Cool Hand Lucroy

More of a Badger fan (ducks), but I always enjoy hoops more when Marquette is good, and I really like and respect Shaka. College basketball is better when the Big East is operating at the top of its game. Give me a basketball-first conference all day long. Worried not just about Marquette (without a Kolek or Jones, their scoring ability is really limited, and I think this group is usually the less athletic bunch, meaning their defense can only get so far on toughness and verve), but about the whole of the Big East. A really bad noncon for them so far. UCONN is predictably great, maybe Nova and Butler are better than advertised, but with Creighton and Marquette looking like they're taking a step backward, this could be a three-bid league. LONG way to go, so hopefully there's some course correction. Maybe Seton Hall is better than we thought? Georgetown? I trust Saint John's will get back up to form. Big question with MU is whether Shaka will start prioritizing transfer portal adds a little or a lot more in the future. Honestly? I hope this team gels and gives him a reason to stick to his current strategy. Better game when all kinds of philosophies can operate.

Badgers grading out in the 60s in the first round of the NET. Seems about right given their performance so far. No truly bad losses (though did get blown out against BYU), but no real good wins either. They'll get plenty of chances in a loaded B1G. NW (46) at home this week is Q2, Nebraska (32) on the road is Q1. Marquette (168...ouch) at home is a Q4 as of today, but that's going to change. Villanova (53) on a neutral is borderline Q1. Especially with challenge games and early conference play this week, those numbers will shift a lot. Good temperature check over the next two weeks, though.

Caught most of this one, but only in chunks. Big thing that stood out was creating turnovers and getting in transition. A couple of big threes right before the half, too. Not sure if it's a shame or a good think that TCU beat Florida. I think TCU has a shot at being a Q1, and we're more likely to beat them, but always fun to take another crack at a top 10 team. Hopefully they play just they did tonight and get another power conference win.

Good analysis here. I think the big thing you're right about is that BYU just looked more poised and in control. Some of that is the environment, certainly. We'll see how this team responds because there's no real recovery period in terms of opposition. Providence expects to dance, and they (and the Big East) need a big win. I think the three games versus the BE are going to define this nonconference portion. We should win all 3 given what I have seen early on. Do that, and you're feeling okay no matter how the other games turn out.

I guess my takeaway from this one is that there are a lot of new guys on this team, and they haven't figured it out yet. We didn't shoot it well, BYU got what they wanted on offense most of the time. On a micro level, the possession after Dybantsa got his 4th felt big. You give up a wide open corner three to Baker, who, other than Saunders, is the one guy you don't want to leave. Breakdown there, and the Badgers never got back in it. Who is the guy for the Badgers? That's the question. It should be Blackwell, but he doesn't seem quite ready to embrace that role yet. Boyd, OTOH, is all confidence. Liked what I saw from Carrington too, and Winter played well. Lot of positives, even in a November blowout. Felt to me like one where we just got our first taste of a road environment against a good team. Time to bounce back.

Badgers look the weaker team so far, but they hadn't played all that poorly until the little BYU spurt before the 6 minute mark. Defended alright and got some decent looks. 2 fouls on Boyd and Carrington hurt. I think BYU has gotten the better whistle, but some of that is they've been more aggressive. Dybantsa also maybe getting a little of the royal treatment too. Speaking of, I feel basketball sliding a little down the slippery slope of trying to induce fouls more and more. It's not quite at the pre-pitch clock era in terms of it's impact on pace, but it isn't far from it. People always hated that approach in soccer, and it isn't exactly flopping, but lots of guys just play to get fouled these days. Not a good development. I do not want the switch to quarters (mostly because I HATE advancing the ball on timeouts), but they might have to disincentivize playing into contact. See if they can get it going in the last 25 mins here. I could see anything from a narrow Badger W to a BYU blowout.

I've seen some bad basketball courts in my day, but....whooo boy.

I'm very excited for this game. Worth pointing out that BYU may be minus two starters, after one of their guys left early with something that looked like a concussion and another appears to have been involved in a DUI (something for which BYU actually might hold players accountable).

And, for most problem gamblers, winning or losing is less important that one would think. It's the behavior itself, the rush etc., the provides the hook. That's not a comment on the Ohtani situation. I have no idea what level of knowledge he had about his translator's bets. I would think more than zero, but nowhere close to 100. We'll never know either way, and it's in a whole different category than the recent cases of actual outcome fixing, so it feels less significant to me in terms of the integrity of the game, even though the dollar amounts are bigger.

Yeah, this is my first real look at Boyd, and he's really good. You expect it given the resume at SDSU (a program that understands a lot about player development and defensive efficiency), but it's great to see. I especially like that it frees up Blackwell to play his more natural second guard position. Strong contributions across the board tonight. The next 7 tell us what this team is, I think, or at least gives us a solid idea. We should be favored in 4 of the games (all three BE teams, NW at home), underdogs vs. BYU and maybe at Nebraska, and then we'll see about Florida/TCU. You'd figure we get Florida and are not expected to win, but you never know. 5-2 would put the team in good shape. 4-3 is okay, depending. Anything above or below changes expectations more significantly in either direction.

Haven't had a chance to watch much so far, but, hey the Badgers would win the MAC? That's good. I wouldn't say tonight is a test, but SIU-E is a decent team with a good shot at the OVC autobid. Top 100 defense. Wouldn't be too surprised if they put up a good fight. Will look forward to getting a more extended look tonight and then during this stretch of tough games. Seems like, during the Bo era, everything came down to whether the team could score. Lately, feels the opposite. If we defend, we do well. That's not a comment on Gard. Aside from Houston, the whole division is more and more like that, with an identity that starts with being able to score the ball. We'll see what B10 play brings, but the BYU game will be a good look at how we stack versus an elite offense.

https://www.theringer.com/2025/11/10/mlb/emmanuel-clase-luis-ortiz-guardians-mlb-betting-scandal-pitch-fixing A good article from Ben Lindbergh analyzing the recent indictment of two Guardians pitchers on suspicion of pitch-fixing. Lindbergh analyzes the underlying data and reflects on the broader implications of the scandal. There's obviously momentum, given the recent NBA scandal along these same lines, building toward bans and restrictions on player props, especially in contexts like these, where the markets are more easily manipulable. Yesterday, MLB announced an agreement with sportsbooks to limit pitch-specific bets to $200. That's...something? Living in a state with mobile sports betting and having enjoyed (and not enjoyed) the practice on and off for a few years, I'm not a gambling doomer. But I certainly think we need more public education on simple mathematical concepts, on how the vig operates in legal gambling operations, and on how the apps are designed to encourage certain kinds of bad bets and troubling behavior. More than that, I worry about gambling, when it becomes 40-50 percent of an individual's or society's relationship to sport as opposed to 5-10 percent (and you could argue that, today, gambling ads and revenue have a controlling stake in pro sports leagues and media), you get some really icky consequences. Watching a game to see how many rebounds Giannis gets is a weird reason to watch a game. Watching Game 7 of the World Series and caring primarily about one's financial interest reduces the emotional beauty of the event. I don't know what'll happen, and I think it's a complex topic given that the genie's way out of the bottle, but I didn't see a thread, so here's one to open discussion.

We just fundamentally disagree about this. The point of analytics is to find players the market undervalues. That is, the market thinks the player isn't good, but you know he is and so will pay him market rate knowing he's actually worth more. That's exploitative. Look, I'm not writing some anti-capitalist screed here. And William Contreras is not a coal miner. He's being extraordinarily well compensated. But the Brewers entire MO is to mostly operate by getting pre-arb and arb guys who they know will either produce more value than we pay for before they hit FA or will be tempted to sign very team-friendly longer term deals. There are exceptions. You could argue baseball requires the Brewers to operate this way to be any good. And the thread is right in that the CBA controls all of this. I'm not even saying it's WRONG. All I am saying is that it IS, on some level, exploitative, and we would be up in arms about it if a billionaire hospital owner was underpaying or nickel and dining a great union nurse. Same principle, but different emotional valences. I just prefer not to rationalize or dismiss the underlying similarity under the guise of "that's just how it is" or "the Brewers obviously just understand true value better than the rest of MLB." The truth is complicated, and exploitation is one part of it, as it is in many, many industries.

Yes. And I think it's okay to be conflicted about this? I suppose I don't really understand what you're trying to say. Like, being a sports fan is weird. And absurd. And fun. And sometimes kind of gross. The Brewers going to arb with Contreras to save a mil or two makes me feel conflicted and a little gross. Doesn't mean I don't understand it or that I'm naive. I think it's better to talk about the levels of exploitation, big and small, rather than rationalize them away or pretend they don't exist.

Because it would be nice if it weren't this way. Trust me, I understand the reality. But just as with health insurance or soft drinks or tech or cars, it would be nice if $$$$ weren't the determinative factor of everything all the time. The Brewers draw these lines very hard. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I'm not even that worked up about it. I'm just saying it has consequences, and, while many of them (long-term sustained success while staying young) are awesome, some aren't that great. The whole point of advanced baseball analytics is to pay labor less than you think it's worth in terms of wins. Whatever we think about that (and I am generally a big fan of how the Brewers go about their business), it's got an exploitative element to it.

I agree with this completely. Rubs me the wrong way too. One downside to our organizational approach, just as a fan who likes to think the team treats the players as well as possible, is that we are pretty ruthless when it comes to arby.

Yeah. I get that we play the game hard with arby. But this seems like one where you keep some goodwill and just figure you're going to pay 2 mil more than you should next year. Mark A can afford it. OTOH, Contreras will never sign a long-term deal here. His market will be huge. There's no real practical advantage to avoiding arby. The shrug says it all.

Not starting the runner cost the Jays the series.

And it is Yamamoto already. Wow.

Figure Snell has maybe the tenth in him? Then, I'd have Sasaki ahead of Yamamoto, but I imagine we'll see Yamamoto over Treinen if it gets to 12 or 13.

Geez, how lucky are the Dodgers? Gimenez forgoes a bunt to lace one at Muncy, who makes a look what I found catch. Guerrero just misses leading of the ninth. Little down on the bat, or a little toward left center, and Joe Carter has company.

Between the 9th last night and the 6th tonight, Blue Jays might regret not cashing in some of these baserunners. Door is open for the Dodgers. Kind of feeling like they really need to get Clement home here after the leadoff double.

Is Turang's shoulder going to allow him to play SS? I mean, he took a step back defensively at 2B this year, so I'm just generally skeptical that he moves. There doesn't seem to be a lot of upside in a move when a) you're getting good 2B D, and b) you're counting on him to be a big offensive producer. Honestly, given the options, I think we're better off riding with Ortiz. He's 27. Team control through 2030. Elite defender. Had a very good 2024 (102 OPS+). And the difference between that year and this past one, basically, was that he walked twice as often in 2024. Joey's not that far away. It's going to make people angry, but I think you ride with that this offseason. There just aren't a lot of options that are going to make you much better.

The other thing with Calgary is that it's Coors Light. 3500 ft. above sea level. That's not Mexico City, but it's not nothing either. I don't think MLB would ever consider Calgary or Edmonton. Vancouver just makes way more sense. It's a massive market, has a lot of pro sports experience (MLS, NHL, and NBA), and is a natural travel partner and rival for Seattle, which helps reduce the overall footprint of the league and unfair distance situation they find themselves in. Of course, I'd imagine someplace like Raleigh or Nashville would probably be ahead of Vancouver too, maybe even Monterrey, which is HUGE (5.3 million) and would make MLB the first country to expand major North American pro sports into Latin America. As for the series, the Blue Jays can hit. They've mid in-roads into the Dodgers bullpen, and that's made all the difference.

The Toronto crowd is a joy. Just reveling. I mean, it could all go to heck starting tomorrow, but it's great having an entire country behind one of the teams. If they can't win the Stanley Cup, they kind of deserve a World Series.