Here for the Wins

So you’re comparing bottom of the order guys to top of the order guys?

Schloss needs to give the ump an earful on the zone. The hitters are too comfortable in dictating the zone.

You’re misplacing blame. Schloss was the guy who pulled Livingston after a double on the previous AB. Replacing him with a dude that’s hardly played. With a fast runner on 1st, being held on, you’ve got a hole for the hitter. Then Courville got the righty-righty matchup in top 8. Nevermind putting Larsen at 1st, which he hasn’t played. Oh did Larsen just miss a scoop?

That’s because all those other sports have been held down for so long.

Yet I’d rather see Diego Pavia succeed than Baker Mayfield. What does that say about me?

Some people just watch different games. For the past two years, Borba has been more inclined to let close ones go by than swing at grossly out of the zone ones. Now, I didn’t watch today.

I find a little humor in this. From what I recall, Guilbeau was pulled after this play. It looks as though the backer dropped to the left flat indicating Guilbeau isn’t cover 2. If Guilbeau was pulled, it was probably because he screwed up and maybe should have been cover 4. The Tampa 2 discussion was different because our middle of the field defender ignored the deep middle of the field receiver while at the same time the left safety took the guy heading to the middle, which again might lead you to cover 4.

So again, Sarks first year had Overshown, Brockermeyer, Ford and Gbenda that logged the most snaps. Tucker-Dorsey was here in 2022 with pretty much the same guys returning from 21. So, yes, I find it difficult to credit a 1 year guy for having a dramatic impact on those other guys or the “room.” @akhookem the specific reference was to the LBer group. Then random credit given to a guy for inspiring the others. That doesn’t jive given how Overshown played his butt off. I’m not sure the others effort was questioned. I also thought the moment that you’re referencing had strong ties to TVondre Sweat. Yeah, he probably wasn’t totally invested at that point. And your perspective is ignoring the fact that people react differently to adverse situations. Change in coaches and schemes, injuries, losing all can impact a players “love” for the game. Even personal life can impact it. It’s far more likely a player realizes what the game means to them at 20 or 21 than all of a sudden love it. The list of core players from 21 that were a part of 22 and 23 is decently long. If you believe Herman was a piece of work, it shouldn’t be difficult to believe he took some joy of the game from some guys.

So Jaylan Ford was forced to play? The only other guy that played was a walk on along with that Gbenda fella. I’m the guy that sticks up for plays that others feel it’s ok to bash or insinuate that they suck. I don’t recall guys not liking football. I think Jordan Whittington expressed some disatifaction about the game at one point too. That can speak to things other than how they feel about the game.

So Overshown didn’t love football?

Winning every 2 out of 3 games can take you a long way in the post season.

Our bullpen sucks. Nevermind Vandy beat Tenn 16-15. LSU beats Kentucky 17-10. That was just Sunday.

I knew I felt the presence of greatness.

Much of the NFL draft is based on the perception of what a player can do. I’m sure there are some whims, like Jerry having a fascination say with Johnny Manziel, that override fit, need, etc. Presumably these teams have watched every play of every game. Maybe they look at a stat sheet, but their evaluation of play will be based on the film and how those plays were made. Hill is an interesting player. He plays hard. This year he was very impactful in the 4th quarter versus MSU. We did fine without him versus the Ags. Now whether people like the PFF or not, their rationale likely has a similar twist to the NFLs perspective. Hill isn’t particularly highly graded as a pass rusher. If I were to argue yeah but, it would be on the side of he hasn’t developed the pash rush element of his game because of practice time rather than in game deployment. So again the NFL is projecting. Theres been a question raised on how his physical presence lacks physical development. His profile does not fit that of a pass rusher and to date the skills don’t show that either. Many of his sacks are not him beating guys one on one. He does not play a premium position. I’m not sure he has a,premium trait or skill or a premium part of his game. I’d put his best attribute as that he plays hard so maybe that’s his premium. A second to third round is where he should be expected to go. It’d be difficult to say he’s a steal before the 3rd and likely into the 4th. His position simply doesn’t have many guys go until the 3rd. It’s certainly not a position for which teams reach or take many chances.

NIL may make it easier. Pitching and hitting both need live, game reps. Those are limited. Many teams only start 9/10 capable guys then only run 11/12 deep for guys that actually hit. Pitching is similar in that maybe 10-12 guys get decent innings. With the portal for baseball players there’s less incentive to sit as a frosh. It’s too easy to transfer and too important to sit a year. At least with NIL, you can theoretically pay guys for the opportunity to maybe crack the lineup. Otherwise, it’s difficult to keep them riding the pine to develop.

If it makes you feel better Texas State sweep Georgia State out scoring them by 22 runs this weekend. And tonight Georgia only beat them by 5. SO Texas State is way better than Georgia.

That’s always a key. Luck with injuries. Indiana was pretty fortunate on that front, correct?

He’s already seen it at RB, no?

Always interesting how people’s minds work. This team had enough talent/skill to win it all last year. Just because you don’t win it doesn’t mean they were incapable. It needed things to break right, which obviously didn’t happen. Lack of experience hurt but will benefit this years team. Now this year we go “all in.” That could mean several things, but to me it means we’re paying significant dollars in an attempt to buy a championship. But I’m on the outside of what that looks like in terms of those dollars. The guys footing the bill for this years team are the ones who need to answer the championship or bust. But as a nobody, based on less than full information, I’d lean towards anything short of a championship is a bust. It shouldn’t be a surprise that we have more talent and depth than ever. We’ve largely whiffed at recruiting at DT for the past 5 years. If you didn’t like last years RBs, then that was largely a whiff too. The portal and NIL allow you opportunities to build up your team. That didn’t exist 5 years ago. Sark was a right choice at the right time for this program. He has done well taking advantage, but he needs to finish the job.

Just thought this might be a good time to drop the name of perhaps my favorite Longhorn baseballer. Dustin Majewski. Seems like he hit .500 with runners in scoring position. Kieschnick are my top 2.

Agree. The more work the better. Maybe we need to add a 5th game. I know that won’t happen. If we win weekends series, we don’t need all the midweek wins. I think action is what our bullpen guys need.

Why? You wanna complain about the bullpen?

The discussions on Kanu are interesting. There really isn’t anything in his history to show that he was under consideration as a high draft pick. I’m not sure he has an overwhelming trait and his production is not particularly special. He hasn’t played a huge number of snaps either. I certainly have no inside information on what his draft grade was. In looking at PFF, I don’t see anything that has him inside the top 10 in grading. You are correct in that we played more difficult competition with respect to teams, but the OUs and OSUs were better defensively than offensively. They do show that in our 3 losses he only had 1 pressure. I wouldn’t say PFF skews things, but there certainly should be context applied to the information. Our opponents had Simmons and Hill to contend with whereas others may have been able to focus on the interior Dline. Overall, we have the personnel to be impactful, but it needs to happen. Kanu and Watson have received a bit more hype than what has been earned. They should be better, but we certainly need more impact plays from them.

Understood. Personally I think Volantis to closer is the right move. That’d remove everyone else as part-time closer. We need Grubbs to settle in.

I’m a big believer in giving guys roles that they can prepare to fulfill. If we don’t know who is the setup guy, the closer, Tuesday guys, are you comfortable the players do? The soft non-conference boosted wins and RPI but has not prepared our non-starters. Confidence and control can be sporadic when your innings are limited and your role is unstable. Sure, we don’t know whether it’ll come together, but it won’t be because we lack capable options. Go look at LSU’s pitching stats from last year. They had several guys that walked quite a few but come playoff time they were able to shrink the staff to guys they trusted or who were pitching well. Judge post season chances based on how those min-tourneys are structured. It can look very different than the regular season. As the season progresses, I do believe we’ll see roles more defined.