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2015 Final Four: Wisconsin Preview with Badger of Honor

By Shelby Caudill

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Hopefully by now you’ve read out interview with Jim Oxley from Fansided’s Badger of Honor recapping the Wisconsin Badgers season.

Well, I talked to Jim again to preview the upcoming match up between the Badgers and Wildcats this Saturday. Let’s see what we’ve come up with.

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WBN: Devin Booker is starting to heat back up from three-point land, but Aaron Harrison is known to make deep and wild shots in times of need. What do you think the Badgers game plan is to keep those two from shooting open threes?

BoH: Ball pressure will be key in the Final Four. Wisconsin has active guards, and Josh Gasser is one of the best on-ball defenders in the game. You’ll see Wisconsin getting up in the face of the Kentucky guards and switching on ball screens to try to take away the three point shots. The range of Kentucky’s shooters will be an issue, as normally Wisconsin feels fine giving up truly deep threes – they’ll let opponents shoot from three steps back of the line all day. If Kentucky gets hot from deep, it could pose a real issue for the Badgers and force them to make adjustments.

WBN: Now, if you guard the three too much, it leaves the big men open in the paint, almost impossible to put two players on one Wildcat, do you think that’ll cause any issues with the Badgers?

BoH: It’s a tough situation for the Badgers. Wisconsin doesn’t like to double-team players inside regularly, usually doubles occur when a help-side defender slides over to help on the baseline or a guard slides down on a pass into the post. As we’ve discussed already, Kentucky’s three-point abilities make at least one of those options a non-starter. Their size inside is a whole different beast, one that will certainly give the Badgers troubles. Wisconsin will need its big three of Frank Kaminsky, Nigel Hayes and Sam Dekker to play bigger than they are – without getting into foul trouble. It’s a tall task (pun intended).

WBN: Karl-Anthony Towns had one awesome game against Notre Dame, he was unstoppable, what’s the plan from keeping him from the basket?

BoH: It’s all about positioning. Towns was catching the ball way too deep in the post, making it all-too-easy for him to score on Notre Dame. You’ve got to at least make the guy work for the ball, and that’s what the Badgers do against every post player they see. Wisconsin will either front Towns and have backside help or try to make him set up outside the lane and prove he can put the ball on the ground and work his way back inside. The Badgers have had a lot of success defensively against the post when they force opponents to catch the ball outside the lane.

WBN: Besides three-point shooting, what is something the Badgers do that’ll cause the Wildcats to struggle?

BoH: The Badgers have a very active defense, and will likely be one of if not the best defensive squads Kentucky has faced all season. The biggest thing Wisconsin does well on defense is not make mistakes that lead to easy baskets. The Badgers make opponents earn every point they score, which in turn slows down the game and helps the Badgers control the flow. Wisconsin frustrates opponents on defense, and often forces poor decisions and bad shots. Kentucky will have to be very disciplined not to get outside its game plan as many teams do when they face Wisconsin.

WBN: Care to offer a predication?

BoH: Wisconsin has been waiting an entire year to get back to this point. They’ve had no problems saying they’re excited about getting another shot at the team who knocked them from contention a year ago, and the seniors on this team (as well as the likely NBA-bound Sam Dekker) want to end their Wisconsin careers as National Champions. To do so, they’ll need to defeat the game’s biggest juggernaut and end an incredible win streak. Luckily for the Badgers, Wisconsin is playing at the top of its game right now, and is on a roll heading into the Final Four. They’ll need to play nearly flawless to knock of Kentucky, but I believe they have the ability and the drive to do so. I’ll take the Badgers in an extremely close game, 73-72.

Be sure to check Badgerofhonor.com for his interview with me!

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