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As Louis referenced in this morning's Badger Bits, Wisconsin sophomore forward Frank Kaminsky has been cleared for non-contact practices. Kaminsky's missed the last 3 ½ games after being poked in the left eye vs. Indiana, and now he'll be a game-time decision for Tuesday's tilt vs. No. 11 Ohio State.
Nice to have Frank Kaminsky back at practice today for limited reps... Will be a gametime decision for tomorrow. #Badgers
— Patrick Herb (@BadgerMBB) January 29, 2013
That's progress, obviously. So is this picture below, of Kaminsky showing off his new protective specs:
Bigger news might be the new shades @fskpart3 is sporting. #BlueSteel twitter.com/BadgerMBB/stat…
— Patrick Herb (@BadgerMBB) January 29, 2013
Fantastic. Naturally, head coach Bo Ryan managed the following wisecrack:
Bo Ryan to Kaminsky when he didn't see a pass: "C'mon Frank, you've got four of em (eyes) now!"
— Patrick Herb (@BadgerMBB) January 29, 2013
Earlier on Monday, Ryan said Kaminsky would get a chance at limited reps during the evening's practice. That did indeed happen, though Ryan wasn't necessarily optimistic or concrete (surprise, surprise) in his prognostication.
"It's like anything else," Ryan said. "It's like with you get [Mike] Bruesewitz, and you think he's going to come back right away in that very next game and play at the level where he was before. Frank has missed a lot here because he hasn't done very much. So I'm not sure. We'll know more [Monday night], and we'll definitely know tomorrow something."
Guess we'll have to see, though I wouldn't put money on Kaminsky taking the floor vs. the Buckeyes. It'd certainly be nice to have some frontcourt depth back, of course. The 6-foot-11 Kaminsky is averaging 4.6 points per game and shooting 40.9 percent from three-point range -- not to mention 50 percent overall -- in his 17 games this season.
In his absence, junior forward Zach Bohannon has seen a little more of the court. Bohannon, a 6-foot-6 forward, failed to score in eight minutes vs. Minnesota on Saturday, though he did score two points and grab four rebounds in five minutes vs. Iowa on Jan. 19.
The Evan Anderson Experiment also had a very miniature revival, as the 6-foot-10 sophomore center took the floor for two minutes vs. Michigan State last week.
Regardless of Kaminsky's absence, the Badgers would do well to get senior forward/center Jared Berggren back to form. Berggren hasn't notched double-digits since Jan. 12 vs. Illinois, and he's shot above 30 percent from the floor in just one of the four games since.