Jim French Stepstool

Yeah, with the 8-point lead we drove the ball two or three times in a row, and had the right guys doing it. Came up empty. AFA the 3s on the other end were concerned, HP made five of their last seven shots from deep. Most were IMO guarded anywhere from reasonably well to very well--the one that was wide open, well, I guess that's on Greg Gard for not emphasizing enough that we need to get up in the shorts of a guy shooting a running 35-footer. Not a set shot, not a jump shot---a RUNNING 35 footer. Just another way of saying that yes, UW could have been better than they were but when you look at the last 6 minutes & check the game stats, this was much more a case of High Point winning then UW being 'embarrassing' or 'blowing it' or other nonsense. Refs giving a subconscious break to the team trailing, yeah, I've felt that way for a long while. And Bucky has benefitted from it at times too. Like you said, part of the game. Check out when a team is trailing late in a game & drives to the hoop for a layup. If the defender makes any kind of motion to defend--or looks at the opponent funny---whistle, and-1. Like the threes HP hit late. If we defended any closer there's a real good chance you're getting whistled for fouling a 3pt shooter. If High Point can hang around Saturday to where they're in the game late, and then finish like they did yesterday, they can win. Will they perform that well again? Doubtful.

Seems like Black has added some pop to his skillset. Looks to me like he'll have some headlines this year, either here or (more likely) by being involved in a trade.

True dat. And with his success rate it's not easy to go away from it in crunch time.

Good stuff. I mentioned it earlier too, about the 8pt lead not being extended. What was frustrating was that IIRC we got maybe 3 stops in a row at that juncture, which was kinda rare today. chance to go up 10-12---woulda, coulda, shoulda. Your last point is golden. Another way of looking at it----whatever Gards' record is since 15-16, I invite anyone to find a coach with that record or better, that's been canned. And guys getting fired for legal/behavioral issues don't count.

I know. The 'embarrassment' comment was in reference to another post. I thought UW mostly handled the pressure pretty well outside of the 5 TO from Blackwell---on this stage he needed to be better in ball security. He probably forced things a time or two in the 2nd half. AFA the shot quality, on the surface I agree but here's a nugget. They shot 23 3pt shots today---There was only ONE game this season when they shot fewer, and that was 22 (UWM). And their 3pt % today was higher than the season avg. So, maybe they should've put up more threes? It flies in the face of the size advantage they had, but that's never really been what they've hung their hats on this season. And that hat-hanger has beaten Michigan, Illinois twice, Purdue & MSU, with only one of those games at home. My final assessment is: UW wasn't good enough to win but they were far from horrible, HP was very, very good & obviously made more plays late, and there was some weirdness to the statistical breakdown. Frustrating way to end the season. Oh, and Gard sucks & needs to be fired🤪😆🤣🤪🤣😆.

Thanks, that means a lot. I used to post on a UW basketball board, but some of the herd mentality there, snarkiness, and toxic attitude toward newcomers (not me; I was there for awhile) turned me off. I'll still go there sometimes for info as there ARE knowledgeable posters there & a couple 'insiders'. This community is much, much more enjoyable though.

Point #1, definitely. Had looks from close in, from the right people, & didn't convert. Boyd was 100% taking matters into his own hands, and it looks bad when it fails. More often than not this season, it hasn't failed. Not letting him try to make plays late probably would've resulted in a lot of "Dance with who brung ya!!!!!" complaints. Swing it a time or two before some of the drives, yeah maybe. Winter could've been more of a factor, & Bieliauskas started out so-so but got better in the 2nd half. Overall though yeah, eleven shots from the bigs inside the arc isn't a terrible number given the structure of the offense. Would've liked Winter to get some more looks on screen & roll though.

Personally, I've never been a huge fan of the five-out. But for the lions' share of the season, it worked. Yeah, HP knew Boyd was going to have the ball in his hands late, and was going to try to make something happen. It was predictable. But it's been predictable all season, and he's mostly come through---including a # of times late in this very game. I'll agree though, I'd like to see more of a post presence down the road. Think of the shots HP made in the last 5 minutes. Miss one of them & we're probably all in a better mood. We weren't good enough today but I think this was much more a case of them winning than us blowing it, or being an "embarrassment" or other such nonsense.

I've seen the highs & the lows of UW in the tournament. And during the lows---I mean the REAL lows, like getting bounced early---I've never had as much trouble finding something to point out AFA negatives as this one. There were some. They didn't rebound all that well, but the #s were about even & there were a lot of long rebounds which are often coin flips. For the game UW wasn't outshot, they got to the FT line a little more. High Point was ridiculous from deep in the final minutes, and the only one that wasn't at least reasonably well-guarded was on the move, from 35 ft away. Nine TOs for the game isn't a horrible total. A few too many 2nd chance points. And 3 or 4 empty trips in a row after going up by 7-8, I thought at the time that hurt, and in retrospect it did. Blackwell turned it over five times. But when you look at Georgia State, SW Missouri, JMU---it was much, much easier to point fingers at shortcomings in those games. More than anything this was the opponent just getting it done late, in spades.

That was my thought. Both teams happy to play at this pace, and not many TOs either way. UW cleaning up the defensive boards would be nice. Not sure how effective the HP zone SHOULD be, but it was a good move on their part going to it when they did. It's been a game of runs, and it can be scary if you run into an extended dry spell. But from what I've seen, that really shouldn't happen to UW today. Just don't fall in love with the three TOO much, with the size edge. So far they haven't.

They were seriously outworking OSU on the boards, and now are hitting shots, too. It'll take a real turnaround for Ohio State to survive.

It'll be interesting to see the 'crowd' this afternoon. UW travels pretty well & I suspect has somewhat of an alumni base in the Pacific Northwest. Arky travels fairly well---at least they did when I was at NCAA games in Milwaukee when they participated---but Portland is a haul. The other two schools are hell & gone from the venue.

Both Gonzaga & BYU are in the evening session. I wonder what THOSE are going for?💲💲💲💲.

I didn't hear that little gem, which is a good thing. The remote/TV screen might not have survived.😖

I was finally able to watch the final 10 minutes or so. The Barkley & Vitale stuff reminded me of listening to Bill Walton (RIP), who a lot of people liked as a color guy but who I could not stand. Walton seemed to want to transcend the basketball game & help everyone come to the realization that he's the Most Interesting Man in the World. Utilized the mute button on him more than once. But NCST-TX was worth the pain. Terrific last 3 minutes.

😄I haven't been able to watch TEX-NCST, but it's so easy to imagine those two jamokes doing exactly that.

You don't think McNeese beating Vandy would be an upset? Or High Point beating Wisconsin?

Here's an (I think) exhaustive list of the Wisconsin natives participating in the tourney: Davion Hannah, Alabama (Milwaukee Academy of Science & Nicolet) Amari Allen, Alabama (Ashwaubenon) Jayden Jackson, Cal Baptist (Whitefish Bay) Jamarion Batemon, Iowa State (Milwaukee Academy of Science) Xavion Mitchell, Iowa State (Oshkosh North) Milan Momcilovic, Iowa State (Pewaukee) Anthony Rise, Iowa State (Brookfield Central) Seth Trimble, North Carolina (Menomonee Falls) Noah Feddersen, North Dakota State (Menomonie) Leon Bond III, Northern Iowa (Tosa East) Will Hornseth, Northern Iowa (De Pere) Max Weisbrod, Northern Iowa (Deforest) Myles Herro, Ohio State (Whitnall) Amari McCottry, Saint Louis (Milw Thomas More) Isaac Gard, Wisconsin (Oregon HS) Will Garlock, Wisconsin (Middleton) Zach Kinziger, Wisconsin (De Pere) Andrew Rohde, Wisconsin (Brookfield Central)

I'm expecting a dead(ish) atmosphere in the day session on Thursday in Portland. Should be much more lively in the evening when BYU & Gonzaga take the floor.

As I mentioned earlier, I just don't see Cal Baptist even getting as high as a 13 seed. I may very well be missing something there. Kansas DOES seem to have somewhat of a reputation for being a little 'disinterested' in tourney games where they're big favorites on paper. NDSU-MSU gave me a little pause, but I didn't pull the trigger.

If Hawaii shocks the world: Me: Hawaii upset Arkansas. Wisconsin plays them next. Wife: Ooh!!! We should go!!! Me: OK. The game's in Portland. Wife: Oh, wait. I promised to help your sister lay new shelf paper.

I'll stick my neck out on some 1st round upsets: South Florida > Louisville Utah State > Villanova Missouri >Miami (FL) Santa Clara > Kentucky (drum roll) Akron over Texas Tech Also I think Vandy beats McNeese, but the Cowboys scare the hell out of them. And UCF-UCLA could hinge on the health of Bilodeau & Dent. They're both expected back but how close to 100% will they be? In the play-ins I like Texas, Miami(O), UMBC & Lehigh.

nm

Clark Kellogg immediately fell all over himself picking High Point. One of his comments was 'they're big'. No, they aren't, especially when compared to Wisconsin. They DO have pretty good rebounding #s in the Big South, and my main concern is age/experience in the frontcourt--they do possess that. They go around 6'7"-6'8" with a little more size on the bench that I'm sure they'll go to if they feel the need. They shoot just over 35% from three, and like to turn you over (over 16 TPG) and collect points off TOs. Their most impressive win on paper was probably Furman, which occurred in their first game of the season. W/O delving deeply into it I'd say High Point is capable of advancing, but a pretty large part of that equation would have to be UW just not playing well. Take care of the ball, rebound & defend like they have the last two games & we should see a reunion with our old friend Calipari on Saturday. EDIT: Gametime Thursday, 12:50 CT. TBS.

Let's talk tourney. Thursday-Sunday of the first week is like an extended holiday if you're a college hoops fan. Off the top of my head----it probably isn't here nor there as it shouldn't effect later round advancement, but I'm missing something regarding Cal Baptist being a 13 seed. IMO there are 14-16s that are clearly better. Miami (FLA) must be thrilled (not). A seven, & they play ten seed Missouri---in St Louis. As I mentioned in the UW thread, while High Point has had a real nice season I'd rather face them than McNeese, which was also a twelve. Thoughts? CheezWizHed edit: Here is the BrewerFanatic Bracket if you want to join!