Game 13: GMU (7-5) at #24 Wisconsin on Thursday , December 23, at 7PM. CANCELED.

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

This will be a big test for Oduro defensively. For the whole team really, their bigs can shoot threes and their guards can post up in their swing offense.

Don't always blow you away though. If we avoid foul trouble and can score in the half court a little bit Mason can keep it close.

 

[sleeperpick]

By the numbers yes - but emotionally - it is our worst loss. I need the annual beat down of them as a spiritual salve to get me through the winter.

and I agree with that LOL, but nobody other than you and a few more people on here give a damn about emotional losses

 

[sleeperpick]

I'm trying to not look at this through green/gold-colored glasses, but I truly believe our record isn't an accurate reflection of this team's ability or talent level. We stumbled against ODU and didn't show up in South Dakota. Flat out, they played like a** in that tournament. Very sloppy... poor shooting... turnovers all over the place... etc. In recent games, we're playing better... a bit more under control, and shooting the ball pretty well. and then I look at Wisconsin in recent games and they're not killing anyone. The Nicholls game, especially, indicates that a strong, fundamentally sound showing from our team could be enough to pull this off. So I'm not writing this team off at all. The big question mark is if two days is enough for our coaching staff to analyze, game plan, and prep the guys. I think we have the talent to hang... it's really a matter of prep being the visiting team.

I am fairly sure their 20ppg leading scorer did not play in that game but is playing against us.

I think we have a chance too, but certainly not because of how Wisconsin performed against Nicholls St

 

[sleeperpick]

This will be a big test for Oduro defensively. For the whole team really, their bigs can shoot threes and their guards can post up in their swing offense.

Don't always blow you away though. If we avoid foul trouble and can score in the half court a little bit Mason can keep it close.

the good thing is their bigs hit 3's at the rate of Polite's career so it's not a huge deal having them shoot. 0% and 27% from their two bigs that shoot them

 

[Pikapppatri8]

and I agree with that LOL, but nobody other than you and a few more people on here give a damn about emotional losses

Fair point and conceded.

 

[sleeperpick]

This is why they are a top 15 team

Mon, Nov 22	vs Texas A&M *	W69-58	3-1 (0-0)	Davis 21	Davis 9	Davison 3
Tue, Nov 23	vs 12 Houston *	W65-63	4-1 (0-0)	Davis 30	Wahl 7	Hepburn 3
Wed, Nov 24	vs Saint Mary's *	W61-55	5-1 (0-0)	Davis 20	Davis 7	Davis 1
Wed, Dec 1	@ Georgia Tech	W70-66	6-1 (0-0)	Davison 27	Davis 6	Davis 5
Sat, Dec 4	vs Marquette	W89-76	7-1 (0-0)	Davis 25	Crowl 8	Hepburn 6
Wed, Dec 8	vs Indiana	W64-59	8-1 (1-0)	Davis 23	Wahl 12	Davison 3

What a crazy slate of games and wins against 4-6 future tournament teams. Davis is legit and sat out their last "unimpressive" win. Gaines and Cooper are going to have to be beasts on defense for us to stand a shot. Also hopefully Jamal is out of the rotation completely because I won't be able to watch Brad "Flopper" Davison score 30 straight on him. It might actually make my heart explode

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

the good thing is their bigs hit 3's at the rate of Polite's career so it's not a huge deal having them shoot. 0% and 27% from their two bigs that shoot them

Yeah I guess Wahl doesnt take em, he posts mainly, but the seven foot sophomore does and can hit em. Plus the two forwards off the bench do, forget their names.

Trust me, their % go up when theyre completely wide open. We'll leave em that way sonetimes to protect the post.

But they'll also kill you down low when you come to the arc to get Davis and Davison.

Tough game on short notice against a team that has run the same system for decades through multiple coaches.

We gotta score, though. Thats the key. I saw this team hold ranked Houston to like four points in like 10 minutes.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

I think Malik Henry will play more minutes this game. Maybe having him and Oduro on the court at the same time early on will take defensive pressure off of Oduro to prevent early foul trouble for him.

 

[formerlybis]

Hey, folks, Badger fan here. First and foremost, thanks to your program for scheduling this - we both upgraded significantly from our scheduled foe.

Before the season, UW was picked to finish 10th in the league. We had only two starters and a bench player returning from our regular rotation in 20-21, so we'd be working in a lot of new players. Well, that aforementioned bench player was now-sophomore Johhny Davis, and he's exploded. He did make the USA U19 team that won a gold medal last summer, but no one expected what he's brought. As the season has gone on, a lot of us are realizing that the NBA will be calling for him next spring.

That being said, this version of the Badgers is not very good at shooting from the field. 5th-year senior Brad Davison is solidly the second option, and has gone off many times before (e.g. 29 against UNC in the tournament last year), but he can be a bit streaky. After that, it's a smorgasbord of who steps up. Wahl is very active, but, not a great shooter. Vogt is a C transfer-in from Cincy and has been coming in off the bench, but he's been outplaying the starter (Crowl) recently - he does his damage in the post.

The whole team has been dealing with "non-COVID illness" since before the Indiana game a couple of weeks ago. They got drubbed in Columbus and then eked by Nichols St. I wonder if they're back to full strength yet. The other loss this year was against Providence, and Johnny Davis didn't play in that game either due to a heel injury.

Their calling card is tough D, slow pace, and not turning the ball over (as it has been for 25+ years). They also have this habit this year of falling behind by double digits and rallying to win - they are a resilient bunch that really hasn't put together two good halves in a game yet this year against reasonably competent opponents.

Happy to answer any questions...

PS - we like green and gold in Wisconsin...

 

[ephoops]

I assume that Ticket will cover Johnny Davis. It will be a good test for him on the defensive end.

Johnny Davis is the son of Mark Davis who played at Old Dominion in the early 1980’s.

 

[Falco]

If it weren't for the ODU and JMU loss - we would have a solid resume. That is what is stinging about this. But - I still think we can win. And if we do - we have a solid OOC resume going into conference play.

Diamond Hands to the moon sir.

Turns out the JMU loss wasn’t that bad.

 

[Earl the Squirrel]

Before we concede, I noticed that in their last game (on the 15th) which was at home, they only beat Nichols State (#208) by 3. In fact, they were ahead of the Badgers by 9 with 16 minutes left, before UW went on a 16-0 run to get back in it.

Of course, Wisconsin is a good defensive team, but they are 288th in effective fg% (Mason is 38th).

I can dream, can't I?!

Very good point. We are a very good shooting team and the Badgers are not. We have also learned to protect the basketball. On top of that we actually have a bench we can turn to and are no longer forced to play guys like Hartwell out of position for most of the game.

I think this is a very winnable game and will not be surprised if we prevail. Ours is a very different, and much improved, version of the team that got Turgeon fired.

One caveat: if we shoot less than 30% from beyond the arc, it will be a tall order. However, we have only done that 1-2 this season, I believe.

 

[Quentin Daniels]

When my Grandparents retired, they bought a lake house in Wausau, WI. I've some fond memories of walleye fishing, canoeing, lots of birch trees, beer boiled brats, and finger-banging the neighbor's daughter in her Dad's hunting shed.

Anywho, tough matchup. Patriots by 2.

 

[Pikapppatri8]

Turns out the JMU loss wasn’t that bad.

Again I know, I know - by the numbers it isn't - but its still something I expect as a baseline each year.

 

[Pikapppatri8]

Hey, folks, Badger fan here. First and foremost, thanks to your program for scheduling this - we both upgraded significantly from our scheduled foe.

Before the season, UW was picked to finish 10th in the league. We had only two starters and a bench player returning from our regular rotation in 20-21, so we'd be working in a lot of new players. Well, that aforementioned bench player was now-sophomore Johhny Davis, and he's exploded. He did make the USA U19 team that won a gold medal last summer, but no one expected what he's brought. As the season has gone on, a lot of us are realizing that the NBA will be calling for him next spring.

That being said, this version of the Badgers is not very good at shooting from the field. 5th-year senior Brad Davison is solidly the second option, and has gone off many times before (e.g. 29 against UNC in the tournament last year), but he can be a bit streaky. After that, it's a smorgasbord of who steps up. Wahl is very active, but, not a great shooter. Vogt is a C transfer-in from Cincy and has been coming in off the bench, but he's been outplaying the starter (Crowl) recently - he does his damage in the post.

The whole team has been dealing with "non-COVID illness" since before the Indiana game a couple of weeks ago. They got drubbed in Columbus and then eked by Nichols St. I wonder if they're back to full strength yet. The other loss this year was against Providence, and Johnny Davis didn't play in that game either due to a heel injury.

Their calling card is tough D, slow pace, and not turning the ball over (as it has been for 25+ years). They also have this habit this year of falling behind by double digits and rallying to win - they are a resilient bunch that really hasn't put together two good halves in a game yet this year against reasonably competent opponents.

Happy to answer any questions...

PS - we like green and gold in Wisconsin...

Thank you for the insight and welcome to the boards.

it is exciting to get this match card in the OOC schedule - particularly for us. It will be an interesting game to watch. I think you can tell - everyone here sees this as a very very tough game. Meeting up with Wisconsin will prepare us well for our conference games irrespective of the outcome.

Stay warm and safe.

 

[Pablo]

Perhaps, UW needs a proofreader for its game notes:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/uwbadgers.com/documents/2021/12/22/Gm12_WIS_George_Mason_GameNotes_122321.pdf

"BADGERS HOST IMPROMPTU NON҃CONFERENCE CLASH

Wisconsin returns to action Thursday hosting newly scheduled George Mason for a non-con clash. UW scheduled the Patriots after previously scheduled George Mason was unable to travel due to COVID-19 complications within its program."

 

[formerlybis]

Thank you for the insight and welcome to the boards.

it is exciting to get this match card in the OOC schedule - particularly for us. It will be an interesting game to watch. I think you can tell - everyone here sees this as a very very tough game. Meeting up with Wisconsin will prepare us well for our conference games irrespective of the outcome.

Stay warm and safe.

Oh, it's fairly exciting for us, too, I think. Well, I can only really speak for myself, but I rather play someone of GMU's caliber than these sub-200 teams that dot the schedule every year around this time. Unlike a couple of our B1G brethren - cough, cough, Iowa, cough, cough - UW does tend to schedule a reasonably competitive slate of opponents in the non-con portion of the season every year, but this time of year is usually tune-ups. We have Purdue at Mackey in 11 days, so things are going to escalate quickly.

 

[Walter]

how much is

Again I know, I know - by the numbers it isn't - but its still something I expect as a baseline each year.

I agree. We could win all other games, including the National Championship, but if we lost to JMU, I would feel like it was a disappointing season.

 

[Walter]

Any guess on how much UW paid us to play them?

 

[Pablo]

Any guess on how much UW paid us to play them?

https://athleticdirectoru.com/articles/investigating-college-basketball-buy-games/

"The most common guarantee is a $90,000 guarantee. Seventy-three of the buy games examined, or roughly 12 percent, had a $90,000 check attached to them.

But there were 41 games in which the buy game visitor, or recipient, received a six-figure payout. We obtained game contracts in which Boston College, Creighton, Gonzaga, Grand Canyon, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, LSU, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Missouri, NC State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon State, Texas Tech, Utah State, vcu, Washington and West Virginia each agreed to pay at least one opponent a six-figure guarantee.

It may come as a surprise to some that coaches and directors of basketball operations who are looking to build their program’s non-conference schedule can potentially receive the same guarantee from Grand Canyon, Utah State and vcu that they could from Indiana, Kentucky or North Carolina.