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Jim French Stepstool

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Everything posted by Jim French Stepstool

  1. Jim French Stepstool
    You may be right. Unfortunately they've hit the jackpot attracting offensive lineman in-state & most of them fit the road-grader profile. It would be a shame if there's suddenly a paucity of players from Wisconsin to fit the current system because going to other areas to recruit is always a challenge. It would be a shame to see neighboring schools knock down the "wall" Alverez built. I think the current O-line is starting to play pretty consistently, given their talent level. But you're right, it wasn't built for an offense like this one.
  2. Jim French Stepstool
    I don't think they've done enough to be able to "take the top off a defense". Throw in the lack of a real consistent deep threat (Dike is probably the best one & he isn't 100%) & the long ball not being a real emphasis, and here we are. Throwing into the short flat just doesn't get safeties to creep up like a constant pounding of 5-6 yards from a run game. The new staff has, on paper at least, recruited well so far. And just maybe, a year in the Big Ten has taught them some lessons about balance, what you need to do, and when you need to do it. The opportunity is there to finish strong & get the bad taste out of some folks' mouths. If ever there's been a big game between 6-5 & 5-6 teams this feels like it.
  3. Jim French Stepstool
    Not defending a mostly invisible game from him, but when SMU had the putback on the FT miss I believe he was on the bench.
  4. Jim French Stepstool
    Not to argue for or against this particular proposal, but it seems to me that in all sports the enjoyment level goes down as the size of the rulebook increases. Especially in football & basketball, it seems to me like people propose rule changes simply to justify the existence of whatever committee they belong to. Thanks for tuning in to my post-Thanksgiving Rant of the Day😁.
  5. Jim French Stepstool
    If someone watched him play this season without knowing anything about him, then was told he was a true freshman----I mean, who would believe that? The headiness, always being in the right spot, as well as the athleticism. Running out of superlatives.
  6. Jim French Stepstool
    I guess it's a marathon, not a sprint. As impressive as SMU looked at times on offense they're a little loose with the ball. That, UW only turning it over eight times themselves & a nice rebounding edge got them more shots & the vet guards, in the final 6 minutes, really played like vet guards on both ends. Nice bench contributions again, esp from the backcourt guys. Crowl didn't have one of his best games, but vs a team with the type of athletes they had, then getting his 1st two shots swatted, I've seen him disappear. He had a nice, workmanlike 2nd half & finished as the games' leading rebounder save for Blackwell. Unsung hero.
  7. Jim French Stepstool
    Yeah. This isn't the profile of an opponent he thrives against. Like a lot of his teammates, he's kinda letting them get his brain to racing. Be yourself.
  8. Jim French Stepstool
    Usually when a team shoots like they did in the first 20 minutes, they cool off. Usually. SMU shoots 31% from 3pt on the season so hopefully they revert. I mean, they got a few good looks early, made them, then had a few that were pretty well-guarded, and made THEM. Really not bothered with the defensive effort. To have them shoot that well & have 32 at half........... They're speeding us up a little with a real nice, active halfcourt defense with the post trap. UW has to touch the post more, whether they get a shot from the big or not. Too many shots from deep, even the "good" looks. Some good ball fakes get us into the lane, I think. Storr did a nice job of that.
  9. Jim French Stepstool
    Seriously, I think the thing to do is peruse through the above list & see who would be the most amenable to a one-year contract since Quero is a waitin'. Maybe Barnhart & Stallings are the best combination of fit & willingness to sign a 1-year deal? Henry? Maybe, if his defense has been trending upward. Is Navaretto still in the organization?
  10. Jim French Stepstool
    Erik Kratz.😃
  11. Jim French Stepstool
    Longo just seems to be one of these offensive coordinators who likes to use the short, ball-control passing game in lieu of the run game. Not just as a result of the injuries to the tailbacks & overall inconsistencies of the running game, either. It's been going on pretty much from week one.
  12. Jim French Stepstool
    Just had to rub it in, huh?🍹🏝️ I understand Barry Alvarez made the trip too.
  13. Jim French Stepstool
    I don't know if it's possible for a P5 team to be a 13 or 14 seed just based on the structure of the NCAA tournament, but either way I'm not sure how disappointing any season can be in which you make the tourney. Then again, I'm a big picture kinda-guy.😐
  14. Jim French Stepstool
    Yeah, you always hear rumblings about the depth, that they can go 9-10 deep, and it never seems to happen. But he's been playing 9 or 10, even vs the better teams. And one of the people getting fewer minutes than the others was a starter last season. So as long as people come off the bench & guard, I think the lengthened bench is a real thing.
  15. Jim French Stepstool
    I did too. But as the season wore on & I saw all the 3 & 5 & 7 yard routes, it became apparent they favored some of the smaller, waterbug-type receivers for those patterns. I imagine they like Dike for some of the slants & deeper balls, but you see them so seldom that it's hard to say. Then as you said, the injury. If what we saw from the pass game this season is indicative, I think the days of the bigger, more physical receivers like Lee DeRamus, Darren Charles, Donald Hayes & Nick Toon may be over.
  16. Jim French Stepstool
    When Tony was coaching Washington State in Milwaukee years ago, his dad was at the game. I approached him & brought up the 1975 WIAA tournament which he coached in & I attended as my old high school was participating. It was impressive listening to the number of details he recalled. Just a very, very nice man.
  17. Jim French Stepstool
    I think what happened, is he wrenched the back vs Arky State, had to take it a little easy in practice, and the reps that others got in his place put him behind the 8-ball a little bit. I mentioned that I watched him in pregame before the Tennessee game & he wasn't moving well at all. Gard mentioned the other day using him for scout team stuff to help him get work. The main reason to have him out there, of course, is his shooting. And right now his shot is off. But he seemed to be focused defensively last night in the few minutes he got, and the ability to read the overplays & go back door is still there. Whether it's health related or just shaking off rust, I think he's simply working his way back. And they don't have to force feed it because like Homer said, others are playing better.
  18. Jim French Stepstool
    The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay has a new basketball coach this season. His name is Sundance Wicks. One of his children is named Skywalker.
  19. Jim French Stepstool
    Interesting. With two players redshirting, they have sixteen on the roster but I believe you still can only declare fifteen before a game. At this point it looks like an uphill struggle for Gus to get minutes, but we're only five games in. What's nice is with all that's happened he appears to still want to be a part of things.
  20. Jim French Stepstool
    Agree 100%. Real assertive on both ends. And defending w/o fouling, which was true of just about everyone today.
  21. Jim French Stepstool
    Such a bonus to be able to look down the bench & find someone with his athleticism & energy. And he's making shots, which if I was a betting man I'd say the coaches weren't expecting quite yet. As long as Klesmit gives them performances like today I'd keep Blackwell in this role.
  22. Jim French Stepstool
    The good news, the Hepburn-Mcgee-Blackwell combo provided great halfcourt defense, again. The better news, so did everyone else. No excuse to not continue the energy on that end because it looks like there's depth--depth that can defend--to give guys a blow. At least from what we saw today, that includes Gilmore. He had a very confident look to his game. Klesmit was very solid, hopefully the funk is over for him. Next up (hopefully) Essegian. He actually looked OK guarding in his brief minutes. And Wahl, after a frustrating start, just kept playing & had a great 2nd half.
  23. Jim French Stepstool
    Yeah, not only at WR, but the running game that made life easier for so many UW QBs over the years wasn't at the same level. Nor was the offensive line as dominant. So the ability of the QB to beat you with his legs becomes a necessity more than a luxury, and Mertz was quite the statue in the pocket. Mordecai gives you the added dimension, which they'll need if they want to finish strong.
  24. Jim French Stepstool
    I was at a game at Camp Randall years ago & someone mentioned to me about the % of refs doing B10 games that were graduates of colleges in the state of Michigan. You'd hate to think that referees would be slanted, but thinking about some of the crap that went on with Schembechler over the years, and then Lloyd Carr & beyond...............from "roughing the snapper", which I've never seen called anywhere else, to the good old days of "Gee, I can't hear the signals, the crowd is too loud"...........I remember once in Madison Michigan had a first-and-goal situation, and the QB kept refusing to snap the ball due to crowd noise. UW kept getting penalized half the distance, which would up after awhile being a matter of inches because the ball was so close to the goal line anyway. Certainly makes it easy to despise anyone wearing yellow pants.
  25. Jim French Stepstool
    On the second half drives where we were 3rd & short & wound up failing on the next two plays----not once but twice----I was actually hoping for some sort of run-pass option rollout from Mordecai. With a yard or two to go, I actually believed that was their best chance. Says something about how much things have changed (I did like the set where they basically lined up both TEs in such a way where they were able to act as fullbacks after the snap). Just one more drive to get some breathing room, couldn't get it done. Some nice toughness from Pauling. Obviously the defense gets a ton of credit for everything they did from the 3rd possession on, especially with Wohler having to leave. Maybe Peterson turned a corner today, developmentally. And Christian Alliegro looks like a keeper. The crummy starts just dumbfound me. You see basketball teams come out disjointed or whatever before getting used to speed/tempo of a game, then adjust. But a football team constantly taking a quarter or quarter-and-a-half to get right, that's a new one on me. In the end, props to everyone coming together enough to, at least, send the seniors out with a home win.
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