2. Give me a heavy dose of Tomislav Ivisic and Morez Johnson Jr.
I touched on paint defense in the last slide. This is going to be extremely important in beating Washington. A big part of this paint defense is our big men.
Tomislav Ivisic has had a great first season with the Illini. The combination of size and athletic ability is incredible. I have also been impressed with Morez Johnson Jr. He has a great defensive prowess and the ability to suck up rebounds.
So, I want to see these two on the court at the same time. Give me a heavy dose of Ivisic and Johnson, so we can get the victory.
As I mentioned in the last slide, Washington’s strength is the paint. The best player for the Huskies is Great Osobor. He is a 6-foot-8 forward who does his best work in the paint. Osobor is averaging 14.6 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 2.1 steals per game this season.
Washington’s second-leading scorer is Tyler Harris. While he is shooting 47.5% from three-point range this season, most of his work is done inside the three-point arc. The 6-foot-8 guard is a real threat.
Illinois is going to need a couple of big men to defend the paint and keep the ball away from the bucket. I think we are going to see Ivisic on Osobor quite a bit. He could not only defend Washington’s best player well, but Ivisic could also pull Osobor out with his threat to hit three-point shots. This will open the lane for Illinois’ guards to drive to the basket.