Wisconsin big Nolan Winter's struggles are troubling but there is a clear fix

The Wisconsin Badgers are beginning to look on track on the basketball side of things, as a dominant wire-to-wire win over Fairfield is exactly what the team needed following two somewhat underwhelming first outings.

However, one story that continues to emerge from the Badgers' early slate is the play of senior big man Nolan Winter. To put it mildly, he has struggled to kick off his 2026-27 campaign, averaging just 6.3 points, eight rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.3 blocks per game.

All things considered, Winter has been fine in his ancillary play, showcasing some seemingly improved passing feel while maintaining his dominance of the glass and playing as good a defense as ever. That said, he hasn't been putting the ball in the basket. In fact, he isn't even really trying to.

One of the biggest storylines to track heading into this season was whether Winter was going to take the leap into stardom, asserting himself as the go-to guy and dominating the game the way his skill set suggests he absolutely should. However, it has been quite a rocky start for a multitude of reasons.

What isn't working

Winter is shooting 7.7 shots per game thus far, a full shot per game less than last year, which is wildly disappointing given the new opportunity with John Blackwell and Nick Boyd out the door. On top of that, he's shooting just 34.8% from the floor, 14.3% from 3, and 25% from the free-throw line, all of which are vastly lower than what we are used to.

There can, of course, be a multitude of reasons as to why he's had this slow of a start. Good chance Winter is still dealing with injury issues, as, after all, he did miss an entire summer because of it. There is also a good chance that missing that summer didn't allow him to build a connection with Owen Foxwell, hence why guys like Victory Onuetu and Will Garlock have been eating, but he hasn't.

However, the more damning factor has been his usage. Winter has only logged six post-up reps across three games versus very undersized teams, and only three possessions in spot-up situations. Not a perfect encapsulation, but it hints at the lack of usage he has had early on and highlights the fact that he just hasn't been very involved with the offense.

Of course, there are a litany of ways to fix this going forward, with the easiest ones being giving Winter more manufactured looks. He remains one of the more effective post-up bigs in the Big Ten when he does get those looks, and presuming his touch returns to where it was, it isn't hard to envision a world where Winter finds his rhythm in the very near future.

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