Illinois Basketball: What Is Going On With the Rotations?
The Illinois basketball team started this season with a lot of depth.
John Groce preached and preached about it early in the year. Heck, their motto for the season is “strength in numbers.” But how many guys are too many?
The Illini won big against an Iowa team that frankly, is not very good. Peter Jok was clearly hurt and their team is just young.
Illinois did what they had to in order to win, but the rotations are still an issue.
John Groce will take out players when they are hot, and he will just flat out put the wrong five guys on the floor.
The lineup of Tate, Abrams, Nichols, Finke, and Thorne should never see the floor, but it did on multiple occasions.
The starting five that Groce put out there got out to a 10-0 lead, and as soon as the game stopped, he took them out. It just does not make sense.
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Now, I am sure Groce feels entitled to put all ten guys out there, but the fact is, he does not need to. Strength in numbers is a great thing, but when some of those players are not performing, you have to cut down the rotation.
My solution is temporary, of course, and it is a very fluid solution.
Groce should ride his eight hottest guys every game. This means, two guys are getting cut out of the rotation.
I love this because it gives your guys who are playing consistent a lot more playing time, and it gives the guys who are not playing so well time to figure it out instead of being thrown into the fire.
Wednesday night against Iowa, I would have cut Thorne and Tate/Abrams out of the line-up completely. Groce says they are practicing well, but their performances are still lackluster, to say the least.
Abrams just needed a day off to figure some things out. I know this is not the NBA, but he could use something like that.
Coach Groce did some good things too. I do not want to sound negative. He started Lucas over Abrams, and that was a step in the right direction.
Next: 3 Observations From the Iowa Hawkeyes Victory
But, at the end of the day, the rotations are just too predetermined, too lengthy, and they do not favor the hot hand.