MADISON, Wis. -- To all the fans and pundits who last
month pegged this Wisconsin basketball team as just another slow, boring,
defensive-oriented Badgers unit of years past, would you care to rethink that
decision?
Four games into the season, and Wisconsin resembles little
of the successful outfits that have come through during coach Bo Ryan's 13-year
tenure. The Badgers, 4-0 and ranked No. 12 in the country, are still winning
games. But they're accomplishing their goals in an entirely different manner.
No, this isn't your older brother's Badgers team.
Consider that Tuesday night's 103-85 victory against North
Dakota at the Kohl Center represented the highest-scoring game for Wisconsin in
nearly 18 years. Wisconsin topped the 100-point mark for the first time since a
105-70 victory against Eastern Illinois back on Dec. 28, 1995 -- six years
before Ryan became head coach.
The Badgers' previous high at the Kohl Center was a 99-55
victory against Prairie View A&M on Nov. 14, 2010.
You could say hitting triple digits is an aberration -- led
by center Frank Kaminsky's program-breaking single-game scoring record of 43
points. But Wisconsin also found a way to score 86 points in an 11-point
season-opening victory against St. John's, and the Badgers clearly have the
ability to score in bunches.
This year's Wisconsin team is unique because Ryan is
starting a three-guard lineup intent on pushing a far greater pace than past
seasons. Even the Badgers' bigger starters -- forward Sam Dekker and Kaminsky
-- are more comfortable running the floor. At times during Tuesday night's
victory, Ryan even used a four-guard lineup.
Wisconsin is averaging 68.0 possessions per game, which is
the highest number during Ryan's Badgers tenure. Last year's possessions per
game was 62.3. The 11 seasons before that under Ryan looked like this: 59.1,
57.7, 60.3, 60.1, 62.4, 63.6, 67.0, 63.6, 61.7, 63.3, 64.8.
But the most impressive aspect of Wisconsin's higher tempo
isn't simply having more possessions. The Badgers are taking advantage of those
possessions. Wisconsin is averaging 1.17 points per possession compared to 1.04
per possession a year ago.
Additionally, Wisconsin ranks No. 14 in the country out of
347 Division I teams in 3-point shooting percentage (45.7 percent). Last year's
team shot 33.0 percent, ranked 225th nationally and was the worst perimeter
shooting team in Ryan's tenure at Wisconsin.
North Dakota coach Brian Jones said he believed the pace
began with Badgers starting point guard Traevon Jackson. The junior is
averaging 11.5 points per game, leads the team with 19 assists and finished
with a career-high eight assists against North Dakota.
"What I've noticed on film, when he's off the floor at
Green Bay, they play the typical style they're used to," Jones said.
"Probably play a little bit slower, a little more cerebral. But with him,
he forces the tempo. I think he starts it that way."
Through four games, Wisconsin is averaging 79.3 points per
game, which ranks 116th in the country. And though that number is sure to
decrease once the grind of Big Ten play arrives, the Badgers have a real
opportunity to be the highest scoring team ever under Ryan because no team has
averaged more than 71.1 points.
Here's a look at Wisconsin's previous scoring averages and
national ranking:
2012-13: 65.0 points per game (tied for 240th)
2011-12: 64.0 (261st)
2010-11: 67.9 (tied 200th)
2009-10: 67.1 (tied for 215th)
2008-09: 63.8 (tied for 261st)
2007-08: 67.3 (tied for 206th)
2006-07: 70.2 (tied for 142nd)
2005-06: 71.1 (tied for 121st)
2004-05: 67.4 (tied for 204th)
2003-04: 68.4 (tied for 195th)
2002-03: 70.3 (tied for 162nd)
2001-02: 67.0 (tied for 245th)
Ryan said he was comfortable with Wisconsin's pace of play,
provided that the shots were open. And there were plenty of open shots as the
Badgers made 35 of 59 attempts Tuesday (59.3 percent).
"It depends on how easy looks you're getting down the
floor and how fast they are," Ryan said following Tuesday's victory.
"We got open looks. We got good scoring opportunities. And when they
present themselves, you don't tell the players, 'Well, no don't take that
shot.' That's a good shot.
"There might have been three bad shots out of those 59.
There might have been three that I wouldn't want us to take again. So I think a
lot of that would depend on what kind of shots you're getting."
While some of the most experienced basketball fans could
have perhaps seen the increased scoring output coming given the Badgers'
personnel, few likely predicted the team's defensive efficiency would also
decrease so drastically.
Wisconsin is allowing 1.03 points per defensive possession.
Last year, that number stood at 0.90, and it has been 1.0 or higher only three
times in the past 12 seasons. The Badgers also have surrendered back-to-back
individual 30-point performances, first to Green Bay guard Keifer Sykes (32)
and then to North Dakota guard Troy Huff (37).
"We did play some bad defense," Jackson said
Tuesday night. "Their guy Huff, he hit 15-for-22, he hit some really good
shots. The shots that he was making and the other guards, they were hitting a
lot of floaters. And two-point jump shots, which is what we give up.
"It was a credit to them. We'll get better from it.
We'll just have to learn from it and move on."
Other defensive statistics indicate Wisconsin is light years
away from its teams of the past. For example, the Badgers have ranked in the
top 10 nationally in scoring defense in each of the past seven seasons. But
this year, Wisconsin is allowing 69.8 points per game, which ranks No. 144
nationally. The Badgers have never allowed more than 65.7 points per game under
Ryan.
These are Wisconsin's defensive scoring averages with Ryan
in charge:
2012-13: 55.9 points per game (tied for sixth)
2011-12: 53.2 (first)
2010-11: 58.6 (fourth)
2009-10: 56.9 (fourth)
2008-09: 59.0 (10th)
2007-08: 54.4 (first)
2006-07: 57.9 (10th)
2005-06: 65.6 (tied for 96th)
2004-05: 60.2 (12th)
2003-04: 57.0 (fourth)
2002-03: 59.3 (sixth)
2001-02: 65.7 (53rd)
Wisconsin returns to the court Thursday with a 7 p.m. home
game against Bowling Green, the second of three games in five nights at the
Kohl Center. And early returns suggest there could be plenty of reasons for
fans to attend.
"The good thing about this week, having three games, we
can put this one behind us," Dekker said after the North Dakota victory.
"We have a lot of things that we can correct. We've got two more games
coming up this week, so we can put this defensive performance behind us and get
better.
"Things can only get up. This is our fourth game of the
year. We have a lot to improve on, and I think we're going to do that."
That's a scary sounding proposition for opponents, who had
better be ready to play against the most entertaining and up-tempo Wisconsin
team in years.
