'Make 'Em Believe' excerpt: Battle 4 Atlantis
November 19, 2018 | Men's Basketball
Look back at the Badgers 2014 Battle 4 Atlantis title
The following is excerpted from the 2015Â book, "Make 'Em Believe: The inside story of the Badgers' Road to the 2015 Final Four." This hard cover, 160-page keepsake features first-hand stories from Wisconsin players and former head coach Bo Ryan.
Order your copy of "Make 'Em Believe"
Â
Prior to the season, the Badgers had very clear goals and expectations. As they departed for the Bahamas on Nov. 24, the players had one thing on their minds.
"We wanted to win every possible thing we could win," Josh Gasser said, boiling it down to the simplest terms. "The Battle 4 Atlantis was our first goal and we treated it like it was our first championship. The field was as good as an Elite Eight. Pretty much every team down there had a great season and did well in the NCAA tournament."
To Gasser's point, seven of the eight teams in the 2014 Battle 4 Atlantis would ultimately be selected for the NCAA tournament. In fact, all seven won their first game in the Big Dance with four (Wisconsin, North Carolina, Oklahoma and UCLA) reaching the Sweet 16. Interestingly, preseason No. 7 Florida was the only team from Atlantis not to make March Madness.
"We knew going into it that it was a great field," Sam Dekker explained. "We were really looking forward to it because we had heard how cool Atlantis was but it was also a great opportunity to see how we stacked up against some of best teams in the country early on."
Setting the scene, the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament is held in the Imperial Ballroom of the Atlantis resort on appropriately-named Paradise Island, Bahamas. The unique setting featured a low ceiling, complete with chandeliers. The court was illuminated brightly, but the temporary bleachers on the edges were cloaked in a blue darkness that made it feel like the teams were playing on a strange underwater stage.
The eight-team, three-game tournament would also be played against a backdrop of water slides, pristine beaches, shark pools and even a casino that teams walked through on their way to and from every game. To say there were distractions would be an understatement.
It was in Atlantis that the Badgers first demonstrated their incredible ability to separate fun and focus. Mere minutes after arriving at the resort you could find the entire team, all 15 of them, alternating trips down the giant water slides and splashing in the ocean or playing touch football on the beach.
"One of the neat things about the Bahamas trip that was reflective of the entire season was that when we did something, we did it together," Dekker revealed. "There were no cliques on the team. We had one group message chain that included the entire team. If you wanted to get something out, it went to the whole team. So if someone had an idea, we were all in on it. That was the most fun trip we've taken because there was a healthy balance of basketball and fun. Everybody did everything together."
"That first night we were there was really fun," Zak Showalter said. "The whole team was just chilling by the beach. We just played. I remember burying Nigel up to his head in the sand and tossing each other into the ocean. When you live in Wisconsin, it's pretty hard to beat 80 degrees in late November."
But after top-seeded Wisconsin rolled past UAB, 72-43, in the opener Kaminsky assured media that the Badgers were focused on their assignment.
"We're having a great time here, but as fun as Atlantis is with all the waterslides and everything, this is a business trip for us."
Kaminsky led the way for the Badgers with 16 points against a struggling UAB team that would lose all three games in the Bahamas and begin the season just 2-5. Nobody would have guessed that team would rally later that season to make the NCAA tournament and stun No. 3 seed Iowa State in the opening round.
Things would get tougher for the Badgers in the second round on Thanksgiving Day against a Georgetown team that had just posted an impressive overtime win over Florida the night before. At that point in the season, Wisconsin had not trailed in the second half of a game, but that changed when the Hoyas built a nine-point lead, 53-44, with 11:30 remaining. The Badgers were having a difficult time containing Georgetown's inside-outside threat of guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera and 6-foot-10, 350-pound center Joshua Smith.
"Georgetown was a physical and tough team, maybe along the lines of Michigan State," Nigel Hayes remembered. "Their big guy, Josh Smith, might be the largest player we'll ever play against in our lives. They gave us a challenge."
Wisconsin was still trailing at the under-8:00 timeout and starting guards Traevon Jackson and Josh Gasser were both on the bench saddled with four fouls. That's when Bo Ryan employed the team's "Redwoods" lineup, consisting of four players 6-foot-8 or taller along with one guard. In this case, Kaminsky, Dekker, Hayes and Duje Dukan joined Bronson Koenig.
The Redwoods, and Dukan in particular, would give Wisconsin a shot in the arm. Dukan scored eight consecutive points for the Badgers giving them their first lead since the opening minutes of the half.
"When Trae and I got in foul trouble, Coach Ryan didn't put us back in until about one minute left because we told him to keep the other guys out there," Gasser acknowledged. "Usually we'd go back in with three or four minutes left but when we went on our run, Duje and Bronson were out there and doing well. Coach asked us if we were ready to check in and we both said to leave them in. That was kind of a coming out party for those two and helped our depth moving forward."
Koenig would tie his then-career high with 14 points and Dukan would add eight points, including a pair of pivotal 3-pointers. For the three-game tournament, Dukan would average 27 minutes and 10.6 points per game while knocking down 6 of his 11 3-point attempts, inspiring Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis to pen from courtside:
"Just what the Badgers needed to find out: They have yet another big man who can shoot from deep.
At 6-foot-9 and 220 pounds, senior forward Duje Dukan is ready to step into the pantheon of Bo Ryan players who developed slowly, waited their turn and then took advantage when the opportunity to play presented itself."
The game was still very much in doubt with 2:30 remaining and the Badgers ahead, 64-59. During a timeout Ryan commanded his players' attention sensing the tense feeling in the ballroom/arena.
"Listen up," Ryan barked, trying to be heard over the Georgetown crowd's chant of "Ho-ya, Sax-a, Ho-ya, Sax-a."
"Can you hear that?" Ryan asked, pretending to listen the crowd.
"Coach was all serious and we thought he was about to yell at us for something," Hayes explained. "But instead, he started chanting 'Re-bound, re-bound, re-bound,' along with the crowd. We all just started laughing and it really relaxed us. Then we went out there and won the game, a big game."
The Badgers would indeed win the game, but it took an acrobatic tip-in from Hayes with 20 seconds remaining and a missed 3-pointer from Smith-Rivera at the buzzer to pull it out. Smith-Rivera had 29 points and was 5-for-5 from behind the arc until that last shot, but Wisconsin would double-team him with Jackson and Kaminsky on the final possession and force the clinching miss.
"That tournament was a nice confidence booster for me," Dukan said looking back. "I had missed the first two games of the season after that strange eligibility issue from playing in the exhibition games two years before when I had mono, so the Battle 4 Atlantis kind of jump-started the season for me."
"I'm proud of Duje," Gasser would offer. "The fact that he stuck it out over his career and was unselfish enough to just want to be a Badger and be part of winning teams. He could have transferred somewhere and averaged 15-20 points per game at a smaller conference team that may not win as many games, but he wanted to contribute and play at the highest level. He wanted to play for championships. Guys like that are what make a team great."
In the championship game, the Badgers would face an Oklahoma team that had posted double-digit wins over UCLA and Butler to reach the title game.Â
When Kaminsky picked up his second foul just five and a half minutes in, Wisconsin's depth was on display in the championship game as well. The eventual tournament MVP would not return the rest of the half. Next man up.
"A lot of teams might have gotten rattled when their star player goes down like Frank's foul trouble," Hayes said. "But the type of team we had, whenever a guy wasn't having a great game or went down, his teammates picked him up."
Again it was Dukan picking up the slack, hitting a trio of 3s and scoring 11 points in a first half that featured 11 lead changes. Wisconsin could cling to a 34-33 lead at intermission.
"I was frustrated at halftime," Kaminsky admitted. "I hadn't been in foul trouble much at all in my career and I hated sitting on the bench that whole half and not being able to help my teammates. They did a great job of keeping us in it, and I knew I needed to be the best player I could be in that second half."
Kaminsky and Wisconsin would answer the call in the second half. The Badgers scored 16 of the first 18 points after halftime, sprinting to a 50-35 lead. UW also clamped down on defense, forcing 21 Oklahoma turnovers and limiting the Sooners to 2-for-14 shooting over a 10-minute stretch that overlapped halftime. OU would never get closer than nine points the rest of the way as Kaminsky scored 14 of his 17 points in the final 20 minutes and finished as one of five Badgers in double figures.
As "Jump Around" blared over the ballroom speakers, the Badgers donned Battle 4 Atlantis champions hats and shirts and paraded their conch-shelled trophy around the pro-Wisconsin crowd.
"Our fans were crazy down there like always," Gasser laughed when thinking back. "It was such a long walk from the court back to our hotel rooms and we would always get stopped a hundred times for pictures and autographs. I remember after the championship game we wanted to rush back to our rooms so we all gathered in one tight line and hung onto the shoulders of the guy in front of you and sprinted through everyone. We must have looked ridiculous running through the casino and lobby, but it was the only way we'd be able to get through without being mobbed. The fans were awesome, but it was hilarious."
Three quality wins in three days and the Badgers had checked the first championship off their wish list.
"Winning the Battle 4 Atlantis was sweet," Dekker mused. "That was during a time when I wasn't playing as many minute because of my ankle injury and it gave me a chance to watch guys step up, guys like Nigel, Bronson, Duje, Showy. That was our first championship of the year and made a statement early because it was a great bracket. We made a point to celebrate and appreciate that one, but we also knew Duke was waiting for us when we got home."
Â
Order your copy of "Make 'Em Believe"
Â
Prior to the season, the Badgers had very clear goals and expectations. As they departed for the Bahamas on Nov. 24, the players had one thing on their minds.
"We wanted to win every possible thing we could win," Josh Gasser said, boiling it down to the simplest terms. "The Battle 4 Atlantis was our first goal and we treated it like it was our first championship. The field was as good as an Elite Eight. Pretty much every team down there had a great season and did well in the NCAA tournament."
To Gasser's point, seven of the eight teams in the 2014 Battle 4 Atlantis would ultimately be selected for the NCAA tournament. In fact, all seven won their first game in the Big Dance with four (Wisconsin, North Carolina, Oklahoma and UCLA) reaching the Sweet 16. Interestingly, preseason No. 7 Florida was the only team from Atlantis not to make March Madness.
"We knew going into it that it was a great field," Sam Dekker explained. "We were really looking forward to it because we had heard how cool Atlantis was but it was also a great opportunity to see how we stacked up against some of best teams in the country early on."
Setting the scene, the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament is held in the Imperial Ballroom of the Atlantis resort on appropriately-named Paradise Island, Bahamas. The unique setting featured a low ceiling, complete with chandeliers. The court was illuminated brightly, but the temporary bleachers on the edges were cloaked in a blue darkness that made it feel like the teams were playing on a strange underwater stage.
The eight-team, three-game tournament would also be played against a backdrop of water slides, pristine beaches, shark pools and even a casino that teams walked through on their way to and from every game. To say there were distractions would be an understatement.
It was in Atlantis that the Badgers first demonstrated their incredible ability to separate fun and focus. Mere minutes after arriving at the resort you could find the entire team, all 15 of them, alternating trips down the giant water slides and splashing in the ocean or playing touch football on the beach.
"One of the neat things about the Bahamas trip that was reflective of the entire season was that when we did something, we did it together," Dekker revealed. "There were no cliques on the team. We had one group message chain that included the entire team. If you wanted to get something out, it went to the whole team. So if someone had an idea, we were all in on it. That was the most fun trip we've taken because there was a healthy balance of basketball and fun. Everybody did everything together."
"That first night we were there was really fun," Zak Showalter said. "The whole team was just chilling by the beach. We just played. I remember burying Nigel up to his head in the sand and tossing each other into the ocean. When you live in Wisconsin, it's pretty hard to beat 80 degrees in late November."But after top-seeded Wisconsin rolled past UAB, 72-43, in the opener Kaminsky assured media that the Badgers were focused on their assignment.
"We're having a great time here, but as fun as Atlantis is with all the waterslides and everything, this is a business trip for us."
Kaminsky led the way for the Badgers with 16 points against a struggling UAB team that would lose all three games in the Bahamas and begin the season just 2-5. Nobody would have guessed that team would rally later that season to make the NCAA tournament and stun No. 3 seed Iowa State in the opening round.
Things would get tougher for the Badgers in the second round on Thanksgiving Day against a Georgetown team that had just posted an impressive overtime win over Florida the night before. At that point in the season, Wisconsin had not trailed in the second half of a game, but that changed when the Hoyas built a nine-point lead, 53-44, with 11:30 remaining. The Badgers were having a difficult time containing Georgetown's inside-outside threat of guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera and 6-foot-10, 350-pound center Joshua Smith.
"Georgetown was a physical and tough team, maybe along the lines of Michigan State," Nigel Hayes remembered. "Their big guy, Josh Smith, might be the largest player we'll ever play against in our lives. They gave us a challenge."
Wisconsin was still trailing at the under-8:00 timeout and starting guards Traevon Jackson and Josh Gasser were both on the bench saddled with four fouls. That's when Bo Ryan employed the team's "Redwoods" lineup, consisting of four players 6-foot-8 or taller along with one guard. In this case, Kaminsky, Dekker, Hayes and Duje Dukan joined Bronson Koenig.
The Redwoods, and Dukan in particular, would give Wisconsin a shot in the arm. Dukan scored eight consecutive points for the Badgers giving them their first lead since the opening minutes of the half.
"When Trae and I got in foul trouble, Coach Ryan didn't put us back in until about one minute left because we told him to keep the other guys out there," Gasser acknowledged. "Usually we'd go back in with three or four minutes left but when we went on our run, Duje and Bronson were out there and doing well. Coach asked us if we were ready to check in and we both said to leave them in. That was kind of a coming out party for those two and helped our depth moving forward."
Koenig would tie his then-career high with 14 points and Dukan would add eight points, including a pair of pivotal 3-pointers. For the three-game tournament, Dukan would average 27 minutes and 10.6 points per game while knocking down 6 of his 11 3-point attempts, inspiring Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis to pen from courtside:
"Just what the Badgers needed to find out: They have yet another big man who can shoot from deep.
At 6-foot-9 and 220 pounds, senior forward Duje Dukan is ready to step into the pantheon of Bo Ryan players who developed slowly, waited their turn and then took advantage when the opportunity to play presented itself."
The game was still very much in doubt with 2:30 remaining and the Badgers ahead, 64-59. During a timeout Ryan commanded his players' attention sensing the tense feeling in the ballroom/arena.
"Listen up," Ryan barked, trying to be heard over the Georgetown crowd's chant of "Ho-ya, Sax-a, Ho-ya, Sax-a."
"Can you hear that?" Ryan asked, pretending to listen the crowd.
"Coach was all serious and we thought he was about to yell at us for something," Hayes explained. "But instead, he started chanting 'Re-bound, re-bound, re-bound,' along with the crowd. We all just started laughing and it really relaxed us. Then we went out there and won the game, a big game."
The Badgers would indeed win the game, but it took an acrobatic tip-in from Hayes with 20 seconds remaining and a missed 3-pointer from Smith-Rivera at the buzzer to pull it out. Smith-Rivera had 29 points and was 5-for-5 from behind the arc until that last shot, but Wisconsin would double-team him with Jackson and Kaminsky on the final possession and force the clinching miss.
"That tournament was a nice confidence booster for me," Dukan said looking back. "I had missed the first two games of the season after that strange eligibility issue from playing in the exhibition games two years before when I had mono, so the Battle 4 Atlantis kind of jump-started the season for me."
"I'm proud of Duje," Gasser would offer. "The fact that he stuck it out over his career and was unselfish enough to just want to be a Badger and be part of winning teams. He could have transferred somewhere and averaged 15-20 points per game at a smaller conference team that may not win as many games, but he wanted to contribute and play at the highest level. He wanted to play for championships. Guys like that are what make a team great."
In the championship game, the Badgers would face an Oklahoma team that had posted double-digit wins over UCLA and Butler to reach the title game.Â
When Kaminsky picked up his second foul just five and a half minutes in, Wisconsin's depth was on display in the championship game as well. The eventual tournament MVP would not return the rest of the half. Next man up.
"A lot of teams might have gotten rattled when their star player goes down like Frank's foul trouble," Hayes said. "But the type of team we had, whenever a guy wasn't having a great game or went down, his teammates picked him up."
Again it was Dukan picking up the slack, hitting a trio of 3s and scoring 11 points in a first half that featured 11 lead changes. Wisconsin could cling to a 34-33 lead at intermission.
"I was frustrated at halftime," Kaminsky admitted. "I hadn't been in foul trouble much at all in my career and I hated sitting on the bench that whole half and not being able to help my teammates. They did a great job of keeping us in it, and I knew I needed to be the best player I could be in that second half."
Kaminsky and Wisconsin would answer the call in the second half. The Badgers scored 16 of the first 18 points after halftime, sprinting to a 50-35 lead. UW also clamped down on defense, forcing 21 Oklahoma turnovers and limiting the Sooners to 2-for-14 shooting over a 10-minute stretch that overlapped halftime. OU would never get closer than nine points the rest of the way as Kaminsky scored 14 of his 17 points in the final 20 minutes and finished as one of five Badgers in double figures.
As "Jump Around" blared over the ballroom speakers, the Badgers donned Battle 4 Atlantis champions hats and shirts and paraded their conch-shelled trophy around the pro-Wisconsin crowd.
"Our fans were crazy down there like always," Gasser laughed when thinking back. "It was such a long walk from the court back to our hotel rooms and we would always get stopped a hundred times for pictures and autographs. I remember after the championship game we wanted to rush back to our rooms so we all gathered in one tight line and hung onto the shoulders of the guy in front of you and sprinted through everyone. We must have looked ridiculous running through the casino and lobby, but it was the only way we'd be able to get through without being mobbed. The fans were awesome, but it was hilarious."
Three quality wins in three days and the Badgers had checked the first championship off their wish list.
"Winning the Battle 4 Atlantis was sweet," Dekker mused. "That was during a time when I wasn't playing as many minute because of my ankle injury and it gave me a chance to watch guys step up, guys like Nigel, Bronson, Duje, Showy. That was our first championship of the year and made a statement early because it was a great bracket. We made a point to celebrate and appreciate that one, but we also knew Duke was waiting for us when we got home."
Â
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballHighlights vs Providence || Wisconsin Basketball || Nov. 27, 2025
Thursday, November 27
Postgame Media Conference vs SIUE || Wisconsin Basketball || Nov. 17, 2025
Monday, November 17
Highlights vs SIUE || Wisconsin Basketball || Nov. 17, 2025
Monday, November 17
Postgame Media Conference vs Ball State || Wisconsin Basketball || Nov. 11, 2025
Tuesday, November 11
