Pregame: Illinois vs Michigan State, Saturday, February 15th, 7:00pm CT, FOX

Mistakenj said:

Yup, he was a 5 star for reason. And, he has shown some incredible flashes. I get Jake “does what they ask him” but that only raises the floor; whereas Tre, when clicking, can raise the ceiling of this team

Edit to add: Ben Humbrickhous is not in Brad’s doghouse and he’s been holding this team back, so no I don’t blindly “trust Brad”

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Second place is 1st loser said:

With all due respect, cut the crap with this. It's an old schtick. What's holding this team back is turnovers and giving away possessions. When we have big leads or are in right games, it's the turnovers and bad decisions by the guards, notably one, that has held this team back. Hard stop

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SescIllini said:

Tre fan as well. I think playing alongside KJ is tough as well as he is a ball dominant PG. Tre isn't the guy to shoot the 3 with the clock winding down. He is a mid-range shots and slasher. Those opportunities are limited.

He is a good rebounder and can catch it off the boards and start the break. Seems like him missing that driving bank shot against Nebraska(?) caused him to sit.

We are better with the better version of Tre.

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Second place is 1st loser said:

With all due respect, cut the crap with this. It's an old schtick. What's holding this team back is turnovers and giving away possessions. When we have big leads or are in right games, it's the turnovers and bad decisions by the guards, notably one, that has held this team back. Hard stop.

This team will go as far as KJ can take them. Hard stop. He can't have games when he has 4 assists and 5 turnovers. Those turnovers happen when we're on runs and instead of going up 4, the game ends up tied...he was missing the front ends of one and ones and he handles the ball the most, etc. That's a lot of pressure on one guy, but this is supposed to be a lottery pick.

Ben's job is to make up for us lacking a third big man. He's forced to bring that guy now. He's also our second best three point shooter (Ivisic being first). There were posts earlier his stats in bigger games. They aren't bad. He's become the whipping boy by some, you with your post, and it's ridiculous.

Has he had some stinkers shooting the ball in some games? Absolutely! However, this is a team that outside of Ben and Tomi are miserable shooters.

This is KJ's and Tomi's team. They will make us or break us.

If you REALLY want to extend the issue, put it on our staff for not having a third, legitimate, big in the roster because right now, excluding Ben, we have 2 bigs, none of which are quick enough to cover the three point line ...see UCLA. That game got Morez on the bench because his defense was awful.

This team has holes and the only way to plug them is for the stars to be stars.

Edit: Add Riley to the list of stars. He needs to be there for us the rest of the way. We can't have regression because he does take pressure off of KJ. If those three play to capabilities, we can have a nice run. If not, we can be one and done.

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blackdog said:

Look people are dogging on Tre right now but the one thing that I can say from observation is that he hasn't been pouting. He still has been engaging with team mates on the bench and was celebrating in the locker room after the UCLA game. I'm sure it's hard to go from being a starter to not playing but hopefully he gets the message and gets back to filling his role.

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PasadenaIllini said:

I don't think people are "dogging" on him. I think people are genuinely disappointed about the apparent rift that's been established between him and the coaching staff given the talent that he clearly has. A disengaged Tre White lowers the ceiling of this team substantially. If the coaches can't put him on the floor because they're worried about him unraveling whatever gameplan they've tried to establish, it takes a considerable amount of our talent out of the equation. Hopefully whatever rift that's open up can eventually be closed prior to the post season.

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OB positive said:

I like Tre but it seemed like he started limiting himself. He had a good 6 or 7 game stretch and then fell off the map. In that stretch he was constantly moving and cutting to the ball and the basket which is his main contribution to the offense. Then he stopped doing it as much and concentrated on making all his moves after he got the ball which he is still pretty good at but basically handcuffing himself and what he brings to the table.

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blackdog said:

I think saying disengaged and rift implies lack of effort or being a "malcontent" as some like to say but I don't think that's the case here. Tre likes to iso too much and needs to reign it in to play within the offense.

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InDaAZ said:

Enough chitchat…

Let’s GO!!!
Beat Sparty to a green pulp

Celebrate TSJ day in style…

https://twitter.com/x/status/1890856252709683289

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InDaAZ said:

Enough chitchat…
Let’s GO!!!
Beat Sparty to a green pulp
Celebrate TSJ day in style…

https://twitter.com/x/status/1890856252709683289

Click to expand...

Second place is 1st loser said:

With all due respect, cut the crap with this. It's an old schtick. What's holding this team back is turnovers and giving away possessions. When we have big leads or are in right games, it's the turnovers and bad decisions by the guards, notably one, that has held this team back. Hard stop.

This team will go as far as KJ can take them. Hard stop. He can't have games when he has 4 assists and 5 turnovers. Those turnovers happen when we're on runs and instead of going up 4, the game ends up tied...he was missing the front ends of one and ones and he handles the ball the most, etc. That's a lot of pressure on one guy, but this is supposed to be a lottery pick.

Ben's job is to make up for us lacking a third big man. He's forced to bring that guy now. He's also our second best three point shooter (Ivisic being first). There were posts earlier his stats in bigger games. They aren't bad. He's become the whipping boy by some, you with your post, and it's ridiculous.

Has he had some stinkers shooting the ball in some games? Absolutely! However, this is a team that outside of Ben and Tomi are miserable shooters.

This is KJ's and Tomi's team. They will make us or break us.

If you REALLY want to extend the issue, put it on our staff for not having a third, legitimate, big in the roster because right now, excluding Ben, we have 2 bigs, none of which are quick enough to cover the three point line ...see UCLA. That game got Morez on the bench because his defense was awful.

This team has holes and the only way to plug them is for the stars to be stars.

Edit: Add Riley to the list of stars. He needs to be there for us the rest of the way. We can't have regression because he does take pressure off of KJ. If those three play to capabilities, we can have a nice run. If not, we can be one and done.

Click to expand...

DB11Headband said:

Follow up: I am floored by what Jake has been this year and that he’s seen as a “key” piece moving forward. Brad LOVES him. Crazy he’s as much of a guarantee to be back next year, which I wouldn’t have said before this season.

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Second place is 1st loser said:

With all due respect, cut the crap with this. It's an old schtick. What's holding this team back is turnovers and giving away possessions. When we have big leads or are in right games, it's the turnovers and bad decisions by the guards, notably one, that has held this team back. Hard stop.

This team will go as far as KJ can take them. Hard stop. He can't have games when he has 4 assists and 5 turnovers. Those turnovers happen when we're on runs and instead of going up 4, the game ends up tied...he was missing the front ends of one and ones and he handles the ball the most, etc. That's a lot of pressure on one guy, but this is supposed to be a lottery pick.

Ben's job is to make up for us lacking a third big man. He's forced to bring that guy now. He's also our second best three point shooter (Ivisic being first). There were posts earlier his stats in bigger games. They aren't bad. He's become the whipping boy by some, you with your post, and it's ridiculous.

Has he had some stinkers shooting the ball in some games? Absolutely! However, this is a team that outside of Ben and Tomi are miserable shooters.

This is KJ's and Tomi's team. They will make us or break us.

If you REALLY want to extend the issue, put it on our staff for not having a third, legitimate, big in the roster because right now, excluding Ben, we have 2 bigs, none of which are quick enough to cover the three point line ...see UCLA. That game got Morez on the bench because his defense was awful.

This team has holes and the only way to plug them is for the stars to be stars.

Edit: Add Riley to the list of stars. He needs to be there for us the rest of the way. We can't have regression because he does take pressure off of KJ. If those three play to capabilities, we can have a nice run. If not, we can be one and done.

Click to expand...

skyIdub said:

I'm def guilty of directing some of my frustrations at Ben. I've tried to calm down from it, but I still miss Goode, hate that he's in clown pants, and know he could have brought easily the same, and probably more to this team.

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