Wisconsin's Free-Throw Emphasis, Lineup Combinations, More
The Badgers take the court for an exhibition on Wednesday night against UW-Steven’s Point.
MADISON, Wis. – With the Badgers season-opening exhibition against UW-Stevens Point on the horizon, Greg Gard met with the media to discuss the Wisconsin basketball team’s preparations for the upcoming season.
One area that Coach Gard made it abundantly clear the Badgers are determined to improve this season will be at the charity stripe. In fact, he envisions it being a vital component of their game this season.
“Getting there is probably priority No. 1,” Gard emphasized, and it’s a goal that holds great importance.
Last season, Wisconsin basketball finished 13th in the Big Ten in free-throw attempts in league games. The Badgers attempted only 261 free throws in conference play (13.1 per game) and 501 in total (14.3 per game). Gard’s target for this season is 25 attempts per game — something he noted happened in the secret scrimmage vs. Northern Iowa.
Gard elaborated on achieving this goal, saying, “There’s different ways to do that. It’s not just throwing it inside. It’s driving it and playing more aggressively in transition. Getting there is priority No. 1, and then we’ve got to finish the deal.”
In theory, Wisconsin should be a decent free-throw shooting team. However, they ranked 12th in the Big Ten for free-throw percentage in Big Ten play (64.8%) and 11th in all games (69.1%). Only time will tell if the Badgers can take this weakness and turn it into a strength.
UW Still Exploring Lineup Combinations
With the season fast approaching, Greg Gard is still assessing various lineup combinations and evaluating the Wisconsin basketball program’s overall depth.