Illinois Basketball: Figuring out the Illini logic behind not starting Alan Griffin

The topic for many Illinois basketball fans is whether Alan Griffin should be in the starting lineup.

I believe most people believe this should be the case. But it might not be happening any time soon. According to Kedric Prince of Rivals.com, Griffin will continue to come off the bench for the Orange and Blue.

Griffin has been sensational for Illinois this season. He is coming off a freshman campaign where he only put up 2.8 points and 1.5 rebounds per contest, while only receiving 8.1 minutes in each of those games. The expectations weren’t terribly high this season, but you could always tell the talent was there. He has shown that talent to start his sophomore season.

Through 13 games he has played this year, Griffin is averaging 9 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. He is earning trust with the coaching staff, which is something they continue to look for with mainly just him. That trust has enabled Griffin to receive 16.5 minutes per game. I would assume that number increases as well.

On five different occasions, Griffin has dropped double-digit points, which includes the last two games where he has put up 18 and 17 points, respectively. I haven’t even mentioned his shooting efficiency. This kid is hitting shots at a clip of 50.6-percent from the field and 37.3-percent from three-point range. Those are really good numbers.

So, the question remains, why is Griffin not starting, and is that the right move for this team?

I think a lot of people would agree, the best five players Illinois has on the team are Ayo Dosunmu, Kofi Cockburn, Trent Frazier, Alan Griffin and then either Giorgi Bezhanishvili or Andres Feliz. We have six players that most fans like and think are quality contributors to the court.

What that means is, if we have five of those players start and only one player of quality coming off the bench, then we sub into the game, the play on the court will dramatically decrease. The other team will probably go on a run and this will kill any momentum for the Illini.

So, what I think Brad Underwood’s mindset is, if you sprinkle one of two players who aren’t solid contributors on the court into the mix, then when we bring in backups, we will have some talent off the bench. Here is the example below.

We have the starters Ayo (quality), Trent (quality), Da’Monte Williams (not quality), Giorgi (quality) and Kofi (quality). When it is time to substitute, Underwood then has Griffin (quality), Feliz (quality), Kipper Nichols (not quality) and Tevian Jones (not quality so far) off the bench. So, he can substitute quality for quality. But if Griffin was starting, he wouldn’t have that luxury. He would have all quality players on the floor with only one quality player to substitute.

This is the mindset and logic that I could come up with for not starting Griffin. Personally, I think the kid should start. But he has been receiving over 20 minutes each of the last two games, so I am not sure it matters much. All I want is wins, though, and I think Griffin is a huge piece in getting more on the board.