One Frame At A Time: Wisconsin Comment Count

Ace

Nik Stauskas is patently unfair. There's no greater evidence than this shot; not only does he stop on a dime, bring the ball behind his right leg and cross over, then rise up in perfect shooting form and hit nothing but twine ... you can see several Wisconsin fans already bracing themselves for the worst before he even jumps, beating their fellow supporters to the defeated hands-on-head punch.

This occurred despite Stauskas going 2-for-8 from three to that point, including a couple open misses that would've effectively sealed the game. He was burying the dagger eventually, and the Badger faithful knew it.

[Hit THE JUMP for a whole lot of Stauskas, co-starring GRIII jumpers, Caris LeVert drives, big men doing big men things, and Bo Ryan gloriously losing his mind.]

As usual, click the links/stills to open each GIF in a lightbox, and don't forget to vote for your favorite at the end of the post.

HONORABLE MENTION

Stauskas fast break jump-pass assist. Stauskas unstoppable pick-and-roll assist . GRIII destroys Brust with first step, skies for layup. Stauskas unstoppable pick-and-roll pullup. Horford pump fake, postup, turnaround jumper. Brilliantly designed handoff/pick play for Stauskas three. Stauskas unstoppable pick-and-roll post-switch assist. Stauskas unstoppable isolation fadeaway. Yes, Wisconsin, that's a foul.

10. Stauskas unstoppable pick-and-roll fadeaway

Like I said, patently unfair. If the honorable mention list and this GIF teach you anything, it's that running a soft hedge against Nik Stauskas is a very, very bad idea even if that's how your team rolls.

9. GRIII on repeat

Screen. Curl. Rise. Fire.

Rinse. Repeat.

8. Count it, Caris

Impressive Stretch Armstrong finish between two defenders followed by a quick "count it" hand gesture from LeVert. This GIF sequence hasn't been kind to Sam Dekker's defense. Then again, neither was Michigan.

7. Bo Ryan is displeased, part one

Bless you, ESPN producer who clearly directed their cameramen to zoom in on Bo Ryan after bad things happened to Wisconsin. More from this soon.

6. Yoink-and-one

Extra style points for the lefty finish and extended floor-slide.

5. GRIN YOUR FACE

Jordan Morgan is rightfully pleased with himself. Sam Dekker, meanwhile, had a pretty crappy weekend.

4. The saddest Wisco bro

Wisconsin basketball fan. Pink shirt. Giant plastic-rimmed sunglasses worn inside. Three strikes, LET ME BASK IN YOUR MISERY.

3. Bo Ryan is displeased, part deux

Winner, Best Short Film (Horror/Comedy)

2. I RUN THIS [PLACE]

AND I'MMA KEEP RUNNIN'/I'MMA KEEP RUNNIN' CAUSE I'M NEVER RUNNIN' OUTTA JUMPERS

FRAMES OF THE GAME: COOOOOOOLD-BLOOOOOOODED

Was there any doubt? The schadenfreude-laden replay:

And the original broadcast angle featuring the bench going appropriately ape:

With McGary rehabbing, Max Bielfeldt has taken up the mantle as best bench reaction guy. Strong work, young man.

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Comments

charblue.

January 21st, 2014 at 4:01 PM ^

a relative of Iowa's  Aaron Whyte who was doing advanced scouting for tomorrow night's game. He just texted to his cousin that Stauskas is "very good." And he's saying to himself, "Who are those guys?"

JeepinBen

January 21st, 2014 at 4:08 PM ^

How has "Bro Ryan" not gotten as many votes? (Not my original name for him, but someone said it to Ace on twitter and it's glorious)

Also - those elbow jumpers from Stauskas and GR3 just tell me that they're NBA ready. We don't see those shots often in college, mainly because "death to long 2s" but also because those jumpers aren't really "college open". However if you get that open in the NBA you've got to knock it down - these guys do.

WhoopinStick

January 21st, 2014 at 4:16 PM ^

Please don't say the three letter N-word in relation to Stauskus and GRIII.

(Burying head in the sand hoping that if we don't talk about it they'll stick around for another year.)

RobSk

January 21st, 2014 at 5:02 PM ^

I think he sticks. Yeah, he's a super ballplayer, and I love watching him. But IMO, to be a guy that sticks in the NBA for 5-10 years, he needs another year in college where he makes another skill level jump close to what he did between freshman and soph years.  He needs to either get stronger and go the  "scaled down Bird" route where he helps out on the boards in addition to shooting/driving/passing awesomeness, or he needs to keep working on his quickness and athleticism so he has a hope of guarding NBA small forwards/shooting guards.

This is not a criticism, it's an attempt at straight analysis, cause I'd love to see my favorite college player stick around for a long time in the NBA, not go the 10 day route for the next few years then learn Spanish by immersion.

   Rob

WolvinLA2

January 21st, 2014 at 5:10 PM ^

As much as I want him to stay, I don't think he needs another year.  He's probably never going to be a top-10 pick kinda guy, so staying might only up his draft position from 25 to 15 or something like that, which isn't worth it.  

He won't be an NBA all-star right out of the gate, but he'll likely get drafted by a good team and will get a chance to back up an established starter and get THJr-type minutes.  And I think he's every bit as good as Hardaway Jr. so I think he'll do fine.

enlightenedbum

January 21st, 2014 at 5:34 PM ^

Is there any reason he can't be Kyle Korver?  Or any one of a number of other 6'6"ish dudes who are mostly just three point shooters and have productive bench careers.  I think his ceiling is a little higher offensively than those dudes, but he should be able to be that guy.

charblue.

January 21st, 2014 at 4:21 PM ^

(available at UMHoops) he seems stunned about the loss, and the atmosphere in the room is like that of a funeral parlor as if somebody died. Funny, but in his commentary, he talks about how they played the kind of defense they wanted to play and contends that they wanted Michigan to take those fouline extended jumpers off the ball screens instead of going to the rim or shooting threes. And he notes that Nigel Hayes had no shot in stopping Stauskas stepback three, which he described as a pro move that some guys in the college game have in their repetoire. Hello, Nik Stauskas. You can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him. 

Well, at least that was true Saturday. Hopefully, nobody else goes overcommitting defensively on Stauskas ala Duke. 

B-Nut-GoBlue

January 21st, 2014 at 6:51 PM ^

Didn't and probably won't watch read the post-game but it seems he''s pretty much giving a hand to Michigan, stating they were the better team?  Good for him, if so.  Wisconsin didn't play great but they weren't playing bad either.   Michigan hit shots that many, many teams, including Michigan down the road at some point(s), won't hit.

Jonesy

January 21st, 2014 at 6:13 PM ^

Wasn't there a JMO alley-oop?  Never seen Morgan sky for an alley-oop before, where's that gif?  Or was that the previous game.  Also Nik missed 3 wide open free throw jumpers in a row after GRIII made his two, why isn't Nik better at free throws, of the two or one point variety?!?

AFWolverine

January 21st, 2014 at 7:27 PM ^

I wonder if Stauskas met with Bo Ryan after the game just to say "sorry." It would have been very Canadian of him.

I'm loving the way this team seems to be gelling finally this season. Lots of youth that showed in non-conference play but I'm very happy seeing the growth in B1G!

Rh22

January 21st, 2014 at 8:26 PM ^

My favorite part during Nik's three is the section of students on the left who are bouncing up and down and how they stop as Nik rises up (even before the ball leaves his hands).  Hilarious.

Canadian

January 21st, 2014 at 9:23 PM ^

the guy in the white gets me everytime... trying to pump up everyone around him then after the shot an almmost facepalm turned into him turning around in disbelief looking for comfort from his compadres in the rows behind him hoping that maybe they had seen a different outcome.

Bosch

January 21st, 2014 at 10:38 PM ^

...to vote on Android. Would pick #6.... because of the woman on the aisle that begins to jump around after the rebound only to get get crushed by what follows.

Wolverine In Iowa

January 22nd, 2014 at 6:42 AM ^

I voted for the GRIII rinse, repeat, because those two sequences gave me a 75% feeling that we were going to win, despite being so early in the game.  (Normal chance of winning feeling at Kohl is never more than 25%, no matter what the lead.)

michiganfanforlife

January 22nd, 2014 at 9:01 AM ^

How about back to back wins vs. top ten opponents? I really like how most of the nation thinks we are just lucky coming out with that win. Hearing the talking heads on sports radio all day, I get the impression that our team is still flying under the radar, and it will take most of the season for these cats to realize we have a deep, talented team. Even if GRIII, McGary and Stauskas go pro, I think we are fine for the future. What could be more compelling to new recruits than saying that in two years we sent 5 kids to the NBA who are bigtime contributors to their squads? Caris LeVert will be the man next year - book it. If anybody stays for next year watch out, world.

GoBlueBalls

January 22nd, 2014 at 10:16 AM ^

On the orginal broadcast angle of the pull back three, look at the female cheerleader under the basket seated closest to the M bench.  She senses impending doom as the Stauskas releases the ball, has a near double face palm when it drops, and then quickly composes herself (there was still time for the perfect cheer).  Pretty classic.