Tom Izzo says Illinois basketball looks more like an NBA Team

Illinois basketball will take on the Michigan State Spartans on Sunday, January 19th in East Lansing. So far, the Illini and Michigan State are the few teams in the Big Ten that have seemed to really separate themselves from the rest of the pack. Despite this, both teams are stylistically very different. Illinois basketball is a young, explosive team that loves to dice their opponents up in the pick-and-roll and use their skill to their advantage. On the other hand, Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans play a very rugged style of basketball. Both teams will certainly embrace the opportunity for a Quad- one victory in a very tight Big Ten race.

Before the showdown on Sunday, Izzo compared Illinois basketball to two NBA teams: the Celtics and the Lakers.

The Best team in the league?

Izzo also described the Illini as the “best team in the league”. As every coach does, the praise circles around freshman phenom, Kasparas Jakucionis. However, Izzo also gave some great praise to freshman Morez Johnson Jr. Johnson Jr., who has had an impressive freshman season thus far. In just 14.9 minutes per game, the freshman big man averages 5.8 ppg, 6.8 RPG, and 1.1 blocks per game. In that 6.8 rebounds per game are an impressive 2.6 offensive rebounds per game. Johnson Jr has also shown the ability to play alongside Tomislav Ivisic effectively. Against a physical team like Michigan State, Johnson Jr may prove to be the X-factor in a game that is huge for a place at the top of the Big Ten conference.

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