Despite Wisconsin’s 97-55 decimation of the Cleveland State Vikings on Tuesday night, UW head coach Jane Albright realizes her team still hasn’t played to its full potential.
“I think there’s still some things we can work on,” Albright said. “We know what those things are.”
With only four regular-season final scores etched into this season’s record book, the Badgers have plenty of time to mature into “midseason form.”
As the team prepares for this weekend’s tournament in Arizona, however, a definite pattern has arisen in Wisconsin’s offense.
The Badgers’ low-post game has improved steadily during the season’s first two weeks, with senior power forward Jessie Stomski averaging 20 points and nine rebounds per game. But, UW’s outside shooting has been erratic, to the point where the conversion of a midrange jump shot has become a somewhat rare event.
Not that the Badgers even need to rely on jump shooting the way they’ve played defense the last two games. Their last three opponents ?? Cleveland State, Florida and Texas ?? surrendered 27, 26 and 25 turnovers, respectively. In those games, forwards Jessie Stomski and Tamara Moore each averaged more than 15 points.
With the struggling long-range shooting, Wisconsin’s offense has become a bit one-dimensional. Right now Wisconsin is draining almost 49 percent of its two-point shots. Behind the three-point arc, the Badgers have shot less than 31 percent
In the first 10 minutes against the Vikings, the Badgers didn’t drain a single bucket outside the paint. By the final horn, Wisconsin had scored 60 points in the paint, five three-pointers and 20 free throws.
However, even with all of this scoring when the game was over UW had recorded only one two-pointer from outside the lane.
This lack of long-range shooting was not unique to Tuesday’s game. These shooting woes were also exposed against Texas and Florida last weekend. Both teams held Wisconsin under 40 percent shooting, and the Badgers connected on only 11 of their 32 three-point attempts.
Rebounding for a win: Wisconsin was able to beat Florida 61-49 last weekend, mostly because they matched the Gators in rebounding. Against Texas UW was outrebounded 47-35. In the end the Longhorns escaped with a five-point victory.
What’s the message? The Badgers must solidify their rebounding and outside shooting to complement a productive low-post offense and a stifling man-to-man defense. In the swamp of the current Big Ten conference, where seven one-loss teams currently stand tied for first place, a few made (or missed) three-pointers could make a world of difference.
Upwardly mobile: Wisconsin has convinced at least one coaches’ poll voter to raise them in America’s list of elite teams.
“I’ll tell you right now that, as a USA Today Top 25 voter, I’m definitely moving the Badgers up in the poll,” said Cleveland State Head Coach Duffy Burns. “Stomski and Moore are the real deal. We knew that watching film, but they really showed us tonight how good they are as individuals.”
Burns also said he would keep his eye on UW as the season unfolds.
“I didn’t vote for them the first two weeks,” Burns said. “Once they beat Washington and Florida, I moved them to 23rd. If they win out this week [in the Arizona tournament], they’ll be in the teens with me.”
