Different look, great potential at Badgers’ core
March 27, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Mike Lucas, Varsity Magazine
Versatility of next year’s men’s basketball program intrigues and excites
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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — From his sight line just inside the Wisconsin locker room entrance, Dave Anderson could make out the pained expressions on the faces of the players after their season ended abruptly with a loss to Oregon in the NCAA Tournament. In processing the emotion, he characterized it.
"Don't waste the pain," advised Anderson, a prominent motivational speaker and author. "Whether you ever play basketball again or you're going into business, you can use it to keep you focused to work harder — to move you more towards where you want to go."
"Pain can empower you. Pain can keep you going because you remember what this felt like. You remember and you think about what more maybe you could have done, not just today, but leading up to today. Pain is a terrible thing to waste. They need to use it and let it kindle up a fire within them."
Wisconsin's head coach Greg Gard has long been a subscriber to the mind-strengthening, character-building principles espoused by Anderson, who spoke three times to this season's team, including before the Badgers' upset of then-unbeaten Michigan in mid-January.
For the UW players, it was the genesis of the "red belt mentality" — a mindset predicated on urgency, intensity and hunger; the potential antithesis of someone who has top-level status and security, such as a black belt in martial arts. Anderson is all about accountability and self-awareness.
On his general talking points, Gard said, "Our core group has really embraced commitment and dedication; togetherness and unselfishness. Entitlement is not an option. They understand they have to work every single day."
D'Mitrik Trice, Brad Davison, Nate Reuvers, Kobe King and Aleem Ford make up the core of returning players with multiple years of eligibility remaining.
As a group, they've appeared in a combined 318 games with 118 starts.
"That group," Gard said, "has watched a transformation take place and we're on very solid footing for the future. That group witnessed what we went through last year and how it spring-boarded us into this year and how all the success this year was a byproduct of what we had grown through.
"That group had to handle more scrutiny, a bigger microscope and a brighter spotlight maybe than any group we've had in the last 20 years just because of what had not happened the previous year. I thought they did a good job at maintaining their focus on the things that were important."
Trice, Davison, Reuvers and Ford each have two seasons of eligibility left. King has three.
"That core group is really solid in terms of how we do things and how important the team is," Gard continued. "They are all 'we is more important than me' guys and that's crucial for us going forward. The bedrock of this program has been like that and it's good to see that fabric re-emerge."
Thank you for all the Support this Year..Through both the Love and the Hate-We will Always have One Another to Lean on. Pain is the Best Source of Motivation & Adversity reveals Character! We Will Be Back Stronger than Ever! Always a Blessing to Wear the Red & White ⚪️👐🏼🔴
— Brad Davison (@Braddavi34) March 25, 2019
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What didn't re-emerge in March was the offense. And it was a reason why the season came to a screeching halt in San Jose, California, the site of last Friday's, 72-54, loss to Oregon. In what was a continuation of a trend, the Badgers struggled to make shots; they went 6-of-30 from the 3-point line.
"When you look at the teams we've had over the years, if you have the looks, you've got to knock them down," Gard said. "Unless you have superior talent, you have to make shots at an average or above-average rate in order to advance. When you don't, you get sent home."
The irony, he noted, was that the team practiced well and shot well leading up to the game.
"I thought we were as good as we've been all year on Wednesday and Thursday in practice," Gard said. "We were as on-point as we've ever been in terms of freshness, sharpness and guys making shots and the crispness of what we were doing offensively.
"But you still have to make them in the games. We had plenty of good looks. But we were 8-for-49 the last two games from 3. We were never offensively a juggernaut … we had to make 3s to compensate."
Was it end-of-the-season fatigue? Too much wear and tear on Trice and Davison? Trice logged 1,107 minutes (32.6). Davison played 1,096 (32.2). Not having Trevor Anderson, who was lost for the season with a knee injury in late November, forced them to carry a heavier work load in the backcourt.
"That's where the needle tends to point right now," Gard said of the suggestion Trice and Davison may have worn down. "Looking at the minutes, in terms of what they were asked to do, it definitely can be in the conversation. You hate to use it as an excuse. But they were asked to do a lot.
"They shot it at as such a high rate and so well early that tells me they're good shooters. So why the downward trend? And it was gradual with both of them. Did the composite of the season catch up to them? Other teams are going through it, too. I don't have an exact answer right now.
"We're trying to see if there is a common denominator to the when and how."
Despite the late struggles, the Badgers still managed to finish with the second highest 3-point field goal shooting percentage (.366) in the Big Ten. Only Michigan State (.384) is better. Next season's offense, obviously, will look much different without Ethan Happ and Khalil Iverson.
"It changes in terms of skill set and ability and characteristics that different players bring to it," Gard said. "It has been unique the last couple of years because we've played to strengths and now the strengths will be a little bit different.
"Overall, the consensus is that it will be a much more diverse group, a much more multi-dimensional offense. I think we will be much more difficult to guard and prepare for because we've got multiple guys who can play on the perimeter and play inside/outside.
"I like the versatility of the returning group. The hardest teams to guard are when you can't key on one guy. Those are the ones that keep you up at night."
One of the key pieces will be Micah Potter, the 6-foot-9, 240-pound Ohio State transfer. As of now, Potter will have one and a half seasons of eligibility, but the Badgers will likely apply for a waiver to enable him two full seasons. Over the previous two seasons, Potter appeared in 59 games and started 16 times for the Buckeyes.
"His Big Ten experience is huge," Gard said. "He's got a Big Ten body and a skill set that fits a lot of what we like. He can shoot it. He's physical in the post. And he's more adept inside than I thought he was. How that all applies and correlates to what we do, we'll know in time."
Another critical piece on the frontline is the 6-11 Reuvers.
"As big of a jump that he took from last year to this year, physically and with his conditioning and all of those things, this year's jump could be even bigger," Gard said. "As he continues to get stronger and he's able to play longer stretches, his endurance builds and his confidence grows."
Gard likened Reuvers' motivation to Frank Kaminsky's going into his junior season.
"Not that I'm comparing him to Frank," he cautioned. "But Frank took his jump when he was running up and down the floor and Jared Berggren was no longer sitting in front of the scorers table ready to check back into the game after a missed shot or a mistake."
Happ would be the Berggren equivalent for Reuvers.
"That was a huge thing for Frank mentally," Gard said. "He finally said, 'I'm on my own. I have to do this, sink or swim.' And I think it will be a big thing for Nate knowing, 'Ethan is not here. It's time to step forward and into the center ring and show what I can do.'"
The same holds true for King, who will have every opportunity to earn a spot in the lineup.
"His confidence needs to grow — he has to have a big offseason," Gard said. "He's one of the guys who really has a chance to take a step forward and use what they learned this year to catapult themselves. His potential is as good as maybe anyone we have in terms of his ceiling.
"It's all dependent on what he does with his opportunities."
In this context, Ford looms as a wild card at either the 3 or 4.
"He took a big step the last three weeks," Gard said. "I saw the re-emergence of things that we had seen prior to his knee injury last fall (and subsequent surgery). Some aggressiveness, some more toughness plays. He's another player who has to have a big offseason."
Gard is counting on incoming freshman Tyler Wahl to be in a rotation that will be anchored by Brevin Pritzl, the only senior on the roster. The 6-7 Wahl is from Lakeville (Minnesota) North — the same high school that produced Reuvers — and had 19 points and 17 rebounds in the Class 4A title game Saturday.
"I don't have any doubt that Tyler will be in the mix someway, somehow," he said. "He's too smart, too savvy, too tough not to be. He's a Swiss Army knife type of player. I like guys who are positionless and have an edge to them and will find a way to make the right play at the right time.
"He's a kid who gets it. He has a toughness to him like a (Josh) Gasser. He just figures out a way to win. You find those guys on successful teams."
Gard plans on doing his due diligence by exploring the transfer lists this offseason.
"Everyone that fits academically or is applicable to who we are and how we do things is on the table right now, whether they're grad transfers or two-year transfers," said Gard. "Whichever way we go in the offseason, I suspect we will add somebody or multiple pieces to this next group.
"We're in a day and age where traditional recruiting needs to be thrown out the window. The transfer rules have changed so much. It just changes your thinking so much and it widens your net. And you can find very good options. We found a terrific one in Micah."
How will Potter mesh with the core group? How will Wahl transition to college ball? It's among the many questions that will have to be answered after the Badgers re-established themselves among the Big Ten's top-four seeds and returned to the Big Dance after a one-year absence.
As painful as the Oregon loss was, Gard is intrigued by the future.
"The beauty of the unknown is you don't know how it's all going to piece together. Guys have to take steps in the offseason, guys have to continue to improve. There will be newcomers joining the ranks. The excitement is in that unknown. But there are a lot of good pieces."
