The whispered chants of the Badger faithful scattered faintly across New Orleans Arena. Down 20 with just over 10 minutes left, Wisconsin had scored just three points in the second half. I felt sorry for those chanting. Were they looking for something to do? Did they feel obligated to cheer, knowing they had spent all of their parent's Spring Break money on a trip to Louisiana? Or did they actually believe the Badgers would come back and win?
Fandom is funny like that. Rooting for the same team, through thick and thin, by nature is extremely irrational. We wouldn't continue to support an artist who has consistently put out shitty albums the past decade. We wouldn't clamor to see a director's next movie if his first one was a dud. Hell, we might even divorce our spouse or disown our child if having them around continued to depress us year after year.
Any rational, die-hard Badger fan, not content with mediocrity has surely been tested the last decade. On one hand, it's easy to be pleased with Wisconsin's new found success. The Badgers have notched ten straight NCAA tournament appearances, four Sweet 16s, one Elite 8, and advanced to the round of 32 nine of ten times since Bo Ryan took over. Ryan's predecessors, on average, took Wisconsin to the tournament about once every ten years. Progress, yes. But progression is a relative term. Wisconsin basketball is in fact progressing, but doing so at a snail's pace.
Speaking of snail's pace, Wisconsin's offense has been known to stall to almost unbearable levels. Their historic 33-point effort, historic for all the wrong reasons, against Penn State in the second round of this year's Big Ten tournament provided a collective chuckle for college basketball fans across the nation. That game also showcased how dependent the Badgers are on their outside shooting. They have a very difficult time winning, particularly when they're not hitting threes.
First-team All-Big Ten center Jon Leuer is the Badgers' only consistent low-post threat. He posted up early in both the first and second half but couldn't get anything going. He seemed to abandon the block all together after missing some shots he would normally make. Leuer finished the game 1-12, hitting a lone three-pointer at the 16:32 mark in the first half. Those would be his only three points in the game. Wisconsin can't win with only three points from Jon Leuer.
It's easy to single out Leuer, Wisconsin's leading scorer during the regular season, but the entire team struggled offensively. Beginning in the end of the first and half and extending into the second half, the Badgers had a 9-minute stretch where they didn't score a single point. Think about that. Nine minutes! Leuer missed three shots during that stretch, and his teammates missed ten.
Then the chants came. The Badgers had scored three points in the last 12 minutes. It's hard to say how much a crowd inspires a team. I'm sure those cheering would like to think they could make a difference. Otherwise, what's the point? Whatever their thought process was, a small Wisconsin contingent, existing within a Butler scattering and the abandoned seats of Florida and BYU fans may have inspired a run.
Jordan Taylor promptly dropped five points, cutting the seemingly insurmountable lead to fifteen. The Badgers would dwindle the lead to four after a Taylor three-pointer with 37 seconds remaining. That is as close as they would come. Wisconsin scored 30 points in the second half, 14 of them came in the final 3:23. The Badgers didn't deserve to win. They are the better team, but weren't on Thursday.
Their nine-minute scoreless stretch is probably the most memorable portion of the game, that is, if you're a bitter individual. The more optimistic fans will look towards the final three minutes and point towards the resilience of this Wisconsin team. The proper recollection, I would say, is somewhere in between.
I honestly didn't believe this team would beat Belmont. Now I feel like they should be in the Final Four. Irrational thought processes at their finest. Such is the life of a fan rooting for a team drenched in mediocrity. Woulda, coulda, shoulda....But I, those watching on TV, and the brave, hopeful throng in attendance on Thursday will keep coming back. We have to, there's no other way.
LET'S GO RED. LET'S GO RED. LET'S GO RED.
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