No member of the Wisconsin basketball team will go on record saying they are thinking about the possibilities that loom ahead in the NCAA Tournament, and perhaps they haven’t given it any thought.
But you can bet this two-game stretch against Northwestern and Minnesota will be on every future opponent’s scouting tape for how to derail the Badgers, and it is an issue UW may want to resolve sooner than later.
The reason? Despite possessing a strong shooting lineup and multi-faced guards, Wisconsin can’t seem to solve zone defenses.
Against Minnesota’s packed-in 2-3 zone last Thursday, the Badgers managed only 52 points on 30 percent shooting, and more importantly, got to the free throw line only seven times.
Sunday, UW scored a strong 70 points and shot 50 percent for the entire contest versus the Wildcats, but were exposed offensively in the second half, hitting only 26 percent of their shots, including a six-minute stretch where Northwestern trimmed the lead from 14 to 3.
Playing in an extended 1-3-1 zone, Northwestern kept the Badgers tossing the ball around the perimeter, rarely allowing a UW guard to penetrate and collapse the zone.
“We started out in a match-up and they hit their first [six] shots, so we had to change that,” NU head coach Bill Carmody said of the first half. “I thought we just needed to be more aggressive coming from the wings…we had the chance, and I think [we] did a pretty nice job.”
The mutating 1-3-1 — sometimes it trapped aggressively, sometimes they shielded towards the middle — forced Wisconsin into turnovers helping Northwestern back in the game.
Finishing the game with nine turnovers (a respectable number), the most concerning fact was how the three starting guards accounted for nine assists and nine turnovers combined.
Still trying to incorporate forward Jon Leuer back into the lineup, the UW offense seemed hesitant at times for how to attack the zone defense.
“I think defensively they changed some things which we expected, that’s what the scout team was doing the past couple of days. If you get tentative against what they do, the shots get a little bit tougher,” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “We went through quite a stretch there where we just weren’t getting shots where we were stepping into our perimeter shots or touching the post enough.”
Leuer on the verge
Sidelined for nine games with a wrist injury, Leuer returned against Minnesota with mixed results. Though Leuer appeared solid on defense matching up with the Gophers, the junior forward missed 10-of-12 shots and lacked his usual aggressiveness around the hoop.
Seeing 22 minutes of action in his second game, Leuer played much more efficiently totaling 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting while collecting four rebounds. Though the team still seemed unsure of how often to have Leuer touch the ball in the post, his presence was much more of a help than a hindrance this time around.
“Anytime you have been away from the game for five or six weeks, it’s an adjustment coming back,” Leuer said. “Every day I’m just trying to get better and get in more of a rhythm with this team.”
Although Leuer still may be trying to regain the flow of the game on the offensive end, the Badgers’ tallest contributor made an immediate impact protecting UW’s hoop.
Leuer finished the game with three blocks, including a game-sealing block swiping Wildcat Michael “Juice” Thompson’s layup attempt in the final seconds.
With Keaton Nankivil the only true Badger big man playing with Leuer out, the addition of a 6-foot-10 body to the middle of the lane should help fortify UW’s defense.
“It’s very nice having a big that’s long and can go up to block shots,” senior guard Jason Bohannon said. “If we get beat off the dribble, which Coach doesn’t want to happen, but if it does then we have some type of recovery which is really nice to have.
“Jon did a very good job coming over from the weak side today and he got some very good blocks.”
