Butler Post Game Thread

[Inyatkin]

Some huge baskets for Maheney. Glad he's hanging in there

 

[navery12]

Core 3 needs to be on the floor as much as possible, can’t have more than 1 off the floor at once. Our early momentum went into toilet once we went to bench. We have 6 reliable players at the moment.

2G is going to be a gap all year, Solo useless if not hitting 3s. Perhaps with Amad back we see some 2PG lineups. Just can’t have that level of softness at this spot.

We got bullied in the paint today after Samsons first 3 minutes. Outrebounded and out blocked, allowing a 16 minutes per game guy hurt us. Reed showing his reputational inconsistencies. He was not a Kodiak today, more Winnie.

Refs didn’t help - 20 fouls to 13, with a few of those Butler fouls coming late when they had to. So is the road.

Three ball won it for us today. Work in progress continues, enjoying the ride. A win is a win and we’ll be seeing many more of these close ones this season. Looking forward to seeing how Dan uses Amad after the break as it feels like we’ll need him to make a serious run in March. Our bench is truly meh.

The rotation is shrinking, not expanding. I wouldn't hold your breath for a sudden increase in Nowell's minutes. It's gonna be an 8-9 man rotation and I don't see where those minutes are coming from.

The bench is fine and has been a strength all year. One bad game for a few of the guys doesn't change that

 

[temery]

W/minutes

 

[Scott2Tate]

Was that Braylon Mullins and his fam behind the bench? Asked in the chat during the game but didn’t see a response (admittedly I didn’t keep watch too long- went back to watching the game!)

 

[Chin Diesel]

What a roller coaster. But at the end of the day, we took the lead 12 seconds into the game and never trailed. Another close win!

The good -

• We forced a timeout after 80 seconds and were up double digits after 4 minutes. Great start
• 8 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds at halftime for Liam. Finished 17/7/5
• I love the possessions where Solo and Diarra came off screens, crossed over to the other side, and hit a short midrange shot. Our offense stagnates when we refuse to take shots that aren’t layups and threes, but those jumpers are always going to be there
• Karaban cold blooded with 2 clutch threes! Choosing to ignore the late miss and the near turnover
• Mahaney buckets!!

The bad -

• Samson foul trouble after 3 minutes and 7-0 fouls after 10 minutes. Doubled up on FTs again (excluding the 4 intentional foul FTs at the end)
• 16 point lead cut to 3. 14 point lead cut to 5. 10 point lead tied up. It’s a game of runs but was not great seeing us almost blow 3 separate double digit leads
• wtf Andre Screen

But at the end of the day, the Huskies keep rolling. Let’s go!

On some of the midrange, or in the lane push shot one-handers, I wish the Huskies would use the backboard.

 

[uchusky32]

AK came up big when needed. LM seemed mentally fatigue. Got to figure out PG rotation. Bigs foul way to much. We have to address thus over the break.

 

[HooperScooper]

Was that Braylon Mullins and his fam behind the bench? Asked in the chat during the game but didn’t see a response (admittedly I didn’t keep watch too long- went back to watching the game!)

Yup

 

[hookshot]

Nah, this leads to toughness. We are getting better every game.

 

[Palatine]

Clutch foul shooting -in the one and one- was HUGE! Diarra and McNeeley kept the game out of reach. That's how you stack wins. Props to both.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Gutted it out at the end, though it shouldn't have come to that. Karaban & McNeeley clutch at the end. Got little from the two centers, and not much from anyone on the bench, and Solo Ball was off with his shooting.

And still won on the road. You play mediocre and still win a road conference game, that's a good sign.

 

[Smp7598]

Keep stacking wins. We'll learn the killer instinct.

Peacock was brutal.

What was so brutal?

 

[UConNick]

As others have said, road wins are gold. I think that’ll be especially true in a Big East year like this one. Maybe not the ceiling in terms of tourney teams, but lots of top-100 types that will be hell to beat in their homes (like today). League floor has definitely gone up with Holtmann in Chicago and Cooley (Thomas Sorber) in DC.

Thought Karaban showed some excellent leadership stepping up and making those triples. However, I really think this is becoming Liam’s team, at least on the offensive end. He’s obviously a great shooter. He can put the ball on the floor. He can pass. And, he’s got balls of steel. We are blessed to have him for this one season.

Diarra, as well, continues to be clutch. Can you tell he’s played in a dozen NCAAT games? That’s our triumvirate.

Lastly, anyone have a pic or screenshot of Mullins behind the bench??? Can’t believe I missed that, especially after spending a lot of the first half talking to my parents about our recruiting class for next season.

 

[hookshot]

Nah, this leads to toughness. We are getting better every game.

Not really, sloppyer than usual this game, but seem to know how to win in the end

 

[willie99]

Learning to take a punch and respond, winning. This team is good, has many options, and gets tough when it matters most

I'm never going to understand the foul and free throw disparity from November through February. Until we were inside the final minute, when they had to foul just to get us into a 1 and 1 situation, it was 20-9 in fouls and 28-12 in free throws.

Come March, with a national TV audience and everybody paying attention, that foul and free throw disparity disappears. I don't think it's because we suddenly play differently. I think the refs have double standards. Maybe it's because of Hurley, IDK

I get excited if the calls are 50/50

Great win Huskies

 

[QDOG5]

Any time it got quiet at the foul line someone would yell out UConn Huskies! I could hear it very clearly. Was it you @Minicoop69?

 

[JMick]

I had zero issues with Peacock's production or feed.

I had no buffering or audio issues, but FS1/FS2 quality looks way better to me. This looked more like cable.

 

[UCfor3]

I had zero issues with Peacock's production or feed.

Agreed. Peacock gets such a bad rap on here. It's a pretty good app.

 

[lonsharkin51]

I'll take any conference road win and be happy, but someone needs to explain to Solo that he can't just be a shorter version of Tyler Polley.

 

[huskiesNhoos]

Agreed. Peacock gets such a bad rap on here. It's a pretty good app.

I use it mostly for premier League but was happily surprised at having UConn pop up today. I think it's pretty solid as far as streaming apps go

 

[LoyalFanCT]

if uconn doesnt start winning by larger margin post season play could be challenging

 

[AllHusky]

I think most every big east game is going to be a battle like that.

But was most disappointed to see us build up a big lead in the 2nd half only to give it away. They made 10 more FT's than we did and committed 7 less fouls according to the officials. A W is better than a L, but it certainly wasn't a thing of beauty...

Going to be a matter of having a substitution formula when we can go for the throat. Ross, Mahaney, Stewart all together wasn't it today.

 

[AllHusky]

The rotation is shrinking, not expanding. I wouldn't hold your breath for a sudden increase in Nowell's minutes. It's gonna be an 8-9 man rotation and I don't see where those minutes are coming from.

The bench is fine and has been a strength all year. One bad game for a few of the guys doesn't change that

Agreed, and my question is Ahmad going to get A LEGITIMATE LOOK? Seems like he could help, but hasn't had the opportunity that the 7-9 guys have.

 

[6Nattys4Us]

Solid win over a tough team. I think the last game before the break is always one of the hardest, especially on the road.

Another road victory is nice bc they don't come easy. Perhaps @Depaul will be our easiest but @Villanova then @Georgetown will not be easy. Gotta take 1 game at a time and once it's over, move on like Liam does after his last shot.

 

[Bomber36]

Not really, sloppyer than usual this game, but seem to know how to win in the end

And how is that really different than what I said?

 

[Jaydumo20]

Agreed. Peacock gets such a bad rap on here. It's a pretty good app.

I'm actually curious. I have no idea. Besides a clean stream with no buffering, what makes a good app and a bad app? And what do people on here say about peacock?