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.