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Jim French Stepstool

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Everything posted by Jim French Stepstool

  1. Jim French Stepstool
    I imagine the wins vs Texas & Kentucky helped the NET rank for OSU quite a bit. Yet another B10 team that can play at a pretty high level on a given day. Toward that end-----holy cow did Indiana look horrible vs Illinois. Also stunk up the joint at Iowa & were terrible in a holiday tourney vs Louisville. They've had their moments & can certainly make the tournament. But if I was an IU fan I would be so incredibly sick of Woodson. Agree re the end-of-game decisions. His subbing at the end was spot-on too, as well as ordering Blackwell to miss the FT. Of course Murphys' Law, the thing went in.
  2. Jim French Stepstool
    OSU really got rolling in the 2nd half. When Thornton is making plays he's one of those guys that makes everyone else better. I didn't like how we stopped drawing fouls. Eventually got into the double bonus but the first 12 minutes of the half lacked patience & purpose. Missed layup by Winter followed by his fumbling a pass for a TO came at a time we could've stemmed their run & didn't. His worst game in quite some time.
  3. Jim French Stepstool
    Tale of two halves, to be sure. We defended well in the 1st half, but a large part of it was some very sloppy stuff by OSU, lazy screens that wound up being fouls, TOs, settling for jump shots. Thornton got going early in the 2nd half & that was key. The defensive rebounding took a big dip downward in the 2nd half as well. At the end of the day I thought the experience paid off with a couple crucial stops to keep them at arms' length (or by the end, pinkies' length). Crowl mostly disappeared in the 2nd half but had a huge tapout on the missed FT. If that doesn't happen we might be talking about an L. The end of a really nice stretch of games for Winter. Hopefully he starts a new streak Saturday. Oh, and Gard said after the game the last FT by Blackwell was supposed to be a miss. Maybe he should've tried to 'miss' the previous couple 😛.
  4. Jim French Stepstool
    I think the role she fills is relatively useless compared to the other on-air jobs. But it isn't her fault that all teams have the sideline-fluff pieces-postgame interview position, and she obviously takes it very, very seriously & works hard at being good at it. So kudos to her.
  5. Jim French Stepstool
    Outside of Minnesota, I guess it depends on your definition of 'bad'. I think there are a lot of teams---Iowa, Indiana, Rutgers, a couple others---that are definitely capable of looking terrible. But if at some point RUs' freshmen stop playing like freshmen, If Iowa shoots well & guards people anything better than poorly, if Indiana shows interest for 40 minutes, the latter two especially can do damage on a given day. So much is based on coachability & consistency. I was shocked by the USC win too. I think what happened is Illinois won by 39 vs Penn State w/o Jakucionus and felt they could just show up & win. Izzo & Painter don't put up with that. A big part of the reason why their teams are more 'trustworthy'. Gard is in the same mold, just not with the same talent level year in & year out as those two.
  6. Jim French Stepstool
    I've been keeping an eye on Iowa news. They play at SC Tuesday & UCLA on Friday & no changes as of yet. I imagine the next 24 hours will be crucial. You're correct about UCLA; the Westwood neighborhood is dangerously close to the carnage. You would think there might be a plan B in a large enough venue (San Diego St; Univ of San Diego) to move the games to if needed, since this is no ordinary road trip & it may be extremely difficult to reschedule later on in the season. Certainly not like taking a one-day detour to Evanston or Minneapolis. Right now it's wait & see, and pray for everyone out there.
  7. Jim French Stepstool
    After dealing with playing at Illinois & Rutgers, it doesn't seem to me SC & UCLA should be rough venues to visit. Of course you still need to play well. Unless I'm forgetting, the last time they visited Pauley Pavilion Bill Walton was in the post.
  8. Jim French Stepstool
    Fun to see the offense cook like they did in the 2nd half. I was really excited to see what Amos turned in tonight. Three rebounds, an assist, two steals & a block. Isn't very good at driving the ball, but he's starting to TRY to. If he can get stronger there's a lot of untapped stuff there. Overall I think the defense is on the right track to consistency, despite a bit of a struggle early. And I'm just thrilled with the season McGee is having. For all the good things he does, Janicki goes in for layups as if he's never had the experience of taking it strong vs someone his size & as athletic as him (or moreso). And during his HS days that was probably the case. Teaching point. When he gets in, Freitag looks overwhelmed & not confident. You could really tell it on his FTs late; it almost looked as if he wanted to get them over with. The jump in competition has been much more of a negative factor than I anticipated. Fortunately save for injuries he isn't needed. Long way to go but a lot of time to acclimate. If I'm Minny & it's a close game late, I'd lay into anyone on the team that doesn't get the ball in Garcias' hands every time down. That guy is a really tough cover.
  9. Jim French Stepstool
    It sounds like Xavier Lucas took an NIL deal requiring him to stay at UW, and he's now trying to leave & (I assume) not pay back the money (Not sure how that last part would even figure into it, if true). UW doesn't want to give him his release & Lucas has hired an attorney. Don't think the college sports world isn't keeping very close tabs on this.
  10. Jim French Stepstool
    On paper, I agree 100%. That being said, will everyone mesh & will the defensive philosophy fit the talent? It's hard to say when every year a large amount of the experienced talent is in essence lining up on the playground, and the captains (college programs) pick up sides. Reading what's between the ears & in the hearts of these kids, as well as their ability to fit a role in a system, is so vital now. Greg Gard has done a pretty good job of it. Hopefully this staff can do the same.
  11. Jim French Stepstool
    It's every coaches' dream to win & yet still have teaching points to get across. Thirteen TOs last week & something like fifteen today. Definitely needs to be cleaned up.
  12. Jim French Stepstool
    I thought they defended his drives pretty well. No, he didn't finish to the same extent as he did vs Arizona & Pitt. Even so, I think he had all his points (15) in the 2nd half. He's gotten the whistles most of the season. As long as that continues..........
  13. Jim French Stepstool
    FWIW Klesmit was moving around trying to stay loose, and even after it was apparent he wasn't coming back in he spent the final minutes on the bench rather than in the lockerroom, and claimed after the game he'd be "fine". Hope he's a good diagnostician. Winter had a couple fingers taped together which may suggest a dislocation. So I guess I'm more optimistic than not. EDIT: Just learned the issue with Winter was a cut on his hand & they couldn't control the bleeding sufficiently to get him back in the game. I agree that Baileys' talent is obvious. But he's not yet at the level to be relied on to be the best player on the team, not in this league. Certainly needs his body to mature---and his composure.
  14. Jim French Stepstool
    It was so weird playing RU on the road & seeing the home team not defend very well. Once Pikiell got them to guard better in half two, it looked like many of the games the teams have played there. Once it got too close for comfort the vets really stepped up. Even though they didn't contribute a lot of points I thought the bench was terrific, again. It's great to see Gilmore & McGee turn into such assets after the former has been much maligned & the latter took quite a bit of time to acclimate. And Janicki just has that 'something' on the defensive end--anticipation, reach, positioning, and I'm sure he does a great job of studying the opposing players he anticipates guarding. He was royally screwed once & possibly twice on whistles that shouldn't have blown.
  15. Jim French Stepstool
    Getting Sommerville & Ogbole in foul trouble would be huge.
  16. Jim French Stepstool
    History suggests tonites' game in Piscataway will be a tough win to secure. A smaller, claustrophobic gym, the type of place where every time you run your offense it seems like there are seven defenders out there & every time you put up a shot the rims are bent like at a rigged state fair arcade. But Rutgers doesn't seem to have the same level of defense as some past teams, probably a result of playing a few freshmen big minutes & Steve Pikiell not having the edge of several guys learning his system for 2-3 years like in past years. But I still expect a grinder. Ace Bailey is a 6'10" FR that can score in a variety of ways & there isn't a good defensive match for him in the starting five so we'll probably see a lot of Gilmore on him. Bailey isn't physical so perhaps Amos gets a crack at him too. Hoping to see continued aggressiveness from Crowl & Winter, along with the type of rebounding we saw last time out. Dylan Harper, another talented 1st-year guy, missed their last game due to illness but I imagine he'll be good to go.
  17. Jim French Stepstool
    We'll see I guess. I think they'll win some simply because they can outshoot people from the floor & the opponent will have an off-night shooting, or be sloppy with the ball vs their press. If I was Iowa I would play at a slower pace. IMO their offensive talents aren't really enhanced by rushing the ball up the floor, they can still zone press (the one thing they do fairly well defensively) w/o pushing the pace and they're better off with fewer possessions per game due to the lousy halfcourt D. And playing fast seems to minimize the talents of Freeman, who can be a force inside. Fran will figure these things out any day now.
  18. Jim French Stepstool
    I was wondering how the 116 pts stacks up historically, in conference games. Turns out it was the most this century; the last time this number was reached was 1995 when (ironically) Iowa scored 116 vs Northwestern. It doesn't even sniff an all-time mark. In the 60s teams reached triple-digits a lot more often they do now. Michigan hung 128 on Purdue in '66.
  19. Jim French Stepstool
    I'd guess they scored triple-digits in the league at least a couple times when Stew Jackson was the coach. That '67 game vs SMU was in Milwaukee, in the holiday tournament that was once held in the old arena. EDIT: You are correct. Only once under Jackson. They scored 97 vs NW in the Van Gundy year a couple years later, and 95 vs Illinois in 2014.
  20. Jim French Stepstool
    I dunno if I'd dismiss the win to that extent. We guarded pretty well for a little over half the game & they still scored 85. Payton Sandfort had a lousy day, but everyone else for them mostly shot the ball pretty well. That team can score points & will beat some folks. But I agree, the success they have will be in spite of the defense. The press is the only consistent looking thing about their D since Fran's been there. You start up the fund; I'll contribute😉.
  21. Jim French Stepstool
    I was cautiously optimistic early on, when Iowa was shooting so well, because we were staying mostly within 3-4 points & you figured they'd cool off a little. What I didn't expect was how the defense picked up. In the middle 20 minutes of the game UW held them to 35, which doesn't sound great but is way under their average for a 20-minute stretch & gives you a great chance to open up a lead against a team whose halfcourt defense traditionally ain't none too good. Safe to say I also didn't expect 116. It's so fun when a team shares the ball & multiple guys are hitting shots. Even Klesmit, who only scored 8, had all his points in a quick spurt that got them their first separation in the 1st half. Lost in all the carnage------a 37-21 edge in rebounding makes me smile. And 26 assists is a heck of a high number. And again with the FTs--15-17. Thirteen turnovers, Damn, we could've scored OVER 120.😛
  22. Jim French Stepstool
    If there is no more INF help acquired, if Durbin underwhelms, and if he is at least adequate at 3B & outplays Dunn---admittedly a lot of "ifs"------I don't think Boeve helping in '25 is out of the question. Of course deciding how to strike a balance between Wilkin, Boeve & Dunn is another nut to crack.
  23. Jim French Stepstool
    Felipe Alou could also fit on this list. In 1974 he only played in something like 2 or 3 games before being released. Fun fact----On opening day of that season he pinch hit for a certain eighteen-yr-old SS who was making his major league debut.
  24. Jim French Stepstool
    Detroit Mercy today, in what on paper looks like the last of the "breathers" on the schedule. The Titans are trying to recover from a disaster of a 23-24 season. Former Izzo player & assistant Mark Montgomery is in his 1st year at the helm of what to me looks like a guard-oriented team on the offensive end. My biggest concern is taking the court with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads. If their minds & hearts are already thinking about being home for Christmas you could see a start similar to the first 10 minutes they turned in vs Holy Cross. Hopefully that lesson has sunk in. Would love to see Nolan Winter continue to trend upward.
  25. Jim French Stepstool
    I'm not necessarily advocating for this-----I think him filling the Bauers role on the roster makes quite a bit of sense---but I'd be interested in knowing how much value he'd have on the trade market. A good hit tool, but didn't produce when at the MLB level. Versatility, but not a good rep defensively. Good athlete w/excellent speed, OF might be his best home but he's barely played there. And from the Brewers perspective you can throw in that there are multiple possibilities to fill his role but none of them are 'there' yet (Martinez, Boeve, Wilken). It's a quandry.
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