The Badgers Need Bench Help, Is Brevin Pritzl the Answer?
When it was announced that Wisconsin Basketball would be without star guard for the Michigan contest last Thursday, many Badger fans across the state wondered how Greg Gard would take on the task of handling his bench, particularly the Guard position. With regular D’Mitrick Trice taking the full load of Koenig’s minutes, someone had to fill in for the time that Trice already got, and in turn Coach Gard turned to struggling guard Jordan Hill, to the dismay of many Badger fans (myself included).
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According to the Wisconsin State Journal, Coach Gard told the media that this decision was because Hill had played against this defense before, and he wanted familiarity on that side of the ball. While the principles of Wisconsin Basketball is focused on quality defense, its a move that really made many question what Coach Gard’s plan truly was. With a team that is struggling to score regularly, a problem that was magnified in the loss to Michigan, you would think that a focus would soon turn to the issues on offense, but the issue was again magnified in the Badgers embarrassing loss to Ohio State this past week. So what’s the solution?
Well, it isn’t Jordan Hill, who is currently averaging 1.4 PPG off the bench and poses no threat to opposing defenses. While i’m not saying Brevin Pritzl will light up the scoreboard, isn’t it time he get a shot? Pritzl has been widely regarded as one of the best pure shooters on the team by Senior Nigel Hayes. Pritzl has played limited minutes, but has provided sparks each time he’s been in there. With a team that is struggling to find offensive production, and bench players Pritzl seems to be the ideal fit to what Wisconsin is looking for. If the Badgers want to find a shooter that could get hot down the stretch in March, now is the time to work him in more regularly. With a poor defensive team in Ohio State and Michigan State the Badgers have the opportunity in front of them, and all eyes will be on Coach Gard and how he potentially handles #1.