Wisconsin 92, Illinois 90 OT Postgame

[HouTexIllini]

Neither one of them play defense. You won’t play for Brad. Podz was so fought for he chose Santa Clara. Feasted on lower tier defenders, and still never played defense. Still doesn’t in the pros.

Petro is lost on the defensive end and misses layups. Not sure about the Pro league he played in but, they must have had no PGs. When he leaves after this year he might go to Santa Clara and still not play defense.

Couldn’t agree more of how trash Podz is on D and I don’t think Petro is great either. I do think Brad’s ego should have found a way to play either Petro and/or Lee a bit more the last two games to give Keaton 3-5 minutes of rest. We just needed them to stay in front of their man, not get lost, or leave a man open for 3s. That is still something Keaton and everyone else struggled at btw.

Illinois looks completely lost on defense far too often. It’s also clear that Illinois defensive scheme is bad and doesn’t work. I hoped the new DC would have improved our D, but he really hasn’t.

 

[AirTran]

Neither one of them play defense. You won’t play for Brad. Podz was so fought for he chose Santa Clara. Feasted on lower tier defenders, and still never played defense. Still doesn’t in the pros.

Petro is lost on the defensive end and misses layups. Not sure about the Pro league he played in but, they must have had no PGs. When he leaves after this year he might go to Santa Clara and still not play defense.

Very good observations

 

[jumpingjack]

Couldn’t agree more of how trash Podz is on D and I don’t think Petro is great either. I do think Brad’s ego should have found a way to play either Petro and/or Lee a bit more the last two games to give Keaton 3-5 minutes of rest. We just needed them to stay in front of their man, not get lost, or leave a man open for 3s. That is still something Keaton and everyone else struggled at btw.

Illinois looks completely lost on defense far too often. It’s also clear that Illinois defensive scheme is bad and doesn’t work. I hoped the new DC would have improved our D, but he really hasn’t.

 

[AirTran]

Couldn’t agree more of how trash Podz is on D and I don’t think Petro is great either. I do think Brad’s ego should have found a way to play either Petro and/or Lee a bit more the last two games to give Keaton 3-5 minutes of rest. We just needed them to stay in front of their man, not get lost, or leave a man open for 3s. That is still something Keaton and everyone else struggled at btw.

Illinois looks completely lost on defense far too often. It’s also clear that Illinois defensive scheme is bad and doesn’t work. I hoped the new DC would have improved our D, but he really hasn’t.

Excuse me? What is bad about the Illinois defensive scheme if you could be specific.

• Big Ten Standing: The Illini are among the top three teams in the Big Ten in multiple defensive categories.
• Rim Protection/Rebounding: The team ranks 10th nationally in opponent offensive rebounds per game (19.0) and 5th in opponent offensive rebound percentage (61.2%).
• 2-Point Defense: During a recent five-game winning streak (as of Jan. 11, 2026), they ranked 4th in the country in 2-point defense (41.5%).
• Fouls: Illinois leads the Big Ten and is 6th in the NCAA in fewest fouls per game (11.3).

 

[OrangeAndBlueBlooded]

Regarding the 10 seconds It looks like baldy signaled the player crossed half court in time. The TV shot clock is often not in sync. Is there a baseline view?

 

[doowink]

I suspect it takes a truly elite team to injure someone without fouling.

....This guy agrees

 

[mikeyillini]

View attachment 47495

Thank you. Is it clear when the shot clock reset compared to when Wisconsin gained possession?

 

[Illini in Italy]

remember, not a technical. the hip must come OUT of the socket to be a technical.

 

[PepeSilvia]

We’re paying him almost $2M, I think we’re allowed to voice opinions (while also being understanding that hate for the sake of hate is not acceptable)

I don't know. The loss hurts but I would also rather see a loss now and Stojakovic recover and be healthy in March then him aggravate an injury and miss or not be 100% for the tourney. Same thing with Boswell, I'd rather not rush him back.

The bigger question/opinion is what is Petrovic getting paid to ride the bench? Is he that bad of a missed eval that he cant give you any minutes in a game where you only have 1 guard playing?

 

[nmillini]

Yeah, really not understanding this argument. If he were a sub70 FT shooter, I'm all for it. But he's got one of the best percentages in the country.

The goal should be to NOT foul a guy like that. He went 12/13 against us and I'd rather have that than 19/20 or even 18/20. You're handing out FREE points for.... no reason?

We're literally trying to claim the game plan should be to make an effort at putting a 90% FT shooter at the foul line? Willingly?

It's okay to say when you don't get it.

 

[WhereDoWeStandWithStorr?]

This was terrible. As all ball as it gets:
View attachment 47469


View attachment 47470

Especially egregious considering this is what Mirk got called for in overtime against MSU:
View attachment 47478

Not that he'll seem to care, but what an embarrassment for DJ:
View attachment 47471


Outside of the 10sec, this was the most egregious one of the whole game for me. Super pivotal moment, 7pt lead with 5min to go, could've shut the door.
View attachment 47472
View attachment 47473
I just have utterly zero clue what this official is seeing. Honestly, he probably has a better angle than this replay. There's literally NO ONE in front blocking his view, as he sees Keaton get shoved into the cheerleaders. Just terrible.

The goaltends were interesting. Z was called for 3.

One of them was clear and obvious in overtime.

The other Brad challenged and didn't get it.

This is the super, super close one:

View attachment 47477

View attachment 47476

Just atrocious:
View attachment 47474


Might be in the minority, but I didn't think the Tomi call was a bad call, at least compared to the other ones. He seemed to hook him.

However, on that exact same possession, here's a drive by Keaton. Hummel said on the broadcast he thought it was a foul, so here it is:

View attachment 47475

Just SO MANY bad ones. Horrible.

 

[Discomfort]

F that make it a flagrant F2 to open the game. Start Lee and tell him to drive him into the cheap seats

This is what I'm talkin bout!! Make a statement!!

 

[Illinialldayeveryday]

I just can't remember blowing a lead like this since we have been good.

 

[Fly Illini Fly!]

I just can't remember blowing a lead like this since we have been good.

Penn State 90-89 Illinois (Feb 21, 2024) Final Score - ESPN

Game summary of the Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Illinois Fighting Illini NCAAM game, final score 90-89, from February 21, 2024 on ESPN.

www.espn.com

 

[From the cheap seats]

I just can't remember blowing a lead like this since we have been good.

I know there’s not supposed to be any math on here, but to put losing a 12-point lead in the final 8 minutes into perspective:
If possessions average about 18 seconds (the average in Tuesday night’s game), each team would have 13 possessions.
If the Illini scored 14 points (well below their 1.2 average), Wisconsin would had to have averaged 2 points on every possession.
Of course, the math fell apart when the Badgers rained threes, and the Illini turned the ball over, failed to grab defensive rebounds and missed FTs. It was an imperfect storm.

 

[HouTexIllini]

Excuse me? What is bad about the Illinois defensive scheme if you could be specific.

• Big Ten Standing: The Illini are among the top three teams in the Big Ten in multiple defensive categories.
• Rim Protection/Rebounding: The team ranks 10th nationally in opponent offensive rebounds per game (19.0) and 5th in opponent offensive rebound percentage (61.2%).
• 2-Point Defense: During a recent five-game winning streak (as of Jan. 11, 2026), they ranked 4th in the country in 2-point defense (41.5%).
• Fouls: Illinois leads the Big Ten and is 6th in the NCAA in fewest fouls per game (11.3).

1. Illinois has one of the worst transition defenses I’ve seen this year. Basically, it’s non-existent. 5 guys to crash the boards leaves a slow and non-athletic lineup even or behind when the other team gets the rebound. We also just don’t stop the ball handler.

2. The drop coverage scheme of guarding the pick and roll is bad and has been for 2-3 years. We are behind the ball handler and sagging in the roller/popper. I can’t count how many times our guys are trailing their man while a sagging big man dos nothing for the roller/pop man. Then Wagler and Ben go flying by with a weak and ineffective reach back swing in the air on every pump fake.

It also leaves us open for fouls like the last two games.

3. In man to man D, there is a help defender in the wing and corner with bad eyes losing their man.

4. Over the last two years, our close outs have been bad. We will close out hard, flat footed, arms up and leaving an open alley for the offensive guy to choose either gap to drive by us and into the lane. That makes us collapse the D and have open shooters. We get bailed out when Z is there for blocks or when Ben and Stojachovic can get blocks from behind. There is rarely shading to the side where a help defender is on the wing or in the corner and it helps the on ball defender.

5. We also hold a lot. It got called out by a whinning Nebraska game. Since then we have gotten calls and received petty calls.

We have fouled less this year, but it’s not from high IQ or good defensive technique. It has haunted us the last two games and will in the NCAA Tourney. We lack lateral speed, technique, scheme, and just not developed well on D. I don’t blame the athletes, but the coaching.

Our height, good calls, opponent inefficiency, and other factors have been in our favor, but fast, well coached, athletic, and physical teams will hurt us in the tourney.

I think we are better than Houston, Michigan State, Iowa State and a lot of others, but physical, fast, and better/consistent officiating (yes, I know that probably isn’t likely) will neutralize our height and make our shooting ability and dynamic freshman even more necessary.

 

[NarrowJ]

1. Illinois has one of the worst transition defenses I’ve seen this year. Basically, it’s non-existent. 5 guys to crash the boards leaves a slow and non-athletic lineup even or behind when the other team gets the rebound. We also just don’t stop the ball handler.

2. The drop coverage scheme of guarding the pick and roll is bad and has been for 2-3 years. We are behind the ball handler and sagging in the roller/popper. I can’t count how many times our guys are trailing their man while a sagging big man dos nothing for the roller/pop man. Then Wagler and Ben go flying by with a weak and ineffective reach back swing in the air on every pump fake.

It also leaves us open for fouls like the last two games.

3. In man to man D, there is a help defender in the wing and corner with bad eyes losing their man.

4. Over the last two years, our close outs have been bad. We will close out hard, flat footed, arms up and leaving an open alley for the offensive guy to choose either gap to drive by us and into the lane. That makes us collapse the D and have open shooters. We get bailed out when Z is there for blocks or when Ben and Stojachovic can get blocks from behind. There is rarely shading to the side where a help defender is on the wing or in the corner and it helps the on ball defender.

5. We also hold a lot. It got called out by a whinning Nebraska game. Since then we have gotten calls and received petty calls.

We have fouled less this year, but it’s not from high IQ or good defensive technique. It has haunted us the last two games and will in the NCAA Tourney. We lack lateral speed, technique, scheme, and just not developed well on D. I don’t blame the athletes, but the coaching.

Our height, good calls, opponent inefficiency, and other factors have been in our favor, but fast, well coached, athletic, and physical teams will hurt us in the tourney.

I think we are better than Houston, Michigan State, Iowa State and a lot of others, but physical, fast, and better/consistent officiating (yes, I know that probably isn’t likely) will neutralize our height and make our shooting ability and dynamic freshman even more necessary.

#1 is far from true as Illinois allows only 9 fast break points per game... gave up 4 to Texas Tech, 6 to UConn, 5 to Tennessee, 7 & 8 in the two meetings vs Nebraska, 3 to Missouri and 9 to Wisconsin in an OT game. Now, it was 8 per game prior to Boswell going down and 11.6 in the 7 games he's missed, so that has a lot to do with what you've seen lately. But "one of the worst transition defenses" is the actually the opposite of what you've saw, provided you watched Illinois the entire season. We've been lauded by commentators and analysts for our player's ability to stay vertical in transition defense throughout the season. Our offensive rebounding actually does the opposite of what you state (and this is made evident by the statistical data, of course) because crashing offensive glass forces defenders to stay home for box-outs, which reduces their numbers available to leak out. We also use a lot of the shot clock and get fouled / shoot free throws a lot which also does the opposite of quick misses that fuel fast breaks.

Don't want to go through and nitpick too much of everything else here, and I'll keep the rest as brief as possible: I also disagree on closeouts being bad. This has also been mentioned by analysts as our ability to close out with our length bothers teams, and this is made evident by two pieces of data that (1) we allow a lot of three point attempts and (2) we allow a paltry 32% on those attempts (which was 31% prior to having both our best perimeter defenders out vs Wisconsin).

Anyway, what do you guess is the reason for Illinois being first nationally out of 360+ teams in fouls per game if it has nothing to do with scheme/technique? Luck?

Maybe the one thing I can agree with here is I've never loved the amount of drop coverage we show, because its susceptible to a lot of the very common PnR/P stuff, snake dribbles (think Fears here), back screens (think Spain PnR actions), not to mention guys who can get it going in the mid range.

 

[eas23]

Couldn’t agree more of how trash Podz is on D and I don’t think Petro is great either. I do think Brad’s ego should have found a way to play either Petro and/or Lee a bit more the last two games to give Keaton 3-5 minutes of rest. We just needed them to stay in front of their man, not get lost, or leave a man open for 3s. That is still something Keaton and everyone else struggled at btw.

Illinois looks completely lost on defense far too often. It’s also clear that Illinois defensive scheme is bad and doesn’t work. I hoped the new DC would have improved our D, but he really hasn’t.

All we need a guy to do is stay in front of their man, not get lost, or leave a man open for 3s....and that is your reasoning for why Mihalo Petrovic should have played?

Also, saying that Brad’s "ego" is the reason guys aren't playing rather than how good they are at basketball is telling on your part. I don't even know what that could possibly mean. You think he wants the guy who played professionally and they spent a lot of money on to be terrible?

 

[ejam21]

1. Illinois has one of the worst transition defenses I’ve seen this year. Basically, it’s non-existent. 5 guys to crash the boards leaves a slow and non-athletic lineup even or behind when the other team gets the rebound. We also just don’t stop the ball handler.

2. The drop coverage scheme of guarding the pick and roll is bad and has been for 2-3 years. We are behind the ball handler and sagging in the roller/popper. I can’t count how many times our guys are trailing their man while a sagging big man dos nothing for the roller/pop man. Then Wagler and Ben go flying by with a weak and ineffective reach back swing in the air on every pump fake.

It also leaves us open for fouls like the last two games.

3. In man to man D, there is a help defender in the wing and corner with bad eyes losing their man.

4. Over the last two years, our close outs have been bad. We will close out hard, flat footed, arms up and leaving an open alley for the offensive guy to choose either gap to drive by us and into the lane. That makes us collapse the D and have open shooters. We get bailed out when Z is there for blocks or when Ben and Stojachovic can get blocks from behind. There is rarely shading to the side where a help defender is on the wing or in the corner and it helps the on ball defender.

5. We also hold a lot. It got called out by a whinning Nebraska game. Since then we have gotten calls and received petty calls.

We have fouled less this year, but it’s not from high IQ or good defensive technique. It has haunted us the last two games and will in the NCAA Tourney. We lack lateral speed, technique, scheme, and just not developed well on D. I don’t blame the athletes, but the coaching.

Our height, good calls, opponent inefficiency, and other factors have been in our favor, but fast, well coached, athletic, and physical teams will hurt us in the tourney.

I think we are better than Houston, Michigan State, Iowa State and a lot of others, but physical, fast, and better/consistent officiating (yes, I know that probably isn’t likely) will neutralize our height and make our shooting ability and dynamic freshman even more necessary.

How do you figure?

the median fast break points per game is 10.3 on the ncaa site and we give up 9 per game, so we are actually better than average there

Even when i go through and cut by vs High majors (by going through espn team stats by game), its still 9........when i go by b10 games only we are at 10.2 and htat is with missing our best guard defender for nearly half of the b10 games.

we've given up more than the median 7 of 25 games, and we won 5 of those 7......losses being bama and msu and those are both games where we couldve easily still won (not shoot like crap from the ft line against bama, make a key board or two vs msu, not to mention the calls)

 

[AirTran]

1. Illinois has one of the worst transition defenses I’ve seen this year. Basically, it’s non-existent. 5 guys to crash the boards leaves a slow and non-athletic lineup even or behind when the other team gets the rebound. We also just don’t stop the ball handler.

2. The drop coverage scheme of guarding the pick and roll is bad and has been for 2-3 years. We are behind the ball handler and sagging in the roller/popper. I can’t count how many times our guys are trailing their man while a sagging big man dos nothing for the roller/pop man. Then Wagler and Ben go flying by with a weak and ineffective reach back swing in the air on every pump fake.

It also leaves us open for fouls like the last two games.

3. In man to man D, there is a help defender in the wing and corner with bad eyes losing their man.

4. Over the last two years, our close outs have been bad. We will close out hard, flat footed, arms up and leaving an open alley for the offensive guy to choose either gap to drive by us and into the lane. That makes us collapse the D and have open shooters. We get bailed out when Z is there for blocks or when Ben and Stojachovic can get blocks from behind. There is rarely shading to the side where a help defender is on the wing or in the corner and it helps the on ball defender.

5. We also hold a lot. It got called out by a whinning Nebraska game. Since then we have gotten calls and received petty calls.

We have fouled less this year, but it’s not from high IQ or good defensive technique. It has haunted us the last two games and will in the NCAA Tourney. We lack lateral speed, technique, scheme, and just not developed well on D. I don’t blame the athletes, but the coaching.

Our height, good calls, opponent inefficiency, and other factors have been in our favor, but fast, well coached, athletic, and physical teams will hurt us in the tourney.

I think we are better than Houston, Michigan State, Iowa State and a lot of others, but physical, fast, and better/consistent officiating (yes, I know that probably isn’t likely) will neutralize our height and make our shooting ability and dynamic freshman even more necessary.

(1) Your observations relating to transition defense are just those your observations - not specifics.
(2) There is no "drop coverage" in the MTM we run - its a a cover and switch.
(3) We rank 15th in the country in Defensive Rebounding.
(4) We rank 1st in the country in terms of FTs allowed.
(5) We rank 30th in the country in terms of FG% against.
(6) We rank 28th in the country in term if 2pt FG% defense.

"5. We also hold a lot. It got called out by a whinning Nebraska game. Since then we have gotten calls and received petty calls." Really? What does that have to do with the specifics of our poor defensive scheme?

 

[HouTexIllini]

#1 is far from true as Illinois allows only 9 fast break points per game... gave up 4 to Texas Tech, 6 to UConn, 5 to Tennessee, 7 & 8 in the two meetings vs Nebraska, 3 to Missouri and 9 to Wisconsin in an OT game. Now, it was 8 per game prior to Boswell going down and 11.6 in the 7 games he's missed, so that has a lot to do with what you've seen lately. But "one of the worst transition defenses" is the actually the opposite of what you've saw, provided you watched Illinois the entire season. We've been lauded by commentators and analysts for our player's ability to stay vertical in transition defense throughout the season. Our offensive rebounding actually does the opposite of what you state (and this is made evident by the statistical data, of course) because crashing offensive glass forces defenders to stay home for box-outs, which reduces their numbers available to leak out. We also use a lot of the shot clock and get fouled / shoot free throws a lot which also does the opposite of quick misses that fuel fast breaks.

Don't want to go through and nitpick too much of everything else here, and I'll keep the rest as brief as possible: I also disagree on closeouts being bad. This has also been mentioned by analysts as our ability to close out with our length bothers teams, and this is made evident by two pieces of data that (1) we allow a lot of three point attempts and (2) we allow a paltry 32% on those attempts (which was 31% prior to having both our best perimeter defenders out vs Wisconsin).

Anyway, what do you guess is the reason for Illinois being first nationally out of 360+ teams in fouls per game if it has nothing to do with scheme/technique? Luck?

Maybe the one thing I can agree with here is I've never loved the amount of drop coverage we show, because its susceptible to a lot of the very common PnR/P stuff, snake dribbles (think Fears here), back screens (think Spain PnR actions), not to mention guys who can get it going in the mid range.

Fast break points allowed stats doesn’t mean we are good at transition defense. It also has a lot to do with the opponet. However, as far to how we play, go back and watch the Alabama, Nebraska, Minnesota, Michigan State, Wisconsin games and look to see how deep the ball goes and which passes and open shots are there and some made. We couldn’t even stop a guy with one shoe.

Watch the film my man, not the stats. Numbers may tell a completely different story.

The thing we both agree on, the drop coverage is played bc numbers say it’s a good scheme. Your eyes and mine both see a I efficiency and other issues.

 

[HouTexIllini]

All we need a guy to do is stay in front of their man, not get lost, or leave a man open for 3s....and that is your reasoning for why Mihalo Petrovic should have played?

Also, saying that Brad’s "ego" is the reason guys aren't playing rather than how good they are at basketball is telling on your part. I don't even know what that could possibly mean. You think he wants the guy who played professionally and they spent a lot of money on to be terrible?

No. While that is what you’re perceiving me to say, that is nowhere close to what I’m saying. I’m saying our defense could be better.

On another note, IMO, I am saying Petro could a bit more with Boswell being out as well as Lee. Wagler is high a usage player for us. He looks tired based on his shots the last two games.

I’m not saying I know what Brad wants or thinks. I don’t know why he isn’t Playing Petro. I do know what I’ve seen. I’ve seen most of our players have defensive and offensive errors and inefficiencies. None of them are perfect and they do create mismatches on our side. They still play. Against Alabama, UConn, and Minny, Petro was effective. He also played with Boswell and Wagler on the floor at the same time, so there is a world where Wagler doesn’t even have to come out of the game.

I am also saying I don’t understand how a professional and experienced ball handler who breaks down the defense, assists, and can make shots does not play even a few minutes when we need him.

A pro player disappears and is deemed “unplayable” when an NAIA and D2 level players get plenty of opportunities to play through their struggles.

 

[HouTexIllini]

How do you figure?

the median fast break points per game is 10.3 on the ncaa site and we give up 9 per game, so we are actually better than average there

Even when i go through and cut by vs High majors (by going through espn team stats by game), its still 9........when i go by b10 games only we are at 10.2 and htat is with missing our best guard defender for nearly half of the b10 games.

we've given up more than the median 7 of 25 games, and we won 5 of those 7......losses being bama and msu and those are both games where we couldve easily still won (not shoot like crap from the ft line against bama, make a key board or two vs msu, not to mention the calls)

We don’t stop the ball in transition and that may not all be fast breaks. And on “fast breaks” it also has a lot to with the opponent’s ability to run a fast break. Some do it well and some don’t, but I guess we should get credit either way.

Watch the Michigan State game, “fast break” defense was bad, but also just stopping the ball when the other pg pushes it after makes, misses, and turnovers. That’s not fast break and maybe it technically isn’t transition either. Hoiberg, Fears, Blackwell, the other Wisconsin guy, Minnesota, there is a lot of pointing at who to pick up the ball and then there isn’t any at all.

 

[HouTexIllini]

(1) Your observations relating to transition defense are just those your observations - not specifics.
(2) There is no "drop coverage" in the MTM we run - its a a cover and switch.
(3) We rank 15th in the country in Defensive Rebounding.
(4) We rank 1st in the country in terms of FTs allowed.
(5) We rank 30th in the country in terms of FG% against.
(6) We rank 28th in the country in term if 2pt FG% defense.

"5. We also hold a lot. It got called out by a whinning Nebraska game. Since then we have gotten calls and received petty calls." Really? What does that have to do with the specifics of our poor defensive scheme?

1. You’re right, they’re my observations from watching every game and seeing Hoiberg, Fears, etc dice us up.
2. Yes, there is plenty of drop coverage. I see very little switching over the last two years and hardly any covering, except behind the ball handler after the pick. Our big man is always feet off the pick waiting on his man.
3. You didn’t mention the stats where we are 61st in scoring defense, 100th in 3pt defense, and 361st in turnovers forced.
4. As far as the holding, I may have gone too far as to imply it’s the whole team bc it’s not. When we do play fast and athletic teams and teams with off ball screens a couple of players do hold. The UConn, Nebby games specifically two players AS and DM. It does bother me, but it is basketball. We are getting less calls against us and more on us lately, which is more in the inconsistency of the refs.

 

[GoodePodzMelendez]

If I really thought about it, I could go back further than Burr and Valentine. The point still stands that BIg Ten officiating has been sub-par at best for decdes.

Agreed. I remember from Purdue, back in the 80’s, would foul us constantly and the refs swallowed their whistle.