Wisconsin Fans in Denial About Brad Davison

Submitted by UMFanatic96 on February 7th, 2019 at 9:51 AM

I like checking out opposing team blogs and forums when we're about to play them to see what they're saying. This morning, I went over to the Wisconsin SBNation blog and their 247 board to find that they are in complete denial regarding Brad Davison and the responses are pretty funny.

I have put some of the best ones below. I hope we kick their ass Saturday and that POS Davison has a terrible game.

 

 

WiscoSC-

"Am I crazy to think you can’t be 100% sure Davidson was trying to trip there?

I’ve watched the slow-mo like 30 times and I think when you slow anything down you can make it look worse. What confuses me is that he was looking up at the ball when he did it, who’s to say he wasn’t trying to reset his feet? Or that he was starting to move forward to get the rebound, but then stopped immediately when he realized he wasn’t going to get it, so only his foot went forward?"

 

MnTCBadger-

"Not crazy at all, what's crazy is buying into this narrative from bitter opponents. He landed with his leg out, off balance, tried to maintain position. Like you said, you could slow down 100 instances throughout the game and call them dirty, if that's your agenda."

 

BadgerRN33-

"I wouldn’t call it intentional. In slow motion, you can make a lot look bad that really isn’t. In real time, getting his footing and trying to avoid contact. Grayson Allen was a legit bitch"

 

triple_H-

"Davison isn’t even looking at Murphy, he’s finding the ball and regaining his balance. Doesn’t even touch Murphy but yeah sure, put it in slow motion and get enough salty gopher fans and pundits who have had an agenda against Davison ever since the 4 charge NC State game whining about it and you can almost manufacture a dirty play controversy. Also, every guard ever tries to create contact at the rim, it's hardly a Davison signature."

 

Think38-

"During the course of the game, I saw a number of players, on both sides, push, shove, undercut on plays that were not called. Some of them should have been, most weren’t. Put them in slow motion, and we can bitch about dirty players from people just playing basketball."

 

Yoopermn-

"There’s all kinds of contact throughout the game that someone could call "dirty" if they wanted to. He landed with his foot out, tried to maintain position. That’s it. Silly sore-loser stuff."

 

 

 

And my own personal favorite comment just due to the irony...

nanook1207-

"I said that about Murphy the last game. For a guy as big and strong as he is, he sure hits the ground a lot. Man, a stiff breeze could blow him over."

UM Fan from Sydney

February 7th, 2019 at 9:57 AM ^

Do you expect anything else? Of course they will defend him. They would also say what we are saying if it were one of our players being an asshole like this prick.

goblueram

February 7th, 2019 at 10:44 AM ^

I mean...it is, right?  And I am no Duke fan (UNC actually).

But really, what has always frustrated me about basketball is that fouls are advantageous to the team committing them at the end of the game. Which seems counterintuitive to the purpose of having rules and penalties. So I also think it is inconsistent to have a concept of "intentional" foul, when a huge number of "real" fouls are also intentional.

Probably off on a tangent here...bringing it back to the point, seems like tripping someone would be strategic and "just a foul" in a different way when used in desperation. Similar to tripping/slashing/hooking a guy on a breakaway or 2-on-0 in hockey. It's a calculated and desperate risk.

 

Edit: after reading further comments it sounds like Wisconsin guy was trying to hurt someone. I assumed it was more of a strategic play. Middle paragraph still stands!

CRISPed in the DIAG

February 7th, 2019 at 11:26 AM ^

My daughter goes to UNC so I'm supposed to be anti-Duke, I guess. I think the act of tripping carries more physical risk than, say, a hard foul when the other player can more or less expect contact. Players don't expect to be tripped and can't prepare themselves for a fall.

In my opinion, tripping is one of basketball's few unwritten written rules - it's always been considered dirty play and not at all strategic. I appreciate your hockey examples but I don't know that sport as well. In football, leg-whips are strategic only in the sense that a badly-beaten O-lineman is trying to save his QB from getting vaporized, as opposed to avoiding a sack/loss of yardage.

tkokena1

February 7th, 2019 at 10:22 AM ^

I find it funny that all the Wisconsin fans are like "he's not even looking at Murphy, he's trying to find the ball" - like peripheral vision isn't a thing. You will not be able to convince anyone that he didn't 100% know exactly where Murphy was on that rebound. 

The Fan in Fargo

February 7th, 2019 at 10:27 AM ^

Trying to regain his balance? His feet were already like 4 feet apart? If you need to regain your balance in that position, you shouldn't be on the basketball court. That was an obvious attempt to hurt the Wisconsin player. People will be people though and deny the facts forever. Miserable and worthless fucks that they are.

michymich

February 7th, 2019 at 12:11 PM ^

I watched the video a few times. Of course he was trying to trip the opponent or play dirty and I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. Come on. Dirty play. That was Draymond Green level if not worse.

Big Ten should suspend for a game. Nip this in the bud.

WindyCityBlue

February 7th, 2019 at 10:34 AM ^

I'll more or less re-post what I put on the other thread because I think its relevant here as well. I don't think Davidson was trying to trip him per se - what he was trying to do was much worse.  He was trying to strategically place his foot under Jordan Murphy so that he lands ackwardly on Davidson’s leg/foot in attempt to injure it through a sprain or rolled ankle etc.  People should be focusing on this, not on some feeble attempt to trip Jordan Murphy.

EDIT: As an FYI, I know this move all too well.  Despite what my handle indicates, I did live a small forgettable portion of my childhood in Saginaw.  We played this school Ricker (in the BV area of Saginaw - rough area BTW), and this was their signature move against us.  We were too young that nobody could dunk, but we could jump high enough getting a rebound or going for a lay-up that the Ricker player wouldn't even try to block it.  They would just stick their leg out under about where we would approximately land in effort to cause injury.  And it work...on me!

UMFanatic96

February 7th, 2019 at 10:37 AM ^

Yeah, you see dirty closeouts as well where the defender is only trying to place their foot underneath the airborne player. When you combine this with his nut-punch earlier this season and his all-around style of play, it's clear he is a dirty player. 

 

I would like to see the Big Ten respond with some sort of discipline for him, but know that's very unlikely.

Reggie Dunlop

February 7th, 2019 at 10:41 AM ^

Yeah, I think most people realize it wasn't a "trip". Probably just a shorthand version to describe what he did. Good post though. I try not to get worked up over things, but this one had me shaking my head. As dirty as it gets. Infinitely worse than the nut-tap. 

Watching From Afar

February 7th, 2019 at 10:46 AM ^

Even if there was some question as to whether or not it was intentional, Davison has lost the benefit of the doubt which is why you shouldn't even try to defend him. He runs around screens and gives guys nut shots. There was another video of him "helping" on a drive and instead of trying to strip the ball, just shoves his leg into position to take the guy's leg out and the guy hits the floor.

When you have a history of doing dirty things, even the possible accidents or inopportune outcomes become definite reaffirmations of your previous actions.

MGlobules

February 7th, 2019 at 10:52 AM ^

I just hope X doesn't cold-cock that mofo, because he was fuming at him when they played there. Davison should be suspended for his own good; people are going to start gunning for him

Guy Fawkes

February 7th, 2019 at 10:56 AM ^

I really don't mind Wisconsin football, they play a good brand of football and compete at a high level but the basketball team pisses me right the hell off. I hate their slow pace of play, none of these guys outside the 1 athlete they have is capable of playing entertaining basketball. Ethan Happ literally just backs you down, pump fakes and spins 4 times and throws up a hook up hoping for an AND 1. They flop repeatedly, which is the the absolute worst thing about the sport. 

In closing, their team is literally built on the worst parts the sport has to offer. Just a terrible team to watch. Do they even have any notable NBA guys? Kaminsky and Dekkar are flame outs 

Mr Miggle

February 7th, 2019 at 11:52 AM ^

Flopping is bad enough, but the worst form of it is when a player goes down like he's been hit in the head by an elbow trying to draw a flagrant foul. I've seen a few official replays where they show the player wasn't even touched. How they don't make that at least a technical is beyond me.

SouthOfHeaven

February 8th, 2019 at 3:04 AM ^

The Kaminsky/Dekker team was the real deal (they may have flamed out in the NBA, but they were great college players), but otherwise, there's a reason the Badgers always beef it in March. Their style of play is pure cheese, but teams can get away with doing what they do in the B1G. They can't in the NCAA Tourney. Wisconsin is almost always a team built to screw teams over during conference play.

I can't stand Ethan Happ and the media slurpfest over him by the way. He can't do anything other then bang around under the rim and he somehow gets away with an unearthly amount of offensive fouling. It's painful to watch.

teldar

February 7th, 2019 at 11:02 AM ^

I would say people who play against him need to try to come down with feet spread. That was they come down on his knee, perhaps, and don't roll their ankle on his foot.

Mike Damone

February 7th, 2019 at 11:38 AM ^

I am a Pistons fans and loved the Bad Boys, particularly Bill Laimbeer.  As I potentially live in a glass house as it relates to my views of Bill Laimbeer, I am staying away from this one, including not engaging in whether Laimbeer was just "extremely physical" vs. "dirty".

HollywoodHokeHogan

February 7th, 2019 at 11:51 AM ^

The “he wasn’t looking at him” is the classic defense of shit bird moves like this and dirty close outs.  If you’re even a high school caliber athlete you can move your feet to a place without staring at that place.  Like how most of us can walk when looking up, to the side, etc.  It’s an attempt to injure.

Perkis-Size Me

February 7th, 2019 at 11:52 AM ^

Nothing enjoyable whatsoever about Wisconsin basketball. They employ the worst aspects of the game: slow, boring, unwatchable. The pace of their game is slower than molasses. I get why they use it: it works, especially under Bo Ryan. But it still is an infuriating style of basketball to play against and/or watch. And then the flopping.....

I have a lot of respect for Wisconsin football, but outside of MSU/OSU, Wisconsin is probably my most hated opponent in the league for basketball. 

Reggie Dunlop

February 7th, 2019 at 12:00 PM ^

Okay, I keep reading this and I have to reply.

Wisconsin is 336th in the country in pace of play averaging 67.2 possessions per game.

Your high-flying run-and-gun excitement-overload Michigan Wolverines are 329th in the country in pace of play averaging 67.6 possessions per game.

We play very controlled and very slow. It's why our turnover numbers are always rock-bottom. You can hate Wisconsin's pace, but that means you hate ours as well. Which is fine. I just don't think you or the others posting this sentiment understand what you're saying.

lhglrkwg

February 7th, 2019 at 12:17 PM ^

I generally have no ill-will toward Wisconsin. They're a fairly similar school to Michigan

but man, their basketball program is an abomination to the sport. A circus of flopping and hacking

UofM Die Hard …

February 7th, 2019 at 4:14 PM ^

1,000% disagree with you...ya some of this fan base would be spitting shit like the above commentary (the same ones that say the sky is falling after any M loss) but the majority of the base would absolutely not be.  If we had a player on the team that did pussy shit like Davison does then we would be letting said player know via our outlets. And after years of getting to know how Brain thinks..he for sure would call that shit out via his platform.

But you know why we dont have to think or worry about this?  Because we have the best coach in college basketball and he isn't an asshole and respects the game.  What do you think JB would do if he saw this pattern with a player?

 

bronxblue

February 7th, 2019 at 12:59 PM ^

Nothing surprising there.  Everyone defends their cheap players.  Wisconsin just has been pulling this for so long that it's become normalized.  

UofM Die Hard …

February 7th, 2019 at 3:58 PM ^

Calling Charles Matthews....aim to posterize these fools.  Go in hard and rise my man....if you get a charge, fuck it,  make them pay for it..dunk it on their stupid flopping faces.  You do that once early, changes things..

Go right at Happ

 

MGoStretch

February 8th, 2019 at 11:33 AM ^

This. You may get a charge, as you mention, but that guy'll be sore the rest of the game and certainly recalibrate his approach.  I used to use a bit of the dark arts back in my soccer playing glory days, I'd always make it a point to have a very hard tackle on the guy I was guarding early in the game. Nothing dangerous to injure the fella or risk me getting carded, but certainly hard enough that for the rest of the game, he'd be wondering where I was coming from in addition to having to pay attention to the ball at his feet and his teammates.  

greatlakestate

February 7th, 2019 at 4:47 PM ^

At the end of the Minnesota game Happ blew a kiss, saying that "it felt like home" in Minnesota because he'd never lost there.  I think he needs his @$$ kicked.

EDIT: I mean in a basketball way on the basketball court