Jim French Stepstool

There's already a rumor or two about Shellstad of Oregon, who hasn't played for a long while & some speculate it's less about the injury & more about that he can't stand Altman. Other than that, yes, you're jumping the gun.😁 I wouldn't dismiss Kinziger as a possible starter next year. When I watch the terrific freshman at Northwestern (Jake West), I see Kinziger as a possible comp for him if he develops. But you're right to speculate. Look at the numbers Storr, Tonje & Boyd have put up after coming to UW compared to their previous stops. Wings & PGs in the portal HAVE to notice that.

Stat highlights: We live & die by the three. I've alluded to that myself. Today they went 10-41--under 25%--& still found a way. "Finding a way" is becoming a credo with this group, it seems. Helping overcome that of course was the penetration from Boyd. Overall the team went 18-25 inside the arc & 25-30 from the line. After the first 20 minutes if you told me they were going to shoot thirty FTs I'd have tested the content of your gummie. Amazing. They outrebounded Illinois for the game 36-34, with the double-double machine welded to the bench. I'm just speechless as to the growth of Bieliauskas & Rapp. Nine boards each against some huge & effective size. They were both grown-ass men today, and Gard needed them to be. Five turnovers in 45 minutes.

They both have the talent to put it on the deck AND shoot from deep, which is such a headache for a defense. Add a healthy (hopefully) Winter next week & it should be that much tougher to contain (although I really miss Winter more defensively).

IMO a combo but mostly the former. I think Illinois relaxed a little when they went up fifteen (like UW did yesterday) and had some huge FT misses late. But UW's relentlessness---they kinda take the lead from Boyd that way, and their offensive makeup allows them to cut into a deficit quickly. We beat them in Champaign when they were down a couple players. And in Chicago when WE were down a couple. Feels damn good. Is there a Craig Counsell jinx, and if so does it extend to other sports?

Shows what I know. One 3pt make from the bigs in the 2nd half + OT, and they still found a way to carve out penetration, makes & FTs. I've seen some terrific performers wear the Wisconsin uniform. But Nick Boyd---I just have no words.

It's been a problem lately, and is why getting Winter back is so important. Today they're battling (down 20-15), and it's a group effort so we probably won't see many runouts. Illinois is so damn big, so I think they pretty much have to continue to send five crashing to survive. I think Garlock has had a nice aggressive half trying to be a factor there. But his hands aren't the best at this stage of his career.

Gard said he thinks they're rushing a bit on some of their possessions, and I would agree. Illinois is able to get into the lane more comfortably than UW, which is putting more stress on the defense and will lead to them probably getting to the line much more. Unless Rapp & Bieliauskas can start pulling their bigs away from the cup w/some makes, the driving lanes mostly won't be there. So you're left with 23😲 3pt attempts in one half, and five makes won't get it done.

Winter again listed as 'out' for today. After seeing what's been transpiring lately rebounding-wise & knowing how good Illinois is at hitting the offensive boards I'd have to say that after today, our next game will be next Thursday or Friday in the NCAAs. The Illini also have a back court stabilizer (Boswell) back who was still injured when we beat them in Champaign. Plus they have the advantage of playing in front of a lot of their home fans (No, the game isn't being played in Belgrade. It's in Chicago). The flip side is the one way I can see beating the odds is to get & stay hot from beyond the arc, and we certainly are capable of that. On this day vs this team I just don't think it'll be quite enough.

I think that might be why you don't see opponents throw an occasional press at them early in the game. The style Bucky plays now, and the guards they have, you could get burned & cause a quicker pace, which nowadays suits UW just fine. I thought Sprinkle unleashed it at the perfect time. They crawled a little bit closer on the scoreboard, got us on our heels a little bit, then sprung it on us when maybe the circumstances of the game caused us to tap the brakes a little. They had a couple opps late to take it strong to the hoop, yes. I just wish we had done a little more to get the Huskies in foul difficulty earlier in the half.

Thoughts: You're playing a team that had nothing to lose and never really hung their heads even when down 18. Then both Steinbach & Diallo got in a zone, and what contributed to the comeback was our starting to go cold from three. The long ball got us the big lead, and also helped let them back in because a team mixing in zone & not having to foul really isn't being stressed defensively. So the tired old adage of live by it, die by it. Late in the game UW didn't handle the press well, for sure. But to me the biggest negative was the extra looks Washington had, pretty much throughout the game but especially in the 2nd half. I want to remind myself that Winter wasn't playing & Steinbach is probably the best rebounder in the entire conference, but they've been getting beat on the boards for a handful of games now & that HAS to get cleaned up. Steinbach is one thing, but Yates had 7 boards, Peterson 6, Muldrew 6. That can't happen. Clean that up, and we're up 25 or so & the late anxiety probably never occurs. I thought Washington really under-used Steinbach vs USC & were kinda fortunate to win despite that. Of course vs us they get him nineteen shots. A healthy Winter would've been huge today, even if he never scored a point. Every low post touch, every 50-50 rebound, Steinbach was like a seventeen-year-old on the playground vs a bunch of sixth-graders--and it isn't like we weren't working. Just no one who could match him. As for Bieliauskas having the late path to the hoop yes, he should've drove in. But I can see the thought process unfold as he got the ball--We're expecting to be fouled. Ball security is paramount (IIRC we just came out of a TO). And during the season, I'm pretty sure we work on zero sets in practice that involve Alexis Bieliauskas putting the ball on the deck & driving to the hoop. Plus, the kids' a freshman. Should he have taken it in? Again, yes. But I understand why there was hesitancy. And in a year or two, He'll probably have the recognition to cut to the cup BEFORE the pass is made, take one dribble, and dunk. THAT would've been the best recipe today. Positives I saw: Obviously Blackwell & Boyd. Only five TOs. Bieliauskas DID have nine boards. And Jones & Garlock are slowly getting better.

Nolan Winter officially listed as 'out' for todays' game. I expect a heavy dose of Steinbach as the Huskies want Bieliauskas & Rapp to prove they can deal with him in the paint.

Badgers play Washington tomorrow, which guarantees nothing but nevertheless is good news in that the Huskies played seven players (they're down to seven scholarship guys on the roster) in an OT game vs USC & have the quick turnaround. It seems that a team playing their 1st game in a tourney often starts out slow when meeting someone that's already played a game, so that's something to try to avoid. Steinbach IMO didn't touch the ball nearly enough vs USC & I assume that's something they'll rectify, so a challenge there especially if Winter sits. And Diallo (if he has any legs left) is a pretty tough cover.

From the most recent Greg Gard presser: Nolan Winter is "trying" to get ready for the BTT, but he will "definitely" be ready for the NCAAs. There is a "possibility" that Jack Janicki could get on the floor for the NCAAs.

I did too. Just shows to go ya how recruiting can be such a crapshoot sometimes. Like Gus Yalden. He does nothing here, goes to Seton Hall & averages under 2PPG, then this season playing in the America East Conference (Vermont) he's over 16ppg. Level of play, style of play---finding the correct fit can be tricky.

Only remotely Badger BB related but Camren Hunter, who portaled to UW last season & played in eleven games, scored 49 points in Central Arkansas A-Sun Conference tourney championship game today. It would've been interesting if he didn't have the early injury situation when he was here as that immediately put him behind some people & he never caught up. Not saying this was a system he could've thrived in---there's the obvious step up in competition, and he needs the ball in his hands A LOT, sort of like Boyd in that regard---but if he came in healthy he might've carved a niche for himself. Daniel Freitag (Buffalo) is another former UW guy who scored a ton of points this season. Of course, the flip side is scoring points usually hasn't been a problem this season, thank you very much.

Plus going with Briggs & Scott at the corners gave them the opportunity to get OF bats that they liked (Joe Lahoud & Billy Conigliaro) in the lineup more often. It was a good idea at the time.......I guess.

Games like USC & Oregon hurt them in that regard. But they're now 4-2 vs teams in the B10 that have been ranked all/most of the season & I'm all but certain they'll pop back into the top 25 tomorrow.

Winter stayed in Madison. Gard said in postgame that he had a number of separate rehab/treatment sessions today so his plate was full--he mentioned Winter might not even have had time to watch the game save for phone updates. Anyone's guess as to what 'day to day' means. I'd say the original "not as bad as originally feared" line sounds legitimate. If he's heading a bit northward every day then I'm happy, and Gard seemed to suggest that with his comments. It's nice for him to get four more days to work while his teammates get a little re-charge. I thought Cluff, Kaufman-Renn & even Jacobsen had a real edge inside. But when you consider where Rapp was in November & that Bielauskas is a freshman, yeah I agree they both had their moments given the size & experience Purdue possesses. Their defensive growth was critical & it seems to be bearing some fruit. And they both shot it with confidence. Right now, 5 or 6 looks like a pretty good guess.

During a pregame shag, Briggs once threw me a ball. I was in the old LF extension at County Stadium, begging like the annoying little kid that I was. As I recall, when the Brewers traded for George Scott the original plan was for Scott to fill the hole at 3B with Briggs playing 1B, then with late inning leads (believe it or not, they occasionally would have one) Scott would move to first, with Briggs going out to LF and Mike Ferraro, a solid glove man, taking over at 3B. IIRC Briggs was acceptable at first but the Boomer playing third wasn't exactly a revelation. Not a star, but Briggs was just very solid.

If it's closer to the floor the culprit will be cold shooting from beyond the arc, not being connected on the defensive end, or a combination of the two. The rebounding is always a concern, and a ++concern if Winter is less than 90%.

Loads of heroes. With Winter out, you kinda needed to outscore them. And how often does a team lean on its' offense to win in that place? Bieliauskas & Rapp got some deep looks as I thought, and combined for 8 hits. Blackwell was great throughout, and Boyd was magnificent in taking over late. That shot he made from the left side of the lane, with 2-3 defenders right there & having to recover the ball after momentarily losing it----if I ever need to find a magician for a kids' party, I'm hiring his ass. I mentioned how I didn't like Blackwell on Smith, but it turns out the looser D was by design. Blackwell laid off him trying to keep him out of the lane & keep him from picking up 15 assists by dishing to bigs for and-ones. Late in the game he bellied up on him more. I guess you'd have to say it worked---Smith went 2-7 from deep---but still picked up nine assists. He's just a great PG. I won't miss him. Purdue shot over 50%, shot 44% from three, only turned it over seven times & outrebounded UW by twelve. It's just so crazy to look at those numbers & realize Bucky won the game. Another huge factor was only four TOs in the last 33 or so minutes of game time. And other than CJ Cox being mostly invisible offensively, no one for Purdue really played poorly. Just another gutsy, impressive win.

Yes. Doubtful.

With Winter out the 2nd & 3rd looks for PU isn't a surprise. When they combine it with knocking down outside shots it's tough. This sounds pollyanish but Purdue is playing pretty well, we're short-handed & IMO Wisconsin deserves a ton of credit for making this a game.

I love the shot making from UW but it doesn't look like we have anyone who can effectively guard Kaufman-Renn. Not overly nuts about Blackwell being matched up with Smith, either. But they're fun to watch when they get on a roll, and they're doing it vs a team that's playing pretty hard.

I'm on CBS too. I actually think the audio IS a fraction of a sec behind. Nothing like what you're experiencing though.