Jim French Stepstool

There's a lot to this. In their infinite search for TV $$$ & the flawed idea that "more is better", the NCAA has created a tournament that contains a number of teams in its' final handful of at-large qualifiers that are flawed in one way or another. There's certainly ample opportunity for them. The sticking point is they haven't, for over a month now, shown any propensity to put together the consistency needed to take advantage. Again, the defensive rebounding is flying under the radar a bit but it's been a big problem. And the bench situation is causing some major minutes to pile up from the starters.

The comeback in the second half.......obviously Tominaga got hot, which he is prone to do. He hit some open looks, and he hit some that were well-guarded. Even the cold spell by UW that accompanied it, is something you could almost expect after the way they shot it in the first half. What bugged me was the handful of Nebraska possessions in that stretch I like to call Hoiberg specials--really dumb low-percentage shots--that were missed, but they secured the rebound & got points. THAT'S what you can control to stem a rally, and we didn't. It's been a problem all year. Other than that, almost every shot from behind the arc we had in the 2nd half was a good look; you just seldom if ever see a team knock them down at a high clip for 40 minutes. That's why you want to have a post presence. We had one in State College & today it disappeared. The last possession in regulation couldn't have been much uglier. And if Hepburn made the shot it still would've been ugly, just with a positive outcome. We're talking about a 68-team tournament. They have enough talent to at least make the field. But with the lack of depth the consistency needs to be somewhere far north of where it has been.

Unless the circumstances or event prohibits it, I constantly wear shorts if it's 60s or warmer (in Wisconsin, so that's maybe a little less than half the year?). When we had softball open gyms, we had an ass't coach who would wear shorts throughout the winter. I'm talking going to/from his car, everything.

The UW team that made the tourney in '94, I seem to remember rumors to the effect that Rashard Griffith being healthy after some in-season issues (supposedly) being a factor. That team was 17-11. Of course the criteria wasn't as exacting then. Michigan has some "weirdness" to its' resume as well, the loss to Central Michigan sticking out.

My gut tells me they probably should be viewed as slightly on the outside right now but admittedly I don't pay a ton of attention to the bracketology guys. Lunardi has a really good track record & I think he had them next four out before the PSU game. I suspect that'll bump provided they take care of biz in Lincoln. The resume IS kinda weird, I guess. Just one of the close league losses being flipped would make things look a whole lot better. Then there's the 1 point KU loss which at the end of the day might be a net positive. I'd guess 3-4 more wins gets them in. Is the health factor still a thing? In that case Wahl being back would be a positive. I know that's hurt/helped teams in the past.

Klesmits' overall FG & FT% have suffered this season. I suspect the first is due to his facing much better defense than what he saw in the SoCon, and both--even the FT numbers--can be attributed to the energy he expends on the defensive end. I agree he's our best backcourt defender. Kid works his butt off; I suspect that takes a lot out of him.

Terrific college hoops game between two teams that were in "desperately need a win" mode. Definitely earned this one. It seemed there were 4-5 instances in the game where I felt with one more stop we could maybe open up a 9-10 point lead and PSU would come down & hit a three, or get a layup. Finally had a couple rattle out late. This is one of the few teams in the Big Ten where you feel like they aren't all that imposing at the 4-5 spot, so it was imperative to get some work done down low. Mission accomplished. If not for the foul trouble I think you could've gotten 18-20 from Crowl. As for Wahl, 16 w/6 boards is a very nice night. Throw in 8 assists & it becomes terrific. Hopefully this is a springboard. All college hoops fans are familiar with their team signing a hot shot recruit who is supposed to be a great 3pt shooter. Sometimes they don't pan out at the next level due to lack of athleticism or ability to come off screens or whatever. But even when a kid like that pans out, you wind up hoping he can add to his game......ability to drive, finish through contact, etc. Most of them never add that extra dimension. That's why I'm so impressed with Essegian. He was little more than a perimeter shooter in November. He's now occasionally going to the hoop & tonight made a very very tough shot from the right post area while closely guarded. I'd have been happy if he showed some of this after a couple years & he's doing it about 20 games into his career. Just can't say enough. Kudos to the bench, especially Jordan Davis. I got to see PSU up close when they were in Madison. Don't know whether they'll be dancing this year, but I think Shrewsberry is a heckuva good coach.

Like I mentioned in the previous post, Crowl has a new build this year. I think that has a lot to do with his subpar FT%, and a 3PT stroke that's looked downright ugly at times. Added strength can monkey with shooting touch. As for Wahl, I don't know. If it's the ankle you just have to hope it gets 1-2% better every day, I guess. Yeah, NW defended really well in both games.

I'd love some quality size to come off the bench. But if Wahl returns you're in the same boat as last off-season---two starters returning. That didn't sit well with Basile or Vander Plas & I can't say I blame them. And Yalden & Winter are being added. Not that they'll immediately be world beaters, but that's two fairly well-regarded freshmen. Kids looking to transfer look at that stuff. I don't disagree (even another Vogt wouldn't hurt) but I think it would be a real tough sell. I agree that Crowl took advantage of a size edge vs Penn State. He had a nice game vs Zed Key of OSU, who is 6-8 & thick but wasn't a big factor last week. Steven has had some uneven games but overall has taken a step forward this year, with the exception of his 3pt shot & FTs which have both gone south. He's stronger, and sometimes added bulk wreaks havoc with a kids' shooting touch until he gets comfy with it. Keeping my fingers crossed PSU defends him the same way they did in Madison.

So I was right!!!!! They call it a changeup so it'll be less strain on his shoulder than if they called it a screwball!!!!!

Some have pointed out that Wahl wasn't playing all that well BEFORE getting hurt, either. But that doesn't mean that it isn't bothering him. I wouldn't be surprised if he's at something less than 100%. But I don't know if lack of elevation is his problem re finishing. He's always been more about angles & getting his man at a disadvantage with the ball fakes & footwork. Whatever it is, hopefully the ankle feels a little better each day. I don't know about going with one big with the rebounding troubles we've had. As to playing McGee & Hepburn together, I wouldn't be surprised if they thought about that as a possibility before the season. The kid averaged around 10 PPG as a freshman at GB. But he's had some well-documented struggles. If he can string together some consistency, yeah, I'd like to see Hepburn get a chance to work off the ball a little.

Seriously doubt there will be any portal acquisitions to replace Wahl (if he takes his extra year) & Crowl. They've played at a more than acceptable level in the past & need to figure things out. They both need to be better, and have been. IMO the overall body of work & remaining sked is more than enough to earn a berth, they just have to start winning games. My biggest concerns right now moving forward (other than Wahls' struggles, which are obvious) are the malaise at the FT line, which is unfortunately starting to get in some guys' heads, and starters maybe wearing down in the weeks to come. Pretty short bench the last couple games as Ilver, Hodges & Lindsey just haven't shown enough consistency to get on the floor. McGee is back on an uptick but Davis has been a liability on offense lately. And now you have to hope Essegian doesn't hit a wall. He's never played this # of games before vs this level of competition. Against Penn State, hope to see Klesmit fight through screens vs Pickett as opposed to all the switching. That hurt them when the teams played in Madison.

First of all, let me get out of the way what's going to sound like an excuse (but isn't): That was a really, really good defensive performance by NW. The post double was terrific. Did we respond to it well? Not really, but I would say most of the time it was adequate. UW couldn't move the ball quickly because the double was delayed & the kickout needed to be cross-court to result in an immediate shot. We DID seem to adjust in the 2nd half early as Wahl dove into the lane for the pocket pass, but that was covered too. There were enough shots (eventually) on the reversal but obviously not enough went down. Unless NW came in with their heads up their arse, it was going to be another low-scoring, close game. To win this one, besides making more shots they needed to rebound the ball better than they have been. They didn't. Not many second opportunities but that's pretty much by design. They really need to make people score off them in the half-court; they've been prioritizing that over offensive boards for a long time & I agree with it. The D-rebounding & 50-50 balls hurt, again. Just one of those deals where you needed one more stop and/or one more score. The edge to NW late was they had 2 guys who could score in different ways & we have (kinda) one. I remember thinking at the beginning of the game that due to the matchups it was kinda a shame that a quality defender like Wahl would be "wasted" on Baran. Then he gives up a wide open look from three about a minute into the game. Just another frustrating performance from him.

The fun thing about Sanders is that he was in the era of multi-inning saves. 133 games with just over 228 IP in his best two Milwaukee seasons, with a number of outings of 3+ innings. Still remember Fingers on the playoff roster in '82, even getting up a time or two in the bullpen. Decoy, or hoping it felt good enough to come in & throw 10-15 pitches? They wound up going through those two series with nine arms.

Good luck. It's the ability to do/say whatever you want while maintaining anonymity. There will always be folks who can't resist abusing that. But in almost a year here, I'd say this board has at least a fighting chance compared to others. We shall see.

Personally I don't care for a "thumbs down" icon. I'd rather people either just ignore a post they don't like or respond to it with a counter-argument. I know some have wanted it though, so I hope it's a positive addition.

Watch Klesmit on his drives to the hoop. It's infrequent but he has a knack for reading when he has an angle on the defender & can get a guy on his hip or shield him with his backside, getting the shot up cleanly. Hepburn for whatever reason hasn't developed the same knack for this, which is why you see him resort to the pullups & fadeaways. Too bad too, because he has the build for it. Hopefully he gets a better feel for it. Not much to say anymore about Wahl except he simply needs to get back to where he was.

For sure, as I said it's a factor. It's caused a seismic change in how kids spend their 3-4 years before joining a program. I just feel they've negotiated those polluted waters pretty effectively. I was briefly at WB Dominican, but it was post-Stone so I have no juicy recruiting stories to tell😐.

Gotcha. Can't speak for Ely but I'm guessing he didn't quite mean it that way (?). The way you interpreted it is, I fear, going to be a way of life for many low-to-mid major teams.

Often, when a team loses a big lead late fans like to play the "choke" card. IMO that's usually inaccurate, but tonite I thought yeah, they felt the screws tightening a little. Through most of his career Tyler Wahl has been a guy who is fundamentally very sound & shows a propensity to make plays on both ends in the clutch. He's usually been surrounded by quite a bit of talent & experience. Since he's been one of their top 2 or 3 options everything seems a struggle for him. I really thought he failed them down the stretch. One thing that happened, when they needed stops late, they got a couple for the first time in awhile. It didn't hurt that Sensabaugh, who's really talented but very mistake-prone, wasn't there late. Slowly but surely, Essegian is becoming not just a shooter, but a scorer. The shot he had blocked, then catching it in midair & going back up for the bucket, that's just hoops instinct. Really impressive. Late in the game when they go offense-defense, he was out there over Davis. Kinda significant. Not good on the D-boards, again.

I mean.....calling them a developmental program is odd? I 've never heard anyone say that. How is that akin to playing a victim card? There's plenty of guys over the years who DID stay and DID develop from year one to year 3 or 4. A couple of the people who left were probably good enough to push those still there, not much more than that. But that sometimes makes a difference. Definitely, most players everywhere who leave P-5 schools transfer "down". The last one I remember in Madison who went more-or-less lateral was Uthoff, who left after a redshirt year. I do agree, the players who left definitely weren't developed.

I would consider #3 to be a factor, but not one that's hamstrung them all that much over the years. #1 & 2, absolutely. #4 yes, and I would include Klesmit as he might've flipped the script vs NU because of his defense..

No way. I've been to many games in Milwaukee between the two. That's a hostile, at times vulgar environment. Despite having a fan presence there, true road game in every sense of the word. If they take care of business at home vs MSU & Illinois, they're 14-6 & the road woes aren't nearly as catastrophic looking. But compared to previous teams I'll agree they certainly have struggled on the road since Iowa.

Maybe the team feels there won't be as much strain on his arm if it's called a changeup.🤔 Anyway, welcome!!!!

Also Jamel Howard, a 320lb D-lineman who committed early then de-committed, re-chose UW today. New DL coach Greg Scruggs & Fickell held off Michigan, among others. Some of the transfer pickups, which often come with a coaching change, will certainly pay dividends. But this (the HS recruiting) is what'll sustain them over the long haul. And the staff has done this with little time to acclimate to their new gig. You can't help but be impressed. EDIT: areacodes beats me by a nose!!!!