Illinois 71, Wisconsin 70 POSTGAME

I didn't watch the game as we don't have BTN down here at the beach house (good that I didn't bet it before). I expected a loss as most of us did. Big win for the guys and the program, in fact a massive win. On to Rutgers. Might as well get ready for a wild ride in the B1G, gonna be a gauntlet.

AG's effect on the game is ridiculous at this point. He picked up two stupid fouls ( on his part) last night. I can only imagine what that game would've been if he could've just kept his hands to himself. What a breakout year for him.

Something I don't think has been mentioned yet was how often they went to that Kofi lob when his defend went to help on the driver in the second half. Wisconsin was helping all night, not sure if BU noticed and brought it up, or it was the players (mainly Ayo) that notices and started looking for it more, but it was refreshing/exciting to see some actual adjustment out of halftime. Showed real basketball IQ on someones part. And was executed well too.

I no longer feel like we are tied for Rutgers as the worst major sports program in the Big Ten

I hope everyone on this sight saw how the players feel about the coach by the reception he got in the locker room

sbillini said:

This was the type of game we'd usually lose. Grind out, who's going to be the toughest down the stretch, on the road, against a fundamentally solid team that won't beat themselves. So happy we won the game.

Positives:

• What i said above.
• Finally making some 3s
• Opposing team player (King) had a career night, but still didn't let it get to us
• Overcoming the foul disparity, and we were able to win without our key bigs on the floor for key stretches (btw, how much game time has Giorgi missed in B1G play due to foul trouble? Likely almost a game's worth in the last two games. it has to be adding up, and that can't be good for us down the line).

Negatives: (not trying to be a downer, but I think it's healthy to be honest as a fanbase)

• I don't understand why BU had DMW in for long stretches in the 2nd half and both AG and TF on the bench. I guess defensively, but DMW got burned by King 4 plays in a row. Yes, AG totally blew his assignment the first inbounds after being inserted (leading to a wide open 3), but at least he provides some offensive boost. I still feel TF is one good half away from really finding his rhythm (maybe even 2 good shots), and he's lights out on defense for the most part.
• We need to play better fundamental D without fouling, esp away from the basket. The refs may have been whistle happy, but I think even if they weren't, we still would have had a large foul disparity. A lot of the calls were dumb things we did. Obviously Wisky is one of the best of exploiting that in teams, but do this against a team that has more offensive firepower, and we're toast.

I was perusing the Badger forums. Pretty rational on their part, though many were complaining about the no-call on the last play. Seems to be a lot of hatred for Trice there (given he took the last shot). Sounds like he's got a history of hero balling and putting up bad shots.

Need to bear down and beat Rutgers now! Next two are very winnable, potentially giving us a 4 game B1G win streak. Cue twilight zone music!

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AG wasn’t in because of foul trouble. Probably just giving Trent a rest. We play up tempo swarming tight defense. These guys need a rest that’s why, we are going 9 deep at times so we can keep people fresh.

Great win!!!

I will say I went back and read the game thread this morning and some of you were awesome and hilarious at the end of the game. Thanks for the laugh and for your emotions.

BEAT RUTGERS!!

Fighter of the Nightman said:

at Iowa ... just have an amazingly bad feeling about them drilling 3s against us again, lol, plus dropping another "average" road game is expected

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Not this year. I got my tickets locked up for this one a while ago. Not sure I have seen us lose in Iowa City when I am in attendance. (Narrator: He has seen them lose in Iowa City, he just chose to forget they ever happened)

Bohannon is out. We are going to have a good plan to make their guards beat us. Illini win this. I don't want to think otherwise.

skyIdub said:

Ummmm....it was really pretty easy to understand actually. Foul trouble. Also, EVERY single person we had on King got burned...several times.

Everybody....EVERYBODY....understands what Damonte is right now. We don't have the luxury of reducing his minutes because some of you just want to insert a player you like more. It doesn't work that way.

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At the point of the game i was referring two (when DMW got blown by several times), AG had two fouls, TF had zero, and it was the second half (although, to be fair, TF was out playing for most of that stint, but DMW was guarding King).

Overall I thought the game was well coached. I just don't understand why you'd keep a guy out there when he's not meeting the needs for the reason he's out there.

I don't "like" any player more than another. I frankly want to win. But thanks for the update.

Video of Ayo doing the "ice water" in his veins thing last year against Ohio St.
Did anyone happen to get a gif or video of Ayo doing it in the game against Wisconsin last night?

othawhitemeat said:

Yeah, we were getting hosed on ticky tack fouls. One thing that was underrated was when Brad switched Kipper onto King. Even though King had a blow by, we slowed him down for that. Also, I thought we were going to lose on that ridiculous foul called on Kofi when Trice was driving. We hanged tough. When Griffin got some minutes, in the 2nd half and got going, we werent going to lose. He needs to not be so aggressive defensively, but he can board, shoot, and drive a little. I thought for all the fouls Wisconsin got away with an offensive hook on every other possession in the post.

Big W. Keep it going and we can make some noise in the tourney.

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I don't even think that blow by was Kipper's fault. We've been icing ball screens this year, so Giorgi should've been in that driving lane, but he was on the wrong side of the screener. It happened pretty fast, and he just didn't react fast enough when Kipper changed his stance to force King to refuse the ball screen.

Geat win in one of the toughest venues in the B10!

Here are my key takeaways:

I thought it was our most complete team effort all season:

1) AG, Trent, Ayo, Kofi, Giorgi, Dre....all with key buckets when we needed them .I was especially happy for Trennt with his late 3 pointer - he seems to be getting his swagger back.

2) We took care of the basketball..... only 7 turnovers is excellent, especially against Wisconsin.

3) Played through the foul trouble....kudos to Kofi who got extra minutes due to Giorgi picking up his second foul early...

4) Finally starting to hit our open looks!

5) I love the alley-oops they are getting to Kofi for dunks. They are not as easy as he makes them look - great passes and finishes!

6) I The bigggest takeaway is that we are getting better at the mental part of the game. Ayo is making better decisions and not playing hero ball- you heard him take ownership of his decision-making against Miami. Huge 3-pointer to go up 4.

I'm sure the team will be shooting free throws in practice!

Hopingfor500 said:

What were we before the game?

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On 1/8 Illinois was #31, AdjEM +16.51, AdjO 107, AdjD 90.5.
On 1/9 Illinois is #29, AdjEM +17.00, AdjO 108.4, AdjD 91.4.

On 1/8 Wisconsin was #21, AdjEM +17.99, AdjO 106.8, AdjD 88.8.
On 1/9 Wisconsin is #24, AdjEM +17.52, AdjO 107.6, AdjD 90.1.

ILLHangOut said:

I was wrong on a number of accounts heading into this game.

Very happy to see Ayo man up at the end. If he can harness that energy it could totally change expectations for the season.

Also happy to see Ayo with 6 assists. To me that’s his best stat of the day.

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I was calling for Ayo to throw those lobs earlier in the season, and I like that he's adjusting and starting to see it. I also think I remember him having a pretty sweet cross court pass to a shooter in the opposite corner (not sure if they actually made it). Those are both types of passes that he absolutely has to be able to make at the next level.

I am sure glad the ref's swallowed the whistle in the end. I was seeing a hold on the Wisconsin player just before Ayo shook him.
That would have been our luck, waive off the bucket and put Ayo on the line for one and one. Too bad we have to suffer through
bad refereeing for 35 minutes to get to 5 minute of good basketball.

skyIdub said:

Ummmm....it was really pretty easy to understand actually. Foul trouble. Also, EVERY single person we had on King got burned...several times.

Everybody....EVERYBODY....understands what Damonte is right now. We don't have the luxury of reducing his minutes because some of you just want to insert a player you like more. It doesn't work that way.

BU managed the minutes pretty well. Somehow King was a non factor at the end of the game. They made some good adjustments and Damonte, AG, Dre, and Kipper were all part of that.

A very solid game from our coaches with adjustments, substitutions, and game planning. Very solid.

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As I was watching I was wondering why we didn't try Ayo on King. I thought maybe his length over Damonte and Feliz might have been worth a look. Maybe BU didn't want to tax him too much on D when we were asking him to do a lot on the other end.

goillini30 said:

As I was watching I was wondering why we didn't try Ayo on King. I thought maybe his length over Damonte and Feliz might have been worth a look. Maybe BU didn't want to tax him too much on D when we were asking him to do a lot on the other end.

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Kipper was on him and got schooled as many times as DMW or Feliz. Not sure Ayo is any longer than Kipper, but maybe a better defender.

sbillini said:

At the point of the game i was referring two (when DMW got blown by several times), AG had two fouls, TF had zero, and it was the second half (although, to be fair, TF was out playing for most of that stint, but DMW was guarding King).

Overall I thought the game was well coached. I just don't understand why you'd keep a guy out there when he's not meeting the needs for the reason he's out there.

I don't "like" any player more than another. I frankly want to win. But thanks for the update.

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Which was early on and you can't leave AG on the floor with two fouls because you're going to need him late....which played out pretty well.

The bottom line is the rotation and the subbing for the foul trouble was pretty good.

I totally get the frustration with DMW's game, but we just don't have the depth to cover that kind of foul trouble and keep the energy level on the floor with fresh legs and lungs.

Fighter of the Nightman said:

So high right now, FINALLY feel vindicated - for the first time since 2011, when I was literally a freshman in college - talking to my Badgers friends like we are their peer. Football and basketball?! Boom! We are 11-5 (3-2), and I will take it! Anyway, folks, not to be too Cloud Nine-ish, but ... look what we have coming up (rankings are current Pomeroy rankings, where we are #29, and we just beat #24 at their place):

vs. #34 Rutgers
vs. #101 Northwestern
at #20 Purdue
at #19 Michigan
vs. #37 Minnesota
at #22 Iowa
vs. #7 Maryland
vs. #3 Michigan State
at #34 Rutgers
at #27 Penn State
vs. #140 Nebraska
at #101 Northwestern
vs. #43 Indiana
at #4 Ohio State
vs. #22 Iowa

Looking at those games, I see the breakdown like this:

ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO WIN TO MAKE THE TOURNAMENT
vs. Northwestern
vs. Minnesota
vs. Nebraska
at Northwestern
vs. Indiana

GAMES WE SHOULD WIN IF WE WANT TO STAY OFF THE BUBBLE
vs. Rutgers
vs. Iowa

GAMES WE WIN IF WE TRULY HAVE TURNED A CORNER
at Purdue ... if we can win at UW and dominate PU at home, we can win this
vs. Maryland ... payback and protect home court

GAMES WE SHOULD REASONABLY EXPECT TO LOSE AND WOULDN'T CAUSE ANY PANIC
at Michigan
vs. Michigan State
at Iowa ... just have an amazingly bad feeling about them drilling 3s against us again, lol, plus dropping another "average" road game is expected
at Rutgers
at Penn State
at Ohio State

These are just my biased groupings, but even just doing what we "should" do and losing everything else, we would finish 18-13 (10-10). That might not be good enough for a Tournament berth, but it keeps us in the conversation. There is absolutely no reason we can't beat Maryland at home and win at Purdue AND/OR steal one from the last category. This win at Wisconsin was MASSIVE for our season. Let's build on it and possibly get hot and go on a run ... maybe even 2004 style!

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Problem with this breakdown is that winning all of the "have to"s and the "should"s leaves us at 18-13. I don't think that's good enough to keep us off the bubble. It MAY still be good enough to get in, but it will definitely be on the bubble.

In his presser BU talked mentioned that with the foul trouble it was all about managinge the roster so he had his top players available for the last 5 minutes. So while one might complain about why was this guy in there and not this guy, he accomplished his goal and had his full arsenal for crunch time with no one fouling out.

Berg88 said:

Problem with this breakdown is that winning all of the "have to"s and the "should"s leaves us at 18-13. I don't think that's good enough to keep us off the bubble. It MAY still be good enough to get in, but it will definitely be on the bubble.

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Well, let’s just win more than that, then.

skyIdub said:

I'm not saying it to be cliche....but that's a win that can potentially define your program. Overcoming fouls on the road. Overcoming stupid mistakes. Overcoming poor shooting.

Zero quit.


100% a huge step forward.

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You have to like "Zero quit" which is paramount to winning close games. I watched to the end wondering when Wisky would stick the dagger in, get a turnover, and bury a wide open three. But it never happened. Ayo and Grif finally stepped up in crunch time. The big question now is can they hit shots when it counts in other big games on the road. The biggest surprise was the shooting advantage from the arc. Who would have guessed the Illini would excel there? But this team has 3 shooters, two who live there and Ayo showing he is willing and did it when it counted. The result is a huge boost in confidence and in today's game, confidence from the arc is biggest key in being competitive. It is basketball, however, and if you can put it in the net for 3 at a time, you can beat anyone....or vice versa.

To be honest, there was much to disappoint if you want to see a competent Illini team who can compete with anyone. They have the athletic ability to compete, but this team is still not good at playing the game skill-wise and between the ears. Coaching and learning is paramount to becoming that team and confidence is the result at being good at both. This was a big step in the right direction.....just hope it continues and we see a team that makes the right play more often every game. Sloppy turnovers and ill-advised passing need to diminish. I recall Georgi having the ball low in the first half and no one to pass to. He needed to shoot but almost threw it away. Big moment that saved a possession there but indicative of the problem. Nitpick I know, but too many similar plays if they are to get to the tournament and win. Wisky does not provide many highlight replays, and my hope is that the Illini can become more efficient at playing the game smart at the expense of such plays....that would result in more efficient baskets and giving up fewer easy ones on the other end.

But overall, these kids deserve a hug pat on the back for gritty, no quit, energetic persistence which is the building block of winning close games. Great step in the right direction in Madison...take that my old friend Andy North. Wisky is a very good, well-coached team that gets the most out of their talent most every night . Tough to beat, but the Illini prevailed in a deserved win. Now, build on that and get better....especially it putting the ball in the net!

skyIdub said:

Kipper was on him and got schooled as many times as DMW or Feliz. Not sure Ayo is any longer than Kipper, but maybe a better defender.

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I think he has a longer wingspan, so could potentially stay in front or contest a little better is all I meant

sbillini said:

At the point of the game i was referring two (when DMW got blown by several times), AG had two fouls, TF had zero, and it was the second half (although, to be fair, TF was out playing for most of that stint, but DMW was guarding King).

Overall I thought the game was well coached. I just don't understand why you'd keep a guy out there when he's not meeting the needs for the reason he's out there.

I don't "like" any player more than another. I frankly want to win. But thanks for the update.

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Nobody could guard King yesterday. He blew by everyone who tried to guard him.

oleoleahy51 said:

Where can I find video of this? I'll keep looking. Thanks.

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