How Good Are The Badgers? Comparing Badger Hoops Efficiency To Past Seasons

When the Wisconsin Badgers Men’s basketball team is having a good year you will usually see them among Ken Pomeroy’s most efficient teams in the country.  This year the Badgers still have an outside chance of winning the conference, with the most likely finish being second or third.  As of Thursday the Badgers were 8th overall in the country in Efficiency.  The efficiency tracking is the best available tool in viewing how a team has fared because it takes bias and pace out of the argument.  It does not punish the Badgers for playing at a slower pace.  Pomeroy’s site will also adjust the rating according to strength of schedule which is extremely useful. 

The Badgers are currently rated 3rd in the country in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency and 36thin Adjusted Defensive Efficiency.  In most years these ratings are flipped.  The Badgers are usually top ten in defense but outside of the top 30 in offensive efficiency.  If you had to be one or the other when it comes to the NCAA tourney, history has shown that it is better to be more efficient on offense than defense.  Obviously it is best to be efficient in both.

Teams that are so-so in offensive efficiency but strong in defensive efficiency usually have troubles with dry spells and in the tourney that will kill you.  A multiple minute dry spell in a tourney game while the other team hits a couple of threes will knock you out.  This was the case a few years ago against UNLV and Davidson.  Last year Cornell outplayed the Badgers in almost every way.

Below are the efficiency ratings for the Badgers from the last few years.  The ratings columns below are organized by Offense, Defense, National Average.

2011 Ratings

Strengths:  Overall offensive efficiency, offensive turnover rate, free throw shooting, rebounding and shot blocking.

Weaknesses:  Forcing turnovers, getting to the free throw line, and opponent’s free throw shooting %.

Themes from the past:  The good Badgers teams from the past few years could all protect the call.  Teams that did well in the tourney were better at defending the three than the 2011 team.  The 2011 team is better than it has been at offensive rebounds which helps the offensive efficiency.  Shot blocking in 2011 is the best it has been for the Badgers which could prove huge in the tourney, a team cannot depend on a team just plain missing shots, you need to either turn them over or block their shots to get stops.  This year the Badgers can block those shots.  The 2011 team does not get to the line as much as previous teams but that may not be a bad thing, depending on officials to make calls can be dangerous if it is a major resource of your points which was the case with the 2007 team.  This Badger team is exceptional at shooting free throws which could become extremely valuable in close tourney games.

One additional strength this team does possess over past seasons is having two go-to scorers in Jon Leuer and Jordan Taylor.  In the tourney most games become a tight possession by possession battle and the Badgers have two legitimate threats as opposed to scoring off of the system.  Having these two will become extremely valuable come tourney time.

2010 Ratings

Finish: Lost in 2nd round to Cornell.  The team was solid in both offensive and defensive efficiency, rarely turned it over, and was not bad in defending the three point shot but not great either.  Ultimately the Badgers ran into a hot team.

2009 Ratings

Finish:  Lost to Xavier in 2nd round.  Not a very strong team, getting to the second round was the ceiling.

2008 Ratings

Finish:  Lost to Davidson in Sweet 16.  The defensive numbers were very solid this season.  I expected to see the 3 point shooting% to be much worse.  Was Davidson just that hot or was the Big 10 really down this year?

2007 Ratings

Finish:  Lost to UNLV in 2ndround.  Disappointing year for many Badger fans as most of us thought the team had a chance to at least get to the Elite Eight to face Florida.  The offensive efficiency was the story here as a couple of dry spells in the UNLV game doomed the season.  This team is an example of it being better to be great at offense instead of defense.  This team also depended on getting to the line a little too much, this can kill you in the tourney if the refs do not make the calls.

2005 Ratings

Finish:  Lost to North Carolin in Elite 8.  This was a good run by the Badgers that was helped out by the draw.  The team did not play a higher seed until they met North Carolina due to upsets but one thing they were really good at was defending the 3 point shot.  If you can only do one thing on defense, defending the three will allow you to advance in the tourney.

2004 Ratings

Finish:  Lost to Pittsburgh in 2nd round.

Why?  This year was a true travesty dealt out by the selection committee.  Wisconsin, Pittsburgh and Oklahoma State were all sent into the same sub-region, meaning they would all face each other by the Sweet 16 and all three were in the top 10 of overall efficiency rating.  Three elite eight quality teams sent to the same sub-region was a joke then and still is.  This draw was proof that getting to the final four requires some luck along with skill.