MADISON, Wis. – Greg Gard would love nothing more than know who his five starters are and how deep he can go in his rotation as Wisconsin basketball’s schedule starts to ramp up its level of toughness. But with the Badgers just two games into the season and having several new faces available, Gard can’t justify trimming up his bench at this point.
“I think I owe it to those individuals and us as a team that I have to learn more,” Gard said during his Monday press conference. “I’ve done a lot of shuttling in practice and platooning them back and forth (between the scout team). It’s part of me learning what they are capable of at this point. Part of it is development. They got to keep pushing and taking steps forwards, whether it’s in game action or in practice.”
Wisconsin’s first two victories of the season have shown just how deep down the 16-man roster Gard is willing to go to find what works. In the opening victory against South Dakota, Wisconsin played its five starters between 21 and 31 minutes and played five off the bench between eight and 14 minutes.
In Friday’s win over Stanford at American Family Field, Wisconsin played 11 players in the first half and saw eight players log double-digit minutes.
Freshman Connor Essegian (18.5 minutes per game) has seen the most minutes off the bench, followed by junior forward Carter Gilmore (12.5 mpg), senior guard Jahcobi Neath (11.5 mpg), and sophomore forward Markus Ilver (10.0 mpg).
Wisconsin has played 132 possessions through two games, an incredibly small sample size. However, according to analytic site evanmiya.com, Wisconsin's most efficient lineup through two games is when Essegian joins starters Steven Crowl, Jordan Davis, Chucky Hepburn, and Tyler Wahl on the floor, as the group is averaging 113.3 points per 100 possessions while giving up 60 points per 100 possessions. UW’s most efficient offensive lineup is when Neath and starter Max Klesmit join Crowl, Hepburn, and Wahl, as the group is averaging 114.3 points per 100 possessions.
Gard said his goal moving forward is to get more minutes for Ilver, fellow forward Chris Hodges, and guard Kamari McGee. Hodges was praised by Gard for his limited work against the Cardinal while McGee has only played a total of 10 minutes in two games.
This year will be unique to Gard considering he likely won’t know the scope of his rotation for several weeks.
“Just because I don’t go deep in one game or do in another doesn’t mean my mind is set,” Gard said. “A lot of it, including Friday night, was just my feel, observations throughout the game, what we needed at that point in time. Collectively looking at the bit picture, it could be a while before we know exactly (our rotation). The length of the season and all the things that come at you during the season, continuing to push guys forward and help them get better will be important for us.”
Wisconsin – still not receiving any votes in the Associated Press poll - will likely be able to experiment more against Green Bay Tuesday. The Badgers won the in-state game at home last year by 38 points and the Phoenix (0-2) have started this season losing road games to Indiana State and Georgetown by a combined 61 points.
It’s a perfect game at the perfect time. Following Tuesday, the Badgers get a week off before their toughest test of the young season in the Bahamas in the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament. UW will open against Dayton before facing either reigning national champion Kansas or North Carolina State on Thanksgiving. The Badgers will play a final game Friday against either Butler, BYU, Tennessee, or USC.
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