Busting Brackets
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Wisconsin Basketball: Where do the Badgers need to improve for 2018-19?

By Lukas Harkins

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 24: The Wisconsin Badgers mascot performs against the Florida Gators during the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament East Regional at Madison Square Garden on March 24, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 24: The Wisconsin Badgers mascot performs against the Florida Gators during the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament East Regional at Madison Square Garden on March 24, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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MADISON, WI – FEBRUARY 12: D’Mitrik Trice #0 of the Wisconsin Badgers shoots. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
MADISON, WI – FEBRUARY 12: D’Mitrik Trice #0 of the Wisconsin Badgers shoots. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

1. Backcourt Depth

Injuries destroyed Wisconsin’s hopes of reaching the Big Dance this past season. For starters, both D’Mitrik Trice and Kobe King went down with season-ending injuries after playing in just 10 games. While losing two players might not seem like a lot, the Badgers were already fairly thin in the backcourt and they could not afford to lose one guard for the season, let alone two. However, those injuries allowed Brad Davison and Aleem Ford to blossom into solid Big Ten players, something that can only help down the road for those two.

In regards to this upcoming season, though, there are still reasonable questions regarding the Badgers’ depth in the backcourt. While there are a lot of guard options for minutes, there is very little experience at the college level. Here is a look at the guards on the 2018-19 roster and their total collegiate minutes to this point (years are assuming Trice/King receive waivers for last year):

  • Brevin Pritzl (JR): 20.2 mpg in 57 contests (1149 total minutes)
  • Brad Davison (SO): 31.2 mpg in 33 contests (1028 total minutes)
  • D’Mitrik Trice (SO): 21.0 mpg in 47 contests (989 total minutes)
  • Trevor Anderson (SO): 28.5 mpg in 20 contests at Green Bay (570 total minutes)
  • Kobe King (FR): 19.0 mpg in 10 contests (190 total minutes)
  • Tai Strickland (FR): 0 games played.

This is…a lot of youth. While there are obviously talented players in this group with plenty of potential, it lacks overall experience. Head coach Greg Gard will have plenty of options as to where he turns for minutes in the backcourt but no matter how you slice it, there will be teaching moments this season. The hope, though, is that those are limited and the backcourt will be improved this season.

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