The Wisconsin Badgers have started the season 4-0 with four blowout victories, averaging over 90 points per game, while allowing only 65 points per contest so far.
It’s been a quick transition period for
the Badgers, who have eight new players, but have gelled well together, going on some major runs and showing the potential of what they could be.
There’s definitely still room to grow, but Wisconsin has looked strong through the early part of the season and will get some big tests coming up, with the No. 9 BYU Cougars being first on Friday.
What has impressed head coach Greg Gard the most so far?
“I think the thing that’s impressed me the most, even though they’ve come from different places and have spent different amounts of time here and other places, their coachability is really, really good,” Gard said after the win over SIUE.
“They listen, they want to get better, they have great suggestions, they ask the right questions, and I get asked about that ad nauseam about the portal and having new guys and the chemistry of the team. When you have like-minded individuals in the locker room, you’ll have a united team. And that’s what we have, and that’s the coachability. They take coaching. Some guys, I get after them in the huddle, and they respond and they want to be better, they want to do something special.”
The biggest worry about the transfer portal and adding eight new faces is how quickly the team can come together. But, it seems Wisconsin has put together a roster that not only complements each other well, but also has quickly become team-first, which has led to some big early success.
In fact, junior guard John Blackwell credited the coaching staff for putting together such a compatible roster that has allowed them to experience quick growth.
“I think Coach [Gard] did a good job and our staff did a good job of putting the right pieces together as a team,” Blackwell said after the week. “Like guys who feed off each other, like me and Nick get downhill. We got a guy like Aussie [Austin Rapp] that we brought in that could just spray it, and a guy like Nolan [Winter] who does it as well. And then our bigs get along really well from when they find the high-lows, and we have great passing bigs. I think all credit to the coaches with finding guys are talented and that can [co-exist] together.”
Wisconsin will have its hands full with a quality BYU team on Friday. But, they’ve looked like a force to be reckoned with early, and should provide a good challenge for the Cougars in a big, ranked matchup.
