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Jim French Stepstool

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Everything posted by Jim French Stepstool

  1. Jim French Stepstool
    The ball pops around the perimeter pretty well in BYUs' halfcourt offense. Gard mentioned how they got their 'bite' back defensively after Penn State. They'll need it. Scouting, anticipating where people like to shoot from & beating them to the spot, minimizing the 'stand still' looks will be big. And keep the unusually huge PG from getting into the lane (In that regard, Blackwell getting early fouls scares me. I'd put Janicki on him when he's in the game). Offensively, if we get good ball/man movement we should find some open looks. I thought BYUs' defense looked mostly OK on Thursday, but certainly we should be able to apply more pressure than VCU did. And while their bigs weren't bad, Winter & especially Crowl have a size edge that needs to be established. And hopefully they can draw some fouls. The Cougars have some depth but I think most of the real quality depth is in the backcourt. I've said it before, but I'd love to see the return of the 10-12 PPG Max Klesmit.
  2. Jim French Stepstool
    I think when they're at their best, the top 4 or so are pretty elite teams capable of beating anyone. But when you got down to a Texas, a Vandy, even an Oklahoma there's room for debate. I think fourteen from one league is really dicey.
  3. Jim French Stepstool
    Am I being petty? Maybe. But I'm glad that on Saturday Storr & Hepburn will be playing the same # of minutes as I will.
  4. Jim French Stepstool
    Agree re BYUs' defense. The Rams admittedly aren't an offensive juggernaut but I thought BYU was pretty sound fundamentally on D & on the boards. From what I saw it's a game UW 'could' lose if they don't come out strong.. Want to see energy on the defensive end, and don't play fast just for the sake of playing fast. Move off the ball, make the extra pass. I'm not nuts about Blackwell matching up vs their 6'9" PG. Methinks Janicki lines up against him when he's in the game Crowl scoring inside & out like he did vs the Grizz would be real nice..
  5. Jim French Stepstool
    IMO Louisville was living right in their conference tourney in getting past Stanford & Clemson. Caught up to them a little.
  6. Jim French Stepstool
    I didn't buy the McNeese over Clemson hype. Perhaps I should've. Clemson & LU both going down would be a real kick in the nether region for the ACC.
  7. Jim French Stepstool
    Without knowing much of anything about their program, I thought Montana ran some good stuff offensively. Many times they made the 'extra pass' & wound up with a good look. Obviously the depth was a factor. They made (IIRC) seven of their first twelve from deep which kept it interesting for longer than I would've liked. Now for a 3OT game between VCU & BYU😎.
  8. Jim French Stepstool
    Do like I do----don't make them out anymore, let your wife make one out, then point out her mistakes.😛
  9. Jim French Stepstool
    I was referring to UWs' losing to Oregon & Penn State possibly keeping them from being sent to Milwaukee for the NCAAs. But for the record, I don't like schools turning down the NIT either.
  10. Jim French Stepstool
    IMO Montana had a pretty good defensive philosophy in the 1st half. That & their hitting five 3pt in the half is keeping it relatively close. Just enough intermittent sloppiness from UW doesn't help. I think Amos would avg double figures in the Big Sky. Hopefully he can approach that next year in the Big Ten. Five blocked shots in a half by Bucky is a pretty rare animal. High Point making things a little interesting.
  11. Jim French Stepstool
    I don't know if UW was Freemans' 2nd choice out of HS or exactly where we fell on his list, but there was some mutual interest & that's where the possibility lies. If it's simply a case of him looking for the largest check then yes, it would be a challenge. The rumors are there; it just comes down to where everything lands on the BS meter. An issue w/Zrno is that with the Indiana coaching change, a few more schools have come sniffing around. It's not just a case of him looking at the remaining schools on his original list.
  12. Jim French Stepstool
    I was wondering about that. So these were games that otherwise would've been in Chicago? Good! All the sweeter.
  13. Jim French Stepstool
    Not holding my breath or anything, but now that DeVries has been hired at Indiana it might be worthwhile to keep an eye on a couple of their incoming recruits. Both Trent Sisley & Harun Zrno were being pursued pretty heavily by Wisconsin. FWIW Sisleys' initial comments sound positive toward the hiring & suggest he's still committed, while Zrno appears to want to meet with DeVries & then decide. Also, Owen Freeman of Iowa is entering the portal. All these rumors should be taken with a rather large saltlick of course, but one or two of the many sources indicate UW is a very serious player for his services. He'd be a great get.
  14. Jim French Stepstool
    I think UNC favored is certainly possible. These SEC teams have been through such a meat grinder. Battle tested for sure. The shine is off him a little bit, but I loved Beard when he coached at Texas Tech.
  15. Jim French Stepstool
    I'm a big McCollum fan. Nothing agin DeVries but I think McCollum should be Iowas' #1 target all along-----heck, I'd have gone after McCollum if I was Indiana, too. Fran is making noises like he wants to stay in the biz. Lots of schools & potential jobs in his old east coast stomping grounds, but the dude's 65 & it sounds like he disdains the idea of constantly rebuilding through the portal. I hate the portal too, but I don't think mentioning that is going to sound good in an interview.
  16. Jim French Stepstool
    Methinks UNC sat & listened to 48 HRS of the "you shouldn't be in the tournament" rhetoric & that fueled them big time. I expect them to give Ole Miss all they can handle. Bama State had many opportunities to hang their heads & get buried after being down 5-8 pts much of the game & never did. Credit due.
  17. Jim French Stepstool
    As nice as Milwaukee would've been for UW, I think along these same lines...........don't wilt vs Oregon, don't take the day off defensively vs PSU, and it probably happens.
  18. Jim French Stepstool
    This is very non-scientific, but someone (might've been Dick Vitale) once floated the idea that you can't go to the tournament if you aren't at least .500 in your conference. As overly simplistic as that sounds I think it has some merit. To me, VCU-BYU is one of the most intriguing matchups in the entire round of 64 & a must-see even if UW wasn't opposite in the bracket. I'm taking the Rams in what to me is a really tough call. One of the kids on Montanas' roster is Amari Jedkins, a 6-7 sophomore from Racine Case. He's played in 28 games. I go along with@RedStickBrew. Florida to cut 'em down.
  19. Jim French Stepstool
    There's many precedents to the committee considering injuries. One year Cincinnati was looked at as a clear #1, lost Kenyon Martin to an injury & IIRC was bumped down to a 3. It's why Otzelberger timed his announcement of Keshon Gilbert being done AFTER the pairings came out. I don't blame him; it's just part of the dance you have to perform. I get a kick out of the people that try to blow off UNCs' AD being the committee chair by saying "well, he can't be in the room when they discuss UNC". These guys develop relationships & at some point, the door swings open & he comes back in. I doubt anyone relished giving him bad news. I just didn't 'feel' Indiana all season. But I agree about WVU having reason to boil. And I kinda feel for Boise State.
  20. Jim French Stepstool
    My bad. I saw a listing that incorrectly had LU/Creighton facing Houston. I actually was half-expecting to see UW facing the Cards in a 3 vs 6.
  21. Jim French Stepstool
    I find that interesting, and not without merit. During his presser after Saturdays' game, Izzo said when he's done coaching he wants to get on the selection committee. He's a real anti-analytic, pro eye-test guy. I'd love to see it happen, just for the headaches he'd cause.😁
  22. Jim French Stepstool
    I suppose they aren't going to flat-out lie about it, but It's hard for me to imagine them having a contingency bracket. I guess, if they say so.........I know they mentioned a contingency for if UAB beat Memphis, that it would've knocked out UNC. Maybe UW gets Milwaukee over ISU or UK had they won? AFA who UW is podded with, I think the only grouping I'd rather be in as a 3 would be UK's, and that isn't possible w/Illinois there as a 6. Now, when you throw in the geography, yeah, BYU in Denver does them no favors. If they DO make it to the 2nd weekend, I agree Alabama isn't a bad #2 to face compared to the others. Haven't studied the bracket real hard yet, but one thing that stuck out to me right off the bat for a potential upset is High Point-Purdue. Boilers just look to be running on fumes at times. Agree totally about the Michigan possession late in the game that was timed not with a shot clock but a calendar, Just couldn't get the stop no matter what they did. Quite possibly the most important sequence of the game. I'm not a big follower of the "quad 1, quad 2" thing. But 1-12 in quad one games, and you dance? Uh, no. Something about Hepburn & Louisville being put in an 8/9 game w/Houston on deck made me smile.
  23. Jim French Stepstool
    I don't disagree with that. I understand why it doesn't happen more often but yeah, your 7-ft SR post guy who is 3rd on the team in points scored, you'd like to see him get a few more opportunities. I suspect there are times he has the option to slide down low & just doesn't. In this particular game, I also suspect they felt Crowl might have chances from the arc. And he did, but then shoot the ball. He only put up 3 from out there. I agree re making Goldin defend down low. Wolf, too.
  24. Jim French Stepstool
    Yeah, I think it's been a long time since they've had to 'compete' for a 3, with the possible exception being had they lost to NU last Thursday. And even then..........
  25. Jim French Stepstool
    Both teams lost their legs sometime during their last game, so the poor shooting wasn't some kind of huge shock. Michigan made a few deep ones in the last 10 min or so, Wolf dug down for a little extra, and we didn't have enough to respond. No big complaints, except maybe with the basketball gods w/around a minute-and-change to go when Michigan had the ball on their end for about nine days before finally scoring. Some really solid defense, but every ball goes out off us, and it sucked but every call was correct. Especially the time we pried one loose, It goes to Blackwell, Wolf knocks it away but OF COURSE it touches Blackwell last. Frustrating. Very impressive tourney run.
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