Jim French Stepstool

Bombs away tomorrow in Bloomington. Indiana is a team that could very well hoist from behind the arc at a higher rate than UW does in this noon matchup. 52% of their shots are from 3PT range on the season, for a respectable 35%. Seventy percent 😲 of Tucker DeVries shots are from deep, making about a third, while their other big gun is Lamar Wilkerson who attempts 57% of his looks from behind the arc (39%). Wilkerson has 'tweener' type size & is maybe a little more athletic than DeVries; I expect a combo of Rohde/Janicki/Carrington to take turns on him (perhaps Blackwell if he can stay away from fouls). This also looks to me like a game where we can pretty easily go small if desired. I love the work Bieliauskas & Rapp turned in vs Ohio State but I don't know if the matchups are there vs this group. IU seems to be a 'rebound by committee' sort of team & it usually works OK for them, but they don't appear to be a big OREB squad. The bigs don't force the issue--they shoot a solid % from mostly inside the arc. Their pace under Coach DeVries is slower & they take much better care of the ball than under Woodson. Tucker DeVries is a big part of what they do offensively; making him uncomfy would be extremely valuable but it'll be tough to do. Nick Dorn mostly comes off the bench & is very productive (.415 from 3PT). FR forward Trent Sisley also comes off the pines. The UW staff recruited him pretty heavily. A winnable game but UW will have to play pretty damned well to pull it off.

Tough financial pill for the Bucs to swallow. I think they should just trade him to the Dodgers, who can pay him a dollar a year for the next 32 million years.

Ditto. I'm ready to once again dream, because the potential upside looks to be quite tasty. At the same time you can't mentally pencil him in for 400-500 ABs---and there are enough options that you don't need to do that anyway. Fingers crossed.

He fits part of the Brewer profile--despite mostly pedestrian numbers in pro ball he can run & draws his share of walks (but with a lot of swing-and-miss). It's noticeable how many of these guys they take flyers on are former 1st or 2nd round picks.

It can be fun to watch when you have people that are willing to play unselfishly, even if they're high-volume scorers. Even though they're much different players I think Tonje & Boyd fit that description. After the 1st half debacle vs Minnesota hopefully the downs are now few & far between.

Thank you. It would certainly be presumptuous to look at Bieliauskas & Rapp today & assume they've turned a corner & they're on their way. But it's hard not to dream. Even w/o him making a 3pt shot today, Winter puts up yet another double-double. Giving 4s & 5s on the opposition yet another person to have to contend with would be terrific. I like your point re the zones we've seen. If I'm playing against Boyd I'd certainly change looks on him, try to make him hesitant & think a little. Cuz once he gets comfortable..........I assume there will be a loss coming where people will be upset at him for going one-vs-the-world on some fast breaks & drives to the hoop. But it's what he DOES. as long as you can draw contact when not converting........ I guess it's one of those things you mostly relish & when it doesn't work you live with it. I think this is a wonderful time for the midweek break. And I'd love a split in the next two roadies.

After the opening minutes there might've been some "here we go again" thoughts. But I thought the focus & energy were OK early & it was more a case of Ohio State coming out focused on D & it taking UW a while to settle in--and the good shots we DID get weren't going in. Then Blackwell made some plays---and Austin Rapp being Larry Bird for ten minutes didn't hurt, either. I liked most of what I saw, other than giving up a few too many OREBS. But we did our share of keeping possessions alive too, which helps to cancel that out. Mostly made Mobley & Thornton work hard for their points, too. Carrington doesn't light it up (2-7) but defends like a veteran & commits zero TOs w/4 assists in 29 minutes. Damn, has he become valuable. When you think about growth & consistency, one of the brighter lights today IMO was Bieliauskas & Rapp combining for 29 points & doing a lot of other things you hope to see from 6'10" guys. Let's see if that can be built upon. That's a pretty talented team to be towards the middle of a conference (now 6-5). Says a lot about the level of play in the top 4-5 leagues in CBB.

On paper, UW vs OSU looks like the Battle of the Backcourts. We all know about Boyd & Blackwell. John Mobley & Bruce Thornton are the top two scorers for Ohio State. Mobley is a challenge in his own right, but Thornton doesn't receive nearly the attention he should due to OSU not being among the leagues' top teams. He's built like a tank & can beat you in a variety of ways. Taison Chatman has played well off the bench. Good backcourt. Their bigs aren't big threats from beyond the arc but have size & girth. With Bieliauskas (I assume) sitting out this isn't a bad personnel matchup for Garlock. He'll be needed. Puff Johnson has recently returned. At 6'8" another one of those matchup problems. He hasn't hit his stride yet & hopefully won't today. Let's hope the start time for the game has been underlined. 1PM; not 1:20, not after halftime, not once we fall behind by twelve. EDIT: Just learned Bieliauskas is NOT listed as out or even questionable. However Andrew Rohde is questionable & not going through warmups. Might mean Janicki or Carrington starts. Also might mean a little run for Jones or Kinziger (although Kinzinger seems limited to PG duties when he plays).

Interesting thought. If Bo were calling the shots, I wouldn't be surprised if that's the way he rolled. As for Rapp.........I'm not usually a rewatch the whole game, study every possession kinda fan but I rewatched some of the 2nd half of last nights' game. After a terrible 1st half Rapp actually competed pretty well in the post, even defensively. Not to the point where that's ever going to be a strength of his, and maybe he just had more of a sense of purpose since he knew Bieliauskas was done for the day & afa giving Winter a break, he was IT. I dunno, perhaps it's just taking time to sink in that this isn't the WCC, you can't just roll out there and take threes, and in the meantime you'll defend the post & grab some boards simply because you're 6'10". But he was brought here to help stretch the defense. Hopefully he re-finds the touch.

Yeah, she really did. My wife spends time on either coast visiting family so it's easy for her to pick up on stuff like that, and she mentioned it right away. I enjoyed Song Sung Blue thoroughly. It hit home with me very easily due to the fact that the 'real life' Thunder grew up a few blocks from our home & the siblings attended the same grade school as I did. I also played fastpitch softball for Good Time Charlies, the bar depicted in the movie. Have to admit, I never realized Jim Belushi was in it until I saw the credits.

I was getting why Garlock wasn't used; this team isn't a good match for him. But I kinda wanted him out there to guard Grove, when Winter needed a blow & Bieliauskas was unavailable. Rapp can be an asset but yeah, the shot has to be falling for that to happen. And when you go with one big, he can't be it.

Mind giving me a Super Bowl final score?😁

The thing is, early in the 2nd half their offense wasn't THAT effective, but the defense fueled it & allowed them to get it down to 10-12. At that point you knew there was a chance because Minny HAD to run out of gas at some point, right? Looking at how often they went small, Winter really needed to be a warrior, and boy was he. And all the folks you mentioned were huge. Glad you included Janicki. If he ever gets to the point where he can give you 5PPG he goes from valuable to ultra-valuable. One thing that bugged me was in the last few minutes we gave them much better looks from three than I liked. It's much easier to say this when you win, but you gotta hand it to the opponent. Six guys covered all but 3 of their game-minutes; that's unheard of nowadays. Medved was a terrific hire.

Felt good when they got it to 14 & started guarding. Then they immediately put up three horrible possessions in a row. Uggghhhh.

Minnesotas' effort & energy is impressive, but if you can't match that---and we haven't---it's pretty inexcusable coming off a disappointing loss. And, officials are human. Hard for me to believe they aren't aware of their short bench & are allowing a little more physicality, but that isn't really the problem. One 2PT FG in a half. I doubt I've ever seen that. Maybe when my nephews' kids played in HS. Given Minnesotas' short bench & reluctance to play fast, I'd have considered pressing about midway in the half----we were playing ten anyway---just to speed things up a bit & get some energy going. Not that I expected it. Twenty minutes in, it's like the Villanova game on steroids, minus the fact we started defending better tonite about halfway through. But again, coming off the SC game I have no idea why it should take that long. And the cherry on the crap sandwich is Durkin, who scored 17 in the half & missed (I think) one shot. On the season he's shooting under 40% & 31% from three.

Early on, Rohde gets a little seam on a drive. Instead of going strong, he goes in as if he's waiting to get cut off so he can pass the ball. He does, and throws it away. Around the same time, Winter gets a rebound ripped away for a bucket. It's been crap since that. Really uninspiring start.

----Tyson officially ruled out for tonight's game----

If we execute I could see that. Minn regularly plays 7. If Tyson is indeed out, that not only removes a 20PPG scorer but really stresses their depth. I expect to see at least some zone from them, and if we come out firing blanks from beyond the arc we might see it exclusively. Either way I hope to see us attack the rim & force them to be physical. Let the refs try to 'control' things & blow the whistle. A lot of fouls both ways benefits UW tonite.

Good points. But in the case of Miz, his effectiveness late actually came when he 'ticked down' the velo a bit, relied just a bit less on the heater & improved his command. I'd put him in the same category as Priester & Woody as being someone who can go 6 or more effectively.

That's the first thing I noticed. Someone (McGee? Yoho?) might be a good guess to be in the 'pen instead of one of the lefties. BP's are almost impossible to project though. Very good piece, Michael. Signing McGuire guarantees that they want Jef Quero to continue to do farm chores just a leeeeetle bit longer.

Cade Tyson, who is having a terrific season for Minnesota, is listed as questionable to doubtful (depending on who you want to believe) for their game Wednesday in Madison. It would be a blow to a team w/o much depth. But hopefully, the lesson learned not only by UW but the entire conference is to take nothing for granted regardless of opponent, who's hurt, etc. Indiana beat Purdue Tuesday. They recently had lost four in a row. The same night, MSU was fortunate to beat Rutgers in OT. Time to right the ship.

The way I see it Jett plays SS in 2026 only if needed--which would involve Ortiz struggling in March. My gut feeling is that the type of spring training Ortiz would have that would involve him losing the job on opening day, would have to be much worse than many fans expect. If it were to happen Ortiz could handle all three INF positions just fine.

If Pratt were to move, 3B seems to be the spot. But as you said I think Wilkin is ticketed there at Nashville. Also his bat heating up would be much more of a concern if moved to a corner. And, there's Fischer.......

Sure, if it wasn't for Made then Pratt starting out repeating Biloxi wouldn't be the worst idea in the world. But Made certainly looks ticketed for AA, and even though he's capable of being moved it wouldn't be prudent to move him off SS at this point. The good news is that this is a nice 'problem' to have.

SS "Will be his focus heading into spring training" might be the equivalent of a D L Hall or an Aaron Ashby saying "Gee, I'd like to be a starting pitcher". It might've come after discussion with his new FO. It also might simply be his stated preference. If it's the configuration you mentioned above and Quero stays in Nashville, that's a helluva middle-of-the-diamond for a AAA team.