BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. – Afforded a rare weekend off,
Chucky Hepburn was planning on using the break in the schedule to relax from the grind of starting all 16 games as a Wisconsin freshman. One of the ways that he likes to unwind is at the keyboard. So, if the opportunity presented itself, he would be in his element sitting down at a piano … and creating, not unlike his role as a Big Ten point guard.
"My mom got me started playing the piano when I was 6," Hepburn said. "We have a piano in our home and when we had family gatherings, my mom would have me play. Being home schooled, from the second through eighth grade, helped. But when I went to high school, it took away a lot of my free time to play the piano. That's when I started focusing on basketball."
Hepburn, who can read music, took piano lessons through his early teens.
"When I'm frustrated or something, I just turn to the piano and start playing. It's just so relaxing and it kind of helps me calm my mind. Some of the dorms have pianos: Smith Residence Hall and Sellery. I will sit down, take an iPad, learn a song and keep practicing it. It could be up to 30 minutes or two hours. It's about the mindset. Once I start playing a song, and I really like it, I want to learn another."
A few weeks ago, Hepburn played at a team gathering.
"We were having meal together and there was a piano there and he got on that piano and started playing and it sounded like Mozart or some classical music," recalled assistant coach
Dean Oliver. It was later learned that Hepburn was actually playing Beethoven, not Mozart. No matter. It was much to the delight and maybe the surprise of some of his teammates and the coaching staff.
When quizzed about his piano skills, Hepburn told Oliver. "It relaxes me."
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Without missing a beat, Oliver responded, "You know what? You always seem relaxed to me."
An honest observation since Hepburn, by his own admission, wears such a stoic game face.
"I show emotion – just not on the court because I'm too locked in, too zoned in, when I'm playing in a basketball game and trying to win," explained Hepburn who hails from Omaha, Nebraska. "I'm a competitor and I just want to win. It has always been that way. I've never shown any emotion on the court. That's just the way I am. I block out all the outside noise and I lock in."
It's one of Hepburn's finest assets, according to Oliver who elaborated, "That's the great thing about him, he's even-keeled no matter what's happening. He's never too high, never too low. And it's contagious to the other guys when your point guard is that way. Your team is never too high or too low. There's just a calmness about where we're never going to panic. It's great to have that out on the floor."
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Nobody appreciates or understands the nuances of point guard play more than Oliver, a four-year starter in that role at Iowa. From 1997 through 2001, he started 124 of 126 games, averaged 12 points (with a high of 15 as a senior), collected 205 steals and dished out 561 assists. Oliver is one of just three Hawkeyes to post four 100-assist seasons. Jordan Bohannon and Jeff Horner are the others.
"It's very difficult to think the game the way you have to as a point guard in college," Oliver said of the transition that all players at the position must make in jumping from one level of competition to the next. "Coming from high school, there's so much more that you have to think about. In high school, you have the ball in your hands, and you could just go score and that solves a lot of problems.
"At this level, you have to think about time and score, situations, play calls ... it's really hard as a point guard to figure out when to do certain things and have a feel for the game. That takes some experience and that's what Chucky has gained so far. He's really starting to learn those things."
Oliver provided examples on how Hepburn needs to think and process in real time, "If Johnny (Davis) has it going, I've got to call a play to keep him going. If Brad (Davison) has just hit a shot, I've got to call a play to get him the ball. Then, sometimes, I've got the mismatch. We need a spark and I've got to come off a ball screen and do something or call a play where I take advantage of my matchup."
It made the case for what Oliver was saying earlier about Hepburn's transition to Wisconsin:
"A lot of the things that are put on your plate right away as a freshman are very difficult."
Yet, Hepburn, the 2020 Gatorade Player of the Year in Nebraska, knew what awaited him.
"I knew that my defense had to be there," said Hepburn, who accounted for 1,706 points, 638 assists, 505 rebounds and 324 steals as a four-year starter (and 4-star recruit) at Bellevue West High School. "I also knew my offensive game wasn't going to be there every night for my freshman year. But I've made sure my defense was a factor every night."
Hepburn's physicality as an on-ball defender has turned heads.
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"He's mature beyond his years and he's a lot tougher than I thought he was going to be," said Big Ten Network analyst Steven Bardo, the 1989 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year at Illinois. "I've seen him in situations where he's been able to use his leverage against an opposing player and really corral them and that's something you don't necessarily see in freshman guards.
"The biggest adjustment is the speed of the game and the strength of the players you're going against. Your memory tells you in high school that you were the dominant person. So, you could pretty much do what you wanted to do. But you have to re-think that at this level because you're on even-keel with everybody else. You have to humble yourself and understand that you still have work to do."
Hepburn has found that to be true. Whether it was Nicholls' Ty Gordon or Maryland's Fatts Russell, he has been tested by raw speed off the dribble. Whether it was Providence's Al Durham (139 career games, 113 starts) or Ohio State's Jamari Wheeler (141, 98), he has been confronted by wily, experienced backcourt veterans. Every outing has offered a challenge, some more taxing than others.
Speaking of Russell, Hepburn said, "He was one of the fastest guards other than Gordon that I've ever gone against. One time in the second half, I didn't want him to shoot, and I also didn't want him to drive, and he just blew right by me." On Wheeler off their first meeting in Columbus, he said, "I didn't know his game as well and he took advantage of that. He just took the ball away from me one time."
Hepburn struggled in Thursday's rematch with Ohio State at the Kohl Center. In the first half alone, he had three turnovers, matching the number that he had in the four previous games combined. He was also held scoreless (0-for-3 field goals) for the first time this season while playing his fewest minutes (28:20) in the last seven games. But he didn't turn it over in the second half of the 78-68 win.
His only assist was a thing of beauty in working a two-man action at the 3-point line.
Steven Crowl gave up the ball to Hepburn who drew the double in the right-wing corner. Once Crowl lost his defender, he slipped into the paint and Hepburn hooked a pass to him. Using his left hand, Crowl banked a shot, drew a foul on E.J. Liddell and completed the 3-point play with 5:27 left in the game.
The possession was huge because the Buckeyes had closed the deficit to 61-55.
"He (Hepburn) is very mature, and he keeps his composure and that's a big part of being a point guard – being able to stay level-headed and not lose your cool or get frustrated by a mistake," Oliver said. "It's why he has been able to grow as fast as he has … when he makes a mistake, he's fixing it immediately within the game and you don't see that mistake the next game or even the next practice.
"There have been some guys who have kind of gotten off (scoring-wise) and he wasn't used to that. But, again, he didn't lose his composure. It was still, 'Ok, I've got to stick to the rules all the time and not gamble as much or not get into foul trouble.' I think that's the main thing that he has learned – how hard it is to play defense if you get into foul trouble.
"He likes to reach. He's pretty handsy. But he's got great hands and he hits the ball on most of his pokes. He just has to learn when to do that … As far as knowing when to drive and what shots to take, he's getting better and better at that. He's just getting better and better in all areas. I'd say the big thing is finding out where to be aggressive and what we want on both ends of the floor."
Hepburn is averaging 30.5 minutes per game. Only Davis and Davison are averaging more.
"That's a lot for a freshman," conceded Oliver who averaged 25.1 minutes during his first season at Iowa. "But we knew the opportunity was there and the potential was there for him. He came in here after a great senior year and we saw that he was going to be something special. When he came to campus, you could see it – just sort of a natural leader."
As far as adjusting to the physicality, Oliver added, "That's what most freshman really struggle with. You're playing against guys who are men and very strong. And when they drive, you can actually get hurt trying to guard them because they're so physical. But Chucky came in and worked his tail off in the summer and preseason. Not that he wasn't already strong. But he really took it up a notch."
During his high school formative years, the 6-2, 204-pound Hepburn pointed out, "I took the weight room seriously because I knew the Big Ten was going to be a physical conference. Since my sophomore year, I've lifted weights. It was definitely something I had to acquire because I hadn't touched weights prior to that. But I got a trainer and developed a lifting mentality.
"I added 15 pounds of muscle from my freshman to sophomore year."
Mindset matters.
"Without a doubt," he said, "I'm getting better every day."
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On Tuesday night, the Badgers will put their six-game winning streak on the line at Northwestern. They've also won six straight in the series, including three in a row at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill. But the Wildcats are coming off a stunning, 64-62, win over No. 10 Michigan State in East Lansing last Saturday. It was their first victory at the Breslin Center since 2009.
Despite playing without their leading scorer and rebounder Pete Nance, who was nursing an ankle injury but is expected back for the UW game, the Cats forced 17 Spartan turnovers leading to 16 points. Pounding the glass, they had 17 offensive rebounds. Afterwards, a disappointed MSU head coach Tom Izzo projected, "We've got five days of hell in front of us … our backs are against the wall."
Izzo's comments are instructive since the Spartans will next play Friday night against the Badgers at the Kohl Center. First things first. Hepburn can anticipate crossing paths with Northwestern's Bo Buie, who's averaging 14.6 points and poses an offensive threat from the 3-point line and with soft floaters in the paint. Buie had 12 points, four rebounds and four assists in the upset of Michigan State.
There will be added incentive Tuesday for the Wildcats in that students will return to Welsh-Ryan Arena for a Big Ten game for the first time since March 7, 2020, a span of 682 days due to COVID protocols. Obviously, there will be no shortage of incentive, either, for Hepburn in his defensive matchup, whether he's checking Buie, Ty Berry or Chase Audige. All present different challenges.
In general, Hepburn has been very conscious of how success is predicated on having the proper mindset to achieve goals. In this context, he's fond of retweeting Dave Anderson, the author of "Intentional Mindset: Developing mental toughness and a killer instinct." Wisconsin coach
Greg Gard wrote the forward for the book and has had Anderson speak to his team on numerous occasions.
Among Anderson's messages that Hepburn has shared on Twitter are, "Easy roads create soft people. Embrace the hard and fight on" … "Discipline is giving up what you want now for what you want most" … "What's worse than not improving in some way today is not improving and thinking it doesn't matter" … "Mentally tough people consider disappointments as engagement, not defeat."
It all shapes who Hepburn is. Or is working on becoming at this level. Mindset matters.
"He's got a sense of timing," Bardo said. "And he's going to continue to get better and improve on all aspects of his game. I just like his feel. He's got a really good feel for the game."
Not to mention the keyboard.
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