Iowa @ Bucky

This might be Gard’s best team but it’s not a good team.   As the season goes on you are seeing them fade because they aren’t that talented and that’s been the issue with GG since he took over.  

@Tschmack posted:

This might be Gard’s best team but it’s not a good team.   As the season goes on you are seeing them fade because they aren’t that talented and that’s been the issue with GG since he took over.  

It reminds me of a Dick Bennett UW team. A bunch of high-effort, fundamentally sound guys with limited athletism.

Dick Bennett, much like Bo Ryan, was a HOF coach.  So they could extract 150% effort out of every player.  

Just like we are seeing with Budenholzer in Milwaukee, he ain’t Popovich.  Gard ain’t Ryan.  Not even close.  

@MichiganPacker2 posted:

It reminds me of a Dick Bennett UW team. A bunch of high-effort, fundamentally sound guys with limited athletism.

Yes, their margin for error is small, however.... 1)they do not guard the three point line well at all, which is critical in today's game 2) Post defense is weak, Potter consistently let Garza get to his right hand / over his left shoulder all night 3) They tried to "ice" wing ball screens but then could not recover out to Garza at 3 pt line when he popped after setting the screen 4) Reuvers wants absolutely no part of physical play 5) Offense doesn't seem to be the best for their personnel, too many ball screens when they really only have one guy who is good at using them. Of course all this is easier to point out than fix

They just aren’t very good.  

Ford can’t dribble, Wahl is pretty frail, Reuvers gets pushed around.  Potter is hot and cold on O but a bit slow on D.  Trice?  Just about the time I think he has become a consistently very good college guard he regresses and disappeares.  Davison is Davison.....scrappy.  

They are like many teams, if their shots go in they can be pretty good, if they don’t and they get behind they have a hard time scoring and catching up.  Davis is a guy who can create and score and maybe he will.

Scoring around 60 in today’s game will not allow you to win too many.

The Bennett and Ryan teams had toughness.  Grit.  Borderline nastiness about them.  Certainly their style of play was physical especially on defense.  They were going to take care of the ball, not allow second chances or easy points in transition, and they would rotate the ball until someone had a good look.

I mean, that’s an identity.  No one knew it or did it better than those Badger teams.  Sure, they could get outclassed by teams that could flat out shoot the 3 and had better athletes, but they wore down other teams.  Broke their will.  And they rarely beat themselves.

Gard’s teams have no identity.  They play soft, their bigs aren’t physical, and their shooting is inconsistent at best.  The ball handling is suspect as well.  

You guys watched the game? This Badger team is UNWATCHABLE. I have intentionally passed on the last 4 games.

Dick Bennett's teams were way more fun the way they shut everyone down. This team is not even close defensively.

They can't shoot.  So many makeable shots go to the rim unkind. 

I'm most bothered that Reuvers, Davidson have not improved their games.  Big10 is tough, so the loses are going to happen, but hit your damn shots. 

Mike Kelley became a household name during the Final Four run for how he just clamped down and harassed opposing players defensively.   Some of the best man to man guard defense I’ve seen from a college player.  

I know a lot of the pundits criticized Bennett’s and later Ryan’s teams for being “boring” but man, those teams got after it on the boards and challenging shots.  No one got open or easy looks with the rare exception of a few players (Steph Curry comes to mind).  

It’s a good point as well about improvement.  Good coaches will get their players to improve. By the time they are juniors and seniors they should be playing at a higher level.  Not so much under Gard’s watch.

@MichiganPacker2 posted:

It reminds me of a Dick Bennett UW team. A bunch of high-effort, fundamentally sound guys with limited athletism.

A year ago this same team got hot and was a dangerous tournament team. What changed?

Last year they hit threes

they are not a bad team, just a bad shooting team and that ain’t cutting it in the big 10

@Music City posted:

A year ago this same team got hot and was a dangerous tournament team. What changed?

As EKB said, they hit 3s last year. The big difference was Pritzl. Pritzl didn't become the player many he thought he would coming out of DePere, but he was a guy that played 27 minutes a game that had to be constantly accounted for at the 3 point line. I think that spread the floor a bit more and opened things up for others.

How does a good shooting team become a bad shooting team with no major changes in personnel?

by missing shots

Good basketball players don’t just suddenly become bad. Good shooters don’t become bad shooters. Not without an external factor.

I don’t believe that the lynchpin here is Pritzl. The key is that teams adjusted to the inside/outside game. They scouted tendencies and put together a plan that now has them reeling offensively.

They’re getting out-coached.

I just don’t think the talent is even close to comparable to decent programs like Michigan and Ohio State and even Illinois and Iowa.  

But I agree I’m not overly impressed with Gard either.

It’s a team provably good enough to make the tournament but will get beat in round one or two.