For the Wisconsin men's basketball team, (5-4 Big Ten, 15-7 overall) losers of five of their last six, some might think a change may be in order. Maybe to the starting lineup.
Head coach Bo Ryan, however, would find it hard to agree.
'The message it sends to one or two individuals [is] that you're responsible for us maybe not doing some things right now,' Ryan said. 'I've never done that.'
However, Ryan may have to tweak his lineup come Wednesday, when the team welcomes Indiana to the Kohl Center. Sophomore forward Brian Butch did not practice Monday after hitting the floor clutching his ankle Saturday at Purdue, the same ankle Butch injured in the Badgers' first Big Ten loss at Ohio State.
Though Ryan noted injuries can spur on change, he downplayed the weight put on the five names called out on the P.A. system prior to tip-off.
'It's who plays, it's never who starts,' Ryan said. 'So if you start changing that after 34, 35 years of coaching, then what you were saying was a lie for all those years. So I'm not going away from that. You play off a group, and then minutes are determined by how the game's going, how guys are adjusting, fouls, an injury during the game. It's just something else where people are looking for excuses.'
Other than junior forward Alando Tucker and junior guard Kammron Taylor, not one Badger is averaging in double-digits in conference play, something that may need addressing in Ryan's dispensing of minutes.
Ryan also dismissed the fact that his Badgers are tentative shooting the ball due to their recent ways. In the coach's mind, nothing has changed.
'You take what's comfortable,' Ryan said. 'That's why I've never had problems with players understanding shots; what's a good shot, what's a bad shot. Because in practice, those are the ones that you chart, those are the ones that we have percentages on.'
Finally, the head coach addressed Tucker's spot in the lineup. In the 70-62 loss to Purdue Saturday, Badger fans saw Tucker playing a lot in four spot, a role he seldom plays. But with the loss of sophomore center Greg Stiemsma to academic ineligibility, as well as Butch's injury, Tucker may have to fill that role more often. Again, coach Ryan downplayed Tucker's situation as a major issue.
'He's played the two, three, four, both wings, and he's played that small forward spot. Sometimes when we've gone completely small, he's played in what would be considered the five spot,' Ryan said. 'The game doesn't change, though. You got to play defense in the post, you got to play defense on the perimeter. Offensively, the movement, there's not a big change.'
Ryan iterated, though, that Tucker has fine tuned his big forward play in practice.
'It's not the ideal situation,' Ryan said. 'When you're forced to do it, you don't want it to be a surprise.'
