Butler Post Game Thread

[HooperScooper]

Castle has played like 11 games guy.

9 actually. And only 201 minutes. For a comparison Newton leads the team with 482 minutes.

Some people on here are way too quick to judge. Kills me. Be patient. It's coming.

 

[superjohn]

Haven't read through the entire thread. Just watched the highlights on FS1 and Hurley was talking smack to some Butler fans right after the game and pointing to his ring finger.

Cam was also talking major trash, he's Hurley's mini me.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Wish we’d see more Singare instead of the small lineup. But he must not be ready yet. The team is gonna be lethal when Don and Samson are splitting the 5 again.

 

[87Xfer]

Wish we’d see more Singare instead of the small lineup.

Why? The small ball lineup seems to be delivering, and could keep us in games later.

 

[YoungFree]

Nice road win without Clingan. I've got no complaints.

My only complaint was making me frustrated until the last 3 minutes.

 

[housekeys]

Cam was also talking major trash, he's Hurley's mini me.

Hate when they talk trash. Love it when they can back it up.

 

[HooperScooper]

Has Newtons free throw flattened out? It seems to have lost a little arc and he’s definitely not stroking it well from the line this year, compared to prior years

They do look a little flat but he's at 80.9% from the line this season and last year he was 81.6%. So no real difference.

He's playing a little more this year and taking on a bigger role, which contributes to some fatigue, which affect his free throws late. In the St. John's game he looked gassed down the stretch.

 

[Dabutlerdidit]

Thought I saw a wrap on Newton’s shooting hand

 

[Rico444]

One other random point. Laphonso Ellis is so good. He doesn't call many of our games, but every time he does I wish he was on the call more.

 

[HooperScooper]

One other random point. Laphonso Ellis is so good. He doesn't call many of our games, but every time he does I wish he was on the call more.

I liked him in studio on ESPN but he got the axe there like a lot of people. I agree he was good last night. He and Connor Onion do mostly B1G games. Since there weren’t very many games last night I guess Fox switched him over to our game. Plus being in Indianapolis the game was in the Midwest and I’m guessing both of them live relatively close to there.

 

[KyUCONN]

horrible coaching job by THAD!!! thank goodness/ their freshman big white kid with pony tail was killing us the first half and he never seen the court in second half

 

[Improviser]

One other random point. Laphonso Ellis is so good. He doesn't call many of our games, but every time he does I wish he was on the call more.

He knows the game inside out, and I feel like I am getting an education about the game and its nuances when I listen to him.

Wonder if he ever coached the game with all his knowledge of its intricacies and his analysis of the strategies the teams are employing.

His thoughts don't wander and get off the subject, unlike some other announcers.

 

[aceboon]

One other random point. Laphonso Ellis is so good. He doesn't call many of our games, but every time he does I wish he was on the call more.

I had no idea he was no longer with ESPN, was surprised to see him, he does a good job without any theatrics

 

[huskeynut]

As I said to my wife - we're in a dog fight!!! She gave me sarcastic "Ha Ha."

But it was. We are seeing the evolution of this team. It's not last year's team. This team is very different. Ball movement, screens and much better. There are 5 starters that can a score double figures ever night. The bench is productive and Hurley is developing more depth.

Last night proved we can play small and still win. There will be night's that will be the key.

Not going to nitpick, others have done that. The big picture this is a very complete and dangerous team. How many teams can start a 6' 5" and a 6' 6" guard tandem that run the offense, rebound, drive the lane, and play D. No one has a Cam Spencer that I have seen. And the list goes on. Last night they showed the have no quit in them.

 

[QuickDraw]

Diarra was outstanding tonight. Halted their momentum and turned the game around.

I thought Hassan brought great energy again that really turned the game around & got the others rolling, reminded me of how John Gwynn would come in & impact the game with his energy a give a spark to the rest of the team. He is a vital piece to this years success.

 

[prankster]

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!

Yeah! He was getting beat my his man and arm blocked him to earn #4. Obvious.

Gotta let him get his 2 pts, and save the foul. The guy got his points at the line, anyway. And SJ got to watch the rest of the game from his court side seat.

 

[prankster]

Why? The small ball lineup seems to be delivering, and could keep us in games later.

You are correct. But for foul trouble reasons and game experience reasons I believe the more run he can get, the quicker his development.

Hurley knows lots more than I do, both from a player development and in-game tactical perspective. So I default to "he knows what he's doing".

 

[Palatine]

Watch the Spenser dagger but focus on Samsom. He sets a screen. He doesn't stick his butt out or make a move that would be a illegal screen foul which would have been tempting in that situation. He does just enough to turn the defender and help give Spenser just a silver of room. Then he rolls to the basket. Seems like nothing but an illegal screen there changes the game. It's one of the little things, the details, we hear Hurley talk about.

 

[WeAreUCONN]

Hmmm, @WeAreUCONN's burner account?

No Sir. I am unique for sure. There’s only one of me. Hurley finally won a close game. Let’s cherish this win because these have been few and far between. Was nice to see Castle and Stewart both hit 3’s. Again, probably something that we won’t see again.

 

[HooperScooper]

 

[AllHusky]

I thought Hassan brought great energy again that really turned the game around & got the others rolling, reminded me of how John Gwynn would come in & impact the game with his energy a give a spark to the rest of the team. He is a vital piece to this years success.

Had a fair amount of contact with John over the years, in person you felt that same positive energy and excitement that made him what he was in his playing days

 

[jibsey]

Had a fair amount of contact with John over the years, in person you felt that same positive energy and excitement that made him what he was in his playing days

Energy yes, skills a bit different. Gwynn could light it up in a hurry hence his nickname. So pleased with what Diarra is showing this season. He comes in fresh, disrupts, hands, scores inside, now the 3. He’s actually his own microwave.

 

[Icehawk]

Not sure why it feels Like a thing where the Huskies don't come out roaring but I'll take the results six ways to Sunday. It does look like we struggle against tight, switching, defenses too - Kansas, SH, first half of this game, not sure what the counter to that is exactly but I know Hurley will find some schemes. I mean I thought the small ball lineup was going to be terrible and it hasn't been at all. I think at one point it was full on tiny ball with 5 guards (I mean, we got some pretty tall ones which helps here I bet).

Diarra is looking to be the guy I had hoped he would be last year, now I'm looking for him to take a 3 instead of groaning. I'm never unhappy to see FT% his like his either, that's money in the bank down the line.

Castle had a great game, I loved the made 3 but I wish he'd spend a bit less time in the corners unless he develops that more since he was getting sagged off a lot. Let's see more slashing to the rim please.

Cam's timeout was awesome I had just clenched up with a "dang, he's going to go OOB with it" and he saved it. Clutch shooting, between him and Karaban we've got firepower.

Karaban back in the driver's seat where he belongs, I just assume everything will go in.

Singare only got a few mins but I thought he looked promising, he should be playable next year for sure. I love him on the bench, second game they've shown a shot of him jumping up and down while he holds teammates back from stepping on court accidentally.

Jaylin had a good outing too, as I recall he had a couple of really nice rebounds where he fought for it.

Solo didn't do a lot but that's OK I don't expect stunners from the bench every game. I think he's shown this season he is valuable and will be even more as he gets experience.

Newton, it probably felt like he had a bad game again, right? Then you look at the #s and are like... I'd take those every game without complaint.

Johnson, like has been said he needs to work on fouling but I think he played fine overall. Fouls really limited him unfortunately, on the upside it gave the team plenty of time to practice alternate lineups under pressure.

 

[Palatine]

Not sure why it feels Like a thing where the Huskies don't come out roaring but I'll take the results six ways to Sunday. It does look like we struggle against tight, switching, defenses too - Kansas, SH, first half of this game, not sure what the counter to that is exactly but I know Hurley will find some schemes. I mean I thought the small ball lineup was going to be terrible and it hasn't been at all. I think at one point it was full on tiny ball with 5 guards (I mean, we got some pretty tall ones which helps here I bet).

I've been thinking about why we have trouble with the switching. Something one of the announcers said caught my attention. He kept waiting for Castle to attack the mismatch in the post after the switch. He mentioned it frequently.

It's something we don't do very often. We continue to move the ball around the arc looking for a clean three. We do rarely post up Karaban after the switch. But not a lot. We are not hardwired to find the mismatch on a switch and pound it inside.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

I've been thinking about why we have trouble with the switching. Something one of the announcers said caught my attention. He kept waiting for Castle to attack the mismatch in the post after the switch. He mentioned it frequently.

It's something we don't do very often. We continue to move the ball around the arc looking for a clean three. We do rarely post up Karaban after the switch. But not a lot. We are not hardwired to find the mismatch on a switch and pound it inside.

I've mentioned this before, but most college offenses don't do this. Sometimes they do it out of a timeout, but rarely during the game flow. I hope we can do it more against switches, like you said