Brewcrew82

Here's what you're looking at next spring for Jackson Chourio....

Well, looks like Keston Hiura is actively trying to earn his way off the OD roster and the team.

I would be surprised if Owen Miller is playing CF at all other than to give Mitchell an occasional day off. Certainly won't be a late-inning defensive replacement for Mitchell. And then if Mitchell gets injured, you have Frelick who would likely get the call. Agreed about Hiura, though. His play this spring has been horrendous.

Good to see. Though, strikeouts have never been an issue for him.

I don’t care how Gard does it, but he simply can’t have a repeat of this season results-wise. Given that we’ll be returning largely the same cast of characters, it would be dangerous just to run it back and expect internal improvement to take care of things and get us back to top 4 in the conference. Surely we can do better than Carter Gilmore as our top reserve big…Gus will help, but you still have a need for some form of rim protection. I’m not under any illusions that we’ll suddenly start recruiting like Kentucky, but there is still a heck of a lot to sell with the program and the university. Andrew Rhode, for example, is someone who would upgrade the team at SF and offer us another ball handler other than Chucky. No reason why we should be losing guys like him to other programs. Bottom line is Gard has another season like this, and he’s probably gone. It’s up to him to get us back on track, and there’s a clear need for talent upgrades.

I never said anything about or Essegian or criticizing him. He was such a huge surprise on the season and props to Gard for recruiting him. My criticism was more directed at Crowl or who was so bad yesterday that he got benched in favor of Carter Gilmore. He’s really gotta figure out his shot in the off-season…

Tightness and precautionary much better than a pull. Probably out for a few days or week or so at most. Thankfully, we have Frelick ready, who’s a better bet with the bat right now.

I would wait a little on Mitchell. Still very much open questions about his bat, though his start to the spring has been encouraging. And as high as I am on Frelick, I would wait a little on him, too. If he starts hitting like he has in the minors, then go ahead, but I'm hesitant to extend anyone who hasn't already had some form of production in the majors.

Did you not watch Crowl throw up (and proceed to miss) a floater today when he literally had an open basket for a dunk? Cause I did, and that's about as soft as I've ever seen from a UW big. Not to mention he repeatedly got blocked after taking his usual 20 dribbles in the post. As long as he's shooting above 34% or so from the three point line, you'll take what else he gives you. But he's completely failed to do that the past two seasons, shooting 31% and 28% respectively. So, the stats disagree with you, and say he's not a good shooter. Under Bo Ryan, our most successful teams had bigs that you had to respect from the three point line. This year, you had the aforementioned Crowl shooting under 30%; Wahl, who is a career 22% three point shooter; and Gilmore, who teams were consistently giving 5-8 feet of space and literally begging to shoot. With the offensive system we run, that is a recipe for disaster, and it's no wonder we ranked 150th in offense this year. If Wahl, who is a horrific shooter, is going to return, then Crowl has to either figure out his shooting, or become a reserve, because you have Yalden coming in who shot above 35% from 3 in the toughest high school league in the country. As far as the others, who on that list would you say is legitimately a power 5 player and should end up being a contributor on a top 4 BIG team? MAYBE Ilver if he puts in a lot of work this summer....But that's it. The fact that Gilmore was our top reserve big from the outset is nearly a fireable offense. You don't have to get rid of all of them, and I certainly appreciate the work they've all put in and how they've represented the university, but we need some form of talent upgrade in the transfer portal and have to create scholarship space to do so. Once NIL and the transfer portal came along, this became a business just like any other business. You fail to perform to standards, and your current status rightly comes into question. Conversely, I would say that you seem to think everything is okay with the direction of this program right now. I'm still not in the "Fire Gard camp", like others some are (he did win the BIG championship 2/3 previous seasons, which is worth something IMO), but there are some concerning trends in recruiting that are really beginning to rear their ugly head on the court. It is incumbent on Gard to step up and fix that talent shortage ASAP, otherwise, it'll be more of the same next season, and I (and I suspect Chris McIntosh) will start packing Gard's bags for him.

Hey, if Billy Beane can do it, so can Matt Arnold, right??? Though, I think Woodruff is definitely extendable and would be comfortable giving him a 4-5 year deal in the Wheeler/Castillo/Berrios range. We're going to need an ace if want to capitalize on this next wave of position talent, and there's a dearth in our farm system right now as far as high-end pitching goes. Yeah, there's a chance he's not worth it by the 4th or 5th year, but I think the potential payoff is big enough that you do it. And I actually think Brandon is more likely to age gracefully than Corbin due to his build and heater/changeup combo. But if it's going to get done, you want it to get done sooner than later, as the price will only go up from here if he pitches like we all expect this season.

Valiant effort. Just not enough offensive talent on this team. Time to get working in the transfer portal and on the recruiting trail, Gard. Your job depends on it. As a lifelong fan and alumni of this proud program, I hope that first half is as low as it gets from this point on.

Welcome to the NIT, folks. As I said before, if Gard wants to keep his job, he needs to Crean: Davis, Gilmore, Hodges, McGee, Ilver, and Lindsay. None of those guys are Power 5 caliber players. The fact that they're all taking up scholarships is beyond embarrassing and precisely why we're in the situation we currently are. If Wahl stays, Crowl should probably come off the bench in favor of Yalden. You absolutely cannot have two non-shooters in the front court of this offense. Crowl needs to figure it out this offseason as soft non-shooting bigs aren't going to cut it in the BIG. Wahl also needs to go back to being the player he was last year. Need two high-caliber transfers. Ideally a shooting wing in place of Davis and a shot-blocking/rebounding big in place of Gilmore. If they can add those pieces, then they'll be in great shape and competing for BIG titles again. If they don't, it'll be more of the same, and Gard will rightfully be out of a job.

Most embarrassing half of basketball i've ever witnessed. Terrible reflection on Gard. He's got one year to fix this or it's over for him.

Yep. Exactly my thoughts. No more 2018, 2019, 2022 recruiting classes. That’s what has directly led to this season, though it would still be a pretty good year for most programs (looking at you MN). Need at least one of Knueppel, Freitag, Janowski, for the 2024 class. Not landing any of those guys, striking out in the transfer portal this spring, and another year like this one, would likely be what would get Mac to pull the trigger.

Was wondering when we would see him appear in a "major league" game. Nice he's getting the start.

Goes without saying that if he carries this into the regular season, you're looking at around a 4 WAR player. K rate still up there, so I think he's more like a .240-.250 hitter than a .300 hitter. Harrison Bader is a comparison that's been floated, and I can definitely see that as an outcome for Mitchell.

As @wiguy94points out, you're completely misreading the optics here. Vast majority of the baseball community, including Brewers fans, have sided with Burnes over the team. You're right that we'd probably get a bigger return at the deadline. But I don't think it'd be significantly lower, particularly if Burnes performs closer to 2021 and/or wins another Cy Young in the process. MAYBE we could make the playoffs without Burnes, but that would require A LOT to go right (Peralta staying healthy and pitching 160-170+ innings, Ashby overcoming the shoulder injury to return in May and pitching significantly better than 2022 as a starter, Lauer repeating his 2021-2022 numbers despite underwhelming peripherals, Miley staying healthy, Houser repeating his 2021 numbers in a swingman role, Gasser adjusting quickly to MLB and performing at an above average level, etc.). Not to mention the bullpen, which is unproven, and the offense, which lacks a true superstar, would probably have to take a step up. But World Series contenders? I don't see it. To consider trading Burnes at the deadline, unless we're out of the playoff race entirely, I would have to see one of: Jordan Walker, Andrew Painter, Grayson Rodriguez, Marcelo Meyer, Jackson Holiday, Bobby Miller, Ricky Tiedemann, Jackson Merrill, etc.

I respect that you have that opinion. But with how strong the NL currently is, I don’t see any way to subtract Burnes from this team and still be a legitimate postseason contender, let a title contender. Corbin is that good and that valuable. Nor do I see the FO taking on the PR nightmare that would ensue, which would be the Hader fallout x100.

Whooo boy. I really hope the FO has learned its lesson about subtracting all-star players from 1st place/contending teams at the trade deadline. Sensible in theory, but, in practice, not as easily workable....Not to mention trading Burnes, aka our best player, takes things to a whole new level than trading a slumping reliever. You don't trade a player like Burnes mid-season and still harbor realistic expectations of contending for the playoffs, let alone a title. Not in this NL. A trade is forthcoming, no doubt. But it should only come at the trade deadline if we have fallen out of contention; otherwise, this offseason should be the time.

Gard's current approach is why we are where we are. Too many scholarships wasted on non-contributing/walk-on caliber players (Gilmore, Ilver, Hodges, Lindsey) so that there is virtually zero meaningful depth to complement the core 3/4. You say it "ain't broke". I disagree. Yes, Gard has done a good job coaching up the talent he has, and it's won us two BIG championships, but this has also limited our ceiling relative to the Bo Ryan-era and has been accentuated this season due to injuries and underperformance. We haven't made the Sweet 16 since 2017 and while tournament play often hinges on luck and other uncontrollable factors, it has also served to highlight our largely self-imposed talent shortage. It's a new age of college basketball, with NIL and the transfer portal, that requires adaptation in order to sustain success. We don't have to lose our identity as a recruit and develop program, but Gard needs to do a better job of maximizing opportunities to improve the overall talent level of the team. That needs to start this offseason with politely encouraging certain players to enter the transfer portal and then capitalizing on potential talent upgrades. Gard is no Chryst in that he's a good in-game coach who's proven willing to adapt, and he'll get a nice assist from his 2023 recruiting class, but the slippage needs to stop now. Another season in which we enter the BIG Tournament as the 12th seed, and that's it for him.

On a top 4 BIG team, which should be the goal of this program every year, Gilmore shouldn't sniff the rotation. It's admirable what he's done considering he came in as a walk-on, but this season has amplified his severe limitations. On offense he's a complete black hole who clogs up the paint because he refuses to shoot (and misses horrifically on the rare occasions when he does decide to shoot), while on defense he's physically overwhelmed by the caliber of big men we have to regularly face in the BIG. Scholarships being tied down to walk-ons like Gilmore is what has gotten us into this mess and reversing it will go a long way towards getting us out. Especially with respect to next season when scholarship availability will be particularly scarce. Assuming Wahl returns, "Creaning" Gilmore, Ilver, and Hodges, opens up 2-3 scholarships that can be used to upgrade the roster in the transfer portal. In particular, we need a defensive backup at C (along the lines of Vogt), a shooter at SF (Rohde?), and/or scoring combo guard. Fix two or so of those weaknesses, and this team is back to being a BIG title contender and a top 4 NCAA tournament seed, which is where we belong.

Thankfully, at least one of those teams will be losing, as Michigan and Rutgers play each other in the 8 vs. 9 game. We should probably root for Michigan there as Michigan is in far worse shape than Rutgers. Hopefully the winner then gets trounced by Purdue. Unfortunately, PSU plays Illinois, who they swept this year. Though, they always say it's hard to beat a team three times in one season.

I think Gard needs to have a conversation with him after the season. He’s been put in a tough spot for sure, but he’s just too big of a black hole on offense and is physically overwhelmed by most of the big men we play in conference. Thankfully, we have Gus coming in, but we still could use another defensive/rebounding specialist with length, which is pretty much impossible so long as Gilmore is taking up a scholarship. If Gard wants to keep his job, this is the sort of philosophical adjustment he needs to make. Yeah, it sucks, but this is the trade off of players getting a free transfer and NIL compensation.

Yep. Win against OSU pretty much puts them in. Beat Iowa, and it's a done deal. Their quality/quantity of Q1/Q2 wins separates them. Speaking of which, Rutgers is in serious danger of missing the tournament now...

Wahl is embarrassing, too.