Tag: Greg Gard

Badger Signee Johnny Davis named Wisconsin Mr. Basketball

Future Badgers just keep on winning. This morning, the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) named Johnny Davis the 2019-20 Mr. Basketball award winner in the state of Wisconsin. Davis led his La Crosse Central Red Raiders to a 20-5 mark, …

Future Badgers just keep on winning. This morning, the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) named Johnny Davis the 2019-20 Mr. Basketball award winner in the state of Wisconsin.

Davis led his La Crosse Central Red Raiders to a 20-5 mark, and a 10-2 record in conference before their postseason was cut short. The Wisconsin native averaged 27.2 points per game for a team that finished 9th in the state according to MaxPreps.com rankings. The 6-4 swingman is part of a 2020 class that features five solid pieces, including his brother Jordan Davis. 

Jonathan Davis has the look and feel of a player who is ready to make an impact right away. He optimizes the word smooth, with athleticism, enough size for his position, and the ability to score at all three levels. His length creates matchup problems for smaller guards, and he is an above-average finisher at the rim. Greg Gard has a player stepping into Madison that will be ready to contribute as a freshman.

There is plenty to be excited about for the future of Wisconsin basketball, and pieces like Davis, as well as the rest of the 2020 recruiting class, are major reasons why.

Greg Gard wins Big Ten Coach of the Year from media and coaches

Greg Gard wins a deserved honor

The Wisconsin Badgers rallied late in the season to win the Big Ten championship. Greg Gard rallied late in the season to win the Big Ten Coach of the Year Award from both the coaches and the media in the conference.

The votes from several Big Ten writers were disclosed on Monday, when Gard earned due respect from the media and coaches alike. Wisconsin’s eight-game winning streak — which catapulted a 6-6 Big Ten team on the NCAA Tournament bubble all the way to the top of the Big Ten — was enough to give Gard the deserved award. What also helped was that Penn State head coach Pat Chambers lost his touch in late February and early March, just as Gard was figuring everything out in Madison.

Penn State was in contention for the Big Ten title and stood in second place in mid-February, but beginning on Feb. 18 — when the Nittany Lions lost at home to Illinois — PSU dropped five games in a six-game stretch, including a loss to lowly Northwestern this past Saturday in the Big Ten regular-season finale. Penn State had been a No. 4 NCAA Tournament seed in bracketology, having won eight games in a row, but the late tailspin dropped the Nittany Lions several seed lines down the board, taking a little bit of the shine off their impressive season. Chambers is going to make his first NCAA Tournament appearance at Penn State, which still rates as a significant accomplishment for him. Nevertheless, it is impossible to ignore the Nittany Lions’ late slide. Compared against Gard’s ability to win the Big Ten championship with a phenomenal month of coaching (from Feb. 6, after the Minnesota loss, through March 7 against Indiana in Bloomington), Chambers’ body of work did not stand up.

Tom Izzo of Big Ten co-champion Michigan State, Mark Turgeon of Big Ten co-champion Maryland, Steve Pikiell of Rutgers, and Brad Underwood of Illinois all did really well this season. Yet, Gard made his final closing argument against Indiana, winning in Assembly Hall to not only give the Badgers a trophy, but also the No. 1 seed at the Big Ten Tournament. One could debate this award, much as one could debate any Coach of the Year award in any sport, or conference, or division. Yet, would anyone seriously debate that Greg Gard deserved this distinction? I find that hard to believe.

Looking back at the best moments from Wisconsin’s win streak

On February 6th, the day after Wisconsin suffered an 18-point defeat at Minnesota, the Badgers sat at 6-6 in the middle of the Big Ten Conference. Today, March 8th, UW has clinched a share of the Big Ten title and ended the year on an eight-game …

On February 6th, the day after Wisconsin suffered an 18-point defeat at Minnesota, the Badgers sat at 6-6 in the middle of the Big Ten Conference. Today, March 8th, UW has clinched a share of the Big Ten title and ended the year on an eight-game winning streak. Let’s look back at how they reached the top of the Big Ten.

The streak saw a variety of Badgers step into the leading role offensively, beginning with Brevin Pritzl at home against the Buckeyes on February 9th. The best pure shooter on this Badger team put on a show from beyond the arc. The senior went 5-6 from deep en route to 19 points and led UW to a 70-57 win. That game was also the debut of the retro jerseys inspired by the 2000 underdog final four team. There has been something special in those throwback whites that is reminiscent of magic from 2000, and the Badgers have kept wearing them at home since the OSU win.

At Nebraska, it was Brad Davison’s turn. The emotional leader of the squad led the Badgers to a double digit win over the Huskers by pouring in eight threes and dropping a season-high 30 points. As the win streak continued, so did the offensive balance. Through the first five wins, five different Badgers lead Wisconsin in scoring. Even more impressive from a depth perspective is the fact that UW only plays eight players in the normal rotation. Also shocking about the five different scoring leaders is the fact that the teams leading scorer, Nate Reuvers, was not one of them.

D’Mitrik Trice certainly became the point guard that Wisconsin needed him to be throughout these eight games. Not only did the junior eclipse the 1,000 career points mark at Indiana yesterday, but he also averaged nearly six assists throughout Wisconsin’s win streak. The clutch gene was not only present in Trice, but the entire Badger team over the last month. Whether it was going 8-8 from the line to close out Purdue at home in the final minute, Pritzl’s clutch three against the Gophers, or yesterday’s heroics at Assembly Hall, the Badgers found a way. Can we get another look at the Pritzl heroics?

This team has learned how to win when shots aren’t falling, odds are stacked against them, and they have to grind it out. The lesson of winning has been learned at the perfect time as the Badgers get ready for the madness.

 

 

Film Room: Yesterday’s win shows the evolution of D’Mitrik Trice

Earlier in the year, and earlier in the career of D’Mitrik Trice, yesterday’s shooting performance would have defined his afternoon. Earlier in the year, late shot clock situations were disastrous for the Badgers and their starting point guard. …

Earlier in the year, and earlier in the career of D’Mitrik Trice, yesterday’s shooting performance would have defined his afternoon. Earlier in the year, late shot clock situations were disastrous for the Badgers and their starting point guard. Earlier in the year, perimeter shooting defined the junior’s offensive impact. Wisconsin’s point guard was just 2-10 from the field and 0-3 from three. Shots he has knocked down for most of this eight-game winning streak were not falling for him yesterday.

The Ohio native had a goose egg in the scoring column with Wisconsin down three at the half. To make matters worse, Devonte Green, his matchup for most of the day, had 16 of the Hoosier’s 28 points at the break. Earlier this year, with Trice’s shot not falling from the perimeter and his defensive assignment making contested threes look like layups, it would be hard to see how the point guard could put his stamp on the game. This, however, is not December. It’s March.

Trice went on to play an exceptional second half of defense on Green, whose fire quickly turned to ice. The Indiana guard went 0-7 in the second half, and 0-3 from three with Trice being the defensive pest against shifty guards that he has been all year. Then, with the game on the line in a late shot clock situation, 0 called his own number. With 1:20 left, the shot clock under five, and UW clinging to a three point lead, Trice got the switch he wanted on Indiana forward Race Thompson. The point guard used his quickness and a killer crossover to beat Thompson off the dribble and finish a floater high off the window. There was no panic late in the shot clock:

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The ensuing Wisconsin possession with the Badgers now up 2 once again turned into a late shot clock situation with the ball in the hands of Trice. Indiana once again ends up with Thompson defending Trice with the game on the line. Once the speedy guard beats the IU forward off the dribble, Trayce Jackson-Davis is forced to help. The help forces Jackson-Davis to leave his man, Nate Reuvers, all alone under the rim for the board and bucket to put the game on ice:

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On paper, the win at Indiana may have not looked like the finest basketball we have seen from D’Mitrik Trice this season. However, as the tape shows, he was calm, cool, and collected when it counted most.

 

 

4 Moore: The Badgers season goes from “tragic to magic”

With a 60-56 win at Indiana, Wisconsin completed one of the most improbable regular season Big Ten championship wins in the history of the conference. At 6-6 in the Big Ten, most people counted them out. Winning eight straight Big Ten games to claim …

With a 60-56 win at Indiana, Wisconsin completed one of the most improbable regular season Big Ten championship wins in the history of the conference. At 6-6 in the Big Ten, most people counted them out. Winning eight straight Big Ten games to claim at least a share of the crown was nothing compared to the circumstances under which this year began. Adversity has been a way of life for the 2019-20 Badgers, in a season that started with unimaginable tragedy. This past summer, Wisconsin assistant coach Howard Moore and his family were involved in a crash with a wrong-way drunk driver that took the lives of Moore’s wife Jennifer and 9-year old daughter Jaidyn. Coach Moore and his teenage son Jerell survived the accident.

Although Moore has taken this season away from the team, his spirit has been with them from the beginning. Wisconsin has been wearing a “4Moore” patch on their jerseys as well as having his son Jerell around the team for all home games. Jerell was even introduced in the Badger starting lineup for their November 8th home opener against Eastern Illinois.

It was fitting that this afternoon, when the Badger bus rolled up to the front of the Kohl Center to the cheers of hundreds of elated fans, Jerell Moore boarded the team bus before the Badgers exited. All we could hear outside were loud cheers as Moore’s son was greeted by the 2019-20 Big Ten Champions. From there, the team exited alongside Jerell and the raucous celebration began. At Greg Gard’s post-parade interview he summed this season up in one phrase: “tragic to magic.” Here is Gard on this team overcoming adversity to make a magical run:

Scouting Report: IU is attempting to build a defensive identity, how Wisconsin can counter that on Saturday

Under Archie Miller, the Indiana Hoosiers have been identified by the fact that they often lack a true identity. There was no secret that Miller’s Dayton teams bought into a defensive philosophy and identity that brought success. The same has not …

Under Archie Miller, the Indiana Hoosiers have been identified by the fact that they often lack a true identity. There was no secret that Miller’s Dayton teams bought into a defensive philosophy and identity that brought success. The same has not completely translated to his time in Bloomington, but the signs have begun to show. Indiana has worked their way up to being ranked 32nd in adjusted defensive efficiency according to KenPom. There is a stark contrast between the defense Badger fans saw in Madison against the Hoosiers in December, and the one they will see Saturday morning.

The Hoosiers have not allowed a team to score more than 67 points in their last five contests. Wisconsin just ended a streak of six straight games of scoring more than 67 points in their 63-48 win over Northwestern. Something will have to give.

The identity of the entire Indiana program had to change on the defensive end of the floor when Miller took over. Previous IU coach Tom Crean almost never, at any point of the year, had top-50 defenses according to KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency. The personnel of this 2019-20 group lends itself well to defense, especially on the interior. Trayce Jackson-Davis is an impressive young rim protector who also has the speed to be switchable on high ball screens. That is one of the attributes that will make the New Yorker an intriguing NBA prospect in years to come. Jackson-Davis averages nearly 2 blocks per game, and almost as many blocks as the rest of his teammates combined. The true freshman’s 6’9″, 245-pound frame lends itself well to the pack-line principles that Coach Miller is attempting to instill in his team.

It’s a difficult task predicting if the Badgers can find offensive success against Indiana based on their 84-point outburst at home. When the two teams met on December 7th, IU’s defense was not the only thing that would change as the year progressed. UW was led that day by Kobe King and his 24 points on an efficient 10-15 shooting. No King has been no problem for the Badger offense so far. Success that day at the Kohl Center also came through playing inside-out basketball. The Badgers broke down the pack-line by taking advantage of what it tries to do. Any pack-line defense has the goal of packing the paint and sagging defensively to prevent interior penetration. By getting the basketball inside to Nate Reuvers, the junior big not only had 20 points against IU, but opened things up from the outside that allowed UW to shoot 8-20 (40%) from three. This time around, the Badgers also have Big Ten super-sub Micah Potter. The Ohio State transfer sat out of the last matchup due to NCAA rules. The stretch big man can certainly provide the perfect inside-out counter against the pack-line if he is feeling it from beyond the arc. If the Badgers start inside-out and knock down open looks as a result, it could be a long senior day for the Hoosiers.

 

Scouting Report: How Archie Miller and the Hoosiers stack up offensively

Wisconsin basketball is looking to do what seemed impossible in mid-December: win a share of the regular-season Big Ten title. Standing in the way of an eighth-straight Badger victory are the Indiana Hoosiers at historic Assembly Hall. Indiana comes …

Wisconsin basketball is looking to do what seemed impossible in mid-December: win a share of the regular-season Big Ten title. Standing in the way of an eighth-straight Badger victory are the Indiana Hoosiers at historic Assembly Hall. Indiana comes in with an overall record of 19-11 and 9-10 in the BIG. On Saturday morning, UW is looking for a season sweep of IU following their December 7th blowout win at the Kohl Center. Here is what Badger fans can expect offensively from Indiana head coach Archie Miller and his team this time around:

The Hoosiers are at their best when freshman stud Trayce Jackson-Davis leads them on both ends. The Greenwood, Indiana native has led this otherwise experienced team as a true freshman to the tune of a team-high 13.9 points per contest. His efficiency in the paint has lead to an overall 57.8% shooting clip, although the 6’9″ uber-athletic forward has had struggles on the road. At home, Jackson-Davis is averaging 15.7 points per game and shooting nearly 60% from the field. On the road, those numbers drop to 10.6 points per game and 53.6% from the floor. The Hoosier big man can step out and hit the mid-ranger, but does his best work on the interior using a combination of athleticism and impressive footwork. Expect Nate Reuvers to be tasked with handling Jackson-Davis. That matchup of rim protectors and scoring leaders should be the most intriguing battle on the floor. The Badgers did a solid job on the freshman star in their 84-64 win over IU back in December. Jackson-Davis only attempted six shots en route to 9 points.

Although recently turnovers have not been as major of an issue as earlier in the year, IU still generally struggles at taking care of the basketball. They average more turnovers than any Big Ten team at 13.0 per game. The Hoosiers are a middle-of-the-pack team in terms of scoring as they come into Saturday averaging 71.3 points per outing. The inconsistency and turnover issues are a reflection of inconsistent guard play that has derailed this team at times. Senior guard Devonte Green sums this up perfectly. The New York native began the year hurt, and eventually worked his way back into a starting role. He has been in and out of that starting role this year due to inconsistency offensively. A 27-point outburst in a win against Iowa on February 13th saw Green nail 7 treys, and he immediately followed that performance with 3 points and a horrendous shooting night against Michigan in a loss. The combo guard will look to finish strong on his senior day against the Badgers.

The Hoosiers offensive inconsistency plays itself out even in the small sample size of one game. There are stretches where this team can’t find a basket, especially on the road, and other stretches where their guards get hot from the perimeter and they become world-beaters. To beat Wisconsin, a top-25 team in terms of defensive efficiency according to KenPom, the Hoosiers likely have to shoot better than their 32% average from distance, and have the world-beating Devonte Green show up in Bloomington. With that being said, if the Badgers come up short on Saturday morning it will likely have more to do with their offense than their defense.

 

 

 

If Wisconsin beats IU, Greg Gard would deserve B1G Coach of the Year

More on Greg Gard

The photo of Greg Gard used for this story is from the Dec. 7 win by the Wisconsin Badgers over the Indiana Hoosiers. As you and everyone else in the Big Ten know, Gard and UW have been through a lot in the intervening three months leading up to Saturday’s regular-season finale.

Wisconsin didn’t have Micah Potter for that Indiana game — he was still two weeks away from making his season debut. Wisconsin had Kobe King, who would not be on the team two months later. Wisconsin was 4-4 entering that Indiana game and would not win its first road game of the season until after Christmas in Tennessee against the Volunteers. Wisconsin improved in early January but fell on very hard times in late January, losing back-to-back road games at Purdue and Iowa and watching Brad Davison get suspended for the Michigan State rematch on Feb. 1, with King having left the team.

Wisconsin was 5-5 through 10 games this season. The Badgers were 6-6 through their first 12 Big Ten games.

Wisconsin has lost only five times since that 5-5 start in late autumn, and the Badgers are now 13-6 in the Big Ten, riding a massive winning streak dating back a full month, to Feb. 5, the time of their last loss (in Minnesota).

Several coaches deserve Big Ten Coach of the Year recognition. To me, Pat Chambers deserves this award the most. If you were to tell me Greg Gard deserves it already, hey, that’s a perfectly sound argument. I would not fight you. However, given the wildness and unpredictability in the Big Ten season this year, Saturday is a real prove-it moment for Gard: If he wins, by golly, I would have absolutely zero problem with him beating out Chambers for Big Ten Coach of the Year. If Wisconsin wins the Big Ten title and gets a No. 1 seed for the Big Ten Tournament — which it would do if it beats Indiana — I would be completely fine with Gard winning the award outright. If he loses, I think Chambers has to be the choice, but if Wisconsin wins, it might be hard to argue AGAINST Gard winning the award.

It was already great that Gard turned this team around in early February, but the journey all the way to the top of the Big Ten would give Gard a massive, 24-karat achievement which would outshine what Chambers has done in reviving Penn State basketball.

It’s a complicated Big Ten Coach of the Year race, but the solution to the award is simple: If Gard can win the league title, any real argument against his COY candidacy melts away.

Stories from Senior Night: Each “Senior” Badger had their moment

MADISON – Yesterday evening, Wisconsin basketball cruised to their 7th straight win on senior night. Before UW defeated Northwestern in a 63-48 slugfest, the student section bowed in thanks as the Badgers began pregame festivities for their …

MADISON — Yesterday evening, Wisconsin basketball cruised to their 7th straight win on senior night. Before UW defeated Northwestern in a 63-48 slugfest, the student section bowed in thanks as the Badgers began pregame festivities for their graduating class. Then, thanks to a promise made to his mother over two decades ago, Rashard Griffith jogged out of the tunnel to Kohl Center cheers. Griffith played for the Badgers from 1993-1995 before becoming a second round pick of the Milwaukee Bucks in 1995. The Chicago native’s 15-year overseas career took him to the likes of Israel, Italy, and Puerto Rico, but in the end he returned home to Madison to finish school.

Griffith’s story of a promise kept is an exceptional one, and the story lines continued to write themselves as the night progressed. Although redshirt-junior Michael Ballard was never a part of Wisconsin’s rotation, the “we want Ballard” chants started early and often from Area Red. The people got what the people wanted. The walk-on checked in for the final minute and had the rock in his hands on the final possession of the game with the Badgers up 13. Does he dribble out the clock? Please, this is senior night. Ballard drove left and finished a layup high off of the glass with four seconds left. Not only did the play electrify the Badger bench and the Kohl Center faithful, but the bucket also gave Wisconsin a win against the Vegas spread.

Oh, Ballard. although taking a massive NCAA risk, did not want you to forget that he made Wisconsin bettors money (he meant the spread):

 

Brevin Pritzl had his senior night come at the height of his Badger career. The De Pere native is playing the best basketball of his time in Madison. More importantly, his success has translated to winning. When the sharpshooter has scored in double figures this season, UW is a perfect 11-0. Four of those double-figure scoring games have come in the midst of this seven-game winning streak, including a season-high 19 against the Buckeyes at home. Pritzl finished with 9 points, and received one of the largest ovations of the night during his curtain call in the final moments. The graduate senior sums up everything Wisconsin has been over the past month. He has shot the basketball with confidence, played quietly good defense, and has stayed positive through everything. Wisconsin basketball will miss all he has brought to this program when this journey ends, but you get the feeling it may just be getting started. This is March after all.

This past month showed how much Greg Gard develops Wisconsin players

Greg Gard is doing work

Recruiting is certainly important. No one needs an explanation of that fundamental reality in collegiate athletics. Yet, it is so easy to fall in love with the number of stars next to a recruit’s name. Those stars do not guarantee success. Coaches might have to recruit at a certain level to survive in this cutthroat business, but they ultimately make their money based on how well they get players to perform together as a team… and on how well they develop players’ skills and instincts.

Player development is where good coaches separate themselves from mediocre ones. Quality coaches will not only identify the weaknesses and imperfections in a player’s game and help that player shore them up; quality coaches will then explain to the player how an improved skill set can fit into team play — offense and defense — and meet the needs of the team’s system. Player development, when viewed in this larger context, is the central source of excellence: Players don’t just improve individually; they integrate their improved skills into the flow of the game, making teammates better as well. When every player is developing, the team is flourishing.

Enter the 2020 Wisconsin Badgers.

Greg Gard is developing every player. You can see it on the court.

Brad Davison was struggling in early February. He has been excellent since the off week Wisconsin had from Feb. 9-15, when there was no midweek game on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Davison has been a different player, showing that Gard used the off week to polish his game.

D’Mitrik Trice has become so much better at feeding teammates the ball while minimizing turnovers. He has also come out of his shell and dropped 28 points on Michigan. He is ripening into a much more complete player.

Brevin Pritzl has come alive in February. Gard has plainly said that Pritzl is playing his best basketball of the season.

Micah Potter has steadily gotten better with increased minutes, something we talked about a lot this season.

Aleem Ford has blossomed in the past month.

Players are developing everywhere you look. In some games, their improvement is manifested by their increased scoring capacity (Ford) or improved shooting (Davison). In other games, you can see an improved floor game (Trice versus Minnesota on Sunday) or a beefed-up low-post presence (Potter versus Michigan this past Thursday).

This is hardly the most talented team Greg Gard has had at Wisconsin. Early in the season, it seemed this group had a relatively low ceiling.

The Badgers are bursting through that ceiling, making a run at the Big Ten championship, just one game behind Maryland with a tiebreaker in their pocket against the Terrapins.

Player development is the number one reason Wisconsin is in this position.