During the then-No. 11 Badgers' 60-56 loss to Purdue last Saturday, one thing was apparent: Purdue was not going to allow ball reversal.
To most, that might not seem to be very important. In fact, the casual basketball fan who picks up the newspaper to check out the box score probably doesn't even know what ball reversal means.
But when running an offense such as Wisconsin's swing, ball reversal is imperative.
Wisconsin's swing offense needs ball reversal in order to work. Without ball reversal, the ball-side post cannot back screen the man at the top of the key, allowing him to cut to the basket in hopes of receiving a pass for an easy layup, or allowing the post to step out and swing the ball to the other side, starting the process all over again.
The swing offense is not terribly complicated and in fact is very easy to defend. But if the Vince Lombardi mentality is brought to the swing offense - Lombardi's Packers of the '60's only ran a few offensive plays but ran them to near perfection - it can be nearly unstoppable.
However, that if"" is enormous.
Against Purdue Saturday, Wisconsin was unable to execute the most basic principle of its offense: swing the ball. Purdue used its hustle and energy to block passing lanes and overcompensate on ball screens, forcing Wisconsin to move its offense away from the basket and partially into a state of panic.
Wisconsin had 13 turnovers against the Boilermakers, and many of them came at the hands of poor clock management and forced shots.
The most troubling aspect of the loss was Wisconsin's lackluster performance in the areas of screening and moving around to get open.
For some reason, screening is not as highly regarded in college basketball as it used to be. Every once in a while a player will be guarding someone during a full-court press and will get side-swiped by a big body. But other than that, screening has devolved into running close to another player and never really making contact.
Good screens are key to the swing offense and are one thing that the Badgers did not do well at Purdue.
Another key is to just get open on your own, either by backing a defender down and then quickly changing direction, or just running around in a group of players, hoping that your defender gets lost or confused.
Neither of these things happened Saturday, as the Wisconsin players on the wing opposite the ball were usually standing or half-heartedly walking their man to the baseline. In this situation, the easiest - and often most profitable - thing to do would be for the post to back screen the wing man's defender to create some confusion.
Unfortunately, the Badgers never really did this with any authority.
The swing offense is a dying breed in college basketball and seems to be the offense of choice for small high school teams in Wisconsin. If ran correctly, with almost military-point accuracy, it can work well and be difficlut to defend.
But unless Wisconsin shows more effort in getting physical with the opposition and refreshes itself on the basic building blocks of basketball - such as back screens, movement and even the pick-and-roll - then Wisconsin basketball fans may not be ""grateful"" for too much after this season.
If you're still waiting for Bo Ryan to bust out that new offense, e-mail Nate at ncarey@dailycardinal.com.
