Wisconsin’s patience is hard to overcome
April 4, 2014
By David Schuh | Basketball columnist
After three dramatic, improbable wins in the last two weeks, UK is riding a wave of momentum to Dallas for the Final Four.
Having already beaten three of 2013’s national semi-finalists, the Cats have been tested more than any team remaining in the tournament.
But Wisconsin is so different from any team UK has played this season. The Badgers present a whole new challenge.
They are patient, almost to a fault. The Badgers spread the floor, pass the ball well and rarely take bad shots.
UK will have to defend consistently because Wisconsin uses much of the shot clock and makes open shots.
That has been the Cats’ biggest struggle throughout the year. For minutes at a time, they have softened on defense. That has obviously improved over the last four weeks, but Wisconsin’s style demands defensive discipline.
That will be difficult with the unknown status of sophomore forward Willie Cauley-Stein.
With an ailing left ankle that leaves Cauley-Stein questionable (at best) for Saturday, UK faces a matchup problem — Wisconsin junior forward Frank Kaminsky.
Kaminsky, a 7-foot, 234-pound versatile nightmare, has averaged 22 points over his last three games, exploiting an ability to play in the post and step out to make 3-pointers.
Cauley-Stein’s size and defensive versatility would make him a perfect counter to Kaminsky’s game. However, without Cauley-Stein, the only player with enough length and agility to even try to slow Kaminsky is UK freshman forward Marcus Lee, who until Sunday had not played double-digit minutes in a game since Jan. 14.
While the Cats are bigger and more athletic than the Badgers across the board, Wisconsin has advantages that could exploit UK’s youth and discipline.
That has set up an interesting, contrasting matchup in Saturday’s second Final Four game.
UK head coach John Calipari must have his team ready for the refined, systematic Badger offense. But they have a lot of time to prepare.
UK has had five days to practice and watch film for the game, a huge advantage over Wisconsin’s last victim, 1-seed Arizona.
Given that preparation, I think the Cats will be ready for the Badgers. UK is playing offense at such a high level lately, even some matchup problems on defense haven’t hurt too much.
The return of Cauley-Stein could make this a fairly convincing win. But without him, I see Wisconsin hanging tight for 30 minutes before the Cats make a run to create separation.
Wisconsin is a difficult matchup for any team, especially a team as young and inconsistent as UK.
But the Cats have solved many of those inconsistencies in the last month. If they can defend and score at the level they did in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, UK will book a spot in the National Championship.
