NCAA Tournament: Ode to the Wisconsin Badgers

After the disappointing finish to what can only be described as an overachieving season, I decided to write an ode to the underrated Wisconsin Badgers. Hopefully this will help others like me who are looking to remember the true definition of team work.

Wisconsin didn’t start out with the team you watched them finish the season with. Brian ‘the Polar Bear’ Butch had a rocky start to the season from the outside.

Marcus Landry seemed to get better as the season went on. He started very still and almost afraid to take it strong, but by the end, he was the power man taking it strong whenever he could.

Michael Flowers was always the defensive thriller, but he was more afraid of his shot. Towards the end of the season and into the tournament, he began to trust his great shot and continued to make contributions to the team on both sides of the floor.

Joe Krabbenhoft and Greg Stiemsma both became more and more comfortable taking the ball outside and being able to stroke their shots, as well as pounding the ball inside.

Jason Bohannon, the amazing three point threat, showed us that he can take the ball inside as well as drain the big shot. In the final game against Davidson, Bohannon actually surprised me on a few plays with his versatility, showing me there is a bright future.

Finally, there is quite possibly the most improved player on the Badgers, Trevon Hughes. Trevon, in my eyes, was a young, inexperienced, skilled, overexcited and quick point guard. His ball handling skills are amazing, but he was turnover prone in the past.

I credit his maturation in large to coach William ‘Bo’ Ryan. Trevon, by the end of the season, was the lead ball handler and game pace controller. He allowed Wisconsin to play their slow, methodical and winning style of play all year. I, unfortunately, believe that Wisconsin’s exit from the tournament was due to Trevon’s absence in the game.

The beginning of the Badger’s season was sprinkled with the destruction of weak, inadequate teams. While these games do little to nothing for the Badgers, they do a lot for the opposing teams, so my props for scheduling these games to help out these other basketball programs.

The first real game of the season for the Badgers came against a less then average Duke team. Duke massacred Wisconsin 82 to 58 in a game in which Wisconsin strayed from their game plan and paid dearly for it.

This game, I believe, began the team building. When a team gets hurt that bad, they can either fall apart or bond together, and happily for us Wisconsin fans, it was the latter. A loss at home a week and a half later to in-state rival Marquette ended the Badgers' home winning streak, and the Badger’s record was 0-2 against good teams.  

From this point on, it was all good. The Badgers completed their in-state set of games by rebounding from the loss in a big way with a 22 point win over UW-Milwaukee and an 18 point win over UW-Green Bay. Next came a 10 point win over Valparaiso that helped lift team spirits as they traveled to Texas for the biggest game of their season so far.

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