(Photo credit: AP)
By MARQUES EVERSOLL
It’s football season in Wisconsin, so the state remains focused on the Green Bay Packers. It’s only (already?) Week 7 of the NFL season, and we still have a solid three more months of football to enjoy.
But.
Basketball is on the horizon. The Wisconsin Badgers, coming off a Final Four run, are ranked No. 4 in the preseason Coaches’ poll, and Frank Kaminsky is the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year. The Green Bay Phoenix is coming off a regular-season conference title and boast one of the most exciting players in the country in Keifer Sykes. Marquette can’t really be worse than it was last season, and the Milwaukee Bucks have actual hope thanks to their new star Jabari Parker.
Suddenly, the state of Wisconsin boasts some damn good basketball.
Milwaukee Bucks
Having not won a playoff series since the days of Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson, Sam Cassell and George Karl in the 2000-2001 season, the Bucks have been consistently bad for a long, long time.
Stuck in basketball purgatory, Wisconsin’s professional hoops team was awful—but just good enough—to stay out of the top several picks of the draft. Sure, they won the lottery in 2005 and drafted Andrew Bogut. But as far as No. 1 picks go, Bogut is a shrug of the shoulders.
This year’s draft was one of the best, if not the best, since 2003 when LeBron James (1), Carmelo Anthony (3), Chris Bosh (3) and Dwyane Wade (5) went in the first five picks.
And the Bucks struck gold.
After a 15-win season last year, the Bucks have hope with the new face of their franchise in Jabari Parker. Any debate about whether Parker’s true position—whether he’s a 3 or a 4—shouldn’t matter. He’s a hell of a talent. Certainly the best the Bucks have had in my lifetime. I’ll be 24 in November.
Plug Parker in next to last year’s first rounder Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the Bucks have a solid young nucleus. Giannis came in raw, but he’s matured physically and looks poised to be Parker’s running mate moving forward.
The young Bucks will lose a lot of games this year; arguably their best two players are teenagers. There will be growing pains. But there were certainly be plenty of “I-haven’t-seen-that-from-the-Bucks-in-a-while” moments.
And say what you want about Jason Kidd’s failed power play in Brooklyn, which ultimately resulted in the Bucks trading a couple draft picks for Kidd to become their head coach. But Kidd gives the Bucks a recognizable, familiar name on the sideline, which is something they haven’t had in a while. He’s still a young coach, but this is a young team. I like the fit.
Marquette Golden Eagles
Buzz Williams is out, and Steve Wojciechowski is in. Anytime there’s a coaching change, there’s reason for optimism with the new direction, and Wojo has already given the program a breath of fresh air after a 17-15 season a year ago.
Frankly, the Golden Eagles weren’t very good last season. Williams made a head-scratching move by leaving Marquette for perhaps the ACC’s worst team in Virginia Tech. But Marquette made a great hire by bringing in Wojo.
This upcoming season will likely be a challenge for Wojo, but the conversation has already shifted to next year. And that’s not a bad thing in this case.
Rice Lake’s Henry Ellenson, an elite 6-10 high school senior, recently committed to Marquette. He’s a Duke-type player, and Wojo hopes to inject a Duke-type culture into his Marquette program. Ellenson’s brother, Wally, is also at Marquette but will sit this season out after transferring from Minnesota.
Until Indiana transfer Luke Fischer (6-11) is eligible to play in mid-December, the Golden Eagles’ tallest player stands just 6-7. That being said, fans of the Marquette program, in many ways, are in the same boat as Bucks fans in terms of looking ahead.
Senior guard Derrick Wilson is back, but perhaps more importantly redshirt freshman Duane Wilson figures to be an integral part of this year’s team. The latter Wilson figures to be the engine behind Wojo’s Marquette machine in 2015.
Expectations need to remain realistic for this year, but there’s plenty of reason for optimism surrounding the program.
Green Bay Phoenix
This is the most exciting team in college basketball that most people across the country have never heard of. The Phoenix was loaded with athletes last year, and it’s reloaded and ready to go once again this year.
From Keifer Sykes—last year’s Horizon League Player of the Year—to fellow seniors Greg Mays and Alfonzo McKinnie and juniors Carrington Love and Jordan Fouse—this year’s Green Bay team has been close. They’ve been dangerously close to something the Phoenix hasn’t had since the 1995-96 season.
Two years in a row, Green Bay’s year ended with disappointment. A buzzer-beater against Valparaiso in the Horizon League Tournament ended the Phoenix’s hopes for a NCAA Tournament berth. Last year, a hobbled Sykes toughed it out against Milwaukee in the conference tournament, but the Phoenix ultimately fell to the Panthers, and despite a 14-2 conference record, the Horizon League is always a long-shot for an at-large bid into the Big Dance. Green Bay was on the outside looking in and headed to the NIT.
As if it wasn’t clear that Sykes was dealing with nagging injuries late in the season, he was unable to suit up against Belmont in the NIT. That’s where it ended.
Green Bay loses 7-1 center Alec Brown, who was the 50th overall pick in this year’s draft to the Phoenix Suns. That’s a blow on both ends of the court, but it may allow the Phoenix to play even more up-temp than they did last season.
Remember Florida Gulf Coast’s Sweet 16 run in 2013? The dunks, the alley-oops, the fast-paced offensive attack? This Green Bay team has some “Dunk City” in them. If (and/or when) the Phoenix ears a tournament berth, America will love them.
Green Bay has more than five players that could start. It’s a good problem to have. They’re deep. They’re athletic. And that makes them a lot of fun to watch. They’re the preseason pick to win the conference again, and Sykes is the favorite to repeat as Player of the Year.
In fact, Sykes—before the actual season even started—has already found his way onto the national media scene once again, as the 6-foot point guard floated over 6-9 forward Kerem Kanter and threw down a thunderous dunk in practice. But Sykes has plenty of highlights that make you shake your head, or ask yourself, “How?” So just Google him.
Wisconsin Badgers
Bo Ryan has won a lot of games (321) as the head coach at Wisconsin, but last year was his best. The Badgers came within a last-second shot of the National Championship—it was their first Final Four since the 1999-2000 season.
Frank Kaminsky seemingly came out of nowhere to become one of the best big men in college basketball. He played 10.3 minutes per game as a sophomore before exploding onto the scene as a junior when he averaged 13.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per contest and shot 37.8 percent from behind the three-point arc.
Kaminsky is the preseason pick for conference Player of the Year, and he’s joined on the preseason All-Big Ten first team by teammate Sam Dekker. Two of the Badgers’ five starters from last year’s Final Four team are First-Team All-Big Ten selections.
Last year was also the first chapter of a potentially special freshmen class. Nigel Hayes wasn’t built like a freshman and became a mainstay in the rotation, scoring in double-figures 12 times. Bronson Koenig, the team’s most natural point guard, only averaged 3.5 points per game, but he showed flashes of his scary potential in big moments. Koenig didn’t miss a shot against Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament, scoring a career-high 14 points, then chipped in 11 points against Kentucky in the Final Four.
Now sophomores, Hayes and Koenig figure to take a big step forward. Traevon Jackson, for all his offensive shortcomings, is a solid defender and can handle the ball. Josh Gasser may be one of the most underappreciated players in the Big Ten conference.
This team is loaded, and returns everyone from last year’s team except Ben Brust.
The only question this team faces is who makes up the starting five, and that’s not overly important. It’s as deep and talented a team as Ryan has had at Wisconsin.
Marques is on SportsLine Monday through Friday from 4:00-6:00pm on WDUZ 107.5 FM and 1400 AM “The Fan.” He hosts the Saturday Morning Showcase at 8:00am on Saturdays. Follow him on Twitter @MJEversoll and/or email him at [email protected].
