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Radio Badger said:
It's been a while since they have broken past the Sweet Sixteen, but before last night, Syracuse had a drought even longer than the Badgers. Would anyone say that they were a program with a ceiling? Probably not.
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Well, they've also won a national championship within the past 10 years and regularly attract some of the nation's top talent.
 

Radio Badger said:
I understand what you're saying, but I think that you're wrong. It's true that Syracuse was far more athletic than the Badgers last night, but it's also true that the Badgers are recruiting some more athletic guys right now. George Marshall, a PG who red-shirted this year, is very athletic and has been a standout in practice all year. Sam Dekker will be a freshman next year and is very athletic. Bronson Koenig is a class of 2013 recruit, and he's athletic as well. So I think that you will see an uptick in the athleticism they have to offer.

Let's also be aware that Syracuse was not only athletic, they were a damn good team this year. They were ranked #1 for a good portion of the year and finished with only two losses this year playing in the 2nd best conference in basketball. This was not a loss to Davidson or Butler. This was a loss to one of the top three teams in the country, and it was by one point. Considering the Badgers also played North Carolina very close on their home court, I don't think there is a ceiling on this program.

It's been a while since they have broken past the Sweet Sixteen, but before last night, Syracuse had a drought even longer than the Badgers. Would anyone say that they were a program with a ceiling? Probably not.
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Responding to BOLDED portions in order.

Will Dekker play next year? Not exactly Bo's style to play true freshman.

I think you have to agree that the team the Badgers played last night was not the same Syracuse team they were during the majority of the year. Losing Melo made Syracuse a top 10 or 15 team in the country, not top 3. I agree the Badgers had a good year, but it was almost predictably that what happened last night would. They shot LIGHTS OUT (14 threes) with only 6 turnovers and still couldn't win. I think this is a good indication that Bo's style and system has a ceiling. Like stated above they did die by the three, all they needed was a two for the win and no one on their team had the ability to drive against Syracuse's defense, so they settled for a long three.

Finally, no one could ever make that argument because the Syracuse program has proven their ceiling is winning a National Championship.
 

Radio Badger said:
It must be weird having to live vicariously through others to get a sniff of success.
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You mean like 18-22 year old kids playing a game? Good point. The entire state of Wisconsin does this with the Badgers and Packers.
 


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Wisky was doing well when Taylor would pass, cut to the corner, receive the ball, drive the baseline and decide to go for the hoop or pass to ft line for an open jumper or a drive to the hoop ... Then they stopped sending Taylor on the cut to the corner which caused Whisky to not have any good looks for minutes and minutes in the 2nd half.
 



Radio Badger said:
I understand what you're saying, but I think that you're wrong. It's true that Syracuse was far more athletic than the Badgers last night, but it's also true that the Badgers are recruiting some more athletic guys right now. George Marshall, a PG who red-shirted this year, is very athletic and has been a standout in practice all year. Sam Dekker will be a freshman next year and is very athletic. Bronson Koenig is a class of 2013 recruit, and he's athletic as well. So I think that you will see an uptick in the athleticism they have to offer.

Let's also be aware that Syracuse was not only athletic, they were a damn good team this year. They were ranked #1 for a good portion of the year and finished with only two losses this year playing in the 2nd best conference in basketball. This was not a loss to Davidson or Butler. This was a loss to one of the top three teams in the country, and it was by one point. Considering the Badgers also played North Carolina very close on their home court, I don't think there is a ceiling on this program.

It's been a while since they have broken past the Sweet Sixteen, but before last night, Syracuse had a drought even longer than the Badgers. Would anyone say that they were a program with a ceiling? Probably not.
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No doubt Syracuse is a great team no one is debating that a one point loss to Syracuse isn't impressive, but they AREN'T the same team without Fab Melo, period.

They got the kind of offensive performance they desired, shooting ~.520 on 27 3pt, and still lost. The fact is, even without Melo they only scored what, 2 points in the paint in the second half? The reason for the discrepancy is obvious, even without Syracuse's main defensive cog and shot blocker Wisconsin couldn't attack them on the interior where the player with superior athleticism will usually have a strong edge. Simply put, they hit a ceiling.

Syracuse has Jim Boeheim, their "ceiling" is a national championship, and their drought for that is about a decade. Wisconsin's for basketball national titles is longer than ours is for football (1941 National Champion Badgers) so I don't see where you are going with that.

I'm not going to go into hypotheticals about how the game could've been different if Melo had played, but I think we all know the outcome. Subtract Jordan Taylor from your lineup a week before the NCAAs and how do you think you do?

This next thing is painful to say, but Bo Ryan is a good coach. He has a system he knows and recruits to fit that system perfectly. But I would liken him to Paul Johnson, albeit slightly more successful (something like .729 vs .700 win percentage). His style of coaching has the side effect of frustrating opposing players into making poor decisions, the same way an up tempo pressing team does, he forces you to play his game. And frankly not a lot of teams execute as well as Wisconsin does typically, which exacerbates the frustration. However the gameplan has limits, Syracuse had 52 possessions in the game, the fewest they have had in the last 15 seasons!! So while they might be a very good team, they apparently proved that they are better at Wisky's game than they are.
 



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