Tag: Wisconsin Badgers Baksetball

Wisconsin Basketball: UW’s lack of frontcourt depth could be Achilles’ heel

Will the Wisconsin Badgers lack of frontcourt depth be the team’s Achilles heel in 2022-23?

Madison, Wis. – Wisconsin Badgers head coach Gard returns frontcourt stalwarts Tyler Wahl and Steven Crowl from last year’s team, creating a solid foundation in the low-post to build around.

However, graduate transfer Chris Vogt is gone, as is Ben Carlson, who provided minutes off the bench—leaving some serious question marks regarding the depth of UW’s frontcourt.

Last season, UW finished 3rd in the Big Ten in defensive rebounding percentage, according to KenPom, the highest finish of the Greg Gard era, thanks in large part to Johnny Davis being a freak of nature on the boards.

It is, however, worth noting that the Badgers lost three of their top four leaders in defensive rebounding percentage from last season’s team (Davis, Vogt, and Carlson). Say what you want about Wisconsin’s bench production in 2021-22, but Vogt and Carlson provided energy/helped immensely on the boards and will definitely be missed in that regard.

Plus, UW swung and missed in the transfer portal, searching for frontcourt reinforcements, leaving Wahl and inexperienced returning players like Carter Gilmore, Chris Hodges, and Markus Ilver to fill in the gaps behind Big Steve.

Will the Badgers get manhandled on the boards?

The issue with that is obvious, lack of size. Of the bench players mentioned, none exceed 6-foot-8. UW plans to combat its lack of a true big man off the bench by utilizing its defensive versatility and playing smaller lineups.

“I’ve talked about positionless basketball, and obviously, it started offensively, and then there’s been a defensive counter to it,” coach Gard explained. “It’s a chess match back and forth. Looking back at the guys we’ve had, the best of them haven’t always been the biggest,” Gard continued. “The ultimate piece is you have to stick your face in there and battle. It’s not the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog. We want guys who can compete and be consistent and wear people out.”

Coach Gard’s defensive rotations will change based on matchups, but there’s no arguing that a true center would have helped this team immensely. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more post-dominant conference than the Big Ten. So, it’s fair to question whether or not UW can hold its own on the boards and provide enough rim protection to challenge for a conference title.

According to KenPom, over Wisconsin’s last five games, Wahl accounted for 77% of the minutes played at the “4”, and Crowl played 59% of the minutes at the “5”. I envision Big Steve seeing an uptick in minutes, meaning UW needs someone to provide just enough quality minutes and not be a liability while they’re getting a breather.

Depth is important, but on an average night, there won’t be of ton of minutes available in the low post.

I try not to overreact to anything that comes from an exhibition game. Still, the Badgers were out-rebounded by division three UW-Eau Claire this past weekend – potentially foreshadowing the struggles to come. Johnny Davis will be missed for many reasons, but his rebounding prowess might top the list.

How does Wisconsin handle rotations? Can UW tread water long enough when players like Wahl and Crowl are in foul trouble? Will the Badgers get manhandled on the boards? Only time will tell – but a tough non-conference slate consisting of Stanford, Dayton, Wake Forest, and Marquette should provide answers in short order.

I fear Wisconsin’s failure to acquire a seven-footer during the offseason will be their Achilles heel in 2022-23.

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The sum of this years Badgers team is greater than it’s parts

This Wisconsin Badgers are much more than just Johnny Davis. The sum of this team is far greater than it’s individual parts.

The Wisconsin Badgers (17-3, 8-2 Big Ten) are currently tied for first place in a conference they were picked to finish tenth in before the season started.

Yes, a great deal of this team’s success can be attributed to the ascension of sophomore guard Johnny Davis. He’s gone from a dependable rotation member with obvious upside last season, to the most improved player in the country and a potential NBA lottery pick.

However, to say this team is where they are solely because of the poker-faced assassin would be disrespectful to his supporting cast. The Badgers might not contain a ton of household names, but few programs deploy players that understand their roles better than UW. Knowing your identity is half of the battle.

Veterans Brad Davison and Tyler Wahl have elevated their games this season, and are currently playing the best ball of their respective careers.

Davison has become a reliable second scoring option, and provides UW a 3-point weapon to help promote spacing on offense. If you can watch the Minnesota native play and still fail to see all the way’s he impacts a game, I’m not sure we’re watching the same game. Davison’s decision to return for a fifth and final season has turned out to be such a blessing for the program.

Wahl has become a versatile two-way player that’s proved he’s capable of helping shoulder some of the scoring load as well. The Swiss-Army knife is the best defender on a team that prides themselves on their defense. He’s also made a living around the rim as Wisconsin’s best low post presence. This is the third-year jump everyone in the program was hoping for, and he’s become one of the most irreplaceable players on the entire roster.

Additionally, you have two underclassmen that have started every game this season.

True freshman Chucky Hepburn has been terrific manning the lead guard role for the Badgers. He’s shown tremendous poise and maturity at the position despite his inexperience. Hepburn has shown control of the offense, pushed the pace, taken care of the basketball, and been a tenacious on ball defender at times. He does a lot of thankless work that often seems to go unnoticed.

Wisconsin’s starting center Steven Crowl has shown a great deal of in-season development. The player we’ve seen over the last month or so is leaps and bounds ahead of the player we saw back in November. Crowl has been more assertive on the low block while also showing improved footwork. Defensively, he’s done a nice job defending ball screens and battles down low despite giving up a good deal of size to opposing big men.

The starters are all performing at a high level, and are playing heavy minutes as a result. The bench performance has been a bit of uneven at times, but have a bevy of players capable of spelling the starters when necessary. Pending health, I think there are enough players capable of seeing their roles expand to help prevent starter fatigue late in the season.

Greg Gard has done a terrific job coaching this young team. It’s easy to forget that this is the most inexperienced roster of Gard’s tenure, so it would be ignorant to not give him the credit he deserves for his role in molding this young group. I’d be hard pressed to think of a coach more deserving than Gard for Big Ten Coach of the Year if Wisconsin can continue playing at this level.

So, even though Johnny Davis is a contender for National Player of the Year, understand that this team is more than just one player. The sum of the Badgers is greater than it’s individual parts, and I mean that as the highest compliment.

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