Butler Post Game Thread

[Scottobot]

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

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

I did at half time, but I am glad you were right.

 

[jibsey]

First, there is a bug running through the team. They came out like a sick team, not sharp, and the energy was low.

Perhaps this contributed to 9 first half turnovers. But they were very sloppy. We cleaned it up in the second half. Otherwise we would have been in deep doo doo.

Tonight showed how slim out margin for error is without a giant unicorn filling the lane. Newton is still not feeling it but got to the line 13 times. He had double figures from the foul line. The kid is a walking gut check.

The bugs that are going around are major league bad, so if any of them are getting over this stuff, the win at Butler is more amazing than we even realize. People are down 7-10 days with these viruses.

 

[Rico444]

Couldn't have said it better myself coach!

 

[HuskyFich]

This team is still so raw. How many games have we had with a full squad? 1??

Tristen and Castle are just starting to learn how to play together, hence my possible explanation for TNs recent offensive struggles from the field. But man oh man, when we get fully healthy and some burn as a full team, we will truly have 7 players who could potentially lead the team in scoring on any given night.

We can play small, big, or match up exactly with you, you cannot contain this team unless you’re Kadary Richmond.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

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

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

I was torn between having us only winning by 5 or less (to “win a close game”) and covering the 5.5 spread.

I’ll take the “not winning a close game” box score.

 

[Brochacho]

Massive W

 

[Chin Diesel]

Hurley boarding the plane leaving Indiana.

 

[Devland]

I think the biggest thing we miss with Clingan out is his 5 fouls. Even last year with 2 centers we never ran into the inevitable problem wirh our big man in foul trouble. Both Donavan and Samson foul at a high per minute rate. It was masked by having two of them.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

The bugs that are going around are major league bad, so if any of them are getting over this stuff, the win at Butler is more amazing than we even realize. People are down 7-10 days with these viruses.

Solo Ball looked really off tonight. Could be he got the bug, or just a freshman bad night, which also can happens too

 

[elmcityboy]

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.

wait, you are arguing that uconn was bad with karaban at the five tonight? did you watch the game??



karaban is guarded by their starting center for six full game minutes, starting with the clip above. uconn absolutely barbecues butler in those minutes. they get wide open shot after wide open shot. butler tries to go small to match up and that doesn't work either.

karaban at the five is never going to be a long-term thing for this team, but it has the potential to be an extremely effective counter.

 

[auror]

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.

When he attacked the basket in semi-transition and pushed the lead from 6 to 8 with ~5 minutes left, I thought it was one of the biggest plays of the game. It was a small decision. He could have slowed it down and tried to get a team shot, but that attack mindset is how you win games on the road. Butler came down and hit a 3 and scored on their next 2 possessions after that and pulled within 1. If we get a worse shot there or if Diarra makes the right play but misses the contested layup (something he did a lot of last season), we'd have been down 1 with 3.5 min left instead of up 1. The crowd would have been going even more nuts, and who knows how the game plays out from there.

He's upped his RAPM from 2.7 to 5.4 this season (21st in Big East, not bad for a bench player). From an overall negative on offense last season to a decently positive player (5th best ORAPM on one of the best offenses in the country) this season. Shooting 87% from FT line and getting there more often than last season. 6/13 from 3 in December and January.

 

[RedStickHusky]

Solo Ball looked really off tonight. Could be he got the bug, or just a freshman bad night, which also can happens too

Only played 9 minutes, I was wondering. Opportunity knocking for Stewart...

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

wait, you are arguing that uconn was bad with karaban at the five tonight? did you watch the game??



karaban is guarded by their starting center for six full game minutes, starting with the clip above. uconn absolutely barbecues butler in those minutes. they get wide open shot after wide open shot. butler tries to go small to match up and that doesn't work either.

karaban at the five is never going to be a long-term thing for this team, but it has the potential to be an extremely effective counter.

Thanks for saving me some time with these clips. I slightly tuned out for a bit in the 2nd half so I wasn’t sure what Butler did lineup wise. I just remember looking up and they were trying to match what we did towards the end of the game.

It didn’t look great at all in the first half. They went on a run we went to it. But it looked better in the 2nd half from those highlights. The gameplan for teams isn’t going to have a center on Karaban (they’ll be guarding Castle), but even when they did that in the 2nd half we were able to score still. It wasn’t Castle doing it but that doesn’t matter.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

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.

They played a 6'7" center for so long BECAUSE we were roasting their big lineup. It wasn't an accident that they were small. We were hitting shots because we had shooters everywhere on the floor, and that in turn opened up lanes to the basket.

I'm not saying that this is the ideal lineup to use at all times, but it's not the disaster some here predicted. I believe we were somewhere around +8 today with no big in the game. I don't think we'll have that level of success against everyone, but we're not going to have a game where we're a huge minus using this lineup either.

 

[3rdbass]

It seems Castle and Johnson are improving by the game.

Johnson needs to learn to not foul too much. Just let the player get close and try to block it. He is using too much hand on the player.

 

[Matt '99]

Great road win. Can we please figure out BLOBs though? Maybe it’s just me but it seems like the last couple years we have always struggled to get the ball in bounds when the first look isn’t there. Frustrating with a team of this talent.

 

[3rdbass]

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.

I just commented to someone about that when he praised Johnson. He is too athletic to have to use these tactics. Move your feet and try to block shots.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Most satisfying win of the year. For as bad as they were in the first half they showed some real heart in the second. No Clingan, AK and Sam in foul trouble, these are the sort of games where you learn something about yourself. Vintage UConn road win.

 

[AllHusky]

Listened to 1st half, watched the second.

Was pissed with us getting beat by their guards
and then in the last 1/4 or so, rather than fighting through and staying with their men they immediately switched, so that there was always a defender right in front, felt like it really shifted the defensive momentum. Having 4 guards and Karaban meant there weren't any real mismatches created, since we were all pretty small

Toughness and will to win really showed out

 

[87Xfer]

Did Newton's girlfriend break up with him, or did a pet die? He's just seemed really sluggish and detached the last 2 games.

 

[Tyler2Rings]

Karaban has to try to stay straight up on drives, even if it feels like he's leaning back. The last two fouls were just arms angle.

Samson is a great shot blocker but his teammates need to trust him more. I think 2-3 blocks got cancelled out by fouls on the drive.

This team is getting better!

 

[businesslawyer]

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?

Huh? How many off seasons have we had Castle for to improve his shot? Let’s see. Fingers out, carry the three — ZERO. WTF does Castle’s coming here without a shot have to do with the fact that AJ didn’t improve enough as a shooter in his three years here?

 

[Bazz2014]

Did Newton's girlfriend break up with him, or did a pet die? He's just seemed really sluggish and detached the last 2 games.

Wouldn’t be surprised to find out that he’s one of the ones battling/coming off the flu that’s hit the team this week. If so, even more props to him for finding a way to make an impact tonight.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Huh? How many off seasons have we had Castle for to improve his shot? Let’s see. Fingers out, carry the three — ZERO. WTF does Castle’s coming her without a shot have to do with the fact that AJ didn’t improve enough as a shooter in his three years here?

Also there are guys like Kemba and even Ryan Boatright. Who was a 40% 3 point shooter his senior year in HIGH volume and difficulty.

There’s a lot more examples too.

 

[87Xfer]

Wouldn’t be surprised to find out that he’s one of the ones battling/coming off the flu that’s hit the team this week. If so, even more props to him for finding a way to make an impact tonight.

Could entirely be this. Seems weird to see him playing like he did in the last game. But looking at replays and his line for tonight, the issue is me. Aside from the DePaul game, he just sneakily plays great basketball.