So you went to Jamaica for Spring Break - lame. Cancun - dumb. On a cruise - please, those are for old folks named Norma and Earl who wear their pants up to their chests and think white shoes are the cat's meow.""
Everyone knows the new Spring Break hot spot is Omaha, Neb. All you naysayers out there can make jokes about corn, corn cobs and cornhuskers, but where else can you get a stout float - picture stout mixed with coffee-flavored ice cream and a spoonful of chocolate sauce - to lift your spirits on a cloudy Friday afternoon?
And where else can an ""ugly,"" ""slow"" basketball team look so good?
Omaha, that's where.
""Ugly"" and ""slow"" are not words I would use to describe the Wisconsin Badgers. So-called basketball experts like Digger Phelps, Doug Gottlieb and Clark Kellogg frequently criticize UW's style of play, and all three predicted Kansas State would upset Wisconsin Saturday at the Qwest Center.
I'm not a basketball guru. My bracket is a mess - thank you Pittsburgh. Nevertheless, doesn't the old adage ""defense wins championships"" still hold true?
Wisconsin, Washington State and UCLA rank in the top five nationally in scoring defense. Louisville is ranked 19th. Stanford is ranked 20th, and Memphis is 21st. Kansas and Michigan State are both in the top 30. Xavier and West Virginia are in the top 50.
When the Florida Gators won a national championship in 2006, they were ranked 21st in field goal percentage defense. In 2007, they were ranked 38th in the same category. This season, they're ranked 217th. Not surprisingly, Billy Donovan's club is not back in the NCAA Tournament.
Teams don't need to play great defense to be great teams. North Carolina and Tennessee are prime examples. And great defensive teams don't necessarily win championships. If they did, Wisconsin would have been in the Final Four every year under Dick Bennett. But when did playing good defense suddenly make a team ""slow,"" ""ugly"" or ""unathletic?""
I'll admit that Brian Butch is not the most graceful man I have ever seen. But game after game, he and his Badger teammates frustrate the hell out of some of the most ""athletic"" players in the country.
While waiting for head coach Bo Ryan and the Badger players to come out of the locker for interviews following their 72-55 victory over Kansas State, I was seated in front of two reporters from the Sunflower State.
One commented to the other how somehow Ryan's squad managed to consistently shut down the opponent's offense. ""It's like magic,"" the other reporter replied.
During the press conference, reporters asked both Ryan and center Greg Stiemsma how exactly they played such great defense. Both gave similar responses.
""I think it starts in the preseason,"" Stiemsma said. ""[In the] first few practices ... we're getting after it. Not putting shots up, we're banging our bodies and getting back in transition.""
""We haven't changed anything,"" Ryan said. ""Greg pointed out the different drills we do early. We've been doing those for 30-some years or as many as I've been a head coach in high school or junior high.""
From those responses it seems the only thing ""magical"" about the Badger defense is that no one outside the state seems to believe its good enough to stop the nation's best.
Does taking a charge look as glamorous as swishing a 3-pointer? No. Is hedging on a ball screen as cool as hanging on the rim after a dunk? Of course not. Can playing solid defense take you to the Final Four? I don't know, but my guess is the Badgers' defensive magic will work wonders outside of Omaha.
If you've had a stout float at Upstream Brewery or a scoop of ice cream at Maggie Moo's in downtown Omaha, e-mail Ryan at reszel@dailycardinal.com.
