Let’s start this particular article with a disclaimer: We at Badgers Wire aren’t trying to create a “Greg Gard for Governor” political campaign. We’re not trying to tell you that Greg Gard is God or even an angel playing a harp. This is not about deification or portraying someone as a fully realized ideal. We have been honest in saying that Gard has stubborn components in his coaching style. We have noted that he sometimes exhibits cautiousness when he needs to trust players more. We have not swept his flaws under the rug this season.
Yet, we do try to emphasize — amid the faults and shortcomings — that on balance, Gard does a relatively decent job of keeping his team together through difficulties and disruptions. He isn’t a messiah or a master, but he is an above-average coach. He would get a B or B-plus on my report card. One could do better… and one could do SO much worse.
How can this point be illustrated? In many ways, to be sure, but one is to compare Gard and Wisconsin to other programs. One example: “the other UW,” which is the University of Washington. My understanding of the difference between the two UWs is that whereas Wisconsin is “U-Dubya,” Washington is “U-Dub.”
You can tell me on Facebook (at the Badgers Wire homepage) if I am correct or errant on that point, but let’s leave that topic aside for now. The larger point is that Washington basketball shows why Greg Gard has done a solid job this season in Madison.
The story of Washington is mysterious and yet not all that complicated. The Huskies were 11-4 on January 6 after crushing USC by 32 points, 72-40. Washington looked like an NCAA Tournament team, which is very impressive for a program which hasn’t been able to generate sustained success for most of its history. Washington had two really strong eight-year runs, one in the late 1940s and early ’50s, the other from 2004-2011 under then-coach Lorenzo Romar. Other than that, the Huskies haven’t done a whole lot in their history. Therefore, making back-to-back NCAA Tournaments would have been a remarkable achievement for head coach — and longtime Jim Boeheim disciple — Mike Hopkins. Washington was on track to do something very special.
Then Quade Green — a transfer from Kentucky — was ruled academically ineligible.
Guess what? Washington — heading into a game with Stanford on Thursday, Feb. 20 — has won only ONE GAME since that moment. Quade Green was very clearly the piece Washington could not afford to lose, though no one knew it at the time, a month and a half ago. Green was the stable point guard Washington and Hopkins needed, without sufficient depth at that position. Washington has the likely Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, big man Isaiah Stewart, on its roster, but without reliable guard play, the Huskies have completely collapsed.
In football, an injury to a quarterback can often be devastating. In basketball, injuries to star players can be debilitating. Yet, Green wasn’t necessarily a star; he was a very good player at an important position which lacked depth. Coaches shouldn’t be blamed for failing to find answers when crucial hinge-point players are removed from the lineup due to forces they can’t control. Hopkins and Washington received extraordinarily bad luck when Green was ruled ineligible.
The point, though, is that in a season when Wisconsin has had to play 10 games without Micah Potter and is now playing without Kobe King, Greg Gard is finding ways around those limitations. It doesn’t mean Gard is pressing all the right buttons, but it does mean he has held his team together, unlike Hopkins. This Wisconsin team hasn’t hit all the right notes, but it also has had many reasons to fold.
Greg Gard wouldn’t let it happen.
U-Dub has suffered. U-Dubya is headed for the NCAA Tournament. Garded optimism is a good outlook, as seen through the prism of Washington Huskies basketball.