Big Ten Basketball: Buy or sell Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan State?
Illinois: Buy – Blue Chip
Unlike the Michigan State take, saying Illinois Basketball is not just a buy candidate after their 84-68 loss to Purdue, but they are a Blue Chip stock, is indeed a hot take.. With the loss to Purdue behind them, the talented Fighting Illini squad can look toward ending the season on a seven-game winning streak, finish second in the Big Ten regular-season and end up playing Purdue for the third time this season in the Big Ten Tournament Finals.
The Illinois/Purdue result is more of a comment on how elite Purdue is rather than a comment on what Illinois may be lacking, and there should be no doubt that Illinois does lack in certain areas. The most glaring aspect of the Fighting Illini is that they are a completely different team when star center Kofi Cockburn is not on the floor. Whether it is Omar Payne or Luke Goode posting up on the block they are nowhere the threat Cockburn is.
The unfortunate by-product of having no post presence is that the perimeter defenders are not forced to double down on the block, thus making it difficult for Alfonso Plummer to connect on his average of three attempts from beyond the arc, and likewise for Jacob Grandison and Trent Frazier to make more than two three-pointers per game.
When all is said and done, Head Coach Brad Underwood has a nicely constructed team that consists of depth and versatility. With Andre Curbello at point guard and Alfonso Plummer extending the key in the backcourt along with Trent Frazier who is capable of playing either of those positions. They also feature a frontcourt that features the shooting of Grandison, the hustle of Coleman Hawkins, and of course, they do have Kofi Cockburn who will compensate for a lot of shortcomings the team may have.
After a loss to Purdue, it is clear that Illinois is not the top team in the nation, so their stock may be down slightly, but it will continue to rise as their toughest games remaining are Michigan and Michigan State on the road.
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A 17-3 regular-season record and a trip to the Big Ten finals will firmly have Illinois behind Purdue, but at the time of writing this, there are just three teams ahead of Purdue according to the NET and KenPom and two in the AP Poll. Buy on the Fighting Illini and see who they play in the Elite Eight before you think of selling.