The Wisconsin Men's Basketball Playbook
An elementary breakdown of Greg Gard's offensive system.
Madison, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin men’s basketball program has earned a reputation across college basketball as a model of consistency because of its distinct formula for winning games.
This reputation is largely because of a well-established culture/identity on both ends of the floor. One that was ushered in under coach Ryan and has been sustained under his protégé, Greg Gard.
Wisconsin famously ran Bo Ryan’s patented “swing offense” during his coaching tenure and placed a premium on ball security.
This four-out/one-in offense is a continuity that makes all five players interchangeable on the court, fueled by cohesion and fundamentals.
A disciplined offensive approach helps minimize a team’s athletic deficiencies through its fundamental nature while highlighting potential defensive mismatches that will allow for an easy bucket.
Although 'the swing' was portrayed as slow and outdated, I would argue that, in some ways, it was ahead of its time.
The system essentially allowed for position-less, free-flowing movement focused on generating low post touches or open three-point attempts – which is quite similar to how most teams play basketball today.
Overall, the swing's calculated, and methodical nature was able to wear down opponents through constant screening and off-ball movement each trip down the floor – generating high a ton of percentage shots.
Coach Ryan was actually quite analytical in his approach - well before data usage was so prevalent in the sport.
His sole focus from a number's standpoint was to average 1.1 points per possession on offense while only allowing 0.95 PPP. UW would win approximately 70% of their games if they achieved these marks.
Considering he won 71% of his games at UW, I'd say this specific formula served Wisconsin well during the Bo Ryan era.
How things have changed under Greg Gard
Wisconsin Badger's head coach Greg Gard just completed his seventh year at the program's helm and has established himself as one of the Big Ten's best and brightest coaches.
In those seven seasons, Gardo has won two Big Ten regular season titles, was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year twice, and qualified for the NCAA Tournament six times. Not too shabby.
While coach Gard has kept some of the swing principles he learned under Bo Ryan, he's also made some wrinkles of his own to promote better spacing, add more off-ball movement, and open up more driving lanes.
We've seen the Badgers mix in several new concepts under Greg Gard (we'll get to that later) that have now become staples in UW's playbook.
You'll still see the swing utilized from time to time when the Badgers are in a rut or struggling to generate clean looks, but it's not as prevalent as it once was.
Here are a few examples of UW running the swing to generate different looks out of the same offensive set…
In the clip below, Chucky Hepburn swings the ball out to the wing, then makes a UCLA cut - which triggers a backside curl for Brad Davison to come off a Tyler Wahl screen, which frees him up to get to the basket for an easy deuce.
A few possessions later, UW comes out with the same base look against Penn State. This time, after Hepburn gets the ball onto the wing - it again triggers a backside screen.
However, because of the last easy bucket allowed, the defender anticipates the curl and goes underneath the screen (amateur hour), which frees up Davison to pop out and knock down the open three.
With the game on the line and offense hard to come by, Wisconsin went with ole reliable (the swing) one last time to secure the dub.
On the backside action, Wahl slips the screen out of the base swing, and Davison curls to the hoop, allowing Wahl to catch the ball out on the wing.
Once Davison clears his man out by taking him away from the ball, this gives Wahl a chance to attack his defender, who is out of position, and get a clean take to the basket.
The Flow Offense
Additionally, Badger fans have seen a heavy implementation of the flow offense and its read-and-react principles.
The flow emphasizes constant, simultaneous screening away from the ball before collapsing the defense with pick and rolls or low post touches.
It becomes challenging for the defense to key in on any one specific player because of the constant movement and cutting away from the ball.
The goal is to create a two-on-two situation on each side of the floor. Then it's on the player to read the screening actions and wait for an opportunity to attack an open seam in the defense.
This offensive series can be tough to defend because it's not necessarily a set play – it gives the power to the players and allows them the freedom to take what's given to them should a crack in the defense present itself.
Here are a few more examples of Wisconsin running the flow offense…
For the flow to click on all cylinders, the ball can't stick in any one place for very long and needs to continue changing sides of the floor.