The Illini may have eased some worries with their play this past week.
After a disappointing performance in Madison Square Garden on Black Friday, there was good reason for some concern surrounding this Illini team. The UCONN Huskies were in control the entire game, and the Illini offense looked stagnant at times. It even began to remind me of last season’s team towards the end of the season.
With that being said, they turned things completely around with their play this past week. Not only did they add
2 Quad 1 wins, they had led for most of both contests. The offense was in rhythm, the bench continued to show their depth, and the defense held their own as a unit (minus Bruce Thornton’s first-half performance on Tuesday). I also have to mention just how great of a Big Ten debut it was for Keaton Wagler. He looked like a three-year veteran out there, as he has most of this early season stretch.
These two wins were key to this early part of the season in my opinion. With 8 of the next 9 Illini opponents being unranked, the Tennessee game was a huge opportunity to get another Quad 1 win (that will likely stay a Quad 1 win until March) before an easier start to conference play. Having non-conference wins over Tennessee and Texas Tech should bode extremely well for the Illini come March.
While this past week has been some great basketball for the Illini, especially offensively, I just know Brad Underwood is not happy with how they have rebounded the basketball. Getting out-rebounded 44-30 (vs. Tennessee) is not typical for a Brad Underwood-coached team. Not only that, but a 22-10 offensive rebounding margin for the Volunteers as well. I have a good feeling rebounding will become an even bigger emphasis for this team, which again is very out of character for an Underwood-coached team.
While rebounding was a bit disappointing, the offense was not. A solid performance against a tough Rick Barnes coached defense, followed up by getting almost anything they wanted offensively vs. the Buckeyes.
Sure, shots were falling. But, it was the off ball cutting that really helped them push into another gear offensively. That paired with finally having a healthy Tomislav Ivisic that you can play through in the post every couple possessions, combined with an extremely confident and mature freshman guard playing to his full potential in Keaton Wagler, is exactly what’s needed if the Illini are going to reach their ceiling offensively.
After a disappointing outing vs. UCONN, I began to start losing a bit of hope for this team. It just reminded me too much of last season’s team offensively. The fact that the Illini were able to bounce back in such impressive fashion this week is a great sign. It will be very interesting to see how high this team can peak come March.
