Five questions to think about as the Badgers prepare to play their season opener against Long Beach State this afternoon at the Kohl Center:

1) Who will be the sixth man? The Badgers' best teams had that all-important top reserve who finished as many games as anybody on the team. Mike Wilkinson played that role on Bo Ryan's first team at Wisconsin, Clayton Hanson and Zack Morley performed the task admirably and so did Jason Bohannon last year when he was named the Big Ten's sixth man of the year.

Bohannon most likely will continue to start this year so players who could fill that role include sophomore forward Jon Leuer and freshman guard Jordan Taylor. Ryan loved what Taylor did defensively during the Badgers' exhibition games.

``We knew he was a player and he just keeps showing us different ways of how he is a player,'' said UW coach Bo Ryan after the game. ``He's smart, tough, never reacts negatively to anything. But he'll take your lunch money in a second. I like those kind of guys.''

2) Who's the chaser? Nobody in the Big Ten Conference chased opponents through screens and stuck to the other team's best perimeter player better than Michael Flowers over the last few years. Through two exhibition games it is clear nobody has yet assumed that role. It most likely will be Trevon Hughes, but don't be surprised if Taylor or Joe Krabbenhoft are given cracks at it. There are few more important roles on the team and it's certainly most important on defense.

Watch today for who draws the unenviable task of chasing Long Beach State star guard Donovan Morris. The guess here is Hughes gets first crack at it. But Taylor, Bohannon and Krabbenhoft might take turns chasing Morris, too.

3) Who keeps the parties out of the paint? The Badgers enjoyed three full seasons of paint enforcement by shot-blocking Greg Stiemsma as well as Brian Butch. Thus, the guards didn't stress much over losing their man when they gambled and went for a steal. Stiemsma and Butch are gone and so is the Badgers' shot-blocking ability. That means the tiniest of defensive lapses on the perimeter can leave the Badgers exposed. If the Badgers aren't fundamentally sound with their defensive principles, more points may be scored against them in the paint than they've seen in a long time.

4) Who scores from the perimeter? You could take Joe Krabbenhoft winning the team's 3-point contest on the Night of the Grateful Red two ways. The optimistic view is that Krabbenhoft's shot is improved and that should help the Badgers' perimeter game. The pessimistic view is that the Badgers' best 3-point shooter on the opening night of their season is a career 29.3 percent shooter from beyond the arc.

Against UW-Whitewater Tuesday night, Krabbenhoft made the first two 3-pointers he attempted early in the game but the Badgers went on to miss their next nine attempts. Bohannon is the key here with his improved shot and quicker release. It has to show up with consistency this season.

5) Who helps Landry? We've already addressed the need for the Badgers to play sounder on defense because big men Stiemsma and Butch are no longer around to fix any mistakes. Don't forget what they did on offense, too. The savvy Landry should be a force among bigs in the Big Ten, but he's going to need help or he'll regularly face double and triple teams every time he gets the ball. Thus, it's imperative that sophomore forwards Keaton Nankivil and Jon Leuer continue to improve and become consistent presences in the paint for the Badgers. It doesn't look like any of the other big men are going to provide any help, especially early in the season.