Varsity - The Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics

Varsity - February 6, 2014

Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.

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18 // VARSITY February 6, 2014 BY MATT LEPAY // VOICE OF THE BADGERS THE VOICE I n sports, there is very little mid- dle ground. You are either on top of the world, or you are at the bottom of the barrel. Just ask Peyton Manning. The sure-to-be first ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer went from record-setting quarterback to looking very old in the eyes of many. All in a few, short hours. Russell Wilson went from a good, young quarterback who was not necessarily playing his best football to someone who very well could have been the Super Bowl MVP. One day later, he was chatting it up with David Letterman. That evening, Wil- son was taking in a Brooklyn Nets game with Jay Z and Beyoncé. It is good to be Russell Wilson. Especially this week. Yet I have the feeling he'll start getting his mind on next season very soon. Most of the best players and coaches I have known, including Wilson ― maybe especially Wil- son ― are able to stay focused on the moment. In other words, they spend far more time and energy on getting better and winning the next game than they do celebrating a great victory or stewing about a subpar performance. This is where the Wisconsin bas- ketball team comes into play. For the first time this season, they have been scuffling. When the Badgers were 16-0, a common question among fans and media was whether this could be Bo Ryan's best team in Madison? It was easy to get caught up in the team's record-setting start. It was scoring at a good clip. It shared the ball well. The defense, while vulnerable in some early games, was showing signs of improvement. Then things changed. Teams were attacking the Badgers. They allowed three straight opponents to shoot better than 50 percent from the field. Then they lost their shoot- ing touch, both from the floor as well as the free throw line. It all proved costly as the Bad- gers dropped three straight home games for the first time under Ryan. Which leads some to wonder- ing whether they will win another game. Such is the nature of sports. Among the many strengths of Ryan, his staff and his players is that they just keep working. More than anyone, they have known the weaknesses all along. So they con- tinue to plug away at fixing them. Ryan tends to be a creature of habit, but after the Ohio State game, he said he took a different approach to his video session with the play- ers. The session is called "teaching clips," where he takes segments of games and points out what was good and what needs to improve. On Sunday, he turned to the players for the critique. They made notes of what they saw on video. "Just like they were in the class- room," said Ryan, who sees his role as a teacher every bit as much as he does a coach. "Pretty perceptive group. They caught a lot of the teaching points," he said. "I was impressed." From my point of view, the bot- tom line is fairly simple. This team cares. A lot. It is also fairly young and has experienced some growing pains. I still believe this is a very good team. The best under Ryan? I have no idea, but I'm pretty sure it will win another game. Actually, it can win a lot more games. Take a look at some of the teams they have knocked off. Florida enters the week 19-2 and ranked in the top five. Saint Louis, a team Wis- consin defeated in Cancun, is 20-2 and in the top 15. Virginia is top-20 material and is 8-1 in the ACC, trail- ing only unbeaten Syracuse. Remember, nearly every team hits a rough patch. Last year, Michi- gan went through a stretch where it lost three out of four, which includ- ed Ben Brust's famous shot. The Wolverines were not exactly surg- ing into the Big Ten tournament either, having split their final eight regular season games. I'm not making some bold pre- diction that the Badgers are going to make a run to the national title game, but I am not ready to rule it out either. Above all else, I certainly am not ready to dismiss the rest of the season. Far more importantly, neither are the players. My point is this team has proven it can play with ― and beat ― any- one in the country. It also is less than a perfect team. When the Bad- gers are off their game, Big Ten foes are ready to make them pay. That middle ground might sound boring, but as long as this group keeps working ― and, just as im- portantly, can ignore the noise ― it has the goods to make this a special season. There is nothing boring about that. Just ask Russell Wilson. Wilson proves how quickly things can change

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