Hayes calls out team following third-straight loss

[Da-news-now]

Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig were supposed to be the leaders of the 201-16 Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball program, on and off the court. As of late it has been Hayes stepping up in a major way, but it hasn’t resulted in W’s for the Badgers.

Instead, Wisconsin is in the midst of a three-game losing streak, having lost to Northwestern for the firs time since the 2007-08 season and are three games below .500 in Big Ten play for the first time since the 2008-09 season.

Hayes put up big time numbers to back up his talk following the loss to Northwestern. In the last two games against Maryland and Northwestern, Hayes has 34 combined points and is shooting 44 percent from the field.

Given his experience, it shouldn’t be too much to ask the rest o the team to come along. However, Wisconsin has seen shrinking performances from fellow junior Bronson Koenig and inconsistent play from the rest of the group not named Ethan Happ.

It has frustrated the leader of this team, and he’s gone public with it for the first time.

“I’ve never been one to go around yelling and I try not to cuss, but if that’s what it takes for me to get my guys and myself to play better and get some wins, it’s something I’ll have to do,” Hayes said.

“Some guys have to do some soul searching to find out why they play the game, what they want out of this. People are saying we’re not going to make the (NCAA) tournament, or we’re not good. ‘That’s a terrible team.’

“It’s got to come to a point where you have to have pride.”

Hayes sees it as time for himself and the rest of the team to take things to a whole different level. Just getting close and growing isn’t enough — winning, and winning now is on his agenda.

“It comes to a point now where you just have to be embarrassed with what’s going on,” Hayes said. “There’s no more ‘we’re learning, we’re getting there, these are good losses.’ No such thing as that.

“It’s time to start winning.”

With a NCAA tournament berth looking less and less like a possibility, Wisconsin does need to dig deep and find that pride Hayes is talking about.

After back-to-back Final Four appearances, having the worst start since the 1998-99 season isn’t sitting well with Hayes and likely the rest of the team as well.



Hayes’ public statements indicate a team that knows its talent is there, but is searching for that final piece to the puzzle. With a visit from No. 5 Michigan State this weekend, the Badgers are going to have to dig deep and find what’s missing quickly or this season could be lost before the calendar turns to February.

The post Hayes calls out team following third-straight loss appeared first on Madtown Badgers.

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[Crease Creature]

Good for Nigel. Yeah there's a bunch of freshman in the team, and Gard is expanding the bench like Bo never did, but good for Nigel to get on some of these guys.

I have no idea what's up with Koenig.

 

[57packer]

Koenig is a bit of a mystery, but in some ways you could see this coming. Koenig is a solid ball handler, but isn't particularly quick or explosive off the dribble. With less spacing on the court because nobody is honoring anything from the outside right now, Koenig has less room to work and teams are playing right up in his face. He can't hardly blow by anyone and now has no room to get his shot off so everything is a tough contested shot.

If they can find some outside shooting next year and can space the floor better, he might have a better season. Unfortunately, I think this year is just going to be a lost season for him and the team. Likely will play in the NIT.

 

[Crease Creature]

Likely will play in the NIT

They're playing a lot better than in the early part of the season, but there are still a few folks around here who would view the NIT as an accomplishment. We'll see what happens when Izzo brings the Spartans in this weekend.

 

[57packer]

I think the NIT would take them unless they just finish so poorly that they are bottom 2-3 in the Big-10. The NIT would probably consider having a back-to-back final 4 as quite a coup. Not sure that has ever happened before. I'd like to at least see them in the NIT just to hopefully get some more game experience for a very young/raw team.