Jim French Stepstool

Yes. It'll be a predictable pick by many. JMU was. So was Belmont years ago. My initial reaction is that we lucked out a little because McNeese is also a twelve & I didn't really want to play them. Austin Rapp returns to his former college stomping grounds.

I'll guess 5. If it's a 6 I think the culprit would be the USC & Oregon losses & a few of the horror shows early in the season.

They got a lot better at ball security in the second half, which usually happens. But Yeah, ten for the game is a few more than you'd like. When you know you're in the tourney regardless, it's easy to look at the big picture & find positives. I agree 100% about the defense, both yesterday & today. And Winter can only help, by rim protection, his ability to switch & just giving you another large body. And it might be wishful thinking but I hope Janicki can haul his arse out there. His ability to guard & just make good decisions would be a boost.

Didn't realize they had one to give. I'd have done it the moment Mara received the pass in the post area (had they fed him). Lendeborg was Carrington's responsibility. Looking at the replay, Boyd was screened by Morez Johnson & stayed with him on the switch. When the ball went towards the baseline, Carrington might've been too cognizant of packing the defense in the lane, perhaps thinking Boyd needs help on the size mismatch. Looked like perhaps a sec of indecision, which is all you needed to create the open look. If there was an opportunity to do so, you sub in Rohde. But there really wasn't.

If what I saw the last couple days defensively & on the backboards becomes a trend, then they can make a run in the tournament. The results Bieliauskas & Rapp have gotten vs Michigan & Illinois AFA 'dirty work' is concerned is off the charts when compared to November & December. Combine that with Winters' assumptive return--and maybe you get fortunate with Janicki being able to give you minutes--leaves me feeling pretty good. Started to run out of gas due to the third day in a row and playing eight, with limited minutes from two of those eight. Given all that, finding the second wind to go up four vs that team was one of the most impressive things they've done all year IMO.

In the lead-in, I thought I heard Grant Hill say that Michigan would get whatever they want on offense. I guess they 'wanted' their season low in first-half points😁. Lots of sloppiness on both sides, but both teams are flying around really well defensively, too. Michigan can tend to turn it over, and with Cadeau out w/the two fouls there was an opportunity to build a bigger lead if we could've kept from fumbling it around ourselves. What kept UW from getting into the half w/the lead more than anything else was a couple of bad plays late by Rohde--fumbling away the ball on a drive to the hoop, then retreating way too deep on the dribble w/a few seconds left on the shot clock. First 5 min of the second half are often talked about as being critical. My gut tells me it's definitely the case today.

Of course the team doesn't feel this way, but from a fan perspective todays' game feels so much like found money. Even from Michigan's perspective---I don't think there's anything that can knock them out of a one-seed. Bieliauskas went nuts on them in Ann Arbor--Five 3s IIRC--and that effectively kept Mara on the bench since he couldn't guard out there effectively. So a repeat of that would be nice. I've never been to the BTT. But from what I've heard, it's an ongoing thing that the neutral fans are usually heavily anti-Michigan. Any little edge, I'll take it. Nolan Winter has been upgraded to 'questionable', which is interesting.

After UMass beat them, I had a sudden thought of Miami (OH) playing in Dayton, winning, then playing UW two days later. That seems diminished now.

Agree re the OB execution late. Rohde seemed to lead Blackwell too much on the first one. On the second one, yeah you'd rather the ball go to Blackwell or Boyd. But if they're being denied, Carrington IS shooting about 75% from the line, and it's a pass Rohde seems to be pretty good at. But yeah, a little scary. Winters' been surprisingly good switching & holding his own vs guards, but you're right, Rapp seems to be getting the hang of it too. Wagler had his late drive blocked, was that Rapp? Whoever it was, it was a colossally important play. I thought we were trying to limit the penetration a lot, and rolling the dice on some open Illinois threes. And yeah, the Illini are terrific at finding the mismatches. I kinda have to give Rohde credit a few times for simply walling up & making sure he didn't create an and-1 opportunity. Some talking heads brought up the idea of them being a four. I'd put it in the 'possible but unlikely' category.

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.