Illinois Basketball: Te'Jon Lucas Is the Way to Go at Point Guard
I firmly believe that numbers never lie and for the Illinois basketball team they can tell an interesting story as well.
My theory is that, to win the most games the Illini need to put the best players out on the basketball court they possibly can.
This means that if one player is better than the other at a position then that player should play more.
I feel like this isn’t that tough of a concept to grasp, but it seems like it is not happening with this current Illinois basketball team.
In the first six contests this season, Jaylon Tate has played in every game. He was receiving 25 minutes per game and in that time averaged 6 points, 2.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 2.3 turnovers per game.
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These aren’t horrific numbers, but for playing 25 minutes I expect more production or at least more efficient time on the floor.
Tate was only shooting 38.4-percent from the field in those six games as well. He isn’t known for his shooting, but an average this low is unacceptable.
But in the last five games for Tate, he has managed to have his numbers drop tremendously.
Tate’s minutes have almost been cut in half, which is good for the team. Just in the last five games, he has only averaged 14 minutes per game.
In the time Tate has received these last five games he has only averaged 1 point, 1.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.6 turnovers per game.
Tate also shot 25-percent from the field in the last five games as well.
The numbers have gone down for Tate, but his turnovers are still high for the little time he has received.
This is not what I expect out of a backup point guard and it has me puzzled on why Te’Jon Lucas is not playing ahead of Tate or at all for that matter.
Lucas only played in four of the six games to begin the season and he played fairly well. He was receiving 11 minutes per game, which isn’t terrible for a freshman.
In those 11 minutes, Lucas managed to put up 4 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, and 1.5 turnovers per game.
I know Lucas’ turnovers are a little high, but he can make up for those mistakes, which freshmen make, by scoring. He was shooting a perfect 100-percent from the field in those first six games as well.
And then you look at the last five games the Illini have played. Lucas has only played in four of those games and he is averaging 12 minutes per game.
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Lucas is receiving more playing time when he does play, but he didn’t even get a chance to see the floor this past game against Central Michigan.
In the 12 minutes Lucas averaged in the last five games, he is putting up 3.5 points, .75 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.25 turnovers per game.
Lucas has also been efficient shooting as well. His numbers did drop from 100-percent in the first six games to 54.5-percent from the field in the last five games.
If Lucas can continue shooting this well throughout the season then he will become a huge asset for the team.
It may seem like I am splitting hairs here because the numbers aren’t too far off, but I think you can tell who is better on the stat sheet and when they step foot on the court.
Lucas has not only averaged over three times more points that Tate in the last five games, but he also brings energy to the court that very few Illini players can match.
I don’t understand how Lucas isn’t getting more minutes than Tate every night and how John Groce leaves him on the bench some games.
This coaching decision just doesn’t make sense and, hopefully, it doesn’t bite the team down the road in Big Ten play.
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