[mlb]

Good to be back... took about 6 months off from betting for my CPA exams and now I've played a few football games but I'm pretty poor at them.. looking forward to college bball.

I follow the Wisconsin badgers the closest so I should have the best knowledge of that squad but I'm not a huge fan of them so I like to think I'm not too biased which should hopefully help in analysis.

With that said I follow the whole league pretty closesly.... had a thread last year and started strong and finished strong but struggled in the middle. Hoping to do well this year. My goal is to not play too many games cuz I often am a hit or miss better and end up taking a hit when I bet a lot.

I will also try to keep my spreadsheet updated and hope there is some good talk in this thread all year.

Ill have a small recap of badgers first scrimmage and some thoughts on the season in a mini preview ... good luck all and I'm hoping for a nice and entertaining year

[mlb]

Numerous scrimmages to look at to tonight ... can't wait for the 7th!

[upscope]

what was final tally last season??

[mlb]

what was final tally last season??

Regular Season: -15.1u with 2 long breaks in there

NCAA tourney time: +13.1u

[CollegeOverUnder]

I watched the St.Johns scrimmage and holy crap that God's Gift kid is fking beasting! and Dom Pointer is a baller to watch to

[mlb]

Badgers Season Preview:

Badgers finished 25-9 overall and 13-5 in Big Ten play. There season ended with an entertaining run to the Sweet 16 which saw them knock off Belmont and Kansas St in surprising shoot outs before falling to eventual runner up Butler. Coming into last season with minimal expectations and limited experience beyond the top 3 or 4 players, Bo Ryan once again proved that his swing offense and one of the top defenses in the land gets you wins in the Big Ten but usually limits how far you can go in the NCAA tournament. The Badgers led by Seniors Jon Leuer and Keaton Nankovil and the ever efficient Jordan Taylor proved to be a tough match up in the Big Ten and had numerous impressive performances highlighted by stunning then #1 Ohio State on their home court. However with Keaton and Leuer gone, Jordan Taylor will now be the vocal point of the offense. He led the world with floor efficiency last season leading the NCAA in assist to turnover ratio and was also top 5 in the Big Ten in scoring. He exceeded expectations far and away last year and was responsible for the Badgers slow but steady offense and also getting scorers Leuer and Nankovil the ball. He was virtually unguardable last season and only seemed to miss when he was wide open. This bodes well for a point guard and he seems to perform better when harassed which he can expect to see a lot of this year. Coming in as a virtual unanimous preseason All-American Taylor will have to shoulder the load and find that proper balance of taking control of the offense by shooting and attacking the rim and getting others involve.

The rest of the team has a lot to live up to and prove as the aforementioned Jon Leuer, Keaton Nankovil and 3 point shooter Tim Jarmeusz depart due to graduation as well as Brett Valentyne, JP Gavinski and Wquinton Smith. Losing most of their down low presense in Leuer and Nankovil, junior Jared Berrgren and junior Mike Brusewitz will need to stop up and take on a larger load. Berrgren a smooth footed down low presence brings more to the offensive side of the floor then the defensive. Smooth as he is on offense he will need to improve his defensive play or Bo Ryan will find someone who can. The “Bruiser” known for his floppy red hair and hustle off the bench will also need to play a more prominent role down low this season. Brusewitz could potentially end up playing verses the opponents 4 if red shirt freshman Evan Anderson struggles in the beginning of his career. Red shirting last season to develop skills and foot work, 7 foot Andersen needs to put in the work in the early part of this season and in the preseason in order to get used to running back up and down the court and competing at something other than scout team. Newcomers Frank Kaminski and Jarrod Uthoff will look to scratch the lineup occasionally and could end up playing more than anticipated if Berrgren, Bruser and Andersen aren’t getting the job done.

Trying to earn reps at the wings and forwards positions this year will be Junior Ryan Evans, sophomore Duke Dujon. Ryan Evans after an all American high school career has struggled to say the least in his first 3 years will the team and will look to minimize mistakes this year and show some of that potential that garnered him as such a highly touted prospect out of high school. Sophomore Dujon played very sparingly last season and will most likely see minimal time again this year as he just doesn’t seem tough and crafted enough to play in the rugid Big Ten. Transfer Zach Bohannon figures to play a role this year in practice after transferring. He has looked good with division one experience in the past as he has been active on both sides of the ball.

In what figures to be the Badgers strength this year will be their back court. Voted #7 back court in the nation by Sports Illustrated Jordan Taylor and Josh Gasser will look to work the swing offense and play their own game in controlling tempo and touches in the paint. Taylor mentioned above will be paired at most times with Gasser or someone looking to push for a job. Josh Gasser returning for his sophomore season locked up 30 starts in 34 games last year and was more than impressive in most of that time. Smooth, calm and smart beyond his years, Ryan could not keep him off the court last year because he brought that balance on the floor opposite Taylor. Look for him to start every game and play the majority of minutes and spell Taylor from the point guard position more than last year. At 6 foot 3 and extremely long it would be ideal for the Badgers to develop another point guard for the future years and stick Gasser at a 2 or 3 but this most likely will not be the case. Gasser is smart can handle the ball and can get to the cup when pressured. He struggled shooting the 3 last year which included an 0-13 stretch but Ryan stuck with him and he proved to be an impressive find in his freshman year. Highlighted by a game winning bank 3 pointer to beat Michigan in Michigan and the first Big 10 triple double since Magic Johnson Gasser’s freshman year hopes to be the start of a long and impressive career. Senior Rob Wilson and sophomore Ben Brust will be the 2 most likely to steal some playing time as they both are returning and have reasonable seemed to improve based on preseason practices and their annual scrimmage open to the public. Brust led the game in scoring with 22 points and looked quick and explosive but his slight 6 foot 1 frame might be what holds him back. After a season of lighting up the scout team Brust hopes to get that opportunity as the Badgers will be looking for someone who can consistently knock down the 3. Wilson after struggling for his first 3 seasons will have hoped to improve enough to get more playing time. Freshman newcomers George Marshall and Traevon Jackson have looked sharp in the preseason and look like they belong in the back court of a Big Ten team. With no regular season games played and going off of what has been seen so far these 3 look like they could make an impact in the back court and look like they could make the back court something that can separate the Badgers from other teams come this fall and winter. Walk on Jordan Smith may have a ways to go in the weight room and being comfortable on the court but he does have an excellent shot.

Game notes: A three guard set is a very great possibility this year with the swing offense and virtually switching all positions on the floor. Brust or Wilson would see themselves in the starting lineup and most likely Evans out. Taylor so far this season in practices and scrimmages has deferred to Gasser at point more then last year as mentioned above and he could look to run his guys around the court a little and even post them up where he looks extremely comfortable.

With all of this said the Badgers once again are not blessed with blazing speed, Duke like size or Baylor like athleticism. One thing they do have is Bo Ryan, who many consider to be one of the greatest coaches in the nation currently, and his tough hardnosed style built on defense. It may not always be pretty and no matter how many times I or anyone else has doubted them over the past years they continue to exceed expectations. In what looks to be a 1 horse race at the top of the Big Ten in Ohio State I could reasonable see the Badgers competing for the second spot in the conference but I will go with a more conservative approach and say that the Badgers will finish 3rd to 5th in the Big Ten leaning towards 4th. This is nothing too crazy of a prediction based on previous years but the ceiling and floor are just hard to move with a defensive minded squad. I think they will nab a 5 or 6 seed again and go down in the second round of the NCAA tournament. I really don’t focus on predictions so much because there hasn’t even been a regular season game.

[mlb]

I watched the St.Johns scrimmage and holy crap that God's Gift kid is fking beasting! and Dom Pointer is a baller to watch to

I think they are flying under the radar right now because of how they have finished last season. They are still loaded and have great recruiting class coming in!

[mlb]

Feel free to critique my write up or throw in some other teams or quite frankly if you don't care about Wisconsin basketball then ignore it. I am just throwing it out there in case you are betting on them early in the year and looking for some guidance on player matchups. Good luck to all .... looks to be a good season.

[numismatist]

Interesting.
Badgers fan here too.
Thanks for the insight look forward to a fun and profitable college hoops season

[mlb]

Interesting. Badgers fan here too. Thanks for the insight look forward to a fun and profitable college hoops season

np .. good luck to as you well

[CollegeOverUnder]

I think they are flying under the radar right now because of how they have finished last season. They are still loaded and have great recruiting class coming in!

dude every player on the team is a freshmen


Gods Gift is a transfer in from JUCO so he is a Junior and Malik Stith is the only player returning from last years team that actually played in games.

The class is loaded with talent though

[mlb]

Nothing for me last night ... seems like many surprises tho already ... will def be another crazy year... no posted games tonight

[mlb]

Did anyone see Kentuckys score and highlights last night????

[mlb]

Really gotta focus on money management this year... my plays will be low units especially to start and I don't wanna get caught up with playing too many games ... what are we looking at for tomorrow?

[mlb]

St. Johns line sits at 11.5 for my local .. i kind of want to pull the trigger on st johns but i think they might get exposed already for being sloppy and such a short bench

[mlb]

St. Johns 1st Half -7 (1u) - Still think SJ is the superior team here, im a little worried about early season with their short bench so im riding with the first half. gl

[mlb]

ahhh ... oh well .. hard to overcome 5-5 from 3 and cover a 7 point first half spread

[mlb]

Liberty +21 (1u) - Like the line I'm getting. Think they can keep this one closer, let's hope

[mlb]

damn lost by a point ... oh well

0-2 -2.17u

[CrushinBaskets]

Friday Plays Take BYU plus 2 at Utah St and Tennessee St +11 at St Louis. These were the odds on ST Exchange last night. I got both at + 103. Hopefully you can get the same
Good luck
The Crusher

[mlb]

glad i laid off this weekend .. so many games i have no idea what is all going on haha

[CollegeOverUnder]

I did the same Im scrambling between work and school right now. Im scrambling to put together a shitty ass term paper so I'm under a lot of pressure to get that stupid shit done.

[mlb]

I did the same Im scrambling between work and school right now. Im scrambling to put together a shitty ass term paper so I'm under a lot of pressure to get that stupid shit done.

yeah def worry about that .. dont even think about gambling .. u can study up on that later

[mlb]

Iowa State -1.5 -107 (2u)
Iowa State ML -125 (1u)

I really like this play as well I just can't figure out the line movement. I have been busy for this 24 hour marathon so going to catch myself up pretty quick here and might have a few other plays

[mlb]

Other leans:

Ohio St
Mich St
La Salle

[mlb]

Michigan St +7 -107 (1u)
Central Michigan +2 -107 (1u)

[mlb]

UCLA -11 -107 (1u)

[mlb]

Kentucky -6 -120 (1u)

[mlb]

thats it for tonight ... iowa st gonna cost me and getting a bad line in central mich game

[mlb]

2-5-1 overall record (-4.63u) ..... poor start

[CollegeOverUnder]

one of my friends goes to CMU and boy were they pissed that they lost that game. Apparently they blew up at the free-throw line with ZIEGLER just bombing from the line. Not good to have an ELITE player like him missing those in the MAC conference. But this CMU team is still really talented and they can still win the automatic bid because they play in the EAST DIVISON and all the good teams play in the WEST DIVISION. They play on the road though basically every single game

[mlb]

thanks for the insight .. yeah that kinda of sucked ... they had no business losing that game ... controlling pretty much throughout with a small lead

[mlb]

tonight is a horrendous card, probably cuz im struggling that seems to be how it usually goes ... what u guys like?

[HoulihansTX]

Wake Forest

[CollegeOverUnder]

tonight is a horrendous card, probably cuz im struggling that seems to be how it usually goes ... what u guys like?

yes the card is god awful I'm on LBSU +13.5 and Indiana -3.5 thats it though all the other games are stupid as hell well I'm off to work peace out and good luck tonight!