Between weathered fences and barren fields, through a Winter of grey skies and a remarkable volume of snow, the Wisconsin Badgers (24-4, 14-2) have shined. In a season that finds them once again atop the Big Ten heap after securing their fifth consecutive victory with a 57-42 win over Michigan State (22-6, 10-5), the Badgers demonstrated the efficiency and power of team basketball as well as what may be a perfect offense.
Pitch Perfect
In beating the Spartans, the Badgers controlled the pace of the game with trademarked defense and patience on offense, helped in large measure by a school record one turnover for which Joe Krabbenhoft dutifully accepted responsibility. The Badgers used a decisive 11-2 run late in the game to provide for the final margin in a game that was in actuality much closer on the scoreboard. However, the tenor of the game was managed by Wisconsin as the Spartans never were able to threaten the obstacles presented by the Badgers’ precision on both ends of the court.
Ultimately the Spartans were on the wrong end of a pitch perfect night in the Kohl Center and left Madison with more questions than answers. Now staggering into to a rematch with Indiana on Sunday, having lost three of their last five, including four straight road games, the window for a Spartan revival is beginning to close.
Workingman’s Red
Set to the cadence of a dribble, Ryan’s proprietary Swing Offense is blue collar poetry. Against Michigan State, the Badgers executed their offense with a surgical precision and patience that relegated the Spartans to the uncustomary position of flummoxed bystanders.
At its essence, Wisconsin’s Swing Offense is fluidity of players in motion and ball movement where everyone, from bigs Brian Butch, Greg Stiemsma and Marcus Landry to guards Michael Flowers, Jason Bohannon and Trevon Hughes (not to mention Hoopraker favorite Krabbenhoft) must competently play on the perimeter and in the post on any given possession. When working in concert, as they were against the Spartans, the Badgers are as smooth as a Rathskeller Ale on the Union Terrace.
As this year’s version of the Badgers makes clear, Ryan ingrains in his players the import of setting solid screens, cutting hard to the basket and passing ball. Unlike the Princeton offense or its derivatives as run by Northwestern’s Bill Carmody or Michigan’s John Beilein, the Swing Offense emphasizes delivering the ball to the post where the Badgers find high percentage shots or, at the least, an opportunity to get to the free throw line.
For example, when Hughes makes an entry pass to Landry, Butch or a host of others and after the defense has been forced to switch on account of all the ball movement, screens and cuts, the Badgers often find themselves the beneficiary of defenders out of position, out of their comfort zone or in mismatches. It presents a formidable challenge to the best of teams. For a thorough breakdown of the Swing Offense from an Xs and Os perspective, check out Coaching Better Basketball.
Getting Badgers
What makes Wisconsin’s Swing so enviable is its its versatility. As Ryan knows best, the Swing Offense requires disciplined, smart basketball players but not necessarily the glossy five-star recruit that makes a decent coach look better than he is. A look at Wisconsin’s roster and Ryan’s keen ability to stock his team with smart basketball players that meld naturally into the Badger program becomes obvious. While Wisconsin excelled with under the radar recruits such as Alando Tucker and Devin Harris before him who eventually developed under Ryan’s tutelage into All-Americans, this year’s version may be Ryan’s best yet, without any stars but complete with hardworking players who thoroughly understand their roles.
While Wisconsin’s Swing is effective using a variety of players, it is also effective against a variety of players from methodical Northwestern to athletic Indiana and Ohio State. Against man to man defenses that apply pressure, Wisconsin can take advantage of aggressive overplays. Against zone defenses, after cuts in the lane and several ball reversals and pass fakes, Wisconsin can attack before the zone shifts. It’s an offense difficult to defend, a pleasure to watch and worthy of emulation having proven its value in the gaudy win totals accumulated by Ryan from Platteville to Madison.
Son of a Butch
To many, the name Thad Matta resonates more loudly as the best coach in the Big Ten than the man who has the highest winning percentage of anyone who has coached basketball for 20 years or more, winning over 77% of his games. Perhaps Ryan’s 1950’s persona and classical approach to the game doesn’t light up the minds with the same glow as the athletic recruiting classes of Matta, Bill Self, Rick Barnes, or Bruce Pearl.
No matter for Wisconsin because the Badgers continue to play high quality basketball that wins games as well as the hearts of basketball purists. Through the inevitable transitions of season to season, Ryan succeeds through a consistent and concise set of basketball principles: take care of the ball, play defense, pass the ball and wait for the open shot. With these steadfast principles, Wisconsin is not only successful, they’re a pure joy to watch.
Waiting for Drew
As discussed on Spartans Weblog, Spartan Nation is understandably confused as to the culprit of Michigan State’s recent infirmity. In some cases, fingers are pointed in the direction of the coach, from questioning whether Izzo overreacts to player mistakes to whether the Spartan offense is in need of tweak here and there. What is certain, as viewed from the comfortable distance afforded by a fictitious shrink’s couch many miles from the Breslin Center, is the Spartans’ self-esteem appears too reliant on the mercurial shooting of senior Drew Neitzel.
Confidence is a fragile beast. Against Wisconsin, whether by Izzo’s design or by coincidence, most of the Spartans watched and waited with hope that Neitzel’s shots would start to drop through the nylon. They kept watching and waiting albeit futilely. With Neitzel hounded by his four-year nemesis Michael Flowers into a 1-10 bricklaying session, the Spartans conveyed a look of trepidation rather than aggression, particularly in the second half. The results that flowed translated into 42 points, another conference road loss, and a questionable state of confidence.
March Lion
As we enter March, the Spartans should have enough competitive players to surmount the inevitable ebbs and flows of Neitzel’s jump shot and the distances teams go to stop it. Whether the two most obvious candidates on the offensive end, Raymar Morgan and Kalin Lucas, assert themselves, will go a long way in determining the outcome of Michigan State’s season.
Still, if viewed in isolation, the loss at the Kohl Center was a loss to a team playing to the best of its ability before their home fans. But in the context of an IU blowout and an 10-5 Big Ten record, it’s difficult not to conclude, as many Spartan fans do, Michigan State is underachieving. If the Spartans are to reclaim their season in the next three weeks, the lessons of their losses must be appreciated while the page must be turned. It’s a delicate balance but their confidence depends on it as does their opportunity for redemption against IU on Sunday in the Breslin Center.
