Jump to content
Sale v. Miz in an epic clash today! Come join our game thread! ×
Brewer Fanatic

Jim French Stepstool

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    5,973

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    22

 Content Type 

Profiles

Forums

Blogs

Events

News

2026 Milwaukee Brewers Top Prospects Ranking

Milwaukee Brewers Videos

2022 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Picks

Milwaukee Brewers Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

Guides & Resources

2023 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Picks

2024 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Picks

The Milwaukee Brewers Players Project

2025 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Pick Tracker

2026 Milwaukee Brewers Draft Tracker: Picks & Bonuses

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by Jim French Stepstool

  1. Jim French Stepstool
    The thing is, early in the 2nd half their offense wasn't THAT effective, but the defense fueled it & allowed them to get it down to 10-12. At that point you knew there was a chance because Minny HAD to run out of gas at some point, right? Looking at how often they went small, Winter really needed to be a warrior, and boy was he. And all the folks you mentioned were huge. Glad you included Janicki. If he ever gets to the point where he can give you 5PPG he goes from valuable to ultra-valuable. One thing that bugged me was in the last few minutes we gave them much better looks from three than I liked. It's much easier to say this when you win, but you gotta hand it to the opponent. Six guys covered all but 3 of their game-minutes; that's unheard of nowadays. Medved was a terrific hire.
  2. Jim French Stepstool
    Felt good when they got it to 14 & started guarding. Then they immediately put up three horrible possessions in a row. Uggghhhh.
  3. Jim French Stepstool
    Minnesotas' effort & energy is impressive, but if you can't match that---and we haven't---it's pretty inexcusable coming off a disappointing loss. And, officials are human. Hard for me to believe they aren't aware of their short bench & are allowing a little more physicality, but that isn't really the problem. One 2PT FG in a half. I doubt I've ever seen that. Maybe when my nephews' kids played in HS. Given Minnesotas' short bench & reluctance to play fast, I'd have considered pressing about midway in the half----we were playing ten anyway---just to speed things up a bit & get some energy going. Not that I expected it. Twenty minutes in, it's like the Villanova game on steroids, minus the fact we started defending better tonite about halfway through. But again, coming off the SC game I have no idea why it should take that long. And the cherry on the crap sandwich is Durkin, who scored 17 in the half & missed (I think) one shot. On the season he's shooting under 40% & 31% from three.
  4. Jim French Stepstool
    Early on, Rohde gets a little seam on a drive. Instead of going strong, he goes in as if he's waiting to get cut off so he can pass the ball. He does, and throws it away. Around the same time, Winter gets a rebound ripped away for a bucket. It's been crap since that. Really uninspiring start.
  5. Jim French Stepstool
    ----Tyson officially ruled out for tonight's game----
  6. Jim French Stepstool
    If we execute I could see that. Minn regularly plays 7. If Tyson is indeed out, that not only removes a 20PPG scorer but really stresses their depth. I expect to see at least some zone from them, and if we come out firing blanks from beyond the arc we might see it exclusively. Either way I hope to see us attack the rim & force them to be physical. Let the refs try to 'control' things & blow the whistle. A lot of fouls both ways benefits UW tonite.
  7. Jim French Stepstool
    Good points. But in the case of Miz, his effectiveness late actually came when he 'ticked down' the velo a bit, relied just a bit less on the heater & improved his command. I'd put him in the same category as Priester & Woody as being someone who can go 6 or more effectively.
  8. Jim French Stepstool
    That's the first thing I noticed. Someone (McGee? Yoho?) might be a good guess to be in the 'pen instead of one of the lefties. BP's are almost impossible to project though. Very good piece, Michael. Signing McGuire guarantees that they want Jef Quero to continue to do farm chores just a leeeeetle bit longer.
  9. Jim French Stepstool
    Cade Tyson, who is having a terrific season for Minnesota, is listed as questionable to doubtful (depending on who you want to believe) for their game Wednesday in Madison. It would be a blow to a team w/o much depth. But hopefully, the lesson learned not only by UW but the entire conference is to take nothing for granted regardless of opponent, who's hurt, etc. Indiana beat Purdue Tuesday. They recently had lost four in a row. The same night, MSU was fortunate to beat Rutgers in OT. Time to right the ship.
  10. Jim French Stepstool
    The way I see it Jett plays SS in 2026 only if needed--which would involve Ortiz struggling in March. My gut feeling is that the type of spring training Ortiz would have that would involve him losing the job on opening day, would have to be much worse than many fans expect. If it were to happen Ortiz could handle all three INF positions just fine.
  11. Jim French Stepstool
    If Pratt were to move, 3B seems to be the spot. But as you said I think Wilkin is ticketed there at Nashville. Also his bat heating up would be much more of a concern if moved to a corner. And, there's Fischer.......
  12. Jim French Stepstool
    Sure, if it wasn't for Made then Pratt starting out repeating Biloxi wouldn't be the worst idea in the world. But Made certainly looks ticketed for AA, and even though he's capable of being moved it wouldn't be prudent to move him off SS at this point. The good news is that this is a nice 'problem' to have.
  13. Jim French Stepstool
    SS "Will be his focus heading into spring training" might be the equivalent of a D L Hall or an Aaron Ashby saying "Gee, I'd like to be a starting pitcher". It might've come after discussion with his new FO. It also might simply be his stated preference. If it's the configuration you mentioned above and Quero stays in Nashville, that's a helluva middle-of-the-diamond for a AAA team.
  14. Jim French Stepstool
    Bullseye. We can argue whether or not it's a proper placement of priorities, but absolutely.
  15. Jim French Stepstool
    If he's as good of a prospect as advertised he'll settle into one spot eventually, but for now I agree the versatility could definitely play into his getting a roster spot. But as long as Perkins is in the organization I don't think he gets aced out due to his elite glove & ability to switch hit. Of course if Mitchell can stay healthy, that could throw a monkey wrench into things for Blake. I'm still (slightly) leaning towards thinking Williams is in Nashville when they break camp.
  16. Jim French Stepstool
    I was wondering the same thing, although the money being poured into the new facility at Wilson, plus geographics, probably makes that unlikely. Also often fantasized about eventually putting a ballpark somewhere in Waukesha or a bit west of there & having a similar situation to the Astros, Red Sox, Braves & Twins with your top farm team a stones' throw away. I know, pipe dream. As to the topic, I think @wiguy94's solution makes the most sense if there is contraction.
  17. Jim French Stepstool
    Good piece. Yeah, as soon as I read "national baseball writer" I should've skipped to the next paragraph. Yeah, Milwaukee is the problem because we 'can't afford $8 million'. This, after the results of the previous trades that @gregmagalluded to. What a dope.
  18. Jim French Stepstool
    Long story short, SC really, really focused on stopping the Boyd penetration, that left some open threes, and we shot 24% from there. Guys not named Nick Boyd shot 13-50 from the floor. Add in the second-chance points for them, and there you are. Two or three times in the 2nd half Winter got the ball down low & was denied by some excellent defensive play. As I mentioned, Baker-Mazara is a tough assignment due to the size-skill combination. I thought we mostly had the right people on him, but once he hit some 3-pointers it made it almost impossible because now you have to play him honest & he adds the mid-range, too. A bad day for him to play like an all-American. Maybe a few questionable whistles against UW. But SC usually put the basketball in a good position to draw whistles, so meh. We were called for only two more fouls than they were. This was 90% about Baker-Mazara making plays. Absorbing the UW run & coming back from twelve down---on the road---is sorta un USC-like. Sucks, but they were impressive.
  19. Jim French Stepstool
    I'm gonna give SC credit. They were getting good shots early & hitting them, but after we shook off the sluggishness & started defending much better they still ran their stuff, Baker-Mazara made some tough shots & they hit the offensive boards & cashed in some putbacks. If we can maintain the defensive level of the last 5 minutes & clean up the boards I feel OK. But USC can be tough if they're on and for a large part of the half they were. I like how we're pushing the ball, but let's not settle early if the primary break isn't there. It looks like SC has some fouls to commit; let's draw them. I love Boyds' aggressiveness but I don't want to see it devolve into him-against-three guys. Create spacing. Nice effort on the OREBs. Blackwell looks like he's emerged after a rough start. Let's get the 3rd foul on Arenas quickly.
  20. Jim French Stepstool
    I had to sit through a game where they were particularly lousy in this regard---the game in Milwaukee vs Villanova. It HAS been much better, and Rohde is certainly a big part of that--sort of like Janicki in the effect that he can be a big positive w/o scoring many points. I tend to credit increased familiarity with each other, Blackwell shaking off his slump, and Boyd (more often than not) sensing when to defer. And Carrington being a microwave off the bench doesn't hurt. And if they can continue to get good performances from the '2nd big', that goes a long way. Agree, Rutgers & PSU didn't defend much. But in the two roadies before that you had 91 at Michigan & tallied 17 assists vs 7 TO (78pts) at Minnesota, who IMO guards pretty well. So things are looking up. But when Musselman has their interest, USC can make it tough to score. So definitely a stiffer challenge today.
  21. Jim French Stepstool
    USC next. If we maintain the positive trend defensively I like our chances of shutting down the Trojans, although Chad Baker-Mazara can score in a variety of ways & has one of those 'tweener' type bodies that might make him a tough matchup. Ezra Ausar & Jacob Cofie have bulk & can score but are primarily an inside presence. Alijah Arenas was a 5-star recruit who was rehabbing from a knee injury. He made his season debut on Wednesday & apparently remembered where the hoop was located--he put up 15 shots in 29 minutes. He made three. They have length & are capable of defending at a high level. They have 17 players on their roster. Three are freshmen. Of the other fourteen, all but two have come from other D-1 schools. The last time USC played in Madison was December of 1946. No, I wasn't there😛.
  22. Jim French Stepstool
    I think he moves the ball real well in the half court & makes mostly good decisions. And at times his defense is off-the-charts good. But yeah, the off-season reports that his shot is better seem to be wishful thinking right now. Eventually a defense-first guy like Gilmore came around (a little) w/his shot. Hopefully the same with Janicki.
  23. Jim French Stepstool
    Agreed. The TO bug & defensive issues come more often but in recent years seem to get cleaned up eventually (defense as the season unfolds; TO's often come in opening halves then get cleaned up in the locker room). And when the shot selection is smart, they can really cook.
  24. Jim French Stepstool
    What's nice about it is it's been done at a gradual rate, rather than trying to go from zero to 60 in one season. That's helped with the continuity. And people like Davis, Storr, Tonje & Blackwell were given a little rope to take advantage of the looser leash & responded with the type of numbers that potential recruits can't help but notice. It's easy to say they've given up something on the defensive end. And they've struggled there at times in recent years. But you could make the argument that the increased pace inflates numbers both ways. IMO the bigger factor is the nature of the portal & roster turnover. Under Bo & in the earlier Gard years you'd have people drilled in defensive concepts (the 'rules') for 3, 4, even 5 years until they worked in concert like five fingers on a hand. Hard to replicate that when you almost feel lucky to have someone for more than a couple seasons. I'll always miss the days of a Wilkinson, Showalter, Jason Chappell or Gilmore spending half a decade getting better & better and making themselves into guys you can't win without.
  25. Jim French Stepstool
    During the old Brewers one season as an AL team (1901) they played at the Lloyd Street Grounds. Borchert Field existed at the time; I'm not sure exactly why they didn't play there, although Lloyd St was reported to have a larger capacity at the time so that may have had something to do with it. Lloyd St was torn down sometime in the early part of that century. It was between North Ave & Lloyd around 16th-17th Street. I second the interest in the old ballparks. It's packed away somewhere & I don't remember the title, but local baseball historian Bob Buege wrote a terrific book on the history of Borchert Field.
×
×
  • Create New...