MADISON, Wis.– On his 55th birthday on Wednesday night, Greg Gard coached his Wisconsin team to an 85-73 victory over Northwestern, in the Big Ten Opener. With the win, the Badgers improved to 6-2 on the season, and 8-3 in Big Ten openers under Gard.
Following the game, Gard met with the media in attendance in Madison.
On what was going right offensively for Badgers in first half
“Well, just the way we moved the ball. I mean, you have 15 assists, 17 baskets. It doesn’t get a whole lot better than that. I thought we were really sharp, good in transition. When we did get in the half court, I thought we didn’t over dribble very much.
We got the ball moving and obviously we played really efficiently. So that’s, as I told the team, that type of thing we can be. We’ve shown it in spurts, and now the challenge is you chase consistency. Because the second half, we weren’t merely sharp, so lot to like, but also a lot to get better at.”
On reasons for change in starting lineup
“Yeah, there were multiple reasons why. Matchup was one of them keeping or putting Nolan at the four a little bit is more natural for him. I think it gives us a scoring punch off the bench, which we haven’t had. I didn’t think we’ve had enough of it.
And it also, you know, Austin’s got to get better. You know, there’s some things there. And I thought we would be a little better physically and on the glass and defensively in the paint, you know, so we just got to keep helping guys get better. So I thought Aussie responded to it well.
Thought he did a good job of driving, playing off two feet, scored one and had an assist on the other one. So that’s what we got to continue to build on it and get more of that from him. Because obviously, we all know he can shoot it. It’s the other things that I want to see him add to and improve in his game.”
On if that is a change that could be long term in lineup
“I don’t know yet. I will watch Marquette late tonight. I haven’t seen a second of Marquette yet. So, we will see. It was a matchup thing with Martinelli for the most part. There were multiple reasons, I just went through them all.
But, we will see. I don’t get too wound up in who starts. You know, obviously, Aussie played more minutes than Aleksas did.
Whatever is best for the team, is really how I look at it. I won’t play musical chairs. But I thought Aleksas didn’t do anything to discourage me from starting him again. So, we’ll see what the matchups dictate.”
On Andrew Rohde’s work in pick and roll, passing abilities
“I think that’s just how I learned in June, when we first got here, we were doing our Summer workouts. I felt just watching him passing was highly or most likely, his best skill of many skills, but I thought he was an exceptional passer. Really felt comfortable with the ball in his hands, involved straight, like playing fast with it, made good decisions, his size and his ability to Periscope over the defense at 6-5, and find people.
You know, that’s a really good skill that he has with the ball in his hands, and so seven assists, no turnovers in the first half. Like I said, I thought he was exceptional in terms of igniting a lot of points for us.
On John Blackwell being such a key player on both ends of the floor
“Yeah, I think he’s, he’s gotten better, you know, he got on the floor as a freshman with just effort and his defensive ability and didn’t, you know, try to chase scoring, something young players do, and that got him on the floor as a freshman, and he’s continued to improve his game, you know, I think he’s changed and modified his body in a good way.
He’s leaner, he’s a little quicker, he’s pretty strong, you know, and he’s really unselfish and like he he’s pretty efficient. I thought he did a really good job of Martinelli tonight when he was matched with him, kept the ball out of his hands so he just wants to do whatever it takes to help this team win. And obviously both ends of the floor, he was really impactful.”
On where ball screen game improved since San Diego
“Well, I mean, we’ve worked on some things, we watched what we learned from the film, specifically with the TCU game, and I didn’t feel we did a good job from a coaching staff standpoint, and that’s all on me.
Of, really giving them the best snapshot of what that game was going to be like, and it put them and then we had guards putting our bigs in bad positions, their guards not helping our bigs, and bigs not helping guards.
So we went back to, you know, really bringing down how you read those ball screens, and specifically if you’re getting blitzed and hard edged. And it had worked on that.
One day we spent working on weight ball screens. The next day we worked on middle ball screens and just the reads of that, and that’s where we had to get better. But I felt I was not happy with myself, for our staff, in terms of even during that game, I just did not feel that we were ready.
We didn’t do a good job of helping our guys, putting them in position to be able to attack that a little bit better. And it’s a learning opportunity for everybody. So they pull them apart, learn from it, and then work at it to get better.”
On Blackwell reaching 1,000 career points
“I mean, you know, his story has been well-written, I think, or been told that we were the lone high major in his recruiting. First time I saw him. I liked him. I liked how he played, but I think the thing with John is his personality.
You know, he’s a consummate teammate. He’s a really good, confident communicator with me. We talk at a lot of those little side breaks. When he’s standing by me and we’re in the huddles, he’ll come to me early.
And I think he just has a confidence about him and trust. I have an exceptional trust in him, and he does with me, and that’s what you have to have when you have a leader like that and an experienced player, and you trust him, and you trust what he says and suggestions he has, and then you again, you know, you hold him accountable and keep pointing out areas he has to get better at.
But you know, he’s said he’s a worker. He’s in the gym a lot. He’s made himself into a really good player, and he’s playing on a really good team. So just happy for him, because he’s put in a lot of time, and he’s overcome a lot of doubters when nobody else was lining up really to recruit him. So I never, I never get too wrapped up in who else is recruiting somebody when we’re in, because you trust your eyes, you trust your gut, and it obviously has served well with him.”
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