Broken Badgers

AP Photo/Brian Kersey
I wish my first post came under better circumstances. All in all, we saw a brutal finish to the Big Ten Conference Tournament.

Wisconsin did not display the heart of a champion this afternoon. The Badgers folded "like a two-dollar bill." Instead of attacking the intimidating Greg Oden, Wisconsin abandoned any semblance of an interior game plan, jacking up 23 three-pointers (shooting an abysmal 17.4%). Personally, I would have rather seen them go down swinging. I know Greg Stiemsma was ready to take a few swings ... something about Oden's beard gets the Steamer in a chippy mood.

Oddly enough, there were positives. Kam Taylor struggled through a tough first half to lead the team in scoring. He had a decent tourney and seems to have found his touch again. Stiemsma looks like he's growing into his role with increased minutes. And as we all know, Jason Bohannon is a breath of fresh air: 27 mins, 4-7 FGs (9 pts), 4 rebs, 2 assts, 1 blk, 3 TOs, 3 fouls.

The bad news, as expected: UW's bigs (Stiemsma, Marcus Landry, Jason Chappell and Joe Krabbenhoft) combined for eight points on 10 shots.

The result? A #2 seed in the Midwest Bracket and a trendy pick to suffer a second-round upset.