Oh @ballislife — who knew you’d start a firestorm of copycats with your $15 all-time NBA roster challenge.
https://twitter.com/Ballislife/status/472120199240777728
Well, the folks in the communications department at UW decided to throw out the gauntlet to us as well.
You've seen the NBA version, now pick your all-time #Badgers line-up.
You have $15… go: pic.twitter.com/sKGvEp7Juf— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) May 29, 2014
OK, so naturally you suckered us in here at MTB. Who would be my starting five? Well, for me the goal is to find the right chemistry and mix between all out offense and all out defense. As we saw this year, you can win games with offense, but it’s the defense that wins championships.
So, enough delay, let’s dive right in to my choices then.
PG – Mike Kelley ($1)
Sure, there are more flashy names, but for just $1 Kelley is an absolute steal. He’s hard-nosed, a very tough defender and a great distributor of the ball. It’s exactly what you want in your point guard if you’re Wisconsin. Oh, and an added bonus — the guy never turns the ball over. No seriously, in 128 career games Kelley turned the ball over 136 times (an average of 1.06 turnovers per game for his career). Additionally, Kelley’s 2.57 assist to turnover ratio is second all-time at Wisconsin.
I don’t care that he wasn’t a flashy scorer or never set the world on fire from behind the arc, give me the shutdown defender and a guy who takes care of the ball as my point guard any day of the week — especially with the options available to score throughout the rest of the roster.
SG – Wes Matthews ($3)
With $14 dollars to go, this was an easy of choice. How could you not go old school with this one and take Wes Matthews. His career scoring average of 18.1 points per game is still third best in school history and Matthews was the MVP of the 1978-79 team that stuck out as a sore thumb in a pattern of losing basketball. While the team was just 12-15, it was the best team Wisconsin had put together for five years.
Matthews was such a smooth player, and from talking to those who were alive when Matthews donned the Cardinal and White (I was just a few short years away from birth when he left) he was the best they’d seen in a UW uniform until…
SF – Michael Finley ($5)
One look at this list and there is no way you can pass up the man I consider the best basketball player in Wisconsin basketball history. Finley is one of just two players over the 2,000-point mark and holds the record for most points in Big Ten play (1,385). He is second in scoring average (18.7ppg) and while some could argue Alando Tucker, let’s remember the era that Finley played at Wisconsin. He was Wisconsin for the most part of his career.
Add him to the mix with Wes Matthews and you’ve got a dynamic combination of players who can mix it up on the wing and create their own shots. Finley’s ability around the rim, combined with Kelley’s ability to distribute would be fun as hell to watch.
PF – Jon Leuer ($2)
While Alando Tucker is a great playmaker and one of the top three players in Badger history, Leuer fits in better with what the other three guys bring to the table. Leuer is a more junkyard type player, and his skills around the basket are a perfect complement to the games of Matthews and Finley. Additionally, he can allow them to work in space by stepping out to hit the occasional three-pointer.
People forget that Leuer shot 48 percent from the field for his career, which puts him just outside the top 10 all-time at Wisconsin, and is ninth all-time in career field goals (518). However, on this squad he doesn’t have to be the focal point of the offense, like he was at UW. It’s scary to think of the offense inverting with Finley down low and Leuer outside and Matthews on the other wing.
C – Mike Wilkinson ($4)
Sure, we hit the maximum on this list with the selection of Wilkinson, but the reality is that he’s also the best fit for way this team is built. While Leuer steps out and hits shots from deep and has some nice play in the post, Wilkinson was completely old-school big man. He averaged 6.6 rebounds per game, but was third all-time in rebounds (856) and second in offensive rebounds (311).
Let’s not forget he wasn’t a slouch in the scoring department, averaging over 10 points per game in three of his four years in a Badger uniform. He also shot a respectable 47.4 percent from the field. So, should anyone have an off night, Wilkinson is capable of picking up the slack.
All together, this team has the grit; the athleticism and the compatibility to be the best mix you can get for $15.
After going through this exercise, we can tell you that this isn’t as easy as it looks. There are so many interesting combinations of players, but we feel this would be the best “team” that you could put together for that amount of money available.
If money wasn’t a concern, well we’d give you Devin Harris (PG), Wes Matthews (SG), Michael Finley (SF), Claude Gregory (PF) and Rashard Griffith (C).
What would you do with your $15 and who would be on your roster? Leave them below in our comments or give us a follow on Twitter @MTBadgers and respond there.
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