Tonight I write not as a journalist but simply as a Wisconsin fan, a Wisconsin fan still unable to comprehend what the Badgers have for a 2012-’13 team. After knocking off No. 2 Indiana Tuesday, it seemed as if the sky was the limit. Wisconsin was 4-0 in Big Ten play and in the midst of a seven-game winning streak with Iowa the final opponent on a three-game “road trip.” The Badgers were alone on top of the conference standings and poised to move into the national rankings—potentially into the top 15 or 20.
Then the game started in Iowa City, Iowa.
From the opening tip—actually, more like from the opening defensive possession—the Badgers lacked energy. It would have been one thing to see UW shoot 22 percent from the field during the first 20 minutes (which they did), but it is an entirely different and far less excusable issue when that poor shooting is accompanied but a lack of hustle and defensive intensity. Ultimately, that lethal cocktail of awfulness put the Badgers in a 30-10 hole that proved simply too deep even for freshman guard George Marshall to climb out of.
Despite fighting an illness, I thought Bo Ryan and his staff coached a Brad Stevens-esque game in Bloomington, Ind. The game plan for the Badgers was flawless, and the in-game adjustments made—especially with regard to keeping Indiana sophomore center Cody Zeller at bay—were off-the-charts good. But when it came time to face Iowa Saturday night, the coaching staff did not seem nearing as well prepared.
First and foremost, Ryan allowed the deficit to reach 30-10 without calling a timeout. Now, I recognize that coach Ryan’s style is to let his players, specifically his seniors, work themselves out of funks, but Iowa was running them out of the gym before they even realized they were inside. There was zero rhythm offensively, the ball control was shaky at best, and the defense lacked any ounce of integrity when it came to rotations and to stopping penetration. A timeout was just begging to be called, and unfortunately it was simply too late by the time Ryan finally pulled the trigger.
Second, and I hate to beat a dead horse here, but George Marshall needs to be on the floor, especially when UW begins to struggle. Marshall is going to make mistakes—after all, he is a freshman, and freshmen have a tendency to do that. But for every mistake Marshall makes, he makes two plays. He is by far the most dynamic player UW has in the backcourt and, except for flashes from junior guard Ben Brust and sophomore guard Traveon Jackson, is the only guard capable of creating penetration any time he touches the ball.
After the win at Indiana, Jackson was getting plenty of praise. Don’t get me wrong, he was worthy of that praise for sure. Though he didn’t exactly light up the box score like many came away believing (3-for-9 from the field, 2 assists, 2 turnovers), Jackson hit clutch free throws and was stone cold on a big jump shot late when the Badgers were looking to put the game away. This was the second-straight solid performance for the once-maligned sophomore and seemed to mark the beginning of the end of UW’s backcourt inconsistency.
Saturday Jackson took regression to a whole new level. Against an energized Iowa defense the Westerville, Ohio, native fouled out with just 3 points on 1-for-10 shooting, adding just 1 assist and 2 rebounds. Meanwhile Marshall, his counterpart in the backcourt, nearly brought Wisconsin back all the way from that early 20-point deficit. Getting consistent playing time in large part thanks to significant foul trouble up and down the UW roster, Marshall took advantage and played without fear for the first time all year. That allowed him to open up his game and knock down 20 second-half points on 7-of-10 shooting, adding an assist to the stat line as well. So let the Rob Wilson comparisons commence.
Yes, once again we are seeing one of Bo Ryan’s most glaring weaknesses on full display. Ryan is one of the best coaches in the country, but he has an almost unavoidable tendency to lock in on his rotations early in the season, becoming unwilling to change things up when certain players fail to perform. Certainly Ryan will ride the hot hand, but it just seems that he does so reluctantly with some on the roster. Wilson was that guy last year, and unfortunately it appears like Marshall has taken his place.
The problem isn’t that Marshall doesn’t get his chances; it is that his leash is dramatically shorter than Jackson’s. Marshall is an aggressive player and is set up for failure each and every time he is forced to come into the game and remain mistake-free in order to avoid being sent right back to the bench. The disparity between Ryan’s leash on Marshall and his leash on Jackson is quite honestly holding the Badgers back at this point, stunting not only the players’ development as individuals, but also stunting the development of the team as a whole.
Having said that, this senior class is every bit as culpable as Ryan when it comes to the failure to develop any semblance of consistency in the 2012-’13 UW season. Tuesday night that senior class led the way in the upset of Indiana. Mike Brusewitz brought the energy from the beginning and both Evans and Berggren followed suit, making plays when UW needed them most. Although Bruesewitz brought that same energy again in Iowa City (he fouled out with 7 points and 9 rebounds), Berggren was nowhere to be found the entire first half, and Evans was largely non-existent the entire game. When Wisconsin needed its seniors to step up, they just flat-out didn’t do it.
Thankfully I am sitting here ranting while UW sits atop the Big Ten standings at 4-1. However, the next month consists of nothing but NCAA Tournament-caliber opponents, and UW’s good start to conference play means nothing if the Badgers are unable to keep it up. This team has talent, fight and has a coach who is better than anyone else on this planet at maximizing talent and getting a team to play to the best of its ability.
Losing to Iowa is getting old, but in splitting two difficult conference road games this is not a terrible week. Tuesday is the first day of class at UW-Madison, and hopefully it’s the first time Wisconsin fans will see in person what I saw this week in Bloomington. Having seen what this team is capable of and knowing how adept Bo Ryan is at getting the most out of his players, I see no reason why Wisconsin should not find itself in the thick of the Big Ten title race and comfortable when Selection Sunday comes around.
