Illinois Basketball: 4 observations from the Illini win over Rutgers
4. Illinois is sneaky deep
I kind of touched on this in the last slide, but the depth Illinois brings to the table is pretty impressive. It has been a long time since I have seen this kind of quality depth on the Illini roster.
Illinois’ starting lineup has been set for pretty much two months now. Ayo Dosunmu, Kofi Cockburn, Adam Miller and Trent Frazier have been the solid starters for all of the season. Jacob Grandison carved his role into the starting rotation and is now a permanent fixture.
But the bench is, arguably, the most important role Illinois has on the team. Without the bench, this program is not nearly as good as they are right now. The talent of the bench really came through against Rutgers as well.
Da’Monte Williams led the way for the Illini bench. He ended the night with 9 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist. He hit 2-of-4 from the field and they were all three-point attempts. I have been impressed with Williams’ ability to realize that he is a better option for Illinois coming off the bench, as he was replaced in the starting lineup by Grandison. The ability for Williams to accept his role was huge for the Illini.
Illinois’ freshman sensation Andre Curbelo has been huge off the bench as well. He ended the Rutgers game with 7 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist. This wasn’t his best game, though, only going 2-of-8 from the field. Don’t let the average stat line fool you, this kid is not going to be average. He will be a first-team All-Big Ten point guard at Illinois.
Giorgi Bezhanishvili has also been a big piece to the puzzle for the Illini this season. He played 10 minutes against Rutgers on Friday night, but it was a big 10 minutes considering how well he played on the defensive end. Giorgi would finish with 2 points and 3 rebounds, but his defensive prowess and communication doesn’t show up on paper.
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The bench for Illinois is playing so well, and just imagine if we had Austin Hutcherson right now. This team would be unstoppable. If the bench can keep being this impactful in every game, then the sky is the limit for the Orange and Blue.