Badgers Not Doing The Little Things

Whether you are a Wisconsin fan or simply a fan of the game, Tuesday night’s 49-47 Badger loss to Michigan State was about as frustrating as it gets. The game slugged along with neither team hitting the 40% mark from the field and a combined six points being scored over the final 6:56.

By every account, Wisconsin should have come away with a victory. Despite shooting just 29.6% from the field, the Badgers had every opportunity to scratch out a win until missing their final five free throws in the closing minutes. Yes, UW scored just four points in the final 7:37 of the game, three on a miracle three-point shot by none other than forward Ryan Evans, and still had a chance to send the game to overtime with two free throws in the final seconds.

“Its cost us the game before and obviously it cost us the game tonight,” senior forward Mike Bruesewitz said of the free throw shooting. “We’ve got to get in the gym and start knocking them done, plain and simple. It can’t be an excuse anymore.”

Tuesday night was textbook Wisconsin basketball and the Badgers still couldn’t come away with the win.

That is why Tuesday night’s loss to Big Ten-leading Michigan State is even more worrisome than Saturday’s “upset” loss in Iowa City. Iowa has always been a difficult matchup for the Badgers and the Hawkeyes were able to dictate the pace throughout a blistering first half run that gave them an insurmountable 20-point cushion before UW could even blink.

On the other hand, the Spartans are a team Wisconsin can handle. Having successfully neutralized Michigan State’s strong front court duo of Adreian Payne and Derrick Nix (4 points, 8 rebounds combined), UW put the game on the shoulders of the sometimes-inconsistent MSU guards. Though Keith Appling and Branden Dawson each crept close to the 20-point mark, even the 37 points that duo was able to notch only left the Spartans with 49 points on the night.

Wisconsin was 78-2 under Bo Ryan when holding opponents under 50 points, so you had to like the Badgers’ chances given that effort on the defensive end. But Michigan State also had those statistics in front of them and paid no attention, instead choosing to accept they were going to be in for a rough game and to embrace it, something many teams struggle with when playing Bo Ryan’s Badgers.

“I think some teams make a mistake by trying to make Wisconsin turn up the speed of things,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. “They don’t turn it over, I don’t care who they are playing. So we said we need to make sure we play a little like them in that respect.”

Though UW has shorn up its defense to this point in the season, this remains a formula that will get the Badgers beat in conference play. No longer blessed with a talented point guard the likes of Jordan Taylor to create penetration, Wisconsin is going to be largely at the whim of its sometimes inconsistent outside shooting. That is a given and no matter what Ryan and his staff try to do, they will have a tough time scoring when the shots aren’t falling.

But more importantly, Wisconsin has to do the little things well. Michigan State beat them in this respect Tuesday night, something very few teams have been able to do during Bo Ryan’s decade at the helm of the UW program.

The Spartans did turn the ball over ten times, but UW turned it over nine times themselves, with each team capitalizing on those turnovers to the tune of nine points. Wisconsin needs to have an advantage in that regard in order to win. MSU dominated in the paint, outscoring Wisconsin 20-10 despite the poor effort from their vaunted front line.

But above all, Michigan State shot 75% from the line, making 9 of 12 chances at the charity stripe. Wisconsin was just 7-for-18 at the line, including a dismal 5-for-13 effort in the 2^nd half.

These are the little things that used to put UW teams over the top, allowing Wisconsin to compete at the highest level against teams with a distinct talent advantage. Say what you want about the guard play and the loss of leaders like Taylor and injured guard Josh Gasser, these little errors are really what have put the Badgers in such a precarious situation.

But in the absence of Taylor, perhaps Wisconsin needs a change in mentality. The back court resources available to UW do not include anyone with the experience of a player like Taylor but perhaps include one player with even more pure talent and certainly more athleticism.

Redshirt freshman George Marshall has had an up-and-down season after being named the starting point guard in Gasser’s absence. Thanks to some early struggles, not surprising for a freshman, Marshall was replaced in the starting lineup by sophomore Traevon Jackson after just six games.

Since the change was made, Marshall has seen his minutes drop dramatically and his “leash” shortened infinitely, to the point where even a single off-the-mark pass can mean an immediate and often prolonged benching. On the other hand, Jackson has been given the reigns and has been provided with a far more consistent opportunity to play through his mistakes. During the Badgers’ two-game slide, Jackson is just 3-for-19 from the field with four assists and three turnovers (I would add at least two more according to my scoring).

Yet despite his struggles Jackson has continued to stay on the court. Against Iowa he fouled out in 31 minutes of play and against MSU he was pulled with four fouls in 28 minutes. By contrast, Marshall, who scored a game-high 20 points in the 2^nd half against Iowa, has tallied just 32 minutes in the two games combined.

Both Jackson and Marshall are going to have to contribute in order for Wisconsin to make its 15^th straight NCAA Tournament appearance. In the process, both Jackson and Marshall are going to have their ups and downs, a product simply of their inexperience at the college level.

But in the end, Marshall’s athleticism and pure talent as a guard and simply as a basketball player make him the man who will be of the most help for UW long-term. Even now, Marshall has the ability to take over a game, evidenced by his performance in Iowa City, that Jackson simply doesn’t have.

For Wisconsin to get back to the top of the Big Ten ranks, Marshall is going to have to be leading the charge. Doing the little things will only get the Badgers so far, likely back to the NCAA Tournament. But if this program is to take the next step, it has to prove it can utilize talents like Marshall. He is going to make mistakes in the process but if he can make two plays for every one of those mistakes, a ratio he is more than capable of sustaining, Wisconsin will be better off both in the short-term and even more so going forward into next season and beyond.

Badgers Ready For Another First Place Battle

Its Tuesday and once again Wisconsin men's basketball finds itself in a battle for the conference lead, this time playing host to No. 13 Michigan State (5-1 Big Ten, 16-3 Overall). Although the Badgers are coming off a disappointing loss Saturday night at Iowa, last Tuesday's win in Bloomington keeps UW right in the thick of a tightening Big Ten race at the start of this two-game home stand.

Winners of five straight and the Big Ten's hottest team, the Spartans come to Madison having finally cracked the code and winning at the Kohl Center last year in a game best remembered for its final moments when a three-point basket by Wisconsin's Ryan Evans was disallowed on review. That ruling helped MSU avoid a second overtime and gave them their first victory in Madison since 2001.

Michigan State has been about as quiet as a perennial contender can be in its rise to the top of the conference standings. After losing at Minnesota in their Big Ten opener, the Spartans have turned to the front court duo of senior Derrick Nix and junior Adreian Payne to lead them in five straight victories including a 59-56 win over then-No. 11 Ohio State this Saturday. Nix and Payne are each averaging 9.4 points per game while adding a combined 14 rebounds per game in the process. The UW front court is still without sophomore forward Frank Kaminsky and will need to stay out of foul trouble in order to maintain the manpower necessary to neutralize the Spartan attack.

Just as important is UW's ability to take care of the ball. After holding an aggressive Indiana defense to just 7 points off turnovers last Tuesday, the Badgers turned the ball over 12 times against Iowa, allowing the Hawkeyes to capitalize to the tune of 12 points off turnovers. Michigan State enters play forcing 13 turnovers per game and has averaged a tick over 15 points per game off turnovers in conference play. The Spartans will no doubt look to exposure the Badgers' inexperienced back court in an attempt to speed up the game and take UW out of its element.

The formula for Wisconsin is clear: take care of the ball, maintain defensive integrity, and make shots early to get the crowd involved. If the Badgers are able to do that, as they were last week in Bloomington, there is a good chance the Big Ten could have a new leader by the end of the night.

Badgers Release 2012-2013 Schedule

Although much of the college sports world will be focused on opening night in college football, Big Ten men’s basketball made headlines Thursday with the release of its 2012-2013 schedule. With conference matchups now set, the complete season schedule for Wisconsin is known.

Following a much improved non-conference slate highlighted by matchups with Florida, California, Creighton, Virginia, and Marquette, UW will begin the Big Ten slate at home on January 3rd, 2013 against Penn State, a team the Badgers swept in their 2012 season series.

“Its nice to have that first game at home,” UW junior guard Josh Gasser said. “But looking at the Big Ten schedule, there are no easy wins.”

The Badgers’ conference schedule is clearly highlighted by a January 15^th road date at Assembly Hall against national No. 1 Indiana. After winning both matchups last season (regular season in Madison and Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis), Wisconsin has now taken 10 straight from the Hoosiers dating back to 2007.

“We didn’t play {at Assembly Hall} last year but its definitely one of the toughest environments to play in,” Gasser said. “Its going to be even tougher this year because they are one of the top teams in the country.”

Some of the marquee home dates include a January 22^nd game against Michigan State (the first game after students return from the winter break) and a President’s Day weekend matchup with Ohio State. Last season, UW faced the Spartans on January 3^rd, with most students still home for the holidays and most of Badger nation still in a daze from the previous night’s Rose Bowl loss.

“Our students are pretty good at coming to games but it’s a lot tougher over break,” Gasser added. “It’s a good thing to have those big games when the students are around.”

With the conference now composed of 12 members, UW will face four schools just once during the 2013 season: Indiana, Northwestern, Michigan, and Purdue. The matchups with Michigan and Purdue will be in Madison, with a February 20^th date in Evanston complementing the aforementioned trip to Bloomington earlier in the year.

The Badgers will close out the regular season just as they started conference play, visiting the Bryce-Jordan Center for a date with Penn State on March 10^th.

The Big Ten Tournament, moving this year to Chicago’s United Center, will begin Thursday, March 14^th and run through Selection Sunday, March 17th.

Although national expectations are once again down for this UW program, the Badgers have yet to finish outside the top 4 in the conference standings during Bo Ryan’s 11-year tenure in Madison. With the schedule pitting the Badgers against the highly touted teams from Indiana and Michigan just once, it seems unlikely that streak will come to an end, especially with Wisconsin returning four starters from a 2011-2012 team that wound up reaching the Sweet 16 for a 2^nd consecutive season.

“Its exciting because every game means something,” UW junior guard Ben Brust said. “We’ve got to bring it every night.”

Badgers' Lack Of Depth Hurting Them In Conference Play

Wisconsin has never been known to have a team of superstars. The Badger men's basketball program has been resurrected out of the ashes of the 1940's powerhouse program by a philosophy first developed by Dick Bennett and then perfected by current head coach Bo Ryan; a philosophy that teams of quality, hard-working players that buy into the system can win regardless of talent level.

But chief among the tenets of that winning philosophy is the notion that depth is the best weapon against superior talent. Wisconsin has made its name as the thorn in the side of Big Ten powerhouses Ohio State, Michigan State, and Purdue by ensuring that each and every game there is someone on the Badger roster ready to step up. If the "marquee" player has an off night, someone will certainly be ready to pick up the slack and get the Badgers another ho-hum victory at home over a highly-ranked opponent. We've seen the Badgers struggle at times in this light away from home, but at the Kohl Center this mantra of depth trumping talent seems to hold true nearly every night.

Until this week. Until the Badgers followed up a shocking defeat at home to unranked and unheralded Iowa (although the Hawkeyes did validate their win by knocking off Minnesota on the road last night) by once again struggling to find consistency on the offensive end as they fell in heartbreaking fashion to #11 Michigan State.

Yes, the loss to the Spartans will be remembered by the disallowed three-point shot by Ryan Evans that would have sent the game into double overtime, but the reason that Wisconsin now heads on a two-game road trip facing the prospect of a 1-4 start in Big Ten play has nothing to do with the discrepancy in the clocks at the Kohl Center.

In fact, the reason Wisconsin has quickly gone from title contender to bubble team is fairly simple: depth, or lack thereof. The Badgers have no depth whatsoever, something that flies directly in the face of all that is Badger basketball.

They continue to bring guys in that fit the system, guys willing to work hard and listen to coaching and hopefully form the nucleus of a title-contending team their junior/senior years. But this year, Ryan and his staff have failed their players by failing to hold onto the traditions of the very system they themselves have so diligently used in order to take Wisconsin to 13 straight NCAA Tournaments.

They have failed to build depth not because they dont have depth, but because they didnt take the time to build it when they had the chance. In essence, Wisconsin didnt lose their first two Big Ten home contests this week, they lost them in blowout wins over Colgate, over Wofford, over Savannah State. They lost them by having three starters on the court with less than four minutes left and the Badgers clinging to forty-plus point leads.

Wisconsin has players that could have been ready to step up in the face of an off night by Ben Brust, foul trouble for Ryan Evans, etc. The problem now is that the UW coaching staff didnt allow them to see the floor in games that were decided well before their conclusion. By letting starters stay on the floor during blowout wins in non-conference play, Wisconsin's staff not only wore down those players just a bit more prior to Big Ten play, but more importantly failed to give that second tier of players the on-court experience they need to be ready when duty comes calling.

Right now, the Badgers need a spark plug. Before his recent cold spell, many would think that spark plug could be sophomore guard Ben Brust, but right now it doesnt seem Brust is in a position to take the lead, dealing with a sophomore slump that was bound to come at some point. Wisconsin needs Brust to start making shots again and that will happen eventually. But more importantly, Wisconsin needs more bodies to make an impact.

The Badgers cannot expect to compete in the Big Ten going just seven deep. Late in the losses to Michigan State and Iowa, it was apparent that even lock down defenders like Jordan Taylor and Jared Berggren were beginning to show signs of clear fatigue. Iowa senior guard Bryce Cartwright made a mockery out of Taylor in the second half last Saturday (Taylor finished the game having played all 40 minutes) and on Tuesday, Spartan sophomore Keith Appling did much of the same (Taylor played 44 minutes against Michigan State). While Taylor's offensive firepower finally reared its head and kept Wisconsin in the game literally until the final second, the impact that fatigue is having on what was the nation's top defense is clear as day.

Though many will point to the three-point shooting and say that the Badgers are going to have to both live and die by the three, the reality is that they are a team defined by defense. They are certainly going to need to shoot the three well enough to win, but they will live and die not by the deep ball, but by their defense. Against Iowa, they managed to put up 65 points, good enough to win all but one of their games thus far this season. The 72 points allowed on Wisconsin's home floor more than outweighed the 3-for-28 performance from beyond the arc in terms of leading to UW's demise.

With defense being the calling card of the 2011-2012 Wisconsin men's basketball season, it is fairly obvious that they have to limit the minutes being played by their starters. Including the many blowout victories UW had during non-conference play, two players are averaging over 30 minutes per game, with three more clocking in at 27 or more per contest. Starting forward Mike Bruesewitz is actually sixth on the team in minutes with just over 24 per game and beyond him, only senior guard Rob Wilson has notched a double-digit average, coming in at just 10.0 minutes per game.

So their is an argument to be made that Wisconsin only goes six deep but with Wilson playing a part in the past two losses, I will give it seven for the sake of the argument.

Now compare this to Michigan State. The Spartans have a star in Draymond Green. He is playing just over 32 minutes a game. Beyond Green, MSU has a full 8 players coming in a 18 minutes or more per game. And the Spartans havent had the cushy schedule of Wisconsin, with only 4 games thus far finishing with a margin of greater than 20 points.

At this point in the season, there is probably little that Ryan and company can do to alleviate the depth issue. They are going to face stiff competition from here on in during Big Ten play and cannot afford to throw unexperienced players into the fire. They had that chance and they likely missed it.

But if there is a staff capable of turning things around, the Badgers have them. Bo Ryan has yet to miss an NCAA Tournament while in Madison and has faced mid-season adversity on more than a few occasions during that run. But he is going to have to figure out how his thin roster can compete in the Big Ten and the answer to that problem will not be easy to find.

Badgers Stunned By Another Buzzer Defeat

Time ran out on the Badgers as their last-ditch effort at an overtime comeback against Michigan State fell short when Ryan Evans' banked-in three-point shot was ruled no good as the backboard clock showed all zeros and the Spartans (3-0 Big Ten, 14-2 overall) were handed a 63-60 victory over a reeling Wisconsin squad.

MSU head coach Tom Izzo's first victory in Madison over UW head coach Bo Ryan was a memorable one. The Badgers (1-2 Big Ten, 12-4 overall) shot the ball at an anemic pace the entire game, finishing at a 33% clip softened tremendously by late heroics from senior guard Jordan Taylor, who finished with a game-high 28 points.

But beyond the heartbreaking finish and the poor shooting, Wisconsin failed to do the little things necessary to win. Taylor himself was uncharacteristically shaky with the ball, turning the ball over four times while notching just a single assist. The Badgers were out-rebounded 41-33 and missed 8 free throws (including two that were the front end of potential "one and one" chances), one of those free throws coming when Taylor had a chance to give UW a lead with just over 30 seconds remaining in regulation.

As the Badgers head into two tough road games against Michigan and Purdue, they must do something about their utter lack of depth. In Tuesday's defeat, three players finished with over 40 minutes of court time (out of a possible 45). Only seven players saw action for UW while Michigan State got a full 10 players involved in the act. The Badgers lack of depth hurt them tremendously in losses to Iowa and Michigan State, as UW starters were clearly fatigued during a few disorganized possession late in the game.

Facing the prospect of having to recover from consecutive home losses for the first time in three years, UW is squarely in danger zone and potentially on the verge of playing themselves out of a 14th straight NCAA tournament appearance.