Jim French Stepstool
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Was at the game tonight. The difference with Wahl available is really astounding. Illinois---Coleman Hawkins gets hot; no defensive answer. MSU---Hauser gets hot; no defensive answer. Tuesday---Pickett is a thorn in the side all through the 1st half. Wahl switches on him in the 2nd & it's like night & day. He still got his, came reasonably close to a triple-double, but you could see how much harder PSU was made to work just to get a good shot. Hard to quantify Wahls' value just by looking at box scores. Hepburn, again, in late-game situations on the defensive end. Sumthin' else. More baby steps tonight for Essegian in the non-3pt shooting areas. He's really growing on the defensive end & is even looking to get in the paint at times. The 3pt shot Gard drew up for him out of the late TO........it's just killer stuff when you have a freshman who confidently drills something like that. And, I thought Davis did more good stuff than bad coming off the bench, which was a concern of mine.
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Thank you. I wasn't aware of Garcias' family situation. Thoughts & prayers to his family, obviously.
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The way I view it, it takes character to work hard & improve even if you aren't where you'd like to be on a depth chart after a year or two. I see it as bailing on a commitment. Sometimes you're just homesick or unhappy or whatever, but this current landscape just expands the scope of justification to give up, whereas in the past you might be inclined to work through issues. And I think that builds character. I agree with your comment regarding tampering. The portal encourages this due to the "quick fix" aspect of receiving help w/o a player having to sit out a year. I think programs & coaches have always had plenty of pressure to succeed. I certainly won't deny being old school on this, I think the onus should be on the players, once choosing to accept a free education & now whatever NIL money comes their way, to perform to the best of their ability. They certainly aren't forced to stay, I just don't think bar hopping from school to school does the majority of them much good. Different sport, but Dawson Garcia is on his 3rd team in as many years. Talented player, but IMO hasn't improved one whit from his freshman year. As dubious as I am about this, as a fellow Badger fan I'll also be pulling for the talent influx to lead to success. Fickell is playing by the new rules. Certainly can't blame him for that.
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One can hope. I would be fine with immediate transfer eligibility if a coach left/was canned/retired. I just don't know how much they can backtrack from what's going on now.
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It is, I'm sure. I just like the idea of working ones' way up through the depth chart, especially when you're only a year or two into your college career. IMO that builds a lot more character than being given multiple opportunities to bail. Admittedly I feel a little uncomfortable taking this stance, as I don't have a front lawn to kick kids off of.😄
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The spur that runs north from the ballpark caused my dad some anxious moments in the 60s. It ended at 47th & Lisbon. Then there was the Fond du Lac Freeway, which originated around 68th & Hampton & proceeded NW. There was talk of connecting the two, and the path would've either run through our home, or very close to it. Fortunately for us it was decided Appleton ave, 60th st & Fond du Lac ave sufficed as a link. When the southern bypass (I-894) was built it went mainly through undeveloped land. A northern one would've caused quite a bit of uprooting; maybe people b****ed enough to keep it from happening.
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Thanks. I guess the NCAA, in its' infinite wisdom, feels the need to give student-athletes one more opportunity to be wishy-washy before summer hits.
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The scuttlebutt is that Burkett is thinking about entering the portal. Not sure what the timeline is exactly, but I think he only has a couple more days to do so.
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Quite ambitious. The part that would've made sense is the stretch from I-45 to I-43 going east-west on the north side. Most large metro areas have a freeway "ring" but Milwaukee never did a northern tier. If you travel down Silver Spring Dr there are quite a few underpasses, presumably to try to make up for that. Made travel between Wauwatosa & Port Washington kinda fractured.
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The above people you mentioned who left are the main culprit for the lack of depth right now (you can add Kobe King to the list. Theoretically, if he stays & takes a covid year he's still here). Even if Johnny Davis hadn't blown up like he did as a sophomore, which you couldn't anticipate....... you'd still have a challenge with depth in the frontcourt but you're talking about someone scoring 20ppg instead of 6. that covers a lot of ills.
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My nephew has a place in Nashville. I'll pass on the info.?
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I thought the same thing, mostly due to the fact Essegian is starting to get more comfy on the defensive end. Obviously his offense is superior to Davis. If Gard thinks it'll help the team get off to better starts in some of these games I'm all for it. He's been getting starter minutes anyway but it might be time. Of course then you have to hope Davis handles it well because he becomes a guy you need to come off the bench & do good things. Jordans' best games are when he stuffs the stat sheet with some of the ancillary stuff---a couple steals, moves the ball on offense, gets to the rim a little, rebounds defensively w/maybe a putback or two & guards in the half court. A "quiet" 8 or 9 pts. A lot of that has been missing lately.
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He tried. Vander Plas had Virginia as his #1 destination pretty much from the get-go, and that's where he wound up. Grant Basile, from what I understand, wanted assurances of how he'd be used & minutes, which would've resulted in Wahl playing majority minutes at the 3, which wouldn't have been good on either end of the floor. The kid from Brookfield East who wound up at Colorado State wanted to come to UW. If he was here he'd score more than Gilmore but give up that much & more on the other end (think a weaker, less physical Ilver. If that's even possible). There were a few 5-man types that weren't very good & wouldn't be able to play in tandem with Crowl anyway. Bottom line, they need Wahl back, or needed Ben Carlson to stay.
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For college fans, a kid deciding to transfer in to "your" school is always a point of interest. When it's the orgy we've seen in the last few weeks it's understandable folks will get carried away. But I agree, at least w/regards to the WR transfers. With the possible exception of Green I think everyone else has their work cut out for them when competing with Bell & especially Dike. But the depth is very, very welcome.
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The thing about Green compared to the other transfer wideouts is an extensive track record at the college level. He caught 36 balls for 5 TDs last season. Not that the other guys aren't talented...........
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Schmidt by a hair. I thought of Honus Wagner to play SS but you'd need to be confident of Adames moving to 3B plus Wagner wasn't a big power guy despite swinging a telephone pole. Or, add Walter Johnson & trade Burnes for a haul.
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I lived in the central part of Greenfield (just north of the HS) for about 18 years. Yeah, the borders are crazy as a result of G'field "freezing" the borders by becoming a city in the middle of Milwaukee's annexation grab. It used to be identified by the lack of curbs & sidewalks on the Greenfield side but I think that's starting to change. You got me on Rainbow Airport. Could it have been in/near the current Rainbow Park?
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I don't remember the exact quote, but apparently after the bowl game there was an opportunity for Fickell to be in some sort of photo op--I think it may have had something to do with the trophy--and he was like no, this isn't about me, this is about the kids. Try to imagine Fleck ducking out of something like that.
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That's a significant point. Sexson, Fielder & Scott all had their numbers shrink in the last 2-3 seasons, but none of them were in Milwaukee. Out of sight, out of mind. Coopers' fade came when still a member of the Brewers, which I don't think is something he should lose points for.
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I knew about the part that juts into Waukesha County. Didn't know about the Washington County extension. Back in the last century (don't remember when, probably in the post WW2 annexation craze) there was a movement to annex a large corridor of land abutting, IIRC, Hampton Ave that would jut out a few miles into Waukesha County. I'm assuming incorporation efforts by Menomonee Falls put a damper on that. I've always been a geek about stuff like that. For example, from Good Hope Rd south to Burleigh, and again for about a two mile stretch on the south side, there is no 59th street. It's 60th, then 58th. Never knew the reason for that.
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Not that this guy would've been on the radar either, but actually their primary 1B in '69 was Don Mincher. Hit 27 dingers too. I believe Hegan spent quite a bit of time in the OF that season, then got hurt.
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In looking at his last four seasons, I see two things: His productivity certainly wasn't at the level of his first 6-7 years (if they were he'd probably be a HOF shoo-in), and we have distinctly different definitions of "total trash". Other than that, I have no problem with someone putting Fielder tops on the list. I'm just not in that camp.
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3 full seasons for Sexson, as opposed to Coopers' 10.5 ( I consider 1987 as a half-year swan song) is a large determinant for me. Sexson was a power guy, and a monumentally good one while here. But i'll take Coopers' numbers for a decade playing in what was largely considered a pitchers' park.
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That's where I land as well. I give Cooper a razors' edge over Prince due to range & a little more longevity. Then there's a chasm. It's interesting to note that Scott was originally acquired to man 3rd base.
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I read that Longo quote. Maybe ten on the roster, but ten getting rotated in regularly? I'll believe that when I see it. I do agree with the "fresh legs" theory though. UW has also traditionally asked WRs to block & be physical maybe a little more than other programs, which has gotten guys like Demetrius Brown, Ahmad Merritt & Jack Dunn on the field over the years. So yeah, depth has been an issue.
