Wisconsin Basketball: Five storylines for the 2018-19 season

What is the potential of this team?

As I said in the previous slide, there is no question that this is an NCAA Tournament-caliber roster. Assuming they stay healthy, I think it is highly likely that the Badgers get back to the field of 68.

While an NCAA berth should be the baseline used to measure Wisconsin’s success this season, this team has the potential to make a deep run in March.

Wisconsin as a legitimate superstar in Ethan Happ, and to advance far in the bracket you must have a go-to stud like that. The Badgers also know what they have in Brad Davison, a born leader who is one of the best glue guys in the country and capable of carrying the scoring load from time to time, and D’Mitrik Trice, who should be a reliable floor general and supporting player. Khalil Iverson has also carved out a role for himself as the team’s shut-down defender, with a highlight-reel dunk mixed in here and there.

However, what could really bring this team over the top would be the emergence of a new star. As we touched on earlier, I think there are three candidates who have the potential to break out in a big way this season: Nate Reuvers, Aleem Ford, and Brevin Pritzl. Reuvers, in particular, has the talent to make a mammoth jump this season, to the point where I believe he could be Wisconsin’s second-leading scorer.

Improved three-point shooting will also be key this season, as Wisconsin was abysmal from long range last year. Opponents took advantage of that and crowded the lane against the Badgers, which made points extremely difficult to come by. Somehow, though, despite being constantly double-teamed Happ still was essentially unstoppable in the post. If you can free him up more this season by surrounding him with some legitimate long-range threats that defenses must respect, Wisconsin’s offense could be elite.

So, what is this team’s ceiling?

By the end of the season, I think there is a chance that the 2018-19 Badgers have the talent to be as dangerous a squad as the 2016-17 team that came within a buzzer-beater of reaching the Elite Eight, though there are obviously many unknowns that will have to pan out in order to reach that level. As we see year after year during March Madness, if Wisconsin can get that far, anything can happen.

When all is said and done, however, a conservative prediction for the team at this point is an NCAA seeding somewhere within the 7-12 range, followed by a loss in either the round of 64 or round of 32. That’s an outcome I think most Badger fans would characterize as successful.

All stats not otherwise linked courtesy of ESPN.com