By Joe Skurzewski
COURTSIDE
The Wisconsin men's basketball team (1-0 exhibition) will play the Mastodons of Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (0-0 exhibition, Summit League) in the first official game of the 2007-08 regular season. Wisconsin is coming off an impressive 77-48 drubbing of Madison Edgewood College (0-1 exhibition, NAC).
When the regular season tips off this Sunday against IPFW, Wisconsin will present a very different team than that of last year - a team that has lost great talent, and now must look to seasoned veterans for leadership. Former Badgers Alando Tucker, Kammron Taylor and Jason Chappell have moved on, with Tucker pursuing a career in the NBA with the Phoenix Suns. The Badgers will indeed miss the quickness of Tucker, the sweet shot of Taylor and the grindstone defense of Chappell.
Big Red will look to a cast of characters to lead this team into the rigors of the Big Ten Conference, including junior forward Marcus Landry, senior guard Michael Flowers, senior centers Brian Butch and Greg Stiemsma and sophomore guard Jason Bohannon. Flowers, who had left the team momentarily for personal reasons, now appears ready to play. Sophomore guard Trevon Hughes and junior guard-forward Joe Krabbenhoft will play vital roles off of the bench. Senior guard Tanner Bronson, junior guard Morris Cain and junior forward Kevin Gullikson will also come off of the bench. Guard Brett Valentyn and center J.P. Gavinski enter their first years of eligibility, gaining experience through practice during the Tucker-Taylor administration.
The Badgers have added three freshmen: forward-guard Tim Jarmusz (Oshkosh, Wis.) and forwards Jon Leuer (Long Lake, Minn.) and Keaton Nankivil (Madison, Wis.). Leuer in particular had a solid performance against Edgewood and looks to play a more vital role as the season progresses.
Despite the considerable loss of talent, this season's prospects still loom large. Several team members have played in the same circle of athletes since the days of AAU high school tournaments - namely Butch, Stiemsma and Gavinski - and now must band together to create a new team identity while staying the course under the direction of head coach Bo Ryan.
Gavinski commented on the state of the team this year, I think we all rely on each other ... I guess we all just play off each other, it's not really leadership."" Jason Bohannon gave a similar evaluation from the guard's perspective, saying, ""We look for contributions from everyone, that's everyone's mindset right now.""
IPFW brings to Sunday's contest a team with 11 upperclassmen, a group which finished 12-17 in the 2006-'07 season. The Badgers, however, cannot overlook the potent shooting of Mastodon senior forwards DeWitt Scott and Jaraun Burrows, the team's two greatest weapons a year ago.
Wisconsin will look to establish consistency against IPFW after nearly getting outscored in the second half against Madison Edgewood, despite having a 49-20 lead at the half.
Bo Ryan closed his press time with comments on the season ahead, which, not surprisingly, reflected the ""team effort"" and ""cautious optimism"" sentiments of his players.
""I think we'll be more balanced. I'd like to think there will be more options. It's still a little early,"" he said. ""Even as coaches we're still wondering what's going to happen and what roles are going to be played. So that will pan out but ... we will be a more balanced scoring team.""
