If Wisconsin basketball forward Keaton Nankivil could hear the legions of Badger fans shouting at their television each game, the advice of the Grateful Red (at least the smart ones) can be summed up in a pithy phrase:

“Just shoot the damn ball!”

Ahh, arm chair coaching at its finest.

Every basketball player on earth — with the exception of Mark Madsen and Wesley Snipes in “White Men Can’t Jump” — has weaknesses, but Nankivil’s biggest flaw is one rarely found in today’s AAU-infested game: a reluctance to shoot when open.

In a way, the selfless play is actually somewhat refreshing, with 99.9 percent of Division I athletes trained on the philosophy that the ball dies in your hands and winning is important — as long as you fulfilled your quota of shots.

But that refreshing feeling vanishes and is replaced with dismay (or in my case, expletives) when one of the best jump shooters on the team hesitates to pull the trigger on an open look, often forcing Trevon Hughes or Jordan Taylor to jack up a contested three-pointer late in the shot clock.

“It is a big deal for him to shoot it,” UW senior guard Jason Bohannon said. “We have always been on him for passing up those open looks and he thinks ‘maybe we can get a better shot,’ but usually he has the best chance there.”

On the season, Nankivil is averaging 8.7 points per game, shooting 51 percent from the field and 32 percent from beyond the arc. Lacking a reliable post game, those nine points per contest come from occasional rebound put-backs and a steady diet of jumpers from both mid and long range.

So what does this mean for the offense?

Well, as the recent Purdue game proved, Nanks is absolutely capable of carrying the Badgers for stretches at a time. Dropping a career high 25 points on 7-of-8 shooting from 3-point land, Nankivil proved to be Wisconsin’s only reliable weapon and kept the team in position to steal a win on the road on the last possession.

Running the pick-and-pop with Hughes and Taylor handling the ball, opponents are forced to choose between talented guards attacking the hoop or a 50 percent shooter spotting up in his comfort zone.

Does this two-headed weapon sound too good to be true on a Badger team that has looked incredibly one-dimensional since Jon Leuer went down? It should.

Because up until the last two games — when Nankivil posted consecutive season high’s for points with 17 and 25 — UW’s lone starting big man was still conserving his shots like UHS did last fall with swine flu vaccines.

Assuming a confidence breakthrough on Nankivil’s part, though — a big assumption that I will get to later — here are three ways his pretty jump shot will help the team besides putting points on the scoreboard.

Points in the paint will increase

While Nankivil himself is much more comfortable catching and shooting in rhythm, the Badgers should be able to attack the hoop more if the team’s lone big man poses a threat outside.

Almost always the tallest player on the floor for UW, Nanks can draw away a shot blocker and open up driving lanes for Hughes and Taylor if opponents respect his jump shot, filling a void the team has missed since Leuer went down with injury.

Counterintuitive as it may seem, Nankivil’s willingness to shoot from outside will directly lead to more paint touches — something his teammates let him know every day in practice.

“Something I have started to get through now is to keep shooting,” Nankivil said. “If it is a good shot, they tell me to keep taking it, even if it isn’t falling at first.”

Leuer’s absence

Though Nankivil doesn’t have the post-game nor the aggressive mentality to anchor down near the blocks, an increase in Nankivil’s scoring is important to help replace Leuer’s 15 points per game that left the team along with the movement in his left wrist.

The beauty of the Hughes/Leuer attack was if one had an off game, the other could carry the slack. While Taylor and J-Bo have both picked up their scoring, Nankivil could finally provide balance to the guard heavy equation.

Unfortunately, the very reserved Nankivil doesn’t see things this way.

While this two game explosion has been nice, he truly believes the number of shots he puts up does not matter in a game.

“No matter who we have on the court with our five, we are all trying to do something productive,” Nankivil deferred in response to stepping up for Leuer. “Whoever is on the floor, we are trying to get something done and combine it for a win. So, that is most important for us.”

Next season

With two of the Badgers top three scorers graduating after the season, Nankivil will need to step into this role sooner or later. With only Leuer and Taylor as locks to be impact players next year, Nankivil should start getting used to the idea of being relied on for more than defense and hustle.

Nankivil admits to losing confidence if his first few shots rim out, but he won’t have the luxury next season of removing himself offensively when jumpers don’t fall right away.

Nanks has long had a Big Ten worthy game. He now just needs Big Ten consistency. For the most part, fans know what they will get from the guard trio each night. Nankivil’s X-factor may determine when Bohannon and Hughes play their last game for UW.

Michael is a senior majoring in history and journalism. Are you getting anxious for Jon Leuer’s return to the hardcourt for UW? Do you think Nankivil should shoot every time he touches the damn ball? Send your thoughts to him at [email protected]