Micah Potter of the Wisconsin Badgers said what every UW fan has been waiting to say for weeks:
FINALLY 🙌🏻 https://t.co/tk2tmRJTuX
— Micah Potter (@BigJam_23) December 12, 2019
Finally, indeed, Micah Potter will play in a real, live basketball game for Wisconsin this season. It should never have come to this. Potter should have been allowed to play from the beginning of the season. Wisconsin wouldn’t be 10-0 with Potter, but it probably wouldn’t be 5-5, either. At least the Badgers get him back now.
A few thoughts on Potter are warranted here. There will be plenty of additional thoughts in subsequent articles at Badgers Wire. Let’s start with a few basic points of emphasis:
First, Potter being back right now means he gets one manageable game — Milwaukee on Dec. 21 — before the big Tennessee game on Dec. 28. Potter can ease his way into the lineup. The Milwaukee game can give Potter a chance to work off the rust, gain a better and more fluid on-court chemistry with his teammates, and carry the Badgers into the Tennessee game, which could provide an important boost to a thin resume. It is a lot better for UW to have Potter against Milwaukee than to have him debut against Tennessee.
Second, Potter can make life a lot easier for the two players who struggled to score against Rutgers on Wednesday night: Nate Reuvers and D’Mitrik Trice. Potter will enable Reuvers to work more within the offense, because Reuvers won’t think he has to be the sole low-post scorer on this team. Reuvers will have to shoulder less of the burden to carry this team at the offensive end of the floor. Moreover, one can readily imagine Reuvers and Potter working together in high-low combinations to easily feed the low post. They will sometimes be able to throw passes over the top of the defense, which should cut down on turnovers and create more layups or dunks.
As for Trice, Wisconsin’s guard play has been conspicuously lacking. Now that Trice and the rest of the backcourt have another big man to feed, the offense should become less complicated. The Badgers’ offense should flow through the frontcourt. The bigs should get touches every time down the floor. Trice can worry less about shooting and his own offense. He can focus on getting the ball to Potter and Reuvers. The Badgers are now in a position to play inside-out, with the bigs dictating what the defense does. Trice’s offense should come from catch-and-shoot threes when defenses double-team Potter or Reuvers and create a kickout.
Micah Potter gets a warm-up game before Tennessee on Dec. 28. He gets to relieve Nate Reuvers’ burden and simplify the task for D’Mitrik Trice. Those are the most immediate ways in which Micah Potter can help Wisconsin. It isn’t a moment too soon.