Fans relish Wisconsin men's basketball's championship victory
The Badgers head into Thanksgiving with fans seeing a team effort in a comeback victory.
Great team D
Blackwell had 10 pts and 9 Rebs off the bench, I think he needs to start
— chuckwestover (@chuckwestover) November 23, 2023
11 steals - love the intensity!
I’m starting to think this is a pretty decent rebounding team
But please, please: STOP shooting so many threes - you are not good at it!!!
Kohl Center south!
Great to get two wins in Florida. Not surprised, but man do Badgers fans show up? Incredible crowd support.
— Jon Corbett (@Jon_Corbett) November 23, 2023
Nitty Gritty victory
If this team can ever get the 3 ball to fall.....LOOK OUT! 👀
— Ryan Antony (@RyanAntony22) November 23, 2023
Great win. Bucky took multiple punches from a tough SMU squad and never stopped responding. This team has grit.
Happy Thanksgiving!
TFW the turkey is dry, the stuffing is mid, someone forgot the sweet potatoes and the green bean casserole … is what it is. But then you get to the pecan pie part of the meal and mmmmmmmmmm
— JR Radcliffe (@JRRadcliffe) November 23, 2023
Thankful
Never in doubt. But two gigantic wins in Ft Myers for Wisconsin and Greg Gard. Eat it, haterz.
— Bart T🏀rvik (@totally_t_bomb) November 23, 2023
Hope for the holiday
Welcome to the Silent Assassin's Club, @ChuckyHepburn. That Chucky-For-Three after the Storr dunk to give Bucky a little separation was cold!
— Rob Hernandez (@RobHernandezGLF) November 23, 2023
Greg Gard should really start handing out blazers to the new members. This could get really fun.
Man yells ... joyfully at TV!
Wanted that one badly. What a battle. Felt good to be screaming at my TV again. March Madness vibes, in season. Great win.
— Damon Heim (@DamonHeim) November 23, 2023
Shouldn't have been close
Nice win. Think about how good it would have been if they shoot even an average percentage from beyond the arc?
— David Roelke (@droelke) November 23, 2023
Room to improve
Gutsy, gritty for the last 8 minutes....But they played better D, limited TOs in 2nd and shot 92% from FT line. Cant sustain slow atarts and 3pt droughts... especially with their upcoming schedule.
— Madtown Shane (@MadtownShane) November 23, 2023
A win is a win
They figured it out late and snuck by SMU, which is better than losing to SMU. Just way too many 1-17 from 3, 7 minute scoring droughts from this program. Shouldn’t be happening seemingly every other game for multiple seasons in a row.
— ryebadger (@ryebadger1) November 23, 2023
New guys show up
Dang… this team is really growing on me… I like the balanced scoring, the rebounding is excellent so far. I think that Badger fans will very much take to Storr & Blackwell! 🏀🏀🏀
— Mark Massey (@mfmass) November 23, 2023
MTXE, always
Gutsy win . Couldn’t throw it in the ocean in the 1st half. Effort kept them in it until shots started to fall.
— Scott Herbst (@herbst20) November 23, 2023
LaPhonso Ellis loves the frosh
World meet John Blackwell. Also amazing team win
— Jesse (@kberg86) November 23, 2023
2-0 when BethAnn watches!
Lackluster first half but came back nicely in the second with lots of grit and just kept fighting for it. Loved the energy of the Wisconsin crowd.
— BethAnn Meier (@BAMeier) November 23, 2023
Like the sound of Chef Gard
There is hustle. There is defense. There is aggressiveness. There is experience. There is once again some athleticism. Some good ingredients for Gard to cook with. Happy Thanksgiving!
— PackFanatics (@PackFanatics) November 23, 2023
All coming together
Storr gets to the rim before his defender knows he left, Blackwell can be in two places at once, and Charles is, well, Charles. Very exciting team all around. Great chemistry. You can see it.
— chris van wagner (@CVWhoops) November 23, 2023
Closing time
Now that’s how you finish, a 20-8 closing run. Clutch Chucky and major work on the offensive boards got the job done. Storr’s drive and dunk brought the Wow factor. But finally knocked down 3s when needed most.
— Dennis Semrau (@DennisSemrau) November 23, 2023
Sparkplug
Chucky was having a non-factor game and then….. boom!
— Rob F (@RobFinley27) November 23, 2023
Way back Wednesday
Wow! Two games in a row that look like throwbacks to the mid-Ryan years.
— dmmcdon11 (@dmmcdon11) November 23, 2023
Scheduling win
All the fans that questioned the tough scheduling now understand how those games build a teams chemistry. Blackwell is a budding star and brings a dynamic element on the floor.
— Mark Meddings (@MeddingsMark1) November 23, 2023
Clutch Chucky
Good thing Gard didn’t follow the advice around here and pull Chucky’s scholarship at halftime
— Andrew Miller (@heyapm) November 23, 2023
Frustrating, too, so far
This is gonna be a fun team to watch...Gardo all day, everyday.
— Jonathan Brust (@JonathanBrust) November 23, 2023
Quality guard play
Actually made some adjustments at half time and started making some shots. Great looks inside. Blackwell is going to be someone to watch for sure. Chucky back to his old self when we needed him despite being quiet all week.
— Dakota Chambers (@DakotaChambers) November 23, 2023
The water was ice cold
Max Klesmit, John Blackwell, and Chucky Hepburn all contributed late in the 2nd half to help the Badgers win the Fort Myers Tournament Championship, 69-61. Wisconsin overcame a 3pt. shooting night that has to improve, including going 1-20 at one point.
— Jeff Ostach☮️ (@jeff_ostach) November 23, 2023
Depth key, tough schedule looms
Great effort. Will learn a lot with AZ, Marq and Sparty 3 of next 4. Need to make some 3s in those games. I like the 10 man rotation, someone keeps stepping up. If our bigs could knock down some 3s, would open lanes for guys to drive and be a top 10 team
— ChazB (@chazb33) November 23, 2023
Could sense the energy
Total team win with our depth wearing g them down. Great defense and rebounding, great post play, snd Chucky and max hit some clutch threes when we needed them. Guy check win.
— Alan Haffa ☮️ (@HaffaAlan) November 23, 2023
It was noisy
Was it just me or was that place louder than the Kohl Center?
— BuckyUAZ 🌵 (@BuckyUaz) November 23, 2023
Great start to the holiday
I think the crowd pushed them over the top! Did I see a few beers in hand? Lol I was wondering where Chucky was during the game, but I should have known he’d be there at the end! Scrappy game!! These 2 wins should help with the team’s confidence!
— Mary Korn Erickson (@sixtiesfan) November 23, 2023
Lethal combination this week
Wahl not being able to shoot the 3 really hurts this team. You NEED 4 and even 5 guys on the floor in today’s game who can shoot from 3. Look at all the great Wisconsin teams. Having Wahl and Crowl in together is a double edge sword. Need it on D but offensively it hurts them
— Cryptic (@WIGB05) November 23, 2023
Paging SportsCenter
That dunk by Storr 😳
— Ryan Brandt (@RyanBrandt83) November 23, 2023
Needed growth
You see the growth exponentially from the Providence game when they were down big. Tonight they fought thru the awful and found the winning attitude they need to succeed going forward 👏🏼👏🏼
— Tammy 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 (@TammyHuskyMom) November 23, 2023
Anyone double down?
How does Vegas do it?
— evan schlough (@EvanSchlough) November 23, 2023
The line was Badgers -7.5. They won by 8.
Bingo!
This team. They can drive right into the ditch sometimes, did tonight. But they have more talent than recent editions. People won’t be able sleep on the Badgers this season.
— Joseph Britt (@Zathras3) November 23, 2023
I needed this
Good gravy, this team is on a roll! They are pecan at the right time, and knocked the stuffing out of SMU! I yam excited to see if they cran berry some three-pointers next game. #sorrybutmymindisontomorrowsdinner
— Russ Evansen (@waunaruss) November 23, 2023
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Greg Gard said before the season depth would positively impact the defense. The Badgers showed a glimpse of that in an upset of No. 24 Virginia.
The Badgers shined on both ends of the floor in an upset of the Cavaliers and former Wisconsin assistant Tony Bennett.
John Blackwell is the son of a former Big Ten player, and a chance encounter partly led him to being an impact freshman for the Badgers.
BadgerExtra columnist Jim Polzin answers questions from readers in this special holiday-themed version of his weekly mailbag.
