The Wisconsin men's basketball team held its media day Wednesday, at which head coach Bo Ryan and his players reflected on their 2008-'09 season and looked ahead to this one.
Typically, as a college team prepares for a new season, one if its greatest questions is how the team will replace the productivity of its graduates from the year before, and the 2009-'10 Badgers are no exception. Wisconsin lost perhaps its two most valuable players from the 2008-'09 season in forward Marcus Landry and guard/forward Joe Krabbenhoft.
Landry and Krabbenhoft were two of four Badgers from last season to start all 33 games and average over 30 minutes per game.
In Landry, Wisconsin lost its most consistent low-post scorer, a solid rebounder and possibly its best 2008-'09 scoring option. Landry was the only regular to shoot over 50 percent, and led the squad in points per game, with 12.7.
With the graduation of Krabbenhoft, Wisconsin no longer has its best rebounder or free-throw shooter, as well as one if its hardest-working defenders. Despite often playing as a guard, he led the team in rebounds last season, furthering his reputation as a relentless and tenacious player.
""They were stat stuffers,"" Ryan said. ""If you think of what those two guys did for four years, averaging about 25 wins a year ... That's a pretty good class, and they were the leaders of that class. Assists, stealing, defensive positioning, scoring, that's tough to replace.""
As difficult as replacing those numbers will be, the more daunting task facing Wisconsin regarding Landry and Krabbenhoft's absence may be replacing their leadership qualities.
Naturally, this task will fall on the Badgers' only two seniors, guards Trevon Hughes and Jason Bohannon.
Besides Landry and Krabbenhoft, Hughes and Bohannon were the only two members of last year's team to start every game. The two players have already thought about stepping into a more leadership-oriented role for their senior seasons.
Hughes has noticed Bohannon's increased vocality through the first several practices.
""He has [spoken up] more this year, I think, since I've known him,"" Hughes said. ""He feels like this is our last year, we got to get these guys tuned up.""
Hughes himself does not believe he'll have any problem getting on his teammates verbally when needed.
""I went to a military school, they teach you to be vocal,"" Hughes said.
Wisconsin should be excited about the idea of having two experienced players leading its backcourt this season.
""If the two of them can stay healthy, having two seniors, that's pretty good stuff,"" Ryan said. ""I think they're ready right now.""
Sophomore guard Jordan Taylor expects to contribute to what he hopes will be an outstanding backcourt as well, and believes solid guards will be a huge asset to the team come postseason play.
""Coach Ryan expects big things from his backcourt and from his point guards especially,"" Taylor said. ""And if you look at every team in the nation that makes runs deep into the tournament, they have strong guard play.""
The Badgers hope to receive contributions from their frontcourt, as well. One player to watch is junior forward Keaton Nankivil. At times Nankivil has seemed unstoppable, such as when he came out of nowhere last season to drill 5-of-5 3-pointers and put up 21 points against Purdue. But Nankivil struggled with consistently producing, something he hopes to improve upon this season.
""[Consistency's] usually important, because teammates and other guys on this team, they need to rely on me, and I need to rely on everybody to be consistent,"" Nankivil said. ""If you have it every day, it makes everything a lot better.""
Other Badgers to keep an eye on are Taylor and sophomore forward Rob Wilson, two players looking to improve after their freshman campaigns.
""I think everybody from last year's freshman class has improved a lot and has the ability to make a difference on our team,"" Nankivil said.
Wisconsin, as usual, enters the season with modest expectations at best. But the Badgers know all too well the feeling of lowered expectations and how to exceed them, notably when the Badgers won the Big Ten Championship the season after AP Player of the Year candidate Alando Tucker graduated.
""[A Big Ten title] is always our goal,"" Taylor said. ""We feel we have the players that can win [it].""
Bohannon also expects to compete for a Big Ten Championship.
""We feel we have as good a chance this year as any other year,"" Bohannon said.
A conference championship would be especially sweet for Hughes and Bohannon, who were not afraid to admit that their senior years are certainly more special than the others.
""There couldn't be a better way to go out than to win a Big Ten Championship,"" Bohannon said.
The two senior guards also showed they were feeling the pressure to succeed.
""We don't want to leave here as the team that dropped the ball,"" Hughes said.
Bohannon is also feeling the additional heat of being one of the most experienced players on the team.
""Any time you're a senior you're kind of taking on a little more pressure, you know, you want to make the most of the situation you have,"" Bohannon said.
Wisconsin opens its preseason Nov. 4 against Bemidji State and its regular season Nov. 15 against Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.
