Greg Gard focusing on the present, tuning out NCAA Tournament bubble talk

Wisconsin men’s basketball is comfortably on the NCAA Tournament bubble with just a few weeks left prior to Selection Sunday. For head coach Greg Gard, the best way for his team to play itself off the bubble is to not think about it.

Acknowledging that he was delivering some coach speak after the Badgers gutted out a 5-point home win against Michigan, Gard emphasized that Wisconsin needs to just focus on the next day and game on the schedule. That mindset is needed now, and frankly all year, Gard said.

“I’m more concerned about playing good basketball right now. Because if you don’t play good basketball right now, down the road ain’t going to happen. And I don’t care if it’s November, December, January, February, you — and every team goes through rough patches and this group has gone through their share, but just the next day. And it sounds cliche, and I’m sitting up here and it’s coach speak, but we’ll look through the film, they’ll learn from it on Thursday,” Gard said. “We’ll use those two days and then it’s — and they understand. I’m not, probably, telling them anything after a loss or after a win that they don’t know. Players usually get this figured out even before coaches do.”

Wisconsin, after losing six of eight games in January, has gone on a five-game run of winning a game and then losing a game. After a win against Michigan on Wednesday, Saturday’s contest against Rutgers would, seemingly, be in line for a Wisconsin loss given the current trend.

But thinking about that is exactly what Gard wants to avoid. For now, it’s about beating Rutgers and then moving on to the next game.

“But we have to continue to play good, solid basketball,” Gard said after beating Michigan. “Saturday we didn’t for the last 15 minutes. And it bit us. Tonight we played pretty good, solid basketball. Specifically on the defensive end. And on the glass and taking care of the ball, only five turnovers. So you’re not going to maybe play every part of the game perfect, but if you can be sound and solid in enough areas, you give yourself a better chance.”