Jim French Stepstool

Really good points. Not to rip on Gard, I thoughjt he mostly did a good job w/what he had to work with last night, but Willard was terrific in his decisions AFA changing up the defenses. Blackwell IMO was fouled on a drive late & it wasn't called. Not a terribly officiated game, but that one hurt. I mentioned to one of my companions about how I'd love to see a little full-court pressure thrown in. And when it was, it looked promising. But when you can't rely on the bench, it's tough to do except very, very late.

Lots of good stuff in here, so since I'm late to the party I'll just launch my thought off this. Coming into this game I wanted primarily to see the defense step up. For the most part it did, at times exceptionally. I would take 56 pts from the opponent every time & take my chances. Offensively, obviously 16 TO is too many. What I saw from my seat at the FF, we had what we usually try to create---an open middle w/no post ups. What you want out of that is a screen from a big, and either a pop to the key or wing for a jumper or a roll to the hoop. What we were usually getting was either no screen, or a screen followed by sort of a half-hearted flop around an area about 15-19 ft from the hoop w/little intention of doing anything positive. This gummed up the HC offense, which caused a LOT of dribbling to nowhere by Blackwell & Boyd, and forced drives into fairly thick traffic. THAT'S how you turn it over 16 times. For the most part, I didn't think we were all that much better offensively in the 2nd half; the only difference was Blackwell started making plays after being a 1st half no-show. The 'big' opposite Winter (who played really hard) is still a problem. Bieliauskas was, at times, effectively physical, at times not, not overly quick to the ball, looked hesitant to engage on the offensive end & had bad hands throughout the night. That assessment sounds pretty bad, but yesterday it put him approximately 500 miles ahead of the performance turned in by Rapp. Janicki wasn't any better, Garlock had his usual 'incomplete' due to limited minutes, and Carrington wasn't available. So the bench options were mostly lacking. Hayden Jones had a bad play or two, but was the best off the bench last night, which at this point in his career is a problem for the team. Carrington MIGHT'VE made a little difference if available as a 'small four' last night. The other options were that bad. Villanova didn't shoot lights out but their 3-pointers couldn't have come at better times for them. Three or four early that put them into a lead we spent virtually the entire game trying to erase; then a couple early in OT that put UW into another hole, just after expending a lot of energy getting out of the first one (with the aforementioned poor bench play). The last 2-3 minutes they were probably running on fumes.

The key tonite for me is seeing how UW comes out defensively. Their performance on that end vs Nebraska was at times abhorrently bad, and they've had over a week to work on it. As I said earlier, if Gard feels his best defense includes going small then Villanova is someone you could do that against. I'm hoping if they do it it's by choice, rather than due to Bieliauskas & Rapp still not getting it. I expect Blackwell to make a statement tonite. He was uncharacteristically lousy on both ends in Lincoln. We're going, and will see at least part of the opening game & two former Badgers (Luke Haertle & Matthew Mors) suited up for South Dakota State vs UWM.

Agreed. Stations should refrain from starting Christmas music before the halloween candy gets stale, and run 'em through til the end of the year.

I really prefer the old-old-OLD school practice of putting up & trimming the tree a handful of days before Christmas & leaving it up through the 'Twelve Days". I practice the latter, and try to wait until the week after Thanksgiving to haul it out.

Years ago my sister & her family had neighbors who moved here from Kentucky. That was the first time I heard reference to the City of Louavl.

Sorta like Jello. I'm sure a lot of people think it's a generic identification. It's a brand name for gelatin. Dates back to 1897.

I'm sure he's referring to National ave from Miller Park Way going west. It IS sort of run down for the most part & never took on the "ballpark neighborhood" feel that Bluemound rd did. Everything on the south side of the street (oppo the VA) up to 56th street is in the Village of West Milwaukee, and unless something changed in recent years it has a pretty high tax rate. That, and the VA more or less 'blocking' the stadium might be reasons why it never developed the same way as Bluemound did. I think Harvey Kuenns' old bar is still in business there, though.

For those who like to speculate, a couple of offensive tackles just recently entered the portal & there is some connection to UW coaches. Shaq McRoy was coached by new UW OL coach Eric Mateos while at Arkansas. Greydon Grimes of Kansas is the son of OC Jeff Grimes. Both were reserves, with Grimes seeing action in only one game. Both have 3 yrs remaining (unless they petition that they should be allowed to play as long as they want to, and the NCAA loses that one, too).

A forgottten man in all this, with ABs (as the roster now stands) available & LF almost certainly his best bet defensively. Great point. Certainly leaning to the LH side in the OF group though, maybe to a fault.

At least now we can stop talking about Collins providing depth at a # of positions. If Mitchell continues to be a no-show/K machine & we don't add to the OF, the possibility exists that we might miss Collins---as an OF. To the FO I think the idea of him providing depth at 2B-3B had long since sailed.

This may increase the possibility of Ashby starting, which I'm not exactly nuts about. As mentioned, lots of LH talent in the BP now, probably more than you'd go into a season with. So certainly not done. The door is open for Mitchell. But it really always has been, he just needs to stay healthy enough to walk through.

IMO, definitely more useful in the BP. Just another reason to at least consider taking a gander at Montgomery on what others have mentioned---team-friendly deal w/incentives.

Our dog refuses to wear dog booties. When we put them on her she just stands there like she's paralyzed. But when I walk her she plows around in the snow & when her paws get cold she holds them up, whimpers, and looks at me like I'm supposed to fix it.

Yep, TJ is a STM guy. And he's continued the trend of ISU recruiting Wisconsin well, so I hate him. Didn't see the game tonite, but vs Purdue Momcilovic was fantastic. Don't know if UW had a chance at him but I know they didn't rate him as highly as they should have, nor did I. And his HS coach was a former Badger, too.

Where's the 'groan' emoji when you need it?😜. As for Baddoo, I'm fine with him as organizational depth in the OF. I think I'd be a little more fine if he was a RHH.

Toughness can be quantified in different ways. Rebounding & 50-50 balls is one way, and I think they've been competing but outfought at times in that regard, especially in the losses. Another way is responding with poise to adversity, to runs by the opposition, particularly on the road. I consider the BYU game as much of a roadie as last night, and IMO the response was pretty poor in both instances. I won't throw anyone under the bus because in both cases the opponents played really well. But at times, even when responding to the halfcourt D by TCU I thought the mental toughness left something to be desired. I agree the attitude & willingness to play hard is still there. Still a talented group and yes, reason to be optimistic. You mentioned communication. Gard refers to it as 'connectiveness'. That's a huge key, to be sure.

Watched the presser after the game. Gard was his usual restrained self (which I like), but at the same time alluded to playing time going to people who defend, and sitting those who don't. In Bieliauskas, Rapp & Garlock we're talking two freshmen and a soph so there is going to be a learning process. But unless the bigs not named Winter get more consistent, his only option that I see is going smaller at the 4 like he did vs TCU. That would mean Janicki, Carrington or Jones, who Gard actually mentioned as having done some good things in his late stint. Villanova is a team you could get away with playing smaller against, and I'd love to be a fly on the wall the next 8 days on the practice floor. Along with consistency, I think Gard is looking for toughness, on both ends. They've effectively replaced McGee, Gilmore & Klesmit talent-wise, but..........?

Yeah. People talk about the last 5 of the half & first 5 of the 2nd half. Nebraska owned those segments. To see UW finish off the half like they did, then come out after halftime & as far as defensive effectiveness & getting quality shots are concerned nothing changes, that's painful to see.

If the defensive communication doesn't improve dramatically I'd tend to agree. Gards' teams usually get better in that department as the season unfolds. There's time for that to happen; but what's disheartening is vs the top two offensive squads they've faced so far the defense & at times the rebounding has been ugly. The guards, including Carrington & Janicki, are usually solid but today they all were soundly beaten with the possible exception of Boyd. Among the bigs, all of them save for Winter need the light to come on at some point regarding switching, hedging, communicating on a consistent basis. That'll happen by the next game, or the 1st of the year, or by March. Or next season. Stay tuned, I guess.

On the surface, it might appear we hoisted up a lot more threes than they did. Actually we shot 32; UN shot 30. The difference is how much we relied on it, due to some terrific halfcourt D & our inability to deal with it. A lot of hands in the passing lanes on the screen & roll. Their defense was probably even better than it was their last time out, and it was pretty damned good vs Creighton. On the other end Nebraska shot about the same # of twos as threes (31) but made 22 of them for a fairly ridiculous 71%. That more than anything is going to give you some very comfortable looks from three. Their man-ball movement was so much better than the UW defense. Communication has to improve. One way or another the two men going with the screener--or both men staying with the ball--has to stop.

Biggest story of the half was UN made themselves much, much harder to guard than we did. Their roll started with a stretch of several possessions in which UW shot nothing but 3-pointers, some of them OK looks & some not. Combine that with a final 5 minutes of the half in which we decided to revert back to BYU-level regarding lack of poise, and here we are. Despite our help, a very good defensive 20 minutes from UN. But Boyd & Blackwell need to understand that hero ball isn't the way to solve things. On the offensive end, Mast just does so very many things well. Then there's the old adage (at least it SHOULD be an old adage)-------when Berke Buyuktuncel knocks down a three from the corner, maybe it just isn't your day.

If he's in the organization in 2026 he needs to just get planted in LF & see if he can grow into the position, last chance to find a niche (although even there, there are folks ahead of him). 3B & 2B are far into the rearview mirror, he's never distinguished himself at 1B, and Burke is crawling up his back there, anyway.

Trech Kekahuna announced for the portal today. He's done that once (or was it twice?) before. So I wouldn't dismiss the possibility of him wanting to see what happens re UWs' upcoming shopping trip & whether they come up with a QB to his liking. OTOH, If the name is off his mailbox that wouldn't surprise me either.

I think Yoho factors into the BP depth & willingness to deal relievers, too. Memories are still fresh of his struggles in his first go-around with Milwaukee but he bounced back well In AAA & I thought he looked terrific in his final outing after being recalled. He may be a significant X factor in '26.