Illinois Basketball: Less is more for Illini guard Ayo Dosunmu

Ayo Dosunmu is the best player on the Illinois basketball team, and there is no disputing that fact.

With great handles and the ability to lead a team, the Chicago native has Illinois in a position to play in an NCAA tournament game in 2021. His 21.7 points and 4.9 assists per game lead the Illini this season, and his 6.3 rebounds per game are only second to big man Kofi Cockburn.

Ayo can really fill up the stat sheet, especially in the scoring department. He is averaging that 21.7 points per game while shooting 49-percent from the field and 38.5-percent from three-point range, both of which are improvements from last season.

But, while it is fun seeing a member of the Illinois basketball team average over 20 points in each game, is it best for the team?

Ayo has put the Illini on his back multiple times during his nearly three-year career. I don’t want someone to read this and think that I don’t like Ayo or think that I am saying he isn’t good. What I am saying is Illinois works better when Ayo gets his teammates involved in the game.

I believe it is less is more with the Illini guard.

Through 15 games this season, Illinois sits with a record of 10-5 overall. That is a solid start and one that has us pointing toward the postseason. But when you break down the numbers, it is clear that the fewer times Ayo shoots the ball per game, the more success the Illini have on the basketball court.

When Ayo shoots the ball 16 or more times per game, Illinois has a record of 4-5 this season. Some of the more notable losses include Missouri where he shot the ball 20 times. He put up 20 shots in the Rutgers loss as well. In the Maryland game nearly two weeks ago, Ayo shot the ball 23 times and Illinois lost by three points.

There were four wins for Illinois when Ayo shot at least 16 times per game. But one of those wins was a struggle against a, now, 7-6 Ohio Bobcats program. So, even with a game where Illinois won and Ayo’s shot volume was at 16 or more, it was a struggle getting to the finish line.

On the flip side, when Ayo shoots the ball 15 times or less in a game, the Illini hold a 6-0 record. Four out of the six games came against Big Ten opponents, and one of the other two was against Duke on the road.

I wanted to look a little deeper at the shooting totals because maybe Illinois was shooting a high volume in a certain game when Ayo was putting up a lot of shots. So, I looked at the number of shots Ayo took each game compared to the team’s total as a percentage.

When Ayo shoots at least 30-percent of the total team shots in a game, Illinois is 2-4 this season. The only two wins coming against Ohio and Indiana. We about lost to the Bobcats and were losing to the Hoosiers with less than 10 minutes to go in the game.

Now, when Ayo is shooting 29.9-percent or less of the total team shots in a game, the Illini are 8-1 this season. The only loss for the Orange and Blue when he shoots under 30-percent of the team’s shots was just two games ago against Ohio State. I am not sure any team in the country was beating the Buckeyes on that night.

This doesn’t mean Ayo is a bad shooter. He’s actually a very good shooter. But I look at this more as a LeBron James mindset. LeBron can put up 50 points on any given night, but that doesn’t mean his team is going to win. When he gets his teammates involved and each player is finding their role in the game, that is when his teams have the most success.

That is what I believe is the case with Ayo. Illinois has a ton of talent around the superstar. While Ayo can drop 30 points on any given night, the team runs better when he is being a leader by getting his teammates involved in the game. When Da’Monte Williams and Adam Miller can step into three-pointers. When Kofi Cockburn can get in a groove in the paint. When Giorgi Bezhanishvili can get going with his baby-hook. That is when this team is rocking.

So, while Ayo is a great player and will go down as one of the best to ever put on an Illinois jersey, I believe the key to success this season for the program is less is more. Illinois runs better when Ayo’s shots are down and the rest of the team is being active. If this happens the rest of the way out, there is no telling how far the Illini can go this season.