When Wisconsin's men's basketball team steps on the floor Friday evening to take on the St. John's Red Storm in Washington D.C., many Badgers' long-time basketball dreams of playing in the NCAA Tournament will be fulfilled. But considering Wisconsin's tournament inexperience, dreams are almost all the team has.
Seniors forward Charlie Wills and guard Travon Davis, along with junior guard Kirk Penney, are the lone remainders from Wisconsin's 2000 Final Four squad. They are the only Badgers with substantial post-season experience in recent years. The three will attempt to realize some further dreams of their own and guide their younger teammates through the experience of the NCAA Tournament.
Coming off a tough loss to Iowa, however, and facing a St. John's team which presents as many, if not more problems than the Hawkeyes, Wisconsin (11-5 Big Ten) will have to keep the dream from quickly turning into a nightmare like the Badgers' previous post-season tournaments have been.
Of the problems the Red Storm (9-7 Big East) present to the oft-vulnerable Badgers, none is more potent than junior guard and first-team all-Big East selection Marcus Hatten.
Hatten, who led the Big East in scoring during conference play with 22.3 points per game, also leads the Red Storm in assists, averaging 4.7 per game and trails only senior forward Anthony Glover in rebounds with 5.2 per game.
Hatten is clearly an explosive guard with the destructive potential similar to that of Iowa senior guard Luke Recker, who torched UW for 28 points in Iowa's upset over the Badgers in the Big Ten Tournament March 8. Wisconsin's ability to recover from Recker's performance and contain Hatten will be imperative.
Unfortunately for Wisconsin, Hatten won't only torment on offense; his 103 steals set a new St. John's season record and established him as an excellent defender and key component of St. John's defense that itself causes problems for opponents.
\They get a lot of steals, and they take you out of what you like to do,"" UW Head Coach Bo Ryan said. ""So you've got to be tough enough to handle that.""
St. John's quickness and ability to run the floor also allows the Red Storm to press full-court, which Wisconsin has worked on this week in practice.
The Red Storm, who has 10 players averaging more than 15 minutes of floor time each game, have greater bench depth than Wisconsin. Ryan said he is just as concerned about St. John's depth as he was Iowa's, in part because of St. John's depth at guard.
""You look at their minutes for 11 players. You look at their depth. You can't harp on it anymore. Let's just state it, and say here's another team that plays a lot of people,"" Ryan said.
""When you go 10 deep, in my mind, it is so much easier to sub when you get things going. When you don't have that, it's a little different.""
For the things St. John's brings to the game, Wisconsin has answers of its own. Defense was a cornerstone of the last four Badger tournament appearances and Wisconsin is still a strong defensive team' even though they play under a different system. Penney is an explosive guard in his own right and is also a first-team all-Big Ten selection. Although not very deep on the bench, the Badgers assert their great physical shape, thanks in part to Ryan's offseason conditioning drills.
Typical of an 8-9 matchup in the NCAA Tournament, assigning any kind of edge is tricky. But after early personnel and game losses, earning a tournament berth is a fantastic ending for this Badger team who played a most improbable season. They'll play the tournament, taking each game as it comes, not having the luxury of looking past any opponent.
""Hopefully [we will] take [this post season opportunity] as just 'Let's play, game to game, just like we have been all season,'"" Wills said.
