While we didn’t get to watch it on Sunday, Illinois basketball did manage to round out the trip to Spain with another win.
The victim this time around was the Catalonia All-Stars. This game sadly wasn’t streamed on Vimeo, but the Illini, who were down by four points after the first quarter, would switch gears and take control of the game.
A seven-point halftime lead would turn into a 21-point lead by the time the fourth quarter started. Illinois would then go on to an easy 103-69 victory over Catalonia.
Even though we didn’t get to watch the game, the box score says 1,000 words. Yes, it is that time. Let’s overanalyze a box score of a game I didn’t get to watch.
Here are five thoughts from the Illinois basketball box score against the Catalonia All-Stars
1. Niccolo Moretti might be our point guard
I was drooling over the performance Niccolo Moretti had against Valencia days ago. He was great with the basketball, and it was surprising how well-equipped he was on the court.
Seeing this type of performance in back-to-back games was needed, though. I wanted to see Moretti perform well against the Catalonia All-Stars, and according to the box score, he did.
Moretti would finish the game on Sunday morning with seven points and four assists on 3-of-5 shooting from the field, and he knocked down his lone three-point shot. I am also impressed that Moretti can lead Illinois in assists, and he only had one turnover in 20 minutes of action.
I saw someone pose the question, is Moretti the next Andre Curbelo? I can confidently say, no. Curbelo was good with the ball, but he was way too careless, and the turnovers canceled out the good he brought to the court.
Moretti isn’t careless. This kid has great handles, and his basketball mind is equally as impressive. In the last two games, he has had eight assists to just three turnovers. That is a 2.7 assist-to-turnover ratio. If you look at 2022-23 stats, that would have ranked No. 46 in the country, which is incredible.
2. I love to see efficient numbers for Ty Rodgers
This is a big year for many Illinois basketball players, but I would argue that it is the biggest year for Ty Rodgers. It is one of those seasons where you will tell what Rodgers is going to be at the college level.
Rodgers does nearly everything well on the basketball court. He had three assists, one block, and one steal in the game against Valencia. He can do a little bit of everything, and that is what Illinois needs.
But we also need someone who isn’t a liability on offense. Rodgers is still developing, but he wasn’t great offensively as a freshman, and there have been times I have worried about him during these exhibitions. That is why I am happy to see the numbers he put up against the Catalonia All-Stars.
Rodgers would have his usual box score-stuffing night with three assists, four rebounds, and a steal, but his offensive game seems to have been solid. He was 5-of-5 from the field and 3-of-4 from the free throw line.
Last season, Rodgers was a dreadful 38.7% from the charity stripe. It is extremely difficult to be that bad on free throws. But it looks like he may have practiced from the free throw line this offseason.
Through the last two games, Rodgers has now gone 6-of-8, 75%, from the free throw line. This is a massive improvement year-over-year, and in fact, he would be above the team average from last season, which was 68%. An improved Rodgers on the offensive end of the court is a dangerous Rodgers.
3. Could Amani Hansberry be a force in year one
Illinois had a lot of talent return to the roster from the 2022-23 campaign. Some of this talent returning was in the frontcourt.
The Illini have players like Coleman Hawkins and Dain Dainja who will be monsters in the paint with rebounds and around the rim. Illinois added some size in the offseason in the form of Amani Hansberry too.
Hansberry was a top 75 recruit who was a great get. He was the Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year, and the fact he picked Illinois was huge. But I wasn’t sure if he would make a big impact in year one due to the talent returning.
As time goes on, it seems to be clearer and clearer that Hansberry is going to make a pretty big impact on the team as a true freshman. He continues to put up big-time numbers in the exhibition games. Hansberry also seems to be a monster in the rebounding department.
In the game against Valencia, Hansberry played just 18 minutes and finished with 13 points, nine rebounds, and a block. He was 5-of-8 from the field as well. Hansberry’s encore performance was against the Catalonia All-Stars, and he didn’t disappoint.
Hansberry was clearly a force against Catalonia. In the 18 minutes on the court, he would finish with 19 points and 11 rebounds on 9-of-13 shooting from the field. The only issue I may have with Hansberry is his free throw shooting. He is just 4-of-10 in the last two games.
While I believe Hawkins is going to start at the No. 4 spot and Dainja at the No. 5, I think there is room for Hansberry to see a ton of minutes this season. I think he will be a force for the Illini in year one.
4. Coleman Hawkins has been working on the three-point shot
If you go back and read some of my brilliant work, you will see that I thought Coleman Hawkins was going to the NBA. I repeatedly said that he was going to declare, keep eligibility, and then stay in the draft process. He would have been a late second-round pick.
To my surprise, Hawkins pulled out of the draft process. He came back to Illinois for one more season. My belief, and it is speculation, is that scouts probably told Hawkins that his three-point shooting needed to improve, among other things.
Hawkins was a willing three-point shooter in 2022-23, as he attempted 132 three-pointers, which was third on the team. Sadly, he would only make 28% of his three-pointers, which ranked No. 7 on the team. For those keeping track at home, that is bad.
In the last two games against the Spanish teams, it seems clear that Hawkins was working on his three-point shooting over the past few months. He managed to go 1-of-2 against Valencia, and then he followed that up with a 3-of-6 performance on Sunday morning.
So, for the past two games, Hawkins has shot 4-of-8, 50%, from three-point range. I am not asking for that during the regular season, but if he can get anywhere near 40%, then Illinois is going to put a lot of wins on the board in 2023-24.
5. That is where I want our free throw percentage
The game of basketball is pretty simple on paper. Score more points than the other team and you win. That is why it is so frustrating when your team gets to shoot uncontested free shots, called free throws, and we can’t make them at least three out of four times.
Did you know, last season there were 363 DI basketball teams who suited up and competed to win a national title? Out of those 363 teams, Illinois ranked No. 309 in free throw shooting. That is right, we weren’t just bad from the charity stripe, we were one of the worst teams in all of college basketball.
Illinois would end up making just 67.9% of the free throws they attempted last season. If we wanted to win more games, that number would have to increase greatly in 2023-24.
Against Valencia, the free throw number was once again terrible. Illinois was 15-of-27 from the charity stripe, which comes out to a whopping 55.5%. That is incredibly bad. There was finally some improvement and clarity against the Catalonia All-Stars, though.
Led by Justin Harmon, who would go 3-of-3 from the free throw line, Illinois would hit 14-of-19 in the victory. That is 73.7%. The main bad free throw culprits were our big men, Dain Dainja and Amani Hansberry, who combined to go 2-of-6 on the day.
Overall, Illinois shot much better from the free throw line against Catalonia. This is a nice sight to see. Making free throws makes the game much easier. Let’s keep that number in the 70 percentile this season.