The Wisconsin men’s basketball team took the floor for the first time of the 2015-16 season and downed UW-River Falls in an exhibition game Wednesday night 101-46. Here are three takeaways from the game as the season gets underway.
Hayes embracing the role of small forward
After playing primarily as a power forward for his first two years in the program, junior Nigel Hayes has been thrust into the role of starting small forward with redshirt freshman Ethan Happ and junior Vitto Brown joining this year’s first starting lineup of the season.
While the competition wasn’t at its highest, Hayes still showed that he is as complete a basketball player as he has ever been. He finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists in 25 minutes and did most of his work from outside the paint.
Whether it was slashing to the basket, showing off his improved outside touch or making the extra pass for the easy basket, Hayes controlled the floor, and the move to small forward allowed him the freedom to do so.
Happ will live in the post
Badger fans have long awaited the debut of Happ, who was the most improved UW player last season, according to head coach Bo Ryan. Wednesday night’s exhibition showed the leaps Happ has taken as a player after coming into college very raw talent-wise, as the redshirt freshman finished with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds on 7-of-9 shooting from the field.
From the start of the game, Happ went straight to the block and worked hard to gain a good post position. As he constantly moved from block to block, it was clear Happ is going to attempt to make a living in the paint this season, and that should work nicely in the Badgers’ favor.
Happ showed great touch and finishing ability around the rim along with tenacity on the boards, especially on the offensive glass where he grabbed five offensive rebounds. But what may have been most impressive is Happ’s ability to pass out of the post. River Falls began sending double team after double team to the big man, but he remained poised and showed great vision finding his open teammates out on the perimeter.
With his skill set, Happ is showing the characteristics of a young Frank Kaminsky, but he clearly has a long way to go before he reaches that level of play. But with the way Happ looked Wednesday night, the redshirt freshman played far beyond his years.
The team’s freshmen don’t look like freshmen
It was just an exhibition, but the array of UW freshman that saw the floor looked comfortable and confident in their first real action on the court. Most notably, Khalil Iverson and Charlie Thomas both looked like they were ready to contribute for Ryan this season on both ends of the floor Wednesday night.
Iverson showed signs of being one of the better on-ball defenders on the team and even recorded two blocks. Despite standing at just 6-foot-5, Iverson was active down low on the boards, grabbing two offensive rebounds to make a total three rebounds. Offensively, he showed he was fully capable of running the point, which could prove very valuable for a Badger team that has a lot of room to grow in the backcourt.
Thomas showed nice touch from the mid-range throughout the night, shooting 5-of-7 from the field for 12 points in just 16 minutes. That outside touch is something Ryan said Thomas has worked hard to improve, and Wednesday’s game showed the big man will not shy away from shooting. Thomas also grabbed seven rebounds and said he is continuing to work on the little things Ryan looks for as he works to earn more time on the court.
