Jim French Stepstool

Things changed greatly for UW on the defensive end in the 2nd half tonite, especially when Blackwell & Kamari McGee were inserted. They really disrupted well in the half court. If not for 2-3 desperation threes RMU pulled out of their arse late in the shot clock they're held to around 25 pts or so in the half. They both played so much better than Klesmit, Essegian & Lindsey. Fortunately UW didn't miss the lack of perimeter offense because there was a big advantage inside. Wahl was better tonite. Crowl IMO still trying to find a comfort zone. Hepburn seems effective guarding off the ball, Just don't know how often they can afford to have McGee out there to guard the point. His offense is limited. Blackwell took just five shots from the floor, and scored 18pts. Wahl, same thing. Coaches love that stuff.

Agree with all of this. I obviously don't know for sure, but I feel Yelich doesn't want to even consider playing 1B. Definitely would like to be wrong about that.

I once had a chance to converse with Lamont Parris, who went on to ETSU & is now at South Carolina, and came away with two thoughts 1) I wish he'd stay at UW forever, and 2) It's almost impossible he would. I get pretty good vibes about Dean Oliver, but I too think the jury is out regarding exactly how good the staff is. Kirk Penney is an interesting recent add.

I think that's fair. When you take both ends of the floor into account I think both Aleem Ford & D'Mitrik Trice left UW much better players, but obviously not at the level of some of the Ryan guys ( I think one of the best examples is Clayton Hansen). Concerning this years' team, Steve Crowl has gotten off to a rocky start defensively, but despite the struggles with the 3-point shot he's increased his PPG by quite a bit each year. He, frankly, stunk at Providence. He needed to finish more often vs Tennessee but wound up with 14 & 9 rebounds vs one of the better defenses they'll see this year. Wahl doubled his PPG each season here, then struggled last season, then got injured & came back at I suspect something less than 100%. If his first three games are indicative of his 23-24 season, yeah, big disappointment. Like Crowl, needs to make a much bigger statement defensively (and please Tyler, play as if a sniper is going to aim at you from the stands the next time you shoot from beyond the arc). I don't know where the ceiling sits for Hepburn, but I think he's much improved from what I've seen. I believe Max Klesmits' ceiling is what he's shown to be last season, which was IMO pretty solid. I don't think he was much better at Wofford, where he scored more but that's not surprising coming from the So Con. Certainly has gotten off to a sub-par start, especially defensively. As for Essegian, I have to think the back isn't at 100%. I watched him during warmups before the Tennessee game & flat out told my wife I didn't think he'd be playing because he didn't even seem to be able to move well enough to get loose. And here's a common thread--in their last game, which was far & away their worst so far, none of those mentioned above came close to playing well. I'd rather let them get a little deeper into the season before passing judgement. But looking at the program "big picture" I think the point you make has some merit.

We used to live about a mile from the 76 & Layton Kopps. Seemed to me to have the best rep of the three. My stepson can be added to the list of people who want to stop there immediately after landing at Mitchell. My wife & I had a couple great custard options growing up on the NW side-----the original Kopps on 60th & Appleton, and a little-known gem called Kitts on 71st & Capitol which opened in the early 50s & I believe is still there. I'm sure this isn't a popular reason to hit Culvers, but I think their salads are very good.

We're three games in. I think Hepburn has elevated his overall game from what I've seen ( I'll admit my timing in making this point is terrible because of the lousy day he had yesterday). The other returnees, again through three games, I'd have to agree. A caveat is that I don't believe Essegian is 100%. Even a lot of Ryans' teams were "whole is greater than the sum of the parts" type squads. With just the same production they received last year from the vets I think they'll score enough points, given the addition of Storr & the freshmen. What has to happen is the team & individual defense needs to get a lot more consistent. Wahl & Crowl don't have to dominate. But those two showing some consistency on both ends is vitally important to this team.

I can remember a lot of MSU teams that started out slow due to rough non-con skeds, then figured things out. Hopefully that happens here, that the sooner the warts are exposed, the sooner you can get players' attention & get it cleaned up. Good news is, they've played much better than this vs quality opponents in the past. IMO it isn't a case of not being "good enough".

If accomplishing the above is akin to hitting the bullseye on a dart board, tonight UW missed the board, threw the dart through an open window, and hit a little old lady sitting across the street. You seldom see a team as comfortable on offense as Providence was in the 1st half; virtually nothing was taken away. They shot over 50% from 3 & over 60% from 2, which often teams don't do even with open looks. But coming out as poorly on the defensive end as they did lets the opponent get comfortable & fuels that. And PU came out with a lot of defensive energy, we never got comfy on the offensive end, and your 4th-yr JR & 5th-yr SR bigs did nothing to stem the tide, on either end. It's frustrating when veteran returnees aren't doing what they've done before. Why you aren't ready to face teams like this & defend better, with a mostly experienced group, is a head-scratcher. Wahl in particular, has disrupted teams with every bit the athleticism of this group they saw today--or more. During the intermittent stops where they did defend (mostly in the 2nd half), you could see how vulnerable PU could be in their decision-making. Just really spotty. I hope Storr gets better in his decision making with the ball in his hands vs halfcourt pressure, because it was ugly tonight. Blackwell is a good combination of active, and basketball smart.

As is usually the case when playing a P5 on the road, defending well gives you a chance. I expect that end of the floor to get better as we go; it certainly wasn't good in the 1st half last Friday. Decent Friar team, but not at the consistency/depth level of a Tennessee. Make them score in the half court, do a better job with the rules---over/under screens as needed, switching, helping, hedging---and you can pick up a nice road win. Hope Essegian is at or close to 100%.

They dealt from a position of strength/depth in the organization here. I particularly expect Moore to improve at the plate in '24 & have a real shot at being a contributor in the bigs. But the deal makes sense to me. Looking forward to reading comments in the other thread from some of the BF minor-league gurus on Dunn. Outside of the numbers mentioned above, don't know much about him.

We would. I'm just looking at it as a promotion for someone who could be a ladder-climber. I agree, he's a terrific guy to have on the baselines.

Like a couple of others have said, uninspiring but not necessarily a bad hire. They must feel he fits the plan moving forward, whatever that might be. It's been a while since the Brewers have headed into an off season as undefined as this one, so strap in. Not thrilled about Weeks. Would much rather see McKinven or Quintin Berry as bench coach.

Good stuff. The extent to which a HC sticks his nose into the workings of a game, or a practice for that matter, varies from coach to coach. I think Longo & Tressel have a LOT of leeway. Ten games in, watching him on the sidelines & listening to his pressers I think Fickell's as "hands off" as anyone we've had in recent decades. I don't particularly care for that, but if they were 8-2 I'm sure it wouldn't bother me. They certainly have looked unprepared, especially the last couple games. I totally discard the idea of cleaning house & leaning on the portal to build a program as someone suggested, but these next couple weeks do seem to be "find out who wants to be here" time. If you're looking for guys who are buying in, in a way this is a perfect scenario. It's easy to be committed to a program when you're having success. I think our wives may be related lol.

And, you're now recruiting kids that, by & large, aren't coming from this state & have a lot of other people vying for their services. You had a tradition of not only locking up some of the better linemen from Wisconsin, but corralling & developing people like Tauscher , Panos & Ramczyk who were walkons & made quite a difference. So far so good on the early recruiting returns, but the switch of emphasis to skill guys & defensive backs will make it more challenging to fill a roster. I too love the big, dominant offensive lines. I think it should be a priority, and I've even heard Fickell pay lip service to it. But as things stand right now, he needs to convince me that he really feels that way. He has five coming in. Whether any can make the 2-deep immediately I have no idea.

After watching the last 30-odd years of UW football I felt like I was in some sort of alternate universe in the first half. This was early, before they fell behind by multiple scores. We had a 3rd & 2, and not only threw the ball but made it clear that's what we were doing, as if it were 3rd & nine. A possession or two later, Northwestern had a 3rd & 4, ran the ball, and picked up the 1st down. Regardless of your system, regardless of your personnel, if you can't even plant the seed of possibly running on 3rd & 2 that's an issue. I'd have to say the defense has gotten better from early in the season. Of course the outlier was the terrible 1st half today.

I'm thinking of the Brees teams at Purdue. A lot of passes, many short routes. Little to no running game. Against better defenses they would be taxed to get the ball into the end zone once they got to the 20-25 yd line. I think that's related to the problem here. Let's face it, these receivers have issues getting consistently open from anywhere on the field. When the defense is compressed it's that much tougher. And apparently the days of the O-line leaning on a front seven, wearing them out, and a tailback getting "lathered up" are long gone. They were relegated to the same short routes and maybe Mordecai using his legs. So much of this, even the Air Raid, benefits from teams having to honor the run. That's never really happened this year.

Almost too many individual, team, & staff shortcomings to mention from this game. So I'll point out something from a big-picture perspective----This team has played their two worst games of the season, in games nine & ten. Think about that. Obviously the hope is that the players are simply a bad match for the new staff/system. But that doesn't explain how you get worse in the last two weeks, unless there are just enough disillusioned people on the field to drag everyone else down. Whether they win, lose, or split, these are two pretty important games coming up, as far as taking an overall pulse of things is concerned.

I thought Storr was much better defensively in half 2 after a poor first 20 minutes. Winter just isn't ready yet for that kind of strength & experience. That was pretty sticky perimeter defense, for sure. But I think they would've put a premium on trying to drive the ball anyway. I know one thing Gard is emphasizing is not "settling" for jumpers & trying to get them by going inside-out. I think he felt they had a possible advantage driving & also scoring in the paint with Crowl & Wahl. Obviously not enough finishes though. I expect them to get better defensively as the season unfolds. Too many guys who have guarded well in the past not to. Agree about Virginia & going against the pack-line defense. Really hoping Essegian is 100% by then. He didn't look like himself to me tonight.

On the way home from the KC tonight I heard something that I thought was pretty incredible. There were 13 times tonight that Wisconsin scored to make it a one-possession game. Tennessee followed up those successful trips by answering with a score.......all thirteen times. Sometimes it was too much penetration allowed or another defensive breakdown, 2-3 of those times I thought they got the short end of the stick on a call, and a couple other times I thought they had great defensive possessions. Once there was a bucket just ahead of the shot clock, another time someone (I think it was Wahl) was out-fought & gave up a putback. Tennessee's just a really good team. Defense was much better in the 2nd half after a mediocre first 20 minutes, and I liked the way they took the ball to the hole, just not enough finishes. They'll get blasted for the FT shooting, but IMO that criticism needs to focus on Wahl. The rest of the team shot 75% from the line. Wahl was 2-7, and really struggled on both ends the last 5-6 minutes. Otherwise I have no major complaints about individual performances (Winter & Blackwell were mostly non-factors, but that wasn't surprising given the opponent & the fact it was their 2nd game. I'd have felt good going in if I knew how much of a non-factor Vescovi was going to be, but Knecht just kept making plays. Did not see that coming.

My late evenings often feature perusing around YouTube. I'll look for it. Thanks for the heads up & good luck in the venture!!

He may be far down on their list (I hope he is). This might simply be a case of a national network getting the shakes if they DON'T feature a name that played in NY & was coaching in the AL East. Of the former managers floating around, I'd be more interested in Kapler than Donny Ballgame.

I agree with this. His underage drinking adventure was at the opening football game at Camp Randall. You hafta "stand out" to draw the attention of authorities there with everything else that's going on. Throw in the fact that you're 6'8" or whatever he is......not smart None of us know the answer to this, but it's possible he's had issues with this stuff since he was fifteen, and now that he's thrown into a college atmosphere it's accelerated. There are many levels of attention that could be necessary to deal with this. Hopefully it isn't of the more serious vein, but either way at least some time away from the team seems appropriate.

Vogt was hired as the Guardians' new skipper.

Good synopsis of Weeks. I'll add that when he played, I used to imagine that if the third baseman positioned himself 35 feet behind the bag the guy still wouldn't bunt, mainly because I doubt he ever cared enough to learn how. If they go the former Brewer route, I'd much rather see Villanueva. Too bad Kevin Seitzer isn't younger. Espada, Snitker & McCullough are all intriguing. Murphy will join CC in his new job, right?

I saw your post & flipped on BTN. Holy crap. That's another Sun Belt team. Arkansas State may have trouble being the force I suggested lol.