Musings from the Wisconsin men's basketball Red-White scrimmage

The Wisconsin Badgers basketball team held their annual red-white scrimmage on Sunday; here are a few of my musings from the game.

Greg Gard and the Wisconsin men's basketball team don’t officially tip off their season until Nov. 4 against Holy Cross, but Badgers fans got their first glimpse at the new-look roster at the annual red-white scrimmage.

The red team, which featured John Blackwell, Steven Crowl, Xavier Amos, Kamari McGee, Jack Janicki, Markus Ilver, and Aidan Konop, overpowered the white squad 64-43 in a game that was never all that close.

Blackwell led the way with 13 points, four assists, and three rebounds on 6-of-13 shooting from the field. Crowl chipped in 10 points, seven rebounds, and dished out three assists of his own, while McGee scored 11 points.

Here's what stood out during the Badgers intra-squad scrimmage.

Kamari McGee is leading the point guard competition.

Coach Gard mentioned earlier in the week that "McGee has consistently separated himself," and at this point, it looks like the Racine native is the odds-on favorite to begin the season at the starting five on opening night.

On Sunday, McGee scored 11 points, had four rebounds, two assists, and a steal in 32 minutes without turning the ball over. I thought that McGee played with a good pace, took advantage of opportunities to penetrate and get to the rim when they presented themself, and, most importantly, at least in the eyes of coach Gard, made sure the ball touched the post.

It will likely be a bit of a point guard-by-committee approach this season, with Central Arkansas transfer Camren Hunter and true freshman Daniel Freitag also expected to mix in and be change-of-pace backs, if you will.

Freitag finished with nine points, three rebounds, and an assist on 4-of-7 shooting — while Hunter scored four points and had five rebounds.

All three point guards had their moments, and I wouldn't be shocked to see things remain fluid throughout the year, but McGee appears to be the top option to run the show.

Steven Crowl's backup is still a question mark, but there are options

Coach Gard has been clamoring for Crowl to get more touches for some time now, and on Sunday, it was easy to see why. No, he wasn't playing against any All-Big Ten caliber centers, but Crowl made the game look easy. 

The Minnesota native finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, and three assists. He showed some nice moves in the low post, and his court vision and passing ability continue to be an underrated part of his game.

Nobody on this team can guard Crowl in the spirit of being fair, which is probably why the points in the paint discrepancy between the two teams was so uneven (36 to 12). In short, I'm not worried about Crowl.

How they fill the center minutes behind him is somewhat unclear right now. It's looking like Nolan Winter could be starting next to Crowl, which means that Winter and Xavier Amos will likely have to combine in some capacity to fill those minutes. That said, the Badgers want true freshman Riccardo Greppi to be an option at the five.

Greppi is ready from a physical standpoint — and looks the part. The 6-foot-10, 225-pound forward had a couple of moments that stood out during the game, particularly as a passer — which Greppi told AllBadgers at local media day was the part of his game that set him apart. He finished the game with two points, two rebounds, three assists, and a pair of blocks. In the short time since local media day to now, Greppi appears to have improved his conditioning and might be a legitimate candidate to give Wisconsin basketball some frontcourt minutes when called upon.

Who fills the frontcourt minutes behind Crowl isn't cut and dry and will be matchup-dependent, but it feels like there are far more options to fill that void when Crowl needs a breather than Wisconsin has had in the past.

John Blackwell is the Wisconsin Badgers’ best player.

Coming off a season in which Blackwell earned Big Ten All-Freshman honors, it's clear that he's going to be this team's go-to player. Blackwell has a quiet confidence about him, which only shows itself when you start to believe that you're the best player on the team.

The Michigan native's versatility allowed him to penetrate any time he wanted to, and it's obvious he knows exactly how to get to his spots on the floor. Blackwell is lethal from beyond the arc but looks comfortable being more assertive. If this version of Blackwell translates to the regular season, I think Wisconsin will still be a balanced offensive team, but he will be the player this team depends on.

If I had to go out on a limb, Blackwell looks like someone who could score 14+ points a night without batting an eyelash. As cliche as it is, the game has slowed down for him, and his confidence is sky-high — which is a lethal combination that the Badgers need to materialize into production. 

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