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Braun: Teammates must help Landry out
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Anyone who watched the Badgers’ 68-61 victory over Long Beach State on Sunday knows Bo Ryan’s squad has a bit of work to do if it wants to retain its Big Ten title.
Anyone who saw the game also has something else in mind: Marcus Landry sure looked like the team leader everyone hoped he would be.
Aside from leading the team in scoring Sunday night with 23 points, he hit the Badgers’ last three field goals of the game, including a 3-pointer that essentially sealed the win for Wisconsin.
Everything else aside, the Badgers would have had a lot of catching up to do had Landry not played as well as he did. Sound like a precursor to the rest of the season? I think so.
Ryan is known to preach team play in his swing offense, with an emphasis on creating mismatches and having his forwards be able to nail an occasional long-range jump shot.
This year though, with Wisconsin facing a serious height disadvantage — the tallest starter is Keaton Nankivil at 6-foot-8-inches — someone is going to have to step up for the Badgers to be successful.
That player has to be Landry. He knows it, too.
Following his big game against the 49ers, he talked about his attempt to be a performer in big game situations.
“Coach always says to practice how you play,” Landry said. “Those are the things I do in practice, that I try to do in practice, and that I try to imitate when it comes to the game.”
Aside from leading the team in scoring, he also had two huge blocks, putting a halt to the 49ers’ comeback. Last year, with a much bigger lineup — including Brian Butch and Greg Stiemsma — clogging the lane, Landry didn’t necessarily have to be that defensive stopper.
Now, he does. And if he can’t, then the Badgers are going be in trouble.
Last year, Landry only averaged 10.8 points per game. But with other viable scoring threats on the floor, he didn’t need to be the main offensive weapon for Wisconsin.
This year, he not only has to be the top threat in the paint offensively for the Badgers, but he will also need to make up for the team’s size problem on the defensive end of the court.
Co-captain Joe Krabbenhoft noticed a clear difference in the team’s play without Landry on the floor.
“It’s a different story out there without Marcus playing the way he did today,” Krabbenhoft said. “I think everyone knows that. He was huge; getting the ball to the post is an easy job, and then he did all the work. I told him at halftime that I was just going to throw it in there, and you go get it and go to work.”
Simply put, if the Badgers want to have a chance to win, their inside presence needs to play a major role in every game. And as Krabbenhoft put it, if Landry can’t get it done, someone else will have to.
When Jason Bohannon is struggling (he shot 3-for-10 on Sunday) and Trevon Hughes isn’t hitting his shots (1-for-6), it will be up to the post players to keep the team in the game.
If Krabbenhoft and Nankivil aren’t on their games, then Landry will have to take over, and on Sunday, it seemed to work.
But what if Landry struggles? Will Jon Leuer and his 6-foot-10-inch slim frame be able to be the inside presence Wisconsin is yearning for?
For Badger fans, you better hope so because Landry is no Alando Tucker, and he certainly won’t be able to do it all by himself. When Ryan’s team — one that truly buys into its coach’s philosophy — begins to rely on one player to be the starter and stopper on both sides of the court, problems are bound to occur.
“Of course I feel within myself that I need to make something happen, but things happen because the team makes it happen,” Landry said. “If I do my job, then I’m expecting my team to do their job too; that’s how we come together.”
Like Landry said, he’ll do his job; now it’s up to his teammates to do theirs.
Jonah is a sophomore hoping to major in journalism. Think the men’s basketball team’s success isn’t contingent on Landry’s contributions? He can be reached a jbraun@badgerherald.com.
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Wrong. Landry is going to put up Tucker-esque numbers this year, only with better defense. I also like that “Bohannon is struggling” and “Trevon Hughes isnt hitting his shots”. Its been one game.
To Anon @ 11:49 am…If you read it properly it says when Bohannon is struggling and when Trevon Hughes isn’t hitting his shots and gives specific stats to show that it happened. It doesn’t imply that they have been struggling for an extended period, just that they struggled in the first game and WHEN that’s happening - which is likely to happen again given there preference for the three-ball - Landry has more pressure to score. Learn how to read before you criticize. Oh and Landry putting up Tucker numbers? Unlikely.
Just out of curiosity, if Landry isnt putting up 18+ a night, where exactly do you see the points coming from for this team to win?
Anyone who has been watching Marcus over his first 3 years knows that this year is going to be a monster year for him.
DUDE. YOU ARE RIGHT. 100% AGREE.