Tubby to change his starting lineup?

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3 Guards

The results of the starting lineup at the beginning stretch has left me bewildered to say the least.

The three guard lineup makes sense to me. I like Hoff, Joseph, and Al on the floor. Add Rodney and a big and we are good to go for some number of minutes. With Mo probably down for at least a while, this approach makes even more sense.

The starting five or six minutes of each game has certainly not been encouraging.

Still, the lads are 11-1 and if asked at the start of the season if I would be thrilled with 11-1 I would have screamed YES!

We will learn alot next Tuesday. I miss Westbrook already.
 

Tubby has learned through the non-conference team that the "Big" team he has often had on the floor can not cover defensively against athletic teams that can shoot the three. I suspect the line-up will very during the year depending on the oponent.
 

This is good to see as it should help the perimeter defense without sacrificing that much down low.
 



GJ

GopherJake said:
Not a big Westbrook fan, but I am missing his 90%+ free throw shooting. That guy was money from the line.
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Agreed.

Too bad Blake does not get to the line more but he and Al are pretty strong at the end of games.
 

I will be interested to see how often Tubby uses the 3-guard lineup on Tuesday, and also who fills the other two spots. Bo almost always adjusts his lineup to match up with the opponent, whether that means using a traditional lineup with a pair of bigs or going small.

To date, UW's best lineup has been Jordan Taylor at PG, freshman Josh Gasser at SG, Jon Leuer and Keaton Nankivil up front, then either Mike Bruesewitz or Tim Jarmusz as the SF. Rob Wilson finally appears healthy after some early season hamstring issues, and he played well on Thursday, so he is now probably an option to fill that fifth spot as well. He would give UW more of a true 3-guard lineup, though I would feel OK about any of the three chasing Hoffarber around. Even if Walker is out, Minnesota has more size than does UW, so Jared Berggren is going to have to be ready to make a contribution. He has been a little up and down so far, but has had some good games. He had 8 important points in the paint in UW's win at Marquette.

Should be a good game on Tuesday, I'm anxious to see how Bo and Tubby decide to match up.
 

Who is going to cover Leuer beyond the arc? Will Williams cover him on the outside? Can Mbakwe defend him away from the rim? What about Ralph?
Wisconsin 80, Coppin State 56
"Turning Point of the Game
Jon Leuer’s early 3-point barrage set the tone and gave the Badgers a lead they would not relinquish. The senior forward opened the game by going 4-for-4 from behind the 3-point line. Leuer added a jumper after his first missed 3-pointer to score the first 14 points of the game for UW. With 16:02 left to play in the first half, Leuer had outscored Coppin State, 14-7."

Badgers bury Eagles with record 3-point barrage
http://www.uwbadgers.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/122310aaa.html

College basketball: Leuer's hot night leads Badgers over Coppin State
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS • DECEMBER 24, 2010
http://www.stevenspointjournal.com/article/20101224/SPJ02/12240658/-1/ARCHIVE

Beyond the Box: Wisconsin 80, Coppin State 56
http://www.uwbadgers.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/122310aab.html
 

I love the smaller lineup against the Badgers. When you play Wisconsin, you have to guard everyone pretty much anywhere on the court. Leuer, Nankevil, and Bruesewitz can all pop out and hit the three, in addition to obviously the guards that are in the game. And I don't even think you would lose that much from a rebounding sense. Rodney can get up like a 6'10" PF, and you still have a post man down low. Plus, Blake is savvy at knowing where to be to pick up the odd rebound that bounces out. I really think this is the best lineup for us. Remember, in 2008-2009 when we won at Kohl, down the stretch we had a 3-guard lineup of Blake, Lawrence, and Devron that really worked well against a team very similar in style and personnel to the one we will see on Tuesday.
 



The Badgers sound like an offensive machine in these posts, whereas the fact is they don't score all that much. They're gonna move the ball and run the clock and score 60 points in the Big Ten. Maybe more than that at home against the Gophers, if the Gopher defense is as bad as everybody says. Still it will be in the 60s. The Gophers will have to pound the boards and shoot a good percentage, 2 things they can do. They may also have to make some FT, which they are not good at. But I don't think Bucky will flat out out-score us.

Nolen will have his hands full against Taylor, and will need to be on the floor whenever Taylor is. Taylor plays 34 on average, Al 31, so that's an OK match-up for Goldy.

An even tougher match-up is Leuer. Who can tail him inside and out? Plus, Leuer plays 32 minutes, Williams only plays 20. Mbakwe plays 27. But of course you would mix it up anyway Leuer is scoring 20 ppg and shooting 51 percent, 50 from beyond the arc. He will get his points.

Wisconsin is not better than Minnesota but at Madison they have to be a 2-4 pt fave. FT down the stretch could decide it.
 

sunnyday2 said:
The Badgers sound like an offensive machine in these posts, whereas the fact is they don't score all that much. They're gonna move the ball and run the clock and score 60 points in the Big Ten. Maybe more than that at home against the Gophers, if the Gopher defense is as bad as everybody says. Still it will be in the 60s.
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The Badgers actually ARE an offensive juggernaut if you dive deeper than just looking at PPG. They actually have the 11th best offensive rating so far this year. A lot of that has to do with the number of points they score per possession. Their tempo rating is 2nd worst in the country, meaning they slow the game down as we all know. However their Turnover % per possession is 3rd best in the nation, and an offensive rebounding % that is in the top 15 in the country. Because they are one of the best teams at not committing turnovers and rebounding the ball offensively, it helps them to take far more shots per possession than their opponents. As we all know, when you do this consistently, it leads to success. That is why Wisconsin is 11th offensively in these rankings and they should be considered a juggernaut offense, even though they are never going to lead the NCAA in PPG.

http://kenpom.com/
 

Wisconsin plays deliberately. The other team only gets the ball when the Badgers are done with it, so total stats can be misleading. Points per possession are more revealing. The Badgers offense has been very efficient(11th in the nation per pomeroy). The defense has been a little less impressive then the total numbers would indicate. This has been Bo's best shooting team in a lot of ways. Best from the line, close to the best from 3 (the elite 8 team hit 39% for the year), and one of the better 2 point shooting teams. Turnovers are low and rebounding has been good by our standards (tend not to send a lot of guys to the offensive glass). The bigs have been effective, with Leuer, Nankivil, Bruesewitz, and Berggren over 40% from 3 helping to stretch defenses.

Weaknesses: the UW is VERY dependent on Taylor. He's been great, but there are frosh and walk-on's behind him. He may be the most valuable player in the B10 in terms of how many wins his absence would cost his team.

The UW doesn't get to the line much. Used to be a strength. Too bad to, because this team has been great from the line.

The Badgers have fouled too often in certain games. It cost us the ND game. Ryan's teams usually get better in terms of his "rules" heading into the B10 so maybe this will be less of a factor. Not a really quick team so team defense and discipline are really important.

Dependent on shooting the 3. Not much in the way of slashing to the hoop (Wilson and Gasser can help with this but Wilson has had nagging injuries and Gasser is a frosh). If the 3's fall, it opens things up and the post game and Taylor become really hard to deal with. If not, games like Notre Dame happen.
 

Free throws may determine outcome

Badgers gain 5-6 pts in this matchup being at home. Gophers will struggle in stretches as all teams do against WI. Gophers have looked rough in recent games, but seem to play to level of competition. So, I think it could come down to MN FTs and WI 3-pt shooting.. If Gophers get to line 20 times and shoot 70+% and hold UW to less than 33% from 3 pt line, I think they win. If UM is average (62%) from the line and UW is average (35%+) from 3, the Gophers will likely lose.
 



The Irish beat the Badgers using zone defense and hitting their free throws…

*******
“Wisconsin's frontline bullied and bruised an undersized Irish team early. The Badgers outrebounded, outhustled and outmuscled them for most of the first half to go ahead by eight points.
Notre Dame began sitting in its zone defense and keeping Wisconsin on the perimeter. The move paid off, and the Irish scored the last 11 points of the half to take a 22-19 lead at the break.
“
*******
“Just when it seemed the Badgers were having their way and the Irish were all mixed up in their man defense, coach Mike Brey called for a 2-3 zone look following a Hansbrough bucket, which snapped a 10-0 Badger run. It was Notre Dame’s first hoop in 5:36.

Notre Dame owned the rest of the first half.

The zone helped produce nine consecutive stops to end the half while the Irish offense got in gear. Notre Dame scored 11 unanswered points, held the Badgers without a point the final 5:08 and took a 22-19 lead at half. It was one point more than the Irish had scored in one half against Cal.
“
*******
“Update: Irish Go 15-18 From The Charity Stripe To Seal Victory Over Wisconsin
Orlando, FL (Sports Network) – Carleton Scott and Eric Atkins scored 12 points apiece to lead the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to a 58-51 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers in the title game of the Old Spice Classic at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex.
Tim Abromaitis and Ben Hansbrough added 10 points each for Notre Dame (7-0).
Jon Leuer scored 19 points in the loss for Wisconsin (4-2), which received 14 points from Jordan Taylor.
Notre Dame led 22-19 at intermission after holding Wisconsin to 9-of-31 shooting from the floor in the first half, including 1-of-10 from three-point range.
The Fighting Irish sealed the victory with a 15-of-18 effort from the foul line in the second half.
Notre Dame hit more shots from the foul line (20) than from the field (17) in the clash. Wisconsin attempted only four free throws in the tilt.
“
AP; Men's basketball: Wisconsin loses to Notre Dame 58-51
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com...asketball-Wisconsin-loses-to-Notre-Dame-58-51
Irish knock off Wisconsin in men's basketball
http://www.wsbt.com/sports/wsbt-irish-knock-off-wisconsin-in-m-112810,0,1924848.story

College Basketball: Notre Dame Hits More Shots From Foul Line Than Field, Defeats Wisconsin 58-51
http://indiana.sbnation.com/notre-d...e-classic-championship-fighting-irish-badgers
 

I'm not sure why we necessarily change our lineup to adjust to them. Our current lineup also presents problems for them. "Notre Dame Hits More Shots From Foul Line Than Field, Defeats Wisconsin 58-51" tells me we might want to just pound it inside and get them into foul trouble.
 

I could see how a lineup featuring Rodney at the 4 and 3 guards could work in some situations. That said, I really feel like the only way this team meets expectations is if they become dominant inside again. If the Gopher can own the paint, both offensively and defensively, they'll win a lot of games even if they don't defend the 3 well. If Colton, Ralph, or Trevor is a liability trying to get out on a finesse big man on the perimeter, then they must take it to that same finesse big man on the post offensively. I also think that we should stop having guards dig at the post and trust those guys (Ralph, Colton, Trevor) to stop their man one on one. One of the most discouraging things about the performances of the past few weeks has been the inability of the big guys to consistently dominate when they are being defended by a guy 6'7 or shorter. If the bigs can't dominate in that type of situation, then the Gophers probably won't meet expectations and spend another season near the bubble.

If the Gophers are experimenting with Rodney at the 4, I'd like to see them go with a Nolen/Armelin/Blake/Rodney/Trevor lineup. This would be one of the most athletic teams the Gophers could put on the court and Blake could see a lot of transition 3's if they got out and ran. The second team could be more of slow it down squad with Devoe providing the perimeter offense, Hollins providing some solid defense, and Colton/Ralph doing the twin towers thing. I think the rotation should be at 9 until (if?) Mo comes back, so Tubby could really just keep the starter playing the best on the court with that 2nd 5 (except for Trevor as that would be 3 bigs).
 

More 3pt attempts(those missed)=More long rebounds, which negates the inside 'bigs' rebounding advantage.
 

I think if Rodney plays the 4, he will have a HUGE game. He can't do this against most teams, as they have better size at the 4 (Wisconsin doesn't).

If I recall correctly, Rodney played a lot down low in high school. It would be exciting to see him do that again. I think it'd be a nice change for him against Wisconsin.
 

this is totally off topic, but next year id like to see us run huge againist some teams at some point in the game.
PG= devoe/hollins idc which one SG= rodney williams or Austin hollins SF= Oto PF= Trevor, C=ralph. most likely devoe, williams, oto, mbakwe, sampson. that squad can rebound, play D, and shoot the long ball (devoe, oto, and im assuming rodney will have a decent stroke by then as confidence builds)
PG= 6'3" SG= 6'7" SF= 6'9" PF= 6'8" C= 6'11" love it/.
 

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