Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig were supposed to be the leaders of the 201-16 Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball program, on and off the court. As of late it has been Hayes stepping up in a major way, but it hasn’t resulted in W’s for the Badgers.
Instead, Wisconsin is in the midst of a three-game losing streak, having lost to Northwestern for the firs time since the 2007-08 season and are three games below .500 in Big Ten play for the first time since the 2008-09 season.
Hayes put up big time numbers to back up his talk following the loss to Northwestern. In the last two games against Maryland and Northwestern, Hayes has 34 combined points and is shooting 44 percent from the field.
Given his experience, it shouldn’t be too much to ask the rest o the team to come along. However, Wisconsin has seen shrinking performances from fellow junior Bronson Koenig and inconsistent play from the rest of the group not named Ethan Happ.
It has frustrated the leader of this team, and he’s gone public with it for the first time.
“I’ve never been one to go around yelling and I try not to cuss, but if that’s what it takes for me to get my guys and myself to play better and get some wins, it’s something I’ll have to do,” Hayes said.
“Some guys have to do some soul searching to find out why they play the game, what they want out of this. People are saying we’re not going to make the (NCAA) tournament, or we’re not good. ‘That’s a terrible team.’
“It’s got to come to a point where you have to have pride.”
Hayes sees it as time for himself and the rest of the team to take things to a whole different level. Just getting close and growing isn’t enough — winning, and winning now is on his agenda.
“It comes to a point now where you just have to be embarrassed with what’s going on,” Hayes said. “There’s no more ‘we’re learning, we’re getting there, these are good losses.’ No such thing as that.
“It’s time to start winning.”
With a NCAA tournament berth looking less and less like a possibility, Wisconsin does need to dig deep and find that pride Hayes is talking about.
After back-to-back Final Four appearances, having the worst start since the 1998-99 season isn’t sitting well with Hayes and likely the rest of the team as well.
Hayes’ public statements indicate a team that knows its talent is there, but is searching for that final piece to the puzzle. With a visit from No. 5 Michigan State this weekend, the Badgers are going to have to dig deep and find what’s missing quickly or this season could be lost before the calendar turns to February.
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