BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. – After Wednesday's game at Maryland, a loss marred by defensive breakdowns,
Steven Crowl talked about a key piece that was missing from the mix.
Max Klesmit, the Wofford transfer. Crowl had one word to describe what Klesmit brings to this team. Tenacity.
After Thursday's practice at the Kohl Center, Klesmit put it into his own words.
"What tenacity means to me is just having a chip on your shoulder, being tough, being gritty … not allowing a guy to be comfortable on the other side of the ball … not allowing all five guys on the floor that you're playing against to be comfortable," said Klesmit, the 20-year-old native of Neenah.
"I just think that having tenacity is knowing that my guy is not going to beat me, and I know the four other guys behind me have the same mentality – that all five of us are locking down on that possession, and for every possession of the game.
"That's tenacity. Just having the will to win. That will to dive on a loose ball. The effort plays."
It took a lot of effort to play the last two games without Klesmit – starting with Monday's make-up at Northwestern. After bussing to Evanston on the day of the game, a rarity, the Badgers left immediately afterwards on a charter flight to Baltimore. They arrived early Tuesday morning.
Logistical gymnastics were necessitated when Northwestern postponed the originally scheduled matchup from last Saturday due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols within the Wildcats program. (The UW hadn't played back-to-back Big Ten road games, separated by just one day, in 17 years.)
Klesmit was not with the team for either of the losses this week.
"It was just tough not being able to be there with them … watching from afar," he admitted.
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During a Jan. 17 home game against Penn State – what would turn out to be a 63-60 victory -- Klesmit took an inadvertent elbow to his face from Kanya Clary late in the first half. Remarkably, he stayed upright, and in the game, despite bleeding all over the floor, before action was finally stopped.
Klesmit spent the second half in an emergency room getting 16 stitches in his inner lower lip and cheek. He was accompanied to the hospital by his dad Rich who was attending the Penn State game at the Kohl Center. His mom, Kelly, was at his younger sister Rowan's basketball game in Neenah.
"It helped to have my dad here that night," Klesmit said. "My little brother was here that night, too, with some of his friends. Obviously that's the thing about being close to home again (after two years at Wofford) you can have family at the games where if something like this was to happen."
His brother, Cal, a Neenah senior, has signed a tender to play next season at Green Bay. "My dad took me to the emergency room while my brother stayed to watch the game," said Klesmit, smiling. "My mom handled it all pretty well. My sister's game was a little bit of a distraction for her."
Most of the stitches in his mouth have already dissolved, he pointed out. "It's healing all good, healing the right way, all aligned," said Klesmit jokingly noting, "My mom, especially, was more worried about my teeth than my head. Thankfully, my teeth, my jaw, everything is all right."
Thursday's practice was Klesmit's first since the injury. "It's just good to be out there with the guys again," he said, beaming. "It's better than sitting alone in my room doing nothing … I was just so happy today at practice – just seeing everybody and being able to be back with them."
Klesmit watched the Northwestern game on television. He was alone in his apartment.
"It was frustrating not being with the team obviously," he said. "Being around the guys just puts you in a better mood – being together makes a big difference. But I was texting with my parents who actually went to the game. I was asking them how the atmosphere was. Different stuff like that."
The Wildcats hung on for a 66-63 win in a game featuring 17 lead changes and 11 ties. Klesmit would have given the Badgers a better defensive matchup for the Wildcat guards, Boo Buie and Chase Audige, who scored 20 and 16 points, respectively, in snapping a seven-game losing streak to the UW.
Klesmit also watched the Maryland game on TV from his apartment. But he was joined by
Carter Gilmore's roommate, a UW student and former Gilmore classmate from Arrowhead High School. Klesmit was grateful for his company because he had a sounding board for his thoughts and observations.
"It's easy to have a conversation with someone who knows basketball as well," Klesmit said. "We were able to talk the game, see different things, talk it out. He was really good at just kind of listening to me while I was talking. He knew how much I wanted to be there with the team."
Watching the last two games from afar provided Klesmit with a different viewpoint. "It's one thing to watch from the bench," he said. "But you have a bigger perspective on TV, a different look at it. You're able to see the defense as one with kind of a birds-eye view. You get replays and stuff.
"You're able to see the game from a different level and learn from that, too."
The Badgers are hoping to take what they learned from a Jan. 7 loss at Illinois and put it to good use here Saturday in the 2 p.m. rematch at the Kohl Center. The Illini got 24 points from Terrence Shannon, Jr., 20 from Coleman Hawkins, 15 from Jayden Epps and 10 from Matthew Mayer.
"We have to be sound defensively," Klesmit said, "and limit their better players."
Wisconsin was minus
Tyler Wahl and sorely missed his defensive versatility. The 6-10 Hawkins, for instance, exploited the perimeter defense by converting on 6 of 9 shots from beyond the arc. Since then, Hawkins has made 5 of 21 attempts from the 3-point line over the last five games.
"They were more physical," Klesmit conceded. "They're a little bigger than us. But that's not an excuse for the physicality and the toughness part of the game. We have to bring those things with us … the toughness, the grit, the fight we know that we can play with, and we have played with before."
As part of his preparation for the Illini, Klesmit will study clips of their shooters.
"Whether it's their point guard, small forward, shooting guard, or the guys they bring off the bench," he said, "I find it pretty helpful to see how guys get their shots, what tendencies they have, when they like to go right, when they like to go left, when they take one dribble or two going one way."
The resources and manpower are far greater here than they were at Wofford where Klesmit conceded, "I did it more on my own." UW basketball video coordinator A.J. Van Handel, an industrious and unsung staff member, is more than happy to supply the applicable clips for viewing.
In the first game against Illinois, Klesmit played 33 minutes, the second most on the team. He had 11 points, including a couple of triples, to go along with 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist, 1 blocked shot and 0 turnovers. It was a pretty typical box score, and it doesn't include the intangibles. Or his tenacity.
Klesmit was one of the last players to leave the floor after Thursday's practice. The Badgers have such a small margin of error – not unlike many programs in college basketball – that certain outcomes should not come as a surprise. As such, they are 0-3 without Wahl and 0-2 without Klesmit.
"We need a lot of energy Saturday," Klesmit said. "We need to bring that with us."
On what he has missed the most during his time away from his teammates, Klesmit said, "Being with my guys, being with the team, it's a simple as that … You miss it so much, you just want to be out there to help and put everything you've got into your guys, your team …"
"There's so much pride behind Wisconsin basketball …
"… You want to do whatever you can to help impact a win."
Klesmit is thankful to be in that position again. Thankful for the small pleasures in life, too. After pounding protein shakes for four days, his first solid meal was barbeque chicken tenders from the Nitty Gritty, a restaurant not far from the Kohl Center. Gritty being a synonym for tenacity in his book.
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