The Wisconsin Badgers showcased their new-look team for the first time this season in a 94-71 win over UW-Parkside on Saturday at the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin debuted several new players, as Owen Foxwell, Eian Elmer, Victory Onetu, Trey Autry, and Jackson Ball all made their first appearances, and they were in comfortable control, leading by double digits for essentially the entire game.
Here are three quick takeaways from the Badgers exhibition win over UW-Parkside on Saturday.
The Badgers have serious
depth
Wisconsin rotated 11 legitimate players on Saturday. And that didn’t even include Austin Rapp, whom Wisconsin is looking to ease in as it prepares for the start of the regular season.
The Badgers started Owen Foxwell, Jack Janicki, Eian Elmer, Nolan Winter, and Victory Onetu. With Rapp out, the Badgers went bigger with Onetu next to Winter, while Janicki got the nod over transfer Trey Autry and returner Braeden Carrington at shooting guard.
But Wisconsin rolled out a ton of their reserves for serious minutes in this one. Carrington and Will Garlock both came off the bench early. Zach Kinziger and Hayden Jones both reprised similar roles to last year, with the former looking like the team’s backup point guard.
Autry came into the game a bit later, which was a bit surprising. He scored seven points on six shots in 13 minutes of action. Then there was Jackson Ball, who quite honestly looks pretty ready to play, at least physically. He had four points, three rebounds, and an assist in 12 minutes of action.
That’s 11 players who all looked like they could deserve a spot in the rotation, and that’s without Austin Rapp. So, Greg Gard has a big decision to make with his rotation come the start of the regular season. I’d expect him to roll out 10 players, but who will those be?
Ball seems like a candidate to get squeezed for playing time, just because of his experience level, although this staff is high on him. That other position is where things get interesting.
Wisconsin really likes all of its rising sophomores. Kinziger looks like the backup point guard, Jones looks like the wing they like to play, and Garlock might be their top reserve center, even over Onetu (he outplayed him Saturday). Can they really sit any of those three?
If not, then the other two players are Braeden Carrington and Trey Autry. It would be a bit surprising to see Autry, who they saw as a potential starter or at least a meaningful contributor in the spring, out of the rotation altogether. But Wisconsin now has a ton of depth with the expected return of Carrington.
Post touches
Last season, there were a number of games where Wisconsin had the size advantage, but I didn’t think they really played to the size with enough post touches.
Well, they made a concerted effort to give Nolan Winter the ball early and often, and just like last year, he was very efficient with his touches. Winter had 18 points and nine rebounds on 7 of 9 from the field, going 6 for 6 inside the arc.
Additionally, Will Garlock and Victory Onetu each had 10 points and 6+ rebounds.
Wisconsin certainly has the size this season with Winter, Garlock, Onetu, and Austin Rapp. But especially in Big Ten play, they’ll need to match the physicality of their opponents, and a big part of this offense is finding efficient touches at the rim.
The game plan will change against opponents that can match up better with the Badgers down low. But it’s a good sign to see that when Wisconsin has a size advantage, it could make the most of that situation on Saturday.
Pace remains high
The Badgers lost Nick Boyd, who was the architect of their high-octane offense last season. But with a new facilitator at the helm in Owen Foxwell, it was a good sign to see Wisconsin’s pace remain high on Saturday. And that’s where that significant depth can be a big factor.
Wisconsin had 73 possessions on Saturday and was highly efficient with them, shooting over 57 percent from the field en route to 94 points.
They did only have 17 assists on 36 made field goals, but Foxwell had six assists to go with his 10 points. Foxwell is clearly a much different player than Boyd, looking to set up his teammates and run the pick-and-roll as a facilitator.
But the Badgers were moving the ball a ton and kept a fairly high pace on Saturday with their new-look team. Of course, there were the early growing pains. Wisconsin had 15 turnovers, with Foxwell accounting for four. There were some stretches, in particular one in the second half, where the Badgers looked a bit sloppy.
But there’s a strong foundation to work off from Saturday’s exhibition game.
