The revisionist historians and post-morticians of late March and April may well look back to the last day of January as the point at which the identity of this season’s Indiana Hoosiers was most accurately revealed. Trips to the red-swathed crucible that is the Kohl Center have a way of burning away the fog of hype and reputation. And when the smoke clears after forty minutes of battle at the house of Bo, what comes into stark relief is the naked truth about a visiting team.
For a few rarified teams, the truths born of Kohl are flattering and redolent of champions. For many others the answers found there are of the hard, unforgiving sort. Tonight will afford us a better understanding of these much-ballyhooed and league-leading candystripes. Are they a rightful heir to the Indiana tradition of excellence or do the losses to Xavier and Connecticut hue closer to the soul of these Hoosiers?
Elusive Identity
While the Indiana identity under Sampson is a mercurial one, what we do know at this juncture is that he has built a team whose fortunes are unduly reliant on a two-headed dragon of a wunderkind freshman whose allegiance to Hoosier basketball will be of the two semester and done variety and a four-year senior who has shown loyalty to the program despite considerable turmoil, fan acrimony, and two coaches.
When these two are performing at peak, foul-free levels, the Hoosiers can resemble a juggernaut. Predictably, when fouls arrive early to either of them as it did in both defeats, the Hoosier supporting cast has not always able to step productively enough into the void.
And while Gordon and White constitute an impressive inside-outside game, this is a squad skewed towards the perimeter that tends to a heavy reliance on jumpshooting percentages and one-on-one shot creation. Indeed, when D.J. hits the pine, 6′6″ Mike White and buffet-killing, shallow-lunged DeAndre Thomas are not commensurate alternatives and force the Hoosiers into what can be a fickle slash and jack offense.
Fortunately, the Indiana backcourters beyond Gordon are an impressive bunch of athletes and can be a difficult set of problems for defenses. Whether Wisconsin’s committed, well-taught defense will be among those overwhelmed by the athleticism of Gordon and his backcourt mates is one of the salient, if rhetorical, questions of the evening.
Even if Gordon and company can penetrate the first layer, there is a long and disciplined set of Badger frontliners to contend with. Suffice to say, E.J.’s NBA-deep jumpers and muscular dribble-drives will be well contested and D.J.’s night in the post will not be a lazy Alabama summer night at the fishing hole.
No Doubts About Badger Identity
While there are, despite the nifty record, still many questions about the Hoosier identity going into tonight’s contest, there is little doubt about that of the home team. With the loss of its two top scorers what was supposed to be a rebuilding year has them 16-3 overall, 6-1 in conference, and ranked 13th in the country.
These kind of down years are why the Kohl Center will be stuffed to the beams for the forseeable future. Bo Ryan has a program, fulsomely conceived and built from hull to masthead, that is a sum of parts organism. The players come and go, superstars, twenty-point scorers, and the NBA-bound among them, but the results remain stratospheric.
Butch As Exemplar of Bo’s Methodology
A player burdened by unreasonable and misguided labels out of high school is enjoying a senior year that is a testament to both his work ethic and the coach he so wisely committed to in 2003. Like all of the Badgers Brian Butch’s influence is not summed up by his team leading scoring and rebounding figures alone.
On a team of the kind of democratic spread where tonight’s leading scorer could be the next game’s third best scorer but leading assist man, rebounder, or defensive stalwart it is the small units of effort and contribution from the entire roster that are most defining.
Over his tenure Butch has been a typical Badger in finding instrumental, small ways to help his team whether by timely, momentum-changing bucket, smart extra pass, or a crucial defensive stop. And when the unique circumstances of a game or an off-night from one or more teammates necessitates it, he has also shown himself ready to make a more conspicuous contribution as his 20 points, 13 rebounds, and warrior effort down the stretch in West Lafayette on Saturday demonstrated.
And like all of Bo’s big men, Butch’s skill set and sphere of influence have grown each year. The Butch who arrived in 2003 and the one on display last Saturday are much different entities. Bo’s development of post-players, many with finite athleticism, is yet another compliment to his teaching and explains why well informed high school frontcourters continue to sign up for four years in Madison.
Chemistry 101
On teams of such cohesion and one-for-all cooperation as Wisconsin, every player assumes a level of importance that goes beyond the mere stats and enters the gray area of chemistry. Teams taught to think in a whole is greater than parts fashion come to depend on each other in a way that star-driven, less cohesive teams do not.
With this in mind, though last year’s Badgers appeared statistically to be star-driven in the person of Alando Tucker, the reality was another Bo Ryan team where each player from one to nine or ten deep into the rotation assumed an integral role in both chemistry and results.
The loss of Butch for the NCAA tournament didn’t suggest a major statistical impact, but from a chemistry, cohesion standpoint, it was a substantial blow and may go a long way towards explaining the earlier than expected exit from last year’s dance.
Kelvin’s Lingering Albatross
Kelvin Sampson can only hope Indiana’s continued winning and the NCAA’s heel-dragging keeps the impermissable phone call albatross, still circling above Bloomington, from landing and spoiling his free pass to date. If the Kohl Center experience goes appreciably south, the snark beginning to seep out of the fan base after the Connecticut game will surely grow louder.
This season, after all, with E.J. dialed into Cream and Crimson, was supposed to be a season of destiny. Anything short of that and the cracks in the Sampson limestone will not be so conveniently forgotten and easily abided.
