Jim French Stepstool
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Everything posted by Jim French Stepstool
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Back in the day, Ray Sydnor was a TE who played hoops at UW. Tim Stracka played both briefly, and the aforementioned Chambers. Let's remember, it wasn't long ago that as long as your team wasn't in a bowl game (back when there weren't 927 of them) football ended around mid-November. Basketball season would then start maybe a week later. Now, if you finish .500 or better you're probably playing in late December/early January & basketball games have been going on for around 7 weeks. Plus there's practice time & whatever reconditioning & recovery you may need to do. Then, before hoops is over you're probably missing at least part of spring ball. If agreeing to allow him to play both gets his name on a letter I'm all for it. I just don't see how he can realistically do it once it's actually attempted.
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So apparently, Daniel Freitag has been offered by UW---for football. He still doesn't know what sport he wants to play. I see this less as a Gard vs Fickell thing & more as if you want to play FB, you can still come to UW if you choose to. In fact I assume the two coaches have had their heads together on this. And no, I don't think there's any chance he plays both sports, not at a P5 level. In fact he had some communication with St. Thomas back at the beginning of the process, and I'm thinking that may have been a glimpse on his part as to playing both, that it would have to be at a lower level during FB season. Even then I think it would be a longshot.
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Gonzaga is the rarest of birds, in that Few built up a fantastic resume but had zero desire to go anywhere else. Pretty much the same with Randy Bennett at St Mary's. It's always intrigued me to see a new D-1 program take flight & see how they go about their business. I imagine St Thomas will try to develop some sort of pipeline to the state after getting the two Brook Central kids. It was a lot of fun seeing Dick Bennett build at GB with talent that many thought wasn't good enough, even in the old MCC. Steve Antrim at UWM when they were new to D-1 played a fun brand of ball with local kids, beating UW & almost knocking off Utah & Illinois (and in the process assuring Marquette wouldn't touch them with a ten-foot pole until that group graduated). I think you're right about Butler & Wichita State. They had success & their eyes got a little too big for their tummy. The realignment in college hoops is kinda a two-edged sword. I really feel Wichita State (and Creighton, even though they've had success) belong in the Valley, just as Maryland should've never left the ACC & Rutgers would probably fit best there too, or in the American. But ya gotta chase the dollars.
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Watched quite a bit of Cleveland State-UWM. It brought flashbacks of when I saw a lot of Milwaukee City Conference BB in the 80s-90s----up & down, people not getting back on defense. Quick shots, some of them good looks, many of them bad. Ugly turnovers. People thinking defense means "Press. Go for steals. Try to block shots. If you don't get the steal you give up an easy one, but it's OK cuz we get the ball right back!!!!" All that said, I think Lundy has done a nice job of invigorating that program vs some really tall odds. His style of play allows them to get back into games, which they almost did last night. Problem is it often leads to the sloppiness that gets them into a hole in the first place. It's too bad they weren't able to get out of the Horizon when Butler, Valpo, Loyola & UIC bolted. If I'm their administration I'm embarrassed UIC was able to upgrade to the Valley while they couldn't. Of course I doubt the bigwigs there care all that much.
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Never met McIntosh so I don't know. I do know that so far the BB team has had a moderately-to-clearly better season than FB, and much better than Hockeyball. If he waits to see how the recruiting battles in the '24 & '25 classes turn out, that would make the most sense.
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I think you're right but I also suspect there are ways around it. Ways that you probably won't see at UW. And UW isn't on some island regarding that, either. If someone being added caused Gilmore to go back to walk-on status, I can't speak for the kid but from everything I heard I would guess he'd stay and play w/o the scholly. And despite his shortcomings we'd be the better for it.
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We'll have to agree to dis regarding the "adaptation". They've added a number of players thru the portal. If you're looking for people to be asked/encouraged/pressured to leave I think you'll be in for disappointment. It certainly wouldn't surprise me if some left on their own, however. The philosophy Gard has with regards to this, however that takes shape, is as I said one that I'm sure many other successful coaches share-probably more than you think. Like you said, he's "willing to adapt". He's already shown that. I just wouldn't get too hung up on the "purging the roster" theory. The last couple seasons have seen additions. It'll continue to happen. Probably more organically though.
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I literally typed that I thought Illinois would take that matchup, then retracted it. I have no idea. I've never seen a season in the Big Ten like this one. Taking recent results, UW is a couple points worse than the league champs, & four points better than the doormat. Every coach in this league will need a long vacation after this grind.
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As far as getting some kind of athletic big to transfer, my best guess is that if Wahl stays an extra year the chances of that are pretty slim. If he's done then the chances increase somewhat. Either way I doubt it would have anything to do with Gilmore. Plus, Gilmore originally walked on. There's nothing that says he can't stay on while returning to that status if it came to that (which I would doubt). Here's the thing: There are programs that are going to take these rules & act like a revolving door, we can even make a good guess as to which ones they are. And if Gard doesn't embrace that, he'll be easy prey for those who want to criticize him for it & make him sound like he's out of touch, because they play games in the 60s & he looks like Mr Peebles. Throw in the excitement caused by Fickell & it becomes easier yet. But make no mistake; there are plenty of programs out there who are more or less going to go about things a lot more conservatively than others. Some will win; some won't. The same holds true for programs who push kids out the door. Gard has taken in transfers, and I'm sure will continue to be open to it. But let's not fix something that isn't broke. For all the frustrations this season, we all know how close this team came to winning 20 or more games & beating not one, not two, but three conference champs. What kept them from this was lack of consistency & execution (and rotten luck in a couple games) moreso than personnell IMO.
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So, if I heard right a full two-thirds of their games were decided by five points or less. That's some insane stuff. Save for the Hepburn three I thought their late-game play was actually similar to what we've seen a number of times before. There WERE a couple of late turnovers that could've been critical. The difference was we played a team that hasn't exactly had late-game success themselves. And the defense really stood up late (If Rohde can start over Klesmit then I want him here because, on both ends, he'd be much better than I think he is. Maxs' defense against Battle was great). I liked the assertiveness by Wahl & Crowl offensively. Of course it makes a difference when you aren't facing Edey, Dickinson, Omoruyi & the like. Hepburn (& everyone else for that matter) CAN'T pick up the two early fouls like he did tonite. You can get around not having consistent punch off the bench but not if you hamstring yourself early in the game like that. I don't criticize Gard much because frankly he doesn't deserve it. But I had a bone to pick tonite. Protecting the late lead & anticipating fouls you HAVE to run something to get the ball in Essegians' hands.
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The only way Gilmore won't be on the team next year if he chooses to leave, which I doubt. I have no idea what the priorities of the other two are so I won't comment on them. I will say it wouldn't shock me, if he went to a mid-major, to see Ilver turn into a scorer sort of like Andy Van Vliet did at Wm & Mary.
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They used to have that "last ten games" thing when looking at seeding, or whether a bubble team makes it in. Now they're more into the entire body of work. PSU winning that game might wind up hurting UW's chances, but you're still talking about a team they swept, and UW DID also beat Maryland (although it seems like that was a LONNNNNNG time ago). But as you said they need to string together at least a couple more wins.
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Like most people, I watch some of the conference tourneys & enjoy the intensity & competitiveness they create. It's just that it does nothing to assure the most deserving team gets a bid. We all know why they exist. Of course, just about all of the low majors get rocked right away. I wouldn't include mid-majors in that statement though. Many of those schools as 9-to-12 seeds have provided some of the greatest thrills in the tourney over the years. Now we just have to hope NIL & the transfer portal don't harm that. It certainly won't help. I assume people bringing up the subject are referring more to some of the schools from the A-10, Valley, Mid American, Southern or Mountain West. The Horizon is terrible. Yet, every league needs to have a rep, I don't think it's a waste at all. Especially when it's someone who seldom if ever makes it in, I think that's one of the things that makes March Madness the special time it is, for some of the alumni & fan bases who wonder if they'd ever experience it first-hand. But if I'm the Horizon, or the SWAC or Big West or MEAC I'd want my best representative that was proven over three months, not three days. That obviously won't change though.
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The idea of needing a .500 conference record is cosmetic, but has a certain amount of merit. It would put some teams in that clearly aren't among the top 68 but we have that now. The problem IMO is the conference tourneys at the low-to-mid major level. What you do in your league over 3 months is a bigger indication of who's best in a conference than a 3 day tourney. Always has been, always will be. But as in so many things in sports common sense takes a back seat to $$$$$. UW is in a very strange position right now. The results W-L wise haven't bore it out but I think they played their most consistent basketball in a long time over the last few games. It became obvious early in the Purdue game they needed to knock down jump shots to win. Needed one or two more, and the turnover problem in the first half didn't help. Would love to know what Purdue does to develop their bigs. A 7-4 guy built like he stepped out of a laboratory, and his footwork, court vision & overall feel for the game are better than some wings I've seen. Their lack of offense hurt, but Crowl & Wahl IMO did an incredible job on him in the second half just making things tough on him.
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Apparently Hepburn was walking w/o crutches after the game Sunday, with a slight limp. I guess that would go under the heading of cautiously optimistic. Maybe we'll learn more over the next couple days (but I wouldn't hold my breath).
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I'm sure there is a level of success/failure both ways, which is why coaches have differing philosophies about it. Some talk about "if you don't practice it, don't do it", which makes some sense looking at yesterday. I have no idea if they practice it or not, but Gard wanted the foul, & McGee needed to go through the ballhandler to the ball & didn't. I suspect he did "foul" him, but it's like crashing for an offensive rebound in the final seconds when down by one.....the whistle just won't blow unless it's super obvious.
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If they play Wednesday they're locked in to either 11 or 12, so if they win that day they'd get either 5 or 6. That could be one of a host of teams, the only one of that group not appreciably helping the resume being Michigan. Of course, even that could be a psuedo play-in game, depending on some of the other conference tourneys. I guess the biggest key is, if they lose to Purdue you most likely need to go on at least a 3-game winning streak, which as you said has been elusive to say the least.
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Switching everything is the way to go there, & that's what they did. Wahl was on Dickinson on the inbound & was picked off. I guess if you're McGee in that scenario you just aggressively go for the steal like a 5th-grader. Riding him hard like he did didn't get the call. What sucks is he probably would've been whistled if there was 14:00 left. Rutgers was up 3 in the final seconds tonite. Didn't foul. Penn State had 2 looks about as good as Dickinsons', maybe a little better. Missed both. Got a third one that was stripped as the shooter was going into his motion. C'est la vie. 95%? Wow. I would've guessed 80% or so. Interesting.
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OK............Gard is saying they were looking to foul, he thought McGee DID foul around 4-5 seconds, but it wasn't called.
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He said in his presser he "thinks he knows what went wrong, but wants to look at the tapes". I'm pretty sure he was referring only to the last 2 secs though. As to the seconds before that, I remember a similar sequence a week or 2 ago where they didn't foul & he said afterward he wanted them to. So I dunno, I'm waiting to hear what he has to say, too.
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In & of itself no, but the upside in a Wednesday win (if they play that day) is It provides you with an opportunity to play the next day vs someone who could conceivably help your resume. I realize this is fluid, but about a week ago there were 8 Big Ten teams projected as an 8 seed or higher. Semantics I guess, but I don't consider those to be fringe teams. The lack of ability up to this point to get on a run certainly has been crippling.
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Not to say they're making it in, but no. It'll be good to hear from Gard regarding the final 8 secs. McGee certainly had the chance to foul before the pass to the corner. At the end of the day, a shot at the buzzer by a guy who was banging in the post all day & shot once from the arc up to that point. It's been that kind of season. If someone in December told me Essegian would make one 3-point shot in a game & still finish with 24 I'd pull out the breathalyzer. The growth of that kid has been remarkable. Great job by McGee stepping up. Really the only guy (save Davis) who I thought didn't play well wasn't out there most of the 2nd half. Other than the outcome & a lousy stretch late in the 1st half, no complaints.
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Agreed. I thought until the last 4-5 minutes of the half we showed good poise on the offensive end. But Hepburn needs to be better in the 2nd half. I hate the "8 missed layups" comment from the announcer. That's lazy, and doesn't paint an accurate picture. We certainly need to figure out a way to finish but everything in the last 12 minutes or so of the half is being contested. UM is locking in on the defensive end, similar to the way they played at Rutgers, which I feared.
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I think they'd both have a relatively short leash, if wins/tourney appearances become intermittent. I think Howard would be in trouble now if a couple of their league wins this season went the other way. No way I'd defend everything Knight did but he's several notches above both these guys as a coach & his successes were quite a buffer between him & job insecurity. In Michigans' case, the nationwide popularity fueled by constant fellation by the national media plays a part, I think. They could have someone worse than Howard at the helm & probably still have SOME success on the recruiting trail. I remember the coverage by the Big Ten Network when Harbaugh was announced as their football coach. You'd think a new pope was being installed.
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Flip a coin.😄 I was astounded at how well Howard had his team defending vs Rutgers the other day. If they carry it over to Sunday it'll be really tough for UW to go in there & win.
