The Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team capped its five-game tour of New Zealand and Australia early Tuesday morning local time with an 83-71 win over Sydney’s professional club. Wisconsin completed the trip with a 4-1 record, with the only loss coming in the waning seconds to Melbourne United. Before sounding the alarm about a loss to a mysterious Australian team, some essential context must be understood.
Every four years, NCAA teams are permitted additional summer practices and the opportunity to schedule a series of exhibition games in a foreign country. Wisconsin last embarked on such a trip in August 2013 in Canada, a few short months before tipping off a Final Four campaign. When the overtime buzzer of the Badgers’ instant classic Elite Eight win over Arizona sounded that subsequent March, not a soul had Wisconsin’s Canada tour-opening loss on their mind. The loss, in fact, was suffered at the hands of a fellow college team, whereas in 2017 the Badgers’ foreign tour loss came against a member of the NBL, the professional basketball association of Australia and New Zealand. As such, there should be zero cause for concern — and in actuality, there’s an overwhelming amount of positive takeaways from these youngsters’ performances the past week halfway across the globe.
Similar to 2013, considering the production and senior leadership lost from the previous season, Wisconsin’s August trip could not have come at a better time. While questions swirl around how head coach Greg Gard will possibly be able to replace four senior starters, the days spent Down Under provided more than a few answers.
The freshmen
The winningest class in Badgers basketball history just departed, but all indications point to this year’s incoming freshmen being able to challenge the graduating class of 2017 as Madison’s best ever. La Crosse’s Kobe King and Minnesota’s Brad Davison and Nate Reuvers placed their talents on full display in Australia and New Zealand, with King and Davison especially receiving plenty of minutes.
Both guards, King and Davison each took a turn leading the Badgers in scoring. The 6-foot-4 King is a gifted scorer at all three levels, giving Wisconsin natives a legit reason to launch crumpled paper across the office into the recycle bin to a promulgation of “KOBE!” He also consistently exuded toughness and the willingness to mix it up on the glass and should immediately challenge for a starting job on the wing.
Speaking of toughness — that’s Davison’s calling card, and his innate leadership and hard-nosed mentality never wavered en route to averaging 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals over the five games. He, along with King, will make it difficult for Gard to avoid bucking Wisconsin’s traditional true freshman trend. Both may wiggle into the starting five.
The 6-foot-10 Reuvers, however, probably isn’t mature enough physically to contribute much this early in his college career. But he was a staple of Gard’s regular rotation in Australia and New Zealand and fits in the mold of past Wisconsin bigs with his shooting ability and perimeter skillset.
Overall, Badgers fans saw plenty of good things from a trio that will sculpt the program’s future but also may stake out important roles in 2017-18.
Offensive flow, balance and shooting
As expected with a young team, the defensive end of the floor is lagging behind a bit in the month of August, but in-game adjustments proved the players aren’t too far behind when it comes to picking up defensive concepts. Meanwhile, the offensive side appears to be ahead of schedule.
Each of the five games was played under FIBA rules, and sometimes a 24-second shot clock alone can assist in creating more effective offense. This was the case in 2013, when the Badgers experienced a carryover effect into the regular season and played one of the speediest tempos of the Bo Ryan era. It’s fair to anticipate that Gard will implement more of a quick-hitter offense after witnessing its effects.
Wisconsin’s spacing on the trip was fantastic, as they no longer were playing two players who primarily operate out of the low post the majority of the time. The 4-out-1-in look equipped Ethan Happ with plenty of room to conduct business on the low block. Happ was his usual patient and crafty self. He has always excelled at reading and passing out of double-teams — Happ led the Badgers in assists last season — but his vision was even more prominent Down Under when surrounded by shooters, as evidenced by his 7 assists in Wisconsin’s final game. Happ will draw by far more double teams in the States than he saw this week, further stressing the importance of knocking down open jumpers. Thanks in part to their spacing and drive-and-kick opportunities, the Badgers capitalized on open looks, shooting a scalding 44% from deep on the trip.
Two returnees in particular stated their case as breakout candidates.
Redshirt sophomore shooting guard Brevin Pritzl entered school with a Ben Brust-type reputation and at last lived up to his sharpshooter hype, connecting on more than half of his three-point attempts, including seven in the Badgers’ first game. Belgian junior forward Andy Van Vliet buried four shots from long-distance in Wisconsin’s second game, exhibiting a softened touch and more confidence throughout the week. Pritzl and Van Vliet respectively were the leading scorers in Wisconsin’s first two games.
As a matter of fact, the Badgers’ top scorer never repeated himself in any of the five games — and none were the All-American Happ. This is partially attributable to the mainstay selflessness in the Wisconsin program, but more so it was a byproduct of the Badgers’ overall flow. The team used a shorter shot clock to its advantage and emphasized spreading the wealth. While Happ will undoubtedly be the team’s linchpin, he needn’t always bear the scoring brunt. There will be a plethora of options contributing in different ways in the scoring department, which is a failsafe method in becoming difficult for opponents to defend.
In conclusion
Preseason uncertainty can offer the same level of intrigue as sky-high preseason expectations. You’d be foolish to bet against Wisconsin finishing outside the Big Ten’s top four, something that hasn’t happened since pre-Bo Ryan. Given the productivity lost from last season, the Badgers will be flying under the radar. But if the bonding experience in Australia and New Zealand provided any indication, one of college basketball’s models of consistency will remain that way. Primary takeaways: efficient offense and bright future.
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