Foul trouble hampering UW’s Reuvers
MADISON – Nate Reuvers held the basketball – initially thinking he had secured an offensive rebound – but then stared in disbelief after the official signaled the senior had shoved Loyola’s Cameron Krutwig in the back to secure possession.
Reuvers gave up the ball, walked down the court muttering a few words and was still talking to no one in particular as he took a seat on the Wisconsin bench with 16 minutes 38 seconds left in the game Tuesday night.
The foul was his third of the night and he ended up sitting out for the next 6:19 of UW’s 77-63 victory.
“Especially on that one I was kind of confused,” Reuvers said during a Zoom session Friday. “I felt like I just stood there and then got the rebound.
“That throws you out of rhythm, especially when you’ve got to sit for those long stretches. It’s tough sitting for a long time and then going up and down. You get winded a lot faster.”
That play illustrated one of two issues hampering Reuvers so far this season as No. 12 UW (5-1) prepares to host No. 22 Louisville (4-0) at 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPN2.
Reuvers leads UW in total fouls (21), has committed four fouls in four of the six games and is averaging a foul every 6.6 minutes.
“I’ve got to know I’m probably going to get a couple cheap ones,” Reuvers said. “So, I’ve got to (avoid) some of those stupid ones so when I do get the cheap ones I don’t have to go to the bench when I’m in foul trouble.”
How do his foul numbers compare to the first six games last season?
With Micah Potter still not eligible, Reuvers was averaging 30.5 minutes per game. By comparison, he is at 23.2 minutes per game this season.
Reuvers committed four fouls in only two of the first six games last season, had 18 total fouls and was averaging a foul every 10.2 minutes.
Head coach Greg Gard estimated Reuvers could reduce his foul total by 50% with better choices.
“He does block a lot of shots so that is the risk-reward,” Gard said. “He sometimes spends too much time off the floor.
“That is something we’ve shown on film. We actually did some drill work (Thursday) to try to improve.”
Reuvers’ fourth foul against Loyola came with 5:10 left but he wasn’t at fault.
D’Mitrik Trice missed a contested drive, which led to a transition opportunity for the Ramblers. Aleem Ford was beaten baseline by Lucas Williamson, who scored and drew the foul against Reuvers.
“He got put in a bad position,” Gard said of Reuvers.
The other area the is shooting.
Reuvers’ perimeter marksmanship is fine. He has made 53.3% of his threepoint attempts this season (8 of 15) compared to just 33.3% (7 of 21) through six games last season.
However, Reuvers has made only 43.6% of his two-point attempts (17 of 39). Through six games last season he was at 51.0% (25 of 49).
Reuvers against Loyola missed his first six field-goal attempts. Five were in the lane.
Gard believes more two-point shots will drop if Reuvers plays with a better base, particularly against sturdy post defenders like the 6-foot-9, 255-pound Krutwig, and catches the ball closer to the rim.
“He knows,” Gard said. “He is an experienced player. We went through it the other day on tape. He saw it. That is one thing about tape. It doesn’t lie.”
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