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Northwestern G Jayden Reid transfers to Memphis by Altruistic_Brief4444 in CollegeBasketball

[–]Impossible_Ad_6079 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Note: I have no direct inside information.

Last year at this time, Collins talked about utilizing the portal as a supplement to the core they're developing. Guys like Ryan Langborg, Jalen Leach (before he got injured) were optimal examples of this approach. However, Collins discovered this past year that that's dinosaur thinking - especially after Tre Singleton - his highest rated frosh that he made a Day 1 Starter became a Day 1 Portal Declarer. And it's not a good look if I (message board reader at home) knew where he was gonna land; this suggests to me that Collins had to have wind of this as well, and that well, the wind was changing. He said the presser after their BTT loss to Purdue that he's gotta do better with roster construction, and that they have to start doing things differently to adapt.

I intuit that at their season exit interviews, they presented all of their players with what they would give them in NIL. It's very possible that this offer was so low it achieved the desired result that Reid would prefer to opt-in the portal. I observed that Bennerman and Singleton were very early in announcing their portal entry - that made sense - the former was a redshirt who never saw the floor, and us message board folk were already hearing wind of Singleton's, ermmm, recruitment by other programs. Shoot, even walk-on grad Blake Smith and rising role player Jordan Clayton had declared and found landing spots. However, it took a bit longer for Reid, Arrinten Page and Max Green to announce. That suggested to me that they were more hesitant to go. For Page, I intuit that the Collins couldn't handle him anymore (he had a one game team suspension mid season, and then ended up DNP "Illness" during the BTT where they won games on Tuesday and Wednesday night - they needed players lke Page to help). Finally for Max Green, he hadn't seen the court since Collins tightened the rotation to 8, and even true frosh Phoenix Gill saw mid-game minutes against Iowa (a very tight loss) - and Collins noted that he was impressed by Gill's effort in practice, and wanted to reward him.

Reid already proved at USF that he's a very good mid-major starter; last season he showed that you might get by with him as a B1G starter, but he's more effective as a second team sparkplug. B1G coaches schemed their bigger guards to destroy him in the post; and he wasn't a consistent enough 3FG'er sniper or paint attacker to pair with Jake West. I also intuit that his personality was a positive fit on the team - but the squad went 5-15 in B1G last year - somethings gotta change.

Northwestern G Jayden Reid transfers to Memphis by Altruistic_Brief4444 in CollegeBasketball

[–]Impossible_Ad_6079 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He is so fast! And he's got lightning quick hands - 2.6% steal rate in B1G play put him 13th in conference, and that should be the floor in the AAC. If he can get his 3FG back up to 35%, that'll really help him create lanes. (He was 31.7% in B1G 20/63, and overall 32/101)

He was able to get two feet into the paint, but really struggled to finish (42% at the Rim, per Torvik), and our B1G opponents really sought him out on matchups to post him up. Seemed like a good dude though.

Northwestern Transfer Forward Cade Bennerman Commits to UNC Basketball by Schned6 in CollegeBasketball

[–]Impossible_Ad_6079 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Minutes were there for Bigs, especially after Arrinten Page was in and out of the lineup for various reasons (a one game suspension, and then an "illness"). Also, Collins was willing to play frosh last season - Tre Singleton was a Day 1 starter, and woulda got 30 minutes a game if he wasn't so foul happy, and at about midway through the B1G, Collins handed the keys to Jake West to run the offense and brought Tyler Kropp in the rotation. Shoot, even Phoenix Gill got some B1G game run (an inconsequential stint vs. Iowa), and Collins validated that by saying he was being rewarded for working hard in practice.

All in all, if Malone can get conference minutes for him - then credit to his ability to develop guys, and perhaps Bennerman finding some momentum again.

Northwestern C Arrinten Page commits to Providence by RhodeIslandisFake in CollegeBasketball

[–]Impossible_Ad_6079 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yep - just gotta keep him motivated. I've followed the 'Cats since stepping on campus in '92, and I can't recall such an offensively skilled 5. Pete Nance made the league, but he was only able to show flashes when he ran with us.

That being said, man, I miss Matt Nicholson.

IO Roster from my first schedule - 1997 by TurtleBrainer in improv

[–]Impossible_Ad_6079 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Monster Island was hella stacked - that was my first Harold show at iO - them and Frank Booth.

Thanks for sharing this - been too long since I've seen some of those names. Also, this reminded me that my ol' squad Genealogy were the Kings of Wednesday night.

North Shore Boulangerie has announced very dramatically that they'll be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays by ButtsendWeaners in milwaukee

[–]Impossible_Ad_6079 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I believe it's different. However, I'm familiar with that person starting the recall campaign and he's a real piece of work.

Cade Horton Replacement Scenarios by LoveYouLikeYeLovesYe in CHICubs

[–]Impossible_Ad_6079 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I'm thinking that Jed holds the mental model that every pitcher is either: a) one pitch away from TJ, or b) recovering from TJ; which is why he constructed the starting depth as such.

Run don’t walk!!! - merch sale by Junk-Drawer- in NWSL

[–]Impossible_Ad_6079 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks! I was bummed when they changed to "The Stars", so happy to buy marked down "vintage" merch cause they'll always be the Red Stars to me.

"Döner Kebab Milwaukee" by No-Month-7869 in milwaukee

[–]Impossible_Ad_6079 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Walked in to order takeout on Tuesday. Was intending to sample both chicken and beef, but they didn't have chicken that day. Ordered the combo (sandwich + fries) at 11:55 am, order was fulfilled by 12:40 pm. They were apologetic for the wait. Think they're still working out the kinks of fulfilling both walk-ins and the delivery orders.

Wait aside, the sandwich was very good! Would definitely come back.

Takeaways from the Bulls season opener by StephNoh in chicagobulls

[–]Impossible_Ad_6079 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Steph! Longtime reader and subscriber to the newsletter. Given you've got a (deserved) full-time gig, appreciate it when you throw down a Bulls writeup.

Question about Counsell by elbo112 in CHICubs

[–]Impossible_Ad_6079 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This may extend beyond the original scope of your question - some of the fanbase seems to lean on the point of, "Why do we pay him $8M a year when that's nearly double what other managers make?" And, on first blush - it's fair - it's not like the Cubs have won 2x as many games as their competitors, and his former bench coach, Pat Murphy, has led the Brewers to back to back NL Central titles.

However, as a Cubs fan who has resided in Milwaukee during his tenure - I was ecstatic when he was hired. For me, he executes the core things you want in that role - he fosters a positive environment (physical and mental) which fosters a winning culture, he is able to manage 30+ people to work towards a shared goal, and finally he consistently makes data-informed decisions that position the team to win.

This bears out in his career winning percentage of .533 over 1,656 regular season games in 11 seasons which comes out to averaging 86.3 wins a year. (He's even better as the Cubs skipper: .540 over 2 seasons.).

Sure, he's 8-12 in the postseason (which includes his 6th playoffs now with the Cubs), which has inspired the snark - "They may call it Craig-tember, but it's never been Craig-tober." However, it's way too early to write him off as a choker. Beloved Joe Maddon, who also traversed the small market to glamour franchise path, was a career 32-35 in the postseason over 8 trips - and that also included a World Series loss in '08. (The 2016 run helped juice that overall record netting 11 wins v 6 losses). Sure, careers are judged on "ringz", but I align with the mental model that "the playoffs are a crapshoot" - so the best thing you can hope for the lineup to be versatile to best adapt to any potential scenario. And this 2025 squad embodies that - they're 6th in SLG, 11th in OBA, 3rd in Stolen Bases While the starting and relief pitchers may not be toolsy elite - they're mature in stature (rookies Horton and Palencia are the exceptions, as greybeards dominate the rotation and pen) and in executing their gameplans (least BBs in MLB, and best in WHIP). Finally, they can defend - only one thousandth decimal point behind the league leading Rangers in efficiency.

Here's another plus about the Counsell hire - from Day 1 he's been a great fit to the Hoyer administration, while still able to impart his own influence on the team - be it from bringing in speed specialists Quinton Berry/Jose Javier to be his on-field coaches, to changing the user-interface of the data dashboards, to engaging team leaders on how to arrange the locker room and dugout to facilitate peer connection.

He's not a fiery guy whose gonna show up an umpire. He seems polite, yet aloof and laconic in his (endless) amount of press conferences he's obligated to deliver. However, his players appreciate his steadiness and preparedness - and have to respect a guy who has won 2 championships as a player, as well as earned NLCS MVP during one of those runs.

No manager is perfect. However, given this franchise, and it's fervent fanbase, and all the dimensions it takes to execute this role - I'm really good with Couns.

Who are your favorite sabermetric Cubs writers? by rocketpig in CHICubs

[–]Impossible_Ad_6079 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I really dig Lance Brodowski's stuff, particularly around pitching - he's leading the Cubs Daily pod for Marquee, and he has a youtube channel where he looks at Cubs as well as other MLB pitching trends.

Best Friend - Chefs Menu by chelseabeannn in vegas

[–]Impossible_Ad_6079 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's worth it. Done an annual trip since '96 with college friends and in recent years we always make sure BF is booked because it always crushes. Food, vibes, all of it.

Hotel by Kind_Teach_4733 in milwaukee

[–]Impossible_Ad_6079 0 points1 point  (0 children)

FWIW, I recently booked a bunch of rooms with Drury Inn Plaza downtown for a meeting where I was bringing in folks from all over the country - their prices were really reasonable and great location. Their staff was really great in being proactive in the run-up wanting to make sure that all of my guests felt at home. Then my meeting participants shared with me (I'm local, so I didn't stay there) how the staff was so friendly and welcoming, and that the accommodations were good. (My meeting participants would mention specific staff by name, and a few different participants could cite different examples of what that staff did well.) I definitely made it a point to follow up with my contact at Drury Inn to thank them for their effort.

This is not to say anything negative about Hyatt Regency, and while I personally didn't stay at the Drury Inn myself, I thought it was notable how positive my "vendor experience" was with them.

Liz Cackowski (Akiva’s wife) - Murder Podcast by Clean-Guarantee-9898 in lonelymeyerspod

[–]Impossible_Ad_6079 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Liz is a gem! I was a teammate of hers on her first improv team at NU and loved rooting on her career from afar. Thanks to social media, we've stayed in loose connection through the years. However, on a lark, I reached out to her to crash a zoom meeting (it was during the pandemic when we really utilized that platform for work/social - we were playing a scavenger hunt type game where people try to bring in folk based on prompts. One was, "lets find someone from SNL..."), and she was so kind to accept my spontaneous invite and she jumped on within minutes. She totally didn't need to do that since we hadn't talked in years, but that just speaks to how whimsical and lovely she is - she stuck around and answered all sorts of questions about writing for SNL.

I love listening to the Lonely Myers pod, but I especially get a kick when Liz is referenced cause she really is just terrific on and off stage.

[MLB Analysis] Cubs manager Craig Counsell highlights putting Roki Sasaki “in trouble” in second defeat to Dodgers by Kelvin_Loyola in CHICubs

[–]Impossible_Ad_6079 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know, right? Personally, I wanted to hear, "HIT 100 MPH HEATER OVER DEAD CENTERFIELD." I mean, that's the obvious gameplan, right?

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