It is a part of reality, a fact of life, for athletes and the teams they play on: Not every game will be the same. Related: Not every game will involve smooth sailing or the ability to easily adjust. Some games are bad. They get away. The flow is awful from the start. We can appreciate that bad games happen, and to an extent, we can give teams a pass when one bad game occurs.
The problem for Wisconsin is that it is more than one bad game, at least in the past 10 days. The loss at Michigan State, in which UW fell behind by 25 points, was the kind of game which should awaken a team to the need to be more vigilant. It was the kind of game which should get both a team and a coaching staff to realize that in-course adjustments have to be made before it’s too late, before a game spins out of control.
The Purdue loss is frustrating for so many reasons, one of them being that Wisconsin clearly didn’t learn how to prevent a game from spiraling out of the Badgers’ reasonable ability to compete in it.
Okay, Purdue crashed the glass early in the game. It wasn’t the outcome Wisconsin wanted. It wasn’t the outcome anyone on the Badgers hoped for. However, when it became clear that Purdue was going to be tough to deal with on the glass — and that loose balls weren’t going the Badgers’ way — what was a common-sense adjustment to make?
If an opponent is rebounding really well, what do you try to do? Among other things, you try to get layups or dunks — you try to get to the rim so that you reduce the chances you are going to miss your shot. You get to the rim so that the other team has to foul you, which gives you free throws and the ability to avoid shooting a 3-point or mid-range jumper which the opponent is likely to rebound. Getting to the foul line means easier points and fewer chances for the opponent to rebound in a live-ball situation.
Wisconsin earned only eight free throws and drew only 10 fouls against the Boilermakers. Only three Purdue players committed more than one foul, and only two committed more than two fouls. None committed four fouls. Only one Purdue starter committed more than one foul.
Wisconsin wasn’t just soft; it wasn’t willing to adjust its offense to meet the needs of the game — and address the energy Purdue was bringing to the game on defense. Challenging Purdue’s defensive energy — forcing the Boilermakers not to foul — would have been a great tactic.
The Badgers never tried it.
Making adjustments quickly and decisively has to become more a part of how this team operates. It wasn’t part of Friday’s loss at all.