Bo Ryan is pretty funny. He is one of the few basketball coaches who can take an ordinary NCAA Tournament news conference and amuse to the point that less than half those asking questions avoid dozing off before players from the next high seed whine about getting no respect. Ryan is also fairly intelligent, given how he approached working under Lon Kruger at the 1995 World University Games in Japan.
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"We never had (Kruger) up on stage doing stand-up comedy or anything," he said.
The lesson in that: When chasing a gold medal, it's best to avoid an international incident.
Kruger will guide UNLV into today's Midwest Regional second-round game against Wisconsin with a far better understanding of his opponent than perhaps others might have this time of year. He coached in the Big Ten at Illinois, coached against the Badgers and their brawny nature, coached against all the big bodies and defensive intensity. Back then, Dick Bennett was leading the Badgers to a Final Four. Today, Ryan is in charge and has taken the program to a fifth straight NCAA appearance.
So much for differences.
Physical play is to Wisconsin basketball as open land is to this part of the country. Certain traits define programs, and you can't think of Wisconsin without thinking of some opposing player being boxed out into the third row by some brute wearing a Badgers uniform. It's something UNLV must be concerned about today, something it can't allow to happen much and still win. Wendell White needed a few Vicodin for his sore ribs following UNLV's first-round victory. Trainers need to keep the entire bottle ready today.
You don't beat the Badgers the first 30 minutes of a game, which gusty, little ol' Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and its 18-point lead discovered Friday. You beat them the final 10 if you're tough enough to not wilt from all the stress Wisconsin imposes. Butchers don't grind meat like the Badgers do opponents.
"It's amazing to hear people say I have the right players for my system," Ryan said. "We recruit all types of players and they play. If somebody making a good pass and taking a good shot and stopping the ball defensively is a system, man, I'll take that anytime."
He is 59 and much like Bennett in that his is a coaching career saturated in Wisconsin roots. Ryan went from Wisconsin-Platteville to Wisconsin-Milwaukee to the big boy Wisconsin with no hyphen. He has won more than 500 games, which means he is fairly skilled at watching film and quite proficient at working the living room of a recruit. The surprising (not to mention refreshing) part is not that he successfully sells the Wisconsin way, but that today's player embraces it.
It's not as though Wisconsin doesn't or can't score in bunches. It went for 57 in the second half against Corpus Christi. It scored 81 against Florida State and 89 against Pittsburgh. But for all their accomplishments -- a No. 1 ranking earlier this season included -- you still don't think of the Badgers and envision the most entertaining of styles.
Successful, yes.
Exciting, hardly ever.
"Growing up, I was more excited about wins than dunks and style of play," said Badgers forward Alando Tucker, one of the best players UNLV will have seen this season. "Looking at Coach Ryan's resume, I understood he was a winner. That's what attracted me to Wisconsin."
UNLV certainly can win. It is capable of making shots and forcing turnovers and rebounding with the Badgers. It's good enough to make the Sweet Sixteen.
But the idea that the Rebels will tease Wisconsin into a faster pace than it desires is like hoping your bank will forget about that overdue credit card bill. It's not going to happen. If the Rebels are to live for a trip to St. Louis next week, they will do so by being fundamentally better than a team that appreciates each possession as much as its coach does his job.
"I have appreciation for everything," Ryan said. "I appreciated a Hardy's (restaurant) up in Superior, Wis., for all those tough trips we took with Platteville. We'd clip coupons from the home program, and that's how I fed my team. If we got a couple (extra), I could get two hamburgers because I was the coach. Appreciate all this? ... Yeah.
"We know who we are and what we are about. We're fine with it. My wife lets me come home every night. That's the only respect I'm looking for."
Ed Graney's column is published Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. He can be reached at 383-4618 or egraney@reviewjournal.com.
