Looking for a fast end to the very slow starts
UW needs complete games from Reuvers
MADISON – Immediately after watching the basketball sail out of bounds, Nate Reuvers got some ingame coaching from his Wisconsin teammates, in stereo.
In one ear, D’Mitrik Trice.
In the other ear, Brad Davison.
Their first message: Grab the ball. Seconds earlier, Trice had deflected an entry pass intended for Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis. Reuvers, who had just launched an air ball on the other end, was in the lane and behind Jackson-Davis. He could have grabbed the ball before it went out of bounds but instead let it go and the Hoosiers retained possession in the first half of the teams’ game last week.
The second message from Davison and Trice: Get your head out of your
butt.
“We expect better from him,” Trice said. “He is a senior and we expect the best. We knew that he wasn't playing up to his potential, so we had to get on him a couple different times.
“But he obviously responded very, very well. He had a couple of key buckets in the post and played really good defense on Trayce, who was their hot hand.”
Reuvers, who took a seat on the UW bench after letting the ball go out of bounds, played well after halftime in UW's double-overtime victory over the Hoosiers.
Yet as UW (10-2, 4-1 Big Ten), No. 10 in the NCAA's NET rankings, prepares to face host Michigan (10-0, 5-0) at 6 p.m. Tuesday on ESPN, the concern is Reuvers' play in the first half of games.
The numbers through five Big Ten games are bewildering.
First half: Reuvers has scored a combined six points and made 3 of 18 fieldgoal attempts (16.7%). He has not attempted a free throw.
Second half: Reuvers has scored a combined 41 points and made 14 of 24 field-goal attempts (58.3%). He has hit 13 of 14 free-throw attempts.
“I don't know if it is mentally or not being physically ready in that first half,” Reuvers said. “I'm trying to have a bigger impact in the first half because I notice
Wisconsin’s Nate Reuvers has scored a combined six points and made 3 of 18 field-goal attempts (16.7%) in the first half of five Big Ten games.
it, too.
“But when it gets into the second half I get more focused and love playing in those tight games. It's a lot of fun.”
Asked about the disparity, head coach Greg Gard leaned on fundamentals for an explanation.
“He's got to play off two feet,” Gard said. “When he plays off two feet and you can hear the pop when he jumpstops on two feet…he is really good at the rim.
“When he is playing off one foot and he kind of wobbles in there, then he is not as strong with defenders. Nobody is. That is one thing. We've worked on that, emphasized that. He knows it.
“So when he is in that 8-foot zone, he's got to try to play off two feet and try to play through contact more consistently.”
Despite the lack of production in the opening half, Reuvers is averaging 9.4 points and 4.8 rebounds in Big Ten play.
UW will need both Reuvers and Micah Potter (10.6 ppg, 7.4 rpg in league games) to play well against Michigan big man Hunter Dickinson.
The 7-foot-1, 255-pound freshman is averaging 18.0 points and 8.1 rebounds and is shooting 73.0% (73 of 100).
“He doesn't play like a freshman,” Gard said. “He is more physical than your average freshman. He doesn't get rattled by double-teams.
“He is a handful because of his size. He is good with his feet. He keeps the ball high. He goes at bodies. He doesn't fade away from contact."
UW will need Reuvers to be at his best – from the start.
Trice said he didn't hesitate to challenge Reuvers during the first half of the Indiana game.
“We're all old guys,” Trice said. “We're all grown men. We can take criticism. We can harp on each other, tell each other what we need to do. If somebody needs to come to me and talk to me like that, I think I'll respond very well.
“I think everybody takes criticism in different ways. We knew we could yell at Nate that way and he would respond in a positive manner, which he did.”
Reuvers, generally quiet by nature, agreed.
“You can't take everything (personally),” he said. “I understand they had a reason to be upset because I wasn't performing well in that first half. I felt like I took it the right way.
"They are saying that because we have that chemistry. We've been around, and they know I can do better than what was going on. It shows real leadership from them, too.”