Illinois Basketball: The Illini’s New Found Depth at Point Guard
By Eric Bruce
Illinois Basketball finally, finally has depth at the point guard position, and that will make all of the difference this year.
Before I address the strong position the Illini has at point guard with the return of Tracy Abrams, I wanted to quickly address the 900-pound elephant in the room, Kendrick Nunn.
As I stated in a previous post, domestic violence cannot be tolerated in Illini Athletics or anywhere, for that matter.
If you accept that basic premise, the inescapable conclusion is that AD Josh Whitman and Head Coach John Groce made the right decision.
For those fretting about the loss of offensive production, that problem absolutely pales in comparison to the problem of domestic violence. And, as far as that goes, the Illini will be fine.
Jalen Coleman-Lands is more than capable of stepping into Nunn’s basketball shoes. So fret not about that.
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Now, back to the issue at hand.
Abrams, Tejon Lucas, and Jaylon Tate constitute the depth chart at the point guard position. All three players bring something different to the game that will be extremely beneficial to the Illini.
Added to the mix is the Illini’s recent hire of Dee Brown as Director of Player Development and Alumni Relations.
This presents the opportunity for these PGs to learn from one of the best to ever wear the Illini uniform. Brown will be a special ingredient in this mix.
The starting position clearly belongs to Tracy Abrams.
Abrams is mature, experienced, and very good. If he can pick up where he left off, he will likely average 5-7 apg, and 12-15 ppg.
Abrams has a bit of an inside, outside game on offense but it is driving to the basket that is his specialty. As Groce says, Abrams is a pit bull and part of that is because of his ability to drive.
But he also is tenacious on defense, which will be incredibly important.
Finally, it is his leadership that the Illini probably missed the most. He is a respected and vocal presence on the court, and that will be central to the Illini’s success this season.
If we lose Abrams again, it will be a big problem, but not only because of his leadership.
The issue is that Abrams’ back-ups are a true freshman in Lucas, and a senior reserve in Tate. Both have excellent qualities and will bring substantial support to Abrams, but neither should start.
Second in line to Abrams will likely be Lucas.
Lucas is a hyped high three/low four star PG from Milwaukee. He is an excellent scorer and is good at distributing. But he is a freshman, and the fact is that very few freshman point guards can adequately lead a team.
They invariably need time to mature and adapt to the pace and intensity of collegiate basketball, especially in a power six conference.
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That makes Lucas the perfect back-up to Abrams. There is so much he can learn that will allow him to take charge in 2017.
Lucas can also learn a lot from Tate, who will see significant time in support of Abrams.
Tate has shown great ability to take care of the ball. There is probably no better person to have on the floor to protect a lead at the end of a game than the senior point guard Tate.
Unfortunately, Tate is no threat from downtown. But he can on occasion get to the hole. And some of the passes I witnessed him make were amazing.
Tate will have Mike Thorne Jr., Malcolm Hill, JCL, and Leron Black – as well as an excellent second string – to distribute to so there is no real reason for him to shoot the ball unless he has to.
The bottom line is that Illinois needs Abrams to stay healthy this year to have the success I am anticipating.
The Illini will have a proven senior leader as the floor general to a seasoned team (three of five starters will be seniors in Hill, Thorne, and Abrams).
The Illini have lacked leadership on the floor in the last two years. That will change this year. And with that, the Illini’s fortunes will change too.
Next: Illini Reaching Out to Ray Kasongo
And while the future looks bright in 2017 with Lucas at the point, and DeMonte Williams arriving, the future cannot come too early or the Illini might find themselves struggling once again.