When Sam Dekker told the Badger Twitter universe that Wisconsin did not run much offense from 2013-2015, a period where UW went to two Final Fours, a lot of us were certainly surprised. It actually makes sense when you take a step back. They knew each other so well that they did not have to run sets or make things more complicated than they needed to be. Here are Dekker’s words on Twitter:
since it’s still March madness I wanted to share something. our ‘14 and ‘15 years everyone talked about how well we ran “our offense”. truth be told, we didn’t run ANYTHING. just 5 guys that knew how to play off each other and cut a lot. This is all improv here. pic.twitter.com/NGgIxti1ld
— Sam Dekker (@dekker) March 28, 2020
The former Badger star was also a part of one of the best offensive clinics that UW fans have ever seen. The Badgers dominated the Baylor Bears in the 2014 Sweet Sixteen on both sides of the floor, but the clinic on offense against the Bears’ 1-3-1 matchup zone was specifically amazing to watch. Baylor had been a team that had split between man and zone through the first half of 2014, but strictly played zone for the back half of the year. Wisconsin had them into a man-to-man before the first half was over. What genius x’s and o’s had the Badgers making Scott Drew and the Baylor zone look like a YMCA 2-3?
our “zone” offense lol. hit frank or Ben and go where the defense isn’t
— Sam Dekker (@dekker) March 28, 2020
Turns out not too much. It was simple basketball, but it was also beautiful basketball. The Badgers held a 29-16 lead at halftime and never looked back. One possession in the second half, that former Badger guard Ben Brust told BadgersWire was one of his favorite of all time, summed up most of the night. The patience, the execution, the trifecta:
[wpvideo OIhXVdkK]
Wisconsin went on to a 69-52 win in a game that felt over from the opening tap. The Badgers may have not reinvented the wheel with their zone offense, but it was a thing of beauty in its simplicity.