Milwaukee Preview

So next up, from Ft. Myers, is BG and Milwaukee.  The Panthers were previously known as Wisconsin-Milwaukee before rightsizing their name.  They have played in four NCAA Tournaments.  In 2005, they were a 12-seed and beat #5 Alabama and #4 Boston College before losing in the Sweet 16.  They also won the next year in the first round as a #11 seed.  

They fired the coach who had taken them there (Rob Jeter) and cast themselves into the wilderness.  They have had 5 straight losing seasons since Jeter left.

Their coach is Pat Baldwin (Sr), who was a star player at Northwestern and was an assistant with Chris Collins at Northwestern before coming to Milwaukee.  He is 48-71 with the Panthers.

Blue Ribbon had them 6th in the Horizon this year. They were 10-12 last year with 3 starters lost.

BG and Milwaukee have played three times.  BG won a 1975 meeting (the BG team that lost to CMU in the league finale) but then BG lost to them in 09 and 10 under Orr.  Milwaukee is a 2-point favorite tomorrow.

They aren't off to a great start this year.  They beat North Dakota (320) but then lost to Eastern Kentucky (196) and Florida (18).  Eastern Kentucky would probably be a lower-tier team in the MAC.

The news with Milwaukee is a guy named Patrick Baldwin....JR...who is the son of the coach and a 5-star recruit who chose Milwaukee over Duke.  He is presumed to be a 1-and-done.  He is a 6'9" 3, although his bio lists him as a guard.  He was actually the top-ranked recruit in the country before an injury his senior year knocked him down to #4.  He's scoring 17.7 PPG (though on 38% shooting), 85% FT shooting and 8.3 RPG.

So that's a legit cause of excitement.  He will be a handful in the Horizon and the MAC and BG will work to have the length and athleticism to handle him.

Their second-leading scorer is 6'5" DeAndre Gholston, who was their leading scorer last year.  He is scoring 13.7 PPG this year on 41% shooting overall and 36% 3FG shooting.  He makes 83% of his FTs and adds 5 RPG.  In 101 minutes he has contributed zero assits.

The other double-figurer scorer is Josh Thomas, a 6'4" G, scoring 11.3 PPG on 50% shooting and 88% FT shooting and 4.3 RPG.  FR Donovan Newby leads the team with 11 assists.

Overall, they are struggling to score the ball, at .89 points per possession, which is #274 in the nation.  BG is only scoring .91.

They are very much focused on making 2FGs--only about 30 teams in the country try fewer 3FG attempts.  Sometimes a team like that actually makes the 3FG they do take, but Milwaukee makes 26%, which is poor.  They only make 45% of their 2FGs, which explains the poor offensive production. They take good care of the ball, but are poor on the offensive boards and are average at getting to the line, though they make 73% when they do get there.

The defense is also not great, at 1.02 ppp, which is #202 in the country.  (BG is playing terrible defense at #311 in the country).

They defend the shot very well, allowing only 41% on 2FG.  They are less good on 3FG (36%).  They do not force turnovers, which is often true of teams that defend the shot well.  They are good on the defensive boards and teams RARELY get to the line against them.

Teams try a lot of 3FGs against them, which should fit well with what BG wants to do, although has yet to actually do.  BG is #322 in the nation in 3FG while #37 in 3FGAs.

They are tall--#41 in the country for average height.

You don't know what to expect with BG to date.  Or, you don't want to know.  The Falcons have not had a strong performance in any game yet, and this might be the time for it to happen. Even with Baldwin, Milwaukee is not impossible to beat, even though they are formidable.