Writing Illini
Fansided

Illinois Basketball: 5 eye-popping improvements for the Illini

By Rees Woodcock

Dec 2, 2020; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili (15) and Illinois Fighting Illini guard Da'Monte Williams (20) celebrate a three point basket in the first half against the Baylor Bears at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 2, 2020; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili (15) and Illinois Fighting Illini guard Da'Monte Williams (20) celebrate a three point basket in the first half against the Baylor Bears at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 5
Next
Illinois basketball
Nov 26, 2020; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Andre Curbelo (5) looks to pass the ball during the first half against the Chicago State Cougars at the State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports /

Illinois basketball is on track to win a lot of games and be a top-four seed in the NCAA tournament.

The fact the Illini are so good isn’t a surprise to anyone. But to get to this point, there were some numbers that needed to improve. And, boy howdy, those numbers have taken a jump.

Here are five eye-popping improvements for the Illini.

1. Assists per game

Ball movement is crucial in developing a stellar offense. Illinois has learned this over the years, and that is why you see great improvement this season.

  • Year-by-year comparison

I think it is fair to say, Illinois wasn’t the best team in regards to ball movement in 2019-20. While the program had tremendous success, players weren’t setting other players up well.

Last season, Illinois only averaged 12.9 assists per game, which ranked No. 173 in the nation. The Illini have increased their assists dramatically this year, though. They are now averaging 17.5 assists per game, which ranks No. 17 in the nation.

Illinois ended up with 21 wins last season, but just imagine the heights the program could have achieved if there was more ball movement. I believe we are seeing a much-improved Illini bunch this year, but we have also seen stagnant offense at times due to lack of ball movement. This leads to droughts.

  • What has improved?

This is a two-pronged answer. The first answer is improvements by the players who were on the team last season.

Ayo Dosunmu, while he worked on his shot this offseason, is a more well-rounded player as a junior. He isn’t just focusing on getting his in the scoring department. Ayo averaged 3.3 assists per game last season and has bumped that number up to 5.0 assists per game in 2020-21.

I think you have to look at Trent Frazier as well. A natural scorer coming into the Illinois program, Frazier has developed his game to fit what the Illini need. Frazier went from averaging 1.9 assists per game in 2019-20 to 2.7 assists per game this season.

The second prong is the newcomers to the program, specifically Andre Curbelo. Curbelo is averaging 4.5 assists per game this season, which is more than any single player for the Illini last year. His presence for the Orange and Blue has been invaluable.

Home/Illinois Basketball