is weak. Maryland is pretty good and Wisconsin is good. But Wisconsin played two good teams in the OOC - Oklahoma (who I'm not entirely convinced of) and Duke. They lost to one of the two good teams they played.

I think Wiscy is good, but they are not the juggernaut some are making them out to be.

Top to bottom, I think the SEC is a better conference with more athletic players.

 

[EnglandWildcat]

I posted the same thing in one of the Wisconsin threads a day or two ago. Ohio State is laughably bad in my opinion. There OOC schedule was weaker than UL's, and that's saying something! IU is down. MSU is an average team. Iowa is weak. Maryland is pretty good and Wisconsin is good. But Wisconsin played two good teams in the OOC - Oklahoma (who I'm not entirely convinced of) and Duke. They lost to one of the two good teams they played.

I think Wiscy is good, but they are not the juggernaut some are making them out to be.

Top to bottom, I think the SEC is a better conference with more athletic players.

 

[UKEE93]

Traditional power Indiana?

Decades ago....lol!!!

 

[kyjeff1]

So many of the talking heads keep talking about how Wisconsin would use Kaminski to bring UK's bigs out of the paint with his shooting ability then get easy runs at the basket. That would be dumb on Cal's part. I assume Cal would guard him with Lyles and Lee and leave KAT and WCS in the paint.

 

[BigBlueFanGA]

I think we would be fine guarding him with WCS and leaving Towns in the paint. Then use Lee on him with Dakari in the paint.

 

[Anon1712931820]

Originally posted by JerseyCat84:
Same could be said for the SEC.

That argument might would hold water if not for the fact that we played out of conference Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA, Louisville and Texas. Wisconsin played Duke.....and Oklahoma lol.

When people try and say we haven't been tested because we play in the SEC I laugh. Do they really not remember the OOC schedule? Have we not improved since then as well?

Haters gonna hate.

 

[ukfan79_rivals214498]

I still don't think we face Wisconsin until a potential Final 4 matchup.

Virginia will lose and possibly Villanova as well. There is zero justification for making either of those a 1 seed over Wisconsin if that happens. Arizona and the Badgers become the 3rd and 4th one seeds.

Arizona in the West

Wisconsin in the South

Duke then gets the East

Kentucky in the Midwest as we have always known

 

[CatPhight_rivals65113]

Originally posted by ukfan79:

I still don't think we face Wisconsin until a potential Final 4 matchup.

Virginia will lose and possibly Villanova as well. There is zero justification for making either of those a 1 seed over Wisconsin if that happens. Arizona and the Badgers become the 3rd and 4th one seeds.

Arizona in the West

Wisconsin in the South

Duke then gets the East

Kentucky in the Midwest as we have always known

I'm buying the Virgina loss, but I don't see Villanova losing in that tourney. IMO, if Virginia wins the ACC tourney, they flip-flop with the Dookies as the 1 seed in the South.

If Wisconsin loses in the B1G tourney...Arizona locks in as the 1 seed in the west if they win the PAC10 and they are a lock as our 2 seed.

If Kansas loses, they drop to a 3 seed for sure - does Gonzaga then geographically switch the the west and add Maryland as the 2 seed in the South if they win the B1G-T.

A lot of possibilities.


Midwest
1 UK
2 KU

East
1 Villanova
2 Virginia

South
1 Dook
2 Gonzaga

West
1 Wisconsin
2 Arizona

 

[Big_Blue79]

Originally posted by IL Wildcat:
Now I'm not saying Wisconsin isn't a good team. They clearly are. But are they what people are making them out to be? Are their offensive efficiency stats a bit skewed by playing in a down league filled with teams with nobody who can defend their best player? I think it is.

Every model (well, any model that anyone takes seriously) takes opposition into account. Kaminsky has been pretty terrific for years, and as a 4 year player has a chance to be a lottery pick. Considering how few seniors are lottery picks, that's quite a reflection on what NBA teams think about his talent. Sure, if Kaminsky went up against a frontline of prime Hakeem Olajuwon and Dennis Rodman he'd have worse numbers, and models would account for that, too. He clearly outplayed Okafor when they matched up. The SEC has, what, a few good bigs outside UK? Portis, the LSU frontline, maybe that guy from Georgia that puts up 11.5/5.5 (and like 42/18 against UK)? And if someone says Walker at Florida, I'm preemptively laughing.

Maybe Ken Pomeroy and Jeff Sagarin should consult the "has IL Wildcat heard of them" index when modeling?

 

[Untouchables22]

Wisconsin's schedule has been soft this year there is no doubt. I think most peoples trepidation come from the fact that this is the exact same team that made the Final 4 last year minus Brust to graduation and Jackson to injury. I think most UK fans feel entitled to not have a team proven to be Final 4 caliber in our region in the same year we are undefeated. Essentially if there was ever a year we deserve to get Gonzaga or Kansas this is it.

 

[Assassin Number 2]

Let's say Louisville gets hot and takes out both Virginia and Duke. Does that throw both of them off the one line? There is no way they will both get #1 seeds and if both finish with another loss and Wisky wins the B10 they get a one for sure and I would think a few other teams would have an arugment for a #1 if they will their tourney's.

 

[The_Answer1313_rivals]

Wisconsin outscored their conference by .21 points per possession.
UK outscored SEC opponents by .26.

I think both conferences are pretty level to be honest. I don't think the Big Ten is what it has been in years past.

 

[Big_Blue79]

Originally posted by The_Answer1313:
Wisconsin outscored their conference by .21 points per possession.
UK outscored SEC opponents by .26.

I think both conferences are pretty level to be honest. I don't think the Big Ten is what it has been in years past.

Yup. Arizona was 0.25 or so, iirc, but the Pac12 is a bit worse than the SEC or B1G.

 

[rodgerblue]

Why would there be any concern whatsoever in playing Wisconsin?