The 20th anniversary of the 2000 Wisconsin Final Four team was celebrated this past Sunday. One could say that any Wisconsin team can draw inspiration from the Final Four teams of the past, given that the “Wisconsin Way” is such a clearly-defined and culturally obvious identity in the world of college basketball.
Rugged defense. Unselfish offense. Positionally sound play. Set screens and fight through opponents’ screens. Pass the ball without quick hoists. Be physical and don’t back down. Five as one on the floor. This is Wisconsin basketball as fans and outsiders have known it for 25 years, since Dick Bennett arrived. It’s not as though Wisconsin has ever had a team like 1991 UNLV or 1990 Loyola Marymount. The Badgers — even when they were especially potent in 2014 and 2015 — played the game their way. That isn’t going to change, nor should it on a broader level. Within games, Greg Gard needs to be willing to make specific adjustments and not insist on traditional methods, but over the course of 30 to 35 games, Wisconsin is going to be Wisconsin. Rightly so.
Yet, even though the Wisconsin Way is an enduring and reliable part of the landscape in Madison, it can’t be ignored that if any single UW team of the past 25 years is a good role model for the 2020 Badgers, it is that 2000 team.
Am I wrong?
There was no jump-out-of-the-building super-duperstar on that team. There was no cutthroat scorer on that squad, nothing akin to what Seton Hall has with Myles Powell, or what Marquette has in Markus Howard. The 2014 and 2015 UW teams had many capable players, but Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker took the program to the next level. Everyone knows this. The 2014 and 2015 Final Four teams bear comparatively little resemblance to the 2020 Badgers.
The 2000 team is by far the better comparison. The best detail (for me) which links the 2000 team and the 2020 team is this: The 2000 Badgers were 13-12 at one point in the season.
Remember that? Wisconsin was 13-12 on February 22. The Badgers were right on the bubble — in worse bubble position than the 2020 Badgers are now. UW then reeled off five straight wins, the two biggest ones being a narrow home win over Indiana in the regular-season finale, followed by a victory over a ranked Purdue team in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
Wisconsin arrived at the NCAA Tournament, and once it got there, it’s not as though it became a juggernaut. The Badgers did dominate LSU with their defense in the Sweet 16, 61-48, but the other three games were all grinders in which Wisconsin held opponents to 60 points or fewer and scored at least 64 points but no more than 66. The Badgers were relentlessly consistent on defense and did just enough on offense to get by.
Are we going to contest the notion that the 2000 Badgers are the ultimate role model for the 2020 squad? Seems like a great fit to me.