BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — After a full day of classes and a tutoring session, Khalil Iverson headed over to the Kohl Center to shoot some free throws Monday night with the assistance of another "tutor" — the Noah shot tracker, a computerized shooting aide that measures the arc and depth of each attempt and relays the information to the shooter. The optimum angle of entry for the basketball is 45 degrees.
"Khalil is probably in the low 40s to high 30s," estimated Wisconsin coach Greg Gard.
With a flatter trajectory, the shot has to be far more precise. Iverson is shooting 53 percent (18-of-34) from the free throw line. His jumper also tends to be flat, especially from the perimeter, where he's making 33 percent (4-of-12) from outside the arc. Meanwhile, he's shooting 57 percent on two-pointers, which is not surprising since his dunks have always been a reliable element of his game.
"Offensively, he's still very momentum-driven," Gard said. "If he gets one or two (shots) to go early, it kind of snowballs from there. If he gets a dunk, that fuels his fire a little bit. He hasn't gotten to the point yet where he's creating offense for himself. Defensively, he's starting to understand the assignments that he's getting and how important they are and he's taking some pride in that."
Iverson's defensive versatility was on display Sunday when the 6-foot-5, 212-pound sophomore guarded four different positions, from point (Maryland's Melo Trimble) to power forward. With Ethan Happ saddled with some foul trouble, Gard went at times with Nigel Hayes at the 5, Iverson at the 4, Brevin Pritzl at the 3 and a backcourt of Bronson Koenig, Zak Showalter and/or D'Mitrik Trice.
"We intentionally did that with the ball screens we were seeing," Gard explained. "Regardless of who it was, we felt we needed to be really quick and mobile to try and bottle up Trimble as much as we could. We're a lot more mobile and athletic (with that lineup). We're smaller, but when we're moving we're harder to chase. It's a little different group for defenses to guard."
It also created some matchup problems for the Terps on the defensive glass. The 6-3 Pritzl had five offensive rebounds, Iverson had three. As a team, the Badgers had 18 and converted them into a whopping 19-8 advantage in second-chance points. Although Iverson missed his only two shot attempts, he matched his career-high with seven rebounds (same as Pritzl) in 15 minutes of playing time.
"We were quicker at all the positions," Iverson said of Wisconsin's smaller lineup against Maryland. "And it helped out on the offensive end because we were all much quicker going after rebounds when the shot went up. It's harder to box out or block out a guy who's coming full steam ahead as opposed to a bigger guy who's just waiting in the paint for the rebound."
Asked if he has a preference, whether it's to play on the wing or at the low post, Iverson said, "It doesn't really matter to me. No matter what I go into the game as — whether it's a 2, 3 or 4, whatever it may be — I'm still basically going to do the same things. I'm going to try to get the ball to guys who can do damage in certain areas and then play off them by making hard cuts and rebounding."
At Michigan, Iverson came off the bench and provided an offensive spark by scoring 10 points (5-of-7 FGs), the first time that he has been in double figures since mid-December when he had a career-high 16 points at Marquette. Iverson says that his mindset doesn't change from game to game as far as how he can contribute. "I just try to make an impact any way that I can," he said.
UW associate head coach Lamont Paris believes Iverson can expand his offense even without a consistent jumper. "I'd like to see him around the basket more," he said. "I'd like to see him get the ball off a cut at the rim, and then challenge a guy physically and make something happen. I'd like to see him do that two or three times a game. Get the ball there (low post). Score. Get fouled. Or both."
When he gets the ball on the block, Paris stressed, "He has to be better physically than the next guy. He has to think, 'I don't care what my basketball skill level is, you're going to have a hard time against me because I'm better than you.' He has been active. He has been on the floor for loose balls. His energy level has been up. He just has to find a way to impact the game with his activity."
That's what he did at Michigan. "They were pretty aggressive on defense," said Iverson, who had eight points in the previous five games combined. "I just tried to take advantage of that with the Swing cuts. If you come off the cuts hard, normally the guy is behind you chasing and you can set up on the block. It gets you right around the rim so you don't have to do too much to get a quick basket."
Iverson and Pritzl are both members of the sophomore class. After taking a medical redshirt last season because of a foot injury, Pritzl has begun to emerge in the rotation. "Everyone knows that he can shoot the ball, but that's not the only thing that he can do," Iverson said. "He's got toughness and you can tell that his confidence is growing with every game. He's getting minutes and he's contributing."
Two other sophs have been developing at their own pace.
"They're still trying to find their way," Gard said of Charles Thomas and Alex Illikainen. "There are days where it's like, 'Yeah, I've got it figured out.' And the next day, they'll be swimming in too deep of water. It has been a work in progress with both of them. They've both shown moments of consistency. But both have also shown that they're sophomores yet."
Yet another soph, Andy Van Vliet, has been slowed recently by an ankle sprain.
"He's beginning to understand what Pritzl figured out — it's more than just shooting and it's not just going to be scoring that gets you on the floor," Gard said of Van Vliet, a 7-footer from Belgium. "You have to embrace the physicality. You have to embrace the other end of the floor (defense). You have to have an appreciation for all the intangibles that make you a consistent player.
"The scoring comes at the end of all of that — it's the caboose — in trying to be a complete player. Brevin has figured that out. For a big guy (like Van Vliet), it's still the physicality. They all develop at a different pace. I've been around enough of them and they're typically late developing."
When the Badgers return to action Thursday night at Ohio State, Iverson will have his own cheering section at Value City Arena. He's from Delaware, Ohio; 30 miles north of Columbus. The Buckeyes showed some interest in Iverson but it wasn't until late in the recruiting process.
"It's going to be pretty cool," Iverson said of his homecoming.
While starring at Hayes High School, where he was first-team All-Ohio, he never played in Value City Arena. But he did go to some Ohio State basketball and football games. And he is friends with OSU freshman guard Andre Wesson, who's from Westerville South, where Iverson's cousin went.
Columbus does hold some fond memories for Iverson. Three years ago, he had a triple-double against a city program, Bishop Hartley High School. Iverson had 11 points, 11 rebounds, 13 assists. Since the UW didn't play at Ohio State last season, will his first trip back make it different than other games?
"No sir, I'm going to approach it the same way," he said. "Nothing is going to change that."
Iverson said the family roll call in Columbus would include, "Mom, brother, grandma, sister."
It will likely be emotional for his mother Tracey, who has been known to send multiple texts to her son after Badger games. Besides doubling as a cheerleader/sounding board, she has been a role model as a grade school teacher. Khalil would like to major in education or rehabilitation psychology.
After fulfilling 30 service hours last semester by working with families and special needs groups, individuals with disabilities or chronic health conditions, Iverson conceded, "It's eye-opening." And it has reinforced the message that you can never take anything for granted, he added.
Certainly, he wouldn't fall into any such trap, not after losing his dad, Kevin Iverson, Sr., to a heart attack in early November of his senior year of high school. He was only 43.
Khalil's older brother, Kevin Jr., has been handling the logistics for Thursday's reunion. He's living in New Albany, 25 minutes from Columbus, where Khalil's older sister, Kourtnie, is a social worker.
"If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't even be here, to be honest," Khalil said of Kevin Jr. who got his schooling at Bowling Green and Toledo. "It started with the advance camp. My brother took the time and drove me all the way out here (to Madison). That was the first time I kind of got some interest.
"The (Wisconsin) coaches basically told me what it was that I needed to work on. Later on, they came and saw me play (in Delaware) to see if I did work on those things. And I did. I took what they told me, got in the gym immediately and started working and it has paid off."
Iverson shot free throws Monday night with that in mind; a career that is on an upward arc.
