Greg Gard and Bucky in January

  


  The Wisconsin Men's basketball team split a pair of games in California this past week, beating USC by a score of 84-69 and falling to UCLA 85-83, bringing their record to an impressive 15-4 (5-3) with their other losses to Michigan, Marquette and Illinois - all three teams ranked in the top 25.  In fact, with the current record, the Badgers moved up to No. 20 in the most recent top 25.

    Led by the backcourt duo of John Tonje (17.5 PPG) and John Blackwell (16.4 PPG), Wisconsin has managed to score less than 70 points in a game only once this season - a 67-64 loss to Michigan on December 3rd.  In fact, this new iteration has managed to score 80 or more points in a game a whopping 12 times through their first 19 games.  This team has even scored over 100 points twice, including a 116 - 85 beatdown of Iowa back on January 3rd, in their first game of 2025.

    This team is good right?  They've got exceptional backcourt play, a strong front court, and depth.  The front court of Nolan Winter and Steven Crowl is combining to average 20.8 PPG and 11.3 rebounds. The top five players in the rotation are averaging double figures. All signs point to the idea that this team is good.

    The balance of the schedule features some tough matchups, including a five game stretch at the end of February with four of five games played against ranked teams.  Fortunately for Bucky though, of those five games three are played at home before the team travels to East Lansing, MI, for a game against eternal rival Michigan State.

    Even sixth man Kamari McGee is having an impact, hitting 54.8% of three point shots (on 2.2 per game in over 22 minutes).  The Badgers are holding their opponents to 41.5% shooting overall, and 31.1% shooting on threes.  They are outrebounding, fouling less, shooting more free throws (at a substantially higher percentage), and turning the ball over less than their opponents.

    So, back to the question, this team is good, right?

    Pardon me if I'm skeptical.  Pardon me if I don't hold my breath waiting for that Final Four run.  Pardon me if I say wait and see.  I've seen this story before.  I've watched this movie and I'm pretty sure I know how it ends.  Post-season success for any Greg Gard led Badger team has been hard to come by, and if you really dig deep - non-existent.

    Gard has been the Wisconsin Coach since he took over mid season 2015-16.  Let's take a look at the season outcomes that the team has had walking backwards until then, shall we?

  • 2023-24 - Wisconsin reached as high as No. 6 in the country, before a four game losing streak in February.  AJ Storr led the team with 16.8 PPG.  Lost in the NCAA First Round to twelfth seeded James Madison.
  • 2022-23 - The Badgers made it No. 14 in the polls this season before a second half fall off took them not only out of the rankings, but kept them out of the tourney pool entirely.  Wisconsin would lose to North Texas in the NIT.
  • 2021-22 - This was going to be a big year, led by player of the year candidate and All-American
    Johnny Davis, Wisconsin made it as high as No. 8 in the country and finishing the year No. 14 overall.  Davis would average 19.7 points and 8.2 rebounds.  The Badgers would fail to make it out of the second round of the NCAAs, losing (at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee) to Iowa State.
  • 2020-21 - Preseason No. 7, and making it as high as No. 4, Wisconsin would finish out the regular season unranked with an 18-13 record.  They knocked off UNC in the first round of the Tourney, before losing to Baylor. I really liked Micah Potter, is he still floating around the NBA?
  • 2019-20 - Would this have been the year?  It's rare for a season to end on a win and not be the champs.  You felt really good about this team and what they might accomplish after winning the Conference title but, yea. COVID.  Wisconsin finished the season ranked No. 17, and there would be no National Champ.
  • 2018-19 - Bucky made it up to No. 12 in the polls this season, winning 23 games.  This team was the Ethan Happ led Badgers, which, in all sincerity I had completely forgotten about until looking up the results.  Lost in the first round to Oregon.
  • 2017-18 - Not much to talk about here, Wisconsin went 15-18 and failed to make the conference championship, the NCAA tournament or the NIT.  Did you know in Ethan Happ's four years as a started he average 12.0 - 14.0 - 17.9 - 17.3 PPG? How has this all faded from memory to this degree?
  • 2016-17 - I can actively remember having my heart ripped out for this game.  Wisconsin won 27 games this year, and upset Villanova in the second round of the NCAAs.  The Badgers made it as high No. 7 this season.  You felt like a run was coming, a deep run.  An then Florida hits a time expiring, undefended three pointer to win the game.  This was also the last time the Badgers made it past the second round.
  • 2015-16 - In the split season between Bo Ryan and Greg Gard, the Badgers started the year ranked No. 17, winning 22 games and advanced to the Sweet 16 before being bounced by Notre Dame.

    In nine seasons that Badgers have advanced out of the opening weekend of March Madness exactly two times, and those were in Gard's first two seasons on the job.  To the untrained eye, one might say that his most successful seasons came with a heavy tinge of Bo Ryan's coaching.  Is this a damnation of Gard's tenure as coach? Absolutely not.  In his nine seasons as Wisconsin's head coach he has a record of 201-111, good enough for a .644 winning percentage.  Only two coaches could we say have had more success, Bo Ryan and Doc Meanwell. Bud Foster gets an honorable mention for winning the title, but he also lost more games than he won.

    Does that mean Gard is a problem? The program is consistently competitive.  The talent is, for the most part, high end and successful.  Recent Badger teams have rarely been deep, but the top end players have been solid.  Put simply, watching this program over the last few years tells you the story of a program that is always good, but never great.  Which should be enough. But what if there is something better out there?

    It's the burden of expectations that plagues Wisconsin's current era of Men's basketball.  Those Bo Ryan led basketball teams were so good, for so long, that Badger fans came to expect more.  As a statewide fanbase Wisconsin is one to be forever the bridesmaid, and never the bride.  Always in the conversation, but never the subject of it.

    This team seems no different.  A talented bunch, with all the reasons to say that could make a deep run when March comes around.  Maybe this is the year they break through, turning names like Klesmit and Blackwell into the legends like Bryant and Kelley, Wilkinson and Harris.

    Or at the very least maybe this is the year that breaks Wisconsin out of that first round funk.  Win a game in the post season, when it matters.  Take this team out of the opening weekend.  Show fans that this story has a different ending. Because at some point Wisconsin will have to stop daydreaming about something better, and start looking for it.



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