The Wisconsin Badgers basketball team had an extremely eventful off-season.
The Badgers lost two starters in wing AJ Storr and guard Chucky Hepburn to the transfer portal, but landed some players of their own. Xavier Amos, Camren Hunter, and John Tonje all joined the Badgers from the transfer portal, and all bring a new and unique skill set to Wisconsin that can help them find a new and improved identity.
Along with their transfer portal class, Wisconsin also brings in two new freshmen guards with Daniel Freitag and Jack Robison.
With all of this change inside of the program, it will be important for head coach Greg Gard to find stability early on and start strong heading into the new and improved Big Ten basketball schedule, with new West Coast additions in USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington.
Here are three keys to success for Wisconsin basketball this season.
Play unselfish basketball
Wisconsin heavily relied on AJ Storr last season and would struggle in games where he wasn’t at his best. It is important early on for this team to play unselfish and team basketball. There are a lot of talented players on this team and it is crucial to get everyone involved.
Expect Greg Gard to play 9-10 players a game and try to get a feel for how the depth of this Wisconsin team can be used as a major strength heading into out-of-conference matchups against Arizona and Marquette and Big Ten play.
This team could be dangerous to defend against if they run out of lineups with Hunter, Amos, Max Klesmit, John Blackwell, and Steven Crowl considering they can all shoot the ball well and are athletically sound.
I’m curious to see how big of a role freshman Daniel Freitag has from the jump and if the Badgers immediately put his athleticism and passing ability to good use.
Implement booty ball into the offense
To anyone who is confused about what booty ball is… I can explain. A couple of years ago, Penn State guard Jalen Pickett had a monster season where he was voted unanimously as a second-team All-American and led his team to the Round of 32 in March Madness. Why is he important? Well, he employed a post-up style of offense that Illinois coach Brad Underwood dubbed “booty ball”.
He would essentially back down his defender into the post and score a layup. Illinois’ Marcus Domask also used this last year extensively including in two games against the Badgers where he scored 31 and 26 points, respectively.
Another underrated aspect of “booty ball” is that it can’t be successfully double-teamed. When teams like Illinois tried to double Pickett, he would pass the ball to the perimeter and find the wide-open wing for an easy three-pointer. It helps the offense spread the ball and improve players’ ability to score in the post (see below).
I would like Gard to have guys like Tonje and Blackwell use this post-up technique more often since it has been so effective in Big Ten play thus far. Blackwell had multiple moments last year, most memorably against Indiana, where he challenged his defender in the post and scored a tough basket.
The Badgers struggled inside the paint last season and settled for a lot of fadeaway jumpers which has proven to be inefficient time after time. Both Tonje and Blackwell should try out this type of post-play in the game and see if it produces results.
Don’t skid mid-season
I’m going to steal some of Luke Fickell’s philosophy here: be mentally tough. Last year’s Wisconsin basketball team lacked resilience which is part of the reason why they lost so many games in a row late last season. With the new Big Ten and extended travel to the West Coast, it can be easy to take a little off and ease up. They cannot do that.
Losing a game here and there is fine and expected, but losing game after game against inferior opponents is inexcusable especially when you start the season with promise and expectations.
I trust Greg Gard and his coaching staff to make adjustments from last season, but the mentality needs to improve and players need to play their hearts out whether they’re winning 70-40 or losing 50-40.
Wisconsin’s squad has more depth than any other Greg Gard team has and could be a really good team if they make the necessary adjustments on offense and find a way to stay in games even when the other team is making a comeback.
