The Wisconsin basketball season started last night. The Badgers started as badly as could be expected, losing 23-7 to a Holy Cross team that won 10 games last year. However, an 18-2 run in the first half and an 80-40 run at the end allowed the Badgers to win comfortably, 85-61. Wisconsin basketball was led by senior John Tonje with 23 points. Sophomores John Blackwell and Nolan Winter added 16 and 15 points, respectively. Here are three takeaways from yesterday’s victory.
Wisconsin basketball fell asleep early
Wisconsin basketball has lost a ton of production from last year, but this team still has a lot of experience. So it was discouraging to see them start so poorly. The Crusaders made three of their first four, three and nine of their first 11 shots from the field. Most of these shots were uncontested. As a result, the Badgers lost the first half of the game 23-7.
While I understand that it will take time to get into a flowing game on both ends of the court, shooting the ball and defensive mistakes are a huge early-season problem for the Wisconsin basketball team. It happened against UW-River Falls and it happened last night. Against almost any other team on their schedule, the Badgers would have been chased out of the gym.
Once the Badgers settled in, they dominated
Credit to the Badgers for getting both sides involved and getting back into the game. They managed to hit a few three-pointers and take a good look at the rim. I especially liked John Blackwell’s aggressiveness. Once he started driving to the hoop, no Świętokrzyskie defender stopped him. Wisconsin basketball trailed by just one goal at halftime, but the victory was clearly in sight.
Nolan Winter was really impressive in the second half. The sophomore took off and made the best of it. He was really good in the post and added some of these moves to his game. The Badgers had a clear size advantage, but Winter finished the game with a perfect 6-6 from the field. Big jumps are needed from Winter and Blackwell.
Lots to like, but a lot to spotless up
It was a classic first game of Wisconsin basketball. There were things I liked and things I didn’t like.
For starters, I liked the reaction after losing 16 points. Holy Cross played a lot of freshmen and lost its best player in the second half, but it was encouraging to see the Badgers respond well early.
AJ Storr is a huge replacement on this team. John Tonje took on the role last night and performed admirably. He will be a player the team will rely on every night. He can do this on both sides of the ball and is good at getting to the hoop and maintaining contact. Tonje, Blackwell and Winter are the pieces they need to produce.
Much like the exhibition game, Wisconsin basketball will definitely be shooting threes this year. They scored 11 points last night, but it took them 31 tries to get there. I’m afraid there is no other true three-point shooter on this team except Jacek Janicki. There are many players who can shoot three-pointers well, but not consistently. I understand the reason, but I also think it needs some pure shooting.
The defense was locked down later in the game, but this team has enough experience to get right into the action. Apparently that didn’t happen. The crowds will be better, but the starts need to be faster and better.
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