Cornell vs. Wisconsin Shot Charts

I have a lot of thoughts about Wisconsin exiting the NCAA Tournament in the second round again, but any arguments that could be made about why the Badgers lost can be summarized pretty easily. And anyone who watched both Cornell and Wisconsin play in the first round probably are not surprised at all.

For the second straight game, Wisconsin's perimeter defense was exposed, as was UW's help defense rotations. The Badger guards could not stay in front of the Big Red guards and the interior help D -- particularly by Keaton Nankivil -- was not quick enough to get in good position to cut off the penetration.

One result was early foul trouble for Nankivil, the player whose presence on the court is most indicative of the team's success. Even watching it happen, I was shocked to find out that Nankivil only managed five minutes of playing time. [box score]

Extended bench time for Nankivil effectively killed Wisconsin's chances on the boards. Cornell out-rebounded the Badgers, 27-20, and grabbed nearly 38% of its misses on offense, a figure well above Wisconsin's nation-leading average (26%).

The other by-product of the lax defense was an express lane to the hoop for Cornell. Nothing better illustrates this than a contrast between the two teams' shot charts.* Notice all the activity in the lane for Cornell versus the lack of attempts, let alone points, in the paint for Wisconsin:

Cornell - 61% (33-of-54)
Wisconsin - 49% (24-of-49)
It is no surprise that Wisconsin paid dearly all 10 times it turned the ball over, with the Big Red hitting jump shots from all angles. Trevon Hughes suffered through a really bad performance (6 TOs) in his final game.

The biggest dagger was when Pop went coast-to-coast with a nice move in the lane to get an open lay-up only to miss the bunny. What should have been a 25-23 game with six minutes left before halftime was suddenly a seven-point contest when the deadly Ryan Wittman made a buzzer-beating 3-pointer on the resulting Cornell possession. It was all downhill from there ...

*Shot charts courtesy of CBS Sports, though the accuracy of their charts has occasionally been less than 100%.

The Demetri McCamey Game

I'm not sure what I just witnessed.

Wait, yes I do. That was a beat down. And the result was No. 11 Wisconsin's first loss to a unranked Big Ten team at home under Bo Ryan.

Wisconsin was cruising in the early going, but could not stop Demetri McCamey at any point in this game. Illinois embarrassed Wisconsin with the pick-and-roll. I did not see any real adjustment at halftime, which means the Badgers let the Illini stars beat them instead of forcing some of the unproven Illinois players to make plays.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin struggled mightily to finish any plays at the rim. Ever since Jon Leuer went down and Wisconsin put on it's "perimeter-oriented team" pants, you knew this game was coming. Wisconsin scored just one (!) meaningful basket in the final 9:56 of the contest. The Badgers settled for 30 attempts from 3-point land. [box score]

McCamey scored 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting while handing out 7 assists. He set up Mike Tisdale time after time, allowing the 7'1" center to have a remarkable shooting game of his own (8-of-11, 19 points). In fact, Tisdale's early buckets were about the only thing keeping Illinois from getting blown out in the first half. Wisconsin went into the break up, 35-33, on a Trevon Hughes 3-pointer.

Both Hughes and Jordan Taylor left their best defense in the locker room tonight. But their job was made nearly impossible because they could not trust their interior help defense to stop McCamey. McCamey caught fire hitting shots over the Badger guards and then simply toyed with Keaton Nankivil when there was a switch on the pick. When he's on, McCamey can drive or stop and pop; he kept Wisconsin off guard all night.

It was probably one of the most frustrating games of Hughes' career. His body language was awful and he couldn't get anything going. Pop shot a horrendous 22% (4-of-18) from the field. He led the Badgers into panic mode late with an increasingly poor shot selection once Illinois took command. He's got to learn from this game and get back into early-season form.

Jason Bohannon led Wisconsin with 15 points. His shot looked great. But no one else was effective. I am shocked that Rob Wilson did not play more in the second half. Among significant contributors, the team's offensive efficiency was the highest (1.07 PPP) when Wilson was on the court. (ed. note: Ryan Evans and Jared Berggren posted nice efficiency numbers over a small sample size)

Some interesting touch fouls at times during the game, yet none of the typical calls you expect around the basket. Wisconsin was visibly frustrated by this. But UW got most of the favorable calls anyway, so I'm not complaining.

Instead of rising to second place in the Big Ten, Wisconsin (18-6, 8-4) drops to fifth for now. Illinois (17-8, 9-3) takes one more step closer to Michigan State.

Three-Guard Circus Surprise

The Badger circus rolled into West Lafayette some time ago and the spectacle begins in less than an hour. It's a battle to maintain hope in the Big Ten conference chase to catch the men in Spartan green. Many expect Purdue to deal Wisconsin's recent high-wire act of comeback victories a brutal end.

In each Wisconsin's last three wins, a different Badger guard has stepped forward from either a terrible half or straight up obscurity to propel UW to victory in the second half. Trevon Hughes beat Northwestern (though Jason Bohannon certainly did his part in the first half). Rob Wilson introduced himself to Michigan with perfect timing, along with Hughes' help. Finally, Jordan Taylor caught fire to down Penn State.

Who will step up this time and gun down Purdue? Will J-Bo take the mantle down the stretch or will one of the aforementioned guards perform an encore?

The Badgers made only 27.5% of their 3-pointers in the past four games, attempting 27 such shots on average. It's probably wishful thinking to expect a regression to the mean (season avg: 33.5%) when the opponent is better, the venue is less hospitable and UW's personnel remains the same.

But if UW can somehow take advantage of what statistics say is a lax Boilermaker perimeter defense and shoot at or above their season average percentage, that will be worth an extra 6 to 9 points over the course of 27 attempts. Purdue is allowing opponents to shoot 36.9% from deep this year, their worst mark since 2005-06.

Yet the Boilers remain a stellar defensive team. Purdue's philosophy seems to be, "Come into the paint and get denied" ... to which the current perimeter-oriented Wisconsin team says, "Perfect!"

Keaton Nankivil is coming off a very efficient game against Penn State, but had trouble staying on the court (foul trouble) against Purdue in Madison. He needs to turn the tables on JuJuan Johnson and Co. this time so that Bo Ryan is free to go small. Otherwise, the battle of the boards will get ugly.

I see Ryan Evans being the X-factor, along with Nankivil, to keep Wisconsin in the game. If the game is tight in the end, it will be time for another miracle finish from the three-guard -- no wait, four-guard -- circus that Bo is leading.

Wanted: Power Forward

Despite Jon Leuer's broken wrist, at least Wisconsin beat Purdue, proving that national respect for the Badgers is warranted. But what if Leuer had gotten injured in the Michigan State game? People would have been jumping out of windows with that news. Leuer, the team's leading rebounder, was just about the only big body who showed up against the Spartans last week.

Even before Leuer got hurt, the power forward/center position was in need of improvement. One remedy for the unsightly rebounding situation in the Michigan State loss could have been a motivated Keaton Nankivil. Laying blame at any one player's feet is usually irresponsible, but Nankivil, one of my favorites, simply has to be called out. Wisconsin's other junior big man suffered through his worst performance of the year last against the Spartans and it didn't get any better against the Boilermakers beyond his highlight reel dunk sequence.

Wisconsin cannot survive the loss of Leuer without improvement from Nankivil. In East Lansing, Nankivil was routinely beaten for rebounds and got caught in defensive positions where he would recover just in time to bump into a Michigan State player. He didn't alter any shots or establish position; he would just slide in late to pick up cheap fouls that get called every time. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was trying to pick up fouls. As a result, Nankivil picked up three fouls, two points and one rebound in 15 minutes of play.

I was hoping a more dialed-in Nankivil would channel his performance from last year's Purdue game, but there he was on Saturday, playing even fewer minutes (10) after picking up two quick fouls five minutes into the game. At least one came when going after an offensive rebound, which is interesting if you look at Nankivil's stats ...

Through 16 games, Nankivil is averaging a little over 22 min/g. With the small samples sizes we have, there seems to be a small correlation between offensive rebounding and fouls committed:

Minutes		Games		ORebs		ORebs/Min		DRebs		DRebs/Min		Fouls		Fouls/Min
10-19		(5)		10		0.141		8		0.113		14		0.197
20-25		(5)		3		0.027		11		0.099		10		0.090
26-34		(6)		15		0.086		23		0.131		15		0.086

Here's two quick thoughts: One, Nankivil may come out too aggressive sometimes (imagine that!) in a desire to hit the offensive glass and needlessly picks up extra fouls, which lands him on the bench. Two, maybe by going after more offensive rebounds (and often succeeding), perhaps Keaton puts himself at a disadvantage when the opponent gets the defensive rebound and pushes the ball up court, translating into more times where he is in a poor position defensively ... playing "catch up" if you will.

Regardless of my thinly supported hypotheses, you want your best players on the court. So Nankivil must play smarter so he can get into a rhythm. He has arguably the sweetest stroke out of anyone on the team. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the back-to-the-basket game that Leuer does.

That is why the stage belongs to Jared Berggren. The redshirt frosh has not really experienced Big Ten basketball yet, but he needs to realize some of his potential in a hurry. If Berggren is ready to go, his minutes will skyrocket because he has the potential to be Wisconsin's best remaining weapon in the post. An inside presence will have to emerge or else opponents will be draping themselves all over the Badger guards.

Along with Berggren, two other young guys must step up. Like Nankivil, Ryan Evans needs to cut down on his fouls, but can bring a new dimension to the floor. Freshman Mike Bruesewitz needs to maintain the rebounding prowess he has flashed in limited minutes over a longer period of time.

Michigan State Outslugs Wisconsin

The game was pretty easy to figure out: the home team won. Or to put it slightly less vaguely: two teams played good defense and shot poorly. The more aggressive team emerged victorious.

Michigan State is most comfortable in the aggressor's role and Wisconsin never forced the Spartans out of that position. Two obvious examples are rebounding and free throw shooting.

For starters, the Spartans were allowed to crash the boards unhindered in most cases, out rebounding the Badgers 28-23 overall. It was frustrating to see MSU get second chances all the time (10 offensive rebs), just by being hungrier for the ball and having the skill to acquire it. Wisconsin's big men have a ways to go collectively. Secondly, while both teams shot the same percentage on freebies, MSU outscored UW by 12 points by stepping to the free throw line 30 times. [box score]

It was a tough, hard-fought battle between the Badgers and Spartans. Both teams were held far below their average efficiency numbers on offensive. For this I applaud the defense on each side more than I care to insult the shooters.

Though Michigan State managed to still be more efficient than the average Badger opponent, Wisconsin was less efficient that the average Spartan opponent so far this year. It was easily the least efficient offensive performance of the year for UW, surpassed by only the Xavier and Duke losses in the previous two seasons. To compound matters, the Wisconsin's shot selection (21.7% on 23 3-pointers) played right into Michigan State's hands. So it seems Bucky brought out the best in Michigan State defensively.

I was impressed by Michigan State's big sophomore Draymond Green, and also junior Chris Allen, who had a rock solid game for Tom Izzo. On Wisconsin's side, Jon Leuer proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is for real with those 18 second-half points. Also, based on the replays I feel like Trevon Hughes' ankle should be good to go next game. I don't think the ankle injury had a whole lot to do with this particular loss.

On the Stove Top: Media Day Edition

Edited 10/22 to include Media Day videos & additional content
Wednesday was Media Day, so folks got to ask Bo some questions after his first few practices of the season. We know what to expect Bo to give the media at this point: nothing specific. He said that practices have been very competitive though.

Two small things stood out after seeing video of the session. First, Bo was asked if he has been able to identify this early who the defensive stoppers might be on this year's team. He talked about Jordan Taylor and Tim Jarmusz specifically. No mention of Rob Wilson, which was slightly disappointing to me. Secondly, Bo said that the staff pointed out to both Jon Leuer and Keaton Nankivil that those players were not exactly where the team needed them to be physically last year. It seems the two guys have responded. The coach noted how Nankivil in particular "blew up" the Hill this off-season. Leuer says he has bulked up [video] to 228 lbs. (up from 190 as a freshman):

"I've put on about 15 pounds. Playing in the Big Ten, it's a physical league and there are a lot of guys that are bigger and stronger than you are, so you have to deal with that. If you haven't worked to get stronger, you're going to get pushed around. That was a major emphasis for us this offseason--getting stronger in our legs and core so we couldn't get bumped around, especially in the post."

Some early season previews have the Badgers falling well out of the Top 25 this season, but often still as a tournament team:

• #40 by Rivals
• #36 by CollegeHoops.net
• 7th in the Big Ten by Jeff Goodman at Foxsports
• 10-seed by ESPN's Joe Lunardi

: : :

UWBadgers.com has profiled the team's two redshirt freshmen, Ryan Evans and Jared Berggren, leading up to the new season. Nothing hard-hitting, but it's still twice as much as you've heard from either of them so far.

The Sports Bubbler also posted video interviews with all the non-seniors from Media Day and I picked out a few in addition to Leuer's that were interesting. Berggren was named the player to watch by most of his teammates. To see the whole video series, visit SportsBubbler.com.

• Ryan Evans: profile / interview [video]
• Jared Berggren: profile / interview [video w/Mike Bruesewitz]
• Jordan Taylor: interview [video]
• Rob Wilson: interview [video]
• Ian Markolf: interview [video]
• Keaton Nankivil: interview [video]

: : :

Illinois Wolves director Mike Mullins spoke with Talking Illini yesterday and they discussed the Diamond Taylor situation for about three minutes or so [audio: start at 38-min mark]. The comments from Mullins reinforced that Taylor's dismissal was handed down from above Bo Ryan and the Athletic Department. The interview covers Chasson Randle also, whom Mullins says is no longer accepting scholarship offers, so his decision is creeping closer. Wisconsin is not expected to be a finalist for Randle's services at this point.

: : :

Speaking of the Class of 2011, a few of the high school juniors who have drawn interest from Bucky decided to verbal to other teams today. Luckily, nothing heartbreaking, but Villanova and Penn State will both be getting nice players.

Removed the following prospects from the recruiting sidebar:
: : : Class of 2011
SG Achraf Yacoubou, New York [s] [+] [+] {Villanova}
PG Trey Burke, Columbus OH {Penn State}

Ding-Dong, The Streak Is Dead

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow on Monday, predicting six more weeks of winter, but I am calling shenanigans. The "Deep Freeze of 2009" began to thaw tonight as Wisconsin closed out a big home win against Illinois to snap a ridiculous six-game losing skid.

I had a good feeling this week about the Badgers catching a break against the Illini due my reservations about Illinois' guard play. Those hopes were realized in a game where a Badger opponent was finally the one suffering from ice cold shooting. Illinois will have no complaints about the number of open shots it took. With center Mike Tisdale in foul trouble, Illinois had to rely on more outside shooting, which never materialized after a couple of early Demetri McCamey buckets. Illinois sank only 4-of-21 on threes. [box score]

You can attribute some of Illinois' 33% shooting to improved Wisconsin defense. For the most part, Wisconsin did a good job on the perimeter staying in front of penetration. McCamey was able to drive past Joe Krabbenhoft on a number of occasions, but the other Badgers picked up the slack to hold the Illinois sophomore to 12 points -- 13 fewer than he had in the previous meeting.

Wisconsin was impressive in the paint on both ends. With Keaton Nankivil sitting with a sore ankle, Jon Leuer got his first start. He and Marcus Landry combined to score 31 points and grab 12 rebounds. Jason Bohannon's hot start opened up the offense (funny how that works, huh?) so the post men could be aggressive going to the basket. This resulted in more free throw attempts for Wisconsin. More importantly, the Badgers made those bunnies that they worked so hard to get. Easy baskets and defense win games.

Though Wisconsin got pounded on the offensive boards, guys like Leuer, Landry, Krabby and Kevin Gullikson boxed out well so that those rebounds that Illinois did get were not automatically converted into gimmes around the rim.

If you compare the numbers from the Northwestern loss and this win, you realize that college basketball is just an odd thing. And it confirms that defense cannot really be measured, because Wisconsin did not all of sudden solve all of their defensive problems between these two games.




The Badgers shot better from the field and from the free throw line against the Wildcats than they did against the Illini. Wisconsin also outrebounded Northwestern, yet still lost. Really the only two areas where Wisconsin improved versus Illinois were turnovers and fouls.

The biggest bench contributions were Gullikson's post entries and Jordan Taylor's defense. Taylor also hit an important 3-pointer with about 12 minutes left to regain the momentum lost on J-Bo's missed dunk. If you count Tim Jarmusz, Bo Ryan went eight men deep. Rob Wilson saw three minutes and the team finally got to empty the bench again. A very good feeling ...

Beanie Baby Badgers

Tuesday night's game against Purdue is one of Wisconsin's most important games in years. The momentum that has raised expectations over several seasons is on the verge of crumbling. The aura of invincibility surrounding the Kohl Center is fading. Onlookers are questioning the team's toughness. Beating the Boilermakers could restore the luster of the home court and make the statement that the Badgers will not ride silently into the sunset of this year's also-rans.

Then again, Wisconsin is in the kind of trouble that one game cannot fix. The last time the Badgers lost four games in a row was the final four games of the 2005-06 season, when UW went one-and-done in both the Big Ten and NCAA tournament. Despite RPIforecast.com projecting Wisconsin's final RPI to be in the top 40, the program is riding the worst Big Ten losing streak of the Bo Ryan-era.

The general consensus to start the year was that this was one of Bo's most talented teams from top to bottom. Wisconsin returned four experienced upperclassmen who contributed to back-to-back 30-win campaigns. So was everyone wrong about this team's talent? Does this bunch of players just not have the proverbial it?

One thing most people can agree upon is that Wisconsin has regressed defensively. The Badgers have an adjusted defensive efficiency rating much lower than in the previous two seasons, currently ranking 70th rather than in the top ten according to Ken Pomeroy's system. This places them in the middle of the pack in the improved Big Ten. In addition, bad positioning and perhaps a lack of inside size have led to UW committing far more fouls than usual, as John Gasaway's satire illustrates. In a related note, Wisconsin is shooting fewer free throws per field goal attempt and and scoring a lower percentage of its points from the charity stripe as well. The Badgers are taking the punishment, but not dishing out much themselves.

Once you accept these facts, it is easy to try connecting the dots from poor defense to less intensity, from lower intensity to a decrease in toughness. Even Bo questioned the hustle and toughness of his team this year. When faced with pressure, whether literal (UConn, Marquette, Purdue, Minnesota) or situational (Texas, Minnesota again, Iowa), Wisconsin's players shy away more often than they step up.

Take a look at the roster. Over the past two seasons, Wisconsin has bid adieu to one bonafide go-to player (Tucker), a streaky, fearless gunner (Kam), a tireless, lockdown perimeter defender (Flowers), a mobile, shotblocking presence capable of the occassional cheap shot (Stiemsma) and a fiery 7-foot former McDonald's All-American (Butch). Each of these players had a swagger about them. Several were true leaders and confident enough in their own abilities to take risks.

In case you missed it, Badger Centric took a fresh angle on what's been ailing the Badgers -- not enough bad shots from aggressive players. At the very least, an interesting thought. The current Wisconsin players appear uncomfortable stepping into the role of carrying a team on their back when needed. Balanced teams are great (see: 2007-08), but what you and I fear is a collection of highly-rated role players.

Having a team of skilled, "soft" players is not the only problem right now, but it cannot be swept under the rug. The toughest guy on the team is Joe Krabbenhoft, hands down. Krabby had an excellent game against Illinois, perhaps the only bright spot amidst terrible Wisconsin shooting. [box score] It is hard to spot any of his teammates playing similarly, however. I could make arguments for Tim Jarmusz and Kevin Gullikson possessing that intangible toughness and hustle, but neither is skilled enough to crack the rotation's top seven. That is a problem.

Jon Leuer is probably the most aggressive Badger offensively and you can see shades of that trait already in Rob Wilson. (Speaking of Wilson, Bo simply did not play the freshman enough against the Illini, which was inexcuseable in my mind. Wisconsin desperately needed his length and athleticism to slow down Demetri McCamey, as well as someone to shake things up on offense). In the starting five though, Trevon Hughes is the closest thing to a go-to guy and he's already been benched once this year. Marcus Landry and Keaton Nankivil are too laid back. Jason Bohannon is beyond laid back.

Collectively, Wisconsin has been forced out of its comfort zone. As a team and as individuals, the response has not been up to snuff.

Right now, I see a bunch of complimentary players. To turn the season around, Wisconsin needs to find some warriors.

A Big Night Ahead for the Big Ten

Just one more thought on last night's game before I make some picks for the remaining ACC/Big Ten Challenge games:

When an opposing player simply goes "en fuego" like A.D. Vassallo did, you can play all the great defense you want after he gets the ball and it just won't matter. In those rare times, the defense must shift to denying him the ball. I understand why Wisconsin did not, considering Vassallo was merely keeping the Hokies in the game for most of that time. It wasn't until the lead shrank in the final minute that he could actually win it for Virginia Tech.

What scares me is a combination of two things. One, I don't Wisconsin has a smart shutdown guy on the roster right now that could chase a taller shooter around if the Badgers really needed to cool a guy off. Secondly, Bo Ryan is far too stubborn in his straight-up, pack it in man-to-man defense to ever try something like that, even if it is completely logical.

On to the picks ...

With the Big Ten leading 1-0, Tuesday's games feature a few toss ups that the conference must win heading into the final five games on Wednesday if it hopes to topple the ACC. Enjoy the great college hoops feast, with all games being broadcast on ESPN's family of networks.

: : : Tuesday (Predicted winners in orange)
7:00 ET - Ohio State @ Miami. I think if this game was later in the year, I would pick the Buckeyes and the upset, but the youngsters at OSU have only played three real games together and a road win in the Challenge is too much to ask.
7:00 ET - Iowa @ Boston College. The Hawkeyes are bad -- I cannot believe freshman Anthony Tucker is Iowa's best player. Home team takes it.
7:30 ET - Clemson @ Illinois. A must win for the Big Ten. Clemson (7-0) started out hot last year too and of course it did not mean squat. In a clash of styles, I'd like to give Bruce Weber the benefit of the doubt, but the history of this series causes me to reconsider.
9:00 ET - Duke @ Purdue. Can Purdue out-Duke the Blue Devils with perimeter feistiness and outside shooting? I like the Boiler defenders better (Kramer, Jackson, Moore and Johnson inside) and there is no way Duke is the fourth-best team in the country.
9:30 ET - Virginia @ Minnesota. This is the only game I truly expect the Big Ten to win.

: : : Wednesday (Predicted winners in orange)
7:00 ET - Indiana @ Wake Forest. Blowout city. Sorry Crean!
7:00 ET - Michigan @ Maryland. Great matchup between two teams who are hanging their hats on big upsets in the early season. The Terps are reeling after two straight losses and John Beilein's funhouse offense and zone defense might be the ticket to a huge Big Ten win on the road (against my better judgment).
7:30 ET - Penn State @ Georgia Tech. I had this game earmarked for an upset alert until I realized that GT's "bad wins" (Mercer, Jacksonville) weren't all that bad. I think the Nittany Lions will give the Yellow Jackets tough run in a battle of two-word mascots.
9:00 ET - North Carolina vs. Michigan State @ Ford Field (Detroit). Every one is handing this game to UNC and I feel like a lemming today.
9:30 ET - Florida State @ Northwestern. Home court doesn't mean much in Evanston.

My count is another 7-4 win for the ACC, but there are few that can go either way for sure. Counting Wisconsin's victory, I am forecasting five wins by road teams. As long as Purdue can give Duke their first-ever loss, I will be happy.

Meeting the Challenge

The current joy of being a Wisconsin basketball fan is being able to see your team silence a turbulent home crowd with a game-winning shot in a big road game for the second year in a row. In a scene vaguely reminiscent of Michael Flowers' game-changing final sequence against Texas last year, Trevon Hughes calmly glided down the floor in a tie game and nailed a tough floater in traffic with less than a second left to beat Virginia Tech. The basket struck an opening blow for the Big Ten in its annual quest for national respect against the big, bad Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Badgers had been unable to corral VT's A.D. Vassallo during the second half as he single-handedly dismantled a fairly comfortable Wisconsin lead down the stretch. Vassallo's 3-pointer with seven seconds left sent the home crowd into pandemonium, yet distracted the team from organizing its full-court pressure and anything else other than token defense. That same pressure had given Badgers like Hughes, Joe Krabbenhoft and Jason Bohannon fits for the previous minute, allowing the Hokies to chip away.

Virginia Tech's momentary lapse (or more likely, a deliberate strategy) proved to be serendipitous, as Hughes was unimpeded in his progress down court. He even appeared to get fouled prior to his release. Following a brief celebratory reaction themselves, Krabby gathered the team quick enough to ensure VT got no easy looks at a half-court heave.

First and foremost, this was a great college basketball game. At last, I think even non-Wisconsin fans could agree that it was truly enjoyable to watch. All the elements were there: star power heating up at the right time (Vassallo), a valiant comeback by an underdog, a slighted team with a possible chip on its shoulder (UW), and both teams shooting the lights out.

It is time to embrace the Badgers as a team of shooters; last year was no fluke. Virginia Tech hit 11-of-15 from behind the arc and 26-of-51 (51%) overall from the field. Yet Wisconsin one-upped the Hokies by connecting on 12-of-18 3-pointers en route to 51.1% overall shooting. [box score]

Vassallo was the great Hokie hope in the end, striking from 30-feet out on a few occasions as he posted 24 of his game-high 30 points after halftime, thanks to six treys. I kept yelling at the TV that #40 was the only guy the Badgers needed to guard, yet he kept getting great looks. Oddly, he was best guarded on his final shot that tied the game.

UW really needs to tighten up its perimeter defense before league play starts, but the problem seems to be that guys like Bohannon and Tim Jarmusz have to allow quicker players a cushion so they do not get blown by off the dribble. This is where the development of Rob Wilson comes into play. Wilson, by the way, provided a great early spark for the team in this game.

Jon Leuer gets my nod for UW's player of the game. He sank both of his shots from long distance and showed the offensive versatility and aggressiveness that has had fans (and coaches) salivating for about a year now. Even his attempted put-back dunk that rimmed out had me out of my seat. Leuer finished with 17 points on 11 attempts to go along with six rebounds and two blocks.

Landry missed only one shot and finished with another studly line: a team-high 18 points & 4 assists, plus two more blocks. Lo and behold, J-Bo knocked down three treys after missing his first couple of open looks. A great night all around.

The elephant in the room of course is the "Big Donut" put up by VT's Jeff Allen. Hampered by a few ticky-tack fouls (and some even dumber, obvious fouls), Allen played only 15 minutes and had two points.

Had Allen not fouled out, I think the dynamic of the game changes and as crazy as it sounds, it may not have been as close. With Allen in the game, maybe Vassallo wouldn't have gotten a chance to catch fire. Marcus Landry was holding his own -- and more -- offensively with Allen doing all he could to slow the goggled one. Landry went wild from outside, hitting all four of his 3-point attempts. He did not have to worry about guarding Allen himself, though, as Keaton Nankivil picked up the assignment to begin the game. But no doubt, Allen's absence allowed guys like Leuer a reprieve on defense.

Savor the flavor: replay of the last 12 seconds [video]

Round 1: Defense vs. Excitement

Wisconsin is boring.

There. I said it. The thing I notice watching the first two days of the tournament is that all of the exciting games feature pretty poor defense. In a couple of these overtime thrillers, there has been no reason to believe that the team holding the ball in the end cannot just come down the court and make a basket. Connecticut needed one stop and couldn't get it. Drake needed one stop and couldn't get it. Both teams went home.

So when critics call Wisconsin boring, we get upset. But deep down we know it's true. However, Badger fans have been conditioned to value a slower tempo that wins and gets critical defensive stops over a faster pace that does not get those stops and may not win those games that are there for the taking. I think we all agree that the trade-off is a good one. That has been one of the more gratifying parts to the season for me. Except for the game at Purdue, UW has seized those victories that were up for grabs. Now I just need Wisconsin to keep rolling along and getting those stops to prove me right.

It only gets tougher from here though. Wisconsin was too big and too strong for Cal State Fullerton on Thursday, evidenced by its 47-20 rebounding advantage. Despite not clamping down on the Titans for the first six minutes or so, the Badgers held the Big West champs to 36% shooting. Offensively, at least the Badgers made it to 70 points. Purdue did its part in trying to shed the "plodding" conference perception that is so rampant by throwing up 90 points. The Big Ten started out 3-0, winning by an average of over 12 points.

Joe Krabbenhoft was quite impressive with the ball. He looked eager to shoot and was fairly accurate, even sinking a 3-pointer. The threat of Krabbenhoft is one of the few missing ingredients to this team's ultimate success. After firing some ill-advised threes in the first few minutes, the team settled down and got better shots. Wisconsin finished only 3-of-16 (18%) from behind the arc after appearing to be on pace to shoot 25 or more in the game [box score].

Greg Stiemsma gave the Badgers some very good minutes as well. Hopefully he is well-rested enough to face man-child Michael Beasley on Saturday afternoon. Kansas State, only 143 miles from its Manhattan, KS campus in Omaha, are the fourth-closest to home of any team in the tourney.

Round 1 data
How the Big Ten fared: 3-1*
(5)Michigan State 72, (12)Temple 61 [box]
(6)Purdue 90, (11)Baylor 79 [box]
(9)Arkansas 86, (8)Indiana 72 [box]
*tied with ACC for third, behind Big East (7-1) and Big 12 (5-1)

How the other #3 seeds fared: 3-0
(3)Xavier 73, (14)Georgia 61 [box]
(3)Stanford 77, (14)Cornell 53 [box]
(3)Louisville 79, (14) Boise State 61 [box]

My picks: 22/32 (69%)

Top moments:
1. Western Kentucky tops gun-slinging Drake on Ty Rogers' buzzer-beater in overtime. Ultimately, the Bulldogs needed one more of their 42 3-point attempts to go in. While Adam Emmenecker was spectacular (14 assists) without making a single field goal, Hilltopper point man Tyrone Brazelton was even better -- 30 points and the game-winning assist.
2. Stephen Curry dropping 30 of his tournament-high 40 points in the second half of Davidson's upset win over perennial underachiever Gonzaga. Curry hit 8-of-10 3-pointers even though the entire stadium knew he was going to get the ball and try to shoot on each possession.
3. Belmont takes Duke to the limit. Gerald Henderson's drive to the hoop in th waning seconds helps the Dukies avoid perhaps their most embarrassing loss under Coach K.
4. Point guard A.J. Price leaves the game on crutches in the first half and then watched from the bench as his UConn teammates fall to 13th-seeded San Diego in overtime.
5. Top seeds dominate. UCLA holds Mississippi Valley State to a record-low 29 points on Thursday, followed by North Carolina hanging 113 points on Mount St. Mary's.

February Fever

So, the Super Bowl is over and spring training is a month or two away. That means hoops is now the apple of the media eye. That fortuitous for the Wisconsin Badgers, who staggered through the non-conference schedule but now find themselves in the top ten once again.

Wisconsin has been a formidable foe in the Big Ten conference every year under Bo Ryan. Just because the conference is reputed to be in the dumps does not seem to bother this team. Despite a loss to pesky upstart Purdue, Wisconsin is in position to finish first or second in the league for the fifth time in the last seven years. The team continues to get props from Ken Pomeroy. He has Wisconsin ranked fifth and still predicts UW to win the Big Ten with a 15-3 record.

Heading into Iowa City tomorrow (not a gimme), Wisconsin already has run its streak of 18-win seasons to 10. The Badgers are doing it with a defense that has stifled its last two opponents, Indiana and Minnesota. Wisconsin held both teams to their lowest offensive outputs of the season. The team defense is noticeably good when you watch the games.

In past years, I have been most frustrated by the Badgers in two areas defensively: getting schooled on the pick and roll and not closing out on wide-open 3-point shooters. The big men (including Krabbenhoft) have been doing an excellent job at hedging out picks and screens at the top of the key. Each player is capable of not only blocking the immediate drive, but turning the ball handler back and still recovering to their own man. You have to give a bit of credit to the guards for doing their part consistently also. As for leaving shooters wide open, Minnesota had plenty of great looks on Sunday that the Gophers just could convert. Overall, however, UW is light years ahead of where it was a couple of months ago.

Who would've thought after the Duke debacle that Bo would have this same Wisconsin team ranked eighth in the country?