Tyrese Martin is key

[Huskyfan4evr]

I really think Tyrese is key to the teams success in the coming weeks. Really need him to start hitting a couple 3's a game again and getting 8-10 points. He rebounds and defends well but since the return of Bouk hasnt been as involved offensively. Really need him to produce for the team to take the next step IMO. Is he injured or just fatigue? He looks slower to me.

 

[Mooch82]

I really think Tyrese is key to the teams success in the coming weeks. Really need him to start hitting a couple 3's a game again and getting 8-10 points. He rebounds and defends well but since the return of Bouk hasnt been as involved offensively. Really need him to produce for the team to take the next step IMO. Is he injured or just fatigue? He looks slower to me.

I was actually going to start a thread on him and then saw this one. Agree 100%. I'm starting to get a little concerned about Tyrese. He played great in Bouk's first game back against Providence, but has really struggled offensively in the last 4 games (including 0-9 from 3). Didn't score a point last night. I think we all agree that his 3P% was going to regress to the mean a bit, but his recent attempts haven't even been close.

Would like to see him start going to the basket a little more and get some easy buckets. Don't shoot any 3's except for wide open ones so he can watch one or two go in and get his confidence back. If we are going to make a run, we really need one of Martin or Polley to be a legit scoring threat every game. Last night we were lucky enough to win without either of them scoring because both Sanogo and Whaley had nice scoring games, but that's the first time all season we've seen that. Wouldn't expect it much going forward, so Martin or Polley need to step up. Martin has the type of game where his floor should technically be high, but he's been really off the last few.

 

[mauconnfan]

Martin stepped up on D, drove Cale nuts and anyone else he helped on. Had a couple tough boards too which led to points. Would love to see points out of him but he was a big part of the win last night no matter.

 

[Palatine]

We won by double digits.

Martin played the game he needed to play. Good defense, 6 boards, a couple of assists. Didn't force anything on offense. Sometimes all he needs to be is a good teammate.

 

[Mooch82]

Martin stepped up on D, drove Cale nuts and anyone else he helped on. Had a couple tough boards too which led to points. Would love to see points out of him but he was a big part of the win last night no matter.

Not saying he didn’t contribute - he certainly did. But this is a guy who had been our best, most consistent offensive player when Bouk was out. He’s just been off the last few games on that side of the ball and I’d like to see him get that back before the NCAAT rolls around.

 

[McLovin]

If Martin continues to be offensive options #3 or #4 we are going to do really well this month. We need Bouk and Cole to be options #1 and #2. If Martin is supposed to be option #1 or #2, something went terribly wrong. As long as he gives us D and rebounding, anything on the offensive end will be a bonus.

 

[MDHuskFan]

Tyrese seems to be doing what good players do. He’s struggled scoring the ball, but found a variety of other ways to put his prints on the game. Essentially, he’s what we ask/get frustrated with regarding Polley when Polley isn’t hitting.

 

[ConnEd]

If Martin continues to be offensive options #3 or #4 we are going to do really well this month. We need Bouk and Cole to be options #1 and #2. If Martin is supposed to be option #1 or #2, something went terribly wrong. As long as he gives us D and rebounding, anything on the offensive end will be a bonus.

I think Sanogo is option #3 on offense, and I like that he gives them a real option on the block. When they've had a dry spell, he can get them a high percentage look just to get some points on the board.

That said, I agree with the OP. We'll be much better off if Martin can find his offense again especially with some aggressive drives to the hoop. He may not put up 14 pts/gm again, but 8 or so would make a real difference. I think a lot of that will depend on matchups though. There will be games where he has a favorable matchup and can put up double digit points.

 

[Lefty2one]

Martin is a big piece, obviously, but how far this team goes is largely going to depend on Cole.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

I like that he’s still enthused and into the games despite his offensive struggles. At the end he let Whaley get the last rebound to complete his double-double and yelled “That’s 10!” or something along those lines, and was genuinely happy for IW. Shows how good our team environment is.

 

[WrenchFan69]

Great teammate. At the very end he was yelling about Whaley's 10th rebound which I liked

 

[bendm]

martin is the kind of player other teams have nightmares about. his contributions aren't always captured in the box score.

 

[Dove]

I really think Tyrese is key to the teams success in the coming weeks. Really need him to start hitting a couple 3's a game again and getting 8-10 points. He rebounds and defends well but since the return of Bouk hasnt been as involved offensively. Really need him to produce for the team to take the next step IMO. Is he injured or just fatigue? He looks slower to me.

Tyrese is the motor on the court. If he ain't scoring then we benefit with his boards and defense. He literally can do no wrong.

LOVE this kid. Never quits. never.

 

[Spaceman213J]

You can see he doesn't have a lot of confidence in his shot right now. He seems very hesitant to put up a 3.

The team can win without him scoring much (as long as he doing the other things that he does so well), but it would make it much easier on Bouk and RJ. They have a few other guys who can have 'a night' any game.... like Sanogo, Whaley and a little less likely Gaff.

I just think of '99 and Ricky going off in the first half, which covered El-Amin struggles and foul trouble against Duke.

Anyways, I think Martin will shoot his way out of it.

 

[formerlurker]

We won by double digits.

Martin played the game he needed to play. Good defense, 6 boards, a couple of assists. Didn't force anything on offense. Sometimes all he needs to be is a good teammate.

This post should be the end of any Tyrese bashing. When did it become a thing that we had to find something/someone to bitch about after a big win?

 

[olehead]

We won by double digits.

Martin played the game he needed to play. Good defense, 6 boards, a couple of assists. Didn't force anything on offense. Sometimes all he needs to be is a good teammate.

Amen to this.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Martin isn’t a spot up 3 pointer type. Hard for him to operate in the paint with Bouk and 2 bigs on the floor. This lineup is working now but when we play high level teams I really hope we may go with a small ball lineup to open up the paint.

 

[IllinoisHuskie]

This can be attributed to Cole and Sanogo looking to shoot more and Bouknight‘s return. Just so many possessions per game. This may also be impacting Polley’s scoring. Not necessarily a bad thing so long as someone steps up each game.

 

[UCLJ0211]

The beauty of this team is our depth. We’ve had 6 different players as our highest scorer in a game this year. My point is, some games Martin may not be the guy. Some players also just match up better against certain opponents and have more opportunities to score.

 

[AntG168]

Mark my words, Tyrese Martin is going to make a massive play to save our season in the tourney. Whether it be an offensive rebound, a block, a steal, or drawing a charge. He’s going to save our arse at some point

 

[SugarHillGang]

A couple of games ago one of the announcers said of Martin “every team needs that Junk Yard Dog”. Perfect assessment!