Greg Gard has a problem, and it's basically the opposite of last season; he can't trust his bench. Last season, he could turn to Kamari McGee or Carter Gilmore and know he was getting some quality minutes defensively and an occasional offensive spark. This year, not even the starting five are always reliable on either end of the floor, but the bench hasn't helped at all.
In his post-game press conference after losing in overtime to Villanova 76-66, Gard said, within 25 seconds of his opening comments, this exact line, "You claw yourself back from down 15. Those guys that were a part of that. Five or six guys showed me who I need to have on the floor, and other guys got to continue to rise to the expectations."
Greg Gard reveals the exact six players he can trust in the game when defense is needed
Related: Villanova revealed 3 glaring issues for Wisconsin and Greg Gard this season
He said, "five or six guys" helped get the game back to tied, played the way they were supposed to play, solid on defense and "clawed their way back." When clarifying, this later he told the media exactly which six he was talking about.
He called his starters the "Iron 5" which is Nick Boyd, John Blackwell, Andrew Rohde, Nolan Winter, and Aleksas Bieliauskas. "Well, that iron five or whatever you want to call them or six with Jones involved there at some in the second half, they set the standard." The final person he can trust on defense is Hayden Jones.
This is bad news for anyone else, especially star transfer Austin Rapp, who is sliding further and further down the depth chart. He went from being the second biggest addition of the offseason to being unreliable off the bench. The game against Villanova was his least-played game, with only 15 minutes.
Maybe the next two games against Central Michigan and Milwaukee can help fix the woes of Rapp and even Jack Janicki, but for now, Gard only has six players he can trust.