Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.
Issue link: http://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/52529
Badgers work from within to end skid LUCAS AT LARGE MIKE LUCAS • UWBADGERS.COM I nvited to use whatever trite phrases or bromides were warranted, Mike Bruesewitz grinned and confided that he was well-versed on clichés thanks to the movie "Bull Durham.'' "That's where I got all my media training,'' he said. With all due respect to Crash Davis, then, you could say Brue- sewitz believes there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlaw- ing Astroturf, the designated hitter and three-game losing streaks. "I hate losing,'' he stressed. That's understandable since Bruesewitz has had so little expe- rience with it. The last time the Badgers were mired in a "signifi- cant'' losing streak, he was a senior at Sibley High in St. Paul, Minn. ("Significant'' translating to more than two in a row.) That was during the 2008-09 season, when UW lost six straight Big Ten games. Despite the igno- minious stretch, Wisconsin still made the NCAA tournament and won its first round game. "Nobody has really experienced what we're going through right now,'' Bruesewitz said, "other than the seniors and the redshirt ju- niors. We lost one game at home my first two years here.'' After Michigan saddled the Badgers with their third consecu- tive defeat — a streak including back-to-back losses to Iowa and Michigan State at the Kohl Center — Bruesewitz took charge. When the team got back from 8 » VARSITY JANUARY 12, 2012 "Everybody in our locker room,'' Bruese- witz said, "feels like we're a better team than we've shown the last three games and even most of the year.'' Ann Arbor early Sunday evening, he suggested that everyone get to- gether for a "bonding'' session and a "late-night breakfast.'' So they huddled at Perkins Restaurant. "We really didn't discuss bas- ketball,'' Bruesewitz said. "Nobody gave any big speeches.'' The players just hung out. "We just wanted to change things up,'' he said. "It was a team event.'' It's important to point out that nobody is accepting losing. On the contrary, Bruesewitz said, "We're definitely disappointed'' with the 1-3 start in the Big Ten. That topic has been broached. "We've talked a lot about it in the locker room,'' Bruesewitz said. "We've got good leaders on this team. We don't have guys sitting there with their heads in their hands.'' Nobody is feeling sorry for them- selves, he added. And there is an urgency to turn the season around even though the Badgers travel next to Purdue, where they've won just once since 1972. "Winning is a good deodorant,'' he said. "Trust me, it's a good de- odorant for a lot of things.'' Prodded to critique his own play, Bruesewitz said, "I think I've underachieved. I feel like I should be more consistent offensively. But I'm not trying to force shots, I'm not trying to do too much.'' This is where he reached for the "quicksand'' cliché. "The harder you try, the more you bury yourself,'' he explained. "I'm trying to let things come to me. I've been working on my jump shot and finishing around the rim. "Luckily there's more than just shooting and scoring in the game of basketball. I feel like I've done a good job rebounding and I've tried to bring as much energy as possible to the team defensively.'' Bruesewitz admitted that he tends to be tougher on himself. "You know the cliché, it's the old lawyer's model,'' he said. "If you get everything you asked for, you didn't ask for enough. I kind of ask a lot out of myself and I haven't quite gotten there yet.'' But he's working on it. So are his UW teammates. "Everybody in our locker room,'' he said, "feels like we're a better team than we've shown the last three games and even most of the year.'' A good friend of mine — Nuke LaLoosh — used to say, "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you score the ball. Sometimes you win, some- times you lose, sometimes it rains.'' Think about that for awhile.