Wisconsin's defense looked bad in the last two games against Indiana and Michigan, but it was completely exposed in the game against Minnesota. The defensive numbers were stunning showing arguably one of the poorest efforts in the last couple of years. Wisconsin only had six stops in 27 possessions for Minnesota in the second half. Badgers also gave up 48 of the 81 points in the paint meaning nearly 60 percent of their points happened inside the circle. Further, Wisconsin never led in the game and the closest they got in the second half was 41-35 with 17 minutes left to go into their game. This is rock bottom for this Badgers team meaning where do they go from here? My biggest concern about the lack of defensive effort from Badgers perspective is if Frank Kaminsky gets into foul trouble, this team is completely screwed. Vitto Brown did not play well in the post nor did Nigel Hayes really have a strong defensive game handling low post players. With teams having this on tape, isn't their first plan of attack for opposing teams to go right at Kaminksy and try to get him into foul trouble earlier than later? Additionally, Kaminsky needs to stay down more and go for the defensive stand versus the shot block. When people are suggesting Evan Anderson would not hurt inside, there are some bigger issues than I think any of us realize right now (Anderson had a load of talent out of high school; he also is a load, curious about his conditioning if Wisconsin gives him extended minutes).
Bo Ryan is an ardent defender of man-to-man defense. Rarely, if ever, do we see Wisconsin go into a zone, but it has to happen at some point. It is not like Wisconsin needs to be in zone for the entire game, but if they change it up for two minutes or so, they could definitely help confuse the opposing offense. They are all expecting man-to-man right now as Ryan's defense lacks all sorts of creativity. The best part about zones is it does not have to be just one. He could mix in a 1-3-1, 2-3, Matchup, Box and 1. All of those could at least help this team right now whom simply does not look like they can play a man-to-man defense for a full 40 minutes.
If Wisconsin is this bad defensively, the importance of making 3-pointers become even more critical for them to win basketball games. Badgers went 5-20 from outside, and that is telling to their struggles on Wednesday night. And going to the free-throw line 23 times is very encouraging, and it means Wisconsin did attempt to go the basket more than other games. Badgers want to win high-profile games, they honestly might need to score around 80 points which is unheard of in Ryan's system but it makes no sense for this team to control the clock. Wisconsin seemingly did that in the first 16 games, but now the offense is in a bit of a rut as well against good teams.
The final question is are the Badgers a two or three seed? Or did they play above their heads for the first part of the season, and reality is they are only a four and five seed with maybe an outside chance at a three? I lean towards the second one. They head to West Lafayette this Saturday for a matchup with Purdue who only scored 58 in double-overtime against Northwestern. There is no better time for Wisconsin to figure out their defense, and if they do not against the Boilermakers, more questions need to be asked about this team.
Charlie.
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