Take Five: Five viewpoints in five days, celebrating the fifth anniversary of the Badgers' historic 2015 NCAA Tournament
BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Five years later, Josh Gasser still remembers "every little detail" in the days leading up to the Final Four matchup with Kentucky. One detail was inescapable, and it set the tone for how Gasser, a senior catalyst (a.k.a. Captain America), and his teammates went about their business.
"We were really good," Gasser said, "and we KNEW that we were REALLY good."
That conviction was borne out of confidence. And that confidence was the product of one outcome — "We knew that we made it all the way to the Final Four the year before," Gasser said — not mutually exclusive of another outcome: a last-second 74-73 loss to the Wildcats in the 2014 semifinals.
"We really knew that we had a much better team — we were bigger, more athletic and more experienced," Gasser said. "And to know how far we went the year before gave us so much more confidence in ourselves on what we could do — specifically in playing Kentucky again.
"We went toe-to-toe in every possession of that game and it came down to a couple of plays (none bigger than Aaron Harrison's winning 3-pointer with five seconds left). That gave us the extra confidence and the belief that we could not only do it again, but we could take it to another level."
But these Wildcats were different, too. Moreover, they were unbeaten to which Gasser offered a figurative shrug and concession "Yeah, they're 38-0" without the sense that he was being disrespectful of what they had accomplished because that would have been out of character and not true.
But he was not about to bow down at the Kentucky alter. Like others may have. You would expect no less out of Captain America, a nickname that was hung on Gasser by Frank Kaminsky who saw a Derek Jeter-like presence in Gasser's leadership, poise, toughness and presence in the locker room.
"A lot of those other teams were probably scared going into those games against them or a little nervous," Gasser said. "We didn't feel that way because of what happened the year before. We knew that with the styles of play that it was a great match-up for us. I'm sure they felt the same way."
Defensively, the Wildcats towered over everybody else in college basketball. Take that literally with 7-footers Willie Cauley-Stein and Karl-Anthony Towns and 6-10 small forward Trey Lyles. Statistically, they didn't have a match. And that was by any metric, particularly Ken Pomeroy's numbers.
"What they were really good at was using their size and athleticism to get out in transition and to get on the offensive glass," Gasser said. "Those were two things that we really took away from every team. They weren't going to get out in transition; they weren't going to get second-chance points.
"So, if we knew if it was a half-court game and they had to score five-on-five that we could be in great position. We tried to force them into high-ball screens at the end of the shot clock in one-on-one situations with guys who were confident in doing it.
"That was the difference in the game because we knew — and as much as we didn't want to admit it — we knew that we might have trouble scoring for a full 40 minutes (even though the Badgers led the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency). We knew we had to use our defense to our advantage."
And that's how it played out. The Badgers, no defensive slouches, shut down the Kentucky offense punctuated by back-to-back shot clock violations during a span that saw the Wildcats go without a field goal for 6:40, a cold stretch that was not broken until there was only 56 seconds remaining.
The Badgers closed on a 15-4 run. Not that Gasser ever relaxed.
"The only time I really felt confident was with five seconds left in the game when they threw it out of bounds and we were up by seven," Gasser said. "I wasn't going to let the foot off the gas. I wasn't going to lose focus for any point in that game even when other people were kind of celebrating.
"It was just one of those moments that you did not want to slip away."
And while extremely confident about the match-up all week in preparation for the Wildcats, Gasser admitted, "I was always on edge because we needed to play well in order to have a chance to win. There were a lot of games that year where we could play decently and still win.
"But if you played decent against that Kentucky team, you were going to get blown out."
After the Badgers avenged the 2014 loss to the Wildcats, who were making their fourth appearance in the Final Four in five years, Kentucky coach John Calipari confided to TBS's Tracy Wolfson, "I thought we had 'em. But they didn't go away. They played like we played, they just kept coming."
True to the messaging on their red Adidas postseason shooting shirts — "Make 'em Believe" — they could now count Calipari among their converts. In explaining the genesis of the rallying slogan or mantra, Gasser suggested that it had a double meaning to those inside and outside the program.
"One, it was kind of a joke between the guys, a you-had-to-be there type joke that only we understood," he said. "When we were playing video games, open gym, or whatever we were doing in the locker room, and someone would question you — 'Can't do it' — we'd say, 'Make 'em Believe.'
"The other part of it was completely serious. We needed to 'Make 'em Believe' because we believed. And it was about making people nationally believe how good we were and that we were a top tier program. That Kentucky game was what solidified that in people's minds."
Gasser disputed the notion that the Badgers might have been emotionally drained going into the Monday night championship game and what turned out to be a 68-63 loss to Duke.
"I remember going into that game super confident and ready to go," he said. "Some people might say we were on such a high after the Kentucky win that it was hard to come down and get ready for the next game. But I don't think that at all.
"We had a great day of practice the day before. We were completely locked in and you saw that based on how we performed for most of the game. I just remember things not going right the final 10 minutes. A few balls and calls bounced their way and we were missing some shots."
Looking back on a season that produced a program-record 36 wins, Gasser was asked if there was one player who didn't get enough credit for his role in putting this team on such a high trajectory. The obvious answer to many would be Gasser, the consummate alpha.
"To be completely honest, I don't think Frank Kaminsky got enough credit and he was the National Player of the Year — people didn't understand how good he was," said Gasser, adding in almost the same breath, "Sam Dekker was the most talented player on our team."
Meanwhile, Nigel Hayes brought a uniqueness to the group beyond his play on the floor. "Nigel was super important to the looseness of the team," Gasser said. "His sense of humor was a benefit."
He went on to cite Bronson Koenig's impact after Traevon Jackson was injured.
"That was hard for a sophomore, a young kid to get thrown into the fire like that," Gasser said. "But he was ready, he was mentally and physically prepared when it was his time. And Trey was still one of our best leaders even when he was out for eight weeks with that broken foot."
Duje Dukan
Gasser singled out another unsung contributor in Duje Dukan, who averaged nearly 16 minutes in a rotation that revolved around the starters: Kaminsky, Dekker, Hayes, Gasser and Jackson/Koenig.
"Duje could have been starting for most teams in the country," Gasser said. "His sacrifice was very beneficial in coming off the bench and not complaining about minutes and being a spark."
In this context, he pointed out that Zak Showalter and Vitto Brown were unselfish in their role-playing while seeing limited action. Gasser then acknowledged, "I could really go up and down the list (roster). I thought every single player was undervalued in terms of what people thought of them."
As far as their legacy, Gasser said, "I don't know if that's for me to answer. But I think people will remember us as the greatest team to come through here. We were a collection of guys that were the perfect fit. We all fit so well together, and everyone played their role on the court."
Every day roles have now dramatically changed in the wake of the coronavirus. Gasser, a business development manager for Badger Sports Properties, has been working out of his home along with his wife, Alex, who's employed by American Family. The couple was married last May.
"We had a lot of things on the calendar planned," Gasser noted. "Family birthday party. Going to Italy for our one-year wedding anniversary. Some basketball camps. I had filled pretty much every weekend for the next three months. Now I have a lot of time with just me and the wife. Not a bad thing."
Like everyone, he's hoping the country will become stronger and more united in the face of this health crisis. Not a bad thing, either. In addition, he said, "People overall may not take things for granted like hanging out with family and friends or going to restaurants and doing those types of things."
For now, Gasser emphasized, "Everyone has to do their part in just following the protocol of the professionals — that's why it's so important to stay away from people for the next few weeks, months, however long, to get this thing right."
Spoken like a true leader, a captain, Captain America.
