I think Blackwell is Bucky's most important player. I can't see him staying another year.
I think Chucky is playing the way Gard, his coach, wants. Admirable, but I bet he looks somewhere else after the season to free up his game.
I don't want to lose either, Blackwell or Chucky. I think the rest are replaceable.
Agreed on Chucky. I think he's doing what Gard wants. You can kind of sense the frustration in him out there at times.
On the other hand, Blackwell just plays his game. I think that's also why he has more limited minutes.
Obviously, as you watch them play, the offense does not run well through Hepburn, even though that seems to be what Gard demands. It becomes more obvious when you see them come out of time-outs, and they want "last shot." Hepburn holds onto the ball until the last second, and throws up desperation outside shots. There's no rhythm to what they do, and nobody is jockeying to get position for a pass off a Hepburn drive, they just stand there, waiting for what is usually a failed attempt at a close out shot.
Milking the clock to protect a lead has gotten to be a total disaster for the Badgers. They don't even get reasonably decent shots at the bucket. They're all desperation shots because the defenses are waiting on them to run the clock down, then start to apply pressure. The only one who seems to be able to handle those pressure situations is Wahl, and that's really only close to the basket. Tyler's game has been limited to about a 6 ft. perimeter, and outside of that, he's not even part of the offense. I have a hunch that's on Gard's orders. Crowl's game, unfortunately, is pretty much closed out, unless he has a decent height advantage against the two bigs other teams throw against him. All, pretty much part of Gard's design, to keep him inside the paint.
A couple of weeks ago, I watched Klesmit throw up some threes that went down, and it brought the Badgers back into a game. When there was a break in play, and Klesmit was gassed, they sent in a sub. As he walked to the bench, Gard didn't even acknowledge his presence, and that was bothersome, especially since the guy had let the dogs out, and just plain lit up the arena. You got to get on board with the electricity of the moment, and share the emotions with your players. You can't stand there like a cold fish.
Simply put, Gard might be a "nice guy" to a lot of people, but he sure isn't what I consider a good enough college basketball coach for the Badgers, and appears during games to be detached from his players when he should actually be more into the game and them, emotionally.
