Greg Gard Press Conference After Wisconsin's 74-70 Loss at Indiana
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00:00 >> Question, what time is it anyway?
00:02 Fire alarm?
00:03 >> 9.30.
00:04 >> All right, guys, go ahead.
00:05 >> Greg, I know we asked you this before, but
00:08 what do your players need to do to get off to a better start?
00:12 They came back and had a lead, but then could not finish.
00:15 >> Well, defensively, I mean, Kalu Weir has a All-American type night.
00:22 20 points in the first half, and he was terrific.
00:25 But we also gave him easy buckets early where he got some confidence going, and
00:30 he's a really good player.
00:31 But he just did whatever he wanted in the first half, specifically.
00:37 We were able to get Rizzo in foul trouble.
00:39 We just never did, specifically in the first half,
00:44 gave him so much confidence and battled our way back.
00:46 But then in the second half, we have that two-point lead, can't get a stop.
00:49 Get another two-point lead, can't get a stop.
00:53 And we just had a hard time keeping either him or Bruno.
00:56 And then when we, Mbaka got loose on us a couple times and made some plays.
01:01 So it's a credit to them.
01:02 They made shots when they needed to, but to have them go 23 of 34 from two,
01:08 even though they shot the three a little better than they half shot it,
01:12 that's the disappointing part defensively, specifically interiorly.
01:18 >> Do you think the fact that they got caught early from two
01:22 eventually led to hitting some threes at team ahead?
01:24 >> Yeah, I mean, the three that they had in the first half were all on
01:28 defensive breakdowns.
01:29 We let dribble penetration go baseline, it caused rotations.
01:33 One they hit in the corner, another one swung all the way around back to
01:37 Bruno, and he hit the one in front of our bench.
01:42 Most of the three, at least all the ones in the first half were all on,
01:46 Johnson got the one where we were too soft on the ball screen,
01:48 he was able to comfortably dribble into it.
01:50 But the rest of them were all on defensive breakdowns of getting beat baseline or
01:55 letting a ball screen get rejected.
01:57 And now we're in scramble mode behind it, and
02:00 they moved the ball well to find the open shooter.
02:02 >> And you guys did start to close the gap, especially in the first half.
02:05 What did you learn from John, especially- >> John was terrific, yeah.
02:08 I mean, John gets it.
02:09 John understands the complete package defensively.
02:13 He's good on the ball.
02:15 He understands where you need to bump.
02:17 All screeners run into the rim.
02:20 He dug balls loose off the dribble.
02:22 He dug balls loose off the post.
02:24 He just gets it.
02:27 He understands the game.
02:29 He's a very cerebral player, really smart, great IQ for the game.
02:36 He was aggressive offensively driving it.
02:38 Took it right out in Baco several times, and
02:42 he played really well on both ends, really.
02:47 It was just, like I said, whether it's the direct post feed or
02:52 the lobs and where we didn't have the pumps covered.
02:55 I'll have to look through the film and
02:56 see we were too spread out on the backside behind some of those rolls to the rim.
03:01 >> And you've adjusted the form of the ball trouble, but
03:03 number five, has he got a stay on the court wall for you?
03:06 >> Yeah, I mean, we're in year five.
03:09 I don't know if he had any unnecessary ones tonight.
03:15 I didn't look through, I didn't think there was any really egregious ones where
03:20 he did something out of context that all came within the flow of the game.
03:24 >> Similar to what I asked about John in the second half,
03:27 especially you guys did take the lead,
03:29 shot being penetrating acting as a facilitator with Stan up there as well.
03:33 >> Yeah, I mean, he did a good job.
03:34 We felt we could spread him out and drive it a little bit.
03:37 We did that.
03:38 We had some good looks.
03:40 Tyler had it point blank several times.
03:44 We had some good looks from three, too.
03:46 I thought Max had several good looks.
03:47 Chuckie had a good look in the corner there, late.
03:51 But he was able to get in inside of the defense and find people.
03:55 So the offensive numbers tell me we were good enough.
04:00 It comes back to what we've been battling all year, and
04:02 that's our identity defensively.
04:04 >> It took a jab, a while to get going.
04:06 >> Mm-hm.
04:07 >> He needed to make more plays early, but he's a guy that just really makes up.
04:12 >> Yeah, I mean, it's everything with AJ, we're continuing to,
04:17 defensively, a lot of those things that I talked about away from the ball.
04:21 And that's really important when you're guarding ball screens.
04:26 You have to have the other guys involved.
04:28 And I'll look through the film and see if we were in position, out of position.
04:31 But that's the, for him, it's obviously shot selection, I think it's gotten better.
04:38 He hit a tough three, he misses a tough three.
04:41 Those, you got the ball in the playmaker's hands, you trust his decision making.
04:46 But for AJ, it's continued to help him grow his awareness and
04:50 effectiveness on the defensive end when he's not guarding the ball, per se.
04:55 >> Fire alarm stoppages, have you encountered anything like that before?
04:58 Just what were you being told in those moments and how do you handle that?
05:02 >> I thought it was a great time out for
05:03 whoever from Indiana pulled the fire alarm for them, cuz we were making a run.
05:08 So, no, I mean, we had a little time in the locker room,
05:12 not as much as what they originally had told us.
05:16 And then you get five minutes to go warm back up and go play.
05:19 So it was kinda like having two half times.
05:22 >> Since Ware didn't play in the first matchup,
05:24 what was kinda the plan going in against him and what, cuz I guess-
05:27 >> Those two guys together are a handful.
05:29 Key for them has been that they have been able to consistently make threes.
05:36 And they've struggled from the free throw line.
05:39 But Ware and Renauld have been really good.
05:41 I don't know if this is the best of Khalil's plays, but
05:45 it's gotta be right near the top.
05:48 But those two draw a lot of attention.
05:51 And we didn't do a good enough job on those two guys specifically.
05:56 We got Ware or Renauld out of the game early with a couple fouls, but
06:01 we were able to take advantage of that.
06:03 And Ware picked up the slack and then some with Malik on the bench.
06:07 >> [INAUDIBLE]
06:14 For those opportunities to keep passing by, it's starting to get frustrating.
06:18 Are you starting to feel like you need to?
06:20 >> No, what I'm frustrated is about it, that defensively,
06:23 we've come down this road before.
06:26 And at times we're really good, and then we're not.
06:30 We have really good possessions tonight at times when we're making our run.
06:34 But to be consistently, to cross that threshold consistently,
06:39 defensively, that's been our Achilles heel for most of the year.
06:44 We've outscored it.
06:45 And we've outscored our Achilles heel defensively in some games.
06:49 And tonight came down where we needed to,
06:52 it was the start that we gave them some confidence with.
06:55 And then we were able to collect ourselves and
06:59 then down the stretch to be able to get a stop.
07:01 You gotta take a two point lead and make it four or five.
07:04 And we had an offensive rebound, I know, I think Ranaud got one.
07:08 We had ball screen, we tried to change the route on a ball screen.
07:15 And Galloway got to tie it, I believe, a little floater.
07:19 So just all those, one play here or there, makes a big difference.
07:25 >> It hasn't always been, and defensive struggles, right?
07:28 It's really just- >> It's pockets, it's snapshots of
07:31 struggles.
07:32 And Indiana's a good team.
07:34 I mean, they've had their struggles, but they're talented.
07:37 I have any different impression from when we played them the first time back in
07:41 January or whenever it was.
07:43 They've got good players, and
07:45 when you give good players confidence, you have a long night.
07:50 >> You expect teams to go in runs, though.
07:51 So I guess, how do you just make that just a little bit smaller?
07:55 Like say you're not down 15 after one of those.
07:57 >> Yeah, well, it starts with not letting the ball in the post,
08:01 specifically with Ware.
08:03 And every game's a little different.
08:04 We didn't foul too excessively tonight, which that was a good sign.
08:10 But I'll look through the film to see exactly how they're
08:16 getting the ball sub deep.
08:17 But like I said, the credit goes to Ware specifically and
08:23 to Ranaud for the job they did inside.
08:25 Coleo was the best player on the floor, and he was really good tonight.
08:32 >> Are we good?
08:34 >> Okay, you're good.
08:34 [BLANK_AUDIO]