Butler Post Game Thread

[djct1999]

On the surface, a gritty win in a tough place to play. Beneath it all, more positives than negatives. Castle is still getting acclimated to high major basketball. He is showing improvement each game, this one included, and come March he will almost certainly be that lottery pick. The team definitely showed what coach said was a champions heart. Cam and Tristan were clutch when we needed them the most. Alex is back. Maybe the biggest positive tonight was Diarra. If can continue to play like this, he makes us that much tougher. The only negative I saw was for the first time in a while, at times the offense was to stagnant. No movement, holding until way to late in the shot clock to then force a bad shot. Overall, Donovan’s absence is showing its impact. Without him, UConn is much easier to defend. To still win, and give minutes to guys, albeit closer than what we expect will help us tremendously in the long run. For UConn to repeat, we will need to be healthy. If we are, I don’t think there will be a team that can beat us. Games like tonight will be part of the reason why.

 

[Deleted at users request]

getting to try out these karaban-at-the-five lineups will pay dividends in march

that play in particular where castle passed it over the top to karaban with davis on him was a perfect example.

I know we’re suppose to be pretty bias, but did no one really not notice how bad the lineup was when Butler left their big on the floor?

It also resulted in Karaban fouling out. If teams decide to not match our small ball lineup I don’t think it’ll be sustainable.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Thanks for mentioning Stuart. He was fun to watch and had an impact.

He wasn't Little tonight??

 

[Scottobot]

Watching the game and noticing Castles defender sag way off him…..Why do we continue to have players that never improve their shot at UConn? Taleik Brown, Andre Jackson, and Stephon Castle come to mind. Why not bring in a shooting guru that can work with these guys? Jackson’s shot in the NBA looks much improved, there is no reason why he couldn’t do that 2 years earlier?

Like Hassan Diarra, Jordon Hawkins, James Booknight, Adama Sanogo? Andre Jackson is one guy who didn’t improve, Castle has been playing 2 months here. To improve sometimes you have to redo your shot form, and you go backwards first and then get better.

 

[HuskyBoi]

Down 7 at the half.
Come back and won a close game
In Hurley we trust

 

[RedStickHusky]

Down 7 at the half.
Come back and won a close game
In Hurley we trust

You know even if you use the numeral, 7 is two syllables

 

[JustbrewitMan]

J Stew looked comfortable every second he played. First time this year he didn't have a "freshman moment".

And that's a good thing.

I was watching closely tonight and I didn’t see the seniors deliberately shunning him. Hurley must have showed them all the game tape breakdown that @HuskyWarrior611 did after the DePaul game

/s

 

[Bazz2014]

Castle is rising. Buy stock now.

Hassan is just so easy to love. Outworks the other team all by himself and it effects our guys’ energy in a good way at the moments we need it.

Tristen and Cam both made enough winning plays down the stretch to makeup for some head scratchers (mainly Newton) and off shooting night.

But my big shout out tonight is for Stewie. Quietly his best game to date - did what he needed to do to buy AK time on the bench with foul trouble. Loved the 5 points but thought his rebounding was even more important. Grabbed a couple grown man boards in traffic that were really critical while the game was close. He looked like he belonged tonight.

There’s always a lot to pick at and clean up after the game, as with every game, but my only gripe is with SJ tonight. He HAS to learn to stay on the floor. He was positioned for a nice game and took himself out of it with foul trouble. He’s got to learn how to play with 2 and 3 fouls… can’t lose intensity but you also can’t make boneheaded decisions that the refs will predictably call. He just has to be better.

Nice win on the road. Faced adversity and punched it in the mouth. I’ll take it!

 

[freshler40]

One add, Stewart is a good basketball player. He has a great understanding for a freshman of spacing, how to make plays with what he's given.

I thought tonight showed a lot and he will be a very good player in the years to come.

Stewart showed a lot tonight. He had excellent positioning and aggressive rebounding. He also was able to get on the court a number of times so showed that the coach has confidence in him. He will grow into a star.

 

[aceboon]

One add, Stewart is a good basketball player. He has a great understanding for a freshman of spacing, how to make plays with what he's given.

I thought tonight showed a lot and he will be a very good player in the years to come.

Also had a couple of great off ball cuts to the basket where he was wide open but guys missed him

 

[RedStickHusky]

but my only gripe is with SJ tonight.

It's a fair gripe, but he's SO inexperienced... He'll be a beast off the bench when DC gets back.

 

[uconndogs]

We just beat a team that shot over 47% from the 3, made 23 of 25 foul shot, with our NBA lottery pick in street clothes……on the road. This is another very good team.

 

[aceboon]

I'm sure the coaches are on him about this already but man Samson has got to stop putting his hands and arms all over guys on defense. You could probably call a foul on him everytime he guards in the post or is switched onto a driver because he literally has his hands and forearms all over the offensive player.

 

[Scottobot]

I don’t think many teams in the country would beat Butler on the road when they shoot 23-25 from the line so that’s a great win.

Agree… and Butler made a lot of clutch 3s down the stretch too, and we overcame that.

 

[djct1999]

Stewart showed a lot tonight. He had excellent positioning and aggressive rebounding. He also was able to get on the court a number of times so showed that the coach has confidence in him. He will grow into a star.

I think Stewart may be part of the rotation in a month.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

I know we’re suppose to be pretty bias, but did no one really not notice how bad the lineup was when Butler left their big on the floor?

It also resulted in Karaban fouling out. If teams decide to not match our small ball lineup I don’t think it’ll be sustainable.

I don't think anyone thinks it's ideal, but it's going to have to work well enough for a while. I think we played some of our best offense with SJ on the bench today in the 2nd half.
Don't forget, when DC comes back, we will (hopefully) probably not have to worry about it anymore.

 

[Waquoit]

Also had a couple of great off ball cuts to the basket where he was wide open but guys missed him

Pretty sure we've seen that before. Just keep cutting, JStew. They'll find you!

 

[TheRealKBuks]

This game will pay dividends in March. Once we get a fully healthy Clingan back, Samson will be so battle tested we will thrive.

 

[Deleted at users request]

I don't think anyone thinks it's ideal, but it's going to have to work well enough for a while. I think we played some of our best offense with SJ on the bench today in the 2nd half.
Don't forget, when DC comes back, we will (hopefully) probably not have to worry about it anymore.

It’s definitely going to be a non issue when DC comes back.

I think the fact that we played our best offense doesn’t take into account the contact of Butler doing something differently in the 2nd than the 1st half. It still remains to be seen if that lineup actually works against a team that decides to stay big.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Diarra is a guy I had my doubts about but he has become indispensable

 

[Scottobot]

Hassan Diarra was good on defense last year, but this year he is good on offense too. really nice drives to rim and clutch 3P, and clutch FTs.

 

[Mets1432]

Another great Hassan game. He is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. Some nice minutes from Stewart.

 

[willie99]

Hurley keeps getting better and better in their tough, close games

Did anyone have any doubt we were winning? I didn't

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

It’s definitely going to be a non issue when DC comes back.

I think the fact that we played our best offense doesn’t take into account the contact of Butler doing something differently in the 2nd than the 1st half. It still remains to be seen if that lineup actually works against a team that decides to stay big.

I think the idea is that they went small because we were scoring fairly easily against their big lineup.
The lane was open often, and we were creating mismatches with their switches.

No doubt we will lose something on defense when we go small, but we should gain offensively by having another dribble/pass/shoot athlete on the floor. If they balance out, or at least come close, and we've stolen the few minutes we need to steal, then we're fine.

 

[Minicoop69]

We have to learn to defend without fouling. Only gripe.

Newton was 1-8 for three and we won.

During warm-ups he wasn't hitting very many 3s. Missing most of them and not really close on a lot of them. Not sure what his deal is, but his shooting has gotten worse.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I know we’re suppose to be pretty bias, but did no one really not notice how bad the lineup was when Butler left their big on the floor?

It also resulted in Karaban fouling out. If teams decide to not match our small ball lineup I don’t think it’ll be sustainable.

I agree.

Johnson has to cut back the silly fouls. Someone as athletic and mobile as he is shouldn't be in foul trouble in only 20 minutes of game time against a team like Butler. Part of being center is that you will pick up some fouls on help defense, which means you don't have fouls to give away.

 

[Deleted at users request]

I think the idea is that they went small because we were scoring fairly easily against their big lineup.
The lane was open often, and we were creating mismatches with their switches.

No doubt we will lose something on defense when we go small, but we should gain offensively by having another dribble/pass/shoot athlete on the floor. If they balance out, or at least come close, and we've stolen the few minutes we need to steal, then we're fine.

I’m honestly wondering if that’s the case. I got distracted a little bit in the 2nd half so I’m not sure if something did happen for them to make that change. Have to go back in watch.

I think for like the last 10 minutes their center was 6’7 Telford. And well if you think he’s going to be effective against Karaban and Castle then… they deserved what they got lol

Definitely was not a good idea to start playing our game after the early success they had.

 

[Deleted at users request]

I agree.

Johnson has to cut back the silly fouls. Someone as athletic and mobile as he is shouldn't be in foul trouble in only 20 minutes of game time against a team like Butler. Part of being center is that you will pick up some fouls on help defense, which means you don't have fouls to give away.

He does, but I’m not expecting that from him as a first year player being thrusted into playing 30 minutes a game now. It’s not a reasonable expectation.

 

[Conndog]

During warm-ups he wasn't hitting very many 3s. Missing most of them and not really close on a lot of them. Not sure what his deal is, but his shooting has gotten worse.

Maybe Newton needs eyeglasses, LOL

 

[dennismenace]

The energy on the whole bench including asst. coaches was great throughout the game. Love to see those guys jumping up and down and chest bumping. What a great way to pass the winter.