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I get it, y’all want that fun mid-major 5/12 upset for One Shining Moment. But there MIGHT be 10 teams who could overcome the way this game was officiated against Wisconsin by these total f-ing amateurs. It was gross to watch. It made the 2015 National Championship look like unbiased officiating.
Having said that, the Badgers have themselves to blame as well as they certainly didn’t help themselves out with an abysmal performance. UW committed a season-high 19 turnovers & went 6-for-16 on layups tonight.
I’ll never be happy. I hate sports so much. Friday night recap – I now know what torture feels like. Hello darkness my old friend, I’ve come to talk with you again.
This one is going to sting for a while. Wisconsin had the team this season to make a deep run in the dance – like every team with the exception of maybe Purdue, UConn & Houston – the Badgers hit a bit of a rough patch in February. As a program, UW needs to absorb this loss & move on & use this as motivation for the 2024-25 season.
AJ Storr & John Blackwell picked a bad day to both have their worst games of the season tonight. That’s what hurts the most.
I know AJ Storr has NBA aspirations. He has the NBA talent – no question. But it would be a mistake for him to leave, he almost single handily played UW out of the game tonight. Storr has so much room to grow.
Whatever. Sports are dumb. Investing your time in sports is even dumber. I’ll never stop & it will never stop making me feel terrible.
The insufferable “Fire Greg Gard” crowd is in full force right now, unfortunately.
Greg Gard is a hell of a coach & anyone that says otherwise is out to lunch.
If Wisconsin’s Athletic Director Chris McIntosh fires Gard, but retains Chris Bono (wrestling) & Marisa Moseley (women’s basketball), then McIntosh is the problem.
Fans wanted more scoring = check.
Fans wanted to get back in the tourney = check.
Fans wanted to get more portal players = check.
It’s not Gard’s fault that D1 athletes don’t make layups. It’s on them. They aren’t children.
To be clear, I am a big fan of Greg Gard & I absolutely do NOT think he should be fired. If McIntosh fires him, then I really hope McIntosh follows him out the door.
Here’s the final box score. Wisconsin ends the season 22-14.
UW didn’t handle the physicality well in the first half. Storr (& Blackwell) doesn’t show up. Crowl didn’t sustain his early success. 19 turnovers. Unforced errors. James Madison had a really good night. Matchups matter. All of that is really disappointing.
You scrap & claw & work all year to get to the dance. You have 40 minutes, that’s all you’re guaranteed. If you have a bad segment, then you’re playing uphill. It hurts.
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