Illinois Basketball Guard to Return from Injury

Illinois Basketball Guard to Return from Injury

Illinois Basketball guard, Niccolo Moretti, injured his foot during a game against Southern on November 19th. Moretti was starting to settle into a nice role off the bench. Despite his small stature, Moretti is arguably the only true point guard on this roster. He has an outstanding feel and is probably the best at organizing the half-court offense. Though he needs to show it against Big Ten competition, Moretti projected as a nice change of pace for the Illinois Basketball squad. Unfortunately, Moretti hurt his foot pretty badly during that game against Southern. He was seen in a boot for the past month, however, Brad Underwood has announced that Moretti is cleared to play.

Moretti will be in uniform this Sunday vs Maryland, however, it will be pretty unlikely to see the Italian point guard on the floor. Moretti will hopefully get his “sea legs” underneath him for a week or two and play in spot minutes if possible.

Depth piece

I do think that Nico could benefit the team. With Terrence Shannon out of the roster, Illinois basketball needs some players who can create in the half-court. Without Shannon Jr, the onus sometimes falls too much on Marcus Domask and Coleman Hawkins. Both have improved their games significantly in this regard, however, there have been stretches in the past few games where the offense has fallen stagnant. Nico Moretti could provide that spark when needed. Moretti could benefit from some spot minutes against some of the less physical teams in the conference. Teams like Michigan, Nebraska and Northwestern could be games to circle for the young guard to get some spot minutes.

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