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Jim French Stepstool

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Everything posted by Jim French Stepstool

  1. Jim French Stepstool
    I don't follow the women's program closely, but from what I've learned it sounds like the coach they hired has the resume & type of character the program could really use after the recent rough stretch. Best of luck to them.
  2. Jim French Stepstool
    Let's keep in mind that Jones is young & is facing some experienced competition in practice, as well as in the games to come. Time is on his side. Yep, he needs to add strength but in his first taste of BB at this level I feel he's been pretty good. I too like the size he & Rohde provide in the backcourt. ++ on your other points. Carrington had to know he'd be coming off the bench when he committed. He's embraced it, and having an experienced guard willing to fill that role is a wonderful asset. It would be great if Janicki's shot shows more consistently but even if it doesn't he contributes in a lot of ways. Glue guy for sure. You can really see the court vision & passing ability in the two FR bigs. If the NIU game is any indication, they're both really starting to get comfortable & more confident on both ends. Once the schedule toughens up, like you said there'll be some growing pains. But yeah, lots of reason for optimism. Hoping they can build on this tomorrow & continue to grow confidence, as Ball State doesn't have much size.
  3. Jim French Stepstool
    I give Grimes a lot of credit for this one. Given the conditions & the way the defense played, the way to blow this one was to make too many mistakes, lose patience & stop putting your eggs in the basket of field position & defense. He handled it well, & found a way to maximize Smith by keeping the ball in his hands, throwing very little & putting in a nice package that emphasized the thing that kid does real well---fake. I know people take that for granted but there were three or four times he had me faked out from my living room, thinking he handed it off when he kept the ball. And it's nice to see a TB run hard. Ituka with about 160 YD in two games vs some stout run defense. Catalano & Posa, just wow. You aren't supposed to be that productive as true freshmen. They're developing a nice pass rush. Sometimes Cheeks looks like he's shot out of a cannon. I have to give props to Matt Jung for sticking right with the receiver on the long pass late in the game. A pretty sure tackler but I had doubts he had that kind of coverage skills in him. See what can happen when the T.E.A.M. vest stays in the drawer?
  4. Jim French Stepstool
    X 2.
  5. Jim French Stepstool
    Fingers crossed. The relationship he's had with the organization, the fit------it would be foolish to assume that's an overriding factor, but in this case I don't think it's out of the question. Also, as @Michael Trzinskialluded to it would be refreshing to see someone tell the MLBPA to pound sand.
  6. Jim French Stepstool
    As long as everyone stays healthy I think Hayden Jones would be the odd man out if they tighten down to nine players. Janicki & Carrington are more experienced and ahead of him defensively. But if Jones just gets a little better every day on D he could stay in the mix at least for 1st half minutes. I love how he shows a knack for getting to the line. I kept a pretty close eye on him in the scrimmage & he just has a nice feel for the game. No official announcement that I've seen, but Zack Kinziger is strongly considering redshirting which is why he hasn't been out there the last two games. I'm sure Jones' emergence has something to do with that. In the current transfer/NIL climate some think redshirting is becoming a thing of the past, but IMO it would be a very sound decision for Kinziger.
  7. Jim French Stepstool
    Defensively they came out tonite in a continuation of the last 8 minutes vs Campbell. That, some really good offense & an early hot streak by Boyd pretty much put away NIU before halftime. Sort of meh on the offensive end the last 30 minutes but the defense stayed mostly strong throughout. Gave up 72 but it probably would've been around 60 if not for the officials apparently getting a memo from the NCAA that the emphasis is now on trying to prevent players from guarding their opponents. Some of the 'contact' that was whistled was embarrassing. The bench got some nice run. Hayden Jones is a smart, heady young player. Bieliauskas had a solid night, and Garlock was pretty good save for a propensity to foul. That should get better with experience. I said awhile back he needs to get stronger but I need to walk that back a little. He's pretty cut. Both backup bigs see the floor well. Jack Janicki is a true asset defensively & makes mostly good decisions with the ball. However, it's been rumored his shot has gotten much better & so far I'd have to put those reports in the "Soup pitched great" category. They scored 97 points. If they constantly posted & fed their bigs every time NIU switched---and they switched quite a bit--they probably could've scored 120.
  8. Jim French Stepstool
    Personally I think the jury is still out on Jeff Grimes. I'd need to see what he's capable of with a better & healthier O-line and not having to go to his 3rd QB. Of course he's most likely only here as long as Luke.
  9. Jim French Stepstool
    Get Mark Cuban to write checks to UW athletics? Don't get me wrong, they made a HR hire w/Cignetti. But make no mistake, in the current climate of college sports one of the more effective paths to success is to have an alum/rabid fan who is heavily into college sports & happens to be a billionaire. Heard part of the radio interview w/Mac today. Trying to listen between the lines it sounded to me like they COULD buy out Fickell (not that they wanted to) but would rather use the funds to buy players & it's an either/or.
  10. Jim French Stepstool
    Yeah. I wouldn't be surprised if the starts for Vaughn was even north of 70%. And another consideration is that I think Murphy has a comfort zone w/being able to bring Bauers off the bench, be it 1B, corner OF or PH. His OBP coming off the bench was .379 which is very solid.
  11. Jim French Stepstool
    ........And solid defensively, too. Considering how the 1B situation looked early in the season & especially after the Hoskins injury, a Bauers/Vaughn tandem in '26 suddenly looks like a nice segue to the Adams/Burke portion of the odyssey.
  12. Jim French Stepstool
    They were pretty sloppy at times tonight vs the 3/4 court trap & I'm still concerned about rebounding. Defensively I think it has to be something like it was early last season, where it takes time but they get 1% better every day. Winters' ability to fill the Crowl role will be determined once the sked toughens up but I agree he's been pretty good since Platteville. Still concerned about his hands. If Boyd can just be average from 3PT he'll be a real tough guy to guard. And Blackwell took over the last 7 minutes or so. It's nice to have a guy in the Davis/Tonje mold who can do that. After tonite it looks like Garlock MIGHT'VE inched ahead of Bieliauskas.
  13. Jim French Stepstool
    So as the story unfolds & the timeline is recognized, it appears more & more like the dismissal of Elijah Gray is connected to the recent gambling investigation. According to ESPN, the NCAA targeted thirteen players for the probe in September & the number is now closer to thirty, none of the players being looked at are currently enrolled at the schools involved, and one of the six schools mentioned is Temple (Grays' former program). Also, my wife thought it was terrible that he was sitting on the bench possibly infecting teammates during the Red-White scrimmage a couple weeks ago, since it was announced he was 'sick'. Guess he was just fine, honey. ESPN is also claiming there is a connection to the college investigation & the larger story involving the NBA. Fun times.
  14. Jim French Stepstool
    Elijah Gray has been dismissed from the team. The word is it has to do with something relative to before he came to Madison. The school is being tight-lipped about details, of course, as per privacy laws. From what I've heard, Gray was behind both Bieliauskas & Garlock in the early practices, so this isn't crippling except to the extent that you'd like to have competition & guys pushing each other. Now, the only other true big remaining is Greppi. Also Dooney Johnson of Milwaukee committed to Gonzaga today.
  15. Jim French Stepstool
    Good breakdown. One of the more important things going into this season, is Winter going from filling the 4/5 role to replacing Crowl & being pretty much a straight 5. And as you said, you can't comfortably slide Rapp over to the 5 like you could with Winter last year. Interior D & board work is something that definitely needs to trend northward as the season unfolds. Makes you appreciate the size & experience of Crowl the last few years. Also Gilmore, who if he'd have been 6'9" might've been an all B10 1st or 2nd team defensive guy. As was the case last year, they have guards who can rebound, which should help.
  16. Jim French Stepstool
    We did this on a road trip down to central IL this summer. It worked out fine & was much more enjoyable figuring out where to go & how to get there, instead of having it mandated by technology. As long as you can read a map & aren't a slave to the clock it's always my preference.
  17. Jim French Stepstool
    How Bieliauskas & Garlock develop over the season will be extremely important. Elijah Gray sat out the scrimmage w/what was reported as illness (he was on the bench), and was not present in Milwaukee for the exhibition game for 'personal reasons'. Pure speculation on my part but I can't help but think he's behind the other two for bench minutes, is in his last year & regrets coming to Madison. Hope I'm way off base. One of the things I loved about last season was how Janicki & Kamari McGee could come off the bench & provide defensive energy. It kinda felt like Janicki & Braeden Carrington did that a little bit vs Oklahoma. And supposedly Janicki has upped his offensive game from last season; we'll see. But the versatility & depth in the backcourt looks pretty solid.
  18. Jim French Stepstool
    I've touched on this before---I think Woodruff is legitimately happy with the organization & living his professional life in the Milwaukee area. It's a fools' errand to predict that someone would stay somewhere where he'd be making less coin, but it's happened before & he's always struck me as the type who might be made of that type of stuff. Then throw in possible health concerns some organizations might have............I wouldn't predict it, but would not dismiss it either.
  19. Jim French Stepstool
    I'm not an NFL guy so I didn't know he was in hot water, or even where he was currently working. I agree he's someone worthy of being on a short-to-medium list.
  20. Jim French Stepstool
    Still too early to say what with the position change & all, but when you talk about fast movers through the system not named Made we may have another contestant.
  21. Jim French Stepstool
    That's a bad look, especially after reviewing it, and especially after what happened in the NBA this week. There is no explanation.
  22. Jim French Stepstool
    Mason Posa. Holy crap did he look good, and straight out of the blue. Gotta credit Tressel & the defensive game plan. I think their best hope offensively is to keep pounding the ball with Ituka & maybe Yacamelli effectively enough that you can draw an extra defender in the box at just the right time, then hit on something with Anthony. Their third string QB not getting it done through the air conventionally isn't a huge surprise, especially given the lack of mobility.
  23. Jim French Stepstool
    I don't really follow the womens' BB program so I haven't followed the story closely. But I know Mac has taken heat from some for a 'back burner' approach to the student-athletes' concerns. Depending on what happens, it could certainly be a factor re Mac. I know it's certainly not easy to paint it as a big nothingburger after your coach resigns.
  24. Jim French Stepstool
    It WAS only one year added. But it came after a 12-13 start to his tenure, with the 2nd year being worse than the 1st. And from the change in philosophy on both sides of the ball (with obviously questionable results), to the merry-go-round with assistants IMO not slapping on the extension would've been justified. Traditionally an extension can help recruiting. But that's minimized in todays' era when large chunks of everyones' roster lines up on the gym floor every off-season to get picked up by a new team. I didn't like the extension.
  25. Jim French Stepstool
    And so it begins......... A pretty entertaining exhibition in Milwaukee, UW falling 84-83 to an Oklahoma team that I would imagine will be a tourney participant. OU made 9 of their first 13 shots from deep, causing the Badgers to play from down 4-9 points for the lions' share of the game. They really picked up the defensive intensity late, which led to a brief 1-pt lead. Before that, some poor perimeter closeouts & just not enough consistent defense. Nolan Winter was stuffed early a couple times by the former Tosa West big Kai Rogers, and I don't know if that got in his head but he definitely needs to be more of a presence around the hoop, on both ends. Too long of a stretch where he seemed MIA. Austin Rapp was impressive. 17 PTS, and is moving great w/o the ball. Definitely not the one-dimensional 3PT shooter I was afraid he may prove to be. Looks for now at least like Bieliauskas is ahead of Garlock in the rotation, although both played. Bieliauskas hit a couple threes but frankly I'd be happier if he cleaned the boards, was a defensive presence & averaged about 2 PPG. Hopefully he'll get better in those areas. A Greg Gard team struggling early on the defensive end isn't a revelation, but Rapp isn't really a banger & Garlock is a freshman. Bieliauskas & Winter being a physical presence is kinda critical. Once Nick Boyd settles in, he & Blackwell should be a fun combo to watch. One more exhibition (Platteville) then it starts for real.
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