GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — The difference in the (12-10, 7-4) UW-Green Bay basketball team from last year to this year is night and day.
Doug Gottlieb’s crew has tripled its win total from last season, and the Phoenix still have nine games to play.
But in order to keep improving, Gottlieb wants to see one more player step up down the stretch.
“When I say we have better basketball in us, that’s what I mean. I need another guy,” Gottlieb said. “I need one more guy to step up and show some improvement.”
Gottlieb credited UW-Green Bay’s turnaround in his second year to all-around progress.
“I think we're better coached,” he said. “I think we're better prepared. I think we have a little bit better talent. We have better cohesion with our top players. We have more guys who can score.”
A few Wisconsin players have stood out, including senior point guard Preston Ruedinger, who’s averaging career highs with 11 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds.
“(Ruedinger) has reminded himself of how he played at Lourdes Academy and is scoring more buckets because it opens everything up when you have a scoring point guard,” Gottlieb said.
D.C. Everest alum and junior forward Marcus Hall leads the Phoenix in scoring (13 ppg) and rebounds (5 rpg), but Gottlieb believes Hall’s best is yet to come.
“It really is the classic boy-to-man story,” Gottlieb said of Hall’s growth this season. “I would expect next year for him to be even more mature physically, emotionally, intellectually. So it's been good. The process isn’t done yet.”
Then there’s senior guard Justin Allen, who is proving you can make the jump from Division III to Division I. Since the start of the year, he’s averaging 15 points per game.
“Every coach comes up to me and asks, ‘Where’d you get him?’” Gottlieb said.
The Phoenix's second-year head coach says the team is full of good players who are bought in and enjoying the taste of winning.
“It’s like when a dog gets a taste of blood — they love it and want more of it. I think that’s what’s changed.”
