Wisconsin Team Report

GETTING INSIDE

Some things have become cliche in Big Ten basketball circles. Among them? The notion that Wisconsin will wind up becoming greater than the sum of its parts and exceeding everyone else’s expectations.

Considering the Badgers have concluded their last 11 seasons with an NCAA Tournament appearance—including the unlikely run to the 2000 Final Four from the No. 8 seed—it’s fair to say this particular cliche has been in effect for 11 years running. But a closer look at last year’s team suggests there might be a new Wisconsin dynamic at work.

After so many years of seeing the Badgers hang around the top of the Big Ten without an abundance of big-time recruits, everyone pegged them for another title challenge in 2008-09. Instead, Wisconsin dropped six conference games in a row during January. The Big Ten basketball world fell off its axis. But the Badgers promptly reeled off five wins in a row to squeeze into the NCAA Tournament. Once there, the Badgers upset No. 5 seed Florida State before coming up empty against Xavier.

Why rehash last year? Because that six-game dry spell might have been just enough to refresh the Wisconsin cliche. Between those losses and the graduation of team leaders Marcus Landry (12.7 ppg) and Joe Krabbenhoft (8.2 ppg, 6.7 rpg), the Badgers appear to have more questions than answers as they launch into another season under Bo Ryan. Judging by a sampling of preseason publications, Wisconsin is a second-division Big Ten team riding on the NCAA Tournament bubble.

A closer look, however, reveals this Badgers squad should operate much like Ryan’s other teams. As always, he has two rock-solid seniors to be the leaders in point guard Trevon Hughes (12.1 ppg, 2.8 apg) and shooting guard Jason Bohannon (10.3 ppg). As always, there’s an underclassmen who made major strides the year before in junior post Jon Leuer (8.8 ppg).

As always, there are a handful of unknown qualities who Ryan refuses to gush over or guessestimate where they might fit. This group features sophomore guard Rob Wilson, redshirt freshman swingman Ryan Evans and redshirt freshman post Jared Berggren.

“Now you obviously find out how far you can take your talents,” Ryan said to madison.com. “Each player will get a chance to do that and how you get those talents to work as part of the team.”

NOTES, QUOTES

• One reason for Wisconsin’s drop in the Big Ten standings last year? The Badgers’ typically stingy defense wasn’t. Wisconsin led Division I in scoring defense in 2007-08, but all of its numbers dropped last season. The Badgers allowed 59.0 points per game, which isn’t as nice as it sounds because they were last in Div. I in possessions per game according to bbstate.com. The more relevant number is the Badgers’ field-goal percentage defense (43.9), which ranked 10th in the Big Ten.

   —Wisconsin is the only Big Ten team whose leading scorer last year was a senior. Marcus Landry’s team-high 12.7 points per game added to a tradition during the Bo Ryan era. Brian Butch (12.4 ppg in 2008), Alando Tucker (19.9 ppg in 2007) and Kirk Penney (16.2 ppg in 2003) also were senior scoring leaders. This year, point guard Trevon Hughes seems likely to continue the tradition.

   —Freshman post Jared Berggren had the resume to play last year. The 6-foot-10, 240-pound Princeton, Minn., native was a Top 100 recruit with a nice skill set. But Berggren, who hadn’t faced the toughest competition during high school, opted to redshirt in order to gain strength and adapt to Div. I play. Now he looks like an immediate contributor and someone who can soak up some the minutes that the graduated Marcus Landry used to play.

Last Year:   20-13 overall, 10-8 in the Big Ten; lost in second round of the NCAA Tournament.

   HEAD COACH: Bo Ryan (career 576-176); 9th year at Wisconsin (193-73).

   QUOTE TO NOTE: “Not every year are you going to have the same type of athlete, the same type of size, the same type of speed; there’s always a difference. It’s how those differences come together that make or break a team.”—Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan to madison.com.

 

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

   SCOUTING THE NEWCOMERS: Freshman power forward Mike “Bruiser” Bruesewitz is the only scholarship player to make it to preseason drills. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound St. Paul, Minn. native doesn’t seem likely to make an immediate impact, but that’s par for the course with Wisconsin big men. They learn the ropes from the older guys and then contribute from there. Freshman guard Dan Fahey is a walk-on whose father, Tom, played baseball at UW.

   KEY EARLY-SEASON GAMES: Wisconsin certainly will know where it stands nationally and locally after it finishes the pre-conference schedule. The Badgers travel to the Maui Invitational where their opener is against Arizona (Nov. 23) with either Gonzaga or Colorado (Nov. 24) next on the docket and three potential NCAA Tournament teams on the other side of the bracket (Nov. 25). Then Duke comes to call in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge (Dec. 2) and Marquette shows up at the Kohl Center on Dec. 12.

   PROGRAM DIRECTION: With 11 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, Wisconsin owns a streak matched or exceeded by just six other schools. That run appears to be in danger, though, as several Big Ten foes have ramped up their recruiting and edged past the oh-so-consistent Badgers. The good news? There are youngsters such as redshirt freshman F/C Jared Berggren who have the talent to keep Wisconsin enjoying March Madness.

   PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP: PG Trevon Hughes, SG Jason Bohannon, SF ??????, PF Keaton Nankivil, C Jon Leuer.

   ROSTER REPORT:

• G Diamond Taylor, a freshman recruit, was booted from the program after being charged with burglary during an apparently unauthorized scavenger hunt through the Wisconsin dorms. Taylor left the school and enrolled at Southern Illinois. G Jeremy Glover, a freshman preferred walk-on, was charged along with Taylor and also got the boot from the program.

• G Trevon Hughes is Wisconsin’s leading contender for postseason honors. The senior with 56 consecutive starts has been an honorable mention all-Big Ten pick the last two years.