With Kobe King no longer part of the 2020 Wisconsin Badgers, it is a basic reality that other players must step up in order for this team to realize its full potential. I am not going to say — or suggest — that the Badgers are a better, more complete team without King in the lineup. This team’s offense was never better than on the nights when King was playing his best ball. However, when a player leaves a team (or is knocked out of the lineup by an injury), the urgency created by that event forces other players to dig deeper. That process of digging deeper can unearth surprises which make a team better than the sum of its parts.
I won’t predict Wisconsin will in fact become that kind of team in the next several weeks, but I do think it is possible. We don’t see it every game — not on a team which has been so inconsistent — but we do see it when Wisconsin plays well.
Brevin Pritzl has been superb in each of UW’s last two home games. He was a huge reason the Badgers beat Michigan State on Feb. 1, and he was instrumental in Wisconsin’s smackdown of Ohio State on Sunday. Pritzl was the main reason Wisconsin’s bench stood out as a positive force against the Buckeyes. Pritzl’s team-leading 19 points enabled Wisconsin’s bench to outscore Ohio State’s bench, 30 points to 16. One can’t find many games in Big Ten play when Wisconsin’s bench has outscored the opposing bench by 10 or more points, but Sunday was one such day. This shows Wisconsin and Greg Gard what this team can become in the next several weeks.
Again, I’m not predicting that a renaissance will happen, but I AM in fact saying that a renaissance is possible. Wisconsin is occasionally getting performances from Pritzl and Tyler Wahl and — on Sunday against Ohio State — Trevor Anderson (with eight big points) which show that with Kobe King out of the mix, the Badgers could generate more contributions from more players.
If — and it is a big IF — the Badgers can get these performances from Pritzl, Wahl and Anderson on a regular basis, this will indeed become a better, more balanced team than it has been for most of the season. No one knows if it WILL happen, but if it DOES, Wisconsin will be the No. 8 seed no top seed wants to see in the round of 32 in late March.
It’s a long season. Wisconsin could develop a longer bench and — in the process — give itself more of a shot in March Madness. Wouldn’t that be something? Let’s see what develops.