Gard

People probably don’t realize, players didn’t have relationships with Bo Ryan either.  

still, if players don’t feel confident in the program, this is what you get.  

shitty it got recorded and sent out though

Who the hell gave these guys the idea that they’re bigger than the program?

Never been angrier reading an article.

And recording a meeting is the softest thing I’ve ever seen. Grow up.

Coaches coach.

Gard isn’t the one on a 8 min scoring drought every game. Get outta here. https://t.co/3L1HhgqK2Y

— Sam Dekker (@dekker) June 22, 2021

Behind closed doors. The way it’s been done forever. I had countless hard talks with every coach I’ve ever played for.

You think Coach Ryan and my relationship was easy each day? And I’d still go to bat for him any day. https://t.co/rWjA5fZOHC

— Sam Dekker (@dekker) June 22, 2021

I'm sympatico with dekker on this, and why I think we should let the door hit Rodgers ass on the way out. But, I'm admittedly to old to really authenticity comment on current societal trends.

8 minute drought?  It’s a Badger tradition.  Dick and Bo and Gard, it’s been a problem.

I've been critical of Gard, but from the part I can read it seems he handled this well (didn't get through all of it because of a firewall).

He gave them all time to speak, treated them with respect, and continued a dialogue.

There were 7 seniors and clearly one of them recorded this with the intention of releasing it to make Gard look bad. It's probably not Davison (since he's returned for another year).

It will likely eventually come out who recorded and released this. Dekker is 100% right, it was a POS move to do this. It's not like Gard was abusing them or covering up some Penn State-Sandusky type problem. He was having an honest and open conversation with them. The type that happens on almost every team or business place at some time or another (and more often in good places to work than bad because this indicates they were comfortable enough with Gard to have these conversations). I was hiring for any future job and found out who did this, I wouldn't consider hiring them as a custodian or mail-room worker, let alone any other job.

Twitter thinks the leak was (recently not rehired) Do.  

Reax to @JimPolzinWSJ story about disconnect re Gard & #Badgers seniors: 1) We are developing players who expect to be coddled. 2) Gard is a nice, caring man but that’s not coming across to players. Is he trying to be someone else? 3) Don’t automatically assume leak was a player. https://t.co/j5XXPhL3qK

— Tom Oates (@TomOatesWSJ) June 22, 2021

Honestly, I don’t care if it’s a player or Gard or one of his coaches.   In basically a 5 year span, this team went from being a top 15 program to a middle of the road NIT quality squad.  Back to back Final Fours.  Now?  It’s not even a lock they make the tourney.

The red flag to me is the Badgers are no longer landing the best in state players and haven’t for some time now.  That starts with HS coaches losing faith in Gard and the program.  Once it turns, it’s tough to recover.

Meanwhile, look at what’s happening at Marquette.  Shaka Smart brings energy and enthusiasm and they are building a monster with half the resources.  Illinois is better.  Iowa and Iowa State are better.  Eventually, Minnesota will figure things out as well.  Get your shit together Wisconsin.  

Wow……hate hearing any dissent on any of my teams.  😡 😢 😡 I know “in house” stuff happens, just hate hearing about it.

Dayum!!! You ain't reaching the kids when they are talking like that. Kobe King was just the beginning.

.

I’m actually more ell worried about your assistant coach work as there seems to be a lot of legs that Do leaked it (or that problems with Do were common knowledge).   Head coaches need the assistants to be loyal soldiers, that appears far from the case.  

So what to say about the mass exodus of players?   Or their inability to land top in state recruits?  I don’t see that addressed in the memo.

It’s ironic that Gary Andersen basically got kicked to the curb yet we need to get a complete endorsement from BA (in writing) to justify the mediocrity that has become Badgers basketball.  

Who ever did this is a chickenshit.  There is not one person that regularly posts on this site that didn't comment on soft Reuvers was this last season.  The same with Trice seemingly free lancing way too much.  A coach has to point out those events and if the players can't take it, tough shit.  Grow the fuck up!!!

What a bunch of pussies.

I’m not surprised at all that the seniors pushed back. Character-wise the class fell far short of expectations, including King’s departure.

Now, does that indicate an issue with these players or a disconnect with Gard and the delivery of his message. Could be both really- but the cracks are showing. This is Gard’s first class as head coach, and they flopped. A highly thought of (and ranked) class that was supposed to have upheld the new standards of the program.

I don’t think players should be coddled one bit- but it is clear the coach’s message was lost from staff to player. We are seeing what it looks like when a coach loses his program… this won’t end pretty because that doubt in Gard isn’t going away. And I think Gard knows it too…

Gard is a fucking dope and it’s embarrassing that Alvarez is going to these lengths to defend him.  Why?   What has Gard done to earn that credit or respect?  Absofuckinglutley nothing.  

Thank God Barry is retiring because any AD worth a damn would have shit canned Gard a year ago already.  Yet he feels the need fo send out PR statements to cover his ass and massive shortcomings?  Just go away already.  This isn’t goddamn UWGB.  It’s Wisconsin.  Obviously Gard is in over his head and Barry needs do either remove him or step aside immediately so someone else can make the move.

@Tschmack posted:

Thank God Barry is retiring because any AD worth a damn would have shit canned Gard a year ago already.  Yet he feels the need fo send out PR statements to cover his ass and massive shortcomings?  Just go away already.  This isn’t goddamn UWGB.  It’s Wisconsin.  Obviously Gard is in over his head and Barry needs do either remove him or step aside immediately so someone else can make the move.

Well, Barry did manage to extend him a couple years before he departed… 🤬🤬🤬

Breaking story on the radio, no link - Alando Tucker attempted coup d'état for Gard's job.

JSOnline has the story behind the paywall.

The take-homes appear to be that Tucker was maneuvering to get Gard out by stirring things up with the players to stage a mutiny (instead of doing what good assistant coaches do and help put out the fires). He's also the one the secretly recorded the players meeting with Gard.

https://www.jsonline.com/restr...gers%2F5456411001%2F

Thanks MP2! On the radio they made it sound like he tried multiple angles to make it happen. Not a pretty picture, dude ruined his career. Disappointing.

What a shitty way to try to build a career.

It actually started in 2019-20.

This is all complete shit and Do, wtf Do, what were you thinking. 

Hope Gard can right the ship fast

I agree that Tucker’s actions were deplorable. Lobbying your boss’s boss to get his job? Chicken shit and should be condemned.

But let’s not miss the forest for the trees here. Gard’s mishandling of the team, the roster, and the players feelings about his coaching style are evidence that the actions of Tucker were rooted somewhere. Sure he tried to be opportunistic, but there are clear issues in the program and they’re all pointed at the head coach. Tucker simply tapped into something that was already there. the 2018-19 team rallied around coach Moore, not Gard.

What an absolute shit show in Madison for the hoops program.

If you are Iowa or Iowa State or Marquette or just about any other big time program in the Upper Midwest you have to be laughing your ass off right about now.   What kid is going to want to stop play at UW given these circumstances?  

Yes, it was completely unacceptable for Tucker to act the way he did but some of these kids and recruits don’t care.  All they will see is mistrust and dysfunction everywhere.  The only way that environment changes is for Gard to step down or be replaced.

I guess we can replace the name of this forum to the Bucks forum.  All I heard on the Bucks was, "Fire Bud  Fire Bud!!"  But now that he has won a championship I guess we'll keep him.  Well, he changed so now we like him.     But Gard is not capable of change so he has to fired. Good Grief!!!!

Bud didn’t have an issue winning in the regular season.  Until this year it was the postseason he couldn’t deliver.

Gard’s teams have been substandard in both areas.  

Comparing Gard to Budenholzer is stupid.

Gard has lost control of his program… and that’s been more than evident on and off the court. The guy does not have any track record of success running the program. He had 2 years of winning with the predecessor’s program. He’s Barry fucking Switzer.

But that’s a lazy argument to make anyway (comparing a college coach to a pro coach). Budenholzer was given a half-billion dollar roster, and if they lose to Brooklyn he would have been fired. And it would have been justified. People made “fire Bo” proclamations too, but it was not founded on the program’s direction. They were conflating Ryan’s coaching with his lack of recruiting. When he recruited up to his coaching standards, BTB FFs. I’ll take the top shelf coach over the “nice guy who can win with someone else’s talent” any day. Winning with Bo Ryan’s program is all Gard has ever done. Since he’s been in the driver’s seat, they’ve been toiling in mediocrity or below. The evidence is ON THE COURT. Anyone who knows basketball knows that he’s a shit coach who was handed a Cadillac and  he drove it into the dirt.

I'm not talking about the program. I'm talking about you guys and the fire Bud or Bud Doomsday Clock.  You were all ready to send him down the road. But win a championship and all is forgiven.  JFC!!!

Right

You were the one comparing Bucks to Badgers and head coach concerns.  It’s not comparable.  But don’t let that stop you from that hot take.  

Any time you want to wager 100 bucks the Badgers win the national championship with Gard at the helm let me know.   He’s been dead man walking for several years now.  

Budenholzer and Gard are similar in one way- they are rigid in their approach. Only Budenholzer has won and Gard hasn’t done shit.

In the NBA, getting there isn’t enough with a half-billion dollar roster and a window of opportunity opened by a generational superstar. Its a far more a cutthroat business in the NBA. So yes- if Durant beats the Bucks with that 3, he was gone. To lose to that team without 2 of their stars would have been catastrophic. But sometime luck rolls your way. His toe was on the line, and the Bucks are hanging a banner this Fall.

Gard’s window was already open. He had a perennial BT power coming off BTB FFs and the entire program at his fingertips. What does he do? Runs the program into the fucking dirt. Loses more games in a 4 year span than had been lost in almost 15 years, and pisses away whatever good momentum the program had from their success under Ryan. Now he’s the center of the biggest controversy in UW Athletics since Shoegate, snd it’s all pointed at his coaching and stewardship of the program he was handed. He’s a fucking failure and UW is blind for not seeing it. Instead they doubled down. Happy mediocrity! Hooray! Fucking morons…

Tucker’s response- a full categorical denial:

https://drive.google.com/file/...ITU1GKcZYy3o1nq/view

Tough to know at this point. Potrykus’ report was completely attributed to “unnamed sources” and he’s been a Badgers Athletic Department water carrier in the past.

Is it Gard? Someone close to Gard? Is Tucker lying? Is it Alvarez? What a mess….

The timing of Alvarez leaving makes you wonder if he 1) either knew what was up and didn’t want to deal with it 2) it was BA and now he can claim plausible deniability.

What an absolute mess.

What I find curious is Gard seems to find himself smack dab in the middle of these issues going all the way back to Ryan’s departure.

Perhaps he ends up as collateral damage but at this point they need to blow up the hoops program starting with Gard and basically clean house.

@Music City posted:

Budenholzer and Gard are similar in one way- they are rigid in their approach. Only Budenholzer has won and Gard hasn’t done shit.

In the NBA, getting there isn’t enough with a half-billion dollar roster and a window of opportunity opened by a generational superstar. Its a far more a cutthroat business in the NBA. So yes- if Durant beats the Bucks with that 3, he was gone. To lose to that team without 2 of their stars would have been catastrophic. But sometime luck rolls your way. His toe was on the line, and the Bucks are hanging a banner this Fall.

Gard’s window was already open. He had a perennial BT power coming off BTB FFs and the entire program at his fingertips. What does he do? Runs the program into the fucking dirt. Loses more games in a 4 year span than had been lost in almost 15 years, and pisses away whatever good momentum the program had from their success under Ryan. Now he’s the center of the biggest controversy in UW Athletics since Shoegate, snd it’s all pointed at his coaching and stewardship of the program he was handed. He’s a fucking failure and UW is blind for not seeing it. Instead they doubled down. Happy mediocrity! Hooray! Fucking morons…

I was critical of Bud's failures to adjust for playoff matchups, but he successfully did that this year. Bud's teams are never going to be bad.

The similarity between Bud and Gard was that both were the right-hand guys for very successful coaches (obviously, Popovich and Bo Ryan).  Bud and Gard got criticized (with some justification) for doing the same things their mentors did which was to develop systems and stay true to them. Neither Pop nor Bo was really known for in-game adjustments. The biggest difference between them is that Bud had been successful before he got to Milwaukee on his own in Atlanta.

Another difference between Gard and Bud is that if Bud had been fired after this season, he'd have had another NBA head job within a year. Gard would probably be lucky to end up at a MAC school.

The question with Bud has never been that he's not a good regular-season coach, it's whether he could learn to adjust when the rotations shrunk in the post-season. He improved the Bucks by double-digit wins the first year he was here. Before that, he improved the Hawks by 15 wins within two years of arriving. And we all tend to forget he got a Hawks team with no superstars to the EC Finals. The guys that played big minutes on that team were Horford, Teague, Korver, Millsap, Carroll, Sefalosha, Bazemore, and Schroeder. To get that group of guys to win 60 and to the ECFs was a massive overachievement.

@Tschmack posted:

Right

You were the one comparing Bucks to Badgers and head coach concerns.  It’s not comparable.  But don’t let that stop you from that hot take.  

One final time. I never compared the Bucks to the Badgers. I compared you guys wanting Bud fired to you wanting Gard fired.  If you can't understand and comprehend that. there is nothing I can help you with.  Go back and read what was posted in the Bucks Forum.  Or in other words, The Bucks are great, bud sucks.  You keep saying the same with the Badgers.  Great program but fire gard. It never changes with you.

It simply comes down to whether or not you think the results are acceptable or not.  

For the Bucks, getting bounced in the first or second round of the playoffs (despite being a high seed) the last several years certainly raised the issue whether or not Bud can lead the team effectively in the playoffs.  He wasn’t able to in Atlanta and until this year he wasn’t able to in Milwaukee either.  Had they lost to a banged up Nets team in R2 I’m 100% convinced he would have been fired and arguably he should have been fired given they have the best player on the planet and a really good team all around him.  

Credit to him - he made some adjustments and they won it all.   I’m never going to be convinced he’s a top level NBA coach but he deserves respect for what they were able to accomplish by finally getting over the hump.

As for Gard, he’s taken a perennial top 15-20 program and basically run it into the ground.   Results aside, it appears there is a lot of dysfunction within the program given player departures and lack of development or improvement with some of their more highly touted guys.  Making matters worse, most good in state prospects want nothing to do with UW hoops.  Why do you think that is?

If your expectation is for them to be a 20 win team and make the tournament well then I guess he’s your guy.  But the Badgers have proven they are so much more capable than that.  Basically 5 years ago they were in the Final Four!  That seems a pretty distant memory now.

To put it another way, if the Badgers football team had 4-5 years of 7-5 or 8-4 seasons and make a meaningless bowl game would you be OK with that?  That’s basically what the basketball team has become.  It’s just simply not good enough and the longer this goes on the longer it will take to recover.

Gee, that is exactly what Badger Football has become. Won a bunch of meaningless bowl games but lost 4 Rose bowls, 3 of those in a row.   So great to win Holiday Bowl,  Pinstripe Bowl and Duke's Mayo Bowl.

Just 5 years ago.........the Badger football team has never been in the college playoffs.

Well, until they expand the playoffs it’s pretty unlikely you will get a slot unless you are Alabama, O$U, Clemson, and insert another $EC team.

Remove the 2020 Covid season and the Badgers have basically averaged double digit win seasons (except for one) over the last decade.  

We can play this game forever. I E:  If the NCAA BB Tourny was still 32 teams, with all the automatic bids the Badgers would have had a hard time getting in.  NCAA   2009 12th seed,  2010 4th seed, 2011 4th seed, 2012 4th seed, 2013 5th seed and 1st round loss,  2014 and 15 made the Final 4,  2016 7th seed,  2017 8th seed,  2018, no appearance, 2019 4th seed,  2020 no tourny, finished 17th ranked, 2021 9th seed beat N C in the 1st and lost to eventual Champ Baylor in the 2nd round.  It's only the expansion to 68 teams that makes the program maybe look better that it actually was.