Ill start with the obvious here, (or at least it should be obvious to badger fans). The Bball team will perform better than expected. Nigel is on the watch list for best power forward. Bronson is on the watch list of best Point guard. We may not have a lot of experience, but the experience is at very crucial positions. Its not like we are a young team that will have question marks as far as ball security at point guard.
As far as im concerned we will have 2 locks for all Big Ten players. That is more than most teams will have.
Look for Nigel to have the green light. Every so often, because of necessity and/or because Bo likes their style of play, a player on a UW bball team will have all the chains taken off and have the green light at any time. Jordan Taylor comes to mind as another player like this. Frank obviously. Not Dekker lol.... Look for Nigel to shoot ALOT and likely average around 20 ppg. We need Nigel to shoot both for scoring, but to draw double teams. The rest of the team will benefit from open jump shots and lanes to the basket due to Nigel drawing alot of attention.
Look for Bronson to finally show his elite passing ability. If you watched him play since he was young like I have, you will remember how he was constantly putting the ball in the exact place his team mates needed it to score. He was a magician in high school at feeding cutters back door, no look passes to his center for easy dunks, etc.... The game plan changes this year without Frank, so look for Bronson to show his ability to create offense with his passing off the dribble.
Everyone else is going to be role players, but thats ok.... Bronson and Nigel are good enough that they can play a 2 man game for most of our possessions, and the rest of the guys will get back door cuts, and open jumpers that come from teams focusing on Nigel and Bronson.
We will struggle against teams like Purdue... We dont have a lot of size, and we cant get Nigel in foul trouble. Vitto Brown NEEDS to be a good defender in the post this season. He is strong and has a huge wingspan so I think he will improved. We play good help defense which should help, but unless Vitto can take leaps and bounds in the defensive game, we will struggle against teams with a true center.
Showy will be our defensive stopper against elite point guards and small forwards, I think he will impress the big ten with his defensive ability. I am really excited to see him get more minutes in that regard.
VanVleet is a great pick up for a little rebounding and some solid outside shooting. He will be crucial to our success.
Happ will get a ton of garbage baskets from Bronson passes and rebounds. He will average around 10 per game I think
Overall I am really excited for this season. Nigel is going to be elite, and hard to stop. His productivity has been off the charts even playing as a 3rd wheel to Frank and Sam. I think with he and Bronson combined, we will be towards the top of the big ten (top 4 of course). We will likely go a little deeper in the tournament than expected if we get matched up against teams that like to run and gun because we have Bo Ryan, and a team that will be quick. If we get matched up against a team with too much size we will be in trouble.
Likely we will finish behind Maryland for obvious reasons, Michigan with LaVert back, MSU will be solid... Im not sold on Indiana (maybe just because I dont like Yogi), but I feel like we will finish above one of these 4 teams.
Scoring Breakdown:
Hayes: 17-20 ppg
Bronson: 13-15 ppg
Happ: 8-10 ppg
Brown: 8-10 ppg
VanVliet: 5-8 ppg
Hill: 5 ppg
Showy: 5 ppg
As far as im concerned we will have 2 locks for all Big Ten players. That is more than most teams will have.
Look for Nigel to have the green light. Every so often, because of necessity and/or because Bo likes their style of play, a player on a UW bball team will have all the chains taken off and have the green light at any time. Jordan Taylor comes to mind as another player like this. Frank obviously. Not Dekker lol.... Look for Nigel to shoot ALOT and likely average around 20 ppg. We need Nigel to shoot both for scoring, but to draw double teams. The rest of the team will benefit from open jump shots and lanes to the basket due to Nigel drawing alot of attention.
Look for Bronson to finally show his elite passing ability. If you watched him play since he was young like I have, you will remember how he was constantly putting the ball in the exact place his team mates needed it to score. He was a magician in high school at feeding cutters back door, no look passes to his center for easy dunks, etc.... The game plan changes this year without Frank, so look for Bronson to show his ability to create offense with his passing off the dribble.
Everyone else is going to be role players, but thats ok.... Bronson and Nigel are good enough that they can play a 2 man game for most of our possessions, and the rest of the guys will get back door cuts, and open jumpers that come from teams focusing on Nigel and Bronson.
We will struggle against teams like Purdue... We dont have a lot of size, and we cant get Nigel in foul trouble. Vitto Brown NEEDS to be a good defender in the post this season. He is strong and has a huge wingspan so I think he will improved. We play good help defense which should help, but unless Vitto can take leaps and bounds in the defensive game, we will struggle against teams with a true center.
Showy will be our defensive stopper against elite point guards and small forwards, I think he will impress the big ten with his defensive ability. I am really excited to see him get more minutes in that regard.
VanVleet is a great pick up for a little rebounding and some solid outside shooting. He will be crucial to our success.
Happ will get a ton of garbage baskets from Bronson passes and rebounds. He will average around 10 per game I think
Overall I am really excited for this season. Nigel is going to be elite, and hard to stop. His productivity has been off the charts even playing as a 3rd wheel to Frank and Sam. I think with he and Bronson combined, we will be towards the top of the big ten (top 4 of course). We will likely go a little deeper in the tournament than expected if we get matched up against teams that like to run and gun because we have Bo Ryan, and a team that will be quick. If we get matched up against a team with too much size we will be in trouble.
Likely we will finish behind Maryland for obvious reasons, Michigan with LaVert back, MSU will be solid... Im not sold on Indiana (maybe just because I dont like Yogi), but I feel like we will finish above one of these 4 teams.
Scoring Breakdown:
Hayes: 17-20 ppg
Bronson: 13-15 ppg
Happ: 8-10 ppg
Brown: 8-10 ppg
VanVliet: 5-8 ppg
Hill: 5 ppg
Showy: 5 ppg
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