Saying this now as they are at their peak of hype/respect, and Vegas could overrate them on the side as a 2/3 seed. I would not buy much into it and it might be smart to fade them in tournament.
Sure they can win in Big Ten and at home, but not in torney. If this were a neutral court, Wisconsin loses by 10+ today.
Ask yourself why their best run in 9 years under Bo Ryan was 1 Elite 8 in 04-05. He's only been to Sweet 16 two other years. They have not made it past the 1st weekend in 4 of the last 5 years.
Their defense is usually solid, but their offense absolutely kills them come tourney time.
Outside Taylor and Leur, they have zero players who can drive and create shots. Their only real offensive sets basically revolve around ball screens with Leur/Nakavil and Taylor. Considering this, they depend heavily on 3s and outside shots. Away from home, they often hit massive droughts. We saw that here today against OSU. They were down 13, were getting poor ball movement, poor shot attempts, and weren't hitting anything. If Taylor didn't those two 3s to get the momentum and crowd back in it, they lose this game.
Away from home, these droughts will and always have buried them, particularly in the tourney. Look at last year as a #4 seed and 10 point favs to #13 Wofford, only won 53-49 and had to fight for their lives. They shot just 37% and needed Leur to bail them out with a late 3. Then they played #12 Cornell, and lost 69-87, getting run out of the building to an Ivy League school.
There's something about this team under Ryan that they will overachieve in regular season, then just tank in the tourney. See it year after year.
Sure they can win in Big Ten and at home, but not in torney. If this were a neutral court, Wisconsin loses by 10+ today.
Ask yourself why their best run in 9 years under Bo Ryan was 1 Elite 8 in 04-05. He's only been to Sweet 16 two other years. They have not made it past the 1st weekend in 4 of the last 5 years.
Their defense is usually solid, but their offense absolutely kills them come tourney time.
Outside Taylor and Leur, they have zero players who can drive and create shots. Their only real offensive sets basically revolve around ball screens with Leur/Nakavil and Taylor. Considering this, they depend heavily on 3s and outside shots. Away from home, they often hit massive droughts. We saw that here today against OSU. They were down 13, were getting poor ball movement, poor shot attempts, and weren't hitting anything. If Taylor didn't those two 3s to get the momentum and crowd back in it, they lose this game.
Away from home, these droughts will and always have buried them, particularly in the tourney. Look at last year as a #4 seed and 10 point favs to #13 Wofford, only won 53-49 and had to fight for their lives. They shot just 37% and needed Leur to bail them out with a late 3. Then they played #12 Cornell, and lost 69-87, getting run out of the building to an Ivy League school.
There's something about this team under Ryan that they will overachieve in regular season, then just tank in the tourney. See it year after year.
