In his second season as head coach of the Badger men's basketball team, Bo Ryan is seeing things reversed compared to last year's start. Many fans and pundits feared a long and grueling season after a sluggish start a year ago. Then the Badgers decided to play beyond expectations and won a share of the Big Ten title. So what does that bode for this year's team, off to a 5-1 nonconference start? Absolutely nothing--which is a good thing.
\You can't look that far ahead; there is nothing to gain from it,"" senior guard Kirk Penney said. ""All we are doing is focusing on New Hampshire, on one game at a time.""
""If later on in the season we can look back and say, 'All right, we did a good job,' great, but for right now, it's still early. We need to just keep working on ourselves and improving and focusing on one game at a time,"" Penney said.
It would be tempting for the Badgers to look past the feisty Wildcats from New Hampshire Dec. 11. New Hampshire (1-5), probably is not as talented or as balanced as either of the Badgers' previous opponents, Wake Forest and UNLV, but the Cats still have pride and a lot of season left.
""They aren't any different from any other team that comes in and plays. They are going to come in and play really hard,"" sophomore forward Mike Wilkinson said. ""They have something to prove coming in to a big arena like this and showing a team like us what they got.""
""We just have to come out and play our game. That's what we are trying to do now. That's what we've been trying to do every game we have played so far. If we play our game on both ends of the floor we are tough to beat,"" Wilkinson said.
New Hampshire is three-guard perimeter team that could give the Badgers problems if they get hot from outside. But with freshman forward Alando Tucker in the line-up, the Badgers employ their own three-guard offense that should match up quite well with the Cats.
""They look like they have some shooters and guys who can break off the ball, but we just have to continue to work hard and continue go at it,"" sophomore guard Devin Harris said.
""We've been getting the ball in the post a lot. It's created a lot of easy shots for the outside guys as well as the inside guys. If we continue to do that we are tough to guard that way,"" Harris said.
If the Badgers continue their current level of play versus New Hampshire, it should catapult them right into their first big game of the year--a Dec. 14 matchup at No. 16 Marquette. Despite this, Penney and the Badgers refuse to take New Hampshire or any team lightly
""We're not taking anyone for granted. We know we are playing a Division I team,"" Penney said. ""They have some capable players on their squad. We are approaching this game like we've approached every single game this year. We are getting ourselves ready to battle and New Hampshire is going to be no exception.""
With Marquette on the slate, as well as numerous other tough nonconference dates, the Badgers have a lot of games left. [Twenty-two to be exact, including the always-rough-and-tumble Big Ten, which proved via the Badgers last year that it could be any team's conference.]
The Badgers open the Big Ten schedule Jan 8. at Michigan, which, despite the Wolverine's turmoil, is always a tough place to play. The young Badgers also must face a tested Illinois team on the road Jan. 11 as well as talented Minnesota team at home Jan. 15.
""We have to stay mentally focused. If we come out and lose one game, unfortunately, then we have to come out and get ready for the next game,"" Harris said. ""The main thing is we just have to take care of the ball, not [have] too many turnovers, rebound and we should be fine.""
In order to be successful, the Badgers cannot look ahead to the big games. They must stay focused on one game at a time.
