I've got a fairly busy next couple of days here, so there is more to come, but first a few thoughts from Wisconsin men's basketball media day.

• From everyone I talked to, there was very little concern about the impact the newly-lengthened 3-point line will have on gameplay. Bo mentioned he thought the "shooters" would be unaffected, but the "marginal" guys, players who were stretching their range at the former distance of 19 feet, nine inches. Guard Jason Bohannon, a "shooter" said the new distance won't impact him at all. Many of the threes he attempted last year were beyond even the new distance.
  

One non-shooting area of the game that could be affected is the relative ease of entry to the middle of the defense. With perimeter players and their defenders extended that much further away from the hoop, it could create bigger lanes for penetration and give post players more time before a double-team arrives.

• Trevon Hughes spoke a lot about what he picked up from playing with Michael Flowers last season. Flowers quiet leadership and defensive tenacity stood out most to Hughes, who will be relied on for both this season as point guard and the backcourt's top defender. If Hughes took good notes, there's few better to learn those things from than Flowers.
• Senior forward Marcus Landry was probably the most popular interview subject. Sitting behind a table at the front of the room, Landry often had five or more reporters and cameras keyed on him as he answered questions in his normally-quiet tone. There was also a different air of confidence in his voice than I remember from last year.  
• After losing big men Greg Stiemsma and Brian Butch from last year's team, there is a definite size void to be filled. Second year players J.P. Gavinski, Keaton Nankivil and Jon Leuer as well as senior Kevin Gullickson and freshmen Jared Berggren and Ian Markolf will all vie for time. The biggest issue facing the bigs is improving how they play with their feet. Solid footwork is essential to post play under Ryan, both offensively and defensively.