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Illinois Basketball: 5 areas of improvement for the Illini

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 30: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini is seen before the game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at State Farm Center on January 30, 2018 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 30: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini is seen before the game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at State Farm Center on January 30, 2018 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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PISCATAWAY, NJ – FEBRUARY 25: Trent Frazier /

3. Turnovers

The concept of not turning the ball over in the college game is one of the keys to victory. Having fewer turnovers than your opponent usually bodes well at the end. But, this wasn’t one of the Illinois basketball team’s strong points last year.

Illinois wasn’t good at handling the ball last season and this probably had something to do with a new head coach in Brad Underwood and the new system be brought in. The team was still learning what to do, the pace of the game and where their teammates would be at what point in the play.

While all of this was very true, the Illini were still pretty bad in the turnover department. They ended the season ranked No. 218 in turnovers averaging 13.3 turnovers per game. This was right behind Yale and right ahead of SE Louisiana.

The Illini player who averaged at least 10 minutes per game and had the least amount of turnovers is Greg Eboigbodin. He was efficient with the ball when it came to this department only averaging .4 TPG. He will be back this season and should get even more time on the court. I will be curious to see if this number changes.

Trent Frazier led the team in turnovers, though. He averaged 2.2 TPG for the Illini. This makes sense, though. Frazier was the primary ball handler. The ball went through him pretty much every play he was on the court. He averaged 26.3 minutes per game, which was most by any Illinois player. It doesn’t surprise me that he had 2.2 TPG.

As a team, Illinois needs to be more careful with the ball. They can’t afford to give up possessions. With another year under their belts, I think this team should get that number a little lower than last season.

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