Lucas: Singular focus earns vital road win against Vols
December 29, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Mike Lucas
Men’s hoops building chemistry and communication
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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
It turned out to be a winning recipe.
Of course, what the Badgers did in-game — breaking out for 7-0 runs at the start of each half, shooting 11-of-26 from the 3-point line, getting 21 points off the bench and holding the Vols to 35 percent from the field — more directly influenced the 68-48 win at sold-out Thompson-Boling Arena.
But every little bit helps when struggling to develop a successful road identity. And there was a collective sigh of relief after leading from start to finish against the Vols who are undergoing a personnel makeover from last season's team that went 18-0 at home and advanced to the NCAA's Sweet 16.
"This is a big road win in our resume," said D'Mitrik Trice who had a team-high 21 points.
"It takes that burden off your shoulder," said Brevin Pritzl, who had a season-high 17.
And it all started on the practice floor where Gard has been forced to take a different approach after injuries to his coaching staff — Joe Krabbenhoft tore his Achilles tendon and Alando Tucker has been nursing a foot injury — depleted the scout team. Both were active contributors.
Moreover, redshirt freshman Joe Hedstrom had season-ending knee surgery.
"We have limited bodies and the scout team isn't as fruitful," Gard opined. "I just felt we can benefit the most by going 'good on good.' We divided up: five on five. And we do the scout a little bit differently in that everybody runs some of the scout stuff now."
The scout team simulates an opponent's tendencies and system based on the scouting report. This week, Wisconsin's starters and rotation players took turns running Tennessee's offense and defense; something that is unconventional for how this program has generally practiced.
"They've liked it because they've learned it faster because they have to run it," observed Gard. "Usually our top rotation guys never have to run a scout-team offense. Now we have to run it to give everybody a good look. There's no doubt it helped."
During Friday's practice at Thompson-Boling Arena, the third-largest (21,678) on-campus basketball arena in the country, the Badgers staged some "20-point" games, a staple under Bo Ryan and now Gard. The teams play to 20 but under a modified scoring formula that places value on fundamental concepts.
If Team A turns the ball over, Team B gets three points.
If a player scores on a low-post move, an additional point is added. And so on.
If Team A gets two offensive rebounds, game over.
"It fuels the fire and makes it very competitive in practice," Gard pointed out. "Within reason, you've got to be careful of fatigue and those types of things (the day before a game). So, I just said, 'Hey, we're going to play our top 10 against each other and let them go.' And that's what we did."
It was well-received by the players.
"The 20-point game is a great way to get some competition," said Brad Davison. "You're not playing against the scout team, instead you're going against each other. It definitely raised the intensity and competitive level and highlighted certain areas of the game that we're trying to improve at."
Earlier in the week, Gard came up with the idea for a "No Phone Friday" linked to a team dinner.
"We had everybody, players and coaches, put their phones in a bucket as we left the hotel," he explained. "By the time they all got on the bus, it was the loudest bus that it has ever been and it was because nobody was on their phone. They were all jabber-mouths.
"A couple of days ago, I told them, 'I can't text you or snapchat you or tweet you to block out and run back on defense. We have to communicate better verbally and this is a way to help you connect more. You've got to be more connected to your teammates than you are to Wi-Fi."
Noted Trice, "We had to communicate and talk to each other the whole time."
Normally, the players eat a prepared meal at their road hotel the night before a game. A few years ago, Gard broke the routine and took the team to a restaurant in downtown Bloomington, Indiana and they played really well the following day against the Hoosiers. He took the phones then, too.
On Friday night, the Badgers dined at a popular barbeque eatery on the Tennessee River.
"It worked in terms of our schedule," Gard said, "and it was great team bonding."
Another thumbs-up from the players.
"I loved it because it allows us to hang out together outside of the hotel," Davison said. "We had a kid's table, like at Christmas, a team table and a coaches and parents table. It was a great time and it was great food. The highlight was the honey and biscuits that we got at the end."
Upon further review, Davison would agree the highlight was a road win and dominating Tennessee. "There were a bunch of things that you can really point to," he said. "But we were really prepared for this game and we felt like we were really on top of what they were trying to do out there."
The Badgers got a timely offensive lift from Pritzl who had 12 points in the first half.
Over the last four games combined, he had scored 18.
The coaches, he revealed, have been hounding him to "stay aggressive, stay confident and keep firing when I get open" and he took all of those suggestions to heart against the Vols.
Pritzl's re-emergence as a scorer was important in light of Trice's first-half struggles.
After missing his first four field-goal attempts, Trice finally broke the ice with a couple of free throws at the 3:23 mark. He then hit a triple and two more free throws before intermission.
"If you can't find your shot early and nothing is really working," Trice said, "you've got to find other ways to score and the free throw line is great to go up there, calm down and knock down some free throws. The next thing you know, you hit a 3 and you get more free throws to end the half.
"It helped me get on a roll."
Trice was 1-of-7 in the first half; 5-of-7 in the second.
"Your confidence can't waver, especially early in the game," said Trice, who was coming off a career-high 31 points against Milwaukee. "You've got to feel how the rims are treating you and how the gym is treating you. It just felt good to have the ball go through after some free throws."
It just felt good — "I'm super excited," he stressed — to win away from the Kohl Center.
"We've had some slow starts and they've been our downfall on the road lately," Pritzl rationalized. "We had to come out with some energy and jump on them early. And we all kind of had that singular focus today that we needed this road win against a good team in a hard place to play.
"We've had the (road) battles, we've learned from them and now we've executed."
Food for thought moving forward.
