Has Greg Gard and Wisconsin Badgers basketball has reloaded with Camren Hunter and Xavier Amos?

Has Greg Gard and Wisconsin Badgers basketball has reloaded with Camren Hunter and Xavier Amos?

by Locked On Podcast Network, Justin Julka, Ryan Harings

Trending Podcast Topics, In Your Inbox

Sign up for Beacon’s free newsletter, and find out about the most interesting podcast topics before everyone else.

Rated 5 stars by early readers

By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Topics in this Episode

About This Episode

33:19 minutes

published 19 days ago

English

Speaker 10s - 14.42s

It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. What's going on, Betcha ORG fans?

Speaker 314.46s - 29.26s

I'm excited for this one. Get one of my favorite people back on the show. Talk a little bit about the basketball roster. Are we good? Now, does this feel like a successful offseason? Are we judging this through some of abias that we potentially have with great guard? Let's talk about that on today's Locked On Badgers ORG. Let's go.

Speaker 031.84s - 41.1s

You are Locked on Badgers, your daily podcast on the Wisconsin Badgers ORG, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

Speaker 343.2s - 75.66s

What is going on? Badger ORG fans. Welcome to Locked on Badgers. Welcome to a Badger community that's all about making it and better to be a Badger fan every day. That's what this show is all about. Really do appreciate everybody tuning in. I'm yours right here. And today's episode brought to you at Monopoly Go PRODUCT. I admitted, I talked about it. I have a bit of a competitive side. Monopoly Go loves that competitive side of me. Right now, go download Monopoly Go free on the App store or Google Play. And let's get Rajeev PERSON back on the show. We haven't had Rajiv on in a minute, man. And it, I feel like this potentially might be a good moment

Speaker 175.66s - 81.16s

to play. Badgers winning a national title? Absolutely. Going on final four runs? Why not?

Speaker 381.64s - 86.12s

It's Believe with Rejeeve on today's Locked-on Badgers.

Speaker 286.84s - 88.32s

Got to believe, my friend.

Speaker 188.44s - 89.52s

I always believe.

Speaker 290.02s - 92s

So three transfer pickups,

Speaker 192.16s - 93.86s

John Dongey PERSON has been officially announced,

Speaker 394.06s - 102.86s

but there is so much smoke there. Unless something happens, you have three transfer pickups. I talked about this on the yesterday show a little bit. Rejeev PERSON, where are you at?

Speaker 2103.84s - 177.26s

Man, I'm happy. I'm happy because we needed to make the yesterday show a little bit. Rajiv PERSON, where are you at? Man, I'm happy. I'm happy because we needed to make the additions and we made them. I said priority to me was a four, a three, and then a one. We got ourselves a one, a three, and a four. And I think number one, number one impression, athleticism continues to get better, right?Like we're seeing more athleticism. And when you look at Amos PERSON, my goodness, that guy is super athletic. Now, I know he's, you know, you're going to lose a lot in Tyler Wall PERSON, no doubt. But, I mean, you're replacing him with a guy who really brings a totally different level of athleticism and the ability to shoot. All three of these guys, they're more athletic. They can space the floor.They can all shoot. That, to me, is the number one thing that you're adding right there is the ability to provide more offensive weapons and these guys can create their shot if we look at a guy like hunter and amos they're they all got tons of film on creating their shot and tansy as well i just think that you're you're stepping it up a little bit is it exactly is it the big names from the big schools we wanted maybe not but it's all about how they're going to gel with this team and improve us. And that's the thing I'm out looking after.Are we better than we were before? Hard to say, but we feel needs that absolutely were critical for us. So you got to give guard some credit for that.

Speaker 3178.06s - 204.68s

I feel like there's a timing thing here too, right? If Xavier Amos was like priority number one and he came on the first visit and you'd never heard of Brandon Angel PERSON. I feel like Benchman ORG's like, oh, I really like this guy. But now it feels like a second option to brand. And it was.But it doesn't mean it's a bad option. And I think he actually fits the offense a little bit better. I think there's a chance. And I said this before that next year's team might not have the star power, but could fit together a little bit better.

Speaker 2206.1s - 312.54s

Yeah, I know totally. And I think you're right about Amos and like the names that were on the board first, right? Because that's what people were looking at, like which one were we were going to get? Oh, we didn't get this guy. We didn't get this guy. I get this guy.I get this guy. And losing a guy like Chuckie PERSON is a big deal. And that stinks for us. But ultimately, if you just look at the roster as it sits right now, you got to feel pretty comfortable with how we're looking next year just because we've got the needs filled. We've got a lot of players who are going to take steps.We've got free tag coming in. We've got Robeson PERSON. We've got people to kind of fill this team out. And what were the issues last year, right? So shooting was certainly an issue last year. Defense was a major issue.That's always difficult to see on highlight tapes. And you've got to really watch more to get a sense of how good defenders these guys are. But if you look at a guy like Amos PERSON on the blocks that he had, and even Tanji PERSON, I mean, I feel like you're going to add, like we talk about rim protection a lot last year. And I'm not saying Amos PERSON is going to come in and be a world beter at rim protection,but at least he can have it, right? I mean, he's going to provide something on the inside that can help us out defensively as well. So yeah, I mean, I really think like that, like last year, we said athletic wing, right? Well, you get out and he went out and got an athletic wing. And I think once again, he's doing things that are targeted. Is it exactly who he wanted? Maybe, maybe not, but maybe it's who they wanted. Maybe it's the kind of player that they were looking after. So ultimately, that's what matters. And we fill the needs that we, that were required. And we're trendingup continuously with athleticism, which is a, which is a big, a big problem here for the last couple of years. So I'm always looking for athleticism. I always look for guys who can create their own shot. So we don't get into scoring droughts and we don't get into issues like we've had in the past. Now, our offense was better last year with a guy like Stor PERSON. And I don't think that's going to really take a big dip downward when you look at this roster that's being developed right now.

Speaker 3313.38s - 321.22s

Yeah, you hit on something I thought that was interesting too. A lot of people assume the offense is going to take a big step back. I think to your point, you got three guys here who can create their shots.

Speaker 2321.56s - 324.6s

And in some ways, you might have more shot creation on this roster.

Speaker 3325.26s - 340.3s

The secondary rim protection, I think, is a big one. Amos has double the block rate when you just look at per 40 minutes of Tyler Wall PERSON. Now, I think you lose some toughness and some defense versatility with Wall PERSON. I don't think Amos PERSON brings that, but he does give you shot protection against the rim.

Speaker 2340.74s - 342.32s

And that was a big issue last year.

Speaker 3343.42s - 370.84s

I also want to give, i think great guard deserves credit because the happen thing happened kind of quickly and it wasn't something i was planned for we pivoted pretty well um all these guards here's the other thing i like about all three these players they all provide a physical presence tanger is a yoked up six foot five six foot six hundred six three you mentioned amos and his verticality's explosiveness. They all bring physicality, which I think at times last year we got pushed around a little too much.100%.

Speaker 2370.84s - 448.74s

100% agree. And that's a really good point, too. And it's just like there's, we've got to look at how we can adapt now, right? So, I mean, it's not just, the other thing I want to mention here is NIL ORG too. Like, there's so much that goes into this. And when you lose a guy like Chuck PERSON,you mentioned Chuck PERSON. It's like there's only so much you can do to keep a guy like that. And so you've got to, there's a lot of people on Twitter saying, look, look where schools these guys are coming from. NIU, CSU ORG, they're not big schools. That's okay.If they fit in the roster, it's okay. And sure, the jury's still out, right? We're going to see what it looks like in November and how it actually plays out. But I mean, you got, I feel good about the fact that, you know, 10 days ago, I was freaked out. I'm like, what are we going to do? How are we going to fill this roster? And, you know, I mean, then you look at the players that are that are coming in. You're like, well, I mean, are we improved? I mean, it's hard to say, what would you say to like,are we, do you feel like we're better than we were last year or worse, just on roster construction? I mean, do you, I kind of feel like we're sort of in the middle, like we're kind of close based on who we brought in and at least the potential. I'm not saying we're going to be better, but I don't feel like we're going to be going from, you know, fifth in the big 10 or fourth, wherever we finish to, you know, 10th. I don't see that happening. I feel like we're okay. We're going to maintain where we were and hopefully get a little better with other guys taking steps.

Speaker 3449.42s - 467.08s

Yeah, that's a great question, man. I said it on the show yesterday. Maybe I was a little hyped up, but I said, I think this could be a five or six place finish in the Big Ten next year, which isn't that far off when you factor in the new teams coming in from where we were last year. I would say this, based on the three transfers coming in and the three guys you lost,I'm counting wall that there wasn't a transfer.

Speaker 2467.6s - 469.44s

I don't think we got better in that exchange.

Speaker 3469.62s - 529.56s

But we're going to talk about some of the younger guys on the roster coming up as well and why that's also part of this equation. Those young guys, those winters, the free tags, the blackwells, they don't stay static. So if you brought three guys in in the portal, that kind of equal out the three guys you potentially lost. I'm not saying that's true.I think that's very much TBD, but you're going to get gains in other areas. The roster doesn't stay static. But I do want to, before we get there, I do want to quickly ask you, and yeah, I think this is a good place to get into this, actually. I was going to go through the roster, but I feel like we are all viewing this through the bias that we all individuallyhave with Grey Guard ORG, right? I talk to people who are very down on Grey Guard, and that's a fair perspective, and they're kind of like, ah, these guys are not the replacements. You lost wall. You're not going to replace them with a guy from Northern Illinois ORG. But I feel like I'm much more optimistic, but I think that comes back to the fact that I've been more optimistic with Grey Guard ORG in general. I'm going to kick this one to you to start with. Are you viewing this through kind of your lens of Greyguard ORG and maybe a bias that we have there?

Speaker 2530.38s - 703.82s

Yeah, I mean, that's a really good way to look at it. And it's tough to have that discussion because obviously, you know me. I'm of the opinion that I think Greyguard ORG deserves another shot at this. I do think massive improvements need to be made. And one of the things we've talked about is roster construction, right? So how that's looked at what he's done and what he hasn't done over the years. And I think,you know, yeah, if you are off gray guard, right, like certainly our good friend Justin PERSON is certainly a guy who's off great guard. And, you know, he's looking at this differently. I think that it's fair to look at that from the perspective of that. And I think I am. I think I am biased because I want him to succeed because I still believe that he can. I don't necessarily believe the needs to go because for me, it's it's always based on requirements. Like I want him to stay, but he needs to do certain things in order for me to still believein him. And that's certainly, you know, production of the tournament, but it's also roster construction and making sure that you can compete in this age of NIL and recruitment and constant recruitment, one-year recruitment's all the time. So I do think that I'm looking at from that bias. And I think it's fair, but I think if you look at it just objectively, and you try to eliminate that and you just look at the perspective of, okay, like, these are the players that were lost, these are the players that are necessary.In years past, we've been very critical of the type of player that he lost. These are the players that are necessary. In years past, we've been very critical of the type of player that he brought in and the type of player that he didn't bring in. And now I feel like there has been an upgrade in the sense of like he's clearly targeting certain types of players, whether it's through data, whether it's through style of play, everything. And he recognizes that there has been an issue. When you look at the past, like, let's say five years,and you look at all those issues that he's had with scoring, right, like tons of scoring droughts. Clearly that was something that he fixed last year with AJ Store PERSON. And again, he's fixing it this year. So I feel like even if you try to look at it as objectively as you can, I find it hard to not be happy with what he's done.If I try to put myself in the shoes of someone like a Justin PERSON who at very fair point, very fair, you know, thought process of I don't really think he's the guy to take us to the next level. Even then, can you, I mean, even from that perspective, how can you, can you really blame him in the sense that it's not his fault Chuckie PERSON left for however much money he got. It's not his fault that AJ Store has gone one, he spent seven years going to seven different schools. Like he's,I feel like he's done what he can so far. Now there's a whole other side of him that's in game coaching and adjustments and that kind of stuff. But from a roster construction standpoint, not even recruiting, just transfer portal, looking at that itself, I think it's hard to really make a case that he's not doing what he needed to do in this offseason, even from the perspective of a guy that wants him gone. That's not my perspective, but even if you look at it from that lens, I feel like whatcan you really say? Like, he got the positions that were necessary. Was it what everybody wanted? Well, we don't really know what they wanted and what was what their board looked like. And maybe these guys were higher up than we ever thought.

Speaker 3705.12s - 795.04s

Yeah, I think that's really well said. I don't even have a lot to add onto that. I think ultimately you want to coach who his answers when things come up. And Greyguard had answers this offseason. Two of these guys are portal four-star guys, no matter how much stock you put into that or not,these are guys that other schools were after they had contact with other pretty big schools. I think he had answers. Right now, will those be the right answers? Well, the season's going to show you one way or the other, but he found some right answers in last year's portal. So ultimately, I don't have a lot to add on to what you said.I think we all have biases, and to ignore that is silly. And I realize that I'm probably being too optimistic because I'm my bias towards not thinking that it's time to go out from great guard. But objectively, to your point, I think he did really well with these three guys. And the offseason is not over yet.All right. We're going to take a quick break there, come back. We're going to go through the roster a little bit. Are we good in the back court? Are we good in the front court? Are we good at center?And talk a little bit about internal development of young guys as well. That's coming up next on Lockdown Badgers with Rajiv PERSON. But first, a quick break, four friends of the show over at Fandul ORG. Fandul remains the number one source for all your sports betting needs. I've talked about it a lot. This is the place I go to when I want to put some money.I bet with my heart. Rishina ORG go back and forth with this a little bit, but I bet with my heart, which means I often lose money. But there's no better way to do that than on Fandall ORG where it's simple, it's fast, it's easy, spreads, parley, futures, whatever your flavor is. Go over to fandle.com.Right now it is a great time to get started. New customers can get $200 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. That to fandul.com. Right now it is a great time to get started. New customers can get $200 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. That's fandle.com. The number one source for all your sports betting needs. Please do it responsibly,but Fandle ORG is the official sports book of the lockdown now.

Speaker 0795.24s - 834.98s

Hey, everydayers. Once you're caught up on your favorite college program, make sure you check out Locked-on College Football. Between the transfer portal and recruiting trail, there's no more off-season for college football, and every big move,five-star commitment, coaching change, and more is covered daily on the Locked-on College Football ORG podcast. Mark your calendar to check out Locked-on College Football ORG, which provides insight and opinions you won't find anywhere else. Locked-on College Football is available five days a week onthe Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. All right, let's bring Reggieve PERSON back in here.

Speaker 3836.08s - 839.1s

Receive, as always, man, where can people find what you got going on and what you got,

Speaker 2839.26s - 856.9s

you and Justin are doing? Yeah, so at the Bucky Report on Twitter, YouTube ORG, wherever you get your podcast, on that, Rajgeet Badgers on Twitter or X, whatever you kind of call it these days. But yeah, we appreciate it. We've had a lot of good support for the Bucky Report on Twitter, YouTube, wherever you get your podcast, on that, Reggie Badgers on Twitter or X, whatever you kind of call it these days. But yeah, we appreciate it. We've had a lot of good support for the Bucky Report. And you can always find us on here as well, especially during the mid-season, during in season. We're always going to be part of the reaction shows and all that stuff. So yeah, it's great.

Speaker 3857.6s - 865.52s

Let's get into rosters. We'll take turns on this. I'll let you start on the back court. So we're just lumped together, shooting guard, point guard. Do you feel like we're good in the back court now?

Speaker 2865.9s - 924.18s

I do. I do think we're good in the back court. And I think a lot of that has to do with Free Tag PRODUCT and the potential that he brings, no doubt. And we know how motivated he is to really succeed here. But, I mean, really, that was the more comfortable area leaving the year. And even when you lose a guy like Chucky PERSON, now, do I think that Hunter is going to be a great replacement for Chucky?Remates to be seen. I think we did lose a little bit there. But Free Tag and Hunter can kind of make up for that Chuckie PERSON loss. That's kind of the way I'm looking at it. But with Klesmint and obviously Blackwell PERSON has just continued to thrive and I feel like he's going to take big steps, you know, and McGee PERSON backing him up.So I feel like we've got a really good situation with the ones and twos right there. I'm not, I'm really comfortable with the fact that you've got guys like most likely Klesma and Hunter PERSON are probably starting. And then of course, free tag and how he'll come in there and McGee, Blackwell PERSON. I think you've got a really good group there. You've got offensive production. You've got good defenders in that group as well. So yeah, I think where we are in the back court, I'm very happy. I don't think we need anything else in that department.

Speaker 3924.84s - 981.98s

Yeah, I agree. I'm going to say court, I'm very happy. I don't think we need anything else in that department. Yeah, I agree. I'm going to say something a little probably unpopular. I am starting to think because of who Chucky PERSON was to the team, because of the heart, because of three years in Madison, because of the shot against Purdue ORG, because of a Bucky PERSON tattoo. I'm starting to think the on-court impact is maybe very slightly getting overrated a little bit.This is not, I like Chuckie PERSON a lot. They know mistake. This is still a player who struggled pretty mightily defensively, had major scoring issues at times. He's a very good old school point guard. This is not a first team like all conference player were replacing. And I just, I feel like the mythos has grown a little bit.Like, oh, you lost Chuckie. Howard. There were issues lost Chuckie Howard PERSON. There were issues with Chuck Elesser PERSON. We talked about it on the show. This is not hyperbole. He's a loss.I think they went and found a 6-3 guard who averaged 16 points per game at a lower level. Completely fair. I don't know if it says, I think we're fine in the back court, I guess is my roundabout way of agreeing with you.

Speaker 2982.62s - 1044.3s

Yeah, I think, I mean, I see your point there, and I think that it's fair and that I mean, you're obviously right. You can look back and think that the aura of Chuckie PERSON was bigger than maybe, you know, it was or we think it is. But I think that the lower level thing is a really big key to that. Chuckie has been effective at the Big Ten ORG level.He's been able to guard some of the best other guards. He's been able to really turn on the defensive jets late in games to create big steals, to make big shots. And, you know, Hunter PERSON's film looks really good.And I like that, but doing it that level is different. You know, one thing I worry about with Hunter PERSON is turnovers. Like, he's a little bit loose with a handle.And I feel like that's something that Chuckie PERSON, I think, was really good at. So it's really hard to project and what it would automatically turns to when you're at a central Arkansas versus coming to Madison GPE and playing against a new big 10 with new look teams, right?Like Oregon ORG's coming in. They're really good. UCLA ORG's always a good program. So I think I see your point, but I still think like it's a net loss in that department for me still. I definitely wouldn't think of it as even a net even.Yeah.

Speaker 31044.44s - 1049.64s

That's fair. Listen, Chuck, Chucky PERSON did a lot of little things on the court too and he was you know durability

Speaker 21049.64s - 1075.56s

was also a factor he played a lot of basketball like this is not me trying to knock chucky i just yeah it's a very good point uh let's go forward so the three and the four i'll start this off i i find these positions a tiny bit wanting i and my biggest concern here is Tanji is 6-5-66. I think Amos is about 210. Walwell, Lester played 220, 225. We got pushed around a little bit last year.

Speaker 31075.56s - 1092.16s

I feel like there's a chance against bigger front courts in the Big Ten. I wish we had another guy who's a little bigger, a little thicker we could throw out there to add into the rotation. Because I don't think Yolvers PERSON that guy. So I'm okay with it. I wish we had another guy who's a little bigger, a little thicker we could throw out there to add into the rotation. Because I don't think you're overset guy. So I'm okay with it. I wish we had another body here. I agree with you completely.

Speaker 21092.38s - 1192.54s

I am okay with it because we got Amos PERSON, and I think that provides a little rim protection. Although you're right, he's 6-8. He's only 6-8. I wish he was a little bit taller. And that can be an issue with, and we saw last year, how many big front courts did we face up against that just flat dominated, right? And our fives didn't change much. So I feel like I'm really moreconcerned with the three really concerns me. And whether Blackwell PERSON can kind of slide over and play a little bit to like Tanji PERSON, we'll see, right? We'll see. It's hard to see. And he played Colorado State's ORG a decent size school and his film looks good. I'm a little concerned defensively at the three. And we had an issue last year with store there. I mean, Wall PERSON is an undervalue guy. He is great.And even now, I'm here I'm talking about Amos PERSON' athleticism and how great that is. But Wall PERSON did so much. His creativity around the rim, he was very dependable, very dependable scorer. He got tons of rebounds. Like, I think we are going to miss a little bit of there of some of those hustle plays. We're going to increase athleticism and increase scoring ability, but we're losing that hustle.And some of those key plays around the basket, some of those things that don't even show up on the stat sheet, just that those hustle plays that Wall PERSON really did. And in the game sort of intellect and knowledge that Wall PERSON brought. I'm not saying these guys don't have it. I just don't know because we haven't seen them. But Wall PERSON really had that. And I think he's one of my favorite players that we've had.I really love him. And I think that we are going to lose something there. Am I okay with the forward position? Yes. Do I wish like you that we had? I would, for me, it would be another like another three kind of maybe like a littlecombo forward, someone who can really be a little versatile. Yeah, I do wish we had that. And maybe we do bring in another one, but I'm okay with where we are. I don't feel nearly as comfortable about

Speaker 31192.54s - 1204.98s

the forwards as I do about the guards. Yeah, same right there with you. Let's move over to center. I'll let you take that one. Really nothing's changed, but do you think maybe your development with the winter, Crowell? Yeah, look, you know how I feel about Nolan Winter PERSON. I think he's going to be

Speaker 21204.98s - 1273.78s

great and I think he does need to develop. I just don't really think you're going to get a bunch of size increase from Crowell PERSON. I think winter is really where the gains have to come. We know who Crowell PERSON is now, and he's going to be effective, and hopefully he's going to continue to get a little better. But winter is really, it's relying on a step from winter, which I expect to be there.But we talked a lot about rim protection. And while Amos gives something, it's not on a step from winter, which I expect to be there. But we talked a lot about rim protection. And while Amos PERSON gives something, it's not really what I was hoping for. I wanted like an Omar Balo PERSON kind of a guy or someone that's like, you know, one of these like, yeah, 611, 7 foot guys who are just beefy who are just going to do everything to control that paint. And we don't really have that.I'm fine with it because I hope winter takes a step. But it is a concern. Coming into this offseason, you and I both are like, look, we need five. We need more fives. Clearly, Greg Gard is good with those two.And I mean, look, I think that Crowell PERSON is better than people think he is. You and I kind of agree on this. But defensively is where the issue becomes with the five. And so, again, am I okay with it? Yes. Do I wish we would have got an Omar Bolo PERSON type of guy?Absolutely. If Winter PERSON takes the step that I'm hoping, physically and mentally, that I think we could be really good.

Speaker 31274.48s - 1286.14s

Yeah, I think this is one of the spots that you can look at and say, I think this is pretty easily going to be better next year. Because I also think Winter PERSON's going to grow up, just quite a pretty. Not from the off-court maturity, just physically, like, grow up.

Speaker 21287.04s - 1290.88s

And you looked at what he did last year, free throw rate, very similar to Crowell PERSON.

Speaker 31291.1s - 1349.44s

Like, stuff like that shows that he was battling, but he just physically wasn't quite ready. I think if he takes that step that a lot of us expect him to very highly regarded prep prospects, then there is your backup five. And he's also a guy who can slide over to play some four in certain matchups he's instrumental but you look at what we had last year at kraal PERSON and then a freshman no one winter backing up now you're going to have kraal and a sophomore no one winter vacuum i think that's going to be a huge difference i think not everybody takes big jumps right you and iwere talking about this offline some players just kind of plateau like a brand david gets here he's kind of who he is and that's who he is for four years. Winter PERSON is the other side of that coin. He's the guy who physically is going to add 20 pounds and potentially take a big jump. And if that's the case, man, I think you're more than fine with Crowell and Winter PERSON backing him up. I really think you're totally good there. It's dependent on Winter PERSON taking a step, and it's dependent on it.You believe he will do that or not. I tend to believe he will. I know you probably do as well. Others are more pessimistic there, but I think you're fine at the five because i think winter's going to take

Speaker 21349.44s - 1359.28s

that step i will say this like how much better would we feel right now if gus PERSON was still on the roster just because of like that potential five that he was going to be and the potential just like

Speaker 01359.28s - 1363.28s

post presence but actually that's one thing i want to talk about with the forwards a little bit too

Speaker 31363.28s - 1365.78s

sorry backing tracking a little bit is post play you know like that's one thing I want to talk about with the forwards a little bit too. I'm sorry, backing, tracking a little bit, is post play.

Speaker 01366.38s - 1397.92s

You know, like, that's one thing that I didn't really see much of anything. And maybe you have on Amos PERSON's film. I didn't really see much post presence there. I mean, he's a shooter, but I mean, as far as the ability to score in the post, we've really got, we've got Crowell PERSON who can do it, and he has issues with it here and there. He's not tough enough sometimes.I'm a little worried about that. I don't look at this roster, and Wall PERSON was that guy who could score in the post. I don't know where we are with post scoring. I think sometimes you need that, especially the ball's not going in.You need to be able to have that threat down there. That's something that I meant to mention with the forwards that does concern me a little bit.

Speaker 31398.42s - 1407.7s

Yeah, so that's not going to be Amos PERSON' game. He's more of a stretched athletic guy watching some of the film on him. That's not where he's going to excel. I will say this. That is a spot hunter statistically plays pretty well at. He's a of a stretched athletic guy watching some of the film on him. That's not where he's going to excel. I will say this, that is a spot hunter statistically plays pretty well at.

Speaker 21408.92s - 1409.7s

He's a pretty good guard.

Speaker 31412.7s - 1447.48s

We know, I mean, we're not running the friggin' swing guys, but we do know Greg Gard PERSON does like to post a physical guard. That's a spot hunter could excel in. Statistically, he's in the upper 80, 70 to 80 percentile in post play as a guard. So he's somebody who's going to get mismatches down there. Conjay at 6-5, 6, 6, but really thick. He also has pretty good analytics in the post.So you might see a situation where you're really spacing with Amos, Winter PERSON, kraal, and posting with Tanjay and Hunter PERSON. And I think you can see some of that. I think Blackwell PERSON's a guy who's going to succeed down there as well. So I think we can get post touches. It just might be more of in our old school, like inverting the offense, posting the guards and spacing with the bigs.

Speaker 21447.96s - 1448.74s

It's a good point, though.

Speaker 31449.06s - 1506.12s

We're going to take a quick break here. I want to come back and talk about some internal development, finish off with the discussion with that. And I think it's one of the elements that we don't talk about a lot. We talked about. We lost these guys. We brought these guys in.But you're also bringing in free tag. You're expecting jumps from Blackwell and winter. I think that's an important component to this team. That's coming up next on lockdown Badger's with Rashid PERSON, but first a quick break for our friends over at Monopoly Go PRODUCT. So we all been there.We've all played the timeless game. We've all lost money because of some silly role. You end up on Park Place FAC or luxury tax. And then you cheer when you pass go. You get that bank money. Well, Monopoly Go PRODUCT is the mobile twist, the new twist on the classic beloved board game.Play against your friends, build up against the leaderboards. Community chest, it's all there, but you can play across a bunch of different boards. You can wreck their vaults. It is incredibly fun. It's addictive. It's awesome.And there's a reason over 150 million people have downloaded Monopoly Go PRODUCT. Download Monopoly Go for free at the app store on Google Play ORG. Embrace your competitive side with Monopoly PRODUCT.

Speaker 01506.12s - 1544.32s

Hey, everydayers. Once you're caught up on your favorite college program, make sure you check out Locked-on College Football. Between the transfer portal and recruiting trail, there's no more off-season for college football, and every big move, five-star commitment,coaching change, and more is covered daily on the Locked-on College Football podcast. Mark your calendar to check out locked-on college football, which provides insight and opinions you won't find anywhere else.Locked-on college football is available five days a week on the Locked-on Podcast Network ORG, your team every day. Top league go.

Speaker 31544.74s - 1561.18s

All right, let's get Rajiv PERSON in here. Which of these three players do you think are going to have the biggest impact next year on the team? Daniel Freetag PERSON, or no, let me rephrase that. Which of these three do you think are going to have the biggest jump? Daniel Freedig from high school to college, Blackwell, or Nolan Winter PERSON from freshman to sophomore?

Speaker 21561.38s - 1563.6s

Ooh, that's a really good question.

Speaker 31564.68s - 1565.4s

Oh, man.

Speaker 21565.52s - 1609.92s

Well, I'm going to go with Blackwell just because of what he saw, what he did last year. And I feel like he had so much confidence. And that's everything in sports and how he played and how aggressive he played. I do. Oh, that's tough. I almost want to say Winter PERSON just because he has the most upside, I think, to gain.And Blackwell developed so much as freshman year. But I think Blackwell PERSON is really going to take a step of leadership and more aggressiveness, better defensively, and also just more legs. Like, he's, you know, playing a full college season, as we saw with Conner PERSON's first year, can take a lot out of you. And I think you saw that a little bit with Blackwell PERSON at the end. So obviously just that conditioning and being able to play a full year, I think we will get that step from him because he just seems like a guy that has that like star potential, like real true star potential.So I'm going to say Blackwell, but I expect a big jump from winter as well.

Speaker 31610.32s - 1621.76s

I'm going to flip it to winter. I almost wonder if Blackwell has a little bit of the Brad Davidson PERSON disease where he kind of came in physically ready, mature, and it kind of is who he is to some degree. I think there's a step there. Make no mistake.

Speaker 21621.76s - 1624.74s

I definitely think there's a step there with his ball handling.

Speaker 31625.38s - 1638.58s

He needs to get a little more consistent, a little tighter with it. It was kind of catch and shoot if it's not their drive. And if it's not there, he was kind of stuck. So I think there's development there. But physically he doesn't have the upside, I think, that a winter has.

Speaker 01638.88s - 1645.54s

So I'm going to say winter, but that does tie into the next point is you brought in these three transfers.

Speaker 31645.7s - 1660.24s

But I think a big part of this team next year is the growth of those or the growth or the incoming arrival of those three players. And if that's the case, I don't know if you need to one for one replace the transfer guys with new transfer guys, if that makes sense.

Speaker 21660.24s - 1764.5s

Yeah, totally. I mean, the big sort of unknown factor here is how good Free Tag PRODUCT really will be. Like, we certainly have our expectations about that. But we also had expectations last year. You know, Blackwell PERSON exceeded those expectations. If Free Tag exceeds the expectations that we have Blackwell PERSON, think about that.Think about how great that could be. And everything that we've seen from him on film, like Free Tag PRODUCT looks like he's going to be the guy. So yeah, I think that's a real huge part of it. It's what are those guys going to do? And there's other guys that can take leaps too. I mean, there's nothing to say that Stephen Crowell PERSON is not going tobeef up a little bit and make a jump, even though he's probably where he's at. And a lot of these bench guys that, you know, like let's take a Marcus Silver PERSON, for example. And there were times where we wanted him to play, certainly more backing up. But, you know, he's a guy that we know has those raw tools that we thought really could develop. And who's to say that he doesn't come in and say, you know what? This is going to be my year to take a big league. We've seen over the years guys that come out of nowhere and just surprise us and take over and it have huge jumps. And I feel like you could have some bench guys too. So while we're talking about, you know, winter and free tag and Blackwell PERSON,I think you also have guys like Ilver PERSON that can really make a jump and make a play at getting those minutes. I mean, there's going to be backup four minutes, whether it's Carter Gilmore PERSON, whether it's over. Someone's one of those guys is going to take them. And I would like to see personally,Ilver PERSON, to really take a jump and get more physical and be able to do, be a little more versatile on the court. So yeah, I think there's always jumps with people and it's really going to be who can have the biggest one, who can spend the most time in the off season. Listen, Nolan Wunter PERSON, go work with Brady Collins PERSON, please go find that guy and get that size because he needs it. But yeah, I think there's a lot to be gained with the guys currently on the roster. Then you add in this new set of

Speaker 31764.5s - 1770.48s

players and it's like a whole new team, really. I mean, it's like everything's going to look so different than it did last year. It's kind of exciting, right?

Speaker 21770.86s - 1804.46s

Yeah, always. And this is when you have hope, right? Like, this is me, believe it through G, right? It's like, I got hope now because I've got a one to three and a four. Okay, hey, we could do anything next year. All I want to see is progress.I've said that every year. Let me see progress. Let's see development. Let's see like small gains that turn into future growth of the program. And that's a little iffy right now and you look at the basketball program. You look at football and we're talking constantly about growth. Basketball needs that year where we see some real progress to be able to believethat there is sort of a light at the end of the tunnel. Yeah. A couple things I want to just finish on

Speaker 31804.46s - 1828.1s

quick and I've heard it kept for almost 30 minutes. I don't think this was a home runoff season. I think people are going to listen to the show and think that I'm saying, you know, like Gravegard PERSON knocked this incredibly out of the park. I think I would have preferred a little more beef in the interior. Cameron Hunter PERSON has injury concerns.He missed Lester with a broken foot. So I don't think this is on, but I think it's like a B. I think it's like a B off season so far, and it's not, it's still not done.

Speaker 21828.52s - 1830.18s

Yeah, yeah, I think that's a really good point.

Speaker 11830.18s - 1835.64s

It's, he did what was required of him, you know, hitting a home run is, is exceeding our

Speaker 21835.64s - 1886.26s

expectations. He did not exceed my expectations in the office season. And he did what was needed based on who he lost. I mean, we lost seven players. We got in three, okay. You know, we replaced the production. We did replace points. We talked a lot about point production that was lost. I mean, we lost seven players. We got in three. Okay. You know, we replaced theproduction. We did replace points. We talked a lot about point production that was lost. He did that. I agree. Not a home run. I would say B, B minus as well. I mean, in that area, it's hard to really great without seeing the guys play and how they're going to fold in. But yeah, he just, he did the minimum. He did what he was required to do. And he can, he's now constructed a roster that I feel like, okay, if we go into next season with these guys on our team, we'll see what happens. Maybe we're a fifth or sixth place team. Maybe we're a sixth seat in the tournament.Maybe we have to make it, obviously. We have to be a tournament team for him to keep his job, in my opinion. And I think that based on what I've seen him construct, I don't see any reason to think that we're not going to be a tournament team.

Speaker 31886.26s - 1951.16s

I would be shocked if we're not a tournament team. Yeah, I think we're a tournament team too. I do want to point out we lost between the big three that left, the two portal guys and the graduation, we lost roughly 37 points in production last year. The three big transfers we brought in,scored about 45 points left their last full year. Again, different levels, it's not. Totally. But there are points coming in to replace the points going out. The last point I want to make in the energy, I'll kick it to you if you have anything you want to talk about.I feel like as fans, we got to be quick, maybe a little quicker to move on in the portal era. Like we crush coaches for not adapting, not being quicker. You got to adjust. People are still holding on, I think, to have her and lot left. And Gus didn't work out.And yeah, that sucks. You're not going to, I still have my Gus bus hoodie. I put that in the garage. So in three years when he enters the portal again and transfers back to Madison GPE and leads it on the final four, I'm going to break it back out, baby. Like that sucks.It stinks. But you got to kind of move on. Like as a fan, in my opinion. And I feel like fans are still so into the he was loyal to us and he left and it stinks. That's every program now. I mean, Illinois ORG just lost left and it stinks. That's every program now. I mean, Illinois ORG just lost a bunch of guys. That's every program now. It's a whole different

Speaker 21951.16s - 1958.3s

world, man. It's a whole different world. We talked about, you know, like Tanji PERSON and his, his commitment to New Mexico GPE, right? Was it New Mexico? Is that what it was?

Speaker 31958.9s - 1962.94s

New Mexico State, I forget. Yeah, one of them. Right. But like, that's just where we are.

Speaker 21963.06s - 1967.36s

It's the total new age of NIL and college athletics and the whole one year thing.

Speaker 31967.4s - 1968.12s

It's going to change.

Speaker 21968.22s - 2045.62s

There has to be a point at which you have contracts, you have commitments. They have to be maintained and these kinds of things. So it will change. But for now, yeah,you're really looking at everything on a one year basis. And based on who you lose, you got to fill in the gaps of what you have to create a roster, which is unfortunate. And I really was like, I was really, I was, it stung me a lot when Chuckie PERSON left. But then, you know, of course, everyone turns their attention to guards.Like, what did you do wrong? And it's like, well, look, I mean, we don't have an unlimited supply of NIL ORG money. And we don't know what that looks like. We don't know the back workings of it and how it all comes in and all this stuff. It's hard. And all he can do is work with what he's given and put a team on thefloor that's going to be effective. And I hope he's done that. I think he has for the most part. But yeah, I mean, it's like this is a whole new Wild West LOC. And I think your point about you got to just kind of get past it. I think that's really fair because it's, you've got to go year to year, right? You can't be too attached to any of these guys. Because I mean, I mean, who knows? Free tag might leave next year too I mean we don't want that to happen but it's like that's just what we're it's the world we livein now and it's all about like since it happens to everyone we can take advantage to that because all those players that left us there's 300 others that enter the poor that we can try to go get it so all we can do is just play that game and do it to the best of our ability and fill the needs that are required which he's pretty much done.

Speaker 32047.3s - 2056.12s

Yeah, it is well said from Rajiv PERSON as always. At Rajiv Badgers ORG, go follow him, go follow justice well down on the show. But definitely, I still need to get him on to talk basketball, but I think he's still in the basketball hiatus.

Speaker 22058.94s - 2059.62s

He's talking a little bit more about it, but yeah, he's still pretty mad.

Speaker 32060.82s - 2066.48s

Anyway, we're going to wrap it up there. I'm Ryan Arias PERSON. He's Rajiv, Jabra. As always, on Wisconsin, thank you so, so much for tuning in, Rijiv PERSON. Any last

Speaker 22066.48s - 2083.14s

words? No, no. Listen, we are, spring practice is almost over. We got a lot to talk about there. I'm just so ready for football. This was a basketball show. Yay, basketball. But, man, there's so much to be excited about with this offense. And I'm sure we're going to have a lot of time to talk about it over the summer.

Speaker 32083.66s - 2085.92s

Yes, sir. On Wisconsin, and we'll talk tomorrow.

Speaker 02087.94s - 2096.28s

A Prime members, you can listen to this locked on podcast ad free on Amazon Music ORG. Download the Amazon Music app today.