Bennett's `No. 1 disciple' is sticking with what works

Sporting News, The, Dec 11, 2000 by Mike DeCourcy

The look on his face could best be described as a grimace. He folded his hands together below his chin, as though in prayer. Brad Soderberg did not appear at all comfortable at the opening tip of his first game as Wisconsin's head coach.

Give him time. The average coach has a bit more than 72 hours to prepare for his debut. "I was nervous. I was real nervous," he says. "I felt great relief after the game."

There was nothing easy about Soderberg's first game, except the game. Wisconsin blistered a very capable Xavier team, doing precisely what the Badgers did to all those that fell before them on their way to the 2000 Final Four: outmuscling, outhustling and outlasting the Musketeers.

Wisconsin still looked like a team coached by Dick Bennett, which is how Soderberg wants it. He considers himself to be Bennett's "No. 1 disciple." Right up until Bennett went public last week with his decision to retire, citing a lack of energy, Soderberg tried to talk him out of it. He failed. So now he will try to coach as if nothing has changed.

If Badgers fans are pleased with the program's results the past five-plus seasons--and why shouldn't they be, given the Final Four trip and three NCAA Tournament appearances?--Soderberg is the best choice to keep it moving in that direction. Aside from the red sweater vests, which were Bennett's personal fashion statement, Soderberg will not abandon the Wisconsin style. He will employ the same pack-the-lane defensive approach and screen-intensive motion offense. His one concession will be to nun a few set plays, mostly to squeeze out a basket when the offense is struggling.

"Coach--God bless him--he would run that motion until the cows come home," Soderberg says. "We'll probably be 95 percent motion, five percent sets, which is five percent more than he would prefer."

The newly elevated top assistant, Shawn Hood, said for years he considered Soderberg "a head coach in an assistant's position. He knows what it takes to win at this university, which is different from all other universities."

Soderberg was a head coach for seven seasons at lower levels, at South Dakota State and Loras College, and compiled a 115-63 record. With the Badgers, he was the primary scout, and he was active in practice. Wisconsin's unique view of talent, which emphasizes character over vertical leaps, led to an uncommon team approach to recruiting that will continue if he keeps the job.

"We go out of our way to find kids that fit," Soderberg says. "We have dropped players off our list that were better than the ones we got. The goal of a recruiter is not to say I've got Nos. 5, 7, 15 and 42 on such-and-such a scouting list. Our job is not to recruit players. Our job is to recruit a team."

Although Wisconsin is in the Big Ten, it is in a state with limited talent and little tradition beyond an NCAA title that was more than 40 years old when Bennett arrived in 1995. The school-record victory total Bennett reached twice is 22 games.

Bennett brought the style he developed and perfected at Wisconsin-Stevens Point and Wisconsin-Green Bay, and he worked through his early years as Badgers head coach to prove it could work in the big time. He faced questions about whether talented players would sacrifice creative freedom to play in an unglamorous style. Even midway through last season--after he'd led Wisconsin to two NCAA Tournaments--he still expressed doubts about the experiment.

The Final Four trip validated the system's potential. It also set the ceiling high for this season's team. Soderberg refuses to consider what record or results will be necessary for him to keep the job. "I think if I took that attitude, I'd be making a big mistake," he says. "If the administration thinks we did all right, great. And if not, I'll move on."

Although Bennett's decision to retire three games into the season shocked many in the athletic department, Soderberg says he was not surprised. "I'm with Coach every day, and I see what he's gone through. I think it just got to the point that he could not coach another game."

Wisconsin's first outing under Soderberg was textbook Bennettball. Having watched the Musketeers straggle to make 3-pointers in early wins over mismatched opponents, the staff decided to follow its "pack" theme of playing defense. Nearly every defender was stuffed inside the lane, making penetration virtually impossible and keeping the Musketeers away from the offensive boards. Xavier freshman star Romain Sato got loose for three shots in 31 minutes, and the Musketeers went 4-of-20 on 3-pointers.

The NCAA rules committee's emphasis on eliminating rough defensive play has not crippled the Badgers, who were 3-1 entering Wednesday's game with UW-Green Bay. Wisconsin's first three major-conference opponents--Tennessee (UW's only loss), Maryland and Xavier--shot .383 from the floor. Bennett recognized his program was being used as an example of what had to be changed to bring offense back to prominence, so he stressed that players needed to move their feet and keep their hands to themselves.