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Illinois Basketball: 3 areas of improvement entering the 2021-22 season

By Rees Woodcock

Feb 2, 2021; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Andre Curbelo (5) high fives Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood (L) during the second half against the Indiana Hoosiers at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 2, 2021; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Andre Curbelo (5) high fives Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood (L) during the second half against the Indiana Hoosiers at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports /
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INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – MARCH 21: Andre Curbelo #5 of the Illinois Fighting Illini lays on the ground after a play against the Loyola Chicago Ramblers during the first half in the second round game of the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on March 21, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

3. Fouls Per Game

Giving up points at the free throw line is always painful to watch. Illinois basketball wasn’t good last season when it came to fouling the other team, and this enabled opposing players to get shots at the charity stripe.

During the 2020-21 campaign, Illinois was in the bottom half of college basketball in fouling. They were averaging 17.7 fouls per game, which ranked No. 194 in the nation. Due to the high number of fouls, their opponents were able to get to the free throw line and attempt 18.2 free throws per game, which ranked No. 172 in the country.

Illinois was giving away too many points at the foul line. The biggest culprit of fouling was then-freshman, Andre Curbelo.

I think many of us can agree that Curbelo was a little wild to start his Illinois career. He had a lot of energy, and that energy caused some bad fouls. But he has a full year under his belt, so I assume his fouls will plateau even with increased minutes for the upcoming campaign.

Another bad fouler was Adam Miller. He averaged 2.3 fouls in just 25.5 minutes of action. Those fouls are now off the board for the Illini. Giorgi Bezhanishvili also left the program, and he averaged 1.8 fouls in 14.5 minutes of action.

Next. 4 observations from the Illini loss to Purdue. dark

Departures from the program will help with the foul situation, and I believe experience will also help lower the number of fouls per game. If Illinois could pull back on the fouls for the upcoming season, opposing teams won’t score as many points. This should lead to more victories.

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