In preparing for this 2020-2021 Wisconsin basketball season, I wrote back in March that senior Aleem Ford could be this team’s x-factor. Through 14 games, that still looks to be the case.
His enigmatic ways can confuse us at times, but when Ford is on, he’s one of the best players in the Big Ten conference. The issue has been consistency, but the formula for success is simple: attack first, take advantage of smaller defenders on the interior, be a threat in transition, and take in rhythm threes with confidence.
You can check off all of those boxes against Rutgers as he lead Wisconsin with a team-high 14 points.
In looking back at the Michigan loss, hopefully for the last time, it would be unfair to single out Ford for his first half goose egg in the scoring column when nearly the entire roster struggled in Ann Arbor. Yet, that loss showed how badly Wisconsin needs some offensive production from the Georgia native. It also highlighted how he takes himself out of games at times. Both shot attempts from Ford came by way of contested threes in that first half.
Counter Ford’s 0 point first half in Ann Arbor with his team-leading 9 point first 20 minutes at Rutgers, and you have a key difference between a Wisconsin halftime lead and 17-point deficit.
The aspects of Ford’s game that stand out most, both literally and figuratively, are his physical gifts. At 6-foot-8 and 220 pounds, the senior has the athleticism to guard nearly any position or player on the floor, while being a matchup nightmare for opponents on the offensive end. That is, when he turns himself into that nightmare.
Let’s break down how Ford was able to make such a positive impact in Piscataway: