When he took over the program in the wake of Bo Ryan's retirement, Greg Gard knew he needed to get creative in helping the Badgers build a renewed identity — and fast. The renovation began by piecing together bricks, a tangible example of the way Gard wanted to see the individual pieces of his team come together to form something bigger — and stronger. That team-building exercise proved to be a sturdy base for a run that's seen the Badgers win five straight.  |  From Varsity Magazine
BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
Look for Devin Harris and he'll take you there.
Walk past the row of leather chairs and video game screens, past the ping pong table. Now look up, there he is, on a rear wall of the Wisconsin locker room at the Kohl Center.
It's hard to miss the super-sized action cutout of Harris in his 2009 NBA All-Star uniform.
Harris, a second-team All-American (2004), was one of the program's early building blocks. Maybe it's a fitting coincidence that he's now hovering over the table in the back of the room.
"Devin," UW coach Greg Gard said, "is overseeing it."
Overseeing the bricks, construction bricks, the kind you'd buy at a Menards or find at a work site.
Every player on this season's basketball team has his own brick on the table. So does every member of the coaching/administrative staff, including Gard, the true overseer. Every individual has signed his or her brick.
"I felt when I took over that we needed to develop or reestablish an identity that was deeper than the X's and O's," Gard said. "Everybody talks about that part and the things that are visible.
"But there are so many things that go into building a team and the commitment players make to each other, that I felt we needed to have a visual of what was important."
Following a Dec. 15 victory over Texas A&M Corpus-Christi, Bo Ryan, the architect and leader of the program for the past 15 seasons, announced his retirement, effective immediately.
Gard, the associate head coach and Ryan assistant for 23 years, was put in charge. Before coaching his first game on Dec. 23 against Green Bay, he came up with the idea for the bricks.
There have been variations of this theme — building something one brick at a time — throughout college sports, especially with football teams, from Boise State to Purdue to Tennessee, et al.
"Everybody has done different team-building activities, but we had never done anything quite like this here," Gard said, "trying to educate our players on what is important in terms of the team and the importance of teamwork.
"We've won a lot of games over the years where our chemistry, cohesiveness and togetherness was able to outlast maybe more talent on the other bench.
"We've won more games collectively than with individual performances."
Gard paused and emphasized, "Now, obviously, we've had terrific players, too."
"We've always emphasized that no one individual is bigger than the team. And their bricks are just that — an individual brick alone," Gard said. "But when you put them all together, we've got something that can be formidable."
Last season, the Badgers had Frank Kaminsky, a lottery pick and the Player of the Year in college basketball, along with Sam Dekker and Duje Dukan, both of whom are on NBA rosters. They also leaned on stalwarts Josh Gasser and Traevon Jackson.
The personnel losses were overwhelming.
Add five freshmen to the returning mix, and subtract Ryan, one Hall of Fame-in-waiting head coach; an unexpected departure, at that, two weeks before the Big Ten opener against Purdue.
When Gard took over, the Badgers were 7-5 with home losses to Western Illinois, Milwaukee and Marquette.
Drastic times called for … creative measures.
On the floor, it was a renewed commitment to the Swing offense and an expanded bench.
Off the floor, it was the symbolism of the bricks, better communication and a history lesson.
"Between my past here and going back even further with Coach Moore's past," Gard said of assistant coach Howard Moore, who played for the Badgers in the '90s, "we needed to talk. We talked about what this program has meant to the former players and the sweat equity that has gone into it over the course of time.
"We also talked about those intangibles that are important and have nothing to do with talent, how fast you can run or how high you can jump.
"So we purchased these bricks and gave everyone their own brick. We gave them a visual of what is at the foundation of this program and what could not change, what had to be reaffirmed."
From there, Gard stressed to the players, "The brick is part of the building process. Each brick is just one piece in the whole foundation. But it's a very important piece.
"We've always emphasized that no one individual is bigger than the team. And their bricks are just that — an individual brick alone.
"But when you put them all together, we've got something that can be formidable."
As far as his timetable, Gard admitted, "I knew with such a young team we had to expedite the process. I didn't have June, July and August to try and work through this.
"We had to do it in a matter of a few days to establish how united we'd have to be in order to take steps forward. We weren't going to be able to do this individually.
"We had to be united if we were going to accomplish anything."
Besides signing their name, Gard had each player write a word or two or three on their bricks.
"That was their own decision, what they wrote," he said, "what they felt they could contribute or what they felt was important to them as this team moved forward."
The words were written on different sides of the bricks; words like sacrifice, selfless, accountability, dedication, energy, heart, work, compete, pride, integrity, faith, together, win.
"They could do whatever they wanted," Gard said, "and there was no limit."
Looking at the bricks on the table, he added with a grin, "Nobody wrote Me or I."
•  •  •  •
The bricks have generated the desired response from the players, young and old alike.
"I thought it was a great idea because it gave us a chance to write down what was important," said junior forward Vitto Brown. "By doing that, our team got a sense of everybody's ideas and we were able to move from there.
"I always look at it (the table of bricks) and I don't look at the same brick. I'll pick out a different word and I'll kind of think about, 'Are we doing this?' Are we competing? Are we doing this together?'"
Gard's intent was to position the bricks in a heavily trafficked area of the locker room.
"They see it when they come through every day," Gard said. "They probably spent more time in this room (the game room) than anywhere else. It's always there for them to reflect back on."
Junior guard Zak Showalter, UW's second-oldest player, appreciated the reminder.
"They're in a spot where you see them often, so you read a couple of words and kind of reassess," he said. "It kind of put things back into perspective to see what we're trying to accomplish as a team — to hold each other accountable and set the pace for where we want to go this year."
Alex Illikainen, a freshman, liked the fact that each player got to personalize the bricks.
"I thought it was a cool idea," he said. "And for everyone to have their own contribution was really cool. I don't think we repeated very many words. Everyone brings their own little thing."
The team managers are the "caretakers" of the bricks, according to Gard. Occasionally, the table will be moved into the main locker room area where the players dress before games.
"We've jockeyed it back and forth," Gard said. "It tipped over one time."
And he cautioned, "We don't want any of the bricks dropping on someone's toe."
Junior forward Nigel Hayes, the team catalyst, has gotten a kick out of it all.
"Apparently, it seems to be working," said Hayes, who didn't have to be reminded that the Badgers are in the midst of a five-game winning streak. "We don't know if correlation means causation. I'm learning that right now in class.
"Are the bricks the reason for winning? Who knows? They look good. Maybe they're serving a purpose. The things that the guys wrote on them, I think they're starting to embody and make sure they show up in our play so it has been good overall."
The last time Wisconsin lost was Jan. 12 at Northwestern. It would turn out to be a watershed moment with Hayes expressing his concerns during a team meeting, and to the media.
"There were things that went unsaid that needed to be said and guys needed to refocus their minds," Hayes recalled. "There was a lot going on. I think we needed a refocusing type of deal, and that's what happened."
Hayes, by his admission, has improved his leadership skills the last two months.
"I try my best to always keep improving in that area," he said. "I've always tried to do a good job of communicating to the guys the things that need to be done. There are ways to say things. Sometimes it's not about what you say but how you say it and I've tried to do a better job of doing that.
"I don't think we repeated very many words," Illikainen said. "Everyone brings their own little thing."
"Also I've been leading by example. I've consciously picked up my level of play, which has made other guys step up their game as well because it always starts with your leader."
Brown knew that Hayes, a close friend, had it in him to lead. It was just a matter of transitioning into that role after two years following others.
"It's not something that is natural," Brown said. "Just because all of a sudden you're the main player, it doesn't mean necessarily that you will be the leader. I think it took him (Hayes) awhile to figure out what he needed to do — not only to lead by example but also vocally and I think he has done a real nice job of it."
Gard has noticed the changes in Hayes. Some more subtle than others.
"I think the reason that he's playing better is because he's a better leader," he suggested. "He's showing it by example; he's practicing better; he's taking younger guys under his wing more frequently.
"More than anything, the locker room has gotten much tighter," Gard went on. "There's a higher care factor. Not that they didn't like each other and get along with each other before. But the best teams we've had were talented but also the closest teams.
"There's no doubt that we've grown as much off the court — collectively in the locker room — as we have on the court, and that has helped us make the strides that we've been able to make."
As Gard strolled through the locker room, he stopped in front of a framed picture of Alando Tucker, an undersized jumping-jack on Ryan's early teams and the school's all-time leading scorer.
"Alando might be one of the best leaders we've ever had," he said. "He was a man of few words. He didn't say hardly anything in the locker room. But when he spoke, it was like E.F. Hutton. Everyone listened.
"I've always told them (the current players) you don't have to say that much. Just lead by example. You can do more for the younger players by how they see you in practice every day, how you conduct yourself in the locker room, how you conduct yourself on the road.
"That will speak volumes, more than anything you can tell them in 15 to 20 minutes."
There have been team-bonding events. Last week, it was bowling. The week before, laser tag. The players have also gone to movies together. They last saw The Revenant with Leonardo DiCaprio.
"It's good for this group," Showalter said, "because we've got a lot of young guys who haven't spent as much time here as the guys from the past couple of years have spent together.
"And I think it translates on to the court. The more you're together off the court, the more comfortable you are with each other. I think that has had an impact on us."
Speaking for the freshmen, Illikainen said, "It really impacts us. I had a blast bowling. You just feel that much closer with the older guys and more confident to play with them. You see them off the floor enjoying each other and bonding, and it really makes it easier on the court."
During practices, Gard has introduced some new drills that are skill-specific.
"I definitely think we've responded well to those," Showalter said. "It's more game-situation stuff so that when you're in that situation you know that you've done it multiple times in practice. It's easier to go off the habits that you've built and it has helped us get to where we are right now."
The last few years, the Badgers have had a wealth of experienced, savvy players. As a result, the focus in practice was on possessions, honing their craft, sharpening their edge.
With such a young group, the emphasis has been on player development. No detail has been too small. Nothing has been assumed. Teaching the fundamentals has been critical to their growth.
"The things that the guys wrote on them," Hayes said, "I think they're starting to embody and make sure they show up in our play."
Gard has even set aside "developmental days" — what he has labeled as bowl practices.
While the starters will be excused — "The heavy-minute guys appreciate getting off their legs and doing more recovery with our training staff," Gard said — the younger players will scrimmage.
"They've embraced these days because it's a chance for them to run all of our stuff (on offense and defense)," Gard said. "We play eight-minute quarters and have media timeouts. And we make them execute our things and we teach within it."
Illikainen has welcomed the tweaked approach to practice ("The specific, fundamental drills have really helped me") and the extra attention and work that the freshmen have been afforded.
"Staying after practice to scrimmage is always fun for me," he said. "I really enjoy it because it's a time to get up and down (the court) for those of us who don't play as much."
With so much inexperience, Gard has been fond of saying, "We're Dow Jones, we're riding like the stock market, up and down, depending on what day it is."
Gard has expanded his rotation with that in mind.
"The competition off the bench is good," he said. "We're relying on whoever is playing well — whether they have the hot hand or they're just doing things solid — they're going to get more minutes. It fluctuates from game to game.
"I always say, 'We'll take the contributions however we can get them, whether it's a minute, 10 minutes or 30 minutes. No matter what the stat line says, come in and add to the bucket, don't take anything out of the bucket,' and they've embraced that."
Throughout his nine-week tenure, Gard has been adamant about certain things.
"The continuum of success is not guaranteed," Gard has pointed out. "Just because you put on a Wisconsin jersey does not guarantee that you're going to win 30 games and go to a Final Four.
"The older guys here, the juniors, have not had a typical college basketball experience. They've been 66-12 with two Final Fours. That's not normal.
"Most teams have to go through growing pains and face some type of adversity."
What happened during the non-conference season was foreign to the returning players. So much so that they weren't as prepared to handle it because they had no previous reference point at Wisconsin.
That prompted Gard to ask of himself, "How can we help them understand this is normal?"
There was no simple solution or painless remedy.
"There is a process you have to go through," he advised everyone, "as long as we embrace and stick to that, we'll be fine; the results will take care of themselves.
"If you skip parts in the process, you'll find yourself in trouble."
Restoring the Swing has been one of Gard's changes. None have been dramatic.
"He wants to be consistent for us," Showalter said. "Teams respond when you're consistent."
But he has been more of a presence in the locker room and training room.
"I circle through to see how they're doing," Gard said. "I want to make sure I'm visible to them in areas other than the court and offer my support other than when they see me with the whistle on."
That's the foundation Gard has been building among the players. Brick by brick, 17 in all.
"The main thing is they've bought in," he said. "We've got 17 pairs of feet in the boat. They all have ahold of their oar and they're all rowing in the same direction."
Gard printed two words on his own brick: Leader. Mentor.
