Trouble In Paradise

When a team, like Wisconsin, counts its coach as one of its usual advantages over the competition, not getting any traditional practice time in before a big game should be cause for concern.

Such is life in tropical early season tournaments, I suppose. Trying to squeeze four games in on the final day immediately after the semifinals on Sunday night meant neither Wisconsin nor Connecticut hit the floor in preparation for the Paradise Jam title game. Left more to instinct and natural athleticism than normal, Bucky's first loss of the season was no surprise.

Connecticut is really good. They have the top shelf athletes at guard that traditionally give the Badgers fits. Bo's youngest team in years really showed their inexperience on Monday, hounded into 22 turnovers by the Huskies. Freshman Kemba Walker led the way with four steals.

Not all of the turnovers were forced by Connecticut though. Regular rotation players like sophomores Keaton Nankivil and Tim Jarmusz and freshman Jordan Taylor simply had some very lazy passes picked off. You might be able to get away with that against teams #20-300, but not against a top ten team. It was amazing how many easy fast break points the Huskies got in the game. They had 31 points off turnovers overall.

It did not help matters that UConn center Hasheem Thabeet intimidated even the most experienced Badgers in the paint. Seniors Marcus Landry and Joe Krabbenhoft looked tentative most of the night. My favorite part of the game was Rob Wilson coming in without a care in the world and going up for two dunks on Thabeet and drawing two fouls (never mind that one was a clean block). That turned into four easy points from the line for the Badgers just because one player believed in himself.

These are the types of games where Krabby's offensive limitations really bother me. An extra pass is usually nice, but two or three extra passes is too much, especially right under the basket. You can attribute Wisconsin's 32% shooting inside the 3-point line to Thabeet's presence and the Badgers decision-making around the rim. It is no longer a surprise when UW shoots well from long distance (8-of-17), but those bombs merely kept the Badgers in the game. [box score]

In the end it was just a few sequences like the one at the end of the first half that doomed the Badgers. Wisconsin had held a slim lead through the first 10 minutes or so, but UConn closed on a 19-4 run to go up 10 points at the break thanks to their pressure defense. Jon Leuer and Trevon Hughes keyed an 11-3 run that had the Badgers right back in the game at 45-43, but the Huskies quickly turned momentum with a three-point play and a dunk by Jerome Dyson.

When Jason Bohannon missed both of his free throws and Thabeet responded with two freebies of his own, the lead was back to nine and UW's spirit was seemingly sapped. Though Bohannon appeared to be on track for a nice shooting night when he nailed two early treys, he soon reverted to his previous island form and finished 2-of-9 from the floor.

At least we got to watch this one on TV, right?

Paradise Jam Continues

Wisconsin survived some choppy waters this weekend, but is on course to win another Paradise Jam tournament title. The team's reward for winning two straight on the island is a game with #2 Connecticut on Monday night.

The quest began with a knock down, drag out nail biter on Friday night when UW barely escaped the matchbox gym with a 60-58 overtime win against Iona. The Badgers were lucky to survive their 19 turnovers, but were never able to get into a good flow due to tons of physical defense by the Gaels and terribly inconsistent officiating. Winning a game like that has to give you faith in UW's ability to close out games under adversity. [box score]

Tonight, Wisconsin toppled San Diego, 64-49. Topping the Toreros seemed easier thanks to much better Badger shooting (48.8%). Without DirectTV's Sports Pack, I followed the game via Patrick Herb's live blog at uwbadgers.com. Herb's blogging during the Iona game also probably was the best source of info on the opening round action too, where UW shot only 27.3% in the second half.

Trevon Hughes has been the engine for Wisconsin so far in the Virgin Islands. He led all scorers with 21 points against Iona, hitting 11-of-12 free throws. Against San Diego, he again paced both sides with 22 points (8-11 FGs, 2-4 3s). [box score]

The tourney appears to be a coming out party for Tim Jarmusz. Foul trouble plagued Jon Leuer and Marcus Landry on Friday, but Jarmusz put in 30 minutes of great work. His best attributes continue to be hitting timely 3-pointers, drawing fouls and diving for loose balls -- which provides UW with some very important extra possessions. It is uncanny how Jarmusz is always "mixing it up." It was good to see Keaton Nankivil bust loose a little with 8 rebounds in the first game and 10 points tonight.

There were a few concerns, of course. The statistics do not really reflect the struggles at the charity stripe, as several different players missed front ends of bonus opportunities. Jason Bohannon has really struggled with his shot, shooting a combined 5-of-22 so far. And as a team, the threes are not dropping: 5-of-21 vs. Iona, 5-of-16 vs. San Diego = 27%.

Landry bounced back to lead the team in rebounds (7), assists (6), and blocked shots (5) versus the Toreros.

Moving on, the championship should be a great game to watch. This will be the fourth time under Bo Ryan that the Badgers have faced a team ranked second in the AP poll. My expectations are lower than the ones I had for last year's Duke game, but now that the match up is set I am definitely stoked. The Huskies have a phenomenal freshman point guard, Kemba Walker, to add to senior A.J. Price this year. Even though Pop is hot right now, he will need a lot of help.

I love the matchup between Jeff Adrien and Landry, but am not sure how we will play Hasheem Thabeet. The guy's offense is spotty, but he will be altering every shot in sight. Thabeet already has 12 blocks down there in two games! Bo could try giving some meaningful minutes to one of his own aircraft carriers, like J.P. Gavinski or Ian Markolf, but it probably wouldn't be pretty. I think Leuer is the key offensively and containing UConn's guards a must on defense.

Landry's block count: 8 + 2 (Iona) + 5 (S.D.) = 15 total/79 career*
*Moves into 9th all-time, passing Michael Finley