Frank Kaminsky Says Goodbye to Wisconsin in Heartfelt Letter
May 23, 2015
Frank Kaminsky had one hell of a career for the Wisconsin Badgers. From being named the Naismith College Player of the Year to leading his team to the national championship game of the NCAA tournament during his senior season, The Tank has a lot to be grateful for. Before venturing off to the NBA, Kaminsky wrote an emotional note to Badgers fans, looking back at his four years in Madison. In the farewell, he begins with this:
To be honest, I have been putting off writing this blog for a while now. Writing this blog means that my time at Wisconsin has come to an end, and I am now officially reflecting on the past. Thinking about what to write here is difficult because there is so much to say, but at the same time it makes me sad. First and foremost, I have never loved being a part of something as much as I loved being a student-athlete at the greatest university in the world. Thinking about the future is scary, but I know that I am now ready for it. However this is not a blog about my future. This is a blog to say thank you and goodbye to the best thing I have ever known.
He talks about his time being recruited and how he was a "frail kid with lofty dreams who wanted to achieve something great" when he got to Wisconsin. From discussing the struggles of his freshman and sophomore years to dominating the playing field in his junior and senior seasons, Kaminsky will be missed.
Wooden Award Winner 2015: Frank Kaminsky Receives Coveted Honor
Apr 10, 2015
Frank Kaminsky and the Wisconsin Badgers didn't end their season in ideal fashion, but the senior big man will leave college basketball on a high note after winning the prestigious John R. Wooden Award Friday.
The Wooden Award is given to the most outstanding player in college basketball, and Kaminsky proved to be just that in 2014-15, as announced on the award's official website.
Kaminsky beat out some stiff competition for every award, and the Wooden was no exception. The other four finalists were Duke center Jahlil Okafor, Kentucky forward Willie Cauley-Stein, Notre Dame guard Jerian Grant and Ohio State guard D'Angelo Russell.
All of them enjoyed fine campaigns, but none of them were able to equal the overall impact that Kaminsky made on Wisconsin and college basketball as a whole.
Kaminsky led the Badgers all the way to the national championship game before ultimately falling to Duke. Wisconsin memorably ended Kentucky's undefeated season in the Final Four, and Kaminsky was the driving force behind it.
He ended the season with averages of nearly 19 points and eight rebounds per game, while shooting almost 55 percent from the field and 42 percent from long range.
The 7-footer was so dominant that ESPN.com's Andy Katz questioned the need for so many awards since Kaminsky ended up monopolizing them:
Ok so now the Wooden Award has announced that press releases were sent out incorrectly. Show is tonight at 830 pm ESPN2. Kaminsky vs Okafor.
Winning award after award may seem like old hat for some, but Kaminsky scratched and clawed his way to this point. He wasn't a highly touted recruit entering college, and he didn't even average two points per contest as a freshman.
Because of that, Kaminsky will undoubtedly be gracious when he accepts the honor Friday night, just like he was when he won the Associated Press Player of the Year Award, per Jim Polzin of the Wisconsin State Journal.
It means a lot. It's been a long journey. It wasn't easy at times, but I just believed in the process and believed in myself and had a lot of people who also believed in me. They really pushed me. My teammates really helped me by making me a better player every day in practice. I've just got to be thankful to all the people who helped me.
One can only assume that Kaminsky would willingly trade in all the hardware in exchange for a national title, but Wisconsin falling just short doesn't change what the Lisle, Illinois, native accomplished.
He was the most complete and dominant player in college basketball this past season, and he carried himself respectably as well.
Kaminsky will now move toward what promises to be a productive NBA career, but regardless of what happens at the next level, his legacy has been cemented as a Wooden Award winner.
It was a magical ride for the Wisconsin Badgers (36-4), one that included a national semifinal victory over the previously undefeated Kentucky Wildcats...
Today We Are All Sad Wisconsin Teletubby Fan
Apr 7, 2015
As someone who grew up in a household where a deep and abiding distaste for Duke is engendered at an early age, I spent the better part of my life actively wishing nothing but the worst of all things upon the Blue Devils and their coach whose name spits in the eye of phonetics.
But people grow up, and some of them enter the sports industry only to realize players on rival teams are actual people—human beings with hopes and dreams, as opposed to cartoon villains who congealed in the River Styx and live to destroy the world’s beauty.
I no longer hate Duke, but I was among the legion of underdog romantics hoping Wisconsin would upend the Blue Devils on Monday night and put a bow on the most Cinderella-esque run in the history of No. 1 seeds.
This did not happen, of course. Duke did Duke things, a freshman hobgoblin took over and a new Blue Devils villain introduced himself to the nation in all of his hair-gelled glory.
Duke downed Wisconsin 68-63 in the NCAA national championship game and did so with just enough controversy to make sure everyone who isn’t an ex-lacrosse-playing commodity trader will gripe about the title’s legitimacy for a decade.
The national sadness in the aftermath of the Blue Devils' victory was palpable, and no sooner had it set in than did a young man personifying the angst appear on our television screens.
He was us, and we were him: the sad Wisconsin Teletubby.
It’s cold-blooded, but that’s how the game is played. You show your sad face on national television, and you’re a living “One Shining Moment” commercial forever.
In any case, today we are all sad Wisconsin Teletubby—numb, tired and slowly realizing the irrational things we’ve done over the last three weeks in the name of college basketball. It hurts now, but with time will come perspective and peace.
A Duke national title isn’t the end of the world, after all. Kentucky could’ve won.
Bridesmaid Badgers Etch Memorable Legacy Despite Falling to Duke in NCAA Final
Apr 7, 2015
Wisconsin’s greatest window of opportunity to win a national championship slammed shut Monday night when it couldn’t come up with a way to stop Duke’s magical end game.
For most teams, that would mean getting relegated to the ever-growing pile of title-game losers we’ve forgotten all about. History is never kind to those forlorn crews. Just ask anyone who’s ever been on the losing side in a Super Bowl.
But this Wisconsin team will be different. They’ll remain in the conversation about great teams, even if they sometimes looked and acted more like dairy farmers taking a break than the sensational band of athletes who made Saturday such a great night for the legion of Kentucky haters.
The only thing they shared more than the ball was good times.
Besides giving the college game a lesson on teamwork, they also provided evidence for every athlete out there that it’s possible to have fun at a press conference. Their obsessive video game competitiveness provided some of the best laughs of the tournament as they showed they were as fearless in front of microphones as they were on the March Madness center stage.
They showed it’s possible to play for a championship with a cast of characters, and still have plenty of character while exhibiting precious little ego.
So yes, this Wisconsin team simply stood too tall in too many ways to just disappear into the shadows.
The tallest of them, 7-footer Frank Kaminsky, joins Tyler Hansbrough, Shane Battier and Tim Duncan as great examples of why it makes sense to hang around campus a fourth year. Players who put off cashing a seven-figure check for a year to stay in class are tough to forget, and Kaminsky’s loyalty to Wisconsin earned him permanent good-guy status.
And rather than think of Kaminsky as a player who came up one win short of his goal, I’d rather remember him as a Captain Ahab who captured his great white whale.
Wisconsin getting a revenge win against Kentucky was one of the greatest semifinals we’ll ever see. It had been nearly a quarter-century since anyone showed up undefeated at a Final Four, and Wisconsin took down Kentucky with even more authority than when Duke turned the same trick on UNLV in 1991.
They were never shy about stating that goal either, hoping openly that a march to a title would include a rematch with Kentucky.
It takes a lot of focus to chase a goal for an entire year, but that's the burning desire Wisconsin had after its heartbreaking loss by a point to Kentucky in the 2014 Final Four. Had they won, they likely would have been a prohibitive favorite against UConn in the title game.
They responded to that setback by becoming the most offensively efficient team of the season, a team that didn't commit fouls or turnovers, and that always looked for an extra touch. In short, the kind of people who habitually do it the right way.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - APRIL 06: Head coach Bo Ryan of the Wisconsin Badgers reacts in the second half against the Duke Blue Devils during the NCAA Men's Final Four National Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium on April 6, 2015 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo
Wisconsin was probably the only team in the nation built to beat Kentucky, and the shame of it is that the bracket construction didn’t allow that to be the title game.
Think Duke’s eight-man rotation could have kept up with Kentucky’s onslaught of future NBA players? Maybe, but I think that would have been a tough matchup for the Blue Devils.
The one-two punch of Kaminsky and Sam Dekker gave Wisconsin the raw material to beat the team that, let’s face it, had the best wire-to-wire season.
Unfortunately for the Badgers, spilling all they had to knock Kentucky from the undefeated ranks may have left them too spent to handle Duke. And the defeat left Kaminsky way too drained to offer perspective.
"It's hard to say anything. These guys are my family," Kaminsky told reporters afterward (H/T Associated Press via Fox Sports). "I mean that literally. It's going to be hard to say goodbye."
The first hint of Wisconsin fatigue came when Dekker lofted an air ball to start the game. And he had another before his 0-for-6 night on three-pointers was done.
Think of that task. One night you’re facing the only 38-0 team in the history of college basketball, and two nights later you’re up against the game’s greatest coach since John Wooden.
Even Frank can’t play on an empty Tank. Kaminsky was steadily effective during a 21-point 12-rebound night, and occasionally brilliant while luring his freshman counterpart, Jahlil Okafor, into foul trouble.
His late 3-pointer was one of Wisconsin’s last gasps, but Kaminsky and his crew failed to look and act like the more veteran team in the final minutes.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - APRIL 06: Sam Dekker #15 of the Wisconsin Badgers kneels on the court in the second half against the Duke Blue Devils during the NCAA Men's Final Four National Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium on April 6, 2015 in Indianapolis, Indiana
That’s okay, given how well they carried themselves the rest of the season.
There was something comfortable about watching Wisconsin, and getting reminded that not all winners are McDonald's All-Americans or five-star recruits. They kept alive that everyone-has-a-chance feeling that's a huge part of every tournament early on, but fades quickly as the blueblood programs take over. At a time when there's grumbling about lower scoring, they were the perfect offense-heavy addition to the season's final act, and they simply played the game right.
Like a team we'll remember for a long time.
Tom Weir covered 15 Final Fours as a columnist for USA Today.
Bo Ryan Comments on Refs in 2015 NCAA Championship Game, 1-and-Done Players
Apr 7, 2015
Wisconsin Badgers head coach Bo Ryan wasn't afraid to sound off on what he felt was poor officiating in his team's 68-63 loss to the Duke Blue Devils in the 2015 national championship on Monday night.
CBS Sports' Jon Solomon provided one of Ryan's comments:
Bo Ryan's turn to complain about officiating on CBS: "It's just a shame that it had to be played that way."
For The Win's Nick Schwartz transcribed more of Ryan's quotes:
You just have to be able to handle all the hands and the checking. There was more body contact in this game than any game we've played all year, and I just feel sorry for my guys that all of a sudden a game was like that. I think they had a…they're struggling with that a little bit.
Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson highlighted two of the more controversial calls, or non-calls, that went against the Badgers. The first was Justise Winslow possibly stepping out of bounds before dishing the ball to Jahlil Okafor for a Duke bucket. The other was a close out-of-bounds decision in which Winslow looked to have touched the ball last:
Some would also argue that Wisconsin was the beneficiary of a bad call or two against the Kentucky Wildcats in the national semifinals. The missed shot-clock violation that allowed Nigel Hayes to score two critical points late in the second half stands out the most.
The officiating wasn't the only subject of Ryan's ire. He also condemned the trend of top schools recruiting high school players who are likely to only spend one year in college, per Solomon:
Not a good look for Bo Ryan. He complains about officiating and says "we don't do rent-a-player."
On Tuesday, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski addressed the "rent-a-player" comment during an interview with CBS. CBS This Morning provided his reaction to Bleacher Report:
Duke doesn’t rent a player. We have one of the great schools in the world, and when we recruit a young man, we recruit a young man because of three things. One, he has the academic potential to do well at Duke, two, he has the talent to do well, and three, he has great character. All the guys on my team fit that description 100%. In today’s world you have to adapt to what’s happening. Throughout college, there are many kids who don’t go even the full four years because of opportunities, business opportunities that are available, and they’re not just athletes. And so if the opportunity arises for a youngster to leave early from school, whether he’s an athlete or she’s an athlete or not, it’s their opportunity to pursue it. So I think we’re living in the dark ages when we say that it should only be done one way.
Krzyzewski later spoke more about Ryan's comments on Mad Dog Sports Radio on Sirius XM:
Of course, nothing could detract from the drama of the final few minutes between the Blue Devils and Badgers. In the pregame hype, the title game looked to be one of the most evenly matched in years, and the event delivered in every respect.
Wisconsin's Offense Reaching Historic Heights Ahead of 2015 National Title Game
Apr 5, 2015
INDIANAPOLIS — Back in late February after a loss at Maryland, Wisconsin assistant coach Greg Gard started digging through his office in search of a highlight tape that included snippets from Bo Ryan's teams at Division III UW-Platteville in 1992 and 1995.
Ryan had unbelievable success at the Division III level, winning four national titles and going undefeated twice, including the '95 season. He used the swing offense that he still uses today, which focused on spreading the floor with shooters and moving the ball until a good shot emerged.
The coaches let the grainy footage run at a team film study after the Maryland loss—"It was way before HD or 3-D or any of those others Ds," Gard said—and Ryan and Gard sat at the back of the room marveling at the beautiful offense those teams ran.
"It got a point across in terms of touching the post, how simple the game can be, how to cut hard and move away from the ball, how to pass and catch, and really I think it was a little bit of a kick in the pants," Gard said. "The game was a kick in the pants too. But I think that reaffirmed some things. Let's get back to basics and be who we are."
The Badgers have not lost since, reeling off 11 straight victories on their way to Monday's national title game by scoring a preposterous 1.27 points per possession.
Wisconsin plays slow and ranks only 49th in points per game, but luckily the analytics age of college basketball has opened many eyes to the art of efficiency and one of the greatest offenses ever.
Wisconsin's adjusted offensive efficiency of 128.5—that's points per 100 possessions, adjusted based on strength of opponents—is the best mark in KenPom.com's database that goes back to 2002, and it's not even close.
Adj. Off. Eff.
1. Wisconsin (14-15)
128.5
2. Michigan (13-14)
124.1
3. Wake Forest (04-05)
124.0
4. Missouri (11-12)
123.9
5. Ohio State (10-11)
123.3
The Badgers and the Blue Devils—third in adjusted offensive efficiency—are proof that offense can still have its way in a year that scoring was at an all-time low.
How Wisconsin does it is simple: Put five guys on the floor who can shoot, pass and dribble. Take good shots. Make good shots.
"I think Coach puts you on the floor because you're unselfish," junior wing Sam Dekker said. "That's something he looks for. If you're willing to pass up some looks for better looks, that's obviously going to raise your level of play on the offensive end and make you more efficient."
It also helps that Wisconsin has great talent. Better than Ryan has ever had in Madison. Don't be fooled by the infographics that show the hordes of McDonald's All-Americans at Duke and Kentucky and zero at Wisconsin.
Ryan has two possible lottery picks in Frank Kaminsky and Dekker, plus two other future NBAers in sophomores Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig. Josh Gasser, Traevon Jackson and Duje Dukan are also future pros—just probably overseas.
Dekker has been the best player in the tournament, averaging 20.6 points on 61.3 percent shooting. That's why you might as well throw out the 80-70 loss to Duke on Dec. 3. Dekker was not right in that game and scored only five points in 24 minutes. He had rushed back from a preseason sprained ankle.
Now that he's healthy and playing with confidence, he's an impossible matchup with the speed of a guard to blow by bigger defenders and a 6'9" frame that can bully smaller guys in the post.
"Sam's kind of like a track athlete," Gard said. "Everything's got to feel good, and I think when he's feeling good like he is right now through the last month, he's coming out of the blocks much better than he was back in November and December."
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - APRIL 04: Sam Dekker #15 of the Wisconsin Badgers reacts late in the game against the Kentucky Wildcats during the NCAA Men's Final Four Semifinal at Lucas Oil Stadium on April 4, 2015 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Get
Koenig is the other difference between December Wisconsin and the postseason version. Coming out of high school, he was recruited by Kansas, North Carolina and Duke, but he was stuck in a bench role until Jackson graduated.
A midseason injury to Jackson turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because it forced Ryan to put the more talented Koenig in the starting lineup. He is a better shooter and creator off the dribble.
That was fortunate. And so has been the emergence of Kaminsky, who was a 1.8-points-per-game scorer as a freshman and turned into the National Player of the Year.
Of course, there's a difference between luck and making your own fortune, and that's where the culture of the program and skill developed deserve credit.
Hayes, for instance, was one of the best isolation scorers in the country last year, but he was a non-threat from outside. He didn't attempt one three-pointer all year. The goal of Hayes' offseason was to improve his jumper, and he's made 37 threes and shot 38.1 percent from deep.
"That's very important and vital to the offense that we run," Hayes said. "The swing, as you know, is a four-out, one-in, but we kind of stray away from that. We just come down and we give the ball to Frank, and usually play off of him. What happens is, yes, Frank's the Player of the Year, so you better double him, or he'll score, and all Frank does (if you double) is pass the ball to the guys that are open.
"And then either stop doubling because you don't want to give up three because three is worth more than two, or you let Frank score 25-30 points. It's a pick your poison.
This in-depth answer makes the Badgers sound impossible to guard. Most teams have at least one weakness that can be exploited.
But the Badgers do not have a weakness. Take a look at where their efficiency numbers rank in different play types, which helps explains the record-setting results.
Play Type
Efficiency
Rank
Post-up
102.5
3rd
Isolation
105.2
1st
Spot-up
99.7
80th
P&R ball-handler
93.4
27th
P&R roll man
115.0
27th
Cut
131.6
5th
Transition
122.4
5th
Off screen
115.2
8th
Hand off
111.9
14th
Those numbers would suggest the best way to guard the Badgers is to pack the paint, hope they take spot-up jumpers and pray they miss. But in the NCAA tournament, they've seemingly fixed what could be construed as their one weakness. In five tourney games, they're scoring 1.14 points per possession on spot-up jumpers, which would rank fifth nationally over the course of the season.
Another number that stands out in that chart is Wisconsin's transition efficiency. It's not that the Badgers want to play slow; they're just taught patience.
"Our guys have always been comfortable scoring at the end of the shot clock," assistant coach Gary Close said. "It doesn't bother them. It's funny. It gets a lot of attention in the media as slow, but in my opinion, it's beautiful. It's smart. It's the way the game should be played.
"You can go down and get a shot anytime you want, but is it a good one? And if you're going to be an efficient offensive team, you've got to get good shots."
When Kentucky lost Saturday night, the perception was that one of the all-time great teams had fallen short.
Perception is reality, in this case.
Kentucky entered that game with plenty of records. The undefeated 'Cats had the best adjusted defensive efficiency in the KenPom era. They had the best field-goal percentage defense (35.2 percent) since the NCAA started tracking that stat in 1978.
But those records are no longer's Kentucky's, and it was Wisconsin's offense that took an eraser to the record book.
Here's the beauty of the title game we do have: The narrative does not have to change.
"Coming into the year, I thought (Wisconsin) would be the best team in the country," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "And pretty much they have been. You know, it's just that Kentucky's undefeated performance overshadowed just how good Wisconsin has been until last night, where there were no shadows anymore."
We still have a historically great team playing Monday night. Just one with a great offense instead of a great defense.
C.J. Moore covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @CJMooreBR.
Wisconsin Badgers vs. Duke Blue Devils Betting, March Madness Analysis, Pick
Apr 5, 2015
Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky (44) blocks a shot by Kentucky's Willie Cauley-Stein during the second half of the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball semifinal game Saturday, April 4, 2015, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
The Wisconsin Badgers will be trying to win their first NCAA tournament title since 1941 when they face the Duke Blue Devils for the national championship Monday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The Badgers won the West Region and upset the previously unbeaten Kentucky Wildcats 71-64 as 4.5-point underdogs in the national semifinals on Saturday, improving to 5-0 against the spread in their past five games versus No. 1 seeds in the Big Dance.
Meanwhile, the Blue Devils won the South Region and moved to 5-0 ATS in the tournament with an 81-61 blowout win over the Michigan State Spartans as 5.5-point favorites.
Opening spread
This game opened as a pick 'em; the total was 140.5 (compare lines and consensus on the Odds Shark matchup report).
Why pick Wisconsin to cover the spread
Outside of covering tourney games against top seeds, Wisconsin has also thrived in the role of favorite throughout the season. In fact, the top-seeded Badgers were favored in every game this season until the Elite Eight against the second-seeded Arizona Wildcats in the West Region.
They are 19-1 straight up in their past 20 games as favorites but have a losing ATS record during that stretch at 9-10-1. However, Wisconsin has performed better as a favorite in the tournament, going 6-0 SU and 4-2 ATS in its last six games.
The Badgers have also covered seven of their previous 10 games overall heading into the NCAA title game, peaking at the perfect time, much like last year when their run was stopped just short with a 74-73 loss to Kentucky as one-point dogs in the Final Four.
After that tough loss, National Player of the Year Frank Kaminsky vowed to return rather than leaving school early for the NBA with the ultimate goal of winning the national championship.
Why pick Duke to cover the spread
Duke upset Wisconsin 80-70 earlier in the season as a 4.5-point road dog and has progressively gotten better in the tournament. The Blue Devils remained calm early on against the Spartans, trailing 14-6 less than five minutes into the game before going on a huge 29-9 run that gave them a double-digit lead they would not relinquish.
Defensively, nobody has played better than Duke in the Big Dance, limiting opponents to just 55 points per game. In the first meeting with the Badgers back on December 3, the Blue Devils held them to just 41 percent shooting while making a remarkable 65 percent of their own. Duke also out-rebounded Wisconsin 28-25, which could be the difference here again as well.
If the Blue Devils can hold the frontcourt trio of Kaminsky, Sam Dekker and Nigel Hayes to a combined 26 points and 15 rebounds, like they did the first time around, they will likely be cutting down the nets for the school’s fifth national title, including their third in Indy.
Smart betting pick
Some bettors might think Wisconsin could suffer from a letdown after that emotional victory against the Wildcats, but this squad has been focused on winning the national title since losing to them last year.
Kaminsky especially has been super motivated to bring home an NCAA championship to Madison, so look for him to try to get Jahlil Okafor and Amile Jefferson in early foul trouble and take over the game as he makes a run at Most Outstanding Player honors.
The Badgers will not be denied in Indy, so bet them to avenge their earlier loss with the biggest win of all.
Kentucky vs. Wisconsin: Social Buzz Surrounding Clash of CBB Titans
Apr 5, 2015
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - APRIL 04: Sam Dekker #15 of the Wisconsin Badgers handles the ball against Aaron Harrison #2 of the Kentucky Wildcats in the first half during the NCAA Men's Final Four Semifinal at Lucas Oil Stadium on April 4, 2015 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
The NCAA men's basketball championship matchup is set following a March Madness instant classic as the Wisconsin Badgers ruined the Kentucky Wildcats' undefeated season Saturday night in Indianapolis.
The Badgers rallied behind their two stars Frank Kaminsky, 20 points, and Sam Dekker, 16 points, as they beat the Wildcats 71-64 in a game that came down to key possessions late.
Aaron and Andrew Harrison tried to will their team to a win by combining for 25 points, but the guards fell short to Wisconsin’s big men. The Badgers out-rebounded Kentucky 44-22 despite a strong performance from one of the NBA’s top prospects, Karl-Anthony Towns, who had 16 points and nine rebounds.
This game had it all, including big performances, crazy coaches and some questionable calls from the referees.
Both teams came out swinging to start the game as the momentum shifted back and forth. Kentucky relied heavily on the Harrison twins as they provided half of the Wildcats' 36 first-half points. However, the big men made the highlight-reel plays.
On the other side, Wisconsin played very well in the first half despite going into the dressing room tied. The Badgers realized early they could take advantage of Devin Booker when he switched defensively.
In the second half, the referees called a crucial charge on Josh Gasser, eliminating a Bronson Koenig three-pointer for the Badgers and allowing Kentucky to swing the momentum.
However, not all of the calls went the Wildcats' way; the Badgers were given two courtesy points following a made basket that clearly occurred after the shot clock expired.
To quiet your conspiracy theories, Wisconsin fans, enjoy these two complimentary points https://t.co/pIepxxLUp4
This game came down to Wisconsin performing better than Kentucky when it mattered most. Dekker sunk a clutch three-pointer right before Aaron Harrison converted a three-point play to keep the Wildcats in it.
However, the game ended once both Kaminsky and Koenig showed their abilities to perform under pressure by making key free throws.
Once the buzzer sounded, the Badgers began to celebrate their first national championship game appearance since 1941. Monday’s game will feature Wisconsin and Duke, following the Blue Devils' 20-point victory over Michigan State in the other semifinal matchup.
An interesting aspect to watch in the upcoming game will be the battle between Wisconsin’s Dekker and Duke’s Justise Winslow. The Blue Devils forward scored a team-high 19 points against the Spartans on Saturday night.
First, though, Wisconsin gets to continue dancing in March, and Frank the Tank can celebrate his birthday with a semifinal victory that ended Kentucky’s perfect season.
Wisconsin Gets the Ultimate Revenge with Stunning Final Four Upset over Kentucky
Kerry Miller
Apr 5, 2015
"I don't think a couple good tournament games are enough for me for my career. I still have a lot left to prove and I think we are going to have a great team next season."
Immediately after the heartbreaking 74-73 loss to Kentucky in the 2014 Final Four, both he and Sam Dekker told Goodman in the locker room that they would be back for another year. However, Kaminsky wavered on the decision for a few weeks before ultimately choosing to return.
You don't have to read very far between the lines to pick up on his message:
We have unfinished business.
It's at least partially finished after the 71-64 win over the previously unbeaten Wildcats on Saturday night.
And in case Kaminsky's words from last April weren't clear enough, Dekker reminded reporters on Saturday night of Wisconsin's goal for the year:
Sam Dekker: We wanted to win a national champ. We set those goals out before the season. We were very vocal about it." #B1GMBBall#FinalFour
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) April 5, 2015
Kaminsky could have jumped to the NBA. Dekker could have, too. Neither was a surefire first-round pick, but they almost certainly would have heard their names called if they had declared.
Instead, they spurned the professional circuit for one more shot at a collegiate title—seeking redemption for the chance that was so cruelly stolen from them.
They didn't exactly get a free pass back to the Final Four, though. They had traveled the road once before, but that didn't make it any easier this time around.
The Badgers fought through plenty of injuries this season. Dekker injured an ankle before the season even began and didn't start really looking healthy until mid-December. Kaminsky sat out the loss to Rutgers with a concussion. Senior point guard Traevon Jackson missed 19 games with a badly sprained ankle.
But that only adds to the allure of their story. Despite being battered and bruised, they swept the Big Ten regular-season and conference-tournament titles, eking out that final No. 1 seed on Selection Sunday.
And as luck would have it, the quest for redemption manifested itself into the ultimate opportunity for revenge, as the Badgers once again drew Kentucky in the Final Four—only this time, the Wildcats were undefeated and widely regarded as the favorites to win it all.
It was Wisconsin's turn to ruin something magical for John Calipari's team. According to Reid Forgrave of Fox Sports, the Badgers succeeded:
Calipari looks emotionally spent. Looks like he's been crying. Assuming the players have been too.
After 12 agonizingly long months of flashbacks and reminders of Aaron Harrison's dagger, it was fittingly a Harrison air ball with just seconds remaining Saturday night that allowed the Badgers faithful to exhale and rejoice in the fact that they had slain the mighty Kentucky.
Also apropos, it was the two men who chose to give it one more year in Madison who led the way.
Frank Kaminsky led all scorers and rebounders with 20 and 11, respectively, and even added two assists and two blocks. He was the only Badger to grab more than three defensive rebounds, and 10 times he kept the Wildcats from grabbing an offensive board. It was an incredibly efficient and effective night for the man who was named AP Player of the Year just one day prior.
Kaminsky was much more tank-like this year than he was in putting up eight points and only one defensive rebound in the 2014 Final Four.
It was Dekker, though, who really put the team on his back over and over again, finishing the night with 16 points. The amount of strength, confidence and swagger with which he has been playing over the past several weeks has really been something to watch. One of those iconic moments was Dekker's clutch step-back three-pointer that gave the Badgers the lead for good:
Wisconsin's journey isn't finished, though. The Badgers got their sweet revenge—beating the Wildcats who were once considered unbeatable—but they still have the not-so-slight matter of knocking off a Duke team that beat them in the Kohl Center by double digits earlier this season.
But that's merely a formality, right? After beating the Soviet Union in the semifinals of the 1980 Winter Olympics, the U.S. men's hockey team went on to beat Finland to win the gold medal. Even more fitting to Wisconsin's situation, Duke beat Kansas in the 1991 national championship game after putting an end to UNLV's undefeated season in the Final Four.
Kaminsky and Dekker didn't come back to lose to Kentucky in the Final Four again, and they certainly didn't come back to finish runner-up to the Blue Devils, either.
If this truly is the type of redemption story that we've seen in the movies a million times, there's one more win awaiting the Badgers on Monday night.
Kerry Miller covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @kerrancejames.
