Illinois 61, Wisconsin 51 Postgame
In fairness to Brad, the shots RJ had this game were extremely high quality. I liked the looks RJ got, but him taking them is an issue right now as he's only shooting 25% on the season from 3 and the vast majority of those have been wide open shots. So I do get your point, but I think it's a fine line between a coach criticizing his player in front of the national media for his shot selection vs. a coach dumping on a kid for missing what in theory should be high percentage shots in front of the national media. That said, I'd be shocked if behind the scenes, Brad doesn't call RJ into his office and tells him he loves the defense he's been playing these past few games and likes the looks he's getting, but when he decides before he gets the ball that he's going to the hoop with it, really good things happen. And as an added bonus getting easy buckets and monster jams gets you into the rhythm of the game and naturally gives a little bit more energy on jumpers that will help aid against shorting them.
Truth is, we're going to need RJ to hit those open threes once the stage starts getting bigger- I think the most important thing Brad can do right now is build on the positive stuff he's doing and try getting him some confidence back on his shot, even if Brad needs to throw on a cheerleader uniform and chant "Be aggressive. Be be aggressive" to him during every tv timeout.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Illinois guts out 61-51 win at Wisconsin
Matthew Mayer's career-high 26 points helped Illinois win its sixth game in its past seven.
By ANDERSON KIMBALL
MADISON — In a contest that was devoid of offense, Matthew Mayer was able to provide some.
Illinois came out of a rock fight and withstood a late run in its 61-51 win over Wisconsin on Saturday largely from Matthew Mayer’s career-high 26 points and another solid defensive effort.
He had 18 of those points in the second half, with 10 of those in the final 10:30 in response to Wisconsin’s 35-34 lead. Illinois (15-6, 6-4 Big Ten) snatched the game away with a 22-4 run at that junction in the game after the Badgers had clawed back from down double-digits.
6 out of last 7 games have been wins and we have a very good chance to win the next 4 to go to Penn St and Indiana at 19-6, 10-4
Thanks for sharing the photo, hope I can be so lucky to have my daughters take me to games when we all get older.I approved of wearing the blues today and thus donned the blue Chief sweatshirt. ; ) My daughter enjoyed the game as we got to meet some other Illini fans that took a pic of us. The first half had to be one of he lower scoring games at 20-16 as each team was as cold and snowy as it was outside the Kohl Center. TSJ and Wahl both with 0 points in the first half was a surprise. Congrats to Mayer on his game-high 26 points. Bring on Nebraska!
Men's Basketball vs Wisconsin on 1/28/2023 - Box Score - University of Illinois Athletics
The official box score of Men's Basketball vs Wisconsin on 1/28/2023fightingillini.com
Illini in OC
In. The. Alley.
I recall BU saying a few weeks back that "RJ just doesn't miss" in practice and that he's confused why that's not translating during games.
If so, I interpret BU's current position to be, "RJ just needs to shoot himself out of this slump and I want him to take every good shot he sees. If he continues to work on like he has on defense, he'll find his stroke. I'm not worried."
RJ is thinking when he shoots ( should I shoot? I'm wide open, what if I miss? etc) He is aiming rather than shooting. Like a pitcher that has control problem starts aiming his pitches and gets smoked. Bill Russel said a big part of defense is getting the shooter out of rhythm.
Getting someone to think about getting blocked, should I shoot? what if I miss? is part of that. RJ is doing it to himself. you're a SHOOTER ... DON'T THINK SHOOT!!!
Off the subject when Dain was making free throws (4-5) he was not bringing the ball as far behind his head and was extended his arms more upward and used more wrist. When he brings the ball behind his head it's more of a throw than a shot. Arms come forward nullifying the wrists.
blackdog
- Champaign
Watch RJ shoot during warm ups if you get a chance. He consistently is knocking down shots and looks great doing it. We all know he can shoot. His last shot during the game yesterday he caught and his mechanics just left the building. It looked like he was throwing it up hoping it would go in. Really feel for him at this point.
His has rimmed out a ton of bunny's at the hoop this year.
Basketball, as all of us know who played at any level ( I did in high school) is such a mental game - like all sports. I could nail shots and play like an all-star in practice and pick up games. . . but thought way too much in real games and was so streaky and never figured out how to consistently hit shots. Hence, my career ended after HS.
Hopefully Melendez can get over that hump, he has so much talent and is so fluid on the floor when he's on.
Yep. I pointed out in game thread that you could almost see him thinking about the shot when he missed I believe what was his first 3. And on that sequence when he got two 3 attempts in a row thanks to a CH offensive rebound, the first attempt look fairly pure but the second looked like he was trying to adjust his mechanics on the go.
Eh, bloody Badgers look worse than any team we would face the first weekend of the Tournament so I don't see how you see that.
He already is finishing them at a pretty high level i'd say. Better than anyone we have on the team at the moment. His ability to shield his defender with his off arm and softly lay it in is what a point gaurd looks like.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Set that time machine for most any time in the 1980s through '91 and we'd be right at home.
Glad to be back there.
Badger flavored Kombucha.
That angry fan had to be in response to the foul called on them after TSJ slipped before the foul occurred. They reversed that call.
Season halfway point Efficiency Margin update:
- Still Purdue with a significant edge over the rest of the conference, with the gap between them and Michigan larger than the gap between Michigan and Iowa.
- Minnesota and Nebraska clearly the worst two teams in the conference, to nobody's surprise
- Wisconsin is clearly the 12th best team in the conference right now, to everyone's surprise. That's not all on Tyler Wahl, they just have not been a good team for a month. Still considered "in" most brackets, which is wild there are viably 12 teams that could make a tournament run at the halfway point of the season.
- The second tier of teams after Purdue, if there is any separation, is a group with Michigan, Indiana, Northwestern, Rutgers, Illinois and Michigan State. I'd say those teams are safely on a tournament trajectory, but nobody has Michigan in the tournament as of now (their overall metrics aren't great, and they have a NET of 75, one below Wisconsin).
- It's effectively Purdue as a 1 seed, a group of 11 teams vying for 7-12 seeds, and Nebraska and Minnesota.
- Still Purdue with a significant edge over the rest of the conference, with the gap between them and Michigan larger than the gap between Michigan and Iowa.
- Minnesota and Nebraska clearly the worst two teams in the conference, to nobody's surprise
- Wisconsin is clearly the 12th best team in the conference right now, to everyone's surprise. That's not all on Tyler Wahl, they just have not been a good team for a month. Still considered "in" most brackets, which is wild there are viably 12 teams that could make a tournament run at the halfway point of the season.
- The second tier of teams after Purdue, if there is any separation, is a group with Michigan, Indiana, Northwestern, Rutgers, Illinois and Michigan State. I'd say those teams are safely on a tournament trajectory, but nobody has Michigan in the tournament as of now (their overall metrics aren't great, and they have a NET of 75, one below Wisconsin).
- It's effectively Purdue as a 1 seed, a group of 11 teams vying for 7-12 seeds, and Nebraska and Minnesota.
Actually the gap between Purdue and Michigan is bigger than the gap between Michigan and Nebraska. Weird.
Huh? .062<.215
Gap between Purdue and Michigan is .062. I did misspeak, Iowa is slightly outside that range, but effectively 2-6 is equivalent. Nebraska is leagues behind.
One other thing to mention, Michigan's 81-46 demolition of Maryland is still doing a ton of heavy lifting in the model, and if you just take that single game out, Maryland is 8th and Michigan is 9th.