Greg Gard Explains the Wisconsin Basketball Offense’s Evolution

If you haven’t been paying attention, let me fill you in: Greg Gard and the Wisconsin Badgers basketball program made some rather significant changes on the offensive end this season — and it was very intentional.

The Badgers offense is averaging 75.1 points per game this season, which would be the team’s highest scoring mark since 1993-94. Wisconsin also has the nation’s No. 12 offense, according to KenPom. That’s the third-best offense the program has had since 1999 by their efficiency metric.

Greg Gard-led teams have seen consistent success in the regular season during his tenure, making seven tournament appearances in nine seasons while winning two Big Ten titles. However, the Badgers haven’t advanced past the second round of the NCAA Tournament since 2017.

Coach Gard doesn’t need to be reminded of the Badgers’ seven-year drought. He understands that Wisconsin basketball must lean on their high-powered offense in a one-and-done matchup-based tournament to make some noise.

“The goal here is to go win six games,” Gard told reporters. That’s the goal. “Is this group good enough to do it? If we play really well, yeah. In today’s game, you got to score.

“The game has changed. Hence, you’ve seen us change.. We averaged the most we’ve averaged in 30 years here because the game is changing. You have to transcend to do that.”

Greg Gard Changed the Wisconsin Basketball Offense for a Reason 

For many years, the Wisconsin Badgers basketball team hung its hat on what they accomplished on the defensive end. This year, they’ve taken a noticeable step backward in that department.

According to KenPom, the Badgers are No. 49 in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency. That’s the worst defense Wisconsin basketball has turned in under Greg Gard since 2018. In particular, they’ve struggled to defend the pick and roll. Per Synergy, they’re in the bottom 11 percentile in pick-and-roll defense and just as bad in transition (8th percentile).

Despite the continued value of defense at Wisconsin, numbers reveal that scoring efficiency may now hold the key to success in modern basketball, given the rules changes that favor high-scoring games.

“Not that defense isn’t important, but the rules have all shifted to favor offense and penalize defense,” Gard told reporters. “They want more fouls, more free throws, more points. Look back at every rule change, there’s been an uptick in scoring, and they’ve all been made to push scoring up, so you have to stay ahead of the curve. And thankfully, we’ve made shifts fast within the last two years, and we got to continue to make more because that’s where the game is.”

The 5th-seeded Wisconsin basketball team has shown what they’re capable of and is getting hot at the right time. Greg Gard and company take on James Madison on Friday night in the tournament’s opening round, knowing that the Badgers offense could ultimately be the key to reaching their goals.

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