Kudos to Davidson and Curry, they are playing some great ball and deserved this win tonight, no doubt about it. After it was tied at half, I thought Wisconsin would come out with some adjustments, but it was Davidson who came out and adjusted even better. This is one hot team, and their constant movement will give anyone headaches, especially teams like Wisconsin and Georgetown, both of who don't have the offense to keep up when their defense lets down.
I'm disappointed in how the Badgers ended their season, but not disappointed in their season at all. They did much better than anyone expected, but just did not have the horses to keep up with Davidson.
It will be interesting to see how Davidson keeps up with another high-powered offense like Kansas or North Carolina. Looking forward to that.
good for you for the kind of respect. Most people would make up an excuse. alls i have to say is i thought your team was way overrated all year. The way i rate teams is NBA players
and Wisc has none... Thats right none. Brian Butch is thier best prospect and he could not even come off the bench on any nba team
I don't agree that you should rate teams based on NBA players. Having Beasley and Mayo didn't do much good for K State or USC, did it?
Wisconsin won 31 games this year, including one at Texas, and they did it without any stars, as you pointed out. How many other teams in the country can say that? There is no way I am disappointed in their season just because they lost tonight, they had a great year. No matter what their talent level, they play very well as a team and Ryan has a great system in place.
Overrated? That's for the media to decide, since they are the ones that hand out these rankings. Personally, I thought Wisconsin was a top 10 or top 12 team, but overrated at #4 or #6.
Simply put Bo Ryan is one of the best in the country. Rating teams on NBA players is not a good system. How many NBA players does Davidson have? Answer: 1. Texas maybe 2 maybe. If T.J Ford has struggled what makes us think Augustine won't struggle also. I was however surprised at Wisconsin's inability to get back and defend. Davidson scored many points on easy transition baskets. The huge 3 that Curry hit when the defender from Wisconsin whose name escapes me went flying through the air is certainly not what Ryan teaches. I am tired of these guys trying to block 3's; it is bad basketball and rarely happens. Close out and turn the guy into a dribbler. Yes Curry is smooth and yes he might draw and kick but close out and defend don't leave your feet especially trying to block a 3. The Badger fan is right. they had a solid season and got beat by a better basketball team tonight. Good to see a fan recongnize that.
Davidson has 1 NBA player. Wisconsin has at least 1 in Brian Butch and perhaps more. I'm sorry, but Butch is 6'11'' and can shoot the 3. That is enough to get him drafted in the NBA.
A HUGE factor no one is mentioning is that Trevon Hughes, Wisconsin's other most likely NBA player, was hurt and didn't play beyond the first couple minutes. That was a huge factor in the game. Defensively, with Flowers on Curry, Jason Bohannon had to cover Richards all game. That not only led to defensive breakdowns by UW, but it also tired Bohannon out in the 2nd half, making him unable to hit from long range, which is his specialty. Hughes practically single-handedly beat K State, losing him was a disaster.
That being said, Davidson out hustled UW, out rebounded them with a smaller line-up, committed fewer turnovers, and played better defense. Davidson outplayed UW in virtually every conceivable way. I thought UW looked tired from the start. I don't know if they were tired, or if losing Hughes deflated the team, or if Davidson just made them look that way. Either way, terrible game by UW. They are a better than that, and it is a shame to go out that way.
Don't get me wrong... Davidson earned this victory! But don't you think it irresponsible for the summary description of an Elite Eight game to NOT EVEN MENTION that Wisconsin only got 12 minutes out of Trevon Hughes who missed most of the game tdue to "re-injury"? He only SCORED 25 points in the previous game - (more than Beasley!!!), and was certainly the defensive quickness that was missing in allowing Richard 13 assists and 11 points. ANY INTELLIGENT ANALYSIS of this game would AT LEAST identify it as a critical factor - but here it is not even worth mention, because we need to "hero-worship" Curry.
I take nothing away the the guy - he is a phenom... I hope he continues his unbelieveble roll against the Jayhawks - at least enough to make it interesting. I just believe it is lousy reporting to fail to even mention such an important aspect of the game - or to point out that his replacement Bohannon isn't half the defender Hughes is... certainly Richards wouldn't have been nearly as effective in feeding Curry for bucket after bucket.
Again, they earned the victory - just a shame Bucky wasn't full strength - and by far their worst performance of the year, (just as I'm sure Georgetown would say of their game last Sunday).
Congrats to Bucky for a 31-5 season - ain't many who can say they got 31 this year. But after Butch going down last year and Hughes playing hurt most of this season, and out for most of this game, Badger fans everywhere will just be begging for one healthy tournament run next year - if for no other reason than to sut down the anti-Big 10 haters... Reminder - the almighty ACC had JUST ONE team in the sweet 16 this year. Dick Vitale (the genious) was the worst of all published brackets (wonder why?) - with just 9 of the sweet 16 correct - Grandma could have done better with the dartboard system!
Reload 'em and win another 30 next year, BO!!!! Congrats to seniors Butch, Stiemsma, and Flowers for leading this team to far greater heights than their #40 pre-season rating!!!
Great post.........Wisconsin had a stellar season, but ran into the hottest squad in the tournament. Curry was spectacular, and even a lock-down defensive player like Flowers was almost helpless to stop him.
If there's any consolation in losing to Davidson, it's in how much class the Badgers and their fans showed at the end of the game.
Wow. Davidson was on fire in that second half. I didn't see the whole game, but I did see that stretch of nearly 9 minutes where Wisconsin got only one field goal and one free throw. Unbelievable, the Badgers couldn't buy a bucket or a board. It seemed like Davidson could do no wrong either, they were throwing up circus shots that fell. I don't think anyone could have beaten them the way they played in the second half.
