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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Whether Ethan Happ is grabbing a defensive rebound and leading the break, spinning to the baseline and reversing the ball off the glass, deflecting an entry to the post and pouncing on it or passing the ball out of a double-team to an open shooter, the 6-foot-10 Happ has a unique game.
How unique?
Each of Wisconsin's assistant coaches were asked to fill in the blank.
Happ's overall play reminds me of (blank) …
"That's a good question," Lamont Paris said. "That's a really good question."
"Oh, wow," said Howard Moore. "It's tough to compare him to anybody."
"Boy, I'm searching for somebody," Joe Krabbenhoft said. "Let me try and think here."
CBS analyst Bill Raftery joined them in this quandary. Last week, the 73-year-old Raftery had a Pac-12 game featuring Arizona's Dusan Ristic (7-0, 245) and Utah's David Collette (6-10, 220). On Sunday, he was courtside to watch Happ battle with Purdue's Caleb Swanigan and Isaac Haas.
"What they have in common," Raftery said of Happ, Collette and Ristic, "is outstanding balance and footwork. I didn't say this on the air the other night, but they are throwbacks and not to George Mikan (who starred in the mid '40s and '50s). They're just fundamentally so good.
"In terms of comparing him," he said specifically of Happ, "he's just a throwback kind of a kid. His feel for the game is amazing. We always think of a point guard running a team as having a great understanding of the game. For what he does, he's above and beyond most centers.
"He plays hard. He plays every play. He's engrossed. He's into the game. With the size of his hands, the length of his arms, he can be persuasive under the glass. He doesn't get trapped under there without some spice to his game: he can score with either hand or come out the other side of the rim."
Although the Boilermakers overpowered Wisconsin, 66-55, on the strength of their inside-outside game, Happ more than held his own against Swanigan and Haas. Besides leading the Badgers in scoring with 17 points, he had five rebounds, four assists and six steals, which matched his career high.
"He's so much quicker than anybody we play on our front line," said Purdue head coach Matt Painter. "Like with a dribble handoff, or a ball screen, he just gets his hands in there and he's always moving his feet. And it's hard to throw the ball in the post against him.
"He kind of jumps left to right, kind of plays the post defense different than anybody we go against. But he's so fast for somebody 6-9 that he just causes a lot of problems."
Happ may look shorter. But he is listed at 6-10. Is that legit?
"Without shoes, no," Happ said. "With shoes, I am."
His weight fluctuates between 227 and 230. Same as last season.
"But my lean mass is up," he said, "and my fat mass is down."
His handle is off the charts, too, for someone his size.
"Most big guys can't dribble and pass," Painter said. "He can dribble, he can spin, he can pass. That's the one matchup for us when (Nigel) Hayes and him get into that mid-post — free-throw line extended, and they start driving it — it's hard to read because he (Happ) is so good with the dribble."
Happ was asked for his take on the topic, "Who plays like you?"
"I don't see anyone with a similarity to my game," he said. "I've heard Kevin McHale."
The 6-10 McHale, an NBA Hall of Famer, had a wide array of low post moves like the up and under. "He (Happ) has a lot of pump fakes and pivots like McHale around the rim," agreed Paris, who's also aware that McHale had a variety of shots in his arsenal, including a face-up jumper.
"I don't have a lot of skills that he had," Happ said of McHale, the former All-American at Minnesota. "But I don't think he had the ball-handling ability that I have, either. My game is unique because of being a guard all my life and then turning into a post player (in high school and college)."
It's that uniqueness that truly stands out.
"He's a combination of so many types of guys," Paris said. "You've got a guy who plays really hard and can handle the ball. You've got a guy who's got great footwork and a good touch around the rim with a skill set that can develop from the outside.
"He's just so different from most of the guys that I've been around — from handling the ball to how active and quick he is on defense. Vertically, he's not spectacular as an athlete. But he's really good laterally. It's just hard to compare him to somebody."
Moore came up with a name out of the past: 6-7 Sam Okey, the Cassville, Wisconsin, legend. Okey played two and one-half years for the Badgers (averaging 12 points and 7 rebounds in 68 games) before transferring to Iowa for his final season of eligibility. He played in only seven games for the Hawkeyes.
In 2016, Happ was the Big Ten's consensus Freshman of the Year. He was the first to be so honored at Wisconsin since Okey in 1996.
"Sam was a better shooter," said Moore. "But he would be the closest to a big man coming in as a young guy and having an immediate impact. Ethan is just a tough matchup. Also, it's unfair to compare him to somebody else because he has established his own identity and niche.
"He might have one bad play. But the next play, you see another gear. That's a testament to him. A year ago, he might have wallowed in a bad play a little bit. But I've seen a lot more resiliency and a lot more bounce back this year. He has the ability to put a play behind him if it didn't go in his favor."
Krabbenhoft suggested another former UW player, 6-8 Mike Wilkinson, the Wisconsin Heights product. Wilkinson, like Happ, redshirted as a true freshman. Playing in 130 games, he led the Badgers in rebounding four straight years while posting 14 career double-doubles and scoring 1,532 points.
"He is a little bit like Wilkinson in terms of his footwork, feel for the game and the use of his body around the rim," said Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard. "Mike's game was more perimeter-oriented. But Ethan keeps his balance and counters similar to the way Mike used to play."
A few weeks ago, former UW center Greg Stiemsma was in Madison and practiced with the team. The 6-11 Stiemsma is currently an NBA free agent and pondering retirement after playing in 203 career games with Boston, Minnesota, New Orleans and Toronto.
"Guarding him the other day, he knows how to play, he knows how to use his body," said the 31-year-old Stiemsma, a close friend of Krabbenhoft. "It's not that easy to be that size and be that crafty. He's a hard guy to keep in front of you in the post.
"By using the right angles (around the basket), it limits how much you have to work in the sense of making it a little bit easier on yourself. Physically, you don't have to move anybody (a defender) as far. It makes him more efficient and efficiency in this game can lead to success."
What advice would Stiemsma offer Happ?
"Just stay with it," he said. "As a big man in a big program in a big basketball world, sometimes the learning curve can be a little slow. I wish I could have figured it out sooner. Trust your game and work on all the little stuff you're not good at. But at the same time flourish in the stuff you're good at."
Happ has already begun to flourish in many areas:
GRABBING A DEFENSIVE REBOUND AND LEADING THE BREAK
Before he can get out and run with the ball, he must snag it.
Swanigan leads the Big Ten in rebounding (12.9), Happ is tied for second (9.1).
"If you want to get a lot of rebounds," Happ said, "you have to anticipate when the shot is going up and work for position. You also have to anticipate which way the ball is coming off the rim. He (Swanigan) does a lot of work early. That's what I try to do as well."
Happ was a point guard during his formative years as a youth player. As a result, he feels comfortable putting the ball on the floor and pushing it.
"When he does that," Gard said, "it puts that much more pressure on the defense and it allows us to run another shooter wide versus having the guard as the ball-handler."
Before Sunday's game, Happ said, "If they're going to pressure our point guard and I have Haas or Swanigan on me, I might do that a couple of times. I like to do that. Most of the time, we have numbers if I can get a rebound and push it, my guy is usually behind me — usually with two other guys.
"If we don't have numbers," he quickly added, "I jump stop and give the ball to the point guard to start the offense."
That recognition and/or decision-making signals improvement to Gard.
"He used to be kind of a train going down the tracks with no brakes," Gard said. "Now, he has gotten better in making decisions in transition and knowing when to slow down a little bit and when to stop, along with knowing when to keep going. That has been a growth in his game."
SPINNING TO THE BASELINE AND REVERSING THE BALL OFF THE GLASS
Happ didn't spend must time on the low block in high school.
As he grew, he said, "I turned into a wing-type player — catching, driving, stuff like that."
When he got to Wisconsin, he got a crash course on how to set up scoring angles from Frank Kaminsky. Happ was on the scout team as a freshman and matched daily against Kaminsky.
"With Frank, if you didn't have an angle, it was tough to score over the top of him," said Happ, a two-time all-state selection at Rockridge High School in Taylor Ridge, Illinois. "Playing against a 7-footer, the national player of the year, definitely made my game a lot better."
Happ is right-handed. For the most part.
"I do a lot of things right-handed," he said. "But I eat with my left and write with my left. And I definitely have just as much or more confidence in my left hand around the rim, especially jump hooks. That just comes with a lot of hard work practicing in the gym."
Gard used the word ambidextrous, but not in the manner you might expect.
"Everybody talks about being ambidextrous with your hands," Gard said. "But you can be ambidextrous with your feet, too — being comfortable going either way. It really doesn't matter which block that he's on because he's comfortable with that spin move."
As far as what factors into this thinking in the post, and what move he might try to execute on the right or left block, Happ said, "It's whatever they give me (on defense). Whether they're on me or playing off me, I'll then decide which move I'm going to do.
"The reverse lay-up has been something in my game for a really long time, so it's kind of natural for me. Especially with big hands, it's easy to palm the ball. The spin is obviously difficult, and the angles, but I've done it so much, it's more natural than anything else."
Happ might have taken some unsuspecting opponents by surprise last season.
"But now," Gard said, "the opposition is starting to sniff out the spin move a little with film work and scouting. It's not as easy for him to get that move as it has been in the past. He has had to add another component to his game. When they shut it off, you have to have a counter to it.
"And he's getting better going to the middle and trusting his jump hooks."
This year, Happ unveiled a face-up jumper from the elbow. He's 1-of-3 from that distance.
"There will be more," he promised.
Raftery sees the upside and potential for expanding his range.
"If he can make the 15- to 17-foot jumper, what a complement it would be to everything else he does," said Raftery, the former Seton Hall head coach. "I'm talking about growing — down the road." Raftery then spun a story.
"Years ago, Red Holzman drafted Walt Frazier," he said of the former New York Knicks coach and Southern Illinois point guard. "Everybody in New York had seen Frazier play in the NIT and he was really good. But what about his shot? Holzman's answer was, 'We practice every day. His form is fine.'"
Raftery equated that to Happ.
"The confidence will come in knowing he can make it," he said of refining his jumper through practice repetitions. "I think the future is very bright for him because he can expand his game."
DEFLECTING AN ENTRY TO THE POST AND POUNCING ON IT
Nebraska's Glynn Watson leads the Big Ten in steals with 34 (2.1 per game). Happ, who led the conference last season (1.8), is second with 30 steals (1.9).
"You have to pick your spots," Happ said. "Two percent of it is luck, I guess you could say. But a lot of it has to do with anticipating and trying to fake out the passer. On a lot of steals, I try to make them think that one way or one side is open and then take it away."
Gard had a word for his technique.
"You watch him on film and he kind of baits guys into throwing the ball," he said. "He'll duck and dive and pretend that he's going to one side and end up on other side. His footwork and eye-hand coordination are really good. But he just baits passers into a lot of steals."
Happ developed these instincts playing football with his brother in the backyard.
"We had two neighbors the same age as us and we'd play two-on-two," he said. "I would guard the wide receiver and try to bait him (the quarterback) into throwing an interception. That's where honestly I think the baiting skills come from."
At this level, of course, film study is an influential element.
"It's not that different from last year," said Happ, who had 63 steals. "One of the reasons you can attribute that high steal rate to was that I kind of knew guys' tendencies. While they're showing clips of guards, I'll watch what the bigs are doing, even when they're off the ball."
PASSING THE BALL OUT OF A DOUBLE-TEAM TO AN OPEN SHOOTER
Happ has 46 assists. Last season, he had 44 assists in 35 games.
"The biggest things are poise and patience — he doesn't try to play too fast out of the double team," Gard said. "He doesn't get as frantic as maybe he did when he was younger. He seems to enjoy picking people apart a little bit. For his size, he's a pretty adept passer and sees the floor very well."
Earlier in the season, Happ got some pointers from Kaminsky.
"He just gave me some strategy for when the double-teams come," he said.
Sounds good. What did Kaminsky tell him?
"I can't divulge that information," Happ said politely. "Sorry about that."
But Happ did say, "You have to be strong with the ball."
He left it at that. And, yes, he leaves it all on the floor.
His motor is part of his makeup, if not his uniqueness.
"He just works harder than most of the guys that he goes against," Krabbenhoft said. "People get caught up on how crafty he is around the rim. But the first thing I see when I watch him or play against him (in practice) is a guy that has got a motor. He just comes at you and at you and at you …"
Happ never leaves home without it.
"That's everything to me, that's how I got recruited," he said. "A high school player who's trying to get recruited asked me what he could do and I told him, 'Coaches love a high motor. They love a guy who gets after it every single possession and doesn't take plays off.'
"That's what I've tried to embody my whole career. In open gyms, when I'm not getting after it, I always play poorly because I need to engage myself on every play. I have to be the hardest worker on the floor every time. If you settle for anything less than that …"
He didn't have to fill in the blank.
