Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini win over Alabama A&M
It wasn’t the best-looking game of the season, but the Illinois basketball team managed to come out victorious against Alabama A&M.
This game didn’t feel right from the jump. The Illini would manage to get out to an early lead, but there was no flow to the game. It felt like the offense didn’t know exactly what to do on the court, and this showed with a lackluster offensive performance.
Alabama A&M would give us a scare midway through the second half, but Illinois would flip a switch and cruise to an easy win over the Bulldogs, 68-47.
Here are five observations from the Illinois basketball win over Alabama A&M.
1. Illinois wasn’t passing with a purpose
The Penn State loss was an ugly one, and in the week between that drubbing and the Alabama A&M game, there was clearly some coaching done in favor of a more team-oriented game.
I have said it before and I will say it again, there was way too much me-ball being played in that loss to the Nittany Lions. Everyone just wanted to get their own, and the Nittany Lions fed on that.
On Saturday against the Bulldogs, I believe Illinois actually overcorrected on the me-ball. We started passing the ball too much to the point there was no purpose for the passes. In my opinion, it just seemed that we were passing to appease the coaching staff.
There are only a couple of times I can remember Illinois passing in a set play or a screen. These passes had a purpose because the man should be in a certain spot, and that is where you throw the pass. But, for the vast majority of the Illini passing, the ball would just swing around the court and multiple open shooters would just continue to pass the ball.
Passing is a way to get a man open. You don’t continue passing if the ball comes to an open man for a good shot. With the number of passes Illinois made in the first 35 minutes of the game, you would have assumed we had 25 assists. That wasn’t the case at all, though. We ended the game with just nine assists.
Thankfully, Illinois broke out of that passive play and snapped back into a more takeover mentality. That saved the day and is the reason we won the game by 21 points.