Wisconsin's Offense Reaching Historic Heights Ahead of 2015 National Title Game

INDIANAPOLIS — Back in late February after a loss at Maryland, Wisconsin assistant coach Greg Gard started digging through his office in search of a highlight tape that included snippets from Bo Ryan's teams at Division III UW-Platteville in 1992 and 1995.

Ryan had unbelievable success at the Division III level, winning four national titles and going undefeated twice, including the '95 season. He used the swing offense that he still uses today, which focused on spreading the floor with shooters and moving the ball until a good shot emerged.

The coaches let the grainy footage run at a team film study after the Maryland loss—"It was way before HD or 3-D or any of those others Ds," Gard said—and Ryan and Gard sat at the back of the room marveling at the beautiful offense those teams ran.

"It got a point across in terms of touching the post, how simple the game can be, how to cut hard and move away from the ball, how to pass and catch, and really I think it was a little bit of a kick in the pants," Gard said. "The game was a kick in the pants too. But I think that reaffirmed some things. Let's get back to basics and be who we are."

The Badgers have not lost since, reeling off 11 straight victories on their way to Monday's national title game by scoring a preposterous 1.27 points per possession.

Wisconsin plays slow and ranks only 49th in points per game, but luckily the analytics age of college basketball has opened many eyes to the art of efficiency and one of the greatest offenses ever.

Wisconsin's adjusted offensive efficiency of 128.5—that's points per 100 possessions, adjusted based on strength of opponents—is the best mark in KenPom.com's database that goes back to 2002, and it's not even close.

	Adj. Off. Eff.
1. Wisconsin (14-15)	128.5
2. Michigan (13-14)	124.1
3. Wake Forest (04-05)	124.0
4. Missouri (11-12)	123.9
5. Ohio State (10-11)	123.3

The Badgers and the Blue Devils—third in adjusted offensive efficiency—are proof that offense can still have its way in a year that scoring was at an all-time low. 

How Wisconsin does it is simple: Put five guys on the floor who can shoot, pass and dribble. Take good shots. Make good shots.

"I think Coach puts you on the floor because you're unselfish," junior wing Sam Dekker said. "That's something he looks for. If you're willing to pass up some looks for better looks, that's obviously going to raise your level of play on the offensive end and make you more efficient." 

It also helps that Wisconsin has great talent. Better than Ryan has ever had in Madison. Don't be fooled by the infographics that show the hordes of McDonald's All-Americans at Duke and Kentucky and zero at Wisconsin. 

Ryan has two possible lottery picks in Frank Kaminsky and Dekker, plus two other future NBAers in sophomores Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig. Josh Gasser, Traevon Jackson and Duje Dukan are also future pros—just probably overseas. 

Dekker has been the best player in the tournament, averaging 20.6 points on 61.3 percent shooting. That's why you might as well throw out the 80-70 loss to Duke on Dec. 3. Dekker was not right in that game and scored only five points in 24 minutes. He had rushed back from a preseason sprained ankle. 

Now that he's healthy and playing with confidence, he's an impossible matchup with the speed of a guard to blow by bigger defenders and a 6'9" frame that can bully smaller guys in the post. 

"Sam's kind of like a track athlete," Gard said. "Everything's got to feel good, and I think when he's feeling good like he is right now through the last month, he's coming out of the blocks much better than he was back in November and December."

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Koenig is the other difference between December Wisconsin and the postseason version. Coming out of high school, he was recruited by Kansas, North Carolina and Duke, but he was stuck in a bench role until Jackson graduated.

A midseason injury to Jackson turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because it forced Ryan to put the more talented Koenig in the starting lineup. He is a better shooter and creator off the dribble.

That was fortunate. And so has been the emergence of Kaminsky, who was a 1.8-points-per-game scorer as a freshman and turned into the National Player of the Year.

Of course, there's a difference between luck and making your own fortune, and that's where the culture of the program and skill developed deserve credit.

Hayes, for instance, was one of the best isolation scorers in the country last year, but he was a non-threat from outside. He didn't attempt one three-pointer all year. The goal of Hayes' offseason was to improve his jumper, and he's made 37 threes and shot 38.1 percent from deep.

"That's very important and vital to the offense that we run," Hayes said. "The swing, as you know, is a four-out, one-in, but we kind of stray away from that. We just come down and we give the ball to Frank, and usually play off of him. What happens is, yes, Frank's the Player of the Year, so you better double him, or he'll score, and all Frank does (if you double) is pass the ball to the guys that are open.

"And then either stop doubling because you don't want to give up three because three is worth more than two, or you let Frank score 25-30 points. It's a pick your poison.

This in-depth answer makes the Badgers sound impossible to guard. Most teams have at least one weakness that can be exploited. 

But the Badgers do not have a weakness. Take a look at where their efficiency numbers rank in different play types, which helps explains the record-setting results. 

Play Type	Efficiency	Rank
Post-up	102.5	3rd
Isolation	105.2	1st
Spot-up	99.7	80th
P&R ball-handler	93.4	27th
P&R roll man	115.0	27th
Cut	131.6	5th
Transition	122.4	5th
Off screen	115.2	8th
Hand off	111.9	14th

Those numbers would suggest the best way to guard the Badgers is to pack the paint, hope they take spot-up jumpers and pray they miss. But in the NCAA tournament, they've seemingly fixed what could be construed as their one weakness. In five tourney games, they're scoring 1.14 points per possession on spot-up jumpers, which would rank fifth nationally over the course of the season. 

Another number that stands out in that chart is Wisconsin's transition efficiency. It's not that the Badgers want to play slow; they're just taught patience. 

"Our guys have always been comfortable scoring at the end of the shot clock," assistant coach Gary Close said. "It doesn't bother them. It's funny. It gets a lot of attention in the media as slow, but in my opinion, it's beautiful. It's smart. It's the way the game should be played.

"You can go down and get a shot anytime you want, but is it a good one? And if you're going to be an efficient offensive team, you've got to get good shots." 

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

When Kentucky lost Saturday night, the perception was that one of the all-time great teams had fallen short. 

Perception is reality, in this case.

Kentucky entered that game with plenty of records. The undefeated 'Cats had the best adjusted defensive efficiency in the KenPom era. They had the best field-goal percentage defense (35.2 percent) since the NCAA started tracking that stat in 1978.

But those records are no longer's Kentucky's, and it was Wisconsin's offense that took an eraser to the record book. 

Here's the beauty of the title game we do have: The narrative does not have to change. 

"Coming into the year, I thought (Wisconsin) would be the best team in the country," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "And pretty much they have been. You know, it's just that Kentucky's undefeated performance overshadowed just how good Wisconsin has been until last night, where there were no shadows anymore."

We still have a historically great team playing Monday night. Just one with a great offense instead of a great defense. 

C.J. Moore covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @CJMooreBR.