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Illinois Basketball: Three Focuses for the Illini Against Indiana

By Rees Woodcock

Jan 7, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini forward Michael Finke (43) drives to the basket against Michigan State Spartans forward Gavin Schilling (34) during the 1st half of a game at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 7, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini forward Michael Finke (43) drives to the basket against Michigan State Spartans forward Gavin Schilling (34) during the 1st half of a game at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Illinois basketball team heads into Bloomington on Saturday to take on the Indiana Hoosiers.

This is one of the signature win games for the Illini.  There are only four of those types of games so if they can pull out a win it would be big.

I came up with three focuses for the Illini against Ohio State before their last matchup and these actually ended up happening.

Leron Black came out of his slump and was able to stay on the court.  Jaylon Tate didn’t see a ton of playing time and this meant Tracy Abrams was on the court more.

The third focus was on the borderline.  I wanted to see Jalen Coleman-Lands a little more involved in the offense and while he was slightly, there was still a lot left to be desired.

So, the three focuses for the Indiana game are going to be adjusted to how the team is playing and what they should keep doing.

Illinois Fighting Illini
Illinois Fighting Illini /

Illinois Fighting Illini

The first focus should be to continue getting Maverick Morgan and Michael Finke involved off the bench.  These two are nice bench players that have proved to be crucial in games.

This season alone, when Morgan scores at least six points in a game the Illini are 10-0.  Both players need to continue coming off the bench and getting 17-25 minutes per game.

Focus No. 2 has to do with Mike Thorne Jr.  There is a lot of talk about Thorne and how he is moving, or not moving, on the court.

It is clear that Thorne isn’t great in an offense that has a lot of movement.  He needs to find a place on the block where he can just post up all day long.

John Groce needs to figure out a better way to use Thorne.  He can’t be coming to the top of the key to set screens anymore because he just doesn’t have those capabilities.

If Thorne is out at the top of the key setting screens and then trying to post up on the block against Thomas Bryant, things probably won’t work out too well.

The final focus is a branch off one of the focuses from the Ohio State game.  Jalen Coleman-Lands needs to shoot more.

It is fun to see the Illini beat Ohio State because it was a big win.  But, they will need to score more points against a high-powered Indiana ball club.

Coleman-Lands only had four attempts last game.  This ended up working out but I think he needs to start getting more looks from deep.

Next: Four Signature Games for the Illini

These are my three focuses for the Indiana game.  I think if they can accomplish all three of these then the Illini will come away with a victory.

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