They’ve done it again. Every time the Wisconsin Badgers seem to be down and out, they pick themselves up off the mat and score a knockdown. Thanks to a thrilling victory over Michigan State in the “Izzone,” Devin Harris and the boys still have a chance at claiming their third consecutive Big Ten title. Granted, they need some help, namely a loss by the hottest team in the conference, but it is certainly not out of the question.
The Badgers have somehow managed to hurdle every obstacle that has been put in front of them this season. The 2003-04 campaign has been a case study in why Bo Ryan is one of the best coaches in college basketball. Just look at what UW has overcome.
Wisconsin was supposed to struggle offensively when Kirk Penney graduated, along with his 1,454 career points. So, what happened when the sharp-shooting Kiwi took off the cardinal and white for the final time?
Well, for starters Harris began plotting his dominance of the Big Ten. The term ‘step up’ is one of the most overused clichés, but in this case it absolutely holds true. Harris flat out stepped up. In addition to eyeing up another Big Ten championship, he also has his sights set on the conference scoring title.
This season’s Badgers have been anything but a one-man show, however. Mike Wilkinson has carried the lion’s share of the workload in the post offensively and defensively. Not that Wilkinson has surprised anyone, because honestly, when has he not risen to meet a challenge?
UW also had to replace one of the guys who was being counted on to help replace Penney in sophomore forward and all-around athletic freak Alando Tucker. After Tucker broke his foot in preseason conditioning drills, most people thought the best-case scenario was for Wisconsin to simply get by until Tucker returned, and then they could be a good team. They got by all right, sitting pretty with a 4-1 record when “the human vertical jump” returned to action against UWGB.
But just as Tucker began to regain his form of old, he fell victim to injury again, leaving a blowout win over Ohio never to return. Do the Badgers miss his rebounding, scoring and athleticism? Absolutely. But have they not allowed it to ruin their season. This is a team competing for a conference championship, after all.
Tucker was not the only Badger regular to don street clothes this season. Freddie Owens also joined the Wisconsin boot brigade, another expected contributor no longer at Ryan’s disposal. So what happened? Reserve sparkplug Zach Morley moved into the starting lineup and the Badgers kept rolling.
Then came what could have been the backbreaker: Boo Wade’s arrest and resulting suspension the day of the Minnesota game. The Badger response: a 38-point outburst from Harris and the return of a gimpy Owens to the starting lineup. The senior guard may not be the Owens of old yet or anytime this year, but you can bet he is leaving everything he has out on the court, to borrow another cliché.
Ryan’s swing offense is predicated on team play and interchangeable parts. Guards need to be capable of setting up shop in the post, and forwards have to be able to stroke the deep ball. That versatility and interchangeability have never been more apparent than in 2003-04. Owens and Tucker went down and in came Morley, Clayton Hanson, Ray Nixon, Andreas Helmigk and a resurgent Dave Mader. Outside of Harris and Wilkinson, the supporting cast has proven interchangeable.
Exactly who is on the court does not matter to Ryan, they are all cogs in the Wisconsin machine. Ask him about lack of size, and he’ll tell you a story about how he once had a 6-foot-2 center at Platteville who got every rebound through positioning and technique. That is not Bo ‘B.S.’-ing reporters, either. That is just the way he is. In his mind and in his system, it does not matter.
About a week and a half or so ago, this team was supposed to be in trouble. They were coming off back-to-back road losses to Illinois and Michigan. Their title hopes were fading fast. Another knockdown, and no one knew if UW would be able to recover. Well, they answered the bell, all right. Ryan’s Badgers got back on track with a home win over Penn State, then let the entire conference know they were back with a 82-46 stomping of Purdue. Gene Keady teams just do not lose like that.
After Tuesday night’s win, Wisconsin also demonstrated that — for the time being at least — their road woes are a thing of the past. In a hostile environment, in a pressure game, they came out and beat a very good team in a close game.
This team is mentally tough, plain and simple. And when a team is able to avoid all those distractions, it points to one thing: unbelievable coaching. Bo Ryan is from Philly and he coaches like that. And you know what else? His teams play with the same toughness and tenacity.
Oh, and let’s not forget about his recruiting. When he sets his sights on a player, the man simply does not lose him. While the team’s current stars, Harris and Wilkinson, are holdovers from the Dick Bennett era, the future of the Wisconsin program is in the hands of Ryan recruits Tucker, Morley, Brian Butch and those who have yet to step on campus like Greg Steimsma and DeAaron Williams. Simply put, Bo knows basketball, and his teams do not go down without one heck of a fight.
