Beyond the Boxscore: Wisconsin 101, Ottawa 92

Now that was more fun to watch.

After another somewhat slow start, the Badgers used a big run at the end of the first half, and a quick start to the second to knock off the Ottawa Gee Gees 101-92. The win moved Wisconsin to 1-1 on the Canada trip as the Badgers take tomorrow off before games on three consecutive days.

Again, the Badgers showed that they are going to be playing a different brand of basketball this year, and that’s not a bad thing. While the team may run a little more, there is no way a Bo Ryan coached team will play undisciplined, as he won’t allow it. Wisconsin will still work the shot clock to get a good shot, just expect more creative play from the guards as that’s how the team is shaping up to play.

While the offensive side looked strong tonight, the defense still needs some work. Ottawa could really shoot from the outside, but the Gee Gees were getting too many open looks. Most NCAA teams will hit open threes if given, so that needs to shore up.

This can be seen in someone like Duje Dukan, who has improved immensely on his offense over the summer, but still could use some sharpening on defense. Bo has been quick to pull players for not playing defense, so that will be an interesting storyline to follow early in the season.

Now onto the box.

Thanks to Patrick Herb for the box score.

• Let’s start with Sam Dekker again. Before long, I’ll be skipping him on here as a 20 point game won’t be anything special. He is a solid basketball player, and this will be his team by the end of the year, if it isn’t already.
• How about the other guards? Ben Brust had a nice night along with some good outside shooting. He’s a streaky shooter, but when he’s on, they are tough to beat. George Marshall also had a nice game scoring almost a point a minute.
• As I mentioned earlier, Dukan looks like he could be a legit part of the rotation. He’s the kind of player that Badger fans take for granted as Bo always seems to have a player or two come out of nowhere and make a difference. He’s still got some growing, but I like what I’m seeing so far. Kaminsky had another decent night offensively, but still needs to rebound a little more.
•  Finally, I have to talk about the turnovers. 17 as a team is higher than what we’d like to see at Wisconsin, but since no individual really jumps out as having too many, I’m going to chalk it up to having more possessions and thus having more chances to create turnovers.