Saturday was a great moment for Greg Gard, for lots of reasons that don’t need to be explained. It is obvious how meaningful and important this specific victory was on this specific day after the specific and awful week Gard had.
Yet, even though this was a shining triumph for the Badgers’ head coach, we at Badgers Wire are allowed to say with justification that it also confirms the instincts we had about Micah Potter. We said weeks ago that while it might be unrealistic to play Potter 30 minutes a game, he certainly should be playing around 22 minutes per contest, a significant increase from his previous average of just under 15 minutes. A 50-percent (roughly) increase in minutes is a big deal. A seven-minute increase in playing time is equivalent to almost two full segments between media timeouts (four minutes for one segment, eight minutes for two).
What is the old saying which applies here? “Necessity is the mother of invention.” Dire circumstances forced Greg Gard’s hand on Saturday against Michigan State. Micah Potter could not be buried on the bench for longer stretches. He had to play more. He had to be trusted more. He had to be relied on more. He had to show he could stand up not just to any old frontcourt, but to a Michigan State frontcourt which outscored Wisconsin by 25 points (48-23) in the previous meeting between the two teams on Jan. 17.
Sure enough, Potter’s 15-minutes-per-game average was exceeded by seven minutes. He played 22 minutes in a supremely important game against a quality opponent.
Wisconsin’s frontcourt outscored Michigan State’s frontcourt, 36-17. Potter didn’t do a whole lot of scoring, with six points in his 22 minutes, but the big revelation is that he wasn’t a defensive turnstile. He held his own. No Michigan State frontcourt player scored more than seven points. No Michigan State frontcourt player who attempted more than one field goal shot better than 33 percent. This was unquestionably a strong, resolute defensive effort from Wisconsin’s entire frontcourt. Micah Potter was part of that committee.
See? Micah Potter could learn and grow on defense. He could be trusted with more minutes without the house burning down. This is just one of the many great plot points and improvements to emerge from Saturday against Michigan State. Let’s see if it can continue.