Illinois 87, UT Rio Grande Valley 73 Postgame
- Status
UCONN shoots 38.4% on the year making them the best three shooting team we will have faced. Hopefully they are off two games in a row.
The team we just played is shooting 43% from three on the season
Unfortunately, I can't disagree with that. We're going to have to add Mirkovic to that group. They can't cut off the baseline drives and can't recover guarding the perimeter.
There are only a couple of ways to get around the issue and that's for BU to change philosophy, which is going to create some unhappy campers because playing time is going to shrink.
To me, Boswell, Stojakovic and Petrovic have to be on the floor at the same time. Everything just runs more smoothly. Wagler got a ton of minutes early, but it was due to injury. He's going to be critical, but they have to take things off his plate right now. Have him focus playing a lock down, defense/rebounding first role. It's Ty's role, but it's what we're missing. He's not making good decisions right now. He's a freshman. Hell grow.
Z.....there's a reason Cal wasn't bending over backwards to keep him and he got very few minutes. He has no interest in physicality and if you're going to play finesse, you had better be good at it. Right now, he's on the perimeter, completely wasting his size.
Tomi....he's coming off injury, but has looked terrible. Hopefully, that turns around.
Mirkovic....he's got the heart and desire, he's just got bricks for feet.
Ben....he's maddening shooting the ball, but he's the best interior defender in the roster right now.
Ty....we could use you.
I'm not sure how all of this is going to work out, but right now, we suck defensively and we can all look at the guys who are hurting the unit.
A threeverse
Darn near every ranked team has had a stinker against a mid-major. Gotta bring it for UConn!
There will be nights when your last sentence is the achilles of this talented squad.
Ok, well, ya. And they are 185 in Kenpom. I don't need statistics to tell me our defense gives up wide open threes. Not to mention our inability to stop dribble drives to the rim. Do that against the teams we have coming up on the schedule and it is more losses and dropping further down the rankings.
Agree on Ben's defense, blocks, and great effort. I like to give him hard time with when he takes those 30ft., shots. He needs to know when cold, dont take 9 of them. We are so un Athletic if that's a term. Only Nebraska is worse than us. Man, Athletic teams are gonna wear us out. We cant play man because we are a step or two slower than good teams. I still love, Wagler, Mirk, and Lee. We can mold those 3 into awesome Illini.
You would think that 2 guys who together are 14'3" tall could get more than 2 shots off in the lane.
Wagler has only two turnovers in the last 4 games. Not exactly sure what you're seeing in his decision making. He's just missed open shots (just like everyone else).
I think the guard play has been fine between those four guys.
The frontcourt is just overwhelmed defensively, and doesn't help Tomi's no where near 100%.
Was just pointing out that they were shooting the 3 at a top 10 clip in the country
But since you mentioned it anyway: we came into this game allowing 29.7% shooting from 3, which is actually very, very good
Tonight? We were lazy
We need more assertive play from the Ivisices.
I'm not seeing him take a ton of open shots. I'm seeing the ball stick to him, he's indecisive, then a contested shot goes up. That's not a turnover, but it's a wasted trip.
The same thing happens when he goes off the bounce. He'll get himself stuck in the lane or caught under the basket and a wild shot occurs or he has to kick it out and have the offense reset with 10 seconds left on the shot clock
So, those aren't turnovers, but they're freshman mistakes. You saw the difference when Petrovic is in the game. The ball doesn't stick. It keeps moving and everything runs just more smoothly.
TO BE CLEAR.....Wagler is not at the top of my list of concerns. He'll be fine. He'll get better and better as the season moves along.
95% of my concern is that frontcourt. It's a problem and it's a major, major problem.
This team has shown it can score inspite of the fact the 3 point shooting can be inconsistent. It is premature in my view to talk about the final 4 until the defense is fixed.
We don’t always miss free throws, but when we do, you bet your rear it’s the front end of a one and one.
I think he was cheering the free nuggets too.
Fan Since '70
- OBS, Florida
I want to see Mihailo get more minutes (starter type minutes). Best playmaker guard on the court (and he can shoot)
meh. Nationally, UCONN ranks 216th in 3pt attempts per game. I'm also not sure where you're getting the 38.4% - ESPN has them at 35% from 3 on the year. EDIT: I see NCAA.com has them at 38.39% - but only through 5 games. UCONN has played 6.
For reference, Alabama is 3rd in the country in attempts, and at 34%. I think given that Bama shoots almost 14 more a game, they're a better 3 point shooting than UCONN. Now, when the Mullins flamethrower comes back, we can reevaluate.
Last edited:
13-59 from the arc in the second half last five games.
Tomislav and Zvonimir took 12 shots this game. 10 of them were 3's.Tomi & Z are shooting a combined 40% from three on the season
They are 23-25 for 92% from two on the season
Having bigs that can shoot and stretch the floor is good
Just seems like another weird thing to complain about to me, idk
The opposing teams biggest player was 6'8. They are 7'1 and 7'2. That should be an exploitable matchup.
The other issue when your team is launching 3's and your 7 footers are standing on the perimeter is that they aren't around the basket to get offensive rebounds.
Having bigs that can shoot isn't a bad thing but I'd like to see them utilized both on the perimeter and inside especially when they have 5+ in height advantages.
They badly need Ty back to add some athleticism and defense.
We should all be enthused about Petrovic. He finally got some (relatively) significant minnutes. He's mature and lets the game come to him. He's a pass first guy who is always under control. If the opportunity is there, he takes it strong to the rim for the easy deuce. And he can knock down the three. He's the opposite of that Curbelo thing where you barge into the lane without much purpose, pick up the ball and get swallowed up by a triple team, then try to figure out what you are going to do with the ball. Petrovic makes his teammates better. You can't teach that maturity.
- Status