It is undeniably a very, very good thing that Micah Potter will be able to play for the 2019-20 Wisconsin Badgers basketball team. Potter should be able to help this team in a number of ways. We discussed this point on multiple fronts. Wisconsin should be better. No one would disagree with that claim.
The obvious but necessary question to ask: Will Wisconsin improve enough to significantly change this team’s fortunes and the trajectory of the season? Right now, Wisconsin has an NIT-level resume. The Marquette and Indiana wins are good, but a .500 record without top-tier wins won’t cut it. The Badgers’ lack of a single win away from the Kohl Center won’t cut it. The committee needs some road and neutral results on the nitty gritty report. Micah Potter’s task is clear.
However, we shouldn’t think that a limited team will suddenly become transformed due to the arrival of one player. Improved, yes, but transformed? That’s a bigger word and a higher standard to reach. Potter should improve the passing on this team. He should simplify Wisconsin’s approach in ways which will relieve pressure on the backcourt. He gives Wisconsin more size and length on the glass, to avoid future backboard blowouts such as the 14-3 advantage Rutgers gained on the offensive glass this past Wednesday. However, Potter doesn’t eliminate every problem on this team — far from it.
Potter won’t solve the 3-point-shooting problem. He won’t solve the lack of a dribble-drive dynamo who can get eight, nine, 10, 11 foul shots in a game and put the opponent in foul trouble. Most of all, Potter can’t guarantee that his presence will make every other Badger tough enough to win games. Wisconsin’s toughness was lacking against Rutgers. It was lacking against North Carolina State, when — remember — the Wolfpack scored 26 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
The bright, shiny object — the thing which is easiest to notice — with Wisconsin in the first few weeks of the season was the bad offense. In the last two games, Wisconsin has shot well and escaped the rock fights in the low 50s. The Badgers haven’t meaningfully improved. A lack of defensive toughness is the biggest obstacle to success, because it is the most fixable problem on the team. You don’t need All-Americans to play great defense. You need a focused, disciplined team. Potter can help the defense with his physical attributes, but he can’t make his teammates defend better, box out better, and fight better.
Potter can be accountable to himself. He can unlock certain opportunities and lines of attack on offense. He can’t help his teammates rebound better. There are some things which don’t occur within a team context in basketball. Blocking out your man is one of them. No one else can do it. The player himself has to handle his own business.
It is undeniably great that Micah Potter is back. Just don’t think he will cure every ailment afflicting the Badgers right now. He will make the patient healthier, like a stent which opens clogged arteries, but the patient has to avoid smoking and drinking excessively to participate in a process of full recovery and restoration. That is Wisconsin’s task. This team can’t assume Micah Potter will make every problem disappear.