The Wisconsin Badgers are in a far better place today than they were two weeks ago. Wins at Tennessee and Ohio State have significantly reshaped the nature of the season and its scope of possibility and potential. Wisconsin is headed in the right direction. The Badgers are displaying the characteristics they will need to maintain in order to get an NCAA Tournament berth. Greg Gard is showing, once again, an ability to take a flawed product in late autumn and turn it around in wintertime, after Christmas Day.
There is a lot of good news flowing from Wisconsin basketball. Yet, we can all see that the offense is going to continue to struggle. There might be a few nights in the Kohl Center when everything goes well, especially against the lower half of the Big Ten. There will be times when the Badgers put all the pieces together on offense, but if the season has taught us anything, it is that the offense will rise and fall.
There aren’t enough great shooters. There aren’t enough great dribble-drive slashers who can undress defenders and draw contact. We know this.
Yet, if Gard and his staff have a long-term project this season — not a quick fix, but something to continue to chip away at through March — it is the pursuit of an offense which can generate more trips to the foul line.
Wisconsin was 6 of 23 from 3-point range against Ohio State. The Badgers won in spite of that, and they also won in spite of generating just 10 free throws in the game’s first 39.5 minutes. Wisconsin hit 6 of 6 free throws in the final 30 seconds when the Badgers had carved out a lead and Ohio State had to foul. When Ohio State was leading, though, the Badgers didn’t regularly get to the line. Nate Reuvers was the one exception, earning eight free throws in the game’s first 39.5 minutes before getting (and making) four attempts in the final 30 seconds.
All in all, Reuvers earned 12 free throws while Wisconsin attempted 16. Two were for D’Mitrik Trice in the final 30 seconds, so in essence, non-Reuvers Wisconsin players earned two unintentional free throws in this game (when Ohio State was not trying to foul).
Imagine this: Imagine if Wisconsin’s regular free throw attempt number goes from 16 to 22. That might not seem huge, but let’s say that six-attempt increase leads to a corresponding increase of four made free throws each game.
Do you think four added points in the cutthroat Big Ten — every night — won’t matter? This is a team whose improving defense and inconsistent offense is likely to make UW a close-game magnet all winter. Four more points each night will go a long way.
This is one of Greg Gard’s biggest tasks: to get non-Nate Reuvers players to the foul line on a more regular basis. It could carry a far greater benefit than many realize.