Jim French Stepstool
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Everything posted by Jim French Stepstool
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I'll admit, my own personal Jury is out on Nate White. I've seen very little of him but what I saw looked a little meh to me. Good to see they've attracted the attention of the Moeller kid.
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If coached up well, I think both Chimere Dike & Skyler Bell have more to give & can surprise some people, especially Dike. The biggest thing there might be overcoming the propensity to "take some plays off". Hopefully the competition from the Cincy guys makes everyone better.
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Ditto. I don't think that's something the new staff will overlook. I also think there's a lot of growth potential with the people already there--Riley Mahlman & Trey Wedig have snaps under their belt but are still very young, and I'm fairly bullish on some of the guys who really haven't seen the field yet, like Joe Brunner, Nolan Rucci, and JP Benzschawel. We'll see what kind of development-guy Jack Bicknell is (Fun fact: the famous Hail Mary pass Doug Flutie completed in '84 to beat the U of Miami started with Bicknell. He centered the ball to Flutie to start the play). And one would think the two vets who are coming over from UC won't hurt as far as familiarity & passing on work habits & Bicknells' coaching style to the returnees. Keeping my fingers crossed they can secure Donovan Harbour of Catholic Memorial. He'd be a great get.
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Disagree re MSU. They're a quality team & really well coached. They CAN be exploited at the 5 spot as Sissoko isn't what I would call special. I guess if your standard is top 10 or 15 team, I'd tend to agree with you. Glad for Hodges. He must've earned the minutes due to good work in recent practices, as he wasn't used out of desperation due to foul trouble or anything like that.
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MSU was terrific on the offensive end in the last 3-4 minutes. Izzo got pretty much what he wanted every time, matchup-wise, and they executed. Missed I think 1 FT the entire game. They were the better team late. I don't even feel we were that bad in the same stretch outside of a horrible decision by Hepburn on the 3pt attempt. Mostly pretty good defense beaten by great execution & decision-making. The frustrating thing is, for the second game in a row we were hurt by someone Wahl could've easily been switched on. Good chance he would've actually started the game on Hauser. I think we can officially say Crowl has taken the next step. I can see the offensive potential in Ilver. A couple times he took his man effectively on the baseline dribble, not easy for someone 6-9 or whatever he is. It's just that at the end of the play he gets sand kicked in his face. Added strength is a necessity. I guess it's opportunity time for Lindsey again. Not his natural position but I don't blame Gard.
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If they made that deal Santander could arguably be more productive in 2023 than any of the OFs mentioned. It would also most likely be a precursor to another deal involving an OF. In any case, as I said I doubt the O's would do it. More than anything it would be a chance to get more for Houser than they'd likely ever be able to get. I also doubt the O's would give us Hall for Houser.
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If they made that deal Santander could arguably be more productive in 2023 than any of the OFs mentioned. It would also most likely be a precursor to another deal involving an OF. In any case, as I said I doubt the O's would do it. More than anything it would be a chance to get more for Houser than they'd likely ever be able to get. I also doubt the O's would give us Hall for Houser.
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In the long run it certainly isn't. looking forward to the 1st example of some school putting together a "dream team" of sorts with splashy portal pickups, then go 7-5 or something because the chemistry just didn't jibe. From everything i've heard from him it sounds like Fickell is an advocate of building & developing in the traditional way (although it's obvious by what's currently going on that he won't ignore the portal). There are extenuating circumstances---new coach, kids he's developed a relationship with transferring from UC or flipping a commitment. I expect this type of roster-building to be the exception rather than the rule at UW in future years.
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Agree with all of this. I would certainly entertain the thought of trading him for Santander but my gut feeling is there's very little chance of Baltimore making that deal.
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Agree with all of this. I would certainly entertain the thought of trading him for Santander but my gut feeling is there's very little chance of Baltimore making that deal.
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The troubling thing was, when Hawkins started heating up Wahl, if available, could've switched on him. Or may have already been matched with him. All things considered they needed to play much better to win on the road vs a quality opponent, especially being a man down. Was surprised to see 9 TOs, it felt much sloppier than that to me. Too many good looks for Illinois. I'm sure missing your most versatile defender had a lot to do with that. Nice to see Crowl continue to be productive & rebound with a little more authority. The only other person who I thought was pretty good throughout was Klesmit. Despite the 22 pts it was a spotty performance for Hepburn. I wonder if Isaac Lindsey gets some PG minutes again at some point. McGee continues to look disjointed.
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Brewers acquire Bryse Wilson
Jim French Stepstool replied to markedman5's topic in Milwaukee Brewers Talk
That's the thing. There's an insinuation that the Brewers do this, and no one else. That's false. And this off-season certainly hasn't been defined by this move. -
Since 2013, every appearance he's made in the bigs has been as a starter, save for two mop-ups in 2020 & one appearance last season. At age 36 I don't think you sign him for a role he & his arm aren't familiar with.
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Suter had a little multi-inning work, but maybe wasn't a "weapon" in the sense that Pomeranz was. My guess is this has to portend a trade, and I imagine it would involve Lauer.
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It was evident on TV, too. They were certainly outworked there for a stretch. Wahl was definitely missed at that particular time, not only on the 50-50 balls but Ilver had a bad stretch during that time where he wasn't boxing out. With Wahl out, Crowl disappearing might've been fatal. He's still a work in progress but fortunately stepped up jussssst enough. Klesmits' defense on Battle might've made him the game MVP. And I agree about Essegian. Still makes mistakes on D but it isn't for lack of flying around, and he DOES cause some disruption. And he has a real good feel for moving w/o the ball.
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Besides the obvious differences on the boards & defensively the lack of Wahl really showed by not having him & Crowl on the floor together. Two bigs who can score, one available to step out & shoot, and both more than capable passers. And yeah, the screen & roll was there, more often than we utilized it. As mentioned before, I just hope this extended time can be a springboard for Ilver. McGee, yeah, it's been a bit of a disappointment. Sometimes a system is just "wrong" for a kid to get comfortable in. Other than shooting the ball he gives them more than Lindsey IMO, so hopefully the comfort level & consistency can go northward.
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It's so satisfying---to me anyway---when a team just finds a way to win. Tonight they overcome Wahl having to sit & just being curb-stomped on rebounds & 50-50 balls. Still quite a ways to go for Ilver but maybe the minutes tonight serve as a starting point as far as his defense & rebounding are concerned. Hepburn's defense in late-game situations, don't know if i've ever seen anything like it. 3 or 4 times this season they need a stop, you want to force a tough shot, he takes it a step further with a steal. Just outstanding. For anyone ancient enough to remember, Max Klesmit reminds me so much of some of the guards Dick Bennett had at UWGB. Smart, competitive, a leader, and a dynamic defender in the half court.
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Isaiah Mullins has recently announced he's coming back. Not necessarily a highlight-reel playmaker but he's solid. Benton was a real security blanket for a long time at NT. Looks like Rodas Johnson will be first up there. Hope Gio Paez & maybe Curt Neal can make a push.
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It gives me the cold sweats thinking about Hiura making the team & being the 26th man, because to some fans the resulting sporadic ABs that role causes will be "the reason" why he isn't hitting. Would much rather see him dealt, which is much easier said than done.
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2022 Minor League Transaction Thread
Jim French Stepstool replied to Jim Goulart's topic in Brewers Minor League Talk
I was slightly intrigued by Dillard, especially since we now have the DH in the NL. He had a knack for driving in runs & also drew his walks, not a common combination. I guess the high K totals did him in. Good luck to him. -
They were a little better than I expected them to look. They stayed in the game by having to put up a lot of 3pt shots that I suspect Gard was happy with them taking-----and making them. They were something like 7 for their first 12 from three. It was nice to see Crowl assert himself. We certainly didn't touch the post enough in the first half. Once that happened there wasn't much WMU could do about it. It was an 18-point game until a late run by the WMU regulars against Candelino, Isaac Gard, Chris Hodges, Ilver & Isaac Lindsey. I guess making the score relatively respectable is more important to Dwayne Stephens than getting a couple minutes for his end-of-the-bench kids. He was waving his kids up to press before a FT attempt too, with maybe a minute or so left. Found that a little strange.
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Yeah, I could see him deciding to leave due to recent developments. But it would be his decision.
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Surprisingly, they aren't. The last few years I thought their defense in the half court & overall fundamental soundness were just laughingly bad. It's almost as if Hoiberg has given up on just letting everyone do what they want & decided to coach basketball. They have some toughness now with guys like Breidenbach, Griesel & Bandoumel. A couple of years ago I'd bet Hoiberg wouldn't have even been interested in those guys.
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I want to see (if they change to it) what the 3-3-5 looks like as far as linemen's responsibilities & what "type" of athletes they want up front to execute it. I've always been a big 3-4 guy. I suppose we'd see safeties who are psuedo-LB types who can also cover. He's certainly focused on bringing in DB-types. I'm still pretty bullish on some of the younger O-linemen who haven't really seen the field much yet. But yeah, you'd hope he can get the midwest kids for the lines & LB like they've always been able to.
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It certainly is a different mindset with McIntosh in charge. I didn't think the chances of Chryst getting canned were zero, but I never would've expected it in-season. Long-term, it may be a blessing in disguise JL didn't win one or two more games as that may have been all it took for him to get the job. I love JL & believe he would've been successful here, but the pathway is looking quite different with Fikell & the folks he's surrounding himself with.
