D'Mitrik Trice's Defense Sparking his Latest Surge Offensively
MADISON, Wis. – D’Mitrik Trice didn’t keep track how many times older brother Travis got the better of him in the countless pick-up basketball games the two played growing up. All the University of Wisconsin point guard knows is that there were humbling moments of defeat in the gym or the driveway against his brother nearly four years his elder.
“There are a few times where he definitely got the best of me,” D’Mitrik confided.
Those games of one-on-one may have been easy at first for the older Trice, who went on to score over 1,000 points for Tom Izzo at Michigan State, but they also served as the foundation for how D’Mitrik learned how to play gritty basketball.
It’s one thing to score, but if little brother wanted to beat big brother more than once in a while, D’Mitrik had to develop a tenacity for defense.
“Playing against him, being a really great Big Ten guard and now a pro, it’s a testament to working hard and having somebody older who has been through thick and thin,” Trice said. “He has been doubted and had a chip on his shoulder. (That chip) fell into my lap after a while.”
While fans of the program will look at why Trice’s scoring numbers are down overall compared to the past two seasons, there’s no question his defense has risen to another level. In a three-game stretch earlier this month, tasked with trying to slow down Maryland’s Anthony Cowan, Michigan State’s Cassius Winston and Nebraska’s Cam Mack, three of the more talented ball handlers in the league, Trice made the trio nonfactors.
Cowan was 6-for-16 shooting but, for a point guard who makes his living on drawing fouls and getting to the free throw line, only managed a pair of attempts. Winston had averaged 19.6 points and made 50 percent of his shots in the last two years against the Badgers, but Trice limited him to a lowly six points on 3-for-12 shooting.
Mack entered last week’s game as the team’s leading scorer in conference games, but he missed 10 shots. Six of his points were a pair of 3-pointers he hit off switches when not being guarded by Trice, who has pushed his overall defense high on his priority list.
“When I talk about confidence, it’s not just on the offensive end. I know I am quick enough to stay in front of any guard in the country and I’m long enough and strong enough to prevent players from where they want to be,” Trice said. “My IQ and my ability to read players and understand other player’s tendencies, it started off back in the Marquette game when I had to guard Markus Howard. I played really good defense on him, which really ignited my heart that I could guard anybody in the country.”
That momentum has carried over to offense for Trice, who has been an offensive bright spot for Wisconsin (12-9, 5-5 Big Ten) heading into its home matchup against No.14 Michigan State (16-5, 8-2) tomorrow afternoon.
After recording his first collegiate double-double against the Huskers (he nearly had a triple-double in the second half alone), Trice was an efficient 4-for-6 shooting at Purdue last weekend and started this week with 16 points, nine rebounds, six assists and one turnover in 37 minutes at Iowa.
After starting the new year missing 12 of 13 3-point attempts, Trice has gone 8-for-13 from 3-point range over the past three games. All this comes roughly two weeks after Trice was benched for long stretches at Penn State and held scoreless on five shots against Maryland.
“Staying confident is the biggest thing for me, never feeding myself with words of doubt and staying positive no matter what,” Trice said. “I know that if I continue to stay aggressive and continue to play how I know how to play, things will just fall in line naturally. I would never say that it was too hard to stay aggressive or look for my shot or continue to shoot it with confidence, but I think the biggest thing is the coaches instilling it in me that they want me to stay aggressive and get down the hill because I’m one of the guys on the team who can at any time.
“Whether it be defense, assists or steals, the biggest thing I’ve been trying to work on is finding out people when my shot it not falling.”
With Travis plays professionally in Italy, time difference makes it hard for him to watch Wisconsin play live. However, he and D’Mitrik make it a point to try and talk every day, conversations that have included pep talks, confidence boost and, as of late, a lot of praise. For two competitors who still go at it when they’re home in Ohio, it’s the highest form of flattery.
“He’s definitely been giving me my props,” D’Mitrik said. “We chat every once in awhile about what he sees and what he thinks. I definitely listen to his feedback. He calls me a bunch of times or texts me long paragraphs of what he thinks I need to change or get better at. It’s definitely great to have that older figure who has been through it talking to me.”