Wisconsin to get its bearings on offense, from corse178's blog
The chasm between the AFL contenders and pretenders was starkly evident on Saturday at the SCG, as flag-chasing Sydney buried Port Adelaides finals hopes with a 67-point thrashing. Eddie Murray Jersey .The Swans piled on the first 54 points and 14 scoring shots of the game on their way to a 14.16 (100) to 4.9 (33) win, which shored up their top-four placing.The combative Swans enjoyed a massive 186-132 advantage in contested possessions and finished 69-36 ahead in inside-50 entries.Asked to write his own headline, Port coach Ken Hinkley didnt hold back outworked, outmuscled, outplayed.Hinkley said the game demonstrated Port were below the level needed to be a top-eight side and there was too big a gap between their best and worst.The ladder would have them (Sydney) probably second tonight, so they rightly own their position and, as bad as it sounds, we rightly own our position outside the eight, Hinkley said.Our skill level is not at the level it needs to be to be a consistently good AFL side and, if were going to try to push into the eight, we have to improve that area.Sydney had 10 goal-kickers, with Lance Franklin, Isaac Heeney, Xavier Richards and Gary Rohan each booting two.Port didnt score until the 11th minute of the second quarter and looked anything but a team with their season on the line, albeit with just a faint mathematical chance of making the eight.The Swans kicked six first-quarter goals to lead 41-0 at the opening break.They led by as many as 75 points in the final quarter, although Port did outscore Sydney by seven points in a lacklustre final term.It would have been good to finish off a bit stronger in that last term, but gee, for three quarters, we were pretty good, Swans coach John Longmire said.He was happy with the impressive efforts of Heeney, who appears to be getting back to his best, young ruckmen Sam Naismith and Toby Nankervis and another strong defensive effort from his side, who have conceded the least points in the competition.They (Port Adelaide) are a powerful side - they can score heavily, Longmire said.To be able to get our team defence right was very pleasing.Robbie Gray broke Ports drought in the second quarter with a classy turn and finish, but touched the ball only seven times.Sydney led by 49 at halftime and kicked the first three goals of the third quarter, but Longmire said he never urged his troops to try to boost the clubs percentage.Luke Parker had 39 touches and Dan Hannebery 36 for Sydney, while Ollie Wines had 32 possessions for Port and Jasper Pittard 29.Rohan (buttock) and Swans teammate Harry Cunningham (knee) picked up minor injuries but both played on. 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MADISON, Wis. -- The offense is a work in progress for No. 9 Wisconsin, but the defense is in midseason form.Bronson Koenig had 16 points, Nigel Hayes scored 10 of his 14 in the second half and the Badgers held Central Arkansas to 28 percent shooting while opening a season of high expectations with a 79-47 win Friday night.The Badgers were never seriously threatened after building a 20-point lead with 15:46 left following an 8-0 run. Hayes did all the scoring with two 3-pointers and a layup.But all that time they spent on defense in preseason practice paid off in the opener at the Kohl Center.Weve done a lot of drills, pulled drills out from yesteryear, put a lot of focus on that, because I knew we were going to have to be a really good defensive team, coach Greg Gard said.Its just one game, but the defensive effort bodes well for when rough-and-tumble Big Ten play starts in late December. Wisconsin pulled away after Central Arkansas got to 19-17 with 7:13 left in the first half.You know about their defense, Bears coach Russ Pennell said. Then we see it up close and personal, you see how good it is. ... They just dont give you anything easy.The Badgers pride themselves on halfcourt defense, in particular how they defend ball-screen and close driving lanes. They were a little over-aggressive early on the boards before asserting their muscles to outrebound Central Arkansas 45-29.I thought we showed a lot of promise and we had flashes of playing really good defense, Koenig said.Once Wisconsin started knocking down shots against the Bears matchup zone, it was no contest.Hayes, the Big Ten preseason player of the year, was 5 of 10 from the field. He finished 2 for 6 from 3-point range after missing his first three shots from behind the arc.Derreck Brooks had 12 points and eight rebounds for Central Arkansas.Ethan Happ added eight points and nine rebounds for the Badgers. They have all five starters and their top nine scorers back from last seasons team that advanced to the NCAA regional semifinals.BIG PICTURECentraal Arkansas: Picked to finish 11th in the 13-team Southland Conference in a preseason coaches poll, the Bears hung in with the more talented Badgers until midway through the first half. Brooks Robinson Jersey. With a rough schedule befitting a low mid-major school, Central Arkansas should draw confidence following a respectable effort against a potential Final Four team.Their size and physicality really took over in the second half . We just really werent able to stand up to that, Pennell said.Wisconsin: The Badgers are deeper and more experienced than the squad that was stunned in last years season opener by Western Illinois. DMitrik Trice scored six points off the bench in the first half Friday with two 3s. The freshman could give Wisconsin added quickness in a reserve role when Koenig needs a breather. Sophomore Khalil Iverson displayed athleticism with a block minutes after jumping high in the air on the other end for an offensive rebound to save a possession.TAKE A SHOTIt took a little while for Wisconsin to get its bearings on offense, though Gards team finished 11 of 29 from 3-point range. With able post scorers in Hayes and Happ, the Badgers dont normally rely on 3s to score. But Gard for the most part was happy with the shots taken from outside against Central Arkansas zone.If theyre open 3s, well take them. Not that we necessarily just want to shoot all 3s, but it works for the Warriors, joked the verbose Hayes, referring to the NBAs Golden State Warriors.POLL IMPLICATIONSWisconsin should stay at No. 9 in the poll next week, pending how No. 3 Kansas and No. 5 Oregon fared later Friday night.UP NEXTCentral Arkansas: A tough opening-week schedule continues with a trip on Nov. 14 to Oklahoma State.Wisconsin: At No. 22 Creighton on Nov. 15.---For more college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25---Follow Genaro Armas at: https://twitter.com/GArmasAP Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ChinaNFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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