NCAA Basketball Betting Bad To Worse For Badgers
by BetUS Sportsbook
The problem with being No. 1? There’s nowhere to go but down.
That’s life for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
It’s too early to call it a freefall, but Wisconsin picked the most inopportune time of the year to lose momentum. Worse, the Badgers have also lost junior forward Brian Butch for the next 4-6 weeks with a dislocated and fractured right elbow, sustained in Sunday’s 49-48 loss to OSU. Wisconsin still cashed in as 4.5-point road dogs, but there might not be any more paydays down the stretch without Butch.
The former McDonald’s All-American, like the majority of centers at the college level, is a bit wiry at 6-foot-11 and 245 pounds. However, most teams would jump at the opportunity to put someone with Butch’s height and potential on the floor. He is Wisconsin’s leading rebounder at 5.9 per game (in just under 20 minutes of action) and sits third on the club in scoring with an average of 8.8 points. Butch can even hit the occasional 3-ball, connecting at a 34-percent clip.
The long-range aspect of Butch’s game is very important to coach Bo Ryan’s “swing” offense. This system, essentially a blend of the “flex” and “UCLA” schemes, allows the Badgers to create mismatches by pulling post players away from the basket. When opposing bigs stray from the paint to guard Butch, lanes open up for senior forward Alando Tucker. He leads the Badgers with 19.9 points per game; with Butch limited to three minutes versus the Buckeyes, Tucker scored just 12 points on 5-for-15 shooting.
The burden for Wisconsin’s regular-season finale, at home this Saturday against Michigan State, appears to fall on sophomore forward Marcus Landry. He’s one of those glue guys like Butch, and he dumped 18 points on the Spartans in their previous matchup. But at 6-foot-7, Landry is not about to stop MSU from getting inside. That will be up to junior center Greg Stiemsma. He’s the same height as Butch and 10 pounds heavier, and he led the team in blocks last year (1.5 per game) despite coming off the bench. But his minutes are down after fighting depression and cutting his 2005-06 campaign short.
Needing two players to replace Butch will test both Wisconsin’s flow on offense and the team’s depth at both ends of the court. This is still a dangerous team, but performance is bound to suffer – as is morale. Suffice to say the Badgers are not roaring into March like lions.
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