Dancing Phoenix

Last March, I was driving home from work listening to JMV, one of the sports talk radio shows in Indiana. One of his guests on the show was Linc Darner, the head coach of the Florida Southern Mocs, who had just led his team to the Division II championship. Little did I know, just a few weeks later, Darner would be named the head coach of Green Bay to replace Brian Wardle, who accepted the head coaching job at Bradley.

I liked the hiring. There is a lot of basketball talent in the state of Indiana, and Darner could help with recruiting in that area since he was a Purdue player in the 1990s. I also liked the style of play he would bring to the table. Recruits love playing in this style and I think he would thrive coaching in a mid-major program like Green Bay. Darner has also won everywhere he has been, which was also a big plus.

However, Green Bay has had major heartbreak the previous three years in the conference tournament. I was beginning to think the Phoenix was a cursed program, constantly getting its heart broken and not having made the big dance in 20 years. Darner had to come in and try to reverse the curse. It would also be a challenge for Darner to get the players to buy into his system after having played in a completely different one under Wardle. The system Darner calls RP40, which stands for Relentless Pressure for 40 minutes. The Phoenix also lost one of its top young players, Daeshon Francis, as well as its entire recruiting class.

I admit, after the first three games under Darner, I was unimpressed. The defense was downright awful, having given up more than 90 points in all three games and more than 100 in two of them. Yes, the team was scoring, but could not stop anyone. The defense was not watchable. Then, Green Bay trailed Division II Minnesota-Duluth 39-38 at halftime at home. Ugh. Green Bay turned it on in the second half and went onto win by 20. The second half output helped the Phoenix to 10 wins in the next 12 games.

After an 18-point loss to Oakland on February 13, the Phoenix stood at 7-6 in conference play, but had five games to end the year at the Resch Center. Green Bay went onto win four of the five. The one thing that changed was the Green Bay defense. If you include the postseason, the Phoenix allowed seven of the nine final opponents at 70 points or fewer. That is a far cry from the first three games of the season.

Green Bay entered the Horizon League Tournament as the No. 4 seed. Green Bay did not play well, but was able to get past Cleveland State. Going against Milwaukee, I honestly did not think Green Bay was going to win. Milwaukee is a talented team, led by senior Matt Tiby and one of the top assist men in the country, Jordan Johnson. After trailing 52-46, the Phoenix used a big run which would lead the Phoenix to 70-61 win.

That would bring the Phoenix to a rematch with Valparaiso. The Crusaders have been a major thorn in the side of Green Bay. Last year, it was Valpo that beat Green Bay in the conference championship and earn the auto bid. Three years ago, the two teams met in the semifinals. With Green Bay ahead by two and after an Alec Brown missed free throw, Valpo dribbled up the court and Ryan Broekhoff buried a fadeaway 3-pointer with a hand in his face to beat the Phoenix 70-69. Then, a week before this past game, Green Bay led by one late in the game, but Valpo's Shane Hammink hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left to break Green Bay's hearts again.

Going into the game, I thought Green Bay had no shot, personally. I know the Phoenix went toe-to-toe with the top seed the week before. But that was in Green Bay and a lot of people thought Valpo was a possible Sweet 16 sleeper. Sound familiar, Phoenix fans? Green Bay knows the feeling, having been the best team in the conference two years ago by a wide margin, but lost to Milwaukee in the semifinals. That Phoenix team and this Crusaders team are very comparable.

We thought it would happen again when Alec Peters caught a long pass and scored on a layup to send it into overtime. I thought Green Bay would be crushed in the overtime period. The Phoenix choked down the stretch during regulation and Valparaiso had all the momentum going into the extra session. But Green Bay showed tremendous heart and toughness in dominating the overtime period and leading the Phoenix to the upset win.

Going into the championship game, I know Wright State is a solid team, but there was just something about this Green Bay team that made me think the Phoenix were not going to lose. This was just a formality. It is like when the Boston Red Sox had terrible luck and could not get past the New York Yankees, but then in 2004 they slayed the beast, coming back from a 3-0 deficit to beat New York. It was just a formality that Boston would beat the St. Louis Cardinals.

Green Bay jumped out to a huge lead and dominated the game. The Phoenix led by as many as 19 points and much like the Valparaiso game, when Wright State tried to make a run to get back into the game, Green Bay always had a response. The Phoenix hits its free throws to seal the deal and make the long overdue trip back to the tournament.

It was cool to be on Twitter last night and see the congratulatory tweets by people such as former Green Bay standout and current Virginia head coach Tony Bennett, Packers WR Jordy Nelson and former Packers WR Donald Driver, not to mention a good luck tweet by two-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers.

I am an alum and a fan and I am still in shock. I can just imagine how seniors Carrington Love and Jordan Fouse feel. Coming so close the last two years makes this one really sweet. Not a bad way to go out. It is just a shame that Keifer Sykes was not on the team this year.

After 20 years of heartbreak, this one is special. After the game, I had so many thoughts flow through my mind. There was the Broekhoff 3-pointer. Then the loss to Milwaukee after a 16-2 conference season. And then there was loss to Valpo in the championship game after having a late lead last season. I think that having those heartbreaking endings makes this tournament win that much sweeter. Just incredible.

At the beginning of the season, I had my doubt with the style of play and the poor defensive performances. If you were to tell me after the 0-3 start that Green Bay would make the tournament, I would have thought you were crazy. It is a tribute to the coaching of Darner as well as the leadership of Love and Fouse. Green Bay has won eight of its last nine, with its only loss being the last-second loss to Valpo. The Phoenix is peaking at the right time and will be a tough out for whichever high seed Green Bay ends up playing.

This season, I have learned to trust the system. I cannot wait for RP40 to wreak havoc in the NCAA Tournament.

Gard for Big Ten Coach of the Year

On the last post I made about Greg Gard, I had said Gard was the right man for the job after Wisconsin had won three straight to claw back to an even 4-4 Big Ten record and 12-9 overall record. Since then, a lot has changed. Back then, Wisconsin was still not even close to being in the NCAA Tournament picture, despite wins over Michigan State and Indiana. Now, Wisconsin comes into the final weekend of the regular season at 20-10 overall and 12-5 in the Big Ten and are safely in the tournament field. The Badgers have won 11 of 12, with wins on the road against Maryland and Iowa in addition to Michigan State and Indiana. The only loss in the last dozen games was a 12-point setback in East Lansing against Michigan State.

What was a very shaky resume with losses to Western Illinois and Milwaukee at home and to Northwestern on the road has now turned into one of the strongest in the country. A lot of that has to do with the job that Gard has done. When he took over, Wisconsin was struggling to say the least. The Badgers had no offensive flow and the overworked starting unit was not producing. One of the first things Gard implemented when he took over was a transition back to the swing offense, which had been a trademark under Bo Ryan for many years. It took a bit to come together, but eventually the offense started to click. The non-existent bench was getting more playing time and producing. One game, it could be Jordan Hill, who has become a revelation under Gard after not having played much when Ryan was the coach. The next game, it could be Khalil Iverson, like against Iowa and the road game against Illinois. Another game it could be Alex Illikainen like against Penn State. In others, the starters carry most of the load.

Under Ryan earlier this year, the team relied solely on the combination of Bronson Koenig and Nigel Hayes, and they both were struggling, which is why Wisconsin was not playing well early on. To show you how much Wisconsin has come, in arguably the biggest win of the year at No, 2 Maryland, Koenig and Hayes shot a combined 8-for-25, but Wisconsin won going away, 70-57, being the only team to win at the Xfinity Center this year. Vitto Brown, who has also become a huge part of the winning streak, scored 21 points in the victory. Ethan Happ, the league's leader in steals, has also become a double-double machine and may end up being the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

A month and a half ago, nobody thought Wisconsin would be in the tournament, let alone end up in the top four of the conference like it had in every season under Ryan. Not only will that streak continue, but Wisconsin now has seven consecutive seasons of 12 wins in Big Ten play, the longest streak in the conference. Gard has turned this season around for the Badgers and with a win at Purdue Sunday night, Wisconsin will finish 13-5 in Big Ten play and tie for second in the Big Ten. Considering the shape of the team when he took over and the strength of his conference schedule, he should be a front-runner for not only the Big Ten Coach of the Year, but National Coach of the Year as well.

Indiana fans will bring up Tom Crean for both awards, as Indiana had to endure the loss of one of its top scorers, James Blackmon, Jr. as well as a tough start to the year, losing to a terrible Wake Forest team that is currently 2-16 in the ACC. However, it is no coincidence that Indiana's defense has improved greatly since his injury. Blackmon is terrible on defense to the point where people have thought of him as "lazy" on that end of the court. Yes, Blackmon is a terrific scorer, but his defense is so poor that it offsets his scoring he brings to the team.

Indiana also has a lot of weapons, even without Blackmon. Having a McDonald's All-Amercian in Thomas Bryant helps, as does having one of the best players in the conference in Yogi Ferrell. Indiana also has a number of solid role players, such as Colin Hartman, OG Anunoby, Robert Johnson and Max Bielfeldt. The cupboard was hardly bare.

Wisconsin had to replace three players who are now in the NBA as well as Traevon Jackson and the heart and soul of last year's team, Josh Gasser. Obviously it would take some time to gel without five of their top seven players from last year, but early in the season, Wisconsin was almost unrecognizable on offense. That was until Gard became the coach and went back to the swing.

Crean and Indiana also has benefited greatly from the unbalanced schedule in the Big Ten. Every Big Ten team plays five teams twice and eight teams once to make up the conference schedule. Most people would agree that the five best teams in the Big Ten are Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue and Maryland (in any order). Wisconsin has had to play the other four teams in that group of five twice. Every single one of them. Indiana has had to play just one of those teams on the list twice......Wisconsin. That is it. The Hoosiers also avoided playing at both Maryland and Purdue. The five teams Indiana had to play twice were Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and Minnesota. It is entirely possible that three of those teams will play on Wednesday in the Big Ten Tournament. Wednesday is reserved for the bottom four teams in the Big Ten, so congrats on your Big Ten championship, Indiana, but don't expect me to be impressed. Indiana's conference strength of schedule is 94th in the country, far and away the worst in the Big Ten and one of just three teams in the conference with an overall strength of schedule of at least 100. Wisconsin, on the other hand, has the 15th toughest conference strength of schedule in the country, which is the toughest in the Big Ten. Their overall strength of schedule is seventh in the country, far and away the toughest in the conference.

Crean deserves credit for winning the Big Ten, but in my opinion, Gard has done the best job out of any coach in the Big Ten and maybe the country. What he has done to turn around the season has been nothing short of remarkable and will soon get the interim tag taken off.