The Wisconsin basketball team walked away from a big game at home against the Washington Huskies with a win due to a team effort.
While some games may technically be won by the leading scorer on the winning team, the Wisconsin basketball team spread the love against the Huskies. Four players scored double-digit points (Blackwell, Amos, Tonje, Crowl) against the Huskies as the team had 15 assists and 41 rebounds. While John Blackwell led the team with a 24-point, ten rebound double-double, the performance of the team all-around was what allowed for such a large margin of victory.
Wisconsin Basketball Defeats Washington After Taking the Shots They Want
Often in college basketball teams need an identity, and for awhile the identity of the Wisconsin basketball team this season was star guard John Tonje.
Tonje is a do-it-all guard who is most well known for his crafty and creative offense that has led the Wisconsin Badgers to multiple wins this season. While Tonje has been a catalyst for the Badgers, the guard will be the first person to say that he is comfortable doing whatever the team may need each night to win.
The performance of Tonje against the Huskies is a perfect example of how the Wisconsin basketball team is benefiting from having plenty of possible contributors. Against Washington, Tonje shot just 4-of-10 from the field and 1-of-6 from long-range, but made an impact by getting to the line and creating space for Blackwell.
Wisconsin dominated start to finish against Washington in part due to the relaxed, calm approach of veterans like Tonje who are looking for the highest value play. Tonje was often double-teamed or faced help defense but still found a way out of the sticky situations that come with being the leading scorer.
The performance of Kamari McGee would also be a great example as the guard stepped in for the injured Max Klesmit and provided the team with the needed spacing. McGee is a shifty player who provides small, yet valuable things on the court that most statistics cannot truly capture. A perfect example of this against the Huskies was the press defense and the speed of McGee that cause disruptions in the Washington offense.
Can the Wisconsin Badgers Basketball Team Continue Unselfish Approach Moving Forward?
Typically when a team has a true scoring presence like Tonje, the Wisconsin basketball team would be pushing to feed the guard the ball. However, Wisconsin may have more success moving forward with the unselfish approach that has recently been displayed.
A season ago, the Wisconsin basketball team was led by high-flying guard AJ Storr in addition to Chucky Hepburn and Tyler Wahl. Wisconsin has admitted that the team will follow a “hot-hand” approach often, but said approach felt too forced last season between bad shots being taken and open players being missed.
This season, however, the Wisconsin offense is led by Tonje who feels as though giving the ball to the best shooter in a given situation is the correct approach.
As Coach Greg Gard pointed at in the loss to the Oregon Ducks, Wisconsin “settled” for far too many shots that the players typically would not take if given a choice. Sometimes taking the correct or the best shot on the floor means dishing the ball around rather than feeding it to the current leading scorer in a given game.
While having someone like Tonje who has the side of him where he can score at will is a great bonus, the high IQ play of combining player, shot type, and situation together will be what sets the Wisconsin Badgers apart.
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