SPORTS
Ryan not worried following poor weekend
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by Dave McGrath
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
Coming off of a disappointing 69-51 loss at Northwestern this weekend, Wisconsin men’s basketball head coach Bo Ryan did not seem concerned about how his team would bounce back against Iowa and was looking forward to Wednesday night’s game.
“Well, [Iowa] is a team that just came off a big win,” Ryan said, referring to the Hawkeyes’ double-overtime 84-82 victory at Indiana Saturday. “They are playing hard, and they are playing well. Against Indiana — a tough place to play, and they came away with something … They know they can get it done.”
Ryan says he looks at the game against Iowa as he would any other game and is not caught up with any rivalry between Wisconsin and Iowa.
“Years ago, when I was at Platteville, I know I heard it was a heck of a rivalry. But for us, we gotta get on the floor and get some things done and get ready to play the next team. I can’t say it is anything more than any other team.”
Road Woes
Wisconsin is 2-4 on the road this season, but Ryan was not ready to make excuses for the team’s troubles away from the Kohl Center.
“If it doesn’t get done, you keep working to get it done,” Ryan said.
One of the problems dogging the Badgers on the road has been their lack of scoring balance, but Ryan was skeptical that the trend was legitimate.
“We don’t say going on the road that we are gonna have one guy score — that hasn’t been in the practice plan yet,” Ryan said when questioned on the subject. “A lot of things could be going on. Could be that a lot of the guys maybe don’t have as much experience. What kind of experience does Zack Morley have playing in the Big Ten? Ray Nixon, Clayton Hanson, Andreas [Helmigk]? Wisconsin’s got a lot of guys out there playing that don’t have a lot of experience. Maybe that is why their numbers [are down]. I don’t bother giving people excuses to use, though. Get it done.”
Owens’ injury
In two games since coming back from foot injury, senior guard Freddie Owens has scored only six points, raising concerns that he is still fighting the injury.
“I’m concerned for him from a coaching standpoint,” Ryan said. “But if you can’t do things with total confidence, yet you are cleared to participate, somewhere in your mind you have to overcome those things.”
“I’m concerned about him being able to relax and play and believe that everything’s gonna be alright.”
Ryan said that Owens’ presence on the court is invaluable, as he is the only senior getting significant playing time.
“How important is he? Well, you take all the time … over the years to be in position as a senior, to be the kind of contributor that you hope for,” Ryan said. “Some of that has gotten away because of the injury.”
Scheduling issues
The Badgers will play Michigan State on Tuesday, March 2 in a nationally televised game on ESPN. The Tuesday game means that the Badgers will play two games in three days, as they play Purdue the previous Sunday.
“How about that?” Ryan said about the short break. “I’ll just give you my wife’s answer when I told her this morning. That’s just like the NCAA tournament or the NIT or whatever tournament on the road in the preseason. You get a day of rest in between.”
Show time
ESPN’s series “The Season: College Basketball” will feature none other than the Wisconsin men’s basketball team over the next few weeks. A three-man crew will follow the Badgers beginning on Monday, Feb. 16 through the final regular-season game at Indiana in early March. Three half-hour shows will air on Tuesdays at 10:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2. The dates of the shows are Feb. 24, March 2 and March 9.
