Aleem Ford – Page 5 – Syndication Server

Game Day Grades: Wisconsin vs. Michigan State

What grades did Wisconsin earn in their 64-63 home win over Michigan State?

Offense: C

Wisconsin was clinging to a 50-47 lead with 11:26 to go in the game as the Badgers to start the second half were 3-for-17 from the field over the first 10 minutes.

The way Wisconsin shot the basketball in the second half was the complete opposite of the first 20 minutes where the Badgers shot 15-for-26 (57.6 percent) from the field.

The cold shooting by Wisconsin allowed for Michigan State to make their comeback making the game appear that it could have a similar ending to the Iowa game from earlier in the week.

Although Wisconsin shot 4-for-11 from the field over the last 9:33 of the game the Badgers were able to do enough on the offensive end to come away with a win.

After Cassius Winston’s made jumper made it 50-47 the Badgers were in desperate need of a basket to help them regain momentum the Badgers responded by making four straight field goals to extend their lead back to double-digits.

Micah Potter got Wisconsin’s 10-to-2 run started by registering a dunk off of an assist by D’Mitrik Trice. On Wisconsin’s ensuing offensive possession Brevin Pritzl registered a layup, which was followed by two consecutive made three’s by Aleem Ford.

Wisconsin only made three of their 3-point attempts in the second half on 14 tries after they went 5-for-11 over the first 20 minutes. Overall Wisconsin finished the game shooting 22-for-54 (40.7 percent) shooting from the field.

Wisconsin had four of their five starters reach double figures as Nate Reuvers led the way with 15 points but 13 of those points came in the first half. Trice had 14 points, Ford finished with 13 points, and Brevin Pritzl finished with 10 points.

While Wisconsin couldn’t consistently find the bottom of the net during the second half the Badgers had to rely on generating points from the free throw line.

Considering after Ford’s second made three to give Wisconsin a 60-49 lead with 7:27 to go in the game the Badgers proceeded to miss their next seven field goal attempts but the Badgers did go 4-for-7 from the charity stripe. Trice was the one to shoot all seven of the free throw attempts for Wisconsin as the Badgers finished the game 12-for-15 from the free throw line.

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Aleem Ford, Brevin Pritzl answer the call for undermanned Badgers

Aleem Ford and Brevin Pritzl stepped up

It was a matter of simple math: On Saturday against the Michigan State Spartans, the Wisconsin Badgers did not have two players who had been members of their starting five earlier in the season. Kobe King left, and Brad Davison was suspended. Greg Gard needed other players to play more minutes and better minutes.

Aleem Ford played only six minutes against Michigan State on January 17. He didn’t score a point. Brevin Pritzl did play 23 minutes in that game, but he scored only two points.

When the Badgers lost in East Lansing, 67-55, two players scored in double figures for the Badgers. Nate Reuvers had 19 points, D’Mitrik Trice 10. Doing simple math, that’s 29 points from Wisconsin’s two best and most talented scorers.

Guess how many points Reuvers and Trice combined for in this rematch with Michigan State? Yep: 29. Reuvers scored 15, Trice 14.

The supporting cast had to show up, and given that King and Davison weren’t on the floor for any of Saturday’s 40 minutes, that meant other players had to answer the bell, players who haven’t generally been at the forefront of this team’s offense this season.

Ford and Pritzl delivered the goods. Ford scored 13 efficient points on 5-of-6 shooting, while Pritzl contributed 10. Yes, they contributed in ways other than scoring, combining for 11 rebounds and three steals. Those were important, too. Yet, Wisconsin’s offense — which did die in the final seven minutes — had to have enough scoring punch for the defense’s superb performance to matter.

Ford and Pritzl gave Wisconsin the extra ounces of production it was always going to need in order to pull off the upset of Tom Izzo’s group with a shorthanded roster.

As a result of Ford’s and Pritzl’s big games, guess what happened? Wisconsin, for one of the rare times this season in Big Ten play, produced FOUR double-figure scorers. We have talked about that point a lot this season, begging the Badgers to develop a more balanced identity instead of Reuvers or Trice (or both) having to shoulder too much of the load. With two key players unavailable, this mini-crisis — this urgent moment — brought out the best in Ford and Pritzl.

This was a microcosm of the whole day for the Badgers: This game could have brought out UW’s least appealing, least attractive side. This game could have become a blowout loss, which would have darkened the gloomy clouds hovering over the program after a real trash sandwich of a week. Instead, the players rallied around each other and Greg Gard.

Aleem Ford and Brevin Pritzl rallied ’round the flag more than anyone else.

3 Badgers who must step up with Kobe King and Brad Davison out

Wisconsin basketball

It’s a matter of simple math for Greg Gard and the Wisconsin Badgers: This Saturday against Michigan State, they need 200 total minutes from their roster. Every game requires 200 minutes, with five players on the court at all times. Those are the rules. I don’t make them.

Five players won’t play 40 minutes apiece. The bench has to fill in enough minutes. With Kobe King and Brad Davison both out of the picture for this crucial Michigan State home game at the Kohl Center, simple math demands that at least two, probably three, players will have to play a lot more minutes than they have in recent weeks.

First, let’s give you the minute totals for the Iowa game this past Monday night: D’Mitrik Trice played 37 minutes. Brevin Pritzl played 31, Nate Reuvers 29, Tyler Wahl 26, Aleem Ford 19, Micah Potter 15, and Trevor Anderson 10.

You’re adding those numbers and not getting 200 total minutes. Those seven numbers add up to 167. Correct. That’s why I left one other player out of that list so his impact can be more fully appreciated: Brad Davison played 33 minutes. These are the 33 minutes Gard must find from his roster against Michigan State, since Davison has been suspended for Saturday’s contest.

If Gard has to find 33 minutes, he can’t use Trice or Reuvers. They are already carrying a substantial workload. Wahl got the start at Iowa due to Kobe King’s absence, so he already shouldered more of a responsibility for the team. Maybe he can play four or five more minutes against Michigan State, but not 10 or 12. Wahl is not a 35-minutes-per-game player.

With Kobe King out, Gard’s rotation was shortened from nine to eight players against Iowa. King’s 28.5 minutes per game had to be redistributed to other players. Wahl picked up some of those minutes, and as we have already noted, he can’t really play more than a few extra minutes against Michigan State. Pritzl picked up a lot of them, so if he plays 31 more minutes against Michigan State, he will be doing close to the maximum in terms of playing time. Pritzl isn’t going to be the outlet through which Gard finds 33 extra minutes versus Tom Izzo’s team.

The players who will make up these 33 extra minutes are clear: Aleem Ford, Micah Potter, and Trevor Anderson. At 19, 15, and 10 minutes against Iowa, these three Badgers can reasonably be expected to get substantially more playing time versus the Spartans. The question is how Gard chooses to allocate their minutes, and in which lineups.

It would seem unavoidable that Anderson is the safest bet for a much larger role versus MSU, given that Davison and King are both guards. Anderson will need to take up the ball-handling chores to a degree. He, Wahl and Pritzl will share duties so that none of the three are individually overburdened.

The real intrigue here will involve how Gard juggles Ford’s and Potter’s minutes. Ford has been a regular member of the starting five but hasn’t always played extended minutes. He has played fewer than 20 minutes in three of his last five outings, averaging 17 minutes per game in those five contests. We have discussed Potter a lot this season. His flawed defense has kept him from getting more minutes, but he is the most efficient scorer on the team in terms of points per minutes played. A Wisconsin team without Davison, a relentless defender, can’t expect to win a 55-53 grinder. It will need Potter’s offense to win a game played in the high 60s or low 70s.

Maybe Gard will try to give Ford 13 more minutes (from 19 versus Iowa to 32 against Michigan State) and Anderson 20 more minutes (from 10 versus Iowa to 30 versus MSU), which would mean he could get his 33 extra minutes without increasing Potter’s minutes. That is mathematically possible, but it doesn’t strike me as realistic. Anderson going from a 10-minute workload to 30 in one giant leap seems improbable.

The points I have made about Potter this season now need to be applied versus Michigan State: Gard might not trust Potter with extended playing sequences, but he can play Potter for shorter bursts in more portions of games. Gard has to allow Potter to learn on the job this Saturday. Given that UW already faces an uphill battle, this seems like the ideal time to allow Potter to learn lessons. If UW loses, Potter could still walk away from this game against Michigan State with a much better idea of what he has to do in the rest of February and the season at large.

Greg Gard has to fill 33 minutes. Micah Potter, Aleem Ford, and Trevor Anderson should all expect to carry more of the load for the Badgers. Let’s see if this moment is a growth point for them. If so, this horrible week could still become a source of renewal in the long run.

3-Point Shot Wisconsin vs. Iowa

What are three things Wisconsin needs to do in order to bounce back against Iowa on Monday night?

Wisconsin (12-8, 5-4 Big Ten) will have to move on quickly from their 19-point loss to Purdue on Friday night as they play on Monday against a talented Iowa (14-5, 5-3) team, which has been playing well as of late. Since the Hawkeyes lost to Nebraska earlier this month they have won four straight games against Maryland, Northwestern, Michigan, and Rutgers. Not to mention two of those four wins have come by double figures and in their last two games the Hawkeyes have averaged 87.5 points per game.

In this Badgers Wire feature, we will look at the three keys or questions for Wisconsin as they prepare to play Iowa on Monday.

LAYUP: CAN WISCONSIN LIMIT IOWA FROM THREE?

One of the reasons why Iowa is so dangerous on offense is their ability to consistently move the basketball around and create open shots for themselves.

The 18.4 assists Iowa averages over conference play leads the league making it important that the Badgers defensively find a way of trying to slow down the consistent ball movement.

With Iowa moving the basketball around so effectively it has led to them being able to set up good looks for themselves from three. Iowa over Big Ten play is shooting 35.9 percent (65-for-181) from three, which ranks second in the league.

Iowa’s making 8.1 three’s a contest over Big Ten play as the Badgers defensively can’t afford to allow Iowa to consistently catch and shoot uncontested 3-pointers.

Joe Weiskamp is shooting 43.1 percent (22-for-51) over conference play from three. Weiskamp has made a three in every Big Ten game this season except one, which came against Northwestern.

Wisconsin coming off its loss to Purdue allowed the Boilermakers to make the most three’s (nine) and shoot the highest percentage (47.4 percent) against them over Big Ten play.

If Wisconsin wants to pull the upset on Monday the Badgers can’t afford to have the Hawkeyes to be able to consistently score from three and in the post. If they do it will be a repeat of Friday night where the Boilermakers were able to start building a lead early.

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Game Day Grades: Wisconsin vs. Nebraska

What grades did Wisconsin earn in their 82-68 home victory over Nebraska?

Offense: B

In Wisconsin’s loss to Michigan State, the Badgers shot 4-for-19 from three and entering the game against Nebraska the Badgers were shooting 32.5 percent (135-for-416) from three as a team.

Making it hard to imagine that Wisconsin would finish the game against Nebraska with a program record 18 made three’s on 34 attempts, which eclipsed the previous mark of 17 against Coppin State in 2010.

As eight different players for Wisconsin made at least one three and five of those eight players made at least two three’s. Simply put it was a shooting clinic from the perimeter as the Badgers did a terrific job of working the basketball around as the Badgers registered an impressive and Big Ten season high 23 assists on their 29 made field goals. Overall Wisconsin finished the game 29-for-63 (46 percent) from the field.

Brad Davison (4-for-9) and Brevin Pritzl (4-for-8) both made four of their 3-pointers as the two shot a combined 8-for-17 from three. Trice went 3-for-4 on his 3-point attempts, Aleem Ford and Micah Potter each made two of their three’s.

Potter finished the game with nine points while Ford finished the game with eight points as he went scoreless over Wisconsin’s last two games.

Although Wisconsin finished the game with 16 points in the paint they did feed the post in order to help create there open looks from three.

With nine different players scoring for Wisconsin it helped create a balance on offense throughout the game. The balance that Wisconsin had amongst its scorers was established early in the game as eight different players for Wisconsin combined to score the Badgers first 24 points to begin the game.

Despite Wisconsin getting into a groove offensively from three, the Badgers did commit 11 turnovers against Nebraska. The 11 turnovers by the Badgers broke a four game streak of nine or fewer turnovers. The Cornhuskers were able to find a way of cashing Wisconsin’s mistakes into points as they finished the game with 19 points off of the Badgers turnovers.

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Game Day Grades: Wisconsin vs. Illinois

What grades did Wisconsin earn in their 71-70 loss to Illinois on Wednesday night?

Offense: D

Micah Potter made a pair of free throws to extend Wisconsin’s lead to 63-56 with 4:50 to go in the game. But Wisconsin couldn’t close the deal as the Badgers shot 2-for-9 the remainder of the game.

The two points by Potter from the free throw line were the first points by Wisconsin since the 7:11 mark, which was a made dunk by Kobe King. The Badgers would go on a four-minute and 11-second scoring drought before they made their next field goal, which was made by Nate Reuvers which gave Wisconsin a 65-63 lead.

Simply put it is hard to win basketball games when you only make three of your final 14 shot attempts over the final seven minutes and 11 seconds of a game.

Wisconsin’s two most consistent offensive players throughout the game were Kobe King and Micah Potter. King led the way with 21 points on 10-for-13 shooting from the field while Potter had 13 points as he got to the free throw line eight times making all eight of his free throws.

King and Potter were the only two players to reach double figures for Wisconsin as D’Mitrik Trice, Brad Davison, Nate Reuvers, and Brevin Pritzl all scored seven points.

While Potter was having success around the rim Reuvers struggled to get quality looks against Illinois frontcourt as Reuvers went 3-for-9 from the field. Reuvers was dealing with foul trouble as he finished the game with four fouls but give Illinois credit for making him uncomfortable and making sure he couldn’t lead Wisconsin in scoring for a third straight game.

Wisconsin finished the game with 22 points in the paint as the Badgers were active in trying to generate post touches. Even if Wisconsin didn’t make their field goal attempt in the paint they found a way of drawing a foul against Illinois. Wisconsin was able to force both Kofi Cockburn and Giorgi Bezhanishvili into foul trouble as both of them picked up four fouls apiece.

Wisconsin was able to get into the bonus in both halves as they finished the game 20-for-23 (86.9 percent) from the charity stripe.

Overall Wisconsin shot 23-for-53 (43.4 percent) from the field and 4-for-15 (26.7 percent) from three.

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Game Day Grades: Wisconsin vs. Tennessee

What grades did Wisconsin earn in their first road victory of the season over Tennessee?

Offense: A

Wisconsin’s struggles away from the Kohl Center have been well documented but considering how well Wisconsin shot the basketball at times against Tennessee one would have thought the game was being played in Madison instead of Knoxville.

Wisconsin finished the game 25-for-57 (43.9 percent) from the field and 11-for-26 (42.3 percent) from three, which includes the Badgers shooting 53.8 percent (7-for-13) from three in the first half.

The way Wisconsin shot the basketball in the first half allowed for not only Wisconsin to lead throughout the game but also take a 14-point lead into halftime.

One of the constant themes throughout the game against Tennessee for Wisconsin’s offense was the constant ball movement helping create those open looks. The Badgers registered eight of their 13 assists in the first half as D’Mitrik Trice, Brad Davison, and Aleem Ford all registered three assists.

Wisconsin was able to build a double-digit lead thanks to their ability to create and knock down their open 3-point attempts. The two key players to fuel Wisconsin’s 3-point shooting were Trice and Brevin Pritzl. Trice and Pritzl both went 4-for-8 from three as Trice finished the game with a team high 21 points and Pritzl was second with 17 points.

Brad Davison was the only other player to make at least two three’s as he finished the game with eight points while Nate Reuvers hit his lone attempt as he finished with nine points.

Wisconsin finished the game with nine turnovers marking the fourth game over their last five games where the Badgers have committed nine or fewer turnovers. Trice led the team with three turnovers as Tennessee cashed Wisconsin’s mistakes into seven points.

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Game Day Grades: Wisconsin vs. Rutgers

What grades did Wisconsin earn from there 72-65 road loss to Rutgers?

Offense: D

Turnovers. Turnovers specifically in the first half absolutely hurt Wisconsin as the Badgers turned the basketball over 12 times in the first half resulting in 18-points for Rutgers.

Not to mention on four of Wisconsin’s first five offensive possessions in the game resulted in turnovers as Rutgers turned them into seven points. D’Mitrik Trice committed the first turnover as he was one of three Badgers to commit a team high three turnovers as Trice threw basketball out of bounds as his pass was intended for Nate Reuvers.

On Wisconsin’s ensuing offensive possession Kobe King had the basketball stolen away from him, which was followed by two travels by Aleem Ford and Reuvers.

Wisconsin was able to clean it up in the second half only turning the basketball over twice in the second half but both times Rutgers turned the Badgers mistakes into four points. Overall, Rutgers turned the Badgers 14 turnovers into 22 points.

When Wisconsin wasn’t turning the basketball over the Badgers did shoot the basketball well. The Badgers finished the game shooting 47.9 percent (23-for-48) from the field, which is the Badgers best shooting percentage this season either on the road or in a neutral site game.

King lead Wisconsin in scoring for the second straight game as he finished with 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the field. Trevor Anderson was second in points with 11 in 25 minutes. Brad Davison and Ford each finished the game with nine points on a combined 5-for-12 shooting from the field.

Anderson was one of three players to make at least two three’s as the Badgers finished the game 8-for-23 (34.8 percent) from three. Davison and Brevin Pritzl also hit two three’s a piece too.

The Badgers made five of their eight 3-pointers in the first half. With Wisconsin shooting 3-for-12 from distance in the second half the Badgers had to feed the basketball down low as 16 of their 28 points in the paint came in the second half.

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Game Day Grades: Wisconsin vs. Indiana

What grades did Wisconsin earn in their 84-64 victory to open conference play against Indiana?

Offense: A

Where was this shooting for over Wisconsin over their last three games? The Badgers shot a combined 56-for-159 (35.2 percent) from the field over their last three games but against Indiana, the Badgers shot an impressive 53.6 percent on 30-for-56 shooting from the field.

Wisconsin was able to go into halftime up 47-27 thanks to shooting a season high 62.5 percent (20-for-32) from the field in the first half. Wisconsin was able to carry that strong shooting performance from the first half into the final 20 minutes in order to snap the Badgers three game losing streak.

In particular, Kobe King and Nate Reuvers both had excellent games on the offensive end. King finished with a career-high 24 points and Reuvers finished the game second in points with 20. Between the two King and Reuvers shot a combined 18-for-27 from the field.

Aleem Ford also had a productive game on the offensive end as he scored 13 points. Most importantly he was able to knock down his 3-point attempts as five of his six shot attempts came from 3-point range with him making three of them. Overall Wisconsin shot 8-for-20 (40 percent) from three.

With Wisconsin having success from three it helped open up lanes for King and Reuvers to attack the paint as the Badgers finished with 32 points in the paint. Wisconsin also finished the game with eight offensive rebounds, which they turned into 11 points.

Defense: A

Indiana entered the game against Wisconsin shooting 51.7 percent (233-for-450) from the field as their worst shooting performance came against South Dakota State when they shot 41.4 percent (24-for-58).

Wisconsin’s defense was able to hold Indiana to shoot 42 percent (21-for-50) from the field and shot 35.7 percent (5-for-14) from three.

Aljami Durham lead Indiana with 17 points as he went 3-for-7 from the field as all of his made shots came from three. Justin Smith and Devonte Green were both held to 10 points.

Green who leads Indiana in scoring this year has been able to generate his offensive success from three as a majority of his shot attempts have come from there but Green only attempted two 3-point attempts. As he finished the game 3-for-8 from the field.

In particular, Wisconsin’s defense was able to disrupt Indiana’s offense as they forced the Hoosiers into 12 turnovers, which the Badgers turned into 18 points. Five of the 12 turnovers the Badgers created came off of steals as three different players for the Badgers registered a steal. Reuvers and Tyler Wahl each had two and Brad Davison had one steal.

Indiana did have success down low as the Hoosiers finished the game with 30 points in the paint and registered 10 offensive rebounds, which they turned into 12 points. Wisconsin was able to win the rebounding battle 29-28 over Indiana.

Overall: A

Wisconsin has now won 17 straight games over Indiana in Madison as the Badgers had the type of performance the Badgers needed to snap their three game losing streak.

Wisconsin was able to finally get on track offensively as the 53.6 percent the Badgers shot against the Hoosiers was a season best. The Badgers consistently were able to work the basketball around as they registered 13 assists on their 30 made field goals.

In addition, they did an excellent job of taking care of the basketball making sure turnovers weren’t going to disrupt the rhythm the Badgers established on offense as they committed a season low four turnovers.

Wisconsin utilized the first five minutes of the game to establish a double-digit lead, which they never relinquished. In that stretch, Wisconsin shot 6-for-10 from the field as the Badgers were able to build a 15-to-4 lead. Three different Badgers were responsible for the 15 points as Reuvers was responsible for seven points, King had five points, and Ford had three points.

Wisconsin also received production from its bench as the Badgers bench contributed 17 points. Brevin Pritzl lead the way with nine points, Wahl contributed six points on 2-for-3 shooting, and Michael Ballard scored two points off of free throws in the final minute of the game. In addition, the bench was responsible for five of Wisconsin’s 13 assists.

Game MVP: Kobe King

King was hunting for his shot early and often against Indiana as he finished with a career-high 24 points on an impressive 10-for-15 shooting from the field. Not to mention King scored 17 of his points in the first half on 8-for-10 shooting. With King finding ways of attacking the paint he was also able to get to the free throw line four times with him making three of his attempts. King also finished the game with four rebounds, one assist, and one block.

Game Day Grades: Wisconsin vs. North Carolina State

Handing out grades from Wisconsin’s loss to North Carolina State in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

Offense: D

Wisconsin was able to keep it close throughout the first half but over the final 20 minutes, the Badgers struggled to string together successful offensive possessions.

Considering Aleem Ford’s 3-point make with 6:16 to go in the game represented the last made field goal by Wisconsin. The Badgers to close the game went 0-for-7 from the field and 1-for-4 from the free throw line.

Over Wisconsin’s final seven field goal attempts five of them came from 3-point range. Once again Wisconsin struggled from three as the Badgers finished the game 5-for-23 (21.7 percent) from three and shot 21-for-56 (37.5 percent) overall from the field.

Three players for Wisconsin reached double figures as Ford lead the way with 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the field. Kobe King and Nate Reuvers each finished the game with 11 points but between the two they shot a combined 9-for-25 from the field.

Wisconsin was able to have some success once they got the basketball in the paint as the Badgers finished the game with 28 points around the rim. But 16 of those 28 points came in the first half as the Badgers at times went away from trying to get the basketball down low or they couldn’t convert on their paint opportunities as the Wolfpack finished with six blocks.

It also didn’t help matters that when Wisconsin was able to draw a shooting foul in the paint that the Badgers couldn’t connect on their free throw opportunities. Wisconsin has been shooting the basketball well from the free throw line throughout the early part of the season but against North Carolina State they shot a season low 46.7 percent (7-for-15) from the free throw line.

Considering how hard points were to come by for Wisconsin’s offense the Badgers couldn’t afford to leave points at the free throw line. But they did, which allowed for North Carolina State to extend their lead in the second half.

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