Having Kofi is great for winning a bunch of games in the B1G and then losing in the tourney to a team that can exploit the very weaknesses that keep him from being an NBA draft pick.
It just doesn’t matter if he can go for 20 and 10 every night with a ton of awesome dunks when he can’t pass out of the post effectively and can’t guard anyone mobile. His presence also necessitates a slowdown in both the half court and transition because so much of the offense runs though him.
I said it all of last season: Of the better teams in the nation, Illinois had one of the most traditionally constructed rosters.
If Illinois wants to compete for Final Fours/National titles we need elite guard play/three point shooting and mobile athletic bigs who can guard multiple positions without switching, protect the rim, rim run, and rebound to get the guards in a position to score in transition.
And at least one of them needs to be able to stretch the defense with the ability to shoot from deep. Giorgi and Kofi just weren’t those guys. Grandison could but he’s a liability in other areas. He’s a below the rim 3 playing the 4.
If we could add Garcia, we’d have Hawkins, Garcia, and Payne filling the roles of Kofi and Giorgi. And Grandison is back. Our guard play should be good to great next year but lack of length will be a problem unless the lengthy freshmen step up.
The key to the season might be getting something out of Hutcherson on the wing to help that out a little.
With Garcia next year’s team may not win as many games in the B1G, but would certainly have the ingredients for a deep tourney run.
I fucking loved watching Kofi play basketball for Illinois, but our blueprint should be what Baylor put on the floor this past year. I’m all in favor in continuing to move in that direction.
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