Illinois Basketball: 4 observations from the Illini win over Jackson State

4. Layers of offensive threats

I have drooled over the Illinois defense and how they looked so far in the preseason and against Jackson State. But let’s not get things mixed up, the Illinois basketball team has an amazing offense with multiple layers of offensive threats.

Illinois’ starters are eventually going to be something like Andre Curbelo, Trent Frazier, Da’Monte Williams, Jacob Grandison, and Kofi Cockburn.

The first layer of scoring is coming from Frazier, who can hit three-point shots from anywhere on the arc. Curbelo has amazing touch from 10 feet and in. He can also get to the basket with ease. And Kofi’s offensive prowess speaks for itself. He is just a dominant player.

We got to see the other two starters, Williams and Grandison, play on Tuesday night. Williams didn’t have a good night but still managed eight points. We saw what Williams could do last season by being one of the most efficient three-point shooters in the country.

Grandison balled out against Jackson State. He ended the game with 20 points while going 7-of-10 from the field and 2-of-4 from three-point range. Ayo Dosunmu departed the program and so did his offensive production. Grandison might be the answer to make up for the missing points.

That is just the first layer of offensive threats for the Illini. We got to see the second and third layers perform against Jackson State.

When Curbelo wants to take a rest, we can have Frazier move over with his three-point shooting abilities. Williams took over the No. 1 guard duties for most of the night on Tuesday. He can score points at a high clip.

If Frazier needs a rest, Alfonso Plummer can come in and put up points. He scored nine points against Jackson state and was 3-of-7 from the field. Illinois has a nice stable of guards as well. Luke Goode had six points last night on 2-of-4 shooting from the field. Brandin Podziemski will come into his own as time goes on as well.

And then we have Coleman Hawkins. The 6-foot-10 beast who can play like a guard. He scored 13 points on 4-of-10 shooting. I am not sure how opposing teams are going to match up against Hawkins. He is a nightmare.

At the end of the night, Illinois had seven players score at least five points against Jackson State. That is with four players missing from the lineup. The fact we can score that many points with a big chunk of our roster missing shows you how many scoring threats we have on the team. Illinois is a program to be feared this year.