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Stiemsma off to big start for UW

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Also by Mike Ackerstein:

Wisconsin hits road for Milwaukee (December 12, 2007)
Heisman pressures could tackle Tebow (December 10, 2007)
Wisconsin's home streak dead at 28 (December 10, 2007)
Poor ball control haunts Badgers (December 10, 2007)
Badgers put on show against Terriers (December 4, 2007)

by Mike Ackerstein

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Having opened his senior season against four opponents lacking in size, it's no surprise 6-foot-11 center Greg Stiemsma has gotten off to a strong start this season for the undefeated Badgers.

"Greg feels this is his time," head coach Bo Ryan said during his press conference Monday. "He doesn't have to have 30 minutes on the court, but knows that he has to feel that he is a better player this year and has learned some things."

Though Stiemsma has started every game for Wisconsin this season, he's only averaging 16.8 minutes per game. Still, the big man has been able to put up consistent numbers, providing 5.3 rebounds and 4.5 points per game. His presence in the paint has also been a contributing factor for the Badgers’ stingy defense thus far; he leads the team in blocks with nine, five of which came against Colorado in the decisive game of the America's Youth Classic.

Perhaps the most noticeable improvement for Stiemsma this season, though, is the lack of fouls. A year after averaging nearly two fouls per game (in only 10 minutes of action) the senior has picked up just three fouls in the team's first four games.

"It's his last year, so you don't want to go out there, and reach, and grab, and bump and get overly physical … and get on the bench too many times," Ryan said. "It might happen. Hopefully if it does, it's only a game or two. But he does have presence in the middle."

That doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement, especially as the Big Ten season creeps into view.

"That one stretch Saturday (when Stiemsma blocked several consecutive shots), that's pretty good, but I know those guys aren't as big as a lot of the guys you're going to face now coming up in the scheduling," Ryan said. "That's a great start for him, his timing on the blocks is pretty good, but he still knows that he's got to stop the ball without leaving his feet at times."

Redshirting not the right course of action for Jarmusz

After not playing in either of the Badgers’ first two regular season games, Tim Jarmusz looked as if he'd be redshirted this season. But the freshman guard entered late in Saturday night’s game against Florida A&M, thereby forgoing the option to sit out the season without losing eligibility.

"He's just a competitor," Ryan said of Jarmusz. "He's a player that wants to do as much as he can and try to get minutes. I don't know why he would want to do anything else, because that's the reason we brought him into the program, because of the things we feel he's going to be able to do."

Though Michael Flowers, Jason Bohannon, Trevon Hughes and Joe Krabbenhoft each occupy spots ahead of Jarmusz on the guard depth chart, Ryan is confident getting Jarmusz into action this season is the right decision, regardless of how much time he sees.

"No matter what you do, you just make it work," Ryan said. "I don't think there's a magic number of minutes that you have to play in order to make it a worthwhile competition here."

No changes looming for starting lineup

The starting five of Stiemsma, Brian Butch, Marcus Landry, Krabbenhoft and Hughes has led the Badgers to a 4-0 start this season, and Ryan has no plans of making changes any time soon.

"I don't fool around a lot with lineups because I don't worry about them," Ryan said. "I don't obsess about them. I don't try to play games with them. That's never been the way I've had to motivate players because I think there's better methods."

Absent from the list of starters is Flowers. Though Flowers started every game last season, he has been coming off of the bench this year. Even with the change, he has responded well, averaging 7.3 points per game while logging more minutes than Stiemsma and Butch. Bohannon too will continue to come off the bench despite his 7.5 points per game start to this season.

"I think if you have rapport with your players and an understanding, and you're doing the things that you hopefully should be doing, then you don't have to play with the lineup as far as starters," Ryan said.

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