Missouri State 68 Illinois State 59

[Da Coach]

Missouri State leads from start to finish and wins at Illinois State 68-59.

http://www.goredbirds.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/021211aab.html

box score-

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ilsu/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/MBBFinalStats021211.pdf

Weems with another great game. ISU starters were a combined 6-21 from the floor with just 3 assists for the game. John Wilkins with another poor game, just 5 points, 1-5 from three, 2 rebounds, zero assists, zero steals, zero blocks.
Attendance 5,204

ISU's next game is at Creighton Wednesday.

[wily coyote]

Missouri State leads from start to finish and wins at Illinois State 68-59.

http://www.goredbirds.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/021211aab.html

box score-

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ilsu/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/MBBFinalStats021211.pdf

Weems with another great game. ISU starters were a combined 6-21 from the floor with just 3 assists for the game. John Wilkins with another poor game, just 5 points, 1-5 from three, 2 rebounds, zero assists, zero steals, zero blocks.
Attendance 5,204

ISU's next game is at Creighton Wednesday.

Don't ya just hate that when that happens. If we can pull out a win Tues we can get out of 10th place. Wouldn't that be nice to finish ahead of ISU without our best 2 players.

[Bravesfan23]

Wilkins hasn't lived up to everyones expectations. I'm glad we didn't get him.

[Da Coach]

It may not be too much to get excited about, but Bradley is now tied in the MVC standings with ISU for 9th place. They face each other 1 more time on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at ISU. That could determine who finishes in last place.

Here is the new MVC tiebreaker system-

http://www.mvc-sports.com/mbasketball/tiebreaker/

In brief- the first tiebreaker is head-to-head competetion, so Bradley needs to win at ISU to split the season series 1-1. If the tie is not broken with head-to-head results, then the next tiebreaker is non-conference Strength of Schedule, which Bradley will win against ISU because of ISU's poor non-conference schedule.

[Future Walk-On]

Wilkins hasn't lived up to everyones expectations. I'm glad we didn't get him.

once again he still has 2 more years. everyone is hating on the guy in his first year of college ball. i bet we will all wish we had him in 2 years.

[Da Coach]

once again he still has 2 more years. everyone is hating on the guy in his first year of college ball. i bet we will all wish we had him in 2 years.

Aw. Now you are spoiling our fun!

I predict he'll be back playing in Europe in 2 years.

[tornado]

once again he still has 2 more years. everyone is hating on the guy in his first year of college ball. i bet we will all wish we had him in 2 years.

I agree...but many at ISU had thought that he'd be a major contributor right away....that's kinda why he's been starting over even 5th year seniors...
Wilkins was 1-5 from 3-pt range -- and he's also jacked up more 3-pt attempts than anyone else on the team...
He is currently 17-52 in MVC play -- 32.7%...but at least Jank has finally noticed the obvious and janked JW's starting spot from him.

ISU has now lost 12 of their last 15...winning only one in regulation and two in OT.
In that stretch, they have scored in the 50's and lower 11 times, and have exceeded 59 in regulation only twice in 15 games....reminiscent of the worst of the Mo scoring numbers!

And again -- it appears Jank has no clue who the starters should be since his starters totaled only 19 points and 3 assists! This is the 3rd straight game where not a single starter has scored more than 10...and they are at full strength.
How do you not start your leading scorer? Austin Hill has been their leading scorer in MVC play and yet he plays behind Alex Rubin at SG.

In an effort to find some more scoring -- Jank even threw Trey Blue, Justin Clark, and Kenyon Smith in for over 30 combined minutes -- and they scored a combined four points.

[Da Coach]

Here are the totals for the ISU starters last night:
Ekey- 14 min, 0 points
Carmichael- 14 min, 2 points
Cousin- 18 min, 5 points, 1 assist
Lewis- 24 min, 9 points
Rubin- 30 minutes, 3 points, 1 assist

I wonder how happy John Wilkins will be now that he has had his starting job taken away? Will his scoring average continue to plummet? Will his average of 0.6 assists per game or his average of 0.3 steals per game continue to drop?
He was already pouting when he was a starter.

[45otseoj]

He was already pouting when he was a starter.

Explain what you mean by pouting?

Listen, I'm with you guys. JW has really struggled lately, but no one in the arena was more excited than him when he hit his 3 last night. He also had a stretch of great defense last night. When he is in, he plays with the same fire that he has all season.

Here's the issue. He is so long and so skinny that he isn't strong enough to control his limbs. Flimsy would be my best way of describing it.

He's a project who desperately needs a summer in the weight room. He has the chance to be a player like Aaron Ellis with much better shooting ability. He also has the chance of being a bust.

[Braves4Life]

Wilkins hasn't lived up to everyones expectations. I'm glad we didn't get him.

I think he would have been a much better player in Bradley's system. I still wish we had gotten him. But, now I have to hate him.

[Da Coach]

It's his body language. Its much different than it was earlier in the season. He looks like he is just going through the motions. He does not look happy and Jank clearly isn't happy with him.
I have met and talked a number of times with John on his visits to BU. He's a great kid. But the enthusiasm he had when he scrimmaged at BU and showed earlier this year is not there.




Plus, I have an inside source that is very reliable.

[thefish7]

It's his body language. Its much different than it was earlier in the season. He looks like he is just going through the motions. He does not look happy and Jank clearly isn't happy with him.
I have met and talked a number of times with John on his visits to BU. He's a great kid. But the enthusiasm he had when he scrimmaged at BU and showed earlier this year is not there.

Karma's a *****.

[45otseoj]

It's his body language. Its much different than it was earlier in the season. He looks like he is just going through the motions. He does not look happy and Jank clearly isn't happy with him.
I have met and talked a number of times with John on his visits to BU. He's a great kid. But the enthusiasm he had when he scrimmaged at BU and showed earlier this year is not there.

I have to disagree. When his game is on, he is the same as he has always been; smiling and fired up. You should have seen him last night when he hit that 3 from the corner. Kid was energized and sparked the whole arena.

Teams have found JW's limitations and exploited them. If you give him space, he's deadly. Teams have been getting into him more which has hurt his game flow.

There aren't many players who are too happy when their game is in a funk. When his shot returns, so will his smile.

[Bravesfan]

I have to disagree. When his game is on, he is the same as he has always been; smiling and fired up. You should have seen him last night when he hit that 3 from the corner. Kid was energized and sparked the whole arena.

Teams have found JW's limitations and exploited them. If you give him space, he's deadly. Teams have been getting into him more which has hurt his game flow.

There aren't many players who are too happy when their game is in a funk. When his shot returns, so will his smile.

Well you see, that's the problem. He only made one three pointer. Make about 3 or 4 three pointers in a game and then we'll talk.

[Da Coach]

I have to disagree. When his game is on, he is the same as he has always been; smiling and fired up. You should have seen him last night when he hit that 3 from the corner. Kid was energized and sparked the whole arena.

Teams have found JW's limitations and exploited them. If you give him space, he's deadly. Teams have been getting into him more which has hurt his game flow.

There aren't many players who are too happy when their game is in a funk. When his shot returns, so will his smile.

Pouting is the correct word for what I believe is in fact happening, and that is not my word, but the word of an ISU insider who has confided info about JWs situation. JW is not like an ordinary freshman, he is a 20 or 21 year old junior college grad. He looked better early in the season, and IMO it's not due to opposition players now targeting his weaknesses. He is just playing worse, and more selfishly.
I won't go into detail publically about what else is being rumored, but it might have to do with guarantees made to the Wilkins family by Jank. Most coaches don't make such promises, because it usually leads to discontent when the kid thinks they are not being fulfilled. Even some of the ISU players are now referring to such discord on their facebook pages.
If you doubt that promises were made, let me ask ISU fans- How did ISU "steal" him away from Bradley when he had a solid commitment? And why is John Wilkins listed as a Guard on the roster, and he is always listed as a guard in the scorers books, and in the box scores, and announced as a guard when he is announced as a starter? It may seem like an insignificant issue, but the coach must designate the players' positions in the scorers book at every game, so we know this comes from the coaches. Does Jank really believe he is a guard? I think we can agree on that answer, so what other promises were made?

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ilsu/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/MBBFinalStats020911.pdf

http://www.goredbirds.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/ilsu-m-baskbl-mtt.html