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Illinois Basketball: Illini Players Improving or Declining this Season?

By Rees Woodcock

Mar 3, 2016; College Park, MD, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Malcolm Hill (21) drives to the basket as Maryland Terrapins forward Robert Carter (4) defends during the first half at Xfinity Center. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 3, 2016; College Park, MD, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Malcolm Hill (21) drives to the basket as Maryland Terrapins forward Robert Carter (4) defends during the first half at Xfinity Center. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 24, 2016; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini forward Michael Finke (43) looks to pass as West Virginia Mountaineers guard Daxter Miles Jr. (4) defends during the first half of the second game of NIT Season Tip-Off at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 24, 2016; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini forward Michael Finke (43) looks to pass as West Virginia Mountaineers guard Daxter Miles Jr. (4) defends during the first half of the second game of NIT Season Tip-Off at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports /

Michael Finke (Improved)

Illinois has a nice player in Michael Finke.  He is a big 6-foot-10 forward that can shoot the ball from three-point range.

Finke had his minutes decreased slightly this season.  He was averaging 20.3 MPG last year and now he is at 19.4 MPG.  This decrease in minutes made his points decrease a little bit as well.

Last season, Finke was averaging 7.5 PPG and now he is down to 7 PPG.  That isn’t a huge dip but since the minutes went down it makes sense for the points to go down as well.

Finke has become more of a rebounder, though. He only averaged 3.7 RPG last season and now he is up to 4.4 RPG.  That is a huge benefit to the Illini.

I am also impressed by how efficient Finke is becoming.  He was shooting 43.5-percent last season and now he has driven that up to 49.5-percent.

Finke’s three-point percentage has gone up as well.  Last season he was shooting 36.7-percent from deep and now he is shooting 40-percent.

The only decline that I see with Finke is his free throw shooting.  He was at 65.1-percent last season and now he is at 57.7-percent this year.

Overall, I am happy with how Finke has improved.  He is a dangerous player on the offensive side of the ball and I would have to say he has improved from last season.

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