Wisconsin's Leadership, Resolve Being Tested with Season Running Short
MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard is proud of his degree in education from the University of Platteville. Had he known he was going to go into coaching, however, he may have decided to switch his major to psychology.
Only then could he maybe get inside his players’ minds to find out where their headspace is at following a stretch of basketball that has been far from their best and has created more questions than answers from the outside world.
Gard was certain of one thing: his players appeared responsive and resilient, highlighted by a strong Sunday practice. He then added that it won’t mean much if the Badgers can translate it on the court.
“This past week sucked, and we got to play better,” he said. “We didn’t play well. Get back to playing well and playing how we know we can play and how we have played. That’s the main thing.”
Wisconsin’s fortunes have drastically shifted in less than two weeks, highlighted by last week’s losses at last-place Michigan and 12th-place Rutgers to extend its losing streak to four. Since taking a 16-point lead into the locker room in Nebraska on February 1, the Badgers have been outscored in six of seven halves and an overtime.
It’s a skid that saw the Badgers drop nine spots to No.20 in this week’s AP poll, the program’s largest drop in one week since dropping nine spots in December 2020. It mirrors their place in the conference standings.
Entering February in a tie for first place, Wisconsin (16-8, 8-5 Big Ten) enters tonight’s home game against Ohio State (14-10, 4-9) in a tie with Northwestern for third place, three games behind Purdue, a half-game behind Illinois and one game ahead of Michigan State and Minnesota in the loss column.
“We know what we got in the locker room, we know what we got on the staff in the entire program,” guard Connor Essegian said. “We know what we’re capable of. We’re really not worried about the future. We know we’re going to be locked in and ready to go. The confidence is not shot at all.”
The late-season slide harkens back to last season. UW lost six of seven in January when injuries to starters Max Klesmit and Tyler Wahl crippled an already fragile offense and never regained momentum, evidenced by the Badgers alternating wins and losses throughout February.
Injuries have hurt UW’s depth this season, with reserve guard Kamari McGee missing the last six games with a foot injury and fellow backcourt reserve John Blackwell slowed because of a hip injury.
The shrinking of depth has put more onus on the veterans and their leadership, which has also been tested. Shooting 40.6 percent from the field and 25.6 percent from three as a team, UW has seen starters A.J. Storr (40.3 percent), Klesmit (39.4), and Steven Crowl (35.0) all shoot below their season averages.
“It’s never fun when you’re losing games,” said Wahl, the only starter made available Monday. “You’re not as free-flowing. The shot might not feel as good. You might get an open shot and (feel) I need to make this one. At the end of the day, each person is a little different. We got to figure out what’s working for them and what gets them ready to go for games.”
UW has a long list of issues it's battling through but one is its starts. In both losses last week, UW started sloppy with ball security and was loose defensively. It’s a problem that dates to last month’s win at Ohio State (Buckeyes started 7-for-9) and isn’t limited to the first half, as the loss at Nebraska (23-9 run to start the second) and the narrow win at Minnesota (10-2 run) illustrate.
“We do know that’s something that we’ve got to be able to start out hot and play ourselves and play the right way straight from the get-go,” Essegian said. “We noticed it at the beginning of games and coming out of the locker room at halftime. If we’re able to lock in and get things going right away, we see what we can do throughout the rest of the game.”
The lack of energy was especially egregious for Gard in Saturday’s loss at Rutgers, as UW showed hesitancy when it came to a failure to attack Rutgers’ full-court press. Committing three of its 11 first-half turnovers in the first four possessions, UW allowed Rutgers to jump out to a 9-0 lead, which Gard equated to his players backing up a propane truck and throwing gas on the fire.
“We never had one dribble pickups (in the) halfcourt, fullcourt because you are playing right into their hands,” Gard said. “We’ve done it the proper way in the past of attacking, drawing two, and making the next play … We can’t go completely out of control, but we can’t be passive.”
Gard stumbled on a quote from the late Bob Knight that he felt encapsulated UW's recent stretch: ‘Basketball is a game watched by millions and understood by few.’ With UW still struggling with some of the same fundamentals it did back in November, coaches and players know that time is running out.
“When the millions are watching and we’re winning, they don’t see all the things that I see, or our staff sees or any coach sees that this is going to get you beat,” Gard said. “It didn’t that day, but eventually, it’s going to catch you.
“As I’ve told them, they’ve played at a really high level. It’s not about if they can get there. They’ve been there. Now you’ve got to stay there … You just stay the course and get back to what got you there.”
“We got to go do it and do it better. We’ll get out of it. We’ll get it back.”
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