Its official. Wisconsin men's basketball is in a
full-fledged tailspin after dropping a 3rd consecutive game in a 59-41 loss at
Michigan (3-1 Big Ten, 13-3 Overall) on Sunday. Beginning with a shocking
defeat last Saturday at home against Iowa, the Badgers (1-3 Big Ten, 12-5
Overall) have dropping to 1-3 in Big Ten play for the first time under head
coach Bo Ryan. After a promising 6-0 start to the season, UW is now facing the
prospect of missing their first NCAA Tournament in 14 years.
Once again, Wisconsin could not find the bottom
of the basket. While the Badgers did manage to find open looks throughout the
first half, they only managed a dismal 30.8% from the field en route to a
seemingly insurmountable 25-to-19 deficit at the half. At the break, it was
sophomore guard Josh Gasser and senior guard Jordan Taylor leading the way with
four, yes, four points for the Badgers.
After failing to score during the first four
minutes plus in the opening half, UW managing to pull off that feat again in
the second half, falling behind 32-19 before a three-point basket by junior
forward Mike Bruesewitz at the 15 minute mark. By then, Michigan had the game
well in hand and would not lead by less than nine the rest of the way. With
the Badgers finishing just 31% from the field, a late comeback was never in the
works.
UW head coach Bo Ryan did try to light a fire
under his disheveled bunch midway through the second half by extending the
rotation to 9 with the addition of freshmen Traevon Jackson and Frank Kaminsky
to the group on the floor, but it was way too little and way too late. Kaminsky
gave UW a few solid offensive rebounds and Jackson was able to knock down a
nice three-pointer, but as soon as they gave Wisconsin a flash of life, Jackson
turned the ball over and found his time on the floor brought to a quick end for
the time being.
While Badger fans by now are accustomed to
Wisconsin's struggles shooting the ball, what truly doomed the Badgers on
Sunday was a lack of hustle. Michigan finished the game with 12 offensive
rebounds (leading to 13 second chance points), out rebounding UW 34-27 overall
en route to their first victory over the Badgers in ten tries. Wisconsin turned
the ball over a very un-Badger-like 12 times (leading to 16 points off
turnovers) while posting just 6 assists. Taylor looked especially off-kilter at
times, finishing the afternoon with only one assist to three turnovers, the
second straight game Taylor has managed just one dime.
Unlike a few of Wisconsin's previous four
defeats, Sunday's loss truly had no silver lining. The help defense was poor
(Michigan's shooting was very poor, but not as a result of not getting good
shots), the ball control was shaky, the shooting was abysmal, and the intensity
didn’t seem to have been brought along on the team charter.
But while Wisconsin is in serious trouble as
they head to West Lafayette Thursday to try avoiding a four-game slide, they
remain alive in the highly competitive Big Ten. With the conference likely to
get 8-9 tournament bids, the Badgers simply need to stem the tide in order to
get themselves into the Big Dance for a 14th consecutive season. With the game
at Purdue marking the beginning of a four-game stretch against unranked
opponents, Wisconsin is in position to quickly climb back into the race before
facing Indiana at the Kohl Center on January 26th in the first game after the
start of the spring semester.
Perhaps the best attribute of last year's Sweet
16 team was their ability to bounce back. Despite a litany of poor
performances, UW never lost consecutive games, bouncing back each and every
time with solid victories and avoiding the kind of tailspin in which the
Badgers now find themselves. Wisconsin has not won in West Lafayette since
January 5, 2005, a span of five consecutive defeats at the hands of the
Boilermakers. Now faced with the prospect of a disastrous 1-4 start in
conference play, UW seems to be at the precipice of their season, needing a win
here and now to stem the losing tide and get back on the right track.
Throughout the non-conference season, Wisconsin
won with an air of confidence not often seen in Madison, even during the Bo
Ryan years during which winning has been a way of life. But ever since the home
loss to in-state rival Marquette, and especially since the shocking defeat in
the conference home opener against Iowa, the Badgers have played in a manner
that can only be described as tentative. Even that description is likely an
understatement.
The Badgers need to get their “swagger” back and
a victory at Purdue is the perfect opportunity to do just that. But in the
meantime, Wisconsin has some serious personnel issues to work out. As I have
mentioned on more than a few occasions, the Badgers did not do enough to build
depth while blowing out the likes of Mississippi Valley State, Wofford, and
Kennesaw State in the non-conference season. They left starters in the game
while leading by upwards of 40 points late in the second half and did very
little to expose some of the “scout team” players to game action. As a result,
Wisconsin has been forced to go just seven men deep for the majority of the Big
Ten season, finally stretching that out to nine with Jackson and Kaminsky
entering the game late in Ann Arbor. Still, Taylor was forced into playing 39
minutes against Michigan, that heavy workload coming on the heels of
consecutive 40-minute games at home against Iowa and Michigan State.
The Badgers are getting fatigued and it is
showing on both ends of the floor. While they continue to hold opposing
offenses largely in check, the Badgers’ help defense has shown marked decline
during the 3-game slide, the split second delay turning would-be blocks into
shooting fouls.
More importantly, the fatigue factor is causing
the Badgers to continue missing shots. Apparent in the loss at Michigan was the
lack of lower body involved in the admittedly open looks taken by several UW
players. Whether from three-point range, 17-feet, or from the free-throw line,
UW shots are coming in short and flat, a sure sign of fatigued legs.
With freshman George Marshall and Jarrod Uthoff
both redshirting, UW is going to have to face depth issues no matter what. But
even without those two potential contributors, Wisconsin has guys on the bench
capable of providing the necessary spark. Two of those guys are Kaminsky and
Jackson, both of whom need to see more time on the floor to get comfortable and
play with confidence.
Beyond those two, Wisconsin has potential
offensive firepower in the arsenal from sophomore forward Duje Dukan. Not yet
given a consistent chance to prove himself on the floor, the 6’8” Dukan has the
ability to give the Badgers an offensive presence both on the inside and
outside. While he continues to be somewhat of a defensive liability, the
offensive struggles UW is currently facing more than justifies giving Dukan at
least a chance to light a fire under the Badger offensive attack.
At this point in the season, it is simply not
enough to say that uncertainty justifies not using a potential scorer off the
bench. Between Jackson, Kaminsky, Dukan, and even redshirt-freshman forward
Evan Anderson, Wisconsin has bullets in the gun and has to take a chance by
using them.
If the Badgers don’t try shaking things up now,
it may soon be too late to matter.
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