Big Huskers Second Half Buries Badgers

Nebraska basketball is not known for much in college sports. People do not talk about Nebraska basketball and winning, it is just something does not work like lamb and tuna fish. But head coach Tim Miles has led on a renaissance this season with Nebraska making a push into the NCAA Tournament, but they needed a win against Wisconsin on Sunday night in what was perceived to be the Super Bowl of Nebraska basketball. Wisconsin could not handle the Huskers as they fell for the first time in nine games falling 77-68 in a game where Wisconsin was uncharacteristic in many ways missing free throws, turnovers and struggling to handle a transition offense plus should Badger fans push the panic button on Sam Dekker?

Badgers were taken out of their game by Nebraska. This is not your older brother's Badger team where they slow it down and play for the last shot, but at the same time, this Wisconsin team does need some balance to their game. They are not going to run in transition and push the pace of the game. Even with their potent offense, they want to do it in a way that's Wisconsin basketball and nothing else. But Nebraska moved the needle, and it was evident it frustrated the Badgers in more ways than one. 

Nebraska forced eleven turnovers on Wisconsin, their highest total since the win against Florida in the second game of the season. A blue chip way to beat the Badgers is getting them to turn the ball over. That rarely happens like an attractive woman talking to me at the bar.  The majority of the turnovers came from Traevon Jackson and Nigel Hayes. For Jackson, that is something Badgers hope is a mere blip on the radar and nothing more, because if he becomes turnover happy in postseason play, it could be curtains for a deep run in March. Hayes is a younger player, and games like these will happen so there should not be much concern there. 

The turnovers were not the only thing that hurt Wisconsin on Sunday evening. They missed 10 free throws going a little over 50 percent from the free throw line. When the Badgers suffered some of their defeats this season, it was more so due to the fact, they could not get to the free throw line versus missing free throws. Wisconsin is one of the better teams at shooting free throws coming in a tie for 25th at 73.2 percent so this is likely an aberration and nothing to worry about for the long term.  Additionally, Hayes had the majority of misses for this team. This might be a concern. With his free throw shooting being at a dismal 59 percent, it is hard to make a case why Hayes should be out there late in games if the Badgers are either leading or trailing by a close margin. 

Another concern might be the wear and tear of Sam Dekker, the Badgers best player. It seems like he truly needs a couple weeks off versus a couple days. We realize this is not happening, but Dekker does not play until Friday meaning he does get a little time to rest yet he continues to struggle in general. He only had nine points on six shots with only one attempt from three. This is his third straight game where he scored in single digits. In those three games, Dekker is shooting 26.7 percent from the field going 6/22. Additionally, he is only 1/7 from three. What does this mean?  Is Dekker not getting the ball enough where he disengages a bit and disappears from the action?  Or is Dekker not wanting to force shots at this point because he realizes the struggle bus he currently is on?  Not sure, it could be a mix of the two, but if Wisconsin wants a deep run, Dekker needs to be better than the last three games of the season. 

Even in the games where Wisconsin hit the rough patch, Dekker did not really have games like this one minus the Ohio State defeat where he only saw 19 minutes on the court. He needs to reestablish himself in Indianapolis as a go-to scorer. If that does not happen, Wisconsin can still win games but it is a lot harder on the four other starters along with the rest of the roster.  For me, Dekker's output in the next couple games will be the most interesting part of Wisconsin. 

Badgers likely ran into a buzzsaw in Lincoln with a team desperate for a win plus they saw others fall this weekend. Could it cost them a number one seed? Probably not. If Wisconsin rolls through the Big Ten Tournament beating the likes of Michigan State and Michigan to do it, they probably could be a one seed especially if other teams would happen to fall off the face of the map. The seeding probably will not matter as they will get the in-state advantage unless they lose their first Big Ten game to Minnesota or Penn State. This should be just a blip for the Badgers. 

Charlie.  

Wisconsin's Basketball Revenge Ax

This week is a revenge reunion tour for Wisconsin Badgers basketball team with playing Minnesota and Michigan, two teams they lost to earlier this season. They had a chance to not only avenge a couple losses but also make a move in the B1G standings. Badgers took care of one last night by beating Minnesota, 78-70, with a big Ben Brust performance, Badgers earning it from the free throw line and Wisconsin becoming an all-around good team again for the first time in a long while. 

This is one of those games where it is not really considered a blowout, but Wisconsin held Minnesota at bay for the majority of the game. The closest Minnesota got in the second half was five points twice, but really this game resembled the first one except the other team won the game. Badgers put the Gophers into submission, and never let them even sniff a lead in the second period. This was a dominating win for the Badgers even if the box score does not completely reflect it. 

Ben Brust is having a good season, but I do not think many people are realizing it. He does it in such a quiet manner. Brust is averaging 13.2 points a game which is two points above his junior year average and a career-high for him. No one talks about Brust as everyone is talking about Sam Dekker and Nigel Hayes. My assumption is Brust does not care, and he will keep grinding. Last night, he played great with going perfect from three making four threes and had 20 points, a near season-high for him. Additionally, this was a great bounce back for him as he only had five points against Michigan State including a big free throw miss late in the game that nearly cost Wisconsin. If Brust becomes more of an offensive threat than just a three-point shooter, Badgers will be much better.  

Wisconsin and the free throw line have a bizarre relationship. It does seem like when the Badgers settle for 3-pointers they do not typically win games. Weirdly enough, Marquette and them, are similar in that way minus the fact Wisconsin can nail down threes. They got to the line 36 times last night with a big night at the line from Frank Kaminksy. For the season, Big Frank shoots about 80 percent from the line, and he went perfect yesterday going nine for nine. The nine free throw attempts were a season-high for Kaminsky. Wisconsin did a great job feeding him in the post, and Kaminsky made sure he forced contact drawing the attempts. Another guy that earned it from the line again was Nigel Hayes. This is the second straight game where he shot above 75 percent as he went five for six from the charity stripe. If Hayes continually shoots about 70 percent from both the field and the free throw line, Wisconsin will be very strong as a unit. 

It seems like for the first time in weeks, Wisconsin figured things out with both offense and defense. The last three games have been supremely encouraging for this team, and Wisconsin might be hitting their collective stride at the right time. Michigan State was a close win by box score terms for the Badgers, but really, they had control of the whole game until the final moments where they could not make a shot. Further, that's the only game in the three where they have went cold for a long period of time. Badgers are still three games back from the B1G lead, but they could push towards the top in the coming weeks. 

Revenge tour makes a stop at Ann Arbor this Sunday taking on Michigan, a team that gave Wisconsin all sorts of trouble at home. Badgers hope to repay the favor. This will be the Badgers first visit to Crisler Arena since 2011-2012 season where they only scored 41 points. Hopefully for Wisconsin, history does not repeat itself. 

Charlie. 

Hayes and Jackson Power Wisconsin over Michigan State

The month of January was not kind to Wisconsin Badgers basketball. They won at Illinois to begin February but faced a showdown with Michigan State on Sunday afternoon. Wisconsin had lost three straight at home and faced one of the top teams in the country, Michigan State, on Sunday afternoon. Badgers ended the home losing streak by winning 60-58, and they started to develop some momentum going forward this month with another big effort from Nigel Hayes, shutting down Gary Harris and Traevon Jackson's confidence pays off for a change.

It is pretty clear watching Wisconsin play over the last month that Hayes, the 6'7 freshman from Ohio, is going to be a star on this team. He won Freshman of the Week for the third time this season and is rapidly improving by the game. Hayes is a tough player to guard because while he is undersized to play the four, he is built like a defensive end meaning Hayes can out physical most people inside.  He showed against Michigan State the ability to face up to the basket and make things happen as well as nearly every time he did some sort of post move, Hayes drew a foul on a Michigan State defender.

In recent weeks, Hayes going to the free throw line 12 times could spell trouble for this team. For the season, Hayes shoots a mere 58 percent from the free throw line. He is not a good shooter by any means therefore if he goes to the line more than 10 times a game, there is a need to be better. Hayes did just that on Sunday afternoon missing only four of his 12 free throw attempts.  Most of his points came from the line as Hayes once again finished with double-digit scoring with 14, but that is very important he may have found his stroke at the free throw line. Hayes' last three games see him averaging 15 points a game and shooting 72 percent from the field. It is evident Hayes is pushing hard to be considered for Freshman of the Year in the Big Ten.  

Gary Harris is one of the best players in the country. Wisconsin's defense is not what it used to be in years past. Many people assumed Harris would have a big game against this Wisconsin team, but he had only six points on 3/20 shooting. Wisconsin finally held a star player in check for most of the game. Sure, Adreian Payne went off for 24 points, but they cut off Harris from scoring. Badgers' perimeter defense was as good as I have seen this season. They forced Harris into several bad shots, and he never found a rhythm in the game. We can wonder if things would have been different if Keith Appling played, but missing 17/20 shots is not completely point guard driven. Wisconsin caused Harris to have a bad game, and with the next couple games deal with facing good guards, it will be interesting to see if shutting down the top guards become a trend.  

Another major criticism with this team has been the play of Traevon Jackson. On this blog, we refer to it as 'Good Traevon' or 'Bad Traevon.' This was the definition of a good Traevon game. He did not too much as Jackson only shot the ball five times. He had seven points, eight assists and five rebounds filling up the box score rather than just shooting the ball countless amounts of time. Jackson beat Harris off the dribble for the game-winning shot with two seconds. He might not be the player Wisconsin fans want taking the last shot of the game, but the thing about game-winners is once a player knows he can do it, he tends to repeat his success. I am not completely sold on Jackson turning the corner, but if he keeps stringing together good starts, I will be inclined to do so.  

This could be the start of payback week for Wisconsin as they face rival Minnesota on Thursday who they fell to earlier this season, and head to Ann Arbor Sunday to see if they can do to Michigan, what the Wolverines did to Wisconsin... Beat them on the road. Revenge tour could be in full force, and it might be led by the young man from Ohio.  

Charlie.   

Dekker Leads Wisconsin's Bounce-Back Win

The narrative about Wisconsin Badgers' basketball season changed in the past couple of weeks. They went
from being an undefeated team to a team one game under .500 in conference midway through the season. Badgers' narrative can change again though without question, but they need to start winning again. It started against Illinois on Tuesday night with a 75-63 road victory with a big performance from Sam Dekker, good Traevon Jackson came to play and just how good is Nigel Hayes?

Last couple of games have been rough on Dekker as he struggled to put up shots as well as got 'benched' by his head coach in the second half of the Ohio State game. It seemed like the Badgers sophomore forward played angry on Tuesday night, and most of it came from long distance. Dekker had 16 points going four of seven from three along with another field goal and a couple free throws. We can debate all day whether Dekker wanted to prove a point to his head coach, but I do not think it is a coincidence Dekker has a big game following a season-low in minutes and points

There is nothing wrong with having a game where Dekker is red hot from distance rather than taking it to the lane. Sure there would be a need for Dekker to be more aggressive down, but there is no need if he has it going from distance Although if Dekker can put all together when he has a game that features him dominating down low as well as making four or five threes, he could be one of the best players in the country. Imagine what Doug McDermott does on a nightly basis, but two inches taller, that's what Dekker could be doing if everything is going for him.

Once again, this game is proof of how good Wisconsin can be when good Traevon Jackson comes to play versus the bad version. He draws a ton of ire from fans, but Jackson puts out productive games every now and again keeping him as a starter. Jackson had 14 points with seven rebounds and three assists on 4/7 shooting. This is the type of game Badger fans want on a consistent basis from Jackson. In five of Wisconsin's six losses, Jackson has more than 10 shots. Only one of those games, Indiana, did Jackson shoot over 50 percent. He is a much better player when he is only shooting seven to eight times and attempting to get the basket versus wild 3-point attempts. If Jackson keeps this up, Wisconsin becomes a different team.

Right now, Wisconsin seems to have the best freshman in the Big Ten. While Nigel Hayes does not have the numbers for  Freshman of the Year consideration, he might by the end of the month. In the last two games, Hayes shot 11/14 from the field with a combined 31 points which is two fewer than his combined point total in his last five games in conference. Hayes is putting it all together and becoming a great sixth man off the bench. He will without question be a starter next year, and likely push Dekker to the three position as Hayes feels more like a four. With Hayes, Wisconsin adds more size and toughness giving them a nice compliment rotation with the three guard system with Josh Gasser, Jackson and Ben Brust. Hayes will only continue to get better.

Wisconsin tries to break their three-game home losing streak against rival Michigan State. Another narrative springs up with both teams as Wisconsin fans love to think 'Bo owns Izzo' given Ryan's success against Spartans head coach Tom Izzo.  Although Michigan State has won their last five meetings so who really owns who?

Charlie.  

Wisconsin Continues Its Losing Ways

When Wisconsin began the season undefeated, the expectations for this team were sky high. Many people
started dancing around the idea of them playing the first two rounds in Milwaukee, and maybe having their best chance to get Badgers head coach Bo Ryan's first Final Four. ESPN's analyst Jay Williams went as far to pick them to win the National Championship. Since then, Badgers have dropped five out of their last six games including three straight losses at home. While it has not been all roses for Wisconsin during Ryan's tenure, it has never been this tense with a team heading towards the brink.

On Saturday, Wisconsin seemed to have Ohio State right where they wanted them. Ohio State is dealing with their own issues, and Badgers led by six points with six minutes left to go in the game. Frank Kaminksy had made a layup, and then Nigel Hayes had a chance to put Wisconsin up eight with two free throws. Hayes would miss both of them, but Kaminsky would get an offensive rebound yet he would not score. In fact, Wisconsin would only have four points the rest of game along with not a single field goal. It also did not help the Badgers could not hit a free-throw to save their life, one of the sneaky things that occasionally troubles Wisconsin.

In the second half, Badgers missed eight free throws in a game where Ohio State won by one point. For the game, Wisconsin missed 10 free throws overall. With how good Hayes was in this basketball game, he still missed five free throws in the game. There is no question Hayes played a big part in keeping Wisconsin in the game and helped them gain a lead but five missed free throws are a major killer. We made mention about how Wisconsin needs to get more free throws if they are not hitting three-pointer shots which they did as they got to line 29 times... But they need to make more than 19.

When it comes to Wisconsin's lack of scoring down the stretch, some might point to the lack of minutes Sam Dekker received late in the game. Before the Ohio State game, Dekker averaged 33.1 minutes a game during Big Ten conference play. He had a season-low in points, season-low in minutes with 19 and once again for the second straight game, only shot six times from the field. Hayes came off the bench to have 17 points, but Ryan decided to not play Dekker and Hayes at the same time. While they play the same position, there is no reason Dekker could not have played the three or the five for that matter creating a bigger lineup. Did Dekker's comments to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel have something to do with his lack of minutes Saturday?

It felt like a real life subtweet from Ryan to Dekker. He basically sat him down and did not play him as much almost sending a vindictive message that 'This kind of shit will not be tolerated by the Wisconsin program, keep your mouth shut, leave it to me to send messages through the media.' Is this bullshit? Absolutely. Dekker should have the freedom to take a leadership role on this team when Wisconsin is lacking one right now in the worst way. Traevon Jackson is not a leader as a point guard. He does not command team so why can't Dekker be the leader?  Because he is a sophomore?  Ryan may have cost the Badgers a victory on Saturday to send a message.

Wisconsin heads to Champaign on Wednesday to play a team they beat by 25 points earlier this season when the Badgers were rolling as unit. They feel more divided than ever before so who knows what the expectation should be for this game. They will need to figure something out quickly because the Big Ten season is not getting any easier.

Charlie.

LOST: Wisconsin Badgers Defense

In no sport more than college basketball can teams come crashing down to earth quickly and rapidly. A team may get off to a fast start given playing mostly cupcakes with a couple strong wins thrown in there. Other times, the team has some nice strong wins coupled with the cupcakes. Wisconsin Badgers would probably be the second version. They were 16-0 to begin the year with one of their best starts and the hype building around them. Wisconsin careened since then losing their third straight game at Minnesota last night, 81-68, in a complete defensive blowout.

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.