Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini win over Valparaiso

5. I hope this is an adjustment period for Quincy Guerrier

Illinois was able to do some good work in the transfer portal this past offseason. We landed multiple players, one of which was Quincy Guerrier.

The talented forward joined the Illinois program and was inserted into the starting lineup from day one. But it has not been an easy ride for Guerrier through four games.

On Friday night against Valparaiso, Guerrier continued to ride the struggle bus with two points, five rebounds, one block, one assist, and one turnover while going 1-of-7 from the floor and 0-of-5 from three-point range.

I am not mad at the shots Guerrier is taking either. Most of the time, he is spotted up in the corner for a wide-open three-point attempt, but they are just not going in for him right now.

This has been a trend for the 2023-24 season, though. Guerrier is now 1-of-13 from three-point range since joining the Illini, with his only make coming in the Oakland game. I know this kid can make the shots from deep, as he shot 34.7% from three-point range last season, but something is just not clicking for him yet.

My hope is that this is just an adjustment period for Guerrier. One day he is going to break out of the funk and start hitting his three-pointers. When that day happens, Illinois is going to have another huge weapon on offense. Until then, though, things look pretty ugly.