Greg Gard's Wisconsin basketball team displays improved depth, more scoring options
MADSION – Reporters who watched the Wisconsin’s men’s basketball practice Thursday at the Kohl Center got their first concrete look at how Greg Gard might use his personnel.
The most interesting development was seeing UW’s top eight players and scout team.
Returning starters Tyler Wahl, Chucky Hepburn, Max Klesmit, Connor Essegian and Steven Crowl were among the top eight.
No surprise there.
St. John’s transfer AJ Storr, freshman Nolan Winter and Carter Gilmore, a key reserve last season, rounded out the top eight.
Some observations and comments from practice.
As Greg Gard has said, the Badgers are much deeper than they were last season
Several members of the scout team eventually worked in with the top unit during practice.
They were freshman guard John Blackwell, forward Markus Ilver, guard Isaac Lindsey, guard Kamari McGee and forward Gus Yalden.
Gard and his staff should be able to mix and match personnel and use different rotations depending who is playing well and on the opponent.
Guard AJ Storr is much more than just an athlete
Much of the talk about St. John’s transfer AJ Storr has focused on his athletic ability.
But the more you watch the sophomore guard the more you see he has a good feel for the game. It appears he sees the court well, makes hard cuts to the basket and finds open teammates.
“I feel like there are those guys that live in the gym and they just pick up a little bit of everything,” Wahl said. “I think AJ is one of those guys. He is always working on his game.”
Carter Gilmore is looking to score more
Carter Gilmore provided defense, rebounding and ball movement last season.
The former standout at Arrowhead High School was not confident in his shot, though. Too often last season Gilmore didn’t look at the basket, which hurt UW’s scoring ability.
He shot 40.7% overall and contributed 2.6 points per game.
Gilmore likely won't be needed to score much this season because of the improved depth but he has looked to score more frequently so far in practice, on drives, post-ups and from the perimeter.
“I feel like he is a lot more confident,” Wahl said. “He’s always been able to do some stuff (defensively). He’s had a great IQ for the game. Make the right pass. Make the right play.
“But now it just the confidence on the scoring end. When he gets the ball in his hands…he is looking for his shot. That makes him stick out this year.”
Kamari McGee focused on improving his shot
McGee, who transferred to UW from UW-Green Bay before last season, shot just 18.5 percent (7 of 25) from three-point range and 28.0 percent overall (14 of 50) in is first season in Madison.
His offseason priority was to improve his jumper.
“That was the biggest thing, because for the most part I felt like everything else was pretty good,” he said. “There’s always room for improvement and my jump shot really needed it.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Greg Gard's Wisconsin basketball team has more depth, scoring options
