Jim French Stepstool

Off the top of my head it reminds me a little of the return they got from ATL for Arcia. But I'll defer to those who are a lot more knowledgeable of other teams' farm systems than I. It opens up a portal for Joey Wiemer to climb through if he's ready to do so.

He certainly wasn't 100%. But let's remember, Mellusi was seeing his first action in weeks, I don't think you want him carrying the ball 32 times right off the bat. And I like picking your spots with Guerendo; he's never stayed healthy his entire career up til now. It certainly didn't look like typical Allen I'll admit, but the guy ran for 90-some yards & averaged about 5 per carry. If the medical staff signs off on it I say use him. Being back to full strength at TB will cut into his carries somewhat, anyway.

When compared to past groups this OL hasn't measured up. But it's been markedly better since the N'western game. The obvious outlier was at Iowa, which on that particular day performed as well or better than any front seven we've seen this season vs the run (yes, that includes at Columbus). There's been uneven play for sure. But there's enough youth there & enough talent pushing them from the 2-3 deep to be nowhere near writing them off. Bostad needs to stay with this group. He never should've left; that was a mistake. I think Leonhards' decisions in the off season regarding his staff are going to be key, really moreso than the portal or incoming recruiting class when you look at the big picture. In his career as both player & coach JL has walked down a tremendous # of paths & made a ton of contacts. Not a 100% overhaul, but I think this staff is going to look different. Nate makes a great point re the TE situation. That spot has been an important part of the pass game for years, and Mertz developed a particular security blanket with Ferguson. It appeared early on a similar thing would happen with Cundiff but when he & Rucci both went down it changed things drastically. It's a shame Cam Large couldn't stay healthy; 2023 would've been a golden opportunity for him. It looks like the circus should soon be over re the hiring. This once again proves one of the biggest roadblocks to success is over-bureaucracy, and one of the worst forms of it is higher-education bureaucracy. I'd be remiss if I didn't say a word about the defense. Since JL has taken over it's struggled late in the MSU game, and at times vs Purdue w/o Herbig. That's pretty much it. In the last two games they were fully responsible for one TD, and that was helped by 30 yards in penalties. Outstanding.

Maybe the single biggest disappointment so far this season is McGee not taking hold of the backup spot to Hepburn. He played PG at Green Bay but there's obviously a lot he needs to learn, and probably "unlearn" from his year up there. What makes it especially disappointing is he had the entire summer trip to acclimate, as well as this fall. Hopefully the light goes on at some point.

I think it's relatively rare, in the sense that I question how much "development" is actually going on. Izzo does it; UW has hung their hats on it for a long time. Villanova. I'm sure there are others, especially among the mid-majors. I've just seen a lot of squads over the years that IMO don't get a whole lot better as they gain experience, particularly on the defensive end. Mixing together a transfer (or 3 or 4) on an almost seasonal basis will make it even more challenging. I think the one-and-doners mostly don't find MSU all that attractive compared to Duke, UK, Kansas & that ilk, and Izzo is fine with that. Based on some of his comments from years ago I suspect he hates the automatic eligibility for transfers too.

I was with you as far as there not being a top 10 squad until I got my first look at Michigan State the other day. I've been an Izzo fan for a long time; he runs a developmental program while still recruiting at a pretty high level. That's a rare combo. After that you have some people who have a shot (at being ranked) but IMO aren't nearly as well coached. Iowa is experienced & finally seems to be starting to guard people. Indiana seems to under-achieve but has enough talent. And the people who do the voting will bend over backwards to put Michigan up there if they can help it.

Well, what you'd potentially have to lose is Devanney. I think your first paragraph outlining why you think he won't get picked makes quite a bit of sense; still I wouldn't have rolled these dice to protect Singleton, even if it isn't a risky roll.

Well, what you'd potentially have to lose is Devanney. I think your first paragraph outlining why you think he won't get picked makes quite a bit of sense; still I wouldn't have rolled these dice to protect Singleton, even if it isn't a risky roll.

I think they'd LOVE to find a taker for Hiura. As to Singleton, for me this whole thing hinges on Devanney. If someone plucks him I'll be ticked. My guess is he won't be picked but it sure isn't a slam dunk. And I think he's more likely to get taken than Singleton would've been. We'll see.

I think they'd LOVE to find a taker for Hiura. As to Singleton, for me this whole thing hinges on Devanney. If someone plucks him I'll be ticked. My guess is he won't be picked but it sure isn't a slam dunk. And I think he's more likely to get taken than Singleton would've been. We'll see.

Here's hoping some intangibles had a lot to do with the performance. Like looking forward to going somewhere warm next week, and having a weak opponent to get out of the way (overlook) beforehand. It's a bad excuse, and (on the offensive end) it WAS putrid. But it happens sometimes, and it's worth it if you can still get away with a win while learning from it. The worst part of a game like that is you give the opponent momentum & confidence the longer they hang around. Fortunately GB wasn't good enough to turn it into an upset.

It's not easy to compare conferences, but a champ finishing with 5 losses is far from a red flag as to its' overall strength. Illinois had the dominating season in '05 (1 loss in league) and most of that season there were only two other B10 schools in the top 25. I also wouldn't be surprised if the winner is around 5-6 losses this year, but there were plenty of years where that happened & it took plenty to compete. It's still a strong group. Having said that, top 2-3 conferences in the nation? IMO not this year. There's a lot of relying on inexperience & transfers throughout the league. UW should be involved in March, but I think depth questions could/should keep them from the top echelon of the B10.

That was my first thought as well. Time to enter the ring, Jake Cousins (and whatever other relievers they undoubtedly bring to camp).

Certainly not a big needle-mover but I like it. I remember feeling a little downtrodden when we traded him for Curtiss.

This. I was leaning towards thinking they would let him walk but I figured it was like 60-40, nowhere near a slam dunk either way. Reason being this just feels like a very free-flowing offseason as far as which direction they could go with the roster. This thread contains a whole bunch of different ideas, and I think they all have some merit except for Turang remaining in AAA. That includes the one about Wong eventually being dealt. Stay tuned, I guess.

Both, but more of the 2nd IMO. Good news is they give every reason to believe the outside shooting will be better this year. Ironically my bigger concern is balancing it with some sort of post-up game. It was nice to see Crowl knock down a couple threes yesterday, but I'd have been much happier if he spent the day backing people down & finishing. He's bigger & supposedly stronger, looking forward to seeing evidence of that around the cup. Also, I hope Wahl doesn't forget who he is. I hear his shot is greatly improved. If it means he's going to hoist 3-4 threes like last night, I'd rather his outside shot be limited from 15 feet out w/no one guarding him, after being fouled.

Think of the last 5 seconds of a shot clock, or the last 2-3 minutes of a close game. The ball goes into the hands of a teams' offensive creator, and he does what he can. That was their offense through much of last season, pretty much throughout the game. Unfortunately it got to the point where it was their best option most of the time. Davison had a productive career, but has an offensive ceiling & had reached it, especially with the energy he expended on the defensive end. Hepburn & Crowl were in their 1st years of meaningful PT. The bench couldn't be counted on consistently for points. That left Wahl, who is magnificent around the hoop but pretty much limited to that. Overall getting the ball to Johnny was their best option. But it did lead to some ugly possessions.

IIRC the only game not on regular cable is Dec 30th.

Agree with your last sentence. It makes perfect sense to put the ball in the hands of a talent like Davis in crunch time of a game, yet it was very un-Wisconsin like. It actually shows the flexibility of Gard, to be willing to give up some structure. It'll be nice to see the opposing defenses get spread out a bit more, which should happen if they can shoot better from beyond the arc. Just hoping they don't settle for jump shots to the extent they did last season.

HS QB Cole Lacrue from Colorado committed minutes ago. Recruits who take the time to analyze the situation are probably pretty confident how the Leonhard thing will unfold.

Here is what I see: Jim Leonhard is going to be the announced as the permanent head coach. The delay, while distasteful, has less (nothing) to do with uncertainty about his abilities to lead the program & everything about the archaic procedure they feel necessary to follow, maybe even mandated to follow. It has to do with state hiring practices, which shouldn't have anything to do with this situation but unfortunately do. For the record, I'm pretty sure Paul Chryst had a deal in place before all this nonsense was completed when he was named to the job. I can't say that's the case with JL but it wouldn't shock me. As to the decommit (Trech Kekahuna), the coaching uncertainty certainly could be a factor. But when committing to UW his other offers were Boise St, Hawaii & Nevada. Since his commitment he's received offers from several PAC-12 schools including Utah & Oregon. Kids giving a school a "yes" then backing off after receiving what they consider better offers stinks, but it happens quite a bit. It might be due to Chryst leaving. It might not. But obviously everyone wants this to get wound up ASAP.

It's really unfortunate that bureaucracy gets in the way of Leonhard being named head coach immediately. His ability to get players to improve the focus & consistency while in a transitionary phase is top-shelf impressive. I assume it was more Leonhard than Bobby April, but to find a way to get Wohler, Latu & Torchio on the field at the same time for as many snaps as he did was fantastic. And Alex Smith comes back, plays extremely well vs Purdue, and yesterday it seemed like Maryland didn't even want to challenge his side. A real tough day for any QB to look good, but still a very impressive day for the D.

That Bama-LSU game might go down as the game of the year in CFB. Real edge-of-your-seat stuff. That's one of the two things I came away with regarding non-Badger games today. The other is that, despite Michigan State winning, Mel Tucker is none too bright.

Eric, if you're out there?, you bring a skillset that is EXACTLY what this organization needs. and it's terrific to have you join the Brewer family. Looking forward to watching you continue to climb the ladder on your way to Milwaukee.

Eric, if you're out there?, you bring a skillset that is EXACTLY what this organization needs. and it's terrific to have you join the Brewer family. Looking forward to watching you continue to climb the ladder on your way to Milwaukee.