Illinois Basketball: 4 big questions for the Illini against Indiana

4. How much leash will Curbelo get?

I love what Brad Underwood brings to the Illinois basketball program. He is a good coach and recruiter, and he has the Illini looking like one of the top teams in the college game.

Underwood goes by a prove-it-to-me mentality, and I love that with this team. He doesn’t just throw guys out on the court because they are more experienced, or they were a big-time recruit. The one example of this that I am noticing right now is with Andre Curbelo.

Curbelo was a highly touted recruit coming out of high school. He played well last season and you could see his potential for miles. But this year, Curbelo has missed a lot of time. This absence has hurt his time to gel with the rest of the team on the court.

Despite Curbelo finally being back and him being a good player, Underwood isn’t forcing him back into the lineup. In this past game against Wisconsin, Curbelo played just 11 minutes off the bench. Underwood had a short leash with Curbelo, and he wasn’t messing around.

On Saturday, I want to see how much leash Underwood is going to give Curbelo. I don’t see any reason why he should be starting right now considering we just knocked off the No. 11 team in the country. I am curious, though, will Curbelo start eating some starter minutes as time goes on? That is something to watch, especially against Indiana.