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2015 Final Four: Wisconsin Badgers Season Recap With Badger of Honor

By Shelby Caudill

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The Kentucky Wildcats and Wisconsin Badgers are set to play each other for the second straight year in the first round to the Final Four this season. We sat down with Badger of Honor, Fansided’s Wisconsin Badgers website to talk about the Badgers season and match up with the Wildcats.

Thanks to Jim Oxley for reaching out to us and exchanging questions and answers to benefit both websites. Take a look at Badgerofhonor.com to get a gist of the ride the Wisconsin Badgers took in order to reach their second straight Final Four.

Be sure to check out the Q&A on BadgerofHonor.com and be on the look out for part two!

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WBN: What were your expectations heading into this season for the Badgers?

BoH: My own expectations were “Final Four or bust,” but I think this team had even higher goals in mind. This group was so close, as you are well aware, of making it to the National Championship a year ago that it would have been a major let down to me if they hadn’t at least made it back to the Final Four. Being just one basket away from a National Championship appearance in 2014, I think the team went into the season fully expecting to make it happen this year. It seems fitting that once again Kentucky is the hump they will have to get over to earn a spot in the championship game.

WBN: Last season was Bo Ryan’s first Final Four as a coach in division 1 basketball and they’re back for his second time a year later, so do you think getting him there again and potentially getting into the championship game played any factor into Kaminsky coming back for his senior season?

BoH: I’d say that certainly played a role, but I think more than anything Kaminsky looked at the group of players around him, saw they were only losing one contributor – Ben Brust – and saw the potential was there for this Badgers squad to be even better than it was a year ago. The gamble – if you want to call it that – paid off, and here the Badgers are, back in the Final Four. For Kaminsky personally, the move seems to have payed off, as he likely would have been a first-round draft pack a year ago, and has almost certainly solidified himself as a mid-first round pick this year, maybe even a late lottery selection. Based on everything Kaminsky has said, however, he came back to win a National Championship.

WBN: What the biggest difference you see in Sam Dekker’s game this season compared to last season?

BoH: I think confidence in big moments has been the theme of Dekker’s season. We’ve seen him make big plays over and over again throughout the three years he’s been a Badger, but he hasn’t always stepped in to hit that big late game shot or take over when the team has needed someone to step up. He didn’t even do that too often during the regular season – albeit he did struggle with an injury for a time early on – but we’ve really seen him come into his own in the tournament. He absolutely took over the last two Badgers games, racking up a career-high 23 points against North Carolina (adding the double-double with 10 boards) then hammering out a new career-high of 27 points against Arizona in the Elite Eight, including that game-sealing dagger-of-a-three-pointer to put the Wildcats away in the final seconds. His confidence level is at an all-time high, and he’ll need it again Saturday against Kentucky.

WBN: What do you think are the Badgers biggest strengths and weaknesses?

BoH: Wisconsin’s biggest strength is team versatility. Whether on offense or defense, every player can do a little bit of everything. You’ll see Frank Kaminsky, Sam Dekker, and Nigel Hayes down in the post one moment, then popping out to knock down a three the next. Likewise, the Badgers switch on ball screens on defense, so the three frontcourt layers often end up defending a guard one-on-one. Heck, we’ve seen Kaminsky lock down a one-on-one drive from an opponent’s point guard on multiple occasions. The Badgers guards are no different. If Josh Gasser has a favorable match up in the post, the Badgers are going to look for him in the paint.
The versatility isn’t just evident on an individual player basis. This team is much different from Badgers teams of the past that want to slow the game down. Yeah, they don’t want it to turn into a track meet, but this squad is able to get up and go if they have to.

Their biggest weakness has been their depth, but it has only been exposed a couple of times, most notably when the Badgers lost on the road against Rutgers without Frank Kaminsky or Traevon Jackson. Jackson is now back from an injury, although he is playing minor minutes as he gets re-acclimated to the game. The biggest fear Badgers fans should have going into the Kentucky game is foul trouble among their bigs, especially Kaminsky. If Kaminsky has foul trouble – which he hasn’t had too often this season – the Badgers would be in trouble quickly, especially considering the size of the Kentucky Wildcats. The Badgers have plenty of height, but behind Kaminsky, don’t really have a true post presence. Kaminsky shapes this team in many ways, and having him on the bench for long periods of time is never a good thing.

WBN: Do you think being the team to potentially end Kentucky’s perfect season means much to the Badgers or do you think they’re playing more for themselves than that?

BoH: I’m sure that’s somewhat of a motivator for this team, but it’s probably not a motivating factor on par with “getting revenge” on the team that knocked them out a season ago. Ultimately, the biggest motivating factor for this Badgers squad is simply to get to the National Championship, having been so close a year ago. Don’t get me wrong, the Badgers are eager for the opportunity to play the team that ended the run last year, and knocking off an undefeated squad would be an added bonus, but Wisconsin is more focused on getting to the championship, not who they have to face to get there.

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