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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

March 21, 2016

Greg Gard

Madison, Wisconsin

THE MODERATOR: Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining us today. As you I'm sure now, seven seeded Wisconsin will be making its fifth trip to the Sweet 16 in the last six years, and the third straight season. It will take on sixth-seeded Notre Dame on Friday in the East Regional semifinals at 6:27 p.m. Central Time on TBS.

Head coach Greg Gard is here. We will begin with an opening statement from Coach Gard.

COACH GARD: I'm still working through the game film. If you had any specific questions pertaining to game film, getting to bed at 3:30 and up at 7-something, I'm partway through the second half, so... But I think I remember enough of it to give you my thoughts on it.

Proud of our guys, of how they battled. I told them after the game in the locker room that last six minutes has kind of been a microcosm of our season. We were down nine with six to play. In November, December, and early January, they refused to give in at that point in time.

I think for them it's a good life lesson of understanding that you're going to be faced with adverse situations throughout your life. Continue to work through them, trust the people around you, stick together, don't flinch in the moment, and trust the process that you're going through.

Those guys have responded immensely to anything we've thrown at them. Proud of them obviously. Extremely happy locker room last night.

I didn't tear an ACL or anything when they were throwing me around, when I jumped into the middle of the huddle. Everybody came out of that mob scene healthy.

Any questions, I'll be happy to answer.

Q. It's been awhile since you have faced Notre Dame. How would you characterize the way they play under Mike since he took over that program?
COACH GARD: Well, I've done a couple of radio shows already this morning. They asked me about Notre Dame. I haven't had a chance to watch them intently. I saw some of the game yesterday against Stephen F. Austin as I was getting ready for our game.

Mike has done such a great job there understanding and figuring out what it takes at Notre Dame and recruiting to his culture, how he wanted to do things, how he wanted to play, much like we've done it here.

The thing I've said to a couple of the interviews I did this morning was, you know, nobody talks about Notre Dame, you never hear much about Notre Dame in the tournament. Then the second weekend, there they are. They always pop up.

I think that's a credit to Mike and his staff. I know many of those guys personally. Very good people. A team that every year seems like it's a different name that crops up in terms of who's leading them individually.

They've done a very good job of developing players, putting them in the right position. Sometimes it's been bigger-than-average guys, the Troy Murphys, the other names I'm missing on right now, Harangody, the kid from Chicago, that was another one who we had visit here. He turned into a heck of a player for them. Then they've used backcourt players to be their primary guys.

They've done a great job of adapting, adjusting and developing players through the year. Mike did a tremendous job of coaching them and putting them in the right position.

Q. I think if people would have said you were in the Sweet 16, they would have thought Nigel had two big games. He didn't. How happy does that make you to see other guys were able to step up in the offense?
COACH GARD: I looked at stats before yesterday's game of the last two games, of Nebraska and Pittsburgh. Between Hayes, Koenig and Showalter, one was at 15%, one was at 16% and one was at 20% shooting. Usually when you're going to have three of your older guys shoot that percentage, you're probably going to lose both games by 30 plus, just from the standpoint of where I thought we needed to have offensive production from.

But having a chance -- obviously Nebraska, we had our chances late in that. We didn't finish things we needed to. But I think this group has grown defensively as a unit. As much as any point in the time in the year over the last week, they've really responded to what we've tried to emphasize more defensively, to be able to hold a Pittsburgh team down.

I know everybody talks about our shooting percentage. Their shooting percentage was relatively the same. It was in large part due to how good both defenses were and how physical both teams were. That was my concern with both teams through the weekend: Were we going to be able to match the physicalness of the game?

I thought we were just as physical as Pittsburgh. It took us a little while. I don't think we quite matched it the first half. The second half we responded to the physicalness of the game.

But I thought in the Xavier game, we were the more physical team for a large part of that game. That's a great sign to see, that they're starting to really understand how to play together. I think defensively we've shrunk the floor much better, we've taken away driving lines, we've become much more physical in the post.

And to be able to hold a Xavier team 17 points below their average, to do what we did to Bluiett in terms of holding him down, same thing we did with Young Friday night. This group understands they can hang their hat on their defense, then eventually we can get the ball to go in.

I thought the second half we were much better offensively. We moved much better, got some straight-line attacks, and obviously shots started to go in, especially a little bit down the stretch.

It's good to see that they understand that we don't have to score. If the ball isn't going, we're struggling a little bit offensively, there's other ways we can find a way to win.

Q. Nigel has been asked ad nauseam about his inability to put the ball in the basket. Did you see him do some things outside of shooting to help you guys win that game yesterday?
COACH GARD: Well, I thought the job he did on Bluiett, the defensive job he's done in both those games. He was on Artis most of the time against Pittsburgh. He got on Young a little bit. But the job he did on Bluiett... I know he wasn't the only one. Showalter was on him a couple times, too. I think he's become a much better defensive player.

He was not, I don't think, dedicated to the defensive end of the floor months ago. He understands now that he can help us in that way. At his size, his mobility, I can put him on threes, I can put him on twos, I can put him on fours or fives. I think he's really understood now how important he is to our defensive scheme as a whole.

Q. You've said already this year how it's kind of been an emotional rollercoaster. You felt all the emotions, everything that's happened. Now that shot which will go down in Wisconsin lore. What were your emotions when that ball went through the basket?
COACH GARD: Hey, making sure it was good. I mean, that was the main thing I thought. The horn went off when it was in the air, as I stood back in the corner. He shot it right in front of me.

You know, it was just kind of one of those surreal moments that, you know, fortunately or unfortunately I don't allow myself to get too high or too low.

I was extremely happy. Wanted to make sure it was solidified that it was good. I obviously wanted to get to Chris and say congrats because that was a heck of a team we beat. He's had a phenomenal year.

Having been on the other side a few times, too, you know, I'm sure over the course of time we'll be on the other side at some point in time again down the road.

You appreciate the moment you're in, but understand that, you know, there's another side of the coin, too. So I wanted to make sure I got to Chris. He was looking at me, looking at the monitor, said it's good. I walked towards him, said congrats.

Have a lot of respect for what he's done there. He's had to pay his dues as an assistant, too, replace Sean Miller when he left for Arizona. Two guys that have kind of had to work their way through the ranks, as an assistant, be able to take over a program. He's done a tremendous job of maintaining and building what they've done at Xavier.

Q. Last year's team was so efficient offensively. This year's team, it sounds like you're really impressed by the work they've done defensively, not because they can't score as much, but because they're a good defensive team. Why have they been able to get it with so many new faces and guys having to learn to play together?
COACH GARD: Well, I think number one, we had to become a good defensive team. To be honest, you guys have watched us as much. Last year's team, I throw in game films of common opponents, there won't be really any the rest of this year, maybe Carolina if we get to that point, but it was like a video game a lot of times.

Offensively, like we can't replicate what we did last year. We don't have the same pieces, the same experience. We have to manufacture offense in different ways. So defensively we had to improve in order for us to have a chance to compete.

So I think we've drilled more -- I've broken down defensive drills more late in the year than ever. I mean, we're doing closeouts and we're doing shell drills and we're doing one-on-one driving lines last week before we go to play Pittsburgh, things we probably just did in October and November and then put them away for the year. I've dug those things back out. I'll do it again this week, as I look at Notre Dame, how they try to score, try to replicate what they do into a drill, emphasize some things.

I think it's helped us. There's no doubt it helped us Friday night. I thought we were much better on the ball and we didn't get turned and opened up nearly as much on dribble drives. We've become better at recognizing where to help from, where not to help from.

It's been a combination. But I think the biggest thing is they figured out pretty quickly in order for us to be a good team, we were going to have to be a good defensive team first, then the offense will come.

There's going to be nights, too, that the ball is not going to go in. Koenig has had open shots. He's had more open shots than he had last night, and he's gone one-for-eight. Why does he go six-for-12 from three another night? Understanding you maybe can't always control the offensive production. You can attempt to put yourself in the right position and take the best quality shot you can, but there's going to be some nights that, like I said, you're not going to be able to get the ball to go in as much as you want to or think you should have it go in. There's going to be other ways you can find a way to win.

Defensively and then the toughness this group has developed, the mindset to play at Pittsburgh and Xavier, probably wasn't present in this group in November, December, early January. We wouldn't have been able to line up. We would have wilted in some of the physical combat things we had in the paint earlier in the year. They've matured a lot in that area.

Q. In terms of the freshmen, besides Ethan, a lot of really key minutes last night, looking back a little bit, how impressed are you with how far they've come?
COACH GARD: Well, we've never had a group of freshmen that have played this much, at least in the 15 years I've been here. We've had seniors in the starting lineup, seniors in the rotation.

Hopefully this will help them not only for the rest of this year but as a springboard into the rest of their careers.

I haven't done a great job of using them as much as I probably should. I have a tendency at times to lean on experience a little bit more. I probably, looking back through games, wish I would have played them a little bit more, key times in other games, and let them, you know, develop more of a routine.

Part of it was we were trying to get everything going the right direction late December, January, and I didn't have as much time to experiment with different combinations, kind of let them play through things as maybe I would have liked to in a normal non-conference season.

But how they've responded, the plays Khalil made last night, the deflection, dunk at the other end, a couple rebounds he had, Charlie's ability to play physical in the post, Alex obviously and Jordan Hill. The list goes on.

But they've been a big part of why we're still playing because some nights it's been fatigue that they've had to replace or try to stem off fatigue from the guys that are starting. Obviously last night was foul trouble with different combinations out there. They were able to at least stem the tide and keep us within arm's reach so we could buy minutes when we had either Vitto, Nigel or Ethan on the bench with foul trouble.

Q. Is there any difference in the mindset of this team compared to a year ago or the last two years? The last two years you could make a case you went in expecting to get to the Final Four, that type of thing. Do you feel that way right now? Is there a difference in how this team looks at the road ahead and its expectations?
COACH GARD: Well, I think this group has developed and grown a belief in each other, and they believe that they can win. They've said it a few times publicly. They always believed they could do something good. They didn't get always that same feedback from the outside. And that's natural. With all that we lost, the scuffles we did earlier in the year, there was going to be some doubters.

They didn't lose faith in that. They kept to the process, like I said. They've stayed the course. And I think they've grown so much. I watch the interactions. That's the neat thing about tournament time. You have so much more time in the locker room, whether it's postgame cooling-off period, you know, the days in between the games with the media access, those types of things, you get to see the interaction with the players, how they respond, the Nigel Burgundy thing that now I think Aaron Moesch and Ferris are taking over. You see some of that stuff grow and transcend. That's the neat part as a coach watching these guys off the court.

The interactions, and obviously it's immense joy last night in the locker room. I'm getting water dumped on me and everything like that as they're throwing me around.

But I don't know if this group would have had the togetherness to celebrate like that earlier in the year. That's what's grown. They've come together. Now they can enjoy a special moment together.

We beat VCU in New York. That was a great win. But I don't know if there was the togetherness quite yet to enjoy that, and Temple and Syracuse, those type of things. Now this group has bonded so much more and they believe in each other so much, they think anything's possible.

That's really the key I think in coaching, is you have to believe in them, but then you also have to have them believe in each other. As long as they believe and you believe in them, then it really doesn't matter what happens on the outside and the periphery.

They've been able to, you know, withstand that early-season scuffling and doubting that maybe they heard from the outside, and continued to believe in each other and grow. Like I said, that's the neat part as a coach to watch that all come together.

Q. Bronson, before yesterday's game, when asked about his shooting said, I'm just going to keep shooting because the ball is going to go in. Nigel has said the same thing. Looks like teams are saying, Look, you can shoot from three-point range all you want. We're not going to go out there until you prove it to us. Does he need to get down inside more or if he does that does that affect your offense negatively that he still has to take some shots that are open from the perimeter?
COACH GARD: Yeah, I still don't want him passing up open shots. I watched him in drills enough, seen him do it in games over his career. He'll knock down shots. I think the biggest thing with playing in the post, he needs to finish better. I think there's times when he maybe expects contact and it doesn't come or tries to play through the contact when he's just worried about putting the ball in the basket.

But he's getting double-teams sent at him. He did right away last night. They doubled off of different guys, whether it was a cutter or from backside. They sent a guy at him. They also sent one at Ethan.

That's something we'll work on this week even more in terms of recognizing that and having some answers, better answers, to the double-teams. Part of it's positioning, part of it's pivoting, those things that we can maybe turn the tables on those double-teams a little bit.

But I think the biggest thing is he's got to keep playing. The nice thing is I've seen how he's tried to find ways to help the team in other areas. The deflection and the steal yesterday in the first half, what he's done, as I talked about earlier, defensively. I've lined him up. If there's a tweener forward, a combo forward, somebody I really need to try to lock down, I'll give it to Nigel and say, Hey, here's your challenge tonight. He's responded to that.

I think that's an area that maybe he didn't view as important early in his career. Now he's starting to understand that everyone's going to struggle offensively. I'm going through my little time. There's other ways I can help this team.

Q. You shared a hug with Lamont at the end of the game. With everything you've gone through with your father, everything he's going through, how meaningful was that moment?
COACH GARD: Yeah, that was special, you know, because I understand completely what he's going through. You know, hopefully things will take a turn for the better with his mom. They're still kind of in a wait-and-see mode right now.

But he was there. He gave me great advice way back last June when the diagnosis with my dad came out, kind of knew talking to medical people what was going to be the finality of everything.

He said to me at that point, because he had lost his dad to a heart attack when he was 20 something, his dad was in his 40s, he said, Hey, my dad never got to see me coach a single possession at Worcester or IUP or Akron or anywhere. Your dad has just watched you coach in two Final Fours.

It's still not maybe the message you wanted to hear because you still wanted to find a way to save your dad or cure the cancer, but it also gave me perspective a little bit more like, hey, everybody goes through some type of adversity in their life. Appreciate the good things that have happened and try to make the most of anything negative that's going on.

So that's been the main thing that I've tried to reach back to Lamont and help him with that, too. Just say, Hey, whatever you need.

He flew back this morning. He went back to Ohio. He'll come back probably late tomorrow afternoon in time for practice.

Whatever we can do to support him, it's always personal, everybody goes through that. Everybody is going to have a parent or a loved one that's going to have to go through or you're going to watch it or experience it at some point in time in your life.

I think that's where it's important that you really have great people around you. I know he's felt support from the players, from our staff, from the people in our program. Just like I felt it over the last, you know, eight months. That's been a big part of helping me get through this. Hopefully we can continue to help Lamont, too.

Q. How big a spark off the bench is Khalil, especially defensively when you're in foul trouble? Three blocks in the first half.
COACH GARD: Yeah, he's very active. Obviously the highlight is the tip and the steal and the dunk at the other end. But the rebound he had... He had one offensive rebound I thought he let get away from him that ended up going the other way.

With the blocks he had in the second half, another offensive rebound he had that drew a foul in the first half. I think as he matures and develops even more of an offensive game. Right now a lot of what he does is off-hustle plays and just using pure athleticism. When he improves his skill set and then also develops a mindset of how to play more, I think he's still trying to figure that out, the hows and whys, he doesn't trust his perimeter game much yet, he will in time.

But he also knows to play to his strengths. He knows not to do something he's not capable of. He uses his strengths very well, whether it's the strength and athleticism to get on the glass, what he can do defensively. He's very good at sliding in behind defenses. He has a nose for finding the ball around the rim.

The encouraging part is that I know his future is very bright in terms of what he can become, but also he understands right now what he is, what he can do, what he can't do. He's really channeling everything to play within his strengths. That's important.

A freshman sometimes tries to do things they aren't capable to do yet or ready to do yet. He's pretty much stayed within his box, so to speak, and helped the team a lot.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach.

COACH GARD: Thank you.

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