Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini loss to Penn State

5. The rotations are a little off still

I believe that Brad Underwood’s rotations are off right now. I think he is a good coach and should be our coach moving forward for the foreseeable future, but he needs to adjust some things with the lineup.

I have said this a million times and I will continue to say it. Tevian Jones needs to be starting in place of Da’Monte Williams. Williams can’t score and his defense isn’t good enough to warrant him a starting spot. Jones can put points on the board and give the Illini more athletic ability. I would like to see this change made.

Underwood didn’t do that against Penn State, though. He actually went opposite of what I said above. Illinois’ starters and Andres Feliz off the bench were the main minute’s eaters for the Illini. Giorgi Bezhanishvilli, Ayo Dosunmu, Aaron Jordan and Trent Frazier all got over 30 minutes in the game. I am okay with this.

Williams received 21 minutes, which probably should be about 10-15 minutes in my books. Feliz then came off the bench and played 29 minutes for the Illini. That is a lot of playing time for a bench player. I would probably have scaled that back a little bit too.

Kipper Nichols received seven minutes, which seems right to me. Adonis De La Rose got six minutes. This is another one that I think is right. Alan Griffin got eight minutes against Penn State. He is actually productive offensively when he does see the floor. I want him to be getting 10-15 minutes each game. Jones only got three minutes in this game. He should be starting and if not, he should at least be getting 15-20 minutes in each contest.

I am still on the Underwood train and will be for a while, but he has to get his rotations in order. There is too much talent on the bench right now and too many players getting minutes they shouldn’t be getting.