The Illinois basketball team lost in a blowout to Michigan State 76-56 on Thursday night.
Illinois didn’t start the game off great, shooting 3-of-28 from three-point range against the Spartans. The offense had a hard time trying to get into the flow of the game. The struggles may be because Brad Underwood is trying to start Giorgi Bezhanishvili at the power forward spot.
Giorgi starting is a problem for Illinois because teams don’t respect his three-point shot. He can’t shoot the three-ball, and he can’t get his shot inside because Kofi Cockburn is in the paint. He is shooting 40-percent from three-point range, which isn’t bad, but he isn’t a stretch-four, so he is only taking 1.5 three-pointers per game.
Moving Giorgi to the bench could help because he can come in for Kofi. I believe him being in the starting lineup with Kofi and Ayo Dosunmu at the same time hurts the offense. Kofi can’t shoot mid-range jumpers, Ayo isn’t good in a half-court set and Da’Monte Williams isn’t a three-point shooter either.
Bringing Giorgi off the bench would help him get the ball in the paint which is where he is more effective on the court. This would help clear some of the clogging in the lane because defenders don’t respect Giorgi’s shot.
The only problem with moving Giorgi to the bench is who would start over him. Kipper Nichols, Tevian Jones and Alan griffin would most likely be the options for his replacement in the starting lineup.
Griffin would probably be the best option because he is the best three-point shooter out of the three options, as he shoots 39-percent from the three-point arc. Nichols only shoots 8.3-percent from three-point range, and Jones just got back from a suspension, so I don’t see Underwood starting him.
Underwood needs to do something about the offense before it’s too late, but until then, we will wait and see what the coaching staff will do.