Basketball blues in Wisco
The Milwaukee Bucks and Wisconsin Badgers have had parallel seasons up to this point but I believe they will be heading in different directions. Currently, the Bucks are in second place in the Eastern Conference with a 29-16 record. They have had a couple of injuries that have caused them to play poorly as of late.
The Badgers are in sixth place in the Big Ten standings and have a record of 125. They have also had to endure an injury to a key player as their starting forward Tyler Wahl has been out of the lineup. In three games without Wahl, the Badgers lost all three games by an average of 11 points.
Both teams got out to hot starts as they found themselves at or near the top of the standings in their respective conferences.
Despite all this parity between the two teams’ seasons, I believe it is apparent that the two programs are heading in different directions. The Bucks will be getting back all-star Khris Middleton any day now and will hopefully be able to mesh for a second half push. My cynicism towards the Badger basketball program’s philosophies of recruiting talent will probably overshadow this take but here it goes.
The Badgers are and will be competitive but will not have what it takes to get over the mountain top. I saw an analyst say that the Badgers are one of the best coached teams in the nation but their lack of talent and recruiting has kept them weighed down. Most notably, the team has missed out on in-state recruits turned NBA players like Tyler Herro, Tyrese Haliburton and Kevon Looney.
It’s a tough thing to point out because it seems everyone inside the program believes in the philosophy and what has gotten them to the tournament year after year. Former Badger and beloved Wisconsin basketball star Sam Dekker has defended the program vehemently on social media despite the struggles.
Haliburton wasn’t even offered a scholarship by Wisconsin even though he garnered offers from neighbors Minnesota, Nebraska, Cincinnati and Iowa State. College basketball recruiting isn’t always cut and dry in that anyone from your state should be motivated to come to your school. There are AAU teams which expose players to many different environments and with only five starting spots on a team, players want to get the full worth of their talent by going somewhere they will play. The top state recruits the Badgers have landed have not developed the way they should be under this current coaching staff. Former top recruit Kobe King from La Crosse mysteriously left the program mid-season in 2020 after not agreeing with staff. At that time, Herro had this to say about the program, “The state’s top talent would love to play for Wisconsin but not in that system.” There are exceptions. In 2014, Dekker and Frank Kaminsky combined to make a run in the NCAA tournament. But even Kaminsky and Dekker were not recruited heavily by big-name schools.
That is the microcosm of what I believe is the problem. Talented players view Wisconsin as a place that doesn’t breed NBA talent and therefore, they bypass the program for other opportunities. It doesn’t have to be this way. We are currently seeing it with the Badger football program. Although it’s early in the process, you’ve seen Luke Fickell come in and make splash recruitments with four of the top quarterbacks ever to enter the football program.
If they get Tyler Wahl back and make a run, I’ll be glad to eat my words but at this point, I’ve got a case of the Wisconsin basketball blues.
Speeding
Through
L
ife
