Wisconsin Badgers 2014-15 team preview

In July forward Frank Kaminsky wrote a post on his personal blog headlined, If the Badgers Were a Baseball Team . . . (With Player Comparisons). Although he anointed himself the pitcher -- with a comparison to fireballer Randy Johnson -- Kaminsky reserved the most lavish praise for his shortstop, calling fourth-year starter Josh Gasser Wisconsin’s version of Derek Jeter. “Josh is our glue guy and our captain,” Kaminsky says. “He doesn’t do anything that’s flashy or exceptional, he just does everything well.”

The 6-foot-4 Gasser attempted just 5.1 shots per game last season and is not athletically imposing; he played in a bulky left-knee brace after sitting out 2012–13 with a torn left ACL. But as sophomore forward Nigel Hayes says, “Josh takes on the load of guarding the best player, and when we’re on offense, he always makes the right play.” Gasser was named to the Big Ten all-defensive team in ’13–14 and was Wisconsin’s most efficient scorer, making 43.1 percent of his threes while committing just 0.8 turnovers per game. While Kaminsky is the preseason Wooden Award favorite and wing Sam Dekker is a projected first-round NBA draft pick, Gasser is so valuable for his crucial stops and timely shots that his teammates gave him a simple, Jeterian nickname: Clutch Josh.

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Projected top seven scorers

name	pos	class	ppg	rpg	apg	o-rating
Frank Kaminsky	4	Sr	15.0	6.5	1.8	125.9
Sam Dekker	4	Jr	13.8	6.0	1.7	125.3
Nigel Hayes	4	So	10.8	4.5	1.2	109.0
Traevon Jackson	1	Sr	10.7	3.4	3.9	107.8
Josh Gasser	2	Sr	8.8	3.9	2.0	130.8
Bronson Koenig	1	So	6.1	2.3	2.0	119.1
Duje Dukan	4	Sr	2.8	1.8	0.4	110.9

Projected Big Ten standings

rank	team	projected conf. record	2013-14 conf. record
1	Wisconsin	15-3
2	Ohio State	12-6
3	Iowa	11-7
4	Michigan State	10-8
5	Michigan	10-8
6	Maryland	10-8
7	Nebraska	9-9
8	Illinois	9-9
9	Minnesota	9-9
10	Indiana	8-10
11	Penn State	7-11
12	Purdue	6-12
13	Northwestern	6-12
14	Rutgers	4-14