MADISON, Wis. -- The way Bronson Koenig sees it, 3-to-1 is a pretty darn good assists-to-turnovers ratio for a college basketball point guard. After all, former Wisconsin point guard Jordan Taylor left the program three years ago with a ratio of 3.01, which was good enough to shatter the previous NCAA career record.
That being said, Koenig has set his goals even higher. Hey, 3-to-1 is nice. You know what's better?
"Four-to-one is definitely really good for a point guard," Koenig said. "That's kind of what I hope mine is by the time I leave."
Outrageous? Perhaps. But given the hot start to Koenig's sophomore season at Wisconsin, it's becoming harder to argue he can't achieve such a feat.
No. 5 Wisconsin (10-1) travels to face Cal (10-1) at 8 p.m. Monday in Berkeley, Calif., at the Haas Pavilion. And Koenig, the Badgers' backup point guard, will enter the game with 28 assists this season to only six turnovers. That's an assists-to-turnovers ratio of 4.67, which ranks sixth nationally among all players with at least 25 assists.
"He's strong," Badgers coach Bo Ryan said. "He's not built as low to the ground as Jordan Taylor was. He's played against some really long-armed guards that can strip him, that can force him into some tough decisions, but he hasn't given into it. He's just been real strong with the ball."
In his career, Koenig has 69 assists and 24 turnovers, for a ratio of 2.875. But given both his increased confidence with the ball and increased playing time, that's a mark that figures to rise.
What separates Koenig as a ballhandler and passer is his precise decision-making skills. He is comfortable enough to evade defensive pressure and savvy enough to split opponents with passes other players simply cannot make. Some of those passes, of course, have caused trouble for teammates.
"When Bronson first got here, he made some passes that I wasn't really ready for," Badgers center Frank Kaminsky said. "He's good at no-look passes. He makes a lot of passes into small seams that maybe not a lot of people see. He's a great passer, and he sees the game differently than some other people."
And whose fault was it when Koenig's no-look passes sailed through Kaminsky's hands?
"I'd always blame it on him, but I knew it was my fault," Kaminsky said. "Seriously, some of the passes he'd throw it through this tiny little window, and I wouldn't be expecting the pass to come and it would be there and I'd be like I didn't have my hands ready or anything. It was just crazy."
This season, Koenig is averaging 4.6 points, 2.5 assists and 1.2 rebounds in 21.2 minutes per game. Those numbers don't necessary provide a wow factor, but his contributions have not gone unnoticed. He is able to spell starting point guard Traevon Jackson, and he also is learning to play alongside Jackson during stretches of games. Koenig's ability to maintain possession of the ball means there is no drop-off when he enters the game. Wisconsin's collective assists-to turnovers-ratio of 1.56 ranks sixth nationally and is better than any team in the Big Ten.
Oddly enough, Koenig attributes part of his growth to participating in private martial arts classes in his hometown of La Crosse over the summer. He studied with instructor Fred Nicklaus in an effort to strengthen his core.
"He did incorporate a lot of kicking and punching and stuff like that because that really works on your hand speed, your foot speed," Koenig said. "It's all footwork and a lot of just your whole body, core strength. Everything.
"I thought even after like two sessions I was already noticeably more flexible and stronger, more in shape. That's what I was trying to do mainly was stay in shape. I thought I got a lot better."
Unfortunately for Koenig, that growth was cut short because he became ill with mononucleosis and was only able to participate in about six sessions. The mono sapped his strength and ruined what could have been a more productive offseason.
"I wish I could have done it for longer," Koenig said. "It kind of all went down the drain."
Koenig's passing skills certainly haven't diminished one bit. But one area Koenig stressed he wanted to improve was becoming more of a playmaking point guard. There are enough scorers on a team with national championship aspirations that he does not need to take over games. Still, he noted there were occasions last season in which he "disappeared," and he was striving for more consistency -- particularly after seeing his shooting percentage take a dip, which has not sat well with Koenig.
Koenig is hitting only 37.0 percent of his overall field goals and 27.3 percent of his 3-pointers. A year ago, he shot 44.3 percent from the field and 32.8 percent on 3s. As a senior two years ago at Aquinas High School in La Crosse, he buried 45.5 percent of 3-point attempts.
"I definitely feel like I'm rushing it," Koenig said. "When I miss, I just feel like I'm off balance, which is a sign of rushing it. Even in practice I've been rushing my shot for some reason. When I just slow down and shoot it, I'm a great shooter. In the tournament last year, the game really slowed down for me, and I was a little bit more comfortable and I shot a lot better."
Teammates, however, remain confident that Koenig's shooting will return. And in the meantime, he's contributing in plenty of ways to help the Badgers as Big Ten play approaches.
"He's taken a big step from last year," Kaminsky said. "Last year, he showed at times he was ready to have an increased role. This year, he's really prepared himself and been ready for whatever's been asked of him."
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