3. Illinois is an efficient team
Over the years, Illinois fans have been used to pretty inefficient basketball teams. We have had turnover problems in the past, and usually, they are during the first half of the season before the team starts clicking and gets their stuff together.
With essentially a new team this time around, I expected sloppy play by the Illini. I expected us to have a great deal of turnovers due to chemistry issues. That isn’t happening, though. In fact, this is one of the most efficient Illinois teams I have seen in a long time.
On Friday night, the Illini had five turnovers. That is a great number, but an even better number to pair with those five turnovers was the 21 assists for the program. That is a 4.2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
For the young season, Illinois now has a 2.06:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. That is good enough to rank No. 29 in the country. This is a much better number than in years past too.
Last season, Illinois finished with a 1.26:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, which ranked No. 99 in the country. The year before that, in the 2022-23 campaign, the Illini finished with a 0.96:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, which ranked No. 227 in the country.
What is the big difference? It is simple. Illinois finally has a point guard. Illinois has been missing a good point guard for years now. Ty Rodgers tried to fill that role last season, but he is a wing or forward at heart.
Kasparas Jakucionis is now in the building. The freshman sensation who is projected to be an NBA Draft pick is living up to his billing. He had a near triple-double on Friday night with 12 points, 13 assists, and eight rebounds. Jakucionis is going to have turnovers at times due to being creative, but he sees the floor incredibly well and gets Illinois into their offense. His ability to be a floor general is fantastic.