The Wisconsin Badgers have now featured true freshman center Aleksas Bieliauskas in the starting lineup, and the game against Marquette proved why. He was in the trenches, playing with effort, holding down the center position, and working in a way that freed his teammates up. After the game, he talked about why he's become a starter.
First, it should be noted that Greg Gard hasn't committed to Bieliauskas as a starter permanently, and there may still be starting lineups with Austin Rapp in it, as it was in the first seven games of the season. Gard said he likes having Bieliauskas in the starting lineup because it allows scoring off the bench from Rapp, allows Nolan Winter to play the 4 position, which is more natural for him, and brings gritty toughness the Badgers need.
Which is kind of what Bieliauskas said about how he sees it happening, too. "I haven't scored in the last three games. In our trip, I haven't scored any points, but I know my role. It's definitely different from what I used to." It's that "role" that he mentions that seems to allude to what Gard was getting at.
Aleksas Bieliauskas has a role and he's learning to play it to perfection
When Bieliauskas was asked for clarification on that role, he said, "I know my role. I just try to do it as best as I can. To box out, get rebounds, rim run, and then space the floor out, and I think I've [gotten] pretty good at that."
This is what you have to love about the true freshman from Lithuania. He doesn't need to be the main character, nor the supporting character; he's fine being the setup crew. Playing behind the scenes, helping his teammates, getting into the trenches, digging ditches, bussing tables, whatever metaphor you want to use. He's fine, just doing his job, playing with toughness and helping Wisconsin win.
It's that sort of basketball that Wisconsin fans love and what made Wisconsin a basketball school in the first place. Defense, toughness, grittiness, and the ability to just play your role to help the Badgers win games. He's a throwback, and he doesn't even realize it.