After weeks of grueling practices and two exhibition games, the Wisconsin men’s basketball team is anxious to get the regular season started this weekend.
“I’m so ready to get going,” sophomore forward Mike Wilkinson said. “You can’t really put it in words; you just want to get out there and go. I’ve been waiting since the end of last year.”
The Badgers tip off the season at the Kohl Center by hosting the NABC Classic, which also includes Eastern Washington, Winthrop and Northern Illinois. It’s a welcome challenge for any basketball player to apply what he has learned in practice and exhibitions to games that count.
Certainly, the Kohl Center will look a little different when it’s loud and full for regular season play.
“You’re just riding a high when you’re a freshman coming in and you’re playing in front of 15,000 (fans),” senior guard Kirk Penney said. “I remember what it was like a few years ago, so I’m excited for them and I know the enthusiasm will be showing on their faces and they’ll be playing hard.”
Those freshmen, of which the Badgers have six — five true — had no problems contributing off the bench in the two exhibition games.
Guard/forward Alando Tucker particularly made an impact, averaging 12 points and 5.5 rebounds in the two games.
Redshirt freshman Andreas Helmigk scored nine points in the second game, showing a deft touch from the inside. Wilkinson, who shouldered much of the inside load last season, hopes the youth infusion will provide a deeper frontcourt.
“Right now, we definitely have a lot of people that can play the frontcourt positions, but we’re going to see how the season plays out,” he said. “The faster people mature, the deeper we are. Going from exhibition to the regular season is a big difference. It’s a jump from there, and it’s a jump going from non-conference to the Big Ten season. It’s just a matter of how quickly everyone develops.”
But no matter how quickly they get used to the regular season, the Badgers know they’ll have to be ready to go this weekend.
“They have to be (ready to play),” said Penney. “They understand that, they’re working hard in practice. I think they’re ready to face the real deal.”
While they may not yet be up against Big Ten opponents, the Badgers will certainly be facing the real deal this weekend. They open Friday night against Eastern Washington, a team that went 10-4 in the Big Sky Conference last season and is the favorite to win the conference this year.
Eastern Washington is led by senior guard/forward Alvin Snow, who averaged 11.3 points and 1.8 steals per game last season. He is complemented by senior guard/forward Chris Hester, who averaged 13.5 points per game and was named the Big Sky’s newcomer of the year last season.
If the Badgers knock off Eastern Washington, they’ll take on the winner of the Winthrop/Northern Illinois game. Winthrop is probably the best team in the tournament besides Wisconsin; it has won the Big South Conference last season for the fourth straight time and earned a berth in the NCAA tournament, where the team was ousted in the first round.
Forward Tyrone Walker, an athletic 6-foot-6 junior, led Winthrop’s returning players in both scoring and rebounding last season, with 11 points and six rebounds per game.
Northern Illinois didn’t fare so well last year, going 8-10 in the MAC West (12-16 overall) under first-year coach Rob Judson. Junior guard P.J. Smith is the team’s only returning starter.
“They’re all really good teams,” Wilkinson said, who stressed that the Badgers still need to improve their defense coming out of the exhibition season. “They’re all coming in here looking to play. They’re going to play really well, especially at big-time places like this. Right now we’re just preparing for [Eastern Washington] Friday.”
For the freshmen, this weekend will be just the beginning to their college careers.
For Penney, however, it’s the beginning to his final season at UW, and he’s poised to get everything out of it. Following regular practice and interviews on Tuesday, he promptly went back to honing his shot with assistant coach Tony Bennett.
“I’m pumped,” he said. “This is my last year. It’s amazing how fast it flies by, so I just want to enjoy every step of my senior year and it starts here. It starts with Eastern Washington, and that’s our focus right now. I’m just pumped to get out there and play.”
