On Monday, UW men's basketball head coach Bo Ryan addressed the media and spoke about this weekend's Big Ten Tournament, as well as the achievements of his team's defense.
With a 65-52 victory over Northwestern Saturday, the Badgers clinched the regular season Big Ten title and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Ryan mentioned the tendency of some coaches to let down as they feel there is not too much to gain. However, Ryan does not share the philosophy.
I want to think like a 20-year old - I'd rather have my guys playing. I'd like to see our guys play three games because every game they play I think they have a chance to learn something. I don't think we can lose anything,"" Ryan said.
""We won't lose our self-respect, our dignity, our belief that we can still play. But come tournament time, 99 percent are left at home anyhow, so obviously for the vast majority it ends too soon. I just hope these guys can play as long as they can.""
This Friday, the Badgers will play the winner of the first round Iowa-Michigan matchup. Ryan acknowledged the difficulty in beating a team three times in one season.
""It doesn't matter what the scores were or anything else. There isn't a coach who changes their preparation very much,"" Ryan said. ""We know how good the other team can be, we know what they present. Players, when they've beaten a team, will sometimes underestimate the ability of the other team. But you won't find coaches underestimating that ability of the other team to be on the left hand side. It's really tough to beat a team three times.""
Wisconsin has defeated both Iowa and Michigan twice this season, and both of those victories can be partially attributed to the Badgers' toughness on defense. When asked who his defensive most valuable player was, Ryan felt more than one individual was deserving of the honor.
""You would say defensively - Michael Flowers. But you know what - Krabbenhoft, Landry, they've added a lot defensively,"" Ryan said.
""When we had Duke doing what they were doing to us and we got our lineups kind of disjointed and everything else, who would have said that Wisconsin would have led the nation in defense by the end of the year? Michael was always the steadying force there though. But Joe's better defensively, and Marcus has played guys much bigger than him.""
Ryan also gave credit to members of Wisconsin's bench as part of the reason for its great defensive success.
""It just doesn't start with one person,"" Ryan said. ""I don't think enough credit is given to what Greg Stiemsma gives us off the bench. I think some of the other guys, the way they cover for one another, is the key to how this group has played defensively. They've just gotten the job done.""
Tipoff for Wisconsin's first game is set for 11 a.m. at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind.
