Illinois Basketball: 4 observations from the Illini loss to Arizona

4. We are a Curbelo away from being dangerous

It is fun to watch some of the Illinois basketball players tear it up on the court. Alfonso Plummer has emerged as a leader. Trent Frazier is coming on strong. Kofi Cockburn is his dominant self.

I also like what Illinois has coming off the bench. Jacob Grandison is a sharpshooting sparkplug who can put up 20 points on any given night. Luke Goode is a young kid who hustles and does whatever it takes to win the game.

Despite all of that, there is one glaring issue in every game. That issue is the point guard role. Illinois has zero point guard on the floor right now, and it is killing the team.

We do have a point guard waiting in the wings, though. Andre Curbelo was looked at as one of the best point guards in the country coming into the season. He has been out with an undisclosed injury for the past few weeks, so Illinois has had to roll with a patchwork point guard game plan.

This game plan is the best we can do with what we have, but there is a clear deficiency at the position. When we bring the ball up the court, teams are playing full-court press. This has Illinois confused and we turn the ball over at times.

Last night against Arizona, Plummer had the ball around midcourt with time running down. He got called for a five-second violation, but with a point guard controlling the ball, that probably wouldn’t have happened. Plummer would have been running around the court trying to get open while Curbelo was dazzling us with his handles look for the right play.

Illinois needs Curbelo on the court, plain and simple. If we had him on Saturday night, that is an Illinois win. He can’t come back soon enough.