Reflections on the Wisconsin Badgers’ loss to the Richmond Spiders.
Big-time college basketball played on national television at a neutral site just before Thanksgiving is not the same as playing pickup basketball on the playground in many ways. Yet, there is a basic principle about basketball, no matter where it is played, which applies to the sport and needs to be understood at all times. The Wisconsin Badgers hopefully absorbed that principle after losing to the Richmond Spiders on Monday night in Brooklyn.
That principle is simply this: When you miss a lot of long-range shots, take the ball to the basket. That’s it. That’s the tweet. If you miss 25-footers, create some two-footers or dunks, or at least some six-foot floaters. You can go back to the 3-point line at some stage of the game, but establish the ability to go to the rim and put the defense on its heels.
This isn’t a sermon on needing to play basketball inside-out, starting with forays to the tin and then kicking the ball out for threes. If one has shooters, there is nothing especially wrong or misguided about starting with 3-point shots to create drives to the basket on subsequent possessions. If the defense begins a game playing against the drive and allowing the jump shot, fine — you’re going to have to make some jump shots at some point. Shooters have to take them if given them.
However, if a team misses a ton of threes at the outset, it has to be willing AND able to go to the rack and collect foul shots. That is basic basketball. It is not a foreign concept or a strange notion to anyone who has played or watched the sport, whether on a playground or in an arena.
Very simply, Wisconsin missed 11 of its first 12 3-pointers against Richmond. The Badgers finished the night 7 of 27 from long distance. It is true that Wisconsin committed 15 turnovers, and that its offense simply didn’t function well against the Spiders. “Playing better” obviously fixes a lot of problems. Yet, this wasn’t just about “playing better.” This is more precisely about playing smarter and with more force.
If you’re going to struggle from 3-point range, you have to be able to formulate a Plan B. That Plan B when the long shots aren’t falling is to get to the foul line. Wisconsin generated only 14 free throws against Richmond. That is a problem. When threes don’t fall, someone has to be the alpha dog on the court and get two free throws against robust and vigorous defense. Wisconsin produced three players — Nate Reuvers, Aleem Ford, and Kobe King — who earned four free throw attempts, but no one earned more.
The next time Wisconsin shoots under 26 percent from three, the Badgers need to have 26 or more free throws as a counterbalance. That is a simple way of conveying the need to have a Plan B when shots don’t fall.
Wisconsin fell to the Richmond Spiders in the Legends Classic on Monday night. Here are the top three takeaways from the 62-52 loss.
Wisconsin was handed its second defeat of the season on Monday night, falling to Richmond 62-52 in the Legends Classic. Here are our top three takeaways from the game for the Badgers.
Wisconsin never had any business being in this game.
The Badgers certainly didn’t play their best defense of the season against the Spiders, who shot 46.4 and 35.3 percent from the field overall and long-range, respectively. Richmond guard Blake Francis torched Wisconsin with 19 points, many of them coming in critical moments when the Badgers were threatening to tie or take the lead.
However, many of the shots Francis knocked down were quite difficult, and Wisconsin was able to hold the other two members of Richmond’s high-scoring backcourt trio, Jacob Gilyard and Nick Sherod, well in check. The Badgers held the Spiders to 62 points, far below their season average of a 92.5 coming into last night’s contest. Overall, the Badgers’ defense was sufficient to win the game.
What doomed Wisconsin from start to finish last night was its putrid performance offensively.
The Badgers shot a woeful 17-50 (34%) from the field including just 7-27 (25.9%) from beyond the arc. They also committed a season-high 15 turnovers. Simply put, very few teams are going to win games when they put up those kinds of numbers.
However, Wisconsin somehow was still in this one late in the second half and found itself tied with Richmond at 50 with a little under five minutes remaining. The Badgers didn’t make a single field goal the rest of the game, which fit into the narrative of the rest of the contest for Bucky: whenever Wisconsin had the opportunity to tie or take the lead throughout most of the game, in many cases the Badgers either threw up an awful shot, committed a turnover or gave up a silly foul.
As a result, no matter how close the score was, it just never felt like Wisconsin had a chance in this one.
Wisconsin looks increasingly likely to be a team that will live or die by the three this season.
Nov 25, 2019; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Richmond Spiders forward Souleymane Koureissi (2) defends against Wisconsin Badgers forward Nate Reuvers (35) in the second half of the Roman Legends Classic at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Nicole Sweet-USA TODAY Sports
When the Badgers have gotten hot from long-range this season, this is a group that has looked capable of beating just about anyone they will face on their schedule. However, when the shots inevitably are not falling at some point, as was the case against Richmond last night, Wisconsin will be in danger of losing to most squads it will match up with the rest of the way.
It is true that last season’s squad experienced a similar dynamic. The difference between then and now? Over the last few years, if the shots weren’t dropping and Wisconsin needed a bucket, it could dump the ball down low to arguably the nation’s top post player in Ethan Happ, who was obviously more than capable of creating an opportunity for himself near the rim.
It’s unreasonable to expect him to be as deadly in the paint as Happ, but at this point, the Badgers desperately need Nate Reuvers to emerge as a consistent scoring option in the post to make this offense a bit more multidimensional.
Reuvers very well could become that guy at some point this season. We have seen flashes of brilliance from him in the paint on multiple occasions so far this year, including the first half in last night’s contest in which he scored ten points and deployed an array of moves near the basket.
However, the consistency from Reuvers was not there the rest of the game; he would ultimately finish 6-14 from the field, and like the rest of his teammates, could not buy a basket in some critical moments.
While Micah Potter’s return next month could help immensely in giving the Badgers more of a presence down low, Greg Gard needs more physicality and efficiency from Reuvers moving forward.
Tyler Wahl continues to impress.
This feels like it has been one of the top takeaways from each game Wisconsin has played this season, but man is Tyler Wahl fun to watch.
He’s had a hiccup here and there in a few games this season, but overall, the true freshman from Minnesota does not play like a rookie and continues to live up to the reputation he built on the recruiting trail as a versatile, hard-nosed player who will do all the little things to help his team win games.
He finished with a career-high seven points, two rebounds and a steal in 16 minutes of action against the Spiders last night, with that steal coming in a huge moment for the Badgers: with Wisconsin down five with seconds to go in the first half, Wahl poked the ball away as Richmond was setting itself up for the final shot before intermission and proceeded to drill a buzzer-beater from half-court. The shot brought the Badgers back within two and looked like it would provide them with a much-needed boost of momentum.
Wahl’s long-range shooting continues to come along nicely as well: in addition to that heave from half-court, he knocked down a big three in the second half to keep Wisconsin within four with about 11 minutes to go in the game.
Overall, Wahl continues to look like a guy who is going to have a major impact on the success of this program throughout his career in Madison. I have a feeling Gard is going to be giving him an increasingly long leash off the bench as the season moves forward, especially given the inconsistent play of others in the rotation.
Wisconsin takes on Richmond in the Legends Classic on Monday evening. Badger fans should be sure to know these three opposing players.
Wisconsin (4-1) will look to claim its fifth consecutive victory when it takes on Richmond (4-0) out of the Atlantic 10 tonight in the Legends Classic at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Tonight’s matchup will be just the second time that these two programs have faced each other, with the first meeting coming in the First Round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament when the Badgers, a No. 6 seed, took down the No. 11 Spiders, 76-64.
Wisconsin is coming off of an 88-70 win over Green Bay at the Kohl Center last Thursday, while Richmond took down one of Bucky’s foes from earlier in November, McNeese State, 87-57 on Friday.
The Badgers are currently six-point favorites in this one, but the Spiders have had one of the nation’s most potent offenses to this point in the season and have already taken down one high major opponent this month in Vanderbilt.
Here are the three players on the other side who Badger fans should keep a close eye on throughout tonight’s contest.
Sherod was off to an excellent start to his sophomore season around this time a year ago, averaging 12.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Unfortunately, he then suffered a torn ACL in Richmond’s sixth contest of the season and would go on the miss the team’s final 27 games.
Four games into his junior season, it’s safe to say the 6-4 guard has come back from that injury with a vengeance.
Sherod is tied for the team lead in scoring at 20.8 points per game, which is the second-highest mark in the Atlantic 10. He’s also shooting a blistering 55.6 percent from beyond the arc, again the second-highest mark in the conference behind the next player on this list and the No. 13 percentage in the country.
Richmond ranks third nationally in scoring at an average of 92.5 points per game, which is thanks in large part to an outstanding trio of guards that includes Sherod, Blake Francis (averaging 18.5 points) and the next player on this list.
Feb 13, 2018; Kingston, RI, USA; Richmond Spiders guard Jacob Gilyard (0) grabs a rebound during the first half against the Rhode Island Rams at Ryan Center. Mandatory Credit: Gregory J. Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
Gilyard is the Spider that’s tied with Sherod for the highest scoring average on the team, but the junior guard is probably Richmond’s best overall player. The 5-9, 160-pounder will be the smallest guy on the court tonight, but he’s a force to be reckoned with on both ends of the court.
During his first two years in college, Gilyard racked up 868 points, 290 assists and 177 steals; since 1992, only Jason Kidd and Allen Iverson accumulated each of those numbers by the end of their sophomore seasons. He was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Defensive Team and Second Team All-Conference a year ago after leading the Atlantic 10 in steals and averaging 16.2 points and 5.2 assists per game.
It’s been more of the same for Gilyard in 2019. His three-point percentage is tops in the conference and No.7 nationally, and his overall field goal percentage is second-best in the Atlantic 10 and No. 20 overall. Gilyard is also averaging more steals than all but 13 Division I players.
If Richmond knocks off the Badgers tonight, Gilyard will be a major reason why.
Golden’s production has taken a bit of a dip this season as a result of the emergence of that high-scoring backcourt trio, but the 6-10 junior is still a guy who could give the Badgers some problems tonight in the post.
He was a Third-Team All-Conference performer each of his first two seasons at Richmond, the first player in program history to earn that distinction. Golden was the team’s leading scorer in 2018-19 at 17.2 points per game and finished the season with 1,083 career points to his name already, a total no other Spider had reached by the end of a sophomore season.
He also chipped in 7.1 rebounds per game and had more assists than all but one other player 6-10 or taller. That other player? Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ.
Again, while his numbers are obviously down through Richmond’s first four games, Golden remains a dangerous player who must be accounted for, and you can be sure Wisconsin will have his name circled on the scouting report.
