The Wisconsin men’s basketball team held its local media day Tuesday, which means—if its first day of practice Oct. 13 doesn’t count—the college hoops season has officially begun (cue boner).
The Badgers have never finished worse than fourth in the Big Ten during head coach Bo Ryan’s tenure, and their preseason story lines have suitably stemmed from one major question the last 11 years: How will this season’s team reload and compete once again for a Big Ten title?
The story lines may change between today and Wisconsin’s season opener against Southeastern Louisiana Nov. 9, but here are the five I’ve pegged as the most intriguing going into the 2012-’13 season.
First and foremost, Sam Dekker is in town. True freshmen rarely crack Ryan’s rotation, but Dekker may be an exception.
The forward’s arrival in Madison was well publicized, and for good reason: He’s the highest-rated recruit the Badgers reeled in since Brian Butch back in 2003. Ryan said Dekker has drawn more fouls in practice than any other player so far, an attribution to the freshman’s ability to get to the basket on offense.
Dekker’s performance on the defensive side of the ball—something he said Tuesday is the part of his game he would most like to improve—may be the only thing that could keep Dekker on the bench.
Dekker may be the most likely Badger to take off for Wisconsin this season, but he isn’t the only one coming in with hype.
Ryan recently told ESPN’s Andy Katz that sophomore center Frank Kaminsky is one of “the most improved guys” he has ever coached, noting his leaner, more muscular frame. Kaminsky provided a spark off the bench last season, showing the ability to knock down perimeter shots—something that’s become a staple of Wisconsin big men.
Expect Kaminsky to improve greatly on his 7.7 minutes-per-game average last season. He’ll provide a solid backup option to redshirt senior center Jared Berggren, and the Badgers will boast a major size advantage if the two can run the floor together.
Wisconsin’s frontcourt should be the focal point this season, bringing back a lot of experience and bringing in a potential stud in Dekker. The backcourt is also without guard Jordan Taylor, the heartbeat of the offense the past two seasons.
Redshirt junior guard Josh Gasser will most likely enter the season as the starting point guard, but Taylor and others had much praise for redshirt freshman guard George Marshall, who supposedly looked strong going against Taylor in practice last season. It will be interesting to see if Ryan eventually moves Marshall into the starting lineup and shifts Gasser to the 2-guard spot, with junior guard Ben Brust providing a scoring punch off the bench.
Wisconsin returns six players from last season’s eight-man rotation: Berggren, redshirt senior forward Ryan Evans, senior forward Mike Bruesewitz, Gasser, Brust and Kaminsky.
If Ryan primarily uses eight guys again this season, Dekker figures to fill one of the open slots. He and other wing-type forwards like redshirt junior Zach Bohannon and junior Duje Dukan could especially see more playing time during the early stages of the season, as Bruesewitz will likely miss a few games waiting for a laceration in his right leg to heal.
Ryan could go deeper than eight guys this season, too. Many of the players acknowledged this Wisconsin team’s depth Tuesday; Kaminsky said he could see Ryan regularly using 10 or 11 guys. A team’s rotation typically isn’t established until the early stages of conference play, however, so this story line may play out into mid-January.
Taylor was clearly the go-to guy for Wisconsin last season, leading the team in minutes, points, assists and steals. Evans and Berggren each averaged above 10 points per game, but the Badgers don’t have an established go-to guy at this point.
There are many options—Evans, Berggren, Gasser and Dekker, to name a few—and perhaps Wisconsin’s offense will be more balanced this season, with four or five capable scorers on the floor at all times.
It’s early. Probably too early to predict exactly how Wisconsin will fare in a difficult Big Ten. But I think these five story lines will be compelling as the season progresses.
