No doubt in my mind that Gard will be Big10 coach of the year (2nd time in 3 years). National coach of the year, he is in the conversation for sure.
I think as long as they win Sunday and at least make it to the Big10 Championship game, this is all but guaranteed. Fiserv Forum is going to be rocking!
Here's the thing...Davis was overlooked due to where he was playing b4 college. If you take him out of this lineup - sorry to say - it is tenuous at best. Bo Ryan is not chopped liver for anything he did. He resurrected a poor program and taught a defensive game plan. Gard was his right hand man, and learned everything he could from Ryan. I like the plethora of bigs UW has - it helps when the opposition is strong down low, and gives UW the luxury of rotating. You take Davis out, and double teams disappear, which helps their opponents drastically.
Davis is the star. Candidate for national player of the year. That's lofty company. Should win Big 10 player of the year, because of the Badgers standing in the conference. As you stated, he is the nucleus.
If they didn't suck for the last 2 weeks? Really disappointing finish to an unpromising season, that turned into a very promising one. I'm not digging it up, but the turnovers in their last 3 loses, must have been double their average on the season.
I think Johnny's stock dropped a bit in the last month of the season. His ankle injury against Nebraska was a part of that, but he also looked a bit overwhelmed at times when the going got tough. Might be he checked out a bit, knowing he was done or the ankle just really bothered him. Maybe a combination of both, he didn't want his draft stock plummeting if he got hurt again. I didn't watch every Badger game this year, but I think he would be better off playing one more year in college. I doubt he does, the risk/reward factor is just too great. I have no clue how NBA scouts grade players, because the difference between the elite NBA player and the elite college players looks huge to. If they do it based on potential, Johnny definitely has that, he will just need to work really ******* his outside shots, because he won't get as many chances for layups like he did this season.
I think another season in college would make Davis a definite top 5 pick in next year's draft. It would benefit him. The situation, as always, is money. There's going to be a big paycheck for him even if he drops, but still stays within the top 10 to 15. I have my fingers crossed that he realized from those last few games that he's still working on getting there.
Agreed.
Exactly my point on being a top 5 pick, or down the line. Millions involved with the initial contract. I think he looks at the money, and decides based on that. The difference between #5 and #15 is about double the money. Is it worth it to him, to spend one more year in college, for a potential $4-5 million dollars, based on the escalation of salaries in 2023?
St. Peter's, 3009 enrollment. Like a lot of other parochial colleges, particularly Catholic, they understand that the publicity is good for them, and the go after it. But, that said, Jersey City, NJ? They've done a good job of getting kids in the neighboring areas to join their program. As good, if not better, than Rutgers.
