Scouting Report: Illinois State Redbirds

Antonio Reeves has scored 689 points and shot 110-267 (41.2%) from three-point range since coming to play at Kentucky. Why is that relevant to this scouting report? Well, the Illinois State Redbirds were Reeves’ first collegiate stop. He scored 1,195 points in his three seasons there in Normal, Illinois finishing his stay as the 2021-2022 Missouri Valley Most Improved Player. Reeves wasted no time seamlessly making the transition to high-major basketball. After finishing second in the Missouri Valley averaging 20.1 points per game as a junior, Reeves finished second in the Southeastern Conference averaging 18.3 points per game as a senior. Now, in his fifth season of college basketball, he is the leading scorer for arguably the best offense in the country.

The Redbirds have largely sputtered as a program over the last six or seven years. They haven’t finished above .500 since going 17-16 in 2018-2019. However, they appear to be turning a bit of a corner in year two under head coach Ryan Pedon. Coach Pedon was a long-time assistant for Coach Chris Holtmann having spent time on his staff both at Butler and Ohio State before taking over the Illinois State program. He went just 11-21 in year one, including a 6-14 mark in the MVC, but has the Redbirds off to a 2-0 start in the league and an 8-4 overall record this season.

Controlling the tempo and locking up defensively has been the recipe for success so far. In fact, Illinois State has really struggled offensively. Their offensive efficiency ranks 288th nationally per KenPom and the Redbirds have shot just 27.7% from three-point range against Division I opponents which is nearly the worst percentage in the country. That level of poor shooting has led to a couple of offensive clunkers, but for the most part this team has been finding a way to win. Some of those struggles should turn around too as shooters progress to their career mean. There is no denying that Kentucky will have significantly more fire power on Friday night at Rupp Arena. However, this is a well-coached team that will have a good plan in place defensively.

As always, we have prepared a full, in-depth scouting report for Kentucky’s latest opponent. We will take a deep dive into the Redbirds’ personnel, break down their offensive and defensive schemes, and highlight the keys to the game for the ‘Cats. Let’s dive in and get to know more about the Illinois State Redbirds.

Illinois State Redbirds Personnel

Starters

#3 Dalton Banks: 6’2″ 190 lbs, Senior Guard

10.9 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.7 apg

Primary ball handler. Very capable shooter. 16-43 from 3 (37.2%). You need to go OVER the ballscreens and handoffs. CHASE him off of downscreens and get OVER the flares. They will set a ton of ballscreens for him. Be willing to switch in order to keep a guy on a guy. Need to play him as straight up as possible. Good shooter, but aggressive as a right hand driver. No right hand drives! Very good in the midrange. Will look to get all of the way to the rim going right or shoot the pull-up going left. Give it a hard contest. Physical at the end of his drives. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. Don’t over help on his drives, especially if he is driving it left. Make him finish contest 2’s outside of the paint. No 3’s behind the ballscreen. No right hand drives.

Darius Burford: 6’0″ 175 lbs, Senior Guard

13.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.4 apg

Athletic, aggressive guard. Leading scorer. Very willing shooter, but low percentage. Just 9-40 (22.5%) this season. You can hop underneath the ballscreens and handoffs. More worried about his as a right hand driver than as a shooter. We will adjust if he makes a couple. No right hand drives!!! Closeout with high hands to deter the obvious catch and shoot, but closeout short to stay between him and the basket. Will share some of the ball handling duties. Pushes it hard in transition. You have to get the ball stopped. Looking to attack off of the dribble to his right. Not thinking about passing when he drives it. You can look for opportunities to come take it off of him when he is driving it right. 15 assists, 19 turnovers. Make him score over you. Contest everything. No right hand drives!

#1 Malachi Poindexter: 6’3″ 190 lbs, Senior Guard

7.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.5 apg

Skilled wing. Capable shooter. Shooting a low percentage this season, 11-46 (23.9%), but was 37.7% last season on 130 attempts. You need to be there to give a hard contest to the obvious catch-and-shoot 3’s. No catch-and-shoot 3’s! Get over the ballscreens. Chase him off of downscreens and get over the flares. Need to play him as straight up as possible. Capable shooter, but aggressive as a right hand driver. No right hand drives! Very good in the midrange. Will look to get all of the way to the rim going right or shoot the pull-up going left. Give it a hard contest. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. Don’t over help on his drives, especially if he is driving it left. Good passer. Make him finish contest 2’s outside of the paint.

#22 Kendall Lewis: 6’8″ 210 lbs, Fifth Year Forward

8.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 0.9 apg

Strong, athletic forward. Looking to ballscreen or handoff and roll to the basket from the perimeter. Not really looking to shoot it from 3. You can closeout short to him on the perimeter and play a step or two off of him to guard against the right hand drive. No right hand drives! Just be close enough to switch onto a guard and deter the jump shot as they come off. Likes to drive it hard to his right from the perimeter, elbows, or when facing up off of the block. He is physical at the end of his drives. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. Always shot faking and pivoting around to come back and score it with his right hand. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Will face-up to drive it right when he catches it further off of the block. Box out!

#4 Myles Foster: 6’7″ 235 lbs, Senior Forward

9.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.3 apg

Lefty forward. He is a non-shooter. Anytime he is on the perimeter it is to receive a backscreen or ballscreen and roll to the basket. Give ground and stay lower than him on the roll. Don’t over help off of him at the rim or on the roll. Very physical inside. Left hand, right shoulder. Do your work early and push him off of the block. His percentages will go down the further off of the block you make him catch it. Loves to shot fake and pivot around the basket to come back and finish with his left hand. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. Will shoot the face-up jumper some off of the block. Give it a contest. No left hand drives. Anytime he goes right it is to set you up to come back left. Excellent offensive rebounder. Box out!

Bench

#11 Johnny Kinziger: 5’11” 165 lbs, Freshman Guard

7.3 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 1.1 apg

Backup point guard. Shooter! No 3’s! 34 of 59 shots have been 3’s. 44.1%. You need to go OVER the ballscreens and handoffs. CHASE him off of downscreens and get OVER the flares. If you get screened hard be willing to SWITCH in order to get out and take him away from 3. If you switch on to him you have to switch OUT aggressively to take him away from 3. Pressure him out on the perimeter. Make him turn it over. 13 assists to 14 turnovers. He is looking to drive it right when you take him away from 3. Move your feet, stay with him, and make him finish over you. Don’t bail him out by over helping and giving up an easy kick out or fouling. Make him finish a contested 2 over you. Better passer and free throw shooter than finisher. No 3’s!

#0 Luke Kasubke: 6’5″ 190 lbs, Senior Guard

4.2 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 0.8 apg

Backup guard/wing. Will end up playing the 4 some when they go small. SHOOTER!!! NO 3’s!!! 32 of 45 shots have been 3’s. Shooting a much better percentage from 3 than he is from 2. You need to be tight to him at all times on the perimeter to take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s. Tighten up to him as the ball is driven towards you. CHASE him off of downscreens and get OVER the flares. Be very willing to switch if he ballscreens or anytime there is too much space to get out and take him away from 3. If you switch you are switching out aggressively to take him away from 3. He will look to drive it right once you take him away from 3. Again, we are not as worried about him from 2 as we are from 3. No catch-and-shoot 3’s!

#12 Brandon Lieb: 7’1″ 230 lbs, Senior Center

4.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 0.6 apg

Backup 5-man. Will rim run hard in transition. Ballscreens or handoffs and rolls to the basket. They will throw it up to him on the roll some. Give ground at the point of the screen and stay lower than him. Don’t over help off of him on the roll or help up off of him at the rim and give up an easy dunk. Be physical with him inside. Do your work early and push him off of the block. His percentages will go down the further off of the block you make him catch it. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. Be physical and get a body on him when the shot goes up. Carve out space so he can’t tip it out and keep the ball alive. Looking to duck you in. No deep post catches.

#5 Jordan Davis: 6’4″ 200 lbs, Senior Guard

2.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 0.4 apg

Backup guard that can swing to the 4 in smaller lineups due to his strength and physicality. Very willing shooter! 21 of his 29 shots have been 3’s. Nearly two-thirds of his career field goal attempts have been 3’s, but he has never been high percentage. You still need to be there though to give a hard contest to the obvious catch-and-shoot 3’s. When you take away the initial catch-and-shoot he will look to drive it right some. Physical right hand driver. He will look to attack to his right off of the throw ahead in transition some. Get all the way back and be physical. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. Play him straight up on the perimeter. No obvious, uncontested catch-and-shoot 3’s.

Illinois State Redbirds Offense

As we’ve discussed already, the Illinois State Redbirds have struggled offensively this season. They have been downright awful from three-point range and have turned the ball over a lot despite playing at a deliberate pace. Those areas play into the teeth of Kentucky’s defense as well. The ‘Cats have held opponents to 32.2% shooting from deep and are forcing turnovers 19.5% of possessions. We should be able to turn up the pressure on the Redbirds and create some easy scoring opportunities via turnovers. Structurally, Illinois State sets a lot of ballscreens and will run 4-around-1 Motion in the half court. Be prepared to guard multiple ballscreens on each possession. Go OVER when guarding #3 or #11, otherwise hop underneath.

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Here is a good look at a typical half court possession from the Illinois State Redbirds. Good defense on the initial ballscreen containing the ball handler and recovering to #4 Foster on the roll. On the second ballscreen you just have to keep #3 Banks driving it to his left. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. In this clip the defender was too upright and ended up biting on the little hesitation at the end. That allowed Banks to settle and come back to finish to his right hand essentially uncontested. Go over the ballscreens and make him finish non-paint 2’s.

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They don’t go to him a ton inside, but #4 Foster is a crafty scorer when he has time with his back to the basket. You have to be ready for him to keep the handoff like this and turn his drive into a post move. Remember that anytime he is going right it is only to set up his moving coming back left. We need to be more active defensively stunting and faking at him from the perimeter to not let him dribble it so comfortably this many times. Then, inside, you have to stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. He is always coming back left to finish!

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Coach Pedon does have some effective half court quick-hitters in his playbook that he can use when the Illinois State Redbirds really need a bucket. They do a good job of disguising them with early movement within their Motion so we may not be able to call them out. You need to be disciplined and concentrate to the personnel specific scout in order to execute properly. This is a really good set play to get #1 Poindexter an open look from 3. Yes, he is shooting a very low percentage from 3 this season, but he was very good last year on a much higher sample. We need to be a little tighter to him than this and be able to stay more attached when he is coming off of that pindown screen.

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#12 Lieb can be effective on the roll because they can throw it so high to him at 7’1″. We want to go under the ballscreens set for #10 Burford to start the game, but it is hard to get under that second one when they set it twice. You can always switch the second downhill ballscreen to keep a guy on a guy. However, the help defense needed to be more in to the midline here to take away the roll as well. There was no reason for the defender guarding #22 not to be closer to the rim in order to wall up and be in the way. You can even try to see it coming and go make a play on the ball to steal it. Be MORE in help when you are on the weak side especially against these guys that aren’t great shooters.

Illinois State Redbirds Defense

Regardless of the strength of schedule you don’t go 8-4 and win two Missouri Valley games by accident. The Illinois State Redbirds have been able to find some success defensively by staying in front of the ball with some pack line principles. They are exclusively a man-to-man team and will look to keep a guy on a guy at all times by being very willing to switch. Their starting five are all very switchable defensively. That allows them to contain the dribble drive and be in position to contest every shot from the perimeter. We must be ready to swing the ball multiple times to shift the defense and then make a second move on the dribble drive to try and attract some help. Ultimately a lack of rim protection should allow us to finish inside consistently.

Keys to the Game

• Guard the ballscreens. There will usually be multiple on each possession. Remember that they aren’t a good three-point shooting team. We can go under all of the ballscreens besides those set for #3 and #11. Even with those guys if you hop under with urgency we will probably be okay. Stay in front of the ball off of the dribble!
• Go score 80. We must maintain the attacking mentality offensively. Illinois State is sound defensively and will have a good play. They will try to contain the drive and stay with shooters by switching some. Quick ball reversals and second moves off of the dribble will be needed. Have some patience, but then be aggressive when the opportunity comes.
• Dominant the glass. The Redbirds have been good on the defensive glass, but we have the clear size and athleticism advantage. Should be 77% or better defensive rebounding.
• Shoot 75% or better from the free throw line.