Rhode Island Basketball: 3 reasons why Rams fell to Wisconsin Badgers
Fatts Russell never got himself going
If there was one thing I knew for sure going into Wednesday’s game, it was that in order for Rhode Island to come away victorious, Fatts Russell needed to have a monster game. Prior to Rhode Island’s match-up with Wisconsin, the 5’10” senior guard was averaging 17.6 points and had scored at least 12 points in each of Rhode Island’s first five games.
Russell’s streak ended on Wednesday when Wisconsin held him to just eight points on 3/14 shooting (21.4%). Before I get into how Russell could have been more effective on the offensive end, I have to give Wisconsin’s defense a ton of credit. The Badgers did a tremendous job of sprinting back on defense after they were unable to convert on the offensive end, and not giving Russell clear paths to the basket.
If you are a guard, and your responsibility is to slow Russell down after missed baskets, there is a 0% chance that you will complete that task if you elect to run side by side with him, and hope that he eventually gives the ball up (because in their minds he will not be able to control his body and speed, in time for him to complete a regular right/left-hand layup with his outside hand, or an inside-hand layup).
This is because Russell understands how to toy with his defenders, and manipulate them into thinking that he will slow up and bring the ball back out, when he is really planning to accelerate toward the basket, as soon as he sees that his defender’s left or right foot looks like it is in quicksand (because Russell was able to freeze them with his slight hesitation/laid back dribbles).
It is clear that Brad Davison and D’Mitrik Trice (Wisconsin’s guards) already comprehend this because they made sure that they stayed in front of Russell at all times, and prevented him from exposing them in transition (which Russell would have done if Trice and Davison didn’t contain him right away).
So, yes, the Badgers did what they needed to do in order to neutralize Russell in transition, but in the half-court, Russell could have done more to get himself going offensively. When coming off ball screens, Russell would have had more success if he had kept the ball in his hands a little longer, instead of passing it as soon as one of Wisconsin’s big men hedged hard (which was surprising, because Russell is excellent at staying patient, and asking for an additional screen if necessary).
You are not always going to be able to walk to the basket, after your teammate sets a solid screen for you, which is why you need to maintain possession of the ball, and see what your options are.
The great thing about Wisconsin’s pick-and-roll defense is that all five Badgers on the court are capable of switching onto the ball-handler and playing serviceable defense. With that being said, on Wednesday, there were a few times when Russell would come off a screen, and see a favorable match-up that he wanted to try and exploit.
When Russell saw this, he decided to execute his signature change of direction between the legs dribble move. While the move allowed him to get a few steps on his initial defender(s), Wisconsin’s second level of defenders was waiting for Russell in the paint, and as a result, Russell ended up shooting a couple of off-balance prayers at the rim.
As I mentioned in my breakdown of Russell’s game back in July, Russell cannot continue to take difficult shots when he gets deep into the paint, because height is not on his side. After completing his change of direction between the legs dribble move, Russell should have realized that he would have been better off slowing down, and putting up a soft floater that Wisconsin’s big men may not have been able to contest heavily.
Additionally, Wednesday’s game would have been the perfect time for Russell to utilize one of his main strengths, which is refusing screens and exploding toward the basket. I understand that Wisconsin is a disciplined defensive team, but because of Russell’s elite speed, I am pretty confident that he would have gotten some easy buckets in the early going of Wednesday’s game if he had angled his body toward the direction of the screens, stopped, and crossed over to the other side.
Despite Russell’s disappointing performance on Wednesday, Rhode Island fans should know that they have nothing to worry about because they won’t see Russell score fewer than 10 points a whole lot this season. Russell is a special player who lives for the big moments, which is why he will come through time and time again for the Rams as the season goes on.