Honestly, I still find it difficult to figure out if Gard is the right coach for the program. Right now I think he is, but it's easy to feel that way when things are going well. I remember when he took over, I thought he rotated players too frequently, preventing them from getting into rhythm, and even pulling players who hadn't been on long and who were hot. But it got immediate results, and he rescued that season from Bo's retirement. And he's adjusted his approach to substitutions.
In year two of Gard, the Badgers were good, but not great, and it still felt a bit like the end of the Bo era. And the disappointing third year under Gard seemed to verify that--a poor performance once most of Bo's players were gone. Year four was an improvement, but not a big one--and a first-round exit in the tourney was disappointing--particularly when I took my son to that game.
But in year 5, they rebounded, despite low expectations, but there was also a lot of drama around that team, with Micah Potter's eligibility and Kobe King leaving mid-season. They tied for the conference title, but MSU was pretty clearly a better team. Then the tournament was cancelled just when things were starting to look pretty good.
Then last year was again pretty meh--basically finishing about where people thought a decent, but not especially good group of players should finish. And more drama--probably fairly placed primarily on Alando Tucker. What an odd thing.
So now we have this team exceeding expectations by more than a little. What to expect next season? The Badgers will lose their best player, and he won't be easily replaced, even if Chucky Hepburn becomes the star that I think he will be. And what about drama? There's been a fair amount of it under Gard. Is that just bad luck, or is that the way he rolls? And if so, maybe it doesn't matter if the teams flip back and forth between meeting expectations and exceeding them. But that feels a little like giving up, unless the expectations start higher.
But for this season, I'm just enjoying.
