"No point guard" is the phrase that needs to be etched on the gravestone of another Illinois season that failed to capitalize on its roster talent.
A point guard is primarily defined by having a positive A/TO ratio. Some examples are Jahmir Young on Maryland (22.5 / 14.8 ) A/TO rate, Jalen Pickett on PSU (40.4/12.5), Boo Buie on NW (31.4/15.0), and AJ Hoggard on MSU (39.2/18.2). (Guess who's still alive in the tournament. You can get away with a mediocre PG if you have Zach Edey, but I bet Purdue doesn't get too far nonetheless.) Nobody on Illinois had an assist rate over 20 and TSJ was the only one with a positive A/TO ratio (17.7/17.2)
Point guards provide on-court leadership and actually run your offense. Those are two things that we missed all year.
Lack of a point guard is largely what doomed the Weber and Groce eras. Aside from Demetri McCamey, Weber didn't recruit a real PG and so the other talent he did get failed to reach its potential.
John Groce totally failed to get a PG (Jaylon Tate, Te'Jon Lucas) and never went anywhere.
Underwood at least tried to get talented PGs. Many of his have left the program. The better solution appears to be finding a veteran PG who has succeeded at the mid-major level and is ready to step up to the high-majors. Failing that, at least try to find someone without an obnoxious father that will force a transfer at the first sign of adversity. You don't need flashy passes, you need someone who will deliver more assists than turnovers.
There are other things that can be debated, but that's the story of the season in a nutshell. This is the easiest fix for next season if you want a better result.
A point guard is primarily defined by having a positive A/TO ratio. Some examples are Jahmir Young on Maryland (22.5 / 14.8 ) A/TO rate, Jalen Pickett on PSU (40.4/12.5), Boo Buie on NW (31.4/15.0), and AJ Hoggard on MSU (39.2/18.2). (Guess who's still alive in the tournament. You can get away with a mediocre PG if you have Zach Edey, but I bet Purdue doesn't get too far nonetheless.) Nobody on Illinois had an assist rate over 20 and TSJ was the only one with a positive A/TO ratio (17.7/17.2)
Point guards provide on-court leadership and actually run your offense. Those are two things that we missed all year.
Lack of a point guard is largely what doomed the Weber and Groce eras. Aside from Demetri McCamey, Weber didn't recruit a real PG and so the other talent he did get failed to reach its potential.
John Groce totally failed to get a PG (Jaylon Tate, Te'Jon Lucas) and never went anywhere.
Underwood at least tried to get talented PGs. Many of his have left the program. The better solution appears to be finding a veteran PG who has succeeded at the mid-major level and is ready to step up to the high-majors. Failing that, at least try to find someone without an obnoxious father that will force a transfer at the first sign of adversity. You don't need flashy passes, you need someone who will deliver more assists than turnovers.
There are other things that can be debated, but that's the story of the season in a nutshell. This is the easiest fix for next season if you want a better result.
