The Wisconsin Badgers are in trouble this season, and Greg Gard has a huge task on his hands to fix the mess. Wisconsin played poorly in the first half and then battled in the second half to force overtime. However, in overtime it was back to the first-half antics again, and the Badgers ultimately fell to Villanova 76-66. This game revealed three glaring issues for Wisconsin and Greg Gard that need to be addressed immediately. But they may not be able to be fixed.
1. The Badgers are only four players deep
The biggest issue is that Wisconsin only has four players they can count on. Four total players. That's not even enough to field a full team. Nick Boyd, John Blackwell, Nolan Winter, and Andrew Rohde.
These four played 160 of the 225 total minutes of Wisconsin basketball. That's 71% of the minutes, and that's a problem. This means the other five players contributed only 29% of the minutes in the game. Honestly, the overtime loss could have been fatigue; the four stars played so many minutes.
To make matters worse, these four scored 62 of the 66 points. Hayden Jones and Aleksas Bieliauskas each scored two points.
2. There's a clear lack of chemistry for Wisconsin
Related: Frustrated Greg Gard says he may end up benching players in effort to find defense
Out of the three glaring issues, this is one that could be fixed. The defensive and offensive issues are perpetuated by a team that doesn't trust each other. In the first half, the game had almost zero flow. One possession they would barely pass, the next they would force it around to each other like they were told by the coach to get 20 passes in, or they were running. It was weird and often led to a turnover.
The defense also relies on chemistry and trusting the spacing on the court and where the teammates will be. Gard is not getting much of that right now; there are gaps in the defense all day long.
3. The Wisconsin bigs continue to get out muscled and are "soft"
The one you will see fans rant and rave about is how soft the big men play for Wisconsin. They continue to get moved out of the way and often avoid contact. The reason Bieliauskas replaced Rapp in the starting lineup is that Rapp plays like a guard more than a big man, and it just won't work.
The Badgers were out-rebounded by five boards, but that's not the telling stat; the bigger deal is that Villanova got 14 offensive rebounds. That's 14 more chances to score. It's also double the amount of offensive rebounds that Wisconsin got.