Jack Lambert
Hall of Famer
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2009
- Messages
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Great posts gents! Should I be worried about Wisconsin Basketball guy's ?!
Cuz im kinda worried at this point. Only 37pts last night and they're continuing to struggle to find scoring besides Happ! More worrisome is lapses on defense, turnovers, free throw percentage. Traditionally all things the Badgers have excelled at last 16yrs when they've made the Tourney!
I wouldn't worry quite yet. The Badgers lost a lot from their 2015 runner up team and lost to teams like Milwaukee in 2016 and still made the Sweet 16. They've got a few new pieces, and their black players (and white players like Van Vliet and Pritzl, for that matter) aren't as good as the guys they replaced yet. Happ is playing at an All-America level, but guys like Trice, Iverson, Pritzl, and one of their white bigs REALLY need to play better. Trice and Iverson have cost the Badgers games this year with their mediocre play at times. Pritzl has been non-existent, and Van Vliet has fallen out of the rotation in favor of Nathan Reuvers. Wisconsin usually always rights the ship, so we'll see if the team around Happ and Davison (a freshman stud who'll be the next great Badger) gets better.
The Hawkeyes are young, and missing their leader in Nicholas Baer, plus back-up PG Connor McCaffrey is out right now. I hope they improve soon. Most of their key guys are freshman and sophomores. There is definitely room for them to get better, and I think they will get better.
In terms of Riggin's list, put Creighton on there too. They'll be a more palatable team again when starting stretch 4 Toby Hegner recovers from an ankle injury. With Mitchell Ballock coming in for 20+ minutes per game, Hegner's return will give the Blue Jays 2 white starters and three guys playing 20+ minutes, with a couple more playing less. That sounds like a good team to me.
Maybe Wichita State?? When I watched them in Maui, they had Conner Frankamp starting, plus Nurger and Austin Reaves coming off the bench for around 15 minutes or so every game.
Arizona State is another team in the Top 25 we could cheer for. They start 2 whites, and they'll have a huge presence in Mickey Mitchell eligible very shortly, giving them three whites with consistent PT.
Although not preferred over more white teams, teams like Duke, Villanova, and Florida all have white men in their top players. Allen is the face of Duke, so they would be very preferable to an all-black side. Same with DiVinenczo and Villanova and Koulechov and Florida.