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While some fans believe a change is needed for Wisconsin men's basketball, the athletic director said he did not in an exclusive interview. Here's why.
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Polzin: Why Wisconsin AD Chris McIntosh hasn’t lost faith in Greg Gard
- Thread starter Da-news-now
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Ah so Gard pretty much gets free pass for next 2 years also because of the contract.
Remember, McIntosh rewarded Gard with an enhanced contract last summer. It not only made Gard one of the highest-paid coaches in the Big Ten, but the updated liquidated damages portion of that deal means UW would owe him $12 million if it fires him without cause during the first three years of the contract.
Remember, McIntosh rewarded Gard with an enhanced contract last summer. It not only made Gard one of the highest-paid coaches in the Big Ten, but the updated liquidated damages portion of that deal means UW would owe him $12 million if it fires him without cause during the first three years of the contract.
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Good point. After the Chryst buy-out, not really a good plan to eat that much money on round ball. I'd guess he'll stay on for a couple of more years, maybe even three. But, in all honesty, I think that's it.
I'm even concerned about portal players after this year. One of them is Essegian. He's always wanted to play at Michigan, and I'd guess they'd wet their pants getting him as a Wolverine. That's one, there could be more that leave.
I'm just speculating here, not having anything that's sold about it happening.
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Well the '23 class is set, except maybe a kid or two in the portal. It's a pretty solid class headlined by Gus Yalden who should be able to contribute at PF/C right away. They should also get some contribution from John Blackwell, a solid combo guard who should be able to help defensively. The '24 class will be the key. There are a pair of solid 4-star in-state kids who can shoot and score. He needs to get at least one but better yet both. I think he's on the hot seat if the '23-24 season end up as mediocre as this year.
You can't compare Chryst and Gard. It's not the same. Chryst had been on a steady decline for 3 seasons. Gard just won a Big-10 title a year ago. If Chryst had just won a conference title (or even gotten to the title game) a year ago he'd still be here. McIntosh can't afford to make it look like he's a quick trigger in terms of coaches jobs or good coaches will just pass on coming here.
You can't compare Chryst and Gard. It's not the same. Chryst had been on a steady decline for 3 seasons. Gard just won a Big-10 title a year ago. If Chryst had just won a conference title (or even gotten to the title game) a year ago he'd still be here. McIntosh can't afford to make it look like he's a quick trigger in terms of coaches jobs or good coaches will just pass on coming here.
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The interesting thing about the Badgers is that the only player they are losing at the end of this season is Wahl. Nobody else is a senior, who finds playing time. With time for the coaches to adjust to the realization that they need to feature more of Essegian (hopefully so he don't jump into the portal, preferably to Join Michigan which was always his dream) as a guy who can put up points like Davis did last year.
Recruits coming in? For the next two years, the Badgers have a player each year coming out of Lakeville, in Minnesota. The same place Wahl played in high school. Must be a pretty darned good school for basketball, or the Badger recruiting kind of sucks. The quality of these players? Three this coming year rated in the top 200 out there, from what I gather. So, gotta give Gard a chance to work it out.
Questions? Who do we lose through the portal? What can we gain through the portal? Will it end up a negative, or positive result? How will they handle the issue of too many scholarships? That could tell a lot about how relaxed players will be, within the system.
Recruits coming in? For the next two years, the Badgers have a player each year coming out of Lakeville, in Minnesota. The same place Wahl played in high school. Must be a pretty darned good school for basketball, or the Badger recruiting kind of sucks. The quality of these players? Three this coming year rated in the top 200 out there, from what I gather. So, gotta give Gard a chance to work it out.
Questions? Who do we lose through the portal? What can we gain through the portal? Will it end up a negative, or positive result? How will they handle the issue of too many scholarships? That could tell a lot about how relaxed players will be, within the system.
I'm sure they lose someone in the portal and gain someone in the portal. The million dollar question is - who. I'm sure some might be worried about losing Essegian, and I can't say in today's easy-transfer world that it doesn't worry me at all, but typically guys leave because they aren't getting playing time or they want a more high profile school. Neither of those really apply for him. If anything Neath, Ilver, and Hodges seem more likely to transfer.
Gard pretty quickly made Connor a starter and has given him more minutes and more freedom. In the Rutgers game they even gave him the end of game opportunity to win it, so Gard is showing more faith in him. I suspect he's back. Gard has given him the opportunity to be a "star".
Regarding scholarship limits, I don't see a problem there at all. I believe they are running 2 player scholarships short this year. With Wahl graduating, they have room for all 3 scholarship kids that are committed for '23.
As for Lakeville, MN, Gard clearly has a pipeline to that school. The thing is, all those kids are legit. I don't know what Wahl's ranking was, but Winter ('23) is a top-200 kid and Robison ('24) is a top-150. Solid players to round out a class.
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Plus there were/are all the rumblings about stuff going on behind the scenes b/w the AD and PC leading to the decision.
We don't have that right now with Gard. There was the kerfuffle with Tucker and the locker room, but as you said, Gard responded by taking the subsequent team to a regular season title.
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All in all, the Badgers did about what I expected of them this year. The early season record was extremely deceiving. But, at the same time, it pointed something out. Gard and his staff had these kids ready to play before the season started, and they overwhelmed teams with their tenacity, even though they weren't as good a team based on talent. That is good coaching.
When you have a start like that, and reality sets in later, it looks like the coaches have failed, and so has recruiting.
It's true, to a degree, but not in this case, when I look back. The play of a couple of portal players, and a freshman, were pivotal in getting them off to a great start, and helping to keep them in games, all year.
If you look at how tight so many games were, you can see that these underclassmen are going to be pretty good next year when they hit the floor. I'm giving Gard a pass, and waiting on next year, to see how his program is really going.
When you have a start like that, and reality sets in later, it looks like the coaches have failed, and so has recruiting.
It's true, to a degree, but not in this case, when I look back. The play of a couple of portal players, and a freshman, were pivotal in getting them off to a great start, and helping to keep them in games, all year.
If you look at how tight so many games were, you can see that these underclassmen are going to be pretty good next year when they hit the floor. I'm giving Gard a pass, and waiting on next year, to see how his program is really going.
It's been an off year and both coaches and players need to reflect on what they need to do better next season. Last season and early this season the Badgers were good at closing out close games. Not just end of game situations, but how they played in the closing minutes of games. The last couple of months worth of games - mostly bad.
Just look at the last two games. Against Michigan, the UW players were supposedly told to foul when they were up by 3 with 5 seconds left. There was a half-hearted attempt near half court by McGee, I believe, and Jordan Davis had another chance near the sideline on Dickinson, but instead decided to play hero-ball and go for the steal. If either player does what he was told the Badgers likely win that game.
Against Purdue, in the last 2 minutes or so, you have Hepburn tossing up a silly fade-away against a much taller player and Wahl shooting a long 2-pointer which predictably misses since he's not a good jump shooter at all. Both were ill advised shots - not the high IQ basketball UW is known for.
In that Purdue game, Wahl and Crowl are a combined 3 of 16 from the floor with 8 rebounds between them in 60+ minutes. That's just horrible production from your top-2 bigs. Maybe Gard needs to de-emphasize the low post stuff against teams like Purdue who can defend that at a high level. It's clear that those are not always high percentage shots, unless you're Ethan Happ, and neither Wahl or Crowl have quite that level of skill in the post.
While I'm bringing up Gard, he needs to be more flexible with his rigid playing time notions and let some in-game instinct take over. For example, against Michigan, McGee looked pretty decent when Hepburn got hurt. Maybe he should have gotten more minutes all year to keep Hepburn fresh. Against Purdue, Isaac Lindsey scored 8 points in 5 minutes in the first half and didn't see a minute of play in the second half. Good gawd, play the hot hand a little bit!
Hopefully a new year and some added talent will make for a better 2023-24 season.
Just look at the last two games. Against Michigan, the UW players were supposedly told to foul when they were up by 3 with 5 seconds left. There was a half-hearted attempt near half court by McGee, I believe, and Jordan Davis had another chance near the sideline on Dickinson, but instead decided to play hero-ball and go for the steal. If either player does what he was told the Badgers likely win that game.
Against Purdue, in the last 2 minutes or so, you have Hepburn tossing up a silly fade-away against a much taller player and Wahl shooting a long 2-pointer which predictably misses since he's not a good jump shooter at all. Both were ill advised shots - not the high IQ basketball UW is known for.
In that Purdue game, Wahl and Crowl are a combined 3 of 16 from the floor with 8 rebounds between them in 60+ minutes. That's just horrible production from your top-2 bigs. Maybe Gard needs to de-emphasize the low post stuff against teams like Purdue who can defend that at a high level. It's clear that those are not always high percentage shots, unless you're Ethan Happ, and neither Wahl or Crowl have quite that level of skill in the post.
While I'm bringing up Gard, he needs to be more flexible with his rigid playing time notions and let some in-game instinct take over. For example, against Michigan, McGee looked pretty decent when Hepburn got hurt. Maybe he should have gotten more minutes all year to keep Hepburn fresh. Against Purdue, Isaac Lindsey scored 8 points in 5 minutes in the first half and didn't see a minute of play in the second half. Good gawd, play the hot hand a little bit!
Hopefully a new year and some added talent will make for a better 2023-24 season.