It’s safe to say Wisconsin basketball has had an awful last five weeks. After entering the month of February 16-4, the Badgers are 2-7 in their last nine games. They only have two regular season games left this week. Next week is the Big Ten Tournament and then the NCAA Tournament in two weeks.
The defense continues to be a massive problem for this team,. While Wisconsin basketball is running out of time, can they still fix this and go on a run this late in the season? Here is why they can and why they can’t.
Why Wisconsin Basketball Can Go on a Run
Despite the skit over the last month plus, Wisconsin basketball has only been blown out one time. That was at Rutgers on February 10 when the Badgers lost by 22. They get another shot at Rutgers at home Thursday. I do expect them to avenge that loss.
In these other games, it feels as if a few possessions when the other way, the Badgers would have won those games. One example is against Nebraska. Yes, Wisconsin basketball went cold in the second half, but the Cornhuskers needed every shot to fall and it did. If C.J. Wilcher does not go crazy from three and Rienk Mast does not hit a step back three with Steven Crowl in his face, Wisconsin wins that game.
The offense goes away at times and the defense has been brutal, but if a few possessions go Wisconsin’s way, we might not be having the same conversation today. They have been right there in just about every game.
Why Wisconsin Basketball Can’t Go on a Run
By this time of the season, you are what you are and it’s usually too late to fix what hasn’t worked. We know Wisconsin basketball is struggling on defense and they are not playing well on the road. Assuming the Badgers lose at Purdue Sunday, they will have ended their road schedule at 3-9 and losers of their final six road games.
It also seems like Wisconsin basketball head coach Greg Gard does not trust his bench and would rather run his starters. A lot of these losses have been with limited bench minutes. Gard won’t change now, but he should have tried something a few weeks ago. I have been a Gard supporter since day one, but I think this is potentially a big mistake from him.
Maybe the NCAA Tournament changes things a bit. Maybe if the Badgers see a different conference and different opponent it begins to click. Outside of Purdue, Illinois, and Iowa, some of these poor defensive performances are against teams who are not making the NCAA Tournament and have poor offenses. If you struggle against Rutgers and Michigan’s offenses, why would we expect that to chance in two weeks?
We have also heard from players about what they need to do and they need to improve on defense. We also have heard that for the last few weeks and little to no improvement has been made. Again, it’s rare to fix things now so I would not expect that to drastically change.
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